cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Uncertainty in Common NDE Techniques for Use in Risk-Based Bridge Inspection Planning: Existing Data

AbstractIn 2009, a joint American Society of Civil Engineers Structural Engineering Institute and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ad hoc group was created to study how current bridge practices could be improved for the future. Among their recommendations was the wider use of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. Risk-based planning to determine the appropriate inspection frequency, scope, intensity, and methodology would help make the increased time and costs associated with NDE inspections feasible for management budgets. However, a rigorous risk-based approach requires that the accuracy and reliability be quantified for each test. This paper serves as a starting point for quantifying these important variables and identifies the type of information that is still needed. Common NDE techniques were identified, and existing studies were reviewed to identify what data relevant to accuracy and reliability are currently available for these techniques. This review indica...
Heifer calving date positively influences calf weaning weights through six parturitions

Longevity and lifetime productivity are important factors influencing profitability for the cow-calf producer. Heifers that conceive earlier in the breeding season will calve earlier in the calving season and have a longer interval to rebreeding. Calves born earlier in the calving season will also be older and heavier at weaning. Longevity data were collected on 2,195 heifers from producers in South Dakota Integrated Resource Management groups. Longevity and weaning weight data were collected on 16,549 individual heifers at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC). Data were limited to heifers that conceived during their first breeding season. Heifers were grouped into 21-d calving periods. Heifers were determined to have left the herd when they were diagnosed not pregnant at the end of the breeding season. Heifers that left the herd for reasons other than reproductive failure were censored from the data. Heifers that calved with their first calf during the first 21-d period of the calving season had increased (P < 0.01) longevity compared with heifers that calved in the second 21-d period, or later. Average longevity for South Dakota heifers that calved in the first or later period was 5.1 ± 0.1 and 3.9 ± 0.1 yr, respectively. Average longevity for USMARC heifers that calved in the first, second, or third period was 8.2 ± 0.3, 7.6 ± 0.5, and 7.2 ± 0.1 yr, respectively. Calving period as a heifer influenced (P < 0.01) unadjusted weaning BW of the first 6 calves. Estimated postpartum interval to conception as a 2-yr-old cow was greater for females that calved in the first period as heifers but did not differ between heifer calving periods in subsequent calving seasons. In summary, heifers that calved early in the calving season with their first calf had increased longevity and kilograms weaned, compared with heifers that calved later in the calving season.
Spin trapping endogenous radicals in MC-1010 cells: Evidence for hydroxyl radical and carbon-centered ascorbyl radical adducts

Incubation of MC-1010 cells with the spin-trapping agent 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline 1-oxide (DMPO) followed by brief treatment with the solid oxidant lead dioxide (PbO2) yielded, after filtration, a cell-free solution that contained two nitroxyl adducts. The first was the hydroxyl radical adduct, 5,5-dimethyl-2-hydroxypyrrolidine-1-oxyl (DMPO-OH), which formed immediately upon PbO2 oxidation. The second had a 6-line EPR spectrum typical of a carbon-centered radical (AN=15.9 G; AH=22.4 G) and formed more slowly. No radical signals were detected in the absence of either cells or PbO2 treatment. The 6-line spectrum could be duplicated in model systems that contained ascorbate, DMPO and DMPO-OH, where the latter was formed from hydroxyl radicals generated by sonolysis or the cleavage of hydrogen peroxide with Fe2+ (Fenton reaction). In addition, enrichment of MC-1010 cells with ascorbate prior to spin trapping yielded the 6-line EPR spectrum as the principal adduct following PbO2 oxidation and filtration. These results suggest that ascorbate reacted with DMPO-OH to form a carbon-centered ascorbyl radical that was subsequently trapped by DMPO. The requirement for mild oxidation to detect the hydroxyl radical adduct suggests that DMPO-OH formed in the cells was reduced to an EPR-silent form (i.e., the hydroxylamine derivative). Alternatively, the hydroxylamine derivative was the species initially formed. The evidence for endogenous hydroxyl radical formation in unstimulated leukocytes may be relevant to the leukemic nature of the MC-1010 cell line. The spin trapping of the ascorbyl radical is the first report of formation of the carbon-centered ascorbyl radical by means other than pulse radiolysis. Unless it is spin trapped, the carbon-centered ascorbyl radical immediately rearranges to the more stable oxygen-centered species that is passive to spin trapping and characterized by the well-known EPR doublet of AH4=1.8 G.
CHARACTERISTICS OF NONTRAUMATIC SUBARACHNOID HEMORRHAGE IN THE UNITED STATES IN 2003

