cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
La autoimagen de los hablantes del criollo limonense

Analiza el dialecto llamado Criollo Limonense enfocandolo desde dos puntos de vista: el sociolinguistico y el de los hablantes del criollo limonense como lengua materna. Menciona al ingles limonense estandar y al criollo jamaiquino.
Administrative Work and Job Role Beliefs in Primary Care Physicians: An Analysis of Semi-Structured Interviews:

Primary care physicians face increasing amounts of administrative work (e.g., entering notes into electronic health records, managing insurance issues, delivering test results, etc.) outside of fac...
A New Era for Mind–Body Medicine

A New Era for Mind–Body Medicine The role of excessive or persistent stress as a major contributor to morbidity and mortality is well recognized. Meditation and other mind–body practices are increa...
Oxysterols as promising small molecules for bone tissue engineering: Systematic review.

Background Bone tissue engineering is an area of continued interest within orthopaedic surgery, as it promises to create implantable bone substitute materials that obviate the need for autologous bone graft. Recently, oxysterols - oxygenated derivatives of cholesterol - have been proposed as a novel class of osteoinductive small molecules for bone tissue engineering. Here, we present the first systematic review of the in vivo evidence describing the potential therapeutic utility of oxysterols for bone tissue engineering. Aim To systematically review the available literature examining the effect of oxysterols on in vivo bone formation. Methods We conducted a systematic review of the literature following PRISMA guidelines. Using the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science databases, we queried all publications in the English-language literature investigating the effect of oxysterols on in vivo bone formation. Articles were screened for eligibility using PICOS criteria and assessed for potential bias using an expanded version of the SYRCLE Risk of Bias assessment tool. All full-text articles examining the effect of oxysterols on in vivo bone formation were included. Extracted data included: Animal species, surgical/defect model, description of therapeutic and control treatments, and method for assessing bone growth. Primary outcome was fusion rate for spinal fusion models and percent bone regeneration for critical-sized defect models. Data were tabulated and described by both surgical/defect model and oxysterol employed. Additionally, data from all included studies were aggregated to posit the mechanism by which oxysterols may mediate in vivo bone formation. Results Our search identified 267 unique articles, of which 27 underwent full-text review. Thirteen studies (all preclinical) met our inclusion/exclusion criteria. Of the 13 included studies, 5 employed spinal fusion models, 2 employed critical-sized alveolar defect models, and 6 employed critical-sized calvarial defect models. Based upon SYRCLE criteria, the included studies were found to possess an overall "unclear risk of bias"; 54% of studies reported treatment randomization and 38% reported blinding at any level. Overall, seven unique oxysterols were evaluated: 20(S)-hydroxycholesterol, 22(R)-hydroxycholesterol, 22(S)-hydroxycholesterol, Oxy4/Oxy34, Oxy18, Oxy21/Oxy133, and Oxy49. All had statistically significant in vivo osteoinductive properties, with Oxy4/Oxy34, Oxy21/Oxy133, and Oxy49 showing a dose-dependent effect in some cases. In the eight studies that directly compared oxysterols to rhBMP-2-treated animals, similar rates of bone growth occurred in the two groups. Biochemical investigation of these effects suggests that they may be primarily mediated by direct activation of Smoothened in the Hedgehog signaling pathway. Conclusion Present preclinical evidence suggests oxysterols significantly augment in vivo bone formation. However, clinical trials are necessary to determine which have the greatest therapeutic potential for orthopaedic surgery patients.
Tip Tracking of Surgical Navigation Stylets Using Integrated Strain Sensors

During surgical procedures where navigation stylets are used to place surgical tools, the stylets are tracked as a rigid entity. However, when body tissue applies force to the stylet tip, the stylet bends and the tip location is lost. Tracking the stylet’s bending and tip displacement can enhance the precision of surgical procedures such as catheter placement for external ventricular drainage. In this work, a flexible strain sensor is integrated at the base of a 1.3 mm diameter surgical navigation stylet. The device tracks the stylet’s bending and tip displacement in two orthogonal directions. Thin-film silver strain gauges are patterned on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The device is then wrapped around and adhered to a stylet using a silicone gel and acrylic adhesive stack. Using a cantilever beam model to fit the stylet deflection, the device’s measurable tip displacement range is between 1 and 11 mm with a limit of detection of 750$\mu$m.
The origins of galaxies

All galaxies started out as quantum fluctuations billions of years ago, but the forms they take today are incredibly diverse, writes Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Measured transfer length of 15.2-mm (0.6-in.) duplex high-strength stainless steel strands in pretensioned girders

