cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Primary Culture System of Rat Heart-Derived Endothelial Cells for Evaluating Cocaine-Induced Vascular Injury

In clinical reports during the last decade, acute myocardial infarction has been reported in young, otherwise healthy, persons after cocaine use. These clinical reports suggest that recreational use of cocaine has adverse effects on the vasculature of the heart. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate cocaine-induced injury to heart-derived endothelial cells (ECs) obtained from adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Alterations in lactate dehydrogenase release (LDH), lyso-somal neutral red retention (NR), and cell proliferation were evaluated after treatment of the ECs with cocaine doses ranging from 1 X 10-7 to 1 X 10-3 M at 1,4, and 24 h. Intracellular calcium levels were determined immediately after exposure to 1 X 10-3 and 1 X 10-2 M cocaine. LDH release, an index of cytoplasmic membrane injury, was significantly elevated after 24 h only with those ECs exposed to the highest dose of cocaine, 1 X 10-3 M. In using NR as a score for lysosomal integrity and cell viability, no significant differences we...
Measuring client clinical progress in therapeutic community treatment: The therapeutic community Client Assessment Inventory, Client Assessment Summary, and Staff Assessment Summary

The therapeutic community (TC) Client Assessment Inventory (CAI), Client Assessment Summary (CAS), and Staff Assessment Summary (SAS) are instruments developed from a comprehensive theory of TC treatment and recovery. They measure client self-report and staff evaluation of client progress along 14 domains of behavior, attitude, and cognitive change. The present article reports on the development of the instruments and findings from an analysis of data on 346 clients in TC treatment; including scale properties and cross-sectional client differences by treatment tenure. The instruments were administered over a 1-year period at two residential TC facilities. Findings indicate that both client and staff instruments reliably differentiate client clinical changes during treatment and client self-ratings are initially consistently higher than staff ratings. Clarifying and measuring changes in the individual during treatment is the first step in the effort to understand the change process and what steps can be taken to improve treatment effectiveness.
Learning curve for radiofrequency catheter ablation in pediatrics at a single institution

We examined the learning curve for radiofrequency ablation in pediatrics at a single institution. The first 146 cases were retrospectively reviewed, including patients 93%. The number of cases of nonpathway tachycardias undertaken significantly increased as experience was gained. Fluoroscopy time improved to 34 +/- 27 minutes after < 100 cases. In conclusion, as experience was gained, (1) success rates showed a steep improvement; (2) the population undergoing radiofrequency ablation clearly shifted to include more difficult diagnoses; and (3) fluoroscopy time significantly decreased.
A method for measuring the structural properties of the rat mandible

The rat mandible has been used to study fractures, ridge augmentation, bone defects, and the effects of cryosurgery, all of which affect the structural properties of the mandible. The only previously described mechanical test of the rat mandible used three-point bending with a piece of foam placed between the lingual surface of the mandible and the support. The accuracy and reproducibility of this test were not determined. Two different, three-point bending tests for characterizing the structural properties of the rat mandible have now been evaluated. Acrylic specimens representing three different-sized mandibles were tested in three-point bending with either potted ends or foam interposed between the specimen and the outer load points. Flexural stiffness and failure load were compared against data from a conventional three-point bending test. In addition, five paired halves of 90- and 210-day-old rat mandibles were tested either with interposed foam or with potted ends and the mean coefficients of variation of the stiffness and failure loads were determined. Failure loads of the acrylic specimens with the potted and foam methods were significantly higher (50 and 10%, respectively; p < 0.05) than with the conventional method. The stiffness of the acrylic specimens with the potted and foam methods was significantly different (75% higher and 21% lower, respectively; p < 0.05) than with the conventional test. In addition, there was no difference between the coefficient of variation in stiffness (26 + 11%) or failure load (10 + 4%) measured with the foam test and the comparable values (16 + 11%) and (18 + 13%) in the potted test. Thus it appears that the foam test more accurately reflects the stiffness and failure load of the acrylic specimens than the potted test. Although there was no difference in the coefficients of variation in the potted and foam tests, the technical difficulties associated with potting indicate that the foam test is a better method for testing the structural properties of the rat mandible. The objective of this experiment was to establish a method for accurately measuring the structural properties of the rat mandible and for detecting differences in structural properties between different treatment groups.
Muscimol injection into the lateral hypothalamus inhibits the hypotension and bradycardia caused by somato-visceral nociception

This study investigated whether the lateral hypothalamus (LH) contributes to the depressor response evoked by somato-visceral nociception. Lidocaine (2%; 0.1, 0.3 or 1.0 μl) or muscimol (0.34 nmol; 0.5 μl) was microinjected into the rostral LH of halothane-anesthetized rats bilaterally and somato-visceral nociception was induced 2 min later by injecting 5% acetic acid (0.5 ml) intraperitoneally. Lidocaine and muscimol inhibited the hypotension and bradycardia caused by somato-visceral nociception significantly without affecting cardiovascular function in normotensive animals.
RNA splicing: rearrangement of RNA sequences in the expression of split genes

