cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Real-time tracking of multiple objects using fiducials for augmented reality

Augmented reality requires understanding of the scene to know when, where and what to display as a response to changes in the surrounding world. This understanding often involves tracking and recognition of multiple objects and locations in real-time. Technologies frequently used for multiple object tracking, such as electromagnetic trackers are very limited in range, as well as constraining. The use of Computer Vision to identify and track multiple objects is very promising. However, the requirements for traditional object recognition using appearance-based or model-based vision are very complex and their performance is far from real-time. An alternative is to use a set of markers or fiducials for object tracking and recognition. In this paper we present a system of marker coding that, together with an efficient image processing technique, provides a practical method for tracking the marked objects in real-time. The technique is based on clustering of candidate regions in space using a minimum spanning tree. The markers in the codes also allow the estimation of the three dimensional pose of the objects. We demonstrate the utility of the marker-based tracking technique in an Augmented Reality application. The application involves superimposing graphics over real industrial parts that are tracked using fiducials and manipulated by a human in order to complete an assembly. The system aids in the evaluation of the different assembly sequence possibilities.
Asystole after intravenous neostigmine in a heart transplant recipient.

Purpose: To describe a heart transplant recipient who developed asystole after administration of neostigmine which suggests that surgical dennervation of the heart may not permanently prevent significant responses to anti-cholinesterases.
Does pedigree matter? Earnings quality of U.S. listed domestic firms via reverse mergers

Abstract This paper examines earnings quality of U.S. domestic firms that access capital markets via a reverse merger transaction (RM firms) compared to those via the more traditional initial public offering (IPO firms) during the period from 1997 to 2011. In order to mitigate confounding effects of legal regime, law enforcement, and culture, we require both the acquiring and target firms to be incorporated and headquartered in the U.S. to be included in our sample. We also use the Heckman (1976) procedure to control for self-selection bias. To capture earnings quality, we use a battery of measures established in prior literature, including discretionary accruals, discretionary revenues, real activities earnings management, and accrual estimation errors. Our measures have both convergent and discriminant validity and therefore appear to capture earnings quality fairly well. We find consistent evidence that U.S. domestic RM firms have lower earnings quality compared with U.S. IPO firms. Our evidence suggests that investors and other stakeholders should take into account the fact and consequences of the method that firms use to access capital markets in their investment decision making process.
Current Interruption—Instrumentation and Applications

This paper describes an electronic circuit for periodic interruption of current to a cell with simultaneous observation of closed‐circuit and open‐circuit electrode potentials. The open‐circuit potential may be observed at interruption times ranging from 2.0 μs to 2.0s or longer. The duty cycle of the cell may be adjusted between 40 and 99.93%. Application of the circuit to observe relaxation of polarization is demonstrated with simple electrical test circuits, with commercial dry cells, and with a mass‐transfer controlled rotating disk electrode. The latter example shows that interruption can provide not only resistance measurements but also estimates of mass‐transfer parameters.
Grain size and orientation distributions: Application to yielding of α-titanium

Abstract A method to incorporate grain size effects into crystal plasticity is presented. The classical Hall–Petch equation inaccurately predicts the macroscopic yield strength for materials with non-equiaxed grains or variable grain size distributions. These deficiencies can be negated by incorporating both grain size and orientation characteristics into crystal plasticity theory. Augmented homogenization relationships based on a viscoplastic Taylor-like approach are introduced along with a new function, the grain size and orientation distribution function (GSODF). Estimates of the GSODF for rolled high-purity α-titanium are recovered through multi-section orientation imaging microscopy using chord length measurements to quantify grain size. It is illustrated that considerable variation in the grain size distribution occurs with lattice orientation in this material. Yield surface predictions calculated from the augmented and traditional models indicate that grain size distribution as a function of lattice orientation may play a significant role in explaining the large yield strength anisotropy of rolled α-titanium.
Molecular phenotyping for severe asthma.

Evaluation of: Brasier AR, Sundar V, Boetticher G et al.: Molecular phenotyping of severe asthma using pattern recognition of bronchoalveolar lavage-derived cytokines. J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 121, 30–37 (2008). Asthma is a heterogeneous disorder presenting with many phenotypes. Precise phenotypic definition has eluded the medical research community for years, despite recognition of different disease subtypes. Brasier and colleagues sought to discriminate asthma phenotypes on the basis of cytokine profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage samples from 84 patients with mild–moderate and severe asthma. Their results demonstrated that this molecular phenotyping approach could be applied to categorizing asthma into subtypes based on pathobiology. This article will discuss the potential advantages of applying molecular phenotyping approaches to asthma and lung disease in general in the perspective of personalized medicine.
Health Activism: Communication Theory and Action for Social Change

