cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhanced surface capacitance of cylindrical micropillar arrays

Abstract While surface capacitance is utilized widely for sensing and actuation in miniaturized systems, relatively little attention has been paid to its enhancement using engineered surface topography. We present how an engineered surface topography, specifically a cylindrical micropillar array, gives a significant enhancement of the surface capacitance compared to a flat surface of the same area. Arrays of silicon micropillars were fabricated and measured, and the results were validated using both an approximate analytical model and a numerical finite element model. At large gaps (hundreds of microns) between a flat probe and the top surface of the array, the capacitance is comparable to that of a flat surface, while at smaller gaps (
Metrics to measure the complexity of partial programs

Abstract Many metrics exist to measure the structural complexity of completed programs. Here, metrics are developed which allow the measurement of the structural complexity of partially developed programs. These metrics support the description of both sequential and concurrent programs. They can be used to isolate the relative contributions of the concurrent and sequential code component to the overall complexity of a partial program. The ability of such metrics to describe aspects of the programming process is presented.
pIClnCan Regulate Swelling-Induced Cl−Currents in Either Layer of Rabbit Ciliary Epithelium

Swelling-induced Cl−currents were investigated in freshly prepared non-pigmented epithelial (NPE) and pigmented epithelial (PE) cells of the rabbit ciliary body using the whole-cell patch clamp technique. Exposure of both NPE and PE cells to hypotonic stress induced Cl−currents that exhibited outward rectification and were insensitive to Ca+2. We found that swelling-induced Cl−currents in PE cell are observed shortly after isolation. The swelling-induced Cl−current showed little or no inactivation at positive membrane voltages and was sensitive to 100 μM NPPB and 100 μM DIDS. Injection of cRNA encoded rabbit pIClninto Xenopus oocytes produced an outwardly rectifying Cl−current displaying features consistent with the swelling-induced Cl−current in epithelium. pIClnis ubiquitous in the ciliary epithelium. It participates in the equilibration of short term tonicity alterations, a phenomenon underlying mechanisms with larger and slower amplitudes for aqueous secretion by these cells.
RAYLEIGH CONDUCTIVITY AND SELF-SUSTAINED OSCILLATIONS

The theory of self-sustaining oscillations of low Mach number, high Reynolds number shear layers, and jets impinging on edges and corners is discussed. Such oscillations generate narrow band sound, and are usually attributed to the formation of discrete vortices whose interactions with the edge or corner produce impulsive pressures that trigger the cyclic formation of new vorticity. A linearized analysis of these interactions is described in which free shear layers are treated as vortex sheets. Details are given for shear flow over wall apertures and shallow cavities, and for jet–edge interactions. The operating stages of the oscillations correspond to complex eigenvalues of the linear theory: for wall apertures and edge tones they are poles in the upper half of the complex frequency plane of the Rayleigh conductivity of the “window” spanned by the shear flow; for shallow wall cavities they are poles of a frequency-dependent drag coefficient. It is argued that the frequencies defined by the real parts of the complex frequencies at these poles determine the operating stage Strouhal numbers observed experimentally. Strouhal number predictions for a shallow wall cavity are in good agreement with data extrapolated to zero Mach number from measurements in air; edge tone predictions are in excellent accord with data from various sources in the literature.
On the Connection between Earth Currents and Changes in Solar Activity

MAY it not be that, in the recent experiments of Mr. Hertz on the effect of ultra-violet light on electric discharge, we have an explanation of the relation existing between disturbances on the solar surface and disturbances in earth currents?
Ribosomal RNA transcriptional activation and processing in hamster rubrospinal motoneurons: Effects of axotomy and testosterone treatment

Rubrospinal motoneurons (RSMN) represent a population of androgen receptor-expressing central motoneurons with limited regenerative potential relative to their peripheral counterparts. A key determinant of regenerative capability lies in the nucleolar reaction of injured neurons. To date, characterization of the nucleolar reaction in injured central motoneurons has not been accomplished. Furthermore, it has been documented that testosterone propionate (TP) augments peripheral motoneuron regeneration through regulation of the nucleolar reaction to injury. In this study, the effects of injury alone, or in conjunction with TP, on the nucleolar response of injured RSMN were examined using in situ hybridization (ISH) techniques. Castrated adult male hamsters were subjected to right spinal cord hemisection at the C7/T1 vertebral level. Half the animals were subcutaneously implanted with one Silastic TP capsule, with the other half sham implanted. ISH for precursor 45S and mature 28S rRNA was accomplished with a 3H-labeled ribosomal DNA probe specific to the external transcribed spacer region or to the 28S region of the ribosomal gene, respectively. Postoperative times of 2, 6, and 24 hours were selected for examination of precursor 45S rRNA (i.e., rRNA transcriptional activation) levels and 0.25, 2, 4, and 14 days for examination of mature rRNA (i.e., ribosome) levels. Transcriptional activation of the rRNA gene was rapidly and transiently increased in injured RSMN, analogously to previously documented effects of injury on rRNA transcription in peripheral motoneurons, but, in contrast, this did not translate into an increase in mature ribosomes. TP administration failed to affect positively the nucleolar response of injured RSMN at all. From this study, a key component underlying inherent differences in the regenerative capacity of peripheral vs. central motoneurons has been identified, which can be targeted in future experiments designed to enhance the regenerative potential of selective neuronal populations. J. Comp. Neurol. 458:326–333, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The effect of mesh configuration and codend circumference on selectivity in the Mediterranean trawl Nephrops fishery

