cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Spinal Tuberculosis (Pott’s Disease)

Researchers at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and Institute of Child Health, London, UK reviewed their experience of childhood spinal tuberculosis (TB) over a 15-year period (1995-2010).
Manufacturing constraints — reducing Volatile Organic Compound air emissions

This paper explores the challenge faced by semiconductor manufacturing facilities to reduce their environmental footprint and avoid regulatory constraints. Wafer fabs continue to increase in size and complexity, while regulatory emissions limits continue to shrink. Focus is on volatile organic compound emissions (VOCs), which pose the most likely constraining air permit limit. Areas covered include common air permit limits and requirements, analysis of VOC sources at a typical semiconductor facility and examples of wins from Intel's VOC reduction toolbox including improved waste management procedures. Finally attention is given to remaining emissions problems and what must be done to ensure future manufacturing capability.
Marx’s Capital: Philosophy and Political Economy

(1981). Marx’s Capital: Philosophy and Political Economy. Journal of Economic Issues: Vol. 15, The Papers of J. Fagg Foster, pp. 1080-1083.
Anhedonia as a clinical correlate of suicidal thoughts in clinical ketamine trials

Abstract Background Identifying clinical correlates associated with reduced suicidal ideation may highlight new avenues for the treatment of suicidal thoughts. Anhedonia occurs across psychiatric diagnoses and has been associated with specific neural circuits in response to rapid-acting treatments, such as ketamine. This analysis sought to evaluate whether reductions in suicidal ideation after ketamine administration were related to reduced levels of anhedonia, independent of depressive symptoms. Methods This post-hoc analysis included treatment-resistant patients with either major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD) from several clinical trials of ketamine. Anhedonia was assessed using a subscale of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS). The outcome of interest was suicidal ideation, as measured by a subscale of the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI5), one day post-ketamine administration. Results Anhedonia, as measured by the SHAPS, was associated with suicidal thoughts independent of depressive symptoms both before and after ketamine administration. One day post-ketamine administration, improvements on the SHAPS accounted for an additional 13% of the variance in suicidal thought reduction, beyond the influence of depressive symptoms. The BDI anhedonia subscale was not significantly associated with suicidal thoughts after adjusting for depressive symptoms. Limitations Data were limited to patients experiencing a major depressive episode and may not be generalizable to patients experiencing an active suicidal crisis. Conclusions Suicidal thoughts may be related to symptoms of anhedonia independent of other depressive symptoms. These results have implications for the potential mechanisms of action of ketamine on suicidal thoughts.
Was the Universe actually radiation dominated prior to nucleosynthesis

Maybe not. String theory approaches to both beyond the Standard Model and inflationary model building generically predict the existence of scalars (moduli) that are light compared to the scale of quantum gravity. These moduli become displaced from their low energy minima in the early Universe and lead to a prolonged matter-dominated epoch prior to big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). In this paper, we examine whether nonperturbative effects such as parametric resonance or tachyonic instabilities can shorten, or even eliminate, the moduli condensate and matter-dominated epoch. Such effects depend crucially on the strength of the couplings, and we find that unless the moduli become strongly coupled, the matter-dominated epoch is unavoidable. In particular, we find that in string and M-theory compactifications where the lightest moduli are near the TeV scale, a matter-dominated epoch will persist until the time of big bang nucleosynthesis.
Colon dysregulation in methamphetamine self-administering HIV-1 transgenic rats.

The integrity and function of the gut is impaired in HIV-infected individuals, and gut pathogenesis may play a role in several HIV-associated disorders. Methamphetamine is a popular illicit drug abused by HIV-infected individuals. However, the effect of methamphetamine on the gut and its potential to exacerbate HIV-associated gut pathology is not known. To shed light on this scenario, we evaluated colon barrier pathology in a rat model of the human comorbid condition. Intestinal barrier integrity and permeability were assessed in drug-naive Fischer 344 HIV-1 transgenic (Tg) and non-Tg rats, and in Tg and non-Tg rats instrumented with jugular cannulae trained to self-administer methamphetamine or serving as saline-yoked controls. Intestinal permeability was determined by measuring the urine content of orally gavaged sugars. Intestinal barrier integrity was evaluated by immunoblotting or immunofluorescence of colon claudin-1 and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), two major tight junction proteins that regulate gut epithelial paracellular permeability. Both non-Tg and Tg rats self-administered moderate amounts of methamphetamine. These amounts were sufficient to increase colon permeability, reduce protein level of claudin-1, and reduce claudin-1 and ZO-1 immunofluorescence in Tg rats relative to non-Tg rats. Methamphetamine decreased tight junction immunofluorescence in non-Tg rats, with a similar, but non-significant trend observed in Tg rats. However, the effect of methamphetamine on tight junction proteins was subthreshold to gut leakiness. These findings reveal that both HIV-1 proteins and methamphetamine alter colon barrier integrity, and indicate that the gut may be a pathogenic site for these insults.
The influence of environmental gradients on molluscan diversity, community structure, body size, and predation in a carbonate tidal creek, San Salvador (The Bahamas)