This article argues that “health activism” as a concept has been overlooked as an important element of health communication and situates the concept in relation to key areas of research in the field, including health citizenship and community organizing. The author presents theoretical frameworks for comparing and contrasting health-related social action based on issue focus and political orientation that facilitate communication-based contributions to multidisciplinary research. This contribution is discussed in more detail by theorizing communicative processes associated with health activism. It is then argued that the study of health activism can benefit from adopting critical perspectives that focus on issues of power and conflict and on multisectoral views of health that examine activist efforts related to a broad array of the determinants of health, including political, economic, and environmental issues. Use of the term health activism is not particularly common in either popular or academic discourse, especially when compared to the ubiquity of the term environmental activism. We are more likely to hear discussion of AIDS activism or breast cancer activism than we are to hear the covering term “health activism.” By referring to activists one disease or health issue at a time without reference to the more encompassing concept, many scholars and the public may overlook important commonalities (and differences) among activist efforts that focus on a range of issues related to health. Initially defined in terms of efforts, often grassroots, to change norms, social structures, policies, and power relationships in the health arena, health activism includes actions related to patient activism, health care reform, disease prevention, illness advocacy, physical disability, environmental justice, public safety, and health disparities in populations such as women, minorities, gays, and lesbians, among others.
Comments on the Coulomb glass

We examine a previous proposal which ties the glass transition of the electronic system of a disordered insulator to the ability of electrons to diffuse over macroscopic distances during experimental times t. It is argued that the relevant measure of time is y = ln(w0t) where w0 is typically 1013 sec−1. Customary experimental times correspond to a narrow range of y. A calculation of the observable entropy, based on percolation theory and cluster expansion, is outlined. It is shown that there exists a temperature dependent value yc for which the observable entropy abruptly changes. The glass transition occurs when y = yc. This definition of a glass transition is not identical to the frequently used definition based on an order parameter, but it appears to be similar to the one traditionally used for actual glasses.
Topological excitations in the Abelian Higgs model

A lattice version of the Abelian Higgs model is studied in arbitrary Euclidean dimension. Using an exact duality transformation, the theory is rewritten in terms of its topological excitations. The dual form of the theory specifies in a simple way all the allowed topological excitations as well as their interactions. The combination of the scalar Higgs field and the Abelian gauge field produces excitations found neither in the pure gauge theory nor in the pure scalar theory ($\mathrm{XY}$ model). In three dimensions, for example, we find finite vortex strings terminating on monopoles, as well as closed vortex loops. Implications of these singularities for the critical behavior of the theory are briefly discussed.
Including eddies in global ocean models

The ocean is a turbulent fluid that is driven by winds and by surface exchanges of heat and moisture. It is as important as the atmosphere in governing climate through heat distribution, but so little is known about the ocean that it remains a “final frontier” on the face of the Earth. Many ocean currents are truly global in extent, such as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the “conveyor belt” that connects the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans by flows around the southern tips of Africa and South America. It has long been a dream of some oceanographers to supplement the very limited observational knowledge by reconstructing the currents of the world ocean from the first principles of physics on a computer. However, until very recently, the prospect of doing this was thwarted by the fact that fluctuating currents known as “mesoscale eddies” could not be explicitly included in the calculation.
Absolute Isotopic Abundance Ratio and the Atomic Weight of Bromine.

An absolute value is obtained for the isotopic abundance ratio of bromine using thermal emission mass spectrometers calibrated for bias by the use of samples of known isotopic composition prepared from nearly pure separated bromine isotopes. The resulting absolute Br79/Br81 ratio is 1.02784 ±0.00190 which yields an atomic weight (C12=12) of 79.90363 ±0.00092. The indicated uncertainties are overall limits of error based on 95 percent confidence limits for the mean and allowances for the effects of known sources of possible systematic error plus a component to cover possible natural variations in isotopic composition although no provable variations were noted among the Br79/Br81ratios of 29 commercial and natural samples. Mass spectroinetric determinations of the atomic weights of bromine and silver give a combining weight ratio of AgBr/Ag= 1.740752.
OSO-5 Dim Light Monitor.

