cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Increased susceptibility of murine teratocarcinoma cells to Simian virus 40 and polyoma virus following treatment with 5-bromodeoxyuridine.

Cultures of the multipotential stem cell, embryonal carcinoma (EC), of a murine teratocarcinoma were treated with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU). Within 2–4 days at concentrations of 1–50 mgm/ml of BrdU, there was a marked change in the morphology of cells observed by light and electron microscopy. A comparison of the growth potential showed that for up to four days the BrdU-treated cultures were similar to untreated cultures. When these BrdU-treated cells were infected with Simian virus 40 (SV40) and polyoma virus (Py), there was an increase in susceptibility of the treated cells. The untreated embryonal carcinoma cells were refractory. These results suggest that BrdU modifies the embryonal carcinoma cells to allow infection with two DNA viruses.
A local relaxation method for the cardinality constrained portfolio optimization problem

The NP-hard nature of cardinality constrained mean-variance portfolio optimization problems has led to a number of different algorithms with varying degrees of success in reaching optimality given limited computational resources and under the presence of strict time constraints present in practice. The proposed local relaxation algorithm explores the inherent structure of the objective function. It solves a sequence of small, local, quadratic-programs by first projecting asset returns onto a reduced metric space, followed by clustering in this space to identify sub-groups of assets that best accentuate a suitable measure of similarity amongst different assets. The algorithm can either be cold started using a suitable heuristic method such as the centroids of initial clusters or be warm started based on the last output. Results, using a basket of up to 3,000 stocks and with different cardinality constraints, indicates that the proposed algorithm can lead to significant performance gain over popular branch-and-cut methods. One key application of this algorithm is in dealing with large scale cardinality constrained portfolio optimization under tight time constraint, such as for the purpose of index tracking or index arbitrage at high frequency.
Chemical mechanisms of breaking seed dormancy

Features of chemicals which break seed dormancy and the mechanisms of their action are discussed with reference to results obtained with red rice (Oryza sativa) and other relevant research. The significance of chemical structure, including the nature and location of functional groups, is considered, and the fact that similar structures can elicit different biochemical responses is illustrated with examples. As yet it is unclear whether changes in cell pH, highly correlated with the uptake of, and metabolism to, weak acids, and which some consider a possible trigger or marker in dormancy breaking, are causative, consequential or merely correlative. Uptake and metabolism of dormancy-breaking compounds is, or can be, very rapid and the importance of establishing the time course of dormancy-breaking, as opposed to germination events, is emphasized.
Analysis of CFRP Strengthened Reinforced Concrete Structural Components Subjected to Close-In Blasts

This paper presents a simple procedure for the analysis of strengthened and unstrengthened reinforced concrete slabs under close-in blast loadings. The simplified procedure provides a tool to quickly check a slab or verify the results of a more advanced computer analysis. The procedure divides the response of the slab into breach, direct shear, flexural, and membrane behaviors and provides equations and references on how to calculate the capacity of each behavior. The procedure first checks the most severe failure modes, then progresses to other modes. The procedure was used to analyze the response of four slabs subjected to blasts; two of the slabs were strengthened with carbon-fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) on the back face. The procedure was also used to analyze the response of a reinforced concrete box specimen strengthened with CFRP. The simple procedure accurately predicted the peak deflection of the slabs to close-in blast loadings.
Distributed convergence to Nash equilibria with local utility measurements

We consider multiplayer repeated matrix games in which several players seek to increase their individual rewards by updating their strategies based on limited information. One body of work assumes that players can measure the actions of other players, but do not have access to the utility functions of other players. In this case, well known strategy update mechanisms such as fictitious play (FP) and gradient play (GP) provide convergence to Nash equilibria in certain special classes of games. Recent work by the authors introduced "dynamic" versions of FP and GP, where players use derivative action to process and respond to the information available to them. These mechanisms, called derivative action FP and derivative Action GP, lead to behavior converging to Nash equilibria in a significantly larger set of games than standard FP and GP provide. In this paper, we consider the case where players do not have access to opposing actions. As before, players do not have access to opposing player utility functions. Furthermore, a player's access to its own utility function is restricted to the measured utility at each round of the repeated game - structural parameters of its own utility remain unknown. Our main result is to show that derivative action FP and GP can be adapted to the utility measurement case to yield the same dynamics (in continuous-time and up to a coordinate transformation) as though players could measure other player actions. The transformation holds for both two-player games as well as in multiplayer games with a specific utility structure. The implication is that many of the stability and convergence properties obtained under derivative action FP and GP can be extended to the utility measurement case.
The implementation leadership scale (ILS): development of a brief measure of unit level implementation leadership

