cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The use of molecular orbital calculations to describe the phase behavior of hydrogen-bonding mixtures

In previous studies we have used Hartree-Fock theory and density functional theory to compute the enthalpy and entropy changes of dimerization for methanol and a number of small carboxylic acids. We have shown that by using these results in a physical equation of state, the statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT), we are able to model the phase behavior of these pure hydrogen-bonding compounds with a reduction in the number of adjustable parameters; in this study, we use the pure-component parameters derived from the results of our molecular orbital calculations to describe the phase behavior of mixtures containing one associating and one nonassociating compound, again using the SAFT equation of state. We show that the use of the pure-component SAFT parameters derived from our quantum-mechanical calculations results in correlations of mixture VLE data with no loss of accuracy, and frequently with improved accuracy, compared to the original parameters reported for use with the SAFT model.
Relating Dynamic Protein Interactions Of Metallochaperones With Metal Transfer At The Single-Molecule Level

Metallochaperones undertake specific interactions with their target proteins to deliver metal ions inside cells. Understanding how these protein interactions are coupled with the underlying metal transfer process is important, but challenging because they are weak and dynamic. Here we use a nanovesicle trapping scheme to enable single-molecule FRET measurements of the weak, dynamic interactions between the copper chaperone Hah1 and the fourth metal binding domain (MBD4) of WDP. By monitoring the behaviors of single interacting pairs, we visualize their interactions in real time in both the absence and the presence of various equivalents of Cu1+. Regardless of the proteins' metallation state, we observe multiple, interconverting interaction complexes between Hah1 and MBD4. Within our experimental limit, the overall interaction geometries of these complexes appear invariable, but their stabilities are dependent on the proteins' metallation state. In apo–holo Hah1–MBD4 interactions, the complexes are stabilized relative to that observed in the apo–apo interactions. This stabilization is indiscernible when Hah1′s Cu1+-binding is eliminated or when both proteins have Cu1+ loaded. The nature of this Cu1+-induced complex stabilization and of the interaction complexes are discussed. These Cu1+-induced effects on the Hah1–MBD4 interactions provide a step toward understanding how the dynamic protein interactions of copper chaperones are coupled with their metal transfer function.
Compactification of Closed Bosonic Strings

The boundary conditions of the first-quantized compactified closed bosonic string constrain the eigenvalues of the zero-mode operators. Requiring that internal symmetries result from compactification, we show that the simplest boundary conditions imply that the ``left'' and ``right'' lattices must be self-dual at the first-quantized level. The one-loop corrections to such models satisfy modular invariance.
The Initial Practice on Electro-Modification Processes to Al-12Si Alloys

The modification of Si-flakes from coarse acicular to fine fibrous is a common issue in Al-Si alloys casting products. The one of aims of this work is to practice the probability of applying the pulsed electric discharge (PED) to modify the morphology of Si-flakes. In the experiment, the Al-12Si alloy cast in plaster mold was treated with high voltage pulse electric discharge during the solidification. The combined effects of strong pulse electric current and chemical additives of refiner/modifier on solidification structure of eutectic silicon and tensile properties were studied. The experimental results indicated that the eutectic silicon flakes can be fragmentized by high-density pulse electric current. The best tensile properties were obtained when pulse electric discharge was used and combined with a trifle addition of refiner/modifier into the molten metal.
Pathways in the binding and uptake of ferritin by hepatocytes

The binding and uptake of rat liver ferritin by primary cultures of rat liver hepatocytes was studied in order to assess the relative importance of saturable, high-affinity pathways and nonspecific processes in the incorporation of the protein by the cells. To minimize artifacts, ferritin not subjected to heat treatment and labeled in vivo with 59Fe was used. Binding to cell membranes was estimated from incubations performed at 4 degrees C. After 2 h, when a steady state in cell-associated ferritin had been achieved, approx. 4-10(4) binding sites per cell were observed, with an affinity constant for ferritin of 1 x 10(9) M-1. At 37 degrees C, the maximal uptake from these sites was 1.3 x 10(5) ferritin molecules/cell per h. For ferritin molecules bearing an average of 2400 iron atoms, this uptake amounts to 5 x 10(6) iron atoms/cell per min. Half-maximal uptake was achieved at a ferritin concentration, or KM1, of 3 x 10(-9) M. Although uptake rates at least a thousand times greater could be achieved by binding to the much larger number of low-affinity sites, the apparent KM2 for such 'nonspecific' uptake was 4 x 10(-7) M. At ferritin concentrations up to 2 nM, at least 90% of ferritin bound and taken up by hepatocytes involves saturable, high-affinity sites, presumably true ferritin receptors.
Institutionalization and perceptual decrement in chronic schizophrenia.