Abstract The Pomo pit area is both the main Adriatic nursery area for European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) and an important trawling ground for the Adriatic trawl fleet. The current paper is not only restricted to the escapement of Norway lobster but also takes note of the associated white fish community (European hake, blue whiting Micromesistius poutassou and poor-cod Trisopterus minutus capelanus) which makes an important contribution to the commercial catch of trawlers. This study was undertaken to analyse the effect on trawl selectivity of inserting first a 40 mm square-mesh codend and second of increasing the circumference in the diamond-mesh codend. A traditional 40 mm diamond-mesh codend, typical of the commercial trawl fisheries, was selected as a reference codend for the comparative analysis. The square-mesh codend was always more selective than the diamond-mesh codends, while the influence of codend circumference on diamond-mesh selectivity was less evident. In addition to mesh configuration and the number of meshes around the codend, the selectivity data were modelled by estimating the individual contribution of catch size and season, but there was no evidence of a coherent effect on the selectivity of these two parameters. This study confirms that all the four investigated species make the best use of the square-mesh opening, either because of their body shape or because the form of the mesh facilitates forcing of the net. Results seem to suggest that for the main target species, Norway lobster, square-mesh codend would protect specimens under the 20 mm of MLS (carapace length). Square-mesh also improves the L50 of European hake, but it seems not to be sufficient to avoid the catch of specimens under MLS of 20 cm as fixed by the EC Reg. Nr. 1967/2006. In conclusion, enforcement of installation of square-mesh codends in Mediterranean trawl Nephrops fishing could contribute to decreasing the capture of individuals from the particular nursery area of Pomo pit.
Backbone 1HN, 13C, and 15N resonance assignments of the tandem RNA-binding domains of human DGCR8

Double-stranded RNA binding domain (dsRBD) containing proteins are critical components of the microRNA (miRNA) pathway, with key roles in small RNA biogenesis, modification, and regulation. DiGeorge Critical Region 8 (DGCR8) is a 773 amino acid, dsRBD-containing protein that was originally identified in humans as a protein encoded in the region of chromosome 22 that is deleted in patients with DiGeorge syndrome. Now, it is realized that DGCR8 complements the nuclear RNase III Drosha to initiate miRNA biogenesis by promoting efficient recognition and cleavage of primary miRNAs (pri-miRNA). A pair of C-terminal tandem dsRBDs separated by a flexible linker are required for pri-miRNA substrate binding and recognition. The crystal structure of the DGCR8 core region comprising residues 493–720 revealed that each dsRBD adopts the canonical αβββα fold. However, several residues located in important flexible regions including the β1-β2-loop implicated in canonical dsRNA recognition are absent in the crystal structure and no RNA-bound structure of DGCR8 has been reported. Here we report the 1HN, 13C, and 15N backbone resonance assignments of the 24 kDa, 214 amino acid human DGCR8core (residues 493–706) by heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. Our assignments lay the foundation for a detailed solution state characterization of the dynamical and RNA-binding properties of this protein in solution.
A Multiemitter Localization Comparison of 3D Superresolution Imaging Modalities

Single-molecule localization-based superresolution imaging is complicated by emission from multiple emitters overlapping at the detector. The potential for overlapping emitters is even greater for 3D imaging than for 2D imaging due to the large effective ‘volume’ of the 3D point spread function (PSF). Overlapping emission can be accounted for in the estimation model, recovering the ability to localize the emitters, but with the caveat that the localization precision has a dependence on the amount of overlap from other emitters. We investigate if a particular 3D imaging modality has a significant advantage in facilitating the position estimation of overlapping emitters. We compare variants of two commonly used and easily implemented imaging modalities for 3D single-molecule imaging: astigmatic imaging; dual focal plane imaging; and the combination of the two approaches- dual focal plane imaging with astigmatism. We use the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) to quantify the multi-emitter estimation performance by calculating the theoretical best localization precision under a multi-emitter estimation model. We investigate the performance of these 3D modalities under a wide range of conditions including various distributions of collected photons per emitter, background counts, pixel sizes, and camera readout noise values. Differences between modalities were small and we therefore conclude that multi-emitter fitting performance should not be a primary factor in selecting between these modalities.
Abundance and feeding ecology of larger protozooplankton in the ice edge zone of the Weddell and Scotia Seas during the austral winter

