cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Isotope and Patient Age Predict for PSA Spikes After Permanent Prostate Brachytherapy

Purpose: To evaluate prostate-specific antigen (PSA) spikes after permanent prostate brachytherapy in low-risk patients. Methods and Materials: The study population consisted of 164 prostate cancer patients who were part of a prospective randomized trial comparing 103 Pd and 125 I for low-risk disease. Of the 164 patients, 61 (37.2%) received short-course androgen deprivation therapy. The median follow-up was 5.4 years. On average, 11.1 post-treatment PSA measurements were obtained per patient. Biochemical disease-free survival was defined as a PSA level of ≤0.40 ng/mL after nadir. A PSA spike was defined as an increase of ≥0.2 ng/mL, followed by a durable decline to prespike levels. Multiple parameters were evaluated as predictors for a PSA spike. Results: Of the 164 patients, 44 (26.9%) developed a PSA spike. Of the 46 hormone-naive 125 I patients and 57 hormone-naive 103 Pd patients, 21 (45.7%) and 8 (14.0%) developed a PSA spike. In the hormone-naive patients, the mean time between implantation and the spike was 22.6 months and 18.7 months for 125 I and 103 Pd, respectively. In patients receiving neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy, the incidence of spikes was comparable between isotopes ( 125 I 28.1% and 103 Pd 20.7%). The incidence of spikes was substantially different in patients p p = 0.002) were significant predictors for spike. Conclusion: In low-risk prostate cancer, PSA spikes are most common in patients implanted with 125 I and/or
Significance of the Positive-negative Distinction in Schizophrenia

This article reviews the cumulative research on positive and negative syndromes in schizophrenia undertaken at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. A strictly operationalized and standardized syndrome scale was applied in multidimensional, cross-sectional, prospective, longitudinal, phasic, and drug-free studies. The following conclusions about positive and negative syndromes were reached: they can be reliably assessed; they are normally distributed and theoretically independent, thus representing dimensions rather than coexclusive subtypes of schizophrenia; they differ in their association with premorbid functioning, family history of illness, cognitive profile, and neurological signs; their significance appears phase-specific, however, with ominous implications for a negative syndrome found only in the chronic stage; their magnitude is comparably high in all stages of the illness, challenging the view of a progressive negative state; they are stable under drug-free conditions and across months of drug therapy; they both improve with neuroleptics, with marginally better response for positive syndrome; worse long-range outcome is predicted by positive syndrome, especially by disorganized thinking, whereas worse short-term outcome is predicted by both syndromes; the positive-negative distinction, though valid, is incomplete as a model of schizophrenic phenomenology, which must include unrelated depressive and excited components; and Kraepelinian subtypes of schizophrenia seem to comprise not single pathological processes but a hybrid of unrelated, co-occurring syndromes.
Perceptions of Black College Presidents Sorting Through Stereotypes and Reality to Gain a Complex Picture

Using historical methods, this article examines the negative characterizations of Black college presidents and how they came to be. The author explores the way these stereotypes continue to be perpetuated in the current day. Conversely, the author investigates how the individual Black college presidents viewed themselves and their actions.
Effect of shear on performance and microbial ecology of continuously stirred anaerobic digesters treating animal manure

We determined the effect of different mixing intensities on the performance, methanogenic population dynamics, and juxtaposition of syntrophic microbes in anaerobic digesters treating cow manure from a dairy farm. Computer automated radioactive particle tracking in conjunction with computational fluid dynamics was performed to quantify the shear levels locally. Four continuously stirred anaerobic digesters were operated at different mixing intensities of 1,500, 500, 250, and 50 revolutions per min (RPM) over a 260-day period at a temperature of 34 +/- 1 degrees C. Animal manure at a volatile solids (VS) concentration of 50 g/L was fed into the digesters daily at five different organic loading rates between 0.6 and 3.5 g VS/L day. The different mixing intensities had no effect on the biogas production rates and yields at steady-state conditions. A methane yield of 0.241 +/- 0.007 L CH(4)/g VS fed was obtained by pooling the data of all four digesters during steady-state periods. However, digester performance was affected negatively by mixing intensity during startup of the digesters, with lower biogas production rates and higher volatile fatty acids concentrations observed for the 1,500-RPM digester. Despite similar methane production yields and rates, the acetoclastic methanogenic populations were different for the high- and low-intensity mixed digesters with Methanosarcina spp. and Methanosaeta concilii as the predominant methanogens, respectively. For all four digesters, epifluorescence microscopy revealed decreasing microbial floc sizes beginning at week 4 and continuing through week 26 after which no microbial flocs remained. This decrease in size, and subsequent loss of microbial flocs did not, however, produce any long-term upsets in digester performance.
The Political Art of Jacques‐Louis David and his Modern Day American Successors