Objective Substantial progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). However, studies of SAH in the United States do not include information more recent than 2001, precluding analysis of shifts in treatment methods. We examined the epidemiology and in-hospital outcomes of nontraumatic SAH in the United States. Methods We analyzed nationally representative data from the 2003 Nationwide Inpatient Sample of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project to determine demographic and hospital characteristics, treatments, and in-hospital outcomes of patients with nontraumatic SAH. Results In 2003, there were an estimated 31,476 discharges for nontraumatic SAH among patients aged 17 years or older, or 14.5 discharges per 100,000 adults. The in-hospital mortality rate was 25.3%. Microvascular clipping was performed in 7513 discharges, or 23.9% of inpatients with nontraumatic SAH; endovascular coiling was performed in 2849 discharges (9.1%). Adjusted odds of treatment with either procedure were significantly higher in urban teaching hospitals compared with urban nonteaching hospitals (odds ratio, 1.62; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-2.62) or rural hospitals (odds ratio, 3.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.93-4.91). Conclusion The in-hospital mortality rate associated with nontraumatic SAH continues to exceed 25%. Although it is unclear how many patients with nontraumatic SAH were actually diagnosed with a cerebral aneurysm, this study suggests that less than one-third of patients hospitalized for SAH receive surgical or endovascular treatment. Prospective studies are needed to elucidate either what systematic coding error is occurring in the national database or why patients may not receive treatment to secure a ruptured aneurysm.
Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics and Formation of Nanoparticles in Femtosecond Laser Ablation

High intensity femtosecond laser ablation processes are computed by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The procedure of MD modeling and related numerical techniques are introduced. The volumetric phase separation is illustrated. The emphasis is to understand the thermodynamic state of a material which is heated with an extremely high heating rate, and the formation of particles with nanometer size in the laser-ablated plume. It is revealed that nanoparticles are originated from expansion of a supercritical fluid in a reduced temperature and pressure environment. The parameters of the nanoparticles (temperature, size and velocity) are shown. The results will help to understand femtosecond laser materials processing and applications where nanoparticles are of interest.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Chronic toxicologic studies on isopropyl N-(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate (CIPC).

Abstract The feeding of isopropyl N -(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate to rats for two years and to dogs for one year at dietary concentrations of 0.2% or below produced no discernible adverse effects. At a dietary concentration of 2.0%, adverse effects occurred in both rats and dogs.
Intangible assets and stock trading strategies

Hall (2001a) argues that the value of intangible assets can be inferred from firms’ stock market value and the value of tangible assets, which suggests rational valuation in the market. This paper investigates the relationship between firms’ future stock returns and their inferred intangibles and indirectly tests Hall’s hypothesis by using various trading strategies. It is found that the inferred intangibles have predictive power for stock returns, which might be because of mean‐reverting misvaluation by the stock market; and the way the inferred intangibles predict stock returns is consistent with the three‐factor model of Fama and French (1992). However, I find that the predictive power of inferred intangibles is consistent with market inefficiency, rather than a rational premium for distress risk related to the book‐to‐market equity ratio. Thus the intangible assets hypothesis of Hall does not hold and the discrepancy between market equity and book equity suggests market inefficiency.
A 2-layer laser multiplexed photonic network-on-chip

In Recent times many two-dimensional photonic NoC architectures have been proposed with laser sources. Such Photonic NoCs meet high-bandwidth requirements but at the cost of significant power consumptions. In this paper, we propose a low-power and low cost solution to photonic NoC. A 2-layer photonic NoC architecture with laser multiplexing has been designed using a separate ring waveguide layer towards realizing a 3D photonic NoC. This approach is first of its kind in designing high-performance and low-power Photonic NoC architecture. The design approach is scalable. The proposed design results in 75% reduction in the number of on-chip lasers and 50% reduction in power dissipation compared to recently reported results.
Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase and Rab5 GTPase Inversely Regulate the Smad Anchor for Receptor Activation (SARA) Protein Independently of Transforming Growth Factor-β1

SARA has been shown to be a regulator of epithelial cell phenotype, with reduced expression during TGF-β1-mediated epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Examination of the pathways that might play a role in regulating SARA expression identified phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway inhibition as sufficient to reduce SARA expression. The mechanism of PI3K inhibition-mediated SARA down-regulation differs from that induced by TGF-β1 in that, unlike TGF-β1, PI3K-dependent depletion of SARA was apparent within 6 h and did not occur at the mRNA or promoter level but was blocked by inhibition of proteasome-mediated degradation. This effect was independent of Akt activity because neither reducing nor enhancing Akt activity modulated the expression of SARA. Therefore, this is likely a direct effect of p85α action, and co-immunoprecipitation of SARA and p85α confirmed that these proteins interact. Both SARA and PI3K have been shown to be associated with endosomes, and either LY294002 or p85α knockdown enlarged SARA-containing endocytic vesicles. Inhibition of clathrin-mediated endocytosis blocked SARA down-regulation, and a localization-deficient mutant SARA was protected against down-regulation. As inhibiting PI3K can activate the endosomal fusion-regulatory small GTPase Rab5, we expressed GTPase-deficient Rab5 and observed endosomal enlargement and reduced SARA protein expression, similar to that seen with PI3K inhibition. Importantly, either interference with PI3K via LY294002 or p85α knockdown, or constitutive activity of the Rab5 pathway, enhanced the expression of smooth muscle α-actin. Together, these data suggest that although TGF-β1 can induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition through reduction in SARA expression, SARA is also basally regulated by its interaction with PI3K.
Enhancing clustering blog documents by utilizing author/reader comments

