cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The genome of Pelobacter carbinolicus reveals surprising metabolic capabilities and physiological features

The bacterium Pelobacter carbinolicus is able to grow by fermentation, syntrophic hydrogen/formate transfer, or electron transfer to sulfur from short-chain alcohols, hydrogen or formate; it does not oxidize acetate and is not known to ferment any sugars or grow autotrophically. The genome of P. carbinolicus was sequenced in order to understand its metabolic capabilities and physiological features in comparison with its relatives, acetate-oxidizing Geobacter species. Pathways were predicted for catabolism of known substrates: 2,3-butanediol, acetoin, glycerol, 1,2-ethanediol, ethanolamine, choline and ethanol. Multiple isozymes of 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase, ATP synthase and [FeFe]-hydrogenase were differentiated and assigned roles according to their structural properties and genomic contexts. The absence of asparagine synthetase and the presence of a mutant tRNA for asparagine encoded among RNA-active enzymes suggest that P. carbinolicus may make asparaginyl-tRNA in a novel way. Catabolic glutamate dehydrogenases were discovered, implying that the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle can function catabolically. A phosphotransferase system for uptake of sugars was discovered, along with enzymes that function in 2,3-butanediol production. Pyruvate:ferredoxin/flavodoxin oxidoreductase was identified as a potential bottleneck in both the supply of oxaloacetate for oxidation of acetate by the TCA cycle and the connection of glycolysis to production of ethanol. The P. carbinolicus genome was found to encode autotransporters and various appendages, including three proteins with similarity to the geopilin of electroconductive nanowires. Several surprising metabolic capabilities and physiological features were predicted from the genome of P. carbinolicus, suggesting that it is more versatile than anticipated.
Hydrogenation of styrene‐butadiene rubber (SBR) latexes

The mechanism and the optimum conditions for the reduction of residual double bonds in styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex by hydrogenating the polybutadiene in the latex form were studied. The hydrogenation involves a copper ion (II)-catalyzed procedure in which diimide hydrogenation agent is generated in situ at the surfaces of latex particles by a hydrazine/hydrogen peroxide redox system. The surface density of the copper ion in particle surfaces was found to be a crucially important parameter in controlling the degree of hydrogenation. The distribution of the double bonds in the latex particles after the hydrogenation was found to be dependent on the particle size and the extent of crosslinking in the particles. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 64: 2047–2056, 1997
Genetically engineered protein nanowires: unique features in site-specific functionalization and multi-dimensional self-assembly

Protein nanowires possess promising features, including their site-specific genetic functionalization and multi-dimensional self-assembly with biomolecular recognition-based specificity for bottom-up material synthesis. Previously, a variety of rod-shaped inorganic and amphiphile-mimic nanowires have been studied for their controlled aggregation in nanotechnology and their assembled structures are sensitive to the molecular structures of the monomers. Protein nanowires are expected to be assembled in more diverse structures with the unique features of genetically-directed site-specific functionalization and conformational changes of proteins. These advantages lead to the creation of 2D and 3D assemblies in various structures and geometries, which is difficult to achieve from other molecular building blocks. In this review article, after a list of the practical protein nanowires including the flagellar protein (FliC), cell division protein (FtsZ), yeast amyloid protein (Sup35), collagen, and virus coat proteins is introduced, their functional designs and the methodologies of their functionalization via genetic engineering are explained. Finally, their assembled structures from functionalized proteins are discussed with some practical applications. Highly ordered hierarchical superstructures assembled from protein nanowires are highlighted as one of the unique features of protein nanowires for future bottom-up nanotechnological science and engineering. To accomplish the precise assembly of complex 3D superstructures from proteins and nanomaterials, controlling the interactions between the as-prepared protein nanowires is critical, and biorecognition sites on the nanowires need to be properly designed. Additionally, other fine interactions also play important roles in determining the final 3D superstructures and it is desirable to understand these effects in order to better predict complex 3D assembled structures.
North American Business Strategies Towards Climate Change

Business has become a key part of the fabric of global environmental governance, considered here as the network which orders and regulates economic activity and its impacts. We argue that businesses generally are willing to undertake limited measures consistent with a fragmented and weak policy regime. Further, the actions of businesses act to create, shape and preserve that compromised regime. We examine three types of indicators of business responses in North America: ratings by external organizations, commitments regarding emissions, and joint political action. We find business response to be highly ambiguous, with energetic efforts yielding few results.
An Attenuated Influenza Virus Vaccine: Reactogenicity, Transmissibility, Immunogenicity, and Protective Efficacy

An attenuated influenza virus vaccine (not sensitive to equine serum) was administered intranasally by nose drops and was effective in stimulating significant rises in both serum and nasal antibody and in protecting against subsequent challenge with virulent influenza virus. Vaccine virus was not transmitted from immunized volunteers to a control group. Clinical symptoms after immunization were very mild but were significantly more frequent in vaccinees than in members of the control group.
Unsupervised anomaly detection with minimal sensing

