cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhancing Performance Through Knowledge Management: A Holistic Framework

Knowledge management (KM) has gained increasing attention since the mid-1990s. A KM strategy involves consciously helping people share and put knowledge into action. However, before an organization can realize the promise of KM, a fundamental question needs to be asked: What performance goal(s) is the organization trying to achieve? In this paper, we develop and offer a framework that provides a holistic view of the performance environment surrounding organizational knowledge work. We illustrate the KM framework using two organizational case studies. Then, based on the KM framework and further insights drawn from our case studies, we offer a series of steps that may guide and assist organizations and practitioners as they undertake KM initiatives. We further demonstrate the applicability of these steps by examining KM initiatives within a global software development company. We conclude with a discussion of implications for organizational practice and directions for future research.
Dynamics of flexible beams for multibody systems: a computational procedure

Abstract A computational procedure suitable for the solution of equations of motions for flexible multibody systems has been developed. The flexible beams are modeled using a nonlinear rod-type theory which accounts for both finite rotations and large deformations. The present formulation incorporates physical measures of conjugate Cauchy stress and covariant strain increments referenced with respect to a convected coordinate system. As a consequence, the beam model can easily be interfaced with real-time strain measurements and feedback control systems. A distinct feature of the present work is the computational preservation of total energy for undamped systems; this is obtained via an objective strain increment/stress update procedure combined with an energy-conserving time integration algorithm which contains an accurate update of angular orientations. The procedure is demonstrated via several example problems.
Nutrient dynamics in a climbing bean and sorghum crop rotation in the Central Africa Highlands

Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a major crop in Eastern and Southern Africa, but yields are low. Climbing bean is much more productive than bush bean and is gaining importance with small scale farmers. Our objectives were to: compare nutrient balances with climbing and bush bean in a grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) based crop rotation system; and to determine the effect of management alternatives on the productivity of the subsequent crop. Different yearly crop rotations alternating sorghum with another crop were compared over six seasons in the highland area of southwestern Uganda at a steeply sloping, terrace site with clayey, acidic soil. The rotation treatments were climbers, bush bean, non-nodulating bush bean, and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with the whole plant harvested, and climbers with only pods harvested. Yield of climbing bean exceeded bush bean yield by 120% over three seasons. Sorghum yielded most grain in the rotation with climbing bean where only pods were harvested, while yield did not differ for the other treatments. Nutrient balances were more negative for the climbing bean rotations than for bush bean rotation. Nitrogen derived from the atmosphere was estimated to be 40% of plant N for both climbing and bush bean using the difference method, but 57% using the15N abundance method. Of the total N removed in crop harvest over the six season period, a greater proportion was estimated to be derived from the atmosphere for the climbing bean rotations than for bush beans.
Surveillance of injuries in a tertiary care hospital.

Injuries are increasingly recognized as a global public health epidemic. Injuries represent 12% of the global burden of disease and third most important cause of overall mortality. Deaths from road traffic injuries account for around 25% of total injury deaths.(1) A recent national review in India has estimated that a million injury deaths and 30 million hospitalizations occur every year at an average of 10.1 per lakh population. Southern Indian states reported higher number of deaths. 15.4 per lakh injuries occur in Karnataka with Bengaluru city reported 5660 injury deaths with suicides (2429) outscoring RTIs as the leading cause.(2) Largely as a consequence of epidemiological and demographic transitions in recent years, injuries have become a leading cause for morbidity and mortality. The problem is hidden and unrecognized due to the absence of good quality information within the health and related sectors. Systematic efforts need to be developed urgently in India to address the problem. Information that is relevant, complete, appropriate, timely, and representative is very vital to formulate injury prevention programs. There is a need to collect data beyond just number of deaths and causes of injuries. Data regarding the host attributes, environmental attributes, characteristics, and manner of injuries are essential for planning and operationalizing a comprehensive injury prevention program. M S Ramaiah Medical College hospital has been an active participant in injury surveillance program in Bangalore and this study was conducted in the hospital to study the pattern of injuries in M S R Hospitals since past 1 year. This information will be utilized to improve the quality of health care and conceptualize an injury prevention capsule so as to make the care comprehensive.
Development of a 30 kW Si IGBT based three-phase converter for operation at 200 °C with high temperature coolant in hybrid electric vehicle applications

This paper presents a 30 kW Si IGBT based three-phase converter for operating at the junction temperature of 200 °C with the high temperature coolant in hybrid electric vehicle applications. First, the Si IGBT phase-leg module is developed for 200 °C operation utilizing high temperature packaging technologies. Then the thermal management system utilizing the integrated pin fin baseplate is adopted to allow improved thermal performance. Afterward, the short circuit current is employed as the temperature sensitive parameter for junction temperature measurement during converter operation. Finally, a 30 kW three-phase converter is implemented. The experimental results demonstrate that the three-phase converter can operate at the junction temperature of 200 °C with the 105 °C high temperature coolant, thus eliminating the need for the additional 65 °C coolant in HEV.
Disseminated intravascular coagulation in cats

