cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Imaginative Faith: Apocalyptic, Science Fiction Theory, and Theology

Abstract: Both pastors and academic theologians have struggled with the place of apocalyptic language and imagery within the modern worldview. Many have dismissed apocalyptic as escapist and have alleged that it is divorced from the political and social concerns at the heart of contemporary theology and practice. Yet, contemporary critical theorists have overcome similar suspicions about science-fiction and now embrace it as a unique vehicle for thinking about the ills and the promise of contemporary culture. This essay suggests that within contemporary critical theory one finds useful tools for reading and using apocalyptic language and imagery as a means for engaging a world threatened by sin and violence.
The clinical utility of a six-minute walk test in peripheral arterial occlusive disease patients.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the test-retest reliability of the distance covered and the steps taken to complete a 6-minute walk test by peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) patients with intermittent claudication. To determine the relationship between the total distance and steps covered during the 6-minute walk test and clinical measures of PAOD severity. DESIGN: Cross-sectional design. SETTING: The Claude Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-four PAOD patients between the ages of 45 and 88 years (age = 68 ± 7 years, ankle/brachial index (ABI) = .61 ± .19) were recruited from the Vascular Clinic at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center and from radio and newspaper advertisements. MEASUREMENTS: Patients were assessed on a 6-minute walk test and a treadmill graded exercise test. A second 6-minute walk test was administered approximately 1 week later. Patients also were characterized in regard to blood pressure in the arms and legs, ABI, anthropometry, body composition, and physical activity. RESULTS: The distances walked during the two 6-minute walk tests were similar (350 ± 78 m vs 360 ± 73 m), resulting in a high reliability coefficient (R = .94) and a low coefficient of variation (10.4%). The total steps taken during the 6-minute walk test also were similar (562 ± 113 steps vs 587 ± 107 steps), resulting in a high reliability coefficient (R = .90) and a low coefficient of variation (11.7%). Furthermore, the 6-minute walking distance correlated with the distances to onset (r = .346, P = .007) and with maximal claudication pain (r = .525, P < .001) during the treadmill test as well as with ABI (r = .552, P < .001). CONCLUSION: The 6-minute walk test yields highly reliable measurements, which are related to the functional and hemodynamic severity of PAOD, in patients with intermittent claudication.
Rapid events in protein folding studied by laser-induced pH and temperature jumps

Traditional methods, such as stopped flow, used to study early events in protein folding are limited, by instrument dead times, to investigating events which occur milliseconds after the initiation of folding. We have developed a laser-based temperature jump apparatus capable of measuring changes in the fluorescence of proteins undergoing folding or unfolding on the microsecond timescale following a laser-induced pH, or temperature, jump. The development of the system is discussed and the results for experiments with RNase T1 and Apomyoglobin are summarized.
The influence of high-energy electron radiation on the tensile properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride) film

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVF 2 ) film was exposed to high-energy electron radiation in air with a 1 MeV electron beam to different dose levels up to 10 6 Gy. The post radiation effects on mechanical properties were investigated as a function of the total radiation absorbed dose
Uptake of 14C-α-aminoisobutyric acid by Phaseolus vulgaris

Abstract Specific uptake (S.U.) of α-aminoisobutyric acid ([1- 14 C]AIB), a non-metabolizable neutral amino acid analog, by dwarf bush bean plants ( Phaseolus vulgaris cv Top Crop) demonstrated wide differences in active transport between various plant organs. The kinetic and timed uptake data reported were expressed as S.U. because this corrects for the diffusion of AIB which is part of the total AIB uptake process. Roots accumulated AIB to concentrations up to 18 times and leaf disks to twice those of the incubation medium. Stem tissue showed very little uptake, if any, that could not be accounted for by simple diffusion or water free space. Although initial rate kinetic studies demonstrated the presence of a normal transport system, timed uptake studies revealed greatly decreased transport by etiolated plants, suggesting a relationship between active transport and the lack of photosynthate. The reproducibility of the AIB uptake pattern by mature roots strongly supports the concept that the transport of neutral amino acids is biphasic and suggested one or more carrier systems are inducible by either low intracellular concentrations or repressed by high intracellular concentrations of the amino acid.
Counselor and Student Estimates of Grades as Predictors of Academic Achievement