Blogs are a new form of internet phenomenon and a vast everincreasing information resource. Mining blog files for information is a very new research direction in data mining. Blog files are different from standard web files and may need specialized mining strategies. We propose to include the title, body, and comments of the blog pages in clustering datasets from blog documents. In particular, we argue that the author/reader comments of the blog pages may have more discriminating effect in clustering blog documents. We constructed a word-page matrix by downloading blog pages from a well-known website and experimented a k-means clustering algorithm with different weights assigned to the title, body, and comment parts. Our experimental results show that assigning a larger weight value to the blog comments helps the k-means algorithm produce better clustering solutions. The experimental results confirm our hypothesis that the author/reader comments of the blog files are very useful in discriminating blog files.
Analysis and isolation of renal tubular cells by flow cytometry

Analysis and isolation of renal tubular cells by flow cytometry. The cells of the renal cortex have rich heterogeneity of structure and function. Flow cytometry, the technique of rapid laser-based single cell analysis, can give information about cellular mixtures not obtainable by any other means. We examined a variety of fluorescent markers to identify populations of renal cells by flow cytometry. Cellular digests of rat cortex were fluorescently stained with either enzymatic activity probes, or polyclonal antibodies. Fluorescent staining for the proximal marker τ-glutamyl-transpeptidase (τ-GT) was an order of magnitude brighter than autofluorescence, and stained 71 ± 11% of the cells. Second, we colocalized enzymatic and antibody markers. There was tight colocalization of τ-GT enzyme activity, detected with fluorogenic substrates, with specific surface binding of τ-GT antibodies. Third, populations of fluorescently labelled cells can be rapidly isolated by flow cytometry sorting. Flow cytometry sorting isolated 107 cells positive for the proximal tubular marker τ-GT in a little under one hour. The sorted cells were viable with 99 ± 2% trypan blue exclusion (N = 8). Sodium-dependent phloridzin-inhibitable glucose uptake was present in sorted cells, with greater uptake/mg protein than in unsorted controls. The sorted cells grew in culture as a monolayer of tightly adherent cuboidal cells. Hence, flow cytometry allows us to quantitate the heterogeneity in mixed renal cellular digests. Flow cytometry allows us to rapidly isolate millions of cells according to fluorescently tagged markers. The isolated cells are viable, retain sodium-dependent transport properties, and grow in culture.
Recent Advances in Technetium Chemistry: Bridging Inorganic Chemistry and Nuclear Medicine

Abstract Recent research that bridges the apparently disparate disciplines of inorganic chemistry and nuclear medicine is described.
A nonstationary nocturnal drainage flow model

The evolution and structure of the steady state of an idealized nocturnal drainage flow over a large uniformly-sloping surface are studied using a nonstationary model with a height-dependent eddy diffusivity profile and a specified surface cooling rate. The predicted mean velocity and temperature profiles are compared with Prandtl's stationary analytical solutions based on the assumption of a constant eddy diffusivity in the drainage layer. The effects of important physical parameters, such as the slope angle, surface cooling, atmospheric stability, and surface roughness, on the steady drainage flow are investigated.
The effect of a Cr-overlayer on the magnetization of a Fe-film

Abstract Thin iron films were prepared on NaCl-coated glass plates in an ultra high vacuum system. The magnetic dipole moment of each film was measured in situ. Then a Cr-overlayer was deposited on the iron film and again the magnetic dipole moment was measured in situ. The dipole moment of the Fe-film with Cr-overlayer was smaller than the dipole moment of the Fe-film alone. This decrease is equivalent to a decrease of the effective magnetic thickness of the iron film by (0.167±0.057) nm.
Drug-induced hyperkalemia: old culprits and new offenders

