cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ULTRASONIC DETERMINATION OF KIDNEY VOLUME IN THE DOG

Canine kidney measurements were obtained in vivo using ultrasound before and after anesthesia and were compared with direct caliper measurements at laparotomy. Following excision, the kidney dimensions were also measured ultrasonically in a water bath and the results were used to calculate kidney -volume by a modified parallel planimetric method and three variations of a prolate ellipsoid method. The calculated volume was compared with actual kidney volume determined by volume displacement. All methods were found to underestimate actual volume so that a linear correction of ultrasonically calculated volume was required to predict actual volume. The modified parallel planimetric method and a prolate ellipsoid method using height and width determinations cranial and caudal to the renal pelvis were the best models. The prolate ellipsoid model was chosen for subsequent kidney volume calculations because of its simplicity. The noninvasive calculation of kidney volume using ultrasound was sufficiently accurate to be clinically useful, particularly when serially evaluating kidney size changes in the same dog.
Role of fibrinolytic therapy in the current era of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction management.

In patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction, early, effective reperfusion of the culprit artery is needed to salvage myocardium, maintain left ventricular function, and reduce mortality. According to American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for the treatment of these patients, the time from medical contact (i.e., firm ST-elevation myocardial infarction diagnosis) to intiation of fibrinolytic therapy (door-to-needle time) should be 30 minutes, and the time from medical contact to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (door-to-balloon time) should be 90 minutes. Because many patients present to hospitals that are not equipped to administer PCI, door-to-balloon time often falls far short of the ideal. When PCI is not readily available, efficient prehospital treatment with t-PA-based fibrinolytic agent formulations that can be delivered in a bolus and do not require weight-based adjustment may reduce mortality rates and result in outcomes similar to PCI when administered promptly.
Transcriptional regulation of sporulation genes in yeast.

The relative transcription rates of three sporulation-regulated genes of yeast (SPR1, SPR2 and SPR3) were determined at intervals during sporulation, using a filter binding assay. The binding of in vivo labeled RNA to the corresponding DNAs increased 3- to 12-fold at the time of meiosis I, in parallel with the accumulation of the SPR transcripts. SPR1 and SPR3 mRNA abundance increased from less than 0.7 to 130 and 90 copies per cell, respectively, between the time of shift to sporulation medium and the initiation of spore formation. This represented a 150-to 200-fold increase in the steady-state levels of these RNAs. Similarly, the levels of β-galactosidase present in sporulating cells harboring fusions between SPR3 and Escherichia coli lacZ increased at least 700-fold. We conclude that SPR1, SPR2 and SPR3 transcription is modulated during sporulation, possibly in response to earlier events in the process.
A realistic approach to treating obesity

Abstract Numerous biological, psychological, and environmental factors contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity. Attempts to treat this weight disorder have produced discouraging results in the weight loss literature. However, several studies have demonstrated that weight loss successes do occur. Five factors which predict favorable weight loss outcomes are identified. Instead of applying weight loss strategies indiscriminately, researchers need to assess those variables that are predictive of successful weight loss. Obese individuals with a poor prognosis may then be more realistically treated by placing an emphasis on the development of a healthy lifestyle and self-concept while de-emphasizing weight loss as the primary goal.
Micromechanical Tests of Adhesion Dynamics between Neutrophils and Immobilized ICAM-1

Strong, integrin-mediated adhesion of neutrophils to endothelium during inflammation is a dynamic process, requiring a conformational change in the integrin molecule to increase its affinity for its endothelial counterreceptors. To avoid general activation of the cell, Mg2+ was used to induce the high-affinity integrin conformation, and micromechanical methods were used to determine adhesion probability to beads coated with the endothelial ligand ICAM-1. Neutrophils in Mg2+ bind to the beads with much greater frequency and strength than in the presence of Ca2+. An increase in adhesion strength and frequency was observed with both increasing temperature and contact duration (from 2 s to 1 min, 21 or 37°C). The dependence of adhesion probability on contact time or receptor density yielded estimates of the effective reverse rate constant, kr, and the equilibrium association constant, Ka, for binding of neutrophils to ICAM-1 coated surfaces in Mg2+: kr ≈ 0.7 s−1 and the product Kaρc ≈ 2.4 × 10−4, where ρc is the density of integrin on the cell surface.
n Acoustic Analysis of Col Legno Articulation in Iannis Xenakis's Nomos Alpha

