cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Simulated core polarization in the lead region

Abstract The dominant effects of core polarization in the lead region are simulated by a simple residual interaction of the pairing-plus-quadrupole type. The direct-interaction matrix elements are generated by the non-local Tabakin potential with second-order Born terms included. Results of calculations are compared to predictions made with a slightly modified Tabakin potential and with the two-body matrix elements of Elliott. Possible origins of this modification are discussed.
Gauss quadrature approximations to hypergeometric and confluent hypergeometric functions

Integral representations of hypergeometric and confluent hypergeometric functions with real parameters and complex arguments are used to approximate these functions by Gaussian quadrature. An analysis is given of the errors involved and of estimates of the number of Gauss points required to achieve any given accuracy. Numerical examples illustrate the theory.
Development of an Immortalised, Post-Pubertal Gonadotrophon-Releasing Hormone Neuronal Cell Line

Gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is important in reproduction, although some of the mechanisms for its synthesis and release remain elusive. Progress in understanding the GnRH neurone has been hampered by the limited number and diffuse distribution of the neurone in the mammalian brain. Several stable GnRH-expressing cell lines have been developed using in vivo expression of the simian virus 40 T Antigen (TAg), and they have been helpful for the study of gene expression and neuronal function. However, expression of an immortalising gene may interfere with normal cellular function. We developed a novel GnRH-secreting cell line transgenic mouse model suitable for targeted transformation in post-pubertal mice using a tetracycline-regulated TAg transgene. This clonal cell line, GRT, expresses neuronal markers and GnRH. GRT cells grown in medium containing tetracycline-free serum express increasing mRNA levels of GnRH associated with declining levels of TAg expression. The novelty and ultimately the usefulness of this cell line is that TAg expression, which could affect the GnRH neuronal phenotype, can be regulated by tetracycline.
Lamp-1 is upregulated in human glioblastoma cell lines induced to undergo apoptosis

Lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP)-1, one of the major protein components of the lysosomal membrane, is upregulated in the human glioblastoma cell lines, U-373 MG and LN-Z308, which undergo cisplatin-induced apoptosis. These human brain tumor cell lines demonstrated apoptosis in response to cisplatin/nifedipine treatment. Both cell lines demonstrated an apoptotic response by more than one criterion. Apoptosis was demonstrated by DNA fragmentation techniques such as DNA laddering, ApopTag® in situ labeling, and an ELISA-based method of detecting liberated oligosomes. These cells also had characteristic morphologic changes and upregulation of bax consistent with apoptosis. LAMP-1 expression at the protein and mRNA level was examined and found to increase with cisplatin/nifedipine treatment. LAMP-1 expression was examined using indirect immunofluorescent staining, Northern blot analysis and Western blot analysis. The finding of an augmentation of LAMP-1 in these cells induced to die is enigmatic. These findings raise the possibility of LAMP-1 involvement in the apoptotic process.
Electrical measurements on MBE grown Si/Si1−xGex heterojunctions

Abstract Electrical measurements were made on Si/Si1−lxGex, n-n heterojunctions grown by MBE on Si 〈100〉 substrates. The carrier concentration profile derived from capacitance-voltage measurements gives a determination of the conduction band discontinuity. We found for a strained Si layer on a relaxed Si0.75Ge0.25 layer that the Si conduction band is lower by 0.12 eV than the alloy band. In the case where the alloy layer is strained, the conduction band is still lower on the Si side but the magnitude of the discontinuity is small. C-V measurements on a partially relaxed layer show deep levels appearing at the interface. Cross-sectional TEM revealed defects at the interface which are correlated with the electrical states.
Multiplex co-amplification of 24 retinoblastoma gene exons after pre-amplification by long-distance PCR.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification has become themethod of choice for preparing the DNA template in mutationanalysis from complex mixtures of DNA or RNA molecules. Thisstrategy is optimal for small genes or genes with mutational hotspots.However, PCR-based mutation detection is neither labour nor costeffective when large or multiple genes, with many target fragments,are involved. In addition, such an approach is limited by samplequantity. A typical example is the identification of all possiblemutations, scattered along the length of disease genes. The problemis compounded by the necessity of processing large numbers ofsamples.It has been known for some time that multiple target sequencesin complex (higher animal) genomes can be amplified simulta-neously, i.e., by multiplex PCR. In multiplex PCR, different DNAfragments are co-amplified under identical conditions, in the samereaction. When the aim is simply to amplify many fragmentssimultaneously, it is possible to overcome limiting primer kineticsand fragment competition to design optimal conditions for amultiplex system. However, when other constraints are alsopertinent, the design of a set of conditions that allows multiplexingof a large number of gene fragments is not trivial (1). The firstextensive multiplex reactions of nine fragments for the dystrophingene were described by Chamberlain et al . ( 2) and Beggs et al . ( 3).These are exceptions: most multiplex systems do not involve morethan about five amplicons. The obvious reason for this is that witheach primer set added, the permissive reaction conditions allowingeach fragment to reach its annealing temperature while evadingspurious amplification products become increasingly less flexible.Ultimately, this lack of flexibility is due to the complexity of thegenomic sequence environment which allows ample opportunityfor non-specific priming (1).When primers must be selected according to specific criteria,such as in mutation analysis, special constraints greatly lower theflexibility in experimental design of the multiplex system. A goodexample is denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) inwhich primers must be designed to encompass fragments withoptimal melting behaviour. In such experiments, one of theprimers is usually coupled to a GC-rich ‘clamp’ sequence ( 4). Inan optimal situation, this will generate a two-domain structurewith the GC-clamp as the higher melting domain, a configurationwhich will allow the detection of all possible mutations in thetarget sequence (5). It will often turn out that primers positioned
The Size Distribution of Particles in the OCEAN1

