cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development of stimulus-secretion coupling in salivary glands.

Publisher Summary This chapter provides evidence that the secretory cells of the developing rat submandibular gland (SMG) acquire the ability to synthesize and package secretory proteins prior to attaining the ability to release the packaged product in response to hormonal stimuli. The chapter correlates the development of the secretory response with studies on hormonal activation of cell surface–associated adenylate cyclase and with direct measurements of β -adrenergic and α -adrenergic binding sites. The chapter thus provides a picture of the development of the stimulus–secretion coupling system in this model exocrine system. Electrophysiological and morphological evidence indicates that in this system, development of the stimulus–secretion-coupling mechanism precedes the establishment of the neural connections that regulate secretion in vivo . The data presented in the chapter give a comprehensive picture of the maturation of those factors that regulate protein secretion in this model exocrine system. It appears that differentiating SMG secretory cells first develop the structural and synthetic machinery required to produce and package their secretory product.
Investigating the Role of Cellular Lipid Recognition in Trafficking and Viral Particle Formation by Ebola Virus Matrix Protein VP40

Introduction: Virulent pathogens hijack host cell machinery during their infection scheme. Commonly, fundamental biochemical processes are discovered through investigation of pathogen infection, es...
Scheduling Queries for Tape-Resident Data

Tertiary storage systems are used when secondary storage can not satisfy the data storage requirements and/or it is a more cost effective option. The new application domains require on-demand retrieval of data from these devices. This paper investigates issues in optimizing I/O time for a query whose data resides on automated tertiary storage containing multiple storage devices.
A damage cyclic plasticity model for metal matrix composites

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a mathematical model to simulate the behavior of metal matrix composites under cyclic proportional and nonproportional loading. This model incorporates both the phenomena of damage and cyclic plasticity. In the chapter, a description of the cyclic plasticity model is presented and based on this model the development of the damage based plasticity model is outlined. The cyclic plasticity model is based on an anisotropic yield criterion. The salient features of this criterion are outlined in the chapter along with some experimental comparisons. The model uses a nonassociative flow rule and a modified form of the bounding surface model, for the case of anisotropic materials. This procedure involves the computation of the anisotropic plastic modulus. All materials undergo damage that is synonymous with the degradation of the material's elastic stiffness as repeated loading takes place. To account for this phenomenon, a damage-plasticity model is presented in the chapter. This is based on the cyclic plasticity behavior blended with the damage model.
Hawaii tourism to the year 2000. A Delphi forecast.

Abstract The Delphi torecasting technique is used to forecast tourism to Hawaii, particularly Oahu, by the year 2000. Local experts and travel agents were questioned on visitor arrivals and percentage of domestic arrivals to Hawaii, market share, visitor-to-resident ratio, maximum visitor accommodation and desirable growth rates, and probable scenarios for Oahu tourism. The results show few significant differences in responses among the groups, and confirmed expectations about convergence and consistency of managerial responses with statistical projections and existing trends. As such, this study demonstrates the value of combining qualitative with quantitative techniques in making long-term forecasts.
Characterization of on die capacitance and silicon measurement correlation

Transistor process technology continues to develop, the die size is shrinking approximately 20% to 35% with the process scaling. It is beneficial as smaller die can fit into several of small electronic devices for instance microprocessor watch and smart phone. In addition, the emerging market has intense needs on computing technology to build a smart and small device such as autonomous driving car. As a result, each of the IP has to shrink in order to fit into smaller form factor. Nevertheless, on die capacitance become one of the obstacles as it takes up approximately 30% of the die area. Since on die capacitance is a necessity to guarantee the circuit performance and however it also a showstopper from achieving smallest IP. Now, the question will be what is the balance point of meeting power noise performance yet meeting silicon area target? Thus, amount of on die capacitance become a key enabler for achieving smallest IP. In this paper, on die capacitance characterization was carried out. Several type of on die capacitance for instance power grid capacitance, metal capacitance as well as transistor device capacitance were simulated and characterized by different tool. The simulated result was then supported by correlation with lab measurement data.
Fruiting at High Temperature and Its Genetic Control in the Basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes

Abstract Of 10 geographic strains of Flammulina velutipes, 4 were found capable of fruiting at 22°C (FrH) rather than at the typical 15°C (FrL). Crosses made between FrH and FrL monokaryons were never observed to fruit at 22°C. However, some hybrids did fruit at the intermediate temperature of 18°C when grown on appropriate substrates, indicating incomplete dominance of the low-temperature requirement. Analysis of progeny of five FrH × FrL crosses indicated that a minimum of two genes appears to control the requirement for fruiting at ≤15°C. The genes are not closely linked to either incompatibility locus.
Computer recognition of athetoid cerebral palsy movement using neural networks

