cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quality—A Radiology Imperative: Report of the 2006 Intersociety Conference

Recent publications by the Institute of Medicine have pointed out the many medical errors that occur and the adverse effect of those errors on patient outcomes. These errors are often the result of problems within our health care systems. In an effort to improve patient care outcomes, many health care providers have developed improved policies and practices. Third-party payers are encouraging participation in quality efforts through a variety of mechanisms, including pay for performance, pay for participation, and the creation of centers of excellence. If the quality of health care is to be improved and monitored, appropriate metrics must be developed. Such metrics must be within the control of providers, measurable, and likely to improve patient outcomes. The participants of the 2006 Intersociety Conference developed 49 metrics, which are offered for adoption by health care networks, payers, and regulation agencies.
The use of Zipf's law in animal communication analysis

I nformation theory has been discussed as a technique to analyse communicative processes or sequential behaviour of nonhuman animals, as in MacKay (1972), Slater (1973) and Bradbury & Vehrencamp (1998, chapters 13–15) among others. Recently, McCowan et al. (1999) proposed the use of information theory for their study of bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, whistles. They discussed several aspects of their analysis techniques. Although we agree about the effectiveness of information theory to analyse unknown sources, we would like to further the discussion of one analysis method used in McCowan et al. (1999). Specifically, we wish to illustrate that Zipf’s law is of little use in the analysis of communication signals. The presence or absence in dolphins and other animals of some features of human language remain intriguing and open questions (Tyack 1999). However, we assert that a Zipf-based technique is methodologically inappropriate to address these questions. McCowan et al. (1999, page 410) noted that ‘Few investigators of animal behaviour have examined the use of first-order entropic analysis known as Zipf’s law or statistic’. In fact, Zipf’s law has been discarded as a linguistic tool, strongly criticized by Miller (1957), Miller & Chomsky (1963) and more thoroughly by Rapoport (1982). McCowan et al. (1999, page 411) also cite the application of Zipf’s law to DNA sequences by Mantegna et al. (1994) ‘with varying interpretations and reliability (Flam 1994; Damashek 1995; Bonhoeffer et al. 1996; Israeloff et al. 1996; Voss 1996)’. These references’ interpretations vary from strong criticisms of the use of Zipf’s law in the Mantegna et al. study (Bonhoeffer et al. 1996; Israeloff et al. 1996; Voss 1996) to a short news item about
Neurotrophin-4/5 promotes dendritic outgrowth and calcium currents in cultured mesencephalic dopamine neurons.

Abstract Ca 2+ currents and their modulation by neurotrophin-4/5 were studied in cultured mesencephalic neurons. Tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons consistently had larger somas than tyrosine hydroxylase-negative neurons. Neurons with larger somas were therefore targeted for recording. In both control and neurotrophin-4/5-treated cultured neurons, isolation of Ca 2+ currents in cultured mesencephalic neurons revealed prominent low- and high-voltage-activated currents. These currents were separable based upon their voltage dependence of activation, the response to replacement of Ca 2+ with Ba 2+ and the response to Ca 2+ channel blockers. Replacement of Ca 2+ with Ba 2+ resulted in a slight reduction of low-voltage-activated currents and a significant enhancement of high-voltage-activated currents. Cd 2+ blocked a larger fraction of the high-voltage-activated current than Ni 2+ . The synthetic conotoxins SNX-124 and SNX-230 selectively blocked high-voltage-activated currents. Morphological analysis of mesencephalic cultures pretreated with neurotrophin-4/5 revealed an increase in soma size and dendritic length in tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons. In agreement with the neurotrophin-4/5 induction of growth, neurotrophin-4/5 also increased cell capacitance in whole-cell recordings. Neurotrophin-4/5 significantly enhanced both low- and high-voltage-activated currents, but normalization for changes in capacitance revealed only a significant increase in high-voltage-activated current density. This study demonstrates the existence of low-voltage-activated and multiple classes of high-voltage-activated calcium currents in cultured mesencephalic neurons. Morphological and physiological data demonstrate that the increases in calcium currents due to neurotrophin-4/5 pretreatment are associated with somatodendritic growth, but an increase in high-voltage-activated Ca 2+ channel expression also occurred.
pH-Dependent metal ion toxicity influences the antibacterial activity of two natural mineral mixtures.