The ecosystem at Pigeon Creek in San Salvador, the Bahamas, provides a unique opportunity for the analysis of complex modern biological processes and how they operate within spatial and chemical gradients in order to assess the stratigraphic scale of the incipient fossil record. This study considers the influence of environmental factors upon molluscan diversity, body size, and predator-prey interactions in order to assess the role that gradients may play at a single horizon. Samples were collected from 26 different localities within a carbonate intertidal creek, Pigeon Creek. Molluscan samples were identified to species level, measured for specimen length and width, presence of a drill hole, and drill diameter, and ordinated using canonical correspondence analyses (CCA). The CCA ordination determined salinity to be the strongest influence of environmental gradients measured for both gastropod and bivalve distributions. Our results show that both molluscan diversity and median body size decrease as salinity concentrations move from marine to elevated salinity conditions. Predatory drilling frequency is not significantly influenced by salinity; however, there is a strong correspondence between predator and prey body size at marine to intermediate salinities, a relationship which dissipates at elevated salinities. This study reinforces the idea that small scale local environmental gradients can strongly influence biotic communities and that spatial and environmental variation must be considered in order to properly interpret temporal trends in the fossil record, even at sub-parasequence scales.
Improving the online video chat experience

With the recent proliferation of netbooks and tablets with webcams transforming oneself virtually is easier than ever before. However, the software used for such devices like video chat programs and online role playing do little to enhance the connectedness of the users involved. In this paper, we present Touch Live Connect (TLC), a product concept for an enhanced video chat experience that is aimed towards improving the online shared experience. TLC enhances the online experience by enabling people to do activities together in video mode. Users watch online videos together, transform to different backgrounds and also perform multi-way chat. TLC can also detect user motions and appropriately enhance the environment of the chat. This helps people emulate the face to face experience beyond just chatting and makes them feel connected. We developed three prototypes of the product concept and tested them on sets of users, and conclude that (1) Users feel more connected by sharing experiences rather than just seeing visual representation of self, (2) Amplification of human gestures over video is an important feature to improve video communication and (3) Users find a handheld tablet as most useful device for video communication and television as least useful.
Fast Task-Aware Architecture Inference

Neural architecture search has been shown to hold great promise towards the automation of deep learning. However in spite of its potential, neural architecture search remains quite costly. To this point, we propose a novel gradient-based framework for efficient architecture search by sharing information across several tasks. We start by training many model architectures on several related (training) tasks. When a new unseen task is presented, the framework performs architecture inference in order to quickly identify a good candidate architecture, before any model is trained on the new task. At the core of our framework lies a deep value network that can predict the performance of input architectures on a task by utilizing task meta-features and the previous model training experiments performed on related tasks. We adopt a continuous parametrization of the model architecture which allows for efficient gradient-based optimization. Given a new task, an effective architecture is quickly identified by maximizing the estimated performance with respect to the model architecture parameters with simple gradient ascent. It is key to point out that our goal is to achieve reasonable performance at the lowest cost. We provide experimental results showing the effectiveness of the framework despite its high computational efficiency.
Projects and/or Papers? Finding a Good Fit

Teaching often presents instructors with dilemmas and decisions related to requiring a project, a paper or both. This interactive session will include discussion and offer hints, the opportunity to develop a plan for a course, and time to give and receive peer feedback.The session will consider four core ideas:â€¢ Determining key decision criteria for inclusion of a project/paper /or both in a particular course.â€¢ Framing the scope of a project /paper and number of students per project/paperâ€¢ Choosing â€˜deliverablesâ€™ and time framesâ€¢ Selecting evaluation criteriaI believe faculty will be interested as I am sure that others have had the experience of being either overwhelmed by what happens when a great idea for projects balloons a bit out of control or feeling let-down that there is far less apparent learning from the project than expected. In my experience, any gathering of Mason faculty to talk about teaching engenders great exchange of ideas and experiences, and this session offers a framework for that sharing related to project or paper assignments, as well as some practical hints. In fact, my expectation is that this session will yield a group of ideas that can be shared via the CTE web. The structural thread for this session is backward design as the base for decision criteria.-By looking at the desired student learning, and considering Bloomâ€™s categories, or Perryâ€™s developmental scale among other ideas, an instructor can design assignments for projects/papers leading to the desired learning. Framing the scope involves both the â€˜sizeâ€™ of the assignment, and its focus, along with the desired learning. Scope can inform the choices for group or individual work. Deliverables are demonstrations of students learning.. The quality of those deliverables is influenced by an appropriate time frame. For example, several smaller pieces of work may build to a stronger final project or paper. Elements of deliverables can be many things, and when the focus is on the desired student learning, these elements =become clearer to both instructor and students. One valuable attribute of backward design is that evaluation criteria are often self evident. Participants will begin by considering a desired student learning, and using the four core ideas. Faculty discussion, idea exchange, and reflection will contribute to a session experience that can be applied to additional course or syllabi development.
Bounded action: Hannah Arendt on the history of science and the limits of freedom:

The article asks why and how Hannah Arendt framed The Human Condition as a history of modern science. It answers that, in telling the history of instrumental rationality and the work of the experim...
Clinical validation of long-range PCR assay for MLL partial tandem duplications for acute myeloid leukemia.

7033Background: Partial tandem duplication of the mixed lineage leukemia gene (MLL-PTD) occurs in about 3% to 5% of adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML), mostly in patients with normal karyotypes, an...
Physics in Biology and Medicine, 5th ed.

From the book back cover copy: “Paul Davidovits’ Physics in Biology and Medicine provides a high-quality and highly relevant physics grounding for students working toward careers in the medical and related professions. The text does not assume a prior background in physics, but provides it as required.” Furthermore, “This revised edition delivers a concise and engaging introduction to the role and importance of physics in biology and medicine. It is ideal for courses in biophysics, medical physics, and related subjects.” This reviewer agrees with the above, and highly recommends consideration of this text as a supplement to introductory physics or bioengineering courses, and as a potential student recruitment tool to interest students to bioengineering topics and programs.
Exfoliated and water dispersible biocarbon nanotubes for enzymology applications.

Abstract In this chapter, we report a simple and facile method to armor enzymes with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which are exfoliated, and debundled using bovine serum albumin (BSA). The fabricated CNT/BSA dispersions are biofriendly, biocompatible, defect-free, and highly stable solutions. BSA gives maximum exfoliation efficiency, exceeding the 4 mg/mL of CNT concentration compared to any previous reports. Further, the produced bioCNT dispersions were characterized by UV-visible, Raman, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Exfoliation and debundling of the bioCNT dispersions is possible due to the π–π interaction, hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction, and electrostatic attractive forces driving the adsorption of BSA on CNTs surface. Protein adsorption then makes a highly stable suspension in water that can be stored for a prolonged period. CNT dispersions are stable over a wide range of pH from 3 to 10 and at 4 °C or 25 °C for more than 2 months. Here, we also report the facile, inexpensive and green-chemistry method to fabricate a buckypaper (CNT paper), composed of the high packing density, self-assembled and randomly oriented bioCNTs, and these assemblies could be used in many emerging applications like air and water purification, nanocomposites, energy storage, and biosensing. Moreover, the CNT dispersions stabilized by BSA were successfully used in enzyme binding and kinetic studies and bound enzyme retained substantial catalytic activity. The current approach may facilitate bulk production of water dispersed CNTs in both academic and industrial laboratories. This is done by a simple method of stirring, which provides new opportunities for a wider range of CNT applications.
All Good Things Must Come to an End: a Potential Boundary Condition on the Potency of Successive Relearning

Successive relearning involves practicing to-be-learned content until a designated level of mastery is achieved in each of multiple practice sessions. As compared with practicing the content to the same criterion in a single session, successive relearning has been shown to dramatically boost students’ retention of simple verbal materials. Does the documented potency of successive relearning extend to the learning of mathematical procedures? Across three experiments, 431 college students read instructions about how to solve four types of probability problems and were then presented with isomorphic practice problems until they correctly solved three problems of each type. In the successive relearning group, students engaged in practice until one problem of each type was correctly solved in each of three different practice sessions. In the single-session group, students engaged in practice until three problems of each type were correctly solved in a single practice session. Both groups completed a final test involving novel problems 1 week after the end of practice. When an effect size was estimated across all experiments, final test performance showed a significant but only small advantage of successive relearning over single-session learning (pooled d = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.08, 0.49). Secondary analyses revealed that correctly solving a problem did not significantly boost the likelihood of subsequent success, which also could explain the relatively low level of test performance for both groups. These outcomes identify a potential boundary condition for the benefits of using successive relearning to enhance student achievement when learning mathematical procedures.
Are ED visits in cancer patients preventable? Care patterns before an ED visit.

