cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Composite population kernels in ytterbium-buffer collisions studied by means of laser-saturated absorption.

We present a systematic study of composite population kernels for $^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ collisions with He, Ar, and Xe buffer gases, using laser-saturation spectroscopy. $^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ is chosen as the active species because of the simple structure of its $^{1}\mathrm{S}_{0}$${\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}^{3}$${\mathrm{P}}_{1}$ resonance transition (\ensuremath{\lambda}=556 nm). Elastic collisions are modeled by means of a composite collision kernel, an expression of which is explicitly derived based on arguments of a hard-sphere potential and two-category collisions. The corresponding coupled population-rate equations are solved by iteration to obtain an expression for the saturated-absorption line shape. This expression is fit to the data to obtain information about the composite kernel, along with reasonable values for other parameters. The results confirm that a composite kernel is more general and realistic than a single-component kernel, and the generality in principle and the practical necessity of the former are discussed.
Etiology and treatment of intrinsic circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

Abstract Some individuals experience an acute or chronic sleep disturbance, associated with a misalignment between the timing of their sleep and the sleep-wake cycle that is desired, or considered normal by society. It is estimated that 5–10% of insomniacs seeking treatment have this type of disorder, collectively called circadian rhythm sleep disorders. This paper reviews circadian rhythm sleep disorders of the intrinsic type, which include delayed sleep phase syndrome, advanced sleep phase syndrome, non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome, and irregular sleep-wake pattern. For each disorder, we present data addressing its pathophysiology and potential treatments, including the use of behavioral measures and chronotherapy, bright light treatment and pharmacological treatments such as melatonin. We conclude by addressing some of the limitations and drawbacks of the various treatments.
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Correlations between Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Leaf Conductance to Water Vapor in Common Beans.

Carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) was measured in the field on 10 cultivars of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). There was substantial variation (more than 2‰) in leaf Δ values and these differences were maintained between vegetative and reproductive developmental stages. These bean lines also exhibited substantial differences in leaf conductance to water vapor, and again these differences were maintained across developmental stages. The differences in leaf conductance were positively correlated with Δ values, whether conductance was measured as total leaf conductance or as the individual conductances of either upper or lower leaf surfaces. The observed differences in leaf conductance were not associated with differences in stomatal density. There were small differences among bean lines in their leaf Kjeldahl nitrogen contents, which is interpreted as indicating that photosynthetic capacity among bean lines was similar. Thus, because Δ values and leaf conductance were positively correlated, these data suggested that there may have been differences among bean lines in the extent to which stomata limited photosynthetic gas exchange rates.
The scaling of test scores by the method of paired comparisons

The purpose of this study is to investigate, by the method of paired comparisons, a possible scaling of individuals who have made certain test scores, such that the additive property will be satisfied and such that a stability in scaling will be maintained,—in other words, a scaling such that the scaled score of an individual will remain relatively the same regardless of the grouping of individuals in which he may be placed. The results show that it is possible to utilize psychophysical methods in psychological and educational test situations. Among the major findings are that Case V of the Law of Comparative Judgment is applicable to the data in this problem, the method of dividing the intermediate category equally between the greater and the less was the best of three possible methods, internal consistency was satisfied, and, finally, when a new test of stability was applied, it was found that the distances between the hypothetical individuals remain the same.
The influence of corticosteroids and theophylline on cerebral function. A review.

Evidence indicating that corticosteroid therapy may adversely affect attention and memory in asthmatic subjects is reviewed. The potential impact of corticosteroid dosage levels (high versus low) and treatment regimens (daily versus alternate day) on attention and memory is discussed. Findings indicate that the suppression of ACTO by corticosteroids may have different effects on attention and memory as a function of the sex of the asthmatic patient. The need to establish what the effects of theophylline-induced reductions of cerebral blood flow and cerebral oxygen tension are on higher cognitive processes are outlined. The importance of establishing whether or not medications commonly used for the treatment of asthma create deficits of memory or attention that interfere with medical compliance is emphasized.
Humoral immunity in the Friend retrovirus infection model

Major conceptual roadblocks impede the development of an HIV-1 vaccine that can stimulate a potent neutralizing antibody response. Animal models that support HIV-1 replication and allow for host genetic manipulation would be an ideal platform for testing various immunological hypotheses, but progress on this research front has been slow and disappointing. In contrast, many valuable concepts emerged from more than 50 years of studying the Friend retrovirus model. This was recently exemplified by the identification of an innate restriction gene, Apobec3, that could promote the retrovirus-specific neutralizing antibody response. Here we review both classical and recent data on humoral immunity against Friend retrovirus infection, and highlight the potential of this model for unraveling novel aspects of the retrovirus-specific antibody response that may guide HIV-1 vaccine development efforts.
NEUROENDOCRINE CHANGES WITH D His GnRH ANALOGUE (D-His-A)