Abstract Biomasses, abundances and feeding ecology of larger (> 50 μm diameter) protozooplankton were studied in the upper 210 m in the ice edge zone of the Weddell/Scotia Sea area in the austral winter of 1988. Sixty-liter water samples were taken at five depths at 17 stations, and organisms were concentrated by reverse-flow filtration. Mean abundances of the total assemblage of larger protozooplankton (radiolarians, formaminiferans, acantharians, the heliozoan Sticholonche, tintinnid and aloricate ciliates, and thecate and athecate dinoflagellates) ranged from 2040 to 3745 M−3 in the upper 210 m. Biomass ranged from 33 to 48 μg C m−3 in the upper 85 m, and from 32 to 54 μg C m−3 from 115 to 210 m. Phaeodarian radiolarians larger than 1.6 mm (sampled with plummet nets) contributed an additional 3 μg C m−3 in the upper 100 m and an additional 7 μg C m−3 from 100 to 200 m. These abundances and biomasses are lower than for other seasons in the Antarctic, but are comparable to abundances reported for several of these groups in lower latitude waters. We attribute the low winter abundances to slower growth and reduced food, rather than to increased mortality. The large protozooplankton are trophically diverse; in addition to heterotrophy on a variety of organisms, we found apparent evidence of mixotrophy and symbiosis in some of the groups. The large protozooplankton fed on both autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms in winter, although the biomass of smaller forms is dominated by heterotrophs. Feeding on detrital particles also was indicated by the presence of siliceous fragments in vacuoles. The larger protozooplankton in the winter ice edge zone may be important in reducing particle flux to the deep sea and as a food source for larger zooplankton, especially from the base of the euphotic zone to 210 m.
Image segmentation by semantic method

Abstract The problem of region detection is addressed. Linear and quadratic approximation schemes are used to approximate the regions in an image. A set of attributes, which represent the properties of a region, are defined. A distance function, which has structural as well as semantic part, is introduced. This distance function is used to decide whether a group of pixels in an image forms a region. A number of image models formed from the combination of various approximation schemes and attribute sets are studied. These image models are tested on a number of real world examples, and a promising set of attributes and approximation schemes for region detection are reported. The results of region detection on a number of images using the proposed image models are presented.
Purification, preliminary characterization, and immunological comparison of hog lens leucine aminopeptidase (EC 3.4.11.1) with hog kidney and beef lens aminopeptidases.

Abstract Leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) was purified from hog lenses by application of the Himmelhoch procedure for isolation of hog kidney LAP [S. R. Himmelhoch (1970) , in Methods in Enzymology (Perlmann, G. E., and Lorand, L., eds.), Vol. 19, pp. 508–513, Academic Press, New York.] This involved treating crude hog lens homogenates with hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, DEAE-cellulose adsorption and elution, ammonium sulfate fractionation (53–84% of saturation), and gel filtration on a Bio-Gel A-1.5m column. Purifications ranging from 2080- to 4700-fold with activity yields from 28 to 100% were achieved. The hog lens LAP appeared homogeneous by native and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Bio-Gel chromatography of the native enzyme and SDS-PAGE of dimethylsuberimidate-crosslinked LAP indicated a molecular weight of 326,000. SDS-PAGE of untreated LAP showed a subunit weight of 54,000, consistent with a hexameric enzyme structure. By immunodiffusion, LAP from hog lens and kidney were identical while hog lens and beef lens enzymes demonstrated only partial identity. Electrophoresis of the native enzymes showed a slightly lower mobility for the hog lens LAP than for beef LAP at pH 8.7.
Interleukin 5 immunotherapy depletes alloreactive plasma cells.

Abstract Background Long-lived plasma cells (PCs) that form after alloantigen sensitization produce donor-specific alloantibodies that generate a positive serum crossmatch and preclude transplantation. New approaches for desensitization, including PC depletion with proteasome inhibition, show promise but carry considerable toxicity. Recently, eosinophils have been shown to govern PC persistence. Interleukin 5 (IL-5) depletion is known to reduce eosinophils in human asthmatics. We hypothesized that treatment with an anti-IL-5 antibody can deplete alloreactive PCs, reduce donor-specific alloantibodies, and serve as a less toxic alternative to proteasome inhibition. Methods BALB/c mice were sensitized with B6 skin allografts. Starting at 8 wk after sensitization, control mice received injections of phosphate-buffered saline, whereas experimental mice received weekly injections of an anti-IL-5 antibody. PCs were enumerated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot after 8 wk. Results All control and experimental recipients of skin allografts developed positive crossmatches when screened at 8 wk after sensitization. All experimental mice treated with anti-IL-5 showed a reduction in their total PC numbers. Also, in contrast to the known adverse effects of proteasome inhibition, experimental mice treated with anti-IL-5 exhibited negligible weight loss or lymphopenia. Conclusions Treatment with anti-IL-5 is sufficient to reduce, but not eliminate, alloreactive PCs in the bone marrow. This is because of the targeted reduction of eosinophils leading to a reduction in the PC survival factors a proliferation-inducing ligand and IL-6. Generalized toxicity was not observed in experimental mice. Overall, IL-5 directed immunotherapy can eliminate PC's but is unlikely to be a clinically significant desensitization strategy given the persistence of DSA
Solution of the schrödinger equation for systems driven by an exponential or a semiexponential pulse

