cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Voting on voting with the feet: a cross-county analysis of the Tennessee popular referenda to secede from the union

We analyze a unique case of voting on voting with the feet, when Tennessee twice considered secession from the Union in 1861 by popular referenda. The initial votes to hold a convention, and to send disunion delegates to a convention, failed, but after the Confederate states adopted a new constitution and the bombing of Fort Sumter took place, a second set of votes to separate from the union, and to join the confederacy, passed. Regression results support the importance of both economic interests and political tendencies, along with regional differences, in explaining the variation in votes across counties. Class distinctions were not found to be significant.
Kinematic analysis of functional lower body perturbations

Abstract Background Sudden changes in direction on a single weight-bearing-limb are commonly associated with injury to the lower extremity. The purposes of this study were to assess the between day reliability of hip, knee, and ankle kinematic displacements achieved with internal and external femur-on-weight-bearing-tibia rotation perturbations and to determine the effect of these perturbations on three dimensional hip, knee and ankle kinematics. Methods Twenty recreationally active, healthy college students with no history of significant orthopedic injury (10 male, 10 female) were subjected to a forward and either internal or external rotary perturbation of the trunk and thigh on the weight-bearing-tibia while three dimensional kinematics were simultaneously collected. The protocol was repeated 24–48 h later to assess reliability. Findings External perturbations resulted in significant internal rotation (IR) of the tibia on the femur (mean 7.3 (SD 3.9°)) and IR of the femur on the pelvis (mean 6.8 (SD 5.4°)) (P Interpretation The lower extremity perturbation device provides a consistent external and internal perturbation of the femur on the weight-bearing-tibia. The observed transverse and frontal plane kinematics are similar to motions observed during cross-over and side-stepping tasks.
Chain-end functionalized nanopatterned polymer brushes grown via in situ nitroxide free radical exchange.

The patterning of biologically active materials has been accomplished by the use of imprint lithography of functional photopolymer resins to create controlled nanoscale patterns of a cross-linked photopolymer containing embedded initiator groups. Functionalized polymer brushes consisting of polystyrene and poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) were grown from these patterned layers by nitroxide-mediated polymerization. Chain-end functionalization of the brush layer was accomplished by nitroxide radical exchange during the polymerization. Accordingly, brush layers terminated by pyrene and biotin functional groups were obtained by exchange with the appropriate alkoxyamines. The presence of pyrene functionality at the chain ends of the brushes was confirmed by fluorescent emission measurements. Fluorescently labeled streptavidin protein was selectively attached with high selectivity to the patterned biotinylated brush layer through biotin−streptavidin interactions. The functionalized polymer grafted surfaces and nano...
Cyclic GMP and GABA levels in rat striatum and cerebellum during morphine withdrawal: effect of apomorphine.

Abstract Cyclic GMP and GABA levels were measured in the striatum and cerebellum of naive rats and rats undergoing morphine withdrawal. Cyclic GMP levels were higher in rats sacrificed at 24 hrs and 72 hrs after the last morphine administration than in controls. GABA levels were lower in 24-hr withdrawn rats than in control and 72-hr withdrawn animals. Apomorphine increased cyclic GMP levels in both striatum and cerebellum to the same extent in controls and 72-hr withdrawn rats. In rats sacrificed 24 hrs after the last morphine dose apomorphine did not change the cyclic GMP level in the striatum while it was more potent in increasing the cyclic GMP level in the cerebellum. GABA levels were not affected by apomorphine treatment.
On the role of the hippocampus in learning and memory in the rat

An overview of lesion experiments concerned with the involvement of the hippocampus in learning and memory in the rat is presented. Multiple injections of small amounts of ibotenic acid were used to selectively remove the hippocampus (dentate gyrus, hilar cells, CA1-CA3 pyramidal cells). Similar selective, axon-sparing ibotenate lesions of hippocampus were used in a series of learning and memory experiments employing tasks that are thought to be important in hippocampal function. The performance of rats with the hippocampus removed was compared with that of control animals in the acquisition and retention of spatial versus nonspatial information, forgetting of spatial and nonspatial information, contextual learning, recognition memory and concurrent discrimination learning, and complex representational learning (conditional discrimination and negative patterning learning). The general finding that rats without a hippocampus were impaired on those tasks that required the utilization of spatial and contextual information stands in contrast with the spared performance that was found in learning about and handling (even complex) nonspatial information. Rather than support for views that emphasize a role for the hippocampus in specific memory processes (working memory, declarative memory, temporary memory buffer, configural learning), the present results are more compatible with the idea that the hippocampus plays an especially important role in processing and remembering spatial and contextual information. The limited data that are available using more selective lesions of related hippocampal formation structures (entorhinal cortex, subiculum) suggest that these structures also make important contributions to learning and memory, and that some of these contributions may be different from those made by the hippocampus.
Decameter structure in heater-induced airglow at the High frequency Active Auroral Research Program facility

