cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Image categorization for improving accessibility to information graphics

Information graphics are important visual information in digital media. This paper investigates the accessibility issues associate with the information graphics for visually impaired people. The goal is to provide them with comprehensive numerical information contained in the figures. Towards the goal, we address the practical problems of automatic figure categorization, information extraction and multi-modal presentation scheme. In particular, the system identifies the image class using image processing and machine learning algorithms. With the knowledge of the image class, specific domain features and information are extracted, and then different modalities of presentation are employed based on the need. This paper first proposes the system framework and then focuses on the automated categorization algorithm.
The ultrastructure of the plasma membrane at the division furrow of grasshopper germ cells.

Evidence is provided from cinematography and electron microscopy that chemical processes are responsible for both plasma membrane synthesis and cell separation in dividing germ cells of the grasshopper. Polyribosome-like material is deposited as a ring equatorially, which determines the presumptive division plane. The material deposited at the division plane, in synergism with cytoplasmic material and existing plasma membrane, synthesizes the new plasma membrane. The polyribosome-like material polymerizes into helices, and as the coils of the helices tighten less surface becomes available for membrane synthesis. The decreasing rate of plasma membrane synthesis is the mechanism for cell separation. Thus, plasma membrane synthesis and cell separation occur simultaneously, directed by the same dynamic processes.
Presentation and representation in children's fictional narrative

An examination of some of the issues in the interaction between contextual and textual determinants of children's stories is presented here.
Bayesian residual analysis in the presence of censoring

SUMMARY Use of the posterior distribution of the realized error terms for residual analysis in a linear model was advocated by Zellner (1975) and Zellner & Moulton (1985). The same idea was used by Chaloner & Brant (1988) to define outliers and calculate posterior probabilities of observations being outliers. This paper extends the same concept to other models, including regression models for lifetime data, by using an approach similar to that of Cox & Snell (1968). Residual plots are proposed where realized errors are represented by interval estimates. Incorporating censored observations into this framework is straightforward. 1. THE REALIZED ERROR TERMS Cox & Snell (1968) proposed a general definition of residuals for models where each observation yi can be written as yi = gi(0, Ei) with 0 a vector of unknown parameters and the Ei, for i 1,..., n, a sample of independent and identically distributed random variables from a known distribution. Suppose that the equation yi = gi(0, ?,) has a unique solution Ei = hi(y,, 0). Cox & Snell define Ei = hi(yi, 0) to be the residuals where 0 are the maximum likelihood estimates of 0. In the Bayesian approach used here, define ?i = hi(yi, 0), for i = 1, . . ., n, to be the residuals. Each E, is just a function of the unknown parameters and the posterior distribution is therefore straightforward to calculate. The posterior distribution can be examined for indications of possible departures from the assumed model and the presence of outliers. The posterior distribution of the realized errors is very different from the sampling distribution of their estimates. The posterior distribution represents the uncertainty about functions of the parameters; if the parameters, 0, and observations, yi, are known then so are the realized errors ei = h,(y,, 0). With a large sample size, the posterior distribution of the ri will be, approximately, multivariate normal centred at the posterior mean and with covariance matrix the posterior covariance matrix. An alternative approximation to the posterior mean of the realized
Framing digital humanities: The role of new media in humanities scholarship

The phrase “digital humanities” refers to a range of new media applications that converge at the intersection of technology and humanities scholarship. It is an evolving notion and conveys the role of information technologies in humanities scholarship. Based on a qualitative case study approach, this paper interprets the concept by eliciting the diverse perspectives — which nevertheless express several discernible themes — of a group of humanities scholars. It synthesizes the wide range of opinions and assumptions about information and communication technologies (ICTs) held by these humanists by using Bijker’s (1995) notion of a technological frame . The digital humanities domain is interpreted through three lenses: digital media as facilitator of scholarly communication; digital media as a platform for creative expression and artistic endeavors; and, digital media as context for critical studies of digital culture. The article concludes that, while technologies are being positioned as driving forces behind academic innovation, it is more important than ever to understand the cultural, social, and political implications of new media and how they are perceived and used by humanities scholars.
A response to the two faces of autophagy in DCIS

Regarding our recent Opinion article (What is the malignant nature of human ductal carcinoma in situ?Nature Rev. Cancer 11, 68–75 (2011))1 we thank Drs Yu and Shao for their correspondence (The two faces of autophagy and the pathological underestimation of DCIS. Nature Rev. Cancer July 2011 (doi:10.1038/nrc2950-c1))2, which provides interesting discussion points relative to our proposals on autophagy therapy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)1, 3. Drs Yu and Shao raise three points: that although anti-autophagy therapy can target a survival mechanism used within the hypoxic and nutrient-deprived intraductal microenvironment of DCIS, anti-autophagy therapy may not be desirable for treating invasive breast cancer; that because of the sampling error inherent in core-needle biopsies, patients may be diagnosed with DCIS who have invasive cancer that was missed by the biopsy; and whether chloroquine phosphate can penetrate into the nonvascular interior of the DCIS lesion that is surrounded by the basement membrane.
Factors affecting reduction of gender differences in health care coverage for vocational rehabilitation clients with disabilities.

