cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Developments in Gold Leaching: A Literature Survey

The gold industry has seen intense activity in the areas of exploration and metallurgy'in recent years. Many developments have taken piace through which ore bodies that were once considered uneconomical to exploit are becoming economical grade. Even the traditional cyanidation process has been modified during the course of time to make it more economical and efficient. Developments such as heap leaching, in-situ leaching, carbon-in-pulp (CIP), carbon-in-leach (CIL) resin-in-pulp (RIP), and pretreatment of refractory ores have already made an impact on gold industries. Research and development work is also being carried out on less toxic, more efficient lixiviants which may eventually replace the toxic cyanide, solving the disposal problem currently facing the industry. This paper aims at summarizing the developments in the extraction of gold using conventional, as well as unconventional, lixiviants. Some developments in the area of gold recovery from pregnant solutions have also been briefly discussed.
Simultaneous Analysis of Thermal and Mechanical Events During CW Laser Ablation of Biological Media

The purpose of this research was to gain better insight into the processes involved in ablation of biological media by continuous wave (CW) laser irradiation. In all experiments, a high-speed video camera and infrared camera were used simultaneously to observe and correlate the mechanical and thermal events associated with CW argon laser irradiation of various substances (porcine aortae, collagen fibers, and polyacrylamide control samples). Lateral temperature histories of rod specimens after ablation onset demonstrate the fact that the highest temperature achieved in each medium is located some distance along its axis rather than at the ablation front itself. Surface temperature recordings of tissue slabs describe the explosive nature of CW laser ablation of soft biological media, and threshold surface temperatures for argon CW laser ablation of various media were established. Fast video imaging reveals the dehydration, bubble formation, explosive events, subsequent boiling of remaining liquid, and eventual burning of the media corresponding to the thermal events recorded.
Clinical Evaluation of the LeukoGuard (LG-6) Arterial Line Filter for Routine Open-Heart Surgery.

Research has demonstrated that leucocyte depletion diminishes the deleterious effects that activated neutrophils have on the body following cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). A clinical evaluation involving 36 patients (18 in each group) was conducted to compare the use of the Pall LG-6 (leucocyte-depleting) arterial line filter with the Pall EC PLUS filter for postoperative complications and lung function on routine open-heart cases. No differences were found between the groups for postoperative chest tube drainage, urine output, on bypass platelet drop, chest X-rays, blood usage and circulating elastase levels. Statistically significant differences were observed between immediately post-CPB pO 2 values and ventilator hours (EC PLUS = 13.3, LG-6 = 9.2). Many of the advantages of using leucocyte depletion that have been illustrated through experimental investigations were comparable to our clinical observations. We conclude that using the LG-6 leucocyte-depleting arterial line filter is a cost-effective method...
Comparison of cooperative and non-cooperative adaptive optics reference performance for propagation with thermal blooming effects

Atmospheric turbulence and laser-induced thermal blooming effects can degrade the beam quality of a high-energy laser (HEL) weapon, and ultimately limit the amount of energy deliverable to a target. Lincoln Laboratory has built a thermal blooming laboratory capable of emulating atmospheric thermal blooming and turbulence effects for tactical HEL systems. The HEL weapon emulation hardware includes an adaptive optics beam delivery system, which utilizes a Shack-Hartman wavefront sensor and a 349 actuator deformable mirror. For this experiment, the laboratory was configured to emulate an engagement scenario consisting of sea skimming target approaching directly toward the HEL weapon at a range of 10km. The weapon utilizes a 1.5m aperture and radiates at a 1.62 micron wavelength. An adaptive optics reference beam was provided as either a point source located at the target (cooperative) or a projected point source reflected from the target (uncooperative). Performance of the adaptive optics system was then compared between reference sources. Results show that, for operating conditions with a thermal blooming distortion number of 75 and weak turbulence (Rytov of 0.02 and D/ro of 3), cooperative beacon AO correction experiences Phase Compensation Instability, resulting in lower performance than a simple, open-loop condition. The uncooperative beacon resulted in slightly better performance than the open-loop condition.© (2004) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Dual-Phase Computed Tomography for Assessment of Pancreatic Fibrosis and Anastomotic Failure Risk Following Pancreatoduodenectomy

Introduction Delayed or decreased computed tomography (CT) enhancement characteristics in pancreatic fibrosis have been described.
Purification and identification of components of human plasminogen preparations

Abstract A method is described for the purification of human plasminogen. The procedure is based on salt precipitation of the customary Kline preparation. The best result is obtained in the material precipitating between 0.60 and 0.90 M ammonium sulfate at pH 2 and room temperature. The activity of plasminogen is shown to be associated with the slowest component in sedimentation, with s 20, w = 4.42 S − 0.42 c , and with the fastest component in electrophoresis at pH 2, with μ = 6.8·10 −5 cm 2 /V/sec.
How You Can Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Reconfigurable Embedded Systems: A Tutorial

This tutorial will cover technical details of how we can reconfigure our embedded hardware to optimize performance for new data streams as they arrive. As a participant, you will see details of the toolchain, including (1) the modeling infrastructure used for codesign, (2) tools used to implement the algorithms in software, (3) the tools that permit us to import C/C++ code to hardware, (4) the middleware framework we use to permit hardware and software tasks to communicate, and (5) demonstration of the behaviors at runtime. As part of the tutorial, you will see these methods applied to various image processing algorithms, including portions of the JPEG and JPEG2000 standards, with clear demonstrations of their effectiveness in terms of performance.
Pinacidil pretreatment extends ischemia tolerance of neonatal rabbit hearts.

