cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF EMPIRICALLY DERIVED CONSEQUENCES FOR THE TREATMENT OF PICA

Individualized treatment packages were developed for 3 children with high-rate severe pica using a discrimination training paradigm and a behavioral assessment-based procedure known as empirically derived consequences. Children received empirically derived reinforcers for eating under appropriate stimulus conditions (i.e., eating food only from a plate and placemat that served as a discriminative stimulus) and empirically derived punishers for attempts to engage in pica. This treatment package resulted in marked reductions in pica and an increase in appropriate eating for all 3 children in a "baited" analogue condition. In addition, low rates of pica were maintained for 9 months for all 3 children. These results suggest that treatment effectiveness may be enhanced when behavioral assessment data are used to identify potent consequences.
Using lean Six Sigma methodology to empower students for executing departmental initiatives

Continuous improvement philosophy is a fundamental principle for creating a sustainable system, and education is no exception. Universities have been implementing continuous improvement processes as part of accreditation requirements for many years. One of the main challenges, especially for small growing programs is to identify resources to carry on these continuous improvement initiatives along with the ongoing teaching, research and administrative activities. In this paper, we present an innovative approach in which students are involved in the improvement of the departmental processes and execution of initiatives using a lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology as part of their course projects. Several case studies are presented from the systems engineering (SE) program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The outcomes show that both students and teachers can benefit from partnering together in their course projects to design and deploy systems that improve their department.
The energy-integral method: application to linear hyperbolic heat-conduction problems

This paper utilizes the energy-integral method to obtain approximate analytic solutions to a linear hyperbolic heat-conduction problem for a semi-infinite one-dimensional medium. As for the mathematical formulation of the problem, a time-dependent relaxation model for the energy flux is assumed, leading to a hyperbolic differential equation which is solved under suitable initial and boundary conditions. In fact, analytical expressions are derived for uniform as well as varying initial conditions along with (a) prescribed surface temperature, or (b) prescribed heat flux at the surface boundary. The case when a heat source (or sink) of certain type takes place has also been discussed. Comparison of the approximate analytic solutions obtained by the energy-integral method with the corresponding available or obtainable exact analytic solutions are made; and the accuracy of the approximate solutions is generally acceptable.
Stereotaxic localization of the developing nucleus accumbens septi

The nucleus accumbens septi (NAcc) has been implicated as a mediator of a variety of disorders, most notably substance abuse. The development of this system is a critical area for investigation, and has been largely overlooked. Specifically, few studies have focussed on dopamine (DA), its neurochemical pathways and the long-term consequences of manipulating the dopaminergic (DAergic) system in the developing animal. Important insight into the establishment of addiction, its development and time course, may be found by examining the development of the periadolescent DA system, specifically the mesocorticolimbic system. Recent developmental studies demonstrate dramatic changes in DAergic levels, receptor concentrations and transporter levels during periadolescent development. These ontogenetic changes, as well as drug exposure during development, may predispose the adolescent animal to addiction. Given that humans typically experiment with and initiate drug use during the adolescent period it is proposed that developmental alterations in the mesolimbic DA projection areas, specifically the NAcc, are an essential area for investigation in drug addiction. The present paper presents formulas for the weight-based calculation of stereotaxic coordinates for the NAcc in rats across development to facilitate further research in the area.
Fractal correlation properties of heart rate dynamics and adverse events in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators

The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic significance of nonlinear and standard heart rate (HR) variability parameters in predicting future adverse events (AEs) in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators. In postinfarction studies, nonlinear measures of HR variability obtained from long-term electrocardiographic recordings have been suggested to be better predictors of adverse outcomes than conventional HR variability measures. Fifty-five high-risk patients with reduced left ventricular function and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator had a 10-minute, high-resolution electrocardiographic recording after which they were followed for 25 months on average. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shock or death was determined as the end point. The SD of all normal-to-normal RR intervals, the square root of the mean squared differences of successive normal-to-normal RR intervals, and the proportion of interval differences of successive normal-to-normal RR intervals >50 ms, low-frequency and high-frequency powers of the power spectrum and their ratio were calculated as conventional measures of HR variability. The short-term scaling exponent (alpha(1)) and approximate entropy were determined as nonlinear measures of HR variability. AEs occurred in 23 patients (42%). Patients with AEs had significantly lower alpha(1) than event-free patients: 0.81 +/- 0.29 (mean +/- SD) versus 1.01 +/- 0.30 (p = 0.02). None of the other HR variability parameters differed significantly between patients with and without AEs. In the Cox proportional-hazards model including age, gender, ejection fraction, occurrence of ventricular tachyarrhythmia before defibrillator implantation, beta-blocker usage, and alpha(1), only alpha(1) was an independent predictor of AEs: hazard ratio 1.20 (95% confidence interval 1.03 to 1.39) for every 0.10 decrease in alpha(1) (p = 0.020). In conclusion, alpha(1) obtained from a 10-minute electrocardiographic recording yields important prognostic information about the risk of AEs in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators.
Redefining the Workplace: The Professionalization of Motherhood through Blogging

