cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High‐frequency ESR at ACERT

High-field ESR offers many advantages in exploring fundamental questions of structure and dynamics in chemical, biological and physical samples. We provide a review of recent work performed at ACERT demonstrating the utility and flexibility of our methods for extracting both qualitative and quantitative information from a variety of systems. In particular, we emphasize the utility of multi-frequency ESR techniques for unraveling the details of the complex dynamical modes of proteins in solution and in heterogeneous systems such as lipid bilayers. We also include indications of directions for future work where appropriate. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An Investigation of Cloud Distribution from Satellite Infrared Radiation Data

Abstract A physical-statistical model using Nimbus II MRIR (medium resolution infrared) radiometer channel 2 (10–11 µm) data is formed to estimate cloud cover. In the model, cloud cover is estimated from the probability density distribution of DV2 values defined to be the differences between the earth surface temperatures and the corresponding channel 2 observed equivalent black-body temperatures. For cloud type estimation, channel 1 (6.4–6.9 µm) and channel 2 (10–11 µm) data are used simultaneously in a joint distribution model. Bivariate DV1 and DV2 frequency distributions portray distinct features associated with different cloud patterns from which it was possible to estimate the cloud coverage for different levels in the troposphere. The major limiting factor in estimating cloud coverage in this study was the areal resolution of the MRIR radiometer. The results indicate that a reliable global climatology may be formed, using higher resolution radiometers combined with irradiance information from other...
Infectious agents and ARMD: A connection?

HE POSSIBILITY THAT INFECTIOUS AGENTS MIGHT play a role in the pathogenesis of vascular disease, especially atherosclerosis, has attracted significant attention over the past 15 years. This is attributable in part to the recognition that atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease initiated by endothelial injury.1 The infectious agents that have received the most attention are Chlamydia pneumoniae (C pneumoniae), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Heliobacter pylori (H. pylori), all known to cause chronic infection and persistent inflammation.2 Data to support a role for CMV in the pathogenesis of vascular disease comes from several lines of research. In rodent models, CMV infection impairs arterial endothelial cell reactivity and accelerates the development of atherosclerosis.3 A possible mechanism for this has come from the in vitro studies of human CMV by Nelson and associates.4 They found that CMV infection of human arterial smooth muscle cells enhances their migration toward sites of vascular injury because of expression of the viral encoded chemokine receptor US28. Although some epidemiologic studies have found an association between CMV seropositivity and atherosclerosis, prospective studies have been unable to establish a firm link.5,6 Nonetheless, CMV DNA and antigens are found in a high percentage of diseased vessels and antiviral therapy attenuates development of atherosclerosis in cardiac transplantation patients.7,8 Data in support of a role for C pneumoniae in human vascular disease is perhaps even stronger than that for CMV. Like CMV, C pneumoniae has been shown to promote atheromata in animal models, probably by inducing vascular endothelial expression of cytokines, chemokines, and vascular adhesion factors.9 In humans, pathologic studies have found C pneumoniae antigens, DNA, and even infectious organism in atherosclerotic lesions but rarely in healthy arterial tissue.10–12 Additionally, seroepidemiologic studies have demonstrated an association of C pneumoniae with coronary artery disease and
Web-ACSYNT": Conceptual-Level Aircraft Systems Analysis on the Internet

A Web-based version of the aircraft design program ACSYNT has been created. "Web-ACSYNT provides the user with a familiar user interface and is accessible from multiple platforms. Analyses are based upon a set of baseline aircraft models which can be modified through a carefully selected set of parameters related to weight, aerodynamics, propulsion, economics, and mission. The software is intended to become one of the models that comprise the Aviation System Analysis Capability (ASAC) currently being developed by NASA under the Advanced Subsonic Technology (AST) program.
Pressure Dependence of the Refractive Indices of the Hexagonal Crystals Beryl, α -CdS, α -ZnS, and ZnO

The variation of the ordinary and extraordinary refractive indices of the hexagonal crystals beryl, $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-CdS, $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-ZnS, and ZnO with hydrostatic pressure to 7 kbar has been measured by an interferometric technique for $\ensuremath{\lambda}5893$ \AA{}. For beryl, both the refractive indices increase linearly with pressure with slopes of +0.072 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ${\mathrm{kbar}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ over the entire range investigated. For $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-CdS, $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-ZnS, and ZnO, the ordinary refractive indices decrease linearly with pressure to about 4 kbar with slopes of -1.38\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, -0.25\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, and -0.34\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ${\mathrm{kbar}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, respectively, while the corresponding extraordinary refractive indices also decrease linearly with pressure to about 4 kbar with slopes of -1.37\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, -0.25\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, and -0.35\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ ${\mathrm{kbar}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, respectively. Above 4 kbar both the refractive indices of these crystals decrease nonlinearly with pressure as well as with strain, indicating the influence of the second-order piezo-optic coefficients. On release of pressure, no hysteresis effects were noticed, indicating that the above nonlinear piezo-optic behavior occurs in the elastic region. Finally, the results are interpreted according to Mueller's theory of photoelasticity.
Centroid-moment-tensor solutions for deep earthquakes predating the digital era: Discussion and inferences

