cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Selective attention to Stroop dimensions: Effects of baseline discriminability, response mode, and practice

The framework of dimensional interaction was used to test the hypothesis that the Stroop effect is partially rooted in mismatches in baseline discriminability, with stimulus differences along the word dimension typically exceeding stimulus differences along the color dimension. Subjects made speeded classifications, with either keypresses or vocalizations, of either words or colors. Stroop congruity and Garner interference were measured under conditions in which discriminabilities were (1) matched (Experiments 1 and 4), (2) mismatched in favor of colors (Experiment 2), or (3) mismatched in favor of words (Experiment 3). When matched, colors and words appeared separable, with small interactive effects being reduced or eliminated through practice. When mismatched, asymmetric Stroop and Garner effects emerged, with the more discriminable dimension disrupting classification of the less discriminable dimension. Asymmetric effects were obtained in both response modes, and were not alleviated by practice. We conclude that (1) the Stroop effect is an optional effect, and (2) unequal discriminability causes a mandatory failure of selective attention.
The Liquefying Action of Pancreatic, Cereal, Fungal, and Bacterial Alpha‐Amylasesa

SUMMARY The starch-liquefying abilities of alpha-amylases from pancreas, cereals, fungi, and bacteria were studied by following changes in the viscosity of potato starch pregelatinized and cooled in the Amylograph under standardized conditions and acted on by the enzyme at 37°C. The optimal pH activity for starch liquefaction was 4.0 for fungal, 4.5 for cereal, 6.5 for bacterial, and 7.0 for pancreatic amylase. A comparison of liquefying action of the enzyme systems at a constant level of dextrinogenic activity showed the pancreatic enzyme most active, followed by cereal, with the fungal least active. The relative differences between the activity of the bacterial and fungal enzymes at their optimum pH's and at 37° depended on the levels of enzyme added. The thermostable bacterial amylase also exhibited high stability toward high acidity. The pattern of starch liquefaction by action of the various enzymes, and the relation between viscosity drop and enzyme activity, are discussed.
Discontinuous alterations of platelet structure and function by bound, ionizable verapamil

Abstract We have investigated several effects of verapamil (5-[(3,4-dimethoxyphenethyl)methylamino]-2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-isopro-pylvaleronitrile) on platelet structure and function. At concentrations below a threshold of ~4.2 × 10 7 molecules • cell −1 , verapamil binds to platelets according to a typical Langmuir adsorption isotherm (i.e., binding is saturable and noncooperative). By extrapolation, we calculate that saturation would occur at 6.8 × 10 7 ± 1.9 × 10 7 molecules • platelet −1 , with one bound verapamil molecule per two membrane phospholipids. Saturation is never achieved, however, because past the threshold surface concentration, the adsorption isotherm becomes discontinuous and further adsorption becomes a linear function of the concentration of drug in solution. We attribute this discontinuity to disorganization of the membrane bilayer which is stretched beyond cohesion by insertion of too many amphophilic molecules of a length shorter than that of the phospholipid. The partitioning of verapamil between the bulk aqueous phase and the newly created lipid phase would then account for the linear portion of the adsorption isotherm. The discontinuity of binding is accompanied by discontinuities in the vera-pamil-dependent swelling of platelets and the verapamil-dependent inhibition of both ADP-inducible binding of fibrinogen to, and aggregation of, platelets. In contrast, W-methylverapamil (5-[(3,4-dlmethoxyphenyl)-methylamino]-2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-isopropylvaleronitrile), a hydrophilic quaternary amine derivative of verapamil, neither swells platelets nor inhibits the ADP-dependent processes that we investigated. From this we conclude that deprotonated verapamil is the operative species of the drug. Collectively, these data suggest that verapamil alters platelet structure and function by mechanisms involving disorganization of the platelet plasma membrane.
A Psychophysiological Study of State and Trait Anxiety in Public Speaking.

This study investigates the effects of several variables upon the correlation of psychological and physiological measures of speech anxiety.
Pentostatin and rituximab therapy for previously untreated patients with B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia

BACKGROUND: The combination of pentostatin (P), cyclophosphamide (C), and rituximab (R) achieved an overall response (OR) rate >90%, with >40% complete responses (CRs) in patients with untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). METHODS: To evaluate whether the tolerability of this regimen could be enhanced without sacrificing efficacy, a phase 2 trial was conducted of P and R without C, using a higher P dose (4 mg/m2). Among the 33 patients enrolled, 82% were male, the median age was 65 years (9 patients were aged ≥70 years), and 64% were classified as having Rai stage III to IV disease. RESULTS: The OR rate was 76%, with 9 CRs (27%), 5 nodular partial responses, and 11 partial responses (PRs) reported. At the time of last follow‒up, 29 of 33 patients were still alive at a median follow-up of 14 months (range, 1-34.8 months). Four (12%) patients experienced grade 3 or higher hematologic toxicity, and 5 (15%) experienced grade 3 or higher nonhematologic toxicity. Comparison of this trial with the previous PCR trial demonstrated that patients treated with PCR had a higher OR rate (91% vs 76%) and CR rate (41% vs 27%) compared with patients treated with PR. The median treatment-free survival for all accrued patients was notably longer in patients treated with PCR compared with PR (30 months vs 16 months). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the current study suggest that increasing the dose of the purine nucleoside analogue does not eliminate the need for cyclophosphamide in chemoimmunotherapy for the treatment of CLL. Cancer 2010. © 2010 American Cancer Society.
The Intraday Price of Money: Evidence from the e‐MID Interbank Market

