cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of socio‐economic and behavioural factors on childhood malnutrition in Yemen

This study examined the effects of socio-economic and behavioural factors on childhood malnutrition in Yemen. The three anthropometric indicators such as height-for-age, weight-for-height and weight-for-age are used to examine the nutritional status of children aged less 5 years in Yemen. The independent variables include background characteristics, behavioural risk factors and illness characteristics. Data for the study come the most recent Yemen Demographic and Health Survey, a nationally representative sample, conducted in Yemen in 1997. Logistic regression analysis is used to estimate the odds of being malnourished. The three anthropometric indicators show high to very high levels of child malnutrition in Yemen. The prevalence of stunting and underweight is so widespread that almost every other child under the age of 5 is either stunted or underweight. Social, economic and behavioural factors show very significant association with childhood malnutrition. The study results indicate the importance of social and behavioural factors in describing childhood malnutrition in Yemen. The study results will help develop nutritional and health promotion policies in order to improve childhood malnutrition in this country.
Lewis acid mediated diastereoselective synthesis of fused fluorinated spiroketal as potential biologically active compounds

Abstract A series of substituted dibenzalacetones prepared using standard procedures were condensed with 5-methyl, 5-phenyl, and 5-trifluoromethyl-1,3-cyclohexanediones respectively, in toluene containing BF 3 ·OEt as the Lewis acid catalyst. The reaction was found to be highly diastereoselective ( dr , 9:1). The resulting spiroketals 1a – r were formed in moderate to good yields. In addition, a synthetically and biologically useful by-product identified as chromenone 7 was observed.
Influence of spray mixture rate and nozzle size of sprayers on toxicity of profenofos and thiodicarb formulations against tobacco budworm on cotton

Abstract The toxicity of an encapsulated organophosphate, profenofos CS (CS = capsule suspension) was compared with an emulsifiable concentrate (EC), and a flowable carbamate, thiodicarb against tobacco budworm (TBW), Heliothis virescens (F.) eggs and neonate larvae on cotton using 650033 and 8002E flat fan nozzles in a spray table at 0.28 and 0.56 kg active ingredient (a.i.) ha−1. The 650033 and 8002E nozzles delivered spray solutions of 10.5 and 21.3 litre ha−1 with spray droplets averaging Dv0.5, μm = 246 and 325, respectively. Regardless of formulations, the 8002E nozzle provided consistently greater mortality of H. virescens eggs and larvae than did the 650033 nozzle. Regardless of formulations, the lower a.i. (0.28 kg ha−1) rate produced egg mortality comparable to higher a.i. rate (0.56 kg ha−1). Contact toxicity of profenofos CS to H. virescens eggs was significantly higher than profenofos EC and thiodicarb. Residual toxicity of profenofos CS to TBW eggs was comparable to profenofos EC but residual toxicity of thiodicarb was significantly greater than profenofos EC and profenofos CS. Data indicate that encapsulated profenofos significantly increased efficacy against TBW eggs and neonate larvae but ovo-larvicidal activity of thiodicarb was significantly greater than profenofos CS and profenofos EC.
A Survey on Invariance and Ergodicity of Quantum Markov Semigroups

This article surveys recent results on invariances and ergodicity of general quantum Markov semigroups of bounded linear maps acting on C*- or von Neumann algebra . In particular, we consider existence and uniqueness of invariant (stationary) quantum states as well as ergodicity and mean ergodicity of quantum states via heavy usage of the GNS representation. This survey is made self-contained by also reviewing relevant concepts and results necessary for the subsequent developments.
Thermostability of Heat-Stabile Components of Complement.∗

Summary and ConclusionsFrom the accompanying graph it is seen that the fourth component is relatively more heat-stabile than the third component. The addition of 10% NaCl to the complement prior to heating markedly diminishes the thermostability of the fourth component, while this effect is not noted in the case of the third component, except that in the presence of 10% NaCl the third component is completely inactivated at 60° C while in the absence of the salt a temperature of 62° C is required. It is also observed that the fourth component is inactivated at 65° C while the third component is inactivated at 62° C. From these findings it is evident that the third component is more intimately associated with the serum proteins than is the fourth component. It is therefore suggested that in the routine inactivation of complement for various serological purposes, inactivation be accomplished at 54° C instead of the customary 56° C, provided the temperature control is adequate.
The Development of Modern Spain. An Economic History of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries . By Gabriel Tortella. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. Pp. xvi, 528. $49.95.

