cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Applying automatic speech recognition technology to Air Traffic Management

Controller-pilot voice communications are a critical component of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system, but outside of the human listening and responding that occurs with each transmission, they are an underutilized source of information for automation systems in the ATC domain. Automatic speech recognition is a continuously improving technology that can be used to tap into this information source for potential system benefits in a variety of ATC applications, such as monitoring live operations for safety benefit, conducting analysis on large quantities of recorded controller-pilot speech, or enabling automated simulation pilots to facilitate training and Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) simulation experiments. This paper describes how automatic speech recognition can be used in the ATC domain, the characteristics of the automatic speech recognition process and the ATC domain that make the problem unique, and the engineering process for effectively applying automatic speech recognition to ATC systems.
Glucose stimulates calcium-activated chloride secretion in small intestinal cells

The sodium-coupled glucose transporter-1 (SGLT1)-based oral rehydration solution (ORS) used in the management of acute diarrhea does not substantially reduce stool output, despite the fact that glucose stimulates the absorption of sodium and water. To explain this phenomenon, we investigated the possibility that glucose might also stimulate anion secretion. Transepithelial electrical measurements and isotope flux measurements in Ussing chambers were used to study the effect of glucose on active chloride and fluid secretion in mouse small intestinal cells and human Caco-2 cells. Confocal fluorescence laser microscopy and immunohistochemistry measured intracellular changes in calcium, sodium-glucose linked transporter, and calcium-activated chloride channel (anoctamin 1) expression. In addition to enhancing active sodium absorption, glucose increased intracellular calcium and stimulated electrogenic chloride secretion. Calcium imaging studies showed increased intracellular calcium when intestinal cells were exposed to glucose. Niflumic acid, but not glibenclamide, inhibited glucose-stimulated chloride secretion in mouse small intestines and in Caco-2 cells. Glucose-stimulated chloride secretion was not seen in ileal tissues incubated with the intracellular calcium chelater BAPTA-AM and the sodium-potassium-2 chloride cotransporter 1 (NKCC1) blocker bumetanide. These observations establish that glucose not only stimulates active Na absorption, a well-established phenomenon, but also induces a Ca-activated chloride secretion. This may explain the failure of glucose-based ORS to markedly reduce stool output in acute diarrhea. These results have immediate potential to improve the treatment outcomes for acute and/or chronic diarrheal diseases by replacing glucose with compounds that do not stimulate chloride secretion.
The Temporal Approach to Impacted Lateral Orbital Wall Fractures

• Impact forces centered over the lateral orbital rim may cause fracture dislocations of the frontal process of the zygoma and the orbital plate of the sphenoid bone. These two major components of the lateral orbital wall may be impacted separately or as a unit into the posterior orbit to cause severe injuries to the eyeball or optic nerve. These ophthalmic injuries may be worsened by attempts to manipulate the bony fragments through the standard periorbital incisions. A safer approach is the temporal approach that exposes the entire lateral zygomaticoorbital region through a hemicoronal incision. This allows for manipulation of the lateral wall fragments under direct visualization and without retraction pressure on the globe. This larger operation appears justified in selected cases by the reduced risks to an already compromised eyeball or optic nerve. ( Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 1988;114:550-553)
Behavioral and biobehavioral aspects of smoking and smoking cessation: The problem of postcessation weight gain

Despite the unequivocal evidence linking smoking and disease, approximately 26% of all Americans still smoke. In this article we briefly review the behavioral and the biologic factors associated with continued smoking as well as the latest strategies, both behavioral and pharmacologic, for the treatment of smoking. These behavioral and biologic factors are then applied to the problem of weight gain following smoking cessation where few, if any, effective treatments have been developed. We conclude that future research should carefully consider combining both behavioral and pharmacologic procedures for the treatment of those who are at risk for relapse due to excessive postcessation weight gain.
A Density Functional Theory Approach to the Development of Q−e Parameters for the Prediction of Reactivity in Free-Radical Copolymerizations

The Q-e scheme was developed for interpretation of the reactivity of a monomer containing a double bond in free-radical copolymerizations. This empirical scheme has been proved to be remarkably useful and continues to be essentially the only general reactivity scheme in use today. In order to develop a reliable computational approach for theoretical prediction of the Q and e values of molecules whose experimental Q and e values have not been established, the Q-e parameters have been investigated by performing a theoretical analysis and by performing density-functional-theory calculations on molecules whose experimental Q and e values are available. It has been demonstrated that for a general choice of the Q and e values of the reference monomer, both parameters Q and e should be dependent on the energetic properties of the free-radical reaction and the polar properties of the monomer and radical. In order to correlate the Q and e parameters with these properties, the overall quality of the calibrated correlation relationships should not be affected by the choice of the reference Q and e values. Satisfactory relationships have been found for the correlations of the Q-e parameters with DFT-calculated electronegativities and reaction free energies, suggesting that the electronegativity andmore » reaction free energy determined by the density functional theory calculations reasonably reflect the polar and energetic properties, respectively, needed for Q-e parameter development. With the particular choice of the popularly used reference values of Q= 1.0 and e= -0.8 for styrene, the parameter e is dependent only on the calculated electronegativity, and the parameter Q is dominated by the calculated reaction free energy. The satisfactory explicit relationships obtained can be used in future computational prediction of the Q and e parameters.« less
Visual research methods and communication design