Iannis Xenakis's Nomos Alpha for solo cello (1966) exploits the three principal methods of sound production on a cello string-bowing, plucking, and col legno (hitting the string with the stick of the bow)-to a remarkably extensive degree. Each of these methods of sound production has been the focus of acoustic research. Conceptually, the simplest of these three sound production methods is the plucked string, the physics of which is summarized in Backus (1977) and elsewhere. The spectrum of harmonic partials activated by the action of plucking depends upon the location along the string where plucking occurs. The sinusoidal components of the resulting waveform will reflect, in their respective amplitudes, the degree to which the point of plucking approached or coincided with their own peaks and nodes. The displacement of the string caused by plucking forms a "hump" that propagates along the string; upon reaching one end of the string, the hump is reflected to form a "dip" that travels back in the reverse direction. Through Fourier analysis, this rapid circulation of humps and dips can be reduced to the harmonic partials that comprise, in varying amplitudes, the spectrum of the generated sound. The idealized image of the waveform produced by bowing a string is that of a sawtooth shape (produced by the bow sticking to and slipping against the string in quick alternation) in which the amplitude of the nth harmonic is that of the fundamen-
Rapid establishment of ethanol as a reinforcer for rats.

Daily 6-h sessions were run during which each lever press by rats produced brief access to water, or to 8‡/0 (W/V) ethanol on experimental days. Food pellets were presented noncontingently on a 1 min fixed-time schedule during the last, 4 h of each session. A stable baseline of water responding developed, characterized by little or no responding during the first 2 h followed by high rates and schedule-induced polydipsic drinking during the last 4 h. Following the development of a stable water baseline, 8% (W/V) ethanol was substituted for water on alternate days. After one previous session with ethanol, rats' responding for ethanol during the first 2 h of a session substantially exceed water baseline rates, indicating that ethanol had been established as a reinforcer. Subsequently, when food pellet presentations were discontinued, and the ethanol concentration was increased from 8 to 16 to 32% (W/V), ethanol intake persisted at values exceeding water control levels; these results confirm that ethanol was functioning as a reinforcer.
CW-laser excited molecular fluorescence of species in flames

Abstract A cw tunable dye laser (540–640 nm) was used to excite molecular fluorescence of five species in a flame. Real-time fluorescence spectra of SrOH, CaOH, CrO, MnO and C 2 were recorded. Different types of fluorescence behavior were observed and were contrasted with emission spectra.
Transverse momentum distributions of π− from 14.6A GeV/c silicon ion interactions in copper and gold

Abstract A measurement of the transverse momentum spectrum of negatively charged tracks from AGS energy silicon ion collisions is presented. The spectrum has a different shape than that of nucleon-nucleon collisions at approximately the same energy. The transverse mass spectrum is well represented by a sum of two exponentials with different slopes and may be reasonably well accounted for by a model of pion production in interacting nuclear matter that includes resonance production and decay.
Comparative properties of arginases.

Abstract Arginase is a primordial enzyme, widely distributed in the biosphere and represented in all primary kingdoms. It plays a critical role in the hepatic metabolism of most higher organisms as a cardinal component of the urea cycle. Additionally, it occurs in numerous organisms and tissues where there is no functioning urea cycle. Many extrahepatic tissues have been shown to contain a second form of arginase, closely related to the hepatic enzyme but encoded by a distinct gene or genes and involved in a host of physiological roles. A variety of functions has been proposed for the “extrahepatic” arginases over the last three decades. In recent years, interest in arginase has been stimulated by a demonstrated involvement in the metabolism of the ubiquitous and multifaceted molecule nitric oxide. Molecular biology has begun to furnish new clues to the disparate functions of arginases in different environments and organisms. Comparative studies of arginase sequences are also beginning to elucidate the comparative evolution of arginases, their molecular structures and the nature of their catalytic mechanism. Further studies have sought to clarify the involvement of arginase in human disease. This review presents an outline of the current state of arginase research by giving a comparative overview of arginases and their associated properties.
Determination of the mechanisms causing and limiting separations by column crystallization

The process of column crystallization at total reflux and steady state was analyzed mathematically and experimentally in order to determine the mechanisms by which separations are achieved and limited. The results of the study indicate that separation is produced by the formation of crystals in the freezing section and by interphase mass-transfer in the adjacent purification section. The separation is mainly limited by axial eddy diffusion in the liquid phase. Data from three binary chemical systems were used in the study. The first system, m-chloronitrobenzene-m-bromonitrobenzene, forms a solid solution with a small phase separation (less than 6 wt. %) and was the primary subject of this study. The second system, azobenzenestilbene, forms a solid solution with a phase separation which exceeds 20 wt. %. The third system, benzene-cyclohexane, has essentially no solid solubility in the range of compositions for which data on separation have been reported (½ to 3 wt. % cyclohexane). Four mathematical models of column crystallization were developed and compared with experimental data. These models were based on different sets of assumptions as to the mechanisms which control the overall separation. The model which is consistent with experimental data was used to evaluate mass transfer coefficients and effective liquid-phase diffusivities. Diffusivities varied between 1.3 and 4.6 sq. cm./sec., and mass transfer coefficients varied between 0.07 and 0.64 cm./sec. in reasonable agreement with results obtained in studies of liquid-liquid extraction in pulsed columns.
Philosophy of change and the deconstruction of self in the Zhuangzi

