cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Non-axisymmetric response of OH coils to Lorentz forces

Abstract The central solenoid of the Compact Ignition Tokamak (CIT) is constructed from stacks of thick-turn, resistive pancakes. As the solenoid is operated at fields as high as 20 Tesla, it is desirable to determine accurately its non-axisymmetric response. This paper presents finite-element based methods for obtaining these results. The basic unit of analysis is the double-pancake, a model consisting of two pancakes, the insulation between turns in each pancake and the insulation between pancakes. An isolated double-pancake is shown to exhibit a significant non-axisymmetric response, with each pancake having a dilated or elliptical deflection profile. Peak stresses in an isolated double pancake are shown to be sensitive to the transition angle between circular turns. The response of the solenoid is then found by superimposing the number of double pancakes required to form the basic axial unit of the stack. In practice this is accomplished by using the double-pancake model and imposing additional boundary conditions to reflect the interaction with adjacent pancakes. The dilation observed in an isolated double pancake may be preserved or destroyed, depending on the axial symmetry of the stack. Peak stresses are found to be much less sensitive to transition angle, but are still 20–30% above the values calculated from an axisymmetric analysis.
Optical coronal emission lines from cooling flows in elliptical galaxies and galaxy clusters

Luminosities, surface brightnesses, and line profiles of the coronal lines predicted by standard models for cooling flows in clusters of galaxies and in individual early-type galaxies are presented. The coronal line luminosities of cooling flows depend primarily on the total rate at which gas is cooling. In homogeneous cooling flow models (HMs) in which all of the gas flows into the central regions, the coronal lines are very centrally concentrated, coming mainly from a limb-brightened shell lying just within the sonic radius of the inflow. For HMs, the central surface brightnesses of the stronger coronal lines from nearby clusters with large cooling rates are expected to be about 6 x 10 to the -17th ergs/sq cm/s/sq arcsec. For inhomogeneous models (IMs) in which gas cools out of the flow at large radii, the surface brightness profiles of the coronal lines are more extended, and the central surface brightness is much lower. The integrated line profiles of the HMs are very wide and flat and the central line profiles are double-peaked. The IMs have nearly Gaussian line profiles.
Effect of cultural inheritance of reproductive compensation on the incidence of a sex-linked lethal disease.

Abstract For a sex-linked recessive lethal disease, a model is constructed to study reproductive compensation for having at least one normal male with partial cultural inheritance. The equilibrium frequency of heterozygous females depends on the probability that a female offspring of the compensating parents will not compensate, α, the probability that a female offspring of the non-compensating parents will compensate, β, and the mutation rate, u . When α = 0, the equilibrium frequency of heterozygous females is given by √2 u , whereas when α ≠ 0 it is given by 2[{β +(2α + β) (α + β)}/{α(α + β)}] u .Then, the proportion of affected males due to fresh mutations is much smaller than Haldane's estimate of 1 3 without reproductive compensation.
Role of the IL-1 receptor antagonist in ethanol-induced regulation of GABAergic transmission in the central amygdala

Abstract The IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), encoded by the Il1rn gene, is an endogenous antagonist of the IL-1 receptor. Studies of Il1rn knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice identified differences in several ethanol-related behaviors, some of which may be mediated by GABAergic transmission in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA). In this study we examined phasic (both evoked and spontaneous) and tonic GABAergic transmission in the CeA of Il1rn KO and WT mice and the ethanol sensitivity of these GABAergic synapses. The mean amplitude of baseline evoked GABAA-inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs), and the baseline frequency of spontaneous GABAA-inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs), but not the frequency of miniature GABAA-IPSCs (mIPSCs), were significantly increased in KO compared to WT mice, indicating enhanced presynaptic action potential-dependent GABA release in the CeA of KO mice. In KO mice, we also found a cell-type specific switch in the ongoing tonic GABAA receptor conductance such that the tonic conductance in low threshold bursting (LTB) neurons is lost and a tonic conductance in late spiking (LS) neurons appears. Notably, the ethanol-induced facilitation of evoked and spontaneous GABA release was lost in most of the CeA neurons from KO compared to WT mice. Ethanol superfusion increased the sIPSC rise and decay times in both KO and WT mice, suggesting ethanol-induced postsynaptic effects. The pretreatment of CeA slices with exogenous IL-1ra (Kineret; 100 ng/ml) returned sIPSC frequency in KO mice to the levels found in WT. Importantly, Kineret also restored ethanol-induced potentiation of the sIPSC frequency in the KO mice. These results show that IL-1ra regulates baseline GABAergic transmission in the CeA and is critical for the ethanol effects at these synapses.
The Augmentation Effect of Secretin on the Insulin Responses to Known Stimuli: Specificity for Glucose

