cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
How to Respond to the Problem of Deviant Formal Causation

Recently, a new problem has arisen for an Anscombean conception of intentional action. The claim is that the Anscombean’s emphasis on the formally causal character of practical knowledge precludes distinguishing between an aim and a merely foreseen side effect. I propose a solution to this problem: the difference between aim and side effect should be understood in terms of the familiar Anscombean distinction between acting intentionally and the intention with which one acts. I also argue that this solution has advantages over an alternative that has already been endorsed in the literature: it is a better fit for the Anscombean theory, and it naturally accommodates intuitions about the moral significance of aiming vs. merely foreseeing.
Artery buckling stimulates cell proliferation and NF-κB signaling

Tortuous carotid arteries are often seen in aged populations and are associated with atherosclerosis, but the underlying mechanisms to explain this preference are unclear. Artery buckling has been suggested as one potential mechanism for the development of tortuous arteries. The objective of this study, accordingly, was to determine the effect of buckling on cell proliferation and associated NF-κB activation in arteries. We developed a technique to generate buckling in porcine carotid arteries using long artery segments in organ culture without changing the pressure, flow rate, and axial stretch ratio. Using this technique, we examined the effect of buckling on arterial wall remodeling in 4-day organ culture under normal and hypertensive pressures. Cell proliferation, NF-κB p65, IκB-α, ERK1/2, and caspase-3 were detected using immunohistochemistry staining and immunoblot analysis. Our results showed that cell proliferation was elevated 5.8-fold in the buckling group under hypertensive pressure (n = 7, P < 0.01) with higher levels of NF-κB nuclear translocation and IκB-α degradation (P < 0.05 for both). Greater numbers of proliferating cells were observed on the inner curve side of the buckled arteries compared with the outer curve side (P < 0.01). NF-κB colocalized with proliferative nuclei. Computational simulations using a fluid-structure interaction model showed reduced wall stress on the inner side of buckled arteries and elevated wall stress on the outer side. We conclude that arterial buckling promotes site-specific wall remodeling with increased cell proliferation and NF-κB activation. These findings shed light on the biomechanical and molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in tortuous arteries.
Difference in health inequity between two population groups due to a social determinant of health.

The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures and economic systems” that are responsible for most health inequities. Similar to the individual-level risk factors such as behavioral and biological risk factors that influence disease, we consider social determinants of health such as the distribution of income, wealth, influence and power as risk factors for risk of disease. We operationally define health inequity in a disease within a population due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable as the difference between the disease outcome with and without the risk factor in the population. We derive expressions for difference in health inequity between two populations due to a risk factor that is unfair and avoidable for a given disease. The difference in heath inequity between two population groups due to a risk factor increases with increasing difference in relative risks and the difference in prevalence of the risk factor in the two populations. The difference in health inequity could be larger than the difference in health outcomes between the two populations in some situations. Compared to health disparities which are typically measured and monitored using absolute or relative disparities of health outcomes, the methods presented in this manuscript provide a different, yet complementary, picture because they parse out the contributions of unfair and avoidable risk factors.
Improved step length symmetry and decreased low back pain with the use of a rocking-soled shoe in a patient with unilateral hallux rigidus.

A 53-year-old African-American man presented to a local podiatry outpatient clinic with a chief symptom of unilateral pain in the first metatarsophalangeal joint (MTPJ) of his left foot as well as a secondary concern of chronic low back (lumbosacral) pain. He stated that the onset of the foot pain several years ago was insidious, but has been gradually increasing in intensity. He stated that the foot pain was proportionate to the amount and speed of ambulation, and was decreased with non-weight-bearing. He also related that he noticed that the foot pain was also somewhat lessened if he ‘slowed down’, and took shorter steps. He stated that he had tried several types of corrective foot orthotic devices, both over the counter and custom made, none of which provided any significant relief. With regard to his back pain, the patient reported that he was told by his chiropractic physician that he had ‘arthritis’ at the L4–L5 disc level. The patient stated that his back pain also was not the result of any precipitating trauma, but rather seemed to have increased over …
Narrative discourse deficits in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Objective: We examined narrative discourse in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to assess the role of executive functioning in support of language and the neuroanatomical basis for such support. Methods: We analyzed a semistructured speech sample in 26 patients with ALS and 19 healthy seniors for narrative discourse features of coherence. Regression analyses related a measure of discourse coherence (“local connectedness”) to gray matter atrophy and reduced white matter fractional anisotropy. Results: Patients with ALS were impaired relative to controls on measures of discourse adequacy, including local connectedness and maintenance of the theme. These discourse measures were related to measures of executive functioning but not to motor functioning. Regressions related local connectedness to gray matter atrophy in ventral and dorsal prefrontal regions and to reduced fractional anisotropy in white matter tracts mediating projections between prefrontal regions. Conclusion: Patients with ALS exhibit deficits in their ability to organize narrative discourse. These deficits appear to be related in part to executive limitations. Consistent with the hypothesis that ALS is a multisystem disorder, this deficit is related to disease in prefrontal regions.
Immediate and Long-Term Retention for Pictorial and Verbal Stimuli