Traditionally, academic achievement in college has beenpredicted by correlating test scores and/or high school grades with first semester grade point averages. With the rise in popularity of research on the self-concept variable, consideration has been given to the possibility of using student self estimates and/or counselor estimates as predictors of grades. The rationale for this approach seems to be that in addition to information about test scores, counselors and students can take advantage of relevant but essentially unmeasurable variables in their prediction of grades. The few studies utilizing student and counselor estimates of grades have yielded interesting but con flicting results. For example, Young (7) obtained a correlation of . 71 between student estimates of grades and actual grades. In the same study, the correlation for counselor estimates with grades was .68. On the other hand, Budd (1) found a very high (. 76) correlation between counselor estimates and actual grades but a low (. 29) correlation between student estimates and grades. Freehill (2) also re ported a low (. 23) correlation of student estimates with grades earned at the end of the first semester in college. In a study of student aspirations at the beginning of college, Matteson(3) obtained a signif icant association between predicted and o b t ained grade point averages. Finally, Robertson (4) com pared student estimates with counselor estimates of freshman grades and found a statistically significant agreement between the two sets of predictions. In view of the promising but inconsistent find ings, the present study was under taken with the hope of providing some definitive conclusions. Students attending a precollege testing and c o uns eling pro gram were asked to predict their first semester grades both before and after the precollege program. Counselors were asked to predict the grades for each student they counseled. The two sets of pre dictions were then compared with grades received at the end of the fall semester. Procedure
Some immunochemical properties of rat liver and kidney metallothioneins.

Abstract Metallothionein (MT) was purified from liver or kidney homogenates of rats injected with cadmium by ammonium sulfate fractionation, gel filtration, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, and hydroxylapatite chromatography. Antibodies were shown to be produced to both liver species of MT when rabbits were immunized with either of them. The antibody developed against one species of MT, however, did not cross-react quantitatively with the other species of MT even though it was isolated from the same organ. Thus, under the conditions of these experiments, the antibodies to each MT species are rather specific.
Poetry therapy with special needs children: A pilot project

The ARC Poetry Club is a pilot project in which a poetry therapy group intervention was utilized with special needs children. In this article, information will be provided regarding the children who participated in the club, the activities that took place during each session of the club and the facilitator's observations regarding group participants’ reactions to the group activities. In addition, recommendations for future poetry therapy group interventions will be made based on the author's experience as facilitator of the ARC Poetry Club.
Supersonic blowdown wind tunnel control using LabVIEWTM

A computer-based, proportional-integral control system for supersonic blowdown wind tunnels was developed in a LabVIEW environment. The control algorithm is based on numerically integrating the differential equations used to model a supersonic blowdown wind tunnel in which the proportional and integral control terms were added and tuned in a simulation to determine their appropriate values. Values for these control terms can be obtained using a spreadsheet allowing for variation of the test section Mach number, test section area, stagnation pressure and plenum chamber volume as well as the pressure, temperature and volume of the storage tank. Accounting for the variation of many terms allows the control terms and resulting LabVIEW program to be easily integrated across different facilities. Experimental verification is provided along with a discussion of control valve calibration, optimization of control constants and additional capabilities of LabVIEW.
FRET-Based Genetically Encoded Sensor of Calcineurin Activation

Calcineurin plays a central role in relaying Ca2+ signals from the plasma membrane to the cell nucleus. The resulting involvement of this phosphotase in diseases as diverse as schizophrenia and cardiac hypertrophy necessitates understanding of calcineurin's precise spatio-temporal dynamics in live cells. To this end, genetically encoded FRET-based sensors have shown some potential for elucidating the activity of signaling kinases and phosphatases. However, the currently available calcineurin sensors suffer from limited dynamic range and slow kinetics. Here, we report on the development of a FRET-based sensor of calcinuerin activation (DuoCALN), based on fusions of cerulean and venus to various calcineurin subunits. Such sensors feature improved dynamic range (∼40% change in FRET efficiency upon full activation) and rapid on/off kinetics (∼tens of seconds). These properties are evident in HEK293 cells expressing both DuoCALN and M1 receptors, as summarized in the figure. Bath application of Acetyl-β-methylcholine (horizontal bar) activates these receptors, in turn triggering phasic Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. In response, single-cell FRET efficiency of DuoCALN displays a rapid onset, followed by readily reversible dissipation. The ongoing development of DuoCALN sensors promises new insight into the spatio-temporal dynamics of calcineurin activation in live cells.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Transaortic Repair of Ventricular Septal Defect

Abstract A technique is described for repairing defects of the interventricular septum using an aortotomy incision. This approach allows excellent access to the membranous septum, where more than 80% of defects occur. While the standard transventricular or transatrial approach serves best in most instances, the transaortic exposure may be a useful alternative in the small defect, to avoid ventriculotomy, or in some complicated anomalies.
Motion trajectory matching of video objects

In this paper, we propose an efficient wavelet-based approach to achieve flexible and robust motion trajectory matching of video objects. By using the wavelet transform, our algorithm decomposes the raw object trajectory into components at different scales. We use the coarsest scale components to approximate the global motion information and the finer scale components to partition the global motion into subtrajectories. Each subtrajectory is then modeled by a set of spatial and temporal translation invariant attributes. Motion retrieval based on subtrajectory modeling has been tested and compared against other global trajectory matching schemes to show the advantages of our approach in achieving spatio-temporal invariance properties.
Local bioprospecting for high-lipid producing microalgal strains to be grown on concentrated municipal wastewater for biofuel production