Abstract In January of 1976, the first issue of TIBS appeared carrying an article on chromatin structure by E. M. Bradbury. In this article, Bradbury reiterated a question which had been put forth during the previous decade by Britten and Davidson. In particular, the highly variable and apparently excessive DNA content of eukaryotic cells led Bradbury and his predecessors to wonder what the nature and function of this ‘extra' DNA might be. While the question of function remains largely unanswered, studies of the nature of these extra sequences have altered many of the concepts previously considered universal. Perhaps one of the most startling revelations was that a colinear relationship between eukaryotic genes and their products may be the exception rather than the rule. It was this revelation which gave rise to the study of RNA splicing.
NASF in Twitter: An Entrepreneur's Community of Practice Using Electronic Networks of Practice

A group of Navarrese business men and women have formed an alliance called NASF. The group is a Community of Practice (CoP) committed to fostering entrepreneurship within and beyond its local geographic borders. Contemporary CoPs are often extended to become Electronic Networks of Practice (ENP). NASF is an ENP whose online presence appears through individual contributions and community facilitators. The group is actively involved in social media campaigns. By using social media and appropriating information that circulates on it, NASF builds its identity. This manuscript presents the initial results of an ethnographic study of the group. The purpose of the study is to explore the mechanisms the group uses for sharing knowledge in order to start, support and grow businesses. The discussion presented in this manuscript is based on two years of monitoring group activity. A conventional content analysis was used to examine a subset of group tweets on Twitter in order to gain an understanding of the group and it use of social media to support the CoP.
RF Shielding Effectiveness and Light Transmission of Copper or Silver Film Coating on Plastic Substrate

RF shielding effectiveness and light transmittance of acopper or silver film coating on a plastic substrate is investigated. The dependence of the RF shielding effectiveness upon the surface resistance or thickness of a copper or silver film coating on a plastic substrate is calculated numerically by means of multireflection transmission-line theory over the frequency range of 100 MHz to 30 GHz. The light transmansmittance is determined by using the optical properties of the copper or silver film and plastic substrate. An optimum condition between the RF shielding effectiveness and the light transmittance is established for the copper or silver film coating on a plastic substrate.
The Flame of Common Salt

IN answer to a question put by one of your correspondents (p. 287), allow me to state that the origin of the blue flame in question is still involved in mystery. Your correspondent will find everything that is known on the subject in a letter addressed to the editor of the Philosophical Magazine, by Prof. J. H. Gladstone (Phil. Mag. 1862, vol. xxiv. p. 417).
Normal-Incidence Mid-Infrared Ge Quantum-Dot Photodetector

Mid-infrared photodetectors were demonstrated by using molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown self-assembled Ge quantum dots (QDs). The response wavelength ranged from 2.2 µm to 3.1 µm and peaked at 2.8 µm. The peak response wavelengths shifted to 2.9 µm and 3.5 µm after thermal annealing at 700°C and 900°C for 5 min, respectively. Normal-incidence detection was confirmed, and the mechanism of a Ge QD photodetector was discussed. Calculations showed the key parameters determining response wavelength of the Ge QD infrared photodetector, which agreed with experimental results.
Neutral-current constraints on gauge models of weak and electromagnetic interactions

Abstract Sehgal and Hung and Sakurai have recently argued that neutrino-hadron neutral-current couplings must lie in one of two allowed regions in coupling-parameter space. We study this conjecture using realistic BNL νμ and νμ spectra in the elastic νμp (νμp) calculations and also study constraints imposed by theq2-distributions. On comparing to gauge models, we find that the Weinberg-Salam and SU(2)L×SU(2)R×U(1) models fall within one allowed region, while a vectorlike SU(3)×U(1) model and a hybrid SU(2)×U(1) model with a (u, b)R doublet fall in the other region.
Distribution of glycine-immunoreactive profiles in the monkey spinal cord: A light microscopic and ultrastructural study

The present study analyzed the relationships of glycine (GLY)-immunoreactive (-IR) and unlabeled profiles in the primate spinal cord. Light microscopic analysis demonstrated GLY-IR profiles in laminae III-VII, with fewer labeled profiles in laminae I, II, VIII, IX and X. The dorsal part of the lateral funiculus and the dorsal funiculus contained few labeled axons, in contrast to all other areas of white matter, which were heavily labeled. At the electron microscopic level, GLY-IR terminals in monkeys contained mainly round, with occasional pleomorphic, clear vesicles; however, F-type GLY-IR terminals synapsing on motoneurons contained pleomorphic vesicles. This seems to be an important species difference because vesicles in GLY-IR terminals in rat and cat are predominantly oval or elliptical. GLY-IR terminals synapsed on unlabeled as well as GLY-IR cell bodies and dendrites. This is morphological evidence that GLY may be both an inhibitor (GLY-IR terminals synapse on and presumably inhibit non-GLY cell bodies and dendrites) and a disinhibitor (GLY-IR terminals synapse on and presumably inhibit other GLY elements) of spinal activity. Also noteworthy was the conspicuous absence of axoaxonic interactions involving GLY-IR terminals. A related finding was that GLY profiles were always postsynaptic, never presynaptic, to glomerular primary afferent terminals. The functional implications would seem to be that primary afferent input can activate the spinal GLY system but that there is little GLY presynaptic control of afferent input in monkeys. This is in contrast to rats and cats, in which axoaxonic interactions involving GLY-IR terminals have been observed and where it is common to find GLY-IR terminals presynaptic to glomerular primary afferent terminals. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Microscopic basis for Fick's law for self-diffusion