Professional identity is oft explored in the field, but such identities usually reside institutionally and may exclude women who engage in professional communication from the workplace of the home. One instantiation of this extra-institutional professionalism is mom blogs, the authors of which create content, find sponsors, and address issues important to mothers. Yet the women lack legitimacy as professionals because of the title “mommy blogger” and because of the notion that blogging is a hobby. My qualitative study explores how mom bloggers claim a professional space in communication. I interviewed 22 mom bloggers, using Faber's (2002, [18]) theory of professionalism and Durack's (1997, [17]) ideas of redefining terms, such as “workplace,” to include women. My findings show that mom bloggers engage in the characteristics of professional communicators, model egalitarian professionalism, employ an ethic of care that combats elitism, and challenge the field to include their work, from the home and through...
Dogs, Physical Activity, and Walking (Dogs PAW): Acceptability and Feasibility of a Pilot Physical Activity Intervention

Background. The aims of this study were to describe the development of and investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a pilot randomized controlled physical activity intervention based on social cognitive theory that used a dog walking strategy. METHOD. Participants (n = 49) were randomized into an intervention or control group. Overall, participants were middle-aged (M = 45.7 ± 13.4 years), Caucasian, and on average considered obese with a mean body mass index of 30.0 ± 5.5. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize participant characteristics and analyze the feasibility and acceptability data. Regression models were used to (a) examine significant differences between intervention and control groups across time (baseline to post-intervention) and (b) examine if changes in theoretical constructs from baseline to post-intervention resulted in changes in dog walking in both the intervention and control group. RESULTS. Participants agreed that the intervention e-mails were easy to read and understand (M = 4.3 ± 0.7). Participants reported that the frequency of e-mails was adequate (M = 4.3 ± 0.8), but there was lower agreement that the e-mails encouraged an increase in dog walking (M = 3.6 ± 1.2). Post-intervention, the control group increased weekly dog walking to 19.4 ± 4.9 minutes, whereas the intervention group increased it to 79.3 ± 11.2 minutes. CONCLUSIONS. Preliminary results suggest that this pilot intervention is an acceptable and feasible strategy for promoting dog walking among dog owners. Language: en
Bovine leukocyte antigens.

Summary Using bovine erythrocyte typing reagents in a leukocyte microcytotoxicity system, bovine peripheral blood leukocytes were found to have specific surface antigens. In this study, no obvious association between leukocyte.antigens and erythrocyte antigens of any individual animal was found. The leukocyte and erythrocyte antigens appeared to be distinct from each other.
The effects of methylphenidate on resting-state striatal, thalamic and global functional connectivity in healthy adults.

By blocking dopamine and norepinephrine transporters, methylphenidate affects cognitive performance and regional brain activation in healthy individuals as well as those with neuropsychiatric disorders. Resting-state connectivity evaluates the functional integrity of a network of brain regions. Here, we examined how methylphenidate effects resting-state functional connectivity of the dorsal striatum and thalamus, areas each with dense dopaminergic and noradrenergic innervations, as well as global cerebral connectivity. We administered a single, oral dose (45 mg) to 24 healthy adults and compared resting-state connectivity to 24 demographically matched adults who did not receive any medication. The results showed that methylphenidate alters seed-based and global connectivity between the thalamus/dorsal striatum with primary motor cortex, amygdala/hippocampus and frontal executive areas (p<0.05, corrected). Specifically, while methylphenidate at this dosage enhances connectivity to the motor cortex and memory circuits, it dampens prefrontal cortical connectivity perhaps by increasing catecholaminergic signalling past the ‘optimal’ level. These findings advance our understanding of a critical aspect of the multifaceted effects of methylphenidate on brain functions. The results may also facilitate future studies of the aetiology and treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders that implicate catecholaminergic dysfunction.
Fracture healing as a post‐natal developmental process: Molecular, spatial, and temporal aspects of its regulation

Fracture healing is a specialized post-natal repair process that recapitulates aspects of embryological skeletal development. While many of the molecular mechanisms that control cellular differentiation and growth during embryogenesis recur during fracture healing, these processes take place in a post-natal environment that is unique and distinct from those which exist during embryogenesis. This Prospect Article will highlight a number of central biological processes that are believed to be crucial in the embryonic differentiation and growth of skeletal tissues and review the functional role of these processes during fracture healing. Specific aspects of fracture healing that will be considered in relation to embryological development are: (1) the anatomic structure of the fracture callus as it evolves during healing; (2) the origins of stem cells and morphogenetic signals that facilitate the repair process; (3) the role of the biomechanical environment in controlling cellular differentiation during repair; (4) the role of three key groups of soluble factors, pro-inflammatory cytokines, the TGF-beta superfamily, and angiogenic factors, during repair; and (5) the relationship of the genetic components that control bone mass and remodeling to the mechanisms that control skeletal tissue repair in response to fracture.
The Art of Medicating Hyperkinetic Children: A Number of Practical Suggestions

