cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of EGR on Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine Emissions Characterized With Laser-Induced Incandescence

The regulations governing diesel engine particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx ) emissions are becoming increasingly stringent. New instrumentation is urgently needed to make accurate and precise measurements of PM emissions from low-emitting engines and emission control systems in a reasonable amount of time. Laser-induced incandescence (LII) is a technique for making temporally resolved measurements of soot volume fraction. LII offers real-time particulate concentration measurements over several orders of magnitude, and adds desirable information about particulate size and surface area. In this study, the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system of a heavy-duty diesel engine was tuned at eight speed/load conditions using quantitative LII. Soot concentrations measured by LII correlated strongly with measurements taken using the standard gravimetric technique and an AVL smoke meter.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Quality of life in patients diagnosed with primary hepatocellular carcinoma: Hepatic arterial infusion of Cisplatin versus 90‐Yttrium microspheres (Therasphere®)

Background. The aims of the study were to test the difference in health-related quality (HRQL) of life and survival in patients diagnosed with primary hepatocellular carcionma (HCC) and treated with either hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) of Cisplatin or 90-Yttrium microspheres (Therasphere®). Method. The design of the study was a non-randomized parallel cohort study. Twenty-eight patients participated in the present study. HRQL was assessed by administration of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Hepatobiliary. Survival was measured using Kaplan Meier methods. Results. The results of present study suggest treatment with Therasphere® had an advantage in regard to HRQL and survival when compared to Cisplatin. At 3-month follow-up, patients who were treated with Therasphere® had a higher level of functional well-being as well as overall quality of life when compared to patients treated with Cisplatin. At 6-month follow-up patients (treated with Therasphere®) continued to have better functional well-being when compared to patients being treated with HAI of Cisplatin. At 6-month follow-up, survival was found to be similar for patients treated with Therasphere® when compared to patients being treated with Cisplatin. Conclusions. Preliminary data suggest that treatment with Therasphere® has a modest advantage in regard to HRQL when compared patients treated with HAI of Cisplatin. Future research with Therasphere®, that includes a larger sample size and longer follow-up, is necessary to make definitive conclusions regarding the efficacy and effect on HRQL. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Impact of land surface processes on the South American warm season climate

The present study demonstrates that (1) the simulation of the South American warm season (December–February) climate by an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) is sensitive to the representation of land surface processes, (2) the sensitivity is not confined to the “hot spot” in Amazonia, and (3) upgrading the representation of those processes can produce a significant improvement in AGCM performance. The reasons for sensitivity and higher success are investigated based on comparisons between observational datasets and simulations by the AGCM coupled to either a simple land scheme that specifies soil moisture availability or to the Simplified Simple Biosphere Model (SSiB) that allows for consideration of soil and vegetation biophysical process. The context for the study is the UCLA AGCM. The most notable simulation improvements are along the lee of the Andes in the lower troposphere, where poleward flow transports abundant moisture from the Amazon basin to high latitudes, and in the monsoon region where the intensity and pattern of precipitation and upper level ice water content are more realistic. It is argued that a better depiction of the Chaco Low, which is controlled by local effects of land surface processes, decisively contributes to the superior model performance with low-level flows in central South America. The better representation of the atmospheric column static stability and large-scale moisture convergence in tropical South America contribute to more realistic precipitation over the monsoon region. The overall simulation improvement is, therefore, due to a combination of different regional processes. This finding is supported by idealized AGCM experiments.
The Gorenstein Injective Envelope of the Residue Field of a Local Ring

Abstract Let R be a commutative Noetherian local Gorenstein ring with residue field k. We show that G(k), the Gorenstein injective envelope of k, is an artinian R-module, and we compute G(k) in the case where R = k[[S]] is a semigroup ring and S is symmetric. We also show that a certain subring of the endomorphism ring of G(k) is a complete local (but possibly non-commutative) ring.
A microfabricated platform for establishing oxygen gradients in 3-D constructs

Oxygen gradients are increasingly implicated in a number of biological processes, including stem cell differentiation and cancer metastasis. Unfortunately, the current in vitro tools designed to mimic conditions found in vivo lack application flexibility, simplicity in operation, and precise spatial control that most researchers require for widespread dissemination. The novel microfluidic-based device presented here addresses all the above concerns, offering a simple platform for enhanced control over the oxygen microenvironment exposed to three-dimensional cell-seeded constructs. The device utilizes an oxygen diffusion membrane approach to establish a gradient across a construct sandwiched between two continually perfused microfluidic networks. The device is capable of forming steady-state gradients at both the conditions tested—0 % to 5 % O2 and 0 % to 21 % O2—but a wide variety of profiles within the construct are possible. Cell viability with two model cell lines was also tested, with no adverse effects relative to the control.
Surface Raman characterization of cinchonidine-modified platinum in ethanol: effects of liquid-phase concentration and co-adsorbed hydrogen

