cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patterns of sexual commerce among women at US Syringe Exchange Programs.

In the USA, the majority of research on sex work has examined the experiences of women recruited from social locations commonly referred to as the ‘sex industry’, such as street strolls or escort services. This paper presents data from female syringe exchange participants who had sold sex in the last 30 days. The women interviewed for this study report a much broader array of commercial transactions than found in previous US studies, including selling sex to women, paying men for sex, and considerable role fluidity between buying and selling. In addition, approximately one‐third of the women report only selling sex 1 day per week or less, and appear to be more socio‐economically stable than women who sell sex more often. We argue that this data suggests the existence of an array of commercial sexual transactions outside of the socially recognized sex industry, and that social location may affect condom use.
Ineffectiveness of annual chest roentgenograms in tuberculin skin test-positive hospital employees

Annual routine chest x-ray examinations have been recommended for many years for tuberculin skin test-positive hospital employees who have not received chemoprophylaxis. To examine the case-finding effectiveness of this policy in a university teaching hospital, employee health records covering an 18-year period were reviewed. Pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed in four employees during that time period. None of the patients were identified through the routine annual chest x-ray examination. In the study institution the policy requiring routine annual chest x-ray examinations for tuberculin-positive hospital employees who had not received preventive therapy was rescinded. Currently, the first chest x-ray examination is required at the time of skin test conversion, the second 1 year after conversion, and the third 2 years after conversion. Health teaching and counseling regarding the symptoms of tuberculosis have been initiated for tuberculin-positive hospital employees.
Collision avoidance and task planning using impedance force fields

A recent progression of heavy lift assist device is to place the human operator closer to the end effector to provide close coupling of the operator input and the payload. This close coupling of the human for control and the power of a heavy lift assist device provides improved accuracy with ease of handling in the case of heavy and bulk objects. However, collisions with obstacles may still occur in a crowded manufacturing environment due to the large work piece inertia characteristics, inappropriate motion command from the operator and inattention or fatigue of the human operator. In this research, a fictitious force field is assigned to each obstacle in the workspace. As a work piece moves closer to an object, an impedance force is calculated and combined with the control forces, in order to prevent collisions. In addition, a set of impedance fields are developed and applied that associate desired trajectories with the layout of the workspace. Thus, the force fields guide the work piece to achieve advantageous orientations and positions during the material handling operation. This includes adjustment of the height of the work piece for placement on tables, orientation to preset positions, and optimizing the configuration of the lift assist robot during motion. Experimental results show that this approach to augmentation provides the operator with a natural and effective interface to the heavy lift assist device.
The correlation of response with plasma pharmacokinetics and polyamine concentrations in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia receiving amonafide

We have investigated the correlation of clinical responses (decreases of white blood cells and peripheral blasts) with pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters in patients with acute myelogenous leukemia who are receiving amonafide. The increase of plasma polyamine concentrations was used as a measure of tumor sensitivity (pharmacodynamic effect). The correlations between pharmacokinetic parameters (biological half life, area under the concentration time curve (AUC), total plasma clearance), decreases of total white blood cells and peripheral leukemic blasts were weak (maximum r = 0.47). Correlations of response with polyamines were better than those with pharmacokinetic parameters, but not exceptional; of these, the best correlations were with the increase of putrescine. On the other hand, correlations of combinations of AUC and increases of plasma polyamine concentrations with decreases of total white blood cell counts approached unity. Unexpectedly, decreases of peripheral leukemic blasts were correlated just as well with putrescine increase alone (r = 0.91, P = 0.003) or with a combination of polyamine increases and AUC (r = 0.92, P = 0.036).
Probabilistic analysis of simulation-based games

The field of game theory has proved to be of great importance in modeling interactions between self-interested parties in a variety of settings. Traditionally, game-theoretic analysis relied on highly stylized models to provide interesting insights about problems at hand. The shortcoming of such models is that they often do not capture vital detail. On the other hand, many real strategic settings, such as sponsored search auctions and supply-chains, can be modeled in high resolution using simulations. Recently, a number of approaches have been introduced to perform analysis of game-theoretic scenarios via simulation-based models. The first contribution of this work is the asymptotic analysis of Nash equilibria obtained from simulation-based models. The second contribution is to derive expressions for probabilistic bounds on the quality of Nash equilibrium solutions obtained using simulation data. In this vein, we derive very general distribution-free bounds, as well as bounds which rely on the standard normality assumptions, and extend the bounds to infinite games via Lipschitz continuity. Finally, we introduce a new maximum-a-posteriori estimator of Nash equilibria based on game-theoretic simulation data and show that it is consistent and almost surely unique.
SU‐E‐J‐110: A Novel Metric to Evaluate Dose Deformation Error for Deformable Image Registration Algorithms

