cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Roles of computing in P 5 BL: Problem-, project-, product-, process-, and people-based learning

This position paper proposes the P5BL initiative and vision, that is, Problem-, Project-, Product-, Process-, People-Based Learning. A definition is proposed for the P5BL teaching and learning approach. The discussion identifies key pedagogical issues and innovative roles of computing for each of the five critical Ps in a multisite, cross-disciplinary, project-centered, and team-oriented Architecture/Engineering/Construction environment.
Partitioning logic to optimize routability on graph structures

The problem of partitioning the nodes of a logic network (i.e. a hypergraph) on to the vertices of a partition graph G, in which the cost function to be minimized is the cost of global routing (i.e. the cost of routing the nets of the logic on the edges of the graph G), is studied. Each vertex of the partition graph has a given upper bound on the number of nodes of the logic that can be assigned to the vertex. the nets of the logic network and the edges of the partition graph may have weights associated with them, which appear as multiplicative factors in the routing cost function. This partitioning program is called the min-cost partitioning on a graph (MCPG) problem. The MCPG model is very general and can be applied in many partitioning situations arising in VLSI physical design. Two such applications are described. >
Polyamines as Endogenous Growth Regulators

It is probable that all cells contain the diamine putrescine (Put; 1,4-diaminobutane) and the triamine spermidine (Spd), while eukaryotic cells contain the tetraamine spermine (Spm) as well (6, 13). In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes (53), including higher plants (30), mutants lacking the ability to biosynthesize polyamines (PAs) are unable to grow and develop normally (53). Since the addition of PAs to these mutants generally restores normal growth and development, it is reasonable to conclude that PAs are essential to all cells. This conclusion is reinforced by the demonstrable effects of “suicide inhibitors” of the main PA-bio- synthetic enzymes, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and arginine decarboxylase (ADC: Fig. 1). These compounds, a-difluoromethyl- ornithine (DFMO) and a-difluoromethylarginine (DFMA), specifically and irreversibly bind to and inhibit ODC and ADC, respectively. The ensuing decline in cellular PA titers is accompanied by a diminution or cessation of growth and development, which are restored upon the addition of the relevant PA.
Ocular dynamics and skeletal systems

Issues that are central to the modeling and analysis of a human movement system include musculotendon dynamics, the kinetics and kinematics of the biomechanical system, and the determination of neurological controls that are pertinent to a particular movement. In formulating a model for a biological control system, realism and complexity are always competing concerns. Human motion involves neurons, muscles, chemical reactions, bones, joints, and ligaments. How realistic can a model be made and still be simple enough for practical implementation and analytical tractability? What features of these enormously complex mechanisms are essential to include in the model, and which may be left out? Clearly, part of the answer to these questions lies in the specific model to be analyzed and the purpose for which it is to be used. The article focuses on the dynamics and control of ocular and skeletal systems. The discussion of these systems provides insights into modeling issues that are common to the study of human movement systems.
The effects of edge-interior and understorey-canopy gradients on the distribution of saproxylic beetles in a temperate lowland forest

Abstract Spatial distribution of arthropods in woodlands has crucial implications for biodiversity conservation and forest management. However, its determinants are insufficiently known. In particular, studies on arthropod vertical distribution in temperate woodlands report contrasting patterns that are difficult to explain in the current theoretical framework. Using flight intercept traps, we investigated vertical and horizontal distribution and diversity of saproxylic beetles in the understorey and the upper canopy at the edge and in the interior of a temperate, closed-canopy, deciduous forest in South-Eastern Czech Republic. At the forest edge, number of species was >60% higher than in the interior. Preference for forest edge were better pronounced in the understorey than in the canopy. Although number of species did not differed between the forest strata, vertical distribution of individual species as well as the whole assemblages differed between edge and interior. In the forest interior, most (∼80%) species exhibited higher preference for the canopy than at its edge. Multivariate analysis indicated that beetle distribution was affected by variables related to habitat openness and light availability. The results suggest that: (i) Vertical stratification of arthropod assemblages and individual species is context-dependent and variable even within a single forest patch. (ii) Vertical and horizontal distribution of arthropods is driven mainly by sunlight availability and habitat openness. (iii) In the closed canopy forest, the horizontal edge-interior gradient affects distribution of saproxylic beetles more than the vertical understorey-canopy gradient.
Therapy with hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme a reductase inhibitors (statins) and associated risk of incident cardiovascular events in older adults: evidence from the Cardiovascular Health Study.

