cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Self-reported habitual short sleep duration is associated with endothelial fibrinolytic dysfunction in men: a preliminary report.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Habitual short sleep duration is associated with increased cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality resulting from atherothrombotic events. The mechanisms responsible for this heightened cardiovascular risk are not fully understood. The capacity of the endothelium to release tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), the primary activator of the fibrinolytic system, is a key endogenous defense mechanism against intravascular fibrin deposition and thrombosis. We tested the hypothesis that endothelial t-PA release is impaired in adults who sleep less than 7 h/night compared with adults who sleep between 7 and 9 h/night. DESIGN THIRTY ADULT MEN WERE STRATIFIED BASED ON AVERAGE NIGHTLY HABITUAL SLEEP DURATION: 15 with normal sleep duration (age: 55 ± 2 years; sleep duration: 7.6 h/night) and 15 with short sleep duration (56 ± 2 years; 6.1 h/night). Net endothelial release of t-PA was determined, in vivo, in response to intra-brachial infusions of bradykinin (12.5-50.0 ng/100 mL tissue/min) and sodium nitroprusside (1.0-4.0 μg/100 mL tissue/min). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Net endothelial t-PA release to bradykinin was significantly lower (∼25%) in the short (from 0.4 ± 0.8 to 41.5 ± 4.3 ng/100 mL tissue/min) compared with the normal (0.4 ± 0.5 to 64.9 ± 6.7 ng/100 mL/tissue/min) sleep duration group. Furthermore, there was an inverse relation between average nightly sleep duration and peak t-PA release to bradykinin (r = 0.36, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Endothelial t-PA release is impaired in adults who report short habitual sleep duration. Impaired endothelial fibrinolytic function may underlie the increased atherothrombotic risk associated with chronic short sleep.
Supraoptimal Soil Temperatures Induced Oxidative Stress in Leaves of Creeping Bentgrass Cultivars Differing in Heat Tolerance

High temperature is a major factor limiting growth of cool-season grasses during summer months. The objective of this study was to determine whether oxidative stress is involved in leaf injury induced by high soil temperatures in two creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) cultivars, beat-tolerant L-93 and heat-sensitive Penncross. Shoots and roots were exposed to four differential temperature regimes in growth chambers and water baths: (i) 20/20°C (control); (ii) 20/35°C (high soil temperature); (iii) 35/20°C (high air temperature): and (iv) 35/35°C (high shoot/soil temperatures). Turf quality, leaf photochemical efficiency (Fv/Fm), electrolyte leakage (EL), content of a lipid peroxidation product (malondialdehyde, MDA), and activities of the antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined. Turf quality and leaf Fv/Fm ratio decreased, whereas EL and MDA contents increased under high soil temperature alone or in combination with high air temperature regimes in both cultivars, but to a greater extent in Penncross than in L-93. Decreases in turf quality and Fv/Fm ratio and increases in EL and MDA were more pronounced at 20/35°C than at 35/20°C. The activities of SOD and CAT decreased with prolonged periods of high temperatures and to a greater extent for Penncross than for L-93, The reductions in SOD and CAT activities were more severe at 20/35 than at 35/20°C. These results suggest that high soil temperature caused more severe oxidative damage to leaves than high air temperature by limiting antioxidant activities and inducing lipid peroxidation. This oxidative stress was associated with accelerated leaf senescence under high temperature conditions. Maintenance of antioxidant activities and low levels of lipid peroxidation was related to the better tolerance of creeping bentgrass to high soil temperature stress imposed on roots or high air temperature on shoots.
Activity, inactivity, and screen time in relation to weight and fatness over adolescence in girls.

Objective: The impact of activity and inactivity on relative weight and fatness change are best evaluated longitudinally. We examined the longitudinal relationship of physical activity, inactivity, and screen time with relative weight status and percentage body fat (%BF) and explored how it differed by parental overweight status. Research Methods and Procedures: Non-obese pre-menarcheal girls (173), 8 to 12 years old, were followed until 4 years post-menarche. %BF, BMI z-score, and time spent sleeping, sitting, standing, walking, and in vigorous activity were assessed annually. We developed a physical activity index to reflect time and intensity of activity. Inactivity was defined as the sum of time spent sleeping, sitting, and standing. Screen time was defined as time spent viewing television, videotapes, or playing video games. Parental overweight was defined as at least one parent with BMI > 25. Results: In separate linear mixed effects models, activity, inactivity, and screen time were unrelated to BMI z-score longitudinally, with and without accounting for parental overweight. After controlling for parental overweight, activity was inversely related (p < 0.001), and inactivity was directly related (p < 0.035) to increased %BF longitudinally. Screen time was unrelated to %BF change. With stratification for parental overweight, effects of activity and inactivity on %BF were observed only among girls with at least one overweight parent. Discussion: In this cohort of initially non-overweight girls, activity and inactivity were related to accrual of BF over adolescence, particularly among children with at least one overweight parent. These results suggest that girls with a family history of overweight represent a target population of high priority for interventions around physical activity and inactivity.
On a formula of Harald Cramér

