cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SITE-SPECIFIC SOIL MANAGEMENT

Farming practices are changing with the development of high technology tools, software, and hardware. Many of these developments are presented here to help explain the systems and some of the benefits of adoption. Remote sensing has developed to include unmanned aerial platforms of various sizes from less than 25 kilograms to larger and more sophisticated systems. Additional satellites with high spatial and spectral resolution now image the ground. Managing the soil system is a key to a successful site-specific cropping system; requiring the input of the farmers knowledge to properly implement a high tech program. The future of the technology is being driven by industry developments while the adoption of the technology lags behind. As farmers see economic benefits, adoptions will occur.
Reliable social scholarly editing

If Scholarly Editing means the exercise of textual criticism for the production of digital archives and editions, then crowdsourcing may produce more problems than solutions because a digital archive is a surrogate for material documents and a digital scholarly edition is a precise argument about the archive. But the analysis of the materials in the archive is truly a crowdsourcing task, for which adequate software design is still wanted and careful monitoring and vetting required.
Condensed matter: strongly correlated electrons

In A classic understatement, Paul Dirac once remarked to the Royal Society that "the underlying physical laws necessary for the mathematical theory of...physics and the whole of chemistry are thus completely known, and the difficulty is only that...these laws lead to equations much too complicated to be soluble".
nab -Paclitaxel as a potential partner with checkpoint inhibitors in solid tumors

Tumors recognized by the host immune system are associated with better survival. However, the immune system is often suppressed in patients with established tumor burden. Stimulating the immune system to detect and kill tumor cells has been a challenge in cancer therapy for some time. Recently, novel cancer immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and vaccine therapies, have emerged as promising therapeutic approaches for many solid tumors. However, for some tumors, immunotherapy alone has not provided significant benefits, and some may even be fully resistant to immunotherapy. It has been suggested that the immune system may require "priming" before an immunotherapy can elicit an immune response. Although chemotherapies are believed to be immunosuppressive, when given at the right dose and sequence these agents may provide this "priming" effect for the immune system. In addition to direct cytotoxic killing of tumor cells, standard chemotherapeutic agents can elicit immunogenicity through various mechanisms. This review highlights the general immunomodulatory properties of chemotherapy agents. It also provides a rationale for combined therapy with nab-paclitaxel and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Recent clinical trial data with these combination regimens in solid tumors are presented, along with a summary of ongoing trials.
Encountering “Dropped” Gallstones During Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy

We describe a case of an unusual finding during robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy and bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy in a 66-year-old man with stage IIb (T2c, N0, M0) prostate adenocarcinoma. During the operation, intraperitoneal examination of the rectovesical pouch revealed calcifications and stones, which were subsequently identified as gallstones. Although these stones were not noted initially on this patient's preoperative multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging, a retrospective review demonstrated hypointense foci in the rectovesical pouch. Here, we describe the first reported case of visualization of dropped gallstones on a prostate multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging and retrieval during robotic prostatectomy.
Growth-dependent activity of the cold shock cspA promoter + 5' UTR and production of the protein CspA in Staphylococcus aureus Newman.

Research involving the cold shock gene cspA of the medically important bacterium Staphylococcus aureus is steadily increasing as the relationships between the activity of this gene at 37 °C and a spectrum of virulence factors (e.g., biofilm formation, capsule production) as well as stress-related genes (e.g., alkaline shock protein, asp-23 and the alternative sigma factor, sigB) are distinguished. Fundamental to each of these discoveries is defining the regulation of cspA and the production of its protein product CspA. In this paper, primer extension analysis was used to identify a transcriptional start point at 112 bp upstream of the initiation codon of the cspA coding sequence from S. aureus Newman RNA collected at 37 °C. Based on the location of the putative −10 and −35 sites as well as putative cold shock protein binding sites, a 192 bp sequence containing an 80 bp promoter + a 112 bp 5′ UTR was generated by polymerase chain reaction. The activity of this 192 bp sequence was confirmed in a pLL38 promoter::xylE reporter gene construct. In addition, Western blots were used to confirm the production of CspA at 37 °C and demonstrated that production of the protein was not constitutive but showed growth-dependent production with a significant increase at the 6 h time point. The results presented identify another regulatory region for the cold shock gene cspA of S. aureus and show growth-dependent activity of both this cspA regulatory sequence, presented as a 192 bp sequence of promoter + 5′ UTR and the production of the CspA protein at 37 °C. The presence of two active transcription start points, a −112 bp sequence defined in this work and a second previously defined at −514 bp upstream of the cspA initiation codon, suggests the possibility of interactions between these two regions in the regulation of cspA. The growth-dependent production of the cold shock protein CspA supports the availability of this protein to be a modulator of virulence and stress factor genes at 37 °C.
Efficient Measurement of Nonstationary Complex Coherence Functions