Purpose: To propose a novel metric to estimate the dosimetric error associated with deforming dose cloud using the mapping generated by deformable image registration (DIR). Methods: The increasing use of the DIR techniques in daily clinical practice requires extensive quality assurance. Deforming dose using the deformation map generated by deforming one CT image to the other is controversial. We propose here a novel method that can serve as a quantitative QA metric for DIR. First, various isodoses in the original dose are converted into structures. Then a deformation map is generated by deforming the original CT to new CT scan. The subsequent mapping is then used to deform the isodose level structures and dose into the new CT (Dose/structure/deform set). The same isodose levels in the deformed dose are converted into structures (Dose/deform/structure set). Then, differential dose surface histograms (DDSH) for each contour are generated using the deformed dose. The difference between the full‐width‐half‐maximum (FWHM) of the DDSHs at the corresponding isodose levels in both sets is defined as the dose deformation factor (DDF). For demonstration purposes, DDF was calculated at 14 different isodose levels for a representative head & neck and representative lung cancer patient that were rescanned during treatment. Results: The mean DDF was 0.38 Gy (range: 0.06 to 1.28Gy) for lung case and was 0.14 Gy (range: 0.02 to 0.85Gy) for the HN case. The maximum DDF values occurred at the 50% and 30% isodose levels for lung and HN cases, respectively. Conclusion: The proposed DDF can be used to evaluate the dose deformation error at different dose levels, independent of the deformation algorithm. The unit of the DDF is Gy and is useful in understanding the clinical effect of dose deformation at different isodose levels. This metric can be used to evaluate commercially available DIR software.
Source apportionment of wintertime secondary organic aerosol during the California regional PM10/PM2.5 air quality study

Abstract The UCD/CIT air quality model with the Caltech Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism (CACM) was used to predict source contributions to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) from December 15, 2000 to January 7, 2001. The predicted 24-day average SOA concentration had a maximum value of 4.26 μg m −3 50 km southwest of Fresno. Predicted SOA concentrations at Fresno, Angiola, and Bakersfield were 2.46 μg m −3 , 1.68 μg m −3 , and 2.28 μg m −3 , respectively, accounting for 6%, 37%, and 4% of the total predicted organic aerosol. The average SOA concentration across the entire SJV was 1.35 μg m −3 , which accounts for approximately 20% of the total predicted organic aerosol. Averaged over the entire SJV, the major SOA sources were solvent use (28% of SOA), catalyst gasoline engines (25% of SOA), wood smoke (16% of SOA), non-catalyst gasoline engines (13% of SOA), and other anthropogenic sources (11% of SOA). Diesel engines were predicted to only account for approximately 2% of the total SOA formation in the SJV because they emit a small amount of volatile organic compounds relative to other sources. In terms of SOA precursors within the SJV, long-chain alkanes were predicted to be the largest SOA contributor, followed by aromatic compounds. The current study identifies the major known contributors to the SOA burden during a winter pollution episode in the SJV, with further enhancements possible as additional formation pathways are discovered.
Direct versus indirect many-body methods for calculating vertical electron affinities: applications to F−, OH− , NH2−, CN−, Cl−, SH− and PH2−

Electron propagator theory (EPT) is applied to calculating vertical ionization energies of the anions F−, Cl−, OH−,SH−, NH2−, PH2− and CN−. Third-order and outer valence approximation (OVA) quasiparticle calculations are compared with ΔMBPT(4) (MBPT, many-body perturbation theory) results using the same basis sets. Agreement with experiment is satisfactory for EPT calculations except for F− and OH−, while the ΔMBPT treatments fail for CN−. EPT(OVA) estimates are reliable when the discrepancy between second- and third-order results is small. Computational aspects are discussed, showing relative merits of direct and indirect methods for evaluating electron binding energies.
A role of lyso-phosphatidylcholine in GM3-dependent inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor autophosphorylation in A431 plasma membranes.

Summary EGF-dependent receptor autophosphorylation (EDRA) in A431 plasma membrane was specifically stimulated by lysophospholipids having phosphorylcholine head group (e.g., lyso-phosphatidylcholine; lyso-PC), but not other lysophospholipids, in the absence of detergent. In contrast, GM3 specifically inhibited EDRA under the same experimental conditions in which lyso-PC stimulated EDRA. This GM3-dependent inhibition was more efficient in the absence (vs. presence) of a detergent (Triton X-100). These results indicate an essential role of lyso-PC in GM3-regulated EGF receptor functions.
Regulation Of Photoreceptor Guanylyl Cyclase By Ca2+/Mg2+ Exchange In GCAPs