The publication of this book in English is good news. Gabriel Tortella presents a synthesis of Spain's economic history during the last two centuries, written with scientific rigor and didactic guidance. He expertly combines economic theory and general historical analysis to formulate his hypotheses and to develop his arguments. The present volume contains some modifications of the original Spanish edition, and Valerie J. Herr's translation is excellent. Its 16 chapters include numerous tables, figures, and maps, and are followed by an updated bibliography and a chronology.
Carbenes in constrained systems, 3. Solid‐State photolysis of cycloheptane‐ and cyclooctanespirodiazirine within cyclodextrins and zeolites

Inclusion complexes of cycloheptanespirodiazirine (1) and cyclooctanespirodiazirine (8) in α-, β-, and γ-cyclodextrin, and faujasite type zeolites (NaX and NaY), have been prepared. The guest-host complexes (1- and 8@CD and 1- and 8@zeolite) were irradiated with UV light in the solid state and the reaction products were separated from the host and analyzed. Product ratios from photolysis of complexes were compared with those obtained from pure compounds and in solution. Cycloheptanespirodiazirine (1) gives cycloheptene (2), bicyclo[4.1.0]heptane (3), and methylenecyclohexane (4). Photolysis products from cyclooctanespirodiazirine (8) are cyclooctene (9), bicyclo[3.3.0]octane (10), and bicyclo-[5.1.0]octane (11). 10 results from a 1,5-C–H insertion reaction of the carbene derived from 8. As the cavity size of the cyclodextrins becomes larger, the formation of 10 seems to increase. In β-cyclodextrin and in non-polar solvents substantial amounts of azine were found. In addition to hydrocarbons, photolyses in zeolites afforded alcohols and small amounts of the corresponding ketones.
A “near-miss” model for describing the nurse’s role in the recovery of medical errors

Approximately 44,000 patients die each year as a result of medical errors. Nurses play an important role in ensuring patient safety and preventing adverse outcomes. As frontline providers of care, nurses are in key positions to intercept a medical error before it affects a patient. The Eindhoven model for investigating a "near-miss" situation has been used successfully in the chemical industry to elucidate the concept of human recovery, that is, the ability of operators to detect, localize, and correct system faults. In this article, we propose applying the Eindhoven model to the clinical setting, in which nurses play the role of operators by identifying, interrupting, and correcting medical errors. After describing the model, we present clinical scenarios to illustrate how it can be applied. More research is needed to explicate the nurse's role in managing medical errors. Interventions to decrease medical errors require insight into strategies that frontline clinicians can use to identify and mitigate potentially harmful incidents. The Eindhoven model can help researchers, administrators, and clinicians to conceptualize the role for nurses in developing such interventions.
A new multi-objective optimization model for preventive maintenance and replacement scheduling of multi-component systems

In this article, a new multi-objective optimization model is developed to determine the optimal preventive maintenance and replacement schedules in a repairable and maintainable multi-component system. In this model, the planning horizon is divided into discrete and equally-sized periods in which three possible actions must be planned for each component, namely maintenance, replacement, or do nothing. The objective is to determine a plan of actions for each component in the system while minimizing the total cost and maximizing overall system reliability simultaneously over the planning horizon. Because of the complexity, combinatorial and highly nonlinear structure of the mathematical model, two metaheuristic solution methods, generational genetic algorithm, and a simulated annealing are applied to tackle the problem. The Pareto optimal solutions that provide good tradeoffs between the total cost and the overall reliability of the system can be obtained by the solution approach. Such a modeling approach s...
Mondrian tree: A fast index for spatial alarm processing

With ubiquitous wireless connectivity and technological advances in mobile devices, we witness the growing demands and increasing market shares of mobile intelligent systems and technologies for real-time decision making and location-based knowledge discovery. Spatial alarms are considered as one of the fundamental capabilities for intelligent mobile location-based systems. Like time-based alarms that remind us the arrival of a future time point, spatial alarms remind us the arrival of a future spatial point. Existing approaches for scaling spatial alarm processing are focused on computing Alarm-Free Regions (Afr) and Alarm-Free Period (Afp) such that mobile objects traveling within an Afr can safely hibernate the alarm evaluation process for the computed Afp, to save battery power, until approaching the nearest alarm of interest. A key technical challenge in scaling spatial alarm processing is to efficiently compute Afr and Afp such that mobile objects traveling within an Afr can safely hibernate the alarm evaluation process during the computed Afp, while maintaining high accuracy. In this article we argue that on-demand computation of Afr is expensive and may not scale well for dense populations of mobile objects. Instead, we propose to maintain an index for both spatial alarms and empty regions (Afr) such that for a given mobile user's location, we can find relevant spatial alarms and whether it is in an alarm-free region more efficiently. We also show that conventional spatial indexing methods, such as R-tree family, k-d tree, Quadtree, and Grid, are by design not well suited to index empty regions. We present Mondrian Tree – a region partitioning tree for indexing both spatial alarms and alarm-free regions. We first introduce the Mondrian Tree indexing algorithms, including index construction, search, and maintenance. Then we describe a suite of Mondrian Tree optimizations to further enhance the performance of spatial alarm processing. Our experimental evaluation shows that the Mondrian Tree index, as an intelligent technology for mobile systems, outperforms traditional index methods, such as R-tree, Quadtree, and k-d tree, for spatial alarm processing.
Coronary artery disease and hypertension: outcomes of a pharmacist-managed blood pressure program.