The psychologic aspects of the prescribing, giving, and taking of medicines are especially important when trying to modify the emotion-laden behavior of hyperkinetic children. The physician should start by cultivating positive expectations in child, parents, and teacher. This is necessary in order to break up existing complex vicious cycles of negative expectations, low self-esteem, discouragement, resentment, misbehavior, and poor achievement. One promotes the child's cooperation by building rapport from the first contact and by negotiating a medication contract directly with him. The child needs to know not only that his past misbehavior of failures are not being held against him but also that better is expected of him now that he has medical help. Parents deserve unhurried clarification of questions and should be warned about side effects. The time taken to talk directly with the teacher is most valuable. Direct communication can help set up positive expectations in school and elicit objective informat...
Reliability and bifurcation in neurons driven by multiple sinusoids

The brain produces dynamical rhythms at many frequencies that shift in amplitude and phase. To understand the functional consequences of mixtures of oscillations at the single cell level, we recorded the spike trains from single rat cortical neurons in vitro in response to two mixed sine wave currents. The reliability of spike timing was measured as a function of the relative power, phase and frequencies of the sine wave mixture. Peaks in the reliability were observed at a preferred phase di3erence, frequency and relative power. These results have a natural interpretation in terms of spike train attractors and bifurcations. c � 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Continuous 28-day iododeoxyuridine infusion and hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy for malignant glioma: a phase I clinical study.

Abstract Purpose To investigate the maximal tolerated dose of a continuous 28-day iododeoxyuridine (IUdr) infusion combined with hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (HART); to analyze the percentage of IUdr-thymidine replacement in peripheral granulocytes as a surrogate marker for IUdr incorporation into tumor cells; to measure the steady-state serum IUdr levels; and to assess the feasibility of continuous IUdr infusion and HART in the management of malignant glioma. Methods and Materials Patients were required to have biopsy-proven malignant glioma. Patients received 100 ( n = 4), 200 ( n = 3), 300 ( n = 3), 400 ( n = 6), 500 ( n = 4), 625 ( n = 5), or 781 ( n = 6) mg/m 2 /d of IUdr by continuous infusion for 28 days. HART was started 7 days after IUdr initiation. The total dose was 70 Gy (1.2 Gy b.i.d. for 25 days with a 10-Gy boost [2.0 Gy for 5 Saturdays]). Weekly assays were performed to determine the percentage of IUdr-DNA replacement in granulocytes and serum IUdr levels using standard high performance liquid chromatography methods. Standard Phase I toxicity methods were used. Results Between June 1994 and August 1999, 31 patients were enrolled. No patient had Grade 3 or worse HART toxicity. Grade 3 or greater IUdr toxicity predominantly included neutropenia ( n = 3), thrombocytopenia ( n = 3), and elevated liver function studies ( n = 3). The maximal tolerated dose was 625 mg/m 2 /d. Thymidine replacement in the peripheral granulocytes peaked at 3 weeks and increased with the dose (maximal thymidine replacement 4.9%). The steady-state plasma IUdr level increased with the dose (maximum, 1.5 μM). Conclusion In our study, continuous long-term IUdr i.v. infusion had a maximal tolerated dose of 625 mg/m 2 /d. Granulocyte incorporation data verified the concept that prolonged IUdr infusion results in IUdr-DNA replacement that corresponds to a high degree of cell labeling. IUdr steady-state plasma levels increased with increasing dose and attained levels needed for clinical radiosensitization. Continuous IUdr infusion and HART were both feasible and well tolerated.
Physiological effects and reduced tolerance following maternal metal exposure in the live-bearing fish Gambusia affinis.

