cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sustained reduction in inappropriate treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria in a long-term care facility through an educational intervention

Background In long-term care facilities, treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is common. However, randomized, controlled trials suggest that such treatment offers no benefit and may promote antimicrobial resistance. Methods For 3 months before and 30 months after instituting an educational intervention, we monitored the appropriateness of urine culture collection and antibiotic treatment based on published guidelines and examined the effect on total antimicrobial use. The intervention included education of nursing staff to discourage the collection of urine cultures in the absence of symptoms suggestive of urinary tract infection and of primary care practitioners to not treat ASB. Results In preintervention period, 23 of 38 (61%) antibiotic regimens prescribed for urinary tract indications were for ASB. In the 6 months after the intervention, inappropriate submission of urine cultures decreased from 2.6 to 0.9 per 1000 patient-days ( P P = .0017), and total antimicrobial days of therapy were reduced from 167.7 to 117.4 per 1000 patient-days ( P Conclusion Educational interventions requiring minimal resources can result in sustained reductions in inappropriate treatment of ASB in long-term care and decreased total antimicrobial use. Education of the nursing staff regarding appropriate criteria for requesting urine cultures should be a component of such interventions. (Am J Infect Control 2008;36:000-0.)
A Unique Drilling System—Nearshore/Surfzone, Oregon Inlet, North Carolina

The design of twin jetty structures at Oregon Inlet, North Carolina required extensive knowledge of the geotechnical properties of the sediments on which the jetties were to be sited. The greatest proportion of the jetty foundations were within the shallow-water shoals, surfzone, and nearshore waters at the inlet entrance. Because of the wave climate on the shoals and the varying water depths, standard methods of siting a drill for geotechnical sampling and testing could not be employed on the site. Drilling, sampling, and in situ soils testing required that any drill site might have to be occupied for as much as four days, in water as shallow as 3 ft or as deep as 10 ft and withstand waves as high as 5 ft. The method selected and developed by the Geotechnical Branch, Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was a helicopter-transported steel platform 12 ft wide × 16 in. long × 20 ft high, capable of supporting a drill rig, such as a Failing 43SA or Longyear 150, and all associated equipment.
Our Approach to the Management of the Multiple-Ligament Knee Injury

Multiple-ligament knee injuries require prompt recognition, awareness of associated potential limb-threatening conditions, accurate diagnosis of functional ligament deficiency, careful surgical planning, and dedicated rehabilitation. In this article, we summarize our approach to these serious injuries and how it has evolved with our experience. To establish the diagnosis, we rely on a thorough knee examination with adjunctive stress radiographs. Although we routinely use magnetic resonance imaging to characterize these injuries, we recognize that the intense signal generated by excessive edema may overcall injury. We advocate single-stage reconstruction of all injured structures at the index procedure pursuing early surgical intervention within 2 weeks if the pattern includes an injury to either corner/collateral. Except in some medial collateral ligament injuries amenable to primary repair, we augment corner/collateral repairs with free graft reconstruction to protect the repair and allow early motion. Our postoperative rehabilitation protocol emphasizes early protected range of motion to prevent stiffness. Using these principles, we have been able to reliably restore function and stability after these potentially devastating injuries. Although we have been pleased with our results, we acknowledge the ongoing evolution in the treatment of multiple-ligament knee injuries and will continue to refine our technique to improve our outcomes.
Experimentally validated computational imaging with adaptive multiaperture folded architecture

We present experimental results of imaging and digital superresolution in a multiaperture miniature folded imaging architecture called PANOPTES. We prove the feasibility of integrating a low f-number folded imagers within a steerable multiaperture framework while maintaining a thin profile. Stringent requirements including low f-number and compact form factor, combined with the need for an ability to steer individual fields of view necessitate an off-axis design, resulting in a plane symmetric optical system. We present a detailed description of the ensuing optical design and its performance. The feasibility of this architecture is demonstrated through experiments and preliminary reconstruction results.
Pair potentials from band theory: Application to vacancy-formation energies

A method is presented for generating interatomic potentials in tight-binding models for metals. With the use of moment rules, the cohesive energy projected on a particular site is obtained as a function of the site's local atomic environment. It is then decomposed into a sum of one-body, two-body, and higher-order terms. The latter can be neglected if (1) the fractional deviations of the moments from their bulk values are small, and (2) contributions from connected four-atom clusters are negligible. As a test of the interatomic potentials, the ratio of the unrelaxed-vacancy---formation energy to the cohesive energy is calculated for two tight-binding model lattices and found to be within 10% of the exact model value. Predicted chemical trends in this ratio, as well as its overall magnitude, are also in reasonable agreement with experiment.
Creative Involution: Bergson, Beckett, Deleuze

