cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamic beam filtering for miscentered patients.

Purpose Accurate centering of the patient within the bore of a CT scanner takes time and is often difficult to achieve precisely. Patient miscentering can result in significant dose and image noise penalties with the use of traditional bowtie filters. This work describes a system to dynamically position an x-ray beam filter during image acquisition to enable more consistent image performance and potentially lower dose needed for CT imaging. Methods We propose a new approach in which two orthogonal low-dose scout images are used to estimate a parametric model of the object describing its shape, size, and location within the field of view (FOV). This model is then used to compute an optimal filter motion profile by minimizing the variance of the expected detector fluence for each projection. Dynamic filtration was implemented on a cone-beam CT (CBCT) test bench using two different physical filters: 1) an aluminum bowtie and 2) a structured binary filter called a multiple aperture device (MAD). Dynamic filtration performance was compared to a static filter in studies of dose and reconstruction noise as a function of the degree of miscentering of a homogeneous water phantom. Results Estimated filter trajectories were found to be largely sinusoidal with an amplitude proportional to the amount of miscentering. Dynamic filtration demonstrated an improved ability to keep the spatial distribution of dose and reconstruction noise at baseline levels across varying levels of miscentering, reducing the maximum noise and dose deviation from 53% to 15% and 42% to 14% respectively for the bowtie filter, and 25% to 8% and 24% to 15% respectively for the MAD filter. Conclusion Dynamic positioning of beam filters during acquisition improves dose utilization and image quality over static filters for miscentered patients. Such dynamic filters relax positioning requirements and have the potential to reduce set-up time and lower dose requirements.
Molecular Quantum Electrodynamics of Radiation-Induced Intermolecular Forces

Abstract Recent advances in laser technology have resulted in new phenomena involving radiation-induced interparticle forces being observed such as the cooling, trapping and manipulation of atoms and molecules, and their optical binding. The study of the last mentioned of these processes from a theoretical standpoint is the subject of the present article. This is carried out within the framework of nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics, whose background is first explicated. Because light modifies the intermolecular potential, a brief summary of the calculation of the retarded van der Waals dispersion energy between a pair of molecules is given. This is followed by the evaluation of the radiation-induced energy shift using two different physical viewpoints and calculational techniques. One involves fourth-order, diagrammatic, time-dependent perturbation theory, whereas the other entails the coupling of electric dipole moments at each center induced by the externally applied radiation field. Identical results are obtained for interaction energies for two identified mechanisms—dynamic and static. The contribution to the optical binding force arising from coupling of chiral molecules is also derived in order to ascertain whether discriminatory effects occur. This is done through the fluctuating moment method. Applications of the theory are then made to spherical and cylindrical nanoparticles by investigating the topology of the potential energy surface. Regions where forces and torques are maximized, minimized, and vanish are identified, as well as conditions under which particle array formation is favored. The effect of broadband, or coherent, or Laguerre–Gaussian radiation, in addition to a second counter-propagating beam, on the energy shift is also examined.
Transcriptional regulation during myelopoiesis

The coordinated production of all blood cells from a common stem cell is a highly regulated process involving successive stages of commitment and differentiation. From analyses of mice deficient in transcription factor genes and from the characterizations of chromosome breakpoints in human leukemias, it has become evident that transcription factors are important regulators of hematopoiesis. During myelopoiesis, which includes the development of granulocytic and monocytic lineages, transcription factors from several families are active, including AML1/CBF beta, C/EBP, Ets, c-Myb, HOX, and MZF-1. Few of these factors are expressed exclusively in myeloid cells; instead it appears that they cooperatively regulate transcription of myeloid-specific genes. Here we discuss recent advances in transcriptional regulation during myelopoiesis.
Stability and Spiraling of Solutions

The chapter focuses on the system of n equations where w ( t ) is n -dimensional Brownian motion. However, all the results remain valid if w ( t) is Z -dimensional Brownian motion. The chapter considers a system of n + 1 equations: d ξ i = 1 σ is (ξ, ŋ ) dw s + b i (ξ, ŋ ) dt such that 1 ≤ i ≤n and dŋ = 1 σ 0s (ξ, ŋ ) dω s + b o (ξ, ŋ ) dt and presents the assumption that the last equation degenerates on the hyperplane y = 0 , that is, σ 0s ,( x , 0) = 0, b 0 ( x , 0) = 0 if | x | o . The chapter also focuses on the case where n = 2 and highlights the angular behavior of solutions near a stable obstacle. It illustrates the spiraling of solutions about a point obstacle and any obstacle. It also discusses spiraling for a linear stochastic system.
Heater Probe for Endoscopic Hemostasis of Bleeding Peptic Ulcers

Endoscopic heater probe coagulation is a newer technique for hemostasis of ulcers and other nonvariceal lesions. For hemostasis of peptic ulcers, a standardized technique is recommended, which includes a large diameter probe (3.2 mm), firm tamponade directly on the active bleeding site or nonbleeding visible vessel, and coagulation with 120 J (four 30-J pulses) before changing the probe position. Coagulation with either the tip or side of the heater probe is feasible. Several randomized controlled studies have demonstrated that patients with major stigmata of ulcer hemorrhage have significantly better outcomes after endoscopic heater probe coagulation than with medical management.
Increasing nitroxide lifetime in cells to enable in-cell protein structure and dynamics measurements by electron spin resonance spectroscopy.

