cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Research Viewpoint: International Relations and the Second Space Race Between the United States and China

ABSTRACTHow do the three major schools of international relations theory – liberal internationalism, realism, and constructivism – account for the second space race, the rivalry between China and t...
Asimov at 100

A case can be made that, like H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov came along at the right time. But Asimov also had a restless and productive mind. His early experience of reading, and then writing, science fiction gave his popular science writing a rare narrative model, while his fiction similarly benefited from his scientific training. He would write or edit more than 500 books in his lifetime.
Transcriptome Ortholog Alignment Sequence Tools (TOAST) for phylogenomic dataset assembly

Advances in next-generation sequencing technologies have reduced the cost of whole transcriptome analyses, allowing characterization of non-model species at unprecedented levels. The rapid pace of transcriptomic sequencing has driven the public accumulation of a wealth of data for phylogenomic analyses, however lack of tools aimed towards phylogeneticists to efficiently identify orthologous sequences currently hinders effective harnessing of this resource. We introduce TOAST, an open source R software package that can utilize the ortholog searches based on the software Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) to assemble multiple sequence alignments of orthologous loci from transcriptomes for any group of organisms. By streamlining search, query, and alignment, TOAST automates the generation of locus and concatenated alignments, and also presents a series of outputs from which users can not only explore missing data patterns across their alignments, but also reassemble alignments based on user-defined acceptable missing data levels for a given research question. TOAST provides a comprehensive set of tools for assembly of sequence alignments of orthologs for comparative transcriptomic and phylogenomic studies. This software empowers easy assembly of public and novel sequences for any target database of candidate orthologs, and fills a critically needed niche for tools that enable quantification and testing of the impact of missing data. As open-source software, TOAST is fully customizable for integration into existing or novel custom informatic pipelines for phylogenomic inference. Software, a detailed manual, and example data files are available through github carolinafishes.github.io
Homosexuality: the biological basis of differences in sexual orientation

Abstract Homosexuality’s true incidence is probably far higher than previous estimates have suggested; certainly, homosexual and bisexual behavior are common in other species. Although the biologic basis of homosexuality has not been incontrovertibly established, it is probably multifactorial. The most interesting and plausible hypothesis is that it is the result of epigenetic modification of the genome at various phases of the sequence of events that canalizes sexual development. Though male homosexuality has been far more extensively studied than female homosexuality, it is evident that the pattern of sexual partner choice differs between the two, and that in both sexes, it exists in a continuous spectrum.
Second-Order Sensitivity Methods for Robustly Training Recurrent Neural Network Models

Adjoint methods are used in both control theory and machine learning (ML) to efficiently compute gradients of functionals. In ML, the adjoint method is a popular approach for training multilayer neural networks and is commonly referred to as backpropagation. Despite its importance in ML, the adjoint method suffers from two well documented shortcomings: (i) gradient decay/explosion and (ii) excessive training time. Until now, the gradient decay problem has primarily been addressed through modification to the network architecture with gating units that add additional parameters. This results in additional computational costs during evaluation and training which further exacerbates the excessive training time. In this letter, we introduce a powerful framework for addressing the gradient decay problem based on second-order sensitivity concepts from control theory. As a result, we are able to robustly train arbitrary network architectures without suffering from gradient decay. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this method is able to speed up training with respect to both wall-clock time and data efficiency. We demonstrate our method on a synthetic long time gap experiment, as well as three sequential modeling benchmarks with a simple recurrent neural network architecture.
AAG’s Frontstage

This chapter examines AAG’s frontstage, or public persona, demonstrating how the network applies a business ethos in its policies and practices. I begin by describing AAG’s emphasis on measurable results in three areas: student achievement, teacher performance, and customer satisfaction. Then, I describe the AAG “brand,” which the network markets in its efforts to recruit and retain customers. Finally, I delve into the nature of AAG teachers’ work. I argue that AAG levies the power of short-term, at-will employment to standardize and surveil the labor process. According to AAG’s business-based model of schooling, teachers are not experts in need of professional autonomy, but workers in need of molding and monitoring. The network’s hiring and evaluation practices encourage staff to perform in the short term, rather than develop over the long term. Unlike traditional public schools, AAG can easily rid itself of employees whom it identifies as a poor fit.
92090 Novel use of REDCap to develop a Crisis Management Decision-Support Portal at an Academic Medical Center

