cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quality of service in cloud computing in higher education: A critical survey and innovative model

Cloud Computing, an emerging trend, in the e-learning sector has attracted number of service providers to the market in very less time, providing users with several applications at their disposal. However, while providing such service, not sufficient importance is given to the quality of the service, especially from the user's point of view. Hence it becomes necessary to monitor, track and quantify the QoS of the cloud computing e-learning applications in order to provide the right information to both the customers and the service providers. This information would help both the parties in terms of the comparison between the expectations and the capacity to meet them, but in this sector there is no standard model which defines the QoS parameters from the user's point of view. Thus, the need arises for developing a metrics model for enhancing the quality of service in cloud computing e-learning applications for higher education sector. In the current work, Quality of Service models are studied and comprehensive review of work done in this field is presented. Additionally an innovative QoS model for resolving this issue has been suggested.
Imitation Flavors Produced From Citrus Oils

From the Flavor Chemist’s standpoint, the Citrus Oil family of products provides important ingredients for the creation of a wide range of imitation flavors. This paper will describe some sources and types of citrus oils used by the Flavor Chemist, the types of imitation flavors in which citrus oils are used, and the flavor characteristics or functions which citrus oils provide in the various imitation flavor formulations.Paper published with permission.Compilation Copyright © 2018 ASME
On the nature of children's judgments of linguistic features: Semantic relations and grammatical morphemes

Children's judgments of sentences were examined in 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds in an effort to examine the relationship between children's use of various linguistic features and their judgments of these features in formal tasks. The sentences the children were asked to judge differed on the basis of features acquired gradually during the development of children's linguistic usage. The judgments made by the children did not appear related to the course followed in the acquisition of language usage, a finding that suggests that language acquisition and formal linguistic judgments may reflect different processes.
A Neuropharmacologically Based Concept of Hallucination and its Clinical Application

Hallucination may in many significant respects afford a key to the understanding of function in the experimentally and in the clinically disturbed nervous system. Thus, we [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] have shown, by actual recording of the signals arriving at the various areas of the cerebral cortex, that hallucinogens reduce and finally interrupt access to association areas as part of an action, which in larger doses disconnects other parts of the brain as well. An example of this is presented in Figure 1, showing the potentials evoked in a portion of the visual association cortex of the cat brain. LSD almost completely eliminates the response and, paralleling the clinical situation, chlorpromazine is able to prevent the LSD effect, which is here seen to be an impediment to cerebral synaptic transmission.
Treatment Expectations in Hypertension

Hypertension, an insidious condition affecting approximately 50 million US adults, remains a central factor contributing to cardiac and other target organ disease. Despite increased detection and numerous therapeutic advances, three out of four people with hypertension in the US have uncontrolled or poorly controlled blood pressure. While hypertension is a leading reason for primary care office visits and antihypertensive medications are widely prescribed, most individuals are not achieving goal systolic/diastolic blood pressure of 140/90mm Hg or less. While the definition of adequate blood pressure control varies in different countries, the problem of inadequate control is universal. Numerous barriers contributing to the suboptimal health outcomes have been recognized, including issues related to healthcare providers as well as patient compliance with medication and lifestyle changes. Recently, healthcare provider systems and health plans have turned to disease management strategies to better address quality and outcomes issues in hypertension management. Disease management, a systematic clinical improvement process, encompasses provider and patient education employing national or locally developed best practice guidelines and behavioral interventions coupled with close monitoring of clinical processes and outcomes of care. Disease management programs seek to define a comprehensive and coordinated approach to care across multiple providers and patient subgroups. Through risk assessment and stratification, patients at higher risk of complications can be identified, and customized intensive care support can be offered. Other types of intervention for lower risk individuals include brief visits with a cardiovascular educator or care manager, group classes, or self-instructional programs. Several successful programs initiated by healthcare systems and health plans are described. Adequate blood pressure control is essential to reduce cardiac, renal, and stroke disease later in life. However, large numbers of individuals must be effectively managed for years or decades to achieve reductions in complications and cost savings. Unlike more acute conditions that frequently result in hospitalization and loss of function, the immediate cost offsets of hypertension disease management efforts are less defined, although the eventual savings to society could be vast. Less costly methods to promote healthy outcomes across large, relatively stable populations are needed. Automated systems employing clinical decision support at the point of care and internet-based patient support strategies offer the hope that comprehensive, individualized disease management for hypertension can be affordable as well as effective. In the meantime, the fact that the National Committee on Quality Assurance has included blood pressure control as a future measure of health plan performance will almost certainly lead to the expanded development of hypertension disease management initiatives.
The Evolution of Adh Expression in the Repleta Group of Drosophila

The mechanisms by which gene expression is controlled in time, in a cell type specific manner and in response to physiologically active agents is currently under intense study using a variety of strategies. We have utilized an approach to this problem which offers several attractive features. This involves the identification of specific variation in a pattern of gene expression within a group of related species followed by identification of the DNA sequence elements which operate to control expression of the gene using functional tests. Subsequently, a comparison of the nucleotide sequence of these regions from each member of the species set should lead to hypotheses about specific nucleotides having a role in the control of at least one aspect of the gene’s pattern of expression. This hypothesis depends on the assumptions that sequence elements which are demonstrably conserved in different species are similar due to selection for a function, and that sequence differences may be regarded as candidates for the basis of the expression differences. Each of these can be tested by appropriate in vitro mutagenesis studies.
Critical appraisal of systematic reviews of executive function treatments in TBI.

