cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Noncooperative iterative MMSE beamforming algorithms for ad hoc networks

An asynchronous unicast ad hoc network is considered, where each node i is equipped with a receive/transmit beam-former pair (W/sub i/, g/sub i/) designed under a quality-of-service (QoS) SNR constraint. It is first shown that the minimum sum-power beamformers for the network satisfy a weak duality condition, in which the pairs ((g/sub i//sup opt/)*, (W/sub i//sup opt/)*) achieve the same sum power as the primal network. However, the optimum receive beamformer w/sub i//sup opt/ is not in general equal to (g/sub i//sup opt/)*, in contrast to the case of cellular and time-division duplexing networks. Iterative minimum mean-square error (IMMSE) beamforming algorithms are then proposed in which w/sub i/ = g/sub i/* is enforced. These algorithms are shown to be instances of the Power Algorithm in which gi is the maximizing eigenvector of an SNR-related objective matrix. The IMMSE algorithm can also be viewed as a noncooperative beamforming game, in which the payoff includes normalized SNR, and the tax is related to interference caused at other nodes. The existence of fixed points (Nash equilibria) is proved for IMMSE. Furthermore, fixed points of IMMSE are shown to satisfy the first-order necessary conditions for optimization using a network Lagrangian. The IMMSE game is modified to yield a sequential distortionless-response beamforming algorithm, which is shown to be convergent using a Total Interference Function. Extensive simulation results illustrate that IMMSE yields better power efficiency than a greedy noncooperative SNR-maximizing game.
Factors influencing survival after radiotherapy of nasal tumors in 130 dogs.

Improvements in survival of dogs with nasal tumors have been slow to develop throughout the past three decades. Despite multiple studies examining various radiation time-dose schema, the advancement of CT-based computerized treatment planning, and the evaluation of detailed staging systems, the optimal treatment regimen, and most important prognostic factors regarding survival remain unclear. In this study, data from four previous studies were combined with data from 44 additional dogs, and this population of 130 dogs was evaluated for factors which influenced survival. Twenty-one dogs were treated with orthovoltage at the University of Pennsylvania. One hundred nine dogs were treated with cobalt photons at North Carolina State University. Sixty-five of these 109 dogs had been previously described. Of the 44 dogs not previously described, 35 were treated with a shrinking field technique. Survival was determined from the medical record, or from information derived by telephone or mail survey. The univariate Cox regression model was used to examine for relationship between various patient, tumor, and treatment variables and survival. Significant relationships identified in the univariate analysis were further analyzed using the multivariate Cox regression model. Median survival of the 130 dogs was 8.9 months (95% C.I., 8-11 months). In the univariate analysis, the following variables were associated with decreased survival: 1) age >10 years old, 2) regional lymph node metastasis, 3) advanced tumor stage, 4) use of megavoltage radiation, 5) overall total dose >55 Gray, and 6) boost technique performed. In a multivariate analysis of 125 dogs with complete data for age, radiation type, and radiation dose, age (p < .001) and radiation type (p = .02) were identified as joint predictors of survival. After adjusting for age, the staging system lost prognostic significance (p = .06). In a subset of dogs that received cobalt radiation, after adjusting for age, dogs treated with a boost technique had decreased survival (p = .001). In general, local control of canine nasal tumors following aggressive radiation therapy is poor. Early diagnosis and selection of appropriate patients is warranted and palliative types of treatment should be considered in dogs with a poor chance of long term survival.
Fast push at polysilicon deposition to reduce intrapoly oxide

The polysilicon process had a problem with 15% higher average class probe sheet resistance on wafers running in the top furnace position at gate polysilicon and receive 'sandwich' polysilicon (thin poly deposition followed by gate poly deposition), than wafers that run in center and bottom of the furnace. The higher sheet resistance is caused by a thicker intrapoly oxide that grows between the thin polysilicon and the gate polysilicon on wafers in the top furnace position. By increasing the push speed from 25 minutes to 5 minutes and increasing the N2 purge during push, the intrapoly oxide was minimized and the class probe polysilicon sheet resistance distribution was tightened by over 50%. The fast push process also tightened the linear N-channel threshold voltage distribution by approximately 10%.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Pathoanatomy and clinical correlates of the immunoinflammatory response following orthopaedic trauma.