Visual research methods include a variety of empirical approaches to studying social life and social processes, including communication and documentation. Developed largely in anthropology and sociology, visual methods typically involve the use of photography, videography, and drawing in qualitative studies of lived experience. Despite the use of visual methods in related fields such as CSCW, HCI, and computer science education, such approaches are underdeveloped in studies of communication design. In this paper, the author provides a historical and theoretical overview of visual research methods before detailing three interrelated approaches that may be productively applied to work in communication design. The author then illustrates how these approaches were adapted to communication design studies in industry and academe before describing implications for future work in this area.
Interaction of osteopontin with neutrophil α4β1 and α9β1 integrins in a rodent model of alcoholic liver disease

Previous studies from our laboratory have reported that osteopontin (OPN) mediated higher hepatic neutrophil infiltration makes female rats more susceptible to alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) than their male counterparts. The objective of the current work was to investigate the patho-mechanism by which OPN attracts the hepatic neutrophils in ASH. We hypothesized that OPN-mediated hepatic neutrophil infiltration is a result of signaling by N-terminal integrin binding motif (SLAYGLR) of OPN through its receptor α9β1 (VLA9) and α4β1 (VLA4) integrins on neutrophils. Compared to the males, females in the ASH group exhibited higher expression of α4β1 and α9β1 protein and mRNA and a significant decrease in the expression of these integrins was observed in rats treated with neutralizing OPN antibody. Immunoprecipitation experiments suggested the binding of OPN to α4β1 and α9β1 integrins. OPN-mediated neutrophil infiltration was also confirmed using Boyden chamber assays, and antibodies directed against α4 and β1 integrins was found to significantly inhibit neutrophilic migration in vitro. In conclusion, these data suggest that SLAYGLR-mediated α4β1 and α9β1 integrin signaling may be responsible for higher hepatic neutrophil infiltration and higher liver injury in the rat ASH model.
Metabolism of blood glucose by the intact functioning kidney of the dog.

Metabolism of blood glucose by the intact functioning kidney of the dog. The CO 2 produced in the metabolism of blood glucose by the kidney has been measured by the i.v. infusion of 14 C-UL-D-glucose as a tracer. A small fraction of circulating 14 C-glucose is converted to labeled lactate in extrarenal tissues, returned to, extracted by and metabolized to CO 2 in the kidney. Correcting the apparent 14 CO 2 produced in the kidney from glucose for the 14 CO 2 produced from lactate yields that produced directly from glucose. Differences in production of CO 2 from glucose in chronic metabolic acidosis and alkalosis are small and probably are not significant. If so, somewhat less than one-quarter of the total metabolism of the intact functioning kidney is supported by blood glucose. These measurements have been made at normal endogenous blood concentrations of glucose.
Intravenous L-Thyroxine

Excerpt To the editor: The paper, "Acute Metabolic Responses in Myxedema to Large Doses of Intravenous L-Thyroxine" (Ann Intern Med77:549-555, 1972), by Ridgway and colleagues has raised a question...
Paraprofessional home visitors’ perspectives on addressing poor mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence: A qualitative study

Abstract This research was conducted to understand paraprofessional home visitors’ perceptions of their training in addressing poor mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence, and their actions in working with families in addressing these issues. Five focus groups were conducted with a total of 28 paraprofessional home visitors. Three main themes emerged from qualitative analysis. Home visitors experienced tension between addressing families’ more pressing needs such as housing or utilities and addressing poor mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence. Home visitors felt that they received extensive training in these risk areas, but that this training focused heavily on knowledge acquisition rather than skill development. Home visitors also desired more guidance in addressing families’ poor mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence concerns—namely, more clarity on the extent to which they should address these issues during visits and more and varied supervision. Home visitors need more training on how to initiate conversations about mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence, including how to transition conversations from other client needs. Home visiting programs must clarify home visitors’ roles in addressing clients’ poor mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence and provide additional and varied supervision to home visitors.
Evaluating Efforts to Free Foster Children for Adoption

This study examines legal and procedural innovations designed to speed the process of freeing foster children for adoption when they cannot be returned to their original homes. Results indicate that children who were exposed to the innovations were not freed at a greater rate than children who were not exposed. However, additional analyses show that a greater number of children were identified as adoption candidates following implementation of the innovations. Implications of these findings are discussed, focusing particularly on what may and may not be expected concerning the effect of statutory and policy reforms on case-level outcomes.
Li production in the Big Bang.

