cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tube Feeding-Related Diarrhea in Acutely III Patients

Acutely ill patients received tube feeding for an average of 15.8 days and, on average, 35% of those days were spent in the intensive care unit (ICU). Patients were prospectively assigned either a fiber-free formula (FFF-OSMOLITE HN, Ross; n = 50) or a fiber-supplemented (soy polysaccharide 14.4 g/L) formula (FSF = JEVITY, Ross; n = 50). Diarrhea was defined as three or more loose or watery stools per day and occurred in 30% of all patients. Diarrhea developed in 29 (41%) of the 71 patients who received antibiotics during, or within 2 weeks prior to, the feeding period, whereas only 1 (3%) of the 29 patients not receiving antibiotics developed diarrhea (p less than 0.005); and this patient developed diarrhea on the day of death. Among the 30 patients with diarrhea, stool Clostridium difficile (CD) toxin was positive in 15 (50%), negative in 11 (37%), and was not measured in four. The mean serum albumin was significantly lower in patients with diarrhea (2.43) than in those without diarrhea (2.75) (p = 0.043). There were no significant differences in age, sex, diagnoses, number of feeding days, and percent ICU days between patients with and without diarrhea. While not statistically significant, patients who received FSF were observed to have a lower incidence of diarrhea, a lower percentage of diarrhea days per total feeding days, and a lower frequency of positive CD toxin assays than patients who received FFF. In this patient population, antibiotic usage was the factor most strongly associated with diarrhea during tube feedings.
The Origin and Limitation of the Universal Nature of the Direct Ionization of Atoms

The dependence of the direct ionization cross section on a single scaled velocity variable makes ionization of a given subshell a universal phenomenon common to all particle-atom Coulomb ionization collisions. Constructing universal plots of a wide range of data has led to a refined description of the direct Coulomb ionization process. The sources of this universality lie in the PWBA, the lower limit of the momentum transfer and a description of the atomic states which has a scaling length. Universality is exact in the low velocity limit but the cross section develops a parametric dependence on the target binding energy as velocity increases. This dependence is usually ignored, but for some cases it is significant.
Multiway Dependence in Exponential Family Conditional Distributions

Conditionally specified statistical models are frequently constructed from one-parameter exponential family conditional distributions. One way to formulate such a model is to specify the dependence structure among random variables through the use of a Markov random field (MRF). A common assumption on the Gibbsian form of the MRF model is that dependence is expressed only through pairs of random variables, which we refer to as the “pairwise-only dependence” assumption. Based on this assumption, J. Besag (1974, J. Roy. Statist. Soc. Ser. B36, 192?225) formulated exponential family “auto-models” and showed the form that one-parameter exponential family conditional densities must take in such models. We extend these results by relaxing the pairwise-only dependence assumption, and we give a necessary form that one-parameter exponential family conditional densities must take under more general conditions of multiway dependence. Data on the spatial distribution of the European corn borer larvae are fitted using a model with Bernoulli conditional distributions and several dependence structures, including pairwise-only, three-way, and four-way dependencies.
South Korea's Minjung Movement: The Culture and Politics of Dissidence

The minjung (people's) movement stood at the forefront of the June 1987 nationwide tide that swept away the military in South Korea and opened up space for relatively democratic politics, a more responsible economy, and new directions in culture. This volume is the first in English to grapple specifically with the nature of a national development that lies at the center of the last three decades of tumult and change in South Korea.
Rape: A sexual stigma?

The primary purpose of this study was to identify individual differences affecting perceptions of a rapist and a rape victim. It was hypothesized that sex of observer, attitudes towards women, sexuality, the rape itself and perceptions of the targets on a number of behavioral dimensions would predict target perception. Each subject rated one of four persons: a male rapist, a female rape victim, a male control target, or a female control target. The ratings reflected personal impressions of the target and degree of social distance desired. Not surprisingly, the rapist was perceived least favorably. The rape victim did not receive ratings different from the female control target. However, when individual differences were taken into account, it was found that negative attitudes towards women, belief in rape myths, and perceived target behavior (e.g. responsibility) were related to stigmatization of the rape victim, and predicted more favorable perceptions of the rapist. Sex of the observer and attitudes towards sexuality were not among the major predictors of target perception. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Land reform lives

The Unpromised Land: Agrarian Reform and Conflict Worldwide, by Demetrios Christodoulou. London: Zed Books, 1990. Pp.236. £34.95 (hardback); £11.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 86232 778 4 and 779 2 Latin American Land Reforms in Theory and Practice: A Retrospective Analysis, by Peter Dorner. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992. Pp.108. £22.95 (hardback); £9.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 299 131 602 and 131 645 The Political Economy of Rural Poverty: The Case for Land Reform, by M. Riad El‐Ghonemy. London: Routledge, 1990. Pp.337. £47.50 (hardback). ISBN 0 415 040 825 Harvesting Change: Labor and Agrarian Reform in Nicaragua, 1979–1990, by Laura J. Enriquez. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. Pp.252. ISBN 0 8078 1957 3 and 4315 6 Toward an Alternative Land Reform Paradigm: A Philippine Perspective, by Yujiro Hayami, Ma. Agnes R. Quisumbing and Lourdes S. Adriano. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1990. Pp.209. ISBN 971 113 096 3 Development and Social Change in the Chilean Co...
Effect of gelatin on molecular mobility in amorphous sucrose detected by erythrosin B phosphorescence