Objective: To appraise the quality of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) that summarize the treatment literature for executive function (EF) impairments following traumatic brain inju...
“UNFRIEND ME, PLEASE!”: SOCIAL MEDIA FATIGUE AND THE THEORY OF RATIONAL CHOICE

As social media use continues to climb, consumers are beginning to experience social media fatigue leading to concern among marketers about the efficacy of the channel. This research examines socia...
Ophthalmic findings in a Hunter Syndrome patient on enzyme replacement therapy (P5.190)

Objective: To display the ophthalmic findings in a patient with Hunter Syndrome on enzyme replacement therapy (ERT). Background: Hunter Syndrome is a rare x-linked recessive enzymatic deficiency characterized by deposition of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in a multitude of organs. In the eye, this deposition can lead to optic nerve edema, uveal effusion, epiretinal membrane, retinal degeneration, and visual field defects. Although enzyme replacement therapy with idursulfase has led to improvements in morbidity and mortality, there has yet to be an investigation of the benefits of ERT on ophthalmic disease. Design/Methods: A case study of one 39-year-old man over three years while on ERT for Hunter Syndrome was performed. Results: A 39-year-old man with Hunter Syndrome presented to neuro-ophthalmology after four years of ERT with a complaint of a progressive bilateral visual field defect. Physical examination was relevant for bilateral optic nerve head elevation, and a myelinated nerve fiber-like appearance OS. Visual field testing revealed bilateral ring scotomata. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the maculae demonstrated diffuse bilateral retinal thinning. These findings remained stable at 2 and 4 month follow-up appointments. The patient was evaluated at several other institutions over the next three years, during which his fundus exam, visual field and OCT remained stable. Conclusions: The case presented demonstrates common ophthalmic findings in Hunter Syndrome: retinal degeneration, visual field defects, and optic nerve head elevation. The lack of improvement in this patient’s ophthalmic disease despite ERT is attributable to the fact that idursulfase cannot cross the blood-brain-barrier. Presently, an investigation of the utility of intrathecal idursulfase on central nervous system (CNS) disease in Hunter Syndrome is underway. A study of the ophthalmic response to intrathecal idursulfase would lead to a better understanding of the ophthalmic changes in Hunter Syndrome, and allow for a proper assessment of the potential vision improvement with CNS-targeted ERT. Disclosure: Dr. Jarstad has nothing to disclose. Dr. Meeker has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ko has nothing to disclose.
CogArch-ADL: Toward a Formal Description of a Reference Architecture for the Common Model of Cognition

Abstract As the Common Model of Cognition (CMC) is getting more supporters from research fields such as AI, cognitive science, neu-roscience, and robotics in an effort to contribute to the understanding of minds, a new requirement becomes imperative: standard modeling and specification mechanisms are needed to allow both developing new CMC-compliant computational frameworks and validating existing ones. Thus, this paper aims at proposing an approach to formally describe cognitive architectures by extending π-ADL, an Architecture Description Language based on π-Calculus. Four case studies illustrate the usefulness of our approach, and future work outlines how it can be used as a vehicle to formally meet architectural requirements, validate structural/behavioral equivalence among architectures, and model evolutionary cognitive systems.
High pressure transport characteristics of Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3, and BiSbTe3

Abstract This paper presents ambient and high pressure measurements of transport properties of the Bi2Te3–Sb2Te3 series of materials. The electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient have been measured on both end compounds and the direct solid solution of the two at pressure up to 10 GPa. An additional discussion involving the high pressure structure will be presented. From this, it was determined that these materials undergo at least two structural phase transitions between 0 and 20 GPa and a discussion is presented regarding this and the changes in the transport properties.
Polynomial Matrices and Matrix Fraction Descriptions

In §21, we discovered (c.f. Theorem 21.9) that a real m-input, p -output time-invariant continuous- or discrete-time input-output linear system with impulse response t → H(t) or k → H(k) was realizable if and only if its transfer function s → G (s) or z → G (z) agreed on its region of convergence ROC(H) with a real proper (p × m) matrix rational function of s or of z. The constant realizations for such a system was shown in Facts 21.10 to lie in one-to-one correspondence with matrix quadruples (A, B, C, D) which satisfied $$\begin{aligned} & & & G\left( s \right) = C{\left( {s{I_n} - A} \right)^{ - 1}}B + D,\quad s \in ROC\left( H \right), \\ or \\ G\left( z \right) = C{\left( {z{I_n} - A} \right)^{ - 1}}B + D,\quad z \in ROC\left( H \right). \\ \end{aligned} $$
Sex differences in nicotine-enhanced Pavlovian conditioned approach in rats.