Abstract Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy has been utilized to probe the adsorption of the chiral modifier cinchonidine on polycrystalline platinum. Surfaces were prepared by electrodeposition of ultrathin platinum films onto roughened gold, which provided stable and intense SERS activity for performing these studies. The vibrational properties of adsorbed cinchonidine on platinum in ethanol solutions at 25 °C have been probed in situ. Based on the appearance and trends in the strong ring breathing mode at 1357 cm −1 , the modifier is strongly and irreversibly adsorbed through the quinoline portion of cinchonidine by π-bonding with the Pt surface. Furthermore, analysis of both in-plane and out-of-plane vibrations suggests that the aromatic group of cinchonidine is tilted with respect to the surface. The degree of tilt appears to increase as concentration increases over the range of cinchonidine liquid-phase concentrations examined here (0.03–1.2 mM). The presence of an H-abstracted α-quinolyl species is also tentatively suggested by the appearance of a downshifted aromatic CC stretching band not associated with adsorbed cinchonidine. These findings are largely consistent with what has been observed previously for cinchonidine adsorption on Pt from different solvents using in situ infrared spectroscopy. Addition of hydrogen into the system results in enhanced Raman scattering from adsorbed cinchonidine. Comparisons with SERS measurements of 10,11-dihydrocinchonidine adsorption in ethanol suggest that the H 2 -induced changes likely result from hydrogenation of the vinyl group on cinchonidine. The data suggest a more flat orientation of this species, resulting from increased interaction of the aromatic ring structure with the surface. The results are consistent with kinetic studies of cinchonidine hydrogenation, which have implied much stronger adsorption of 10,11-dihydrocinchonidine as compared with cinchonidine.
Genetic and environmental influences on dental caries in the Osborne-Mendel and the NIH Black rat.

Abstract In these studies the Osborne-Mendel (O-M) rat has shown a significantly higher level of caries activity than the NIH Black rat (BR) whether caged with their own kind, or caged with O-M animals during the caries test period. The patterns of caries activity were also different in that activity in the BR was predominantly in the sulci, while activity in the O-M was divided between the sulci and the smooth surfaces. The hybrid animals exposed to an O-M mother or an O-M cage mate during the test period, developed somewhat more activity on the smooth surfaces than those not exposed. However, the level of caries activity of all hybrid animals was nearer that of the BR than the O-M. The causative factors for these differences have not been determined.
Quantitative Genetics Model as the Unifying Model for Defining Genomic Relationship and Inbreeding Coefficient

The traditional quantitative genetics model was used as the unifying approach to derive six existing and new definitions of genomic additive and dominance relationships. The theoretical differences of these definitions were in the assumptions of equal SNP effects (equivalent to across-SNP standardization), equal SNP variances (equivalent to within-SNP standardization), and expected or sample SNP additive and dominance variances. The six definitions of genomic additive and dominance relationships on average were consistent with the pedigree relationships, but had individual genomic specificity and large variations not observed from pedigree relationships. These large variations may allow finding least related genomes even within the same family for minimizing genomic relatedness among breeding individuals. The six definitions of genomic relationships generally had similar numerical results in genomic best linear unbiased predictions of additive effects (GBLUP) and similar genomic REML (GREML) estimates of additive heritability. Predicted SNP dominance effects and GREML estimates of dominance heritability were similar within definitions assuming equal SNP effects or within definitions assuming equal SNP variance, but had differences between these two groups of definitions. We proposed a new measure of genomic inbreeding coefficient based on parental genomic co-ancestry coefficient and genomic additive correlation as a genomic approach for predicting offspring inbreeding level. This genomic inbreeding coefficient had the highest correlation with pedigree inbreeding coefficient among the four methods evaluated for calculating genomic inbreeding coefficient in a Holstein sample and a swine sample.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘The Zen of Venn’” by Priestley Toulmin]

While Venn diagrams, “strictly speaking,” may not have been designed for the “peritechnical literature” they certainly provide a symbolic framework for integrating concepts beyond the context of “mathematically defined objects.” It is interesting that Toulmin was offended and compelled to protest the application of Venn diagrams that are not bound by his “valid methodology.” Such disciplinary constraints on creativity appear contrary to the original writings of John Venn who esteemed interdisciplinary approaches and argued fiercely against those who objected to his introducing mathematical symbols into logic [Venn, 1894]. “Symbolic Logic” itself was crafted with a view toward a general utility “in the solution of complicated problems” [Venn, 1894].
DC telluric fields in three dimensions: A refined finite‐difference simulation using local integral forms