We demonstrate an accurate, two-step procedure for measuring the full complex coherence function. The measurement relies on a wavefront shearing interferometer that permits characterizing nonstationary fields over an extended angular domain.
Upgrade and characterization of the OSIRIS imager detector

Characterization of an instrument’s detector is an essential part of assessing the overall performance and ca- pabilities of an instrument. We present our efforts to characterize the HAWAII-2RG detector on the imager component of the OSIRIS instrument at W. M. Keck Observatory. In particular, we will report the detector’s read noise, dark current, linearity, and persistence. We find a gain of 2.16 ± 0.34, in good agreement with Teledyne’s reported gain of 2.15. The maximum read noise of the detector is 23.4 ± 1.3 e - decreasing with an increasing number of reads. We find an upper limit on the dark current of the detector to be - /pix/s. The detector is also linear to the 1% level up to 44,500 e - and to the 5% level at 80,000 e - . The maximum well depth is measured to be 119,000 e - .
Local and regional anesthesia in ruminants and swine.

This article reviews the use of popular local and regional anesthetic and analgesic techniques for surgical anesthesia and postoperative analgesia in cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. The emphasis is on proper technique, the use of a 2% lidocaine hydrochloride solution, and the epidural administration of ɑ2-adrenoceptor agonists and opioids for producing intra- and postoperative analgesia in ruminants and swine while preserving consciousness and minimizing side effects.
Memory and metamemory considerations in the instruction of human beings revisited: Implications for optimizing online learning.

With increasingly advanced tools available for online teaching and learning, it is easy to get carried away with the possibilities for designing flashy, fun, and seemingly motivating learning modules, games, and experiences. Inserting videos, animations, sounds, pop-ups, mousehovers, and so on may appear to enrich the learning experience in ways that have never before been possible. Implicit (or even sometimes explicit) in many training programs are the assumptions that if the experience is made enjoyable and easy, learning will occur, and that conditions which support quick acquisition and high performance accuracy during training will lead to effective long-term learning. Decades of research, however, have demonstrated that learners and instructors alike (and, more recently, learning technology developers) do not always understand what strategies are most effective for long-term learning, nor do they appreciate that conditions which appear to support rapid acquisition often do not promote long-term retention. For recent reviews of this subject, the reader is referred to Bjork et al. (2013) and Soderstrom and Bjork (2015).
High precision protein functional site detection using 3D convolutional neural networks.

Motivation Accurate annotation of protein functions is fundamental for understanding molecular and cellular physiology. Data-driven methods hold promise for systematically deriving rules underlying the relationship between protein structure and function. However, the choice of protein structural representation is critical. Pre-defined biochemical features emphasize certain aspects of protein properties while ignoring others, and therefore may fail to capture critical information in complex protein sites. Results In this paper, we present a general framework that applies 3D convolutional neural networks (3DCNNs) to structure-based protein functional site detection. The framework can extract task-dependent features automatically from the raw atom distributions. We benchmarked our method against other methods and demonstrate better or comparable performance for site detection. Our deep 3DCNNs achieved an average recall of 0.955 at a precision threshold of 0.99 on PROSITE families, detected 98.89 and 92.88% of nitric oxide synthase and TRYPSIN-like enzyme sites in Catalytic Site Atlas, and showed good performance on challenging cases where sequence motifs are absent but a function is known to exist. Finally, we inspected the individual contributions of each atom to the classification decisions and show that our models successfully recapitulate known 3D features within protein functional sites. Availability and implementation The 3DCNN models described in this paper are available at https://simtk.org/projects/fscnn. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Optimal population transfer in combined Feshbach resonances and stimulated-Raman-adiabatic-passage processes

We present a method for the creation and control of cold molecules that involves coherently combining Feshbach resonances and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage. We present analytical and numerical results showing how to optimize this process that can be implemented using techniques readily available in standard experimental setups. This will provide a link in the chain from atoms to ground-state molecules and can serve as a building block towards more complex processes in coherent ultracold chemistry.
“No One in the House Knew Her Name”: Servant Problems in R. K. Narayan’s Short Stories

AbstractThe invisibility and precarity of domestic servants in South Asia remains a pervasive societal and political problem, not often addressed in South Asian literary studies. This essay analyse...
Comparing Performances of Graph Mining Algorithms to Detect Malware

Malware is one of the serious problems in the modern societies. Although the signature based malicious code detection is the standard technique in all commercial antivirus software, it can only achieve detection once the virus has already caused damage and it is registered. Therefore, it fails to detect new malwares (unknown malwares). Since most of malwares have similar behavior, a behavior based method can detect unknown malwares. The behaviors of a program can be represented by a set of called API (Application programming interface). This Sequence of API have represented as a graph. To extract feature from the API's sequence we apply GSPAN graph mining techniques which specify every different pattern from the graph. We implemented supervised machine learning where input is as a pattern and got 99.98 accuracy.
A Rademacher Complexity Based Method fo rControlling Power and Confidence Level in Adaptive Statistical Analysis

