cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Hypothesis-Testing Game: A Training Tool for the Graduate Interviewing Skills Course

This article describes an interviewing game used in a graduate-level interviewing skills course. The goal of the game is to teach basic components of the interviewing process such as comfort with the interview, microcounseling skills, hypothesis generation, and hypothesis testing. The instructor plays the part of a client and is interviewed by two teams of students. Roles of students in the game and game procedure are explained. Favorable student ratings and positive feedback have been received.
Starting Points for a Developmental Genetics of Nerve Patterns

SYNOPSIS. The genie control of the development of neural morphology and specific neural connections is little known, primarily because of a paucity of neurological mutants in animal models suitable for experimental manipulation. However, by using cell markers—such as tetraploidy, a large cell marker whose development is described here—the development of single retinal cells in tetraploid embryos, the growth of marked polyclones in chimeric eyes, and the central connections of various chimeric eyes have been analyzed to identify the strategies used in molding eye morphology and establishing precise central connections. Theoretical models and computer simulations were used to draw inferences about the information used to accomplish the identified strategies. This analysis resulted in predictions about the sorts of mutant genes which might be found to affect neural ontogeny.
When is an acronym more than an acronym

Acronyms are usually coined by specialists for use among themselves. Few achieve popularity, and fewer still permanence in the general vocabulary. Computer Science has certainly produced its share of acronyms, and a number of these have gained popular acceptance (e.g. FORTRAN).
Federalism and entrepreneurship: Explaining American and Canadian Innovation in pollution prevention and regulatory integration

Conventional wisdom provides an increasingly strong endorsement of far-reaching decentralization and delegation of authority to bureaucratic agents as the most likely mechanisms to attain such central environmental policy goals as pollution prevention,cross-media regulatory integration, and development of reliable measures of environmental outcomes. Canada would appear an unusually fertile context for such innovation, given its far-reaching deference to individual provinces and their environment ministries in environmental policy. Comparative analysis of select subnational governments in Canada and the United States suggests that the states in general are far ahead of their provincial counterparts in most of these areas of innovation. Despite all the opprobrium heaped on the American environmental policy system, a combination of federal policy tools and state policy entrepreneurship appear to contribute directly to this innovation in some states and are almost completely absent in the Canadian system. These findings suggest a need for careful study of the mix of intergovernmental policy tools and principal-agent relations most likely to realize desired environmental policy goals.
E-031 Versatile Fill Coils: Initial Experience as Framing coil for Oblong Aneurysms

Introduction Oblong aneurysms, with dimensions of 2:1 or greater aspect ratios, are typically coiled with framing coils with helix diameter of aneurysm (l+w)/2, thus a 6 x 3 mm aneurysm might be framed with a 4–5 mm coil. The introduction of the versatile fill coil which has two separate coil elements - loops and longer wave segments - allows another approach to framing oblong or snow-man shaped aneurysms. Methods The endovascular database at a single institution was reviewed to assess aneurysms coiled with versatile fill coils as a framing coil yielding 3 consecutive patients in non-spherical, oblong aneurysms. The results were reviewed and demographic and outcome information collected and summarised. Results 3 patients (1 man and 2 women) were treated with VFC coils, 1 with balloon assistance and 0 with stent assistance. All cases were diagnosis as ruptured aneurysm which located in Anterior communicate artery. There were no complications immediately post procedurally, with 1 case of intraprocedural catheter induced vasospasm which resolved with calcium channel blockers. Complete occlusion was achieved in all cases. There were no recurrent and re-bleeding during follow up periods. Conclusion The VFC coil may offer an alternative to spherical framing coils in oblong aneurysms, as the coil structure offers elements that conform to the short axis diameter of the aneurysms, with wave elements that displace the loop elements, peripheralising along the aneurysm length. Further experience would be necessary to confirm these clinical impressions. Disclosures T. Osanai: None. M. Bain: None. F. Hui: 2; C; Microvention.
Generation and reactivity of ketene ligands on triosmium clusters