Prescribed medications, over-the-counter drugs, and nutritional supplements are used by many patients. Although most of these products are well tolerated, drug-induced hyperkalemia may develop in patients with underlying renal impairment or other abnormalities in potassium handling. Drug-induced hyperkalemia most often occurs from impaired renal potassium excretion. However, disturbed cellular uptake of a potassium load as well as excessive ingestion or infusion of potassium-containing substances may also occur. Physicians must be aware of medications that can precipitate hyperkalemia, how these drugs induce alterations in potassium homeostasis, and the patient characteristics that increase the risk of hyperkalemia.
No Child Left Behind and Fine Arts Classes

Since the Bush administration enacted the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, lawmakers and school administrators have questioned what changes, if any, the Obama administration will make. This article discusses the effects of NCLB on nontested subjects, specifically music and arts in the general curriculum. Major effects on scheduling and funding policies have forced educators to reconsider how advocacy for the arts should be approached.
Published Studies of Interrater Reliability Often Overestimate Reliability: Computing the Correct Coefficient

It is erroneous to generalize the interrater reliability coefficient estimated from two or more raters rating only a (small) portion of the sample to the rest of the sample data for which only one rater is used for scoring, although such generalization is often made implicitly in practice. If the interrater reliability estimate from part of a sample is available, the score reliability for the rest of the sample data for which only one rater is used for scoring can be estimated both within the framework of classical reliability theory and that of generalizability theory. As intuitively expected, score reliability when only one rater is used for scoring is lower than the score reliability for which two raters are used. The authors provide a sample of published studies in different disciplines that inappropriately generalized reliability coefficients involving several raters to scores generated by a single rater.
Social Relations and Health Assessments Among Older People: Do the Effects of Integration and Social Contributions Vary Cross-Culturally?

Research on health assessments has shown the importance of social relations as a factor influencing health, especially among older people. Drawing upon sociological theories of social integration and social exchange, this research examines two domains of social relations which are expected to influence assessed health. In addition, the study uses a cross-national sample (N = 3,407) of noninstitutionalized older people from the Republic of Korea, Fiji, Malaysia, and the Philippines to determine if modernization conditions the relationships between social relations and health. Results indicate that social integration has a positive effect on subjective health assessments in all nations, whereas social contributions are significant only in Korea. Findings suggest that health assessments by elders in the most modernized nations appear to be much more influenced by the contributions they make to the social order than is the case in nations which are less modernized.
Generalized information theory: aims, results, and open problems

Abstract The principal purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive overview of generalized information theory (GIT): a research program whose objective is to develop a broad treatment of uncertainty-based information, not restricted to classical notions of uncertainty. After a brief overview of classical information theories, a broad framework for formalizing uncertainty and the associated uncertainty-based information of a great spectrum of conceivable types is sketched. The various theories of imprecise probabilities that have already been developed within this framework are then surveyed, focusing primarily on some important unifying principles applying to all these theories. This is followed by introducing two higher levels of the theories of imprecise probabilities: (i) the level of measuring the amount of relevant uncertainty (predictive, retrodictive, prescriptive, diagnostic, etc.) in any situation formalizable in each given theory, and (ii) the level of some methodological principles of uncertainty, which are contingent upon the capability to measure uncertainty and the associated uncertainty-based information. Various issues regarding both the measurement of uncertainty and the uncertainty principles are discussed. Again, the focus is on unifying principles applicable to all the theories. Finally, the current status of GIT is assessed and future research in the area is discussed.
FACTORS INFLUENCING LEVELS OF CREDIT CARD DEBT IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

The current study examined the relationship between money attitudes, impulsivity, locus of control, life satisfaction, and stress and credit-card debt in 227 college students. Students reported an average credit-card debt of $ 1,518, with over 75% of students holding at least one credit card. Students with credit cards from on-campus solicitation had higher debt-to-income ratios than did those with credit cards from other sources. Personality variables were generally unrelated to level of debt, although they were related to attitudes toward money. Many students requested information about credit and debt, suggesting that knowledge of financial issues may be an important variable for future consideration.
Karma: scalable deterministic record-replay

Recent research in deterministic record-replay seeks to ease debugging, security, and fault tolerance on otherwise nondeterministic multicore systems. The important challenge of handling shared memory races (that can occur on any memory reference) can be made more efficient with hardware support. Recent proposals record how long threads run in isolation on top of snooping coherence (IMRR), implicit transactions (DeLorean), or directory coherence (Rerun). As core counts scale, Rerun's directory-based parallel record gets more attractive, but its nearly sequential replay becomes unacceptably slow. This paper proposes Karma for both scalable recording and replay. Karma builds an episodic memory race recorder using a conventional directory cache coherence protocol and records the order of the episodes as a directed acyclic graph. Karma also enables extension of episodes even after some conflicts. During replay, Karma uses wakeup messages to trigger a partially ordered parallel episode replay. Results with several commercial workloads on a 16-core system show that Karma can achieve replay speed (a) within 19%-28% of native execution speed without record-replay and (b) four times faster than even an idealized Rerun replay. Additional results explore tradeoffs between log size and replay speed.
Controllability in protein interaction networks