Photon absorption by rods and cones activates transduction cascade that shuts down cGMP-gated channels and thus decreases free Ca2+ concentrations in outer segment. The Ca2+ feedback, which activates guanylyl cyclase (retGC) through guanylyl cyclase activating proteins (GCAPs), accelerates cGMP re-synthesis in photoreceptors and thus expedites their recovery. GCAP1 and GCAP2, two ubiquitous among vertebrate species GCAPs that sequentially activate retGC during physiological response of rods to light, are Ca2+/Mg2+-binding proteins. They have one non-metal binding EF-hand, EF1, and three metal-binding EF-hands - EF2, EF3, and EF4. For each metal-binding EF-hand in GCAP1 we found point mutations that can block binding of Ca2+, but not Mg2+, and those that can block both Ca2+ and Mg2+ binding. We tested their effects on activation of retGC at physiological Mg2+ and either low Ca2+ (conditions representing light adaptation) or high Ca2+ (dark adaptation). Mg2+ binding in EF-2 and EF3 was essential for activation of retGC in the conditions of light adaptation. Mg2+ in EF2 was especially critical for the binding of GCAP1-GFP to retGC1 in co-transfected HEK293 cells, as revealed by confocal fluorescence microscopy. Mg2+ binding in EF4 contributed to neither retGC1 docking nor its activation. Instead, the replacement of Mg2+ by Ca2+ in this domain in the conditions of dark adaptation was the key event that switched the cyclase off. The Mg2+/Ca2+exchange in EF3 was required for the subsequent binding of Ca2+ in EF4. Contrary to EF3 and EF4, Mg2+/Ca2+ exchange in EF2 was not essential for retGC inhibition. Binding of Mg2+ versus Ca2+ causes characteristic changes in the intrinsic Trp fluorescence of GCAP1 corresponding to its activator versus inhibitor states, including the non-metal binding EF1.
Alcohol Problems and Marginalization: Social Group Work with Lesbians

ABSTRACT Social group work presents an ideal format for meeting the challenge of lesbian alcohol problems. By focusing on the individual, her sociopolitical context, and the effects of marginalization on lesbians, groups can provide a supportive environment for exploring a complex problem and deciding how best to respond. This paper describes a study of an innovative intervention group. Participants chose their own goals, and identified personal and environmental factors which contributed to their alcohol problems. Results suggest that participants benefited from discussing their concerns within a feminist context. Although not everyone set out to limit their use, overall consumption of alcohol decreased. There was also a decrease in frequency of drunkenness.
A Thick-Beam Library Solution Method for Vibration-Based Characterization of Thick Composite Plates

A method is presented for obtaining the modal solutions to the free lateral vibrations of a rectangular orthotropic plate of thickness appreciable enough that through-the-thickness shear and rotary inertia are important. The Rayleigh method is applied to the Timoshenko beam in this approach, which also utilizes optimized modes. The plate solution was synthesized from those of beams lying wholly in each of the two transverse directions. For thin plates, the Rayleigh method with optimized modes gives results of comparable accuracy with other methods employing 36 (six per direction) modes, and thus presents a significant advantage. However, the necessary numerical solution of the hyperbolic thick beam frequency equations takes much more computer resources than for a thin beam. Many important procedures, such as the material identification and damage characterization of thick plates, generally utilize multitudes of trial solutions of this forward problem. Procedures for speeding up the forward solution are therefore of great importance. Possible pathways for arriving at such procedures are examined. Investigation of the behavior of the fundamental vibration mode, which is usually the most important structural mode, suggests the feasibility of setting up of a solution library for a thick beam rather than for a plate directly. The thick beam solution library is developed and an interpolation algorithm is created. The library is utilized for the forward plate problem. Results with and without the library are compared, and they show that the beam solution library method is indeed accurate and achieves significant savings on computation time.
A critical assessment of the time-series literature in accounting pertaining to quarterly accounting numbers

Abstract This paper summarizes, critiques, and synthesizes the time-series literature in accounting pertaining to quarterly accounting numbers. It reviews work on quarterly earnings, quarterly balance sheet and income statement subcomponents, and quarterly cash-flows from operations (CFOs). Several salient findings emerge. First, the premier ARIMA models attributed to Foster (1977), Griffin (1977) and Brown and Rozeff (1979) were identified on relatively small samples dominated by “old economy” firms. It appears that the descriptive validity of these ARIMA structures must be called into question when analyzing more current databases replete with high-technology, regulated, and financial-service firms ( Lorek & Willinger, 2007 ). Second, the use of ARIMA-based analytical review procedures in audit settings is not cost effective. Third, recent evidence ( Lorek and Willinger, 2008 , Lorek and Willinger, 2011 ) supports the univariate Brown & Rozeff (100) × (011) ARIMA model as the best statistically-based prediction model for quarterly CFO, a finding of considerable import to analysts, investors, and researchers.
Alk8 is required for neural crest cell formation and development of pharyngeal arch cartilages

