cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Periodic single-photon source and quantum memory

Although there has been tremendous progress in the development of true “on-demand” single-photon sources, periodic or “pseudodemand” single-photon sources can be a sufficient resource for many optical quantum information processing applications. Here we review a recent experimental demonstration of a periodic single-photon source based on parametric down-conversion photon pairs, optical storage loops, and high-speed switching. We also review an experiment in which high speed switching and storage loops were used to implement a periodic quantum memory device for polarization-encoded single-photon qubits. Finally, we describe a method in which two of these periodic quantum memory devices are used to facilitate the production of a periodic source of entangled photon pairs. These experiments and proposals are all motivated within the context of linear optics quantum computing.
Fruitflies (Communication arising): Pigmentation and mate choice in Drosophila

To appreciate how new morphological traits arise in the course of evolution, we need to understand both the genetic basis of phenotypic changes and the selective forces that promote them. We presented evidence that evolutionary changes in the regulation of the bab gene could account for the origin of sexually dimorphic abdominal pigmentation in D. melanogaster; we also investigated whether sexual selection could explain the origin and maintenance of this trait.
Essentials of Software Process

Process trends can be placed inside a triangular map according to their emphasis on three aspects, represented by the vertices: people, technology, and rigor. Plan-oriented, engineering, and research-based approaches tend to view software as a rigid artifact, so they stress technology and rigor over people. Evolutionary approaches tend to view software development as an organic, skills-driven technical activity, so they stress people and technology over rigor. But this scheme of positioning process approaches is rather rough. A more complete scheme requires dissection in terms of seven essential, mutually reinforcing characteristics: human-centricity, technical orientation, discipline, pragmatism, empiricism, experimentation, and value orientation.
An appetitively conditioned taste elicits a preferential increase in mesolimbic dopamine release.

Abstract Rats were prepared with intragastric (IG) cannulae for infusing a nutrient into the stomach and microdialysis guide shafts in the nucleus accumbens (NAC) and striatum (STR) for measuring changes in extracellular dopamine. Prior to dialysis, subjects were trained to prefer the mildly bitter taste of sucrose octaacetate (SOA; CS+) by pairing voluntary intake with automatic IG infusions of nutritive polycose. The mildly sour taste of citric acid (CS−) was paired with IG water infusions as a control. Unconditioned animals received four exposures to SOA and citric acid on counterbalanced, alternating days. After training, dialysis samples were collected every 30 min before, during, and after intake of the CS+ or CS− in response to 14 h water deprivation on counterbalanced, consecutive days. Voluntary intake of the CS+ for 30 min significantly increased extracellular DA in the NAC but not in the STR of conditioned subjects. Intake of the CS− did not alter DA efflux at either site. Unconditioned, control rats also showed no DA response to either taste. These results show selective activation of the mesolimbic dopaminergic projection system as a consequence of a conditioned taste stimulus paired with a nutritive gastric load. This suggests that conditioned DA release may play a role in learned ingestive behavior based on the postingestive effects of food.
Studies on the nerve endings in the visceral pleura

The visceral pleura of 12 dogs, eight lambs, nine monkeys and four rabbits was studied by methylene blue immersion. Nerve terminations were found in the pleura of all specimens. The following types of nerve endings and patterns of innervation were observed. (1) Free fiber endings arose from small myelinated fibers and terminated in the caudo-ventral lips of the lobes. The parent fibers of these and all other endings arose, in the lamb, rabbit and dog, from nerve bundles radiating from the hilus onto the inter-lobar and diaphragmatic pleural surfaces. In the monkey, parent fibers arose from a complex hilar plexus of nerve bundles before spreading out within the pleural surfaces. (2) Complex unencapsulated endings were seen in all specimens distributed evenly over the inter-lobar and diaphragmatic pleural surfaces. These arose from myelinated fibers which terminated in two or more complex endings. In the monkey, parent fibers may form an anastomotic network before terminating. (3) In the dog, an “end-net” formation was found which appears to be a type of complex unencapsulated ending. This “end-net” is formed by the anastomosis of the terminal branches of several small myelinated fibers.
An instrument for environmental control of vapor pressure and temperature for tensile creep and other mechanical property measurements.