Secretin stimulates insulin release directly and augments insulin responses when administered prior to an insulinogenic stimulus. The magnitude and specificity of this augmentation effect of secretin pretreatment was evaluated in normal subjects to pulses of the following stimuli: 5 g glucose (n − 6), 1 g arginine (n − 8), 2 μg isoproterenol (n − 6), 0.5 g tolbutamide (n − 5) and 0.5 mg glucagon (n − 6). Secretin was administered either as a 15 U pulse with a 3 U/min infusion for 25 min or as 4–150 U pulses. A period of 30 min elapsed after either the cessation of the infusion or the final 150 U pulse. In all studies, the acute insulin responses immediately following secretin were observed and had returned to baseline levels prior to the administration of any insulinogenic stimulus. Secretin only augmented the acute insulin responses to 5 g glucose pulses (presecretin glucose: 28 ± 20 μU/ml, mean ± SD; postsecretin glucose pulse: 45 ± 37 μU/ml, P <.05), an increase of 56 ± 21% (P < .005). A highly linear ...
Nonparametric Bayes Pachinko Allocation for super-event detection in Twitter

Event detection in social media has been an area of considerable research in the past five years. Most models used in event detection, however, assume that events will be bursty and discrete. What does not exist, as of yet, is a model for discovering overlapping events. This paper offers a model for automatically detecting long-lasting super-events that contain smaller sub-events. This model refines Diao and Jiang's unified model for events and topics in Twitter, supplemented with the Nonparametric Pachinko Allocation Method.
PREDICTORS OF HOME CARDIORESPIRATORY MONITOR USE IN INFANTS PRESENTING WITH APPARENT LIFE THREATENING EVENTS (ALTE). † 527

Infants presenting with ALTE are frequently discharged with home cardiorespiratory monitoring. While reassuring to many parents, home monitoring may increase psychosocial and financial stress. Although not proven to predict adverse outcomes, pneumogram evaluation is often used to select patients for monitoring. Accordingly, we sought to determine the clinical and pneumogram characteristics of ALTE patients discharged with and without home monitoring. Data was collected on 32 consecutive infants with ALTE who had 6 channel pneumogram evaluations. Pneumogram evidence of central apnea was defined as an event >15 seconds during the 12 hour period. Monitoring was recommended in 19 (59%) infants including 4 infants whose ALTE required CPR. Clinical and 12 hour pneumogram characteristics of infants with and without monitors are shown. Table
Effect of neonatal gene therapy on lumbar spine disease in mucopolysaccharidosis VII dogs.

Abstract Mucopolysaccharidosis VII (MPS VII) is due to deficient β-glucuronidase (GUSB) activity, which leads to accumulation of chondroitin, heparan, and dermatan sulfate glycosaminoglycans in various tissues including those of the spine. Associated spine disease can be due to abnormalities in the vertebrae, the intervertebral disks, or other spine tissues. The goal of this study was to determine if neonatal gene therapy could prevent lumbar spine disease in MPS VII dogs. MPS VII dogs were injected intravenously with a retroviral vector (RV) expressing canine GUSB at 2 to 3 days after birth, which resulted in transduction of hepatocytes that secreted GUSB into blood. Expression was stable for up to 11 years, and mean survival was increased from 0.4 years in untreated dogs to 6.1 years in treated dogs. Despite a profound positive clinical effect, 6-month-old RV-treated MPS VII dogs still had hypoplastic ventral epiphyses with reduced calcification in the lumbar spine, which resulted in a reduced stiffness and increased range of motion that were not improved relative to untreated MPS VII dogs. At six to 11 years of age, ventral vertebrae remained hypoplastic in RV-treated MPS VII dogs, and there was desiccation of the nucleus pulposus in some disks. Histochemical staining demonstrated that disks did not have detectable GUSB activity despite high serum GUSB activity, which is likely due to poor diffusion into this relatively avascular structure. Thus, neonatal gene therapy cannot prevent lumbar spine disease in MPS VII dogs, which predicts that enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) will similarly be relatively ineffective even if started at birth.
Palynology and Time-Stratigraphic Determinations: ABSTRACT

The determination of time horizons is difficult because of the comparatively slight amount of information collected to date; because many palynomorph-bearing sediments are devoid of other fossils which may permit accurate dating; and because many lithologic strata are known to transgress time. Complications to accurate dating involve recognition of following facts. 1.There are no finite boundaries based on evolution of plants alone. Unless an unconformity is present all horizons involve more or less gradual change. 2. Sediments may be carried into a basin from different directions, resulting in a mixing of suites of palynomorphs from dissimilar floral provinces. 3. River transport may carry a suite of fossils different from those by air transport from the same floral province as well as from a different province. 4. Circulation (coriolus or other currents) can reorient and partially re-distribute fossils after they have arrived within a basin of deposition. At the present time, the general boundaries (worldwide) such as the Mio-Oligocene, Pennsylvanian-Permian, and Mississippian-Devonian are recognized. Absolute determination has yet to be made, in most instances. Such boundaries are largely theoretical and have to be established and extended as each new fossil province is studied. However, time lines, within an individual depositional basin, can be established palynologically, with reliability and confidence. If palynomorphs are present in sediments of a basin, time-stratigraphic determinations can be made and correlations established. End_of_Article - Last_Page 282------------
Central propranolol and pindolol, but not atenolol nor metoprolol, inhibit sexual behavior in male rats.