With the growing age of the baby-boomer generation and the rising cost of healthcare, it is becoming exceedingly difficult to give proper care and daily supervision to the elderly. The ability to detect anomalies in a subject's behavioral patterns based on minimal sensor data, will allow for a low cost sensor network to be placed into the subject's environment to provide this supervision. In this paper, we will discuss our approach for anomaly detection using a clustering algorithm on a minimal spanning tree and why this approach is more robust than statistical analysis. We will discuss the possible applications for such a system and will show that our method has a high success rate on both field and synthetic data.
Contagion externalities and the conversion of low-intensity land uses on the urban fringe

The last decade has been characterized by a growing concern over the conversion of important farmlands and unique natural environments to developed uses. Preservation of agricultural, recreation, and/or open space uses of land around expanding urban areas faces unique problems. This paper examines the impact of spatial considerations on preservation policy. In particular, the allocative significance of contagion externalities is explored for both short-run and long-run policy formation, and empirical evidence for two U.S. cities is presented. It is concluded that failure to account for the external effects generated from urban development will lead to inefficient preservation strategies based on fiscal incentives and misspecified preservation goals.
Thresholds of Fear: Embracing the Urban Shadow:

My interest in the relationship between fear and city building was sparked while doing research on the French new town of Jouy-leMoutier 15 years ago. This new town was an experiment in neotraditional urbanism (or the ‘new urbanism’), an effort to build a new town which looks and functions something like an old town. I wanted to discover whether or not this was a good strategy for city building, so I lived there and visited many of its inhabitants, inquiring about their likes and dislikes regarding the town. Invariably, the subject of fear arose despite the miniscule crime rate in the area. I initially paid little heed and simply waited for the conversation to turn back to the subject of my research. I soon realised, however, that the concern about insecurity was central to the nostalgia for the past that incited neotraditional tendencies and to my evaluation of its success at Jouy-le-Moutier. Returning from the immaculate French new town, I saw New York City with different eyes. Living in my East Harlem neighbourhood amongst abandoned buildings, crack houses, forti ed housing projects and scores of homeless people, I began re ecting not only upon the motivations for defensive urbanism, but also on possibilities for diminishing the fear through design and other means. In this essay, I offer a brief history of fear and its relationship to city building in the West along with some new directions in urban design that respond to fear proactively rather than reactively.
Maillard reaction products as antioxidants in pre-cooked ground beef

The antioxidative activity of Maillard reaction products (MRPs) obtained by autoclaving glucose with acid or enzymatic protein hydrolysates of egg albumin or soy protein isolate was evaluated in cooked ground beef by using TBA values and headspace gas chromatographic analysis over 8 days of refrigerated storage. The antioxidative activity of MRPs was found to be influenced by the heating time of protein hydrolysates and glucose solution and by the level added. MRPs formed by heating for 1 h and added to the beef at the 1% level completely inhibited (P < 0.05) rancid flavor as determined by TBA values and hexanal and pentanal levels. With 0.5% added MRPs formed for 1 h, TBA values and hexanal and pentanal contents increased slightly over time, but were still different (P < 0.05) compared to those in the control meat. The antioxidative activity of MRPs formed by heating for 10 min did not cause significant decreases (P < 0.05) in TBA values until after day 2, and in hexanal and pentanal contents until after day 4 of storage.
A FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING AND CONTROL IN INTELLIGENT HUMANOID ROBOTS

Future application areas for humanoid robots range from the household, to agriculture, to the military, and to the exploration of space. Service applications such as these must address a changing, unstructured environment, a collaboration with human clients, and the integration of manual dexterity and mobility. Control frameworks for service-oriented humanoid robots must, therefore, accommodate many independently challenging issues including: techniques for configuring networks of sensorimotor resources; modeling tasks and constructing behavior in partially observable environments; and integrated control paradigms for mobile manipulators. Our approach advocates actively gathering salient information, modeling the environment, reasoning about solutions to new problems, and coordinating ad hoc interactions between multiple degrees of freedom to do mechanical work. Representations that encode control knowledge are a primary concern. Individual robots must exploit declarative structure for planning and must learn procedural strategies that work in recognizable contexts. We present several pieces of an overall framework in which a robot learns situated policies for control that exploit existing control knowledge and extend its scope. Several examples drawn from the research agenda at the Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics are used to illustrate the ideas.
Efficacy of an Individualized Outpatient Program in the Treatment of Chronic Post‐Traumatic Headache

