cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Percimo: a personalized community model for location estimation in social media

User location is crucial in understanding the dynamics of user activities, especially in relating their online and offline aspects. However, users' social media activities, such as tweets sent, do not always reveal their location. We consider the problem of estimating geo-tags for tweets and develop a comprehensive approach that incorporates textual content, the user's personalized behavior, and the user's social relationships. Our approach, Percimo, considers the two major kinds of communal attachment, which have distinct computational ramifications. We evaluate Percimo via three geo-social graphs based on the mutual-follow relationships of Twitter users, their geographical distance (computed from their geotagged tweets), and their preferences for location categories (collected from Foursquare). We find that Percimo yields a smaller prediction error than the two state-of-the-art approaches we compare with.
Daughters of Commons

In this chapter, I examine the education, careers, and professional contributions of women who trained in economics at the University Wisconsin during the Commons Era, including Helen Sumner Woodbury, Theresa Schmid McMahon, Elizabeth Brandeis Raushenbush, and Elizabeth Paschal. Despite several of masterful studies of Wisconsin Institutionalism (Kaufman 1993; Robert Lampman 1993; Rutherford 2011), the women of Wisconsin have received remarkably little consideration. Synthesizing the experiences of the many women who trained with Commons at Wisconsin, I conclude that their influence operated through a multitude of channels, including publications, field work, legislation, and teaching and was vitally important to the branding of Wisconsin Institutionalism.
Multifaceted aseptic protocol decreases surgical site infections following hip arthroplasty.

Introduction:We investigate the effectiveness of a comprehensive aseptic protocol in reducing surgical site infection (SSI) after hip arthroplasty in a single medical centre with a high prevalence ...
Chapter 3 – Anti-Gal Comprises Most of Anti-Blood Group B Antibodies: Landsteiner’s B-Like Enigma

Anti-Gal is an abundant natural polyclonal antibody in humans constituting ~1% of circulating immunoglobulins. Although anti-Gal binds specifically to the α-gal epitope with the structure Galα1-3Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R, different clones of this antibody “recognize” various facets of the α-gal epitope. All anti-Gal antibody clones produced in blood type B and AB individuals bind only to the α-gal epitope. However, ~50% of anti-Gal clones in blood type A and O individuals bind both to the α-gal epitope and to blood group B antigen (Galα1-3[Fucα1-2]Galβ1-4GlcNAc-R), which has the same structure as the α-gal epitope, but includes an additional fucosyl, linked α1-2 to the penultimate galactose. This binding is performed by anti-Gal antibody clones that interact with facets of blood group B antigen that do not include the fucosyl and thus have the same spatial structure as the α-gal epitope. These anti-Gal antibodies are called anti-Gal/B antibodies and they comprise 75%–95% of human antibodies binding to blood group B antigen. The remaining 5%–25% anti-blood group B antibodies “require” the presence of the fucosyl linked to the penultimate galactose for binding to blood group B antigen. Anti-Gal/B antibodies bind to rabbit RBC and to New World monkey RBC, all lacking blood group B antigen but presenting multiple α-gal epitopes. The binding of anti-Gal/B antibodies to these RBC implies that the carbohydrate antigen on rabbit and New World monkey RBC, called by Karl Landsteiner in 1925, the “B-like” blood group antigen, is the α-gal epitope. This epitope was evolutionary conserved in nonprimate mammals, prosimians, and New World monkeys but is absent in Old World monkeys, apes, and humans.
Aesthetic Uses of Botulinum Toxins

Botulinum neurotoxins have proven efficacy for a variety of clinical applications involving neuromuscular hyperactivity and other conditions caused by acetylcholine release. Initial observations that botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) reduced muscle-induced forehead lines was reported in 1992. Evidence-based studies confirmed the efficacy of BTX-A for the reduction of dynamic facial lines. BTX-A for use in aesthetic treatments was developed in the USA as Botox™, now designated onabotulinumtoxinA (BTX-A Ona). In the UK, an alternative BTX-A known as Dysport™, now designated abobotulinumtoxinA (BTX-A Abo), was developed for similar indications. A third variant of BTX-A is incobotulinumtoxinA (BTX-A Inco). Other approved indications for BTX-A Ona include the treatment of severe axillary sweating. Type B neurotoxin, rimabotulinumtoxinB (BTX-B Rima), has different pharmacological mechanisms but similar clinical indications. Keywords: botulinum neurotoxins; aesthetic treatments; reduction of facial lines
Enhancement in power conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells with cobalt doped ZnO nanoparticle thin film layers