The design, calibration, and operation of the University of Minnesota’s experiment on board the satellite OSO-5 are described. The instrument was designed to measure zodiacal light, airglow, and lightning. The orientation and stability of the spacecraft is also discussed as it pertains to the experiment.
Poor sleep quality potentiates stress-induced cytokine reactivity in postmenopausal women with high visceral abdominal adiposity

Sleep disturbance is a key behavioral risk factor for chronic medical conditions observed at high rates among overweight and obese individuals. Systemic inflammation, including that induced by stress, may serve as a common biological mechanism linking sleep, adiposity, and disease risk. To investigate these relationships, 48 postmenopausal women (mean age=61.8) completed a standardized laboratory stress task during which time blood was collected at baseline and 30, 50 and 90+ min after stressor onset to assess circulating levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and IL-6/IL-10 ratio. Self-reported global sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) while adiposity was estimated by body mass index. Sagittal diameter was obtained in clinic to estimate visceral abdominal adiposity. Multi-level growth curve models revealed that poorer self-reported sleep quality was associated with greater stress-induced increases in IL-6/IL-10 ratio. In terms of adiposity, higher sagittal diameter, but not BMI, was associated with greater IL-6 reactivity (p's<0.05). Further, associations between sleep quality and cytokine reactivity varied as a function of sagittal diameter. Among poor sleepers (1 SD above mean of PSQI score), stress-induced increases in IL-6 and IL-6/IL-10 ratio were significantly steeper in those with high visceral adiposity (1 SD above the mean of sagittal diameter) compared to those with low visceral adiposity (1 SD below the mean of sagittal diameter). In sum, poorer sleep quality and greater visceral adiposity, separately and especially in combination, are associated with greater stress-related increases in systemic inflammation. This research may help elucidate the complex link between sleep, obesity and inflammatory disease risk.
Rejection of tumors and metastases in Fischer 344 rats following intratumor administration of killed Corynebacterium parvum.

Killed Corynebacterium parvum vaccine was infiltrated into growing subcutaneous tumors (two antigenically different types) syngeneic to the Fischer 344 rats. In all these animals decrease in tumor size was followed by total and lasting disappearance. The protective response conferred as a result of intratumor C. parvum appeared to prevent progressive growth of potentially lethal pulmonary and visceral metastases. Animals which rejected their tumors showed an increased protection that was tumorspecific. Histological examination of tumors from rats exhibiting C. parvum-mediated rejection revealed an intense non-specific infiltration consisting mainly of macrophages with some lymphocytes. Of the groups of rats treated with surgical removal of the growing tumor, 30-60% died with growing tumors and metastases. Suppressed rates of tumor growth and prolonged survival were observed in the group of rats treated with killed C. parvum subcutaneously 1 cm around and away from the growing tumors.
Implementation of a BPSK Transceiver on Hybrid Software Defined Radio Platforms

Software defined radio (SDR) is an important element of wireless technology and fast becoming a hot topic in the telecommunication field. Determining the digital hardware composition of a software radio is a key design step in its creation. Hybrid GPP/DSP/FPGA architecture is a viable solution for software defined radio technology. This paper demonstrates a practical design and implementation procedure for a wireless digital modem on software defined radio platforms and reports a detailed description of the baseband signal processing logic design in the FPGA portion of it. Design verification is performed through hardware in the loop testing methodology. A framework for designing wireless digital modems on hybrid software radio platforms is discussed.
Variable-region sequences of five human lambda-chain proteins reacting with an idiotypic antibody to the MCG Bence-Jones protein.

Abstract An antibody to the V-region of BJ protein MCG has been used to detect other human λ-chains with similar idiotypic specificities. Five such proteins have been found and sequenced. They show relatively strong sequence homologies to some segments of the MCG V-region. The results of this study indicate that L-chains which contain short segments of their V-regions that are identical can be readily detected by the use of appropriate antisera.
Regression splines for threshold selection with application to a random-effects logistic dose-response model

A flexible parametric method is proposed for smoothing the dose effect in a general, threshold dose-response model with random effects. This method uses a combination of linear B-splines in which an interior knot, regarded as a free parameter for a piece-wise linear spline, indicates a break point in the dose-response curve. The knot will be estimated and may be interpreted as a threshold value. The proposed methodology is applied to data from a developmental toxicity study conducted by the National Toxicology Program.
Incorporating the effects of interspecific competition and vegetation management treatments in stand table projection models for Douglas-fir saplings☆

