cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Credentialing results from IMRT irradiations of an anthropomorphic head and neck phantom.

Purpose: This study was performed to report and analyze the results of the Radiological Physics Center's head and neck intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) phantom irradiations done by institutions seeking to be credentialed for participation in clinical trials using intensity modulated radiation therapy. Methods: The Radiological Physics Center's anthropomorphic head and neck phantom was sent to institutions seeking to participate in multi-institutional clinical trials. The phantom contained two planning target volume (PTV) structures and an organ at risk (OAR). Thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) and film dosimeters were imbedded in the PTV. Institutions were asked to image, plan, and treat the phantom as they would treat a patient. The treatment plan should cover at least 95% of the primary PTV with 6.6 Gy and at least 95% of the secondary PTV with 5.4 Gy. The plan should limit the dose to the OAR to less than 4.5 Gy. The passing criteria were ±7% for the TLD in the PTVs and a distance to agreement of 4 mm in the high dose gradient area between the PTV and the OAR. Pass rates for different delivery types, treatment planning systems (TPS), linear accelerators, and linear accelerator-planning system combinations were compared. Results: The phantom was irradiated 1139 times by 763 institutions from 2001 through 2011. 929 (81.6%) of the irradiations passed the criteria. 156 (13.7%) irradiations failed only the TLD criteria, 21 (1.8%) failed only the film criteria, and 33 (2.9%) failed both sets of criteria. Only 69% of the irradiations passed a narrowed TLD criterion of ±5%. Varian-Elipse and TomoTherapy-HiArt combinations had the highest pass rates, ranging from 90% to 93%. Varian-Pinnacle3, Varian-XiO, Siemens-Pinnacle3, and Elekta-Pinnacle3 combinations had pass rates that ranged from 66% to 81%. Conclusions: The head and neck phantom is a useful credentialing tool for multi-institutional IMRT clinical trials. The most commonly represented linear accelerator-planning system combinations can all pass the phantom, though some combinations had higher passing percentages than others. Tightening the criteria would significantly reduce the number of institutions passing the credentialing criteria. Causes for failures include incorrect data entered into the TPS, inexact beam modeling, and software and hardware failures.
Anterior tibial aneurysm following inversion injury to the ankle

Arterial injuries in nonpenetrating low-energy injuries to the extremities are rare but can occur when joint injuries put the vessels in traction against their immobile attachments to the long bones. The most common injuries are to the popliteal artery (because of its tethered nature proximal to the popliteal fossa) and the brachial artery (because it is tethered to the humerus proximal to the elbow). The second reported case of an aneurysm of the anterior tibial artery resulting from an inversion injury to the ankle is described.
Registration of common bacterial blight resistant pinto bean germplasm line ABCP-8

Em. andgreatnorthernMontanaNo.5(Miklasetal.,2003)sourcesMarchal) develops more slowly on P961341 than on suscepti- of common bacterial blight resistance. Combined resistanceble wheat lines; P961341 is typically scored at 2 to 4 (0–9, 0 wasconfirmedbythepresenceofpreviouslydevelopedSCARno lesions to 9 severe disease) compared to scores of 6 to markers SU91 (Pedraza et al., 1997) and SAP6 (Miklas et al.,8 for cultivar Patterson in the same tests in Indiana. P961341 2003) tightly linked with quantitative trait loci (QTL) fromis resistant to
Tracer Additions for Spiraling Curve Characterization (TASCC): Quantifying stream nutrient uptake kinetics from ambient to saturation

Stream nutrient tracer additions and nutrient spiraling metrics are frequently used to quantify lotic ecosystem behavior. Of particular concern is the influence nutrient concentration exerts on nutrient retention and export. However, characterizing spiraling response curves across a range of concentrations has remained challenging, in part due to the large effort required to develop these curves using traditional (e.g., plateau or steadystate) approaches. Here we outline and demonstrate a new approach to quantify nutrient uptake kinetics from ambient to saturation using Tracer Additions for Spiraling Curve Characterization (TASCC). This approach provides a rapid and relatively easy technique for quantifying ambient-spiraling parameters, nutrient uptake kinetics and kinetic model parameterization, and assessment of stream proximity to saturation. We compare the results from TASCC to traditional breakthrough curve integrated and plateau approaches. We highlight the advantages of the TASCC approach for characterizing continuous spiraling response curves from ambient to saturation with a single tracer addition experiment, and its applicability to larger rivers where achieving plateau conditions (i.e., steady-state) is impractical.
“Foreign” Policies of U.S. Publics

Although people are increasingly involved in international processes through economic and social activities of everyday life, even those who are active in domestic policy-making still tend to defer to foreign-policy “experts.” The evolution of scholarly paradigms is making it easier for nongovernmental actors to perceive their links to global processes. This paper argues that the wider public can only be included in this linkage if transnational paradigms are carried one step further and people become aware of the international links of individuals, groups, and organizations in their own community. This can enable people to develop their competence in foreign policy-making through participatory learning in their own community. It can also help them to perceive more clearly the alternative routes for participation in foreign policy-making, including governmental and nongovernmental organizations having a variety of territorial boundaries—local, state (province), national, and international.
Incidental magnetization transfer contrast in standard multislice imaging