Nicotine exposure enhances Pavlovian conditioned approach (PCA), or the learned approach to reward-predictive cues. While females show elevated approach to conditioned stimuli compared to males, potentially indicating heightened addiction vulnerability, it is unknown how sex may interact with nicotine to influence approach behavior. Additionally, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels can be altered significantly after repeated nicotine exposure, suggesting a potential mechanism contributing to nicotine-induced behavioral phenotypes. The present study investigated the role of sex on nicotine-induced changes to stimulus-response behavior and associated BDNF protein levels. Male and female rats were exposed to nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, subcutaneously) or saline 15 min prior to each PCA session. PCA training consisted of 29 sessions of 15 trials, in which a 30-s cue presentation ended concurrently with a sucrose reward (20% w/v in water, 100 μL), and a 120-s variable intertrial interval occurred between trials. Approach behavior to the cue and reward receptacle was recorded. Preference toward the reward receptacle indicated a goal-tracking phenotype, and preference toward the cue indicated a sign-tracking phenotype, demonstrating that the cue had gained incentive salience. Twenty-four hours after the last PCA session, brain tissue was collected and BDNF levels were measured in the basolateral amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and nucleus accumbens using Western blot analysis. Nicotine exposure enhanced both sign- and goal-tracking conditioned approach, and females showed elevated sign-tracking compared to males. There were no sex-by-drug interactions on conditioned approach. Day-to-day variability in conditioned approach was similar between sexes. In contrast to prior studies, neither repeated exposure to nicotine nor sex significantly affected BDNF expression. Drug-naive females exhibited heightened sign-tracking compared to males, and nicotine enhanced conditioned approach similarly in males and females. Further, non-significant changes to BDNF expression in brain regions highly associated with PCA indicate that BDNF is unlikely to drive nicotine-enhanced conditioned behavior.
Potential Effects of Age, Population, and Latitude on Precision of Scale and Otolith Age Estimates of White Crappie in Minnesota

Abstract We calculated between-reader precision of ages estimated with scales and whole otoliths (sagittae) of White Crappie Pomoxis annularis for 10 Minnesota populations, and determined effects o...
What Happens When We Fail? Building Resilient Community-Based Research:

This article reports on the second stage of a 7-year community-based research project involving service-learning students in technical and professional communication courses and nonprofit organizat...
COPPER, CADMIUM, AND ZINC CONCENTRATIONS IN JUVENILE CHINOOK SALMON AND SELECTED FISH-FORAGE ORGANISMS (AQUATIC INSECTS) IN THE UPPER SACRAMENTO RIVER, CALIFORNIA

This study assessed the downstream extent andseverity of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), and zinc (Zn)contamination from acid mine drainage on juvenile chinook salmon(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and aquatic insects over aroughly 270-km reach of the Sacramento River below KeswickReservoir. During April–May 1998, salmon were collected fromfour sites in the river and from a fish hatchery that receiveswater from Battle Creek. Salmon from river sites were examinedfor gut contents to document their consumption of variousinvertebrate taxa, whereas salmon from river sites and thehatchery were used for metal determinations. Midge(Chironomidae) and caddisfly (Trichoptera) larvae and mayfly(Ephemeroptera) nymphs were collected for metal determinationsduring April–June from river sites and from Battle and Buttecreeks. The fish hatchery and Battle and Butte creeks served asreference sites because they had no history of receiving minedrainage. Salmon consumed mostly midge larvae and pupae (44.0%,damp-dry biomass), caddisfly larvae (18.9%), Cladocera (5.8%),and mayfly nymphs (5.7%). These results demonstrated thatinsects selected for metal determinations were important as fishforage. Dry-weight concentrations of Cu, Cd, and Zn weregenerally far higher in salmon and insects from the river thanfrom reference sites. Within the river, high metalconcentrations persisted as far downstream as South Meridian (thelowermost sampling site). Maximum concentrations of Cd (30.7 μg g-1) and Zn (1230 μg g-1),but not Cu (87.4 μg g-1), in insects exceeded amounts that other investigators reported as toxic when fed for prolonged periods to juvenile salmonids.
Experimental investigation of conduction heat transfer in a rotary drum using infrared thermography

