cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A parallel growing architecture for self-organizing maps with unsupervised learning

Self-organizing maps (SOMs) have become popular for tasks in data visualization, pattern classification or natural language processing and can be seen as one of the major concepts for artificial neural networks of today. Their general idea is to approximate a high dimensional and previously unknown input distribution by a lower-dimensional neural network structure with the goal to model the topology of the input space as close as possible. Classical SOMs read the input values in random but sequential order one by one and thus adjust the network structure over space: the network will be built while reading larger and larger parts of the input. In contrast to this approach, we present a SOM that processes the whole input in parallel and organizes itself over time. The main reason for parallel input processing lies in the fact that knowledge can be used to recognize parts of patterns in the input space that have already been learned. This way, networks can be developed that do not reorganize their structure from scratch every time a new set of input vectors is presented, but rather adjust their internal architecture in accordance with previous mappings. One basic application could be a modeling of the whole-part relationship through layered architectures.
Graphic presentation and analysis of inhibition data from ligand-binding experiments

One technique for the characterization of receptor subtypes involves measuring the inhibition of the binding of a radioligand which is not subtype selective by agonists or antagonists which are subtype selective. Although such data are routinely calculated using computer programs, it is often useful to have a graphical representation of the data. Until now, a "modified Scatchard" or "Hofstee" plot of the form P = -(P/I)(IC50) + 1 (where P is percentage inhibition and I is the inhibitor concentration) has been used. We describe an alternate plot of the form B = -(B X I)(1/IC50) + B0 (where B is the concentration of bound radioligand and B0 is the concentration of radioligand bound in the absence of the inhibitor). This method has the important advantage that the data need not be calculated as percentage inhibition which eliminates the error involved in the experimentally determined B0 value being included in the other values.
Does extending health insurance coverage to the uninsured improve population health outcomes

An ongoing debate exists about whether the US should adopt a universal health insurance programme. Much of the debate has focused on programme implementation and cost, with relatively little attention to benefits for social welfare. To estimate the effect on US population health outcomes, measured by mortality, of extending private health insurance to the uninsured, and to obtain a rough estimate of the aggregate economic benefits of extending insurance coverage to the uninsured. We use state-level panel data for all 50 states for the period 1990–2000 to estimate a health insurance augmented, aggregate health production function for the US. An instrumental variables fixed-effects estimator is used to account for confounding variables and reverse causation from health status to insurance coverage. Several observed factors, such as income, education, unemployment, cigarette and alcohol consumption and population demographic characteristics are included to control for potential confounding variables that vary across both states and time. The results indicate a negative relationship between private insurance and mortality, thus suggesting that extending insurance to the uninsured population would result in an improvement in population health outcomes. The estimate of the marginal effect of insurance coverage indicates that a 10% increase in the population-insured rate of a state reduces mortality by 1.69–1.92%. Using data for the year 2003, we calculate that extending private insurance coverage to the entire uninsured population in the US would save over 75 000 lives annually and may yield annual net benefits to the nation in excess of $US400 billion. This analysis suggests that extending health insurance coverage through the private market to the 46 million Americans without health insurance may well produce large social economic benefits for the nation as a whole.
Internet usage modeling of large wireless networks using self-organizing maps

Human behavior and interests will play a central role in future mobile networks. We introduce a systematic method for large-scale multi-dimensional analysis of online activity for thousands of mobile users over 100 web domains. We propose a modeling approach based on self-organizing maps for discovering, organizing and visualizing different mobile users' trends from billions of WLAN and netflow records. We find surprisingly that users' trends can be modeled using a self-organizing map with clearly distinct characteristics while similar domains are modeled by neighboring nodes. This is the first study to acquire such detailed results for mobile Internet usage.
Instantaneous sampling accuracy of the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) experiment

Resolving uncertainties surrounding the nature of future climate change is currently one of the greatest challenges facing mankind. Validating climate model predictions of the currently much miss-represented cloud radiative feedback requires measurements made from orbit of the Earth Radiation Budget (ERB), specifically targeted at clouds. The ERB parameters for measure are the scattered solar or short wave (SW, 0.3-5μm) and the emitted thermal or long wave radiance (LW, 5-100μm). The Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), as part of NASA's Earth observing System, uses thermistor bolometer detectors to provide global high spatial resolution ERB measurements from polar orbiting space platforms. The Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) experiment is a European Space Agency (ESA) project on board the spin stabilized Meteosat second Generation (MSG) platform. Location in geostationary orbit and the use of an array of thermopile detectors enables sampling of ERB radiances from the entire Earth disc at an optimum 5 minute temporal resolution. Taking full advantage of both GERB's time resolution and CERES's global coverage for climate science requires a radiometric cross calibration and validation between the two satellite programs. This study quantifies the instantaneous sampling errors incurred by the GERB instrument due to geo-location uncertainties and orbit spin axis miss-alignment. The results can therefore be characterized as a function of scene contrast, allowing an appropriate statistical weighting to be employed when making a radiometric comparison between the GERB and CERES instruments.© (2004) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Effect of smoking cessation on exercise performance in female smokers participating in exercise training

