cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the asymptotic distribution of a multivariate GR-estimate for a VAR(p) time series

Abstract This paper introduces a new class of estimates for estimating the parameters of a vector autoregressive time series. The estimates minimize a sum of weighted pairwise Euclidean distances and extend the univariate GR-estimates of Terpstra et al. (Statist. Probab. Lett. 51 (2001) 165; Statist. Inference Stochastic Process. 4 (2001) 155) to the multivariate model. Asymptotic linearity properties are derived for the so called MGR-estimate. Based on these properties, the MGR-estimate is shown to be asymptotically normal at rate n 1/2 .
Hydrogen production from methane and water by lattice oxygen transfer with Ce0.70Zr0.25Tb0.05O2−x

Hydrogen is a prime prospect for an alternative fuel. In this paper a cyclical method of production of hydrogen is proposed. The method consists of hydrogen production from methane reduction of fluorite-type Ce 0.70 Zr 0.25 Tb 0.05 O 2 to Ce 0.70 Zr 0.25 Tb 0.05 O 2-x followed by reduction of water by Ce 0.70 Zr 0.25 Tb 0.05 O 2-x to Ce 0.70 Zr 0.25 Tb 0.05 O 2 .
Breaching the nadu: Lordship and economic development in pre‐colonial South India

In this article I present a new framework for the analysis of the South Indian economy over the medieval and early modern epochs, centred on the effects of social property relations. I argue that the overall pattern was one of steady economic development, but with a marked increase in trade and commodity development in the early modern era. This is explained through a transformation of intra‐class relations that followed the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire. Whereas in the medieval period, economic growth had been subject to the constraints imposed by effective lordly cohesion, which squeezed peasant income and limited trade, this cohesiveness gave way under the hammer blows dealt to it by Vijayanagara rulers. As the South entered the early modern era, lords found themselves without the traditional mechanisms of class organisation, and producers were able to capitalise on their weakness for economic gain. Nevertheless, production still remained peasant based, and, pace some of the more ambitious claims of ...
Plato and Rawls on Correctional Rehabilitation of Juvenile Offenders.

Abstract Adopting the perspectives of two innovators in Western thought, Plato and Rawis, this article addresses the issues of juvenile offenders' rehabilitation and consent. These philosophers have been chosen because they accept as an axiom society's obligation to offer offenders the chance to be rehabilitated. Furthermore, they both emphasize the need to develop reason and cognitive structures as a precondition for moral reasoning and behavior. For Plato, offenders have a sick soul whose parts are in perpetual discord. They must be rehabilitated for their own good, whether they consent to it or not. Rawts adopts a more democratic perspective more attuned to the grey nuances of human motivation and action. Not all offenders are unjust. Some of them have transgressed the social norms to adhere to a more developed notion of justice. Since adult criminals have liberty rights, their consent is required for rehabilitation. By contrast, because they are minors and thus not as competent as adults, juvenile off...
Theoretical investigation of mechanisms for the gas-phase unimolecular decomposition of DMMP.

All species involved in the multichannel decomposition of gas-phase dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) were investigated by electronic structure calculations. Geometries for stationary structures along the reaction paths, were fully optimized with the MP2 method and the B3LYP and MPW1K DFT functionals, and the 6-31G*, 6-31++G**, and aug-cc-pVDZ basis sets. The geometries determined by the B3LYP and MPW1K functionals are in very good agreement with the MP2 values. Increasing the basis set size from 6-31G* to aug-cc-pVDZ does not significantly alter this result. Single point energy calculations were carried out with highly accurate but computationally more expensive CBS-QB3 theory. DMMP has three conformers, which lead to the four primary product channels, (O)P(CH2)(OCH3) + CH3OH, (O)P(CH3) (OCH3)(OH) + CH2, c-(O)P(CH3)OCH2 + CH3OH, and (O)P(CH3)(OCH3)(OCH) + H2. The first channel has the lowest energy barrier and is expected to be the most important pathway. It occurs via C−H and P−O bond cleavages accompan...
Recurrent implantation failure: definition.

An attempt to define recurrent implantation failure. Literature review. Numerous definitions of recurrent implantation failure exist. The complexity and redundancy of the process of implantation makes a single definition difficult to determine. Each center must establish a definition of recurrent implantation failure based upon the data from that center. The definition of RIF used in our program requires the transfer of ≥8, 8-cell stage embryos or ≥5 blastocyst embryos.
Functional interactions among members of the miR-17–92 cluster in lymphocyte development, differentiation and malignant transformation

Abstract The miR-17–92 cluster is a prototypical example of a polycistronic miRNA gene. Recently, miR-17–92 has emerged as a pleiotropic regulator in immune system. Its loss or deregulation leads to defects in lymphocyte development and response, and lymphoma development. Although the six individual miRNAs of the cluster are expressed together from the same primary transcript, their relative abundance, functional contributions and interactions vary in different cellular contexts.
A decision model for energy resource selection in China