Mass cultivation of microalgae for biofuel production depends heavily on the performance of the microalgae strains used. In this study, 60 algae-like microorganisms collected from different sampling sites in Minnesota were examined using multi-step screening and acclimation procedures to select high-lipid producing facultative heterotrophic microalgae strains capable of growing on concentrated municipal wastewater (CMW) for simultaneous energy crop production and wastewater treatment. Twenty-seven facultative heterotrophic microalgae strains were found, among which 17 strains were proved to be tolerant to CMW. These 17 top-performing strains were identified through morphological observation and DNA sequencing as Chlorella sp., Heynigia sp., Hindakia sp., Micractinium sp., and Scenedesmus sp. Five strains were chosen for other studies because of their ability to adapt to CMW, high growth rates (0.455-0.498 d(-1)) and higher lipid productivities (74.5-77.8 mg L(-1)d(-1)). These strains are considered highly promising compared with other strains reported in the literature.
The danger of overvaluing methane’s influence on future climate change

Minimizing the future impacts of climate change requires reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) load in the atmosphere. Anthropogenic emissions include many types of GHG’s as well as particulates such as black carbon and sulfate aerosols, each of which has a different effect on the atmosphere, and a different atmospheric lifetime. Several recent studies have advocated for the importance of short timescales when comparing the climate impact of different climate pollutants, placing a high relative value on short-lived pollutants, such as methane (CH4) and black carbon (BC) versus carbon dioxide (CO2). These studies have generated confusion over how to value changes in temperature that occur over short versus long timescales. We show the temperature changes that result from exchanging CO2 for CH4 using a variety of commonly suggested metrics to illustrate the trade-offs involved in potential carbon trading mechanisms that place a high value on CH4 emissions. Reducing CH4 emissions today would lead to a climate cooling of approximately ~0.5 °C, but this value will not change greatly if we delay reducing CH4 emissions by years or decades. This is not true for CO2, for which the climate is influenced by cumulative emissions. Any delay in reducing CO2 emissions is likely to lead to higher cumulative emissions, and more warming. The exact warming resulting from this delay depends on the trajectory of future CO2 emissions but using one business-as usual-projection we estimate an increase of 3/4 °C for every 15-year delay in CO2 mitigation. Overvaluing the influence of CH4 emissions on climate could easily result in our “locking” the earth into a warmer temperature trajectory, one that is temporarily masked by the short-term cooling effects of the CH4 reductions, but then persists for many generations.
A comparison of first- and second-order difference approximations over a spherical geodesic grid

Abstract Second-order difference approximations are derived for a primitive barotropic model over a spherical geodesic grid and are compared to first-order conservative approximations. The second-order approximation requires a viscosity term for stability. A given value of the viscosity coefficient reduces the high wavenumber noise more with the second-order scheme than with the first-order scheme.
Controlling for quality in the hospital cost function

This paper explores the relationship between the cost and quality of hospital care from the perspective of applied microeconomics. It addresses both theoretical and practical complexities entailed in incorporating hospital quality into the estimation of hospital cost functions. That literature is extended with an empirical analysis that examines the use of 15 Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) as measures of hospital quality. A total operating cost function is estimated on 2,848 observations from five states drawn from the period 2001 to 2007. In general, findings indicate that the PSIs are successful in capturing variation in hospital cost due to adverse patient safety events. Measures that rely on the aggregate number of adverse events summed over PSIs are found to be superior to risk-adjusted rates for individual PSIs. The marginal cost of an adverse event is estimated to be $22,413. The results contribute to a growing business case for inpatient safety in hospital services.
EFFECTS OF CHANGING THE CS‐US INTERVAL ON HUMAN SALIVARY RESPONSES

An experiment was performed to test the effect of changing the CS-US interval on the pattern of conditioned salivation. Each of 6 subjects (Ss) received 60 reinforced trials on each of 3 CS-US intervals: 10, 20, and 40 sec. For each CS-US interval 10 test trials were given to determine the change in pattern of response with change in the CS-US interval. An additional session included 2 test trials in which an extraneous stimulus was given simultaneously with the CS. The results showed little evidence of inhibition of delay in the longer intervals or of disinhibition when the extraneous stimulus was applied. The most significant result was a response which followed CS offset in the 20- and 40-sec intervals. The question of the nature of this response remains to be answered by use of a different experimental design. Significance of the level of conditioning remained high (p <. 00001) over the manipulation of CS-US interval.
Prevalence and Correlates of Drug/Alcohol-Facilitated and Incapacitated Sexual Assault in a Nationally Representative Sample of Adolescent Girls