Li abundance is determined for 23 halo subdwarfs. About half of the stars show [Fe/H] 160 km s−1 Li appears to be present in all our halo stars, with an abundance within about ± 0.2 dex of the value logn (Li) = 2.0 found by Spite & Spite (1982). Thus our results provide confirmation of the main conclusion of Spite & Spite.
Triazine herbicide residues in corn production systems: effects of tillage, application rate and liming on persistence

Abstract Atrazine (6-chloro- N -ethyl- N '-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) and cyanazine (2-[[4-chloro-6-(ethylamino)-1,3,5-triazin-2yl]amino]-2-methylpropenitrile) levels and persistence were evaluated in Hagerstown clay loam (Typic Hapludalf) during a 3-year corn ( Zea mays L.), single-year at ( Avena sativa ) rotation. These herbicides were pre-emergence-applied in 1982 and 1983, both at rates of 2.2 and 4.5 kg a.i. ha −1 . In 1984, the last corn production year, atrazine and cyanazine were pre-emergence-applied at 1.1 and 2.2 kg a.i. ha −1 , respectively, over areas previously treated with these herbicides. Treatment effects were evaluated under conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT) conditions in limed and unlimed soil. Laboratory assays of herbicide residues in fall-sampled soil revealed that cyanazine recovery was negligible, regardless of the tillage system, rate of application or liming. No damage was observed on oats grown on cyanazine-treated soil in greenhouse bioassays. In contrast, atrazine persisted at levels sufficient to promote “carry-over” injury in oat bioassays at both rate regimes. Atrazine residue concentrations and injury incidence were of greater magnitude at the higher rate, in CT than in MT or NT sampled soil and where lime was applied. Atrazine toxicity symptoms were only observed on foeld-grown oats under CT and MT, limed conditions where the high rate was applied during 1982 and 1983. Oat yields were reduced under these conditions.
Evaluation and identification of reliable reference genes for pharmacogenomics, toxicogenomics, and small RNA expression analysis

Pharmacogenomics, toxicogenomics, and small RNA expression analysis are three of the most active research topics in the biological, biomedical, pharmaceutical, and toxicological fields. All of these studies are based on gene expression analysis, which requires reference genes to reduce the variations derived from different amounts of starting materials and different efficiencies of RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis. Thus, accurate normalization to one or several constitutively expressed reference genes is a prerequisite to valid gene expression studies. Although selection of reliable reference genes has been conducted in previous studies in several animals and plants, no research has been focused on pharmacological targets, and very few studies have had a toxicological context. More interestingly, no studies have been performed to identify reference genes for small RNA analysis although small RNA, particularly microRNA (miRNA)-related research is currently one of the fastest-moving topics. In this study, using MCF-7 breast cancer cells as a model, we employed quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), one of the most reliable methods for gene expression analysis in many research fields, to evaluate and to determine the most reliable reference genes for pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics studies as well as for small RNA expression analysis. We tested the transcriptional expression of five protein-coding genes as well as five non-coding genes in MCF-7 cells treated with five different pharmaceuticals or toxicants [paclitaxel (PTX), gossypol (GOS), methyl jasmonate (JAS), L-nicotine (NIC), and melamine (mela)] and analyzed the stability of the selected reference genes by four different methods: geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and the comparative ΔCt method. According to our analysis, a protein-coding gene, hTBCA and four non-coding genes, hRNU44, hRNU48, hU6, and hRNU47, appear to be the most reliable reference genes for the five chemical treatments. Similar results were also obtained in dose-response and time-course assays with gossypol (GOS) treatment. Our results demonstrated that traditionally used reference genes, such as 18s RNA, β-actin, and GAPDH, are not reliable reference genes for pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics studies. In contrast, hTBCA and small RNAs are more stable during drug treatment, and they are better reference genes for pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics studies. To widely use these genes as reference genes, these results should be corroborated by studies with other human cell lines and additional drugs classes and hormonal treatments.
Modulation of the levels of cytochromes P450 in rat liver and lung by dietary lipid.