Abstract The time-dependent probability amplitudes of a general multilevel system can be obtained analytically as power series in the pulse area for quasimonochromatic pulses with special envelope shapes in the rotating-wave approximation. Closed-form solutions can also be found for some cases of interest. These solutions are useful in evaluating the correctness of the adiabatic approximation and in illustrating the dependence of the intramolecular relaxation time on the conditions of excitation.
Law school accreditation in the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union: what steps for the future?

Abstract Legal education reform has recently emerged as a key component in the rule of law promotion in the former Soviet Union republics,1 now sovereign and independent states collectively known, for the purpose of this paper, as the New Independent States (NIS). Scholarly articles and international forums2 suggest that legal education reform could be advanced by developing and implementing accreditation procedures for law schools, updating law school curricula, establishing transparent and rigorous grading standards, and retraining the law faculty. This paper discusses just one of these measures, namely the development and implementation of quality evaluation and accreditation procedures for law schools in the NIS region. In order to explore this issue in detail, the paper has been structured into six parts. Part I provides a brief overview of legal education in the Soviet Union, thus placing the issues tackled in this paper into a historical perspective. Part II describes the main changes occurring in...
Gravitational radiation from plunging orbits: Perturbative study

Numerical relativity has recently yielded a plethora of results about kicks from spinning mergers which has, in turn, vastly increased our knowledge about the spin interactions of black hole systems. In this work we use black hole perturbation theory to calculate accurately the gravitational waves emanating from the end of the plunging stage of an extreme mass ratio merger in order to further understand this phenomenon. This study focuses primarily on spin induced effects with emphasis on the maximally spinning limit and the identification of possible causes of generic behavior. We find that gravitational waves emitted during the plunging phase exhibit damped oscillatory behavior, corresponding to a coherent excitation of quasinormal modes by the test particle. This feature is universal in the sense that the frequencies and damping time do not depend on the orbital parameters of the plunging particle. Furthermore, the observed frequencies are distinct from those associated with the usual free quasinormal ringing. Our calculation suggests that a maximum in radiated energy and momentum occurs at spin parameters equal to a/M=0.86 and a/M=0.81, respectively, for the plunge stage of a polar orbit. The dependence of linear momentum emission on the angle at which a polar orbit impacts the horizon is quantified. One of the advantages of the perturbation approach adopted here is that insight into the actual mechanism of radiation emission and its relationship to black hole ringing is obtained by carefully identifying the dominant terms in the expansions used.
Group B Streptococci Elicit Leukotriene B4 and Interleukin-8 from Human Monocytes: Neonates Exhibit a Diminished Response

Neonatal monocytes have diminished function compared with adult cells. The ability to recruit neutrophils through elaboration of chemoattractants has not been evaluated in humans. The pattern of chemoattractant release induced by group B streptococci (GBS) also is unknown. Adult and cord blood monocytes were stimulated with GBS. Supernatants were used as the attractant in blind well chambers; migration to neonatal supernatants was diminished. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) and leukotriene B4 (LTB4) were released in greater quantities by adult monocytes in response to either GBS or lipopolysaccharide. Opsonization of GBS was not required for IL-8 release. Adult monocytes released more LTB4 when stimulated with unopsonized GBS than with opsonized GBS; the neonate's LTB4 production did not increase. IL-8 and LTB4 accounted for the majority of chemoattractant activity released in response to GBS. Decreased production of LTB4 and IL-8 may contribute to the neonate's poor host response to GBS.
An Elementary Proof of Joris's Theorem

(2005). An Elementary Proof of Joris's Theorem. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 112, No. 9, pp. 829-831.
Nanoparticulate iron oxide minerals in soils and sediments: unique properties and contaminant scavenging mechanisms

Nanoparticulate goethite, akaganeite, hematite, ferrihydrite and schwertmannite are important constituents of soils, sediments and mine drainage outflows. These minerals have high sorption capacities for metal and anionic contaminants such as arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury and selenium. Contaminant sequestration is accomplished mainly by surface complexation, but aggregation of particles may encapsulate sorbed surface species into the multigrain interior interfaces, with significant consequences for contaminant dispersal or remediation processes. Particularly for particle sizes on the order of 1–10 nm, the sorption capacity and surface molecular structure also may differ in important ways from bulk material. We review the factors affecting geochemical reactivity of these nanophases, focusing on the ways they may remove toxins from the environment, and include recent results of studies on nanogoethite growth, aggregation and sorption processes.
Efficacy of super high dose proton pump inhibitor administration in refractory laryngopharyngeal reflux: a pilot study.