Abstract Objectives. Activating ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels improves ischemia tolerance of adult rabbit hearts. We hypothesize that (a) endogenous activation of the KATP channel accounts for better ischemia tolerance of neonatal hearts and (b) exogenous KATP channel activation with pinacidil further improves the neonatal heart's tolerance to cardioplegic ischemia. Methods. Study 1: Seven (control) neonatal rabbits received intraperitoneal saline, whereas five others (Glib) received 0.3 mg/kg glibenclamide 10 min before sacrifice. They were perfused on Langendorff with Krebs–Henseleit buffer (KHB). Baseline left ventricle (LV) performance and coronary flow (CF) were measured. After 20 min of 37°C ischemia and 10 min of reperfusion, recovery was measured. Study 2: Ten (control) neonatal hearts underwent 90 min of normothermic ischemia with St. Thomas' cardioplegia (STCP) solution administered every 30 min. Ten others were pretreated with a 10-min infusion of 1 μM pinacidil in KHB and received 1 μM pinacidil-enriched STCP. Recovery of LV performance and CF were measured after 60 min of reperfusion. Results. Study 1: Glib significantly reduced preischemia LV performance by 28%* compared to control hearts. Recovery of Glib-treated hearts was significantly less (67%*) than controls (81%*). Study 2: Pinacidil-treated hearts had significantly better recovery of LV performance (39%*) and CF (78%*) compared to 23 and 52%, respectively, in untreated controls (*P Conclusions. Endogenous KATP channel activation in neonatal hearts contributes to their better tolerance to ischemia. Exogenous KATP channel activation by pinacidil pretreatment and cardioplegic enrichment significantly improved the neonatal rabbit heart's tolerance to cardioplegic ischemia. This may be an important addition to myocardial protection during pediatric cardiac surgery.
Stimulation of D1-type dopamine receptors enhances excitability in prefrontal cortical pyramidal neurons in a state-dependent manner.

Abstract Prefrontal cortex neurons recorded in vivo exhibit bistable activity states, consisting of a depolarized phase (−55 mV) and a hyperpolarized phase (−85 mV). These “up” and “down” states have durations ranging from 800 ms to 1 s and a periodicity of approximately 1 Hz. This study examines the state-dependency of prefrontal cortical neuron responses to dopamine, in which the bistable-state was approximated in vitro by intracellular current injection. At resting membrane potential ( n =10), dopamine caused a significant depolarization of the membrane potential without altering any of the other electrophysiological characteristics tested. In contrast, both dopamine (30 μM, 5 min) and the D1 receptor agonist SKF 38393 (5 and 10 μM) increased cell excitability when the cell was in the depolarized state (i.e., −55 mV) but not the hyperpolarized state (i.e., −85 mV; n =10). This increase in excitability was accompanied by a decrease in the rheobase current. The SKF 38393-enhanced excitability was dose-dependent and could be blocked by bath administration of the D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390 (5 and 10 μM). Administration of the GABA antagonist bicuculline (7 μM) plus the N -methyl- d -aspartate channel blocker CPP (10 μM) produced an additional increase in the excitability of prefrontal cortex neurons that was not dependent on the membrane potential. From these data we suggest that dopamine exerts state-dependent modulatory effects on the excitability of neurons in deep layers of the prefrontal cortex.
Analysis of Differences in the Functional Properties of the Substrate Binding Proteins of the Borrelia burgdorferi Oligopeptide Permease (opp) Operon

The Borrelia burgdorferi genome encodes five orthologues of the substrate binding protein oligopeptide permease A (OppA). It was previously shown that these genes are under the control of separate promoters and are differentially expressed under various environmental conditions. We were interested in determining whether there are also differences in substrate specificities among the proteins. The substrate specificities of recombinant proteins were determined by screening for high-affinity peptides by use of a combinatorial phage display heptapeptide library. Different heptapeptides with high affinities for OppA-1, OppA-2, and OppA-3 were identified. No heptapeptide binding OppA-4 or OppA-5 could be identified. Competitive binding assays were performed under various conditions to determine the substrate preferences of the OppA proteins. OppA-1 retained maximal activity over a broad range of pHs (5.5 to 7.5), whereas OppA-2 and OppA-3 showed peak activities at pHs below 5.5. OppA-1 and OppA-2 showed preferences for tripeptides over dipeptides and longer-chain peptides. Although a wide variety of amino acyl side chains were tolerated by all three OppA proteins, OppA-1 showed the broadest substrate specificity and was able to accommodate peptides composed of bulky hydrophobic residues; OppA-2 and OppA-3 showed preferences for peptides composed of small nonpolar amino acids. All three OppA proteins showed preferences for peptides composed of l- rather than d-amino acids. OppA-3 showed the greatest tolerance for changes in stereochemistry. Substantial differences in the substrate specificities of the OppA proteins of B. burgdorferi suggest that they may have distinct functions in the organism.
East/West: Introducing Asian dance to the United States