Etude de la philosophie du changement et du theme de la deconstruction de soi chez Zhuangzi. Examinant la these soteriologique de la transformation infinie des objets, l'A. montre que la strategie deconstructive de Zhuangzi, qui prend pour cible les hierarchies conceptuelles et linguistiques, repose sur les changements qui affectent l'etre humain dans son identite et ne s'apparente pas au deconstructionnisme actuel de Derrida.
On the penetration of a turbulent layer into stratified fluid

An experiment is described in which a constant stress is applied to the surface of an initially quiescent tank of fluid with a uniform density gradient. The development of the turbulent layer by entrainment of the underlying fluid is described and it is found that the entrainment coefficient E, the ratio of the entrainment velocity ue to the friction velocity u* is given in terms of the depth D of the mixed layer and the density jump δρ across the entrainment interface by the relation \[ E = \frac{u_e}{U_{*}} = 2.5\frac{\rho_0u^2_{*}}{g\delta\rho D}. \] The rate of increase of potential energy of the stratified fluid was found to be proportional to the rate of dissipation of kinetic energy per unit area in the turbulent layer. The form of these results is consistent with those found by Turner with an agitation tank, but the parameters used here allow direct application to entrainment in the ocean.
Executive summary: asthma and the unified airway.

Asthma is a common comorbid disorder that will be seen by otolaryngologists in their treatment of patients with rhinitis, rhinosinusitis, and otitis media. Among otolaryngologists, however, a diagnosis of asthma is infrequently considered in this patient population. Otolaryngologists, however, may be in an important position to recognize this potential diagnosis and provide treatment or appropriate referral. To further develop this relationship among upper and lower airway inflammation, and to provide important information to otolaryngologists regarding this relationship, a multidisciplinary workgroup was impaneled by the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy in August 2006. The full report of this meeting is published separately as a Supplement to Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. This Executive Summary provides a brief synopsis of that document, with a focus on comorbid respiratory inflammation for otolaryngologists. In the treatment of their patients with allergic rhinitis and rhinosinusitis, otolaryngologists must be aware of the possible presence of asthma so that appropriate treatment and/or referral can be initiated. The impact of this practice will allow more comprehensive treatment of patients with upper and lower airway disease, and will improve patient symptoms, function, and quality of life.
Crystal structure of a preacylation complex of the β-lactamase inhibitor sulbactam bound to a sulfenamide bond-containing thiol-β-lactamase.

The rise of inhibitor-resistant and other β-lactamase variants is generating an interest in developing new β-lactamase inhibitors to complement currently available antibiotics. To gain insight into the chemistry of inhibitor recognition, we determined the crystal structure of the inhibitor preacylation complex of sulbactam, a clinical β-lactamase inhibitor, bound in the active site of the S70C variant of SHV-1 β-lactamase, a resistance enzyme that is normally present in Klebsiella pneumoniae. The S70C mutation was designed to affect the reactivity of that catalytic residue to allow for capture of the preacylation complex. Unexpectedly, the 1.45 A resolution inhibitor complex structure revealed that residue C70 is involved in a sulfenamide bond with K73. Such a covalent bond is not present in the wild-type SHV-1 or in an apo S70C structure also determined in this study. This bond likely contributed significantly to obtaining the preacylation complex with sulbactam due to further decreased reactivity toward...
Raman spectroscopy using time-correlated photon-counting detection

A highly sensitive, shot-noise-limited Raman signal acquisition is achieved using frequency-time transformation in a single-mode fiber and time-correlated photon counting system. To spectrally disperse Raman signal excited by a picosecond laser pulse, the light is directed into a sufficiently long single-mode fiber. The output end of the fiber is coupled into a time-gated photon multiplier tube (PMT). Due to a frequency-time conversion provided by the fiber core, photons of different frequencies experience different transient times. In this way, by measuring the photons’ arrival time, Raman peaks can be recorded and separated. Moreover, in some cases the fluorescence background can be eliminated from Raman signals due to its much longer life-time. Consequently, a fluorescent background free Raman spectrum can be attained using the time-correlated photon-counting Raman spectroscopy. In this report, by using a 400m SM600 single-mode fiber and a Hamamatsu R3809U-50 PMT, we demonstrate the Raman spectrum of dimethyl sulfoxide excited by a short-pulsed laser.
Application of dispersion relations to nucleon-nucleon scattering: The two-pion contribution