Although nouns of high imagery are generally recalled better than nouns of low imagery, both Palermo and Yuille have shown that retention for the former decreases with time. The present study tested the hypothesis that this decreased effectiveness occurs because images stored in long-term memory are accessible only through their verbal labels. 64 subjects were presented pictures and later asked to draw them or provide one-word descriptions. Other subjects were presented words and asked to recall them or draw representational pictures. Recall was tested immediately and 48 hr. later. Regardless of recall mode, subjects viewing pictures showed significantly greater recall than subjects viewing words, and for all subjects immediate recall was better.
Fast generation of three-dimensional computational boundary-conforming periodic grids of C-type

A fast computer program, GRID3C, has been developed to generate multilevel three-dimensional, C-type, periodic, boundary conforming grids for the calculation of realistic turbomachinery and propeller flow fields. The technique is based on two analytic functions that conformally map a cascade of semi-infinite slits to a cascade of doubly infinite strips on different Riemann sheets. Up to four consecutively refined three-dimensional grids can be automatically generated and permanently stored on four different computer tapes. Grid nonorthogonality is introduced by a separate coordinate shearing and stretching performed in each of three coordinate directions. The grids can be easily clustered closer to the blade surface, the trailing and leading edges and the hub or shroud regions by changing appropriate input parameters. Hub and duct (or outer free boundary) can have different axisymmetric shapes. A vortex sheet of arbitrary thickness emanating smoothly from the blade trailing edge is generated automatically by GRID3C. Blade cross-sectional shape, chord length, twist angle, sweep angle, and dihedral angle can vary in an arbitrary smooth fashion in the spanwise direction. Input coordinates must be Cartesian, while the output grid coordinates can be Cartesian or cylindrical.
Sound in sand

We have studied the vibrations in a granular material and have found that they are qualitatively different from those found in solids or liquids. In response to an external oscillation, the vibrations experienced by a single particle in the material are exceedingly noisy with a power spectrum S(f)\ensuremath{\propto}${\mathit{f}}^{2.2}$ over more than 5 decades in frequency. The frequency response depends on the detailed packing of the beads, reminiscent of conductance fluctuations in mesoscopic metals.
Chondrosarcoma of the larynx after radiation treatment for vocal cord cancer.

The case of a 57-year-old man with chondrosarcoma of the laryngeal cartilage is presented, occurring 16 years after radiation treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the right true vocal cord. Chondrosarcoma of the larynx is an uncommon tumor. The location, grade, and time elapsed from initial treatment make it probable that this patient's chondrosarcoma is associated with his prior radiation treatment. However, it is a rare occurrence, this being the second case reported in the literature.
Steady state thermoelastic analysis of 3D solids with fiber inclusions by boundary element method

In this work, a boundary element based analysis methodology for the steady state uncoupled thermoelastic analysis of fiber reinforced three-dimensional solids is presented. For efficient analysis and modeling, the cylindrical shaped fibers are idealized by a system of curvilinear line elements with a prescribed diameter. The variations in the displacement, traction, temperature and flux fields in the circumferential direction are represented in terms of a trigonometric shape function together with a linear or quadratic variation in the longitudinal direction. This facilitates semi-analytical integration around the fiber which reduces the computational task significantly. The numerical accuracy of the proposed method of analysis is verified and some examples of thermoelastic analysis of fiber-reinforced solids are presented.
The three-machine proportionate open shop and mixed shop minimum makespan problems

Abstract We first consider the ordinary NP-hard three-machine proportionate open shop minimum makespan O 3| prpt | C max problem and show that it is solvable in O ( n log n ) time when certain conditions on the total machine load are met. When these conditions are not met, we derive an approximate solution by implementing the optimal solution for the O 3| prpt | C max problem when the two longest jobs are of equal length. In that case, both absolute and ratio worst-case bounds are derived. We also consider the more general mixed shop problem M 3| prpt | C max in which a given job subset must be processed as in a flow shop while the remaining jobs can be processed as in the O 3| prpt | C max problem. We show that our open shop solution techniques can be implemented to derive exact and approximate solutions for the M 3| prpt | C max problem. Finally, we discuss the applicability of our open shop results to the proportionate open shop problem with unequal machine speeds.
Landscape-level movements of North American elk (Cervus elaphus): effects of habitat patch structure and topography