Incapacitated/drug-alcohol facilitated sexual assault (IS/DAFS) is rapidly gaining recognition as a distinct form of assault with unique public health implications. This study reports the prevalence, case characteristics, and associated health risks of IS/DAFS using a large, nationally representative sample of 1,763 adolescent girls. Results indicate that 11.8% of girls experienced at least one form of sexual assault; 2.1% of the total sample experienced IS/DAFS. Thus IS/DAFS accounted for 18% of all reported sexual assaults, with a prevalence of 4.0% among girls 15 to 17 years of age and 0.7% among girls 12 to 14 years of age. Girls with a history of IS/DAFS were significantly more likely than girls with other sexual assault histories to report past-year substance abuse but not significantly more likely than girls with other sexual assault histories to report past-year depression or posttraumatic stress disorder.
Regulation to promote competition: A first look at the FCC's implementation of the local competition provisions of the telecommunications act of 1996

Abstract This paper analyzes the U.S. policy framework for promoting competition in the provision of local telephone services. It reviews the local competition provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the FCC's order implementing those provisions and the court review of that order. It provides an economic analysis of key controversies in the local competition framework including the benefits of regulatory guidelines as a supplement to bargaining, whether guidelines should be developed at the state or the federal level and the rationality of the guidelines developed by the FCC. The paper concludes that regulatory guidelines can provide a more efficient outcome than pure bargaining, that guidelines can best be developed at the national level with provision for adjustment to local conditions and that the FCC guidelines for call completion pricing provide clear benefits over pure bargaining while the benefits of the FCC guidelines for unbundled elements are more ambiguous.
Nocardia brain abscesses in a male patient with SLE: successful outcome despite delay in diagnosis

We report a 37-year-old African-American man with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) diagnosed in May 2001 when he presented with biopsy-proven nephritis. He had been treated intermittently from May 2001 to November 2004 with intravenously (i.v.) administered cyclophosphamide and high doses of prednisone due to unrelenting proteinuria. In November 2004, he was admitted to the hospital because of deterioration of renal function and massive proteinuria (21 g dl-1 24 h-1) and treated with pulses of methylprednisolone and two courses of i.v. administered cyclophosphamide. His hospital course was complicated by cellulitis and bacteremia with Pseudomonas spp. and Streptococcus bovis. He was discharged on prednisone 60 mg daily, ciprofloxacin, augmentin, and hemodialysis. He was readmitted a week later with new onset of seizure activity, slurred speech, and left-sided hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed multiple ringlike enhancing foci in the frontal and occipital lobes. Brain biopsy was performed, and Gram stain and initial cultures were negative. Empiric tobramycin, cefepime, and metronidazole were administered. Diagnosis was delayed for several months, but culture eventually grew Nocardia asteroides. Trimethoprim-sulfomethoxazole and linezolid therapy was begun. This was followed by slow, but steady, clinical improvement. Risk factors, diagnostic clues, and treatment are reviewed.
On the demand generated by a smooth and concavifiable preference ordering

Abstract It is shown that if a consumer's preference ordering is strictly convex and is representable by means of a concave, twice continuously differentiable utility function, then the partial derivative of a demanded commodity with respect to its price is bounded from above in a neighborhood of a price vector at which the demand fails to be differentiable. In the case of two commodities, if the demand does not possess finite derivatives with respect to prices at a certain point, then the partial ‘derivative’ of a commodity with respect to its price is equal to minus infinity. The same result holds for n commodities under ‘almost every’ choice of coordinates in the commodity space. If preferences are weakly convex but the same representation assumption holds, demand may not be single-valued but own-price difference quotients are still bounded from above.
New Values, New Conflicts: A Response to William Frederick’s Values, Nature, and Culture in the American Corporation

Although maintaining that Frederick’s book Values, Nature, and Culture in the American Corporation(1995) provides a new way to think about what often appear to be competing values of business and society generally, this article raises several questions about Frederick’s theory. In particular, the author challenges Frederick’s failure to develop a clear priority system between the value clusters he defines and the utilitarian approach he uses to balance interests. The article is critical of his apparent disagreement with a concept of universal values as well as his related support of cultural relativism.
Effect of Hydrocarbon Composition on the Measurement of Water in Oils by Coulometric and Volumetric Karl Fischer Methods