We investigate self-diffusion in a classical fluid composed of two species which are distinguished through the color of their particles, either black or white, but are identical as regards their mechanical properties. Disregarding color the fluid is in thermal equilibrium. We show that if a single “test particle” in the one-component fluid moves asymptotically as Brownian motion, then the color density and current in certain classes of nonequilibrium states are related, on the appropriate macroscopic scale, through Fick's law, and the former is governed by the diffusion equation. If in addition several test particles move asymptotically as independent Brownian motions, then the colored fluid is, on a macroscopic scale, in local equilibrium with parameters governed by the solution of the diffusion equation.
BANANAS: an evolutionary framework for explicit and multipath routing in the internet

Today the Internet offers a single path between end-systems even though it intrinsically has a large multiplicity of paths. This paper proposes an evolutionary architectural framework "BANANAS" aimed at simplifying the introduction of multipath routing in the Internet. The framework starts with the observation that a path can be encoded as a short hash ("PathID") of a sequence of globally known identifiers. The PathID therefore has global significance (unlike MPLS or ATM labels). This property allows multipath capable nodes to autonomously compute PathIDs in a partially upgraded network without requiring an explicit signaling protocol for path setup. We show that this framework allows the introduction of sophisticated explicit routing and multipath capabilities within the context of widely deployed connectionless routing protocols (e.g. OSPF, IS-IS, BGP) or overlay networks. We establish these characteristics through the development of PathID encoding and route-computation schemes. The BANANAS framework also allows considerable flexibility in terms of architectural function placement and complexity management. To illustrate this feature, we develop an efficient variable-length hashing scheme that moves control-plane complexity and state over-heads to network edges, allowing a very simple interior node design. All the schemes have been evaluated using both sizable SSFNet simulations and Linux/Zebra implementation evaluated on Utah's Emulab testbed facility.
Surface-area reduction of coal during slurry-phase chlorinolysis

Abstract The effects of reaction time, solvent and temperature on the internal surface area of coal during slurry-phase chlorination were experimentally studied. Areas established using nitrogen as the adsorbate were found to decrease sharply with reaction time, especially in the early stages of the chlorination. Reduction of the surface area decreased with increasing temperature and the effect was independent of the amount of chlorine taken up by the coal. The loss of porosity during chlorination of coal was attributed to swelling of the coal matrix because of the considerable uptake of chlorine.
Response of methanotrophic activity in forest soil to methane availability

Deprivation of methane did not affect the capacity of forest soils to consume atmospheric methane. Methane consumption by intact soil cores that had been deprived of methane for 75 days was similar to that by cores that had been incubated under ambient air. However, seasonal differences in the stability of atmospheric methane consumption were observed. The capacity of soils collected during relatively dry periods (soil water contents 14–40%) to oxidize methane decreased over 24 days in both the presence and absence of atmospheric methane. In contrast, methane consumption by soils collected during a comparatively wet period (soil water contents >50%) remained constant. The rate of methane oxidation increased with increasing methane concentrations to a maximum of 1.0 nmol h−1 gdw soil−1; the apparent Km for methane uptake was 10 nM. Incubation of soils with 160 or 1000 ppm methane for up to 7 weeks did not increase their capacity to oxidize atmospheric methane, even though the capacity for methane oxidation at higher methane concentrations increased. These results collectively suggest that the response to methane deprivation may involve utilization of other substrates, and that the growth of bacteria that oxidize atmospheric methane is constrained by factors other than methane availability.
Departures from neutrality induced by niche and relative fitness differences

Breaking the core assumption of ecological equivalence in Hubbell’s “neutral theory of biodiversity” requires a theory of species differences. In one framework for characterizing differences between competing species, non-neutral interactions are said to involve both niche differences, which promote stable coexistence, and relative fitness differences, which promote competitive exclusion. We include both in a stochastic community model in order to determine if relative fitness differences compensate for changes in community structure and dynamics induced by niche differences, possibly explaining neutral theory’s apparent success. We show that species abundance distributions are sensitive to both niche and relative fitness differences, but that certain combinations of differences result in abundance distributions that are indistinguishable from the neutral case. In contrast, the distribution of species’ lifetimes, or the time between speciation and extinction, differs under all combinations of niche and relative fitness differences. The results from our model experiment are inconsistent with the hypothesis of “emergent neutrality” and support instead a hypothesis that relative fitness differences counteract effects of niche differences on distributions of abundance. However, an even more developed theory of interspecific variation appears necessary to explain the diversity and structure of non-neutral communities.
Measurement of Spectral Dynamics in Single Quantum Well Lasers