We examined movements of North American elk (Cervus elaphus) in northeastern Oregon, USA. Movement vectors at 449 locations over a 7762 ha area were calculated based on 16,724 sequential observations of 94 female elk-year combinations during spring (15 April–14 May) 1993, 1995, 1996. We calculated movement vectors at the start of morning and evening feeding bouts (0500, 1900 h) and during periods of least activity (0100, 1500 h). Here, we measured characteristics of habitat patches (habitat type, mean patch size, coefficient of variation in patch size, edge density, mean shape index, and mean nearest neighbor) at two levels of habitat grain (eight habitat types, two habitat types) and at three spatial scales (250, 500, and 1000 m) around each movement vector. We also measured topographic features around each vector including distance to nearest stream, direction of drainage, elevation, slope, and convexity (a measure of ridge top vs. valley bottom land form). We used mixed models adjusted for positive spatial correlation among vectors to examine the relationship between vector length, or speed of movement, and habitat patch characteristics, and between vector direction and topographic features. Speed of movements by elk were not related to characteristics of habitat patches that we measured. The direction of movement, however, was dependent on topography. Elk were more likely to move parallel to major drainages than perpendicular to them. Furthermore, elk were less likely to move perpendicular to drainages when close to the nearest stream, in valley bottoms vs. ridge tops, and on steep slopes. The dendritic nature of movements by elk with respect to topography may help elucidate ecosystem processes such as nutrient flows, nutrient cycling, and successional trajectories of plant communities.
Deployment guidelines for highly congested IEEE 802.11b/g networks

Over the years, IEEE 802.11b/g wireless networks have been deployed in various locations such as hotels, airports and enterprises. Although IEEE 802.11b/g can be considered a mature technology, its deployment still presents challenges due to the limited number of non-overlapping channels available. This is particularly true in scenarios with a high density of users where a large number of APs covering roughly the same area is required. Through measurements we investigate different deployment scenarios, trying to provide a set of guidelines for the deployment of IEEE 802.11b/g networks so to minimize co-channel interference and maximize throughput. This, when the number of APs required to cover an area is larger than the number of non-overlapping channels available. In particular, we show how using partially overlapping channels causes lower retry rate and higher throughput than if deploying multiple APs on each of the non-overlapping channels.
Abstract 4524: ON015640, a novel anti-cancer agent with tubulin depolymerizing activity

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL Oncology drug discovery is constantly evolving by integrating new basic findings with established developmental practice. Two drug discovery platforms currently exist. One is an extension of basic research, rational drug design. Its alternative, one based on cytotoxicity, which qualifies leads by their ability to selectively kill cancer cells. Using this cytotoxicity based approach we recently discovered a novel synthetic small molecule we have called ON015640. This compound is highly effective at killing 15 different cancer cell lines with IC50 ranges from 20-90 nanomolar. The predominant phenotype associated with this compound is that of cellular rounding and detachment from substratum, a similar phenomenon to that observed during treatment of cultured cells with mitotic inhibitors like Taxol and Nocodazole. Using FACS, molecular mitotic indexing, and fluorescent microscopy we have subsequently demonstrated that ON015640 induces mitotic arrest and aberrant spindle formation. This mitotic arrest and spindle disruption can be attributed to this molecule's ability to depolymerize tubulin both in vitro and in vivo in a similar manner to Nocodazole. At effective concentrations this compound commences a program of mitotic catastrophe subsequently initiating effector caspases 3/7 and cleavage of Poly ADP Ribose Polymerase, primary steps in the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Unlike classical tubulin depolymerizing agents, ON015640 is not a substrate for the ATP binding cassette family of efflux pumps and is capable of killing Multi Drug Resistant cell lines. This characteristic and the compound's nanomolar activity make it an attractive candidate for further development and characterization. To date, the exact site where ON015640 binds to tubulin remains unknown. Additionally, the pharmacokinetics and efficacy of this molecule have yet to be fully characterized. Thus, current and future efforts will be focused on establishing the dynamics by which ON015640 interacts with tubulin, while also developing this molecule into a clinically relevant drug. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4524. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4524
The non-human primate reference transcriptome resource (NHPRTR) for comparative functional genomics