[1] On 28 October 2008, small-scale rayed artificial airglow was observed at the High frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) heating facility by the HAARP telescopic imager. This airglow occurred during an experiment at twilight from 0255–1600 UT (1855–2000 LT) and with estimated scale sizes of 100 m (at assumed 225 km altitude) constitutes the smallest structure observed in artificial airglow to date. The rays appeared to be oriented along the geomagnetic field lines. During this period, other instruments, SuperDARN, GPS receivers, stimulated electromagnetic emissions receivers, also recorded unusual data sets with the general characteristic of time scales longer than anticipated for features to form. The experiment took place at the commencement of a small geomagnetic disturbance (Kp of 4.3). This unique observation is as yet unexplained. The airglow features start as large scale structures and then become smaller as heating continues in apparent contradiction to current theories on irregularity development. A thermal gradient instability at boundary of the ionospheric footprint of the plasmapause may be responsible for causing the small-scale structuring. Observations of 427.8 nm N2+ (first negative group) emissions indicate the presence of ionization.
Myocardial ischemia after orthotopic liver transplantation

A hypercoagulable state exists after orthotopic liver transplantation. This hematologic abnormality may predispose patients to coronary thrombosis and unstable angina. The incidence of postoperative myocardial ischemia in such patients is unknown. Suitable electrocardiograms and clinical events of consecutive patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation (n = 45) and major intraabdominal surgery (n = 28) during a 3-month period at a major university teaching hospital and transplant center were examined retrospectively. Clinical myocardial ischemia or ischemic electrocardiographic changes, or both, occurred in 6 transplant patients compared with no patient in the nontransplant or comparison group. In 4 of the 6 patients with dramatic electrocardiographic changes and ischemic events, coronary arteriography failed to demonstrate significant obstructive disease. It is concluded that severe myocardial ischemia may occur in patients after orthotopic liver transplantation in the absence of significant coronary disease. A hypercoagulable state may predispose to coronary thrombosis in this setting, providing insight (and a future model for study) into the development of unstable angina.
93 Physicochemical Properties of Ceruloplasmin from Normal and Wilson's Disease Subjects

Although most patients with Wilson's disease have low levels of serum ceruloplasmin, an occasional patient presents with a normal level. This variation might be due to differences in the structure of ceruloplasmin. To investigate this possibility, physico-chemical properties of ceruloplasmin from a Wilson's disease patient with normal levels of ceruloplasmin, from a second, unrelated, patient with low levels and from normal subjects were compared.
MODELING THE ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF INTERTIDAL BENTHIC MICROALGAE IN ESTUARINE ECOSYSTEMS1

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a habitat-specific production simulation model to quantify annual benthic microalgal production in North Inlet estuary, South Carolina. Using hourly measurements of incident irradiance during 1990–1991 as the forcing function, the simulation model was used to obtain hourly estimates of areal benthic microalgal gross primary production in five habitat types. The model, which was validated using actual measurements of production, showed good (r2= 0.63, P < 0.001) agreement between observed and predicted production in the short Spartina alterniflora Loisel zone habitats showed the highest mean hourly production (61.1 mg C m−2 h−1) while intertidal mudflats had the maximum hourly rate (166.9 mg C m−2 h−1). Daily production was highly variable, primarily due to daily fluctuations in irradiance. Annual estimates of habitat-specific production were multiplied by the mates of habitat-specific production were multiplied by the known area of each habitat type to determine total microalgal production for the estuary (3.423 × 109 g C yr−1). Short Spartina zone habitats provided 45% of total microalgal annual production, followed by intertidal mudflats (22%), tall Spartina zones (18%), shallow subtidal (13%) and microalgal production exceeds phytoplankton and microalgal production but is less than Spartina production.
Cone photoreceptor contributions to noise and correlations in the retinal output

Transduction and synaptic noise generated in retinal cone photoreceptors determine the fidelity with which light inputs are encoded, and the readout of cone signals by downstream circuits determines whether this fidelity is used for vision. We examined the effect of cone noise on visual signals by measuring its contribution to correlated noise in primate retinal ganglion cells. Correlated noise was strong in the responses of dissimilar cell types with shared cone inputs. The dynamics of cone noise could account for rapid correlations in ganglion cell activity, and the extent of shared cone input could explain correlation strength. Furthermore, correlated noise limited the fidelity with which visual signals were encoded by populations of ganglion cells. Thus, a simple picture emerges: cone noise, traversing the retina through diverse pathways, accounts for most of the noise and correlations in the retinal output and constrains how higher centers exploit signals carried by parallel visual pathways.
Paleoclimate data constraints on climate sensitivity: The paleocalibration method

