cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Compound specific δD and δ13C analyses as a tool for the assessment of hydrological change in a subtropical wetland

Compound specific carbon and deuterium stable isotope values (δ13C and δD) and the relative abundance of mid-chain n-alkanes (Paq) were determined for a series of dominant wetland plants, a surface slough-to-ridge soil transect, and slough and ridge soil cores, to assess historical vegetation successions induced by hydrological modification in an anthropogenically impacted, subtropical wetland, the Florida Everglades, USA. A difference of as much as 3.6 and 130 ‰ in their δ13C and δD values was observed between the two most abundant emergent macrophyte species (Cladium and Eleocharis), respectively. A clear n-alkane δD value depletion (−130 to −167 ‰) and decreasing Paq was observed along the slough-to-ridge soil transect, likely the result of an eco-hydrological transition from slough-to-ridge dominated vegetation (Eleocharis to Cladium). In agreement with the relatively constant Paq values, the lack of significant changes in the δD depth profile for the slough core, suggest a consistent slough type of vegetation composition over time at that location. In contrast, changes of both n-alkane δ13C and δD values for the ridge core, especially after ~1960 AD, coincide with the expected plant successions from historically long hydroperiod (>8 months), slough type plants (Eleocharis, Utricularia, Nymphaea) to present day, shorter hydroperiod (<8 months), ridge type plants (Cladium). These δ13C and δD changes seem to be driven by vegetation shifts associated with hydrological change. The application of the compound-specific stable isotope determinations may strongly complement the biomarker approach for paleo-hydrological assessments in wetland ecosystems.
Looking Beyond the Trees: A Meta-Analysis and Integration of Voluntary Turnover Research

More than two decades have passed since Griffeth, Hom, & Gaertner (2000) published the last comprehensive meta-analysis of voluntary turnover. Considering the criticality of voluntary turnover as a...
Multiple-instance learning from distributions

We propose a new theoretical framework for analyzing the multiple-instance learning (MIL) setting. In MIL, training examples are provided to a learning algorithm in the form of labeled sets, or "bags," of instances. Applications of MIL include 3-D quantitative structure-activity relationship prediction for drug discovery and content-based image retrieval for web search. The goal of an algorithm is to learn a function that correctly labels new bags or a function that correctly labels new instances. We propose that bags should be treated as latent distributions from which samples are observed. We show that it is possible to learn accurate instance - and bag-labeling functions in this setting as well as functions that correctly rank bags or instances under weak assumptions. Additionally, our theoretical results suggest that it is possible to learn to rank efficiently using traditional, well-studied "supervised" learning approaches. We perform an extensive empirical evaluation that supports the theoretical predictions entailed by the new framework. The proposed theoretical framework leads to a better understanding of the relationship between the MI and standard supervised learning settings, and it provides new methods for learning from MI data that are more accurate, more efficient, and have better understood theoretical properties than existing MI-specific algorithms.
Critical caring for people and place

ABSTRACTWhat role does caring play in environmental education? The development of caring relationships in formal school settings remains a foundational yet underexamined concept in environmental education research. This study examines the role of caring relationships between people and place in an urban high school in the United States. We draw upon theoretical lenses of caring and justice by egalitarian and feminist scholars to examine the role that authentic caring plays in a teacher's practice and in students’ experiences when engaged in urban park restoration. Findings reveal that the caring role of the environmental science teacher in this study is significant; the teacher's caring/carework mediates how students in his class relate to the environmental learning experiences. Further, through these experiences students in the study likewise initiated care both for themselves and others.
Sustainable entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: the collaborative multi-system model

In this article, we explore the dimensions involved in creating a sustainability-focused entrepreneurial venture within a community. In these ventures the entrepreneur may be the central hub of venture activities, but the interdependence between the entrepreneur and partners in the community is critical. Our observations suggest that the path toward sustainability starts with external collaboration with entities in the entrepreneur's surrounding system. Our aim is to extend entrepreneurship research through an examination of sustainability, which calls for a recalibration in the role of profit and social/economic good. This research offers a comparative analysis of two case studies, and proposes a fluid and integrative multi-systems model of collaboration with various entities, including governments, the private sector, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the larger community.
Modeling of DMSP Surface Charging Events

Measured spectra from a selection of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-observed charging events were analyzed, with the goal of improving modeling of auroral charging events. Each data set was examined for correlations between the chassis potential and the measured fluxes. Chassis potential was found to be correlated with both the median electron energy and the net electron flux. The background plasma density cannot be determined directly from the measured spectra due to distortions from charging and the variation in sensitivity with incident particle energy across each energy channel. Simulations using time-varying spectra show that the chassis potential responds to even fairly subtle environment changes on a millisecond time scale. As the environment measurements take 1 s per spectrum, the chassis potential can easily be changing, either steadily or erratically, during that time. Once the limitations of the measurements are accounted for, the calculated chassis potential agrees with the measured potential through the modeled charging events.
Descriptor-based approach for the prediction of cation vacancy formation energies and transition levels

