cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quantitative Panoramic Imaging of Epicardial Electrical Activity

Fluorescent imaging with voltage- and/or calcium-sensitive dyes has revolutionized cardiac physiology research. Here we present improved panoramic imaging for optically mapping electrical activity from the entire epicardium of the Langendorff-perfused rabbit heart. Combined with reconstruction of the 3D heart surface, the functional data can be conveniently visualized on the realistic heart geometry. Methods to quantify the panoramic data set are introduced by first describing a simple approach to mesh the heart in regular grid form. The regular grid mesh provides substrate for easy translation of previously available non-linear dynamics methods for 2D array data. It also simplifies the unwrapping of curved three-dimensional surface to 2D surface for global epicardial visualization of the functional data. The translated quantification methods include activation maps (isochrones), phase maps, phase singularity, and electric stimulus-induced virtual electrode polarization (VEP) maps. We also adapt a method to calculate the conduction velocities on the global epicardial surface by taking the curvature of the heart surface into account.
Modelling and simulation of stochastic systems

In the field of automatic control, systems with stochastic inputs are frequently encountered. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (I) to treat the problem of mathematically modelling a general class of stochastic systems, and (2) to simulate the optimal control for a special case of this class of stochastic systems, specifically a linear time-invariant system with stochastic inputs and stochastically perturbed observations. The general class of systems considered in the modelling includes systems having non-linear and time-varying state dependence and additive white noise which is added in a non-linear and time-varying manner.
Misinterpretation of Stenosis Severity in the Presence of Serial Coronary Stenoses: An In-Vitro Study

In patients with multiple stenoses in the same coronary artery, the severity of one stenosis influences the diagnosis of the serial stenosis. Currently used diagnostic end-point, Fractional Flow Reserve, FFR (ratio of distal to proximal pressure of a stenotic region), has a cut-off point of 0.75. A value of FFR < 0.75 leads to a clinical intervention. However, FFR may fail to account for multiple stenoses interactions and might lead to clinical misinterpretation of one serial stenosis severity. In order to assess the effect of one stenosis on the other serial stenosis, we tested three combinations of serial stenoses: 80%–64%, 80%–80% and 80%–90% area stenosis (AS) respectively, using an in-vitro experimental setup. The hyperemic flow decreased from 136.4 ml/min to 126.4 ml/min and further to 90.7 ml/min as downstream stenosis severity increased from 64% AS to 80% AS and further to 90% AS, respectively. More importantly, the individual FFR values of the upstream stenosis (80% AS) increased from 0.76 to 0.79 and further to 0.88 as the downstream stenosis increased from 64% AS to 80% AS and further to 90% AS, respectively. On the contrary, the combined FFR across both the stenosis was below the threshold value of 0.75. These results indicate that the presence of a downstream stenosis might lead to a clinical misinterpretation of the upstream stenosis severity and also the combined stenosis severity.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Identification of extractable growth factors from small intestinal submucosa.

When implanted as a biomaterial for tissue replacement, selected submucosal layers of porcine small intestine induce site-specific tissue remodeling. Small intestinal submucosa (SIS), as isolated, is primarily an acellular extracellular matrix mater~al. In an attempt to discover the components of small intestinal submucosa which are able to induce this tissue remodeling, the material was extracted and extracts were tested for the ability to stimulate Swiss 3T3 fibroblasts to synthesize DNA and proliferate. Each oi the iour different extracts of small intestinal submucosa had measurablecell-stimulating activity when analyzed in both a whole cell proliferation assay (alamarBlue dye reduction) and a DNA synthesis assay (('HI-thymidine incorporation). Proteins extracted from SIS with 2 M urea induced activity profiles in the two assays which were very similar to the activity profiles of basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) in the assays. As well, the changes in cell morphology in response to the extracted proteins mimicked the changes induced by FGF-2. Neutralization experiments with specific antibodies to this growth factor confirmed the presence of FGF-2 and indicated that it was responsible for 60% oi the fibroblast-stimulating activity of the urea extract oi small intestinal submucosa. Western blot analvsis with a monoclonal antibody specific for FGF-2 detected a reactive doublet at approximately 19 kDa and further confirmed the presence oi FGF-2. Cell stimulat~ng activity oi proteins extracted irom SIS with 4 M guanidine was neutralized by an antibody specific ior transforming growth factor P CTCFB). Changes in the morphology oi the fibroblasts exposed to this extract were nearly identical to changes induced by TGFB. Although no reactive protein band was detected at 25 kDa in nonreduced western blot analysis, several bands were reactive at higher molecular weight. The identity of this TGFf3-related component of small intestinal submucosa is unknown. Identification of FGF-2 and TGFp-related activities in SIS, two growth tactors known to significantly affect critical processes oi tissue development and difierentiation, provides the opportunity to further elucidate the mechanisms by which this extracellu- larmatrix biomaterial modulates wound healing and tissueremodeling. J. Cell. Biochem. 67:478491,1997. Q 1997wik+~. ~nc
Long-Term Maternal Hypoxia: The Role of Extracellular Ca2+ Entry During Serotonin-Mediated Contractility in Fetal Ovine Pulmonary Arteries