A new finite‐difference form is developed for simulating the distortion of telluric fields by 3-D azimuthally symmetric structures. The technique involves a sequence of local integrations of the electric current density crossing closed surfaces surrounding each mesh node. The resulting expressions, which are accurate to second degree everywhere, correctly describe first‐order discontinuities in the electric field normal to electrical discontinuities in the interior of the model. Moreover, the new form (a nine‐point finite‐difference operator) accounts for cross‐derivative (e.g., ∂2U/∂r∂z) effects in the region about each node, which can lead to significantly improved accuracy near sharp, localized discontinuities where the anomalous field decays as 1/R2 or 1/R3 with distance. Numerical simulations are compared with analytical solutions for two simple models: (1) a circular disk‐shaped heterogeneity in a thin sheet; and (2) a sphere imbedded in a homogeneous, infinite medium. The comparison between the ana...
Changing convention in combination oral contraceptives: estradiol and nomegestrol acetate in a monophasic 24/4 regimen

Initial oral contraceptive regimens were characterised by high doses of ethinylestradiol (EE) and a progestogen in a 21-day regimen that either included seven additional hormone-free tablets or simply the 21 days of combination hormonal tablets. These regimens were developed to ensure high contraceptive effectiveness, regular and predictable withdrawal bleeding episodes to mimic a menstrual cycle, and minimal unscheduled vaginal bleeding. However, these regimens were associated with adverse tolerability and safety issues resulting from the dose and characteristics of their hormonal components. Attempts to ameliorate these adverse issues included the development of lower-dose EE regimens, the incorporation of new progestogens, multiphasic regimens, and reduced hormone-free interval regimens. However, the EE component has remained a constant until the recent approval of combination oral contraceptives with an estrogen component other than EE. The development and introduction of an estradiol-based oral contraceptive regimen is presented in this review.
Effects of thiamine deficiency on cerebral and visceral protein synthesis.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of diet-induced thiamine deficiency on tissue protein synthesis. [14C]valine incorporation into total protein of cortex, brainstem, cerebellum and subcortical structures of thiamine-deficient (TD) rats with neurological dysfunction was significantly depressed (P
The Sulphide-Binding Protein in the Blood of the Vestimentiferan Tube-Worm, Riftia Pachyptila, is the Extracellular Haemoglobin

The sulphide-binding protein that occurs in high concentrations in the vascular blood and coelomic fluid of the hydrothermal vent tube-worm Riftia pachyptila Jones is the haemoglobin. Sulphide binding does not occur at the oxygen-binding sites of the haem, but may occur via thiol-disulphide exchange at the interchain disulphide bridges on the macromolecule. We have confirmed the report that vascular blood is heterogeneous for two haemoglobins (FI and FII) that are different in M r, but we conclude that the coelomic fluid is homogeneous for the lower M r haemoglobin FII, in the intact, living animal. These two haemoglobins occur naturally in the living animals, and FII is not a dissociation product of the higher M r FI. The sulphide-binding capacities of the two haemoglobin species differ by about a factor of two. Consequently, the vascular blood and the coelomic fluid also have different sulphide-binding capacities. These differences in sulphide-binding capacity may have important ramifications for the physiology of this unusual animal.
Geochemical evolution of produced waters from hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale, northern Appalachian Basin: A multivariate compositional data analysis approach

Abstract Multivariate compositional data analysis methods were used to investigate geochemical data for water injected during hydraulic fracturing and for water produced from 19 Marcellus Shale gas wells in the northern Appalachian Basin. The data were originally published as part of an industry report. The analysis was adapted to consider the compositional nature of the data and avoid potentially spurious correlations present in raw concentration data through the application of log-ratio transformations. Techniques such as robust variation arrays, robust principal component analysis, and relative variation plots were applied to log-ratio transformed data. Results from this battery of multivariate tools indicate that two primary processes affect the chemical evolution of the water returned to the surface during the first 90 days of production: mixing of injected water with formation brines of evaporated paleoseawater origin and injection of sulfate-rich water during hydraulic fracturing may stimulate sulfate reduction at some sites. Spatial variability in sulfate/alkalinity ratios appears to influence variations in geochemical controls on strontium versus barium with elevated proportions of strontium being found in more bicarbonate-poor environments, while barium is a larger proportion in sulfate-poor areas. Comparison of results using a log-ratio approach versus the more common analysis of concentration data reveals both similarities and some marked differences in the resulting interpretations. Results from this work are important in terms of both demonstrating methods to avoid mathematical inconsistencies from using raw brine geochemical data and to further investigate the geochemical controls on produced waters generated from shale gas reservoirs.
The Structure of Events and Event Representations: A Developmental Analysis