The type I TGFβ family member receptor alk8 acts in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathways to establish dorsoventral patterning in the early zebrafish embryo. Here, we present evidence that alk8 is required for neural crest cell (NCC) formation and that alk8 signaling gradients direct the proper patterning of premigratory NCCs. We extend our previous functional studies of alk8 to demonstrate that ectopic expression of constitutively active and dominant negative Alk8, consistently results in more medially or laterally positioned premigratory NCCs, respectively. We also demonstrate that patterning defects in premigratory NCCs, induced by alk8 misexpression, correlate with subsequent defects in NCC-derived pharyngeal arch cartilages. Furthermore, an anteroposterior effect is revealed, where overexpression of Alk8 more severely affects anterior arch cartilages and decreased Alk8 activity more severely affects posterior arch cartilage formation. Ectopic expression studies of alk8 are supported by analyses of zygotic and maternal-zygotic laf/alk8 mutants and of several BMP pathway mutants. Pharyngeal mesodermal and endodermal defects in laf/alk8 mutants suggest additional roles for alk8 in patterning of these tissues. Our results provide insight into alk8-mediated BMP signaling gradients and the establishment of premigratory NCC mediolateral positioning, and extend the model for BMP patterning of the neural crest to include that of NCC-derived pharyngeal arch cartilages. Developmental Dynamics 228:683–696, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Growth kinetics study in halide chemical vapor deposition of SiC

Abstract Growth rates of high-purity single-crystal 6H-SiC have been studied as a function of growth conditions during chemical vapor deposition process using silicon tetrachloride, propane, and hydrogen as reactants. The growth temperature ranged from 2000 to 2150 °C. High-quality SiC crystals were deposited at growth rates in the 100–300 μm/h range in both silicon- and carbon-supply limited regimes by adjusting flows of all three reactants. The results have been interpreted using thermodynamic equilibrium calculations.
Integrable potentials with cubic and quartic invariants

Abstract The necessary general form for a two-dimensional integrable potential to admit an invariant of the type: I=(xpy-ypx)n+ lower order terms, is obtained and an explicit construction is carried out at n = 3,4. A generalization is made to other similar types of the invariant.
The Use of Prealbumin and C‐Reactive Protein for Monitoring Nutrition Support in Adult Patients Receiving Enteral Nutrition in an Urban Medical Center

Background: Serum prealbumin (PAB) is commonly used to assess protein status and is often used to monitor the response to nutrition support. However, during inflammation, the liver synthesizes acute-phase proteins such as C-reactive protein (CRP) at the expense of PAB. Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine whether changes in PAB reflect the delivery of adequate nutrients or changes in inflammatory status in hospitalized adults (≥18 years) receiving enteral nutrition (n = 154). Methods: Protein and energy intake were compared to changes in PAB, assessed at baseline and twice weekly. C-reactive protein was assessed when PAB was <18 mg/dL to determine the presence and severity of inflammation. Results: In a sample of mostly critically ill patients, there was no significant difference in change in PAB for those receiving ≥60% of calorie needs (2.74 ± 9.50 mg/dL) compared to <60% of calorie needs (2.48 ± 9.36 mg/dL; P = .86). Changes in PAB correlated only with changes in CRP (r =...
Work System Barriers to Providing Safe Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medication Recommendations for Older Adults

Background: Unsafe medication use represents a major public health concern, especially for older adults. OTC medications, those that can be purchased without a formal prescription or advice from a health care professional, are one contributor to unsafe use because of their perceived safety and accessibility. Despite the recognition of pharmacists’ ability to help patients make safe OTC medication choices, the prevalence of older adult misuse of OTC medications is well documented. Objective: To identify barriers to pharmacists providing safe OTC medication recommendations to older adults. Methods: Twenty-one retail pharmacists in three focus groups with questions developed using the critical incident technique. Analysis was guided by the Input-Performance-Output Model for Health Care Professional Performance. Results: Thematic analysis revealed barriers within all of the input categories of the work system model, including provider, patient, work system, organizational factors, and external environment. Th...
Two alternative implementations of the ensemble‐transform (ET) analysis‐perturbation scheme: The ET with extended cycling intervals, and the ET without cycling

Four alternative approximate bases for the ensemble transform (ET) are obtained by extending the cycling interval to 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. Another alternative basis is obtained by foregoing cycling and instead drawing randomly generated perturbations from an archive. Experiments based upon 16-member global ensembles and a diagonal estimate of analysis-error covariance indicate that the alternative bases are effective at reducing the discrepancy between the ET analysis-perturbation variance and the estimated analysis-error variance. Forecast ensembles associated with the alternative bases maintain considerably more energy in the tropics and subtropics than the forecast ensemble associated with the original basis. Forecast ensembles associated with the alternative bases also outperform the original forecast ensemble in terms of the ensemble forecast-error covariance-matrix eigenvalue spectrum, the relationship between ensemble variance and observed squared error and the Brier score. The performance gains facilitated by the alternative approximate bases are substantial in some instances, especially in the tropics. The randomly sampled basis is superior to the original basis in most respects. Published in 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Fast, efficient error reconciliation for quantum cryptography