Abstract We have used phosphorescence from the triplet probe erythrosin B (Ery B) to evaluate the effect of gelatin on the molecular mobility of the amorphous sucrose matrix as a function of temperature. Ery B was dispersed in amorphous sucrose and sucrose–gelatin films at ratios of ∼1:10 4 (probe/sucrose), and delayed emission spectra and emission decay transients were measured over the temperature range from 5 to 100 °C. Analysis of spectra using a lognormal function provided the peak energy and bandwidth of the emission. The emission peak frequency decreased at low (0.00022–0.0007) gelatin concentrations and increased at high (above 0.0022) gelatin concentrations, indicating that gelatin increased the extent, and thus the rate, of dipolar relaxation at low gelatin content and decreased the extent at higher gelatin content. Decay transients were well fit to a stretched exponential function at all gelatin contents and temperatures. Analysis of the emission lifetimes provided a measure of the rate of non-radiative decay to the ground state, an indicator of matrix molecular mobility. This rate increased at low (0.00022–0.0022) and decreased at high (>0.0073) gelatin wt ratios. Analysis of the effect of gelatin on the emission bandwidth, the stretching exponent β , and the variation of lifetime across the emission band indicated that matrix dynamic site heterogeneity increased at low and decreased at high gelatin wt ratios. These results provide a novel insight into the complex dynamic effects of the gelatin polymer on the molecular mobility of the amorphous sucrose matrix.
Exciton Trapping in an Organic Dendrimer Possessing No Energy Gradient

The optical properties of a novel triarylamine dendrimer system are reported. The dendrimer is composed of triarylamine dendrons and a diphenylbenzidine core. Excitations are transferred from the mostly delocalized triarylamine dendrons to the diphenylbenzidine core with a lifetime of 25 ps and 95% yield via a exciton−phonon coupling mechanism rather than the more typical Forster-type mechanism. This work implies that energy traps with over 95% efficiencies can be engineered into triarylamine systems by the addition of biphenylene linkages.
Results on low-loss wideband ultrasonic transducers for non-invasive medical application

A new design for disc transducers with good efficiency and large bandwidth is presented here. The design method is based on the use of quarter-wave matching layers between the piezoelectric ceramic and the load, and the use of a quarter-wave unmatching layer between the same ceramic and its high acoustic impedance backing. Experimental and theoretical results are presented.
Improved Calculation of Electroweak Radiative Corrections and the Value of V u d

A new method for computing hadronic effects on electroweak radiative corrections to low-energy weak interaction semileptonic processes is described. It employs high order perturbative QCD results originally derived for the Bjorken sum rule along with a large $N$ QCD-motivated interpolating function that matches long- and short-distance loop contributions. Applying this approach to the extraction of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element ${V}_{ud}$ from superallowed nuclear beta decays reduces the theoretical loop uncertainty by about a factor of 2 and gives ${V}_{ud}=0.973\text{ }77(11)(15)(19)$. Implications for CKM unitarity are briefly discussed.
PERIDURAL ANESTHESIA: A Review of 10,000 Administrations

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die statistische Analyse einer Reihe von 10.000 aufeinanderfolgender Periduralanaesthesien wird kurz dargestellt. Die dabei gewonnenen Eindrucke, Meinungen und Erfahrungen werden genauestens erortert. Es wird deutlich gezeigt, dass die Periduralanaesthesie kein Allheilmittel ist; noch ist sie frei von verschiedenen Komplikationen und Nachwirkungen. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass die Periduralanaesthesie ziemlich schwierig auszufuhren ist und dass strengste Befolgung auch der kleinsten Details dieser Technik Voraussetzung fur die Sicherheit und das Wohlbefinden des Patienten ist. Wir glauben, dass die von uns erzielten Resultate darauf hinweisen, dass die Periduralanaesthesie, zumindest bei sorgfaltig ausgewahlten Fallen, eine hervorragende Anaesthesiemethode fur zahlreiche chirurgische als auch geburtshilfliche Eingriffe ist. Daruber hinaus hat sie weite klinische Verwendungsmoglichkeiten, deren voile Bedeutung zur Zeit noch gar nicht zur Ganze erkannt wird.
Fast integrating multiware beam profile monitor with digital readout

Abstract A beam position and size monitor is described for use with pulsed beams with an intensity above 105 particles/(pulse cm2). It uses a standard multiwire chamber, but the current on each wire is integrated, digitized, and stored for each beam pulse. For optimum determination of beam size, the wire spacing in the chamber should be small compared to the beam size; the present system has 2-mm wire spacing.
N=8 supergravity and Kaluza-Klein axial anomalies☆