To correlate neuroendocrine changes with clinical response, 4 girls (4-7 yrs) and 1 boy age 6 with central precocious puberty were treated with D-His-A subcutaneously. D-His-A was given at a dose of 4 μg/kg/day for 4 mos; then, the dose was increased to 8 μg/kg/day. The children were serially studied at 0, 3, and 6 mos. Blood was analyzed for GH, LH, FSH q 20 min (1800-0600). GnRH (2.5 μg/kg IV) tests and response to D-His-A (usual treatment dose sc) were followed. Gonadal steroids fell to prepubertal range in the first 3 mos. Results of mean growth velocity (GV), GH, Somatomedin C, LH and FSH, GnRH and D-His-A Tests are shown: Bone age advanced 6 mos/6 mos therapy. We conclude D-His-A at 4 μg/kg/day for 3 mos did not decrease growth velocities despite decreases in mean overnight GH, Somatomedin C and gonadal steroids. Mean overnight LH and FSH values showed stepwise decrease with higher doses of D-His-A. We suggest that children with D-His-A need a minimum of 8 μg/kg/day and that D-His-A response should be used to evaluate therapy rather than GnRH tests.
Characterization of the Reaction of North Dakota Dry Bean Cultivars to Three Races of Colletotrichum lindemuthianum.

Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, causal agent of anthracnose, a serious disease of dry bean, had been prevalent mostly in the eastern United States and Michigan. In 2001, the disease was observed affecting several commercial bean fields in North Dakota. To assess the potential impact of this pathogen on the North Dakota dry bean industry, 30 of the most widely planted cultivars were inoculated with races 7, 73, and 89 of C. lindemuthianum. Race 73 is present in Michigan, and has been detected in recently North Dakota and Manitoba, while races 7 and 89 are currently present in Michigan and Ontario. All cultivars were spray inoculated with a suspension of 106 conidia/ml in the greenhouse and evaluated for disease reaction using a 0-to-9 scale 8 days after inoculation. Most kidney beans were susceptible to race 7, but resistant to races 73 and 89. 'Isles' and 'Drake' were the only kidney beans resistant to all three races. All pinto beans were susceptible to races 73 and 89 except 'Topaz', which was moderately resistant to race 73 but susceptible to race 89. Most pinto beans were resistant or moderately resistant to race 7. Navy bean cvs. Newport and Envoy were resistant to all three races; however, 'Norstar', the most widely planted navy bean cultivar, was susceptible to all three races. Research is being conducted to identify germplasm with resistance to these races. To reduce the possibility of spreading this pathogen to new fields in the region, the use of noncertified seed should be discouraged among producers, and fields used for seed production should be monitored very carefully.
Nano-particle emissions from Atomic Layer Deposition

ATOMIC Layer Deposition (ALD) is an enabling nanotechnology widely used for fabricating conformal, uniform and pin-hole free thin films which can be controlled precisely in nano-meter scale [1]. ALD can coat accurately on planar substrate as well as high aspect ratio surfaces [2]. Due to the advantages of ALD technology, in recent years ALD has been widely applied in many fields including semiconductors, solar cells, fuel cells, medical devices, sensors, etc. In the past decade, ALD has undergone rapid development toward large scale industrial applications [3]. However, ALD has significant sustainability issues which need to be fully investigated and improved prior to its industrial scale applications [4]. One of the most significant concerns of ALD is the potential nano-particle emissions from the ALD fabrication process which can cause both occupational and public health exposure risks as well as environmental impacts due to the unique properties of nano-particles.
Dams impact carbon dynamics in U.S. rivers

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC)—which leaches into freshwater systems from plants, soils, and sediments, and from other detritus present in the water itself—is the major food supplement for microorganisms and plays an important role in several environmental processes and in the global carbon cycle. In some aquatic systems such as estuaries, the optically measurable colored component of dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is often proportional to the concentration of DOC. CDOM forms when light-absorbing compounds are released into the water by decaying organic material and through photochemical degradation of certain organic compounds. Hence, CDOM reflects not just the environment and ecosystem, which is the source of the detritus, but also the processes that deliver the organic matter into aquatic systems. Human activities, such as logging, agriculture, and waste water treatment, also affect CDOM levels in aquatic systems. It is relatively easy and inexpensive to measure the CDOM content in small volumes of water.
The effect of exercise on diaphragmatic activation in horses

Horses chronically-instrumented with costal diaphragmatic electromyographic electrodes were studied during exercise while unencumbered by a breathing mask. Exercise-associated changes in esophageal (Pes), gastric (Pga) and transdiaphragmatic (Pdi) pressures were measured and related to diaphragmatic electromyographic activity (CS EMG) and to left forelimb impact. In all breaths examined, CS EMG always coincided with decrements in Pes. For all exercise trials, linear increases in CS EMG, Pga and Pdi and linear decreases in Pes, as a function of exercise intensity, always occurred. During all gaits, breathing frequency (fR) was entrained with stride frequency (fS) one for one. However, a constant phase-coupling relationship between fR and fS, observed when horses cantered and galloped, was absent when horses walked or trotted. We conclude that biomechanical forces contribute minimally to ventilation in exercising horses, that the diaphragm is always phasically active during each breath and its total electrical activity and mechanical output are proportional to the exercise hyperpnea.
Collaboration in the provision of services for people with personality disorders