Background Uninsured women with disabilities experience serious difficulties in accessing quality health care. Employment improves an individual's ability to access health insurance. The aim of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VR) is to improve employment abilities for people with disabilities. Study Purpose To examine gender differences in health insurance coverage for people who access VR and the factors that influence health insurance coverage for people with disabilities. Methods The study analyzed VR case management data from 617,149 cases that were closed by VR in 2006 in the United States. Chi-square and t -tests were used to examine gender differences and multivariate analysis was used to assess factors that influence health insurance coverage. Principal Findings The study found significant gender differences in access to VR employment-enhancing services and in insurance coverage. Women were more dependent on coverage from public sources. Conclusion VR can improve health insurance coverage but is more effective with men than with women.
The Mass‐Mediated Chronotope, Radical Counterpublics, and Dialect in 1970s Norway: The Case of Vømmøl Spellmanslag

This article explores the reflexive role the Norwegian musical group, Vommol Spellmanslag, played as a mass-mediated cultural expression of an emergent counterpublic in 1970s Norway. It also examines how “Vommol Valley,” a fictitious community described in Vommol's music, came to constitute a cultural chronotope of dissidence within a context of sociopolitical polarization following Norway's 1972 referendum on membership in the European Economic Community (EEC). In their performance, Vommol deployed contrasting phonolexical registers to animate socially recognizable regional and class subjectivities. This article questions how the replication of regional and class indexical speech in Vommol's verse made available various role alignments to its listening audience. [Norwegian; register; popular music; chronotope; role alignment]
Cerebellar input to the posterior parietal cortex in the rat

The cerebello-thalamo-parietal projections were investigated in rats by means of a multiple anterograde-retrograde tracing technique. Retrograde fluorescent tracers were injected in different loci of the parietal cortex. Injected areas were verified cytoarchitectonically and confirmed by analyzing the retrograde thalamic labeling pattern obtained. Anterograde fluorescent tracers were placed in the intermediate and lateral deep cerebellar nuclei. The topographical overlap between cerebellar terminals and parietal-projecting thalamic neurons was analyzed. In the central lateral (CL) and ventrolateral (VL) thalamic nuclei, cells projecting to anterior somatosensory (S1) and posterior parietal (PPC) cortices were demonstrated to receive direct cerebellar input. In particular, two patterns of organization were revealed. In CL, the PPC- and S1-projecting neurons, both receiving cerebellar fibers, were intermingled. In VL, PPC, and S1-projecting neurons were instead segregated, and the areas containing labeled neurons received separate contingents of cerebellar fibers. These patterns suggest that in CL axons originating from the same or neighboring cerebellar neurons can terminate on both PPC- and S1-projecting neurons, while in VL cerebellar information is funneled to S1 and PPC through two segregated parallel pathways. The significance of the observed organization is discussed comparing findings in other species and in relation with electrophysiological and functional studies on cerebelloparietal interrelationships.
Transistor sizing for minimizing power consumption of CMOS circuits under delay constraint

We consider the problem of transistor sizing in a static CMOS layout to minimize the power consumption of the circuit subject to a given delay constraint. Based on our characterization of the short circuit power dissipation of a CMOS circuit we show that the transistors of a gate with high fan-out load should be enlarged to minimize the power consumption of the circuit. We derive analytical formulation for computing the power optimal size of a transistor and isolate the factor a ecting the power optimal size. We extend our model to analyze powerdelay characteristic of a CMOS circuit and derive the power-delay optimal size of a transistor. Based on our model we develop heuristics to perform transistor sizing in CMOS layouts for minimizing power consumption while meeting given delay constraints. Experimental results (SPICE simulations) are presented to con rm the correctness of our analytical model.
Deuteron Spin Observables from Electron Scattering at Intermediate Energies

Double-polarization asymmetries have been measured for the ( e, e′p) electrodisintegration from vector polarized deuterium over a range of four-momentum squared, Q2 from 0.1 to 0.7 (GeV/c)2, and a missing momentum range from 0 to 475 (MeV/c). Simultaneously, single polarization asymmetries have been measured from tensor polarized both in the elastic channel as well as in the (e, e′p) reaction channel. These sets of polarization observables have been obtained with great statistical precision and low systematical errors. They are compared with theoretical calculations and provide a new way to test the ground state wave function and the electromagnetic currents that connect to the continuum np system.
Detailed studies and control of intensity-related dynamics of femtosecond frequency combs from mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers

The authors have conducted detailed experimental investigations of the intensity-related dynamics of the pulse repetition and carrier-envelope offset frequencies of passively mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers. Two different laser systems utilizing different intracavity dispersion compensation schemes are used in this study. Theoretical interpretations agree well with experimental data, indicating that intensity-related spectral shifts, coupled with the cavity group-delay dispersion, are important in understanding the dynamics of the frequency comb. Minimization of spectral shifts or the magnitude of group-delay dispersion leads to minimization of the intensity dependence of the femtosecond comb.
Indirect detection of spin-1 double-quantum coherence in liquids

Abstract Using only the magnetization of bound protons, 14N double-quantum coherence is observed with high sensitivity in isotropic solution. Spin echoes are used to obtain the homogeneous double-quantum spectrum and to suppress a large H2O solvent signal.
Waste-Water Injection: Geochemical and Biogeochemical Clogging Processes

Examination of near-well clogging processes at two experimental injection sites in Hawaii shows that filtration of suspended solids is not a long-term cause of clogging. While particulate filtration is probably a short-term cause of clogging at the start-up of injection, the injected organics are biodegraded once the microbial biomass becomes established. The injection head gradient determined from monitoring wells shows that most of the initial head loss is immediately adjacent to the well, but that after several weeks it shifts to a region over 0.5 m from the well. Denitrifying bacteria become sufficiently numerous to produce significant amounts of nitrogen gas, which in turn produces a gas-bound zone about 0.5 to 1 m from the well. With continued injection the nitrogen gas-bound zone is slowly extended farther out into the injection stratum. Dissolution of the carbonate aquifer also occurs, but its effects are partially masked by gas binding.
Calcium-induced changes in polyphosphoinositides and phosphatidate in normal erythrocytes, sickle cells and hereditary pyropoikilocytes.

Abstract A study of the effects of low concentrations of calcium on the polyphosphoinositides and phosphatidate of normal human erythrocytes, in the presence of ionophore A23187, was carried out. The metabolism of these phospholipids in pathologic erythrocytes (sickle cells and pyropoikilocytes) that are leaky to calcium was also investigated. In erythrocyte polyphosphoinositides prelabelled with 32Pi, decreases of 40 and 70% in the radioactivity associated with triphosphoinositide were observed in media containing 10 and 100 μM CaCl2, respectively, in the presence of the ionophore, as compared to controls. Diphosphoinositide was comparatively less sensitive to calcium-induced breakdown. Incorporation of 32Pi into phosphatidate increased as the concentration of calcium in the medium increased. When isolated erythrocyte membranes pre-labelled with 32Pi were exposed to calcium, a marked loss of radioactivity associated with polyphosphoinositides was observed in medium containing 100 μM CaCl2. However, radioactivity associated with phosphatidate showed little change under the above conditions. The general pattern of incorporation of 32Pi (2 : 1 : 1 into triphosphoinositide : diphosphoinositide : phosphatidate) into normal erythrocytes was altered in pathological erythrocytes (sickle cells and hereditary pyropoikilocytes), with a higher incorporation of 32Pi into diphosphoinositide or phosphatidate or both. Re-incubation of 32Pi pre-labelled erythrocytes with 1 · 10−7 to 1 · 10−5 M carbamylcholine had no effect on the polyphosphoinositides or phosphatidate metabolism.
Developing Inquiry Questions: Encouraging Reflective Practice in a Language and Literacy Methods Course

Abstract In this article, two university instructors analyze the process two pre-service teachers engaged in while developing an inquiry project in a Language and Literacy course in order to explore the use of practitioner research in pre-service teacher education. Findings indicate that probing questions and constant encouragement to refine questions were necessary to enable pre-service teachers to generate questions for which data could be collected. Pre-service teachers also had to be supported in the process of understanding what kinds of data needed to be collected to answer literacy-related questions and how the data might best be analyzed. These findings have implications for the teaching of reading in that inquiry-based instruction may help pre-service teachers better understand the relationships between theory and practice in the field of literacy.
Pollution burdens associated with load/assemble/pack of an AP based MK-66 PIP motor by continuous and batch processing

