cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On Statistical Inference with High Dimensional Sparse CCA

We consider asymptotically exact inference on the leading canonical correlation directions and strengths between two high dimensional vectors under sparsity restrictions. In this regard, our main contribution is the development of a loss function, based on which, one can operationalize a one-step bias-correction on reasonable initial estimators. Our analytic results in this regard are adaptive over suitable structural restrictions of the high dimensional nuisance parameters, which, in this set-up, correspond to the covariance matrices of the variables of interest. We further supplement the theoretical guarantees behind our procedures with extensive numerical studies.
An comparison of acute toxicities and patient-reported outcomes between intensity-modulated proton therapy and volumetric-modulated arc therapy after ipsilateral radiation for head and neck cancers.

BACKGROUND Intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) demonstrates superior dose distribution over volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for sparing organs-at-risk (OARs) in ipsilateral radiotherapy. To determine a clinical benefit, assessment of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) and physician-reported toxicities alongside a dosimetric analysis is needed. METHODS Plans were analyzed for dosimetric differences. PROs were compared for patients undergoing ipsilateral curative-intent radiotherapy for tonsil and salivary gland cancers with VMAT or IMPT from 2015 to 2020. Physician-reported toxicities were compared. RESULTS In 40 patients, IMPT was associated with decreased dose to multiple OARs and less deterioration in the following PROs: pain, swallowing function, dry mouth, sticky saliva, sensory change, cough, speech, feeling ill, and social eating. Physician-reported toxicities demonstrated less oral pain. CONCLUSION IMPT is associated with decreased dose to OARs and less patient-reported acute deterioration in multiple head and neck domains. A strong consideration for IMPT in ipsilateral head and neck patients with cancer is warranted.
A knowledge-based perspective on the transformation of individual-level relationships into inter-organizational structures:

Abstract This paper by Paul Olk explores how individual-level relationships affect the formation process and structure of R&D consortia. It begins by reviewing traditional explanations of joint venture formation, noting the under-explored role of individuals in this process, and focuses on an organizational knowledge perspective. The paper then draws from data collected from US-based R&D consortia and differentiates between consortia created by individual-level networks and those started from organizational-level relationships. The analysis reveals several differences in the formation between the two types of consortia in terms of problem-setting, direction-setting and implementation. However, notable similarities also existed. These data provide the basis for propositions developed to direct future research.
TSV/FET proximity study using dense addressable transistor arrays

Addressable transistor arrays (∼20,000 devices) provide an attractive test vehicle to study TSV/FET proximity effects in a statistically meaningful way. FET/TSV proximity effect studies have been performed at the 45 nm node using a dense addressable parametric diagnostic (APD). We have found that a carefully designed TSV integration sequence at this node has minimal impact on the quality of devices. For the integration scheme studied, it was found that stress of the Si in the vicinity of the TSV had minimal impact on device characteristics for annular Cu TSVs, for devices placed as close as ∼3μm to the TSV.
The active-site environment of rhodopsin.

The 11-cis-retinal binding site of rhodopsin is of great interest because it is buried in the membrane but yet must provide an environment for charged amino acids. In addition, the active-site lysine residue must be able to engage in rapid Schiff base formation with 11-cis-retinal at neutral and lower pH values. This requires that this lysine be unprotonated. We have begun to study the environment of the active-site lysine using a reporter group adducted to it. Non-active-site permethylated opsin was reacted with 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde, and the resulting Schiff base was permanently fixed by borohydride reduction. The stoichiometry of incorporation was one. This chromophoric and pH-sensitive reporter group affords information on the active-site environment of rhodopsin by determining the ionization constants of its ionizable groups at different pH values. The pH titration of the modified protein showed a single pKa = 7.8 ± 0.19 ascribable to the ionization of the phenol. The ionization of the modified lysine residue was not observed at all pH values studied. These studies are interpreted to mean that a negatively charged amino acid is propinquous to the active-site lysine residue and that this latter residue does not have an unusually low pKa.
Incrementally incorporating video games into instruction using XNA game-themed assignments: tutorial presentation

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to gradually incorporate video games into an existing CS1/CS2 class using our 'XNA Game-Themed Assignments' (XGAs). We will talk briefly about the technical details of the C#-based XNA framework, with particular focus on our XnaAssignmentBase class, and then examine several of our 'XGA modules' in detail. These modules are designed to be easily reused by other faculty, and the authors will answer questions in order to facilitate their use. Each module targets a particular topic in the CS1/CS2 curriculum, and includes a variety of materials for both instructors and students. We will finish with a discussion of tricks we've learned from incorporating games into our classes in this fashion.
Reasoning about Nature in Virtue, Action and Law: The Path from Principles to Practice

