cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diogenes Laertius: Lives of Eminent Philosophers: An Edited Translation

A pioneering work in the history of philosophy, the ancient text of the Lives presents engaging portraits of nearly a hundred Greek philosophers. It blends biography with bibliography and surveys of leading theories, peppered with punchy anecdotes, pithy maxims, and even snatches of poetry, much of it by the philosophers themselves. The work presents a systematic genealogy of Greek philosophy from its origins in the sixth century BCE to its flowering in Plato's Academy and the Hellenistic schools. In this fully up-to-date and accessible translation, based on the most accurate texts and the latest advances in scholarship, Stephen White provides a valuable resource for students and scholars of ancient philosophy. Highlights include extended treatment of the 'Seven Sages' (Book 1), Socrates and his Socratic followers (Book 2), Plato (Book 3), Aristotle and his school (Book 5), Diogenes the Cynic (Book 6), Stoicism (Book 7), Pythagoreans (Book 8), Pyrrhonian skepticism (Book 9), and Epicureanism (Book 10).
A Chance at Birth: An Academic Development Activity To Promote Deep Reflection on Social Inequities

I describe the structure and implementation of an activity I use in academic development, aimed at introducing higher education faculty to social inequities in a profound way. The activity is structured such that previously naive practitioners as well as those somewhat engaged in equity pedagogies are provided new ways of thinking about the role classroom practices play in social inclusion. Here I reflect on the activity's genesis, provide suggestions for its use, and present considerations for academic developers interested in using it for their own practice.
Assessment of the pest status of Pratylenchus curvicauda and ultrastructural changes in roots of infected wheat and barley

Pratylenchus curvicauda , which was first described in metropolitan Perth in 1991, was recently identified in grain‐growing areas in Western Australia. The biology of this root‐lesion nematode, and especially its pest status, is unknown. We investigated its life cycle and interaction with host plants, because such information is essential for its management. The life cycle took 45 days to complete in a wheat cultivar maintained at 23°C. Over 10 weeks, the nematode multiplied in 26 of 61 genotypes; these host plants were all cereals and included widely grown cultivars of wheat and barley. Eighteen other cereal genotypes and 13 cultivars including canola, chickpea, ryegrass, lupin, soybean, and tomato, sustained the nematodes to different degrees without multiplication. Four cover crops were not suitable hosts. The patterns of attraction of the nematodes and penetration into roots of the host and tolerant plants were similar. The nonhosts attracted fewer nematodes, none of which penetrated the roots. Browning of infected roots was atypical—it occurred late in some roots, 55 days after inoculation, and in the presence of a fungus. The nematodes were confined to, and fed from, cortical cells. The ultrastructure of infected wheat and barley cells showed typical signs of damage caused by Pratylenchus spp. and included cell disorganization and lack of membrane integrity, disintegration of cytoplasm, hypertrophy of some nuclei, and deposition of tannin‐like granules. This detailed characterization of P . curvicauda– host interaction indicates the nematode is likely to be a pest of major crops, and attention should be given to its management.
Physician Cultural Competency Training and Impact on Behavior: Evidence From the 2016 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Background and objectives The number of racially and culturally diverse patients in the medical practices of US physicians is increasing. It is unclear how well culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) standards have been integrated into physician practice. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of US-based physicians who received training in cultural competency and describe their behavior. Methods This survey study utilized data from a supplement of the 2016 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS). The NAMCS Supplement on CLAS for Office-based Physicians (National CLAS Physician Survey) is a nationally representative survey of ambulatory physicians. We determined the proportion and characteristics of physicians who reported receiving cultural competency training in medical school or in practice. Results The unweighted sample of 363 yielded a weighted sample of 290,109 physicians, 66.3% of whom reported that they had received cultural competence training at some point. Only 35.5% of the sample had ever heard of the CLAS standards, suggesting a low level of awareness of the standards. Further, only 18.7% reported that training in cultural competency is required for newly hired physicians who join their practice. There were no statistically significant differences between those who had been trained and those who had not in terms of self-reported consideration of race/ethnicity or culture in assessing patient needs, diagnosis, treatment and patient education (Pg.05). Conclusions Fewer than half of practicing physicians reported receiving cultural and linguistic competency training in medical school or residency. It is possible that cultural competence training is being seamlessly integrated into medical education.
Virtual agents as supporting media for scientific presentations