The relationship between paleoclimates and the future climate, while not as simple as implied in the ‘paleoanalog’ studies of Budyko and others, nevertheless provides sufficient constraints to broadly confirm the climate sensitivity range of theoretical models and perhaps eventually narrow the model-derived uncertainties. We use a new technique called ‘paleocalibration’ to calculate the ratio of temperature response to forcing on a global mean scale for three key intervals of Earth history. By examining surface conditions reconstructed from geologic data for the Last Glacial Maximum, the middle Cretaceous and the early Eocene, we can estimate the equilibrium climate sensitivity to radiative forcing changes for different extreme climates. We find that the ratios for these three periods, within error bounds, all lie in the range obtained from general circulation models: 2–5 K global warming for doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide. Paleocalibration thus provides a data-based confirmation of theoretically calculated climate sensitivity. However, when compared with paleodata on regional scales, the models show less agreeement with data. For example, our GCM simulation of the early Eocene fails to obtain the temperature contrasts between the Equator and the Poles (and between land and ocean areas) indicated by the data, even though it agrees with the temperature data in the global average. Similar results have been reported by others for the Cretaceous and for the Last Glacial Maximum.
The evaluation identification in function spaces

Abstract A study is made of the natural function which maps each point x of a space X to the evaluation function ex:Yx→Y defined by e x (ƒ)=ƒ(x) . A consequence of the results is that βX and υX can both be considered as subspaces of spaces of continous functions from appropriate domain spaces into I or R, respectively.
ASSESSING CONVERGENCE OF THE MARKOV CHAIN MONTE CARLO ALGORITHMS: A REVIEW

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms are in wide use for fitting complicated statistical models in psychometrics in situations where the traditional estimation techniques are very difficult to apply. One of the stumbling blocks in using an MCMC algorithm is determining the convergence of the algorithm. Because the convergence is not that of a scalar quantity to a point, but that of a distribution to another distribution, the issue remains an enigma to many users of MCMC, especially to those without a sound knowledge of mathematical statistics. This article is an attempt to provide psychometricians using the MCMC algorithms a better understanding of the concept of convergence of the algorithms and an improved knowledge about the diagnostics tools to assess convergence of the MCMC algorithms.
Accumulation of amino acids by thyroid gland slices.

The kinetics of amino acid uptake by bovine and dog thyroid gland slices has been studied employing the model amino acids α- aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) and cycloleucine, as well as glycine, L-histidine, L-tyrosine and Lvaline. Of the model compounds only cycloleucine accumulation resembled that of the naturally occurring amino acids. Alpha-aminoisobutyric acid continued a linear uptake curve for 4 hr of incubation, in marked contrast to the other amino acids, which reach steady-state levels in tissue after 30 min. The data indicate cycloleucine to be the best model amino acid for study of transport in thyroid tissue. TSH caused a statistically significant small increase in AIB uptake but no effect was observed with other amino acids studied.(Endocrinology 79: 675, 1966)
Multimodal blending for high-accuracy instance recognition

Despite the rich information provided by sensors such as the Microsoft Kinect in the robotic perception setting, the problem of detecting object instances remains unsolved, even in the tabletop setting, where segmentation is greatly simplified. Existing object detection systems often focus on textured objects, for which local feature descriptors can be used to reliably obtain correspondences between different views of the same object. We examine the benefits of dense feature extraction and multimodal features for improving the accuracy and robustness of an instance recognition system. By combining multiple modalities and blending their scores through an ensemble-based method in order to generate our final object hypotheses, we obtain significant improvements over previously published results on two RGB-D datasets. On the Challenge dataset, our method results in only one missed detection (achieving 100% precision and 99.77% recall). On the Willow dataset, we also make significant gains on the prior state of the art (achieving 98.28% precision and 87.78% recall), resulting in an increase in F-score from 0.8092 to 0.9273.
High Performance Liquid Chromatographic Method for the Determination of Diphenhydramine in Liquid and Solid Drug Dosage Forms and Its Application to Stability Testing

AbstractA simple, precise, rugged, stability-indicating method for diphenhydramine in liquid and solid drug preparations based on reversed phase ion-pair HPLC is described. The eluent used with the C8-bonded phase column, was acetonitrile/0.005 M aq. hexanesulfonic acid/acetic acid (70/30/1,v/v). The liquid product was simply dissolved in acetonitrile/water/acetic acid (70/30/1,v/v) and filtered; the solid product was briefly ground, dissolved in the same solvent, and filtered. The precision (rsd) of the method for diphenhydramine in the liquid sample is 0.52%, and 0.50% for the solid sample. The method is linear up to 200 μg/mL. Based on spiking studies, the recoveries are 100.1% for the liquid sample, and 99.2% for the solid sample. The method was applied to the study of the thermal stability of the drug by following the degradation of diphenhydramine in the two products at temperatures in the 42°C to 62°C range for up to 16 weeks. Shelf lives of the products were determined assuming zero and first orde...
Nucleic Acid Metabolism in L Cells Infected with a Member of the Psittacosis Group

