cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acupuncture for Treatment of Persistent Disturbed Sleep: A Randomized Clinical Trial in Veterans With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Objective To evaluate real, as compared with sham, acupuncture in improving persistent sleep disturbance in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods This sham-controlled randomized clinical trial at a US Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (2010-2015) included 60 veterans aged 24-55 years (mean of 40 years) with history of mTBI of at least 3 months and refractory sleep disturbance. Most of these participants (66.7%) carried a concurrent DSM-IV clinical diagnosis of PTSD. For the present study, they were randomized into 2 groups and stratified by PTSD status using the PTSD Checklist-Military Version. Each participant received up to 10 treatment sessions. The primary outcome measure was change in baseline-adjusted global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score following intervention. Secondary outcomes were wrist-actigraphy-assessed objective sleep measurements. Comorbid PTSD was analyzed as a covariate. Results Mean (SD) preintervention global PSQI score was 14.3 (3.2). Those receiving real acupuncture had a global PSQI score improvement of 4.4 points (relative to 2.4 points in sham, P = .04) and actigraphically measured sleep efficiency (absolute) improvement of 2.7% (relative to a decrement of 5.3% in sham, P = .0016). Effective blinding for active treatment was maintained in the study. PTSD participants presented with more clinically significant sleep difficulties at baseline; acupuncture was effective for both those with and without PTSD. Conclusions Real acupuncture, compared with a sham needling procedure, resulted in a significant improvement in sleep measures for veterans with mTBI and disturbed sleep, even in the presence of PTSD. These results indicate that an alternative-medicine treatment modality like acupuncture can provide clinically significant relief for a particularly recalcitrant problem affecting large segments of the veteran population. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01162317.
Growth Kinetics, Carbon Isotope Fractionation, and Gene Expression in the Hyperthermophile Methanocaldococcus jannaschii during Hydrogen-Limited Growth and Interspecies Hydrogen Transfer.

ABSTRACT Hyperthermophilic methanogens are often H2 limited in hot subseafloor environments, and their survival may be due in part to physiological adaptations to low H2 conditions and interspecies H2 transfer. The hyperthermophilic methanogen Methanocaldococcus jannaschii was grown in monoculture at high (80 to 83 μM) and low (15 to 27 μM) aqueous H2 concentrations and in coculture with the hyperthermophilic H2 producer Thermococcus paralvinellae. The purpose was to measure changes in growth and CH4 production kinetics, CH4 fractionation, and gene expression in M. jannaschii with changes in H2 flux. Growth and cell-specific CH4 production rates of M. jannaschii decreased with decreasing H2 availability and decreased further in coculture. However, cell yield (cells produced per mole of CH4 produced) increased 6-fold when M. jannaschii was grown in coculture rather than monoculture. Relative to high H2 concentrations, isotopic fractionation of CO2 to CH4 (eCO2-CH4) was 16‰ larger for cultures grown at low H2 concentrations and 45‰ and 56‰ larger for M. jannaschii growth in coculture on maltose and formate, respectively. Gene expression analyses showed H2-dependent methylene-tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT) dehydrogenase expression decreased and coenzyme F420-dependent methylene-H4MPT dehydrogenase expression increased with decreasing H2 availability and in coculture growth. In coculture, gene expression decreased for membrane-bound ATP synthase and hydrogenase. The results suggest that H2 availability significantly affects the CH4 and biomass production and CH4 fractionation by hyperthermophilic methanogens in their native habitats. IMPORTANCE Hyperthermophilic methanogens and H2-producing heterotrophs are collocated in high-temperature subseafloor environments, such as petroleum reservoirs, mid-ocean ridge flanks, and hydrothermal vents. Abiotic flux of H2 can be very low in these environments, and there is a gap in our knowledge about the origin of CH4 in these habitats. In the hyperthermophile Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, growth yields increased as H2 flux, growth rates, and CH4 production rates decreased. The same trend was observed increasingly with interspecies H2 transfer between M. jannaschii and the hyperthermophilic H2 producer Thermococcus paralvinellae. With decreasing H2 availability, isotopic fractionation of carbon during methanogenesis increased, resulting in isotopically more negative CH4 with a concomitant decrease in H2-dependent methylene-tetrahydromethanopterin dehydrogenase gene expression and increase in F420-dependent methylene-tetrahydromethanopterin dehydrogenase gene expression. The significance of our research is in understanding the nature of hyperthermophilic interspecies H2 transfer and identifying biogeochemical and molecular markers for assessing the physiological state of methanogens and possible source of CH4 in natural environments.
Inter-comparison of reflectivity measurements between GPM DPR and NEXRAD radars