Background: In healthcare and allied healthcare settings, leadership that supports effective implementation of evidenced-based practices (EBPs) is a critical concern. However, there are no empirically validated measures to assess implementation leadership. This paper describes the development, factor structure, and initial reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of a very brief measure of implementation leadership: the Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS). Methods: Participants were 459 mental health clinicians working in 93 different outpatient mental health programs in Southern California, USA. Initial item development was supported as part of a two United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies focused on developing implementation leadership training and implementation measure development. Clinician work group/team-level data were randomly assigned to be utilized for an exploratory factor analysis (n = 229; k = 46 teams) or for a confirmatory factor analysis (n = 230; k = 47 teams). The confirmatory factor analysis controlled for the multilevel, nested data structure. Reliability and validity analyses were then conducted with the full sample. Results: The exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 12-item scale with four subscales representing proactive leadership, knowledgeable leadership, supportive leadership, and perseverant leadership. Confirmatory factor analysis supported an ap riorihigher order factor structure with subscales contributing to a single higher order implementation leadership factor. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability as well as convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusions: The ILS is a brief and efficient measure of unit level leadership for EBP implementation. The availability of the ILS will allow researchers to assess strategic leadership for implementation in order to advance understanding of leadership as a predictor of organizational context for implementation. The ILS also holds promise as a tool for leader and organizational development to improve EBP implementation.
PreSET: improving performance of phase change memories by exploiting asymmetry in write times

Phase Change Memory (PCM) is a promising technology for building future main memory systems. A prominent characteristic of PCM is that it has write latency much higher than read latency. Servicing such slow writes causes significant contention for read requests. For our baseline PCM system, the slow writes increase the effective read latency by almost 2X, causing significant performance degradation. This paper alleviates the problem of slow writes by exploiting the fundamental property of PCM devices that writes are slow only in one direction (SET operation) and are almost as fast as reads in the other direction (RESET operation). Therefore, a write operation to a line in which all memory cells have been SET prior to the write, will incur much lower latency. We propose PreSET, an architectural technique that leverages this property to pro-actively SET all the bits in a given memory line well in advance of the anticipated write to that memory line. Our proposed design initiates a PreSET request for a memory line as soon as that line becomes dirty in the cache, thereby allowing a large window of time for the PreSET operation to complete. Our evaluations show that PreSET is more effective and incurs lower storage overhead than previously proposed write cancellation techniques. We also describe static and dynamic throttling schemes to limit the rate of PreSET operations. Our proposal reduces effective read latency from 982 cycles to 594 cycles and increases system performance by 34%, while improving the energy-delay-product by 25%.
Reliability of electrical submersible pumps at oil fields

This paper presents the investigation of the high rate interruption of more than 170 crude oil wells operated by electrical submersible pumps located at an oil field. The paper analyzes the trips caused by different types of faults at the overhead lines supplying power to the electrical submersible pumps, relying mainly on examining numerous waveforms captured by the fault recorder and presents implemented solutions. The paper also analyzes, in depth, the voltage sag associated with faults at the distribution as well as the utility network, and proposes solutions.
A Product Dissection-Based Methodology to Benchmark Product Family Design Alternatives

Today's companies are pressured to develop platform-based product families to increase variety, while keeping production costs low. Determining why a platform works, and alternatively why it does not, is an important step in the successful implementation of product families and product platforms in any industry. Internal and competitive benchmarking is essential to obtain knowledge of how successful product families are implemented, thus avoiding potential pitfalls of a poor product platform design strategy. While the two fields of product family design and benchmarking have been growing rapidly lately, we have found few tools that combine the two for product family benchmarking. To address this emerging need, we introduce the product family benchmarking method (PF benchmark ) to assess product family design alternatives (PFDAs) based on commonality/variety tradeoff and cost analysis. The proposed method is based on product family dissection, and utilizes the Comprehensive Metric for Commonality developed in previous work to assess the level of commonality and variety in each PFDA, as well as the corresponding manufacturing cost. The method compares not only (1) existing PFDAs but also (2) the potential cost savings and commonality/variety improvement after redesign using two plots-the commonality/variety plot and the cost plot-enabling more effective comparisons across PFDAs. An example of benchmarking of two families of valves is presented to demonstrate the proposed method.
Dynamic sensitivity analysis of frictional contact/impact response of axisymmetric composite structures

