cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transient vision loss associated with paracentral acute middle maculopathy detected on multi-modal imaging.

Abstract Purpose To report two patients with transient decreased vision and associated paracentral acute middle maculopathy (PAMM) lesions identified with multi-modal imaging, including what we believe to be the first documented patient of PAMM associated with iron deficiency anemia. Observations Case 1 is a 56-year-old man who experienced transient blurred vision one week following cardiac ablation for atrial fibrillation. Symptoms resolved by the time of presentation and visual acuity was 20/20 in each eye. Ocular examination was unremarkable aside from subtle discoloration within the papillomacular bundle in the right eye. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) revealed thickening of the middle retinal layers with a corresponding area of hyporeflectivity on the en face infrared image. This area of hyporeflectivity was confirmed on “structural” SD-OCT angiography, although no flow voids were identified. Fluorescein angiography was normal. Case 2 is a 25-year-old man with no past medical history who noted decreased central vision in his right eye upon awakening. Visual acuity was light perception in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. Posterior segment examination in the right eye showed tortuous retinal vessels and subtle pallor involving the superior part of the macula. SD-OCT showed thickening of the middle retinal layers of the superior macula with a corresponding area of hyporeflectivity on the en face infrared image. Systemic work-up was completed and identified severe iron deficiency anemia as the most likely inciting factor. In both cases, visual acuity was 20/20 in each eye at follow-up. Conclusions Small arterial occlusions of the retina remain difficult to diagnose and may represent a sequela of systemic disease. Multi-modal imaging is helpful in equivocal cases with subtle clinical findings. Importance The present case report illustrates the utility of multi-modal imaging in diagnosing transient ischemic events of the retina, and reports what we believe to be the first association of PAMM with iron deficiency anemia.
Nonlinear Dynamics of Electrically-Actuated Carbon Nanotube Resonator

This paper presents an investigation into the nonlinear dynamics of a carbon nanotube (CNT) actuated electrically by a DC force and an AC harmonic load. The CNT is described by an Euler Bernoulli beam model that accounts for the system nonlinearities due to mid-plane stretching and electrostatic forcing. A reduced-order model based on the Galerkin method is developed and utilized to simulate the static and dynamic response of the CNT. The static deflection of the CNT and its pull-in voltage are calculated and validated by comparing them to published results. It was found that mid-plane stretching has a major impact on the pull-in prediction of CNT. Dynamic analysis is conducted to explore the nonlinear oscillation of the CNT near its fundamental natural frequency (primary resonance) and near one half, twice, and three times its natural frequency (secondary resonances). The nonlinear analysis is carried out using a shooting technique combined with the Floquet theory to capture periodic orbits and analyze their stability. The results show that these resonances can lead to complex nonlinear dynamics phenomena such as hysteresis, dynamic pull-in, hardening and softening behaviors, and frequencies bands with an inevitable escape from a potential well.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Revision ACL Reconstruction

Outcomes after revision anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction are less favorable than primary ACL reconstruction, highlighting the importance of meticulous preoperative planning and operative technique when approaching revision surgery. All patients presenting with ACL reconstruction failure should undergo a thorough history and physical exam, including reviewing the clinical and operative notes, as well as preoperative imaging, from the index surgery. Standard radiographs, including standing anterior-posterior, weight bearing 45° flexion posterior-anterior, lateral, and Merchant views, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) should be obtained during the initial workup. Additionally, the authors obtain a thin-cut computed tomography (CT) scan with 3-dimensional (3D) reconstructions on all revision cases for planning purposes. The most important aspect of the preoperative workup is identifying the cause(s) of the index ACL reconstruction failure. Reasons for failure include repeat traumatic event, technical or biological failure of the index procedure, mechanical malalignment or bony morphology, concomitant ligamentous or meniscal injury, or infection. During revision ACL reconstruction, concomitant injuries should be addressed appropriately. Revision surgery can be one-stage or two-stage depending on condition of the prior tibial and femoral tunnels or concomitant pathology such as malalignment or infection. A detailed surgical plan should be created and individualized for each individual patient.
Starvation at the larval stage increases the vector competence of Aedes aegypti females for Zika virus

Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of Zika virus (ZIKV), a flavivirus which typically presents itself as febrile-like symptoms in humans but can also cause neurological and pregnancy complications. The transmission cycle of mosquito-borne arboviruses such as ZIKV requires that various key tissues in the female mosquito including the salivary glands get productively infected with the virus before the mosquito can transmit the virus to another vertebrate host. Following ingestion of a viremic blood-meal from a vertebrate, ZIKV initially infects the midgut epithelium before exiting the midgut after blood-meal digestion to disseminate to secondary tissues including the salivary glands. Here we investigated whether smaller Ae. aegypti females resulting from food deprivation as larvae exhibited an altered vector competence for blood-meal acquired ZIKV relative to larger mosquitoes. Midguts from small 'Starve' and large 'Control' Ae. aegypti were dissected to visualize by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) the midgut basal lamina (BL) as physical evidence for the midgut escape barrier showing Starve mosquitoes with a significantly thinner midgut BL than Control mosquitoes at two timepoints. ZIKV replication was inhibited in Starve mosquitoes following intrathoracic injection of virus, however, Starve mosquitoes exhibited a significantly higher midgut escape and population dissemination rate at 9 days post-infection (dpi) via blood-meal, with more virus present in saliva and head tissue than Control by 10 dpi and 14 dpi, respectively. These results indicate that Ae. aegypti developing under stressful conditions potentially exhibit higher midgut infection and dissemination rates for ZIKV as adults, Thus, variation in food intake as larvae is potentially a source for variable vector competence levels of the emerged adults for the virus.
Roman Law in the State of Nature : The Classical Foundations of Hugo Grotius' Natural Law

Introduction 1. Natural law in historical context 2. A novel doctrine of the sources of law: nature and the classics 3. Proving natural law: the influence of classical rhetoric on Grotius' method 4. Social instinct or self-preservation? 5. Justice for the state of nature: from Aristotle to the Corpus Iuris 6. Grotius' concept of the state of nature 7. Natural rights: Roman remedies in the state of nature 8. Natural rights and just wars 9. Enforcing natural law: the right to punish Epilogue Bibliography Index.
The Art of Recording: Understanding and Crafting the Mix

The Art of Recording articulates and explores the ways recorded sound is different from live sound, and how those differences can enhance music, including surround sound. It presents a system for developing the critical and analytical listening skills necessary to recognize and understand these sound characteristics--the same skills necessary to create quality recordings-- and for talking about or describing sound.The Art of Recording also considers audio recording as a creative process. The reader will learn to guide the artistry of music recording from its beginning as an idea, through its development during the many stages of the recording sequence, to its final form. Take a new and detailed look at many of the greatest recordings of The Beatles, offering insights into how the recording process shaped their music, and how you can gain control over the craft of making great recordings.
STRUCTURAL HIDDEN MARKOV MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION IN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

We have introduced a new methodology that maps designs to human perceptions. Perceptions are adjectives/adverbs, phrases or sentences expressed in natural language. We used the lexical database WordNet to compute semantical relationships (or distances) between these perceptions. We partitioned the set of perceptions into k clusters that represent the classes for a further classification task. We have developed a new classifier called “structural hidden Markov model” (SHMM) that combines probability and distances in a seamless way. SHMM enables to learn and predict user perceptions given object designs. We have applied this approach to Kansei engineering in order to map car external contours (shapes) to customer perceptions. The accuracy obtained using the SHMM is 90%. This model has outperformed the neural network and the k-nearest-neighbor classifiers.
American Law and Policy on Assassinations of Foreign Leaders: The Practicality of Maintaining the Status Quo

Suspending the ban on assassinations-as established in Executive Order 12333-serves no practical purpose. The Executive Order is not an obstacle to effective prosecution of the War on Terrorism; in fact, its reach is very limited. Although common sense might suggest that "assassination" equates with the targeted killing of a specific individual, the term is in fact a legal term of art with a very narrow definition derived from the Law of War. As a result, Executive Order 12333 only prohibits a very narrow spectrum of attacks in wartime or against clear threats to national security. As the United States has not typically engaged such means to attack "leadership targets" for several decades, publicly rescinding the offer now would grant no more freedom to act and only would serve to undermine the United States' public diplomacy abroad.
Gendered Transnationalism in “The New Modernist Studies”

This essay discusses the development of transnational scholarship in modernist studies and asks whether this development can amplify and enliven the sub-field of women’s literature within modernist studies. It argues that transnational scholarship decenters Eurocentrist models of knowledge and history by tracing lateral networks among women writers that bypass the center-periphery models of empire. It examines the recent transnational scholarship by Mary Lou Emery on Jean Rhys and Una Marson and concludes that a transnational ethic of reading demands that we hold contradictory and multiple perspectives in view at once. Such a mode of reading offers an important new lens for recovering women’s literature from both colony and metropole.
Antigen Presentation by Liver Cells Controls Intrahepatic T Cell Trapping, Whereas Bone Marrow-Derived Cells Preferentially Promote Intrahepatic T Cell Apoptosis