Point defects largely determine the observed optical and electrical properties of a given material, yet the characterization and identification of defects has remained a slow and tedious process, both experimentally and theoretically. We demonstrate a computationally-cheap model that can reliably predict the formation energies of cation vacancies as well as the location of their electronic states in a large set of II-VI and III-V materials using only parameters obtained from the bulk primitive unit cell (2-4 atoms). We apply our model to ordered alloys within the CdZnSeTe, CdZnS, and ZnMgO systems and predict the positions of cation vacancy charge-state transition levels with a mean absolute error of < 0.2 eV compared to the explicitly calculated values, showing useful accuracy without the need for the expensive and large-scale calculations typically required. This suggests the properties of other point defects may also be predicted with useful accuracy from only bulk-derived properties.
Scalable reduction collectives with data partitioning-based multi-leader design

Existing designs for MPI_Allreduce do not take advantage of the vast parallelism available in modern multi-/many-core processors like Intel Xeon/Xeon Phis or the increases in communication throughput and recent advances in high-end features seen with modern interconnects like InfiniBand and Omni-Path. In this paper, we propose a high-performance and scalable Data Partitioning-based Multi-Leader (DPML) solution for MPI_Allreduce that can take advantage of the parallelism offered by multi-/many-core architectures in conjunction with the high throughput and high-end features offered by InfiniBand and Omni-Path to significantly enhance the performance of MPI_Allreduce on modern HPC systems. We also model DPML-based designs to analyze the communication costs theoretically. Microbenchmark level evaluations show that the proposed DPML-based designs are able to deliver up to 3.5 times performance improvement for MPI_Allreduce for multiple HPC systems at scale. At the application-level, up to 35% and 60% improvement is seen in communication for HPCG and miniAMR respectively.
Normalization and dropout for stochastic computing-based deep convolutional neural networks

Abstract Recently, Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN) has been recognized as the most effective model for pattern recognition and classification tasks. With the fast growing Internet of Things (IoTs) and wearable devices, it becomes attractive to implement DCNNs in embedded and portable systems. However, novel computing paradigms are urgently required to deploy DCNNs that have huge power consumptions and complex topologies in systems with limited area and power supply. Recent works have demonstrated that Stochastic Computing (SC) can radically simplify the hardware implementation of arithmetic units and has the potential to bring the success of DCNNs to embedded systems. This paper introduces normalization and dropout, which are essential techniques for the state-of-the-art DCNNs, to the existing SC-based DCNN frameworks. In this work, the feature extraction block of DCNNs is implemented using an approximate parallel counter, a near-max pooling block and an SC-based rectified linear activation unit. A novel SC-based normalization design is proposed, which includes a square and summation unit, an activation unit and a division unit. The dropout technique is integrated into the training phase and the learned weights are adjusted during the hardware implementation. Experimental results on AlexNet with the ImageNet dataset show that the SC-based DCNN with the proposed normalization and dropout techniques achieves 3.26% top-1 accuracy improvement and 3.05% top-5 accuracy improvement compared with the SC-based DCNN without these two essential techniques, confirming the effectiveness of our normalization and dropout designs.
Variations in Treatment of C2 Fractures by Time, Age, and Geographic Region in the United States: An Analysis of 4818 Patients.

Background The optimal form of treatment for C2 spine fractures is controversial. This investigation analyzed the variations in treatment of C2 fractures over time, by age group, and by geographic location. Methods The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample database was queried to identify patients 18 years and older who sustained C2 fracture without neurologic injury from 2006 to 2012. Subsequently, patients were further filtered based on the intervention they received: collar, halo, and surgery. Regions of hospital used in analysis were defined as Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Linear regression models were used to analyze trends for C2 incidence rates and treatment type. Analysis of variance tests were used to determine differences among procedure groups when stratified by regions and age groups. Results Surgical intervention for C2 fracture increased from 36.5% in 2006 to 55.7% in 2012 ( r = 0.116, P r = −0.139, P P P Conclusions This investigation demonstrated that surgical management of C2 fractures is increasing in frequency over time and at all age groups. Furthermore, the treatment of these fractures varies by region—the Northeast had the highest incidence of collar use and lowest rate of halo use.
Mechanical Vibration Signal Denoising Using Quantum-Inspired Standard Deviation Based on Subband Based Gaussian Mixture Model

Aiming at improving noise reduction effect for mechanical vibration signal, a Gaussian mixture model (SGMM) and a quantum-inspired standard deviation (QSD) are proposed and applied to the denoising method using the thresholding function in wavelet domain. Firstly, the SGMM is presented and utilized as a local distribution to approximate the wavelet coefficients distribution in each subband. Then, within Bayesian framework, the maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimator is employed to derive a thresholding function with conventional standard deviation (CSD) which is calculated by the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. However, the CSD has a disadvantage of ignoring the interscale dependency between wavelet coefficients. Considering this limit for the CSD, the quantum theory is adopted to analyze the interscale dependency between coefficients in adjacent subbands, and the QSD for noise-free wavelet coefficients is presented based on quantum mechanics. Next, the QSD is constituted for the CSD in the thresholding function to shrink noisy coefficients. Finally, an application in the mechanical vibration signal processing is used to illustrate the denoising technique. The experimental study shows the SGMM can model the distribution of wavelet coefficients accurately and QSD can depict interscale dependency of wavelet coefficients of true signal quite successfully. Therefore, the denoising method utilizing the SGMM and QSD performs better than others.
Direct inversion of intensity diffraction tomography with a computational microscope