Antenatal maternal long-term hypoxia (LTH) can alter serotonin (5-HT) and calcium (Ca2+) signaling in fetal pulmonary arteries (PAs) and is associated with persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN). In humans, the antenatal maternal hypoxia can be secondary to smoking, anemia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders. However, the mechanisms of antenatal maternal hypoxia-related PPHN are unresolved. Because both LTH and 5-HT are associated with PPHN, we tested the hypothesis that antenatal maternal LTH can increase 5-HT-mediated PA contraction and associated extracellular Ca2+ influx through L-type Ca2+ channels (CaL), nonselective cation channels (NSCCs), and reverse-mode sodium–calcium exchanger (NCX) in the near-term fetus. We performed wire myography and confocal-Ca2+ imaging approaches on fetal lamb PA (∼140 days of gestation) from normoxic ewes or those acclimatized to high-altitude LTH (3801 m) for ∼110 days. Long-term hypoxia reduced the potency but not the efficacy of 5-HT-induced PA contraction. Ketanserin (100 nmol/L), a 5-HT2A antagonist, shifted 5-HT potency irrespective of LTH, while GR-55562 (1 µmol/L), a 5-HT1B/D inhibitor, antagonized 5-HT-induced contraction in normoxic fetuses only. Various inhibitors for CaL, NSCC, and reverse-mode NCX were used in contraction studies. Contraction was reliant on extracellular Ca2+ regardless of maternal hypoxia, NSCC was more important to contraction than CaL, and reverse-mode NCX had little or no role in contraction. Long-term hypoxia also attenuated the effects of 2-APB and flufenamic acid and reduced Ca2+ responses observed by imaging studies. Overall, LTH reduced 5HT1B/D function and increased NSCC-related Ca2+-dependent contraction in ovine fetuses, which may compromise pulmonary vascular function in the newborn.
Radiative lifetime measurements of excited levels in neon I and argon II.

Lifetimes of seven 3p levels in Ne i, and of eight 4p and four 4p′ levels in Ar ii were measured using the beam-foil technique and an image-tube spectrograph. The lifetimes of the measured 3p levels in Ne i agree well with those obtained by the pulsed electron-beam method. There is disagreement among the available experimental and theoretical studies of lifetimes and transition probabilities in Ar ii. We present our results, which include previously unreported values, for comparison.
Corneal Ablation in Rabbits Using an Infrared (2.9-μm) Erbium:YAG Laser+

Abstract The authors used a 2.9-μm infrared erbium:YAG (ER:YAG) laser to ablate the central corneas (a 3.5-mm wide, 180-μm deep area) of ten albino rabbits. In group 1(10 eyes), the central epithelium was removed by mechanical scrubbing to ablate the anterior stroma. In group 2 (10 eyes), a central anterior corneal cap was removed to ablate the midstroma. In group 1, epithelial wound healing occurred in 2 to 3 days. A mild anterior haze was observed with the slit lamp, but it gradually cleared in most eyes of both groups. Histologic specimens were obtained immediately and at 2 and 6 months after ablation for light and transmission and scanning electron microscopy. This acute histopathologic study did not show any endothelial damage even after ablations at 300-μm depth, although there was thermal damage more prominent at the borders of the ablated area for an extension of 40 μm. After 2 months, in the group 1 eyes, the regenerated epithelium appeared normal except for a thickening at the margins of the ablated area. Six months postoperatively there was still epithelial thickening at the margins of the remodeled zone. The basement membrane was present with anchoring filaments and hemidesmosomes. The healing of the anterior (group 1) and midstroma (group 2) occurred with some degree of disorganization of the lamellae and an increase in the population of keratocytes. The density of keratocytes at the ablated areas at 6 months was reduced in comparison with the 2-month observation. By photokeratoscopy, the corneas were smooth and slightly flattened. The authors conclude that corneal ablation using an ER:YAG laser at 2.9 μm may meet the criteria for photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).
Experiments on Nonlinear Dynamic Behavior of an Oscillator With Clearance and Periodically Time-Varying Parameters