We provide empirical evidence, based on tick-by-tick data for the e-MID euro area interbank market covering 2003 and 2004, that the overnight interest rate shows a clear downward pattern throughout the operating day. Thus, a positive hourly interest rate (half basis point) implicitly emerges from the intraday term structure of the overnight rate. Such a pattern was not detected in the mid-1990s: we explain this evolution as an outcome of the recent trend toward real-time settlement. The estimated intraday interest rate is lower than in the United States: this is due to the different cost of central bank daylight credit.
Monitoring Cerebral Hemodynamics Following Optogenetic Stimulation via Optical Coherence Tomography

In this article, spectral domain optical coherence tomography is used to measure the hemodynamic response induced by optogenetic stimulation in the somatosensory cortex of transgenic mice. By analyzing the 3-D angiograms and Doppler measurements produced by coherence tomography, we observed significant increase in blood flow as a result of increased vessel diameter and blood velocity following optical stimulation of cortical neurons. Such distinct responses were not observed in control experiments where the brain of wild-type mice were exposed to the same light pulses.
On the probability of reaching a threshold in a stochastic mammillary system

The multivariate distribution over time of a particular stochastic mammillary compartmental model is obtained for any point in time. The maximum expectation of the peripheral compartments is then derived and used to determine lower bounds on the probability that the maximum of the peripheral compartments reaches any arbitrary threshold level. A bound on the probability is illustrated by an example and some of its implications are explored.
Highly recurring sequence elements identified in eukaryotic DNAs by computer analysis are often homologous to regulatory sequences or protein binding sites

We have used computer assisted dot matrix and oligonucleotide frequency analyses to identify highly recurring sequence elements of 7-11 base pairs in eukaryotic genes and viral DNAs. Such elements are found much more frequently than expected, often with an average spacing of a few hundred base pairs. Furthermore, the most abundant repetitive elements observed in the ovalbumin locus, the beta-globin gene cluster, the metallothionein gene and the viral genomes of SV40, polyoma, Herpes simplex-1 and Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus were sequences shown previously to be protein binding sites or sequences important for regulating gene expression. These sequences were present in both exons and introns as well as promoter regions. These observations suggest that such sequences are often highly overrepresented within the specific gene segments with which they are associated. Computer analysis of other genetic units, including viral genomes and oncogenes, has identified a number of highly recurring sequence elements that could serve similar regulatory or protein-binding functions. A model for the role of such reiterated sequence elements in DNA organization and function is presented.
Role of STIM1- and Orai1-mediated Ca2+ entry in Ca2+-induced epidermal keratinocyte differentiation.

The uppermost thin layer on the surface of the skin, called the epidermis, is responsible for the barrier function of the skin. The epidermis has a multilayered structure in which each layer consists of keratinocytes (KCs) of different differentiation status. The integrity of KC differentiation is crucial for the function of skin and its loss causes or is accompanied by skin diseases. Intracellular and extracellular Ca2+ is known to play important roles in KC differentiation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying Ca2+ regulation of KC differentiation are still largely unknown. Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is a major Ca2+ influx pathway in most non-excitable cells. SOCE is evoked in response to a fall in Ca2+ concentration in the endoplasmic reticulum. Two proteins have been identified as essential components of SOCE: STIM1, a Ca2+ sensor in the ER, and Orai1, a subunit of Ca2+ channels in the plasma membrane. In this study, we analyzed the contribution of SOCE to KC growth and differentiation using RNAi knockdown of STIM1 and Orai1 in the human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT. KC differentiation was induced by a switch in extracellular Ca2+ concentration from low (0.03 mM; undifferentiated KCs) to high (1.8 mM; differentiated KCs). This Ca2+ switch triggers phospholipase-C-mediated intracellular Ca2+ signals (Ca2+-switch-induced Ca2+ response), which would probably involve the activation of SOCE. Knockdown of either STIM1 or Orai1 strongly suppressed SOCE and almost completely abolished the Ca2+-switch-induced Ca2+ responses, resulting in impaired expression of keratin1, an early KC differentiation marker. Furthermore, loss of either STIM1 or Orai1 suppressed normal growth of HaCaT cells in low Ca2+ and inhibited the growth arrest in response to a Ca2+ switch. These results demonstrate that SOCE plays multiple crucial roles in KC differentiation and function.
Errors in the Measurement of Turbulence Upstream of an Axisymmetric Body

