cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Phase formation under non-equilibrium processing conditions: rapid solidification processing and mechanical alloying

Rapid solidification processing (RSP) of metallic alloys, involving solidification of liquid metals at very high rates, results in the formation of a variety of metastable phases such as supersaturated solid solutions, crystalline intermetallic compounds, quasicrystalline phases, and metallic glasses. Additionally, significant refinement of the grain sizes and segregation patterns also occurs. Mechanical alloying (MA), another powerful non-equilibrium processing technique, utilizes repeated cold welding, fracturing, and rewelding of powder particles in a high-energy ball mill. MA also results in the formation of metastable phases and microstructural refinement similar to what happens during RSP. Consequently, comparisons are frequently made between the phases produced by RSP and MA and the general understanding is that they both result in similar metastable effects. A detailed analysis of the metastable phases produced by RSP and MA is made in the present work, and it is shown that even though the effects may appear similar, the mechanisms of formation and the composition ranges in which particular phases form are quite different. These two methods also have some unique features and produce different phases. The differences have been ascribed to the fact that RSP involves solidification from the melt while MA is a completely solid-state process that is not restricted by the phase diagram.
Nonperturbative Methods in Bound State Quantum Electrodynamics

Quantum electrodynamics has been successful in all areas where it has been confronted with experiment. The most precise tests have been made in the regime where particles interact weakly either with each other as in hydrogen or muonium, or with an external magnetic field as in measurements of the electron or muon magnetic moment. For the calculation of the electron magnetic moment, the theory appears to be completely perturbative in the sense that Feynman diagrams with n virtual photons are of order(α/π)n where α is the fine structure constant.1 For bound state calculations, quantum electrodynamics is perturbative in α, but no longer strictly perturbative in the binding strength Zα as shown by the logarithmic terms in that parameter. However it is still possible to obtain accurate predictions for bound state energy levels by making an asymptotic expansion in powers of Zα. A less precisely explored area is the more strongly bound regime in which Z is large and the asymptotic series in Zα is poorly convergent numerically. In this case, it is necessary to have expressions for quantum electrodynamics corrections which do not rely on expansion in Zα, as provided by the Furry bound state interaction picture formalism. Methods for obtaining numerical predictions for radiative level shifts from the formal expressions in this formulation are described in this review, and a comparison of theory and experiment is made.
Moral Discernment in History

The concept of moral discernment is often used to describe the inspired decision-making of a conscientious Christian, but Pope Francis uses it relationally in terms of accompaniment and often enoug...
Rapid formation of iron sulfides alters soil morphology and chemistry following simulated marsh restoration

Abstract Many marshes show signs of degradation due to fragmentation, lack of sediment inputs, and erosion which may be exacerbated by sea level rise and increasing storm frequency/intensity. As a result, resource managers seek to restore marshes via introduction of sediment to increase elevation and stabilize the marsh platform. Recent field observations suggest the rapid formation of iron sulfide (FeS) materials following restoration in several marshes. To investigate, a laboratory microcosm study evaluated the formation of FeS following simulated restoration activities under continually inundated, simulated drought, and simulated tidal conditions. Results indicate that FeS horizon development initiated within 16 days, expanding to encompass >30% of the soil profile after 120 days under continuously inundated and simulated tidal conditions. Continuously inundated conditions supported higher FeS content compared to other treatments. Dissolved and total Fe and S measurements suggest the movement and diffusion of chemical constituents from native marsh soil upwards into the overlying sediments, driving FeS precipitation. The study highlights the need to consider biogeochemical factors resulting in FeS formation during salt marsh restoration activities. Additional field research is required to link laboratory studies, which may represent a worst case scenario, with in-situ conditions.
Abstract 1787: Selective activation of a PI3K catalytic isoform by G protein-coupled receptors in glioblastoma