An instrument for measuring the creep response of a material maintained under a controlled environment of temperature and vapor pressure is described. The temperature range of the instrument is 20–250°C while the range of vapor pressure is 0–1atm. Data are presented for tests conducted on this instrument with Nafion®, a perfluorinated ionomer developed by DuPont and used as a membrane in polymer exchange membrane fuel cells, over a range of temperature and water vapor pressure. The data are useful for predicting long-term creep behavior of the material in the fuel cell environment as well as providing insight to molecular level interactions in the material as a function of temperature and hydration. Measurements including dynamic and equilibrium strain due to water uptake as well as elastic modulus are described. The main features of the instrument are presented along with experimental methodology and analysis of results. The adaptation of the instrument to other mechanical tests is briefly described.
Assessing the Language Proficiency of Tribal Heritage Language Learners: Issues and Concerns for American Indian Pueblo Languages

Among American Indian Pueblo tribes, community-based language revitalisation initiatives have been established in response to a growing language shift towards English. This has been most prominent among school age children, prompting some tribes to extend tribal language programmes into local public schools. For centuries, the transmission of Pueblo Indian languages has depended solely on oral language traditions. This continues to be the foundation for tribal language initiatives with the primary goal being that of maintaining language and culture. The socio-cultural aspects of language use in family and community provide the context for language instruction in these programmes. Several of these programmes, recently established in schools, receive supplemental funding provided through state bilingual education funds. However, this has also ushered in new requirements for assessing the native language proficiency of students participating in these programmes, thereby creating new challenges for Pueblo com...
Customers' Identification of Acceptable Waiting Times in a Multi-Stage Restaurant System

Abstract The problem of waiting is critical in service encounters.No customer feels satisfied when s/he has to wait too long. Therefore, identification of acceptable waiting times is a good starting step in effective wait time management in a restaurant. Thus, this study was designed to provide restaurant managers with insights on acceptable waiting times for customers. Results showed that the acceptable waiting times vary depending on the service process stages and respondents' expectation levels (satisfactory, unsatisfactory, and very unsatisfactory). Participants placed different levels of importance on each stage of wait, and gender and age categories influenced their responses.
Plastic Dynamics and Brittle Vs. Ductile Failure in Noncrystalline Solids

We simulate fracture in two amorphous solids with different inter-particle potentials. These small changes in potential result in significant changes in dissipation near the crack tip. While one might expect these effects to arise from a change in flow stress, measurements reveal this is not the case. To understand why, we consider the relationship between crack dynamics, rate-dependent plasticity, and molecular-level structures in the glassy solid. In particular we discuss the macro-scale continuum theory of dynamic brittle fracture in a viscoplastic solid developed by Freund and Hutchinson and the meso-scale theory of viscoplasticity proposed by Falk and Langer. We further consider a simplified model on the molecular scale as a first-step toward the construction of first-principles models of dynamic plasticity and the brittle ductile transition in noncrystalline materials.
Analysis of magnetic amplifiers by the use of difference equations

THIS paper explains and illustrates a new way of analyzing magnetic amplifiers through the use of difference equations, and it shows that this method of analysis leads to a different view of the mechanics of operation of the magnetic amplifier. It will be shown that all magnetic amplifiers operate upon the same basic principles, and that these basic principles are demonstrated by the operation of the half-wave, half-cycle-response magnetic amplifier, as is shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, this circuit can be considered the building-block of all magnetic amplifiers.
Cross-checking semantic correctness: the case of finding file system bugs

Today, systems software is too complex to be bug-free. To find bugs in systems software, developers often rely on code checkers, like Linux's Sparse. However, the capability of existing tools used in commodity, large-scale systems is limited to finding only shallow bugs that tend to be introduced by simple programmer mistakes, and so do not require a deep understanding of code to find them. Unfortunately, the majority of bugs as well as those that are difficult to find are semantic ones, which violate high-level rules or invariants (e.g., missing a permission check). Thus, it is difficult for code checkers lacking the understanding of a programmer's true intention to reason about semantic correctness.To solve this problem, we present Juxta, a tool that automatically infers high-level semantics directly from source code. The key idea in Juxta is to compare and contrast multiple existing implementations that obey latent yet implicit high-level semantics. For example, the implementation of open() at the file system layer expects to handle an out-of-space error from the disk in all file systems. We applied Juxta to 54 file systems in the stock Linux kernel (680K LoC), found 118 previously unknown semantic bugs (one bug per 5.8K LoC), and provided corresponding patches to 39 different file systems, including mature, popular ones like ext4, btrfs, XFS, and NFS. These semantic bugs are not easy to locate, as all the ones found by Juxta have existed for over 6.2 years on average. Not only do our empirical results look promising, but the design of Juxta is generic enough to be extended easily beyond file systems to any software that has multiple implementations, like Web browsers or protocols at the same layer of a network stack.
Comparison of approaches for achieving very high speed in GaAs VLSI devices