Data obtained from a cross-sectional study of perceptual changes in chronic schizophrenia were re-analyzed to determine what effects, if any, institutionalization exerted on perception. When duration of illness was held constant, it was found that schizophrenic Ss with a high percentage of institutionalization time were equivalent to Ss with a low percentage of institutionalization time on three perceptual tasks known to be affected by chronicity. Assertions that psychological changes take place through institutionalization alone are called into question.
Varying Effects of Ethanol on Transfected Cell Lines

The use of transfected cell lines has provided a powerful approach to study the functions of transfected proteins. This approach has also proven useful to determine the effects of acute and chronic ethanol exposure on particular proteins. We show here, however, that the effects of ethanol on transfected proteins vary between transiently transfected cells and stably transfected cell lines. Moreover, we found that the effect of ethanol on a particular protein depends on the plasmid vectors used for the transfection.
Cluster dynamics and object resolution

This paper documents an analytical effort that looks at the expectation of being able to resolve individual members of a cluster of objects as a function of the parameters of time after deployment, the number and distribution of objects in the cluster, their relative separation velocities, sensor resolution capability, and the shape of the cluster -- essentially local object density. Multiple methods of modeling object clusters were investigated and found to be equivalent in their results. A simple set of equations has been derived that fits modeled data over a wide range of the parameter variations. For N objects in a cluster of average density equals d objects per resolution cell; R approximately equals N (DOT) e-d equals the expected number of objects resolved, and P approximately equals (N - R)/d equals the expected number of subclusters perceived. For uniform cluster densities, d is inversely proportional to time squared, and a method is shown for calculating d for non-uniform cluster densities. In addition, an approximately constant relationship between the number of objects perceived and the number of resolved objects is shown; R approximately equals P2/N. Several applications of these relationships which are of interest to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) are examined, including the `Cheshire Cat Effect' wherein the number of perceived objects as a function of resolution and sensor sensitivity is discussed. In addition, system level implications of the effects of target density during boost phase and during the cluster tracking phase of mid-course are covered. The behavior of large numbers of clusters in a threat tube is examined and characterized as the individual clusters overlap each other as they expand and form a `supercluster.' An equilibrium limit of resolution possible within a `supercluster' is shown.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The Why and How of Z Scores

38 The use of echocardiographic measurements to detect disease and predict outcomes can be confounded by a number of nondisease factors, including the effect of body size, that contribute to the variance of these measurements. The process of normal growth is associated with a nearly 200-fold increase in normal left ventricular enddiastolic volume (EDV) from premature infants up to large adolescents, making it imperative to account for changes in body size in pediatrics. Although this issue is often ignored in adult echocardiography, the sensitivity and specificity of parameters of left ventricular size are significantly improved when adjustment for body size in adults is performed. The article by Mawad et al. in this issue of JASE addresses an important aspect of this process, although it is likely a topic that is unfamiliar to most echocardiographers, even those in pediatric cardiology who rely heavily on Z scores. The concept of Z scores itself is often unfamiliar to adult echocardiographers. What is a Z score? Normative anatomic data are often presented as nomograms, a graphic representation of the mean values and one or more percentile curves, perhapsmost familiar to clinicians as the common height and weight curves used to track growth in children. Instead of percentiles, the distance from the mean value can be expressed as the standard deviation (SD), which has similar information content but is more easily interpreted for values outside the normal range. The number of SDs from the mean is termed the Z score, also known as the normal deviate or a standard score. Ameasurement that is 2 SDs above themean (the 97.7th percentile) has a Z score of 2, whereas a measurement that is 2 SDs below the mean (the 2.3rd percentile) has aZ score of 2. The use of Z scores dramatically simplifies clinical interpretation, because the clinician need not remember the age-specific or body surface area (BSA)–specific normal range for a variety of echocardiographic measurements. Instead, all variables have a mean of 0 and a normal range of 2 to +2, regardless of age or BSA. In addition, interpretation of change over time is simplified, because cardiovascular structures remain at the same Z score over time in normal subjects, despite changes in body size. Longitudinal change in the size of a cardiovascular structure that is more or less than expected for growth is easily recognized as change in Z score over time. Statistical analysis of research results is similarly facilitated and indeed enhanced by using Z scores. The analytic power added through the use of Z scores is often underappreciated and can be illustrated through an example. A common study design is to attempt to control for the effects of age and body size by selecting controls matched for age and body size and then performing a paired comparison of change over time in subjects versus controls. However, the sensitivity of this type of study design to detect therapeutic effects is diminished when there is significant variation in body size in the sample. Consider, for example, a hypothetical clinical trial of a therapy for dilated
Using statistical methods to improve knowledge-based news categorization