A number of experiments on a physical system with clearance having combined parametric and external forcing excitation are presented. The data demonstrate several nonlinear phenomena that exist in periodically excited oscillators subject to clearance at a contact interface. Jump discontinuities in forced response curves are shown to exist and subharmonic resonances which are formed by period-n (nT) motions with n ≥ 2 are demonstrated. Long-period subharmonic motions with periods as long as nine times the excitation period are reported. Finally, several cases of measured chaotic motions are also illustrated through time-traces, phase portraits, Fourier spectra, and Poincare plots which form strange attractors.
POMDP-based control of workflows for crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing, outsourcing of tasks to a crowd of unknown people ("workers") in an open call, is rapidly rising in popularity. It is already being heavily used by numerous employers ("requesters") for solving a wide variety of tasks, such as audio transcription, content screening, and labeling training data for machine learning. However, quality control of such tasks continues to be a key challenge because of the high variability in worker quality. In this paper we show the value of decision-theoretic techniques for the problem of optimizing workflows used in crowdsourcing. In particular, we design AI agents that use Bayesian network learning and inference in combination with Partially-Observable Markov Decision Processes (POMDPs) for obtaining excellent cost-quality tradeoffs. We use these techniques for three distinct crowdsourcing scenarios: (1) control of voting to answer a binary-choice question, (2) control of an iterative improvement workflow, and (3) control of switching between alternate workflows for a task. In each scenario, we design a Bayes net model that relates worker competency, task difficulty and worker response quality. We also design a POMDP for each task, whose solution provides the dynamic control policy. We demonstrate the usefulness of our models and agents in live experiments on Amazon Mechanical Turk. We consistently achieve superior quality results than non-adaptive controllers, while incurring equal or less cost.
Effect of Inositol, Lecithin, Vitamins (B12 with Choline and E), and Iodinated Casein on Induced Fatty Liver-Hemorrhagic Syndrome in Laying Chickens

Egg production, liver lipid, and liver hemorrhagic score were not significantly altered by diets that contained inositol (at 1 or 2 g./kg. diet) and fed ad libitum, or force-fed to S.C. White Leghorn hens to produce fatty liver-hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS). FLHS was not prevented by lecithin, iodinated casein alone or with inositol. The vitamins B12, choline and E appeared to reduce FLHS and liver lipid in the one group tested. The dose-response relationship between feed intake, liver hemorrhagic score and liver lipid content was again demonstrated.
Patching Broken Chromosomes with Extranuclear Cellular DNA

Chromosomal double-strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired by either homology-dependent or homology-independent pathways. Using a novel intron-based genetic assay to identify rare homology-independent DNA rearrangements associated with repair of a chromosomal DSB in S. cerevisiae, we observed that approximately 20% of rearrangements involved endogenous DNA insertions at the break site. We have analyzed 37 inserts and find they fall into two distinct classes: Ty1 cDNA intermediates varying in length from 140 bp to 3.4 kb and short mitochondrial DNA fragments ranging in size from 33 bp to 219 bp. Several inserts consist of multiple noncontiguous mitochondrial DNA segments. These results demonstrate an ongoing mechanism for genome evolution through acquisition of organellar and mobile DNAs at DSB sites.
Variational problems with lags

In this paper, we study some questions concerning the minima of the functional $$J\left( y \right) = \int_{x_1 }^{x_2 } {f\left( {x,y\left( x \right),y\left( {x - r} \right),\dot y\left( x \right),\dot y\left( {x - r} \right)} \right)dx} $$ In Section 2, we obtain an analogue to the Jacobi condition to add to the list of previously obtained necessary conditions. A transversality condition is developed in Section 3. In Section 4, we obtain an existence theorem. The techniques used are modifications of those used in the classical problems. In Section 5, we show that the theory of fields for the classical problem fails to work for our problem.
Impacts of Vegetative Practices on Suspended Sediment from Watersheds of Arizona

Effects of vegetative practices on suspended sediment discharge from ponderosa pine forests and pinon-juniper woodlands in north-central Arizona are examined. Sediment-rating curves were developed to analyze the impacts. Disturbance from vegetative practices generally increased suspended sediment transport above those of control (reference) watersheds. Completely cleared and strip-cut ponderosa pine watersheds produced higher sediment concentrations than did a control watershed. Likewise, cabled and herbicide-treated pinon-juniper watersheds yielded higher sediment-laden streamflows than did a control. Sediment transport regimes are also related to streamflow-generation mechanisms and hydrograph stages. Although about 85% of the data analyzed represented snowmelt-runoff events in both vegetative types, derivation of sediment-rating curves based on streamflow-generation mechanisms improved the sensitivity of the analysis. Sediment data collected during rising and falling hydrograph stages varied between th...
N-nitrosothiazolidine and its 4-carboxylic acid in frankfurters containing Alaska pollock

In marine fish of the gadoid family trimethylamine oxide can decompose to formaldehyde. It can then react with cysteine and cysteamine, that may in turn react with nitrite, if present, to form N-nitrosothia-zolidine-4-carboxylic acid (NTHZC) and N-nitrosothiazolidine (NTHZ). The NTHZC and NTHZ content of Alaska pollock surimi-meat frankfurters were similar to or lower than those found in an all-meat control, even at 50% substitution. No correlation was found between age of the fish protein prior to processing into surimi meat frankfurters and any measured variables.
Observations on different origins of "naturally" occurring antibodies.

