cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The impact of object technology on commercial transaction processing

Businesses today are searching for information solutions that enable them to compete in the global marketplace. To minimize risk, these solutions must build on existing investments, permit the best technology to be applied to the problem, and be manageable. Object technology, with its promise of improved productivity and quality in application development, delivers these characteristics but, to date, its deployment in commercial business applications has been limited. One possible reason is the absence of the transaction paradigm, widely used in commercial environments and essential for reliable business applications. For object technology to be a serious contender in the construction of these solutions requires: – technology for transactional objects. In December 1994, the Object Management Group adopted a specification for an object transaction service (OTS). The OTS specifies mechanisms for defining and manipulating transactions. Though derived from the X/Open distributed transaction processing model, OTS contains additional enhancements specifically designed for the object environment. Similar technology from Microsoft appeared at the end of 1995. – methodologies for building new business systems from existing parts. Business process re-engineering is forcing businesses to improve their operations which bring products to market. Workflow computing, when used in conjunction with “object wrappers” provides tools to both define and track execution of business processes which leverage existing applications and infrastructure. – an execution environment which satisfies the requirements of the operational needs of the business. Transaction processing (TP) monitor technology, though widely accepted for mainframe transaction processing, has yet to enjoy similar success in the client/server marketplace. Instead the database vendors, with their extensive tool suites, dominate. As object brokers mature they will require many of the functions of today's TP monitors. Marrying these two technologies can produce a robust execution environment which offers a superior alternative for building and deploying client/server applications.
Critical roles of miRNA-mediated regulation of TGFβ signalling during mouse cardiogenesis

Aims MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles during the development of the cardiovascular system. Blocking miRNA biosynthesis in embryonic hearts through a conditional gene inactivation approach led to differential cardiac defects depending on the Cre drivers used in different studies. The goal of this study is to reveal the cardiogenic pathway that is regulated by the miRNA mechanism at midgestation, a stage that has not been evaluated in previous publications. Methods and results We specifically inactivated Dicer1 , which is essential for generation of functional mature miRNAs, in the myocardium by crossing cTnt-Cre mice with Dicer1loxP mice. cTnt-Cre efficiently inactivates target genes in cardiomyocytes at midgestation. All mutants died between E14.5 and E16.5 with severe myocardial wall defects, including reduced cell proliferation, increased cell death, and spongy myocardial wall. Expression of TGFβ type I receptor ( Tgfbr1 ), which encodes the Type I receptor of TGFβ ligands, was up-regulated in mutant hearts. As expected, TGFβ activity was increased in Dicer1 -inactivated hearts. Our further molecular analysis suggested that Tgfbr1 is a direct target of three miRNAs. Reducing TGFβ activities using a pharmacological inhibitor on in vitro cultured hearts, or through an in vivo genetic approach, partially rescued the cardiac defects caused by Dicer1 inactivation. Conclusions We show for the first time that TGFβ signalling is directly regulated by the miRNA mechanism during myocardial wall morphogenesis. Increased TGFβ activity plays a major role in the cardiac defects caused by myocardial deletion of Dicer1 . Thus, miRNA-mediated regulation of TGFβ signalling is indispensable for normal cardiogenesis.
Architecture for access: Multimedia digital libraries and museum applications. Sponsored by SIG DL

Digital libraries have extended access to many types of collections from all points of the globe. These collections include film and video archives, news material, oral histories, museum images and digitized special collections. As more multimedia collections are digitized, there is a growing need for proactive digital design to assure access and interoperability without compromising the content of the collections. Subject areas range from digital image reference services; museums and web-based exhibits to the use of face recognition software for national security. This interactive panel session features experts who are pushing the envelope of multimedia digital libraries, from lessons learned on recent projects to architecture considerations for future standards.
Effects of ion/ion proton transfer reactions on conformation of gas-phase cytochrome c ions

Positive ions from cytochrome c are studied in a 3-D ion trap/ion mobility (IM)/quadrupole-time-of-flight (TOF) instrument with three independent ion sources. The IM separation allows measurement of the cross section of the ions. Ion/ion reactions in the 3-D ion trap that remove protons cause the cytochrome c ions to refold gently without other degradation of protein structure, i.e., fragmentation or loss of heme group or metal ion. The conformation(s) of the product ions generated by ion/ion reactions in a given charge state are similar regardless of whether the cytochrome c ions are originally in +8 or +9 charge states. In the lower charge states (+1 to +5) cytochrome c ions made by the ion/ion reaction yield a single IM peak with cross section of ∼1110 to 1180 A2, even if the original +8 ion started with multiple conformations. The conformation expands slightly when the charge state is reduced from +5 to +1. For product ions in the +6 to +8 charge states, ions created from higher charge states (+9 to +16) by ion/ion reaction produce more compact conformation(s) in somewhat higher abundances compared with those produced directly by the electrospray ionization (ESI) source. For ions in intermediate charge states that have a variety of resolvable conformers, the voltage used to inject the ions into the drift tube, and the voltage and duration of the pulse that extracts ions from the ion trap, can affect the observed abundances of various conformers.
Traveling-Wave IMPATT Amplifiers and Oscillators

