cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Automatic synthesis of physical system differential equation models to a custom network of general processing elements on FPGAs

Fast execution of physical system models has various uses, such as simulating physical phenomena or real-time testing of medical equipment. Physical system models commonly consist of thousands of differential equations. Solving such equations using software on microprocessor devices may be slow. Several past efforts implement such models as parallel circuits on special computing devices called Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), demonstrating large speedups due to the excellent match between the massive fine-grained local communication parallelism common in physical models and the fine-grained parallel compute elements and local connectivity of FPGAs. However, past implementation efforts were mostly manual or ad hoc. We present the first method for automatically converting a set of ordinary differential equations into circuits on FPGAs. The method uses a general Processing Element (PE) that we developed, designed to quickly solve a set of ordinary differential equations while using few FPGA resources. The method instantiates a network of general PEs, partitions equations among the PEs to minimize communication, generates each PE's custom program, creates custom connections among PEs, and maintains synchronization of all PEs in the network. Our experiments show that the method generates a 400-PE network on a commercial FPGA that executes four different models on average 15x faster than a 3 GHz Intel processor, 30x faster than a commercial 4-core ARM, 14x faster than a commercial 6-core Texas Instruments digital signal processor, and 4.4x faster than an NVIDIA 336-core graphics processing unit. We also show that the FPGA-based approach is reasonably cost effective compared to using the other platforms. The method yields 2.1x faster circuits than a commercial high-level synthesis tool that uses the traditional method for converting behavior to circuits, while using 2x fewer lookup tables, 2x fewer hardcore multiplier (DSP) units, though 3.5x more block RAM due to being programmable. Furthermore, the method does not just generate a single fastest design, but generates a range of designs that trade off size and performance, by using different numbers of PEs.
Sticking Together : Cell Adhesion Interactions in Arabidopsis Reproduction

We review the role of the extracellular matrix in transducing environmental signals, focusing on adhesion molecules in plants and animals. Plant reproduction is ideal for investigating cell-cell interactions; recently-describedArabidopsis thaliana mutants defective in cell adhesion during reproduction promise to illuminate unique cell signaling mechanisms.
Periodic pulsing of characteristic microearthquakes on the San Andreas fault.

Deep fault slip information from characteristically repeating microearthquakes reveals previously unrecognized patterns of extensive, large-amplitude, long-duration, quasiperiodic repetition of aseismic events along much of a 175-kilometer segment of the central San Andreas fault.Pulsing occurs both in conjunction with and independent of transient slip from larger earthquakes.It extends to depths of ∼10 to 11 kilometers but may be deeper, and it may be related to similar phenomena occurring in subduction zones.Over much of the study area, pulse onset periods also show a higher probability of larger earthquakes, which may provide useful information for earthquake forecasting.
Child characteristics associated with outcome for children with autism in a school-based behavioral intervention

This study examined the extent to which clinical and demographic characteristics predicted outcome for children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants included 152 students with autism spectrum disorder in 53 kindergarten-through-second-grade autism support classrooms in a large urban public school district. Associations between child characteristics (including age, language ability, autism severity, social skills, adaptive behavior, co-occurring psychological symptoms, and restrictive and repetitive behavior) and outcome, as measured by changes in cognitive ability following one academic year of an intervention standardized across the sample were evaluated using linear regression with random effects for classroom. While several scales and subscales had statistically significant bivariate associations with outcome, in adjusted analysis, only age and the presence of symptoms associated with social anxiety, such as social avoidance and social fearfulness, as measured through the Child Symptom Inventory-4, were associated with differences in outcome. The findings regarding the role of social anxiety are new and have important implications for treatment. Disentangling the construct of social anxiety to differentiate between social fearfulness and social motivation has important implications for shifting the focus of early treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder.
An empirical analysis of scheduling techniques for real-time cloud-based data processing

In this paper, we explore the challenges and needs of current cloud infrastructures, to better support cloud-based data-intensive applications that are not only latency-sensitive but also require strong timing guarantees. These applications have strict deadlines (e.g., to perform time-dependent mission critical tasks or to complete real-time control decisions using a human-in-the-loop), and deadline misses are undesirable. To highlight the challenges in this space, we provide a case study of the online scheduling of MapReduce jobs executed by Hadoop. Our evaluations on Amazon EC2 show that the existing Hadoop scheduler is ill-equipped to handle jobs with deadlines. However, by adapting existing multiprocessor scheduling techniques for the cloud environment, we observe significant performance improvements in minimizing missed deadlines and tardiness. Based on our case study, we discuss a range of challenges in this domain posed by virtualization and scale, and propose our research agenda centered around the application of advanced real-time scheduling techniques in the cloud environment.
Serving the enterprise and beyond with informatics for integrating biology and the bedside (i2b2)

Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) is one of seven projects sponsored by the NIH Roadmap National Centers for Biomedical Computing (http://www. ncbcs.org). Its mission is to provide clinical investigators with the tools necessary to integrate medical record and clinical research data in the genomics age, a software suite to construct and integrate the modern clinical research chart. i2b2 software may be used by an enterprise’s research community tofind sets of interesting patients from electronic patient medical record data, while preserving patient privacy through a query tool interface. Project-specific mini-databases (“data marts”) can be created from these sets to make highly detailed data available on these specific patients to the investigators on the i2b2 platform, as reviewed and restricted by the Institutional Review Board. The current version of this software has been released into the public domain and is available at the URL: http://www.i2b2.org/software.
Panobinostat for the treatment of multiple myeloma

Introduction: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell disorder characterized by bone marrow suppression, skeletal complications, renal dysfunction and often a long course involving multiple different treatments. Over the past decade, novel treatment modalities have resulted in significant improvements in progression-free and overall survival. Histone deacetylase inhibitor(s) (HDACi) appear to offer an alternative therapeutic avenue in the treatment for MM likely through their impact on HDAC-6 function, and possibly through epigenetic effects as well. Panobinostat, a novel pan-HDAC (Pan-Dac) inhibitor, is of particular interest due to its broad HDAC inhibition, selectivity toward malignant cells and oral bioavailability.Areas covered: In this review, the authors discuss the potential therapeutic benefits of panobinostat, in the treatment of MM. Topics covered include pleiotropic effects of HDAC modulation in MM, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of panobinostat, as well as available data demonstrating c...
Rehabilitation of Compression Steel Members Using FRP Pipes Filled with Non-Expansive and Expansive Light-Weight Concrete

This paper presents the experimental and analytical evaluation of the feasibility of a proposed fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) retrofit method to strengthen corroded steel columns. This method consists of two steps: (1) wrapping the corroded steel column with an FRP jacket, and (2) filling the jacket with expansive light-weight concrete. Seven steel columns were tested in the laboratory including five strengthened columns with the proposed technique. The first two were used as control units where one was a virgin shape and the second was notched in the center zone to simulate the loss of section due to corrosion. The remaining five were all notched, and confined with FRP composite pipes within the simulated corroded zone and subsequently filled with light-weight concrete. All specimens were axially loaded to failure while strain and displacement readings were measured to demonstrate the feasibility of this repair concept. Test results show that the proposed FRP retrofit method for steel columns can be suc...
Conceptual software infrastructure for sustainable development

Sustainable development has reached a certain discussive maturity in the field of sociological, economic, ecological and environmental realms. However, today, there seems to be a gap between the variety of work in environmental, economic and sociological research for sustainable development and technology research used to support the same causes. Technologies still have not been used to contribute enough to sustainable development, particularly as they lack dynamic mechanisms for providing communities in a global context with decision-making systems that could help users to deal autonomously with daily problems they face in their environment. Thematically, this paper proposes a generic software infrastructure where different aspects of sustainable development, i.e. social, economic, ecological, and environmental, etc. could be integrated for sustainable development.
Thermal and Electromigration-Induced Strains in Copper Conductor Lines: X-ray Microbeam Measurements and Analysis

We have carried out measurements of electromigration-induced strains in copper conductor lines using microbeam energy dispersive x-ray diffraction. Strains developed in random texture damascene Cu 2μm-wide, 0.16 μm-thick conductor lines with TaN liners in low-k dielectric during electromigration at 350°C are much smaller than electromigration-induced strains in (111) fiber texture Al-on-Si, 10μm-wide, SiO2 passivated conductor lines. The reasons for these differences in electromigration behavior may involve the different roles of grain boundary and interface diffusion paths and the different passivation structures and materials for the two types of samples.
The pricing of innovations: An application to specialized corn traits

One concern regarding the growing agricultural biotechnology industry is the potential for these firms to exercise market power when pricing their innovations, which would affect the magnitude and distribution of resulting welfare gains. We argue that competition across production systems limits the exercise of such market power by suppliers. In order to examine the demand for these innovations, we evaluate the producer's returns to planting patented seed innovations, using a calibrated optimization model of a south-central Iowa corn producer's adoption decision. Overall, our results suggest that patented seed innovations do not increase the market power of biotechnology firms in the relevant market for production systems. [EconLit subject codes: L190, O330, Q120] © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multiple Collective Principals and Legislative Cohesion

In many systems, legislators find themselves accountable to multiple, collective principals. This article seeks to answer to question‐how do legislators decide between collective principals and what conditions force legislators to chose one over the other. We argue that electoral uncertainty, operationalized as electoral volatility, pushes legislators towards the collective principal that has the greatest influence over their reelection. Using European Union electoral results and roll-call data from the 2nd6th European Parliaments, we show that increases in electoral volatility undermine parliamentary group cohesion and push legislators to side with the positions of their national parties over their parliamentary group when the two disagree.
Multi-locus match probability in a finite population