Abstract Recent experimental work dealing with high electronic velocity in GaAs devices has shown that previously underestimated scattering mechanisms limit the mean free path of electrons to a few hundred angstroms, which in turn, limits the drift velocity of electrons in the devices. Since it is much easier to fabricate epitaxial layers with thicknesses of a few hundred angstroms than it is to define horizontal areas of the same dimensions using lithographic techniques, we feel that devices which hope to fully utilize the high electronic velocity inherent in GaAs must have the direction of electron transport oriented perpendicular to the surface. We discuss the current status of three such devices: the permeable base transistor, the planar doped barrier transistor, and the heterojunction bipolar transistor, as well as some of the problems and the future potential each faces.
HIV-1 protease cleavage mechanism: A theoretical investigation based on classical MD simulation and reaction path calculations using a hybrid QM/MM potential

Abstract The cleavage mechanism of HIV-1 protease (HIV-PR) is investigated with classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and with methods incorporating a hybrid quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) potential function. An X-ray structure of an HIV-PR/inhibitor complex was used to generate model HIV-PR/substrate and HIV-PR/intermediate complexes. Analysis of the feasibility of reaction is based on three hypothetical reaction mechanisms and a variety of possible starting conditions. The classical MD simulations were analyzed for conformations consistent with reaction initiation, as reported previously. It was concluded that Asp125 is the general acid in the first reaction step and transfers a proton to the carbonyl oxygen. Simulations suggest that water 301 stabilizes productive reactant and intermediate conformations but does not participate directly in the reaction. A lytic water, when present, is held very tightly in a position propitious for nucleophilic attack at the scissile carbon. For mechanisms consistent with the classical simulations, reaction barriers were calculated using a QM/MM potential. The QM/MM potential and a restrained energy minimization method for calculating reaction paths and barriers are described. Preliminary results identify reasonable barrier heights and transition state conformations and predict that the first reaction step follows a predominantly stepwise rather than concerted pathway.
Monotonic and cyclic loading behavior of porous scaffolds made from poly(para-phenylene) for orthopedic applications

Abstract Porous poly(para-phenylene) (PPP) scaffolds have tremendous potential as an orthopedic biomaterial; however, the underlying mechanisms controlling the monotonic and cyclic behavior are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to develop a method to integrate micro-computed tomography (μCT), finite-element analysis (FEA), and experimental results to uncover the relationships between the porous structure and mechanical behavior. The μCT images were taken from porous PPP scaffolds with a porosity of 75 vol% and pore size distribution between 420 and 500 µm. Representative sections of the image were segmented and converted into finite-element meshes. It was shown through FEA that localized stresses within the microstructure were approximately 100 times higher than the applied global stress during the linear loading regime. Experimental analysis revealed the S–N fatigue curves for fully dense and porous PPP samples were parallel on log–log plots, with the endurance limit for porous samples in tension being approximately 100 times lower than their solid PPP counterparts (0.3–35 MPa) due to the extreme stress concentrations caused by the porous microarchitecture. The endurance limit for porous samples in compression was much higher than in tension (1.60 MPa). Through optical, laser-scanning, and scanning-electron microscopy it was found that porous tensile samples failed under Mode I fracture in both monotonic and cyclic loading. By comparison, porous compressive samples failed via strut buckling/pore collapse monotonically and by shearing fracture during cyclic loading. Monotonic loading showed that deformation behavior was strongly correlated with pore volume fraction, matching foam theory well; however, fatigue behavior was much more sensitive to local stresses believed to cause crack nucleation.
Nonlinear problems modeling stochastic volatility and transaction costs

The option pricing problem when the asset is driven by a stochastic volatility process and in the presence of transaction costs leads to solving a nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE). The nonlinear term in the PDE reflects the presence of transaction costs. Under a particular market completion assumption we derive the nonlinear PDE whose solution may be used to find the price of options. Under suitable conditions, we give an algorithmic scheme to obtain the solution of the problem by an iterative method. We prove theoretically the existence of strong solutions to the problem.
Enhance Cyanide Recovery by UsingAir-Sparged Hydrocyclone

Human health and environmental concerns dictate that industrial processes be improved or replaced. Recovery or recycling is an important activity that allows cyanide residue from the industrial processes to be re-used, reducing its production cost and disposal problems. In this regard, the air-sparged hydrocyclone (ASH) has been used as a reactor for the treatment of cyanide solutions for cyanide recycling by acidification/volatilization using the Mexican modification of the Mills-Crowe process. Aqueous cyanide-ion concentration can be reduced from 250 ppm to below 20 ppm in the ASH with recoveries greater than 80 % in a single stage.
Efficient Seat Utilization in Global IT Delivery Service Systems

Rapidly growing service delivery organizations need efficient tools to manage their business and reduce the cost of growth. These delivery businesses run round the clock due to demands coming from different geographical locations for different shifts. Cost of adding new physical infrastructure and space to tap incoming business is a key inhibitor of growth. Physical space availability and its effective management is the key infrastructure enabler for effective business delivery apart from human resources. A considerable impact can be realized if space utilization can be increased by optimal allocation around different work shifts. Optimal space utilization can bring down the number of physical seats required to serve the existing demand and also allow service delivery organizations to commit to new business needs with the existing capacity. The paper addresses this business problem and proposes an effective seat utilization planning solution using a mathematical programming approach to meet various strategic and tactical business objectives in this setting.
Analysis of left-turn crash injury severity by conflicting pattern using partial proportional odds models