ABSTRACT IMPACT: Implementation of digital and mobile applications in clinical research crisis response protocols can mitigate their impact on clinical research. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Crisis management is fundamental to ensuring the protection of human subjects during a clinical trial. Mobile apps have the capacity to allow for quick access to crisis response plans and can serve to mitigate their impact on clinical research. Electronic data capture tools can be used to create digital applications for such a response. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: The Clinical Research Center at Rutgers University transferred a paper-based crisis management response plan to a digital mobile application format using Vanderbuilt’s Research Electronic Data Capture Tool (REDCap). REDCap’s branching logic allowed for programming a decision support functionality to guide users through 3 specific crises. (1) threatening or aggressive study subject behavior; (2) clinical research center break in or theft; and (3) adverse event observed for ongoing or closed clinical research study. Applicable U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, IRB guidelines, institutional policies and procedures were also used as a component of the mobile development. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The Crisis Management Decision-Support Portal within the Clinical Research Center has an interactive structure. The use of branching logic demonstrates the ability for users to answer each question and be guided to appropriate responses specific to selected criteria related to each event. The tool contains a self-correct function by providing a reset option after answering each section. The portal itself can be accessed using any computer or cellphone with an internet connection. It provides the users with appropriate criteria to determine to exact communication and management protocols for reporting for the crisis event they are witnessing. As users access the portal, usage data can be collected, tracked, and stored. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: The REDCap platform offers the opportunity to digitize crisis management protocols that ensure professionals have easy access to appropriate responses to crises at the center. The use a digital application rather than paper allows for a CTSA sponsored hub to mitigate damage, simply build new protocols, modify existing protocols, and track usage.
Seasonal Variation in Presentation and Time to Revascularization Therapy for Acute Ischemic Stroke

Objective: Assess for seasonal variation in patient presentation and time to initiation of revascularization therapy for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Background: Rapid revascularization results in improved outcomes, including early neurological improvement as well as functional outcomes at 90 days, for AIS patients. However, restrictive time windows for alteplase (tPA) and endovascular thrombectomy (ET) limit treatment in the majority of AIS patients. Seasonal variation in AIS etiology, severity, patient eligibility for revascularization therapy, and functional outcomes following treatment have been reported in several large cohort studies abroad. However, seasonal variation in stroke presentation and outcomes in an urban northeastern US population is not well known. Moreover, in patients eligible for treatment, it is unclear whether there are seasonal variations in time to treatment, which may impact functional outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed AIS patients presenting to the Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) ED from 2016 to 2018 contained in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines Database. Patients were classified by season of presentation and revascularization modality and primary outcome was door-to-treatment time. Descriptive statistics were used to examine patient characteristics. Non-parametric comparative statistics using Kruskal-Wallis H tests were run between groups to compare door-to-treatment initiation times by season and type of revascularization therapy. Results: 808 patients presented to the ED for AIS. 28.1% presented during spring (n = 227), 25.7% summer (n = 208), 24.1% winter (n = 195), and 22.0% (n = 178) fall. 14.7% (n = 119) were treated with revascularization therapy, including 57.1% (n = 68) tPA, 26.9% (n = 32) ET, and 16% (n = 19) tPA+ET. Median door-to-treatment time was 60 minutes for tPA, 102.5 minutes ET, and in patients treated with tPA+ET, 55 and 160 minutes for tPA and ET, respectively. Among patients treated with ET, time-to-treatment differed by season with a mean rank time score in minutes of 9.07 for winter, 13.70 spring, 22.38 summer, and 21.00 fall (χ2(3) = 10.2117, p = 0.0169). No significant differences in time-to-treatment were observed by season for patients treated with tPA with or without ET (Table 1). Conclusions: Over the two-year period of study, ET time-to-treatment was fastest during spring and winter seasons but there was no difference in time-to-treatment with tPA with or without thrombectomy. This may reflect additional experience with stroke systems of care and improved procedural skill over the course of the academic year, but further study is needed.
A Framework for Systematic Assessment of Clinical Trial Population Representativeness Using Electronic Health Records Data.

Background Clinical trials are the gold standard for generating robust medical evidence, but clinical trial results often raise generalizability concerns, which can be attributed to the lack of population representativeness. The electronic health records (EHRs) data are useful for estimating the population representativeness of clinical trial study population. Objectives This research aims to estimate the population representativeness of clinical trials systematically using EHR data during the early design stage. Methods We present an end-to-end analytical framework for transforming free-text clinical trial eligibility criteria into executable database queries conformant with the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model and for systematically quantifying the population representativeness for each clinical trial. Results We calculated the population representativeness of 782 novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) trials and 3,827 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) trials in the United States respectively using this framework. With the use of overly restrictive eligibility criteria, 85.7% of the COVID-19 trials and 30.1% of T2DM trials had poor population representativeness. Conclusion This research demonstrates the potential of using the EHR data to assess the clinical trials population representativeness, providing data-driven metrics to inform the selection and optimization of eligibility criteria.
Anderson Acceleration Based on the $\mathcal{H}^{-s}$ Sobolev Norm for Contractive and Noncontractive Fixed-Point Operators