While standard statistical inference techniques and machine learning generalization bounds assume that tests are run on data selected independently of the hypotheses, practical data analysis and machine learning are usually iterative and adaptive processes where the same holdout data is often used for testing a sequence of hypotheses (or models), which may each depend on the outcome of the previous tests on the same data. In this work, we present RadaBound a rigorous, efficient and practical procedure for controlling the generalization error when using a holdout sample for multiple adaptive testing. Our solution is based on a new application of the Rademacher Complexity generalization bounds, adapted to dependent tests. We demonstrate the statistical power and practicality of our method through extensive simulations and comparisons to alternative approaches.
« Le Monde relancé à chaque phrase » : Entretien avec Maylis de Kerangal

Hannah Freed-Thall & Thangam Ravindranathan : Pour commencer, une question sur le collectif, idee phare de notre colloque et de ce numero special de la revue SITES. Corniche Kennedy (2008), Naissan...
Detecting and Removing Defects in Organosilane Self-Assembled Monolayers.

Defects occur as self-assembled monolayers form, and the number and type of defects depend on the surface preparation and deposition solvent, among other parameters. Indirect measures to detect def...
Carburization resistance of cu-coated stainless steel in supercritical carbon dioxide environments

Abstract This study investigates the effectiveness of Cu as a corrosion barrier in supercritical carbon dioxide (s−CO2) by coating 316 stainless steel (316) with various thicknesses of Cu. 316 exposed to s−CO2 with 50 ppm CO showed a reduction in oxidation corresponding to the thickness of its Cu barrier coating. Additionally, a continuous Cu layer between the environment and the alloy was found to correlate to an elimination of carburization and corrosion-related mechanical degradation. This Cu coating technique could be applied over a variety of temperatures to improve the corrosion resistance of alloys that are susceptible to carburization.
Response of aspen genotypes to browsing damage is not influenced by soil community diversity

Both environmental and genetic factors influence plant growth and foliar chemistry. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the independent and interactive effects of soil community (and soil community diversity), tree genotype, and simulated browsing damage on the growth, biomass allocation and foliar chemistry of Populus tremuloides. We employed a factorial randomized complete block design with four soil treatments of varying diversity, five aspen genotypes, and a simulated ungulate browsing treatment. In the second year of growth, half the trees were subjected to simulated ungulate browsing, and 2 mo later trees were harvested and analyzed for biomass, biomass allocation, and foliar chemistry. Tree genotype was the strongest driver of foliar chemistry, but simulated browsing was the strongest driver of plant growth. Soil community influenced plant growth but not foliar chemistry, and soil community effects were rarely modified by tree genotype or simulated browsing. While environment and genotype had relatively equal influences on plant growth, tree genotype had a stronger influence than environmental effects (soil and simulated browsing) on foliar chemistry. We also documented negative plant–soil feedbacks for tree biomass. Our results highlight future opportunities for research on the potential effects of soil community diversity on trees.
Right Heart Thrombus in Transit Diagnosed With Focused Cardiac Ultrasound in the Emergency Department

The diagnosis of a right heart thrombus (RHTh) in transit associated with pulmonary embolism (PE) is an uncommon phenomenon with a high mortality rate. Timely recognition of RHTh with focused cardiac ultrasound (FOCUS) in cases of suspected PE is necessary for critical decision making in the emergency department (ED). We present a case of RHTh with submassive PE in which the patient underwent successful catheter-directed thrombolysis. This case report illustrates the significance of an emergency physician (EP) implementing FOCUS during the initial ED evaluation to rapidly diagnose RHTh in transit and initiate PE therapy without delay.
Decentralized optimal merging control for Connected and Automated Vehicles with safety constraint guarantees

Abstract This paper addresses the optimal control of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) arriving from two roads at a Merging Point (MP) where the objective is to jointly minimize the travel time and energy consumption of each CAV. The optimal solution can be used as a reference for tracking control and it guarantees that a speed-dependent safety constraint is satisfied both at the MP and everywhere within a Control Zone (CZ) which precedes it. We analyze the case of no active constraints and prove that under certain conditions the safety and speed constraints remain inactive, thus significantly simplifying the determination of an explicit decentralized solution. When these conditions do not apply, a complete solution is still obtained which includes all possible constraints becoming active. Our analysis allows us to study the tradeoff between the two objective function components (travel time and energy within the CZ). Simulation examples are provided to compare the performance of the optimal controller to a baseline consisting of human-driven vehicles with results showing improvements in both metrics.
Store-Operated Calcium Channels in Physiological and Pathological States of the Nervous System.