Abstract A stand table projection system based on individual-tree and stand-level models for young Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii ) plantations was developed from and evaluated with remeasurement data from sites in the Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon and in the Coast Ranges of Oregon and Washington. A projection equation was developed for relative tree size, defined as the ratio of individual-tree diameter at 15 or 30 cm above ground level (depending on the study location) to quadratic mean diameter. The relative size projection equation for the Coast Ranges study included the effect of total vegetation control, which indicated that diameters of Douglas-fir receiving total vegetation control tended to become more uniform over time in the Coast Ranges. An additional equation was developed to project quadratic mean diameter so that individual-tree diameters could be estimated from projected relative size. The effect of vegetation management treatments on projected quadratic mean diameters in the Siskiyou study was expressed as an interaction between proportion of cover removed by treatments (intensity) and dominant height of Douglas-fir at time of treatment relative to current dominant height. In 1- and 2-year projection periods, the stand table projection system performed similarly to a diameter distribution prediction system based on a Weibull distribution function. However, the difference between projected and predicted diameter distributions became more pronounced as the projection period increased to 5 years.
Pulmonary Hypertension after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Abstract Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a potentially fatal complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Given its nonspecific clinical presentation, it is likely that this clinical entity is underdiagnosed after HSCT. Data describing the incidence, risk factors, and etiology of PH in HSCT recipients are minimal. Physicians caring for HSCT recipients should be aware of this severe post-transplant complication because timely diagnosis and treatment may allow improved clinical outcomes. We summarize the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of PH in HSCT recipients.
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin-Secreting Pineal Tumors Relation to Pathogenesis and Sex Limitation of Sexual Precocity*

We report a 5 6/12-yr-old male who developed incomplete sexual precocity due to a hCG-secreting tumor in the region of the pineal gland. The patient presented with evidence of increased intracranial pressure (Parinaud's sign and papilledema) and was noted to have enlarged testes (right, 3.5 × 2.5 cm; left, 3.0 × 2.5 cm). Initial hormonal studies showed an adult male level of testosterone (600 ng/dl) and high plasma concentrations of immunoreactive LH, which proved to be hCG, not LH, when assayed in a RIA specific for hCG. The iv administration of LRF did not elicit a rise in plasma LH values. A mass in the region of the pineal gland was documented by pneumoencephalogram and cerebral arteriogram. The patient was treated with 5000 rads to the cranium. Two years postirradiation (age, 7 10/12 yr) there was complete involution of the tumor, undetect ;ble plasma levels of hCG and regression of pubertal development associated with prepubertal plasma concentrations of testosterone and a prepubertal LH response to...
Rhoads lecture. Effect of Infection on Nutrient Requirements

All infections, no matter how mild, decrease nutrient intakes and increase nutrient losses even when subclinical. The losses include decreased intestinal absorption, direct loss of nutrients in the gut, internal diversion for metabolic responses to infection and increased basal metabolic rate when fever is present. In this way, infection influences not only protein and energy status but also that of most other nutrients. The clinical importance of these consequences of infection depends on the prior state of the individual, the nature and duration of the infection, and the diet of the individual during the infection, particularly dietary intake during the convalescent period and whether full recovery takes place before another infection occurs. In industrialized countries particular attention must be paid to the nutrition of hospitalized patients inasmuch as they are frequently debilitated by their primary disease, morbidity, and nutritional status. Morbidity and mortality are increased by nosocomial infections to which the poorly nourished individual is more susceptible.
Point source influence on observed extreme pollution levels in a monitoring network

Abstract This paper presents a strategy to quantify the influence major point sources in a region have on extreme pollution values observed at each of the monitors in the network. We focus on the number of hours in a day the levels at a monitor exceed a specified health threshold. The number of daily exceedances are modeled using observation-driven negative binomial time series regression models, allowing for a zero-inflation component to characterize the probability of no exceedances in a particular day. The spatial nature of the problem is addressed through the use of a Gaussian plume model for atmospheric dispersion computed at locations of known emissions, creating covariates that impact exceedances. In order to isolate the influence of emitters at individual monitors, we fit separate regression models to the series of counts from each monitor. We apply a final model clustering step to group monitor series that exhibit similar behavior with respect to mean, variability, and common contributors to support policy decision making. The methodology is applied to eight benzene pollution series measured at air quality monitors around the Houston ship channel, a major industrial port.
Organosoluble enzyme-polymer complexes: A novel type of biocatalyst for nonaqueous media

A novel type of organosoluble biocatalyst, representing a non-covalent complex of enzyme with a sugar-based amphiphilic polymer is described. The subtilisin Carlsbergpalmitoyl poly(sucrose acrylate) complex was found to be soluble and catalytically active in a number of organic solvents of different nature.
Age-validation and growth of bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) along the East Coast of the United States