Anderson acceleration (AA) is a technique for accelerating the convergence of fixed-point iterations. In this paper, we apply AA to a sequence of functions and modify the norm in its internal optimization problem to the $\mathcal{H}^{-s}$ norm, for some positive integer $s$, to bias it towards low-frequency spectral content in the residual. We analyze the convergence of AA by quantifying its improvement over Picard iteration. We find that AA based on the $\mathcal{H}^{-2}$ norm is well-suited to solve fixed-point operators derived from second-order elliptic differential operators, including the Helmholtz equation.
Allocating Risk and Incentive in Construction

The allocation of construction risks between owners and their contractors has a significant impact on the total cost of construction to the owners. Previous quantitative research in this area has looked only at the negative risk aversion consequences of accepting risk, and has usually concluded that owners, being less risk averse, should accept all risk. The writers present a quantitative risk analysis model that incorporates differing risk perceptions, the positive incentive value of accepting controllable risks, and alternative incentive systems. Application of this model results in a balanced allocation of controllable and uncontrollable risks between owner and contractor in such a way that the owner's expected total cost is minimized. An example application of the model to a large mass transit construction project is presented.
Sharing the wind

Landowners today are increasingly selling or leasing to others the right to use the wind flowing across their land to generate electric power. For the first time in history, the right to capture wind in some areas of the country has become marketable and highly lucrative. This article describes landowner conflicts over the wind turbine wake interference in the context of commercial wind energy development. The article contrasts wind currents with water, oil, and wild animals and ultimately advocates an “option approach” to govern situations when neighbors compete with each other over scarce wind resources.
Complex Knowledge Base Verification Using Matrices

The paper extends the techniques presented in Knowledge Base Verification Using Matrices' from verification of single, unstructured knowledge bases to multiple knowledge bases which interact. The techniques are based on the representation of the knowledge base as a set of matrices and employ simple matrix operations. The anomalies addressed include unreachable and dead-end rules, missing rules, redundancy, subsumption, inconsistency, circular rule chains, and inconsistent rule chains, that occur across the interacting knowledge bases.
Controlling Large Scale Systems using a Dynamical Hierarchical Approach

Recently there has been an increasing amount of interest in the development of satisfactory methods for controlling large scale complex systems. This paper attempts to address the characteristic difficulties in trying to solve this complex problem. The difficulties and drawbacks of a Large Scale System (LSS) centralized approach are identified. Due to these inherent problems, it is necessary that studies be made based on approaches other than centralized. This paper introduces the decomposition-decentralization approach. Other approaches are identified and briefly discussed.
Blended Learning at the Boundary: Designing a New Internship

This paper explores how blended learning can enhance learning at the boundary between academia and industry, and make possible the design of a new kind of internship. Boundary theory proposes that socio-cultural discontinuities between different environments create opportunities for learning. Blended learning pedagogy makes it possible to make the boundary between the classroom and the work place more salient and continuous. We present principles for designing internships that leverage blended learning to exploit boundaries, and describe an internship program based on these principles. Finally, we reflect on what we have learned through two years experience offering the program to students and employers.
Interrelationships Between Water and Metabolism in Artemia Salina Cysts: Hydration-Dehydration from the Liquid and Vapour Phases

Average weights of individual CaSO4-dried cysts (3.64 µg), shells (0.74 µg) and embryos (2.90 µg) of the brine shrimp, Artemia salina , were determined. ‘Residual water’ contents of these preparations were estimated to be 1.58 (cysts), 0.79 (shells), and 1.78 (embryos) in units of g H2O/100 g dried weight. Cysts hydrated to a similar degree in the liquid or vapour phase of NaCl solutions at 0 °C. Sorption isotherms revealed marked hysteresis for isolated shells, but not for entire cysts or the embryonic component. Adsorption data were plotted according to the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller equation and BET parameters were calculated and discussed. Cyst populations incubated at relative vapour pressures of water of 0.96 and above underwent a loss of dried weight, emerged in the hygrostats, and showed a decrease in viability. The foregoing did not occur at relative vapour pressures of 0.925 and below. The water content required for initiation of these events was estimated to be somewhere in the range of 46 to 72 g H2O/100 g dried cysts.
Oviposition responses of Aedes mosquitoes to bacterial isolates from attractive bamboo infusions.

The mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are vectors of pathogenic viruses that cause major human illnesses including dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya. Both mosquito species are expanding their geographic distributions and now occur worldwide in temperate and tropical climates. Collection of eggs in oviposition traps (ovitraps) is commonly used for monitoring and surveillance of container-inhabiting Aedes populations by public health agencies charged with managing mosquito-transmitted illness. Addition of an organic infusion in these traps increases the number of eggs deposited. Gravid females are guided to ovitraps by volatile chemicals produced from the breakdown of organic matter by microbes. We previously isolated and cultured 14 species of bacteria from attractive experimental infusions, made from the senescent leaves of canebrake bamboo (Arundinaria gigantea). Cultures were grown for 24 h at 28 °C with constant shaking (120 rpm) and cell densities were determined with a hemocytometer. Behavioral responses to single bacterial isolates and to a mix of isolates at different cell densities were evaluated using two-choice sticky-screen bioassay methods with gravid Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus. In behavioral assays of a mix of 14 bacterial isolates, significantly greater attraction responses were exhibited by Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus to bacterial densities of 107 and 108 cells/mL than to the control medium. When we tested single bacterial isolates, seven isolates (B1, B2, B3, B5, B12, B13 and B14) were significantly attractive to Ae. aegypti, and six isolates (B1, B5, B7, B10, B13 and B14) significantly attracted Ae. albopictus. Among all the isolates tested at three different cell densities, bacterial isolates B1, B5, B13 and B14 were highly attractive to both Aedes species. Our results show that at specific cell densities, some bacteria significantly influence the attraction of gravid Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus females to potential oviposition sites. Attractive bacterial isolates, when formulated for sustained release of attractants, could be coupled with an ovitrap containing a toxicant to achieve area-wide management of Aedes mosquitoes.
Sports injuries: Mechanisms, prevention, treatment. Second edition

Abstract Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related surgery, Vol 19, No 4 (April), 2003: pp 446–450
Hot electrons in one dimension: Electron velocity runaway.

The solution to the Boltzmann equation for optical-phonon scattering in one dimension, as obtained previously both without and with backscattering, is examined with regard to the question of electron velocity runaway. The results are in accord with previous work on this question, in that forward scattering (\ensuremath{\alpha}=0) leads to runaway above a threshold field, while isotropic scattering (\ensuremath{\alpha}=1) does not.
Two signed seventeenth century icons of the Cretan school from the hermitage museum

The article concerns the authorship of two Cretan icons from the ex-collection of Nikolay Likhachev held nowadays in the Hermitage museum. The iconography, stylistic features and techniques used in the icons prove dating to the seventeenth century. The first icon was signed by Ioannis Lampardos from Rethymnon. It has a rare iconography “Deisis - the Gate of Salvation”. The inscription on the second icon, the Virgin Lambovitissa, says that it was painted by hierodeacon Stephanos Tzankarolos. He is famous for his works created on the island of Corfu where he lived in the Holy Trinity monastery.
Kinematics of the Low-Level Jet

Abstract Winds and vertical velocities are examined in ten southerly low-level jets and then averaged in coordinate systems centered on the jet. The jet at 0600 CST is strongly supergeostrophic but is reflected in both geostrophic and ageostrophic components of the wind. Air is typically rising downstream from the wind maximum and sinking just upstream from the jet core. This orientation of vertical velocities provides a possible explanation for the high frequency of nocturnal thunderstorms in the midwest.
Large-insert clone/STS contigs in Xq11-q12, spanning deletions in patients with androgen insensitivity and mental retardation.

Abstract An integrated large-insert clone map of the region Xq11–q12 is presented. A physical map containing markers within a few hundred kilobases of the centromeric locus DXZ1 to DXS1125 spans nearly 5 Mb in two contigs separated by a gap estimated to be ∼100–250 kb. The contigs combine 75 yeast artificial chromosome clones, 12 bacterial artificial chromosome clones, and 17 P1-derived artificial chromosome clones with 81 STS or EST markers. Overall marker density across this region is ∼1 STS/60 kb. Mapped within the contigs are 12 ESTs as well as 5 known genes, moesin (MSN), hephaestin (HEPH), androgen receptor (AR), oligophrenin-1 (OPHN1), and Eph ligand-2 (EPLG2). Orientation of the contigs on the X chromosome, as well as marker order within the contigs, was unambiguously determined by reference to a number of X chromosome breakpoints. In addition, the distal contig spans deletions from chromosomes of three patients exhibiting either complete androgen insensitivity (CAI) or a contiguous gene syndrome that includes CAI, impaired vision, and mental retardation.
Mapping of the mouse olfactory system with manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging

As the power of studying mouse genetics and behavior advances, research tools to examine systems level connectivity in the mouse are critically needed. In this study, we compared statistical mapping of the olfactory system in adult mice using manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with prob- abilistic tractography. The primary goal was to determine whether these complementary techniques can determine mouse olfactory bulb (OB) connectivity consistent with known anatomical connections. For MEMRI, 3D T1- weighted images were acquired before and after bilateral nasal administration of MnCl2 solution. Concomitantly, high-resolution diffusion-tensor images were obtained ex vivo from a second group of mice and processed with a probabilistic tractography algorithm originating in the OB. Incidence maps were created by co-registering and over- laying data from the two scan modalities. The resulting maps clearly show pathways between the OB and amyg- dala, piriform cortex, caudate putamen, and olfactory cor- tex in both the DTI and MEMRI techniques that are consistent with the known anatomical connections. These data demonstrate that MEMRI and DTI are complemen- tary, high-resolution neuroimaging tools that can be applied to mouse genetic models of olfactory and limbic system connectivity.
Gender and beliefs about memory

