cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Impact of event notification services on timely follow-up and rehospitalization among primary care patients at two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.

OBJECTIVE To examine the effectiveness of event notification service (ENS) alerts on health care delivery processes and outcomes for older adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS We deployed ENS alerts in 2 Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers using regional health information exchange (HIE) networks from March 2016 to December 2019. Alerts targeted VA-based primary care teams when older patients (aged 65+ years) were hospitalized or attended emergency departments (ED) outside the VA system. We employed a concurrent cohort study to compare postdischarge outcomes between patients whose providers received ENS alerts and those that did not (usual care). Outcome measures included: timely follow-up postdischarge (actual phone call within 7 days or an in-person primary care visit within 30 days) and all-cause inpatient or ED readmission within 30 days. Generalized linear mixed models, accounting for clustering by primary care team, were used to compare outcomes between groups. RESULTS Compared to usual care, veterans whose primary care team received notification of non-VA acute care encounters were 4 times more likely to have phone contact within 7 days (AOR = 4.10, P < .001) and 2 times more likely to have an in-person visit within 30 days (AOR = 1.98, P = .007). There were no significant differences between groups in hospital or ED utilization within 30 days of index discharge (P = .057). DISCUSSION ENS was associated with increased timely follow-up following non-VA acute care events, but there was no associated change in 30-day readmission rates. Optimization of ENS processes may be required to scale use and impact across health systems. CONCLUSION Given the importance of ENS to the VA and other health systems, this study provides guidance for future research on ENS for improving care coordination and population outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02689076. "Regional Data Exchange to Improve Care for Veterans After Non-VA Hospitalization." Registered February 23, 2016.
Incremental Discovery of Irredundant Motif Bases in Time O(|Σ|n2 logn)

Compact bases formed by motifs called ”irredundant” and capable of generating all other motifs in a sequence have been proposed in [8,10] and successfully tested in tasks of biosequence analysis and classification. Given a sequence s of n characters drawn from an alphabet Σ, the problem of extracting such a base from s had been previously solved in time O(|Σ|n 2 logn) and O(|Σ|n 2 logn), respectively in [9] and [7], through resort to the FFT-based string searching by Fischer and Paterson [5]. More recently, a solution taking time O(|Σ|n 2) without resort to the FFT was also devised [4].
Getting the Right Option Price with the Wrong Model

Despite recent advances in modeling option prices, traders and other practitioners have resisted using more complex theoretical formulas. The most widely used valuation procedure among practitioners is a variant of the Black-Scholes framework with ad hoc adjustments and frequent updating. Why do traders continue to use this practitioner Black-Scholes (PBS) model to price and hedge options when the model's assumptions about the underlying asset price are clearly wrong? In this paper, we provide a theoretical justification for the practice. We show that the PBS model can be cast as a functional approximation to the true but unknown option pricing formula. When fit to a large number of observed prices, the implied volatility surface will exactly price the full cross-section. If the implied volatility surface is re-calibrated sufficiently frequently, then out of sample forecasts of option prices become arbitrarily accurate.
A Supermodular Relaxation for Scheduling with Release Dates

We consider the scheduling problem of minimizing a weighted sum of completion times under release dates. We present a relaxation which is a supermodular polyhedron. We show that this relaxation is precisely the projection of a time-indexed relaxation introduced by Dyer and Wolsey.
Improved Ventilatory Efficiency with Locomotor Muscle Afferent Inhibition is Strongly Associated with Leg Composition in Heart Failure

Abstract Background Skeletal muscle atrophy contributes to increased afferent feedback (group III and IV) and may influence ventilatory control (high V E /VCO 2 slope) in heart failure (HF). Objective This study examined the influence of muscle mass on the change in V E /VCO 2 with afferent neural block during exercise in HF. Methods 17 participants [9 HF (60±6yrs) and 8 controls (CTL) (63±7yrs, mean±SD)] completed 3 sessions. Session 1: dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and graded cycle exercise to volitional fatigue. Sessions 2 and 3: 5min of constant-work cycle exercise (65% of peak power) randomized to lumbar intrathecal injection of fentanyl (afferent blockade) or placebo. Ventilation (V E ) and gas exchange (oxygen consumption, VO 2 ; carbon dioxide production, VCO 2 ) were measured. Results Peak work and VO 2 were lower in HF ( p 0.05). Leg fat was greater in HF (34.4±3.0 and 26.3±1.8%) and leg muscle mass was lower in HF (63.0±2.8 and 70.4±1.8%, respectively, p E /VCO 2 slope was reduced in HF during afferent blockade compared with CTL (−18.8±2.7 and −1.4±2.0%, respectively, p =0.02) and was positively associated with leg muscle mass (r 2 =0.58, p 2 =0.73, p Conclusions HF patients with the highest fat mass and the least leg muscle mass had the greatest improvement in V E /VCO 2 with afferent blockade with leg fat mass being the only predictor for the improvement in V E /VCO 2 slope. Both leg muscle mass and fat mass are important contributors to ventilatory abnormalities and strongly associated to improvements in V E /VCO 2 slope with locomotor afferent inhibition in HF.
Three dimensional shape estimation from two dimensional images