The quality of scientific oral presentations is often poor, owing to a number of factors, including public speaking anxiety. We present DynamicDuo, a system that uses an automated, life-sized, animated agent to help inexperienced scientists deliver their presentations in front of an audience. The design of the system was informed by an analysis of TED talks given by pairs of human presenters to identify the most common dual-presentation formats and transition behaviors used. We explore the usability and acceptability of DynamicDuo in both controlled laboratory-based studies and real-world environments, and its ability to decrease public speaking anxiety and improve presentation quality. In a within-subjects study (N = 12) comparing co-presenting with DynamicDuo against solo-presenting with conventional presentation software, we demonstrated that our system led to significant improvements in public speaking anxiety and speaking confidence for non-native English speakers. Judges who viewed videotapes of these presentations rated those with DynamicDuo significantly higher on speech quality and overall presentation quality for all presenters. We also explore the affordances of the virtual co-presenter through empirical evaluation of novel roles the agent can play in scientific presentations and novel ways it can interact with the speaker in front of the audience.
Can the U.S. Industrial Relations System Be Transformed

Industrial relations has historically been a field of study with strong normative underpinnings that encouraged researchers to address the critical problems arising in employment relationships. The work of John R. Commons and his associates established this approach to research in the early part of the 20th century. They studied the conditions of work in America, judged them to be unsatisfactory for large numbers of workers, and engaged in a 30-year campaign of research, education, and policy advocacy that eventually laid the intellectual foundation for the labor policies of the New Deal. A second generation of industrial relations scholars was then left with the challenge of making these laws and institutions work during World War II and thereafter. They, too, were highly mission-oriented and focused on how to solve the critical labor problem of their day, namely, the high degree of labor-management conflict that erupted in the immediate postwar years. As a result, they focused on helping labor, management, and government professionalize collective bargaining, personnel policies, and the administration of labor market institutions and regulations, and thereby helped these institutons and practices contribute to three decades of gradual improvements in real wages, in line with productivity, growth, and economic expansion.
Charity Benefit Concerts and the One World: Together at Home Event

This article examines the One World: Together at Home event through the lens of charity benefit concerts. It specifically looks at the representation of musicians, the representation of beneficiari...
Fatigue performance of wood frame roof-to-wall connections with elastomeric adhesives under uplift cyclic loading

Abstract Roof-to-wall-connection (RTWC) is critical in the loading path of wood-frame residential buildings, whose fatigue performance under varying wind loading is investigated in this paper. To get an insight on the wind-induced fatigue behavior at low to moderate hourly mean wind speeds and to demonstrate the effects of adhesives on the fatigue performance of RTWC, two types of fatigue experiments, namely the constant and the varying amplitude loading tests, were conducted on three RTWC configurations with and without elastomeric construction adhesives. Based on the constant amplitude loading test results, fatigue life prediction models were developed, and the reduction in the static load capacity due to cyclic loadings were estimated. Adhesives are shown to increase the endurance limit of the RTWCs, which is desirable to enhance the life-cycle performance of wood buildings. The varying amplitude loading test results indicate that buildings in non-hurricane regions are vulnerable to fatigue damage at a low-level mean wind speed. It may induce loadings above the endurance limit of the RTWCs. On the other hand, the linear Miner’s cumulative fatigue damage model can be reasonably used to predict fatigue damage of the RTWCs when subject to multi-amplitude wind loadings. Toenailed connections generally fail in a less ductile manner at a certain number of load cycles with no warnings compared to the connections with adhesives that fail in a more ductile manner. The testing results presented herein provide essential data on the hysteresis behavior and failure modes of RTWCs to facilitate future implementation of adhesives in wood constructions.
MR spectroscopic imaging predicts early response to anti-angiogenic therapy in recurrent glioblastoma

Background Determining failure to anti-angiogenic therapy in recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) (rGBM) remains a challenge. The purpose of the study was to assess treatment response to bevacizumab-based therapy in patients with rGBM using MR spectroscopy (MRS). Methods We performed longitudinal MRI/MRS in 33 patients with rGBM to investigate whether changes in N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/Choline (Cho) and Lactate (Lac)/NAA from baseline to subsequent time points after treatment can predict early failures to bevacizumab-based therapies. Results After stratifying based on 9-month survival, longer-term survivors had increased NAA/Cho and decreased Lac/NAA levels compared to shorter-term survivors. ROC analyses for intratumoral NAA/Cho correlated with survival at 1 day, 2 weeks, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. Intratumoral Lac/NAA ROC analyses were predictive of survival at all time points tested. At the 8-week time point, 88% of patients with decreased NAA/Cho did not survive 9 months; furthermore, 90% of individuals with an increased Lac/NAA from baseline did not survive at 9 months. No other metabolic ratios tested significantly predicted survival. Conclusions Changes in metabolic levels of tumoral NAA/Cho and Lac/NAA can serve as early biomarkers for predicting treatment failure to anti-angiogenic therapy as soon as 1 day after bevacizumab-based therapy. The addition of MRS to conventional MR methods can provide better insight into how anti-angiogenic therapy affects tumor microenvironment and predict patient outcomes.
Cost and healthcare utilization analysis of culturally sensitive, shared medical appointment model for Latino children with type 1 diabetes.