Energy is important to human existence, economic development and society progress, which is also related to safety of a country and sustainable growth of economy. China is a rapidly developing country, where the decisions about energy alternatives are critical. This paper discusses coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear energy and renewable energy resources as energy alternatives for China. The paper presents a hierarchical decision model for the selection of energy resources for China in the future. The results indicate that renewable energy, coal, nuclear energy, natural gas and petroleum are ranked in that order. The sensitivity analysis reflects that the most critical criterion in the energy selection is the current energy infrastructure.
Enhancement of the Photosynthesis of Chlorella pyrenoidosa as a Function of Far-Red and Short-Wave Illuminations

Enhancement of photosynthesis of chlorella pyrenoidosa as function of far-red and short wave illuminations
Studies of liver repopulation using the dipeptidyl peptidase IV‐deficient rat and other rodent recipients: Cell size and structure relationships regulate capacity for increased transplanted hepatocyte mass in the liver lobule

The feasibility of liver repopulation with hepatocytes has been shown, although clinical applications demand significant hepatic replacement. To show whether portal vascular bed in large animals could accomodate a greater cell number, we analyzed liver repopulation in syngeneic Fischer 344 rats deficient in dipeptidyl peptidase IV. This system allowed localization of transplanted normal hepatocytes in liver or various ectopic sites, as well as dual studies for analysis of gene expression. Interestingly, the product of a dipeptidyl peptidase IV substrate inactivated bile canalicular adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity in normal but not in dipeptidyl peptidase IV-deficient rats, which allowed localization of dipeptidyl peptidase IV-deficient hepatocytes in normal rat liver for additional reversed transplantation systems. Further studies with genetically marked cells showed that because of the size difference between hepatocytes and portal vein radicles, intrasplenically transplanted cells were distributed in periportal areas (zone 1) in mice, whereas in larger animals (rats or rabbits) cells were also distributed downstream to midlobular (zone 2) or perivenous (zone 3) areas. Transplantation of an escalating number of hepatocytes showed that adult rats tolerated intrasplenic injection of a large cell number in single sessions (up to 1 X 10(8), approximately 10% to 15% of the host hepatocyte mass). Morphometric analysis of recipient livers showed survival of a significantly greater cell number with incorporation in host liver plates. At 4 weeks, transplantation of 2 x 10(7) hepatocytes into adult rats led to a survival of 1.4 +/- 1.0 x 10(6) transplanted cells/cm3 liver, whereas after transplantation of 5 x 10(7) cells or 7.5 x 10(7) cells, the number of surviving transplanted cells in the liver significantly increased to 4.1 +/- 1.4 x 10(6) transplanted cells/cm3 liver (mean, 2.9-fold; P<.003) and 5.5 +/- 1.3 x 10(6) transplanted cells/cm3 liver (mean, 3.9-fold; P<.003), respectively. When cells were injected in greater numbers, transplanted hepatocytes retained normal function and produced more serum albumin or hepatitis B surface antigen in deficient hosts. These data indicate the feasibility in larger animals of significant liver repopulation with hepatocyte transplantation. Use of dipeptidyl peptidase IV-deficient rats should help further analysis of mechanisms in liver repopulation.
An architecture-centric approach for goal-driven requirements elicitation

Software system development typically starts from a requirement specification followed by stepwise refinement of available requirements while transferring them into the system architecture. However, the granularity and the amount of requirements to be elicited for a successful architectural design are not well understood. This paper proposes a process concept to support system development with the help of an architecture-centric approach for goal-driven requirements elicitation. The process focuses on multiple quality dimensions, such as performance, reliability and scalability, and at the same time shall reduce costs and risks through early decision evaluation. The main contribution of this paper is a novel process where not only requirements can drive architectural design, but also architectural design can selectively drive requirement elicitation with the help of hypotheses connected to the selected architectural solutions. The paper concludes with a discussion on its possible empirical validation.
A mixed-integer optimization framework for the synthesis and analysis of regulatory networks

Motivation: A novel mixed-integer optimization framework is proposed for the design and analysis of regulatory networks. The model combines gene expression data and prior biological knowledge regarding the potential for regulatory interactions between genes and their corresponding transcription factors. The formalism provides significant advantages over available modeling methodologies in that the complexity of the regulatory network can be explicitly taken into account, multiple alternative structures can be systematically generated and finally robust and biological significant regulators can be rigorously identified. The original non-convex mixed integer reformulation is appropriately linearized and the resulting MILP is effectively optimized using standard solvers. The versatility is demonstrated using gene expression and binding data from an E. coli case study during transition from glucose to acetate as the sole carbon source.
Stochastic modeling of short-term exposure close to an air pollution source in a naturally ventilated room: An autocorrelated random walk method

