cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Bayesian Approach to Script Independent Multilingual Keyword Spotting

We propose a script independent bayesian framework for keyword spotting in multilingual handwritten documents. The approach relies on local character level score and global word level hypothesis scores and learns a bayesian logistic regression classifier to distinguish between keywords and non-keywords. In a bayesian formulation of logistic regression, the integral over weights becomes intractable. Variational approximation is used for inference. In order to learn a robust classifier with minimal number of samples, we apply bayesian active learning framework to request labels for those word images which provide maximum information gain in improving the classifier. We evaluate our system on multilingual datasets, publicly available IAM dataset for English, AMA for Arabic and LAW dataset for Devanagiri. The system is also evaluated on a synthetic multilingual dataset prepared by combining samples from IAM, AMA and LAW datasets. The results are comparable with the state of art multilingual keyword spotting framework.
Resonance decay contributions to higher-order anisotropic flow coefficients

We show that in hydrodynamic simulations for relativistic heavy-ion collisions, strong resonance decay calculations can be performed with fewer species of particle resonances while preserving good accuracy in single particle spectra and flow anisotropies. Such partial resonance calculations boost computation efficiency by a factor of 10 which is essential for large scale event-by-event simulations.
Hierarchical transport networks optimizing dynamic response of permeable energy-storage materials.

Channel widths and spacing in latticelike hierarchical transport networks are optimized to achieve maximum extraction of gas or electrical charge from nanoporous energy-storage materials during charge and discharge cycles of specified duration. To address a range of physics, the effective transport diffusivity is taken to vary as a power, $m$, of channel width. Optimal channel widths and spacing in all levels of the hierarchy are found to increase in a power-law manner with normalized system size, facilitating the derivation of closed-form approximations for the optimal dimensions. Characteristic response times and ratios of channel width to spacing are both shown to vary by the factor $2/m$ between successive levels of any optimal hierarchy. This leads to fractal-like self-similar geometry, but only for $m=2$. For this case of quadratic dependence of diffusivity on channel width, the introduction of transport channels permits increases in system size on the order of ${10}^{4}$, ${10}^{8}$, and ${10}^{10}$, without any reduction in extraction efficiency, for hierarchies having 1, 2 and, 8 levels, respectively. However, we also find that for a given system size there is an optimum number of hierarchical levels that maximizes extraction efficiency.
Dietary intake of female U.S. soccer players.

The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the dietary intake of female soccer players from the Under-21 (U-21) United States women’s national soccer team. Participants completed three-day food records and a medical history questionnaire. The female soccer players reported an energy intake of 34 kcal/kg body weight (total 2015 kcal/day). The contribution of protein, fat and carbohydrate to total energy intake were 15%, 30% and 55%, respectively. Dietary intakes of vitamins D and E were less than two-thirds of the recommendations and intake of all minerals was greater than two-thirds of the recommendations. The self-reported health status suggests that this was a healthy group of female athletes. Responses to the nutrition attitude questions suggest that these athletes may benefit from appropriate education regarding the role of nutrients in health and performance. In summary, results of this pilot study suggest that these young female soccer players should be encouraged to eat small, high carbohydrate nutrient dense meals, frequently throughout the day, and they should be provided with appropriate nutrition counseling.
Magnitude of end-stage renal disease in IDDM: a 35 year follow-up study.

Magnitude of end-stage renal disease in IDDM: A 35 year follow-up study. Significant improvements were made during the last two decades in the treatment of IDDM patients. To assess the risk of ESRD in a population that was exposed to these improvements, we determined the cumulative incidence of ESRD in a cohort of 142 white patients who were aged less than 21 years when they came to the Joslin Diabetes Center in 1959 with recently diagnosed IDDM. The first case of ESRD occurred after 13 years of IDDM, and a total of 25 cases have developed by 35 years' duration (cumulative incidence 21.3%). Median survival after the diagnosis of ESRD for the 16 patients who began dialysis was only 3.5 years. A strong predictor of the development of ESRD was the level of glycemic control during the first two decades of IDDM. ESRD developed in 36.3% of patients in the worst tertile for glycemic control but only in 14.4% and 9.2% of those in the middle and best tertiles. In comparison with two population based studies, the onset of ESRD in the Joslin Cohort was postponed by about five years. This advantage is more plausibly attributable to differences arising after the diagnosis of diabetes than to referral of less severe cases of IDDM to the Joslin Diabetes Center. What differences in diabetes care accounted for the postponement of ESRD cannot be discerned from comparisons among published studies, but likely candidates include Joslin's long-term advocacy of good glycemic control and the prompt implementation of new clinical interventions, such as antihypertensive treatment.
Rapid toxicity testing based on mitochondrial respiratory activity.