Background Recent studies have demonstrated that several mineral products sold for medicinal purposes demonstrate antimicrobial activity, but little is known about the physicochemical properties involved in antibacterial activity. Methodology/Principal Findings Using in vitro mineral suspension testing, we have identified two natural mineral mixtures, arbitrarily designated BY07 and CB07, with antibacterial activity against a broad-spectrum of bacterial pathogens. Mineral-derived aqueous leachates also exhibited antibacterial activity, revealing that chemical, not physical, mineral characteristics were responsible for the observed activity. The chemical properties essential for bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli were probed by testing antibacterial activity in the presence of metal chelators, the hydroxyl radical scavenger, thiourea, and varying pH levels. Chelation of the BY07 minerals with EDTA or desferrioxamine eliminated or reduced BY07 toxicity, respectively, suggesting a role of an acid-soluble metal species, particularly Fe3+ or other sequestered metal cations, in mineral toxicity. This conclusion was supported by NMR relaxation data, which indicated that BY07 and CB07 leachates contained higher concentrations of chemically accessible metal ions than leachates from non-bactericidal mineral samples. Conclusions/Significance We conclude that the acidic environment of the hydrated minerals significantly contributes to antibacterial activity by increasing the availability and toxicity of metal ions. These findings provide impetus for further investigation of the physiological effects of mineral products and their applications in complementary antibacterial therapies.
Flight test evaluation of advanced symbology for general aviation approach to landing displays

This paper describes a set of flight test experiments which were designed to evaluate the relative utility of candidate displays with advanced symbology for General Aviation IFR operations in the terminal area. This symbology was previously evaluated as part of the NASA Langley Research Center's Terminal Configured Vehicle Program for use in commercial airlines. The advanced symbology included vehicle track-angle, flight path angle and a perspective representation of the runway. These symbols were selectively drawn on a CRT display along with the roll attitude, pitch attitude, localizer-deviation and glideslope deviation. In addition to the CRT display, the instrument panel contained standard turn and bank, altimeter, rate of climb, airspeed, heading and engine instruments. The symbology was evaluated using tracking performance and pilot subjective ratings for an ILS capture and tracking task.
985 INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS MATERNAL FACTORS ON FETAL OUTCOME

A 5-year retrospective study of 4,430 deliveries assessed the influence of maternal obesity, pre-pregnant weight, weight gain, age, and diabetes on fetal outcome. Male babies were heavier than females (p 30 1bs. during their pregnancy, and Class A diabetics all had heavier babies and increased numbers of LGA births compared to controls (p<.01). When obesity and diabetes were present, 66.7% of the births were LGA vs. 12.1% for controls (p<.01). The prevalence of major malformations correlated only with maternal diabetes, where there was a 4-fold increase over controls (11.3% vs. 2.7%, p<.05). Perinatal mortality was affected by maternal factors only insofar as they adversely affected birthweight or gestational age. Diabetes however, resulted in increased mortality at all birthweights and gestational ages, and gave an overall perinatal mortality rate of 143/1000 births, which was almost 4 times greater than controls (p<.01). Maternal obesity, pre-pregnant weight, weight gain and diabetes are significant determinants of birthweight and the percentage of LGA births, whereas only maternal diabetes was found to directly increase the prevalence of major malformations or the perinatal death rate.
Characterization of the metabolites of vitamin D3 in the chick

Abstract Two biologically active metabolites of vitamin D3 have been isolated and identified as 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3(25-0H-D3) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3(1,25-diOH-D3). 25-OH-D3, originally denoted peak 4A, has been obtained from the blood of 1850 rachitic chicks who received a prior dose of tritiated vitamin D3. 1,25-diOH-D3, formerly referred to as peak 4B, was isolated from an in vitro reaction mixture containing 25-OH-D3, a NADPH generating system and kidney homogenate from rachitic chicks. Metabolites were purified by column chromatography on silicic acid, Sephadex LH-20 and Celite, and by countercurrent distribution. 15.4 μg of 25-OH-D3 and 22.8 μg of 1,25-diOH-D3 were isolated by these techniques and characterization was carried out by ultraviolet absorption spectrophotometry and mass spectrometry. These studies confirm earlier conclusions (based upon chromatographie data) that chick metabolite 4A is identical to the 25-OH-D3 metabolite isolated from pig blood by Blunt, DeLuca and Schnoes (Biochemistry 7, 3317(1968)). The data also substantiate the previous elucidation of the structure of chick peak 4B as 1,25-diOH-D3 and support its role as the hormonal form of vitamin D.
Misplaced Faith Communication Variables as Predictors of Encouragement for Biotechnology Development

Science communicators and the broader scientific community often expect media information campaigns to mold attitudes about science and technology in predictable ways. But resistance to technology ...
Light-induced shape recovery of deformed shape memory polymer micropillar arrays with gold nanorods

We prepared light-responsive shape memory polymer (SMP) micropillars (10 μm in diameter, 40 μm in height, and 20 μm in pillar-to-pillar distance) in a hexagonal array mixed with 0.1–0.2 mol% gold nanorods (AuNRs) by replica molding from a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) mold. The addition of AuNRs did not change the glass transition temperature (Tg) of SMPs much, for example, from 47.8 °C (pristine SMP) to 42.1 °C (SMP with 0.2 mol% AuNRs). The pillars were bent to different angles by controlling the force applied on top of the sample above its Tg, followed by cooling down to room temperature to lock the deformed structures. The bent pillars were nearly completely recovered to the straight ones when exposed to a visible laser. Recovery time as small as 5 s from 0.3 W green laser was demonstrated, depending on the loading of AuNRs, the bending angle, the Tg of composite material, and exposure dosage. Between bent and straight pillars, we demonstrated tunable transmittance in the visible wavelength and water contact angle from 160° (straight pillars) to 100° (completely collapsed pillars).
Purification and inactivation of 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid 3,4-dioxygenase from beef liver.