Abstract Are the anti-sexual effects of propranolol and pindolol due to actions within the brain? To answer this, these agents were administered directly into the brain ventricular system (ICV). Additionally, atenolol and metoprolol were evaluated to see whether differential delivery to the brain contributed to the observed lack of effect of systemically administered β 1 -adrenoceptor antagonists. ICV administration of pindolol (45 or 90 μg) was followed by a suppression of copulation. At 45 μg, inhibition was limited to performance aspects of copulation, whereas at 90 μg, decrements in motivational and performance aspects of copulation were evident. ICV administration of propranolol also suppressed copulatory behavior. At 45 μg, no significant effects were observed, whereas at 90 μg decrements in motivational and performance aspects of copulation were evident. In contrast, ICV administration of the β 1 -adrenoceptor antagonists, atenolol and metoprolol, was not associated with any major modifications in copulatory behavior. We suggest that the inhibitory effects of propranolol and pindolol may involve interactions with 5-HT 1A receptors in the CNS. Alternatively, it may be that the adverse effects of pindolol and propranolol are due to the simultaneous blockade of both β 1 - and β 2 -adrenoceptors.
Adaptive Disturbance Tracking theory with state estimation and state feedback for region II control of large wind turbines

A theory called Adaptive Disturbance Tracking Control (ADTC) is introduced and used to track the Tip Speed Ratio (TSR) of 5 MW Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT). Since ADTC theory requires wind speed information, a wind disturbance generator model is combined with lower order plant model to estimate the wind speed as well as partial states of the wind turbine. In this paper, we present a proof of stability and convergence of ADTC theory with lower order estimator and show that the state feedback can be adaptive.
Hypoxia-Regulated Delta-like 1 Homologue Enhances Cancer Cell Stemness and Tumorigenicity

Reduced oxygenation, or hypoxia, inhibits differentiation and facilitates stem cell maintenance. Hypoxia commonly occurs in solid tumors and promotes malignant progression. Hypoxic tumors are aggressive and exhibit stem cell-like characteristics. It remains unclear, however, whether and how hypoxia regulates cancer cell differentiation and maintains cancer cell stemness. Here, we show that hypoxia increases the expression of the stem cell gene DLK1, or delta-like 1 homologue (Drosophila), in neuronal tumor cells. Inhibition of DLK1 enhances spontaneous differentiation, decreases clonogenicity, and reduces in vivo tumor growth. Overexpression of DLK1 inhibits differentiation and enhances tumorigenic potentials. We further show that the DLK1 cytoplasmic domain, especially Tyrosine339 and Serine355, is required for maintaining both clonogenicity and tumorigenicity. Because elevated DLK1 expression is found in many tumor types, our observations suggest that hypoxia and DLK1 may constitute an important stem cell pathway for the regulation of cancer stem cell-like functionality and tumorigenicity.
MAC-layer Time Fairness across Multiple Wireless LANs

Wireless LANs have been densely deployed in many urban areas. Contention among nearby WLANs is location-sensitive, which makes some hosts much more capable than others to obtain the channel for their transmissions. Another reality is that wireless hosts use different transmission rates to communicate with the access points due to attenuation of their signals. We show that location-sensitive contention aggravates the throughput anomaly caused by different transmission rates. It can cause throughput degradation and host starvation. This paper studies the intriguing interaction between location-sensitive contention and time fairness across contending WLANs. Achieving time fairness across multiple WLANs is a very difficult problem because the hosts may perceive very different channel conditions and they may not be able to communicate and coordinate their operations due to the disparity between the interference range and the transmission range. In this paper, we design a MAC-layer time fairness solution based on two novel techniques: channel occupancy adaptation, which applies AIMD on the channel occupancy of each flow, and queue spreading, which ensures that all hosts and only those hosts in a saturated channel detect congestion and reduce their channel occupancies in response. We show that these two techniques together approximate the generic adaptation algorithm for proportional fairness.
Technologies of the self and the aesthetic project of alternative health

Utilizing ethnographic materials and data from thirty-eight interviews, this article investigates the relevance of alternative health bodily regimes as a source of involvement in public life. These regimes, we argue, have an aesthetic core, a quest for perfect harmony and balance, that step by step makes people available for participation in public life. The article seeks to overcome the neglect of aesthetic sources of participation in public life as well as the neglect of the body as a symbol of risk and a source of resistance to dominant institutional arrangements. Foucault's later writings on "technologies of the self" are used to interpret alternative health regimes and open up their politicizing potential.
Cooling Bose-Einstein Condensates Below 500 Picokelvin