In two dimensional images of three dimensional reflecting surfaces, both the shape of the surface and the positions of sources of illumination determine relative values of image intensity. Segmentation of objects and estimation of surface shapes from 2D images are important research areas in scene analysis and computer vision. Many analyses of shape determination assume Lambertian surfaces which have no shadows, diffuse illumination, or specular reflections. While these results provide a good basis for shape from shading analysis, the nonlinear effects specifically omitted from consideration will, in most images of real objects, cause more error in shape estimation than additive white Gaussian noise processes. This paper considers segmentation of objects and estimation of surface shape in the presence of these nonlinear effects and demonstrates results both with well-behaved synthetically generated images and with real images acquired under somewhat controlled conditions.
Pressure and Temperature Dependence of the Elastic Moduli of a Low‐Expansion Lithium Aluminum Silicate Glass‐Ceramic

The behavior of the elastic moduli at high pressures and temperatures was investigated. A quadratic expansion was made for C/sub 11//sup s/, C/sub 44/, and B/sup s/ at 298/sup 0/K. The values are felt to be valid up to at least 4 kbars. It was found that the glass-ceramic becomes softer with increasing pressure and stiffer with rising temperature. The data suggest a macroscopic elastic instability of B when the pressure exceeds 16.3 kbars. 1 table. (RWR)
Ganglioside GM1 overcomes serum inhibition of neuritic outgrowth.

Considerable variations in both neuritic and non-neuronal cell outgrowths of ganglionic expiant cultures are imposed when different substrata and medium supplements are used. Therefore, a neuritic response to exogenous agents such as gangliosides may be better, or exclusively revealed under selected combinations of medium and substratum. We have surveyed a number of different ganglia for their ability to display a neuritic response to ganglioside GM1 and the culture conditions under which such a display may take place. GM1 can recognizably promote neurite extension from embryonic day 8 chick dorsal root ganglia, day 11 sympathetic ganglia, and day 8 ciliary ganglia. Demonstration of such effects, however, requires an appropriate balance between promoting and inhibiting influences by other extrinsic influences (culture substrata, neuronotrophic factors, serum inhibitors) thereby allowing for improvement by the ganglioside. Different ganglia require different combinations of those influences. Ciliary ganglia, for example, will show a GM1 response on a polyornithine substratum in medium supplemented with the chick eye Ciliary Neuronotrophic Factor and 1% fetal calf serum, but not with 10% serum or no serum. The effective concentration range for GM1 is in accord with previously reported serum binding data. These, and other data are consistent with an action of GM1 in executing a neurite program, rather than an imposition of the program itself.
Analysis of 18F-fluorodeoxy-glucose PET imaging data captured before and after Pc 4-mediated photodynamic therapy of U87 tumors in the athymic nude rat

Introduction: Several workers have proposed the use of PET (Positron Emission Tomography) imaging for the outcome assessment of photodynamic therapy (PDT), especially for deep-seated tumors. We report on our study of 18Ffluorodeoxy- glucose (18F-FDG) PET imaging following brain tumor Pc4-PDT. Our working hypothesis was that the tumor's metabolic activity would decline dramatically following Pc 4-PDT owing to tumor necrosis. Methods: Seven days after intraparenchymal implantation of U87 cells, the brains of 12 athymic nude rats were imaged by micro-CT and/or micro-MR. These animals were also 18F-FDG micro-PET (mPET) scanned before and after Pc 4-PDT. 18F-FDG was used to trace metabolic activity that was monitored via mPET. Occurrence of PDT was confirmed on histology. The analysis of 18F-FDG dose and animal weight normalized mPET activity was studied over the 90 minute µPET scan. Results: Currently, mPET data have been studied for: (1) three of the animals that did not indicate tumor necrosis on histology and were assigned to a "Non-PDT" group, and (2) six animals that exhibited tumor necrosis on histology and were assigned to a "PDT" group. The mPET-detected 18F-FDG uptake activity in the tumor region before and after photoirradiation increased in the Non-PDT group an average of 2.28 times, and in the PDT group it increased an average of 1.15 times. Discussion: We are investigating the cause of the increase in 18F-FDG mPET activity that we observed in the PDT group. The methodology used in this study should be useful in determining whether this or other PET, SPECT, or MR functional imaging protocols will detect both the specificity and sensitivity of brain tumor necrosis following Pc 4-PDT.
Black like us