Intensity diffraction tomography (IDT) enables 3D phase recovery from intensity-only measurements. We present a novel IDT technique that enables motion-free, 3D phase and absorption reconstruction using a computationally efficient algorithm.
Prècis of Evidence and Inquiry: Towards Reconstruction in Epistemology

Resume de l'ouvrage de l'A. intitule «Evidence and inquiry: towards reconstruction inepistemology» (1993), qui etudie le probleme des criteres de l'evidence dans le cadre d'une necessaire reconstruction de l'epistemologie a partir de l'opposition entre le fondationnalisme et le coherentisme. Examinant la question de la justification et de la ratification de la croyance, l'A. defend une approche fondherentiste de la verite, de l'explication et de la connaissance empirique. Suite a la critique de L. BonJour («Haack on justification and experience», in «Synthese», 112, 1, 1997, pp. 13-23), l'A. montre que sa conception de l'evidence permet d'eviter les vieux debats concernant le scepticisme en epistemologie («Reply to BonJour», ibid., pp. 25-35)
Photochemistry and Photophysics of Coordination Compounds: Rhenium

This review describes recent advances in the photochemistry of complexes of the element rhenium. It covers not only fundamental chemistry but the recent applications of these complexes to supramolecular chemistry, carbon dioxide reduction, bioinorganic chemistry, sensors, and light-emitting devices.
Partial and complete hydrogenation of poly(1-methyl-1-phenyl-1-sila-cis-pent-3-ene)

Poly(1-methyl-1-phenyl-1-silapentane)(II), andblock copoly(1-methyl-1-phenyl-1-sila-cis-pent-3-ene/1-methyl-1-phenyl-1-silapentane) (block-III) have been prepared by catalytic hydrogenation of poly(1-methyl-1-phenyl-1-sila-cis-pent-3-ene)(I) over 5% palladium on carbon. These polymers have been characterized by1H,13C and29Si NMR as well as IR spectroscopy. Molecular weight distributions have been evaluated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Thermal stabilities have been measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Glass transition temperatures (Tg's) have been determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).
Instabilities in multiplanet circumbinary systems

National Science Foundation [AAG-1410174]; National Aeronautics and Space Administration [17-ATP17-0070]
Robust Fault Detection & Isolation in Distributed Dynamic Systems

This paper considers robust fault detection in distributed consensus systems with agents that are subjected to simultaneous faults and unknown disturbances. First, a distributed system model is introduced so that the relationship between the agents and the unknown disturbances and the faults can be precisely captured. In this model, the local interactions are captured through an undirected graph and the collective dynamics are represented by a positive dynamic system. Next, necessary and sufficient conditions to decouple the unknown disturbances from the agents residual generators are derived in terms of an observer gain matrices. Specifically, it is shown that the problem of discriminating between unknown disturbances and faults in a distributed system under consensus dynamics can be reduced to the problem of determining a set of constraints on the spectrum of the residual generator coefficient matrices. The approach is illustrated through an example.
A multi-institutional analysis of clinical outcomes and patterns of care of 1p/19q codeleted oligodendrogliomas treated with adjuvant or salvage radiation therapy.

Practice patterns vary for adjuvant treatment of 1p/19q-codeleted oligodendroglioma patients. This study evaluates the outcomes of adjuvant (aRT) versus salvage radiation therapy (sRT) in a multi-institutional cohort. Oligodendroglioma patients with confirmed 1p/19q codeletion who were treated with RT with or without chemotherapy from 2000 to 2017 at four tertiary centers were retrospectively reviewed. Overall survival (OS), post-RT progression-free survival (PFS), freedom-from-RT (FFRT), and radiation necrosis (RN) rates were determined using Kaplan–Meier analyses. OS1/PFS1 were defined from the initial surgery. OS2/PFS2 were defined from the RT start-date. Multivariable analyses (MVAs) of prognostic factors for OS and PFS were performed with Cox regression. One hundred eighty-six patients were identified: 124(67%) received aRT and 62(33%) received sRT; of sRT patients, 58% were observed after surgery while 42% received chemotherapy without aRT. The median time from initial diagnosis to sRT was 61 months, and 74% had reoperations before sRT. sRT had longer OS1 than aRT (94% vs. 69% at 10 years, p = 0.03) and PFS1 (10-year PFS of 80% vs. 68%, p = 0.03), though sRT was not associated with significantly different OS1/PFS1 on MVAs. Chemotherapy did not delay sRT compared to observation and had worse PFS2 (42% vs. 79% at 5 years, p = 0.08). Higher RT dose was not associated with improved clinical outcomes but was associated with higher symptomatic RN rate (15% vs. 0% at 2 years, p = 0.003). Delaying RT for selected oligodendroglioma patients appears safe. Adjuvant chemotherapy does not delay sRT longer than observation and may be associated with worse PFS after RT.
Demystifying visual awareness: Peripheral encoding plus limited decision complexity resolve the paradox of rich visual experience and curious perceptual failures