For an actively emitting source such as cooking or smoking, indoor measurements have shown a strong “proximity effect” within 1 m. The significant increase in both the magnitude and variation of concentration near a source is attributable to transient high peaks that occur sporadically—and these “microplumes” cause great uncertainty in estimating personal exposure. Recent field studies in naturally ventilated rooms show that close-proximity concentrations are approximately lognormally distributed. We use the autocorrelated random walk method to represent the time-varying directionality of indoor emissions, thereby predicting the time series and frequency distributions of concentrations close to an actively emitting point source. The predicted 5-min concentrations show good agreement with measurements from a point source of CO in a naturally ventilated house—the measured and predicted frequency distributions at 0.5- and 1-m distances are similar and approximately lognormal over a concentration range spanning three orders of magnitude. By including the transient peak concentrations, this random airflow modeling method offers a way to more accurately assess acute exposure levels for cases where well-defined airflow patterns in an indoor space are not available.
Flow of granular materials down a vertical pipe

Abstract The gravity flow of granular materials down a vertical pipe is studied using a continuum model [Goodman and Cowin, J. Fluid Mech. 45 , 321–339 (1971), Goodman and Cowin, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 44 , 249–266 (1972), Rajagopal and Massoudi, DOE/PETC/TR-90/3 (1990)]. The equations are developed for both the case of slip and no-slip at the boundary. The resulting boundary value problem is solved numerically. The effect of material parameters (compressibility, volume distribution, and viscous effects) on the volume fraction and velocity in the pipe are studied.
Developing more effective health-behavior programs: Analyzing the epidemiological and biological bases for activity and exercise programs

Abstract Analyses of the poor maintenance of health behaviors such as activity and exercise have infrequently considered that behavioral prescriptions may be based on faulty interpretations of epidemiological data, biological theory, and mechanisms resulting in minimally effective interventions. Although affording some health protection, current activity/exercise guidelines have confused the importance of volume of activity with intensity of activity and work and power. As a result, psychologists unwittingly have been promoting activity-and-exercise prescriptions that are time-consuming but afford minimal cardiovascular fitness, strength, or body-composition changes. Because these behavioral prescriptions are at best minimally effective, nonmaintenance becomes a predictable outcome. In contrast, high-intensity training theory provides a universally adaptable basis for the design of efficient and effective behavioral prescriptions for enhancing fitness, strength, and body composition, and may be effectively promoted in campaigns focused on self-mastery and self-efficacy.
Claudin Expression in High Grade Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the Breast: Correlation with the Molecular Subtype

Claudin proteins are a major component of the tight junctions. Dysregulation of claudin protein expression has been described in a number of malignancies. Gene expression profiling has stratified breast cancers into distinct molecular subtypes: luminal, HER2 positive (HER2+), and basal-like. Recently, a novel claudin-low molecular subtype has been described. In this study, we correlated the expression patterns of claudins with the molecular subtypes of breast cancer. On the basis of immunohistochemical expression, 226 grade 3 invasive ductal carcinomas were stratified into 65 luminal (estrogen receptor positive (ER+)), 65 HER2+, 86 basal-like, including 14 metaplastic carcinomas (ER-, HER2-, CK5/6, and/or epidermal growth factor receptor positive), and 10 unclassified. Tissue microarrays were analyzed for the expression of claudins 1, 3, 4, 7, and 8 by immunohistochemistry and scored semiquantitatively. High levels of expression were detected in 17% of all cases for claudin 1, 32% claudin 3, 41% claudin 4, 44% claudin 7, and 40% claudin 8. Luminal cancers exhibited increased claudins 7 and 8; basal-like tumors demonstrated increased expression of claudins 1 and 4. Low expression of all five claudins was detected in 30 of 226 cases (13%) and this group was designated 'claudin-low'. The majority of the claudin-low subgroup were basal-like cancers (23 of 30, 77%). In contrast, only 1 of 30 (3%) claudin-low tumors was of the luminal phenotype and 6 of 30 cases (20%) were HER2+ (P<0.001). Within the basal-like subgroup, 64% of the metaplastic and 19% of the non-metaplastic tumors were claudin-low. The claudin-low group was strongly associated with disease recurrence (P=0.0093). In conclusion, this study is the first to examine comprehensively the differential expression of claudins 1, 3, 4, 7, and 8 in the molecular subtypes of high-grade breast cancer. Claudin-low subtype is a frequent phenomenon in metaplastic and basal-like breast cancer and appears to be a strong predictor of disease recurrence.
Bayesian analysis models for aviation baggage screening

This paper not only develops Bayesian analysis models for addressing both single-level and sequential multiple-level baggage screening problems but also provides a new perspective on the design and evaluation of aviation security systems. Using the Bayesian approach, the operator's prior knowledge about the status of a bag is incorporated with present data. The posterior distributions for single-level and multiple-level screenings are developed, respectively. To evaluate the performance for Bayesian screening, two metrics are introduced and implemented: (i) system risk bounded to the posterior mean of undetected threats; and (ii) system direct cost per bag that incorporates purchasing costs, operating costs and processing rates. By evaluating the trade-off between system risk and system cost, this paper assesses different screening technologies and combinations of them for single-level and two-level systems. The findings from numerical analyses provide recommendations for cost-effective selections of tech...
Cardiovascular disease risk factors, depression symptoms and antidepressant medicine use in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) clinical trial of weight loss in diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis To determine the associations of baseline depression symptoms and use of antidepressant medicines (ADMs) with baseline cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial participants.
Peering into the Birth Canal during Ion Channel Parturition