The need exists for rapid and inexpensive methods to determine the health effects of environmental contaminants on biological systems. One of the current research approaches for assessing cytotoxicity is to monitor the respiratory activity of the mitochondrion, a sensitive, nonspecific subcellular target site. Detected changes in mitochondrial function after the addition of a test chemical could be correlated to toxic effects. Mitochondrial respiration can be characterized by three indices: state 3 and state 4 respiratory rates, and the respiratory control ratio (RCR). State 4, the idle or resting state, results when coupled mitochondrial respire in a medium containing inorganic phosphate and a Kreb's cycle substrate in the absence of a phosphate acceptor such as adenosine diphosphate (ADP). In the presence of ADP the respiration rate increases to a maximum (state 3), accompanied by phosphorylation of ADP to adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The ratio of state 3 to state 4, or RCR, indicates how tightly the oxidative phosphorylation process is coupled. The synthesis of ATP by mitochondria is influenced by a number of compounds, most of which are either uncouplers or inhibitors.
Generalization learning techniques for automating the learning of heuristics

This paper investigates the problem of implementing machine learning of heuristics. First, a method of representing heuristics as production rules is developed which facilitates dynamic manipulation of the heuristics by the program embodying them. Second, procedures are developed which permit a problem-solving program employing heuristics in production rule form to learn to improve its performance by evaluating and modifying existing heuristics and hypothesizing new ones, either during an explicit training process or during normal program operation. Third, the feasibility of these ideas in a complex problem-solving situation is demonstrated by using them in a program to make the bet decision in draw poker. Finally, problems which merit further investigation are discussed, including the problem of defining the task environment and the problem of adapting the system to board games.
Size-Selective Dispersion of Dodecanethiol-Coated Nanocrystals in Liquid and Supercritical Ethane by Density Tuning

Silver and gold nanocrystals, sterically stabilized with dodecanethiol ligands, were dispersed in supercritical ethane. Nanocrystal dispersibility was measured as a function of solvent densitywith pressures and temperatures ranging from 138 to 414 bar and 25 °C to 65 °C, respectivelyusing UV/visible absorbance spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Dispersibility depends strongly on the nanocrystal size and solvent density. Higher density reduces the effective χ interaction parameter for dodecane in ethane, which leads directly to increased steric repulsion between nanocrystals. Since the van der Waals attraction between the nanocrystal cores increases significantly with size, an increase in ethane density and thus solvent strength disperses larger nanocrystals with size selectivity. A reduction in ethane density precipitates the nanocrystals, again with size selectivity. Furthermore, the ethane density could be cycled to reversibly precipitate and disperse sterically stabilized nanocrys...
IN-UTERO DEATH AS A POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCE OF PRENATAL ADMINISTRATION OF INDOMETHACIN

Indomethacin, a non-specific prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor, has been advocated for use in a variety of areas including obstetrics. It rapidly crosses the placenta and significant concentrations occur in fetal blood and amniotic fluid. The present study was designed to determine the effects of indomethacin on near-term fetuses of mongrel dogs. Fetuses removed by Caesarian section (following maternal administration of 1 mg/kg/day indomethacin for 7 days prior to anticipated delivery) were fully developed but nonviable. Some placental separation was found on Caesarian section, and this was the major gross abnormality observed. In-utero closure of the ductus arteriosus was considered a possible cause of death but autopsies of the animals failed to confirm this. The ducti of the fetuses were found to be either of the same caliber as the pulmonary artery or only partially constricted (to the extent that the lumen was approximately one-half that of the pulmonary artery). The lungs had the appearance of normal unborn lungs. Since signs of obvious maternal complications were absent, it is probable that fetal demise was the result of the administration of the indomethacin. Autopsy findings demonstrated that in-utero closure of the ductus arteriosus was likely not the responsible factor.
Effects of central nervous system accumulation of tellurium on behavior in rats

Rats were treated for 112 days with daily injections of 2 mg/kg potassium tellurite in Sorensen's phosphate buffer or with the buffer vehicle only. At sacrifice, the cerebral gray matter of the animals treated with tellurite was grossly darkened. The presence of tellurium in cerebellum was confirmed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Growth of the tellurite-treated animals was significantly impaired when compared with control animals. However, in a T-maze the activity level of the tellurite-treated animals was increased. On a simple delayed response task, the performance of the tellurite-treated animals was more consistent than that of the buffer-treated animals.
Multichannel PCR-CE Microdevice for Genetic Analysis

