cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Formation of MoO3 and WO3 nanoscrolls from MoS2 and WS2 with atmospheric air plasma

Nanostructured transition metal oxides (TMOs) have intriguing electrochemical and physical properties that make them useful in a variety of electrochemical applications. Here, we report the synthesis of MoO3 and WO3 nanoscrolls from atomically thin layers of two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 and WS2 with atmospheric air plasma treatment. These structures with rolled layers have an increased surface-to-volume ratio and are promising for electrochemical applications. The morphology of the nanoscrolls is characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), while X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements confirm the formation of MoO3 from MoS2. Control experiments with a plasma generated from a mixture of N2/O2/H2O gases MoS2 suggest that the rolling mechanism is due to a combination of factors including oxide formation, stresses due to bonding changes, defects in the initial 2D material, and interplanar forces.
Abstract 18390: Changes in Leisure-Time Physical Activity Are Associated With Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation - The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Introduction: Greater leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the association of LTPA, and changes in LTPA over time, with incident atrial fibrillation (AF) in a community-based, non-athletic population is unclear. Hypothesis: Persons with persistently poor activity in adult life have higher incident AF relative to those with persistently ideal activity. Methods: Among 12,228 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study who were free of AF at visit 3, self-reported LTPA assessed at visits 1 and 3 were categorized as poor, intermediate, or ideal LTPA using American Heart Association (AHA) criteria. Change in LTPA categories and average LTPA over the 6 year period were related to incident AF with multivariable Cox models. Results: The mean age was 60.4 ± 5.7 years. Over a median follow up of 16.7 years, incident AF occurred in 1518 participants. Compared to those with persistently ideal activity over 6 years, participants with persistently poor activity (HR 1.26; CI 1.07, 1.47) and who decreased activity from ideal to poor (HR 1.32; CI 1.07, 1.62) had a higher risk of incident AF after adjusting for age, sex, race, prior coronary disease, prior heart failure, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, and anti-hypertensive medication use. Those who increased activity from poor to ideal (HR 1.12; CI 0.91, 1.37) did not have a significantly different risk of AF compared to those with persistently ideal activity. Age modified the association of LTPA with incident AF such that higher average activity (MET-min/week) was associated with a lower risk of incident AF in younger participants, but this association weakened in older individuals (p interaction for age = 0.007, Figure). Conclusions: In younger, middle-aged individuals, maintaining average activity levels over 500 MET-min/week, as recommended by the AHA, is associated with a lower risk of incident AF. This relationship weakens with increasing age.
A Sample Average Approximation-Based Parallel Algorithm for Application Placement in Edge Computing Systems

Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) is a new paradigm that aims at decreasing the response time of running mobile applications by offloading the component of the applications on the servers located at the edge of the network instead of on the cloud servers. In this paper, we address a very important problem in the management of MEC systems, that is, the problem of finding an efficient application placement on the edge servers such that the cost of execution is minimized. We develop a multi-stage stochastic programming model for the application placement problem in edge computing systems and design a novel parallel greedy algorithm based on the Sample Average Approximation method to solve it. We evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm by conducting extensive experimental analysis using data extracted from a real-world dataset. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can solve the problem efficiently.
Mechanical, thermal, morphological, and rheological characteristics of high performance 3D-printing lignin-based composites for additive manufacturing applications.

Abstract The article presents different mechanical, thermal and rheological data corresponding to the morphological formation within various renewable lignin-based composites containing acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR41, 41 mol% nitrile content), and carbon fibers (CFs). The data of 3D-printing properties and morphology of 3D-printed layers of selected lignin-based composites are revealed. This data is related to our recent research article entitled “A general method to improve 3D-printability and inter-layer adhesion in lignin-based composites” (Nguyen et al., 2018 [1] ).
Exploring the programmability for deep learning processors: from architecture to tensorization

This paper presents an instruction and Fabric Programmable Neuron Array (iFPNA) architecture, its 28nm CMOS chip prototype, and a compiler for the acceleration of a variety of deep learning neural networks (DNNs) including convolutional neural networks (CNNs), recurrent neural networks (RNNs), and fully connected (FC) networks on chip. The iFPNA architecture combines instruction-level programmability as in an Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) with logic-level reconfigurability as in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) in a sliced structure for scalability. Four data flow models, namely weight stationary, input stationary, row stationary and tunnel stationary, are described as the abstraction of various DNN data and computational dependence. The iFPNA compiler partitions a large-size DNN to smaller networks, each being mapped to, optimized and code generated for, the underlying iFPNA processor using one or a mixture of the four data-flow models. Experimental results have shown that state-of-art large-size CNNs, RNNs, and FC networks can be mapped to the iFPNA processor achieving the near ASIC performance.
Extracts Cognitive Artifacts from Text through Combining Human and Machine Learning in an Iterative Fashion