Study Objective. To assess the effectiveness of a pharmacist-managed service in improving hypertension control among patients with coronary artery disease. Design. Prospective cohort study Setting. Health maintenance organization. Patients. Three hundred seventy-six patients with uncontrolled hypertension and coronary artery disease. Intervention. Pharmacist-managed, physician-supervised population-management approach to optimize evidence-based drug management. Measurements and Main Results. Blood pressure reduction and control were evaluated, as well as the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and generic antihypertensive drugs during 7-month follow-up. At baseline, mean ± SD age was 70.4 ± 8.8 years, 247 (65.7%) were men, 201 (53.5%) had a history of myocardial infarction, and 237 (63.0%) had diabetes mellitus. Baseline mean systolic blood pressure was 151 mm Hg, and none had achieved their blood pressure goal. During follow-up, mean systolic blood pressure decreased 16.1 mm Hg overall (p<0.001), and 179 (47.6%) patients achieved their goal blood pressure (p<0.001). Blood pressure reductions were 14.7 and 18.4 mm Hg in patients with and patients without diabetes, respectively (p<0.001). The target dose for angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors was achieved in 252 (67.0%) patients compared with 102 (27.1%) at baseline (p<0.001). Generic fill rates for antihypertensive drugs continued to be higher than 95% during follow-up (p=0.723). Conclusion. A pharmacist-managed, physician-supervised population-management approach in patients with coronary artery disease significantly improved blood pressure control. Clinically meaningful reductions in blood pressure were achieved by using evidence-based, cost-effective drug regimens.
Differential Sensitivity of Murine Astrocytes and Neurons from Different Brain Regions to Injury

Different brain regions show differential vulnerability to ischemia in vivo. Despite this, little work has been done to compare vulnerability of brain cells isolated from different brain regions to injury. Relatively pure neuronal and astrocyte cultures were isolated from mouse cortex, hippocampus, and striatum. Astrocyte vulnerability to 6 h oxygen–glucose deprivation was greatest in striatum (81.8 ± 4.6% cell death), intermediate in hippocampus (59.8 ± 4.8%), and least in cortex (37.0 ± 3.5%). In contrast neurons deprived of oxygen and glucose for 3 h showed greater injury to cortical neurons (71.1 ± 5.2%) compared to striatal (39.0 ± 3.1%) or hippocampal (39.0 ± 5.3%) neurons. Astrocyte injury from glucose deprivation or H2O2 exposure was significantly greater in cells from cortex than from striatum or hippocampus. Neuronal injury resulting from serum deprivation was greater in cortical neurons than in those from striatum or hippocampus, while excitotoxic neuronal injury was equivalent between regions. Antioxidant status and apoptosis-regulatory genes were measured to assess possible underlying differences. Glutathione was higher in astrocytes and neurons isolated from striatum than in those from hippocampus. Superoxide dismutase activity was significantly higher in striatal astrocytes, while glutathione peroxidase activity and superoxide did not differ by brain region. Bcl-xL was significantly higher in striatal astrocytes than in astrocytes from other brain regions and higher in striatal and hippocampal neurons than in cortical neurons. Both neurons and astrocytes isolated from different brain regions demonstrate distinct patterns of vulnerability when placed in primary culture. Antioxidant state and levels of expression of bcl-xL can in part account for the differential injury observed. This suggests that different protective strategies may have different efficacies depending on brain region.
Fashion and Fractured Flânerie in Guy de Maupassant’s Bel-Ami

Fashion is both an integral component to the flâneur’s representation of self and symbolic of the modernity that the stroller observes and chronicles in depictions of the city. This essay examines the ways in which Guy de Maupassant, in his 1885 novel Bel-Ami, uses fashion to divide the figure of the flâneur across lines of gender into three of the text’s principal characters: Georges Duroy, Clotilde de Marelle, and Madeleine Forestier. This approach reveals that Maupassant understands both fashion and flânerie as multisensorial practices that engage the city through the senses of smell, touch, and hearing. Paradoxically, rather than contributing solely to the notion of a fractured, fragmented urban subject, Maupassant’s separation of the flâneur can also be read to suggest the opposite: the possibility of shared subjectivity in Third Republic modernity.
Test Bed for Mechanical Characterization of Nanowires

Nanowires are one-dimensional solids that are deemed to be the building-block materials for next-generation sensors and actuators. Owing to their unique length scale, they exhibit superior mechanical properties and other length-scale-dependent phenomena. Most of these are challenging to explore, owing to the difficulties in specimen preparation, manipulation, and the requirement of high-resolution force and displacement sensing. To address these issues, a micromechanical device for uniaxial mechanical testing of single nanowires and nanotubes is used here. The device has 10 nN force and 1 nm displacement resolution and its small size (2 ×1 mm) allows for in situ experimentation inside analytical chambers, such as the electron microscopes. A microscale pick-and-place technique is presented as a generic specimen preparation and manipulation method for testing single nanowires. Preliminary results on zinc oxide nanowires show the Young's modulus and fracture strain to be about 76 GPa and 8 per cent respectively.
Anionic Synthesis of Mono- and Heterotelechelic Polystyrenes via Thiol–Ene “Click” Chemistry and Hydrosilylation

A series of precisely defined, mono- and heterotelechelic polystyrenes have been facilely synthesized by combining living anionic polymerization with other efficient chemical transformations, such ...
Comparative Studies of Copy Number Variation Detection Methods for Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies

Copy number variation (CNV) has played an important role in studies of susceptibility or resistance to complex diseases. Traditional methods such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) suffer from low resolution of genomic regions. Following the emergence of next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, CNV detection methods based on the short read data have recently been developed. However, due to the relatively young age of the procedures, their performance is not fully understood. To help investigators choose suitable methods to detect CNVs, comparative studies are needed. We compared six publicly available CNV detection methods: CNV-seq, FREEC, readDepth, CNVnator, SegSeq and event-wise testing (EWT). They are evaluated both on simulated and real data with different experiment settings. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is employed to demonstrate the detection performance in terms of sensitivity and specificity, box plot is employed to compare their performances in terms of breakpoint and copy number estimation, Venn diagram is employed to show the consistency among these methods, and F-score is employed to show the overlapping quality of detected CNVs. The computational demands are also studied. The results of our work provide a comprehensive evaluation on the performances of the selected CNV detection methods, which will help biological investigators choose the best possible method.
Recurrence equations and the optimization of synchronous logic circuits

The authors present a formulation for the problem of optimizing synchronous logic across register boundaries. They describe the degrees of freedom that are the don't-care conditions of an embedded subnetwork by means of sets of execution traces, described implicitly by synchronous recurrence equations. The optimization problem reduces to that of finding minimum-cost solutions to such equations. An exact solution algorithm for this problem is presented, along with approximations that improve its computational efficiency. The feasibility and effectiveness of the approach were demonstrated on synchronous benchmark circuits. >
Invariant imbedding for curved geometries and completeness of the eigenfunctions of the angular redistribution operator

Abstract This article contains a brief review of recent progress, due to I. T. Elder, and remaining questions in the application of the method of invariant imbedding to particle transport in curved geometries. Motivated by the techniques used by Elder, a certain completeness theorem is proved for the eigenfunctions of the angular streaming operator in spherical geometry.
Large sample power of absolute moment tests

Sample kurtosis is a member of the large class of absolute moment tests of normality. We compare kurtosis to other absolute moment tests to determine which are the most powerful at detecting long‐tailed symmetric departures from normality for large samples. The large sample power of the tests is calculated using Geary's (1947) approximations of the moments of the test statistics. Using the system of Gram-Charlier symmetric distributions as alternatives, the most power is obtained using a moment in the range 2.5 ‐ 3.5.
Stagnant loop syndrome resulting from small-bowel irradiation injury and intestinal by-pass

Abstract Stagnant or blind-loop syndrome includes vitamin B12 malabsorption, steatorrhea, and bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine. A case is presented to demonstrate this syndrome occurring after small-bowel irradiation injury with exaggeration postenterocolic by-pass. Alteration of normal small-bowel flora is basic to development of the stagnant-loop syndrome. Certain strains of bacteria as Bacteriodes and E. coli are capable of producing a malabsorption state. Definitive therapy for this syndrome developing after severe irradiation injury and intestinal by-pass includes antibiotics. Rapid symptomatic relief from diarrhea and improved malabsorption studies usually follow appropriate antibiotic therapy. Recolonization of the loop(s) with the offending bacterial species may produce exacerbation of symptoms. Since antibiotics are effective, recognition of this syndrome is important. Foul diarrheal stools should not be considered a necessary consequence of irradiation injury and intestinal by-pass.
Prime Ministerial Power and the Selection of Ministers in India Three Decades of Change

The process of selection to the national council of ministers in India, as well as the role of the institution, has changed immensely during the past three decades. While ministers exhibit the characteristics of political elites generally—through their form and level of education, their occupational endeavor, and their pursuit of politics as a vocation— ministerial selection has been a function of prime ministerial strategies to assert the dominance of the prime minister's position and to augment its power. Strategies pursued have been determined by personal temperament and reactions to the leavening of public sentiment, the induction of new classes and generations of elites into the public arena, and the changing configurations within the party system. In this article the selection of ministers to the central cabinet in India is examined in terms of this context of power through a comparison of the reigns of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Oscillating drop/bubble tensiometry: effect of viscous forces on the measurement of interfacial tension

Abstract The oscillating drop/bubble technique is increasingly popular for measuring the interfacial dilatational properties of surfactant/polymer-laden fluid/fluid interfaces. A caveat of this technique, however, is that viscous forces are important at higher oscillation frequencies or fluid viscosities; these can affect determination of the interfacial tension. Here, we experimentally quantify the effect of viscous forces on the interfacial-tension measurement by oscillating 100 and 200 cSt poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) droplets in water at small amplitudes and frequencies ranging between 0.01 and 1 Hz. Due to viscous forces, the measured interfacial tension oscillates sinusoidally with the same frequency as the oscillation of the drop volume. The tension oscillation precedes that of the drop volume, and the amplitude varies linearly with Capillary number, Ca = Δ μ ω Δ V / γ a 2 , where Δ μ = μ D − μ is the difference between the bulk Newtonian viscosities of the drop and surrounding continuous fluid, ω is the oscillation frequency of the drop, ΔV is the amplitude of volume oscillation, γ is the equilibrium interfacial tension between the PDMS drop and water, and a is the radius of the capillary. A simplified model of a freely suspended spherical oscillating-drop well explains these observations. Viscous forces distort the drop shape at Ca > 0.002 , although this criterion is apparatus dependent.
Stealth attack: plaque-specific antibody allows for efficient Aβ removal without side effects.