Traveling-wave IMPATT oscillators and amplifiers are analyzed using a Iarge-signal transmission-line model. A specific case for a GaAs structure at 33.7 GHz is examined in detail. General equations relating to the design and expected power output from these devices are also developed. It is concluded that more RF power can he generated by traveling-wave structures than is obtainable from discrete IMPATT devices.
svdPPCS: an effective singular value decomposition-based method for conserved and divergent co-expression gene module identification

Comparative analysis of gene expression profiling of multiple biological categories, such as different species of organisms or different kinds of tissue, promises to enhance the fundamental understanding of the universality as well as the specialization of mechanisms and related biological themes. Grouping genes with a similar expression pattern or exhibiting co-expression together is a starting point in understanding and analyzing gene expression data. In recent literature, gene module level analysis is advocated in order to understand biological network design and system behaviors in disease and life processes; however, practical difficulties often lie in the implementation of existing methods. Using the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique, we developed a new computational tool, named svdPPCS (SVD-based P attern P airing and C hart S plitting), to identify conserved and divergent co-expression modules of two sets of microarray experiments. In the proposed methods, gene modules are identified by splitting the two-way chart coordinated with a pair of left singular vectors factorized from the gene expression matrices of the two biological categories. Importantly, the cutoffs are determined by a data-driven algorithm using the well-defined statistic, SVD-p. The implementation was illustrated on two time series microarray data sets generated from the samples of accessory gland (ACG) and malpighian tubule (MT) tissues of the line W118 of M. drosophila. Two conserved modules and six divergent modules, each of which has a unique characteristic profile across tissue kinds and aging processes, were identified. The number of genes contained in these models ranged from five to a few hundred. Three to over a hundred GO terms were over-represented in individual modules with FDR < 0.1. One divergent module suggested the tissue-specific relationship between the expressions of mitochondrion-related genes and the aging process. This finding, together with others, may be of biological significance. The validity of the proposed SVD-based method was further verified by a simulation study, as well as the comparisons with regression analysis and cubic spline regression analysis plus PAM based clustering. svdPPCS is a novel computational tool for the comparative analysis of transcriptional profiling. It especially fits the comparison of time series data of related organisms or different tissues of the same organism under equivalent or similar experimental conditions. The general scheme can be directly extended to the comparisons of multiple data sets. It also can be applied to the integration of data sets from different platforms and of different sources.
MICA-DERIVED VERMICULITES AS UNSTABLE INTERMEDIATES*

Stability determinations were made by solubility methods on two trioctahedral mica-derived vermiculites. The phlogopite-derived vermiculite was found to be unstable under acid solution conditions, where stabilities of montmorillonite, kaolinite and gibbsite had previously been determined. An attempt was next made to locate a possible montmorillonite-vermiculite-amorphous silica triple point. This triple point involved conditions of alkaline pH, high pH4SiO4 and high Mg2+. These are conditions where phlogopite and biotite-derived vermiculites are most likely to control equilibria if they are stable minerals. The montmorillonite-vermiculite-amorphous silica samples went to the montmorillonite-magnesite-amorphous silica triple point, leaving no stability area whatsoever for the vermiculites. These large particle-size, trioctahedral, mica-derived vermiculites appear to be unstable under all conditions of room T and P. Arguments are presented indicating that micas are unstable in almost all weathering environments. A hypothesis is proposed that mica-derived vermiculites result from the unique way in which unstable micas degrade in these environments. It is proposed that vermiculite derives from a series of reactions whose relative rates often result in an abundance of vermiculite. These relative reaction rates are slow for mica dissolution, rapid for K removal and other reactions pursuant to vermiculite formation, and slow for vermiculite dissolution. In chemical terms, mica-derived vermiculites may be considered fast-forming unstable intermediates.
Torsion effect on fully developed flow in a helical pipe

Two techniques, a series expansion method of perturbed Poiseuille flow valid for low Dean numbers and a solution of the complete Navier-Stokes equation applicable to intermediate Dean values, are used to investigate the torsion effect on the fully developed laminar flow in a helical pipe of constant circular cross section. For the secondary flow patterns, the results show that the presence of torsion can produce a significant effect if the ratio of the curvature to the torsion is of order unity. The secondary flow is distorted in these cases. It is noted that the torsion effect is, however, usually small, and that the secondary flow has the usual pattern of a pair of counter-rotating vortices of nearly equal strength.
Interactions among dietary manganese, heme iron, and nonheme iron in women