Summary Objectives Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are the mainstay of current medical management for laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) but may be insufficient in managing some patients' disease. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of superdose PPI therapy in the improvement of 24-hour pH impedance studies and stroboscopy findings in patients with LPR refractory to standard dosing (BID PPI). Study Design Retrospective chart review. Methods This study examined 35 patients ranging from 20 to 76 years diagnosed with refractory LPR who were treated with super high dose PPIs. Reflux finding scores (RFS) obtained by three blinded raters and 24-hour pH impedance study scores were compared for patients on standard and then super high dose PPI regimens. Results Statistical analysis of the stroboscopy evaluation revealed a modest but statistically significant decrease in the RFS scores for those patients on super high dose therapy, with good intrarater reliability. The DeMeester score showed no significant change between standard and super high dose regimens. The results of the 24-hour pH impedance monitoring showed no statistically significant decrease in acid reflux episodes despite an average of 7.6 fewer proximal acid reflux episodes. Conclusion Super high dose therapy seems to improve laryngeal signs of irritation as reflected by RFS. This improvement was not reflected in our patient population's severity of reflux while on super high dose therapy when compared with standard LPR therapy as measured by 24-hour pH impedance monitoring, although this finding may reflect selection bias. RFS and 24-hour pH impedance may be insufficiently sensitive to detect improvements in LPR with adequate treatment.
Common incidental findings on MDCT: survey of radiologist recommendations for patient management.

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate for agreement with respect to how radiologists report incidental findings encountered on CT. Methods A multiple-choice survey was designed to query radiologists about how they handle 12 incidental findings on body CT, assuming the patient is a 45-year-old woman with no history of malignancy. Included were a 1-cm thyroid nodule, a 5-mm noncalcified lung nodule, coronary artery calcification, a 2-cm adrenal nodule, a 2-cm pancreatic cyst, a 1-cm enhancing liver lesion, a 2-cm high-density renal cyst, short-segment small bowel intussusception, a 1-cm splenic cyst, focal gallbladder wall calcification, and a 3-cm ovarian cyst in both a premenopausal woman and a postmenopausal woman. Choices ranged from "do not report" to advising interventional procedures tailored to the organ. Surveys were administered to body CT attending radiologists at 3 academic institutions. Results Twenty-seven radiologists completed the survey. The mean experience level was 15.7 years after training. Seventy percent or greater agreement on interpretation was identified for only 6 findings: recommend ultrasound for a 1-cm thyroid nodule, recommend ultrasound for a 3-cm cyst in postmenopausal woman, follow Fleischner Society recommendations for a 5-mm lung nodule, describe only coronary calcification, and describe as likely benign both short-segment small bowel intussusception and a 1-cm splenic cyst. Conclusions Agreement is lacking, both across institutions and within departments, for the management of 6 commonly encountered incidental findings on body CT. Individual departments should develop internal guidelines to ensure consistent recommendations based on existing evidence.
Expression cloning of Xenopus Os4, an evolutionarily conserved gene, which induces mesoderm and dorsal axis.

Multiple factors, including members of the FGF, TGFβ, and Wnt family of proteins, are important mediators in the regulation of dorsal–ventral pattern formation during vertebrate development. By using an expression cloning approach to identify novel factors that could regulate dorsal–ventral patterning in the Xenopus embryo, we isolated the Xenopus homologue of the human Os4 gene by virtue of its ability to induce a secondary dorsal axis. While Os4 homologues have been identified in a variety of species, and human Os4 is overexpressed in human tumors, the biological function of Os4 is unknown. To explore the mechanism by which Xenopus Os4 (XOs4) induces a secondary dorsal axis, we used Xenopus explant and whole-embryo assays. The secondary axis induced by XOs4 is distinct from that induced by activation of Wnt or FGF pathways but similar to that induced by inhibition of BMP signaling or activation of an Activin pathway. However, XOs4 did not inhibit BMP signaling in dissociated animal cap explants, indicating that XOs4 does not inhibit BMP signaling. Similar to activation of an Activin-like pathway, expression of XOs4 induces molecular markers for mesoderm in animal cap explants, although expression of gastrula-stage mesodermal markers was very weak and substantially delayed. Yet, XOs4 does not require activity of the Activin signal-transduction pathway for mesoderm induction as dominant-negative components of the Activin/Nodal/Vg1 pathway did not prevent XOs4-mediated induction of mesodermal derivatives. Finally, like Activin/Nodal/Vg1 pathways, XOs4 requires FGF signaling for expression of mesoderm markers. Results presented in this study demonstrate that XOs4 can induce mesoderm and dorsalize ventral mesoderm resulting in ectopic dorsal axis formation, suggesting a role for this large evolutionarily conserved gene family in early development.
Mobi-watchdog: you can steal, but you can't run!

