cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Overlap syndrome of autoimmune chronic liver diseases: MRI findings.

Purpose: To describe the MR findings of overlap syndromes of autoimmune chronic liver diseases. Methods: Review of clinical and radiological databases between March 2001 and July 2008 for patients with a clinical diagnosis and liver biopsy features compatible with overlap syndrome who had also undergone an abdominal MRI yielded 15 adult patients. MR features of overlap syndrome were reviewed by two radiologists by consensus. Two radiologists independently reviewed the studies in a blinded fashion for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)-type or non-PSC-type features to assess interobserver agreement. Results: PSC-type and non-PSC-type overlap syndrome had distinctive MR features. In the consensus review, all 12 patients with PSC-type overlap syndrome were correctly identified. Imaging findings included central macroregeneration (N = 9), peripheral atrophy (N = 7), biliary duct beading (N = 12), biliary dilation (N = 10), or a combination of all four findings (N = 7). The presence of any of the first three features had 100% specificity for a PSC-type overlap syndrome. Patients with non-PSC-type overlap (N = 3) showed relatively normal liver morphology (N = 3) and minimal biliary ductal dilatation in one patient. There was good interobserver agreement (kappa = 0.76). Conclusion: Patients with serologic or pathologic evidence of AIH or PBC with imaging features of PSC may have PSC-type overlap syndrome. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010; 31: 383–389. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Lung liquid, fetal lung growth, and congenital diaphragmatic hernia

There is now a large body of evidence supporting the role of lung liquid in normal and experimental fetal lung growth. It is clear that tracheal ligation causes retention of lung liquid increased intratracheal pressure, and lung hyperplasia and that this hyperplastic effect can reverse the experimental pulmonary hypoplasia of clinically relevant entities such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Most importantly, this reversal is both structural and physiologic, as these lungs are more compliant and capable of normal gas exchange. In clinical cases of pulmonary hypoplasia, focusing initial therapy on active promotion of lung growth by exploiting a mechanism that may be a part of normal pulmonary development offers some hope of improved outcome in a group of patients that are currently unsalvageable.
CD40/CD154 ligation induces mononuclear cell adhesion to human renal proximal tubule cells via increased ICAM-1 expression

The role of CD40/CD154 ligation in the upregulation of genes of the proinflammatory nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signal transduction pathway was explored in primary cultures of human renal proximal tu...
Dynamic scaling in conserved systems with coupled fields: Application to surfactant-mediated growth

We present an analytical study of the interaction of two nonequilibrium conservative fields. Due to the conservative character of the relaxation mechanism, the scaling exponents can be obtained exactly using dynamic renormalization group. We apply our results to surfactant-mediated growth of semiconductors. We find that the coupling between the surfactant thickness and the interface height cannot account for the experimentally observed layered growth, implying that reduced diffusion of the embedded atoms is a key mechanism in surfactant-mediated growth.
Photoluminescence imaging of mechanically produced defects in MgO

Abstract Deformed MgO displays a strong blue photoluminescence when illuminated by 248 nm excimer laser radiation. This photoluminescence is readily imaged in situ (during laser exposure) using commercial microscope optics. Photoluminescence images of indented, cleaved, abraded, and laser-damaged surfaces, are reported and the observed features are related to the expected deformation patterns. Locally deformed regions on MgO single crystals are sites of localized absorption at 248 nm and serve to nucleate localized damage under high fluence irradiation. Photoluminescence imaging has great potential for the identification of flaws in optical materials prior to, during and after exposure to damaging fluences of laser radiation and for fundamental studies of deformation, fracture and tribology.
The signature 3-O-sulfo group of the anticoagulant heparin sequence is critical for heparin binding to antithrombin but is not required for allosteric activation

Heparin and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans allosterically activate the serpin, antithrombin, by binding through a specific pentasaccharide sequence containing a critical 3-O-sulfo group. To elucidate the role of the 3-O-sulfo group in the activation mechanism, we compared the effects of deleting the 3-O-sulfo group or mutating the Lys114 binding partner of this group on antithrombin-pentasaccharide interactions by equilibrium binding and rapid kinetic analyses. Binding studies over a wide range of ionic strength and pH showed that loss of the 3-O-sulfo group caused a massive ∼60% loss in binding energy for the antithrombin-pentasaccharide interaction due to the disruption of a cooperative network of ionic and nonionic interactions. Despite this affinity loss, the 3-O-desulfonated pentasaccharide retained the ability to induce tryptophan fluorescence changes and to enhance factor Xa reactivity in antithrombin, indicative of normal conformational activation. Rapid kinetic studies showed that loss of the 3-O-sulfo group affected both the ability of the pentasaccharide to recognize native antithrombin and its ability to preferentially bind and stabilize activated antithrombin. By contrast, mutation of Lys114 solely affected the preferential interaction of the pentasaccharide with activated antithrombin. These findings demonstrate that the 3-O-sulfo group functions as a key determinant of heparin pentasaccharide activation of antithrombin both by contributing to the Lys114-independent recognition of native antithrombin and by triggering a Lys114-dependent induced fit interaction with activated antithrombin that locks the serpin in the activated state.
Relation between QRS changes and left ventricular function after coronary artery bypass grafting