The natural inflammatory response to major trauma may be associated with the development of a systemic inflammatory state, remote multiorgan failure, and death. Although a controlled inflammatory response is beneficial, an exaggerated response can cause serious adverse systemic effects. Early identification of highrisk patients, based on inflammatory markers and genomic predisposition, should help direct intervention in terms of surgical stabilization and biologic response modification. Currently, two
A novel timing-driven placement algorithm using smooth timing analysis

This work proposes a timing-driven placement algorithm that uses a new type of timing analysis, which we call smooth timing analysis. It constructs the timing cost function as a smooth function of cell placement. In addition, for net modeling the algorithm uses a companion net routing that provides more accurate wire delay. The placement task is then formulated as a non-linear optimization problem. Experiments prove that the proposed method is applicable to build timing-driven placement solutions for designs with thousands critical cells. Experimental results on blocks from recent microprocessor designs show a 65% average improvement in total negative slack comparing to a leading industrial flow.
Morphology and biomechanical implications of isolated discocystinid plates (Edrioasteroidea, Echinodermata) from the Carboniferous of North America

Detailed examination of isolated thecal plates belonging to three discocystinid edrioasteroids, Spiraclavus nacoensis Sumrall, Hypsiclavus kinsleyi Sumrall, and Giganticlavus bennisoni Sumrall and Bowsher, reveals striking similarity in morphology among these species. Stereom observed in the ambulacral floor plates indicates that ligamentous connective tissue opened the ambulacral cover plates and muscle tissue closed them. The ambulacral floor plates are interpreted as rigid supports for the oral surface with the interambulacral areas acting as flexible integuments of plates. The aboral surface is interpreted as flexible and highly contractile. All discocystinid thecal openings are consistent in morphology with adaptations for thecal pressurization. Extension and contraction of the theca was accomplished by pumping water in and out of an inflatable sac associated with the periproctial opening. The pedunculate zone is interpreted as passively expanding and contracting by relaxing of mutable collagenous tissue and stiffening when the theca was in the desired position. All of these features illustrate that discocystinid edrioasteroids have highly–evolved morphology and function.
Edge effects in narrow track recording using symmetric and asymmetric write pole geometries

At high track densities, the erase band can become a significant part of the written track. The large erase band associated with an asymmetric write pole geometry can reduce data track width and signal amplitude, and quicken the onset of track edge noise, in comparison to a symmetric geometry. The effects of these phenomena on soft error rate performance and off-track capability are investigated in detail. The mechanical texturing of recording media which is necessary for good stiction characteristics can have an undesirable side effect on magnetic performance. A simple technique is described to measure the modulation noise caused by the texture in the substrate. Measurements made on CoPtCr media show a strong connection between the degree of modulation and the error rate. >
Conjugated Polymer Films for Piezoresistive Stress Sensing

The changes in the electrical conductivity of an indium-tin-oxide/poly [2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phyenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV)/Al structure under compressive stresses were measured. The current recorded at 3 V showed a nearly linear characteristic response between 0.25 and 1.1 MPa with a sensitivity of 5.0 muA/KPa and a maximal piezoresistance coefficient of ~1.1 times 10-4 Pa-1. The devices under compression exhibited resistive switching above a threshold voltage with a resistance ratio of five, suggesting that the formation of nanofilamentary chains may be another mechanism in addition to increased intermolecular electron hopping contributing to the stress-induced current changes. The single-layer MEH-PPV sensors also exemplified good stability and repeatability, and appear to be promising for tactile sensing applications.
Spatial Analysis of Almond Leaf Scorch Disease in the San Joaquin Valley of California: Factors Affecting Pathogen Distribution and Spread.

Groves, R. L., Chen, J., Civerolo, E. L., Freeman, M. W., and Viveros, M. A. 2005. Spatial analysis of almond leaf scorch disease in the San Joaquin Valley of California: Factors affecting pathogen distribution and spread. Plant Dis. 89:581-589. Almond leaf scorch (ALS) disease has emerged as a serious threat to almond (Prunus amygdalus) production areas throughout California’s San Joaquin Valley. This disease is caused by the xylem-limited bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, and this pathogen is transmitted by xylophagous insects including sharpshooter leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) and spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cercopidae). Among four orchards surveyed, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and bacterial isolation followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were equally effective in detecting X. fastidiosa from ALS-symptomatic trees. Disease incidence varied among almond cultivars in each orchard, with the highest mean incidence and most severe symptoms frequently encountered in ‘Sonora’. X. fastidiosa isolates consisted of mixtures of grape or “G-genotype” and almond or “A-genotype” strains present in surveyed orchards. The X. fastidiosa G-genotypes characterized from each orchard were associated with the most severely affected ‘Sonora’ trees in three of the four orchards. Both ordinary runs and simple randomization analyses revealed aggregations of ALS in three of the four orchards. Clusters of ALSaffected trees frequently occurred in the outermost orchard rows. Plots of semivariance in ALS incidence over distance varied in shape and magnitude among cultivars. Semivariance increased over distance in ‘Sonora’ and ‘Carmel’, indicating spatial dependence or aggregations of incidence best fit by a combination of spherical and linear models. These results document both random and aggregate patterns of ALS spatial distribution in selected orchards and further illustrate how cultivar susceptibility influences the distribution patterns of ALS incidence. Following the recent introduction and establishment of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata, the impact upon the epidemiology and spread of ALS is unknown. Additional keywords: Pierce’s disease
Blocking in Reconfigurable Optical Networks