Anti-Aβ antibodies are being developed as potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Some have dose-limiting side effects and many do not robustly remove pre-existing amyloid plaques. In this issue of Neuron, DeMattos et al. (2012) demonstrate that an amyloid plaque-specific antibody removes existing Aβ aggregates without side effects.
Tobacco Budworm Field Evaluation of Microbial Control in Cotton Using Bacillus thuringiensis and a Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus with a Feeding Adjuvant

Field tests were conducted in 1978 at Phoenix, AZ, to evaluate a feeding adjuvant, the nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) from the alfalfa looper, Autographa californica (Speyer), and the HD-l strain of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner in controlling Heliothis virescens (F.) in cotton. When cotton that was planted on a normal planting date (Apr. 21) was treated with the virus + a feeding adjuvant or virus + B. thuringiensis + the adjuvant, the percentage of squares and bolls damaged by Heliothis and the number of larvae in the fruiting forms were reduced 38–50 compared to numbers in untreated cotton. However, this reduction did not affect the yield of seed cotton. When cotton, planted late (June 26) to maximize tobacco budworm damage, was treated on a 5-, to 7-day schedule, yields of seed cotton in untreated plots, plots treated with virus alone, plots treated with virus + adjuvant, and plots treated with virus + B. thuringiensis + adjuvant were 332, 774, 1066, and 1427 kg/ha, respectively. Treatment with the virus + B. thuringiensis + adjuvant resulted in the boll damage never exceeding 5% and square damage never over 10%. In another late-planted area, the percentage of squares damaged by Heliothis in untreated plots, plots treated with B. thuringiesis alone, and plots treated with B. thuringiensis + adjuvant was 44.5, 18.3, and 8.8, respectively. The yield of seed cotton was 32% greater in cotton treated with the B. thuringiensis + adjuvant compared to the yield in cotton treated with the bacterium alone. Of Heliothis eggs examined during the tests, 89–98% were H. virescens , and the remainder were H. zea (Boddie).
Growth Hormone Release in the Rat: Effects of Somatostatin and Thyrotropin- Releasing Factor

SMorphine sulfate (MS) and pentobarbital (PB) stimulate growth hormone (GH) release in the rat hi vivo, but not from enzymatically dissociated anterior pituitary cells in vitro. Somatostatin and thyrotropin-releasing factor (TRF) inhibit the in vivo release of GH induced by MS, with 50% inhibition at ca. 2.3 and 4.6 pμg/100 g BW, respectively. Somatostatin and TRF similarly inhibit PBinduced GH release. Prostaglandin E2 stimulates GH release both in vivo and in vitro. Both of these responses are inhibited by somatostatin (50% inhibition at ca. 10 μg/100g BW), but neither is altered by TRF (100 μg/100g BW). Both normal and hypophysectomized rats receiving MS exhibited a rapid vibration of the tail immediately after administration of TRF (30 μg/100g BW). Structural analogs of TRF with low TSH-releasing activity did not inhibit GH release nor induce tail vibration in MS-treated rats. Pyroglutamyl–3-methyl-histidyl-prolinamide, with 8 times the hypophysiotropic potency of TRF, is similarly more potent than TR...
Genocide and the Psychology of Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Victims

We live in a world laced with forms of political violence. Kristen Renwick Monroe's latest work develops an interesting social psychological account of the conduct of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders of the most extreme form of violence—genocide. It also employs an interesting narrative approach that contributes to broad methodological discussions in political science about the ways in which subjective experience can best be understood. We have thus invited a diverse group of political scientists and historians to comment on the book's analysis of political violence and on its broader approach to the study of politics.—Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor
Heat transfer in forced convection with internal heat generation

A solution to the problem of heat transfer with simultaneous heat generation in viscous tubular flow is presented. The temperature profiles and heat transfer coefficients which are obtained apply to compressible as well as incompressible Newtonian and power-law non-Newtonian fluids with constant physical properties and to systems in which the heat generation is an arbitrary function of radius. An example of heat transfer with frictional heat generation in a non-Newtonian fluid is also presented, and the solution to the problem in which a fluid enters a tube in laminar flow with an arbitrary temperature profile is given, with a consideration of a first approximation to the case of heat transfer in a turbulent fluid in which heat is being generated.
Legislative cosponsorship networks in the US House and Senate

Abstract In the US House and Senate, each piece of legislation is sponsored by a unique legislator. In addition, legislators can publicly express support for a piece of legislation by cosponsoring it. The network of sponsors and cosponsors provides information about the underlying social networks among legislators. I use a number of statistics to describe the cosponsorship network in order to show that it behaves much differently than other large social networks that have been recently studied. In particular, the cosponsorship network is much denser than other networks and aggregate features of the network appear to be influenced by institutional arrangements and strategic incentives. I also demonstrate that a weighted closeness centrality measure that I call ‘connectedness’ can be used to identify influential legislators.
Robust Auto-Calibration using Fundamental Matrices Induced by Pedestrians