Abstract Preoperative and serial postoperative electrocar-diograms (ECGs) were reviewed in 104 patients undergoing rest and exercise radionuclide angiocardiography before and 1 to 12 months after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Five patient groups were defined by ECG findings before and after CABG: Group I—normal ECG before and no ECG change after CABG; Group II—prior myocardial infarction by ECG before but no QRS change after CABG; Group III—all patients with a minor QRS change (
Laser in situ keratomileusis versus lens-based surgery for correcting residual refractive error after cataract surgery

Purpose To evaluate and compare the efficacy and safety of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) versus lens-based surgery (intraocular lens [IOL] exchange or piggyback IOL) for correcting residual refractive error after cataract surgery. Setting Private eye center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Methods This retrospective study included 57 eyes of 48 patients who had LASIK (28 eyes) or lens-based correction (29 eyes) for residual refractive error after cataract surgery. The visual and refractive outcomes were evaluated at a mean follow-up of 20 to 24 months. Results In the LASIK group, the mean spherical equivalent (SE) was reduced from −1.62 ± 0.80 diopters (D) preoperatively to +0.05 ± 0.38 D postoperatively in myopic eyes and from +0.51 ± 1.25 D to +0.19 ± 0.35 D in hyperopic eyes. Ninety-two percent of eyes were within ±0.50 D of intended correction. In the lens group, the mean SE was reduced from −3.55 ± 2.69 D preoperatively to −0.20 ± 0.50 D postoperatively in myopic eyes and from +2.07 ± 2.38 D to +0.07 ± 0.85 D in hyperopic eyes. Eighty-one percent of eyes had postoperative SE within ±0.50 D of the intended correction. The UCVA improved significantly in both groups. No eye lost more than 1 line of BSCVA. With a similar length of follow-up, no significant difference in postoperative SE was found between the 2 groups ( P = .453). Conclusions The results showed efficacy, safety, predictability, and merits of LASIK and lens-based approaches for correcting different types of residual refractive error after cataract surgery.
Dictionary Learning Over Distributed Models

In this paper, we consider learning dictionary models over a network of agents, where each agent is only in charge of a portion of the dictionary elements. This formulation is relevant in Big Data scenarios where large dictionary models may be spread over different spatial locations and it is not feasible to aggregate all dictionaries in one location due to communication and privacy considerations. We first show that the dual function of the inference problem is an aggregation of individual cost functions associated with different agents, which can then be minimized efficiently by means of diffusion strategies. The collaborative inference step generates dual variables that are used by the agents to update their dictionaries without the need to share these dictionaries or even the coefficient models for the training data. This is a powerful property that leads to an effective distributed procedure for learning dictionaries over large networks (e.g., hundreds of agents in our experiments). Furthermore, the proposed learning strategy operates in an online manner and is able to respond to streaming data, where each data sample is presented to the network once.
The Financial Risk Assessment of Manufacturing Firms under the Supply Chain Environment

Supply chain brings about many kinds of risk, as well as the competitive and marginal advantage. The financial risk of supply chain combines both supply chain risk and financial risk and leads the new research direction of supply chain management. Through analyzing the characteristics of manufacturing firms and concluding characteristic of financial risk transformation, the financial risk of manufacturing firms is classified. After the industry-based financial risk valuation index system is built, the Multi-level Fuzzy Evaluation method is used to evaluate it.
Role of semantic web in health informatics

Leveraging the rapidly increasing amount of health care data to demonstrably enhance quality of clinical research and patient care has become a critical challenge for health care providers, researchers, and informaticians. In addition to the sheer volume of the data, the large disparity in storage formats, distributed locations, and variable quality of data, is exacerbating data management issues. There is an urgent need to address these issues to enable multi-center clinical studies, comply with new health care policies that encourage adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR), and effectively move towards the National Institutes of Health (NIH) roadmap of translational research.The Semantic Web initiative by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has defined a set of standards and technologies for representing, integration, and querying large-scale data with increasing use in health care, exemplified by the W3C Health Care and Life Sciences (HCLS) Interest Group. Ontologies are a core feature of the Semantic Web and are being increasingly adopted by the biomedical community, which is demonstrated by the more than 260 ontologies listed at the National Center for Biomedical Ontologies (NCBO). This tutorial will weave together three themes and the associated topics: Semantic Web and Biomedical OntologiesKey Technologies - Semantic Provenance and Data IntegrationReal World Use Cases and In-Use Tools
Spatially aware agents: an effective and efficient use of GIS data within an agent-based model