In this paper, we investigate the blocking performance of all-optical ring and mesh networks with Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs) and tunable transponders. The ROADMs and transponders together determine the number and set of wavelengths that can be added/dropped leading to a wavelength termination constraint in addition to the well-known wavelength continuity constraint. We develop an analytical model for the blocking probability by accounting for both constraints and validate the model using simulation results. Specifically, a model for computing the blocking probability in a reconfigurable network of arbitrary topology wherein the number and tunability of the transponders are given parameters is presented. It is found that narrowly tunable transponders with a tuning range of about 4 in a 32-wavelength network provides nearly as good a performance as widely tunable transponders (tunable over the entire range of wavelengths), for a wide range of loads and number of transponders. Moreover, waveband assignment to narrowly tunable transponders is found to be a factor in some cases, and we present some results for two different assignment schemes.
Like Leaving the Nile. IVANHOE, a User's Manual

[Readers of the following article are able to access a demo version of IVANHOE with the instructions below. The online medium of this article will thus enable you to observe the ideas expressed here as you read. Readers should go to the website for IVANHOE at the following URL: http://patacriticism.org/ivanhoe. The site supplies much general and specific information about IVANHOE that will be found useful. It also has a QuickTime demo introduction to how to use the software, as well as two demo games – one to track how a particular game was played, another to test out how to use the software yourself. Go to http://patacriticism.org/ivanhoe/wantToPlay.html to access a Java demo of IVANHOE. After clicking “Ivanhoe Demo” and reaching the login screen, enter an arbitrary Username and an arbitrary Password. In the window displaying “IVANHOE playspaces” you can then choose which of the two games you want to join: the “archived” demo of a game that was already played, or the “live” game that you can experiment with to “learn-by-doing”. Both are tied to Jerome K. Jerome’s late-nineteenthcentury story “Three Men in a Boat”. The loading process will take you through two steps: the “select a role” page and the “game information” page. Click the “continue” button at the lower right of each, and you will then be ushered into the gamespace. It may take a few seconds for the application to load, and your computer requires Java 1.4.2 or higher. The “live” game is configured so that after seven days the gameplay will be cleared and the gamespace refreshed for another set of testing moves.]
The effects of non-contingent extrinsic and intrinsic rewards on memory consolidation.

Emotional and arousing treatments given shortly after learning enhance delayed memory retrieval in animal and human studies. Positive aVect and reward induced prior to a variety of cognitive tasks enhance performance, but their ability to aVect memory consolidation has not been investigated before. Therefore, we investigated the eVects of a small, non-contingent, intrinsic or extrinsic reward on delayed memory retrieval. Participants (n D 108) studied and recalled a list of 30 aVectively neutral, imageable nouns. Experimental groups were then given either an intrinsic reward (e.g., praise) or an extrinsic reward (e.g., $1). After a one-week delay, participants’ retrieval performance for the word list was signiWcantly better in the extrinsic reward groups, whether the reward was expected or not, than in controls. Those who received the intrinsic reward performed somewhat better than controls, but the diVerence was not signiWcant. Thus, at least some forms of arousal and reward, even when semantically unrelated to the learned material, can eVectively modulate memory consolidation. These types of treatments might be useful for the development of new memory intervention strategies.  2005 Published by Elsevier Inc.
Preexisting behavior facilitated the loss of a sexual signal in the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus

Behavioral preadaptations can provide an accommodating environment in which novel morphological characters may be selected. A very recent morphological mutation, flatwing, has caused the loss of male song in field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) from the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Previous studies in this and related species have shown that females require male courtship song to mount males, but flatwing T. oceanicus males still achieve matings. Females from Kauai may have a relaxed requirement for male courtship song, or flatwing males may compensate for their inability to sing by altering other courtship behaviors. We tested whether male courtship and female responses to male courtship were preadapted in a way that facilitated the spread of the male wing mutation or if parallel changes in male courtship and female responses accompanied the mutation. We performed mating trials in 2 captive-bred populations to assess how mating behavior varied depending on the presence or absence of courtship song playback. The first was an ancestral population from Kauai established prior to the emergence of the flatwing mutation, and the second was derived from Kauai after the mutation became prevalent. Mating behaviors did not differ qualitatively or quantitatively between the ancestral and current populations, and females from both accepted males for mating in the absence of courtship song. Our results provide direct evidence that a mechanism allowing flatwing males to mate with females was in place before the mutation actually arose on Kauai and demonstrate how preexisting behavior facilitated the rapid spread of a novel morphological mutation.
The Left End of IS2: a Compromise between Transpositional Activity and an Essential Promoter Function That Regulates the Transposition Pathway