Abstract In 1930 H. Cramer determined the probability that the total claim never exceeds the risk reserve in the interval (0, ∞) in an insurance risk process in which the initial risk reserve is x, clients pay premium with a constant unit rate, claims occur in accordance with a homogeneous Poisson process, and the risk sums are independent and identically distributed positive random variables. In 1930 F. Pollaczek and in 1932 A. Y. Khintchine determined the limit of the probability that the waiting time is ⋜x for a single server queue with Poisson input and general service times. In 1952 the author determined the limit of the probability that the virtual waiting time is ⋜x for a single server queue with Poisson input and general service times. Surprisingly, in all three cases we have the same limit. In this paper this curious coincidence is explained, and the aforementioned results are extended to the cases where claims occur in accordance with a recurrent process in the risk process and customers arrive ...
Des-orientar Cleópatra: um tropo moderno da identidade

Este artigo propoe um estudo da representacao de Cleopatra ao longo do seculo passado, situando o debate sobre sua aparencia e origens no âmbito da dominacao colonial, das lutas anti-coloniais e das friccoes raciais pos-coloniais que, como se tenta mostrar, acrescenta uma outra dimensao para entender o investimento na identidade de Cleopatra.
Submicron linewidth measurement using an interferometric optical profiler

Optical instruments for submicron linewidth measurement are limited by the resolution associated with the wavelength of light. By measuring phase, rather than intensity, the lateral resolution of the system can be improved. This paper describes a system based upon an interferometric optical profiler using a Linnik interferometer and narrow-band illumination. The system measures surface height directly using phase-measurement interferometry techniques. Three-dimensional maps of surface structure over 1024 X 1024 pixels are produced. The system includes an 80486-based AT-compatible computer and a Videk Megaplus camera. The Videk Megaplus camera has 1320 X 1030 active square pixels spaced at 6.8 micrometers intervals. It outputs an 8-bit digital signal which is interfaced to a framegrabber, and intensity is displayed live on a high resolution monitor. The incoherent optical resolution of the system is 0.34 micrometers , and the detector samples the surface every 0.034 micrometers . It has been found that features as small as 0.5 micrometers can easily be measured. Two calibration standards traceable to NIST with feature sizes on the order of 1 micrometers have been used to calibrate the lateral dimensions of the system. Results of measurements of photoresist lines on silicon with 0.5 micrometers lines are presented.
The effect of subtractive defects and grain size on VLSI interconnect early failure

The effect of subtractive defects, similar in appearance to those caused by processing flaws such as photomask pinholes or stress voiding, on the reliability of VLSI interconnects is studied. Analysis of the metal microstructure and variations in the current density and temperature, show that small grained VLSI interconnects containing subtractive defects will have significant early failures. More importantly, when the grain size is large compared to the linewidth at the defect site, a good tolerance to defect-related early failures is expected. Experimental observations on 3 μm wide Al-based test stripes, containing semi-circular defects that remove up to 80% of the linewidth, support these arguments. The life tests were conducted at a nominal current density of 1.5 × 106Acm−2 to avoid the fusion regime, and at ambient temperatures of 80 °C, 125 °C and 200 °C, to study the influence of temperature. The influence of grain size was studied by using metallizations with mean grain sizes of 0.5 μm, 1 μm and 1.5 μm. Results confirm the analysis that, as long as the current density at the defect site is not high enough to cause the metal to fuse by Joule heating, the metal microstructure near a defect site is more important than the current density and temperature gradients.
A plasma density model for Saturn based on Voyager observations

The present combination of ion and electron data sets from both Voyager flybys are to yield the broad view of the Saturn plasma environment indicates that a small, -10 to -20 V spacecraft potential furnishes a plausible basis for reconciliation of differences between observed ion and electron densities. A map of density contours within L = 12 is produced which incorporates all available Voyager thermal plasma data in this region, assuming that the inner mesosphere was stable during the nine months between encounters. The oxygen flux tube content decreases rapidly within L = 5, indicating the occurrence of losses in this region. Neural atom lifetimes in the inner magnetosphere lie in the range of weeks to years, and are a strong function of latitude.
The challenges of deep impact autonomous navigation

On July 4, 2005 at 05:44:34 UTC the Impactor spacecraft (s/c) impacted comet 9P/Tempel 1 with a relative speed of more than 10 km/s. The Flyby s/c captured the impact event, using both the medium resolution imager and the high resolution imager, and tracked the impact site for the entire observing period following impact. The objective of the Impactor s/c was to impact in an illuminated area viewable from the Flyby s/c and telemeter high-resolution context images of the impact site prior to impact. The Flyby s/c had two primary objectives: (1) capture the impact event in order to observe the ejecta plume expansion dynamics and (2) track the impact site for at least 800 s to observe the crater formation and capture high-resolution images of the fully developed crater. All of these objectives were met by estimating the trajectory of each spacecraft relative to 9P/Tempel 1 using the autonomous navigation system, precise attitude information from the attitude determination and control subsystem, and allowing each spacecraft to independently select the same impact site. This paper describes the challenges of targeting and tracking comet 9P/Tempel 1. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A study of precipitate formation in aluminium-copper alloys by positron annihilation and transmission electron microscopy