The present study assessed the effects of maternal copper or cadmium exposure in a live-bearing fish. After a 10-d exposure to background levels (control) or 0.15 μM copper or cadmium, gravid females were transferred to clean water. Once a female gave birth, the authors analyzed her newborn offspring for lipid peroxidation, elemental composition (copper, cadmium, and calcium), and metal tolerance. The authors raised other offspring until sexual maturity and analyzed their growth rate, incidence of abnormalities, and sex ratio. Their earlier research, using the same species and exposure design, demonstrated that cadmium and copper were transferred from gravid females to their offspring. The present study showed that offspring of copper-exposed females had a reduced size at birth, developmental abnormalities, elevated tissue cadmium levels, and reduced tissue calcium levels. Offspring of cadmium-exposed females had elevated levels of lipid peroxidation, developmental abnormalities, and lower tissue levels of both copper and calcium. No effects were detected with respect to offsprings' growth rate or sex ratio. Offspring of metal-exposed fish had a reduced tolerance to the metal that their female parent had been exposed to, and the tolerance showed an inverse relationship to the tissue metal level in the offspring. The latter indicates that the reduced tolerance was the result of an increased body burden prior to the tolerance quantification. The present study constitutes the first report in live-bearing fishes showing that maternal metal exposure has a wide range of negative impacts on the offspring. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1337–1344. © 2015 SETAC
Kruppel-associated box domain-associated protein-1 as a latency regulator for Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and its modulation by the viral protein kinase.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) has been linked to the development of Kaposi's sarcoma, a major AIDS-associated malignancy, and to hematologic malignancies including primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman's disease. Like other herpesviruses, KSHV is capable of both latent and lytic replication. Understanding the molecular details associated with this transition from latency to lytic replication is key to controlling virus spread and can impact the development of intervention strategies. Here, we report that KAP-1/TIF1β, a cellular transcriptional repressor that controls chromosomal remodeling, participates in the process of switching viral latency to lytic replication. Knockdown of KAP-1 by siRNA leads to KSHV reactivation mediated by K-Rta, a key transcriptional regulator. In cells harboring latent KSHV, KAP-1 was associated with the majority of viral lytic-gene promoters. K-Rta overexpression induced the viral lytic cycle with concomitant reduction of KAP-1 binding to viral promoters. Association of KAP-1 with heterochromatin was modulated by both sumoylation and phoshorylation. During lytic replication of KSHV, KAP-1 was phosphorylated at Ser824. Several lines of evidence directly linked the viral protein kinase (vPK) to this post-translational modification. Additional studies demonstrated that this phosphorylation of KAP-1 produced a decrease in its sumoylation, consequently decreasing the ability of KAP-1 to condense chromatin on viral promoters. In summary, the cellular transcriptional repressor KAP-1 plays a role in regulating KSHV latency, and vPK modulates the chromatin remodeling function of this repressor.
Through-Strata-Via (TSV) Parasitics and Wideband Modeling for Three-Dimensional Integration/Packaging

This letter reports on techniques of full-wave extractions and analytical calculations to investigate the through-strata-via (TSV) parasitics in 3-D integration/packaging. Both methods suggest close TSV RLGC results over the entire frequency range of interest. A wideband SPICE model is generated from the TSV electromagnetic solutions with good agreement for both magnitudes and phases of return loss and insertion loss. Further sensitivity analysis results indicate that the isolation layer thickness weighs most in the signal gain at 20 GHz. This letter provides some insight to TSV electrical characteristics and helps TSV physical design to maximize the benefits of 3-D systems.
Oral Histories in Meteoritics and Planetary Science – XX: Dale Cruikshank

– In this interview, Dale Cruikshank (Fig. 1) explains how as an undergraduate at Iowa State University he was a summer student at Yerkes Observatory where he assisted Gerard Kuiper in work on his Photographic Lunar Atlas. Upon completing his degree, Dale went to graduate school at the University of Arizona with Kuiper where he worked on the IR spectroscopy of the lunar surface. After an eventful 1968 trip to Moscow via Prague, during which the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia, Dale assumed a postdoc position with Vasili Moroz at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute and more observational IR astronomy. Upon returning to the United States and after a year at Arizona, Dale assumed a position at the University of Hawai’i that he held for 17 years. During this period Dale worked with others on thermal infrared determinations of the albedos of small bodies beyond the asteroid Main Belt, leading to the recognition that low-albedo material is prevalent in the outer solar system that made the first report of complex organic solids on a planetary body (Saturn’s satellite Iapetus). After moving to Ames Research Center, where he works currently, he continued this work and became involved in many outer solar system missions. Dale has served the community through his involvement in developing national policies for science-driven planetary exploration, being chair of the DPS 1990–1991 and secretary/treasurer for 1982–1985. He served as president of Commission 16 (Physics of Planets) of the IAU (2001–2003). He received the Kuiper prize in 2006. Figure 1. Dale P. Cruikshank. Download figure to PowerPoint
Neuron-Astrocyte Signaling Network in Spinal Cord Dorsal Horn Mediates Painful Neuropathy of Type 2 Diabetes