Abstract There is increasing evidence that the stability, structure, dynamics, and function of many proteins differ in cells versus in vitro. The determination of protein structure and dynamics within the native cellular environment may lead to better understanding of protein behavior. Electron spin resonance (ESR) has emerged as a technique that can report on protein structure and dynamics within cells. Nitroxide based spin labels are capable of reporting on protein dynamics, structure, and backbone flexibility but are limited due to nitroxide reduction occurring in cells. In order to overcome this limitation, we used the oxidizing agent potassium ferricyanide (K3Fe(CN)6) as well as the cleavage resistant spin label 3-malemido-PROXYL (5-MSL). Furthermore, we hypothesized that injection concentration is an important parameter regarding nitroxide reduction kinetics. By increasing the injection concentration of doubly 5-MSL labeled protein into Xenopus laevis oocytes, we found an increased nitroxide lifetime. Our work demonstrates unprecedented incubation times of 3-h in-cell and 5-h in-cytosol for double electron–electron resonance (DEER) experiments using nitroxide spin labels. This allows for more meaningful measurements of larger protein systems which may require longer incubation times for equilibration in the cellular milieu. Even longer incubation times are possible by combining our approach with more shielded nitroxides and Q-band.
Food Security and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Participation Associated with Home Availability and Preschool Child Consumption of 100% Fruit Juice

Preschool children consume more than the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of 4–6 oz of 100% fruit juice (FJ) per day. This study analyzed the association of food security and Supplemen...
Decision Making in Title IX Investigations: A Hypothesis Testing Approach to Overcome Cognitive Bias

Title IX investigations have been controversial and much of the scrutiny has been on legal dimensions such as thresholds of proof or cross-examining witnesses. However, another important issue is the accurate and unbiased processing of the information. This chapter discusses a well-known heuristic error known as confirmation bias and presents a methodology for potentially controlling for this bias in Title IX investigations. A hypothesis testing model in which competing hypotheses are developed and disconfirming or confirming information is delineated antecedently is presented. This chapter also discussed the difficulty of making final judgments which is also complicated by the lack of development of clear markers of sexual misconduct or of false allegations.
Comparison of Microstructural Response to Heat Treatment of Inconel 718 Prepared by Three Different Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes

Optimization of metallic components fabricated from age hardenable alloys relies on the use of effective heat treatments. As additive manufacturing (AM) is taking its place as “another tool in the toolbox” for fabrication of metallic components, numerous processes are under development differing mainly by the starting feedstock and heat source. In parallel with these efforts is the optimization of the post-processing heat treatment to obtain the required properties. Due to differences in the various processes, it is expected that different microstructures will form in the AM specimens possibly affecting the mechanical behavior. To address optimization of heat treatments requires an understanding of how the starting microstructure responds to heat treatments. This study looks at inherent differences in the response of Inconel 718 to heat treatments developed for wrought 718. Three different AM processes were used to fabricate the samples in this study.
Amorphous Manganese Oxides: An Approach for Reversible Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries

Crystalline manganese oxides have attracted the most attention in aqueous zinc-ion batteries due to their diverse nanostructures and low cost. However, extensive studies on amorphous manganese oxid...
Laparoscopic Approach for Gallstone Ileus in Geriatric Patients.

We report two patients who presented with small bowel obstruction secondary to gallstones in the ileum. Both patients were geriatric women with multiple comorbidities. The first patient was a 73-year-old woman who presented with a gallstone eroding and obstructing the duodenum (Bouveret's syndrome) secondary to gallbladder cancer with diffuse metastatic spread to the liver. The stone was disimpacted endoscopically using lithotripsy. The patient presented two days later after the stone had migrated downstream into the small bowel causing obstruction requiring surgical intervention. Second patient was an 81-year-old woman who presented with small bowel obstruction caused by a gallbladder stone impacted in the distal ileum. Both patients were managed laparoscopically with a mini laparotomy to extract the affected segment of bowel loop via small incision on the anterior abdominal wall at the port site with enterolithotomy. Both patients were discharged by postoperative day four with no complications. We conclude that, in elderly patients with multiple comorbidities presenting with gallstone ileus, laparoscopic approach provides early recovery with minimal pain.
R2AD: Randomization and Reconstructor-based Adversarial Defense for Deep Neural Networks