NLDB, a knowledge-based system that automatically categorizes news stories for dissemination, retrieval, and browsing, is discussed. The major knowledge-based component of NLDB is a lexicosemantic pattern matcher that identifies combinations of words and phrases, as well as more complex patterns. These include word roots, grammatical categories, and semantic structures, such as verbs describing classes of events. It is shown that this linguistic analysis outperforms statistical methods. Because building lexicosemantic patterns can be a laborious process, a set of statistical methods that automate pattern acquisition while preserving the benefits of a knowledge-based approach are developed. >
Minimum description length understanding of infrared scenes

Our pattern theoretic approach to automatic target recognition for infrared scenes combines structured and unstructured representations: rigid, 3-D faceted models for known targets of interest and flexible, simply connected shapes to accommodate the unknown 'clutterers' that the algorithm may encounter. The radiant intensities of both kinds of targets form nuisance variables which are incorporated into the parameter space. Statistical inference proceeds by simulating hypothesized scenes and comparing them to the collected data via a likelihood function. For a given target pose, we derive closed-form expressions for estimates of the thermodynamic variables via a weighted least-squares approximation. Since the number of objects in the scene, both rigid and flexible, is unknown and must be estimated, the parameter space is a union of subspaces of varying dimension. Without constraints on the model order, scene descriptions may become too complex. We apply Rissanen's minimum description length (MDL) principle, which offers a mathematical foundation for balancing the brevity of descriptions against their fidelity to the data. For continuous parameters, the description length involves the log-determinant of the empirical Fisher information matrix. The relationship of Rissanen's MDL to Schwartz's application of Laplace's method of integration and to the Cramer-Rao bound are discussed. Examples of likelihood surfaces and associated complexity penalties are given for synthetic tank data. In these experiments, the minimum description length approach correctly deduces the number of thermodynamic parameters.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Effect of acculturation on variations in having a usual source of care among Asian Americans and non-Hispanic whites in California.

Objectives. We examined variations in having a usual source of care (USC) among non-Hispanic White and Asian American adults in California.Methods. Data were from the 2005 and 2009 California Health Interview Survey. Using a modified Anderson model, we used multiple logistic regression to compare odds of having a USC between non-Hispanic White (n = 38 554) and Asian American adults (n = 7566) and to examine associations with acculturation factors (English proficiency, length of residence, residence in a racially concordant neighborhood) and key enabling (employment, income, insurance) and predisposing (education) factors.Results. Race-related disparities between Asian Americans and non-Hispanic Whites in having a USC were no longer significant after accounting for acculturation factors. Limited English proficiency and short time in the United States (< 5 years) were significantly associated with not having a USC for both races. Increasing levels of education and insurance were not associated with better a...
Atomistic simulation of Si/SiO2 interfaces

Abstract Atomistic models of the Si(1 0 0)/SiO2 interface were generated using a classical reactive force field, and subsequently optimized using density functional theory. The interfaces consist of amorphous oxide bound to crystalline silicon substrate. Each system has a sub-oxide layer of partially oxidized silicon atoms at the interface, and a distribution of oxygen-deficient centers in the oxide. Both periodic and slab configurations are considered.
Evaluation of lithium ion insertion reactivity via electrochromic diffraction-based imaging.

A microscope−CCD setup has been developed as an analytical tool for the detection of diffraction from one-dimensional redox-active transition-metal oxide gratings prepared with a combination of microtransfer molding (μTM) and cathodic electrodeposition. The diffraction efficiencies (DE) of tungsten trioxide, WO3, and binary molybdenum−tungsten trioxide, Mo0.6W0.4O3, gratings were measured during Li+ insertion/deinsertion experiments performed with both cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry in 1 M LiClO4/propylene carbonate. The DE was evaluated in terms of the optical constants of the grating materials determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measurements of Li+ insertion/deinsertion into unpatterned thin films. The effect of grating thickness and the amount of inserted charge on DE has been analyzed. The diffraction method is used to quantitatively estimate lithium ion diffusion coefficients of electrochemically active metal oxide gratings.
Route-dependent systemic and local immune effects following exposure to solutions prepared from titanium dioxide nanoparticles

AbstractNanoparticle titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) is a white pigment widely used in foods, sunscreens, and other cosmetic products. However, it remains unclear whether exposure to nano-TiO2 results in immunosuppressive effects or induces a contact hypersensitivity response. To address these data gaps, studies were conducted with the hypothesis that nano-TiO2 exposure could alter immune responses. After 28 days of oral gavage, nano-TiO2 (1.25–250 mg/kg in 0.5% methylcellulose) produced no significant effects on innate, humoral, or cell-mediated immune functions in female B6C3F1 mice. Furthermore, there were no effects on the weights of selected organs (spleen, thymus, liver, lung, and kidneys with adrenals). Following dermal exposure on the ears for 3 days, nano-TiO2 (2.5–10% w/v in 4:1 acetone:olive oil) did not affect auricular lymph node cell proliferation, although an irritancy response was observed following treatment with 5% and 10% nano-TiO2. Dermal sensitization (2.5–10%) on the back and subsequent...
Emotional-stimulus processing in trait anxiety is modulated by stimulus valence during neuroimaging of a working-memory task