In this study, we investigated how the temporal order and variability of events influence 3- and 5-year-old children's developing event representations. Children participated in 3 different events: a logical-invariant (making fundough), a logical-variable (shape collage), and an arbitrary-invariant (sand play) event. At each age, half of the children experienced the events once prior to recalling the events both verbally and behaviorally; the other half experienced the events 4 times, recalled the events verbally after each experience, and behaviorally reenacted the events only after the last experience. Children verbally recalled more and organized their recall better for the logical events than for the arbitrary event, and these differences remained stable with increasing experience. The sequencing of behavioral recall was also more accurate for the logical events than for the arbitrary event across age and condition, but amount of recall did not differ, with one exception. 3-year-old children in the single experience condition recalled less about the variable event than the invariant events. The results indicate that both the structure of the event and children's representational capabilities influence children's developing representations of events.
The oral microbiome in health and disease and the potential impact on personalized dental medicine

Every human body contains a personalized microbiome that is essential to maintaining health but capable of eliciting disease. The oral microbiome is particularly imperative to health because it can cause both oral and systemic disease. The oral microbiome rests within biofilms throughout the oral cavity, forming an ecosystem that maintains health when in equilibrium. However, certain ecological shifts in the microbiome allow pathogens to manifest and cause disease. Severe forms of oral disease may result in systemic disease at different body sites. Microbiomics and metagenomics are two fields of research that have emerged to identify the presence of specific microbes in the body and understand the nature of the microbiome activity during both health and disease. The analysis of the microbiome and its genomes will pave the way for more effective therapeutic and diagnostic techniques and, ultimately, contribute to the development of personalized medicine and personalized dental medicine.
Windowing technique in frequency-domain simulation

The verification of a number of mixed-technology and mixed-signal design (RF circuits, for instance) often requires frequency domain simulations of nonlinear systems in the presence of signals that are best characterized as having continuous frequency spectra. This paper describes a new frequency-domain simulation algorithm for the computation of the response of nonlinear systems to band-limited signals with continuous spectra. The algorithm is based on an orthogonal series expansion of the signals in the frequency domain, and does not rely on a linearization of the system equations. Signal spectra are obtained from the solution of a system of nonlinear algebraic equations, and windowing techniques are used to eliminate the Gibbs phenomenon and to improve the spectral accuracy of the results, fir this purpose, the performance of a number of windows is compared on the basis of a newly introduced characteristic function, the windowing error kernel. Numerical results obtained from the simulation of an optical amplifier that are representative of the algorithm's performance are presented.
Isolated complete jejunal transection following abdominal blunt trauma with delayed presentation.

In blunt trauma, diagnosis of small bowel injury is infrequent and accounts for less than 1.1% of blunt trauma admissions. Of those, only 0.3% are perforated.1 Isolated transection of the jejunum following blunt abdominal trauma has rarely been reported in literature.2,3 Most cases of small bowel perforations after blunt trauma occur as a result of motor vehicle crashes and falls from heights and are often associated with multiple injuries.4 This is a report of a 26 year-old female that presented 14 h after being involved in a motor vehicle crash and was found to have complete transection of her proximal jejunum with underlying mesenteric injury. Following the crash, the patient extricated herself from the vehicle, went home, and fell asleep with no significant complaints initially reported. She woke up hours later with severe abdominal pain and presented to our emergency department. CT was performed and revealed free fluid in the abdomen. Subsequently, an exploratory laparotomy was performed that revealed complete jejunal transection with underlying mesenteric injury. Isolated complete transection of the proximal jejunum should be considered in the evaluation of patients following blunt abdominal trauma, and presentation may be delayed up to 14 h. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of complete transection of the proximal small bowel following a motor vehicle crash with the longest delay in presentation reported in the literature.
Texas-Mexico border intervention by promotores for patients with type 2 diabetes.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a promotores-led diabetes self-management program by comparing the outcomes (knowledge, beliefs, and HbA1c level) of Mexican American patients with type 2 diabetes who received usual diabetic care in a wait-list control group to those who received self-management education and follow-up by promotores in consultation with clinic providers and staff.Methods This randomized control study compared the results of 63 patients who attended a promotores-led culturally sensitive diabetes self-management course at a commu- nity clinic with 68 patients in a wait-list, usual-care control group. Participants were Mexican Americans with type 2 diabetes who were patients at the clinic and at least 18 years of age. At baseline, 3 months, and 6 months, the Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (DKQ), Health Beliefs Questionnaire (HBQ), and HbA1c levels (drawn by the clinic laboratory) were collected.Results There was a significant improvement in the intervention gr...
Compact Modeling of Experimental n- and p-Channel FinFETs