The objective of the research is to develop a new method of human-machine interaction that reflects and harnesses the multimodal expressive abilities and potentials of people with severe speech and motor impairment due to cerebral palsy. Human-human interaction within the framework of drama and mime was used to elicit gestural behavior suitable for human-machine interaction and to explore human factors issues. Subjects classified as having little or no functional use of their extremities were able to produce a rich repertoire of gestures and mimes involving the arms, head, face, legs, torso, and vocalizations. A gesture subset comprising dynamic arm gestures have been monitored using biomechanical and bioelectric sensors. Neural computing, pattern recognition and multi-sensor fusion techniques are being used to analyze the gestures and to develop a gesture recognition system. Time delay neural networks were able to recognize 14 dynamic arm gestures from a 17 year old male classified as having no functional use of his arms. >
In Search of Experience: The Anthropological Poetics of Stanley Diamond

riage transactions "in terms of utility or reciprocity, bargain or balanced exchange" depends on the nature of their sociocultural system and the values of marriage it generates. These cross-cultural variations pose problems for the kind of comparative studies usually carried out by anthropologists. And the advantage of the proposed paradigm is that it shows how the meaning of marriage payments may be analytically approached "without retreating the pathways toward old epistemologic traps, or abandoning comparison entirely" (p. 43). Comaroff's proposed approach is refreshing. It avoids reductionism and decontextualization and deals with variability with appropriate analytic rigor. In so doing he underscores the importance of some features of the relationship between marriage payments, on the one hand, and marriage and the wider social arrangements, on the other. But Comaroff's approach does not exhaust the meaning of marriage payments. Marriage payments probably perform many of the functions previously suggested by other investigators. The real value of the present work is to make us more aware that the "functions," suggested by structural functionalists, Marxists, and structuralists, vary cross-culturally. I have not tried to review the case studies for the reason given at the beginning. They are detailed, well-written, insightful, and interesting. Unfortunately, the least satisfactory chapter is one by Comaroff on the Tshidi. Judging from studies of marriage and marriage payments among other African peoples who have undergone massive social change under colonialism, racial oppression, natural disaster, and so on (see, for example, Perlman's work on the Toro of Uganda [1965]), Comaroff's interpretation of the Tshidi situation does not show a full appreciation of the impact of social change. It should be a matter of concern that the formulation of his paradigm is influenced by his experience in handling of the Tshidi material. On the whole, the book is a commendable contribution to the discussion of marriage payments.
Clinical pathways improve hospital resource use in endocrine surgery.

Background Clinical pathways are increasingly adopted to streamline care after elective surgery. Here, we describe novel clinical pathways developed for endocrine operations (ie, unilateral thyroid lobectomy, total thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy) and evaluate their effects on economic end points at a major academic hospital. Study Design Length of stay (LOS), hospital charges, and hospital costs for 681 patients undergoing elective endocrine surgery during a 30-month period were compared between patients managed with or without a specific pathway. Hospital costs were subcategorized by cost center. The analysis arms were conducted concurrently to control for institutional effects and end points were adjusted for demographic factors and comorbidity. Results Clinical pathways were observed to significantly reduce LOS, charges, and costs for endocrine procedures. LOS was reduced for thyroid lobectomy (nonpathway 1.6 days versus pathway 1.0; p Conclusions Implementation of clinical pathways improves efficiency of care after elective endocrine surgery without adversely affecting safety or quality. Because these system measures optimize resource use, they represent an important component of high-volume subspecialty surgical services.
Exhaustible resource price policy, international trade, and intertemporal welfare

Abstract This study examines the welfare effects of alternative price policies for exhaustible resource markets. Dynamically optimal plans for resource producers are derived under laissez faire, temporary price controls, and import tariffs. The associated paths of consumer, producer, and aggregate social surplus are compared to produce rankings of the policies. In the presence of monopsonistic power on the part of a net importing nation, an import levy can be optimal. In general, price controls are welfare-inferior to laissez faire, unless the social cost of imports exceeds the private cost by an amount that rises rapidly over time.
Design and Application of Fluorescent Calcium Binding Proteins with Fast Kinetics