This paper argues that the role of nature in Aquinas’s account of virtue, action and law does not require the kind of adherence to Aristotle’s ‘metaphysical biology’ that is refuted by Darwin because of the way Aquinas transforms nature as applied to a rational being and as an analogy to elucidate virtue, habit and law. Aquinas’s grounding of ethics and law in the notion of nature is also not a kind of intuitionism designed to answer all moral questions and stop all ethical debates but a model which gives principles; these principles in turn are not that from which all conclusions can be derived with universality and certainty but are principles which are the topic of reasoned and ongoing debate about their interpretation and application in particular laws or practices. The paper then examines Aquinas’s application of the principles of natural law to evaluate human law as an example of this reasoned debate, which is both subject to error and correction, showing how Aquinas’s notion of nature can work in practical applied ethics.
The boundary of a Busemann space

Let X be a proper Busemann space. Then there is a well defined boundary, OX, for X. Moreover, if X is (Gromov) hyperbolic (resp. nonpositively curved), then this boundary is homeomorphic to the hyperbolic (resp. non-positively curved) boundary.
Cognitive—Biobehavioral Assessment and Treatment of Pediatric Pain

Pain in children represents a complex cognitive—developmental phenomenon, involving a number of biobehavioral components that synergistically interact to produce differential levels of pain perception and verbal and nonverbal manifestation (Varni, 1983). In marked contrast to the rather extensive clinical research literature on adult chronic pain assessment and management, the systematic investigation of pediatric pain from a cognitive—biobehavioral perspective represents a relatively recent area of scientific inquiry (Varni, Katz, & Dash, 1982). Given children’s various cognitive—developmental stages, their conceptualizations of pain and discomfort must be taken into consideration (Thompson & Varni, 1986). Thus, an accurate understanding of pain in children cannot be gleaned from simply applying downward the knowledge of pain in adults; rather, research and clinical practice in pediatric pain assessment and treatment must develop a separate, if not parallel, data base from the adult pain field that is sensitive to the unique characteristics of children. During the past several years, a growing number of investigators have begun generating a substantial data base from which the clinical potential of cognitive—biobehavioral techniques in managing pediatric pain has become clear.
Algorithms for Planar Geometric Models

We consider planar geometric models given by an explicit boundary of O(n) algebraic curve segments of maximum degree d. We present an O(n · dO(1)) time algorithm to compute its convex hull and an O((n loglogn+K) · dO(1)) time algorithms to compute various decompositions of an object, where K is the characteristic number of this object. Both operations, besides being solutions to interesting computational geometry problems, prove useful in motion planning with planar geometric models.
From dikaryon to diploid

Abstract The dikaryon is the persistent vegetative phase of most basidiomycetes and arises by cell fusion of two haploids carrying different mating type alleles. The diplophase is restricted to a single cell (the basidium) where meiosis takes place. Cell fusion and karyogamy are thus temporally and spatially separated. The dikaryon is characterized by the presence in each cell of two genetically distinct nuclei in a 1:1 ratio and by clamp connections, structures involved in partitioning of the nuclei during their synchronous division. In Coprinopsis cinerea and Schizophyllum commune, with two mating type loci (A and B), heterokaryons with identical A alleles exhibit nuclear migration but no clamps, and those with identical B alleles have unfused clamps (pseudoclamps) and no nuclear migration. Armillaria species are exceptional among basidiomycetes because of their persistent vegetative diploid phase with no clamp connections. Cell fusion is followed immediately by karyogamy. Haploidization of the diploid nucleus may occur in the fruiting body, resulting in a new dikaryophase–diplophase. Diploids in Ustilago maydis were the first to be synthesized in any basidiomycete. They played a critical role in pioneering studies on DNA recombination and repair. Subsequently diploids were generated in C. cinerea, S. commune, Microbotryum violaceum, and Cryptococcus neoformans. Dikaryons (or heterokaryons) and diploids of the same genotype exhibit phenotypic differences. The reason is not known but evidence indicates that gene expression differs when the same genetic information resides in two nuclei versus one nucleus in the same cell. Diploids in basidiomycete fungi are very stable by themselves but become unstable in 2N + N or 2N + 2N dikaryons. Instability results in haploidization (gradual loss of chromosomes) of the diploid nucleus. The mechanism that triggers this instability is not known.
Alprazolam and oxazepam block the cue-induced reinstatement of extinguished cocaine seeking in rats

We have previously reported that pretreatment with benzodiazepines reduces intravenous cocaine self-administration in rats. This experiment was designed to investigate whether or not benzodiazepines would also inhibit the reinstatement of cocaine seeking induced by the presentation of a conditioned reinforcer. Adult male rats were implanted with jugular catheters and trained to self-administer cocaine (0.25 mg/kg/infusion) during daily 2-h sessions. During training, cocaine delivery was paired with the presentation of a tone and the illumination of a houselight. Once a stable baseline of cocaine self-administration was observed, lever pressing was extinguished to less than 20% of baseline rates. During reinstatement testing, responding resulted in the presentation of the conditioned reinforcer (i.e., the houselight and tone previously paired with self-administered cocaine). The response-contingent presentation of the conditioned reinforcer reliably reinstated cocaine seeking. Pretreatment with alprazolam (2 or 4 mg/kg, ip) or oxazepam (20 or 40 mg/kg, ip) reversed the conditioned reinforcer-induced reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-seeking behavior at doses that did not reliably affect the conditioned reinforcer-induced reinstatement of extinguished food seeking, suggesting that benzodiazepines may not have reduced reinstatement responding due to non-specific reductions in behavior. These data suggest that benzodiazepines may be useful in blocking the ability of environmental cues to stimulate cocaine seeking.
A Comment on James M. Poterba's ‘Demographic Structure and Asset Returns’