Abstract Radio frequency magnetic fields from 5 to 100 kHz off resonance reduce longitudinal magnetization of water in some tissues without affecting the magnetization of simple solutions (Wolff, S.D.; Balaban, R.S. Magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) and tissue water proton relaxation in vivo. Magn. Reson. Med. 10:135–144; 1989). We demonstrate that off resonant fields used in day to day multislice imaging have a significant effect. Extra slices reduced brain (gray and white matter) and muscle intensities 10%–20% relative to fat, water, and paramagnetic solutions, a larger effect than produced by slice overlap. Implications for image contrast and quantitation are discussed.
The Effects of Local Anesthetics on Postoperative Pain

This study was performed to determine if intraoperative local anesthesia improved control of postoperative pain after inguinal herniorrhaphy and to compare the effects of two commonly used local anesthetics on pain management. The Gate Control Theory of Pain formed the theoretical basis for this study. A retrospective nonexperimental study in an ex post facto design was used. Data were collected from 1990 through 1997 on 120 patient charts. The use of local anesthetic intraoperatively significantly decreased patients' lengths of stay postoperatively (P = 0.00) and need for postoperative narcotics (P = 0.00). Bupivacaine was found to be superior to lidocaine in decreasing the need for postoperative narcotic analgesia. Researchers concluded that many patients would benefit from intraoperative injection of local anesthesia. This information can affect patient care outcomes through decreasing recovery time, reducing postoperative pain, and reducing health care costs.
A systematic review of the impact of malaria prevention in pregnancy on low birth weight and maternal anemia

Abstract Background Malaria in pregnancy is a significant contributor to adverse pregnancy outcome, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prevention with sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP) during pregnancy has been recommended in malaria-endemic areas but concerns remain about its benefit. Objectives To evaluate the association between recommended preventative SP programs in pregnancy and low birth weight (LBW) and maternal anemia through available clinical trial, observational, and programmatic evaluation studies. Search strategy Systematic review of published studies on malaria in pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. Selection criteria Clinical studies from Sub-Saharan Africa from the past 10 years were included. Data collection and analysis English articles published since 2002 and listed in PubMed were identified using defined keywords, and their source documents were reviewed. Thirty-three studies involving malaria in pregnancy that recorded treatment rates and birth outcomes were included. Main results SP use among primigravidae was consistently associated with decreased LBW and anemia rates in clinical trials. Effects were less consistent in observational studies. Conclusions Although randomized trials have demonstrated the efficacy of SP, studies evaluating scale-up programs found less consistent reductions in LBW and maternal anemia. Additional strategies to improve SP coverage may reduce the LBW and maternal anemia associated with malaria in pregnancy.
SU-E-T-154: Assessment of Monthly Linear Accelerator Beam Profile Constancy Based On AAPM TG-142 Recommendations

Purpose: AAPM Task Group 142 (TG‐142) gives new Quality Assurance (QA) recommendations for clinical linear accelerators to insure beam profile constancy. The beam profile constancy can be calculated as an average value of chosen off axis points in the beam profile. Since this assessment tool was not commercially available, an in‐house program was developed. Methods: Five photon energies and five electron energies were included in this study. Our selected baseline measurement setup for photon beams used a 20×20 cm2 field size, 100 cm SSD, and 10 cm measurement depth in water. Sun Nuclear IC Profiler and solid water slabs (9.1 cm solid water and 0.9 cm inherent buildup) were used for monthly measurement. Six points at different off axis positions were selected within the central 80 % of the profile. The selected baseline electron beam measurement setup used a 25× 25cm2 cone, 100 cm SSD, and no additional buildup. Results: The selected off axis points were 3, 6, and 8 cm from the central axis(CAX) for photon beam and 3, 6, and 9 cm from CAX for electron beam. For 6 MV photon beam, average constancy was 0.57 % (± 0.14 %) and average flatness was 2.53 % (± 0.1 %) for four months of period. For 6 MeV electron beam, average constancy was 1.26 % (± 0.22 %) and average flatness was 2.63 % (±0.11 %) for three months of period. However beam constancy was not increased as a photon beam profile was intentionally changed by increasing the beam flatness from 2.4 % to 3.5 %. Conclusion: The in‐house program works well and overall beam constancy were less than 1 % over four months of period. However, there is a great need to further investigate for sensitivity study on whether the constancy can detect significant beam profile changes from the machine baseline.
Colin Mochrie vs. Jesus H. Christ: Messages About Masculinities and Fame in Online Video Conversations