The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of cats with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), including associated diseases and hemostatic abnormalities, and to identify risk factors for death and treatments that potentially altered outcome. Medical records for cats with DIC from 1990-2004 were evaluated retrospectively. Inclusion criteria were the presence of an underlying disorder associated with DIC and either postmortem examination findings of intravascular fibrin deposition or thrombosis, or both of 2 or more organs or coagulation profiles that meet 3 of 5 criteria: prolonged prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), presence of fibrin degradation products (FDP), low plasma fibrinogen (FIB) concentration, and thrombocytopenia (<160,000 platelets/microL). Signalment, historical data, clinical findings, clinicopathologic data, underlying disorders, management, and outcome were recorded. Forty-six cats fulfilled the criteria for DIC. Cats ranged in age from 7 weeks to 17 years (median, 9 years). Hemorrhage was noted in 7 of 46 cats (15%). Three of 46 cats (7%) survived, whereas 43 of 46 (93%) died or were euthanized. The most common underlying disorders were lymphoma, other forms of neoplasia, pancreatitis, and sepsis. There was no association detected between outcome and signalment; underlying disease; hemorrhage; abnormalities in aPTT, FIB, FDPs, platelet count; transfusion of blood products; and heparin therapy. However, the median PT of nonsurvivors was more prolonged than in survivors (P < .005). DIC in cats can result from a variety of neoplastic, infectious, and inflammatory disorders, and is associated with a high case fatality rate.
A note on a paper by luxemburg concerning the laplace transform

Luxemberg [2] addresses the problem of determining the asymptotic behavior of the function O defined by where analysis for Luxemberg proves results under certain conditions on the asymptoic behavior of f and on . using these results, it is shown in this paper, that the condition on can be replaced by the condition .
The function of turret building behaviour in the larval tiger beetle, Cicindela willistoni (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)

Abstract. 1. Cicindela willistoni LeConte (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) adults and larvae occur only on saline and alkali flats with little or no vegetation in southwestern U.S.A. Unlike other larval tiger beetle species, C.willistoni constructs a chimney-like extension (turret) 1–4 cm above its burrow. 2. The function of these unique turrets was tested in relation to several biotic and abiotic factors in the Sulphur Springs Valley, Arizona, U.S.A. 3. The turrets did not prevent flooding of the larval burrows. 4. They did not prevent or reduce the frequency of parasitoids (mainly bombyliid flies of the genus Anthrax). 5. The turrets did not make it possible for the adult and larval beetles to feed on obviously different types or sizes of prey. 6. However, larvae with turrets were raised sufficiently above the substrate surface and boundary layer to allow them to thermoregulate in the lower temperatures at these heights and remain active throughout the day. 7. The shade produced by the turrets attracted significantly more potential prey items than were available to turretless larvae in the same habitat.
A Fourth-Year Medical School Rotation in Quality, Patient Safety, and Population Medicine

Background Quality improvement and population medicine are skills that are increasingly important for physicians to possess. Methods to achieve foundational acquisition of these skills in medical school have not been well described in the past. Purpose The primary goal of this project is to provide hands-on, experiential learning in full-cycle population-based care. Methods A description is given of a 4-week, team-based, rapid-cycle quality improvement project embedded in a required fourth-year medical school rotation. Over the course of 4 years a nonspecialty generic Ambulatory Care rotation was converted to a population-based learning rotation. For the last 3 years this rotation has required students to participate in teams of three to four students to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate a quality improvement project. Results Between 2008 and 2010 a total of 510 students completed the rotation. During this time the project component of the rotation received a 53% average rating of “excellent” or “above average.” Qualitative evaluation indicates the project to be an acceptable and worthwhile educational experience for medical students, adding new insights and occasionally career-changing perspectives. Conclusions Although experiential team-based quality improvement projects are a new format for learning in the medical school environment, it can be implemented in a format that is acceptable and beneficial to future physicians and healthcare systems.
Paired reports of sexual behavior of husbands and wives in conflicted marriages.