Abstract We present a discussion of 139 new centroid-moment-tensor solutions for deep earthquakes covering the WWSSN (1962–1976) and earlier years, obtained by applying the standard Harvard inversion algorithm to data sets of seismograms digitized from analog records. Our solutions fill several gaps in seismicity reflecting undersampling by the Harvard catalogue. While most focal mechanisms previously published for WWSSN-era earthquakes are in good agreement with our inverted solutions, focal geometries for older events appear unreliable. We confirm that the region of most intense moment release is around 650 km, and that a minimum exists at 500 km. However, the local maximum around 450 km may be less marked than previously suggested. The Bonin–Marianas subduction zone exhibits a different pattern with an overall maximum of seismic activity at 420 km. All other subduction zones demonstrate the potential for seismicity at least at the 1027 dyn-cm level. Finally, while non-double-couple components are found systematically in our enhanced data set, they correlate neither with depth nor with earthquake size, suggesting that their presence does not necessarily relate to the exiguity of the space available for rupture at the tip of subduction zones.
Ion beam heating of thin silicon membranes

Abstract For silicon membranes irradiated by an ion beam in a vacuum environment, such as the masks used for ion beam lithography and the membranes used for thin film self-annealing, the heat transfer modes are radiation and limited conduction through the thin membrane. The radiation component depends on the total hemispherical emissivity which varies with the thickness and temperature of the membrane. A semiempirical correlation for the absorption coefficient of high resistivity silicon was derived and the variation of the total emissivity with temperature was computed for membranes with thicknesses between 0.1 and 10 μm. Based on this result, the temperatures reached during exposure to ion beams of varying intensities were computed. A proper modeling of the emissivity is shown to be important for beam heating of thin silicon membranes.
Galileo's Apparent Orthodoxy in His Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina

Abstract: Modern rhetorical theory suggests that the rhetorical concept of doxa entails social dimensions of rank and regard. A trustworthy ethos is one in which the rhetor identifies with orthodoxy by signalling allegiance to doxastic elements of narrarive knowledge, presuppositions and methodology, and hierarchy. In his Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina , Galileo fails to project an orthodox ethos in his attempt to rewrite narrative knowledge because, although he adheres to orthodox methodology and presuppositions, he disregards orthodox hierarchy and even tries to restructure it.
Self-injection of barbiturates, benzodiazepines and other sedative-anxiolytics in baboons

Self-injection of 12 sedative-anxiolytics was examined in baboons. Intravenous injections and initiation of a 3-h time-out were dependent upon completion of a fixed-ratio schedule requirement, permitting eight injections per day. Before testing each dose of drug, self-injection performance was established with cocaine. Subsequently, a test dose was substituted for cocaine. At some doses, all five of the benzodiazepines examined (alprazolam, bromazepam, chlordiazepoxide, lorazepam, triazolam) maintained rates (number of injections per day) of drug self-injection above vehicle control in each of the baboons tested. Maximum rates of benzodiazepine self-injection were generally submaximal. Of the benzodiazepines examined, triazolam maintained the highest rates of self-injection. Among the three barbiturates tested, methohexital generally maintained high rates of self-injection in contrast to hexobarbital and phenobarbital, which only maintained low rates. Of the four non-benzodiazepine non-barbiturate sedatives examined, both chloral hydrate and methyprylon occasionally maintained high rates of self-injection. Although there were differences within and across animals, baclofen maintained intermediate rates of self-injection. The novel anxiolytic buspirone maintained only low rates of self-injection that were not different from vehicle. This study further validates the self-injection methodology for assessing sedative-anxiolytic abuse liability and provides new information about drug elimination rate as a determinant of drug self-administration.
A new species of lobster (Astacidea, Erymidae) from the Smithers Formation (Middle Jurassic) of British Columbia, Canada

A single carapace and its counterpart of an erymoid lobster collected from the Middle Jurassic Smithers Formation in British Columbia, permits description of a new species, Eryma walkerae. The specimen represents only the fourth species of Eryma described from North America and documents a north polar route of dispersal for erymids into North America.
The metabolic syndrome and coronary artery disease: A structural equation modeling approach suggestive of a common underlying pathophysiology

