cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Distributed aggregation for modular robots in the pivoting cube model

We present a distributed control strategy for the aggregation of multiple modular robots into one connected structure optimized for use with 3D modular pivoting cube robots such as the 3D M-Blocks [1]. We use the intensity from a light source as input to a decentralized control algorithm that drives the robots together. We describe the algorithm, give provable guarantees on convergence, and discuss experiments carried out in simulation and with a hardware platform of ten 3D M-Blocks modules. In this paper we contribute provably correct algorithms for the aggregation of generic modular robots; we show how these algorithms can be applied on real hardware by evaluating them on the 3D M-Blocks platform.
Distance, dissimilarity, and mean–variance ratios in ordination

Summary Recent advances employing generalized linear models in ecology have led ecological statisticians to argue strongly for the need to re-evaluate or re-invent commonly used multivariate analyses in ecology to explicitly address the mean–variance ratios of the underlying species data. This paper re-evaluates previous work on the importance of aligning distance- or dissimilarity-based methods with the mean–variance ratios of underlying data and extends the analyses to additional simulated data designed to test the specific assertions of model-based advocates with respect to ordination analysis. Similar analyses are conducted on an observed community dataset where the observed species abundances exhibit a quadratic variance-to-mean ratio. The results emphasize two general points with respect to (i) the sensitivity of ordination to species abundance distributions and (ii) the inherently hierarchical nature of community analysis. Previously observed problematic results are shown to result from extremely high between-community variability in sample unit abundance, and are independent of the underlying species mean–variance ratios. Results for simulated data as well as for observed coral reef community data show similar results. Multivariate analyses of the newly simulated data from two communities along a simulated gradient show excellent results despite the underlying species negative binomial distributions and putatively problematic mean–variance ratios. Problems identified in previously observed results reflect a misunderstanding of the hierarchical nature of ecological communities. Mechanisms operating at the individual species level can manifest at the community level as a different ecological (and statistical) phenomenon. Specifically, uncorrelated or divergent changes in species abundances within communities lead inevitably to dispersion effects at the community level. The hierarchical nature of the analysis is independent of the specifics of the species mean–variance ratios, and would obtain whether species abundances are distributed with uniform, normal, or negative-binomial distributions. The results presented here demonstrate that suitable ordination of the data accurately represents the ecological response at the community level. However, paired ordinations on non-standardized and standardized data can elucidate the underlying species-level changes in abundance as the mechanism driving the change in community dispersion.
FAOund the Link: Phospholipid Remodeling and Intestinal Stem Cell Growth and Tumorigenesis

In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Wang et al. (2018) identify a novel link between Lpcat3-mediated phospholipid remodeling (the Lands cycle) and cholesterol biosynthesis that modulates intestinal stem cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Notably, inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis dampens many of the Lpcat3-deficiency-mediated effects in the intestine.
A Review of Coasts in Crisis: A Global Challenge

“With about 150 million people around the world living within 3 feet of high tide and hundreds of millions more within a few more feet, future sea level rise may be the greatest challenge human civ...
Dual enhancement in HTC and CHF for external tubular pool boiling – A mechanistic perspective and future directions

Abstract External tubular pool boiling plays an important role in a range of commercial, industrial, and residential applications including refrigeration and air conditioning, distillation, cryogenics, desalination, and steam generation in power plants. Enhancing the pool boiling performance while increasing the operating heat fluxes results in improved cycle efficiency and reduced equipment size. This approach requires dual enhancement in heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and critical heat flux (CHF) simultaneously. An increase in HTC improves the cycle efficiency in refrigeration evaporators, while increasing CHF permits employment of higher operating heat fluxes. As a means of improving the boiling performance over tubular surfaces, a number of enhancement techniques have been reported in literature. A detailed discussion of each enhancement technique and its underlying mechanisms is presented in this paper. The augmentations have been categorized based on the heat transfer enhancement method. Significant enhancements of up to 4–6-fold over plain tubes in the HTC have been reported with High-Flux, Thermoexcel, and Turbo tubes with somewhat limited enhancement in the CHF of 1–1.9-fold. In refrigeration and air-conditioning applications, the augmented tubes have been used in low heat flux ranges and the focus has been primarily on enhancing the HTC. Recently, new mechanistic approaches have been developed to significantly enhance CHF up to 2–3.8-fold and HTC up to 10–40-fold for pool boiling over flat surfaces. Specific experiments conducted on tubular surfaces have shown these mechanistic approaches to be effective for tubular surfaces as well. Based on these studies, a mechanistic approach for providing significant dual enhancement in both HTC and CHF for external tubular boiling is outlined. Such efforts are expected to enable operating the refrigerant evaporators efficiently (high HTC resulting in low wall superheat) at considerably higher heat fluxes (due to enhanced CHF) to dramatically reduce the size of the evaporators with resultant cost savings and environmental benefits as well from the reduced refrigerant inventory.
Mortality in Living Kidney Donors With ESRD: A Propensity Score Analysis Using the United States Renal Data System.