In 6 weeks old C57BL/10J mice specificities of “naturally” occurring antibodies to determinants of the widely distributed ABH-(blood group)system are highly sex-dependent. This is not reflected by ABH-antigenic differences of red cells and tissues. The response of C57BL/10J mice to known heterologous AB antigens might show that production of certain “naturally” occurring hemagglutinating antibodies cannot be induced by exogenous heterologous antigens. With regard to the rare linkage of C57BL/10J mice hemagglutinins to XX and XY chromosome sets, and taking into account the peculiar occurrence of hemagglutinins in germ cells of certain animals and plants, it is assumed that growth and maturation mechanisms might have a relation to hemagglutinin production.
Legal Reform and Good Governance: Assessing Rights and Economic Development in Chile

Legal reforms throughout Latin America have increased the transparency of the criminal justice process and improved defendants' rights. Many scholars conjecture that such reforms also improve “good governance” and by extension economic development. Paradoxically, despite such assertions, there are few quantitative studies that examine the precise effect of such legal reforms. Using original data sets, the impact of Chile's criminal law reforms on the rights of criminals and economic development is tested. The results show that Chile's criminal law reform has enhanced defendants' rights by reducing the percent of individuals incarcerated. The reform has had a positive effect on regional economic activity, but little effect on foreign direct investment at the regional level.
Effect of diminishing doses of post-pituitary extract on urinary excretion of water and chlorides.

Previous work has indicated that, when the dose of injected post-pituitary extract is progressively reduced, the excretion rates of water and chlorides were changed independently of one another.1 The present experiments were designed to extend these observations by following the change in urinary excretion over a wide range of extract dosage. Thus the dose of extract was varied from 3000 milliunits per 100 g of body weight down to 2.5 milliunits. White rats were employed, weighing about 200 g. Each animal was used but once to prevent any possible complication due to sensitization or tolerance to the pituitary extract. The animals were given intra-peritoneal injections of 10 cc of 0.2% sodium chloride solution per 100 g of body weight with which had been mixed the calculated amount of pituitary extract.∗ They were then placed in metabolism cages for 6 hours, and the urine collected and analyzed for chlorides.1The data are presented in Table I. These show that as the dosage of the extract was progressively ...
Opsonized Virulent Brucella abortus Replicates within Nonacidic Endoplasmic Reticulum-Negative LAMP-1-Positive Phagosomes in Human Monocytes

Cells in the Brucella spp. are intracellular pathogens that survive and replicate within host monocytes. Brucella maintains persistent infections in animals despite the production of high levels of anti-Brucellaspecific antibodies. To determine the effect of antibody opsonization on the ability of Brucella to establish itself within monocytes, the intracellular trafficking of virulent Brucella abortus 2308 and attenuated hfq and bacA mutants was followed in the human monocytic cell line THP-1. Early trafficking events of B. abortus 2308containing phagosomes (BCP) were indistinguishable from those seen for control particles (heat-killed B. abortus 2308, live Escherichia coli HB101, or latex beads). All phagosomes transiently communicated the early-endosomal compartment and rapidly matured into LAMP-1, cathepsin D, and acidic phagosomes. By 2 h postinfection, however, the number of cathepsin D BCP was significantly lower for live B. abortus 2308-infected cells than for either Brucella mutant strains or control particles. B. abortus 2308 persisted within these cathepsin D, LAMP-1, and acidic vesicles; however, at the onset of intracellular replication, the numbers of acidic B. abortus 2308 BCP decreased while remaining cathepsin D and LAMP-1. In contrast to B. abortus 2308, the isogenic hfq and bacA mutants remained in acidic, LAMP-1 phagosomes and failed to initiate intracellular replication. Notably, markers specific for the host endoplasmic reticulum were absent from the BCPs throughout the course of the infection. Thus, opsonized B. abortus in human monocytes survives within phagosomes that remain in the endosomal pathway and replication of virulent B. abortus 2308 within these vesicles corresponds with an increase in intraphagosomal pH.
Is the new economy socially sustainable? (invited presentation) (abstract only)

At the turn of the millennium, the revolution in information technology has ushered in a new economy. This economy, originated in the United States, and more specifically in the American West Coast, is spreading throughout the world, in an uneven, yet dynamic pattern. It is essentially characterized by the key role of knowledge and information in spurring productivity and enhancing competitiveness; by its global reach; and by its networked form of business organization. Well managed, this new economy may yield an extraordinary harvest of human creativity and social well being. However, several major contradictions threaten the stability of this new economy: the volatility of global financial markets; the institutional rigidity of business, legislation, and governments in many countries; increasing social inequality and social exclusion throughout the world, limiting market expansion and triggering social tensions; and the growing opposition to globalization without representation on behalf of alternative values, and legitimate concerns on the environmental and social costs of this model of growth. Information technology offers great potential in helping to supersede these contradictions at the dawn of an emerging socio-economic system. But the speed of technological innovation requires the parallel development of institutional and cultural innovation, away from bureaucracy but closer to people, to ensure the sustainability of the new economy, and to spur the new wave of technological creativity.
Imaging and Endoscopic Approaches to Pancreatic Cancer