3-Hydroxyanthranilic acid 3,4-dioxygenase (EC 1.13.11.6; HADO) was purified to homogeneity from beef liver with the use of two dye columns (Cibacron Blue and Reactive Green 19) and hydroxyapatite. Two active peaks of enzyme were isolated from the hydroxyapatite column or by nondenaturing chromatofocusing of the enzyme prior to hydroxyapatite. The two active forms moved with different electrophoretic mobilities when they were subjected to nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, regardless of the method of isolation. In sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), however, these species had apparently identical mobilities and have, therefore, close molecular mass. Analysis by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry gave them a molecular mass of 32,566 and 32,515 Da, respectively, for the species with apparent pI values of 5.60 and 4.98, respectively, suggesting that they differ only in the presence or absence of the iron cofactor. The N-terminal group appears to be blocked as no amino-terminal sequence was possible from direct Edman degradation. A new inactivator of the enzyme, 6-chloro-3-hydroxyanthranilic acid, was synthesized and was shown to exhibit time-dependent inactivation. A possible mechanism for inactivation is proposed.
Trichosporon mucoides fungemia in a liver transplant recipient: case report and review

Four months after receiving an orthotopic liver transplant, a 51-year-old man was admitted for progressive liver failure and severe hepatocellular necrosis thought to be due to tacrolimus. During his hospitalization he experienced bloodstream infections including fungemia due to Trichosporon mucoides and prolonged undulating fever despite antifungal and antibacterial treatment. He underwent removal of the allograft and implantation of another liver. Fever continued postoperatively until therapy with posaconazole was initiated. Initiation of posaconazole led to clinical improvement until the patient's demise from bacteremic vancomycin-resistant enterococcal peritonitis. Trichosporonosis appears to be an emerging fungal infection among immunocompromised individuals (including both hematological and solid organ transplant recipients). T. mucoides is a rare cause of systemic infection. When it occurs, trichosporonosis usually is associated with hematological malignancies and, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously reported in a liver transplant recipient. The optimal treatment is not well defined. We report here the first case using posaconazole for treatment of trichosporonosis in a liver transplant recipient caused by T. mucoides.
Electroimpulse deicing - Electrodynamic solution by discrete elements

This paper describes a technique for analyzing the electrodynamic phenomena associated with electro-impulse deicing. The analysis is done in the time domain and utilizes a discrete element formulation concept expressed in state variable form. Calculated results include coil current, eddy currents in the target (aircraft leading edge skin), pressure distribution on the target, and total force and impulse on the target. Typical results are presented and described. Some comparisons are made between calculated and experimental results, and also between calculated values from other theoretical approaches. Application to the problem of a nonrigid target is treated briefly.
Cyclosporine lowers seizure threshold in an experimental model of electroshock-induced seizures in Munich-Wistar rats.

We have developed a model of cyclosporin A (CsA) central nervous system toxicity in the Munich-Wistar rat in which CsA, 20 mg/kg/day i.p., produces significant EEG abnormalities and mortality. In the present study we used cohorts of Munich-Wistar rats to assess effects of CsA on the threshold for tonic-clonic electroshock-induced seizures. Rat cohorts were begun on cremephore, CsA-10 mg/kg/day, or CsA-20 mg/kg/day. On day 7 and day 14 of the dosing protocol, cohorts of animals were exposed to maximal electroshock (MES) using a minimal staircase method within each cohort. Multiple logistic regression models were used to determine differences between groups on the relative odds of producing a MES-induced seizure while controlling for other variables. Seizure threshold was significantly affected by shock amperage and body weight, but not by SUN, creatinine, bilirubin, sodium, potassium, weight loss or day the shock was delivered. The odds ratios of seizure induction in the CsA-treated groups versus placebo group were 1.91 for CsA-10 mg/kg/day and 3.63 for CsA 20-mg/kg/d, both statistically significant. These results suggest that cyclosporine lowers seizure threshold and probably increases susceptibility to seizures, the etiology of which may be multifactorial clinically.
Isolated Aldosterone Deficiency in Man: Acquired and Inborn Errors in the Biosynthesis or Action of Aldosterone*