Machine learning (ML) has been widely adopted in a plethora of applications ranging from simple time-series forecasting to computer security and autonomous systems. Despite the robustness by the ML algorithms against random noise, it has been shown that inclusion of specially crafted perturbations to the input data termed as adversarial samples can lead to a significant degradation in the ML performance. Existing defenses to mitigate or minimize the impact of adversarial samples including adversarial training or randomization are confined to specific categories of adversaries, compute-intensive and/or often lead to reduce performance even without adversaries. To overcome the shortcomings of the existing works on adversarial defense, we propose a two-stage adversarial defense technique (R2 AD). To thwart the exploitation of the deep neural network by the attacker, we first include a random nullification (RNF) layer. The RNF nullifies/removes some of the features from the input randomly to reduce the impact of adversarial noise and minimizes attacker's feasibility to extract the model parameters. However, the removal of input features through RNF leads to a reduction in the performance of the ML. As an antidote, we equip the network with a Reconstructor. The Reconstructor primarily contributes to reconstructing the input data by utilizing an autoencoder network, but based on the distribution of the normal samples, thereby improving the performance, and also being robust to the adversarial noise. We evaluated the performance of proposed multi-stage R2 AD on the MNIST digits and Fashion-MNIST datasets against multiple adversarial attacks including FGSM, JSMA, BIM, Deepfool, and CW attacks. Our findings report improvements as high as 80% in the performance compared to the existing defenses such as adversarial training and randomization-based defense.
Postponement as Precedent

Is a punt by the U.S. Supreme Court ever really just a punt? Is doctrinal precedent the only power wielded by the Court’s decisions? What lessons can civil rights scholars and activists learn from the Court’s postponement of doctrinal decisions that touch on raging cultural battles? Many commentators and scholars contend that the Court’s postponement of a doctrinal decision — a punt — has little impact. Rather, these commentators and scholars frame this kind of decision as “narrow” and of little value to civil rights advocates moving forward. The project of this Article is to put this theory to the test. It answers the foregoing questions in the specific context of the Religious Right’s persistent campaign for religious exemptions from state antidiscrimination law as manifested in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Division. In brief, the Article concludes that precedent comes in various forms, including legal precedent and social precedent. The Article focuses on the social precedent created by a Court decision — the extent to which “law” impacts the social setting in which people think about and reason through difficult subjects, like the proper balance between principles of antidiscrimination and religious liberty. The Court’s avoidance of a merits decision is, in fact, a positive, expressive act; because “[m]eaning is contested and struggled for in the interstices,” the Court’s mere act of avoiding the merits itself creates social meaning of constitutional consequence. Postponement, then, creates social-meaning precedent. This Article describes the likely consequences of this social precedent in Masterpiece and offers concrete suggestions for the LGBT-rights movement to effectively contest that social meaning and prepare for the case in which the Court does reach the merits of the issue.
The influence of spatial resolution on NO2-attributable pediatric asthma burden estimates at the global, national, and urban scale

Recent studies have shown significant effects of surface NO2 on pediatric asthma incidence in children (<18 years old). Researchers have estimated the NO2-attributable pediatric asthma burden globa...
Ethanol(nitrato)[tris­(4-cyano-3-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)hydroborato]nickel(II)

The synthesis and structure is reported of TpPh,4CNNi(NO3)(EtOH) or [Ni(C30H19BN9)(NO3)(C2H6O)], the first half-sandwich complex of a cyano­scorpionate ligand. The pseudo­octa­hedral coordination sphere of the NiII ion is comprised of a tridentate tris­(4-cyano-3-phenyl­pyrazol­yl)borate ligand, a bidentate nitrate ligand and a neutral ethanol ligand. The phenyl substituents on the TpPh,4CN ligand are relatively parallel to the planes of the ethanol and nitrate ligands. An inter­molecular hydrogen-bonding inter­action is evident between the ethanol OH group and the pyrazole CN substituent. The ethanol ligand was modeled with a 0.572 (13)/0.428 (13) disorder of the methyl C atom.
Battery Voltage Prediction Using Neural Networks

The battery voltage prediction is critical to model predictive controls for the safe and efficient operation of battery systems. This paper presents a comprehensive study using a long-short-term-memory-based method to predict the battery voltage with past voltage and forecasted current and SOC information. Unlike prior art using many-to-one architecture, a many-to-many architecture was used with test data representing three temperatures. Battery-controller-accessible inputs were also selected. Further, the effectiveness of normalization for voltage prediction was investigated. The results show the temperature has no noticeable impact on the prediction accuracy. The lowest RMSE obtained from the 0 °C case is 0.0997. With having both inputs and output already on a similar scale, applying data normalization didn't provide any consistent accuracy improvement across the three selected temperatures.
Design and Preliminary Evaluation of the AID Vest: An Automatic Inflatable Wearable Device for Anxiety Reduction

Deep pressure therapy (DPT) has been widely applied as a form of anxiety relief in children and adults, commonly through the use of heavy weighted vests and blankets. Past work shows that manually-inflated vests can have a similar calming effect on the user. However, current DPT methods present challenges in portability and timely application. In this paper, we propose and design an automatic inflatable vest with the potential for improved convenience compared to past DPT solutions. Preliminary results show that our proposed methods for measuring and inducing anxiety in a future empirical study of the vest are viable, and that the vest may reduce anxiety more than a control (no device) condition. This work can benefit other researchers who are interested in anxiety management, wearable haptic devices, and soft robotics applications.
Ab Initio Simulations of Poorly and Well Equilibrated (CH3CN)n- Cluster Anions: Assigning Experimental Photoelectron Peaks to Surface-Bound Electrons and Solvated Monomer and Dimer Anions.