2023Background: Medicare’s Oncology Care Model alternative payment program participation requires 24-hr patient access to clinician phone advice. Many participating practices have established oncol...
Refiguring the Plantationocene

While sympathetic to debates about the utility, accuracy, and significance of the “Anthropocene,” in this brief essay, we are most interested in implicating racialization, colonization, and their ongoing place in the capitalist world-economy and global ecological change. To this end, we point to the potential of thinking with the “Plantationocene,” considering that to invoke the plantation is to simultaneously contend with the intermeshing organization of the colonialist/imperialist, racialist, and capitalist dimensions of the world-system as directly related to global environmental transformation since the 15th century.
Robust Irregular Tensor Factorization and Completion for Temporal Health Data Analysis

Electronic health records (EHR) are often generated and collected across a large number of patients featuring distinctive medical conditions and clinical progress over a long period of time, which results in unaligned records along the time dimension. EHR is also prone to missing and erroneous data due to various practical reasons. Recently, PARAFAC2 has been re-popularized for successfully extracting meaningful medical concepts (phenotypes) from such temporal EHR by irregular tensor factorization. Despite recent advances, existing PARAFAC2 methods are unable to robustly handle erroneousness and missing data which are prevalent in clinical practice. We propose REPAIR, a Robust tEmporal PARAFAC2 method for IRregular tensor factorization and completion method, to complete an irregular tensor and extract phenotypes in the presence of missing and erroneous values. To achieve this, REPAIR designs a new effective low-rank regularization function for PARAFAC2 to handle missing and erroneous entries, which has not been explored for irregular tensors before. In addition, the optimization of REPAIR allows it to enjoy the same computational scalability and incorporate a variety of constraints as the state-of-the-art PARAFAC2 method for efficient and meaningful phenotype extraction. We evaluate REPAIR on two real temporal EHR datasets to verify its robustness in tensor factorization against various missing and outlier conditions. Furthermore, we conduct two case studies to demonstrate that REPAIR is able to extract meaningful and useful phenotypes from such corrupted temporal EHR. Our implementation is publicly available https://github.com/Emory-AIMS/Repair.
Neural Flip-Flops III: Stomatogastric Ganglion

The stomatogastric ganglion (STG) is a group of about 30 neurons that resides on the stomach in decapod crustaceans. Its two central pattern generators (CPGs) control the chewing action of the gastric mill and the peristaltic movement of food through the pylorus to the gut. The STG has been studied extensively because it has properties that are common to all nervous systems and because of the small number of neurons and other features that make it convenient to study. So many details are known that the STG is considered a classic test case in neuroscience for the reductionist strategy of explaining the emergence of macro-level phenomena from micro-level data. In spite of the intense scrutiny the STG has received, how it generates its rhythmic patterns of bursts remains unknown. The novel neural networks presented here model the pyloric CPG of the American lobster (Homarus americanus). Each model9s connectivity is explicit, and its operation depends only on minimal neuron capabilities of excitation and inhibition. One type of model CPGs, flip-flop ring oscillators, is apparently new to engineering, making it an example of neuroscience and logic circuit design informing each other. Several testable predictions are given here, and STG phenomena are shown to support several predictions of neural flip-flops that were given in a previous paper on short-term memory. The model CPGs are not the same as the more complex pyloric CPG. But they show how neurons can be connected to produce oscillations, and there are enough similarities in significant features that they may be considered first approximations, or perhaps simplified versions, of STG architecture. The similarities include 1) mostly inhibitory synapses; 2) pairs of cells with reciprocal, inhibitory inputs, complementary outputs that are approximately 180 degrees out of phase, and state changes occurring with the high output changing first; 3) cells that have reciprocal, inhibitory inputs with more than one other cell; and 4) six cells that produce coordinated oscillations with the same period, four phases distributed approximately uniformly over the period, and half of the burst durations approximately 1/4 of the period and the other half 3/8. These variables cannot be controlled independently in the design, suggesting a similar architecture in the models and the STG. Some of the neural network designs can be derived from electronic logic circuit designs simply by moving each negation symbol from one end of a connection to the other. This does not change the logic of the network, but it changes each logic gate to one that can be implemented with a single neuron.
Epithelioid Sarcoma of the External Auditory Canal: An Uncommon Tumor at an Unusual Site and a Brief Overview of the Literature.

We present a case (41 years old pregnant female) with epithelioid sarcoma arising in the left external auditory canal. On immunohistochemistry, the tumor cell diffusely expressed cytokeratins and showed patchy expression of ERG and CD34. The neoplastic cells demonstrated uniform loss of INI1-expression. Epithelioid sarcoma arising in the external auditory canal is rare. Awareness that ES may rarely arise at unusual sites is of critical importance in order to apply a broad enough panel in the immunohistochemical study, so a misdiagnosis of carcinoma can be avoided.
Psychological distress, attitudes toward seeking help, and utilization of college counseling at a predominantly minority college

This study examined psychological distress among students at a predominantly-minority college, attitudes toward seeking help, and utilization of college counseling services. Demographic variables a...
What Makes or Breaks Evidence-Based Supervision? Staff and Organizational Predictors of Evidence-Based Practice in Probation.