The combined efforts of clinical investigation and biochemical research have provided substantive insights into the homeostatic mechanisms that maintain concentrations of monovalent cations within a narrow physiological range in body fluids. For example, more precise knowledge of biochemical pathways subserving mineralocorticoid production in man has derived from recent detailed studies of certain “experiments in nature,” which comprise discrete inborn errors in aldosterone biosynthesis. Such conditions are biochemically and genetically distinct from congenital end-organ resistance to mineralocorticoid action (so-called pseudohypoaldosteronism). In addition, more comprehensive characterization has been attained of acquired, isolated defects in mineralocorticoid production in association with various clinical disorders. However, under any of these pathological conditions, defective hormonal regulation of sodium and potassium balance has created a spectrum of clinical disorders, ranging from life-threatenin...
Analysis of induced EMF waveforms and torque ripple in a brushless permanent magnet machine

Permanent magnet machines with trapezoidal back EMF waveform have been the subject of several papers in the past. The simplicity in control and the absence of an absolute position sensor makes this type of motor very attractive. Idealized analysis of such a machine is simple and will result in trapezoidal or square wave back EMF waveforms depending on the assumptions made. In the case of an idealized quasi-square wave current excitation, a ripple-free torque will be obtained. The actual back EMF waveform of these machines depends on the flux density and the conductor distributions. This in turn is a function of the magnet magnetization and the stator tooth and slot structure. In applications where a fairly smooth torque is needed, these machines are made with either the stator slots or the rotor magnets skewed by one slot. This paper deals with the analysis of the back EMF waveform and of the torque ripple waveform of such a machine when the stator slots or rotor magnets are skewed by one slot. The analysis takes into consideration the actual stator conductor distribution and the effect of magnet magnetization on the back EMF waveform. An empirical formula is developed for the magnet flux density distribution which could be used for various magnetization conditions of the magnet. Experimental results are included to confirm the analytical results.
Vagus nerve stimulation for children and adolescents with intractable epilepsies

Background: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been shown to be efficacious in the treatment of patients >12 years of age with refractory partial epilepsies and it is suggested that VNS should be considered as one of the treatment options for these patients. Methods: Four patients had partial epilepsies and one had symptomatic generalized epilepsy. After observation of the baseline seizure frequency and the average seizure frequency for 3 months, the VNS system was implanted. Thereafter, seizure frequency, average seizure frequency of each seizure type during the month just before the evaluation, seizure severity, side effects and quality of life were recorded. Results: In four of five patients, overall seizure frequency was reduced >50% after VNS treatment. The seizure types that showed a >50% reduction in frequency were auras, focal clonic, generalized tonic clonic seizures, astatic, versive, hypomotor, generalized tonic and generalized clonic seizures according to Luders’ classification. In two patients, as major convulsive seizures were reduced in number after VNS treatment, dialeptic seizures (non-convulsive seizure with lapse of consciousness) gradually appeared. In one patient without significant seizure reduction, quick recovery from postictal periods after generalized tonic seizure was seen after treatment. In one patient with generalized epilepsy, improvement of cognitive function was reported by his guardians. After VNS, the number of antiepileptic drugs was reduced from three to one in one patient. No significant adverse effects were noted in any patients. Conclusions: Our results suggest that VNS is well tolerated in young patients with intractable epilepsies and it may be an important non-pharmacologic treatment option for children with severe epilepsies who cannot tolerate medical therapy and/or are not candidates for epilepsy surgery.
Hydrated Halloysite in Blue Hill Shale

Nodules of alunite and hydrated halloysite occur in the upper part of the Cretaceous Blue Hill shale at three localities in west-central Kansas. They have formed at the contact of septarian concretions with the shale and are associated with gypsum. The nodules are judged to have been formed by the action of sulfuric acid from pyrite on the potassium-bearing minerals of the Blue Hill shale, perhaps under special conditions of pH and Eh produced locally by the presence of septaria. The minerals were studied and identified by x-ray diffraction, thermal data, chemical analysis, and electron and light microscopy.
Multi-threading and one-sided communication in parallel LU factorization

Dense LU factorization has a high ratio of computation to communication and, as evidenced by the High Performance Linpack (HPL) benchmark, this property makes it scale well on most parallel machines. Nevertheless, the standard algorithm for this problem has non-trivial dependence patterns which limit parallelism, and local computations require large matrices in order to achieve good single processor performance. We present an alternative programming model for this type of problem, which combines UPC's global address space with lightweight multithreading. We introduce the concept of memory-constrained lookahead where the amount of concurrency managed by each processor is controlled by the amount of memory available. We implement novel techniques for steering the computation to optimize for high performance and demonstrate the scalability and portability of UPC with Teraflop level performance on some machines, comparing favourably to other state-of-the-art MPI codes.
Meta-Analysis that Conceals More than It Reveals: Comment on Storm Et Al. (2010).