Recent years have witnessed widespread use of mobile devices such as cell phones, laptops, and PDAs. In this paper, we propose an architecture called Mobi-Watchdog to detect mobility anomalies of mobile devices in wireless networks that track their locations regularly. Given the past mobility records of a mobile device, Mobi-Watchdog uses clustering techniques to identify the high-level structure of its mobility and then trains a HHMM (hierarchical hidden Markov model). Mobi-Watchdog raises an alert by requesting the device holder to reauthenticate himself when it finds an observed mobility trace significantly deviates from the trained model. The time complexity of the original generalized Baum-Welch algorithm, which is used for HHMM parameter reestimation, scales linearly with T3, where T is the number of locations in an observed sequence. Such a high computational cost can significantly impede deployment of Mobi-Watchdog in large-scale wireless networks in practice. To achieve better scalability, we modify this algorithm to make it scale linearly with T instead. Experimental results with realistic mobility traces demonstrate that Mobi-Watchdog detects mobility anomalies with high probability and reasonably low false alarm rates. We also show that Mobi-Watchdog has very low computational overhead, which makes it a viable candidate for mobility anomaly detection in large wireless networks.
Modeling Volatile Organic Compound Transport in Composite Liners

AbstractData from bench-scale composite liner experiments were compared with predictions made with two models, a finite-difference model and a semianalytical model, used to predict volatile organic compound (VOC) transport through composite liners. Transport parameters for the geomembrane and clay for five common VOCs were measured independently and used as input. Predictions from both models for all five VOCs were essentially identical. Excellent agreement was obtained between the predicted and measured concentrations for all five VOCs without model calibration. However, inherent variability in measured transport parameters has a significant effect on predictions. Volatile organic compound concentrations in the clay liner near the geomembrane-clay interface depend primarily on transport parameters for the geomembrane. However, this becomes less significant as the distance from the geomembrane-clay interface increases.
Clinical academic rheumatology: Getting more than you pay for

Objective Rheumatology is among the least compensated specialties in medicine today. This is a significant problem for clinical rheumatologists in academic medicine who are often expected to earn their salaries through clinical practice alone. Additionally, academic rheumatologists usually cannot generate revenue through office laboratory monitoring, radiographs, or bone densitometry to supplement their income (i.e., downstream income). The purpose of our study was to examine revenue generated from downstream income to a university by a clinical-academic rheumatologist. Methods Consecutive outpatients (n = 127) seen predominately by one academic rheumatologist over one month of clinic were followed for 18 months. The total physician compensation for patient visits was calculated and compared with the revenue generated from laboratory tests, radiologic studies, consultations, and specific rheumatologic treatments and procedures performed or ordered. Medicare reimbursement rates for 2003 were used as compensation standards for all charges. Results Physician office visit billing generated $36,297 from 730 office visits. The total amount of downstream income from these office visits was $363,813 ($47,386 from laboratory tests, $35,582 from radiologic studies, $8,159 from rheumatologic procedures, $261,584 from rheumatologic infusions, and $11,101 from initial consultations). Therefore, $10.02 of downstream revenue was generated for every $1.00 of office visit compensation applied to the academic rheumatologist's salary. Conclusion Although academic rheumatologists struggle to bill their salaries through seeing more patients, they are clearly a bargain for a university hospital because they generate >$10.00 for every $1.00 they receive for an office visit.
The regulatory region of the l-arabinose operon: Its isolation on a 1000 base-pair fragment from DNA heteroduplexes☆

Abstract A DNA fragment containing the l -arabinose operon regulatory region of Escherichia coli was purified from DNA heteroduplexes formed between opposite strands of two non-defective ara transducing phage. The phage and arabinose gene orientation is such that the heteroduplex contains two single-stranded “bubbles”. The ara regulatory region and short portions of the flanking araB and araC genes are in the short duplex between the “bubbles”. Extensive regions of homology between the phage genomes allowed nearly half of the DNA renatured from a mixture of the two phage DNAs to be in the form of heteroduplexes. Digestion of the reannealed DNA containing heteroduplexes and homoduplexes with the easily purified, single-strand specific nuclease S 1 yielded the 1000 (1017 ± 20, n = 36) base-pair ara DNA duplex plus half and whole phage-length duplexes. The larger DNA duplexes were selectively precipitated by polyethylene glycol before the final purification by preparative electrophoresis on polyacryl-amide gels. By these methods 10 to 20 μg of the 1000 base-pair DNA fragment were purified.
Reflecting upon the left superior mediastinum.