Frequency distributions of particIe size between sizes of about I and 100 p are given for both surface and deep water of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The form of the size spectra varies predictably both geographically and with depth. A hypothesis is presented to show that, to a first approximation, roughly equal concentrations of material occur at all particle sizes within the range from 1 p to about 10” p, i.e. from bacteria to whales.
Reverse engineering gone wrong: A case study

Abstract In the engine of a four passenger, private aircraft, the amount of air and fuel supplied to the engine is controlled by a carburetor butterfly valve. This valve consists of a round, thin steel disk attached to a steel shaft which in turn is mounted in steel bushings near each end of the shaft. The pilot adjusts the positioning of the butterfly valve by means of a throttle control. At the time of the 2000 h overhaul the shaft and bushings are inspected, and if overly worn they are replaced. In the present case, it was found that the shaft and bushings were in need of replacement. However, the original manufacturer of the butterfly valve had gone out of business, and a second manufacturer supplied the replacement parts. The second manufacturer used a process known as reverse engineering in manufacturing the parts. That is, he attempted to copy in detail the characteristics of the original shaft and bushings. However, the importance of proper heat treatment was overlooked, and a result the butterfly valve malfunctioned in flight and the plane crashed. The cause of the malfunction is described in greater detail in the paper.
Characterization of the past and current duplication activities in the human 22q11.2 region

Segmental duplications (SDs) on 22q11.2 (LCR22), serve as substrates for meiotic non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR) events resulting in several clinically significant genomic disorders. To understand the duplication activity leading to the complicated SD structure of this region, we have applied the A-Bruijn graph algorithm to decompose the 22q11.2 SDs to 523 fundamental duplication sequences, termed subunits. Cross-species syntenic analysis of primate genomes demonstrates that many of these LCR22 subunits emerged very recently, especially those implicated in human genomic disorders. Some subunits have expanded more actively than others, and young Alu SINEs, are associated much more frequently with duplicated sequences that have undergone active expansion, confirming their role in mediating recombination events. Many copy number variations (CNVs) exist on 22q11.2, some flanked by SDs. Interestingly, two chromosome breakpoints for 13 CNVs (mean length 65 kb) are located in paralogous subunits, providing direct evidence that SD subunits could contribute to CNV formation. Sequence analysis of PACs or BACs identified extra CNVs, specifically, 10 insertions and 18 deletions within 22q11.2; four were more than 10 kb in size and most contained young AluY s at their breakpoints. Our study indicates that AluY s are implicated in the past and current duplication events, and moreover suggests that DNA rearrangements in 22q11.2 genomic disorders perhaps do not occur randomly but involve both actively expanded duplication subunits and Alu elements.
Roles of Apoptosis in Airway Epithelia

The airway epithelium functions primarily as a barrier to foreign particles and as a modulator of inflammation. Apoptosis is induced in airway epithelial cells (AECs) by viral and bacterial infections, destruction of the cytoskeleton, or by exposure to toxins such as high oxygen and polycyclic hydrocarbons. Various growth factors and cytokines including TGF-β, IFN-γ, or the activators of the death receptors, TNF-α and FasL, also induce apoptosis in AECs. However, cell death is observed in maximally 15% of AECs after 24 h of treatment. Preincubation with IFN-γ or a zinc deficiency increases the percentage of apoptotic AECs in response to TNF-α or FasL, suggesting that AECs have mechanisms to protect them from cell death. Apoptosis of AECs is a major mechanism in reducing cell numbers after hyperplastic changes in airway epithelia that may arise due to major injuries in response to LPS or allergen exposures. Resolution of hyperplastic changes or changes during prolonged exposure to an allergen is primarily ...
Transcystic duct treatment of common bile duct stones.

