cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Compiler techniques for massively scalable implicit task parallelism

Swift/T is a high-level language for writing concise, deterministic scripts that compose serial or parallel codes implemented in lower-level programming models into large-scale parallel applications. It executes using a data-driven task parallel execution model that is capable of orchestrating millions of concurrently executing asynchronous tasks on homogeneous or heterogeneous resources. Producing code that executes efficiently at this scale requires sophisticated compiler transformations: poorly optimized code inhibits scaling with excessive synchronization and communication. We present a comprehensive set of compiler techniques for data-driven task parallelism, including novel compiler optimizations and intermediate representations. We report application benchmark studies, including unbalanced tree search and simulated annealing, and demonstrate that our techniques greatly reduce communication overhead and enable extreme scalability, distributing up to 612 million dynamically load balanced tasks per second at scales of up to 262,144 cores without explicit parallelism, synchronization, or load balancing in application code.
SYNTHESIS OF 4-METHYLENE-DL-PROLINE: A NATURALLY OCCURRING RACEMIC AMINO-ACID.

ROTATIONAL and other data from the synthesis of an optically active derivative1 have shown that 4-methylene-proline (I) isolated under non-epimerizing conditions from loquat seeds2 is racemic. The suspected biogenetic precursor, γ-methyleneglutamic acid, on the other hand, has been found only in optically active form3, although in different plant sources4. In view of the rare occurrence of racemic amino-acids in Nature we wish to record the following simple synthesis of 4-methylene-DL-proline, along with direct comparison evidence confirming its identity with the natural compound.
Dynamical scaling of DNA diffusion coefficients

We present measurements of the Brownian motion of long, fluorescently labeled DNA molecules and observe power-law scaling of the diffusion coefficients with chain length
Dietary effects on serum uric acid and lipid peroxides during colon carcinogenesis in rats

Abstract Tissue lipid peroxidation is reported to be associated with carcinogenesis. Serum uric acid (UA) is hypothesized to be an antioxidant and protective against such peroxidative damage. In a study designed to analyze main and interactive effects of multiple dietary factors on 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced colon carcinogenesis in F344 rats, serum levels of UA and lipid peroxidation products (as malondialdehyde (MDA) were examined. Multiple correlation analysis demonstrated that there were no significant correlations between either serum UA or MDA levels at the time of necropsy, and colon tumor incidence or burden. However, the data do indicate significant dietary effects on lipid peroxide and urate pools in the serum of rats treated with DMH.
Referential labelling in Diana monkeys.

Animal semantic communication has received considerable theoretical and empirical attention because of its relevance to human language. Advances have been made by studies of alarm-call behaviour in nonhumans. In monkeys, for example, there is evidence that recipients have a fairly sophisticated understanding of a call's meaning; that is, the predator type usually associated with a certain alarm call. Little is known, however, about the mental mechanisms that drive call production in nonhuman primates. In some nonprimate species, it has been found that signallers do not respond to a predator's physical features but instead seem to respond to its relative threat or direction of attack. In these species, therefore, alarm calls do not denote different predator categories but simply reflect different types or levels of danger. Because different predator categories typically impose different types and degrees of threat it is entirely possible that nonhuman primates also respond to threat rather than a predator's category. This study examined how wild Diana monkeys, Cercopithecus diana, of the Tai forest, Ivory Coast, label predation events. By altering playback stimuli and the position of a concealed speaker, I investigated whether Diana monkeys respond with acoustically different alarm calls depending on a predator's (1) distance (close versus far), (2) elevation (above versus below), or (3) category (eagle versus leopard). Analysis of male and female alarm-call behaviour showed that Diana monkeys consistently responded to predator category regardless of immediate threat or direction of attack. Data further suggested that, in addition to predator category, monkeys’ alarm calls might also convey information about the predator's distance.
Impact of ageing on residential changes: a case study from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Abstract Researchers often find that the highest frequency of residential moves is experienced between the ages of 20 and 30, and this frequency declines steadily with increasing age, especially after retirement. This study examines and compares the frequencies of residential changes before and after 65 among a group of elderly residing in Allegheny County, PA. Although we usually define the terms “elderly” or “aged” according to people's chronological age alone, it is evident that the other processes of ageing, such as biological, psychological and social, are also responsible for differential spatial behavior among individuals. Spatial behavior of the elderly is also explained by the theories of ageing, mainly the activity theory and the disengagement theory. The findings of this research show that chronological age alone does not affect the pattern of residential mobility of the elderly. Other socioeconomic variables, together with the above-mentioned processes and theories, are also responsible for their decision-making process.
Silicon Photonics for Modulation, Switching, and Tuning

Thermal and electro-refractive silicon photonic modulators, switches, and tunable filters have been demonstrated with ultralow switching energies and high-speed operation. These elements form building blocks that will enable future generations of large-scale microphotonic systems.
A numerical study of gravity wave saturation - Nonlinear and multiple wave effects