Store-operated calcium channels (SOCs) are widely expressed in excitatory and non-excitatory cells where they mediate significant store-operated calcium entry (SOCE), an important pathway for calcium signaling throughout the body. While the activity of SOCs has been well studied in non-excitable cells, attention has turned to their role in neurons and glia in recent years. In particular, the role of SOCs in the nervous system has been extensively investigated, with links to their dysregulation found in a wide variety of neurological diseases from Alzheimer's disease (AD) to pain. In this review, we provide an overview of their molecular components, expression, and physiological role in the nervous system and describe how the dysregulation of those roles could potentially lead to various neurological disorders. Although further studies are still needed to understand how SOCs are activated under physiological conditions and how they are linked to pathological states, growing evidence indicates that SOCs are important players in neurological disorders and could be potential new targets for therapies. While the role of SOCE in the nervous system continues to be multifaceted and controversial, the study of SOCs provides a potentially fruitful avenue into better understanding the nervous system and its pathologies.
Charlotte Delbo’s Auschwitz and After

The essay focuses on Delbo’s three-volume autobiography, Auschwitz and After, which recounts Delbo’s ordeal in Auschwitz and her efforts to re-enter French society after her liberation. She was part of a convoy of 230 Frenchwomen, most of them arrested for political or resistance activity, who were deported to Auschwitz in January of 1943. With the exception of one or two who may have been Jewish or part-Jewish (though the Germans had no way of knowing this) they were not subject to selection upon arrival, nor were they ever constant candidates for the gas chamber, though a small number who proved too old or too ill to work suffered that fate. Delbo’s memoir offers a classic refutation of the myth of “gendered heroism” in Auschwitz, which argues that women, because of their greater social skills, were better able to survive than men in the camps. Although the Frenchwomen shared the same barracks, spoke the same language, for the first few months toiled in the same work details and devoted their energy to a system of determined mutual support, Delbo reports that after 73 days only 70 were still alive. The spirit of survival proved powerless against the real enemies in Auschwitz: the physical assaults on the body of dysentery, exhaustion, malnutrition and disease. Delbo’s narrative is not just one more version of the deathcamp ordeal. She was a literary artist who forged a unique style for conveying almost viscerally the bodily anguish suffered by the Auschwitz inmate, especially as experienced by women. After the war she wrote a volume called Convoy to Auschwitz: Women in the French Resistance, in which she supplied brief biographies of all but one of her 230 fellow deportees, describing the fate of those who did not return and the long-term debilitating impact on the health of many of those who did.
Pasteurella Multocida Bacteremia and Septic Arthritis in a Patient With Non-Bite Animal Exposure.

Pasteurella multocida (P. multocida) is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobe, and it is most commonly found in the oropharynx of healthy domestic animals, especially cats and dogs. P. multocida is classified as an opportunistic pathogen, infecting individuals only through direct contact via local trauma caused by animal bites or scratches. More serious infections, while rare, are typically associated with immunocompromised states, known pre-existing cavitary lung pathology, or malignancy. In this report, we present a case of P. multocida infection without known trauma, which had likely spread via respiratory droplets causing bacteremia, septic shock, and subsequent septic arthritis of the left knee.
Effects of Polychlorinated Biphenyls on Lignin Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana

Growing bioenergy feedstock plants on contaminated land for the combined benefits of bioenergy production and land remediation is an attractive strategy to increase the cost-efficiency of plant-bas...
Building Genuine Trust Through Interpersonal Emotion Management: A Threat Regulation Model of Trust and Cooperation Across Boundaries

This article explores active influences on trust in an effort to create a broader understanding of interpersonal trust across boundaries. In contrast to more passive models of trust development, we introduce the construct of threat regulation as an agentic interpersonal process for building and maintaining trust. We examine threat regulation as a specific dimension of interpersonal emotion management that fosters trust and effective cooperation by allowing individuals to understand and mitigate the harm that their counterparts associate with cooperating - in particular, harm from opportunism, identity damage, and neglect of their interests. To explicate the micro-processes of threat regulation, we draw on social-cognitive theory, symbolic interactionism, and the psychology of emotion regulation.
Grand canonical molecular dynamics simulations of Cu–Au nanoalloys in thermal equilibrium using reactive ANN potentials

Abstract Nanoalloys are a promising class of (electro-) catalysts for applications in sustainable energy technologies, such as carbon dioxide conversion and proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this article, we establish a methodology for the prediction of the composition and atomic ordering of alloy nanoparticles in thermal equilibrium. The approach is based on a combination of site-based Monte-Carlo simulations to sample the composition space and simultaneous molecular dynamics simulations to sample the structure space at set temperature and chemical potentials. To provide an accurate description of the atomic interactions that allows the required extensive sampling of the configurational space, we employ artificial neural network potentials to interpolate density-functional theory reference calculations. For the example of Cu–Au nanoalloys with 1.0 nm and 1.5 nm diameters, the equilibrium compositions and structures at 300 K and 500 K are compared to the ground state configurations. Consistent with previous reports, we find that the most stable structures exhibit Cu(core)–Au(shell) configurations. However, we observe a temperature dependence of the alloy composition that gives rise to some Au concentration within the particle core at greater temperatures. Therefore, we argue that equilibrium nanoalloy configurations should be used as starting point for the computational investigation of the catalytic activity of alloy nanoparticles.
Long-term psychiatric outcomes after epilepsy surgery in adults