Research on staff and organizational factors that affect receptivity, adoption, feasibility, and utilization of innovations in justice settings is limited. This study uses survey data from 349 empl...
Theoretical derivation and clinical dose-response quantification of a unified multi-activation (UMA) model of cell survival from a logistic equation

Objective:To theoretically derive a unified multiactivation (UMA) model of cell survival after ionising radiation that can accurately assess doses and responses in radiotherapy and X-ray imaging.Me...
House-lot gardens in Santarém, Pará, Brazil: Linking rural with urban

The division between rural and urban sectors of the landscape in many parts of the world is increasingly blurred. House-lot or homegardens offer a perspective on understanding rural-urban linkages since they are frequently a landscape feature in both settings and the exchanges of their products link the two. House-lot gardens are an under-researched component of the agricultural repertoires of smallholders in many parts of the world. Urban house-lot gardens in particular, have until recently not received much attention despite their critical importance to urban livelihoods. This paper presents findings from research on house-lot gardens in rural and urban zones of Santarem, Para, Brazil, one of Amazonia's largest municipalities. The research demonstrates that garden products are important for household subsistence, but even more importantly product exchanges between rural and urban kin households help sustain critical social networks that subsidize urban life. Gardens are a link between urban and rural settings as products, germplasm, and household members move between the two. People are urban and rural at the same time which demonstrates that households can be multi-local.
Parameter identification for vertical ground reaction forces on feet while running

The human foot is subjected to ground reaction forces during running. These forces have been studied for decades to reduce the related injuries and increase comfort. A four-degree-of-freedom system has been used in the literature to simulate the human body motion during the touch-down. However, there are still inconsistencies between the simulation results and experimental measurements. In this study, an optimization technique is proposed to obtain the required parameters to estimate the vertical ground reaction force using the measurements from actual runners. The touch-down velocities of the rigid and wobbling body masses were also treated as optimization variables. It was shown that the proposed parameters can be adjusted to represent a particular shoe type. Specifically, vertical ground reaction force parameters and touch-down velocities were obtained for shoes with various insole properties and cushioning technologies. The results of this study suggest that the human locomotion system reacts to the shoe properties by regulating the velocities of the body wobbling and rigid masses. The magnitude and the load rate obtained using the proposed parameters are consistent with the experimental data. It is shown that the viscoelastic properties of the shoe will significantly affect the load rate but not the load magnitude.
Glutamine Antagonists in Chemotherapy

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the information already available, concerning inhibitors of enzymatic reactions that require L-glutamine. In addition, new information is presented relevant to the possible usefulness of such compounds in conjunction with L-asparaginase for the treatment of cancer. The recent success of L-asparaginase in the therapy of certain human neoplasms has prompted a reconsideration of the compounds that can alter L-glutamine metabolism, because L-glutamine is necessary, in most mammalian systems, for the synthesis of L-asparagine, both azaserinc and azotomycin appear to be synergistic with L-asparaginase against the L5178Y mouse leukemia and L-asparaginase (EC-2) of the form in clinical use has intrinsic L-glutaminase activity that may play a role in producing its therapeutic effect. The L-asparaginase derived from E. coli that is active at a physiological pH also has intrinsic L-glutaminase activity. L-asparaginase derived from guinea pig or agouti serum, on the other hand, lacks such activity. Both EC-2 and the preparations with only L-asparagine-hydrolyzing capacity have marked antitumor activity against a number of animal neoplasms. However, the EC-2 preparation appears to be more active, at least against the 6CSHED tumor, on the basis of equivalent L-asparaginase activity. L-glutaminase deserves further evaluation with regard to possible usefulness as an antineoplastic agent, especially in combination chemotherapy.
The Feasibility of Quantitative Assessment of Security

In general, quantitative models of security have not met with a very warm acceptance. This has been a result of a number of factors. First of all, research in security has largely concentrated on high-assurance systems for which quantitative measures may not be realistic. Secondly, research in security has focussed on confidentiality, which is, at least in theory, possible to guarantee to a high degree of assurance even when most of the system is assumed to be actively trying to subvert the security policy. Thirdly, research in security generally operated in isolation from consideration of other system requirements.
Sequence-specific crosslinking agents for nucleic acids. Use of 6-bromo-5,5-dimethoxyhexanohydrazide for crosslinking cytidine to guanosine and crosslinking RNA to complementary sequences of DNA.