SYNOPSIS Twenty patients disabled for work because of chronic post-traumatic headaches were treated: 13 men, and seven women.Their ages ranged between 26 and 69 years (mean = 40.3). Their accidents occurred three months to eight years prior to theinitial visit (mean = 1.5 yrs.). Thirteen patients had concurrent spinal injuries. They were assigned to an individualized program with emphasis on doctor-patient relationship. All patients received medications, biofeedback, and educational sessions. Thirteen patients with concurrent spinal injuriesreceived additionally therapeutic exercises and transcutaneous nerve stimulation. Five patients needed neuromuscularre-education, and three, stress management. All sessions were individualized. Patients attended the Center one to three times a week for three to 12 weeks (average = 9 weeks). The number oftreatment days ranged from six to 37 (average = 18.8 days). The average cost of the program for patients with headachealone was $3849.00; and for those with additional spinal injuries, $7030.00. All patients improved: markedly, 14; moderately, four; end slightly, two patients. The improvement occurred within sevento 150 days (average = 48.7 days). Seventeen out of the 20 patients, (85%) returned to work within 21ndash;224 days (average = 111days). An individualized outpatient program is very successful in the treatment of post-traumatic headache.
Differential regulation of embryonic and adult β cell replication

Diabetes results from an inadequate functional β cell mass, either due to autoimmune destruction (Type 1 diabetes) or insulin resistance combined with β cell failure (Type 2 diabetes). Strategies to enhance β cell regeneration or increase cell proliferation could improve outcomes for patients with diabetes. Research conducted over the past several years has revealed that factors regulating embryonic β cell mass expansion differ from those regulating replication ofβ cells post-weaning. This article aims to compare and contrast factors known to control embryonic and postnatal β cell replication. In addition, we explore the possibility that connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) could increase adult β cell replication. We have already shown that CTGF is required for embryonicβ cell proliferation and is sufficient to induce replication of embryonic β cells. Here we examine whether adult β cell replication and expansion of β cell mass can be enhanced by increased CTGF expression in mature β cells.
Splenopneumopexy: decompression of portal hypertension in the setting of portal venous occlusive disease.

BG is a 27-year-old man originally diagnosed with portal, splenic, and superior mesenteric vein thrombosis in 2007 during a work-up for abdominal pain. A subsequent hypercoagulable work-up was negative. He was placed on oral anticoagulation as an outpatient but failed due to repeated noncompliance. He represented in 2012 with massive upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage from his esophagogastric varices, requiring placement of a Minnesota tube to facilitate bleeding cessation. The patient underwent a protracted surgical intensive care unit course with numerous packed red blood cell transfusions. He eventually stabilized with sclerotherapy consisting of intravariceal cyanoacrylate injection, but he remained inhouse for continued monitoring and occasional ongoing transfusions. Following hemodynamic stabilization, repeat imaging demonstrated diffuse, completely occluding thrombosis throughout his portal, splenic, and superior mesenteric veins (Fig. 1a). He was therefore not a candidate for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) due to lack of venous flow. Given his lack of traditional shunting options, he was consented to undergo splenopneumopexy. His postoperative course was uneventful, and he was discharged 10 days following the procedure. Follow-up imaging performed 3 months postoperatively demonstrated the development of collateral portopulmonary circulation and decompression of his esophagogastric varices (Fig. 1b). With a current follow-up of 18 months, the patient has had no evidence of repeated gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
American cancer society urban demonstration projects: Models for successful intervention

In 1989, the American Cancer Society funded three Community Cancer Detection, Education and Prevention Demonstrations Projects for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations in Miami, Harlem, and West Oakland. Each project has demonstrated that by using a multifunction, multisite cancer control model with an action theory that integrates individual and structural influences, many barriers to screening and follow-up can be minimized.
A nested genetic algorithm for distributed database design

Distributed database design is a difficult and complex process involving two major, interrelated problems. First, data must be allocated to nodes in the network. Second given such an allocation data must be efficiently accessed, processed, and possibly communicated to meet the retrieval and update requirements of the users. Both of these problems can be formulated as constrained, integer, optimization problems; both of which are NP-hard. Genetic algorithms provide an efficient search method for problems of this type. We present a nested genetic algorithm that iteratively allocates data to nodes and determines where to perform access and processing operations to efficiently meet a specified set of retrieval and update requirements. >
Munchausen's Syndrome with Hematuria and Sepsis: An Unusual Case:

An unusual case of Munchausen's syndrome is described in which a former microbiology technician was suspected of inoculating himself with contaminated material to produce sepsis and ingesting warfarin in the form of rat poison to cause hematuria. This combination of factitious disorders has rarely been reported. Other unusual features included a nonemergent presentation through the hospital emergency room and a clinical profile not typical of previously published cases.
Weighted pseudo-random BIST for n-detection of single stuck-at faults