Recent studies have provided detailed structures of the N-terminal T1 domain of Kv channel α subunits that mediates contranslational subunit assembly. In this issue of Neuron, Kosolapov et al. probe T1 domain structure within the ribosomal tunnel. They find that the T1 domain forms secondary structure within the tunnel, in preparation for its immediate role in governing channel assembly upon exit.
Crosslinked, electrospun chitosan–poly(ethylene oxide) nanofiber mats

Mechanical characterization of nanofiber mats is an underexplored area in biomaterial engineering. In this study, a chitosan–poly(ethylene oxide) copolymer blend was electrospun and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) for various time periods. The tensile and compressive mechanical integrity of the nanofibers was analyzed with increasing exposure to vapor crosslinking. Solubility, scanning electron microscopy characterization, Fourier transform infrared, uniaxial tensile tests, and nanoindentation analyses were used to identify these trends. The mechanical studies confirmed that the GA vapor crosslinking increased the stiffness and decreased the ductility of the electrospun mats. Increased exposure time to crosslinking led to changes in the mat surface color and resistance to dissolution. Scanning electron microscopy fiber counts verified that exposure to GA vapor crosslinking increased the average fiber diameter. By the use of vapor phase deposition, mechanical properties continued to change throughout the study. The crosslinking exposure time could be chosen to accommodate in vivo mechanical loading. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008
Observations of annual variations of the Earth's gravitational field using satellite laser ranging and geophysical models

We have analyzed 6 years of satellite laser ranging (SLR) data to the Lageos 1 & 2 satellites to determine the annual variation of a set of spherical harmonic coefficients of the Earth's gravity field complete to degree and order 4 (half-wavelength resolution of ∼5000 km). We have compared these results to a suite of geophysical models describing annual variations of the gravity field due to changes in the distribution of mass in the atmosphere, in the ocean, and continental hydrology (soil moisture and snow). We find that spherical harmonic coefficients derived from the satellite-observations and the aggregate of these geophysical models agree to about 1 mm RMS in geoid height, and have degree correlations that generally exceed the 90% confidence limit. We found that the SLR data could distinguish between two different hydrologic models, but were unable to distinguish between competing models of atmosphere and ocean mass variation, probably due to the small magnitude of the differences in these models (and the small total magnitude of the ocean signal) at the long wavelengths that can be observed by the satellite data. The satellite results should improve considerably in 2001 with the launch of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), which will allow the determination of the time variations of the Earth's gravity field with a spatial resolution of about 300 km.
Induction of an AP endonuclease activity in Streptococcus mutans during growth at low pH

The oral microbe Streptococcus mutans uses adaptive mechanisms to withstand the fluctuating pH levels in its natural environment. The regulation of protein synthesis is part of the mechanism of acid adaptation and tolerance in S. mutans. Here, we demonstrate that the organism's acid-inducible protein repertoire includes an AP endonuclease activity. This abasic site-specific endonuclease activity is present at greater levels in cells grown at low pH than in cells grown at pH 7, and is apparently independent of the RecA protein. Experiments using tetrahydrofuran or α-deoxyadenosine-containing substrates indicate that the activity induced at low pH may be similar to the activity of exonuclease III from E. coli. Acid-adapted S. mutans also shows an increased survival rate after exposure to near-UV radiation in both the wild type and a recA strain. Far-UV radiation resistance is observed in the wild type only. The endonuclease activity was purified ≈500-fold from an S. mutans recA mutant strain grown at pH 5. Initial characterization revealed a 3′ to 5′ exonuclease activity, and showed additional functional similarities to DNA repair enzymes from other organisms.
Impact of mask defect in a high MEEF process

In this paper, we demonstrated the impact of illumination condition on MEEF and investigated the correlation between CD linearity and MEEF according to the illumination conditions and imaging pitches. For all of the illumination conditions, the MEEF increased appreciably as the CD decreased beyond a CD linear region. The aerial image intensity and NILS change with the pattern size and illumination conditions were also investigated. We also measured and analyzed the printability of mask defect according to the MEEF. Two types of mask defects; chrome and clear mask intrusion defects were designed in the cell. The designed mask defect was split from 0.02 μm2 to 0.72 μm2(5X) in area. While within a linear CD region the slope of the CD response to the defects are similar regardless of the illumination condition and 0.08 μm2(5X) clear defect size was not printed, within a linear CD region the slope of the CD response to the defects increased as the illumination NA decreased and only 0.02 μm2(5X) chrome defect size was printed within a linear CD region, where the defect printability criteria is out side ±5% target CD range. We could also show that as the process is operated under the linearity limit, the dependency of aspect ratio to the defect printability would be increased.
Reply to Mr. Palmer: A Vision of Files