Abstract In this study, we report results on coating silicon solar cells with undoped and cobalt-doped zinc oxide (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) nanoparticles ranging in diameter from 46 nm to 87 nm, synthesized by a simple low-temperature precipitation method. The morphology and structure of nanoparticles have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. The average size of nanoparticles was found to increases with the increase in cobalt concentration. Doped and undoped zinc oxide thin films were deposited by a simple spin coating technique on silicon solar cells. Optical properties of the cobalt-doped zinc oxide layer have been investigated. We estimated the thin film stress by adding nanoparticles layers and found that the stress is lowest for the 139 nm cobalt-doped zinc oxide layer. Bandgap was found to increase with an increase in zinc oxide nanoparticle thin film thickness. Photoluminescence spectra show a blue shift in the near band edge emission peak with increase in thickness. Current-Voltage measurement confirms that there is an enhancement in power conversion efficiency as the thickness of zinc oxide nanoparticles varied from 58 nm to 139 nm. In general, the conversion efficiency shows an increasing trend up to 139 nm of thickness in silicon solar cells coated with doped and undoped zinc oxide nanoparticles. In addition, there is an enhancement of external quantum efficiency with an increase in thickness of zinc oxide layer. The optimal thickness of nanostructured zinc oxide film layer to enhance the efficiency of the silicon photovoltaic cell was experimentally determined to be 139 nm.
Immediate histopathologic follow-up of cervista and aptima high-risk HPV assays in women with LSIL cytology.

BACKGROUND Recent guidelines recommended the optional deferral of colposcopy for postmenopausal women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) Papanicolaou (Pap) test results and negative human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. The objective of the current study was to assess the histopathologic follow-up of Cervista and Aptima high-risk HPV (hrHPV) testing in patients with LSIL cytology. METHODS Women with LSIL Pap test results and Cervista or Aptima hrHPV testing results were retrospectively identified from June 2013 through July 2017. Histological follow-up results within 6 months after LSIL Pap tests were analyzed. RESULTS A total of 1731 and 1906 cases of LSIL Pap tests, respectively, were tested on Cervista and Aptima platforms. Among the 2119 cases with histopathologic follow-up, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia of types 2/3 (CIN2/3) was diagnosed in 184 women (8.9%) and the detection rate was significantly higher in women with positive HPV testing compared with those with a negative result on both assays. Both methods demonstrated comparable performance for detecting CIN2/3 lesions. However, in women aged ≥50 years, the specificity for the detection of CIN2/3 lesions by the Aptima assay was statistically significantly higher than that of the Cervista test (48.7% vs 23.1%; P<.01), although there were no significant differences in the sensitivity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value between these 2 assays in this age group. CONCLUSIONS The Aptima assay was found to be statistically significantly more specific than the Cervista test for detecting CIN2/3 lesions among women aged ≥50 years. These findings not only further support the recommendations by the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology that hrHPV triage is an acceptable option for postmenopausal women with LSIL cytology, but also provide additional evidence that HPV RNA testing may be more useful in clinical risk stratification due to its specificity in the postmenopausal population. Cancer Cytopathol 2018. © 2018 American Cancer Society.
The_Tower_of_Babel.jpg: Diversity of Visual Encyclopedic Knowledge Across Wikipedia Language Editions

Across all Wikipedia language editions, millions of images augment text in critical ways. This visual encyclopedic knowledge is an important form of wikiwork for editors, a critical part of reader experience, an emerging resource for machine learning, and a lens into cultural differences. However, Wikipedia research--and cross-language edition Wikipedia research in particular--has thus far been limited to text. In this paper, we assess the diversity of visual encyclopedic knowledge across 25 language editions and compare our findings to those reported for textual content. Unlike text, translation in images is largely unnecessary. Additionally, the Wikimedia Foundation, through the Wikipedia Commons, has taken steps to simplify cross-language image sharing. While we may expect that these factors would reduce image diversity, we find that cross-language image diversity rivals, and often exceeds, that found in text. We find that diversity varies between language pairs and content types, but that many images are unique to different language editions. Our findings have implications for readers (in what imagery they see), for editors (in deciding what images to use), for researchers (who study cultural variations), and for machine learning developers (who use Wikipedia for training models).
Restriction–Modification Systems as a Barrier for Genetic Manipulation of Staphylococcus aureus

Genetic manipulation is a powerful approach to study fundamental aspects of bacterial physiology, metabolism, and pathogenesis. Most Staphylococcus aureus strains are remarkably difficult to genetically manipulate as they possess strong host defense mechanisms that protect bacteria from cellular invasion by foreign DNA. In S. aureus these bacterial "immunity" mechanisms against invading genomes are mainly associated with restriction-modification systems. To date, prokaryotic restriction-modification systems are classified into four different types (Type I-IV), all of which have been found in the sequenced S. aureus genomes. This chapter describes the roles, classification, mechanisms of action of different types of restriction-modification systems and the recent advances in the biology of restriction and modification in S. aureus.
Film Surface Area Measurements for Microporosity and Surface Roughness Analysis

Abstract From measurements of the change in nitrogen surface area as a function of the quantity of vapor preadsorbed on a solid powder or porous solid, surface/pore structural parameters may be obtained. The approach is demonstrated for water vapor adsorbed on various fumed silica powders, Vycor phase-separated glass, and several silica gels for surface roughness and micropore size distribution.
Generation of oxidants in the near-UV photooxidation of human lens alpha-crystallin.