The relationship among dietary intake of heme iron, nonheme iron, and manganese on indexes of hematological and nutritional status in regard to manganese of 47 women consuming their typical diets was investigated. Increasing dietary iron intake, by consuming more nonheme iron in the diet, had questionable effects on hematological status (hematocrit values and ferritin and transferrin concentrations) and negative effects on nutritional status in regard to manganese (serum manganese, urine manganese, and lymphocyte manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase activity). In contrast, heme-iron intake was positively correlated with hematological status and had no consistent effect on nutritional status in regard to manganese. Differences in dietary manganese intake had no consistent effect on indices of manganese or iron status, possibly because foods that contain significant amounts of manganese (green vegetables, breads, and cereals) often contain significant amounts of nonheme iron. Thus, increasing dietary manganese intake by consuming these foods is apt to have limited impact on manganese status because of the interaction between nonheme iron and manganese.
Bakhtinian Grotesque Realism and the Subversion of Biblical Authority in Rochester's Sodom

Abstract Rather than signalling Rochester's agreement with the presumptive biblical imprecation against sodomy and consequent divine vengeance, the apocalyptic denouement of The Farce of Sodom bespeaks defiance of divine judgment and a willingness to persevere in the pleasure of homosexual anal sex despite what might seem certain divine retribution. A Bakhtinian reading of the play's carnivalesque features concludes that it is the failure of all sexual endeavor, rather than of sodomy per se, that is dramatized in the farce's concluding scene. Sodom anticipates both the modern attitude towards the open male body that has come to dominate contemporary gay discourse, and the transgressive uses to which modern writers have put the Bible by which they undercut its authority and the presumptive morality that it is otherwise used to sanction.
Bandwidth Synchronization Under Progression Time Uncertainty

Deterministic progression time is generally assumed in bandwidth optimization models. However, progression time is cycle-by-cycle time varying and generally longer than the deterministic value. Progression time uncertainty has a considerable impact on the bandwidth that is obtained with deterministic data. In addition, we prove that there exist infinite optimal solutions in the MAXBAND model if a known optimal solution holds some properties. Different optimal solutions may have different sensitivities to progression time uncertainty. In this paper, we develop a two-phase approach. In the first phase we solve the MAXBAND models with perturbation controlled by a parameter and generate a number of optimal or suboptimal plans, and in the second phase we apply the Monte Carlo method to simulate random progression time, evaluate the generated plans, and rank them by the reliability. We also conduct extensive microscopic traffic simulation using VISSIM to evaluate delays and stops for certain optimal plans. Some observations are made.
Microglia, major player in the brain inflammation: their roles in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease

Microglia, major player in the brain inflammation: their roles in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease
Stochastic degradation models with several accelerating variables

Many products & systems age, wear, or degrade over time before they fail or break down. Thus, in many engineering reliability experiments, measures of degradation or wear toward failure can often be observed over a period of time before failure occurs. Because the degradation values provide additional information beyond that provided by the failure observations, both sets of observations need to be considered when doing inference on the statistical parameters of the product or system lifetime distributions. For highly-reliable modern products, it often takes much more time to obtain lifetime & degradation data under usual use conditions, and this requires one to use accelerated tests. Accelerated tests expose the products to greater environmental stress levels so that we can obtain lifetime & degradation measurements in a more timely fashion. In addition, many products are exposed to several environmental variables in some manufacturing processes, or under some operating conditions. This motivates the need for developing general accelerated test models with several accelerating variables for inference based on both observed failure values, and degradation measurements. In this paper, new accelerated test models are developed based on a generalized cumulative damage approach with a stochastic process characterizing a degradation phenomenon.
Measurement Of Precipitate Nucleation Times In Molten Metals By Pulsed Surface Melting

The short melt duration resulting from pulsed laser and electron beam surface melting of ion-implanted metals has been used to measure precipitate nucleation times of compounds within the melt. We have examined the phases present in several alloy systems with TEM and used calculated thermal histories to place limits on the time required for nucleation of the following compounds: AlSb (5 to 25 ns), Al/sub 3/Ni (greater than or equal to 750 ns), Al/sub 3/Ni/sub 2/ (greater than or equal to 950 ns) and AlNi (< 1000 ns), all in molten Al, and TiC (less than or equal to 100 ns) in molten Fe. The compounds observed after our rapid solidification have relatively simple, cubic structures and melt congruently, while those predicted but not observed have more complex structures and decompose peritectically.
Modeling of Toxicological Effects of Fire Gases: Ii. Mathematical Modeling of Intoxication of Rats By Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Cyanide:

Research in combustion toxicology over the past few years has led to a reason able understanding and even quantification of some of the effects of fire effluent toxicants and, with the availability of a modest amount of both non-human primate and human exposure data, the combustion toxicologist is gaining increasing capability to assess and predict the toxicological effects of smoke inhalation.
Growth of Ti thin films on sapphire substrates