The world network of information is complex and not always organized in a structure useful for human understanding. This paper investigates the need and methods for creating an artificial system that categorizing information similar to the way humans categorize. The system will use Bayesian modeling to model text sentiment. The categorization of text sentiment will be done both by machines and by humans. The hypothesis is that the resultant system will not differ significantly from the accuracy of a control group of human categorizers. This represents a non-standard approach to learning that involves the human and the machine in an iterative learning process.
Compressed Domain Image Classification Using a Dynamic-Rate Neural Network

Compressed domain image classification performs classification directly on compressive measurements acquired from the single-pixel camera, bypassing the image reconstruction step. It is of great importance for extending high-speed object detection and classification beyond the visible spectrum in a cost-effective manner especially for resource-limited platforms. Previous neural network methods require training a dedicated neural network for each different measurement rate (MR), which is costly in computation and storage. In this work, we develop an efficient training scheme that provides a neural network with dynamic-rate property, where a single neural network is capable of classifying over any MR within the range of interest with a given sensing matrix. This training scheme uses only a few selected MRs for training and the trained neural network is valid over the full range of MRs of interest. We demonstrate the performance of the dynamic-rate neural network on datasets of MNIST, CIFAR-10, Fashion-MNIST, COIL-100, and show that it generates approximately equal performance at each MR as that of a single-rate neural network valid only for one MR. Robustness to noise of the dynamic-rate model is also demonstrated. The dynamic-rate training scheme can be regarded as a general approach compatible with different types of sensing matrices, various neural network architectures, and is a valuable step towards wider adoption of compressive inference techniques and other compressive sensing related tasks via neural networks.
ABO(H) BLOOD GROUP SUBSTANCES OF THE GASTRIC JUICE. II. DISTRIBUTION IN THE ELECTROPHORETIC PARTITION.

Blood group substances on paper curtain are diffusely distributed throughout the entire anodic side of the electrophoretic partition of gastric juice at pH 9.0. The distribution patterns of blood group substances on the curtain in various pools differ from each other. This depends not only on various ratios of different blood group substances in these pools, but also on differences in the electrophoretic mobility of gastric mucosubstances and proteins with which the blood group substances are associated, and with which they travel in the electrical field.
Experimentally warmer and drier conditions in an Arctic plant community reveal microclimatic controls on senescence

The timing and duration of the plant growing season and its period of peak activity have shifted globally in response to climate change. These changes alter the period of maximum and potential total carbon uptake, especially in highly seasonal environments such as the Arctic. Earlier plant growth has been observed, and if plant senescence remains the same or is delayed, growing season extension will likely lead to greater carbon uptake and growth. We used phenology data from a multifactor climate change experiment to examine how altered seasonality influences the timing and rate‐of‐senescence and to compare direct observations of individual plant senescence with mathematical models of onset‐of‐senescence based on near‐surface remote sensing. Our three‐year experiment in an Arctic tundra ecosystem altered plant microclimates through factorial warming and earlier snowmelt treatments. We found that (1) early snowmelt and warmer temperatures led to earlier remotely sensed onset‐of‐senescence, but did not alter the rate‐of‐senescence, (2) the timing of color change for individual vascular plants did not change in response to the treatments, leading to a mismatch with remotely sensed phenology, and (3) cumulative, phenologically dependent microclimate metrics (e.g., soil cold degree‐days) best predicted the onset‐of‐senescence. Our study highlights the complexity of observing and understanding controls over phenological shifts that affect plant growth and consequently ecosystem functions. Experimental studies that include multiple approaches to observe and model phenological changes and microclimate are critical to develop phenological forecasting models.
ENTT: A Family of Emerging NVM-based Trojan Triggers

Hardware Trojans in the form of malicious modifications during the design and/or the fabrication process is a security concern due to globalization of the semiconductor production process. A Trojan is designed to evade structural and functional testing and trigger under certain conditions (e.g., after a number of clock ticks or assertion of a rare net) and deliver the payload (e.g., denial-of-service, information leakage). A wide variety of logic Trojans (both triggers and payloads) have been identified, however, very limited literature exists on memory Trojans in spite of their high likelihood. Emerging Non-Volatile Memories (NVMs) e.g., Resistive RAM (RRAM) possess unique characteristics e.g., non-volatility and gradual drift in resistance with pulsing voltage that make them a prime target to deploy a Hardware Trojan. In this paper, we present a delay and voltage-based Trojan trigger by exploiting the RRAM resistance drift under pulsing current. Simulation results indicate that these triggers can be activated by accessing a pre-selected address 2500–3000 times (varies with trigger designs) since the proposed trigger requires a large number of hammerings to evade test phase. Due to non-volatility, the hammering need not be consecutive and therefore can evade system-level techniques that can classify hammering as a potential security threat. We also propose a mechanism to reset the triggers. The maximum area and static/dynamic power overheads of the trigger circuit are 6.68μm2 and 104.24μW/0.426μW, respectively in PTM 65nm technology.
PENINGKATAN KOMPETENSI GURU PENDIDIKAN AGAMA ISLAM DAN BUDI PEKERTI (STUDI PADA PPMG DINAS PENDIDIKAN ACEH)