We have developed a fully integrated multichannel polymerase chain reaction-capillary electrophoresis (PCR-CE) microdevice with nanoliter reactor volumes for highly parallel genetic analyses. Resistance temperature detectors and heaters made out of Ti/Pt are integrated on the microchip using a scalable radial design to provide precise temperature control of the four parallel PCR-CE reactor systems. Heating rates of >15 °C s-1 and cooling rates of >10 °C s-1 allow cycle times of 50 s and 30 complete PCR cycles in <27 min. PDMS membrane valves control and localize PCR reagents in the 380-nL reactors. By directly integrating PCR reactors with the CE separation system, efficient coupling of amplification with separation is achieved. The microdevice demonstrates good amplification uniformity and sensitivity down to 10 initial template copies in the 380-nL reactor (∼43 aM) with signal-to-noise ratio greater than 10. Parallel PCR-CE multiplex amplification and genetic analyses of four different samples with (1) ...
The pituitary gland and calcium metabolism in Fundulus diaphanus (Teleosteii)

Tetanic seizures and hypocalcemia were observed in hypophysectomized Fundulus diaphanus maintained in fresh water. Serum sodium and chloride levels did not decrease in proportion to the decreases in serum calcium levels. It is suggested that the pituitary influence on serum calcium might be distinct from its effect on serum sodium or chloride.
Genetic determination of biological age in the Mennonites of the Midwestern United States.

Numerous studies have shown that longevity is moderately heritable in human populations. Longevity, however, contains limited information on functional status, since individuals may exhibit differential survival patterns. In this study, we employed a stepwise multiple regression approach to estimate biological aging in a Mennonite population, using chronological age as a dependent variable and various predictors of chronological age including subphenotypes related to diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, renal function, and markers of functional ability. The residual (the difference between chronological and predicted ages) is considered a marker of biological age. In fact, two different data sets were used to obtain residuals due to the availability of data. In each analysis, chronological age was regressed on predictor variables in a stepwise manner, retaining the variables significant at the 5% level. The first analysis (N=729) included 6 significant predictors (R(2)=44.3%): glucose, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), cholesterol, albumin, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and ln potassium, and the second analysis (N=232) included 9 significant predictors (R(2)=71.5%): BUN, albumin, SBP, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1), grip strength, trunk flexibility, reaction time, and FEV1xsex. Using a variance components approach, we found that the data set-specific residuals were significantly heritable (h(2)+/-SE): first analysis=0.265+/-0.106, and second analysis=0.469+/-0.180. The residuals from the second data set appear to be more informative for biological aging, perhaps due to the inclusion of functional ability-related phenotypes in addition to the blood chemistry variables. In summary, we have shown that markers of biological aging in Mennonites are under substantial additive genetic influences.
Cell-specific differences in the requirements for translation quality control

Protein synthesis has an overall error rate of approximately 10-4 for each mRNA codon translated. The fidelity of translation is mainly determined by two events: synthesis of cognate amino acid:tRNA pairs by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) and accurate selection of aminoacyl-tRNAs (aa-tRNAs) by the ribosome. To ensure faithful aa-tRNA synthesis, many aaRSs employ a proofreading (“editing”) activity, such as phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetases (PheRS) that hydrolyze mischarged Tyr-tRNAPhe. Eukaryotes maintain two distinct PheRS enzymes, a cytoplasmic (ctPheRS) and an organellar form. CtPheRS is similar to bacterial enzymes in that it consists of a heterotetramer in which the α-subunits contain the active site and the β-subunits harbor the editing site. In contrast, mitochondrial PheRS (mtPheRS) is an α-subunit monomer that does not edit Tyr-tRNAPhe, and a comparable transacting activity does not exist in organelles. Although mtPheRS does not edit, it is extremely specific as only one Tyr-tRNAPhe is synthesized for every ∼7,300 Phe-tRNAPhe, compatible with an error rate in translation of ∼10-4. When the error rate of mtPheRS was increased 17-fold, the corresponding strain could not grow on respiratory media and the mitochondrial genome was rapidly lost. In contrast, error-prone mtPheRS, editing-deficient ctPheRS, and their wild-type counterparts all supported cytoplasmic protein synthesis and cell growth. These striking differences reveal unexpectedly divergent requirements for quality control in different cell compartments and suggest that the limits of translational accuracy may be largely determined by cellular physiology.
Infection is an Unusual But Serious Complication of a Femoral Artery Catheterization Site Closure Device

Percutaneous devices have been developed to close the femoral artery puncture site after catheterization. Because direct compression is not needed, the devices save time for the treating health-care provider, reduce patient discomfort, and obviate the need for post-catheterization bed rest. Reported complications with use of these devices are similar in nature and frequency to those accompanying direct compression. Complications of infection requiring surgical treatment are exceedingly rare with use of these devices. We describe a series of five catheterization site infections occurring among 1807 patients (0.3%) whose femoral artery puncture was closed with a percutaneous suture closure device. All patients required operative intervention and there was one late death. Physicians should be aware of this uncommon but serious complication to expedite evaluation and treatment of patients with suspected infections from these devices.
Prevalence of undiagnosed and inadequately treated type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia in morbidly obese patients who present for bariatric surgery.