Detecting single stuck-at faults more than once has been shown to be an effective way to achieve high defect coverage. Recently it was observed that the number of tests required to achieve n-detection of single-stuck-at faults using pseudo-random sources may increase as n.logn with increasing values of n. In this paper, we investigate weighted pseudo-random BIST for n-detection of single stuck-at faults. We propose a hardware efficient weighted pseudo-random test pattern generator. Experimental results show that the proposed test pattern generator achieves n-detection of single stuck-at faults with test set sizes growing linearly with n. The hardware overhead grows modestly with n.
An affine-scaling interior-point CBB method for box-constrained optimization

We develop an affine-scaling algorithm for box-constrained optimization which has the property that each iterate is a scaled cyclic Barzilai–Borwein (CBB) gradient iterate that lies in the interior of the feasible set. Global convergence is established for a nonmonotone line search, while there is local R-linear convergence at a nondegenerate local minimizer where the second-order sufficient optimality conditions are satisfied. Numerical experiments show that the convergence speed is insensitive to problem conditioning. The algorithm is particularly well suited for image restoration problems which arise in positron emission tomography where the cost function can be infinite on the boundary of the feasible set.
Action formalism of time-dependent density-functional theory

The Runge-Gross [E. Runge and E. K. U. Gross, Phys. Rev. Lett. 52, 997 (1984)] action functional of time-dependent density-functional theory leads to a well-known causality paradox; that is, a perturbation of the electronic density in the future affects the response of the system in the present. This paradox is known to be caused by an inconsistent application of the Dirac-Frenkel variational principle. In view of the recent solutions to this problem, the action functional employed by Runge and Gross in their formulation of time-dependent density-functional theory is analyzed in the context of the Keldysh contour technique. The time-dependent electronic density and the concept of causality are extended to the contour. We derive a variational equation that obeys causality and relates the exchange-correlation potential with its kernel and the functional derivative of the exchange-correlation action functional with respect to the density. It is shown that the adiabatic local-density approximation is a consistent solution of this equation and that the time-dependent optimized potential method can also be derived from it. The formalism presented here can be used to find new approximation methods for the exchange-correlation potential and to avoid the causality dilemma.
Potentiation of cytotoxic cancer therapies by TNP-470 alone and with other anti-angiogenic agents.

The ability of TNP-470, a synthetic analog of fumagillin which has been described as an anti-angiogenic agent, to potentiate cytotoxic cancer therapies was investigated in vivo in the murine FSaIIC fibrosarcoma and the Lewis lung carcinoma. TNP-470 was more toxic toward FSaIIC tumor cells from tumors treated in vivo than toward bone-marrow CFU-GM from the same animals. TNP-470 had a dose-modifying effect on the toxicity of cyclophosphamide toward FSaIIC tumor cells which amounted to an 8-fold increase in tumor-cell killing at a cyclophosphamide dose of 500 mg/kg. Treatment with TNP-470 and minocycline increased the permeability of the FSaII fibrosarcoma in vivo to the fluorescent dye Hoechst 33342 and increased the killing of both the bright and the dim tumor cells by cyclophosphamide. TNP-470, especially in combination with minocycline, formed a highly effective modulator combination for treatment of the Lewis lung carcinoma with cytotoxic cancer therapies against primary and metastatic disease. The combination of TNP-470/minocycline and cyclophosphamide led to 40 to 50% long-term survivors in Lewis-lung-carcinoma-bearing animals. Our results indicate that the use of anti-angiogenic modulators in cancer therapy is a very promising area for further study. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Mining client-side activity for personalization

"Garbage in. garbage out" is a well-known phrase in computer analysis, and one that comes to mind when mining Web data to draw conclusions about Web users. The challenge is that data analysts wish to infer patterns of client-side behavior from server-side data. However, because only a fraction of the user's actions ever reach the Web server, analysts must rely on incomplete data. In this paper, we propose a client-side monitoring system that is unobtrusive and supports flexible data collection. Moreover, the proposed framework encompasses client-side applications beyond the Web browser. Expanding monitoring beyond the browser to incorporate standard office productivity tools enables analysts to derive a much richer and more accurate picture of user behavior on the Web.
A signal abnormality index for arterial blood pressure waveforms

Fidelity of the arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveform is often critical to computations that involve processing of the waveform. The ABP waveform may be used for cardiac output (CO) estimation, suppression of ECG-based false alarms, and tracking long term trends such as mean pressure. An abnormal ABP waveform may cause these applications to give undesirable results. In this paper, we present a signal abnormality index (SAI) algorithm that detects abnormal beats in ABP waveforms. The algorithm flags ABP beats by intelligently setting constraints on physiologic, noise/artifact, and beat-to-beat variation values. Compared to an expert annotator, the algorithm’s sensitivity=1, specificity=0.91, positive predictive value=0.73, and negative predictive value=1. We also perform a sensitivity analysis to show SAI’s robustness. Finally, we use SAI to identify clean ABP segments from our study population and show that CO estimation error is 30% less in the clean subset than in the entire population.
ADHD, lead exposure and prevention: how much lead or how much evidence is needed?