Storm, Tressoldi, and Di Risio (2010) rely on meta-analyses to justify their claim that the evidence for psi is consistent and reliable. They manufacture apparent homogeneity and consistency by eliminating many outliers and combining databases whose combined effect sizes are not significantly different— even though these combined effect sizes consist of arbitrary and meaningless composites. At best, their study provides a recipe for conducting a replicable extrasensory perception experiment. This recipe includes following a design that employs the standard ganzfeld psi methodology and uses “selected” subjects. An experiment, having adequate power and that meets these criteria, has already been conducted and failed to produce evidence for psi. Parapsychology will achieve scientific acceptability only when it provides a positive theory with evidence based on independently replicable evidence. This is something it has yet to achieve after more than a century of trying.
The use of triphasic oral contraceptives in a continuous use regimen.

Abstract Objective The objective of this study was to describe the characteristics of and outcomes and side effects in patients using triphasic oral contraceptives (OCs) in a continuous use regimen. Methods A retrospective review of patient charts from four community-based physician practices was conducted. All patients had been using triphasic OCs in a continuous regimen (i.e., to prevent withdrawal bleeding) for a planned duration of at least three 28-day cycles. Data collected through retrospective chart abstraction included demographic and clinical indicators, duration of and reason for continuous triphasic OC use, prior OC history and side effect incidence and treatment. Results Forty-three patients meeting the inclusion criteria had data of sufficient quality to be included in all analyses. These patients represented 603 total cycles. Nearly half of the patients (49%) indicated that their primary reason for continuous OC use was personal preference rather than medical reasons. More than half of the patients (56%) had previously used triphasic OCs in a noncontinuous regimen; 24% had no prior OC experience. The median duration of continuous use was 237 days (including right-censored patients; range, 55–994). Of the 39% of patients who terminated continuous use, the most common reason given was the desire to become pregnant (35%). Sixty-one percent of the patients reported no side effects from continuous use. The most common side effect occurring beyond Day 21 of continuous use was breakthrough bleeding (reported in four patients). Survival analysis indicated that time on continuous triphasic use was positively related to parity >0 (p Conclusion The data suggest that successful continuous use is feasible with triphasic OCs, with few adverse side effects.
Physician interactions with electronic health records in primary care

Objective: It is essential to design technologies and systems that promote appropriate interactions between physicians and patients. This study explored how physicians interact with Electronic Heal...
Poincaré: Mathematics & Logic & Intuition

Poincar6 often insisted existence in mathematics means logical con- sistency, and formal logic ia the sole guarantor of rigor. The paper joins this to his view of intuition and his own mathematics. It looks at predicativity and the infinity Poincar^'s early endorsement of the axiom of choice, and Cantor's set theory versus Zermelo's axioms. PoincarS discussed constructivism sympa- thetically only once, a few months before his death, and conspicuously avoided committing himself. We end with Poincare' on Couturat, Russell, and Hilbert.
Cost-effectiveness of prophylactic indomethacin in very-low-birth-weight infants.

OBJECTIVE:To perform cost-effectiveness analysis to facilitate the decision-making process surrounding use of indomethacin in preterm infants to lower the incidence of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), and death.METHODS:A MEDLINE literature search from 1966 to July 2000 was performed to identify relevant randomized, controlled trials (RCTs), as well as cohort and retrospective case—control studies. A decision tree was built representing the choice to use or not use indomethacin, and the potential outcome costs. Probabilities of being in each chance node were obtained from this search. Where data probabilities were not clear, a sensitivity analysis was conducted.RESULTS:There was no difference in the expected survival per year; however, there was a significant difference when effectiveness was measured as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), resulting in 11 and 10 years for the indomethacin and control groups, respectively. The indomethacin treatment cost was $95 157 and th...
Cycle time reduction at Motorola's ACT fab

This paper deals with the application of theory of constraints (TOC) and simulation to fab cycle time reduction at Motorola's Advanced Custom Technologies (ACT) fab. The cycle time crossfunctional team with the goal of transferring technology rapidly, keeping in mind customer satisfaction, underwent training in the basic theory of constraints, performed benchmarking, developed custom cycle time reports and developed techniques to measure theoretical cycle time and used multiples of theoretical cycle time as a basis to compare the performance of the wafer fab's actual cycle time (this metric is used in addition to the other fab metrics like, Turns/WIP for measuring the fab performance). Since ACT is a development fab, provision was made in the study, to include varied product mix, reentrant flows, optimized WIP, a typical hold in the process, etc. Engineering judgments coupled with simulation techniques were used to identify the constraints and these constraints were classified as physical and procedural and were treated accordingly by the team. The team evaluated each constraints and devised solutions based on TOC to reduce the fab cycle time.
Subspace separation method for ISAR imaging using the MUSIC algorithm

This paper presents a method for subspace dimension estimation which is critical for accurate ISAR image construction using the MUSIC method. The proposed method examines the distribution of correlation matrix eigenvalues after various amount of spatial smoothing to derive an ideal amount of spatial smoothing and the corresponding eigenvalue threshold. When used to separate the signal and noise subspaces, this eigenvalue threshold provides an accurate estimate of the number of scattering centers on the target. The proposed method is tested with simulated ISAR data and compared with a fixed-threshold method. Accuracy over SNR and number of scatterers is presented as well as example images.
Mortgage Rates and American Capital Market Development in the Late Nineteenth Century