Systemic activation and proliferation of CD8+ T cells result in T cell accumulation in the liver, associated with T cell apoptosis and liver injury. However, the role of Ag and APC in such accumulation is not clear. Bone marrow chimeras were constructed to allow Ag presentation in all tissues or alternatively to restrict presentation to either bone marrow-derived or non-bone marrow-derived cells. OVA-specific CD8+ T cells were introduced by adoptive transfer and then activated using peptide, which resulted in clonal expansion followed by deletion. Ag presentation by liver non-bone marrow-derived cells was responsible for most of the accumulation of activated CD8+ T cells. In contrast, Ag presentation by bone marrow-derived cells resulted in less accumulation of T cells in the liver, but a higher frequency of apoptotic cells within the intrahepatic T cell population. In unmodified TCR-transgenic mice, Ag-induced T cell deletion and intrahepatic accumulation of CD8+ T cells result in hepatocyte damage, with the release of aminotransaminases. Our experiments show that such liver injury may occur in the absence of Ag presentation by the hepatocytes themselves, arguing for an indirect mechanism of liver damage.
A Review and Evaluation of Uncertainty Classification and the Error‐Band Geometry Model

Advances in computer technologies have improved the quality of maps, making map comparison and analysis easier, but uncertainty and error still exist in GIS when overlaying geographic data with multiple or unknown confidence levels. The goals of this research are to review current geospatial uncertainty literature, present the Error-Band Geometry Model (EBGM) for classifying the size and shape of spatial confidence intervals for vector GIS data, and to analyze the interpretability of the model by looking at how people use metadata to classify the uncertainty of geographic objects. The results from this research are positive and provide important insight into how people interpret maps and geographic data. They suggest that uncertainty is more easily interpreted for well defined point data and GPS data. When data is poorly defined, people are unable to determine an approach to model uncertainty and generate error-bands. There is potential for using the EBGM to aid in the development of a GIS tool that can help individuals parameterize and model spatial confidence intervals, but more research is needed to refine the process by which people use the decision tree. A series of guiding questions or an “uncertainty wizard” tool that helps one select an uncertainty modeling approach might improve the way people apply this model to real-world applications.
Bayesian sparse graphical models and their mixtures.

We propose Bayesian methods for Gaussian graphical models that lead to sparse and adaptively shrunk estimators of the precision (inverse covariance) matrix. Our methods are based on lasso-type regularization priors leading to parsimonious parameterization of the precision matrix, which is essential in several applications involving learning relationships among the variables. In this context, we introduce a novel type of selection prior that develops a sparse structure on the precision matrix by making most of the elements exactly zero, in addition to ensuring positive definiteness – thus conducting model selection and estimation simultaneously. More importantly, we extend these methods to analyze clustered data using finite mixtures of Gaussian graphical model and infinite mixtures of Gaussian graphical models. We discuss appropriate posterior simulation schemes to implement posterior inference in the proposed models, including the evaluation of normalizing constants that are functions of parameters of interest, which result from the restriction of positive definiteness on the correlation matrix. We evaluate the operating characteristics of our method via several simulations and demonstrate the application to real data examples in genomics.
Risk Management Of Email And Internet Use In The Workplace

The article surveys the changing risk environment for corporations from their employees electronic communications. It identifies the types of liabilities thatcorporations can incur from such communications. It presents the objectives of corporate internet use policies and the types of provisions such policies should contain. It suggests an alternative risk-based approach to corporate acceptable use policies instead of atraditional â€œlaundry listâ€ of internet use prohibitions.
A Program of Balanced Physical Fitness in the Preventive Care of Elderly Ambulatory Patients

A program of balanced physical fitness incorporated into a medical “team” approach to treatment contributed significantly to the general health of elderly ambulatory patients. Each week for eleven months, 13 patients were given one hour of balanced exercise and encouraged to perform it for two additional hours per week. Initial differences favoring the control group (13 subjects) in their general state of health were reversed during the exercise program. Physicians’ single-blind assessment of the two groups resulted in significantly better health ratings for the patients who had received the therapeutic exercise program than for those who did not participate.
Synthesis and biological characterization of novel hybrid 7-[[2-(4-phenyl-piperazin-1-yl)-ethyl]-propyl-amino]-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-naphthalen-2-ol and their heterocyclic bioisosteric analogues for dopamine D2 and D3 receptors.