We evaluated in a randomized prospective trial the possible effect of smoking cessation on exercise performance in middle-aged female smokers who underwent vigorous exercise training as an adjunct to a cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation treatment program. A total of 109 subjects met the criteria for this substudy; of these, 51 were in the contact control (nonexercising) group and 58 were in the exercise training group. Both groups had a graded maximal exercise stress test performed on a bicycle ergometer before and after 12 weeks of treatment. All subjects participated in a 12-session, group-based, cognitive-behavioral treatment program for nicotine dependence. Subjects in the contact condition participated in 3 supervised health education lectures per week but did not engage in regular exercise. Subjects in the exercise group trained 3 times a week, averaging 83% of maximum heart rate achieved on their baseline exercise test. On the 12-week exercise stress test, the exercise group did significantly better than control in all aspects of exercise performance. Those who quit showed a further increase in their exercise test duration (p <0.001) and had a greater increase in calculated peak oxygen consumption expressed as fat-free weight (p = 0.031). In conclusion, women who undergo a vigorous exercise training program and quit smoking demonstrate improved exercise performance over those who continue to smoke.
Friedel oscillations in a Fermi liquid

The problem of the Friedel oscillations in two- and three-dimensional electron Fermi liquids is examined by means of the many-body local fields theory as aided by the most recent results of accurate numerical studies based on the quantum Monte Carlo method. Within linear response, an exact answer is obtained for the amplitude of the electron density distortion due to both short- and long-ranged impurity potentials. It is discussed how a measurement of the local environment of an impurity embedded in an otherwise homogeneous electron liquid can be used to characterize the systems as a Fermi liquid as well as to extract the magnitude of the static many-body corrections beyond the random phase approximation for wave vector equal to $2{k}_{F}$.
SU‐E‐J‐76: 3D Soft Tissue Boundary Detection for Automatic Verification of Deformable Image Registration

Purpose: The intermediate goal of this work is to develop a novel 3D image boundary detection algorithm in order to reliably detect the soft tissue boundaries in patient CT images. This is the very critical first step towards a potential solution for the currently unsolved problem ‐ automatic verification of deformable image registration (DIR) on patient images. Our hypothetic procedure of DIR verification is 1) tissue boundary detection, 2) boundary matching, and 3) verification of DIR results using the matched tissue boundaries. Methods: A novel 3D image boundary detection algorithm was developed. Multiple steps were used in the tissue boundary procedure, including 3D gradient computation supporting anisotropic voxels, hysteresis thresholding, non‐maxima suppression directly based on the boundary normal directions, boundary thinning, tissue boundary type selection based on the image intensity values on both sides of the boundaries, boundary separation and voxel reconnection based on boundary probability tests. These steps are innovative and critical to enable reliable detection of separated tissue boundaries that would be used in the following boundary matching step. Preprocessing includes automatic couch table removal and non‐local‐mean noise reduction. Post‐processing includes small piece removal and boundary voxels to point coordinate conversion. Results: The algorithm was implemented in MATLAB and tested using patients' head‐neck and pelvis CT images. Results were visually assessed. Compared to the results of the 3D extension of the standard Canny edge detection algorithm, results of the proposed algorithm are significantly more accurate and reliable. Conclusion: The proposed algorithm is a new approach of medical image processing. Combined with image feature matching methods from computer vision fields, it could lead to a potential solution for DIR verification, which is the current roadblock for many clinical applications including treatment adaptation, automatic segmentation and treatment response evaluation.
Reply by Author to W. L. Poston and R. H. Tolson

this is a greedy algorithm for a discrete optimization problem, there is no guarantee that the global maximum will be reached. However, the theorem demonstrates that the effective independence distribution is an exact measure of the information that will be lost when deleting one potential sensor location, and in practical applications the method has been shown' to be effective for optimally locating sensors.
Seasonality of days open in US Holsteins.

The objectives of this study were to establish a pattern for the seasonality of days open (DO) by state and region within the United States and to present statistics on regional trends for DO. Data included 8,676,915 records on DO for Holsteins from 1997 to 2002 covering all regions of the United States. Fixed effects in the model included herd, parity, milk-class, state x month of calving (MOC), year of calving x MOC, and parity x MOC. Least squares means of DO were highest for calvings in March and lowest for calvings in September. The highest mean DO of 155 d was recorded in the Southeast, while the mean DO for the Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest were 142, 141, 140, and 137 d, respectively. Variation in monthly averages of DO was highest in Southeast with a range of 51 d, and less than 25 d in all the other regions. Seasonality of calving was defined as the ratio of the fewest to the most calvings in months. The SOC was > or = 60% in Southeast and 200 d was highest in the Southeast but also could be observed in Texas, Wisconsin, and California. High level of heat stress for DO exists in the Southeast and in selected states of the Midwest and the Southwest; these regions contribute less than 10% of national records. A methodology for analyzing DO especially under heat stress needs to consider effects of intentionally delayed breeding--by using a model that accounts for bimodality, for example.
Direct influence of melatonin on the thyroid and comparison with prolactin.