The purpose of this study is to examine left-turn crash injury severity. Left-turning traffic colliding with opposing through traffic and with near-side through traffic are the two most frequently occurring conflicting patterns among left-turn crashes (Patterns 5 and 8 in the paper, respectively), and they are prone to be severe. Ordered probability models with either logit or probit function is commonly applied in crash injury severity analyses; however, its critical assumption that the slope coefficients do not vary over different alternatives except the cut-off points is usually too restrictive. Partial proportional odds models are generalizations of ordered probability models, for which some of the beta coefficients can differ across alternatives, were applied to investigate Patterns 5 and 8, and the total left-turn crash injuries. The results show that partial proportional odds models consistently perform better than ordered probability models. By focusing on specific conflicting patterns, locating crashes to the exact crash sites and relating approach variables to crash injury in the analysis, researchers are able to investigate how these variables affect left-turn crash injuries. For example, opposing through traffic and near-side crossing through traffic in the hour of collision were identified significant for Patterns 5 and 8 crash injuries, respectively. Protected left-turn phasing is significantly correlated with Pattern 5 crash injury. Many other variables in driver attributes, vehicular characteristics, roadway geometry design, environmental factors, and crash characteristics were identified. Specifically, the use of the partial proportional formulation allows a much better identification of the increasing effect of alcohol and/or drug use on crash injury severity, which previously was masked using the conventional ordered probability models.
Validity of birth certificate-derived maternal weight data.

Gaining too little or too much weight during pregnancy poses health risks to mothers and their infants. 1 Our understanding of this problem, however, is incomplete due to insufficient research relating gestational weight gain (GWG) to rare but serious perinatal outcomes and to limited national monitoring and surveillance of GWG. The use of birth certificate data provides an opportunity to fill these gaps in large and representative populations. The U.S. birth certificate, revised in 2003, now includes data fields that allow evaluation of the appropriateness of GWG according to prepregnancy body mass index (BMI)-specific recommendations 1. Consequently, studies using vital records-based maternal weight data have become more common. 2–5 In 2009 the National Academies of Sciences/Institute of Medicine (IOM) called for expanded use of the revised U.S. birth certificate for monitoring of GWG, but expressed concerns about the validity of its self-reported weight data. 1 GWG is defined as weight at delivery minus the prepregnancy weight, and both weights are susceptible to measurement error. The birth certificate data on prepregnancy weight are almost always ascertained by maternal recall at delivery, 6 the accuracy of which declines as time since conception increases. 7, 8 Weight at delivery is intended to be gathered from prenatal records or the labor and delivery admission history and physical, 6 but these data are not always available. Individual obstetricians’ offices may not transmit prenatal records that document measured maternal weights to the labor and delivery unit, particularly when the mother delivers preterm. Additionally, the admission history and physical may contain only a maternal estimate of weight at delivery because weighing women before delivery is not uniformly performed. The validity of self-reported weight upon admission to the labor and delivery unit is not known. The question remains whether vital records BMI and GWG data are accurate enough to be used without major concern about misclassification bias, or whether measurement error requires that conventional results be adjusted for the bias using methods such as probabilistic bias analysis or Bayesian approaches. 9–12 We undertook a study to evaluate the accuracy of maternal prepregnancy BMI and GWG data derived from the Pennsylvania state birth certificates against information collected from the medical record. We also investigated whether accuracy differs by gestational age at delivery (a primary outcome of interest) and maternal race/ethnicity (a factor that might influence accuracy of weight reporting). 3, 13
Highly-scalable 3D CLOS NOC for many-core CMPs

In order to accommodate hundreds of processing elements forming many-core chip multiprocessors (CMP), there is a growing need for easily scalable, high-performance and low-power interconnect infrastructure. In this paper, we propose using 3D integrated CLOS network-on-chip (CNOC) to achieve these goals. We present the design of a 512-node 3D CNOC and evaluate its power consumption. We compare the power consumption of 3D CNOC with a planar CNOC implementation and with 2D and 3D mesh topologies.
Measuring Work and Support Network Satisfaction

In this article the development and pilot testing of a Work and Support Network Satisfaction Scale (WSNS) for early detection and intervention of troubled and dissatisfied workers is described. The results suggest the scale has potential use in detecting at-risk workers.
Modeling TCP throughput: a simple model and its empirical validation

In this paper we develop a simple analytic characterization of the steady state throughput, as a function of loss rate and round trip time for a bulk transfer TCP flow, i.e., a flow with an unlimited amount of data to send. Unlike the models in [6, 7, 10], our model captures not only the behavior of TCP's fast retransmit mechanism (which is also considered in [6, 7, 10]) but also the effect of TCP's timeout mechanism on throughput. Our measurements suggest that this latter behavior is important from a modeling perspective, as almost all of our TCP traces contained more time-out events than fast retransmit events. Our measurements demonstrate that our model is able to more accurately predict TCP throughput and is accurate over a wider range of loss rates.
Low-grade MALT lymphoma of the stomach: a review of treatment options.