RNA-based next-generation sequencing (RNA-Seq) provides a tremendous amount of new information regarding gene and transcript structure, expression and regulation. This is particularly true for non-coding RNAs where whole transcriptome analyses have revealed that the much of the genome is transcribed and that many non-coding transcripts have widespread functionality. However, uniform resources for raw, cleaned and processed RNA-Seq data are sparse for most organisms and this is especially true for non-human primates (NHPs). Here, we describe a large-scale RNA-Seq data and analysis infrastructure, the NHP reference transcriptome resource (http://nhprtr.org); it presently hosts data from12 species of primates, to be expanded to 15 species/subspecies spanning great apes, old world monkeys, new world monkeys and prosimians. Data are collected for each species using pools of RNA from comparable tissues. We provide data access in advance of its deposition at NCBI, as well as browsable tracks of alignments against the human genome using the UCSC genome browser. This resource will continue to host additional RNA-Seq data, alignments and assemblies as they are generated over the coming years and provide a key resource for the annotation of NHP genomes as well as informing primate studies on evolution, reproduction, infection, immunity and pharmacology.
The effect of interference screw diameter on fixation of soft-tissue grafts in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect that interference screw diameter has on fixation strength of a soft-tissue anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft. Methods We prepared 32 fresh-frozen bovine tibiae with 9-mm ACL tibial tunnels. Accompanying 9-mm soft-tissue bovine Achilles grafts were also prepared. Bioabsorbable interference screws of increasing diameters were used for tibial fixation. There were 4 groups, consisting of 8-, 9-, 10-, and 11-mm screws for fixation of the 9-mm graft in the 9-mm tunnel. Tensile testing and cyclic loading from 50 to 250 N at 2 Hz for a total of 1,500 cycles were performed with a hydraulic biaxial materials testing machine. Graft slippage was measured with a video analysis technique with photo-reflective markers. At the end of cyclic testing, the grafts were loaded to failure, and the ultimate strength was recorded. Results All grafts failed at the tendon-bone-screw interface. The ultimate strength (± SD) was greatest for the 11-mm screw (624 ± 133 N), with slightly decreased strength for the 10-mm (601 ± 54 N), 9-mm (576 ± 85 N), and 8-mm (532 ± 185 N) screws. Graft slippage (± SD) was least for the 9-mm screw (2.65 ± 2.38 mm). There were no statistically significant differences in ultimate strength and graft slippage between screws ( P = .45 and P = .34, respectively). Conclusions All interference screws tested provided adequate fixation strength. The results of this study show no statistical significance for ultimate strength or graft slippage with variable screw diameter. Clinical Relevance Aperture fixation with the interference screw technique provides adequate stability for soft-tissue grafts in ACL reconstruction. Although no statistical significance was found, there was a trend toward less graft-site motion when we used a screw diameter equal to tunnel size.
Digital analysis: Manual dexterity in Neanderthals.

These primitive people may have been as handy with their tools as modern humans are. Despite their ability to make and use stone tools, Neanderthals were presumed to have had limited manual dexterity on the basis of the anatomy of their thumb and forefinger1 — a contention that has been called into question2,3,4. Here we investigate the likely extent of Neanderthal thumb function by using a three-dimensional dynamic simulation that is based on the anatomical details and articular morphology of the thumb and index finger. We find that these digits could make tip-to-tip contact, and conclude that manual dexterity in Neanderthals was probably not significantly different from that of modern humans.
Scattering amplitudes and contact interactions in Witten's superstring field theory

Abstract The four-massless-particle scattering amplitudes are calculated for Witten's covariant superstring field theory. The picture-changing effects of the Ramond sector propagator and of the three-boson vertex are displayed. The results agree with the first-quantized prescription of Friedan, Martinec and Shenker except for the four-boson amplitude, where an extra divergent contact term appears. The addition of a four-boson counterterm to Witten's action cancels the extra term, and is also necessary for gauge invariance of the action to order g 2 .
The mindful camera: common sense for documentary videography

Cameras with story understanding can help videographers reflect on their process of content capture during documentary construction. This paper describes a set of tools that use common sense knowledge to support documentary videography.
Stratification of outcome for surgically treated unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

OBJECT The combination of low anticipated rupture rates for many unruptured aneurysms, better delineation of treatment risks, and the availability of alternative modalities of treatment have led to heightened scrutiny of the surgical management of unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Most reports to date have provided aggregate data concerning surgical treatment risks. This study was performed to better delineate risk estimates for the surgical treatment of patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms according to a patient's risk profile with regard to age, aneurysm location, and aneurysm size. METHODS We studied 493 patients who were treated with surgical clipping of 604 unruptured saccular aneurysms. Information regarding aneurysm size, location, patient age, and 6-month or greater outcome were gathered prospectively from 1992 to 1999. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for outcome. On the basis of the model, risk stratification curves were generated. RESULTS In our series, the mean patient age was 53 years, and the mean lesion size was 8.8 mm. Lesion locations included the internal carotid artery (n = 259, 43%), the middle cerebral artery (n = 174, 28%), the anterior cerebral artery (n = 99, 17%), and the vertebrobasilar artery (n = 67, 11%). Multivariate analysis revealed that aneurysm size (beta = 0.122, P < 0.001), patient age (beta = 0.0308, P < 0.05), and vertebrobasilar location (beta = 1.37, P = 0.0080) were independently associated with high risk of poor outcome or death. CONCLUSION Small aneurysms in the anterior circulation in young patients carry a very low treatment risk (approximately 1%), and treatment in elderly individuals (ages 70 years and older) with large lesions (greater than 10 mm), carries a significant risk of poor outcome (5% in the anterior circulation, 15% in the posterior circulation). The nomograms generated by this study should be particularly useful in discussing with patients the risks and benefits of surgical treatment of unruptured aneurysms.
Integrating informatics into the graduate community health nursing curriculum.