Human beings subjectively experience a rich visual percept. However, when behavioral experiments probe the details of that percept, observers perform poorly, suggesting that vision is impoverished. What can explain this awareness puzzle? Is the rich percept a mere illusion? How does vision work as well as it does? This paper argues for two important pieces of the solution. First, peripheral vision encodes its inputs using a scheme that preserves a great deal of useful information, while losing the information necessary to perform certain tasks. The tasks rendered difficult by the peripheral encoding include many of those used to probe the details of visual experience. Second, many tasks used to probe attentional and working memory limits are, arguably, inherently difficult, and poor performance on these tasks may indicate limits on decision complexity. Two assumptions are critical to making sense of this hypothesis: (1) All visual perception, conscious or not, results from performing some visual task; and (2) all visual tasks face the same limit on decision complexity. Together, peripheral encoding plus decision complexity can explain a wide variety of phenomena, including vision's marvelous successes, its quirky failures, and our rich subjective impression of the visual world.
Headlessness and extraposition : another look at the syntax of אשׁר

Typically, grammars analyze the majority of אשר clauses as either relative or complement clauses. However, often grammars, commentaries, and translations also treat אשר as a subordinating conjunction which introduces causal, purpose, result, and conditional clauses. In this paper I shall propose that the most economical analysis assigns a binary role to אשר: it introduces only relative and complement clauses. A relative clause analysis of all "non-relative, non-complement" occurrences of אשר can be preserved by recognizing and including the syntactic phenomena of headless relatives and extraposed relatives in the analysis of Biblical Hebrew אשר clauses. The exegetical ramifications of this proposal are illustrated on the characterization of Solomon and Yahweh's blessing in 1 Kgs 3.12-13.
Metabolic responses of dairy cows with fatty liver to treatment with glucagon

To study the effects of glucagon on early-lactation dairy cows that have fatty livers and are susceptible to ketosis, glucagon was continuously infused via intravenous jugular catheters into dairy cattle in various physiological states. In preliminary dosage response studies, glucagon was infused into eight spayed Holstein heifers, four midlactation Holstein cows, and four early-lactation Brown Swiss cows in cross­ over design trials at dosages of 20 mg/d or less for 48 h. Plasma glucose concentrations were increased by glucagon in a dose-dependent manner. Plasma nonesterified fatty acid and ketone body concentrations were not increased by glucagon at 5 mg/d or less, were increased in heifers at 10 mg/d, and increased in cows at 20 mg/d compared with preinfusion concentrations. Glucagon at 10 mg/d was the largest dosage tested in lactating cows that did not elicit a lipolytic or ketogenic response. Glucagon at 10 mg/d or vehicle was then infused for 14 d during a protocol to induce ketosis in 20 early-lactation Holstein cows already having fatty livers. Plasma glucose concentrations were increased by 42% compared with glucose concentrations in control cows. Plasma insulin concentrations increased during the first 4 h of glucagon infusion, thereafter they were not different than concentrations in plasma of control cows. Concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids and ketone bodies in plasma were decreased over time by glucagon compared with concentrations in plasma of control cows. In livers of cows treated with glucagon, concentrations of triacylglycerols rapidly and dramatically declined . At the end of glucagon treatment, triacylglycerol concentrations in livers of glucagon treated cows had been decreased by 71% compared with livers of control cows. Glucagon caused liver glycogen concentrations to transiently decrease and ultimately increase to 231% of the glycogen concentrations in livers of control cows. Production of milk and milk protein was decreased during glucagon treatment, but rapidly increased to levels of production by control cows after
HVEM signaling promotes protective antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) vaccine responses to herpes simplex viruses

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) glycoprotein D (gD) not only is required for virus entry and cell-to-cell spread but also binds the host immunomodulatory molecule, HVEM, blocking interactions with its ligands. Natural infection primarily elicits neutralizing antibodies targeting gD, but subunit protein vaccines designed to induce this response have failed clinically. In contrast, preclinical studies demonstrate that an HSV-2 single-cycle strain deleted in gD, ΔgD-2, induces primarily non-neutralizing antibodies that activate Fcγ receptors (FcγRs) to mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). These studies were designed to test the hypothesis that gD interferes with ADCC through engagement of HVEM. Immunization of Hvem−/− mice with ΔgD-2 resulted in significant reduction in HSV-specific IgG2 antibodies, the subclass associated with FcγR activation and ADCC, compared with wild-type controls. This translated into a parallel reduction in active and passive vaccine protection. A similar decrease in ADCC titers was observed in Hvem−/− mice vaccinated with an alternative HSV vaccine candidate (dl5-29) or an unrelated vesicular stomatitis virus–vectored vaccine. Unexpectedly, not only did passive transfer of immune serum from ΔgD-2–vaccinated Hvem−/− mice fail to protect wild-type mice but transfer of immune serum from ΔgD-2–vaccinated wild-type mice failed to protect Hvem−/− mice. Immune cells isolated from Hvem−/− mice were impaired in FcγR activation, and, conversely, addition of gD protein or anti-HVEM antibodies to in vitro murine or human FcγR activation assays inhibited the response. These findings uncover a previously unrecognized role for HVEM signaling in generating and mediating ADCC and an additional HSV immune evasion strategy.
Analysis of an Intelligence Dataset.

