cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparative study of color image enhancement techniques

This paper presents a color image enhancement algorithm based on shifting the histogram of logarithmic DCT coefficients of the luminance component. The novelty of this work lies in utilizing both the spatial domain histogram concept and transform domain enhancement techniques to perform the enhancement. This paper also demonstrates a quantitative measurement based upon contrast entropy to choose the optimal parameters and determines the effectiveness of the method. In addition, different color spaces including HSV, YCbCr, and Principle Component Analysis (PCA) have been examined for the algorithm to determine the best visual results. We also present a comprehensive review of four commonly used color image enhancement techniques, such as mutiscale retinex with color restoration, multi contrast enhancement, multi contrast enhancement with dynamic compression and color image enhancement by scaling, and compare them with the proposed histogram shifting techniques. Computer simulations and analysis show that the histogram shifting method outperforms the commonly used methods for most images.
Distribution of [14C]amphetamine in mouse brain: An autoradiographic study

Summary The localization and distribution of [ 14 C]amphetamine in mouse brain has been studied by an autoradiographic technique and by thin-layer chromatography. Thin-layer chromatography revealed that radioactivity in the brain is chiefly due to unchanged amphetamine. The highest content was found in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, septum and basal ganglia. The possible relationship of this localization to the site of action of amphetamine and the distribution of catecholamine nerve terminals is discussed.
Universal ultrafast signatures of photoexcitations in conjugated polymers: excitons and charge-transfer polarons

Using subpicosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, we have investigated the primary photoexcitations in thin films and solution of several phenylene-based conjugated polymers and an oligomer. We identify two features in the transient absorption spectra and dynamics that are common to all of the materials which we have studied from this family. The first spectral feature is a photoinduced absorption (PA) band peaking near 1 eV which has intensity-dependent dynamics which match the stimulated emission dynamics exactly over two orders of magnitude in excitation density. This band is associated with singlet intrachain excitons. The second spectral feature (observed only in thin films and aggregated solutions) is a PA band peaking near 1.8 eV, which is longer-lived than the 1 eV exciton PA band, and which has dynamics that are independent (or weakly-dependent) on excitation density. This feature is attributed to charge separated (interchain) excitations. These excitations are generated through a bimolecular process. By comparing to samples in which charged excitations are created deliberately by doping with C 6 O, we assign these secondary species as bound polarons.
Low energy electron diffraction study of the formation of TaO (111) on Ta (110)

Low-energy electron diffraction study of initial oxidation product in oxidation of tantalum
In Vivo Quantification of Cerebral Muscarinic Receptors in Normal Human Aging Using Positron Emission Tomography and [11C]Tropanyl Benzilate

Regional cerebral muscarinic cholinergic receptor binding was quantified in normal young and elderly subjects employing the muscarinic antagonist radioligand [11C]tropanyl benzilate (TRB). Binding was determined by kinetic analyses of positron emission tomographic (PET) determinations of cerebral activity in conjunction with radial arterial blood sampling following intravenous radiotracer injection. A significant, but minor (8%), loss of frontal cortical receptors relative to whole brain average receptor density was found with advancing age. Parametric estimates of binding suggest small reductions in cerebral cortex binding as well as increases in brain stem and cerebellar binding underlying the observed pattern difference. However, these latter changes did not achieve statistical significance. We conclude that cerebral muscarinic receptor availability, as depicted by antagonist binding, does not undergo a major decline during normal aging of the adult human brain. The cerebral cortical cholinergic dysfunction in elderly subjects, suggested by prior clinical evidence, is not attributable to major loss of total muscarinic cholinoceptive capacity.
Interaction between ATP-Sensitive K+ Channels and Nitric Oxide on Pial Arterioles in Piglets

The interaction between ATP-sensitive K+ channels (KATP) and nitric oxide (NO) was studied in pial arterioles of piglets. We examined the effects of N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a general inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and 7-nitroindazole (7-NI), a selective inhibitor of neuronal NOS, on aprikalim-induced cerebral vasodilation. Topically applied, aprikalim, a selective activator of KATP, dilated arterioles by 11 +/- 7% at 10(-8) M and 17 +/- 6% at 10(-6) M. After L-NAME treatment (15 mg/kg, i.v.), the response was reduced (4 +/- 4% and 12 +/- 7%, respectively; n = 8, p < 0.05). Administration of 7-NI (50 mg/kg, i.p.) did not change pial arteriolar responsiveness to aprikalim. However, both L-NAME and 7-NI reduced the vasodilator responses to 10(-4) M N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) (by 73% and by 36%, respectively). Furthermore, 7-NI treatment abolished the glutamate-induced dilatation of pial arterioles. Administration of L-NAME reduced the NOS activity in the cerebral cortex by 88%, whereas the reduction after the 7-NI treatment was 44%. Pre-treatment and coadministration of 10(-5) M glibenclaminde, a specific inhibitor of KATP or L-NAME administration, did not change the dilatory response to sodium nitroprusside. We conclude that NO may be involved in aprikalim-induced dilation of pial arterioles.
Successful induction of locally produced (lung) interferon during the hyporesponsive state.