Until relatively recently, Jacques-Louis David was a famous, relatively well-understood painter. Thanks to Thomas Crow, and a number of recent historians, his art now has come to seem much more complex. According to these writers, David's pre-Revolutionary paintings make subtle comments on French politics of the Revolutionary period. I demonstrate that this way of thinking cannot be understood without acknowledging the intense desire of recent American critics that there be art which is aesthetically significant and politically critical. Crow's account of David, so I argue, projects back into the 1780s important concerns of American art writers in the 1980s.
Getting to know you: learning new user preferences in recommender systems

Recommender systems have become valuable resources for users seeking intelligent ways to search through the enormous volume of information available to them. One crucial unsolved problem for recommender systems is how best to learn about a new user. In this paper we study six techniques that collaborative filtering recommender systems can use to learn about new users. These techniques select a sequence of items for the collaborative filtering system to present to each new user for rating. The techniques include the use of information theory to select the items that will give the most value to the recommender system, aggregate statistics to select the items the user is most likely to have an opinion about, balanced techniques that seek to maximize the expected number of bits learned per presented item, and personalized techniques that predict which items a user will have an opinion about. We study the techniques thru offline experiments with a large pre-existing user data set, and thru a live experiment with over 300 users. We show that the choice of learning technique significantly affects the user experience, in both the user effort and the accuracy of the resulting predictions.
Langerhans Cell Deficiency Impairs Ixodes scapularis Suppression of Th1 Responses in Mice

Ixodes scapularis ticks transmit a number of human pathogens, including the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. I. scapularis suppresses host immunity in the skin to promote feeding and systemically skew T-helper (Th)-cell differentiation toward Th2 cells in secondary lymphoid organs. Although components of tick saliva are known to influence Th-cell polarization, the mechanism whereby tick feeding in the skin modulates regional and systemic Th-cell responses is unknown. In this study, the role of the epidermal Langerhans cell (LC) subset of skin dendritic cells in tick-mediated Th1/Th2-cell immunomodulation was assessed. Mice deficient in LCs (Langerin-DTA mice) exhibited enhanced lymph node (LN) concanavalin A (ConA)-induced Th1 responses after tick infestation in comparison to results for uninfested Langerin-DTA or wild-type (WT) mice, whereas effects on Th2-cell production of interleukin 4 were more variable. Nonetheless, the altered T-cell response did not impact tick feeding or refeeding. Gamma interferon production by ConA-stimulated LN cells of both WT and LC-deficient mice was enhanced by as much as fourfold after B. burgdorferi-infected-tick feeding, indicating that immunomodulatory effects of tick saliva were not able to attenuate the Th1 immune responses induced by this pathogen. Taken together, these findings show a requirement for LCs in the tick-mediated attenuation of Th1 responses in regional lymph nodes but not in the spleens of mice and show that the presence of a pathogen can overcome the Th1-inhibitory effects of tick feeding on the host.
The Timing of Thyroid-Dependent Programming in Seasonally Breeding Male American Tree Sparrows (Spizella arborea)

There is convincing evidence that euthyroid male American tree sparrows are already programmed for seasonal reproduction and postnuptial molt by Week 4 of photostimulation. To explore more precisely when, during early photostimulation, thyroid-dependent programming of seasonal events occurs, photosensitive male tree sparrows were radiothyroidectomized or sham thyroidectomized on the first day of photostimulation (Week 0) or at Weeks 1 or 3 thereafter. Birds were monitored for testicular growth and regression over 8 or 12 weeks and then tested for photosensitivity or photorefractoriness by exposing them to constant light and exogenous L-thyroxine for 4 weeks. Molt of the primary flight feathers was scored periodically, and at the end of the experiment, hypothalami were saved for cGnRH-I (chicken gonadotropin-releasing hormone I) assay. Because (1) the thyroid is already dysfunctional by Day 4 after radiothyroidectomy, (2) thyroid-dependent photoinduced gonadal growth is programmed growth, and as demonstrated here, (3) testis length at Week 6 on long days (i.e., maximum or near-maximum testis size) is independent of the time of thyroidectomy at or after the onset of photostimulation, we conclude that male American tree sparrows were programmed for photoperiodic testicular growth during the first week of photostimulation. Based on measurements of testis length and hypothalamic cGnRH-I content, only 2 of 11 birds thyroidectomized at Week 1 were already programmed for photorefractoriness by Week 1, whereas all birds thyroidectomized at Week 3 were so programmed by Week 3. Marked differences in molt scores between photorefractory (thyroidectomized and euthyroid) and photosensitive (thyroidectomized) birds argue that postnuptial molt also was programmed roughly between Weeks 1 and 3. To explain these results, we ascribe organizational-like actions directly or indirectly to endogenous thyroid hormones and argue that the onset of photostimulation opens a window, during which time euthyroid male American tree sparrows are programmed for seasonality. A clear dissociation of photorefractoriness from photoperiodic testicular growth in birds thyroidectomized at Week 1 suggests that separate control circuits mediate these two annually periodic events.
A kinematically intelligent blackboard for computer aided instruction