Transient changes of spatio-temporal cytosolic calcium concentrations initiate calcium signaling for downstream physiological actions. The intracellular calcium stores serve as the major source for these calcium transients. To probe calcium release in such high calcium environments, there is a pressing need to develop calcium sensors with fast kinetic properties to fulfill the requirements for understanding calcium signaling during fast physiological events such as action potentials and EC-coupling. In this study, we will report the design of calcium binding proteins with unprecedented fast kinetics that is about two orders of magnitude faster than natural calcium binding proteins. using various spectroscopic methods, we have shown that the designed calcium binding proteins exhibit desired affinity, metal selectivity and optical properties attributed to the calcium binding induced local conformation and dynamic change in the chromophore environment. We then report the application of developed calcium sensors in variety of biological processes including extracellular calcium signaling, the store-operated calcium entry, and the calcium release dynamics from SR in skeletal muscle in aging mice.
International workshop on liability and insurance and their influence on safety management of industrial operations and products

This issue of the Journal of Risk Research features the NeTWork workshop on liability and insurance and their influence on safety management of industrial operations and products. The international workshop was held on 11–13 October 2012 at the Abbeye Sorreze with the support of the Fondation pour une Culture de Securite Industrielle (Foncsi), Toulouse.
Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of β-Ketosulfonamide Adenylation Inhibitors as Potential Antitubercular Agents

The antitubercular nucleoside antibiotics 1 and 2 were recently described that inhibit the adenylate-forming enzyme MbtA and disrupt biosynthesis of the virulence-conferring siderophore known as mycobactin in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Herein, we report efforts to refine this inhibitor scaffold by replacing the labile acylsulfamate linkage (highlighted) with the more chemically robust β-ketosulfonamide linkage of 3 and 4.
Web Mutation Testing

Web application software uses new technologies that have novel methods for integration and state maintenance that amount to new control flow mechanisms and new variables coping. Although powerful, these bring in new problems that current testing techniques do not adequately test for. Testing individual web software component in isolation cannot detect interaction faults, which occur in communication among web software components. Improperly implementing and testing the communications among web software components is a major source of faults. As mutation analysis has been shown to be effective in testing traditional software, the proposed project will investigate the usefulness of applying mutation testing to web applications. In a preliminary study, several new web mutation operators were defined specifically for web interaction faults. These operators were implemented in a prototype tool for a feasibility study. The resulting paper appeared in Mutation 2010 and the experimental results evince that mutation analysis can potentially help create tests that are effective at finding web application faults. To improve web fault coverage, the initial set of web mutation operators will be extended and evaluated. Additional web mutation operators will be defined. I intend to validate the proposed technique, web mutation testing, by comparing with other existing approaches used for web application testing.
Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adult Dating, Cohabitating, and Married Drinking Partnerships.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined intimate partner violence (IPV) and drinking partnerships in 741 young adults in male-female dating, cohabitating, and married relationships. Cluster analyses revealed four similar kinds of drinking partnerships: (a) congruent light and infrequent, (b) discrepant male heavy and frequent, (c) discrepant female heavy and infrequent, and (d) congruent moderate/heavy-frequent drinkers. Overall, there were no significant main effect differences across relationship type and clusters. The type of relationship and the type of drinking partnership interacted with contexts examined (i.e., type of violence severity, gender, and whether the violence was perpetration or victimization). Given the severity of IPV in couple relationships, additional empirical attention to drinking partnerships is warranted.
The enigma of higher income immigrants with lower rates of health insurance coverage in the United States.

This research compares rates of health insurance coverage among middle-class non-elderly immigrants to native-born American adults using data from the March 1996–2000 Supplements to the Current Population Survey. Probit regressions reveal that immigrants were three times as likely to be uninsured at income levels exceeding$50,000, controlling for economic, demographic and immigrant-related characteristics. Work-related characteristics, income, martial status and nativity considerably influenced health insurance status for all adults, but work-related factors had the strongest effect on immigrants' rates of coverage. Why, ceteris paribus, immigrants have lower coverage rates is unclear. Many low-income and recent immigrants face barriers to access due to legal status or job sector. But lower rates of health insurance coverage which persist among long-time residents at higher income levels cannot be explained by such barriers, a finding highly relevant for policy makers. Encouraging uninsured immigrants to opt into health plans voluntarily will remain a challenge.
TU‐A‐108‐04: An Investigation of Optimizing Proton Energies in IMPT Treatment Planning