This report highlights the current understanding of personality disorders with specific emphasis on service provision in the context of recent policies and guidelines issued by the Department of Health. It gives an overview of the wide range of perspectives of various stakeholders. It explores the key aspects of collaboration and the implications of a collaborative approach to delivering services for people with personality disorders. It also makes recommendations for implementation and identifies the organisations involved in the process of collaboration.
Uncoupled potentials for proportional allocation markets

We study resource allocation games where allocations to agents are made in proportion to their bids. We show that the existence of a potential function in the allocation space, and a virtual price function are sufficient for the convergence of better response dynamics to Nash equilibrium. Generally, resource allocation games do not admit a potential in their strategy space, and are not in the class of potential games. However, for many interesting examples, including the Kelly mechanism, the best response functions are “well-behaved” on the allocation space, and consequently a potential in that space exists. We demonstrate how our sufficient condition is satisfied by three classes of market mechanisms. The first is the class of smooth market-clearing mechanisms, where the market is cleared using a single nondiscriminatory price. The second example is the class of simple g-mechanisms where an efficient Nash equilibrium is implemented with price discrimination. Finally we show our results apply to a subset of scalar strategy VCG (SSVCG) mechanisms, that generalizes simple g-mechanisms.
HURRY: An Acceleration Algorithm for Scalar Sequences and Series

On presente un algorithme d'acceleration generale pour des suites alternees et monotones scalaires et des series
hsp70 interacting protein Hip does not affect glucocorticoid receptor folding by the hsp90-based chaperone machinery except to oppose the effect of BAG-1.

Reticulocyte lysate contains a chaperone system that assembles glucocorticoid receptor (GR).hsp90 heterocomplexes. Using purified proteins, we have prepared a five-protein heterocomplex assembly system consisting of two proteins essential for heterocomplex assembly-hsp90 and hsp70-and three proteins that act as co-chaperones to enhance assembly-Hop, hsp40, p23 [Morishima, Y., Kanelakis, K. C., Silverstein, A. M., Dittmar, K. D., Estrada, L., and Pratt, W. B. (2000) J. Biol. Chem. 275, 6894-6900]. The hsp70 co-chaperone Hip has been recovered in receptor.hsp90 heterocomplexes at an intermediate stage of assembly in reticulocyte lysate, and Hip is also thought to be an intrinsic component of the assembly machinery. Here we show that immunodepletion of Hip from reticulocyte lysate or addition of high levels of Hip to the purified five-protein system does not affect GR.hsp90 heterocomplex assembly or the activation of steroid binding activity that occurs with assembly. Despite the fact that Hip does not affect assembly, it is recovered in GR.hsp90 heterocomplexes assembled by both systems. In the five-protein system, Hip prevents inhibition of assembly by the hsp70 co-chaperone BAG-1, and cotransfection of Hip with BAG-1 opposes BAG-1 reduction of steroid binding activity in COS cells. We conclude that Hip is not a component of the assembly machinery but that it could play a regulatory role in opposition to BAG-1.
Viewing Angle and Voltage Dependence of the Visibility of Cell Gap Defects in LCD Panels

Perception of visible defects induced by local cell gap variations in liquid crystal display (LCD) panels is studied as a function of the viewing direction and applied voltage. Our results are reported in terms of the LCD sensitivity parameter defined in our previous publication and can be readily used in conjunction with the psycho-physical models of Mura perception. We apply our methods to a particular example of a normally white TN LCD and show that the Mura visibility depends strongly on the viewing angle as well as the applied voltage. We conclude that a complete study of the -parameter as a function of the viewing angle and applied voltage is crucial in the correct assessment of the sensitivity of an LCD panel to cell gap variation.
Epitaxially Integrated Semiconductor Nanowires for Nanoscale Electronics, Photonics and NEMS

Mass-manufacturable interfacing and integration of functional nanowires in devices and systems is the major challenge in reproducible fabrication of dense and low-cost nano-device arrays. We present an overview of our epitaxial interfacing technique for integrating semiconductor nanowires in nanodevices that not only resulted in highly reproducible and linear ohmic contacts with exceptionally low noise levels but also exhibits excellent bond strength due to a self-welding effect.
Uncertainty and choice: the challenges of pharmaceutical efficacy, safety, and cost