Long wavelength semiconductor lasers have been extensively developed for use in long distance telecom-munications networks [1]. For applications which do not require propagation over long distances, short wavelength GaAs based lasers remain a viable option for the optical source. Using this material system, quantum well lasers have been developed which show improved performance in threshold current, linewidth, and power over bulk 3-D lasers. In this paper, we describe a measurement system designed to examine spectral dynamics in semiconductor lasers and present representative results from GaAs single quantum well lasers.
Apheresis techniques in lymphokine-activated killer cell production.

Adoptive transfer of autologous lymphokine-activated killer cells (LAK) in conjunction with recombinant interleu-kin-2 (rIL-2) has been reported to produce significant regression in metastatic disease in patients with advanced cancer. In an effort to confirm the results reported by the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute, the same IL-2/LAK regimen was used in cancer patients at six extramural cancer centers. In this report we will review our experience with mononuclear cell removal from the blood of cancer patients using apheresis technology and extracorporeal handling of these cells to generate a selective, highly cytotoxic cell population.
Both preoperative perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody and anti-CBir1 expression in ulcerative colitis patients influence pouchitis development after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

Background & Aims: Acute pouchitis (AP) and chronic pouchitis (CP) are common after ileal pouch–anal anastomosis (IPAA) for ulcerative colitis. The aim of this study was to assess associations of preoperative perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (pANCA) and anti-CBir1 flagellin on AP or CP development. Methods: Patients were assessed prospectively for clinically and endoscopically proven AP (antibiotic responsive) or CP (antibiotic-dependent or refractory to antibiotic therapy). Sera from 238 patients were analyzed for ANCA and anti-CBir1 using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. pANCA + patients were substratified into high-level (>100 EU/mL) and low-level ( Results: After a median follow-up period of 47 months, 72 patients (30%) developed pouchitis. Pouchitis developed in 36% of pANCA + patients versus 16% of pANCA − patients ( P = .005), 46% of anti-CBir1 + patients versus 26% of anti-CBir1 − patients ( P = .02), and 54% of 35 pANCA + /anti-CBir1 + patients versus 31% of 136 pANCA + /anti-CBir1 − patients ( P = .02). AP developed in 37 pANCA + patients (22%) versus 6 pANCA − patients (9%) ( P = .02), and 12 anti-CBir1 + patients (26%) versus 31 anti-CBir1 − patients (16%) ( P = .1). Although AP was not influenced by pANCA level, AP was seen in 38% of low-level pANCA + /anti-CBir1 + patients versus 18% low-level pANCA + /anti-CBir1 − patients ( P = .03). CP was seen in 29% of high-level pANCA + patients versus 11% of low-level pANCA + patients ( P = .03). Conclusions: Both pANCA and anti-CBir1 expression are associated with pouchitis after IPAA. Anti-CBir1 increases the incidence of AP only in patients who have low-level pANCA expression, and increases the incidence of CP only in patients who have high-level pANCA expression. Diverse patterns of reactivity to microbial antigens may manifest as different forms of pouchitis after IPAA.
Double-strand breaks increase the incidence of genetic deletion associated with intermolecular recombination in bacteriophage T7

An in vitro DNA replication system based on extracts prepared from Escherichia coli cells infected with bacteriophage T7 was used to study deletion associated with the repair of double-strand breaks. The gene for T7 ligase was interrupted by a DNA insert which included 17-bp direct repeats. Deletion between the repeats restored the reading frame of the gene, and these DNA molecules could be detected by their ability to give rise to ligase-positive phage after in vitro packaging. T7 genomes that had a pre-existing double-strand break located between the direct repeats were incubated together with intact genomes which had the same direct repeats. Genetic markers placed on either side of the insert in the ligase gene allowed identification of the source of DNA molecules that underwent deletion between the direct repeats. This allowed an assessment of the participation of the molecules with strand breaks in the deletion process, under conditions where any mechanism could contribute to deletion. Approximately three-quarters of the T7 molecules that had lost the region between the direct repeats contained one or both of the partial genomes originally introduced into the reactions. About 50% of the genomes which had undergone deletion had recombined markers between the partial and intact genomes. The data demonstrate that double-strand breaks substantially enhance the contribution of intermolecular recombination to deletion.
Comparison of the analgesic efficacy of hydromorphone and oxymorphone in dogs and cats: a randomized blinded study.