Multiplication of the meningopneumonitis agent in the cytoplasm of L cells in suspension culture is accompanied by parallel increases in cytoplasmic DNA, RNA, and phospholipid. Synthesis of RNA and phospholipid in infected cells is inhibited at the height of meningopneumonitis multiplication, but nuclear DNA synthesis is inhibited earlier and to a greater degree
It's a mad, mad, mad, mad cow: a review of analytical methodology for detecting BSE/TSE

Abstract This article selectively reviews current research on the analytical detection of bovine spongioform encephalopathy (BSE) and transmissible spongioform encephalopathy (TSE) in a variety of matrices. Each of these assays is or will need to be validated against the golden Syrian hamster bioassay, the `gold' standard by which all prion assays are compared. The European Commission's 1999 review of the immunoassays developed by several companies is a model that can be followed for the other assays presented here. The immunoassays and capillary electrophoresis methods reviewed show much promise in solving the issue of analytical detection of BSE/TSE in blood and other convenient biofluids. Creative ideas such as the cyclic amplification process pioneered by Saborio, Permanne and Soto should allow this to happen in the near future.
Evidence for lysosomal processing of amyloid β-protein precursor in cultured cells

Amyloid β-protein precursor (ABPP) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) represents a family of proteins which includes the parent protein which generates a small (4 kD) fragment that self-assembles to form amyloid fibrils in AD. Thus, the normal and abnormal proteolysis of ABPP may be directly relevant to AD pathogenesis. We have examined the accumulation of ABPP in cultured rodent and human neuronal cell lines in the presence and absence of a battery of protease inhibitors using immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. Here we present evidence for a lysosomal pathway for the turnover of ABPP and discuss the relevance of these results to plaque pathology and abnormal ABPP immunostaining in AD.
Brain Structure and Development

Abstract The human brain is composed of billions of neurons. In this chapter we will examine the properties of the neuron, how neurons interact and how they are organized into subdivisions within the brain. Such information is essential as a framework that can be applied to further considerations of the brain processes involved in the more complicated behaviors of concern to educators.
Highly configurable platforms for embedded computing systems

Platform chips, which are pre-designed chips possessing numerous processors, memories, coprocessors, and field-programmable gates arrays, are becoming increasingly popular. Platforms eliminate the costs and risks associated with creating customized chips, but with the drawbacks of poorer performance and energy consumption. Making platforms highly configurable, so they can be tuned to the particular applications that will execute on those platforms, can help reduce those drawbacks. We discuss the trends leading embedded system designers towards the use of platforms instead of customized chips. We discuss UCR research in designing highly configurable platforms, highlighting some of our work in highly configurable caches, and in hardware/software partitioning.
Relationship marketing in A B2C context: The moderating role of personality traits

Abstract More and more, retailers are investing in relationship building as a strategy for enhancing customer retention in the business-to-customer (B2C) context. However, some marketing scholars have expressed concern over the usefulness of relationship marketing under certain conditions. As such, this study investigates the moderating role of personality traits on the relationship between satisfaction-driven relationship quality and behavioral loyalty. Based on a sample of 158 retail shoppers, we find that customers’ overall satisfaction with the retailer leads to quality customer–firm relationships and ultimately, behavioral loyalty to the retailer. We also found that the impact of relationship quality on behavioral loyalty depends on the consumer's personality traits, i.e., consumer innovativeness, variety seeking, and relationship proneness. These findings extend the extant relationship literature by showing that the value of relationship marketing is not universal, thereby refining our understanding of the relationship between customer behavior and relationship marketing. Implications for academics and managers are discussed.
Noise of mode-locked lasers

A theory of noise in mode-locked lasers is developed that applies to additive pulse mode-locked and Kerr lens mode-locked systems. Equations of motion are derived for pulse energy, carrier linewidth, frequency pulling, and timing jitter. The effect of gain fluctuations, mirror vibrations, and index fluctuations are determined. Measurements that can determine all four fluctuation spectra are described. Experimental data in the literature are compared with theory. >
Presidential Address: "Complexifying" Performance Oversight in America's Governments

Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 24, No. 2, 207–215 (2005) © 2005 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/pam.20085 In keeping with my focus as President of APPAM on the “M” in our name, this talk deals with the performance management movement in American government. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, in a moment of frustration with me at a 1989 Senate hearing on welfare reform, said I am a “complexifier.” In this spirit, the way I see it is that the performance management movement in American government is on the right track, but that it oversimplifies. I want to serve today in the role of a “complexifier” for the performance management movement. My aim is to be constructive—to suggest ways in which efforts to improve government performance can be reconciled with the pluralistic setting of U.S. public management. Leaders in the federal government over the past 40 years have oversold simplistic systems for fulfilling public policy goals as expressed in the alphabet soup of systems like PPBS, MBO, ZBB, NPR, and GPRA.
Island models and the coalescent process

Using a coalescent approach, we derive several classical results and extend them to more general models. We find that the classic result for constant population size and constant migration rates holds in models with varying population size and varying migration rates with the obvious substitution of effective population size and mean migration fraction. In addition, the relationship of a ‘local’FST to local gene flow is derived. This result may be useful for analysing gene flow in a regional subset of a large global population, using only data from the regional subset.
Acceleration of convergence by shifting the spectrum of implicit finite‑difference operators Associated with the equations of gas dynamics

Eigensystem analysis techniques are applied to finite difference formulations of the Navier-Stokes equations in one dimension. Spectra of the resulting implicit difference operators are computed. The largest eigenvalues are calculated by using a combination of the Frechet derivative of the operators and Arnoldi's method. The accuracy of Arnoldi's method is tested by comparing the rate of convergence of the iterative method with the dominant eigenvalue of the original iteration matrix. On the basis of the pattern of eigenvalue distributions for various flow configurations, a shifting of the implicit operators in question is devised. This procedure has improved the rates of convergence of CFD codes by 20 - 50 percent.
Energy-Based Life Cycle Assessment of Industrial Products

Forty-seven industrial products with verifiable records of life cycle energy consumptions over their manufacturing phases and usage phases provide the basis for this study. The environmental impacts for determination include global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, photochemical oxidants, acidification potential, and eutrophication potential. Correlations between these environmental impacts and the life cycle energy consumptions are the primary outputs of this study. It was determined that the energy consumption was an excellent indicator for many if not most of the environmental loads indicated above.
Multicategory large-margin unified machines

Hard and soft classifiers are two important groups of techniques for classification problems. Logistic regression and Support Vector Machines are typical examples of soft and hard classifiers respectively. The essential difference between these two groups is whether one needs to estimate the class conditional probability for the classification task or not. In particular, soft classifiers predict the label based on the obtained class conditional probabilities, while hard classifiers bypass the estimation of probabilities and focus on the decision boundary. In practice, for the goal of accurate classification, it is unclear which one to use in a given situation. To tackle this problem, the Large-margin Unified Machine (LUM) was recently proposed as a unified family to embrace both groups. The LUM family enables one to study the behavior change from soft to hard binary classifiers. For multicategory cases, however, the concept of soft and hard classification becomes less clear. In that case, class probability estimation becomes more involved as it requires estimation of a probability vector. In this paper, we propose a new Multicategory LUM (MLUM) framework to investigate the behavior of soft versus hard classification under multicategory settings. Our theoretical and numerical results help to shed some light on the nature of multicategory classification and its transition behavior from soft to hard classifiers. The numerical results suggest that the proposed tuned MLUM yields very competitive performance.
Proxy-based task partitioning of watermarking algorithms for reducing energy consumption in mobile devices

Digital watermarking is a process that embeds an imperceptible signature or watermark in a digital file containing audio, image, text or video data. The watermark is later used to authenticate the data file and for tamper detection. It is particularly valuable in the use and exchange of digital media such as audio and video on emerging handheld devices. However, watermarking is computationally expensive and adds to the drain of the available energy in handheld devices. We present an approach in which we partition the watermarking embedding and extraction algorithms and migrate some tasks to a proxy server. This leads to a lower energy consumption on the handheld without compromising the security of the watermarking process. Our results show that executing watermarking partitioned between the proxy and the handheld reduces the total energy consumed by 80% over running it only on the handheld and improves performance by over two orders of magnitude.
Drug Resistance in Cancer: An Overview

Cancers have the ability to develop resistance to traditional therapies, and the increasing prevalence of these drug resistant cancers necessitates further research and treatment development. This paper outlines the current knowledge of mechanisms that promote or enable drug resistance, such as drug inactivation, drug target alteration, drug efflux, DNA damage repair, cell death inhibition, and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, as well as how inherent tumor cell heterogeneity plays a role in drug resistance. It also describes the epigenetic modifications that can induce drug resistance and considers how such epigenetic factors may contribute to the development of cancer progenitor cells, which are not killed by conventional cancer therapies. Lastly, this review concludes with a discussion on the best treatment options for existing drug resistant cancers, ways to prevent the formation of drug resistant cancers and cancer progenitor cells, and future directions of study.
Coronary occlusion during right heart catheterization.