This paper addresses the role of uncertainty in challenges confronting the US pharmaceutical industry and its regulators. It begins with a macroeconomic overview, showing how rising health care costs, including rising ethical drug costs, squeeze the wage and salary share of national income. It addresses the claim that pharmaceutical companies' new drug pipelines are drying up. Taking a stochastic approach, it shows that both the trend of new medical entity approvals and the trend of pharmaceutical company gross margins can be explained as random walks—the latter as a result of sampling from a highly skew distribution. It then focuses on problems of ascertaining efficacy and especially low-probability adverse effects from clinical trial samples of acceptable size. Noting the need for post-NDA surveillance of adverse effects and observing the incentive failures that occur at that stage, it proposes two new approaches to identifying adverse reactions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Shoot to Kill: The Use of Deadly Force by the Chicago Police, 1875-1920

The American police have a long history of relying on violence. In Chicago, however, the widespread use of deadly force did not date to the rough-hewn, early days of nineteenth-century policing. Rather, an analysis of more than 300 killings by Chicago policemen from 1875 through 1920 reveals that the frequent resort to deadly force began during the Progressive era. In this period, a formal shoot-to-kill, law-enforcement strategy developed in response both to a local crime wave and, ironically, to reformers' demands for more vigorous and more professional crime fighting.
Therapeutic effect of sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma remains an open question

Phyllis A. Gimotty, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Frank Yoon, Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Rachel Hammond, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Paul Rosenbaum, Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA DuPont Guerry, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Maximum Load Lifting Capacity of Males and Females in Teamwork

The main objective of this study was to determine the maximum permissible load lifting capacity (MLCT) of males and females working in teams of two persons. On the average, the maximum capacity of ...
Lumbar Spinal Mechanics in Pure Bending: Influence of Gender, Spinal Level, and Degeneration Grade

Gender differences have been identified in normal and traumatic motions of the spine. In the cervical region, spinal motions in females were significantly greater than in males during identical dynamic acceleration pulses [1]. Static cervical range of motion was also shown to be greater in female volunteers [2]. In the thoracic region, gender differences were identified in compressive and tensile elastic moduli [3]. Although male volunteers had slightly greater lumbar spine mobility, the difference was not statistically significant [4]. Another study reported that female lumbar specimens were somewhat more flexible than male specimens [5]. Lumbar spinal motions are clinically important in the diagnosis of abnormalities and instability. Increased motions occur secondary to instability and may indicate a need for spinal stabilization. However, although previous studies have provided baseline data for lumbar motions [6], possible variations in spinal motions between males and females may lead to inaccurate diagnosis. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to define lumbar spinal motions on a level-by-level basis to determine statistically significant differences between males and females and at varying levels of degeneration.© 2009 ASME
General estimation of Stress Induced Voiding for vias connected to large Cu plate

Stress Induced Voiding is strongly influenced by test key structure. Plate size shows vacancy reservoir effect. Void under via is quite observed in Plate_Below structure, and it could caused by the high local stress concentration at via bottom. Larger metal width/length & smaller via dimension will induce poor SM performance. Topological Layout Rule of redundant via placement is suitable for Cu generation (0.13∼0.065um).
Expectation propagation for distributed estimation in sensor networks

We show that the expectation propagation (EP) family of algorithms constitute a natural choice for distributed estimation and detection in sensor networks. In particular, random sleep strategies, which are commonly chosen to ensure robustness, equal power dissipation across the network, and ease of deployment, espouse a sparse dependence structure among the parameters to be estimated. This sparse dependence structure mimics the structure which belief and expectation propagation exploited in the decoding of turbo and low density parity check (LDPC) codes to bring the performance of physical layer communications systems to the fundamental limits set out by Shannon. We provide examples of practical sensor network tasks which fall into the framework set out in this paper. By applying extensions of the extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart theory to EP in these distributed estimation applications, we can predict the performance and convergence of the distributed estimation algorithm in very large networks with an easy to obtain plot.
Surrogate End Points, Skepticism, and the CAST Study