Abstract Objective To determine if oxymorphone and hydromorphone are equally efficacious as analgesics in both dogs and cats and to determine the side-effects of each drug in painful animals. Study design Randomized, blinded, clinical trial. Animals 151 animals (28 cats and 123 dogs) admitted to the intensive care unit requiring μ opioid agonist treatment for a variety of painful procedures. Methods Animals were randomized into two groups and received either hydromorphone or oxymorphone as their primary μ agonist agent. All staff and clinicians were blinded as to which drug was administered. Pain scores, side-effects, dose and duration were recorded for each drug dose administered. The study groups were not revealed until the study had been completed and the ensuing manuscript written. Implementation of reversal and rescue protocols were dependent on pain scores and the judgment of the primary clinician. Results The groups did not significantly differ at randomization or in the number of study drug doses. There were no statistical differences between the dose of drug or the time between each dose, indicating that potency and efficacy was not different between the two drugs. Significantly more animals that received hydromorphone vomited, but there were no other statistical differences in adverse events, or in requirement for rescue or reversal protocols. Conclusions and clinical relevance Hydromorphone is significantly less expensive than oxymorphone and the results of this trial indicate that the two drugs have a similar clinical value. Both oxymorphone and hydromorphone can be used as primary μ agonist therapy in veterinary patients.
Neurostimulation: vagus nerve stimulation and beyond.

Patients with medically intractable epilepsy who are not candidates for epilepsy surgery could benefit from neurostimulation. At this time, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy is the only Food and Drug Administation–approved neurostimulation modality; it has been shown to be efficacious and just as well tolerated in children and adolescents as in adults. Notwithstanding the initial cost of the device and implantation, VNS therapy has been shown to be a cost-effective treatment, reducing direct medical costs and improving health-related quality of life measures. Deep brain stimulation of various brain regions, especially the anterior nucleus of the thalamus and responsive neurostimulation, also appear effective but are not yet approved for clinical use. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, which is also in early clinical development, is promising and could become available in the not too distant future.
Analytical description of “athermal” nucleation and its relevance to rapidly quenched fluids

Results of a matched asymptotic analysis of the nucleation equation are used to obtain the “athermal” flux due to variation of the critical size. The total critical flux is also evaluated. Results, which also include estimations of crystallization rates, are used to refine the nucleation-mechanism diagram for liquid silicon proposed by J. S. Im, Gupta, and Crowder [V. V. Gupta, and M. A. Crowder, Appl. Phys. Lett. 72, 662 (1998)]. The possibility of experimental detection of athermal effects on the background of other effects of time-dependent nucleation is discussed.
Optimal approach to and alignment with a rotating rigid body for capture

This paper addresses a feed-forward optimal control problem for one rigid body to approach to and align with another arbitrarily rotating rigid body, with an application to the satellite rendezvous problem. In particular, we focus on the satellite rendezvous strategy of finding an optimal trajectory, and the required thrust force profiles, which will guide the chasing spacecraft to approach the tumbling satellite such that the two vehicles will eventually have no relative rotation and thus a subsequent docking or capture operation can be safely performed with a normal docking or capture mechanism. Our approach is to model the system using rigid-body dynamics and apply Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle for the optimal control. A planar problem is presented as a case study, in which together with the Maximum Principle, the Lie algebras associated with the system are used to examine the existence of singular extremals for the time-optimal control problem. Also, optimal trajectories and the corresponding set of control force/torque profiles are numerically generated for the time/fuel-consumption optimal control problem.
IMPACT OF LOW RATES OF NITROGEN APPLIED AT PLANTING ON SOYBEAN NITROGEN FIXATION

Environmental conditions in the northern Great Plains can delay emergence, nitrogen (N) fixation and growth of soybean due to cool and wet soil conditions at planting. The objective was to evaluate the impact of low rates of N applied at planting on soybean N fixation and crop growth. A field experiment was established within corn soybean rotation using a split-plot design with four replications. Whole plots were no-tillage and conventional tillage and split plots were starter fertilizer. Nitrogen sources were ammonium nitrate or urea applied at four rates. The amount of plant N fixation increased with growth stage reaching a maximum fixation at the R5 growth stages. Plant ureide content decrease with increase N applied for all growth stages except R7. The increase in plant biomass contributed to an overall increase in yield indicating that in unfavorable environments application of N at planting can have a positive impact on soybean growth.
Perception and expectation gaps of information systems provider skills: the impact on user satisfaction

Abstract. Past research indicates that expectations play a crucial role in the final satisfaction of users of information systems (IS). This includes expectations regarding the skill levels exhibited by the providers of the IS services and products. Typically, the expectations are examined as gaps from perceived performance or as gaps from realistic expectations. The interaction of these gaps has not been thoroughly explored in past research, although recent theories anticipate both gaps are crucial in meeting the desires of the users. A matched pair sample of IS users and IS providers is used to collect data on expected skill levels and perceived delivery of the skills demanded. Gaps, both between these two stakeholder groups regarding expectations and within the user group regarding perceived delivery, are found to impact user satisfaction in a two-way analysis. The results indicate that expectations should be managed to higher levels and commonly understood across the user and provider groups.
Service level management: A dynamic discovery and optimization approach

