cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Airways hyperresponsiveness: a perspective from 15,000 ft.

used as a clinical tool for distinguishing a state of airway “twitchiness” or hyperresponsiveness, bronchial challenge is also utilized to explore the effects of interventions or disease. Bronchial challenge testing has been investigated as a clinical test since Weiss et al. ([15][1]), Tiffeneau
Susquehannock Animal Economy

The importance of animal resources within economies of historic Northern Iroquois tribes has been largely overlooked by anthropologists. Recent studies of known ethnohistorical sources on Iroquois animal use including the analysis of archaeofaunal data from four Susquehannock village sites, dating ca AD 1575–1685, provide valuable information on the fundamental role played by animals within both subsistence and political economies. A significant finding is that Susquehannock villages altered animal procurement patterns over time in response to four factors: 1) hunter density, 2) native incentives, 3) military risk, and 4) new technologies. It is argued that the observed trends represent alternate strategies devised to harvest desired levels of meat and valuable furs economically and safely under the rapidly changing conditions of the 17th century.
Doxorubicin-induced DNA breaks, topoisomerase II activity and gene expression in human melanoma cells.

Abstract We have analyzed five human melanoma cell lines, displaying variable doxorubicin resistance (1- to 6-fold), for drug-induced DNA breaks, topoisomerase II activity and mRNA expression. Enhanced drug efflux was not the reason for doxorubicin resistance of these tumor cells although they overexpressed the transmembrane 170 kDa P-glycoprotein. Doxorubicin-induced DNA lesions (2-fold) and topoisomerase II activity (7-fold) were higher in HM-1 and G361 cells than in the less doxorubicin-sensitive NH and FCCM-9 cells. Topoisomerase II mRNA expression was also 2-fold higher in HM-1 and G361 cells. Doxorubicin-induced DNA breaks and topoisomerase II activity inversely correlated with the degree of doxorubicin sensitivity. Southern blot analysis showed variation in the hybridization pattern of topoisomerase II gene in doxorubicin-resistant cells when compared to sensitive cells. This study portrays the low doxorubicin sensitivity of NH and FCCM-9 cells as “atypical” and emphasizes the importance of DNA damage and topoisomerase II activity in cellular low doxorubicin resistance.
Magnetic behavior of 3d transition element atoms deposited on superconducting Pb films

Abstract The magnetic moment of isolated transition element atoms on Pb films was detected by rf sensing of the magnetic depairing of the superconducting Pb. Depairing from Ni, Co, Fe, Mn and Cr increased monotonically by a factor of 300 from Ni to Cr. Ti and Cu showed no moment. V probably had a small moment. The method can detect less than 10 -6 monolayers of Fe.
Interface cracking phenomena in constrained metal layers

Abstract The deformation in thin ductile metal layers bonding elastic adherends is constrained. This constraint produces stress distribution with a large component of hydrostatic tension, such that the normal stress on the interfaces can greatly exceed the tensile flow strength of the layer material. The interaction of such stress fields with small incipient interface cracks is studied in this paper. Three models are analyzed: (a) pre-existing stationary cracks, (b) cracks which “nucleate” on a pre-loaded interface, and (c) cracks which grow along the pre-stressed interface, shielded by a thin plasticity-free region. A striking feature is a highly selective size dependence of the cracking process. A crack having a diameter roughly one half the layer thickness experiences significantly higher loading intensity than either larger or smaller cracks. This feature is related to recent experimental observations on interface debonding at thin ductile layers.
Retinal pigment epithelial cell transplantation in RCS rats: Normal metabolism in rescued photoreceptors

Photoreceptor cells in Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats with inherited retinal dystrophy can be rescued by the transplantation of normal, wild-type retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, if done before photoreceptor cell death. In the present study, we have examined several metabolic features of rescued photoreceptors and transplanted RPE cells at 2.3–3.3 months after transplantation. Rescued photoreceptors with a structurally normal RPE interface showed a rod outer segment renewal rate similar to that of normal control rats of 2.2 μm day−1, as measured in autoradiograms. Rod outer segment disc shedding had values idistinguishable from those in normal controls, as measured by the number of phagosomes in the transplanted RPE cells both during the burst of disc shedding soon after the onset of light in the morning and during the middle of the light cycle when disc shedding is low. The interphotoreceptor matrix, which is synthesized by both photoreceptors and the RPE, was distributed normally in the regions where normal-appearing photoreceptors were present underlying normal, transplanted RPE cells. Thus, the rescued photoreceptors show normal metabolic rates and normal interactions with the RPE in each of the parameters examined. These findings, combined with the previous demonstration of opsin and Na+,K+-ATPase expression by the rescued photoreceptors, support our interpretation that the surviving, normal-appearing photoreceptors may function normally. Moreover, transplanation of normal RPE cells reversed pathological changes in the photoreceptors that had already occurred by the time of transplantation. Thus, it appears that if photoreceptors are capable of being rescued from cell death, at least some of their metabolic processes can be restored to normal levels by RPE cell transplantation.
Enhanced plastic strain in Zr-based bulk amorphous alloys