With the availability of relatively easy-to-use tools for online video creation and distribution, people are increasingly producing videos not just for artistic expression, but also as a form of communication. This article examines two types of online video conversations, one within a specific online subculture, and one a series of responses to one particularly well-known video. Videos lend themselves to the expression of ambiguity, contradictory meanings, taboo topics, and emotions. Within these two video conversations, topics include discussions of masculinity, identity, and fame
A new way with the five ways

(1960). A new way with the five ways. Australasian Journal of Philosophy: Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 225-233.
Human purposeful activities for classifying management problems

Abstract Typologies of management problems, when suggested at all, focus on technique categories, previous solutions, current organizational activities, or abstract definitions. None appear to justify the rationale for establishing typologies: to identify the right situation or problem requiring attention and the most effective approach to follow in determining what to do about it. Human purposeful activities are proposed as a useful form for a manager to consider in dealing with problems. The major purposeful activities are maintaining an effective system (operate and supervise), creating or restructuring solutions (plan and design), assessing effectiveness of previously established programs and systems (evaluate), gaining skills and insights into bodies of knowledge (learn) and developing generalizations about social and natural phenomena (research). Significant improvement in results ought to be obtained when different approaches are followed in seeking to achieve each of the different purposes.
Facilitating change through CME in geriatrics

“Practical Geriatrics”, a series of programs on 10 geriatric topics selected by community physicians, has been developed to meet the need for continuing medical education in geriatrics. The model format combines lectures, role modeling through video discussion-trigger tapes, an adaptation of problem-based learning principles, and the commitment-for-change technique. Programs were tested with community practitioners on four occasions in 1991. Participant evaluation was favorable, and effectiveness in inducing change appears promising.
Solid phase epitaxial processes in implant-amorphized semiconductors

Abstract The use of energetic ion beams to modify both the physical and electrical properties of materials is a widely accepted process. The use of these techniques in the manufacture of semiconductor devices in silicon and other materials is a standard industrial process. Since the process of ion implantation creates damage in crystalline materials, the understanding of either the removal or stabilization of this damage is important for the practical application of the technique. In the following, we discuss the primary controlling factors in the annealing of elemental semiconductors amorphized by ion implantation. We then discuss a model, akin to a polymerization process, which can explain many of the experimentally observed features of the low-temperature recrystallization of these layers.
A DERIVATIVE ISOTOPE DILUTION METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF 5-ALPHA-CHOLESTAN-3-BETA-OL: ITS APPLICATION TO ADRENAL TISSUE.

Abstract 1. 1. A derivative isotope dilusion procedure for determination of free and esterified 5α-cholestan-3β-ol contents of crystalline sterol mixtures isolated from tissues and of lipid extracts of tissues is presented. 2. 2. The percentages of the stanol in crystalline adrenal sterol mixtures isolated from guinea pigs and chickens were higher than those in similar mixtures isolated from rat, beef, and human glands. 3. 3. The sterol-containing fractions of two transplantable rat adrenal cortical carcinomas had an eightfold lower esterified stanol content than did normal tissue. This finding and the low cholesterol content reported in a human adrenal tumor suggest an altered sterol metabolism in adrenal tumor tissue.
Novel whispering-gallery resonators for lasers, modulators, and sensors

This report describes novel whispering-gallery resonators with added physical properties, including a micro-toroidal cavity with large free spectral range ~4OOGHz and finesse >104, a lithium niobatespherical cavity in a high-efficiency X-band electro-optic modulator, and an immersed silica microsphere as high-resolution chemical sensor.
Interference of intracellular inorganic phosphate analysis by phosphatase in Papaver somniferum cell suspensions

The analysis of intracellular inorganic phosphate in aqueous homogenates of Papaver somniferum cell suspensions results in an overestimation of intracellular inorganic phosphate (Pi) levels by as much as 300% due to protein interference and apparent phosphatase activity. Precipitation of protein with zinc sulfate results in a better estimate of intracellular Pi; however, phosphatase activity is still significant. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA) extraction effectively precipitates protein and eliminates phosphatase activity. Neutralization of the TCA extract prevents residual acid interference with subsequent colorimetric inorganic phosphate analysis. TCA extraction is shown to be a superior method for the analysis of intracellular Pi, especially in phosphate-depleted plant cells.
Synthesis and pharmacological effects of the enantiomers of the N-phenethyl analogues of the ortho and para e- and f-oxide-bridged phenylmorphans