Summary The paired reports of the sexual behavior of 100 husbands and wives in conflicted marriages were collected. A schedule was utilized which provided information about the respondent's report of his or her heterosexual behavior, his feelings about his own sexual behavior and his estimate of his partner's sexual behavior and feelings. The present report considered only items related to the frequency of intercourse. Analysis of the data revealed that husbands and wives in conflicted marriages frequently disagree in their reports of the frequency of intercourse. The male more frequently reported a higher frequency of intercourse than the female, and the husbands very often wanted more intercourse than their wives. The majority of the wives estimated that their husbands wanted more frequent intercourse which was in contrast to husbands' estimates of their spouses. The wives also had a tendency to overestimate their spouses' desires when compared to the spouses' own estimates, and husbands underestimate the wives' wishes about frequency of coitus when compared to wives' own estimates. These findings suggest that the husband, as reported by himself and his spouse, is viewed as the mate wanting more intercourse. The importance of collecting paired reports of sexual behavior of husbands and vives is discussed. The results are considered in relation to differences between the responsiveness of the male and female to sexual stimulation and in terms of psychological factors which are associated with sexual behavior. Implications for further research are discussed.
On the proposed origin of creatinine from creatine phosphate.

Abstract 1. 1. Solutions containing extracts of normal rabbit muscle, glucose 1-phosphate, creatine phosphate, and cysteine were incubated and analyzed for creatine and creatinine formation and creatine phosphate utilization. 2. 2. The muscle extract catalyzed the conversion of creatine phosphate to creatine without any detectable formation of creatinine.
Waiting for Godot? the right language abstractions for parallel programming should be here soon: the multicore transformation (Ubiquity symposium)

As a discipline, we have been discussing parallel programming for years. After all these years, do we know the right language abstractions for parallel programming? Would we recognize the right abstractions if we were to see them? In this article, Todd Mytkowicz and Wolfram Schulte, both from Microsoft Research, ask: Have we been simply biding our time, waiting for our Godot?
Structural Requirements of Synthetic and Natural Product Lipo-Chitin Oligosaccharides for Induction of Nodule Primordia on Glycine soja

Rhizobia synthesize a class of lipo-chitin oligosaccharides that induce root hair deformation and induce the initiation of nodule structures on legume roots. These lipo-chitin oligosaccharides are tetra- and penta-lipo-oligosaccharides of N-acetylglucosamine with an acyl substitution on the nonreducing end and are commonly known as Nod factors. In this study, we demonstrate that synthetic analogs of natural product Nod factors have the same biological activities. To determine structure-activity relationships, a collection of synthetic and natural product lipo-chitin oligosaccharides was assayed on Glycine soja. All biologically active lipo-chitin oligosaccharides induced both root hair deformation and nodule initiations on G. soja. The most active lipo-chitin oligosaccharides deformed root hairs at 10(-15) M and induced nodules at 1 ng of lipo-chitin oligosaccharide per spot inoculation. Plant responses demonstrate an interdependence of backbone length and the presence of substitutions on the reducing end. Lipo-chitin oligosaccharides containing four N-acetylglucosamine residues were active only without a reducing end modification, whereas lipo-chitin oligosaccharides containing five N-acetylglucosamine residues were active only with reducing end modification. The plant thus recognizes lipo-chitin oligosaccharides without reducing end substitutions despite the importance of these modifications for host range.
Determination of Serum and Urine Amylase with Use of Procion Brilliant Red M-2BS Amylopectin

We describe a sensitive, precise assay of serum or urine amylase activity, with use of a new substrate, Procion Brilliant Red M-2BS—Amylopectin. After 0.2 ml of serum or urine is incubated with substrate for 10 min at 37°C, ethylene glycol monomethyl ether is added to precipitate proteins and larger substrate particles. Clarity and chromogenicity of the final solution are not sensitive to small changes in temperature or concentrations of the various reagents. No interferences necessitating preparation of specimen blanks have been encountered. Human salivary amylase, assayed by a reference saccharogenic method, is used for calibration. When read against the resulting curve, normal sera and urines give activities comparable to those obtained with the reference method. Human pancreatic extract, sera and urines from pancreatitis patients, and macroamylasemia serum show higher activities by the proposed method.
Collaboration requirements: a point of failure in protecting information

It is sometimes necessary to collaborate with individuals and organizations which should not be fully trusted. Collaborators must be authorized to access information systems some of the data in which, typically, should be withheld. New collaborations require dynamic alterations to security provisions. Solutions based on extending access control to deal with collaborations are either awkward and costly, or unreliable. An alternative approach, complementing basic access control, is results filtering. Content filtering is also costly, but provides a number of benefits not obtainable with access control alone. The most important is that the complexity of setting up and maintaining isolating information cells for every combination of access rights is avoided. New classes of collaborators can be added without requiring a reorganization of the entire information structure. There is no overhead for internal use. Since content of documents, not their labels, is checked, misfiling will not cause inappropriate release. The approach used in the TIHI/SAW projects at Stanford uses simple rules to drive filtering primitives. The filters run on a modest, but dedicated computer managed by a security officer. The rules implement the security policy and balance manual effort and complexity. The functional allocation of responsibilities is good. Result filtering can also be used to implement pure intrusion detection, since it is invisible. The intruder can be given an impression of success, while becoming a target for monitoring or cover stories.
Innite horizon optimal control and stabilizability for linear descriptor systems