Beliefs about subjects’ own memory performances and about the memory performances of others were studied as a function of gender in two experiments. Both experiments used adaptations of the Inventory of Memory Experiences (IME) that employed somewhat different response scales. The first experiment used a small sample, heterogeneous with respect to age; the second used a large homogeneous sample of college students. In both experiments, gender was strongly related to beliefs about others’ memory performance and weakly related to beliefs about one's own performance. Female and male subjects agreed that men are better at some tasks (e.g. directions) and women are better at others (e.g. shopping lists), but showed no consistent tendency to view themselves in terms of the beliefs they held about others of their gender. These results imply that behaviours based on beliefs about the memory performance of women and men may be gender biased when directed towards others.
Tricaine methanesulfonate--II. Effects on transport of NaCl and H2O.

Abstract 1. 0.35% tricaine methanesulfonate (TMS) in tap water, as commonly used to anesthetize amphibians, has a pH of 3. 2. This low pH of TMS injures the frog skin, preventing its transport systems for water and NaCl from increasing their activity in response to injected vasopressin and deoxycorticosterone acetate, respectively. 3. The inhibition of the hormonal response endures at least 5 hr after 25 min exposure to TMS and probably up to 2 or 3 days. 4. The inhibition is a direct effect of external acid on the skin, not an indirect effect of acidifying the frog's blood. 5. Inhibition can be prevented by neutralizing TMS before use.
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SYMPATHETIC NERVE TRUNK VESICLES DURING AXONAL TRANSPORT: DENSITY GRADIENT ANALYSIS OF DOPAMINE β-HYDROXYLASE IN BOVINE SPLENIC NERVE

—Dopamine β-hydroxylase was used as a marker enzyme for sympathetic nerve vesicles which were studied by density gradient technique in bovine splenic nerves. The enzyme analyses were complicated by the occurrence of inhibitors which had to be carefully neutralized with copper. The inhibitor was mainly found in the soluble fraction and no evidence for the occurrence of endogenous inhibitors in the nerve vesicles was obtained. A great variation in density of the dopamine β-hydroxylase containing particles was observed. This was probably mainly due to the variation in vesicle maturation since dopamine β-hydroxylase was distributed more towards the lighter gradient fractions in the proximal nerve segment preparations compared with intrasplenic nerve segment preparations. Noradrenaline/protein and noradrenaline/dopaminc β-hydroxylase ratios were found to be increased about 1·7-fold in the vesicle fraction isolated from the proximal nerve segments to those from the intrasplenic segments. A further increase of the noradrenaline/dopamine β-hydroxylase ratio was observed in a fraction with the same density isolated from the spleen. On the basis of these findings the noradrenaline/protein ratio was calculated to be about 500-600 nmol/mg in the nerve terminal vesicles.
The use of glutamine and its implications for the WOC nurse

Glutamine is the most abundant free amino acid in the body. It is synthesized and stored in skeletal muscle and released in significant amounts during times of stress. Glutamine is primarily used by rapidly replicating cells such as enterocytes, lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts. The role of glutamine supplementation in certain disease states has been extensively studied during the past decade, with use of both animals and human subjects. This article will review glutamine supplementation and its implications for WOC nursing practice.
Ignition and combustion of liquid monopropellants at high pressures

This paper represents a review of the physical aspects of the ignition and combustion of liquid monopropellants at high pressures. It has been observed that many liquid monopropellants are very difficult to ignite below some critical pressure which is well above atmospheric pressure. Further, even if ignited, these same monopropellants generally decompose (fizz) without a flame until another critical transition pressure is attained. Also, the normal strand “linear” burning rates do not always increase with pressure but often have regions with negative slopes. Available data indicate that some liquids react at much higher rates (30 to 50 cm/s at 10 MPa) in large cross sectional area (≥4 cm2) vessels supported in closed chambers when compared with combustion in small tubes in constant pressure strand burners (∼20cm/s at ∼200 MPa in 6 mm tube). These combustion rates may be compared with the combustion rates in an expanding system such as a gun. For a 37 mm gun the combustion rates for hydrazine (65%)/hydrazine nitrate (30%)/water (5%) mixtures have been calculated from detailed pressure versus time and projectile velocity versus time data by using the energy conservation laws. The calculations indicate that a liquid charge as long as ∼19 cm was combusted at ∼200 MPa in 1 ms. Applying the measured strand rate of ∼25 cm/s at ∼200 MPa, a burning surface of 6000 cm2 would be necessary in order to combust this charge in 1 ms. The generation of the required gas/liquid interfacial surface areas by the well established Taylor and Helmholtz hydrodynamical instability processes has been shown to be necessary and sufficient to account for the observed very high combustion rates in dynamical systems such as a gun system in which the chamber is fully loaded and ignited only at the breech end.
How Sweet It Is: Sugar, Science, and the State