Introduction In recent years, data have emerged on the outcomes of living kidney donors who develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD). We aimed to evaluate mortality rates in kidney donors who had initiated dialysis compared with a propensity-matched cohort of dialysis patients without previous kidney donation. Methods We used the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) and abstracted 274 previous living kidney donors between 1995 and 2009. There were 609,398 individuals on dialysis without kidney donation. We used propensity score matching to identify 258 donors and 258 nondonors. The time-dependent Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare survival between the 2 matched cohorts. Results In the propensity score−matched cohort, mortality was lower in donors compared with nondonors (19% vs. 49%; P P P P = 0.20) due to the small sample size. Conclusion We observed a lower mortality rate in living kidney donors with ESRD compared with matched nondonors. This data should guide clinicians in the informed consent process with prospective donors.
Overview of Electron Microscopy Studies of the So-Called “Strong Metal-Support Interaction” (SMSI)

Toaster and coworkers [8.1,2] discovered that when the Group VIH noble metals supported on oxides from Groups IIA–IIB were heated in hydrogen at temperatures in excess of 775 K the systems exhibited unusual chemisorption properties. They attributed the suppression of H2 and CO chemisorption capacity to the existence of a strong metal-support interaction (SMSI).
Retrospective analysis of nadir bone marrow biopsies in predicting need for re-induction therapy in adult acute myeloid leukemia.

e18509Background: The standard of care for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is to pursue re-induction chemotherapy if ≥ 5% blasts are present on the nadir bone marrow (BM) biopsy after induction chemot...
I Want to Know More About You: On Knowing and Acknowledging in Chinatown

What is the difference between knowing someone and acknowledging them? Is it possible to want to be acknowledged while remaining unknown? And if one’s desire to know another person is too consuming, can this foreclose the possibility of acknowledgment? Cavell argues that we sometimes avoid the ethical problem of acknowledgment by (mis)conceiving our relations with others in terms of knowledge and that this epistemic misconception can actually amount to a form of ethical harm. I show that Polanski’s Chinatown helps us understand the difference between knowing and acknowledging and that Cavell’s concepts help us better appreciate Chinatown.
FRAM: Framed ALOHA for 5G Super Real-Time Multimedia Random Access with Packet Slicing

Internet of Things is gaining ground in the next generation of Internet. Random access protocols such as ALOHA and its variants play an important role for the successful implementation of 5G. The framed ALOHA is not suitable for such environment due to the relatively low throughput and no guarantee on delay. In this paper, we propose a Finite Projective Plane based random access scheme, FRAM, for multimedia super real-time traffic in the coming 5G Internet. FRAM allows for high throughput by expanding the selection base such that the collisions among users are most likely to be partial. In FRAM, a user packet is sliced into sections, i.e., packet slicing, and transmitted in the time slots of a frame corresponding to the points of a set of a Finite Projective Plane. The error bits induced in a user packet of partial collisions can be removed by forward error control coding. In the performance evaluation, we compare the throughput, pseudo throughput, and probability of blackout of FRAM with those of the framed ALOHA and SIC based CRDSA. The results show that the proposed FRAM has better pseudo throughput and much lower probability of blackout over both the framed ALOHA and CRDSA depending on threshold of partial collision.
The Effect of Smartphone Use During Off-job Time on Emotional Exhaustion and Job Engagement: Mediating Effect of Work-related Rumination and Moderating Effect of Segmentation Preference

The aim of this study was to identify the psychological mechanism between smartphone use during off-job time (smartphone use) and job attitudes (emotional exhaustion, job engagement). For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was conducted for 381 employees. The results of this study showed that smartphone use had a positive indirect effect on emotional exhaustion through emotional rumination and had a positive indirect effect on job engagement through problem-solving pondering. And the indirect effects of emotional rumination were relatively strong. In addition, the indirect effect of emotional rumination was found to increase more as the segmentation preference of the worker increased. Considering the work environment in which the segmentation preference of the worker is expected to increase as work-life balance is emphasized gradually, the effect of smartphone use through emotional ruminations on emotional exhaustion or job engagement will be increase. Based on these results, the implications of the study were discussed and future research directions were suggested.
Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma.

Anaplastic (undifferentiated) thyroid carcinoma is a highly aggressive malignancy that usually presents with a rapidly growing neck mass in older patients, with hoarseness, dysphasia, and vocal cord paralysis. This tumor accounts for 1–2 % of thyroid malignancies. The annual incidence of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is 1–2 in 1,000,000 people, and the overall incidence is higher in Europe and areas of endemic goiter than in the United States. These tumors are composed of undifferentiated cells with immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features supporting epithelial differentiation. One third of anaplastic carcinomas are associated with a better-differentiated thyroid carcinoma and may represent dedifferentiation. Anaplastic carcinomas must be differentiated from poorly differentiated carcinoma metastatic to the thyroid, lymphoma, and sarcoma. The paucicellular variant of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma must be differentiated from Riedel (fibrous) thyroiditis.
Approaches for visualizing uncertainty in benefit transfer from metaregression