A computational procedure is presented for evaluating the sensitivity coefficients of the dynamic frictional contact/impact response of axisymmetric composite structures. The structures are assumed to consist of an arbitrary number of perfectly bonded homogeneous anisotropic layers. The material of each layer is assumed to be hyperelastic, and the effect of geometric nonlinearity is included. The sensitivity coefficients measure the sensitivity of the response to variations in different material, lamination and geometric parameters of the structure. A displacement finite element model is used for the discretization. The normal contact conditions are incorporated into the formulation by using a perturbed Lagrangian approach with the fundamental unknowns consisting of the nodal displacements, and the Lagrange multipliers associated with the contact conditions. The Lagrange multipliers are allowed to be discontinuous at interelement boundaries. Tangential contact conditions are incorporated by using a penalty method in conjunction with the classical Coulomb's friction model. Temporal integration is performed by using Newmark method. The Newton-Raphson iterative scheme is used for the solution of the resulting nonlinear algebraic equations, and for the determination of the contact region, contact conditions (sliding or sticking), and the contact pressures. The sensitivity coefficients are evaluated by using a direct differentiation approach. Numerical results are presented from the frictional contact/impact response of a composite spherical cap impacting on a rigid plate.
Familial effects on plasma sex-steroid content in man: Testosterone, estradiol and sex-hormone-binding globulin

We investigated whether familial factors influence the plasma content of sex-steroids and sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) in 98 adult males of 66 families. They had no apparent endocrine dysfunction, The 0800-1100 hr plasma levels of testosterone, 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), estradiol-17 beta (E2) and estrone (E1) were measured by radioimmunoassay. The free fractions of E2 and testosterone were determined by equilibrium dialysis, and binding capacity of SHBG was also calculated. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance. We observed that the differences in the plasma content of testosterone (p = .02). SHBG binding capacity (p = 0.1), and E2 (p = 0.3), free E2 index (p = .05) were all substantially less variable within groups of brothers than among non-brothers. The variability of the plasma concentration of DHT, free testosterone and E1 was not significantly less within brothers than among non-brothers. The correlation between either plasma testosterone content (r = .14) or SHBG binding capacity (r = .12) and percent of ideal body weight was not significant statistically. Age had no effect on the results. Our data suggest that genetic and/or environmental factors may affect the plasma content of testosterone, E2 and SHBG binding capacity.
Comprehensive models for the investigation of on-chip switching noise generation and coupling

A comprehensive modeling methodology is presented for the investigation of on-chip noise generation and coupling due to power switching. The methodology utilizes a comprehensive electromagnetic model for the on-chip portion of the power grid. Thus, the tedious and error-prone extraction of a distributed RLC model for the power grid is avoided and the generated model allows for power grid induced broadband and distributed noise coupling to be taken into account in the transient simulation. The electromagnetic model for the power grid is complemented by a distributed RC model for the semiconductor substrate and RLCG models for the interconnects. Thus, a comprehensive model results for the quantification of on-chip interconnect and power grid noise effects during switching. Transient simulations using this model are carried out using a hybrid time-domain integration scheme which combines a SPICE-like engine for the analysis of all RLCG netlists and the nonlinear drivers incorporated in the model with a numerical integration algorithm for the discrete electromagnetic model for the power grid
Mu-calculus model-checking

Temporal logic model-checking has received substantial academic interest and has enjoyed wide industrial acceptance. Temporal logics are used to describe the behavior (over time) of systems which continuously interact with their environment. Model-checking algorithms are used to decide if a finite-state system satisfies a temporal logic formula. Many temporal logics, e.g., CTL, LTL, and CTL* can be translated into the Mu-Calculus. In addition, the algorithm that decides the Mu-Calculus is used for symbolic (BDD-based) model-checking, a technique that has greatly extended the applicability of model-checking. In this case study we define a model-checker for the Mu-Calculus in ACL2 and show how to translate CTL into the Mu-Calculus.
Analysis of hop-distance relationship in spatially random sensor networks

In spatially random sensor networks, estimating the Euclidean distance covered by a packet in a given number of hops carries a high importance for various other methods such as localization and distance estimations. The inaccuracies in such estimations motivate this study on the distribution of the Euclidean distance covered by a packet in spatially random sensor networks in a given number of hops. Although a closed-form expression of distance distribution cannot be obtained, highly accurate approximations are derived for this distribution in one dimensional spatially random sensor networks. Using statistical measures and numerical examples, it is also shown that the presented distribution approximation yields very high accuracy even for small number of hops. A discussion on how these principles can be extended to the analysis of the same problem in two dimensional networks is also provided.
Reading and Rhythm: Binding Language Arts and Music in an Academic Notebook

The use of an academic notebook in an elementary music classroom is an effective way of integrating language arts into music instruction while helping students to reflect and think critically about music. Academic notebooks are student-created tools that help organize and track learning while students gain conceptual knowledge. The notebooks are designed to foster discussion, encourage reading and writing strategy development, and provide application activities to further strengthen the learning of music concepts. Combining music instruction with language arts reinforces integration of curriculum areas while providing academic support for a liberal arts program by enhancing its connection to the teaching and learning of literacy.
Photoperiodic effects on tumor development and immune function