When, in 1724, the French monarchy promulgated its Code Noir for the parcel of the empire that was called Louisiana, the first article of the rules applying to “the state and condition of the slaves” referred not to slaves. Rather, it decrees that: “all Jews who may have established their religion there” should expect to be expelled within three months of the decree. 1 Though the Jews were never in fact evicted, this article signaled the start of a pattern. The fate of Jews and blacks in the New World was entwined, and perhaps the French crown could not be blamed for getting these two minorities confused. It could even be credited for being prescient. For these two groups have been so entangled that some twentieth-century Jews in the United States would imagine themselves black, and would blur the lines of race and ethnicity that bigotry had hoped to keep distinct. Two major structural differences have nevertheless divided blacks and Jews throughout the history of the United States. White racism has been far more pervasive and vicious than antisemitism has been. The hostility to African-Americans has been integral to the national experience in a way that makes bigotry against Jewish Americans seem inconsequential. Moreover, blacks have been economically disadvantaged in ways that Jews never were. Both of these signs of asymmetry go a long way toward vindicating the assertion of Nathan Zuckerman, in Philip Roth’s The Human Stain, that the two minorities have been “the most unalike of America’s historic undesirables.” 2 The advantages accruing to Jewish immigrants and their progeny have rightly been underscored in recent scholarship, which has noted the contrast with those who were cursed by confinement on the wrong side of the color line. Perhaps the most influential such study has been the historian Michael Rogin’s Blackface, White Noise (1996). In the first third of the twentieth century, the author argued, black culture was frequently plundered, imitated, and distorted—and Jews seemed to be in the forefront of those who inherited the The author wishes to thank Cheryl Lynn Greenberg for an astute critique of this essay, and Alan Cecil Petigny for organizing a panel at the 2007 conference of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, at which a brief version of this paper was presented.
Viscosity solutions for fully nonlinear second order equations with applications to stochastic differential games

In this paper we relate a recent result in the theory of viscosity solutions of second order partial differential equations and we sketch an application of this result to stochastic control theory. The result related is a weak maximum principle for viscosity solutions of fully nonlinear degenerate elliptic partial differential equations or FNDEPDEs for short. As an application of this result we prove existence of value of stochastic differential games under the Isaac's condition. We just outline the proof since a rigorous treatment would require dealing with far too many technical details for the space available and would also tend to obscure the basic ideas. The maximum principal we relate is taken from [3] where a complete detailed proof may be found. This is the first direct proof of such a result and the first proof that includes nonconvex and nonconcave FNDEPDEs. It is this last fact which is crucial to the application we make. Proofs for convex or concave FNDEPDEs may be found in [5] and [6]. In fact, what is actually proved in these papers is the equivalence of the viscosity solution and the value function of an associated stochastic optimal control problem. The maximum principle then follows from stochastic optimal control theory. As such, these earlier results are clearly not applicable to stochastic differential games. Our proof of the existence of value is similar in spirit to those proofs given for deterministic differential games which are based on the maximum principle in [1], i.e. on the uniqueness of viscosity solutions of first order equations. Unlike the situation in deterministic differential games, the existence of value for stochastic differential games, under the Isaacs' condition, was previously unknown. This application represents a new result in stochastic control theory.
Modeling and analysis of dynamic robust design experiments

This paper investigates the modeling issue of the dynamic robust design problem. Taguchi (1986) proposes a loss model approach which models the loss measures as functions of the control factor effects. Miller and Wu (1996) propose a response function model approach which models the loss measures as functions of the effects of both the control and noise factors. In this paper we propose a response model approach which directly models the response as a function of the effects of the control, noise, and signal factors. It is found that the effect estimates of the intercept and slope functions from the three approaches are identical. The significant effects identified from the loss model and the response function model approaches may be spurious. The loss model approach may lead to non-optimal solutions and information loss. The three modeling approaches are compared in a real example.
Method for testing the aquatic toxicity of sediment extracts for use in identifying organic toxicants in sediments.

Biologically directed fractionation techniques are a fundamental tool for identifying the cause of toxicity in environmental samples, but few are available for studying mixtures of organic chemicals in aquatic sediments. This paper describes a method for extracting organic chemicals from sediments and then re-introducing them into water column toxicity tests in a way that mimics, at least in part, the partitioning processes that govern bioavailability in sediment. This involves transferring solvent extracts of sediment into triolein and then placing the mixture inside low-density polyethylene dialysis tubing in a configuration similar to semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) used for environmental monitoring. For four model compounds, SPMDs were shown to effectively maintain water column exposure in static systems for 10−14 d, with partition coefficients similar to KOW. Toxicity tests indicated that the SPMDs were compatible with four of five freshwater organisms tested and could be used to measure both ...
DOS‐tips: DOS Versions

Many users have questions about the various versions of PC‐DOS that have come out over the last several years. People want to know “Should I upgrade?” and even “Why should I upgrade?” The following information, culled from a recent item in PC Magazine, should be helpful.
Quality control of an unreliable random FMS: with Bernoulli and CSP sampling