Abstract A technique for studying heat transfer in a rotary drum is proposed using infrared (IR) thermography, which is used to record images to give instantaneous thermal data. In this work, the calibration procedure and methodology used to extract temperatures of the particles and the drum wall from the IR camera is discussed. The technique provides insightful information on the flow regimes and heat transfer for varying drum fill levels and rotation rates. The flow profile of the particle bed for each run is analyzed both theoretically using Froude number and experimentally using recorded IR images. The results suggest that the flow of particles is influenced by particle-particle friction in the presence of heat transfer. A transition in the flow profile is observed as time progresses and the bed reaches a surging regime. Higher rotation rates result in maximum average bed temperatures, whereas fill level does not have a conclusive effect.
Freedom and Praxis in Plotinus’s Ennead 6.8.1-6

Abstract: In this paper, I argue that Plotinus does not limit the sphere of free human agency simply to intellectual contemplation, but rather extends it all the way to human praxis. Plotinus’s goal in the first six chapters of Ennead 6.8 is, accordingly, to demarcate the space of freedom within human practical actions. He ultimately concludes that our external actions are free whenever they actualize, in unhindered fashion, the moral principles derived from intellectual contemplation. This raises the question of how the freedom of practical actions might relate to the freedom of intellectual contemplation. After considering two previously offered models - a model of double activity, and an Aristotelian model of practical syllogism - I offer a third alternative, namely a model of moral attunement, according to which our rational desires assume a kind of ‘care of the soul’ through active supervision. Practical life is thus imbued with freedom to the extent that the soul supervises its actions to conform to its will and choice of the good.
Store Location in Shopping Centers: Theory and Estimates

This paper develops a formal theory of store location within shopping centers based on bid rent theory. The bid rent model is fully specified and solved with the objective function of profit maximi...
Characterizing the Impact of TCP Coexistence in Data Center Networks

The switch fabrics of today’s data centers carry traffic controlled by a variety of TCP congestion control algorithms. This leads us to ask: how does the coexistence of multiple variants of TCP on shared switch fabric impacts the performance achieved by different applications in data centers? To answer this question, we conducted an extensive set of experiments with coexisting TCP variants on Leaf-Spine and Fat-Tree switch fabrics. We executed common data center workloads, which include streaming, MapReduce, and storage workloads, using four commonly used TCP variants, namely BBR, DCTCP, CUBIC, and New Reno. We also extensively executed iPerf workloads using these 4 TCP variants to purely study the impact of the coexistence of TCP variants on each other’s performance without incorporating the network behavior of the application layer. Our experiments resulted in a large set of network traces comprised of 160 billion packets (we will release these traces after publication of this work). We present comprehensive observations from these traces that have important implications in ensuring optimal utilization of data center switch fabric and in meeting the network performance needs of application layer workloads.
Foresight: planning for spatial and temporal variations in bandwidth for streaming services on mobile devices

Spatiotemporal variation in cellular bandwidth availability is well-known and could affect a mobile user's quality of experience (QoE), especially while using bandwidth intensive streaming applications such as movies, podcasts, and music videos during commute. If such variations are made available to a streaming service in advance it could perhaps plan better to avoid sub-optimal performance while the user travels through regions of low bandwidth availability. The intuition is that such future knowledge could be used to buffer additional content in regions of higher bandwidth availability to tide over the deficits in regions of low bandwidth availability. Foresight is a service designed to provide this future knowledge for client apps running on a mobile device. It comprises three components: (a) a crowd-sourced bandwidth estimate reporting facility, (b) an on-cloud bandwidth service that records the spatiotemporal variations in bandwidth and serves queries for bandwidth availability from mobile users, and (c) an on-device bandwidth manager that caters to the bandwidth requirements from client apps by providing them with bandwidth allocation schedules. Foresight is implemented in the Android framework. As a proof of concept for using this service, we have modified an open-source video player---Exoplayer---to use the results of Foresight in its video buffer management. Our performance evaluation shows Foresight's scalability. We also showcase the opportunity that Foresight offers to ExoPlayer to enhance video quality of experience (QoE) despite spatiotemporal bandwidth variations for metrics such as overall higher bitrate of playback, reduction in number of bitrate switches, and reduction in the number of stalls during video playback.
Nasal Septum Perforation and Inferior Turbinate Avulsion/Unilateral Empty Nose Syndrome Resulting from Management of Recurrent Epistaxis

The patient is a 68-year-old male who reported a history of excellent health until 10 years ago, when he developed a cardiac/thromboembolic condition that required use of aspirin and clopidogrel for anticoagulation. In his first year of treatment, he unfortunately developed recurrent right-sided epistaxis. He recalled presenting to his local emergency department (ED) on multiple occasions to manage the nosebleeds, which led to multiple right-sided nasal cautery procedures. On his last ED visit, given profuse recurrent epistaxis, additional cautery of the nasal septum and right-sided nasal packing were pursued. Upon aggressive placement and advancement of the nasal packing into his right nasal cavity by the ED treatment team, the patient recalls experiencing an “unbearable, tearing sensation” and “excruciating, blistering pain” to his right face. Because of this traumatic experience, the patient was admitted and taken to the OR the following day by an otolaryngologist for additional surgical control of epistaxis. After this procedure, he learned that a large nasal septum perforation was found, and that “there was damage to his nasal turbinate” but that nothing further could be offered.
Psychostimulant Treatment for Children