Aim This study evaluated costs and healthcare utilization associated with a culturally-sensitive, medical and education program for pediatric Latino patients with type 1 diabetes. Methods Program participants included Latino children ages 1-20 years old diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (n=57). Control subjects with type 1 diabetes were matched by age, sex, and zip code to intervention participants from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database. Data included emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, demographic information, and health insurance claims data 180 days prior to program start/index date through 1 year after program start/index date. We tracked program staff time and estimated costs for healthcare utilization using data from the scientific literature. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) models with logit link were used to estimate group differences in probabilities of ED visits and hospitalizations over 6-month periods pre/post-study, accounting for correlation of within-subject data across time points. Sensitivity analyses modeled longer-term cost differences under different assumptions. Results The intervention group had fewer hospitalizations, 2% vs. 12% of controls (p=.047,OR=0.13;95%CI:0.02-0.97) for 6 months following start date. The intervention group had fewer ED visits, 19% vs. 32% in controls (n.s.; p=.079,OR=0.52;95%CI:0.25-1.08) and significantly fewer hospitalizations, 4% vs. 15% of controls (p=.039,OR=0.21;95%CI: 0.05-0.93) 6-12 months post-start date. One-year per-patient program costs of $633 and healthcare cost savings of $2,710 yielded total per-patient savings of $2,077, or a 5-year cost savings of $14,106. Conclusion This unique type 1 diabetes management program altered health service utilization of program participants, reducing major healthcare cost drivers, ED visits, and hospitalizations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
A formal language and analysis tool for black box specifications

The black box specification, developed by Harlan Mills, addresses the problem of software errors that result from failing to properly specify a response for an input scenario. Each black box models how an artifact responds to a particular input from its environment. This response depends on both the current input and the entire history of interactions it has had with the environment. We have observed that students find the black box concept useful and comprehensible, but tedious and error-prone as well. In order to enhance the utility and accessibility of this technique, we have developed a formal specification language and analysis tool for black box specifications. The analysis tool verifies whether a black box is a well-formed specification. To this end, it ensures that a response is specified for every possible combination of inputs from the environment, that every condition is logically disjoint with every other condition in the specification, and that every condition in the specification matches at least one potential input scenario. We have evaluated the utility and performance of the tool with two different groups of undergraduate students.
Sliding Mode Brushless DC Motor Torque Control with Minimum Energy Losses

The paper presents microprocessor-oriented torque control algorithms based on sliding mode concept for a brushless dc motor with the consideration of some practical aspects such as energy loss, chattering, robustness, and physical implementation.
Time-Resolved Infrared Spectral Photography Studies of Shock-Induced Chemistry in CS2

Experiments using time-resolved infrared spectral photography (TRISP) in the 6–8.5 µm range to study explosively driven shocks in liquid CS2 are described. In this range, the temporal resolution of the TRISP system is <1 ns. We have shown that single-shot infrared absorption studies in shocked liquids are feasible with this technique; however, well-controlled planar shocks appear to be necessary for clear interpretation of dynamic spectral changes.
The Use of Fluorescence Redistribution After Photobleaching for Analysis of Cellular Microtubule Dynamics

Microtubules (MTs) are highly dynamic polymers that serve as tracks for vesicular movement during interphase and as structural components of the mitotic spindle, which is used to segregate the genetic material. MT dynamics are highly regulated wherein MTs turnover differentially between interphase and mitosis. Within the mitotic spindle, there are distinct classes of MTs with different dynamic properties. To understand how cellular proteins regulate the dynamics of MTs, it is necessary to have methods to assess their turnover properties. In this chapter we present approaches to assess MT dynamics in cultured mammalian cells using fluorescence redistribution after photobleaching. We include a discussion of cell culture and imaging conditions that maintain cell viability. We also provide an extensive discussion of both data collection and analysis that are utilized to estimate the turnover dynamics of MTs.
Is the left main just another artery to FFR

This meta-analysis includes all prospective FFR studies of the left main artery with outcomes. Patients who had deferral of revascularization in FFR-negative stenoses had no difference in cardiovascular events compared with patients who underwent revascularization. FFR-guided revascularization of left main stenosis is safe and effective.
On the mechanism of hyperacidification in lemon. Comparison of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase activities of fruits and epicotyls