Abstract The two-pion contribution to the amplitude for nucleon-nucleon scattering is computed in terms of the invariant amplitudes which characterize the four-body Green's function of the pion nucleon system. The dependence of this contribution upon the momentum transfer of the two-nucleon system is completely exhibited. A general method is described for the derivation of symmetry properties for the invariant coefficients in the expansion of the scattering amplitude in spinor space.
Development of a high-performance image server using ATM technology

The ability to display digital radiographs to a radiologist in a reasonable time has long been the goal of many PACS. Intelligent routing, or pre-fetching images, has become a solution whereby a system uses a set of rules to route the images to a pre-determined destination. Images would then be stored locally on a workstation for faster display times. Some PACS use a large, centralized storage approach and workstations retrieve images over high bandwidth connections. Another approach to image management is to provide a high performance, clustered storage system. This has the advantage of eliminating the complexity of pre-fetching and allows for rapid image display from anywhere within the hospital. We discuss the development of such a storage device, which provides extremely fast access to images across a local area network. Among the requirements for development of the image server were high performance, DICOM 3.0 compliance, and the use of industry standard components. The completed image server provides performance more than sufficient for use in clinical practice. Setting up modalities to send images to the image server is simple due to the adherence to the DICOM 3.0 specification. Using only off-the-shelf components allows us to keep the cost of the server relatively inexpensive and allows for easy upgrades as technology becomes more advanced. These factors make the image server ideal for use as a clustered storage system in a radiology department.
Unemployment compensation and episodes of nonemployment

This paper examines the influence of unemployment insurance (UI) on the length of nonemployment spells experienced by young workers. The analysis introduces a flexible duration model to estimate the effects of the weekly benefit amount and weeks of eligibility on the amount of time spent between jobs by men, distinguishing between the experiences of UI and non-UI recipients. The empirical findings suggest three conclusions: (1) UI recipients experience longer spells of nonemployment than their non-UI recipient counterparts, at least up to the point of exhaustion of UI benefits; (2) the level of the weekly benefit amount does not significantly affect the length of nonemployment spells; and (3) increasing the number of weeks of eligibility offered by a UI program leads to longer episodes of nonemployment.
Resonance energies of some compounds containing nitrogen or oxygen

Resonance energies are calculated for a number of aromatic, and potentially aromatic, compounds containing nitrogen or oxygen, using a recent version of our SCF MO π approximation.
Non-endocrine applications of somatostatin and octreotide acetate: facts and flights of fancy.

Abstract Somatostatin, originally detected by Krulich and ultimately isolated by Brazeau, was initially described as a growth hormone rlease-inhibiting factor. Subsequent investigation into the use of native somatostatin and the development of long-acting somatostatin analogues, especially octreotide acetate, have fostered increasing uses of these compounds. Though the clinical and investigational uses of somatostatin and its analogues are varied, one central theme remains constant: the ability of these agents to suppress circulating peptide levels. This article, a review of the current non-endocrine applications of somatostatin and its analogues, covers a wide range of potential applications for somatostatin-like compounds. These include use in cirrhosis and variceal bleeding, peptic ulcer disease, pancreatic fistulas, acute and chronic pancreatitis, dumping syndrome, cancer therapy, small bowel fistulas, psoriasis, pain control, and autonomic hypotension. Somatostatin may also play a role in the development and potential treatment of neurologic disease and may have profound influence on behavior.
Contemporary dialysis: as good as transplantation?

Kidney transplantation is well known to increase survival and improve quality of life over conventional dialysis therapies. But are contemporary, intensive dialysis therapies, such as nocturnal home hemodialysis, associated with outcomes as good as those obtained with deceased donor transplantation?
Structure and properties development in poly(phenylene sulfide) fibers, part I: Effect of material and melt spinning process variables

The detailed research study of manufacturing PPS fibers using melt spinning and further enhancement of tensile properties by drawing and annealing experiments, a study lacking as of today in open scientific literature, was the focus of this research. This article discusses the effect of polymer molecular weight (MW) and melt spinning process variables on the structure and properties development in melt spun fibers manufactured from proprietary Fortron® linear PPS resins. Structure-properties relationship was studied using several characterization tools like tensile testing, differential scanning calorimetry, polarized light optical microscopy, and wide-angle x-ray scattering. Changes in dynamic mechanical behavior of as-spun fibers manufactured from resins of varying MW and different melt spinning take-up speeds were also studied. The study showed that by a combination of higher MW of the polymer and spinning at higher take-up speeds, tensile properties of as-spun PPS fibers can be improved. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011
Expressive communication and social conventions in virtual worlds