Bulk metallic glasses subjected to quasistatic uniaxial compression at room temperature typically display large elastic strains but limited plastic flow of 0--2% before failure. We have developed an amorphous alloy, ${\mathrm{Zr}}_{59}{\mathrm{Ta}}_{5}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{18}{\mathrm{Ni}}_{8}{\mathrm{Al}}_{10},$ which experiences an average macroscopic plastic strain of 4.5% before failure. The as-cast alloy shows no evidence for the presence of crystalline phases, and displays a distinct glass transition temperature and a wide supercooled liquid region. Upon compression beyond the yield point, the alloy develops shear bands which show a pronounced tendency for branching. We propose that this shear band branching distributes the plastic strain on the shear band, thereby suppressing crack initiation and allowing the material to experience a large macroscopic plastic strain before failure.
Carpal tunnel syndrome in older adults.

The clinical and electrophysiologic characteristics of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in elderly adults are not well-established. We examined age differences in clinical, functional, and electrophysiologic features in elderly adults referred for evaluation to a neuromuscular service for evaluation of symptoms suggestive of CTS. Of 415 consecutive subjects referred over an 18-month period, 343 met clinical criteria for CTS. There were 158 young (≤50 y), 115 middle-aged (51–64 y), and 70 elderly adults (≥65 y). There were no age differences in the duration of CTS symptoms, hand function, or presence of autonomic symptoms. The elderly adults had a higher prevalence of thenar weakness and thenar atrophy than younger subjects. Electrophysiologic abnormalities were more common and more severe in the older subjects. Our study shows that although there are no age differences in subjective complaints of CTS, older adults had objective clinical and electrophysiologic evidence of a more severe median nerve entrapment. Our findings suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to objective evidence of CTS severity rather than subjective complaints when evaluating elderly adults presenting for clinical evaluation of CTS.
Cardiovascular depression and thermoregulatory disruption caused by pentothal/halothane anesthesia in the harbor seal, Phoca vitulina.

Anesthesia was induced in the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) with an intravenous injection of 10 mg/kg thiopental sodium; this was followed by halothane (1%) anesthesia for up to 9.5 h. Cardiac output was reduced to 30% of the pre-anesthesia value (from an average of 11.5 1/min to 3.5 1/min) while systemic blood pressure fell from an average 150/110 to 80/60. Arterial oxygen partial pressures were somewhat depressed (58-72 Torr) during ventilation with air. Heart rate became stable at 90-100 beats/min. Hypothermia was an occasional problem during the first hour of anesthesia, but this trend reversed and gave way to hyperthermia during prolonged anesthesia.
Relationship between spontaneous and evoked spike-time correlations in primate visual cortex.

Coincident spikes have been implicated in vision-related processes such as feature binding, gain modulation, and long-distance communication. The source of these spike-time correlations is unknown. Although several studies have proposed that cortical spikes are correlated based on stimulus structure, others have suggested that spike-time correlations reflect ongoing cortical activity present even in the absence of a coherent visual stimulus. To examine this issue, we collected single-unit recordings from primary visual cortex (V1) of the anesthetized and paralyzed prosimian bush baby using a 100-electrode array. Spike-time correlations for pairs of cells were compared under three conditions: a moving grating at the cells’ preferred orientation, an equiluminant blank screen, and a dark condition with eyes covered. The amplitudes, lags, and widths of cross-correlation histograms (CCHs) were strongly correlated between these conditions although for the blank stimulus and dark condition, the CCHs were broader with peaks lower in amplitude. In both preferred stimulus and blank conditions, the CCH amplitudes were greater when the cells within the pair had overlapping receptive fields and preferred similar orientations rather than nonoverlapping receptive fields and different orientations. These data suggest that spike-time correlations present in evoked activity are generated by mechanisms common to those operating in spontaneous conditions.
Automated segmentation of corticospinal tract in diffusion tensor images via multi-modality multi-atlas fusion

In this paper, we propose a method to automatically segment the corticospinal tract (CST) in diffusion tensor images (DTIs) by incorporating the anatomical features from multi-modality images generated in DTI using multiple DTI atlases. The to-be-segmented test subject, and each atlas, is comprised of images with different modalities – the mean diffusivity, the fractional anisotropy, and the images representing the three elements of the primary eigenvector. Each atlas had a paired image containing the manually delineated segmentations of the three regions of interest - the left and right CST and the background surrounding the CST. We solve the problem via maximum a posteriori estimation using generative models. Each modality image is modeled as a conditional Gaussian mixture random field, conditioned on the atlas-label pair and the local change of coordinates for each label. The expectation-maximization algorithm is used to alternatively estimate the local optimal diffeomorphisms for each label and the maximizing segmentations. The algorithm is evaluated on six subjects with a wide range of pathology. We compare the proposed method with two state-of-the-art multi-atlas based label fusion methods, against which the method displayed a high level of accuracy.
Multiple System Atrophy