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is quickly becoming a choice tool for researchers, as it is very adept at modeling natural phenomena. Real-world data has the ability to further increase the usefulness of agent-based models. This can be achieved through the inclusion of geographical information system (GIS) data. Such integration between ABM and GIS may sound trivial, but is difficult to do effectively, particularly as the complexity of GIS data and the amount of agents increase. Here, we present methods and recommendations on including GIS data in a complex simulation model. We demonstrate our techniques to an advanced epidemiological model.
Isolation and Identification of Volatile Compounds from a Wine Using Solid Phase Extraction, Gas Chromatography, and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry

Recovery efficiencies of main volatile components of wine from porous polymer Porapak Q were investigated using dichloromethane, ethyl ether, and pentane as solvents. The nine wine components used ...
Right heart structural changes are independently associated with exercise capacity in non-severe COPD.

Background Pulmonary hypertension (PH) occurs frequently and results in functional limitation in advanced COPD. Data regarding the functional consequence of PH in less severe COPD are limited. Whether echocardiographic evidence of right sided heart pathology is associated with functional outcomes in patients with non-severe COPD is unknown. Methods We evaluated pulmonary function, six minute walk distance, and echocardiography in 74 consecutive patients with non-severe COPD. We performed multivariable linear regression to evaluate the association between right heart echocardiographic parameters and six minute walk distance adjusting for lung function, age, sex, race, and BMI. Main Results The mean six minute walk distance was 324±106 meters. All subjects had preserved left ventricular (LV) systolic function (LV ejection fraction 62.3%±6.1%). 54.1% had evidence of some degree of diastolic dysfunction. 17.6% of subjects had evidence of right ventricular enlargement and 36.5% had right atrial enlargement. In univariate analysis RV wall thickness (β = −68.6; p = 0.002), log right atrial area (β = −297.9; p = 0.004), LV mass index (β = −1.3; p = 0.03), E/E' ratio (β = −5.5; p = 0.02), and degree of diastolic dysfunction (β = −42.8; p = 0.006) were associated with six minute walk distance. After adjustment for co-variables, the associations between right atrial area (log right atrial area β = −349.8; p = 0.003) and right ventricular wall thickness (β = −43.8; p = 0.04) with lower six minute walk distance remained significant independent of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). LV mass index, E/E' ratio, and degree of diastolic dysfunction were not independent predictors of six minute walk distance. Conclusion In patients with non-severe COPD right sided cardiac structural changes are associated with lower six minute walk distance independent of lung function. These findings may indicate that echocardiographic evidence of pulmonary hypertension is present in patients with non-severe COPD and has important functional consequences.
Anomalous line shapes caused by charge transfer in low-pressure discharges

Abstract Doppler profiles are calculated for initial velocity distributions after charge transfer collisions. Such profiles are applied to emissions from excited Fe + following Ar + -Fe collisions, assuming an energy-independent cross section. It is shown that exoergic charge transfer processes may give significantly non-Gaussian line shapes with lines that are flatter and wider than would be expected from a Maxwellian distribution. Endoergic charge transfer processes, however, will give Gaussian line shapes with a linewidth described by a temperature only slightly below the source temperature. For exoergic reactions, our results differ slightly from results obtained using an adaptation of the method developed by Biondi and coworkers for dissociative recombination.
Conceptualizing Scale in the Science of Broadening Participation of Underrepresented Groups in Higher Education

The Association of American Geographers Catalyzing Research on the Geographies of Broadening Participation Creative Scholarly Retreat explored ways in which geographers can advance approaches to broadening participation of underrepresented groups in higher education and the scientific workforce. Conversations during the retreat revealed the need for theoretical models to guide research and policy development. In this article, I ask how the geographic concept of scale can inform the problem of broadening participation of underrepresented groups in higher education. First, I explain how the concept of scale can drive future research using the literature within geography. Next, I propose the situational matrix as an analytical schema using the concept of scale. I then analyze various scales first as ordering devices and then as politically produced entities in conversations about underrepresentation in higher education. I conclude by arguing that identifying the scales that are in operation and then figuring...
Climate change and population growth

This letter agrees with the views expressed in the article "Managing the health effects of climate change" by Anthony Costello. It discusses how population growth can affect climate change and states that data collection instruments must be adapted for environmental and climate change analysis.
Elastic scattering and inelastic transitions

Abstract The effect of inelastic scattering on the cross section for electron excitation in the collision of slow atoms interacting by Van der Waals forces is estimated, and found to be small in usual circumstances.
SINGLET OXYGEN YIELDS, OPTICAL PROPERTIES, AND PHOTOTOXICITY OF REDUCED DERIVATIVES OF THE PHOTOSENSITIZER CERCOSPORIN