Abstract In this study we examine some of the effects of wave-wave interactions and convective adjustment on the propagation of gravity waves in the middle atmosphere. For both a nearly monochromatic wave and a super-position of waves, nonlinear wave-wave interactions, while reducing primary wave amplitudes somewhat, are found to be unable to prevent the formation of convectively unstable layers. In contrast, convective adjustment of the wave field causes significant amplitude reductions, resulting in amplitudes for a spectrum of wave motions that achieve only a fraction of their monochromatic saturation values. Neither process is found to cause a major disruption of the primary wave field. Both wave-wave interactions and convective adjustment are found to excite harmonies of the primary wave motions. Excitation by convective adjustment appears to dominate for a monochromatic wave, whereas both processes become important for a spectrum of wave motions. In each case, the characteristics of the excited wave...
The pubertal-related decline in cellular proliferation and neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of male rats is independent of the pubertal rise in gonadal hormones.

Pubertal development is marked by significant decreases in cellular proliferation and neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation. Though it is unclear what mediates these developmental changes in the dentate gyrus, gonadal hormones have been implicated in modulating many neurobiological processes during puberty and various parameters of neurogenesis in adulthood. Thus, it is possible that the gradual and sustained increase in gonadal hormones experienced during puberty plays a role in these changes in neurogenesis. In the present experiments, we first quantified cellular proliferation and neurogenesis using 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) and doublecortin (DCX) immunohistochemistry, respectively, in the dentate gyrus of pre-pubertal (30d), mid-pubertal (45d), and adult (90d) male rats. We found the decline in BrdU and DCX cell numbers throughout these ages were coincident with increases in their plasma testosterone levels. We next tested whether exposure to the pubertal rise in gonadal hormones was necessary for this decrease in hippocampal neurogenesis to occur. Thus, we examined cellular proliferation and neurogenesis in intact 30 day (pre-pubertal) and 60 day old (late-pubertal) rats, as well as 60 day old rats that had previously been gonadectomized or sham-gonadectomized at 30 days of age. Although we again found the expected decline in BrdU and DCX cell numbers between 30 and 60 days of age in the intact groups, there were no differences among the 60 day old animals, regardless of gonadal status. These data indicate that the pubertal-related decline in hippocampal cellular proliferation and neurogenesis is independent of the pubertal change in gonadal hormones.
Using FPGA as synthetic instrumentation in automated test sets: Benefits and examples

The use of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) hardware in Test Program Set (TPS) development is highly beneficial due to its ability to be reconfigured on the fly to simulate various ATE instruments or unique signals generated from discrete hardware components. FPGA hardware can by utilized for creating an array of synthetic instruments; and by utilizing a FPGA, a single piece of hardware can be used for multiple TPS applications, saving both time and money. Not only can FPGA hardware be used as a digital filter (which can replace physical discrete RC-circuits and other filtering circuits) but it can also aid in the simulation of obsolete parts or instruments commonly found when re-hosting TPSs from legacy test sets. Hardware obsolescence is a common problem in maintaining ATS systems for the life cycle of its intended use. When re-hosting or developing new ATS equipment, it is important for designers to plan for the longevity of their hardware. FPGAs solve this problem by simulating output signals from these obsolete instruments/parts and by doing so, end users can more easily maintain their TPS equipment when it has been put out into the field. This paper highlights a few successfully developed FPGA implementations used as synthetic instrumentation in an ATS environment. These implementations were designed for various CACI Common Bench-Top Automatic Test Set (CBATS) 201 TPS systems. The CACI CBATS 201 is a bench top tester built around a National Instrument's PXI chassis and utilizes a PXI-7852R Multifunction RIO with Virtex-5 LX50 FPGA. The FPGA applications pertaining to ATS environments described thought-out this document include: simulating an aircraft Lift Vane Transducer (LVT) output signals, simulating synchro leg voltages, and simulating custom digital communication protocol chip hardware. The applications mentioned here are currently integrated in delivered TPS, and are being used to aid in the depot testing of various military aircraft Line Replacement Units (LRU).
ONTOGENY OF EXOCRINE PANCREATIC FUNCTION IN ISOLATED ACINI FROM IMMATURE PANCREAS

Morphological maturation and developmental increases in enzyme content of rodent pancreas have been well characterized. In contrast ontogeny of the secretory process has not been extensively evaluated. Consequently we evaluated the secretory process and ultrastructure of isolated acini (ISA) prepared from immature rats by digestion with collagenase and mechanical shearing. ISA prepared from 48 hr old rats responded to both carbachol (C) and CCK-8 with increased secretion of amylase. Characteristic biphasic dose response curves peaked at 3×10−6M for C (636% increase) and at 10−9M for CCK-8 (576% increase). Atropine inhibited C induced secretion. ISA prepared from rats age 4 hr failed to respond to C and CCK-8, but did respond to the calcium ionophore, A23187 (200% increase). Digestion and shearing used to prepare the acini did not alter the ultrastructural appearance of the acinar cells. Cells from acini incubated with C and CCK-8 had increased numbers and greater variation in size of zymogen granules than did the controls. Conclusions: 1) Although ISA prepared from 48 hr rats respond to secretagogues similar to mature rats, responsiveness to secretagogues is not found in ISA prepared from newborn rats. 2) Responsiveness to A23187 in the newborn suggests that the immature step is prior to calcium mobilization. 3) Since physiological and morphological integrity is maintained in ISA prepared from immature pancreas, this procedure can be a useful tool in further elucidation of the ontogeny of the secretory process.
Understanding web search via a learning paradigm