Lemon fruit vacuoles acidify their lumens to pH 2.5, 3 pH units lower than typical plant vacuoles. To study the mechanism of hyperacidification, the kinetics of ATP-driven proton pumping by tonoplast vesicles from lemon fruits and epicotyls were compared. Fruit vacuolar membranes were less permeable to protons than epicotyl membranes. H+ pumping by epicotyl membranes was chloride-dependent, stimulated by sulfate, and inhibited by the classical vacuolar ATPase (V-ATPase) inhibitors nitrate, bafilomycin, N-ethylmaleimide, and N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. In addition, the epicotyl H+ pumping activity was inactivated by oxidation at room temperature, and oxidation was reversed by dithiothreitol. Cold inactivation of the epicotyl V-ATPase by nitrate (≙100 mM) was correlated with the release of V1 complexes from the membrane. In contrast, H+ pumping by the fruit tonoplast-enriched membranes was chloride-independent, largely insensitive to the V-ATPase inhibitors, and resistant to oxidation. Unlike the epicotyl H+-ATPase, the fruit H+-ATPase activity was partially inhibited by 200 μM vanadate. Cold inactivation treatment failed to inhibit H+ pumping activity of the fruit membranes, even though immunoblots showed that V1 complexes were released from the membrane. However, cold inactivation doubled the percent inhibition by 200 μM vanadate from 30% to 60%. These results suggest the presence of two H+-ATPases in the fruit preparation: a V-ATPase and an unidentified vanadate-sensitive H+-ATPase. Attempts to separate the two activities in their native membranes on linear sucrose density gradients were unsuccessful. However, following detergent-solubilization and centrifugation on a glycerol density gradient, the two ATPase activities were resolved: a nitrate-sensitive V-type ATPase that is also partially inhibited by 200 μM vanadate, and an apparently novel vanadate-sensitive ATPase that is also partially inhibited by nitrate.
Security after login: Identity change detection on smartphones using sensor fusion

Coinciding with the surge in popularity and adoption of mobile devices and the ever-expanding capabilities of these devices, the amount of sensitive information accessed and stored has increased exponentially. Inasmuch, these advancements have, and continue to demand great efforts from researchers and the industry alike in terms of improving security therein. Existing technologies either conduct user identity verification via a login stage or request authentication every time the user accesses a sensitive app. We propose, in this paper, an IdentityTracker. This framework is dedicated to tracking the user's identity, performing app-level access control management. Continuous and implicit tracking of the user's identity is accomplished through monitoring fingerprint authentication logs as well as detecting events when the phone has left the user's hand. This approach leverages multiple onboard sensors. We conducted two user-studies acquiring smartphone users' usage statistics to investigate security and usability needs of our solution. To monitor these subtle gestures in real-world uncontrolled environments, multi-session data collection has been conducted to iteratively improve system performance. The evaluation results have demonstrated the feasibility of IdentityTracker.
Uterine vascular changes during the ovarian cycle

Abstract Uterine blood flow (UBF) was monitored daily during 15 estrous cycles in 10 conscious ewes and flow patterns were correlated with other parameters of estrus, including ram receptivity. UBF increased eight- to twentyfold at estrus. A constant pattern of periestrus changes consisted of a series of isolated UBF spikes of short duration followed by an abrupt persistent increase preceding and extending into the period of ram receptivity. Thereafter, an abrupt decrease in UBF occurred during the estrus period followed by a more gradual decline during the remainder of the estrous cycle. These changes are apparently a result of the direct effects of estrogen and/or progesterone on the uterine vascular bed. Such effects are discussed in the light of available literature.
Effects of Si/Al ratio on Cu/SSZ-13 NH3-SCR catalysts: Implications for the active Cu species and the roles of Brønsted acidity

Cu/SSZ-13 catalysts with three Si/Al ratios of 6, 12 and 35 were synthesized with Cu incorporation via solution ion exchange. The implications of varying Si/Al ratios on the nature of the multiple Cu species that can be present in the SSZ-13 zeolite are a major focus of this work, as highlighted by the results of a variety of catalyst characterization and reaction kinetics measurements. Specifically, catalysts were characterized with surface area/pore volume measurements, temperature programmed reduction by H2 (H2-TPR), NH3 temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD), and DRIFTS and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. Catalytic properties were examined using NO oxidation, ammonia oxidation, and standard ammonia selective catalytic reduction (NH3-SCR) reactions on selected catalysts under differential conditions. Besides indicating possible variably active multiple Cu species for these reactions, the measurements are also used to untangle some of the complexities caused by the interplay between redox of Cu ion centers and Bronsted acidity. All three reactions appear to follow a redox reaction mechanism, yet the roles of Bronsted acidity are quite different. For NO oxidation, increasing Si/Al ratio lowers Cu redox barriers, thus enhancing reaction rates. Bronsted acidity appears to play essentially no role for this reaction. For standard NH3-SCR, residual Bronstedmore » acidity plays a significant beneficial role at both low- and high-temperature regimes. For NH3 oxidation, no clear trend is observed suggesting both Cu ion center redox and Bronsted acidity play important and perhaps competing roles. The authors gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office for the support of this work. The research described in this paper was performed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle.« less
Marginal Youth and Social Policy