SummaryHigh levels of interferon can be induced locally in the lungs of mice shown to be hyporesponsive to induction of serum interferon. However, induction of local interferon in the lungs of mice did not similarly inhibit the induction of serum interferon.
Selective Representation of Gender, Ethnicity, and Nationality in American Television Coverage of the 2000 Summer Olympics

Past research of American Olympic telecasts has suggested that gender, ethnic, and national biases may hide within prime-time network telecasts. Analysis of host and reporter commentary in the 2000 Sydney Olympics confirmed that men athletes, Whites, and Americans continued to be the most-mentioned and most-positively portrayed in the television coverage, yielding more than their fair share of coverage. Analysis of gendered coverage showed that men were characterized as being more athletic and more committed than women athletes, and, in addition, men received over half of all airtime and of all mentions of athletes. Analyses of ethnicity showed that White athletes were portrayed as succeeding because of commitment, whereas Black athletes succeeded because of innate athletic skills. Analyses of nationalism found that the most-mentioned athletes and half of all athletes mentioned were American participants. Such differential treatment has significant implications for the development of American viewers’ sel...
Stochastic functions using sequential logic

Stochastic computing is a novel approach to real arithmetic, offering better error tolerance and lower hardware costs over the conventional implementations. Stochastic modules are digital systems that process random bit streams representing real values in the unit interval. Stochastic modules based on finite state machines (FSMs) have been shown to realize complicated arithmetic functions much more efficiently than combinational stochastic modules. However, a general approach to synthesize FSMs for realizing arbitrary functions has been elusive. We describe a systematic procedure to design FSMs that implement arbitrary real-valued functions in the unit interval using the Taylor series approximation.
A plant location guide for the unsure

This paper studies an extension of the k-median problem where we are given a metric space (V, d) and not just one but m client sets {Si ⊆ V}im=1, and the goal is to open k facilities F to minimize: maxi∈[m] {Σj∈Si d(j, F)}, i.e., the worst-case cost over all the client sets. This is a "min-max" or "robust" version of the k-median problem; however, note that in contrast to previous papers on robust/stochastic problems, we have only one stage of decision-making---where should we place the facilities? We present an O(log n + log m) approximation for robust k-median: The algorithm is combinatorial and very simple, and is based on reweighting/Lagrangean-relaxation ideas. In fact, we give a general framework for (minimization) facility location problems where there is a bound on the number of open facilities. For robust and stochastic versions of such location problems, we show that if the problem satisfies a certain "projection" property, essentially the same algorithm gives a logarithmic approximation ratio in both versions. We use our framework to give the first approximation algorithms for robust/stochastic versions of k-tree, capacitated k-median, and fault-tolerant k-median.
Tissue-mimicking bladder wall phantoms for evaluating acoustic radiation force-optical coherence elastography systems.

Purpose: Acoustic radiation force–optical coherence elastography (ARF-OCE) systems are novel imaging systems that have the potential to simultaneously quantify and characterize the optical and mechanical properties ofin vivotissues. This article presents the construction of bladder wall phantoms for use in ARF-OCE systems. Mechanical, acoustic, and optical properties are reported and compared to published values for the urinary bladder. Methods: The phantom consisted of 0.2000 ± 0.0089 and 6.0000 ± 0.2830 μ m polystyrene microspheres (Polysciences Inc., Warrington, PA, Catalog Nos. 07304 and 07312), 7.5 ± 1.5 μ m copolymer microspheres composed of acrylonitrile and vinylidene chloride, (Expancel, Duluth, GA, Catalog No. 461 DU 20), and bovine serum albumin within a gelatin matrix. Young’s modulus was measured by successive compression of the phantom and obtaining the slope of the resulting force-displacement data. Acoustic measurements were performed using the transmission method. The phantoms were submerged in a water bath and placed between transmitting and receiving 13 mm diameter unfocused transducers operating at a frequency of 3.5 MHz. A MATLAB algorithm to extract the optical scattering coefficient from optical coherence tomography(OCT)images of the phantom was used. Results: The phantoms possess a Young’s modulus of 17.12 ± 2.72 kPa , a mass density of 1.05 ± 0.02 g / cm 3 , an acoustic attenuation coefficient of 0.66 ± 0.08 dB / cm / MHz , a speed of sound of 1591 ± 8.76 m / s , and an optical scattering coefficient of 1.80 ± 0.23 mm − 1 . Ultrasound and OCTimages of the bladder wall phantom are presented. Conclusions: A material that mimics the mechanical, optical, and acoustic properties of healthy bladder wall has been developed. This tissue-mimicking bladder wall phantom was developed as a control tool to investigate the feasibility of using ARF-OCE to detect the mechanical and optical changes that may be indicative of the onset or development of cancer in the urinary bladder. By following the methods used in this article, phantoms matching the optical, acoustic, and mechanical properties of other biological tissues can also be constructed.
Efficiency of time segmentation parallel simulation of queueing networks as a function of the size of the network

In this paper, we study the efficiency of a time parallel simulation method, namely the time segmentation approach, that can be applied to simulate long sample paths of a variety of discrete event systems. We show that the efficiency of the method is closely related to the amount of time required for sample paths of the system generated with a common sequence of events to couple (i.e., become identical). Then we provide bounds and estimates of the expected coupling time for Markovian queueing networks of loss and communication blocking stations as a function of the number of stations and buffer capacities in the network.
The impact of coronal alignment on distal radioulnar joint stability following distal radius fracture.