Spin-polarized gaseous Bose-Einstein condensates were confined by a combination of gravitational and magnetic forces. The partially condensed atomic vapors were adiabatically decompressed by weakening the gravito-magnetic trap to a mean frequency of 1hertz, then evaporatively reduced in size to 2500 atoms. This lowered the peak condensate density to 5 × 1010 atoms per cubic centimeter and cooled the entire cloud in all three dimensions to a kinetic temperature of 450 ± 80 picokelvin. Such spin-polarized, dilute, and ultracold gases are important for spectroscopy, metrology, and atom optics.
Prevalence, Correlates, and Comorbidity of Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use and Drug Use Disorders in the United States: Results of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Objective To present national data on the prevalence, correlates, and comorbidity of nonmedical prescription drug use and drug use disorders for sedatives, tranquilizers, opioids, and amphetamines. Method Data were derived from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a face-to-face nationally representative survey of 43,093 adults conducted during 2001 and 2002. Results Lifetime prevalences of nonmedical use of sedatives, tranquilizers, opioids, and amphetamines were 4.1%, 3.4%, 4.7%, and 4.7%, respectively. Corresponding rates of abuse and/or dependence on these substances were 1.1%, 1.0%, 1.4%, and 2.0%. The odds of nonmedical prescription drug use and drug use disorders were generally greater among men, Native Americans, young and middle-aged, those who were widowed/ separated/divorced or never married, and those residing in the West. Abuse/dependence liability was greatest for amphetamines, and nonmedical prescription drug use disorders were highly comorbid with other Axis I and II disorders. The majority of individuals with non-medical prescription drug use disorders never received treatment. Conclusions Nonmedical prescription drug use and disorders are pervasive in the U.S. population and highly comorbid with other psychiatric disorders. Native Americans had significantly greater rates of nonmedical prescription drug use and drug use disorders, highlighting the need for culturally-sensitive prevention and intervention programs. Unprecedented comorbidity between nonmedical prescription drug use disorders and between nonmedical prescription drug use disorders and illicit drug use disorders suggests that the typical individual abusing or dependent on these drugs obtained them illegally, rather than through a physician. Amphetamines had the greatest abuse/dependence liability, and recent increases in the potency of illegally manufactured amphetamines may portend an epidemic in the youngest NESARC cohort.
Effects of cyclophosphamide on immunity against chemically-induced syngeneic murine sarcomas.

The effects of cyclophosphamide (CY) on tumor immunity against syngeneic murine fibrosarcomas induced by 3-MCA (3-Methylcholanthrene) were studied using transplantation techniques. Five different groups of BALB/c female mice were challenged with viable cells of a 3-MCA sarcoma (AT-008). Mice bearing a sensitizing transplant of this tumor at the time of challenge were significantly resistant compared to non-sensitized, untreated controls and compared to non-sensitized mice pretreated with CY. Mice which had been sensitized by inoculation and subsequent excision of this tumor were more resistant than the tumor-bearing mice. The greatest resistance, however, was observed in mice bearing syngeneic transplants of AT-008 and treated with CY 6 days prior to challenge. These findings suggest that CY not only fails to suppress but may actually intensify established tumor immunity in this animal system. The results support the suggestion that tumor growth inhibition achieved with some chemotherapeutic agents may be accomplished partially through immunologic mechanisms.
Hydrogen-bonded layer-by-layer films of block copolymer micelles with pH-responsive cores.

Abstract We report on construction of hydrogen-bonded monolayers and multilayers of micelles of the poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)- block -poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PDEA- b -PNIPAM) with PNIPAM-corona and polybasic PDEA cores. Films were constructed at pH 7.5 and 25 °C to assure the deposition of PDEA- b -PNIPAM in the micellar form. When monolayers of block copolymer micelles (BCMs) were exposed to moderately acidic pH values, micellar cores dissolved, while PDEA- b -PNIPAM remained adsorbed at the surface as unimers. In contrast to reversible micellization of PDEA- b -PNIPAM in solution, micelle-to-unimer transition was irreversible at the surface. Adsorption of a layer of tannic acid (TA) or polyethacrylic acid (PEAA) on top of BCM monolayers inhibited pH-triggered morphological changes within adsorbed BCMs. By taking advantage of the high p K a values of TA and PEAA, we were also able to construct multilayers of PDEA- b -PNIPAM micelles through hydrogen bonding interactions between micellar PNIPAM coronas and TA or PEAA. Similar to BCM monolayers coated with TA or PEAA, dissolution of BCMs was also inhibited when incorporated within hydrogen-bonded multilayers. Such inhibition of dissolution is due to enhanced hydrogen bonding interactions between coronal PNIPAM chains and protonated TA molecules or PEAA chains at decreasing pH values restricting the pH-induced conformational changes of the micellar core chains within the adsorbed layer. Films of responsive BCMs are attractive coatings for controlled delivery of functional molecules from surfaces due to a combination of stimuli-response properties with the relatively high loading capacity for functional molecules.
Sodium gradient dependence of proline and glycine uptake in rat renal brush-border membrane vesicles.

Abstract The sodium-dependent entry of proline and glycine into rat renal brushborder membrane vesicles was examined. The high Km system for proline shows no sodium dependence. The low Km system for glycine entry is strictly dependent on a Na+ gradient but shows no evidence of the carrier system having any affinity for Na+. The low Km system for proline and high Km system for glycine transport appear to be shared. Both systems are stimulated by a Na+ gradient and appear to have an affinity for the Na+. The effect of decreasing the Na+ concentration in the ionic gradient is to alter the Km for amino acid entry and, at low Na+ concentrations, to inhibit the V for glycine entry.
Requirement of host signaling mechanisms for the action of Ptr ToxA in wheat