Background Recommendations to treat older adults with hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) for the primary prevention of coronary heart disease events are supported by a single clinical trial restricted to adults 73 years or younger with low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Methods We investigated the association of statin use with incident cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality during up to 7.3 years' follow-up of 1250 women and 664 men from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Study participants were 65 years and older and free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. They received drug therapy to lower cholesterol levels at baseline or no treatment with a recommendation for therapy according to the National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines. Use of these drugs was assessed annually. We used proportional-hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for confounding variables. Results We found 382 incident cardiovascular events (159 myocardial infarctions, 159 strokes, and 64 deaths due to coronary heart disease) and 362 total deaths from June 1, 1989, to May 31, 1997. Compared with no use of drugs to lower cholesterol levels, statin use was associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular events (multivariate HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.27-0.71) and all-cause mortality (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36-0.88). Similar associations were observed among participants 74 years or older at baseline. Conclusions Use of statins was associated with decreased risk of incident cardiovascular events among elderly adults. These findings lend support to the National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines, which recommend therapy for the lowering of cholesterol levels for older adults with hypercholesterolemia.
Resident selection: a key to the future of orthopaedics

Recognizing the challenges presented in the process of resident selection, in 1981 the American Orthopaedic Association formed a Steering Committee on Resident Selection. This Committee was charged with studying the processes involved in the selection of orthopaedic residents and developing guidelines and making suggestions to program directors. The activities of the Committee focused on five areas: (1) the mechanics of resident selection; (2) the assessment of cognitive skills; (3) the assessment of motor ability; (4) the assessment of noncognitive factors (the affective domain); (5) the assessment of "dropouts." The Committee made the following recommendations to help program directors in the selection of residents: (1) use of a standardized application form; (2) full disclosure to applicants; (3) careful selection of candidates to be interviewed; (4) careful planning and implementation of the interview and visit; (5) broad faculty representation and discussion at time of selection; (6) due diligence when necessary. We still believe these criteria important in resident selection.
A neural network controller using reinforcement learning method for ATM traffic policing

A neural network (NN) controller using the reinforcement learning method for ATM traffic policing is presented. The mechanism is based upon an accurate estimation of the probability density function (pdf) of the traffic via its count process and the design of a NN critic function capable of evaluating the system performance in terms of the pdf violation. The pdf-based policing is made possible only by NNs. This is due to the fact that pdf policing requires complex calculations, in real-time, at very high rates which is not feasible via conventional mathematical approaches. The architecture of the NN policing mechanism is composed of critic function and control function. The critic function uses two inter-connected NNs. The first NN is trained to learn the pdf of "ideal non-violating" traffic, whereas the second NN is trained to capture the "actual" characteristics of the "actual" offered traffic during the progress of the call. The output of both NNs is compared. Consequently, an error signal is generated whenever the pdf of the offered traffic violates its "ideal" case. The error signal is, then, used by the critic function to produce an evaluation signal based upon a certain performance measure. A reinforcement learning method uses the evaluation signal to adjust the weights of a third NN, in the control function that generates a control signal capable of maximizing the system performance. The reported results prove that the present policing mechanism is very effective in detecting (and controlling) all possible kinds of traffic violations. >
Least squared error FIR filter design with spline transition functions

The authors propose the use of transition bands and transition functions in the ideal amplitude frequency response of a linear finite impulse response phase (FIR) digital filter to allow the analytical design of optimal least integral squared error filters with an explicit control of the transition band edges. Design formulas for approximations to ideal frequency responses which use a pth-order spline transition function are derived and analyzed. A variable-order spline is used with a method for optimally choosing the order. The results of this method are compared with those of other optimal methods. >
Unrecognized chondral penetration by a Herbert screw in the scaphoid

The Herbert bone screw as developed by T. Herbert in the early 1980s has been used in the treatment of scaphoid fractures and nonunions. Reports on clinical efficacy have been accompanied by discussions of technical difficulties. This study determines if the curvilinear surface of the proximal pole of the scaphoid leads to errors in screw length and penetration into the joint. The screw was inserted in cadaveric wrists using the technique described by Herbert. Plain x-ray films were taken in the anteroposterior and lateral planes and fluoroscopy was used through 360°. From the imaging studies, we decided whether subchondral penetration of the screw had occurred.The scaphoids were then dissected and the dorsal poles inspected. In our six specimens, two screws were found to be penetrating subchondral bone. The plain x-ray films were accurate in five of six specimens. Fluoroscopy was accurate in all six. Fluoroscopy during placement of the Herbert screw may decrease the rate of subchondral penetration.
Secure FPGA circuits using controlled placement and routing