Successful removal of 2 retained common bile duct stones following cholecystostomy is described. With the use of the steerable catheter and the wire basket, one stone was crushed and the second was extracted in retrograde fashion through the cystic duct and gallbladder.
The costs of organization structure: Dispelling the myths of independent divisions and organization-wide decision making

Abstract For theoretical and methodological convenience, accountants often assume that the divisions of an organization are largely independent of one another and that divisional managers therefore can make decisions consistent with global optimality. Along with these assumptions, accountants have taken the structure of an organization as fixed and not changeable. This paper suggests a framework and method for assessing the costs resulting from non-independent divisions, as a component of organization productivity. Also offered is a methodology for changing the structure of organizations so that these hidden “conversion costs” first will be exposed and then can be managed for productivity improvements. Structural change thus becomes an alternative to designing elaborate information/control systems as a way of managing interdependency problems. Furthermore, as organizations are redesigned to make divisions more independent, accountants can concentrateon more intermediate matters, such as procedures for optimally determining joint-cost allocation and transfer prices, with minimal interference from the divisional structure of the organization.
Photomechanical transduction in Amoeba proteus: An action spectrum

Abstract An action spectrum for the light-induced stop reaction of amoeboid movement in Amoeba proteus has been determined. The amoebae show a sensitivity in the blue with a peak between 440 and 470 nm. This agrees with the older qualitative observations (M. R. Harrington and E. Leaming, Am. J. Physiol., 3 (1900) 9 - 16; S. O. Mast, J. Exp. Zool., 9 (1910) 265 - 277) but no positive phototaxis was found (A. A. Schaeffer, Biol. Bull., 32 (1917) 45 - 74). Absorption spectra of suspensions of whole cells have an absorption band with a similar spectral peak. The response follows the Bunsen-Roscoe law and the sensitivity appears to be greater at low oxygen tension. The photomechanical link in this response, i.e. conversion of a light stimulus to a change in motion, suggests a primitive mechanism of avoidance that may have evolutionary implications (R. M. Eakin, Evol. Biol., 2 (1968) 194 - 242; L. von Salvini-Plawen and E. Mayr, Evol. Biol., 10 (1977) 207 - 263).
Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Acute Ischemic Stroke in Patients With Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysms

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is the most feared complication of thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke. There are limited data on the risks of thrombolysis in patients with asymptomatic intracranial aneurysm. We report 2 adults with signs of hemispheric ischemia who were successfully treated with intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), despite the presence of asymptomatic intracranial aneurysm. The presence of an asymptomatic intracranial aneurysm may not necessarily preclude a good outcome from acute ischemic stroke treated with rt-PA. Selected patients harboring incidental, unruptured intracranial aneurysm may benefit from thrombolytics.
Measurement of the Henry's law coefficient and first order loss rate of PAN in n-octanol

[1] The Henry's Law solubility and first order loss rates of PAN (peroxyacetic nitric anhydride, CH3C(O)OONO2) in a model non-polar solvent, n-octanol, were measured for a range of temperatures pertinent to the lower troposphere (273–298 °K). The solubility was found to be factors of 6 to 12 higher than those measured previously for pure water, ranging between 110 ± 7.5 M/atm at 273°K and 34 ± 1.7 M/atm at 298°K. The loss rates were found to vary from below 0.5 × 10−5 sec−1 at 273°K to 5.2 ± 1.9 × 10−5 sec−1 at 298°K. Several simple approaches were used to estimate that the uptake of PAN on organic aerosol has a negligible impact on ambient PAN concentrations.
Increased calmodulin in cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with cystic fibrosis

Abstract We have found that the content of an endogenous calcium-binding protein, calmodulin, is greater in cystic fibrosis fibroblasts than in normal cells. Homogenate preparations from CF fibroblasts contained 2.4 ± 0.2 ng calmodulin/μg protein while normal fibroblasts contained 1.5 ± 0.1 ng calmodulin/μg protein. Cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity, however, was the same in cystic fibrosis and normal fibroblasts. The increased calmodulin in cystic fibrosis cells could be involved in the changes in calcium metabolism and cyclic AMP production found in these cells.
A Comparison of Social Nudists and Non-Nudists on Experience with Various Sexual Outlets

I investigated the sexual experience of social nudists (including sexual guilt and sexual inhibitions) compared with that of a matched, non‐nudist sample. Much popular belief connects nudism with sexually permissive behaviors, but researchers have shown that social nudists have strict sexual conduct rules and that social nudists mentally separate nudity and sex, seeing nude bodies as “natural” and “pure” rather than sexually arousing. Therefore, I hypothesized that, when compared to non‐nudists, (a) fewer social nudists had experienced less socially acceptable sexual outlets, (b) more social nudists felt guilt about their sexual behaviors, and (c) more social nudists wished they had engaged in a sexual behavior they had not experienced. One hundred social nudists and 100 non‐nudists, matched according to sex, age, educational level, marital status, and area of the country, answered 25 questions on sexual experience, sexual guilt, and desire to experience sexual behaviors they had not, as well as on honest...
Oxidation Behavior of NBD 200 Silicon Nitride Ceramics