Seasonal changes in adaptations associated with winter coping strategies have been frequently studied. Central among the suite of energy-saving, winter-coping strategies is the suspension of reproductive activities. The inhibition of reproduction by nontropical rodents is mediated by daylength changes. Although balanced annual energy budgets are critical, survival and subsequent reproductive success also require avoiding predators, illness, and early death. Because the stressors of winter could lead to suppressed immune function, we hypothesized that animals should have evolved survival strategies involving immunoenhancement. Short daylengths provide a predictive cue to individuals that could be used to enhance immune function in advance of stress-induced immunosuppression. In Experiment 1, adult female deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were housed in either long (LD 16:8) or short (LD 8:16) days for 8 weeks, then injected with the chemical carcinogen 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA) dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or with the DMSO vehicle alone. Animals were evaluated weekly for 8 weeks after injection. None of the animals treated with DMSO developed tumors in any of the experiments. Nearly 90% of the long-day deer mice injected with DMBA developed squamous cell carcinoma. None of the short-day deer mice injected with DMBA developed tumors. Small lesions developed at the site of injection; short-day females had less severe lesions and healed faster than long-day females. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to i.p. injection of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) did not differ photoperiodic conditions. The role of estrogens in the photoperiodic responses was evaluated in Experiment 2: Ovariectomized or sham-ovariectomized deer mice received estradiol benzoate replacement therapy or a control procedure in long daylengths for 8 weeks prior to injection of DMBA or DMSO, then were monitored for 8 additional weeks. Females treated with DMBA developed tumors at the same rate, regardless of estrogen manipulation. Estrogen did not affect healing rates. In Experiment 3, female deer mice were injected with a slurry of microspheres that either contained bromocriptine or were empty. Suppression of prolactin with bromocriptine resulted in a decrease of tumor incidence from 55.6% to 24% in long-day females 8 weeks after injection with DMBA. Healing rates were not affected by prolactin manipulations. Silastic capsules that were filled with either melatonin or cholesterol were implanted into long-day female deer mice in Experiment 4; 8 weeks later, females received an injection of either DMBA or DMSO, then were monitored for 8 weeks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
PEG based anti-cancer drug conjugated prodrug micelles for the delivery of anti-cancer agents

Due to the high cost and uncertain success of new drug development, tremendous effort is devoted to increasing the efficacy of established anti-cancer drugs. Development of polymer prodrug conjugates has evolved recently in the nano-medicine field for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The major advantage of using polymer drug conjugates is that the chemical and physical properties of polymers can be tuned to increase the efficacy and to reduce the toxicity of the drug. The stimuli responsiveness provides the release of the prodrug in a controlled manner which avoids undesired side effects, organ damage, and toxicity caused by the fluctuations associated with periodic administration. A large number of anti-cancer drug polymer conjugates have been studied for cancer therapy due to their promising clinical applications in chemotherapy. In this paper, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based anti-cancer drug conjugates will be discussed followed by a review of different types of PEG-b-poly(e-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL) copolymer drug conjugates and histone deacetylase inhibitor polymer conjugates as novel therapeutics. The pH sensitive release of prodrugs will be discussed for polymer prodrug conjugates that are currently under investigation.
Oxidation of Ti n + 1AlX n ( n = 1 ­ 3 and X = C , N): II. Experimental Results

In this, Part II of a two-part study, the oxidation kinetics in air of the ternary compounds Ti 2 AlC, Ti 2 AlC 0.5 N 0.5 , Ti 4 AlN 2.9 , and Ti 3 AlC 2 are reported. For the first two compounds, in the 1000-1100°C temperature range and for short times (20 h) the oxidation kinetics are parabolic. The parabolic rate constants are k x (m 2 /s) = 2.68 × 10 5 exp -491.5 (kJ/mol)/RT for Ti 2 AlC. and 2.55 × 10 5 exp - 458.7 (kJ/mol)/RT for Ti 2 AlC 0.5 N 0.5 . At 900°C, the kinetics are quasi-linear, and up to 100 h the outermost layers that form are almost pure rutile, dense, and protective. For the second pair, at short times ( 10) times. The presence of oxygen also reduces the decomposition (into TiX x and Al) temperatures of Ti 4 AlN 2.9 and Ti 3 AlC 2 from a T> 1400°C, to one less than 1100°C.
The Role of Intracranial Blood Volume in Mechanical and Pharmacological Decompression

The cerebral vascular bed is one of the intracranial comPartments which undergoes rapid change. However, it remains unresolved how it responds to decompression. Some decompressive treatment resulting in an increased vascular bed may adversely affect the vascular system by encouraging engorgement of the vascular bed if vasoparalysis is a major etiological factor in increased intracranial pressure, as reported by Langfitt et al. (1966). The present study was carried out to investigate the response of intracranial blood volume (ICBV) during decompression.
Fractures in brittle bone diseases.