Purpose Shift of the distal fragment of a distal radius fracture (DRF) in the coronal plane (coronal shift) may compromise the contributions of the distal oblique bundle (DOB) of the interosseous membrane to distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) stability. The purpose of the study was to test our hypothesis that coronal shift of the distal fragment would increase dorsal-volar DRUJ displacement in response to applied load. Methods A distal radius osteotomy was performed proximal to the sigmoid notch base and the ulnar styloid was cut (to simulate triangular fibrocartilage complex detachment) in 10 cadaveric specimens. A volarly placed plate was used to shift the distal radius fragment radially in 2-mm increments. A mechanical testing apparatus applied a 20 N load to the distal fragment perpendicular to the volar cortex with the forearm in neutral, 60° pronation, and 60° supination. Dorsal-volar displacement of the radius relative to the fixed ulna was measured in the control state (DRF and ulnar styloid anatomically fixed) and in 3 positions (anatomical reduction, 2-mm coronal shift, 4-mm coronal shift) with ulnar styloid displacement. The specimens were dissected post hoc to evaluate for a distinct DOB (thickness, > 0.5 mm). Dorsal-volar DRUJ displacement was compared among testing and control states using analysis of variance. Results In specimens with a distinct DOB, 2-mm coronal shift significantly increased dorsal-volar DRUJ displacement. However, there was no difference in DRUJ displacement between 4-mm coronal shift and control state. Coronal shift did not affect dorsal-volar DRUJ displacement in specimens without a distinct DOB. Conclusions In the setting of an ulnar styloid fracture, a 2-mm (but not a 4-mm) coronal shift of the DRF is associated with increased dorsal-volar DRUJ displacement in specimens with a distinct DOB, but not in specimens without a distinct DOB. Clinical relevance Awareness of the importance of coronal shift may aid in prevention of DRUJ instability associated with DRF, especially in patients with a DOB.
Airway distension promotes leukocyte recruitment in rat tracheal circulation.

Mechanical distortion of blood vessels is known to activate endothelial cells. Whether airway distension likewise activates the vascular endothelium within the airway wall is unknown. Using intravital microscopy in the rat trachea, we investigated if airway distention with the application of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) caused leukocyte recruitment to the airway. Tracheal postcapillary venules were visualized and leukocyte kinetics monitored in anesthetized, mechanically ventilated rats (80 breaths/minute, 6 ml/kg VT, 1 cm H2O PEEP). Leukocyte rolling velocity (Vwbc) and the number of adherent cells were not altered with normal ventilation over the course of 2 hours. Ventilation with sustained PEEP (8 cm H2O) for 1 hour reduced Vwbc and increased adhesion, reaching a maximum at 1 hour of PEEP. Intermittent (2× and 5×) 8 cm H2O PEEP also induced a similar reduction in Vwbc, accompanied by an increase in adhesion. However, leukocyte recruitment after airway distension is localized to the airways ...
A Critical Reading of the Disillusionment Novel.

The function of the artist in Africa, in keeping with our traditions and needs, demands that the writer, as a public voice, assume a responsibility to reflect public concerns in his writings, and not preoccupy himself with his puny ego. Because in Africa we recognize that art is in the public domain, a sense of social commitment is mandatory for the artist. That commitment demands that the writer pay attention to his craft, that he not burden the public with unfinished or undecipherable works. It also demands that his theme be germane to the concerns of his community.
Observations on the 1149.x family of standards

Five years of experience with the IEEE 1149.1 standard are discussed. It has been widely accepted across the electronics industry. It has made major contributions to board level testability. However, the advancement of the 1149.1 standard has not been as rapid as one might have imagined and there are some outstanding problems that it does not well address. As a member of the 1149.1 and P1149.4 working groups, as well as a developer of software for ATE systems, the author is interested in what one can learn from the 1149 and discusses his experiences in this field.
To Slip or Not to Slip: Water Flows in Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Microchannels