Psychiatric aspects of epilepsy surgery are very complex and have a pleomorphic expression, as an anterotemporal lobectomy (ATL) can be followed by remission, exacerbation in severity or recurrence of a presurgical psychiatric disorder, or the development of de novo psychopathology. Furthermore, presurgical psychiatric history appears to be associated with postsurgical persistence of epileptic seizures.
Differential roles for the thyroarytenoid and lateral cricoarytenoid muscles in phonation.

Objectives/Hypothesis Laryngeal adductor muscle dysfunction is a common cause of voice disorders. Reconstitution of adductor muscle function is often the target of therapy, but the effects of these muscles on voice production remain to be fully understood. This study investigated the differential roles of thyroarytenoid (TA) and lateral cricoarytenoid (LCA) muscles on voice production. Study Design Basic science study using an in vivo canine model of phonation. Methods The TA and LCA muscle nerve branches were stimulated to obtain seven graded levels of muscle activation, from threshold to maximal contraction. The effects of LCA muscle activation alone, TA muscle activation alone, and combined TA and LCA muscle activation on phonation onset parameters were investigated. Phonatory posture, phonation onset type, fundamental frequency (F0), phonation onset pressure, and airflow were evaluated. Results LCA muscle activation closed the posterior glottis, but the midmembranous gap remained. TA muscle activation closed the membranous glottis, but the posterior gap remained. Complete glottal closure was obtained only with combined TA and LCA muscle activation. Phonation onset with the LCA muscle alone was characterized by multiple modes (soft, aperiodic, periodic), whereas with the TA muscle alone it was abrupt and periodic but had significant baseline noise. Combined muscle activation led to elimination of baseline noise with stable abrupt periodic onset of phonation. Combined muscle activation was also necessary for F0 variation. The LCA muscle assisted the TA muscle in increasing subglottal pressure while concurrently reducing phonation onset airflow. Conclusions The TA muscle is necessary for F0 variation, stable onset phonation, and increased subglottal pressure, but needs the LCA muscle for optimal effectiveness and to reduce airflow requirements with increased activation. Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope, 2015
Response of woody species to site factors in Maryland, USA: Evaluation of sampling plans and of continuous and binary measurement techniques

A detailed analysis of sample plots quantifying woody vegetation and environment in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain of Maryland, USA, shows (1) that sample sites must be selected according to some formal design, and (2) that binary (presence or absence) measurement of species serves equally well as continuous measurements of importance value or percent cover in identifying significant species-environment relationships. A comparison of data from a set of samples located at the discretion of the investigators with a set chosen according to a predetermined stratified random sampling plan shows that each set produces different results. The samples located at the investigators' discretion show a larger number of significant species-environment relationships, and in addition, the outcomes of many individual species-environment tests differ between the two sets of samples. Binary and continuous measurements were compared within the random stratified samples, and nearly all species showed similar environmental trends whether analyzed by continuous or binary techniques. The differences between outcomes of binary and continuous techniques are of the magnitude which can be expected from random variation. These results suggest that where an area containing great floristic variation is to be sampled to identify species-environment relationships, the best sample plan would involve many species taken according to a carefully divised random sampling plan.
Study of the fluorescence properties of normal and neoplastic human cervical tissue

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) were obtained in vitro for 18 cervical biopsies from 10 patients. At all excitation emission maxima, but especially at 330 nm excitation, 385 nm emission, the average normalized fluorescence intensity of histologically normal tissue is greater statistically than that of histologically abnormal tissue. A diagnostic algorithm based on the relative intensity at 330 nm excitation, 385 nm emission can differentiate histologically normal and abnormal biopsies with a higher sensitivity (89%), but a lower positive predictive value (67%) and specificity (44%) than colposcopy (78%, 88%, 89%, respectively). However, paired comparison of histologically normal and abnormal biopsies from the same patient results in a sensitivity of 75%, positive predictive value of 86% and specificity of 88% for spectroscopic identification of histologic abnormality similar to that of colposcopy. This pilot study indicates that fluorescence spectroscopy may be useful in differentiating normal and abnormal tissue; based on these results, a strategy for in vivo studies is discussed.
An energy-efficient approach for provenance transmission in wireless sensor networks

