cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Closed-Form Solutions to the Kinematics of a Parallel Locomotion Mechanism With Actuated Spoke Wheels

A parallel locomotion mechanism can be defined as “a mechanism with parallel configuration that has discrete contact with respect to the ground which renders a platform the ability to move”. The actuated spoke wheel robot IMPASS (Intelligent Mobility Platform with Active Spoke System) presented in this paper serves as an example of such locomotion mechanisms. The current prototype of IMPASS has two actuated spoke wheels and one passive tail with its lower portion designed as convex surface. The robot is considered as a mechanism with variable topologies (MVTs) because of its metamorphic configuration. Closed-form solutions to the kinematics of the variable topologies are developed and verified with numerical simulations. The analytical expressions to these solutions allow themselves to be used directly in the real-time motion planning and monitoring of the robot.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
Topological determinants of dynamic molecular properties: a network thermodynamic approach

Abstract Topology codifies organization through applications of graph theory and it is the organization of a system which is a key ingredient to its dynamics at any level, including the molecular level. One way of systematically relating a system's topology to its dynamics is through the network thermodynamic approach. Network thermodynamics is the next logical step in the development of thermodynamic reasoning, building on classical, linear non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and far from equilibrium thermodynamics. It marries these in a clear way with kinetics, enabling the use of mechanistic descriptions of systems in harmony with the more general thermodynamic description. The topology of structural organization as well as that of functional relationships is encoded via graph theory following the successes of modern electronics. The resultant approach to complex dynamic systems yields new results which demonstrate the central role of topology in defining the dynamic aspects of any system. Examples are given using systems which are important in biology, namely enzymatic systems and membrane transport mechanisms.
Pore size distribution in epoxy impregnated hardened cement pastes

Abstract Specimens of hardened portland cement paste (Type 1), hydrated for various periods of time, were ovendried and subsequently filled with an epoxy resin system via a vacuum-pressure technique. Data obtained from mercury intrusion porosimetry indicate that a significant amount of porosity is left unfilled by polymer in the more mature (28 days hydration) specimens. Calculations indicate that the smallest micropores ( μ m) are essentially inaccessible to the monomer system used in this study.
Reversal of Residual Neuromuscular Block with Neostigmine at One to Four Hours After a Single Intubating Dose of Vecuronium

The purpose of this study was to measure the degree of residual neuromuscular block at different times after a single dose of vecuronium, and to evaluate the effectiveness of two different doses of neostigmine in antagonizing this residual block.Train-of-four (TOF) ratios were examined for up to 4 h after a single dose of vecuronium, 0.1 mg/kg, in 60 patients during nitrous oxide/isoflurane/fentanyl anesthesia. The effect of neostigmine, 40 micro gram/kg, was studied at 1, 2, 3, or 4 h. The effect of neostigmine, 20 micro gram/kg, was studied at 2 or 4 h after the vecuronium. Before neostigmine administration, the TOF ratio was less than 0.75 in 17 patients (including one patient at 4 h). Neostigmine produced an increase in TOF ratio in 52 patients and a decrease in 8. The TOF ratio decreased after neostigmine only, at 2, 3, or 4 h after vecuronium, when the TOF ratio was >or=to0.9 and when neostigmine 40 micro gram/kg was administered. One patient, at 1 h, had a TOF ratio of 0.00 and this did not reach 0.75 until 57 min after neostigmine, 40 micro gram/kg. There was a high incidence (50%) of adverse cardiovascular effects after both doses of neostigmine. In making the decision as to whether neostigmine should be administered, the risk to the patient of residual neuromuscular block must be balanced against the adverse cardiovascular effects of the neostigmine. (Anesth Analg 1995;80:1168-74)
The development of pronoun usage in the psychotic child

Twenty-three psychotic children ranging in age from 5 to 16 were interviewed in half-hour play sessions. The play session comprised three activities designed to elicit statements using the pronouns I, you, and he to express the concepts of possession, action, and description. It was hypothesized that psychotic children would use the third-person pronoun he more readily than the first-person pronoun I (Hypothesis I), and that possession, action, and description statements would develop in an orderly sequence as predicted by Bosch (1962/1970) (Hypothesis II). Hypothesis I was not confirmed: Some of the least advanced psychotic children used the pronoun I, and only the most advanced children used you and he. Hypothesis II was confirmed: the least advanced children used pronouns correctly in statements expressing the concept of possession, whereas the most advanced children had mastered all three contexts of pronoun use. These results have implications for language therapy, and they are concordant with the language theories of Piaget and Werner and Kaplan.
Healthcare system's operational security