Marginalization of a portion of American youth is described as a result of the structure of the major socialization agencies, the family and the school, in contemporary capitalist society. The family and other agencies mediate the process of marginalization created by economy. To eliminate marginalization, social policies must change the economic structure of society.
Management of Calonectria pseudonaviculata in Boxwood with Fungicides and Less Susceptible Host Species and Varieties

Abstract Calonectria pseudonaviculata causes leaf and stem lesions resulting in defoliation and dieback of boxwood. Trials were conducted to evaluate fungicide management of boxwood blight under greenhouse and container nursery conditions in Connecticut using fungicides previously determined to have in vitro activity against conidial germination or mycelial growth. Plants of different boxwood cultivars were inoculated 48 h after fungicide application. Disease progression was monitored over 6 weeks and progressed from leaf and stem lesions to defoliation. The level of disease control achieved by fungicides was generally good, with the most efficacious treatments averaging from 95 to nearly 100% control. Products containing propiconazole, myclobutanil, thiophanate-methyl, fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin, kresoxim-methyl, and chlorothalonil had significant efficacy. The combination of systemic plus protectant fungicides in a single application resulted in superior disease control compared to the use of a systemi...
The Therapist as a Neglected Variable in Psychotherapy Research

Research on psychotherapy has increased in both quantity and quality over the past 30 years and has tended to focus on the evaluation of outcome. The major emphasis has been on studies comparing different forms of psychotherapy. The recent emphasis on training manuals has reinforced this pattern. On the other hand, the importance of the therapist's contribution to outcome and the related matter of therapist variability have been given inadequate attention. These issues are discussed and evaluated in the articles that follow.
Patterns of frequency variation in dipteran flight motor units

Abstract 1. 1. Records are presented of the long-term pattern of motor output to the indirect flight muscles of several dipteran species. 2. 2. The motor output is marked by abrupt and erratic frequency changes. 3. 3. The motor output network is capable of producing rapid increases in frequency, but the declines in frequency were slower. 4. 4. Multistable phase shifts sometimes, but not always, occur at the time of high-frequency bursts. Conversely, bursts do not always trigger phase shifts. 5. 5. The flies can maintain frequency trends up to a time of the order of 1 min.
Maximizing credibility-based network utility via power allocation

We consider Quality-of-Information (QoI)-based resource allocation in a scenario where multiple reporter nodes send information on an event of interest to a sink node. We express credibility of each reporter, an attribute of quality of information, as a function of both the proximity to the event and the type of information gathered. While a reporter close to the event using an advanced format as video may have high credibility, it might also need excessive network resources to transmit the information if it is far from the sink. To address this trade-off, we consider a network utility which depends on both information credibility and timeliness, and yields the timely and credible operational information content capacity (OICC) of this setting. We consider a network with a fixed transmission cost budget per event. Optimal power allocation among reporters is found that maximizes the utility. The constraint on network cost budget results in coupling among resources allocated to reporters. We demonstrate that power allocated to each reporter balances contrasting parameters associated with reporter location and type of information used. Overall, this work produces design insight bringing us one step closer to information quality aware wireless networking.
Deficiency of a Niemann-Pick, Type C1-related Protein in Toxoplasma Is Associated with Multiple Lipidoses and Increased Pathogenicity

Several proteins that play key roles in cholesterol synthesis, regulation, trafficking and signaling are united by sharing the phylogenetically conserved ‘sterol-sensing domain’ (SSD). The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma possesses at least one gene coding for a protein containing the canonical SSD. We investigated the role of this protein to provide information on lipid regulatory mechanisms in the parasite. The protein sequence predicts an uncharacterized Niemann-Pick, type C1-related protein (NPC1) with significant identity to human NPC1, and it contains many residues implicated in human NPC disease. We named this NPC1-related protein, TgNCR1. Mammalian NPC1 localizes to endo-lysosomes and promotes the movement of sterols and sphingolipids across the membranes of these organelles. Miscoding patient mutations in NPC1 cause overloading of these lipids in endo-lysosomes. TgNCR1, however, lacks endosomal targeting signals, and localizes to flattened vesicles beneath the plasma membrane of Toxoplasma. When expressed in mammalian NPC1 mutant cells and properly addressed to endo-lysosomes, TgNCR1 restores cholesterol and GM1 clearance from these organelles. To clarify the role of TgNCR1 in the parasite, we genetically disrupted NCR1; mutant parasites were viable. Quantitative lipidomic analyses on the ΔNCR1 strain reveal normal cholesterol levels but an overaccumulation of several species of cholesteryl esters, sphingomyelins and ceramides. ΔNCR1 parasites are also characterized by abundant storage lipid bodies and long membranous tubules derived from their parasitophorous vacuoles. Interestingly, these mutants can generate multiple daughters per single mother cell at high frequencies, allowing fast replication in vitro, and they are slightly more virulent in mice than the parental strain. These data suggest that the ΔNCR1 strain has lost the ability to control the intracellular levels of several lipids, which subsequently results in the stimulation of lipid storage, membrane biosynthesis and parasite division. Based on these observations, we ascribe a role for TgNCR1 in lipid homeostasis in Toxoplasma.
New applications of photostrictive ferroics