The effect of the composition of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon mixtures such as oils on the measurement of their water content has been examined. This effect has been evaluated by both the coulometric and volumetric Karl Fischer methods. The results demonstrate that the highest water titers are measured by the volumetric method. With the exception of xylene and octanol, the water titers obtained by at least one coulometric method were lower than those obtained by the volumetric method. The water content of xylene and octanol was equivalent by all methods. The solubility of the oils in the titration vessel solvents was evaluated as a function of the hydrocarbon composition and the content of cosolvents. The formation of a heterogeneous solution caused a decrease in the observed water titer, with the exception of several transformer oils. At the transition point from a homogeneous solution to a heterogeneous solution, frequently no water was measured in at least one sample. The reduction of the water titer a...
Prevalence of domestic violence among women seeking abortion services

Interviews with 51 consecutive women presenting to the University of North Carolina's abortion clinic over a two-month period in 1994 confirmed the hypothesis that this population has experienced an above-average incidence of domestic violence. 31.4% of the abortion seekers reported a lifetime history of physical or sexual abuse; 21.6% of these women had been abused in the prior calendar year and 7.8% had experienced abuse during the current pregnancy (none for the first time). 54.5% of women with a self-reported lifetime history of abuse had witnessed domestic violence in their family of origin and 36.4% had been abused as a child. The interviews further revealed that 70% of abused women had experienced the standard cycle of domestic violence involving tension building, acute battering, and contrition phases. Although 80% of battered women were aware of community resources, they were unlikely to use them. Prior studies of domestic violence in obstetric populations have identified prevalences of 11-24%; some of this variability is likely attributable to women's reluctance to acknowledge abuse. Overall, these findings indicate that a lifetime or current history of domestic violence should be considered a risk factor for abuse during pregnancy. Regardless of her decision regarding the outcome of the pregnancy, a pregnant woman with such a history should be offered counseling about an exit plan, safety issues, and community resources. Language: en
Reversible Gating of Endocannabinoid Plasticity in the Amygdala by Chronic Stress: A Potential Role for Monoacylglycerol Lipase Inhibition in the Prevention of Stress-Induced Behavioral Adaptation

Chronic stress is the primary environmental risk factor for the development and exacerbation of affective disorders, thus understanding the neuroadaptations that occur in response to stress is a critical step in the development of novel therapeutics for depressive and anxiety disorders. Brain endocannabinoid (eCB) signaling is known to modulate emotional behavior and stress responses, and levels of the eCB 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) are elevated in response to chronic homotypic stress exposure. However, the role of 2-AG in the synaptic and behavioral adaptations to chronic stress is poorly understood. Here, we show that stress-induced development of anxiety-like behavior is paralleled by a transient appearance of low-frequency stimulation-induced, 2-AG-mediated long-term depression at GABAergic synapses in the basolateral amygdala, a key region involved in motivation, affective regulation, and emotional learning. This enhancement of 2-AG signaling is mediated, in part, via downregulation of the primary 2-AG-degrading enzyme monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL). Acute in vivo inhibition of MAGL had little effect on anxiety-related behaviors. However, chronic stress-induced anxiety-like behavior and emergence of long-term depression of GABAergic transmission was prevented by chronic MAGL inhibition, likely via an occlusive mechanism. These data indicate that chronic stress reversibly gates eCB synaptic plasticity at inhibitory synapses in the amygdala, and in vivo augmentation of 2-AG levels prevents both behavioral and synaptic adaptations to chronic stress.
Seed and oil yields of Moringa oleifera variety Periyakalum-1 introduced for oil production in four ecosystems of South America

Abstract Moringa oleifera Lam. is a member of Moringaceae family which grows throughout most of the tropics, and is native to sub-Himalayan tracts of north west India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Moringa seed concentrates 35–45% oil which is considered a great natural cosmetic emollient almost total natural absence of color and odor, and high oleic acid concentration (>73%). To assess their production potential in the Arid Chaco, The Yungas Tropical Forest, Tropical Lowland Forest, and in the Sub-Humid Chaco Ecosystems of South America, a comparative trial was undertaken to determine their seed yield and oil content. Arid Chaco Ecosystem: significant (P
Is the association of subjective SES and self-rated health confounded by negative mood? An experimental approach.

Subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) is defined as a person’s subjective perceptions of their rank, relative to others, in the socioeconomic hierarchy (Adler, Epel, Castellazo, & Ickovics, 2000; Kraus, Piff, & Keltner, 2009; 2011; Singh-Manoux, Adler, & Marmot, 2003). Despite the fact that different aspects of socioeconomic status (SES) (e.g., income, education, and occupation) are only moderately intercorrelated, individuals appear able to report reliably on their overall standing—that is, several studies suggest that SSS is consistently moderately correlated with objective measures of income, education, and occupation status (e.g., Adler et al., 2000; Singh-Manoux et al., 2003). Moreover, these subjective rank perceptions of SES are related to health status across a number of diverse measures and samples, and using both longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs (Adler et al., 2000; Cohen et al., 2008; Goodman et al., 2001; Singh-Manoux et al., 2003). In a number of studies, many associations of SSS and health hold even when adjusted for objective indicators of SES, such as education and income (e.g., Adler et al., 2000; Cohen et al., 2008). Although SSS is related to a range of health indicators, the strongest and most consistent association is with global self-reported health (Adler et al., 2000; Operario, Adler, & Williams, 2004). Given that social status is linked to many different conditions, it makes sense that a general measure of status such as SSS would correlate more strongly with a measure of general health than with the occurrence of any specific disease. However, since global health is self-reported, its association with SSS could be confounded by psychological third variables that correlate with both constructs. The present study tests whether the association of SSS with self-reported health is independent of a plausible class of confounding variables: negative mood.
The layer-resolving transformation and mesh generation for quasilinear singular perturbation problems