Investigating whether one can view Web searching as a learning process, we examined the searching characteristics of 41 participants engaged in 246 searching tasks. We classified the searching tasks according an updated version of Bloom.s taxonomy, a six level categorization of cognitive learning. Results show that Applying takes the most searching effort as measured by queries per session and specific topics searched per sessions. The lower level categories of Remembering and Understanding exhibit searching characteristics similar to the higher order learning of Evaluating and Creating. It appears that searchers rely primarily on their internal knowledge for Evaluating and Creating, using searching primarily as fact checking and verification. Implications are that the commonly held notion that Web searchers have simple information needs may not be correct. We discuss the implications for Web searching, including designing interfaces to support exploration.
ac Dynamics of NbSe3 in the switching regime

Abstract We have measured the low-field ac conductivity σ(ω) of switching samples of NbSe 3 in the lower charge density wave (CDW) state, over the frequency range 10 Hz to 500 MHz. For zero applied dc bias fields, σ(ω) reflects overdamped response, with no evidence for dominant inertial contributions. For dc bias fields exceeding the threshold E T , a complicated ac conductivity obtains, whose overall features rule out, as valid descriptions of switching, simple classical overdamped center of mass motion, or overdamped motion with excessive current noise. Our results demonstrate the necessity of additional degrees of freedom in describing switching phenomena.
The electronic structure of methanol covered TiO2(110) surfaces

Abstract We report on the electronic structure rutile TiO2(1 1 0) surfaces following the exposure to methanol. Two-photon photoemission (2PP) spectra reveal a strong resonance at 2.2–2.4 eV above Fermi level, which gains maximum intensity at ∼1 ML coverage of methanol. From the coverage, temperature and emission angle dependence of the methanol induced spectral features and similarities to a related state on water covered TiO2(1 1 0) surfaces, we assign the resonance to charge transfer excitation from the reduced five-coordinate Ti 5 c + 4 - δ ions to hydroxyl groups on the bridging oxygen rows.
Audio-visual speech understanding in simulated telephony applications by individuals with hearing loss

We present a study into the effects of the addition of a video channel, video frame rate, and audio-video synchrony, on the ability of people with hearing loss to understand spoken language during video telephone conversations. Analysis indicates that higher frame rates result in a significant improvement in speech understanding, even when audio and video are not perfectly synchronized. At lower frame rates, audio-video synchrony is critical: if the audio is perceived 100 ms ahead of video, understanding drops significantly; if on the other hand the audio is perceived 100 ms behind video, understanding does not degrade versus perfect audio-video synchrony. These findings are validated in extensive statistical analysis over two within-subjects experiments with 24 and 22 participants, respectively.
Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in visceral afferent pathways to the sacral spinal cord of the cat

Abstract Immunohistochemical studies revealed that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) is localized primarily to sacral segments of the cat's spinal cord. VIP is most prominent in afferent axons and terminals in Lissauer's tract and in lateral laminae I and V of the dorsal horn. The distribution of VIP terminals is very similar to that of visceral afferent projections identified by horseradish peroxidase. Dyetracing experiments combined with immunohistochemistry demonstrated that VIP is located in visceral afferent perikarya in the sacral dorsal root ganglia and also in terminals in the sacral autonomic nucleus. These observations suggest that VIP is a neurotransmitter in afferent projections from the pelvic viscera.
Prevention of noise- and drug-induced hearing loss with d-methionine

A number of otoprotective agents are currently being investigated. Various types of agents have been found in animal studies to protect against hearing loss induced by cisplatin, carboplatin, aminoglycosides, or noise exposure. For over a decade we have been investigating D-methionine (D-met) as an otoprotective agent. Studies in our laboratory and others around the world have documented D-met's otoprotective action, in a variety of species, against a variety of ototoxic insults including cisplatin-, carboplatin-, aminoglycoside- and noise-induced auditory threshold elevations and cochlear hair cell loss. For cisplatin-induced ototoxicity, protection of the stria vascularis has also been documented. Further D-met has an excellent safety profile. D-met may act as both a direct and indirect antioxidant. In this report, we provide the results of three experiments, expanding findings in D-met protection in three of our translational research areas: protection from platinum based chemotherapy-, aminoglycoside- and noise-induced hearing loss. These experiments demonstrate oral D-met protection against cisplatin-induced ototoxicity, D-met protection against amikacin-induced ototoxicity, and D-met rescue from permanent noise-induced hearing loss when D-met is initiated 1h after noise exposure. These studies demonstrate some of the animal experiments needed as steps to translate a protective agent from bench to bedside.
Coal resources, new air quality standards, and sustainability