The knowledge of camera intrinsic and extrinsic parameters is useful, as it allows us to make world measurements. Unfortunately, calibration information is rarely available in video surveillance systems and is difficult to obtain once the system is installed. Auto-calibrating cameras using moving objects (humans) has recently attracted a lot of interest. Two methods were proposed by Lv-Nevatia (2002) and Krahnstoever-Mendonca (2005). The inherent difficulty of the problem lies in the noise that is generally present in the data. We propose a robust and a general linear solution to the problem by adopting a formulation different from the existing methods. The uniqueness of our formulation lies in recognizing two fundamental matrices present in the geometry obtained by observing pedestrians, and then using their properties to impose linear constraints on the unknown camera parameters. Experiments with synthetic as well as real data are presented -indicating the practicality of the proposed system.
A chimeric siderophore halts swarming Vibrio.

Some bacteria swarm under some circumstances; they move rapidly and collectively over a surface. In an effort to understand the molecular signals controlling swarming, we isolated two bacterial strains from the same red seaweed, Vibrio alginolyticus B522, a vigorous swarmer, and Shewanella algae B516, which inhibits V. alginolyticus swarming in its vicinity. Plate assays combined with NMR, MS, and X-ray diffraction analyses identified a small molecule, which was named avaroferrin, as a potent swarming inhibitor. Avaroferrin, a previously unreported cyclic dihydroxamate siderophore, is a chimera of two well-known siderophores: putrebactin and bisucaberin. The sequenced genome of S. algae revealed avaroferrin’s biosynthetic gene cluster to be a mashup of putrebactin and bisucaberin biosynthetic genes. Avaroferrin blocks swarming through its ability to bind iron in a form that cannot be pirated by V. alginolyticus, thereby securing this essential resource for its producer.
The Modal Comfort Envelope and its Use in Current Standards

A detailed study of thermal comfort was conducted by exposing 1600 subjects, in groups of 10 subjects each (5 men and 5 women), to 20 dry bulb temperatures at each of eight relative humidities (160 tests). From this study, 15 temperature-humidity conditions were selected (ET: 75.9-79.7°F) and identified as the Modal Comfort Envelope (MCE). Within this envelope 94% of the subjects were either slightly cool, comfortable, or slightly warm; 3% were cool and 3% were warm; and none were hot or cold. To validate these findings, a new sample of 150 subjects was tested and the results of this test agree favorably with the original findings. The MCE was used in a clothing study and in an investigation of thermal comfort in the elderly; the results of these studies are discussed, together with suggestions for the use of the Modal Comfort Envelope, as a tool for examining the thermal sensation as a function of such non-thermal factors as lighting, subject density, sex, and activity. A slightly modified version of the...
Development of “Advanced TFT‐LCD” with good legibility under any ambient light intensity

— A new LCD referred to as an “Advanced TFT-LCD” has been developed. It consists of both transmissive and reflective electrodes in every pixel. Its subjective legibility and characteristics, such as contrast ratio, color gamut, and luminance, have been investigated at several ambient illumination intensities. As a result, it was confirmed that Advanced TFT-LCDs offer better legibility than transmissive LCDs under any ambient illumination intensity.
Resonant pumping and upconversion in 1.6 μm Er 3+ lasers

A four-level, plane wave model is proposed for a resonantly pumped 1.6 μm Er3+ laser, including the effect of upconversion. A mean population approximation leads to analytical expressions for the threshold and slope efficiency that are highly accurate compared to the numerical solution. Using the beam area as an adjustable parameter, the threshold and slope efficiency agree well with data obtained using a 1% Er:YAG crystal, pumped at 1470 nm, lasing at 1617 nm, in the range 0-100°C. According to the model for this laser, the slope efficiency versus absorbed pump power is unaffected by upconversion, but the threshold is increased by a factor of 2-3. The results are important for choosing the optimum doping level and fiber or rod length.
Symplectic scaling, a DA based tool

Maps of magnetic particle optical elements written in geometric coordinates have two scaling properties. These are connected to the fact that the maps depend only on the ratio of field strength to magnetic rigidity and on the product of field strength to the size of the element. Once the map of an element is known for a given type of beam particles as a function of the magnetic field strength at the pole tip, the first scaling property can be used to compute the map for any particle type. With the second scaling property, the map can be computed for any similar element which differs in size. Usually the map is not known as a function of the magnetic field. With DA based programs, however, one can obtain the Taylor expansion of that function. The expansion can serve to approximate maps which could otherwise only be calculated by very time consuming numerical integration. To make this method applicable to cases where the symplectic structure is important, canonical maps have to be approximated. The approximated maps still have to be completely symplectic up to their expansion order. To meet this requirement, we have examined how the scaling properties can be used in connection with the symplectic representations of Lie transformations and generating functions. Useful examples of the resulting symplectic scaling method include maps of fringe fields as well as solenoids. Speed and accuracy of the method, which was implemented into version 6 of COSY INFINITY, will be demonstrated and a guide given how to apply this method most efficiently. >
Moderators of Language Effects in Advertising to Bilinguals: A Psycholinguistic Approach