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is an adult-onset, sporadic, progressive neurodegenerative disease, characterized by varying severity of parkinsonian features, cerebellar ataxia, autonomic failure, urogenital dysfunction, and corticospinal disorders. In the past, MSA has been known as olivopontocerebellar atrophy, Shy-Drager syndrome, and striatonigral degeneration.
Effect of Season on Growth Performance of Finishing Pigs fed Low-Protein, Amino Acid Supplemented Diets

Abstract Myer, R.O., Brendemuhl, J.H. and Bucklin, R.A. 2008. Effect of season on growth performance of finishing pigs fed low-protein, amino acid supplemented diets. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 34: 1–8. A two year study was conducted to evaluate the effects of diet (low-protein diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids (aa) vs. high-protein, non aa supplemented control diets) and season/rearing environment (hot, humid summer vs. cool fall/winter) on growth performance and carcass lean content of finishing pigs (52 to 110 kg). For each year, two trials, each with 84 pigs, were conducted. Outside daily high and low temperatures (C) and RH (%), respectively, averaged 26, 21 and 81; 26, 20 and 83; 14, 7 and 80; and 10, 3 and77for yr 1 and 2 summer and y r 1 and 2 fall I winter, respectively. Diets were maize and soybean meal based (3.3 meal ME/kg). The low-protein (LP) diets were four percentage units lower in crude protein (CP) than the corresponding control diets; crystalline lysine, threonine, tryptophan a...
A THEOLOGY OF ENGAGEMENT FOR THE ‘NEWEST INTERNATIONALISTS’

Abstract American evangelicals are engaging international affairs with increasing fervor and impact. Yet their engagement is often sullied by populist moralism or “pop-millennialism.” Evangelicals are in need of a robust biblical theology of political involvement. That theology can be built from the biblical motifs of creation, fall, and redemption. God created the world “good” and imbued it with increasing differentiation. All of the differentiated spheres of creation were cursed in the fall, including the human mind and will. God sent Jesus to redeem the world, and followers of Christ are charged with task of transforming every sphere of creation, including politics.
Review article: the diagnosis and management of alcoholic hepatitis

Summary Background Alcoholic hepatitis is a severe, cholestatic liver disease occurring in patients with alcohol abuse. Mortality is substantial; however, therapies may improve clinical outcomes. Aim To provide an updated review of the epidemiology, diagnosis, staging and treatment of alcoholic hepatitis. Methods A MEDLINE literature search was performed to identify pertinent articles. Relevant clinical abstracts were also reviewed. Results Severe alcoholic hepatitis occurs in a small fraction of patients who abuse alcohol. The 28-day mortality ranges from 30% to 50% in most series. Diagnosis is generally based on clinical features, with a limited role for liver biopsy. Beneficial treatment options include alcohol abstinence and nutritional therapy. Despite variable results in clinical trials, corticosteroids and pentoxifylline appear to provide moderate survival benefit. Anti-tumour necrosis factor agents and antioxidants have not proven beneficial, and should be limited to clinical trials. Liver transplant is not a frequent option given the active or recent alcohol use. Conclusions Severe alcoholic hepatitis is a clinically-diagnosed condition associated with significant mortality. Alcohol abstinence and nutritional therapy have been associated with improved clinical parameters and should be considered in all patients. Corticosteroid therapy and pentoxifylline therapy appear to show moderate survival benefit and should be considered as first-line therapeutic agents.
REACTIONS OF DISPIRO(2.0.2.2)OCT‐7‐ENE. ELECTROPHILIC AND FREE RADICAL ADDITIONS

Abstract Dispiro[2.0.2.2]oct-7-ene 1 was synthesized by debrominatioa of cis - and trans -7,8-dibromodispiro[2.0.2.2]octane 3a with LAH and by dechlorination of cis - and trans -7,8-dichlorodispiro[2.0.2.2]octane 3b with magnesium. Stepwise electrophilic additions to 1 of HBr, HI, Br 2 and Cl 2 were studied. The major products (and yields) from these reactions were: 7-bromodispiro[2.0.2.2]octane 2a (43%), 4-iodo-4,5-ethanospiro[2,3]hexane 4b ( ca . 50%); trans - 3a (40%); and cis - 3b (20%). Free-radical addition of hydrogen bromide to 1 gave an 80% yield of 7-bromodispiro[2.0.2.2]octane 2a . At −10°, hydroboration-oxidation of 1 was found to give mainly 7-hydroxydispiro[2.0.2.2]octane 2a in ca . 90% yield; at 25°, near equal amounts of 2c and 4-(2-hydroxyethyl) spiro[2.3]hex-4-ene 14 were obtained.
Function of male courtship vocalizations in red-winged blackbirds