In this study we report on the generation of superoxide anion (O2~) and hydrogen peroxide in the near-UV irradiation of human lens a-crystallin by monochromatic light at 300 nm. Photolysis of human lens a-crystallin at 300 nm, at irradiances similar to those encountered in sunlight causes an alteration of protein tertiary structure, a loss of tryptophan fluorescence and increase of nontryptophan fluorescence. The nontryptophan fluorescence is likely to be due to the photooxidation of tryptophan to N-formylkynurenine (N-FK or related species), which is a good photodynamic sensitizer, has significant absorption at 300 nm, and can thus react via its triplet state with O2 to generate 'O] or with reducing substrates (amino acids of the protein) to generate free radicals. The latter, in the presence of O2 can lead to the generation of O2~ and H2O2. These species have been directly assayed in this study in photolyzed solutions of fetal, young and old human lens a-crystallin. The addition of superoxide dismutase (SOD) to the protein solution prior to photolysis increased the amount of H2O2 generated by 3- to 4-fold. This observation not only provides definitive evidence for the photogeneration of O2~, but also indicates that only a fraction of this species is transformed into H2O2 in the absence of SOD. Significant amounts of O2~ and H2O2 were formed by 340 nm irradiation of old human lens a-crystallin, in which the basal level of N-FK is high. The role of 'O2 in these photoreactions has been studied by investigating the quenching effect of azide and the enhancing effects of D2O on the rate of loss of tryptophan fluorescence yield and the effect of azide on the rate of H2O2 generation. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 30:706-713,1989
Possibilities and Limitations of Isocratic Fast Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Pesticide Residues in Fruits and Vegetables

Currently, state-of-the-art analytical methods for multiclass, multiresidue monitoring of pesticides in foods use ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) for analysis of LC-amenable analytes. UHPLC-MS/MS for > 100 pesticides typically takes 10 min per injection using gradient elution in the reversed-phase mode, plus typically 3–5 min for re-equilibration between injections. Isocratic mobile-phase conditions eliminate need for the re-equilibration, and can greatly speed analysis time. In this study, fast isocratic LC-MS/MS was evaluated using a C18 analytical column of 3 cm × 4.6 mm i.d. with 3 µm particles and a mobile phase consisting of 10 mM ammonium formate at pH 3 in 47.5/47.5/5 (v/v/v) acetonitrile/methanol/water. Flow rate was 0.4 mL/min and injection volume was 50 µL. Sample preparation entailed a formate-buffered QuEChERS method for fruit and vegetable samples, typically yielding extract of 1.27 g/mL sample equivalent in 94/6 acetonitrile/water without additional cleanup. The analysis time was 2.6 min covering 88 diverse pesticide analytes each with three ion transitions (dwell times of 5 ms and 5 ms interscan delays). Validation experiments involving fortification of water, pear, tomato, cucumber, eggplant, and cilantro at 10 and 100 ng/g (n = 10 for each matrix and level) showed that the method achieved acceptable quantification with 70–120% recoveries and ≤ 25% RSD for 32–62 (36–70%) of the analytes depending on the matrix. Using regulatory identification criteria, only 6 false positives occurred above 10 ng/g among 4400 analyte/matrix/sample combinations, but false negatives varied depending on the pesticide/matrix pair, with results improving significantly for analytes with retention times > 1.3 min. This study demonstrated the feasibility and limits of isocratic LC-MS/MS for rapid screening of common commodities monitored for pesticide residues.
Synthesis and evaluation of imidazolidinones as nonpeptide HIV-protease inhibitors

Abstract Imidazolidinones were synthesized from 7-membered ring cyclic ureas via a sequential series of novel ring contraction reactions proceeding first through the tetrahydropyrimidinones and finally to the 5-membered ring heterocycle. These imidazolidinones are shown to be excellent HIV-PR inhibitors. The most potent compound 20 having a Ki = 17 nM.
No Guilt, No Shame: Discerning Signs of Post-Conflict Moral Injury in Atmospheres of Political Impunity

Social scientists in the United States have published extensively on the concept of moral injury among soldiers in the past decade. Contemporary research gestures principally to expressions of guilt or shame as the primary mechanisms by which one can discern moral injury in a soldier. Guilt and shame are understood to be the emotional responses to the a soldier’s realization that they have taken life (or witnessed the taking of life) especially in an atrocity; such feelings tend to be amplified in the face of hostility to recent military missions (and, implicitly, military actors) on the part of the American populace. Scholars of moral injury point to the U.S. war in Vietnam, and to some extent those in Iraq and Afghanistan, as conflicts which left veterans with a sense of “all-encompassing absurdity and moral inversion.” What happens to our understanding of how to recognize moral injury, this article asks, if we expand our investigation of moral injury beyond the framework of an increasingly anti-war United States populace, and consider wars that are civil in nature as opposed to waged on foreign grounds? Focusing on non-US geopolitical sites where cultures of impunity have taken root post-conflict, this article finds that guilt and shame suddenly become considerably less productive tools by which to identify the moral cost of war to combatants. Recuperating an original formulation of moral injury suggested by Robert Jay Lifton in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and interpreting it alongside a close-reading of documentary cinema featuring perpetrators of atrocities in Indonesia, Cambodia and Lebanon, this article proposes that we broaden our criteria for perceiving moral injury beyond the filters of guilt and shame if we hope to arrive at a more universal understanding of the phenomenon.
Analytic Training for Junior Investigators in Minority Aging Research: The Michigan Model