In current Field-Programmable-Logic Architecture (FPGA) design flows, it is very hard to control the routing of submodules. It is thus very hard to make an identical copy of an existing circuit within the same FPGA fabric. We have solved this problem in a way that still enables us to modify the logic function of the copied sub-module. Our technique has important applications in the design of side-channel resistant implementations in FPGA. Starting from an existing single-ended design, we are able to create a complementary circuit. The resulting overall circuit strongly reduces the power-consumption-dependent information leaks. We show that the direct mapping of a secure ASIC circuit-style in an FPGA does not preserve the same level of security, unless our symmetrical routing technique is employed. We demonstrate our approach on an FPGA prototype of a cryptographic design, and show through power-measurements followed by side-channel power analysis that secure logic implemented with our approach is resistant whereas non-routing-aware directly mapped circuits can be successfully attacked.
A rare case of an aberrant anterior mitral valve chord resulting in severe mitral regurgitation

A 49 year old female presented with severe dyspnoea due to mitral regurgitation. Echocardiography revealed an aberrant mitral valve chord causing severe mitral regurgitation. The aberrant chord extended between the anterior mitral valve leaflet (AMVL) and the atrial septum causing AMVL prolapse. Resection of the aberrant chord and correction of the AMVL using synthetic Gore-Tex sutures was performed. The patient made an uneventful recovery with post-op echocardiography demonstrating normal mitral valve function.
Acetate-1-14C incorporation into polyunsaturated fatty acids of phospholipids of developing chick brain.

The incorporation of acetate-1 J4C into the polyunsaturated fatty acids of glycerophosphatides of chick embryonic brain has been studied. After the injection of acetate-l-14C into the yolk sac, differences were found in the degree of labeling of the major fatty acids of the w3 and w6 series. Arachidonic acid (20:406) showed a high degree of radio- activity while docosahexaenoic acid (22 : 6w3) was poorly labeled, at a period of brain development when both fatty acids were being actively deposited. Evidence is presented to indicate that the low activity in docosahexaenoic acid is not explicable on the basis of either a low or high rate of turnover of this polyenoic acid. Similar results were obtained whether the rapid early or slower late stage of brain development was examined. It is suggested that the elongation of w3 and w6 series acids may be under the control of different regulatory mechanisms. 9 w3 and w6 biosynthesis . acetate developing chick brain - arachidonic acid . docosahexaenoic acid - glycero- phosphatides
R. A. Fisher: Likelihood and Fiducial Inference

R. A. Fisher, although he too claimed to adopt an empirical conception of probability, saw clearly some of the problems alluded to in the last chapter. According to him, “The Theory of Testing Hypotheses’ [the ironical quotes are Fisher’s] was a later attempt, ... to reinterpret [tests of significance] in terms of an imagined process of acceptance sampling....”1 In designing a test for accepting batches of manufactured items, it is indeed the long run properties of the test that are of interest; if we are willing to reject acceptable samples 5% of the time, it may well be that the only way in which we can achieve just that level of false rejection is to employ a randomized test, and it may make good sense to want to achieve exactly that level of false rejection. It is, after all, the indefinitely long run of repetitions of the test that concerns us. As Fisher clearly saw, testing a scientific hypothesis is another matter altogether: “...such processes have a logical basis very different from those of a scientist engaged in gaining from his observations an improved understanding of reality.”2
The Surface of Solid Helium

In this chapter we will review recent work on the surface of solid helium, mainly 4He. No attempt will be made to make this an exhaustive survey of the field; the aim is to present those aspects of the subject which are of most general interest to workers in the field of surface science, and to describe some of the features which are unique to the helium surface.
Dietary Vitamin A Has Both Chronic and Acute Effects on Vitamin A Indices in Lactating Rats and Their Offspring

To further investigate the effect of dietary vitamin A (VA) intake on milk VA concentrations and pup VA status, female rats were fed 2 concentrations of VA [0 (n = 9) or 50 micromol/kg diet (n = 10)] during pregnancy and lactation. Plasma retinol concentrations were significantly higher (30-40%) during lactation than before pregnancy or after weaning but were not influenced by dietary VA. In rats fed VA, VA concentrations during lactation were significantly higher in milk (1.5-3 times), mammary tissue (>100%), liver (4 times), pup plasma (20-40%), and pup liver (1.1-6.7 times). In Expt. 2, when VA intake was switched on d 7 of lactation from 0 to 50 micromol/kg, milk VA concentrations (2.24 +/- 0.42 micromol/L; mean +/- SD, n = 6) increased significantly (1.7 times) by d 9 to the same level as in rats administered 50 micromol/kg (6.04 +/- 0.60 micromol/L; n = 6). When VA was removed from the diet on d 7, concentrations declined significantly (by 50%) and by d 11 were the same as those in rats given 0 micromol/kg. We conclude that the rapid effect of changes in dietary VA intake are attributable to changes in the delivery of chylomicron VA to mammary tissue and milk.
Ultrasonic Welding Stress Distribution Measured with Optical Rosette/Ring-Core Method