THE last twenty years have seen dramatic changes in U.S. equity valuations. Measured in relation to dividends or earnings, current valuations are wildly different from their long-term historical averages. Figure 1, taken from Campbell and Shiller (2001), illustrates this point. The bottom-left panel shows the dividendprice ratio (D/P) for the SP the previous peak was 28 in 1929. The decline in the SP because of the large size of the generation, this has increased national savings and bid up the prices of financial assets. The difficulty with this argument is that the overall U.S. savings rate does not appear to be unusually high; also, an increased propensity to save should bid up the prices of all financial assets, including bonds, and thus should drive down real interest rates. Other versions of the argument emphasize risk taking rather than overall saving. One story says that investors are more willing to take equity risk early in middle age; thus, a large cohort of early middle-aged investors should drive up equity prices. Another story says that baby boomers are intrinsically more tolerant of equity risk and less tolerant of bond market risk than earlier cohorts were, perhaps because they have direct memories of the 1970s inflation, with its bad effects on nominal bonds, but not of the 1930s depression, with its bad effects on equities. These stories are quite different, both in their mechanisms and in their implications for the future. The first story relies on an age effect, which will reverse as the baby boomers age; the second story relies on a cohort effect, which is a permanent attribute of a generation. Thus, the first story leads to concerns that stock prices may decline as the baby boomers enter old age. James Poterba’s paper (2001) correctly emphasizes that these arguments can be evaluated rigorously only if one can identify time, age, and cohort effects on asset demands. The difficulty is that time, age, and cohort effects are linear combinations of one another and can never be separately identified without theoretical restrictions. Poterba emphasizes empirical results that restrict time effects to be zero and allow for freely estimated age and cohort effects, on the grounds that this restriction can reconcile a flat age-wealth profile at any point in time with a hump-shaped effect of age Received for publication June 12, 2001. Revision accepted for publication June 12, 2001. * Harvard University.
Epidural blood patch for severe postoperative intracranial hypotension.

Brain sag is a rare but serious postoperative complication after craniotomy. It is a clinical entity that refers to severe cerebrospinal fluid hypovolemia causing acute neurologic decompensation and obtundation. The established treatment is trendelenberg positioning. We present 3 cases of severe brain sag in which patients developed acute neurologic deterioration unresponsive to conventional treatment. An epidural blood patch was performed emergently to prevent further neurologic decline. The administration of epidural blood patch resulted in immediate and dramatic reversal of obtunda- tion in each of these patients. Epidural blood patch may be a life-saving intervention in postcraniotomy patients presenting with refractory brain sag. It should be offered in patients who meet the criteria for brain sag and are unresponsive to conventional treatment modalities, despite the clinical presenta- tion of herniation and coma.
Exploring How Different Features of Animations of Sodium Chloride Dissolution Affect Students’ Explanations

Animations of molecular structure and dynamics are often used to help students understand the abstract ideas of chemistry. This qualitative study investigated how the features of two different styles of molecular-level animation affected students’ explanations of how sodium chloride dissolves in water. In small group sessions 18 college-level general chemistry students dissolved table salt in water, after which they individually viewed two animations of salt dissolution. Before and after viewing each animation the participants provided pictorial, written, and oral explanations of the process at the macroscopic and molecular levels. The students then discussed the animations as a group. An analysis of the data showed that students incorporated some of the microscopic structural and functional features from the animations into their explanations. However, oral explanations revealed that in many cases, participants who drew or wrote correct explanations did not comprehend their meanings. Students’ drawings may have reflected only what they had seen, rather than a cohesive understanding. Students’ explanations given after viewing the animations improved, but some prior misconceptions were retained and in some cases, new misconceptions appeared. Students reported that they found the animations useful in learning; however, they sometimes missed essential features when they watched the animation alone.
Further studies on age-related unusual catecholamine structures in brain

Abstract The occurrence of large, intensely fluorescent (LIF) catecholamine-containing spots in the brains of mice and rats has been studied by fluorescence microscopy. LIF spots in C57BL/6J mice increased in number progressively with age. Apparent differences between sexes in the number of spots were not significant at any age. A greater number of LIF spots were present in older mice and rats of different strains indicating that LIF spot formation is neither strain nor species specific. Long-term feeding of antioxidants (ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, and β-mercaptoethylamine) to C57BLl6J mice did not alter significantly the number of LIF spots, suggesting that age-related LIF spots are formed by a mechanism other than endogenous free radical damage.
Metabolism of phosphoramidates III. A microsomal phosphoramidate hexose transfer system