Abstract By consideration of the ten-dimensional supersymmetric string theory which may underly unification of gravity with the other elementary particle forces it is argued that the light fermions must reflect the cancellation of Kaluza-Klein axial anomalies in ten dimensions. Using a gauge group SU(8), and assuming that both dimensional compactification and supersymmetry breaking occur at the Planck scale, we arrive at a set of fermions consistent with the observed light quarks and leptons including the replication of families.
High-density magneto-optical disk storage and the effect of finite beam size in readout

A method of data reconstruction from a digital magneto‐optical disk system with diffraction‐limited spot size is described. Using a linear filter with high‐frequency enhancement we show that significant improvements in the storage capacity can be achieved at a reasonable cost in terms of the signal‐to‐noise ratio. Performance is evaluated against an optimum but impractical method as well as a technique for the reconstruction of the analog waveforms.
Bradykinin-stimulated release of arachidonate from phosphatidyl inositol in mouse fibrosarcoma cells

Abstract We recently proposed a new pathway by which arachidonate is released from platelet phosphatidyl inositol after stimulation by either thrombin or calcium ionophore A23187. The initial step in arachidonate liberation involves hydrolysis of phosphatidyl inositol to form 1,2-diacylglycerol which is subsequently hydrolyzed by a diacylglycerol lipase to liberate arachidonate for the prostaglandin and lipoxygenase pathways. Whether this pathway is unique to platelets or accounts for arachidonate release from other tissues has not been previously studied. Thus we have now investigated arachidonate metabolism in mouse fibrosarcoma cells (HSDM1C1) grown in culture. These cells contain approximately 7.6% of their total phospholipid as phosphatidyl inositol in the resting state (range 6.5–8.3%). When bradykinin (12 μM) is added to the fibrosarcoma cells, there is a rapid depletion of membrane phosphatidyl inositol reaching 62 ± 8% S.D. of baseline values by 15 seconds, falling to 36 ± 6% by 15 minutes. The drop in membrane phosphatidyl inositol is accompanied by release of arachidonate and PGE2 into the culture medium. The time course of phosphatidyl inositol breakdown and PGE2 formation supports the idea that phosphatidyl inositol breakdown provides the arachidonate for prostaglandin synthesis in mouse fibrosarcoma cells. Crude extracts of HSDM1C1 cells contained sufficient phosphatidyl inositol-specific phospholipase C activity and diacylglycerol lipase activity to account for arachidonate release in these cells.
Resource Discovery in Networks under Bandwidth Limitations

The resource discovery problem, where cooperating machines need to find one another in a network, was introduced by Harchol-Balter, Leighton, and Lewin (1999) in the context of Akamai Technologies with the goal of building an Internet-wide content-distribution system. In the solutions for the synchronous setting proposed so far in the papers by Harchol-Bartel et al. (1999), Kutten et al. (2001) and Law and Siu (2000), there is a possibility that during some time step many machines may contact a single machine, and this is not a realistic assumption. This work assumes a synchronous model, however at each step a machine can send and receive only a constant number of messages. It is shown that the conjectured poly-logarithmic upper bound (Harchol-Bartel et al., 1999) for such a setting is not possible. This is done by proving a lower bound on time of Omega(n), where n is the number of participating nodes. For this model a randomized algorithm is presented that solves the resource discovery problem in O(n log2 n) time, i.e., within a poly-logarithmic factor of the corresponding lower bound. The algorithm has a O(n2 log2 n) message complexity and O(n3 log3 n) communication complexity. Simulation results for the algorithm illustrate the lower and upper bounds, and lead to interesting observations
Cabinet: Managing Data Efficiently in the Global Federated File System

With ever expanding datasets, efficient data management in grids becomes important. This paper describes Cabinet which employs two techniques for efficiently managing data in grids-a caching system and a new file staging approach called coordinated staging. The caching system is designed based on the characteristics of grid applications. Coordinated staging is based on the BitTorrent Protocol model and is specifically designed for High Throughput Computing (HTC) applications, a common use-case for grids. In coordinated staging, each site that is assigned to execute an individual job of the HTC application treats other execution sites as potential replica-stores. In our evaluation, we show that coordinated staging lowered the download time of a file by 3.85x, and increased the throughput of the download by 2.86x over the conventional approach of file transfer from a single source.
Fluorocarbon-23 measure of cat cerebral blood flow by nuclear magnetic resonance

We employed fluorocarbon-23 (trifluoromethane) as a nuclear magnetic resonance gaseous indicator of cerebral blood flow in seven cats. Pulsed inhalation of this indicator and switching between two coils allowed the acquisition of both an arterial input and a cerebral response function, making possible multicompartmental curve fits to cerebral uptake and clearance data. The brain:blood partition coefficient for trifluoromethane was 0.9 for both gray and white matter. Fast-compartment blood flows were normal and showed appropriate CO2 reactivity. Slow-compartment blood flows did not demonstrate CO2 reactivity, probably because cranial as well as white-matter blood flows were lumped together in the slow compartment. Although cerebral blood flow was stable during administration of 60% trifluoromethane, the compound did prove to be a mild cardiac sensitizer to epinephrine in five cats.
Cloaking: A New Phenomenon in Electromagnetism and Elasticity

We show how collections of polarizable dipoles become cloaked (invisible) to time harmonic electromagnetic fields when placed in the proximity of a low loss superlens, and how transformation based approaches to cloaking extend to elasticity.
Spotlight on FLI1, RUNX1, and platelet dysfunction.