Motivation: A fundamental problem in population genetics, which being also of importance to forensic science, is to compute the match probability (MP) that two individuals randomly chosen from a population have identical alleles at a collection of loci. At present, 11–13 unlinked autosomal microsatellite loci are typed for forensic use. In a finite population, the genealogical relationships of individuals can create statistical non-independence of alleles at unlinked loci. However, the so-called product rule, which is used in courts in the USA, computes the MP for multiple unlinked loci by assuming statistical independence, multiplying the one-locus MPs at those loci. Analytically testing the accuracy of the product rule for more than five loci has hitherto remained an open problem. Results: In this article, we adopt a flexible graphical framework to compute multi-locus MPs analytically. We consider two standard models of random mating, namely the Wright–Fisher (WF) and Moran models. We succeed in computing haplotypic MPs for up to 10 loci in the WF model, and up to 13 loci in the Moran model. For a finite population and a large number of loci, we show that the MPs predicted by the product rule are highly sensitive to mutation rates in the range of interest, while the true MPs computed using our graphical framework are not. Furthermore, we show that the WF and Moran models may produce drastically different MPs for a finite population, and that this difference grows with the number of loci and mutation rates. Although the two models converge to the same coalescent or diffusion limit, in which the population size approaches infinity, we demonstrate that, when multiple loci are considered, the rate of convergence in the Moran model is significantly slower than that in the WF model. Availability: A C++ implementation of the algorithms discussed in this article is available at http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~yss/software.html. Contact: yss@eecs.berkeley.edu
The natural and forced formation of spot-like vortex dislocations in the transition of a wake

The three-dimensional transition of the flow behind a bluff body is studied, with an emphasis placed on the evolution of large-scale structures in the wake. It has previously been found that there are two fundamental modes of three-dimensional vortex shedding in the wake of a circular cylinder (each mode being dependent on the range of Reynolds number), with a spanwise lengthscale of the same order as the primary streamwise wavelength of the vortex street. However. it is shown in the present study that the wake transition also involves the appearance of large-scale spot-like ‘vortex dislocations’, that grow downstream to a size of the order of 10–20 primary wavelengths. Vortex dislocations are generated between spanwise vortex-shedding cells of different frequency. The presence of these dislocations explains the large intermittent velocity irregularities that were originally found by Roshko (1954) and later by Bloor (1964) to characterize transition. The presence of these vortex dislocations in wake transition is largely responsible for the break-up to turbulence of the wake as it travels downstream.In order to study their evolution in detail, dislocations have been (passively) forced to occur at a local spanwise position with the use of a small ring disturbance. It is found that ‘two-sided’ dislocations are stable in a symmetric in-phase configuration, and that they induce quasi-periodic velocity spectra and (beat) dislocation-frequency oscillations in the near wake. Intrinsic to these dislocations is a mechanism by which they spread rapidly in the spanwise direction, involving helical twisting of the vortices and axial core flows. This is felt to be a fundamental mechanism by which vortices develop large-scale distortions in natural transition. As the wake travels downstream, the energy at the low dislocation frequency decays slowly (in contrast to the rapid decay of other frequencies), leaving the downstream wake dominated by the large dislocation structures. Distinct similarities are found between the periodic forced dislocations and the intermittent dislocations that occur in natural transition. Further similarities of dislocations in different types of flow suggest that vortex or phase dislocations could conceivably be a generic feature of transition in all shear flows.
Word-of-Mouth Communication and Social Learning

This paper studies the way that word-of-mouth communication aggregates the information of individual agents. We find that the structure of the communication process determines whether all agents end up making identical choices, with less communication making this conformity more likely. Despite the players' naive decision rules and the stochastic decision environment, word-of-mouth communication may lead all players to adopt the action that is on average superior. These socially efficient outcomes tend to occur when each agent samples only a few others. I. INTRODUCTION Economic agents must often make decisions without knowing the costs and benefits of the possible choices. Given the frequency with which such situations arise, it is understandable that agents often choose not to perform studies or experiments, but instead rely on whatever information they have obtained via casual word-of-mouth communication. Reliance on this sort of easily obtained information appears to be common in circumstances ranging from consumers choosing restaurants or auto mechanics to business managers evaluating alternative organizational structures. This paper studies two related environments in arguing that individuals' reliance on word-of-mouth communication has interesting implications for their aggregate behavior. First, motivated by the diffusion of new technologies, we consider a choice between two competing products with unequal qualities or payoffs, and show that the structure of communication is important in determining whether the population as a whole is likely to learn to use the superior product. Second, we consider a choice between two products or practices that are equally good, and ask whether consumers are likely to "herd" onto a single choice, or whether "diversity" will obtain even in the long run. We explore the implications of word-of-mouth communication in a simple nonstrategic environment. There is a large population of identical players, each of whom repeatedly chooses between two possible actions. Each player's payoff is determined by his own
Congo's Odious Debt: External Borrowing and Capital Flight in Zaire