When I retired as Director of Performing Arts Films and Lectures for The Asia Society in 1991, I had been involved with bringing Asian dance to American audiences for thirty-three years. My background of having grown up in Japan and traveled in Asia, as well as having studied many different types of dance from the age of six to nineteen with constant attendance at dance recitals, had prepared me for the task of introducing the best and most authentic of Asian performing arts to the United States. I began working at the Japan Society in 1958, and then, in the early 1960s, The Asia Society, a sister organization under the sponsorship of the same patron John D. Rockefeller 3rdasked me to work for them, too. Thus, I expanded my region of interest from Japan to include the other countries of Asia. In 1970, I became full-time Director of Performing Arts at The Asia Society, whose mission it is to bring better knowledge of Asia to the American public through art exhibitions, films, performances, lectures on economics and politics, and the like. When I first brought Japanese dance to the United States in the 1950s, many in the audience were heard to remark that they did not understand what it was all about, and that, although they appreciated the beauty of the costumes and the movements and props, they
Morphological differences in coronary arteries following rotational atherectomy versus balloon angioplasty: ultrasound and angioscopic observations

Percutaneous transluminal coronary rotational atherectomy (PTCRA) is an exciting new device to recannulate obstructed coronary arteries. This device works as a high speed `drill,' selectively cutting hard atherosclerotic plaque while preferentially sparing the softer, less diseased vascular luminal surface. At speeds as high as 200,000 rpm the plaque is pulverized into small particles easily handled by the circulatory system with no untoward clinical sequela. Balloon angioplasty does not remove atherosclerotic plaque. It dilates the vessel by mechanically stretching, compressing and splitting the plaque and vessel lining. We compare morphological and surface luminal characteristics of vessels post PTCRA to vessels post PTCA.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Structural diversity in a series of alkyl-substituted cesium aryloxides.

A family of cesium aryloxides [Cs(OAr)]n were synthesized and structurally characterized from the reaction of 1:1 or 1:excess stoichiometry of Cs0 and the appropriate alkyl-substituted phenol: 2-al...
Pituitary cell cultures contain muscarinic receptors.

Abstract The presence of muscarinic receptors in 5-day dissociated cell cultures of rat anterior pituitary glands was detected by atropine-sensitive binding of 3 H-quinuclidinyl benzilate ( 3 H-QNB). Muscarinic receptor levels in cultures were comparable to levels of receptors for dopamine and thyrotropin releasing hormone.
Self-compensating diffraction gratings in DWDM optical communications

The stability of optical communications depends on the specification stability of optical components and on the properties of materials conjugated with the electromagnetic properties of light. Diffraction, the product of interference and the periodic variation of refractive index, is applicable in a plethora of optical devices that are deployed in dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), such as optical filters, optical add-drop multiplexers (OADM), and others. However, temperature variation affects the optical and the mechanical properties of materials and thus the propagation characteristics of optical signals. Similarly, thermal expansion affects the properties of diffraction gratings, which is manifested as spatial angular shift. This shift has an adverse effect on the proper operation of grating devices and the function they perform. In this paper, we provide a temperature sensitivity analysis of diffraction gratings and a self-compensating method that provides performance stabilization due to temperature.
Criticism of hypotheses by Gandini and Cheradame regarding the initiation of carbocationic polymerization

In the framework of their review of carbocationic initiation of olefin polymerization Gandini and Cheradame have hypothesized that carbocationic blocking and grafting of alkenes in the presence of Friedel-Crafts acids may also proceed by an “onto” mechanism and not by a “from” process suggested by Kennedy et al. A wide battery of facts and recently generated information substantiate the blocking and grafting from mechanisms and refute Gandini and Cheradame's onto hypothesis.
Interactions between RNA Polymerase and the Positive and Negative Regulators of Transcription at the Escherichia coli gal Operon

The simultaneous binding of Gal repressor (GalR), catabolite activator protein (CAP or CRP), and RNA polymerase (RNAP) to the promoter region of the Escherichia coli gal operon has been analyzed thermodynamically, by quantitative DNase I “footprint” titration analysis, and structurally, by the use of hydroxyl radical (•OH) and 5-phenylphenanthroline (5OPP) “footprinting”. In the absence of regulatory proteins, the preference of RNAP for one (P1) of the two gal operon overlapping promoters (P1 and P2) is −0.4 ± 0.2 kcal/mol, indicating only a small energetic preference for P1. The simultaneous binding of CAP and RNAP occurs with 10-fold cooperativity, with greater than 99% of the CAP−RNAP complex present at the P1 promoter. This cooperativity is inhibited by the binding of GalR to the upstream operator, OE, but does not result in the repartitioning of RNAP between the P1 and the P2 promoters. These results suggest that the CAP−RNAP cooperativity and promoter partitioning are not linked and are consistent w...
On maximal power transfer problem