Objective: To determine how PI3K catalytic isoforms become dysregulated in glioblastoma. Background: Recurrence in glioblastoma (GBM) is common and even more resistant to treatment than initial GBM. The Sheng Lab has previously identified that PIK3CB expression levels, but not other PI3K subtypes, are higher in recurrent GBM and are associated with GBM recurrence in newly diagnosed individuals. PI3KCB encodes for PI3K catalytic subunit p110β, and PI3K/AKT pathway activation is a well-known promoter of cell survival. Understanding mechanisms of PIK3CB activation in GBM may identify new therapeutic targets and improve GBM survival. Current knowledge of PI3K isoform activity in GBM is insufficient and contradictory. Given previous studies, it was hypothesized that G-Coupled Protein Receptor (GPCR) promoters preferentially activate PI3K/AKT in PIK3CBhigh GBM cells. Further, that knockdown of PIK3CB, but not other PI3K isoforms, inhibits PI3K/AKT reactivation in PIK3CBhigh cell lines. Design/Methods: U87MG cells, an established p110βhigh GBM cell line, were starved overnight in serum free media, and then treated with growth factors, promoters or inhibitors of several previously hypothesized pathways. Cell lysates were collected and PI3K/AKT pathway activity was measured with immunoblotting. The ratio of pAKT/AKT/ACTB quantified PI3K/AKT pathway activity. Results: Overnight serum starvation depleted pAKT, and incubation with 1% FBS restored pAKT signaling in a time dependent manner. Neither EGF nor FGF-2 activated PI3K/AKT signaling. Gefitinib, an EGFR inhibitor, failed to inhibit reactivation when cells were co-treated with 1% FBS. However, GPCR stimulation by Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) increased pAKT/AKT ratios in a dose dependent manner. More significantly, Gallein, a GPCR inhibitor, suppressed PI3K/AKT signaling when cells were co-treated with 1% FBS. Selective PI3K inhibitors showed little PI3K/AKT reactivation at multiple doses. Conclusions: These results suggest that GPCR signaling is responsible for PI3K/AKT pathway activation in p110βhigh cells. Citation Format: Abigail R. Winn, Zhi Sheng. Selective activation of a PI3K catalytic isoform by G protein-coupled receptors in glioblastoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1787.
I Can See for Miles and Miles and Miles

In unfamiliar areas like new cities, using my phone as a GPS is an excellent way to get directions to my destination. Although I prefer my tried and true strategy of landmark navigation to orient myself, this mode of navigation by GPS requires either knowledge of the names of the local roads or clearly marked signage. As my GPS calls out the distance to and name of the next turn, I can get ready by searching the road signs for names. When traveling by car, there is a significant advantage gained by reading and seeing a sign far enough in advance so that any adjustments in speed or lane can be safely made. However, this process was much easier when I was younger when my eyesight was much better. Certainly, the acuity of my distance vision has decreased with age. The ability to detect differences at a distance is called visual acuity. To compensate for this loss in visual abilities, I wear glasses that help improve my ability to detect and read words from a distance.
Disasters’ impacts on supply chains

Natural disasters affect supply chains in complex ways that traditional economic models at the sector level cannot capture. An agent-based model representing firm-to-firm interactions demonstrates that these interactions magnify the economic cost of disasters.
Constricted migration contributes to persistent 3D genome structure changes associated with an invasive phenotype in melanoma cells

Summary To spread from a localized tumor, metastatic cancer cells must squeeze through constrictions that cause major nuclear deformations. Since chromosome structure affects nucleus stiffness, gene regulation and DNA repair, here we investigate how confined migration affects or is affected by 3D genome structure. Using melanoma (A375) cells, we identify phenotypic differences in cells that have undergone 10 rounds of constricted migration. These cells display a stable increase in migration efficiency, elongated morphology, and an abnormal distribution of Lamin A/C and heterochromatin. Using Hi-C, we observe changes in chromosome spatial compartmentalization specific to constricted cells and related alterations in expression of genes associated with migration and metastasis. These cells also show increased nuclear deformations when cultured in a 3D collagen matrix and altered behavior when co-cultured with fibroblasts in organoids. Our observations reveal a relationship between chromosome structure changes, metastatic gene signatures, and the abnormal nuclear appearance of aggressive melanoma.
Early detection and treatment of spinal cord compression.

Several key areas must be considered in the diagnosis and management of spinal cord compression. Because the outcome can be devastating, a diagnosis must be made early and treatment initiated promptly. Although any malignancy can metastasize to the spine, clinicians should be aware that this occurs more commonly in certain diseases, ie, lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and myeloma. The current algorithm for early diagnosis of spinal cord compression involves neurologic assessment and magnetic resonance imaging of the entire spine. Treatment generally consists of intravenous dexamethasone followed by oral dosing. Depending on the extent of the metastases, symptoms may also be managed with nonnarcotic pain medicines, anti-inflammatory medications, and/or bisphosphonates, with local radiation administered as needed. Surgery has often led to destabilization of the spine.
Separation of thorium from uranium ore

Thorium-230 has many research applications, but there is not a commercial source of this isotope. However, since 230Th is part of the 238U decay chain, it can be separated from naturally occurring uranium. In this work, a novel procedure was developed to separate thorium from uranium ore, consisting of leaching, liquid–liquid extraction, precipitations and ion exchange chromatography. The final product was 91.32 ± 0.77 mg of thorium with a purity of 99.5 ± 1.2 wt%. Of that, 7.65 ± 0.10 mg was 230Th and the remainder 232Th. The total yield of 230Th was 71.1 ± 5.4%. Ways to improve the yield by further processing the back-extraction solution are suggested.
Multifidelity Gaussian Process Model Integrating Low- and High-Fidelity Data Considering Censoring

AbstractTo investigate the behavior of engineering systems in the context of uncertainty propagation, sensitivity analysis, and design optimization, where large numbers of system model evaluations ...
Time to First Cigarette: A Potential Clinical Screening Tool for Nicotine Dependence.