During courtship, male red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) produce long sequences of simple, single-note precopulatory calls, punctuated with occasional songs. Male song has previously been shown to stimulate copulation solicitation in captive, estradiol-implanted females of this species (Searcy and Brenowitz 1988; Searcy, in press). Here I show that sequences of precopulatory calls also stimulate copulation solicitation in female redwings, but that they are not as stimulatory as song. In tests contrasting mixed bouts of song and precopulatory calls with bouts of song alone, the mixed bouts elicited significantly more female solicitation in one instance, more but not significantly more in a second, and an exactly equal amount as song alone in a third. Neither song nor precopulatory calls could be shown to affect proximity of females to the speaker.
Mitochondrial RNAs of myxomycetes terminate with non-encoded 3′ poly(U) tails

We examined the 3' ends of edited RNAs from the myxomycetes Stemonitis flavogenita and Physarum polycephalum using a modified anchor PCR approach. Surprisingly, we found that poly(A) tails are missing from the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 mRNA (coI) from both species and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 mRNA (cox3) from P. polycephalum. Instead, non-encoded poly(U) tails of varying length were discovered at the 3' ends of these transcripts. These are the first described examples of 3' poly(U) tails on mature mRNAs in any system.
Generalized super-gauge symmetry as a new framework for unified gauge theories☆

Supersymmetry is generalized to a local gauge invariance. The gauge group unifies electromagnetic (or Yang-Mills) gauge with space-time coordinate invariances. All fields arise from a single gauge superfield. The non-abelian gauge invariance produces self-interactions in the field equations. These automatically generate coupled Maxwell-Dirac, Einstein equations, etc.
Analysis of leukotrienes, prostaglandins, and other oxygenated metabolites of arachidonic acid by high-performance liquid chromatography.

High-performance liquid chromatography procedures were developed which separate leukotrienes (LTs), hydroxy-fatty acids (HETEs), prostaglandins (PGs), the stable metabolite of prostacyclin (6-keto-PGF1α), the stable metabolite of thromboxane A2 (TXB2), 12-hydroxyhepta-decatrienoic acid (HHT), and arachidonic acid (AA). Two methods employing reverse-phase columns are described. One method uses a radial compression system, the other a conventional steel column. Both systems employ methanol and buffered water as solvents. The radial compression system requires 60 min for separation of the AA metabolites, while the conventional system requires 100 min. Both methods provide good separation and recovery of 6-keto-PGF1α, TXB2, PGE2, PGF2α, PGD2, LTC4, LTB4, LTD4, LTE4, HHT, 15-, 12-, and 5-HETE; and AA. The 5S,12S-dihydroxy-6-trans, 8-cis, 10-trans, 14-cis-eicosatetraenoic acid (5S,12S-diHETE), a stereoisomer of LTB4, coelutes with LTB4. To determine the applicability of the methods to biologic systems, AA metabolism was studied in two models, guinea pig lung microsomes and rat alveolar macrophages. Both HPLC systems demonstrated good recovery and resolution of eicosanoids from the two biological systems. A simple evaporation technique for HPLC sample preparation, which avoids the use of chromatographic and other time-consuming methodology, is also described.
Rank scores suitable for analyses of linear models under asymmetric error distributions

Linear models having asymmetric error distributions often occur in practice. In this article, rank scores suitable for skewed error distributions are proposed. Using these scores, a rank analysis of a linear model based on R estimates will tend to be a more powerful analysis than that based on scores suitable for symmetrically distributed errors or least squares. Score functions are presented for the generalized F family of error distributions. These scores are bounded, and hence the corresponding rank analysis is robust. This family contains distributions used to model lifetime data. Practical procedures for score selection are discussed, including a method to estimate the scores. Two examples are discussed in detail, along with the results of a small Monte Carlo study.
Modeling detailed sedimentary 210Pb and fallout 239,240Pu profiles to allow episodic events: An application in Chesapeake Bay

Dependable sediment chronologies are essential to the interpretation of the sedimentary record of past environmental change. In the present article, we use high-resolution chemical and radiochemical data as the basis for a numerical simulation of sediment accumulation, bioturbation, and episodic deposition or erosion in a dynamic estuary. We simulate episodic events by employing a time dependent sedimentation rate that we solve by finding a set of model parameters that describes depth profiles of both excess 210Pb and fallout 239,240Pu. We apply the model to depth distributions of these tracer nuclides in cores from upper-, mid- and lower-Bay sites in Chesapeake Bay. At the upper-Bay site, combining chemical and radiochemical data permits us to recognize and to quantify the sediment deposition due to tropical storm Agnes (1972). At the lower-Bay site, we demonstrate nonsteady sedimentation and propose plausible scenarios to account for it. Given adequate data, our model can provide information that is not available from steady-state models.
Assay of Gentamicin and Tobramycin in Sera of Patients by Gas-Liquid Chromatography

Abstract Therapeutic levels of gentamicin and tobramycin in the sera of patients were measured by gas-liquid chromatography. Concentration-response curves for both drugs were linear over an expected therapeutic range of 1.3 to 12.5 μg/ml (coefficient of determination was >0.97). Coefficients of variation for chromatographic response to gentamicin varied from 6.3 to 9.6%, and to tobramycin from 3.8 to 13.5%. Paired gas-liquid chromatography and microbiological assays for patient serum aminoglycoside levels were performed on 106 gentamicin and 40 tobramycin sera. At levels 2.0 μg/ml, the mean difference between paired estimates was near 20% for both aminoglycosides. The speed, precision, and accuracy of the gas-liquid chromatography assay indicate that it can be a useful alternative to the microbiological procedure for the determination of gentamicin and tobramycin levels in human serum.
Invited Commentary: Population-based Human Subjects Research in the Era of Enhanced Privacy Regulation