Substantial regional differentials in mortgage rates persisted throughout the postbellum period. I find that these differentials reflected not only variations in lending risk, but also the costs incurred in transferring funds between markets and unexplained regional premia. The results are consistent with the traditional interpretation that capital markets were at least partially segmented throughout the late nineteenth century. The effects on home and farm mortgage rates in the South and West were substantial and suggest that market segmentation could have had a substantial impact on the regional pattern of urbanization as well as agricultural development.
Reduced Sensitivity in Monilinia fructicola Field Isolates from South Carolina and Georgia to Respiration Inhibitor Fungicides.

ABSTRACTQuinone outside inhibitor (QoI) and succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SdhI) fungicides are respiration inhibitors (RIs) used for preharvest control of brown rot of stone fruit. Both chemical classes are site-specific and, thus, prone to resistance development. Between 2006 and 2008, 157 isolates of Monilinia fructicola collected from multiple peach and nectarine orchards with or without RI spray history in South Carolina and Georgia were characterized based upon conidial germination and mycelial growth inhibition for their sensitivity to QoI fungicides azoxystrobin and pyraclostrobin, SdhI fungicide boscalid, and a mixture of pyraclostrobin + boscalid. There was no significant difference (P = 0.05) between EC50 values for inhibition of conidial germination versus mycelial growth. The mean EC50 values based upon mycelial growth tests for 25 isolates from an orchard without RI-spray history were 0.15, 0.06, 2.23, and 0.09 μg/ml for azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, boscalid, and pyraclostrobin + boscal...
Design and implementation of a multi-sensor robot system for printed circuit board insertion

The authors present the design and implementation of a robot system equipped with multiple sensors. The robotic assembly system couples the task sequence of the robot with information from different sensors, enabling the system to handle uncertainties encountered during task execution. The target task involves the insertion of a printed circuit board into a card cage. The sensors used are an overhead three-dimensional vision system, a fingertip cross-fire sensor, and a six-degree-of-freedom force/torque sensor. The vision system is used to locate the printed circuit boards and the insertion slots. Information provided by the cross-fire sensor is used to complement the information from the vision system in order to obtain a proper grasping location on the printed circuit board. A fuzzy-logic-based system is used to interpret the forces and torques generated by the force/torque sensor during the insertion process. Using a fuzzy controller, an experiment is presented which successfully inserts printed circuit boards into target insertion slots. The repeated success of this assembly task over many trials verifies the modeling and controller assumptions made by fuzzy set theory. >
Three-course control laboratory sequence

A three-course laboratory sequence in systems and control in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Ohio State University is presented. Some specific experiments are outlined from two of the courses, which are intended for seniors and graduate students. Through these courses and associated lectures, students are exposed to many aspects of sensing, actuation, and the implementation issues of real control systems. >
Combined lung volume reduction and mitral valve reconstruction

Combined lung volume reduction and mitral valve reconstruction was performed in a 66-year-old man with end-stage emphysema and severe mitral regurgitation. Quality of life, pulmonary function, 6-minute walk, echocardiographic degree of mitral regurgitation, and New York Heart Association heart failure classification all improved substantially. A lung volume reduction operation can safely be combined with complex cardiac operations for patients with disabling dyspnea of a multifactorial nature.
Copepoda (Siphonostomatoida) from Pacific hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, including Dirivultus spinigulatus sp. nov. in Papua New Guinea

Dirivultus spinigulatus sp. nov. (Copepoda: Siphonostomatoida) is described from vestimentiferans at a deep-water hydrothermal site near Lihir Island in the South Pacific. The species is characterized by several features: sexual dimorphism in the second segment of the antennule, the rostrum with lateral spines, the oral cone with four conspicuous spines, the mandible without palp, the maxilla without an axillary seta, the endopod of leg 1 with segments 1 and 2 partly fused, and leg 5 in the female represented by a conspicuous ventrally located spine but in the male by a free segment having setae. A key is included to the 11 genera of the family Dirivultidae, whose members are endemic to hydrothermal vents and cold seeps.
A Homogeneous Architecture for Power Policy Integration in Operating Systems

A significant volume of research has concentrated on operating system (OS)-directed power management. The primary focus of previous research has been the development of better policies. In this paper, we provide evidence that one policy may outperform another under different conditions. Hence, it is difficult, or even impossible, to design the "best" policy for all computers. We explain how to select the best policies at runtime without user or administrator intervention by using a software framework called the homogeneous architecture for power policy integration (HAPPI). This architecture is portable across different platforms running Linux. HAPPI specifies common requirements for policies and provides an interface to simplify the implementation of policies in a commodity OS. Our approach allows these policies to be compared simultaneously to select the best policy among a set of distinct policies at runtime. Experimental results indicate that HAPPI achieves energy savings within 4 percent of the best individual policy for each device in several computing systems without a priori knowledge of workloads.
Influence of military land uses on soil carbon dynamics in forest ecosystems of Georgia, USA