Technological innovation is always social innovation, if the application will be used by people. Yet, many technologies have been introduced with little concern for the social side of the innovation. Virtual worlds are intended to be immersive social experiences that can offer an alternative to face-to-face interactions, as well as provide new forms of human experience. People living in virtual worlds will need a rich array of communication tools if they are to get the kinds of emotional satisfaction that are possible in everyday social exchanges. Expressive communication is one of those tools. Expressive communication includes gestures, tone of voice, body orientation, and other nonverbal signals that are present in face-to-face settings. Two related issues are the sense of space people experience in virtual worlds and the social conventions that govern how people behave. One of our first research tasks will be to collect and analyze research from related areas that can inform us about human factors in virtual worlds. This would include research about videoconferencing, virtual reality, videogames, the Web, and computer mediated communication. Are people communicating effectively and do they feel comfortable in virtual worlds? Have communities emerged and, if so, what is the shape of those communities? In assessing expressive communication, it will be useful to understand how avatars, gestures, and voice are integrated into social interactions, and how these interactions differ from early text-based interactions such as forums.
Efficiently mining frequent trees in a forest

Mining frequent trees is very useful in domains like bioinformatics, web mining, mining semistructured data, and so on. We formulate the problem of mining (embedded) subtrees in a forest of rooted, labeled, and ordered trees. We present TREEMINER, a novel algorithm to discover all frequent subtrees in a forest, using a new data structure called scope-list. We contrast TREEMINER with a pattern matching tree mining algorithm (PATTERNMATCHER). We conduct detailed experiments to test the performance and scalability of these methods. We find that TREEMINER outperforms the pattern matching approach by a factor of 4 to 20, and has good scaleup properties. We also present an application of tree mining to analyze real web logs for usage patterns.
Oscillatory temperature dependence of exchange bias for Fe/Gd ferrimagnets

We investigated the exchange bias effect for Fe/Gd ferrimagnetic multilayers. Our results show that there is a −cosine type of oscillatory exchange bias with temperature for the [(Fe 4 nm/Gd 4 nm)4/Gd 16 nm] multilayer. For the first time, exchange bias was observed to oscillate between positive and negative fields with a period of approximately 130 K. In addition, the coercive field was observed to oscillate within itself for the same temperature range studied. We speculate that oscillatory exchange bias is related to the underlying magnetic phase diagram of the ferrimagnetic Fe/Gd multilayer. When the [(Fe 4 nm/Gd 4 nm)4/Gd 16 nm] system is cooled under a high magnetic field, negative exchange bias is forced to shift to positive values irregularly. Nevertheless the system shows oscillatory behaviour.
A method for aquifer identification in petroleum reservoirs: A case study of Puerto Ceiba oilfield

Abstract The paper describes an efficient multi-stage data-driven method for aquifer and water influx pattern classification. It is based on statistical multivariate analysis techniques, Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis. The main advantage of the proposed method is the integration of the analysis of static (water and oil properties) and dynamic (production series) data in order to understand the water-related behavior of the oilfield. For oilfield aquifers classification, oil and water physicochemical properties are used. Water influx pattern classification consists of three steps. Firstly, single-well production data analysis techniques are applied: (1) conventional decline curve analysis; and (2) a novel water-cut curve analysis with a logistic growth equation. Secondly, the obtained parameters are employed for the statistical multivariate analysis of the field. Finally, logistic-type equation parameters are used for qualitative identification of velocity of water entrance, water amount and first date of water entrance. The proposed method is discussed and illustrated using Puerto Ceiba case study. The work is a step forward towards the introduction of data-driven approaches in the engineering practices of water control.
Cranial Procedures without Hair Removal

OBJECTIVE: In 1992, Winston published the first large series of patients undergoing cranial neurosurgery without hair removal (Winston KR: Hair and neurosurgery. Neurosurgery 31:320-329, 1992). Prompted by this report, the senior author began a prospective trial in 1992 of cranial neurosurgery without hair removal. METHODS: All patients undergoing elective cranial surgery were offered the opportunity to undergo surgery without hair removal. The protocol advocated by Winston was strictly followed in the first 100 patients but has subsequently been modified. Patients having only cranial procedures have their head prepared for 10 minutes with chlorhexidine and water followed by an isopropyl alcohol rinse. Patients having craniofacial procedures are prepared with iodophor. A single perioperative dose of prophylactic antibiotic is administered. RESULTS: We have performed 346 cranial operations without hair removal. These include craniotomy for tumor, trauma, and aneurysm (n = 115); epilepsy procedures, including depth, subdural strip, and grid electrode placement, lobectomy, and callosotomy (n = 95); functional procedures, including thalamotomy, pallidotomy, capsulotomy, and stereotactic biopsy (n = 84); ventriculoperitoneal shunts (n = 8); brain abscess aspiration or resection (n = 5); and miscellaneous other procedures (n = 10). Twenty-nine patients underwent cranial base procedures in conjunction with an otolaryngologist and had the alternate preparation. There have been no infections and no other complications associated with not removing hair. CONCLUSION: Cranial surgery without hair removal is safe and is not associated with a discernible increased risk of infection. There are simple techniques for keeping hair out of the wound. Patients are highly desirous of keeping their hair and react very positively to this option. We advocate a greater practice of this technique in neurosurgery.
The finite-temperature random-phase approximation for the spectroscopic properties of dense plasmas