Abstract This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of dietary lipid on the regulation of several constitutive P450 isozymes. Male Sprague-Dawley rats with body weights of 130–140 g were fed either a 20% corn oil (CO) diet or a fat-free (FF) diet for 4 days following 2 days of fasting. Using liver microsomes, the catalytic activities and immunochemically detectable protein levels of P450s 1A1 and 2, 2A1, 2B1 and 2, 2C11, 2E1, and 3A were determined. The microsomes from rats fed the 20% CO diet exhibited 2-fold higher levels in N -nitrosodimethylamine demethylase activity and P450 2E1 protein than those from rats fed the FF diet. the CO group also showed 2.5-fold higher levels in 6β-hydroxylation of testosterone and P450 3A protein than the FF group. In contrast, the CO diet did not affect the immunodetectable level of P450 2C11 protein and its catalytic activities such as benzphetamine demethylase activity and 2α-hydroxylation of testosterone. P450 1A1 was not detectable in either group, but 1A2 was 2.5-fold higher in the CO group than in the FF group. In the liver, the P450 2B1 level was very low in both groups as measured by pentoxyresorufin dealkylase activity and the protein level, whereas 2B2 was 2.5-fold higher in the CO diet group. In lung microsomes from rats fed different amounts of CO, an inverse relationship was observed between the P450 2B1 level and the dietary CO level. the results suggest that the constitutive levels of P450 isozymes are modulateted by dietary lipid in a selective manner; the levels of hepatic P450s 1A2, 2B2, 2E1, and 3A were regulated positively but the level of pulmonary P450 2B1 was suppressed by dietary lipid.
Myosarcomas of the bladder and prostate

Of 32 patients seen in Memorial Center since 1920 with myosarcomas of the bladder or prostate 26 were male and six were female. The tumors arose in the bladder in 20, in the prostate in 11 and in one patient both organs were involved. Sarcomas of the bladder account for two or three of every thousand bladder cancers and for one of every thousand prostate cancers. Seventy-six patients, or approximately 10% of reported cases, have survived 3 years or more from diagnosis. Forty-five of those 76 sarcomas were reported as specific myosarcomas, i.e., embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, adult rhabdomyosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma or combinations of those three. Thirty-six arose in the bladder, nine arose in the prostate. The most successful methods of treatment have been cystectomy for embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the bladder and segmental resection for leiomyosarcoma of the bladder. Rhabdomyosarcoma of the bladder and prostate has seldom been managed successfully, so that no particular treatment can be unconditionally recommended. Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the prostate is as yet an incurable condition.
Adaptive signal control at isolated intersections

The effectiveness of conventional traffic-actuated control deteriorates rapidly as traffic volume increases. This problem can be alleviated through adaptive control. By monitoring vehicular movements an identifying the most likely short-term future flow patterns, adaptive control adjusts signal timings in an attempt to optimize signal operations. Both field test and simulation analysis have shown that adaptive control has the potential to provide improved signal operations. Further research is needed to develop a versatile and effective adaptive control logic that can replace traffic-actuated logics. The primary objective of this paper is to discuss the issues and research needs concerning the development of adaptive control logics for applications at isolated intersections. The discussions are focused on the information needs for adaptive control, the selection between a binary choice process and a sequencing process for timing adjustment, and future research needs. To be widely applicable, an adaptive control logic needs a vehicle-monitoring system that can provide reliable information and facilitate simulataneous use of real time and advance information for decision making.
Retroviral Vector—Mediated Cytokine-Gene Transfer into Tumor Cells

(1993). Retroviral Vector—Mediated Cytokine-Gene Transfer into Tumor Cells. Cancer Investigation: Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 345-354.
Cerebral Lateralization of Familiar and Unfamiliar Music Perception in Nonmusicians: A Dual Task Approach

In a dual task procedure that controls for attentional trade-off effects, asymmetrical interference effects were observed in dual task conditions of finger tapping and concurrent processing of familiar and unfamiliar music. Laterality effects suggested that perception of orchestral presentations is largely lateralized to the left hemisphere in both males and females. In a second dual task condition of vocalization and music processing, both males and females displayed interference in speech production during concurrent music processing. Males showed greater left hemispheric interference effects during simultaneous vocalization and music processing.
Can the theory of planned behavior help explain men's psychological help-seeking? Evidence for a mediation effect and clinical implications.

Prior findings show that men as a group seek psychological help at relatively low rates. The current study sought to provide preliminary evidence that Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior can integrate prior research findings and help explain men's psychological help-seeking by testing a mediat
Pediatric Rehabilitation: 3. Facilitating Family-Centered Treatment Decisions

Objective This self-directed learning module focuses on the role of accurate diagnosis, psychological support, and family integration of children who have chronic impairments such as pain, spasticity, or cognitive disability. It is part of the study guide on pediatric rehabiliation in the Self-Directed Physiatric Education Program for practitioners and trainees in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pediatric medicine. The role of therapeutic, medical (traditional and nontraditional) and psychological interventions that improve family and individual function are emphasized. The goal of this article is to refine a learner's knowledge of the impact family-centered care can have on the medical, psychological, financial, and functional capabilities of families to improve treatment decisions in the context of children with disability.
Infertility service use among U.S. women: 1995 and 2002.