Abstract The Clean Agile Manufacturing of Energetics (CAME) program was directed to identify major pollution sources and to propose life-cycle facility modifications which can reduce pollution burdens (Perry, W. J., Comprehensive Pollution Prevention Strategy—Memorandum for Secretaries of the Military Departments , et al., Department of Defense (11 August 1994). Potential avenues for pollution prevention are the use of advanced energetic and propellant materials, different product formulations, alternate chemical synthesis and load/assemble/pack (LAP) operations, and advanced demilitarization practices. The objective of this study was to compare batch and continuous processing of extruded composite propellant for the production of the motor for the MK-66 Safety Product Improvement Program (MK-66 PIP). The 2.75 inch motor uses an ammonium perchlorate based propellant formulation. Continuous processing of the motor is being developed and demonstrated as part of the Continuous Processing of Composite Propellant (CPOCP) program. The analysis compares an existing batch mixing and extrusion based production of 30,000 rocket motors to a proposed technology upgrade of continuous mixing and extrusion of the same composite propellant. Continuous processing offers a potentially lower cost and safer method of extrusion as the energetic material is subjected to high shear rates for a shorter period of time. Additional benefits include increased mixing efficiency, superior product homogeneity, and reduced wastes. The pollution burden was reduced using the proposed continuous process from 2.6 pounds of waste per pound of product to about one pound of waste per pound of product. This assumed that the product efficiency (number of motors produced to get the production goal of 30,000 certified motors) was the same for the batch and continuous processes. It was felt that the increased mixing efficiency and superior product homogeneity will make the continuous process more efficient.
A phase I and pharmacokinetic study of the quinoxaline antitumour Agent R(+)XK469 in patients with advanced solid tumours.

Abstract Purpose To investigate the safety and pharmacokinetics of R(+)XK469, a quinoxaline analogue, in patients with advanced refractory solid tumours. Preclinical studies suggested that efficacy was independent of schedule but that toxicity was decreased by dividing the dose. Methods R(+)XK469 was initially administered as a 30 min intravenous infusion on days 1–5 of a 21-d cycle. Based on the demonstration of a long half-life, the dosing schedule was subsequently amended to infusion on days 1, 3 and 5 of a 21-d cycle. An alternate single-dose schedule of once every 21 d was also explored. Blood samples were collected for pharmacokinetic studies. Results Dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was neutropaenia. There was significant interindividual variability in clearance as evidenced by a coefficient of variation of 46%. A flat-dosing scheme (not based on body surface area) was justified by the absence of correlation between clearance and body surface area. A partial response was observed in a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Conclusions The recommended phase II doses are 850–1100 mg/d on days 1, 3 and 5 of a 21-d cycle and 2500 mg on day 1 of a 21-d cycle. The observed interpatient pharmacokinetic variability should prompt investigation into the presence of genetic polymorphism in relevant metabolizing enzymes.
A New Algorithm for Inversion of Aerosol Size Distribution Data

The determination of an aerosol size distribution from conventional data is an ill-posed problem. The general characteristics of the aerosol size distribution inversion problem are discussed, and several existing methods are assessed. A new algorithm, in the spirit of Twomey's constrained linear inversion algorithm, employing the concept of generalized cross validation is developed. Extensive numerical tests on simulated data from a Marple impactor show superior performance of the method. Different versions of the algorithm are available based on different choices of the function spaces in which the assumed distributions lie. The new algorithm offers promise as the most accurate now available for inversion of aerosol data.
A Climate of Change

he eyes of the nation are currently focused on education. News media regularly present one new educational report after another along with information on the local school structure and how it may or may not measure up to national controversies. The Nation At Risk (National Commission on Excellence, 1983) provided education with an extremely low report card. While Goodlad's (1983) eight-year study didn't appear as gloomy, it did indicate areas where change was needed. Numerous other reports appear, with their calls for change resounding throughout schools and board rooms. Not all agree on the nature of the change, but all do agree that change in some form is essential. A crystal ball would be needed to predict the direction in which this attention will move the school system, as there are diverse options and directions available. But we know change will prevail in some form in most school institutions. The process of change is an interesting phenomenon, particularly when applied to public institutions. These institutions appear resilient when change is attempted.1 Tradition prevails and major changes seldom occur or occur slowly. But the mood of the 1980s certainly indicates that change will prevail regardless of resistence from within. Lewin2, in discussing change, indicates that individuals and systems are held in equilibrium by a balance of driving forces on one hand and restraining forces on the other. To induce change, either the strength of the driving forces must be increased or the strength of the restraining forces must be decreased. It appears that the strength of the driving forces has been increased adequately to create a climate of change for the eighties. Acknowledging that change will occur, the question of how to bring it about in the most effective and efficient manner emerges. Too often, the practitioner is motivated towards change, but left to develop and implement the change without benefit of others' direction and experiences. This results in numerous ill-advised
A bradykinin antagonist modifies allergen-induced mediator release and late bronchial responses in sheep.