Psychostimulants are the most widely used and efficacious treatments currently available for children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Recent estimates by the Center for Disease Control indicate that 2.5 of the 4.4 million children with ADHD residing in the United States between 4 and 17 years old are prescribed medication, and in most cases, are given one of the available psychostimulants. Table 1 lists available psychostimulant formulae according to their release format (extended, intermediate, immediate), and the typical dosing schedule, onset of effect, and peak/duration of behavioral effects for each formula. Keywords: psychostimulants; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; ADHD treatment; drug therapy
A Unique Life in Film

Jean Rouch, anthropologist-filmmaker, is an enigma. For anyone interested in ethnographic film, he is undoubtedly the producer of many masterworks. In France, his reputation is even more grand in that he is considered one of the most important of their filmmakers, in league with the likes of Godard and Truffaut. Godard wrote several glowing critiques of Rouch’s films in the influential journal Cahiers du cinema and used Raoul Coutard, cinematographer for Rouch’s Chronicle of a Summer for his groundbreaking film Breathless. Rouch’s influence can easily be seen in Godard’s films, and Roberto Rossellini, Italian neorealist filmmaker, has noted how impressed he was with Rouch’s films, particularly Jaguar. There is a large body of critical and popular literature about Rouch in French, and several of his films have had theatrical releases in Europe. In the United States and the United Kingdom, most of his 100 films are not available, and the scholarly literature about him is scarce and recent. Steven Feld’s translation of Rouch’s Cine-Ethnography (2003) provides us with translations of some of Rouch’s writings and reprints of articles by others about him. Paul Stoller’s The Cinematic Griot (1992) examines some of Rouch’s West African films from the perspective of French anthropology. We now have a much-needed addition to this rather short list with the publication of Paul Henley’s masterful study, The Adventure of the Real. Henley, the director of Manchester’s Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology, has had access to most of Rouch’s films as well as to the French literature that is seldom translated into English. This is the definitive English-language study and will remain so for a long time. As film distribution companies like Documentary Educational Resources (Watertown, MA) are expanding their offerings of Rouch’s work, those of us in the English-speaking world will be able to view the films and make good use of Henley’s thorough and extensive scholarship. Because Rouch was employed as a researcher at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), he had few responsibilities other than to pursue his anthropological and filmmaking interests. He seldom needed outside funding except when a film was blown up to 35 mm and theatrically
Laminar inflammatory events in lean and obese ponies subjected to high carbohydrate feeding: Implications for pasture-associated laminitis.

Summary Reasons for performing study Acute, massive enteral carbohydrate overload is associated with laminar inflammation in equids; it is unclear if the same is true for a more prolonged period of moderate dietary carbohydrate intake. Objectives To characterise laminar inflammation in ponies exposed to a dietary carbohydrate challenge meant to mimic acute pasture exposure. Study design In vivo experiment. Methods Mixed-breed ponies (n = 22) received a diet of hay chop (nonstructural carbohydrate [NSC] ∼7% on a dry matter [DM] basis) for 4 weeks prior to initiation of the experimental feeding protocol. Following dietary acclimation, ponies were stratified into either Lean (n = 11, body condition score [BCS] ≤4) or Obese (n = 11, BCS ≥7) groups and each group further stratified to either remain on the control, low NSC diet (n = 5 each for Obese and Lean) or receive a high NSC diet (hay chop supplemented with sweet feed and oligofructose, total diet ∼42% NSC; n = 6 each for Obese and Lean) for a period of 7 days. Laminar samples were collected following euthanasia and sections stained immunohistochemically for CD163, MAC387/calprotectin and cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) using commercially available antibodies. The number of CD163 (+) and MAC387(+) cells was quantified for each section; the distribution of COX-2 expression was qualitatively assessed. Laminar mRNA concentrations of several proinflammatory molecules (interleukin-1β [IL-1β], IL-6, tumour necrosis factor-α [TNFα], IL-8, IL-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 [MCP-1], MCP-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), E-selectin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and COX-2 were evaluated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Results High carbohydrate feeding resulted in no increase in laminar proinflammatory cytokine expression; laminar COX-2 expression was increased by high carbohydrate feeding. No laminar leucocyte infiltration was observed in response to high carbohydrate feeding. Conclusions These results suggest that the marked laminar inflammation observed in models of sepsis-associated laminitis may not play a central role in the pathophysiology of pasture-associated laminitis.
Multilevel plane wave time domain-based global boundary kernels for two-dimensional finite difference time domain simulations