Abstract We use a Taylor series expansion technique to calculate the effects of mean-flow distortion on turbulence measurements ahead of an axisymmetric body. The approach is valid when the integral scale of the turbulence is large compared to the maximum body diameter, which is usually the case for energy-containing turbulence statistics measured ahead of aircraft and the towed bodies used in oceanography. Using a 5:1 ellipsoid as a representative body, we show the nature of the attenuation and crosstalk error terms which the flow distortion induces in the measured turbulence components. The contours of the resulting errors in velocity covariances measured ahead of the ellipsoid and a paraboloid of revolution reveal that, in general, the errors in turbulent Roynolds stress can be the most severe. For sufficiently small distortion effects, which typically means more than one diameter away from the nose, the distortion matrix can easily be inverted analytically, giving explicit expressions for the true cov...
Size, flowering and fruiting of maturing own-rooted ‘Gala’ apple trees treated with paclobutrazol sprays and trunk drenches

Abstract Four-year-old, own-rooted, micropropagated cultivar ‘Gala’ apple ( Malus domestica Borkh.) trees were, (1) untreated, (2) treated with paclobutrazol (paclo) sprays (SP) at 500 or 1000 mg l −1 2, 4 and 6 weeks after full bloom or (3) treated with the 500 or 1000 mg l −1 paclo sprays plus a paclo trunk drench (TD) at 2.9 g per tree (SP + TD) in mid-May. Fruit load on trees of one treatment set was left intact (normal load) whereas 30–40% of the fruit was removed annually from the other set (reduced load) after ‘June drop’. Reducing fruit load in late May or early June over the 6-year period had little influence on vegetative growth, flower density, or fruit quality but fruit yields and the 6-year yield efficiency index were reduced. There were few differences between paclo 500 and paclo 1000 SP treatments. Compared with paclo SP + TD, paclo SP treatments caused fewer and less persistent changes. Over the 6-year period, paclo SP reduced trunk cross-sectional area (TCSA) 17% whereas paclo SP + TD reduced it by 49%. Flowering, fruit size and yield were minimally altered by paclo SP but paclo SP + TD reduced flower clusters over two seasons and reduced the 6-year average number of fruit per tree. Trees treated with paclo via sprays plus the trunk drench, especially paclo 1000 SP + TD, tended to develop biennial flowering patterns. Weight per fruit was reduced in two seasons by paclo SP + TD but it was greater in seasons when fruit numbers were reduced (low number of flowers). Fruit yields were reduced over four seasons by paclo SP + TD resulting in an overal yield reduction of 27% however, because TCSA was reduced by paclo SP + TD, the 6-year yield efficiency index (fruit yield per unit TCSA) was increased. Six-year average fruit length to width ratios were lower and russeting ratings were higher for fruit from trees receiving paclo SP + TD treatments compared with controls. Paclobutrazol did not alter net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, leaf chlorophyll content or specific leaf weight the third season after treatment.
Off-Line Coupling of Subcritical Water Extraction with Subcritical Water Chromatography via a Sorbent Trap and Thermal Desorption

In this study, the off-line coupling of subcritical water extraction (SBWE) with subcritical water chromatography (SBWC) was achieved using a sorbent trap and thermal desorption. The sorbent trap was employed to collect the extracted analytes during subcritical water extraction. After the extraction, the trap was connected to the subcritical water chromatography system, and thermal desorption of the trapped analytes was performed before the SBWC run. The thermally desorbed analytes were then introduced into the subcritical water separation column and detected by a UV detector. Anilines and phenols were extracted from sand and analyzed using this off-line coupling technique. Subcritical water extraction of flavones from orange peel followed by subcritical water chromatographic separation was also investigated. The effects of water volume and extraction temperature on flavone recovery were determined. Because a sorbent trap was used to collect the extracted analytes, the sensitivity of this technique was gr...
A "Back-to-Basics" Approach to Sizing Pulsed Alternators: How Much Energy Can You Deliver from a Given Volume?

In order to evaluate the size and weight of a tactical electromagnetic launch system, one needs to estimate the contribution of the pulsed alternator power supply. This paper develops a set of equations that shows that the energy delivery of a pulsed alternator feeding an electromagnetic launcher is governed by a rather simple set of parameters based upon geometry, internal magnetic energy, and rotational speed.
ppGpp is the major source of growth rate control in E. coli