During the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, Congo (or Zaire, as Mobutu renamed the country) accumulated a public external debt of roughly $14 billion. At the same time, Mobutu and his associates extracted wealth from the country. By 1990, real capital flight from Zaire amounted to $12 billion. With imputed interest earnings, the accumulated stock of Zairian flight capital was nearly $18 billion. Congo’s successor governments may be able to repudiate liability for the Mobutu regime’s debts on the basis of the doctrine of odious debt. Creditors could then seek to recover their losses by identifying and impounding flight capital which was extracted from the country.
Magnetic pull: biological effects or medical applications?

One of the questions on the IMS 2005 Quiz, is related to the magnetic fields used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. In particular, it asked: an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine uses: a) high-intensity static magnetic fields; b) time-varying magnetic fields in the kHz range; c) radio-frequency (RF) fields in the MHz range; and d) All of the above. The correct answer, d) All of the above, highlights the fact that an MRI machine employs all three types of fields in order to accomplish three-dimensional imaging for medical diagnostics. Therefore, in terms of safety, electromagnetic field exposure to patients and medical personnel needs to be assessed for all three types of fields. This is a much greater concern for open MRI systems, where the magnet surrounds the patient only partially in order to allow the medical personnel to perform procedures on the patient, guided by the MRI images. The IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR) is in the final stages of preparing a technical information statement (TIS) on the subject.
Be Generous of Spirit

ABSTRACT This article presents the development of the first AIDS Service Organization in South Carolina, which hastened to respond to a raging, stigmatizing, life threatening pandemic in a conservative political climate and with inadequate financial support. Tichy's framework for health care organizations, which examines political, technological, and cultural challenges, forms the basis of the analysis. Histories of early responses to the HIV epidemic are worth preserving because of what they can teach us about social movements, organizational tensions, and current challenges in the HIV arena.
CD30-positive lymphoproliferative disorders arising after regional therapy for recurrent melanoma: a report of two cases and analysis of CD30 expression

Background and Objectives Primary cutaneous CD30-positive T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders (CD30+ LPD), including primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (CALCL) and lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP), comprise the second most common group of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL). The etiology of these disorders is not known. Isolated limb perfusion (ILP) and isolated limb infusion (ILI) are forms of regional chemotherapy used to treat recurrent tumors of the extremity, most commonly, melanoma. Secondary malignancy following regional therapy is rarely reported. Methods/Results We identified two cases of CD30+ LPD arising in the affected limbs of patients treated with ILP/ILI. We subsequently performed CD30 immunohistochemical stains on 11 pre- and post-treatment skin specimens from melanoma patients treated with ILP/ILI and found that 5 of the 11 cases showed an increase in CD30+ lymphocytes following ILP/ILI. Conclusions We hypothesize that ILP/ILI causes upregulation of CD30 expression in the extremities of treated patients, and suggest that this may be a marker of treatment response. However, a rare but long-term effect may be an increased risk of T-cell cutaneous lymphoproliferative disease in the affected limb. J. Surg. Oncol. 2014 110:258–264. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Activation of p53-Dependent Growth Suppression in Human Cells by Mutations in PTEN or PIK3CA

In an effort to identify genes whose expression is regulated by activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling, we performed microarray analysis and subsequent quantitative reverse transcription-PCR on an isogenic set of PTEN gene-targeted human cancer cells. Numerous p53 effectors were upregulated following PTEN deletion, including p21, GDF15, PIG3, NOXA, and PLK2. Stable depletion of p53 led to reversion of the gene expression program. Western blots revealed that p53 was stabilized in HCT116 PTEN(-/-) cells via an Akt1-dependent and p14(ARF)-independent mechanism. Stable depletion of PTEN in untransformed human fibroblasts and epithelial cells also led to upregulation of p53 and senescence-like growth arrest. Simultaneous depletion of p53 rescued this phenotype, enabling PTEN-depleted cells to continue proliferating. Next, we tested whether oncogenic PIK3CA, like inactivated PTEN, could activate p53. Retroviral expression of oncogenic human PIK3CA in MCF10A cells led to activation of p53 and upregulation of p53-regulated genes. Stable depletion of p53 reversed these PIK3CA-induced expression changes and synergized with oncogenic PIK3CA in inducing anchorage-independent growth. Finally, targeted deletion of an endogenous allele of oncogenic, but not wild-type, PIK3CA in a human cancer cell line led to a reduction in p53 levels and a decrease in the expression of p53-regulated genes. These studies demonstrate that activation of PI3K signaling by mutations in PTEN or PIK3CA can lead to activation of p53-mediated growth suppression in human cells, indicating that p53 can function as a brake on phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-triphosphate-induced mitogenesis during human cancer pathogenesis.
Radar designs for the DESDynI mission