Let me first say how much I admire Mr. Palmer's gallant attempt fairly to referee the outcome of an attack by "the meanest dog on the block" (me) on "the most lordly house cat" (Christopher Hill). About Palmer's verdict on my review of Hill-unjustified assault-I would like for the moment to postpone comment. Just now I want to deal with some of the points he makes to justify that verdict. One of his most telling criticisms of the review is that the distinction I make there between splitters and lumpers is simplistic and falsely dichotomous. To that charge I must plead guilty with qualifications. Of course the division of historians into lumpers and splitters is simplistic. One could say, as I did in my reply to Hill's answer, that I used the terms as poles and that "each historian perceptibly orients himself one way or the other" with respect to those poles. I now might want to welsh a little on that "each" and say only that some historians so orient themselves, that among those historians is Hill, and that he orients himself to the lumper pole. With that qualification it seems to me that the notion of lumping helps one understand how Hill does history and, therefore, what kind of historian he is. Let me use an illustration I have used before. At one point in his answer to my review, Hill says that "mental transformations accompanied and facilitated the advance of capitalism" and then a few sentences later, "Capitalism is in fact with us today, as it was not in the Middle Ages; and ideas have changed accordingly (italics mine)." Thus, about as fast as the mind can follow, Hill passes from an account in which "mental transformations" rather neutrally "accompany" capitalism or more actively "facilitate" it (that is, help cause it) to one in which ideas have changed (that is, mental transformations have taken place) in accord with (that is, by cause of) the rise of capitalism, which is not at all the same thing. And actually I am not sure whether my rephrasing of "accordingly" into "in accord with" and thence into "by cause (or because) of' does justice to what Hill had in mind. That is because neither Hill's phrasing of the sentence nor its content enables the reader to know just what he did have in mind. The rhetorical mist that surrounds the function of "accordingly" leads a chronically suspicious mean dog to suspect that the word is there not in the interest of clarification but of lumping, of somehow getting everything of consequence (or at least everything "progressive") that men have thought in the past three centuries mixed into everything of consequence or progressive that has happened to the world's economy. Or putting it another way, lumper Hill vigorously dumps the rise of capitalism and the emer-
The role of law in determining acceptability of risk

Legal criteria and procedures for determining societal acceptability of risk are established by governmental institutions performing legislative (i. e., deliberate formulation of rules with prospective application) and/or judicial (i. e., resolution of conflict on a case-by-case basis) functions. In both cases the law-making process reflects both the subjective preferences of the human beings who administer these institutions and their sense of societal attitudes.
Poincaré-Type inequalities and reconstruction of Paley-Wiener functions on manifolds

The main goal of the article is to show that Paley-Wiener functions f ~ L2(M ) of a fixed band width w on a Riemannian manifold of bounded geometry M completely determined and can be reconstructed from a set of numbers { ~ i (f)/, i ~ N where { @ i } is a countable sequence of weighted integrals over a collection of "small" and "densely" distributed compact subsets. In particular, {@i }, i N, can be a sequence of weighted Dirac measures ~xi , xi ~ M.
Fetal Effects of Prophylactic Ephedrine and Maternal Hypotension During Regional Anesthesia for Cesarean Section

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a prophylactic intravenous bolus of ephedrine on the incidence and severity of maternal hypotension and on neonatal outcome. Term healthy parturients (n = 122) scheduled for elective repeat cesarean section under regional anesthesia were studied. Ninety-two women received 10 mg ephedrine as a prophylactic intravenous bolus prior to intrathecal epidural local anesthesia. Thirty parturients who served as controls did not receive prophylactic ephedrine. Maternal blood pressures, Apgar scores, and umbilical cord blood acid-base status were evaluated. Sixty-three of 92 women (69%) who received intravenous prophylactic ephedrine prior to regional anesthesia developed hypotension compared to 21 (70%) controls. The mean (±SD) lowest systolic blood pressure was similar in both groups (95.6 ± 12.9 vs. 96 ± 8.9 mmHg; P = 0.86). The mean (±SD) fetal pH was significantly lower with prophylactic ephedrine than controls (7.24 ± 0.07 vs. 7.28 ± 0.05; P = 0.001). Th...
CT angiography in the abdomen: a pictorial review and update

The development of multidetector CT technology and helical scanning techniques has revolutionized the use of CT for primary diagnostic evaluation of the abdominal vasculature, particularly the arterial system. CT angiography has numerous benefits relative to conventional catheter angiography, and has largely replaced catheter-based techniques in many clinical algorithms. This pictorial review and update will cover important technical principles related to modern CT angiography (including contrast delivery and dose considerations), discuss relevant anatomy and variants, and illustrate numerous arterial conditions related to the abdominal aorta and branch vessels.
Maximum mass-particle velocities in Kantor's information mechanics

Kantor's information mechanics links phenomena previously regarded as not treatable by a single theory. It is used here to calculate the maximum velocitiesνm of single particles. For the electron,νm/c≈1−1.253814×10−77. The maximumνm corresponds toνm/c≈1−1.097864×10−122 for a single mass particle with a rest mass of 3.078496×10−5g. This is the fastest that matter can move. Either information mechanics or classical mechanics can be used to show thatνm is less for heavier particles. Thatνm is less for lighter particles can be deduced from an information mechanics argument alone.
Response of offshore towers to strong motion earthquakes