Titanium thin films have been grown by electron-beam physical vapor deposition on the (0001) surface of sapphire (single crystal {alpha}-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) substrates at growth temperatures ranging from 295 to 1223 K. Single phase {alpha}-Ti films grew at all growth temperatures, even at 1223 K which is above the {alpha}{endash}{beta}-transition temperature of Ti. Crystal quality, as measured by the width of x-ray rocking curves, was found to improve, and the elastic strain to increase, as the growth temperature increased from 295 K to 1023 K. The epitaxial relationship between the Ti and sapphire was (0002){sub Ti}{parallel}(0006){sub Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}} and [11{bar 2}0]{sub Ti}{parallel}[10{bar 1}0]{sub Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}}. The extent of interdiffusion across the Ti/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} interface was observed to be small ({lt}20 nm) at all growth temperatures. {copyright} {ital 1997 Materials Research Society.}
Can wildfire serve as an ecohydrologic threshold‐reversal mechanism on juniper‐encroached shrublands

Woody plant encroachment on water-limited lands can induce a shift from biotic (plant)-controlled resource retention to abiotic (physical)-driven losses of critical soil resources. The biotic-to-abiotic shift occurs where encroachment propagates connectivity of runoff processes and amplified cross-scale erosion that, in-turn, promote ecohydrologic resilience of the post-encroachment community. We investigated these relationships for woodland-encroached sagebrush steppe in the Great Basin, USA, and evaluated wildfire as a mechanism to reverse the post-encroachment soil erosion feedback. Wemeasured vegetation, soil properties, and runoff/ erosion from experimental plots on burned and unburned areas of a late-succession woodland 1 and 2 years post-fire. Our findings suggest that the biotic-to-abiotic shift and amplified cross-scale erosion occur where encroachment-induced bare ground exceeds 50–60% and bare gaps between plant bases frequently extend beyond 1m. The trigger for amplified cross-scale erosion is formation of concentrated flowwithin the degraded intercanopy between trees. Burning in this study decreased ecohydrologic resilience of the latesuccession woodland through herbaceous recruitment 2 years post-fire. Increased intercanopy herbaceous productivity decreased connectivity of bare ground, improved infiltration, and reduced erosion, but the study site remained vulnerable to runoff and erosion from high-intensity rainfall. We conclude that burning can reduce woodland ecohydrologic resilience and that woodland encroachment-induced structural and functional ecohydrologic attributesmay persist during high-intensity storms for an undetermined period post-fire. We cannot conclude whether wildfire reverses the woodland-induced soil erosion feedback on sagebrush rangelands. However, our results suggest that wildfire may provide a restoration pathway for sagebrush steppe by reducing woodland ecohydrologic resilience over time. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Relations between Rates of Sediment Accumulation on Continental Shelves, Sea-Floor Spreading, and Eustacy Inferred from the Central North Atlantic

Rates of sediment accumulation were derived from Upper Jurassic to Holocene stratigraphic columns encountered in seven deep wells penetrating the coastal plains and continental shelves of southeastern North America and northwestern Africa. Three intervals with relatively fast average rates (maxima) and two intervening intervals with relatively slow average rates (minima) were determined on both continental margins as follows: maximum 1, Cretaceous (136-65 m.y. B.P.); minimum 1, Paleocene (65-53.5 m.y. B.P.); maximum 2, early through middle Eocene (53.5-45 m.y. B.P.); minimum 2, late Eocene through Oligocene (45-22.5 m.y. B.P.); maximum 3, Miocene (22.5-5.5 m.y. B.P.). Each maximum lasted 10 to 70 m.y. and correlated with a worldwide epicontinental marine transgression or with the reversal between a transgression and a regression. Each minimum lasted 10 to 20 m.y. and correlated with a worldwide marine regression or with the reversal between a regression and a transgression. To a first approximation, the sedimentary maxima and minima are directly proportional to rates of sea-floor spreading in the intervening ocean basin. The successive maxima and minima in average rates of sediment accumulation on continental shelves are controlled by eustatic sea-level changes. Major eustatic changes in sea level, other than glacio-eustatic, result from changes in the cubic capacity of ocean basins primarily caused by changes in the volume of the worldwide mid-oceanic ridge system and by orogenic compression of continental crust. These two factors are related in a cycle manifested in the stratigraphic record of epicontinental marine transgression and regression: (1) Volume increase of the worldwide mid-oceanic ridge system associated with relatively fast sea-floor spreading and net orogenic quiescence of continents results in transgression. (2) Volume decrease of the worldwide mid-oceanic ridge system associated with relatively slow sea-floor spreading and net orogenic activity of continents results in regression.
Online humour as a community-building cushioning glue