In their critique of Sigmund Freud’s (psycho)analysis of The Wolf-Man in A Thousand Plateaus, philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst Felix Guattari take on the methodology and ideology of psychoanalysis, which they see as ‘a mixed semiotic: a despotic regime of significance and interpretation’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 125), and so, the regime of Modernism itself. For Deleuze and Guattari, Freud misreads the Wolf-Man’s narrative, imposing nominalist, patriarchal presuppositions on the narrative’s multiplicity, reducing the assemblage to the name of the Father, or the name of the Wolf-Man, in the crafting of a coherent, unified subconscious. Deleuze and Guattari replace the constrictive unity of psychoanalysis with its emphasis on the subconscious with the multiplicity of Schizoanalysis and its emphasis on the unconscious. Freud’s misreading confuses the two, the unified subconscious with an unconscious as assemblage that is ‘fundamentally a crowd’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 29), an analysis of Freud that parallels Deleuze’s critique of Heidegger’s Sein. Deleuze and Guattari are careful to distinguish, in its Bergsonian echo, between the simple multiplicity of space, ‘numerical or extended multiplicities’, and that of the assemblage with its ‘qualitative’ multiplicities (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 33).
Cholinergic modulation of the basal L-type calcium current in ferret right ventricular myocytes

The effects of the cholinergic muscarinic agonist carbachol (CCh) on the basal L-type calcium current, I(Ca,L), in ferret right ventricular (RV) myocytes were studied using whole cell patch clamp. CCh produced two major effects : (i) in all myocytes, extracellular application of CCh inhibited I(Ca,L) in a reversible concentration-dependent manner; and (ii) in many (but not all) myocytes, upon washout CCh produced a significant transient stimulation of I(Ca,L) ('rebound stimulation'). Inhibitory effects could be observed at 1 x 10(-10) M CCh. The mean steady-state inhibitory concentration-response relationship was shallow and could be described with a single Hill equation (maximum inhibition = 34.5 %, IC50 = 4 x 10(-8) M, Hill coefficient n = 0.60). Steady-state inhibition (1 or 10 microM CCh) had no significant effect on I(Ca,L) selectivity or macroscopic (i) activation characteristics, (ii) inactivation kinetics, (iii) steady-state inactivation or (iv) kinetics of recovery from inactivation. Maximal inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity (preincubation of myocytes in 1 mM L-NMMA (N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine) + 1 mM L-NNA (N(G)-nitro-L-arginine) for 2-3 h plus inclusion of 1 mM L-NMMA + 1 mM L-NNA in the patch pipette solution) produced no significant attenuation of the CCh-mediated inhibition of I(Ca,L). Protocols involving (i) the nitric oxide (NO) scavenger PTIO (2-phenyl-4,4,5,5,-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide; 200 microM), (ii) imposition of a 'cGMP clamp' (100 microM 8-Bromo-cGMP), and (iii) inhibition of soluble guanylyl cyclase (ODQ (1H-[1,2,4,]oxadiazolo(4,3,-a)quinoxalin-1-one), 50 microM) all failed to attenuate CCh-mediated inhibition of I(ca,L). While CCh consistently inhibited basal I(Ca,L) in all RV myocytes studied, not all myocytes displayed rebound stimulation upon CCh washout. However, there was no difference between CCh-mediated inhibition of I(Ca,L) between these two RV myocyte types, and in myocytes displaying rebound stimulation neither ODQ nor 8-Bromo-cGMP (8-Br-cGMP) altered the effect. We conclude that NO production, activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase, or changes in intracellular cGMP levels are not obligatorily involved in muscarinic-mediated modulation of basal I(Ca,L) in ferret RV myocytes.
From Surviving to Thriving: A Health and Wellness Colloquium for Breast Cancer Survivors

Recent evidence demonstrates that exercise training can provide numerous physical and psychosocial benefits for breast cancer (BCa) survivors. However, educational training programs designed to disseminate exercise training information to survivors are scarce. The From Surviving to Thriving (FST) Colloquium was a one-and-a-half-day event that featured presentations on wellness topics from fitness and health to the latest research in nutrition and exercise. Attendees filled out demographic questionnaires and feedback surveys to assess the impact of the Colloquium. Overall, the FST Colloquium was well received by BCa survivors and health care providers (HCPs). The majority of BCa survivors (84.4%) and HCPs (93.3%) rated their Colloquium experience as very good. Prior to attending the Colloquium, only 8.9% of BCa survivors rated their self-perceived knowledge of exercise and nutrition as excellent. After participation in the Colloquium, this increased to 44.4%. The Colloquium was also successful in influencing planned and actual behavior changes in BCa survivors.
A gradient tube system for the study of the effect of high hydrostatic pressures on temperature preference behavior in small aquatic animals