Assessing the trustworthiness of sensor data and transmitters of this data is critical for quality assurance. Trust evaluation frameworks utilize data provenance along with the sensed data values to compute the trustworthiness of each data item. However, in a sizeable multi-hop sensor network, provenance information requires a large and variable number of bits in each packet, resulting in high energy dissipation due to the extended period of radio communication, and making trust systems unusable. We propose energy-efficient provenance encoding and construction schemes, which we refer to as Probabilistic Provenance Flow (PPF). To the best of our knowledge, ours is the first work to make the Probabilistic Packet Marking (PPM) approach for IP traceback feasible for sensor networks. We design two bit-efficient provenance encoding schemes along with a complementary vanilla scheme. Depending on the network size and bit budget, we select the best method using mathematical approximations and numerical analysis. Our TOSSIM simulations demonstrate that the encoding schemes of PPF have identical performance with a low bit budget (∼ 32-bit), requiring 33% fewer packets and 30% less energy than PPM variants to construct provenance. With a two-fold increase in bit budget, PPF with the selected encoding scheme reduces the energy consumption by 60%.1
Implementation of an environment for Monte Carlo simulation of fully 3-D positron tomography

Abstract This paper describes the implementation of the Eidolon Monte Carlo program designed to simulate fully three-dimensional (3-D) cylindrical positron tomographs on a MIMD parallel architecture. The original code was written in Objective-C and developed under the NeXTSTEP development environment. Different steps involved in porting the software on a parallel architecture based on PowerPC 604 processors running under AIX 4.1 are presented. Basic aspects and strategies of running Monte Carlo calculations on parallel computers are described. A linear decrease of the computing time was achieved with the number of computing nodes. The improved time performances resulting from parallelisation of the Monte Carlo calculations makes it an attractive tool for modelling photon transport in 3-D positron tomography. The parallelisation paradigm used in this work is independent from the chosen parallel architecture.
Cognitive-Constructivist Art Therapy Model: A Pragmatic Approach for Social Work Practice

Cognitive-constructivism has gained increased scholarly attention within the social sciences with roots grounded in a variety of human behavior theories. A major limitation inherent within construc...
Behavioral Reactions for the Assessment of Stress in Fishes

Behavioral reactions of fishes are measureable, adaptive features which contribute to their evolutionary fitness and, hence, can serve as biomarkers of stress. For a behavior to serve as an efficacious biomarker, it should be important to an individual's survival, growth and/or reproduction, be relatively stable under control conditions, and have a “concentration-effect” relationship with the stressor. This review summarizes the influence of numerous environmental stimuli on seven different behaviors in fishes. Avoidance-attractance behavior does not assess for stress, but rather allows a fish to avoid stressful chemicals. Of the 75 chemicals surveyed, about 13 are avoided at threshold concentrations that should mitigate harm, while approximately 23 were either not actively avoided or produced inconsistent results. Temperature selection behavior meets several criteria of a good indicator of stress. Several stimuli produced significant changes in selected/avoidance temperatures of various fishes. While only a few stimuli caused an increase, several resulted in a decrease in selected temperatures. Although conditioned learning appears to be a sensitive measure of environmentally induced stress, few studies have been published, and direct field validations are not possible. A variety of stimuli can disrupt the components of feeding, often in the parts per billion range of concentrations. Predator-prey interactions are sensitive to a variety of stressors. In trials where only prey were exposed to a potential stressor, 94% of the stressors caused an increase in prey vulnerability, usually at levels less than 96-hour LC50s. Neither of the other social behaviors reviewed, intraspecific and reproductive, although promising, has received large research attention. Studies featuring several different methods demonstrate that there is no single best behavioral bioassay method. However, depending upon the expected effects and possible mode of action, there probably is a “best” behavioral bioassay to illustrate the effects of each potential stressor.
Using State Unemployment Insurance Data to Track Student Postsecondary Outcomes

Despite the proliferation of data about student performance, secondary school educators have had difficulty accessing data on their former students’ post—high school employment and earnings in the formal economy. This article describes how one community used state unemployment insurance data, merged with student record data, to investigate the early labor market outcomes of dropouts and graduates. The authors explain how they merged the data and present findings from the descriptive research questions that were addressed with these data.
Nucieation and Growth of Cracks in Vitreous‐Bonded Aluminum Oxide at Elevated Temperatures

The nucleation and growth of cracks was studied at elevated temperatures on a grade of vitreous-bonded aluminium oxide that contained approx. =8 vol% glass at the grain boundaries. Cracks were observed to nucleate within the vitreous phase, close to the tensile surface of the flexural test specimens used in these experiments. Crack nucleation occurred at a strain of approx. =0.08% to 0.12% which corresponded to a crack nucleation time of approx. =35% of the time to failure by creep rupture. Once nucleated, cracks propagated along grain boundaries, as long as the stress for crack propagation was maintained. The crack velocity for cracks that were nucleated by the creep process was found to be linearly proportional to the apparent stress intensity factor, whereas for cracks that were nucleated by indentation, the crack velocity was proportional to the fourth power of the apparent stress intensity factor.
Early stages of Ostwald ripening