Abstract This study demonstrates the potential use of the NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) to examine ground radar (GR) miscalibration and other uncertainty sources (e.g., partial beam blockage). We acquired the GPM Ground Validation System Validation Network reflectivity matchups between the DPR and three GRs (two in Iowa and one in South Dakota) for 2014–2017. We then refined the matching parameters (e.g., time separation) to reduce uncertainty in the matchup samples by analyzing the sensitivity of the matchup statistical properties to changes in these parameters. To reconcile the same observables (i.e., reflectivity) with different observational properties among the space- and ground-based radars, we developed a statistically integrated framework using inter-comparisons of them all with a Monte Carlo simulation. This method verifies the absolute calibration bias estimated from the refined DPR–GR matchups using relative calibration biases between GRs. We found that taking samples with a narrow temporal gap, estimated by actual measurement time of the DPR and GRs, can significantly reduce sample variability. Through inter-comparisons among the DPR and GRs, we observed that reflectivity differences among GRs in a similar environment (e.g., climatology and geography) are likely to be affected primarily by the calibration mismatch. In this case, the inter-comparison results demonstrated good agreement, and we inferred that the differences can be mitigated by calibration bias correction against the DPR. On the other hand, when the disagreement level of the inter-comparison results is significant, the authors found that other factors, such as partial beam blockage even in relatively plain regions, are more dominant than the calibration bias. In fact, the partial beam blockage effects can manifest themselves as a seasonal pattern in the GR inter-comparison results.
Cardiac Excrescences of Unusual Origin

Mesothelial/monocytic incidental cardiac excrescences (cardiac MICE) are a rare finding that are most often discovered incidentally either upon echocardiography or invasive cardiovascular procedures. In total, less than 50 known cases have been reported since first being discovered over 30 years ago. They are typically benign lesions; however, there has been a reported case of cardiac MICE being responsible for severe cardiopulmonary compromise and another case of the lesion embolizing leading to cerebral infarctions and ultimately death. Cardiac papillary fibroelastomas are also uncommon lesions found in the heart though they are not as rare as cardiac MICE. They are also benign and are typically attached to valvular surfaces; however, they also can be found as mobile masses. Just as cardiac MICE, they are capable of causing turbulent flow and thrombus formation and have been reported as the cause of ischemic events due to their ability to embolize. We present a case of cardiac MICE and cardiac papillary fibroelastoma in an individual who initially presented with neurologic symptoms concerning for a cerebrovascular accident. The patient was found to have a left ventricular mass composed of both cardiac MICE and cardiac papillary fibroelastomas.
Myo-inositol mediates the effects of traffic-related air pollution on generalized anxiety symptoms at age 12 years.

Abstract Background Exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) has been linked to childhood anxiety symptoms. Neuroimaging in patients with anxiety disorders indicate altered neurochemistry. Objectives Evaluate the impact of TRAP on brain metabolism and its relation to childhood anxiety symptoms in the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS). Methods Adolescents (n = 145) underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Brain metabolites, including myo-inositol, N-acetylaspartate, creatine, choline, glutamate, glutamate plus glutamine, and glutathione were measured in the anterior cingulate cortex. Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale. TRAP exposure in early-life, averaged over childhood, and during the 12 months prior to imaging was estimated using a validated land use regression model. Associations between TRAP exposure, brain metabolism, and anxiety symptoms were estimated using linear regression and a bootstrapping approach for testing mediation by brain metabolite levels. Results Recent exposure to high levels of TRAP was associated with significant increases in myo-inositol (β = 0.26; 95%CI 0.01, 0.51) compared to low TRAP exposure. Recent elevated TRAP exposure (β = 4.71; 95% CI 0.95, 8.45) and increased myo-inositol levels (β = 2.98; 95% CI 0.43, 5.52) were also significantly associated with increased generalized anxiety symptoms with 12% of the total effect between TRAP and generalized anxiety symptoms being mediated by myo-inositol levels. Conclusions This is the first study of children to utilize neuroimaging to link TRAP exposure, metabolite dysregulation in the brain, and generalized anxiety symptoms among otherwise healthy children. TRAP may elicit atypical excitatory neurotransmission and glial inflammatory responses leading to increased metabolite levels and subsequent anxiety symptoms.
Youth with elevated psychopathic traits exhibit structural integrity deficits in the uncinate fasciculus.

Abstract Youth with elevated psychopathic traits represent a particularly severe subgroup of adolescents characterized by extreme behavioral problems and exhibit comparable neurocognitive deficits as adult offenders with psychopathic traits. A consistent finding among adults with elevated psychopathic traits is reduced white matter structural integrity of the right uncinate fasciculus (UF). The UF is a major white matter tract that connects regions of the anterior temporal lobe (i.e., the amygdala) to higher-order executive control regions, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. However, the relationship between youth psychopathic traits and structural integrity of the UF has been mixed, with some studies identifying a negative relationship between adolescent psychopathy scores and FA in the UF, and others identifying a positive relationship. Here, we investigated structural integrity of the left and right UF using fractional anisotropy (FA) in a large sample of n = 254 male adolescent offenders recruited from maximum-security juvenile correctional facilities. Psychopathic traits were assessed using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV). Consistent with hypotheses, interpersonal and affective traits (i.e., PCL:YV Factor 1 and Facet 1 scores) were associated with reduced FA in the right UF. Additionally, lifestyle traits (i.e., PCL:YV Facet 3 scores) were associated with increased FA in the left UF. Results are consistent with previously published studies reporting reduced FA in the right UF in adult psychopathic offenders and increased left UF FA in youth meeting criteria for certain externalizing disorders.
Quantifying and Reducing Bias in Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Structured Anomalies