Abstract Duplex High-Strength Stainless Steel (HSSS) corrosion-resistant strands are desirable in concrete members in extremely aggressive environments to mitigate corrosion problems. Recently, HSSS strand was introduced to the construction industry in 15.2-mm- (0.6-in.-) diameter size. To practically use the 15.2-mm- (0.6-in.-) diameter HSSS strand in pretensioned concrete members, its transfer length needs to be evaluated using full-scale members, and the applicability of the prediction models in design provisions requires examination. A total of eight 12.8-m- (42-ft-) long AASHTO Type II girders were fabricated using the long-line method. Five girders were prestressed with HSSS strands while the other three were prestressed with carbon steel strands. The initial prestressing stress was 1102 MPa (159.8 ksi) for HSSS strand and 1396 MPa (202.5 ksi) for carbon steel strand. Three different types of confinement reinforcement were used: carbon steel, glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) and duplex stainless steel. The effects of type and spacing of confinement reinforcement on transfer length were evaluated. The effect of the strand release sequence among multiple girders’ ends in the casting bed on transfer length was investigated. Predictive models from all evaluated design provisions were conservative, with different accuracy, in estimating the transfer lengths of HSSS and carbon steel strands. Eurocode 2 was relatively the most accurate provision among the evaluated design provisions, while AASHTO LRFD, which had the simplest equation (60db), was the most conservative provision. Because HSSS strands are relatively new, there are no design guidelines available for their use in pretensioned concrete members. Therefore, findings from this experimental study will be helpful in the development of design guidelines.
End-User Framework for Robot Control

This paper showcases a developed end-user framework for a human-robot collaborative system for common tasks, such as pick and place. The system is designed for semi-automated pick and place tasks as well as manual operation making it flexible for multiple use-case scenarios. The goal of the system is to make the robot multi-functional, easy to use with a graphical user interface and to perform common tasks with the help of a human teammate. Integration with object recognition neural network (YoloV3) and an RGB-Depth camera helps automate pick and place tasks with a wide variety of objects.
Effects of rhamnolipid biosurfactant on the dissolution and transport of silver nanoparticles in porous media

The effects of nanoscale silver (nAg) particles on subsurface microbial communities can be influenced by the presence of biosurfactants, which have been shown to alter nanoparticle surface properties. Batch and column studies were conducted to investigate the influence of rhamnolipid biosurfactant (1–50 mg L−1) on the stability and mobility of silver nanoparticles (16 ± 4 nm) in batch reactors and water-saturated columns with three solution chemistries: pH = 4 and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) = 8.8 mg L−1, pH = 7 and DO = 8.8 mg L−1, pH = 7 and DO = 2.0 mg L−1. In batch studies, the presence of rhamnolipid (2–50 mg L−1) reduced nAg dissolution by 83.3–99.1% under all pH and DO conditions. Improved nAg stability was observed when rhamnolipid was present in batch reactors at pH = 7 ± 0.2, where the hydrodynamic diameter remained constant (∼50 nm) relative to rhamnolipid-free controls (increased to >230 nm) in 48 hours. Column experiments conducted at pH 4.0 ± 0.2 demonstrated that co-injection of nAg with rhamnolipid (2, 5 and 50 mg L−1) decreased Ag+ breakthrough from ∼22% of total applied mass in rhamnolipid-free columns to less than 8.1% in the presence of rhamnolipid and altered the shape of the nAg retention profile from a hyper-exponential to a uniform distribution. Column experiments performed at pH 7.0 ± 0.2 and DO levels of either ∼2.0 or ∼8.8 mg L−1 showed that co-injection of 5 mg L−1 and 50 mg L−1 rhamnolipid increased nAg mass breakthrough by 25–40% and ∼80%, respectively, enhancements in nAg stability and mobility were attributed to rhamnolipid adsorption on nAg surfaces, which effectively slowed the oxidation and thus release of Ag+, and adsorption of rhamnolipid on the porous medium, which competed for nAg attachment sites. These results indicate that the presence of rhamnolipid significantly influenced nAg dissolution and mobility under dynamic flow conditions. A mathematical model based on modified filtration theory (MFT) accurately reproduced nAg transport and retention behavior when aggregation and reaction processes were minimal and when rhamnolipid was present, providing a tool to predict the effects of biosurfactants on nAg transport in porous media.
Dad jokes, D.A.D. jokes, and the GHoST test for artificial consciousness

The ability of a computer to have a sense of humor, that is, to generate authentically funny jokes, has been taken by some theorists to be a sufficient condition for artificial consciousness. Creativity, the argument goes, is indicative of consciousness and the ability to be funny indicates creativity. While this line fails to offer a legitimate test for artificial consciousness, it does point in a possibly correct direction. There is a relation between consciousness and humor, but it relies on a different sense of “sense of humor,” that is, it requires the getting of jokes, not the generating of jokes. The question, then, becomes how to tell when an artificial system enjoys a joke. We propose a mechanism, the GHoST test, which may be useful for such a task and can begin to establish whether a system possesses artificial consciousness.
Why Is Black Death Black? European Gothic Imaginaries of ‘Oriental’ Plague

The German physician and medical historian Justus Friedrich Carl Hecker’s pioneering 1832 work on the Black Death is generally regarded as the beginning of modern historical scholarship on this subject. Hecker is credited not only with coining, if not universalising, the term ‘the Black Death’, but also with setting the emotional tone of historical epidemiology—as Gothic epidemiology. In the same vein, other medical authors of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries forged the basic tenets of historical epidemiology and helped lay the foundations of the burgeoning field of modern scientific epidemiology. This body of scholarship has its flaws: it singles out the Black Death as a distinct historical phenomenon, separate from other plague outbreaks, and is overtly Eurocentric and Orientalist in tenor. These characteristics underscore the heavy ideological baggage of the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century historical scholarship on the Black Death whose legacy still continues today.
A unified approach to the anthropology of Hispanic Northern New Mexico: Historical archæology, ethnohistory, and ethnography