This paper provides a set of recursive equations for computing the AOQ (average outgoing quality) of an unreliable random FMS (flexible manufacturing system). The FMS is described using Whitt's approximation to a network of GI/G/S queues. Relationships between the operating and quality manufacturing characteristics of the FMS are found. Numerical examples are provided and the impact of outgoing quality variability on location of inspection in an FMS is discussed. This latter topic is left for further research however.
Inactive by Design? Neighborhood Design and Political Participation

Critics have long denounced the design of suburban communities for fostering political apathy. We disaggregate the concept of suburban design into four distinct attributes of neighborhoods. We then use tract-level Census data, the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, and multilevel models to measure the relationship between these design features and political participation. Certain design aspects common in suburban neighborhoods are powerful predictors of reduced political activity, illustrating a potential link between neighborhood design and politics. Yet low-density environments appear to facilitate some types of participation. Suburban designs vary, and so do their likely impacts on political participation.
Efficacy of Induction Selection Chemotherapy vs Primary Surgery for Patients With Advanced Oral Cavity Carcinoma

Importance The University of Michigan has investigated the use of induction selection (IS) with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for patients who respond to CRT and found this approach effective in the management of advanced laryngeal cancer. The IS approach was extended to oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) to help understand whether organ preservation or survival benefit resulted. Objective To evaluate the efficacy of an IS protocol vs primary surgical extirpation and selective postoperative radiotherapy for advanced OCSCC. Design and Setting Retrospective matched cohort study at a tertiary care hospital. Participants Nineteen patients with resectable stages III and IV OCSCC were enrolled into a phase 2 IS trial. Patients with a response of at least 50% underwent concurrent CRT; those with a response of less than 50% underwent surgical treatment and radiotherapy. A comparison cohort of patients treated with primary surgical extirpation during a similar time period was frequency matched for inclusion criteria and patient characteristics to those patients included from the phase 2 IS trial. No difference was noted in age, sex, pretreatment American Joint Committee on Cancer stage, T and N classifications, smoking status, alcohol consumption, or tumor subsite between the IS and surgical cohorts. Median follow-up was 9.4 years in the IS cohort and 7.1 years in the surgical cohort. Interventions Induction selection and CRT vs primary surgical extirpation with or without postoperative radiotherapy. Main Outcomes and Measures Overall and disease-specific survival and locoregional control. Results The Kaplan-Meier estimate for overall survival at 5 years was 32% in the IS cohort and 65% in the surgical cohort. The Kaplan-Meier estimate for disease-specific survival at 5 years was 46% in the IS cohort and 75% in the surgical cohort. The Kaplan-Meier estimate for locoregional control at 5 years was 26% in the IS cohort and 72% in the surgical cohort. Multivariable analysis demonstrated significantly better overall and disease-specific survival and locoregional control outcomes ( P = .03, P = .001, and P Conclusions and Relevance Primary surgical treatment showed significantly better survival and locoregional control compared with IS in this matched patient cohort. Despite success of organ preservation IS protocols in the larynx, comparative survival analysis of an IS protocol vs primary surgical extirpation for OCSCC demonstrates significantly better outcomes in the surgical cohort. These findings support surgery as the principal treatment for OCSCC.
Teaching Partnerships: Early Childhood and Engineering Students Teaching Math and Science Through Robotics

This paper presents an innovative approach to introducing pre-service early childhood teachers to math, science and technology education. The approach involves the creation of partnerships between pre-service early childhood and engineering students to conceive, develop, implement and evaluate curriculum in the area of math, science and technology by using robotics and the engineering design process. In this paper we first present the theoretical framework for the creation of these partnerships. We then introduce an experience done at Tufts University in which three different forms of partnership models evolved: the collaborator’s model, the external consultant’s model and the developer’s model. We also present different case studies from this experience and finally we conclude with some remarks and observations for making this work scalable and sustainable in other settings and universities.
Learning spatial decision tree for geographical classification: a summary of results

Given learning samples from a spatial raster dataset, the geographical classification problem aims to learn a decision tree classifier that minimizes classification errors as well as salt-n-pepper noise. The problem is important in many applications, such as land cover classification in remote sensing and lesion classification in medical diagnosis. However, the problem is challenging due to spatial autocorrelation. Existing decision tree learning algorithms, i.e. ID3, C4.5, CART, produce a lot of salt-n-pepper noise in classification results, due to their assumption that data items are drawn independently from identical distributions. In contrast, we propose a spatial decision tree learning algorithm, which incorporates spatial autocorrelation effect by a new spatial information gain (SIG) measure. The proposed approach is evaluated in a case study on a remote sensing dataset from Chanhassen, MN. Case study results show that the proposed approach outperforms the traditional approach in not only reducing salt-n-pepper noise but also improving classification accuracy.
Loss of Function Mutations in Conserved Regions of the Human Arginase I Gene