Abstract An enzyme-catalyzed phosphoryl transfer involving phosphoramidate and hexoses has been demonstrated in microsomal preparations from rat liver and rat kidney. While the enzyme, tentatively called phosphoramidic hexose transphosphorylase, catalyzes the formation of glucose 6-phosphate from phosphoramidate and glucose, several other hexoses will serve as the hydroxyl acceptor. In addition to phosphoramidate, carbamyl phosphate, acetyl phosphate, and N- phosphorylmethionine have been shown to function as phosphoryl donors. Creatine phosphate, phosphohistidine and adenosine 5′-triphosphate do not function as phosphoryl donors.
An Overview of Salmonid Fisheries Planning by State Agencies in the United States

Abstract Effective planning is requisite for sound salmonid fisheries management, but there has never been a comprehensive assessment of the planning efforts of state agencies charged with this responsibility. We used mail surveys and telephone interviews with fisheries administrators and field managers, agency policy and budgeting officers, and non-governmental angling and environmental groups to characterize and assess state salmonid fisheries planning. Forty-one states responded to a mail survey of state agencies; at least 36 states are involved in planning for salmonid fisheries. A shorter mail survey was completed by angling group leaders in 21 states, and interviews were conducted in 5 states. Our findings indicate that despite limited planning training for agency staff, planning in support of salmonid fisheries management is widespread, and that plans and the planning process are viewed favorably by agency personnel. Study participants deemed plans to be useful for a number of plan functions, inclu...
A simple algorithm for enumerating longest distances in the plane

We present a deterministic algorithm that takes as input a set of n points in the plane and enumerates in descending order the k longest distances between pairs of points. The algorithm works for all Lp distance metrics, requires O(n+k) space and, for uniform distributions over natural containing shapes, has expected-case running time of O(n log n+k log k log nlog log n).
Conflicting and minimax controls

Conflicting and relaxed minimax controls for Weierstrass E condition or Pontryagin maximum principle
Registration of CT and MR brain images using a combination of points and surfaces

In this paper we present a hybrid registration technique that uses a weighted combination of several feature shapes, e.g. points and surfaces. The technique is a modification of Besl & McKay's iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm (IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell., 14:239-256, 1992). We use the technique to register x-ray computed tomography (CT) and T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) volume head images acquired from eleven patients that underwent craniotomies in a neurosurgical clinical trial. Each patient had five external markers attached to transcutaneous posts screwed into the outer table of the skull. We define registration error as the distance between corresponding marker positions after registration and transformation. The CT and MR images are registered using points (marker positions) only, surfaces only, and a weighted combination of points and surfaces. The CT surfaces are derived from contours corresponding to the inner surface of the skull. The MR surfaces are derived from contours corresponding to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-dura interface. Registration using points and surfaces is more accurate than registration using only points or surfaces.
Nonpolar-volatile lipids from soy protein isolates and hexane-defatted flakes

Lipid extracts from two samples of commercial soy protein isolates (SPI) and two samples of commercial hexane-defatted flakes were fractionated by silici acid-column chromatography. The material eluted with 100% chloroform was collected, further fractionated by silica solid-phase extractions, and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy by using mass spectra, retention times of authentic standards, and Kovats indices for identification. Thirty-eight compounds were identified and quantitated in the lipid fractions from soy protein isolates (SPI); 23 of these are reported for the first time as components of SPI. An additional 13 compounds are reported for the first time as components of hexane-defatted soybean flakes. The major classes of compounds reported for the first time associated with SPI include: butyl, methyl, and ethyl esters of fatty acids; phenols, diphenyls and phenyl esters; and abietic acid derivatives. Dehydroabietinal at 0.180 to 0.191 ppm of the protein isolates was the most abundant aldehyde in the SPI lipid extracts. The third most abundant aldehyde found in SPI after dehydroabietinal and hexanal was 2-butyl-2-octenal (0.065 to 0.086 ppm). Dehydroabietic acid methyl ester was present in SPI (0.309 to 0.459 ppm). Dehydroabietene (0.628 ppm) and abietatriene (0.396 ppm) were tentatively identified in one sample of hexane-defatted flakes.
Equal opportunity for all? Parental economic resources and children's educational attainment

Abstract We investigate the roles of parents' economic resources in children's educational attainment with special attention to assets. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find that parents' liquid assets have significantly positive associations with years of schooling, high school graduation, and college attendance, but not on college graduation. The results also show a complicated relationship between negative liquid assets and educational attainment: children from negative liquid asset households have a higher chance of finishing high school but a lower chance of graduating college than those from zero liquid asset households. Children from high liquid asset households are more likely to graduate high school and enter college. Findings indicate that we should consider assets when seeking to understand educational mobility. It is also suggested that asset building policies for children's education may expand children's opportunity to get higher level of education.
Horizontal diffusion by submeso motions in the stable boundary layer