Since 1997, the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research Program at the National Institute on Aging has been the model for training social and behavioral scientists in minority aging and health disparities research. The latest cycle of these Centers implemented a new structure for the analytic training of junior investigators and for advancing methodologic work relevant to improving the rigor of minority aging research. In this article, we describe the conceptual framework, logistical approaches, challenges, and lessons learned from our experience training junior investigators in methodology through the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research over the past 20 years, with the goal of informing future analytic training efforts for the next generation of scholars focused on minority aging issues.
The Ethanolamine-Sensing Transcription Factor EutR Promotes Virulence and Transmission during Citrobacter rodentium Intestinal Infection

Enteric pathogens exploit chemical and nutrient signaling to gauge their location within a host and control expression of traits important for infection. Ethanolamine-containing molecules are essential in host physiology and play important roles in intestinal processes. The transcription factor EutR is conserved in the Enterobacteriaceae and is required for ethanolamine sensing and metabolism. In enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7, EutR responds to ethanolamine to activate expression of traits required for host colonization and disease; however, the importance of EutR to EHEC intestinal infection has not been examined. Because EHEC does not naturally colonize or cause disease in mice, we employed the natural murine pathogen Citrobacter rodentium as a model of EHEC virulence to investigate the importance of EutR in vivo EHEC and C. rodentium possess the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE), which is the canonical virulence trait of attaching and effacing pathogens. Our findings demonstrate that ethanolamine sensing and EutR-dependent regulation of the LEE are conserved in C. rodentium Moreover, during infection, EutR is required for maximal LEE expression, colonization, and transmission efficiency. These findings reveal that EutR not only is important for persistence during the primary host infection cycle but also is required for maintenance in a host population.
AI in Weather Radars

Modern ground-based weather radars are mostly dual-polarized, and they are rich in information content in multiple dimensions, and are ideal candidates for effective artificial intelligence (AI) applications. There are a large number of dual-polarization radars around the world. In addition, space borne weather radars such as Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) have also produced rich observations that are great to be analyzed using AI. AI has already been used with weather radar information long before it became popular in mainstream, such as the use of neural networks for rainfall estimation through ingesting vertical reflectivity profiles and the application of neuro-fuzzy systems for hydrometeor classification. The primary goal of this paper is to introduce some of the major application areas for weather radar AI, namely, quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE), precipitation classification, and nowcasting. These three application domains have engaged very different types of AI technologies.
Radially symmetric scalar solitons

A class of noncanonical effective potentials is introduced allowing stable, radially symmetric, solutions to first order Bogomol'nyi equations for a real scalar field in a fixed spacetime background. This class of effective potentials generalizes those found previously by Bazeia, Menezes, and Menezes [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 241601 (2003)] for radially symmetric defects in a flat spacetime. Use is made of the ``on-shell method'' introduced by Atmaja and Ramadhan [Phys. Rev. D 90, 105009 (2014)] of reducing the second order equation of motion to a first order one, along with a constraint equation. This method and class of potentials admits radially symmetric, stable solutions for four dimensional static, radially symmetric spacetimes. Stability against radial fluctuations is established with a modified version of Derrick's theorem, along with demonstrating that the radial stress vanishes. Several examples of scalar field configurations are given.
Perinatal experiences of pregnant women with psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective We sought to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pregnancy, delivery and postpartum experiences of women with histories of psychiatric disorders. Method Women already enrolled in a United States registry which prospectively studies the relationship between the use of psychiatric medications during pregnancy and major congenital malformations were invited to participate in this study. Subjects were asked about their experiences across the pandemic through interviews during pregnancy and the postpartum period and through an emailed questionnaire. Data were collected between May 2020 and February 2021. Results Interview and email questionnaire data were collected from 488 individuals. Most participants reported disruption, or planned changes, to their perinatal care due to the pandemic. Women expressed concerns about reduced postpartum support, and the reduction of positive social interactions and opportunities for family/friends to bond with the baby. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the experiences of many pregnant women with pre-existing psychiatric disorders, particularly in relation to changes in care and perceived social support. Given that the risk of relapse of psychiatric disorders is already high in the postpartum period, it is important to identify what factors cause most distress for this at-risk population.
Do we know what causes eosinophilic esophagitis? A mechanistic update