Abstract When making decisions, policymakers often rely on benefit transfer estimates of environmental amenities when primary valuation studies are infeasible. However, various forms of uncertainty appear in the application of meta-analysis. We discuss several visual devices which applied analysts can deploy to clearly present select types of uncertainty into their work. Several examples from well-known metadatasets are presented. The empirical results suggest that these graphical devices allow greater depth of insight that what commonly appears in meta-regression analysis.
Press Credentials and Hybrid Boundary Zones: The Case of WorldNetDaily and the Standing Committee of Correspondents

Press credentialing practices are a vital, yet understudied site of scholarly research on journalistic norms and practices. Press credentialing not only structures internal professional hierarchies...
Expansion of Parson's sick role into cyberspace: Patient information consumerism and subjective health in a representative sample of U.S. internet users

Abstract The self-help culture, in the context of the U.S. medical system, demands proactive patient behavior as more responsibility for good health falls on the patient. The presence of health/medical information online alters the dynamics of medical encounters and transforms patients into reflexive consumers or consumer-patients who are engaged in personal health management. This paper examined whether using health information obtained from the Internet to manage personal health care (referred as e-health information consumerism) is associated with subjectively reported negative health outcomes in a representative sample of Internet users in the U.S. These outcomes are conceptualized as experiencing (a) adverse affect (feeling worried and anxious) and (b) health problem due to using Internet information. An online survey (n = 710) was conducted with study participants who were recruited from the largest online probability U.S. research panel developed by a non-profit academic research firm, Knowledge Networks. Analyses included multivariate regressions that included the statistical interactions between e-health information consumerism and the communicational and interactional aspects of medical encounters. Parallel models were tested in the gender-stratified subsamples. Results indicate that robust associations exist between e-health information consumerism and patient-reported health outcomes. Respondents who indicated greater satisfaction with medical communication reported lower averages on experiencing worry and a health problem due to e-health information consumerism. While e-health information consumerism is significantly associated with experiencing a self-reported health problem in both men and women, the association with adverse affect is significant only among women. The moderating role of patient satisfaction with medical communication is stronger among women. Interestingly, the moderating role of patient satisfaction with a medical interaction is stronger among respondents who reported higher averages on experiencing a health problem due to e-health information consumerism. e-Health information consumerism can translate into health benefits if the Internet information is deployed to promote a satisfactory medical partnership.
Multiple-Dose Oral Fosfomycin for Treatment of Complicated Urinary Tract Infections in the Outpatient Setting

Background Few published studies exist to describe the off-label use of multiple-dose fosfomycin for outpatient treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (UTI). The purpose of this study was to characterize the patients, infections, drug susceptibilities, and outcomes of multiple-dose fosfomycin episodes for outpatient UTI treatment. Methods This retrospective study evaluated patients who received an outpatient prescription for multiple-dose fosfomycin between July 1999 and June 2018. Multiple-dose fosfomycin prescriptions dispensed for UTI prophylaxis were excluded. The primary outcome was clinical resolution (complete resolution of signs and symptoms) of infection within 30 days. Secondary outcomes included descriptions of antibiotics and cultures before and after treatment, 30-day bacteriologic resolution (posttreatment urine culture <103 colony-forming units of the original pathogen), and 90-day healthcare utilizations for UTI or pyelonephritis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of 171 multiple-dose fosfomycin treatment episodes, the most common regimen was 1 dose every 3 days, mean duration of 6.1 days. Clinical resolution occurred in 115 of 171 (67.3%) episodes, and bacteriologic resolution occurred in 37 of 76 (48.7%) episodes with posttreatment cultures. Most patients used antibiotics or had urine cultures before treatment (81.9% and 97.7%, respectively). Additional antibiotic use, urine cultures, and healthcare utilizations within 90 days posttreatment occurred in 51.5%, 66.1%, and 24.6% of patients, respectively. Conclusions For treating complicated UTI with multiple-dose fosfomycin, clinical resolution occurred in 2 of 3 treatment episodes and bacteriologic resolution occurred in one-half of treatment episodes. Future research is necessary to determine the relative efficacy and safety and optimal dosing regimen, duration, and population for UTI treatment with multiple-dose fosfomycin.
Localized charge distributions

A localized molecular orbital has been found to extend slightly and regularly into regions away from the chemical bond which contains most of its charge cloud. This was made the basis for a method of transferring localized orbitals among similar molecules. Each localized orbital induces a set of so-called molecule invariant fragments consisting of one bond fragment and collections of geminal fragments, vicinal fragments, and third and fourth neighbor fragments. Localized orbital expansion coefficients in a hybrid basis can be calculated for these molecule invariant fragments without solving any equations or performing any laborious computations. The present work is an application to acylic hydrocarbons. The results are based on the analysis of 33 INDO-SCF molecular orbital wavefunctions in the localized representation. Computational methods for obtaining close approximations to localized orbitals are also discussed. The application of a suggested pseudo-eigenvalue localization method and its accompanying self-consistent iteration process are found to not converge.
Ignoring the Electoral College: why public choice economists understate the probability of decisive voters