Abstract In a recent preliminary communication we described the development of a series of hybrid molecules for the dopamine D2 and D3 receptor subtypes. The design of these compounds was based on combining pharmacophoric elements of aminotetralin and piperazine molecular fragments derived from known dopamine receptor agonist and antagonist molecules. Molecules developed from this approach exhibited high affinity and selectivity for the D3 receptor as judged from preliminary [3H]spiperone binding data. In this report, we have expanded our previous finding by developing additional novel molecules and additionally evaluated functional activities of these novel molecules in the [3H]thymidine incorporation mitogenesis assay. The binding results indicated highest selectivity in the bioisosteric benzothiazole derivative N6-[2-(4-phenyl-piperazin-1-yl)-ethyl]-N6-propyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-benzothiazole-2,6-diamine (14) for the D3 receptor whereas the racemic compound 7-({2-[4-(2,3-dichloro-phenyl)-piperazin-1-yl]-ethyl}-propyl-amino)-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-naphthalen-2-ol (10c) showed the strongest potency. Mitogenesis studies to evaluate functional activity demonstrated potent agonist properties in these novel derivatives for both D2 and D3 receptors. In this regard, compound 7-{[4-(4-phenyl-piperazin-1-yl)-butyl]-prop-2-ynyl-amino}-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-naphthalen-2-ol (7b) exhibited the most potent agonist activity at the D3 receptor, 10 times more potent than quinpirole and was also the most selective compound for the D3 receptor in this series. Racemic compound 10a was resolved; however, little separation of activity was found between the two enantiomers of 10a. The marginally more active enantiomer (−)-10a was examined in vivo using the 6-OH-DA induced unilaterally lesioned rat model to evaluate its activity in producing contralateral rotations. The results demonstrated that in comparison to the reference compound apomorphine, (−)-10a was quite potent in inducing contralateral rotations and exhibited longer duration of action.
Complete Analysis of the Operating Modes of the Resistance--Inductance-Fed Bridge Rectifier

Equations describing the ac-dc terminal relationships of the resistance-inductance-fed three-phase full-wave bridge converter from no load to short circuit are provided. Modal boundaries are plotted in the µ-α plane showing the limits within which these equations are valid. Results show the resistance to have a significant effect on the terminal characteristics. Modal boundaries are shown to be nonlinear functions of the commutation resistance-direct current product.
Theory of Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed at electrode surfaces. Model calculations for resonance Raman scattering by an adsorbed diatomic

Abstract Model calculations of the resonant Raman cross section of a homonuclear diatomic adsorbate on a metallic electrode surface are performed. If the excited intermediate electronic state is weakly dipole coupled to the electronic ground state (relative to some other excited electronic states), electric field induced intensity borrowing is found to be very large for the adsorbate. The important excited state involved is that describing charge transfer from adsorbate to the metallic substrate. We have also carried out a simplified calculation of the vibrational Franck—Condon factors for the adsorbate. Combining electronic with vibrational enhancement factors, we find that there may be an overall intensity enhancement for the adsorbate of 104–108 depending on the electric field strength.
A Descriptive Analysis of the 2008 Credit Crisis on Multistate Healthcare Systems: What Impact Did It Have on Their Financial Performance?

Due to the recent credit crisis and recession of 2008, hospitals experienced substantial losses in their investment portfolios. The author analyzed key financial accounts of 15 large, multistate healthcare systems that measured their changes in value of their investments, changes in net assets, liquidity ratios, and other performance ratios. Overall, he found that the majority of these systems did incur financial losses in their investment portfolios; however, for the majority of these systems, their liquidity and cash flow margin ratios declined slightly whereas their capital expenditure and community benefits increased.
DNA damage assessment by comet assay of human lymphocytes exposed to jet propulsion fuels.

Exposure to jet fuel damages DNA and results in a number of physiological changes in liver, lung, immune, and neurological tissue. In this study the single-cell gel electrophoresis assay or comet assay was used to compare the DNA damage in human peripheral lymphocytes produced by three jet propulsion fuels: JP-8, JP-5, and JP-8+100. These fuels consist of complex mixtures of aliphatic, aromatic, and substituted naphthalene hydrocarbons. Two exposure times were investigated which correspond to estimated occupational exposure times and concentrations of fuels were used that were based on previous fuel toxicity studies. Analysis of samples for the extent of DNA damage as determined by tail moment and percent tail DNA was performed on exposed cells following a brief recovery time. All fuels produced significant increases in DNA damage; however, only JP-8+100 was genotoxic at the lowest exposure concentration (1:500). At the highest exposure concentration (1:75), the mean tail moments for JP-8 and JP-8+100 (32.041 +/- 2.599 and 45.774 +/- 4.743, respectively) were significantly greater than for JP-5 (1.314 +/- 0.474). These results indicate that JP-8+100 is the most potent inducer of DNA damage in human peripheral lymphocytes and that both JP-8+100 and JP-8 are capable of damaging lymphocyte DNA to a greater extent than JP-5.
Estimating the Impact of Risks on Emerging Equity Market Performance: Further Evidence on Data from Rating Agencies

The allocative efficiency of global financial markets depends on, among other things, the informational reliability of risk data provided by rating agencies. This study extends the current literature by using country risk data from Euromoney to estimate the impact of political, economic, default and credit risks on stock returns, P/E ratios, dividend yield and price/book value ratios of emerging equity markets. The results are mixed, similar to those of studies using data from Institutional Investor Country Credit Ratings and International Country Risk Guide. The failure of rating agencies to predict the Mexican and the Asian crises casts some doubts on these data for analytical purposes. Improvement in the quality of the data is important as other forecasting techniques are considered.
Influence of ecological factors on the relationship between mfo induction and fish growth: Bridging the gap using neural networks