Abstract 1. 1. Instrumentation is described to permit study of temperature preference behavior in small aquatic animals as a function of ambient pressures in the range from 1 to 400 atm. 2. 2. The device provides a dynamically stabilized thermal gradient orthogonal to the flow of water used to establish the gradient. 3. 3. Gradient steepnesses from 0.45 to 1.0 cm−1 are available over a length of 11 cm. 4. 4. Dark field illumination and high sensitivity vidicon closed circuit TV permit continuous observation and resolution of animals down to 0.5 mm in size. 5. 5. As an example of application of the gradient tube, its use to demonstrate pressure-induced increase in temperature preferendum in a marine gammarid is reported.
Differential inhibition of mitogenic responsiveness by monoclonal antibodies to β2-microglobulin

Abstract A panel of 10 monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) to human β 2 -microglobulin (β2m) was used to evaluate the modulation of lymphocyte activation induced by different mitogenic stimuli. All 10 MoAbs inhibited proliferative responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A), pokeweed mitogen (PWM), and allogeneic cells in mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC), although some MoAbs were inhibitory at much lower concentrations than others. No enhancement or direct mitogenicity was observed, but at low MoAb concentrations a delayed peak response sometimes occurred. Differentiation of B cells in PWM-stimulated PBMC cultures was also inhibited as measured by reduced accumulation of supernatant IgM and IgG. Anti-β2m MoAb did not interfere with the binding of PHA or PWM to PBMC, and membrane mobility as judged by subsequent capping of these lectins also appeared to be normal. Furthermore, anti-β2m was inhibitory when added 24 hr prior to peak responsiveness, and proliferative responses to the phorbol ester PMA in combination with ionomycin were also inhibited by MoAb, indicating that membrane-mediated events were not the target of inhibition. A comparison of the inhibitory effects of anti-β2m MoAb on activation by different stimuli revealed that PWM and MLC responses were much more sensitive to inhibition followed by, in order of decreasing inhibition, Con A, PHA, ionomycin alone, and PMA/ionomycin. A MoAb to a monomorphic determinant of HLA-A, B, C exhibited the same inhibitory trend, suggesting that the mechanism of inhibition was the same as for anti-β2m MoAbs. No inhibition was observed when PBMC were stimulated by PMA alone, suggesting that the MoAbs have little effect on activation mediated by protein kinase C but may preferentially affect the calcium-dependent pathway of activation. Thus, this differential inhibition observed with different stimuli may reflect the relative contribution of class I antigens to lymphocyte activation by a particular mitogen.
A Clustering-based Methodology for Discontinuous Pareto Frontier Representation

This paper presents a methodology for capturing complex trade-off relationships among objective functions and the underlying design principles through Pareto frontier representations, for Multi-Objective Optimization problems in complex engineering design processes. The methodology provides engineers a way to quickly assess achievability of target values on objective functions (referred to as f-feasibility), and propose design solutions that meet or exceed these targets. Obtaining Pareto frontier representations can be challenging for cases when there are discontinuities in the Pareto frontiers and when the trade-off relationships vary across these discontinuities. The proposed methodology addresses this issue by first identifying discontinuities in the Pareto frontier through a clustering procedure, and then obtaining functional approximations of the trade-off relationships for each of the discontinuous portion of the Pareto frontier. A two-stage approach for clustering is employed. In the first stage, a DBSCAN clustering technique is used to classify disjoint Pareto sets in the objective space (f-space) into different groups. In the second stage, a frequent set mining algorithm named ECLAT and a subsequent filtering procedure are used to extract design constraint combinations that are active (binding) within each of these groups to form subgroups. Approximations are obtained for each of the subgroups using a constrained least squares technique, which are then combined to obtain an overall equation for assessing f-feasibility of any arbitrary point in objective space. In the two implementation studies, it is observed that the two-stage approach for clustering is highly effective in yielding good quality Pareto frontier representations and f-feasibility assessments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Associations Between Proactive and Reactive Subtypes of Aggression and Lifetime Substance Use in a Sample of Predominantly Hispanic Adolescents

The current study evaluated the link between proactive (goal-oriented) and reactive (behavior in response to a perceived threat) aggression and lifetime alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use in a sample of 152 predominantly Hispanic (94.7%) high school students. Furthermore, the impact of neighborhood violence and gender invariance on these associations were examined. Findings suggested unique associations between proactive, not reactive, aggression and use of all three substances. No significant interactions between the aggression subtypes and neighborhood violence were evident, and no gender differences emerged. Findings suggest targeting proactive aggression for the prevention of substance use for both males and females.
THE SUBTLE AND COUNTERINTUITIVE HAZARDS OF NON-SEQUENTIAL EVALUATION IN LANGUAGES OF THE C FAMILY