Abstract Objective The purpose of this research was to utilize a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to simultaneously examine the relationship among the Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn) and coronary artery calcification (CAC), a surrogate marker for sub-clinical atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease (CAD). Materials/Methods Data were derived from the Spokane Heart Study (SHS), a prospective study designed to examine the role of traditional and non-traditional biological, psychological, and behavioral risk factors predictive of CAC. Study participants included 434 non-clinical healthy volunteers (54% female, 46% male; mean age of 56 years) who were asymptomatic for CAD at enrollment and had complete data for the primary variables of interest (MetSyn components and CAC) during the data collection period (i.e., 2002–2006). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the MetSyn factor with the following indicator variables: body mass index, fasting glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, fasting triglyceride levels, and systolic blood pressure. SEM was used to test the theoretical model that the MetSyn is associated with CAC. Results This study demonstrated that body mass index, fasting glucose, fasting triglyceride levels, HDL cholesterol, and blood pressure do cluster together under a single latent factor, and that this latent factor is associated with CAC. Conclusions Our results highlight the possibility that there is a common pathophysiological pathway that could explain the relationship between the MetSyn and CAD. Future studies should examine these relationships in a prospective fashion for early detection and prevention of CAD and to identify ideal time points for clinical intervention.
End-Use Quality of Six Hard Red Spring Wheat Cultivars at Different Irrigation Levels

Moisture stress is an environmental factor that may influence end-use quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of moisture stress on end-use quality of hard red spring wheat cultivars differing in adaptation to moisture stress. Six hard red spring wheat cultivars were grown in 1992 and 1993 near Aberdeen, ID under a tine-source irrigation system used to apply differential amounts of water during the period from tillering through anthesis. Protein content, flour yield, dough rheological properties, and breadmaking quality of grain were evaluated across differential levels of moisture stress. Cultivar effects accounted for more variation in end-use quality than cultivar x irrigation interactions. Cultivars differed in magnitude of end-use quality response to moisture stress applied through anthesis, which changed cultivar rankings for flour protein, flour yield, mixograph peak height, mixograph tolerance, mixing time, and loaf volume. Differences in the relationship of loaf volume to protein were observed among cultivars. Identification of cultivars with stable end-use quality requires evaluation across a range of protein contents, which are produced by differential soil moisture availability.
Short-Term Traffic Flow Forecasting Using Fuzzy Logic System Methods

A variety of short-term traffic flow forecasting methods have been developed in the last two decades. However, due to the complexity of traffic conditions and the drawbacks existing in those methods, predictions of traffic flow generally lack accuracy and robustness. In response to these problems, a fuzzy logic system methodology is proposed in this study. The fuzzy logic system methods are used to forecast traffic flow and compare with existing methods, using dual-loop data collected from I-35 in San Antonio, Texas. Forecasting results show that the fuzzy logic system produces more accurate and stable predictions. It is also more robust as it is able to forecast flow under various traffic and detector operation conditions.
Substrate specificity of Tulane virus protease

Tulane virus (TV) is a cultivable calicivirus isolated from rhesus monkeys. In this study, we characterized the substrate specificity of TV protease in trans using recombinant proteases and TV polyprotein fragments containing the predicted proteolytic cleavage sites. Cleavage products have been obtained from 4 of the 5 fragments containing (573)Q-S(574) between the helicase and 3A-like protein, (712)E-A(713) between the 3A-like protein and Vpg, (802)E-G(803) between Vpg and the protease, and (976)E-G(977) between the protease and RdRp. We also characterized the enzymatic activities of the recombinant proteases of TV and Norwalk virus using synthetic fluorogenic peptide substrates. Under optimal conditions for enzymatic assays, partial cross-reactivities on reciprocal substrates were observed between TV and Norwalk virus proteases. The apparently shared substrate specificities between TV and Norwalk virus proteases suggested that the cultivable TV could be used as a model for in vivo evaluation of lead candidates of protease inhibitors for human norovirus.
The application of thermal dose in clinical trials

When large human tumours are heated, spatial temperature (T) variation is high and poorly predictable with current hyperthermia technology. Invasive thermometry is thus necessary to document efficacy, and thermal mapping or multisensor thermometry can increase the yield of information without increasing the extent of invasiveness. The amount of temperature, time and spatial (T, t, x) data generated in a typical treatment is overwhelming, but can be made comprehensible by the application of thermal dose (TD) analysis. The isoeffective basis of the analysis reviewed here is likely to be modified as more biophysical information becomes available but, at present, serves the purpose of data condensation and treatment comparison. Real-time TD analysis may help to assure treatment reproducibility and may assist in discerning thermal dose-response relationships in prospective clinical trials.
Absolute Quantum Yield of Sodium Salicylate

Quantum yield measurement of luminescence in sodium salicylate based on second phosphor having constant quantum yield
Assessment of partial first-ray resections and their tendency to progress to transmetatarsal amputations: a retrospective study.