Cut-and-paste (simple insertion) and replicative transposition pathways are the two classical paradigms by which transposable elements are mobilized. A novel variation of cut and paste, a two-step transposition cycle, has recently been proposed for insertion sequences of the IS3 family. In IS2 this variation involves the formation of a circular, putative transposition intermediate (the minicircle) in the first step. Two aspects of the minicircle may involve its proposed role in the second step (integration into the target). The first is the presence of a highly reactive junction formed by the two abutted ends of the element. The second is the assembly at the minicircle junction of a strong hybrid promoter which generates higher levels of transposase. In this report we show that IS2 possesses a highly reactive minicircle junction at which a strong promoter is assembled and that the promoter is needed for the efficient completion of the pathway. We show that the sequence diversions which characterize the imperfect inverted repeats or ends of this element have evolved specifically to permit the formation and optimal function of this promoter. While these sequence diversions eliminate catalytic activity of the left end (IRL) in the linear element, sufficient sequence information essential for catalysis is retained by the IRL in the context of the minicircle junction. These data confirm that the minicircle is an essential intermediate in the two-step transposition pathway of IS2.
Psychrosinus fermentans gen. nov., sp. nov., a lactate-fermenting bacterium from near-freezing oxycline waters of a meromictic Antarctic lake.

A novel, obligately anaerobic, fermentative bacterium, strain FCF9, was isolated from a 9-m water sample from permanently ice-covered, meromictic Lake Fryxell, Antarctica. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence identity clustered the Antarctic isolate within the Sporomusa−Pectinatus−Selenomonas phyletic group, where it was most closely related to Pelosinus fermentans (95.5% sequence identity). However, unlike species of Pelosinus, strain FCF9 was psychrophilic, with growth occurring optimally near 15 °C, and endospores were not produced. The metabolism of the new organism was strictly fermentative. The substrates fermented by strain FCF9 included only lactate and a few related organic acids. The major products from lactate fermentation were acetate and propionate. On the basis of phylogenetic, morphological, and physiological criteria, strain FCF9T is proposed as the type strain of a novel genus and species of psychrophilic-fermenting bacteria, Psychrosinus fermentans gen. nov., sp. nov.
Potential strategies for myocardial regeneration in pediatric patients

Owing to the heart’s limited ability for self-repair, heart failure is a leading cause of death among all patient populations. Thus, a cell-based regenerative strategy for cardiac repair would be highly attractive. A variety of cell sources have been identified as candidates for myocardial repair, including skeletal myoblasts, various bone marrow stem cells, resident cardiac progenitors and embryonic stem cells. However, nearly all studies geared towards myocardial regeneration, both in animal models and in clinical trials, have focused on adult ischemic disease with regional muscle injury. Pediatric patients suffer from more diverse forms of heart disease, including congenital and acquired cardiomyopathies with global muscle dysfunction, as well as disorders of cardiac development, for example, left ventricular hypoplasia, atrial or ventricular septal defects. In this article, a broad range of cell-based therapies are discussed, emphasizing the rapidly evolving science surrounding these strategies and th...
ERACER: a database approach for statistical inference and data cleaning

Real-world databases often contain syntactic and semantic errors, in spite of integrity constraints and other safety measures incorporated into modern DBMSs. We present ERACER, an iterative statistical framework for inferring missing information and correcting such errors automatically. Our approach is based on belief propagation and relational dependency networks, and includes an efficient approximate inference algorithm that is easily implemented in standard DBMSs using SQL and user defined functions. The system performs the inference and cleansing tasks in an integrated manner, using shrinkage techniques to infer correct values accurately even in the presence of dirty data. We evaluate the proposed methods empirically on multiple synthetic and real-world data sets. The results show that our framework achieves accuracy comparable to a baseline statistical method using Bayesian networks with exact inference. However, our framework has wider applicability than the Bayesian network baseline, due to its ability to reason with complex, cyclic relational dependencies.
Transbronchial needle aspiration with rapid on-site evaluation: a prospective study on efficacy, feasibility and cost effectiveness.