Abstract Given a source vector e ϵ C n applied to a specified n -port of open-loop impedance Z 0 terminated in any n -port load of a family {itN}. It is desired to determine the optimal load Z which draws the maximum active power. The proposed method of solution of this paper employs operator theoretic concepts of functional analysis and inequalities on positive operators. Among other results, it is shown that the maximal active power transfer across Z 0 terminated in resistive n -ports is obtained by the network with R = √ Z 0 Z * 0 provided R and Z 0 are members of a normal family of n -ports. The paper encompasses in full, the results of some recent contributions, and the proposed new approach invites further generalizations and applications.
Hysteresis of magnetostructural transitions: Repeatable and non-repeatable processes

Abstract The Gd5Ge2Si2 alloy and the off-stoichiometric Ni50Mn35In15 Heusler alloy belong to a special class of metallic materials that exhibit first-order magnetostructural transitions near room temperature. The magnetic properties of this class of materials have been extensively studied due to their interesting magnetic behavior and their potential for a number of technological applications such as refrigerants for near-room-temperature magnetic refrigeration. The thermally driven first-order transitions in these materials can be field-induced in the reverse order by applying a strong enough field. The field-induced transitions are typically accompanied by the presence of large magnetic hysteresis, the characteristics of which are a complicated function of temperature, field, and magneto-thermal history. In this study we show that the virgin curve, the major loop, and sequentially measured MH loops are the results of both repeatable and non-repeatable processes, in which the starting magnetostructural state, prior to the cycling of field, plays a major role. Using the Gd5Ge2Si2 and Ni50Mn35In15 alloys, as model materials, we show that a starting single phase state results in fully repeatable processes and large magnetic hysteresis, whereas a mixed phase starting state results in non-repeatable processes and smaller hysteresis.
Superconvergence of a Chebyshev Spectral Collocation Method

We reveal the relationship between a Petrov---Galerkin method and a spectral collocation method at the Chebyshev points of the second kind (±1 and zeros of U k ) for the two-point boundary value problem. Derivative superconvergence points are identified as the Chebyshev points of the first kind (Zeros of T k ). Super-geometric convergent rate is established for a special class of solutions.
Synthesis and Characterization of fac‐Re(CO)3‐aspartic‐N‐monoacetic Acid: Structural Analogue of a Potential Renal Tracer, fac‐99mTc(CO)3(ASMA)

The reaction of an aminopolycarboxylate ligand, aspartic-N-monoacetic acid (ASMA), with [Re(CO)3(H2O)3]+ was examined. The tridentate coordination of ASMA to this ReI tricarbonyl precursor yielded fac-Re(CO)3(ASMA) as a mixture of diastereomers. The chemistry is analogous to that of the TcI tricarbonyl complex, which yields fac-99mTc(CO)3(ASMA) under similar conditions. The formation, structure, and isomerization of fac-Re(CO)3(ASMA) products were characterized by HPLC, 1H NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. The two major fac-Re(CO)3(ASMA) diastereomeric products each have a linear ONO coordination mode with two adjacent five-membered chelate rings, but they differ in the endo or exo orientation of the uncoordinated acetate group, in agreement with expectations based on previous studies. Conditions have been identified for the expedient isomerization of fac-Re(CO)3(ASMA) to a mixture consisting primarily of one major product. Because different isomeric species typically have different pharmacokinetic characteristics, these conditions may provide for the practical isolation of a single 99mTc(CO)3(ASMA) species, thus allowing the isolation of the isomer that has optimal imaging and pharmacokinetic characteristics. This information will aid in the design of future 99mTc radiopharmaceuticals.
Observations on Calcium-Induced Stability of Salivary Proteins in a Lipid-Extraction System

Modification of a lipid extraction method was used to demonstrate the ability of calcium to stabilize salivary proteins in an aqueous solution. Gel electrophoretic patterns showed that slowly migrating components were most affected. Several biologically active factors are implicated to be among those stabilized.
Antisocial Behavior of Agents in Scheduling Mechanisms

Truthful task scheduling mechanisms are designed to cope with the selfishness of the participating agents. They assume that the agents are selfish; each agent's goal is to maximize its own profit. However, this is not always the case; an agent may want to cause losses to the other agents besides maximizing its profit. Such an agent is said to be an antisocial agent. An antisocial agent will try to gain as much profit as possible relative to the other agents. This paper presents an antisocial strategy which can be used by the antisocial agents to inflict losses on the other agents participating in a task scheduling mechanism on related machines. This paper also studies, by simulation, the effect of different parameters, such as the degree of antisociality on the relative losses that can be inflicted on the participating agents.
CNE Article: Moral Distress and Psychological Empowerment in Critical Care Nurses Caring for Adults at end of Life