A CAI (computer-aided instruction) package is being developed to be used as a classroom tool for the instruction of undergraduate mechanical engineering students in an introductory kinematics of mechanisms course. This graphical environment allows the instructor to emulate on the projected graphics screen everything that is currently done on the blackboard for planar mechansims. Unlike the blackboard, the software will have the intelligence to interpret the drawings in a kinematic sense so that the drawing of the linkage will behave as a linkage. The software environment involves three principal components: (1) a sketching method for defining the linkage, (2) the "kinematic intelligence" to interpret the sketch and animate the linkage, and (3) the ability to develop and demonstrate kinematic concepts. >
Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita presenting as an inflammatory bullous disease

A patient is described with the histologic, immunohistologic, and immunoelectron microscopic features of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA). Although she eventually developed the clinical features of that disease, she differs from previously reported patients by initially having an inflammatory dermatoses and a generalized erythematous bullous eruption clinically indistinguishable from bullous pemphigoid. The presentation suggests that the clinical spectrum of EBA may include a generalized inflammatory bullous disease and that EBA should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic acquired inflammatory bullous dermatoses.
Nonlinear conduction in aromatic polyurea thin films and its influence on dielectric applications over a broad temperature range

We investigate nonlinear conduction in aromatic polyurea thin films and its influence on the dielectric applications over a broad temperature range. The experimental data indicate that several high field conduction mechanisms coexist in the polymer films and one conduction mechanism may dominate over the others depending on different temperatures. The results also reveal that owing to the non-linear increase of the conduction loss with field, the dielectric loss at high field can be many orders of magnitude larger than that at low field. Therefore, besides the electrical breakdown strength, the conduction loss at high field and their temperature dependence behavior are other key factors in developing polymer dielectric materials for high energy density dielectric applications over a broad temperature range.
Relative effectiveness of male & female newscasters

Based on a 1974 study, the following report notes that a sample audience found no statistically‐significant difference in the perceived acceptance, believability, or effectiveness of male and female professional newscasters. The study was undertaken with the assistance of a NAB research grant. Susan Whittaker is program manager for WUFT‐TV (the University of Florida station) while Ron Whittaker is on the broadcasting faculty at the same institution.
Drugs of abuse and the adolescent athlete

Doping with endocrine drugs is quite prevalent in amateur and professional athletes. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has a list of banned drugs for athletes who compete and a strategy to detect such drugs. Some are relatively easy, anabolic steroids and erythropoietin, and others more difficult, human growth hormone (rhGH) and insulin like growth factor I (IGF-I). The use of such compounds is likely less in adolescent athletes, but the detection that much more difficult given that the baseline secretion of the endogenous hormone is shifting during pubertal development with the greatest rise in testosterone in boys occuring about the time of peak height velocity and maximal secretion of hGH and IGF-I. This review notes the rationale, physiology, performance enhancement, adverse events and the detection of doping with insulin, rhGH, rhIGF-I, erythropoietin, and anabolic-androgenic steroids.
Phosphorylation of Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptors by cAMP-dependent Protein Kinase TYPE I, II, AND III RECEPTORS ARE DIFFERENTIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO PHOSPHORYLATION AND ARE PHOSPHORYLATED IN INTACT CELLS

Abstract The ability of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) to phosphorylate type I, II, and III inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) receptors was examined. The receptors either were immunopurified from cell lines and then phosphorylated with purified PKA or were phosphorylated in intact cells after activating intracellular cAMP formation. The former studies showed that the type I receptor was a good substrate for PKA (0.65 mol Pi incorporated/mol receptor), whereas type II and III receptors were phosphorylated relatively weakly. The latter studies showed that despite these differences, each of the receptors was phosphorylated in intact cells in response to forskolin or activation of neurohormone receptors. Detailed examination of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, which express ≥99% type I receptor, revealed that minor increases in cAMP concentration were sufficient to cause maximal phosphorylation. Thus, VIP and pituitary adenylyl cyclase activating peptide (acting through Gs-coupled pituitary adenylyl cyclase activating peptide-I receptors) were potent stimuli of type I receptor phosphorylation, and remarkably, even slight increases in cAMP concentration induced by carbachol (acting through Gq-coupled muscarinic receptors) or other Ca2+mobilizing agents were sufficient to cause phosphorylation. Finally, PKA enhanced InsP3-induced Ca2+ mobilization in a range of permeabilized cell types, irrespective of whether the type I, II, or III receptor was predominant. In summary, these data show that all InsP3 receptors are phosphorylated by PKA, albeit with marked differences in stoichiometry. The ability of both Gs- and Gq-coupled cell surface receptors to effect InsP3 receptor phosphorylation by PKA suggests that this process is widespread in mammalian cells and provides multiple routes by which the cAMP signaling pathway can influence Ca2+ mobilization.
Sparse Auditory Reproducing Kernel (SPARK) Features for Noise-Robust Speech Recognition