We describe an error-reconciliation protocol, which we call Winnow, based on the exchange of parity and Hamming's ``syndrome'' for N-bit subunits of a large dataset. The Winnow protocol was developed in the context of quantum-key distribution and offers significant advantages and net higher efficiency compared to other widely used protocols within the quantum cryptography community. A detailed mathematical analysis of the Winnow protocol is presented in the context of practical implementations of quantum-key distribution; in particular, the information overhead required for secure implementation is one of the most important criteria in the evaluation of a particular error-reconciliation protocol. The increase in efficiency for the Winnow protocol is largely due to the reduction in authenticated public communication required for its implementation.
Mitochondrial- and nuclear-encoded subunits of cytochrome oxidase in neurons: Differences in compartmental distribution, correlation with enzyme activity, and regulation by neuronal activity

Cytochrome oxidase (CO), a mitochondrial energy-generating enzyme, contains both mitochondrial- and nuclear-encoded subunits. In neurons, local levels of CO activity vary among different neuronal compartments, reflecting local demands for energy. The goals of the present study were to determine if compartmental distribution of CO subunit proteins from the two genomes was correlated with local CO activity, and if their expression was regulated proportionately in neurons. The subcellular distributions of mitochondrial-encoded CO III and nuclear-encoded CO Vb proteins were quantitatively analyzed in mouse cerebellar sections subjected to postembedding immunocytochemistry. Local levels of subunit proteins were also compared to local CO activity, as revealed by CO cytochemistry. In order to study the regulation of subunit protein expression, we assessed changes in immunoreactivity of the two CO subunits as well as changes in CO activity in mouse superior colliculus after 1 to 7 days of monocular enucleation. We found that immunoreaction product for both CO III and CO Vb existed almost exclusively in mitochondria, but their compartmental distributions were different. CO III was nonhomogeneously distributed among different neuronal compartments, where its local level was positively correlated with that of CO activity. In contrast, the subcellular distribution of CO Vb was relatively uniform and did not bear a direct relationship with that of CO activity. Moreover, the two subunit proteins were disproportionately regulated by neuronal activity. CO III and CO activity exhibited parallel decreases after the deprivation of afferent input, and their changes were earlier and to a greater degree than that of CO Vb proteins. Thus, the present findings indicate that the local expression and/or distribution of CO subunit proteins from the two genomes may involve different regulatory mechanisms in neurons. Our data also suggest that the activity-dependent regulation of mitochondrial-encoded CO subunits is likely to play a major role in controlling the local levels of CO content and its activity. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
On the boundedness of the Hessian of the potential energy of robot manipulators

Several results on robot manipulator motion control require a uniform bound for the Hessian of the potential energy or equivalently the Jacobian of the gravity vector. Not all robot manipulators, however, ensure the existence of such a uniform bound. The first contribution of this article is the complete characterization of this class which is referred to as class ℬ manipulators. The uniform bound of the Hessian is typically part of the control law expression and hence it plays an important role in controller gain synthesis. The second contribution of this article consists of deriving, for class ℬ robot manipulators, an easy to compute explicit expression of the uniform bound in terms of kinematic and inertial link parameters. If for a particular robot manipulator the Hessian of potential energy is not uniformly bounded, a bound exists that is valid within the physical workspace of the manipulator. The third contribution of this article is the derivation of an explicit expression for the latter bound which is useful in the design and controller gain synthesis of control laws that are valid locally. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Diversifying the U.S. Engineering Workforce: A New Model

Existing approaches to increasing diversity conceptually pose the problem as a leaky pipeline. Although the pipeline model has supported several types of interventions, the mental model oversimplifies complexities of the underlying processes, focuses interventions at points of unwanted leakage, and suggests that leaks need to be plugged instead of systems renewed. Analysis suggests that even if leak-stopping interventions could be multiplied through significant increases in funding, they would remain insufficient to attain the goal of having student enrollments in engineering substantially reflect the demographics of the general population. Therefore, a new analogical model, which emphasizes flows of personal and interpersonal energy within the educational system, is offered to guide future interventions. Finally, suggestions for applying the model to increase diversity in engineering are proposed.
Effects of endotoxin lung injury on NMR T2 relaxation