Summary Americans import large amounts of sugar, levy a stiff tariff on it, and base this tariff on the saccharine content of each sample, and thus the assessment of sugar quality for tax purposes was enormously important. It was also among the most difficult challenges of a scientific or technical nature facing the federal government in the nineteenth century, and the issues it raised would often recur as science-based quality control became an essential feature of industry.
Real-time supercomputing on iWarp

From its inception, the iWarp microprocessor was designed to be used for parallel computing. The iWarp processor (cell) is comprised of a computation agent and a communication agent which operate independently. Both synchronous and asynchronous communication are supported. A processor may have up to 8 asynchronous data movement operations proceeding simultaneously through the spooling (DMA) mechanism. Independently, the computation agent may synchronously move up to 4 words (2 reads, 2 writes) between the cell and the interconnecting pathways in each instruction. The pathways are a set of 4 physical interconnects providing 40 MBytes/sec bidirectional communication each (320 MBytes/sec/cell) to adjacent cells. Local memory bandwidth for the computation agent is 160 MBytes/sec. Communication overhead costs are critical for efficient parallel computing. iWarp's communication is based on connections which establish the desired topology once--the connections remain in place until removed by the program. Multiple (logical) connections may share a single pathway. Communication over established connections incur little or no overhead. We discuss the software tools to help build efficient programs both at the single cell level (C, F77 compilers) and at the array level (Apply/Adapt, Assign, C*, etc.). Using the communication features of iWarp, we present measured performance on some frequently used data movement operations (scatter, gather, broadcast, transpose).© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Continuum damping of high-mode-number toroidal Alfvén waves.

An asymptotic theory is developed to determine the continuum damping of short-wavelength toroidal Alfven eigenmodes, which is essential for ascertaining thresholds for alpha-particle-driven instability in ignited tokamaks.
Stability Analysis for the Head-Disk Interface in a Flexible Disk Drive

This paper describes the modeling, theoretical formulation, and eigenvalue analysis for a combined system of a spinning flexible disk and a pair of head and suspension systems that contact the disk at opposing points on its two sides. In the analytical model a constant friction force between the sliders and disk and the slider pitch motion, as well as its transverse motion, are taken into account. From the eigenvalue analysis it is found that pitch stiffness and moment of inertia of the heads induce instability above the critical rotation speed similarly to the transverse stiffness and mass. This instability can be effectively stabilized by increasing the external damping which is spinning with the disk. It is also found that the friction force makes all forward modes unstable over the entire rotational speed range. The friction induced instability can be effectively suppressed by increasing the transverse stiffness and mass and it can be stabilized by the pitch damping and the external damping. The characteristics of instability due to the friction force qualitatively agree well with experimental results reported previously.
Cocaine toxicity in cultured rat hepatocytes

Abstract Cocaine hydrochloride was added to primary cultures of hepatocytes isolated from naive and phenobarbital-induced (80 mg kg i.p. for 3 d) Sprague-Dawley rats. Cocaine was cytotoxic, as measured by lactate dehydrogenase release, to cells from naive rats in concentrations of 1 mM or greater. Phenobarbital induction greatly increased the cytotoxic potency of cocaine in vitro, with nearly complete loss of cell viability at cocaine concentrations in culture as low as 0.01 mM. The addition of 10 μM SK&F-525-A to the cultures blocked cocaine cytotoxicity in cells from both naive and phenobarbital-induced rats. These results suggest that the metabolic pathways leading to cocaine hepatotoxicity identified in the mouse also exist in the rat hepatocyte.
Public investments in sustainable technology: an evaluation of North Carolina's Green Business Fund

North Carolina's Green Business Fund, a state-level sustainability–technology program, is evaluated in terms of net economic surplus. To conduct this evaluation, this paper develops and implements an economic model from which values of producer and consumer surplus can be measured. Data limitations drive modeling choices, namely the model must be applicable when the researcher is unable to decompose revenues into separate prices and quantities. The method used in this paper is an extension of one previously used to examine SBIR programs facing similar data limitations. An additional facet of the modeling method is a specification such that the presence of an existing technology can also be taken into account. This allows the evaluation to focus only on newly created surplus. The findings from this evaluation suggest that the Green Business Fund has resulted in a positive net social surplus and, when imposing an elasticity of demand drawn from the literature on other sustainability-based technologies, a be...
NEW STRATEGIES FOR THE ISOLATION AND ACTIVITY DETERMINATION OF NATURALLY OCCURRING TYPE-4 GLUTATHIONE PEROXIDASE