Abstract Polycrystalline Al─Cu samples containing 0.5, 2.0 and 4.0 wt.% Cu were quenched, after homogenization, from a temperature of 823 to 200 K. Positron annihilation Doppler broadening measurements were then made after isochronal annealing steps with 30 min holding times. Transmission electron microscopy was used to study a set of similarly prepared specimens after several annealing steps. The results indicate that there is a high density of vacancies at or near Guinier-Preston (GP) zones. Positron annihilation is shown to be insensitive to the growth of GP zones and to the transition from GP1 to GP2, but is extremely sensitive to the formation of the partially incoherent θ' phase. We propose that the interface between the incoherent θ' precipitate and the Al matrix provides efficient trapping sites for positrons.
Secularism, Identity, and Enchantment

In Secularism, Identity, and Enchantment, Akeel Bilgrami offers a collection of essays on the relationship between religion and politics. He notes in his introduction that the essays are somewhat i...
Feasibility study of intra-patient sorafenib dose-escalation or re-escalation in patients with previously treated advanced solid tumors.

Purpose To determine if intra-patient dose escalation of the multi-targeted kinase inhibitor sorafenib is feasible in patients with advanced pretreated solid malignancies. Methods An intra-patient dose escalation scheme starting at 400 mg BID was employed in this prospective trial. Doses were escalated to 600 mg BID for the second cycle and to 800 mg BID for the third cycle in the absence of grade 3+ adverse events. In the event of grade 3+ adverse events during cycle 1, doses were reduced to 400 mg daily through cycle 2. Dose re-escalation for cycle 3 was allowed in the absence of grade 3+ adverse events during cycle 2. Further dose escalation was prohibited. The primary endpoint was the overall percentage of patients tolerating dose escalation to 600 mg BID through cycle 2 or tolerating re-escalation to 400 mg BID through cycle 3. Results Fifty eligible patients with various solid tumors and a median of 3 prior therapies were enrolled. Eleven patients (22%) tolerated primary dose escalation or re-escalation. Only 14 patients (28%) completed cycle 1 without dose modification or discontinuing treatment. Seven of 13 patients tolerated primary dose escalation through cycle 2. Four of 5 patients tolerated dose re-escalation through cycle 3. Reasons for escalation failure included tumor progression (42%) and adverse events (26%). Common grade 3+ adverse events included hand-foot skin reaction, hypertension, and hypophosphatemia. Conclusions Intra-patient dose escalation and/or re-escalation of sorafenib were not feasible in pretreated solid tumor patients. Sorafenib dose escalation remains an investigational approach.
Using verbal and blind-walking distance estimates to investigate the two visual systems hypothesis.

Verbal estimates of egocentric distance are usually too short at distances greater than several meters, yet blindfolded walking to previously viewed targets can be surprisingly accurate. We present evidence from three experiments for the existence of two visual pathways with different encodings of perceived egocentric distance. We found that (1) blind-walking estimates of egocentric distance are consistently more accurate than verbal reports; (2) an indoor versus outdoor environment selectively influences verbal reports; and (3) wearing prism lenses, which displace the visual field vertically, selectively influences the blind-walking estimates. We interpret these results in terms of the two visual systems hypothesis.
Development of a DNA Bar-coding Project as a Biology Laboratory Module

This article is intended for faculty who are looking for new techniques for teaching a genetics or molecular ecology lab. We have used the bar-coding protocol for both a non-majors watershed ecology lab and a majors-specific genetics lab with equal success. The exercise involves extracting mitochondrial DNA from animal tissue, amplifying a portion of the mitochondrial DNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and sequencing the amplified DNA to determine the animal to the species level. Logistically, time spent on the DNA bar-coding procedure could be as short as 2–3 weeks or last an entire semester, depending on course outcomes and time availability.
Cellular actions of vasopressin in the mammalian kidney