Recent neuroimaging studies have examined the effects of anxiety on cognitive processing in the presence of emotional distractors. However, when the target stimuli themselves are emotional, it is unclear whether emotion acts as a distracting or enhancing influence. We predicted that anxiety levels would modulate the effect of emotion on neural activity in a valence-specific manner. In the current experiment, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine activity in brain regions associated with cognitive and affective control. Twenty-nine healthy adults, rated for trait anxiety, performed blocks of a 2-back working-memory task (using faces) in which facial expressions were either entirely neutral, mixed neutral and fearful, or mixed neutral and happy. Behavioural results showed no effects of anxiety on either accuracy or response time for any stimulus type. In event-related analyses, dorsal prefrontal regions tended to show reduced activation for emotional faces relative to neutral, sugg...
The Process and Impact of Standards-based Teacher Education Reform

Professional standards that define expectations of the knowledge and skills of individuals who are certified as special educators have had a significant impact on teacher education curriculum in special education. In the last decade, however, greater emphasis has been placed on accountability for beginning teachers' ability to translate these knowledge and skills into practice. For the past three years, the teacher education program in special education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has developed and integrated program standards into the teacher education curriculum. Additionally, developmental benchmarks and indicators have been developed to assess students' performance as they move through the program. This process has led to greater accountability for the performance of teacher graduates as well as the teacher education program curriculum. This article reviews the process and the impact, including the challenges, of work toward becoming a standards-based teacher education program.
Serotonin 5-HT2C agonists selectively inhibit morphine-induced dopamine efflux in the nucleus accumbens.

Abstract In vivo microdialysis was used to compare the effects of serotonergic drugs on morphine- and cocaine-induced increases in extracellular dopamine (DA) concentrations in the rat nucleus accumbens (NAc). Systemic administration of the 5-HT2A/2C receptor agonist, 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI) (2.5 mg/kg, s.c.) prevented the increase in extracellular DA in the NAc produced by morphine (5 mg/kg, i.p.). In contrast, this dose of DOI had no effect on the ability of cocaine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) to increase extracellular DA concentrations in the NAc. A preferential 5-HT2C receptor agonist, 6-chloro-2-[1-piperazinyl]-pyrazine (MK-212, 5 mg/kg, s.c.) also inhibited morphine-induced increases in extracellular DA concentrations in the NAc. Pretreatment of rats with the selective 5-HT2A antagonist, amperozide, had no effect on morphine-induced elevation of NAc DA concentrations. In order to determine if inhibition of the firing of 5-HT neurons contributes to the serotonin agonist-mediated inhibition of morphine-induced accumbens DA release, rats were pretreated with the 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OHDPAT. At a dose of 100 μg/kg (s.c.), 8-OHDPAT did not interfere with morphine's ability to increase DA concentrations in the NAc. These results suggest that the activation of 5-HT2C receptors selectively inhibits morphine-induced DA release in the NAc in a manner which is independent of the inhibition of 5-HT neurons.
The Phenomenon of Conglomerate Crystallization. Part 57. Control of the Crystallization Behavior by the Choice of the Counter Ion. Part 9. The Stereochemistry and Crystallization Architecture of [(3,2,3-tet)Co(N3)2]X (X = Cl(I), Br(II), I(III), NO3(IV), and PF6(V))

Compounds of composition of [(3,2,3-tet)Co(N3)2]X (X = Cl(I), Br(II), I(III), NO3(IV), and PF6(V)) were prepared, and their crystal structures were determined at 295 and 120 K. Unlike a previous st...
Maintaining the connection: Parenting as a noncustodial father

The purpose of this study was to identify relevant factors associated with the noncustodial father's frequency of contact with his child following divorce. The findings of the research revealed that a combination of demographic, personal characteristics, and psychosocial factors are related to the father's frequency of contact with the child.
Prematurity as a predictor of childhood asthma among low-income children.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association among birth weight, prematurity, and the prevalence of asthma later in childhood and to assess the degree to which this association may differ between black and white children. Methods Michigan Medicaid claims data from 2001 through 2003 were analyzed to determine asthma prevalence for 150,204 children between ages 5 and 18 years. Asthma cases were identified using Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set persistent asthma criteria and included children having claims for any of the following services within a calendar year: at least one inpatient or one emergency department (ED) claim with an asthma primary diagnosis; at least four asthma medication–dispensing events; or at least four outpatient visits with an asthma diagnosis, and at least two asthma medication–dispensing events. Birth weight and gestational age from birth certificate data were matched with Medicaid files to determine size-for-gestational-age criteria. Results Overall, 8.3% of children had persistent asthma; black children had slightly higher asthma prevalence (8.6%) than white children (7.8%; odds ratio [OR] = 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07–1.15). Children born very preterm (≤32 weeks) had higher prevalence of childhood asthma (11.7%) compared with term births (8.0%; OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.40–1.63). However, no significant differences were observed in odds of asthma between black and white children born very preterm, preterm (33–36 weeks), or small for gestational age (SGA). Conclusions Regardless of race, children born very preterm had an increased risk of childhood asthma. Although overall asthma prevalence is higher among black children enrolled in Medicaid compared with their white counterparts, these differences were attenuated when prematurity or SGA status were taken into account.
Mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix alter expression of smooth muscle protein LPP and its partner palladin; relationship to early atherosclerosis and vascular injury