Imaging and endoscopy both play important and complementary roles in the initial diagnosis, staging, monitoring, and symptomatic management of pancreatic cancer. This article provides an overview of the uses of each of the diagnostic modalities, common imaging findings, alternative considerations, and areas of ongoing work in diagnostic imaging. This article also provides details of the uses of endoscopy for diagnosis, staging, and intervention throughout the course of a patient's care. These modalities each play important roles in the complex multidisciplinary care of patients with pancreatic cancer.
Chemically etched ultrahigh-Q wedge-resonator on a silicon chip

Ultrahigh-Q optical resonators are being studied across a wide range of fields, including quantum information, nonlinear optics, cavity optomechanics and telecommunications. Here, we demonstrate a new resonator with a record Q-factor of 875 million for on-chip devices. The fabrication of our device avoids the requirement for a specialized processing step, which in microtoroid resonators8 has made it difficult to control their size and achieve millimetre- and centimetre-scale diameters. Attaining these sizes is important in applications such as microcombs and potentially also in rotation sensing. As an application of size control, stimulated Brillouin lasers incorporating our device are demonstrated. The resonators not only set a new benchmark for the Q-factor on a chip, but also provide, for the first time, full compatibility of this important device class with conventional semiconductor processing. This feature will greatly expand the range of possible ‘system on a chip’ functions enabled by ultrahigh-Q devices.
The Inflammatory Response to Nonfatal Sindbis Virus Infection of the Nervous System Is More Severe in SJL Than in BALB/c Mice and Is Associated with Low Levels of IL-4 mRNA and High Levels of IL-10-Producing CD4+ T Cells

SJL mice are susceptible to inflammatory autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), while BALB/c mice are relatively resistant. To understand differences in immune responses that may contribute to autoimmune neurologic disease, we compared the responses of SJL and BALB/c mice to infection with Sindbis virus, a virus that causes acute nonfatal encephalomyelitis in both strains of mice. Clearance of virus was similar, but SJL mice developed a more intense inflammatory response in the brain and spinal cord and inflammation persisted for several weeks. Analysis of lymphocytes isolated from brains early after infection showed an absence of NK cells in SJL mice, while both strains of mice showed CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. During the second week after infection, CD4+ T cells increased in SJL mice and the proportion of CD8+ T cells decreased, while the opposite pattern was seen in BALB/c mice. Expression of IL-10 mRNA was higher and IL-4 mRNA was lower in the brains of infected SJL than in BALB/c mice, while expression of the mRNAs of IL-6, IL-1β, TNFα, and the Th1 cytokines IL-2, IL-12, and IFN-γ was similar. Lymphocytes isolated from the CNS of SJL mice produced large amounts of IL-10. CNS lymphocytes from both strains of mice produced IFN-γ in response to stimulation with Sindbis virus, but not in response to myelin basic protein. These data suggest that IL-10-producing CD4+ T cells are differentially recruited to or regulated within the CNS of SJL mice compared with BALB/c mice infected with Sindbis virus, a characteristic that may be related to low levels of IL-4, and is likely to be involved in susceptibility of SJL mice to CNS inflammatory diseases.
Periodic solutions of a singularly perturbed delay differential equation

Abstract A singularly perturbed differential delay equation of the form (1) ϵ x ( t ) = − x ( t ) + f ( x ( t − 1 ) , λ ) exhibits slowly oscillating periodic solutions (SOPS) near the first period-doubling bifurcation point of the underlying map (obtained by setting ϵ = 0 ). For extremely small values of ϵ , these periodic solutions resemble square waves, which consist of sharp, O ( ϵ ) transition layers connecting intervals of approximately unit length. In this article, we obtain analytic expressions for these square-wave periodic solutions, by solving the corresponding transition layer equations, and show that they are in excellent agreement with numerical solutions for a range of values of ϵ and λ . We also derive analytic expressions for other periodic solutions which are odd harmonics of the SOPS, and numerically exhibit their instability near the first period doubling bifurcation point of the map. The numerical computations were performed using a high accuracy Chebyshev spectral scheme. We give a brief description together with a study of its accuracy and efficiency.
An array of strong-motion accelerographs in Bear Valley, California

Fifteen strong-motion accelerographs, each with the capability of writing the WWVB absolute time code on the recorded accelerogram, have been deployed in an elliptical array, at a station spacing of several kilometers, along the San Andreas Fault in the Bear Valley region of central California. Ten accelerograms were obtained for the June 22, 1973, earthquake (M = 3.9), located near the center of the array. Preliminary analyses of these accelerograms support previous suggestions that the crystalline rocks of the Gabilan Range possess higher material velocities and lower intrinsic absorption than do the Cretaceous and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks northeast of the fault zone. These accelerograms clearly indicate that a strong-motion accelerograph array of this sort can provide the basic data for source mechanism, wave propagation, and local ground-motion studies for earthquakes with magnitudes as small as 3.5-4.0.
Protective variant associated with alcohol dependence in a Mexican American cohort

Background Mexican Americans, particularly those born in the United States, are at greater risk for alcohol associated morbidity and mortality. The present study sought to investigate whether specific genetic variants may be associated with alcohol use disorder phenotypes in a select population of Mexican American young adults.
Multiresolution volume simplification and polygonization