We have utilized SSCP analysis to identify disease-causing mutations in a cohort with arginase deficiency. Each of the patient's mutations was reconstructed in vitro by site-directed mutagenesis to determine the effect of the mutations on enzyme activity. In addition we identified six areas of cross-species homology in the arginase protein, four containing conserved histidine residues thought to be important to Mn(2+)-dependent enzyme function. Mapping patient mutations in relationship to the conserved regions indicates that substitution mutations within the conserved regions and randomly occurring microdeletions and nonsense mutations have a significant effect on enzymatic function. In vitro mutagenesis was utilized to create nonpatient substitution mutations in the conserved histidine residues to verify their importance to arginase activity. As expected, replacement of histidine residues with other amino acids dramatically reduces arginase activity levels in our bacterial expression system.
Stochastic complexity and the mdl principle

A Search for the stochastic complexity of the observed data, as the greates lower bound with which the data can be encoded, represents a global maximum likelihood principle, which permits comparison of models regardless of the number of parameters in them. For important special classes, such as the guassian and the multinomial models, formulas for the stochastic complexity give new and powerful model selection criteria,while in the general case approximations can be computed with the MDL principle. Once a model is found with which the stochastic complexity is reached, there is nothing further to learn from the data with the proposed models. The basic notions are reviewed and numerical examples are given.
Kinesin movement on glutaraldehyde-fixed microtubules.

Abstract Glutaraldehyde-cross-linked microtubules were investigated as substrates for kinesin motility. Microtubules, formed in vitro from chicken brain tubulin, were stabilized with Taxol and chemically fixed with glutaraldehyde. The degree of tubulin monomer cross-linking as a function of time and glutaraldehyde concentration was characterized using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Atomic force microscopy of fixed microtubules indicated that the cross-linking is sufficient to stabilize the gross structure of the microtubules against air drying or a distilled water challenge. Kinesin movement on immobilized, fixed microtubules was determined using a kinesin-coated bead motility assay observed with differential interference contrast microscopy. Within measurement error, kinesin bead movement velocities were independent of the degree of microtubule cross-linking. Binding affinity, however, decreased with increased cross-linking. Although air- and water-challenged microtubules did not support kinesin motility, a dilute suspension of glutaraldehyde-fixed microtubules in buffer supported kinesin motility for at least 2 days without any substantial degradation of activity. Fixed microtubules may be useful for several applications, including affinity purification of microtubule-associated proteins and motility measurements under extreme conditions of temperature and other variables.
A neural-network approach to the electromagnetic imaging of elliptic conducting cylinders

A neural-network approach is presented for the electromagnetic imaging of conducting cylinders of elliptical cross section. Simulation results are presented which demonstrate that a properly trained neural network is capable of accurately identifying the shape and location of unknown elliptic cylinders in inaccessible domains. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 28: 303–306, 2001.
Calculation of trans-hydrogen-bond 13C-15N three-bond and other scalar J-couplings in cooperative peptide models. A density functional theory study.

We report B3LYP DFT calculations on peptide models that consider the effects of cooperative interactions with proximate H-bonds and local geometry at the H-bonding site upon trans-H-bond 13 C- 15 N three-bond scalar J-couplings. The calculations predict that cooperative interactions with other H-bonds within a H-bonding chain can significantly increase the magnitude of these couplings. Such increases are due to a combination of the presence of the neighboring H-bonds and the slight increase in C=O distances expected for peptide H-bonds near the centers of H-bonding chains. The energies of H-bonds inferred from H-bonding distances, alone, could be significantly in error if the effects of neighboring H-bonds are ignored.
Compression after impact strength of thin laminates with various percentage of 0° plies:

Conventional wisdom dictates that adding more 0° plies in the load-bearing direction of a laminate will increase its stiffness and strength. While this is true for undamaged laminates, the compress...
Rape myth acceptance: Exploration of its structure and its measurement using the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale.

Abstract A series of six studies were conducted to explore the structure underlying rape myths and to develop the 45-itemIllinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale(“IRMA”). In the first study, 604 participants (mean age 18.8 years, 53% women) rated their level of agreement with 95 pretested rape myth statements. Exploratory and confirmatory multivariate analyses revealed a structure consisting of both a general myth component and seven subcomponents. This structure was replicated in a second study using a new sample and paired comparisons methodology. Study 3 details the development procedures for the IRMA and presents statistics demonstrating its good psychometric properties. Finally, Studies 4–6 support the construct validity of the IRMA. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory, measurement, future research, and intervention.
Supramolecular lattices from tetrahedral nanobuilding blocks