Computer Security is a concept of protection designated to information system to accommodate the fundamental security objectives for data, information and computer services [1]. The goal of this research paper is to implement a security plan for the Lawson healthcare organization to assist with protecting and providing a secure information transmission and exchange of public and private data. The current healthcare security system is outdated and it does not protect public or private data exchange across the network. There are IT personnel who are uneducated on the security mechanism to prevent security risks within the daily operations of the healthcare systems. The development of new operational security architecture is to reduce threats and educate the IT personnel of techniques to improve the outdated security mechanism being used in the Healthcare organization. We have used Lawson healthcare as a case study; however, this knowledge can be applied to any healthcare organization.
X-Ray Resonance Absorption Lines in the Argon K Spectrum

Recorded with a two-crystal vacuum spectrometer, the absorption curve for argon gas near the $K$ absorption edge, 3866 x.u., is analyzed in terms of the main edge and the $1S\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{nP} (ng3)$ series of resonance absorption lines. The main edge is determined uniquely as follows: the wave-length position is taken as at the series limit; the width is obtained from the measured width of the most intense absorption line; and the shape is given by the theoretical arctangent curve. The wave-length positions of all the resonance absorption lines are taken from the optical terms of potassium, and, with the width and shape of each line known, the various members of the series $1S\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{nP}$ are determined uniquely. The relative intensities of these lines are 100: 34: 18: 8.5, etc. This analysis illustrates the type and completeness of the analysis we should like to make for solid absorbers, but, unfortunately, the definition and meaning of the main edge of a solid absorber are rather obscure.
Daring More Democracy? Internal Security and the Social Democratic Fight against West German Terrorism

Over the course of the 1970s, West Germans fought one another in an attempt to defend democracy. Frustrated with the seemingly ineffectual speeches and demonstrations of the 1960s protest movements, militant groups such as the Red Army Faction (RAF), June 2nd Movement, and the Red Cells took up arms. They declared war on the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) for its failure to rid itself of the vestiges of fascism, for its hierarchical-authoritarian structure, and for the abuses of western consumer society. Inspired by national liberation movements in the formerly colonized world, the groups aimed both to raise revolutionary consciousness among the West German population and to demonstrate the state's vulnerability through illegal action. The RAF, in particular, stressed the importance of violence as a simultaneous act of emancipation and defense—the latter understood as counterviolence necessitated by state-initiated violence. The repeated violation of norms would, its members argued, undermine Germans' traditional “habit of obedience” and, at the same time, force the state to reveal openly its fascism. These tough-love tactics, in short, aimed to save West Germans from themselves and thereby save German democracy.
Gene Expression Alterations in the Sphingolipid Metabolism Pathways during Progression of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Shift Toward Ceramide Accumulation at the Earliest Recognizable Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease?

There is mounting evidence linking Aβ42 generation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with sphingomyelin catabolism. Using microarray technology to study 17 brain regions from subjects with varying severity of AD and dementia we detected multiple gene expression abnormalities of the key enzymes that control sphingolipid metabolism. These changes were correlated with the progression of clinical dementia. The upregulation of gene expression of the enzymes controlling synthesis de novo of Cer and the downregulation of the enzymes involved in glycosphingolipid synthesis was evident as early in disease progression as in mild dementia. Together these changes suggest a shift in sphingolipid metabolism towards accumulation of Cer, depletion of glycosphingolipids and the reduction of synthesis of the anti-apoptosis signaling lipid—sphingosine 1-phosphate as a function of disease progression. This disrupted balance within the sphingolipid metabolism may trigger signaling events promoting neurodegeneration across cortical regions. This potential mechanism may provide a link between lipid metabolism disturbance and AD.
Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 by a complex of rhenium in thin polymeric films

Abstract The electrochemical properties of thin polymeric films on electrodes prepared by reductive electropolymerization of fac-[(vbpy)Re1(CO)3L]n+ (L = Cl− or CH3CN; n = 0 or 1, respectively; vbpy = 4-methyl-4'-vinyl-2,2'-bipyridine) and coelectropolymerization of these with cis-[(bpy)2Ru(vpy)2]2+ (vpy = 4-Vinylpyridine) have been investigated in the presence of CO2. The metal sites in the thin films show a dramatic increase in reactivity and stability toward CO2 reduction, particularly in the copolymeric assembly, as compared to the homogeneous analog, fac-[(vbpy)Re)CO)3Cl] in solution. As with the monomer, the major CO2 reduction product is CO but a bimolecular carbon-carbon coupling pathway to form oxalate appears for the pure poly-[(vbpy)Re(CO)3Cl] film. The results of electrochemical kinetic studies on poly-[(vbpy)Re(CO)3Cl] show that the rate determining step in the films changes from the chemical reaction between reduced Re and CO2 to electron transport to the catalytic sites as the film thickness is increased.
Reproductive behaviour and gender allocation in Serranus fasciatus, a hermaphroditic reef fish