We propose a multiresolution volume simplification and polygonization algorithm. Traditionally, voxel-based algorithms lack the adaptive resolution support and consequently simplified volumes quickly lose sharp features after several levels of downsampling, while tetrahedral-based simplification algorithms usually generate poorly shaped triangles. In our method, each boundary cell is represented by a carefully selected representative vertex. The quadric error metrics are applied as the geometric error metric. Our approach first builds an error pyramid by bottom-up cell merging. We avoid topology problems in hierarchical cell merging by disabling erroneous cells and penalizing cells containing disconnected surface components with additional costs. Then, a top-down traversal is used to collect cells within a user specified error threshold. The surfacenets algorithm is used to polygonize these cells. We enhance it with online triangle shape optimization and budget control. Finally, we discuss a novel octree implementation which greatly eases the polygonization operations.
Early Women Sociologist and the American Sociological Society: the Patterns of Exclusion and Participation

Resumen La sociologia americana tiene una deuda importante con las primeras mujeres profesionales. Aunque fueron discriminadas como colegas, contribuyeron al pensamiento sociologico y participaron en actividades profesionales. La evidencia tanto de las barreras como de las oportunidades que tuvieron estas primeras mujeres lideres, reposa en los registros de los primeros anos de fundacion de la Sociedad Sociologica Americana (ASA); por ejemplo entre 1906 y 1931. El analisis de esta informacion, asi como de documentos personales de sociologos que trabajaron durante este periodo, revela que las mujeres participaron en un rango restringido de especialidad, frecuentemente asociado con roles tradicionales de genero. Jane Addams fue una figura importante durante estos primeros anos, y una lider en la separada y mas institucionalmente limitada red de mujeres sociologas. Palabras clave: Historia de la sociologia, Sociedad Sociologica Americana, Escuela de Chicago, Mujeres sociologas. Abstract American sociology owes a significant debt to early women professionals. Although dis-criminated against as full colleagues, they nonetheless contributed to sociological thought and participated in professional activities. Evidence of both the barriers and opportunities affecting these early female leaders is found in the records of the American Sociological Society during its founding years; i.e., from 1906-1931. Analysis of this information, as well as personal documents of sociologists working during this period, reveals that women did participate within a restricted range of “expertise”, often associated with traditional sex roles. Jane Addams was a significant figure in these early years and was a leader within the separate, more institutionally limited female sociologist’s network.
Prehension with trunk assisted reaching

For prehensile tasks, where objects are located beyond the normal reaching space, the trunk is bent forward to assist in the transport of the wrist to the object. Such task behaviors raise complex motor control issues such as how is the trunk movement incorporated into the motor plan. In this experiment, seated subjects were asked to reach and grasp a small and a large object placed on a table located beyond their maximal reach. Forward trunk bending was required to extend the reach distance. For such reaching movements, the wrist velocity consisted of a bell shape profile similar to those seen when the arm is the sole transport agent. In most trials, the trunk was the first to initiate movement, although there was no strict pattern of initiation order. The transport data showed that trunk and arm movement components were decoupled at the end of the reach. While the object was being grasped and lifted, the trunk continued moving for approximately 180 ms after the grasp. Wrist deceleration time expressed in absolute and relative values was sensitive to object size. The time from maximum peak aperture to the end of wrist movement also was significantly longer for grasping the small compared to the large object. No such relationships were observed for the trunk. Temporal coupling was only observed between the grip and wrist transport component. Time to maximum aperture was significantly correlated with time to peak wrist deceleration and only rarely with time to trunk deceleration peak. When the trunk participates in the transport of the wrist to an object, these findings suggest that only the wrist component is directly related to the achievement of the grasp. While the trunk assisted the arm to reach the object, the kinematic parameter recorded did not reveal any evidence of direct coupling. The presented data suggests that the planning takes place at the level of the hand and that endpoint is the primary variable controlled.
A rapid infection assay for Armillaria and real-time PCR quantitation of the fungal biomass in planta

Slow and unreliable infection in the greenhouse has been a barrier to research on Armillaria root disease. The existing infection assay takes 7‐18 months for detectable infection, during which time the inoculum often dies, resulting in unequal challenge among plants. Because symptom expression and mortality are rare, presence or absence of infection, determined by culturing, is the only datum derived from the existing infection assay. This limits both routine comparisons of strain virulence and complex investigations of pathogenesis, neither of which have been done for Armillaria mellea. We tested a new infection assay, in which grape rootstocks growing in tissue culture medium are inoculated, and compared to rootstocks previously characterized from the existing infection assay as tolerant (Freedom) or susceptible (3309C). Culture media of 25 plants per rootstock was inoculated and five plants per rootstock were harvested 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks postinoculation; the experiment was completed twice. Confocal microscopy and quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) were used to quantify infection. Roots were treated with WGA-AlexaFluor488, hyphae and roots were scanned on green and red channels on a confocal microscope, and percent root colonization was quantified. A fungal gene (EF1a) was determined to have a single copy in A. mellea, and both EF1a and a single-copy grape gene (UFGT) were amplified by Q-PCR; fungal DNA: plant DNA served as a measure of fungal biomass. Armillaria was detected by culture, microscopy, and Q-PCR starting 2 weeks postinoculation from all inoculated plants, demonstrating that the new infection assay is rapid and plants do not escape infection. Our findings of higher percent root colonization (as measured by microscopy) of 3309C than Freedom at all harvests (P < 0.0001), consistently higher fungal biomass (as measured by Q-PCR) of 3309 than Freedom, and a significant positive correlation between percent root colonization and fungal biomass (P ¼ 0.01) suggests that the quantitative methods of our new assay give similar results to the qualitative method of the existing infection assay. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Mycological Society.
Analysis and Measurement of a Time-Varying Matching Scheme for Pulse-Based Receivers With High- $Q$ Sources