Vasopressin (VP), 1 or antidiuretic hormone (ADH), is the single most important hormonal regulator of the renal handling of water in mammals. Impressive progress in elucidating the mode of action of this hormone at the cellular level was made possible in recent years mainly by two developments: insights into the biochemistry of polypeptide hormone action in general and use of various micromethods for the study of single nephron segments. Work utilizing the latter approach, which has yielded a wealth of information about possible modes of water and solute permeation in VP-responsive epithelia, has been lucidly summarized in several recent reviews [1–4]. In the present article, we shall therefore focus attention on the biochemical aspects of VP action [2, 5, 6]. Moreover, even though much useful information has been obtained on nonmammalian membranes, we shall focus our discussion mainly, though not exclusively, on experiments performed on mammalian kidneys. Biochemical steps, which are currently thought to be involved in the cellular action of VP that leads to an increase in water permeability [2, 5, 6], are roughly schematized in Fig. 1. In the mammalian kidney VP acts on the collecting ducts and on functionally similar late segments of distal convoluted tubules. The hormone binds onto a specific receptor located in the basal and/or lateral plasma (i.e., cell) membrane (also often called the basolateral, serosal or peritubular plasma membrane). The interaction of VP with its specific receptor stimulates enzymatic formation of cyclic adenosine 3′, 5′-monophosphate (cyclic AMP), which serves as an intracellular mediator of VP action. Cyclic AMP, in turn, directly or indirectly elicits an increase in the water permeability of the luminal (also called apical or mucosal) membrane and possibly of adjacent intercellular structures. Thus, in the following discussion, we have divided the cellular actions of VP into two major sequential biochemical events: (a) the interaction of the hormone with its receptor and the effect of this reaction on cyclic AMP metabolism and (b) the reactions by which cyclic AMP, in turn, may elicit changes in water permeability (Fig. 1).
Effect of thermal processing variations on the mechanical properties and microstructure of a precipitation hardening HSLA steel

Twenty-four variations in the heat treatment of ASTM A710 Grade A, Class 3 steel were performed to determine how sensitive this alloy is to deviations from the recommended heat treatment and to form a basis for understanding property variations in the heat-affected zone of weldments. Tensile, impact, and hardness properties were measured for each heat treatment. Fractography and metallography were carried out to correlate microstructure with properties. It was found that smallangle neutron scattering was extremely sensitive to small changes in the microstructure and also correlated extremely well with properties.
Environmental Signals Controlling Production of Hemagglutinin/Protease in Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio cholerae hemagglutinin/protease (Hap) was induced upon nutrient limitation and strongly repressed by glucose. Hap was not produced in a mutant defective in the cyclic AMP (cAMP) receptor protein, suggesting that intracellular cAMP levels mediate Hap expression. No difference was found in Hap production between an rpoS deletion mutant and its isogenic wild-type precursor, indicating that the alternate sigma(s) factor is not essential for Hap expression. Based on these and previous results, we discuss the role of Hap in the pathogenesis of cholera.
Paragon: QoS-aware scheduling for heterogeneous datacenters

Large-scale datacenters (DCs) host tens of thousands of diverse applications each day. However, interference between colocated workloads and the difficulty to match applications to one of the many hardware platforms available can degrade performance, violating the quality of service (QoS) guarantees that many cloud workloads require. While previous work has identified the impact of heterogeneity and interference, existing solutions are computationally intensive, cannot be applied online and do not scale beyond few applications.We present Paragon, an online and scalable DC scheduler that is heterogeneity and interference-aware. Paragon is derived from robust analytical methods and instead of profiling each application in detail, it leverages information the system already has about applications it has previously seen. It uses collaborative filtering techniques to quickly and accurately classify an unknown, incoming workload with respect to heterogeneity and interference in multiple shared resources, by identifying similarities to previously scheduled applications. The classification allows Paragon to greedily schedule applications in a manner that minimizes interference and maximizes server utilization. Paragon scales to tens of thousands of servers with marginal scheduling overheads in terms of time or state.We evaluate Paragon with a wide range of workload scenarios, on both small and large-scale systems, including 1,000 servers on EC2. For a 2,500-workload scenario, Paragon enforces performance guarantees for 91% of applications, while significantly improving utilization. In comparison, heterogeneity-oblivious, interference-oblivious and least-loaded schedulers only provide similar guarantees for 14%, 11% and 3% of workloads. The differences are more striking in oversubscribed scenarios where resource efficiency is more critical.
Anticipating Welfare Impacts via Travel Demand Forecasting Models: Comparison of Aggregate and Activity-Based Approaches for the Austin, Texas, Region

A great disparity exists between the direction of travel demand forecasting by researchers and the travel demand models used by transportation planning organizations. Activity-based models of travel demand have become increasingly studied in the academic realm, and significant advances have been made in recent years. However, travel demand forecasting tools used in practice have lagged and rely on traditional, aggregate four- or five-step approaches. One reason behind the divergence in methods is the lack of work that directly compares performance of the two approaches. This research provides such a comparison, with an emphasis on calculations of traveler welfare. A traditional, aggregate model and an activity-based microsimulation model of travel demand were developed in parallel by using the same data for Austin, Texas. The models were applied for a base scenario and for several policy scenarios to test model performance and sensitivity to inputs. The spatial distribution of traveler welfare implied by ...
Active downward propulsion by oyster larvae in turbulence.