In this paper, we present a novel speech feature extraction algorithm based on a hierarchical combination of auditory similarity and pooling functions. The computationally efficient features known as “Sparse Auditory Reproducing Kernel” (SPARK) coefficients are extracted under the hypothesis that the noise-robust information in speech signal is embedded in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) spanned by overcomplete, nonlinear, and time-shifted gammatone basis functions. The feature extraction algorithm first involves computing kernel based similarity between the speech signal and the time-shifted gammatone functions, followed by feature pruning using a simple pooling technique (“MAX” operation). In this paper, we describe the effect of different hyper-parameters and kernel functions on the performance of a SPARK based speech recognizer. Experimental results based on the standard AURORA2 dataset demonstrate that the SPARK based speech recognizer delivers consistent improvements in word-accuracy when compared with a baseline speech recognizer trained using the standard ETSI STQ WI008 DSR features.
Alginate Lyase Exhibits Catalysis-Independent Biofilm Dispersion and Antibiotic Synergy

More than 2 decades of study support the hypothesis that alginate lyases are promising therapeutic candidates for treating mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. In particular, the enzymes' ability to degrade alginate, a key component of mucoid biofilm matrix, has been the presumed mechanism by which they disrupt biofilms and enhance antibiotic efficacy. The systematic studies reported here show that, in an in vitro model, alginate lyase dispersion of P. aeruginosa biofilms and enzyme synergy with tobramycin are completely decoupled from catalytic activity. In fact, equivalent antibiofilm effects can be achieved with bovine serum albumin or simple amino acids. These results provide new insights into potential mechanisms of alginate lyase therapeutic activity, and they should motivate a careful reexamination of the fundamental assumptions underlying interest in enzymatic biofilm dispersion.
Reducing latencies of pipelined cache accesses through set prediction

With the increasing performance gap between the processor and the memory, the importance of caches is increasing for high performance processors. However, with reducing feature sizes and increasing clock speeds, cache access latencies are increasing. Designers pipeline the cache accesses to prevent the increasing latencies from affecting the cache throughput. Nevertheless, increasing latencies can degrade the performance significantly by delaying the execution of dependent instructions.In this paper, we investigate predicting the data cache set and the tag of the memory address as a means to reduce the effective cache access latency. In this technique, the predicted set is used to start the pipelined cache access in parallel to the memory address computation. We also propose a set-address adaptive predictor to improve the prediction accuracy of the data cache sets. Our studies found that using set prediction to reduce load-to-use latency can improve the overall performance of the processor by as much as 24%. In this paper, we also investigate techniques, such as predicting the data cache line where the data will be present, to limit the increase in cache energy consumption when using set prediction. In fact, with line prediction, the techniques in this paper consume about 15% less energy in the data cache than a decoupled-accessed cache with minimum energy consumption, while still maintaining the performance improvement. However, the overall energy consumption is about 35% more than a decoupled-accessed cache when the energy consumption in the predictor table is also considered.
Diagnosis and Management of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a family of inborn errors of steroidogenesis, each characterized by a specific enzyme deficiency that impairs cortisol production by the adrenal cortex, and can lead to sexual ambiguity in both genetic males and females. The enzymes most often affected are 21-hydroxylase, 11β-hydroxylase, and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, and less often, 17α-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase and cholesterol desmolase. Decreased production of cortisol results in increased pituitary secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone. The elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulates both the accumulation of precursor steroids in the impeded pathways and excessive steroid synthesis in other adrenal biosynthetic pathways unaffected by the enzyme deficiency. Correct identification of the enzyme affected is achieved by the observation of clinical syndromes reflecting distinct hormonal patterns, and it is measured quantitatively as low levels of cortisol and other adrenal steroids, as well as increased levels...
Aging Out of Place: Cambodian Refugee Elders in the United States

Experiences of aging refugees or immigrants are significantly different from elders who have not experienced international migration. Eighty-nine interviews with 38 elderly Cambodian refugees were conducted to understand their aging experiences in the United States. This paper explores multiple meanings of aging in place that go beyond the ability to remain in one's preferred geographic location, maintenance of independence and autonomy, and attachment and meanings assigned to place. Of the components normally used in defining aging in place, meaning making had the most salience for this group of elders. One's sense of place, whether such “place” is defined geographically, socially, or culturally, often created challenges for these elders. This group exhibits different forms of coping and require different services than non-refugee elders. An infrastructure that supports aging refugees or immigrants must include a remarkably different set of parameters than one designed to support native-born elders.
Mammary tumor latency is increased in mice lacking the inducible nitric oxide synthase.