Excess electrons in liquid acetonitrile are of particular interest because they exist in two different forms in equilibrium: they can be present as traditional solvated electrons in a cavity, and they can form some type of solvated molecular anion. Studies of small acetonitrile cluster anions in the gas phase show two isomers with distinct vertical detachment energies, and it is tempting to presume that the two gas-phase cluster anion isomers are precursors of the two excess electron species present in bulk solution. In this paper, we perform DFT-based ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of acetonitrile cluster anions to understand the electronic species that are present and why they have different binding energies. Using a long-range-corrected density functional that was optimally tuned to describe acetonitrile cluster anion structures, we have theoretically explored the chemistry of (CH3CN)n- cluster anions with sizes n = 5, 7, and 10. Because the temperature of the experimental cluster anions is not known, we performed two sets of simulations that investigated how the way in which the cluster anions are prepared affects the excess electron binding motif: one set of simulations simply attached excess electrons to neutral (CH3CN)n clusters, providing little opportunity for the clusters to relax in the presence of the excess electron, while the other set allowed the cluster anions to thermally equilibrate near room temperature. We find that both sets of simulations show three distinct electron binding motifs: electrons can attach to the surface of the cluster (dipole-bound) or be present either as solvated monomer anions, CH3CN-, or as solvated molecular dimer anions, (CH3CN)2-. All three species have higher binding energies at larger cluster sizes. Thermal equilibration strongly favors the formation of the valence-bound molecular anions relative to surface-bound excess electrons, and the dimer anion becomes more stable than the monomer anion and surface-bound species as the cluster size increases. The calculated photoelectron spectra from our simulations in which there was poor thermal equilibration are in good agreement with experiment, suggesting assignment of the two experimental cluster anion isomers as the surface-bound electron and the solvated molecular dimer anion. The simulations also suggest that the shoulder seen experimentally on the low-energy isomer's detachment peak is not part of a vibronic progression but instead results from molecular monomer anions. Nowhere in the size range that we explore do we see evidence for a nonvalence, cavity-bound interior-solvated electron, indicating that this species is likely only accessible at larger sizes with good thermal equilibration.
Gastrostomy and Jejunostomy

Abstract Radiologically guided enteral feeding tube placement encompasses a wide variety of image-guided interventions. The indications, contraindications, and steps to performing enteral feeding tube insertion under radiologic guidance are described. A comparative description of the wide variety of tube types is included, in terms of various tube design and tube location. Commonly encountered issues at insertion and with tube maintenance are outlined. Radiologically inserted enteral feeding tubes are central to contemporary health care. An awareness of the gamut of tube designs and locations is key to providing a comprehensive enteral feeding tube insertion service. The minimally invasive nature of radiologic insertion ensures that radiologists are well placed to enhance patient care in enteral feeding.
The second language acquisition of French tense, aspect, mood and modality

Temporal-aspectual systems have a great potential of informing our understanding of the developing competence of second language learners. So far, the vast majority of empirical studies investigating L2 acquisition have largely focused on past temporality, neglecting the acquisition of the expression of the present and future temporalities with rare exceptions (aside from ESL learners), leaving unanswered the question of how the investigation of different types of temporality may inform our understanding of the acquisition of temporal, aspectual and mood systems as a whole. This monograph addresses this question by focusing on three main objectives: a) to contribute to the already impressive body of research in the L2 acquisition of tense, aspect and mood/modality from a generative perspective, and in so doing to present a more complete picture of the processes of L2 acquisition in general; b) to bridge the gap between linguistic theory and L2 acquisition; c) to make empirical findings more accessible to language instructors by proposing concrete pedagogical applications.
Specificity of IgE antibodies to sequential epitopes of hen's egg ovomucoid as a marker for persistence of egg allergy.