— The perylenequinone cercosporin (CR) is a singlet oxygen generating photosensitizer produced by Cercospora spp which plays a critical role in parasitism of plants by these fungi. Several lines of evidence suggest that the defense mechanism of Cercospora spp towards this toxin is the generation of a cell surface reducing environment that leads to transient reduction of CR. In order to demonstrate that reduced CR is less toxic, several derivatives of CR were synthesized. Hexaacetyl-dihydrocercos-porin (HAC) was prepared by reductive acetylation of CR. Noranhydrocercosporin (NAC) resulted from dehydration of CR and tetramethyl-noranhydrodihydrocercosporin (TMNAC) was a product of reductive methylation of NAC. The perylenequinones, CR and NAC, absorb more light than their respective reduced derivatives, but are much less fluorescent; the relative fluorescence intensities of HAC, TMNAC, and dithionite-reduced CR were 80–160 times greater than that of CR and NAC. Also, CR and NAC were more efficient at generating singlet oxygen. As measured by time-resolved IR luminescence, the singlet oxygen quantum yields relative to CR (adjusted to 1.00) were 0.16, 0.19 and 0.73, respectively, for HAC, TMNAC, and NAC. Toxicity was measured by assaying for inhibition of growth of CR-sensitive fungi in constant light. The reduced derivatives were less toxic than their respective oxidized forms. None of the compounds showed significant growth inhibition in the dark with any of the fungi, or when assayed in the light with the CR-resistant fungus Cercospora kikuchii. A lipid peroxidation assay with methyl linolenate also showed that HAC was less active than CR. Thus, reduction of CR leads to greater fluorescence intensities, lower production of singlet oxygen and lower phototoxicity. These data support the hypothesis of transient cercosporin reduction as a mechanism of defense against cercosporin toxicity.
Zero relaxation and dissipation limits for hyperbolic conservation laws

We are interested in hyperbolic systems of conservation laws with relaxation and dissipation, particularly the zero relaxation limit. Such a limit is of interest in several physical situations, including gas flow near thermo-equilibrium, kinetic theory with small mean free path, and viscoelasticity with vanishing memory. In this article we study hyperbolic systems of two conservation laws with relaxation. For the stable case where the equilibrium speed is subcharacteristic with respect to the frozen speeds, we illustrate for a model in viscoelasticity that no oscillation develops for the nonlinear system in the zero relaxation limit. For the marginally stable case where the equilibrium speed may equal one of the frozen speeds, we show for a model in phase transitions that no oscillation arises when the dissipation is present and goes to zero more slowly than the relaxation. Our analysis includes the construction of suitable entropy pairs to derive energy estimates. We need such energy estimates not only for the compactness properties but also for the deviation from the equilibrium of the solutions for the relaxation systems. The theory of compensated compactness is then applied to study the oscillation in the zero relaxation limit. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A novel phase-shift bidirectional DC-DC converter with an extended high-efficiency range for 20 kVA solid state transformer

This paper proposes a novel phase-shift dual-half-bridge converter with an adaptive inductor. This converter will be used as a high frequency transformer isolated dc-dc stage of a 20 kVA single phase solid state transformer (SST) in the future renewable electric energy delivery and management Systems. By utilizing an adaptive inductor as the commutation inductor, the proposed converter can control not only the phase shift but also the commutation inductance so that the circulating energy can be optimized to maintain zero-voltage-switching operation at light load. In addition, the conduction losses and current stress at heavy load can be reduced as well. As a result, the efficiency at both light and heavy load, compared with conventional phase-shift DHB converter with fixed commutation inductance, can be significantly improved. Therefore, the extended high-efficiency range of SST can be achieved, which is critical for the SST application due to its wide load range, continuous operation, and the rising energy cost. The theoretical analysis is presented and validated by the experimental results on a 50 kHz, 1 kW dc-dc converter module.
Design of high‐speed, high‐density CNNS in cmos technology

An analogue VLSI circuit architecture for the CMOS implementation of cellular neural networks (CNNs) is presented. It is based exclusively on the use of small capacitors and operational transconductance amplifiers operating in continuous time. Integrated circuit implementations of this architecture are very well suited for processing applications requiring large array size and high speed. We describe a systematic design approach for those circuits and present the design, fabrication and testing of two chips. These chips are used for connected component detection applications and are the first working integrated circuit implementation of a CNN. They contain 2000 transistors and have been fabricated using 2 μm CMOS technology. the density is 32 cells per square millimetre of silicon and the time constant of the processing is of the order of 10−7 s. Experimental results of static and dynamic tests are given, including a complete image-processing example.
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

While cancer remains an important public health concern, novel and enhanced treatment modalities have increased the length of survival of individuals diagnosed with the disease. The treatment of most cancers requires the use of chemotherapeutic agents to affect cure, maintain control of the disease, or provide palliation of symptoms. Although the use of chemotherapeutic agents can serve to prolong life, such agents are associated with significant side effects.Increasing clinical evidence suggests treatment of cancer with neurotoxic agents results in some degree of peripheral neuropathy. Specific drug categories implicated in the development of peripheral neuropathy are the plant alkaloids, interferons, antimitotics, taxanes, and platinum-based compounds. Drug-induced peripheral neuropathy is sensory, dose-related and cumulative and is usually delayed, appearing weeks after initiation of therapy. The number of individuals at risk for the development of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy is expected to increas...
Event driven adaptively controlled explicit simulation of integrated circuits