Objective To examine trends in use of medical services for infertility, by individual characteristics of women. Design Pooled data from two cycles (1995 and 2002) of the National Survey of Family Growth, a periodically conducted, nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of women 15–44 years of age. Participant(s) The analysis sample was composed of 2,005 women 22–44 years of age with current fertility problems. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Ever having used infertility services, and highest level of services used. Result(s) Between 1995 and 2002, ever-use of infertility services by fertility-impaired women age 22–44 years continued to be closely associated with older age, nulliparity, formal marital status, and higher socioeconomic status (education, household income, and private health insurance). Net of these factors, race and Hispanic origin, showed no significant association with either the use of services overall or the highest level of services used. After controlling for compositional changes in these individual characteristics, a slight decline was seen in ever-use of services overall from 1995 to 2002. No effect of survey year was noted in the highest level of services. Conclusion(s) Infertility service use among fertility-impaired women remains closely tied with socioeconomic factors. The "threshold effect" of these factors has shifted upward to the receipt of more costly services such as assisted reproductive technologies. These higher level services remain a relatively small fraction of the services reported in a general population sample of fertility-impaired women.
Analytic continuation of the polynomial representation of the full, interacting time-independent Green function

Abstract We present an analytic continuation of a polynomial representation of the full, interacting time-independent Green function, thereby enabling the use of negative, imaginary absorbing potentials to shorten the grid necessary to treat scattering problems. The approach retains the clean separation of the energy and Hamiltonian dependences characteristic of our earlier orthogonal polynomial representation of the operator ( E - H +i0 + ) −1 . This treatment, combined with our time-independent wavepacket Lippmann-Schwinger equation method, leads to a computational approach in which all of the energy dependence resides in known analytical expansion coefficients. The Hamiltonian operator appears as the argument of other orthogonal polynomials. These act solely on an initial wavepacket which provides a “universal source” of scattered waves, independent of the particular energies of interest. This energy independence, combined with highly truncated grids, results in an extremely efficient procedure for scattering calculations.
Immunoreactive Calcitonin in Catecholamine Storage Vesicles of Human Pheochromocytoma

The subcellular storage site for catecholamines in normal adrenal gland and pheochromocytoma tissue is the secretory granule or chromaffin granule (vesicle). Since some pheochromocytomas also contain calcitonin, we examined the occurrence and subcellular storage of calcitonin in 15 tumors from 12 patients with pheochromocytoma using a sensitive human calcitonin RIA. Only 1 of these patients had medullary thyroid carcinoma. The tumors of 9 patients contained calcitonin, from 1,705–3,602,457 pg/tumor. Highly purified chromaffin granules were prepared by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The granules from 9 tumors in 8 patients contained calcitonin in amounts varying from 1,156–201,426 pg/tumor, accounting for 24 ± 8% of the total calcitonin. Dilutions of chromaffin granule calcitonin immunoreactivity were parallel to the standard calcitonin RIA curve, which indicated antigenic similarity between pheochromocytoma calcitonin and synthetic human calcitonin; on gel filtration, chromaffin granule calciton...
Gas Assisted Thin-Film Evaporation for Hotspot Thermal Management

Presence of hotspots in microprocessors requires localized dissipation of high heat fluxes. While typical background cooling solutions (e.g. air cooling with heat sinks/spreaders, heat pipes etc.) fail to address hotspots, aggressive fluidic cooling with liquid to vapor phase change can potentially meet this goal. In particular, we have been successful in cooling hotspots with a micro-fabricated device providing evaporative cooling. Fundamentally different from boiling, the device takes advantage of evaporation from the free surface of a very thin film of coolant enhanced by flow of dry sweeping gas. Heat transfer coefficients close to 0.1 MW/m2 K have already been demonstrated exceeding the performance of other contemporary phase change cooling solutions. This development can potentially play a very important role in designing effective thermal solutions for next generation microprocessors, with application in 3D stacked chips, cooling on-chip optical devices and power electronics, among others. In this paper, we briefly describe the various components constituting the device and the experimental procedure employed for testing the device under different operation conditions. In particular, we investigate the effect of flow configuration of the sweep gas on the overall performance of the system. Jet impingement of air is characterized by varying two operating parameters: (1) the separation between the jet’s nozzle and the evaporation surface, and (2) the inclination of the jet with respect to the evaporation surface (i.e., oblique jet impingement). The results from these experiments help elucidate the importance of these two factors in determining the overall performance of the device.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Delayed predictive accuracy of narrative recall after traumatic brain injury: salience and explicitness.