In this paper we construct an innite horizon LQ optimal controller for a linear stationary dierential-algeb raic equation (DAE) and prove that stabilizability from the given initial state is necessary and sucient for the controller existence. We also solve the problem of nite horizon LQ optimal control. Our approach is based on ideas from linear geometric control theory that allows one to represent solutions of DAEs as outputs of LTI system. It is applicable for generic DAEs without imposing additional regularity assumptions.
3-Dimensional Structural Characterization Approaches of Carbon-Supported Au13 Nano-Clusters

The success of future applications of metal nano-clusters in heterogeneous catalysis depends on the full understanding of their supported three-dimensional structure [1]. Supported gold nano-cluster catalysts exhibit catalytic activities that are radically different from bulk gold [2]. The detailed atomistic structural information on these small molecular gold clusters would be particularly important, but is practically missing. By performing experimental extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) studies on Au13 nanoclusters [3], A. Frenkel, the third author of this paper, has gained structural results of the approximate size, the near neighbor Au-Au and Au-S distances, and the disorders in these distances. In this work, we present the applications of quantitative Z-contrast imaging and high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM) techniques in confirmation of aforementioned EXAFS results as well as further insights into structural habits and the dynamics of carbon-supported Au13 nano-clusters.
Computational fluid dynamics simulation of aerosol transport and deposition

In this article computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of aerosol transport and deposition, i.e. the transport and deposition of particles in an aerosol, is reviewed. The review gives a brief account of the basics of aerosol mechanics, followed by a description of the general CFD approach for flow field simulation, turbulence modeling, wall treatments and simulation of particle motion and deposition. Then examples from the literature are presented, including CFD simulation of particle deposition in human respiratory tract and particle deposition in aerosol devices. CFD simulation of particle transport and deposition may provide information that is difficult to obtain through physical experiments, and it may help reduce the number of experiments needed for device design. Due to the difficulty of describing turbulent flow and particle-eddy interaction, turbulent dispersion of particles remains one of the greatest challenges for CFD simulation. However, it is possible to take a balanced approach toward quantitative description of aerosol dispersion using CFD simulation in conjunction with empirical relations.
On the optimal control of discrete event systems

The problem of the optimal control of systems accurately represented with a logical discrete-event system (DES) model is formulated and solved for the deterministic case. The given DES model P is thought of as characterizing the valid dynamical behavior of the physical plant. Another DES model A represents design objectives which specify the allowable DES behavior which is 'contained in' the valid behavior. Assuming that the allowable behavior can be attained, a controller can be constructed which will select a sequence of inputs that results in allowable plant behavior. The authors consider the case where there is another part of the design objectives which indicates that not only should the controller choose the plant inputs so that the plant behavior is allowable, but it should also, in some sense, be optimal. It is within this context that they formulate an optimal controller synthesis problem, i.e. how to construct a controller to achieve optimal allowable DES behavior. Their solution to this problem utilizes results from the theory of heuristic search to help overcome problems with computational complexity often encountered with logical DES models. >
Oracle in-database hadoop: when mapreduce meets RDBMS

Big data is the tar sands of the data world: vast reserves of raw gritty data whose valuable information content can only be extracted at great cost. MapReduce is a popular parallel programming paradigm well suited to the programmatic extraction and analysis of information from these unstructured Big Data reserves. The Apache Hadoop implementation of MapReduce has become an important player in this market due to its ability to exploit large networks of inexpensive servers. The increasing importance of unstructured data has led to the interest in MapReduce and its Apache Hadoop implementation, which has led to the interest of data processing vendors in supporting this programming style.Oracle RDBMS has had support for the MapReduce paradigm for many years through the mechanism of user defined pipelined table functions and aggregation objects. However, such support has not been Hadoop source compatible. Native Hadoop programs needed to be rewritten before becoming usable in this framework. The ability to run Hadoop programs inside the Oracle database provides a versatile solution to database users, allowing them use programming skills they may already possess and to exploit the growing Hadoop eco-system.In this paper, we describe a prototype of Oracle In-Database Hadoop that supports the running of native Hadoop applications written in Java. This implementation executes Hadoop applications using the efficient parallel capabilities of the Oracle database and a subset of the Apache Hadoop infrastructure. This system's target audience includes both SQL and Hadoop users. We discuss the architecture and design, and in particular, demonstrate how MapReduce functionalities are seamlessly integrated within SQL queries. We also share our experience in building such a system within Oracle database and follow-on topics that we think are promising areas for exploration.
Identification and characterization of psychrotolerant coliform bacteria isolated from pasteurized fluid milk