Abstract Advanced practice of community health nursing is enhanced if the nurse is able to identify, create, and use databases to support nursing assessments of communities and to manage and evaluate community health programs. The College of Nursing, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, has revised its curriculum for community health nursing graduate students to include a strong focus on nursing informatics. This paper summarizes the integration of theoretical content and practice exercises into a pre-course workshop and four-course sequence. A focal point of this effort has been the “Healthy People 2000 Nursing Informatics Project,” in which students develop an automated community-assessment tool and database related to the Year 2000 objectives. The use of this database and related national, state, and local databases to document community needs is emphasized. Students also evaluate nursing information systems and use information technologies to design and evaluate community health grant proposals. Curriculum development, evaluation, and modification are detailed in relation to student learning needs, faculty preparation, and equipment and consultation requirements.
Low-dimensional lattices. IV. The mass formula

The mass formula expresses the sum of the reciprocals of the group orders of the lattices in a genus in terms of the properties of any of them. We restate the formula so as to make it easier to compute. In particular we give a simple and reliable way to evaluate the 2-adic contribution. Our version, unlike earlier ones, is visibly invariant under scale changes and dualizing. We use the formula to check the enumeration of lattices of determinant d ≼ 25 given in the first paper in this series. We also give tables of the ‘standard mass’, the L -series Σ( n / m ) m -s ( m odd), and genera of lattices of determinant d ≼ 25.
LMS is H∞ Optimal

We show that the celebrated LMS (Least-Mean Squares) adaptive algorithm is H ∞ optimal. In other words, the LMS algorithm, which has long been regarded as an approximate least-mean squares solution, is in fact an exact minimizer of a certain so-called H ∞ error norm. In particular, the LMS minimizes the energy gain from the disturbances to the predicted errors, while the so-called normalized LMS minimizes the energy gain from the disturbances to the filtered errors. Moreover, since these algorithms are central H ∞ filters, they minimize a certain exponential cost function and are thus also risk-sensitive optimal (in the sense of Whittle). We discuss the various implications of these results, and show how they provide theoretical justification for the widely observed excellent robustness properties of the LMS filter.
Single-step charge transport through DNA over long distances.

Quantum yields for charge transport across adenine tracts of increasing length have been measured by monitoring hole transport in synthetic oligonucleotides between photoexcited 2-aminopurine, a fluorescent analogue of adenine, and N_2-cyclopropyl guanine. Using fluorescence quenching, a measure of hole injection, and hole trapping by the cyclopropyl guanine derivative, we separate the individual contributions of single- and multistep channels to DNA charge transport and find that with 7 or 8 intervening adenines the charge transport is a coherent, single-step process. Moreover, a transition occurs from multistep to single-step charge transport with increasing donor/acceptor separation, opposite to that generally observed in molecular wires. These results establish that coherent transport through DNA occurs preferentially across 10 base pairs, favored by delocalization over a full turn of the helix.
Sustainability and environmental change in a small company in the pharmaceutical marketing industry

Small companies, and large companies alike, are subject to significant changes in their external environments. This case study describes the critical events confronting a small company which led to the need for managers to scan its environment in order to better understand the environmental complexity of their industry. By first analysing the environment, the company was able to gain insight regarding many potential strategic factors that could possibly lead to the company becoming a sustainable entity in the pharmaceutical marketing industry. But having developed the information about the industry is just the beginning. The company realises it must now face questions of which are the appropriate models and techniques to use for organising the environmental scan, and how to apply them in this situation. They also want to have the scanning results become the basis for beginning the process of developing a strategic plan. Lessons to be learned include those related to environmental scanning and strategic modelling.
Performance analysis of multiple-packet messages in uni-directional bus networks

A slotted p/sub i/-persistent protocol and the effects of random message length are considered. Since the length of messages is not fixed, a message is divided into a number of equal-size packets such that a packet can fit into one slot. The utilization of the network degrades because of the increasing transmission overhead owing to excess packet headers and a possible empty portion in the last packet of any message. Furthermore, the increasing ratio of message-to-packet length increases the interdependence among the nodes and thus affects the bus access probabilities. An analytical model is presented to determine the upper and lower bounds to the access probabilities. Due to the complexity of this problem, only two nodes are considered. Simulation results showing average queue length performance versus different message statistics are also presented. >
Gas sensing mechanism in chemiresistive cobalt and metal-free phthalocyanine thin films.