Type 4 glutathione peroxidase (GPx4) is a widely expressed mammalian selenoenzyme known to play a vital role in cytoprotection against lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH)-mediated oxidative stress and regulation of oxidative signaling cascades. Since prokaryotes are not equipped to express mammalian selenoproteins, preparation of recombinant GPx4 via commonly used bacterial transformation is not feasible. A published procedure for isolating the enzyme from rat testis employs affinity chromatography on bromosulfophthalein-glutathione-linked agarose as the penultimate step in purification. Since this resin is no longer commercially available and preparing it in satisfactory operational form is tedious, we have developed an alternative purification approach based on sequential anion exchange, size exclusion, and cation exchange chromatography. Final preparations were found to be essentially homogeneous in GPx4 (M(r) approximately 20 kDa), as demonstrated by SDS-PAGE with protein staining and immunoblotting. Specific enzymatic activity was determined using a novel thin-layer chromatographic approach in which the kinetics of phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxide loss or cholesterol-7alpha-hydroperoxide loss was monitored. A >400-fold purification of active enzyme has been attained. The relatively straightforward isolation procedure described should prove valuable for further functional studies on GPx4, e.g. how its ability to catalyze LOOH reduction compares with that of other LOOH detoxifying enzymes.
Unsteady low prandtl number heat transfer for flow across a flat plate

Es wird eine Erklarung gegeben fur das Problem der stationaren laminaren Stromung uber eine ebene Platte unter der Bedingung einer unstetigen Anderung der Oberflachentemperatur. Ergebnisse fur die unstetige Warmeubertragung werden gegeben, die sich auf Flussigkeiten von niedriger Prandtlzahl beziehen. Abbildung 2 zeigt die Anderung des Verhaltnisses der augenblicklichen Warmeubertragung zum asymptotischen Grenzwert fur eine Prandtlzahl von 0,01.
Bloom Cookies: Web Search Personalization without User Tracking

We propose Bloom cookies that encode a user’s profile in a compact and privacy-preserving way, without preventing online services from using it for personalization purposes. The Bloom cookies design is inspired by our analysis of a large set of web search logs that shows drawbacks of two profile obfuscation techniques, namely profile generalization and noise injection, today used by many privacy-preserving personalization systems. We find that profile generalization significantly hurts personalization and fails to protect users from a server linking user sessions over time. Noise injection can address these problems, but only at the cost of a high communication overhead and a noise dictionary generated by a trusted third party. In contrast, Bloom cookies leverage Bloom filters as a privacy-preserving data structure to provide a more convenient privacy, personalization, and network efficiency tradeoff: they provide similar (or better) personalization and privacy than noise injection (and profile generalization), but with an order of magnitude lower communication cost and no noise dictionary. We discuss how Bloom cookies can be used for personalized web search, present an algorithm to automatically configure the noise in Bloom cookies given a user’s privacy and personalization goals, and evaluate their performance compared to the state-of-the-art.
A New Algorithm for Estimating Relative Permeabilities From Displacement Experiments

The process of estimating relative permeability curves from two-phase displacement experiments is considered. A parameter estimation approach overcomes significant limitations of the classic calculation procedure. In this approach, functional representations are chosen for the relative permeability curves. Adjustable coefficients (or parameters) in the functional representations are then chosen to minimize a least-squares objective function. Previous applications of this approach have used exponential functional representations with a single adjustable coefficient (the exponent) for each curve. However, significant errors in the relative permeability estimates may be encountered when this function is used. It has been determined, in principle, that cubic spline functional representations may be used to obtain accurate estimates of relative permeability curves. The process of obtaining the least-squares estimates for the parameters is more difficult, however, because a significantly greater number of parameters are to be determined. No algorithm has been reported for this purpose. The authors present an algorithm for estimating relative permeability curves that uses cubic spline functional representations. A unique and essential feature of the algorithm is that it incorporates inequality constraints that ensure that physically realistic relative permeability curves are maintained throughout the iterative minimization process. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated with data frommore » hypothetical and laboratory coreflood displacement experiments.« less
From aromaticity to self-organized criticality in graphene

The unique properties of graphene are rooted in its peculiar electronic structure where effects of electron delocalization are pivotal. We show that the traditional view of delocalization as formation of a local or global aromatic bonding framework has to be expanded in this case. A modification of the π-electron system of a finite-size graphene substrate results in a scale-invariant response in the relaxation of interatomic distances and reveals self-organized criticality as a mode of delocalized bonding. Graphene is shown to belong to a diverse class of finite-size extended systems with simple local interactions where complexity emerges spontaneously under very general conditions that can be a critical factor controlling observable properties such as chemical activity, electron transport, and spin-polarization.
Tunable diode laser high resolution spectroscopic measurements of the nu 2 vibration of carbon dioxide