Abstract Purpose: Low-grade mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the stomach (MLS) is often associated with the presence of Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) bacteria. Eradication of the infection with antibiotic therapy may result in regression of the lymphoma. But when antibiotic treatment fails to reverse the malignant process or if H. pylori is absent, other treatment options should be considered. Because MLS is often confined to the stomach and regional lymph nodes, it is potentially curable with local therapy. Endoscopy and improved imaging, with endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and computerized tomography (CT), have reduced the prior dependence on surgery for diagnosis and staging of gastric lymphomas. Methods and Results: This review details the advances in the diagnosis, classification, and imaging of MLS. We also describe the experience that supports the use of radiation therapy as the preferred treatment of MLS in patients who have not responded to antibiotic therapy or have not had evidence for H. pylori infection. Conclusions: Radiation therapy for MLS is not only effective and safe, but offers the significant advantage of low morbidity and gastric function preservation.
Applied physiology to the contemporary management of the neonate with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Mailing Address: Fernando Antibas Atik – The Cleveland Clinic Foundation – 9500 Euclid Avenue H35 Cleveland, Ohio 44195 – USA Email: fernandoatik@aol.com Received in 06/07/05 Accepted in 12/09/05 The surgical treatment of hypoplastic left heart syndrome is still a challenge. Few selected large volume centers that adopted protocols focused on understanding of post-Norwood pathophysiology have reduced their mortality rates to around 15%. The inherent inefficacy of the parallel circulation in Norwood operation lends itself to problems related to postoperative management of these patients crucially revolving around keeping a balance between systemic blood flow (Qs) and pulmonary blood flow (Qp). This paper describes the physiology of the Norwood principle, the importance of an adequate hemodynamic assessment, to guide the different postoperative management options.
The public perception of head injury in Missouri

Head injury constitutes a significant public health concern. Despite increasing recognition of the morbidity and mortality associated with head injury, there exist few statewide estimations of the prevalence and public perception of head injury. Knowledge of the public's perception can facilitate the funding and planning for the treatment and rehabilitation of persons with head injury. This study was undertaken for this purpose by the Missouri Head Injury Advisory Council and consisted of a stratified sampling of 1123 Missourians in a statewide telephone poll. The results revealed that the general public has an accurate perception of head injury and that knowledge improved as a function of direct experience with head injury.
Analysis of control parallelism in SIMD Instruction streams

This paper presents experimental evidence that the ability to exploit a small degree of control parallelism can provide a significant improvement in performance for SIMD machines. This evidence has been obtained through analysis of SIMD instruction traces gathered from a MasPar MP-1 system. Potential speedups of up to 2.5 times conventional SIMD were found. This paper also discusses details of such an architecture, called superscalar SIMD, and of the trace analysis process. We also consider some synchronization and communication issues that may arise. >
Cucumber Mosaic Virus Movement Protein Severs Actin Filaments to Increase the Plasmodesmal Size Exclusion Limit in Tobacco

Plant viral movement proteins (MPs) enable viruses to pass through cell walls by increasing the size exclusion limit (SEL) of plasmodesmata (PD). Here, we report that the ability of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) MP to increase the SEL of the PD could be inhibited by treatment with the actin filament (F-actin)-stabilizing agent phalloidin but not by treatment with the F-actin-destabilizing agent latrunculin A. In vitro studies showed that CMV MP bound globular and F-actin, inhibited actin polymerization, severed F-actin, and participated in plus end capping of F-actin. Analyses of two CMV MP mutants, one with and one without F-actin severing activities, demonstrated that the F-actin severing ability was required to increase the PD SEL. Furthermore, the Tobacco mosaic virus MP also exhibited F-actin severing activity, and its ability to increase the PD SEL was inhibited by treatment with phalloidin. Our data provide evidence to support the hypothesis that F-actin severing is required for MP-induced increase in the SEL of PD. This may have broad implications in the study of the mechanisms of actin dynamics that regulate cell-to-cell transport of viral and endogenous proteins.
Predictable threads for dynamic, hard real-time environments

Next-generation, hard real-time systems will require new, flexible functionality and guaranteed, predictable performance. This paper describes the UMass Spring threads package, designed specifically for multiprocessing in dynamic, hard real-time environments. This package is unique because of its support for new thread semantics for real-time processing. Predictable creation and execution of threads is achieved because of an underlying predictable kernel, the UMass Spring kernel. Design decisions and lessons learned while implementing the threads package are presented. Measurements affirm the predictability of this implementation on a representative multiprocessor platform. The adoption of the threads package in the UMass Spring kernel results in additional performance improvements, which include reduced context switching overhead and reduced average-case memory access durations.
The Kidney Form of Trypanosoma musculi: A Distinct Stage in the Life Cycle?