Activation of the neuronal–glial network in the spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH) mediates various chronic painful conditions. We studied spinal neuronal–astrocyte signaling interactions involved in the maintenance of painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) in type 2 diabetes. We used the db/db mouse, an animal model for PDN of type 2 diabetes, which develops mechanical allodynia from 6 to 12 wk of age. In this study, enhanced substance P expression was detected in the presynaptic sensory fibers innervating lamina I–III in the lumbar SCDH (LSCDH) of the db/db mouse at 10 wk of age. This phenomenon is associated with enhanced spinal ERK1/2 phosphorylation in projection sensory neurons and regional astrocyte activation. In addition, peak phosphorylation of the NR1 subunit of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), along with upregulation of neuronal and inducible nitric oxide synthase (nNOS and iNOS) expression were detected in diabetic mice. Expression of nNOS and iNOS was detected in both interneurons and astrocytes in lamina I–III of the LSCDH. Treatment with MK801, an NMDAR inhibitor, inhibited mechanical allodynia, ERK1/2 phosphorylation, and nNOS and iNOS upregulation in diabetic mice. MK801 also reduced astrocytosis and glial acidic fibrillary protein upregulation in db/db mice. In addition, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a nonspecific NOS inhibitor, had similar effects on NMDAR signaling and NOS expression. These results suggest that nitric oxide from surrounding interneurons and astrocytes interacts with NMDAR-dependent signaling in the projection neurons of the SCDH during the maintenance of PDN. V C 2012
Analysis of a Compact Modulator Incorporating a Hybrid Silicon/Electro-Optic Polymer Waveguide

The design and simulation of a novel resonant cavity optical modulator is presented in this paper. The device incorporates a hybrid silicon/electro-optic (EO) polymer slot waveguide in the cavity region with distributed Bragg reflectors in single-mode silicon waveguide regions at each end of the cavity to create a modulator with a large modulation depth, short device length, and a low drive voltage for use in future high-speed integrated optics applications. Full three-dimensional simulations of this device structure are computationally very expensive; therefore, the periodicity of the device has been exploited to allow for a cascade matrix approach to be employed to reduce the time and computational resources necessary for accurate simulation of light propagation during the optimization phase of the device design
In situ transmission electron microscopic investigations of reduction-oxidation reactions during densification of nickel nanoparticles

The consolidation of crystalline powders to obtain dense microstructures is typically achieved through a combination of volume and grain boundary diffusion. In situ transmission electron microscopy was utilized to study neck formation between adjacent nickel particles during the early stages of sintering. It was found that the presence of carbon during consolidation of Ni lowers the reduction temperature of nickel oxides on the particle surface and therefore has the potential to accelerate consolidation. In the absence of carbon, the surface oxides remain present during the early stage of sintering and neck formation between particles is limited by self-diffusion of nickel through the oxide layer. This study provides direct experimental evidence that corroborates related earlier hypotheses of self-cleaning on the surface of the nanoparticles that precedes neck formation and growth.
a Viable Methodology to Implement the Principles and Standards

: The “principles and standards for planning water and related land resources” were made effective October 25, 1973. The document was noticeably deficient in suggestions for the necessary implementing procedures to ensure its success. Current implementing procedures are based on an incorrect premise of maximizing a single objective subject to non-quantified constraints. A successful implementation of multiple objective planning requires optimizing simultaneously several competitive goals. A system of goal programming has been developed and applied to decisionmaking situations as a test of its usefulness in planning for multiple objective water resources projects. The result is a project planning process which can be replicated for adjustments in expected resource supplies or demands to provide a tradeoff matrix between economic and environmental objectives as well as traditional functional purposes. This procedure, tested on the Cross Florida Barge Canal, is an integrated analysis of economic and environmental values which may be as effective in implementing multiple objective planning as the “Green Book” was in developing the now inappropriate benefit cost analysis.
Thin film thickness determination using reflected spectrum sampling

This paper discusses an innovation in reflectometry that presents cost and implementation advantages over configurations currently in use. We demonstrate that the semi-continuous wavelength spectrum used by a spectroscopic reflectometer can be replaced with a small set of fixed wavelength optical sources with only a small loss in measurement accuracy. The resulting instrumentation is called a spectrum sampling reflectometer (SSR). Spectrum sampling can be achieved using inexpensive LEDs and/or lasers as the optical sources. Theoretical calculations for instrument accuracy are shown for both LEDs and lasers along with experimental data from a prototype system using LEDs.
Mistic 1.1: A Process Compiler for Micromachined Devices

This paper describes a systematic method for the automatic generation of fabrication processes of thin film micromachined devices. The method uses a partial order set (poset) representation of device topology to determine the order between its various components in the form of a directed acyclic graph. The sequence in which these components are fabricated is determined from the poset linear extensions, and the component sequence is expanded into a corresponding process flows. The synthesis procedure has been implemented in a computer program MISTIC which calculates specific process parameters using an internal database of process recipes, etchants, and materials. Currently MISTIC includes process modules for deposition, lithography, etching, ion implantation, and coupled simultaneous diffusion, and reactive growth. Several common micromachined devices have been compiled and compared with the reported processes.
Positioning Dynamic Storage Caches for Transient Data