When considering the probability of voters being decisive in presidential elections, public choice economists typically proceed as if the probability can reasonably be approximated by assuming that the winner is determined by simple majority vote. It is well known the Electoral College can cause presidential candidates to lose elections despite winning the popular vote (an election inversion). But the Electoral College’s ability to increase the probability of some voters being decisive effectively has been ignored, despite such increases having occurred in 10 of the last 49 presidential elections. By examining the influence of the Electoral College in most of the presidential elections from 1824 to 2016, I explain and give examples of how the probabilities of some voters being decisive were elevated above what they would have been under majority rule, with the increase being truly astounding in several cases. The examples do not weaken the importance of expressive voting, but our understanding of such voting is improved by considering the probability effects of the Electoral College on voter decisiveness.
Chapter 1 – Chemical thermodynamics and flame temperatures

Chapter 1 discusses basic chemical thermodynamics and flame temperatures for combustion analysis. Heats of reaction, free energy, and equilibrium constants are introduced and then applied for the analysis of chemical equilibrium composition and adiabatic flame temperature of fuel−oxidizer mixtures. The effects of mixture equivalence ratio and pressure on the flame temperature and composition are discussed along with practical considerations. A brief discussion of sub and supersonic combustion thermodynamics is also presented.
Generalized Sub-Query Fusion for Eliminating Redundant I/O from Big-Data Queries.

SQL is the de-facto language for big-data analytics. Despite the cost of distributed SQL execution being dominated by disk and network I/O, we find that state-of-the-art optimizers produce plans that are not I/O optimal. For a significant fraction of queries (25% of popular benchmarks like TPCDS), a large amount of data is shuffled redundantly between different pairs of stages. The fundamental reason for this limitation is that optimizers do not have the right set of primitives to perform reasoning at the map-reduce level that can potentially identify and eliminate the redundant I/O. This paper proposes resin, an optimizer extension that adds first-class support for map-reduce reasoning. Resin uses a novel technique called Generalized Sub-Query Fusion that identifies sub-queries computing on overlapping data, and fuses them into the same map-reduce stages. The analysis is general; it does not require that the sub-queries be syntactically the same, nor are they required to produce the same output. Sub-query fusion allows resin to sometimes also eliminate expensive binary operations like Joins and Unions altogether for further gains. We have integrated resin into sparkSQL and evaluated it on TPCDS, a standard analytics benchmark suite. Our results demonstrate that the proposed optimizations apply to 40% of the queries and speed up a large fraction of them by 1.1-6x, reducing the overall execution time of the benchmark suite by 12%.
Twig-like middle cerebral arteries: Clinical and radiological findings.

Abstract Background and purpose Aplastic or twig-like middle cerebral artery (MCA) is a rare vascular anomaly characterized by replacement of the M1 segment by a plexiform network of small vessels. Though rare, familiarity with this entity and ability to differentiate it from radiological mimics such as moyamoya changes and steno-occlusive diseases are important. We review the clinical and radiological manifestations of patients diagnosed with twig-like MCA on cerebral angiograms over a five-year period. Materials and methods Retrospective review of all patients diagnosed with twig-like MCA on cerebral angiograms was performed from January 2015 to January 2020. This was the inclusion criterion for this retrospective study. For each patient, demographic data, clinical presentation, imaging findings and management strategies were reviewed. Results and conclusions Between January 2015 and January 2020, three patients with twig-like MCA were identified from 657 patients who underwent four-vessel diagnostic cerebral angiograms (0.45%). In all three cases, the involvement was unilateral (two left-sided and one right- sided). Two patients were male, and one was female. Patients ages were 25, 26 and 46 years. Two of the three patients presented with headache and the third patient with pulsatile tinnitus. There were otherwise no ischemic or hemorrhagic changes. No other vascular anomaly was identified. Twig-like MCA is a rare anatomical variant in which a plexiform network of small vessels replaces the M1 segment of the MCA. Accurate diagnosis and distinguishing this entity from radiological mimics such as moyamoya and steno-occlusive diseases are important for appropriate management and to prevent unnecessary investigations.
Post-Fontan pulmonary artery growth in patients with a bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt with additional antegrade pulsatile blood flow:

BackgroundPatients with antegrade pulmonary blood flow after a bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt (Glenn) may have better pulmonary artery growth. This study evaluated pulmonary artery growth in pat...
LGBT Civil Rights Do Not Provoke Backlash: Evidence from Latin America

Since the Civil Rights Movement, scholars have warned that pro-minority policies can create a backlash effect in the majority. Latin America has seen dramatic advances in LGBT rights over the last two decades, yet its population remain relatively uneducated, rural, and religious. Thus, if backlash is a response to civil rights, it should be visible in this context. We created the Latin American Rainbow Index - a measure of LGBT rights in the continent by country--and combined it with individual survey responses to test whether granting new rights had any discernible impact on attitudes. We find no evidence of backlash or of polarization. Empirically, we provide this unique index of LGBT rights in the continent, which may be used by other scholars to further examine the LGBT movement in Latin America. Theoretically, we can reject the hypothesis of backlash, even in the setting that should be most conducive to it.
How College Makes Liberals (or Conservatives)

The author examines the role of affiliation networks in shaping the political identities of students in college, using panel survey data from a case study of a predominantly liberal institution, tr...
Transoral Laser-Assisted Diverticulectomy: Swallow Study Results after Complete Endoscopic Pouch Excision for Zenker's Diverticulum.