The analytic potential model for symmetric double gate MOSFETs is verified and calibrated with experimental nand p-channel FinFET data over a wide range of gate lengths and bias regions. Quantum mechanical effects are incorporated in the model to reproduce the measured C-V characteristics. The long-channel mobility consists of both a phonon scattering term and a Coulomb scattering term with opposite field dependence. There is a slight mobility dependence on gate length due to the different strain effects in n-and p-channel FinFETs. The 2-D short-channel model has been validated in terms of the measured drain-induced barrier lowering (DIBL), threshold voltage rolloff, and subthreshold current slope of sub-100-nm nand p-channel FinFETs.
A World of Possibilities: An Examination of the Human Impact on the Earth as Portrayed in Environmentalist Rhetoric

This paper examines environmental rhetoric that creates a stark dichotomy between “old” and “new” Earth: Earth before and after human impact. It argues that, although it is designed to spur the public to action through fear, this rhetorical presentation implicitly leaves its audience with few avenues for productive intervention. This mixed message can frustrate the public, and the presentation can therefore undermine the environmentalist aim to rally the public around its cause.
Cooperative interactions between paired domain and homeodomain.

The Pax proteins are a family of transcriptional regulators involved in many developmental processes in all higher eukaryotes. They are characterized by the presence of a paired domain (PD), a bipartite DNA binding domain composed of two helix-turn-helix (HTH) motifs, the PAI and RED domains. The PD is also often associated with a homeodomain (HD) which is itself able to form homo- and hetero-dimers on DNA. Many of these proteins therefore contain three HTH motifs each able to recognize DNA. However, all PDs recognize highly related DNA sequences, and most HDs also recognize almost identical sites. We show here that different Pax proteins use multiple combinations of their HTHs to recognize several types of target sites. For instance, the Drosophila Paired protein can bind, in vitro, exclusively through its PAI domain, or through a dimer of its HD, or through cooperative interaction between PAI domain and HD. However, prd function in vivo requires the synergistic action of both the PAI domain and the HD. Pax proteins with only a PD appear to require both PAI and RED domains, while a Pax-6 isoform and a new Pax protein, Lune, may rely on the RED domain and HD. We propose a model by which Pax proteins recognize different target genes in vivo through various combinations of their DNA binding domains, thus expanding their recognition repertoire.
Abstract 151: The Effects of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on the Cerebral Vascular Wall

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a significant risk factor for stroke. However, little is known regarding how OSA affects the cerebrovascular wall. We hypothesized that (A) OSA will attenuate dilations of cerebral arteries by agonist-induced NO release from cerebrovascular endothelium and (B) OSA will upregulate endothelin-1 (ET-1)-mediated constrictions in cerebral arteries. Airway obstructions were induced by chronically implanting inflatable endotracheal obstruction devices (ODs). The ODs were remotely controlled by a computer to produce 30 apneas/hr (10 sec each) during 8 hrs of the sleep cycle in free-ranging rats. During apnea pO 2 decreased from 122±3 to 67±3 mm Hg; pCO 2 increased from 43±1 to 51±1 mm Hg; pH decreased from 7.46±0.00 to 7.38±0.01; and hemoglobin O 2 saturation decreased from 94±1 to 82±1 % (n=5 and p 2 agonist which stimulates NO production in the endothelium, were attenuated in cerebral arteries from OSA rats by 40% (n=5-8, P A and ET B , was increased ~20 fold in OSA arteries. EC 50 s for ET-1 constrictions in cerebral arteries from sham and OSA rats were 10.7 ± 4.3 nM and 0.5 ± 0.4 nM respectively (n=5-6, p=0.01). Constrictions to IRL-1620, a selective ET B agonist, were enhanced 11-fold in OSA compared to sham cerebral arteries (n=3-4, p B antagonist, BQ-788. We conclude that OSA produces pathological changes involving decreased endothelial-derived NO production and enhances constrictor responses to ET-1 as a result of ET B upregulation. Since blood pressures were similar in the OSA and sham rats, we conclude that cerebrovascular dysfunction can occur with OSA in the absence of coexisting hypertension.
Cromolyn sodium (disodium cromoglycate) prophylaxis.