Simulations, experiments and observatories are generating a deluge of scientific data. Even more staggering is the ever growing application demand to process and assimilate these datasets. Application users perform a range of data operations, collaborate and share data in many novel ways. The current storage landscape is struggling to keep up with these trends in scientific data processing. Application users pay the price due to over-crowded shared filesystems, or expensive storage area networks, or not enough local storage, or high-latency archival or wide-area transfers. In order to sustain and maximize I/O bandwidth relative to increasing CPU speeds, applications must take advantage of large amounts of intermediate commodity storage, However, intermediate storage presents new challenges above and beyond the traditional distributed file system paradigm: persistent scheduling, storage/CPU coallo-cation, namespace management, lifetime management, and novel application interfaces. In this paper, we describe applications that require intermediate storage management, suggest several open research problems, and illustrate two systems - Freeloader and Tactical Storage - that attack different aspects of these problems
SAR speckle reduction using wavelet denoising and Markov random field modeling

The granular appearance of speckle noise in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery makes it very difficult to visually and automatically interpret SAR data. Therefore, speckle reduction is a prerequisite for many SAR image processing tasks. In this paper, we develop a speckle reduction algorithm by fusing the wavelet Bayesian denoising technique with Markov-random-field-based image regularization. Wavelet coefficients are modeled independently and identically by a two-state Gaussian mixture model, while their spatial dependence is characterized by a Markov random field imposed on the hidden state of Gaussian mixtures. The Expectation-Maximization algorithm is used to estimate hyperparameters and specify the mixture model, and the iterated-conditional-modes method is implemented to optimize the state configuration. The noise-free wavelet coefficients are finally estimated by a shrinkage function based on local weighted averaging of the Bayesian estimator. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms standard wavelet denoising techniques in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio and the equivalent-number-of-looks measures in most cases. It also achieves better performance than the refined Lee filter.
An emergency medical services program to promote the health of older adults.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility and effect of an emergency medical services (EMS) program that screened, educated, and referred older adults with unmet needs. DESIGN: A cluster sample design evaluation of an intervention conducted by EMS in one of two communities. SETTING: Two rural communities in upstate New York. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred fifty-eight interventiongroup and 143 control-group community-dwelling older adults receiving emergency care from participating EMS agencies between February 2004 and June 2005. INTERVENTION: EMS providers screened intervention group patients to identify those at risk for falls, influenza, and pneumococcal infections and provided patients educational materials. Patients’ physicians were notified of screening results to provide interventions. Control group patients were provided usual care. MEASUREMENTS: Variables included patient demographic and clinical characteristics, the proportion of eligible patients screened, patient risk during EMS care and 14 days later, and patient recollection of receiving educational materials and conversations with physicians regarding needs. RESULTS: Follow-up was successful in 245 (61%) patients. Approximately 80% of intervention-group patients were successfully screened for each item. No differences were identified for characteristics collected at the time of EMS care, but a notable number of patients were at risk for each item. No differences existed between the control or intervention group for process measures such as recollection of receiving educational materials. For outcome measures, only an improvement in pneumococcal vaccination levels was found. CONCLUSION: EMS screening of older adults during emergency responses is feasible, but a simple intervention of providing educational materials to patients during emergency responses and faxing notifications to physicians appears insufficient to address patients’ needs. J Am Geriatr Soc 54:956–962, 2006.
Lateral Mixing in the Pycnocline by Baroclinic Mixed Layer Eddies

Using a process study model, the effect of mixed layer submesoscale instabilities on the lateral mixing of passive tracers in the pycnocline is explored. Mixed layer eddies that are generated from the baroclinic instabilityofafrontwithinthemixedlayerarefoundtopenetrate intothepycnoclineleadingtoaneddyingflow field that acts to mix properties laterally along isopycnal surfaces. The mixing of passive tracers released on such isopycnal surfaces is quantified by estimating the variance of the tracer distribution over time. The evolution of the tracer variance reveals that the flow undergoes three different turbulent regimes. The first regime, lasting about 3‐4 days (about 5 inertial periods) exhibits near-diffusive behavior; dispersion of the tracer grows nearly linearly with time. In the second regime, which lasts for about 10 days (about 14 inertial periods), tracer dispersion exhibits exponential growth because of the integrated action of high strain rates created by the instabilities. In the third regime, tracer dispersion follows Richardson’s power law. The Nakamura effective diffusivity is used to study the role of individual dynamical filaments in lateral mixing. The filaments, which carry a high concentration of tracer, are characterized by the coincidence of large horizontal strain rate with large vertical vorticity. Within filaments, tracer is sheared without being dispersed, and consequently the effective diffusivity is small in filaments. While the filament centers act as barriers to transport, eddy fluxes are enhanced at the filament edges where gradients are large.
A two-dimensional palletizing procedure for warehouse loading operations