Abstract The finite-temperature random-phase-approximation (FTRPA) is used to calculate selected spectral properties for 1 P excitations of dense neon plasmas. We present FTRPA calculations that include coupled-channel effects. The linear algebraic method is used to solve the resulting set of coupled-channel equations and, as a test of our method, oscillator strengths are calculated at zero-temperature and density and compared with previous calculations. Coupled-channel calculations of the oscillator strength for neon at various temperatures and densities are given; the inclusion of these effects is shown to cause significant differences in the oscillator strength when compared with single-channel and with average-atom calculations. Some trends as a function of temperature and density are also discussed.
Recurrent unilateral hand malformations in siblings

A unique, familial, unilateral hand malformation is described. The rarity, recurrence and parental consanguinity are strongly suggestive of autosomal recessive inheritance in this family.
A FRAMEWORK FOR THE SYSTEM DESIGN PROCESS1

Much discussion and writing about “systems” is often superficial, glib, and of a non-operational nature. This paper presents a cohesive framework for the process of system design which is felt to be of operational value in the design and management of systems. The framework's central tenet is that all systems are made up of entities and the relationships among the attributes of those entities; and that in designing systems, two processes are used, inclusion and structuring. Inclusion is concerned with what entities to include in a system and structuring with how their attributes are to be related. The system design process is directed or driven by a set (system) of criteria. Systems must be viewed with a time dimension: evolution will and should take place, both in the systems themselves and, more importantly, in the criteria that drive the design and evolution of those systems. In this framework, all problem solvers can usefully regard themselves as system designers. Presentation of the framework is followed by examples, discussion of the criteria set, system design tools, and some implications for teachers and practitioners.
The use of olfactory cues in solving a visual discrimination task

Albino rats, trained in a miniaturized WGTA, were found to learn an olfactory discrimination despite the fact that visual cues were relevant and obvious. The results provide a further warning against the use of macrosmatic animals in visual discrimination tasks in which olfactory cues may be relevant.
Role of lysine during protein modification by HOCl and HOBr: halogen-transfer agent or sacrificial antioxidant?

Although protein degradation by neutrophil-derived hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and eosinophil-derived hypobromous acid (HOBr) can contribute to the inactivation of pathogens, collateral damage to host proteins can also occur and has been associated with inflammatory diseases ranging from arthritis to atherosclerosis. Though previous research suggested halotyrosines as biomarkers of protein damage and lysine as a mediator of the transfer of a halogen to tyrosine, these reactions within whole proteins are poorly understood. Herein, reactions of HOCl and HOBr with three well-characterized proteins [adenylate kinase (ADK), ribose binding protein, and bovine serum albumin] were characterized. Three assessments of oxidative modifications were evaluated for each of the proteins: (1) covalent modification of electron-rich amino acids (assessed via liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry), (2) attenuation of secondary structure (via circular dichroism), and (3) fragmentation of protein backbones (via sodiu...
Connectivity preserving formation control with collision avoidance for nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots

The preservation of connectivity in mobile robot networks is critical to the success of existing algorithms designed to achieve various goals. The available connectivity control algorithms mainly work through preservation of existing edges in the network. A link may be deleted if distributed decision making determines that the edge is not a cut-bridge. A controller is presented which allows edges to be broken in a continuous manner without higher-level decision making. The controller is based on maximization of the second smallest eigenvalue of the graph Laplacian. The controllers are designed for holonomic robots, and are extended for implementation on non-holonomic wheeled mobile robots. Finally, the performance of the extended controllers are demonstrated experimentally.
Real-Time Scene Understanding And Vision Automation--A Brief Overview

After about twenty-five years of growth, image analysis technology has advanced to the point where the design of machines that model real scenes in real time is at the technological frontier. Consequently, we see the beginning of a merging of the technologies of image analysis and automatic control. This merger is leading to the development of complex distributed systems in which decisions and actions are based on realistic models of possibly time-varying scenes. We refer to this merged technology as vision automation. In the past decade, reflecting the impact of artificial intelligence, image analysis has expanded to scene understanding, and automatic control has evolved into intelligent control. Thus, vision automation consists of two major components: scene understanding and intelligent control. (We prefer the term "scene understanding" to the more commonly used "image understanding", since we want to understand the scene, not the image.)
Delay monitoring for wireless sensor networks: An architecture using air sniffers