Summary It is widely accepted that the DNA, RNA and protein content of Enterobacteriaceae is regulated as a function of exponential growth rates; macromolecular content increases with faster growth regardless of specific composition of the growth medium. This phenomenon, called growth rate control, primarily involves regulation of ribosomal RNA and ribosomal protein synthesis. However, it was uncertain whether the global regulator ppGpp is the major determinant for growth rate control. Therefore, here we re-evaluate the effect of ppGpp on macromolecular content for different balanced growth rates in defined media. We find that when ppGpp is absent, RNA/protein and RNA/DNA ratios are equivalent in fast and slow growing cells. Moreover, slow growing ppGpp-deficient cells with increased RNA content, display a normal ribosomal subunit composition although polysome content is reduced when compared with fast growing wild-type cells. From this we conclude that growth rate control does not occur in the absence of ppGpp. Also, artificial elevation of ppGpp or introduction of stringent RNA polymerase mutants in ppGpp-deficient cells restores this control. We believe these findings strongly argue in favour of ppGpp and against redundant regulation of growth rate control by other factors in Escherichia coli and other enteric bacteria.
Product-country images and international food marketing: Relationships and research needs

Consumers worldwide have increasing access to a wide variety of food products from other countries. The significance of product-country images in influencing consumer behavior is likely to increase in the future. An understanding of the role of product-country images for food products would aid in the formulation of global marketing strategies. This article provides a review of country of origin literature dealing with food products and a research agenda for agribusiness researchers. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Resilient design of Thau's observer using LMIs

Much of the recent work on robust observer design has focused on the convergence of the observer in the presence of parameter perturbations in the plant equations. The present work addresses the important problem of resilience or non-fragility, which is maintenance of convergence when the observer is erroneously implemented due possibly to computational errors. A class of nonlinear system and measurement equations is considered and a linear matrix inequality approach is presented that guarantees convergence based on the knowledge of an upper bound on the observer gain perturbations. This result can be viewed as the resilient version of Thau's method of nonlinear observer design.
Mt. St. Helens eruption forecast

‘Accelerating rates of ground deformations in the crater of Mount St. Helens suggest that an eruption, most likely of the dome-building type, will probably begin in 1 to 5 days,’ according to a statement issued on March 15 by scientists at the U. S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington. The statement supersedes one issued on March 12 which stated that an eruption would be likely in the following 3 weeks. According to the report issued at 10:30 P.M. (EST) on March 15, ‘Deep earthquakes have almost ceased, and shallow earthquakes continue at a moderate rate. Further increase in shallow seismicity is likely before eruptions start.’
Changes in smoke alarm coverage following two fire department home visiting programs: what predicts success?

Door-to-door canvassing and installation of smoke alarms have been found to be effective at increasing the number of homes protected. This analysis reports on how smoke alarm coverage changes six months after a home visiting program in a large urban sample, and how this change varies by characteristics of the residents and characteristics of the services delivered during the home visit. Fire department Standard and Enhanced home visiting programs were compared. During the home visit, fire fighters installed lithium battery smoke alarms. Residents in the Enhanced program received tailored education about fire safety. Six months after the home visit, participating residences were visited to complete a follow-up survey and to have the installed alarms checked. 81% of the 672 homes that had a working smoke alarm on every level of the home at the end of the home visit remained safe at follow-up, and 87% of the residents found the home visit was very useful, and these rates did not differ between the Enhanced and Standard programs. The degree to which firefighters delivered their services varied, although households in which the resident’s engagement with the fire department team was rated as excellent were 3.96 times as likely to be safe at follow-up compared to those with poor or fair resident engagement (p=0.03). There is a need to better understand how to maximize the time spent with residents during smoke alarm home visiting programs. This study helps with the development of methods needed for implementing and evaluating such programs in real-world settings.
Hydrothermal liquefaction of Nannochloropsis sp.: Systematic study of process variables and analysis of the product fractions

We investigated hydrothermal liquefaction of Nannochloropsis sp. at different temperatures (250–400 °C), times (10–90 min), water densities (0.3–0.5 g/mL), and biomass loadings (5–35 wt %). Liquefaction produced a biocrude with light and heavy fractions, along with gaseous, aqueous, and solid by-product fractions. The gravimetric yields of the product fractions from experiments at 250 °C summed to an average of 100 ± 4 wt %, showing mass balance closure at 250 °C. The gravimetric yields of the product fractions are independent of water density at 400 °C. Increasing the biomass loading increases the biocrude yield from 36 to 46 wt %. The yields of light and heavy biocrude depend on reaction time and temperature, but their combined yield depends primarily on temperature. Regardless of reaction time and temperature, the yield of products distributed to the aqueous phase is 51 ± 5 wt % and the light biocrude is 75 ± 1 wt % C. Two-thirds of the N in the alga is immediately distributed to the aqueous phase and up to 84% can be partitioned there. Up to 85% of the P is distributed to the aqueous phase in the form of free phosphate. Thus, N and P can be recovered in the aqueous phase for nutrient recycling. Up to 80% of the chemical energy in the alga is retained within the biocrude. The quantitative results reported herein provide the basis for a reaction network for algae liquefaction.
Ozone depletion events observed in the high latitude surface layer during the TOPSE aircraft program