Purpose: In Intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT), a set of different proton energies of pencil beams are used to create desired dose distributions. The selection of proton energies in the current clinical IMPT treatment planning is determined based on trial and error. In this study, we utilize an optimization approach to find an optimized subset of proton energies out of a given set of candidates. The treatment plan quality of IMPT plans with optimized and non‐optimized energy setups will be evaluated. Methods: A mixed integer linear programming based iterative optimization approach was introduced to find optimal proton energies from a given set of energies in IMPT treatment planning. Dosimetric measurements of treatment plans with optimized proton energies were compared with ones with conventional energy setups for four prostate cancer patients retrospectively selected at our institution for this study. Results: For four prostate cancer cases, no evident difference in dosimetric measurements was found between plans with optimized proton energies and ones with conventional energy setups, in terms of target coverage and critical structure sparing. Importantly, the number of optimized energies was approximately 20% less in average comparing with the number of energies used in conventional IMPT treatment planning. Thus, the IMPT delivery time can be shortened by reducing the energies used IMPT treatment Conclusion: With a reduction of proton energies that are used in the conventional IMPT treatment planning, we observed that there was no degrading effect in dosimetric performance of prostate IMPT plans in this study. Future studies on larger sized cancer sites may add a higher value to the research on the proton energy optimization problem in improving IMPT treatment delivery efficiency.
Configuration of membrane-bound proteins by x-ray reflectivity

Copyright 2011 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Chen, C. H., Malkova, S., Cho, W., & Schlossman, M. L. 2011. Configuration of membrane-bound proteins by x-ray reflectivity. Journal of Applied Physics, 110(10). and may be found at http://jap.aip.org/resource/1/japiau/v110/i10/p102215_s1. DOI: 10.1063/1.3661985
A remote sensing analysis of Adelie penguin rookeries

Abstract The Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) makes up the vast majority of bird biomass in the Antarctic. As a major consumer of krill, these birds play an important role in the Antarctic food web, and they have been proposed as an indicator species of the vitality of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. This study explores the terrestrial habitat of the Adelie penguin as a target for remote sensing reconnaissance. Laboratory and groundlevel reflectance measurements of Antarctic materials found in and around penguin rookeries were examined in detail. These analyses suggested data transformation which helped separate penguin rookeries from surrounding areas in Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery. The physical extent of penguin rookeries on Ross and Beaufort Islands, Antarctica, was estimated from the satellite data and compared to published estimates of penguin populations. The results suggest that TM imagery may be used to identify previously undiscovered penguin rookeries, and the imagery may provide a means of developing new population estimation methods for Antarctic ornithology.
Immigrant Revitalization and Neighborhood Violent Crime in Established and New Destination Cities

Recently, scholars examining the link between immigration and crime have proposed an “immigrant revitalization perspective,” wherein larger immigrant populations are associated with reduced violent crime in aggregate areas. However, research supporting this claim typically draws on findings from research on heavily Latino neighborhoods in “established destination cities” and rarely takes into account the massive dispersal of immigrants across the country at the end of the twentieth century. Using a representative sample of neighborhoods in large US cities, this project analyzes violent crime rates for 8,628 census tracts, divided by racial and ethnic composition, nested within 84 cities, classified by immigration history or “destination” status. Findings suggest that the immigrant revitalization process may be heavily contingent on neighborhood- and city-level context. Specifically, neighborhoods with relatively small and recent immigrant populations may rely on receptive contexts provided by established destinations to revitalization neighborhoods and contribute to lower violent crime rates.
The Risk Assessment Paradigm as a Blueprint for Environmental Research

During its 20-year history, the risk assessment paradigm found in the National Research Council's (NRC's) report Risk Assessment in the Federal Government: Managing the Process, known as the “Red Book,” has served a variety of purposes for organizations in the public and the private sector. Familiar examples include risk assessments for specific chemicals, generic guidelines and concept papers, and tutorials for science professionals as well as the general public. In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) applied the paradigm to reconfigure and revitalize its environmental research program. In a two-phase, multi-year process, the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) undertook a massive reorganization that included restructuring twelve disparate laboratories into a unified five-unit system aligned with the risk assessment/risk management paradigm. As the reorganization took shape, the laboratories devised a paradigm-oriented approach to prioritizing environmental research: ...
Incidence of residual basal cell carcinoma in patients who appear tumor free after biopsy

Background: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) biopsy sites often heal with no clinical evidence of residual tumor. Objective: The purpose of our study is to determine whether such patients require further therapy. If biopsies can be curative, health care costs can be reduced by avoiding unnecessary surgery. Methods: We prospectively evaluated 41 consecutive subjects with 42 biopsy-confirmed BCCs who appeared disease free. Each biopsy site was excised and processed by the Mohs micrographic technique. The tissue block was sectioned horizontally at 30-μm intervals until exhausted. Sections were stained and examined microscopically for residual tumor. Results: Tumor was identified in 28 (66%) of 42 cases. No statistically significant relationship was found between the presence or absence of residual tumor and the following variables: age, sex, tumor location, biopsy technique, histopathologic subtype, scar size, time from biopsy to surgery, and extent of inflammation in histologic sections. Conclusion: Our data suggest that patients with small (
A comparison of ferrocenyl carbenium/non-carbenium structures in isomeric osmium cluster complexes obtained from the reaction of bis-ferrocenylbutadiyne with Os3(CO)10(μ-py)(μ-H)