The N-phenethyl analogues of (1R*,4aR*,9aS*)-2-phenethyl-1,3,4,9a-tetrahydro-2H-1,4a-propanobenzofuro[2,3-c]pyridin-6-ol and 8-ol and (1R*,4aR*,9aR*)-2-phenethyl-1,3,4,9a-tetrahydro-2H-1,4a-propanobenzofuro[2.3-c]pyridin-6-ol and 8-ol, the ortho- (43) and para-hydroxy e- (20), and f-oxide-bridged 5-phenylmorphans (53 and 26) were prepared in racemic and enantiomerically pure forms from a common precursor, the quaternary salt 12. Optical resolutions were accomplished by salt formation with suitable enantiomerically pure chiral acids or by preparative HPLC on a chiral support. The N-phenethyl (−)- para-e enantiomer (1S,4aS,9aR-(−)-20) was found to be a μ-opioid agonist with morphine-like antinociceptive activity in a mouse assay. In contrast, the N-phenethyl (−)-ortho-f enantiomer (1R,4aR,9aR-(−)-53) had good affinity for the μ-opioid receptor (Ki = 7 nM) and was found to be a μ-antagonist both in the [35S]GTP-γ-S assay and in vivo. The molecular structures of these rigid enantiomers were energy minimized with density functional theory at the level B3LYP/6-31G* level, and then overlaid on a known potent μ-agonist. This superposition study suggests that the agonist activity of the oxide-bridged 5-phenylmorphans can be attributed to formation of a seven membered ring that is hypothesized to facilitate a proton transfer from the protonated nitrogen to a proton acceptor in the μ-opioid receptor.
Geometric-Optical Modeling of a Conifer Forest Canopy

A geometric-optical forest canopy model that treats conifers as cones casting shadows on a contrasting background can explain the major portion of the variance in a remotely sensed image of a forest stand. The model is driven by interpixel variance generated from three sources: 1) the number of crowns in the pixel; 2) the size of individual crowns; and 3) overlapping of crowns and shadows. The model uses parallel-ray geometry to describe the illumination of a three-dimensional cone and the shadow it casts. Cones are assumed to be randomly placed and may overlap freely. Cone size (height) is distributed lognormally, and cone form, described by the apex angle of the cone, is-fixed in the model but allowed to vary in its application. The model can also be inverted to provide estimates of the size, shape, and spacing of the conifers as cones using remote imagery and a minimum of ground measurements. Field tests using both 10-and 80-m multispectral imagery of two test conifer stands in northeastern California produced reasonable estimates for these parameters. The model appears to be sufficiently general and robust for application to other geometric shapes and mixtures of simple shapes. Thus it has wide potential use not only in remote sensing of vegetation, but also in other remote sensing situations in which discrete objects are imaged at resolutions sufficiently coarje that they canot be resolved individually.
Toward practical SERS sensing

Since its discovery more than 30 years ago, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been recognized as a highly sensitive detection technique for chemical and biological sensing and medical diagnostics. However, the practical application of this remarkably sensitive technique has not been widely accepted as a viable diagnostic method due to the difficulty in preparing robust and reproducible substrates that provide maximum SERS enhancement. Here, we demonstrate that the aligned silver nanorod (AgNR) array substrates engineered by the oblique angle deposition method are capable of providing extremely high SERS enhancement factors (>108). The substrates are large area, uniform, reproducible, and compatible with general microfabrication process. The enhancement factor depends strongly on the length and shape of the Ag nanorods and the underlying substrate coating. By optimizing AgNR SERS substrates, we show that SERS is able to detect trace amount of toxins, virus, bacteria, or other chemical and biological molecules, and distinguish different viruses/bacteria and virus/bacteria strains. The substrate can be tailored into a multi-well chip for high throughput screening, integrated into fiber tip for portable sensing, incorporated into fluid/microfluidic devices for in situ real-time monitoring, fabricated onto a flexible substrate for tracking and identification, or used as on-chip separation device for ultra-thin layer chromatography and diagnostics. By combining the unique SERS substrates with a handheld Raman system, it can become a practical and portable sensor system for field applications. All these developments have demonstrated that AgNR SERS substrates could play an important role in the future for practical clinical, industrial, defense, and security sensing applications.
The role of labor in gastroschisis bowel thickening and prevention by elective pre-term and pre-labor cesarean section

Twelve consecutive cases of gastrochisis seen during the past 3 years are reported. Four were managed by elective pre-term and pre-labor cesarean section as soon as lung maturity was established by biochemical means and 8 by delivery after the onset of labor, 4 by vaginal delivery and 4 by cesarean section. There was no intestinal thickening or “peel” in any of the 4 infants born by elective pre-term and pre-labor section. All were quickly and easily repaired (the last 3 with umbilicus preservation) with no associated atresias or stenosis and with minimal length of hospitalization. The 8 cases delivered after the onset of labor all had marked instestinal thickening, 2 (25%) had severe and extensive intestinal necrosis or atresias (“apple-peel”), and 1 died (12.5%). All had prolonged and complicated hospital stays with multiple operations. The routine use of elective pre-term and pre-labor section in all cases of gastroschisis diagnosed prenatally by α-fetoprotein (AFP) screening and ultrasound is strongly recommended, as are routine AFP screening and ultrasound studies during pregnancy.
When Clients No-Show: An Empirical Analogue Study of Psychologists’ Response Strategies