Recently, the focus of network research shifted to network controllability, prompting us to determine proteins that are important for the control of the underlying interaction webs. In particular, we determined minimum dominating sets of proteins (MDSets) in human and yeast protein interaction networks. Such groups of proteins were defined as optimized subsets where each non-MDSet protein can be reached by an interaction from an MDSet protein. Notably, we found that MDSet proteins were enriched with essential, cancer-related, and virus-targeted genes. Their central position allowed MDSet proteins to connect protein complexes and to have a higher impact on network resilience than hub proteins. As for their involvement in regulatory functions, MDSet proteins were enriched with transcription factors and protein kinases and were significantly involved in bottleneck interactions, regulatory links, phosphorylation events, and genetic interactions.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging of language cortex

This review examines recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) studies of language cortex. Included are activation studies involving listening to speech, reading, word generation, semantic categorization, and verbal working memory. Where possible we compared FMRI results with similar data obtained using positron emission tomography. Several applications of language FMRI in neurologic patients are presented. Methodologic issues concerning task design are discussed from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience. These issues include the validity of “covert” responses, selection of control tasks, consideration of practice effects, and interpretation of “rest” conditions. FMRI has great potential to clarify the neurophysiologic basis of human language, although this potential remains largely unexplored.
Mechanism of Selective Oxidation and Ammoxidation of Propene on Bismuth Molybdates from DFT Calculations on Model Clusters

In this paper, we use first principles quantum mechanical methods (B3LYP flavor of Density Functional Theory) to examine the mechanism of selective oxidation and ammoxidation of propene by BiMoO_x catalysts. To do this, we use finite clusters chosen to mimic likely sites on the heterogeneous surfaces of the catalysts. We conclude that activation of the propene requires a Bi(V) site, whereas all subsequent reactions involve di-oxo Mo(VI) sites adjacent to the Bi. We find that two such Mo sites are required for the most favorable reactions. These results are compatible with current experimental data. For ammoxidation, we conclude that ammonia activation would be easier on Mo(IV) rather than on Mo(VI). Ammonia would be activated more easily for more reducing condition. Because ammonia and propene are reducing agents, higher partial pressures of them could accelerate the ammonia activation. This is consistent with the kinetic model of ammoxidation proposed by Grasselli and co-workers that imido sites (Mo═NH) are more abundant in higher partial pressures of feed. Our calculations also indicate that allyl groups produced as a result of the hydrogen abstraction from propenes would be adsorbed more easily on imido groups (Mo═NH) than on oxo groups (Mo═O) and that the spectator oxo effect is larger than spectator imido effect. Thus, we propose that the best site for ammoxidation (at least for allyl adsorption) is the imido group of the “oxo-imido” species.
Properties of statistical tests of neutrality for DNA polymorphism data.

A class of statistical tests based on molecular polymorphism data is studied to determine size and power properties. The class includes Tajima9s D statistic as well as the D* and F* tests proposed by Fu and Li. A new method of constructing critical values for these tests is described. Simulations indicate that Tajima9s test is generally most powerful against the alternative hypotheses of selective sweep, population bottleneck, and population subdivision, among tests within this class. However, even Tajima9s test can detect a selective sweep or bottleneck only if it has occurred within a specific interval of time in the recent past or population subdivision only when it has persisted for a very long time. For greatest power against the particular alternatives studied here, it is better to sequence more alleles than more sites.
Approximate Algorithms for Sensor Deployment with k-coverage in Constrained 3D Space

Sensor deployment is one fundamental task in sensor network implementation. We generalize and investigate the problem of deploying a minimum set of wireless sensors at candidate locations in constrained 3D space of interest to achieve k-coverage of given target areas such that each point in the target areas is covered by at least k sensors. Based on different constraints on sensor locations and target areas, we formulate four sensor deployment problems: Discrete / Continuous sensor Locations (D/CL) with Discrete / Continuous Target areas (D/CT). We propose an approximate algorithm for DLDT and reduce DLCT and CLDT to DLDT by discretizing continuous sensor locations or target areas into a number of divisions without loss of sensing precision. We further consider the connected version of these four sensor deployment problems where deployed sensors must form a connected network, and propose an approximate algorithm for each of these connected deployment problems.
Interferon-induced indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity in human mononuclear phagocytes.