This article examines a psycholinguistic model of bilingual concept organization and extends it to the processing of advertisements by bilingual consumers. The model suggests that second‐language (L2) messages result in inferior memory as compared with first‐language (L1) stimuli. These language asymmetries in memory are thought to occur because processing an L2 message at a conceptual level is less likely than processing an L1 message conceptually. Applying this notion to advertisements, this research examines picture‐text congruity as a potential moderator of language effects in memory. The results suggest that a high level of congruity between picture and text facilitates conceptual processing of L2 messages, increasing memory for second‐language ads and thereby reducing the impact of language asymmetries on memory.
Dual Airborne Laser Scanners Aided Inertial for Improved Autonomous Navigation

A dead-reckoning terrain referenced navigation (TRN) system is presented that uses two airborne laser scanners (ALS) to aid an inertial navigation system (INS). The system uses aircraft autonomous sensors and is capable of performing the dual functions of mapping and navigation simultaneously. The proposed system can potentially serve as a backup to the Global Positioning System (GPS), increase the robustness of GPS or it can be used to coast for extended periods of time. Although the system has elements of a conventional TRN system, it does not require a terrain database since its in-flight mapping capability generates the terrain data for navigation. Hence, the system can be used in both non-GPS as well as unknown terrain environments. It is shown that the navigation system is dead-reckoning in nature since errors accumulate over time, unless the system can be reset periodically by the availability of geo-referenced terrain data or a position estimate from another navaid. Results of the algorithm using a combination of flight trajectory data and synthesized ALS data are presented.
Fusing video and sparse depth data in structure from motion

This paper considers the geometric constraints to combine structure from motion with a sparse set of depth measurements. The goal is to improve the motion estimation for autonomous navigation, and to increase the fidelity of reconstructed 3D scene models. The system is implemented on an iRobot-B2ir Robot with a video camera and a planar laser range finder which gives relatively accurate depth measurements of a small set of scene points. Using a probabilistic model of scene smoothness, the depth information is used to modify the classical epipolar error function to simultaneously incorporate data from both sensors. We present the results of real-world experiments and experiment with different prior assumptions about the scene structure.
Measuring participation in individuals with Parkinson disease: relationships with disease severity, quality of life, and mobility

Purpose. Our aims were to: (1) describe participation in people with Parkinson disease (PD), (2) evaluate the relationship between quality of life and participation and (3) determine the mobliity measures which are predictive of participation.Methods. Participants with idiopathic PD (n == 62) were tested off medication for participation (Activity Card Sort), quality of life (PDQ-39), disease severity (MDS-UPDRS) and mobility (Berg Balance Scale, Five Time Sit to Stand (FTSTS), Six Minute Walk, forward walking velocity, dual-task walking velocity and Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ)). Relationships of all variables to participation were examined using Pearson correlations. Subsequent regression analysis was employed to determine the mobility measures which best predicted the participation.Results. Participants with PD retained, on average, 78.3%% (SD == 15.6%%) of total activities. Participation was negatively correlated with all PDQ-39 domains (r range −0.36 to −0.78, all p < 0.005) with the mo...
RNase-L-dependent Destabilization of Interferon-induced mRNAs A ROLE FOR THE 2–5A SYSTEM IN ATTENUATION OF THE INTERFERON RESPONSE

The 2–5A system is an interferon-regulated RNA degradation pathway with antiviral, growth-inhibitory, and pro-apoptotic activities. RNase-L mediates the antiviral activity through the degradation of viral RNAs, and the anticellular effects of the 2–5A system are thought to be similarly mediated through the degradation of cellular transcripts. However, specific RNase-L-regulated cellular RNAs have not been identified. To isolate candidate RNase-L substrates, differential display was used to identify mRNAs that exhibited increased expression in RNase-L-deficient N1E-115 cells as compared with RNase-L-transfected cells. A novel interferon-stimulated gene encoding a 43-kDa ubiquitin-specific protease, designated ISG43, was identified in this screen. ISG43 expression is induced by interferon and negatively regulated by RNase-L. ISG43 induction is a primary response to interferon treatment and requires a functional JAK/STAT signaling pathway. The kinetics of ISG43 induction were identical in wild type and RNase-L knock-out fibroblasts; however, the decline in ISG43 mRNA following interferon treatment was markedly attenuated in RNase-L knock-out fibroblasts. The delayed shut-off kinetics of ISG43 mRNA corresponded to an increase in its half-life in RNase-L-deficient cells. ISG15 mRNA also displayed RNase-L-dependent regulation. These findings identify a novel role for the 2–5A system in the attenuation of the interferon response.
Aflatoxin-DNA Binding and the Characterization of Aflatoxin B1-Oligodeoxynucleotide Adducts by 1H NMR Spectroscopy