Ultrasonic spot welding is a novel solid-state joining technique for automotive body structures. The residual stresses, caused by the inhomogeneous deformation during the welding process, are considered to be a major factor affecting the strength and quality of the weld. Many conventional measurement methods cannot be applied because of the small size of the spot weld. In this study, the ISSR/ring-core cutting method is applied to measure the residual stresses on the ultrasonic spot weld. The ISSR possesses the short gage length and high sensitivity. The ring-core cutting was conducted on the back of the spot weld. The tensile residual stresses were obtained. The measured tensile residual stresses added to the operation stresses could cause the initiation of the cracks.
Photonic crystal protein hydrogel sensor materials enabled by conformationally induced volume phase transition

Hydrogels that change volume in response to specific molecular stimuli can serve as platforms for sensors, actuators and drug delivery devices. There is great interest in designing intelligent hydrogels for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and microfluidics that utilize protein binding specificities and conformational changes. Protein conformational change induced by ligand binding can cause volume phase transitions (VPTs). Here, we develop a highly selective glucose sensing protein photonic crystal (PC) hydrogel that is fabricated from genetically engineered E. coli glucose/galactose binding protein (GGBP). The resulting 2-D PC-GGBP hydrogel undergoes a VPT in response to glucose. The volume change causes the 2-D PC array particle spacing to decrease, leading to a blue-shifted diffraction which enables our sensors to report on glucose concentrations. This 2-D PC-GGBP responsive hydrogel functions as a selective and sensitive sensor that easily monitors glucose concentrations from ∼0.2 μM to ∼10 mM. This work demonstrates a proof-of-concept for developing responsive, "smart" protein hydrogel materials with VPTs that utilize ligand binding induced protein conformational changes. This innovation may enable the development of other novel chemical sensors and high-throughput screening devices that can monitor protein-drug binding interactions.
Multivariate analysis of globular cluster systems in early-type galaxies

We use multivariate statistical analysis to study the relation between the globular cluster content of early-type galaxies and a number of their observed properties. The number of globular clusters scales non-linearly with galaxy luminosity and virial mass. Both the total number of clusters and their specific frequency correlate with metallicity, internal velocity anisotropy, isophotal shape parameters and, possibly, X-ray luminosity of the host galaxy. We observe that the properties of the globular cluster systems, to a large extent, are correlated with the so-called Fundamental Plane of early-type galaxies, although a residual amount of variability in the number and specific frequency of globulars remains
Effect of thyroid hormone on the ploidy of rat liver nuclei as determined by flow-cytometry.

SummaryThe ploidy distributions of rat liver nuclei isolated from normal and thyroidectomized rats were determined after conjugation with fluorochromes acridine orange and propidium iodide by rapid flow cytometry on the basis of their DNA content. Using this technique, we have confirmed the marked influence of thyroid status on the ploidy of rat liver nuclei as compared to euthyroid rats of the same age. No further development of tetraploid nuclei occurred from the time of thyroidectomy. However, administration of 1 mg T3/100 g BW to hypo-thyroid rats led within 6 days to ploidy patterns identical with those observed in euthyroid animals of the same age.
What Drives Innovation in Communication Satellites? Lessons from History

*† ‡ This paper captures the first detailed attempt to quantitatively analyze innovation in the space sector. Building on a communication satellite innovation metric and a spacecraft innovation framework developed as part of an ongoing project, this paper presents a preliminary model of communication satellite innovation. In addition to innovation being a function of the rate of performance normalized by price, innovation was found to be strongly influenced by characteristics of the customer-contractor contractual relationship. Specifically, DoD contracts tend to result in a lower level of innovation on average as compared to other customers and particular customer-contractor pairs perform differently and exhibit a second order relationship in time. Nomenclature α,β,γ, = regression coefficients for technical, generational and contractual components respectively Ci = contractual parameter t = time gi = generational parameter Icuiconj = customer contractor interaction effect IM = innovation metric Mconti = contractor main effect Mcusti = customer main effect
A Quarter-Century Focus on Improving Service Quality

Excerpt] The first International Quality in Service Symposium (QUIS) that took place in 1988 in Karlstad, Sweden, represented a particularly important starting point and stimulus for the scientific discussion of service management issues. Since then, service management research has developed significantly, and a specific scientific community has evolved. At several prestigious universities all over the world, service research centers have been established and a growing number of service-related books have been published. Moreover, an increasing number of academic journals with a focus on services are gaining an international reputation.
A Pipeline for 15 N Metabolic Labeling and Phosphoproteome Analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana

Within the past two decades, the biological application of mass spectrometric technology has seen great advances in terms of innovations in hardware, software, and reagents. Concurrently, the burgeoning field of proteomics has followed closely (Yates et al., Annu Rev Biomed Eng 11:49-79, 2009)-and with it, importantly, the ability to globally assay altered levels of posttranslational modifications in response to a variety of stimuli. Though many posttranslational modifications have been described, a major focus of these efforts has been protein-level phosphorylation of serine, threonine, and tyrosine residues (Schreiber et al., Proteomics 8:4416-4432, 2008). The desire to examine changes across signal transduction cascades and networks in their entirety using a single mass spectrometric analysis accounts for this push-namely, preservation and enrichment of the transient yet informative phosphoryl side group. Analyzing global changes in phosphorylation allows inferences surrounding cascades/networks as a whole to be made. Towards this same end, much work has explored ways to permit quantitation and combine experimental samples such that more than one replicate or experimental condition can be identically processed and analyzed, cutting down on experimental and instrument variability, in addition to instrument run time. One such technique that has emerged is metabolic labeling (Gouw et al., Mol Cell Proteomics 9:11-24, 2010), wherein biological samples are labeled in living cells with nonradioactive heavy isotopes such as (15)N or (13)C. Since metabolic labeling in living organisms allows one to combine the material to be processed at the earliest possible step, before the tissue is homogenized, it provides a unique and excellent method for comparing experimental samples in a high-throughput, reproducible fashion with minimal technical variability. This chapter describes a pipeline used for labeling living Arabidopsis thaliana plants with nitrogen-15 ((15)N) and how this can be used, in conjunction with a technique for enrichment of phosphorylated peptides (phosphopeptides), to determine changes in A. thaliana's phosphoproteome on an untargeted, global scale.
The Value of Genetic Variation in the Prediction of Obesity

Obesity is predominantly caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, but genetic factors also contribute to people’s susceptibility to gain weight. Rare high-risk mutations have been identified that cause extreme and early-onset obesity in a fraction of the population, while numerous common low-risk loci have been identified through genome-wide association studies that contribute to obesity in the general population. As insights into the contribution of genetic variation to obesity increase, the interest in using genetic variants to predict who is at risk to gain weight has also increased. Before constructing risk models, however, one needs to have a clear view on what form of obesity needs to be predicted, why, in whom, and for what purpose. Obesity is multifactorial, in that it results from an interplay between genes and environmental risk factors, such that models solely based on genetic variants will be unlikely to reach high predictive ability, as we illustrate using the literature on currently identified BMI-associated loci. Furthermore, it seems that irrespective of the poor predictive ability, communicating genetic information does not seem effective in making people adopt a healthy lifestyle. While using genetic information in the prediction of obesity is a legitimate aim, we believe that the most valuable contribution of gene discovery studies lies in their contribution to elucidate new physiological pathways that underlie obesity susceptibility, which in turn could lead to the identification of therapeutic targets and make its way into mainstream health care.
Evaluation of MODIS columnar aerosol retrievals using AERONET in semi-arid Nevada and California, U.S.A., during the summer of 2012

Abstract Satellite characterization of local aerosol pollution is desirable because of the potential for broad spatial coverage, enabling transport studies of pollution from major sources, such as biomass burning events. However, retrieval of quantitative measures of air pollution such as Aerosol Optical Depth ( AOD ) from satellite measurements is challenging over land because the underlying surface albedo may be heterogeneous in space and time. Ground-based sunphotometer measurements of AOD are unaffected by surface albedo and are crucial in enabling evaluation, testing, and further development of satellite instruments and retrieval algorithms. Columnar aerosol optical properties from ground-based sunphotometers (Cimel CE-318) as part of AERONET and MODIS aerosol retrievals from Aqua and Terra satellites were compared over semi-arid California and Nevada during the summer season of 2012. Sunphotometer measurements were used as a ‘ground truth’ to evaluate the current state of satellite retrievals in this spatiotemporal domain. Satellite retrieved (MODIS Collection 6) AOD showed the presence of wildfires in northern California during August. During the study period, the dark-target (DT) retrieval algorithm appears to overestimate AERONET AOD by an average factor of 3.85 in the entire study domain. AOD from the deep-blue (DB) algorithm overestimates AERONET AOD by an average factor of 1.64. Low AOD correlation was also found between AERONET, DT, and DB retrievals. Smoke from fires strengthened the aerosol signal, but MODIS versus AERONET AOD correlation hardly increased during fire events (r 2 ∼0.1–0.2 during non-fire periods and r 2 ∼0–0.31 during fire periods). Furthermore, aerosol from fires increased the normalized mean bias (NMB) of MODIS retrievals of AOD (NMB∼23%–154% for non-fire periods and NMB∼77%–196% for fire periods). Angstrom Extinction Exponent ( AEE ) from DB for both Terra and Aqua did not correlate with AERONET observations. High surface reflectance and incorrect aerosol physical parametrizations may still be affecting the DT and DB MODIS AOD retrievals in the semi-arid western U.S.
Abstract 25: Inhibition of VLDL Assembly by Apolipoprotein B Antisense Oligonucleotides Stimulates Autophagy