Abstract The behaviour and reproductive biology of Serranus fasciatus , a hermaphroditic reef fish, was investigated to elucidate the relationship between its unusual gender-allocation pattern and its mating behaviour. All individuals start life as simultaneous hermaphrodites, but the largest individuals in any location lose female function and become functional males. Males maintain permanent territories which contain one-eight hermaphrodites that they defend against other males. Males obtain high levels of mating success by pair-spawning with hermaphrodites within their harem. Hermaphrodites obtain low levels of male mating success through streaking, in which an individual joins a spawning pair and releases sperm, an alternative male mating tactic. Alternative male mating strategies are rare in other haremic reef fishes, but exist as a facultative strategy in hermaphroditic S. fasciatus , which obtain most of their mating success through female function. The absence of this gender-allocation pattern in socially similar species of reef fishes may be due to the spatial predictability and concentration of spawning in these species, which can favour alternative non-aggressive male mating tactics. However, the rarity of this complex pattern is probably also due to evolutionary constraints on the development of simultaneous hermaphroditism in other species.
Energy-dependent efflux of K+ from heart mitochondria

Abstract The efflux of 42K+ from the matrix of isolated heart mitochondria under conditions of steady state K+ has the properties of an energy-linked K + K + exchange reaction. Efflux requires respiration and external K+, is sensitive to uncouplers and to Mg+2, and is markedly decreased by oxidative phosphorylation. Efflux is stimulated by Pi and by mersalyl, but declines under conditions which promote net uptake of K+ and acetate. Acetate strongly inhibits efflux in the presence of mersalyl. These data suggest that mitochondrial K+ levels are not maintained by a balance between inward K+ pumping and a passive outward leak, but rather that a nearly constant K+ pool results from a regulated interplay between an inward K+ uniport (responsive to membrane potential) and a K + H + exchanger (responsive to the transmembrane pH gradient).
Transfer function characteristics of super resolving systems

Signal quality in an optical storage device greatly depends on the optical system transfer function used to write and read data patterns. The problem is similar to analysis of scanning optical microscopes. Hopkins and Braat have analyzed write-once-read-many (WORM) optical data storage devices. Herein, transfer function analysis of magnetooptic (MO) data storage devices is discussed with respect to improving transfer-function characteristics. Several authors have described improving the transfer function as super resolution. However, none have thoroughly analyzed the MO optical system and effects of the medium. Both the optical system transfer function and effects of the medium of this development are discussed.
Application of p-Multigrid to Discontinuous Galerkin Formulations of the Poisson Equation

We investigate p-multigrid as a solution method for several different discontinuous Galerkin (DG) formulations of the Poisson equation. Different combinations of relaxation schemes and basis sets have been combined with the DG formulations to find the best performing combination. The damping factors of the schemes have been determined using Fourier analysis for both one and two-dimensional problems. One important finding is that when using DG formulations, the standard approach of forming the coarse p matrices separately for each level of multigrid is often unstable. To ensure stability the coarse p matrices must be constructed from the fine grid matrices using algebraic multigrid techniques. Of the relaxation schemes, we find that the combination of Jacobi relaxation with the spectral element basis is fairly effective. The results using this combination are p sensitive in both one and two dimensions, but reasonable convergence rates can still be achieved for moderate values of p and isotropic meshes. A competitive alternative is a block Gauss-Seidel relaxation. This actually out performs a more expensive line relaxation when the mesh is isotropic. When the mesh becomes highly anisotropic, the implicit line method and the Gauss-Seidel implicit line method are the only effective schemes. Adding the Gauss-Seidel terms to the implicit line method gives a significant improvement over the line relaxation method.
Interleukin-1β responses to Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection are cell-type specific

Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a major proinflammatory cytokine that is involved in many important cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, and activation of different cell types. Its mature form is released from the cells in response to various bacterial and viral infections, and it plays a significant role in host defense. Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a small bacterium without a cell wall that causes tracheobronchitis and atypical pneumonia in humans following attachment to respiratory epithelium, as well as extrapulmonary infections. Very little is known about the role of cytokines in pathogenesis or the response of target cells to M.pneumoniae attachment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of M. pneumoniae to induce IL-1β in human lung epithelial carcinoma A549 and in human monocytic U937 cell lines. Following M. pneumoniae infection, both IL-1β mRNA and protein were induced in A549 cells vs. no induction in uninfected cells; however, the protein remained inside the A549 cells. Similarly, M. pneumoniae infection strongly increased mRNA and extracellular protein levels in U937 cells, which unlike A549 cells did exhibit baseline constitutive levels. De novo IL-1β protein expression was verified by cycloheximide studies. M. pneumoniae infection did not affect constitutive caspase-1 mRNA or protein levels in either cell line. Reduced caspase-1 activity in A549 cell lysates suggests the presence of an endogenous caspase-1 inhibitory component in the A549 cells. These collective data confirm previous studies that show that M. pneumoniae is a potent inducer of cytokines following adherence to host target cells, and establish that IL-1β release in response to M. pneumoniae infection is cell-type specific, thus emphasizing the importance of carefully considering multiple cell types in M. pneumoniae pathogenesis studies involving both immune cells and cytokine release patterns.
Bayesian characterization of uncertainty in intra-subject non-rigid registration