Anomaly estimation, or the problem of finding a subset of a dataset that differs from the rest of the dataset, is a classic problem in machine learning and data mining. In both theoretical work and in applications, the anomaly is assumed to have a specific structure defined by membership in an $\textit{anomaly family}$. For example, in temporal data the anomaly family may be time intervals, while in network data the anomaly family may be connected subgraphs. The most prominent approach for anomaly estimation is to compute the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) of the anomaly. However, it was recently observed that for some anomaly families, the MLE is an asymptotically $\textit{biased}$ estimator of the anomaly. Here, we demonstrate that the bias of the MLE depends on the size of the anomaly family. We prove that if the number of sets in the anomaly family that contain the anomaly is sub-exponential, then the MLE is asymptotically unbiased. At the same time, we provide empirical evidence that the converse is also true: if the number of such sets is exponential, then the MLE is asymptotically biased. Our analysis unifies a number of earlier results on the bias of the MLE for specific anomaly families, including intervals, submatrices, and connected subgraphs. Next, we derive a new anomaly estimator using a mixture model, and we empirically demonstrate that our estimator is asymptotically unbiased regardless of the size of the anomaly family. We illustrate the benefits of our estimator on both simulated disease outbreak data and a real-world highway traffic dataset.
Prevention Science as a Platform for Solving Major Societal Problems and Improving Population Health

The article describes a prevention science approach to impacting population health. We use activities of the Missouri Prevention Science Institute that address youth mental health concerns with a p...
COLLAPSE AND FRAGMENTATION OF MAGNETIC MOLECULAR CLOUD CORES WITH THE ENZO AMR MHD CODE. I. UNIFORM DENSITY SPHERES

Magnetic fields are important contributors to the dynamics of collapsing molecular cloud cores, and can have a major effect on whether collapse results in a single protostar or fragmentation into a binary or multiple protostar system. New models are presented of the collapse of magnetic cloud cores using the adaptive mesh refinement code Enzo2.0. The code was used to calculate the ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) of initially spherical, uniform density, and rotation clouds with density perturbations, i.e., the Boss & Bodenheimer standard isothermal test case for three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamics codes. After first verifying that Enzo reproduces the binary fragmentation expected for the non-magnetic test case, a large set of models was computed with varied initial magnetic field strengths and directions with respect to the cloud core axis of rotation (parallel or perpendicular), density perturbation amplitudes, and equations of state. Three significantly different outcomes resulted: (1) contraction without sustained collapse, forming a denser cloud core; (2) collapse to form a single protostar with significant spiral arms; and (3) collapse and fragmentation into binary or multiple protostar systems, with multiple spiral arms. Comparisons are also made with previous MHD calculations of similar clouds with a barotropic equations of state. These results for the collapse of initially uniform density spheres illustrate the central importance of both magnetic field direction and field strength for determining the outcome of dynamic protostellar collapse.
All the death we cannot see.

It's not complicated. The paramedics do all the work, literally and emotionally. We pick up the phone in the midst of the contained rhythmic chaos of the emergency department, when somehow the characteristic ring of the EMS phone distinguishes itself to those listening for it, above the fray of monitor alarms, screams of agitated patients, murmurs of residents calling reports to the hospitalists.
Wind Energy Harvesting Capability of a Novel Cascaded Dual-Rotor Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine

With the global demand for electrical energy increasing rapidly due to factors such as population and economic growth, energy sourced from fuels subject to price uncertainty can have negative effects on economic development. Sourced from wind, a clean and free renewable resource, wind energy does not act as a pollution vector unlike power plants which operate on fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas. With environmental protection and sustainability at the forefront of our global society with a concentrated effort for corporate social responsibility, more focus is placed on renewable technologies such as wind turbines. After solar energy, wind energy is currently one of the cheapest forms of electrical energy to produce, and this number can be further reduced. Wind farms requires substantial parcels of land as wind turbines must be spaced approximately seven times their rotor diameter apart from each other, and the larger the wind turbines are the larger this spacing becomes, requiring even more real estate. As such, a method is sought to increase the amount of electrical energy each wind turbine can produce without altering efficiency or size. If the amount of power that a wind farm can produce is to be increased but neither the size of the wind farm's physical location can be increased for additional wind turbine placement nor the size of the wind turbines themselves increased, then the electrical power can be increased by utilizing a novel Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) design. This modified wind turbine design features an additional independent rotor behind the original rotor which allows for more power-generation opportunities. The scope of this research is to evaluate the performance of a novel Cascaded Dual-Rotor Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine (CDR-HAWT) and compare it with the performance of a typical single-rotor HAWT. For this purpose, the CDR-HAWT was fabricated with the same critical dimensions and electrical tolerances as a typical single-rotor HAWT. In order to compare the performances of the two independent wind turbines, the CDR-HAWT along with a typical HAWT with identical generator size, nacelle and hub size, and blade geometry, are mounted onto the bed of a truck to be tested at different wind speeds. The voltage and power produced by the two wind turbines are measured across a resistive load using a digital storage oscilloscope (DSO). From testing it is determined that the CDR- HAWT produces approximately 84 percent additional power as compared to a typical single-rotor HAWT.
A Composite Model for Interorganizational Strategies