Relationships between molecular and biochemical effects of contaminant exposure and organism-level effects are difficult to establish primarily because: (1) the large differences in time-scales of the responses; (2) the complexity of mechanisms involved in such relationships; and (3) the influence of ecological factors on the expression of higher-level responses to stress. In this study we investigated the relationship between mixed function oxidase (MFO) induction and growth in fish as influenced by principal ecological factors in the environment, such as habitat quality, competition and food availability. Because of the complexity and non-linearity of interactions among these factors, we applied a back-propagation neural network approach to investigate this relationship. Inputs into the network included an indicator of contaminant exposure 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase, EROD) and several ecological variables, while growth rate served as the single output variable. Under the field conditions and contaminant exposure regimes observed in this study, EROD in the model simulation contributed minimal marginal ability to predict growth. Indirect effects of contaminants on growth could occur, however, through influences on food chain processes or behavioral dynamics of fish populations.
Single‐site modifications of half‐ligated hemoglobin reveal autonomous dimer cooperativity within a quaternary T tetramer

The patterns of energetic response elicited by single-site hemoglobin mutations and chemical modifications have been determined in order to probe the dimer-dimer interface of the half-ligated tetramer (species [21]) that was previously shown to behave as allosterically distinct from both the unligated and fully ligated molecules. In this study the free energies of quaternary assembly (dimers to tetramers) were determined for a series of 24 tetrameric species in which one dimeric half-molecule is ligated (cyanomet hemes) while the adjacent alpha beta dimer is unligated and contains a single amino acid modification. Assembly energies have also been determined for tetramers bearing the same amino acid modifications but where the hemesites were completely vacant and additionally where they were fully occupied. A total of 72 molecular species were thus characterized. It was found that mutationally induced perturbations to the free energy of quaternary assembly were identical for the half-ligated tetramers and the unligated tetramers over the entire spatial distribution of altered sites, but exhibited a radically different pattern from that of the fully ligated molecules. These results indicate that the dimer-dimer interface of the half-ligated tetramer (species [21]) has the same quaternary structure as that of the unligated molecule, i.e., "quaternary T." This quaternary structure assignment of species [21] strongly supports the operation of a Symmetry Rule which translates changes in hemesite ligation into six T-->R quaternary switchpoints. Analysis of the observed Symmetry Rule behavior in relation to the measured distribution of cooperative free energies for the partially ligated species reveals significant cooperativity between alpha and beta subunits of the dimeric half-tetramer within quaternary T. The mutational results indicate that these interactions are not "paid for" by breaking or making noncovalent bonds at the dimer-dimer interface (alpha 1 beta 2). They arise from structural and energetic changes that are "internal" to the ligated dimer even though its association with the unligated dimer is required for the cooperativity to occur. Free energy of "tertiary constraint" is thus generated by the first binding step and is propagated to the second hemesite while the dimer-dimer interface alpha 1 beta 2 serves as a constraint. The "sequential" cooperativity that occurs within the half-molecule is thus preconditioned by the constraint of a quaternary T interface; release of this constraint by dissociation produces only noncooperative dimers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Analytically-selected multi-hypothesis incremental MAP estimation

In this paper, we introduce an efficient maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation algorithm, which effectively tracks multiple most probable hypotheses. In particular, due to multimodal distributions arising in most nonlinear problems, we employ a bank of MAP to track these modes (hypotheses). The key idea is that we analytically determine all the posterior modes for the current state at each time step, which are used to generate highly probable hypotheses for the entire trajectory. Moreover, since it is expensive to solve the MAP problem sequentially over time by an iterative method such as Gauss-Newton, in order to speed up its solution, we reuse the previous computations and incrementally update the square-root informationmatrix at every time step, while batch relinearization is performed only periodically or as needed.
Finite extension of a viscoelastic multiple filament yarn

Abstract This paper is concerned with the investigation of finite extension of a viscoelastic multiple filament and single layered yarn subjected to axial forces and twisting moments. The filament in the yarn is considered as a linear viscoelastic slender curved rod with circular cross section and helical configuration. The theory of slender curved rods is employed in the analysis whereby the curvature of the filament is assumed to be sufficiently small such that the cross section of the filament perpendicular to the axis of the yarn is approximately elliptical. In our study, we have also assumed that there is slipping between filaments during deformation of the yarn. Geometrical nonlinearity in introduced by the resuctions in helical angle and cross section of the filament. In order to illustrate the technique introduced here, in our numerical analysis, the extensional relaxation modulus of the filament is derived from a model of three-element solid and Poisson’s ratio of the filament is regarded as constant. Examples are presented for the extensions of yarns with fixed ends and yarns with free ends.
Advertising in Saudi Arabia: Content and regulation