Adaptively Controlled Explicit Simulation (ACES) is a timing simulation methodology for integrated circuits and systems. The paper presents the use of event driven simulation and partitioning to enhance the ACES simulation environment by exploiting the latency present in integrated circuits. ACES also uses an improved, adaptively controlled explicit integration approximation which overcomes the stability problems encountered in earlier explicit techniques. Piecewise linear models are used for nonlinear devices allowing efficient simulation of MOS, BiMOS and bipolar circuits.
Computational periodicity as observed in a simple system

When the exact time-dependent solutions of a system of ordinary differential equations are chaotic, numerical solutions obtained by using particular schemes for approximating time derivatives by finite differences, with particular values of the time increment τ , are sometimes stably periodic. It is suggested that this phenomenon be called computational periodicity . A particular system of three equations with a chaotic exact solution is solved numerically with an N th-order Taylorseries scheme, with various values of N , and with values of τ ranging from near zero to just below the critical value for computational instability. When N = 1, the value of τ below which computational periodicity never appears is extremely small, and frequent alternations between chaos and periodicity occur within the range of τ . Computational periodicity occupies most of the range when N = 2 or 3, and about half when N = 4. These solutions are compared with those produced by fourth-order Runge–Kutta and Adams–Bashforth schemes, and with numerical solutions of two other simple systems. There is some evidence that computational periodicity will more likely occur when the chaos in the exact solutions is not very robust, that is, if relatively small changes in the values of the constants can replace the chaos by periodicity.
Supplemental Instruction in Decoding Skills for Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Students in Early Elementary School A Follow-Up

This article describes a follow-up study that experimentally evaluated the effects of supplemental reading instruction for children in kindergarten through Grade 3. Students from 10 elementary schools in three school districts were screened using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. Two hundred fifty-six K—2 students were identified for participation, then randomly assigned to receive or not receive 2 years of supplemental reading instruction that taught basic decoding and comprehension skills. Reading ability was measured in the fall prior to the first year of the intervention and again in the spring of Years 1, 2, and 3. At the end of the 2-year intervention, children who received the supplemental instruction performed better on measures of word attack, word identification, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. One year after the intervention, children in the supplemental instruction group still showed greater improvement in word attack and oral reading fluency t...
Science Attitudes of Selected Middle School Students in China: A Preliminary Investigation of Similarities and Differences as a Function of Gender

Evaluating the attitudes of science students is important for teachers, curriculum developers, and those working with preservice teachers. Although in the United States a great deal of attitudinal research has been conducted with regard to science education, in the People's Republic of China very little work concerning science attitudes has been completed. This study will report on an evaluation of Chinese boys' and girls' attitudes toward selected science topics. Students attended a middle school in the city of Shanghai. Analysis indicated that when the male and female Chinese students differ in their response patterns, females select more intense responses (“strongly agree” as opposed to “agree,”“strongly disagree” as opposed to “disagree”). Furthermore, the surveyed females often selected responses suggesting that they were more interested in the science topics and issues presented in the survey.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF KINESIC ILLUSTRATORS TOWARD THE COMPREHENSION OF VERBAL BEHAVIOR WITHIN UTTERANCES

The study assessed the extent to which a speaker's visible body movements can improve verbal comprehension for listeners. Subjects responded to multiple-choice items designed to test their comprehension of 12 videotaped spoken utterances which had been obtained by asking speakers to describe either objects in motion (e.g., a tennis ball, a car, spraying water) or abstract concepts. The 60 subjects each responded to stimuli in one of three presentation conditions (audiovisual, audiovisual without lip and facial cues, and audio-alone) over four signal-to-noise ratios. The results indicated that: (1) visual cues can at times significantly improve comprehension scores, even with lip and facial cues not present; (2) visual cues are increasingly useful as noise is introduced; (3) visual cues assist the comprehension of certain grammatical types of verbal segments regardless of semantic content expressed in those type segments.
Simulating Biological Vision with Hybrid Neural Networks

We present an example of how vision systems can be modeled and designed by integrating a top-down computationally- based approach with a bottom-up biologi cally-motivated architecture. The specific...
Ion bombardment of alkali halides, II.: Effects observed at high fluence

Abstract Color-center effects unique to crystals irradiated to high fluence : 1016 particles/cm2) are reported for KCl and other alkali halides. These include (1) a minimum in F-center concentration at the end of the proton range and (2) an n-center distribution profile which changes with time in the dark at room temperature after irradiation. The first effect is due to annihilation of F centers by hydrogen atom capture (U-center formation) and the second is due to F-center diffusion and aggregation in a heavily damaged region of the crystal.
Terra: a multi-stage language for high-performance computing