Abstract We examine the age and growth of bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, along the U.S. east coast collected from Florida to New York during 2001–2003 (n = 2652). We describe a new preparation technique for the otoliths that increases readability, and provide criteria for the interpretation of otolith microstructure. Annulus formation in otoliths for bluefish is validated for fish aged 1–8 using marginal increment analysis. This extends validation by 4 years to include the preponderance of age classes in the catch. A side-by-side comparison of ageing precision and bias was performed between otoliths and scales. When compared, precision was highest with sectioned otoliths, exceeding 87% across all years, and exceeding 99% within 1 year, up to age 13. In contrast, scales tended to over-age ages 1 through 5, and under-aged age 7 and older compared to sectioned otoliths. We used these otolith-based ages to evaluate age distribution in gears used in the fishery and to evaluate size-at-age data and to estimate growth parameters from the catch. No significant differences in the von Bertalanffy growth parameters were found in comparison by sex, year and between the South Atlantic and Middle Atlantic Bights using Kimura's likelihood-ratio test. The estimated von Bertalanffy model growth parameters for bluefish along the coast were Linf = 815.3 mm ±15.3, k = 0.311 ± 0.03, t0 = −0.301 ± 0.18. These findings are then used to examine the implications for management of this ecologically and economically important coastal pelagic species.
The Coast–Noncoast Income Gap, Productivity, and Regional Economic Policy in China☆☆☆

Abstract We postulate that inferior factor productivity in China's noncoastal provinces is a principal reason for their lower economic growth despite high investment rates relative to provincial GDP. We find that total factor productivity is roughly twice as high in the coastal provinces and estimate that investment in higher education and foreign direct investment helps explain the productivity gap. We speculate that despite its relatively modest estimated return, investment in infrastructure may be necessary to attract foreign direct investment and to retain university graduates in the interior. J. Comp. Econom., October 1997, 25 (2), pp. 220–236. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 43210; Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio 43022.
Cutaneous manifestations of systemic diseases: metabolic diseases.

Abstract A variety of conditions was selected for inclusion in this and the following chapter on metabolic and collagen-vascular diseases. They range from the common to the rare. Diseases were selected because their only skin manifestation occurs on the lower extremities or because their expression on the legs and feet is an important component of the disease process. Many of these cutaneous signs are of great concern to the patient and provide valuable diagnostic and prognostic clues for the physician. The treatment of many of these dermatologic changes represents difficult therapeutic challenges for physicians in all fields of medicine.
Continental slope sea level and flow variability induced by lateral movements of the Gulf Stream in the Middle Atlantic Bight

Abstract As described by [Csanady, G.T., Hamilton, P., 1988. Circulation of slope water. Continental Shelf Research 8, 565–624], the flow regime over the slope of the southern Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) includes a current reversal in which southwestward flow over the upper and middle slope becomes entrained in the northeastward current adjacent to the Gulf Stream. In this paper we use satellite-derived data to quantify how lateral motions of the Gulf Stream impact this current system. In our analysis, the Gulf Stream’s thermal front is delineated using a two-year time series of sea surface temperature derived from NOAA/AVHRR satellite data. Lateral motions of the Gulf Stream are represented in terms of temporal variations of the area, east of 73°W, between the Gulf Stream thermal front and the shelf edge. Variations of slope water flow within this area are represented by anomalies of geostrophic velocity as derived from the time series of the sea level anomaly determined from TOPEX/POSEIDON satellite altimeter data. A strong statistical relationship is found between Gulf Stream displacements and parabathic flow over the continental slope. It is such that the southwestward flow over the slope is accelerated when the Gulf Stream is relatively far from the shelf edge, and is decelerated (and perhaps even reversed) when the Gulf Stream is close to the shelf edge. This relationship between Gulf Stream displacements and parabathic flow is also observed in numerical simulations produced by the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Model. In qualitative terms, it is consistent with the notion that when the Gulf Stream is closer to the 200-m isobath, it is capable of entraining a larger fraction of shelf water masses. Alternatively, when the Gulf Stream is far from the shelf-break, more water is advected into the MAB slope region from the northeast. Analysis of the diabathic flow indicates that much of the cross-slope transport by which the southwestward flow entering the study region is transferred to the northeastward flow exiting the region occurs in a narrow band roughly centered at 36.75°N, order 150 km north of Cape Hatteras. This transport, and thus the cyclonic circulation of the southern MAB, strengthens when the Gulf Stream is relatively close to the shelf edge, and weakens when the Gulf Stream is far from the shelf edge.
Development of phosphodiesterase activity in the chick retina.

Abstract Significant cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase activity is apparent in the early stages of development of the chick neural retina. By day 8, specific activity drops by approximately two-thirds. After day 14, a sharp rise in activity is observed, continuing through the time of hatching. Cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity is considerably lower and does not markedly change over the embryonic period.
The use of general purpose software in casting solidification simulation

Computer simulation of casting solidification has been developed to a degree that allows its use in industrial applications. This has been accomplished through the use of numerical techniques, the high speed digital computer, and development of procedures which eliminate previous assumptions of temperature-independent thermal properties, zero melt superheat, and intimate contact at all interfaces. However, for computer simulation to be a useful, economic tool, the manpower required to prepare a problem for the computer and to analyze the results must be minimized. These can be achieved by including in the programmatic goals of the project the use of generalized computer programs, simple data input, and easy-to-analyze computer output. One means of accomplishing this involves the use of general purpose heat transfer programs, preprocessing computer programs to aid in data input and color microfilm output. Such a procedure is described in this paper using a copper, flanged-barrel casting problem to demonstrate the versatility and ease-of-data analysis possible with this approach.
Evaluating the long-term metacommunity dynamics of tree hole mosquitoes.