Archaeology, ethnohistory, ethnography—three methodologies within the same body of theory—can be used cooperatively to reconstruct the cultural history of Hispanic Northern New Mexico. The leads suggested for the investigation of Hispanic culture are discussed under the interrelated headings of ecology, social organization, and trade. Other benefits of intensive joint work include distinguishing ideal from real culture and testing theories of culture change. The approach outlined could serve as a model for the investigation of other historical traditions in the same or other parts of the world.
Network structures of commercial portal sites: Implications for web advertising planning

Existing standards for the audience measurement and vehicle valuation of a website depend heavily on the traffic information of separate web pages. As a result, the hyperlink structure of a website has not been properly examined. This study attempts to extend the scope of existing web advertising planning perspectives by redirecting attention to the relational characteristics of websites as advertising vehicles. With two measures developed from network analysis methods (network density and network centrality), the hyperlink structures of five popular portal/search engine sites are analysed and compared. Based on the analysis, this study develops a typology for classifying web pages and discusses how the typology can be used to design effective web advertisements.
Variation in the diets of hydrothermal vent gastropods

Abstract A prevailing paradigm of hydrothermal vent ecology is that primary consumers feed on chemoautotrophic bacteria. However, for the purposes of reconstructing vent food webs and for tracking energy flow from the generation of rock and fluid chemistry through primary/ secondary productivity and consumption to the overlying water column, it remains unclear which consumers feed on which bacteria. In paired analyses of carbon and nitrogen tissue stable isotope values with unique 16S rRNA sequences from the stomach contents, we determined that two species of gastropod grazers appear to feed on epsilon-proteobacteria, while two other species have more diverse diets, including one species that consumes alpha-proteobacteria, planctomycetes, and non-green sulfur bacteria. Different carbon fixation pathways used by epsilon- and alpha-proteobacteria may account for the variation in the carbon stable isotope values among the consumers. Furthermore, our results indicate that trophic specialization and niche partitioning may contribute to the distribution and abundance of vent-endemic gastropods and support the hypothesis that consumers in the warmer habitats commonly feed on epsilon-proteobacteria that use the rTCA cycle, while in the cooler habitats they feed on additional bacteria that use the CBB cycle. These results suggest that the phylogenetic and metabolic diversity of free-living bacteria may play an important and previously overlooked role in facilitating species coexistence among primary consumers at hydrothermal vents and other chemosynthesis-based ecosystems.
Improving buried threat detection in ground-penetrating radar with transfer learning and metadata analysis

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology has proven capable of detecting buried threats. The system relies on a binary classifier that is trained to distinguish between two classes: a target class, encompassing many types of buried threats and their components; and a nontarget class, which includes false alarms from the system prescreener. Typically, the training process involves a simple partition of the data into these two classes, which allows for straightforward application of standard classifiers. However, since training data is generally collected in fully controlled environments, it includes auxiliary information about each example, such as the specific type of threat, its purpose, its components, and its depth. Examples from the same specific or general type may be expected to exhibit similarities in their GPR data, whereas examples from different types may differ greatly. This research aims to leverage this additional information to improve overall classification performance by fusing classifier concepts for multiple groups, and to investigate whether structure in this information can be further utilized for transfer learning, such that the amount of expensive training data necessary to learn a new, previously-unseen target type may be reduced. Methods for accomplishing these goals are presented with results from a dataset containing a variety of target types.
Secondary membranous glomerulonephritis

Membranous glomerulonephritis of defined aetiology (secondary MG) is a common finding, particularly in children and older adults. Secondary MG can be readily detected by a combination of clinical, serological and morphological analysis in a majority of instances. Recognition of secondary MG has significant prognostic and therapeutic implications.
Prehospital administration of morphine for isolated extremity injuries: A change in protocol reduces time to medication

Objective. To evaluate the effect of a new protocol allowing paramedics to administer morphine without a physician order to patients with extremity trauma with respect to time of morphine administration, scene time, morphine amount and number of doses per patient, and proportion of patients receiving morphine. Methods. Data were abstracted from transport forms for a ten-month period prior to the implementation of the new protocol and for nine months after implementation. Data elements included patient age and sex, date, time of EMS arrival on scene, amount and number of morphine doses, and total number of patients transported. Results. Implementation of the new protocol was associated with a decrease in time between emergency medical services (EMS) arrival on scene and administration of the first dose of morphine from 18.8 to 16.7 minutes, a difference of 2.1 minutes [95% confidence interval (95%CI) 1.3, 2.9]. The proportion of patients receiving analgesia at the scene, rather than during transport, incre...
Computing point-of-view: modeling and simulating judgments of taste