Trypanosoma musculi is a parasite specific to mice, which resides in the blood and lacks intracellular stages. After immune clearance of the flagellates from the general circulation, mice are resistant to reinfection. Yet, long after parasites are no longer detected in the peripheral blood, they persist in the vasa recta of the kidneys and it has been proposed that this is an immunologically privileged site for T. musculi. This relationship provides a useful model for studies of latent or chronic infections in immune hosts. Here, Fernando Monroy and Donald Dusanic consider the immune responses of mice to T. musculi and compare characteristics of the parasites from the vasa recta (kidney forms, KFs) of mice with latent infections to trypanosomes from the peripheral blood (bloodstream forms, BSFs) of animals during active infections. They consider how KFs evade immune destruction and suggest that these sequestered parasites represent a distinct stage in the life cycle.
Accelerating spectral-based color separation within the Neugebauer subspace

Spectral separation is the process of obtaining printer control values to reproduce a given spectral reflectance. Given a multispectral image where each pixel represents a spectral reflectance, separation could be implemented by inverting a physical printer model on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Such a process would obviously need to be very fast to handle high-resolution images in a reasonable time. For a printer whose spectral response is characterized by the Yule–Nielsen spectral Neugebauer model, the linear regression iteration (LRI) method can be used to invert the model. We introduce the subspace linear regression iteration (SLRI) method, a modification of LRI shown to be significantly accelerated due to performing its calculations within the subspace determined by the Neugebauer primaries. Using this subspace approach, the number of multiplications becomes independent of the spectral sampling rate. Using a standard six color printer and a common spectral sampling rate, the number of multiplications can be decreased by about two-thirds without changing the convergence behavior.
Why Has Ecological Risk Assessment Found Such Limited Application

Recently I have been asking a fundamental question about a particular part of my research career. It might be that after so many years of research and teaching environmental science I am wondering ...
New Species of Stenospermation and Xanthosoma (Araceae) from Bajo Calima, Valle Department, Colombia

ABSTRACT Eight new species of Stenospermation Schott and Xanthosoma Schott (Araceae) from Bajo Calima, Colombia, are described as new: Stenospermation ellipticum Croat & D. C. Bay, S. escobariae Croat & D. C. Bay, S. flavum Croat & D. C. Bay, S. glaucophyllum Croat & D. C. Bay, S. monsalvae Croat & D. C. Bay, S. velutinum Croat & D. C. Bay, Xanthosoma guttatum Croat & D. C. Bay, and X. hebetatum Croat & D. C. Bay.
Maternal deployment and maternal resilience: effects on parenting stress and resilience building strategies for children

Since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, more than 170,000 mothers have experienced a military deployment. A mother’s deployment can have significant effects on a child’s mental, physical, and socio-emotional well-being (Ginsburg, 2011), so many military children are at increased risk for poor developmental outcomes. Family-resilience literature suggests, however, that with appropriate support, children can cope with such adverse experiences and end the deployment cycle with a positive outcome. The aim of this paper is to further understand the development of resilience in military children whose mothers have deployed, with emphasis on the resilience-promoting behaviors of such mothers with respect to their children. The overall results of the study indicate that a causal relationship may be established between maternal stress levels and internal stress levels. The study suggests that lower levels of maternal stress after deployment are related to higher intrinsic levels of inner resilience.
How Diverse Detrital Environments Influence Nutrient Stoichiometry between Males and Females of the Co-Occurring Container Mosquitoes Aedes albopictus, Ae. aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus

Allocation patterns of carbon and nitrogen in animals are influenced by food quality and quantity, as well as by inherent metabolic and physiological constraints within organisms. Whole body stoichiometry also may vary between the sexes who differ in development rates and reproductive allocation patterns. In aquatic containers, such as tree holes and tires, detrital inputs, which vary in amounts of carbon and nitrogen, form the basis of the mosquito-dominated food web. Differences in development times and mass between male and female mosquitoes may be the result of different reproductive constraints, which could also influence patterns of nutrient allocation. We examined development time, survival, and adult mass for males and females of three co-occurring species, Aedes albopictus, Ae. aegypti, and Culex quinquefasciatus, across environments with different ratios of animal and leaf detritus. We quantified the contribution of detritus to biomass using stable isotope analysis and measured tissue carbon and nitrogen concentrations among species and between the sexes. Development times were shorter and adults were heavier for Aedes in animal versus leaf-only environments, whereas Culex development times were invariant across detritus types. Aedes displayed similar survival across detritus types whereas C. quinquefasciatus showed decreased survival with increasing leaf detritus. All species had lower values of 15N and 13C in leaf-only detritus compared to animal, however, Aedes generally had lower tissue nitrogen compared to C. quinquefasciatus. There were no differences in the C:N ratio between male and female Aedes, however, Aedes were different than C. quinquefasciatus adults, with male C. quinquefasciatus significantly higher than females. Culex quinquefasciatus was homeostatic across detrital environments. These results allow us to hypothesize an underlying stoichiometric explanation for the variation in performance of different container species under similar detrital environments, and if supported may assist in explaining the production of vector populations in nature.
Immune activation and MRgFUS.

For many years, immune activation following tumor ablation has been evaluated in the treatment of systemic cancer. Ultrasound ablation is thought to promote dendritic cell maturation and T-cell immunity, and is particularly advantageous because it is non-invasive, can be controlled with high spatial precision and uses no harmful ionizing radiation.
The Effect of Resecting a Part of the Uterus on the Formation of the Hen’s Egg

Abstract IT HAS been clearly demonstrated (Asmundson and Jervis 1933, Asmundson and Burmester 1936) that resection of a part of the uterus results in reduced secretion by the uterus. The shells of eggs laid after the operation weighed less than the shells of eggs laid before the operation. It may also be considered well established that resection of a part of the oviduct has no direct influence on secretion in another part of the oviduct. Thus when a part of the albumen tube was resected there was a reduction in the amount of the albumen secreted while the amount of shell secreted was not reduced except when there was an appreciable reduction in the combined weight of the yolk and albumen. This it has been pointed out, is a secondary effect since the amount of shell secreted depends not only on the area of secreting surface, but also on the total . . .
Improving the Laboratory Add-On Process and Increasing Housestaff Satisfaction with an EMR Intervention

At a community hospital in Brooklyn, New York, the process for ordering add-on testing to drawn blood tubes involved filling out a paper sheet, then faxing and bulleting that sheet to the lab. It was a very inefficient, cumbersome, and unsatisfactory way of completing the process. In light of this, an EMR intervention was implemented in which the add-on order was placed as an EMR order. The study spanned over almost five years, over a year of which was post-intervention. There was a statistically significant increase in the number of add-on orders being placed as a result of the intervention. This has greatly improved housestaff satisfaction with the overall process. In conclusion, the project was a great success and met its goals of simplifying a difficult and cumbersome process while increasing user satisfaction.
Contextualizing Hepatocyte Functionality of Cryopreserved HepaRG Cell Cultures

Over the last decade HepaRG cells have emerged as a promising alternative to primary human hepatocytes (PHH) and have been featured in over 300 research publications. Most of these reports employed freshly differentiated HepaRG cells that require time-consuming culture (∼28 days) for full differentiation. Recently, a cryopreserved, predifferentiated format of HepaRG cells (termed here "cryo-HepaRG") has emerged as a new model that improves global availability and experimental flexibility; however, it is largely unknown whether HepaRG cells in this format fully retain their hepatic characteristics. Therefore, we systematically investigated the hepatocyte functionality of cryo-HepaRG cultures in context with the range of interindividual variation observed with PHH in both sandwich-culture and suspension formats. These evaluations uncovered a novel adaptation period for the cryo-HepaRG format and demonstrated the impact of extracellular matrix on cryo-HepaRG functionality. Pharmacologically important drug-metabolizing alleles were genotyped in HepaRG cells and poor metabolizer alleles for CYP2D6, CYP2C9, and CYP3A5 were identified and consistent with higher frequency alleles found in individuals of Caucasian decent. We observed liver enzyme inducibility with aryl hydrocarbon receptor, constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), and pregnane X receptor activators comparable to that of sandwich-cultured PHH. Finally, we show for the first time that cryo-HepaRG supports proper CAR cytosolic sequestration and translocation to hepatocyte nuclei in response to phenobarbital treatment. Taken together, these data reveal important considerations for the use of this cell model and demonstrate that cryo-HepaRG are suitable for metabolism and toxicology screening.
Non-pharmacologic interventions for SCI patients: Hypertension and hypothermia