The effects of endotoxin injury on lung NMR relaxation times (T1, CPMG T2, and Hahn decay constant (Hahn T2)) were studied in excised unperfused rat lungs. Blinded histologic examination showed no clear-cut separation between endotoxin and control lungs. Morphometric lung tissue volume density and gravimetric lung water content did not differ significantly between the two groups. In contrast, the values of the fast, intermediate, and slow T2 components, obtained by multiexponential analysis of the CPMG decay curve, increased markedly after endotoxin administration, with minimal overlap between endotoxin and control values. The response of Hahn T2 was, in general, in the same direction as that of CPMG 72; however, Hahn T2 may be more affected by measurement errors and may be less sensitive to the presence of lung injury. t1 showed minimal changes after injury. The present data suggest that CPMG 72 measurements can consistently detect the presence of lung injury even when conventional histologic, morphometric, and gravimetric studies provide negative or equivocal results, and that the CMPG T2 method is superior, in this respect, to the Hahn decay method. T1 does not appear to be sensitive to lung injury in the absence of significant lung water accumulation.
Self-organizing reservior computing with dynamically regulated cortical neural networks

Reservoir computing (RC) is an approach to design, train and analyze recurrent neural networks (RNNs). Traditional RC models use fixed, random topological reservoirs. Very little work has been conducted on adapting the structure of neural reservoirs. In this study, the lamina-specific cortical neural network is employed to construct the reservoir. Numerous experimental data show that cortical neural networks are not silent even without external inputs, but rather maintain a low spontaneous firing activity. This aspect of cortical networks is important for their computational functions, but it is difficult to reproduce this aspect in the models of cortical neural networks due to the inherently unstable property of the low-activity regime. In this paper, we propose a developmental approach to self-organize the structure and synapses of lamina-specific cortical neural networks (CNNs) based reservoir where a gene regulatory network (GRN) is employed. We call this new model as GRN-CNN-RC model. Basically, the weight plasticity, and meta-plasticity of the CNN-based RC will be regulated by the GRN, and the GRN will also be influenced by the activity of the neurons it resides in, in a closed loop. Extensive experimental results on the classical benchmark problems have demonstrated the efficiency and robustness of the proposed model for classification tasks.
The limits of choice: July 1914 reconsidered:

The discussion of the outbreak of World War I was a classic historical debate. It raised most historical questions. Not only academics but also politicians, journalists, and the educated public became involved. A considerable number of scholars made reputations debating it. It was probably the most burning historical question for the interwar generation and produced a vast quantity of original documents and secondary literature. But the great effort produced little agreement. This paradox seemed to make nonsense of history: the more men knew, the less they agreed. The debate seemed to demonstrate that history is nothing more than national propaganda, subjective prejudice, or intellectual exercise. This conclusion was partially justified since many participants sought immediate political objectives rather than historical objectivity. Indeed it was precisely those political implications of the debate, which attracted public attention, that virtually insured against objectivity. In this sense the debate tells us more about the interwar period than the prewar period. However much the participants genuinely sought to explain the prewar period, their disagreement was due largely to questions of interpretation, since the facts could be generally agreed upon after publication of the official documents. The debate is therefore understandable only if these interpretations are isolated. Competing Interpretations of the Crisis
Immunohistochemistry - microarray analysis of patients with peritoneal metastases of appendiceal or colorectal origin.

Background The value of immunohistochemistry (IHC)-microarray analysis of pathological specimens in the management of patients is controversial although preliminary data suggests potential benefit. We describe the characteristics of patients undergoing a commercially available IHC-microarray method in patients with peritoneal metastases (PM) and the feasibility of this technique in this population. Methods We retrospectively analyzed consecutive patients with pathologically confirmed PM from appendiceal or colorectal primary who underwent Caris Molecular IntelligenceTM testing. IHC, microarray, FISH and mutational analysis were included and stratified by PCI score, histology and treatment characteristics. Statistical analysis was performed using non-parametric tests. Results Our study included 5 patients with appendiceal and 11 with colorectal PM. The median age of patients was 51 (IQR 39-65) years, with 11(68%) female. The median PCI score of the patients was 17(IQR 10-25). Hyperthermic intra-peritoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC) was performed in 4 (80%) patients with appendiceal primary tumors and 4 (36%) with colorectal primary. KRAS mutations were encountered in 40% of appendiceal vs. 30% colorectal tumors, while BRAF mutations were seen in 40% of colorectal PM and none of the patients with appendiceal PM (p=0.06). IHC biomarker expression was not significantly different between the two primaries. Sufficient tumor for microarray analysis was found in 44% (n=7) patients, which was not associated with previous use of chemotherapy (p>0.20 for 5-FU/LV, Irinotecan and Oxaliplatin). Conclusions In a small sample of patients with peritoneal metastases, the feasibility and results of IHC-microarray staining based on a commercially available test is reported. The apparent high incidence of the BRAF mutation in patients with PM may potentially offer opportunities for novel therapeutics and suggest that IHC-microarray is a method that can be used in this population.
Biosynthesis of estrone and estradiol 3-glucosiduronates.