In settings where high-level inferences are made based on registered image data, the registration uncertainty can contain important information. In this article, we propose a Bayesian non-rigid registration framework where conventional dissimilarity and regularization energies can be included in the likelihood and the prior distribution on deformations respectively through the use of Boltzmann’s distribution. The posterior distribution is characterized using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods with the effect of the Boltzmann temperature hyper-parameters marginalized under broad uninformative hyper-prior distributions. The MCMC chain permits estimation of the most likely deformation as well as the associated uncertainty. On synthetic examples, we demonstrate the ability of the method to identify the maximum a posteriori estimate and the associated posterior uncertainty, and demonstrate that the posterior distribution can be non-Gaussian. Additionally, results from registering clinical data acquired during neurosurgery for resection of brain tumor are provided; we compare the method to single transformation results from a deterministic optimizer and introduce methods that summarize the high-dimensional uncertainty. At the site of resection, the registration uncertainty increases and the marginal distribution on deformations is shown to be multi-modal.
A diffusion model for nonreactive ion loss in pulsed ion cyclotron resonance experiments

Abstract In a typical pulsed ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) experiment, gaseous ions formed by a pulsed electron beam are trapped by static electric and magnetic fields. The ions are trapped efficiently for several tenths of a second, but collisions with neutral molecules cause them to diffuse gradually to the walls of the analyzer cell. In this paper the diffusion of ions in an ICR trapped-ion analyzer cell is modeled theoretically, and the results are compared with experimental data obtained at a variety of pressures and trapping voltages. The theoretical model assumes that the dominant loss mechanism is diffusion of the ions to the upper and lower plates of the analyzer cell under the influence of an electrostatic trapping field. The theoretical results for the time dependence of the ion concentration in the ICR analyzer cell are in good agreement with experimental time plots. A useful parameter for characterizing ion trapping efficiency is t 1 2 , the time taken by the ion concentration to decrease to one-half of its initial value. The theoretical expression for t 1 2 shows that it is proportional to ( aB 2 )/ PV , where B is the magnetic field strength, a is the distance between the walls of the ICR analyzer cell, P is the pressure in the cell, and V is the electrostatic trapping voltage.
HMGN3a and HMGN3b, two protein isoforms with a tissue-specific expression pattern, expand the cellular repertoire of nucleosome-binding proteins.

HMGN1 (HMG-14) and HMGN2 (HMG-17) are nuclear proteins that bind specifically to nucleosomes, reduce the compactness of the chromatin fiber, and enhance transcription from chromatin templates. Here we report that many vertebrates contain an additional type of HMGN protein named HMGN3 (Trip 7). The humanHMGN3 gene is located on chromosome 6 and spans 32 kilobase pairs, which is nearly 10-fold longer than the closely relatedHMGN2 gene. However, the intron/exon boundaries of theHMGN3 gene are identical to those of HMGN1 andHMGN2. Unique within the HMGN family, the HMGN3 transcript undergoes alternative splicing and generates two different variants, HMGN3a and HMGN3b. The shorter variant, HMGN3b, arises from an additional splice site that truncates exon V and causes a frameshift. The resulting HMGN3b protein lacks the majority of the C-terminal chromatin-unfolding domain. Both splice variants are found in many vertebrates from frogs to man and are expressed in many tissues. The pattern of tissue-specific expression differs considerably from those of HMGN1 and HMGN2 at both the mRNA and the protein level. Our results expand the multiplicity of the HMGN protein family and raise the possibility that these nucleosome-binding proteins function as co-activators in tissue-specific gene expression.
The relative stability of stoichiometrically related natural and synthetic double salts

The so-called “simple salt approximation” is used to calculate the lattice energies of double salts (compounds that contain two or more different types of ions). Enthalpies and Gibbs energies of dissolution based upon these lattice energies are then used to estimate the solubilities of hydroxyl sulfates, hydroxyl carbonates, hydroxyl nitrates, hydroxyl chlorides, and hydroxyl phosphates. Based on the solubilities, general rules are postulated for the relative stabilities of double salts that have the same cations and anions, but in different stoichiometries. These observations provide an understanding of the relative stabilities of many minerals and guidance for the design of synthetic methods, and have been used to prepare likasite [Cu3NO3(OH)5·2H2O], the zinc analog [Zn3SO4(OH)4] of antlerite [Cu3SO4(OH)4], and Cu5(SO4)2(OH)6·4H2O.
Identification and localization of microsatellite markers covering human chromosome 18