OBJECTIF: Reviser la litterature pertinente et emettre une opinion sur l'utilite de la tension arterielle comme un marqueur des risques cardio-vasculaires. SOURCES DE L'INFORMATION: Les articles primaires et les articles de revue ont ete identifies lors d'une recherche sur MedLine (de 1990 a janvier 2001) Des sources secondaires d'information ont aussi ete utilisees. SELECTION DES ETUDES ET EXTRACTION DE L'INFORMATION: Les etudes et les articles de revue qui traitaient de l'interpretation de la tension arterielle comme un marqueur ont ete revises. L'information pertinente a ete retenue dans cette revision de controverse therapeutique. SYNTHESE DE L'INFORMATION: La mesure de la tension arterielle est sujette a de nombreuses sources de variation et de biais. Les patients qui assurent un auto-controle de la tension substituent parfois les valeurs elevees par des valeurs factices dans leur releve des mesures de tension arterielle, De plus, des donnees recentes suggerent que malgre une meme valeur de tension arterielle, la reduction du risque cardiovasculaire peut varier en fonction du medicament utilise pour atteindre cette valeur de tension arterielle. Il est maintenant recommande d'utiliser la tension arterielle systolique au lieu de la tension arterielle diastolique pour determiner le risque et evaluer les differentes avenues therapeutiques, Bien qu'il semble que le monitorage de la tension arterielle sur 24 heures puisse etre le meilleur indicateur du risque cardio-vasculaire, cette hypothese n'a pas ete confirmee par des etudes de morbidite a long terme. CONCLUSIONS: Selon l'auteur de cet article, la tension arterielle est un mauvais marqueur, Il n'existe encore malheureusement aucune alternative. Par consequent, tout doit etre mis en œuvre pour mesurer de facon precise la tension arterielle et evaluer les risques et les benefices de chaque medicament antihypertenseur. La tension arterielle systolique devrait etre la principale mesure utilisee pour evaluer un patient, surtout les personnes d'âge moyen et les personnes âgees.
Synoptic-Scale Features Associated with Warm Season Heavy Rainfall over the Interior Southeastern United States

Previous research has established links between heavy rainfall and a wide variety of synoptic features and parameters. In this study, 312 heavy rainfall events are identified over the southeastern United States and used to construct a synoptic climatology that relates 14 synoptic features and parameters to the occurrence and amounts of heavy rainfall. To carry this out, an automated synoptic typing scheme is employed to classify the heavy rainfall sample according to several characteristics of the synoptic regime. This classification provides five distinct synoptic patterns that can be associated with heavy rainfall over the southeastern United States. Commonly occurring synoptic features in each synoptic pattern are highlighted and discussed. Correlation analysis is then used to relate the occurrence and strength of these features to the heavy precipitation totals. Heavy rainfall in four out of the five identified synoptic patterns is most frequently associated with high levels of moisture at the 700-mb level. Ridging in the 850-mb warm air advection field is common over the heavy rain area as well. Numerous relationships are identified between the heavy rainfall amounts and the character of synoptic features; however, the nature of these relationships is found to vary strongly according to the synoptic pattern.
A whole-basin stratigraphic record of sediment and phosphorus loading to the St. Croix River, USA

Lake St. Croix is a natural impoundment of the lowermost 37 km of the St. Croix River in Minnesota and Wisconsin, making this one of a few large river systems in the world possessing a long-term depositional basin at its terminus. The river’s relatively pristine condition led to its designation as a National Scenic Riverway in 1968, but increasing urbanization in its lower reaches has raised concerns about impacts on water quality. This study was initiated to reconstruct historical loadings of suspended sediment and phosphorus (P) from the sediment record in Lake St. Croix. Twenty-four piston cores, with an average length of 2 m, were collected along eight transects of the lake. Dated chronologies from 210Pb, 137Cs and 14C were used to calculate the rate of sediment accumulation in the lake over the past 100+ years. Diatom microfossil analysis was used to reconstruct historical lakewater P concentrations over the same time period, and sediment P analysis quantified the amount of P trapped in lake sediments. Using a whole-lake mass balance approach, the loading of sediment and P to Lake St. Croix over the last 100+ years was calculated. Beginning in 1850, sediment accumulation increased dramatically to a peak in 1950–1960 of eight times background rates prior to European settlement. The peak is driven largely by sediment contributions from small side-valley catchment tributaries to the downstream half of the lake. The total P load to the lake increased sharply after 1940 and remains high, at around four times the level of pre-European settlement conditions. The timing of peak sediment and P loading to the lake shows that early settlement activities, such as logging and the conversion of forest and prairie to agricultural land between 1850 and 1890, had only modest impacts on the lake. By contrast, the mid-1900s brought major increases in sediment and P loading to the lake, suggesting that relatively recent activities on the landscape and changes to nutrient balances in the watershed have caused the current eutrophic condition of this important recreational and natural resource.
Associative memory using ratio rule for multi-valued pattern association

A novel learning algorithm, named ratio rule, for association of multi-valued patterns in a recurrent neural network is proposed in this paper. The learning is performed based on the degree of similarity between the relative magnitudes of the output of each neuron with respect to that of all other neurons. The dynamics of the neural network functions as a line attractor as opposed to the common concept of point attractor. The limit of the convergence region around the line of attraction is defined based on the statistical characteristics of the input patterns. Theoretical analysis of the associativity of the network with the ratio rule confirms the authenticity of its learning ability. The performance of the ratio rule on associativity and convergence of the recurrent network is evaluated by conducting several experiments on face images. It is observed that the ratio rule is suitable for retention, reconstruction, and restoration of learned patterns with varying face expressions.
The design of shape interactions using motion constraints