In the family of programming languages derived from the C programming language, the order of evaluation of expressions between sequence points is left undefined and may be counterintuitive. While most programmers assume that this lack of a defined order refers only to a lack of preference between left-to-right and right-to-left sequential evaluation, the standards actually permit, and language processors implement, a variety of non-sequential evaluation orders. In some cases, particularly those where expressions containing sequence points are combined without an intervening sequence point, computed results can be unanticipated, and can vary with different compilers for the same code. Yet these results fail to trigger any warning from compilers or syntax-checkers. Because languages of the C family dominate Information Systems curricula and new business application code, the risk that code in those languages may give incorrect results without any warning from automated tools presents significant hazards against the integrity of financial calculations. This article explains those hazards and outlines countermeasures.
College impact, student impact: A reconsideration of the role of students within American higher education

American college students tend to be viewed in terms of inputs and outcomes, due in part to the assessment movement and long-standing interest in college impact. A more complete view is one in which the relationship between students and the college environment is both reciprocal and dynamic. This ecological perspective portrays students as actively shaping their educational environments, with these environments simultaneously providing the potential for transforming the individual. Data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) are used to explore the ecological perspective.
The bacterially produced metabolite violacein is associated with survival of amphibians infected with a lethal fungus.

The disease chytridiomycosis, which is caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, is associated with recent declines in amphibian populations. Susceptibility to this disease varies among amphibian populations and species, and resistance appears to be attributable in part to the presence of antifungal microbial species associated with the skin of amphibians. The betaproteobacterium Janthinobacterium lividum has been isolated from the skins of several amphibian species and produces the antifungal metabolite violacein, which inhibits B. dendrobatidis. In this study, we added J. lividum to red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) to obtain an increased range of violacein concentrations on the skin. Adding J. lividum to the skin of the salamander increased the concentration of violacein on the skin, which was strongly associated with survival after experimental exposure to B. dendrobatidis. As expected from previous work, some individuals that did not receive J. lividum and were exposed to B. dendrobatidis survived. These individuals had concentrations of bacterially produced violacein on their skins that were predicted to kill B. dendrobatidis. Our study suggests that a threshold violacein concentration of about 18 μM on a salamander's skin prevents mortality and morbidity caused by B. dendrobatidis. In addition, we show that over one-half of individuals in nature support antifungal bacteria that produce violacein, which suggests that there is a mutualism between violacein-producing bacteria and P. cinereus and that adding J. lividum is effective for protecting individuals that lack violacein-producing skin bacteria.
Understanding Courts as Policy Makers

The part that courts play in the making of public policy long has been a subject of great interest in the United States. That interest has grown a good deal during the last three decades, a period of perceived expansion in the activism and power of the judiciary. Governing Through Courts' is one reflection of the scholarly community's current interest in courts as policy makers. This book, edited by Richard Gambitta, Marlynn May, and James Foster, is a collection of 14 essays. The book and several of the essays grew out of the experience of the editors and some of the contributors as National Endowment for the Humanities Fellows at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1979-1980. Two of the editors are political scientists, the other a sociologist; the other contributors are a mixture of social scientists (primarily from political science) and legal scholars and practitioners. The book is divided into three parts: the first consists of three broad examinations of courts and their part in the policy-making process; the second includes several essays on the work of the courts in particular policy areas and contexts, including the one chapter in the book that focuses on nonAmerican courts; the final part, although it is the broadest in subject matter, has running through its essays a concern with the indirect and long-term impact of litigation and court decisions. The work's most notable feature is the diversity of the subject matter and perspectives presented in it. The book does not offer a single clear point of view on judicial governance or one distinct analytic approach to it. Thus it does not make a coherent statement on courts as policy makers. Despite this limitation, I think the book is a useful addition to the admittedly voluminous body of scholarly literature in this area. Legal scholars who are not familiar with social science research on judicial policy making will find that the breadth of the book's concerns makes it a good introduction. Many
A flat-aluminum based voltage-programmable link for field-programmable devices

A new metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure has been developed for use in field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA's) as a voltage-programmable link (VPL). The present capacitor structure relies on aluminum metallization; hence, it should be amenable to immediate application. The addition of minute amounts of titanium or molybdenum has been found to suppress hillock formation. The insulator, prepared by means of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), comprises a sandwich of a nearly stoichiometric silicon dioxide interposed between two like layers of silicon-rich silicon nitride. This MIM structure has displayed characteristics desirable for use in the emerging FPGA technology including high density, very low on-resistance, reduced capacitance, low programming voltage, and the potential for further scaling to the sub-micron regime. >
The Visual Difficulties of Selected Artists and Limitations of Ophthalmological Care During The 19th and Early 20th Centuries (An AOS Thesis)