The presence of coliform bacteria in pasteurized fluid milk typically indicates that product contamination occurred downstream of the pasteurizer, but it may also indicate pasteurization failure. Although coliform detection is frequently used as a hygiene indicator for dairy products, our understanding of the taxonomic and phenotypic coliform diversity associated with dairy products is surprisingly limited. Therefore, using Petrifilm Coliform Count plates (3M, St. Paul, MN), we isolated coliforms from high-temperature, short-time (HTST)-pasteurized fluid milk samples from 21 fluid milk processing plants in the northeast United States. Based on source information and initial characterization using partial 16S rDNA sequencing, 240 nonredundant isolates were obtained. The majority of these isolates were identified as belonging to the genera Enterobacter (42% of isolates), Hafnia (13%), Citrobacter (12%), Serratia (10%), and Raoultella (9%); additional isolates were classified into the genera Buttiauxella, Cedecea, Kluyvera, Leclercia, Pantoea, and Rahnella. A subset of 104 representative isolates was subsequently characterized phenotypically. Cold growth analysis in skim milk broth showed that all isolates displayed at least a 2-log increase over 10 d at 6°C; the majority of isolates (n=74) displayed more than a 5-log increase. In total, 43% of the representative isolates displayed lipolysis when incubated on spirit blue agar at 6°C for 14 d, whereas 71% of isolates displayed proteolysis when incubated on skim milk agar at 6°C for 14 d. Our data indicate that a considerable diversity of coliforms is found in HTST-pasteurized fluid milk and that a considerable proportion of these coliforms have phenotypic characteristics that will allow them to cause fluid milk spoilage.
The Isolated Synthetic Jet in Crossflow: A Benchmark for Flow Control Simulation

An overview of the data acquisition, reduction, and uncertainty of experimental measurements of the flowfield created by the interaction of an isolated synthetic jet and a turbulent boundary layer is presented. The experimental measurements were undertaken to serve as the second of three computational fluid dynamics validation databases for Active Flow Control. The validation databases were presented at the NASA Langley Research Center Workshop on CFD Validation of Synthetic Jets and Turbulent Separation Control in March, 2004. Detailed measurements were made to document the boundary conditions for the flow and also for the phase-averaged flowfield itself. Three component Laser-Doppler Velocimetry, 2-D Particle Image Velocimetry, and Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry were utilized to document the phase averaged velocity field and the turbulent stresses.
Scaling Properties in Transistors That Use Aligned Arrays of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Recent studies and device demonstrations indicate that horizontally aligned arrays of linearly configured single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can serve as an effective thin film semiconductor material, suitable for scalable use in high-performance transistors. This paper presents the results of systematic investigations of the dependence of device properties on channel length, to reveal the role of channel and contact resistance in the operation. The results indicate that, for the range of channel lengths and SWNT diameters studied here, source and drain contacts of Pd yield transistors with effectively Ohmic contacts that exhibit negligible dependence of their resistances on gate voltage. For devices that use Au, modulation of the resistance of the contacts represents a significant contribution to the response. Extracted values of the mobilities of the semiconducting SWNTs and the contact resistances associated with metallic and semiconducting SWNTs are consistent with previous reports on single tube test structures.
Identification of an intronic single nucleotide polymorphism leading to allele dropout during validation of a CDH1 sequencing assay: implications for designing polymerase chain reaction-based assays.

Purpose: The CDH1 gene encodes the cell adhesion protein E-cadherin, and CDH1 germline mutations are associated with hereditary diffuse gastric cancer. Identification of individuals at high risk of developing diffuse gastric cancer affords the opportunity for endoscopic screening or elective prophylactic gastrectomy. We set out to develop a CDH1 sequencing assay for clinical use. Methods: All exons of the CDH1 gene were amplified and sequenced with published and modified primers. Results: While validating the assay, we encountered a case in which a single nucleotide polymorphism located in intron 15 led to allele dropout and therefore to a false-negative result. The polymorphism leading to allele dropout was located within a primer-binding sequence, five bases away from the 3′ end of the primer. A frameshift mutation in exon 15 was detected by an alternative primer that binds away from the polymorphic site. A search of the University of California Santa Cruz single nucleotide polymorphism database revealed other polymorphisms located within primer-binding sites. A total of 12 primers in nine primer sets were modified to minimize allele dropout risk. Conclusion: The approach of designing primers to avoid known single nucleotide polymorphisms can be generalized to the design of any polymerase chain reaction-based assay and should be employed whenever possible.
IN MEDIAS RACE (AND CLASS): Post-Jim Crow Ethnographies of Black Middleclassdom