Abstract It is shown that liver homogenates from a number of species promote the formation of the 3-glucosiduronate of estrone and estradiol from uridinediphosphoglucuronic acid and labelled estrone and estradiol, respectively. The chemical nature of estradiol 3- glucosiduronate was proven by hydrolysis with β-glucuronidase and inhibition of hydrolysis by D-saccharolactone, by rigorous identification of the aglycone, and by methylation and hydrolysis to yield estradiol 17-methyl ether. Estrone glucosiduronate was identified by reduction to estradiol 3-glucosiduronate.
EXAMINATION OF FATIGUE EFFECTS FROM EXTENDED-TIME ACCOMMODATIONS ON THE SAT REASONING TEST™

This study examined operational data from the SAT Reasoning Test™ to determine if students who tested under extended-time conditions were suffering from excessive fatigue relative to students who tested under standard-time conditions. Excessive fatigue was defined by significant (a) increases in differential item functioning (DIF) and (b) decreases in item completion rates, for items at the end of testing compared to the beginning of testing. Both of these factors were examined by comparing the performance of students who tested under standard time to students who tested with extended time on items administered early (section position 2 or 3) and different items administered late (section position 8, 9, or 10) during the 10-section test administration. The sample included students with learning disabilities and/or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who tested with extended time (time and a half or double time) and students without disabilities who tested under standard-time conditions. Analyses were conducted on the critical reading and writing sections of the SAT® and examined item difficulty as well as item completion rates. Results indicated few changes in levels of DIF (early in the test compared to late in the test). In addition, item completion rates for students who received extra time were comparable to (or in some cases higher than) test-takers without disabilities who tested under standard time on both early and late sections.
Optimal row-column designs for complete diallel crosses

Universally optimal row-column designs for complete, diallel crosses are investigated. Three series of designs that require just one replication of the crosses are provided. A series of designs having two replications of each cross is also provided.
Endothelial determinants of dendritic cell adhesion and migration: New implications for vascular diseases

Objective— Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease triggered by endothelial injury and sustained by inflammation. Dendritic cells (DCs) are critical for the cell-mediated arm of an immune response and are known to influence inflammatory immunity. A fundamental aspect of DC function is their capacity to adhere and migrate through vascular endothelial cells (ECs). We investigated the role of endothelial activation and dysregulation of the NO pathway on DC adhesion and migration. Methods and Results— We discovered that DC adhesion and migration are modulated by changes in endothelial function. DC adhesion and transmigration were markedly increased after exposing ECs to hypoxia, oxidized low density lipoprotein, or tumor necrosis factor-α. Specifically, inhibition of endothelial NO synthase increased DC binding and transmigration. l-Arginine or 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibition partially decreased DC-EC interaction. Conclusions— The results of this study suggest that the adhesion and migration of DCs are increased by stimuli known to accelerate atherogenesis. Vice versa, augmentation of endothelial NO synthase activity prevents DC adhesion. These findings may provide insight into the inflammatory processes occurring in atherosclerosis. Because DCs control immunity, regulating DC-EC interaction may be relevant to inflammation and atherogenesis.
Emerging Market Currency Exposure: Taiwan

Abstract The insignificance of currency risk in emerging markets is particularly puzzling, given a lack of hedging instruments and volatile currency movements in these markets. In this paper, we conjecture that this puzzle may be due to the comovement between exchange rates and the market factor in these markets. Our conjecture is motivated by both theory and empirical evidence. We test our conjecture with the Taiwan market data and find supporting evidence. Our findings have important theoretical as well as practical implications. In terms of theoretical implications, the extant currency risk literature generally models currency risk as a separate risk factor. The results in this paper suggest that researchers instead should focus on the linkage between currency risk and the standard asset pricing factors. In terms of practical implications, our results imply that the standard asset-pricing models without currency risk may be sufficient for practical decision making in emerging markets, since exchange rate changes may not have incremental information relative to the market factor in these markets.
Including prenatal diagnoses in birth defects monitoring: Experience of the Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program

Background Advances in prenatal diagnosis have led to changes in the management of pregnancies affected with birth defects. These changes pose unique challenges for birth defects monitoring programs which use hospital-based sources. Methods In 1994, Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP) abstractors began to visit area perinatologists' offices to identify pregnancies diagnosed prenatally with fetal defects. These pregnancies were then linked with existing MACDP cases and the hospital deliveries abstracted. Those without a hospital delivery were included as having unknown outcomes. Prenatally diagnosed defects were classified as definite or possible based on the certainty of the prenatal description. For 1995-2004, we calculated minimum and maximum adjusted defect prevalences by adding definite prenatal defects, and definite plus possible prenatal defects, to the hospital-based cases. Results We identified 1009 pregnancies with a prenatally diagnosed defect not ascertained from MACDP hospital sources. Including these increased the total defect prevalence from 28 per 1000 live births to a minimum of 29.94 (6.9% increase) and maximum of 30.14 (7.7% increase) per 1000. The minimum increase was greater than 50% for conjoined twins, triploidy, craniorachischisis, cystic hygroma, Klinefelter syndrome, anencephaly, Turner syndrome, and trisomies 13, 18 and 21 among mothers >or=35. Conclusions These data reflect the variety of congenital abnormalities that can be detected prenatally and the importance of including prenatal diagnoses in birth defects monitoring data. Birth defects monitoring programs should assess individually the extent to which prenatal diagnosis can affect the accuracy and completeness of their data. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2009. Published 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
High-resolution, monotone solution of the adjoint shallow-water equations