It is perhaps popular belief—at least among non-psychometricians—that there is a unique or standard way to investigate the psychometric qualities of tests [...]
A note on the nonexistence of generalized apparent horizons in Minkowski space

We establish a positive mass theorem for initial data sets of the Einstein equations having generalized trapped surface boundary. In particular, we answer a question posed by R Wald concerning the existence of generalized apparent horizons in Minkowski space.
Artificial Intelligence and the Rule of Law

This book chapter examines an interaction between technological shocks and the “rule of law.” It does so by analyzing the implications of a class of loosely related computational technologies termed “machine learning” (ML) or, rather less precisely “artificial intelligence” (AI). These tools are presently employed in the pre-adjudicative phase of enforcing of the laws, for example facilitating the selection of targets for tax and regulatory investigations. Two general questions respecting the rule of law arise from these developments. The more immediately apparent one is whether these technologies, when integrated into the legal system, are themselves compatible or in conflict with the rule of law. Depending on which conception of the rule of law is deployed, the substitution of machine decision-making for human judgment can kindle objections based on transparency, predictability, bias, and procedural fairness. A first purpose of this chapter is to examine ways in which this technological shock poses such challenges. The interaction between the normative ambitions of the rule of law and ML technologies, I will suggest, is complex and ambiguous. In many cases, moreover, the more powerful normative objection to technology arises less from the bare fact of its objection, and more from the socio-political context in which that adoption occurred and the dynamic effect of technology on background disparities of power and resources. ML’s adoption likely exacerbates differences of social power and status in ways that place the rule of law under strain. The second question posed by new AI and ML technologies has also not been extensively discussed. Yet it is perhaps of more profound significance. Rather than focusing on the compliance of new technologies with rule-of-law values, it hinges on the implications of ML and AI technologies for how the rule of law itself is conceived or implemented. Many of the canonical discussions of the rule of law—including Dicey’s and Waldron’s—entangle a conceptual definition and a series of institutional entailments. Many assume that the rule of law requires the specific institutional form of courts. They presumably also posit human judges exercising discretion and making judgments as necessary rather than optional. For these institutional entailments of the rule of law, a substitution of human for ML technologies likely has destabilizing implications. It sharpens the question whether the abstract concept of the rule of law needs to be realized by a particular institutional form. It raises a question whether instead technological change might demand amendments to relationship between the concept(s) and the practice of the rule of law. For pre-existing normative concepts and their practical, institutional correlates may no longer hold under conditions of technological change. At the very least then, specification of institutional forms of the rule of law under such conditions raises challenges not just as a practical matter but also in terms of legal theory
Microbiological degradation of macroalgae waste and its potential considerations for agricultural applications

The carbon, nitrogen, and phosphate contents of macroalgae suggest their favorable applications for agricultural uses, including soil enrichment through mulching or composting. Macroalgae contain complex and sulfated polysaccharides that are not found in the terrestrial environment and have heterogeneous sugar compositions. The biological process for algae degradation remains undefined. The dominant species of this study include Gracilaria salicornia, Avrainvillea amadelpha, and Acanthophora spicifera. A microbiological community comparison using PCoA analysis with Bray distances determined using the National Institute of Health (NIH) Nephele and Mothur pipeline analysis revealed that the communities between agricultural biomass piles containing terrestrial organic matter (waste biomass—WB1, WB2) were similar, however, distant in relation to the invasive algae pile (algae waste biomass—AWB). Determined using the Geneious software, 27% of the microorganisms in the AWB sample have clear marine origins at the phylogenic family level. Within these identified marine families, 61% have potential algae degradation metabolisms. In addition to the presence of trace metals found in the AWB sample, these are important considerations for agricultural applications.
The Experience of Caregiving for an Adult Sibling with Down Syndrome

Adults with Down syndrome are living longer than ever before and are likely to outlive their parents. Adult siblings have been identified as future caregivers, yet little is known about this experi...
Etiology, Pathogenesis, and Pathophysiology of Dilated Cardiomyopathies