Photostriction in ferroelectrics arises from a superposition of photovoltaic and inverse piezoelectric effects. (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 ceramics doped with WO3 exhibit large photostriction under irradiation of near-ultraviolet light, and are applicable to remote control actuators and photoacoustic devices. Using a bimorph configuration, a photo-driven relay and a micro walking device have been developed, which are designed to start moving as a result from the irradiation, having neither electric lead wires nor electric circuits. The mechanical resonance of the bimorph was also induced by an intermittent illumination of purple-color light; this verified the feasibility of applying photostriction for ”photophone” applications.
Liver transplantation for fulminant hepatitis at Stanford University.

Background. To review the clinical characteristics and outcomes of 26 patients evaluated for liver transplantation for fulminant hepatic failure at Stanford University and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in an attempt to identify risk factors and prognostic predictors of survival.Methods. A retrospective review of the records of 26 consecutive patients who were evaluated for possible liver transplantation for acute liver failure from May 1, 1995, to January 1, 2000. Pretransplant patient demographics and clinical characteristics were collected, and the data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis.Results. Clinical assessment of encephalopathy did not predict outcome. Patients with abnormal computed tomography (CT) of the brain had a twofold increase in mortality compared with those patients with normal studies (p = 0.03). Patients requiring mechanical ventilation and continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) also had a poor prognosis.Conclusion. Predictors of poor outcome after fulminant hepatic failure include abnormal CT scan, mechanical ventilation, and requirement for hemofiltration.
Statistical Learning by 8-Month-Old Infants

Learners rely on a combination of experience-independent and experience-dependent mechanisms to extract information from the environment. Language acquisition involves both types of mechanisms, but most theorists emphasize the relative importance of experience-independent mechanisms. The present study shows that a fundamental task of language acquisition, segmentation of words from fluent speech, can be accomplished by 8-month-old infants based solely on the statistical relationships between neighboring speech sounds. Moreover, this word segmentation was based on statistical learning from only 2 minutes of exposure, suggesting that infants have access to a powerful mechanism for the computation of statistical properties of the language input.
Purification and Characterization of Recombinant Spider Silk Expressed in Escherichia Coli

A partial cDNA clone, from the 3′ end of the dragline silk gene was isolated from Nephila clavipes major ampullate glands. This clone contains a 1.7-kb insert, consisting of a repetitive coding region of 1.4-kb and a 0.3-kb nonrepetitive coding region; 1.5-kb of the 1.7-kb fragment was cloned into Escherichia coli and a␣43-kDa recombinant silk protein was expressed. Characterization of the purified protein by Western blot, amino acid composition analysis, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/time-of-flight mass spectrometry confirms it to be spider dragline silk.
Global distribution of cloud droplet number concentration, autoconversion rate, and aerosol indirect effect under diabatic droplet activation

This study presents a global assessment of the sensitivity of droplet number to diabatic activation (i.e., including effects from entrainment of dry air) and its first-order tendency on indirect forcing and autoconversion. Simulations were carried out with the NASA Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) atmospheric and transport model using climatological metereorological fields derived from the former NASA Data Assimilation Office (DAO), the NASA Finite volume GCM (FVGCM) and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies version II (GISS) GCM. Cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) is calculated using a physically based prognostic parameterization that explicitly includes entrainment effects on droplet formation. Diabatic activation results in lower CDNC, compared to adiabatic treatment of the process. The largest decrease in CDNC (by up to 75 percent) was found in the tropics and in zones of moderate CCN concentration. This leads to a global mean effective radius increase between 0.2-0.5 micrometers (up to 3.5 micrometers over the tropics), a global mean autoconversion rate increase by a factor of 1.1 to 1.7 (up to a factor of 4 in the tropics), and a 0.2-0.4 W m(exp -2) decrease in indirect forcing. The spatial patterns of entrainment effects on droplet activation tend to reduce biases in effective radius (particularly in the tropics) when compared to satellite retrievals. Considering the diabatic nature of ambient clouds, entrainment effects on CDNC need to be considered in GCM studies of the aerosol indirect effect.
Slow sand/nanofiltration treatment for secondary treated wastewater