[1] During the Tropospheric Ozone Production about the Spring Equinox (TOPSE) aircraft program, ozone depletion events (ODEs) in the high latitude surface layer were investigated using lidar and in situ instruments. Flight legs of 100 km or longer distance were flown 32 times at 30 m altitude over a variety of regions north of 58° between early February and late May 2000. ODEs were found on each flight over the Arctic Ocean but their occurrence was rare at more southern latitudes. However, large area events with depletion to over 2 km altitude in one case were found as far south as Baffin Bay and Hudson Bay and as late as 22 May. There is good evidence that these more southern events did not form in situ but were the result of export of ozone-depleted air from the surface layer of the Arctic Ocean. Surprisingly, relatively intact transport of ODEs occurred over distances of 900–2000 km and in some cases over rough terrain. Accumulation of constituents in the frozen surface over the dark winter period cannot be a strong prerequisite of ozone depletion since latitudes south of the Arctic Ocean would also experience a long dark period. Some process unique to the Arctic Ocean surface or its coastal regions remains unidentified for the release of ozone-depleting halogens. There was no correspondence between coarse surface features such as solid ice/snow, open leads, or polynyas with the occurrence of or intensity of ozone depletion over the Arctic or subarctic regions. Depletion events also occurred in the absence of long-range transport of relatively fresh “pollution” within the high latitude surface layer, at least in spring 2000. Direct measurements of halogen radicals were not made. However, the flights do provide detailed information on the vertical structure of the surface layer and, during the constant 30 m altitude legs, measurements of a variety of constituents including hydroxyl and peroxy radicals. A summary of the behavior of these constituents is made. The measurements were consistent with a source of formaldehyde from the snow/ice surface. Median NOx in the surface layer was 15 pptv or less, suggesting that surface emissions were substantially converted to reservoir constituents by 30 m altitude and that ozone production rates were small (0.15–1.5 ppbv/d) at this altitude. Peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN) was by far the major constituent of NOy in the surface layer independent of the ozone mixing ratio.
A low-frequency model for wedge or pyramid absorber arrays-I: theory

The interaction of electromagnetic waves with an array of absorbing wedges or pyramid cones is studied in the low-frequency limit; i.e., when the period of the array is small compared with wavelength. A theoretical model is obtained using the method of homogenization, which replaces the transversely periodic structure with a transversely uniform medium possessing a certain (generally anisotropic) effective permittivity and permeability. Plane-wave reflection from such structures can then be modeled using well-known techniques for one-dimensionally inhomogeneous media; a Riccati equation for the reflection coefficient is used in this work. This model is appropriate for use with absorbers found in anechoic chambers used for electromagnetic compatibility and electromagnetic interference (EMC/EMI) measurements over the frequency range of 30-1000 MHz. >
Long term immunologic consequences of experimental stroke and mucosal tolerance

An inflammatory insult following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) is associated with a predisposition to develop a deleterious autoimmune response to the brain antigen myelin basic protein (MBP). Induction of immunologic tolerance to brain antigens prior to MCAO prevents this deleterious autoimmune response and is associated with better functional outcome early after stroke. In this study, we sought to determine the long term immunologic consequences of experimental stroke and induction of mucosal tolerance. Male Lewis rats were tolerized to MBP or ovalbumin (OVA) by intranasal administration prior to MCAO and administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Neurological outcome was assessed at set points after MCAO and animals sacrificed at 3 months; the immune response to MBP in brain and spleen was determined using ELISPOT assay and degree of cellular inflammatory brain infiltrate assessed by immunocytochemistry. Animals that developed a pro-inflammatory (TH 1) response to MBP experienced worse outcome, while those that developed a regulatory response (TREG) experienced better outcome. A TREG response in spleen was also associated with decreased inflammation and an increase in the number of FoxP3 positive cells in brain. In this study, tolerization to MBP prior to MCAO was associated with a tendency to develop a TH 1 response to MBP by 3 months after MCAO. These data show that induction of immunological tolerance to MBP is associated with improved outcome after stroke. This study, however, raises concern about the potential for inadvertent induction of detrimental autoimmunity through mucosal administration of antigen.
l(3)malignant brain tumor and Three Novel Genes Are Required for Drosophila Germ-Cell Formation

To identify genes involved in the process of germ-cell formation in Drosophila, a maternal-effect screen using the FLP/FRT- ovo D method was performed on chromosome 3R. In addition to expected mutations in the germ-cell determinant oskar and in other genes known to be involved in the process, several novel mutations caused defects in germ-cell formation. Mutations in any of three genes [ l(3)malignant brain tumor, shackleton , and out of sync ] affect the synchronous mitotic divisions and nuclear migration of the early embryo. The defects in nuclear migration or mitotic synchrony result in a reduction in germ-cell formation. Mutations in another gene identified in this screen, bebra , do not cause mitotic defects, but appear to act upstream of the localization of oskar . Analysis of our mutants demonstrates that two unique and independent processes must occur to form germ cells—germ-plasm formation and nuclear division/migration.
Image Authentication Based on Distributed Source Coding

