cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cloning and sequencing of cDNA encoding the mature form of phosphoribulokinase from spinach.

Abstract Phosphoribulokinase (PRK) is a key enzyme in the Calvin cycle of autotrophic organisms. We have constructed a spinach leaf cDNA library in the phage expression vector, λgt11, and used a rabbit polyclonal antibody raised against spinach PRK to identify PRK clones. Analyses of the nucleotide sequences of two antibody-positive clones 1.47 and 1.35 kb in length, showed that they encode a protein which contains the N-terminal amino acid (aa) sequence [Porter etal., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 245 (1986) 14–23] of mature spinach PRK. The codon for the N-terminal serine of the mature protein occurs 170 bp from the 5' end of the open reading frame (ORF), suggesting that PRK is synthesized with a rather long transit peptide which is removed from the mature enzyme. The ORF, ending with an amber (TAG) codon at position 1054, predicts a mature enzyme of 351 aa with a calculated Mr of 39232.
Synthesis of dienic acids. Application of arndt - eistert reaction to unsaturated diazoketones

Abstract Different modes of decomposition of dienic diazoketones have been studied, leading to either formation of vinyl-cyclopropanes or Wolff-rearranged acids or esters. Preparation of four homologous dienic acids is described.
Converging on IHRM best practices: lessons learned from a globally distributed consortium on theory and practice

This article captures the results of the “Best Practices” Project and attempts to identify which IHRM practices are universally embraced in our ten-country/region sample. Here we present a compelling argument for understanding cultural contexts by seeking and establishing derived etics. No longer content with the traditional conduct of cross-cultural research, we challenge “how” we do research, and encourage gatekeepers to broaden their research lenses with multiple embedded contexts—polycontextuality—as they search for answers. We find anomalies, and counterintuitive findings, and through our “gap analysis,” we discovered several universally embraced etics or best practices. We believe we have not only made a significant contribution to research, but, in particular, we offer a solution methodology for conducting globally distributed IHRM research. These findings signal new directions for all deeply involved in managing within and across different cultures. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Application of intracellular optical techniques to the study of stomatopod crustacean vision

1. The noninvasive techniques of intracellular optical physiology were used to measure reflectance changes in the deep pseudopupils of various regions of the apposition compound eyes of 3 species of stomatopod crustaceans. 2. Upon exposure to light, prominent changes in reflectance were observed in all eye regions of all species studied. Generally, the response was an increasing reflectance following stimulus onset; however, in the lateral rows of the central ommatidial band of gonodactyloid stomatopods, the response was a rapid decrease in reflectance. Halftimes for the normal, increasing response were about 5 s in the gonodactyloid species and an order of magnitude longer in the squilloid species. 3. The reflectance changes were probably produced by pupillary mechanisms similar to those previously described for insects. Evidence for this included the form and speed of the response, the observation that fluorescence from the visual pigment diminished with a similar time course to the increase in reflectance, and the tendency of the response to sensitize to repeated stimulation. 4. Two spectral classes of photoreceptor were distinguishable in both the peripheral and central band regions of the eye. These classes were most sensitive to ultraviolet (360 nm) or long-wavelength (500 nm) light. The classes were distinguishable by the form and speed of the reflectance changes they produced when stimulated. Results of univariance experiments suggested that only these 2 classes existed in each eye region examined. 5. In all species and ocular regions examined, the reflectance-change response operated over an intensity range of 3–4 orders of magnitude.
Novel solution-phase immunoassays for molecular analysis of tumor markers.

Molecular forms of serum prostate-specific antigens (PSA-free, PSA-total, PSA-complex) were conjugated with an N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of a ruthenium(II) tris-bipyridine (Ru(bpy)32+–NHS) which provided both electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and phosphorescence. ECL intensity of labeled PSA, produced upon oxidation of Ru(bpy)32+ in a solution containing tri-n-propylamine, was proportional to the concentration of PSA and inversely proportional to its mass and size of PSA. ECL intensity of the PSA-free antigen decreased upon binding with its monoclonal antibody (MAB) due to the increased mass and size of the conjugated pair and the decrease in diffusion coefficient. The binding affinity of PSA-free antigen with its MAB at 1 × 1010 M−1 was determined. However, no binding of PSA-free antigen with the MAB of PSA-complex was observed. A similar approach was applied to study labeled PSA-complex indicating affinity of PSA-complex to its MAB at 3 × 109 M−1 and a step-wise binding process with PSA-free MAB. Thus, this solution-phase quantitative ECL immunoassay allowed measurement of the affinity of serum PSAs with their MABs and screening of PSAs based upon their affinity to MABs. Unlike other immunoassays, this immunoassay demonstrated one-step rapid analysis while simultaneously eliminating immobilization, separation and washing steps and detected PSA at a level of 1.7 pg mL−1, which is 1000-fold more sensitive than current PSA immunoassays. Furthermore, single-molecule (SM) phosphorescence microscopy was developed to detect single serum PSA-free and PSA-complex molecules in solution with no use of antibody showing that PSA-free molecules diffused faster than PSA-complex molecules in solution. This finding is consistent with ECL measurements and implies the possibility of screening individual analytes in a complex mixture using their distinct SM diffusion distance. This is the first report describing the detection of single protein molecules labeled with a metal-complex using phosphorescence microscopy and also the screening of serum tumor markers using ECL and SM phosphorescence solution-phase assays.
Image formats: Five years after the AAPM standard for digital image interchange