Background: Approximately two-thirds of egg-allergic infants become tolerant within the first 5 years of life. Objective: We sought (1) to compare the recognition of sequential (linear) and conformational binding sites of ovomucoid, ovalbumin and ovotransferrin, by IgE antibodies of children with persistent and transient egg allergy, (2) to identify immunodominant IgE-and IgG-binding epitopes of ovomucoid, and (3) to compare epitope-specificity of IgE antibodies between patients with differing natural histories of egg allergy. Methods: Using immunodot-blots or ImmunoCAPs, IgE-antibodies against conformational (native) and sequential (reduced and alkylated) egg proteins were determined at the time of clinical reactivity in patients who retained their allergy and in those who developed clinical tolerance. IgE- and IgG-binding epitopes were mapped for ovomucoid using overlapping decapeptides on SPOTs membranes. Recognition of the major IgE-binding epitopes were compared between patients with differing natural histories of egg allergy. Results: The patients with long-lasting egg allergy had a higher concentrations of IgE antibodies against sequential and native ovomucoid and ovalbumin than the children who subsequently gained tolerance (P < 0.01). Four major IgE-binding epitopes were identified in ovomucoid at amino acid 1–10, 9–20, 47–56, and 113–124. IgE antibodies of all seven patients with persistent egg allergy recognized these epitopes whereas none of the 11 children who outgrew their egg allergy did so. Conclusions: Patients with persistent egg allergy develop IgE antibodies against more sequential and conformational epitopes of ovomucoid and ovalbumin. The presence of serum IgE antibodies to specific sequential epitopes of ovomucoid may be used as a screening instrument for persistent egg allergy.
The challenge of interpreting environmental tracer concentrations in fractured rock and carbonate aquifers

Atmospheric environmental tracers are constituents and dissolved gases (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons, isotopes of hydrogen, helium, carbon, and oxygen) that are entrained in precipitation and recharged to groundwater. Often the time-varying atmospheric concentrations or processes affecting their evolution in groundwater are used with simplified conceptual models of groundwater flow to estimate residence times, which can then be used to infer velocity, recharge, and properties affecting chemical transport. For example, translating concentrations to residence time (measured in years) is often conducted using concepts of plug flow, binary mixtures of groundwater, and simple models of recharge and flow (Cook and Herczeg 2000). Successful interpretations of environmental tracer concentrations have been widely reported for unconsolidated, porous-media aquifers, and residence times have been introduced as calibration targets using particle-tracking methods in regional flow models (Sanford et al. 2004). To a lesser extent, interpretations of environmentaltracer concentrations have been applied to fractured-rock aquifers and carbonate formations that have been subject to karstification (Cook and Simmons 2000; Long and Putnam 2006). Such aquifers offer a degree of geologic complexity that exceeds that of porous-media aquifers. Consequently, methods of interpreting environmentaltracer concentrations commonly applied in porous media may not be applicable to fractured rock and carbonate aquifers (herein collectively referred to as fractured rock). The purpose of this article is to highlight those processes that affect environmental tracers in fractured rock, identify deficiencies in applying interpretive methods commonly used in porous media, and suggest alternative approaches for interpreting environmental-tracer concentrations to better understand the regional hydrogeology of fracturedrock aquifers.
Alternative Measures of Asian Labor Markets after the Asian Financial Crisis

As part of research on the causes and consequences of the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s, this paper aims to examine what happened to Asian labor markets in the aftermath of the financial crisis. For this purpose, the paper begins by surveying the conventional practice of the standard labor force statistics in selected Asian countries. After examining various problems associated with this conventional measure, the author introduces a series of alternative frameworks such as the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)’ multiple unemployment rates series and the International Labor Office (ILO)’s Labor Underutilization Frameworks, both of which are designed to gauge both quantity and quality aspects of underemployment of labor. The paper then attempts to use these alternative frameworks in analyzing the Asian labor markets in order to show how the Asian labor markets were drastically changed under the dire environments of ongoing structural adjustment process after the financial crisis. The analysis in this paper reveals that the ‘economic recovery’ in Asia (particularly in Korea), if any, was not accompanied by comparable improvements in the quality and quantity of employment, and that the number of discouraged and marginally attached workers, together with involuntarily part-time workers have been continuously rising. The paper also shows that the vast majority of employed workers are under time-, income- and/or skill-related inadequate employment situations and this labor underutilization persists even after the financial crisis was over.
The lag relationship between wholesale and consumer prices

Abstract This paper examines the lag distribution relating wholesale to consumer price changes. Sims' causality test indicates a one-sided lag structure. Following Hatanaka and Wallace, parameters of the lag distribution which can be estimated with relatively high precision are emphasized. Thus, our concern is with the sum of coefficients and the first four moments of the distribution. Short-run effects are estimated from lag moments using Pearson's method for equating moments. As a smoothness prior, a Beta distribution in the lag weights is suggested. Tests for bias due to missing components in the wholesale price index indicate little is lost because of misspecification.
Type Theory as a Foundation for Computer Science

We discuss some of the boons as well as shortcomings of constructive type theory as a foundation for computer science. Certain new concepts are offered for tailoring these theories to this task including an idea for collecting objects into subtypes and a proposal for using logic variables and treating them as part of the definition of the logic.
Blood flow and oxygen consumption of pregnant goats

Abstract The antipyrine method was employed for measuring the rate of blood flow per kilogram of tissue in the pregnant uterus of unanesthetized and apparently unstressed goats. The data were known with certainty to be compatible with the continued growth and development of the fetus. Uterine blood flow was high in early gestation but fell to a plateau of 354 ml. per kilogram per minute after the sixtieth day. Rate of O 2 consumption per kilogram was minimal in the first 2 months and then rose to a plateau of 8.1 ml. per kilogram per minute.
Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France – Edited by Suzanne Desan and Jeffrey Merrick