The existence of the Teacher Quality Development Center (PPMG) is still questioned when the quality of education is declining where the issue of the quality of education in Aceh is low. Some education observers immediately highlighted PPMG as the party most responsible for the low quality of education. The low quality of teachers in Aceh suspected that PPMG has not carried out its functions properly. This study focuses its study on the role and function of PPMG in improving the competence of Islamic religious education teachers and character by using data collection techniques: observation, documentation, and interviews. While the sample is taken by purposive sampling technique, which is the determination of the sample aimed at certain considerations. In this context, the sample was PPMG Wilayah VII Meulaboh in coordination with the Education Offices of West Aceh, Nagan Raya, and Aceh Jaya Districts. The data analysis technique used in this research is qualitative-descriptive analysis. The results of the study prove that: 1) PPMG Aceh Education Agency, in this case, PPMG Wilayah VII Meulaboh, has played its role and carried out its functions procedurally but has not been optimal in efforts to improve the quality of Islamic religious education teachers and manners; 2) The implementation of the competency development program for Islamic religious education teachers and manners has been carried out effectively and efficiently; 3) The quality improvement system of Islamic religious education teachers and character conducted by PPMG in Aceh Province uses a scientific approach that refers to the implementation of the 2013 National Curriculum (K-13). The system for enhancing teacher pedagogical competence is pursued by providing training in classroom management, learning design, and civilizing literacy.
A family of proteins containing a conserved domain that mediates interaction with the yeast SNF1 protein kinase complex.

Abstract The SNF1 protein kinase is required for the regulatory response to glucose starvation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. SNF1 is a protein serine/threonine kinase that has been widely conserved in both plants and mammals. Previously, we identified SIP1 and SIP2 as proteins that interact with SNF1 in vivo by the two-hybrid system. We have cloned the SIP2 gene and the encoded protein is homologous to SIP1 and to GAL83, which affects glucose repression of the GAL genes. We show that SIP2 and GAL83, like SIP1, co-immunoprecipitate with SNF1 and are phosphorylated in vitro. An 80 amino acid sequence, designated the ASC domain, is highly conserved at the C-termini of all three proteins. We show that this small domain can mediate protein-protein interaction with the SNF1 kinase complex. Thus, SIP1, SIP2 and GAL83 define a family of homologous proteins that are tightly associated with the SNF1 kinase, probably in alternative forms of the complex. Genetic evidence suggests that the three proteins have distinct, but related, functions in the SNF1 pathway, and deletion of GAL83 dramatically reduces SNF1 activity in immune complex assays. We propose that SIP1, SIP2 and GAL83 act as adaptors that promote the activity of SNF1 towards specific targets.
CHAPTER 9 – SUBSTITUTION, CONTEXT, AND ASSOCIATION1

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the concepts of substitution, context, and association. The elicited sentences cannot give a particularly biased estimate of word contexts for the stimulus words; however, the substitution task elicits far more antonyms than can be expected on the basis of actual contextual similarities of antonyms. The collocational study involves no editing and gives statistics on text frequencies regardless of the grammatical class of the forms. In connected discourse, nouns, verbs, indefinite pronouns, determiners, prepositions, auxiliaries, nominative pronouns, and copulas are most frequent, with adjectives and adverbs relatively infrequent. For all stimulus words, except verbs and gerunds, there is a significant positive relation between association and substitution, that is, the use of semantically and grammatically paradigmatic words as associates. Where there is high commonality in substitutions, responses tend to be paradigmatic. Where there is a high primary in the precontext or high commonality in the five most common postcontexts, the responses tend to be syntagmatic.
Tourniquet use for extremity fractures has no adverse effect on number of ventilator days for patients who are treated with reamed femoral or tibial shaft nails.

ABSTRACT Introduction: Concern exists regarding the pulmonary effects of using tourniquets for secondary extremity fractures in patients also undergoing intramedullary nail (IMN) fixation of femoral or tibial shaft fractures. Our hypothesis was that tourniquet use would be associated with increased ventilator days. Methods: At a Level I trauma center, we conducted a retrospective review of 1966 patients with 2018 fractures (1070 femoral shaft and 948 tibial shaft) treated with IMN from December 2006 to September 2014. Medical record review and bivariate and multiple variable regression analyses were conducted, and the main outcome measurement was number of ventilator days. Results: No statistically significant negative association was found between use of a tourniquet and number of ventilator days in the femoral or tibial fracture group. Use of tourniquets in the upper extremities showed a statistically significant decrease in amount of ventilator days in the femoral group (−2.2 days, p = 0.003) but no association in the tibial group (1.1 days, p = 0.36). Use of tourniquets concurrently in both upper and lower extremities of both femoral and tibial groups also had a protective effect (−6.8 days, p Conclusion: Tourniquet use for secondary extremity fractures, in patients also undergoing IMN fixation for femoral or tibial shaft fractures, was not associated with an increased number of ventilator days. A potential protective effect of tourniquet use was shown in patients with upper extremity fractures and in those with both upper and lower extremity fractures. Level of evidence: Therapeutic Level III (Retrospective cohort study).
Fast Uncertainty Estimation for Deep Learning Based Optical Flow