Background Pharmacotherapy is considered the primary treatment modality for diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), and dyslipidemia (DYS). We sought to investigate the status of DM, HTN, and DYS in patients who seek bariatric surgery.
Before we knew it: an empirical study of zero-day attacks in the real world

Little is known about the duration and prevalence of zero-day attacks, which exploit vulnerabilities that have not been disclosed publicly. Knowledge of new vulnerabilities gives cyber criminals a free pass to attack any target of their choosing, while remaining undetected. Unfortunately, these serious threats are difficult to analyze, because, in general, data is not available until after an attack is discovered. Moreover, zero-day attacks are rare events that are unlikely to be observed in honeypots or in lab experiments.In this paper, we describe a method for automatically identifying zero-day attacks from field-gathered data that records when benign and malicious binaries are downloaded on 11 million real hosts around the world. Searching this data set for malicious files that exploit known vulnerabilities indicates which files appeared on the Internet before the corresponding vulnerabilities were disclosed. We identify 18 vulnerabilities exploited before disclosure, of which 11 were not previously known to have been employed in zero-day attacks. We also find that a typical zero-day attack lasts 312 days on average and that, after vulnerabilities are disclosed publicly, the volume of attacks exploiting them increases by up to 5 orders of magnitude.
Are public school teacher salaries paid compensating wage differentials for student racial and ethnic characteristics

The present paper examines the relationship between public school teacher salaries and the racial concentration and segregation of students in the district. A particularly rich set of control variables is included to better measure the effect of racial characteristics. Additional analyses included Metropolitan Statistical Area fixed effects and longitudinal teacher salary data. The results are generally consistent with a positive compensating wage differential for working in districts with a higher percentage of Black and Latino students. The longitudinal results also suggest that more segregated districts may pay lower salaries.
Self-punitive behavior with a distinctively marked punishment zone

Self-punitive locomotor behavior in rats was investigated in two studies in which the distinctiveness of the punishment zone was manipulated. Contrary to a discrimination hypothesis, conditions designed to enhance the discriminability of the punishment region failed to produce a decrement in vicious-circle behavior. An alternative hypothesis, capable of encompassing both decremental and incremental effects of increased distinctiveness, is proposed.
Job Completion Based Inventory Systems: Optimal Policies for Repair Kits and Spare Machines

In this paper, we consider multi-item inventory systems that contain repair kits of spare parts and tools and may include an inventory of spare machines as well. Demands occur in the form of field repair jobs, each requiring some collection of parts and tools for completion. If any required part or tool is not in the repair kit, the repair job is "broken." The penalty or inconvenience cost is assumed to be proportional to the number of broken jobs, regardless of the number of items short. Previous work on job completion based systems is summarized and new results for the optimal solutions are derived. A more general job completion based system is also analyzed, which allows a pool of spare machines to be used to satisfy demands which cannot be met with the repair kits. Techniques are presented for optimizing the trade-off between the inventory cost of repair kits plus spare machines and the overall level of service.
Associations between fractional anisotropy and problematic alcohol use in juvenile justice-involved adolescents

AbstractBackground: Studies have shown associations between heavy alcohol use and white matter alterations in adolescence. Youth involved with the juvenile justice system engage in high levels of risk behavior generally and alcohol use in particular as compared to their non-justice-involved peers. Objectives: This study explored white matter integrity among justice-involved adolescents. Analyses examined fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) between adolescents with low and high levels of problematic alcohol use as assessed by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Methods: Participants (N = 125; 80% male; 14–18 years) completed measures assessing psychological status and substance use followed by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). DTI data for low (n = 51) and high AUDIT (n = 74) adolescents were subjected to cluster-based group comparisons on skeletonized FA and MD data. Results: Whole-brain analyses revealed significantly lower FA in clusters in the right and left posterior ...
Fast Fourier and Wavelet Transforms for Wavefront Reconstruction in Adaptive Optics

Wavefront reconstruction techniques using the least-squares estimators are computationally quite expensive. We compare wavelet and Fourier transforms techniques in addressing the computation issues of wavefront reconstruction in adaptive optics. It is shown that because the Fourier approach is not simply a numerical approximation technique unlike the wavelet method, the Fourier approach might have advantages in terms of numerical accuracy. To optimize the wavelet method, a statistical study might be necessary to use the best basis functions or 'approximation tree.'
The role of thiol compounds in increasing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of soybean cotyledonary-node cells

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of soybean cells and the production of fertile transgenic soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] plants using the cotyledonary-node (cot-node) method were improved by amending the solid co-cultivation medium with L-cysteine. The goal of this study was to investigate the role of cysteine and other thiol compounds in increasing the frequency of transformed soybean cot-node cells. The frequency of transformed cells was increased only when L-cysteine was present during co-cultivation of Agrobacterium and cot-node explants. This effect was due to the thiol group since D-cysteine and other thiol compounds also increased the frequency of transformed cells. Copper and iron chelators also increased the frequency of transformed cells, indicating an association with inhibition of polyphenol oxidases and peroxidases. Thiol compounds likely inhibit wound- and pathogen-induced responses, thereby increasing the capacity for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of soybean cells. The increases in transformed cot-node cells were independent of soybean genotype, Agrobacterium strain, and binary plasmid.
Development and testing of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry (TOFHLiD).