Purpose: To investigate the effects of eye diseases on several important artists who have been given little attention from a medicalhistorical viewpoint. The examples chosen demonstrate problems artists have had to face from different types of eye disease, including cataract, glaucoma, and retinal diseases. The ophthalmological care provided is described in terms of scientific knowledge at the time. Methods: Investigation of primary and secondary source material. Discussion with art historians and ophthalmic historians. Examination of work by the artists. Results: Artists can be markedly affected by ocular diseases that change their ability to see the world. The individuals described here worked during the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. Homer Martin suffered from cataracts, and his works reveal changes in details and color as he aged. Henri Harpignies, who had an extremely long career, undoubtedly had cataracts and may also have had macular degeneration. Angle-closure glaucoma blinded Jules Cheret. Auguste Ravier suffered from neovascular glaucoma in one eye and was able to work with his remaining eye, which developed a cataract. Louis Valtat suffered from what was in all likelihood openangle glaucoma, but specific changes due to this disease are not apparent in his work. Roger Bissiere developed glaucoma and did well following filtration surgery. George Du Maurier lost one eye from what was probably a retinal detachment and later suffered from a central retinal problem in the other eye. Conclusions: Diseases of the eye may profoundly influence artists by altering their perception of the world. The specific effects may vary, depending on the disease, its severity, and the psychology of the artist. Cataracts typically affect an artist’s ability to depict color and detail. The effect of glaucoma generally depends on whether central vision is preserved. Disease that affects the center of the retina has a substantial effect on an artist’s ability to depict fine details. Ophthalmological care was limited during the lifetimes of the artists under consideration, by comparison to 21st century standards. When medical or surgical therapy was ineffective, the most important thing a physician could offer these artists was consolation against anxiety and depression. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc 2008;106:402-425
AI, E-government, and Politics 2.0

This issue's Trends and Controversies department includes five essays on e-government and politics 2.0 from distinguished experts. Each essay presents a unique, innovative research framework, computational methods, and selected results and examples. As the government and political process become more transparent, participatory, online, and multimedia rich, there is a great opportunity for adopting advanced AI and intelligent systems research in e-government and politics 2.0 applications. Selected techniques in data, text, Web, and opinion mining, social network analysis, visual analytics, multimedia analysis, ontological representations, and social media analysis can support online political participation, e-democracy, political blogs and forums, e-government service delivery, and transparency and accountability.
Research Note---To Continue Sharing or Not to Continue Sharing? An Empirical Analysis of User Decision in Peer-to-Peer Sharing Networks

Peer-to-peer sharing networks have seen explosive growth recently. In these networks, sharing files is completely voluntary, and there is no financial reward for users to contribute. However, many users continue to share despite the massive free-riding by others. Using a large-scale data set of individual activities in a peer-to-peer music-sharing network, we seek to understand users' continued-sharing behavior as a private contribution to a public good. We find that the more benefit users “get from” the network, in the form of downloads, browses, and searches, the more likely they are to continue sharing. Also, the more value users “give to” the network, in the form of downloads by other users and recognition by the network, the more likely they are to continue sharing. Moreover, our findings suggest that, overall, “getting from” is a stronger force for the continued-sharing decision than “giving to.”
Pathologic outcomes during the learning curve for robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVE: We report our initial experience with 62 patients undergoing robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP), focusing on the primary parameter of positive surgical margins. The authors demonstrate that excellent oncologic outcomes can be attained with a less steep learning curve than previously hypothesized. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The first 62 patients undergoing RALP by a single physician (DPD) at our institution between November 2005 and August 2007 were retrospectively assessed. Surgical pathology records were reviewed for Gleason score, pathologic tumor stage, nodal status, location of prostate cancer within the specimen, extracapsular extension, surgical margin status, presence of perineural invasion, tumor volume, and weight of the surgical specimen. Margin status was determined using surgical specimens only, and not intraoperative frozen sections. All cases in this series were completed using the four-arm da Vinci Robotic System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, California). RESULTS: Sixty-one patients had prostate cancer on their final surgical pathology specimens. Pathologic stage T2 and stage T3 patients were 88.7% and 9.7% of all cases, respectively. The pathologic Gleason score was 7 or greater in 62.3%. Our overall positive surgical margin rate was 3.3%. Patients with pathologic T2 and T3 disease had a positive surgical margin rate of 1.8% and 16.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that RALP can have equal if not better pathologic outcomes compared to open radical prostatectomy even during the initial series of cases. We argue that the learning curve for RALP is shorter than previously thought with respect to oncologic outcomes, and concerns asserting that lack of tactile feedback leads to poor oncologic outcomes are unfounded.
Waveform methods for space and time parallelism

Abstract Waveform methods are a form of generalized Picard iteration developed by electrical engineers for the numerical solution of the large systems of ordinary differential equations that arise in circuit simulation for VLSI design. Their effectiveness is principally due to computational considerations — disk swapping, simple organization of calculations for components with very different frequency spectra and potential use of parallelism. In this paper we first examine the rate of convergence of simple extension of Picard methods suitable for parallel computation. For numerical computation, the differential equation must be replaced by a finite-dimensional equation for an approximation to its solution. The second part of the paper examines the application of the iterative methods directly to finite-difference approximations of the original differential equation. This permits a larger class of methods than obtained by discretizing the differential equations satisfied by successive iterates.
PODs:Partially Ordered Delivery for 3D Scenes in Resource-Constrained Environments