Image authentication is important in content delivery via untrusted intermediaries, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. Many differently encoded versions of the original image might exist. On the other hand, intermediaries might tamper with the contents. Distinguishing the legitimate diversity of encodings from malicious manipulation is the challenge addressed in this paper. We develop a novel approach based on distributed source coding for the problem of backward-compatible image authentication. The key idea is to provide a Slepian-Wolf encoded quantized image projection as authentication data. This version can be correctly decoded only with the help of an authentic image as side information. Distributed source coding provides the desired robustness against legitimate encoding variations, while detecting illegitimate modification. We demonstrate false acceptance rates close to zero for authentication data sizes that are only a few percent of the compressed image size.
Beyond the Whipple Operation: Radical Resections for Cancers of the Head of the Pancreas

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the most common pancreatic malignancy, and it occurs most commonly in the pancreatic head. It has a relatively low incidence; however it is a deadly disease and is the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths for males and females in the United States. Surgical resection in the form of pancreaticoduodenectomy is the mainstay of treatment and can lead to improved overall survival as well as the possibility of a cure, although only 10 % of patients are resectable at presentation. In an attempt to improve outcomes and survival, surgeons over the decades have employed various aggressive resectional strategies to combat this disease. In this paper we review the development of pancreaticoduodenectomy and touch on the role played by the American surgeon Allan Whipple in this development. We review modern data regarding radical pancreaticoduodenectomy and extended lymphadenectomy for pancreatic head cancers, as well as data and controversies regarding arterial and venous resection performed during the course of pancreaticoduodenectomy. The role of extended and vascular resections in the treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in contrast to adenocarcinomas is also examined. We summarize the current state of data regarding radical pancreaticoduodenectomy and discuss pushing the boundaries of surgical resection to help improve outcomes for select groups of patients.
Stable fault adaptation in distributed control of heterarchical manufacturing job shops

In this paper, a control theoretic model is developed for analyzing the dynamics of distributed cooperative control systems for manufacturing job shops with multiple processing steps with parallel dissimilar machines in which parts control their release times autonomously. The model allows an arbitrary number of part types to be produced using an arbitrary number of machines with an arbitrary number of alternate routings. Conditions for global stability of the resulting distributed control system with nonlinearities are shown using results from Lyapunov stability theory. System stability is found to be robust to a variety of faults and disturbances that may be encountered in a manufacturing environment as long they are bounded in the mean. Feedback enables implicit adaptation to faults in real time, which allows the flexibility in the systems to be fully utilized to compensate for faults and disturbances. Numerical simulation experiments are used to illustrate the global stability and the distributed fault adaptation capability of the system without requiring explicit notification or compensation to conditions such as machine deterioration, multiple machine failures, and network communication delays. Simulation results for job shops with 2000 parts are also presented to illustrate the scalability of the approach.
An Extensive Evaluation of the Proposal for â€œUnified Terrain Categories Exposures and Velocity Profilesâ€ by Choi (2009)

The proposal for “unified terrain categories exposures and velocity profiles” by Choi in 2009 has been evaluated extensively. On the basis of 6 articles in open literature (3 papers during Typhoon Muifa in 2011, one during Hurricane Ike in 2008, one during Typhoon Sally in 1996, and one during an atmospheric dispersion experiment in New York City, USA) and nearly simultaneous upper-air measurements when available, it is found that the proposed criteria (except the displacement height) by Choi are evaluated to be useful operationally for engineering applications. An alternative approach using the mean building height (rather than the displacement height)as the input to estimate the power-law exponent and the gradient height is prosed for practical use.
Abstract 532: The Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products (RAGE) Suppresses Macrophage Cholesterol Transport in Diabetes

Diabetes is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In human subjects, diabetes suppresses macrophage cholesterol efflux capacity, at least in part via reduction in levels of the major cholesterol transporters, ABCA1 and ABCG1. We tested the hypothesis that the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) contributes to these processes. We report that ligand-RAGE interaction suppresses cholesterol efflux to ApoA1 and HDL in primary murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and in human THP-1 cells, at least in part via downregulation of ABCA1 and ABCG1. In vivo, compared to cholesterol-loaded wild-type (WT) diabetic murine BMDMs, diabetic BMDMs devoid of Ager (gene encoding RAGE) displayed significantly higher reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) to plasma, liver and feces when injected into WT non-diabetic mice. In atherosclerotic plaques from mice devoid of both Ldlr and Ager and fed a high cholesterol diet, higher Abca1 and Abcg1 mRNA transcript levels were also observed compared to Ager-expressing LDL receptor null mice. RAGE ligand AGEs suppress ABCG1 promoter luciferase activity and transcription of ABCG1 through reduced binding of PPARgamma (PPARG) to PPARG-responsive elements in the ABCG1 promoter. These data reveal that RAGE contributes to dysregulation of macrophage cholesterol metabolism, particularly in diabetes. We infer that antagonism of RAGE may mitigate accelerated atherosclerosis in the diabetic state, at least in part due to modulation of impaired cholesterol transport.
Lyapunov Stability Theory