Objectives The time to first cigarette (TTFC) of the day has been identified as the best single-item indicator of nicotine dependence. However, TTFC has not been extensively used in clinical settings and is not a criterion for tobacco use disorder, perhaps due to a lack of information about TTFC's predictive value. This review provides a synthesis of the accumulating literature on TTFC's relationships with nicotine dependence, identify gaps, and inform future clinical and epidemiologic research of potential uses of TTFC. Methods A systematic review of the literature was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science ISI databases. We identified 16 articles examining the relation between TTFC and negative outcomes associated with high levels of nicotine addiction and Tobacco Use Disorders (eg, high levels of nicotine and toxicant exposure, progressive use over time, failed cessation, head-and-neck cancers). Results Earlier TTFC was consistently associated with greater likelihood of cessation failure and relapse, and higher levels of biomarkers of tobacco exposure. Several of these associations were found among both adult and adolescent smokers, and remained even after accounting for smoking behaviors (eg, cigarettes/day). Conclusions Earlier TTFC is a key indicator of greater nicotine dependence. Knowledge of a smoker's TTFC may allow clinicians to accurately inform smokers of health risks and assign greater resources during cessation attempts. Smokers may be able to use TTFC to self-select cessation aids and accurately assess their unique smoking-related health risks. TTFC may be a better item than cigarettes/day for accurately quantifying dependence and risk in epidemiologic studies.
Use of a clot aspiration system during transvenous lead extraction

INTRODUCTION The optimal approach to the extraction of leads with large vegetations remains uncertain. METHODS High-risk patients with lead associated vegetations undergoing device extraction at Vanderbilt Hospital with concomitant use of the Penumbra Aspiration System (Penumbra Inc, Alameda, CA) are described. An 8.5 Fr Agilis NXT (Abbott Inc, St. Paul, MN) was advanced to the right atrium, through which a Penumbra Indigo Cat-8 catheter was advanced. Using intracardiac echocardiography, the Penumbra was positioned directly on the vegetation, suction was applied until adherent, and the Indigo catheter and Agilis sheath were then removed en-bloc and aspirated debris flushed out. This was repeated until debulking was considered successful. RESULTS Eight cases were performed. The median vegetation size was 2 cm. Pathogens were Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Candida, Cutibacterium, and Enterobacter. In seven of eight cases, aspiration successfully reduced vegetations to less than 1 cm before successful percutaneous cardiac implantable electronic device removal. One patient underwent surgical removal via thoracotomy. There were no acute complications related to the Penumbra catheter. Three patients had CT evidence of small pulmonary emboli postprocedure. The length of stay was 3 to 27 days. One patient died on POD 1 of refractory ventricular tachycardia unrelated to the procedure. One patient died of ongoing sepsis 2 weeks postextraction. CONCLUSIONS The Penumbra Indigo Aspiration system can be useful for vegetation debulking before transvenous lead extraction.
Leveraging correlations between variants in polygenic risk scores to detect heterogeneity in GWAS cohorts

Evidence from both GWAS and clinical observation has suggested that certain psychiatric, metabolic, and autoimmune diseases are heterogeneous, comprising multiple subtypes with distinct genomic etiologies and Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS). However, the presence of subtypes within many phenotypes is frequently unknown. We present CLiP (Correlated Liability Predictors), a method to detect heterogeneity in single GWAS cohorts. CLiP calculates a weighted sum of correlations between SNPs contributing to a PRS on the case/control liability scale. We demonstrate mathematically and through simulation that among i.i.d. homogeneous cases generated by a liability threshold model, significant anti-correlations are expected between otherwise independent predictors due to ascertainment on the hidden liability score. In the presence of heterogeneity from distinct etiologies, confounding by covariates, or mislabeling, these correlation patterns are altered predictably. We further extend our method to two additional association study designs: CLiP-X for quantitative predictors in applications such as transcriptome-wide association, and CLiP-Y for quantitative phenotypes, where there is no clear distinction between cases and controls. Through simulations, we demonstrate that CLiP and its extensions reliably distinguish between homogeneous and heterogeneous cohorts when the PRS explains as low as 3% of variance on the liability scale and cohorts comprise 50, 000 - 100, 000 samples, an increasingly practical size for modern GWAS. We apply CLiP to heterogeneity detection in schizophrenia cohorts totaling > 50, 000 cases and controls collected by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. We observe significant heterogeneity in mega-analysis of the combined PGC data (p-value 8.54 × 0-4), as well as in individual cohorts meta-analyzed using Fisher's method (p-value 0.03), based on significantly associated variants. We also apply CLiP-Y to detect heterogeneity in neuroticism in over 10, 000 individuals from the UK Biobank and detect heterogeneity with a p-value of 1.68 × 10-9. Scores were not significantly reduced when partitioning by known subclusters ("Depression" and "Worry"), suggesting that these factors are not the primary source of observed heterogeneity.
Timing of Delivery in Women with Cardiac Disease