Recent literature in international marketing reveals a substantial growth of interest in marketing communications with notable emphasis on international advertising. Also receiving much notice is the topic of advertising regulation and content as reflected in the nature of advertising messages and appeals. The increasing attention paid to this area is not without reason (Boddewyn, 1982; Neelankavil and Stridsberg, 1979; Boddewyn and Marton, 1978). Regardless of how aggressive marketers may be in their use of advertising, their ultimate succes hinges upon creative ways of matching advertising content with sociocultural norms and legal environments (Peebles and Ryans, 1984; Boddewyn, 1981).
Automated page orientation and skew angle detection for binary document images

Abstract We describe the development and implementation of algorithms for detecting the page orientation (portrait/landscape) and the degree of skew for documents available as binary images. A new and fast approach is advanced herein whereby skew angle detection takes advantage of information found using the page orientation algorithm. Page orientation is accomplished using local analysis, while skew angle detection is implemented based on the processing of pixels of last black run-lengths of binary image objects. The experiments carried out on a variety of medical journals show the feasibility of the new approach and indicate that detection accuracy can be improved by minimizing the effects of non-textual data.
Some Views On “Hot Towers” after 50 Years of Tropical Field Programs and Two Years of TRMM Data

The “hot tower” hypothesis requires the existence of deep cumulonimbus clouds in the deep Tropics as essential agents, which accomplish the mass and energy transport essential for the maintenance of the general circulation. As the role of the deep convective clouds has been generally accepted, the popularity of referring to these deep “hot” towers as undilute towers also has gained acceptance. This paper examines the consequences of assuming that the deep convective clouds over tropical oceans consist of undilute ascent from the subcloud layer.
Exploring exposure–response for magnetic fields and childhood leukemia

For 30 years, there have been suggestions that extremely low frequency magnetic fields such as those are produced by electric power systems may be associated with elevated risks of childhood leukemia. These suggestions are driven by epidemiological evidence, and it has been common to characterize that evidence as showing a threshold effect, with no increase in risk below a threshold, often 0.3 or 0.4 μT, and a constant risk above it. Such a threshold would, however, be biologically unlikely. We tested alternative dose–response relationships quantitatively. We obtained five exposure data sets, applied several candidate dose–response relationships to each one, and performed a regression analysis to see how well they fit each of the three epidemiological data sets. Threshold dose–response relationships performed only moderately. Linear relationships were generally even poorer. The fit was improved by adding quadratic terms or performing non-linear regression. There are limitations in our analysis, stemming from the available data, but addressing this issue in a data-based, quantitative manner should improve understanding, allow better calculations to be made of attributable numbers, and hence ultimately inform public policy making.
Hochschild cohomology and Linckelmann cohomology for blocks of finite groups

Abstract Let G be a finite group, F an algebraically closed field of finite characteristic p, and let B be a block of F G . We show that the Hochschild and Linckelmann cohomology rings of B are isomorphic, modulo their radicals, in the cases where (1) B is cyclic and (2) B is arbitrary and G either a nilpotent group or a Frobenius group (p odd). (The second case is a consequence of a more general result.) We give some related results in the more general case that B has a Sylow p-subgroup P as a defect group, giving a precise local description of a quotient of the Hochschild cohomology ring. In case P is elementary abelian, this quotient is isomorphic to the Linckelmann cohomology ring of B, modulo radicals.
An Analytical Model for Bubble Growth and Heat Transfer in Microchannels

Forced liquid convection microchannel cooling systems present an alternative to the forced air-convection schemes and offer higher thermal performance. With regard to forced liquid convection, two-phase convection offers superior performance to liquid only convection. This paper presents results developed from a bubble heat transfer growth model applied to microchannel geometry and incorporates these results into a model for the averaged bubble heat transfer coefficient. Results are shown for water and FC-72. The bubble heat transfer model shows that the bubble growth rates and subsequent averaged heat transfer coefficient are functions of the film thickness between the bubble and the microchannel wall, the slip velocity between the bubble and the fluid comprising the bubble base, the wall heat flux and the subsequent liquid superheat in the microchannel just upstream of the bubble leading edge.© 2007 ASME
Modulation of the activity of rat liver acetylglutamate synthase by pH and arginine concentration

Abstract Acetylglutamate is known to modulate the activity of carbamyl phosphate synthetase, and thus probably to participate in regulation of the urea cycle. Therefore factors that regulate the activity of acetylglutamate synthase are relevant to control of urea synthesis and of systemic pH. An increase in the concentration of arginine increases both V max and S 0.5 for glutamate of acetylglutamate synthase from rat liver. An increase in pH causes S 0.5 for glutamate to decrease and does not affect V max . As a consequence of these effects, a rapid rate of synthesis of acetylglutamate requires a concentration of arginine of about 25 μ m or higher and either relatively high glutamate concentrations or relatively high pH.
Booster and Higher Antigen Doses of Inactivated Influenza Vaccine in HIV-Infected Patients