Abstract A summary of the synthesis, spectroscopic properties, and reactivity characteristics of the triosmium μ-ketene clusters Os3(CO)12(μ-CH2CO), 3, and [PPN][Os3(CO)10(μ-X)(μ-CH2CO)], (5a, X = Cl; 5b, X = Br; 5c, X = I; 6c, X = NCO) is presented. In addition, the preparation of the ButNC substituted ketene clusters Os3(CO)10(ButNC)2(μ-CH2CO), 4, and [PPN][Os3(CO)9(ButNC)(μ-X)(μ-CH2CO)] (7c, X = I; 7d, X = NCO) by reaction of the appropriate μ-CH2 precursors with ButNC is described. Cluster 4 has been crystallographically characterized: P21/c, a = 19.262(4), b = 22.486(4), c = 13.197(3) A, β = 97.73(2)°, V = 5790(2) A3, Z = 2, R(F) = 0.0639, R(wF) = 0.0671 for 4172 reflections with I > 4σ(F0). The three Os atoms and the μ-ketene ligand form a triosmacyclopentanone ring with the isocyanide ligands in equatorial positions on different Os atoms and trans to the ketene methylene and carbonyl carbons, respectively. A variable temperature 1H NMR study has shown that cluster 4 undergoes a fluxional process involving an inversion of the triosmacyclopentanone ring conformation which causes exchange of the positions of the methylene protons of the μ-ketene ligand. The activation energy for this process is ∼ 11 kcal mol−1. These studies have shown that μ-ketene ligands of structural type II readily form on triosmium carbonyl clusters upon carbonylation of the appropriate μ-methylene precursor. Structural data for the neutral μ-ketene clusters Os3(CO)12(μ-CH2CO), 3, and its ButNC substituted derivative 4 indicate that these complexes are best viewed as triosmacyclopentanones, or alternatively as metallated acetyl complexes. Similar descriptions may be appropriate for the anionic μ-ketene clusters 5, although both spectroscopic and reactivity data indicate significant localization of the negative charge on the ketene oxygen atom. The μ-ketene ligands in all these clusters are reactive, undergoing attack by both electrophiles and nucleophiles. The reactivity data for 5c show that nucleophiles add to the ketene carbonyl carbon whereas electrophiles add to the carbonyl oxygen.
The impact of workload on the reliability of real-time processor triads

Abstract Most real-time systems employ N-modular — most commonly triple-modular — redundancy for fault-tolerance. When a processor in a triad fails permanently, a spare processor (if available) must be switched in to take its place. If the failure is transient, the affected processor will be brought back into the triad after it recovers. In either case, it is necessary to make the memory of all three members of the triad consistent. This can be done by copying into the recovering or substitute processor the writeable memory of the two processors that are still functional. The time required for this can depend on the workload, and the rate at which this workload writes into its memory. Until the processor has recovered, is resynchronized with its colleagues in the triad, and resumes normal operation, the triad is effectively a duplex and will suffer fatal failure if one more of its processors fails. In this paper, we study the impact of workload on the recovery time, and therefore on the reliability, of processor triads.
Wnt Proteins Induce Dishevelled Phosphorylation via an LRP5/6- Independent Mechanism, Irrespective of Their Ability To Stabilize β-Catenin

Wnt glycoproteins play essential roles in the development of metazoan organisms. Many Wnt proteins, such as Wnt1, activate the well-conserved canonical Wnt signaling pathway, which results in accumulation of β-catenin in the cytosol and nucleus. Other Wnts, such as Wnt5a, activate signaling mechanisms which do not involve β-catenin and are less well characterized. Dishevelled (Dvl) is a key component of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and becomes phosphorylated upon activation of this pathway. In addition to Wnt1, we show that several Wnt proteins, including Wnt5a, trigger phosphorylation of mammalian Dvl proteins and that this occurs within 20 to 30 min. Unlike the effects of Wnt1, phosphorylation of Dvl in response to Wnt5a is not concomitant with β-catenin stabilization, indicating that Dvl phosphorylation is not sufficient to activate canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Moreover, neither Dickkopf1, which inhibits Wnt/β-catenin signaling by binding the Wnt coreceptors LRP5 and -6, nor dominant-negative LRP5/6 constructs could block Wnt-mediated Dvl phosphorylation. We conclude that Wnt-induced phosphorylation of Dvl is independent of LRP5/6 receptors and that canonical Wnts can elicit both LRP-dependent (to β-catenin) and LRP-independent (to Dvl) signals. Our data also present Dvl phosphorylation as a general biochemical assay for Wnt protein function, including those Wnts that do not activate the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.
Transcriptional silencing by the mycobacteriophage L5 repressor

The success of a temperate bacteriophage is dependent upon its ability to completely shut down expression of its lytic genes during lysogenic growth. Mycobacteriophage L5 accomplishes this by an atypical phage repressor, gp71, which binds to multiple asymmetric DNA sites. L5 gp71 regulates transcription initiation at an early lytic promoter, Pleft, but also affects downstream gene expression at 'stoperator' sites in the phage genome. The L5 genome is replete with stoperator sites located within short intergenic spaces in both the early and late lytic operons and oriented specifically with respect to transcription. Binding of gp71 to these sites results in a strong orientation-dependent polar effect on downstream gene expression and global silencing of prophage gene expression.
Peritoneal Perfusion With Oxygenated Perfluorocarbon Augments Systemic Oxygenation