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry (TOFHLiD), a new instrument to measure functional oral health literacy. Methods: TOFHLiD uses text passages and prompts related to fluoride use and access to care to assess reading comprehension and numerical ability. Parents of pediatric dental patients (n = 102) were administered TOFHLiD, a medical literacy comprehension test (TOFHLA), and two word recognition tests [Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (REALD), Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM)]. This design provided assessments of dental and medical health literacy by all subjects, both measured with two different methods (reading/numeracy ability and word recognition). Construct validity of TOFHLiD was assessed by entering the correlation coefficients for all pairwise comparisons of literacy instruments into a multitrait-multimethod matrix. Internal reliability of TOFHLiD was assessed with Cronbach’s alpha. Criterion-related predictive validity was tested by associations between the TOFHLiD scores and the three measures of oral health in multivariate regression analyses. Results: The correlation coefficient for TOFHLiD and REALD-99 scores (monotrait-heteromethod) was high (r = 0.82, P < 0.05). Coefficients between TOFHLiD and TOFHLA (heterotraitmonomethod: r = 0.52) and REALM (heterotrait-heteromethod: r = 0.53) were smaller than coefficients for convergent validity. Cronbach’s alpha for TOFHLiD was 0.63. TOFHLiD was positively correlated with OHIP-14 (P < 0.05), but not with parent or child oral health. TOFHLA was not related to dental outcomes. Conclusions: TOFHLiD demonstrates good convergent validity but only moderate ability to discriminate between dental and medical health literacy. Its predictive validity is only partially established, and internal consistency just meets the threshold for acceptability. Results provide solid support for more research, but not widespread use in clinical or public health practice.
Event-by-event jet quenching

Abstract High momentum jets and hadrons can be used as probes for the quark gluon plasma (QGP) formed in nuclear collisions at high energies. We investigate the influence of fluctuations in the fireball on jet quenching observables by comparing propagation of light quarks and gluons through averaged, smooth QGP fireballs with event-by-event jet quenching using realistic inhomogeneous fireballs. We find that the transverse momentum and impact parameter dependence of the nuclear modification factor R A A can be fit well in an event-by-event quenching scenario within experimental errors. However the transport coefficient q ˆ extracted from fits to the measured nuclear modification factor R A A in averaged fireballs underestimates the value from event-by-event calculations by up to 50%. On the other hand, after adjusting q ˆ to fit R A A in the event-by-event analysis we find residual deviations in the azimuthal asymmetry v 2 and in two-particle correlations, that provide a possible faint signature for a spatial tomography of the fireball. We discuss a correlation function that is a measure for spatial inhomogeneities in a collision and can be constrained from data.
Let’s Move — Childhood Obesity Prevention from Pregnancy and Infancy Onward

The Let's Move campaign has potential for altering the course of the childhood obesity crisis. Janet Wojcicki and Dr. Melvin Heyman argue that to be a truly successful program, the campaign must stimulate prevention efforts targeting the youngest Americans — those under 2 years of age and preschoolers.
Correction to "Eliminate Reactive Power and Increase System Efficiency of Isolated Bidirectional Dual-Active-Bridge DC–DC Converters Using Novel Dual-Phase-Shift Control" [Nov 08 2905-2914]

Presents corrections to the above titled paper (ibid., vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 2905-2914, Nov. 2008).
The effects of parent and offspring gender on food allocation in budgerigars

Parental feeding rates in relation to the sex of parents and offspring were studied in domesticated budgerigars in large flight cages at Davis, California. While neither the male nor the female parent preferentially fed offspring of either sex, paternal feeding rates were strongly related to the sex ratio of the brood. Fathers fed female-biased broods much more frequently than male-biased broods throughout the nest cycle, and male feeding rates were highly correlated with the sex ratios of the broods. Mothers exhibited a similar but much weaker tendency to feed female-biased broods more often, and only at the end of the nest cycle was there a barely significant relationship between sex bias and maternal feeding rate. As a result of the extra parental care, female-biased broods obtained nearly three times more regurgitations in the final pre-fledge period than male-biased broods. Brood sex ratios were unrelated to fledge weights, and male and female nestlings fledged at comparable weights. However, for all but the smallest broods, there was a strong negative relationship between the percent of females within the brood and the average age of fledging. Fledge age, in turn, was related to post-fledge activity rates. Females fledging at younger ages initiated more flights than those fledging at older ages. Conversely, in males, fledge age was either unrelated, or positively related to the rate of flights. There were also significant negative relationships between female fledge age and reproductive success (e.g. number of young fledged in the first breeding season), but no significant relationships between male fledge age and reproductive success. Hence, male parents may provide extra care to broods biased toward the offspring sex which most benefits from this extra care.
“O” ring urinary ostomy appliance