Abstract A case of tetralogy of Fallot in a 17 year old boy is described. A catheter inadvertently became lodged for nine minutes in the left coronary artery during right heart catheterization. During the period of occlusion, electrocardiographic changes of subendocardial ischemia promptly appeared and were followed after three or four minutes by pressing anterior chest pain that radiated to the left arm. Subsequent follow-up studies revealed evidence of myocardial infarction.
Effect of Micelle Formation on Optical Rotatory Dispersion of β‐D‐Octyl Glucoside

Abstract The optical rotatory dispersion of a nonionic surfactant, β‐D‐octyl glucoside, has been investigated in aqueous solutions in the UV region. The rotatory dispersion curves at any concentration can be represented by a one‐term Drude equation. The specific rotation at any wavelength shows an increase at the CMC, which can be determined reliably from this change in specific rotation. The rotatory dispersion curve for the surfactant in micellized form has been derived and compared with that of the nonmicellized surfactant below the CMC. The change is small and can be ascribed to a “medium” effect, arising from the difference in the local refractive index at the micelle surface, as compared to the bulk solvent. This interpretation is compatible with the currently accepted ideas on the fluid nature of the micelle core and suggests a lack of any conformational restraint at the micellar interface.
Contrast Invariant and Affine sub-pixel Optical Flow

This paper presents the Contrast Invariant and Affine Optical Flow (CIAO), a dense area-based sub-pixel image matching algorithm. CIAO does not force the estimated disparity field between two images to be smooth and allows for contrast and brightness changes. It is robust to drastic changes in the images' content thanks to an adaptive weighting of the neighboring pixels. In addition, the proposed model considers local affine displacements instead of simpler translations. CIAO proves particularly useful to extract high quality, high accuracy, and high density disparity maps from pairs of stereoscopic images. Comparative results with real and synthetic data are provided.
DNA Methylation in Folbp1 Knockout Mice Supplemented with Folic Acid during Gestation

Periconceptional folic acid supplementation has been shown to prevent up to 70% of neural tube and other birth defects in humans; however, the mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we tested whether defective intracellular folate transport, as achieved by inactivation of the murine folate-binding protein 1 (Folbpl), affects global DNA methylation in the liver and brain from gestational day (GD) 15 embryos. Complete Folbp1 inactivation is embryolethal but can be reversed by maternal folinic acid (FA) supplementation, and thus we also tested the effect of FA supplementation on DNA methylation in Folbpl fetuses. Overall, the extent of global DNA methylation seems to be similar across all genotypes in unsupplemented control Folbpl mice; however, explicit conclusions regarding Folbpl -/- fetuses were not possible because only a single living unsupplemented fetus was viable at GD 15. FA supplementation induced global DNA hypomethylation across all genotypes. FA-induced hypomethylation is most likely due to its ability to inhibit the enzyme glycine hydroxymethyltransferase, thereby inhibiting the homocysteine remethylation cycle necessary to regenerate S-adenosylmethionine, the methyl donor for DNA methyltransferases. Our hypothesis was that due to defective folate transport in Folbp1 -/- embryos and fetuses, DNA would be hypomethylated, thereby altering the temporal expression of critical genes necessary for normal embryonic development. However, these results suggest that an extended examination of changes in DNA methylation prior to GD 15 is required to unequivocally prove or disprove the hypothesis.
Monotonic regression filters for trending deterioration faults

This paper describes optimal nonlinear filtering algorithms for recovering trends of system performance variables (fault intensities) from noisy sensor data. A key underlying assumption for the algorithms is that the performance can only deteriorate with time, never improve. This assumption describes accumulating damage to the system components. Mathematically, the trend is obtained as a maximum likelihood estimate of an orbit in a hidden Markov model from the noisy output data. The empirical signal model and the overall problem setup are very close to optimal Kalman filtration. The main difference is that instead of a Gaussian noise driving the random model of the fault a one sided exponentially distributed noise is assumed. Such a statistical model leads to a nonlinear batch filter. The trend is estimated by solving a quadratic programming problem. Unlike Kalman filters that can be implemented through recursive computations, the developed algorithms run in a batch mode. Though being more complex computationally, the developed trending algorithms demonstrate the performance superior to Kalman filters in the fault trending applications.
Athermal early retrograde release of the neurovascular bundle during nerve-sparing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy

While cancer control is the primary objective of radical prostatectomy, maintenance of sexual function is a priority for the majority of men presenting with prostate cancer. Preservation of the neurovascular bundles is the challenging and critical step of radical prostatectomy with regards to maintenance of potency. The objective of this study is to describe the surgical steps of our hybrid technique: athermal early retrograde release of the neurovascular bundle during nerve-sparing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. This technique involves releasing the neurovascular bundle in a retrograde direction from the apex toward the base of the prostate, during an antegrade prostatectomy. It is a hybrid of the traditional open and the laparoscopic approaches to nerve sparing. With this approach we are able to clearly delineate the path of the bundle and avoid inadvertently injuring it when controlling the prostatic pedicle. Our hybrid nerve-sparing technique combines aspects of the traditional open anatomical approach with those of the laparoscopic antegrade approach. The benefits of robotic technology allow a retrograde neurovascular bundle dissection to be performed during an antegrade radical prostatectomy.
Programming Boolean expressions for testability

This paper proposes several methods for programming the Boolean expressions in a flight control program that makes them amenable for exhaustive testing. It first describes the current FAA approach that accepts arbitrary Boolean expressions and attempts to apply the test known as modified condition/decision coverage (MC/DC). The major observation is that MC/DC is still evolving - there is disagreement about what constitutes an MC/DC test set. For this and other reasons, it is appropriate to consider alternative methods. These alternatives may appear to be more arduous than MC/DC, but since they are straightforward there is little time spent choosing a test set. They also attempt exhaustive testing, producing a high probability of detecting errors. This work is in an initial state. Some suggestions are made about checking the practicality of the proposed methods.
Decay of yttrium-87

The decay of 80 h87Y produced by proton bombardment of natural strontium has been investigated by means of a Ge(Li) detector in singles and in coincidence with a NaI detector. Gamma-rays of energy 388 and 487 keV with relative intensities of 95 and 100, respectively, have been observed. Coincidence data suggest levels in87Sr at 388 and 875 keV. The logft values for transition to these levels are, respectively, 7.1 ± 0.3 and 5.2 ± 0.3. The 1.22 MeV level seen in nuclear-reaction studies is not populated in the decay of87Y (logft > 9.8). The half-life of the isomeric level of87Sr at 388 keV has been accurately determined to be (169.8 ± 0.6) min.
Environment and Diet

This chapter deals with two important and related topics in archaeological investigations: the environment in which people lived, and the foods that they ate. The environment plays a major role in the diet that is available to human groups. This relationship is seen both in terms of the specific kinds of plants and animals that are available and in terms of changes in climate and resources over time that impact the human population.
A Possible Coronavirus Isolation from Multiple Sclerosis Autopsy Material

While epidemiologic and serologic evidence suggests a viral etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), virus isolations have yet to be confirmed. Our laboratory has possibly isolated a coronavirus from two MS patients. Virus was isolated from two of nine MS patients’ brains at autopsy. This paper reports the isolation methods, the attempts to identify the virus as a coronavirus, and a preliminary serologic survey investigating the presence of antibody to this virus in MS and control populations.
Experimental observation on preservation method of Paragonimus metacercariae

In order to observe the survival period and influence factors of Paragonimus metacercariae under different conditions, Paragonimus westermani metacercaria from fresh crab were soaked into 5 different types of liquids with different temperature to examine the survival number in each group and the mean survival number as well. It was fond that Metacercaria in Ringer’s solution and normal saline survived longer than in other liquids with the survival periods of 84.42 days and 78.93 days, respectively. While the average survival period for tap water, de-chlorinated water and well water were 48.2 days, 52.14 days and 56.21 days, respectively. The survival of the metacercaria was closely related to the temperature no matter what type of liquid they soaked in. And the survival periods for metacercaria staying at 5℃ and 10℃ were 64.38 days and 51.74 days, respectively. However, the survival period at 30℃ and 35℃ was just 1.35 days. The survival periods for Paragonimus westermani was the longest (92.32 days), following by Paragonimus skriabini (78.25 days). And Euparagonimus cenocopiosus, whose worms were parasitic in the heart of the crab, had the shortest survival period (23.26 days) because of its thin cyst wall. In conclusion, Paragonimus metacercariae could survive for 2 to 3 months in normal saline or Ringer’s solution under low temperature.
'Young Mr. Lincoln' in John Ford's Theater: Greatness, Democracy, and the Rule of Law

As a young statesman, Lincoln articulated his fear that demagoguery and the "mobocratic spirit" threatened to undermine the rule of law in the American polity. In Young Mr. Lincoln John Ford and Lamar Trotti tell a story that captures with striking clarity this central them in Lincoln's statesmanship and political thought. Portraying Lincoln as an emerging lawyer and politician in Springfield, Ford and Trotti resolve the tension among individual greatness, democratic politics, and the rule of law in the same way that Lincoln himself resolved it in his Lyceum Address: by modeling the way in which individual greatness and ambition can serve the rule of law and tame the passions of the mob. Thus, democratic leadership need not be caesarism.
The relationship between cumulative unfair treatment and intima media thickness and adventitial diameter: The moderating role of race in the study of women's health across the nation.