Lipoma preferred partner (LPP) localizes to focal adhesions/dense bodies, is selectively expressed in smooth muscle cells (SMC) and enhances cell migration. SMCs cultured on denatured collagen or on a rigid substrate, up regulated expression of LPP, its partner palladin, tenascin C (TN-C), phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase (pFAK) and exhibited robust stress fibers. In an endothelial (EC)/SMC hemodynamic flow system, shear stress waveforms mimicking atheroprone flow, applied to the EC layer, significantly decreased expression of SMC LPP and palladin. They were also down regulated with TN-C, in an ApoE murine model of atherosclerosis and with oxidative stress but up regulated in an arterial injury model in response to upstream sequential changes in pFAK, Prx1 and TN-C. In conclusion, expression of LPP and palladin are modulated by a mix of mechanical cues, oxidative stress and substrate composition which translate into their up or down regulation in vessel wall injury and early atherogenesis.
Entrainment to a real time fractal visual stimulus modulates fractal gait dynamics.

Fractal patterns characterize healthy biological systems and are considered to reflect the ability of the system to adapt to varying environmental conditions. Previous research has shown that fractal patterns in gait are altered following natural aging or disease, and this has potential negative consequences for gait adaptability that can lead to increased risk of injury. However, the flexibility of a healthy neurological system to exhibit different fractal patterns in gait has yet to be explored, and this is a necessary step toward understanding human locomotor control. Fifteen participants walked for 15 min on a treadmill, either in the absence of a visual stimulus or while they attempted to couple the timing of their gait with a visual metronome that exhibited a persistent fractal pattern (contained long-range correlations) or a random pattern (contained no long-range correlations). The stride-to-stride intervals of the participants were recorded via analog foot pressure switches and submitted to detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) to determine if the fractal patterns during the visual metronome conditions differed from the baseline (no metronome) condition. DFA a in the baseline condition was 0.77 ± 0.09. The fractal patterns in the stride-to-stride intervals were significantly altered when walking to the fractal metronome (DFA a = 0.87 ± 0.06) and to the random metronome (DFA a = 0.61 ± 0.10) (both p < .05 when compared to the baseline condition), indicating that a global change in gait dynamics was observed. A variety of strategies were identified at the local level with a cross-correlation analysis, indicating that local behavior did not account for the consistent global changes. Collectively, the results show that a gait dynamics can be shifted in a prescribed manner using a visual stimulus and the shift appears to be a global phenomenon.
Evaluating climate model performance in the tropics with retrievals of water isotopic composition from Aura TES

We evaluate the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies ModelE2 general circulation model over the tropics against water isotope (HDO/H2O) retrievals from the Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer. Observed isotopic distributions are distinct from other observable quantities and can therefore act as an independent constraint. We perform a small ensemble of simulations with physics perturbations to the cumulus and planetary boundary layer schemes. We examine the degree to which model-data agreement could be used to constrain a select group of internal processes in the model, namely, condensate evaporation, entrainment strength, and updraft mass flux. All are difficult to parameterize but exert strong influence over model performance. We find that the water isotope composition is more sensitive to physics changes than precipitation, temperature, or relative humidity in the lower and upper tropical tropospheres. Among the processes considered, this is most closely, and fairly exclusively, related to midtropospheric entrainment strength. Our study indicates that water isotope observations could provide useful constraints on model parameterizations.
A Model for High Field Conduction in a Dielectric

Simple models of a solid dielectric are set up for calculating current-voltage characteristics. For ideal trap-free dielectrics the characteristics for an electrode with a given injection function are compared with those for ohmic electrodes. Approximate power laws are shown to be valid for a set of assumed material parameters.
Systematic review and meta-analysis on obesity-Mortality association and age.