People have rich points-of-view that afford them the ability to judge the aesthetics of people, things, and everyday happenstance; yet viewpoint has an ineffable quality that is hard to articulate in words, let alone capture in computer models. Inspired by cultural theories of taste and identity, this thesis explores end-to-end computational modeling of people's tastes---from model acquisition, to generalization, to application---under various realms. Five aesthetical realms are considered---cultural taste, attitudes, ways of perceiving, taste for food, and sense-of-humor. A person's model is acquired by reading her personal texts, such as a weblog diary, a social network profile, or emails. To generalize a person model, methods such as spreading activation, analogy, and imprimer supplementation are applied to semantic resources and search spaces mined from cultural corpora. Once a generalized model is achieved, a person's tastes are brought to life through perspective-based applications, which afford the exploration of someone else's perspective through interactivity and play. The thesis describes model acquisition systems implemented for each of the five aesthetical realms. The techniques of 'reading for affective themes' (RATE), and 'culture mining' are described, along with their enabling technologies, which are common sense reasoning and textual affect analysis. Finally, six perspective-based applications were implemented to illuminate a range of real-world beneficiaries to person modeling-virtual mentoring, self-reflection, and deep customization. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Currently used doses of omeprazole in Zollinger-Ellison syndrome are too high.

Abstract The efficacy of omeprazole increases during the first few days of administration, suggesting that long-term maintenance dose requirements in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome may be lower than those initially established by upward titration. Long-term maintenance doses of omeprazole were prospectively reduced in 37 patients who had been taking omeprazole for 22 ± 4 months. Successful reduction was defined as reduction to 20 mg once or twice daily with an absence of symptoms, endoscopy without evidence of active acid-peptic disease, and a gastric acid output of
Function of γ-Aminobutyric Acid Receptor/Channel ρ1 Subunits In Spinal Cord

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor/channel ρ1 subunits are important components in inhibitory pathways in the central nervous system. However, the precise locations and roles of these receptors in the central nervous system are unknown. We studied the expression localization of GABA receptor/channel ρ1 subunit in mouse spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia (DRG). The immunohistochemistry results indicated that GABA receptor/channel ρ1 subunits were expressed in mouse spinal cord superficial dorsal horn (lamina I and lamina II) and in DRG. To understand the functions of the GABA receptor/channel ρ1 subunit in these crucial sites of sensory transmission in vivo, we generated GABA receptor/channel ρ1 subunit mutant mice (rho1-/-). GABA receptor/channel ρ1 subunit expression in the rho1-/- mice was eliminated completely, whereas the gross neuroanatomical structures of the rho1-/- mice spinal cord and DRG were unchanged. Electrophysiological recording showed that GABA-mediated spinal cord response was altered in the rho1-/- mice. A decreased threshold for mechanical pain in the rho1-/- mice compared with control mice was observed with the von Frey filament test. These findings indicate that the GABA receptor/channel ρ1 subunit plays an important role in modulating spinal cord pain transmission functions in vivo.
Characteristics of high-density theta-pinches seeded with selected high-Z elements

Atomic processes in high-temperature plasmas are vital in controlled fusion research and in opacity calculations. A program at Los Alamos to observe radiation from a high-Z-seeded theta pinch has the goal of studying these processes. A 60-kV, 180-kJ capacitor bank, crowbarred at peak current, produced a B/sub z/ field of 90 kG at T/4 = 3.0 $mu$s in a 25-cm-long, 8.2-cm-i.d. theta coil. The theta pinch, called Scyllar, has been operated with hydrogen, deuterium, or helium, seeded with a few percent of Ne, CO$sub 2$, Fe(CO)$sub 5$, or other elements. Radiation in the VUV range is observed with a 2.2-m grazing incidence vacuum spectrograph. Diagnostics have included pulsed laser holographic interferometry, time-resolved observations of He II 4686 A line profiles, and two-foil soft x-ray temperature measurements. For diagnostics development, the bank has been operated at 1/3 capacitance with a field of 45 kG at T/4 = 2.0 $mu$s. Characteristics of the seeded plasmas are summarized. (auth)
TRAFFIC-ASSIGNMENT TECHNIQUES FOR SMALLER CITIES

The primary purpose of the research was to determine which of the heuristic assignment techniques currently available to transportation planners in the United States provides the most accurate results for small and medium-sized cities and to assess the potential for future applications of equilibrium assignment techniques. A number of all-or-nothing, multipath, and capacity-restrained assignment techniques were applied to highway networks for Fond du Lac and Madison, Wisc., using common trip tables. Using the percentage of root mean squared error as the primary accuracy measure/percentage of the accuracy of the assignments in the order of increasing accuracy was all-or-nothing, multipath, and capacity-restrained. The accuracy of the capacity-restrained assignments appeared to be more sensitive to the assumptions made in computing the peak-hour assigned volumes and capacities than to differences in the capacity-restraint techniques. An equilibrium assignment for Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, was slightly less accurate than the most accurate assignment for Madison. A technique for assessing the behavioral validity of equilibrium assignments is proposed.
Selling-price estimates in revenue recognition and the usefulness of financial statements