This article integrates general systems, exchange and contingency theories into a process model for determining appropriate interorganizational strategies to achieve goals. The author suggests that the interorganizational power-dependence ratio is one of the frequently overlooked but major determining factors in interorganizational relations and goal attainment. The need for social workers to have increased theoretical knowledge of interorganizational behavior has become apparent over the last few years. This awareness has been reflected in the professional literature, which has seen slowly increasing attention paid to interorganizational relations, both in theories and research. Writers, such as Specht, Bisno, Cox et al., Hasenfeld and Thompson have studied or described various interorganizational strategies. 1 However, the construction of a composite model which links contingency, general systems and exchange theoretical concepts into an overall, prescriptive process has still been limited. As Young states, "Although little attempt has been made to apply contingency theory to human services agencies, its application has the potential to provide some valuable insights. '2 Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to propose a composite interorganizational strategy model, based on the power-dependence contingency model, which could assist social workers in choosing appropriate strategies to meet program maintenance or expansion goals. When the community is conceptualized as a power-politics arena, it can be surmised that the massive cutbacks in social program funding by the Reagan Administration may create an environment of great uncertainty and competition for funds. The need for social workers to exercise power strategies to maintain client services will continue to increase. The major contribution of this model is to synthesize and integrate several different theoretical formulations into a meaningful whole. The resulting composite model can be used as a process guide by practicing social workers. A brief description of the theories used to construct the model will be followed by a discussion of the model itself.
Visualization of Trustworthiness Graphs

Trustworthiness is a field of research that seeks to estimate the credibility of information by using knowledge of the source of the information. The most interesting form of this problem is when different pieces of information share sources, and when there is conflicting information from different sources. This model can be naturally represented as a bipartite graph. In order to understand this data well, it is important to have several methods of exploring it. A good visualization can help to understand the problem in a way that no simple statistics can. This paper defines several desiderata for a "good" visualization and presents three different visualization methods for trustworthiness graphs. The first visualization method is simply a naive bipartite layout, which is infeasible in nearly all cases. The second method is a physics-based graph layout that reveals some interesting and important structure of the graph. The third method is an orthogonal approach based on the adjacency matrix representation of a graph, but with many improvements that give valuable insights into the structure of the trustworthiness graph. We present interactive web-based software for the third form of visualization.
Effective diagnosis of routing disruptions from end systems

Internet routing events are known to introduce severe disruption to applications. So far effective diagnosis of routing events has relied on proprietary ISP data feeds, resulting in limited ISP-centric views not easily accessible by customers or other ISPs. In this work, we propose a novel approach to diagnosing significant routing events associated with any large networks from the perspective of end systems. Our approach is based on scalable, collaborative probing launched from end systems and does not require proprietary data from ISPs. Using a greedy scheme for event correlation and cause inference, we can diagnose both interdomain and intradomain routing events. Unlike existing methods based on passive route monitoring, our approach can also measure the impact of routing events on end-to-end network performance. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by studying five large ISPs over four months. We validate its accuracy by comparing with the existing ISP-centric method and also with events reported on NANOG mailing lists. Our work is the first to scalably and accurately diagnose routing events associated with large networks entirely from end systems.
Fat Metabolism in Higher Plants XXX. ENZYMATIC SYNTHESIS OF RICINOLEIC ACID BY A MICROSOMAL PREPARATION FROM DEVELOPING RICINUS COMMUNIS SEEDS

Abstract A microsomal fraction from developing seeds of castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) catalyzes the hydroxylation of oleyl coenzyme A to ricinoleic acid and has the properties of a "mixed function oxidase." Only preparations from seeds at a certain stage of development have hydroxylating activity. Oxygen and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide are obligatory cofactors (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate is relatively inactive), and an activated form of oleic acid, i.e. the CoA thioester, is required as substrate. Enzyme-bound iron is presumably involved in the hydroxylation, which is inhibited by thiol reagents, cyanide, azide, and chelating agents, but not by carbon monoxide. The hydroxylating enzyme shows a marked substrate specificity for oleic acid. Stearic, linoleic, vaccenic, and elaidic acids are not hydroxylated. Linoleic acid is not an intermediate in the conversion of oleic acid to ricinoleic acid.
Agricultural decollectivization and vulnerability to environmental change: A Bulgarian case study☆