Background Critical care nurses providing care for adults at the end of life may encounter moral distress when they cannot do what they believe is ethically correct. Psychological empowerment can decrease moral distress among critical care nurses. Objectives To describe the relationships between moral distress, psychological empowerment, and demographics in critical care nurses caring for patients at the end of life. Method A total of 277 critical care nurses were surveyed via the Moral Distress Scale and the Psychological Empowerment Instrument. Responses were scored on a Likert scale of 1 to 7. Results Moral distress intensity was high (mean 5.34, SD 1.32) and positively correlated with age (r = 0.179, P = .01). Moral distress frequency was moderate (mean 2.51, SD 0.87) and negatively correlated with nurses' collaboration in end-of-life patient care conferences (r = -0.191, P = .007). Psychological empowerment scores (mean 5.31, SD 1.00) were high and positively correlated with age (r = 0.139, P = .03), years of experience (r = 0.165, P = .01), collaboration in end-of-life-care conferences (r = 0.163, P = .01), and end-of-life-care education (r = 0.221, P = .001) and were negatively correlated with moral distress frequency (r = -0.194, P = .01). Multiple regression analysis revealed that empowerment was a significant predictor of moral distress frequency (â = .222, P Conclusion The significant negative correlation between psychological empowerment and frequency of moral distress in these nurses indicated that nurses with higher perceived empowerment experience moral distress less often. This finding is of particular interest as interventions to decrease moral distress are sought.
Linear Models: A Useful "Microscope" for Causal Analysis

This note reviews basic techniques of linear path analysis and demonstrates, using simple examples, how causal phenomena of non-trivial character can be understood, exemplified and analyzed using diagrams and a few algebraic steps. The techniques allow for swift assessment of how various features of the model impact the phenomenon under investigation. This includes: Simpson's paradox, case-control bias, selection bias, missing data, collider bias, reverse regression, bias amplification, near instruments, and measurement errors.
Supernovae: A smashing success.

The progenitors of type Ia supernovae, the standard candles that lit the way to dark energy, have been elusive. A largely dismissed scenario has now produced one, but the results aren't what anyone expected. Type Ia supernovae are potentially invaluable as cosmological distance indicators, but if they are to provide a reliable measure of the expansion history of the Universe and nature of dark energy, more evidence that they are a largely homogeneous population will be required. A subclass of type Ia supernova, the 'sub-luminous 1991bg-like' objects, has proved problematic, as current models fail to predict their formation from the presumed supernova precursors, white dwarf stars. It had long been speculated that mergers of two white dwarfs should trigger such events, and now a new set of numerical simulations adds support to this idea. A merger of two equal-mass white dwarfs leads to a sub-luminous explosion if a single common-envelope phase is involved, and if the component stars are each about 0.9 solar masses in size.
The role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α7 subtype in the functional interaction between nicotine and ethanol in mouse cerebellum.

Background Many epidemiological studies report that alcoholics overwhelmingly smoke tobacco and vice versa, which suggests a possible functional interaction between ethanol and nicotine. Although nicotine-ethanol interaction is well documented within the central nervous system, the mechanism is not well understood. Therefore, it is important from a public health standpoint to understand the mechanisms involved in nicotine and ethanol functional interaction. The intracerebellar (ICB) administration of nicotine significantly attenuates ethanol ataxia through nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α(4)β(2) subtype. This study, an extension of earlier work, was intended to investigate the possible role of nAChR subtype α(7) in mitigating ethanol ataxia. Methods The effect of ICB injection of PNU-282987 (α(7) agonist; 25 ng to 2.5 μg) and the antagonist methyllycaconitine was evaluated on ethanol (2 g/kg; i.p.)-induced ataxia with a Rotorod. Cerebellar nitric oxide was determined fluorometrically in the presence of ethanol and/or PNU-282987. Results Attenuation of ethanol-induced ataxia following PNU-282987 microinfusion was dose-dependent suggesting the participation of α(7) subtype in nicotine and ethanol interaction. Intracerebellar pretreatment with methyllycaconitine (α(7) -selective antagonist; 6 ng) virtually abolished the attenuating effect of PNU-282987 as well as the effect of nicotine, but not of RJR-2403 (α(4)β(2) -selective agonist; 125 ng) on ethanol-induced ataxia. Finally, ethanol administration significantly decreased cerebellar NO(x), whereas ICB PNU-282987 significantly increased and/or opposed ethanol-induced decrease in NO(x). These results were functionally in agreement with our Rotorod data. Conclusions These observations confirmed the following: (i) α(7) participation in nicotine-ethanol interaction and (ii) α(7) selectivity of methyllycaconitine. Overall, the results demonstrate the role of cerebellar nAChR α(7) subtype in nicotine-induced attenuation of ethanol-induced ataxia in cerebellar NO(x)-sensitive manner.
Polytetrahydrofuran cross-linked polystyrene resins for solid-phase organic synthesis.