Background. Transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) has an established role in diagnosis of hilar and mediastinal lesions. Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) of TBNA smears can determine the adequacy of TBNA smears that can obviate the need for repeat procedures, thus avoiding added cost. There is paucity of data from India showing efficacy and cost-effectiveness of ROSE. Hence, this study was carried out to assess the efficacy, feasibility and cost implications of ROSE assisted TBNA. Methods. Forty consecutive patients undergoing TBNA were enrolled and ROSE was performed on TBNA smears. The results were analysed using a comparative study design. Results. It was found that 45% of patients would have required a repeat bronchoscopy due to inadequacy of material, if ROSE was not used. Inadequate smears were more common in benign aetiologies than malignant ones. TBNA of mass lesions and lesions with endoluminal bulge give better results than TBNA of lymph nodes and without endoluminal bulge. Conclusions. ROSE was found to increase the yield of TBNA and help to prevent repeat procedures. It proved to be simple, cost-effective and feasible in Indian settings. [Indian J Chest Dis Allied Sci 2013;55:141-144]
Playing the Compatriot Card in Estonia and Latvia: School Reform and the Bronze Soldier Crisis

Since the early 1990s, Russia has proclaimed itself the protector of the Russian diaspora and has employed a variety of military, economic, and political pressures to advocate for the rights of its compatriots in former Soviet Republics. Estonia and Latvia were the primary targets of Russia’s compatriot policy during the 1990s as a result of the restrictive citizenship and language policies they adopted. Russia has used the situation of the Russian-speaking minority in Estonia and Latvia as an excuse to meddle in the internal affairs of these states and to keep them within its sphere of influence. Russia has used a variety of tools to accomplish its geostrategic objectives including historical aggravation, border agreements, citizenship policy, military and economic pressure, international organizations, and propaganda campaigns. The influence of Russia’s activism on ethnopolitics and minority rights in the Baltic States has received far less attention in academic literature than the role of European institutions. Pressure from European institutions particularly EU conditionality, are most often credited for bringing about reforms to citizenship and language policies in Estonia and Latvia in the late 1990s. This paper argues that focusing on formal policy changes alone underestimates the impact of Russia’s activism on ethnopolitics in these societies. Through case studies of education reform in Latvia and the Bronze Soldier Crisis in Estonia, as well as interviews with Estonian and Latvian elites, this paper argues that Russia’s activism provokes interethnic tensions and reinforces exclusive conceptions of nation-building, both of which have serious implications for minority rights in these societies.
Two-Sample Proportions

In the last Chapter we focused on estimating and conducting a hypothesis test on a proportion from a single group. In practice, we are often interested in comparing proportions from two separate groups, and as such we would perform a hypothesis test comparing the proportions from those two different samples. The process for the two-sample case is similar to that for the one-sample case, in that we will go through the same general steps, though the details of those steps will be different. Further, there are additional statistical techniques that we perform, depending upon the status of our assumptions.
Infrared Plasmonics with Indium–Tin-Oxide Nanorod Arrays

This article reports the study of infrared plasmonics with both random and periodic arrays of indium–tin-oxide (ITO) nanorods (NR). A description is given on the synthesis, patterning, and characterization of physical properties of the ITO NR arrays. A classical scattering model, along with a 3-D finite-element-method and a 3-D finite-difference-time-domain numerical simulation method has been used to interpret the unique light scattering phenomena. It is also shown that the intrinsic plasma frequency can be varied through careful postsynthesis processing of the ITO NRs. Examples are given on how coupled plasmon resonances can be tuned through patterning of the ITO NR arrays. In addition, environment dielectric sensing has been demonstrated through the shift of the resonances as a result of index change surrounding the NRs. These initial results suggest potential for further improvement and opportunities to develop a good understanding of infrared plasmonics using ITO and other transparent conducting oxid...
Acid and Aldehyde Compounds in the Scent Fluid of Leptoglossus opposites

From Tune through November in Travis County, Texas, both sycamore trees, Platanus occidentalis L., and pomegranate shrubs, Punica sp., are likely places to find specimens of Leptoglossus oppositus (Say). These insects seem to prefer pomegranates and spend most of their time right on the fruit itself. Even rotting fruit is relished but only while attached to the plant, for those fruits which fall to the ground are seldom attractive.
Method for Optimizing the Dual of Linear Fuzzy Programming Problems

This article’s goal is to support the existence of the dual in a Linear Fuzzy Real environment and focus on its application to Linear fuzzy program problems. This concept will apply to linear fuzzy programming problems that contain fuzzy constraints with a crisp objective function, crisp constraints with a fuzzy objective function, or fuzzy constraints with a fuzzy objective function. It is also proposed here that optimizing fuzzy constraints and objectives of the dual linear program that consist of a triplet and are much like triangular fuzzy numbers, but differ in that they are a hybrid fuzzy number that contains characteristics that are both fuzzy and crisp.
Comparison of propofol alone and its combination with fentanyl and atropine in painless abortion