To generate microsatellite markers from chromosome 18, we have cytogenetically localized a large number of λ phage using a deletion mapping panel of somatic cell hybrids. Here we describe the identification of 65 new CA-repeat-containing phage and the localization of five markers developed in other laboratories. This approach allows the selection of a subset of markers that are well spaced across the chromosome and can be developed as genetic markers. The use of PCR-based markers should allow for the rapid genomic screening of disease genes on chromosome 18.
Gene Expression Variation in Drosophila melanogaster Due to Rare Transposable Element Insertion Alleles of Large Effect

Transposable elements are a common source of genetic variation that may play a substantial role in contributing to gene expression variation. However, the contribution of transposable elements to expression variation thus far consists of a handful of examples. We used previously published gene expression data from 37 inbred Drosophila melanogaster lines from the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel to perform a genome-wide assessment of the effects of transposable elements on gene expression. We found thousands of transcripts with transposable element insertions in or near the transcript and that the presence of a transposable element in or near a transcript is significantly associated with reductions in expression. We estimate that within this example population, ∼2.2% of transcripts have a transposable element insertion, which significantly reduces expression in the line containing the transposable element. We also find that transcripts with insertions within 500 bp of the transcript show on average a 0.67 standard deviation decrease in expression level. These large decreases in expression level are most pronounced for transposable element insertions close to transcripts and the effect diminishes for more distant insertions. This work represents the first genome-wide analysis of gene expression variation due to transposable elements and suggests that transposable elements are an important class of mutation underlying expression variation in Drosophila and likely in other systems, given the ubiquity of these mobile elements in eukaryotic genomes.
Fidelity and validity: issues of human behavioral representation requirements development

Within the modeling and simulation community issues of fidelity and validity are often considered the fundamental metrics used to gauge the quality and utility of a model or simulation. The extent to which a model represents reality is often referred to as fidelity while the usefulness of that representation within the context of a specific application relates to its validity. In most cases, increases in representational fidelity are coincident with increased development costs. How then does one decide where investments in fidelity should be placed? Faced with this question regarding the representation of operator behavior for a synthetic integrated air defense system (IADS) to be used in a synthetic battlespace, we are conducting a requirements analysis to establish human behavioral representation (HBR) requirements. This analysis will provide a degree of traceability from fidelity requirements to simulation objectives so effective tradeoffs can be made. The present paper reviews our methodology and preliminary findings to date.
Product Disaggregation in Global Optimization and Relaxations of Rational Programs

In this chapter, we consider the product of a single continuous variable and the sum of a number of continuous variables. We show that “product disaggregation” (distributing the product over the sum) leads to tighter linear programming relaxations, much like variable disaggregation does in mixedinteger linear programming. We also derive closed-form expressions characterizing the exact region over which these relaxations improve when the bounds of participating variables are reduced.
Finite-element methods in electronic-structure theory

Abstract We discuss the application of the finite-element (FE) method to ab initio solid-state electronic-structure calculations. In this method, the basis functions are strictly local, piecewise polynomials. Because the basis is composed of polynomials, the method is completely general and its convergence can be controlled systematically. Because the basis functions are strictly local in real space, the method allows for variable resolution in real space; produces sparse, structured matrices, enabling the effective use of iterative solution methods; and is well suited to parallel implementation. The method thus combines the significant advantages of both real-space-grid and basis-oriented approaches and so promises to be particularly well suited for large, accurate ab initio calculations. We discuss the construction and properties of the required FE bases and develop in detail their use in the solution of the Schrodinger and Poisson equations subject to boundary conditions appropriate for a periodic solid. We present results for the Schrodinger equation illustrating the rapid, variational convergence of the method in electronic band-structure calculations. We present results for the Poisson equation illustrating the rapid convergence of the method, both pointwise and in the L 2 norm, and its linear scaling with system size in the context of a model charge-density and Si pseudo-charge-density. Finally, we discuss the application of the method to large-scale ab initio positron distribution and lifetime calculations in solids and present results for a host of systems within the range of a conventional LMTO based approach for comparison, as well as results for systems well beyond the range of the conventional approach. The largest such calculation, involving a unit cell of 4092 atoms, was shown to be well within the range of the FE approach on existing computational platforms.
Local Minima Embedding

Dimensionality reduction is a commonly used step in many algorithms for visualization, classification, clustering and modeling. Most dimensionality reduction algorithms find a low dimensional embedding that preserves the structure of high-dimensional data points. This paper proposes Local Minima Embedding (LME), a technique to find a low-dimensional embedding that preserves the local minima structure of a given objective function. LME provides an embedding that is useful for visualizing and understanding the relation between the original variables that create local minima. Additionally, the embedding can potentially be used to sample the original function to discover new local minima. The function in the embedded space takes an analytic form and hence the gradients can be computed analytically. We illustrate the benefits of LME in both synthetic data and real problems in the context of image alignment. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper that addresses the problem of finding an embedding that preserves local minima properties of an objective function.
An Evaluation of a Framework for the Dynamic Load Balancing of Highly Adaptive and Irregular Parallel Applications