SUMMARY Oyster larvae ( Crassostrea virginica ) could enhance their settlement success by moving toward the seafloor in the strong turbulence associated with coastal habitats. We characterized the behavior of individual oyster larvae in grid-generated turbulence by measuring larval velocities and flow velocities simultaneously using infrared particle image velocimetry. We estimated larval behavioral velocities and propulsive forces as functions of the kinetic energy dissipation rate e, strain rate γ, vorticity ξ and acceleration α. In calm water most larvae had near-zero vertical velocities despite propelling themselves upward (swimming). In stronger turbulence all larvae used more propulsive force, but relative to the larval axis, larvae propelled themselves downward (diving) instead of upward more frequently and more forcefully. Vertical velocity magnitudes of both swimmers and divers increased with turbulence, but the swimming velocity leveled off as larvae were rotated away from their stable, velum-up orientation in strong turbulence. Diving speeds rose steadily with turbulence intensity to several times the terminal fall velocity in still water. Rapid dives may require a switch from ciliary swimming to another propulsive mode such as flapping the velum, which would become energetically efficient at the intermediate Reynolds numbers attained by larvae in strong turbulence. We expected larvae to respond to spatial or temporal velocity gradients, but although the diving frequency changed abruptly at a threshold acceleration, the variation in propulsive force and behavioral velocity was best explained by the dissipation rate. Downward propulsion could enhance oyster larval settlement by raising the probability of larval contact with oyster reef patches.
Youth Migration, Stratification and State Policy in Post‐Soviet Russia

In principle, the fall of the Soviet Union brought democratic capitalism to the Russian people. In practice, during the post-Soviet era power elites influence state policies governing social processes like migration to protect their power from democracy and shield their economic status from free market competition. Manipulating policy stalls social mobility and reinforces stratification as many Russian migrants, most of whom are young and poor, cannot assimilate into cities like Moscow in order to take advantage of the economic and educational opportunities exclusively available there and nowhere else in the country. While Russia is unique in being a newly established democracy with a free market, similar processes also create and reproduce inequalities in the west. Thus, sociologists should explore how denying access to space and the unprecedented opportunity some places offer migrants limits social mobility thereby maintaining the social stratification hierarchy.
Silences and Secrets: The Australian Experience of the Weintraubs Syncopators

This thesis explores the early Australian experience of the Weintraub Syncopators, a group of Jewish musicians from Berlin remembered as the on-stage band in Josef von Sternberg’s classic 1930 film The Blue Angel. The Weintraubs arrived in Australia as contracted celebrity entertainers in July 1937, and eventually secured well-paid, high-profile employment at a fashionable Sydney night-club. The outbreak of war created a rupture in the group’s story; the band ceased to exist under that name when three of the musicians were interned on 6 June 1940. Reflecting that rupture, my thesis falls into two thematic sections. The first explores the musicians’ encounter, as immigrant professionals, with the Musicians’ Union of Australia, an organisation which, for four decades of the early twentieth century, sought to exclude all foreign musicians from membership and hence from work in the mainstream profession. I argue that, in order to understand the Union’s attitude towards Jewish (and refugee) musicians in the 1930s, including the Weintraubs, it is necessary to trace the evolution and decline of Union policy on foreign musicians between c. 1918 and c. 1960, and to place this policy in its social, industrial and legislative context. The second thematic section explores the impact and consequences of civilian denunciations of so-called ‘enemy aliens’, including the Weintraubs and other Jewish refugee immigrants, and its link to internment in wartime Australia. In this section, I also examine the ideologies of citizenship and allegiance that governed official assessment of the relative credibility of denouncer and denounced. Common to both themes is the question of how much it mattered that the musicians were Jewish. I conclude that a failure to distinguish between Jewish refugees and other foreigners, or other German-speaking nationals, rather than overt antisemitism, characterised the approaches of (respectively) the Union and security services. Research is primarily based on named files held in the National Archives of Australia and the extensive records of the Musicians’ Union of Australia held in the Noel Butlin Archive Centre, Australian National University.
Comparing Cost-Effectiveness Analyses for the Clinical Oncology Setting: The Example of the Gynecologic Oncology Group 111 Trial

For the practicing oncologist, balancing quality of care with cost containment has become an unavoidable challenge. The development of new technologies, increased patient awareness, growth of managed care, and aging of our population represent conflicting interests in this endeavor. Medical literature has recently been inundated with economic analyses in an effort to approach some of these difficult questions, but often times it is difficult to see how this research applies to any particular oncologist's practice. This article identifies many of the key issues raised in the critical evaluation of cost-effectiveness analyses as they relate to the practicing oncologist. We offer suggestions on the interpretation of these studies to the clinical setting, using the recently published Journal of Clinical Oncology articles on cost-effectiveness analyses of paclitaxel-cisplatin as first-line therapy for ovarian cancer as examples.
Embryology and Histology Education in North American Dental Schools: The Basic Science Survey Series