Abstract Melatonin administered in vivo had previously been shown to inhibit thyroid cell proliferation and subsequent in vitro thyroxine (T(4)) secretion in anuran tadpoles. Melatonin in vitro also directly reduced the sensitivity of the thyroid to thyrotropin (TSH). The present work sought to determine whether melatonin directly affected baseline, unstimulated T(4) secretion, and to compare its effect with that of prolactin (PRL). Thyroids from larval Rana catesbeiana or adult Rana pipiens were incubated in control or melatonin (0.01 to 100 microg/ml) media. Melatonin directly inhibited T(4) secretion by thyroids from both tadpoles and frogs at all concentrations of melatonin used and at both prometamorphic and climax tadpole stages. PRL, used in vitro at 10 microg/ml, did not influence the response of the thyroid to TSH (0.2 microg/ml) in young tadpoles, or the baseline secretion of T(4) by thyroids at any stage of larval life except climax, when T(4) secretion was significantly decreased by the third day of culture. Thus although both melatonin and PRL have been shown to antagonize the action of T(4) in vitro, and to decrease metamorphic rate, melatonin is a much more effective thyroid gland inhibitor than PRL.
Collaborations: The rise of research networks.

New collaboration patterns are changing the global balance of science. Established superpowers need to keep up or be left behind, says Jonathan Adams.
The synthesis and the 1h- and 13c-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the cyclic sulfites of some sugars

Abstract Treatment of methyl β- D -ribofuranoside with thionyl chloride in hexamethyl-phosphoric triamide gives two diastereoisomeric methyl 5-chloro-5-deoxy-β- D -ribo-furanoside 2,3-cyclic sulfites. Similar cyclic sulfites are formed from benzyl β- D -ribofuranoside and 1,4-anhydro- DL -ribitol. If acetonitrile is substituted for hexa-methylphosphoric triamide, the cyclic sulfites are the main products, and only traces of the chlorinated sugars are formed. 1H- and 13C-n.m.r.-spectral analysis of these reactions demonstrated that one of the diastereomers preponderates. The structure of these cyclic sulfites was established by comparison of the 1H-n.m.r. spectra with those of the propylene sulfites. Treatment of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-α- D -glucofuranose (14) with thionyl chloride in hexamethylphosphoric triamide yields 3-chloro-3-deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α- D -allofuranose 5,6-cyclic suffite. In contrast to the 2,3-cyclic suffites, which are stable, the cyclic sulfites derived from 14 slowly decompose at room temperature.
Research Challenges Involved in Field Research and Interviews Regarding the Militant Jihad, Extremism, and Suicide Terrorism

There are considerable challenges involved in field research studying the militant jihad, extremism and suicide terrorism. Subjects involved in or close to the phenomena are difficult to access. Th...
Ninhydrin Assay For Proteolysis in Ripening Cheese

The ninhydrin chromogenic reaction was used to determine the concentration of free amino groups in ripening Cheddar cheese. This assay involves dispersing cheese in citrate solution, heating an aliquot of the resulting mixture with aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide, ninhydrin plus lithium acetate solution at pH 5.2, diluting, and determining the absorbance at 570 nm. The ninhydrin assay and conventional amino acid analysis for lysine in freshly made Cheddar were in good agreement. There was a steady increase in the concentration of free amino groups as the cheese aged. The ninhydrin method was applied to several diverse cheese varieties and compared with the trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid procedure. Possible advantages of the ninhydrin assay are described.
Anisotropic Dissolution of α-Alumina (0001) and (1120) Surfaces into Adjoining Silicates

The dissolutions of the (0001) and (1120) orientations of α-Al2O3 into calcium silicate, aluminosilicate, and calcium aluminosilicate melts were modeled using molecular dynamics simulations. In all cases, it was found that the (1120) surface of the crystal destabilizes and melts at a lower temperature than does the (0001) surface. This anisotropy in dissolution counters the anisotropy in grain growth, in which the outward growth of the (1120) surface occurs more rapidly than that on the (0001) surface, causing platelets. However, anisotropic dissolution occurred only at a certain temperature range, above which dissolution behavior was isotropic. The presence of calcium in the contacting silicate melt plays an important role in this anisotropic dissolution, similar to its role in anisotropic grain growth observed previously. However, anisotropic dissolution also occurs in the silicate melts not containing calcium, indicating the importance of the different surface energies. In combination with previous simulations of anisotropic grain growth in alumina, these simulations reveal a complex kinetic competition between preferential adsorption and growth versus preferential dissolution of the (1120) orientation in comparison with the (0001) orientation as a function of temperature and local composition. This, in turn, indicates potential processing variations in which to design morphology in alumina.
Seeing Pennsylvania as the Keystone of the Revolution: Charles H. Lincoln's Treatment of Ethnicity