We present an evaluation of a flexible framework and runtime software system for the dynamic load balancing of asynchronous and highly adaptive and irregular applications. These applications, which include parallel unstructured and adaptive mesh refinement, serve as building blocks for a large class of scientific applications. Extensive study has lead to the development of solutions to the dynamic load balancing problem for loosely synchronous and computation intensive programs; however, these methods are not suitable for asynchronous and highly adaptive applications. We evaluate a new software framework which includes support for an Active Messages style communication mechanism, global name space, transparent object migration, and preemptive decision making. Our results from both a 3-dimensional parallel advancing front mesh generation program, as well as a synthetic microbenchmark, indicate that this new framework out-performs two existing general-purpose, well-known, and widely used software systems for the dynamic load balancing of adpative and irregular parallel applications.
Adjectival extremeness: degree modification and contextually restricted scales

This paper argues that degree modifiers such as flat-out, downright, positively, and straight-up constitute a distinct natural class specialized for modifying extreme adjectives (such as gigantic, fantastic, or gorgeous), and that extreme adjectives themselves come in two varieties: ones that encode extremeness as part of their lexical semantics and ones that can acquire it on the basis of contextual factors. These facts suggest that a theory is required of what it means for an adjective to be ‘extreme’ in the relevant sense. I propose one, based on the idea that in any given context, we restrict our attention to a particular salient portion of a scale. To reflect this, I suggest that quantification over degrees is—like quantification in other domains—contextually restricted. Extreme adjectives and corresponding degree modifiers can thus both be understood as a means of signaling that a degree lies outside a contextually-provided range.
A Novel Regulatory Protein Governing Biofilm Formation in Bacillus subtilis

Production of an extracellular matrix is a hallmark of biofilm formation. In the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis, the matrix consists of an exopolysaccharide, which is specified by the epsA-O operon, and a secreted protein TasA, which is encoded by the yqxM-sipW-tasA operon. Past and present evidence establish that the epsA-O and yqxM-sipW-tasA operons are controlled by the repressor proteins SinR and AbrB. Here, we report the identification of a novel regulatory protein Slr that promotes transcription of the yqxM-sipW-tasA operon but is not needed for expression of the epsA-O operon. We further show that the gene for Slr is itself under the negative control of SinR and AbrB. These findings reveal that matrix production is governed by an intricate network involving the interplay of negatively and positively acting regulatory proteins.
Human Interindividual Variability in Cancer Risks—Technical and Management Challenges

Abstract Existing risk assessment procedures for carcinogens are intended to be “conservative” in the uncertainty dimension—giving estimates that are expected to be higher than true risks for typical people. However, these procedures do not consider the likely variability in susceptibility among individual people. This paper updates previous estimates of the likely extent of this variability for metabolically activated, genetically-acting carcinogens based on recent information on human interindividual variability in metabolic activation, detoxification, and DNA repair. The resulting expected skewness of cancer risk distributions is estimated using Monte Carlo simulations of both variability and uncertainty. Some risk management implications are: When evaluating the fairness of a particular risk distribution, managers need to gain familiarity with a three-dimensional characterization—X level of risk, for the Yth percentile individual (addressing variability) with Z degree of confidence (addressing uncerta...
Peripheral Mechanism Involved in Response of Dogs' Cutaneous Veins to Local Temperature Change

The cutaneous veins of the dog constrict and dilate with local cooling and warming, respectively. This response, which is dependent on the integrity of the adrenergic nerves, might be explained by an altered response of the smooth muscle to a given frequency of sympathetic nerve impulses or by local temperature receptors that initiate alterations in sympathetic nerve activity. In the lateral saphenous vein perfused at 42°, 27°, and 17°C, the constriction caused by stimulation of lumbar sympathetic nerves was 40%, 160%, and 200%, respectively, of that at 37°C; the constriction caused by norepinephrine at the same temperatures was 70%, 187%, and 318% of that at 37°C. Division of the dorsal spinal roots from L-1 to S-1 made no difference to the veno-constrictor response to local cooling. It is concluded that an alteration in the sensitivity of the smooth muscle to arriving sympathetic nerve impulses accounts for the venous responses to local temperature changes seen in the intact dog.
Undergraduate Time Use and Academic Outcomes: Results from the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey 2006:

Background/ContextPrevious research has established the significance of academic study time on undergraduate students’ academic performance. The effects of other uses of time are, however, in dispu...
Taxonomic Status of Ixodes neotomae and I. spinipalpis (Acari: Ixodidae) Based on Mitochondrial DNA Evidence