The oxidation behavior of NBD 200 Si3N4 containing 1 wt% MgO sintering aid was investigated in oxygen at 900°-1300°C. The oxide growth followed a parabolic rate law with an apparent activation energy of 260 kJ/mol. The oxide layers were enriched with sodium and magnesium because of outward diffusion of intergranular Na+ and Mg2+ cations in the ceramics. The 2-4 orders of magnitude higher oxidation rate for NBD 200 Si3N4 than for other Si3N4 ceramics with a similar amount of MgO could be attributed to the presence of sodium. The oxidation process was most likely rate limited by grain-boundary diffusion of Mg2+.
Prime Interchange Graphs of Classes of Matrices of Zeros and Ones

Abstract Let R = (r1,…, rm) and S = (s1,…, sn) be nonnegative integral vectors, and let U (R, S) denote the class of all m × n matrices of 0's and 1's having row sum vector R and column sum vector S. An invariant position of U (R, S) is a position whose entry is the same for all matrices in U (R, S). The interchange graph G(R, S) is the graph where the vertices are the matrices in U (R, S) and where two matrices are joined by an edge provided they differ by an interchange. We prove that when 1 ≤ ri ≤ n − 1 (i = 1,…, m) and 1 ≤ sj ≤ m − 1 (j = 1,…, n), G(R, S) is prime if and only if U (R, S) has no invariant positions.
Lobular carcinoma in situ of the breast(Long‐term followup

Ninety-eight women with lobular carcinoma in situ (LICS) of the breast were identified over a 16-year period. Consecutive slide review of all breast material over a 12-year period identified 25 women with LCIS on biopsy who did not undergo mastectomy. Only 1 woman (4%) in a complete followup averaging 17.5 years developed ipsilateral invasive carcinoma. of 32 women with a contralateral breast at risk, 3 (9.7%) developed infiltrating carcinoma. LCIS was found with infiltrating carcinoma, especially of the lobular (small cell) type, with such frequency as to indicate a close relationship. However, the risk of subsequent development of infiltrating carcinoma in the breast with biopsyproven LCIS is shown to be substantially less than indicated by previous authors. This suggests that careful and prolonged followup may suffice for the woman whose breast biopsy contains lobular carcinoma in situ.
Confinement of fusion reaction products during the fishbone instability

The presence of fishbone events in the PDX tokamak is correlated with a reduction in the burnup of 0.8-MeV /sup 3/He ions. This reduction is probably caused by distortion of the /sup 3/He drift orbitals in the helical magnetic fields associated with the instability, resulting in the loss of about 70% of the confined /sup 3/He ions in a moderately strong fishbone. Such a nonresonant loss of particles with large orbits indicates that fishbone events may influence 3.5-MeV alphas in ignition experiments.
Refined metrics for measuring ideation effectiveness

Idea generation is an important step in the engineering design process, and as a result significant research efforts have focused on developing methods to aid designers in exploring design possibilities. Metrics to evaluate design exploration are thus necessary to make conclusions and comparisons among idea generation methods. Metrics have previously been proposed, identifying novelty, variety, quantity, and quality to characterize sets of designs and the degree to which they describe design space exploration. This article describes flaws in the variety metric and proposes a new metric to eliminate the flaws. Additionally, a single metric is proposed to evaluate the quality of design space exploration during concept generation, enabling application of a single metric to compare idea generation processes and methodologies.
Liberalism at the end of the century

At the close of the twentieth century liberalism has apparently vanquished its traditional rivals. However, whatever cause for celebration liberals might derive from their political victories over conservatives and socialists, in an important respect the twentieth century has been a disappointment for liberal theory. The same antinomies or tensions that marked it at the close of the nineteenth century characterize it today. In this essay I show how disputes between liberal individualists and collectivists, and between rationalists and sceptics, have persisted throughout this century. I then examine several explanations for this apparent lack of progress in liberal theorizing.
Acculturative stress: A theory of relevance to black Americans

Abstract Contemporary views of stress have not been systematically extended to black populations. As a result, we know very little about how black Americans experience or cope with stress. This review begins with an examination of some of the major concepts concerning stress. Then the article describes a framework that has particular relevance for investigating the experience of stress in black populations. Next the concept of acculturative stress is presented.
Oesophageal mucosal resistance

The human oesophagus is lined by a moist, partially keratinized, stratified squamous epithelium, one important property of which is to serve as a barrier between the outside (luminal) world and the internal world of the organism. This phenomenon in clinical parlance is known as 'oesophageal mucosal resistance'. This article details the structure and functions of the oesophageal mucosa that contribute to its defence against injury upon exposure to refluxed gastric acid.
A Q‐Learning‐based method applied to stochastic resource constrained project scheduling with new project arrivals