Abstract The reaction of Os3(CO)10(μ-η2-py)(μ-H) (1) (py=NC5H4) with 1,4-bis(ferrocenyl)butadiyne (2) in the presence of Me3NO has provided two new isomeric triosmium cluster compounds Os3(CO)9(μ-py)(μ3,η3-CCFcCCHFc) (3) (Fc=C5H4FeC5H5) and Os3(CO)9(μ-py)(μ3,η2-CCFcCCHFc) (4). Both products were characterized by IR, 1H-NMR and single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Both compounds contain a triply bridging 1,3-bisferrocenylallylcarbyne ligand in an open triosmium cluster. Two of the carbon atoms of the allyl portion of the bisferrocenylallylcarbyne ligand in 3 are coordinated to one osmium atom, but in 4 only one of these carbon atoms is coordinated, and the other carbon atom forms a planar trivalent carbenium center. The bisferrocenylallylcarbyne ligand was formed by insertion of 2 into the osmium-hydrogen bond and a 1–2-shift of one of the ferrocenyl groups along the butadiyne chain. Both compounds exhibit two reversible one electron oxidations for the ferrocenyl groups: for 3, Ep=+0.34 and +0.67 V; for 4, Ep=+0.47 and +0.61 V.
Effects of chronic administration of a heme oxygenase substrate or inhibitor on progression of the estrous cycle, pregnancy and lactation of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a heme oxygenase substrate (hemin) or an inhibitor (chromium mesoporphyrin IX; CrMP) had any effect on the normal course of the estrous cycle, pregnancy, parturition or lactation in rats. The hypothesis was that these agents, acting on HO to increase or decrease endogenous production of carbon monoxide (CO) respectively, would disrupt these reproductive processes. The results showed that hemin administered s.c. at 30 μmoles/kg for 10 or 11 days, did not markedly influence the estrous cycle; whereas CrMP blocked the estrous cycle in a dose dependant fashion. At 2 and 4 μmoles/kg for 11 days CrMP significantly reduced the occurrence of estrus phase of the estrous cycle and the effect continued after the treatments were discontinued, while a dose of 1 μmole/kg produced no significant effects. CrMP, administered at 4 μmoles/kg during days 5-14 of pregnancy, led to massive fetal resorption with no live births from 14 successfully mated rats. Administration of hemin at 30 μmoles/kg for 10 days during lactation did not have any effect on milk production, whereas administration of CrMP at 4 μmoles/kg significantly decreased lactational performance which was attributed to milk production and not to suckling intensity of the pups. From these observations we conclude that heme oxygenase, and presumably endogenous CO, play positive roles in female reproductive processes and lactation in the rat.
Social Cognitive Maternal-Mediated Nutritional Correlates of Childhood Obesity

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the extent to which the maternal-facilitated, social cognitive theory constructs of environment, emotional coping, expectations, self-control, and s...
Vasomotion model explanation for urea rebound.

Urea rebound after hemodialysis is generally attributed to urea entering the circulation from poorly perfused tissue and/or entering from regions with low membrane permeability for urea. Another explanation for rebound is based on disorders in the microcirculation, connected with the phenomenon of vasomotion, i.e., cyclic opening and closing of microvessels. The purpose of the following mathematical model is to explain observed urea rebound by the vasomotion phenomenon. The significance of vasomotion is related to the fact that a significant fraction, up to 80-95%, of all microvessels are closed while others are being perfused. The rate with which open microvessels "migrate" through the tissue determines quality of perfusion. A stochastic scheme for describing vasomotion is developed. Probabilities to change the state of microvessels are defined as follows: alpha = probability to be open and remain open; beta = to be open and become closed; v = to be closed and remain closed; mu = to be closed and become open. The activity of vasomotion is defined by the rate of vasomotion, R, R = beta + mu, and can be measured using a curve of urea concentration.
Closed versus open lumen nasal septal splint

Nasal septal splinting, with an airway incorporated into the splint, has been available since the mid 1970s. Until recently, the airway on the septal splint has been a closed unit. Mucus and blood often accumulate within the airway tube and obstruct the lumen. The new device was designed to provide an open lumen for a longer period of time. A study was designed and completed to compare the open and closed lumens in terms of length of patency. In 71 cases, the same patient had an open lumen splint on one side and a closed lumen splint on the other side, after septal surgery. In 62% of the cases, the open lumen device maintained patency for a longer period of time.
Analyzing the effects of mobile station circular motion on early-late tracking loops using the normalized timing error PDF derived from a Fokker-Planck equation