Wireless sensor networks have been used for many delay-sensitive and safety-critical applications, e.g., emergency response and plant automation. For such applications, delay measurement inside the sensor networks is important for real-time monitoring and control of the networked system, and abnormal delay detection. In this paper, we propose a measurement architecture using distributed air sniffers. This approach provides convenient delay measurement, and requires no clock synchronization or instrumentation at the sensor nodes. Since using sniffers incurs additional deployment cost, we investigate two aspects to reduce deployment cost: (1) using inexpensive mote-class sniffers and (2) carefully placing the sniffers to minimize the number of sniffers that are needed. Specifically, we experimentally quantify the capability and fidelity of mote-class sniffers for delay measurement, and show that they provide satisfactory monitoring performance. We further formulate and solve a sniffer placement problem that minimizes the number of sniffers while taking account of the workload constraints of the sniffers, and show that the number of sniffers under our sniffer placement algorithms is only a small fraction of the number of sensor nodes in the network. Last, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our architecture for abnormal delay detection using experiments in a testbed.
Japanese loanword devoicing revisited: A rating study

In Japanese loanword phonology, geminates optionally devoice when there is another voiced obstruent within the same stem, i.e., geminates may optionally devoice when they violate OCP(voice). This devoicing of OCP-violating geminates has received much attention in the recent phonological literature. However, the debates centering around this phenomenon have relied primarily on intuition-based data, and no systematic judgment experiments have been performed. This paper fills that gap. The experiment reported in this paper shows that Japanese speakers do find devoicing of geminates natural when there is another voiced stop within the same word, i.e., when the geminates violate OCP(voice). The experiment moreover finds other interesting aspects of devoicing: (i) the naturalness of devoicing of OCP-violating geminates correlates positively with the lexical frequencies of the words in question, (ii) the naturalness of devoicing of OCP-violating geminates is not significantly affected by place of articulation, (iii) speakers find (context-free) devoicing of geminates more natural than devoicing of OCP-violating singletons, and (iv) speakers find the devoicing of OCP-violating singletons more natural in word-medial position than in word-initial position.
Operators with an absolute functional calculus

We study sectorial operators with a special type of functional calculus, which we term an absolute functional calculus. A typical example of such an operator is an invertible operator A (defined on a Banach space X) considered on the real inter- polation space (Dom(A), X )θ,p where 0 <θ <1 and 1 < p < ∞. In general the absolute functional calculus can be characterized in terms of real interpolation spaces. We show that operators of this type have a strong form of the H ∞ -calculus and behave very well with respect to the joint functional calculus. We give applications of these results to recent work of Arendt, Batty and Bu on the existence of Holder-continuous solutions for the abstract Cauchy problem.
Solution history effect in isotactic polybutene-1

Abstract The crystallization of isotactic polybutene-1 (PB-1) from dilute solutions was studied by Holland and Miller, who observed that the resulting crystal structure was dependent on the temperature of dissolution as well as the temperature of crystallization. Their study has been reexamined and further explored in detail under more general experimental conditions. The effect of using different crystal polymorphs as the starting material and that of keeping the solution for various lengths of time at selected temperatures before crystallization have been studied. The results generally agree with the previous findings of Holland and Miller and provide further information which suggests that PB-1 molecules assume definite helical conformations in solution. With time, the chains tend to transform from their original solid-state conformations to the one which is thermodynamically favored at the solution temperature.
Combined effects of implant insertion depth and alveolar bone quality on periimplant bone strain induced by a wide-diameter, short implant and a narrow-diameter, long implant

Statement of problem Strain levels in periimplant bone are affected by implant dimensions, bone quality, and implant insertion depth, resulting in different bone maintenance characteristics. Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical response of the jaw bone to a wide-diameter, short (WDS) implant, and a narrow-diameter, long (NDL) implant for various simulated clinical scenarios. Material and methods The finite element method was used to evaluate periimplant bone strain distribution for 5 × 6-mm (WDS) and 3.5 × 10.7-mm (NDL) implants. A 3-dimensional segment of the mandible was constructed from a computerized tomography image of the premolar region. Occlusal force was simulated by applying a 100-N oblique load on the abutment. Bone strain distributions for 5 different implant insertion depths and 2 different levels of alveolar bone quality were evaluated. Results For an NDL implant, approximately 60% to 80% of the bone volume surrounding the implant was subjected to 200-1000 μstrain (μɛ), and 15% to 35% was subjected to 1000-3000 μɛ, regardless of the alveolar bone quality. For a WDS implant, the bone volume subjected to 1000-3000 μɛ increased, and the bone volume subjected to 200-1000 μɛ decreased in lower quality alveolar bone. For both implant types, bone volume experiencing strain levels less than 200 μɛ, and/or greater than 3000 μɛ, was predicted to be relatively small. Conclusions In general, the thread design promoted relatively high strain around the thread tips, and the bone inside grooves was less strained. A more even and higher strain distribution in the periimplant bone was generated by the WDS implant as compared to the NDL implant. Regardless of the implant dimensions and simulated clinical scenarios, the development of high strain in the alveolar region was inevitable. Strain levels in periimplant bone were reduced as the insertion depth of the implant was increased.
Pathways to Employment: The Experiences of TANF Recipients With Employment Services