The interferometric radar (InSAR) design has undergone several iterations in the years that this mission has been under consideration. In the most recent proposal the InSAR is combined with a Lidar and the mission is called Deformation, Ecosystem Structure, and Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI). This spacecraft would be in a near-polar orbit around the Earth and repeatedly collect data to monitor changes in the solid Earth, vegetation, and ice. The radar is a repeat pass interferometric SAR with dual and quad polarization capability. This paper examines the state of the configuration of the radar including a “SweepSAR” method that has been incorporated as the present baseline.
Adolescent pregnancy prevention for Hispanic youth: the role of schools, families, and communities.

Many different peoples are considered Hispanic within the US. Specifically Hispanics constitute 9% of the US population and include 10.32 million Mexicans 2.6 million Puerto Ricans 1 million Cubans 1.7 million Central or South Americans and 1.4 million individuals of other Spanish origin. 2/3 reside in California Texas and New York. Together they make up the fastest growing ethnic minority population in the US. Accordingly efforts are being made to understand the behavioral characteristics sociocultural norms and social needs of these peoples within the broad context of american society. As may be expected however differences among subgroups of Hispanics in poverty education employment family structure and age distribution are often greater than overall differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics. Such differences make broad-based generalizing about Hispanics difficult and suspect at best. Nonetheless some general observations may be made. Hispanics are overall younger than non-hispanics; Hispanics are of median age 25 years while non-Hispanics are of median age 32. Of high fertility the US population of Hispanic youth will grow by almost 80% to 10 million by the year 2030. This growth contrasts with an expected 14% increase in the black population and a proportional drop of 10% in the population of white youth. Further Hispanics tend to highly value family and children and suffer considerable prevalences of poverty 1-parent families and low educational status. 1/3 Hispanic youths are sexually active. A relatively high prevalence of gonorrhea and syphilis exist within this population yet they are underrepresented in the number of reported cases of HIV infection. Less likely than Whites to use contraceptives Hispanics are more likely to become pregnant and keep their children. Unprotected sexual intercourse exposes these youths to the risk of HIV infection. Relatively early childbearing is common among young Hispanic women. A 1982 National Survey of Family Growth revealed that more than 4/10 Hispanic teens gave birth by age 20. A multi-strategy approach involving organizations homes schools churches and mass media is needed to help increase educational vocational political and health care opportunities for Hispanic youths. Intervention strategies and recommendations are provided.
Women's Sex-Toy Parties: Technology, Orgasm, and Commodification

This article presents participant-observation research from five female-only sex-toy parties. We situate the sale of sex toys in the context of in-home marketing to women, the explosion of a sex industry, and the emergence of lifestyle and body politics. We explore the significance of sex toys for women as marketed in female-only contexts, paying particular attention to the similarities and differences with Tupperware’s marketing of plastic that promises happiness to women. We argue that sex-toy sales follow the exact patterns of Tupperware sales but, since the artifacts sold are for the bedroom rather than the kitchen, foster an even greater sense of intimacy between the women—which has both positve and negative consequences for thinking critically about the commodification of sexuality, bodies, and lifestyles in our capitalist culture. Vibrators and other sex toys constitute the technological route to a self-reflexive body project of female orgasm. We ask to what extent such a body project, achieved primarily through an individualistic, capitalistic consumption model, can offer a critique of normative discourses of heterosexual sex and identity. Is this new plastic purchased at parties liberatory or just another form of containment? In other words, how much Tupperware does a woman really need to buy, before she’s been bought?
Development of On-Road Driving Assessment for Learner Teen Drivers:

Teen drivers complete the learner permit period with difficulty in executing a variety of driving behaviors. The ability to identify these skill deficits during the learner permit phase would significantly advance teen driver research. The objective of this study was to develop a safe, developmentally appropriate, and challenging assessment of teen drivers during the learner permit phase that can assess a wide range of specific driving tasks and identify safety-relevant errors (classified as critical errors). The On-Road Driving Assessment for Learner Teen Drivers (tODA) was developed and tested for feasibility of administration by professional driving evaluators. Two assessment routes were developed and administered to 28 teen permit holders at approximately 12 and 24 weeks into their permit holding period. Forty licensed adult drivers drove the routes to begin to establish a criterion standard for route performance; adult participants were required to meet safety and performance standards to be included...
HEART RATE AND ELECTROCARDIOGRAM CHARACTERISTICS OF A YOUNG CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE (ESCHRICHTIUS ROBUSTUS)1