Currently, divinylbenzene cross-linked polystyrene (DVB-PS) is the polymer of choice for use in solid-phase organic synthesis (SPOS). While much research has been directed toward the optimization o...
Automated structural classification of lipids by machine learning.

Motivation: Modern lipidomics is largely dependent upon structural ontologies because of the great diversity exhibited in the lipidome, but no automated lipid classification exists to facilitate this partitioning. The size of the putative lipidome far exceeds the number currently classified, despite a decade of work. Automated classification would benefit ongoing classification efforts by decreasing the time needed and increasing the accuracy of classification while providing classifications for mass spectral identification algorithms. Results: We introduce a tool which automates classification into the LIPID MAPS ontology of known lipids with >95% accuracy and novel lipids with 63% accuracy. The classification is based upon simple chemical characteristics and modern machine learning algorithms. The decision trees produced are intelligible and can be used to clarify implicit assumptions about the current LIPID MAPS classification scheme. These characteristics and decision trees are made available to facilitate alternative implementations. We also discovered many hundreds of lipids that are currently misclassified in the LIPID MAPS database, strongly underscoring the need for automated classification. Availability: Source code and chemical characteristic lists as SMARTS search strings are available under an open-source license at https://www.github.com/princelab/lipid_classifier
Reflections and trends in the expansion of cellular wireless services in the U.S. and China

Charting the evolution of business capabilities and communication technology and standards.
Behavioral Economics and the Analysis of Consumption and Choice

Behavioral economics (BE) in psychology focuses on the application of traditional microeconomics concepts to the study of behavior, particularly the cross-species analysis of consumption broadly defined and choice. Here, we review key concepts such as demand, substitution, and complementarity within a behavioral psychology framework, novel behavioral economics analysis techniques for quantifying demand elasticity and patterns of choice behaviors, and broader implications for organizational decision-making and empirical public policy. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Representing Common-Cause Failures in the SAPHIRE Software

Currently, the risk analysis software SAPHIRE has implemented a common-cause failure (CCF) module to represent standard CCF methods such as alpha-factor and multiple Greek letter approaches. However, changes to SAPHIRE are required to support the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s 2007 “Risk Assessment Standardization Project” CCF analysis guidance for events assessment. This guidance provides an outline of how both the nominal CCF probabilities and conditional (e.g., after a redundant component has failed) CCF probabilities should be calculated. Based upon user-provided input and extending the limitations in the current version of SAPHIRE, the CCF module calculations will be made consistent with the new guidance. The CCF modifications will involve changes to (1) the SAPHIRE graphical user interface directing how end-users and modelers interface with PRA models and (2) algorithmic changes as required. Included in the modifications will be the possibility to treat CCF probability adjustments based upon failure types (e.g., independent versus dependent) and failure modes (e.g., failure-to-run versus failure-to-start). In general, SAPHIRE is being modified to allow the risk analyst to define a CCF object. This object is defined in terms of a basic event. For the CCF object, the analyst would need to specify a minimal set of information, including: - The number of redundant components; - The failure criteria (how many component have to fail); - The CCF model type (alpha-factor, MGL, or beta-factor); - The parameters (e.g., the alpha-factors) associated with the model; - Staggered or non-staggered testing assumption; - Default level of detail (expanded, showing all of the specific failure combinations, or not). This paper will outline both the theory behind the probabilistic calculations and the resulting implementation in the SAPHIRE software.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Spectrum of Congenital Cardiac Anomalies Produced in Chick Embryos by Mechanical Interference with Cardiogenesis

Stage 19 to 20 white leghorn chick embryos were subjected to an operative manipulation in which a wire device was passed under the outflow tract of the cardiac tube, and allowed to remain in place from 24 to 60 hours. The embryos were then permitted to develop until hatching. Twenty-eight embryos, including eight sham operated controls, all of whom were normal, survived to at least the 18th embryonic day, and are included in this report. A spectrum of cardiac anomalies was produced as follows: group 1, widening of the left ventricular outflow tract unassociated with other defects; group 2, widening of the left ventricular outflow tract with a subaortic ventricular septal defect, 0.8 mm or less in its greatest dimension; group 3, a large ventricular septal defect, 1.5 mm or more in its greatest dimension, with varying degrees of abnormal position of the aorta, including "overriding" of the aorta, but with maintenance of continuity between the aortic and mitral valve annuli; group 4, the double outlet syndrome, in which both great vessels arise from the anatomic right ventricle with complete muscular separation between the aortic and mitral valves. In the time period studied, the double outlet syndrome represents the extreme of the continuum. However, it is possible that other forms of this spectrum exist, some perhaps incompatible with embryonic life, and that these may be produced by changing the experimental technique.
Combined Cardioprotectant and Antithrombotic Actions of Platelet P2Y12 Receptor Antagonists in Acute Coronary Syndrome: Just What the Doctor Ordered