Fifteen adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 15 adults without brain injury listened to narratives, made delayed predictions of recall, and took a delayed recall test. Narrative questions d...
Modeling of Capillary Dryout and Rewetting for Room-Temperature Heat Pipes

An analytical investigation was conducted to examine and predict the capillary dryout and rewetting behaviors occurring at the evaporator section of room-temperature heat pipes during startup. The physical model is based on the displacement of a leading-edge front of a thin liquid layer flowing on finite groove uniformly heated with a constant heat flux. Numerical solutions were obtained by a fully implicit Finite Difference Method, accounting for the movement of the liquid and a known time-variable temperature boundary condition at the liquid front. The velocity and position of the liquid front were found to vary with the applied heat flux, the initial conditions, and the thermophysical properties of the working fluid. The wall temperature distribution in the dried region was also predicted. The working fluid temperature compared well with experimental results. The analysis indicated that a partial or full dryout at the evaporator section may exist for certain heat fluxes.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Adaptive Particle-Distortion Tradeoff Control in Particle Filtering for Video Tracking

This paper presents a novel approach to particle filtering which minimizes the total tracking distortion by considering dynamic variance of proposal density and optimal number of particles for each frame. Traditionally, particle filters use fixed variance of proposal density and fixed number of particles per frame. We propose a tracking distortion measurement and use rate distortion theory to obtain the optimal memory size and particle number allocation equations under different two constraints. We subsequently propose the dynamic proposal variance and optimal particle number allocation algorithm for video tracking systems. Simulation results show the improved performance of our proposed algorithm in comparison to traditional particle filters. To the best of our knowledge, our approach is the first to consider variant numbers of particles for each frame.
Figures of Merit for Control Verification

This paper proposes a methodology for evaluating a controller's ability to satisfy a set of closed-loop specifications when the plant has an arbitrary functional dependency on uncertain parameters. Control verification metrics applicable to deterministic and probabilistic uncertainty models are proposed. These metrics, which result from sizing the largest uncertainty set of a given class for which the specifications are satisfied, enable systematic assessment of competing control alternatives regardless of the methods used to derive them. A particularly attractive feature of the tools derived is that their efficiency and accuracy do not depend on the robustness of the controller. This is in sharp contrast to Monte Carlo based methods where the number of simulations required to accurately approximate the failure probability grows exponentially with its closeness to zero. This framework allows for the integration of complex, high-fidelity simulations of the integrated system and only requires standard optimization algorithms for its implementation.
Applying Systems Engineering in Tactical Wireless Network Analysis with Bayesian Networks

Systems engineering approaches are employed to measure and to analyze vulnerabilities of military tactical RF wireless networks. The goal is to develop smart and innovative performance benchmarks through electronic warfare (EW) modeling and simulation scenarios. Systematic systems engineering approaches with radio frequency (RF) electronic warfare modeling and simulation scenarios are built to support research in vulnerability analysis. RF electronic warfare models are used to provide a practical yet simple process for assessing and investigate the vulnerability of tactical RF systems. The focus is on military or tactical wireless network within a system of systems (SoS) context research area. Wireless RF communication network vulnerabilities critically studied within Department of Defense (DoD) organizations to provide a comprehensive network vulnerability assessment approach. Researchers have proposed a variety of methods to build network trees with chains of exploits, and then perform normal post-graph vulnerability analysis. This paper presents an approach to use Bayesian network to model, calculate and analyze all potential vulnerability paths in wireless RF networks.
Perturbation analysis for circles, spheres, and generalized hyperspheres fitted to data by geometric total least-squares

A continuous extension of the objective function to a projective space guarantees that for each data set there exists at least one hyperplane or hypersphere minimizing the average squared distance to the data. For data sufficiently close to a hypersphere, as the collinearity of the data increases, so does the sensitivity of the fitted hypersphere to perturbations of the data.
Ethnic and gender differences in smoking and smoking cessation in a population of young adult air force recruits.

Abstract Purpose. To examine gender and ethnic differences in smoking and smoking cessation in a population of young adult military recruits. Design. A self-administered survey of demographics, tobacco use, and other health risk behaviors was administered at the start of basic military training. Setting. The study was conducted at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, where all U.S. Air Force recruits complete basic military training. Subjects. All recruits who entered the U.S. Air Force between September 1995 and September 1996 participated in this study (n = 32,144; 100% participation rate). Measures. Recruits completed a written 53-item behavioral risk questionnaire. Measures examined in the present study included smoking status (ever having smoked a cigarette, current daily smoking, and quitting); demographics (ethnicity, gender, education, family income, and age); smoking history; and nicotine dependence. Results. Rates of ever smoking, current daily smoking, and quitting were examined in mult...
Exposure to ethanol during pregnancy in mice: Potential importance of dose for the development of tolerance in offspring