SUMMARY In lightly covering most of the bone disorders associated with osseous structural fragility one finds that with the exception of untreated osteomalacia, healing is not a problem. Prevention of deformity is the major concern in many of these conditions, and although fracture union can be expected without resorting to unusual measures, operative intervention with the intent of obtaining internal stabilization, such as the use of intramedullary rod fixation in the case of osteogenesis imperfecta, should be seriously considered, even as a prophylactic measure.
Novel Amorphous Silicon Thin-Film Transistors for use in Large-Area Microelectronics

In this paper we describe the design and operation of two novel types of amorphous silicon thin-film transistors and outline their application in large-area microelectronics. We first consider a high voltage transistor that can modulate a source-drain voltage in excess of 400 volts by applying low voltages to a controlling electrode covering a small portion of the channel near to the source. Secondly, for high-current output and moderately high voltage applications, we have fabricated vertical amorphous silicon transistors with channel lengths much smaller than the lithographic minimum feature size used in their fabrication. We show the design of both these new transistors together with their physics of operation and give results of output characteristics. The integration of low and high voltage transistors into large-area circuits has enabled us to develop new applications for amorphous silicon in printing, input scanning and electronic copying. Page-wide arrays of both ionographic and electrographic printers have been fabricated. By combining amorphous silicon photodiodes with transistor arrays, we have made high resolution document scanners and copiers with directly coupled print and sensor elements. The ability to fabricate short channel vertical transistors offers the potential to further increase the speed and resolution of these large-area circuits.
Infections Due to Endemic, Multiply Resistant Gram-Negative Rods: Sensitivity to and Therapy with Cefoxitin

A nosocomial outbreak of infections due to bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics evolved into an endemic prevalence of several antibiotic-resistant gram-negative rods. The resistance of these bacteria to available beta-lactam antibiotics, a variety of broad-spectrum agents, and available aminoglycosides other than amikacin led to an evaluation of cefoxitin, a beta-lactamase-resistant cephamycin. Most multiply resistant isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Serratia marcescens, and Proteus mirabilis were sensitive to cefoxitin in vitro. Cefoxitin therapy of 11 severe nosocomial infections caused by multiply resistant K. pneumoniae resulted in clinical and bacteriologic cure in seven patients.
Heterogeneity Among Isolates of Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria Responsible for Infections Following Augmentation Mammaplasty Despite Case Clustering in Texas and Other Southern Coastal States

Thirty-seven cases of rapidly growing mycobacterial wound infections following augmentation mammaplasty were identified between 1979 and 1988. The infections were usually unilateral and had a narrow geographic distribution: almost 60% were from Texas and 92% from five southern coastal states. In Texas a seasonal incidence was observed; 45% of all previously reported and current patients had undergone mammaplasty in April, May, or June. Although these findings suggested a possible common source, analysis of 35 available isolates revealed 19 different phenotype patterns. Five different taxonomic groups were represented, although most isolates (70%) were Mycobacterium fortuitum biovar fortuitum. Plasmid bands were identified in 10 of 15 strains studied, with nine different profiles. An additional 11 cases of breast infection due to rapidly growing mycobacteria not associated with augmentation were also identified, of which nine came from the same states that contributed mammaplasty cases. Rapidly growing mycobacterial infections of the breast are endemic in Texas and other southern coastal states, and the heterogeneity of the isolates suggests that most cases are unrelated.
Raman cooling of solids through density of states engineering

We show that engineering the 3D optical density of states of highly transparent solids can permit selective enhancement of anti-Stokes Raman scattering over Stokes scatte-ring. When implemented through a diamond-structure photonic crystal in silicon, laser cooling using pure Raman scattering can be achieved.
Prognostic value of the maximum standardized uptake value of staging FDG-PET/CT in Hodgkin lymphoma.

e19552 Background: Prognostication of clinical outcomes in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) at diagnosis is traditionally based on clinical and laboratory factors. While molecular imaging with i...
Using Innovations in Student Teaming to Leverage Crossfunctional and Marketing Learning: Evidence from a Fully Integrated Undergraduate Core