Abstract A class of compounds of the form: NH2NHCO(CH2)nC(OR)2CHR′X has been designed to allow selective blocking of specific genetic sequences of DNA and RNA (Summerton, unpublished data). This paper describes the synthesis and use of 6-bromo-5,5-dimethoxyhexanohydrazide for such site-specific inactivation. In model reactions it is shown that this compound can be attached to the C-4 position of cytidine and that, after activation, the cytidine-bound agent crosslinks to the N-7 position of guanosine. This reaction sequence has been applied to the crosslinking of bacteriophage T7 RNA to its complementary DNA in a highly specific fashion. The RNA is derivatized with the hydrazide reagent, activated, and incubated under annealing conditions with the complementary DNA, resulting in crosslinks between the two strands that are stable to denaturing conditions, dependent on the presence of the crosslinking agent, and specific for the complementary DNA sequence. These studies show that the title compound is a promising sequence-specific blocking agent for nucleic acids. The capability of introducing site-specific blocks in DNA and RNA in this way may have a wide variety of applications in the study of genetic processes. In particular, the combination of this compound with appropriate restriction fragments may enable systematic mapping and characterization of viral genomes.
Machine learning and its application at Nooksack falls hydroelectric station

Copyright © 2005, American Association for Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved. The objective of this project is to control water delivery and distribution at Nooksack Falls Hydroelectric Station (NFHS) in order to maximize efficiency of the system, thereby increasing energy generation. Two machine learning algorithms will be applied. (1) Q-learning a reinforcement learning approach to obtain a set of roughly optimal configurations. (2) Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) rough configurations gathered by the Q-learning agent will be used to train the RNN. The RNN will refine these configurations as well as enabling lifelong learning. The significance of this project is to demonstrate the practical utility of the machine learning techniques described above when applied to realworld processes such as NFHS. Utility process control has advanced towards increasing productivity and reliability, while decreasing operating costs by replacing humans with automated systems. When NFHS began operation in 1906, it required 24-hour manned operation, a job shared by several men with families living on site. In the 1970s a system of electromechanical relays, DC positioning motors, and low pressure hydraulics were added, decreasing the need for operator attendance. In 2003 a more sophisticated set of controls were added including: high pressure hydraulics, a programmable logic controller (PLC), and a host of relay and analog sensors providing information on plant state. The evolved control configuration outlined above is typical of modern utility process control. Sensor inputs, along with a control scheme devised by plant operators and engineers are programmed into the PLC, which operates the plant according to adjustable set-points. This works well for static processes, those without a great variance of operating conditions. However, NFHS is a dynamic process. Fluctuating river flow conditions, waterborne debris, equipment wear, and mechanical problems are variables impacting NFHS's energy production. For the process to remain optimal, set-points should be adjusted accordingly.
The Museum and Its Relationships as a Loosely Coupled System

Currently dominant ideas about the social accountability of museums demand that museums produce “intended outcomes”: positive changes to visitors. Proponents commonly depict this process as a “logic model,” a tightly controlled sequence of events that moves from goal to intended outcome. A tightly coupled system obliges all elements to work toward a common goal. But studies in a variety of fields have shown that tightly coupled systems are achievable only under specific environmental conditions, which are not met within the network of relationships in which museums work. Instead, this article views the museum and its relationships as a loosely coupled system. Each element has its own purposes, and strives to maintain its own autonomy. Interests overlap, but are not identical. In the loosely coupled system, encounters generate a wide and unpredictable range of events. This approach offers advantages for the long-term sustainability of museums.
Videotex for news and business data: Comparison of user response to two information retrieval applications

Abstract An empirical comparison of user response to two information services offered by a prototype videotex system indicated that the business (ie farm market data) service was rated as more efficient and that users browsed more in that service than in the consumer (ie news) service. Further, both efficiency ratings and amount of browsing were more strongly correlated with amount of service use, ratings of service value and ratings of dependence upon the service for the business service than for the consumer service. Browsing thus seems to be a utitarian surveillance behaviour rather than a communication play behaviour in this setting.
The Physiocrats and the World of the Enlightenment

1. Art, craft, and court 2. The ways of the mind 3. The ways of the heart 4. A delicate balance 5. Representative assemblies 6. The journalist 7. The education of princes 8. Changing the world.
House As a Mirror of Self : Exploring the Deeper Meaning of Home

This is a refreshing, unique, and fascinating look at how we feel about our homes, how we shape them to suit ourselves, why some homes make is feel safe and secure and at ease, and others make us paranoid and uncomfortable. This book, in my opinion, should be legally required reading for every architect, interior designer, and real estate agent. For the rest of us, it is a surprisingly interesting look at the meaning of home. Clare Cooper Marcuss extensive and detailed interviews with people living in all kinds of homes, from illegal shacks to mansions, provide eyeopening insights into what home is, and how to create the feeling of home for you. Its about time someone finally wrote this book!
Dialectical Tensions in Relationships