[1] Time domain boundary integrals are used to impose global transparent boundary conditions in two-dimensional finite difference time domain solvers. Augmenting classical methods for imposing these conditions with the multilevel plane wave time domain scheme reduces the computational cost of enforcing a global transparent boundary condition from O() to O(st log s log t); here s and t denote the number of equivalent source boundary nodes and their time samples used to integrate external fields, respectively. Numerical results demonstrate that for thin and concave material objects, plane wave time domain-accelerated global transparent boundary kernels outperform perfectly matched layer-based absorbing boundary schemes without loss of accuracy.
Reviving bino dark matter with vectorlike fourth generation particles

We supplement the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with vector-like copies of standard model particles. Such 4th generation particles can raise the Higgs boson mass to the observed value without requiring very heavy superpartners, improving naturalness and the prospects for discovering supersymmetry at the LHC. Here we show that these new particles are also motivated cosmologically: in the MSSM, pure Bino dark matter typically overcloses the Universe, but 4th generation particles open up new annihilation channels, allowing Binos to have the correct thermal relic density without resonances or co-annihilation. We show that this can be done in a sizable region of parameter space while preserving gauge coupling unication and satisfying constraints from collider, Higgs, precision electroweak, and avor physics.
Evaluation of BD GeneOhm CDiff PCR assay for diagnosis of toxigenic Clostridium difficile infection.

Clostridium difficile is the most common infectious cause of nosocomial diarrhea, affecting thousands of patients annually and exacting enormous costs on the U.S. health care system. Early diagnosis is critical to prevent transmission and reduce morbidity and mortality, yet sensitive and specific diagnostic tests with a quick turnaround time are lacking. The objective of this study was to determine if a new commercially available real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test would prove more rapid, sensitive and specific than standard methods for the diagnosis of C. difficile infection (CDI). BD GeneOhmTM Cdiff assay, a real-time PCR assay for detection of C. difficile toxin B (tcdB) gene, was compared with Tox A/B IITM ELISA and a two-step algorithm which includes C. Diff Chek-60TM Glutamate Dehydrogenase (GDH)-antigen assay followed by cytotoxin neutralization. Four-hundred liquid or semisolid stools submitted for diagnostic C. difficile testing were selected: 200 GDH antigen-positive and 200 GDH antigennegative. All samples were tested by the C. Diff Chek-60TM GDH antigen, cytotoxin neutralization, Toxin A/B IITM ELISA, and BD GeneOhmTM Cdiff assay. Discrepant specimens were tested by toxigenic culture as an independent gold standard. Chart review was performed on patients with discrepant specimens. As BD GeneOhmTM Cdiff assay was not FDA-cleared at the time of study, PCR results were not clinically reported. Of 200 GDH-positive samples, 71 were positive by Tox A/B II, 88 were positive by the two-step method, 93 were positive by PCR, and 96 were positive by GDH-antigen only. Of 200 GDH-negative samples, 3 were positive by PCR only. Toxigenic culture was performed on 41 samples with discrepant results and 39 were culture-positive. After
Binding motif based code models for prokaryotic translation initiation

Studies of prokaryotic translation initiation sites reveal that ribosomal binding sites appear to evolve to functional requirements rather than to genetic sequences that produce the strongest binding site. Several factors influence translation of mRNA sequences, including: initiation codon, presence and location of the Shine-Dalgarno sequence, spacing between the initiation codon and the Shine-Dalgarno domain, the second codon following the initiator codon, and possibly other nucleotides in the -20 to +13 region of the mRNA leader region. These factors influence how the small subunit of the ribosome interacts with and binds to the mRNA leader region such that conditions are favorable for successful translation initiation. In this work translation initiation models are constructed by analyzing possible binding patterns between mRNA leader sequences and the exposed portion of the 16S rRNA. Binding analysis data are used as inputs to a genetic algorithm which searches for optimal binary, convolutional codes to model the Eschericha coli K-12 translation initiation system. We present an evaluation of the coding models discovered.
Assessing student knowledge transfer during group work

Successful group work requires that students transfer relevant prior knowledge to solve problems. This paper establishes a method to assess dynamic knowledge transfer in a group setting through analysis of a group project in a biomechanics class. Transcripts of student-student and student-instructor interactions were coded for evidence of target tools (students identifying relevant problem features), source tools (students activating prior knowledge), answers (stopping points), external inputs (resources and prompts from individuals or the instructor), and workbench explanations (student explanations of connections between source tools and target tools). Knowledge transfer was identified when a source tool and a target tool were coded within a phrase. The frequencies of codes were quantified to provide an overall picture of knowledge transfer for each group member throughout the project. Analysis for one group (a sophomore and junior bioengineering student, and a freshman engineering student) revealed that the junior was the largest contributor in the group, followed by the sophomore and freshman. The group mentioned source tools most frequently, followed by external inputs and target tools. The analysis provided evidence of knowledge transfer within the group through their identification of target tools and use of prior knowledge to explain their observations.
Stability of free-convection flows of variable-viscosity fluids in vertical and inclined slots