High-performance computing applications, such as auto-tuners and domain-specific languages, rely on generative programming techniques to achieve high performance and portability. However, these systems are often implemented in multiple disparate languages and perform code generation in a separate process from program execution, making certain optimizations difficult to engineer. We leverage a popular scripting language, Lua, to stage the execution of a novel low-level language, Terra. Users can implement optimizations in the high-level language, and use built-in constructs to generate and execute high-performance Terra code. To simplify meta-programming, Lua and Terra share the same lexical environment, but, to ensure performance, Terra code can execute independently of Lua's runtime. We evaluate our design by reimplementing existing multi-language systems entirely in Terra. Our Terra-based auto-tuner for BLAS routines performs within 20% of ATLAS, and our DSL for stencil computations runs 2.3x faster than hand-written C.
Entropy and outcome classification in reinforcement learning control

Several mathematical structures are proposed for learning control systems using a wide array of techniques from a variety of disciplines. Reinforcement learning offers the greatest degree of flexibility in utilizing process information in conjunction with concepts from optical control while maintaining the basic constructs used in mathematical learning theory at the direct control layer. The adaptive layer in the control hierarchy is developed based on two fundamental properties concerning the grouping of outcomes which must be satisfied if a control policy exists for the process in terms of the defined neighborhoods. The original control objective can be interpreted in light of these two objectives and a control policy will be synthesized once these conditions are satisfied by all neighborhoods constructed during the process of learning. >
Modeling of bioelectrode interfaces and scaling systems

The polarized electrode-electrolyte interface has been modeled previously by the combination of the fractional power pole and singularity structure functions. The singularities of the system function were found to follow a geometric pattern in the complex frequency plane. The authors synthesize a candidate network. The results indicate that the scaling behavior of the interface dynamics can be represented by the response of cascaded passive electrical circuits with relaxation times scaled by a constant at each stage. >
Human gender differences in the perception of conspecific alarm chemosensory cues

It has previously been established that, in threatening situations, animals use alarm pheromones to communicate danger. There is emerging evidence of analogous chemosensory “stress” cues in humans. For this study, we collected alarm and exercise sweat from “donors,” extracted it, pooled it and presented it to 16 unrelated “detector” subjects undergoing fMRI. The fMRI protocol consisted of four stimulus runs, with each combination of stimulus condition and donor gender represented four times. Because olfactory stimuli do not follow the canonical hemodynamic response, we used a model-free approach. We performed minimal preprocessing and worked directly with block-average time series and step-function estimates. We found that, while male stress sweat produced a comparably strong emotional response in both detector genders, female stress sweat produced a markedly stronger arousal in female than in male detectors. Our statistical tests pinpointed this gender-specificity to the right amygdala (strongest in the superficial nuclei). When comparing the olfactory bulb responses to the corresponding stimuli, we found no significant differences between male and female detectors. These imaging results complement existing behavioral evidence, by identifying whether gender differences in response to alarm chemosignals are initiated at the perceptual versus emotional level. Since we found no significant differences in the olfactory bulb (primary processing site for chemosensory signals in mammals), we infer that the specificity in responding to female fear is likely based on processing meaning, rather than strength, of chemosensory cues from each gender.
Complexity Analysis of Weak Multitolerance

In this paper, we classify multitolerant systems, i.e., systems that tolerate multiple classes of faults and provide potentially different levels of tolerance to them in terms of \strong and \weak multitolerance. Intuitively, this classification is based upon the guarantees provided by the program when one class of faults occurs while it is recovering from another class of faults. We focus on automated synthesis of \weak multitolerant programs. Such \weak multitolerance becomes necessary when it is impossible to provide \strong multitolerance and/or when the probability of one class of faults occurring while the program is `recovering' from a fault from another class is negligible. By considering the levels of fault-tolerance provided to each class of faults, we evaluate five possible combinations for \weak multitolerance. We find a counterintuitive result that if masking fault-tolerance is desired for one class of faults and masking (or failsafe) fault-tolerance is desired for another class of faults then the problem is NP-hard. This result is surprising since the corresponding problem for \strong multitolerance can be solved in polynomial time. Also, we show that the problem of synthesizing \weak multitolerance for other combinations is in P. More broadly, this result demonstrates the role of assumptions, e.g., independence of occurrences of faults from different classes, in the complexity of automated synthesis.
The importance of material selection for flip chip on board assemblies