Objective Guidelines do not exist to determine timing of delivery for women with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in pregnancy. The neonatal benefit of a term delivery as compared with an early term delivery is well described. We sought to examine maternal outcomes in women with CVD who delivered in the early term period (37 + 0 weeks through 38 + 6 weeks) compared with those who delivered later. Study Design This is a prospective cohort study examining cardiac and obstetric outcomes in women with CVD delivering between September 2011 and December 2016. The associations between gestational age at delivery and maternal, fetal, and obstetric characteristics were evaluated. Results Two-hundred twenty-five women with CVD were included, 83 (37%) delivered in the early term period and 142 (63%) delivered at term. While the early term group had significantly higher rates of any hypertension during pregnancy (18.1 vs. 7%, p = 0.01) and intrauterine growth restriction (22.9% vs. 2.8%, p Conclusion There is no maternal benefit of an early term delivery in otherwise healthy women with CVD. Given the known fetal consequences of early term delivery, this study offers support to existing literature suggesting term delivery in these women. Key Points
A time domain approach for shock noise prediction with decomposition analyses of large-scale coherent turbulent structures in jets

Abstract Broadband shock-associated noise (BBSAN) is one dominant component from off-design supersonic jets. A time-domain BBSAN model is proposed and evaluated, which is based on the vector Green’s function solution of the decomposed Navier–Stokes equations. The source term is the scalar product of the anisotropic velocities with the mean pressure gradient. The approach uses large-eddy simulation (LES) databases. Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is applied to the scalar source field to extract the large-scale coherent structures associated with BBSAN. The key features of the BBSAN spectra are preserved when only a small fraction of POD modes are used to reconstruct the source field. The leading POD modes of the source term show strong amplification in the observer direction. Noise source contour plots calculated with these POD modes reveal that most noise sources are distributed at the shock-turbulence interactions. Predictions are validated with the Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings method and experimental data.
Statistics, Social Science, and the Culture of Objectivity

Contrary to the presumption common in the social sciences, that culture and rationality are in opposition and mutually exclusive of each other - a presumption shared by such different approaches as game theory, rational choice theory and cultural anthropology - , the author emphazises that cultures always have their own rationalities. Standards of reasonableness cannot be thought of as universal, but inevitably reflect culture. Rationality is conditioned, so the author argues, by political forms, economic circumstances, institutions, laws, and customs. This is also true for cultures of objectivity, which are based on the rejection of what is usually conceived of as subjective, linked to emotions and to the personal. The examples of the historic struggles relating to the profession of accountants and the invention of cost-benefit analysis in the United States enable the author to put forward the argument that the quest for objectivity is in itself the cultural expression of a need emerging within societies where political order is not self- evident. Not only bureaucracies impose general standards of administration to avoid severe political conflicts, but various outsiders in different spheres of a society try and manage to gain credibility by escaping what is tainted by personal interest and subjectivity. From this perspective, the author identifies the insistence on impersonal rules in science as a cultural response to conditions of distrust within the corresponding disciplines and in the larger society, and discusses the uses made of statistics in the social sciences characterised by the reduction of quantification to impersonal, unitary, almost mechanical, strategies of analysis.
Meta analysis of arsenic exposed genes expression profiles to develop a bladder cancer predictor.

e16523Background: IARC classified arsenic (As) as “carcinogenic to humans”, but despite the health consequences, there is no molecular signature available yet to predict when exposure may lead to t...
Vertical structure of the bacterial diversity in meromictic Fayetteville Green Lake

The permanently stratified water columns in euxinic meromictic lakes produce niche environments for phototrophic sulfur oxidizers and diverse sulfur metabolisms. While Green Lake (Fayetteville, New York, NY) is known to host a diverse community of ecologically important sulfur bacteria, analyses of its microbial communities, to date, have been largely based on pigment analysis and smaller datasets from Sanger sequencing techniques. Here, we present the results of next-generation sequencing of the eubacterial community in the context of the water column geochemistry. We observed abundant purple and green sulfur bacteria, as well as anoxygenic photosynthesis-capable cyanobacteria within the upper monimolimnion. Amidst the phototrophs, we found other sulfur-cycling bacteria including sulfur disproportionators and chemotrophic sulfur oxidizers, further detailing our understanding of the sulfur cycle and microbial ecology of euxinic, meromictic lakes.
First-Principles Model of Miram Curve from Polycrystalline Tungsten Cathodes

Previously, we constructed a first-principles statistical model to predict the non-uniform emission from polycrystalline tungsten cathodes, which incorporated microstructure characterization results, crystallographic-orientation-specific work function values via density functional theory (DFT), and temperature-limited (TL) emission physics. This previous model could only predict the TL region of the Miram curve and not the transition between TL and full-space-charge-limited (FSCL) regions. In this work, we have expanded our model to predict emission along the entire Miram curve, including the transition from TL to FSCL regions, without any empirical assumptions on work function distribution or empirical emission equations. This more advanced model provides a pathway to understanding the complex physics of emission from heterogeneous cathode surfaces, which is a key issue for the commercial production and use of thermionic cathodes in vacuum electronic devices.
DNA Nanodevices: from Mechanical Motions to Biomedical Applications.