In this issue of Blood , Stockley et al describe mutations in FLI1 and RUNX1 , identified by next-generation sequencing (NGS) studies, in 6 of 13 patients with excessive bleeding and impaired platelet dense granule secretion, and highlight transcription factor (TF) mutations as an important
Indirect Fluorometric Detection in Gel Electrophoresis

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separates biomolecules by virtue of their inherent charge or size, or a combination of the two. This widely used bioanalytical technique has seen applications in areas such as the separation of complex mixtures of proteins, gene sequencing and mapping, and clinical diagnosis. The method displays unmatched resolution of macromolecules, yet still utilizes detection methods which are slow and labor-intensive. Commonly used methods such as Coomassie Blue and silver staining can become complicated and may require twenty-four hours or longer to allow one to visualize the analyte. Autoradiography offers high sensitivity (10-100 pg) for the detection of radio-labelled analytes, but requires exposure times of hours or days. A sensitive, yet rapid, quantitation method for electrophoresis would be quite useful. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of employing indirect fluorometry as a rapid and potentially highly sensitive detection scheme for gel electrophoresis.
AUTOBIB: automatic extraction of bibliographic information on the Web

The Web has greatly facilitated access to information. However, information presented in HTML is mainly intended to be browsed by humans, and the problem of automatically extracting such information remains an important and challenging task. In this work, we focus on building a system called AUTOBIB to automate extraction of bibliographic information on the Web. We use a combination of bootstrapping, statistical, and heuristic methods to achieve a high degree of automation. To set up extraction from a new site, we only need to provide a few lines of code specifying how to download pages containing bibliographic information. We do not need to be concerned with each site's presentation format, and the system can cope with changes in the presentation format without human intervention. AUTOBIB bootstraps itself with a small seed database of structured bibliographic records. For each bibliographic Web site, we identify segments within its pages that represent bibliographic records, using state-of-the-art record-boundary discovery techniques. Next, we find matches for some of these "raw records" in the seed database using a set of heuristics. These matches serve as a training set for a parser based on the hidden Markov model (HMM), which is then used to parse the rest of the raw records into structured records. We have found an effective HMM structure with special states that correspond to delimiters and HTML tags in raw records. Experiments demonstrate that for our application, this HMM structure achieves high success rates without the complexity of previously proposed structures.
Gene structure and allelic expression assay of the human GLI3 gene.

The GLI3 gene encodes a putative zinc finger transcription factor that is important in early vertebrate development. Haploinsufficiency of this gene has been associated with the Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome and truncation mutations cause Pallister–Hall syndrome. In the course of studies to determine the etiology of Pallister–Hall syndrome, we required knowledge of the fine structure of GLI3 to perform detailed genetic and physical mapping and mutation screening of this gene. The coding region of GLI3 is composed of 14 exons, including a large exon of more than 2500 bp. In addition, the gene contains two intragenic dinucleotide repeats, and four single-base pair polymorphisms in the coding region. We have used these coding region polymorphisms to design an allele-specific expression study that will be useful for studying patients with Greig cephalopolysyndactyly syndrome. In addition, GLI3 should be considered a candidate gene for related developmental anomalies of humans. Such hypotheses will be more readily addressed with the availability of the fine structure of the gene and the allele-expression assay.
Adiabatic Shear Bands in Simple and Dipolar Plastic Materials

A simple version of thermo/viscoplasticity is used to model the formation of adiabatic shear bands in high rate deformation of solids. The one dimensional shearing deformation of a finite slab is considered. Equations are formulated and numerical solutions are found for dipolar plastic materials. These solutions are contrasted and compared with previous solutions for simple materials.
Signal-dependent error in specular multipath estimation

The signal-dependent error for least squares specular multipath estimators is analyzed for active sensors. The error analysis also applies to other deconvolution techniques for multipath estimation such as projection onto convex sets (POCS) that uses the square error as a constraint. The results explain how the selection of the transmit signal affects the estimator performance. Example mean square error plots are provided for a linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal to demonstrate the results. Given the set of possible locations for multipath components, the optimum signal to minimize the square error can be selected using these results.
Integrating emerging topics through online team design in a hybrid communication networks course: Interaction patterns and impact of prior knowledge