The mechanisms underlying eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) have been intensely investigated, and significant advances have been made in understanding the pathogenesis of EoE. EoE is defined as a chronic immune/antigen-mediated disease, characterized clinically by symptoms of esophageal dysfunction and histologically by an esophageal eosinophilic infiltrate. In this paper, we will review the current knowledge of EoE pathophysiology based on both animal and human data and discuss possible etiologic mechanisms from the genetic and environmental perspectives. EoE is a Th2-predominant inflammatory process triggered by allergens. Proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines recruit eosinophils and other effector cells, such as mast cells, into the esophageal epithelium, where they cause direct damage and promote esophageal remodeling. The genetic expression profile of EoE has been described, and several single nucleotide polymorphisms have been identified and associated with EoE. While this genetic contribution is important, it is difficult to postulate that EoE is primarily a genetic disease. Given the rapid epidemiologic changes in the incidence and prevalence of EoE over the past two decades, environmental factors may be the driving force. While it is not known what causes EoE in an individual patient at a specific time, the current hypothesis is that there is a complex interaction between genetic factors and environmental exposures that remains to be elucidated.
War, the American State, and Politics since 1898: The “Splendid Little War”

“Was there ever before such a war with such great results, so short in duration, such wonderful successes, with no reverses?” asked Vermont Senator Redfield Proctor shortly after the Spanish-American War's conclusion in the summer of 1898. For the United States, at least, the answer is assuredly no. Nonetheless, as Lewis L. Gould notes, “the war has not received very much attention as a force for social change at the end of the nineteenth century.” Rather, scholarly attention has focused on the 1896 presidential election and the Progressive movement that followed as purported turning points in American political history. The 1896 election has played a prominent role in the realignment literature since the theory's inception, and its prominence as a “critical election” that produced a “sharp and durable” realignment has endured through the literature's development. Following on the heels of the panic of 1893, as V.O. Key initially argued, the 1896 election brought the Republican Party to power and the “Democratic defeat was so demoralizing and so thorough that the party could make little headway in regrouping its forces until 1916.” Similarly, James L. Sundquist has asserted that this 1896 realignment set the stage for American politics until World War I. Meanwhile, American political development (APD) scholars have written about the myriad formal and informal changes the political system underwent during the Progressive years. While the importance of these developments should not be dismissed, the legacy of the Spanish-American War has been unjustly overlooked.
SIRTF and star formation

Four problems in the field of star formation that can be attacked to advantage with SIRTF are discussed: (1) the patterns of star formation in spiral galaxies, (2) the physical mechanism for bimodal star formation, (3) the nature of bipolar outflows from young stellar objects, and (4) the birth of brown dwarfs. In each case, SIRTF can provide the crucial combination of high angular resolution with great sensitivity over a broad range of wavelengths that is needed to address the relevant issues.
Plaque Development and Induction of Interferon Synthesis by RMC Poliovirus

Johnson, Terry C. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis), and Leroy C. McLaren. Plaque development and induction of interferon synthesis by RMC poliovirus. J. Bacteriol. 90:565–570. 1965.—Plaque development by RMC poliovirus on human amnion cell monolayers was investigated with regard to autointerference and to the effect of acid-agar overlay on plaquing efficiency. The virus was inhibited by acid-agar overlay, thereby exhibiting the d− marker typical of attenuated poliovirus strains. In addition, a lack of RMC poliovirus plaque development on HeLa cell monolayers was shown to be the result of an agar inhibitor which could be removed by NaCl extraction. By use of a simplified plaque reduction assay, it was shown that interferon production was responsible for the autointerference phenomenon. Interferon synthesis did not correlate with the ages in vitro of human amnion cell cultures. Fibroblasts originating from the chorionic membrane produced negligible amounts of the inhibitor. Interferon synthesis by human amnion cells infected with RMC poliovirus was inhibited by actinomycin D. The addition of guanidine hydrochloride to infected cultures immediately after RMC poliovirus adsorption markedly inhibited interferon synthesis, although after 2 hr (postadsorption) guanidine had no effect on interferon production.
Human grasp choice and robotic grasp analysis

In studying grasping and manipulation we find two very different approaches to the subject: knowledge-based approaches based primarily on empirical studies of human grasping and manipulation, and analytical approaches based primarily on physical models of the manipulation process. This chapter begins with a review of studies of human grasping, in particular our development of a grasp taxonomy and an expert system for predicting human grasp choice. These studies show how object geometry and task requirements (as well as hand capabilities and tactile sensing) combine to dictate grasp choice. We then consider analytic models of grasping and manipulation with robotic hands. To keep the mathematics tractable, these models require numerous simplifications which restrict their generality. Despite their differences, the two approaches can be correlated. This provides insight into why people grasp and manipulate objects as they do, and suggests different approaches for robotic grasp and manipulation planning. The results also bear upon such issues such as object representation and hand design.
Property Testing of Equivalence under a Permutation Group Action.