Background: Diabetic foot infections tend to lead to amputation. Partial first-ray resections are used to help salvage the foot and maintain bipedal ambulation. Losing the first metatarsophalangeal...
Validity of methods for estimating percent body fat in black males

This investigation examined the validity of skinfold (Sum7 and Sum3), near-infrared interactance (F5000 and F1000), and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) equations for estimating percent body fat (% fat) in 20 black male (age = 21.0 ± 3.0 yrs) volunteers by comparing the estimates to values obtained from underwater weighing (% fat = 13.9 ± 7.0). The statistical analyses included examination of the constant error, standard error of estimate, r, and total error (TE). The results indicated that the Sum3 (TE = 2.1% fat) and Sum7 (TE = 2.4% fat) skinfold equations most accurately estimated % fat, and therefore are recommended over the F5000 (TE = 3.9% fat), F1000 (TE = 4.6% fat), and BIA (TE = 9.4% fat) equations for estimating % fat in black men.
2014 Curt Stern Award introduction: Gonçalo Abecasis.

Good morning and welcome. On behalf of The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), it is my great pleasure to introduce our colleague Goncalo Rocha Abecasis as recipient (together with Mark Daly) of the 2014 Curt Stern Award.
Graphlet-based measures are suitable for biological network comparison

Motivation: Large amounts of biological network data exist for many species. Analogous to sequence comparison, network comparison aims to provide biological insight. Graphlet-based methods are proving to be useful in this respect. Recently some doubt has arisen concerning the applicability of graphlet-based measures to low edge density networks—in particular that the methods are ‘unstable’—and further that no existing network model matches the structure found in real biological networks. Results: We demonstrate that it is the model networks themselves that are ‘unstable’ at low edge density and that graphlet-based measures correctly reflect this instability. Furthermore, while model network topology is unstable at low edge density, biological network topology is stable. In particular, one must distinguish between average density and local density. While model networks of low average edge densities also have low local edge density, that is not the case with protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks: real PPI networks have low average edge density, but high local edge densities, and hence, they (and thus graphlet-based measures) are stable on these networks. Finally, we use a recently devised non-parametric statistical test to demonstrate that PPI networks of many species are well-fit by several models not previously tested. In addition, we model several viral PPI networks for the first time and demonstrate an exceptionally good fit between the data and theoretical models. Contact: natasha@imperial.ac.uk
Biomechanical evaluation of interference screw fixation in a bovine patellar bone-tendon-bone autograft complex for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

A bovine model was developed for biomechanical evaluation of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using patellar bone-tendon-bone (b-t-b) autograft to examine the differences in time zero fixation mechanical properties of different interference screw lengths and diameters. The surgical technique of interference screw fixation of the b-t-b complex performed clinically was reproduced in a controlled animal model. The femur-patellar tendon graft-tibia complex was tested with anterior displacement of the tibia in 30 degrees of knee flexion to allow examination of the femoral and tibial fixation properties simultaneously. The statistical model concurrently explored differences between screw length and diameter while accounting for variations between graft properties. No statistically significant differences were found between the 7- and 9-mm screws with respect to peak load or energy to failure when using a 10-mm triangular graft in a 10-mm tunnel. The 7- and 9-mm screws were superior to the 5.5-mm screws with respect to these same parameters. Based on our results, the 7-mm interference screws can be used with equal confidence as the 9-mm screw, and the 20-mm length can be similarly exchanged for 30-mm length for patellar b-t-b graft fixation.
Backward masking in schizophrenia: Relationship to medication status, neuropsychological functioning, and dopamine metabolism

Patients with schizophrenia have deficits in early information processing, which have been demonstrated on several tasks, including the backward masking paradigm (Braff et al 1991). On this task, patients with schizophrenia, asked to identify a first "target" stimulus, followed by a second "masking" stimulus (a cross of Xs), need longer interstimulus intervals (ISis) between target and mask than controls to successfully identify the target stimulus (Braff et al 1991). This deficit in initial processing could lead to faulty intake of information resulting in clinical symptomatology. One recent study indicates that the backward masking deficit in patients with schizophrenia is related to thought disorder (Perry and Braff 1994). The goal of this study is to further examine potential correlates of backward masking dysfunction. First, we examined whether or not backward masking deficits are due to a medication effect. Unmedicated patients show a masking deficit (Braff and Saccuzzo 1982; Harvey et al 1990), but most studies have examined medicated patients. This pilot study is the first study to our knowledge to utilize a within-subjects design to test patients on and off medication, thus providing a more rigorous test of the
Dielectric loss of strontium titanate thin films on different substrates

Abstract Lattice mismatch-induced strain in incipient ferroelectric strontium titanate (SrTiO3) thin films has been found to greatly influence the dielectric properties of the thin films. In this paper we report results of SrTiO3 (STO) thin films grown on different substrate which result in different strain, in particular their effects on the dielectric loss.
Epoxy/SiO2 interpenetrating polymer networks