An important challenge in the introductory communication networks course in electrical and computer engineering curricula is to integrate emerging topics, such as wireless Internet access and network security, into the already content-intensive course. At the same time it is essential to provide students with experiences in online collaboration, which is common in the engineering workplace, and to allow both on-campus and distance learning students to actively and jointly participate in class activities in hybrid on-campus/distance education course offerings. To address these challenges in the introductory communication networks course at Arizona State University, the authors have developed an online team design project in which students collaborate via a team website on a design project related to an emerging communication networks topic. The online team design project was evaluated with a thematic analysis of the interactions on the team websites, topic-specific pre- and posttests, and an attitudinal student survey. It was found that the online team communication was to a large extent devoted to managing the team and the project and that the students had overall very positive attitudes toward the project. Both students with lower and higher levels of prior project-related knowledge achieved approximately the same learning gain in terms of increased scores from pretest to posttest in the project.
Does the type of surgery effect systemic response following cardiopulmonary bypass

BACKGROUND: Clinical studies conducted to elucidate the systemic response to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) did not differentiate possible effect of different types of cardiac surgical pathologies and operations on outcomes and have typically combined different procedures. We hypothesized that valve surgery induces more prominent systemic reaction compared to isolated on-pump CABG. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients undergoing primary on-pump CABG (Group 1, n = 14) or valve surgery with or without CABG (Group 2, n = 13) were prospectively enrolled. Heparin-bonded circuits were used in all patients. Cardiotomy suction was only used in Group 2. Clinical and laboratory markers were evaluated. RESULTS: Clinical measurements, including chest tube output, blood transfusion requirement, inotropic support requirement, and duration of ICU stay were not significantly different. Thrombin generation (PF-1.2) was significantly higher in Group 2 (p = 0.001). tPA was also significantly higher in Group 2 at 15 and 60 minutes on CPB (p < 0.01). Group 2 had significantly higher inflammatory response shown by elevation of IL6 (p = 0.005). Neuronal injury markers, S100beta and NSE, were significantly higher at the termination of CPB in Group 2 (p < 0.01). At no point of time course for any marker, Group 1 had significantly higher response compared to Group 2. CONCLUSIONS: Valve surgery induced more prominent systemic response than CABG. The possible explanations include the difference in baseline disease pathophysiology, and/or difference associated with the procedures such as open systems and use of cardiotomy suction. Future clinical studies assessing systemic response to CPB and therapies to blunt these need consider and account for these observed differences.
Focus Issue: Signaling Across Membranes

This week's issues of Science and Science's STKE focus on movement of molecules and information across cellular membranes. Science highlights the mechanisms by which proteins, ions, and DNA cross the membranes of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. STKE addresses how information is transmitted across cell membranes to allow cells to communicate with each other and to respond to signals in their environments.
Critical field patterns in optical Fibonacci multilayers

Optical coatings with 13, 34, 55, and 89 quarter-wave layers of high- and low-index dielectric materials arranged in Fibonacci sequences F6, F8, F9, and F10, respectively, were deposited with use of a reactive low-voltage ion plating process. The calculated average transmission (Tave) for ϕ = (1/2 ± 1/4)π follows a power law Tave ≈ Nm−δ, where Nm is the number of optical quarter-wave layers in a Fibonacci sequence Fm. The critical exponent δ for these multilayers is compared with a renormalization calculation of the exponent governing the total energy width for an electronic system of Fibonacci layers. Spectral-transmittance measurements of the experimental Fibonacci multilayers show some deviation from the calculated spectral transmittance, which is due primarily to absorption in the short-wavelength range, but these measurements do still indicate that the observed optical field patterns are critical.
Automatic extraction of the arterial tree from 3-D angiograms

A more efficient automated method is described for extracting the coronary arterial tree from a 3-D dynamic spatial reconstructor (DSR) angiogram. The method, its advantages, and the results of a 3-D arterial, tree extraction are discussed. The advantages of the method are that it requires only a few minutes of operator time to analyze a volume, the results are exactly reproducible, given the parameter values, and the algorithm works in three dimensions. >
Support for Leniency in the Criminal Courts

This paper examines an attitudinally deviant group in this society:. persons who feel that our courts are too harsh in their treatment of offenders. Analyzing data from three national surveys, the study attempts to construct a profile of leniency advocates in order to assess the likelihood of their organized influence on sentencing policies.Two profiles emerge from cross tabular analysis. The more prominent profile characterizes those who prefer leniencY as young, urban blacks the group whose members are most like/v to be criminally victimized and arrestedfor a crime. The less prominent profile portray s leniencY advocates as white middle/upper-middle class liberals. Regression analysis indicates that three variables are the primari' predictors of a desire for leniencY in the courts: race, criminal victimization and arrest. The data suggest that, at present, there is little likelihood ofja change in court sentencing policies as the result of organized pressure form leniency advocates.
Evaluation and validation of de novo and hybrid assembly techniques to derive high-quality genome sequences.