The self-assembly and packing of nanoscale particles that have nonspherical shapes is only beginning to be explored. Recent computer simulations have suggested that hard, convex polyhedra can pack more densely than spheres, leading to complex structures of liquid crystals, plastic crystals, crystals, and disordered phases ( 1 ). In particular, aperiodic quasicrystalline and crystalline phases occur in the packing of tetrahedra, the simplest polyhedron ( 2 ). On page 424 of this issue, Huang et al. report the precise synthesis of rigid giant tetrahedra consisting of hydrophobic and hydrophilic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) cages ( 3 ). They assemble a diverse range of highly ordered supramolecular lattices by exploiting the location of the hydrophilic POSS cage substituent and the number of substitutions, together with the interplay of crystallization and the collective hydrogen-bonding interactions.
Input current compensation for transistor operational amplifiers

Abstract : The input current of transistor operational amplifiers limits their application for some uses. Several techniques are described which result in a substantial reduction of this input current. The resulting input current can range from 20% of the original current over a wide temperature span. The percentage reduction depends on the degree of complexity and precision of the compensating circuit used. One type of compensation uses a thermistor-resistor circuit. This technique is developed in detail--both analytically and experimentally, and various examples are given. For the case of a transistor having an input current of 50 nA, it is possible to design circuits to reduce this value to as little as 0.5 nA over a 50C temperature span.
Recurrent Cerebral Embolism Associated With Indwelling Catheter in the Presence of Anomalous Neck Venous Structures

Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is the most common central venous anomaly in the thorax, which may remain asymptomatic throughout life. Indwelling catheters that are increasingly used in oncology practice may result in complications in the presence of PLSVC. The authors report an unusual case of recurrent ischemic attacks each time a portacath was accessed in a patient with breast cancer and PLSVC. This case highlights the importance of suspecting this condition in the presence of clinical and radiographic clues to prevent complications.
Design and performance measurements of an airborne aerosol backscatter lidar

The global winds measurement application of coherent Doppler lidar requires intensive study of the global climatology of atmospheric aerosol backscatter at infrared wavelengths. An airborne backscatter lidar is discussed, which has been developed to measure atmospheric backscatter profiles at CO2 laser wavelengths. The instrument characteristics and representative flight measurement results are presented.
Business Firms' Responses to the Crises of 2009

In 2009 firms faced both economic uncertainty and influenza outbreaks. Both crises posed large costs for firms; however, the manner in which they were perceived by management to affect the organization potentially differed. Using generalized maximum entropy (GME) the authors analyzed a business outlook survey of Seattle, Washington area businesses. Overall, firms were more proactive in responding to the economic crisis than to the influenza pandemic, even though the potential costs associated with both were quite large. Among the authors' conclusions is that business managers responded to the economic crisis more because it was more familiar and something over which they thought they had more control.
Some results on multipliers and numerical multiplier groups of difference sets

In this paper, we use number theoretic methods to study multipliers and numerical multiplier groups of difference sets. We obtain a relation between the decomposition group of a prime divisor of the order of a difference set and the numerical multiplier group, this gives rise to some results concerning the numerical multiplier groups of difference sets. Also we give two characterizations of strong multipliers of a subset in an abelian group which have some applications in difference sets.
PCR-mediated DNA fingerprinting of atypical campylobacter strains isolated from surface and drinking water

Abstract This study shows that typing through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to differentiate between strains of Campylobacter and Arcobacter , whereas by means of conventional biotyping Arcobacter might be identified as atypical Campylobacter . Microaerophilic “campylobacter-like” organisms were isolated from several drinking water treatment plants as well as environmental sources. The strains were characterized by biotyping and PCR amplification of Campylobacter flaA/flaB and 16s-rRNA Arcobacter butzleri -specific genes.
Approximation of transient response

ALTHOUGH FEEDBACK CONTROL design requirements usually specify the output time response to some standard form of input, the design process commonly is performed on a frequency response basis. The existing wealth of knowledge and experience in steady-state a-c circuit theory and in feedback amplifier performance justifies this design procedure. Under these conditions the need to transform from the frequency to the time domain is great. Exact mathematical methods of performing the desired transformation for linear systems exist but unfortunately do not lead to closed form results except in very special cases. Since even completely random inputs may be considered as composed of successions of impulses, knowledge of impulse response leads easily to the response for any specified input.
Historical Dictionary of Colombia

Provides a quick reference to a nation whose history reaches back to 10,000 BC. Includes material from all major periods, 14th century to the present.
Plasma equilibrium position dynamics of ISX-A tokamak

Abstract Equations of plasma equilibrium position perturbation dynamics of a tokamak have been developed. Neglecting secondary effects, an approximated equation of plasma high frequency oscillation is obtained and a low frequency dynamics function of plasma motion is derived. A symbolic form of the dynamics function allows a stability study of the tokamak's plasma equilibrium position. Knowledge of the dynamics function will permit an ordered analytical synthesis of plasma position feedback control systems which are necessary for a successful operation of a tokamak.
A Partial Converse to Hadamard’s Theorem on Homeomorphism