We present a novel approach to reduce the processing time required to derive the estimation uncertainty map in deep learning-based optical flow determination methods. Without uncertainty aware reasoning, the optical flow model, especially when it is used for mission critical fields such as robotics and aerospace, can cause catastrophic failures. Although several approaches such as the ones based on Bayesian neural networks have been proposed to handle this issue, they are computationally expensive. Thus, to speed up the processing time, our approach applies a generative model, which is trained by input images and an uncertainty map derived through a Bayesian approach. By using synthetically generated images of spacecraft, we demonstrate that the trained generative model can produce the uncertainty map 100∼700 times faster than the conventional uncertainty estimation method used for training the generative model itself. We also show that the quality of uncertainty map derived by the generative model is close to that of the original uncertainty map. By applying the proposed approach, the deep learning model operated in real-time can avoid disastrous failures by considering the uncertainty as well as achieving better performance removing uncertain portions of the prediction result.
Cryogenic operation of silicon photonic modulators based on the DC Kerr effect

Reliable operation of photonic integrated circuits at cryogenic temperatures would enable new capabilities for emerging computing platforms, such as quantum technologies and low-power cryogenic computing. The silicon-on-insulator platform is a highly promising approach to developing large-scale photonic integrated circuits due to its exceptional manufacturability, CMOS compatibility, and high component density. Fast, efficient, and low-loss modulation at cryogenic temperatures in silicon, however, remains an outstanding challenge, particularly without the addition of exotic nonlinear optical materials. In this paper, we demonstrate DC-Kerr-effect-based modulation at a temperature of 5 K at GHz speeds, in a silicon photonic device fabricated exclusively within a CMOS-compatible process. This work opens up a path for the integration of DC Kerr modulators in large-scale photonic integrated circuits for emerging cryogenic classical and quantum computing applications.
Variations in insulin requirements can be an early indicator of sepsis in burn patients.

Abstract Introduction A >25% increase in daily insulin dosing is suggestive of possible sepsis in burn patients, however, no conclusive evidence is available regarding the time point at which insulin dosing begins to increase. The purpose of this study is to determine the exact time point at which the insulin requirement increases among non-diabetic burn patients with sepsis. Methods A retrospective chart review in non-diabetic burn patients with ≥20% total body surface area burned (TBSA) during 2010–2018 who received a blood culture for suspected sepsis. Absolute insulin dosing at intervals (0, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h prior to blood culture) were Box–Cox transformed and compared vs.−96 h reference using mixed-effects models accounting for within-patient dependencies. Results Fifty-eight patients (84% males, age 44 ± 17 years, TBSA% 49 ± 17.5) were included. When cube root of daily insulin dosing was regressed on each time point in a mixed-effects model, statistically significant increase in insulin dosing compared to baseline was observed for −48 (p = 0.018), −24 (p = 0.011), and 0 h (p = 0.008). Conclusion Daily insulin dosing increases 48 h prior to development of other clinical signs of sepsis and can be used as a sensitive early marker.
Population-level changes in outcomes and Medicare cost following the introduction of new cancer therapies.

Objective To examine the population-level impacts of the introduction of novel cancer therapies with high cost in the United States, using immunotherapies in advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as an example. Data sources Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data in 2012-2015 linked to Medicare fee-for-service claims until 2016. Study design We examined population-level trends in treatment patterns, survival, and Medicare spending in patients diagnosed with advanced NSCLC, the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, between 2012 and 2015. We estimated the percentage of patients who received any antineoplastic therapy within two years of diagnosis, including novel immunotherapies. We compared the trends in overall survival and mean two-year Medicare spending per each patient before and after the introduction of immunotherapies in 2015. Data collection/extraction methods Not Applicable. Principal findings The percentage of patients treated with any antineoplastic therapy remained the same at 46.7% in 2012 and 2015, whereas the use of immunotherapies increased from 0% to 15.2%. The two-year survival rate and median survival increased by 3.3 percentage points (95% CI: 2.0, 4.5) and 0.4 months (CI: 0.0, 0.9), respectively, during the same period. The mean two-year total Medicare spending and outpatient spending per patient increased by $5735 (CI: 3479, 8040) and $7661 (CI: 5902, 9311), respectively, which were largely attributable to the increases in immunotherapy spending by $5806 (CI: 5165, 6459). Conclusions The introduction of lung cancer immunotherapies was accompanied by improvements in survival and increases in spending between 2012 and 2015 in the Medicare population. As novel immunotherapies and other target therapies continue to change the clinical management of various cancers, further efforts are needed to ensure their effective and efficient use, and to understand their population-level impacts in the United States.
Funding Stability and Bank Liquidity