This paper analyses the effects of circular motion on tracking loop performance. The normalized timing error PDF which is derived from a Fokker-Planck (F-P) equation is used. The analysis shows the applicability of modeling the tracking loop response using a stochastic model. It further shows that the circular motion generates uncompensated power losses due the variability of multipath time delay generated by the circular motion. Unlike what is previously suggested by literature, the paper recommends increasing the bandwidth of the tracking loop in order to compensate for the generated power losses instead of increasing the estimated time delay offset.
Spreadsheets for images

We describe a data visualization system based on spreadsheets. Cells in our spreadsheet contain graphical objects such as images, volumes, or movies. Cells may also contain widgets such as buttons, sliders, or curve editors. Objects are displayed in miniature inside each cell. Formulas for cells are written in a general-purpose programming language (Tcl) augmented with operators for array manipulation, image processing, and rendering.Compared to flow chart visualization systems, spreadsheets are more expressive, morescalable, and easier to program. Compared to conventional numerical spreadsheets, spreadsheets for images pose several unique design problems: larger formulas, longer computation times, and more complicated intercelldependencies. In response to these problems, we have extended the spreadsheet paradigm in three ways: formulas can display their results anywhere in the spreadsheet, cells can be selectively disabled, and multiple cells can be edited at once. We discuss these extensions and their implications, and we also point out some unexpected uses for our spreadsheets: as a visual database browser, as a graphical user interface builder, as a smart clipboard for the desktop, and as a presentation tool.
TU-D-I-609-03: Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) in the Laboratory and the Clinical Environment

Computer‐Aided Detection (CAD) is intended to be used in a specific way and several studies have shown that when it is used appropriately improvements in performance can be realized. The effect seems to be much more noticeable in the laboratory than in the clinic. Data ascertained in both environments clearly suggest that the measurement methodology is extremely important as is the actual use of CAD as a part of the clinical workflow. Our observations suggest the following: 1) regardless of the actual improvement (or not) in accuracy, CAD is an important tool; 2) most radiologist do not use it in the clinical environment as originally intended; 3) comparison of sequential viewing “without” followed by “with” CAD may not be the appropriate/optimal way to analyze accuracy improvements; 4) change in detection rates are expected to be low and temporary, while change in average size (or stage) are expected to be small and persistent; 5) performance of the CAD alone does affect observer performance; 6) reliance on CAD in the area of micro‐calcifications may result in an increase in biopsy rates; 7) there is a significant difference in the performance of current CAD systems in regards to the detection of micro‐calcifications and masses, and this difference results in a significant difference in the level of reliance on CAD results with respect to the two abnormalities. These observations and the supporting experimental data will be shown and discussed. Educational Objectives: 1. Understanding the difficulty in measuring performance changes with the incorporation of CAD technology into the clinical environment. 2. Understanding the importance of study design in measuring the impact of CAD technology. 3. Understanding the magnitude of the “human” factor in observer performance studies.
The money demand function in a small, open and quasi-monetary economy: the Gambia

The open-economy money demand asserts that for its underlying theory to hold, the variables ought to be co-integrated. Co-integrated variables although nonstationary in level, can share a long-term trend that is indeed stationary. However, the open money demand model has mainly been tested in developed and developing nations. This article investigates the co-integrated open-economy money demand in the Gambia where the macro economy is a quasi-monetary system, small (relative to the world market), but very open with a floating exchange rate regime. In the co-integrated space, the Gambian money demand appears to be quite responsive to domestic income, a measure of interest rate and the real exchange rate fluctuations.
Integrated theory and practice - an approach to the first computer science course

In 1975 the authors began an undergraduate computer science major and devised a one year foundation course as the basic building block of this major. The dual objectives of this foundation course are explained; an easily accessible minicomputer environment for interactive FORTRAN program development work in this course is also described. As the authors now look back to 1975 the difficulties, positive results, and development of the foundation course content are considered. In addition, an upgrading of the minicomputer environment for the course to a PRIME 300 Timesharing Minicomputer is explained; students in the foundation course are now also able to do their ANS 74 COBOL program development work in an easily accessible, interactive environment.
Lung resection in patients with compromised pulmonary function