Charles H. Lincoln’s 1901 The Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania 1760-1776 is an insightful examination of the internal politics of a state often overshadowed by Massachusetts and Virginia in studies on the roots of the American Revolution. In addition to being a valuable secondary source, Lincoln’s monograph can also be read as a primary source, specifically with regard to the issue of ethnicity. Lincoln’s argument relies heavily upon a particular conception of ethnicity, wherein ethnic identity, shaped by shared past experiences, influences the actions and interests of historical actors. This formula­ tion of ethnicity and its importance can be attributed, in part, to the monograph’s focus on Pennsylvania, the most culturally heterogeneous of Britain’s North American colonies. However, the influence of progressive historiography, and the Progressive Era in general, distinctly shape both Lincoln’s focus and his thesis regarding the origins of the Revolution. The concept of ethnicity, as fashioned by the author’s so­ cial and intellectual surroundings, greatly affected Lincoln’s analysis of
Approximate Nonmyopic Sensor Selection via Submodularity and Partitioning

As sensors become more complex and prevalent, they present their own issues of cost effectiveness and timeliness. It becomes increasingly important to select sensor sets that provide the most information at the least cost and in the most timely and efficient manner. Two typical sensor selection problems appear in a wide range of applications. The first type involves selecting a sensor set that provides the maximum information gain within a budget limit. The other type involves selecting a sensor set that optimizes the tradeoff between information gain and cost. Unfortunately, both require extensive computations due to the exponential search space of sensor subsets. This paper proposes efficient sensor selection algorithms for solving both of these sensor selection problems. The relationships between the sensors and the hypotheses that the sensors aim to assess are modeled with Bayesian networks, and the information gain (benefit) of the sensors with respect to the hypotheses is evaluated by mutual information. We first prove that mutual information is a submodular function in a relaxed condition, which provides theoretical support for the proposed algorithms. For the budget-limit case, we introduce a greedy algorithm that has a constant factor of (1 - 1/e) guarantee to the optimal performance. A partitioning procedure is proposed to improve the computational efficiency of the algorithms by efficiently computing mutual information as well as reducing the search space. For the optimal-tradeoff case, a submodular-supermodular procedure is exploited in the proposed algorithm to choose the sensor set that achieves the optimal tradeoff between the benefit and cost in a polynomial-time complexity.
Homogenization of the acoustic wave equation with a continuum of scales.

We consider the acoustic wave equation in dimension n in situations where the bulk modulus and the density of the medium are only bounded. We show under a Cordes type condition that the second order derivatives of the pressure field with respect to harmonic coordinates are in L 2 (instead of H 1 with respect to Euclidean coordinates). It follows that it is possible to homogenize the wave equation without assumptions of scale separation or ergodicity by pre-computing n solutions of the associated elliptic equation (at a cost of O(N(log N) n+3 ) operations [19], where N stands for the number of degrees of freedom describing the fine scale structure of the medium).
Gαs Promotes EEA1 Endosome Maturation and Shuts down Proliferative Signaling through Interaction with GIV (Girdin)

The organization of the endocytic system into biochemically distinct subcompartments allows for spatial and temporal control of the strength and duration of signaling. Recent work has established that Akt cell survival signaling via the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) occurs from APPL early endosomes that mature into early EEA1 endosomes. Less is known about receptor signaling from EEA1 endosomes. We show here that EGF-induced, proliferative signaling occurs from EEA1 endosomes and is regulated by the heterotrimeric G protein Gαs through interaction with the signal transducing protein GIV (also known as Girdin). When Gαs or GIV is depleted, activated EGFR and its adaptors accumulate in EEA1 endosomes, and EGFR signaling is prolonged, EGFR down-regulation is delayed, and cell proliferation is greatly enhanced. Our findings define EEA1 endosomes as major sites for proliferative signaling and establish that Gαs and GIV regulate EEA1 but not APPL endosome maturation and determine the duration and strength of proliferative signaling from this compartment.
Surgical Treatment of Supracristal Type of Ventricular Septal Defect

The incidence of supracristal type of ventricular septal defect (VSD) is higher in Oriental people. Deformity of the aortic valve is also more common and is associated with the supracristal type of VSD. This study evaluated the indication for surgery and the result of different repair techniques.
Arc Length-Based Aspect Ratio Selection