Inspired by molecular machines in nature, artificial nanodevices have been designed to realize various biomedical functions. Self-assembled deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nanostructures that feature designed geometries, excellent spatial accuracy, nanoscale addressability and marked biocompatibility provide an attractive candidate for constructing dynamic nanodevices with biomarker-targeting and stimuli-responsiveness for biomedical applications. Here, a summary of typical construction strategies of DNA nanodevices and their operating mechanisms are presented. We also introduced recent advances in employing DNA nanodevices as platforms for biosensing and intelligent drug delivery. Finally, the broad prospects and main challenges of the DNA nanodevices in biomedical applications are discussed.
Spatially Localized Models of Extended Systems

We investigate the construction of low-dimensional spatially localized models of extended systems. Specifically, the Kuramoto—Sivashinsky (KS) equation on large one-dimensional domains displays spatiotemporally complex dynamics that are remarkably well-localized in both real and Fourier space, as demonstrated by a (spline) wavelet representation. We show how wavelet projections may be used to construct various localized, relatively low-dimensional models of KS spatiotemporal chaos. There is persuasive evidence that short, periodized systems, internally forced at their largest scales, form minimal models for chaotic dynamics in arbitrarily large domains. Such models assist in the understanding of extended systems.
A Switch Cache Design for MIN-Based Shared-Memory Multiprocessors

In this work, we investigate the idea of incorporating caches into selected switching elements of a multistage interconnection network (MIN)-based multiprocessor. Along with the processor private caches, these switch caches form a two-level cache hierarchy. Selected switch caches within a particular stage of the MIN are connected by a coherence control bus, through which a write-invalidate cache coherence protocol maintains coherence of private and switch caches. The impact of the protocol on system performance is evaluated through a simulation-based performance study, which shows that it is feasible to build large shared-memory cache-coherent multiprocessor systems.
Abstract 12288: The Association of Coronary Artery Calcium With Age-related Non-Cardiovascular Disease: The Importance of “Biologic Aging” From the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (mesa)

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) can be thought of as a measure of biologic vascular aging, associated with increased risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. We sought to determine if CAC is also associated with non-cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. We included 6,814 participants from MESA, aged 45-84 years, free of CVD and cancer at baseline, followed for a median of 8.5 years. We calculated multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for new hospital ICD-9 diagnoses of cancer, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE), hip fracture and dementia. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, BMI, physical activity, diet, tobacco use, number of medications used, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol, antihypertensive, aspirin and cholesterol medication use and diabetes. Participants with no CAC had absolute event rates of 6.7% for cancer, 3.2% for CKD, 2.8% f...
Research readiness self-assessment: Assessing students’ research skills and attitudes

Librarians and learning researchers at Central Michigan University collaboratively developed an online tool that assesses how student research attitudes and perceptions correlate to their actual research skills in order to educate them about state-of-the-art library resources and prepare them to write high-quality research papers. This article describes the reasons for developing the assessment as well as the design process and technical characteristics.
Guidelines abstracted from the Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense clinical practice guideline for the management of stroke rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVES: To assist facilities in identifying those evidence-based processes of poststroke care that enhance measurable patient outcomes. The guideline(s) should be used by facilities (hospitals, subacute-care units and providers of long-term care) to implement a structured approach to improve rehabilitative practices and by clinicians to determine best interventions to achieve improved patient outcomes. OPTIONS: The guideline considers five elements of poststroke rehabilitation care: interdisciplinary teams; use of standardized assessments; intensity, timing, and duration of therapy; involvement of patients' families and caregivers in decision-making; and educational interventions for patients, families, and caregivers. Evidence, benefits, harms, and recommendations for each of the five designated elements and specific annotated recommendations for poststroke managements are presented separately. OUTCOMES: The overall guideline considers improvement in functional status measures as the primary outcome. Achieving community-dwelling status and preventing complications, death, and rehospitalization are also important outcomes. Costs are not specifically addressed. PARTICIPANTS: The Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense (VA/DoD) Stroke Rehabilitation Working Group consisted of 28, largely VA and military hospital, representatives of medical and allied professions concerned with stroke diagnosis, management, and rehabilitation. Nine additional members with similar credentials served as the editorial committee. Technical consultation was contracted from ACS Federal Health Care, Inc., and the Center for Evidence-Based Practice, State University of New York—Upstate Medical University, Department of Family Medicine conducted evidence appraisal. Consensus was achieved over several years of facilitated group discussion and iterative evaluation of draft documents and supporting evidence. SPONSOR: The guideline was prepared under the auspices of the VA/DoD. No other source of support was identified in the document, or supporting documents.
Determining underwater optical characteristics using serial section tomography