A theorem by Hadamard gives a two-part condition under which a map from one Banach space to another is a homeomorphism. The theorem, while often very useful, is incomplete in the sense that it does not explicitly specify the family of maps for which the condition is met. Here, under a typically weak additional assumption on the map, we show that Hadamard’s condition is met if and only if the map is a homeomorphism with a Lipschitz continuous inverse. An application is given concerning the relation between the stability of a nonlinear system and the stability of related linear systems.
The Implementation of an Autonomous Helicopter Testbed

Miniature Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are currently being researched for a wide range of tasks, including search and rescue, surveillance, reconnaissance, traffic monitoring, fire detection, pipe and electrical line inspection, and border patrol to name only a few of the application domains. Although small/miniature UAVs, including both Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicles and small helicopters, have shown great potential in both civilian and military domains, including research and development, integration, prototyping, and field testing, these unmanned systems/vehicles are limited to only a handful of laboratories. This lack of development is due to both the extensive time and cost required to design, integrate and test a fully operational prototype as well as the shortcomings of published materials to fully describe how to design and build a "complete" and "operational" prototype system. This work attempts to overcome existing barriers and limitations by detailing the technical aspects of a small UAV helicopter designed specifically as a testbed vehicle. This design aims to provide a general framework that will not only allow researchers the ability to supplement the system with new technologies but will also allow researchers to add innovation to the vehicle itself.
Re-expression of hSNF5/INI1/BAF47 in pediatric tumor cells leads to G1 arrest associated with induction of p16ink4a and activation of RB.

Truncating mutations and homozygous deletions in the hSNF5/INI1/BAF47 subunit of human SWI/SNF complexes occur in most malignant rhabdoid tumors and some other malignancies. How loss of hSNF5 contributes to tumorigenesis remains unknown. Because the SWI/SNF subunit BRG1 is required for RB-mediated cell cycle arrest, we hypothesized that hSNF5 deficiency disrupts RB signaling. Here we demonstrate that unlike BRG1, hSNF5 deficient cells retain functional RB since ectopic expression of either p16ink4a or a constitutively active form of RB (PSM–RB) led to cell cycle arrest. To determine how hSNF5 loss might contribute to tumorigenesis, we used a retrovirus to introduce hSNF5 into multiple deficient cell lines. In all cases, re-expression inhibited colony formation and induced cell cycle arrest characterized by a flattened morphology. Flow cytometry revealed that these cells accumulated in G0/G1. Importantly, arrested cells exhibited strong induction of p16ink4a, hypophosphorylated RB, and down-regulation of cyclin A, suggesting that hSNF5 signals upstream of RB to induce growth arrest. Co-expression of SV40 T/t abolished hSNF5-induced G1arrest and activation of RB. Likewise, HPV-16 E7 was sufficient to partially overcome cell cycle arrest. These results suggest that hSNF5 loss is not equivalent to BRG1/BRM loss in human tumor cell lines. Furthermore, hSNF5-induced cell cycle arrest of deficient cells is mediated in part through activation of p16ink4a expression. These findings provide insight into mechanisms of hSNF5-mediated tumor suppression.
Formation of solitary waves on gas-sheared liquid layers

Abstract The origin of solitary waves on gas-liquid sheared layers is studied by comparing the behavior of the wave field at sufficiently low liquid Reynolds number, R L , where solitary waves are observed to form, to measurements at higher R L where solitary waves do not occur. Observations of the wave field with high-speed video imaging suggest that solitary waves, which appear as a secondary transition of the stratified gas-liquid interface, emanate from existing dominant waves, but that not all dominant waves are transformed. From measurements of interface tracings it is found that for low R L , waves which have amplitude/substrate depth ( a / h ) ratios of 0.5–1 occur while for higher R L , no such waves are observed. A comparison of amplitude/wavelength ratios shows no distinction for different R L . Consequently, it is conjectured that solitary waves originate from waves with sufficiently large a / h ratios; this change of form being similar to wave breaking. The dimensionless wavenumber is found to be smaller at low R L , where solitary waves are observed. This suggests that perhaps, larger precursor (to solitary wave) waves are possible because the degree of dispersion, which acts to break waves into separate modes, is lower.
The effects of gender and response style on depressed mood

Research has shown that gender differences in the rate of depression may be accounted for by different response styles. To examine whether response style affects mood, depressed mood was induced in 31 females and 33 males (all Caucasian) who were then randomly assigned to either a ruminating or a distracting response task. The findings supported the response style theory as the ruminating group remained depressed after the response task, while the distracting group became less depressed. Gender was not a factor in this experiment as both men and women reacted similarly to the mood induction and the experimental tasks. Although clinical implication cannot be determined from a study involving nondepressed subjects, it can be concluded that ruminating about one's depressed mood is not an effective method for overcoming depression.
Estimating Black Crappie Age: An Assessment of Dorsal Spines and Scales as Nonlethal Alternatives to Otoliths