Abstract A non-adhesive urostomy system represents a major departure from ostomy appliances that have been used to date. Experience of 123 ostomates who have lived with the traditional as well as the new appliance indicates a high degree of patient acceptance and satisfaction. The “O” ring appliance promises to simplify and improve the quality of life, for patients who are committed to this form of urinary disposition.
Simulating the ‘Other-race Effect* as a Problem in Perceptual Learning

We report a series of simulations on the well-known ‘other-race effect’. We trained an autoassociative network on a majority and a minority race of faces, and tested the model's ability to process ...
The challenges of cervical cancer screening.

Cervical cancer screening has emerged as one of the most important and also challenging areas in global health. As a preventable and treatable disease, control efforts focus on vaccination programs; diagnosis, detection, and treatment of precursor lesions; diagnosis and treatment of early cancerous lesions; diagnosis and treatment of more advanced cancers; and, when and where available, palliative care for untreatable advanced disease. Unfortunately, on a global basis, many—perhaps most—cases go undetected early on when effective treatments can result in clinical cures. As part of the global efforts to prevent and treat …
Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica from Commercial Poly(ethylene oxide)/Poly(butylene oxide) Copolymers: Toward the Rational Design of Ordered Mesoporous Materials

Five commercial poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(butylene oxide) (PEO/PBO) triblock copolymer surfactants were utilized as structure-directing agents to synthesize mesoporous silica under acidic conditions. The structures of these materials were characterized by using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption analysis, and transmission electron micrographs (TEM). The relationship between the pore sizes of silica mesostructures and hydrophobic block weight as well as block architecture of their block copolymer templates was discussed. From the comparison of the critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of these PEO−PBO copolymers and the resultant silica mesostructures, it is proposed that the CMC of block copolymers correlates to the final silica mesostructures and can be used as an important criterion for the rational design of ordered mesoporous materials especially when they are synthesized as precipitates from solutions. Such conclusions are useful to fabricate ordered and large pore mesoporous m...
Adjustment to International Disturbances in Imperfectly Competitive Markets: Canadian Manufacturing in the 1970’s

As industrial markets have grown more internationalized, the adjustments that industries make to international disturbances have assumed considerable importance for both our understanding of market behavior and the making of public policy. The courses of these adjustments clearly depend on elements of market structure, such as the sunkenness of costs, the extent of product differentiation, and the degree to which entry barriers arise in nonproduction activities (e.g. in the access of imports to distribution systems within the national market). They may also depend on the behavior of firms in imperfectly competitive markets -- witness the surge of theoretical interest in strategic behavior in international duopolies. While international duopolies are found more commonly in the economics journals than in the world’s markets, abundant evidence confirms that groups of domestic sellers in concentrated industries recognize their oligopolistic interdependence in ways that could affect the magnitude and timing of their adjustments to external disturbances.
HPCTOOLKIT: tools for performance analysis of optimized parallel programs

SUMMARY HPCTOOLKIT is an integrated suite of tools that supports measurement, analysis, attribution, and presentation of application performance for both sequential and parallel programs. HPCTOOLKIT can pinpoint and quantify scalability bottlenecks in fully-optimized parallel programs with a measurement overhead of only a few percent. Recently, new capabilities were added to HPCTOOLKIT for collecting call path profiles for fully-optimized codes without any compiler support, pinpointing and quantifying bottlenecks in multithreaded programs, exploring performance information and source code using a new user interface, and displaying hierarchical space-time diagrams based on traces of asynchronous call stack samples. This paper provides an overview of HPCTOOLKIT and illustrates its utility for performance analysis of parallel applications.
Promoting Thrombolysis in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose—Thrombolysis with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator is an effective treatment for acute ischemic stroke, but the number of treatable patients is limited. The PRomoting ACute Thrombolysis in Ischemic StrokE (PRACTISE) trial evaluated the effectiveness of a multidimensional implementation strategy for thrombolysis with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator in acute ischemic stroke. Methods—The PRACTISE trial was a national multicenter cluster-randomized controlled trial with randomization after pairwise matching. Twelve hospitals, both urban and community, academic and nonacademic, in the Netherlands participated. All patients admitted with stroke within 24 hours from onset of symptoms were registered. The intervention included 5 implementation meetings based on the Breakthrough Series model. The primary outcome was treatment with thrombolysis. Secondary outcomes were admission within 4 hours after onset of symptoms, death or disability at 3 months, a...
A Multilevel Analysis of Marital and Nonmarital Fertility in the U.S.