As part of the Basic Science Survey Series (BSSS) for Dentistry, members of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Anatomical Sciences Section surveyed faculty members teaching embryology and histology courses at North American dental schools. The survey was designed to assess, among other things, curriculum content, utilization of laboratories, use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI), and recent curricular changes. Responses were received from fifty-nine (88.1 percent) of the sixty-seven U.S. and Canadian dental schools. Findings suggest the following: 1) a trend toward combining courses is evident, though the integration was predominantly discipline-based; 2) embryology is rarely taught as a stand-alone course, as content is often covered in gross anatomy, oral histology, and/or in an integrated curriculum; 3) the number of contact hours in histology is decreasing; 4) a trend toward reduction in formal laboratory sessions, particularly in embryology, is ongoing; and 5) use of CAI tools, including virtual microscopy, in both embryology and histology has increased. Additionally, embryology and histology content topic emphasis is identified within this study. Data, derived from this study, may be useful to new instructors, curriculum and test construction committees, and colleagues in the anatomical sciences, especially when determining a foundational knowledge base.
Simulation of the effects of companding on quantization noise in digital communication systems

An original simulation program to explore the effects of /spl mu/-law companding in digital communication systems is presented. The program allows the user to explore companding for arbitrary input signals. Reconstructed analog signals and quantization noise for both companded and uncompanded systems are graphically displayed. Quantization signal-to-noise ratio is calculated and compares favorably with theory. The program was written using the mathematical simulation package MathCAD. >
Assessment of the Potential to Reduce Emissions from Road Transportation, Notably NOx, Through the Use of Alternative Vehicles and Fuels in the Great Smoky Mountains Region

Air pollution is a serious problem in the region of the Great Smoky Mountains. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may designate non-attainment areas by 2003 for ozone. Pollutants include nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}), sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), lead, and particulate matter (PM), which are health hazards, damage the environment, and limit visibility. The main contributors to this pollution are industry, transportation, and utilities. Reductions from all contributors are needed to correct this problem. While improvements are projected in each sector over the next decades, the May 2000 Interim Report issued by the Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative (SAMI) suggests that the percentage of NO{sub x} emissions from transportation may increase.
Using MICE to study intelligent dynamic coordination

To improve the exchange of ideas, formalisms, and techniques among distributed artificial intelligence researchers, the authors have developed MICE as a standard and flexible testbed for experimentation. MICE allows an experimenter to specify the constraints and characteristics of an environment in which agents are simulated to act and interact, and does not assume any particular implementation of an agent's reasoning architecture. MICE therefore provides a platform for investigating and evaluating alternative reasoning architectures and coordination mechanisms in many different simulated environments. The authors outline the design of MICE and illustrate its flexibility by describing simulations that model coordination among heterogeneous agents in cooperative and competitive domains. >
A rigorous solution to the low-frequency breakdown in the electric field integral equation

The low-frequency breakdown problem in electric field integral equation (EFIE) is well recognized and has been extensively studied. However, existing approaches have not rigorously solved the problem yet since they rely on low-frequency approximations. In this work, we present a rigorous method to fundamentally eliminate the problem. In this method, the original frequency dependent problem is rigorously transformed to a generalized eigenvalue problem, from the solution of which the frequency dependence of the EFIE solution can be analytically derived. The rigor of the proposed method has been validated at frequencies as low as DC. As the first rigorous solution to EFIE at low frequencies, the proposed method can be used to benchmark the accuracy of existing low-frequency EFIE-based solvers, quantitatively answer critical design questions such as at which frequency full-wave effects become important, etc.
A new architectural-level fault simulation using propagation prediction of grouped fault-effects

A new technique is proposed to handle fault simulation at the architectural level. The technique bypasses the need for complete gate level structure and efficiently uses the architectural information. Symbolic data representing groups of stuck at faults, known as fault effects, are propagated across the circuit with intelligent propagation prediction. Fault effects may combine and form new groups in the process. Automated behavioral simulation using only three data types is used to propagate fault effects at the architectural level by propagation prediction; no additional high level constraints or precomputation of faulty behavior are needed for simulation. Although not a fully deterministic algorithm, the results of ALFSIM, Architectural Level Fault Simulation, show high accuracy when compared with the gate level fault simulation.
Experimental investigation and manufacturing solution of the rapid thermal process induced overlay residue

Experimental investigation for rapid thermal process (RTP) induced overlay residue was conducted. Silicon wafer substrate played a critical part in the RTP induced overlay residue. Substrates with epitaxial layers showed better overlay performance. High device densities tended to show worse overlay residue performance with same RTP process condition. Shallow trench isolation (STI) aspect ratio was one of the major factors that led to severe RTP induced overlay residue. A very minor temperature change at wafer edge during STI liner oxidation could cause significant overlay residue for products with high STI aspect ratio. The experiments revealed that the RTP process chamber temperature controller alone did not exhibit a significant impact to the overlay performance. Better thickness or sheet resistance uniformity did not ensure a better overlay residue performance. In fact, it could be necessary to sacrifice a certain level of thickness or sheet resistance (Rs) uniformity to ensure the following mask process overlay residue within specification. One of the manufacturing solutions was to control the temperature delta of probe seven minus probe six. Another solution was to use a reusable simple short loop wafer to verify the chamber was healthy after major maintenance or critical parts change.
“TOP–DOWN” TROPHIC INTERACTIONS IN LAKES: EFFECTS OF FISH ON NUTRIENT DYNAMICS