The relationship is analyzed between layer-resolving transformations and mesh-generating functions for numerical solution of singularly perturbed boundary-value problems. The analysis is carried out for one-dimensional quasilinear problems without turning points, which are discretized by first-order finite-difference schemes. It is proved that if a general layer-resolving function is used to generate the discretization mesh, then the numerical solution converges uniformly in the perturbation parameter.
Robust sequential classification of tracks

We present a robust probabilistic method to classify targets based on their tracks. As is customary in supervised learning problems, it is assumed that example tracks from various classes are available to train a classifier. We present an optimal but computationally intensive sequential solution, and show that a computationally feasible naive Bayes approximation works better than ignoring sequential information. We show how to take into account the uncertainty of the track, as quantified by the error covariance matrix from a Kalman tracker, using the recently proposed expected maximum likelihood rule coupled with a robust local Bayesian discriminant analysis classifier. In addition, we propose an expected maximum a posterior rule to take test sample uncertainty into account for classifiers that model the posterior, and use it to define a robust kernel classifier. Simulations with a Kalman tracker show significantly improved performance by taking into account the tracked state covariance.
The associations between physical activity and inflammatory markers in high-functioning older persons: MacArthur studies of successful aging

OBJECTIVES: To determine the relationships between recreational activity, house/yard work activity, work activity, and total physical activity and high levels of two peripheral blood markers of inflammation: interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Three communities (Durham, NC; New Haven, CT; and East Boston, MA). PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred seventy persons aged 70 to 79 who were in the top third of community-dwelling older persons with respect to physical and cognitive functioning. MEASUREMENTS: Blood levels of IL-6 and CRP and self-reported recreational activity, house/yard work activity, work activity, and total physical activity. RESULTS: The adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for individuals with high levels of recreational activity to have values in the top tertiles of IL-6 and CRP were 0.65 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.48–0.87) and 0.70 (95% CI = 0.51–0.95), respectively. The AORs for those with a high level of house/yard work activity to have values in the top tertile of IL-6 and CRP were 0.90 (95% CI = 0.67–1.20) and 0.70 (95% CI = 0.50–0.96), respectively. High levels of house/yard work and recreational activity were independently associated with lower risk of high CRP. CONCLUSION: The association between high levels of recreational activity and lower levels of the inflammatory markers IL-6 and CRP suggests a mechanism for its protective effect and supports interventions that increase physical activity in older persons. Such potential benefits of increased physical activity on inflammatory markers will need to be confirmed in clinical trials.
Anxiolytic effects of kava extract and kavalactones in the chick social separation-stress paradigm

Rationale: Piper methysticum extract (kava kava) possesses numerous therapeutic properties, but it is unknown which of its principle constituents (kavalactones) subserve such effects. Objectives: This experiment sought to characterize the putative anxiolytic properties of P. methysticum extract and its six principle kavalactones in the chick social separation-stress paradigm. Methods: Eight-day-old chicks received intraperitoneal injections of either vehicle, chlordiazepoxide (5.0 mg/ml per kg), P. methysticum extract (containing 30% kavalactones), kavain, dihydrokavain, methysticin, dihydromethysticin, yangonin, or desmethoxyyangonin (30 mg/ml per kg for kava compounds) 30 min prior to being tested in the presence of two conspecifics or in isolation for a 3-min observation period. Latency to adopt a ventral recumbent posture to index sedation, number of vocalizations to index separation distress, and a composite pain score (in response to 50 µl 0.10% formalin injection into the plantar surface of the foot) to index stress-induced analgesia served as dependent measures. Results: Both chlordiazepoxide and P. methysticum extract attenuated separation-induced distress vocalizations and stress-induced analgesia. Dihydrokavain attenuated separation-induced distress vocalizations. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the anxiolytic effects of P. methysticum extract may be mediated, in part, by dihydrokavain.
Rare complication characterized by late-onset transient neurological symptoms without hyperperfusion after carotid artery stenting: A report of three cases.