Revenue is one of the largest and most value-relevant items in firms’ financial statements. Based on the “realizable” and the “earned” criteria of SFAC No. 5 (FASB in Concepts statement no. 5. Recognition and measurement in financial statements of business enterprises, 1984), revenues should reflect both selling price and timing of delivery. Of those two aspects, selling-price estimates are required for revenue recognition when standalone selling prices for products and services are not available. In this study, I examine the effects of selling-price estimates in revenue recognition on the contracting and informational roles of financial statements. Particularly, I examine the setting of SOP 97-2 (AICPA in Software revenue recognition. Statement of Position (SOP) 97-2, AICPA, New York, 1997) that removed software firms’ flexibility to recognize revenues using selling-price estimates. I find that SOP 97-2 implementation did not improve the contracting role of earnings. However its implementation partly shifted the informational role of financial statements from income-statement to balance-sheet components.
Microwave spectrum and hydrogen bonding in 1-aziridineethanol

Abstract From its microwave spectrum, 1-aziridineethanol, CH 2 CH 2 NCH 2 CH 2 OH is found to have a gauche OCCN configuration, maintained by an OH⋯N-type hydrogen bond. The normal species rotational constants (MHz), A = 8528.87(25), B = 2069.74(2), and C = 2020.41(2), are consistent with a small (∼6°) distortion from the “staggered” configuration about the central CN bond. Assuming a “normal” hydroxyl group, the hydroxy d 1 data suggest a decrease in the O⋯N distance upon bridge deuteration of ∼0.003 A. The dipole moment is 2.77(5) D, with 2.34(3), 1.45(6), and 0.3(3) D “ a ,” “ b ,” and “ c ” components, respectively.
Some biochemical aspects of herpes infection.

Summary1. A description is given of some of the biochemical changes which occur in tissues infected with herpes virus. 2. Evidence is presented which indicates that herpes virus causes accelerated proliferation in the host cells of embryonic liver and heart. 3. The propagation of the herpes virus appears to induce a marked stimulation in the nucleic acid synthesis of the host cell. 4. It is shown that in herpetic liver there is a change in the normal ratio of succinoxidase to α-ketoglutaric acid oxidase activity. Herpetic infection of the heart is accompanied by a decrease in succinoxidase and α-ketoglutaric acid oxidase activities.
Invited. MRI of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with emphasis on relationship to radiotherapy

MRI has been used increasingly in the evaluation of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) because of its good tissue contrast and multiplanar capacity. Although there are some controversies in assessing skull base invasion and cervical metastatic adenopathy, recent reports demonstrate that MRI is currently better than or as good as CT in defining the extent of NPC. During follow-up of patients with NPC after radiotherapy, MRI is also more effective than CT in demonstrating tumor recurrence and in detecting postradiation complications. However, the difficulty of using MRI to detect early mucosal recurrence and to differentiate postradiation tissue changes from local tumor recurrence should be recognized. This paper reviews the literature regarding MRI of NPC related to radiotherapy, with special emphasis on treatment planning, recurrence assessment, and complication detection.
Effects of Auxillary Load on Vigilance Performance in a Simulated Work Environment

The effects of extra-task demands and long hours of work on the performance of simultaneous (comparative judgment) and successive (absolute judgment) type vigilance tasks were assessed in a simulated work environment. For three consecutive 12 hour days, subjects engaged in four 1-hour vigilance sessions interspersed with work at a heavy-load (20 codes/rain) or a light-load (10 codes/min) data entry task. For both types of vigilance tasks, performance efficiency varied inversely with the auxilary workload confronting the subjects. In addition, the quality of vigilance performance improved over the work week in the context of the light auxilary workload and declined in the context of the heavy load. Subjects reported becoming more drowsy, strained and fatigued and experienced more somatic complaints over the work day and the work week. These mood effects were maximal with the successive task and a heavy auxiliary workload, suggesting that in order to maintain performance standards in the successive task, su...
Two progressive substrates of the M-intermediate can be identified in glucose-embedded, wild-type bacteriorhodopsin

Glucose-embedded bacteriorhodopsin shows M-intermediates with different Amide I infrared bands when samples are illuminated at 240 or 260 K, in contrast with fully hydrated samples where a single M-intermediate is formed at all temperatures. In hydrated, but not in glucose-embedded specimens, the N intermediate is formed together with M at 260 K. Both Fourier transform infrared and electron diffraction data from glucose-embedded bacteriorhodopsin suggest that at 260 K a mixture is formed of the M-state that is trapped at 240 K, and a different M-intermediate (MN) that is also formed by mutant forms of bacteriorhodopsin that lack a carboxyl group at the 96 position, necessary for the M to N transition. The fact that an MN species is trapped in glucose-embedded, wild-type bacteriorhodopsin suggests that the glucose samples lack functionally important water molecules that are needed for the proton transfer aspartate 96 to the Schiff base (and, thus, to form the N-intermediate); thus, aspartate 96 is rendered ineffective as a proton donor.
Compression of residual layers of layered depth video using hierarchical block truncation coding