The slip effects of water flow in hydrophilic and hydrophobic microchannels of 1 and 2 μm depth are examined experimentally. Fabrication processes for silicon/Pyrex microchannels were chosen to ensure good control of the channel height and to obtain atomically smooth surfaces. Hydrophilic surfaces were prepared with an RCA-1 cleaning, while hydrophobic surfaces were created by coating the channel surface with the self-assembled monolayer of octadecyltrichorosilane (OTS). The flow rates of pure DI water at various applied pressure differences for each surface condition were measured using a high precision flow metering system and it was observed that the flow rates in hydrophobic channels is larger than in the same hydrophilic channel. The increase of the flow rate can be explained by assuming a slip velocity at the wall. The slip effects become more pronounced as the channel height decreases and the wall shear rate increases. The slip length was found to vary as approximately the square root of the shear rate and had values of approximately 40 nm in the hydrophobic channels and 15 nm in the hydrophilic channels at a shear rate of 105 s−1 .Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Renal Dopamine Receptor Function in Hypertension

Abstract —Dopamine plays an important role in the regulation of renal sodium excretion. The synthesis of dopamine and the presence of dopamine receptor subtypes (D1A, D1B as D1-like and D2, and D3 as D2-like) have been shown within the kidney. The activation of D1-like receptors located on the proximal tubules causes inhibition of tubular sodium reabsorption by inhibiting Na,H-exchanger and Na,K-ATPase activity. The D1-like receptors are linked to the multiple cellular signaling systems (namely, adenylyl cyclase, phospholipase C, and phospholipase A2) in the different regions of the nephron. Defective renal dopamine production and/or dopamine receptor function have been reported in human primary hypertension as well as in genetic models of animal hypertension. There may be a primary defect in D1-like receptors and an altered signaling system in the proximal tubules that lead to reduced dopamine-mediated effects on renal sodium excretion in hypertension. Recently, it has been shown in animal models that the disruption of either D1A or D3 receptors at the gene level causes hypertension in mice. Dopamine and dopamine receptor agonists also provide therapeutic potential in treatment of various cardiovascular pathological conditions, including hypertension. However, because of the poor bioavailability of the currently available compounds, the use of D1-like agonists is limited to the management of patients with severe hypertension when a rapid reduction of blood pressure is clinically indicated and in acute management of patients with heart failure. In conclusion, there is convincing evidence that dopamine and dopamine receptors play an important role in regulation of renal function, suggesting that a defective dopamine receptor/signaling system may contribute to the development and maintenance of hypertension. Further studies need to be directed toward establishing a direct correlation between defective dopamine receptor gene in the kidney and development of hypertension. Subsequently, it may be possible to use a therapeutic approach to correct the defect in dopamine receptor gene causing the hypertension.
Characterization of the nanoDot OSLD dosimeter in CT

Purpose: The extensive use of computed tomography (CT) in diagnostic procedures is accompanied by a growing need for more accurate and patient-specific dosimetry techniques. Optically stimulated luminescent dosimeters (OSLDs) offer a potential solution for patient-specific CT point-based surface dosimetry by measuring air kerma. The purpose of this work was to characterize the OSLD nanoDot for CT dosimetry, quantifying necessary correction factors, and evaluating the uncertainty of these factors. Methods: A characterization of the Landauer OSL nanoDot (Landauer, Inc., Greenwood, IL) was conducted using both measurements and theoretical approaches in a CT environment. The effects of signal depletion, signal fading, dose linearity, and angular dependence were characterized through direct measurement for CT energies (80–140 kV) and delivered doses ranging from ∼5 to >1000 mGy. Energy dependence as a function of scan parameters was evaluated using two independent approaches: direct measurement and a theoretical approach based on Burlin cavity theory and Monte Carlo simulated spectra. This beam-quality dependence was evaluated for a range of CT scanning parameters. Results: Correction factors for the dosimeter response in terms of signal fading, dose linearity, and angular dependence were found to be small for most measurement conditions (<3%). The relative uncertainty was determined for each factormore » and reported at the two-sigma level. Differences in irradiation geometry (rotational versus static) resulted in a difference in dosimeter signal of 3% on average. Beam quality varied with scan parameters and necessitated the largest correction factor, ranging from 0.80 to 1.15 relative to a calibration performed in air using a 120 kV beam. Good agreement was found between the theoretical and measurement approaches. Conclusions: Correction factors for the measurement of air kerma were generally small for CT dosimetry, although angular effects, and particularly effects due to changes in beam quality, could be more substantial. In particular, it would likely be necessary to account for variations in CT scan parameters and measurement location when performing CT dosimetry using OSLD.« less
Are antiemetics still contraindicated for gastroenteritis in children? Solid evidence now supports the safe use of ondansetron

Commentary on: Z Fedorowicz, VA Jagannath, B Carter. Antiemetics for reducing vomiting related to acute gastroenteritis in children and adolescents. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2011;9:CD005506.
IFN Consensus Sequence Binding Protein/IFN Regulatory Factor-8 Guides Bone Marrow Progenitor Cells Toward the Macrophage Lineage