The term “cardiomyopathy” was introduced by Brigden in 1957 [18a] and defined as “non-coronary disease of heart muscle of unknown etiology.” The first definition of cardiomyopathy by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1968 [38] stressed cardiomegaly and heart failure as dominant factors and excluded myocardial dysfunction associated with valvular or coronary disease, or with systemic or pulmonary vascular disease. Myocardial disease of unknown etiology was labeled “primary cardiomyopathy,” and that associated with a known single cause, systemic disease, or syndrome was called “secondary cardiomyopathy.” In the 1980 Report of the WHO/ISFC Task Force [122], the term “cardiomyopathy” was redefined as including only heart muscle disease of unknown etiology; heart muscle disease of known etiology — previously known as “secondary cardiomyopathy” — became “specific heart muscle disease.” Cardiomyopathy was further subclassified by pathophysiologic criteria into “dilated,” “hypertrophic,” and “restrictive/obliterative cardiomyopathy.”
Antagonism of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors and PLC attenuates increases in inositol trisphosphate and reduces reactive gliosis in strain-injured astrocytes.

We have previously found that in vitro traumatic injury uncouples IP3-mediated intracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]i) signaling in astrocytes (Rzigalinski et al., 1998; Floyd et al., 2001). Since Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are coupled to IP3-mediated Ca2+ signaling, we investigated their role in the in vitro strain injury of cultured astrocytes. Astrocytes grown on Silastic membranes were labeled with 3H-myo-inositol and strain (stretch)-injured. Cells injured in the presence of LiCl to prevent inositol phosphate metabolism were acid extracted and inositol phosphates (IPx) isolated using anion exchange columns. Reactive gliosis was assessed as increased glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity (GFAP-IR). Pre- but not post-injury administration of (RS)-1-aminoindan-15-decarboxylic acid (AIDA) or (S)-4-carboxy-3-hydroxyphenylglycine (S4CH3HPG), both group I mGluR antagonists, attenuated injury-induced increases in IPx. Injury increased GFAP-IR in astrocytes at 24 and 48 h post i...
Speaker independent speech recognition with robust out-of-vocabulary rejection

With the increased use of speech recognition outside of the lab environment, the need for better out-of-vocabulary (OOV) rejection techniques is critical for the continued success of this user interface. Not only must future speech recognition systems accurately reject OOV utterances, but they must also maintain their performance in mismatched (i.e., noisy) conditions. In this paper we extend our work on low-complexity, high-accuracy speaker independent speech recognition. We present a novel rejection criterion that is shown to be robust in mismatched conditions. This technique continues our emphasis on speech recognition for resource limited applications, by providing a solution that is highly scalable, requiring no additional memory and no significant increase in computation. The technique is based on the use of multiple garbage models (on the order of 100 or more) and a novel ranking method to achieve robust performance. Results on a large, 166-speaker database are provided for different design parameters, and they are compared to traditional threshold methods. Performance is shown to be superior to the approximated optimal Bayes reject rule.
Interferon-alfa, interferon-|[lambda]| and hepatitis C

Three new studies report genetic variants near IL28B, which encodes interferon-λ3 (interleukin 28B), are associated with response to treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection with interferon-alfa/ribavirin combination therapy. This renews interest in how interferons suppress viremia and could lead to improved clinical decisions for chronic HCV infection treatment based on individual genotype.
Human Vγ2Vδ2 T cells limit breast cancer growth by modulating cell survival‐, apoptosis‐related molecules and microenvironment in tumors

Innate immune system has been known to play an important role in inhibiting the malignant transformation, tumor progression and invasion. However, the mechanistic basis remains ambiguous. Despite polyclonality of human γδ T cells, Vγ2Vδ2 T cell subset was shown to recognize and limit the growth of various tumors at various degrees. The differential recognition of the tumor cells by Vγ2Vδ2 T cells are yet to be defined. Our study reveals that γδ T cells limit in vitro growth of most breast tumor cells, such as SkBr7 (HER2+), MCF7 (ER+) and MDA-MB-231 (ER−) by inhibiting their survival and inducing apoptosis, except BrCa-MZ01 (PR+) cells. To investigate detail mechanisms of antineoplastic effects, we found that cell death was associated with the surface expression levels of MICA/B and ICAM1. Molecular signaling analysis demonstrated that inhibition of cell growth by γδ T cells was associated with the lower expression levels of cell survival-related molecules such as AKT, ERK and concomitant upregulation of apoptosis-related molecules, such as PARP, cleaved caspase 3 and tumor suppressor genes PTEN and P53. However, opposite molecular signaling was observed in the resistant cell line after coculture with γδ T cells. In vivo, antineoplastic effects of γδ T cells were also documented, where tumor growth was inhibited due to the downregulation of survival signals, strong induction of apoptotic molecules, disruption of microvasculature and increased infiltration of tumor associated macrophages. These findings reveal that a complex molecular signaling is involved in γδ T cell-mediated antineoplastic effects.
Measurement of circulating blood volume in vivo after trauma-hemorrhage and hemodilution.