Optimizing configuration parameters for achieving service level objectives is time-consuming and skills-intensive. This paper proposes a generic approach to automating this task. By generic, we mean that the approach is relatively independent of the target system for which the optimization is done. Our approach uses online adjustment of configuration parameters to discover the system's performance characteristics. Doing so creates two challenges: (1) handling interdependencies between configuration parameters and (2) minimizing the deleterious effects on production workload while the optimization is underway. Our approach addresses (1) by including in the architecture a rule-based component that handles interdependencies between configuration parameters. For (2), we use a feedback mechanism for online optimization that searches the parameter space in a way that generally avoids poor performance at intermediate steps. Our studies of a DB2 Universal Database Server under an e-commerce workload indicate that our approach is effective in practice.
Il trauma vascolare periferico: mai stato così semplice

Se pensi di sapere cosa significhi trovarsi di fronte ad un’emorragia arteriosa, l’incontro ravvicinato con un’emorragia inguinale ti fara cambiare idea. Il paziente e in stato di shock e ha perso gran parte del volume ematico sul luogo dell’incidente oppure lo ha versato addosso ai paramedici intenti a salvargli la vita comprimendo la regione inguinale per bloccare l’emorragia. Si tratta di una delle lesioni penetranti piu spettacolari e drammatiche in cui ci si possa imbattere e, nel bel mezzo del caos dell’emergenza, e facile dimenticare le priorita, commettere errori importanti finendo con il perdere il paziente.
A complete characterization of stabilization of systems with one degree of underactuation with energy shaping method

A geometric formulation for stabilization of systems with one degree of underactuation which fully solves the energy shaping problem for these system is given. The results show that any linearly controllable simple mechanical system with one degree of underactuation is stabilizable by energy shaping, possibly via a closed-loop metric which is not necessarily positive-definite. An example of a system with one degree of underactuation is provided for which the stabilization by energy shaping method is not achievable using a positive-definite closed-loop metric.
IDEAS AND OPTIONS IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

IDEAS AND OPTIONS IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES. Helen Basturkmen . Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2006. Pp. xi + 186. $19.95 paper. Various approaches to teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) are examined in this volume, with a view toward encouraging readers to take a critical stance. The work aims to fill a gap in the existing ESP literature, which Basturkmen argues has “tended to focus on practical issues” rather than on “ideas of learning languages for specific purposes” (p. 5). Another goal is to investigate whether “ESP has been a force for accommodation” (p. 6), serving the interests of discourse communities rather than ESP learners themselves.
A buffer-based baseband analog front end for CMOS bluetooth receivers

A CMOS low-power baseband analog front end (BAFE) for an integrated bluetooth receiver is presented. The BAFE is designed using a new fully differential buffer (FDB) circuit that can effectively implement filters with gain/filtering interleaved operations. The BAFE utilizes five FDB circuits to implement a sixth-order low noise high linear prefilter, a sixth-order MOS-C tunable filter and a variable gain amplifier (VGA). The distribution of gain and filtering between the various blocks simplifies the design of the VGA stages and allows a good compromise between the input referred noise and the overall linearity. The analog front end is fabricated using a regular 1.2-/spl mu/m CMOS process and occupies an area of 1.7 mm /spl times/ 1.7 mm. Measurements results indicate that the total standby current consumption is less than 2.4 mA while providing a gain control range from 12-30 dB in 6-dB step. The input referred noise is less than 42 nV//spl radic/(Hz) and the out-of-band IIP3 of more than 12 dBm.
Disenchantment and the Liberal Arts

ABSTRACT This paper is an enquiry into the unpredictability of the liberally educated mind. We are all familiar with the value placed on the word critical when it figures prominently in justifications for liberal arts pedagogy, as in “a liberal arts education should foster the capacity for critical thinking.” However, de- pending on the milieu in which “critical thinking” is habituated, the mean- ing of the term may degrade into a theoretical conformity and passive assent to established routines which are inevitably expressions of disapproval. This trajectory is described as disenchantment. Its origins are traced to represen- tations of the intellectual as a distinctly secular creature and, in contempo- rary philosophical developments, associated with political liberalism—both of which, it is argued, are dominated by fear. Drawing on the recent Catholic “Communio” theology of David Schindler as a way to unveil the repressed theologies and hidden ontologies of liberal neutrality, the paper concludes with a brief examination of liberal arts scholarship that is increasingly open to various models of enchantment. RESUME Cet article se veut une interrogation quant a l’imprevisibilite de l’esprit ayant recu une formation en arts liberaux. Nous connaissons tous la valeur accordee au terme critique lorsqu’il apparait de maniere saillante dans des justifications pour la pedagogie des arts liberaux, comme dans l’affirmation suivante : « Une formation en arts liberaux doit nourrir la pensee critique. » Toutefois, selon le milieu auquel la « pensee critique » s’est accoutumee, la signification du terme peut se degrader en une conformite theorique et en un consentement passif envers les routines etablies, qui sont inevitablement des expressions de desapprobation. On decrit cette trajectoire par le terme desenchantement. On retrace ses origines aux representations de l’intellectuel en une creature distinctement seculaire et, avec les progres de la philosophie contemporaine, on l’associe aujourd’hui au liberalisme politique, certains affirmant que tous deux sont domines par la peur. Decrivant la recente theologie catholique du « communio » de David Schindler comme une facon de devoiler les theologies refoulees et les ontologies dissimulees de la neutralite liberale, l’auteur conclut en examinant brievement les bourses remises en arts liberaux, de plus en plus ouvertes aux differents modeles d’enchantement.
Formalization of generics for the .NET common language runtime