“Race is the modality in which class is lived” (Hall et al., 1978, p. 394). That's how Stuart Hall evocatively put it, emphasizing the extent to which class relations can actually and substantively “function as race relations” for working class Black Brits (and others). He was arguing, amongst other things, against the neatly reified distinctions scholars traditionally policed between class-based analyses and racial ones.
The Conditional Performance of REIT Stock Repurchases

This paper uses a conditional performance measure to test whether real estate investment trust (REIT) managers announcing stock repurchases have private information about their firms' prospects. We use stock price to condition for public information and measure the managers' implied private information by the covariance between repurchase size and subsequent stock payoffs (or operating performance). Results show that managers have private information but mostly with respect to long-term as opposed to near-term payoffs. We also find that repurchase size is positively related to a stock's idiosyncratic return volatility, perhaps because noisy stocks deviate farther from fundamental value, offering informed managers larger profit potential.
Painting brush control techniques in Chinese painting robot

This paper describes a Chinese painting robot (CP robot) that can be categorized as an art robot. The whole system consists of a robot arm, robot hand, Chinese brush, and system controller. In Chinese painting, the following four objects: bamboos, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums, and orchids are often used to practice painting techniques. This paper focuses on how to draw bamboos by a CP robot. When a bamboo drawing is presented, the CP robot decomposes the drawing into stems, joints, branches, and leaves. According to the drawing order information, the system controller creates the trajectory of the Chinese brush. The trajectory of the Chinese brush is considered as B-spline curves determined by the points included in the drawing order information. The trajectory and the pressure control information are sent to the CP robot to imitate painter's behavior. The experiment results show that the proposed techniques are efficient for the CP robot to perform the fundamental drawing in Chinese painting.
A mathematical analysis of cellular interference on the performance of S-band military radar systems

In the United States, the 3500–3650 MHz band is a potential candidate for spectrum sharing between military radars and commercial cellular systems. This paper presents a framework for the analysis of radar performance under cellular interference. The impact on the performance of radar due to cellular interference is studied by deriving bounds on the probability of detection and probability of miss detection. For this purpose, we first derive the distribution of aggregate cellular interference, in a correlated shadow fading environment, at the radar receiver. We prove that the sum of interference signals from a cellular system has a log-normal distribution with probability 1. We then derive a lower bound on the probability of miss target where we consider our target to be a ship and target returns are modeled by a log-normal distribution. Along with the analytical results we also provide the corresponding simulation results showing degradation in radar performance due to interference from cellular systems.
The cyberinfrastructure and image information mining

A challenge for image information mining is the distributed nature of the resources necessary for accomplishing a specific query. The U.S. National Science Foundation has recognized the need for a cyberinfrastructure that connects hardware and software resources and experts around the globe to solve common problems. Such an infrastructure already exists for some Earth science disciplines. Grid computing and peer-to-peer computing are two approaches that may be used to build a cyberinfrastructure. In this paper we describe the unique features of each of them and compare them. The strengths and weaknesses of each are almost complementary and thus, consideration should be given toward using attributes of each in image information mining.
Fast Algorithms for Large-State-Space HMMs with Applications to Web Usage Analysis

In applying Hidden Markov Models to the analysis of massive data streams, it is often necessary to use an artificially reduced set of states; this is due in large part to the fact that the basic HMM estimation algorithms have a quadratic dependence on the size of the state set. We present algorithms that reduce this computational bottleneck to linear or near-linear time, when the states can be embedded in an underlying grid of parameters. This type of state representation arises in many domains; in particular, we show an application to traffic analysis at a high-volume Web site.
Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery--clinical experiences with a PortAccess system.

Objective: This is the initial experience with a new minimally invasive surgical technique for the treatment of mitral valve disease using a PortAccess system. Methods: Between May 1996 and May 1997, 21 patients (nine male, 12 female, aged 30‐75 years, median 64 years) underwent minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. The underlying diseases were: mitral valve insufficiency (n = 11), mitral valve stenosis (n = 5) and combined mitral valve disease (n = 5). Through a small right thoracotomy (6‐8 cm) access to the pericardium and the heart was gained. Cardiopulmonary bypass was instituted through femoral cannulation and an intraaortic balloon-catheter (Heartport Inc., Redwood City, CA) was introduced for aortic occlusion, aortic root venting and delivery of cold crystalloid cardioplegia. Mitral valve repair (four patients) or replacement (15 patients) was performed. Results: There was no death during the whole follow-up period. There was no perivalvular leak and only minor residual mitral valve regurgitation was observed on intraoperative or postoperative (3 months) transesophageal echocardiography. There was no postoperative study-related complication. Time of ventilation, intensive care unit and hospital-stay were comparable with the data of patients undergoing conventional mitral valve surgery. Conclusions: This technique of PortAccess mitral valve surgery combines the advantage of less invasive operative trauma with the safety of conventional mitral valve surgery. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.
Emotional Arousal and Memory Binding: An Object-Based Framework.