Ixodes spinipalpis Hadwen & Nuttall and I. neotomae Cooley are enzootic vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner in western North America. The taxa overlap in host preference, habitat, and morphology. Mitochondrial DNA was compared between the taxa to test for reproductive isolation. A 300-bp region of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA gene was amplified in 28 specimens of I. neotomae and 149 specimens of I. spinipalpis. These products were screened for sequence variation using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis, and 9 haplotypes were detected. Haplotype frequencies varied between taxa; however, Shannon diversity analysis indicated that most variation arose among collections within each taxon, and no unique haplotypes characterized either one. Phylogenetic analysis of 18 sequences, representing a replicate of each of the 9 haplotypes, was performed with Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls and Ixodes jellisoni Cooley & Kohls as outgroups. Strong monophyletic support was found for a clade containing I. neotomae and I spinipalpis and within this clade no lineages comprised exclusively either taxon. These results argue against treatment of I. neotomae and I. spinipalpis as distinct species.
BUDGET ANALYSIS OF PENAEID SHRIMP HATCHERY FACILITIES

One of the critical factors in commercial penaeid shrimp culture production is the availability of postlarvae to stock grow-out ponds. This study investigates the economic feasibility of rearing penaeid shrimp from nauplii to postlarvae (hatchery phase). The facility design used is based on the hatchery operated by Texas A&M university at Galveston, Texas. The Generalized Budget Simulation Model for Aquaculture developed at Texas A&M University was used for the analysis. A ten-year planning horizon was used for the analysis. Six different systems ranging in size from 5 ten-metric ton tanks to 60 ten-metric ton tanks were examined. Annual cost and return budgets were developed for the six systems assuming they operated 6 and 12 months per year. Investment costs, break-even prices and quantities, and net present value were estimated for each system. Results show that commercial hatcheries, using 10-metric ton tanks, could be profitable above and including 20 tanks for those operating only six months annually and above and including 10 tanks for those operating 12 months annually.
Evaluating an interspecific Helianthus annuus × Helianthus tuberosus population for use in a perennial sunflower breeding program

Abstract Perennial crops show promise for sustainable agricultural production while providing ecosystem services (maintaining healthy soil, controlling erosion, improving water quality, and enhancing wildlife habitat). Perennial crops could also provide economically viable cropping option to farmers. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an ideal crop for perennialization because of existing genetic resources and a wide variety of end-uses. The objective of this research was to evaluate interspecific hybrids between perennial Helianthus tuberosus L. (2n = 6x = 102) and annual H. annuus L. (2n = 2x = 34) for perenniality and agronomic traits; assessing their utility in developing a perennial seed crop. Field trials indicated that seed yield traits were positively correlated with head traits. Tuber traits, which are required for perenniality, and seed yield traits were not correlated, indicating that simultaneous selection may be able to target high yielding lines that also tuberize. The F1 individuals were intermated for one generation and the intermated F1 (IM1F1) showed increases in head size (up to 20%) compared to the best F1 individual. The lack of correlation between tuber and seed traits coupled with phenotypic improvement after one generation of intermating suggest that the best improvement strategy for perennial sunflower is a recurrent selection program focusing on yield.
Comparison of the Performance Properties of Carpets Containing Nylon 6 and Nylon 66 Face Yarns

A parametric analysis of the performance properties of a group of twenty-four well balanced carpet samples, half of which represent nylon 6 and the other half nylon 66 face yarns, shows that nylon ...
Population Structure of Three Species of Anisakis Nematodes Recovered From Pacific Sardines (Sardinops sagax) Distributed Throughout the California Current System

Members of the Anisakidae are known to infect over 200 pelagic fish species and have been frequently used as biological tags to identify fish populations. Despite information on the global distribution of Anisakis species, there is little information on the genetic diversity and population structure of this genus, which could be useful in assessing the stock structure of their fish hosts. From 2005 through 2008, 148 larval anisakids were recovered from Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) in the California Current upwelling zone and were genetically sequenced. Sardines were captured off Vancouver Island, British Columbia in the north to San Diego, California in the south. Three species, Anisakis pegreffii, Anisakis simplex 'C', and Anisakis simplex s.s., were identified with the use of sequences from the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1 and ITS2) and the 5.8s subunit of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The degree of nematode population structure was assessed with the use of the cytochrome c oxidase 2 (cox2) mitochondrial DNA gene. All 3 Anisakis species were distributed throughout the study region from 32u Nt o 50uN latitude. There was no association between sardine length and either nematode infection intensity or Anisakis species recovered. Larval Anisakis species and mitochondrial haplotype distributions from both parsimony networks and analyses of molecular variance revealed a panmictic distribution of these parasites, which infect sardines throughout the California Current ecosystem. Panmictic distribution of the larval Anisakis spp. populations may be a result of the presumed migratory pathways of the intermediate host (the Pacific sardine), moving into the northern portion of the California Current in summer and returning to the southern portion to overwinter and spawn in spring. However, the wider geographic range of paratenic (large piscine predators), and final hosts (cetaceans) can also explain the observed distribution pattern. As a result, the recovery of 3 Anisakis species and a panmictic distribution of their haplotypes could not be used to confirm or deny the presence of population subdivision of Pacific sardines in the California Current system.
Shape from intensity gradient