Abstract The subject of slow sand/nanofiltration of municipal wastewater is discussed. Results of testing in Phoenix, Tucson and Tempe, Arizona are given as evidence that this technique will provide a low salinity water suitable for many types of reuse. The slow sand filter is a gravity filter which utilizes biological processes to remove dissolved organics. Only the surface of the sand bed is disturbed when cleaned. The slow sand filter is an excellent prefilter to the nanofilter membrane reducing organic scaling. The nanofilter membrane reduces salinity and hardness nitrates, heavy metals and other pollutants as well as significant amounts of dissolved organics. The combination of slow sand/nanofiltration treats wastewater the way it needs to be treated in order to be either safely disposed of or reused without significant negative environmental impacts.
Saturn - UBV photoelectric pinhole scans of the disk

During the 1980 Saturn apparition, UBV pinhole scans of the disk were obtained with a photoelectric area-scanning photometer. An analysis of these data reveals that the atmosphere of Saturn can be represented by a finite clear H2 layer overlying a semiinfinite absorbent aerosol haze. The extent of the clear H2 region appears to be latitude-dependent; the H2 column density varies systematically from about 15 km-am over the equatorial and polar regions to about 31 km-am at temperate latitudes. A previous conclusion that the aerosol haze is strongly absorbent in the UV is confirmed; its effective U-band single-scattering albedo is about 0.4. Latitudinal disk structure at visual wavelengths appears to be the result of local variations in the volume density of absorbent particles in the aerosol layer.
Finite-Volume Method for Structural Analysis of RF MEMS Devices Using the Theory of Plates

Radio-frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF MEMS) have wide applicability in contact actuators and capacitive switches. In these devices, the membrane deforms under nonlinearly varying electrostatic actuation. It is advantageous to adopt a single comprehensive numerical framework to model these coupled systems. Frequently, the membranes are very thin with aspect ratios as high as 1:500. We model these membranes using the theory of plates and make use of the Mindlin-Reissner plate theory. In this article, we describe a cell-centered finite-volume approach to discretize the governing equations. Transverse deflection and bending moment distributions are first described for canonical test problems, verifying the accuracy of the method. Results are then presented for a fixed-fixed MEMS device, modeled as a thin plate, under electrostatic actuation.
A game theoretical interpretation of male combat in the bowl and doily spider (Frontinella pyramitela)

Male bowl and doily spiders (Frontinella pyramitela: Linyphiidae) fight over access to adult females. The probability of disablement or fatal injury in these contests is a linear function of their duration. Thus the fights fit closely the assumptions of a version of the game theory ‘war of attrition’. Because the details of sperm competition are known, female value (expected number of eggs fertilized) to either a copulating male or an intruder can be quantified for any stage of copulation. Using this information, the predictions of the war of attrition model were critically examined by experimental manipulation of fighting ability and female value for both web residents and intruders. When female value was equal for both combatants, the ability to win fights was correlated with body size and the duration of contests was inversely correlated with size difference. The winning percentage of males of specific size differences varied directly with female value. The treatments with the highest percentage of injuries and fatalities were those in which a smaller resident was defending a female of great value to him. In two treatments in which larger web residents were contesting for females of low value, the predictions of the model were seemingly not supported. However, a quantitative analysis of the treatments shows that these apparently anomalous results are in accord with the model.
Percutaneous Interventions in Aortic Disease

Percutaneous access techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to the coronary and aortic branch vessels have been the mainstay of cardiovascular interventions for several decades. The development of catheter-based technologies to treat traumatic and degenerative pathology of the thoracic and abdominal aorta initially required the use of direct femoral access via open incisions because of the size of the devices and their delivery sheaths. Although the endovascular repair of infrarenal aortic aneurysms (EVAR)1 ushered in an entirely new concept for managing aortic pathology, there was a concomitant development of a new series of complications associated with open vascular access. Of the devices approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the profiles of the currently available components ranges from 9F to 25F inner diameter, which correlates to 11F to 27F outer diameter. In particular, delivery systems for thoracic endografts have 22F to 27F outer diameter and are traditionally placed via femoral artery cut-down or surgically created conduits. With the evolution of devices with smaller sheaths, the development of closure devices, and noninvasive imaging studies to assess the suitability of arteries for percutaneous access, there have been major changes in the approach and timing of aortic interventions. Over the years, many closure devices have been marketed to decrease the need for manual compression or reversal of anticoagulation after transfemoral percutaneous diagnostic or therapeutic interventions. To date, only suture-mediated closure devices have been used to manage larger catheter-based percutaneous interventions. Two suture-mediated percutaneous closure devices currently are available for potential off-label use in the closure of endograft access sites: Perclose Prostar XL and Perclose ProGlide (Abbott Vascular, Redwood City, CA). The Perclose Prostar XL device comes in 2 different sizes. The Prostar XL 8 is designed for closure of 6.5F to 8F access sites, and Prostar XL 10 is for closure …
Validation of probabilistic anatomical shape atlases