Summary Pathology developing within the confines of the superior mediastinum mayproduce changes that appear quite subtle on conventional radiographs. The zone of contact of lung with the left superior mediastinum is represented radiographically as a series of interrelated pleural reflections. These reflections may be altered by mediastinal disease, and an understanding of this anatomy can facilitate detection of abnormalities.
Inferring the hydrophobic interaction from the properties of neat water.

The present paper by Hummer et al. (1), building on previous developments in scaled-particle theory (2) and information theory (3-6) and using molecular simulations to test theoretical ideas, shows how one can predict the free energies of the hydrophobic hydration and the hydrophobic interaction of solutes composed of hard spheres from an analysis of spontaneous cavity formation in neat liquid water. Hummer et al. (1) dramatically extend ideas from scaled particle theory and demonstrate a simple, highly efficient approach to computing solution thermodynamic properties from either simulation or theory. This paper is a commentary on the background and the ideas presented in the paper by Hummer et al. (1). The whole field of condensed matter chemistry has been greatly advanced by the power of computer simulation (7). It wasn't until the second half of the 1960s that the first molecular dynamics simulations were performed on simple molecular liquids (8, 9). Molecular simulations provide clear data for theories of liquids, allow direct tests of theoretical approximations, and often point the way to better simplifying approximations to be made in analytical theories. The present paper uses both theory and simulation data to find simple answers to an apparently complicated question. It is difficult to imagine this kind of simplicity without the extensive development of simulation techniques that have gone before. Water has been studied with simple force fields (10) since the 1970s, and the solubility of inert gases in water has been modeled by treating the inert gas atom as a hard sphere that excludes the center of the water molecule from a region around it (11). Studies of such systems give insight into "hydrophobic hydration," the reorganization of water structure around the hard sphere, as well as the free energy of hydration of the sphere. More realistic solute-solvent interactions can then be treated by statistical perturbation (12) theory using the hard sphere reference system. Such an approach was pioneered by Pratt and Chandler (11). When two hard spheres of type A are dissolved in water, there is a solvent-induced force driving the spheres into association. This is the so-called "hydrophobic interaction." The free energy change, W(R), on bringing the two spheres together from infinity to a separation R, called the potential of mean force (pmf), is related to the radial distribution function of the two spheres, gAA(R), through the relation (12, 13)
The Oregon capitation initiative: lessons and warnings, from the forefront of the backlash.

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES that influence physician decision making are unavoidable. 1 Under the traditional fee-for-service system of physician payment, services that provide benefit to the patient also hold the promise of additional revenue for the physician. In conjunction with health insurance, this payment system strongly promotes increased use of resources, 2 and many health economists believe that fee-for-service payment of physicians has been a major contributor to the rapid growth in health care costs in the United States. 3 With annual rates of growth in health care expenditures continuing to outstrip the rate of growth of the economy, business and government have turned to alterations in physicians' financial incentives to assist in limiting health care expenditures. 4 In particular, managed care plans using capitated payments to physicians are becoming more common. 5 Under capitation, in its simplest form, physicians, either individually or in a group, receive a fixed payment
Near-Nash targeting strategies for heterogeneous teams of autonomous combat vehicles

Military strategists are currently seeking methodologies to control large numbers of autonomous assets. Automated planners based upon the Nash equilibrium concept in non-zero sum games are one option. Because such planners inherently consider possible adversarial actions, assets are able to adapt to, and to some extent predict, potential enemy actions. However, these planners must function properly both in cases in which a pure Nash strategy does not exist and in scenarios possessing multiple Nash equilibria. Another issue that needs to be overcome is the scalability of the Nash equilibrium. That is, as the dimensionality of the problem increases, the Nash strategies become unfeasible to compute using traditional methodologies. In this paper we introduce the concept of near-Nash strategies as a mechanism to overcome these difficulties. We then illustrate this concept by deriving the near-Nash strategies and using these strategies as the basis for an intelligent battle plan for heterogeneous teams of autonomous combat air vehicles in the Multi-Team Dynamic Weapon Target Assignment model.
Carbon dioxide added late in inspiration reduces ventilation-perfusion heterogeneity without causing respiratory acidosis

We have shown previously that inspired CO2 (3-5%) improves ventilation-perfusion (Va/Q) matching but with the consequence of mild arterial hypercapnia and respiratory acidosis. We hypothesized that adding CO2 only late in inspiration to limit its effects to the conducting airways would enhance Va/Q matching and improve oxygenation without arterial hypercapnia. CO2 was added in the latter half of inspiration in a volume aimed to reach a concentration of 5% in the conducting airways throughout the respiratory cycle. Ten mixed-breed dogs were anesthetized and, in a randomized order, ventilated with room air, 5% CO2 throughout inspiration, and CO2 added only to the latter half of inspiration. The multiple inert-gas elimination technique was used to assess Va/Q heterogeneity. Late-inspired CO2 produced only very small changes in arterial pH (7.38 vs. 7.40) and arterial CO2 (40.6 vs. 39.4 Torr). Compared with baseline, late-inspired CO2 significantly improved arterial oxygenation (97.5 vs. 94.2 Torr), decreased the alveolar-arterial Po2 difference (10.4 vs. 15.7 Torr) and decreased the multiple inert-gas elimination technique-derived arterial-alveolar inert gas area difference, a global measurement of Va/Q heterogeneity (0.36 vs. 0.22). These changes were equal to those with 5% CO2 throughout inspiration (arterial Po2, 102.5 Torr; alveolar-arterial Po2 difference, 10.1 Torr; and arterial-alveolar inert gas area difference, 0.21). In conclusion, we have established that the majority of the improvement in gas exchange efficiency with inspired CO2 can be achieved by limiting its application to the conducting airways and does not require systemic acidosis.
Nonstutterers' perceptions of stuttering and speech difficulty