Presented is a stochastic method of analysis of offshore towers subjected to strong motion earthquakes. A zero mean ergodic Gaussian process of finite duration is used to characterize horizontal ground acceleration and full fluid structure interaction effects are included. Numerical results for four representative deep water towers having heights of 475, 675, 875 and 1075 ft are compared with corresponding results obtained by the response spectrum method of analysis. Particular emphasis is placed on the maximum or extreme values of total transverse shear and total overturning moment. Comparisons are made with code values and the role of ductility is briefly discussed.
Two diets with different haemoglobin A1c and antiglycaemic medication effects despite similar weight loss in type 2 diabetes.

We analysed participants with type 2 diabetes (n = 46) within a larger weight loss trial (n = 146) who were randomized to 48 weeks of a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD; n = 22) or a low-fat diet + orlistat (LFD + O; n = 24). At baseline, mean body mass index (BMI) was 39.5 kg/m(2) (s.d. 6.5) and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 7.6% (s.d. 1.3). Although the interventions reduced BMI similarly (LCD -2.4 kg/m(2) ; LFD + O -2.7 kg/m(2) , p = 0.7), LCD led to a relative improvement in HbA1c: -0.7% in LCD versus +0.2% in LFD + O [difference -0.8%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.6, -0.02; p = 0.045]. LCD also led to a greater reduction in antiglycaemic medications using a novel medication effect score (MES) based on medication potency and total daily dose; 70.6% of LCD versus 30.4% LFD + O decreased their MES by ≥50% (p = 0.01). Lowering dietary carbohydrate intake demonstrated benefits on glycaemic control beyond its weight loss effects, while at the same time lowering antiglycaemic medication requirements.
Price influence and age segments of Beijing consumers

To help multinationals meet consumer needs in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), this paper describes culture, social forces, marketing mix and consumer behavior for durables and nondurables. Cameras, cosmetics, fast food restaurants and soft drinks are in earlier lifecycle stages in the PRC than in the USA, and represent a price/durability continuum. A joint effort of USA/PRC researchers, with about 3,000 responses, shows that product versus price‐focus differentiates price segments, and consumer product experience differentiates age segments. Results suggest culture‐relevant research procedures, and strategic implications for marketing to price and age segment(s) in regions like Beijing.
Nutrient limitations in the northern pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea

The idea that carnivorous plants capture insects to supply limiting nutrients is often conjectured but rarely tested with fertilization trials or the construction of nutrient budgets. Accordingly, ...
Laparoscopic-assisted Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

ABSTRACT Eight patients underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass from May 1998 to September 1998 in which a hand-assist technique was used. The operation consisted of a 7.5-cm periumbilical midline incision along with three trocars placed in the upper abdomen. The operative times ranged from 2.25 to 4.5 h. The average preoperative body mass index was 44 kg/m.2 Three-month postoperative follow-up revealed an average weight loss of 59 lb. Cosmetic results to date have been excellent even when compared with those of a total laparoscopic operation. The hand-assist technique allows the surgeon to have more control over the most difficult part of the case, which is manipulation of the small bowel in a morbidly obese abdomen.
Robust supervisory control for manufacturing systems with unreliable resources

Manufacturing practitioners and researchers recognize the need to develop effective supervisory controllers for automated manufacturing systems. One active area of research has been developing deadlock avoidance methods for these systems. Almost all work to date has assumed that allocated resources do not fail. In this paper, we consider deadlock and blocking problems in systems with unreliable resources. Our objective is to develop supervisory control policies that allocate resources so the failure of any given resource does not propagate through blocking to effectively stall other portions of the system. To accomplish this, the supervisory controller must enforce liveness for the original system while avoiding states that do not serve as feasible initial states for the reduced system when an unreliable resource fails. The policy must then enforce liveness for the reduced system while avoiding states that do not serve as feasible initial states for the original system so transition to normal operation is smooth when the failed resource is restored.
Delayed Arteriogenesis in Hypercholesterolemic Mice

Background— Hypercholesterolemia has been reported to inhibit ischemia-induced angiogenesis. To address its effects on arteriogenesis, we investigated arterial growth in hypercholesterolemic low-density lipoprotein receptor−/−/ApoB-48−/− (HCE) mice. Methods and Results— The extent and the time course of arteriogenesis after femoral artery ligation was evaluated in HCE and strain-matched control mice. Distal limb perfusion was measured by laser Doppler imaging, whereas MRI was used to visualize arterial flow and micro-computed tomography to assess vascular growth. After femoral artery ligation, serial laser Doppler imaging demonstrated significantly delayed restoration of perfusion in untreated HCE compared with control mice (day 3, 0.09 versus 0.19, P<0.05). Treatment with Ad-PR39 in control mice led to a significant restoration of arterial blood flow and tissue perfusion at day 3, whereas in HCE mice, hindlimb perfusion began increasing only by day 7. Micro-CT analysis confirmed increased growth of small...
Humoral Responses and Cross-reactivity to Viridans Streptococci in Recurrent Aphthous Ulceration