According to the National Research Council’s Committee on Earth Resources the stated goal of the “sustainability” paradigm is that the economic activity that maintains current well-being not make future generations worse off, either through environmental degradation or resource depletion. Coal is not “running out” in the United States but the effects of economic deregulation of electricity generation, new air quality standards (Phase II of the 1990 Clear Air Act Amendments), and continued restructuring of the coal mining industry will likely stretch lowsulfur coal supplies in the next decade. The paper discusses these forces and then presents summary coal quality data in the form of grade-cumulative tonnage relationships for major U.S. producing areas to show where future low-sulfur coal supplies are likely to come from. The final section considers the potential magnitude of additional demand for low-sulfur coal, alternative compliance strategies, and implications in terms of maintaining economic efficiency and in terms of the “sustainability paradigm.”
Working with People Who Stutter of Diverse Cultural Backgrounds: Some Ideas to Consider

Abstract As the United States continues to undergo changing demographics, speech-language pathologists will find themselves working more with clients who stutter of diverse cultural backgrounds. Th...
Limitations of Dijkstra's Semaphore Primitives and Petri nets

Recently various attempts have been made to study the limitations of Dijkstra's Semaphore Primitives for the synchronization problem of cooperating sequential processes [3,4,6,8]. Patil [8] proves that the semaphores with the P and V primitives are not sufficiently powerful. He suggests a generalization of the P primitive. We prove that certain synchronization problems cannot be realized with the above generalization and even with arrays of semaphores. We also show that even the general Petri nets will not be able to handle some synchronization problems, contradicting a conjecture of Patil (P.28 [7]).
New deffect center in ammonium halides: Motional effects

Abstract Evidence is presented for the existence of a new radiation-induced paramagnetic defect center, NH3X, in the ammonium halides, where X represents a halogen atom, which exhibits thermally activated motional effects as a result of reorientation of the NH+3 group.
Cosmic-ray induced radioactivity in astronauts as a measure of radiation dose.

The activity-dose-energy relationships for7Be,13N,22Na, and24Na activities induced in muscle tissue by proton bombardment have been measured through the energy range up to 580 MeV. The relationship between radiation dose and induced activity for any given proton bombarding energy is defined. The determination of the radiation dose received by an astronaut from cosmic radiation of unknown energy by measuring the concentrations of the radioactive isotopes induced in his body is discussed.
MOS Analog IC Design-New Ideas, Trends, and Obstacles

This paper discusses possible directions for analog MOS IC design. No comprehensive review of the state of the art is attempted; this is left for the references. Rather, the paper concentrates on certain new trends, as well as new ideas that show promise for the future.
A neodymium, strontium, and oxygen isotopic study of the Cretaceous Samail ophiolite and implications for the petrogenesis and seawater-hydrothermal alteration of oceanic crust

In the Samail ophiolite, ^(147)Sm-^(143)Nd,^(87)Rb-^(87)Sr, and ^(18)O/^(16)O isotopic systems have been used to distinguish between sea-floor hydrothermal alteration and primary magmatic isotopic variations. The Rb-Sr and ^(18)O/^(16)O isotopic systems clearly exhibit sensitivity to hydrothermal interactions with seawater while the Sm-Nd system appears essentially undisturbed. Internal isochrons have been determined by the ^(147)Sm-^(143)Nd method using coexisting plagioclase and pyroxene and give crystallization ages of 130 ± 12m.y. from Ibra and 100 ± 20 m.y. from Wadi Fizh. These ages are interpreted as the time of formation of the Samail oceanic crust and are older than the inferred emplacement age of 65–85 m.y. The initial ^(143)Nd/^(144)Nd ratios for a tectonized harzburgite, cumulate gabbros, plagiogranite, sheeted dikes and a basalt have a limited range in e_(Nd) of from 7.5 to 8.6 for all lithologies, demonstrating a clear oceanic affinity and supporting earlier interpretations based on geologic observations and geochemistry. The ^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr initial ratios on the same rocks have an extremely large range of from 0.70296 to 0.70650 (e_(Sr) = −19.7 to +30.5) and the δ^(18)O values vary from 2.6 to 12.7. These large variations are clearly consistent with hydrothermal interaction of seawater with the oceanic crust. A model is presented for the closed system exchange of Sr and O, that in principle illustrates how the Sr isotopic data may be utilized to estimate the water/rock ratio and subsequently used to evaluate the temperature of equilibration between the water and silicates from the ^(18)O/^(16)O water-rock fractionation.
Determination of food folate

Abstract Trienzyme treatment appears to be essential for obtaining the maximum possible value of folate in food items. Trienzyme treatment is performed using protease and α-amylase treatment for the extraction of food folate trapped or bound to protein or carbohydrate matrices, and using traditional folate conjugase for the hydrolysis of polyglutamyl folates that are regularly present in foods. Because the conditions (pH and incubation time) of protease and α-amylase treatments vary among individual foods, it would be labor intensive and time consuming to put together reliable and accurate food folate tables. However, considering the importance of folate nutriture for the maintenance of health and the prevention of certain diseases, it is important to establish dependable food folate tables to accurately estimate dietary intake of folate and to recommend adequate dietary folate intake in the general population.
Progressive feline pressure-overload: noninvasive assessment correlates with abnormalities in single cells.