Four networks of wind data are used to construct the first systematic estimates of the horizontal diffusivity from observations of submeso motions on scales often unresolved in numerical models. Currently, the horizontal diffusivity in numerical models is specified mainly for numerical reasons without observational support. The data analysis in this study emphasizes the stable boundary layer although results are briefly presented for the unstable boundary layer. The horizontal diffusivity is estimated from the horizontal gradient and the observed flux. Horizontal gradients of scalars are generally difficult to directly estimate from observations with sufficient accuracy for much of the data. As an alternative, simulated particles with conservative properties are introduced into the observed wind field in order to estimate the horizontal diffusivity for submeso motions. The sensitivity of the horizontal diffusivity to details of the method is examined. The horizontal diffusivity increases with the range of time and space scales that are included in the evaluation. The horizontal diffusivity is much larger with significant topography and may increase with wind speed, depending on the site location. The coarse station spacing or the small domain size is found to be a major limitation to the analysis.
Eugenol as a Stimulus for Gastric Mucous Secretion

SummaryThe characteristics of gastric mucous secretion, stimulated by topical application of aqueous eugenol emulsion in several concentrations, have been investigated on 9 Heidenhain pouch dogs. A 5% emulsion of clove oil, which had previously been found to be superior to all other mucus stimuli, was used. as a basis of reference for determining the secretory value of eugenol. It was found that 5% eugenol yields larger volumes of secretion, with a higher pH, than the clove oil. The percentages of specimens possessing high viscosity, opacity, and columnar cell contentare lower for the eugenol than for the clove oil. Since we have already cited reasons3 for believing that pure gastric mucus is transparent, cell-free, and of variable consistency, it may be that the secretion yielded by eugenol differs less from pure mucus than does the fluid obtained with clove oil.Five per cent eugenol emulsion is the most effective stimulus to mucus secretion which we have found to date-especially since it yields larger v...
Development of spike-wave seizures in C3H/HeJ mice

Summary C3H/HeJ mice have been reported to have relatively early onset of spike-wave discharges (SWD), and a defective AMPA receptor subunit Gria4 as the genetic cause. We investigated the time course of SWD development through serial EEG recordings in C3H/HeJ mice to better characterize this model. We found that at immature postnatal ages of 5–15 days, rare SWD-like events were observed at an average rate of 3 per hour, and with relatively broad spikes, irregular rhythm, slow frequency (5–6Hz), and short duration (mean 1.75s). This was followed by a transitional period of increasing SWD incidence, which then stabilized in mature animals at age 26–62 days, with SWD at an average rate of 45 per hour, narrower spike morphology, regular rhythm, higher frequency (7–8Hz), and longer duration (mean 3.40s). This sequence of maturational changes in SWD development suggests that effects of early intervention could be tested in C3H/HeJ mice over the course of a few weeks, rather than a few months as in rats, greatly facilitating future research on anti-epileptogenesis.
Ultrastructural evidence of abnormally short and maldistributed actin stress fibers in osteopetrotic (toothless) rat osteoblasts in situ after detergent perfusion.

Abstract Osteopetrosis is a heterogenouse group of metabolic bone diseases characterized by a generalized increase in skeletal mass, the product of reduced bone resorption and interceptions in the development and/or function of osteoclasts. In one such mutation in the rat, toothless ( tl ), osteoblasts are absent from older bone surfaces and there is evidence for aberrant osteoblast gene expression and function. Given the emerging appreciation of the role of osteoblasts in the differentiation and activation of osteoclasts, we have examined ultrastructural features of the cytoskeleton of normal and mutant osteoblasts after perfusion fixation with the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100. This procedure reduces the electron density of the cytoplasm, rendering visible the microfilamentous network in osteoblasts. In normal osteoblasts a prominent system of stress fibers (bundles of actin microfilaments) run parallel to the cell membrane adjacent to osteoid surfaces, stretching for 75% of that distance. However, only 50% of mutant ( tl ) osteoblasts had stress fibers and in these cells stress fibers were either significantly shorter (18% of normal) or distributed intracellularly rather than along the osteoid surface. In mutant osteoblasts without stress fibers, 20% showed ultrastructural signs of cell degeneration. Given the role of stress fibers in cellular attachment to extracellular matrices, these observations suggest that the reduced number of osteoblasts in tl rats may be related to their inability to organize actin filaments and adhesion plaques for attachment to bone surfaces. We propose that a feature of osteopetrosis in the tl rat is a disruption of the mechanisms that regulate the synthesis, sorting and/or assembly of actin.
Attenuation of the Fish Pathogen Francisella sp. by Mutation of the iglC* Gene