Abstract Is the transformation from Communism to a more market-based society making Bulgarians — and particularly farmers — more vulnerable to environmental change? Intensive, open-ended interviews suggest that government policies, new privatization laws and the nation's economic crisis are decreasing farmers' flexibility and removing social safety nets. Yet generalizations are difficult because implementation of the decollectivization process is different at each cooperative farm, thus creating varying levels of vulnerability. Easing the crisis is the tradition of familybased, small-plot gardening, which appears to ensure sufficient food for most Bulgarians.
Educating for diversity

A noted scholar explains why achieving cultural diversity on campus requires nothing less than a complete transformation of our institutions of higher learning. This means reinventing everything, f...
Obesity, but not metabolic syndrome, negatively affects outcome in bipolar disorder

McElroy SL, Kemp DE, Friedman ES, Reilly-Harrington NA, SylviaLG, Calabrese JR, Rabideau DJ, Ketter TA, Thase ME, Singh V,Tohen M, Bowden CL, Bernstein EE, Brody BD, Deckersbach T,Kocsis JH, Kinrys G, Bobo WV, Kamali M, McInnis MG, Leon AC,Faraone S, Nierenberg AA, Shelton RC. Obesity, but not metabolicsyndrome, negatively aﬀects outcome in bipolar disorder.Objective: Examine the eﬀects of obesity and metabolic syndrome onoutcome in bipolar disorder.Method: The Comparative Eﬀectiveness of a Second GenerationAntipsychotic Mood Stabilizer and a Classic Mood Stabilizer forBipolar Disorder (Bipolar CHOICE) study randomized 482participants with bipolar disorder in a 6-month trial comparing lithium-and quetiapine-based treatment. Baseline variables were comparedbetween groups with and without obesity, with and without abdominalobesity, and with and without metabolic syndrome respectively. Theeﬀects of baseline obesity, abdominal obesity, and metabolic syndromeon outcomes were examined using mixed eﬀects linear regressionmodels.Results: At baseline, 44.4% of participants had obesity, 48.0% hadabdominal obesity, and 27.3% had metabolic syndrome; neitherobesity, nor abdominal obesity, nor metabolic syndrome wereassociated with increased global severity, mood symptoms, orsuicidality, or with poorer functioning or life satisfaction. Treatmentgroups did not diﬀer on prevalence of obesity, abdominal obesity, ormetabolic syndrome. By contrast, among the entire cohort, obesity wasassociated with less global improvement and less improvement in totalmood and depressive symptoms, suicidality, functioning, and lifesatisfaction after 6 months of treatment. Abdominal obesity wasassociated with similar ﬁndings. Metabolic syndrome had no eﬀect onoutcome.Conclusion: Obesity and abdominal obesity, but not metabolicsyndrome, were associated with less improvement after 6 months oflithium- or quetiapine-based treatment.
Subsurface Trapping Of Oil Plumes In Stratification: Laboratory Investigations

Laboratory experiments demonstrating how the addition of surfactants creates the possibility of trapping buoyant immiscible fluids are presented. In particular, these experiments demonstrate that buoyant immiscible plumes like those which occurred during the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill can be trapped as they rise through an ambient, stratified fluid. The addition of surfactants is an important mechanism by which trapping can occur. In this paper, we describe experiments and theory on trapping/escape of plumes containing an oil/water/surfactant mixture released into nonlinear stratification. We also present results on the timescale for trapping and for destabilization and release of trapped subsurface plumes. This timescale is shown to be a function of the oil to surfactant ratio.
Psychotherapy Works (Despite Persistent Myth of the Magic Pill)

Abstract This commentary amplifies the dynamic strategies in Message in a Bottleto consider in working with clients who seek to augment psychotherapy with psychopharmacologic treatment. This commentary also addresses how to evaluate and enhance psychotherapy outcome independent of medications and reviews some of the factors which contribute to positive treatment outcome. In order for clinicians to resist the pervasive colonizing effects of the medical model, this commentary reevaluates some of the claims that medications seem to promise and reinforces data which demonstrate that psychotherapy remains a safe and effective first-line treatment.
Speedy standing wave design of size-exclusion simulated moving bed: Solvent consumption and sorbent productivity related to material properties and design parameters