Binding various features of an event together and maintaining these connections in memory is an essential component of episodic memories. Previous theories make contradictory predictions about the effects of emotional arousal on memory binding. In this article, I review evidence for both arousal-impaired and arousal-enhanced memory binding and explain these contradictory findings using an object-based framework. According to this framework, emotionally arousing objects attract attention that enhances binding of their constituent features. In contrast, the emotional arousal associated with one object either impairs or has no effect on the associations between that object and other distinct objects or background contextual information. After initial encoding, the attention-grabbing nature of emotionally arousing objects can lead to interference in working memory, making it more difficult to maintain other bound representations. These contrasting effects of arousal on memory binding should help predict which...
FlowClus: efficiently filtering and denoising pyrosequenced amplicons.

Background Reducing the effects of sequencing errors and PCR artifacts has emerged as an essential component in amplicon-based metagenomic studies. Denoising algorithms have been designed that can reduce error rates in mock community data, but they change the sequence data in a manner that can be inconsistent with the process of removing errors in studies of real communities. In addition, they are limited by the size of the dataset and the sequencing technology used.
Modeling the plasmasphere with SAMI3

[1] The study of the plasmasphere is extremely important to understanding space weather phenomena; for example, it plays a critical role in the regulation of radiation belt dynamics. In this paper, the first 3D simulation of the plasmasphere based on the first-principles physics model SAMI3 is presented. We include the co-rotation potential, the neutral wind dynamo potential, and a time-dependent Volland-Stern-Maynard-Chen potential to model the response of the convection potential to an idealized magnetic storm. We find that prior to the storm the plasmasphere is largely toroidal and symmetric in magnetic local time with He+/H+ ~ 5–10%. After the storm, the plasmasphere substantially contracts because plasma is convected away from the outer plasmasphere by the enhanced convection velocity. Moreover, a plume-like structure forms in the mid-afternoon sector because of the modified convection pattern associated with the storm. Additionally good agreement is found between the simulation results and data for the L-shell dependence of the equatorial electron density as well as the electron density along the field line at a given L-shell under quiet geomagnetic conditions.
ACCURACY OF PROSTATE WEIGHT ESTIMATION BY DIGITAL RECTAL EXAMINATION VERSUS TRANSRECTAL ULTRASONOGRAPHY

ABSTRACTPurpose: The ability to estimate prostate weight is useful. Two commonly used methods for estimating prostate weight are digital rectal examination (DRE) and transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS). We evaluated the relative accuracy of these weight estimates by comparing them to prostate weight following radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP).Materials and Methods: Between 1989 and 2001 more than 36,000 community men participated in a large prostate cancer screening study. Of these men 2,238 underwent RRP. In this subset we examined the correlation between documented preoperative DRE and TRUS estimates of prostate weight with actual gland weight.Results: DRE estimates of prostate weight by multiple examiners correlated poorly with RRP specimen weight (r = 0.2743). However, TRUS estimates correlated moderately well (r = 0.6493). TRUS provided more accurate estimates of prostate weight for smaller glands, although it generally underestimated gland weight compared to the weight of the surgical specimen.C...
An Experimental Study of Subsonic Cavity Flow - Physical Understanding and Control

We present the results of an experimental investigation that uses two different techniques for controlling a shallow cavity flow in the Mach number range 0.25-0.5. The first method is basically an open-loop design that relies on zero-net-mass forcing at an optimal frequency for suppressing the cavity flow resonance. The second method is a parallel-proportional with time delay controller, a linear control design that relies on real-time feedback from the flow to counteract the resonance. With properly tuned parameters, both methods are successful in reducing the cavity resonance for flows in the Mach number range explored. However the parallel-proportional controller exhibits a superior robustness with respect to departure of the Mach number from the design conditions, a signature of feedback control designs that are naturally more capable to handle changes of the open-loop plant. An additional benefit of the feedback control method is the lower power requirement to achieve comparable suppression of the resonance. An interpretation is presented of the physical mechanisms by which the optimal forcing frequency and the parallel-proportional with time delay controller reduce the cavity flow resonance. The results support the idea that the optimal forcing frequency control induces in the system a rapid switching between modes competing for the available energy that can be extracted from the mean flow. In the case of parallelproportional control mode switching is also observed which involves a larger range of frequencies and spreads more the extracted energy thus producing a flow with a quieter, more broadband spectral signature.
Ecology and Aerobiology of Dispersing Citrus Rust Mites (Acari: Eriophyidae) in Central Florida