Motivation: To assess the potential of different types of sequence data combined with de novo and hybrid assembly approaches to improve existing draft genome sequences. Results: Illumina, 454 and PacBio sequencing technologies were used to generate de novo and hybrid genome assemblies for four different bacteria, which were assessed for quality using summary statistics (e.g. number of contigs, N50) and in silico evaluation tools. Differences in predictions of multiple copies of rDNA operons for each respective bacterium were evaluated by PCR and Sanger sequencing, and then the validated results were applied as an additional criterion to rank assemblies. In general, assemblies using longer PacBio reads were better able to resolve repetitive regions. In this study, the combination of Illumina and PacBio sequence data assembled through the ALLPATHS-LG algorithm gave the best summary statistics and most accurate rDNA operon number predictions. This study will aid others looking to improve existing draft genome assemblies. Availability and implementation: All assembly tools except CLC Genomics Workbench are freely available under GNU General Public License. Contact: vog.lnro@dsnworb Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
The algebra and topology of electrical networks

The paper gathers together the various results and methods used in an elementary algebraic and topological study of electrical networks. Considerations are restricted to networks containing a finite number of lumped resistors, capacitors and self and mutual inductors. The result is a connected logical presentation leading, by use of the concepts of incidence, loop and cut-set matrices, to the corresponding nodal, loop and cut-set analysis methods.
Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 is required for remote ischemic preconditioning of the heart

Both preclinical and clinical studies suggest that brief cycles of ischemia and reperfusion in the arm or leg may protect the heart against injury following prolonged coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion, a phenomenon known as remote ischemic preconditioning. Recent studies in mice indicate that increased plasma interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels play an important role in remote ischemic preconditioning induced by clamping the femoral artery for 5 min followed by 5 min of reperfusion for a total of three cycles. In this study, we demonstrate that remote ischemic preconditioning increases plasma IL-10 levels and decreases myocardial infarct size in wild-type mice but not in littermates that are heterozygous for a knockout allele at the locus encoding hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 1α. Injection of a recombinant adenovirus encoding a constitutively active form of HIF-1α into mouse hind limb muscle was sufficient to increase plasma IL-10 levels and decrease myocardial infarct size. Exposure of C2C12 mouse myocytes to cyclic hypoxia and reoxygenation rapidly increased levels of IL-10 mRNA, which was blocked by administration of the HIF-1 inhibitor acriflavine or by expression of short hairpin RNA targeting HIF-1α or HIF-1β. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that binding of HIF-1 to the Il10 gene was induced when myocytes were subjected to cyclic hypoxia and reoxygenation. Taken together, these data indicate that HIF-1 activates Il10 gene transcription and is required for remote ischemic preconditioning.
Minds, machines, and Searle

Searle's celebrated Chinese Room Argument has shaken the foundations of Artificial Intelligence. Many refutations have been attempted, but none seem convincing. This paper is an attempt to sort out explicitly the assumptions and the logical, methodological and empirical points of disagreement. Searle is shown to have underestimated some features of computer modeling, but the heart of the issue turns out to be an empirical question about the scope and limits of the purely symbolic (computational) model of the mind. Nonsymbolic modeling turns out to be immune to the Chinese Room Argument. The issues discussed include the Total Turing Test, modularity, neural modeling, robotics, causality and the symbol-grounding problem.
The Supreme Court, Affirmative Action, and Public Management: Where Do We Stand Today?:

The author reviews Supreme Court decisions on affirm ative action to identify the boundaries of permissible voluntary race- or gender-conscious affirmative action by government employers. He concludes that standards of judicial review established prior to 1989 for affirmative action in the public sector have not been eroded by three controversial decisions taken by the Court that year in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Company, Wards Cove Packing Com pany, Inc. v. Atonio, and Martin v. Wilks. However, the outcomes of these cases could nevertheless have a chilling effect on the willingness of some public employers to engage in permissible affirmative action.
Reclaimed Water – An Urban Water Resource

The population in urban areas is growing rapidly; from 30% in 1950 to about 50% at the turn of the century. In 35 years time, the number of large cities (greater than one million) will double and the population living in them will triple. Most large cities are already facing water supply problems and these will increase in the future. Water reclamation for nonpotable reuse for urban irrigation, industry, toilet-flushing, cooling, construction etc. can reduce the demand on limited fresh water resources. Many urban areas around the world have already used this approach to meeting problems of increased water demand.
Reevaluation of the reported observation of the Λ Λ 4 H hypernucleus