Interferon (IFN)-induced tryptophan degradation, catalyzed by indoleamine 2,3dloxygenase (IDO), has been shown to mediate antimicrobial activity in epithelial cells. IDO activity has also been augmented in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) treated with IFN or interleukin-2 (lL-2). The effector cells in this population have now been further characterized. PBMC5 were isolated from normal donors, separated Into monocyteandlymphocyte populatlona by placticadharenee, treatedwith IFN or lL-�, and cultivated in medium supplemented with [3H]tryptophan. Culture supernatants were collected after a 48-h incubation and fractionated by high-performance liquid chromatography; radioactivIty was determined in fractions corresponding to tryptophan and its metaboiltes. IFN-y and IFN-(3 induced IDO activity only in monocytes (plastic-adherent, nonspecific esterase-positive PBMCs). The Induction of IDO actIvity by 11-2 requIred both monocytes and lymphocytes. Interaction was required between these populations for Induction of IDO by 11-2, due to production of IFN-’j by I lymphocytes, with subsequent IFN-y-mediated induction of IDO in monocytes. A number of myeioid cell lines as well as monocyte-derlved macrophages were also tested for their ability to be induced to degrade tryptophan in response to IFN treatment Monocyte-derived macrophages were found to retain their capacity to be Induced by IFN-’y and IFN-13 to degrade tryptophan after differentiation, and to possess seven times more IDO activity per cell than IFN-lnduced monocytes. However, the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the culture medIum was required for the maximum Induction of IDO activity by IFN-�. Furthermore, higher concentrations of LPS were sufficient to induce IDO activity in macrophages in the absence of exogenous IFN.
Rapid Neural Coding in the Retina with Relative Spike Latencies

Natural vision is a highly dynamic process. Frequent body, head, and eye movements constantly bring new images onto the retina for brief periods, challenging our understanding of the neural code for vision. We report that certain retinal ganglion cells encode the spatial structure of a briefly presented image in the relative timing of their first spikes. This code is found to be largely invariant to stimulus contrast and robust to noisy fluctuations in response latencies. Mechanistically, the observed response characteristics result from different kinetics in two retinal pathways (“ON” and “OFF”) that converge onto ganglion cells. This mechanism allows the retina to rapidly and reliably transmit new spatial information with the very first spikes emitted by a neural population.
Motivation, management, and mastery: a theory of resilience in the context of HIV infection.

BACKGROUND: Clients with HIV infection have been conceptualized as a resilient population. Although a few researchers have documented resilience among clients with HIV infection, a theory of resili...
Pathologic Complete Response to Neoadjuvant FOLFOX in Combination with Bevacizumab in Unresectable Metastatic Colorectal Carcinoma

A 32-year-old Asian male presented with perforated sigmoid colorectal cancer (CRC) and large, unresectable hepatic metastasis. After surgery for his primary tumor, he received 6 months of FOLFOX (5-fluorouracil/leucovorin/ oxaliplatin) plus bevacizumab and achieved a partial response. He underwent hepatic metastasectomy and was found to have had a complete pathologic response (pCR) to treatment. The literature regarding pCR with chemotherapy in CRC and the implications for further management is discussed herein.
Wireless physical-layer security performance of UWB systems

Traditionally, spread-spectrum systems have been employed to provide low probability-of-intercept (LPI), low probability-of-detection (LPD) performance at the physical layer, but the messages transmitted over such a system are still encrypted with a powerful cipher to protect their secrecy. However, it has recently been suggested that the cryptographic security of the system can be enhanced by exploiting physical properties of ultra-wideband (UWB) signals. With an eavesdropper observing the communications over multipath channels between two legitimate partners sharing a secret key of a limited length, we consider both coherent and reference-based UWB schemes to enhance security. The security of the legitimate nodes is achieved by signal attributes based on the secret key, giving them an advantage over the adversary. In particular, we propose transmission schemes and investigate the physical layer security performance of UWB systems intended for coherent reception and UWB transmitted-reference (TR) systems in IEEE 802.15.4a multipath environments. Critical to the TR scheme is employing true randomness to keep a sophisticated adversary from decoding the signal coherently. Numerical results for IEEE 802.15.4a channel models reveal not only that the proposed schemes provide promising support for higher-layer cryptographic protocols, but also, perhaps surprisingly, that the baseline UWB TR system can demonstrate better security tradeoffs than the baseline UWB system intended for coherent reception under the IEEE 802.15.4a channel model.
VHDL - AMS modeling of silicon carbide power semiconductor devices

VHDL-AMS is gaining ground as the standard modeling language for devices and systems. A new modeling tool, Paragon, is presented in this work that helps the user to create models with only the topology and the characteristic equations. Paragon then generates the model in various HDLs such as VHDL-AMS, MAST and Verilog-A. As an example, a silicon carbide vertical JFET/SIT is modeled using Paragon. SiC JFETs are power switches that have a variety of applications in the industry. A compact model is developed in VHDL-AMS based on the device geometry and SiC material properties. The on-state model has been tested in mentor graphics' system vision VHDL-AMS simulator and it clearly replicates the behavior seen in experimental characterization as the validation results show.
Capgras-like visual decomposition in Lewy body dementia with therapeutic response to donepezil