. Under this per-spective, genes can be used to gauge thetrue strength of environmental influencesmore accurately, by showing how strongthese effects are in the portion of the pop-ulation that is genetically liable to the dis-order. A third influence is the recognitionthat disorders like ADHD are sufficientlycostly to society and difficult to treatonce they bloom that investments in pre-vention are well justified if only an effec-tive and ethically acceptable preventivestrategy can be identified. This confluence of concerns has begunto move identification of environmentaleffects up the research agenda forADHD. Identifying such preventionopportunities relies as much on targetingthe relevant environments as the relevantgenes. It opens up important areas ofinquiry, such as toxicogenomics, toexamine how toxins affect the genome tocreate disease.With regard to prevention strategies,such environmental targets fall into atleast two major classes. In the first classare those injurious experiences under thecontrol of individual parents, oftenalready known to be harmful. Examplesin this class are prenatal cigarette andalcohol exposure (in the case of ADHDand related conditions
GENETIC EFFECTS OF METHYLATION DIETS

▪ Abstract DNA methylation at cytosines in CpG dinucleotides can lead to changes in gene expression and function without altering the primary sequence of the DNA. Methylation can be affected by dietary levels of methyl-donor components, such as folic acid. This may be an important mechanism for environmentally induced changes in gene expression. Recent literature supports a role for DNA-methylation changes in a number of adult-onset disorders and during development. These changes may be significant for better understanding certain birth defects (e.g., neural tube defects) and the long-term consequences of early environmental influences on gene expression (metabolic programming). Optimal “methylation diets” should be investigated as part of the prevention and treatment of all these conditions, as well as in disorders such as Rett syndrome, whose primary defects may lie in DNA methylation-dependent gene regulation.
Kinetics of ice crystallization in sugar solutions and fruit juices

Ice-crystal secondary nucleation kinetics are derived from thermal response experiments carried out with concentrated sugar solutions and fruit juices. Variables studied include the level of supersaturation, power input, sugar concentration, sugar type, and the presence of high-molecular-weight additives. The nucleation rate is indicated to have a low-order dependence upon subcooling (about 1.25 power) for subcoolings in the range 0.25 to 1.00°C. Fruit juices are well modeled by the corresponding synthetic sugar solution. The selection and improvement of processing approaches for freeze concentration of food liquids are discussed in light of the experimental results.
Dynamic view-dependent simplification for polygonal models

Presents an algorithm for performing view-dependent simplifications of a triangulated polygonal model in real-time. The simplifications are dependent on viewing direction, lighting and visibility, and are performed by taking advantage of image-space, object-space and frame-to-frame coherences. A continuous level-of-detail representation for an object is first constructed off-line. This representation is then used at run-time to guide the selection of appropriate triangles for display. The list of displayed triangles is updated incrementally from one frame to the next. Our approach is more effective than the current level-of-detail-based rendering approaches for most scientific visualization applications where there are a limited number of highly complex objects that stay relatively close to the viewer.
Rapid video-referenced ratings of reciprocal social behavior in toddlers: a twin study

Background: Reciprocal social behavior (RSB) is a developmental prerequisite for social competency, and deficits in RSB constitute a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although clinical screeners categorically ascertain risk of ASD in early childhood, rapid methods for quantitative measurement of RSB in toddlers are not yet established. Such measurements are critical for tracking developmental trajectories and incremental responses to intervention. Methods: We developed and validated a 20-min video-referenced rating scale, the video-referenced rating of reciprocal social behavior (vrRSB), for untrained caregivers to provide standardized ratings of quantitative variation in RSB. Parents of 252 toddler twins [Monozygotic (MZ) = 31 pairs, Dizygotic (DZ) = 95 pairs] ascertained through birth records, rated their twins’ RSB at two time points, on average 6 months apart, and completed two developmental measures, the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) and the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory Short Form (MCDI-s). Results: Scores on the vrRSB were fully continuously distributed, with excellent 6-month test‐retest reliability ([intraclass correlation coefficient] ICC = 0.704, p < .000). MZ twins displayed markedly greater trait concordance than DZ twins, (MZ ICC = 0.863, p < .000, DZ ICC = 0.231, p < .012). VrRSB score distributions were highly distinct for children passing versus failing the M-CHAT (t = ! 8.588, df = 31, p < .000), incrementally improved from 18‐24 months, and were inversely correlated with receptive and expressive vocabulary on the MCDI-s. Conclusions: Like quantitative autistic trait ratings in school-aged children and adults, toddler scores on the vrRSB are continuously distributed and appear highly heritable. These ratings exhibited minimal measurement error, high inter-individual stability, and developmental progression in RSB as children matured from 18‐24 months, supporting their potential utility for serially quantifying the severity of early autistic syndromes over time and in response to intervention. In addition, these findings inform the geneticenvironmental structure of RSB in early typical development. Keywords: Autism, reciprocal social behavior, video, twins, toddlers.
Signal acquisition using AXIe