In this paper, I study how rollover funding risk affects banks’ asset illiquidity choice. I address this question using the 2016 US money market fund reform, which reduced the availability of unstable MMF funding and imposed regulations that mitigated the incentives of MMF investors to run. Using this regulatory shock and a sample of MMF-borrowing international banks, I find that a reduction in rollover risk following MMF reform leads to an increase in the fraction of lending on bank balance sheets. I supplement this analysis with detailed corporate loan-level data and find that the increase in lending is concentrated in the most illiquid loan categories. This evidence supports the theory that unstable funding discourages investment in illiquid assets by exposing banks to fire-sale risk.
A study of persistent memory bugs in the Linux kernel

Persistent memory (PM) technologies have inspired a wide range of PM-based system optimizations. However, building correct PM-based systems is difficult due to the unique characteristics of PM hardware. To better understand the challenges as well as the opportunities to address them, this paper presents a comprehensive study of PM-related bugs in the Linux kernel. By analyzing 1,350 PM-related kernel patches in depth, we derive multiple insights in terms of PM patch categories, PM bug patterns, consequences, and fix strategies. We hope our results could contribute to the development of effective PM bug detectors and robust PM-based systems.
The Taxing Power and the Public's Health

Chief Justice John Roberts surprised pundits in NFIB v. Sebelius by upholding the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate – but not in the expected way. In this article, published just after that decision, we examine the contours and boundaries of the expanded federal taxation power announced in Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion declaring the individual mandate to be a constitutionally valid tax. While the opinion enunciated limits on the federal government’s commerce and spending powers, we conclude that it also opened a door to use the newly expanded tax power to create more targeted, assertive public health interventions at the federal level.
Synthesis and Characterization of some new Formazan Derivatives from 2-Amino-4-Hydroxy-6-Methyl Pyrimidine and Study the Biological Activity (Anti-Bacteria and Anti-Cancer)

This study involves a synthesis of some formazan derivatives starting from react chloro acetyl chlorid with 2-amino-4-hydroxy-6-methyl pyrimidine to gate compound (a), (a) react with hydrazine hydrate to give compound (b) also (b) react with 3-4-dimethoxy benzaldehyd to product Schiff base derivative (c) then (c) react with deferent amin derivatives to get formazan derivatives. All these compounds characterized by 13C-NMR, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1HMNR. After that, we study the biological activity for all formazan derivatives toward two different kinds of bacteria and anti-cancer.
Whodunnit? Attributing Blame in the Firestone Tire Recall

Two experiments were conducted to examine consumers’ perceptions of blame in the Firestone Tire recall. The extent to which knowledge about Ford or Firestone’s role in the recall was accessible to consumers was manipulated. The results suggest that subtle cues can influence perceptions of blame of a company indirectly involved in a recall but only when consumers have considerable knowledge to draw on.
Student perceptions of iBooks as a clinical skills learning resource as compared to learning management software and an online video-hosting site

Background: Learning resources to support clinical skills training can be delivered through a number of technology platforms, and listening to students’ preferences can be helpful in leveraging the use of technology in the laboratory. Objective: This study sought to compare students’ preference of clinical skills educational resources delivered by iBooks with that by a learning management system (Blackboard) and a video-hosting website (YouTube). Methods: A survey was conducted among veterinary students (n = 73) who completed their first year of clinical skills training. During the fall semester, they utilized 14 free iBooks, one per clinical skills laboratory, to prepare for fall laboratories. In the spring semester, their learning materials were provided on Blackboard and YouTube. At the end of the academic year, they were surveyed about their experiences and preferences. Results: Students reported a preference for the iBooks to the Blackboard and YouTube resources. This preference was the result of the convenience of having all resources on a single, well-organized platform and having access to iBooks after graduation as a perpetual reference, unlike Blackboard resources that students lose access to upon graduation according to the university policy. Students reported technological issues with iBooks, including downloading problems, at a similar rate as technological issues with Blackboard and YouTube. Conclusion: Educators should be guided by students’ preferences, provided the learning outcomes are similar, when selecting platforms for providing student educational resources. Although the iBooks seem preferable, additional research is necessary to understand how students use the iBooks and how that use impacts their clinical skills course performance.
Decomposition of salt marsh grass, Spartina alterniflora Loisel.1

Spartina alterniflora stems and leaves were ground, dried, separated into four size fractions from 67- to 213-µ average diameter, and incubated in the dark at 30°C in inoculated artificial seawater: particulate nitrogen, oxidizable carbon, dry weight, and metabolic rate were followed for 30 days. Conversion efficiency of substrate to microbial biomass ranged from 28% to over 60%, decreasing as substrate particle size increased.
Automatic Recognition of Human Walking in Monocular Image Sequences