OBJECTIVE Unfair treatment may have a detrimental effect on cardiovascular health. However, little research on chronic health outcomes uses cumulative measures of unfair treatment. We tested whether cumulative unfair treatment was associated with greater subclinical cardiovascular disease in a diverse sample of African-American, Caucasian, Chinese, and Hispanic women. We also examined whether this relationship varied by race. METHOD The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation is a longitudinal study of midlife women. Cumulative unfair treatment was calculated as the average of unfair treatment assessed over 10 years at 6 time points. Subclinical cardiovascular disease, specifically carotid intima media thickness and adventitial diameter, was assessed via carotid ultrasound conducted at study year 12 in 1,056 women. We tested whether cumulative unfair treatment was related to subclinical cardiovascular disease via linear regression, controlling for demographic factors including socioeconomic status and cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS The relation between unfair treatment and subclinical cardiovascular disease significantly varied by race (ps < .05), with unfair treatment related to higher intima media thickness (B = .03, SE = .01, p = .009) and adventitial diameter (B = .02, SE = .009, p = .013) only among Caucasian women. No significant relations between unfair treatment and subclinical cardiovascular disease outcomes were observed for African-American, Hispanic, and Chinese women. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that cumulative unfair treatment is related to worse subclinical cardiovascular disease among Caucasian women. These findings add to the growing literature showing that Caucasian women's experience of unfair treatment may have detrimental health implications. (PsycINFO Database Record
Abstract A03: Integrative analyses reveal distinct metabolic dysregulation in MYC-driven, basal breast cancer

Dysregulated metabolism is a hallmark of all human cancers. The observation that tumors display unique changes in metabolism led to the hypothesis that tumors may be dependent upon an altered metabolic state. c-MYC (MYC) is a proto-oncogene and transcription factor activated in many cancers that regulates multiple metabolic pathways. Our lab and others have shown that MYC is activated in a large proportion of basal-like breast cancer, the most aggressive subtype of human breast cancer. However, the role of MYC in basal breast cancer metabolism is largely unknown. No efficacious MYC inhibitor is available for clinical use, however, an alternative treatment strategy is to target cellular pathways required in the context of MYC activation. We hypothesize that basal-like breast cancer harbors distinct, MYC-driven metabolic dysregulation, and that this dysregulation can be targeted therapeutically to induce MYC-dependent synthetic lethality. Utilizing in vitro and in vivo models of MYC-driven and basal breast cancer, including patient-derived cell lines and patient-derived xenograft mouse tumor models, we have performed metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses. We investigate MYC-dependent metabolic dysregulation via integrated analyses of these datasets, and find distinct changes that could reveal essential metabolic pathways for MYC-driven, basal tumorigenesis. Citation Format: Roman Camarda, Sanjeev Balakrishnan, Alicia Y. Zhou, Brittany Anderton, Henok Eyob, Rebecca Kohnz, Daniel K. Nomura, Andrei Goga. Integrative analyses reveal distinct metabolic dysregulation in MYC-driven, basal breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Myc: From Biology to Therapy; Jan 7-10, 2015; La Jolla, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2015;13(10 Suppl):Abstract nr A03.
Sociodemographic Disparities in Quality of Life for Survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancers in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Purpose: Survivors of cancer diagnosed during adolescence and young adulthood (AYA; aged 15–39) may experience quality of life (QOL) limitations; however, little is known about QOL for AYA survivors who are now middle-aged or among racial/ethnic minority survivors. We evaluated QOL outcomes for AYA cancer survivors relative to a non-cancer comparison group by gender, race/ethnicity, and current age. Methods: Using the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, we identified 8375 individuals diagnosed with cancer while aged 15–39 years old and 334,759 controls. Participants were currently ≥20 years of age. QOL was measured using four items from the Center for Disease Control's Healthy Days Measure (general health, number of days of poor physical and mental health, and activity limitation days). Multivariable regressions compared these measures for survivors and controls by gender, race/ethnicity, and age, and among survivors to determine cancer-related factors associated with poor QOL. R...
Androgen-induced growth of the os penis of hypophysectomized-gonadectomized rats.

SummaryRats hypophysectomized and castrated on day 26 and injected immediately thereafter with 0.1 mg testosterone propionate daily for 21 days showed an average daily weight gain of 1g. During the same period unoperated, uninjected littermate controls gained approximately 5g daily. The distal segment of the penis of these experimental animals weighed on an average 25% more than the normal 47-day-old controls. The ossicle in this portion of the penis of the experimental group measured 3.80 ± 0.12 mm as contrasted with the normal length of 4.1 ± 0.2 mm and the original length of 3.33 ± 0.15 mm for the 26-day-old normal and the length of 3.20 ± 0.18 mm for the doubly-operated 47-day-old controls uninjected with hormone.