Privacy seems to be of increasing public concern, as evidenced by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, a regulatory framework that appears to hinder access to data and thus to limit population-based research. A 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report urged Congress, via the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to develop a new approach to protecting privacy that would not employ the HIPAA Privacy Rule. In an accompanying article in the Journal, Nattinger et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2010;172(6):637–644) employ one of the constructs recommended in the IOM report: use of a centralized honest broker. Unfortunately, Nattinger et al.’s approach would not be acceptable to all institutional review boards. The IOM report also urged the HHS to reduce variability in interpretations of the HIPAA Privacy Rule by privacy boards through revised and expanded guidance and harmonization. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebalius has not acted upon any of the IOM report recommendations. The need to remove major barriers to human health research cannot be forgotten. At risk is America's progress in finding solutions to our most pressing health concerns.
An Experimental Validation of a Preschool Emergent Literacy Curriculum

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a preschool emergent literacy enrichment curriculum. Participants were 126 Head Start children, their teachers, and their parents. Matched centers were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: experimental literacy, experimental math, or control. Teachers in both experimental groups implemented either literacy or math instruction in small groups on a daily basis, and parents and children completed supplementary learning activities at home. The control classroom implemented the ongoing Head Start curriculum. Children in the literacy condition showed the largest gains in phonemic awareness and emergent writing skills; they also made greater gains on emergent reading than did children in the math condition. There were no group differences on expressive vocabulary. Results are discussed in terms of curriculum design and practical issues involved in supporting preschools in the implementation of research-based instructional programs.
Bootstrapping of Peer-to-Peer Networks

In this paper, we present the first heuristic for fully distributed bootstrapping of peer-to-peer networks. Our heuristic generates a stream of promising IP addresses to be probed as entry points. This stream is generated using statistical profiles using the IP ranges of start-of-authorities (SOAs) in the domain name system (DNS). We present experimental results demonstrating that with this approach it is efficient and practical to bootstrap Gnutella-sized peer-to-peer networks - without the need for centralized services or the public exposure of end-user's private IP addresses.
One and two dimensional parallel partial response for parallel readout optical memories

We extend partial response (PR) precoding to two-dimensions and consider it, as well as parallel one-dimensional (1D) PR, for use in parallel readout optical memory systems. We also develop expressions for optically implementable two-dimensional (2D) zero-forcing equalizers to be used in conjunction with these forms of PR precoding.
Unconstrained Recovery Characterization of Shape-Memory Polymer Networks for Cardiovascular Applications

Shape-memory materials have been proposed in biomedical device design due to their ability to facilitate minimally invasive surgery and recover to a predetermined shape in-vivo. Use of the shape-memory effect in polymers is proposed for cardiovascular stent interventions to reduce the catheter size for delivery and offer highly controlled and tailored deployment at body temperature. Shape-memory polymer networks were synthesized via photopolymerization of tert-butyl acrylate and poly (ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate to provide precise control over the thermomechanical response of the system. The free recovery response of the polymer stents at body temperature was studied as a function of glass transition temperature (Tg), crosslink density, geometrical perforation, and deformation temperature, all of which can be independently controlled. Room temperature storage of the stents was shown to be highly dependent on Tg and crosslink density. The pressurized response of the stents is also demonstrated to depend on crosslink density. This polymer system exhibits a wide range of shape-memory and thermomechanical responses to adapt and meet specific needs of minimally invasive cardiovascular devices.
Individual Differences in Vigor and Deliberation: Development of Two New Measures from an Evolutionary Psychology Theory of Human Motivation

Summary Three studies (total N = 403 participants; M age = 31.1 yr.; SD = 13.8) are reported on the development, psychometric properties, and convergent and discriminant validities of two individual differences dimensions of Vigor (constructive arousal and energy that drives the general intensity of behavior) and Deliberation (prudence in the delay of immediate action and consideration of competing motives, emotions, and consequences of action that promote convergence of behavior toward socially desirable outcomes). These dimensions are part of Bernard, Mills, Swenson, and Walsh's evolutionary psychology theory of human motivation. Analysis suggests Vigor and Deliberation scales have reasonably good psychometric properties and may aid research on motivation from an evolutionary perspective.
Accurate computation of bit error probabilities of band-limited asynchronous DS-CDMA systems using higher order moments

An existing method called the simplified improved Gaussian approximation (SIGA) was previously applied to compute the bit error probabilities (BEPs) of band-limited asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems employing general pulse shaping (IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 50, p. 656, 2002). The SIGA method uses moments up to the second order and is more accurate than the standard Gaussian approximation (SGA) (IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 50, p. 656, 2002). In this paper, a new method that uses moments up to the fourth order is proposed for computing the BEP. The method is derived from a five-point Chebyshev interpolation formula and is inherently more accurate than the SIGA. Like the SIGA, the new method requires the evaluation of only closed-form expressions and the error function. The new method achieves higher accuracy with a modest increase in computational complexity.
Compilation for explicitly managed memory hierarchies