In numerous content-based video applications, it is important to extract from a video sequence a representation for humans in motion. This task is difficult, because humans are not rigid objects and they are capable of performing a wide variety of actions. However, often, human movements can be categorized into repetitive and rhythmic patterns of motion. Identifying the motion pattern of a human significantly alleviates the task of construction of its representation. We propose here a model-based recognition of the generic posture of human walking in dynamic scenes. We model the human body as an articulated object connected by joints and rigid parts, and model the human walking as a periodic motion. The recognition task is to fit the model walker sequence to the walker in the live video (data walker sequence). We achieve this by determining the period of the data walker sequence and finding its phase with respect to the model walker sequence. We present promising results of how our system performs with a live video sequence.
Choosing to be harmed: Autonomy and its limits in living organ donor transplantation.

The field organ transplantation has experienced rapid and dramatic advances and increases in the use of living organ donors during the past twenty years. During this time, important questions have emerged about the acceptability of their use, including the extent to which these donors can and should be understood as acting autonomously with regard to the decision to donate. I argue that the standard model of ethical decision-making currently being applied in the context of living organ donor transplantation distorts the philosophical requirements of the bioethical principles of beneficence/nonmaleficence, respect for persons, and justice. I argue that this model relies on a simplistic accounting of the concept of beneficence that reduces the goal of medicine to the promotion of the narrowly-defined health-based self-interests of individual patients and so cannot accommodate the various goods and harms that are legitimately given weight in risk/benefit calculations made by donors. I suggest a broader understanding of the requirements of beneficence that can be adopted to accommodate individual donor's conceptions of the good. Related to this, I argue that the picture of agency being applied in living organ donor decision-making relies on a superficial view of choice that equates freedom with independence from moral and emotional connections to other people and so cannot accommodate the complex choices embedded within many of the donor-recipient relationships that are often brought to bear in the context of living organ donor transplantation. I suggest that a different understanding of the role of emotion in donor decision-making - one that includes recognition that emotions have a positive role to play in decision-making - is needed in the context of living organ donor transplantation. I further argue that proponents of paying for organs rely on a conceptual mistake related to the picture of agency being applied in this area that conflates the philosophical requirements of the bioethical principle of respect for persons with those of justice. I suggest that a different conception of the requirements of these bioethical principles is needed in the context of living organ donor transplantation in order to adequately account for how potential living organ donors' values, goals, and moral connections to other people might complexly and legitimately influence their decisions, particularly the decision to donate. Though consideration of various paradigmatic cases, I demonstrate the essential practical importance of gaining a clear understanding of the requirements of these bioethical principles for informing practices and policies that effectively address some of the ethical complexities and challenges in this area.
Breaking iterated knapsacks

This paper presents an outline of an attack that we have used successfully to break iterated knapsacks. Although we do not provide a proof that the attack almost always works, we do provide some heuristic arguments. We also give a detailed description of the examples we have broken.
Vibratory synchronization transmission of two exciters in a super-resonant vibrating system

In this study, vibratory synchronization transmission (VST) of two exciters is investigated in a super-resonant vibrating system to save energy. First, the frequency capture equation of two exciters (FCETE) is deduced by the average method of small parameters. The criterion of VST being the equivalent effective residual torque of motor with power supply should be smaller or equal to the frequency capture torque of the system by setting the disturbance parameters of angular velocities in FCETE to zero. The stability criterion of synchronous states is derived by complying with the generalized Lyapunov equations. Lastly, experiment and computing simulation on VST are conducted. The VST regime of two exciters is discussed in detail from coupling characteristic, current change, visual picture, phase relation, and direct verification of parameters, respectively by comparison and analyses of corresponding data. Results indicate that the key factor in VST implementation is the torque of frequency capture, which serves as the ‘vehicle’ in transferring energy. Thus, the distance between rotational centre of each exciter and mass centre of the rigid frame should be far enough to enhance the ability of VST and ensure energy saving. The theory, experiment, and computing simulation prove that the theoretical approach used in this study is useful and feasible.
mRNAs of wing epidermis of the oak silkmoth Antheraea polyphemus and other silkmoths during pupal development