For a permutation group G acting on the set Ω we say that two strings x, y : Ω → {0, 1} are Gisomorphic if they are equivalent under the action ofG, i. e., if for some π ∈ G we have x(i) = y(i) for all i ∈ Ω. Cyclic Shift, Graph Isomorphism and Hypergraph Isomorphism are special cases, and subcases corresponding to certain classes of groups have been central to the design of efficient isomorphism testing for subclasses of graphs (Luks 1982). We study the complexity of G-isomorphism in the context of property testing: we want to find the randomized decision tree complexity of distinguishing the cases when x and y are G-isomorphic from the cases when they are at least δ-far from beingG-isomorphic (in normalized Hamming distance). Error can be 1-sided or 2-sided. In each case we consider two models. In the query-1 model we assume y is known and only x needs to be queried. In the query-2 model we have to query both x and y. We give various upper and lower bounds for the four combinations of models considered in terms of n = |Ω| and |G|. In most cases, substantial gaps remain between the upper and lower bounds. However, for primitive permutation groups, we obtain a tight (up to polylog(n) factors) bound of Θ(log |G|) for the 1-sided error query complexity in the query-1 model and a tight Θ( √ n log |G|) bound for the 1sided error query complexity in the query-2 model. These results extend results of Fischer and Matsliah (2006) on Graph Isomorphism to a surprisingly general class of groups which also includes isomorphism of uniform hypergraphs of any rank. Our results imply a remarkable divergence between the query-1 and the query-2 complexities of k-hypergraph isomorphism for large k in the 1-sided error model. Besides the fact that they include Graph Isomorphism and k-hypergraph isomorphism, primitive permutation groups are significant because they form the “building blocks” of all permutations groups, providing the base cases of a natural divide-and-conquer approach successfully exploited in algorithm design (Luks, 1982; Babai, Luks, Seress 1987). While all our bounds are in terms of the order and the degree ofG, it seems likely that tighter bounds will depend on the finer structure ofG. Our results on primitive groups are the first steps in this direction.
Environmental and resource sustainability of Chinese cities: A review of issues, policies, practices and effects

This paper synthesizes the English literature on current issues, policies and practices, and their effects on environmental and resource sustainability in China's ongoing urbanization. Aspects of urban sustainability reviewed include air, water, solid waste, energy efficiency, transportation and land use. It shows that Chinese cities have been and probably will continue to be struggling with issues such as air pollution, scarcity of clean water, solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions. But there are many opportunities for improvement. It suggests shortages of existing policies and major gaps in knowledge and practice, which can be helpful to policy makers, planners and researchers in China and other developing countries.
Addressing key features of gang membership: Measuring the involvement of young members

In recent years, the growth in knowledge of the characteristics and activities of gang members has been impressive. Little is known, however, about the key features of younger gang members, those in middle school. Ninety-six middle school students who self-reported current or former gang membership in a school-based survey form the sample for this analysis. This study examined four dimensions of gang membership: joining the gang, processes involved in gang life, organizational characteristics of the gang, and family characteristics. Gang membership appears to be transient, with a weak hold on members during periods of membership. This is especially true when the results of this study are compared to studies that used older members.
Moral status: what a bad idea!

Background Advocates of people with disabilities sometimes have advanced their cause within a conceptual frame of human exceptionalism, shaped specifically by one or another proposal about a moral property or capacity with which human individuals alone are endowed. Methods This essay is a philosophical reflection about the notion of moral status. Results Arguments presented here show, however, that framing the pursuit of protection for people with disabilities in terms of humanity's exceptional moral status is more hazardous than helpful. Conclusions Appeals to moral status do not settle debates about whether there are obligations to provide protection and support for individuals with disabilities because the idea of moral status is as contentious as the disagreements it is invoked to resolve.
The benefits of using a low dose Thallium-201 protocol with D-SPECT Cardiac Imaging System for myocardial perfusion studies

2727 Objectives As cardiac imaging systems advance they are better able to: facilitate more strategic positioning of detectors, reduce imaging time, gate every study, obtain useful counts and reconstruct to produce quality, high resolution images. With these advancements, the option arises to adjust patient doses as to reduce cost and exposure while still yielding diagnostically useful information. Currently, most MPI protocols call for the use of Tc-99m Sestamibi or Tetrofosmin as the chief isotope. However, with the option of using low doses, there are advantages to a protocol that dictates using Thallium-201. The use of Tl-201 eliminates bowel and liver obstruction of the heart on the images as the method of uptake is via the sodium potassium pump used in the muscle movement of the left ventricle and does not clear through the hepatobilliary system. Although the half-life of Tl-201 is longer, it is also a lower energy than MIBI. This study will assess if there is a resolution and image quality difference between a full dose MIBI protocol and a low dose Tl-201 protocol when imaging using a D-SPECT system. Methods Numerous studies from both a standard MIBI MPI protocol and a trial Tl-201 MPI protocol that dosed the patient 1-2mCi based on BMI were reviewed. All Tl-201 studies were obtained on a D-SPECT camera. The images were evaluated for bowel/liver obstruction and resolution quality. Results Upon examination of the image sets, it was determined that there was a negligible difference in resolution quality between the protocols and there was little to no bowel/liver uptake on the rest and pharmaceutical stress images of the Tl-201 protocol. Conclusions There are advantages to using a low dose Tl-201 protocol when imaging with an advanced cardiac imaging system, which includes a radiation dose reduction to the patient. These systems might, inversely, allow for full dose/half time protocols.
Congenital Cystic Disease of the Kidneys and Liver Complicated by Cholangitis; Case Report