Although cardiac output (CO) and other hemodynamic variables are used to assess the adequacy of fluid resuscitation after hemorrhage, it is not known whether there is any correlation between restoration of CO and circulating blood volume (CBV). To determine this, rats underwent a midline laparotomy (i.e., trauma induced) and were bled to and maintained at a mean arterial pressure of 40 mmHg until 40% of maximum bleedout volume was returned in the form of Ringer lactate (RL). The animals were then resuscitated with four or five times the volume of maximum bleedout in the form of RL. CO and hepatocellular function were measured using an in vivo hemoreflectometer. CBV was monitored by using in vivo indocyanine green clearance. A good correlation between the values of blood volume obtained by this method and the 125I-albumin method indicates that the indocyanine green method is also a reliable technique for measuring CBV. Results indicate that resuscitation after hemorrhage improved the decreased CBV but did not restore it to control levels despite the fact that CO was restored and central venous pressure was more than doubled. A good correlation between depressed CBV and hepatocellular dysfunction was also observed under such conditions. Thus measurement of CBV appears to be useful for evaluating the adequacy of fluid resuscitation after trauma-hemorrhage and hemodilution.
Effect of spectral transmittance through red-tinted rodent cages on circadian metabolism and physiology in nude rats.

Light entrains normal circadian rhythms of physiology and metabolism in all mammals. Previous studies from our laboratory demonstrated that spectral transmittance (color) of light passing through cages affects these responses in rats. Here, we addressed the hypothesis that red tint alters the circadian nocturnal melatonin signal and circadian oscillation of other metabolic and physiologic functions. Female nude rats (Hsd:RH-Foxn1rnu; n = 12 per group) were maintained on a 12:12-h light (300 lx; 123.0 μW/cm2; lights on 0600):dark regimen in standard polycarbonate translucent clear or red-tinted cages. After 1 wk, rats underwent 6 low-volume blood draws via cardiocentesis over a 4-wk period. Plasma melatonin levels were low during the light phase (1.0 ± 0.2 pg/mL) in rats in both types of cages but were significantly lower in red-tinted (105.0 ± 2.4 pg/mL) compared with clear (154.8 ± 3.8 pg/mL) cages during the dark. Normal circadian rhythm of plasma total fatty acid was identical between groups. Although phase relationships of circadian rhythms in glucose, lactic acid, pO2, and pCO2 were identical between groups, the levels of these analytes were lower in rats in red-tinted compared with clear cages. Circadian rhythms of plasma corticosterone, insulin, and leptin were altered in terms of phasing, amplitude, and duration in rats in red-tinted compared with clear cages. These findings indicate that spectral transmittance through red-colored cages significantly affects circadian regulation of neuroendocrine, metabolic, and physiologic parameters, potentially influencing both laboratory animal health and wellbeing and scientific outcomes.
Alkane hydroxylase gene (alkB) phylotype composition and diversity in northern Gulf of Mexico bacterioplankton.

Natural and anthropogenic activities introduce alkanes into marine systems where they are degraded by alkane hydroxylases expressed by phylogenetically diverse bacteria. Partial sequences for alkB, one of the structural genes of alkane hydroxylase, have been used to assess the composition of alkane-degrading communities, and to determine their responses to hydrocarbon inputs. We present here the first spatially extensive analysis of alkB in bacterioplankton of the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM), a region that experiences numerous hydrocarbon inputs. We have analyzed 401 partial alkB gene sequences amplified from genomic extracts collected during March 2010 from 17 water column samples that included surface waters and bathypelagic depths. Previous analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences for these and related samples have shown that nGoM bacterial community composition and structure stratify strongly with depth, with distinctly different communities above and below 100 m. Although we hypothesized that alkB gene sequences would exhibit a similar pattern, PCA analyses of operational protein units (OPU) indicated that community composition did not vary consistently with depth or other major physical-chemical variables. We observed 22 distinct OPUs, one of which was ubiquitous and accounted for 57% of all sequences. This OPU clustered with alkB sequences from known hydrocarbon oxidizers (e.g., Alcanivorax and Marinobacter). Some OPUs could not be associated with known alkane degraders, however, and perhaps represent novel hydrocarbon-oxidizing populations or genes. These results indicate that the capacity for alkane hydrolysis occurs widely in the nGoM, but that alkane degrader diversity varies substantially among sites and responds differently than bulk communities to physical-chemical variables.
Word Similarity Metrics and Multilateral Comparison

Phylogenetic analyses of languages need to explicitly address whether the languages under consideration are related to each other at all. Recently developed permutation tests allow this question to be explored by testing whether words in one set of languages are significantly more similar to those in another set of languages when paired up by semantics than when paired up at random. Seven different phonetic similarity metrics are implemented and evaluated on their effectiveness within such multilateral comparison systems when deployed to detect genetic relations among the Indo-European and Uralic language families.
Use of sacrificial spacers for fabricating LDD transistors in a CMOS process