Size-exclusion simulated moving beds (SEC-SMB) have been used for large-scale separations of linear alkanes from branched alkanes. While SEC-SMBs are orders of magnitude more efficient than batch chromatography, they are not widely used. One key barrier is the complexity in design and optimization. A four-zone SEC-SMB for a binary separation has seven material properties and 14 design parameters (two yields, five operating parameters, and seven equipment parameters). Previous optimization studies using numerical methods do not guarantee global optima or explicitly express solvent consumption (D/F) or sorbent productivity (PR) as functions of the material properties and design parameters. The standing wave concept is used to develop analytical expressions for D/F and PR as functions of 14 dimensionless groups, which consist of 21 material and design parameters. The resulting speedy standing wave design (SSWD) solutions are simplified for two limiting cases: diffusion or dispersion controlled. An example of SEC-SMB for insulin purification is used to illustrate how D/F and PR change with the dimensionless groups. The results show that maximum PR for both diffusion and dispersion controlled systems is mainly determined by yields, equipment parameters, material properties, and two key dimensionless groups: (1) the ratio of step time to diffusion time and (2) the ratio of diffusion time to pressure-limited convection time. A sharp trade off of D/F and PR occurs when the yield is greater than 99%. The column configuration for maximum PR is analytically related to the diffusivity ratio and the selectivity. To achieve maximum sorbent productivity, one should match step time, diffusion time, and pressure-limited convection time for diffusion controlled systems. For dispersion controlled systems, the axial dispersion time should be about 10 times the step time and about 50 times the pressure-limited convection time. Its value can be estimated from given yields, material properties, and column configuration. Among the material properties, selectivity and particle size have the largest impact on D/F and PR. Particle size and 14 design parameters can be optimized for minimum D/F, maximum PR, or minimum cost on a laptop computer.
Analysis of engagement behavior in children during dyadic interactions using prosodic cues

HighlightsEngagement level of children reflected in their vocalizations as well as the psychologist's.Engagement level reflected in global prosodic cues as well as local prosodic patterns.Engagement level varies with different interaction settings but universal prosodic patterns also exist. Child engagement is defined as the interaction of a child with his/her environment in a contextually appropriate manner. Engagement behavior in children is linked to socio-emotional and cognitive state assessment with enhanced engagement identified with improved skills. A vast majority of studies however rely solely, and often implicitly, on subjective perceptual measures of engagement. Access to automatic quantification could assist researchers/clinicians to objectively interpret engagement with respect to a target behavior or condition, and furthermore inform mechanisms for improving engagement in various settings. In this paper, we present an engagement prediction system based exclusively on vocal cues observed during structured interaction between a child and a psychologist involving several tasks. Specifically, we derive prosodic cues that capture engagement levels across the various tasks. Our experiments suggest that a child's engagement is reflected not only in the vocalizations, but also in the speech of the interacting psychologist. Moreover, we show that prosodic cues are informative of the engagement phenomena not only as characterized over the entire task (i.e., global cues), but also in short term patterns (i.e., local cues). We perform a classification experiment assigning the engagement of a child into three discrete levels achieving an unweighted average recall of 55.8% (chance is 33.3%). While the systems using global cues and local level cues are each statistically significant in predicting engagement, we obtain the best results after fusing these two components. We perform further analysis of the cues at local and global levels to achieve insights linking specific prosodic patterns to the engagement phenomenon. We observe that while the performance of our model varies with task setting and interacting psychologist, there exist universal prosodic patterns reflective of engagement.
The role of field emission in submicron electron beam testing

The resolution limit on electron beam testing of very-large-scale integrated circuits (ICs) using a low voltage (less than 2500 V) electron beam is reduced by the use of a high brightness Zr/W thermal-field emitter. Beam size measurements show that 10 nA of current can be delivered to a 0.20 μm focused spot at a beam voltage change 1350 V. Noise measurements show that the minimum detectable voltage change ΔVm on the target is less than 10mV. Thus flicker noise in the Zr/W field emitter does not place a serious limit on ΔVm. A high brightness field emission liquid metal ion source of Ga+ in conjunction with a simple single-lens focusing column can be used to sputter remove selectively small areas of the insulating passivation layer from ICs. Thus subsequent electron beam testing of these sites can be carried out without serious charging problems.
A medical mirror for non-contact health monitoring

Digital medical devices promise to transform the future of medicine because of their ability to produce exquisitely detailed individual physiological data. As ordinary people start to have access and control over their own physiological data, they can play a more active role in the management of their health. This revolution must take place in our everyday lives, not just in the doctor's office or research lab. However, current techniques for physiological monitoring typically require users to strap on bulky sensors, chest straps or sticky electrodes. This discourages regular use because the sensors can be uncomfortable or encumbering. In this work, we propose a new mirror interface for real-time, contact-free measurements of heart rate without the need for external sensors. Users can have the experience of remote health monitoring by simply looking into the Medical Mirror.
The use of intramaze stimuli in the attenuation of the problem-solving deficit of septal animals

An attempt was made to ameliorate the deficit in performance shown by septal rats on the Maier three-table task by using either a distinctive visual stimulus insert as a discriminative cue to the route to the daily locus of the food table (Experiment 1) or distinctive visual inserts merely to mark the spatial location of each table and the runway leading to that table from the choice point (Experiment 2). When a single stimulus insert consistently identified the food table and the runway to it, regardless of its location in the room, then septals did not differ from shams, and both septals and shams performed better than comparable animals not given the exploratory experience. When the stimulus inserts merely identified the spatial location of each table and its corresponding runway, then septals still were impaired relative to normals. More importantly, the fact that normals could perform successfully in Experiment 2 only when they had received a prior exploratory experience indicated that highlighting the spatial location of each table and its runway with a distinctive intramaze stimulus marker does not alter the qualitative character of the three-table task as one requiring spatial integration.
Bifurcation and Resonance in a Model for Bursting Nerve Cells