Empirical studies of psychotherapists’ responses to clients who no-show, i.e., fail to attend appointments without notification or follow-up, are notably absent from the literature. The current study surveyed licensed psychologists to assess their responses to outpatient no-show situations. Participants responded to one of two vignettes depicting a client diagnosed with either major depression with a history of suicidality or generalized anxiety disorder. Results indicated that across conditions, the majority of psychotherapists would attempt to contact the client who no-showed; would make their first attempt within a few days of the no-show; would make repeat attempts if necessary; and would rely primarily on phone calls to the client’s cell and home numbers as methods of contact. Compared to those who responded to the vignette featuring the anxious client, participants who responded to the vignette featuring the depressed client reported a significantly shorter wait between the no-show and the contact attempt and a significantly greater number of contact attempts. Implications and clinical relevance are discussed.
The Indian Constitution Cornerstone Of A Nation

"The Indian Constitution" provides a history of the Indian Constituent Assembly, of how and why the members of the Assembly wrote their constitution as they did. This new edition of Austin's classic work has a preface bringing it up to date with contemporary developments in constitutional law.
Uniform convergence of the horizontal line method for solutions and free boundaries in Stefan evolution inequalities

The change of variable for the temperature Θ in the one-phase Stefan problem leads to the evolution inequality, (ut – Δu – f)(v – u) ⩾ 0 for all regular v ⩾ 0, where u ⩾ 0 is required. This inequality is to hold over a space-time domain D = Ω × (0, T) with a Dirichlet boundary condition imposed on ∂ Ω × (0, T) and a zero initial condition. The free boundary phase interface is given in one space dimension by The fully implicit divided difference scheme leads to a sequence of elliptic variational inequalities for {um}. The sequence {um} may be interpolated linearly in t to obtain an approximation UΔt of u. The following results are obtained in this paper: (i) a two-sided weak maximum principle for um – um-1 in N space dimensions, hence the free boundary approximation for N = 1, is a monotone increasing step function; (ii) the uniform convergence of UΔt and ∇UΔt, to u and ∇u, respectively, on D; (iii) the uniform convergence to the Holder continuous, monotone increasing free boundary x on [0, T] of the piecewise linear sequence xΔt, where xΔt interpolates xΔt, in one space dimension; (iv) a constructive existence proof for u and x in prescribed regularity classes.
Deweyan Democratic Learning Communities and Student Marginalization.

Community college faculty and staff committed to the eradication of student marginalization may use a variety of contemporary strategies to address this form of oppression. We seek to complement these strategies by showing how the work of John Dewey may be used to justify the creation and development of democratic learning communities fundamentally opposed to student marginalization.
Petrogenesis of the Elephant Moraine A79001 meteorite Multiple magma pulses on the shergottite parent body

The EETA 79001 achondrite consists of two distinct igneous lithologies joined along a planar, non-brecciated contact. Both are basaltic rocks composed primarily of pigeonite, augite, and maskelynite, but one contains zoned megacrysts of olivine, orthopyroxene, and chromite that represent disaggregated xenoliths of harzburzite. Both lithologies probably formed from successive volcanic flows or multiple injections of magma into a small, shallow chamber. Many similarities between the two virtually synchronous magmas suggest that they are related. Possible mechanisms to explain their differences involve varying degrees of assimilation, fractionation from similar parental magmas, or partial melting of a similar source peridotite; of these, assimilation of the observed megacryst assemblage seems most plausible. However, some isotopic contamination may be required in any of these petrogenetic models. The meteorite has suffered extensive shock metamorphism and localized melting during a large impact event that probably excavated and liberated it from its parent body.
A guide to the pediatric patient with “difficult” Asthma

Abstract Patients whose asthma symptoms are poorly controlled with the therapies usually recommended for this disease are considered to have “difficult” asthma. Although such patients represent a small proportion of patients with asthma, children who have difficult asthma are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality. Once the diagnosis of asthma is established, caregivers must appropriately categorize and treat the asthma according to the patient's level of symptom severity. The purpose of this article is to present an approach to the management of patients with difficult asthma by (a) searching for alternative diagnoses or conditions that are often associated with asthma, (b) investigating environmental issues, (c) reviewing inhalation techniques, and (d) determining the patient's level of compliance with the prescribed treatment plan and simplifying it whenever possible.
Low Temperature Epitaxy on H-Passivated Si(100) by Sputter Deposition

Conventional preparation of Si for epitaxy involves high-temperature heating to remove surface oxide or to remove H passivation left by HF cleaning. Attempted MBE on H-passivated Si(100) has resulted in amorphous films below 640 K. We show that the use of ion beam sputtered Si allows the growth of thick (300 nm) epitaxial layers on H-passivated Si(100) at high rate (0.65 nm/s) and at 483 K, well below the H desorption temperature. This is because the sputtered Si has translational kinetic energy of tens of eV, well above the Si-H bond strength of a few eV, so that the passivating H does not block the epitaxial bonding sites as it does in MBE. The ability to grow epitaxially on H-passivated Si not only reduces the maximum Si processing temperature required, but also keeps the substrate passivated against contamination until the onset of deposition. During deposition, the LEED pattern changes gradually from the 1x1 of the H-passivated Si to the 2x1 reconstruction of bare or partially hydrogenated Si(100), yet SIMS shows that little of the disappearing H accumulates at the substrate interface or in the bulk of the film. Thermal desorption spectra show that its bonding remains similar to that on the substrate surface. Thus, it appears to float to the surface of the depositing film and become gradually knocked off of the surface over the course of a few hundred nm of deposition. Cross-sectional TEM lattice imaging shows near-perfect ordering of the epilayer and a barely distinguishable substrate interface.
Enhancement and feature purification of fingerprint images