Serial echocardiography and Doppler were used to monitor the progression of pressure-overload produced by banding the ascending aortas of young cats. The peak Doppler gradient across the band incre...
The Impact of Postoperative Abscess Formation in Perforated Appendicitis

Background Abscess after appendectomy for perforated appendicitis is the most common complication. We have completed three prospective trials and are conducting a fourth in which the included patients had either a hole in the appendix or a fecalith in the abdomen identified at the time of operation. The abscess rate in each of these trials was 20%. Multiple publications have focused on prevention and management of this postoperative complication but the total impact of an abscess on the hospital course has not been well documented. Therefore, we reviewed our experience with patients who developed a postoperative abscess to evaluate the total care received compared with those who recovered uneventfully. Methods Data from patients with abscess who have been enrolled in our prospective trials from April 2005 to December 2009 were utilized. Patients who recovered without complications in the most recent trial served as a comparison group, as this protocol offers the minimal length of stay without a predetermined length of stay. Data comparison included patient demographics, admission lab values, hospital length of stay, and hospital charges. Results There were 63 patients with a postoperative abscess and 61 patients without an abscess identified. Patients with an abscess were older (11.0 versus 9.7 y, P = 0.04) and had a higher mean body mass index (22.4 versus 19.5, P = 0.03). Total hospital length of stay was significantly longer in the abscess group (11.6 d versus 5.1 d, P ≤ 0.001). Total hospital charges doubled for patients who developed an abscess ($82,000 versus $40,000 P Conclusion A postoperative abscess after appendectomy for perforated appendicitis translates into an average of an extra week in hospital care with double the total hospital cost.
Cell structure and saturation effects of radiation-hardened power VDMOSFET devices under extreme dose X-ray irradiation

Abstract In this paper we report radiation effects in radiation-hardened power VDMOSFET devices with different cell structures (stripe-cell and hexagonal-cell) at various irradiation doses of X-ray (45 kV acceleration voltage) by means of DCIV measurements as well as sub-threshold methods, and observed that radiation damages are closely related to cell geometry of the chips. Both radiation-induced oxide charges and interface traps in the chips with stripe cell are smaller than those with hex cell under the same irradiation dose because they have different stresses in the cells. Moreover, the recombination current peaks show a saturation feature when X-ray irradiation dose come to about 4 Mrads (from ∼4 to 14.4 Mrads) in the radiation-hardened samples.
Determinants of the current account balance in the United States

This article studies the role of public and private imbalances in the behaviour of the current account balance in the United States in the context of an intertemporal model. The estimation evaluates the effects of public and private imbalances on the dynamics of the current account. Correlation coefficients support the Ricardian equivalence. Higher budget deficit correlates with a reduction in private consumption and an increase in private savings. Government saving does not vary significantly with macroeconomic variables in the short- or in the long-run. In contrast, fluctuations in government investment vary significantly with a number of economic variables in the long- and in the short-run. Accordingly, fluctuations in the budget deficit are likely to be driven by fluctuations in public investment. In contrast to government savings, private savings vary significantly with macro variables in the long- and in the short-run. Fluctuations in private investment appear less evident compared to that in privat...
Modeling and Evaluating the Reliability of Wireless Sensor Networks

The reliability of wireless sensor networks (WSN) depends on both network connectivity and sensing coverage. Common-cause failures (CCF) can contribute significantly to the WSN unreliability. This paper considers the problem of modeling and evaluating the coverage-oriented reliability of WSN subject to CCF. Our approach is computationally efficient due to the use of a progressive reduction scheme, reduced ordered binary decision diagrams, as well as a decomposition and aggregation scheme for considering CCF. A hierarchical clustered WSN is used as an example to illustrate the basics and advantages of our approach
Lessons from X-chromosome inactivation: long ncRNA as guides and tethers to the epigenome

Transcriptome studies are revealing that the eukaryotic genome actively transcribes a diverse repertoire of large noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), many of which are unannotated and distinct from the small RNAs that have garnered much attention in recent years. Why are they so pervasive, and do they have a function? X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) is a classic epigenetic phenomenon associated with many large ncRNAs. Here, I provide a perspective on how XCI is achieved in mice and suggest how this knowledge can be applied to the rest of the genome. Emerging data indicate that long ncRNAs can function as guides and tethers, and may be the molecules of choice for epigenetic regulation: First, unlike proteins and small RNAs, large ncRNAs remain tethered to the site of transcription, and can therefore uniquely direct allelic regulation. Second, ncRNAs command a much larger sequence space than proteins, and can therefore achieve very precise spatiotemporal control of development. These properties imply that long noncoding transcripts may ultimately rival small RNAs and proteins in their versatility as epigenetic regulators, particularly for locus- and allele-specific control.
Virtual Fixture Control for Compliant Human-Machine Interfaces