Layered depth video (LDV) is a method of compressing and rendering multi-view video sequences. The LDV format consists of multiple layers of information of which the first layer is made up of the reference camera's color and depth components and the remaining layers consist of residual color and depth information. The residual layers of the LDV consist of sparse and irregularly shaped objects which pose a problem during compression. In this paper, we propose a scheme for compressing the residual color and depth layers of the LDV using hierarchical block truncation coding (HBTC). In this paper, we first propose a two-mode BTC scheme that can take advantage of uniform blocks of pixels and effectively reduce the overall bitrate. Next, we combine the proposed two-mode BTC scheme with traditional quadtree decomposition to create a hierarchical block truncation coding scheme which we prove is suitable for encoding sparse irregularly shaped objects in an image. In order to show the performance of the proposed compression scheme, we compare the rate-distortion performance with that of H.264/AVC in the Intra mode. The results show that the proposed compression scheme can give upto 0.8–1.0 dB improvement in the synthesized view quality at comparable bitrates.
Suppurative osteomyelitis, bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis, osteoradionecrosis: a blinded histopathologic comparison and its implications for the mechanism of each disease

Statistically, significant numbers of central bone specimens of suppurative osteomyelitis of the jaws (SOJ), bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis of the jaws (BIONJ), and osteoradionecrosis of the jaws (ORNJ) were compared. All three evidenced the common finding of necrotic bone with empty osteocytic lacunae, Haversian and Volkmann canals, but each showed a distinctive histopathologic pattern indicating a different disease mechanism and treatment options. Suppurative osteomyelitis was characterized by intense marrow inflammation and marrow vessel thrombosis with retention of viable osteoclasts and periosteum. Bisphosphonate induced osteonecrosis was characterized by an empty marrow space with empty Howship's lacunae and an absence of osteoclasts but viable periosteum. Osteoradionecrosis was characterized by a collagenous hypocellular, hypovascular marrow space and nonviable periosteum. Histologic evidence in SOJ indicates a microorganism provoked intense inflammation and marrow vascular thrombosis creating an environment conducive to continual bacterial proliferation. BIONJ is seen as a non-inflammatory drug toxicity to bone by osteoclastic death leading to over suppression of bone renewal, and ORN as another non-inflammatory condition caused by a high linear energy transfer that impairs or kills numerous cell types in the field of radiation including periosteum, bone, and all soft tissue.
The Collisional Evolution of the Asteroid Belt and Its Contribution to the Zodiacal Cloud

We present a number of results from a numerical model of asteroid collisional evolution. Our results verify those of Dohnanyi (1969,J. Geophys. Res.74,2531–2554) and allow us to place constraints on the impact strengths of asteroids. The slope of the equilibrium size–frequency distribution is found to be dependent upon the shape of the size–strength scaling law. We find that pure size-independent and strain-rate scaling laws yield model size distributions which fail to match the observed mainbelt size distribution. An empirical modification has been made to the size–strength scaling law which allows us to match the observed asteroid size distribution and indicates a more gradual transition from strain-rate to gravity scaling. This result is not sensitive to the mass or shape of the initial asteroid population, but rather to the form of the strength scaling law: scaling laws have definite observational consequences. Asteroid families with material properties that differ from that of the average background population may evolve a size distribution with a different equilibrium slope than that of the background. Wave-like deviations from a strict power-law equilibrium size distribution result if the smallest particles in the population are removed at a rate significantly greater than that needed to maintain a Dohnanyi equilibrium slope. We find, however, that the observed small particle cutoff in the interplanetary dust complex is too gradual to support a significant wave. We suggest that any deviations from an equilibrium size distribution in the asteroid population are the result of stochastic cratering and fragmentation events which must occur during the course of collisional evolution. By determining the ratio of the area associated with the mainbelt asteroids to that associated with the prominent Hirayama asteroid families, our analysis indicates that the entire mainbelt asteroid population produces 3.4 ± 0.6 times as much dust as the prominent families alone. This result is compared with the ratio of areas needed to account for the zodiacal background and the IRAS dust bands as determined by analysis of IRAS data. We conclude that the entire asteroid population is responsible for at least one third of the dust in the entire zodiacal cloud.
Thirst-reducing and hunger-inducing effects of water and saline by stomach-tubing vs. drinking in rats

Rats were deprived of water for 24 h and given 8 ml of water, .9% saline, 1.8% saline, or 4 ml of water via stomach-tubing or via normal drinking. Immediately following administration of liquid, subjects were given either food or water for 30 min. The results showed that: (a) orally ingested liquids were more effective than stomach-tubed liquids in inhibiting drinking and in potentiating feeding; (b) a higher concentrated NaCl solution was less effective in inhibiting water intake and potentiating food intake; (c) a greater amount of water was more inhibitory to subsequent water intake but more potentiating to food intake within the range tested. Thus the ingestional, amount, and osmolality variables related to liquid intake reciprocally influenced feeding and drinking.
Use of the Internal Mammary Artery Graft and In-Hospital Mortality and Other Adverse Outcomes Associated With Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