Background. Some patients are denied curative pulmonary resection for lung carcinoma because of pulmonary insufficiency. To identify factors that affect postoperative morbidity and mortality, we reviewed 85 consecutive patients (53 men and 32 women) with a preoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 second of less than 1.2 L who underwent pulmonary resection for lung cancer between January 1986 and December 1990. Methods. Median age was 70 years (range, 49 to 82 years). Sixty patients (71%) had been previously denied operation because of pulmonary insufficiency. Preoperative pulmonary function demonstrated a median preoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 second of 1.0 L (44% of predicted normal; range, 0.5 to 1.2 L) and a diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide of 60% of predicted normal (range, 22% to 104%). Results. Pneumonectomy was done in 6 patients (7.1%), bilobectomy in 6 (7.1%), lobectomy in 38 (44.7%), segmentectomy in 12 (14.1%), and wedge excision in 23 (27.1%). The median predicted postoperative forced ex piratory volume in 1 second was 0.83 L (34% of predicted normal; range, 0.45 to 1.14 L), and the median predicted postoperative diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide was 48% of predicted normal (range, 19% to 87%). Seventy-two patients (85%) received postoperative epidural analgesia. Median hospitalization was 15 days (range, 5 to 66 days). Operative mortality was 2.4%, and complications occurred in 49%. We did not identify any factors that predicted postoperative morbidity and mortality. Median follow-up was 3.2 years (range, 0.2 to 9 years). Seven patients (8%) required supplemental home oxygen. A predicted postoperative percent forced expiratory volume in 1 second less than 43% correlated with the need for home oxygen ( p Conclusions. We conclude that some patients with lung cancer and compromised pulmonary function can safely undergo pulmonary resection if selected appropriately.
Insitu identification of ASR products in concrete

Abstract A new technique to identify ASR products insitu is presented. It is proposed that the ASR products found in concrete be visualised as gelatinous silica, and its crystalline modifications, with adsorbed sodium, potassium and calcium ions. Based on this view a brief survey of the adsorption and cation exchange properties of silica gel is presented. It is shown that a wide variety of cations can replace previously adsorbed Na + , K + or Ca ++ ions on silica gel. The uranyl ion (UO 2 ++ ) is one such species, and is chosen for the proposed technique for gel identification. Under ultraviolet light, the uranyl ion flouresces and identifies the areas where gel is present. The technique is applied to reactive aggregates, reactive aggregates treated with NaOH and mortar bars made with reactive aggregates. The limitations of the technique and its future refinements are discussed.
Mutations of the Escherichia coli lacUV5 promoter resulting in increased expression in Bacillus subtilis

The Escherichia coli lacUV5 promoter is used inefficiently by the major vegetative form of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase, despite very close adherence in the-35 and-10 regions to consensus sequences for promoters recognized by this enzyme. To select derivatives of this promoter with increased activity in B. subtilis, the lacUV5 promoter was fused to a promoter-less chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and mutagenized by passage through an E. coli mutD5 mutator strain. Derivatives that conferred resistance to chloramphenicol in B. subtilis were isolated. Twenty-three independent isolates each contained single mutations in the 207 bp lac fragment. These mutations, which were in ten different positions, fell in two clusters. One set of mutations, located between positions-18 and-14, resulted in greater homology to a consensus sequence previously noted for this region in B. subtilis vegetative promoters. The remaining mutations were located near the transcription initiation site. The effects of these mutations and additional mutations constructed by oligonucleotidedirected mutagenesis on expression in B. subtilis and E. coli was determined by measurements of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activities directed by these promoters. While most mutations had little effect on expression in E. coli, the increase in activity in B. subtilis was as much as 28-fold.
The Economic Value of British Colonial Empire in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

This article reviews recent research on aspects of the long-standing debate among historians over the question of whether or not, on the whole, colonial expansion before 1800 contributed substantially to British economic development and industrialization. After narrowing the meaning of “colonial” to focus on coercion as its defining characteristic, we conclude that analyses based on the standard quantitative measures of economic development have not produced a clear consensus one way or the other. Research looking at the effects of colonialism on the institutional framework of economic change does, however, appear to support our own view that, from a structural standpoint, pre-1800 colonialism did indeed contribute significantly to economic change in Britain.
Radial basis functions for bandwidth estimation in ATM networks

It is known that some types of variable bit rate (VBR) video traffic exhibit strong long term correlations and non- stationary behavior. Estimation of an accurate amount of bandwidth to support this traffic has been a challenge task using conventional algorithmic approaches. In this paper, we show that a radial basis function neural networks (RBFNN) is capable of learning the non-linear multi-dimensional mapping between different video traffic patterns, quality of service (QoS) requirements and the required bandwidth to support each call. In addition, RBFNN model adopts to new traffic scenarios and still produces accurate results. This approach bypass the modeling approach which requires detailed knowledge about the traffic statistical patterns. Our method employs 'on-line' measurements of the traffic count process over a monitoring period which is determined such that the error in estimating the bandwidth is minimized to less than 3% of the actual value. In order to simplify the design of the RBFNN, the input traffic is preprocessed through a lowpass filter in order to smooth all high frequency fluctuations. A large set of training data, representing different traffic patterns with different QoS requirements, was used to ensure that RBFNN can generalize and produce accurate results when confronted with new data. The reported results prove that the neurocomputing approach is effective in achieving more accurate results than other traditional methods, based upon mathematical or simulation analysis. This is primarily due to the fact that the unique learning and adaptive capabilities of NN enable them to extract and memorize rules from previous experience. Evidently, such unique capabilities poise NN to solve many of the problems encountered in the design of ATM networks.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Flamelet-based modeling of auto-ignition with thermal inhomogeneities for application to HCCI engines