Three-dimensional (3D) graphic scenes require considerable network bandwidth to be transmitted and computing power to be rendered on users’ terminals. Toward high-quality display in real time, we propose a sender-driven mechanism for streaming 3D scenes in a resource-constrained environment. By pre-processing the database, objects in the scene are properly weighted upon their rendering importance, and their resolutions are selected accordingly to reduce the bit rate. Partially ordered delivery is then performed using decoding independencies between the objects. Simulation results show the efficacy of the proposed mechanism. For a test benchmark, for example, the proposed algorithm outperforms the comparing heuristic by 4 dB under a 100-KB bit rate.
Fabrication of myogenic engineered tissue constructs.

Despite the fact that electronic pacemakers are life-saving medical devices, their long-term performance in pediatric patients can be problematic owing to the restrictions imposed by a child's small size and their inevitable growth. Consequently, there is a genuine need for innovative therapies designed specifically for pediatric patients with cardiac rhythm disorders. We propose that a conductive biological alternative consisting of a collagen-based matrix containing autologously-derived cells could better adapt to growth, reduce the need for recurrent surgeries, and greatly improve the quality of life for these patients. In the present study, we describe a procedure for incorporating primary skeletal myoblast cell cultures within a hydrogel matrix to fashion a surgically-implantable tissue construct that will serve as an electrical conduit between the upper and lower chambers of the heart. Ultimately, we anticipate using this type of engineered tissue to restore atrioventricular electrical conduction in children with complete heart block. In view of that, we isolate myoblasts from the skeletal muscles of neonatal Lewis rats and plate them onto laminin-coated tissue culture dishes using a modified version of established protocols[2, 3]. After one to two days, cultured cells are collected and mixed with antibiotics, type 1 collagen, Matrigel™, and NaHCO3. The result is a viscous, uniform solution that can be cast into a mold of nearly any shape and size[1, 4, 5]. For our tissue constructs, we employ type 1 collagen isolated from fetal lamb skin using standard procedures[6]. Once the tissue has solidified at 37°C, culture media is carefully added to the plate until the construct is submerged. The engineered tissue is then allowed to further condense through dehydration for 2 more days, at which point it is ready for in vitro assessment or surgical-implantation.
Tree Patches Show Greater N Losses but Maintain Higher Soil N Availability than Grassland Patches in a Frequently Burned Oak Savanna

Long-term prescribed fires have increased woody canopy openness and reduced nitrogen (N) cycling (that is, net N mineralization) in an oak savanna in Minnesota, USA. It is unclear how fire-induced shifts from oak-dominated to C4 grass-dominated vegetation contribute to this decline in N cycling compared to direct effects of increasing fire frequency promoting greater N losses. We determined (1) the magnitude of decline in net N mineralization in oak versus grass-dominated patches with increasing fire frequency and (2) if differences in net N mineralization between oak and grass patches in frequently burned oak savanna (burned 8 out of 10 years on average during the last 40 years) could be attributed to differences in N losses through volatilization and leaching or to plant traits affecting decomposition and mineralization. In situ net N mineralization declined with increasing fire frequency overall, but this decline was less in oakthan in grass-dominated patches, with oak-dominated patches having more than two times higher net N mineralization than grass-dominated patches. Greater net N mineralization in oak-dominated patches occurred despite greater N losses through volatilization and leaching (on average 1.8 and 1.4 g m )2 y )1 for oak- and grass-dominated patches, respectively), likely because of higher plant litter N concentration in the oak-dominated patches. As total soil N pools in the first 15 cm did not differ between oak- and grass-dominated patches (on average 83 g N m )2 ), N inputs from atmospheric deposition and uptake from deep soil layers may offset higher N losses. Our results further show that net N mineralization rates decline within 5 years after tree death and subsequent colonization by C4 grasses to levels observed in grass-dominated patches. Although long-term prescribed fires often directly reduce N stocks and cycling because of increased N losses, this study has shown that fire-induced shifts in vegetation composition can strongly contribute to the declines in N cycling in systems that are frequently disturbed by fires with potential feedbacks to plant productivity.
Selection of specific wheat germ agglutinin-resistant (WgaR) phenotypes from Chinese hamster ovary cell populations containing numerous lecR genotypes.