We present a compiler for machines with an explicitly managed memory hierarchy and suggest that a primary role of any compiler for such architectures is to manipulate and schedule a hierarchy of bulk operations at varying scales of the application and of the machine. We evaluate the performance of our compiler using several benchmarks running on a Cell processor.
F-specific RNA coliphages: occurrence, types, and survival in natural waters

Abstract A small, well-defined watershed was investigated over a 2-year period to determine the prevalence of F-specific RNA coliphage (F+RNA) serotypes as indicators of animal fecal contamination. Sampling sites collected runoff from areas of urban and agricultural land use patterns. F-specific coliphages were concentrated from 2-L freshwater samples by polyethylene glycol precipitation, isolated using the double agar layer (DAL) method, confirmed as F+RNA by RNAse suppression, and serotyped. A subset of serotyped F+RNA were confirmed by genotyping. To determine relative survival, 10 confirmed F+RNA field isolates and 5 prototypic F+RNA were spiked into surface water and incubated at 25°C for 36 days. F-specific coliphage isolation was strongly associated with rainfall events and was infrequent from primarily animal impacted surface waters. Field isolates were predominantly Type I F+RNA (81%) and raw sewage isolates were predominantly Type III F+RNA (57%). Genotyping from either the watershed or raw sewage samples never positively identified Type IV F+RNA. Results from laboratory studies showed that F+RNA differ in their survival in water and that Type IV strains were the least persistent. Type III F+RNA were found to be reliably related to the release of uncontrolled human fecal material in the watershed, but the results of this study suggest that further study is required before utilizing for fecal source identification in natural waters.
Plant Circadian Rhythms

The earth rotates on its axis every 24 h, with the result that any position on the earth's surface alternately faces toward or away from the sun—day and night. That the metabolism, physiology, and behavior of most organisms changes profoundly between day and night is obvious to even the most
Influence of java on software engineering education

How much influence will Java have on SE Education, and why? How should SE Education change to accommodate Java/OOD? What are some good Java-specific SE practices?
Sprint Corporation: Ethical Decisions and Tax Avoidance Strategies

The case focuses on events surrounding Ernst & Young's tax shelter advice to senior executives of Sprint. The principal ethical lens used for analysis is Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT). We believe that this is the first instance of ISCT applied specifically to a situation in accounting and to an ethical problem in a nonglobal context. Additionally, it is one of a small number of tax‐oriented cases focusing on ethics. ISCT offers several benefits over the traditional models applied in ethical analysis (Mintz 1997). ISCT integrates implicit and explicit contracts among affected business communities that enable a detailed normative assessment of rich ethical problems in a realistic economic world. The use of ISCT in this particular case provides students, instructors, and practitioners with a model to aid in: (1) understanding the normative justification for business decisions, and (2) assessing the quality of ethical decision making in a complex business setting.
Shadow Economy, Rent-Seeking Activities and the Perils of Reinforcement of the Rule of Law

An economy is considered where a possibility to seek rents (a particular case of this activity is corruption) exists along with production. A producer is able to hide part of his output from both bribery and taxation. It is shown that the presence of a shadow sector has different effects in economies with high and low rent-seeking. As expected, in the economy with low corruption the direct law enforcement is beneficial for growth, and reduces the shadow sector. However, in the highly corrupt economy, combating the shadow economy reduces output and increases corruption, while combating corruption reduces the shadow economy.
Automated Guidance for Thermodynamics Essays: Critiquing Versus Revisiting

Middle school students struggle to explain thermodynamics concepts. In this study, to help students succeed, we use a natural language processing program to analyze their essays explaining the aspects of thermodynamics and provide guidance based on the automated score. The 346 sixth-grade students were assigned to either the critique condition where they criticized an explanation or the revisit condition where they reviewed visualizations. Within each condition, the student was assigned one of two types of tailored guidance based on the sophistication of their original essay. Both forms of guidance led to significant improvement in student understanding on the posttest. Guidance was more effective for students with low prior knowledge than for those with high prior knowledge (consistent with regression toward the mean). However, analysis of student responses to the guidance illustrates the value of aligning guidance with prior knowledge. All students were required to revise their essay as an embedded assessment. While effective, teachers involved in this study reported that revising is resisted by students and does not align with typical, vocabulary-focused classroom writing activities.
Social Development Through Rural Transport Expansion in Bangladesh: Improving Performance at the Local Government Engineering Department

The recent history of Bangladesh provides an international comparative perspective of how public services can contribute to improved social outcomes. This paper will begin with a brief overview of the process. It will then look at the case of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) under the Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, and how it has managed to continuously improve its performance in the context of “good-enough governance” to better contribute to these outcomes.
Ionic Conductivity in Relation to Ternary Phase Diagram of Poly(ethylene oxide), Succinonitrile, and Lithium Bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide Blends