Summary This letter presents the findings of a critical appraisal of a recent systematic review and meta-analysis article published in Obesity Research and Clinical Practice and brings the author's and readers’ attention to certain methodological issues in the review that affect the validity of the findings from the review.
Efficient Source Separation Algorithms for Acoustic Fall Detection Using a Microsoft Kinect

Falls have become a common health problem among older adults. In previous study, we proposed an acoustic fall detection system (acoustic FADE) that employed a microphone array and beamforming to provide automatic fall detection. However, the previous acoustic FADE had difficulties in detecting the fall signal in environments where interference comes from the fall direction, the number of interferences exceeds FADE's ability to handle or a fall is occluded. To address these issues, in this paper, we propose two blind source separation (BSS) methods for extracting the fall signal out of the interferences to improve the fall classification task. We first propose the single-channel BSS by using nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) to automatically decompose the mixture into a linear combination of several basis components. Based on the distinct patterns of the bases of falls, we identify them efficiently and then construct the interference free fall signal. Next, we extend the single-channel BSS to the multichannel case through a joint NMF over all channels followed by a delay-and-sum beamformer for additional ambient noise reduction. In our experiments, we used the Microsoft Kinect to collect the acoustic data in real-home environments. The results show that in environments with high interference and background noise levels, the fall detection performance is significantly improved using the proposed BSS approaches.
A note on the complexity of deciding bisimilarity of normed unary processes

We give NC1 reduction of bisimulation equivalence for (general) normed context-free processes to the same problem for normed unary context-free processes.
Detection of tissue harmonic motion induced by ultrasonic radiation force using pulse-echo ultrasound and kalman filter

A method using pulse echo ultrasound and the Kalman filter is developed for detecting submicron harmonic motion induced by ultrasonic radiation force. The method estimates the amplitude and phase of the motion at desired locations within a tissue region with high sensitivity. The harmonic motion generated by the ultrasound radiation force is expressed as extremely small oscillatory Doppler frequency shifts in the fast time (A-line) of ultrasound echoes, which are difficult to estimate. In slow time (repetitive ultrasound echoes) of the echoes, the motion also is presented as oscillatory phase shifts, from which the amplitude and phase of the harmonic motion can be estimated with the least mean squared error by Kalman filter. This technique can be used to estimate the traveling speed of a harmonic shear wave by tracking its phase changes during propagation. The shear wave propagation speed can be used to solve for the elasticity and viscosity of tissue as reported in our earlier study. Validation and in vitro experiments indicate that the method provides excellent estimations for very small (submicron) harmonic vibrations and has potential for noninvasive and quantitative stiffness measurements of tissues such as artery
Sampling Some Truncated Distributions Via Rejection Algorithms

In this article, we develop rejection sampling algorithms to sample from some truncated and tail distributions. Such samplers are needed in many Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, often in connection with Bayesian inference. In addition to univariate normal, gamma, and beta distributions, we consider multivariate normal distributions truncated to certain sets.
Traumatic lumbar visceral herniation in a young woman.

INTRODUCTION Lumbar herniation is uncommon, with traumatic etiology being rare. Traumatic lumbar hernias are usually caused by seatbelt injury in motor vehicle accidents. It is exceedingly uncommon to see lumbar hernias in an unrestrained passenger of a motor vehicle accident.
Annual bluegrass (Poa annua) populations exhibit variation in germination response to temperature, photoperiod, and fenarimol

Abstract Laboratory studies were conducted to evaluate variation in germination response of eight annual bluegrass ecotypes (‘Augusta 4’, ‘Augusta 8’, ‘Augusta 14’, ‘Augusta 17’, ‘Auburn’, ‘Birmingham’, ‘Columbia’, and ‘Purchased’) to photoperiod, temperature, and fenarimol, a fungicide–herbicide used for preemergence annual bluegrass. Seed collected from greenhouse-grown plants and stored for > 2 mo were evaluated under 18 environments (three day and night temperatures by six day and night durations). There was a significant ecotype by environment interaction affecting annual bluegrass germination. High temperature markedly restricted germination, with only the Birmingham ecotype exceeding 20% germination at day and night temperatures of 39 and 29 C, respectively. Maximum germination of all ecotypes was observed at a day and night temperature of 19 and 10 C, respectively. Maximum germination for a specific photoperiod was not consistent across ecotypes; however, all ecotypes germinated to some degree in ...
Filtered runahead execution with a runahead buffer

Runahead execution dynamically expands the instruction window of an out of order processor to generate memory level parallelism (MLP) while the core would otherwise be stalled. Unfortunately, runahead has the disadvantage of requiring the front-end to remain active to supply instructions. We propose a new structure (the Runahead Buffer) for supplying these instructions. We note that cache misses are often caused by repetitive, short dependence chains. We store these dependence chains in the runahead buffer. During runahead, the runahead buffer is used to supply instructions. This generates 2× more MLP than traditional runahead on average because the core can run further ahead. It also saves energy since the front-end can be clock-gated, reducing dynamic energy consumption. Over a no-prefetching/prefetching baseline, the result is a performance benefit of 17.2%/7.8% and an energy reduction of 6.7%/4.5% respectively. Traditional runahead with additional energy optimizations results in a performance benefit of 12.1%/5.9% but an energy increase of 9.5%/5.4%. Finally, we propose a hybrid policy that switches between the runahead buffer and traditional runahead, maximizing performance.
MoneyBombs and Democratic Participation: Regulating Internet Fundraising