The aspect ratio of a plot has a dramatic impact on our ability to perceive trends and patterns in the data. Previous approaches for automatically selecting the aspect ratio have been based on adjusting the orientations or angles of the line segments in the plot. In contrast, we recommend a simple, effective method for selecting the aspect ratio: minimize the arc length of the data curve while keeping the area of the plot constant. The approach is parameterization invariant, robust to a wide range of inputs, preserves visual symmetries in the data, and is a compromise between previously proposed techniques. Further, we demonstrate that it can be effectively used to select the aspect ratio of contour plots. We believe arc length should become the default aspect ratio selection method.
A maximum likelihood prediction function for the linear model with consistency results

An alternative technique to current methods for constructing a prediction function for the normal linear regression model is proposed based on the concept of maximum likelihood. The form of this prediction function is evaluated and normalized to produce a multivariate Student's t-density. Consistency properties are established under regularity conditions, and an empirical comparison, based on the Kullback-Leibler information divergence, is made with some other prediction functions.
Is Chemotherapy Alone for Early Hodgkin Lymphoma an Emerging Therapeutic Option

The cardinal spirit of cancer therapeutics is the achievement of maximal benefit with a minimum of toxic side effects. The history of cancer therapeutics is replete with palliative and curative treatments that entail acute toxicities at times severe, but in some instances, such as advanced germ cell tumors and malignant lymphoma, clearly worth the risk because the benefit can be cure. Stage I and II Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) in the 1970s and 1980s was cured with radiation therapy alone after extensive evaluation that included a staging laparotomy with removal of the spleen and sampling of lymph nodes and liver biopsy. This was followed—if no disease was noted below the diaphragm— with radiation therapy that included the mantle and periaortic fields. The results in such selected patients were excellent. It took at least 20 years to appreciate the delayed toxic effects of radiation to the normal tissues included in the radiation fields. These have been enumerated by Dr. Straus [1] and have been the subject of many reviews by cancer centers in North America and Europe. Clearly, the extent of serious complications has shown a continuous rise as a function of time such that 20%–30% of long-term cured patients are succumbing to second neoplasms and cardiac disease attributable to radiation therapy. The introduction of combined modality therapy eliminated the need for a staging laparotomy and reduced the fields of irradiation to generally the involved sites. It is very likely that this will reduce some of the toxicity of radiation therapy, but the combination of an anthracycline and irradiation to the cardiac area continues to be a concern. The case for chemotherapy alone as espoused by Dr. Straus [1] involves assessment of relatively small series of patients treated with chemotherapy, usually doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine (ABVD) alone. However, he makes his case clear in that, in carefully monitored trials, there does not appear to be a survival advantage to adding radiotherapy, especially when four to six cycles of ABVD are given and complete remission is achieved. There is likely to be a small fraction, probably not 5%–10% of patients, with early, favorable risk, nonbulky disease who will fail to achieve a complete remission or relapse relatively early, usually within the first or second year. In that circumstance, the early progression-free survival rate is likely to be somewhat better with radiation than with chemotherapy alone. The effectiveness of salvage therapy cancels any survival difference. However, the long-term risk for radiation toxicity in the combined modality group would persist indefinitely. The appropriate chemotherapy-alone salvage group is still undefined. The Dana-Farber series of chemotherapy only salvaged all six of the relapsers of 75 patients with
Comparison of quasi-specular radar scatter from the moon with surface parameters obtained from images

Quasi-specular radar data used to determine apparent surface roughness of geologic surfaces displays a variable wavelength dependence. The strongest changes with wavelength are observed in lunar maria, while scatter from lunar highlands is nearly wavelength independent. Commonly used, gently undulating surface models for electromagnetic scatter predict no wavelength dependence. Wavelength dependence occurs whenever a significant fraction of the surface has local radii of curvature comparable to the observing wavelength. This condition can be determined by comparison of the value of the integrated surface curvature spectrum with the radar wave number, multiplied by a constant that depends on the geometry. Variations in curvature statistics calculated from photogrammetric reduction of lunar images are consistent with the observed variations in quasi-specular scatter between wavelengths of 13 and 116 cm at the same locations. Variations in the strength of the wavelength dependence are correlated with the sizes of lunar craters that lie near the upper size limit for the local steady-state distribution. This correlation is also consistent with variations in the curvature spectrum calculated from crater size-frequency distributions.
System identification and active vibration control of a composite I-beam using smart materials

This research concerns active vibration control of a 3.35-m-long composite I-beam in a cantilevered configuration by using peizoceramics smart materials, in particular the PZT (lead zirconate titanate), in the form of patches. These PZT patches are surface-bonded on the I-beam and function as actuators and sensors. A real-time data acquisition and control system is used to record the experimental data and to implement designed controllers. To assist control system design, open-loop testing and system identification are conducted. To excite the 3.35-m composite I-beam, a sweep sinusoidal input is used and then a state space model is derived for the system. This state space model is used for simulation and development of control algorithms. A positive position feedback (PPF) controller is designed and is simulated using the identified model. Simulations show the dramatic increase in damping of the beams which, when implemented experimentally, shows an increase in the damping up to 1100%. Experimental results verify the simulated results and demonstrate the effectiveness of active control of a civil structure using smart materials. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Institutionalization of the U.S. House of Representatives