In an effort to develop free-standing lithium battery membrane, binary and ternary phase diagrams of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (LiTFSI), and succinonitrile (SCN) (i.e., solid plasticizer) mixtures have been established by means of differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy. The occurrence of hydrogen bonds and/or coordination bonds in each binary pair (PEO/SCN, SCN/LiTFSI, and PEO/LiTFSI) was examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The binary PEO/LiTFSI mixture exhibits a eutectic phase diagram with the liquid + crystal coexistence region having various crystal forms of the lithium salt, whereas the SCN/LiTFSI blend shows a wide noncrystalline region, which is highly desirable for organic solvent-free battery applications. The PEO/SCN blend shows a typical eutectic behavior, which is explicable in the framework of the Flory–Huggins theory in conjunction with the phase field theory of crystal solidification. Various coexistence regi...
Oil-Price Volatility and Macroeconomic Spillovers in Central and Eastern Europe: evidence from a Multivariate GARCH Model

Recent commodity price declines have added to worldwide macroeconomic risk, which has had serious effects on both commodity exporters and manufacturers that use oil and raw materials. These effects have been keenly felt in Central and Eastern Europe—particularly in Russia, but also in European Union member states. This study tests for spillovers among commodity-price and macroeconomic volatility by applying a VAR(1)-MGARCH model to monthly time series for eight CEE countries. Overall, we find that oil prices do indeed have effects throughout the region, as do spillovers among exchange rates, inflation, interest rates, and output, but that they differ from country to country—particularly when different degrees of transition and integration are considered. While oil prices have a limited impact on the currencies of Russia and Ukraine, they do make a much larger contribution to the two countries’ macroeconomic volatility than do spillovers among the other macroeconomic variables. JEL Classification: F36
Growth Characteristics of Bovine Herpesvirus 1 (Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis) in Human Diploid Cell Strain WI-38

SummaryIBR virus was found to replicate in WI-38 cells. At a high input multiplicity the virus yield was comparable to that obtained in bovine cells, but comparable degree of CPE took longer to achieve. At a low input multiplicity of IBR virus, such as may be encountered in virus contaminated bovine serum, virus yield was only about 1% of that in bovine cells, with 50% of the cells showing CPE, followed by cell regrowth. Infectious virus was not recoverable from the regrown cells by 5 weeks after initial infection, and these regrown cells were susceptible to reinfection with IBR virus. Aging of WI-38 cells in cultures for as little as 1 week reduced IBR virus yield to 90% less than the yield from the same lot of cells inoculated 7 days earlier.This investigation was supported by NIH Contract No. FDA 233-74-1035 from the Food and Drug Administration, and USPHS Research Grant No. AI-08648-07 from the Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. the excellent tec...
Drug-induced Edema Caused by Traditional Chinese Medicine Injections:Literature Analysis of 61 Cases

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the general regularity and the characteristics of the drug-induced edema caused by traditional Chinese medicine injections (TCMI) so as to provide basis for rational drugs use in the clinic. METHODS: 61 cases of drug-induced edema caused by TCMI publicly reported in domestic journal from 1994 to 2007 were analyzed statistically. RESULTS: The drug-induced edema caused by TCMI was not linked to sex and age. The symptom appeared in a short period and edema was induced in 44 cases within 30 min (72.1%). Laryngeal edema accounted for 54.1% and ocular angioedema 34.4%. 23 kinds of TCMI were involved, among which top 5 drugs in the list of incidence were Qingkailing injection, Shuanghuanglian injection, Yuxingcao injection, etc. CONCLUSION: Great importance should be attached to the monitoring of the clinical use of TCMI to promote the safety of TCMI.
Stratification of endometrioid endometrial cancer patients into risk levels using somatic mutations.

Abstract Objective Patients with endometrioid endometrial cancer are stratified as high risk and low risk for extrauterine disease by surgical staging. Since patients with low-grade, minimally invasive disease do not benefit from comprehensive staging, pre-surgery stratification into a risk category may prevent unnecessary surgical staging in low risk patients. Our objective was to develop a predictive model to identify risk levels using somatic mutations that could be used preoperatively. Methods We classified endometrioid endometrial cancer patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset into high risk and low risk categories: high risk patients presented with stage II, III or IV disease or stage I with high-intermediate risk features, whereas low risk patients consisted of the remaining stage I patients with either no myometrial invasion or low-intermediate risk features. Three strategies were used to build the prediction model: 1) mutational status for each gene; 2) number of somatic mutations for each gene; and 3) variant allele frequencies for each somatic mutation for each gene. Results Each prediction strategy had a good performance, with an area under the curve (or AUC) between 61% and 80%. Analysis of variant allele frequency produced a superior prediction model for risk levels of endometrial cancer as compared to the other two strategies, with an AUC=91%. Lasso and Ridge methods identified 53 mutations that together had the highest predictability for high risk endometrioid endometrial cancer. Conclusions This prediction model will assist future retrospective and prospective studies to categorize endometrial cancer patients into high risk and low risk in the preoperative setting.
Physiological consequences of the cellular distribution of sodium-plus-potassium ion-dependent adenosine triphosphatase.