Abstract Two versions of Woolf's (1967) Perception of Stuttering Inventory (PSI) were administered to nonstuttering college students in three experiments. In one (Woolf's published version) the word “stuttering” appeared and in another [a version developed by Daly, Oakes, Breen, and Mishler (1981)] “stuttering” was replaced by “speech difficulty.” Nonstutterers' scores on the PSI were found to be affected by knowledge of—or attention to—“stuttering” or “stutterers” as well as orientation toward speech or speech pathology. It was concluded that a total PSI score of ⩽5 is presently a more defensible criterion of normality for stutterers than the more commonly used score of ⩽10.
Algorithmic differentiation in Axiom

This paper describes the design and implementation of an algorithmic differentiation framework in the Axiom computer algebra system. Our implementation works by transformations on Spad programs at the level of the typed abstract syntax tree -- Spad is the language for extending Axiom with libraries. The framework illustrates an algebraic theory of algorithmic differentiation, here only for Spad programs, but we suggest that the theory is general. In particular, if it is possible to define a compositional semantics for programs, we define the exact requirements for when a program can be algorithmically differentiated. This leads to a general algorithmic differentiation system, and is not confined to functions which compute with basic data types, such as floating point numbers.
Trends in high performance analytics

With the proliferation of analytic and business intelligence applications, and with the persistent growth in data sizes, there is an ever increasing need to support high performance analytics. This talk will present recent technological trends in addressing this need, and will particularly highlight the approach of facilitating high performance analytics in a relational database via a novel dichotomous combination with a non-relational aggregation-server.
Philosophical and Ethical Issues in Disability

What is a disability? What sorts of limitations do persons with disabilities or impairments experience? What is there about having a disability or impairment that makes it disadvantageous for the individuals with it? Are persons with severe cognitive impairments capable of making autonomous decisions? What role should disability play in the construction of theories of justice? Is it ever ethical for parents to seek to create a child with an impairment? This anthology addresses these and other questions and is a valuable addition to a growing interdisciplinary literature exploring issues at the intersection of disability studies, philosophy, and bioethics. Most of the authors are well-known from their previous work in the disability field and have already made significant philosophical contributions to it.
Properties of a pinned electron solid on a liquid helium film.

The conduction and noise properties of a classical electron solid pinned by variations in the image potential of a glass substrate underneath a helium film supporting the electrons are presented. These properties include a nonlinear resistivity, a frequency-dependent complex impedance, f -α noise and an abrupt increase in broad-band noise when the electron solid becomes depinned. The results of this study are compared with data on quantum electrons solids in heterostructures and MOSFETs
Determination of the phase ratio by means of reaction kinetics in a liquid chromatographic reactor

Abstract The on-column rate constants in an octadecylsilane (ODS) bonded liquid chromatographic reactor with methanol mobile phase were used to determine the phase ratio and catalyst distribution coefficient. A concentration factor and the extent of ODS participation were introduced to treat the contribution of the non-polar alkyl ligands to solute retention in the composite stationary phase. The results obtained from this operational approach which can be expanded to other systems are quite comparable to literature values, and the discrepancies are discussed.
Whom Will Sociology Serve? Transforming the Discipline by Engaging Communities:

This article examines the debate on public sociology through the community-based work of the authors and their students. Critiquing the continued focus of public sociology on policy makers, funders...
Sweet Silent Thought Alliteration and Resonance in Poetry Comprehension

Poetic devices like alliteration can heighten readers' aesthetic experiences and enhance poets' recall of their epic pieces. The effects of such devices on memory for and appreciation of poetry are well known; however, the mechanisms underlying these effects are not yet understood. We used current theories of language comprehension as a framework for understanding how alliteration affects comprehension processes. Across three experiments, alliterative cues reactivated readers' memories for previous information when it was phonologically similar to the cue. These effects were obtained when participants read aloud and when they read silently, and with poetry and prose. The results support everyday intuitions about the effects of poetry and aesthetics, and explain the nature of such effects. These findings extend the scope of general memory models by indicating their capacity to explain the influence of nonsemantic discourse features.