We assessed the role of bradykinin (BK) in allergen-induced early and late bronchial responses, airway inflammation, mediator release, and antigen-induced airway hyperresponslveness in allergic sheep by studying the effects of the BK B2 receptor antagonist, NPC-567 (D-Arg-[Hyp3, D-Phe7]-BK), on these parameters. Antigen challenge was performed on two occasions > 3 wk apart, once with placebo (control) and once after high-dose (10 mg/ml) and low-dose (5 mg/ml) treatments with aerosol NPC-567. In the control trials (n = 14) antigen challenge resulted in an early and late increase in specific lung resistance (SRl). The early response was associated with increases (p < 0.05) in prostaglandin (PG) D2, immunoreactive kinin, tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester (TAME)-esterase, and PGE2 in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. The late response was associated with increases (p < 0.05) in leukotrienes (LT) B4 and C4, thromboxane (TX) B2, 6-keto-PGF1α, and PGE2.There was a significant influx of neutrophils in the BAL fluid...
Laser radiation plasma dynamics and momentum coupling

The concept of high energy density (HED) radiation driven momentum coupling (momentum transfer), C M , to a targets in a vacuum is analytically developed and applied via successive plasma, ablative, and hydrodynamic interfaces undergoing both weak and strong shocks. C M are derived from equations of state (EOS) variables and serve as figures of merit to determine energy efficiency conversion into target momentum. Generally, C M are proportional to the inverse of the interaction speed and related variables for each interaction regime. This approach provides a formalism allowing computation of hitherto intractable HED radiation and mechanical momentum coupling interactions encountered in astrophysics, planetary physics, inertial confinement fusion, near-Earth object hazard mitigation, and HED explosives modeling. C M is generally not scale invariant as are the hydrodynamic Euler equations. This analytic procedure supports interpretation of experiments using EOS response of material targets to HED interactions on the meso - and macro-scales to describe C M .
System dynamics—a personal view of the first fifty years

I present a personal recollection of the history of system dynamics and observations about its present state. The article treats the history in two parts: first, my personal background and how all the threads came together to initiate the field of system dynamics; and second, the historical development of the cornerstone projects that shaped the field. These early works include industrial dynamics, urban dynamics, world dynamics, and the national economic model. The paper continues with an assessment of the present condition of the field. A companion paper (System Dynamics—The Next Fifty Years, also in this issue of System Dynamics Review), highlights challenges for the future. Copyright © 2007 Jay W. Forrester.
Can intensive management increase carbon storage in forests

A possible response to increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration is to attempt to increase the amount of carbon stored in terrestrial vegetation. One approach to increasing the size of the terrestrial carbon sink is to increase the growth of forests by utilizing intensive forest management practices. This article uses data from the literature and from forest growth and yield models to analyze the impact of three management practices on carbon storage: thinning, fertilization, and control of competing vegetation. Using Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) as example species, results from experiments with computer simulation models suggest that, for these two species, thinning generally does not increase carbon storage and may actually cause a decrease. The exception is thinning of very dense young stands. Fertilization generally increases carbon storage, although the response can be quite variable. The largest gains in carbon storage are likely to come from fertilizing lower-quality sites and from fertilizing thinned or less dense stands. Forests usually show increased growth in response to fertilization over a wide range of ages. Simulation of the growth of loblolly pine indicates that controlling competing vegetation at an early age helps to maximize stand growth and carbon storage.
The Influence of Driver Stress, Partial-Vehicle Automation, and Subjective State on Driver Performance

The present study addressed the effects of stress, partial-vehicle automation, and subjective state on simulated vehicle driving. 168 college students participated. Participants in the stress-induc...
Mutations in the N Terminus of the øX174 DNA Pilot Protein H Confer Defects in both Assembly and Host Cell Attachment

The oX174 DNA pilot protein H forms an oligomeric DNA-translocating tube during penetration. However, monomers are incorporated into 12 pentameric assembly intermediates, which become the capsid's icosahedral vertices. The protein's N terminus, a predicted transmembrane helix, is not represented in the crystal structure. To investigate its functions, a series of absolute and conditional lethal mutations were generated. The absolute lethal proteins, a deletion and a triple substitution, were efficiently incorporated into virus-like particles lacking infectivity. The conditional lethal mutants, bearing cold-sensitive (cs) and temperature-sensitive (ts) point mutations, were more amenable to further analyses. Viable particles containing the mutant protein can be generated at the permissive temperature and subsequently analyzed at the restrictive temperature. The characterized cs defect directly affected host cell attachment. In contrast, ts defects were manifested during morphogenesis. Particles synthesized at permissive temperature were indistinguishable from wild-type particles in their ability to recognize host cells and deliver DNA. One mutation conferred an atypical ts synthesis phenotype. Although the mutant protein was efficiently incorporated into virus-like particles at elevated temperature, the progeny appeared to be kinetically trapped in a temperature-independent, uninfectious state. Thus, substitutions in the N terminus can lead to H protein misincorporation, albeit at wild-type levels, and subsequently affect particle function. All mutants exhibited recessive phenotypes, i.e., rescued by the presence of the wild-type H protein. Thus, mixed H protein oligomers are functional during DNA delivery. Recessive and dominant phenotypes may temporally approximate H protein functions, occurring before or after oligomerization has gone to completion.
Dreaming on Mars: How Curiosity performs actuator warm-up while sleeping