Electrocardiogram (ECG) analyses of Holter monitor recordings from a young California gray whale were performed to determine ECG waveform characteristics, evaluate the heart rate pattern for sinus arrhythmia, obtain resting heart rates at known body masses as the whale increased in size, and compare those heart rates with predicted heart rates from allometric equations. The PR and QRS intervals (475 ± 35 msec, 208 ± 24 msec, respectively, n= 20) support the concept (Meijler et al. 1992) that atrioventricular transmission and ventricular excitation times do not increase linearly in very large mammals. A sinus arrhythmia pattern at rest (apneic heart rates of 15–25 beats per min [bpm] and eupneic heart rates of 34–40 bpm) is consistent with a relative eupneic tachycardia and apneic bradycardia during diving activity of whales. The heart rate-body mass measurements (35–24 bpm at body masses of 3,591-8,200 kg) in this study (1) extend the range of allometric heart rate and body mass data in mammals a full order of magnitude, to almost 10,000 kg, (2) support the use of allometric equations (based primarily on mammals <1,000 kg in body mass) in estimating resting heart rates in whales, and (3) demonstrate that previously reported heart rates in large whales are not representative of resting heart rate, probably secondary to circumstances during measurement.
Zero-Effort Camera-Assisted Calibration Techniques for Wearable Motion Sensors

Activity recognition using wearable motion sensors plays an important role in pervasive wellness and healthcare monitoring applications. The activity recognition algorithms are often designed to work with a known orientation of sensors on the body. In the case of accidental displacement of the motion sensors, it is important to identify the new sensor location and orientation. This step, often called calibration or recalibration, requires extra effort from the user to either perform a set of known movements, or enter information about the placement of the sensors manually. In this paper, we propose a camera-assisted calibration approach that does not require any extra effort from the user. The calibration is done seamlessly when the user appears in front of the camera (in our case, a Kinect camera) and performs an arbitrary activity of choice (e.g., walking in front of the camera). We provide experimental results supporting the effectiveness of our approach.
A direct comparison system for power calibration up to 67 GHz

A direct comparison system for calibration of power sensors with 1.85 mm precision coaxial connectors up to 67 GHz has been developed. The comparison is implemented in two frequency bands. Between 10 MHz and 50 GHz, power sensors with 2.4 mm coaxial connectors adapted to 1.85 mm serve as transfer standards while between 50 GHz and 67 GHz, WR15 waveguide power sensors adapted to 1.85 mm serve as transfer standards. The design and implementation of the system, a measurement of the effective efficiency of a commercial 1.85 mm thermoelectric sensor, and uncertainty analysis are discussed.
INFLUENCE OF PRODUCTION SPEED ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HOLLOW SPINDLE FANCY YARNS

"Plain" and a "fancy" yarns were produced using a range of spinning speeds on a hollow spindle machine. The yarns were assessed for different characteristics using both subjective and objective tests, and the results obtained with the different techniques show good agreement. Clearly, there is a progressive change in the characteristics of the yarns with increasing production speed, which may be due to the increasing forces exerted on the staple component of the yarn.
Fluorochrome-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for high-sensitivity monitoring of the polymerase chain reaction by magnetic resonance.

Magnetic nanoparticles bearing fluorochromes (red) that intercalate with DNA form microaggregates with PCR generated DNA, detected at low cycle numbers by MR.
Water: A Unique Solvent and Vital Component of Life

Water is a unique solvent by virtue of its extensive hydrogen-bonded character in bulk phase. Biological water has properties contributed by the properties of individual H2O molecules and by the collection of H2O molecules into a bulk phase with extensive intramolecular interactions. Therefore, on the basis of just our knowledge of statistical thermodynamics we would expect that the important properties of biological water will depend on the behavior of the collection of molecules or the entropic nature of water. However, biological systems are non-homogeneous, and non-bulk water plays a wide variety of physiological roles as well.
Electrical Performance of Co-Fired Alumina Substrates at High Temperatures

A 96% polycrystalline alumina (Al2O3) based prototype packaging system with Au thick-film metallization successfully facilitated long term testing of high temperature SiC electronic devices for ove...
Pt···H Nonclassical Interaction in Water-Dissolved Pt(II) Complexes: Coaction of Electronic Effects with Solvent-Assisted Stabilization.