IFN consensus sequence binding protein (ICSBP; IFN regulatory factor-8) is a transcription factor of the IFN regulatory factor family. Disruption of this gene results in a leukemia-like disease in mice. To investigate the role of ICSBP in myeloid cell development, lineage marker-negative (Lin−) bone marrow progenitor cells were purified from ICSBP+/+ and ICSBP−/− mice and tested for gene expression and colony-forming ability. ICSBP was expressed in Lin− progenitor cells, and its levels were markedly increased by IFN-γ. The colony-forming potential of ICSBP−/− progenitor cells was grossly abnormal, as they gave rise to a disproportionately high number of granulocyte colonies and many fewer macrophage colonies. IFN-γ inhibited colony formation, while promoting macrophage maturation in ICSBP+/+ cells. In contrast, the effects of IFN-γ were completely absent in ICSBP−/− progenitors. By retrovirus transduction we tested whether reintroduction of ICSBP restores a normal colony-forming potential in −/− progenitor cells. The wild-type ICSBP, but not transcriptionally defective mutants, corrected abnormal colony formation by increasing macrophage colonies and decreasing granulocyte colonies. Taken together, ICSBP plays a critical role in myeloid cell development by controlling lineage selection and is indispensable for IFN-γ-dependent modulation of progenitor cell maturation.
Synthesis of New Multiple Layered Dion-Jacobson Perovskites

New multiple layered perovskites with general formula RbLaNaxNb2+xO7+3x, x = 1 and 2, were synthesized via a ceramic method. While the triple layered compound could be obtained by simple direct reaction, the quadruple layered one was synthesized using a two-step solid state approach. The compounds were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction; the newly obtained compounds appear to be isostructural with the previously reported RbCa2Nb3O10 and RbCa2NaNb4O13 for RbLaNaNb3O10 and RbLaNa2Nb4O13, respectively. Preliminary results show that the new compounds can undergo ion exchange reactions involving alkali metals and transition metal chlorides.
Complexity-Rate-Distortion Analysis of Backward Channel Aware Wyner-Ziv Video Coding

Many Wyner-Ziv video coding (WZVC) schemes encode a video sequence into two types of frames, key frames and Wyner-Ziv frames. We have previously presented a Wyner-Ziv video coding scheme that uses backward channel aware motion estimation to encode the key frames, where motion estimation was performed at the decoder and motion information was sent back to the encoder. We refer to these backward predictively coded frames as BP frames. In this paper, we extend our previous work and propose three types of motion estimators. A model is presented to examine the complexity-rate-distortion performance of BP frames for the three motion estimators.
Excessive daytime sleepiness and on-road driving performance in patients with Parkinson's disease

The impact of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) on road test performance was examined in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Twenty-one patients with PD completed the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and an on-road driving test. Five participants had EDS according to their self-report on the ESS. Neither EDS nor PD medications were associated with on-road driving performance. These findings suggest that in this pilot study EDS did not impair PD patients' driving skills on a formal driving evaluation.
Gene Conversion-Like Events in the Diversification of Human Rearranged IGHV3-23*01 Gene Sequences.

Gene conversion (GCV) as a mechanism of immunoglobulin diversification is well established in a few species. However, definitive evidence of GCV-like events in human immunoglobulin genes is scarce. GCV is mediated by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). The lack of evidence of GCV in human rearranged immunoglobulin gene sequences is puzzling given the presence of highly similar germline donors and all the enzymatic machinery required for GCV. In this study, we undertook a computational analysis of rearranged IGHV3-23*01 gene sequences from common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) patients and healthy individuals to survey ‘GCV-like’ activities. Our search identified strong evidence of GCV-like patterns. Germline VH sequences were identified as potential donors for clustered mutations in rearranged IGHV3-23*01 gene sequences. We identified minimum and maximum sequence identities between donor and recipient sequences that can serve as targets for GCV and our findings are consistent with those reported in literature. We observed that GCV-like tracts are flanked by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) hotspot motifs. Structural modeling of IGHV3-23*01 gene sequence revealed that hypermutable bases flanking GCV-like tracts, are in the single stranded DNA (ssDNA) of stable stem-loop structures (SLSs). SsDNA is inherently fragile and also an optimal target for AID. We speculate that GCV could have been initiated by the targeting of hypermutable bases in ssDNA state in stable SLSs, plausibly by AID. We have observed that the frequency of GCV-like events is significantly higher in rearranged IGHV323-*01 sequences from healthy individuals compared to that of CVID patients. GCV, unlike SHM, can result in multiple base substitutions that can alter many amino acids. The extensive changes in antibody affinity by GCV-like events, as identified in this study would be instrumental in protecting humans against pathogens that diversify their genome by antigenic shift.
Epistemology as a Predictor of Psychotherapists' Self-Care and Coping

The present study examines whether the epistemic leanings of experienced psychotherapists (N = 151; 85 women and 66 men) predicted their self-care and coping strategies in relation to stress. Self-care is seen as a preventative measure against stress, whereas coping is viewed as an individual's adaptive response to stress or difficulties. Results showed a range of evidence that linked stronger constructivist epistemic commitments with higher levels of therapist self-care, but they did not provide strong evidence for the link between epistemic commitments and differential styles of coping. These findings are discussed in relation to the contemporary literature concerning the translation of epistemology into practice, and the limitations and future directions of this work.
Modelling and simulations for Identity-Based Privacy-Protected Access Control Filter (IPACF) capability to resist massive denial of service attacks