The study of the stability of dynamical systems has a very rich history. Many famous mathematicians, physicists, and astronomers worked on axiomatizing the concepts of stability. A problem, which attracted a great deal of early interest was the problem of stability of the solar system, generalized under the title “the N-body stability problem.” One of the first to state formally what he called the principle of “least total energy” was Torricelli (1608–1647), who said that a system of bodies was at a stable equilibrium point if it was a point of (locally) minimal total energy. In the middle of the eighteenth century, Laplace and Lagrange took the Torricelli principle one step further: They showed that if the system is conservative (that is, it conserves total energy—kinetic plus potential), then a state corresponding to zero kinetic energy and minimum potential energy is a stable equilibrium point. In turn, several others showed that Torricelli’s principle also holds when the systems are dissipative, i.e., total energy decreases along trajectories of the system. However, the abstract definition of stability for a dynamical system not necessarily derived for a conservative or dissipative system and a characterization of stability were not made till 1892 by a Russian mathematician/engineer, Lyapunov, in response to certain open problems in determining stable configurations of rotating bodies of fluids posed by Poincare. The original paper of Lyapunov of 1892, was translated into French very shortly there after, but its English translation appeared only recently in [193].
An Annotated Corpus of Film Dialogue for Learning and Characterizing Character Style

Interactive story systems often involve dialogue with virtual dramatic characters. However, to date most character dialogue is written by hand. One way to ease the authoring process is to (semi-)automatically generate dialogue based on film characters. We extract features from dialogue of film characters in leading roles. Then we use these character-based features to drive our language generator to produce interesting utterances. This paper describes a corpus of film dialogue that we have collected from the IMSDb archive and annotated for linguistic structures and character archetypes. We extract different sets of features using external sources such as LIWC and SentiWordNet as well as using our own written scripts. The automation of feature extraction also eases the process of acquiring additional film scripts. We briefly show how film characters can be represented by models learned from the corpus, how the models can be distinguished based on different categories such as gender and film genre, and how they can be applied to a language generator to generate utterances that can be perceived as being similar to the intended character model.
Distinction of NPY receptors in vitro and in vivo. I. NPY-(18-36) discriminates NPY receptor subtypes in vitro

We studied the possibility of multiple neuropeptide Y (NPY) receptor subtypes. NPY-stimulated Ca2+ mobilization in human erythroleukemia (HEL) cells was used to screen a number of NPY analogues. Th...
Rationalizing the Dodd-Frank Clawback

On July 1, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed an excess-pay clawback rule to implement the provisions of Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Act. I explain why the SEC’s proposed Dodd-Frank clawback, while reducing executives’ incentives to misreport, is overbroad. The economy and investors would be better served by a more narrowly targeted “smart” excess-pay clawback that focuses on fewer issuers, executives, and compensation arrangements.
Teacher Involvement in Policy Making in Chinese Schools

This chapter focuses on teacher involvement in China. In particular, it addresses how teachers and their principals view the potential responsibility-taking of teachers in Chinese high schools. To lay groundwork for the presentation, several characteristics of education in China are identified and discussed. The data collection is described and the findings from the analysis of the data, along with several explanations are presented.
Thalamic Metabolism and Restless Legs Syndrome

Researchers at University of Bologna, Italy, evaluated medial thalamus metabolism and structural integrity in 23 patients with restless legs syndrome and 19 healthy controls.
Clinical analysis of 197 cases of Kawasaki disease

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and diagnosis of Kawasaki disease(KD). Methods:Clinical data of 197 cases of KD patients were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Boys and age under 5 are susceptible to KD.The majority of the cases presented a typical clinical manifestation,while about 28.9% of KDs are atypical.Fever was the most common clinical feature.No death case was reported.The misdiagnosis rate was 35.0%.The patients were usually misdiagnosed as upper respiratory infections,drug eruptions,and lymphadenitis.Conclusion:KD is easy to be misdiagnosed in early stage.Children with more than 5 days fever and accompanied with any of Kawasaki disease clinical features should suspect the diagnosis of Kawasaki disease.
Regulation of Ca(2+)-dependent nitric oxide synthase in bovine aortic endothelial cells.