We demonstrate a potentially useful method of generating an SiO2 morphology, in situ, with interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) chemistry. Organic/inorganic IPNs were synthesized with an organic phase made of epoxy resin and an SiO2 phase made by sol—gel chemistry. The two types of polymerization used were sequential and simultaneous with SiO2 content ranging from 0.02 to 0.43 g SiO2/g total weight. The resultant morphologies were examined by small angle X-ray scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The sequential IPNs were strongly phase separated into a finely divided SiO2 phase of ∼10 nm size scale. The simultaneous IPNs were weakly phase separated with considerable mixing in the phases. Thermal studies showed increased thermal stability for the IPNs, compared with unfilled epoxies or physically mixed silica filled epoxies.
Automated design parameter selection for neural networks solving coupled partial differential equations with discontinuities

Abstract The length factor artificial neural network (ANN) method for solving coupled systems of partial differential equations (DEs) is unique among ANN methods in that the approximate solution exactly satisfies boundary conditions (BCs) on arbitrary geometries regardless of the ANN output. Besides removing the BC constraint from the optimization process, this property allows the method to accurately solve problems with discontinuous BCs despite the continuous nature of ANNs. An automated design parameter selection process is developed to choose a single ANN from an ensemble comprising numerous combinations of design parameters and random starting weights and biases. The selection is made completely independently of the human designer by comparing the magnitude and uniformity of each approximate solution's error in satisfying the DE(s). The automated selection process successfully chooses a solution with error on the same order of magnitude as the best solution in the ensemble. The resulting approximations provide low error solutions for the three different thermal-fluid science example problems explored, including the Navier–Stokes equations.
Structural Influence of Erbium Centers on Silicon Nanocrystal Phase Transitions

Two different types of erbium-doped silicon nanocrystals, along with undoped, oxide-capped Si dots, are employed to probe the impact of the impurity center location on phase transition pressure. Using a combination of high pressure optical absorption, micro-Raman, and x-ray diffraction measurements in a diamond anvil cell, it is demonstrated that the magnitude of this phase transition elevation is strongly dictated by the average spatial location of impurity centers introduced into the nanocrystal along with the interfacial quality of the surrounding oxide.
Role of Corticosterone in Extinction of an Appetitive Instrumental Response

Corticosteroids appear to be involved in a variety of cognitive processes. The present research examined their role during extinction of an appetitive instrumental response in rats. In the first experiment, a high negative correlation was documented between the magnitude of the corticosterone level evoked by removal of reinforcement and the number of behavioral responses given during the session. In the second experiment, administration of exogenous corticosterone decreased the number of behavioral responses occurring during the extinction session; dexa-methasone had no significant effect. It would appear possible that the behavioral effects reflect corticosterone mediated changes in neuronal activity within brain structures contributing to learning and memory processes. Thus, in appetitive instrumental conditioning, corticosterone levels are elevated by a removal of reinforcement (extinction) and may contribute to the suppression or decay of the previously reinforced behavioral response.
Accommodating individual differences in searching a hierarchical file system

Individual differences among users of a hierarchical file system were investigated. The results of a previous experiment revealed that subjects with low spatial ability were getting lost in the hierarchical file structure. Based on the concept of visual momentum, two changes to the old interface were proposed in an attempt to accommodate the individual differences in task performance. The changes consisted of a partial map of the hierarchy and an analogue indicator of current file position. This experiment compared the performance of users with high and low spatial abilities on the old verbal interface and the new graphical interface. The graphical interface resulted in changes in command usage that were consistent with the predictions of the visual momentum analysis. Although these changes in strategy resulted in a performance advantage for the graphical interface, the relative performance difference between high and low spatial groups remained constant across interfaces. However, the new interface did result in a decrease in the within-group variability in performance.
Reverse transcriptase of human immunodeficiency virus can use either human tRNA(3Lys) or Escherichia coli tRNA(2Gln) as a primer in an in vitro primer-utilization assay.

Abstract Although the reverse transcriptase (RT) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) uses human tRNA(3Lys) as a primer of viral genome DNA synthesis in vivo, HIV RT binds Escherichia coli glutamine tRNA and in vitro-made human lysine tRNA with nearly equivalent affinities. We show that HIV RT can use either tRNA(3Lys) or tRNA(2Gln) as a primer for DNA synthesis in vitro without the addition of any other host or viral proteins. E. coli tRNA(2Gln) can serve as a primer for HIV RT if a primer-binding site sequence complementary to the 3' end of tRNA(2Gln) is at the 3' end of the template. With this reduced template, the specificity of binding the proper tRNA is due to base-pairing between a bound tRNA to the primer-binding site of the viral RNA template rather than sequence-specific recognition of tRNA(3Lys) by RT. If an 8-nucleotide viral sequence 3' to the primer-binding site is included in the template, then addition of Zn2+ or Co2+ is required for tRNA(3Lys)-primed synthesis, and tRNA(2Gln) now fails to prime synthesis. The latter result implies that a template sequence adjacent to the primer-binding site and containing 6 nucleotides complementary to the anticodon loop of human tRNA(3Lys) plays an active role in tRNA discrimination.
Bias Estimation in an Association-Free Nonlinear Filter☆