In many resource-constrained project scheduling problems (RCPSP), the set of candidate projects is not fixed a priori but evolves with time. For example, while performing an initial set of projects according to a certain decision policy, a new promising project can emerge. To make an appropriate resource allocation decision for such a problem, project cancellation and resource idling decisions should complement the conventional scheduling decisions. In this study, the problem of stochastic RCPSP (sRCPSP) with dynamic project arrivals is addressed with the added flexibility of project cancellation and resource idling. To solve the problem, a Q-Learning-based approach is adopted. To use the approach, the problem is formulated as a Markov Decision Process with appropriate definitions of states, including information state and action variables. The Q-Learning approach enables us to derive an empirical state transition rules from simulation data so that analytical calculations of potentially exorbitantly complicated state transition rules can be circumvented. To maximize the advantage of using the empirically learned state transition rules, special type of actions including project cancellation and resource idling, which are difficult to incorporate into heuristics, were randomly added in the simulation. The random actions are filtered during the Q-Value iteration and properly utilized in the online decision making to maximize the total expected reward. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The relation of childhood abuse and early parenting experiences to current marital quality in A nonclinical sample

Abstract This study examines the relation between adults' reports of the nature of the early parenting they received, including abuse, and the quality of their marital relationship. This community sample of 159 married women and men experienced relatively low levels of abuse. The regression analyses indicated that for women verbal abuse in childhood was predictive of marital conflict, and the caring parenting they experienced predicted the depth of their marital relationship. For men, the abuse variables did not predict any dimension of their current marital relationship. Of the parenting variables, overprotection was significantly predictive of conflict in their marriage. No demographic variable—income, education, and number of siblings—predicted any dimension of marital quality for either men or women. Given the skew of the abuse data for this nonclinical sample, log transformations were performed on the data and the regression analyses were reported. One change was noted: that for men, physical abuse and overprotection were equally predictive of marital conflict. The results suggest that abuse and early parent experiences are predictive of marital functioning in a nonclinical sample, but that differences exist in the pattern for men and women.
Relationship of EEG background rhythms to photic evoked responses

Abstract Photic evoked responses were obtained in twenty normal male and twenty normal female subjects. It was demonstrated that females tend to have larger amplitude evoked responses than males. Intercorrelations of aspects of the evoked response curve with results of the frequency analysis of the EEG background showed highly significant correlations between amplitude of the photic response and energy amount of the EEG. Individuals with large amplitude evoked response curves showed a greater abundance of actitivity in all frequency bands than those who had small amplitude evoked response curves. The complexity of the evoked response curve — as reflected in the total number of positive peaks — was found to be significantly correlated with the amount of fast activity in the basic EEG.
Schizophrenia, co-occurring substance use disorders and quality of care: the differential effect of a managed behavioral health care carve-out

This study explores the differential effect of a managed behavioral health Carve-Out (CO) on outpatient treatment quality for persons with schizophrenia (SCHZ) alone and co-occurring substance use disorders (SUD) (SCHZ+SUD). We used claims data from a state Medicaid program and employed a retrospective, quasi-experimental design with logit and difference in difference formula regression models. The results show the CO was associated with greater changes in treatment quality for the SCHZ population, compared to the SCHZ+SUD population. Most pronounced across both populations were decrements in receiving the psychosocial treatments for enrollees in the CO arrangement.
Successful resuscitation of an elderly man with deep accidental hypothermia using portable extracorporeal circulation in the emergency department: a case report.

Deep accidental hypothermia (body temperature below 28°C) is rare and has a high mortality rate. Successful resuscitation usually occurs in the young, but a prompt intervention using a portable extracorporeal cardiopulmonary circulation device can also provide a good outcome for older persons. We report the successful resuscitation of an 82-year-old male from deep accidental hypothermia using portable extracorporeal circulation in the emergency department. This successful resuscitation of an 82-year-old patient demonstrates that a prompt intervention by a medical team that trains together, using a mobile cardiopulmonary bypass device via a percutaneous approach, can potentially provide good outcomes for all victims of deep accidental hypothermia, both in the operating suites and the emergency department.
Spirituality in Medicine: A Comparison of Medical Students’ Attitudes and Clinical Performance

Objective: The authors sought to examine attitudes about spirituality in medicine among medical students in psychiatric clerkships and determine whether instruction on concepts of spirituality in medicine had an effect on students’ clinical performance in related tasks. Methods: A total of 192 students entering psychiatric clerkships were randomly assigned to one of two groups; both groups received identical didactic instruction on spirituality in medicine. One group worked on a problem-based learning case that featured spirituality as a prominent theme, whereas the other group worked on problem- based learning cases that made no mention of it. Students completed pre- and posttest questionnaires, and their examination at the end of rotation included a standardized patient encounter requiring them to elicit a spiritual history. Results: Among the 131 students who completed and returned both questionnaires, a significant difference (p = 0.001) was noted between groups on students’ self-reported knowledge of taking a spiritual history. However, students in the two groups received identical scores on the component of the examination requiring them to write a spiritual history. Conclusions: Although students who were exposed to material on spirituality in medicine reported greater understanding of the issue, no difference in clinical performance was observed.
Flowpaths: Compiling stack-based IR to hardware