In order to investigate the effects of reduced VLDL secretion on hepatic lipid metabolism, we examined the effects of knockdown of either apolipoproteinB (apoB) or microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) using antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) for 6 weeks in apobec-1 knockout mice that only synthesize apoB100. Despite a similar decrease VLDL secretion in mice treated with apoB ASO as compared with MTP ASO, there was an increase in liver triglyceride (TG) content only in the MTP ASO-treated mice. There were no differences in either fatty acid (FA) uptake or secretion, or lipid synthesis from de novo lipogenesis, between the two groups to explain the difference in liver TG mass. In primary hepatocytes isolated from mice treated with apoB ASO, FA oxidation measured after a 16 hr steady state label with 14 C oleic acid showed a 3 fold increase in FA oxidation versus cells from control ASO-treated mice. A labeled time course study showed that the increase in FA oxidation was delayed, indicating compartmentalization of lipid in the apoB ASO-treated hepatocytes. Electron microsopy (EM) showed swollen endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and increased autophagosomes in the apoB ASO hepatocytes. The latter was confirmed by an increase in immunofluoresent staining for the autophagy marker LC3b. The LC3b protein was perinuclear suggesting that it was present on mature autophagolysosomes. Treatment with lysosomal inhibitors showed that the accumulation of LC3b was not due to a defect in autophagic flux in these hepatocytes. Autophagosomes in the EMs contained large double membrane structures suggestive of ER. In primary hepatocytes from apoB ASO-treated mice, labeling with ER Tracker showed abnormal aggregates of ER. In addition, immunofluorescent staining studies showed that these abnormal ER aggregates, as represented by calnexin staining, co-localized with the LC3b protein. We propose that autophagy of lipid-filled ER, with subsequent lipolysis of TG in the autophagolysosome and later oxidation of released FA, prevent hepatic steatosis in mice treated with apoB ASO.
El caso de Ana O.: Histeria y sexualidad en La Regenta

After introducing the reader to the fundamental concepts of medical discourse on hysteria in fin de siecle Spain, the author focusses her attention on the symptoms of histeria described by Clarin in La Regenta, assessing the contribution made in the novel to the better insight into this psychic disease in a period of changing psychiatric concepts regarding this condition. She demostrates that the observations and pedantic descriptions of the novelist can provide the historian with data which are at least comparable to those obtained form conventional sources. Finally a comparison is made between the case of Ana Ozores, the heroine in La Regenta and that of Fraulein Anna O. revised by Breuer and Freur in their «Studies on Hysteria».
Roche and Dinkeloo's Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University: Classical, Vernacular, and Modernist Architecture in the 1960s

From 1965 to 1973, Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo created the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The center appears to be an essay in mid-twentieth-century modernism, directly expressing its varied interior programs in cubic volumes of limestone walls and reinforced concrete spans for floors and roofs. As Joseph M. Siry demonstrates in Roche and Dinkeloo9s Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University: Classical, Vernacular, and Modernist Architecture in the 1960s , the Wesleyan Center for the Arts is a condensation of ideas from its context, including the seventeenth-century regional vernacular and the local Greek revival and contemporaneous modern architecture, including works of Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Louis Kahn. This article broadens both our understanding of the creative process as an integration of multiple sources and our view of modernism9s potential to innovate while fittingly engaging with earlier periods without duplicating their historical vocabularies.
Abstraction Methods for Solving Graph-Based Security Games

Many real-world security problems can be modeled using Stackelberg security games (SSG), which model the interactions between defender and attacker. Green security games focus on environmental crime, such as preventing poaching, illegal logging, or detecting pollution. A common problem in green security games is to optimize patrolling strategies for a large physical area such as a national park or other protected area. Patrolling strategies can be modeled as paths in a graph that represents the physical terrain. However, having a detailed graph to represent possible movements in a very large area typically results in an intractable computational problem due to the extremely large number of potential paths. While a variety of algorithmic approaches have been explored in the literature to solve security games based on large graphs, the size of games that can be solved is still quite limited. Here, we introduce abstraction methods for solving large graph-based security games. We demonstrate empirically that these abstraction methods can result in dramatic improvements in solution time with modest impact on solution quality.
A Review on Mechanical and Hydraulic System Modeling of Excavator Manipulator System

A recent trend in the development of off-highway construction equipment, such as excavators, is to use a system model for model-based system design in a virtual environment. Also, control system design for advanced excavation systems, such as automatic excavators and hybrid excavators, requires system models in order to design and simulate the control systems. Therefore, modeling of an excavator is an important first step toward the development of advanced excavators. This paper reviews results of recent studies on the modeling of mechanical and hydraulic subsystems for the simulation, design, and control development of excavator systems. Kinematic and dynamic modeling efforts are reviewed first. Then, various approaches in the hydraulic system modeling are presented.
Gastight Hydrodynamic Electrochemistry: Design for a Hermetically Sealed Rotating Disk Electrode Cell.