Before the Curiosity rover can perform its science activities for the day, such as driving, moving its robotic arm, or drilling, it first has to ensure that its actuators are within their allowable flight temperatures (AFTs). When the rover is awake, flight software uses heaters to warm up and maintain thermal zones at operational temperatures. However, Curiosity spends about 70% of its time sleeping, with the flight computer off, in order to conserve energy. Dream Mode is a special behavior that allows the rover to execute warm-up activities while sleeping. Using Dream Mode, actuators can be warmed up to their AFTs before the flight computer wakes up and uses them - saving power and improving operational efficiency. This paper describes the motivation behind Dream Mode, how it was implemented and tested on Curiosity, and the challenges and lessons learned along the way.
Low surface energy coatings on substrates prepared via radiation curing

Abstract The electron beam curing of perfluorinated acrylates such as 2-( N -butylperfluorooctanesulfonamido) ethyl acrylate, or of a perfluorinated diacrylate such as perfluoropolyether diacrylate, gives rise to low surface energy films which may be used as overcoats for a variety of surfaces. The contact angles for a variety of differently formulated cured films are as high as 107°.
Overview of paediatric neuromuscular disorders and related pulmonary issues: diagnostic and therapeutic considerations

Pulmonary compromise is common in neuromuscular disease. Respiratory failure may be a presenting feature of neuromuscular disease and remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. This article will review the current understanding of the more commonly encountered neuromuscular disorders in childhood and emphasize related pulmonary issues.
An approximation approach for uncertainty quantification using evidence theory

Abstract Over the last two decades, uncertainty quantification (UQ) in engineering systems has been performed by the popular framework of probability theory. However, many scientific and engineering communities realize that there are limitations in using only one framework for quantifying the uncertainty experienced in engineering applications. Recently evidence theory, also called Dempster–Shafer theory, was proposed to handle limited and imprecise data situations as an alternative to the classical probability theory. Adaptation of this theory for large-scale engineering structures is a challenge due to implicit nature of simulations and excessive computational costs. In this work, an approximation approach is developed to improve the practical utility of evidence theory in UQ analysis. The techniques are demonstrated on composite material structures and airframe wing aeroelastic design problem.
Safety and Immunogenicity of Escherichia coli O157 O-Specific Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine in 2–5-Year-Old Children

Background. Escherichia coli O157:H7 causes severe enteritis and hemolytic-uremic syndrome, mostly in young children and older adults. Similar to the case with Shigella, serum IgG against the O-specific polysaccharide of E. coli 0157:H7 may confer immunity by lysing the inoculum in the intestine. A phase 1 trial in adults showed that a vaccine of E. coli 0157:H7 O-specific polysaccharide conjugated to recombinant exotoxin A of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (0157-rEPA) was safe and immunogenic. Methods. A phase 2 trial of the 0157-rEPA vaccine was conducted in 49 children 2-5 years old who were divided randomly into groups receiving 1 or 2 doses of vaccine. Adverse reactions were monitored. Serum IgG lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibodies were determined. Results. No significant adverse reactions were observed. At 1 week after the first dose was administered, most children (81%) responded with a >4-fold increase in serum IgG LPS antibodies. At 6 weeks after the first dose was administered, all children responded with a >8-fold increase; a second dose did not elicit a booster response. At 26 weeks after the first dose was administered, the geometric mean titer of serum IgG LPS antibodies was ∼20-fold higher than was the prevaccination titer. These serum samples had high titers of bactericidal activity that were correlated roughly with serum IgG LPS antibody titers (r =.78). Conclusions. The 0157-rEPA vaccine was safe and immunogenic in young children. A phase 3 trial of the administration of this conjugate vaccine concurrently with routine immunization in infants is planned.
Employment Sector Sex Differential in Wage Structures for 1960 and 1970

Abstract This paper measures sex differentials in the attainment of wages from social characteristics in the decade of the 1960s. Reviewing published evidence, the hypothesis is that the wage structures would be more equal for publicly employed men and women. Using the 1960 and 1970 Public Use Samples, this research applied standardization and analysis of covariance to estimated hourly wages regressed upon education, age, and occupational prestige. The wage structures of publicly employed men and women appeared more similar within sub-groups defined by age cohorts and marital status of women. Between 1960 and 1970 the similarity in wage structures between the sexes declined at younger age and remained relatively constant at middle and older age. The decade of the 1960s was not a period of progress toward more similar wage structures for most men and women regardless of employment sector.
Empirical Strategies in Contract Economics: Information and the Boundary of the Firm