Abstract A scheme for enhancing and purifying fingerprint images is presented. Detailed descriptions of adaptive filtering, noise elimination, and purification of characteristics are the main topics of the paper. The proposed method for the purification of characteristics uses both foreground and background characteristics; that is, ridge and valley minutiae. This duality allows a fast and effective purification for ridge breaks. The approach applies to distorted and damaged fingerprint images.
Foraging habitats based on the diet of female northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus) on the Pribilof Islands, Alaska

Scats (fecal samples) collected between 1987 and 2000 on northern fur seal Callorhinus ursinus rookeries of St Paul (n=2968) and St George Islands (n=1203), Alaska, were used to examine the relationship between breeding sites and food habits of adult female seals. On the basis of the frequency of occurrence (FO) and per cent minimum number of individual prey (%MNI) in scats, juvenile walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma and gonatid squid Gonatopsis borealis/Berryteuthis magister and Gonatus madokai/Gonatus middendorffi were the dominant prey species consumed overall. Other primary prey (FO>5%) included Pacific sand lance Ammodytes hexapteus, Pacific herring Clupea pallasi, northern smoothtongue Leuroglossus schmidti, Atka mackerel Pleurogrammus monopterygius, Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and other squid of the Gonatus genus. We identified five rookery complexes from a cluster analysis of the FO of primary prey in scats. Rookery complexes were separated geographically and each was further defined by characteristic patterns in the representation of prey types typically associated with specific hydrographic domains. Diet differences were observed among rookeries on the north and south side of St George Island and on the east, south and south-west side of St Paul Island. The rookery clusters observed in this study provide evidence of resource partitioning among adult female northern fur seals and have important implications for fur seal conservation and management.
Calcium-lowering action of glucocorticoids in adrenalectomized-parathyroidectomized rats. Specificity and relative potency of natural and synthetic glucocorticoids.

The specificity and potency of glucocorticoids to lower serum calcium (Ca) in rats after parathyroidectomy (PTX) and adrenalectomy (ADX) were examined. Rats fasted overnight were given sc injections of various steroids immediately after the operations. The fall in serum calcium 5h after PTX-ADX in rats given hypo-calcemic doses of corticosterone was compared to that after injection of a test steroid. At high doses, progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, and aldosterone were inactive, whereas glucocorticoids were consistently hypocalcemic. These results indicate that the Ca-lowering effect is specific for steroids with glucocorticoid activity. Potency estimates were made by comparing the dose-response of natural and synthetic glucocorticoids to that of corticosterone, the major glucocorticoid in rats. The mean potency of hydrocortisone was 8.2 times that of corticosterone. Prednisolone was about 9.6, triamcinolone 33, betamethasone 109, and dexamethasone 301 times as potent as corticosterone. Thus, the use of the calcium-lowering action as a bioassay has provides a specific and rapid in vivo method to compare potencies of glucocorticoids consistent with those obtained by anti-inflammatory and glycogen deposition assays. The importance of this interesting calcitonin-like action of glucocorticoids in normal physiology of calcium metabolism is not yet established.
Convolutional neural network based triangular CRF for joint intent detection and slot filling

We describe a joint model for intent detection and slot filling based on convolutional neural networks (CNN). The proposed architecture can be perceived as a neural network (NN) version of the triangular CRF model (TriCRF), in which the intent label and the slot sequence are modeled jointly and their dependencies are exploited. Our slot filling component is a globally normalized CRF style model, as opposed to left-to-right models in recent NN based slot taggers. Its features are automatically extracted through CNN layers and shared by the intent model. We show that our slot model component generates state-of-the-art results, outperforming CRF significantly. Our joint model outperforms the standard TriCRF by 1% absolute for both intent and slot. On a number of other domains, our joint model achieves 0.7-1%, and 0.9-2.1% absolute gains over the independent modeling approach for intent and slot respectively.
Convex Approximations of Chance Constrained Programs

We consider a chance constrained problem, where one seeks to minimize a convex objective over solutions satisfying, with a given close to one probability, a system of randomly perturbed convex constraints. This problem may happen to be computationally intractable; our goal is to build its computationally tractable approximation, i.e., an efficiently solvable deterministic optimization program with the feasible set contained in the chance constrained problem. We construct a general class of such convex conservative approximations of the corresponding chance constrained problem. Moreover, under the assumptions that the constraints are affine in the perturbations and the entries in the perturbation vector are independent-of-each-other random variables, we build a large deviation-type approximation, referred to as “Bernstein approximation,” of the chance constrained problem. This approximation is convex and efficiently solvable. We propose a simulation-based scheme for bounding the optimal value in the chance constrained problem and report numerical experiments aimed at comparing the Bernstein and well-known scenario approximation approaches. Finally, we extend our construction to the case of ambiguous chance constrained problems, where the random perturbations are independent with the collection of distributions known to belong to a given convex compact set rather than to be known exactly, while the chance constraint should be satisfied for every distribution given by this set.
A geostatistical modeling study of the effect of heterogeneity on radionuclide transport in the unsaturated zone, Yucca Mountain.