In this paper we examine an approach to the visualization, analysis and design of functional shape interactions represented as motion constraints in configuration space. A graphical constraint representation, together with a set of computational tools we have developed, permits a designer to visualize and directly manipulate motion constraints in order to achieve desired functional properties. The resulting system has been implemented and applied to the analysis and design of a set of orienting, fixturing and assembly devices for the automated assembly of planar parts. >
Conditions for general Mamdani fuzzy controllers to be nonlinear

Fuzzy controllers are best used as nonlinear controllers although they can be linear, piecewise linear or nonlinear. Currently, there exist no theoretical methods to determine whether a fuzzy controller is nonlinear. Because a fuzzy controller has many degrees of freedom in terms of its components selection (e.g., input fuzzy sets, output fuzzy sets, and fuzzy rules), linear controllers can be unconsciously and undesirably generated. In the present paper, we establish conditions under which nonlinearity of a general class of Mamdani fuzzy controllers can be determined. These fuzzy controllers can use input fuzzy sets of any types, arbitrary fuzzy rules, arbitrary singleton output fuzzy sets, arbitrary inference methods, Zadeh fuzzy logic AND operator, and the centroid defuzzifier. We prove that the fuzzy controllers using Zadeh AND operator are always nonlinear, regardless of choice of the other components. The general fuzzy controllers using the product AND operator are also always nonlinear except when all input fuzzy sets are triangular or trapezoidal and a couple of other conditions are satisfied. The exceptions lead to piecewise linear or linear controllers.
Post-transcriptional operons and regulons co-ordinating gene expression.

Experiments reported over the past several years, including genome-wide microarray approaches, have demonstrated that many eukaryotic RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) associate with multiple messenger RNAs (mRNAs) both in vitro and in vivo. This multitargeted binding property of RBPs has led to a model of regulated gene expression in eukaryotes that we termed the post-transcriptional operon. This concept was established by an analogy between polycistronic mRNAs that are generated from bacterial operons, and the co-ordinated regulation of multiple monocistronic mRNAs by RBPs. Post-transcriptional operons represent a powerful mechanism to organize and express genetic information as functionally related combinations of monocistronic mRNAs. In fact, much of the diversification of individual proteomes may be determined by the combinatorial properties of post-transcriptional operons. This review examines data supporting the role of post-transcriptional operons and regulons in organizing genetic information and co-ordinating expression of functionally related transcripts from their origins at transcription to their subsequent splicing, export and translation.
A retrospective review of required projects in systems-based practice in a single anesthesiology residency: a 10-year experience

Abstract Study Objective The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has emphasized in its core competencies and more recently, in its Milestones Project, that residents understand the importance of systems-based practice (SBP). The objectives of the study are to evaluate the quality of residents' SBP projects and to determine the degrees that were subsequently implemented. Design A retrospective educational observational study. Setting A university-based anesthesiology training institution. Subjects One hundred forty-nine anesthesiology residents in their final (postgraduate year 4) year of training who completed SBP projects for the last 10 years (2004-2013). Interventions A structured SBP course was provided for postgraduate year 4 anesthesiology residents with deadlines set such as project identification, data collection, and proposal draft. Each resident's written SBP proposal received inputs by 2 members of the department executive steering committee. The SBP projects concluded with oral presentations by each resident to the department executive steering committee, who provided overall scores. Measurements All SBP projects were categorized into 7 categories: safety initiatives, economic analysis, process analysis, policy change recommendations, education initiatives, teamwork/communication, and operating room efficiency. Evaluation scores using a Likert scale (1-9, where 9 is the best) were analyzed. The rate of implementation of project ideas within the department based on the presentations to the executive committee was examined. Main Results Of 149 projects, policy change recommendations was the most frequently chosen category (46 projects; 30.9%), followed by process analysis (36 projects; 24.2%). The overall evaluation score was 7.6 ± 0.6 (mean ± SD). A total of 53 projects (35.6%) were implemented in the department. There was no statistical difference between SBPs with implementation vs SBPs without implementation in terms of evaluation scores, year of the presentation, or categories. Conclusions This SBP project has given residents the opportunity to participate in a hospital system change aiming to improve efficiency and safety.
School Functioning in Adolescents With Chronic Pain: The Role of Depressive Symptoms in School Impairment

Objective To explore associations between depressive symptoms and school functioning, including school attendance, academic performance, self-perceived academic competence, and teacher-rated school adjustment among predominantly Caucasian and female adolescent chronic pain patients. Methods A total of 217 clinically referred adolescents (aged 12–17 years) and their parents completed measures of pain characteristics, depression, and school functioning. Additional data were collected from school records and teacher reports. Results Depressive symptoms strongly correlated with school functioning indicators. In linear regression analyses, higher levels of depressive symptoms predicted more school impairment. A model testing whether depressive symptoms mediated the association between current pain intensity and parent perceptions of the interference of pain on school functioning was supported by the data. Conclusions Depressive symptoms play a key role in influencing the extent of school impairment in adolescents with chronic pain. Interventions to alleviate depressive symptoms may enhance treatments designed to improve school functioning in this population.
Community Fault Model (CFM) for Southern California