This article examines the uses and functions of humour in an online community of gamers and nonprofessional game designers who present and critique user-generated artefacts created with the popular game series LittleBigPlanet. Findings show that participants use humour and “good humour” to achieve a variety of social goals: to veil statements of ability and effort, alleviate negative comments, present user-generated content, attract new players, support other participants, and overall engender a smiling atmosphere that incentives collaboration, peer feedback, and social cohesion. Far from being a trivial ornament, humour emerges as a community building “cushioning glue” that connects, seals, and buffers different gears of computer-mediated interaction, contributing to defining the boundaries and the identity of the analysed online space.
Pre-Columbian land-use history in Costa Rica: a 3000-year record of forest clearance, agriculture and fires from Laguna Zoncho

We analysed pollen and charcoal in a lake-sediment core from Laguna Zoncho, a small mid-elevation lake in southernmost Costa Rica. The record provides evidence of 3000 years of human occupation, fo...
Nature and Grace in the Theology of John Maclaurin

The important, but unexplored, John Maclaurin of Glasgow (1693–1754) represents the branch of enlightened evangelicals in the Church of Scotland who defended aspects of supernaturalism as compatible with reason. Evangelicals like Maclaurin endorsed the transatlantic evangelical revivals while still maintaining that such pervasive and multifarious spiritual awakenings were not a chaotic display of enthusiasm. Maclaurin supposed that God had created humanity with the ability to reason and could influence one's thinking to adopt epistemological assumptions about religion which some saw as irrational and superstitious. In order to prove this point, Maclaurin turned the tables on the opponents of the revivals by arguing that in order to be truly natural, in the sense of being a complete human, one must embrace the inner workings of the Holy Spirit. The corruption of our nature which occurred as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve left mankind in an incomplete state. Therefore, the purpose of God's supernatural grace is to restore mankind to its authentic natural state. Without such divine aid to form knowledge, he argued, one would never be able to gain a full understanding of spiritual truth. Similar to Thomas Aquinas, Maclaurin assumed that humans can know many things about God and his work in the world using reason. Sin has not corrupted our intellect to the extent that we cannot ascertain any truth about God from observing the world around us. Nevertheless, in order to have a thorough understanding of God, divine grace is needed. Following Aquinas, Maclaurin claimed that God uses secondary causes like preaching to motivate people to seek grace. Such secondary causes cannot produce any real change in a person unless accompanied by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. As opposed to many of the more liberal ministers of the day, Maclaurin, although not entirely comfortable with the fainting and weeping which sometimes appeared at the revivals, was willing to admit that emotional displays could be a natural response by a person whose heart had been moved by the spirit of God. While defending extreme emotions, Maclaurin's main point in his sermons was that evangelicalism was entirely reasonable.
Influence of Environment on Excimer Laser Irradiation of Metals

Irradiation of metals in gaseous and liquid nitrogen by KrF excimer laser pulses shows the way in which vapor or plasma pressure fields determine the nature of the rapidly solidified surface topography. Wave patterns formed on aluminum by irradiation in N2 gas arise from recoil pressure differences produced by highly localised differential surface evaporation. The solidification time, calculated from the observed ripple wavelength, is in good agreement with that deduced from a heat flow calculation. For irradiation in liquid N2, the homogeneous pressure within the center of the dense plasma zone results in a smooth surface. Beyond this region the progressively diminishing pressure induces surface ripples, fragmentation and droplet formation. Intriguingly, immersion of Ni, Ti, Zn, and Al in liquid N2 (to a depth of 2 to 4 mm) considerably increases the area and depth of irradiation-modified regions.
Comment on the Comparison of Measured and Calculated Values of Ion Aerosol Attachment Coefficients

A recent paper by Pui at al. (1988) presents measurements of the attachment coefficients for ions to uncharged aerosol particles as a function of size. This paper is important because it gives an absolute measurement of the coefficients with which to test theoretical results which are now being used in lieu of measurements
Frighteningly Similar Relationship Metaphors Elicit Defensive Information Processing

Messages in public discourse commonly employ metaphors to describe abstract sociopolitical issues in terms of unrelated concepts. In prior research, exposure to such metaphoric messages influences ...
Perioperative and long-term impact of chronic kidney disease on carotid artery interventions