Objective To observe effects of proper dose of propofol combined with fentanyl and atropine on artificial abortion.Methods 200 cases of voluntary abortion women in early pregnancy were randomly divided into 2 groups,100 cases in each group:group A,propofol alone,and group B,propofol combined with fentanyl and atropine,all intravenously.Induction time,recovery status,discharge time,operation time,dosage of propofol,anesthesia effects,and mean arterial pressure(MAP),heart rate(HR),respiratory rate(RR),pulse oxygen saturation(SpO2) changes and adverse reactions in two groups were compared.Results The onset time of anesthesia,propofol dosage,adverse reactions were less in group B than in group A,and the narcotic analgesia was better in group B,all with statistical significance.There was no significant difference in recovery time and mean operative time between the two groups.MAP after induction,HR,RR,SpO2 were slightly declined in both groups,but soon resumed.Conclusion The anesthetic effect of propofol combined with appropriate doses of fentanyl and atropine for induced abortion is precise,safe and reliable.
Lung injury during LPS-induced inflammation occurs independently of the receptor P2Y 1 .

Disruption of the lung endothelial and epithelial barriers during acute inflammation leads to excessive neutrophil migration. It is likely that activated platelets promote pulmonary recruitment of neutrophils during inflammation, and previous studies have found that anti-platelet therapy and depletion of circulating platelets have lung-protective effects in different models of inflammation. Because ADP signaling is important for platelet activation, I investigated the role of the ADP-receptor P2Y1, a G protein-coupled receptor expressed on the surface of circulating platelets, during lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation and lung injury in P2Y1-null and wild-type mice. Systemic inflammation was induced by a single intraperitoneal dose of LPS (3 mg/kg), and the mice were analyzed 24 h posttreatment. The data show that the LPS-induced inflammation levels were comparable in the P2Y1-null and wild-type mice. Specifically, splenomegaly, counts of circulating platelets and white blood cells (lymphocytes and neutrophils), and assessments of lung injury (tissue architecture and cell infiltration) were similar in the P2Y1-null and wild-type mice. Based on my results, I conclude that lung injury during LPS-induced inflammation in mice is independent of P2Y1 signaling. I propose that if a blockade of purinergic signaling in platelets is a potential lung-protective strategy in the treatment of acute inflammation, then it is more likely to be a result of the disruption of the signaling pathway mediated by P2Y12, another G protein-coupled receptor that mediates platelet responses to ADP.
Networks of Social and Moral Norms in Human and Robot Agents

The most intriguing and ethically challenging roles of robots in society are those of collaborator and social partner. We propose that such robots must have the capacity to learn, represent, activate, and apply social and moral norms—they must have a norm capacity. We offer a theoretical analysis of two parallel questions: what constitutes this norm capacity in humans and how might we implement it in robots? We propose that the human norm system has four properties: flexible learning despite a general logical format, structured representations, context-sensitive activation, and continuous updating. We explore two possible models that describe how norms are cognitively represented and activated in context-specific ways and draw implications for robotic architectures that would implement either model.
Placement of large-scale utility-owned wind distributed generation based on probabilistic forecasting of line congestion

Integration of large-scale utility-owned distributed generation (DG) units can be a vital technique in relieving transmission line congestion and improving the reliability of the power grid. However, the impact of DG installation on line congestion management is significant at locations where transmission lines are most heavily loaded. This study presents a novel probabilistic method to forecast the most heavily loaded lines in the transmission network that might be at a higher risk of congestion. The proposed method can be utilised for determining candidate lines to install DG with the objective of relieving line congestion. The proposed method adopts the cumulative probability distribution function that accounts for the uncertainty of line loading. Furthermore, a congestion improvement ratio is developed to investigate the DG location impact on line congestion. The forecasting method is tested on a small modified IEEE 5-Bus system. In order to demonstrate the proposed forecasting method on a larger and more complex system with several generators, the method is also tested on IEEE 30-Bus test system. The simulation results have confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method.
FrequencyForce Behavior of in Situ Ventricular Myocardium in the Dog

The effect of rate of beat on contraction of ventricular muscle was determined in trabeculae excised from five cat and five dog hearts, in the isovolumic canine left ventricle preparation, and in a recently developed isometric, in situ, papillary muscle preparation in the canine right ventricle perfused with oxygenated blood through the coronary vessels. Driven rates of excitation, experimental temperature (27°C), technique for recording contractile force development, and the measured maximal capacity for force development were all closely comparable for the excised and the in situ preparations of ventricular muscle. Contraction of in situ ventricular myocardium was affected only slightly, if at all, by alterations in rate of beat, in marked contrast to the profound dependence on rate of the contraction of excised ventricular muscle. Peak rate of force development by in situ myocardium was somewhat more sensitive to rate of beat, but still much less so than that of the excised ventricular tissues. This depression, in situ, of the myocardial frequency-force relationship is not attributable to effects of sympathetic outflow to the heart or of coronary flow on myocardial contraction or to negative inotropic substances in the perfusing blood which can be easily eluted from the tissue.
Invasive Small Cell Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy arising from the urinary tract, the fourth most common cancer in males and the tenth most common cancer in females. The major type of bladder cancer is transitional cell carcinoma. Invasive small cell carcinoma of the bladder is a very rare, poorly differentiated neuroendocrine epithelial type of cancer, with a poor prognosis. PET/MR imaging can help to identify small metastatic lymph nodes, pelvic sidewall metastases, tumor recurrence, and distant metastatic spread.
Accurate computational design of multipass transmembrane proteins