In human-machine collaborative systems, robot joint compliance and human-input dynamics lead to involuntary tool motion into undesired regions. To correct this, a set of methods, called dynamically-defined virtual fixtures, was previously proposed to create a movable virtual fixture that stops the user at a safe distance outside the forbidden region. In this work, a new method, called the force-based method, was added. A vision system was introduced for real-time tool tracking. Additionally, we implemented a closed-loop controller with the virtual fixtures that allows the user to reach, but not enter, the forbidden region. Two user experiments were conducted on a 1-DOF testbed to evaluate the virtual fixture methods. The first experiment showed the effectiveness of the virtual fixtures in preventing the penetration. However, the absence of haptic feedback in the closed-loop implementation resulted in boundary penetration. In the second experiment, visual feedback was used to compensate for the lack of haptic feedback. User cognitive load was added as an inhibiting factor in a human-machine cooperative setting. The experiment showed a significant reduction in penetration with visual feedback, while the addition of cognitive load did not significantly increase the penetration.
Effect of Ginkgo on CYP2C9: In vitro and in vivo studies

Purposes In vitro and clinical studies evaluated the effect of exposure to Ginkgo biloba (GB), or its components, on the activity of human CYP2C9. Methods 29 chemical constituents of GB were isolated, purified (J Agr Food Chem 2002; 50:3150), and tested as inhibitors of human CYP2C9 in vitro, based on flurbiprofen (F) hydroxylation activity in human liver microsomes (JPharm Pharmacol 2004; 56: 1039). Healthy volunteers (n=11) received 100 mg of F on two occasions in a crossover study, preceded by two 120-mg doses of GB or of matching placebo (P). Results CYP2C9 inhibition in vitro was produced by amentoflavone (IC50=0.035 μM), sesamin (21.2 μM), quercetin (25.8 μM), and 3-nonadec-8-enyl-benzene-1,2-diol (5.6 μM). Ginkgolides, bilobalide, and flavonol aglycones had weak or negligible inhibitory activity. Mean (±SE) clinical kinetic parameters for F when given with P and GB, respectively, were: peak plasma concentration, 12.2±1.0 vs. 11.6±0.8 μg/ml; elimination half-life, 4.3±0.5 vs. 4.0±0.6 hr; clearance, 31±4 vs. 29±3 ml/min. Differences were not significant. Conclusions Several components of GB_especially amentoflavone_are potentially important inhibitors of CYP2C9. However coadministration of F (an index substrate for CYP2C9) with usual doses of GB in humans had no effect on the kinetics of F. Potential CYP2C9 inhibitors in GB either are not present in sufficient quantities to produce clinically detectable inhibition in vivo, or do not reach the liver at inhibitory concentrations. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2005) 77, P48–P48; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2004.12.075
A critical evaluation of extremity and precordial electrocardiography in acute cor pulmonale

Abstract The electrocardiographic diagnosis of acute cor pulmonale was made in eight and favored in a ninth patient studied with standard and unipolar limb and chest leads and subsequently examined post mortem. In seven of these the diagnosis was confirmed pathologically. In this group the diagnosis could often be made on the basis of changes in the standard leads. The precordial leads frequently gave corroborative and occasionally decisive evidence for the diagnosis, the evidence consisting of inversion of T waves in one or more precordial leads, shift of the transitional zone to the left, and corroborative evidence of incomplete right bundle branch block. Unipolar limb leads were not apt to be so helpful. In two patients an abnormal Q wave was present in the unipolar left leg lead (aV F ). In these patients acute pulmonary embolism and not posterior myocardial infarction was found at autopsy. In our eighth patient the diagnosis of acute cor pulmonale was favored over posterior myocardial infarction because of an inconspicuous Q wave in aV F but autopsy showed an acute posterior myocardial infarct and no pulmonary embolism. One instance of acute cor pulmonale was associated not with pulmonary embolism but with massive pulmonary atelectasis. The electrocardiogram may give the first clue to the diagnosis of acute cor pulmonale. This electrocardiographic diagnosis can be made with a high degree of accuracy.
Nitroglycerin dilates coronary collateral vessels during exercise after blockade of endogenous NO production.