Abstract Musick, S., and Kastella, K., Bias Estimation in an Association-Free Nonlinear Filter, Digital Signal Processing 12 (2002) 484–493 Previous nonlinear filtering research has shown that by directly estimating the probability density of a target state using a track-before-detect scheme, weak and densely spaced targets can be tracked, and data association (in which reports are associated with tracks) can be avoided. Data association imposes a heavy burden on tracking, both in its design, where complex data management structures are required, and in its execution, which often requires many computer cycles. Therefore, avoiding data association can have advantages. However, a concern exists that data association is essential for estimating and correcting additive sensor biases, which are nearly always present. This paper demonstrates that target tracks and sensor biases can be estimated simultaneously using association-free nonlinear methods. We begin by defining a state consisting of target locations and a slowly drifting sensor bias. Stochastic models for state dynamics and for the measurement function are presented. A track-before-detect nonlinear filter is constructed to estimate the joint density of the state variables. A simulation that emulates estimator behavior is exercised under low signal-to-noise conditions. Simulation results are presented and discussed. This work extends the useful range of nonlinear filtering methods in tracking applications.
Comparative retention rates and long-term tolerability of new antiepileptic drugs

Summary Objective Retention rates of five new anti-epileptic medications (AEDs) were compared in order to evaluate their long-term tolerability and efficacy. Method We acquired the retention data on levetiracetam (LEV), lamotrigine (LTG), oxcarbazepine (OXC), topiramate (TPM), and zonisamide (ZNS) from the electronic database. The data included patient's age, gender, seizure type, current and previous medications, dosage, main reasons for discontinuation, and duration of therapy. The retention rates of these AEDs were evaluated at 4, 12, 24, 52, and 104 weeks. Results A total of 828 new AED exposures were obtained (LEV=196, LTG=251, OXC=97, TPM=156, ZNS=128) from patients with partial or generalized epilepsy. At 2 years, retention rate was highest with LTG (74.1%), followed by ZNS (60.2%), OXC (58.8%), LEV (53.6%), and TPM (44.2%). When these AEDs were discontinued, it was mainly due to inefficacy (29.5%) and sedating side-effects (20.5%), and commonly within 6 months into therapy. Several important AED specific side-effects leading to discontinuation were identified, including behavioral or irritability from LEV, rash from LTG and OXC, nausea from OXC and ZNS, hyponatremia from OXC, and kidney stones from TPM and ZNS. Conclusion Comparing retention rates of new AEDs can provide useful insight into their tolerability and efficacy. This study showed highest retention rate with LTG, which was significantly different from ZNS ( p =0.0025), LEV ( p p =0.0024), and TPM ( p
“Testing While Black” Standards-Based School Reform and African American Learners

School reform movements sweeping across U.S. schools have made claims of accountability for all students' learning. The Bush administration has proposed reform strategies so that “no child is left behind” (Department of Education, p. 1). Fueled by the poor test performance of inner-city students, those proposals have given rise to an overreliance on high-stakes testing as a vehicle for accountability. Given the persistent overrepresentation of African Americans in special education classes, conversations about school reform must include African American learners' needs. School reform proposals predicated on high-stakes testing will ensure that the very child who gets left behind will be African American. This article focuses on the impact of standards-based school reform practices on African American learners, especially those in special and remedial classes. First, a rationale is presented for standards-based school reform that is culturally responsive and not premised on high-stakes, high-pressure asses...
Involvement of Bacterial Exopolymers in Biodeterioration of Metals

Microbial degradation of metals is associated with a wide range of biochemical processes, including acid metabolite production, galvanic coupling and differential aeration cell formation, in all of which the role of bacterial exopolymers is crucial We obtained exopolymerfrom a number of pure cultures associated with metal surfaces and measured their binding characteristics with a number of metal ions (Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni). All of the exopolymers strongly bound the metals, but there was variation in maximum binding abilities and stability constants. Differential binding within the biofilm would result in preferential oxidation of particular metal species, eg. concentration of specific ions by the exopolymer of the biofilm may result in oxidation of less noble ions in the metal lattice. Using electrical and polarization resistance techniques the effect of exopolymer-producing bacteria on metal biodeterioration rates was studied. This report discusses the relationship between exopolymer binding and corrosion kinetics.
Statistical machine learning makes automatic control practical for internet datacenters

Horizontally-scalable Internet services on clusters of commodity computers appear to be a great fit for automatic control: there is a target output (service-level agreement), observed output (actual latency), and gain controller (adjusting the number of servers). Yet few datacenters are automated this way in practice, due in part to well-founded skepticism about whether the simple models often used in the research literature can capture complex real-life workload/performance relationships and keep up with changing conditions that might invalidate the models. We argue that these shortcomings can be fixed by importing modeling, control, and analysis techniques from statistics and machine learning. In particular, we apply rich statistical models of the application's performance, simulation-based methods for finding an optimal control policy, and change-point methods to find abrupt changes in performance. Preliminary results running aWeb 2.0 benchmark application driven by real workload traces on Amazon's EC2 cloud show that our method can effectively control the number of servers, even in the face of performance anomalies.
An amphetamine isomer whose efficacy and safety in humans has never been studied, β‐methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA), is found in multiple dietary supplements