Abstract A common warehouse/distribution problem is the unitization of pallet loads. A linear programming model has been developed to determine optimal stacking patterns on the basis of the dimensions of the boxes that constitute the load. The desired dimensions of the finished load may be user specified. No restriction is placed on the number of boxes of various types that may be loaded. The developed model is two-dimensional and assumes that all boxes have the same height.
Eddy viscosity of cellular flows by upscaling

The eddy viscosity is the tensor in the equation that governs the transport of the large-scale (modulational) perturbations of small-scale stationary flows. As an approximation to eddy viscosity the effective tensor, that arises in the limit as the ratio between the scales e → 0, can be considered. We are interested here in the accuracy of this approximation. We present results of computational investigation of eddy viscosity, when the small-scale flows are cellular, special periodic stationary flows with the stream function φ = sin y1 sin y2 + δ cos y1 cos y2, y = x/e, 0 ≤ δ ≤ 1. For small e we used a numerical upscaling method. We designed this method so that it captures the modulational perturbations for any e with O(e2) accuracy and independent of e complexity.
DNA Biosynthesis in Chloroplasts II. DEVELOPMENTAL VARIATION IN TTP INCORPORATION INTO DNA BY PLASTID EXTRACTS

Etude de l'incorporation de TTP tritie dans l'ADN par des extraits chloroplastiques obtenus a differents stades du developpement foliaire
Pharmacokinetic Basis of Age-Related Changes in Sensitivity to Toxicants

The elderly represent the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States and other developed countries. Demographic studies estimate that 20% of the population will be "elderly", over the age of 65, by the year 2030 (1). This represents a gradual increase from 1950 to 1980 when 8% and 12%, respectively, of the population were 65 or older (2). Those aged 85 and over constitute the fastest growing segment of the population and this segment is expected to triple between 1980 and 2020 (3). In fact, a life expectancy of 81 years for females and 73 years for males appears likely within the next 10 years (4). Since the elderly have the highest incidence of illness, they require a disproportionate share of health care services. As an example, the elderly as a group are the major users of prescription drugs (5), The incidence of idiosyncratic or adverse drug reactions in this group is elevated as compared to the general population (6-8). While this may be due in part to issues of polypharmacy and compliance (9, 10), both the nature of drug response as well as the frequency of adverse drug reactions clearly increase with age (11,
Charles L. Scott, MD: Music, Military, and Medicine

There are rare instances for each of us when we meet someone who dramatically changes the course of our lives. For me, this occurred as a third-year resident in Seattle, Washington, in 2008. After hearing Charles Scott lecture at the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) Forensic
Microstructural Refinement in Steels by Machining

A study has been made of microstructure and hardness of machining chips created from commercially pure iron and carbon steels. Large shear strains imposed during chip formation in machining are found to produce significant microstructure refinement in the chips, resulting in higher hardness compared to the bulk. Transmission electron and scanning electron microscopy have shown the chips to consist entirely of ultra-fine grain structures with ferrite grain sizes in the range of 100-800 nm. With high carbon steels, the microstructure of the bulk material prior to machining is also seen to have a significant influence on the characteristics of the chip.
The Demand for Food in Spain: Economic and Demographic Effects

Abstract The evolution of food consumption in Spain is described in this paper. The Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) has been used to analyse the food demand structure with pooled data for the October 1989-September 1992 period. Socioeconomic variables have been introduced. Results provide the estimated parameters for prices, total expenditure and demographic variables. Particular emphasis has been placed on analysing changes for the typical products which are part of the Mediterranean diet. Policy and marketing considerations are provided to correct unhealthy dietary trends.
A discussion of the classes Chlamydophyceae and Chlorophyceae and their subordinate taxa

The diagnostic characters alleged byEttl (1981) andEttl &Komarek (1982) to distinguish the ClassesChlamydophyceae andChlorophyceae are discussed. The recognition of these classes ignores ultrastructural evidence of the close phylogenetic relationships of their members and produces an artificial redistribution of orders, families, and genera that can only lead to confusion in the taxonomy of the green algae. Suggestions for a more natural classification are made.
Multilayered polymer-coated carbon nanotubes to deliver dasatinib.

Multilayered, multifunctional polymer coatings were grafted onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using a one-pot, ring-opening polymerization in order to control the release kinetic and therapeutic efficacy of dasatinib. Biocompatible, biodegradable multilayered coatings composed of poly(glycolide) (PGA) and poly(lactide) (PLA) were polymerized directly onto hydroxyl-functionalized CNT surfaces. Sequential addition of monomers into the reaction vessel enabled multilayered coatings of PLA-PGA or PGA-PLA. Poly(ethylene glycol) capped the polymer chain ends, resulting in a multifunctional amphiphilic coating. Multilayer polymer coatings on CNTs enabled control of the anticancer drug dasatinib’s release kinetics and enhanced the in vitro therapeutic efficacy against U-87 glioblastoma compared to monolayer polymer coatings.
Education, values and ethics in international heritage: learning to respect