Nitric oxide (NO) and its metabolites are implicated in carcinogenesis and metastasis. Both stimulatory and inhibitory effects of NO have been reported in relation to breast cancer and its role in the development of malignancies and metastasis remains uncertain. We have used the polyomavirus middle T antigen (PyV-mT) targeted to the mouse mammary gland and bred into an inducible NO synthase (iNOS)deficient C57Bl/6 strain to examine a role for nitric oxide in modulating tumors that develop in the complex environment of the whole animal. The development of hyperplasias was delayed to the extent that the earliest palpable tumors arose 2– 4 weeks later in PyV-mT/iNOS / mice compared with PyV-mT/iNOS / mice, identifying a role for iNOS in early events in mammary tumor formation. Tumors that did develop in PyV-mT/iNOS / mice were characteristically well differentiated and had a cribriform pattern. Other tumors were myoepithelial adenocarcinomas with uniform nuclear size. In contrast, mice capable of iNOS activity typically developed solid nodular adenocarcinomas with a high mitotic index and pleomorphic nuclei. No significant effect of iNOS deficiency was found on vascular density in hyperplasias or tumors by examining CD31-positive vessels. The infiltration of lesions by macrophages, cells capable of significant NO production, remained unchanged in PyV-mT/iNOS / mice. Metastatic potential was retained by PyV-mT-transformed epithelium in the absence of iNOS, indicating that NO production by iNOS is not essential for this process. These results indicate a role for iNOS in tumorigenesis, particularly in the regulation of early events. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis Typing of Oxacillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from the United States: Establishing a National Database

Oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ORSA) is a virulent pathogen responsible for both health care-associated and community onset disease. We used SmaI-digested genomic DNA separated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to characterize 957 S. aureus isolates and establish a database of PFGE patterns. In addition to PFGE patterns of U.S. strains, the database contains patterns of representative epidemic-type strains from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia; previously described ORSA clonal-type isolates; 13 vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) isolates, and two high-level vancomycin-resistant, vanA-positive strains (VRSA). Among the isolates from the United States, we identified eight lineages, designated as pulsed-field types (PFTs) USA100 through USA800, seven of which included both ORSA and oxacillin-susceptible S. aureus isolates. With the exception of the PFT pairs USA100 and USA800, and USA300 and USA500, each of the PFTs had a unique multilocus sequence type and spa type motif. The USA100 PFT, previously designated as the New York/Tokyo clone, was the most common PFT in the database, representing 44% of the ORSA isolates. USA100 isolates were typically multiresistant and included all but one of the U.S. VISA strains and both VRSA isolates. Multiresistant ORSA isolates from the USA200, -500, and -600 PFTs have PFGE patterns similar to those of previously described epidemic strains from Europe and Australia. The USA300 and -400 PFTs contained community isolates resistant only to β-lactam drugs and erythromycin. Noticeably absent from the U.S. database were isolates with the previously described Brazilian and EMRSA15 PFGE patterns. These data suggest that there are a limited number of ORSA genotypes present in the United States.
Partial characterization of an analog of pyridinoline isolated from human skin

Abstract The most abundant amine in acid hydrolysates of human skin, eluting in the crosslink region of a reversedphase HPLC chromatogram, has the same retention time as pyridinoline standard. This amine is not pyridinoline, since it is a weak fluorophore and its U V spectrum does not agree with that of pyridinoline. The unknown amine was isolated and characterized by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry and its structure is consistent with a deoxy-analogue of pyridinoline. It may be a crosslink component of some biological importance, since it is not detectable in skin from a patient with Marfan's Syndrome.
A Hierarchical Model of Collaborative Resource Management

This contribution describes a quantitative tool designed to support resource management decision-making. The Hierarchical Model of Resource Management is based on the assumption that the publics’ objectives for resource management are a function of their values and further, that influence flows down, whereas information with respect to the state of the world and the consequences of fulfilling objectives flows back up. The purpose of the Hierarchical Model is to facilitate the public participation process. It can be quantified with either a measurement approach or a preference approach. The measurement model provides a means for linking values to behaviors and has been derived from the traditional values-attitudes-behaviors framework widely accepted in social psychology and consumer behavior literature. Data are collected via survey and analyzed using a variety of mathematical and statistical methods, including structural equations, clustering and descriptive statistics. The preference model provides a means for linking objectives for natural resource management to choices among potential implementation strategies. The approach is based on decision theoretic methods that are widely used to evaluate alternatives involving multiple objectives. This approach follows a path from strategic objectives to fundamental and means objectives, to preference functions, ending with preference ordering and choice. The measurement and preference paths run in parallel, but have significant differences that are explained in the text. Finally, the Hierarchical model is placed within a recursive decision framework that is based on the principles of adaptive management. The range of information provided by the two approaches for quantifying the Hierarchical Model provide information that will be essential if public preferences are to incorporated into resource management decision making.
Creating thermal distributions from diabatic excitations in ion-trap-based quantum simulation