Abstract The mRNA populations of wing epidermal cells of the silkmoth Antheraea polyphemus during juvenile hormone induced second pupal development have been analyzed by two techniques. The analysis of the data derived from hybridization of cDNAs to the corresponding mRNAs demonstrate that the mRNAs are complex during the entire period of pupal development. Each mRNA population hybridizes to its cDNA over five orders of Rot and belong to three abundance classes. A comparison of the hybridization of two mRNAs derived from the wing epidermis at the beginning of development and at the end of pupal development with each other's cDNAs shows that only about 60% of the messages are common between the two stages. The 40% of the mRNAs that are new and abundant at the time of second pupal cuticle synthesis have been isolated as pupal specific (null) cDNAs and characterized by hybridization to various mRNAs. Quantitative analysis of the data shows that the mRNAs corresponding to these specific cDNAs are about 200 in number and appear at 4 days of pupal development. The mRNAs derived from the pupal wing epidermis of three other silkmoths can also hybridize to the polyphemus pupal specific cDNAs to varying extents demonstrating the presence of similar mRNAs in their wing epidermis at the appropriate time. The differences in the hybridization patterns seen with the various mRNA populations and the appearance of new and abundant mRNAs at 4 days of pupal development have been correlated with two dimensional gel electrophoretic patterns of the in vitro translation products from the same mRNAs. A comparison of these patterns demonstrate the appearance of several new mRNAs at the time of pupal cuticle synthesis. The translation products of these mRNAs appear to have isoelectric points and molecular weights similar to those of the major pupal cuticular polypeptides. The translation products of the mRNAs derived from the pupal wing epidermis of other silkmoths also yield 2-D gel patterns quite similar to that of polyphemus silkmoth. The hybridization data and the 2-D gel patterns of the translation products of mRNAs isolated from the abdominal and pupal wing epidermis derived from primary pupae are indistinguishable from those of mRNAs derived from secondary pupal wing epidermis.
A model for online consumer health information quality

This article describes a model for online consumer health information consisting of five quality criteria constructs. These constructs are grounded in empirical data from the perspectives of the three main sources in the communication process: health information providers, consumers, and intermediaries, such as Web directory creators and librarians, who assist consumers in finding healthcare information. The article also defines five constructs of Web page structural markers that could be used in information quality evaluation and maps these markers to the quality criteria. Findings from correlation analysis and multinomial logistic tests indicate that use of the structural markers depended significantly on the type of Web page and type of information provider. The findings suggest the need to define genre-specific templates for quality evaluation and the need to develop models for an automatic genre-based classification of health information Web pages. In addition, the study showed that consumers may lack the motivation or literacy skills to evaluate the information quality of health Web pages, which suggests the need to develop accessible automatic information quality evaluation tools and ontologies. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Determination of tri-n-butyltin in oysters by reaction-gas chromatography of hydride derivatives.

Abstract A reaction—gas chromatography method for determining tri-n-butyltin (TBT) as the hydride derivative has been adapted to allow determination of TBT in oysters. The extraction method has been modified to prevent fouling of the hydride formation reactor and the gas chromatography has been made faster by employing a different column and temperature program. The detection limit is 3–6 ng/g in oyster tissue. Apparent recoveries of TBT from oyster tissue at 25 and 125 ng/g levels are 107 and 97%, respectively.
Highly porous and robust 4,8-connected metal-organic frameworks for hydrogen storage.

Highly porous and robust metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) were constructed based on aromatics-rich octa-carboxylate ligands and copper paddle-wheel building units. Each octa-carboxylate ligand is linked to eight copper paddle wheels via the bridging carboxylate groups in a rectangular prismatic fashion to lead to very rare (4,8)-connected networks of the scu topology. The high-connectivity MOFs show remarkably high porosity and framework stability, as evidenced by a perfect agreement between experimental and theoretical surface areas and the maintenance of framework powder X-ray diffraction patterns after solvent removal. These aromatics-rich MOFs exhibit an exceptionally high hydrogen uptake of up to 2.5 wt% at 77 K and 1 atm. This work thus demonstrates the ability to construct highly porous and robust functional MOFs using multidentate bridging ligands of high connectivity. Such a rational synthetic strategy is complementary to the common reliance on high-nuclearity metal clusters for building stable an...
Joint modeling of longitudinal data and discrete-time survival outcome

A predictive joint shared parameter model is proposed for discrete time-to-event and longitudinal data. A discrete survival model with frailty and a generalized linear mixed model for the longitudinal data are joined to predict the probability of events. This joint model focuses on predicting discrete time-to-event outcome, taking advantage of repeated measurements. We show that the probability of an event in a time window can be more precisely predicted by incorporating the longitudinal measurements. The model was investigated by comparison with a two-step model and a discrete-time survival model. Results from both a study on the occurrence of tuberculosis and simulated data show that the joint model is superior to the other models in discrimination ability, especially as the latent variables related to both survival times and the longitudinal measurements depart from 0.
Complexation structure and transport mechanism of 1,5-hexadiene and 1-hexene through silver facilitated transport membranes