The publication of AAPM Report No. 10 was the first attempt to standardize image formats in the medical imaging community. Since then, three other groups have formed (CART—the Scandinavian collaboration for Computer Assisted Radiation Therapytreatment planning; ACR–NEMA, a collaboration whose purpose is to formulate a standard digital interface to medical imaging equipment; and COST B2 Nuclear Medicine Project a European collaboration whose purpose is to define a format for digital image exchange in Nuclear Medicine). The AAPM format uses key‐value pairs in plain text to keep track of all information associated with a particular image. The radiation oncology community in the U.S. has been defining key‐value pairs for use with CT, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance (MR)images. The COST B2 Nuclear Medicine Project has also adopted this format and together with the Australian/New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine Technical Standards Sub‐Committee which has also adopted this format, has defined an initial set of key‐value pairs for Nuclear Medicineimages. Additionally, both ACR–NEMA and CART have been defining fields for use with the same types of images. The CART collaboration has introduced a database which is available electronically, but is maintained by a group of individuals. ACR–NEMA operates through committee meetings. The COST B2 Nuclear Medicine Project operates through electronic (and postal where necessary) mail. To insure a consistent set of field names in such a rapidly developing arena requires the use of a server rather than a committee. Via a server a person would inquire if a particular field had been defined. If so, the defined name would be returned. If not, the person would be given the opportunity to define the field. The next inquiry would return the previously defined field. As new modalities are added to the imaging repetoire, it would be easier and faster to ensure the consistency and adequacy of the database; e.g., in the present version of its standard, the ACR–NEMA fields are adequate for CT but there are very few fields suitable for describing the parameters associated with nuclear medicine and MRimages.
Studying the Potential of a Novel Multiple-Generator Drivetrain in Wind Energy Conversion Systems

A novel multiple generator drivetrain (MGD), where a single large generator in a wind turbine is replaced by multiple generators with the same or different rated powers, is proposed along with an automatic switch mechanism as an alternative to an existing MGD. To better understand the advantages and disadvantages of having a MGD in onshore/offshore wind turbines, a MGD with a single or double stage gearbox and multiple generators is compared with a conventional drivetrain with a triple-stage gearbox and a large induction generator. A simple mathematical model for a MGD with an automatic switch is developed, a novel prototype of a MGD is designed and fabricated, and experiments are conducted on the prototype. It is concluded that a multiple-generator drivetrain with generators operating individually or in parallel through an automatic switch mechanism has a better potential of improving the efficiency and the reliability, expanding the operational range, and reducing the cost of offshore and onshore wind turbines than the existing MGD configuration.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Spectrally determined growth for creeping flow of the upper convected Maxwell fluid

While it is well known that the stability of Newtonian flows is determined by the eigenvalues of a linearized equation, there are no general results of this type for non-Newtonian fluids. In this paper, we show that linear stability of steady creeping flows of the upper convected Maxwell fluid is indeed determined by the spectrum of the linearized operator. The proof uses the theory of evolution semigroups over dynamical systems.
The double hemidesmosome: A new intercellular junction

A new type of intercellular junction was observed between adjacent gingival epithelial cells. The junction appears to be composed of two hemidesmosomes facing one another, with the intervening space occupied by basement lamina material. It is distinctly different from desmosomes or any other intercellular junction described thus far. It is perhaps significant that the combination of two hemidesmosomes into a junction may not result in the creation of a desmosome, but of a rather distinct anatomical structure.
Progesterone receptors and human breast cancer; 'Wassink lecture' presented at the 3rd EORTC Breast Cancer Working Conference.