The gas sensing behaviors of cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) and metal-free phthalocyanine (H2Pc) thin films were investigated with respect to analyte basicity. Chemiresistive sensors were fabricated by deposition of 50 nm thick films on interdigitated gold electrodes via organic molecular beam epitaxy (OMBE). Time-dependent current responses of the films were measured at constant voltage during exposure to analyte vapor doses. The analytes spanned a range of electron donor and hydrogen-bonding strengths. It was found that, when the analyte exceeded a critical base strength, the device responses for CoPc correlated with Lewis basicity, and device responses for H2Pc correlated with hydrogen-bond basicity. This suggests that the analyte−phthalocyanine interaction is dominated by binding to the central cavity of the phthalocyanine with analyte coordination strength governing CoPc sensor responses and analyte hydrogen-bonding ability governing H2Pc sensor responses. The interactions between the phthalocyanine fi...
Fluorescence molecular tomography: new detection schemes for acquiring high information content measurements

We describe the implementation of new detection concepts based on highly spatial sampling and noncontact measurements for obtaining tomographic reconstructions of targeted fluorochromes with phantoms and in-vivo. This new approach can enable unprecedented experimental performance and simplicity compared to conventional tomographic systems.
Myxoid Pleomorphic Fibroma

A 77-year-old white female presented with a two to three year history of an asymptomatic skin-colored papule on the right upper arm. Examination revealed a 7 mm × 7 mm soft papule, supplanted by a smaller soft papule. Clinical differential diagnosis included an adnexal tumor, neurofibroma, and dermal nevus. Histological examination revealed a sparse proliferation of spindle and stellate-shaped cells within the dermis, including many large cells with bizarre shaped nuclei. Focal multinucleated giant cells were present as well. The background stroma was both collagenous and myxoid, the later being highlighted by diffuse colloidal iron staining. The spindle and stellate-shaped cells demonstrated CD34 and vimentin positivity. Factor XIIIa was focally positive. Actin and S-100 staining were negative. These changes were thought to be consistent with a myxoid pleomorphic fibroma. This is a rare tumor, with only a few reported cases of myxoid variants in the literature to date. The staining pattern of this tumor, along with others in the reported literature, suggest a mesenchymal, fibroblastic origin.
Discover and Tame Long-running Idling Processes in Enterprise Systems

Reducing attack surface is an effective preventive measure to strengthen security in large systems. However, it is challenging to apply this idea in an enterprise environment where systems are complex and evolving over time. In this paper, we empirically analyze and measure a real enterprise to identify unused services that expose attack surface. Interestingly, such unused services are known to exist and summarized by security best practices, yet such solutions require significant manual effort.We propose an automated approach to accurately detect the idling (most likely unused) services that are in either blocked or bookkeeping states. The idea is to identify repeating events with perfect time alignment, which is the indication of being idling. We implement this idea by developing a novel statistical algorithm based on autocorrelation with time information incorporated. From our measurement results, we find that 88.5% of the detected idling services can be constrained with a simple syscall-based policy, which confines the process behaviors within its bookkeeping states. In addition, working with two IT departments (one of which is a cross validation), we receive positive feedbacks which show that about 30.6% of such services can be safely disabled or uninstalled directly. In the future, the IT department plan to incorporate the results to build a "smaller" OS installation image. Finally, we believe our measurement results raise the awareness of the potential security risks of idling services.
The moon’s permanent magnetic field: a cratered-shell model

As part of our study of the larger-scale remanent magnetic field of the Moon, we have examined the effects of cratering in an otherwise spherically symmetrical shell magnetized by a concentric dipolar magnetic fieldH o to an intensity of magnetizationc H o, wherec is a constant. In our initial model, we assume that the material excavated from the craters is distributed with random orientation and thus does not contribute to the remanent dipole momentM g . We further assume that the mare fill does not contribute significantly toM g . We choose the magnetizing dipole momentM o and the constantc such that the magnitude of the productcH o ≃ 3 × 10−4Г at the outer surface of the shell in the equatorial plane of the dipole. This value of the intensity of remanent magnetization was chosen to be within the range 10−7−10−3Г’; the intensities of thermo-remanent magnetization exhibited by Apollo samples. Finally, we use the locations and diameters of the 10 largest craters on the Moon and the depth-to-diameter ratios of Pike’s formulation to model approximately the excavation of the magnetized shell. The remanent dipole momentM g was calculated for each of three orthogonal orientations of the magnetizing dipoleM o. The three magnitudes ofM g fall in the range 4 × 1018−1 × 1019Г cm3 which is close to the upper limit of 1019Г cm3 estimated forM g from the field measurements obtained with the Apollo subsatellites. Further, the distribution of the craters is such as to produce a significant transverse component ofM g with acute angles between the spin axis andM g in the range 51°–77°.
Architecture-aware data structure optimization for green IP lookup