Abstract The purpose of this work was to investigate olefin/silver (I) complexation and transport through silver facilitated transport membranes. Specifically, the transport of 1,5-hexadiene and of 1-hexene within these membranes was studied and a hypothetical conformation for the silver (I) complex of 1,5-hexadiene in aqueous systems is discussed. Absorption of 1-hexene and 1,5-hexadiene into aqueous silver nitrate solutions revealed predominantly 1:1 complexation of these olefins with silver. Absorption and transport experiments in silver-exchanged Neosepta® CM-1 membranes confirmed the predominance of 1:1 1,5-hexadiene/silver (I) complexation in this membrane as well, showing that transport through these membranes occurs primarily through a 1:1 1,5-hexadiene/silver (I) complexation mechanism.
Numerical Investigations of Various Surface Roughness Parameters on the Performance of Profiled Hydrostatic Thrust Bearing

Measurements of surface roughness on hydrostatic bearing slipper indicate that the surfaces are not always Gaussian. Previous studies in this area were primarily concerned with Gaussian surfaces. In this research the effects of non-Gaussian surface roughness on the performance of profiled hydrostatic thrust bearings are analyzed. This study is applicable to the lubrication conditions where the surface roughness is of the same order of magnitude as the minimum film thickness. Surfaces with different skewness, kurtosis, mean, auto-correlation function and standard deviation are generated numerically using a combination of Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Johnson translatory system. The finite difference method is used to solve the Reynolds lubrication equation. The effect of roughness on the load carrying capacity is investigated and compared with the results for ideal smooth surfaces.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Opioid receptor desensitization contributes to thermal hyperalgesia in infant rats.

Abstract Central nociceptive processing includes spinal and supraspinal neurons, but the supraspinal mechanisms mediating changes in pain threshold remain unclear. We investigated the role of forebrain neurons in capsaicin-induced hyperalgesia. Long–Evans rat pups at 21 days were randomized to undisturbed control group, or to receive tactile stimulation, saline injection (0.9% w/v) or capsaicin injection (0.01% w/v) applied to each paw at hourly intervals. Thermal paw withdrawal latency was measured 1 h later, forebrains were removed and purified forebrain neuronal membranes were assayed for adenylyl cyclase activity and opioid receptor function. Capsaicin-injected rats had decreased thermal latency (P d -Ala2, N-Me-Phe4, Gly5-ol]enkephalin (DAMGO) was less effective in inhibiting adenylyl cyclase activity in the capsaicin group (P
Social dominance and Darwinian fitness in laboratory mice: an alternative test.

Social behavior of subjects from each of three inbred strains of mice (DBA/2, BALB/c, and C57BL) was compared to that of their derived F1 and F2 generations in standardized living units (triads). Four males (P1, P2, F1, and F2) were placed in each of 30 triads for 7 days, and dominance hierarchies were determined. In order to assess the effect of female presence on intermale aggression, females were placed in one-half of the triads. In general, considerable heterosis for social dominance was observed, and more aggression occurred among males in triads that contained females. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that social dominance is a major component of Darwinian fitness in Mus musculus.
Comparative Pharmacology of Cefaclor and Cephalexin

Two cephalosporin antibiotics, cefaclor and cephalexin, were administered orally to healthy, adult male volunteers for comparison of their pharmacological properties. In doses of 250 mg orally, cefaclor produced a peak serum concentration of 6.01 ± 0.55 (standard deviation [SD]) μg/ml compared with 9.43 ± 2.36 μg/ml for cephalexin (P < 0.01). The half-lives were 0.58 ± 0.07 (SD) h and 0.80 ± 0.12 (SD) h, and elimination constants were 1.22 ± 0.15 and 0.88 ± 0.13 h−1 for cefaclor and cephalexin, respectively (P < 0.001). Neither drug showed accumulation over the dosing period, and both were well tolerated.
Behavioral responses of unrelated rhesus monkey females paired for the purpose of environmental enrichment.

An attempt was made to socialize unrelated and unfamiliar adult rhesus monkey females that had lived in single cages for more than one year. Partners first were given the opportunity for noncontact familiarization in partitioned double cages. They were then transferred into an ordinary double cage. Clear-cut rank relationships were evident within the first 90 minutes of pair formation in 94% (17/18) of dyads tested. Only 28% (5/18) of pairs resorted to fighting (in no case with infliction of serious injury), while 50% (9/18) engaged in social grooming or hugging during this initial phase of pair formation. Eighty-three percent (15/18) of pairs were compatible, with none of the partners showing signs of depression and none inflicting serious injury on the other. Seventeen percent (3/18) of pairs were incompatible (two cases of depression, one serious tail injury) and were separated. It was concluded that the barren environment of singly caged rhesus monkey females can be enriched with little risk by carefully making them compatible companions.
Approximating Frequencies of Tall Buildings

AbstractA Rayleigh quotient is developed to calculate estimates of the fundamental frequencies of tall slender buildings. The quotient provides simple analytical frequency estimates that agree well with results reported using a more detailed beam model and finite-element analyses. It is also shown that the fundamental frequency varies inversely with the height H of the building being modeled, and that the additional stiffening provided by one model of an outrigger appears not to appreciably alter the fundamental frequency.