The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 by the U.S. Congress required welfare recipients to quickly move into the workforce. Employment services agencies perform a key role in this process by providing welfare recipients with work readiness and job search skills. This article reviews the findings of an empirical study of the experiences and employment outcomes of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients referred to contracted employment services agencies. The study involves a random-sample survey of 151 TANF recipients in a large, urban, north-central county. The findings suggest that generic work readiness activities may be of limited utility unless they include job leads to actual employment opportunities. The article concludes with a discussion of critical issues for practitioners.
Quality of life: Concepts and definition

After years of second-class status, supportive care is increasingly being recognized for its importance. Included in this recognition is a concern for making more explicit the long-held conviction within medicine that no goal can logically be more important than optimal patient functioning and well-being. This effort to make more explicit the timeless value of medical care has evolved over the past two decades, and come to be labeled "quality of life" research. At its most fundamental level, quality of life is understood to be both subjective and multidimensional. Because it is subjective, it is best measured from the patient's perspective. Because it is multidimensional, its measurement requires the investigator to inquire about a range of areas of the patient's life, including physical well-being, functional ability, emotional well-being, and social well-being. The usual concern for symptom control, familiar to the palliative-care physician, can conceptually be expanded into a consideration of costs and benefits of various treatment options relative to their subjective perception of personal function and well-being. As our interest turns to the aggressive alleviation of specific ("target") symptoms, we must critically evaluate the complex relationships among symptom intensity, symptom duration, and overall quality of life.
TEAM: an experiment in the design of transportable natural-language interfaces

Abstract This article describes TEAM, a transportable natural-language interface system. TEAM was constructed to test the feasibility of building a natural-language system that could be adapted to interface with new databases by users who are not experts in natural-language processing. An overview of the system design is presented, emphasizing those choices that were imposed by the demands of transportability. Several general problems of natural-language processing that were faced in constructing the system are discussed, including quantifier scoping, various pragmatic issues, and verb acquisition. TEAM is compared with several other transportable systems; this comparison includes a discussion of the range of natural language handled by each as well as a description of the approach taken to achieving transportability in each system.
Morph-independent mate selection in a dimorphic jumping spider: demonstration of movement bias in female choice using video-controlled courtship behaviour

Abstract The importance of female choice in maintaining an extreme male dimorphism seen in the jumping spider, Maevia inclemens, was investigated. It was demonstrated that female M. inclemens apparently do not choose between the two strikingly different male morphs based on phenotypic characteristics alone, but instead select mates on the basis of initial male movement. Because of the difficulties associated with manipulating live males a video playback and computer digitization/animation technique was developed. Using this technique, male courtship behaviour was experimentally controlled and the behaviour of two different males was synchronized before presentation to females. Results confirmed that female mate preference is dependent on the male that the female is first oriented towards, independent of male morphology. This suggests that females may not be preferentially mating with one male type. Recent studies have shown that females may select mates that exploit a pre-existing sensory mechanism, and it is known that jumping spiders always orient to movement in their peripheral field of vision. Given the sensory mechanisms of jumping spiders and many other species, initial male movement may be an important factor in the mate selection process.
Human microglia mediate anti-Cryptococcus neoformans activity in the presence of specific antibody

The interaction of the opportunistic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans with human microglia was studied in vitro in the presence and absence of capsule binding antibody. In the absence of capsule binding antibody there was little or no phagocytosis. Addition of the murine monoclonal antibody (mAb) 2H1 (IgG1, kappa) to the capsular glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) produced a dose-dependent enhancement of C. neoformans phagocytosis by microglia. Phagocytosis resulted in marked inhibition of fungal proliferation. Microglial antifungal activity was studied by colony forming unit assay, L-[3H]leucine incorporation assay, and phase contrast microscopy. At microglia: C. neoformans ratios of 10:1 to 80:1 fungal growth was reduced by 61-95%. Inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase and reactive oxygen intermediates did not prevent antifungal activity mediated by human microglia. Transmission electron microscopic studies revealed that although some internalized yeast cells were killed, the majority were intact consistent with fungistasis. Human microglia cells are potent effector cells against C. neoformans in vitro in the presence of specific antibody. Enhancement of microglial activity in vivo by opsonins may be a useful therapeutic strategy.