Background Despite maximal ventilatory support, many patients die from hypoxia in the setting of potentially reversible pulmonary failure. There remains a pressing need for additional pulmonary supportive care measures, especially techniques that do not require systemic anticoagulation. The objective of our experiments was to determine whether systemic oxygenation could be increased in a large animal, with induced hypoxia, by perfusing the abdominal cavity with oxygenated perfluorocarbons. Methods Fifteen pigs with a mean (± SD) weight of 45 ± 5 kg were intubated and rendered hypoxic by ventilating them with a blend of nitrogen and oxygen to achieve subatmospheric concentrations of inspired oxygen ranging from 18 to 10%, resulting in baseline mean Pao 2 range of 65.9 ± 9.7 to 26.6 ± 2.8 mm Hg, respectively. Peritoneal perfusion was performed in eight animals with oxygenated perfluorocarbon and in seven control animals with oxygenated saline solution. Results The average increase in Pao 2 with oxygenated perfluorocarbon perfusion, compared to oxygenated saline solution perfusion, ranged from 8.1 to 18.2 mm Hg. A common treatment effect was estimated across all fraction of inspired oxygen (Fio 2 ) values, representing the average mean difference in oxygen uptake between oxygenated perfluorocarbon and saline solution, irrespective of the level of Fio 2 . This average was 12.8 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, 7.4 to 18.2; p 2 of 14%, resulting in a baseline mean Pao 2 of 39.4 ± 5.0 mm Hg with oxygenated saline solution perfusion, and a mean Pao 2 of 55.3 ± 7.6 mm Hg with oxygenated perfluorocarbon perfusion. This corresponded to an increase in arterial oxygen saturation from 73 to 89%. Conclusion These results of our principle experiments demonstrate that the peritoneal cavity can be used for gas exchange and, in our model, yielded clinically relevant increases in systemic arterial oxygen levels. This technique may have the potential for the supportive care of patients dying from hypoxia in the setting of reversible lung injury.
A generalized cauchy distribution framework for problems requiring robust behavior

Statistical modeling is at the heart of many engineering problems. The importance of statistical modeling emanates not only from the desire to accurately characterize stochastic events, but also from the fact that distributions are the central models utilized to derive sample processing theories and methods. The generalized Cauchy distribution (GCD) family has a closed-form pdf expression across the whole family as well as algebraic tails, whichmakes it suitable formodeling many real-life impulsive processes. This paper develops a GCD theory-based approach that allows challenging problems to be formulated in a robust fashion. Notably, the proposed framework subsumes generalized Gaussian distribution (GGD) family-based developments, thereby guaranteeing performance improvements over traditional GCD-based problem formulation techniques. This robust framework can be adapted to a variety of applications in signal processing. As examples, we formulate four practical applications under this framework: (1) filtering for power line communications, (2) estimation in sensor networks with noisy channels, (3) reconstruction methods for compressed sensing, and (4) fuzzy clustering.
κ Opioid Receptor Antagonism and Prodynorphin Gene Disruption Block Stress-Induced Behavioral Responses

Previous studies have demonstrated that stress may increase prodynorphin gene expression, and κ opioid agonists suppress drug reward. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that stress-induced release of endogenous dynorphin may mediate behavioral responses to stress and oppose the rewarding effects of cocaine. C57Bl/6 mice subjected to repeated forced swim testing (FST) using a modified Porsolt procedure at 30°C showed a characteristic stress-induced immobility response and a stress-induced analgesia observed with a tail withdrawal latency assay. Pretreatment with the κ opioid receptor antagonist nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI; 10 mg/kg, i.p.) blocked the stress-induced analgesia and significantly reduced the stress-induced immobility. The nor-BNI sensitivity of the behavioral responses suggests an activation of the κ opioid receptor by a stress-induced release of dynorphin peptides. Supporting this hypothesis, transgenic mice possessing a disrupted prodynorphin gene showed no increase in immobility or stress-induced analgesia after exposure to repeated FST. Because both stress and the κ opioid system can modulate the response to drugs of abuse, we tested the effects of forced swim stress on cocaine-conditioned place preference (CPP). FST-exposed mice conditioned with cocaine (15 mg/kg, s.c.) showed significant potentiation of place preference for the drug-paired chamber over the responses of unstressed mice. Surprisingly, nor-BNI pretreatment blocked stress-induced potentiation of cocaine CPP. Consistent with this result, mice lacking the prodynorphin gene did not show a stress-induced potentiation of cocaine CPP, whereas wild-type littermates did. The findings suggest that chronic swim stress may activate the κ opioid system to produce analgesia, immobility, and potentiation of the acute rewarding properties of cocaine in C57Bl/6 mice.
Manganese (III) based oxidative free-radical cyclizations. 2. Polycyclization reactions proceeding through tertiary cations.

Abstract Oxidative cyclization of 5 with Mn(OAc) 3 ·2H 2 O gives mainly the bicyclic products 7 and 8 . On the other hand, oxidative cyclization of 16 and 17 gives mainly the lactones 18 and 20 . These data suggest that oxidation of a monocyclic radical to a cation precedes cyclization to form 3 , 4 , 7 , and 8 .
Simulating the effects of work-in-process on customer satisfaction in a manufacturing environment

Addresses the effects of varying levels of work-in-process (WIP) on product turntime, delivery time and customer satisfaction. By analyzing a static manufacturing process with known demand, a company can determine the optimum level of WIP, meet customer demand and ensure customer satisfaction. Determining the optimum level of WIP through actual changes in the manufacturing process can negatively affect customer satisfaction. Attempting to find the optimum level via a spreadsheet model does not take into account the interdependency of resources. Development of a simulation model allows for off-line analysis without any physical changes to the process and provides better results than a standard spreadsheet model.
The Effects of Health Information in a Worksite Hypertension Screening Program

Two studies assessed the potential impact of health education messages at worksite blood pressure screenings. The messages sought to: (1) motivate hypertcnsives to enter or return to treatment, (2) motivate normotensivcs to improve health habits and (3) discourage inappropriate use of blood pressure screening by normotensives. A total of 473 participants in the two studies viewed slide/tapc shows about blood pressure and/or health promotion. Individuals with elevated readings at screening viewed either a show containing standard blood pressure information or an experimental show which emphasized the asymptomatic nature of high blood pressure and which described some concrete strategies for coping with high blood pressure. In both studies, individuals with normal readings at screening viewed a standard show or an experimental show which emphasized coping strategies for preventing high blood pressure. In addition, in Study 2, some normotensive individuals viewed one of several experimental shows which focus...
Stressed fibrin lysis.