What determines the boundaries of the firm? Over the past 25 years, many papers have examined this question. Benjamin Klein et al. (1978) and Oliver E. Williamson (1979, 1985) propose that firms integrate to avoid appropriation problems that arise when assets are specific. Empirical work since then has been generally supportive of the proposition that integration is correlated with asset specificity. More recently, other researchers, including Sanford Grossman and Oliver Hart (1986), and Bengt Holmstrom and Paul Milgrom (1994) have proposed theories in which firms’ boundaries reflect contracting problems not contemplated by the earlier literature. Empirical work in these newer branches of contract economics has begun to emerge. This paper discusses empirical strategies for examining some of the recent theoretical work on firms’ boundaries. Our discussion emphasizes the importance of testing theories’ general propositions rather than specific models, the returns from field work in linking conceptual and institutional detail, and the promise of empirical strategies that rely on variation in the contracting environment. We focus on two seminal papers in this large literature: Grossman and Hart (1986) and Holmstrom and Milgrom (1994). We do not discuss the empirical literature on transaction-cost economics or its relationship to the more recent literature, a topic covered by Michael D. Whinston (2001) elsewhere in this session. We also do not discuss other important theoretical work, most prominently Raghuram G. Rajan and Luigi Zingales (1998). We suspect that some of our themes bear on this other work. I. Applying the Theory
LOGSPLINE ESTIMATION OF A POSSIBLY MIXED SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION

. Cubic splines and indicator functions are used to estimate the spectral density function and line spectrum, respectively, for a stationary time series. A fully automatic procedure involving maximum likelihood, stepwise addition and deletion of basis functions, and the Bayes information criterion (BIC) is used to select the final model.
The effects of aeration on the gravity flow of particles and gas in vertical standpipes

Abstract The effects of aeration on the gravity flow of cohesionless granular materials in a vertical standpipe, fed by a mass-flow hopper at its top and with a coaxial restriction at its foot, are studied both theoretically and experimentally. The theory is based on the description of the gas and particulate phases as two interacting and interpenetrating continua which exchange momentum through the drag force. The differential equations of continuity and motion for each of the two phases are integrated simultaneously to provide particle and gas flow rates, pressure and stress profiles, and void fraction distributions. Under certain operating conditions, the theory predicts the existence of multiple steady states and complex hysteresis phenomena. The predicted pattern of behavior is in good agreement with experimental observations from a laboratory-scale standpipe.
Bilingual Need Affiliation and Future Orientation in Extragroup and Intragroup Domains.

institutionalized spheres of activity in which language behavior occurs (i.e., family, education, religion, etc.). Each domain is extrapolated from and denotative of more concrete situations, the common attributes of which make them conceptually congruent and socially distinguishable from other spheres of activity.' Domains may be characterized in terms of different dimensions, one of which is the intragroup to extragroup continuum. Intragroup domains are institutionalized spheres of activity over which members of the speech community have relatively greater control than outsiders to the speech community. In contrast, extragroup domains may be defined as institutionalized spheres of activity over which outsiders to the speech community enjoy relatively greater control than members of the speech community. Between these extremes there may also be intermediate domains over which control is mixed. In such domains the proportion of control positions (positions of authority or power) occupied by members of the speech community is approximately equal to the proportion of control positions occupied by outsiders to the speech community. Underlying the future orientation experiment was the notion that, from the viewpoint of members of the speech community, intragroup domains are less ambiguous and more closely representative of the traditional ways of life of a given speech community than extragroup domains. The need affiliation experiment was based on the notion that members of the speech community are more likely to feel welcomed in situations denoted by intragroup domains than in situations denoted by extragroup domains.
Teaching Expository Text Structure to Young At-Risk Learners: Building the Basics of Comprehension Instruction

Expository text is often neglected in the elementary school curriculum even though most of the reading that children do in school is of that type. Most of the research that demonstrates the importance of text structure in reading comprehension and the benefits that accrue from instruction in text structure deals with children at or above the 4th grade. This research literature, reviewed briefly, provides the basis for the work that is described in this article, which involves younger children. First, a study is presented that demonstrates that children are sensitive to text structure, and therefore would benefit from instruction, as early as 2nd grade. Second, a new instructional program is described that focuses intensively on one specific expository structure, compare and contrast. Finally, the results of a study that evaluates the effects of the program are described.
Real-time behaviour synthesis for dynamic hand-manipulation

Dexterous hand manipulation is one of the most complex types of biological movement, and has proven very difficult to replicate in robots. The usual approaches to robotic control – following pre-defined trajectories or planning online with reduced models – are both inapplicable. Dexterous manipulation is so sensitive to small variations in contact force and object location that it seems to require online planning without any simplifications. Here we demonstrate for the first time online planning (or model-predictive control) with a full physics model of a humanoid hand, with 28 degrees of freedom and 48 pneumatic actuators. We augment the actuation space with motor synergies which speed up optimization without removing dexterity. Most of our results are in simulation, showing nonprehensile object manipulation as well as typing. In both cases the input to the system is a high level task description, while all details of the hand movement emerge online from fully automated numerical optimization.
Relativistic heavy ion collisions in the dynamical string parton model