Successful therapeutic application of cromolyn sodium prophylaxis depends on a correct etiologic diagnosis of asthma and on the ability to predict the clinical behavior of a patient by means of extended clinical observations and appropriate tests. Adequate preparation of each patient with intensive bronchodilator and, when necessary, corticosteroid therapy for “normalization” of pulmonary function are essential.
Separating information protection from resource management

Securing information in a computer system is becoming an intractable problem. Exacerbating the situation is the current paradigm of trusting an operating system for both security and resource management. One solution to this problem is to separate the role of protecting information from managing resources. This thesis studies the design and implementation of a system architecture called Software-Privacy Preserving Platform (SP3). 5P3 creates a new layer that is more privileged than the operating system and responsible for providing information secrecy to user applications. SP3 provides page-granular memory secrecy protection by augmenting memory paging and interrupt mechanisms of a computer system in such a way that physical memory pages for user applications are rendered encrypted to the operating system. The resulting 5P3 system therefore provides secrecy protection for the information contained in the memory of user applications. SP3 is implemented by modifying a hypervisor, which efficiently emulates the augmented semantics of paging and interrupt mechanism introduced by 5P3. The modified hypervisor employs a couple of optimization techniques to reduce the number of costly page-wide block cipher operations. In the page-frame replication technique, the hypervisor internally keeps both encrypted and decrypted images of a page and relies on shadow page table redirection to map the correct page. In the lazy synchronization technique, the needed synchronization between the replicated images of the page is deferred as long as possible so that the synchronization happens not when an image is modified, but when the other image is actually accessed. This thesis further explores the challenges and solutions in the new programming environment introduced by SP3. This thesis also presents an SP3-based digital rights-management solution that can protect both the copy-protected multimedia contents and a trusted multimedia player program without limiting the end-users' freedom. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates the feasibility of separating information protection from resource management in systems software. This separation greatly reduces the size and complexity of the trusted part for information protection, resulting in a more resilient system that can tolerate a compromise in the operating system.
Central Pattern Generator

It has been known for centuries that movements with a rhythmic structure of kinetic and/or kinematic variables can be produced in the absence of a similarly structured input from the brain. For example, a chicken with the head chopped off runs for some time and flaps wings. These rhythmic movements are obviously produced by the spinal cord, possibly as a result of interactions with feedback signals from peripheral receptors. Experimental studies in the twentieth century (see below) have also shown that a variety of rhythmic patterned outputs can be produced without sensory feedback, including actions such as locomotion, respiration, and whisking. Taken together, these observations suggest the existence of autonomous neural structures within the central nervous system able to produce patterned (in particular, rhythmic) activity. Such structures have been addressed as central pattern generators.
PRIVATIVE NEGATION IN THE PORT ROYAL LOGIC

In this paper I argue that negation in The Port Royal Logic is not a failed or incoherent approximation of Boolean complementation as maintained by Sylvain Auroux and Marc Dominicy, but is rather a version of privative negation from medieval logic, and that as such it has a perfectly coherent semantics. The discussion reviews the critiques of Auroux and Dominicy as well as the semantics of privative negation as found in Aristotle, Proclus, Ockham, Buridan, Descartes, and Arnauld.
Public Response to Bangladesh's 2007 Floods and Cyclone Sidr: A Comparison

Bangladesh experienced two successive floods and a tropical cyclone (Sidr) in 2007. At the time of these disasters, a non-party caretaker government (NCG), backed by the national army, was in power in Bangladesh. Although NCGs were in power at least twice before 2007, previous caretaker governments did not experience any major natural disasters during their tenure. This study compares the opinions of flood and cyclone survivors on three important components of the NCG's emergency response: disaster-relief efforts, provision of emergency medical care, and construction of temporary shelters. Primary data collected from six villages affected by the floods and/or the cyclone reveals that the NCG was unsuccessful in responding to the floods of 2007 but that its response to the cyclone was immediate and overwhelming. This contrasting pattern of emergency response by the NCG is explained, and the author concludes that a well-functioning democracy is necessary to respond adequately to the adverse consequences of ...
The effectiveness of telemedicine in the management of chronic heart disease - a systematic review.

ObjectiveThe primary objective of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of telemedicine in managing chronic heart disease patients concerning improvement in varied health attributes.DesignThis review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standard.SettingWe adopted a logical search process used in two main research databases, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and PubMed (MEDLINE). Four reviewers meticulously screened 151 abstracts to determine relevancy and significance to our research objectives. The final sample in the literature review consisted of 20 articles.Main outcome measuresWe looked for improved medical outcomes as the main outcome measure.ResultsOur results indicated that telemedicine is highly associated with the reduction in hospitalisations and readmissions (9 of 20 articles, 45%). The other significant attributes most commonly encountered were improved mortality and cost-effectiveness (both 40%) and...
Discussion: Foreign Market Prospects and Potentials