Abstract The performance of software executed on a microprocessor is adversely affected by the basic fetch–execute cycle. A further performance penalty results from the load–execute–store paradigm associated with the use of local variables in most high-level languages. Implementing the software algorithm directly in hardware such as on an FPGA can alleviate these performance penalties. Such implementations are normally developed in a hardware description language such as VHDL or Verilog. More recently, several methods for using C as a hardware description language and for compiling C programs to hardware have been researched. Several software-programming languages compile to an intermediate representation (IR) that is stack based such as Java to Java bytecodes. Forth is a programming language that minimizes the use of local variables by exchanging the load–execute–store paradigm for stack manipulation instructions. This paper introduces a new systems architecture for FPGAs, called flowpaths, which can implement Java bytecodes or software programs written in Forth directly in an FPGA without the need for a microprocessor core. In the flowpath implementation of Forth programs all stack manipulation instructions are represented as simple wire connections that take zero time to execute. In the flowpath implementation of Java bytecodes the normal load–execute–store paradigm is represented as a single sequential operation and stack-manipulation operations become combinational thus executing faster. This paper compares the use of flowpaths in an FPGA generated from Java bytecodes and a high-level Forth program for the Sieve of Eratosthenes with C, Java, and Forth executed on microprocessors and microprocessor cores on FPGAs. The results show that flowpaths perform within a factor of two of a minimal hand-crafted direct hardware implementation of the Sieve and orders of magnitude better than compiling the program to a microprocessor.
Improvements in global mode analysis

As with any data analysis, the standard MDI medium-l analysis pipeline is based on several approximations. Physical effects such as line asymmetry, horizontal displacement at the solar surface, and distortion of eigenfunctions have been ignored, as well as cubic distortion in the optics and instrumental errors in the plate scale and orientation of the CCD. Furthermore, we see several systematic errors in the results of the analysis, most notably an annual variation in f-mode frequencies and a bump in the normalized residuals of the a-coefficients around 3.4 mHz, which may relate to polar jets in the inversions. We have reprocessed several years of data applying the above corrections, and made improvements in the pipeline algorithm itself by recomputing the locations of bad data points and using updated routines for detrending and gapfilling. Along the way the pipeline has been almost entirely automated. Here we discuss the resulting changes in mode parameters and their effect on the magnitude of systematic errors.
Human perceptual categorization of iris texture patterns

We report on an experiment in which observers were asked to browse a set of 100 iris images and group them into categories based on similarity of overall texture appearance. Results indicate that there is a natural categorization of iris images into a small number of high-level categories, and then also into subcategories. Also, the categorization reflects the Caucasian / Asian ethnicity of the person. This iris texture categorization has potential application in, for example, creating an indexing algorithm to speed search of an iris database and / or determining soft biometric traits of a person.
An elective course in women's health.

Objective. To design, implement, and assess a women's health elective course for second- and third-year doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) students. Design. A women's health course was developed, focusing on health promotion, disease prevention, and treatment throughout a woman's lifespan. Course format included didactic lectures, in-class activities, peer teaching, case studies, and reading assignments. Assessment. Student performance and learning were assessed based on class participation, (graded 3 times during the semester), activities and assignments, (graded weekly), and 2 formal written assessments. Student survey results indicated perceptions of women's health had changed in 3 ways: a realization that many diseases manifest differently in women than men, an increased awareness of numerous diseases not addressed in the required curriculum that affect women, and a greater appreciation of the physiological and pharmacokinetic differences that increase the potential for adverse drug reactions in women. Concl...
Boolean Difference Techniques for Time-Sequence and Common-Cause Analysis of Fault-Trees

Fault trees are a major model for the analysis of system reliability. In particular, Boolean difference methods applied to fault trees provide a widely used measure of subsystem criticality. This paper generalizes the fault-tree model to time-varying systems and uses timedependent Boolean differences to analyze such systems. In particular, suitable partial Boolean differences provide maximal and minimal solution sets for sensitization conditions. A method of common-cause failure analysis based on partial time-dependent Boolean differences allows the study of failures due to repeated occurrences, at different times, of the same phenomenon. Such methods generalize to systems with repair, and under certain assumptions of independence, steady-state distributions can be used for the analysis of system faults. These methods are generally useful in reliability and sensitivity analysis.
Testicular abnormalities in male rats after lactational exposure to nonylphenols.