In a previous study nitroglycerin failed to dilate coronary collateral vessels during exercise. This study tested the hypothesis that failure of nitroglycerin to increase collateral flow occurred b...
Feedback FET logic: a robust, high-speed low-power GaAs logic family

Feedback FET logic (FFL) with a special output stage that enables it to drive high on-chip capacitances with low power is discussed. FFL is robust in the face of process and temperature variations. The basic FFL gate is a NOR, but complex gates such as AND-OR-NOT are also practical. FFL is two to four times faster than comparable GaAs direct-coupled FET logic and Si CMOS and Si BiCMOS when driving on-chip capacitances that are typical of large ICs. FFL power at 200 MHz is also lower than CMOS and BiCMOS power by a factor of 2 to 4. >
Development of a decision support system for procurement operations

The procurement function refers to the purchase of items (e.g. raw materials, standard production items, capital goods, and services) to support business operations. Increasingly, companies are recognising that procurement is a profit-contributing activity, instead of a routine-order placing function. However, the absence of an adequate software support system to assist the purchasing manager results in inefficient and ineffective procurement, and thus may affect the profitability of the entire organisation. A prototype decision support system for procurement was developed during this research. It focuses primarily on procurement operations within a manufacturing environment. The system assists the purchasing manager in his decision-making process, including vendor selection and the development of an optimal procurement strategy. Integer programming and analytical hierarchy process models are incorporated to support these objectives. 'What-if' analysis features are also included to help determine favourable alternatives in a changing market environment.
Swimming, a gene-specific arrhythmogenic trigger for inherited long QT syndrome.

Objective To determine the genetic basis for long QT syndrome (LQTS) in a cohort of patients with a personal history or an extended family history of a swimming-triggered cardiac event. Patients and Methods After review of the Mayo Clinic unit medical record system, blood samples or archived autopsy tissue samples were obtained from a retrospective cohort of 35 cases diagnosed as having autosomal dominant LQTS. Exon-specific amplification by polymerase chain reaction and direct sequence analyses were performed on the entire KVLQTI gene. Results Six cases had a personal history or an extended family history of a near drowning or drowning. In all 6 cases, LQTS-causing mutations in KVLQT1 gene were identified: 3 deletion mutations, 2 donor splice site mutations, and 1 missense mutation. One of the mutations, a novel donor splicing defect, was determined by postmortern molecular analysis of a paraffin-embedded tissue block from a 12-year-old girl who died in 1976. Distinct KVLQT1 mutations were demonstrated in 3 of the remaining 29 cases. The overall frequency of KVLQT1 defects in LQTS was 100% (6/6) in those with and 10% (3/29) in those without a personal history or an extended family history of drowning or near drowning (P Conclusion Swimming appears to be a gene-specific (KVLQT1) arrhythmogenic trigger for LQTS. This study provides proof of principle that an unexplained drowning or near drowning may have a genetic basis.
Symmetry corrected second order achromat

It is noted that, in some systems, depending upon beam emittance and energy spread, it is important to control centroid shifting aberrations, as well as second-order effects. It is shown that a second-order achromat provides a good starting point for the control of geometric and chromatic aberrations. However, when used in a ring with sections outside the achromat, these elements add chromatic aberrations not fully controllable with sextupoles inside the second-order achromat. It is suggested that, by taking advantage of the appropriate first-order orbit symmetry, it is possible to eliminate the centroid shifting chromatic aberrations, while still having full control over the second-order machine functions such as chromaticity. Furthermore, it is possible to minimize the number of sextupoles required for chromatic correction with this scheme. Application to the Bates South Hall Ring is considered. >
Triple/Single Quantum Filtered Sodium MRI Of Acute Brain Ischemia

The effectiveness of reperfusion therapies during acute brain ischemia depends on the viability of the underperfused tissue. Specifically, when the ischemia tissue is viable reperfusion leads to improved clinical outcome. However, when the ischemic tissue is non-viable, reperfusion therapy can lead to intra-cerebral hemorrhage and/or an accelerated rate of ischemia formation. Perfusion and diffusion weighted proton MRI (DW MRI) are well-established techniques for the early detection of brain ischemia but are unable to positively establish the viability of the tissue. Tissue sodium concentration (TSC) has been shown to exhibit a linear and reversible response for many hours after ischemia onset. Because sodium accumulation in tissue is closely related to its metabolic status, we believe that the rate of TSC accumulation during evolving ischemia could provide useful information about tissue viability during evolving ischemia. In this paper, we discuss the technical details leading to the application of triple quantum (TQ) sodium MRI for the monitoring of brain ischemia. The proposed methods are then demonstrated in a non-human primate model of temporary middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion
Guiding the Process of Culturally Competent Care With Hispanic Patients: A Grounded Theory Study.

Purpose: To explore nursing care actions that lead to culturally competent care for Hispanic patients. Background: Nurses report apprehension when delivering nursing care because of language barriers and a lack of Hispanic cultural understanding. Research is needed to inform culturally aware nursing practice actions for Hispanic patients. Design: The study used a qualitative, grounded theory design to address the questions: (a) What cultural knowledge should nurses have when caring for Hispanic patients and families and (b) What nursing actions should nurses take to provide culturally competent care? Hispanic lay health promoters and Hispanic community members were interviewed to make recommendations for care. Results: A model was identified that informs culturally competent nursing care. “Connectedness,” the central phenomenon, describes nursing actions and contains subthemes explaining influences on nursing care. “Up to You” and “At the Mercy of the System” are descriptive themes influencing connectedne...
The effect of taurine on contractility and sarcolemmal calcium binding of bullfrog hearts.