Denial of Service (DoS)/Distributed DoS (DDoS) attack is an eminent threat to an Authentication Server (AS), which is used to guard access to firewalls, virtual private networks and resources connected by wired/wireless networks. In this paper, a new protocol called Identity-Based Privacy-Protected Access Control Filter (IPACF) is proposed to counter DoS/DDoS attacks. The IPACF is stateless for both user and AS since a user and responder must authenticate each other. The value and identity for authentication are changed in every frame. Thus, the privacy of both user and server is protected. The performance of the implementation is reported in this paper. In order to counter more DoS/DDoS attacks that issue fake requests, parallel processing technique is used to implement the AS. The performance comparison of dual server and single server is also reported. To study the capability of IPACF when facing massive DDoS attacks, simulations using OPNET for a network consisting of 1000 nodes with 10 Gbps pipe to the AS are carried out. The simulations show that the performance of AS has very little degradation in terms of packet latency and CPU utilisation for users. Queueing models are used to compare simulations and agreement between models and simulations is acceptable.
Substrate-Related Factors Affecting Enzymatic Saccharification of Lignocelluloses: Our Recent Understanding

Enzymatic saccharification of cellulose is a key step in conversion of plant biomass to advanced biofuel and chemicals. Many substrate-related factors affect saccharification. Rather than examining the role of each individual factor on overall saccharification efficiency, this study examined how each factor affects the three basic processes of a heterogeneous biochemistry reaction: (1) substrate accessibility to cellulose—the roles of component removal and size reduction by pretreatments, (2) substrate and cellulase reactivity limited by component inhibition, and (3) reaction conditions—substrate-specific optimization. Our in-depth analysis of published literature work, especially those published in the last 5 years, explained and reconciled some of the conflicting results in literature, especially the relative importance of hemicellulose vs. lignin removal and substrate size reduction on enzymatic saccharification of lignocelluloses. We concluded that hemicellulose removal is more important than lignin removal for creating cellulase accessible pores. Lignin removal is important when alkaline-based pretreatment is used with limited hemicellulose removal. Partial delignification is needed to achieve satisfactory saccharification of lignocelluloses with high lignin content, such as softwood species. Rather than using passive approaches, such as washing and additives, controlling pretreatment or hydrolysis conditions, such as pH, to modify lignin surface properties can be more efficient for reducing or eliminating lignin inhibition to cellulase, leading to improved lignocellulose saccharification.
An Extraordinary Primer

Book reviewed in this article: Richard R. Brettell, Modern Art, 1851–1929: Capitalism and Representation
Alkaline Injection of Concentrated Sodium Hydroxide Solution into an Acidic Surface Mine Spoil Aquifer

A series of NaOH solution injection experiments were performed as trials for in situ remediation of an acid-producing surface-mine spoil. Both 20 and 50% (w/w) concentrated NaOH solutions were employed. While the spoil immediately down-gradient of the injection wells was neutralized, only about 23% of the introduced Na was recovered at the spring discharge in 3 years of post-injection monitoring. This rate of transport was far slower than the estimated advection rates in the aquifer, indicating that substantial retardation of both Na and the associated alkalinity occurred. This retardation is ascribed to: precipitation of alkaline-earth carbonate hydroxide minerals, as well as metal hydroxide precipitates, consuming injected alkalinity; and reduction of hydraulic conductivity in the peralkaline (pH > 13) “plume” region due to plugging by reaction products. It is likely that Na and alkalinity will continue to leak from this plume region for many years, but at too slow a rate to neutralize AMD at current concentrations. Future injection efforts of this type may be feasible but should use lower concentrations and should be focused further down-gradient, in closer proximity to the springs, where ground water velocities are higher.
Technical note: Optimizing the thermohydraulic performance of flat-plate solar air heaters operating with fixed⧸variable pumping power

Abstract The validity of the analytical criterion derived for predicting optimum channel depth of conventional Solar Air Heaters (SAHs) has been explored for other flat-plate models of practical importance. Compared to the conventional design with air-channel under the absorber, the considered two models have airflow over the absorber and on both sides of it, respectively. Particularly examined is the effect of channel depth-to-length ratio (D⧸L) on the performance characteristics of these single-pass SAHs. Performance simulation results confirm the applicability of the criterion for these models over a wide range of influencing parameters including specific pumping power (P), emissivity of channel surfaces and wind heat transfer coefficient. It is found that the criterion successfully estimates the channel depth parameter (δp) that optimizes the performance for fixed or variable pumping-power operation. For the latter mode of operation, however, the ratio D⧸L = 3 ∗ 10−3 is recommended. Also, the performance diagram of a particular model design can easily be generalized if it is rated in terms of the analytical parameters δp and P⧸ L which tightens up the intimate dependence of heater performance on both channel dimensions and flow pumping power.
Commercial Bank Securities Activities before the Glass-Steagall Act