A tunable diode laser spectrometer was used for high resolution measurements on the Q-branch of the ν2 vibration of carbon dioxide. The infrared source was a current tuned Pb0.936Sn0.064Se diode laser. A 1-m gas cell was designed to allow variation of temperature (200–300 K) at 1–50 torr of 320 ppm mixtures in nitrogen. Owing to the narrow linewidth of the diode laser, true line shapes may now be measured well into the Doppler region. Line shapes and intensities of several rotational lines (J ≤ 34) have been measured as a function of pressure and temperature. Initial measurements tend to confirm the theoretical predictions of Drayson as to relative line positions, but show linewidths higher than predicted by Yamamoto et al. The line strengths, at low temperatures, appear to be about 12% greater than those predicted by Drayson.
Treatment of biliary leaks and fistulae by simultaneous percutaneous drainage and diversion

Although biliary fistulae and bilomas are often adequately managed with percutaneous drainage, persistent bile duct leaks are difficult to control. The primary surgical goal in this situation is to decompress the biliary system through diversion of bile flow to facilitate healing of the defect in the bile ducts. We report 3 patients with large biliary duct defects who underwent percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography which demonstrated the site of the biliary leakage. Then, extrapolating the aforementioned surgical tenet to these patients, all 3 were successfully treated with interventional radiologic techniques: simultaneous percutaneous transhepatic biliary diversion to control biliary flow and percutaneous biloma drainage to facilitate closure of the cavity.
MATERNAL SERUM GAMMA-GLUTAMYLTRANSFERASE IN THE PRENATAL SCREENING OF FETAL ALCOHOL EFFECTS

MATERNAL SERUM GAMMA-GLUTAMYLTRANSFERASE IN THE PRENATAL SCREENING OF FETAL ALCOHOL EFFECTS
Novel multimedia detectors for medical imaging

The objective of this research is to provide the physical and engineering principles of novel gas detector media operating on gas-microstrip principles. It is believed that the presented technology will have a significant impact on x-ray digital radiography, with emphasis on dual- energy imaging, computed tomography (CT), microtomography and x-ray microscopy, as well as in nuclear medicine, particularly in the important area of quantitative autoradiography, single photon emission tomography (SPECT) and (PET).© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The hibernating myocardium: implications for management of congestive heart failure

Left ventricular (LV) function is one of the most important determinants of long-term outcome in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients with normal or near-normal LV function have an excellent prognosis, whereas patients with impaired LV function are at substantial risk of death during medical therapy. It is now apparent that LV dysfunction is not always an irreversible process and that LV function may improve considerably, and even normalize, after myocardial revascularization in a large subset of patients. The identification of such patients with “hibernating” myocardium that is underperfused and dysfunctional, yet viable, has important implications in the selection of patients with LV dysfunction for revascularization procedures. Both nuclear cardiology techniques and 2-D echocardiography can be used for this purpose. The radionuclide techniques include positron emission tomography to assess blood flow and metabolism (using agents such as [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose) and thallium-201 (and possibly technetium-99m sestamibi) to assess blood flow and cell membrane integrity. Alternatively, echocardiographic imaging during low-dose infusions of dobutamine can be used to assess inotropic reserve. The data available to date suggest that patients with CAD in whom hibernating myocardium is largely the cause of impaired LV function constitute a subgroup of patients who may achieve a substantial improvement in LV function and in outcome if identified and treated with revascularization.
Optimal cost and policy for a Markovian replacement problem

We consider the computation of the optimal cost and policy associated with a two-dimensional Markov replacement problem with partial observations, for two special cases of observation quality. Relying on structural results available for the optimal policy associated with these two particular models, we show that, in both cases, the infinitehorizon, optimal discounted cost function is piecewise linear, and provide formulas for computing the cost and the policy. Several examples illustrate the usefulness of the results.
Dynamic Light Scattering of Rigid Rods – A Universal Relationship on the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient as Revealed by Numerical Studies and Its Use for Rod Length Determination

Numerical simulations are performed to study the diffusion behaviors of rigid rods examined by dynamic light scattering (DLS). It was identified that the apparent diffusion coefficient, Dp, determined by DLS obeys a universal relationship Dp/DG = f(qL) = 1.1804 + 0.1764 × tanh [11.799× tan−1(qL) -17.169], where DG, L, and q are the mass-of-center diffusion coefficient, length of the rod, and scattering vector, respectively. This relationship delineates the DLS experiments into weak (qL 20.0). In weak (strong) coupling regime, Dp is a measure of DG (D// - longitudinal diffusion coefficient) of the rods. In addition, if DLS is performed in the intermediate coupling regime, the rod length can be determined by solving Dp/DG = f(qL).