Soil organic carbon (C) dynamics have been used to assess sustainable land managements in forest ecosystems. Impact, defined as intensive forms of land use that affect the soil function, can change C quantity and quality in soils, leading to a progressive degradation of the ecosystems. Soil CO2 effluxes were studied in five transects located at the Fort Benning military reservation in west-central Georgia, USA. Transects were located in upland and bottomland sites with low, moderate, and high level of disturbance due to military training. Water-extractable C, microbial biomass C, and total C and N were measured at each point along the transects. Soil CO2 effluxes were strongly related to the level of disturbance. Low-impact sites exhibited higher CO2 efflux compared to high-impact areas. Similarly, total C, total N, microbial biomass C and labile C were also affected by the intensity of military training. Soil C parameters were significantly and positively correlated to CO2 efflux. Results indicated that parameters related to soil C dynamics such as CO2 efflux can be potentially used as indicators of the impacts of military training in forest ecosystems.
MOMENT COMPUTATION IN SHIFT INVARIANT SPACES

An algorithm is given for the computation of moments of f E S, where S is either a principal h-shift invariant space or S is a finitely generated hshift invariant space. An error estimate for the rate of convergence of our scheme is also presented. In so doing, we obtain a result for computing inner products in these spaces. As corollaries, we derive Marsden-type identities for principal h-shift invariant spaces and finitely generated hshift invariant spaces. Applications to wavelet/multiwavelet spaces are presented.
Abraham ("Abe") Guz: a life devoted to breathing and breathlessness.

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Abe Guz passed away on April 11, 2014 at the age of 84. Abe Guz was Professor of Medicine at the Charing Cross Hospital Medical School in London, UK between 1973 and 1982, and subsequently became Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine of the joint Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, University of London until September 1994. He will be remembered for his contribution to our understanding of breathing control and of breathlessness. Abe Guz was born in 1929 in East London to Russian Jewish parents who came to England in the 1920s. In 1947, he attended Charing Cross Hospital Medical School where he was a brilliant student, winning the Gold Medal of the School and graduating with the highest honours in medicine and surgery. After serving in the army for 2 years as part of National Service as Chief Medical Officer in Germany, Abe returned to London as a senior house officer at the Hammersmith Hospital. Like many budding clinical scientists of the time, he shortly left for the USA to become a Research Fellow at Harvard University and then Senior Fellow at the Cardiovascular Research Institute (CVRI), University of California San Francisco. He trained under Julius Comroe whom he said taught him to “think” and whom he described as someone who had “the great facility of summarising what was not known”. At the CVRI, he collaborated with Julien Hoffman, a paediatric cardiologist, to develop methods of measuring blood flow and cardiac output. Abe returned to the UK in 1961, as Assistant Lecturer in the newly created Department …
Regionalism, Rotten Boroughs, Race, and Realignment: The Seventeenth Amendment and the Politics of Representation

Struggles, both political and intellectual, over electoral structures – the legal arrangements, to borrow from Harold Lasswell, of who gets to vote for what, when, and how – are probably as old as democracy. Suffrage, its expansion and contraction, is no doubt the most prominent historical feature in the politics and study of electoral structures. But the “how” and “for what” of voting have also played crucial, though perhaps less understood, roles in the politics of democratization. However important the right of suffrage, political power is also allocated by both the “space,” for lack of a better word, that a vote occupies and affects (for example, districts or at-large) and the object of the vote (for example, representation or a referendum). Electoral structures are the quintessential “mobilization of bias.”E.E. Schattschneider, The Semisovereign People: a Realist's View of Democracy in America (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960). See also, Benjamin Ginsberg, The Consequences of Consent: Elections, Citizen Control, and Popular Acquiescence (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1982). And they remain, in this era of universal suffrage, an ongoing object of contention even in stable regimes such as the United States.Indeed, few issues have such a consistent legal and political presence at all levels of American government. Most recently, the controversy over majority-minority districts has produced a significant political struggle involving state governments, Congress, the executive branch, and the courts, as well as a rapidly expanding scholarly debate over the rights and wrongs, and causes and effects of forms of minority representation: Abigail M. Thernstrom, Whose Votes Count?: Affirmative Action and Minority Voting Rights (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987); Lani Guinier, The Tyranny of the Majority (New York: Free Press, 1994); Carol M. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1995); David Lublin, The Paradox of Representation: Racial Gerrymandering and Minority Interests in Congress (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997).
A game-theoretic analysis of the ESP game