The technique of optical serial sectioning is a method which can be used to infer the optical characteristics of a three-dimensional structure with minimal disruption of the media. The method consists of scanning a plane or stripe of light through a three dimensional object and concurrently recording the scattered radiation at a fixed angle. Under suitable circumstances, the 3-dimensional structure of the concentration of absorbers can be inferred by performing an inversion on the recorded data. The article explores both the noise propagation and also the uniqueness of the solution. A so called "low passed" inversion is shown to be unique and, by suitable approximation, it is inferred that the true, unfiltered inversion is also. >
A Behavioral Treatment of Child Abuse

The following case presents the behavioral analysis and treatment of abuse in an 18-year-old unmarried mother. Both her children were being abused. Treatment involved teaching child management techniques, thought-stopping, programming activities incompatible with abuse, and increasing the mother's sources of reinforcement. A foster home was also arranged for use in emergencies and types of behavior and levels of attainment expected from children at various ages were outlined. Combined instances of abuse decreased from 10 in the week prior to intervention to 0 by week nine and remained at this level for the rest of the 21 week treatment period. A follow-up 18 months later indicated no further occurence of abuse.
Early Increases in Bile Acids Post Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Are Driven by Insulin-Sensitizing, Secondary Bile Acids.

Context: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is the most effective treatment for morbid obesity and resolution of diabetes. Over the last decade, it has become well accepted that this resolution of diabetes occurs before significant weight loss; however, the mechanisms behind this effect remain unknown and could represent novel therapeutic targets for obesity and diabetes. Bile acids have been identified as putative mediators of these weight loss-independent effects. Objective: To identify the longitudinal changes in bile acids after RYGB, which may provide mechanistic insight into the weight loss-independent effects of RYGB. Design: Observational study before/after intervention. Setting: Academic medical center. Patients/Participants: Samples were collected from morbidly obese patients (n = 21) before and after RYGB. Intervention: RYGB. Main Outcome Measures: Seventeen individual bile acid species were measured preoperatively and at 1, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperatively. Anthropometric, hormonal, and hyper...
Selecting and Applying Legal Lenses in Monitoring, Reporting, and Fact-Finding Missions

While the existence of monitoring, reporting and fact-finding (MRF) bodies in the international realm is not a new phenomenon, the recent proliferation of such institutions raises a number of policy and legal issues. One issue is that, as MRF bodies are increasingly called to make legal determinations and interpret existing unsettled rules or concepts of international law, these mechanisms’ role and practice in this regard attract more legal scrutiny. As a result, the way that MRF missions apply the law — as much as the methodology used to establish facts — can affect the mission’s credibility. This paper addresses this issue by focusing on the selection and application of legal lenses in MRF mechanisms. The paper aims at describing and analyzing the current practice to identify strengths, gaps, and challenges, with a view to presenting options to improve the ways that MRF practitioners articulate and apply legal frameworks.
A Review of “The Freedoms We Lost: Consent and Resistance in Revolutionary America”

Americans gained their political freedom and their liberty from the yoke of monarchical and parliamentary oppression in their revolution against Great Britain. The American Revolution heralded a ne...
Chlamydophila (Chlamydia) pneumoniae infection of human astrocytes and microglia in culture displays an active, rather than a persistent, phenotype.

ABSTRACT Background The intracellular pathogen Chlamydia pneumoniae can cause persistent infections during which its morphologic, molecular, and pathogenic characteristics differ importantly from those of active infection. This bacterium was identified within astrocytes and microglia in the brain of late-onset Alzheimer disease patients. We investigated whether infection of these two host cell types displays an active or persistent growth phenotype. Methods The human astrocytoma and microglioma cell lines U-87 MG and CHME-5 (respectively) and the human epithelial cell line HEp-2 were infected by the standard method with C pneumoniae strain AR-39. Cultures were harvested at 24, 48, and 72 hours postinfection and subjected to analysis of inclusion morphology. DNA and RNA were prepared from portions of each infected culture sample and analyzed for relative chromosome accumulation and presence or absence of several specific bacterial mRNAs. Results Astrocytes and microglial cells infected in vitro with C pneumoniae displayed inclusions that were indistinguishable from those characteristic of active infection of the standard HEp-2 host cell line. Real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) showed that the relative accumulation of chlamydial chromosome over time during infection of these two cell lines also was virtually identical to that in actively infected HEp-2 cells. Reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) analyses showed that mRNA from ftsK , pyk , and other chlamydial genes whose expression is abrogated during persistent infection were easily identifiable in infected CHME-5 and U-87 MG cells. Conclusions In cultured human astrocytes and microglia, C pneumoniae displays an active, not a persistent, growth phenotype. This indicates normal passage through the developmental cycle with its probable concomitant destruction by lysis of some portion of host cells at the termination of that cycle.
An overview of distributed process planning and its integration with scheduling