Retardation of certain radionuclides due to sorption to zeolitic minerals is considered one of the major barriers to contaminant transport in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain. However, zeolitically altered areas are lower in permeability than unaltered regions, which raises the possibility that contaminants might bypass the sorptive zeolites. The relationship between hydrologic and chemical properties must be understood to predict the transport of radionuclides through zeolitically altered areas. In this study, we incorporate mineralogical information into an unsaturated zone transport model using geostatistical techniques to correlate zeolitic abundance to hydrologic and chemical properties. Geostatistical methods are used to develop variograms, kriging maps, and conditional simulations of zeolitic abundance. We then investigate, using flow and transport modeling on a heterogeneous field, the relationship between percent zeolitic alteration, permeability changes due to alteration, sorption due to alteration, and their overall effect on radionuclide transport. We compare these geostatistical simulations to a simplified threshold method in which each spatial location in the model is assigned either zeolitic or vitric properties based on the zeolitic abundance at that location. A key conclusion is that retardation due to sorption predicted by using the continuous distribution is larger than the retardation predicted by the threshold method. The reason for larger retardation when using the continuous distribution is a small but significant sorption at locations with low zeolitic abundance. If, for practical reasons, models with homogeneous properties within each layer are used, we recommend setting nonzero Kds in the vitric tuffs to mimic the more rigorous continuous distribution simulations. Regions with high zeolitic abundance may not be as effective in
Twilight and daytime colors of the clear sky

Digital image analysis of the cloudless sky's daytime and twilight chromaticities challenges some existing ideas about sky colors. First, although the observed colors of the clear daytime sky do lie near the blackbody locus, their meridional chromaticity curves may resemble it very little. Second, analyses of twilight colors show that their meridional chromaticity curves vary greatly, with some surprising consequences for their colorimetric gamuts.
The effects of plant genetic variation and soil nutrients on secondary chemistry and growth in a shrubby willow, Salix sericea: patterns and constraints on the evolution of resistance traits

Investigators often examine the factors—genetic or environmental—that determine the concentrations of secondary chemicals and growth, but few have examined both simultaneously. We used a factorial genetic design and manipulated nutrient availability to Salix sericea (Salicaceae) in order to quantify: (1) genetic variation, plasticity, and genetic variation in plasticity for growth rate and the concentrations of two phenolic glycosides (salicortin and 2cinnamoylsalicortin), and (2) tradeoffs between secondary chemistry and growth rate, and between the two phenolic glycosides. We found genetic variation and genetic variation in plasticity for both chemicals but not for growth rate. Nutrient fertilization enhanced growth and decreased salicortin concentration. More importantly, nutrient environment affected the expression of genetic variation. Heritability was significant only in the medium (both phenolic glycosides) and in the high (2-cinnamoylsalicortin only) fertilizer treatments, and there was significant genetic variation in plasticity. There was no evidence suggesting that selection for increased chemical concentration would occur at the expense of growth rate. Finally, it appears that selection in favor of one chemical would result in positive correlational selection for the other. Overall, the evolution of these traits might be constrained by a lack of genetic variation in some environments, but not by negative genetic correlations between the different traits.  2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
A multivariate Powell–Sabin interpolant

We consider the problem of constructing a C 1 piecewise quadratic inter- polant, Q, to positional and gradient data defined at the vertices of a tessellation of n-simplices in IR n . The key to the interpolation scheme is to appropriately subdivide each simplex to ensure that certain necessary geometric constraints are satisfied by the subdivision points. We establish these constraints using the Bernstein-Bezier form for polynomials defined over simplices, and show how they can be satisfied. When constructed, the interpolant Q has full approximation power.
Face offsetting: A unified approach for explicit moving interfaces

Dynamic moving interfaces are central to many scientific, engineering, and graphics applications. In this paper, we introduce a novel method for moving surface meshes, called the face offsetting method, based on a generalized Huygens' principle. Our method operates directly on a Lagrangian surface mesh, without requiring an Eulerian volume mesh. Unlike traditional Lagrangian methods, which move each vertex directly along an approximate normal or user-specified direction, our method propagates faces and then reconstructs vertices through an eigenvalue analysis locally at each vertex to resolve normal and tangential motion of the interface simultaneously. The method also includes techniques for ensuring the integrity of the surface as it evolves. Face offsetting provides a unified framework for various dynamic interface problems and delivers accurate physical solutions even in the presence of singularities and large curvatures. We present the theoretical foundation of our method, and also demonstrate its accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility for a number of benchmark problems and a real-world application.
Composite pheochromocytoma associated with adrenal neuroblastoma in an infant: a case report.