Power consumption is becoming a limiting factor in next generation network routers. Recent observation shows that IP lookup engines dominate the power consumption of routers. Previous work on reducing power consumption of routers mainly focused on network-, system- and hardware-level optimizations. This paper represents the first attempt on the data structure optimization for power-efficient trie-based IP lookup engines. Both non-pipelined and pipelined static random access memory (SRAM) -based architectures are studied. Given the architecture, we formulate the problem by revisiting the time-space trade-off of multi-bit tries. A dynamic programming framework is then proposed to determine the optimal strides for building tree-bitmap tries so that the worst-case power consumption of the IP lookup engine is minimized. Experiments using real-life routing tables demonstrate that careful design of the data structure can reduce the power consumption dramatically. We hope our initial work can motivate the research community to expand their scope beyond the current efforts on either the hardware- or the system- and network- levels for power-efficient Internet infrastructure.
Conditionally Rare Taxa Disproportionately Contribute to Temporal Changes in Microbial Diversity

Microbial communities typically contain many rare taxa that make up the majority of the observed membership, yet the contribution of this microbial "rare biosphere" to community dynamics is unclear. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of 3,237 samples from 42 time series of microbial communities from nine different ecosystems (air; marine; lake; stream; adult hu- man skin, tongue, and gut; infant gut; and brewery wastewater treatment), we introduce a new method to detect typically rare microbial taxa that occasionally become very abundant (conditionally rare taxa (CRT)) and then quantify their contributions to temporal shifts in community structure. We discovered that CRT made up 1.5 to 28% of the community membership, repre- sented a broad diversity of bacterial and archaeal lineages, and explained large amounts of temporal community dissimilarity (i.e., up to 97% of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity). Most of the CRT were detected at multiple time points, though we also identified "one-hit wonder" CRT that were observed at only one time point. Using a case study from a temperate lake, we gained additional insights into the ecology of CRT by comparing routine community time series to large disturbance events. Our results reveal that many rare taxa contribute a greater amount to microbial community dynamics than is apparent from their low proportional abundances. This observation was true across a wide range of ecosystems, indicating that these rare taxa are essential for under- standing community changes over time. IMPORTANCE Microbial communities and their processes are the foundations of ecosystems. The ecological roles of rare microor- ganisms are largely unknown, but it is thought that they contribute to community stability by acting as a reservoir that can rap- idly respond to environmental changes. We investigated the occurrence of typically rare taxa that very occasionally become more prominent in their communities ("conditionally rare"). We quantified conditionally rare taxa in time series from a wide variety of ecosystems and discovered that not only were conditionally rare taxa present in all of the examples, but they also contributed disproportionately to temporal changes in diversity when they were most abundant. This result indicates an important and gen- eral role for rare microbial taxa within their communities.
N-Glycosylation of Haloferax volcanii Flagellins Requires Known Agl Proteins and Is Essential for Biosynthesis of Stable Flagella

N-glycosylation, a posttranslational modification required for the accurate folding and stability of many proteins, has been observed in organisms of all domains of life. Although the haloarchaeal S-layer glycoprotein was the first prokaryotic glycoprotein identified, little is known about the glycosylation of other haloarchaeal proteins. We demonstrate here that the glycosylation of Haloferax volcanii flagellins requires archaeal glycosylation (Agl) components involved in S-layer glycosylation and that the deletion of any Hfx. volcanii agl gene impairs its swimming motility to various extents. A comparison of proteins in CsCl density gradient centrifugation fractions from supernatants of wild-type Hfx. volcanii and deletion mutants lacking the oligosaccharyltransferase AglB suggests that when the Agl glycosylation pathway is disrupted, cells lack stable flagella, which purification studies indicate consist of a major flagellin, FlgA1, and a minor flagellin, FlgA2. Mass spectrometric analyses of FlgA1 confirm that its three predicted N-glycosylation sites are modified with covalently linked pentasaccharides having the same mass as that modifying its S-layer glycoprotein. Finally, the replacement of any of three predicted N-glycosylated asparagines of FlgA1 renders cells nonmotile, providing direct evidence for the first time that the N-glycosylation of archaeal flagellins is critical for motility. These results provide insight into the role that glycosylation plays in the assembly and function of Hfx. volcanii flagella and demonstrate that Hfx. volcanii flagellins are excellent reporter proteins for the study of haloarchaeal glycosylation processes.
Incorporating genome-scale tools for studying energy homeostasis