Objective Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases morbidity and mortality after vascular procedures and adversely affects late survival of patients. The presence of CKD also confers increased risk of stroke in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis. Patients undergoing carotid intervention in the Vascular Study Group of New England database were stratified by CKD status referable to periprocedural and late outcomes. Methods All carotid artery stenting and carotid endarterectomies (CEAs) performed from 2003 to 2013 were stratified by CKD severity as mild (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] >60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ), moderate (eGFR 30-59), and severe (eGFR Results Of 12,568 patients identified, 11,746 (93%) underwent CEA and 822 (7%) underwent carotid artery stenting. Procedures were performed for symptomatic disease in 40%. CKD severity was mild in 58%, moderate in 35%, and severe in 7%. The 30-day stroke rate was very low across all CKD groups (1.76% mild vs 1.84% moderate and 1.34% severe; P = .009). The 30-day mortality increased with worsening renal function (0.4% mild vs 0.9% moderate and 0.9% severe; P = .01). Independent predictors of 30-day stroke or death included American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 4 or 5 (odds ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-3.4; P = .0001). Multivariable Cox hazards regression showed that severe CKD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3-2.6), ASA class 4 or 5 (HR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.3-2.2), preoperative cortical symptoms (HR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2-1.8), history of diabetes (HR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7), and age (HR, 1.03/y; 95% CI, 1.02-1.04) independently (all P P P Conclusions CKD severity increases risk of perioperative mortality as well as late mortality. Patients with CKD benefit from stroke-free survival especially after CEA. Unlike patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease, for whom severe CKD reduces median survival to ∼2.5 years, patients with CKD and carotid disease exhibit much longer survival. This suggests that carotid interventions have utility in carefully selected patients with moderate and severe CKD, particularly in symptomatic disease.
Weakly supervised learning of biomedical information extraction from curated data

Numerous publicly available biomedical databases derive data by curating from literatures. The curated data can be useful as training examples for information extraction, but curated data usually lack the exact mentions and their locations in the text required for supervised machine learning. This paper describes a general approach to information extraction using curated data as training examples. The idea is to formulate the problem as cost-sensitive learning from noisy labels, where the cost is estimated by a committee of weak classifiers that consider both curated data and the text. We test the idea on two information extraction tasks of Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS). The first task is to extract target phenotypes (diseases or traits) of a study and the second is to extract ethnicity backgrounds of study subjects for different stages (initial or replication). Experimental results show that our approach can achieve 87 % of Precision-at-2 (P@2) for disease/trait extraction, and 0.83 of F1-Score for stage-ethnicity extraction, both outperforming their cost-insensitive baseline counterparts. The results show that curated biomedical databases can potentially be reused as training examples to train information extractors without expert annotation or refinement, opening an unprecedented opportunity of using “big data” in biomedical text mining.
The Future of Proportional Liability

Since the 1970's evidential uncertainty has forced the law to consider employing a proportional liability rule in which the defendant would pay damages based on the probability that the defendant's tortious conduct caused the plaintiff's harm rather than adhering to liability on an all-or-nothing basis. Two such areas in which courts have accepted the idea of proportional liability are market share and lost opportunity. By 1990, scholarly opinion in favor of a broader regime of proportional liability had coalesced. Dan Farber declared that "there is now widespread scholarly agreement that the preponderance rule should be discarded in favor of some form of probabilistic recovery." Scholars from both the corrective justice and law-and-economics schools concurred in this assessment. This article takes issue with the scholarly consensus. At least in the arena of toxic substances, in which epidemiology provides the evidence that would provide the probabilities on which proportional liability would be based, impediments to accuracy at the level required for probabilistic assessments are too great for any proportional liability scheme to be workable.
The Problem of Sports Violence and the Criminal Prosecution Solution

In this article, we examine the proposition that criminal prosecution of sports participants could provide an effective remedy to the problem of sports violence. Section One surveys the widespread violence that has permeated most major sports and explains how sports violence adversely affects the public interest. Section Two considers the viability of criminal prosecutions in sports by discussing foundations that have been laid for sports prosecutions, both in Canada and the US. Finally, section Three analyzes some of the defenses and obstacles that might arise in the prosecution of sports participants.
Transfinite cascades

Just as the natural numbers can be extended to the transfinite ordinals, so too can ladder networks and cascaded three-terminal networks be extended beyond infinity-so long as appropriate assumptions are imposed on their parameters. The author establishes the existence of such transfinite, linear or nonlinear, resistive, electrical networks. In particular, there are cascades of three-terminal networks whose nodes are sequentially numbered form the input to the output first by the natural numbers and then by transfinite ordinals all the way out to omega /sup p/, where rho is any natural number and omega is the first transfinite ordinal. Upon specifying an appropriate source or load at the input (node 0) and also at the output (node omega /sup p/), one obtains as a result a unique set of voltages and currents along the nodes of the cascade. This implies, in turn, that an output load far beyond infinity can be perceived by an observer at the input of the cascade. In fact, these ideas can be extended to cascades that reach still further, for example, out to omega /sup w/ and beyond. All this is a natural extension of a certain kind of infinite ladder network whose load at infinity is perceptible to an observer at the input to the ladder. Such ladder networks arise in practical applications as models of various physical phenomena taking place in infinite domains. >
Belatacept in kidney transplantation.