Four different conceptual models of metacommunities have been proposed, termed ''patch dynamics,'' ''species sorting,'' ''mass effect,'' and ''neutral.'' These models simplify thinking about metacommunities and improve our understanding of the role of spatial dynamics both in structuring communities and in determining local and regional diversity. We tested whether mosquito communities inhabiting water-filled tree holes in southeastern Florida, USA, displayed any of the characteristics and dynamics predicted by the four models. The densities of the five most common species in 3-8 tree holes were monitored every two weeks during 1978-2003. We tested relationships between habitat variables and species densities, spatial synchrony, the presence of life history trade-offs, and species turnover. Dynamics showed strong elements of species sorting, but with considerable turnover, as predicted by the patch dynamics model. Consistent with patch dynamics, there was substantial asynchrony in dynamics for different tree holes, substantial species turnover in space and time, and an occupancy/colonization trade-off. Substantial correlations of density and occupancy with tree hole volume were consistent with the species-sorting model, but unlike this model, species did not have permanent refuges. No evidence of mass effects was found, and correlations between habitat variables and dynamics were inconsistent with neutral models. Our results did not match a single model and therefore caution against overly simplifying metacommunity dynamics by using one dynamical characteristic to select a particular metacommunity perspective.
Molecular-Dynamics Study of Phase Transitions in Alkali Azides

An account is presented of our studies of the order-disorder phase transitions in ${\mathrm{KN}}_{3},$ ${\mathrm{RbN}}_{3},$ and ${\mathrm{CsN}}_{3}.$ These are based on parameter-free interionic potentials based on the Gordon-Kim modified electron-gas formalism extended to molecular ions. We performed static structural relaxations and supercell molecular dynamics and predicted with reasonable accuracy the temperatures for the onset of the transitions. In particular, we address the question of how the ${\mathrm{N}}_{3}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ions reorient to yield the transitions. We found the existence of NaCl-type high-temperature phases in disordered ${\mathrm{KN}}_{3}$ and ${\mathrm{RbN}}_{3}$ and argue that this restructuring is preempted by melting in these two systems.
CO2-Selective Water Gas Shift Membrane Reactor for Fuel Cell Hydrogen Processing

In this study, a water gas shift membrane reactor containing both a CO2-selective polymeric membrane and a commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was developed for hydrogen processing for fuel cells, especially for the proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The polymeric CO2-selective membrane was synthesized by incorporating fixed and mobile carriers in cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol). The membrane showed good CO2/H2 and CO2/CO selectivities and high CO2 permeabilities at 110 − 170 °C. In the water gas shift (WGS) membrane reactor, the membrane removed CO2, one product of the WGS reaction, while the commercial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was used to catalyze the WGS reaction. By removing CO2 simultaneously, the reversible WGS reaction was shifted toward the products so that the CO concentration was converted and reduced significantly to less than 10 ppm, which met the purity requirement of hydrogen for PEMFCs. A one-dimensional model was used to simulate the reaction and the transport process in a rectangula...
A diffuse cutaneous lymphoma secreting a potent immunosuppressant

Abstract We have studied an unusual cutaneous lymphoma which elaborated a potent suppressor of lymphocyte proliferative responsiveness to antigens and mitogens. This suppressor was similar in extraction and function kinetics to a previously described inhibitor, lipid supressor substance (LSS). Thin-layer chromatography revealed a band derived from the patient's tumor which cochromatographed with LSS. High concentrations of LSS were found in the patient's serum. Other lymphoid tumors tested did not release LSS. The possible significance of this finding is discussed.
Is there a difference in outcome when treating traumatic intraperitoneal bladder rupture with or without a suprapubic tube

AbstractPurpose: Primary bladder repair with a suprapubic tube is considered to be effective for managing intraperitoneal bladder injury. We compared the outcomes of suprapubic tube placement and no suprapubic tube for this injury.Materials and Methods: We reviewed the charts of 31 men and 3 women with a mean age of 28.5 years who required emergency operative repair without a cystogram of traumatic bladder injury from 1992 to 1997. Patient characteristics, mechanism of injury, associated injuries, and short and long-term complications were reviewed.Results: Penetrating and blunt trauma occurred in 28 (82%) and 5 (15%) patients, respectively, while 1 had spontaneous bladder rupture. After primary bladder repair the bladder was drained with a suprapubic tube in 18 cases (53%) and a urethral catheter only in 16 (47%). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups with respect to mechanism of injury, patient age, location of injury in the bladder, coexisting medical illnesses, stability in the fi...
How to Get Published.