Implementing a cross functional curriculum and team learning are still major challenges for many business schools. This article focuses on sharing the lessons from the Boston University School of Management curriculum’s extensive use of integration mechanisms in its undergraduate junior-level core during the past 12 years. Our required core courses consist of traditional marketing, operations, information systems, and finance courses integrated into a unique onesemester sequence via a team-based new product venture, where students develop a comprehensive business plan for a new product idea. We discuss tools we have developed and deployed in team learning to support our cross functional initiatives. Finally, we present some results from our team learning data and its impact on students’ functional marketing knowledge. For many years, practitioners have advocated that business schools don’t teach the way that decisions are actually made in the “real world.” They argue that business decisions should not be locally-optimized independent choices, but rather part of broader interdisciplinary strategic selections, made across groups of stakeholders, decision makers and functions of a firm. Consequently, many would agree that best practices in business decision making must involve judgments based on system-wide understandings of the connections and interdependencies among the different functions of the organization. In addition, both practitioners and academics espouse that in many cases teams of individuals deliver better decisions and results than individuals alone (although few business schools have been able to develop a rigorous understanding and measure the impact of project teams on students’ learning). Therefore, it is not surprising that teaming and cross functional teaching has become part of the business education discourse for the last decade. The importance of these issues has been emphasized by business school accrediting bodies, management educators and business practitioners alike (Chonko 1993). For instance, the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (now known as “AACSB International”) was making explicit calls for more integrated teaching and the application of cross functional orientations in business school curricula as early as 1991. Also, numerous businesses have supported educational innovations around team-based or cross-functional/multi-disciplinary
Application of Multi-Serial Communication in Low Cost Virtual Studio

By the realization of multi-serial communication in Low Cost Virtual Studio platform,this paper discussed how to choose and design methods of intercommunion,between center computer and more than one peripheral equipment.Under Win32 entironment,wrote a common communication class with API,applied it to the serial communication part of the Low Cost Virtual Studio platform,it proved that,this class has good encapsulation,could be used in most systems which need multi-serial communication.
An In vitro Digestion Method for Evaluating the Effects of Different Supplemental Levels of β-mannanase on Broilers

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different supplemental levels of β-mannanase on broilers fed corn-soybean meal basal diet based on an in vitro digestion method. The digestibility of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and energy of the diets supplemented with β-mannanase at 0, 300, 600, 1 200 and 2 400 U/kg was determined in vivo and in vitro, and the performance of the broilers was also determined. A correlation analysis was carried out additionally. The results of the in vivo experiment showed that compared with the control group, β-mannanase added into the basal diets at the levels of 300 to 2 400 U/kg could increase the digestibility of DM, CP and energy, and the highest digestibility of nutrients was achieved at the supplemental level of 600 U/kg. The results of the in vitro experiment had the same trend with the in vivo one. The results of the correlation analysis showed that the in vitro digestibility of DM, CP and energy had correlations with the the average daily gain of the broilers (R2=0.792 3, 0.860 9, 0.773 0), and had a strong correlation with the ileal apparent digestibility of nutrients in broilers (R2=0.989 9, 0.907 3, 0.985 2). These results indicate that the in vitro digestion method is suitable to evaluate the effects of β-mannanase supplemented to the corn-soybean meal diets on the performance and nutrient digestibility of broilers.
Laser for Transvenous Lead Extraction

The rate of cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) implantation continues to increase, thus the number of CIED leads in use and the inevitable complications associated with these leads also continues to rise [1, 2]. As the knowledge and techniques associated with CIED implantation have advanced, so have the knowledge and techniques associated with transvenous lead extraction. A great deal is now known about the risks, benefits, indications, and contraindications associated with lead extraction. This was comprehensively addressed in the most recent expert consensus document from the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) [3].
Traumatic Brain Injury and Growth Hormone Deficiency

The most common isolated hormonal deficiency after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in both children and adults is growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Adequate evaluation of the growth hormone (GH) axis after TBI in children and adults is evolving. Despite the inherent limitations to this field of research, available data depict the importance of evaluating TBI patients for GHD. GHD affects not only linear growth, but may influence patients’ overall well-being, general metabolism, and cognition as manifested clinically through symptoms such as fatigue and memory problems. Pituitary function after TBI undergoes remarkable variation over time; dissimilar methodologies could account for marked variations in prevalence of GHD. The lack of a gold standard test for GHD raises questions regarding the true occurrence of GHD after TBI. Although somewhat controversial, most recent well-designed studies in children argue in favor of performing dynamic GH tests only in patients with slow growth after appropriate follow-up. All patients with documented severe GHD are candidates for GH replacement therapy.
The Oceans and Biosphere as Future Sinks for Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide

The prediction of future concentrations of atmospheric CO2 is made difficult by the uncertainty in how rapidly and to what extent fossil fuels will be utilized. But if we focus on the consumption of fossil fuels over the entire period of use we find that almost any growth in consumption above the present, even 1.5 percent per year, will lead eventually to a large increase in atmospheric CO2- If a major fraction of the physically minable coal is used as fuel, a four fold increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration is likely to be reached within three centuries. The oceans during the entire fossil fuel era remain a major sink for industrial CO2 but near the time of maximum fuel consumption, when the need to remove atmospheric CO2 is greatest, the oceans will be a less effective sink than at present, because of increased acidity of the water attending CO2 uptake. Because of the large amounts of carbon involved, it appears unlikely that absorption of CO2 by land plants and soils will significantly reduce CO2 levels beyond that produced by oceanic uptake.
Antibody against Microbial Neuraminidases Recognizes Human Sialidase 3 (NEU3): the Neuraminidase/Sialidase Superfamily Revisited.