The amphetamine isomer β-methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA) was first synthesized in the early 1930s, but its efficacy and safety in humans has not been studied. Recently, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detected BMPEA in dietary supplements labelled as containing Acacia rigidula. Over a year after the FDA reported its findings, we analyzed Acacia rigidula dietary supplements to determine if BMPEA had been removed. Supplements were analyzed using liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Diluted methanolic extract from each supplement was run three times and each data set obtained was analyzed using Agilent MassHunter Qualitative Analysis. The presence of BMPEA was confirmed by accurate mass, retention time and mass spectra match against a reference standard. Quantification of BMPEA was determined using an eight-point calibration curve of spiked standard to a matrix blank. Twenty-one brands of Acacia rigidula supplements were analyzed. More than half (11/21; 52.4%) of the Acacia rigidula supplement brands contained BMPEA. The stimulant was present at quantities such that consumers following recommended maximum daily servings would consume a maximum of 93.7 mg of BMPEA per day. Consumers of Acacia rigidula supplements may be exposed to pharmacological dosages of an amphetamine isomer that lacks evidence of safety in humans. The FDA should immediately warn consumers about BMPEA and take aggressive enforcement action to eliminate BMPEA in dietary supplements. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
CARELESSNESS AND DISCRIMINABILITY IN WORK ROLE REQUIREMENT JUDGMENTS: INFLUENCES OF ROLE AMBIGUITY AND COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY

Fundamental to effective human resource systems is the capture of data regarding work role requirements. However, previous research on factors that influence work role requirement judgments has been largely equivocal. From a sample of 203 incumbents, representing 73 unique occupations, we investigated 2 cognitive sources of influence on carelessness and discriminability in work role requirement judgments. We hypothesized that incumbents perceiving high role ambiguity would provide ratings that were more careless and showed less discriminability, and cognitively complex individuals would provide more careful and discriminating ratings. These influences were hypothesized to vary across different work descriptors and rating scales. Results were supportive, showing effects for cognitive complexity and role ambiguity on ratings, and differential effects depending on the focal descriptor and scale.
Architecture and Application Abstractions for Multi-Agent Collaboration Projects

In this paper, we propose that allapplication for multi-agent collaborative control, and in particular fixed-wing umanned arial vehicles, can be be described through three basic behaviors. They are Travelling, Wactching, and Tracking. These three behaviors are constructed from two primitive actions, going somewhere and hlding at a particular location. The semantics of the behaviors are clearly difined and justify why these three are chosen. The ability of these behaviors to easily program different missions through hyvrid state flow is illustrated through examples of previously-demonstrated application. Furthermore, this paper outlines three levels of abstraction for a software architecture for collaborative control. In particular, we focus on an procedural-level abstraction that illustrates where the above three behaviors can be used to define applications. This level of abstraction displays software modularity such that different members of a research group can work independently while maintaining a structure that allows successful experimental implementation on the multi-agent platform. Moreover, this modularity allows project members to perform various disparate applications with the platform without considerable software modification. It also promotes software reuse after members leave the group. While focusing primarily on fixed-wing aerial vehicles, the approach presented here is equally applicable to ground and rotorcraft vehicles.
Reframing Change: How to Deal with Workplace Dynamics, Influence Others, and Bring People Together to Initiate Positive Change, by Latting, J. K., & Ramsey, V. J.

Reframing Change is written as a self-help book for those who are facing, or wish to create, change in their work place. Although the examples are primarily from social service organizations, the s...
Retinal Structure in Cobalamin C Disease: Mechanistic and Therapeutic Implications

AbstractPurpose: To describe the retinal structure in a patient with cobalamin C (cblC) disease.Methods: A 13-year-old male patient diagnosed with cblC disease during a perinatal metabolic screening prompted by jaundice and hypotony underwent ophthalmic examinations, electroretinography (ERG) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).Results: The patient carried a homozygous (c.271dupA) mutation in the methylmalonic aciduria and homocystinuria type C (MMACHC) gene. At age 3 months he had a normal eye exam. A pigmentary maculopathy progressed to chorioretinal atrophy from 5–10 months. ERG at 7 months was normal. A nystagmus remained stable since the age of 2 years. At age 13, visual acuity was 20/250 (right eye) and 20/400 (left eye), with a +5.00 D correction, a level of vision maintained since first measurable at age 5 years. SD-OCT showed bilateral macular coloboma-like lesions; there was also a thickened surface layer with ganglion cell layer thinning. Photoreceptor outer segment loss a...
Unsupervised Equalization of Lombard Effect for Speech Recognition in Noisy Adverse Environments