A time-varying matching scheme designed for pulse- based high-quality factor (Q) receiving systems is introduced and analyzed. The proposed technique takes advantage of the time-domain characteristics of the short-duration pulses in a way that the matching network is optimized for absorbing energy from the pulse within its duration, and is reconfigured after the pulse so that the captured energy is efficiently delivered to the load. Particularly, this paper extends the authors' earlier work by providing a comprehensive analysis of the capability of the proposed design in achieving exceptional voltage gain and width compression. Measurements in the VHF range are provided to show the performance of the proposed design versus the conventional ones. The proposed technique is applied to the matching design for electrically small antennas, which achieves output signals with ten times narrower pulsewidths compared to original pulses, 3-4 times larger amplitudes, and 0.3-3-dB energy gains compared to conventional matching designs. New results also demonstrate the effects of timing/synchronization, which show that accurate synchronization (with typical error smaller than 10% of the original pulsewidth) is required to maintain large output amplitude (e.g., higher than 90% of the maximum achievable level). The proposed technique is particularly suitable for receiving systems using common modulation schemes including pulse amplitude modulation and on-off keying.
Effectiveness of Plant Growth Regulators under Photoselective Greenhouse Covers

Responses to selected chemical growth retardants (daminozide, paclobutrazol, and prohexadione-Ca) and GA1 and GA3 under photoselective greenhouse covers with various phytochrome photoequilibrium estimates ( φe) were evaluated using 'Bright Golden Anne' chrysanthemum ( Dendranthema ×grandiflora Kitam. (syn. Chrysanthemum ×morifolium Ramat.)) as the model plant to better understand the height control mechanism by far red (FR) light depleted environments. Plant height linearly decreased as φe increased from 0.72 to 0.83. The rate of height decrease of daminozide treated plants was less than that of water (control) or GA 3-treated plants. The rate of height reduction was not different between control and GA3-treated plants among chambers with various φe. Both paclobutrazol and prohexadione-Ca reduced plant height regardless of φe, but the height reduction by paclobutrazol was more than that by prohexadione- Ca. The combination of paclobutrazol and prohexadione-Ca reduced plant height more than either alone. GA 1 reversed the height reduction caused by paclobutrazol and prohexadione-Ca regardless of φe, but the height increase by GA 1 was more when it was applied with prohexadione-Ca than when applied alone. Results show that photoselective covers with high φe were effective in controlling height of chrysanthemums without chemical growth retardants. The linear relationship between plant height and φe suggests that effectiveness of photoselective covers increased as φe increased. The photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) transmission of photoselective covers decreased as the φe increased because of the increasing dye concentration. Identifying photoselective covers that effectively filter out FR light from sunlight and reduce plant height while minimizing the PPF reduction is critical for commercial success of photoselective covers. Gibberellins are, at least partially, involved in height control by photoselective covers. Photoselective greenhouse covers did not reduce responsiveness to gibberellins, and it appears that the mechanism may be to suppress gibberellin biosynthesis. Results also suggest that increased metabolism of GA 1 to GA8 was not the mechanism of height control by photoselective covers. Chemical names used: butanedioic acid mono (2,2-dimethylhydrazide) (daminozide); ( ±)-(R*,R*)- b-((4-chlorophenyl)methyl)-a-(1,1- dimethylethyl)-1H-1,2,4-triazole-1-ethanol (paclobutrazol); 3,5-dioxo-4-(1- oxopropyl)cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (prohexadione-Ca); gibberellic acid (GA).
Effects of magnesium and formaldehyde on the sedimentation behavior of rat liver ribosomes.