The results of experiment E906, undertaken at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron of the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL-AGS), were reanalyzed to clarify the signature of the decays of the double- and single-\ensuremath{\Lambda} hypernuclei that could have been produced in this experiment. This reanalysis indicates that instead of the reported decay of ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{\phantom{\rule{1.0em}{0ex}}4}\mathrm{H}$ through a proposed resonance in ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{4}\mathrm{He}$, it is more probable that the decay of the ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{\phantom{\rule{1.0em}{0ex}}7}\mathrm{He}$ hypernucleus was observed. This decay was accompanied by a background of coincident decays of pairs of the single hypernuclear fragments ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{3}\mathrm{H}$ with ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{4}\mathrm{H}$, ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{3}\mathrm{H}$ with ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{3}\mathrm{H}$, and ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{4}\mathrm{H}$ with ${}_{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}^{4}\mathrm{H}$. An attempt was also made to determine if any other double or coincident single hypernuclear species could be observed in the data.
Toward Bootstrap Learning of the Foundations of Commonsense Knowledge

Our goal is for an autonomous learning agent to acquire the knowledge that serves as the foundations of common sense from its own experience without outside guidance. This requires the agent to (1) learn the structure of its own sensors and effectors; (2) learn a model of space around itself; (3) learn to move effectively in that space; (4) identify and describe objects, as distinct from the static environment; (5) learn and represent actions for affecting those objects, including preconditions and postconditions, and so on. We will provide examples of progress we have made, and the roadmap we envision for future research.
Exploration of associative power management with instruction governed operation for ultra-low power design

This paper explores a novel associative low power operation where instructions govern the operation of on-chip regulators in real time. Based on explicit association between long delay instruction patterns and hardware performance, an instruction based power management scheme is developed with energy models formulated for deriving the energy efficiency of the associative operation. The proposed system scheme is demonstrated using a low power microprocessor design with an integrated switched capacitor regulator in 45nm CMOS technology. Simulations on benchmark programs show a power saving of around 14% from the proposed scheme. A novel compiler optimization strategy is also proposed to further improve the energy efficiency.
Human Rights and Warfare: An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure

One of the most striking paradoxes of the twentieth century, and particularly of the postwar world, is that the tremendous explosion in human rights awareness and law described by Louis Henkin and Kenneth Roth in chapters 1 and 10 has been coupled with an even more pronounced expansion of deadly conflict. Even as more citizens around the world enjoy economic, social, civil, and political rights, this greater freedom is increasingly vulnerable to recent trends in warfare.
Timing of Surgery after Neoadjuvant Chemoradiation in Locally Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

Abstract Introduction A subset of patients with potentially resectable clinical stage IIIA NSCLC are managed with trimodality therapy. However, little data exist to guide the timing of surgery after neoadjuvant therapy. This study examined whether the time interval between neoadjuvant chemoradiation (NCRT) and surgical resection affects overall survival. Methods Patients with clinical stage IIIA disease (T1–3 N2) NSCLC who underwent NCRT were identified in the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) between 2004 and 2012 and categorized on the basis of the interval between chemoradiation and surgery (0 to ≤3, >3 to ≤6, >6 to ≤9, and >9 to ≤12 weeks). Other clinical stages were excluded. The Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank tests were used to compare overall survival rates, and a bootstrapped Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine significant contributors to overall survival. Results Of the 1623 patients identified, 7.9% underwent an operation 0 to 3 weeks or less after NCRT, 50.5% underwent an operation greater than 3 and less than or equal to 6 weeks after NCRT, 31.9% underwent an operation greater than 6 and less than or equal to 9 weeks after NCRT, and 9.6% underwent an operation greater than 9 and less than or equal to 12 weeks after NCRT. Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated no significant difference in survival in those who underwent an operation within 6 weeks of NCRT. However, significant drops in overall survival were observed in those who had an operation greater than 6 and less than or equal to 9 weeks after NCRT (hazard ratio=1.33, 95% confidence interval: 1.01–1.76, p = 0.043) and greater than 9 and less than or equal to 12 weeks after NCRT (hazard ratio = 1.44, 95% confidence interval: 1.04–2.01, p = 0.030). Conclusions The findings from this retrospective study suggest that overall survival may be significantly lower in patients with clinical stage IIIA N2 NSCLC who undergo an operation later than 6 weeks after NCRT. These results discourage unnecessary delays in surgery.
Integrating energy storage with renewable energy systems

It is recognized that renewable energy sources need to be part of the energy mix for a sustainable future. However, intermittent renewable sources such as solar and wind need to be supported with other utility generation resources. In order to increase the renewable energy content of the generation, utilities need to have costly reserve capacity online. Instead of this central reserve, many researchers have proposed energy storage solutions that can be associated with the renewable source. Energy storage dramatically increases the availability of the renewable source and makes this energy dispatchable as needed, resulting in a dramatic increase in the renewable energy value proposition.
Detection of Nucleotide Disbalance in Cells Undergoing Oncogene-Induced Senescence