In the presence of environmental noise, speakers tend to adjust their speech production in an effort to preserve intelligible communication. The noise-induced speech adjustments, called Lombard effect (LE), are known to severely impact the accuracy of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. The reduced performance results from the mismatch between the ASR acoustic models trained typically on noise-clean neutral (modal) speech and the actual parameters of noisy LE speech. In this study, novel unsupervised frequency domain and cepstral domain equalizations that increase ASR resistance to LE are proposed and incorporated in a recognition scheme employing a codebook of noisy acoustic models. In the frequency domain, short-time speech spectra are transformed towards neutral ASR acoustic models in a maximum-likelihood fashion. Simultaneously, dynamics of cepstral samples are determined from the quantile estimates and normalized to a constant range. A codebook decoding strategy is applied to determine the noisy models best matching the actual mixture of speech and noisy background. The proposed algorithms are evaluated side by side with conventional compensation schemes on connected Czech digits presented in various levels of background car noise. The resulting system provides an absolute word error rate (WER) reduction on 10-dB signal-to-noise ratio data of 8.7% and 37.7% for female neutral and LE speech, respectively, and of 8.7% and 32.8% for male neutral and LE speech, respectively, when compared to the baseline recognizer employing perceptual linear prediction (PLP) coefficients and cepstral mean and variance normalization.
A climatological study of the Keetch/Byram Drought Index and fire activity in the Hawaiian Islands

Abstract The Hawaiian Islands experience damaging wildfires on a yearly basis. Soil moisture or lack thereof, influences the amount and flammability of vegetation. The Keetch and Byram drought index (KBDI) estimates the amount of soil moisture by tracking daily maximum temperatures and rainfall. For the first time, the relationship between the KBDI and fire activity on the Hawaiian Islands is examined using a number of different techniques. The KBDI is calculated daily for a 20-year period and then tested on a monthly time-scale on four major Hawaiian Islands against total area burned (TAB). The use of monthly TAB data for an individual island is a necessity when considering the relatively low frequency of fire activity and the small spatial scale of the islands. The relationship between the KBDI with TAB is explored with a number of rigorous statistical methods. A strong relationship between the KBDI and fire activity for the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii is found. At present a network of stations is used to operationally monitor fire danger on a daily basis.
Parental Substance Abuse and Its Relationship to Severe Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Youth

Research concerning hypothesized relationships between parental alcoholism and conduct problems in their children has had mixed findings. In this study, general and specific aspects of a possible r...
On the asymptotic behavior of unions of sets of lengths in atomic monoids

Let M be a commutative cancellative atomic monoid. We use unions of sets of lengths in M to construct the V-Delta set of M . We first derive some basic properties of V-Delta sets and then show how they offer a method to investigate the asymptotic behavior of the sizes of unions of sets of lengths. A central focus of number theory is the study of number theoretic functions and their asymptotic behavior. This has led to similar investigations concerning non-unique factorizations in integral domains and moniods. Suppose that M is a commutative cancellative monoid in which each nonunit can be factored into a product of irreducible elements (such a monoid is known as atomic). For a nonunit x in M , let L(x) represent the maximum length of a factorization of x into irreducibles and l(x) the minimum such length. The functions L(x) = lim k→∞ L(xn) n and l(x) = lim k→∞ l(xn)
Unintentional Fall Injuries Associated with Walkers and Canes in Older Adults Treated in U.S. Emergency Departments

OBJECTIVES: To characterize nonfatal, unintentional, fall-related injuries associated with walkers and canes in older adults. DESIGN: Surveillance data of injuries treated in hospital emergency departments (EDs), January 1, 2001, to December 31, 2006. SETTING: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program, which collects data from a nationally representative stratified probability sample of 66 U.S. hospital EDs. PARTICIPANTS: People aged 65 and older treated in EDs for 3,932 nonfatal unintentional fall injuries and whose records indicated that a cane or a walker was involved in the fall. MEASUREMENTS: Sex, age, whether the fall involved a cane or walker, primary diagnosis, part of the body injured, disposition, and location and circumstances of the fall. RESULTS: An estimated 47,312 older adult fall injuries associated with walking aids were treated annually in U.S. EDs: 87.3% with walkers, 12.3% with canes, and 0.4% with both. Walkers were associated with seven times as many injuries as canes. Women's injury rates exceeded those for men (rate ratios=2.6 for walkers, 1.4 for canes.) The most prevalent injuries were fractures and contusions or abrasions. Approximately one-third of subjects were hospitalized for their injuries. CONCLUSION: Injuries and hospital admissions for falls associated with walking aids were frequent in this highly vulnerable population. The results suggest that more research is needed to improve the design of walking aids. More information also is needed about the circumstances preceding falls, both to better understand the contributing fall risk factors and to develop specific and effective fall prevention strategies. Language: en