See also Varju I, Sotonyi P, Machovich R, Szabo L, Tenekedjiev K, Silva MMCG, Longstaff C, Kolev K. Hindered dissolution of fibrin formed under mechanical stress. This issue, pp 979–86.
Acute Inhibition of Guanosine Triphosphate Cyclohydrolase 1 Uncouples Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Elevates Blood Pressure

GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GTPCH1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in de novo synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), an essential cofactor for endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) dictating, at least partly, the balance of NO and superoxide produced by this enzyme. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of acute inhibition of GTPCH1 on BH4, eNOS function, and blood pressure (BP) in vivo. Exposure of bovine or mouse aortic endothelial cells to GTPCH1 inhibitors (2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine or N-acetyl-serotonin) or GTPCH1 small-interference RNA (siRNA) significantly reduced BH4 and NO levels but increased superoxide levels. This increase was abolished by sepiapterin (BH4 precursor) or N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (nonselective NOS inhibitor). Incubation of isolated murine aortas with 2,4-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine or N-acetyl-serotonin impaired acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation but not endothelium-independent relaxation. Aortas from GTPCH1 siRNA-injected mice, but not their control-siRNA injected counterparts, also exhibited impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation. BH4 reduction induced by GTPCH1 siRNA injection was associated with increased aortic levels of superoxide, 3-nitrotyrosine, and adhesion molecules (intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1), as well as a significantly elevated systolic, diastolic, and mean BP in C57BL6 mice. GTPCH1 siRNA was unable to elicit these effects in eNOS(-/-) mice. Sepiapterin supplementation, which had no effect on high BP in eNOS(-/-) mice, partially reversed GTPCH1 siRNA-induced elevation of BP in wild-type mice. In conclusion, GTPCH1 via BH4 maintains normal BP and endothelial function in vivo by preserving NO synthesis by eNOS.
Configurable and Extensible Multi-flows for Providing Analytics as a Service on the Cloud

Compared to traditional analytics deployment models, cloud-based solutions for business analytics provide numerous advantages such as reduction of a large upfront infrastructural cost and the efforts to setup an in-house analytics team. Such advantages of cloud-based service delivery make it particularly attractive for small and medium businesses. In spite of these advantages, analytics penetration has been low particularly in developing regions such as India and China due to many other factors. In this paper, we propose pre-packaged configurable workflows for analytics as a means of endearing cloud-based analytics to customers, with a special focus on small and medium businesses in developing regions. We introduce the concept of configurable multi-flows that make it easy for non-technical personnel to use and customize without being aware of the technical details of the various operators involved in the workflow. Multi-flows comprise of an overlap of multiple possible workflows and are easily extensible to include more variations to support the evolving needs of customers non-disruptively and incrementally. We detail a case-study of the Retail sector where an extensive survey of retail businesses in India revealed that configurable pre-packaged workflows may indeed help improve market penetration. We then identify common analytics needs of retail customers, and detail how such tasks can be expressed as configurable multi-flows. Further, we describe a fully functional implementation of our system that supports configurable multi-flows for analytics. Finally, we illustrate the ease-of-use of configurable multi-flows with the use of multiple screenshots.
Parallel high-radix Montgomery multipliers

This paper describes the algorithm and design tradeoffs for multiple hardware implementations of parallel high-radix scalable Montgomery multipliers. Hardware implementations of Montgomery multipliers require choosing a radix, shift direction, and whether to use Booth encoding. Presented are processing element designs exploring combinations of radices 2, 4, and 8, right vs. left shifting, and Booth encoding. A radix-4, left-shifting, non-Booth encoded design performs a 1024-bit modular exponentiation in 9.4 ms using 4997 LUTs and 4051 REGs and appears to maximize performance/hardware in an FPGA implementation. A Booth encoded version of the above multiplier performs a 1024-bit modular exponentiation in 13 ms using 4852 LUTs and 2887 REGs. This design may be beneficial for systems constrained by the cycle time of other elements because the design minimizes hardware usage and requires no precomputed multiples. The radix-8, right-shifting, Booth-encoded design offers no performance/hardware advantage over a comparable radix-4 design.
The onset of transverse recirculations during flow of gases in horizontal ducts with differentially heated lower walls