Objective:Transoral endoscopic laser-assisted diverticulotomy (TELD) with diverticulectomy and diverticuloplasty (TELD + DD) for the management of Zenker’s diverticulum (ZD) has been utilized by ou...
Examination of Test Anxiety in a Sample of 18 to 26 year-old Singapore and U.S. Undergraduate Male and Female Students on the Test Anxiety Measure for College Students-Short Form:

A cross-national study was conducted on a new test anxiety measure, the Test Anxiety Measure for College Students-Short Form (TAMC-SF) in a sample of 1,023 Singapore and U.S. students, aged 18-26. ...
Fitter, Happier: Display Rules in Policing

Recent experimental results suggest that when police officers smile, the public will react with enhanced perceptions of those officers. However, emotional labor theory suggests that organizationally mandated emotional displays such as smiling exact costs to the individual worker. We use data from a 2020 national survey to test effects of emotional labor—display rules, surface acting, and deep acting—on emotional exhaustion and depersonalization among law enforcement officers. We find that officers experience increased emotional exhaustion and burnout based on their strategies to comply with display rules—whether positive or negative. Emotional effort to attend to display rules exacts costs onto the individual, particularly if they are asked to suppress negative emotions and express unfelt positive ones. Implications for law enforcement and public sector organizations in general are discussed, with the broad recommendation that scholars and practitioners consider addressing public relations in ways that do not exacerbate burnout.
Mass extinctions alter extinction and origination dynamics with respect to body size

Whether mass extinctions and their associated recoveries represent an intensification of background extinction and origination dynamics versus a separate macroevolutionary regime remains a central ...
Competition Policy For 3G Wireless Services

Third-generation or “3G” wireless telecommunications is the term commonly used to describe the next step in the evolution of mobile communications networks. Mobile wireless systems have gone from analog cellular technology to digital networks and, it is predicted, are moving next to 3G. As defined by the Federal Communications Commission, 3G services will support data transport rates of at least 144 kilobits per second and up to 2 megabits per second; will be provided over systems with a high degree of global compatibility and interoperability; and will support a wide range of voice and data applications.1 One commentary refers to 3G services as “melding two popular innovations: the Internet and mobile technologies.”2
An Overview of BPMN 2.0 and Its Potential Use

BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) is an OMG standard for business process modeling that is widely adopted today. The OMG lists 62 tool vendors who offer products that support BPMN [3]. This success is based on the fact that BPMN provides a standardized graphical notation which is easy to use for business analysts, allowing them to document and communicate their business processes within their company and with their external business partners.
Inhibition of cellular differentiation by the SCL/tal oncoprotein: transcriptional repression by an Id-like mechanism

In cases of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) oncogene SCL/tal undergoes frequent rearrangements activating ectopic expression. Despite the compelling epidemiological association of SCL/tal expression with T-ALL, no specific transforming function has been attributable to the protein product. However, investigators have recently demonstrated that forced overexpression of SCL/tal can block monocytic differentiation of M1 murine myeloid leukemia cells. Thus, inappropriate expression of wild-type SCL/tal protein may in part account for the maturation arrest phenotype observed in T-ALL cells. In this study, ectopic expression of the SCL/tal gene blocked the differentiation of C2C12 muscle precursor cells. Characterization of the mechanism of differentiation blockade showed that the SCL/tal protein repressed transcriptional activation by the myogenic bHLH factor MyoD. Protein interaction analysis showed that SCL/tal and MyoD compete for common partners (E bHLH proteins) but do not directly bind one other. A model is thus proposed in which ectopic SCL/tal protein, by its ability to titrate out E proteins, prevents the formation of bHLH complexes that drive cellular differentiation: the "Id-like" mechanism.
Planning with deadlines in stochastic domains

We provide a method, based on the theory of Markov decision problems, for efficient planning in stochastic domains. Goals are encoded as reward functions, expressing the desirability of each world state; the planner must find a policy (mapping from states to actions) that maximizes future rewards. Standard goals of achievement, as well as goals of maintenance and prioritized combinations of goals, can be specified in this way. An optimal policy can be found using existing methods, but these methods are at best polynomial in the number of states in the domain, where the number of states is exponential in the number of propositions (or state variables). By using information about the starting state, the reward function, and the transition probabilities of the domain, we can restrict the planner's attention to a set of world states that are likely to be encountered in satisfying the goal. Furthermore, the planner can generate more or less complete plans depending on the time it has available. We describe experiments involving a mobile robotics application and consider the problem of schedulilng different phases of the planning algorithm given time constraints.
Presystolic pulsations of the liver in the absence of tricuspid disease.