In the last decade, the Internet has upended the world of political fundraising, helping campaigns marshal armies of small donors and volunteers. Rather than eliminating the need for fundraising organizations that intermediate between candidates and constituents, as some predicted, the Internet has created new intermediaries that capitalize on the rapidly changing ecology of online fundraising. These new intermediaries combine fundraising, volunteer mobilization and activism. They raise new risks of accountability, polarization, and nationalized debate, but also have the potential to greatly enhance democratic participation. Although online campaigning is currently largely unregulated, numerous proposals to change this have been advanced in recent years. This Article contrasts online and offline fundraising intermediaries, and uses the differences that it identifies to evaluate several regulatory proposals. It is a guide to regulating online political fundraising and to ensuring that regulation avoids unintended consequences, minimizes the risks of online fundraising, and reinforces its promise of enhanced democratic participation.
Stroke in a young woman.

A detailed analysis of a 36-year-old woman admitted to the hospital for dense left hemiparise of unknown origin is used as an example of initial misdiagnosis due to reliance on the computarized axial tomography (CAT). Prockop contends that although the CAT scan has revolutionized neurologic and neurosurgical diagnosis it is often used needlessly because it is viewed as definitive in all instances of intercranial disease. Additionally the presentation points out the necessity of physicians awareness to the relationship between oral contraceptive (OC) use use of cigarettes and cerebrovascular events. Studies have indicated that the risk of stroke in women using oral contraceptives is 4 times that of non users and 16 times greater for OC users who are also heavy smokers.
Interaction between arterial smooth muscle cells, serum and other blood constituents.

The current state of knowledge regarding interaction of artery wall cells with lipoproteins, fibrin and platelets will be reviewed. Evidence from this laboratory and the work of others will be summarized indicating that low density lipoproteins (LDL) or very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are actively localized in the artery wall. It is also evident that these circulating lipid fractions (especially LDL) stimulate proliferation of the smooth muscle cells of the atherosclerotic plaque. The results of arterial tissue extraction, labeled lipoprotein studies and immuno­histochemistry of the arteries of man will be briefly summarized. These indicate that fibrin and LDL or VLDL are generally found in the atherosclerotic lesion, even in the fatty streaks. The conflicting evidence concerning the exact localization of these serum and blood components, in or on the smooth muscle cell or its pro­ducts will be surveyed. Studies in progress and planned using horseradish per­oxidase, ferritin and fluorescein will be outlined to indicate the direction that current studies are taking and the questions that need to be answered.
Large-scale high-dimensional nearest neighbor search using flash memory with in-store processing

Modern datasets of importance such as images, videos, protein sequences or text, usually contain very high dimensional information from the search point of view. Nearest neighbor search is one of the most fundamental building blocks in dealing with large amounts of data. It is the problem of finding points in a database that are most similar to a query data point by some distance metric. There is a large body of work in algorithms for nearest-neighbor search on large highdimensional datasets. Since these algorithms invariably involve random access to data, most existing implementations ensure that the data is stored in DRAM, and does not spill into secondary storage such as hard disks. However, the immense size of modern datasets often requires hundreds of computers to accommodate the dataset in DRAM. An alternative to such a system is a much smaller cluster that stores the dataset in flash memory (instead of DRAM) and has in-store computing capability. In this paper, we build and demonstrate the performance of highdimensional nearest-neighbor search on a flash-based system with FPGA acceleration and show that it sometimes exceeds the performance of a DRAM-based solution. We chose two example applications, images and documents, for this demonstration. Since flash storage, in comparison to DRAM, is an order of magnitude cheaper and consumes an order of magnitude less power, a flashbased solution for nearest-neighbor searches offers a viable and attractive alternative.
Sustainability Indicators for Chemical Processes: II. Data Needs

To begin repair of the environmental quality of the planet, there is a need to embrace sustainable development at many levels of the chemical industry and society. One such manner in which the chemical industry is responding to this need is through sustainability evaluations, retrofits, and new process designs. For improving the sustainability of chemical processes, the first contribution of this set of articles presented a taxonomic classification, definition, and scale for measuring sustainability indicators according to the GREENSCOPE (Gauging Reaction Effectiveness for the ENvironmental Sustainability of Chemistries with a multi-Objective Process Evaluator) methodology. To generate a sustainability assessment and yield a more sustainable process in the end, a model must have available data; that is, data are not the final goal but are mandatory to arrive there. This second contribution extends this methodology by identifying data requirements when calculating the indicators. Each indicator is mathemat...
Cultural self, personal self: Links with life satisfaction among Mexican American college students