A computational study has been performed to identify the onset of transverse buoyancy-driven recirculations during laminar flow of hydrogen and nitrogen in horizontal ducts with cool upper walls, and lower walls consisting of three sections: a cool upstream section, a heated middle section and a cool downstream section. The motivation for this work stems from the need to identify operating conditions maximizing the thickness uniformity, the interface abruptness and the precursor utilization during growth of thin films and multi-layer structures of semiconductors by metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD)
Electron beam evaporation synthesis of A15 superconducting compounds: Accomplishments and prospects

The accomplishments and the prospects of forming A15 superconductors using electron beam evaporation are reviewed. The techniques of monitoring and controlling the evaporation are discussed. The special advantages to the synthesis of A15 materials are pointed out, followed by a number of examples. The prospect of the large scale production of A15 superconductors using electron beam processing is also considered.
Young African‐American Multigenerational Families in Poverty: Quality of Mothering and Grandmothering

Parenting practices (problem-solving and disciplinary styles) in a sample of 99 young, low-income, African-American multigenerational families were examined, using home-based observations of grandmothers and young mothers (mean age at first birth; 18.3; range = 13.3 to 25.5), interacting separately with 3-year-old children. A risk and resilience approach was applied in studying African-American families' behavior in harsh social contexts, and included a consideration of the role of kin, shared child rearing between mothers and grandmothers, coresidence, and adolescent parenthood. Mothers and grandmothers did not differ in the mean level of the quality of their parenting practices. Similarly, few significant correlations in parenting quality across generations were evident, and these primarily involved negative dimensions of parenting between younger childbearers and grandmothers. No main effect of mothers' age at first birth on mothers' parenting was found. In contrast, there was a main effect of grandmother coresidence on both mothers' and grandmothers' parenting, which was negative. Moreover, the interaction between coresidence and mothers' age at first birth indicated that multigenerational families most likely to provide positive parenting were those where older mothers did not reside with the grandmother. Yet, in families with very young mothers, coresiding grandmothers showed higher quality of parenting than did non-coresiding grandmothers.
Verification with Variograms

Abstract The verification of a gridded forecast field, for example, one produced by numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, cannot be performed on a gridpoint-by-gridpoint basis; that type of approach would ignore the spatial structures present in both forecast and observation fields, leading to misinformative or noninformative verification results. A variety of methods have been proposed to acknowledge the spatial structure of the fields. Here, a method is examined that compares the two fields in terms of their variograms. Two types of variograms are examined: one examines correlation on different spatial scales and is a measure of texture; the other type of variogram is additionally sensitive to the size and location of objects in a field and can assess size and location errors. Using these variograms, the forecasts of three NWP model formulations are compared with observations/analysis, on a dataset consisting of 30 days in spring 2005. It is found that within statistical uncertainty the three formu...
PHOTOSYNTHESIS AS A FUNCTION OF LIGHT INTENSITY AND OF TEMPERATURE WITH DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF CHLOROPHYLL

1. Photosynthesis reaches its maximum rate at about the same light intensity over the whole range of chlorophyll concentrations studied. 2. Over this range the process shows the same relationship to temperature. The value of the temperature characteristic decreases gradually as the temperature rises. 3. The rate of photosynthesis is more depressed by prussic acid the lower the chlorophyll concentration. 4. These results are interpreted as indicating that photosynthesis possibly involves an autocatalytic reaction, and that chlorophyll must play some part in the process in addition to its role in the absorption of light.
The First Fifty Years: Health Law's Greatest Hit

In honor of the Syracuse Law Review's 50th Anniversary, this article considers various developments in health law and concludes that the passage of the Medicare amendments to the Social Security Act has had the most significant impact on the field. The article discusses the impact of Medicare on the culture of hospitals and their medical staffs, on the development and dissemination of new technologies, and on restructuring and reforming the industry in key areas, including fraud and abuse, patient dumping, organ donation, advance directives, patients' rights, and other agencies' regulation of health care providers.
4s 2 1 S 0 –4s4p 1 P 1 transitions in zinclike ions

The 4s2 1S0–4s4p1P1 transitions of 20 zinclike ions from Ru14+ to Dy36+ were observed in a laser-produced plasma with a 10.7-m grazing-incidence spectrograph. Also, new observations were made of the 3d–4f transitions of Fe15+. Based on the new wavelengths obtained for these Fe transitions and improved wavelengths recently publshed for other Fe ions, revised values were determined for the 4s2 1S0–4s4p1P1 transitions in ten zinclike ions from Ba26+ to W44+ observed by Reader and Luther [ Phys. Rev. Lett.45, 609– 613 ( 1980)] for which a laser-produced spectrum of Fe was used for wavelength calibration.
Structured sparsity: theorems, algorithms and applications