It has been proposed that recurrent aphthous ulceration (RAU) is caused by hypersensitivity to oral streptococci. This hypothesis is based on reports that RAU patients have increased levels of circulating IgG antibodies against oral streptococci, and that rabbit antisera prepared against oral streptococci are cross-reactive with oral mucosa. Using indirect immunofluorescence, we have investigated both of these reported phenomena. End-point titers of serum antibodies against three different strains of oral streptococci were assayed from nine RAU subjects with active ulcers and compared with those of nine control subjects. Titers ranged from 1:2 to 1:64 in both groups and do not appear to have any clinical or immunopathogenic significance. Cross-reactivity was studied using hyperimmune rabbit antisera raised against five different strains of oral streptococci. Homologous bacterial titers ranged from 1:1024 to 1 :8192, but none of these anti-streptococcal sera produced heterologous titers greater than 1:32 w...
Axillo-Profunda Bypass for the Management of an Infected Aorto-Femoral Graft:

The axillo-profunda bypass provides a good solution to distal revasculari zation when it is necessary to remove an infected aorto-femoral graft in a patient with occluded superficial femoral arteries. This modification of the standard axillo-femoral procedure provides revascularization through a clean field while avoiding the additional length of an axillo-popliteal graft. Two important technical considerations are the lateral placement of the tunnel so as to avoid contamination from the infected inguinal site and the selection of a small diameter graft.
Neoliberalism and democracy

After nearly two decades of largely uninterrupted implementation, neoliberal policies have provided but modest aggregate growth, while income and wealth disparities have increased dramatically, separating the super rich from other social classes. This is most clearly evident in Latin America, where governments, sheltered by a wall of neoliberal doctrine and international compromises, have made themselves highly resistant to popular pressures for income redistribution and changes in the existing social structures. In effect, neoliberalism - coupled with its strange brand of ballot box democracy- has managed to strangle the full array of political forces antagonistic to and resisting its project. Economic power has tended to concentrate in the hands of those social groups that share objectives of accelerated capital accumulation; benefiting themselves, their families, and their elite classes. Evidence of the undemocratic methods utilized by Latin American rulers of neoliberal democracies abound: the excessive use of presidential decrees in Menem's Argentina, the exclusion of popular leaders from consultative bodies Salinas de Gortari's Mexico, or the application of strong arm tactics in Fujimori's Peru, could start a long list.
Personalized ranking model adaptation for web search

Search engines train and apply a single ranking model across all users, but searchers' information needs are diverse and cover a broad range of topics. Hence, a single user-independent ranking model is insufficient to satisfy different users' result preferences. Conventional personalization methods learn separate models of user interests and use those to re-rank the results from the generic model. Those methods require significant user history information to learn user preferences, have low coverage in the case of memory-based methods that learn direct associations between query-URL pairs, and have limited opportunity to markedly affect the ranking given that they only re-order top-ranked items. In this paper, we propose a general ranking model adaptation framework for personalized search. Using a given user-independent ranking model trained offline and limited number of adaptation queries from individual users, the framework quickly learns to apply a series of linear transformations, e.g., scaling and shifting, over the parameters of the given global ranking model such that the adapted model can better fit each individual user's search preferences. Extensive experimentation based on a large set of search logs from a major commercial Web search engine confirms the effectiveness of the proposed method compared to several state-of-the-art ranking model adaptation methods.
Future performance of ground-based and airborne water-vapor differential absorption lidar. I. Overview and theory.

The performance of a future advanced water-vapor differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system is discussed. It is shown that the system has to be a direct-detection system operating in the rhovarsigmatau band of water vapor in the 940-nm wavelength region. The most important features of the DIAL technique are introduced: its clear-air measurement capability, its flexibility, and its simultaneous high resolution and accuracy. It is demonstrated that such a DIAL system can contribute to atmospheric sciences over a large range of scales and over a large variety of humidity conditions. An extended error analysis is performed, and errors (e.g., speckle noise) are included that previously were not been discussed in detail and that become important for certain system designs and measurement conditions. The applicability of the derived equation is investigated by comparisons with real data. Excellent agreement is found.
Pattern-independent current estimation for reliability analysis of CMOS circuits

Accurate and efficient expected current estimation is required in circuit designs to analyze electromigration failure rate, power consumption, voltage drop, etc. A new pattern-independent simulation approach for estimating this expected current waveform drawn by CMOS circuitry has been developed. Four original concepts, probability waveforms,probability waveform propagation,probabilistic circuit model, and statistical timing analysis, are presented which allow an efficient and accurate estimation of expected current waveforms. This approach is dramatically faster than traditional methods and yields comparable results.
Monitoring Afatinib Treatment in HER2-Positive Gastric Cancer with 18F-FDG and 89Zr-Trastuzumab PET