Vascular endothelium responds to Ca(2+)-mobilizing agonists by producing nitric oxide (NO), a potent vasodilator and inhibitor of platelet aggregation. Regulation of constitutively expressed endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) in intact cells is not well understood. We investigated the kinetics of NO formation in response to Ca(2+)-mobilizing agonists, the requirement for extracellular L-arginine, and the role of NO in regulating eNOS activity. When endothelial cells were stimulated with bradykinin and ATP in the presence of 100 microM L-arginine, we observed a rapid and transient rise in intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) from 50 +/- 8 nM to 698 +/- 74 and 637 +/- 53 nM, respectively, and a rapid and transient rise in NO production from a basal level of 37 pmol.min-1.mg protein-1 to 256 and 275 pmol.min-1.mg protein-1, respectively. When cells were stimulated with A-23187 or thapsigargin in the presence of 100 microM L-arginine, we observed a sustained increase in [Ca2+]i and a sustained increase in N...
Features of multiple-cropping systems in Central Africa and their possible effects on data collection*

The influence of farming systems on methods of agricultural data collection in an area of 600 km2 of Rwanda was studied. Farm layouts, cropping patterns, resource allocations, and timing of farm activities of intensive multiple-cropping systems were described, and their influences on intensive data collection were discussed. These influences include difficulties to collect onfarm data on input utilization and farm sizes in a timely and accurate fashion. The study indicates that agricultural survey methods must be tailored to fit local farming systems. Particularly in multiple-cropping systems where farm characteristics and farm practices are highly variable, surveys must be designed with high flexibility in terms of logistics, timing of data collection, and with no pre-defined rules of data-collection methods.
THE PRINCIPLES OF TRANSPARENCY AND INCLUSIVENESS AS PILLARS OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE: THE BRICS APPROACH TO THE UNITED NATIONS

The transparency of governance is not only a necessary and sufficient condition for bringing about accountability, but also the basis for the possibility of democracy in the global sphere. Although there is no automatic progress from transparency to democratic global governance, this principle helps to create more democratic, open and fair societies. Recently, the importance of inclusiveness, transparency and procedural safeguards has emerged as a critical theme. The practical implementation of fair global governance mechanisms, procedures, and institutions will always depend on the level of participation, contestation, or solidarity among the different stakeholders represented at the local, national or international level. Recent years have clearly shown a trend towards increasing transparency and inclusiveness in international organizations’ activities and operations, in contrast to opaqueness or lack of transparency which was a very common practice in diplomacy during past centuries. The inclusion of transparency and inclusiveness elements in the decision-making rules of an international organization are fundamental for these norms to be considered not only ‘more legal,’ but also to have a higher level of legitimacy. The General Assembly decided in its Resolution 60/251 of 2006 that the methods of work of the Human Rights Council should be transparent, fair and impartial and should enable genuine dialogue. Finally, the role played by the BRICS countries at the Security Council and the Human Rights Council is critical in regards to its working methods.
Mapping Urban Population at Housing Unit Level With Integrated Geospatial Technology

Many geospatial methods have been developed for accurate mapping of urban population from decennial census. This article focuses on population estimation and population surface interpolation for small area application at housing unit level, the finest meaningful scale for census data. A full spectrum of approaches is covered, including remote sensing based, methods based on network and address points, methods based on parcel data, and an integrative approach. A detailed case study is provided to demonstrate the integrative approach, which takes advantage of both fine resolution remote sensing and GIS parcel data, through data fusion and integration. New developments are presented and discussed.
Bioactive components in human milk

Abstract: Human milk contains solids, water, and a range of bioactive compounds. These bioactive compounds appear not only to compensate for developmental delays in the infant’s gastrointestinal tract but also encourage the symbiotic colonization of enteric bacteria that inhibit the growth of bacterial and viral pathogens. Research has also linked these compounds to normal growth and development of the brain and peripheral nervous system. In this chapter we have summarized the spectrum of biological agents in human milk. Although much remains unknown about the chemistry of human milk and how to optimize infant nutrition substitutes, new information is constantly being discovered.
Peripapillary Retinal Pigment Epithelium Layer Shape Changes From Acetazolamide Treatment in the Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Treatment Trial.

Purpose Recent studies indicate that the amount of deformation of the peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium and Bruch's membrane (pRPE/BM) toward or away from the vitreous may reflect acute changes in cerebrospinal fluid pressure. The study purpose is to determine if changes in optic-nerve-head (ONH) shape reflect a treatment effect (acetazolamide/placebo + weight management) using the optical coherence tomography (OCT) substudy of the Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Treatment Trial (IIHTT) at baseline, 3, and 6 months. Methods The pRPE/BM shape deformation was quantified and compared with ONH volume, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL), and total retinal (pTR) thicknesses in the acetazolamide group (39 subjects) and placebo group (31 subjects) at baseline, 3, and 6 months. Results Mean changes of the pRPE/BM shape measure were significant and in the positive direction (away from the vitreous) for the acetazolamide group (P < 0.01), but not for the placebo group. The three OCT measures reflecting the reduction of optic disc swelling were significant in both treatment groups but greater in the acetazolamide group (P < 0.01). Conclusions Change in the pRPE/BM shape away from the vitreous reflects the effect of acetazolamide + weight management in reducing the pressure differential between the intraocular and retrobulbar arachnoid space. Weight management alone was also associated with a decrease in optic nerve volume/edema but without a significant change in the pRPE/BM shape, implying an alternative mechanism for improvement in papilledema and axoplasmic flow, independent of a reduction in the pressure differential. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01003639.).