Abstract Fish francisellosis is an emergent disease caused by gram-negative facultative intracellular bacteria of the genus Francisella. Different strains of the bacterium have caused high mortalities in warmwater and coldwater fish species. Francisella sp. isolates from fish have been found to share more than 97% identity to the human pathogen Francisella tularensis upon 16S ribosomal RNA sequence comparison. Homologue genes of the F. tularensis intracellular growth locus (iglA*, iglB*, iglC*, and iglD*) were identified from LADL 07-285A, a clinical isolate obtained from diseased Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. The iglABCD operon DNA sequence comparison revealed that Francisella LADL 07-285A had 94% identity with F. philomiragia subsp. philomiragia and 83% identity with F. tularensis subsp. novicida U112. The functions of the conserved proteins corresponding to the genes are elusive but appear to be essential for the ability of Francisella sp. to survive within macrophages and cause disease. An inser...
Synthesis and ring-opening polymerization of optically pure mesogenic malolactonates

Abstract Optically pure malolactonate monomers containing biphenyl mesogenic groups with either an ethylene or a hexamethylene spacer were prepared from optically pure malic acid and polymerized with alkylaluminoxane catalysts to form a series of new chiral side chain liquid-crystalline polymers, which contained the chiral centres in the backbone. The mesogenic malolactonate monomers were determined to be optically pure by 1H NMR spectroscopy of the β-lactone complexed with a chiral europium shift reagent. Both the methylaluminoxane and isobutylaluminoxane catalysts gave polymers having bimodal molecular weight distributions, the latter catalyst yielded a larger amount of the higher molecular weight fraction than the former. The polymers showed high optical rotations, high degrees of isotactic stereoregularity, and enantiotropic liquid-crystalline properties, all of which were influenced by the molecular weight distribution. Copolymers of malolactonate monomers with different spacers were also prepared an...
Video-based analysis of motion skills in simulation-based surgical training

Analysis ofmotionexpertiseisanimportantprobleminmanydomainsincludingsportsandsurgery.Inrecent years,surgicalsimulationhasemergedattheforefrontofnewtechnologiesforimprovingtheeducationand training ofsurgicalresidents.Insimulation-basedsurgicaltraining,akeytaskistoratetheperformanceofthe operators,whichisdonecurrentlybyseniorsurgeons.Thispaperintroducesanovelsolutiontothisproblem through employingvision-basedtechniques.Wedevelopanautomatic,video-basedapproachtoanalyzingthe motion skillsofasurgeoninsimulation-basedsurgicaltraining,whereasurgicalactioniscapturedbymultiple video cameraswithlittleornocalibration,resultinginmultiplevideostreamsofheterogeneousproperties. Typicalmultiple-viewvisiontechniquesareinadequateforprocessingsuchdata.Weproposeanovelapproach that employsbothcanonicalcorrelationanalysis(CCA)andthebag-of-wordsmodeltoclassifytheexpertise levelofthesubjectbasedontheheterogeneousvideostreamscapturingboththemotionofthesubject'shands and theresultantmotionofthetools.Experimentsweredesignedandperformedtovalidatetheproposed approachusingrealisticdatacapturedfromresidentsurgeonsinlocalhospitals.Theresultssuggestthatthe proposedapproachmayprovideapromisingpracticalsolutiontotherealworldproblemevaluatingmotionskills in simulation-basedsurgicaltraining.
System cooling design for the water-cooled IBM Enterprise System/9000 processors

The high operating speed and corresponding high chip heat fluxes in the IBM Enterprise System/9000™ water-cooled mainframe processors are made possible by improvements in component- and system-level cooling. The heart of the closed-loop water-cooling system is a coolant distribution frame (CDF) common to all water-cooled processors. The CDF provides a controlled water temperature of 21.7°C to the central electronic complex (CEC) at water flow rates up to 245 liters per minute (lpm) and rejects heat loads of up to 63 kW for the largest processor. The water flow provides cooling to multichip thermal conduction modules (TCMs), to power supplies, and to air-to-water heat exchangers that provide preconditioned air to channel and memory cards. As many as 121 chips are mounted on a TCM glass-ceramic substrate, with chip powers reaching 27 W or a heat flux of 64 W/cm 2 . A separate cold plate was developed to cool these modules. The power supplies with high heat densities are primarily cooled by water which flows through a unique separable cold plate designed for ease of serviceability of the power supply. Although water cooling is utilized for components with high heat fluxes, air cooling is employed for elements of the system with lower power densities. For cards cooled by forced air, careful trade-off studies among acoustical power, chip reliability, and high availability were required. The acoustic noise emissions of all the fans and blowers were determined, and a system model was constructed to measure the noise radiated from each frame in the system. The data were used to design top covers and other components to ensure that the system could meet its thermal/acoustical requirements. A closed-loop frame in which all the heat was rejected to water was developed to meet these requirements.
Correlation of clinical disease severity to radiographic thumb osteoarthritis index.