Since the P2Y12 receptor antagonists were first introduced, they have been extensively tested in patients with acute coronary syndrome and are now standard of care. These antiplatelet drugs are very effective in reducing subsequent cardiovascular events, stent thromboses, and mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing reperfusion therapy. Although the prevailing view is that their benefit derives from their antithrombotic properties, other unrelated pleiotropic effects appear to be equally beneficial. Accumulating clinical and animal evidence indicates that, if present at the time of reperfusion, these drugs have a direct anti-infarct effect similar to that of ischemic postconditioning. Four oral antagonists have been developed in rapid succession: ticlopidine, clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor. Each agent had a more consistent and rapid onset of action than the previous one, and this has correlated with improved clinical outcomes when given early in treatment. Unfortunately, gut absorption causes an appreciable delay in the onset of effect, especially when morphine is used, and the constant push to minimize the door-to-balloon time has made it difficult to achieve adequate platelet inhibition at the time of percutaneous coronary intervention with an oral agent. An intravenous P2Y12 antagonist such as cangrelor may optimize treatment because it produces nearly maximal inhibition of platelet aggregation within minutes. If antiplatelet agents do protect through postconditioning's mechanism, then they would render any other intervention that protects through that mechanism redundant. Indeed, animals treated with cangrelor cannot be further protected by pre- or postconditioning. However, interventions that use a different mechanism such as mild hypothermia or cariporide, a Na(+)-H(+) exchange blocker, do add to cangrelor's protection. Future research should be directed toward identifying interventions that can augment the protection from antiplatelet therapy and finding a way to optimize P2Y12 inhibition at reperfusion in all patients.
Self-Control, Thrill Seeking, and Crime: Motivation Matters

Self-control theory (SCT), as a control theory, assumes that the pleasures gained from crime are equally obvious and attractive to all. This study brings a consideration of crime as a process into SCT, recognizing that the sensations inherent in offending may not be equally attractive to everyone. In doing so, we test the theory’s equal motivation assumption, bringing a consideration of individual differences in thrill seeking to the fore. Drawing on theory and research on the personality characteristic thrill seeking, we hypothesize that thrill seeking and self-control have independent influences on offending: that motivation to the process of crime matters. In addition, we investigate whether the effects of self-control are contingent on levels of thrill seeking, in part because high thrill seekers are less averse to the process of risk. These hypotheses are tested using data from the Family and Community Health Study, a sample of roughly 700 African American youth and their families. A new measure of s...
Comparison of student experiences with plan-driven and agile methodologies

In Fall of 2004, we offered two software engineering courses: one in plan-driven methodologies and one in agile methodologies. In these courses, the students work on large projects in teams of 14 to 16 students using variants of Team Software Process (TSP) or Extreme Programming (XP). In order to compare the students' experiences with these methodologies, the team in the plan-driven course and one of the agile teams were given the same problem statement. Throughout the semester, we measured team cohesion and individuals' attachment to the project. To measure team cohesion, we modified the Group Environment Questionnaire that has been shown to accurately reflect team cohesion in sports teams. We also developed some of our own cohesion metrics and a measure of attachment to the project. While the GEQ showed no significant difference between the teams, our measures showed higher overall cohesion in XP, but higher sub-team cohesion in TSP. At the end of the semester, we also compared the functionality of the applications the teams developed and a variety of code metrics measuring the quality of their code and its design. While the team's developed approximately the same amount of functionality, in general, the XP team's code had better metrics. The TSP team required much more code to accomplish the same functionality because, although they had a strong design, their implementation did not leverage inheritance as the design expected
Prosocial effects of entertainment television in India

The study examines the prosocial effects of Hum Log (We People), India's first long‐running television soap opera. Hum Log was a prosocial television programme that was designed to promote women's ...
Fully Integrated Seven-Order Frequency-Range Quadrature Sinusoid Signal Generator

A compact wide-frequency-range quadrature sinusoid signal generator tailored to on-chip impedance spectroscopy instrumentation applications is described. Using a new hybrid structure, it provides seven orders of frequency-tuning range (1 mHz to 10 kHz) appropriate for impedance characterization of many sensor materials. The signal generator exhibits very accurate frequency tuning through digital control, and the new structure inherently guarantees good phase and amplitude matching between sine and cosine outputs across the supported frequency range. The circuit has been fabricated in a 0.5-mum CMOS process and occupies 1 mm2. It consumes only 60 muA with a 3-V supply. Measurements show that the phase mismatch is less than 0.8deg and that the amplitude mismatch is less than 3%. The total harmonic distortion is below 0.6% over the seven-order frequency range.
The importance of circular DNA in mammalian gene amplification.