Abstract Three distinct Chinese hamster ovary mutants selected for resistance to wheat germ agglutinin were previously described by this laboratory. In this paper, evidence is provided that each phenotype occurs at a similar frequency in an unmutagenized population of Chinese hamster ovary cells. Two novel wheat germ agglutinin resistance phenotypes (WgaR), which also appear to occur at similar frequencies were uncovered in the course of these studies. One mutant type belongs to a new, recessive complementation group (VIII), and the second belongs to a previously defined complementation group (VI). Mutants from each of the four WgaR complementation groups (I, II, III, and VIII) exhibited characteristic and unique patterns of resistance to the toxicity of a variety of plant lectins. These properties were used in developing independent selection protocols which were highly specific for the isolation of each of the mutant types.
Cognitive Orthoses: Toward Human-Centered AI

This introduction focuses on how human-centered computing (HCC) is changing the way that people think about information technology. The AI perspective views this HCC framework as embodying a systems view, in which human thought and action are linked and equally important in terms of analysis, design, and evaluation. This emerging technology provides a new research outlook for AI applications, with new research goals and agendas.
Peptide Conjugation to a Polymer Coating via Native Chemical Ligation of Azlactones for Cell Culture.

Conjugation of biomolecules for stable presentation is an essential step toward reliable chemically defined platforms for cell culture studies. In this work, we describe the formation of a stable and site-specific amide bond via the coupling of a cysteine terminated peptide at low concentration to an azlactone containing copolymer coating. A copolymer of polyethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate-ran-vinyl azlactone-ran-glycidyl methacrylate P(PEGMEMA-r-VDM-r-GMA) was used to form a thin coating (20–30 nm) on silicon and polycarbonate substrates. The formation and stability of coating-peptide bonds for peptides containing free thiols and amines were quantified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) after exposure to cell culture conditions. Peptides containing a thiol as the only nucleophile coupled via a thioester bond; however, the bond was labile under cell culture conditions and almost all the bound peptides were displaced from the surface over a period of 2 days. Coupling with N-terminal primar...
Effect of Water on Molecular Mobility and Physical Stability of Amorphous Pharmaceuticals

We investigated the influence of sorbed water concentration on the molecular mobility and crystallization behavior in a model amorphous drug and a solid dispersion. The temperature scaling (Tg/T) allowed us to simultaneously evaluate the effects of water content and temperature on the relaxation time. In the supercooled dispersions, once scaled, the relaxation times of the systems with different water content overlapped. Thus, the observed increase in mobility could be explained by the “plasticization” effect of water. This effect also explained the decrease in crystallization onset temperature brought about by water. That is, plasticization is the underlying mechanism governing the observed increase in mobility and physical instability in the supercooled state. Similar results were observed in the glassy drug substance. A single linear relationship was observed between crystallization time (time for 0.5% crystallization) and Tg/T in both dry and water containing systems. Since fragility is unaffected by ...
Are Parental Perceptions of Child Activity Levels and Overall Health More Important than Perceptions of Weight

Objectives To examine relationships between parental perceptions of child weight and overall health, reported lifestyle behaviors and measured body mass index (BMI). Methods Using community-partnered methods, we surveyed families residing in a two census tract area identified for targeted interventions to decrease diabetes related disparities. The survey included demographics, child dietary and physical activity behaviors, and parental perception of child's health and weight. We measured child BMI using a standardized protocol. Results We surveyed parents of 116 children with a mean age of 7 years (range 3-15) with 51 % boys, 74 % Hispanic, and 26 % Black. Over half of the children (55 %) were overweight or obese. Half (50 %) of the parents underestimated their children's weight. Reported daily hours of walking and/or running trended higher (3.6 vs. 2.6 h, p = 0.08) for children perceived to be of normal weight. Parents who correctly estimated their child's weight status reported more hours of daily walking/running than parents who underestimated child weight status, 4.5 versus 2.4 h, p = 0.0002. Parents of healthy weight children were more likely to report that children were in excellent or very good health compared to parents of overweight/obese children, 75 versus 56 % respectively (p = 0.04). We found significant racial/ethnic differences in reported diet and physical activity behaviors and perception of overall health. Conclusions for Practice Parental perceptions of child health and physical activity level may be related to perceptions of their child's weight status. Study findings informed community-based initiatives for reducing diabetes risk among children.
Cytotoxicity and cell cycle studies with a combined tetrazolium-Fegulgen reaction.

SummaryOn asynchronous and synchronized cultures of Chang's conjunctiva cells it was shown that cytotoxic antibodies (in the presence of complement) were most effective during the stage of cytoplasmic cell division, i.e., between mitosis and G1-phase. All other stages of the cellular life cycle were relatively resistant in that longer incubation periods were required for cell destruction. A newly developed combined tetrazolium-Feulgen reaction was used in these studies with advantage.
Characterizing elite midden deposits at Moundville