Summary This is a report of extensive polycystic disease of the kidneys and liver in a 54-year old housewife. The diagnosis was verified at autopsy. The effect of progressive cystic disease associated with acute and chronic cholangitis and abscess formation terminating in hepatic coma is outlined.
High temperature electrochemical charging of hydrogen and its application in hydrogen embrittlement research

Abstract A high temperature electrochemical charging technique was developed for effective introduction of hydrogen or tritium into the metallic materials to a high level in a short period of time. The samples of the steels and alloys, as the cathode, were charged in an electrochemical cell consists of Pt anode and molten salt electrolyte. After 3, 6 and 12 h charging, the 304 stainless steel absorbed 25, 45 and 60 ppm of hydrogen, respectively. Correspondingly, the mechanical strength lost 10, 16 and 23%. The plasticity was also reduced to 20, 23 and 38%. The fractography showed the hydrogen embrittlement effect on the fractures. The electrochemical hydrogen charging technique was successfully used for introducing tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, into the super alloys for visualization of hydrogen trapped in the microstructure of the materials. It is found that the hydrogen is trapped at the grain boundaries, in inclusions and carbides. The deformed and twisted grain boundaries trap most hydrogen under stress.
Stable conformations of histamine by empirical method

Using an empirical method, three preferred conformations for histamine mono- and dication have been predicted. These three stable conformations correspond to one trans [ φ = 60°(300°), ω = 180°], and two gauche [ φ = 60°(300°), ω = 70°(290°), and φ= 70°(290°), ω = 290°(70°)] forms. The gauche conformations are less stable by 0·8–1·5 kcal mole−1, and also appear to exist in a lesser proportion (46%) compared to trans form (54%). These results agree very well with the X-ray crystallographic and NMR solution studies.
Compound Circular Harmonic Filters

In this paper a compound rotation-invariant filtering technique is developed which leads to sharp cross-correlation peaks for desired targets, while suppressing random noise and unwanted target correlations. The basic compound filter structure consists of a weighted sum of the cross-correlations between several circular harmonic filters (CHF's) and the input image. In the design procedure, the weights are constrained so that the compound filter output has a peak value of 1, for the desired target. Measures of random noise, and deterministic noise due to correlations with unwanted targets, are minimized with respect to the weights. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the compound filter is therefore maximized. Some limits to the performance of the technique are discussed. The output magnitude squared cross-correlation functions form a non-orthogonal set of functions. Therefore, the SNR could be made arbitrarily large if the functions were linearly independent and a very large number of CHF's were available. Examples illustrating the filter performance are given. Extensions of this work are discussed.
Reflections on perfection

Ces reflexions sur la perfection et les tendances perfectionnistes se fondent sur la litterature sur la question ainsi que sur l'experience clinique personnelle de l'auteur
Family and Relationship Influences on Parenting Behaviors of Young Parents

Purpose Assess the influence of relationship and family factors during pregnancy on parenting behavior 6 months postpartum among low-income young parents.
On the thermomechanical deformation of silver shape memory nanowires

We present an analysis of the uniaxial thermomechanical deformation of single-crystal silver shape memory nanowires using atomistic simulations. We first demonstrate that silver nanowires can show both shape memory and pseudoelastic behavior, then perform uniaxial tensile loading of the shape memory nanowires at various deformation temperatures, strain rates and heat transfer conditions. The simulations show that the resulting mechanical response of the shape memory nanowires depends strongly upon the temperature during deformation, and can be fundamentally different from that observed in bulk polycrystalline shape memory alloys. The energy and temperature signatures of uniaxially loaded silver shape memory nanowires are correlated to the observed nanowire deformation, and are further discussed in comparison to bulk polycrystalline shape memory alloy behavior.
Interferometric observations of large biologically interesting interstellar and cometary molecules.