Rotating disk electrodes (RDEs) are widely used in electrochemical characterization to analyze the mechanisms of various electrocatalytic reactions. RDE experiments often make use of or require collection and quantification of gaseous products. The combination of rotating parts and gaseous analytes makes the design of RDE cells that allow for headspace analysis challenging due to gas leaks at the interface of the cell body and the rotator. In this manuscript we describe a new, hermetically sealed electrochemical cell that allows for electrode rotation while simultaneously providing a gastight environment. Electrode rotation in this new cell design is controlled by magnetically coupling the working electrode to a rotating magnetic driver. Calibration of the RDE using a tachometer shows that the rotation speed of the electrode is the same as that of the magnetic driver. To validate the performance of this cell for hydrodynamic measurements, limiting currents from the reduction of a potassium ferrocyanide (K...
Report of the EOS oceans panel to the payload panel

Abstract The atmosphere and the ocean are the two great fluids of the earth system. Changes in the coupling of these two fluids will have a profound impact on the Earth's climate and biogeochemical systems. Although changes in atmospheric composition and dynamics are the usual focus of global climate models, it is apparent that the ocean plays a critical role in modulating the magnitude and rate of these changes. The ocean is responsible for nearly half of the poleward heat flux as well as for a significant portion of the uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, the processes governing the flux of materials and energy between the ocean atmosphere are poorly understood. Such processes include not only physical and chemical dynamics, but also biological processes which act to modify the chemical composition of the ocean as well as the trapping of solar energy as heat in the upper water column. Thus it is essential that the ocean be studied as a complete system of physical, chemical, and biological processes. Overlapping measurements must be made for at least 10–15 years to resolve critical low frequency fluctuations. The present EOS plan relies heavily on non-EOS entities to provide critical data sets for ocean studies. Although such partnerships are usually beneficial, there are risks that must be considered in terms of data coverage, quality, resolution, and availability. A simple replacement of an EOS sensor with a non-EOS sensor based on the fact that they both measure the same quantities will not guarantee that critical measurements will be made to address IPCC priorities in the area of ocean processes. EOS must continue to pursue appropriate methods to ensure that such partner — provided measurements meet scientific requirements. Such methods are analogous to contigencies applied in the area of schedules, cost, and performance for instrument projects. EOS must foster strong ties between US scientists and their foreign counterparts, in order to develop partnerships based on science, rather than just based on financial or administrative considerations. Effective international programs are necessary for a truly globally-based study, and they must begin with working scientists. In the area of ocean sciences, several opportunities exist in the early EOS era, such as ERS-1, TOPEX/Poseidon, and NSCAT / OCTS / SeaWiFS. We strongly encourage EOS to contribute to these efforts.
YODA: The Yerkes Observatory Digital Archive

The Yerkes Observatory Digital Archives (YODA) project began as an in-house project for the Yerkes Observatory centennial in 1997 along with the Yerkes Observatory Virtual Museum: http://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/YOVMuseum.html Currently, a Filemaker Pro database of nearly 600 images exists with over 1000 images remaining to be scanned. The development and organization of the database will be discussed.
Development of a prolonged warm ex vivo perfusion model for kidneys donated after cardiac death.

PurposeEx vivo perfusion of marginal kidney grafts offers the chance to expand the donor pool, but there is no current clinical standard for the prolonged warm perfusion of renal grafts. This explo...
Macroeconomic Issues: Output, Employment, Inflation, Stability

As this is being written, commentators of all stripes are saying that we are in the middle of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Production, incomes and employment are down. Prices are down and bankruptcies are up. There is a heated debate over which policies are needed to fix what has gone wrong, but there is little disagreement that much has gone wrong, perhaps disastrously. It is tempting to jump into the middle of this discussion, but this chapter represents a large pause: first, it says, we should be very clear on what problems we are trying to solve. What are the goals of macroeconomic policy? Which ones have the highest priority? How can we measure how successful we are at meeting them? As we will see, the common assumptions about what macroeconomic objectives to pursue are largely correct, but not completely. Economic growth, ample employment, stable prices and financial health are all good things, but not without qualifications and tradeoffs.
Investigation on the freeze-thaw damage to the jointed plain concrete pavement under different climate conditions