Purpose of review In June 2011 the US Food and Drug Administration approved belatacept (Nulojix; Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, New Jersey, USA) for the prophylaxis of organ rejection in adult kidney transplant recipients. This review will discuss the use of belatacept for the prevention of acute rejection as part of a maintenance immunosuppression regimen. Recent findings Belatacept is a selective costimulation blocker designed to provide effective immunosuppression while avoiding the toxicities associated with calcineurin inhibitors. Phase 3 trial data have demonstrated that belatacept is noninferior to cyclosporine in 1-year patient and allograft survival. Three-year data demonstrate an ongoing improvement in mean measured glomerular filtration rate in belatacept-treated versus cyclosporine-treated patients. Overall, there seemed to be an improvement in cardiometabolic parameters in patients treated with belatacept compared with cyclosporine. There was a trend toward higher rates of early rejection episodes in patients treated with belatacept. One safety issue that must be considered when using belatacept is the potential for increased risk of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease, especially in Epstein-Barr virus-seronegative recipients or patients treated with lymphocyte-depleting agents. Summary Belatacept is the first new agent available in kidney transplant that may achieve the goal of improved long-term renal function.
Molecular Length Dependence of Single Molecule Wobbling within Surfactant- and Solvent-Filled Silica Mesopores

The confined orientational motions of fluorescent dye molecules diffusing along one dimension (1D) within individual silica mesopores are investigated by simultaneous single molecule tracking (SMT) and single molecule emission dichroism (SMED) methods. Four perylene diimide (PDI) dyes of different lengths are employed as the probe species. Wobbling angles exhibited by the individual molecules are measured within cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-filled mesopores. The results show a clear dependence on probe molecule length, attributable to confinement of the molecular motions to small cavities within the surfactant- and solvent-filled mesopores. These results are used to obtain quantitative estimates of the accessible cavity diameters. Histograms of these data reveal a broad distribution of cavity sizes. The average cavity diameters are shown to be largely independent of molecular length and yield a global mean value of 1.06 ± 0.03 nm, corresponding to ∼1/3 the physical diameter of the silica mesopores, as e...
Timely Post-discharge Telephone Follow-Up is a Useful Tool in Identifying Post-discharge Complications Patients After Congenital Heart Surgery

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of structured post-discharge telephone follow-up (TFU) on the time to the first postoperative clinic visit and early unplanned hospital readmissions in patients after congenital heart surgery. Structured phone calls delivered by senior surgical practitioners were made 1-4 days post-discharge. Demographics and clinical outcomes of pediatric patients receiving a TFU from 2012 to 2014 were assessed. In total, 196 phone calls were made in 165 patients. Thirty-four health problems were identified in 32 (19 %) patients (15 infants, 9 children, 8 neonates). Sixty-nine percent (n = 22) of the patients with problems identified at TFU were males. Fifty-three percent (n = 17) of the patients with problems identified at TFU were RACHS 2. Most of the problems (53 %) were identified in middle-class economic families. Gastrointestinal and incision site complications were the most common problems identified. Eighteen (56 %) patients had adjustments of medications. Six (19 %) TFUs resulted in earlier than scheduled post-op clinic visits. Overall incidence of unplanned readmissions was 16 % and similar between the patients that had problems during TFU (13 %) and patients that did not have problems identified at TFU (18 %; p = 0.50). Our study demonstrates the potential impact of the timely and structured post-discharge TFU in identifying post-discharge complications and modifying discharge instructions. When TFU identifies a problem, the interventions may be successful in preventing readmissions before first postoperative clinic visit. TFUs may be helpful, as a supplement standard of care with specific focus on patients <1 year of age to help identify adverse events that could otherwise escalate.
Increasing the Representation of Underrepresented Minority Groups in US Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy

The United States is rapidly becoming a more racially and ethnically diverse nation. The US Census Bureau projects that by 2050, non-Hispanic whites will constitute less than 53% and minorities will constitute more than 47% of the American population. According to the Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey,1 Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans comprise 28% of the US population (Black, 12.4%; Hispanic or Latino 14. 8%, and Native American, 0.8%). When the representation of Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans in colleges and schools of pharmacy is compared to these census data, it is clear that the representation of these racial and ethnic groups is considerably lower than their representation in the general population. In 2006, these underrepresented minority groups accounted for 12% of the total number of doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) degrees conferred as first professional degrees (Black, 7.4%; Hispanic, 4.2% and Native American, 0.4%).2 Stronger representation of Black, Hispanic and Native American students graduating from PharmD programs is necessary to positively impact the health outcomes of an increasingly diverse US population, and to develop and sustain a pool of culturally competent educators, researchers, and practitioners.
Curvature mode-based structure damage localization

Based on the theory gist of the absolute curvature difference curve′s application in damage localization,the cantilever beam′s finite model was taken as an example to lucubrate the damage localization effects using absolute curvature difference curves and the curve traits.The damage localization rules were put forward to eliminate interferential peak values in absolute curvature difference cures.The investigation indicates that the damage localization rules can eliminate all interferential peak values in absolute curvature difference cures and can implement accurate damage localization.
Multiagent meta-level control for predicting meteorological phenomena