In this paper we consider a model for the phenomenon of bursting in nerve cells. Experimental evidence indicates that this phenomenon is due to the interaction of multiple conductances with very different kinetics, and the model incorporates this evidence. As a parameter is varied the model undergoes a transition between two oscillatory waveforms; a corresponding transition is observed experimentally. After establishing the periodicity of the subcritical oscillatory solution, the nature of the transition is studied. It is found to be a resonance bifurcation, with the solution branching at the critical point to another periodic solution of the same period. Using this result a comparison is made between the model and experimental observations. The model is found to predict and allow an interpretation of these observations.
Influenza and asthma: adding to the respiratory burden.

Viral TH1 responses can positively regulate TH2 responses in a mouse model of allergen-induced lung inflammation. This helps explain why respiratory viral infections can exacerbate allergic TH2-type diseases.
Circular dichroism of rhodopsins and porphyropsins.

Abstract Circular dichroism and absorption spectra were determined for digitonin extracts of three rhodopsins: cattle, grass frog, and pigeon; and three porphyropsins: channel catfish, bluegill sunfish, and redear sunfish. A comparison of these spectra shows the following: (1) Porphyropsins, like rhodopsins, exhibit two positive CD peaks in the spectral region 321–700 nm: an α peak at about 520 nm and a small β peak at about 355 nm. These peaks substantially diminish upon bleaching. (2) In the CD spectra the α peaks of the porphyropsins are larger than the α peaks of the rhodopsins, while the β peaks are smaller than those of the rhodopsins. This is just the opposite of the corresponding relationship between the peaks in the absorption spectra. (3) The maxima of these peaks in the CD spectra of rhodopsins and porphyropsins are consistently blue-shifted from the corresponding maxima in absorption spectra. (4) Some of the visual pigments show additional positive CD peaks in the spectral region 250–320 nm. In all the visual pigments studied, the CD spectra in this region decrease on bleaching. No reciprocal relationship is observed between any of the CD bands in the visible and near ultraviolet region of the spectrum.
Comparison of soil test methods for predicting cotton response to soil and fertilizer potassium on potassium fixing soils

Abstract Cotton (Gossvpium hirsutum L.) yields are limited by K deficiency in extensive areas of California where soils contain minerals that fix K in nonreplaceable forms. A survey study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between seed cotton yield and four soil test methods for K by regression analysis. A total of 38 on‐farm sites over two years were included in the study. Intensity parameters obtained from two soil tests that measure solution‐phase K+ concentration in soil/solution suspensions were the best predictors of cotton yield across soils, sites, and years. Quantity parameters based on 1 M NH4‐extractable K or K extracted by 5 N H2SO4 were significantly less precise in predicting yield. Three K fixation isotherm methods were also compared for their ability to predict the proportion of added K that is fixed. Only one method that included a soil wetting and drying cycle provided estimates of K fixation and solution‐phase K+ concentration that were in reasonable agreement with actual values...
The Neglected Situation

IT HARDLY seems possible to name a social variable that doesn't show up and have its little systematic effect upon speech behavior: age, sex, class, caste, country of origin, generation, region, schooling; cultural cognitive assumptions; bilingualism, and so forth. Each year new social determinants of speech behavior are reported. (It should be said that each year new psychological variables are also tied in with speech.) Alongside this correlational drive to bring in ever new social attributes as determinants of speech behavior, there has been another drive, just as active, to add to the range of properties discoverable in speech behavior itself, these additions having varied relations to the now classic phonetic, phonemic, morphemic and syntactical structuring of language. It is thus that new semantic, expressive, paralinguistic and kinesic features of behavior involving speech have been isolated, providing us with a new bagful of indicators to do something correlational with.
TH-C-I-609-06: Freehand Scan Ultrasound Reconstruction Based On Optimal 3D Grid Selection and Anisotropic Diffusion Interpolation