Flip Chip On Board (FCOB) technology, where the unpackaged silicon chip is assembled directly to an organic substrate, provides an unique interconnect structure that significantly reduces the substrate area required by traditional through hole or surface mount integrated circuit packages. Without the protection for the chip that a package body affords however, reduced mechanical robustness and a decrease in reliability performance are potential concerns. In addition, the inherent thermal mismatch between the chip and substrate, particularly with an organic printed circuit board, will produce an accumulation of stress in the solder joints under normal operating conditions that can result in relatively premature failures due to solder fatigue. Coupling the chip and substrate together with an encapsulation material under the chip face has successfully overcome these mechanical and reliability issues. However, the success of the encapsulation is dependent on many factors. Among these are the encapsulant's material properties, and the compatibility with the chip and substrate surfaces. Thus, the selection of the basic materials to be used in the FCOB assembly are interrelated and critical to achieving the desired performance from the completed assembly. This paper highlights the key considerations involved in the identification of suitable materials for each of the basic constituent elements: printed circuit board (PCB), silicon chip and encapsulation material. >
Mutations in the Stalk Region of the Measles Virus Hemagglutinin Inhibit Syncytium Formation but Not Virus Entry

Measles virus (MV) entry requires at least 2 viral proteins, the hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) proteins. We describe the rescue and characterization of a measles virus with a specific mutation in the stalk region of H (I98A) that is able to bind normally to cells but infects at a lower rate than the wild type due to a reduction in fusion triggering. The mutant H protein binds to F more avidly than the parent H protein does, and the corresponding virus is more sensitive to inhibition by fusion-inhibitory peptide. We show that after binding of MV to its receptor, H-F dissociation is required for productive infection.
Revision arthroscopic shoulder instability repair.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report on a difficult patient population and to critically evaluate the role of revision arthroscopic stabilization surgery. Methods: Eighteen patients with failed traumatic instability repairs were treated with revision arthroscopic labral fixation and plication with a mean follow-up of 29.7 months (range, 24 to 48 months). There were 15 male patients and 3 female patients with a mean age of 28.6 years (range, 15 to 50 years). Of the 18 patients, 9 were Workers’ Compensation cases. The 18 patients had a mean of 1.55 surgeries before our revision surgery, with 9 having a component of thermocapsular shrinkage. The patients’ characteristics, operative techniques, and findings were recorded, and their clinical outcome was critically evaluated (via physical examination, visual analog pain scale, Simple Shoulder Test, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, and Short Form 12). Results: The revision surgery incorporated a 4-portal technique via a mean of 4.6 suture anchors and 3 plication stitches, and 15 patients received a rotator interval closure. At the follow-up evaluation, 13 patients had satisfactory results whereas 5 cases were considered clinical failures (with recurrent instability in 3 and pain in 2). There was clinically significant improvement in pain score (6 preoperatively v 2 postoperatively, P .0001), Simple Shoulder Test score (6 preoperatively v 10 postoperatively, P .001), and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score (50 preoperatively v 76 postoperatively, P .001). Of the 9 Workers’ Compensation patients, 5 were able to return to their original work. Conclusions: Arthroscopic revision instability repair by use of a combination of suture anchors, plication stitches, and rotator interval closure can result in a satisfactory outcome in selected patients. Level of Evidence: Level IV, therapeutic case series. Key Words: Shoulder—Instability—Revision—Arthroscopic.
The impact of bidirectional DC-DC converter on the inverter operation and battery current in hybrid electric vehicles

The bidirectional DC-DC converter in a HEV is also some times called a power management converter, or an energy management converter, or boost DC-DC converter. This DC-DC converter is a high-power converter that links the high voltage battery (HV) at a lower voltage with the high voltage DC bus. The typical voltage of a battery pack is designed at 300 to 400V. The best operating voltage for a motor and inverter is around 600V. Therefore, this converter can be used to match the voltages of the battery system and the motor system. Other functions of this DC-DC converter include optimizing the operation of the powertrain system, reducing ripple current in the battery, and maintaining DC link voltage, hence, high power operation of the powertrain.
A Review of: “Drug Delivery: Principles and Applications”

Drug delivery is an important component of the drug discovery-to-market process. The subject matter is important to the education of today's pharmaceutical and biomedical scientists and is central ...
Propagation of half-cycle far infrared pulses

We have studied the propagation of half-cycle (i.e., unipolar) electromagnetic pulses centered at terahertz frequencies, in free space, through apertures, and through focusing optics. The temporal pulse shape of an apertured half-cycle pulse is significantly altered during propagation, but retains much of its unipolar character after traveling more than 20 times the aperture dimension. When focused by an achromatic lens, a half-cycle pulse evolves into a single-cycle pulse at the focal waist and an inverted half-cycle pulse in the far field.
Does pre-coating total knee tibial implants affect the risk of aseptic revision?