Un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales fue utilizado para deteriminar las relaciones entre la retencion de la herencia cultural (es decir, la adhesion a los valores de la cultura Latina, la identidad etnica y la autoestima colectiva), la autoestima personal, la satisfaccion con la vida y el exito academico de 446 estudiantes universitarios mexico-americanos. Los resultados indicaron que el modelo de la hipotesis de ajuste a los datos. Como hipotesis, la autoestima personal mediado parcialmente la relacion entre la conservacion de la herencia cultura y la satisfaccion con la vida. Especificamente, la retencion de la herencia cultural predijo la autoestima personal; y la retencion de la herencia cultural y la autoestima personal predijeron la satisfaccion con la vida. El efecto mediado por la retencion de la herencia cultural para la satisfaccion con la vida a traves de la autoestima personal tambien fue significativa. La relacion de la autoestima personal al bienestar subjetivo fue significativa en ambos sexos, pero mas fuerte para las mujeres que resultan en un efecto mediado mas fuerte de la retencion de la herencia cultural en la satisfaccion con la vida de las mujeres que en los hombres. En contra de la hipotesis, el exito academico no fue predicha por la satisfaccion con la vida y por lo tanto, no indirectamente relacionados con la retencion de la herencia cultural o la autoestima personal. En general, la retencion de la herencia cultura predijo niveles mas altos tanto de la autoestima personal y la satisfaccion con la vida. El aumento de la autoestima personal predijo un mayor bienestar subjetivo. El modelo hipotetico explico 28% de la varianza en la satisfaccion con la vida. Se discuten las implicaciones para la investigacion y la practica.
Colchicine Teratogenesis in Hamster Embryos.

SummaryColchicine injected intravenously into pregnant hamsters on the 8th day of gestation at levels of 10 mg kg produces a fetal mortality of 50%. Gross congenital malformations, consisting of microphthalmia, anophthalmia, umbilical hernia, exencephaly, and skeletal anomalies are found in a significant number of survivors.
Effect of Nanoporous Gold Thin Film Morphology on Electrochemical DNA Sensing

Advances in materials science and chemistry have led to the development of a wide range of nanostructured materials for building novel electrochemical biosensors. A systematic understanding of the challenges related to electrode morphology involved in designing such sensors is essential for developing effective biosensing tools. In this study, we use nanoporous gold (np-Au) thin film electrode coatings with submicrometer thicknesses, as a model system to investigate the influence of nanostructuring on DNA–methylene blue (MB) interactions and their application to DNA biosensors. The interaction of single- and double-stranded DNA immobilized onto morphologically different np-Au films with MB was electrochemically interrogated via square wave voltammetry (SWV). The electrochemical signal from these electrodes in response to MB decayed progressively with each SWV scan. The decay rate was governed by accessibility of the electrochemically active np-Au surface by the analyte. The optimum frequency for extractin...
Pheromone Production by Overwintered Boll Weevils

Overwintered ♂ boll weevils, Anthonomus grandis Boheman, were found to produce only very small quantities of pheromone. Also, the ratio of the 4 components in the pheromone of these weevils differed from that in the standard formulation of grandlure and was less attractive. Consequently, even sterilized laboratory weevils should be more attractive than overwintered males.
Drug Delivery Using Stimuli-Responsive Polymer Gel Spheres

Polymeric gels that undergo deformation upon appropriate changes in pH or temperature have considerable promise as drug delivery vehicles. Uptake of drug macromolecules into swelling and nonswelling gel spheres and release of drug macromolecules from deswelling and nondeforming gel spheres into a target fluid are investigated here. A mathematical model for gel–solution composite, a composite of a distributed parameter system (gel spheres) and a lumped parameter system (surrounding solution), is developed. The polymer network displacement in swelling/deswelling gels is described by a stress diffusion coupling model. The analytical solution for network displacement is used to predict solvent intake by swelling gels, solvent efflux from deswelling gels, and changes in pressure, porosity, and effective drug diffusivity resulting from network displacement. These in turn influence drug uptake during and after gel swelling and drug release from gel during and after gel deswelling. Numerical results illustrate be...
Idiopathic Early Onset Scoliosis

Management of spine deformity in young children presents one of the most challenging tasks in spine surgery. Idiopathic early onset scoliosis occurs in children before 10 years of age, and untreated deformity can result in significant morbidity. This chapter reviews the natural history of idiopathic early onset scoliosis, the clinical and radiographic evaluation of children with spinal deformity, and nonoperative and operative treatment options.