Dialectical tensions, also known as contradictions or discursive struggles, are oppositions that affect or constitute relating. Two broad approaches can be identified in the dialectical research; the first approach conceives of dialectical tensions as conditions, needs, or goals that are situated outside of communication and that are managed through communication, whereas the second approach envisions dialectical tensions as competing systems of meaning constituted in communication and the process through which meanings are made. Keywords: communication theory; family communication; interpersonal communication; relational communication
Supramolecular architectures assembled from amphiphilic hybrid polyoxometalates

Polyoxometalate (POM)-based inorganic–organic molecular hybrid clusters have been recently recognized as good candidates to design novel multi-functional materials. Tremendous efforts have been invested in synthesizing many interesting hybrid structures with exceptional chemical and physical properties. Grafting organic ligands to the POM clusters render these functional clusters amphiphilic properties. Here we summarize the current progresses and provide some perspectives, from colloidal chemists' point of view, on the self-assembly of the amphiphilic POM–organic hybrids in solution and at interfaces, as well as the related consequent novel features such as enhanced fluorescent properties.
Some Trends in the Commercial Fisheries of Lake of the Woods, Minnesota

Abstract Since 1884, when commercial fishing first started on Lake of the Woods, the commercial catch and the fish populations have changed markedly. Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) which was originally the most important commercial fish is now almost extinct. The lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) has also shown a striking decline. Intensive commercial fishing was an important factor in the decline of these species. The practical disappearance of other species which were not subject to heavy fishing, the longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus), goldeye (Amphiodon alosoides), and quillback (Carpiodes cyprinus), however, suggest some basic change in habitat. Destruction of the spawning beds in the Rainy River by pulp-mill wastes was probably the most important of these habitat changes. A correlation was found between the strength of year classes of saugers (Stizostedion canadense) and June rainfall. Recent declines in the population of yellow pikeperch (Stizostedion vitreum) do not appear to be c...
Excimer Laser: A Module of the Alopecia Areata Common Protocol

Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune condition characterized by T cell-mediated attack of the hair follicle. The inciting antigenic stimulus is unknown. A dense perbulbar lymphocytic infiltrate and reproducible immunologic abnormalities are hallmark features of the condition. The cellular infiltrate primarily consists of activated T lymphocytes and antigen-presenting Langerhans cells. The xenon chloride excimer laser emits its total energy at the wavelength of 308 nm and therefore is regarded as a "super-narrowband" UVB light source. Excimer laser treatment is highly effective in psoriasis, another T cell-mediated disorder that shares many immunologic features with AA. The excimer laser is superior in inducing T cell apoptosis in vitro compared with narrowband UVB, with paralleled improved clinical efficacy. The excimer laser has been used successfully in patients with AA. In this context, evaluation of the potential benefit of 308-nm excimer laser therapy in the treatment of AA is clinically warranted. Herein, the use of a common treatment protocol with a specifically designed module to study the outcome of excimer laser treatment on moderate-to-severe scalp AA in adults is described.
Progression Of Fusion During Rapid Freezing For Electron Microscopy

SUMMARY The method used to determine the rate of fusion was based on the large difference in the dielectric constants of water and ice. A thin (50–60 μm) slice of a gelatin gel was used as the dielectric in a plate condenser. The slice was placed on a metal electrode built in a specimen carrier which was dropped on a silver freezing surface kept at below 70 K, forming the other plate of the condenser. Freezing of the gelatin causes a marked decrease in a 20,000 cycle current passing through the condenser. Since the thickness of the layer of frozen material was shown to be a function of the reciprocal of the current, it was possible to determine the course of fusion of the section. Freezing started at a high rate which declined during the first 5 ms but then increased again and usually became quite high at the end of fusion.
Piano‐roll recordings of Enrique Granados: A study of a transcription of the composer's performance

Much about late Romantic piano performance practices can be gleaned from the piano rolls of the early twentieth century. One such “recording” is Enrique Granados's Duo‐Art piano‐roll performance of his Danza Espanola no. 5, made some twenty years after the piece was published. Transcription and analysis of this piano roll illustrate the disparity between score and performance. Granados added and changed notes, ornaments, articulations, and chords. He also altered many rhythmic values, desynchronized melody and accompaniment, rolled chords at will, and introduced drastic tempo changes not indicated in the score. The performing style of Granados thus reflects a personal approach to the piano that lies well within the broader context of the Romantic performance tradition.
An articulatory study of lexicalized and epenthetic schwa using real time magnetic resonance imaging.