The Becker-D\"oring (BD) nucleation equation is known to predict a narrow double-exponential front (DEF) in the distribution of growing particles over sizes, which is due to early transient effects. When mass conservation is included, nucleation is eventually exhausted while independent growth is replaced by ripening. Despite the enormous difference in the associated time scales, and the resulting demand on numerics, within the generalized BD model the early DEF is shown to be crucial for the selection of the unique self-similar Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner asymptotic regime. Being preserved till the latest stages of growth, the DEF provides a universal part of the initial conditions for the ripening problem, regardless of the mass exchange mechanism between the nucleus and the matrix.
The Impact of Organizational Orientations on Medium and Small Firm Performance: A Resource-Based Perspective

Recent studies suggest that market, entrepreneurial, and learning orientations individually improve firm performance. In this study, we suggest that each of the orientations can enhance company suc...
The net cost of asthma to North Carolina Medicaid and the influence of comorbidities that drive asthma costs.

To determine the net direct medical cost of asthma and to investigate factors influencing costs, a case-control study using data from North Carolina Medicaid (May 1996–April 1998) was used. Comparison subjects were matched 1:1 on age, gender, and race. Multivariate generalized least-squares models were estimated. The adjusted net cost of asthma (N = 27,493) was $1250. The number of β-agonist and oral corticosteroid prescriptions was significantly associated with higher costs. The adjusted net cost of asthma to North Carolina Medicaid is approximately $1250, and the cost of asthma is influenced by β-agonist and oral corticosteroid exposure.
Growth of SrxBa1−xNb2O6 single crystal fibers

Abstract The growth of tungsten bronze SrxBa1−xNb2O6 (x=0.5, 0.61) single crystals have been achieved using a laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) technique. The crystals were grown from ceramic rods and were approximately 500μm in diameter. The growth direction was parallel to the c-axis. Preliminary electrical measurements indicate that the crystals are ferroelectric and optical observations show that these crystals appear to be striation free.
The new math as an international phenomenon

The new math was a several-decade-long movement to update school mathematics that began in the mid twentieth century in many countries around the world. It took many forms, but much of it involved the preparation of new instructional materials, including textbooks. Much of the new math activity in Europe and North America was stimulated by conferences and seminars of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the early 1960s. Although the initial reform efforts addressed secondary school mathematics courses that prepared pupils for tertiary education, those efforts quickly spread to primary school mathematics, to pupils not headed to tertiary education, and to non-OECD countries. Mathematicians and schoolteachers were divided about the direction that the new math reforms took. Although the new math is often deemed a failed endeavor, it changed not only school mathematics but also the way people and countries viewed school mathematics.
Reduced model of neurotransmitter transport in the presence of generic receptors and transporters

We present a description of a reduction procedure for a model of glutamate transport in a synaptic cleft in the presence of a finite number of receptors and transporters with different kinetics properties. Under certain conditions a system of equations for glutamate, receptors and transporters concentrations can be substituted by a single equation for glutamate with effective diffusion and modified kinetics term. The results of model reduction are illustrated with an example showing good agreement between the behavior of the original model and the reduced model.
Acoustic sensors on small robots for the urban environment

As the Army transforms to the Future Force, particular attention must be paid to operations in Complex and Urban Terrain. Because our adversaries realize that we don't have battlefield dominance in the urban environment, and because population growth and migration to urban environments is still on the increase, our adversaries will continue to draw us into operations in the urban environment. The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is developing technology to equip our soldiers for the urban operations of the future. Sophisticated small robotic platforms with diverse sensor suites will be an integral part of the Future Force, and must be able to collaborate not only amongst themselves but also with their manned partners. The use of acoustic sensors on robotic platforms, as shown in this paper, will greatly aid the soldiers of the future force in performing numerous types of missions including Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) by providing situational awareness, particularly to the dismounted soldier operating in the urban environment. The work conducted by the Army Research Laboratory, discussed in this paper will be transitioned to the FCS-Small Unattended Ground Vehicle (SUGV) program and FFW. The Army Research Laboratory is already working with these programs to ensure a feasible migration path. This paper focuses on four areas relating to acoustic sensing on robots for the urban environment as demonstrated at the DoD Horizontal Fusion Portfolio’s Warriors Edge (WE) Quantum Leap II (QL II) demonstration at Ft Benning, GA in August, 2004: small (man-portable) robot detection, mule-sized robot detection, sensor fusion across multiple platforms, and soldier/robot team interaction.
Effect of surface functionalization of MCM-41-type mesoporous silica nanoparticles on the endocytosis by human cancer cells.