The goal of adiabatic ground-state preparation is to start a simple quantum system in its ground state and adiabatically evolve the Hamiltonian to a complex one, maintaining the ground state throughout the evolution. In ion-trap-based quantum simulations, coherence times are too short to allow for adiabatic evolution for large chains, so the system evolves diabatically, creating excitations to higher energy states. Because the probability for diabatic excitation depends exponentially on the excitation energy and because the thermal distribution also depends exponentially on the excitation energy, we investigate whether the diabatic excitation can create a thermal distribution; as this could serve as an alternative for creating thermal states of complex quantum systems without requiring contact with a heat bath. In this work, we explore this relationship and determine situations where diabatic excitation can approximately create such a thermal state.
Identity Management

The Identity Solutions Symposium held in Jonesboro, Arkansas, 2007 brought together academic, industry, and government experts working on radio frequency identification (RFID), biometrics, sensors, animal identification, identity cards, RFID-enabled passports, identity theft, terrorism, retail and healthcare supply chains, demographics, privacy, security, middleware, and legislation. One observation was universal in the presentations - identity matters. Identity-related technologies can considerably optimize supply chains while reducing threats from terrorism and natural disasters. But we must solve social, political, ethical, and technical puzzles along the way
Selection for Egg Mass in the Domestic Fowl.2. Packed Sperm Volume; Fertility and Hatchability Responses

Abstract A rapid genetic response was observed in male chickens selected for high packed-sperm volume (PSV) as a possible corollary to high egg mass in females. The PSV increased from 15% in the S0 generation to 22% in the S4 generation in two lines. Only minor changes were observed in the PSV of two nonselected lines during this same period. Realized heritability estimates for PSV, obtained by dividing the cumulative response by the cumulative selection differentials, were .48 and .44. Fertility levels in lines selected for high PSV were 20 to 25 percentage points lower than fertility levels in nonselected PSV lines in the S3 generation. Data indicated that selection for high PSV resulted in a decrease in the fertility levels of females mated to high PSV males. Although hatchability levels were lower in lines selected for high PSV than in nonselected lines, hatchability differences between lines were not significant.
Photoemission Study of the Morphology and Barrier Heights at the Interface between Benz[a]anthracene and Noble Metal (111) Surfaces

Various coverages of benz[a]anthracene (BA) thin films prepared by depositing the molecules in several steps on Au(111) and Ag(111) were investigated using ultraviolet and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS and XPS). XPS and UPS were taken after each deposition. A Schottky junction formed between BA/Au(111) and BA/Ag(111). A hole barrier height of 1.89 eV in BA/Ag(111) was determined directly from the observed highly occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) peak cutoff however a HOMO peak cutoff in BA/Au(111) 1.63 eV was indirectly determined. When combined with previous measurements of the BA/Cu(111) interface, the slope S of the plot of hole barrier height as a function of metal workfunction (WF) was calculated to be 0.39, which is close to the S value of pentacene. Discussion on film growth mode, band bending, band diagram, and comparisons of interface parameter S of BA with S of other molecules condensed on metal surfaces are presented.
Training Simulation for Full-Function Inertial Navigation Base on Virtual Instruments

According to the requirement of convenience,efficiency,economy and safety for the training of inertial navigation in plane,we make the training simulation for full-function inertial navigation base on virtual instruments,and give simple introduction for its content,effect,structure and realization methods.Such training mode is quite suitable for special usable equipments,complex equipments,expensive equipments or precision equipments,and provided with wonderful value.
ddNF: An Efficient Data Structure for Header Spaces

Network Verification is emerging as a critical enabler to manage large complex networks. In order to scale to data-center networks found in Microsoft Azure we developed a new data structure called ddNF, disjoint difference Normal Form, that serves as an efficient container for a small set of equivalence classes over header spaces. Our experiments show that ddNFs outperform representations proposed in previous work, in particular representations based on BDDs, and is especially suited for incremental verification. The advantage is observed empirically; in the worst case ddNFs are exponentially inferior than using BDDs to represent equivalence classes. We analyze main characteristics of ddNFs to explain the advantages we are observing.
Choice of Technologies: The Influence of Multinational Financial Agencies

The multilateral financial agencies influence technologies in developing countries in a large number of ways, some conscious, many inadvertent, most peripheral. On balance, their influence on the appropriateness of the technologies adopted appears to have been beneficial, largely as a result of their insistence on operational efficiency.
Continuous Martingales and Brownian Motion

Real and complex exponential martingales, characterization of Brownian motion, time-change reduction, harmonic and analytic maps, point polarity and transience, skew-product representation, orthogonality and independence, Brownian invariance, Brownian functionals and martingales, Gauss and Poisson reduction, iterated and multiple integrals, chaos and integral representation, change of measure, transformation of drift, preservation properties, Cameron–Martin theorem, uniform integrability, Wald’s identity, removal of drift.
Examining the Role of Source Credibility and Reference Group Proximity on Personalized Normative Feedback Interventions for College Student Alcohol Use: A Randomized Laboratory Experiment.