Aerial dispersal of citrus rust mite, Phyllocoptruta oleivora (Ashmead), in central Florida showed a diel periodicity peaking between late morning and early afternoon. The abiotic factors that best described the dispersal pattern were solar radiation, time, and leaf wetness; whereas wind speed, humidity, temperature, and rainfall had minimal effect. The longevity of adult mites removed from fruit was inversely related to constant temperatures between 25 and 35°C. The longevity of mites removed from fruit at 2-h intervals between 0700 and 1300 hours and exposed to ambient temperature and humidity outdoors was inversely related to the time of removal from the host. There was a linear relationship between the number of mites captured in traps and population density on fruit. Mites left fruit harboring extremely low populations and some fruit supporting dense populations yielded hundreds of dispersing mites per day. Mites were readily carried on air currents between adjacent citrus groves. Nearly all of the mites captured in dispersal traps were adult females, and were found in greater proportions in traps than would be expected from the sex ratio of mites on fruit. Studies using isolated fruit in the laboratory showed that a single virgin or inseminated female could initiate a local population through oedipal mating and sibmating. The data are discussed in relation to the selective forces that may shape the dispersal behavior of citrus rust mite and to the potential impact of aerial dispersal on mite management and the development of acaricide resistance.
HORMONE-DEPENDENT AND HORMONE-INDEPENDENT CONFORMATIONAL TRANSITIONS OF THE ESTROGEN RECEPTOR

From a chemical perspective, steroid hormones are simple molecules. Yet from a biological perspective, steroid hormones are complex molecules that are capable of coordinating and regulating a diverse number of biological processes. At the cellular level, the crucial links between the chemically simple and biologically complex nature of steroid hormones are specific receptor proteins that bind steroids with very high affinity, and are found exclusively in cells that respond to hormone. In effect, steroid hormone receptors are macromolecular information transducers in that they couple broad biological input, i.e., the cumulative information that leads to synthesis of a steroid molecule, to dramatic cellular response. Since cellular responses are strictly dependent on the interaction of hormone and receptor, it has been of considerable interest to biochemists and molecular biologists to define the molecular mechanisms involved in hormone-dependent modulation of steroid receptor activity. In addition, the emerging evidence that steroid receptors are also intimately involved in many diseases has provided additional impetus to understand better the mechanism of steroid receptor action in target cells.
Do we follow the national guidelines for ICD (intercostal chest drain) insertion: A study in a district general hospital (DGH) in East of England

Aim: To determine the compliance of ICD insertion in accordance with 2003 British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines. Methodology: Retrospective analysis of all the ICDs inserted from Oct 09 to Feb 10 at a DGH in Norfolk, UK. We analysed the indications, seniority of the person performing the procedure, consent obtained, analgesia and complications encountered. Results: 28 Patients underwent ICD insertion.The indication for ICD insertion was non malignant effusion in 43% (12), pneumothorax in 32% (9) and malignant pleural effusion in 25% (7). The ICD was performed by SpR in 36% (10),SHO in 28% (8) and F1in 36% (10). Consent was obtained verbally in 47% (13), in writing in 32% (9) and not recorded in 21% (6). Ultrasound guidance was utilized in choosing the site of insertion in only 21% (6). All the patients 100% (28) had check CXR done following the ICD insertion. 75% (21) of the patients were given pre procedure analgesia.The ICDs were complicated by surgical emphysema in 11% (3) and pneumothorax in 11% (3). ICD was reinserted in 18% (5) as the tube fell out accidentally. No major complications of ICD were encountered. Conclusion: BTS standards were achieved suboptimally in obtaining the written consent and poorly in utilization of ultrasound for ICD insertion. Most of the ICDs were inserted by the seniors or under their supervision therefore we proved the complication rate is lower and in accordance with the BTS standards. Education of the BTS guidelines to the junior staff and utilization of ultrasound will improve the safety of the procedure. We will reaudit after increasing the usage of the ultrasound for ICD insertion hoping to find better results.
An In Vitro Diagnostic Multivariate Index Assay (IVDMIA) for Ovarian Cancer: Harvesting the Power of Multiple Biomarkers

In this review, OVA1® (Vermillion, Inc., Austin, TX), the first in vitro diagnostic multivariate index assay (IVDMIA) of protein biomarkers cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is used to explain the concept behind IVDMIA, the use of multiple markers to improve clinical performance of a diagnostic tool, and the key considerations in the development of IVDMIA.