It is crucial for social systems to adapt to the dynamics of open environments. This adaptation process becomes especially challenging in the context of multiagent systems. In this paper, we argue that multiagent meta-level control is an effective way to determine when this adaptation process should be done and how much effort should be invested in adaptation as opposed to continuing with the current action plan. We develop a reinforcement learning based mechanism for multiagent meta-level control that facilitates the meta-level control component of each agent to learn policies in a decentralized fashion that (a) it can efficiently support agent interactions with other agents and (b) reorganize the underlying network when needed. We evaluate this mechanism in the context of a multiagent tornado tracking application called NetRads. Empirical results show that adaptive multiagent meta-level control significantly improves the performance of the tornado tracking network for a variety of weather scenarios.
Copula structured M4 processes with application to high-frequency financial data

Abstract Statistical applications of classical parametric max-stable processes are still sparse mostly due to lack of (1) efficiency of statistical estimation of many parameters in the processes, (2) flexibility of concurrently modeling asymptotic independence and asymptotic dependence among variables, and (3) capability of fitting real data directly. This paper studies a more flexible model, i.e. a class of copula structured M4 (multivariate maxima and moving maxima) processes, and hence CSM4 for short. CSM4 processes are constructed by incorporating sparse random coefficients and structured extreme value copulas in asymptotically (in)dependent M4 (AIM4) processes. It is shown that the new model overcomes all of the aforementioned three constraints. The paper illustrates new features and advantages of the CSM4 model using simulated examples and real data of intra-daily maxima of high-frequency financial time series. The paper also studies probabilistic properties of the proposed model, and its statistical inference.
CHAPTER 49 – Analyzing PET Receptor Studies of Multiple Injections of Varying Specific Activities: Proper Modeling of the Unlabeled Ligand in Blood and Tissue

The goal of quantitative receptor-ligand positron emission tomography studies is to estimate the receptor density B ´ max , in vivo . The information in the data produced by these studies is desirable in that it may allow the differentiation of B ´ max from the association rate constant, k on . However, if a significant amount of cold ligand is introduced by the low specific activity (SA) injection, the number of receptor sites will no longer be in excess compared with the total amount of injected ligand, and the saturable nature of the receptor binding must be taken into account by any kinetic model. Two different approaches have been taken in the literature toward modeling multiple injection data. The approach postulates compartments to represent only the labeled ligand species, whereas the role of cold ligand is taken into account by use of the SA function. An alternative approach relies on explicit compartments for describing both hot and cold ligand species. The role of simulation study presented in this chapter is to compare and contrast these two approaches. The results of simulations based on both models are presented, and their differences are examined. The attempt is to elucidate the behavior of the models by examining how each one represents the changes in receptor availability over time. Finally, attempts have been made to recover the known values for B ´ max from noisy and perfect test data generated with the latter model. In conclusion, it is found that the more complicated modeling approach, which includes the cold species explicitly, is superior in its representation of receptor availability.
An integrated position-sensing system for a MEMS-based cochlear implant

An interface providing multi-point microstimulation and position sensing has been developed for a cochlear prosthesis, integrating a MEMS-based electrode array with signal-processing electronics. The array incorporates piezoresistive polysilicon sensors for position and tip contact to minimize insertion damage and optimize implant placement. The signal-processing chip (2.4mm times 2.4mm) operates from 3V and performs command validation, stimulus generation, sensor selection, 5b offset compensation, and signal conditioning. The calibrated sensors have typical gauge factors of 15 and provide tip contact signals of more than 100mV
The Effect of Stokes Drift and Transient Rip Currents on the Inner Shelf. Part II: With Stratification

AbstractThis is Part II of a two-part study focused on Stokes drift and transient rip current (TRC) effects on the unstratified (Part I) and stratified (this paper) inner shelf. Part I focuses on funwaveC–Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere–Wave–Sediment Transport (COAWST) coupling and TRC effects on mixing and exchange on an unstratified inner shelf. Here, two simulations (R3 and R4) are performed on a stratified inner shelf and surfzone with typical bathymetry, stratification, and wave conditions. R3 is a COAWST-only simulation (no TRCs), while R4 has funwaveC–COAWST coupling (with TRCs). In R4, TRCs lead to patchy, near-surface cooling, vertical isotherm displacement, and increased water column mixing. For both R3 and R4, the mean Lagrangian circulation has two nearly isolated surfzones and inner-shelf overturning circulation cells, with a stronger, R4, inner-shelf circulation cell. The R4, inner-shelf, vertical velocity variability is 2–3 times stronger than a simulation with TRCs and no stratification. Relative...