The papers by West and Sorenson relate to two of the most vexing current problems of international trade: (1) foreign supply and demand for agricultural products and related food needs of the developing world and (2) commercial agricultural trade policy in the Atlantic Community. I am to focus my remarks on Sorenson's paper. However, I want to congratulate West and his colleagues for continuing the difficult, painstaking estimation of world food budgets and for translating these estimates into projections of U.S. agricultural trade. West's estimate of 1970 U.S. com-
Statistical Methodology for Large Astronomical Surveys

Multiwavelength surveys present a variety of challenging statistical problems: raw data processing, source identification, source characterization and classification, and interrelations between multiwavelength properties. For these last two issues, we discuss the applicability of standard and new multivariate statistical techniques. Traditional methods such as ANOVA, principal components analysis, cluster analysis, and tests for multivariate linear hypotheses are underutilized in astronomy and can be very helpful. Newer statistical methods such as projection pursuit, multivariate splines, and visualization tools such as XGobi are briefly introduced. However, multivariate databases from astronomical surveys present significant challenges to the statistical community. These include treatments of heteroscedastic measurement errors, censoring and truncation due to flux limits, and parameter estimation for nonlinear astrophysical models.
A novel characterization of fatigue crack growth behavior in metallic materials: The physical relationship between the uncracked section size and the remaining fatigue life

Abstract A physically based universal functional is shown to uniquely correlate the fatigue crack growth data of metals in high-cycle fatigue, generated at various stress ratios, extremely well. The functional is proposed based on the hypothesis that at any stage during fatigue, the remaining fraction of fatigue cycles required for final fracture is proportional to the fractional uncracked section size that remains to be severed by the fatigue crack. The basis for such a hypothesis is that the microscopic mechanism of fracture, such as striation formation in fatigue, is largely independent of the details (e.g. mean stress or stress ratio) of high-cycle fatigue loading. Experimentally, the functional is found to be a simple power law relating the fractional remaining uncracked section (net-section) size to the fractional (normalization by total fatigue life) remaining fatigue life. It is also shown that the surrogate form of the functional provides excellent descriptions of the raw crack-length-versus-cycles data generated in high-cycle fatigue experiments. The functional seems to provide a new physical basis, which is different from fracture mechanics, to characterize the effect of stress ratio on fatigue crack growth in materials.
Exergy of air, CO2, and H2O for use as geothermal fluids

Abstract Geothermal energy refers to the thermal energy naturally stored in the hot rock formation buried deep beneath the Earth’s surface. To harvest this source of energy, a fluid is pumped down in a set of injection wells, circulates through the hot rock and then is collected via a set of production wells for heating or other purposes. The selection of this fluid is an important component of a geothermal system. In this work, we review, evaluate, and develop the fundamental equations that can reliably predict the thermodynamic and the transport properties of air, CO2, and H2O. Using these equations, we characterize and compare the heat extraction and exergy carried by these fluids as they circulate through a hot rock reservoir to determine which fluid offers better functionality for geothermal heat harvesting applications. The results indicate that, in terms of heat extraction and exergy, air is a better fluid compared to CO2 and water.
Lipidoids: A Combinatorial Approach to siRNA Delivery

The safe and effective delivery of siRNA remains the principal challenge to the realization of its clinical potential. The present collection of delivery materials and their diversity remains limited, in part due to their slow, multistep syntheses. This chapter will describe a class of lipid-like delivery molecules, termed “lipidoids,” as carriers for RNAi therapeutics. Specifically, the chapter will address the rationale underlying the combinatorial approach; the synthetic chemical methods employed; the screening assay utilized; the structure–activity relationships determined; the formulation considerations learned; several applications of the platform; and the evolution of the strategy to generate next-generation libraries.
Periodic or Unbounded Solutions for a Class of Three-Dimensional ODE Systems with Biological Applications

A class of autonomous systems of three ordinary differential equations is studied with certain sign constraints on the elements of its Jacobian matrix. Examples of systems with these conditions arise in population dynamics and chemical kinetics. If there is a unique equilibrium with a two-dimensional unstable manifold, essentially two cases can occur. Either all non-trivial solutions are unbounded, or solutions on the unstable manifold approach a stable or semi-stable periodic orbit.
Coming Out of the Dark: Achieving Justice for Victims of Human Rights Violations by South American Military Regimes

The military regimes of the countries of the Southern Cone of South America cooperated under Operation Condor to eradicate all political opposition throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The military leaders of these regimes are only now being brought to justice for their crimes, which include widespread killing and "disappearances" of political opponents and, in Argentina, the stealing of babies born to doomed political dissidents. It is only in the last decade that these crimes have been brought to light so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice and nations deeply wounded can begin to heal.
A Comparison of Mechanisms of Oxygen Transport Among Several Mammalian Species