Freeze-thaw damage is one of the main threats to the long time performance of the concrete pavement in the cold regions. This project aims to evaluate the influence of the freeze-thaw damages on pavement distresses under different climate conditions. Based on the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) data base, the freeze-thaw damage generated by four different kinds of climate conditions are considered in this project: wet-freeze, wet-non freeze, dryfreeze and dry-non freeze. The amount of the transverse crack and the joint spalling, along with the International Roughness Index (IRI) are compared among the test sections located in these four different climate conditions. The back calculation with the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) test results based on the ERES and the Estimation of Concrete Pavement Parameters (ECOPP) methods are conducted to obtain concrete slab elastic modulus and the subgrade k-value. These two parameters both decrease with service time under freeze condition. Finally, MEPDG simulation is conducted to simulate the IRI development with service year. These results showed the reasonable freeze-thaw damage development with pavement service life and under different climate conditions.
Abstinence from Cocaine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference Produces Discrete Changes in Glutamatergic Synapses onto Deep Layer 5/6 Neurons from Prelimbic and Infralimbic Cortices

Glutamatergic signaling in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a critical role in drug addiction and relapse. The mPFC is functionally subdivided into dorsal (prelimbic, PL) and ventral (infralimbic, IL) regions, and evidence suggests a differential role of these two divisions in the control of drug seeking and taking; however, there is a dearth of information on the cocaine-induced adaptations in PL- and IL-mPFC synaptic glutamate transmission and their regulation of behavioral responses to cocaine-associated stimuli. We tested male rats in a cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. In vitro whole-cell recordings were performed at different abstinence intervals to investigate the neuroadaptations in synaptic glutamate transmission in PL- and IL-mPFC deep layer (5/6) pyramidal neurons. Our results show that in naive animals, PL-mPFC neurons expressed higher frequency of spontaneous events (sEPSCs) than IL-mPFC neurons. Following cocaine-CPP and a short abstinence (SA) period (8 d), we observed decreases in the amplitude of sEPSCs in both mPFC regions. Longer abstinence periods (30 d), resulted in a sustained decrease in the frequency of sEPSCs and an increase in AMPA receptor rectification only in PL-mPFC neurons. In addition, PL-mPFC neurons expressed a decrease in the area under the curve of sEPSCs, suggesting altered receptor activation dynamics. Synaptic glutamate transmission was not significantly different between retested and naive rats. These results suggest that retention of cocaine-CPP requires differential modulation of glutamate transmission between PL- and IL-mPFC neurons and that these adaptations are dependent on the abstinence interval and reexposure to the cocaine context.
Sparse Exact PGA on Riemannian Manifolds

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a widely popular dimensionality reduction technique for vector-valued inputs. In the past decade, a nonlinear generalization of PCA, called the Principal Geodesic Analysis (PGA) was developed to tackle data that lie on a smooth manifold. PGA suffers from the same problem as PCA in that, in both the methods, each Principal Component (PC) is a linear combination of the original variables. This makes it very difficult to interpret the PCs especially in high dimensions. This lead to the introduction of sparse PCA (SPCA) in the vector-space input case. In this paper, we present a novel generalization of SPCA, called sparse exact PGA (SEPGA) that can cope with manifold-valued input data and respect the intrinsic geometry of the underlying manifold. Sparsity has the advantage of not only easy interpretability but also computational efficiency. We achieve this by formulating the PGA problem as a minimization of the projection error in conjunction with sparsity constraints enforced on the principal vectors post isomorphic mapping to Rm, where m is the dimension of the manifold on which the data reside. Further, for constant curvature smooth manifolds, we use analytic formulae for the projection error leading to an efficient solution to the SEPGA problem. We present extensive experimental results demonstrating the performance of SEPGA in achieving very good sparse principal components without sacrificing the accuracy of reconstruction. This makes SEPGA accurate and efficient in representing manifold-valued data.
Determining the number of contributors to DNA mixtures in the low-template regime: Exploring the impacts of sampling and detection effects

The interpretation of DNA evidence may rely upon the assumption that the forensic short tandem repeat (STR) profile is composed of multiple genotypes, or partial genotypes, originating from n contributors. In cases where the number of contributors (NOC) is in dispute, it may be justifiable to compute likelihood ratios that utilize different NOC parameters in the numerator and denominator, or present different likelihoods separately. Therefore, in this work, we evaluate the impact of allele dropout on estimating the NOC for simulated mixtures with up to six contributors in the presence or absence of a major contributor. These simulations demonstrate that in the presence of dropout, or with the application of an analytical threshold (AT), estimating the NOC using counting methods was unreliable for mixtures containing one or more minor contributors present at low levels. The number of misidentifications was only slightly reduced when we expand the number of STR loci from 16 to 21. In many of the simulations tested herein, the minimum and actual NOC differed by more than two, suggesting that low-template, high-order mixtures with allele counts fewer than six may be originating from as many as four-, five-, or six-persons. Thus, there is justification for the use of differing or multiple assumptions on the NOC when computing the weight of DNA evidence for low-template mixtures, particularly when the peak heights are in the vicinity of the signal threshold or allele counting methods are the mechanism by which the NOC is assessed.