Purpose: presents a new algorithm for the reconstruction of the volume of human organ from multiple B-scans and the associated image plane position and orientation measurements as acquired by hand scanning across the surface of the human body with a probe attached to a a Microcribe articulating arm. Method and Materials: The 3D reconstruction grid is optimized using an optimal method. A cost function is built for this problem as to minimize the registration errors between the scan planes and the reconstruction 3D grid while allowing for the largest possible voxel size. With the 3D grid defined, every B-mode scan is inserted into the grid. An anisotropic diffusion-based interpolation supported by the gradient vector flow is developed for empty voxel filling. Results: We tested ‘griddata3’ in the MATLAB™ for voxel nearest neighbor interpolation which is based on a Delaunay triangulation of the data. The out-of-memory problems prevented our 2 GB memory computer to run properly when the number of scans is large and/or full-resolution reconstruction is attempted. Several freehand US sweeps of a prostate phantom has been used to test the proposed reconstruction method yielding appealing visual results without having the out-of-memory problem any more. Conclusion: Freehand 3-D US reconstruction generates a geometrically-registered 3-D volume of an organ out of multiple B-mode images acquired at irregular positions and from arbitrary view angles by inserting each 2-D image into a uniform 3-D grid using the position and orientation measurements of the scan plane. Depending on the voxel size, empty voxels may exist in the 3-D grid. To handle this problem of holes, a 3D Interpolation is needed which usually demands heavy computation and huge computer memory. The proposed diffusion-based reconstruction algorithm is computation-efficient and less memory sensitive for 3D US reconstruction.
Quantitative Relationship Between the Extent and Morphology of Coronary Atherosclerotic Plaque and Downstream Myocardial Perfusion

Objectives The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of coronary atherosclerosis morphology and extent on myocardial flow reserve (MFR). Background Although the relationship between coronary stenosis and myocardial perfusion is well established, little is known about the contribution of other anatomic descriptors of atherosclerosis burden to this relationship. Methods We evaluated the relationship between atherosclerosis plaque burden, morphology, and composition and regional MFR (MFRregional) in 73 consecutive patients undergoing Rubidium-82 positron emission tomography and coronary computed tomography angiography for the evaluation of known or suspected coronary artery disease. Results Atherosclerosis was seen in 51 of 73 patients and in 107 of 209 assessable coronary arteries. On a per-vessel basis, the percentage diameter stenosis (p = 0.02) or summed stenosis score (p = 0.002), integrating stenoses in series, was the best predictor of MFRregional. Importantly, MFRregional varied widely within each coronary stenosis category, even in vessels with nonobstructive plaques (n = 169), 38% of which had abnormal MFRregional ( Conclusions Computed tomography angiography descriptors of atherosclerosis had only a modest effect on downstream MFR. On a per-patient basis, the extent and severity of atherosclerosis as assessed by the modified Duke CAD index and the number of coronary segments with mixed plaque were associated with decreased MFR.
Evidence for Translational Control Elements Within the 5′‐Untranslated Region of GLUT1 Glucose Transporter mRNA

: Recent studies have indicated that the blood-brain barrier GLUT1 glucose transporter is under post-transcriptional regulation. To begin functional mapping of the GLUT1 transcript, in the present investigation we studied the translational efficiency of capped full-length synthetic GLUT1 mRNA, and both 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions (UTRs) deleted GLUT1 mRNAs. Deletion of 5′- and 5′-/3′-UTRs markedly reduced the translation efficiency of the human (h) GLUT1 transcript in the rabbit reticulocyte lysate (RRL), and this effect was not modified by addition of microsomes to the translation system. The putative role of these hGLUT1 5′-UTR cis-acting elements was studied using the luciferase expression vector pGL2. DNA corresponding to the hGLUT1 5′-UTR generated by PCR was subcloned at the HindIII site of the pGL2 located upstream of the luciferase 5′-UTR. Transfection of brain endothelial cultured cells with pGL2 containing most of the hGLUT1 5′-UTR (nucleotides 1–171) markedly increased the expression of luciferase, and disruption of luciferase-leading sequence with an unrelated 171-nucleotide fragment decreased its expression. Insertion of nucleotides 1–96 of the hGLUT1 5′-UTR retained most of the stimulatory effect, and nucleotides 123–171 produced 64% of maximal induction. On the contrary, clones containing nucleotides 79–171 and 154–171 of bGLUT1 5′-UTR had marginal effects on luciferase expression. The present data provide evidence suggesting that the 5′-UTR of the GLUT1 mRNA contains cis-acting elements involved in the translational control of the GLUT1 gene in mammalian cells.
A generalization of macaulay's theorem

(1995). A generalization of macaulay's theorem. Communications in Algebra: Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 1249-1263.
Djerba and the Limits of Rustamid Power. Considering the Ibāḍī Community of Djerba under the Rustamid Imāms of Tāhert (779-909CE)

This article is aimed at analyzing the medieval and modern source material dealing with the history of Djerba under the Rustamid Imāmate in an attempt to clarify the nature of both the historical and historiographical relationship between them. It will begin by discussing the available primary and secondary source material, including the historiographical challenges they present. An analysis of the textual and archeological evidence connecting the Rustamids and Djerba will follow. Next, it will attempt to synthesize the scattered bits of evidence available in the historical record in an effort to present a clearer picture of Djerba in the Rustamid period. On the basis of this textual and archeological evidence, it will be argued that Djerba was home to an ibādī community independent of the government in Tahert for the majority ‒if not all‒ of that Imāmate’s existence ‒distinguishing the island from the surrounding areas of the Djerid (in southern Tunisia), parts of Aghlabid Ifrīqiya and the Jebel Nafūsa. Furthermore, it will be shown that evidence suggests this independence was not only a political, but also a religious one.