Today, sparsity techniques have been widely used to address practical problems in the fields of medical imaging, machine learning, computer vision, data mining, compressive sensing, image processing, video analysis and multimedia. We will briefly introduce the related sparsity techniques and their successful applications on compressive sensing, sparse learning, computer vision and medical imaging. Then, we propose a new concept called strong group sparsity to develop a theory for group Lasso, which shows that group Lasso is superior to standard Lasso for strongly group-sparse data. It provides a convincing theoretical justification for using group sparsity regularization when the underlying group structure is consistent with the data. Moreover, the theory also predicts the limitations of the group Lasso formulations. To address those limitations, we further build a new framework called structured sparsity, which is a natural extension of the standard sparsity concept in statistical learning and compressive sensing. By allowing arbitrary structures on the feature set or data, this concept generalizes the group sparsity idea. A general theory (Group-RIP) is developed for learning with structured sparsity, based on the notion of coding complexity associated with the structure, which guarantees better performance with more structure information other than pure sparsity. The new sparsity techniques under this framework have been successfully applied to different applications, such as compressive sensing MR imaging, video background subtraction, object tracking in visual surveillance, dynamic scene registration, automatic image annotation, medical image analysis, fast tag separation in cardiac tMRIs, cervigram image segmentation and so on. The improved experimental results in these applications further validate the nice theoretical guarantees of our new theorems and demonstrate the effectiveness of our new framework in the practical applications involved large scale data.
Wastewater Spray Irrigation at Army Installations

An evaluation is presented of pretreatment aspects, operation, and performance of the five currently existing domestic wastewater spray irrigation systems at U.S. Army reservations. All are viewed as operating successfully, posing no significant threat to water supply sources, and they are capable of complying with applicable state and Federal regulations and permits. Some systems were found to require supplemental disinfection and additional effluent or ground-water surveillance. A few significant problems identified at specific land treatment sites include: a buildup of soil salinity, soil saturation conditions, and electrical and drainage problems.
Gender Inequality Across the Academic Life Course

Recent decades have witnessed increasing scholarly and public attention to the status of women in academia. Although women are now the majority of degree recipients and their share of initial academic appointments approximates their representation among degree recipients, substantial gender inequality persists. In this article, we review existing research on this topic, focusing on how gender inequality manifests and unfolds throughout the academic career life course, from graduate school experiences, through initial academic appointments, into the associate professor years, and, finally, to women's experiences as full professors and administrators. Throughout, we emphasize how institutionalized policies and subtle biases, rather than overt discrimination, perpetuate gender inequality. We conclude with suggested areas for future research.
On the Saudi-American Relations under the Perspective of Civilization Conflicts

The civilization conflicts between the West and non-West is reflected by the conflict between Saudi Arabia and America in the field of national relations.Saudi Arabia has chosen to form an alliance with America whose ideology is completely different from its own.The civilization conflicts exist between them,but their relations have gone beyond this kind of conflict.No matter how serious their conflict is,the requests of national interests will make their relations continue.Finally,civilization combinations will be realized.
First-principles study of the stable structures of Cu_xNi_(19-x)(x<19) bimetallic clusters

Using first principles total-energy calculations and the Mobius inversion method in metal Cu,Ni and Cu-Ni,We obtained the pair-potential from cohesive energy.Structural of Cu-Ni bimetallic clusters derived from the smart method are presented and discussed.In Cu-Ni clusters,the Cu atoms preferentially occupy the surface sites,whereas the Ni atoms occupy the interior of the cluster.Cu segregates to the surface in the Cu-Ni clusters.
Synthetic Middle-Distillate-Range Hydrocarbons via Catalytic Dimerization of Branched C6–C8 Olefins Derived from Renewable Dimethyl Ether

2,3,3-Trimethyl-1-butene (triptene) and other branched C6–C8 olefins, having structures characteristic of the products from the low-temperature acid-catalyzed homologation of dimethyl ether (DME), were converted to distillate-range hydrocarbons (C10–C20) with high selectivity via dimerization over a commercial ion-exchange acidic resin (Amberlyst-35) under liquid-phase stirred-batch conditions operating at ambient pressure. Triptene conversion and dimer (2,2,3,5,5,6,6-heptamethyl-3-heptene) production were monitored with time at different temperatures (60, 80, and 100 °C). The dimer production rate increased with increasing temperature; however, dimer concentration decreased with increasing temperature due to competing side reactions. Dimerization, as compared to cracking, isomerization, and oligomerization, was the dominant reaction pathway during the first hours of reaction at all temperatures. Dimerization at 100 °C achieved a conversion of 35% and a molar selectivity to the desired dimer of 71% in 2 h...
Clinical Examination of the Equine Head

Examination of the equine head should be a routine part of any complete physical examination. It can be performed rapidly and efficiently while providing important information about the health and function of several major body systems.
Posttranslational control of the scaffold for Fe-S cluster biogenesis as a compensatory regulatory mechanism.

Though toxic in excess, iron is vital for life. Thus, its use in all cells is tightly regulated. Analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which has been used extensively as a model system, has revealed layers of regulation of cellular iron trafficking and utilization. This regulation is based on the availability of both elemental iron and functionality of the Fe–S cluster biogenesis system. Here, we discuss a possible “first responder” regulatory mechanism centered on the stability of the scaffold protein on which Fe–S clusters are built.
5.22 – Neurotrophins and Pain