Debate exists about the nature of schwa in terms of articulatory planning and execution. It is commonly believed that schwa lacks a specific constriction target. Another view is that the constriction target for schwa is the mean of the language’s targeted vowels. Some have argued that both lines of thinking are correct [I. Smorodinsky, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 109, 2446 (2001)]. Specifically, epenthetic schwas (e.g., needed) may indeed be targetless, while lexical schwas (e.g., panda) have a target. To investigate this, we collected midsagittal realtime l MR images [S. Narayanan et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 115, 1771 (2004)] from two native English speakers. The speakers read sentences aloud which contained, variously, lexical or epenthetic schwas in multiple contexts. Images of the various schwas were extracted from the MR data and a profile of the vocal tract was fit to the image. If both targeted and targetless schwas exist, then they should be evident by examining the vocal tract shape in these images. Lexi...
Surface cleaning of metals in air with a one atmosphere uniform glow discharge plasma

Summary form only given, as follows. We report the use of active species generated in a one atmosphere uniform glow discharge plasma reactor with a parallel-plate configuration to clean the surface of as-received metal samples from the machine shop floor. The unmagnetized air plasma in this reactor had the following characteristic operating and plasma parameters: RF frequency, 1-4 kHz; RMS electric field, 9 kV/cm; RMS voltage, 4 kV; plasma number density, 10/sup 10//cm/sup 3/; and plasma power density of tens of milliwatts/cm/sup 3/. The experimental arrangement used to expose our 7 by 10 cm metal samples. The lower parallel-plate electrode is a flat copper plate, covered by a pyrex sheet. The upper electrode is formed by the bare metal sample plate, with the side to be cleaned facing the plasma. To assure plasma uniformity between the electrodes, it was helpful to direct a flow of air on the edges of the plasma volume. The cleanliness of the metal samples was determined with the standard sessile water drop test. In their as-received condition, the metal samples yielded a contact angle of 90/spl deg/ or more, indicating a non-wettable surface, presumably because of (adherent layers of hydrocarbon machine oils. After from 3 to 10 minutes of plasma exposure, however, the water-drop test yielded a contact angle well below 10/spl deg/, a very wettable surface. The metal surfaces would remain wettable for hours, until the surfaces became re-contaminated by exposure to the atmosphere.
The First f-Element Ketimido Complex: Synthesis and Characterization of (C5Me5)2U(−NCPh2)2

The first example of an f-element ketimido complex has been prepared. Complex 2 is surprisingly unreactive and displays unusual electronic properties. The physical properties and chemical stability of this complex suggest higher U−N bond order due to significant ligand to metal π-bonding in the uranium ketimido interactions.
Consanguinity and prereproductive mortality in the Utah Mormon population.

To test the effects of parental consanguinity on mortality among offspring, inbreeding coefficients were estimated for 303,675 members of the Utah Mormon population who were born between 1847 and 1945. Although consanguinity has been relatively rare in this population, the large sample size permitted the identification of more than 3,500 inbred offspring. Among the offspring of unrelated parents, 13.2% died before the age of 16. Significant elevations in prereproductive mortality were seen among the offspring of first-cousin marriages (22%) and among the offspring of closer unions (32%). The cor- responding relative risks are 1.70 (95% confidence limits = 1.52, 1.91) and 2.41 (95% confidence limits = 1.59, 3.41), respectively. Other categories of relationship did not produce significant elevations in offspring mortality. Similar results were obtained when a case-control approach was used to remove the effects of socioeconomic variation. Consistent with many other studies of populations with low consanguinity rates, this population experienced a relatively high absolute increase in mortality among the offspring of first-cousin marriages (9%). Preliminary evidence is offered for the hypothesis that mortality differentials are larger in populations with low inbreeding and low mortality because nongenetic causes of death do not obscure the effects of consanguinity.
Ion channels and transporters in lymphocyte function and immunity

Lymphocyte function is regulated by a network of ion channels and transporters in the plasma membrane of B and T cells. These proteins modulate the cytoplasmic concentrations of diverse cations, such as calcium, magnesium and zinc ions, which function as second messengers to regulate crucial lymphocyte effector functions, including cytokine production, differentiation and cytotoxicity. The repertoire of ion-conducting proteins includes calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels, P2X receptors, transient receptor potential (TRP) channels, potassium channels, chloride channels and magnesium and zinc transporters. This Review discusses the roles of ion conduction pathways in lymphocyte function and immunity.
Optimum tone for various feature types: positive versus negative

The continuing drive to reduce feature size is forcing resist processes to be tailored to specific levels, e.g. contact holes or isolated lines. Resist contrast, absorption, diffusion length and development characteristics are among the customized variables. For the most part, resist tone has not been among these variables, and the bulk of advanced lithography is done with positive tone resist processes. This paper will explore the optimum process tone for various feature types, and will include simple theoretical guidelines to help with this decision. Narrow resist lines are found to print best with a positive tone process while narrow trench geometries are found to print best with a negative tone process. Simple development bias models appear to accurately capture this behavior and are in agreement with full simulation.