The book offers a critical view of eurocentric notions of museum practice and illustrates that the contemporary era is using a more inclusive and hybrid way of guiding curatorial work and artifact ...
Accurate measurement of cartilage morphology using a 3d laser scanner

We describe a method to accurately assess articular cartilage morphology using the three-dimensional laser scanning technology. Traditional methods to obtain ground truth for validating the assessment of cartilage morphology from MR images have relied on water displacement, anatomical sections obtained with a high precision band saw, stereophotogrammetry, manual segmentation, and phantoms of known geometry. However, these methods are either limited to overall measurements such as volume and area, require an extensive setup and a highly skilled operator, or are prone to artifacts due to tissue sectioning. Alternatively, 3D laser scanning is an established technology that can provide high resolution range images of cartilage and bone surfaces. We present a method to extract these surfaces from scanned range images, register them spatially, and combine them into a single surface representing the articular cartilage from which volume, area, and thickness can be computed. We validated the laser scanning approach using a knee model which was covered with a synthetic articular cartilage model and compared the computed volume against water displacement measurements. Using this method, the volume of articular cartilage in five sets of cadaver knees was compared to volume estimates obtained from segmentation of MR images.
Benzene toxicokinetics in humans

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the toxicokinetic effects of benzene in humans. Benzene is a human carcinogen, and chronic exposure to benzene at high levels in the workplace leads to the bone marrow depression and aplastic anemia. It also acts as an agent of acute myelogenous leukemia and some of its variants. Humans are more susceptible to the leukemogenic potential of benzene than most animal species. At very high concentrations, it induces acute toxicity to the central nervous system. The liver is the major organ involved in benzene metabolism and the bone marrow is the target site for benzene toxicity. Hepatic metabolites are carried via the bloodstream to the bone marrow, where they accumulate and undergo further transformations. In situ bone marrow metabolism also contributes to benzene toxicity. Ring opening of benzene oxide leads to trans, trans-muconaldehyde. Muconaldehyde is cytotoxic and involved in benzene toxicity. The chapter discusses several models that further describe the toxicokinetics of benzene in humans.
The Internet in “Their” Language: South Korea and the Internationalizing Web

Abstract For most of the World Wide Web's history, Web developers and users have been restricted to the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) to create and access websites by title/Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Over roughly the last fifteen years, an international group of hardware and software experts, coordinated in part by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has created a workaround that allows for top-level Web domain names to be writable and readable in character sets other than ASCII, including Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, and Greek. But rather than prompting a discrete switch from one dominant language (English) to many, this development has prompted increasing linguistic complexity as internationalized sites include both English and more regional/local languages to fulfill rhetorical purposes. This article extends earlier research on Web internationalization and multilingualism by focusing on South Korea, which is simultaneously highly Internet connected and highly monolingual. Genre and linguistic analysis of three websites in Korean domains reveals language contact across “content” and “functional” areas in website layouts. Analysis suggests ongoing work across computing devices as well as research using diverse methodologies.
Role of the Immune Response in Disease Progression and Therapy in Multiple Myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic cancer derived from malignant plasma cells within the bone marrow. Unlike most solid tumors, which originate from epithelial cells, the myeloma tumor is a plasma cell derived from the lymphoid cell lineage originating from a post-germinal B-cell. As such, the MM plasma cell represents an integral component of the immune system in terms of both antibody production and antigen presentation, albeit not efficiently. This fundamental difference has significant implications when one considers the implications of immunotherapy. In the case of lymphoid malignancies such as myeloma, immune-based strategies must take into consideration this important difference, potentially necessitating immunotherapy targeted toward MM to be altered from that targeted at solid tumors. Typically, the immune system “surveys” cells within our body and is able to recognize and attack cancerous cells that may arise. However, some cancer cells are able to evade immune surveillance and continue to flourish, causing disease. The major mechanism leading to an effective tumor-specific response is one that enables effective antigen processing and presentation with subsequent T-cell activation, expansion, and effective trafficking to the tumor site. Plasma cells employ several mechanisms to escape immune surveillance which include altered interactions with T-cells, DCs, bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC’s), and natural killer cells (NK Cells) that can be mediated by immunosuppressive cells such as and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC’s) and cytokines such as IL-10, TGFβ, and IL-6 as well as down-regulation of the antigen processing machinery. Many therapies have been developed to reestablish a functional immune system in MM patients. These include adoptive T-cell therapies to deliver more tumor-specific T-cells, vaccines to increase the tumor-specific precursor frequency of the endogenous T-cell population, immunomodulatory agents (IMiDs) such as thalidomide and lenalidomide to enhance global endogenous immunity, immunostimulatory cytokines, and antibodies to specifically target tumor-specific cell-surface proteins or cytokines. This review will dissect these various approaches currently being explored in MM as well as highlight some future directions for myeloma-specific immune-based strategies.