The structure of the hydration shell of cisplatin, cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl2], and its aquated derivatives cis-[Pt(NH3)2Cl(H2O)]+, cis-[Pt(NH3)2OH(H2O)]+, and cis-[Pt(NH3)2(H2O)2]2+ were studied by a number of density functional molecular dynamics (DFT-MD) simulations (from 30 to 250 ps) in which Pt(II) complexes were immersed in a periodic box with 72 explicit water molecules. Furthermore, Pt(II) complex–water binding energy curves and full DFT optimizations of clusters derived from the lowest potential energy DFT-MD frames offered a deeper insight into the structure of the first hydration shell and electronic changes connected with the formation of a nonclassical Pt···H–O–H (Pt···Hw) hydrogen bond (inverse hydration). The probability of a Pt···Hw interaction decreases with increasing charge of the platinum complex due to disadvantageous electrostatics. The main stabilization comes from the charge transfer being followed by polarization and dispersion. Ligands form a framework for the network of H-bond interactio...
Adjuvant Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Intracranial Chordomas.

Objective Chordomas are locally aggressive, highly recurrent tumors requiring adjuvant radiotherapy following resection for successful management. We retrospectively reviewed patients treated for intracranial chordomas with adjuvant stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT). Methods A total of 57 patients underwent 83 treatments at the UCLA Medical Center between February 1990 and August 2011. Mean follow-up was 57.8 months. Mean tumor diameter was 3.36 cm. Overall, 8 and 34 patients received adjuvant SRS and SRT, and the mean maximal dose of radiation therapy was 1783.3 cGy and 6339 cGy, respectively. Results Overall rate of recurrence was 51.8%, and 1- and 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) was 88.2% and 35.2%, respectively. Gross total resection was achieved in 30.9% of patients. Adjuvant radiotherapy improved outcomes following subtotal resection (5-year PFS 62.5% versus 20.1%; p = 0.036). SRS and SRT produced comparable rates of tumor control ( p = 0.28). Higher dose SRT (> 6,000 cGy) ( p = 0.013) and younger age ( p = 0.03) was associated with improved rates of tumor control. Conclusion Adjuvant radiotherapy is critical following subtotal resection of intracranial chordomas. Adjuvant SRT and SRS were safe and improved PFS following subtotal resection. Higher total doses of SRT and younger patient age were associated with improved rates of tumor control.
A laparoscopic approach does reduce short-term complications in patients undergoing ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

BACKGROUND:Studies to date examining the impact of laparoscopy in the IPAA have failed to demonstrate a significant, consistent benefit in terms of a reduction in short-term morbidity or length of stay.OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to establish the impact of the operative approach (laparoscopi
A Quantile Regression Study of Climate Change in Chicago, 1960-2010

This study uses quantile regression combined with time series methods to analyze change in temperatures in Chicago during the period 1960-2010. It builds on previous work in applying quantile regression methods to climate data by Timofeev and Sterin (2010) and work by the Chicago Climate Task Force on analyzing climate change in Chicago. Data from the Chicago O’Hare Airport weather station archived by the National Climatic Data Center are used to look at changes in weekly average temperatures. The method described by Xiao et al. (2003) is used to remove autocorrelation in the data, together with the rank-score method with IID assumption to calculate confidence intervals, and nonparametric local linear quantile regression to estimate temperature trends. The results of this analysis indicate that the decade 1960-1969 was significantly colder than later decades around the middle of the yearly seasonal cycle at both the median and 95th percentile of the temperature distribution. This analysis does not find a statistically significant trend over the later decades, 1970-2010.
A delta-opioid receptor genetic variant is associated with abstinence prior to and during cocaine dependence treatment.

Introduction An intronic polymorphism in the delta-opioid receptor gene (OPRD1) was previously associated with cocaine dependence in African-Americans. However, it is not known if the polymorphism (rs678849) is associated with dependence-related phenotypes within the cocaine dependent population.
Laparoscopic/Robotic Stone Surgery

Endourologic techniques, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, and shockwave lithotripsy have become commonplace tools for urologists in the treatment of stone disease. The ease, efficacy, and safety of these techniques have minimized open surgical techniques. Although highly effective, the morbidity of the incision made open surgery impractical in most situations. In similar fashion, laparoscopy and robotics have revolutionized urologic surgery and are allowing the field to push the limits and indications of minimally invasive surgery. High quality of evidence is still lacking when discussing laparoscopic/robotic stone surgery. Primary stone surgery using laparoscopic/robotic techniques may be indicated in situations of anatomic abnormalities (e.g., horseshoe kidney, ectopic kidneys), concomitant ureteropelvic junction obstruction repair, diverticular stones, severe obesity, or multiple failed endourologic treatments. If laparoscopic techniques can maintain similar results to the open surgical approaches while minimizing the morbidity, it will inevitably have a larger role in the treatment of stones and should be considered as an adjunct to open surgery in the aforementioned situations.
THE IDENTIFICATION OF MUTAGENIC CHEMICAL SPECIES IN AIR PARTICULATE SAMPLES