Mammals have evolved complex regulatory systems that enable them to maintain energy homeostasis despite constant environmental challenges that limit the availability of energy inputs and their composition. Biological control relies upon intricate systems composed of multiple organs and specialized cell types that regulate energy up-take, storage, and expenditure. Because these systems simultaneously perform diverse functions and are highly integrated, they are extremely difficult to understand in terms of their individual component contributions to energy homeostasis. In order to provide improved treatments and clinical options, it is important to identify the principle genetic and molecular components, as well as the systemic features of regulation. To begin, many of these features can be discovered by integrating experimental technologies with advanced methods of analysis. This review focuses on the analysis of transcriptional data derived from microarrays and how it can complement other experimental techniques to study energy homeostasis.
A Retrofit Turbine Automatic Control for Large Steam Turbine-Generators

The present trend of upgrading older turbine-generator sets for extended operating life and cycling has generated the need for automatic startup capability in existing power plants. This paper describes a new automatic control system which will interface with existing mechanical-hydraulic or electro-hydraulic controls on large steam turbine-generators in central power stations. It provides push-button control for startup from turning gear through synchronization to a preset load demand. Stresses in high temperature rotors are controlled during this startup operation by automatic selection of appropriate acceleration rates, speed holds, and loading rates. Stresses are controlled during unloading as well. The system utilizes a commercial minicomputer connected to an operating panel, thus providing the versatility necessary to interface with the many variations of turbine-generator Sets in operation.
Variable seasonal coupling between air and ground temperatures: A simple representation in terms of subsurface thermal diffusivity

[1] The utility of subsurface temperatures as indicators of temperature changes at Earth's surface rests upon an assumption of strong coupling between surface air temperature (SAT) and ground surface temperature (GST). Here we describe a simple representation of this coupling in terms of a variable thermal diffusivity in the upper meter of the subsurface. The variability is tied to daily SAT, precipitation, and snow cover, but does not incorporate the physical details of these and the many other factors that influence the air-ground interface in many high-fidelity land-surface models. Our simple model reduces the difference between observed and modeled temperatures by a factor of 3 to 4 over a model with uniform diffusivity driven only by SAT. This simple representation of air-ground coupling offers a means of simulating subsurface temperatures using only archived meteorological records and creates the potential for examining the long term character of air-ground temperature coupling.
Managing symptoms of multiple sclerosis

During the past 10 years, clinicians have emphasized the disease-altering approach to multiple sclerosis (MS). The birth of therapeutic immunemodulating treatments, which have the potential to alter the course of MS, changed the emphasis from supportive symptom management to disease management of patients. Until that time, supportive care was all that was available. Symptomatic management often took a back seat in the minds of physicians. It has not taken that seat in patient’s thoughts, however. Even though people who have MS want to see their disease halted, quality of life means just as much to most patients, and that entails effective treatment of the primary symptoms of MS (resulting from actual demyelination and axonal loss), the secondary symptoms of MS (eg, contractures, bladder infections, osteoporosis, and decubiti resulting from failure to treat the primary problems), and the tertiary symptoms of MS (personal, vocational, relationship issues). This article is devoted to those issues that make the life of a person who has MS more comfortable.
Underlying and multiple cause mortality in a cohort of workers exposed to aromatic amines

Background The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has previously conducted studies of bladder cancer incidence and mortality at a synthetic dye plant that manufactured beta-naphthylamine from 1940 through 1979. This report extends the period of mortality follow-up 13 years and analyzes both underlying and nonunderlying causes of death. Methods The vital status of each cohort member, as of December 31, 1992, was determined by using the National Death Index and information from the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Postal Service. The NIOSH life table analysis system (LTAS) was used to generate person-years-at-risk and the expected numbers of death for 92 categories of death, using several referent rates (U.S. underlying, Georgia underlying, U.S. multiple cause). Results There were three bladder cancer deaths listed as underlying cause, yielding a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) based on U.S. rates of 2.4 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.5, 7.0) and a total of eight bladder cancers listed anywhere on the death certificates (SMR based on multiple cause referent rates = 5.6; 95% CI = 2.4, 11.1). Mortality from esophageal cancer, which had been significantly elevated in the previous study, was no longer significantly elevated (SMR = 2.0; 95% CI = 0.8,4.1). Mortality from all causes was significantly higher than expected (SMR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.3, 1.6). Conclusions The elevated bladder cancer risk in this cohort was detected by the multiple cause, but not the underlying cause, analysis. Elevated mortality from other causes of death, especially among short-term workers, may be related to regional and lifestyle factors. Am. J. Ind. Med. 34:506–511, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.