Purpose To determine if a slight modification of the 1987 Eaton-Glickel staging and interpreting 4 standardized radiographs for trapeziometacarpal (TMC) osteoarthritis (OA) improved analysis, to determine if a quantifiable index measurement from a single Robert (pronated anteroposterior) view enhanced reproducibility, and to examine whether improved radiographic staging correlated to clinically relevant disease and thus support validity. Methods We analyzed 4 thumb radiographs (posteroanterior, lateral, Robert, and stress views) in 60 consecutive subjects representing an adult population spectrum of asymptomatic to advanced disease. Two experienced hand surgeons (A.L.L. and A.P.C.W.), 1 chief resident (A.J.B.), and 1 medical student (J.M.M.) performed the analysis on each subject's radiographs. We analyzed all 4 radiographs for Eaton and modified Eaton staging and then later analyzed only the Robert view for the thumb osteoarthritis (ThOA) index measurement. The radiographs were randomized and reread a week later for each classification at separate times. Surgically excised trapeziums from 20/60 subjects were inspected for first metacarpal surface disease and correlated to the 3 classifications. Results All 3 staging classifications demonstrated high reproducibility, with the intraclass correlation coefficient averaging 0.73 for the Eaton, 0.83 for the modified Eaton, and 0.95 for the ThOA index. Articular wear and metacarpal surface eburnation correlated highest to the ThOA index, with advanced disease 1.55 or greater correlating to Eaton III/IV and modified Eaton stage 3/4 in a linear relationship. Conclusions The ThOA index based on a Robert view provided a measurable alternative to Eaton staging and correlated to severity of surgically relevant thumb TMC OA. Clinical relevance A simple reproducible radiographic measurement may enhance TMC OA classification and provide a reliable means to predict clinical disease. Type of study/level of evidence Diagnostic II.
Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Increases Following Axotomy of Trochlear Motoneurons

Abstract Neuropeptides have long been considered to act as neurotransmitters or neuromodulators, but they may also contribute to a variety of regulatory and trophic neuronal functions. In the present study, we determined the effects of axotomy on the levels of the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in trochlear motoneurons (TMNs) of adult cats. The number of neurons with detectable CGRP immunoreactivity, and the intensity of their CGRP immunoreactivity, increased dramatically 1 week postaxotomy, gradually returned toward normal levels, but remained significantly higher than normal 12 weeks postaxotomy—a time when axonal regeneration and functional reinnervation of the superior oblique muscle should be complete. Our observation that CGRP levels in TMNs increase after axotomy suggests a role for this peptide in the response of motoneurons to injury and in regeneration. In addition, since many axotomized TMNs die, we suggest that the maintenance of high CGRP levels even after regeneration is complete may reflect an increased load on those TMNs that survive.
Forced coalescence phasing: a method for ab initio determination of crystallographic phases.

Abstract A method has been developed for ab initio determination of crystallographic phases. This technique, called forced coalescence phasing (FCP), is implemented on a computer and uses an automated iterative procedure that combines real space filtering with numerically seeded Fourier transforms to solve the crystallographic phase problem. This approach is fundamentally different from that of traditional direct methods of phasing, which rely on structure invariant probabilistic phase relationships. In FCP, the process begins with an appropriate set of atoms randomly distributed throughout the unit cell. In subsequent cycles of the program, these atoms undergo continual rearrangements ultimately forming the correct molecular structure(s) consistent with the observed x-ray data. In each cycle, the molecular rearrangement is directed by an electron density (Fourier) map calculated using specially formulated numerical seed coefficients that, along with the phase angles for the map, are derived from the arrangement of atoms in the preceding cycle. The method has been tested using actual x-ray data from three organic compounds. For each data set, 100 separate phase determination trials were conducted, each trial beginning with a different set of randomly generated starting phases. Correct phase sets were successfully determined in all of the trials with most trials requiring fewer than 50 cycles of the FCP program. In addition to its effectiveness in small molecule phase determination, FCP offers unexplored potential in the application of real-space methods to ab initio phasing of proteins and other macromolecule structures.
GAMMATELLA: visualizing program-execution data for deployed software

Software systems are often released with missing functionality, errors, or incompatibilities that may result in failures in the field, inferior performances, or, more generally, user dissatisfaction. In previous work, some of the authors presented the GAMMA approach, whose goal is to improve software quality by augmenting software-engineering tasks with dynamic information collected from deployed software. The GAMMA approach enables analyses that (1) rely on actual field data instead of synthetic in-house data and (2) leverage the vast and heterogeneous resources of an entire user community instead of limited, and often homogeneous, in-house resources. When monitoring a large number of deployed instances of a software product, however, a significant amount of data is collected. Such raw data are useless in the absence of suitable data-mining and visualization techniques that support exploration and understanding of the data. In this paper, we present a new technique for collecting, storing, and visualizing program-execution data gathered from deployed instances of a software product. We also present a prototype toolset, GAMMATELLA, that implements the technique. Finally, we show how the visualization capabilities of GAMMATELLA facilitate effective investigation of several kinds of execution-related information in an interactive fashion, and discuss our initial experience with a semi-public display of GAMMATELLA.
Maternal employment, acculturation, and time spent in food-related behaviors among Hispanic mothers in the United States. Evidence from the American Time Use Survey