A 5-year-old boy presented with headache and hypertension. Screening abdominal ultrasonography showed a 6-cm-sized mass in the left adrenal gland. Laboratory data included urine vanillylmandelic acid/creatinine (208.3 μg/mg), urine homovanillic acid/creatinine (114.3 μg/mg), serum epinephrine (237 pg/mL), and serum norepinephrine (1842 pg/mL). Metaiodobenzyl guanidine I 123 scintigram, abdominal computed tomography, and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging revealed only left adrenal tumor with no metastasis. Left adrenalectomy was performed transperitoneally, and histopathological diagnosis was an adrenal composite pheochromocytoma associated with neuroblastoma. Immunoreactivity for vimentin was positive in pheochromocytoma, which was negative in neuroblastoma. After operation, the symptom of hypertension disappeared. We should examine the identification of composite pheochromocytoma by immunohistochemistry method in patients with neuroblastomatous elements complicated by severe hypertension, and it is important to carefully monitor urine vanillylmandelic acid and urine homovanillic acid in the examination tests and hypertension in the clinical symptoms, and follow up this patient because of some risk of recurrence and metastasis.
Ethics in an Age of Terror and Genocide: Identity and Moral Choice

Acknowledgments xi Part 1. The Puzzle 1 Chapter 1. Introduction 3 Chapter 2. The Holocaust and Genocide 9 Part 2. A Study in Contrasts 32 Chapter 3. Tony: Rescuer 35 Chapter 4. Beatrix: Bystander 92 Chapter 5. Kurt: Soldier for the Nazis 114 Chapter 6. Fritz: Nazi Propagandist 138 Chapter 7. Florentine: Unrepentant Political Nazi 160 Part 3. Cracking the Code 187 Chapter 8. The Political Psychology of Genocide 189 Chapter 9. A Theory of Moral Choice 248 Conclusion The Psychology of Difference 301 Methodological Afterword 321 Appendix A. What Is Narrative and How Reliable a Tool Is It? 323 Appendix B. Glossary of Terms and Central Concepts 347 Notes 353 References 405 Index 433
Improvement of growth in broiler chickens using trilostane.

The objective of the present study was to determine whether injecting chicks with trilostane, a beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase inhibitor, affected growth and protein synthesis in muscle and liver. A preliminary study was performed using a total of 72 chicks to determine the dose-response of trilostane (0, 2, 8, 32, 64 and 200 mg trilostane/kg of body weight suspended in .9% saline) on serum corticosterone concentration during a 2 wk and 2 h exposure. A second study was performed using 48 broiler chickens that were assigned at 1 wk of age to receive daily subcutaneous injections of either trilostane (65 mg/kg of body weight; TR) or .9% saline (ST). Six birds from each treatment group were killed at 2 and 3 wk of age. The pectoralis major (PM) and two leg muscles (gastrocnemius and peroneus longus; LM) were dissected and weighed, and concentrations of protein, DNA, and RNA were determined. An additional 6 birds within each time period and treatment group were killed to measure whole body proximate composition. A second experiment was performed using the same experimental design and 20 chicks, in which fractional synthesis rates were measured in 5 birds from each treatment group by infusion and incorporation of radioactive tyrosine. Serum corticosterone concentrations were lower (P less than .05) in the chicks injected with 64 and 200 mg trilostane/kg of body weight during a 2-wk period. The TR chicks gained 8 to 10% faster (P less than .05) than the ST birds.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
EEG asymmetry: relationship to mood and risk for alcoholism in Mission Indian youth.

Abstract Background: Left frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) alpha dominance has been hypothesized to be related to depressed mood as well as aversive motivation and emotion. However, few studies have prospectively evaluated electroencephalogram asymmetry during development in high-risk adolescents and children. Methods: EEG alpha asymmetry was investigated in 134 Mission Indian children who were between 7 and 13 years of age. The relationships between electroencephalogram alpha asymmetry and age, gender, parental history of alcohol dependence, Native American heritage, and mood/approach behaviors were explored. Results: No significant relationship was found between frontal alpha asymmetry and age, gender, or behavioral measures of depressed mood and/or approach behaviors. However, participants with ≥50% Native American heritage were significantly more likely to have greater electroencephalogram alpha power in the left frontal cortex than in the right. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that the hypothesized relationship between EEG alpha asymmetry and measures of depressed mood, aversive motivation, and emotion may not be universal in all age or ethnic groups. Additionally, though the relationship between greater degrees of Native American heritage and alpha asymmetry are not as yet clear, we suggest it may be more related to substance abuse than depression in this population of Mission Indians.