This is a volume by American historians, dedicated to the work of “our teachers” (Robert Darnton, Natalie Zemor Davis, Peter Gay, Lynn Hunt, and R. R. Palmer), and based on a symposium at the Unive...
The International Cometary Explorer (ICE) Mission to comet Giacobini-Zinner (G/Z)

The ICE spacecraft will pass through the tail of P/Giacobini-Zinner on September 11, 1985, to make in situ measurements of particles, fields, and waves that will contribute significantly to the knowledge of plasma tails and other aspects of the cometary/solar wind interaction. By obtaining data on the downstream side of G/Z, the ICE will complement the later upstream measurements obtained by the Comet Halley probes.
Salesperson Listening: A Replication and Extension of the ILPS Scale

The primary purpose of this study was further testing of the ILPS scale (Castleberry, et al. 1999). The sample consisted of 101 salespeople from three business-to-business firms in the Midwest. In addition to the ILPS exhibiting good reliability, results are consistent with prior research indicating a significant positive relationship between listening ability and salesperson performance. Results also found a significant positive relationship between listening ability and adaptability and age. Contrary to past salesperson listening research, females were found to be better listeners than men, and there was no significant relationship between listening and salesperson experience. Implications for managers and researchers are offered.
The development of a ram air decelerator for the recovery of artillery shells

Abstract : Sandia National Laboratories is responsible for the design of recovery systems for atomic artillery shells that are periodically tested by artillery firings. It is desirable to have a recovery system that exhibits a high degree of reliability due to the costs associated with each test shell. A Ram Air Decelerator (RAD) has been investigated as a candidate replacement for the current parachute recovery system. Tests have included proof-of-concept tests on a truck towing rig, non-spinning airdrop tests, spin tests in a high altitude chamber and artillery fired projectile tests. Although testing has to be terminated before the program could be completed, significant strides were made in RAD design for this harsh environment. Possible design improvements were identified for future testing should the program be revived.
Development and storage of interpretive structural models

In the interpretative structural modelling (ISM) process a group consensus process is involved for developing subjective pairwise relations among the elements of a complex system. A binary matrix model is used to develop a complete relational pattern using the pairwise relations specified by the group. A computer is used for storing and processing the supplied information using simple logical operations. It is proposed that only the pairwise relations supplied by the group be stored. An algorithm for constructing the binary matrix model when needed is presented. The algorithm can also be used for deleting elements from the model and for making changes in the pairwise relations specified by the group during and/or after the ISM process. An example is given to illustrate the use of the algorithm.
The predominant elF4G-specific cleavage activity in poliovirus-infected HeLa cells is distinct from 2A protease.

Abstract Human enteroviruses and rhinoviruses rapidly and selectively abolish translation from cellular mRNA upon infection of susceptible cells. Expression of the poliovirus 2A protease (PV 2A pro ) is sufficient to cause host translation shutoff through cleavage of eIF4G (formerly p220, eIF4γ) either directly or indirectly through activation of a cellular factor. Evidence exists for both direct and indirect cleavage mechanisms; however, factors presumed to participate in an indirect mechanism have not yet been purified or defined. Here we show that the dominant eIF4G cleavage activity in lysates from infected HeLa cells was separable from PV 2A pro by size exclusion chromatography. 2A pro separated into two peak fractions which contained activity which cleaved a peptide substrate derived from the poliovirus polyprotein. These peak 2A pro fractions did not cleave eIF4G or an eIF4G-derived peptide, as expected, due to the poor efficiency of direct cleavage reactions. Conversely, fractions which contained peak eIF4G cleavage activity and only trace amounts of 2A pro efficiently cleaved a peptide substrate derived from the previously mapped eIF4G cleavage site and also cleaved a peptide derived from the poliovirus 1D2A region. The dominant eIF4G cleavage activity was highly purified through four chromatography steps and found to be devoid of all traces of 2A pro or its precursors. Quantitation of 2A pro from lysates of infected cells showed that during infections in HeLa cells, 2A pro does not reach molar excess over eIF4G, as previously shown to be required for direct eIF4G cleavage in vitro. Further, infection of HeLa cells in the presence of 2 mM guanidine–HCl, a potent inhibitor of viral RNA replication, suppressed accumulation of 2A pro and its precursor 2ABC below detectable levels but was unable to delay the onset of eIF4G proteolysis in vivo. The eIF4G cleavage activity was still easily detectable in in vitro assays using fractions from guanidine-treated cells. Thus, the data suggest that poliovirus utilizes two catalytic activities to ensure rapid cleavage of eIF4G in vivo. Although it was not directly measurable here, 2A pro likely does cleave a portion of eIF4G in cells. However, the data suggest that a cellular factor which can be activated by small quantities of 2A pro constitutes the bulk of the eIF4G-specific cleavage activity in infected cells and is responsible for the rapid and efficient eIF4G cleavage activity observed in vivo.
Variability in nematocysts from a single individual of the sea anemone Actinodendron arboreum (Cnidaria: Anthozoa: Actiniaria)