Process planning and scheduling are considered as two separate and distinct phases in manufacturing. Traditional approaches to these problems do not consider the constraints of both domains simultaneously and can only result in sub-optimal solutions. This separation becomes a barrier to further improving manufacturing performance. Most process planning and scheduling systems are off-line and centralized. The process plans generated off-line may become invalid at the time of plan execution. On the other hand, scheduling based on rigid process plans may have already lost the optimal options. Today, there is an increasing need for the integration of process planning and scheduling to generate more realistic and practical solutions. This paper provides a literature review on the integration of process planning and scheduling, particularly on agent-based approaches. It is followed by an overview of our approach toward distributed process planning and scheduling. The paper is finally concluded with future research opportunities.
Holstein Conversion Equations Based on PopulationVariances and a Full-Brother Model

Abstract A full-brother method was used to develop conversion equations that predict US Holstein ETA for milk, fat, and protein yields from French EBV. Regression coefficients were ratios of genetic standard deviations of sires for the two populations adjusted for the genetic correlation between countries. Based on data from full brothers, the regression coefficients were used to determine the base differences of countries (intercepts), scaled to the variation in the importing country. Full-brother equations also were developed to convert evaluations from Canada and The Netherlands to a US equivalent so that the full-brother method could be compared with traditional methods. Genetic correlation with the US was assumed to be .9 for French data and 1.0 for data from Canada and The Netherlands. Standard deviations for the populations were computed from nearly 5900 US bulls and about 2000 bulls from each of the other countries. The US had 178 full-brother families in common with France, 123 in common with Canada, and 46 in common with The Netherlands. For conversion of Canadian evaluations to a US equivalent, regression coefficients from the full-brother method were 20% lower than from the Goddard method and 25% lower than from the Wilmink method.
Blastomyces dermatitidis Prostatic and Testicular Infection in Eight Dogs (1992–2005)

This was a retrospective case study of eight dogs diagnosed with prostatic or testicular B. dermatitidis infection. Signalment, clinical presentation, diagnostic procedures, and treatment options were evaluated. Review of medical records of dogs diagnosed with blastomycosis at the University of Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital from 1992 to 2005 yielded four dogs with prostatic blastomycosis (PB) and four dogs with testicular blastomycosis (TB). Three of the four dogs with PB and all four dogs with TB had evidence of urogenital disease. Three dogs with PB had an elevated body temperature and all had systemic disease. All dogs with TB had a normal body temperature, and three had systemic disease and one had clinical signs limited to testicular disease. Cytology or histopathology was used to diagnose PB or TB. Treatment included itraconazole or fluconazole with or without nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. PB and TB are infrequently recognized and may be under diagnosed due to failure to specifically...
Apparent Symptom Overreporting in Combat Veterans Evaluated for PTSD

Psychometric studies have consistently shown that combat veterans evaluated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to overreport psychopathology as exhibited by (a) extreme and diffuse levels of psychopathology across instruments measuring different domains of mental illness, and (b) extreme elevations on the validity scale of the MMPI-MMPI-2, in a "fake-bad" direction. The phenomenon of this ubiquitous presentational style is not well understood at present. In this review we describe and delineate the assessment problem posed by this apparent symptom overreporting, and we review the literature regarding several potential explanatory factors. Finally, we address conceptual and practical issues relevant to reaching a better understanding of the phenomenon, and ultimately the clinical syndrome of combat-related PTSD, in both research and clinical settings.
Infrastructure roots. Evolution of electric power in the United States

Electricity holds a unique place in the US infrastructure. It is a commodity, a technology, and a necessity. Electric utilities must walk a fine line to balance each of these aspects. While electricity is a commodity that may be bought and sold, it must also be regulated to remain affordable for the general population. Reliability is continually balanced against the cost of upgrades and maintenance. This paper discusses the interconnection of regional area power systems in the US and the benefits such interconnection brings.
Fuzzy QSARs for predicting logKoc of persistent organic pollutants.