Ptr ToxA, the host-selective toxin produced by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, is genetically associated with the development of tan spot disease of wheat. The toxin was shown previously to cause a programmed cell death in the host that requires de novo mRNA and protein synthesis. In the present study, inhibitors of plant signaling mechanisms protected wheat leaves from toxin action, as determined by electrolyte leakage bioassays, when applied to leaves with toxin. Okadaic acid, calyculin A and phenylarsine oxide, all inhibitors of protein phosphatase activity, reduced toxin-induced electrolyte leakage by more than 90%. Inorganic calcium channel blockers (LaCl3 and CoCl2 reduced toxin-induced electrolyte leakage by 78–95%, depending on inhibitor and time of measurement. By comparison, about 50% protection was achieved by the application of the protein kinase inhibitors staurosporine and K-252A. Nonetheless, the reduction in toxin-induced electrolyte leakage by protein kinase inhibitors was reproduced in multiple trials and was statistically significant. The data indicate that host signaling mechanisms, including calcium fluxes and a protein phosphorylation cascade, are required for the Ptr ToxA-induced cell death in wheat. Our current model holds that the signaling events occur between toxin perception by the cell and the toxin-directed gene expression in the host associated with cell death. As an alternative, the toxin-induced mRNA synthesis required for cell death may be for protein phosphatase and/or protein kinase genes. Additional work is required to resolve these possibilities.
Non-linear wave-particle interactions and fast ion loss induced by multiple Alfvén eigenmodes in the DIII-D tokamak

Author(s): Chen, X; Kramer, GJ; Heidbrink, WW; Fisher, RK; Pace, DC; Petty, CC; Podesta, M; Van Zeeland, MA | Abstract: A new non-linear feature has been observed in fast-ion loss from tokamak plasmas in the form of oscillations at the sum, difference and second harmonic frequencies of two independent Alfven eigenmodes (AEs). Full orbit calculations and analytic theory indicate this non-linearity is due to coupling of fast-ion orbital response as it passes through each AE - a change in wave-particle phase k•r by one mode alters the force exerted by the next. The loss measurement is of barely confined, non-resonant particles, while similar non-linear interactions can occur between well-confined particles and multiple AEs leading to enhanced fast-ion transport. © 2014 IAEA, Vienna.
Rethinking the role of automaticity in cognitive control

Behaviour that is assumed to be guided by strategy can, in fact, be based on the implicit learning of regularities in the environment. We demonstrate this point in the context of a Stroop experiment. It has been shown previously that performance on this measure of cognitive control varies as a function of the relative proportions of congruent and incongruent trials in a block. Here we provide evidence that this modulation of performance is largely based on implicit, rather than explicit, knowledge of these proportions. This result has important implications for our understanding of cognitive control.
Architectural Fusion and Indigenous Ideology in Early Colonial Teposcolula. The Casa de la Cacica: A Building at the Edge of Oblivion

El edificio conocido como Casa de la Cacica, asiento del senorio mixteco de San Juan Teposcolula, Oaxaca, a mediados del siglo xvi, muestra los matices del mestizaje arquitectonico e ideologico que tuvo lugar en los primeros anos de la Colonia. El empleo de tecnicas constructivas europeas no impidio a los senores de Teposcolula seguir concibiendo el espacio, y por ello tambien su significacion politica, en terminos netamente prehispanicos. Mas aun, la utilizacion de las nuevas tecnologia y arquitectura tuvo el proposito, consciente y casi explicito, de relegitimar el poder de la clase dirigente teposcolulteca en el nuevo contexto de la dominacion espanola.
STRONG TOPOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLIER CONVERGENT SERIES

P. Dierolf has shown that there is a strongest locally convex polar topology which has the same subseries (bounded multiplier) convergent series as the weak topology, and I. Tweddle has shown that there is a strongest locally convex topology which has the same subseries convergent series as the weak topology. We establish the analogues of these results for multiplier convergent series if the sequence space of multipliers has the signed weak gliding hump property. We compare our main result with other known Orlicz-Pettis Theorems for multiplier convergent series.
Tensor reduction error analysis — Applications to video compression and classification

Tensor based dimensionality reduction has recently been extensively studied for computer vision applications. To our knowledge, however, there exist no rigorous error analysis on these methods. Here we provide the first error analysis of these methods and provide error bound results similar to Eckart-Young Theorem which plays critical role in the development and application of singular value decomposition (SVD). Beside performance guarantee, these error bounds are useful for subspace size determination according to the required video/image reconstruction error. Furthermore, video surveillance/retrieval, 3D/4D medical image analysis, and other computer vision applications require particular reduction in spatio-temporal space, but not along data index dimension. This motivates a D-1 tensor reduction. Standard method such as high order SVD (HOSVD) compress data in all index dimensions and thus can not perform the classification and pattern recognition tasks. We provide algorithm and error bound analysis of the D-1 factorization for spatio-temporal data dimensionality. Experiments on video sequences demonstrate our approach outperforms the previous dimensionality deduction methods for spatio temporal data.
Forecasting crop production using satellite-based vegetation health indices in Kansas, USA