We have synthesized a series of MCM-41-type mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN). The surface of the MSNs are functionalized with 3-aminopropyl (AP), 3-guanidinopropyl (GP), 3-[N-(2-guanidinoethyl)guanidino]propyl (GEGP), and N-folate-3-aminopropyl (FAP). In contrast to the ζ-potential of −18.4 mV for FITC-MSN, the values of ζ-potential for AP-, GP-, GEGP-, and FAP-functionalized FITC-MSNs in 100 mM PBS buffer (pH 7.4) increased positively from −11.3, −10.6, −4.0, to +4.9 mV, respectively. The uptake efficiency, endocytosis mechanism, and biocompatibility of these organically functionalized MSNs were investigated with human cervical cancer cells (HeLa). Flow cytometry results suggested that the endocytosis of MSN could be manipulated by different surface functionalization. The immunocytochemistry study indicated that the uptake of these MSNs by HeLa cells was surface functional group dependent and involved several different mechanisms of endocytosis. Confocal fluorescence micrographs showed that the diff...
Subdural blood patch for the treatment of persistent CSF leak after permanent intrathecal catheter implantation: a report of two cases.

: A CSF leak that persists despite conservative therapy may significantly increase the morbidity associated with implantable intrathecal drug delivery systems. This report presents 2 cases where the application of a subdural blood patch led to the satisfactory resolution of a persistent CSF leak after previous epidural blood patches had failed.
SURA/ViDe Digital Video Workshop: A Summary

Gives an overview of the SURA/ViDe 6th Annual Digital Video Workshop held at Indiana University‐Purdue University Indianapolis in March 2004. The SURA Video Development Initiative (SURA/ ViDe) was established in 1998 to promote and develop functional, standards‐based and scalable video systems for use in the higher education environment by leveraging collective resources and expertise towards addressing challenges to deployment. Outlines the four main tracks of the programme.
Pressure-density correlation in a turbulent reacting flow

Progress toward extraction of the elusive pressure-density correlation in variable density reacting flows is reported, using a premixed methane-air flame in open surroundings as the test medium. The relationship among density and other scalars is shown. Molecular Rayleigh scattering, laser Doppler velocimetry, and dynamic Pitot barometry are the experimental techniques used. It is shown that the often neglected pressure-scalar correlation is an important quantity in scalar transport and must be taken into account theoretically in ways that differ from past treatment.
Foreshadowing Future Slaughter: From the Indonesian Killings of 1965–1966 to the 1974–1999 Genocide in East Timor

The failure of the international community to act on the legal and moral imperative to stop, punish, and prevent genocide and other mass killings has led to the establishment of genocidal regimes that institutionalize genocide as a tactic of repression and power consolidation. One such repeat offender regime was the New Order government of Indonesia, which committed mass killings of known and alleged communists throughout Indonesia in 1965–1966 and later carried out a genocidal, colonial occupation of East Timor. I demonstrate parallels between the actors, tactics, and discourse of the communist killings and the Timorese Genocide. The failures of domestic resistance and international pressure to punish the New Order after 1966 allowed genocidaires to retain power and reinforced their belief in the acceptability and effectiveness of genocidal tactics. The Indonesian case illustrates the necessity of punishment for genocide to preclude a culture of impunity that encourages both previous and new offenders.
Electron-positron pair production as a probe of chiral symmetry in a hot QCD plasma

Abstract Chiral symmetry in the high-temperature plasma phase of QCD is consistent with at least three qualitatively different quark dispersion relations. The rate for q q → e + e − , with zero total momentum of the e+e− pair in the plasma rest frame is direct measure of the quark dispersion relation. For the three plausible dispersion relations the rates differ by orders of magnitude when the e+e− invariant mass M
Degradation of Phytates in Distillers’ Grains and Corn Gluten Feed by Aspergillus niger Phytase

Distillers’ dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed (CGF) are major coproducts of ethanol production from corn dry grind and wet milling facilities, respectively. These coproducts contain important nutrients and high levels of phytates. The phytates in these products cannot be digested by nonruminant animals; consequently, large quantities of phytate phosphorus (P) are deposited into the soil with the animal wastes which potentially could cause P pollution in soil and underground water resources. To reduce phytates in DDGS and CGF, a phytase from Aspergillus niger, PhyA, was investigated regarding its capability to catalyze the hydrolysis of phytates in light steep water (LSW) and whole stillage (WS). LSW and WS streams are the intermediate streams in the production of CGF and DDGS, respectively, and contribute to most of the P in these streams. Enzyme loadings with activity of 0.1, 1, 2, and 4 FTU/g substrate and temperatures of 35 and 45 °C were investigated regarding their influences on the degree of hydrolysis. The analysis of the hydrolyzate suggested to a sequentially degradation of phytates to lower order myo-inositol phosphate isomers. Approximately 90% phytate P of LSW and 66% phytate P of WS were released, suggesting myo-inositol monophosphate as the end product. The maximum amount of released P was 4.52 ± 0.03 mg/g LSW and 0.86 ± 0.01 mg/g WS.