We present a new three-dimensional model of the major fault systems in southern California. The model describes the San Andreas fault and associated strike- slip fault systems in the eastern California shear zone and Peninsular Ranges, as well as active blind-thrust and reverse faults in the Los Angeles basin and Transverse Ranges. The model consists of triangulated surface representations (t-surfs) of more than 140 active faults that are defined based on surfaces traces, seismicity, seismic reflection profiles, wells, and geologic cross sections and models. The majority of earthquakes, and more than 95% of the regional seismic moment release, occur along faults represented in the model. This suggests that the model describes a comprehen- sive set of major earthquake sources in the region. The model serves the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) as a unified resource for physics-based fault systems modeling, strong ground-motion prediction, and probabilistic seismic hazards assessment.
The MIT Alewife machine: architecture and performance

Alewife is a multiprocessor architecture that supports up to 512 processing nodes connected over a scalable and cost-effective mesh network at a constant cost per node. The MIT Alewife machine, a prototype implementation of the architecture, demonstrates that a parallel system can be both scalable and programmable. Four mechanisms combine to achieve these goals: software-extended coherent shared memory provides a global, linear address space; integrated message passing allows compiler and operating system designers to provide efficient communication and synchronization; support for fine-grain computation allows many processors to cooperate on small problem sizes; and latency tolerance mechanisms --- including block multithreading and prefetching --- mask unavoidable delays due to communication.Microbenchmarks, together with over a dozen complete applications running on the 32-node prototype, help to analyze the behavior of the system. Analysis shows that integrating message passing with shared memory enables a cost-efficient solution to the cache coherence problem and provides a rich set of programming primitives. Block multithreading and prefetching improve performance by up to 25% individually, and 35% together. Finally, language constructs that allow programmers to express fine-grain synchronization can improve performance by over a factor of two.
ON THE PANEITZ ENERGY ON STANDARD THREE SPHERE

We prove that the Paneitz energy on the standard three-sphere S 3 is bounded from below and extremal metrics must be conformally equivalent to the standard metric.
One-dimensional time-dependent fluid model of a very high density low-pressure inductively coupled plasma

A time-dependent two-fluid model has been developed to understand axial variations in the plasma parameters in a very high density (peak n_e ≳5×10^(19) m^(−3)) argon inductively coupled discharge in a long 1.1 cm radius tube. The model equations are written in 1D with radial losses to the tube walls accounted for by the inclusion of effective particle and energy sink terms. The ambipolar diffusion equation and electron energy equation are solved to find the electron density n_e (z,t) and temperature T_e (z,t), and the populations of the neutral argon 4s metastable, 4s resonant, and 4pexcited state manifolds are calculated to determine the stepwise ionization rate and calculate radiative energy losses. The model has been validated through comparisons with Langmuir probe ion saturation current measurements; close agreement between the simulated and measured axial plasma density profiles and the initial density rise rate at each location was obtained at pAr =30−60 mTorr. We present detailed results from calculations at 60 mTorr, including the time-dependent electron temperature, excited state populations, and energy budget within and downstream of the radiofrequency antenna.
The Federal Reserve׳s abandonment of its 1923 objectives of monetary policy

Abstract The “Guides to Credit Policy” in the Federal Reserve׳s Annual Report of 1923 specified that interest rates should be set so as to balance the benefits of meeting the credit needs of business with the dangers of speculative credit. This paper uses FOMC transcripts to study when these two objectives of monetary policy (meeting business needs and preventing speculative credit) ceased to be reiterated, so that they were effectively abandoned. It is demonstrated that this occurred in the mid-1960s, at roughly the same time that the Fed first abandoned its fight against inflation for fear of causing a recession. The 1923 Report also expressed a preference for using credit aggregates rather than monetary aggregates to judge the stance of monetary policy. Monetary aggregates appeared in Federal Reserve pronouncements before the mid 1960s while credit conditions continued to be discussed at FOMC meetings well past this date. The paper seeks to reconcile these dating differences.
A Machine Without an Owner’s Manual

Contemporary growth in the use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) to support patients with advanced heart failure is remarkable. In the United States alone, more than 2,400 LVADs were implanted in adults in 2014 compared with 459 in 2008 [(1)][1]. Although perioperative survival is
Confidence ellipsoids for the primary regression coefficients in two seemingly unrelated regression models