Most people who study politics are in general agreement, it seems to me, on at least two propositions. First, we agree that for a political system to be viable, for it to succeed in performing tasks of authoritative resource allocation, problem solving, conflict settlement, and so on, in behalf of a population of any substantial size, it must be institutionalized. That is to say, organizations must be created and sustained that are specialized to political activity.1 Otherwise, the political system is likely to be unstable, weak, and incapable of servicing the demands or protecting the interests of its constituent groups. Secondly, it is generally agreed that for a political system to be in some sense free and democratic, means must be found for institutionalizing representativeness with all the diversity that this implies, and for legitimizing yet at the same time containing political opposition within the system.2 Our growing interest in both of these propositions, and in the problems to which they point, can begin to suggest the importance of studying one of the very few extant examples of a highly specialized political institution which over the long run has succeeded in representing a large number of diverse constituents, and in legitimizing, expressing, and containing political opposition within a complex political system—namely, the U.S. House of Representatives. The focus of my attention here will be first of all descriptive, drawing together disparate strands—some of which already exist in the literature3—in an attempt to show in what sense we may regard the House as an institutionalized organ of government. Not all the necessary work has been done on this rather difficult descriptive problem, as I shall indicate. Secondly, I shall offer a number of speculative observations about causes, consequences, and possible lessons to be draw from the institutionalization of the House.
Online payment service providers and customer relationship management

With the rise of e-commerce, online payment service providers, such as PayPal, have proven to be an effective tool for online transactions. A personal interview of 190 semi-professional and professional working adults within the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh, PA, derived from several companies in the service sectors. A total of 20 variables were collected and represented in the final analysis of the dataset. Using chi-square and multiple linear regression techniques during the hypothesis-testing procedure, with active enrolment in PayPal online payment services as the dependent variable, yielded interesting results. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is an important part of online payment service providers' future. As evident in the present study, many potential customers still opt for a more costly transactional approach by paying for online purchases with a credit card instead of signing up for an online payment service account.
CFD simulations of micro-adaptive flow control for a spinning projectiles

We describe a computational study undertaken to consider the aerodynamic effect of tiny synthetic jets as a means to provide the control authority needed to maneuver a projectile at low subsonic speeds. An advanced scalable Navier-Stokes computational technique has been used to obtain numerical solutions for the unsteady jet-interaction flow field for a spinning projectile at a subsonic speed at zero degree angle of attack. Unsteady numerical results show the effect of the jet on the flow field and surface pressures and, hence, on the aerodynamic coefficients. The unsteady jet is shown to substantially alter the flow field both near the jet and the base region of the projectile that in turn affects the forces and moments even at zero degree angle of attack. The results show the potential of CFD to provide insight into the jet interaction flow fields and provide guidance as to the locations and sizes of the jets to generate the maximum control authority for maneuvering smart munitions. These numerical results are being assessed to determine if synthetic jets can be used to provide the control authority needed to maneuver the projectile to hit its target with precision.
Population structure, multiple paternity, and long-distance transport of spermatozoa in the freshwater mussel Lampsilis cardium (Bivalvia:Unionidae)

AbstractFreshwater mussels (Bivalvia:Unionidae) are among the most imperiled organisms in North America. Information on the spatial scale of reproduction and population connectivity will better enable mussel conservation programs to sustain long-term population viability, particularly restocking and recovery programs. Here we used genetic methods to characterize population structure, dispersal potential, and reproductive strategies in the freshwater mussel Lampsilis cardium from Twin Creek and Big Darby Creek (Ohio, USA). We genotyped adults and individual glochidia at 12 microsatellite loci to assess local population structure relative to within-population patterns of relatedness and parentage. Local populations within watersheds were weakly structured, and within-population estimates of relatedness identified probable full- and half-siblings several kilometers apart. Parent–offspring comparisons provided evidence of multiple paternity in single broods and identified the likely father of 3 glochidia from...
Single phase unity power factor control for dual active bridge converter

An AC line fed switching power supply with a single power converter stage is described which operates with high input power factor while maintaining good regulation of the desired output DC voltage. The single-power converter is a dual active bridge DC-to-DC power converter (DABC), comprising high-frequency transformer-coupled input and output bridge converters. The DABC receives a rectified AC line voltage via a diode-bridge rectifier connected to a small, high-frequency filter capacitor. The two active bridges, generating edge-resonant square waves at their transformer terminals, appropriately phase-shifted from each other to simultaneously perform the high-efficiency DC output regulation while maintaining unity power factor at the AC input. The soft-switching nature of the converter allows increased performance (in terms of efficiency and stresses) and reduction in size/weight at operating frequencies in the range of 50-250 kHz. Simulations, and experimental results are presented to corroborate the analysis. >
From Balloon Angioplasty to Drug-Eluting Stents: Revolution or Evolution?