The use of the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) to bypass the left anterior descending artery (LAD) is the “gold standard” of coronary artery revascularization, recognized by interventionalists and surgeons alike. The better size match with the coronary artery, the single anastomosis, and the biochemical and physical qualities of this conduit for the most important coronary artery in the human circulation, the LAD, are clear advantages over the saphenous vein graft.1 The seminal paper by Loop et al2 showed the important influence of this operation on the longevity of patients who are operated on for coronary artery disease, and their data have been substantiated by others.3 4 Nevertheless, the IMA has not been generally used by surgeons in the variety of clinical coronary artery syndromes requiring coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) because of some relative contraindications. These have included left ventricular hypertrophy, severe left ventricular dysfunction, emergency operations, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with enlarged lungs, advanced age, and an obstructed left subclavian artery.4 Theoretically, increased conduit blood flow …
Surface plasmon tunable color filter and projection display

A novel projection display, based on a new phenomenon of voltage-induced color-selective absorption with surface plasmons, are able to generate bright image on a large screen with high efficiency. In addition, neither color filters nor phosphors are needed to generate the color. With the incident beam of +/- 7 degree(s) half cone angle, the color purity of this device can be as good as the CRT displays, and the contrast ratio can reach over 200:1. System analysis shows, for a color sequential single panel 1.8' surface plasmon projector, the luminous efficiency can reach 3 Lumens/Watt.
Low Beta Accelerating System for Heavy Ions

To investigate the performance that can be achieved for low energy heavy ion particle acceleration, a two megahertz low beta linac is being built. This structure, intended for acceleration of 260 keV xenon or 400 keV mercury, is comprised of a quarter wavelength parallel plate resonator used to support drift tubes forming a s?/2 structure. The 20 gap accelerator, to be driven by a 30 kilowatt transmitter, will provide 10 milliamperes of mercury ions at the 1.8 MeV energy level. Focussing is achieved by a unique arrangement of electrostatic quadrupoles. A plan view of the accelerating system is shown in Figure 1.
Fortran subroutines for B-nets of box splines on three- and four-directional meshes

We describe an algorithm to compute the B-nets of bivariate box splines on a three-or four-directional mesh. Two pseudo Fortran programs for those B-nets are given.
Macroscopicity of quantum superpositions on a one-parameter unitary path in Hilbert space

We analyze quantum states formed as superpositions of an initial pure product state and its image under local unitary evolution, using two measurement-based measures of superposition size: one based on the optimal quantum binary distinguishability of the branches of the superposition and another based on the ratio of the maximal quantum Fisher information of the superposition to that of its branches, i.e., the relative metrological usefulness of the superposition. A general formula for the effective sizes of these states according to the branch-distinguishability measure is obtained and applied to superposition states of $N$ quantum harmonic oscillators composed of Gaussian branches. Considering optimal distinguishability of pure states on a time-evolution path leads naturally to a notion of distinguishability time that generalizes the well-known orthogonalization times of Mandelstam and Tamm and Margolus and Levitin. We further show that the distinguishability time provides a compact operational expression for the superposition size measure based on the relative quantum Fisher information. By restricting the maximization procedure in the definition of this measure to an appropriate algebra of observables, we show that the superposition size of, e.g., NOON states and hierarchical cat states, can scale linearly with the number of elementary particles comprising the superposition state, implying precision scaling inversely with the total number of photons when these states are employed as probes in quantum parameter estimation of a 1-local Hamiltonian in this algebra.
Ethanol sensitivity of recombinant human N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors

In this study, the ethanol sensitivity of human N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors stably expressed in L(tk-) cells, or transiently expressed in HEK 293 cells and Xenopus oocytes was determined. NMDA receptor function was measured using fura-2 calcium imaging for L(tk-) cells, whole cell voltage-clamp for HEK 293 cells, and two-electrode voltage clamp for oocytes. Ethanol inhibited NMDA receptor function in all three expression system, but was less potent for receptors expressed in L(tk-) cells. NMDA receptors composed of NR1a/2B subunits were inhibited to a greater extent by ethanol than NR1a/2A receptors when expressed in L(tk-) cells and HEK 293 cells, but not in oocytes. These results suggest that the method of receptor expression and assay system used may influence the degree of ethanol inhibition of recombinant NMDA receptors.
Clinical trials of neuroprotection for Parkinson's disease

In the concluding pages of the first monograph to describe Parkinson’s disease (PD), we read that: … Until we are better informed respecting the nature of the disease, the employment of internal medicines is scarcely warrantable; unless analogy should point out some remedy the trial of which rational hope might authorize. Particular circumstances might arise in different cases, in which the aid of medicine may be demanded … James Parkinson, M.D. An Essay on the Shaking Palsy (1817)1 As in Parkinson’s day, the challenge is still with us to find rational therapeutic interventions for this disorder. Lacking evidence that points to the cause (or causes) of PD, contemporary efforts to slow or halt the disease are guided primarily by analogies to animal models and the few available insights into the pathophysiology of this disorder. Nevertheless, a long list of hypothetical targets for definitive treatment of PD has been developed. Reflecting this diversity of options, a recent initiative by the National Institutes of Health in the United States has considered 59 choices for protective therapies against the progression of PD.2 The range of possible anti-PD therapies is far greater today than the limited focus on antioxidant therapies two decades ago. This article reviews the results of several clinical trials along with comments regarding ongoing studies of neuroprotection in PD. The motor impairments of PD are generally progressive over time, and several types of evidence link the clinical deterioration to loss of dopaminergic neurons projecting to the striatum. The neuropathologic substrate of parkinsonism, whether resulting from the idiopathic disorder or from various neurotoxins that closely simulate the human motor impairments of PD, is the loss of most dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc).3 The severity of parkinsonian features appears to be in direct proportion to neuronal …
Is Distal Sampling of End-tidal CO2Necessary in Small Subjects?