CD-1 albino mice were given Portagen-10 percent ethanol (ETOH) or isocaloric Portagen-sucrose during pregnancy to determine if tolerance developed in utero and to describe the temporal pattern of its decline postnatally. ETOH mothers did not significantly increase their consumption of ETOH but gained in body weight during pregnancy, showed no signs in the open field of withdrawal from ETOH shortly after delivery and showed less pup-caring behavior than pair-fed controls (PFC). Among offspring 1, 3, 10, 25 and 60 days old, only 25-day old ETOH pups metabolized and cleared an anesthetic dose of ETOH more efficiently than PFC animals, suggesting the absence of Dispositional Tolerance in the other animals. PFC offspring 10 days old took significantly longer to lose the righting reflex than their ETOH counterparts following the anesthetic dose of ETOH, the difference being opposite that which would suggest the occurrence of Adaptive Tolerance. Data are discussed primarily in terms of decreases in dose of ETOH to which mothers and fetuses were exposed during pregnancy.
Differential Vulnerability between Postconcussion Self-Report and Objective Malingering Tests in Identifying Simulated Mild Head Injury

The present study examined the ability of analog malingerers to feign postconcussion symptoms and neuropsychological performance patterns seen in mild head-injured patients. Experimental subjects were randomly assigned to either a control condition, asked to feign deficits consistent with mild head injury without task specific instruction, or feign deficits while given task-specific instruction. A separate group of mild head-injured patients served as a clinical comparison group. Analog malingering groups accurately simulated levels of postconcussive symptoms seen in the mild head-injured patients. However, poorer performance was displayed by the analog malingerers on the objective malingering tests. Coaching did not facilitate realistic patterns of performance for analog malingerers. The results of this study indicate that analog malingerers accurately replicated self-reported postconcussive symptoms, but were less able to simulate objective clinical malingering test performance. These results suggest that self-report measures of postconcussive symptoms and clinical tests are differentially vulnerable to simulation attempts.
A novel circadian phenotype based on firefly luciferase expression in transgenic plants

A 320-bp fragment of the Arabidopsis cab2 promoter is sufficient to mediate transcriptional regulation by both phytochrome and the circadian clock. We fused this promoter fragment to the firefly luciferase (Luc) gene to create a real-time reporter for regulated gene expression in intact plants. Cab2::Luc transcript accumulated in the expected patterns and luciferase activity was closely correlated to cab2::Luc mRNA abundance in both etiolated and green seedlings. The concentration of the bulk of luciferase protein did not reflect these patterns but maintained a relatively constant level, implying that a post-translational mechanism(s) leads to the high-amplitude regulation of luciferase activity. We used a low-light video imaging system to establish that luciferase bioluminescence in vivo accurately reports the temporal and spatial regulation of cab2 transcription in single seedlings. The unique qualities of the firefly luciferase system allowed us to monitor regulated gene expression in real time in individual multicellular organisms. This noninvasive marker for temporal regulation at the molecular level constitutes a circadian phenotype, which may be used to isolate mutants in the circadian clock.
Effects of various levels of dietary copper and zinc on channel catfish

Furified egg white diets containing 1 or 20 mg Cu/kg and 20, 100 or 200 mg Zn/kg in a factorial arrangement were fed to triplicate groups of fingerling channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) in aquaria to investigate possible interactions between dietary copper and zinc. At the end of the 12-week feeding trial, weight gain and feed efficiency values of catfish fed the various diets were similar. Dietary zinc had a significant (P < 0.01) effect on hematocrit, which was generally reduced at higher levels of zinc intake. However, such a response was not observed in hemoglobin from fish fed the various diets. Dietary zinc also had a significant (P < 0.01) effect on catfish bone zinc and liver iron, but not liver zinc concentrations. Hepatic copper concentration and activities of heart cytochrome c oxidase and liver copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD) were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in catfish fed 1 mg Cu/kg compared to those fed 20 mg Cu/kg, while manganese SOD showed a compensatory increase in activity at low copper intake. Based on these enzyme activities as well as hemoglobin and tissue mineral concentrations, increasing levels of dietary zinc did not affect copper bioavailability. Therefore, supplementation of high levels of zinc in practical diets should not impair the copper status of channel catfish.
Early fractionation methods and the origins of the NSD concept

The concept of the time factor in radiotherapy originated in the controversy surrounding single-dose and fractionated treatments during the first 20 years of this century. The success of Coutard's fractionated treatments of larynx tumors was an important factor in the abandonment of single-dose treatments. There was considerable research afterwards into the influence of dose rate and overall time of treatment on the responses of normal tissues. Recovery was modeled in terms of the Schwarzschild law of photochemistry, as exemplified by the analysis of Strandqvist in log dose-log time coordinates. Different conventions were followed in defining the time for a single-dose treatment. Subsequently the concept arose that the slopes of isoeffect lines relating dose and treatment time for normal tissues and tumors were different and moreover that the effects of fraction number and overall time could be separated; these developments constituted the foundation of the Ellis NSD model. It had an important influence on clinical practice and was reasonably successful in predicting isoeffective regimens for acute effects. It failed to predict severe late effects after large dose fractions. The dissociation between acute and late effects with altered fractionation led to recognition of the importance of the ratio alpha/beta in characterizing the fractionation sensitivity of tissues.
the erasure of women's writing in sociocultural anthropology