Defects in visual/spatial cognition, including hallucinations and Capgras syndrome, are common in Lewy body dementia (LBD).1 In Capgras syndrome, a person holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, or other close family member has been replaced by an identical-looking impostor. These visual phenomena frequently induce anxiety and agitation, and the only treatment currently available is neuroleptics. Neuroleptics have severe side effects in LBD as well as a black box warning for increased risk of death and stroke in elderly patients with dementia. We report 2 cases of LBD where visual phenomena including Capgras-like syndrome responded favorably to the use of a cholinesterase inhibitor.
3-D object model recovery from 2-D images using structured light

Three-dimensional (3-D) object models are currently used in CAD/CAM, robotics, remote sensing, etc. The models (images) can be either directly acquired by using special devices such as range finders, CTR scanners, etc., or they can be recovered from a series of two-dimensional (2-D) images of the object. In this paper, the authors propose a method for determining a set of reference pixels in two simultaneous views of the same object, using two cameras, by projecting a pseudorandom encoded grid on the object. The grid nodes and their encoding values are extracted from 2-D images by applying first a smoothing and then a watershed algorithm. The pseudorandom information encoded in the grid nodes is used to match corresponding sets of points of the two 2-D images. The set of matched points are further used to calculate the disparity of each point of the object surface. Experimental examples illustrate the performance of this simple and elegant technique.
Large impact deformation response of spherical shells

A combination of experiment and simple theory is used to investigate the deformation response of complete, hollow spherical shells subjected at elevated temperature to high-velocity normal impact upon a planar rigid target. Temperature of the shells at impact is a few hundred degrees Fahrenheit below their melting point. A semi-inverse method of analysis is developed which is based upon energy conservation during the impact process. The method for prediction of dynamic behavior is essentially a static description of the deformation process. An assumed shell deformation pattern closely resembling the postimpact pattern obtained by test is used in formulating the external work and strain energy expressions. Consideration of one-dimension al stress wave propagation is used to develop the external work expression. Bending and stretching are included in the strain energy. A general expression for energy conservation is developed and subsequently considerably simplified by assuming the shell wall to behave as a rigid-linear strain hardening material. The average absolute difference between predictions of the analysis and test results is 8.6%.
Migraine With Binocular Blindness: A Clinic-Based Study

Objective.— To describe the syndrome of migraine with binocular blindness. Background.— Rarely do migraine patients complain of losing vision in both eyes during an attack of headache. There are no large clinic-based studies looking at the prevalence of binocular blindness in migraine sufferers and no information about patient demographics, neuroimaging, and laboratory testing. Methods.— Over a 14-month time period, 383 new patients with a diagnosis of migraine were seen at the Geisinger Headache Center. All patients were asked if they ever experienced an episode of complete bilateral blindness along with their headaches. Those with a positive history had coagulopathy testing as well as brain magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography of the intracranial circulation. Results.— A total of 6 patients or only 1.6% of the new migraine patients had episodes of binocular blindness with their headaches. All were female and each had a history of migraine for at least 3 years. Five patients had a diagnosis of migraine without aura, while one had a diagnosis of basilar-type migraine. In all patients the blindness episodes occurred in isolation during a migraine headache. In all but one patient the blindness was instantaneous and not a slow evolution. In 2 patients the blindness episode only occurred 1 time; in 3 patients episodes occurred more than once but were rare, while 1 patient had blindness with 50% of her headaches. In regard to duration, in 2 patients blindness lasted only several seconds, 2 patients between 2 and 10 minutes, 1 patient 30 minutes and 1 patient 60-120 minutes. Neuroimaging was normal in all. Three patients had a history of smoking and 3 never smoked. Coagulopathy testing was abnormal in all patients. Two patients were homozygous for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) 677TT polymorphism, but both had normal homocysteine levels; 3 patients were heterozygous for MTHFR 677CT polymorphism and 1 had elevated homocysteine levels and 1 patient had a positive lupus anticoagulant (had the most frequent episodes of blindness). Conclusion.— Binocular blindness with migraine headache is a very rare occurrence at least in a headache specialty clinic population. It is a female-predominant event and occurs mostly in migraine patients who do not have a history of aura. Blindness episodes can be very brief or prolonged and many do not fit the typical duration of a migraine aura. They are typically infrequent events and may occur only 1 time without recurrence. Migraine with binocular blindness may reflect an underlying clotting disorder. A possible etiology outside of a coagulopathy-related event is retinal spreading depression.
The role of dissolved organic matter (DOM) quality in the growth enhancement of Alexandrium fundyense (Dinophyceae) in laboratory culture(1).