Abstract Fourteen patients with presystolic liver pulsation in the absence of tricuspid stenosis or organic disease of the tricuspid valve have been described. The underlying hemodynamic mechanism is considered to be resistance to right atrial outflow with reflux to the liver, caused by heart failure, right ventricular hypertension, pericardial effusion, pulmonary hypertension, and interatrial or aorticatrial shunts.
Autonomous agent behavior generation using multiobjective evolutionary optimization

An agent system that develops and evolves its own structure can facilitate more accurate responses to complex environments. The purpose of the paper then is to explore this idea built upon our unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) swarm model and simulation that uses autonomous self-organized concepts. The specific objective is to re-engineer this UAV foundation based upon a formal design model with focus on bio-inspired agent attack through emergent control structures. The overall design approach should give UAVs or generic agents the ability to not only react to dynamic environments but develop the controls in order to change behaviors spontaneously. To allow these behaviors to properly evolve, a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm generates a self-organized rule-based agent swarm. Heterogeneous UAV swarms are tested against difficult targeting scenarios that evolve specific attack behaviorial techniques. Statistical observations indicate that bio-inspired techniques integrated with the emerging entangled (non-hierarchical) framework provide desired complex UAV swarming behaviors in dynamic environments.
What is needed to achieve a hemoglobin of 11.0-13.0 g/dl in end-stage renal disease.

Effective treatment of anemia in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) results in reduced fatigue and improved quality of life. The National Kidney Foundation’s 2006 anemia treatment guidelines recommend mai
Classical Black Holes: The Nonlinear Dynamics of Curved Spacetime

Numerical simulations have revealed two types of physical structures, made from curved spacetime, that are attached to black holes: tendexes, which stretch or squeeze anything they encounter, and vortexes, which twist adjacent inertial frames relative to each other. When black holes collide, their tendexes and vortexes interact and oscillate (a form of nonlinear dynamics of curved spacetime). These oscillations generate gravitational waves, which can give kicks up to 4000 kilometers per second to the merged black hole. The gravitational waves encode details of the spacetime dynamics and will soon be observed and studied by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory and its international partners.
Overexpression of F MN Superoxide Dismutase (MnSOD) or MnSOD/Catalase (CAT) Protects Lung Epithelial Cells Against Oxident Injury

Overexpression of F MN Superoxide Dismutase (MnSOD) or MnSOD/Catalase (CAT) Protects Lung Epithelial Cells Against Oxident Injury
Organic metals of bis(ethylenedioxy)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDO-TTF)

Abstract The experimental details of the preparation of the title compound is described. The physical properties of (BEDO-TTF) 2.4 I 3 are presented. The temperature dependence of the conductivity, the spin paramagnetism, the EPR linewidth and the thermoelectric power indicate that the iodide salt is a molecular metal with a 300-1.2K resistance ratio of 275 in the stacking axis direction, and devoid of perceptible phase transitions in the same temperature range.
How much is enough? Minimum sampling intensity required to capture extant genetic diversity in ex situ seed collections: examples from the endangered plant Sibara filifolia (Brassicaceae)

Sibara filifolia (Brassicaceae), Santa Cruz Island Rock Cress, an endangered annual plant endemic to the California Channel Islands which was presumed extinct for nearly 50 years, is currently known from only a few small patches on San Clemente Island (SCl) and Santa Catalina Island (SCa). In addition to protecting extant populations, recovery efforts have included ex situ seed collections to hedge against stochastic population losses. We examined genetic diversity and population structure in the wild and the effect of sampling intensity on the genetic diversity of ex situ seed collections using 13 species-specific microsatellite loci. Much of the genetic variation on each island consisted of rare alleles; 33 % (SCl) or 56 % (SCa) of the non-fixed alleles occurred at frequencies ≤0.05. Patches on SCl were genetically depauperate (mean HO = 0.002) compared to patches on SCa (mean HO = 0.344). One patch on SCl was genetically distinct, while the remaining four patches were genetically indistinguishable. The three patches on SCa were genetically distinct from those on SCl, but not from one another. Simulated sampling for the ex situ seed collections found that 10 individuals was sufficient to capture 90 % of the diversity for normalized measures (NE, HO, and HE) in a depauperate (SCl) population, while 30 individuals was necessary in a diverse (SCa) population. However, sampling 125 (SCl) or 60 (SCa) individuals was necessary to capture 90 % of all the alleles present. These findings indicate that theoretical guidelines for ex situ seed collections that recommend targeting 50 individuals per population overestimate the sampling effort required to adequately preserve common alleles, but may underestimate the effort necessary to capture most alleles in wild populations.
Synthesis of amino acid derivatives of ethanolamine