Drug-eluting stenting is part of the evolution of interventional cardiology that started with Gruentzig's introduction of balloon angioplasty in 1977. Numerous advances in interventional cardiology technique have occurred since that time, and drug-eluting stents hold promise for reducing the restenosis rate but as yet have not been shown to influence survival or freedom from myocardial infarction. The ability of stents to influence these hard end points will be tested against the most difficult patient subset for interventional cardiology: persons with diabetes mellitus and multivessel disease. As more data are accumulated, prudent selective use of drug-eluting stenting seems most appropriate.
Human LIGIV is synthetically lethal with the loss of Rad54B-dependent recombination and is required for certain chromosome fusion events induced by telomere dysfunction

Classic non-homologous end joining (C-NHEJ) is the predominant DNA double-strand break repair pathway in humans. Although seven genes Ku70, Ku86, DNA-PK(cs), Artemis, DNA Ligase IV (LIGIV), X-ray cross-complementing group 4 and XRCC4-like factor are required for C-NHEJ, several of them also have ancillary functions. For example, Ku70:Ku86 possesses an essential telomere maintenance activity. In contrast, LIGIV is believed to function exclusively in C-NHEJ. Moreover, a viable LIGIV-null human B-cell line and LIGIV-reduced patient cell lines have been described. Together, these observations suggest that LIGIV (and hence C-NHEJ), albeit important, is nonetheless dispensable, whereas Ku70:Ku86 and telomere maintenance are essential. To confirm this hypothesis, we inactivated LIGIV in the epithelial human cell line, HCT116. The resulting LIGIV-null cell line was viable, verifying that the gene and C-NHEJ are not essential. However, functional inactivation of RAD54B, a key homologous recombination factor, in the LIGIV-null background yielded no viable clones, suggesting that the combined absence of RAD54B/homologous recombination and C-NHEJ is synthetically lethal. Finally, we demonstrate that LIGIV is differentially required for certain chromosome fusion events induced by telomere dysfunction-used for those owing to the overexpression of a dominant negative version of telomere recognition factor 2, but not used for those owing to absence of Ku70:Ku86.
A Radical Route for Nitrogenase Carbide Insertion

Nitrogenase is the only known biological catalyst for the conversion of dinitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3), a reaction that provides the “fixed” nitrogen required by most organisms. Biological breakdown of N2 by bacterial nitrogenase enzymes occurs at a complex metallocofactor consisting of seven iron (Fe) ions, nine sulfides (S2−), a molybdenum (Mo) ion (most commonly), and a homocitrate ligand ( 1 , 2 ). Twenty years ago, crystal structures of nitrogenase provided the first glimpses of this FeMo cofactor, also called the M cluster, revealing that it resembles two [4Fe-4S] cubes (a more ordinary type of iron-sulfur metallocluster) linked by an additional sulfur atom and with one Fe ion replaced by the Mo ion ( 3 ). Ten years ago, near–atomic resolution crystallographic data revealed an atom in the middle of the cluster, bonded to six of the Fe ions ( 4 ). Its identity remained under debate until late last year, when two separate groups identified it as a carbide ion ( 5 , 6 ). Remarkably, less than a year later, Wiig et al. ( 7 ) on page 1672 of this issue identify both the enzyme that inserts the carbon, NifB, and the molecule that supplies it, the ubiquitous biological carbon donor S -adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM).
Advanced channelization for RF, microwave, and millimeterwave applications

An overview of the channelization function, the parallel signal processing techniques used in channelizers, the signal processing functions, and the critical channelizer parameters is given. Signal processing capabilities that use analog techniques suitable for channelized receivers are compared with those capabilities that can be obtained by using current or foreseen digital techniques. The receiver signal-processing needs are outlined, and the limitations of digital signal processing in terms of the overall receiver signal processing needs are discussed. Options and tradeoffs at the receiver and channelizer technology levels are discussed. Promising channelizer technologies, including components, that have been or potentially may be implemented with small volumes and moderate dynamic range are described. Parallel signal-processing methods, architectural techniques, and hardware for channelized receiver technologies that can be implemented in a small volume (tens of channels per in/sup 3/) with a moderately high dynamic range (>50 dB) are discussed. These include the surface-acoustic-wave (SAW), bulk-acoustic-wave (BAW), magnetostatic-wave (MSW), and acoustooptical (AO) channelizer technologies. The critical signal preprocessing functions required in channelized receivers before the needed information is passed on to the host computer, so that the host computer can be operated at a possible computation rate, are discussed, and the first successful monolithic integrated circuit preprocessor component for channelizers, is presented. >
A developmental study of choice reaction time: The effect of two forms of stimulus degradation on encoding