Abstract Otoliths generally provide more accurate and precise age estimates for crappies Pomoxis spp. than do scales, but sacrificing crappies for otolith removal may not be desirable in all situations. We evaluated the use of dorsal spines and scales as nonlethal alternatives to otoliths for estimating the ages of black crappies P. nigromaculatus using 111 fish collected from two Minnesota lakes. Among-reader precision was similar for ages estimated from scales and dorsal spines (coefficients of variation [CVs] = 10–14%), but the precision associated with both structures was substantially lower than that observed for otoliths (CVs = 0.12–1.3%). Complete reader agreement (i.e., all three readers agreed on age) for dorsal spines (44–51%) and scales (33–36%) was substantially lower than that observed for otoliths (87–98%). Partial agreement (i.e., at least two of three readers agreed on age) was 100% for both otoliths and dorsal spines and between 79% and 89% for scales. Scale ages assigned by individual re...
Wireless machine guard monitoring system

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers are developing an intelligent machine guard monitoring and proximity detection system designed to mitigate machine entanglement and maintenance-related injuries and fatalities prevalent in the mining industry. This experiment was designed to develop a monitoring system consisting of mechanical/magnetic switches and sensor beacons capable of wirelessly transmitting information about a belt conveyor's machine guards to a remote computer. The data transfer was carried out via an off-the-shelf wireless communication system and displayed on a web-based user interface. Successful operational tests demonstrated the functionality and effectiveness of the system in monitoring guard placement status and remotely identifying the location of any removed guards using each sensor's unique identification number. The integration of wireless safety technologies such as this system is expected to improve the safety of miners by providing additional protections against machine guarding-related injuries.
Multidense satellite of tobacco ringspot virus: a regular series of components of different densities.

Abstract Satellite of tobacco ringspot virus (S-TRSV) is composed of at least 11 and possibly as many as 14 components, ranging in density from ϱ = 1.408 through ϱ = 1.529. Each component differs in buoyant density from its nearest neighbor by approximately †ϱ = 0.009. The buoyant density of middle component of tobacco ringspot virus is approximately ϱ = 1.423, about †ϱ = 0.015 greater than that of the S-TRSV component with the lowest buoyant density. Bottom component of tobacco ringspot virus is composed of two populations, one population with an average ϱ = 1.507 and the other with an average ϱ = 1.518. The buoyant densities found in a S-TRSV population are not artifacts caused by CsCl, but are characteristic of the population before the particles are exposed to CsCl, and correlate with the position of the particles sedimenting in a sucrose gradient. Since some TRSV particles are always in S-TRSV preparations, the three components with densities approximating those of bottom and middle, may not be S-TRSV. Thus S-TRSV is composed of at least 11, but possibly 14 components. A high proportion of satellite to TRSV in inoculum resulted in a high proportion of S-TRSV in the infected plants. Plants inoculated with TRSV and “low-density” S-TRSV yielded both “high” - and “low-density” S-TRSV as well as TRSV. No significant difference was detected in the base ratio of the nucleic acids within TRSV (strain WS)—middle or bottom components—and the base ratio of the nucleic acid strands within S-TRSV that had been activated by TRSV (strain WS). The data fit with the following view. All S-TRSV particles contain numerous nucleic acid strands of uniform size, each strand approximating 86,000 daltons. Each S-TRSV particle of the lowest buoyant density has approximately 12 nucleic acid strands; each S-TRSV particle of higher density has one more nucleic acid strand than its nearest neighbor of lower density. Most members of this continuous series are consistently found in purified preparations of S-TRSV. Particles with the highest density contain approximately 25 nucleic acid strands per particle.
Invariant face recognition using fringe-adjusted joint-transform-correlator-based neural network

In this paper, we propose an optoelectronic fringe-adjusted joint transform correlator (JTC) based two-layer neural network for invariant face recognition while accommodating in-plane and out-of-plane 3D distortions. The neural network is utilized in the training stage for a sequence of facial images and through a process of supervised learning in order to create composite images that are invariant to 3D distortions. The proposed technique is implemented by using the FJTC technique. The FJTC technique has been chosen due to its superior performance over alternate JTCs and the feasibility of its implementation in the all-optical domain. The simulation results obtained from the proposed technique are then compared with those obtained using alternate techniques (such as using synthetic discriminant functions). The fringe-adjusted JTC based neural network technique has been found to be more efficient and yields better results than the synthetic discriminant function based technique.
Revealing the early seafloor spreading history between India and Australia

The Perth Abyssal Plain, a section of ocean floor that lies off the western coast of Australia, formed as India and Australia broke away from what had been the supercontinent Gondwana, beginning around 130 million years ago. Oceanic crust within the Perth Abyssal Plain is the only region of preserved seafloor that directly records the early history of relative motion between India and Australia, but the lack of magnetic data collected in that region had made it difficult for scientists to validate tectonic models of the motion of those continents.