This article shows the results of early crop yield prediction from remote-sensing data. The study was carried out in Kansas, USA. The methodology proposed allows the estimation of winter wheat (WW), sorghum and corn yields 3–4 months before harvest. The procedure uses the vegetation health (VH) indices (vegetation condition index (VCI) and temperature condition index (TCI)) computed for each pixel and week over a 21-year period (1985–2005) from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data. Over this period, a strong correlation was found between crop yield and VH indices during the weather-related critical period of crop development, which controls much final crop productivity. The 3-month advanced yield forecasts were independently compared with official agricultural statistics, showing that the estimation errors for WW, sorghum and corn were 8%, 6% and 3%, respectively. Implementing the 3–4 months lead forecast in operational practice will aid farmers to mitigate weather vagaries using irrigation, diseases/insects control, application of fertilizers and so on during a growing season and will help decision-makers to regulate marketing strategies, import/export and price policies and address food security issues.
Multiple regions of Crumbs3 are required for tight junction formation in MCF10A cells

The formation and maintenance of tight junctions is essential for the development of epithelial cell polarity. Recently, a number of conserved polarity-regulating proteins have been shown to localize to epithelial tight junctions, and to play a role in the regulation of tight junction formation. The Crumbs3/PALS1/PATJ protein complex localizes at epithelial tight junctions and interacts with the polarity-regulating protein complex of Par6/Par3/aPKC. Overexpression of Crumbs3 in MDCKII cells leads to a delay in tight junction formation in these cells, suggesting a role in the regulation of tight junction development. Here we report new evidence that Crumbs3 indeed plays an essential role in tight junction formation. Mammary MCF10A cells express little endogenous Crumbs3 and fail to form tight junctions when grown under standard tissue culture conditions. The staining pattern of ZO-1, a tight junction marker, is fragmented, and other tight junction markers show either fragmented junctional expression or diffuse cytoplasmic staining. Expression of exogenous Crumbs3 induces the formation of tight junction structures marked by smooth, continuous ZO-1 staining at apical cell-cell junctions. A number of other tight junction markers, including claudin-1 and occludin, are also recruited to these junctions. Analysis by transmission electron microscopy and measurements of the transepithelial electrical resistance confirm that these structures are functional tight junctions. Mutations in either the Crumbs3 PDZ binding motif or the putative FERM binding motif lead to defects in the ability of Crumbs3 to promote tight junction development. Our results suggest that Crumbs3 plays an important role in epithelial tight junction formation, and also provide the first known functional role for the mammalian Crumbs FERM binding domain.
Control method for low-voltage DC power supply in battery-powered systems with power management

The paper describes a control method for operating a variable switching frequency buck converter, designed to convert an input battery voltage of 4.5 to 8 Vdc to an output voltage of 3.3 Vdc with a maximum load current of 4 Adc. The advantages of the control method are that the output voltage is tightly regulated and that high efficiency (over 90%) is maintained over a very wide range of load currents (40 mA to 4 Adc). The output voltage ripple, DC and transient voltage regulation (for 100:1 load transients) are within /spl plusmn/1% of the nominal output voltage. These advantages are particularly important for battery-powered systems with power management.
In vivo clinical measures of intermediary metabolism are inadequate: can a new magnetic resonance spectroscopy technology do better?

The heart derives most of its energy via mitochondrial oxidative metabolism. The heart's fuels or energy substrates include fatty acids, lactate, glucose, and ketones. Substrate concentrations vary during the day, driven mainly by postprandial status. Entry into mitochondrial oxidation requires metabolism to acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA), the fuel of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Acetyl-CoA oxidation generates reduced Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), which drives oxidative phosphorylation, the reduction of O2 to H2O, and, ultimately, the synthesis of ATP, which is essential for myocardial mechanics. The heart uses this highly regulated series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions to convert chemical energy into mechanical energy.1 Metabolism and function in the heart are inextricably linked. Article see p 201 The pathological states of the heart, such as ischemia, hypertrophy, and failure, modify metabolism. Available technologies to measure intermediary metabolism have been inadequate. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can be used to spatially map or at least locally measure metabolism in vivo. Measurement of endogenous triglycerides in patients using 1H MRS has demonstrated that cardiac steatosis precedes the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus and left ventricular systolic dysfunction.2 In the failing human heart and in preclinical heart failure models, 31P MRS has shown that flux through the creatinine kinase reaction is altered.3,4 Also, ATP and phosphocreatine are reduced after myocardial infarction due to myocyte loss.5 Myocardial energy substrate can be measured with 13C MRS. It has the chemical specificity, but its inherently low sensitivity limits the spatial and temporal resolution necessary for clinical application. In isolated hearts, 13C MRS has to be used with labeled substrate molecules to define TCA cycle kinetics. The metabolites of the TCA cycle have not been measured directly in these experiments. The content of the TCA cycle metabolites is …
Quick and easy binary to dB conversion

An algorithm is developed for converting binary integers to decibels (dB). Compared to known alternative methods the algorithm is not only faster, but requires less memory. It also has the advantage of being easy to implement. The presented technique is useful for applications such as converting the output of an analog to digital converter to discrete dB values. The speed of the algorithm is due to the fact that no floating-point operations are required. In fact, the only real time arithmetic employed is one integer subtraction. The algorithm can easily be implemented in a microcontroller or FPGA.
Steigerung der Produktperformance durch Intensivmischen