Interferometric observations of high-mass regions in interstellar molecular clouds have revealed hot molecular cores that have substantial column densities of large, partly hydrogen-saturated molecules. Many of these molecules are of interest to biology and thus are labeled “biomolecules.” Because the clouds containing these molecules provide the material for star formation, they may provide insight into presolar nebular chemistry, and the biomolecules may provide information about the potential of the associated interstellar chemistry for seeding newly formed planets with prebiotic organic chemistry. In this overview, events are outlined that led to the current interferometric array observations. Clues that connect this interstellar hot core chemistry to the solar system can be found in the cometary detection of methyl formate and the interferometric maps of cometary methanol. Major obstacles to understanding hot core chemistry remain because chemical models are not well developed and interferometric observations have not been very sensitive. Differentiation in the molecular isomers glycolaldehdye, methyl formate, and acetic acid has been observed, but not explained. The extended source structure for certain sugars, aldehydes, and alcohols may require nonthermal formation mechanisms such as shock heating of grains. Major advances in understanding the formation chemistry of hot core species can come from observations with the next generation of sensitive, high-resolution arrays.
ANALYSIS AND EVOLUTION OF HEAD INJURY IN FOOTBALL

OBJECTIVE: To review head injury in football through historical, anatomic, and physiological analysis. METHODS: We obtained data from a thorough review of the literature. RESULTS: The reported incidence of concussion among high school football players dropped from 19% in 1983 to 4% in 1999. During the 1997 Canadian football League season, players with a previous loss of corisciousness in football were 6.15 times more likely to experience a concussion than players without a previous luss of consciousness (P < 0.05). Players with a previous concussion in football were 5.10 times more likely to experience a concussion than players without a previous concossiore (P = 0.0001). With the implementation of Nationa Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment standards, fatalities decreased by 74% and secious head injuries decreased from 4.25 per 100,000 to 0.68 per 100,000. CONCLUSION: Significant declines in both the incidence and severity of head injury have been observed. The enhanced safety records in football can be attributed to the application of more stringent tackling regulations as well as the evolving football heimet. The role of a neurosurgeon is critical in further head injury prevention and guidelines in sport.
Group additivity thermodynamics for dissolution of solid cyclic dipeptides into water

Abstract The thermodynamics of dissolution of a set of cyclic dipeptide solids into water has been studied in order to establish the energetic contributions of various groups which determine protein folding. The techniques are described and the results are interpreted in terms of a group additivity scheme. It is shown that this kind of group additivity leads to linear correlations (either entropy change or enthalpy change with heat capacity change) which have been observed for protein denaturation and the dissolution of apolar compounds [1].
A comparison of computer-controlled versus manual on-line patient setup adjustment.

A study was performed to determine the relative advantage of computer-controlled couch movement versus manual repositioning to correct patient setup error measured using an electronic portal imaging device (EPID). Twenty-eight on-line setup adjustment trials of anterior-posterior (AP) pelvic projections were evaluated, with 13 setups corrected by automated couch movement determined by direct feedback from the EPID image alignment tool and 15 setups manually corrected based on the transformation displayed from the same tool. The speed of setup adjustment and accuracy of corrected setup were determined. Computer controlled setup adjustment was determined to be faster (25.4 s versus 101.9 s) and slightly more accurate (1.8 mm versus 2.5 mm error in adjusted setup) than manual correction. 2002 American College of Medical Physics.
Properties of soliton-soliton collisions.

The amplitude dependence of the phase shift originating in an overtaking soliton-soliton collision is investigated for solitons that can be described with a Korteweg--de Vries equation and a nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. The size dependence of the interaction regime is also amplitude dependent. Laboratory and numerical experiments are compared with a simple model for the elastic collision.
The accumulation pattern across Siple Dome, West Antarctica, inferred from radar-detected internal layers

The spatial distribution of accumulation across Siple Dome, West Antarctica, is determined from analysis of the shapes of internal layers detected by radio-echo sounding (RES) measurements. A range of assumed accumulation patterns is used in an ice-flow model to calculate a set of internal layer patterns. Inverse techniques are used to determine which assumed accumulation pattern produces a calculated internal layer pattern that best matches the shape of internal layers from RES measurements. All of the observed internal layer shapes at Siple Dome can be matched using a spatially asymmetric accumulation pattern which has been steady over time. Relative to the divide, the best-fitting accumulation pattern predicts 40% less accumulation 30 km from the divide on the south flank of Siple Dome and 15–40% more accumulation 30 km from the divide on the north flank. The data also allow the possibility for a small time variation of the pattern north of the divide. The mismatch between the calculated and the observed layer shapes is slightly reduced when the accumulation rate north of the divide is higher in the past (> 5kyr BP) than at present. Sensitivity tests show that the predicted change in the spatial accumulation pattern required to cause the slight Siple Dome divide migration (inferred from previous studies) would be detectable in the internal layer pattern if it persisted for > 2 kyr. Our analysis reveals no evidence that such a change has occurred, and the possible change in accumulation distribution allowed by the data is in the opposite sense. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Siple Dome divide migration has been caused by a temporal change in the spatial pattern of accumulation. This conclusion suggests the migration may be caused by elevation changes in Ice Streams C and D at the boundaries of Siple Dome.