We conducted enclosure experiments over two summers in Tuesday Lake, Michigan, to assess how a gradient of zooplanktivorous fish biomass affected the dynamics of nutrients (nitrogen, N, and phosphorus, P), and their partitioning among ecosystem compartments. In both years, fish (the cyprinid Phoxinus eos) reduced the abundance of large zooplankton species and increased the biomass of phytoplankton as predicted by the top–down control hypothesis. Fish had strong effects on the dynamics and fluxes of N and P. Total P concentrations in the water column declined over time in all enclosures, but fish slowed the rate of decline. Thus total water column P increased with increasing fish biomass. Total N increased less strongly with increasing fish biomass, and thus the total N:P ratio decreased with increasing fish biomass. The concentrations of particulate carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in the water column also increased with increased fish biomass. Particulate N:P ratio decreased with increased fish biomass, but effects were weaker compared to effects on total N:P ratios. Nutrient ratios of the zooplankton fraction (particles >63 μm) showed a response that was transient but consistent with observed trends in zooplankton species composition. In particular, when the large cladocerans Daphnia and Holopedium increased upon exclusion of fish, C:P and N:P ratios of the zooplankton fraction showed distinct declines, corresponding to the relatively high body P contents of these taxa. Phosphorus budgets revealed that fish were a net source of P to the water column, because they lost mass during the experiments, even at densities below those in the lake. However, loss of P from fish could not account for the higher total P concentration observed in enclosures with fish compared to fishless enclosures. The absolute amount of P sinking from the water column increased with increasing fish biomass but decreased when expressed as percentage of total P sinking, again suggesting that the presence of fish increases the relative retention of P the water column. The rate of decline in water column total P in the presence of fish was accurately predicted by sedimentation of P from the water column and other fluxes. Our results support the hypothesis that fish can exert major influences on the dynamics, distribution, and ratios of limiting nutrients.
In-vivo microvasculature visualization using hyperspectral imaging

We describe a new noninvasive microscopic near infrared reflectance hyperspectral imaging method for visualizing, in vivo, spatially distributed contributions of oxyhemoglobin perfusing the microvasculature within dermal tissue. Microscopic images of the dermis are acquired, generating a series of spectroscopic images formatted as a function of wavelength consisting of one spectral and two spatial dimensions; a hyperspectral image data cube. The data thus collected can be considered as a series of spatially resolved spectra. For data collection, images are acquired by a system consisting of a near infrared liquid crystal tunable filter (LCTF) and a Focal plane array detector (FPA) integrated with a microscope. The LCTF is continuously tunable over a useful near infrared spectral range (650-950 nm) with an average full width at half-height bandwidth of 6.78 nm. To provide high quantum efficiency without etaloning we utilized a back-illumination FPA with deep -depletion technology. A 30W halogen light source illuminates a dermal tissue area of approximately 18 mm in diameter. Reflected light from the dermal tissue is first passed through the microscope, the LCTF, and then imaged onto the FPA. The acquired hyperspectral data is deconvoluted using a multivariate least squares approach that requires at least two reference spectra, oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin. The resulting images are gray scale encoded to directly represent the varying spatial distributions of oxyhemoglobin contribution. As a proof of principle example, we examined a clinical model of vascular occlusion and reperfusion.
Cutaneous Crohn's disease of the vulva

A 26-year-old woman was referred to dermatology department from an outside clinic for a 1-year history of recurrent draining lesions of the vulva and buttock treated unsuccessfully with doxycycline for presumed lymphogranuloma venereum. Physical examination was notable for an oedematous vulva (figure 1) with knife-like fissuring of the genitocrural folds (figure 2), superficial erosions and scattered draining papulonodules (figure 1). Biopsy showed granulomatous dermatitis consistent with cutaneous Crohn's disease. Colonoscopy revealed normal-appearing mucosa in the colon and terminal ileum, however, random …
Parenting Practices among Dominican and Puerto Rican Mothers