A monotone, second-order accurate numerical scheme is presented for solving the differential form of the adjoint shallow-water equations in generalized two-dimensional coordinates. Fluctuation-splitting is utilized to achieve a high-resolution solution of the equations in primitive form. One-step and two-step schemes are presented and shown to achieve solutions of similarly high accuracy in one dimension. However, the two-step method is shown to yield more accurate solutions to problems in which unsteady wave speeds are present. In two dimensions, the two-step scheme is tested in the context of two parameter identification problems, and it is shown to accurately transmit the information needed to identify unknown forcing parameters based on measurements of the system response. The first problem involves the identification of an upstream flood hydrograph based on downstream depth measurements. The second problem involves the identification of a long wave state in the far-field based on near-field depth measurements. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Drug Efficacy at G Protein–Coupled Receptors

Efficacy has been defined in receptor pharmacology as a proportionality factor denoting the amount of physiological response a given ligand imparts to a biological system for a given amount of receptor occupancy. While first defined in terms of response, the concept can be expanded to a wide variety of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) behaviors, which includes pleiotropic interaction with multiple G proteins, internalization, oligomerization, desensitization, and interaction with membrane auxilliary proteins. Thus, there can be numerous types of efficacy, and different ligands can have a range of efficacies for different receptor behaviors. This review discusses the use of the efficacy concept in GPCR models based on the thermodynamic linkage theory and also in terms of the protein ensemble theory, in which macroaffinity of ligands for an ensemble of receptor microstates produces a new ligand-bound ensemble. The pharmacological characteristics of the ligand emerge from the intersection of the ligand-bound ensemble with the various ensembles defining pharmacological receptor behaviors. Receptor behaviors discussed are activation of G proteins; ability to be phosphorylated, desensitized, and internalized; formation of dimers and oligomers; and the interaction with auxiliary membrane and cytosolic proteins. The concepts of ligand-specific receptor conformation and conditional efficacy are also discussed in the context of ligand control of physiological response.
Modeling and identification of the dynamics of electrostatically actuated microcantilever with integrated thermal sensor

Microcantilevers that thermally sense the topography of the sample with the ability of electrostatic actuation enable a highly parallel implementation where multiple cantilevers scan the media. Microcantilevers with integrated sensors are used for a variety of applications viz. calorimetry, thermal dip pen lithography, thermal metrology, room temperature chemical vapor deposition in addition to high density data storage application. The dynamics of these cantilevers is governed by a complex interplay of mechanical, thermal, electrostatic and interatomic forces. Such dynamics are analyzed in this paper for operating conditions that are practical for high density data storage applications (? Tb=in2) and imaging. Models for a thermo-mechanical cantilever that are tractable for real-time applications as well as a comprehensive characterization of the relevant physical effects and methods for identifying model parameters are developed. The efficacy of the paradigm developed is proven by a comparison with experimental data.
Street CORNERS: Architecture for Correlation of Networked Environmental Sensors

Wireless sensor networks can provide a wide range of information, gathered from both active and passive sensing. In urban environments, using an example application of environmental sensing on street corners, the benefit of active sensing, which includes monitoring and reporting of real-time data, such as calculation of passing traffic rate and measuring noise, can be easily seen. Passive information gathered from urban sensing might include sampling the air quality along a roadway for detection of road and urban pollutants. A network architecture has been developed to integrate active and passive sensor information gathered from urban environmental sensing networks. Depending on the active sensing information gathered, passive sensing information may be gathered, for integration with active sensing, and escalation for alert reporting. Using the selected illustration application of a wireless urban environmental sensor network, the correlation of information gathered in near real-time is presented and discussed.
Enhancing Asset Search and Retrieval in a Services Repository using Consumption Contexts

Software organizations wanting to implement a systematic reuse program face the challenge of organizing and cataloging their software assets so that they can be retrieved in different contexts of usage across their divisions. With the advent of services-oriented architectures (SOA), of which Web services is an example, software components are readily available as services on the web using standard protocols. However, service descriptions are usually only those that are provided by the service producers and unless a service producer has thought about all the contexts in which its service may be used, there is no guarantee that the service can be retrieved with high recall. In this paper, we investigate how different contexts of asset consumption may be used for better asset modeling and discovery. We introduce an extensible set of consumption factors where the service descriptions may be provided by the service producer or other roles, implement a prototype that can evolve with the modeled factors, and demonstrate that the solution enables improved precision and recall for services available in a large-scale software organization.