ABSTRACTBackground: Personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions are designed to reduce misperceived drinking norms by delivering feedback regarding the actual drinking behavior of college students, thereby leading to subsequent reductions in one's own drinking. Objective: We examined the roles of data source credibility and reference group proximity in the effectiveness of a laboratory-based PNF intervention to reduce perceived drinking norms and thereby decrease intentions to drink. Method: Following completion of an online preintervention survey and using a 2 (highly credible data source/low credible data source) × 2 (proximal reference group/distal reference group) between-subjects factorial design, 104 college student drinkers were randomly assigned to condition. Participants then completed a postintervention questionnaire to assess for changes in various aspects of drinking. Results: Highly credible feedback was associated with greater reductions in perceived weekly drinking by American colle...
Delayed Proximal Migration of the Radius Following Radial Head Resection for Management of a Symptomatic Radial Neck Nonunion Managed with Radial Head Replacement: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background Long-term outcomes of radial head resection for radial head fracture have shown mixed outcomes, depending on the integrity of the soft-tissue stabilizers of the elbow, forearm, and wrist.
Interfering with HIV therapy

Type 1 interferon signaling promotes HIV persistence even during combined antiretroviral therapy.
Soybean domestication: the origin, genetic architecture and molecular bases

Domestication provides an important model for the study of evolution, and information learned from domestication research aids in the continued improvement of crop species. Recent progress in de novo assembly and whole-genome resequencing of wild and cultivated soybean genomes, in addition to new archeological discoveries, sheds light on the origin of this important crop and provides a clearer view on the modes of artificial selection that drove soybean domestication and diversification. This novel genomic information enables the search for polymorphisms that underlie variation in agronomic traits and highlights genes that exhibit a signature of selection, leading to the identification of a number of candidate genes that may have played important roles in soybean domestication, diversification and improvement. These discoveries provide a novel point of comparison on the evolutionary bases of important agronomic traits among different crop species.
Effect of Sympathetic Nerve Inhibition on the State of Sodium—Volume Balance in Hypertensive Patients with Normal or Impaired Renal Function

1. The effect of clonidine on the relationship between sympathetic nervous system activity and the state of sodium-volume balance was studied in 15 patients with essential hypertension and normal renal function (group 1) and in 14 patients with hypertension and mild to moderate renal failure (group 2). 2. Acutely, clonidine (200 μg) produced significant falls ( P P 3. Chronic therapy with clonidine also produced significant falls in mean blood pressure and plasma noradrenaline, but not in plasma renin activity or aldosterone. 4. Exchangeable sodium and plasma volume decreased significantly in patients of group 1 but not in patients of group 2. 5. The data indicate that sympathetic nerve activity may be important for the abnormal relationship between pressure and natriuresis in subjects with essential hypertension and normal renal function, but not in hypertensive subjects with impaired renal function.
Formation of Pyrylium from Aromatic Systems with a Helium:Oxygen Flowing Atmospheric Pressure Afterglow (FAPA) Plasma Source.

The effects of oxygen addition on a helium-based flowing atmospheric pressure afterglow (FAPA) ionization source are explored. Small amounts of oxygen doped into the helium discharge gas resulted in an increase in abundance of protonated water clusters by at least three times. A corresponding increase in protonated analyte signal was also observed for small polar analytes, such as methanol and acetone. Meanwhile, most other reagent ions (e.g., O2 +·, NO+, etc.) significantly decrease in abundance with even 0.1% v/v oxygen in the discharge gas. Interestingly, when analytes that contained aromatic constituents were subjected to a He:O2-FAPA, a unique (M + 3)+ ion resulted, while molecular or protonated molecular ions were rarely detected. Exact-mass measurements revealed that these (M + 3)+ ions correspond to (M – CH + O)+, with the most likely structure being pyrylium. Presence of pyrylium-based ions was further confirmed by tandem mass spectrometry of the (M + 3)+ ion compared with that of a commercially available salt. Lastly, rapid and efficient production of pyrylium in the gas phase was used to convert benzene into pyridine. Though this pyrylium-formation reaction has not been shown before, the reaction is rapid and efficient. Potential reactant species, which could lead to pyrylium formation, were determined from reagent-ion mass spectra. Thermodynamic evaluation of reaction pathways was aided by calculation of the formation enthalpy for pyrylium, which was found to be 689.8 kJ/mol. Based on these results, we propose that this reaction is initiated by ionized ozone (O3 +·), proceeds similarly to ozonolysis, and results in the neutral loss of the stable CHO2 · radical.
iSnap: Towards Intelligent Tutoring in Novice Programming Environments