N-Phthaloylglycylaminocthanol may be prepared in 24% yield by a modification of the Shechan carbodiimide synthesis of peptides of hydroxy amino acids (6). The amino alcohol is characterized as to melting point, solubility in various solvents, the ability to form a derivative with acetic anhydride, percentage of nitrogen, and infrared spectra. In acid solution this compound appears to undergo the aminoacyl shift characteristic of compounds containing an amide linkage and a free hydroxyl group. Attempts to isolated N-glycylaminoethanol by hydrolysis of the phthaloyl derivative with hydrazine hydrate have been unsuccessful. Impure N-phthaloylalanylaminoethanol and N-phthaloylglycylglycylaminoethanol were also synthesized by means of this procedure. Several other methods for synthesizing N-glycylaminoethanol are discussed.
Selective labeling and detection of specific mRNA in a total-RNA sample

We report a unique approach to selectively label and detect specific RNA using its internal sequence, without separation, reverse transcription, and/or polymerase chain reaction. This approach is especially useful for individual mRNA labeling and detection. To expose mRNA internal sequence for selective labeling and detection, RNase H digestion is used to remove the 3(')-common sequences. We have designed a DNA-2(')-O-Me-RNA hybrid as the template for both RNase H digestion and Klenow extension and have found buffer conditions for both enzymes. Sharing the same template and buffer by these two enzymes largely simplifies experimental procedures. Using this approach, lacZ mRNA was selectively labeled and detected in the presence of thousands of mRNAs. We have successfully demonstrated for the first time the direct labeling and detection of an individual mRNA in a total-RNA sample. The detection sensitivity can reach up to attomole level (5 x 10(-18)mole). This method has great potential in RNA decay and metabolic regulation studies via individual mRNA labeling and in methodology of mRNA direct detection on microchip and direct gene expression profiling, without reverse transcription and polymerase chain reactions.
Treatment of bladder dysfunction and high grade vesicoureteral reflux does not influence the spontaneous resolution rate

Purpose: We investigated whether the treatment of bladder dysfunction in infants with congenital high grade vesicoureteral reflux could influence the spontaneous resolution rate of the reflux and the number of recurrent urinary tract infections.Materials and Methods: A total of 115 infants with high grade vesicoureteral reflux were included in a followup study of bladder function and reflux resolution between 1993 and 1999. The present study deals with 20 of these infants with mainly grade V reflux, most of whom had recurrent urinary tract infections in combination with high post-void residual and high bladder capacity. Treatment with clean intermittent catheterization was instituted during infancy in these 20 patients and continued until a median age of 4 years.Results: Bladder capacity was high at presentation and at all followup investigations in the clean intermittent catheterization treated group. Moreover, residual urine was high at presentation and especially between ages 1 and 2 years. However, af...
Different weekly changes in immune response in virus-transformed cell-injected mice fed two different diets.

Abstract Changes in tumor development and in certain immune responses were investigated at 7-weekly intervals after subcutaneous injection of 5 × 10 5 herpes simplex virus Type 2-transformed cells (H238 cells) into male BALB c mice fed 2 different diets. One diet contained 11% casein and 5% fat while the other had 11% supplemented wheat gluten and 30% fat. Weanling mice (140/group) were fed one or the other of the diets for 12 weeks before injection and subsequent testing of 15 injected and 5 non-injected mice from each diet group each week. In mice fed the low-fat diet containing casein both tumor incidence and tumor volume were significantly lower ( P ≤ 0.05) than in the group fed the 30% fat diet containing supplemented wheat protein. The casein-fed mice also had less splenomegaly and a higher proportion of mature lymphocytes in the spleen during tumor growth. The proliferative capability of the spleen cells after phytohemagglutinin stimulation was enhanced 2 weeks after H238 cell injection only in the casein-fed mice.
The Use of Expandable Metal Stents to Facilitate Extubation in Patients With Large Airway Obstruction

Objective To determine the clinical utility of placing airway stents to facilitate weaning in ventilator-dependent patients with large airway obstruction. Methods A chart review of mechanically ventilated patients who received expandable metal airway stents to attempt a facilitation of weaning. Results Eight patients, 3 women and 5 men, ranging in age from 37 to 82 years, had respiratory failure associated with large airway obstruction and underwent flexible bronchofluoroscopic placement of 12 expandable metal stents (7 Wallstents [Schneider; Minneapolis, MN], 2 Palmaz [Johnson & Johnson; Warren, NJ], and 3 Ultraflex [Microinvasive; Natick, MA]). Six had respiratory failure that was secondary to malignant airway disease, and two had benign airway disease. Seven patients with tracheal or mainstem bronchial obstruction were weaned from the ventilator within 0 to 11 days of stent placement after having previously required mechanical ventilation from 2 to 52 days. There were no associated complications. Following prolonged attempts at weaning, one patient with lobar bronchus obstruction died after mechanical ventilation was withdrawn. Conclusions Expandable metal airway stents may be safely deployed in mechanically ventilated patients and can facilitate weaning from the mechanical ventilator. Mechanically ventilated patients with tracheal and mainstem bronchus obstruction are the best candidates for deployment of expandable airway stents to facilitate weaning.
Apical membrane area of rabbit urinary bladder increases by fusion of intracellular vesicles: an electrophysiological study.