We evaluated the ability of the PET imaging agent 89Zr-trastuzumab to delineate HER2-positive gastric cancer and to monitor the pharmacodynamic effects of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) tyrosine kinase inhibitor afatinib. Methods: Using 89 Zr-trastuzumab, 18 F-FDG, or 39-deoxy-39- 18 F-fluorothymidine ( 18 F-FLT PET), we imaged HER2-positive NCI-N87 and HER2negative MKN74 gastric cancer xenografts in mice. Next, we examined the pharmacodynamic effects of afatinib in NCI-N87 xenografts using 89Zr-trastuzumab and 18F-FDG PET and comparing imaging results to changes in tumor size and in protein expression as monitored by Western blot and histologic studies. Results: Although 18 F-FDG uptake in NCI-N87 tumors did not change, a decrease in 89Zr-trastuzumab uptake was observed in the afatinib-treated versus control groups (3.0 6 0.0 percentage injected dose per gram (%ID/g) vs. 21.0 6 3.4 %ID/g, respectively; P , 0.05). 89 Zr-trastuzumab PET results corresponded with tumor reduction, apoptosis, and downregulation of HER2 observed on treatment with afatinib. Downregulation of total HER2, phosphorylated (p)-HER2, and p-EGFR occurred within 24 h of the first dose of afatinib, with a sustained effect over 21 d of treatment. Conclusion: Afatinib demonstrated antitumor activity in HER2-positive gastric cancer in vivo. 89Zr-trastuzumab PET spe
Consigning the Twentieth Century to History: Alternative Narratives for the Modern Era

How WILL HISTORIANS ANALYZE THE CENTURY that has just concluded? What narratives or interpretations will they construct to make sense of the last hundred years? A century of world wars, of political violence, of modernization? Will the twentieth century cohere as a historical epoch? For historians and the reading public alike, centuries provide a ready-made chronological framework for largescale history. Nevertheless, I believe that the idea of twentieth-century history will serve us as a temporal framework only in very selective ways. It may remain as the shorthand designation for what I discuss below as one or another "moral narratives." It will not, though, serve us as well for demarcating economic development or large-scale institutional change, what we can call "structural narratives."1 These structural narratives, this essay will argue, involve trends that have unfolded in a tempo independent of the twentieth century. What follows is an effort to juxtapose these two chronological perspectives-structural and moral narratives, and of one structural narrative in particular-with their respective claims about historical significance and historical periodization. The problems that a twentieth-century history presents do not arise just because of ragged beginning and end points, such that 1914 and 1989, rather than 1900 and 2000, are envisaged as opening and closing the political story, at least of Western history. Neither does the difficulty result from the fact that internal caesuraswhether, above all, the defeat of fascism and the end of the world wars in the case of the European narrative or the achievement of decolonization with respect to the Asian, Middle Eastern, and African history-are so profound that the 1900s as a whole retain little "structural" unity. Instead, I would urge, to focus on the "twentieth century" as such obscures one of the most encompassing or fundamental sociopolitical trends of modern world development, namely the emergence, ascendancy, and subsequent crisis of what is best labeled "territoriality." Making the case for the significance of territoriality is a principal objective here. Insofar as the case
Arrhythmias Caused by Platelet Activating Factor

Platelet Activating Factor and Arrhythmias. Introduction: Both ischemia and reperfusion are associated with ventricular arrhythmias. In both instances, neutrophils migrate into the ischemic zone, are activated by locally released factors, and hind to myocytes. The activated neutrophils liberate platelet activating factor (PAF). We have studied the arrhythmogenic actions of PAF on transmembrane potentials of isolated canine cardiac myocytes. Methods and Results: Cardiac myocytes were prepared from normal canine hearts by standard methods and studied in vitro by recording transmembrane potentials under control conditions and during exposure to graded doses of PAF, usually 0.25 to 1.25 μg (0.25 to 1.2 μM). Myocytes were superfused with Tyrode's solution (2.0 mL/min), paced at a cycle length of 1000 msec, and maintained at a temperature between 36° and 38°C. PAF caused a consistent and dose-dependent set of alterations in the transmembrane potential, including increased action potential duration, runs of early afterdepolarizations (EADs), and transient arrest of repolarization (PA). In addition, in some myocytes PAF caused intermittent small depolarizations both at the plateau voltage and resting potential. The effects of PAF were transient: only some residual action potential prolongation was noted after Tyrode's washout for 5 minutes. Effects of PAF were blocked in a dose-dependent manner by the PAF receptor antagonist, CV-6209. Both tetrodotoxin (1.2× 10-6 M)and xylocaine (5 × 10-5 M) antagonized the ability of PAF to cause EADs and PA. Conclusions: PAF consistently exerts arrhythmogenic effects on the membrane of ventricular myocytes. Since PAF is liberated by activated neutrophils and since activated neutrophils migrate into ischemic myocardium on reperfusion, we judge that PAF liberated by such neutrophils is an important arrhythmogenic factor for reperfusion arrhythmias. The same mechanism may be a cause of arrhythmias during the evolution of infarction.