Insufficient attention has been paid to differences among elite archaeological contexts in middle-range or chiefdom societies. At Moundville, a major Mississippian center in Alabama, midden and feature-fill deposits attributed to elite behavior have been excavated in several areas. Deposits on Mounds Q and G dating to the Moundville II and III phases (ca. A.D. 1260-1450) are similar in that they incorporate abundant domestic debris associated with structures on mound summits. On both mounds, food remains show evidence of provisioning and the consumption of small-scale meals rather than feasting. However, the two contexts differ in the occurrence of evidence for skilled crafting and the display of human skeletal remains. At Mound Q, skilled crafting is abundantly attested, employing local and nonlocal raw materials. Display goods were routinely handled, and pigment processing and use were important. Burials were rarely made, but fragmentary human bone is scattered throughout, emphasizing portions of the skeleton consistent with display. In contrast, elite contexts on Mound G show little or no evidence of crafting, pigment use, and bone handling.
An Efficient Flexible GMRES Solver for the Fully-coupled Time-spectral Aeroelastic System

The time-spectral (TS) method applied to the coupled aeroelastic equations theoretically offers significant computational savings for purely periodic problems when compared to standard time-implicit methods. However, attaining superior efficiency with TS methods over traditional time-implicit methods hinges on the ability to rapidly solve the large non-linear system resulting from TS discretizations which become larger and stiffer as more time instances are employed. An ideal time-spectral solver would scale linearly, such that a doubling of the number of time-instances used would double the wall-clock time needed to converge the solution on the same computational hardware. The present work is focused on achieving an optimal solver for large numbers of time instances. In order to increase the efficiency of the solver, and to improve robustness particularly for large numbers of time instances and fluid/structure coupling, TS methods are reworked such that the Generalized Minimal Residual Method (GMRES) is used to solve the implicitly coupled, time-spectral, fluid/structure linear system over all time instances at each non-linear iteration. The use of GMRES as the linear solver makes these methods more robust, allows them to be applied to a far greater subset of time-accurate problems, including those with a broad range of harmonic content, and vastly improves the efficiency of time-spectral methods.
The Use of Multiplicity Corrections, Order Statistics and Generalized Family-Wise Statistics with Application to Genome-Wide Studies.

The most important decision faced by large-scale studies, such as those presently encountered in human genetics, is to distinguish between those tests that are true positives from those that are not. In the context of genetics, this entails the determination of genetic markers that actually underlie medically-relevant phenotypes from a vast number of makers typically interrogated in genome-wide studies. A critical part of these decisions relies on the appropriate statistical assessment of data obtained from tests across numerous markers. Several methods have been developed to aid with such analyses, with family-wise approaches, such as the Bonferroni and Dunn-Sidak corrections, being popular. Conditions that motivate the use of family-wise corrections are explored. Although simple to implement, one major limitation of these approaches is that they assume that p-values are i.i.d. uniformly distributed under the null hypothesis. However, several factors may violate this assumption in genome-wide studies including effects from confounding by population stratification, the presence of related individuals, the correlational structure among genetic markers, and the use of limiting distributions for test statistics. Even after adjustment for such effects, the distribution of p-values can substantially depart from a uniform distribution under the null hypothesis. In this work, I present a decision theory for the use of family-wise corrections for multiplicity and a generalization of the Dunn-Sidak correction that relaxes the assumption of uniformly-distributed null p-values. The independence assumption is also relaxed and handled through calculating the effective number of independent tests. I also explicitly show the relationship between order statistics and family-wise correction procedures. This generalization may be applicable to multiplicity problems outside of genomics.
Global versus local flare energy distributions

The avalanche model of Lu and coworkers successfully reproduces important qualitative features of the flare-energy distribution. We test the prediction of the avalanche model that all active regions share a common power-law exponent by using it to derive a local flare-energy distribution from SXR GOES data, then using the convolution proposed by Wheatland and Sturrock to compare it with the global distribution. The local distribution we derive is not consistent with the global distribution, so it appears that active regions do not share a common power-law distribution.
Summary of Findings, Policy Implications, and Future Research

Through in-depth interviews with school and police officials (administrators, counselors, security and police officers, and teachers) as well as content analysis of news reporting and legal documentation covering 11 averted incidents of school rampage in the Northeastern United States, this study has explored perceptions of and reactions to threats of multiplevictim school attacks. Given the dearth of empirical scholarship on averted incidents of school rampage, this research unearths important data on the process by which threats of rampage violence are assessed and how previous school rampage plots have been averted.
Lung cancer: First-line immunotherapy in lung cancer - taking the first step.

The use of programmed cell-death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitors has become the standard-of-care approach for patients with advanced-stage, previously treated non-small-cell lung cancer. The inevitable adoption of these agents in the first-line setting is rapidly approaching, but the optimal strategy remains unclear. Two published clinical trial reports, examining different approaches, help to frame this question.
Effects of Political Knowledge on Political Tolerance.

Sexual orientation continues to be an explosive issue in American classrooms. Increasing the political knowledge of students can reduce the volatility of this explosive issue by increasing toleranc...