Techniques are described for the identification and quantitation of mutagenic chemical species in air particulate samples. The samples were separated into chemical fractions using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Bioassays were used to prioritize these chemical fractions for identification of chemical mutagens. The moderately polar HPLC fractions have been found to represent a major portion of the direct acting mutagenicity (TA 98) for the total particulate extract. Mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) techniques were used for determining the presence of isomer groups of compounds. Many of these isomer groups potentially contain a large number of specific isomers. Fused silica capillary column GC/MS was found to be the best technique for identification of specific isomers. Quantitative techniques are described for accurately determining the contribution of a chemical species to the total mutagenicity of particulate extracts. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) derivatives such as nitrated-PAH were found to account for a major portion of the direct-acting Ames assay mutagenicities in these particulates. Nitro-PAH may be formed during sampling. However, the formation of nitro-PAH is not significant when particulates are collected at low temperatures (<40°C), for short sampling times (<1 hr.), and in effluents containing less than 3 ppm NO2.
Evaluating Region of Interest Measurement Strategies to Characterize Upper Urinary Tract Stones on Computerized Tomography

Purpose: Computerized tomography imaging is regularly used to assess stone HU values as a surrogate for stone composition and fragility. Techniques for measuring HU values are unstandardized, leading to high variability. We investigated several region of interest measurement strategies to quantify this variability.Materials and Methods: Patients from an institutional database who underwent preoperative computerized tomography, surgical stone extraction and stone composition analysis were identified. HU measurements were made of each patient stone using transverse/coronal slices in the abdominal/bone windows with 4 region of interest techniques, including 1) the maximum diameter region of interest, 2) the maximum diameter region of interest at all stone inclusive slices, 3) 2 equal-sized, nonoverlapping circular regions of interest and 4) 3 to 5 smaller nonoverlapping regions of interest randomly placed on the stone. Stones that were 80% or greater pure by composition were separately analyzed.Results: A to...
Precursory seismic quiescence before the January 1982 Hilea, Hawaii, earthquakes

Abstract Two earthquakes of M L = 5.4 occurred within half an hour of each other within the Hilea area of Southern Hawaii on 21 January 1982. The aftershock distribution suggests that together they ruptured an area of approximately 5-km radius, and their joint equivalent magnitude was 5.6. The first motions indicate faulting on a near horizontal plane at 10 km depth, with the crust slipping to the southeast. The seismicity rate in the source area was studied using the earthquake catalog of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This catalog contains some reporting rate changes that affect the count of smaller earthquakes strongly, with a period of low reporting during 1974 to 1977. Although we have used 2.5 as the minimum magnitude of homogeneous reporting after 1971, some of the artificial rate changes are still present in the data. The catalog was declustered using Reasenberg9s algorithm, and a magnitude correction of −0.1 was applied to the data between 1974 and 1984. The seismicity rate for the period of November 1971 through 1985 was examined in four adjacent regions; one of these contained the aftershocks. The aftershock volume and the 3-km annulus around it showed a period of 46 weeks of low seismicity rate immediately before January 1982, during which the rate was decreased by 87 per cent. The seismicity rate in the other three volumes was normal during this time. We conclude that this low reporting rate was not likely due to artificial changes in the catalog. The fact that the quiescence anomaly coincided in space with the 1982 aftershock volume and that its termination coincided with the 1982 main shocks suggests that the quiescence was a precursor. Comparing the seismicity rate within all possible 46-week windows to the background rate, we found that the precursory rate decrease was more significant than any other rate decrease in all volumes studied except artificial low rate periods. Thus this quiescence precursor could be recognized without false alarms. However, the statistical significance estimated by the z- and β-tests was low, ≦75 per cent and ≦49 per cent, respectively. More case histories are needed to determine empirically the thresholds of these tests for accepting precursory anomalies without too many false alarms. The M = 6.6 Kaoiki earthquake that was located about 25-km north of the 1982 source area was preceded by 125 weeks of quiescence, while the M = 7.2 Kalapana earthquake quiescence precursor lasted about 200 weeks. These observations suggest that in Hawaii quiescence precursor times may be a function of magnitude.
Bone Bankin — Experience with 1175 Donors

Massive osteoarticular and intercalary allografts used for reconstruction of extremities as well as allografts used for the arthrodesis and stabilization of the spine, filling of bone defects, maxillofacial reconstruction, and the reconstruction of ligaments and tendons of the knee were prepared from 1175 consecutive donors during a 14-year period. Clinical results with these allografts have been encouraging and included over 80% satisfactory results with intercalary and osteoarticular allografts in selected groups of patients, as well as high rates of fusion in the cervical and lumbar spines. A large number of donors allowed for selection of anatomically matched grafts for given recipients. Results with allogeneic grafts supplemented with autologous bone marrow in mandibular reconstructions have been likewise satisfactory. Histological examination of these grafts demonstrated early incorporation, revascularization, resorption of freeze-dried component, and formation of bone ossicle that continued to remodel and form lamellar bone.