We evaluated the impact of pre-coating the tibial component with polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) on implant survival in a cohort of 16 548 primary NexGen total knee replacements (TKRs) in 14 113 patients. In 13 835 TKRs a pre-coated tray was used while in 2713 TKRs the non-pre-coated version of the same tray was used. All the TKRs were performed between 2001 and 2009 and were cemented. TKRs implanted with a pre-coated tibial component had a lower cumulative survival than those with a non-pre-coated tibial component (p = 0.01). After adjusting for diagnosis, age, gender, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists grade, femoral coupling design, surgeon volume and hospital volume, pre-coating was an independent risk factor for all-cause aseptic revision (hazard ratio 2.75, p = 0.006). Revision for aseptic loosening was uncommon for both pre-coated and non-pre-coated trays (rates of 0.12% and 0%, respectively). Pre-coating with PMMA does not appear to be protective of revision for this tibial tray design at short-term follow-up. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2013;95-B:367–70.
Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Responses and Brain Pattern of c- fos Induction Associated with Audiogenic Stress

The present study determined simultaneously the behavioural, neuroendocrine and regional brain activity, using semi-quantitative analysis of c-fos mRNA induction, produced by 30 min of auditory stimulation at different white noise intensities (background 60 dB, 70, 80, 90 and 105 dBA), in rats. Only the highest noise intensities (90 and 105 dB) significantly increased corticosterone release after 30 min stimulation. Behaviourally, the 105 dB noise condition reliably reduced overall activity, and moderate noise intensities (70 and 80 dB) increased sleeping time. Three distinct patterns of c-fos mRNA induction were observed. First, following exposure to the experimental cages, a wide pattern of brain activation was obtained in experimental animals irrespective of noise intensity presentation, compared to the naive rats. Second, a number of auditory structures (cochlear nuclei, superior olivary complex, nuclei of the lateral lemniscus, inferior colliculus and the medial division of the medial geniculate body) displayed a clear intensity-dependent increase in c-fos induction. Third, compared to all other conditions, the stressed rats (90 and 105 dB conditions) displayed significantly higher c-fos induction in relatively few areas. Particularly intense c-fos induction was observed in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, especially its anterior medial and ventral aspects, the septohypothalamic nucleus, the ventral lateral septum, the ventral portion of the dentate gyrus, a number of hypothalamic nuclei including the lateral preoptic area, the medial preoptic nucleus and the paraventricular nucleus, the median raphe and the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus. The involvement of a number of these structures in a specific audiogenic stress responsive circuit is discussed.
Binding of the wheat basic leucine zipper protein EmBP-1 to nucleosomal binding sites is modulated by nucleosome positioning

To investigate interactions of the basic leucine zipper transcription factor EmBP-1 with its recognition sites in nucleosomal DNA, we reconstituted an abscisic acid response element and a high-affinity binding site for EmBP-1 into human and wheat nucleosome cores in vitro. DNA binding studies demonstrated that nucleosomal elements can be bound by EmBP-1 at reduced affinities relative to naked DNA. EmBP-1 affinity was lowest when the recognition sites were positioned near the center of the nucleosome. Binding was achieved with a truncated DNA binding domain; however, binding of full-length EmBP-1 caused additional strong DNase I hypersensitivity flanking the binding sites. Similar results were observed with nucleosomes reconstituted with either human or wheat histones, demonstrating a conserved mechanism of transcription factor-nucleosome interactions. We conclude that positioning of recognition sequences on a nucleosome may play an important role in regulating interactions of EmBP-1 with its target sites in plant cells.
Do patients' coronary risk factor reports predict acute cardiac ischemia in the emergency department? A multicenter study

The objective of the present study was to determine whether the presence of the classical coronary risk factors increases the likelihood of acute cardiac ischemia beyond that expected from clinical presentation and electrocardiogram. Clinical data and reports of classical coronary risk factors were collected prospectively from 1743 patients without clinically obvious coronary disease. Patients were selected from 5773 emergency department patients at 6 hospitals who presented with symptoms suggesting acute ischemia. We used logistic regression to determine the relative risk of each risk factor report for acute ischemia. In women, the presence of classical risk factor reports does not increase the risk of acute ischemia. In men, only diabetes and family history of myocardial infarction significantly increase the risk (p less than 0.05). The relative risks are 2.4 and 2.1, respectively, and are small compared to those conferred by chest pain (12.1), an abnormal ST segment (8.7), or an abnormal T wave (5.3). For a patient presenting to the emergency department, the classical coronary risk factors convey minimal risk for acute cardiac ischemia, especially when compared to the overwhelming importance of the chief complaint and the ECG.
Self-calibrated interferometric/intensity-based optical fiber sensors

Self-calibrated interferometric/intensity-based (SCIIB) fiber sensors are describe in this paper. The sensor operates on the absolute detection of signals form a Fabry- Perot interferometric cavity. The incorporation of coherence-sliced self-calibration allows compensation for all unwanted factors, such as source power variations and fiber loss changes. Pressure sensors with various dynamic ranges were designed and fabricated based on the SCIIB scheme. Experimental results indicate that the novel sensor scheme offers excellent resolution and accuracy with absolute measurement and self-calibration function.
Evidence for Extreme Salinity Tolerance in Saprolegniaceous Fungi (Oömycetes)

(1984). Evidence for Extreme Salinity Tolerance in Saprolegniaceous Fungi (Oomycetes) Mycologia: Vol. 76, No. 2, pp. 372-375.