The computational design of transmembrane proteins with more than one membrane-spanning region remains a major challenge. We report the design of transmembrane monomers, homodimers, trimers, and tetramers with 76 to 215 residue subunits containing two to four membrane-spanning regions and up to 860 total residues that adopt the target oligomerization state in detergent solution. The designed proteins localize to the plasma membrane in bacteria and in mammalian cells, and magnetic tweezer unfolding experiments in the membrane indicate that they are very stable. Crystal structures of the designed dimer and tetramer-a rocket-shaped structure with a wide cytoplasmic base that funnels into eight transmembrane helices-are very close to the design models. Our results pave the way for the design of multispan membrane proteins with new functions.
Current trends in tobacco prevention and cessation in Nebraska physicians' offices.

BACKGROUND Despite years of intervention, few studies describe the extent to which recommended tobacco use prevention and cessation activities occur in community-based family practices. This study was designed to discover current practice patterns in these areas and to describe physician outcome and efficacy expectations. METHODS An exploratory comparative case study of 11 family practices used direct observation of practices and clinical encounters, chart reviews, and in-depth interviews. Qualitative and quantitative information was gathered on (1) intensity of tobacco use prevention and cessation; (2) physicians' attitudes and beliefs regarding outcome expectations; and (3) physicians' perceptions of their ability to counsel. Qualitative content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to construct case studies for comparisons. RESULTS Themes common to most practices included the "provision of little prevention" and "a lack of perceived need to address smokeless tobacco." Responsibility for tobacco activities fell almost solely to physicians. Although physicians felt confident in their counseling skills, the skills they identified were fairly basic. Most physicians were pessimistic about the positive effects of these activities. None of the practices was using any specifically developed "package," and pharmaceutical companies provided almost all patient education material. There was considerable variation in intensity of activities because of differences in attitudes, expectation, and background. CONCLUSIONS To increase tobacco control activities, practice systems need to be individually evaluated to identify what is needed, how it will fit within the practice culture, and how it can best be implemented in this specific practice. One-size-fits-all interventions probably will not be widely implemented.
Students with Low-Incidence Disabilities in Disadvantaged, Rural Settings.

This descriptive study investigated the impact of special education policy on the school day of three disadvantaged, rural students with severe disabilities. A constant comparative method of single and cross-site data analysis revealed that the product of policy was a day with little or no instruction and limited opportunities for peer interaction. Barriers to policy implementation included shortage of personnel, weak political influence of poor families, and lack of positive service examples.
Cellular dynamics of corneal wound re-epithelialization in the rat. I. Fate of ocular surface epithelial cells synthesizing DNA prior to wounding

The fate of ocular surface epithelial cells in response to injury of the cornea was examined. Corneal epithelial cells were labeled during DNA synthesis with [3H]thymidine 1 h prior to wounding. A 3-mm diameter epithelial defect was made in the center of the rat cornea, with the basement membrane remaining intact. Within 12 h of abrasion, labeled cells were detected in the regenerating surface. At 18 h, there was a 2.7- and 17-fold increase of labeled basal and suprabasal cells, respectively, in the epithelium adjacent to the wound, and at 24 and 30 h there was an excessive number of cell layers (up to 7) at the margin of the abrasion. Re-epithelialization progressed as a gradient of cell layers that became diminished towards the center of the wound. Completion of layers 1, 2, 3, and 4 were recorded at 24, 30, 36, and 72 h, respectively. No changes in the labeling index of the limbus or conjunctiva were noted. These results suggest that processes of centripetal and vertical migration, as well as events related to cell division, in the uninjured corneal surface are not impeded by wounding of the corneal epithelium. However, wound healing appears to require cells with a basal phenotype, presumably because of this cell type's migratory capability.
Energy-aware data throughput optimization for next generation internet