The stability of the buoyancy-driven parallel shear flow of a variable-viscosity Newtonian fluid between vertical or inclined plates maintained at different temperatures is studied theoretically. The analysis is capable of dealing with arbitrary viscosity-temperature relations. Depending on the Prandtl number, angle of inclination, and form of the viscosity-temperature variation, the flow may become unstable with respect to two-dimensional longitudinal or transverse disturbances. Outstanding questions arising in previous investigations of the stability of parallel free-convection flows of constant-viscosity fluids in inclined slots and of variable-viscosity fluids in vertical slots are discussed. We find that, in a variable-viscosity fluid, non-monotonic dependence of the critical Rayleigh number on the inclination angle can occur at significantly higher Prandtl numbers than is possible in the constant-viscosity case. Results are also presented for the stability of the free-convection flow of several glycerol-water solutions in an inclined slot.
Acoustic features of infant crying related to intended caregiving intervention

The present study investigated the acoustic features of crying associated with intended caregiving intervention. One hundred eighty-eight parents (138 females, 50 males) viewed a videotape depicting a healthy 4-week-old infant progressing from fussing to crying over the course of 4 minutes, and indicated if and when they would pick up the infant in a real-life situation. There was a distinct peak in responding corresponding to an increase in duration but not fundamental frequency of the infant's cries. This finding is discussed in terms of the existing empirical literature. It is hypothesized that, whereas frequency may convey information about a newborn's neurological integrity and health status at birth, duration and other acoustical variables provide information about slightly older, normal infants' level of distress. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Extracting meaning from volumetrically displayed data

This paper describes experience using a volumetric workstation to extract meaning from complex transparent data. The hardware and software of the workstation are briefly summarized, and initial experience is reported. Medical data has primarily been studied, but the techniques should apply to other types of data.© (1990) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Further studies on criteria for the onset of dynamical instability in general three-body systems

Numerical experiments designed for the elucidation of the conditions under which self-gravitating, three-body systems become dynamically unstable are examined of the cases of four orbital configuration types: circular, prograde, and coplanar; circular, retrograde, and coplanar; circular, direct, and inclined; and eccentric, direct, and coplanar. Results indicate that orbital inclination does not significantly affect stability in 'outer planet' configurations, while the stability of 'inner planet' configurations, where the tertiary is in close orbit about one member of the binary, is markedly less affected, once the relative orbital inclination is greater than 50 deg. It is found that the onset of dynamical instability is only weakly dependent on the eccentricity of either the binary or tertiary orbit, as long as the mass of the tertiary is comparable to the reduced mass of the binary.
Evaluation of metal complexation as an alternative to protonation for electrospray ionization of pharmaceutical compounds

The use of pyridyl and polyether compounds as auxiliary ligands to promote metal complexation of a series of pharmaceutical analytes by electrospray ionization (ESI) is explored as an alternative to conventional protonation by ESI. The auxiliary ligands vary in the number and nature of binding sites, the orientation of the binding sites with respect to each other, and the conformational flexibility of the ligand during complexation of the metal ion. The ESI of ternary solutions composed of a pharmaceutical substrate, a transition metal ion salt, and an auxiliary complexation agent generate metal complexes of the type [(L-H+)MII(aux)]+, where L is the pharmaceutical, M is either copper, nickel, or cobalt, and aux is the auxiliary ligand. Overall, the pyridine-type ligands are more useful for the generation of ternary metal complexes than the polyether-type ligands, which preferentially complex sodium ions and, upon collisional activation, undergo fragmentation of the polyether skeleton in addition to the structurally informative dissociation of the analytes. The auxiliary ligand that exhibits the best performance is 2,2′-dipyridine; its ternary metal complexes enhance the structural characterization of five of the pharmaceuticals by promoting a greater number of fragments relative to the CAD patterns of the protonated substrates.
Swept-wavelength interferometric interrogation of fiber Rayleigh scatter for distributed sensing applications