Objective: To review the literature regarding booster or higher doses of influenza antigen for increasing immunogenicity of inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) in HIV-infected patients. Data Sources: MEDLINE (1966 to September 2013) was searched using the terms immunize, influenza, vaccine, and HIV or AIDS in combination with two-dose, booster-dose, increased antigen, or high-dose. One trial of booster dosing with standard doses (SDs) of IIV, trivalent (IIV3); 2 trials of booster dosing with intermediate doses (ID) of H1N1 IIV or IIV3; and 1 trial of high-dose (HD) IIV3 were identified. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Trials administering 2-dose, booster-dose, or increased antigen of influenza vaccine to patients with HIV were reviewed. Because adjuvanted IIV is not available and IIV, quadrivalent was recently approved in the United States, studies evaluating these vaccines were excluded. Data Synthesis: HIV-infected individuals are at high risk for influenza-related complications; however, vaccinati...
Torn Touch: Interactive Installation

that can be mapped to these polygons as the model animates. To animate the models, the system uses keyframing based on the model parameters. The animation system functions as an authoring tool to create keyframe animations involving these characters. This is done by editing the character parameters such as position and orientation for different keyframes. The animations can then be played back by reading the animation parameters from disk for each keyframe and interpolating between the keyframes (see Fig. 2). Thus we attempt to revive the longneglected tradition of Karagoz in a modern framework. Its artistic features and means of expression are not yet exhausted but are open to further explorations. We believe that our work is exemplary in that it is an instance of media technologies turning to old forms in their search for new possibilities in art production. Sample animations of the shadow play characters can be found at . Acknowledgment
Detecting anomalous latent classes in a batch of network traffic flows

We focus on detecting samples from anomalous latent classes, “buried” within a collected batch of known (“normal”) class samples. In our setting, the number of features for each sample is high. We posit and observe to be true that careful “feature selection” within unsupervised anomaly detection may be needed to achieve the most accurate results. Our approach effectively selects features (tests), even though there are no labeled anomalous examples available to form a basis for standard (supervised) feature selection. We form pairwise feature tests based on bivariate Gaussian mixture null models, with one test for every pair of features. The mixtures are estimated using known class samples (null “training set”). Then, we obtain p-values on the test batch samples under the null hypothesis. Subsequently, we calculate approximate joint p-values for candidate anomalous clusters, defined by (sample subset, test subset) pairs. Our approach sequentially detects the most significant clusters of samples in a networking context. We compare our “p-value clustering algorithm”, using ROC curves, with alternative p-value based methods and with the one-class SVM. All the competing methods make sample-wise detections, i.e. they do not jointly detect anomalous clusters. The anomalous class was either an HTTP bot (Zeus) or peer-to-peer (P2P) traffic. Our p-value clustering approach gives promising results for detecting the Zeus bot and P2P traffic amongst Web.
Copper oxide on alumina: I. XRD studies of catalyst composition during air oxidation of carbon monoxide

Abstract In situ X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis have been applied to a study of a supported oxide catalyst used in the air oxidation of CO to CO2. Studies have been made of a given catalyst that has been activated to several different metastable states. The X-ray studies under reaction conditions reveal pronounced differences in composition for the variously activated catalysts. Activation involves reduction to Cu2O and Cu, and the formation of lattice heterogeneities. The active sites of the metastable catalysts studied are associated with the interface between Cu1+ and Cu0 phases, and/or nonstoichiometric Cu2O and Cu phases. The X-ray results under reaction conditions differ from these obtained at ambient conditions.
The internet programming contest: a report and philosophy

Programming contests can provide a high-profile method for attracting interest in computer science. We describe our philosophy as it pertains to the purpose and merits of programming contests as well as their implementation. We believe that we have successfully combined the theoretical and practical aspectsof computer science in an enjoyable contest in which many people can participate. The contests we describe have distinct advantages over contests such as the ACM scholastic programming contest. The primary advantage is that there is no travel required-the whole contest is held in cyberspace. All interaction between participants and judges is via electronic mail. Of course all contests build on and learn from others, and ours is no exception. This paper is intended to provide a description andphilosophyof programming contests that will foster discussion, that will provide a model, and that will increase interest in programming as an essential aspect of computer science.
Learning mediates the exposure-attraction relationship: More evidence

Previous research has suggested that repeated exposure to novel stimuli produces changes in their connotative meaning, but that some delay may be required for this effect. Thirty-six undergraduates viewed nonsense syllables in various frequencies, then rated them for pleasantness following no delay (Condition 1) or following a delay which provided cognitive activity presumably facilitating or inhibiting rehearsal (Conditions 2 and 3). In all three conditions, both judged pleasantness and recall were a linear increasing function of log exposure frequency; no main effect of condition nor interaction of Condition by Frequency was found. The results suggest a rating delay may not always be needed for “mere exposure” effects.
Incoherent radiative processing of titanium silicides