Abstract According to recent statistics, more than 1 zettabytes of data is moved over the Internet annually, which consumes several terawatt hours of electricity, and costs billions of US dollars to the world economy. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used in the majority of these data transfers, accounting for 70% of the global Internet traffic. We claim that HTTP transfers, and the services based on HTTP, can become more energy efficient without any performance degradation by application-level tuning of certain protocol parameters. In this paper, we analyze several application-level parameters that affect the throughput and energy consumption in HTTP data transfers, such as the level of parallelism , concurrency, and pipelining. We introduce novel service-level-agreement (SLA) based algorithms which can decide the best combination of these parameters considering user-defined energy efficiency and performance criteria. Our experimental results show that up to 80% energy savings can be achieved at the client and server hosts during HTTP data transfers, while increasing the end-to-end transfer throughput at the same time.
Is Online Training an Effective Workforce Development Strategy for Transition Service Providers? Results of a Comparative Study:

Service providers working with transition-aged young people with mental health disorders require specialized research-based training to better meet their needs. A 10-module interactive online train...
Privacy risk of connected vehicles in relation to vehicle tracking when transmitting basic safety message type 1 data

Advances in communication technologies and connected vehicles provide excellent opportunities for data exchange between vehicles and infrastructure. The data transmitted by connected vehicles offer...
Carbon-based electrodes for direct methanol fuel cells

Abstract Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) stand out to be the ideal fuel cell system over the years because of producing high current and high power densities, ease of fuel storage and handling, small size of the cell stack, low emission of pollutants, solubility of fuel in water, low operating temperature, and wide variety of commercial applications including portable electronic devices and electric vehicles. Recent progresses in the research and development sectors showcase that the cell performance in DMFCs is essentially governed by the carbon-based support materials as they strongly influence the performance, stability, and efficiency of the electrocatalysts, amalgamated with the support. This chapter discusses the synthetic strategies, properties, advantages and disadvantages (if any) of using several newly developed catalysts immobilized carbon-based electrode materials such as carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, mesoporous carbons, and graphene in the context of cell performance in DMFC and their direct comparisons with commercially available carbon blacks.
X-Linked Signature of Reproductive Isolation in Humans is Mirrored in a Howler Monkey Hybrid Zone

Reproductive isolation is a fundamental step in speciation. While sex chromosomes have been linked to reproductive isolation in many model systems, including hominids, genetic studies of the contribution of sex chromosome loci to speciation for natural populations are relatively sparse. Natural hybrid zones can help identify genomic regions contributing to reproductive isolation, like hybrid incompatibility loci, since these regions exhibit reduced introgression between parental species. Here, we use a primate hybrid zone (Alouatta palliata × Alouatta pigra) to test for reduced introgression of X-linked SNPs compared to autosomal SNPs. To identify X-linked sequence in A. palliata, we used a sex-biased mapping approach with whole-genome re-sequencing data. We then used genomic cline analysis with reduced-representation sequence data for parental A. palliata and A. pigra individuals and hybrids (n = 88) to identify regions with non-neutral introgression. We identified ~26 Mb of non-repetitive, putatively X-linked genomic sequence in A. palliata, most of which mapped collinearly to the marmoset and human X chromosomes. We found that X-linked SNPs had reduced introgression and an excess of ancestry from A. palliata as compared to autosomal SNPs. One outlier region with reduced introgression overlaps a previously described "desert" of archaic hominin ancestry on the human X chromosome. These results are consistent with a large role for the X chromosome in speciation across animal taxa and further, suggest shared features in the genomic basis of the evolution of reproductive isolation in primates.
Rare Case of Coincident Quadricuspid Pulmonic Valve and Suprapulmonic Ridge: Multimodality Imaging.

Abstract A 32-year-old woman with a history of mild congenital pulmonic stenosis presented with new dyspnea on exertion. Multimodal imaging revealed a quadricuspid pulmonic valve with supravalvular ridge. We illustrate the evaluation and diagnosis of this rare condition. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.)
Analysis of a Stacked Patch Using CMA and CMT

The impedance bandwidth of a microstrip patch antenna may be increased by additional resonances in the antenna structure. This work uses Characteristic Mode Analysis to show that a classic stacked patch design from the literature operates in this manner and that Coupled Mode Theory governs its operation.
Coalescence and splashing threshold for head-on collisions of liquid metal nanodroplets

Head-on collisions of liquid metal nanodroplets in a vacuum are investigated through molecular dynamics simulations in order to determine the transition threshold between the coalescing and splashing regimes for six different materials (aluminum, calcium, cerium, gold, platinum, and tin). Droplets of various sizes and initial speeds are simulated, and it is found that the Reynolds and Ohnesorge numbers are able to predict the transition between the coalescing and splashing regimes. An energy balance for coalescing droplets shows that the initial energy is mainly converted to thermal energy increasing the temperature of the combined droplets by several hundred to several thousand kelvin depending on the material, and this result is confirmed in the simulations. When splashing occurs, the number of smaller droplets formed and the spreading rate are found to be dependent on the initial size and initial speed of the original droplets.