Programming environments intentionally designed to support novices have become increasingly popular, and growing research supports their efficacy. While these environments offer features to engage students and reduce the burden of syntax errors, they currently offer little support to students who get stuck and need expert assistance. Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are computer systems designed to play this role, helping and guiding students to achieve better learning outcomes. We present iSnap, an extension to the Snap programming environment which adds some key features of ITSs, including detailed logging and automatically generated hints. We share results from a pilot study of iSnap, indicating that students are generally willing to use hints and that hints can create positive outcomes. We also highlight some key challenges encountered in the pilot study and discuss their implications for future work.
Measuring and modeling the speed of human navigation

ABSTRACTNavigation, the goal-related movement through space and time to reach a destination, is a fundamental human activity. Geographers, physiologists, anthropologists, and psychologists have long been interested in the spatial and temporal aspects of navigation speed. Hikers, search and rescue teams, firefighters, the military, and others navigate on foot, and their success depends on understanding how the dynamics of foot-based navigation affect individual capabilities. This research modeled the speed of movement of humans engaged in navigation in wooded environments with varied terrain. Movement models were developed using spatiotemporal analysis of multiple subjects’ trajectories. Speed estimates were collected via satellite positioning from 200 subjects engaged in foot-based navigation. Trajectory data were merged with land-cover data to analyze human navigation over varying slopes and terrain. Generalizing these characteristics provided a model of navigational speed of movement from an origin to a...
BIRADICALS IN CYCLOADDITION

The conditions under which concerted (2 + 2) cycloadditions can occur are so restricted that most thermal and possibly all photosensitized reactions of this type proceed via biradical intermediates. In thermal (2 + 2) cycloadditions internal rotation in the biradical, leading to stereoequilibretion, is competitive with ring closure. In photosensitized cycloadditions, proceeding by way of the triplet state, electron spin inversion is required for ring closure and may be so slow that total stereoequilibration in the biradical is attained.
Crustal‐Scale Seismic Structure From Trench to Forearc in the Cascadia Subduction Zone

The (de)hydration process and the amount of hydrated sediment carried by the downgoing oceanic plate play a key role in the subduction dynamics. A high-resolution shear velocity model from the crust down to the uppermost mantle, extending from trench to forearc, is constructed in the northern Cascadia subduction zone to investigate seismic characteristics related to slab deformation and (de)hydration at the plate boundary. A total of 220 seismic stations are used, including the Cascadia Initiative Amphibious Array and inland broadband and short-period stations. The empirical Green's functions extracted from continuous ambient noise data from 2006 to 2014 provide high-quality Rayleigh wave signals at periods of 4–50 s. We simulate wave propagation using finite difference method to generate station Strain Green's Tensors and synthetic waveforms. The phase delays of Rayleigh waves between the observed and synthetic data are measured at multiple period ranges. We then invert for the velocity perturbations from the reference model and progressively improve the model resolution. Our tomographic imaging shows many regional- and local-scale low-velocity features, which are possibly related to slab (de)hydration from the oceanic plate to the overriding plate. Specifically, we observe (1) NW-SE oriented linear low-velocity features across the trench, indicating hydration of the oceanic plate induced by bending-related faultings; (2) W-E oriented fingerlike low-velocity structures off the continental margins due to dehydration of the Juan de Fuca plate; and (3) seismic lows atop the plate interface beneath the Washington forearc, indicating fluid-rich sediments subducted and overthrusted at the accretionary wedge.
CyTOF Measurement of Immunocompetence Across Major Immune Cell Types

The central role of the immune system is becoming appreciated in a wide variety of diseases. Cancer immunotherapy is one area that has yielded much recent success, although not all patients benefit equally. At the same time, recent studies have highlighted the heterogeneity of the human immune system. Despite this heterogeneity, we do not routinely measure immune competence in clinical practice, and there are no consensus assays of healthy immune function. Using mass cytometry (CyTOF), we can simultaneously detect ∼40 markers to identify various cell subsets and determine their function by the expression of cytokines, cytotoxicity, and activation markers. This can help assess ‘immunocompetence’ and facilitate better implementation of immunotherapies, both in specific disease settings and perhaps eventually as a prognostic tool in healthy subjects. Here we introduce the concepts behind this assay and provide a protocol that we have successfully implemented to identify possible predictive biomarkers of immunotherapy outcome. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Keywords: CyTOF; immunotherapy; immune profiling; biomarkers