Abstract Titanium silicide thin films were formed after short-time processing of thin films of metallic titanium over single-crystal silicon and polycrystalline silicon. Radiation from high intensity lamps provided a directional driving force for the reaction, which was carried out both in the presence of oxygen in the reactor and under vacuum. The effect of oxygen on the reaction was monitored using sheet resistance, X-ray diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) measurements. The film quality was found to be strongly influenced by an oxygen partial pressure in the reactor. The effect of the processing time was also assessed and the optimum time and power input interval were determined. High quality, low resistivity films with TiSi 2 as the major phase were obtained after 10 s under a roughing vacuum. AES studies indicated that most of the oxygen and other contaminants remained in a narrow surface layer after processing.
Computer-based Testing and Validity: a look back into the future

Test developers and organisations that rely on test scores to make important decisions about students and schools are aggressively embracing computer-based testing. As one example, during the past ...
Teaching in the clinical environment: Guide Supplement 34.1–Viewpoint

Teaching in the clinical environment is a complex proposition. The AMEE guide of the same title authored by Ramani and Leinster (2008) sets as its ambitious goal, to provide background information on the theoretical underpinnings and practical advice to assist with this task. As with any guide, it is essential to keep in mind the assumptions that were used to establish a baseline from which to interpret the guidance described. In the present AMEE Guide, it appears the authors wrote assuming that the clinical teaching would be occurring within the context of an established course, in a medical training programme. While some of the guidance may be applied to other health professions, interdisciplinary team training is not directly addressed. Additionally, for clinical teaching that occurs in the absence of clearly defined roles, goals and objectives, these teachers are best advised to obtain training in establishing these basic parameters to maximize the benefits of the guide. In order to apply the advice p...
Factors influencing career location preferences of international graduate students in the United States

Using primary survey data, factors influencing preferences of international graduate students in the United States as to whether they prefer to stay in the United States or go back to their home country to start their careers are examined employing discrete choice analysis. Career opportunities and social climate are critical factors. Students prefer to start their careers in the country where they have more and better career opportunities, receive higher salaries, and have increased civil liberties. Differences between students who are sure and those who are not sure as to where they prefer to start their career are noted.
Relational Contexts of Women’s Stress and Competence During the Transition to Adulthood

To better understand the developmental contexts of mixed affect generated by the transition to adulthood, this study examined the relational correlates of self-reported stress and competence regarding the transition to adulthood. A sample of 223 college women reported on perceptions of parents, friends, and peers, as well as stress about taking on adult responsibilities (transition stress) and perceived competence regarding progress toward becoming an adult (transition competence). Results indicated distinctive relational correlates for transition stress versus competence. Transition stress was associated positively with over-involved parenting, parental attachment anxiety, and feeling behind peers in becoming an adult but not friendship quality, whereas transition competence was associated positively with friendship quality and feeling ahead of peers in becoming an adult but not parenting measures. Analyses controlled for internalizing distress, age, ethnicity, and family income. Results highlight the distinctive provisions afforded by close relationships for two key aspects of psychological experience during the process of becoming an adult.
Vasopressin reduces release from vasopressin-neurons and oxytocin-neurons by acting on V2-like receptors

The effects of arginine vasopressin (AVP), and of the V2-AVP receptor agonist 1-deamino[8-D-arginine] vasopressin (DDAVP) on release from the vasopressin-neurons and oxytocin-neurons of Long-Evans rats were evaluated using specific radioimmunoassays for rat neurophysins. AVP (1 microgram, 1 nmol) or DDAVP (25 ng, 25 pmol) was administered i.p. to animals 1 h before they received an i.v. infusion of 18% saline at 10 microliters/100 g b. wt./min for 60 min. Both AVP and DDAVP decreased the responsiveness (slope) but not the sensitivity threshold of vasopressin-neurons to acute changes in plasma osmolality. Since the amounts of the peptides giving comparable decreases in responsiveness were directly related to their antidiuretic potencies, it is most probable that this influence is mediated through V2-like receptors. However, while ruling out a significant contribution of V1-type receptors, the data do not exclude involvement of other vasopressin receptors (e.g. V3-type receptors). Both AVP and DDAVP also appeared to have an inhibitory effect on release from oxytocin-neurons, but in this case they significantly altered sensitivity threshold but not responsiveness to acute changes in plasma osmolality. Because AVP produced a shift in sensitivity threshold larger than that by DDAVP when the peptides were used in amounts related to their antidiuretic potencies, our results suggest that the feedback influence of AVP on oxytocin-neurons is largely, although not entirely, exercised through V2-like receptors.