Abstract Homogeneous-charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines have been shown to have higher thermal efficiencies and lower NO x and soot emissions than spark ignition engines. However, HCCI engines experience very large heat release rates which can cause too rapid an increase in pressure. One method of reducing the maximum heat release rate is to introduce thermal inhomogeneities, thereby spreading the heat release over several crank angle degrees. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) with complex H 2 /air chemistry by Cook and Pitsch [D.J. Cook, H. Pitsch, Western States Section of the Combustion Institute , Boise, Idaho 06S-08, 2006] showed that both ignition fronts and deflagration-like fronts may be present in systems with such inhomogeneities. Here, an enthalpy-based flamelet model is presented and applied to the four cases of varying initial temperature variance presented in Cook and Pitsch [D.J. Cook, H. Pitsch, Western States Section of the Combustion Institute , Boise, Idaho 06S-08, 2006]. This model uses a mean scalar dissipation rate to model mixing between regions of higher and lower enthalpies. The predicted heat release rates agree well with the heat release rates of the four DNS cases. The model is shown to be capable of capturing the combustion characteristics for the case in which combustion occurs primarily in the form of spontaneous ignition fronts, for the case dominated by deflagration-type burning, and for the mixed mode cases. The enthalpy-based flamelet model shows considerably improved agreement with the DNS results over the popular multi-zone model, particularly, where both deflagrative and spontaneous ignition are occurring, that is, where diffusive transport is important.
Video scene segmentation to separate script

This paper proposes improved Template Matching algorithm that applied for the automatic extraction of text from image and video frames. Optical Character Recognition using Template Matching is a system model that is useful to recognize the character, alphabet & special character by comparing two images of the alphabet. The objectives of this system model are to develop a model for the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system and to implement the Template Matching algorithm in developing the system model. The template matching techniques are more sensitive to font and size variations of the characters than the feature classification methods. This system tested the 25 videos with 370 video frames for each video. In this system 91% of the Character gets recognized successfully using Texture-based approaches to automatic detection, segmentation and recognition of visual text occurrences in images and video frames.
“Combretatropones”—hybrids of combretastatin and colchicine. Synthesis and biochemical evaluation

Abstract The synthesis and biological evaluation is presented for a new class of tubulin-targeting agents, termed “combretatropones,” that incorporate the 1,2-diaryl ethane nucleus of combretastatin and the tropone moiety of colchicine. Compounds 1 and 2 represent a new class of tubulin-targeting agents which incorporate the tropone moiety of colchicine and the 1,2-diaryl ethane nucleus of combretastatin.
High‐temperature redox‐initiated emulsion polymerization of butadiene

The kinetics of the ferric ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA)–diisopropylbenzene hydroperoxide (DIBHP)-sodium formaldehyde sulfoxylate (SFS) redox system were determined. The rate constant is a function of the ionic strength μ. A plot of log10 (rate constant), for the rate-limiting second-order iron—SFS reaction, vs.μ1/2 has a slope of 1.3 with a limiting rate constant of 295 ± 15 L. mol−1. min−1 at μ = 0. The slope of this plot decreases to essentially zero for μ > 0.06M. Incorporation of these results into the Smith-Ewart model for emulsion polymerization correctly predicts the dependence of latex particle size on Fe and DIBHP concentration, but a much lower dependence on SFS concentration is observed.
Albright's syndrome with reactivation of fibrous dysplasia secondary to pituitary adenoma and further complicated by osteogenic sarcoma

Abstract To our knowledge, this is the only reported case of Albright's syndrome with reactivation of the fibrous dysplasia in adulthood, a marked elevation of growth hormone secondary to a pituitary adenoma, and development of osteosarcoma within the reactivated fibrous dysplasia. In addition, this patient also had hyperthyroidism with normal TSH levels, indicating the presence of two separate endocrinopathies. Reactivation of the fibrous dysplasia after years of arrested growth in this patient is good evidence that fibrous dysplasia does not “burn out” after adolescence but that growth ceases only when growth hormone declines to adult levels.