We propose a new shape-from-shading (SFS) algorithm which replaces the brightness constraint with an intensity gradient constraint. This is a global approach which obtains the solution by the minimization of an error function over the entire image. Through the linearization of the gradient of the reflectance map and the discretization of the surface gradient, the intensity gradient can be expressed as a linear function of the surface height. A quadratic error function, which involves the intensity gradient constraint and the traditional smoothness constraint, is minimized efficiently by solving a sparse linear system using the multigrid technique. Neither the information at singular points nor the information at occluding boundaries is needed for the initialization of the height. Results for real images are presented to show the robustness of the algorithm, and the execution time is demonstrated to prove its efficiency.
Rapid Detection of Salmonella Microcolonies by Fluorescent Antibody

A microcolony fluorescent-antibody (FA) procedure for detecting salmonellae was compared to the usual direct FA procedure on 304 environmental, food, and feed samples. The microcolony FA test detected all of the specimens found positive by culture, whereas the direct FA missed 3.1% of them. Both FA tests revealed stained organisms in some of the culturally negative specimens. The microcolony FA test has several advantages over the direct FA test: ease of examining the smears, elimination of the fluorescent background material, and increased sensitivity. Images
Trends in dietary intake of sugars of 10-year-old children from 1973 to 1988: The bogalusa heart study

Abstract Trends in dietary intakes of total sugar of 10-year-old children were examined from 1973 to 1988 across six cross-sectional surveys. For whites only, a significant positive trend was shown in intakes of total sugar. A significant positive trend was observed in intakes of fructose with a negative trend in sucrose intakes. The total grams of fruits/fruit juices consumed significantly increased (p
Marco Polo 2002: Venice By Way Of China

As part of an executive MBA program, the authors visited with the top executives at multiple Chinese companies and agencies in several major cities during the summer of 2002. Businesses included several that have recently transitioned from being state-owned enterprises; pure entrepreneurial firms; and multi-national enterprises with headquarters outside of China. The visits allowed us to hear how China intends to manage its challenges and pursue its opportunities as well as to witness some early successes, emerging experiments, and looming problems. In this paper, we will share our observations, which are organized around several themes. We conclude that much of what is going on in China must be viewed as transitional and temporary. While there are serious challenges, China should be recognized as having accomplished more positive change faster than perhaps any other country in the history of the world.
Efficient second harmonic generation in polymeric channel waveguides using modal dispersion

Summary form only given. Second harmonic generation (SHG) is getting renewed attention through possible applications to all-optical switching, spatial solitary waves, etc. through cascading. Phase matching with use of modal dispersion, first demonstrated in thin films in the early 1970s, typically requires excellent control of the waveguide thickness, but can be easily implemented in low loss configurations, since it does not require any modulation of waveguide parameters along the propagation. We demonstrate efficient SHG in a channel waveguide made of DANS (4-dimethylamino-4'-nitrostilbene) side-chain polymer with a figure of merit /spl eta/=1.2%/W-cm/sup 2/ over a phase-matched length of 0.3 cm, which is, to our knowledge, the best combined values reported for poled polymers to date.
A Type- and Control-Flow Analysis for System F

We present a monovariant flow analysis for System F (with recursion). The flow analysis yields both control-flow information, approximating the \(\lambda \)- and \(\varLambda \)-expressions that may be bound to variables, and type-flow information, approximating the type expressions that may instantiate type variables. Moreover, the two flows are mutually beneficial: the control flow determines which \(\varLambda \)-expressions may be applied to which type expressions (and, hence, which type expressions may instantiate which type variables), while the type flow filters the \(\lambda \)- and \(\varLambda \)-expressions that may be bound to variables (by rejecting expressions with static types that are incompatible with the static type of the variable under the type flow). As is typical for a monovariant control-flow analysis, control-flow information is expressed as an abstract environment mapping variables to sets of (syntactic) \(\lambda \)- and \(\varLambda \)-expressions that occur in the program under analysis. Similarly, type-flow information is expressed as an abstract environment mapping type variables to sets of (syntactic) types that occur in the program under analysis. Compatibility of static types (with free type variables) under a type flow is decided by interpreting the abstract environment as productions for a regular-tree grammar and querying if the languages generated by taking the types in question as starting terms have a non-empty intersection.
Rotations of the closures of some simply connected domains

(1985). Rotations of the closures of some simply connected domains. Complex Variables, Theory and Application: An International Journal: Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 285-294.