We experienced a rare complication after carotid artery stenting (CAS) characterized by transient neurological symptoms with no evidence of distal emboli or hyperperfusion. Using neuroimaging, we investigated the pathogenesis of the complication that occurred after CAS in three patients who developed neurological symptoms over a period of ten hours after CAS and improved within two days. None of the three patients showed signs of fresh infarctions on diffusion-weighted imaging or hyperperfusion on single-photon emission computed tomography. However, high signal intensity was observed in the leptomeningeal zone of the cerebral hemisphere on the stent side in all three patients and in the leptomeningeal zone of the contralateral anterior cerebral artery territory in one patient. These areas were assessed using fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) magnetic resonance imaging without gadolinium administration. The high signal intensity in the leptomeningeal zone disappeared as the symptoms improved. Bas...
Compromise in career decision making: A test of Gottfredson’s theory

Abstract The present study tested Gottfredson’s revised theory of circumscription and compromise. Consistent with the theory, it was predicted that individuals engaging in a low degree of compromise would place greatest importance on interests followed by prestige, and then sex-type. In a moderate degree of compromise situation, it was expected that individuals would place greatest importance on prestige followed by interests, and then sex-type. For individuals engaging in a high degree of compromise, sex-type was hypothesized to be most important followed by prestige, and then interests. Using a heterogeneous sample of 119 university students, partial support for Gottfredson’s (1996) revised theory was found. Participants engaging in a low degree of career compromise placed greatest importance on interests, followed by prestige, and then sex-type. However, within the moderate and high compromise conditions, there were no significant differences between prestige and sex-type, although both were significantly greater than interests. It was concluded that more research investigating these changes is needed.
Are Our Data Relevant to the Theory? The Case of Aggregate Consumption

Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) in the National Income and Product Accounts are often used to investigate whether the time series properties of consumption are consistent with the permanent-income/life-cycle hypotheses. In this article, I address the issue of the general quality of the PCE data and its definitional consistency with the typical model of the intertemporal allocation of consumption. I find that, in terms of the population coverage and the consumption concept, the raw PCE data are unsuitable for the analysis of the permanent-income/life-cycle hypotheses. More fundamentally, adjustments to the data to provide greater consistency with the theory alter critical conclusions concerning the time series properties of consumption.
Specific metal-oligonucleotide binding studied by high resolution tandem mass spectrometry.

Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICR-MS) was used to study the binding of metal ions to two oligonucleotides, d(pGCTTGCATp) and d(TTGGCCCTCCTT). Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the metal-oligonucleotide complex revealed that metal ions preferentially bound to the central thymine region of the sequence. The most probable binding sites were the phosphodiester backbone since the sum of the maximum number of charge addition from the metal ions and the charge state of the whole complex was found to be equal to the number of ionizable protons on the DNA backbone. Although site-specific and sequence-specific binding was observed for all three of the metal ions studied, the binding specificity of UO 2 2+ ions was significantly greater than for Mg 2+ and Na + . These experiments demonstrate that ESI-MS/MS can be applied to study the binding of metal ions and their complexes to oligonucleotides, providing not only information on the number of metal ions binding to the oligonucleotide, but also information related to the binding site(s) and binding specificity.
Bilinear rotation decoupling of homonuclear scalar interactions

Abstract A method for obtaining NMR spectra of organic liquids free of J -couplings is described. The coupling between a group of equivalent protons and an adjacent 13 C nets as a local decoupling field for the protons. A Pure chemical shift spectrum of ethanol is presented and possible applications to strongly coupled systems are discussed.
De Haas-Van Alphen effect in Bi powder

Abstract De Haas-Van Alphen oscillations in the susceptibility of a powder consisting of 25 microm Bi spheres have been observed.
Multi-wavelength mid-infrared micro-spectral imaging using semiconductor lasers.

Infrared (IR, 3-12-μm) microscopic spectral imaging is an important analytical technique. Many current instruments employ thermal IR light sources, which suffer the problem of low brightness and high noise. This paper evaluates the system engineering merit in using semiconductor lasers, which offer orders-of-magnitude-higher power, brightness, and lower noise. A microscopic spectral imaging system using semiconductor lasers (quantum cascade) as illuminators, and focal plane array detectors demonstrated a high signal-to-noise ratio (>20 dB) at video frame rate for a large illuminated area. The comparative advantages of laser vs. thermal light source are analyzed and demonstrated. Microscopic spectral imaging with fixed-wavelength and tunable lasers of 4.6-, 5.1-, 6-, and 9.3-μm wavelength was applied to a number of representative samples that consist of biological tissues (plant and animal), solid material (a stack of laminated polymers), and liquid chemical (benzene). Transmission spectral images with ~30-dB dynamic range were obtained with clear evidence of spectral features for different samples. The potential of more advanced systems with a wide coverage of spectral bands is discussed.
Steady-State Analysis of Aircraft D-C Generators