Die Endlichkeit von Rohstoffen wirft Fragen auf, wie diese effizient zu nutzen sind, ob nicht wirtschaftlich gunstigere Alternativen verfugbar sind oder ob nicht Rohstoffinventionen die bessere Losung darstellen. Ebenso sind auch die zur Rohstoffaufbereitung eingesetzten Grundoperationen der mechanischen Verfahrenstechnik hinsichtlich Ihrer Energieeffizienz zu prufen. Diesen Fragen haben sich sowohl Betreiber als auch Hersteller verfahrenstechnischer Anlagen und Apparate zu stellen. The limitation of raw materials raises the question how those can be utilised efficiently, if there are no economical beneficial alternatives available or if raw material inventions do not represent better solutions. Furthermore, the unit operations of mechanical process engineering for raw material preparation should to be questioned concerning to its energy efficiency. Operators as well as manufacturers of procedural plants and apparatus have to face up to the before mentioned questions.
Measurement system for full three-dimensional motion characterization of MEMS

Advanced testing methods for the dynamics of mechanical microdevices are necessary to develop reliable, marketable microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). A key purpose for mechanically testing MEMS is to provide feedback of measurements that can help the designer progress in an iterative process from prototypes to fully developed products. The effectiveness of these procedures is markedly enhanced if the measurements include high-speed dynamic visualizations of mechanical structures in the microsystem. These data can be obtained using a measurement system that is capable of stroboscopic imaging, interferometry, and digital-image processing. We present such a system and demonstrate its capabilities in three disparate MEMS applications: a gimballed microactuator built for a miniaturized magnetic-disk information-storage system; a micromirror array for an adaptive-optics system; and a microgyroscope that can be applied in a number of microsystems.
Changes in clinical skills education resulting from the introduction of the USMLE™ step 2 clinical skills (CS) examination

Background: Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) was recently introduced into the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE™) to ensure that successful candidates for licensure possess the clinical skills to provide safe and effective patient care.Aims: To explore if medical schools had changed the objectives, content, or emphasis in their pre-clinical curriculum in response to its implementation.Methods: In April 2005, the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) sent an electronic survey to a single member from each medical school with a CDIM member. The survey instrument included 26 pre-clinical curricular questions with nine questions specifically addressing changes in response to implementation of the Step 2 CS.Results: Forty-five percent of respondents reported changes to the Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM) course objectives while 39% and 40% reported changes in content and emphasis. Seventy-four percent felt their students were adequately prepared for the Step 2 CS and 18% were unsur...
Evolution of Transcription Factor Binding Sites in Mammalian Gene Regulatory Regions: Conservation and Turnover

Comparisons between human and rodent DNA sequences are widely used for the identification of regulatory regions (phylogenetic footprinting), and the importance of such intergenomic comparisons for promoter annotation is expanding. The efficacy of such comparisons for the identification of functional regulatory elements hinges on the evolutionary dynamics of promoter sequences. Although it is widely appreciated that conservation of sequence motifs may provide a suggestion of function, it is not known as to what proportion of the functional binding sites in humans is conserved in distant species. In this report, we present an analysis of the evolutionary dynamics of transcription factor binding sites whose function hail been experimentally verified in promoters of 51 human genes and compare their sequence to homologous sequences in other primate species and rodents. Our results show that there is extensive divergence within the nucleotide sequence of transcription factor binding sites. Using direct experimental data from functional studies in both human and rodents for 20 of the regulatory regions, we estimate that 32%-40% of the human functional sites are not functional in rodents. This is evidence that there is widespread turnover of transcription factor binding sites. These results have important implications for the efficacy of phylogenetic footprinting and the interpretation of the pattern of evolution in regulatory sequences.
ACVR1R206H receptor mutation causes fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva by imparting responsiveness to activin A.

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by episodically exuberant heterotopic ossification (HO), whereby skeletal muscle is abnormally converted into misplaced, but histologically normal bone. This HO leads to progressive immobility with catastrophic consequences, including death by asphyxiation. FOP results from mutations in the intracellular domain of the type I BMP (bone morphogenetic protein) receptor ACVR1; the most common mutation alters arginine 206 to histidine (ACVR1R206H) and has been thought to drive inappropriate bone formation as a result of receptor hyperactivity. We unexpectedly found that this mutation rendered ACVR1 responsive to the activin family of ligands, which generally antagonize BMP signaling through ACVR1 but cannot normally induce bone formation. To test the implications of this finding in vivo, we engineered mice to carry the Acvr1R206H mutation. Because mice that constitutively express Acvr1[R206H] die perinatally, we generated a genetically humanized conditional-on knock-in model for this mutation. When Acvr1[R206H] expression was induced, mice developed HO resembling that of FOP; HO could also be triggered by activin A administration in this mouse model of FOP but not in wild-type controls. Finally, HO was blocked by broad-acting BMP blockers, as well as by a fully human antibody specific to activin A. Our results suggest that ACVR1R206H causes FOP by gaining responsiveness to the normally antagonistic ligand activin A, demonstrating that this ligand is necessary and sufficient for driving HO in a genetically accurate model of FOP; hence, our human antibody to activin A represents a potential therapeutic approach for FOP.
More Than Meets the Eye: Domestic Politics and the End of British Conscription