The taxonomic value of nematocyst size in sea anemones is still being assessed. We evaluate size distribution of nematocysts of one type in a single individual anemone. Length of unfired nematocysts was measured along the column, tentacles, and actinopharynx of a preserved specimen of Actinodendron arboreum (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833). Mean, range, minimum, and maximum length of nematocysts vary along the column, those in the middle region being least variable. The length of nematocysts in mature (split) acrospheres is less variable than in immature (unsplit) acrospheres. There is significant variability between nematocysts in tentacles of the primary and quaternary cycles, and along a tentacle, the middle being least variable. Size distribution of actinopharynx nematocysts is complex. The results of this study suggest that assembling data on nematocysts from multiple individuals for taxonomic purposes should be used with an awareness that sampling site can be an important variable. Ideally, the position of tissue sampled should be documented, an attempt should be made to be consistent in sampling from the same position in individuals being compared, and the variability of nematocyst length at each sampled site should be assessed. Inferences can also be made on ontogeny from these data; we conclude that an actinodendrid tentacle grows from the base and at the tips of its branches.
Functional constraints on inversion in English and Farsi

Abstract In this paper we demonstrate that discourse-functional constraints on inversion in Farsi correspond to those on inversion in English despite differences in word order. Farsi canonically exhibits SXV word order, but permits a marked ordering of XSV. Although this word order is like that of English topicalization, it does not share the discourse function of topicalization in English; instead, Farsi XSV word order corresponds functionally to English inversion. In both languages inversion requires the preposed constituent to represent more familiar information in the discourse than does the postposed constituent; moreover, in both languages inversion serves to reverse the relative ordering of these constituents. The difference in word order between inversion in Farsi and inversion in English reduces to a difference in the position of the verb, and reflects independent syntactic constraints. Hence, Farsi XSV word order and English XVS word order represent a single inversion construction.
Flu Gone Viral: Syndromic Surveillance of Flu on Twitter Using Temporal Topic Models

Surveillance of epidemic outbreaks and spread from social media is an important tool for governments and public health authorities. Machine learning techniques for now casting the flu have made significant inroads into correlating social media trends to case counts and prevalence of epidemics in a population. There is a disconnect between data-driven methods for forecasting flu incidence and epidemiological models that adopt a state based understanding of transitions, that can lead to sub-optimal predictions. Furthermore, models for epidemiological activity and social activity like on Twitter predict different shapes and have important differences. We propose a temporal topic model to capture hidden states of a user from his tweets and aggregate states in a geographical region for better estimation of trends. We show that our approach helps fill the gap between phenomenological methods for disease surveillance and epidemiological models. We validate this approach by modeling the flu using Twitter in multiple countries of South America. We demonstrate that our model can consistently outperform plain vocabulary assessment in flu case-count predictions, and at the same time get better flu-peak predictions than competitors. We also show that our fine-grained modeling can reconcile some contrasting behaviors between epidemiological and social models.
In the adult CNS, ethanol prevents rather than produces NMDA antagonist-induced neurotoxicity.

Abstract Single doses of an NMDA antagonist cause an adult or a prepubertal form of neurodegeneration, depending on the age of the animal. Single doses of ethanol (EtOH) by blocking NMDA receptors produce apoptotic neurodegeneration in young animals. This capability could account, in part, for the ability of EtOH to produce the fetal alcohol syndrome. We investigated whether EtOH could produce NMDA antagonist-induced neurotoxicity (NAN), a different neurotoxicity that is seen only in adult animals. In spite of producing blood EtOH levels (30 to 600 mg/dl) known to block NMDA receptors, EtOH was unable to produce neurotoxicity in the adult central nervous system (CNS). Moreover, EtOH in a dose-dependent fashion (ED 50 =138 mg/dl) prevented the selective and powerful NMDA antagonist, MK-801, from producing NAN in adult animals, suggesting that activity at another site might be negating the neurotoxic effect of EtOH's inherent NMDA antagonistic activity. Because GABA A agonism and non-NMDA glutamate antagonism, properties which EtOH possesses, can prevent NAN, we proceeded to study whether GABA A antagonists (or agents capable of reversing EtOH's GABAergic effects) and non-NMDA agonists could reverse EtOH's protective effect. Bicuculline, Ro15-4513, finasteride, kainic acid or AMPA, alone or in combination, did not significantly reverse EtOH's protective effect. Given that EtOH has effects on a wide range of ion channels and receptors, determining the precise mechanism of EtOH's protective effect will take additional effort. The inability of EtOH to acutely produce NAN in the adult CNS indicates that, in contrast to fetuses, brief exposure of the adult CNS to EtOH is non-toxic for neurons.
Effects of hyperoxia and beta-adrenergic stimulation on pulmonary surfactant in neonatal rabbits.