Classical work with neurotrophins, especially with nerve growth factor (NGF) that was the initially discovered neurotrophin, indicated their crucial role as survival factors for sensory neurons during development as embodied in the neurotrophic hypothesis. This, coupled with evidence that they enhanced the growth of neural processes, provided a linchpin for our understanding of neural development, especially of sensory and motor neurons. It has now become apparent that neurotrophins act throughout the life span of the organism and that after birth they take on a different role. NGF is required in the periphery for postnatal differentiation of certain classes of nociceptors. Additionally, NGF acts to increase the sensitivity of nociceptors via an acute action in sensitizing the response to certain stimuli and chronically via upregulation of a number of receptors important in nociceptor function. A different neurotrophin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), upregulated in the soma of tropomyosin-related kinase A-positive (trkA+) sensory neurons during inflammation and released into the spinal cord, acts centrally to sensitize the response of neurons in the superficial dorsal horn to glutamate released by peripheral nociceptors. Recent data indicate that neurotrophins sensitize nociceptive responses in virtually all peripheral tissues. Thus, neurotrophins are widely distributed in different tissues and sensitize many nociceptor functions in their functional action, suggesting that they are poised to contribute to hyperalgesic states. Recent evidence stresses the importance of gaining further understanding of these molecules in order to achieve better insight into how to treat clinical pain states.
Pikas and Permafrost: Post-Wisconsin Historical Zoogeography of Ochotona in the Southern Rocky Mountains, U.S.A.

Occurrence of pikas (Ochotona princeps) in the southern Rocky Mountains is closely tied to past and present distribution of alpine permafrost conditions, which produce and maintain appropriate talus-slope habitat. Estimates of full-Wisconsin elevational depression of alpine permafrost and vegetation zones support the existence of glacial-maximum dispersal corridors between currently isolated populations of O. princeps. Altithermal warming accounts for 66.7% of apparent post-Wisconsin extinctions of insular populations of pikas in the region. Populations at sites with altithermal refugia >100 km2 enjoyed high survivorship (93.8%) compared to smaller refugia (6.1–15.2%). Extant populations are located within 5 km of current alpine permafrost and within 20 km of the estimated altithermal occurrence of permafrost, indicating minor subsequent dispersal from a more restricted distribution of 6000 yr ago. Recolonization of sites within 20 km has been rare (≤7.8%). Depending on the time scale considered, pikas ar...
Keratin 17 is overexpressed and predicts poor survival in estrogen receptor–negative/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2–negative breast cancer

Clinicopathological features of breast cancer have limited accuracy to predict survival. By immunohistochemistry (IHC), keratin 17 (K17) expression has been correlated with triple-negative status (estrogen receptor [ER]/progesterone receptor/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 [HER2] negative) and decreased survival, but K17 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression has not been evaluated in breast cancer. K17 is a potential prognostic cancer biomarker, targeting p27, and driving cell cycle progression. This study compared K17 protein and mRNA expression to ER/progesterone receptor/HER2 receptor status and event-free survival. K17 IHC was performed on 164 invasive breast cancers and K17 mRNA was evaluated in 1097 breast cancers. The mRNA status of other keratins (16/14/9) was evaluated in 113 ER-/HER2- ductal carcinomas. IHC demonstrated intense cytoplasmic and membranous K17 localization in myoepithelial cells of benign ducts and lobules and tumor cells of ductal carcinoma in situ. In ductal carcinomas, K17 protein was detected in most triple-negative tumors (28/34, 82%), some non-triple-negative tumors (52/112, 46%), but never in lobular carcinomas (0/15). In ductal carcinomas, high K17 mRNA was associated with reduced 5-year event-free survival in advanced tumor stage (n = 149, hazard ratio [HR] = 3.68, P = .018), and large (n = 73, HR = 3.95, P = .047), triple-negative (n = 103, HR = 2.73, P = .073), and ER-/HER2- (n = 113, HR = 2.99, P = .049) tumors. There were significant correlations among keratins 17, 16, 14, and 9 mRNA levels suggesting these keratins (all encoded on chromosome 17) could be coordinately expressed in breast cancer. Thus, K17 is expressed in a subset of triple-negative breast cancers, and is a marker of poor prognosis in patients with advanced stage and ER-/HER2- breast cancer.
Ultrasonography for endotracheal tube position in infants and children

Ultrasonography (US) has been shown to be effective for verifying endotracheal tube (ETT) position in adults but has been less studied in infants and children. We review the literature regarding US for ETT positioning in the pediatric population. A literature search was conducted using the Ovid and MEDLINE databases with search terms regarding US relating to ETT intubation and positioning in infants and children. Most studies in neonates and infants used the midsagittal suprasternal view. Studies reported >80% visualization of the ETT tip by US, and US interpretation of the ETT position correlated with the XR position in 73–100% of cases. Studies of older children used the suprasternal views, substernal views, and mid-axillary intercostal views. US appears comparable to XR and capnography in determining ETT position in this population. Conclusion: US for ETT verification appears to be well tolerated in infants and children and may augment determination of proper ETT position in combination with other ETT verification modalities. Further studies are needed regarding technique and training.
Innovative Assessments Help Elucidate Sustained Improvements in Fitness and Metabolic Health in Obese Children.