We present a formalization of the implementation of generics in the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR), focusing on two novel aspectsof the implementation: mixed specialization and sharing, and efficient support for run-time types. Some crucial constructs used in the implementation are dictionaries and run-time type representations. We formalize these aspects type-theoretically in a way that corresponds in spirit to the implementation techniques used in practice. Both the techniques and the formalization also help us understand the range of possible implementation techniques for other languages, e.g., ML, especially when additional source language constructs such as run-time types are supported. A useful by-product of this study is a type system for a subset of the polymorphic IL proposed for the .NET CLR.
A constant separation control law for use in automated guideway transit

This report describes a control method for operating a string of vehicles under a constant separation policy which does not result in string instability. Each vehicle, rather than only looking at the preceding vehicle, also receives a velocity command which is common to all vehicles. The feedback controller is split into two parts, one to control based on vehicle separation error and the other to control based on velocity error. By properly apportioning the feedback gain between these two paths, string instability is overcome. A simulation of a five vehicle string demonstrates the validity of the technique.
Summer season variability of the north residual cap of Mars as observed by the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS-TES)

Abstract Previous observations have noted the change in albedo in a number of North Pole bright outliers and in the distribution of bright ice deposits between Mariner 9, Viking, and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) data sets. Changes over the summer season as well as between regions at the same season ( L s ) in different years have been observed. We used the bolometric albedo and brightness temperature channels of the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on the MGS spacecraft to monitor north polar residual ice cap variations between Mars years and within the summer season for three northern Martian summers between July 1999 and April 2003. Large-scale brightness variations are observed in four general areas: (1) the patchy outlying frost deposits from 90 to 270°E, 75 to 80°N; (2) the large “tail” below the Chasma Boreale and its associated plateau from 315 to 45°E, 80 to 85°N, that we call the “Boreale Tongue” and in Hyperboreae Undae; (3) the troughed terrain in the region from 0 to 120°E longitude (the lower right on a polar stereographic projection) we have called “Shackleton's Grooves” and (4) the unit mapped as residual ice in Olympia Planitia. We also note two areas which seem to persist as cool and bright throughout the summer and between Mars years. One is at the “source” of Chasma Boreale (∼15°E, 85°N) dubbed “McMurdo”, and the “Cool and Bright Anomaly (CABA)” noted by Kieffer and Titus 2001. TES Mapping of Mars’ north seasonal cap. Icarus 154, 162–180] at ∼330°E, 87°N called here “Vostok”. Overall defrosting occurs early in the summer as the temperatures rise and then after the peak temperatures are reached ( L s ∼110) higher elevations and outlier bright deposits cold trap and re-accumulate new frost. Persistent bright areas are associated with either higher elevations or higher background albedos suggesting complex feedback mechanisms including cold-trapping of frost due to albedo and elevation effects, as well as influence of mesoscale atmospheric dynamics.
BIDE: efficient mining of frequent closed sequences

Previous studies have presented convincing arguments that a frequent pattern mining algorithm should not mine all frequent patterns but only the closed ones because the latter leads to not only more compact yet complete result set but also better efficiency. However, most of the previously developed closed pattern mining algorithms work under the candidate maintenance-and-test paradigm which is inherently costly in both runtime and space usage when the support threshold is low or the patterns become long. We present, BIDE, an efficient algorithm for mining frequent closed sequences without candidate maintenance. We adopt a novel sequence closure checking scheme called bidirectional extension, and prunes the search space more deeply compared to the previous algorithms by using the BackScan pruning method and the Scan-Skip optimization technique. A thorough performance study with both sparse and dense real-life data sets has demonstrated that BIDE significantly outperforms the previous algorithms: it consumes order(s) of magnitude less memory and can be more than an order of magnitude faster. It is also linearly scalable in terms of database size.
Validation of Satellite Retrievals of Cloud Microphysics and Liquid Water Path Using Observations from FIRE.