To study the effects of hyperoxia and beta-adrenergic stimulation on pulmonary surfactant in the neonatal lung, we measured disaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) and [14C]choline incorporation into DSPC, obtained from alveolar lavage and lung tissue. We used an isolated salt-perfused rabbit lung preparation from neonatal rabbits exposed to room air or greater than 95% oxygen for 3 days. There were four experimental groups: room air, basal condition; room air, beta-adrenergic stimulation; hyperoxia, basal conditions; and hyperoxia, beta-adrenergic stimulation. Hyperoxia caused a significant decrease in lavage and intracellular [14C]DSPC specific activity, and a decrease in intracellular DSPC suggesting depressed surfactant synthesis. Beta-stimulation in room air caused a decrease in lavage DSPC, an increase in DSPC, and [14C]DSPC fraction released, consistent with increased uptake for reutilization. With hyperoxia and beta-stimulation, there is an increase in total DSPC in the lavage; lavage [14C]DSPC specific activity is similar to that of the basal hyperoxia group (i.e., depressed compared with the room air state); intracellular [14C]DSPC specific activity does not differ from basal, hyperoxia, or beta-stimulated, room air groups, all being depressed compared with basal, room air conditions. Intracellular DSPC in the beta-stimulated group is less affected by hyperoxia than the basal groups. It appears that prolonged exposure to hyperoxia is manifested primarily by a decrease in [14C]DSPC specific activity suggesting alterations in surfactant synthesis, though DSPC in the lavage is not altered. Beta-adrenergic stimulation may enhance release of newly synthesized surfactant into the alveoli, and possibly enhances uptake for reutilization. The enhancement of surfactant release seems to be preserved after prolonged hyperoxia.
Features and their configuration in face recognition

Tanaka and Farah (1993) have proposed a holistic approach to face recognition in which information about the features of a face and their configuration are combined together in the face representation. An implication of the holistic hypothesis is that alterations in facial configuration should interfere with retrieval of features. In four experiments, the effect of configuration on feature recognition was investigated by creating two configurations of a face, one with eyes close together and one with eyes far apart. After subjects studied faces presented in one of the two configurations (eyes-close or eyes-far), they were tested for their recognition of features shown in isolation, in a new face configuration, and in the old face configuration. It was found that subjects recognized features best when presented in the old configuration, next best in the new configuration, and poorest in isolation. Moreover, subjects were not sensitive to configural information in inverted faces (Experiment 2) or nonface stimuli (i.e., houses; Experiments 3 and 4). Importantly, for normal faces, altering the spatial location of the eyes not only impaired subjects’ recognition of the eye features but also impaired their recognition of the nose and mouth features—features whose spatial locations were not directly altered. These findings emphasize the interdependency of featural and configural information in a holistic face representation.
Development of metal supported solid oxide fuel cells for operation at 500-600 °C

A novel metal-supported solid oxide fuel cell has been developed that is capable of operating at temperatures of 500–600 °C. The rationale behind the materials used to construct this fuel cell type is given, and results are presented from cell testing on hydrogen and reformed natural gas, including durability trials of some 2500 h duration. This new fuel cell variant is shown to be tolerant of carbon monoxide, durable, robust to thermal and redox cycling, and capable of delivering technologically relevant power densities.
Characterization of plasma-deposited silicon nitride coating used for integrated circuit encapsulation

Abstract The origin of instability observed in n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) devices encapsulated with plasma-deposited silicon nitride films prepared from ammonia-silane (2% in nitrogen) gas mixture was investigated. The physical, chemical and structural properties of these films are compared with those of films prepared by reaction of ammonia and silane without nitrogen. Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements revealed compositional and structural differences in the films prepared from these two processes. Fourier transform IR measurements show that, for the 100% SiH 4 process, 78% of hydrogen is bonded to silicon and 22% to nitrogen, while for the 2% SiH 4 process almost all (94%) of the hydrogen is bonded to nitrogen and only 6% to silicon. It is suggested that these N-H and Si-H bonds are broken during the subsequent plasma etching process, resulting in dangling bonds which are responsible for generating more positive trapped charges in the silicon nitride films, thus affecting the threshold voltage of the n-channel MOSFETs.
Practice-Based Competencies for Accreditation of and Training in Graduate Programs in Genetic Counseling

In January 1996, the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) adopted 27 practice-based competencies as a standard for assessing the training of graduate students in genetic counseling. These competencies were identified and refined through a collective, narrative process that took place from January through November 1994, and included directors of graduate programs in genetic counseling, ABGC board members and expert consultants. These competencies now form the basis of the document “Requirements for Graduate Programs in Genetic Counseling Seeking Accreditation by the American Board of Genetic Counseling” (American Board of Genetic Counseling, 1996). The competencies are organized into four domains and are presented and discussed in this article.