Several algal species responsible for harmful algal blooms (HABs), such as Alexandrium fundyense, are mixotrophic under certain environmental conditions. The ability to switch between photosynthetic and heterotrophic modes of growth may play a role in the development of HABs in coastal regions. We examined the influence of humic dissolved organic matter (HDOM) derived from terrestrial (plant/soil) and microbial sources on the growth of A. fundyense. We found that a terrestrially derived HDOM, Suwannee River humic acid (SRHA), did enhance A. fundyense growth; however, a microbially derived HDOM, Pony Lake fulvic acid (PLFA) did not enhance growth. A. fundyense grows in association with bacteria in culture and we observed that bacterial cell densities were much lower in A. fundyense cultures than in bacteria-only cultures, consistent with bacterial grazing by A. fundyense in culture. In bacteria-only cultures with added algal exudates (EX), the addition of PLFA and SRHA resulted in a slight increase in bacterial cell density compared to cultures without HDOM added. Changes over time in the chemical quality of the HDOM in the A. fundyense cultures reflected contributions of microbially derived material with similar characteristics as the PLFA. Overall, these results suggest that the chemical differences between SRHA and PLFA are responsible for the greater effect of SRHA on A. fundyense growth, and that the differential effect is not a result of an effect on the growth of associated bacteria.
Child psychiatry perspectives: women, work, and children.

Abstract The authors begin by discussing the changes in patterns of family life that have occurred over recent years. They cite the increase in the number of working mothers and the change in what has been considered a traditional family structure. They point out that most women work out of economic necessity and that they add their job responsibilities to their traditional ones. Recent literature on maternal attachment has made it necessary to consider how the separation of mother and child related to the mother working affects the child. The authors review some of the recent literature in this area and point out that not only is it the quality of care that is most critical to the child but that there is evidence that infants can form more than one attachment. They cite the mutuality of the relationship between mother and child and point out the lack of evidence for a relationship between maternal employment and maternal deprivation. They also review the literature on the impact on older children of mothers' working and report that it appears that maternal employment has a positive effect, particularly on daughters. Although all of the data is not yet clear, they conclude that there may be benefits for mothers, children, and families in terms of the quality of relationships and identifications when mothers work.
Provably Efficient Learning with Typed Parametric Models

To quickly achieve good performance, reinforcement-learning algorithms for acting in large continuous-valued domains must use a representation that is both sufficiently powerful to capture important domain characteristics, and yet simultaneously allows generalization, or sharing, among experiences. Our algorithm balances this tradeoff by using a stochastic, switching, parametric dynamics representation. We argue that this model characterizes a number of significant, real-world domains, such as robot navigati on across varying terrain. We prove that this representational assumption allows our algorithm to be probably approximately correct with a sample complexity that scales polynomially with all problem-specific quantities including the state-space dimension. We also explicitly incorporate the error introduced by approximate planning in our sample complexity bounds, in contrast to prior Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) Markov Decision Processes (MDP) approaches, which typically assume the estimated MDP can be solved exactly. Our experimental results on constructing plans for driving to work using real car trajectory data, as well as a small robot experiment on navigating varying terrain, demonstrate that our dynamics representation enables us to capture real-world dynamics in a sufficient manner to produce good performance.
Adolescent physical activity and screen time: associations with the physical home environment

Previous research on the environment and physical activity has mostly focused on macro-scale environments, such as the neighborhood environment. There has been a paucity of research on the role of micro-scale and proximal environments, such as that of the home which may be particularly relevant for younger adolescents who have more limited independence and mobility. The purpose of this study was to describe associations between the home environment and adolescent physical activity, sedentary time, and screen time. A total of 613 parent-adolescent dyads were included in these analyses from two ongoing cohort studies. Parents completed a Physical Activity and Media Inventory (PAMI) of their home environment. Adolescent participants (49% male, 14.5 ± 1.8 years) self-reported their participation in screen time behaviors and wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for one week to assess active and sedentary time. After adjusting for possible confounders, physical activity equipment density in the home was positively associated with accelerometer-measured physical activity (p < 0.01) among both males and females. Most of the PAMI-derived measures of screen media equipment in the home were positively associated with adolescent female's screen time behavior (p ≤ 0.03). In addition, the ratio of activity to media equipment was positively associated with physical activity (p = 0.04) in both males and females and negatively associated with screen time behavior for females (p < 0.01). The home environment was associated with physical activity and screen time behavior in adolescents and differential environmental effects for males and females were observed. Additional research is warranted to more comprehensively assess the home environment and to identify obesogenic typologies of families so that early identification of at-risk families can lead to more informed, targeted intervention efforts.