Factors affecting publishing outcomes are examined. This essay is designed for those new to publishing or those who need to renew their commitment to the publishing process. Prescriptions are suggested for overcoming factors inhibiting the successful completion of the publishing process. Specific attention is devoted to motivational, analytic, and content variables likely to affect publishing outcomes positively.
A course on multimicrocomputer system with emphasis on design

A one-semester senior undergraduate/graduate course on multimicrocomputer systems is described. Description of laboratory experiments and a design project in which the students build a simple multiple-microcomputer system from the chip level as part of the course is also presented. The lecture classes discuss various design techniques, introduction to the hardware, software, concurrent programming, and parallel algorithms. The course instructors supervise the design, construction, and debugging of hardware and software for the system. Students write programs to execute concurrently on the multimicroprocessors. Performance measurements are made for simple problems like sorting random numbers and coloring of vertices of a map. A detailed description of the course and projects, laboratory support equipment required, and extra work to be performed outside the lecture hours by the faculty are also presented. >
Database exploration in search of regularities

Large databases can be a source of useful knowledge. Yet this knowledge is implicit in the data. It must be mined and expressed in a concise, useful form of statistical patterns, equations, rules, conceptual hierarchies, and the like. Automation of knowledge discovery is important because databases are growing in size and number, and standard data analysis techniques are not designed for exploration of huge hypotheses spaces. We concentrate on discovery of regularities, defining a regularity by a pattern and the range in which that pattern holds. We argue that two types of patterns are particularly important: contingency tables and equations, and we present Forty-Niner (49er), a general-purpose database mining system which conducts large-scale search for those patterns in many subsets of data, conducting a more costly search for equations only when data indicate a functional relationship. 49er can refine the initial regularities to yield stronger and more general regularities and more useful concepts. 49er combines several searches, each contributing to a different aspect of a regularity. Correspondence between the components of search and the structure of regularities makes the system easy to understand, use, and expand. Finally, we discuss 49er's performance in four categories of tests: (1) open exploration of new databases; (2) reproduction of human findings (limited because databases which have been extensively explored are very rare); (3) hide- and -seek testing on artificially created data, to evaluate 49er on large scale against known results; (4) exploration of randomly generated databases.
Assessing the organizational climate for OA implementation

Abstract The attitudes of employees toward any new system implementation are a critical factor in the system's success. Prior to implementing an office automation system, a study was performed in a large department comprised of ten offices in one large firm. Attitudes of employees toward office automation were assessed, as well as their level of understanding of office automation concepts and techniques, and the general communications climate within the organization. Three different questionnaires were administered, and the results were analyzed for significant differences by job level and by office, using Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA procedures. Interesting and significant findings are presented and discussed. This approach appears to have merit in gaining a clearer understanding of the organizational environment prior to implementing an office automation system. This information is critical in developing the strategy and plans for successful implementation of an office automation system.
Confidence measures as a search guide in speech recognition

Recently, there have been many efforts in developing confidence measures for speech recognition output. Usually, these measures are applied to the final result of the decoder. However, using these measures early in the search process can guide the search to more promising paths. In this paper we use a confidence metric, the Average Best_Base_Phoneme Rank, to dynamically tune the contribution of the language model score. The advantage of this metric is that it uses information already available during the decoder search. The performance of this guided search approach was tested in two experiments for the ATIS and WSJ data sets and results show significant reductions in recognition error rates.
A nontoxic cholera enterotoxin (CT) analog is chimeric with regard to both epitypes of CT-B subunits, CT-B-1 and CT-B-2

The gene encoding a nontoxic analog, CT-2*, of cholera enterotoxin (CT) with attenuating codon substitutions in the A subunit was introduced into the attenuated Vibrio cholerae classical biotype mutant candidate vaccine strain CVD103, which produces the B subunit (but not the A subunit) of CT-1. The recombinant strain produces a chimeric nontoxic analog holotoxin containing both CT-B-1 and CT-B-2 subunits. This offers potential advantages over CVD103 in the induction of immunity against E1 Tor biotype and V. cholerae O139 strains which produce CT-B-2. The recombinant protein may also be useful in polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines against both O1 and O139 serovars of V. cholerae.
Surface Support Systems for Co-Operative and Integrated Human/Robotic Lunar Exploration