An emerging test and measurement standard called AXIe, AdvancedTCA extensions for Instrumentation, is expected to find wide acceptance within the Physics community as it offers many benefits to applications including shock, plasma, particle and nuclear physics. It is expected that many COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) signal conditioning, acquisition and processing modules will become available from a range of different suppliers. AXIe uses AdvancedTCA® as its basis, but then levers test and measurement industry standards such as PXI, IVI, and LXI to facilitate cooperation and plug-and-play interoperability between COTS instrument suppliers. AXIe's large board footprint and power allows high density in a 19" rack, enabling the development of high-performance signal conditioning, analog-to-digital conversion, and data processing, while offering channel count scalability inherent in modular systems. Synchronization between modules is flexible and provided by two triggering structures: a parallel trigger bus, and radially-distributed, time-matched point-to-point trigger lines. Inter-module communication is also provided with an adjacent module local bus allowing data transfer to 600 Gbits/s in each direction, for example between a front-end digitizer and DSP. AXIe allows embedding high performance computing and a range of COTS AdvancedTCA® computer blades are currently available that provide low cost alternatives to the development of custom signal processing modules. The availability of both LAN and PCI Express allow interconnection between modules, as well as industry-standard high-performance data paths to external host computer systems. AXIe delivers a powerful environment for custom module devel opment. As in the case of VXIbus and PXI before it, commercial development kits are expected to be available. This paper will give an overview of the architectural elements of AXIe 1.0, the compatibility model with AdvancedTCA, and signal acquisition performance of many of the AXIe structures.
Calcitriol (1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol) Potentiates Activity of Mitoxantrone/Dexamethasone in an Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer Model

Purpose: Mitoxantrone combined with glucocorticoids is widely used for androgen independent prostate cancer. It is well tolerated, reduces prostate specific antigen, diminishes pain and improves quality of life. Calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol) inhibits proliferation, modulates cell cycle progression, induces apoptosis and potentiates the cytotoxic effects of a number of agents. Glucocorticoids potentiate the antitumor effects of calcitriol and blunt calcitriol induced hypercalcemia. Therefore, we investigated the effect of calcitriol on the antitumor efficacy of mitoxantrone and dexamethasone or mitoxantrone/dexamethasone in the PC-3 androgen independent prostate cancer model.Materials and Methods: We treated PC-3 cells in vitro with various concentrations of mitoxantrone/dexamethasone with and without calcitriol, and assessed growth inhibition by crystal violet assays. We similarly treated mice bearing PC-3 xenografts and performed excision clonogenic assays and tumor outgrowth studies to asse...
The Effects of Stress and Trauma on Brain and Memory: A View from Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

Many aspects of brain development depend on experience. Because the major macro-morphological events of brain development occur over the first 2-3 years of postnatal life, this time period can be considered both a period of opportunity as well as a period of vulnerability. In this paper we describe how experience with stress early in life can have a negative impact on certain aspects of brain development, and specifically, those neural circuits that underlie memory. We also describe the effects of traumatic events on the development of the neural basis of memory. In support of our argument, we review the literature on brain, stress, and memory in the context of development. Based on this review, we suggest that the developing brain is particularly vulnerable to the harmful physiological effects of stress, which in turn has the potential to lead to impairments in memory. Unfortunately, there are few empirical data that directly address this hypothesis. In this context we offer a number of suggestions for future research.
Ecoregional planning in marine environments: identifying priority sites for conservation in the northern Gulf of Mexico

1. The overall aim of this work was to identify sites within the northern Gulf of Mexico that, if protected, would fully represent the biological diversity of the nearshore waters of this ecoregion. In this paper, we focus on the eastern subregion, northwest Florida, to illustrate the process of ecoregional planning in marine environments. 2. The basic steps in ecoregional planning include: identification of conservation targets, i.e. species and habitats; collection of data on their ecology and distribution; determination of conservation goals for the amount of targets that must be protected; and identification of a set of sites that meets these goals for all targets. 3. As a preliminary goal, it was determined that the set of priority sites should contain at least 20% of the current distribution of each target habitat and species. 4. Two primary tools were used to choose a set of priority sites: a reserve selection program, SITES, and interviews and a workshop with scientists and managers. The final set of priority sites integrated information from these various sources. 5. The goals were exceeded for all conservation targets in the priority sites. On average, 75 and 58% of the distributions of the habitat targets were contained within the priority and high priority sites, respectively. These priority and high priority sites only occupied 29 and 17% of the study area, respectively. 6. One of the first steps in the conservation of the bays identified as priority sites is the recognition that they are integrally linked by important processes to the surrounding terrestrial and aquatic environments. Conservation in a part of these estuarine landscapes will benefit biodiversity across environments. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Glucocorticoid suppression of pancreatic and pituitary hormones: pancreatic polypeptide, growth hormone, and prolactin.