The authors compared PaCO2 with end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2) sampled at multiple sites along the endotracheal tube (ETT) in seven anesthetized rabbits (weight, 2.7-3.6 kg) to determine the most convenient, yet accurate, sampling location. Comparisons were made during spontaneous and controlled ventilation with fresh gas flows (FGF) of two and ten times the minute ventilation using a Mapleson D circuit. An Engstrom Eliza analyzer with a continuous sampling rate of 100 ml/min was used to measure ETCO2. A 0.75-mm ID polyethylene tube inserted in the side of the ETT sampled ETCO2 at the distal tip and at the 6-, 12-, and 15-cm marks on the ETT. ETCO2 was also measured at the standard proximal connector. The differences (P less than 0.05) between PaCO2 and ETCO2 at the distal, 6-, 12-, and 15-cm marks were 2.9 +/- 0.4, 3.1 +/- 0.4, 3.6 +/- 0.4, and 4.6 +/- 0.5 mmHg (mean +/- SEM), respectively, and did not change with FGF or mode of ventilation. The difference between PaCO2 and ETCO2 measured at the proximal connector was always large but significantly (P less than 0.05) greater during spontaneous than controlled ventilation (24.2 +/- 1.5 versus 15.0 +/- 1.4 mmHg) and at higher FGF (19.4 +/- 1.3 versus 16.8 +/- 1.6 mmHg). The differences (P less than 0.05) between ETCO2 at the distal tip and ETCO2 at the 6-, 12-, and 15-cm marks were 0.24 +/- 0.07, 0.73 +/- 0.11, and, 1.77 +/- 0.20 mmHg, respectively. This demonstrates that the change in ETCO2 between the distal tip and the 12-cm mark on the ETT is less than 1 mmHg, and that this clinically insignificant difference is independent of FGF and mode of ventilation. The 12 cm-mark is outside of the mouth on a newborn, and sampling ETCO2 at that point, which may be accomplished simply by inserting a small needle in the side of the ETT, may be the most appropriate sampling location.
Compressive Slice Encoding for Metal Artifact Correction in MRI

Severe metal-induced artifacts often render MR images non-diagnostic. Recently proposed Slice Encoding for Metal Artifact Correction (SEMAC) fully corrects metal-induced artifacts in MR images. However, the clinical utility of SEMAC is hampered with prolonged scan times and relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This work presents an improved SEMAC reconstruction technique referred to as Compressive SEMAC that exploits the compressibility of SEMAC-encoded slices. The SEMAC-encoded slices are vastly down-sampled along phase encoding directions. The down-sampled SEMAC-encoded slices are reconstructed by iterating between joint noise suppression of SEMAC-encoded slices and imposing k-space consistency. In-vivo experimental results demonstrate that the proposed compressive SEMAC greatly reduces scan times incurred to fully correct metal artifacts without compromising the SNR of SEMAC-corrected results.
Fetal Surveillance: Issues and Implications

In the past, the fetus was considered healthy until evidence was presented to the contrary. With the acceptance of fetal surveillance as part of the pregnancy experience, diagnostic testing and data are thought to be necessary to prove the healthiness of the fetus. The availability of fetal surveillance techniques has transformed the pregnancy experience from a developmental process and a miracle of nature to a risk-dominated and technology-guided event. The implications of this trend significantly affect the care of pregnant women and the role of nurses as providers of comprehensive, individualized nursing care. JOGNN, 25 , 559–564; 1996.
The facilitation of memory performance

A less recognized approach to memory investigation attempts to facilitate the performance of memory tasks by producing transient improvements in an individual’s capability to acquire, retain, and remember information or events. However, the lack of attention to memory facilitation should not imply that it is an unimportant topic. Memory-facilitation research is theoretically important because it elucidates not only the mechanisms and memory processes underlying facilitation but also the boundary conditions for permanent improvement in memory processing. This article explores the theoretical bases of the facilitation of memory performance.
On steady flow in a partially filled rotating cylinder

The flow in a partially filled cylinder rotating at right angles to the earth's gravity is found under the assumptions of rapid rotation and small viscosity. Effects of viscosity, nonlinear interaction and finite container length are included.
On a degenerate variational inequality with Neumann boundary conditions

A stopping time problem for degenerate reflected diffusions is studied in this paper. We give a characterization of the optimal cost as the maximum solution of a degenerate elliptic variational inequality with Neumann boundary conditions.