Registration of anatomical images is useful for many applications including image segmentation, characterization of normal and abnormal shape, and creating deformable anatomical shape atlases. The usefulness of the information derived from image registration depends on the degree of anatomically meaningful correspondence between the images. We assume that an ideal image registration algorithm can determine an unique correspondence mapping between any two image volumes imaged from a homogeneous population of anatomies; and that these transformations have the properties of invertibility and transitivity. Unfortunately, current image registration algorithms are far from ideal. In this paper we test the invertibility and transitivity of transformations computed from a 'traditional' and a consistent linear-elastic registration algorithm. Invertibility of the transformations was evaluated by comparing the composition of transformations from image A-to-B and B-to-A to the identity mapping. Transitivity of the transformations was evaluated by measuring the difference between the identity mapping and the composition the transformations from image A-to-B, B-to-C, and C-to-A. Transformations were generated by matching computer generated phantoms, CT data of infant heads, and MRI data of adult brains. The consistent algorithm out performed the 'traditional' algorithm by 8 to 16 times for the invertibility test and 2 to 5 times for the transitivity test.
Analyses of the stability and core taxonomic memberships of the human microbiome.

Analyses of the taxonomic diversity associated with the human microbiome continue to be an area of great importance. The study of the nature and extent of the commonly shared taxa (“core”), versus those less prevalent, establishes a baseline for comparing healthy and diseased groups by quantifying the variation among people, across body habitats and over time. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored Human Microbiome Project (HMP) has provided an unprecedented opportunity to examine and better define what constitutes the taxonomic core within and across body habitats and individuals through pyrosequencing-based profiling of 16S rRNA gene sequences from oral, skin, distal gut (stool), and vaginal body habitats from over 200 healthy individuals. A two-parameter model is introduced to quantitatively identify the core taxonomic members of each body habitat’s microbiota across the healthy cohort. Using only cutoffs for taxonomic ubiquity and abundance, core taxonomic members were identified for each of the 18 body habitats and also for the 4 higher-level body regions. Although many microbes were shared at low abundance, they exhibited a relatively continuous spread in both their abundance and ubiquity, as opposed to a more discretized separation. The numbers of core taxa members in the body regions are comparatively small and stable, reflecting the relatively high, but conserved, interpersonal variability within the cohort. Core sizes increased across the body regions in the order of: vagina, skin, stool, and oral cavity. A number of “minor” oral taxonomic core were also identified by their majority presence across the cohort, but with relatively low and stable abundances. A method for quantifying the difference between two cohorts was introduced and applied to samples collected on a second visit, revealing that over time, the oral, skin, and stool body regions tended to be more transient in their taxonomic structure than the vaginal body region.
Dynamic resolution in distributed cyber-physical system simulation

Cyber-physical systems challenge distributed simulation techniques for reasons of the heterogeneous tools used to model system components at different levels of abstraction, each with potentially different notions of time. The SimConnect and SimTalk distributed cyber-physical system simulation tools meet the synchronization challenge of distributed simulation, but also offer dynamic resolution among coordinated simulators for tradeoffs in simulation speed versus accuracy. This paper discusses the dynamic resolution capabilities of SimConnect and SimTalk, and evaluates the tools in distributed simulation of a closed-loop motor control system. Results show selectable tradeoffs in speedup versus accuracy over non-dynamic coordination.
CEREBRAL OXIDATIVE METABOLISM IN INTRA-UTERINE GROWTH RETARDATION

Ligation of the uterine arteries during late gestation leads to retarded somatic growth and compromised cerebral development in experimental animals (Wigglesworth, 1964). The pathogenesis of the altered brain growth may stem from chronic tissue hypoxia and/or substrate deficiency. Pregnant rata of 17 days gestation were subjected to laparotomy, following which the uterine artery supplying one uterine horn was ligated. The opposite horn and its blood supply were left undisturbed, its fetuses serving as controls. Dams were sacrificed at term by decapitation & fetuses delivered by C-section. Fetal brains were removed & analyzed. Animals from the ligated horn exhibited decreased body (-25%) & brain (-10%) weights compared to controls. Brain dry weight was also lower (-7.4%), but lipid content was not different. Oxidative metabolites & high-energy reserves (mM/kg w.w.) were: The absence of significant differences in brain metabolites between control & experimental groups reflects adequate oxygenation of, & glucose delivery to, the brains of the growth retarded fetuses. Thus, a deficiency of substrates other than glucose appears to be the critical factor in the cerebral under development of experimental intra-uterine growth retardation.