Abstract Two choice-reaction time experiments, following the Sternberg model, are reported in which probe stimulus quality was manipulated. Subjects were preschool, third grade, and fifth grade children. In Expt I a masking pattern was superimposed over the probe stimuli (digits), producing differential intercept values across age levels. These results were interpreted as reflecting changes in encoding processes with increasing age. In Expt II stimulus degradation was accomplished by removing details from simple line drawings of common objects. In this case, intercept values were affected by variations in probe stimulus quality, but not differentially across age levels.
The Syntheses of (±)-villagorgin A and Villagorgin B

Abstract The marine indole alkaloid villagorgin A was synthesized by reduction and cyclization of an indolylethylimidazopyridinium salt. Its oxidation with mercuric acetate gave villagorgin B.
Status Epilepticus Non-convulsive

A 69-year-old female was brought to the emergency room after her family had not received regular communication from her after several days. She was awake upon examination, but her family reported that she was “not right.” She appeared very emotional. She was appropriately responsive to simple questions, but at times she appeared to be talking to herself, was actively hallucinating, and was acting as though there were other people in the room that were talking with her. The patient had no prior history of similar behavior. She had been independent and had reported no other recent problems. In the emergency room her vital signs, laboratory studies, and temperature were all within normal limits. She was attended to by the chief of medicine who wanted to transfer the patient to an inpatient psychiatric facility due to his belief that this must be the presentation of a dementia that was likely Alzheimer’s disease. The following EEG was obtained (Fig. 37.1):
Fiscal Balances and Asset Price Movements

This paper investigates the links between asset price movements and fiscal policy developments. Our findings suggest that fiscal policy makers have been responding to asset price movements as indicated by fiscal policy reaction functions. Nevertheless, while asset price movements contribute to fiscal consolidation, they do not necessarily lead to sustainable correction of fiscal imbalances. Despite that fiscal policy makers should take into account asset price movements because they amplify the volatility of discretionary fiscal policy stance, which can be harmful to economic activity. Finally, in view of the increased asset price volatility and the reduced correlation of economic and asset price cycles over the recent years there is a case for taking into account and responding to asset price movements and for adjusting fiscal balances.
Slowness, Speed and Democracy: On Democratic Time

Given the increasing acceleration of social life, some theorists detect a crisis of democracy. After all, democratic decisions take time. I engage Iris Young, Nadia Urbinati and Sheldon Wolin, who stand in for deliberative, representative and radical approaches to democracy. I argue that the opposition between anti-democratic speed and democratic slowness is not borne out by these approaches; there is a greater complexity to the way in which we should theorize the temporality of democracy. To begin with, Young's approach depends on a rupture in time, namely on individuals who respond to the immediacy of personal narrative or emotionalizing rhetoric, and thereby overcome long-term socialization and experiences. While Urbinati praises Condorcet for the political processes he devises that encourage slowness, the image of political temporality that emerges is one of multiple deliberative processes that are going on simultaneously. While each process may be slow on its own terms, the democratic polity on the whole would, I contend, be ready to reach decisions as needed. Finally, Wolin's account of demotic action itself depends on spontaneity and immediacy. In other words, speed may be an element of Wolin's definition of democracy. The goal here is not to accuse certain theorists of self-contradiction. Instead, I am sketching the complicated dance of speed and slowness at the heart of democracy, which would lead to a less alarmist diagnosis of the contemporary political condition.
Rectal Absorption of 6-Alpha-C14-H3-Prednisolone.∗

Conclusion6-methyl-prednisolone is absorbed rapidly and in substantial amounts from the rectum in normal individuals and in patients with ulcerative colitis. Half of the 6-methyl-prednisolone absorbed from the rectum and excreted in the urine is eliminated within 6 hours. The beneficial action of 6-methyl-prednisolone retention enemas may be systemic as well as local.The authors express their gratitude to Doctors Attallah Kappas and George V. LeRoy and to Lee Wilcoff for aid in this study.
A Discussion about the Construction of a Feature System of the Quality of Accounting Information in China

As the goal of accounting is to provide the users with decision-making information,the quality of accounting information is particularly important.The representative international community standard-setting bodies such as FASB,IASC and ASB have released their complete systems of the features of the quality of accounting information system.Combining international experience with China's national conditions,we construct a feature system of the accounting quality with Chinese characteristics.
Breeding and Application of New Late Hybrid Rice Combination II You 845

Ⅱ You 845(Ⅱ-32A×Wenhui 845) is a new hybrid rice combination developed by Wenzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences.It is characteristic of resistance to blast,medium resistance to brown planthopper,high and stable yielding ability,suitable growth duration and high seed production yield.In January,2006,it was registered and released for commercial production by Zhejiang Provincial Crop Variety Appraisal Committee.