Abstract We derive two new confidence ellipsoids (CEs) and four CE variations for covariate coefficient vectors with nuisance parameters under the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model. Unlike most CE approaches for SUR models studied so far, we assume unequal regression coefficients for our two regression models. The two new basic CEs are a CE based on a Wald statistic with nuisance parameters and a CE based on the asymptotic normality of the SUR two-stage unbiased estimator of the primary regression coefficients. We compare the coverage and volume characteristics of the six SUR-based CEs via a Monte Carlo simulation. For the configurations in our simulation, we determine that, except for small sample sizes, a CE based on a two-stage statistic with a Bartlett corrected ( 1 − α ) percentile is generally preferred because it has essentially nominal coverage and relatively small volume. For small sample sizes, the parametric bootstrap CE based on the two-stage estimator attains close-to-nominal coverage and is superior to the competing CEs in terms of volume. Finally, we apply three SUR Wald-type CEs with favorable coverage properties and relatively small volumes to a real data set to demonstrate the gain in precision over the ordinary-least-squares-based CE.
Hour of code: what you did

The "Hour of Code" was held this year during CS Education week, December 7--13, 2015 and over 198 thousand hour of code events were registered at code.org. Below is a sampling of activities that were done by our SIGCSE members.
115. Stress-induced activation of the inflammasome is necessary for stress-evoked cytokine and chemokine production

Activation of the stress response elicits increases in cytokines and chemokines that may exacerbate several pathophysiological conditions. Recently, two families of immunostimulatory molecules, microbe associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) and danger associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), have emerged as potential signals for stress-evoked cytokine and chemokine production. The intracellular signaling pathway for MAMP and DAMP mediated stress-induced inflammatory protein responses, however, remains unclear. There is evidence to suggest that these families of molecules operate through a MAMP and DAMP responsive signaling complex called the inflammasome. The inflammasome activates caspase-1 which is necessary for the synthesis of cytokines including IL-1β and IL-18. Since both MAMPs and DAMPs are released by stress, we hypothesized that stress-induced activation of the inflammasome is necessary for a stress-evoked cytokine and chemokine response. Intraperitoneal injection of the caspase-1 inhibitor (AC-YVAD-cmk) into F344 male rats (n = 32) 30 min prior to stress (100, 5 s, 1.5 mA tailshocks) attenuates increases in circulating IL-1β and IL-6 but not IL-10, IL-18, or MCP-1. These results support the role of the inflammasome in stress-induced cytokine and chemokine production. Supported by NSF IOS 1022451.
Environmental Surveillance for Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae in Surface Waters of Haiti

Abstract. Epidemic cholera was reported in Haiti in 2010, with no information available on the occurrence or geographic distribution of toxigenic Vibrio cholerae in Haitian waters. In a series of field visits conducted in Haiti between 2011 and 2013, water and plankton samples were collected at 19 sites. Vibrio cholerae was detected using culture, polymerase chain reaction, and direct viable count methods (DFA-DVC). Cholera toxin genes were detected by polymerase chain reaction in broth enrichments of samples collected in all visits except March 2012. Toxigenic V. cholerae was isolated from river water in 2011 and 2013. Whole genome sequencing revealed that these isolates were a match to the outbreak strain. The DFA-DVC tests were positive for V. cholerae O1 in plankton samples collected from multiple sites. Results of this survey show that toxigenic V. cholerae could be recovered from surface waters in Haiti more than 2 years after the onset of the epidemic.
Efficacy of Popular Music in Learning Music Concepts in Seventh Grade General Music Classes

In each of 12 class periods during a 20-day exploratory experiment in seventh-grade general music classes, examples of popular music were played in an experimental group (n = 30) while additional serious music examples were played in the control group (n = 28). The examples were carefully selected to illustrate particular musical concepts. The experimental group scored significantly higher on the Perceptive Listening Skills Test with IQ a significant covariate. Age and sex main effects were not significant but an interaction of age by sex showed that younger males and older females scored higher than older males and younger females.
Numerical Simulation of Planetary Reentry Aeroheating over Blunt Bodies with Non-equilibrium Reacting Flow

Thermal protection layer has been commonly used to protect the reentry vehicles from the harsh conditions encountered at hypersonic velocities. Numerical simulations and experiments are used to predict the amount of this protective layer needed so that vehicles safely traverse the harsh zone. Prediction of ablation requires modeling of hypersonic flows coupled with reacting gas chemistry and the response of the solid protection layer to the extreme conditions. Codes doing chemistry with supersonic flow are coupled with codes predicting the response of the protection layer. However it would be more useful to integrated codes which solve both the hypersonic flow and the response of the surface to such flows. Therefore it is our aim to develop an integrated code which solves the material response along with the flow with non equilibrium chemistry, vibrational excitation, species dissociation and ionization. For the present paper we present our preliminary results from a high order Navier Stokes solver which includes nonequilibrium reaction flow with two temperature vibrational energy model.
The KAT's Out of the Bag: Histone Acetylation Promotes Centromere Assembly.

Heterochromatin is incompatible with centromeric chromatin assembly and propagation. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Ohzeki et al. (2016) reveal that a critical role of the Mis18 complex is to transiently recruit the lysine acetyltransferase KAT7 to centromeres to facilitate the removal of H3K9me3 and the deposition of CENP-A.