Abstract Spinal cord injury remains an important cause of disability worldwide. Current research efforts aim to limit the initial severity of injury, thereby reducing functional impairment. While a number of pharmacological agents are currently under consideration as potential neuroprotective agents, hypothermia and hypertensive therapy have also long been investigated for their potential value in this regard. In this article, we explore the existing preclinical and clinical evidence for the use of local and systemic hypothermia as well as hypertensive therapy in the context of acute traumatic SCI. In addition we will explore existing evidence gaps and opportunities for future research.
Implementation of online opioid overdose prevention, recognition and response trainings for professional first responders: Year 1 survey results

Abstract Background This article reports on the first web-based implementation of an opioid-overdose prevention, recognition and response training for professional first responders. The training was disseminated nationally over one listserv in November 2014. The same year, following Act 139, which mandated the provision of an online training for police officers in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Department of Health approved the training. It was subsequently adopted as the primary training tool for police and other first responders in Pennsylvania and has been used as a training tool by first responders nationally. Methods Analyses employed descriptive statistics to report characteristics of a sample of 387 professional first responders who completed a survey about their experience with the online training. Z-ratios were used to compare independent proportions related to overdose, naloxone, and satisfaction with the training between key subgroups, and paired t -tests were used to compare participant responses to a range of items pre- and post-participation in the training. Results Between January–October 2015, 4804 first responders took the training; 1697 (35.3%) agreed to be contacted; of these, 387 (22.8%) completed a survey about the training and subsequent overdose response experiences. The majority (86.4%) were from Pennsylvania, with police representing over half of the sample. Analysis of the post-training survey indicates high satisfaction with content, format and mode of delivery, and high satisfaction with items related to confidence and overdose reversal preparedness. Conclusions This study demonstrates the feasibility and acceptability of implementing online training for first responders in overdose prevention, recognition and response.
Probabilistic Palmgren–Miner rule, with application to solder materials experiencing elastic deformations

It has been recently shown that there are effective ways not only to reduce the interfacial stresses in electronic packaging assemblies with solder joint arrays as the second level of interconnections, but to do that to an extent that inelastic strains in the peripheral joints, where the induced thermal stresses and strains are the highest, are avoided. While various and numerous modifications of the empirical Coffin–Manson relationship are used to predict the fatigue life of solder materials experiencing inelastic strains and operated in low cycle fatigue conditions, the Palmgren–Miner rule of the linear accumulation of fatigue damages, although suggested many decades ago, is still viewed by many material scientists and reliability physicists as a suitable model that enables one to quantify the cumulative fatigue damage in metals experiencing elastic strains. In this analysis the Palmgren–Miner rule is extended for the case of random loading, and a simple formalism is suggested for the evaluation of the remaining useful lifetime for a solder material subjected to random loading and experiencing elastic thermally induced shearing deformations. Special highly focused and highly cost effective accelerated tests have to be conducted, of course, to establish the S–N curve for the given solder material. In the future work we intend to extend the suggested methodology to take into account various aspects of the physics-of-failure: the role of the growth kinetics of intermetallic compound layers; the random number, size and orientation of grains in the joints; position of the joint with respect to the mid-cross-section of the assembly (peripheral joints are more prone to elevated interfacial stresses); assembly size, etc. All this effort, important as it is, is, however, beyond the scope of this analysis, which is aimed at the extension of the classical Palmgren–Miner rule for the case of random loading.
Immunomodulators for Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

This chapter discusses systemic medicines that modulate the immune system, with the rationale that some cases of IC/BPS involve an inflammatory pathophysiology. Due to the significant risks of systemic immune suppression, it is essential to select patients who have the relevant pathophysiology. With current technology, this is best accomplished by cystoscopy and bladder biopsy. It also is essential to try less risky treatments first, and offer immunomodulation only when the less risky treatments fail. Of all immunomodulators previously studied for IC/BPS, only two are discussed in the American Urological Association guideline. First, the guideline recommends that long-term systemic glucocorticoids not be used. Second, the guideline lists cyclosporine A as a fifth tier treatment option (with the sixth and final tier being major surgery). This chapter summarizes the prior literature on immunomodulators previously investigated for IC/BPS and describes practical considerations for clinical use of cyclosporine A.
Hydrogen Recycling and Wall Equilibration In Fusion Devices

The design of fusion devices for steady state operation requires the knowledge of relaxation processes and time constants affecting the stationary conditions. Among the more prominent candidates are the confinement times, current relaxation times, and the wall equilibration times. Typical confinement times of today’s midsize devices are in the order of 1 second, current relaxation times are, depending on the plasma parameters, in the range of 5 seconds, and wall equilibration times are commonly assumed to be in the range of hundreds of seconds. This wall equilibration time obviously determines the pulse length necessary to achieve stationary density conditions. On the other hand, it is not very well defined and depends to a large degree on the wall state and plasma conditions. In order to shed some light on the involved processes, this paper investigates wall equilibration processes which are controlled by hydrogen recycling.