Aflatoxins B1 and B2 intercalate with B-DNA, as demonstrated by NMR analysis of association with d(ATGCAT)2 and d(GCATGC)2, alteration of pBR322 electrophoretic mobility, and flow dichroism using linearly oriented calf thymus DNA. The less planar δ-lactone ring of aflatoxins G1 and G2 reduces DNA binding affinity by approximately one order of magnitude, but binding studies suggest that aflatoxins G1 and G2 also bind B-DNA by intercalation. At low DNA concentration, the number of adducts formed by either aflatoxin B1-8,9-epoxide or aflatoxin G1-9,10-epoxide is reduced with a concomitant increase in formation of the respective dihydrodiols, and the ratio of adducts formed by aflatoxin G1-9,10-epoxide to those formed by an equivalent concentration of aflatoxin B1-8,9-epoxide decreases. Reaction of aflatoxin B1-8,9-epoxide with d(ATCGAT)2 exhibits a limiting stoichiometry of 1:1 aflatoxin B1:d(ATCGAT)2. In contrast, reaction of aflatoxin B1-8,9-epoxide with d(ATGCAT)2 exhibits a limiting stoichiometry of 2:1 aflatoxin B1:d(ATGCAT)2. 1H NOE experiments, non-selective 1H T1 relaxation measurements, and 1H chemical shift perturbations demonstrate that in each case the aflatoxin moiety is intercalated above the 5’ face of the modified guanine. These data are consistent with an intercalated transition state complex between aflatoxin B1-8,9-epoxide and B-DNA.
An infant who has head trauma.

1. Joseph A. Zenel, MD* 1. 2. *Assistant Professor, Division of General Pediatrics, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR. A 2-month-old female is transferred to the hospital ward after presenting to an outlying emergency department with the chief complaint of head trauma and “swelling” of the right side of the head. A few hours earlier, her mother had accidentally dropped her out of an infant carrier onto a rug-covered wooden floor. The infant fell a distance of approximately 3 feet, hitting the right side of her head. She immediately cried and quickly recovered. Later she developed swelling of the right side of her head, prompting her mother to bring her to medical attention. The mother denies that her daughter is having any irritability, vomiting, lethargy, or breathing difficulties. When computed tomographic (CT) imaging of the head is interpreted to show a simple linear right parietal skull fracture with multiple intracranial hemorrhages of different ages, child protective services is notified, and the infant is transported to the hospital ward for further evaluation. The infant was born at 36 weeks’ gestation via vaginal delivery to a 29-year-old mother. The neonatal course was complicated by respiratory distress, which required endotracheal intubation for ventilation and oxygenation, and a right intraventricular hemorrhage, diagnosed by head ultrasonography. Since then the infant has been healthy without any noticeable developmental delay. She lives with her parents. There are no siblings. Physical examination reveals a quiet infant who has a soft, compressible, well-defined swelling over the right parietal region (Fig. 1⇓). …
Simulation of high-frequency integrated circuits incorporating full-wave analysis of microstrip discontinuities

Incorporates full-wave simulation of microstrip interconnects into circuit analysis and shows how predicted responses diverge from those based on models from a modern microwave-circuit CAD package. A method is presented for characterizing microstrip interconnects and discontinuities through the method of moments applied to a mixed-potential integral equation. The speed is greatly improved through the use of a recently published techniques for rapid evaluation of microstrip spatial Green's functions. A microstrip circuit element is analyzed separately with this procedure, and scattering parameters are extracted from the computed current density. These parameters are passed to a circuit simulator, where small- and large-signal analyses reveal how differences in interconnect modeling affect predicted responses. >
Music as a Language of Emotion

8) Harmonic melody. The argument between Rameau and Mattheson with regard to melody is well known. Other studies of melody are by Lampe, Baron, Daube. Theory of melodic form may also be found in the manifold treatises on ornamentation, also in the rules of how to put the text under the notes which start with the pupils of the last Netherlandish masters around 1550. 9) The growth of the classic formal conception of corresponding parts held together by an underlying harmonic relation dates back to the beginning of the continuo. Particular attention is due to C. Printz, 1676, and J. Riepel, 1752, who went far beyond our traditional textbooks of formal analysis.
Dual use opportunity and public health infrastructure

The paper ‘Biodefence and the production of knowledge’ by Buchanan and Kelley1 is an extremely valuable addition to the scientific and bioterrorism defence literature. It points out the myriad of ways that the structure of current debates about the dual use problem(s) neglects important values, and discussions of how these values should be considered in policy making. In this commentary, I will focus on only one of these areas: what the authors characterise as ‘dual use opportunity’. My goal is not to challenge the authors’ main points (which I largely agree with), but to draw out the complicated set of value conflicts that this single area of bioterror defence policy has neglected. Buchanan and Kelley characterise the concept of ‘dual use opportunity’ as the idea that ‘research undertaken for biodefence may contribute, or might be made to contribute, to the alleviation of the burden of disease among the world's worst-off people.’ I have argued for a similar idea of dual use opportunity in a different context by suggesting that we should prioritise global public health infrastructure over narrowly defined research on specific agents and/or projects that seek to prevent altogether (rather than quickly respond to) biological attacks—a goal that, I have argued, is futile given the almost limitless number of forms of, and mutations to, disease bacteria and viruses that might be employed by biological terrorists.2–5 Effective control of an epidemic requires a fundamental infrastructure of surveillance and reporting. Because the …