“Games with a Purpose” are interactive games that users play because they are fun, with the added benefit that the outcome of play is useful work. The ESP game, developed byy von Ahn and Dabbish [2004], is an example of such a game devised to label images on the web. Since labeling images is a hard problem for computer vision algorithms and can be tedious and time-consuming for humans, the ESP game provides humans with incentive to do useful work by being enjoyable to play. We present a simple game-theoretic model of the ESP game and characterize the equilibrium behavior in our model. Our equilibrium analysis supports the fact that users appear to coordinate on low effort words. We provide an alternate model of user preferences, modeling a change that could be induced through a different scoring method, and show that equilibrium behavior in this model coordinates on high-effort words. We also give sufficient conditions for coordinating on high-effort words to be a Bayesian-Nash equilibrium. Our results suggest the possibility of formal incentive design in achieving desirable system-wide outcomes for the purpose of human computation, complementing existing considerations of robustness against cheating and human factors.
On the Diffusion of Oxygen Dimer in a Silicon Crystal

We have made MINDO/3 calculations on a 47 silicon atom molecular cluster to model the diffusion of oxygen in silicon crystal. For interstitial oxygen (O1), we compute an activation energy for diffusion of 2.49 ev. We compute a binding energy of 0.1 ev. when two isolated interstitial oxygen atoms bond to a common silicon atom of the lattice. This complex (O2) is computed to move through the lattice with an activation energy of 1.36 ev. The diffusion path is through a four-member ring intermediate structure. We conclude that the diffusion constant for (O2) is eight orders of magnitude greater than that of (O1).
APPARATUS FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF QUANTUM YIELDS AND RATES OF PHOTOCHEMICAL REACTIONS

— A versatile irradiation apparatus for the quantitative study of photochemical reactions is described, which incorporates a commercial monochromator and utilizes a calibrated thermopile for the continuous measurement of light absorption during irradiation. The operating characteristics are discussed, and illustrative applications are cited. Using this apparatus, the quantum yield of the potassium ferrioxalate actinometer at 366 nm and 25dC was determined as 1.27 ± 0.01 for a 6.0 times 10-3 M solution, in excellent agreement with reported values of 1.26.
The Epistemology of Human Rights

Human rights are rights which all persons equally have simply insofar as they are human. But are there any such rights? How, if at all, do we know that there are?It is with this question of knowledge, and the related question of existence, that I want to deal in this paper.1. CONCEPTUAL QUESTIONSThe attempt to answer each of these questions, however, at once raises further, more directly conceptual questions. In what sense may human rights be said to exist? What does it mean to say that there are such rights or that persons have them? This question, in turn, raises a question about the nature of human rights. What is the meaning of the expression “human rights”?Within the limits of the present paper I cannot hope to deal adequately with the controversial issues raised by these conceptual questions. But we may make at least a relevant beginning by noting that, in terms of Hohfeld's famous classification of four different kinds of rights, the human rights are primarily claim-rights, in that they entail correlative duties of other persons or groups to act or to refrain from acting in ways required for the right-holders' having that to which they have rights.It will help our understanding of this and other aspects of human rights if we note that the full structure of a claim-right is given by the following formula:A has a right to X against B by virtue of Y.There are five main elements here: first, the Subject (A) of the right, the person or persons who have the right; second, the Nature of the right; third, the Object (X) of the right, what it is a right to; fourth, the Respondent (B) of the right, the person or persons who have the correlative duty; fifth, the Justifying Basis or Ground (Y) of the right.
Bending Analysis of Parabolic Velaroidal Shells

This paper deals with the linear analysis of parabolic velaroidal shell on rectangular base subjected to a uniform normal pressure. Vlassov's governing differential equations for thin shallow shells with variable curvatures in terms of displacements have been employed for the analysis. The integral equation technique is used for the numerical solution of these differential equations. A computer program has been developed for the analysis of the shell. This program gives deflections and stress resultants at various points in the shell under uniformly distributed loads. The present results are compared with Brebbia's experimental data and with other available numerical results. In all these comparisons, a good agreement is achieved.
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS)

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is generally regarded as an important and key technique for the surface characterization and analysis of biomedical polymers.(1) This technique, also called ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis), provides a total elemental analysis, except for hydrogen and helium, of the top 10–200 A (depending on the sample and instrumental conditions) of any solid surface which is vacuum stable or can be made vacuum stable by cooling. Chemical bonding information is also provided. Of all the presently available instrumental techniques for surface analysis, XPS is generally regarded as being the most quantitative, the most readily interpretable, and the most informative with regard to chemical information. For these reasons it has been highly recommended and used by biomedical researchers for the analysis of medical polymers. The basic advantages and disadvantages of the technique are given in Table 1. Although the method requires relatively sophisticated instrumentation, many universities, industrial R and D groups, and commercial service laboratories provide access to their instruments on a collaborative or fee for service basis.