We develop and extend the dynamical string parton model. This model, which is based on the salient features of QCD, uses classical Nambu-Got\=o strings with the endpoints identified as partons, an invariant string breaking model of the hadronization process, and interactions described as quark-quark interactions. In this work, the original model is extended to include a phenomenological quantization of the mass of the strings, an analytical technique for treating the incident nucleons as a distribution of string configurations determined by the experimentally measured structure function, the inclusion of the gluonic content of the nucleon through the introduction of purely gluonic strings, and the use of a hard parton-parton interaction taken from perturbative QCD combined with a phenomenological soft interaction. The limited number of parameters in the model are adjusted to $e^+e^-$ and $p $--$p$ data. Utilizing these parameters, the first calculations of the model for $p $--$A$ and $A$--$A$ collisions are presented and found to be in reasonable agreement with a broad set of data.
Comparison of schemes for encoding unobservability in translation to SAT

Compared are seven schemes for encoding unobservability of logic blocks in Boolean-to-CNF translation. Four of the schemes are based on merging of logic blocks with adjacent gates toward the primary output. Two are based on using CNF unobservability variables to encode the unobservability of logic blocks. Also explored is a hybrid scheme. Encoding the unobservability of logic blocks accelerated the SAT-solving of Boolean formulas from formal verification of complex micro-processors, while allowing us to use a conventional CNF-based SAT-solver. On unsatisfiable CNF formulas, best was the strategy of merging logic blocks with adjacent gates on the only path from the block output to the primary output, with a resulting speedup of up to 16x for CNF formulas with hundreds of thousands of variables, millions of clauses, and tens of millions of literals. Furthermore, the speedup is relative to an already very efficient Boolean-to-CNF translation. On satisfiable CNF formulas, best was the strategy of merging logic blocks with leaf gates and with adjacent gates on the only path to the primary output, as well as exploiting the polarity of gates and logic blocks to reduce the number of their clauses. The presented optimizations are general and applicable to other classes of Boolean formulas.
Formal logic and practical reasoning

In the past couple of decades several different accounts of the logic (the deductive logic) of practical reasoning have been proposed.1 The account I have recommended on a number of occasions is probably the simplest, for it requires no special logical principles, holding that, in respect of deduction, practical reasoning is adequately understood as involving only standard “assertoric” principles. My account has recently encountered various objections, the most dismissive of which is that it is too simple to deal with complicated cases of practical inference. I am not daunted by these objections. My aim here is to offer some observations that, I hope, will make the merits of my account a bit easier to appreciate.
What Is the Use of Elephant Hair

The idea that low surface densities of hairs could be a heat loss mechanism is understood in engineering and has been postulated in some thermal studies of animals. However, its biological implications, both for thermoregulation as well as for the evolution of epidermal structures, have not yet been noted. Since early epidermal structures are poorly preserved in the fossil record, we study modern elephants to infer not only the heat transfer effect of present-day sparse hair, but also its potential evolutionary origins. Here we use a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches, and a range of hair densities determined from photographs, to test whether sparse hairs increase convective heat loss from elephant skin, thus serving an intentional evolutionary purpose. Our conclusion is that elephants are covered with hair that significantly enhances their thermoregulation ability by over 5% under all scenarios considered, and by up to 23% at low wind speeds where their thermoregulation needs are greatest. The broader biological significance of this finding suggests that maintaining a low-density hair cover can be evolutionary purposeful and beneficial, which is consistent with the fact that elephants have the greatest need for heat loss of any modern terrestrial animal because of their high body-volume to skin-surface ratio. Elephant hair is the first documented example in nature where increasing heat transfer due to a low hair density covering may be a desirable effect, and therefore raises the possibility of such a covering for similarly sized animals in the past. This elephant example dispels the widely-held assumption that in modern endotherms body hair functions exclusively as an insulator and could therefore be a first step to resolving the prior paradox of why hair was able to evolve in a world much warmer than our own.
Interactive loop interchanging: a facility for tuning sequential programs to parallel architectures

Loop interchanging is a powerful restructuring technique proposed for detecting implicit parallelism in conventional programming languages [1,3]. There are several reasons for loop interchanging, and these are the same reasons that make the technique suitable for tuning programs to parallel architectures. Some of the major reasons for loop interchanging are vectorizing inner-most loops for vector machines, parallelizing outer-most loops for multiprocessor machines, and optimizing the vectorization/parallelization performance of loops. Loop interchanging done for the reason of vectorizing/-parallelizing loops could be employed by a complier in a one-shot decision procedure. When the goals of loop interchanging are more general, as for optimizing the performance of vectorized/parallelized loops, the process becomes infeasible for vectorizing or parallelizing compilers.