Abstract Fuzzy regression methodology has been employed in this study to develop a relationship for logKoc for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) using other property and molecular descriptors. Fuzzy regression is distinct from statistical regression and is used to characterize the imprecision arising from limited data and/or incomplete model descriptions. The study is based on the premise that statistically based QSARs do not fully account for all the sorbate–sorbent interactions pertinent to the partitioning of POPs and as such these relationships have inherent fuzziness associated with them. A comparison between the statistical and fuzzy logKow–logKoc relationship indicated that the fuzzy regression model enveloped all scatter in the data and provided a tighter fit around the mid-point values (least-square estimates). In addition, fuzzy regression was also employed to characterize imprecision associated with a three parameter QSAR that employs molecular connectivity indicies. A comparison between fuzzy and statistical regression analysis indicated that the fuzziness in this model was primarily associated with characterization of local (atomic) scale interactions while statistical randomness manifested at both local and global (molecular) scales. Experimental and estimation artifacts appear to have a higher impact on statistical regression than fuzzy regression. However, the superiority of the fuzzy regression seems to diminish with increasing correlation between the inputs and the output variable.
Desoxyribonucleic acid assay as a measure of cell number in preparations from monolayer cell cultures and blood leucocytes.

Abstract The DNA assay of Burton has been found to be a highly reproducible determination. It can be used to accurately estimate the number of cells in suspensions of diploid human cells obtained from monolayer cell cultures. The DNA value per cell compares closely with that for human peripheral blood leucocytes.
Chromosome 9 related aberrations and deletions of the CDKN2 and MTS2 putative tumor suppressor genes in human chondrosareomas

Deletions on the short arm of chromosome 9 (9p21 region) have been reported in a number of hematopoietic and solid tumors. These aberrations on 9p have been previously associated with the loss of the interferon gene cluster and the gene for methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), localized to the 9p21-22 region. Recently, two putative tumor suppressor gene(s) CDKN2 and MTS2 have been mapped to the 9p21 region, and shown to be deleted in a large number of tumors including leukemias, melanomas, bladder cancers and brain tumors. We have previously reported a similar 9p21 abnormality and deletions of the CDKN2 and MTS2 genes in a myxoid chondrosarcoma cell line and its subclones. In this study we report consistent abnormalities of chromosome 9 in additional chondrosarcomas examined by a detailed cytogenetic and molecular analysis. Seven chondrosarcoma cell lines, one primary chondrosarcoma, and a benign chondroma were examined. Four of the seven tumor cell lines examined showed grossly visible aberrations of chromosome 9. Molecular analysis of these chondrosarcoma cell lines revealed hemizygous deletions of the interferon genes, and the absence of the MTAP gene, protein or activity. In addition, four of the seven chondrosarcoma cell lines also showed deletions of the CDKN2 and/or MTS2 putative tumor suppressor genes, or the absence of the CDKN2 protein product. No such chromosome 9 related aberrations were detected in the benign chondroma. These data suggest that chromosome 9p21 abnormality, and deletions of the CDKN2 and MTS2 tumor suppressor genes may be a significant event in the development of chondrosarcomas.
Remote sensing applications to hydrology: introduction

(1996). Remote sensing applications to hydrology: introduction. Hydrological Sciences Journal: Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 429-431.
Performance analysis of 3-class classifiers : Properties of the 3D ROC surface and the normalized volume under the surface

Many computer-aided diagnostic problems involve three-class classification (e.g., abnormal (malignant), normal, and benign classes). A general treatment of the performance of a 3-class classifier results in a complex sixdimensional (6D) ROC space for which no analysis tools are available at present. A practical paradigm for performance analysis and a figure of merit (FOM) are yet to be developed. The area Az under the ROC curve plays an important role in the evaluation of two-class classifiers. An analogous FOM for three-class classification is highly desirable. We have been investigating conditions for reducing the 6D ROC space to 3D by constraining the utilities of some of the decisions in the classification task. These assumptions lead to a 3D ROC space in which the true-positive fraction (TPF) of one class can be expressed as a function of the two types of false-positive fractions (FPFs) from the other two classes. In this study, we investigated the properties of the 3D ROC surface for a maximum-likelihood classifier under the condition that the three class distributions in the feature space are multivariate normal with equal covariance matrices. Under the same conditions, we studied the properties of the normalized volume under the surface (NVUS) that was previously proposed as an FOM for a 3-class classifier. Under the equal covariance Gaussian assumption, it can be shown that the probability density functions of the decision variables follow a bivariate log-normal distribution. By considering these probability density functions, we can express the TPF in terms of the FPFs, and numerically integrate over the domain of the TPF to obtain the NVUS. We have compared the NVUS value obtained by directly integrating the probability density functions to that obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation study in which the 3D ROC surface was generated by empirical "optimal" classification of case samples in the multi-dimensional feature space following the assumed distributions. The NVUS values obtained from the direct integration method and the Monte Carlo simulation were found to be in good agreement. Our results indicate that the NVUS exhibits many of the intuitive properties that a proper FOM should satisfy and may be used as a performance index under the conditions that we imposed on the utilities.
Correspondence of 2-D projections by bipartite matching

Abstract A method is presented to determine the correspondence between 2-D projections of a 3-D scene. The problem is formulated as a maximum cardinality with minimum weight matching of a bipartite graph and is solved by a network flow algorithm.