The influence of short term, high dose glucocorticoids on pancreatic polypeptide (PP), GH, and PRL responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia was studied in normal young men. Subjects underwent insulin tolerance tests before (ITTb) and on the fifth day (ITT5) of treatment with prednisone (25 mg orally twice daily) and again 2 (ITT7) and 5 (ITT10) days after termination of prednisone therapy. Eleven subjects completed ITTh, ITT7) and ITT10. Five of these underwent ITT5. Despite the more pronounced hypoglycemia associated with the higher insulin dose used during prednisone treatment, PP responses were significantly diminished. Basal PP was reduced from 92.7 ± 13 to 38.6 ± 5.7 pg/ml (P < 0.05) at the time of ITT5 and returned to pretreatment values at the time of ITT7. The peak pretreatment PP concentration of 1328 ± 203 pg/ml was reduced to 584 ± 118 (P < 0.05) during ITT5, and after discontinuation of prednisone returned progressively to pretreatment values. A more marked suppression was evident from compar...
Abnormal activation of temporoparietal language areas during phonetic analysis in children with dyslexia.

Event-related magnetic fields were recorded using magnetoencephalography in children with (n 12) and without (n 11) dyslexia while they discriminated between pairs of syllables from a voice onset time series (/ga/‐/ka/). Nonimpaired readers exhibited left-hemisphere predominance of activity after the resolution of the N1m, whereas children with dyslexia experienced a sharp peak of relative activation in right temporoparietal areas between 300 and 700 ms post‐stimulus onset. Increased relative activation in right temporoparietal areas was correlated with reduced performance on phonological processing measures. Results are consistent with the notion that deficits in appreciating the sound structure of both written and spoken language are associated with abnormal neurophysiological activity in temporoparietal language areas in children with dyslexia.
Strategies for Infant Assessment Implications of P.L. 99–457

Expansion of services for infants and toddlers, resulting from the enactment of P.L. 99–457, will necessitate new strategies for screening and identification of eligible infants. While traditional ...
A parallel algorithm for allocation of spare cells on memory chips

The authors propose a parallel algorithm based on the artificial neural network model for solving the spare-allocation problem. The goal is to find a spare allocation which repairs all the faulty cells in the given faulty-cell map. The parallel algorithm requires 2n processing elements for the n*n faulty-cell map problem. The algorithm is verified by many simulation runs. Under the simulation the algorithm finds one of the near-optimum solutions in a nearly constant time with O(n) processors. The simulation results show the consistency of this algorithm. The algorithm can be easily extended for solving rectangular or other shapes of fault map problems. >
A Heuristic Algorithm for Finding the Longest Pathways in a Biochemical Network

Finding the longest cycle is a novel concept in biochemical feedback loop analysis in systems biology. Biochemical networks are often represented as directed graphs in which vertices represent chemical compounds and edges represent chemical reactions between compounds. Therefore, a biochemical longest feedback loop can be formulated as the longest cycle in a directed graph. Because finding the longest cycle in a directed graph is NP-hard, in this paper, we proposed an intelligent heuristic algorithm to find the longest cycle in a directed graph. We tested the algorithm on both randomly generated complex networks and real biochemical networks extracted from the KEGG database. The results showed that our algorithm is able to find more than 70% of the real longest cycles in the 200 randomly generated complex networks and also can find the feedback loop in the longest pathway. Compared with the traditional breadth first search pathway finding algorithm, the search efficiency of the proposed algorithm has been improved dramatically. Among the feedbacks found from the KEGG database using the proposed algorithm, the longest feedback includes 8 compounds, 9 reactions, and 6 pathways across different modules.
Algebraical characterizations of fixed modes in linear decentralized descriptor systems

The characterization of generalized decentralized fixed modes (GDFM) and impulsive decentralized fixed modes (IDFM) in linear decentralized descriptor systems is considered. Some sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of GDFM and IDFM in such systems are formulated using the concepts of general systems. The results show that GDFM and IDFM of N-channel linear decentralized descriptor systems can be regarded as finite (centralized/decentralized) fixed modes of (N-1)-channel general systems with lower dimensions. >
Utility of Postoperative Radiographs for Pediatric Scoliosis: Association Between History and Physical Examination Findings and Radiographic Findings.