Cloud effective radii (r(sub e)) and cloud liquid water path (LWP) are derived from ISCCP spatially sampled satellite data and validated with ground-based pyranometer and microwave radiometer measurements taken on San Nicolas Island during the 1987 FIRE IFO. Values of r(sub e) derived from the ISCCP data are also compared to values retrieved by a hybrid method that uses the combination of LWP derived from microwave measurement and optical thickness derived from GOES data. The results show that there is significant variability in cloud properties over a 100 km x 80 km area and that the values at San Nicolas Island are not necessarily representative of the surrounding cloud field. On the other hand, even though there were large spatial variations in optical depth, the r(sub e) values remained relatively constant (with sigma less than or equal to 2-3 microns in most cases) in the marine stratocumulus. Furthermore, values of r(sub e) derived from the upper portion of the cloud generally are representative of the entire stratiform cloud. When LWP values are less than 100 g m(exp -2), then LWP values derived from ISCCP data agree well with those values estimated from ground-based microwave measurements. In most cases LWP differences were less than 20 g m(exp -2). However, when LWP values become large (e.g., greater than or equal to 200 g m(exp -2)), then relative differences may be as large as 50%- 100%. There are two reasons for this discrepancy in the large LWP clouds: (1) larger vertical inhomogeneities in precipitating clouds and (2) sampling errors on days of high spatial variability of cloud optical thicknesses. Variations of r(sub e) in stratiform clouds may indicate drizzle: clouds with droplet sizes larger than 15 microns appear to be associated with drizzling, while those less than 10 microns are indicative of nonprecipitating clouds. Differences in r(sub e) values between the GOES and ISCCP datasets are found to be 0.16 +/- 0.98 micron.
SOX9 accelerates ESC differentiation to three germ layer lineages by repressing SOX2 expression through P21 (WAF1/CIP1)

Upon removal of culture conditions that maintain an undifferentiated state, mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) differentiate into various cell types. Differentiation can be facilitated by forced expression of certain transcription factors (TFs), each of which can generally specify a particular developmental lineage. We previously established 137 mouse ESC lines, each of which carried a doxycycline-controllable TF. Among them, Sox9 has unique capacity: its forced expression accelerates differentiation of mouse ESCs into cells of all three germ layers. With the additional use of specific culture conditions, overexpression of Sox9 facilitated the generation of endothelial cells, hepatocytes and neurons from ESCs. Furthermore, Sox9 action increases formation of p21 (WAF1/CIP1), which then binds to the SRR2 enhancer of pluripotency marker Sox2 and inhibits its expression. Knockdown of p21 abolishes inhibition of Sox2 and Sox9-accelerated differentiation, and reduction of Sox2 2 days after the beginning of ESC differentiation can comparably accelerate mouse ESC formation of cells of three germ layers. These data implicate the involvement of the p21-Sox2 pathway in the mechanism of accelerated ESC differentiation by Sox9 overexpression. The molecular cascade could be among the first steps to program ESC differentiation.
Presentation format and its effect on working memory.

In three experiments, we examined the separate cognitive demands of processing and storage in working memory and looked at how effective the coordination was when items for storage varied in format/modality. A sentence verification task involving arithmetic facts was combined with a span task involving two to six items presented in picture, printed word, or spoken word format. The first two experiments were the same, except for the added requirement of articulation of the math sentence in Experiment 2. Experiment 3 varied the length of the span item and compared recall with recognition performance. The results showed that both spoken words and pictures produced superior recall and recognition, as compared with printed words, and are consistent with Baddeley and Logie’s (1999) and Mayer’s (2001) models of working memory. Also, the differences in processing performance across spans varied with the difficulty of the task but showed the strongest support for the resource allocation model (Foos, 1995).
Work engagement and work-family facilitation: Making homes happier through positive affective spillover

Although work engagement has been shown to be associated with positive job attitudes and behaviors, no research has investigated its relationship with work-family issues. To address this, the current longitudinal, experience-sampling study aimed to determine the relationship between daily work engagement and work-to-family facilitation. A total of 52 extension agents responded to two daily surveys for two weeks. Results indicate that both work engagement and work-to-family facilitation vary considerably from day to day. Daily work engagement had a positive effect on family life. The effect of daily engagement in facilitating work-family relations was partially mediated by positive mood, and the relationship between work engagement and facilitation of work-family relations was moderated by work-family capitalization, or the sharing of positive work experiences at home. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
A self-timed redundant-binary number to binary number converter for digital arithmetic processors

This paper presents a self-timed converter circuit which converts an n-digit redundant binary number to an (n+1)-bit binary number. Self-timed refers to the fact that the conversion is problem-dependent and requires variable conversion time to complete the operation. The propagation delay of the proposed converter circuit does not increase with the number of digits to be converted, but it is determined by the maximum number of consecutive 0's in that number. This study shows that the statistical upper bound of the average maximum number of consecutive 0's is log/sub 3/n, or 3.78 for 64-digits. This implies that the proposed self-time circuit can be approximately 17 times faster than the ripple-type converter. Thus the proposed converter is well-suited to high-speed, long-word digital arithmetic processors.