Lactational exposure of male rat pups to nonylphenols (NPs) decreased the size of their testes and male accessory glands. At 31 d of age, NP-treatment of male rats resulted in less cellular differentiation of the seminiferous tubules (STs) and increased intertublar space compared to controls. At maturity, NP-treated males showed varying degrees of abnormalities in the affected testees. In the moderately affected ones, about 20–30% of their STs had poorly differentiated germinal elements. Cell lineagewas less organized. In extreme cases, all STs of the affected testis failed to differentiated into germinal elements. These abnormalities in germinal element differentiation might be the primary cause for a number of the NP-treated males having a lower epididymal sperm count and a lower percentage of motile sperm compared to age-matched control males. Zymogram analysis of testis homogenates by sodium dodecyl sulfate gelatin gels revealed two major forms (64–66 kDa and 50–52 kDa) of gelatinases. Only the 50–52-kDa form was greatly reduced or absent in the affected testis. Lactational exposure of male pups to NPs thus leads to various testicular abnormalities including lack of differenctialtion of Sts, lowering of sperm count, and reduction in the percentage of motile sperm and modulation of a specific form of testicular proteinases.
Risk factors for thromboembolic stroke in elderly patients with chronic atrial fibrillation

Abstract Chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) in the presence or absence of rheumatic valvular heart disease is associated with an increased incidence of stroke. 1,2 We reported in a prospective study that at 27-month follow-up, echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in elderly patients with systolic or diastolic hypertension was associated with an increased incidence of new atherothrombotic brain infarction. 3 We also demonstrated in a prospective study that at 3-year follow-up, risk factors for atherothrombotic brain infarction were cigarette smoking, systolic or diastolic hypertension and diabetes mellitus in elderly men and systolic or diastolic hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity in elderly women. 4 This report correlates in elderly patients with chronic AF the prevalence of thromboembolic (TE) stroke with the presence or absence of rheumatic mitral stenosis, mitral anular calcium, valvular aortic stenosis, systolic or diastolic hypertension, prior myocardial infarction, left atrial enlargement and LV hypertrophy.
Spatial distribution of nests constrains the strength of sexual selection in a warbler

In socially monogamous species, extra-pair paternity may increase the strength of intersexual selection by allowing males with preferred phenotypes to monopolize matings. Several studies have found relationships between male signals and extra-pair mating, but many others fail to explain variation in extra-pair mating success. A greater appreciation for the role that ecological contingencies play in structuring behavioural processes may help to reconcile contradictory results. We studied extra-pair mating in a spatial context in the common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), a territorial wood warbler. Over the course of 6 years, we observed 158 breeding attempts by 99 males, resulting in a total of 369 nests and 520 sampled nestlings. The spatial distribution of territories varied greatly, with males having between 0 and 10 close neighbours and between three and 39 neighbouring nestlings close enough to represent extra-pair siring opportunities. Both within-pair and extra-pair reproductive success increased with breeding density, but the opportunity for sexual selection and strength of selection varied with density. Total variance in reproductive success was highest at low density and was mostly explained by variation in within-pair success. In contrast, at high density, both within-pair and extra-pair successes contributed substantially to variance in reproductive success. The relationships between plumage and extra-pair mating also varied by density; plumage was under strong sexual selection via extra-pair mating success at high density, but no selection was detected at low density. Thus, ecological factors that structure social interactions can drive patterns of sexual selection by facilitating or constraining the expression of mating preferences.
Metabolism of the nonhepatic splanchnic area in baboons and the effects of endotoxin.

Abstract : Values of several parameters of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism were established in the Non-hepatic splanchnic area (NHSA) of anesthetized baboons under normal conditions. The tissues in this area consistently remove free fatty acids (FFA) and glucose. About 20% of palmitic and oleic acids are extracted. Of the amount of palmitic acid taken up, 10% is oxidized. 8% of the total CO produced by the NHSA can be accounted for by FFA oxidation. The metabolic effects of E. coli endotoxin adminstration were studied in terms of alterations in metabolite concentrations systemically and in the NHSA. Arterial FFA levels, as well as the flux of palmitic and oleic acids decreased substantially >60 min. after endotoxin administration. Arterial glucose concentrations decreased at >60 min., lactate concentrations increased significantly, AcAc/beta-OHB ratios decreased significantly, both at 60 min. following toxin injection. Metabolic changes in the NHSA were inconsistent. (Author)
MULTI-LEVEL HIERARCHICAL RETRIEVAL

As large databases of conceptual graphs are developed for complex domains, efficient retrieval techniques must be developed to manage the complexity of graph-matching while maintaining reasonable space requirements. This paper describes a novel method ``the multi-level hierarchical retrieval method" that exploits redundancy to improve both space and execution time efficiency. The method involves search in multiple partially ordered (by ``more-general-than") hierarchies such that search in a simpler hierarchy reduces the search time in the hierarchy of next complexity. The specific hierarchies used are: the traditional partial order over conceptual graphs; a partial order over node descriptors; a partial order over ``descriptor units"; and finally, the simplest partial order is the traditional type hierarchy.
Postvoid film of intravenous pyelogram in diagnosis of urethral diverticulum

Abstract Urethral diverticulunt is a correctable cause of lower urinary tract symptoms in women. It has been found to be present in from 1.85 to 4.7 per cent of all females. The postvoid film of the intravenous urograrn (IVP) is the simplest and least invasive method available to diagnose urethral divertieula. It should be a routine part of the IVP in women with lower urinary tract symptoms.
A Class-Based Search System in Unstructured P2P Networks