Writing, citation, and other canon-setting patterns in the recent (1977–86) literature of sociocultural anthropology reveal the impact of gender relations. In this article, citation is treated as a social practice which, among other things, legitimizes the voice of the cited author. While women produce a substantial proportion of the work available for citation, the proportion of women authors cited is lower than would be expected on that basis, and it varies with the citing author's gender. Annual meetings programs also show a tendency for women to be extremely active, but the frequent focus on gender and feminism is not reflected in overviews of the field. Conclusions are drawn about the relative marginalization of women's work and about the relationship between the warranting of women's academic work and the public or private context of its evaluation.
A study of piezoelectric orthorhombic Ta 2 O 5

In 1985 it was first reported that monoclinic Ta2O5 has piezoelectric properties comparable to ZnO. In this work we report on the deposition, characterization, and qualitative assessment of the piezoelectric behavior of orthorhombic Ta2O5. Reactive magnetron sputtering was used to deposit thin films of Ta2O5 onto substrates of 316L stainless steel. Without substrate heating the crystallinity was poor. A rapid thermal anneal improved the crystallinity. The orthorhombic phase was dominantly present on all substrates. The piezoelectric property was qualitatively assessed, including a high temperature test at 650 °C.
Hydrothermal stability of cerium modified Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst for nitric oxide decomposition

Effects of cerium(III) ions are reported in this paper on the activity and hydrothermal stability of Cu-ZSM-5 catalysts for nitric oxide decomposition in water vapor-containing gas streams. Wet conditions drastically decrease the NO decomposition activity of unpromoted Cu-ZSM-5 catalysts at 500°C. Activity is partially recovered upon removal of water vapor. Copper ion species migration leading to CuO formation inside the zeolite channels has been identified by STEM/EDX, XRD, and XPS as the major pathway to deactivation. The cerium modified Cu-ZSM-5 displays higher wet-gas activity for NO decomposition and recovers a higher fraction of its initial dry-gas activity than the Cu-ZSM-5 catalyst after removal of water vapor. The presence of cerium suppresses CuO particle formation and dealumination, providing higher hydrothermal stability for the zeolite structure and higher copper dispersion, all of which contribute to better catalytic performance of the Ce,Cu-ZSM-5 materials.
Shape selectivity assessment of stationary phases in gas chromatography

Column selectivity is examined for a series of smectic liquid crystalline columns and is compared with methyl and C18 polysiloxane columns for the separation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) isomers. A set of extended and condensed solute probes is described that provides a sensitive indication of variations in column shape selectivity. Examples of shape selectivity differences are presented for smectic liquid crystalline columns and 5% phenyl polysiloxane columns using various PAH isomer sets. Variations in selectivity have been observed among different smectic liquid crystalline columns, and this problem appears more significant than for methyl polysiloxane columns. The selectivity ration for tetraphenylmethane and p-terphenyl provides a sensitive indication of column shape selectivity, with a change in elution order occurring between ordered (smectic liquid crystalline) columns and non-ordered (methyl polysiloxane) columns. Shape selectivity differences indicated by this test mixture are apparent for more complex PAH isomer mixtures. Despite stationary phase selectivity variability, smectic liquid crystalline columns offer considerable potential for solving difficult separation problems involving structured solutes.
The respiratory chain of alkaliphilic bacteria

Alkaliphilic bacteria that grow at extremely high pH are confronted by particular bioenergetic problems in carrying out oxidative phosphorylation. This project focused on the properties and adaptations of the respiratory chain. The respiratory chain as a whole, the redox poises of its components and several individual complexes of the respiratory chain of alkaliphilic Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4 have been characterized as part of this project and, importantly, this project has helped support the development of genetic tools that make B. pseudofirmus OF4 the most genetically tractable and, hence, most bioenergetically characterized extreme alkaliphile. Evidence has been obtained for a pivotal role of the cca3-type terminal oxidase in oxidative phosphorylation, especially at high pH and motifs that may be relevant to that special role have been identified.
Historical biogeography, ecology and species richness

Ecology and historical (phylogeny-based) biogeography have much to offer one another, but exchanges between these fields have been limited. Historical biogeography has become narrowly focused on using phylogenies to discover the history of geological connections among regions. Conversely, ecologists often ignore historical biogeography, even when its input can be crucial. Both historical biogeographers and ecologists have more-or-less abandoned attempts to understand the processes that determine the large-scale distribution of clades. Here, we describe the chasm that has developed between ecology and historical biogeography, some of the important questions that have fallen into it and how it might be bridged. To illustrate the benefits of an integrated approach, we expand on a model that can help explain the latitudinal gradient of species richness.