One important function of the circulation is to provide oxygen to the peripheral tissues in quantities adequate for their metabolic needs. Since the final link in the chain of oxygen supply depends upon diffusion from capillary blood to the mitochondria, and since cellular oxygen tensions seem to be of the order of a few millimeters of mercury (Chance et al., 1962), the rate of oxygen diffusion is governed over short periods of time by the oxygen tension of capillary blood and the intercapillary diffusion distances (Krogh, 1941). Therefore, the first sentence of this paragraph could read that one important function of the circulation is to maintain an oxygen tension in tissue capillary blood adequate to supply tissue demands by diffusion.
Scattering quantum random walks on square grids and randomly generated mazes

The Scattering Quantum Random Walk scheme has found success as a basis for search algorithms on highly symmetric graph structures. In this paper we examine its effectiveness at locating a specially marked vertex on square grid graphs, consisting of N$^2$ nodes. We simulate these quantum systems using classical computational methods, and find that the probability distributions that arise are very favorable for a hybrid quantum / classical algorithm. We then examine how this hybrid algorithm handles varying types of randomness in both location of the special vertex and later random obstacles placed throughout the geometry, showing that that the algorithm is resilient to both cases.
Biological Drivers of Wilms Tumor Prognosis and Treatment

Prior to the 1950s, survival from Wilms tumor (WT) was less than 10%. Today, a child diagnosed with WT has a greater than 90% chance of survival. These gains in survival rates from WT are attributed largely to improvements in multimodal therapy: Enhanced surgical techniques leading to decreased operative mortality, optimization of more effective chemotherapy regimens (specifically, dactinomycin and vincristine), and inclusion of radiation therapy in treatment protocols. More recent improvements in survival, however, can be attributed to a growing understanding of the molecular landscape of Wilms tumor. Particularly, identification of biologic markers portending poor prognosis has facilitated risk stratification to tailor therapy that achieves the best possible outcome with the least possible toxicity. The aim of this review is to (1) outline the specific biologic markers that have been associated with prognosis in WT and (2) provide an overview of the current use of biologic and other factors to stratify risk and assign treatment accordingly.
Phase I trial of IACS-010759 (IACS), a potent, selective inhibitor of complex I of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, in patients (pts) with advanced solid tumors.

3014Background: A subset of tumors possess genetic or microenvironmental alterations that render cells dependent on mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) for survival. IACS, a potent oral...
Countervailing Calamity: How to Stop the Global Subsidies Race

The world is awash in trade-distorting subsidies. Since the financial crisis of 2008, governments have adopted massive “stimulus” packages that have included taxpayer subsidies for industries, such as agriculture, alternative energy, and automobiles, which have distorted global markets, bred cronyism, and undermined free trade. These policies encouraged copycat subsidization, which spawned an increase in litigation at the World Trade Organization and led to the frequent imposition of protectionist duties via national countervailing duty (CVD) laws. Trade reform is badly needed. Unfortunately, the U.S. government has little credibility on this issue: it is one of the world’s largest subsidizers, funneling billions of dollars annually to chosen industries, causing economic uncertainty, and creating breeding grounds for corruption. Yet, ironically, with 59 currently active or pending CVD measures affecting over $11 billion of imports, the U.S. government is also one of the most frequent users of anti-subsidy disciplines. However, the CVD law and its application are rife with problems because the Commerce Department has too much discretion administering the law, which exposes subsidy determinations to subjective and opaque decisionmaking. The CVD law is punitive instead of remedial, making victims of U.S. consumers and consuming industries, aggravating U.S. trading partners, and exposing U.S. businesses to retaliation against their exports and intellectual property. By curtailing federal subsidies to favored industries and by reforming CVD procedures to ensure that they serve the rule of international trade law — rather than protectionist objectives — the U.S. government can reduce market distortions, restore some faith in free markets, and lead national and international subsidy reform initiatives.
On Seamless Hole-free Virtual Emotion Barrier in IoT-enabled Smart Cities

A barrier-coverage is considered as one of promising research branches because it can be used for various applications. Also, thanks to advanced technology in Internet of Things (IoT) environment, human emotion could be recognized by wireless signal. But, the detection accuracy by wireless signal can be different depending on the distance between a person and a device so that there may exist a weak hole with a very low detection accuracy when barriers are formed by IoT devices. In this paper, we introduce a seamless hole-free virtual emotion barrier, which provides the detection of human emotion without the weak hole by virtual emotion barriers. Then, we formally define a problem whose objective is to maximize the minimum detection possibility in the barrier and also propose a novel approach in order to solve the problem. Furthermore, a brief discussion of future work and plan is offered in the paper.