Neuraminidases (NAs) are critical virulence factors for several microbial pathogens. With a highly conserved catalytic domain, a microbial NA "superfamily" has been proposed. We previously reported that murine polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) sialidase activity was important in leukocyte trafficking to inflamed sites and that antibodies to Clostridium perfringens NA recognized a cell surface molecule(s), presumed to be a sialidase of eukaryotic origin on interleukin-8-stimulated human and murine PMNs. These antibodies also inhibited cell sialidase activity both in vitro and, in the latter instance, in vivo We therefore hypothesized that mammalian sialidases share structural homology and epitopes with microbial NAs. We now report that antibodies to one of the isoforms of C. perfringens NA, as well as anti-influenza virus NA serum, recognize human NEU3 but not NEU1 and that antibodies to C. perfringens NA inhibit NEU3 enzymatic activity. We conclude that the previously described microbial NA superfamily extends to human sialidases. Strategies designed to therapeutically inhibit microbial NA may need to consider potential compromising effects on human sialidases, particularly those expressed in cells of the immune system.IMPORTANCE We previously reported that sialidase activity of human neutrophils plays a critical role in the host inflammatory response. Since the catalytic domains of microbial neuraminidases are highly conserved, we hypothesized that antibodies against Clostridium perfringens neuraminidase might inhibit mammalian sialidase activity. Before the recognition of four mammalian sialidase (Neu) isoforms, we demonstrated that anti-C. perfringens neuraminidase antibodies inhibited human and murine sialidase activity in vivo and in vitro We now show that the antibodies to microbial neuraminidase (C. perfringens and influenza virus) recognize human NEU3, which is important for neural development and cell signaling. Since many microbes that infect mucosal surfaces express neuraminidase, it is possible that the use of sialidase inhibitors (e.g., zanamivir), might also compromise human sialidase activity critical to the human immune response. Alternatively, sialidase inhibitors may prove useful in the treatment of hyperinflammatory conditions.
How do Meat Scarcity and Bushmeat Commodification Influence Sharing and Giving among Forest Foragers? A View from the Central African Republic

Meat sharing is a societal norm among hunter-gatherer societies that provisions families and supports social networks. Meat is also a valued resource central to traditional barter exchange. Ethnographic research often cites prey scarcity and commodification as two factors reducing traditional meat transactions among indigenous Central African foragers. We present quantitative data based on ethnographic observations of foragers in the Central African Republic that show that neither scarcity nor commodification eliminates sharing. The bushmeat market is associated with changes in village demographic structure that limits the distribution of meat among extended kin. Although cash generated from the sale of forest products reduces the need for inter-ethnic barter, gift giving and exchange maintain these important relationships. Our data show the persistence of traditional meat transactions and identify potential changes in demographic structure as a less obvious outcome of the bushmeat trade that can have extended consequences for forager populations.
Density Fluctuation in Aqueous Solutions and Molecular Origin of Salting-Out Effect for CO2

Using molecular dynamics simulation, we studied the density fluctuations and cavity formation probabilities in aqueous solutions and their effect on the hydration of CO2. With increasing salt concentration, we report an increased probability of observing a larger than the average number of species in the probe volume. Our energetic analyses indicate that the van der Waals and electrostatic interactions between CO2 and aqueous solutions become more favorable with increasing salt concentration, favoring the solubility of CO2 (salting in). However, due to the decreasing number of cavities forming when salt concentration is increased, the solubility of CO2 decreases. The formation of cavities was found to be the primary control on the dissolution of gas, and is responsible for the observed CO2 salting-out effect. Our results provide the fundamental understanding of the density fluctuation in aqueous solutions and the molecular origin of the salting-out effect for real gas.
The Role of Religion and Institution Type in Seniors' Perceptions of the Religious and Spiritual Campus Climate.

AbstractThis study investigated the correlates of two measures that capture students’ perception of the religious and spiritual campus climate. It focuses on how the factors, religious identity and attending a religiously affiliated institution, influence students’ perception of the respect for their beliefs and comfort in expressing their views on campus. The results indicate few differences by religious identity in students’ perception of the respect for their beliefs, but significant differences by religion in their comfort in expressing their views. Additionally, attending a religiously affiliated institution was positively associated with students’ comfort in expressing their beliefs.
Timing and nature of Holocene glacier advances at the northwestern end of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen

Abstract Holocene glacial chronostratigraphies are developed for four glaciated valleys at the northwestern end of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen using geomorphic mapping and cosmogenic 10Be surface exposure dating. The study areas include the Hamtah valley in the Lahul Himalaya, and the Karzok, Lato and upper Stok valleys in Zanskar. Five local glacial stages are dated to ∼10.4, ∼6.1–3.3, ∼2.1–0.9, ∼0.7–0.4, and ∼0.3–0.2 ka based on 49 new moraine boulder ages. Large age dispersions are evident for each of the local glacial stages. This is especially the case for ∼6.1–3.3 and ∼2.1–0.9 ka, which is likely a result of prior and/or incomplete exposures in very young moraine boulders. An additional compilation of 187 published 10Be moraine boulder ages help define seven Himalayan Holocene regional glacial stages (HHs) for the northwestern end of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. These HHs date to ∼10.9–9.3, ∼8.2–7.4, ∼6.9–4.3, ∼4.5–2.8, ∼2.7–1.8, ∼1.8–0.9, and
Investigating tensorflow for airport facial identification: poster

Facial recognition is a rapidly developing application of machine learning. Face identification is specifically being adopted across security systems such as airports, perimeter security, and law-enforcement. In this poster, we describe a facial identification approach that can be deployed at airports. Our contributions include i.) facial identification software built on top of Google's TensorFlow [1] framework; ii.) a data collection scheme that can be implemented at airports nationally; and iii.) a user interface for collecting data.
Relationships between noble metals as potential coal combustion products and conventional coal properties

Abstract Increasing coal consumption has generated million tons of ash and caused various environmental issues. Exploring statistical relationships between concentrations of valuable metals in coal and other coal properties may have several benefits for their commercial extraction as byproducts. This investigation studied relationships between conventional coal concentrations and concentration of noble metals for a wide range (708 samples) of eastern Kentucky coal samples (EKCS) by statistical methods. The results indicate that there are significant positive Pearson correlations (r) > 0.90 among all noble metals (Au, Pt, Pd, Ru and Rh) except for Ag (r
A Stable Higher-Order Elastic Parabolic Equation with Application to Scholte Wave Propagation

An accurate and stable elastic parabolic equation (PE) is derived from a higher-order Pade approximation. Accuracy is achieved by constraining some of the derivatives of the Pade approximation near the point corresponding to the reference wavenumber. Stability is achieved by requiring that the Pade approximation map part of the lower-left quadrant of the complex plane into the upper half of the complex plane. The stable higher-order elastic PE accurately handles all wave types including interface waves, very wide propagation angles, and large depth variations and gradual range variations in the seismo-acoustic parameters. The rotated PE, which offers improved accuracy for some problems involving sloping ocean bottoms, is generalized to elastic media. The elastic PE is applied to illustrate the variation of phase velocity as a Scholte wave propagates up a sloping ocean bottom and evolves into a Rayleigh wave and to illustrate how low shear speed acts as a loss mechanism for a problem involving a broadband source.
MOVEMENT OF PCB'S AND OTHER PERSISTENT COMPOUNDS THROUGH SOIL

ABSTRACT The adsorption and mobility of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were studied under laboratory conditions. The adsorption of PCBs, PBBs, and HCB by soils and by carbonaceous adsorbents from aqueous solutions and organic solvents could be described by the Freundlich adsorption equation. All three compounds were found to be strongly adsorbed by the carbonaceous adsorbents and by the soil materials. There was a very high direct correlation between the total organic carbon (TOC) content of the soils and the amounts adsorbed. No measurable adsorption of PBBs or HCB by soils occurred from organic solvents; however the compounds were strongly sorbed from the solvents by the carbonaceous adsorbent Ambersorb XE-348. The mobilities of PCBs, PBBs, and HCB in five soils were measured with several different leaching solvents, using a soil thin-layer chromatography technique and column leaching studies. The three compounds remained immobile in the soils when leached with water or landfill leachate but were highly mobile when leached with organic solvents. Mobility was proportional to the solubility of the compounds in the leaching solvents and to the soil organic matter content. It was concluded that these three compounds would not move readily through earth materials leached with water or aqueous leachates, but that they would be highly mobile in organic solvents.
Spectral and Probability Density Estimation From Irregularly Observed Data

Let X = {X(t), − ∞ < t < ∞} be a stationary stochastic process with univariate probability density f(x), covariance function R(t), and spectral density φ(λ). The nonparametric estimation of f, R, and φ on the basis of irregularly-spaced observations \(\left\{ {{\text{X}}\left( {{\text{t}}_{\text{k}} } \right){\text{,t}}_{\text{k}} } \right\}_{{\text{k = 1}}}^{\text{n}}\) is considered. The sampling schemes {tk} which allow the consistent estimation of f, R, and φ, as the sample size n → ∞, are identified and the asymptotic statistical properties of the corresponding estimates \({\hat f_n}\left( x \right),{\hat f_n}\left( t \right)\), and \(\hat \varphi _{\text{n}} \left( \lambda \right)\) are presented.