This paper investigates empirically whether the internal organization of the firm can play an important role in affecting a firm's ability to commit to a particular quality of business practices and, if so, whether competition would be sufficient to lead firms to adopt that structure. In particular, we study how commercial banks have developed "firewalls" to address potential conflicts of interest when they are also engaged in investment banking. Before the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act forced banks out of investment banking, commercial banks organized their securities activities in two ways: as an internal securities department within the bank and as a separately incorporated affiliate with its own board of directors. Although the internal departments underwrote seemingly higher quality firms and securities than did comparable affiliates, the departments obtained lower prices for the issues they underwrote. The greater risk premium associated with the internal department is consistent with investors discounting for the greater likelihood of conflicts of interest when lending and underwriting are within the same structure. Commercial banks responded to this pricing disadvantage for the internal departments by moving strongly toward adopting the separate affiliate structure during the period. We find that increasing the proportion of affiliate directors who are independent from the parent bank reduced the risk premium for the securities underwritten by the affiliate. Independent directors thus appear to have provided an important mechanism by which the affiliates could enhance their credibility in the market. Overall, our results suggest that organizational design can be an effective commitment device and, absent other distortions, competitive pressures would provide sufficient incentives for banks to adopt an organizational design that would address regulatory concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
Eastern District Association News

(1931). Eastern District Association News. The Journal of Health and Physical Education: Vol. 2, No. 7, pp. 44-59.
Improved Trans-endothelial Electrical Resistance Sensing using Microfluidic Low-Temperature Co-fired Ceramics

Trans-endothelial Electrical Resistance (TEER) and cellular impedance measurements are widely used to evaluate the barrier properties and functional change of endothelial cell monolayers. In the current work, low temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) are applied enabling the incorporation of TEER and impediametric measurements in an integrated microfluidic chip. LTCC materials are an ideal substrate for biomedical and cell-based microfluidics due to their biocompatibility and ability to combine complex three dimensional structures with optical, fluidic, and electrical functionality. Multilayer microfluidic ceramic devices incorporating gold measurement electrodes where prepared using standard LTCC manufacturing procedures. The sensitivity of the resulting LTCC devices were compared to systems currently on the market for TEER measurements. These results indicate the LTCC device is able to effectively detect the growth of an endothelial cell monolayer. Results further evaluate endothelial cell viability using...
Assessment of joint interactions between respiration and baroreflex activity using joint symbolic dynamics in heart failure patients

In this paper we employed a novel approach based on joint symbolic dynamics (JSD) to study interaction between respiratory phase and baroreflex activity. Electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood pressure recordings from six participants with history of heart failure were included in this study. First, the ECG R-peaks and systolic blood pressure indices were detected using parabolic fitting. Second, the respiratory signal was derived from Frank orthogonal ECG leads using QRS slopes and R-wave angles. Third, time series of R-R intervals and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were extracted, and respiratory phases were obtained using the Hilbert transform. Subsequently, each series was transformed into binary symbol vectors based on their successive changes and words of length ‘2’ were formed. Baroreflex patterns were studied using word combinations representing baroreflex activity for specific changes in respiratory phases. Baroreflex activity was significantly higher for alternating low-high/high-low heart rate and SBP during inspiration as compared to continuous increase or decrease in heart rate and SBP (wiSBP=10,wiHR=01,wRP=11: 39.1±9.3% vs. wiSBP=00,wiHR=11,wRP=11: 6.4±3.9%, p<0.0001).
Nonconvex reconstruction for low-dimensional fluorescence molecular tomographic poisson observations

As an emerging near-infrared molecular imaging modality, fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) has great potential in resolving the molecular and cellular processes in 3D objects through the reconstruction of the injected fluorescence probe concentration. In practice, when a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera is used to obtain FMT measurements, the observations are corrupted by noise which follows a Poisson distribution. To reconstruct the original concentration, the standard least-squares function for data-fitting is not a suitable objective function to minimize since this model assumes measurement noise which follows a Gaussian distribution. Rather, in this paper, we minimize a negative log-likelihood function to more accurately model the CCD camera shot noise. Furthermore, we exploit the presence of the flourescence in only small regions of the 3D object by introducing a non-convex penalty term that promotes sparsity in the reconstruction. This paper proposes a method to solve the FMT reconstruction problem from low-dimensional and low-mean photon count measurements. Using simulated data, we validate the effectiveness of the proposed non-convex Poisson-based reconstruction method for FMT inverse problems.
Abstract LB-18: Statins use prevents ovarian cancer recurrence in women with diabetes mellitus.