Background: Postoperative radiographs are routinely obtained following surgery for the correction of scoliosis in pediatric patients. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the utility of obtaining routine postoperative radiographs in the management of these patients. Methods: A total of 1969 clinic notes and corresponding radiographs regarding 451 consecutive patients with scoliosis (age range, ten to eighteen years) who had surgical correction over a ten-year period at a single institution were retrospectively reviewed. Curve etiology, preoperative curve characteristics, and surgical procedures performed were recorded. All postoperative clinic notes and radiographs were reviewed for abnormalities and changes in treatment course. It was then determined whether clinical signs and symptoms and/or abnormal radiographic findings led to a change in treatment course, which was defined as a therapeutic intervention or further diagnostic testing. Results: Of the 451 patients in this study (average age [and standard deviation], 14.7 ± 2.4 years), 72.5% had adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, 23.3% had neuromuscular scoliosis, and 4.2% had other underlying causes of scoliosis. A change in treatment course occurred in the cases of forty-two patients, all of whom had symptomatic findings on postoperative history and physical examination and only fifteen of whom had supportive abnormal findings on postoperative radiographs. Curve etiology and surgical procedures performed had no impact on radiographic utility. A significant increase in utility was seen for radiographs obtained at visits one year or more following surgery compared with those obtained at visits less than one year following surgery (1.7% compared with 0.3%, p = 0.001). The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of routine postoperative radiographs in guiding treatment course were 35.7%, 98.1%, 28.8%, and 98.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Routine radiographs provide low utility in guiding the course of treatment for asymptomatic pediatric patients following surgery for scoliosis. The results of this study suggest that patient or caregiver complaints, comorbidities, and clinical suspicion should be considered before obtaining radiographs at postoperative visits in order to minimize radiation exposure in pediatric patients and reduce medical costs without compromising care. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Physical therapy treatment of a patient with a conversion reaction. A case report

Physical therapists are important members of the treatment team involved in the diagnosis and treatment of a patient with a conversion reaction. A physical therapist can assist a physician in making the diagnosis by performing various tests, such as manual muscle tests and nerve conduction studies, and guide the patient's return to normal physical function. This goal can be reached by the physical therapist who structures the patient's treatment by understanding that a patient suffering from a conversion reaction is not consciously aware that the problem is psychogenic in origin.
How to Get Out of Prison: Views from Parole Board Members

ABSTRACTConvicted lawbreakers sentenced to prisons do not always serve their entire terms inside correctional institutions. Instead, many inmates rejoin society as parolees, before their maximum sentences expire. Prior to receiving a discharge on parole supervision, however, an inmate often must be granted early release by a parole board. Utilizing semistructured qualitative interviews with 17 parole board members across four jurisdictions, this exploratory study examines what it takes to get out of prison and back into society from the perspectives of these parole gatekeepers. Policy implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
Silent Shredder: Zero-Cost Shredding for Secure Non-Volatile Main Memory Controllers

As non-volatile memory (NVM) technologies are expected to replace DRAM in the near future, new challenges have emerged. For example, NVMs have slow and power-consuming writes, and limited write endurance. In addition, NVMs have a data remanence vulnerability, i.e., they retain data for a long time after being powered off. NVM encryption alleviates the vulnerability, but exacerbates the limited endurance by increasing the number of writes to memory. We observe that, in current systems, a large percentage of main memory writes result from data shredding in operating systems, a process of zeroing out physical pages before mapping them to new processes, in order to protect previous processes' data. In this paper, we propose Silent Shredder, which repurposes initialization vectors used in standard counter mode encryption to completely eliminate the data shredding writes. Silent Shredder also speeds up reading shredded cache lines, and hence reduces power consumption and improves overall performance. To evaluate our design, we run three PowerGraph applications and 26 multi-programmed workloads from the SPEC 2006 suite, on a gem5-based full system simulator. Silent Shredder eliminates an average of 48.6% of the writes in the initialization and graph construction phases. It speeds up main memory reads by 3.3 times, and improves the number of instructions per cycle (IPC) by 6.4% on average. Finally, we discuss several use cases, including virtual machines' data isolation and user-level large data initialization, where Silent Shredder can be used effectively at no extra cost.
Effect of fiber geometry on macroscale friction of ordered low-density polyethylene nanofiber arrays.

Ordered low-density polyethylene (LDPE) nanofiber arrays are fabricated from silicon nanowire (SiNW) templates synthesized by a simple wet-chemical process based on metal-assisted electroless etching combined with colloidal lithography. The geometrical effect of nanofibrillar structures on their macroscale friction is investigated over a wide range of diameters and lengths under the same fiber density. The optimum geometry for contacting a smooth glass surface is presented with discussions on the compromise between fiber tip–contact area and fiber compliance. A friction design map is developed, which shows that the theoretical optimum design condition agrees well with the LDPE nanofiber geometries exhibiting high measured friction.