Efficient searching is one of the important design issues in peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Among various searching techniques, semantic-based searching has drawn significant attention recently. Gnutella-like efficient searching system (GES) in the work of Zhu et al. (2005) is such a system. GES derives a node vector, a semantic summary of all of the documents on a node, based on vector space model (VSM). The topology adaptation algorithm and search protocol are then designed according to the similarity between node vectors of different nodes. However, although GES is suitable when the distribution of documents in each node is uniform, it may not be efficient when the distribution is diverse. When there are many categories of documents at each node, the node vector representation may be inaccurate. We extend the idea of GES and present a class-based semantic searching system (CSS). It makes use of a data clustering algorithm, online spherical k-means clustering (OSKM) in the work of Zhang (2005), to cluster all documents on a node into several classes. Each class can be viewed as a virtual node. Virtual nodes are connected through virtual links. As a result, class vector replaces node vector and plays an important role in the class-based topology adaptation and search process, which makes CSS very efficient. Our simulation using the IR benchmark TREC collection demonstrates that CSS outperforms GES in terms of higher recall, higher precision and lower search cost.
Medications for Aggressiveness in Prison: Focus on Oxcarbazepine

The literature regarding the use of medication for impulsive aggression, both in a prison setting and outside of prison, is briefly reviewed. The rationale for using oxcarbazepine for impulsive aggression in prison is presented, focusing on the evidence (though limited) of efficacy, the lack of frequent significant side effects, and the cost/benefit ratio, compared with other options.
Environmental effects on thermoplastic and elastomer toughened cyanate ester composite systems

The effects of temperature and moisture on thermal and mechanical properties of high-temperature cyanate ester composite materials were investigated. A resin transfer molding process was used to impregnate glass fiber fabrics with matrices that underwent thermoplastic or elastomeric toughness modifications. The elastomer-modified material obtained the highest mode I fracture toughness values primarily because the toughener did not phase separate. Extended exposure to 200°C, however, deteriorated initial toughness improvements regardless of the modifier utilized. Although the thermal stability was increased by using thermoplastic modifiers in comparison to the elastomer-modified material, the degradation was mainly governed by the cyanate ester network. Gaseous degradation products caused delaminations and therefore reduced strength when the materials were exposed to 200°C for 1000 h. Also, upon immersion in water at 95°C, the matrices absorbed up to 3.3 wt % more than previous values reported in the literature. Fiber/matrix interfacial phenomena were responsible for this behavior because fiber/matrix adhesion also was reduced drastically as shown by the strong reduction in flexural strength. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 556–567, 2000
Evaluation of Java for control system use

The LANSCE Control System upgrade requires conversion of approximately 250 control room applications from a VAX/VMS environment to Sparc/Solaris. Many of these applications must also run from a web browser for access by system owners outside the control room. The Java programming language has the potential for creating programs that can run in both the Solaris and web environments, but there are questions about its suitability in a control system. This paper discusses two major issues in the LANSCE environment: data-access capabilities and slow startup of applications (as much as 10 seconds).
Screening of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis mutants for attenuation in a bovine monocyte-derived macrophage model

Vaccination remains a major tool for prevention and progression of Johne’s disease, a chronic enteritis of ruminants worldwide. Currently there is only one licensed vaccine within the United States and two vaccines licensed internationally against Johne’s disease. All licensed vaccines reduce fecal shedding of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and delay disease progression. However, there are no available vaccines that prevent disease onset. A joint effort by the Johne’s Disease Integrated Program (JDIP), a USDA-funded consortium, and USDA- APHIS/VS sought to identify transposon insertion mutant strains as vaccine candidates in part of a three phase study. The focus of the Phase I study was to evaluate MAP mutant attenuation in a well-defined in vitro bovine monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM) model. Attenuation was determined by colony forming unit (CFUs) counts and slope estimates. Based on CFU counts alone, the MDM model did not identify any mutant that significantly differed from the wild-type control, MAP K-10. Slope estimates using mixed models approach identified six mutants as being attenuated. These were enrolled in protection studies involving murine and baby goat vaccination-challenge models. MDM based approach identified trends in attenuation but this did not correlate with protection in a natural host model. These results suggest the need for alternative strategies for Johne’s disease vaccine candidate screening and evaluation.
Utilizing mobile devices to capture case stories for knowledge management

This study examines how the increasing number of new mobile devices that enable rich in situ information capture can be utilized to improve knowledge management practices. An ethnographic study is being conducted of a heating and cooling services company focusing on the exchange of case stories. With knowledge gained from this study a prototype system is being built that allows in situ multi-media data capture, and retrieval via the Internet. The proposed field study of this system will extend our understanding of how to effectively design for in situ multi-media data capture so that it is integrated in organizational processes.