Human and robotic partnerships to realize space goals can enhance space missions and provide increases in human productivity while decreasing the hazards that the humans are exposed to. For lunar exploration, the harsh environment of the moon and the repetitive nature of the tasks involved with lunar outpost construction, maintenance and operation as well as production tasks associated with in-situ resource utilization, make it highly desirable to use robotic systems in co-operation with human activity. A human lunar outpost is functionally examined and concepts for selected human/robotic tasks are discussed in the context of a lunar outpost which will enable the presence of humans on the moon for extended periods of time.
The Role of Propagation and Medial Geometry in Human Vision

A key challenge underlying theories of vision is how the spatially restricted, retinotopically represented feature computations can be integrated to form abstract, coordinate-free object models. A resolution likely depends on the use of intermediate-level representations which can on the one hand be populated by local features and on the other hand be used as atomic units underlying the formation of, and interaction with, object hypotheses. The precise structure of this intermediate representation derives from the varied requirements of a range of visual tasks, which motivate a significant role for incorporating a geometry of visual form. The need to integrate input from features capturing surface properties such as texture, shading, motion, color, etc., as well as from features capturing surface discontinuities such as silhouettes, T-junctions, etc., implies a geometry which captures both regional and boundary aspects. Curves, as a geometric model of boundaries, have been extensively and explicitly used as an intermediate representation in computational, perceptual, and physiological studies. However, the medial axis which has been popular in computer vision as a geometric region-based model of the interior of closed boundaries, has not been explicitly used as an intermediate representation. We present a unified theory of perceptual grouping and object recognition where the intermediate representation is a visual fragment which itself is based on the medial axis. Through various sequences of transformations of the medial axis representation, visual fragments are grouped in various configurations to form object hypotheses, and are related to stored models. The mechanisms underlying both the computation and the transformation of the medial axis is a lateral wave propagation model. Recent psychophysical experiments depicting contrast sensitivity map peaks at the medial axes of stimuli, and experiments on perceptual filling-in, and brightness induction and modulation, are consistent with both the use of a medial axis representation and a propagation-based scheme. Also, recent neurophysiological recordings in V1 correlate with the medial axis hypothesis and a horizontal propagation scheme. This evidence supports a geometric computational paradigm for processing sensory data where both dynamic in-plane propagation and feedforward-feedback connections play an integral role.
Oil and Ice in the Arctic Ocean: Possible Large-Scale Interactions

The diffusion and transport mechanisms generated by the pack ice dynamics of the Beaufort Sea, combined with the slow rate of biodegradation of oil under Arctic conditions, would combine to diffuse an oil spill over the sea and eventually deposit the oil on the ice surface, where it would lower the natural albedo over a large area.
Effects of landscape and land-ownership patterns on deer movements in a suburban community

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have adapted to, and are thriving in, residential–suburban landscapes. Special hunts, sharpshooting programs, and fertility control efforts have been implemented in residential communities to reduce local deer populations. For these management strategies to be effective, it is important to understand deer movement and behavior patterns in suburban landscapes. Our objectives were to quantify annual and hunt-season home-range size, and evaluate the relationships between landscape characteristics, land-ownership patterns, and deer movements during the autumn hunting season. Much variation in home range size was observed for annual (15.5–173 ha) and hunt-season home range (16.8–120.7 ha) over the 2-yr study. Deer core areas were not characteristically different from home ranges with regards to forest lands or building density, but were different with regards to road density and property density. Deer use of core areas during the day was similar to, or higher than, deer use at night. Most individual properties in deer core areas were <2.8 ha. Under the current set-back distance for firearms hunting (152 m), 31% and 38% of deer had no portion of their home range potentially open to firearms hunting, and 69% and 81% had no portion of their core areas potentially open to firearms hunting in years 1 and 2. Percentage of forest in home range buffers decreased from 66% in year 1 (abundant acorns) to 46% in year 2 (moderate acorns) as deer shifted into residential development. Findings from our study emphasize the value of conducting multiyear studies and incorporating other variables such as mast abundance to improve interpretation of landscape models. The close association of deer core areas with roads suggests that sharpshooting programs that bait and shoot deer from roads may be an effective management option. In suburban landscapes, deer core areas are comprised of many different landowners, limiting hunter access and mobility to deer core areas. No-hunt buffers around buildings should be reduced to levels that increase hunter access to deer core areas, yet maintain reasonable safety zones. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.
An Engineer Writes on Railroad Construction Standards in 1842

George Washington Whistler, the father of the artist, ended his civil engineering career as consultant to the Russian Czar after a life of distinguished service in the planning and construction of pioneer American railroads, including the Baltimore & Ohio and the present Boston & Albany.