This study presents descriptive qualitative data about Latino parenting practices in an urban context. Focus groups were conducted with Dominican and Puerto Rican mother-adolescent pairs in the Bronx borough of NewYork City. When parenting style typologies are integrated with the Latino cultural components familismo, respeto, personalismo, and simpatia, Latino parenting practices and their underlying styles are better understood. Content analysis of parents' focus groups revealed five essential Latino parenting practices: (1) ensuring close monitoring of adolescents; (2) maintaining warm and supportive relationships characterized by high levels of parent-adolescent interaction and sharing; (3) explaining parental decisions and actions; (4) making an effort to build and improve relationships; and (5) differential parenting practices based on adolescents' gender. Mothers reported concerns related to the risks associated with living in an urban area, exposure to different cultural values, and opportunities for engaging in risky behaviors. Adolescents' recommendations for effective parenting strategies were similar to the practices reported by their mothers. The study has important applied implications for culturally competent social work practice with Latino adolescents and their families.
A MMSE estimate for demosaicking

Digital color cameras sample the continuous color spectrum using three or more filters; however, each pixel represents a sample of only one of the color bands. This arrangement is called a mosaic. To produce a full resolution color image, the recorded image must be processed to estimate the values of the pixels for all the other color bands. This restoration process is called demosaicking. This paper uses stacked notation to represent the mosaicked image capture and derives the minimum mean square error estimator for the demosaicked image. By making common assumptions, the restoration can be computed in a cost effective manner. This allows the user to apply most of the common adaptations that have been used in non-mosaicked sampled image processing to produce a variety of improved algorithms.
Tyrosine Phosphorylation Regulates the Activity of Phytochrome Photoreceptors

Phytochromes are red/far-red light receptors that function in photomorphogenesis of plants. Photoisomerization of phytochrome by red light leads to its translocation to the nucleus, where it regulates gene expression. We examined whether phytochrome is phosphorylated in response to light, and we report that phytochrome B (phyB)'s N terminus contains a region with a number of phosphoserines, threonines, and tyrosines. The light-dependent phosphorylation of tyrosine 104 (Y104) appears to play a negative role in phyB's activity, because a phosphomimic mutant, phyBY104E, is unable to complement any phyB-related phenotype, is defective in binding to its signaling partner PIF3, and fails to form stable nuclear bodies even though it retains normal photochemistry in vitro. In contrast, plants stably expressing a nonphosphorylatable mutant, phyBY104F, are hypersensitive to light. The proper response to changes in the light environment is crucial for plant survival, and our study brings tyrosine phosphorylation to the forefront of light-signaling mechanisms.
A Smart Actuator Design for Multiple Bio-Reagent Mixing in a High Pressure Optical Cell for Bio-Physical Research Applications

During the past two decades, bio-physicists have had an increasing interest in finding out what happens when two bio-material solutions are mixed under high pressure. Compared to temperature, pressure makes more contributions to our fundamental understanding of the structure-function relationship of biological systems, because pressure produces only volume changes under isothermal conditions, and pressure results can then be interpreted in a more straightforward manner. Window-type High Pressure Optical Cell (HPOC) such as the one designed by Paladini and Weber have provided biophysicists with a powerful tool to understanding the structure-function relationships of biological molecules. However, the conventional HPOC is only good for single solution testing and does not allow for quick mixing and stirring of additional components while the specimen is under pressure. This research is to thoroughly study the feasibility of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) as an actuator to perform mixing and agitation functions; and five types of SMA actuators were designed, simulated and tested for unplugging and mixing purposes. To conduct this research, SMA helical springs were fabricated in house according to the design requirements. With different combinations of SMA tensile springs, SMA compressive spring and biasing spring, significant ranges of vibration were developed. To further improving mixing process, a unique hybrid design of SMA as an actuator to unplug the stopper and micromotor as a stir device to agitate the solutions was developed. Rapid mixing of 95% of total solution in 10 seconds was achieved under 300 bars. A new HPOC was designed according to the new cuvette with its new unplug and mixing mechanism. Our industrial partner, ISS, further modified our design for easy manufacturing reason and fabricated the HPOC which made SMA actuator mixing test under pressure possible. A complete testing of the new HPOC system to observe bio-reagent mixing and reaction under high pressure was conducted and the results were satisfactory.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Nurse staffing, burnout, and health care-associated infection.

Background Each year, nearly 7 million hospitalized patients acquire infections while being treated for other conditions. Nurse staffing has been implicated in the spread of infection within hospitals, yet little evidence is available to explain this association. Methods We linked nurse survey data to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report on hospital infections and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. We examined urinary tract and surgical site infection, the most prevalent infections reported and those likely to be acquired on any unit within a hospital. Linear regression was used to estimate the effect of nurse and hospital characteristics on health care–associated infections. Results There was a significant association between patient-to-nurse ratio and urinary tract infection (0.86; P = .02) and surgical site infection (0.93; P = .04). In a multivariate model controlling for patient severity and nurse and hospital characteristics, only nurse burnout remained significantly associated with urinary tract infection (0.82; P = .03) and surgical site infection (1.56; P Conclusions We provide a plausible explanation for the association between nurse staffing and health care–associated infections. Reducing burnout in registered nurses is a promising strategy to help control infections in acute care facilities.