At first glance, Britain’s decision in 1957 to end conscription appears to be explainable solely by external factors since that change coincided with the decision of Harold Macmillan’s government to bolster its nuclear capability following the embarrassing Suez Crisis. Furthermore, the decision was framed as a cost-cutting move amid budgetary challenges. However, that decision was substantially influenced by the fact that deployment of conscripts was heavily constrained by British domestic politics. Similarly, the merits of conscription for generating a large pool of reservists had limited utility given the political sensitivity of mobilizing reservists. The nature of the domestic constraints—both political and social—on conscription are also evident in the fact that London opted to forego selective service and scrap mandatory military service altogether. This action accelerated British imperial decline after independence was granted to India, which had previously been a sizeable colonial reservoir of Bri...
Roles for the Two 1-Butanol Dehydrogenases of Pseudomonas butanovora in Butane and 1-Butanol Metabolism

Pseudomonas butanovora grown on butane or 1-butanol expresses two 1-butanol dehydrogenases, a quinoprotein (BOH) and a quinohemoprotein (BDH). BOH exhibited high affinity towards 1-butanol (Km = 1.7 ± 0.2 μM). BOH also oxidized butyraldehyde and 2-butanol (Km = 369 ± 85 μM and Km = 662 ± 98 μM, respectively). The mRNA induction profiles of BOH and BDH at three different levels of 1-butanol, a nontoxic level (0.1 mM), a growth-supporting level (2 mM), and a toxic level (40 mM), were similar. When cells were grown in citrate-containing medium in the presence of different levels of 1-butanol, wild-type P. butanovora could tolerate higher levels of 1-butanol than the P. butanovora boh::tet strain and the P. butanovora bdh::kan strain. A model is proposed in which the electrons from 1-butanol oxidation follow a branched electron transport chain. BOH may be coupled to ubiquinone, with the electrons being transported to a cyanide-sensitive terminal oxidase. In contrast, electrons from BDH may be transferred to a terminal oxidase that is less sensitive to cyanide. The former pathway may function primarily in energy generation, while the latter may be more important in the detoxification of 1-butanol.
Calculation of Transient Radiation Fields from Axial Symmetric Sources

Proper understanding of the results of acoustic imaging, tissue characterization, and tomography utilizing pulsed ultrasound requires inclusion of the diffraction effects of the pulsed wave. A method is presented for the efficient calculation of pulsed ultrasonic waves from an axially symmetric source mounted in a rigid baffle and excited with an arbitrary time excitation. The technique uses a spatial modal analysis based on a series expansion of the source velocity term in either of two sets of basis functions. The choice of basis functions is arbitrary. The expansion is equivalent to a decomposition of the excitation into a set of propagation modes. Each mode is then simply propagated by the technique with rapid convergence of the solution that requires evaluation of approximately thirty (or less) terms of a series, allowing rapid computer-based solutions of the field at an object plane or at a receiver plane. Several numerical solutions are given.
K-ras-Mutationen haben keine prognostische Bedeutung für kolorektale Lebermetastasen nach kurativer Leberresektion

Die Studie untersucht an einem Kollektiv von 41 Patienten mit kolorektalen Lebermetastasen, ob der K-ras-Status der Metastasen mit dem Uberleben nach kurativer Leberresektion korreliert. Paraffin-eingebettetes Gewebe von Metastasen wurde auf K-ras-Punktmutationen im Kodon 12 untersucht. Proliferationsraten wurden durch Ki-67-Immunfarbung ermittelt. Bei 6 Patienten (15%) wurde eine K-ras-Mutation im Kodon 12 gefunden. Der Ki-67-Index von K-ras-mutierten Metastasen unterschied sich nicht signifikant von der Wildtyp-Gruppe (41,4 ± 2,8% versus 37,9 ± 2,8%). Ebenso war fur beide Gruppen kein Unterschied im Uberleben nachweisbar. K-ras-Mutationen fuhren nicht zu gesteigerter Proliferation. Der K-ras-Mutationsstatus von kolorektalen Lebermetastasen hat keinen Einflus auf die Prognose nach kurativer Leberresektion.
PuMA: Bayesian analysis of partitioned (and unpartitioned) model adequacy

Summary The accuracy of Bayesian phylogenetic inference using molecular data depends on the use of proper models of sequence evolution. Although choosing the best model available from a pool of alternatives has become standard practice in statistical phylogenetics, assessment of the chosen model's adequacy is rare. Programs for Bayesian phylogenetic inference have recently begun to implement models of sequence evolution that account for heterogeneity across sites beyond variation in rates of evolution, yet no program exists to assess the adequacy of these models. PuMA implements a posterior predictive simulation approach to assessing the adequacy of partitioned, unpartitioned and mixture models of DNA sequence evolution in a Bayesian context. Assessment of model adequacy allows empirical phylogeneticists to have appropriate confidence in their results and guides efforts to improve models of sequence evolution. Availability This program is available as source code, a Java.jar application, and a native Mac OS X application. It is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License at http://code.google.com/p/phylo-puma.