Evers, C., Murer, H. & Kinne, R. (1978) Biochem. J. 172,49-56 Hoffman, N., Thees, M. & Kinne, R. (1976) P#i&ers Arch. 262,147-156 Kinne, R. (1976) MTP Znt. Rev. Sci: Kidney and Urinary Tract Physiology (Thurau, K., ed.), vol. 2, pp. 169-210, University Park Press, Baltimore Kinne, R. & Faust, G. (1977) Biochem. J. 168,311-314 Kinne, R., Shlatz. L. J., Kinne-Saffran, E. & Schwartz, J. L. (1975) J. Membr. Biol. 24,
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy and causalgia.

Converging lines of research suggest that reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) is a form of reflex neurogenic inflammation. Early in the illness, the sympathetic nervous system appears to have an initiating and sustaining role. In later states of the illness, structural changes at the dorsal horn (DH) level seem to correlate with centralization of the process. Neuropeptides and excitatory amino acids (EAAs) released from thin or unmyelinated nociceptive afferents may produce both the inflammation and the suspected central sensitization of DH neurons seen in later stages of the disease. Effective treatment will follow a clearer understanding of the physiology of each stage of the disease.
Anxiety and panic attacks in the medically ill.

Anxiety presents major diagnostic problems in the medical setting. A large number of medical patients referred for anxiety are in fact experiencing agitation which may be secondary to their illness, the medical setting, or treatment. Panic disorders can also be associated with medical illness.
Probability and Random Processes

In this chapter we develop basic mathematical models of discrete time random processes. Such processes are also called discrete time stochastic processes, information sources, and time series. Physically a random process is something that produces a succession of symbols called “outputs” in a random or nondeterministic manner. The symbols produced may be real numbers such as produced by voltage measurements from a transducer, binary numbers as in computer data, two-dimensional intensity fields as in a sequence of images, continuous or discontinuous waveforms, and so on. The space containing all of the possible output symbols is called the alphabet of the random process, and a random process is essentially an assignment of a probability measure to events consisting of sets of sequences of symbols from the alphabet. It is useful, however, to treat the notion of time explicitly as a transformation of sequences produced by the random process. Thus in addition to the common random process model we shall also consider modeling random processes by dynamical systems as considered in ergodic theory.
Learning to Switch Between Sensorimotor Primitives Using Multimodal Haptic Signals

Most manipulation tasks can be decomposed into sequences of sensorimotor primitives. These primitives often end with characteristic sensory events, e.g., making or breaking contact, which indicate when the sensorimotor goal has been reached. In this manner, the robot can monitor the tactile signals to determine when to switch between primitives. In this paper, we present a framework for automatically segmenting contact-based manipulation tasks into sequences of sensorimotor primitives using multimodal haptic signals. These signals include both the robot’s end-effector position as well as the low- and high-frequency components of its tactile sensors. The resulting segmentation is used to learn to detect when the robot has reached a sensorimotor goal and it should therefore switch to the next primitive. The proposed framework was evaluated on guided peg-in-hole tasks. The experiments show that the framework can extract the subtasks of the manipulations and the sensorimotor goals can be accurately detected.
Rap, Rainbows, and Relocation: A Sampling of Multicultural Programming

(1993). Rap, Rainbows, and Relocation: A Sampling of Multicultural Programming. Journal of Museum Education: Vol. 18, The Multicultural Museum: A Medley of Voices, pp. 9-12.
The Effects of Self-Disclosure on Male and Female Perceptions of Individuals Who Stutter

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of self-disclosure on observers' perceptions of persons who stutter. Method Participants (N = 173) were randomly assigned to view 2 of...
Introducing COCOS: codon consequence scanner for annotating reading frame changes induced by stop-lost and frame shift variants.

Summary: Reading frame altering genomic variants can impact gene expression levels and the structure of protein products, thus potentially inducing disease phenotypes. Current annotation approaches report the impact of such variants in the context of altered DNA sequence only; attributes of the resulting transcript, reading frame and translated protein product are not reported. To remedy this shortcoming, we present a new genetic annotation approach termed Codon Consequence Scanner (COCOS). Implemented as an Ensembl variant effect predictor (VEP) plugin, COCOS captures amino acid sequence alterations stemming from variants that produce an altered reading frame, such as stop-lost variants and small insertions and deletions (InDels). To highlight its significance, COCOS was applied to data from the 1000 Genomes Project. Transcripts affected by stop-lost variants introduce a median of 15 amino acids, while InDels have a more extensive impact with a median of 66 amino acids being incorporated. Captured sequence alterations are written out in FASTA format and can be further analyzed for impact on the underlying protein structure. Availability and Implementation: COCOS is available to all users on github: https://github.com/butkiem/COCOS Contact: mariusz.butkiewicz@case.edu