The use of sacrificial spacers for LDD transistors in a CMOS process is described. LPCVD nitride or PSG is employed as the sidewall-spacer material which is selectively etched off after the LDD's n-/n+ junction formation, thus allowing subsequent shallow p+ implant self-aligning to the polysilicon gate. Deeper n-/n+ junctions with adequate drain/gate overlap for n-channel LDD transistors to minimise hot-electron effects can then be made while simultaneously the shallow p+ junction with high punch-through immunity is preserved for p-channel transistors. The conflicting diffusion requirements in forming n-/n+ and p+ source-drain junction depths are therefore decoupled.
Phototherapeutic keratectomy: who are the best candidates and how do you treat them?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss the primary types of lesions most amenable to excimer laser phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and the specific techniques to best treat each of these disorders. RECENT FINDINGS: Elevated and anterior stromal lesions respond best to PTK. PTK can also be used to effectively treat recurrent erosions. Smoothing agents and intraoperative mitomycin C can be helpful for certain disorders. SUMMARY: The preoperative evaluation is very important in order to establish whether the eye is a good candidate for excimer laser PTK. Careful slit lamp evaluation and ancillary testing can not only determine how good a candidate they are but just as importantly, the best surgical approach. Surgeons and patients need to understand the limitations of PTK for proper informed consent. PTK is a minimally invasive procedure that is often successful in delaying or avoiding more aggressive corneal surgeries.
Correction of Global Precipitation Products for Orographic Effects

Abstract Underestimation of precipitation in topographically complex regions plagues most gauge-based gridded precipitation datasets. Gauge locations are usually in or near population centers, which tend to lie at low elevations relative to the surrounding terrain. For hydrologic modeling purposes, the resulting bias can result in serious underprediction of observed flows. A hydrologic water balance approach to develop a globally consistent correction for the underestimation of gridded precipitation in mountainous regions is described. The adjustment is based on a combination of the catchment water balances and variations of the Budyko E/P versus/P curve. The method overlays streamflow measurements onto watershed boundaries and then performs watershed water balances to determine “true” precipitation. Rather than relying on a modeled runoff ratio, evaporation is estimated using the Budyko curves. The average correction ratios for each of 357 mountainous river basins worldwide are spatially distributed acro...
Three Layer Q 2 -Free Families in the Boolean Lattice

We prove that the largest Q2-free family of subsets of [n] which contains sets of at most three different sizes has at most \(\big(3 + 2\sqrt {3} \big)N/3 + o(N) \approx 2.1547N\,\, + o(N)\) members, where \(N = { n \choose {{\lfloor} n/2 {\rfloor} }}\). This improves an earlier bound of 2.207N + o(N) by Axenovich, Manske, and Martin.
Chronic progressive renal disease: Rate of change of serum creatinine concentration

Chronic progressive renal disease : Rate of change of serum concentration. The rate of change of the serum creatinine concentrations in 63 patients with chronic progressive renal disease of varied etiology was examined by linear regression analysis using the logarithm or the reciprocal of the serum creatinine concentration versus time. A single straight line was described by one or the other of these relationships in 53 patients. Six patients had an accelerated rate of nephron destruction terminally (two slopes) regardless of the mathematical analysis. The remaining four patients had course changes either due to apparent spontaneous remissions or temporally related to therapy. These data suggest that (functional) nephron loss in chronic progress disease is orderly and mathematically definable. The theoretical implications are that functional nephron loss is either exponential (log Cr) or constant (1/Cr). Maladie renale chronique evolutive: Vitese de la modification de la creatinine du serum. La vitesse de modification de la concentration de creatinine du serum chez 63 malades atteints d'affections renales chroniques evolutives d'etiologies diverses a ete etudiee par analyse de la regression lineaire du logarithme ou de l'inverse de la creatinine serique en fonction du temps. Une ligne droite unique est obtenue pour l'une ou l'autre de ces relations chez 53 malades. Six malades ont eu une vitesse de destruction des nephrons augmentee a la phase terminale (deux pentes) independamment de l'analyse mathematique. Les quatre derniers malades ont eu des modifications de l'evolution soit dues a des remissions apparemment spontanees ou coincidant dans le temps avec un traitement. Ces resultats suggerent que la perte de nephrons (fonctionnels) dans les affections chroniques progressives est reglee et definissable mathematiquement. Les implications theoriques sont que la perte de nephrons functionnels est soit exponentielle (log Cr) soit constante (1/Cr).
[Reply to Fraser-Smith's “The Eos October 21, 1986 Cover”] In the eyes of the beholder

Fraser-Smith's complaint about dipole field lines being scrunched up in illustrations is much ado about very little. On one memorable occasion, one of us did much worse (see Figure 1); he is still wondering how it happened! The point is that most drawings of the dipole field are cartoons and use a good measure of artistic license, especially artistic renditions like the one gracing the cover of Eos on October 21, 1986, showing fluffy suggestions of field lines with vague overtones of auroral arcs. To the best of our knowledge, no erroneous physical conclusion ever arose from such a cartoon, though a considerable amount of journal space may have been saved. Purists may argue about accuracy, but most readers will agree that, like contact lenses, dipolarity is mostly in the eyes of the beholder.