When rat liver ribosomes were dissociated by removing their magnesium, the two subunits had s,w of 52.6 and 28.1 S, and appeared to be quite asymmetrical. In 4M urea they became even more elongated. On restoration of magnesium, both subunits assumed more compact forms, 57.6 and 31.7 S, but only 28% of them formed larger aggregates. After brief treatment with formaldehyde, the magnesium-free subunits still elongated in urea, but to a lesser degree than the controls. When magnesium was restored they changed to 53.4 and 31.7 S forms, but did not, aggregate. The ribosomal subunits were also separated by reducing the bound magnesium to a low level, then adding 2.2M urea. After the urea had been dialyzed out, most of the large subunits were still in a compact form and when the magnesium concentration was increased, most of the subunits did not reassociate to whole ribosomes. Formaldehyde-treated subunits, however, did not reassociate. Even in their most compact forms, 60.0 and 35.5 S, both subunits had high frictional ratios. The 60.0 and 31.7 S forms were assumed to be the shapes that are seen in electron micrographs of negatively stained ribosomes. Both subunits seemed to be highly hydrated. Since the large subunit appeared to contain twice as much water as the small one, it might be a structure with either a deep channel or a hollow center.
Discussion: What Have We Learned from the New Suite of Risk Management Programs of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008?

New revenue-based support programs in the 2008 Farm Bill represent a fundamental shift in farm programs and risk management decision-making. However, complexity, uncertainty, economics, and, arguably, an incomplete analysis of the new Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program all contributed to low enrollment in the new program in 2009. An effective analysis of ACRE should consider farm programs as part of an integrated risk management portfolio, including crop insurance, marketing, and other risk management tools as opposed to a separate lottery program. Improving this integration could be one of the most significant consequences of the 2008 Farm Bill.
Mauve Assembly Metrics

Summary: High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies have spurred the development of numerous novel methods for genome assembly. With few exceptions, these algorithms are heuristic and require one or more parameters to be manually set by the user. One approach to parameter tuning involves assembling data from an organism with an available high-quality reference genome, and measuring assembly accuracy using some metrics. We developed a system to measure assembly quality under several scoring metrics, and to compare assembly quality across a variety of assemblers, sequence data types, and parameter choices. When used in conjunction with training data such as a high-quality reference genome and sequence reads from the same organism, our program can be used to manually identify an optimal sequencing and assembly strategy for de novo sequencing of related organisms. Availability: GPL source code and a usage tutorial is at http://ngopt.googlecode.com Contact: aarondarling@ucdavis.edu Supplementary information:Supplementary data is available at Bioinformatics online.
A new paradigm for pre-engineering education: Design and technology education K-12

The new paradigm of design and technology education is described. Through this paradigm, schools would help shift students from passive to active roles of learning, engage students in the joy of sharing what they learn with others, use students as valued resources capable of helping others, support critical thinking and creative practice by students and teachers, engage students in design as intentional change and improvement, and develop students who are technologically capable and responsible. Particular attention is given to Project UPDATE (Upgrading Practice through Design and Technology/Engineering Education), which is committed to design and develop curriculum materials and guidelines for generating, sharing, and assessing integrated S/M/T (science, mathematics and technology) activities suitable for and interesting to all children K-8. >
Equivalent circuit parameters of an aperture coupled open resonator cavity

In this paper, we use modified form of Bethe's small hole coupling theory to compute equivalent circuit parameters of an aperture coupled open resonator cavity. The open resonator cavity is composed of spherical mirrors of circular cross section. The cavity is coupled to a rectangular waveguide by means of a common hole in the mirror and the shorted end wall of the rectangular waveguide. Closed form expressions have been obtained for the equivalent circuit parameters. Experiments conducted in the W-band frequency range show good agreement with theory when an experimentally estimated correction to the transmission coefficient is applied for the thickness of the coupling holes. >
Full‐scale bridge damage identification using time series analysis of a dense array of geophones excited by drop weight

Summary This paper presents a simple and inexpensive technique for damage identification of bridges using drop weight vibration data of bridges recorded by an array of geophones, highly sensitive sensors to record vibration, and time series analysis. The dynamic response of bridges obtained using drop weight as an excitation source is convolved with white noise to create suitable input for autoregressive (AR) models. A two-stage prediction model, combined AR and autoregressive with exogenous input (ARX), is employed to obtain a damage-sensitive feature. An outlier analysis method is developed based on the Monte Carlo simulation to identify the existence of damage. The proposed technique is verified using unique vibration data of two full-scale steel-girder bridges located on I-40 through downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, and subjected to progressive damage scenarios induced to steel girders. The results of the analysis for the vertical vibration data of the test bridges indicate that the proposed technique is able to detect the damage induced on the real bridge girders consistently even when the damage level is small and damage is located near a support; however, damage is not well localized or quantified in these two highly redundant bridges. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ECHINOCOCCUS DISEASE OF BONE

1. Skeletal involvement occurs in less than one per cent. of cases of hydatid disease. 2. A roentgenographic diagnosis of osseous hydatid disease is extremely difficult. 3. But three cases of osseous hydatid have been reported in this country up to 1930. 4. Two additional cases (in both of which the bones of the pelvic girdle were involved) are reported from the Bone Tumor Department of the Memorial Hospital. 5. Intensive radiation therapy failed to check the disease or to alleviate the symptoms in our cases. 6. Hydatid disease should be considered among the causes of unusual bone tumors, from several types of which it is not always easily distinguishable.