Employment is a major factor underlying im/migration patterns. Unfortunately, lower diet quality and higher rates of obesity appear to be unintended consequences of moving to the US. Changes in food preparation practices may be a factor underlying dietary acculturation. The relationships between employment, acculturation, and food-related time use in Hispanic families have received relatively little attention. We used cross-sectional data collected from Hispanic mothers (ages 18-65) with at least one child <13 years old participating in the 2003-2011 American Time Use Survey (n = 3622) to estimate the relationship between employment, acculturation (US-born vs. im/migrant), and time spent in food preparation and family dinner. Regression models were estimated separately for the employed and the non-working and were adjusted for Hispanic origin group, socio-demographic and household characteristics. Working an eight-hour day was associated with spending 38 fewer minutes in food preparation (-38.0 ± SE 4.8, p < 001). Although being US-born was associated with spending fewer minutes in food preparation, this relationship varied by origin group. Acculturation did not appear to modify the relationship between hours worked and time spent in food preparation or family dinner. Mothers who worked late hours spent less time eating the evening meal with their families (-9.8 ± SE 1.3). Although an eight-hour workday was associated with a significant reduction in food preparation time, an unexpected result is that, for working mothers, additional time spent in paid work is not associated with the duration of family dinner later that day.
Financial intermediation, reserve requirements, and inside money: A general equilibrium analysis

Abstract Reserve requirements are examined in a general equilibrium context. The paper develops a simple general equilibrium model that includes diverse opportunities for investment and a role for financial intermediaries. Two versions of the model are considered. One is a thought experiment in which currency serves purely to satisfy legal reserve requirements; the other is more realistic. The model is used to analyze the comparative static effects of changes in reserve requirements, the effects of changes in other parameters of the economy in the presence of reserve requirements, and some qualitative issues raised by reserve requirements.
Test of the triaxial rotor model and the interacting boson fermion approximation model description of collective states in 191Ir.

Coulomb excitation of states in $^{191}\mathrm{Ir}$ up to J=(21/2) has been observed with 160-MeV $^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$ and 617-MeV $^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$ ions. Most of these states are grouped into three rotational-like bands based on the ${(3/2)}^{+}$ ground state, the ${1/2}^{+}$ first excited state, and the ${(7/2)}^{+}$ \ensuremath{\gamma}-vibrational-like state at 686 keV. The average deviation between experimental and theoretical energies for 20 states is 45 keV for the particle-asymmetric-rigid-rotor model and 125 keV for the interacting boson fermion approximation model [limited to broken Spin(6) symmetry, and only the ${d}_{3/2}$ orbital is considered]. The overall agreement of both model predictions with experimental \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray yields for transitions within the ${(3/2)}^{+}$ band is quite good. For interband transitions originating in the K${=1/2}^{+}$ and ${(7/2)}^{+}$ bands, the interacting boson fermion approximation model tends to underestimate the \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray yields by one to two orders of magnitude. These six moderately collective transitions correspond to \ensuremath{\Delta}${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{1}$=2 transitions in the U(6/4) and U(6/20) supersymmetry schemes and are strictly forbidden in these schemes. For both supersymmetric schemes there is a lack of detailed agreement with the very collective E2 transitions which have \ensuremath{\Delta}${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{1}$=0,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1. The triaxial rotor model description of the experimental energies and the collective E2 transitions is the most successful approach. The B(E3) for excitation of several negative-parity states in $^{191}\mathrm{Ir}$ is (4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1)B(E${3)}_{\mathrm{sp}}$.
Virtualized reality: constructing time-varying virtual worlds from real world events

Virtualized reality is a modeling technique that constructs full 3D virtual representations of dynamic events from multiple video streams. Image-based stereo is used to compute a range image corresponding to each intensity image in each video stream. Each range and intensity image pair encodes the scene structure and appearance of the scene visible to the camera at that moment, and is therefore called a visible surface model (VSM). A single time instant of the dynamic event can be modeled as a collection of VSMs from different viewpoints, and the full event can be modeled as a sequence of static scenes-the 3D equivalent of video. Alternatively, the collection of VSMs at a single time can be fused into a global 3D surface model, thus creating a traditional virtual representation out of real world events. Global modeling has the added benefit of eliminating the need to hand-edit the range images to correct errors made in stereo, a drawback of previous techniques. Like image-based rendering models, these virtual representations can be used to synthesize nearly any view of the virtualized event. For this reason, the paper includes a detailed comparison of existing view synthesis techniques with the authors' own approach. In the virtualized representations, however, scene structure is explicitly represented and therefore easily manipulated, for example by adding virtual objects to (or removing virtualized objects from) the model without interfering with real event. Virtualized reality, then, is a platform not only for image-based rendering but also for 3D scene manipulation.