Objective: Treatment of childhood obesity is a medical challenge and limited data are available describing successful long term interventions. This study presents a multi-disciplinary intervention that resulted in sustained physiological improvement over a one-year period. Methods: The criterion outcome variables include cardiovascular fitness (CVF) measured by a populationspecific treadmill test to predict maximal oxygen uptake (predicted VO2 max) and the body composition (BC) variables of fat mass, non-bone lean mass and percent body fat from whole body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans. Subjects were overweight and obese children (N=79) evaluated at baseline, 6 and 12 months at a University Hospital-based pediatric fitness clinic. Results: Statistically significant improvements in non-bone lean body mass (+4.24 kg ± 5.0, p<0.0001) and predicted VO2 max (+0.14L/min ± 0.10, p<0.0001) were seen at 6 months. These significant improvements were sustained over 12 months: body fat percentage (-2.28 ± 3.49, p<0.0001), lean mass (+6.0 kg ± 4.0, p<0.0001) and predicted VO2 max (+0.22 L/min ± 0.19, p<0.0001). These results were observed despite increases in weight and body mass index (BMI) at 6-months (weight: +6.6 kg ± 6.93, p<0.0001; BMI: +0.37 ± 1.21, p=0.47) and 12-months (weight: +6.3 kg ± 5.8, p<0.0001; BMI: +0.91 ± 2.06, p=0.0002). Conclusion: These results reflect the sustained effect of a multidisciplinary approach, and the value of using valid and reliable assessment methods to measure sustained physiological changes in a sample of 79 overweight and obese children.
Know your crowd: A case study in digital collection marketing

ABSTRACTDigitized special collections and institutional repositories present unique challenges to libraries struggling to identify marketing strategies that will entice patrons to these services. These collections, which do not have the same mass appeal as full-text articles or author book readings, still must attract use. This case study explores an academic library’s attempts to actively market its digital special collections. They advertised their collections via published marketing materials, a library services fair, and a photography contest. The results were that high-quality, intense, marketing for a general population does not work for specialized digital collections because the subject areas are too narrow for general interest. The scope of the audience was also misplaced since the collections had a greater market outside the university than with the local students. The authors looked at digital special collections that were successful to see what worked to market collections to outside users. Th...
An Empirical Study on Verifier Order Selection in Serial Fusion Based Multi-biometric Verification System

Selecting the order of verifier in a serial fusion based multi-biometric system is a crucial parameter to fix because of its high impact on verification errors. A wrong choice of verifier order might lead to tremendous user inconvenience by denying a large number of genuine users and might cause severe security breach by accepting impostors frequently. Unfortunately, this design issue has been poorly investigated in multi-biometric literature. In this paper, we address this design issue by performing experiments using three different serial fusion based multi-biometric verification schemes, in particular (1) symmetric scheme, (2) SPRT-based scheme, and (3) Marcialis et al.’s scheme. We experimented on publicly available NIST-BSSR1 multi-modal database. We tested 24 orders—all possible orders originated from four individual verifiers—on a four-stage biometric verification system. Our experimental results show that the verifier order “best-to-worst”, where the best performing individual verifier is placed in the first stage, the next best performing individual verifier is placed in the second stage, and so on, is the top performing order for all three serial fusion schemes mentioned above.
Treatment of premenstrual dysphoria with continuous versus intermittent dosing of oral contraceptives: Results of a three-arm randomized controlled trial.

Background Although traditionally dosed combined oral contraceptives (COCs) (21 days of active pills, 7 days of inactive pills) have not been demonstrated as superior to placebo for the treatment of premenstrual dysphoria (PMD), some randomized controlled trials (RCTs) indicate that oral contraceptives administered with a shortened or eliminated hormone-free interval are superior to placebo. However, results of such trials are mixed, and no existing studies have directly compared continuous and intermittent dosing schedules of the same oral contraceptive. The present study compared placebo, intermittent dosing of oral contraceptives, and continuous dosing of contraceptives for the treatment of PMD. Methods Fifty-five women with prospectively confirmed PMD completed a three-arm, RCT in which they were randomized to 3 months of placebo (n = 22), intermittent drospirenone/ethinyl estradiol dosed on a 21–7 schedule (n = 17), or continuous drospirenone/estradiol (n = 16) following a baseline assessment month. Results All three groups demonstrated similar, robust reductions in premenstrual symptoms over time. A marked placebo response was observed. Conclusions The study fails to replicate a uniquely beneficial effect of continuous COC on PMD. Additional work is needed to understand the psychosocial context bolstering the placebo response in women with PMD.
The use of web-based statistics to validate, information extraction

The World Wide Web is a powerful and readily available text corpus that can be used effectively to validate the output of an information extraction system. We present experiments that explore how pointwise mutual information (PMI) from search engine hit counts can be used in an Assessor module that assigns a probability that an extracted fact or relationship is correct, thus boosting precision. We find that thresholding on PMI scores is more effective in creating features for the Assessor than using probability density models. Bootstrapping can be effective in finding both positive and negative seeds to train the Assessor, performing better than hand-tagging a sample of actual extractions.
Cancer and n–3PUFAs: The Translation Initiation Connection

1. A combination of epidemiological, case–control, and cohort studies in the second half of the past century underscored the possibility that high dietary intake of n–3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n–3 PUFA) could have a protective effect against cancer.