Background: Low-density lipoproteins levels are significant predictors of clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer (OvCa) patients. Despite American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines, suboptimal hyperlipidemia management is reported in women diagnosed with both OvCa and diabetes mellitus (DM). This study evaluated the impact of cholesterol drugs utilization and importance of following ADA guidelines on OvCa recurrence and survival. Methods: All DM patients newly diagnosed with OvCa between 2003 and 2010 at Roswell Park Cancer Institute were retrospectively reviewed (n=482). A total of 60 newly diagnosed OvCa patients having a form of diabetes at the time of cancer diagnosis were identified. Out of these, 14 patients were excluded due to presence of type 1 diabetes (n=6) or prior cancer history (n=8). The remaining 46 patients were included in the final analyses. Tumor pathology, outcomes, baseline co-morbidities and self-reported drug therapy were documented. Follow-up began at cancer diagnosis and ended with first confirmed recurrence and/or death. Cases lost to follow-up were censored at the date of last contact. To analyze categorical outcomes across different treatment groups, Fisher9s exact test was used. All multivariate analyses were done using Cox proportional hazards models while accounting for age, weight, stage, histology, and cumulative comorbidity. A nominal significance level of 0.05 was used in all testing. Results: Average age at diagnosis and body mass index in this data set was 70±10 years and 34.76±7.07 kg/m2, respectively. Over three quarters of this population was diagnosed with advanced stage OvCa and 96% had a tumor grade of 2 or higher. Roughly two thirds of the tumors evaluated had a serous histology. Out of the cases reviewed, 52% did not receive any form of cholesterol management and 46% received a statin alone or in combination. After a median follow-up of 26.9 months, patients receiving statin monotherapy for cholesterol management were found to have improved recurrence (HR=0.17, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.73, P=0.02); however, no impact on overall mortality was noted as compared to patients not receiving any cholesterol management medication. Conclusions: This study explored for the first time the association between statin utilization and prognosis in OvCa patients with DM. Given the identified benefit, reinforcing compliance with DM guidelines for hyperlipidemia management in OvCa patients deserves further attention. Our findings seed the beginning of a novel approach in personalized OvCa care. Citation Format: Michelle E. Amsler, Kristina A. Chmiel, Olesya Yaremko, Clare Carroll, Jingjing Yin, Terry Mashtare, Anthony Miliotto, Rachel Brightwell, Kunle Odunsi, Alice C. Ceacareanu. Statins use prevents ovarian cancer recurrence in women with diabetes mellitus. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-18. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-LB-18
First-principles calculation of contact electrification and validation by experiment

Abstract Contact electrification is one of the most well-known phenomena in physics and examples arise in almost every industry. However, a scientific basis for contact charging remains unknown. Here, we present a theoretical study of contact electrification, supported by experiments, to calculate for the first time charge transfer between material surfaces from first principles physics. Electronic structure calculations and experiments are performed on single-crystal alumina (sapphire) and silicon oxide (quartz) surfaces, which have well-ordered structures that enable rigorous modeling. Both experiments and calculations show that sapphire charges positively and quartz charges negatively. The calculations cannot determine the magnitude of charge densities remaining on separated surfaces from first principles, as these are non-equilibrium effects, but our analysis is consistent with experimentally obtained charge densities of 10 μC/m 2 . These results indicate the possibility of quantitatively predicting and explaining contact electrification from only the molecular structure of material surfaces.
A content analysis of precede-proceed constructs in stress management mobile apps

Background: The emergence of Apple’s iPhone provides a platform for freelance developers to design third party apps, which greatly expands the functionality and utility of mobile devices for stress management. This study provides a basic overview of the stress management apps under the health and fitness category of the Apple App store and appraises each app’s potential for influencing behavior change. Methods: Data for this study came from a content analysis of health and fitness app descriptions available in the App Store on iTunes. Trained research assistants used the Precede-Proceed Model (PPM) as a framework to guide the coding of paid stress management apps and to evaluate each app’s potential for effecting health behavior change. Results: Most apps were rated as being plausible (96.9%) and intending to address stress management (98.5%), but only 63.3% were rated as recommendable to others for their use. Reinforcing apps were less common than predisposing and enabling apps. Less than one percent (0.39%) of apps included all three factors (predisposing, enabling and reinforcing). Conclusions: Practitioners should be cautious when promoting the use of stress management apps, as most provide only health-related information (predisposing) or suggestions for enabling behavior, but almost none include all three theoretical factors recommended for behavior change.
Wavelet Modulus Maximum Algorithm in Image Edge Detection

Edge involves the essential information of image.Based on the analysis of the different wavelets in image edge detection,the construction and the length of the wavelet high-pass filter coefficient were presented.The effect of the symmetries to the wavelet high-pass filter coefficient in directions,strength and shapes were also provided.The idea was proposed that the wavelet high-pass filter used in image edge detection should possess monotonicity and even symmetry.The threshold selection and the multi-scale edge incorporation in image edge detection were improved.The simulation tests verify the validity of the proposed method.
Visualization of power enterprise model based on PI3000 platform

The first step of information system construction based on PI3000 platform is to build enterprise model. The former representation of model in tree viewis not clear and readable enough. This article presented a visualization approach of power enterprise model based on PI3000 platform. The approach represented enterprise model as UML class diagram. Simultaneously, to improve readability, this article emphatically studied the process of automatic layout of UMLclass diagram.