AbstractThe effect of taurine on myocardial contractility was studied utilizing the isolated perfused bullfrog heart. Within the range of 0.5 to 2.8 mM calcium in the perfusion fluid, taurine produced an increase in the developed force of the spontaneously beating isolated perfused bullfrog heart. The effect of taurine was calcium dependent having a large effect at low calcium concentrations but diminishing at high calcium concentrations. Taurine enhanced calcium binding to sarcolemma isolated from bullfrog hearts. The results suggest that taurine produces an inotropic response in the bullfrog heart by increasing calcium binding and calcium influx at the sarcolemma.
Running Simulation Models in Parallel With Physical Systems for Improved Estimation Performance: Semantic Models Facilitate Updating Model State, Parameters, and Structure

When a simulation model for a dynamic system is used in parallel with the real physical system adaptation is a very important design feature. Model adaptation allows the model to compensate for errors between the simulated and real outputs. While parameter tuning and state updates can be automated to improve model accuracy, automatically updating the structure of a model is generally difficult to do. In order to build an automatic structural adaptation scheme we propose a semantic architecture for the model definition and use the semantic form to design an adaptation law. The semantic structure provides the standardization required for an automated algorithm to derive meaning from the model definition while allowing model designers to retain some generality in the way models are built. The semantic modeling approach is presented with an example implementation and discussion about its application to wide area distributed control systems. The wide area control system we use as motivation is a regional electrical power distribution controller.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Interaction of platelet-activating factor, spleen and atrial natriuretic peptide in plasma volume regulation during endotoxaemia in rats

PAF (platelet-activating factor, Paf-acether, 1-alkyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine), a phospholipid with potent biological effects (Benveniste, 1988; Snyder, 1990), is one of the main mediators in endotoxin shock, as supported by the following observations: (a) serum PAF level rises in sepsis (Heuer et al. 1991); (b) plasma PAF increases in animals following injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (Chang et al. 1987; Dobrowsky et al. 1991), and the tissue PAF content is elevated in LPS-induced injury of the lung (Chang et al. 1987) and bowel (Hsueh et al. 1987); (c) PAF injection causes shock and tissue injury, mimicking the effect of LPS in vivo (Benveniste, 1988; Handley, 1990); and (d) furthermore, pretreatment with PAF antagonists prevents LPS-induced shock (Handley, 1990; Dobrowsky et al. 1991). Since PAF is generally considered to be an autacoid, or local hormone, the content of PAF in the inflamed or injured tissues appears to be a more meaningful indicator than its serum level. However, tissue PAF production in inflammation has been studied to a limited extent, perhaps partly due to technical difficulties. Our previous animal studies have shown that the small intestine is the target of LPS-induced injury, and a high PAF level in the intestinal mucosa has been demonstrated following LPS administration (Hsueh et al. 1987). However, there has been no study comparing the endogenous PAF production of various organs. In endotoxin shock plasma volume is reduced and haemoconcentration develops. Although the mechanism is unclear, it is generally assumed that blood volume changes are a consequence of the release of mediators such as tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF), PAF and peptide leukotrienes, with resulting vascular leakage or peripheral vasodilatation and venous blood pooling. An important physiological regulator of plasma volume is atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), a cardiac hormone with profound effects on the cardiovascular system and kidneys (Espiner, 1994). Despite its potent vascular regulatory effect, and known changes in endotoxin shock (Gullichsen et al. 1989), its role in the pathophysiology of septic shock has not been studied. The goals of the present study are: (a) to compare the PAF level in various visceral organs in response to LPS; (b) to ascertain the possible cellular source of PAF in these organs; (c) to define the role of the spleen and PAF in the regulation of blood volume in endotoxin shock; and (d) to study the interaction of PAF, spleen and ANP in endotoxin shock. We report here that splenic tissue is the site of the highest PAF biosynthesis during endotoxaemia, and that endogenous PAF induces ANP production, which may mediate plasma volume reduction.
The Fallacy of Wage Cuts and Keynes's Involuntary Unemployment

“the analysis I shall like to try to outline is not merely my own; it due to a young English economist, Mr. R. F. Kahn. I should like to put his point very shortly.” –John Maynard Keynes (1931, p. 368) “In this book even more perhaps than writing my Treatise on Money, I have depended on the constant advice and constructive criticism of Mr. R. F. Kahn. There is a great deal in this book that would not have taken the shape it has except at his suggestion.” –John Maynard Keynes (1973a, p. 23) “…we must record Keynes' acknowledgments of indebtedness… especially to Mr. R. F. Kahn, whose share in this historic achievement [the General Theory] cannot have fallen very far short of co-authorship.” –John Schumpeter (1966, p. 1172)