DNA damage response has been characterized as an important mediator of senescence phenotypes induced by activated oncogenes in normal human cells. Depletion of intracellular deoxyribonucleotide pools has been recently recognized as one of the major causes for DNA damage in these cells. Cells undergoing oncogene-induced senescence display decreased expression of several rate-limiting enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of deoxyribonucleotides, including thymidylate synthase (TS) and ribonucleotide reductase (RR). Individual depletion of these enzymes leads to premature senescence. Reciprocally, ectopic expression of TS and RR or addition of deoxyribonucleosides resulted in suppression of senescence phenotypes in normal or tumor cells caused by overexpression of activated HRAS or depletion of C-MYC, respectively. Therefore, in the current chapter, we will describe a methodology for the quantitative measurement of nucleotide pools in senescent cells.
Comparing and Combining Landsat Satellite Imagery and Participatory Data to Assess Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes in a Coastal Village in Papua New Guinea

In regions lacking socio-economic data, pairing satellite imagery with participatory information is essential for accurate land-use/cover (LULC) change assessments. At the village scale in Papua New Guinea we compare swidden LULC classifications using remote sensing analyses alone and analyses that combine participatory information and remotely sensed data. These participatory remote sensing (PRS) methods include participatory land-use mapping, household surveys, and validation of image analysis in combination with remotely sensed data. The classifications of the swidden area made using only remote sensing analysis show swidden areas are, on average, two and a half times larger than land managers reported for 1999 and 2011. Classifications made using only remote sensing analysis are homogeneous and lack discrimination among swidden plots, fallow land, and non-swidden vegetation. The information derived from PRS methods allows us to amend the remote sensing analysis and as a result swidden areas are more similar to actual swidden area found when ground-truthing. We conclude that PRS methods are needed to understand swidden system LULC complexities.
Host specificity of Aphelinus species considered for introduction to control Diuraphis noxia

Diuraphis noxia, the Russian wheat aphid, has become a major pest of wheat and barley since first being detected in the western USA in 1986. However, it is rarely a pest in Eurasia, its area of origin, and research has shown that natural enemies can limit its abundance there. Among the most important of natural enemies of D. noxia in Eurasia are parasitoids in the genus Aphelinus. Here we report results on host specificity of ten populations of seven species from two species complexes in the genus Aphelinus. Host specificity was not related to host plant species or the phylogenetic relatedness of the aphids or the parasitoids. While some species had very broad host ranges and others had intermediate host ranges, Aphelinus hordei had a very narrow host range, being restricted primarily to species in the genus Diuraphis, and especially D. noxia. We also report the results of experiments on the mechanisms of this host specificity. Most of the host specificity of A. hordei can be explained by differences in the behavior of females when they encountered different aphid species. Females of A. hordei rarely approach, sting, oviposit or host feed on aphids outside the genus Diuraphis, and they oviposit most frequently in D. noxia. From these results, we conclude that A. hordei is an excellent candidate for introduction into the USA to control D. noxia.
Functional Outcomes of 24-Hour Thumb Immobilization in Healthy Volunteers: Prospective Comparative Study.

Background Immobilization is often needed for the treatment of wrist and hand injuries. The current best method of immobilization for several types of injuries has yet to be elucidated with little being reported on the functional differences of each type of immobilization. Purpose The purpose of this study is to compare the functional outcome between healthy young volunteers with a 24-hour short arm cast (SAC) versus thumb spica cast (TSC) immobilization. Methods A total of 50 healthy volunteers completed a baseline typing assessment and a Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) upper extremity functional scoring assessment. Participants in group 1 were randomly initially assigned to a TSC of their dominant hand followed by an SAC, whereas participants in group 2 were randomly initially assigned to a TSC of their nondominant hand followed by an SAC. The volunteers completed the typing assessment and PROMIS assessment at the end of the 24-hour casting period. Results A total of 50 participants were enrolled in the study with 25 in group 1 and 25 in group 2. There was a 24.3-point difference between the average PROMIS score for participants with SAC compared with participants with TSC (93 vs. 68.7; p = 0.0001). There was a significant difference between the typing speed and accuracy of participants with SAC compared with participants with TSC (p = 0.0001). Conclusion There is a significant difference in functionality of a TSC immobilization versus an SAC immobilization according to the PROMIS functional outcome score and typing speed in a 24-hour casting period. SAC immobilization should be considered to have a possible similar effect in pathologic conditions instead of TSC immobilization given these findings even though a 24-hour period is not enough to provide adequate long-term conclusions. Level of Evidence I, prospective comparative study.
Results from a comprehensive assessment of behavioral health problems among rural jail inmates

ABSTRACTLocal jail inmates, especially in rural areas, are consistently overlooked by researchers who tend to focus on state and federal prisoners. Given the lack of current data, limited resources allocated to behavioral health assessment in correctional settings, and the mandate to collect this information, the current pilot study was designed to collect data related to prevalence rates of mental health and substance use disorders in a local jail population. Results demonstrate the high prevalence and severity of behavioral health conditions among adult jail inmates. Suggestions are made for further assessment and treatment approaches in local correctional settings.
The Superorganism Metaphor: Then and Now

As John Maynard Smith1 has said: Our choice of models, and to some extent our choice of words to describe them is important because it affects how we think about the world … our choice of model decides what phenomena we regard as readily explicable, and which need further investigation, (p. 120.)