We review recent advancements in making high resolution distributed strain and temperature measurements using swept-wavelength interferometry to observe the spectral characteristics of Rayleigh scatter in optical fibers. Current methods available for distributed strain or temperature sensing in optical fiber include techniques based on Raman, Brillouin, and Rayleigh scattering. These techniques typically employ optical time domain reflectometry and are thus limited in spatial resolution to 0.1 to 1 m. Fiber Bragg gratings can yield higher spatial resolution but are difficult to multiplex in large numbers for applications requiring wide scale coverage. Swept-wavelength interferometry allows the Rayleigh scatter amplitude and phase to be sampled with very high spatial resolution (10s of microns). The Rayleigh scatter complex amplitude can be Fourier Transformed to obtain the Rayleigh scatter optical spectrum and shifts in the spectral pattern can related to changes in strain or temperature. This technique results in distributed strain measurements with 1 μe resolution or temperature measurements with 0.1 C resolution. These measurements can be made with sub-cm spatial resolution over a 100 m measurement range or with sub-10 cm resolution over a 1 Km range. A principle advantage of this technique is that it does not require specialty fiber. Thus, measurements can be made in pre-installed single mode or multimode fibers, including those used for telecommunication networks. Applications range from fault monitoring in short range communications networks, structural health monitoring, shape sensing, pipeline and electrical transmission line monitoring, to perimeter security. Several examples are discussed in detail.
Excitation energies through the locally renormalized equation-of-motion formalism: Singles and doubles model

The stationary conditions obtained from approximate coupled-cluster functional derived from the numerator-denominator connected expansion (NDC) [K. Kowalski and P. Piecuch, J. Chem. Phys. 122, 074107 (2005)] are employed to calculate the linear response of cluster amplitudes. A simple scheme that involves singly and doubly excited amplitudes, termed locally renormalized equation-of-motion approach with singles and doubles (LR-EOMCCSD), is compared with other excited-state methods that include up to two-body operators in the wave function expansion. In particular, the impact of the local denominators on the excitation energies is discussed in detail. Several benchmark calculations on the CH+, C2, N2, O3, and ClOCl molecules are presented to illustrate the performance of the LR-EOMCCSD approach.
A Full Row-Rank System Matrix Generated by the Strip-Based Projection Model in Discrete Tomography

Abstract Let C u = k be an underdetermined linear system generated by the strip-based projection model in discrete tomography, where C is row-rank deficient. In the case of one scanning direction the linear dependency of the rows of C is studied in this paper. An index set H is specified such that if all rows of C with row indices in H are deleted then the rows of resultant matrix F are maximum linearly independent rows of C . Therefore, the corresponding system F u = k ˜ is equivalent to C u = k and consequently, the cost of an image reconstruction from F u = k ˜ is reduced.
Family responses to donor designation in donation cases: a longitudinal study

Context—A 2001 state law reinforced donors' rights by mandating that donor consent be strictly honored. One concern was the potentially negative impact of donor designation notification on donor families.Objectives—To examine donor families' responses to donor designation.Design—Descriptive nonexperimental design spanning July 1999 to September 2004.Setting—State served by organ procurement organization.Data—Results from surveys completed by 569 donor families, including 162 surveys from designated donor families.Main Outcome Measures—Previous discussions, designation awareness, information helpful, information stress, awareness of meaning of donation, and comfort with designation decision.Results—The majority (79%) of designated donor families reported their loved ones had discussed donation with them; of these families, 86% were aware of donor designation, and 83% understood what donation entailed. The majority (75%) thought information about loved ones' donor designation was helpful, and only 8% found ...
Type II hidden symmetries of the second heavenly equation

Abstract A Type II hidden symmetry of the non-linear second heavenly equation in gravitational physics is identified. Its provenance from other partial differential equations is studied. Two reductions of the second heavenly equation produce the Monge–Ampere equation in similarity variables and new analytic solutions are possible.
Determination of higher electric polarizability tensors from unrelaxed coupled cluster density matrix calculations of electric multipole moments

The CCSDT-1 method is used to calculate electric dipole, quadrupole, and octopole moments for the HF and H2O molecule and the F− anion, together with the associated higher-order polarizabilities. All multipole moments are computed as expectation values. Externally perturbed moments are used to determine the components of the electric tensors of second and higher order. It is shown that the correlated electric moments are in good agreement with experiment and that they may be used to obtain the electric polarizability and hyperpolarizability tensors in an effective way. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Correlative cryogenic tomography of cells using light and soft x-rays

Correlated imaging is the process of imaging a specimen with two complementary modalities, and then combining the two data sets to create a highly informative, composite view. A recent implementation of this concept has been the combination of soft x-ray tomography (SXT) with fluorescence cryogenic microscopy (FCM). SXT-FCM is used to visualize cells that are held in a near-native, cryopreserved. The resultant images are, therefore, highly representative of both the cellular architecture and molecular organization in vivo. SXT quantitatively visualizes the cell and sub-cellular structures; FCM images the spatial distribution of fluorescently labeled molecules. Here, we review the characteristics of SXT-FCM, and briefly discuss how this method compares with existing correlative imaging techniques. We also describe how the incorporation of a cryo-rotation stage into a cryogenic fluorescence microscope allows acquisition of fluorescence cryogenic tomography (FCT) data. FCT is optimally suited for correlation with SXT, since both techniques image the specimen in 3-D, potentially with similar, isotropic spatial resolution.