The substantial agreement between the molecular and cytogenetic data in human and rodent systems encompassing a variety of genes and selective conditions encourages the belief that the proposed model can account for many cases of gene amplification. In order to facilitate understanding of the interrelationships between the molecular and cytogenetic data presented later in this article, a model for the proposed chronology of gene amplification is presented
The Effects of Decentralization on Schooling: Evidence From the Sao Paulo State's Education

Decentralization of the delivery of public services provision is an important governance reform recently witnessed in many developing countries. Public education has been one of the key public services devolved to lower level governments. This paper uses an exclusive and rich longitudinal data on primary schools to evaluate the effects of the decentralization reform implemented on the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on several indicators of school performance and school resources. Specific aspects of the Sao Paulo’s State education reform combined with the data available allow me to deal with some common identification issues encountered by previous empirical studies on the subject. I find conflicting results for different school quality measures; decentralization increased dropout rates and failure rates across all primary school grades but improved several school resources. Further empirical investigation suggests that the worsening of these school performance indicators for the two first grades was partially driven by the democratization of the school access promoted by the education reform. Evaluation of the distributive outcome of the reform suggests that its effects were more perverse for schools located on rural and poor areas. I also find evidence that decentralization widened the gap between the “good” and “bad” schools. Moreover, I find no evidence that the municipalities’ administrative experience affected the program’s outcome.
Against All Odds: Civic Engagement and Power Building in an Invisible Workforce

Home care workers provide assistance with activities of daily living to disabled, chronically ill, cognitively impaired and elderly clients. Home care jobs involve personal, intimate forms of caregiving such as help with bathing, dressing, eating and performing household tasks. Such ‘high-intensity’ caregiving places continual demands on home care workers’ time and energy. Despite the challenging physical and emotional work that caring for the elderly and disabled entails, home care services are undervalued and wages for home care workers are at the lowest end of the wage scale in the health care sector. Public policies created and continue to fund the home care industry. Wages and working conditions are shaped by government established reimbursement rates. The plight of home care providers is exacerbated by legal limitations to collective bargaining and the workers’ exclusion from most labor standards. Until very recently, labor unions have overlooked this sector of the workforce. This paper examines how home care workers in Oregon, a predominantly female, geographically dispersed, and economically under-valued workforce were brought together to experience the power of direct political action, shape public policy, and extend their reach beyond the union to other civic and social groups. Drawing on qualitative interviews and archival data, it traces the efforts of home care workers to mobilize their co-workers to demand improvements in compensation and working conditions and to become trade union activists. The paper concludes with a discussion of the factors that helped the home care workers to be successful in bringing about social change that improved their lives.
Disfluency Detection with a Semi-Markov Model and Prosodic Features

We present a discriminative model for detecting disfluencies in spoken language transcripts. Structurally, our model is a semiMarkov conditional random field with features targeting characteristics unique to speech repairs. This gives a significant performance improvement over standard chain-structured CRFs that have been employed in past work. We then incorporate prosodic features over silences and relative word duration into our semi-CRF model, resulting in further performance gains; moreover, these features are not easily replaced by discrete prosodic indicators such as ToBI breaks. Our final system, the semi-CRF with prosodic information, achieves an F-score of 85.4, which is 1.3 F1 better than the best prior reported F-score on this dataset.
Abstract LB-468: miR-345 downregulation is associated with apoptosis resistance in pancreatic cancer: therapeutic implications

Resistance to apoptosis is one of the mechanisms underlying the highly metastatic and drug-resistant nature of pancreatic malignancy, which currently stands as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death. Recent studies have identified several differentially-expressed microRNAs in pancreatic cancer, including miR-345, which is among the top aberrantly-expressed genes exhibiting significant downregulation. In this study, we have investigated the functional consequences of miR-345 downregulation in pancreatic cancer. We observed that miR-345 was significantly downregulated in our set of pancreatic cancer tissues as compared to the normal pancreas. Furthermore, a relative decrease in miR-345 levels was observed in poorly-differentiated pancreatic cancer cell lines as compared to the well-differentiated cell lines. Ectopic expression of miR-345 in two pancreatic cancer cell lines, MiaPaCa and Panc1, led to reduced cell viability and induction of apoptosis. miR-345 overexpressing pancreatic cancer cells exhibited loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, release of cytochrome c, activation of caspases 3/7 and PARP1 cleavage. In addition, we also observed translocation of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) from mitochondria to nucleus and increased DNA fragmentation in miR-345 overexpressing pancreatic cancer cells. All these effects were reversed upon treatment of miR-345 overexpressing pancreatic cancer cells with anti-miR-345 oligonucleotides, thus confirming the role of miR-345 in apoptosis induction. Based on in silico analysis, we identified BCL2 as a candidate miR-345 target gene and experimentally validated the direct targeting of the 3′ UTR of BCL2 using a luciferase reporter assay. Consistent with this, miR-345 overexpressing pancreatic cancer cells exhibited a downregulated expression of BCL2 at the protein level. When we allowed unopposed exogenous expression of BCL2, it rescued pancreatic cancer cells from miR-345-induced apoptosis. Altogether, our data suggest that miR-345 downregulation is associated with gain of apoptosis resistance, and restoring its expression may have therapeutic effects in pancreatic cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-468. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-468