Mammalian urinary bladder undergoes, in a 24-hour period, a series of slow fillings and rapid emptying. In part the bladder epithelium accommodates volume increase by stretching the cells so as to eliminate microscopic folds. In this paper we present evidence that once the cells have achieved a smooth apical surface, further cell stretching causes an insertion of cytoplasmic vesicles resulting in an even greater apical surface area per cell and an enhanced storage capacity for the bladder. Vesicle insertion was stimulated by application of a hydrostatic pressure gradient which caused the epithelium to bow into the serosal solution. Using capacitance as a direct and nondestructive measure of area we found that stretching caused a 22% increase in area. Removal of the stretch caused area to return to within 8% of control. An alternate method for vesicle insertion was swelling the cells by reducing mucosal and serosal osmolarity. This perturbation resulted in a 74% increase in area over a 70-min period. Returning to control solutions caused area to decrease as a single exponential with an 11-min time constant. A microtubule blocking agent (colchicine) dit not inhibit the capacitance increase induced by hypoosmotic solutions, but did cause an increase in capacitance in the absence of a decreased osmolarity. Microfilament disrupting agent (cytochalasin B, C, B.) inhibited any significant change in capacitance after osmotic challenge. Treatment of bladders during swelling with C.B. and subsequent return, to control solutions increased the time constant of the recovery to control values (22 min). The Na+-transporting ability of the vesicles was determined and found to be greater than that of the apical membrane. Aldosterone increased the transport ability of the vesicles. We conclude that some constituent of urine causes a loss of apical membrane permeability. Using electrophysiological methods we estimated that the area of cytoplasmic vesicles is some 3.3 times that of the apical membrane area. We discuss these results in a general model for vesicle translocation in mammalian urinary bladder.
Incoherent Electro-Optic Image Correlator

A real-time optical image correlator is described. An acousto-optic device and an array of light-emitting diodes are the electronic-to-optical transducers for the input and reference images, respectively, in this architecture. The two-dimensional correlation is formed by temporal integration on a two-dimensional CCD detector.
Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of papaverine HCl following intravenous, peroral, rectal, vaginal, topical and buccal administration in beagle dogs.

This in vivo study was designed to obtain bioavailability data and a definite pharmacokinetic profile of papaverine HCl in Beagle dogs following intravenous (IV), peroral (PO), rectal, vaginal, topical, and buccal administration of different papaverine HCl formulations. Blood samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. The pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using either a curve fitting program (RESID) or a compartment model independent program (AUC-RPP). The plasma concentration-time profiles show that papaverine HCl pharmacokinetics is best described by an open two-compartment model. The absolute bioavailability of papaverine HCl was determined to be 57.2 per cent, 25.2 per cent, 53.2 per cent, 3.2 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively, following P.O., rectal, vaginal, topical and buccal administration.
Anisotropic London penetration depth and superfluid density in single crystals of iron-based pnictide superconductors

Abstract In- and out-of-plane magnetic penetration depths were measured in three iron-based pnictide superconducting systems. The “122” system was represented by electron-doped Ba(Fe 1− x Co x ) 2 As 2 with the doping through the whole phase diagram with x ≈ 0.038, 0.047, 0.058, 0.074 and 0.10 ( T c ranged from 13 to 24 K) and by hole-doped (Ba 1− x K x )Fe 2 As 2 with doping close to optimal, with measured x ≈ 0.45 ( T c ≈ 28 K) and an underdoped sample with x ≈ 0.15 ( T c ≈ 19 K). The “1111” system was represented by single crystals of NdFeAs(O 1− x F x ) with nominal x = 0.1 ( T c ≈ 43 K). All studied samples of both 122 systems show a robust power-law behavior, λ ( T ) ∝ T n , with the sample-dependent exponent n = 2–2.5, which is indicative of unconventional pairing. This scenario could be possible either through scattering in a S ± state or due to nodes in the superconducting gap. In the Nd-1111 system, the interpretation of the results is complicated by magnetism of the rare-earth ions. For all three systems, the anisotropy ratio, γ λ ≡ λ c / λ ab , was found to decrease with increasing temperature, whereas the anisotropy of the coherence lengths, γ ξ ≡ ξ ab / ξ c = H c 2 ⊥ c / H c 2 ‖ c , has been found to increase (both opposite to the trend in two-band MgB 2 ). The overall anisotropy of the pnictide superconductors is small, in fact much smaller than that of the cuprates (except YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− x (YBCO)). The 1111 system is about two times more anisotropic than the 122 system. Our data and analysis suggest that the iron-based pnictides are complex superconductors in which a multiband three-dimensional electronic structure and strong magnetic fluctuations play important roles.