A practical method is developed for obtaining analytical expressions to represent the steady-state electromagnetic characteristics of a d-c generator. The terminal voltage of a separately excited d-c generator can be computed as a function of steady-state conditions of excitation, load, and speed when certain physical and empirical constants of the machine are known. The analysis leads to equations which can be applied to the condition of self-excitation. Applications of this mathematical tool to several aircraft generators indicate an accuracy approximating that of physical measurement when hysteresis effects are neglected.
Variable Bit Rate Optical CDMA Networks Using Multiple Pulse Position Modulation

We have demonstrated multiple-pulse position modulation to achieve a variable bit rate OCDMA system, operating at different bit rates of 2.5, 4.3, and 5.7 Gbps, without changing pulse- width, encoders/decoders, and utilized bandwidth.
Radical SAM enzymes in the biosynthesis of sugar-containing natural products

Carbohydrates play a key role in the biological activity of numerous natural products. In many instances their biosynthesis requires radical mediated rearrangements, some of which are catalyzed by radical SAM enzymes. BtrN is one such enzyme responsible for the dehydrogenation of a secondary alcohol in the biosynthesis of 2-deoxystreptamine. DesII is another example that catalyzes a deamination reaction necessary for the net C4 deoxygenation of a glucose derivative en route to desosamine formation. BtrN and DesII represent the two most extensively characterized radical SAM enzymes involved in carbohydrate biosynthesis. In this review, we summarize the biosynthetic roles of these two enzymes, their mechanisms of catalysis, the questions that have arisen during these investigations and the insight they can offer for furthering our understanding of radical SAM enzymology. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Radical SAM enzymes and Radical Enzymology.
Experimental cryosurgical lesion of the optic nerve

The right optic nerves of three cynomolgus monkeys were frozen under direct visualization after a modified Krohnlein operation. Left optic nerves were subjected to an identical procedure without freezing. Postoperatively, visual evoked responses (VERs) could not be obtained by stimulating right eyes, while electroretinograms from both eyes and VERs obtained by stimulating left eyes were normal. Extensive lesions which were found in the right optic nerves of all animals were histologically similar to those obtained by freezing in the brain.
Quantifying microarchitectural and light scattering differences between tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cell models of tissue: analysis with unified Mie and fractal model

Microarchitectural differences between tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cell models of tissue are quantified by unified Mie and fractal analysis of polarized light scattering spectroscopy. Differentiation based on their resulting different light scattering characteristics is discussed.
A Bayesian Approach for Estimating and Replacing Missing Categorical Data

We propose a new approach for estimating and replacing missing categorical data. With this approach, the posterior probabilities of a missing attribute value belonging to a certain category are estimated using the simple Bayes method. Two alternative methods for replacing the missing value are proposed: The first replaces the missing value with the value having the estimated maximum probability; the second uses a value that is selected with probability proportional to the estimated posterior distribution. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is evaluated based on some important data quality measures for data warehousing and data mining. The results of the experimental study demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Aggregated residential load modeling using dynamic Bayesian networks

It is already obvious that the future power grid will have to address higher demand for power and energy, and to incorporate renewable resources of different energy generation patterns. Demand response (DR) schemes could successfully be used to manage and balance power supply and demand under operating conditions of the future power grid. To achieve that, more advanced tools for DR management of operations and planning are necessary that can estimate the available capacity from DR resources. In this research, a Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN) is derived, trained, and tested that can model aggregated load of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. DBNs can provide flexible and powerful tools for both operations and planning, due to their unique analytical capabilities. The DBN model accuracy and flexibility of use is demonstrated by testing the model under different operational scenarios.
From single-race reporting to multiple-race reporting: using imputation methods to bridge the transition

In 1997, the Office of Management and Budget issued revised standards for the collection of race information within the Federal statistical system. One revision allows individuals to choose more than one race group when responding to Federal surveys and other Federal data collections. This paper explores methods that impute single-race categories for those who have given multiple-race responses. Such imputations would be useful when it is desired to conduct analyses involving only single-race categories, such as when trends over time are being examined by race group so that data collected under the old and new standards are being combined. The National Health Interview Survey has allowed multiple-race responses for several years, while also asking respondents to specify one race as their primary race. Exploratory analyses of data from the survey suggest that imputation methods that use demographic and contextual covariate information to predict primary race can have advantages with respect to lower bias and improved variance estimation compared to simpler methods discussed by the Office of Management and Budget. It also appears, however, that the relationships between primary race and covariates might be changing over time. Thus, caution should be exercised if an imputation model fitted to data from one time period is to be applied to data from another time period. Published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.