This study examines the role of a wide range of community characteristics in determining the risk of married and nonmarried nonblack women having a live birth. We find that context affects the risk of both a marital and nonmarital birth although the number of contextual influences is greater for nonmarried women. For married women the factors that affect the likelihood of a birth are: the extent of full-time female labor-force participation percent white-collar workers and percent females in the community who are separated or divorced. Contextual factors affecting the risk of an out-of-wedlock birth include: the female unemployment rate; median housing value; percent females separated or divorced; percent females of childbearing age; the sex ratio of the never married population; and the child/woman ratio for women aged 15-24. Almost all these community characteristics operate independently of individual-level characteristics of the woman. Data are from the 1982 U.S. National Survey of Family Growth Cycle III. (EXCERPT)
The Active Site of the Thioredoxin-Like Domain of Chloroplast Protein Disulfide Isomerase, RB60, Catalyzes the Redox-Regulated Binding of Chloroplast Poly(A)-Binding Protein, RB47, to the 5 Untranslated Region of psbA mRNA

RB60, a chloroplast protein disulfide isomerase, modulates the binding of RB47, chloroplast poly(A)-binding protein, to the 5'-UTR of the psbA mRNA using redox potential, allowing for a reversible switch capable of regulating psbA mRNA translation in a light/dark dependent manner. RB60 contains two thioredoxin-like domains with putative catalytic sites of -Cys-Gly-His-Cys- that are presumed to function as active sites for the redox-regulated changes in RNA-binding activity of RB47. To investigate whether these motifs are required for redox-regulated RNA binding, RNA-gel-mobility shift assays were performed with RB47 and mutant RB60 proteins with single cysteines changed to serines in the -Cys-Gly-His-Cys- motif. The results showed that each thioredoxin-like domain has independent catalytic function in the reactivation of RB47 binding and that a double active site mutant completely lacks the ability to activate RB47 RNA binding activity.
Biological effects of pion therapy beams: I. Cultured cells

Abstract The results of cell killing by pion beams of different peak widths, ranges and sizes used in therapy are reported. Cultured hamster cells (V79) suspended in gelatin were used. The results indicate that: 11 there are no significant differences in cell-killing between pion beams of different ranges but of the same peak width; 21 there is a slight decrease in biological effectiveness with increasing peak width; and 31 the range-modulation functions used to produce uniform cell-killing are satisfactory for intermediate-range pion beams, but slight corrections may be required for shorter- and longer-range pion beams.
Preschool language variation, growth, and predictors in children on the autism spectrum

Background There is wide variation in language abilities among young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with some toddlers developing age-appropriate language while others remain minimally verbal after age 5. Conflicting findings exist regarding predictors of language outcomes in ASD and various methodological issues limit the conclusions that can be drawn about factors associated with positive language growth that could provide insights into more effective intervention approaches for increasing communication skills. Methods Language development was investigated in 129 children with ASD participating in four assessments from mean age 2½ years (Visit 1) through 5½ years (Visit 4). Language ability was measured by a clinician-administered test of comprehension and production. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to identify predictors of language ability. Stability of language status was examined in subgroups of Preverbal versus Verbal children identified at Visit 1. Discriminant function analysis was used to classify another subset of cases according to Low Language (minimally verbal) versus High Language outcome at Visit 4. Results ASD severity was a significant predictor of growth in both language comprehension and production during the preschool period, while cognition predicted growth in production. For the highest and lowest language performers at Visit 4, cognition, maternal education, and response to joint attention correctly classified over 80% of total cases. The vast majority of children who were preverbal at 2½ years attained some level of verbal skills by 5½ years. Conclusions Findings indicate that it is possible, by 2½ years, to predict language growth for children with ASD across the preschool years and identify factors that discriminate between children who remain minimally verbal at 5½ years from those with high language proficiency. Results suggest that early intervention focused on reducing core ASD symptoms may also be important for facilitating language development in young children with ASD.
Experimental demonstration of an optimized optical RZ-duobinary transmission system

We present experimental data on return-to-zero duobinary transmission at 10 Gb/s. By optimizing the duobinary generating low-pass filter and receiver optical filter, we achieve both good receiver sensitivity and a greatly enhanced dispersion tolerance.
Characterizing autism spectrum disorders by key biochemical pathways

The genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) presents a substantial challenge for diagnosis, classification, research, and treatment. Investigations into the underlying molecular etiology of ASD have often yielded mixed and at times opposing findings. Defining the molecular and biochemical underpinnings of heterogeneity in ASD is crucial to our understanding of the pathophysiological development of the disorder, and has the potential to assist in diagnosis and the rational design of clinical trials. In this review, we propose that genetically diverse forms of ASD may be usefully parsed into entities resulting from converse patterns of growth regulation at the molecular level, which lead to the correlates of general synaptic and neural overgrowth or undergrowth. Abnormal brain growth during development is a characteristic feature that has been observed both in children with autism and in mouse models of autism. We review evidence from syndromic and non-syndromic ASD to suggest that entities currently classified as autism may fundamentally differ by underlying pro- or anti-growth abnormalities in key biochemical pathways, giving rise to either excessive or reduced synaptic connectivity in affected brain regions. We posit that this classification strategy has the potential not only to aid research efforts, but also to ultimately facilitate early diagnosis and direct appropriate therapeutic interventions.
SCHOLARSHIP THAT WORKS

The article discusses the need for scholars to engage in more research that has practical application. Increasingly and for various reasons, research seems aimed at producing “knowledge for the sak...
Monoclonal anti-idiotypes induce neutralizing antibodies to enterovirus 70 conformational epitopes.

Abstract Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against the prototype enterovirus 70 (EV-70) strain J670/71 were generated and characterized in order to produce anti-idiotypic MAbs (MAb2s) for use as surrogate immunogens. Western immunoblot and radioimmunoprecipitation assays suggested that all the MAbs recognize conformational epitopes on the virion surface. An EV-70-neutralizing antibody, MAb/ev-12 (MAb1), was selected for the production of MAb2s. Five MAb2s were selected for their capacities to inhibit the interaction of MAb/ev-12 with EV-70 in dot immunobinding inhibition and immunofluorescence assays. In addition, these five MAb2s inhibited virus neutralization mediated by MAb/ev-12, suggesting that they recognize paratope-associated idiotopes. In competition enzyme immunosorbent assays, none of the five MAb2s recognized other neutralizing and nonneutralizing EV-70-specific MAbs, demonstrating that the MAb2s were specific for private idiotopes. Immunization with each of the MAb2s was carried out for the production of anti-anti-idiotypic antibodies (Ab3). All five MAb2s induced an immune response. Moreover, results suggested that they share idiotopes, since MAb2-MAb/ev-12 binding could be inhibited by homologous as well as heterologous Ab3s. Ab3 sera were shown to possess antibodies capable of immunoprecipitating 35S-labeled viral proteins in the same manner as MAb/ev-12. Nine of 15 mice immunized with MAb2s demonstrated Ab3 neutralizing activity specific for the prototype EV-70 strain, J670/71. The potential application of MAb2s to serve as surrogate immunogens for conformational epitopes is substantiated by the results presented in this report.
Using semantic caching to manage location dependent data in mobile computing

Location-dependent applications are becoming very popular in mobile environments. To improve system performance and facilitate disconnection, caching is crucial to such applications. In this paper, a semantic caching scheme is used to access location dependent data in mobile computing. We first develop a mobility model to represent the moving behaviors of mobile users and formally define location dependent queries. We then investigate query processing and cache management strategies. The performance of the semantic caching scheme and its replacement strategy FAR is evaluated through a simulation study. Our results show that semantic caching is more flexible and effective for use in LDD applications than page caching, whose performance is quite sensitive to the database physical organization. We also notice that the semantic cache replacement strategy FAR, which utilizes the semantic locality in terms of locations, performs robustly under different kinds of workloads.
Mechanisms, Causes and the Layered Model of the World

Most philosophical accounts of causation take causal relations to obtain between individuals and events in virtue of nomological relations between properties of these individuals and events. Such views fail to take into account the consequences of the fact that in general the properties of individuals and events will depend upon mechanisms that realize those properties. In this paper I attempt to rectify this failure, and in so doing to provide an account of the causal relevance of higher-level properties. I do this by critiquing one prominent model of higher-level properties – Kim’s functional model of reduction – and contrasting it with a mechanistic approach to higher-level properties and causation.
Dietary genistein suppresses chemically induced prostate cancer in Lobund–Wistar rats

Epidemiological reports suggest that Asians consuming a diet high in soy have a low incidence of clinically manifested prostate cancer. We have tested the hypothesis that life-time exposure to genistein, the primary isoflavone component of soy, is responsible for this protective effect. Lobund-Wistar rats were exposed to 0, 25 and 250 mg genistein/kg AIN-76A diet, starting at conception and continued until necropsy at 11 months. Male offspring were injected s.c. with Flutamide on days 50-66 and with testosterone on days 67-69, injected with N-methylnitrosourea (NMU) into the dorsal prostate on day 70, and given testosterone implants, starting at day 77. Genistein in the diet inhibited the development of NMU-induced prostate invasive adenocarcinomas, in a dose-dependent manner. Genistein did not alter body, prostate and testes weights. Male rats fed 0, 25 and 250 mg genistein/kg diet had serum genistein concentrations of 9, 60 and 861 pmol/ml, and prostate genistein concentrations of 85, 230 and 775 pmol/g tissue. We conclude that lifetime dietary genistein protected against chemically induced prostate cancer development in rats.