INTRODUCTION THE DEVELOPMENT and widespread use of estrogen receptor (ER) assays to predict the endocrine dependence of a patient’s tumor has changed the clinician’s approach to the treatment of breast cancer. When it was discovered that cytoplasmic ER is responsible for the uptake of estrogen into target cells and is necessary for estrogen action, it was reasoned that ER might be useful in determining the endocrine responsiveness of breast cancers in patients with metastatic disease. This hypothesis has been confirmed, and it is now generally accepted that tumors lacking ER rarely respond to endocrine therapy whereas ER+ tumors frequently regress with hormonal manipulations. Determination of the ER status of the tumor is now standard practice in the United States. The ER assay is most helpful when the tumor is ER-. These patients rarely respond to endocrine therapy. On the other hand, a positive ER does not guarantee a response to endocrine therapy, since about 40% of patients fail to responddespite a positive assay. Horwitz et al. [l] suggested that certain ER+ tumors do not regress with endocrine manipulation because of a defect in the estrogen response pathway distal to the binding step, leading to autonomous growth. What was needed was a way of testing the integrity of the entire metabolic sequence that should be triggered by the binding of estrogen to receptor. Based on the observation that progesterone receptor (PgR) is induced by estrogen in normal reproductive tissues and in human breast cancer cells in culture, they hypothesized that PgR might be a better marker than ER for an intact estrogen
On ecological fitting, plant-insect associations, herbivore host shifts, and host plant selection

are generally highly host specific which leads to numerous questions regarding the factors that generate, maintain, and constrain these associations (Ehrlich and Raven 1964, Fox and Morrow 1981, Jermy 1984, Strong et al. 1984, Janzen 1988, 2003, Jaenike 1990, Farrell and Mitter 1993, Futuyma et al. 1993, Bernays and Chapman 1994, Menken and Roessingh 1998, Janz and Nylin 1998, Janz et al. 2001, 2006, Wiengartner et al. 2006). The goal of this paper is to discuss "ecological fitting" as an important process in structuring plant -insect associations and to consider its implications for one widely studied aspect of these associations, host plant selection by herbivores. Ecological fitting is a concept that was proposed by Janzen (1985) as the process whereby organisms colonize and persist in novel environments, use novel resources, and/or form novel associations with other species as a result of the suites of traits that they carry at the time they encounter the novel condition (e.g. a novel host plant). Ecological fitting represents an additional mechanism to cospeciation, coevolution and in situ evolution behind the generation and persistence of species associations, although it differs from the latter processes in that evolution by either member of an association is not a prerequisite for its formation or persistence. My motivation for this discussion is three-fold. First, ecological fitting has great explanatory power for the study of species associations and community assembly (Gill 1987, White and Stiles 1992, Chenuil and McKey 1996, Flowers and Janzen 1997, Yu and Davidson 1997, Brooks and McLennan 2002, Janzen 2003, Wilkinson 2004, Agosta and Janzen 2005, Brooks and Ferrao 2005), but in general is rarely cited or discussed. Second, the traditional view that plantinsect associations are examples of tightly coevolved systems (Ehrlich and Raven 1964) continues to be under close scrutiny in light of mounting phylogenetic, ecological, and macroecological data that suggest otherwise. Rather, the accumulated data demand a more pluralistic view of
Injury produced by free fatty acids to lysosomes and mitochondria in cultured heart muscle and endothelial cells.

Abstract Four-day primary coverglass cultures of rat heart muscle (M) and endothelioid (E) cells were treated for 30 min with stearic, oleic or linoleic acids in a FFA/albumin ratio of 6:1 at concentrations from 5 × 10 −6 M to 5 × 10 −4 M . Labilization of lysosomes and mitochondria was measured by acid phosphatase and succinic dehydrogenase staining activity respectively. Stearate or linoleate, but not oleate, labilized M cell lysosomes at 5 × 10 −6 M . Lysosomes of E cells were not significantly affected by any of the FFA at 5 × 10 −4 M . The order of activity of these FFA for M cell lysosomes was linoleate=stearate > oleate. Both E and M cell mitochondria were significantly labilized by oleate or linoleate, 5 × 10 −6 M , and by stearate, 5 × 10 −5 M . The order of activity was linoleate > oleate > stearate. Treatment of cultures for 24 hr with 50 μg/ml of hydrocortisone before the FFA at 5 × 10 −5 M provided significant protection only against stearate-induced lysosomal labilization.
Toward a scalable holographic word-form representation

Phenomena in a variety of verbal tasks—for example, masked priming, lexical decision, and word naming—are typically explained in terms of similarity between word-forms. Despite the apparent commonalities between these sets of phenomena, the representations and similarity measures used to account for them are not often related. To show how this gap might be bridged, we build on the work of Hannagan, Dupoux, and Christophe, Cognitive Science 35:79-118, (2011) to explore several methods of representing visual word-forms using holographic reduced representations and to evaluate them on their ability to account for a wide range of effects in masked form priming, as well as data from lexical decision and word naming. A representation that assumes that word-internal letter groups are encoded relative to word-terminal letter groups is found to predict qualitative patterns in masked priming, as well as lexical decision and naming latencies. We then show how this representation can be integrated with the BEAGLE model of lexical semantics (Jones & Mewhort, Psychological Review 114:1–37, 2007) to enable the model to encompass a wider range of verbal tasks.
The Low-Frequency Encoding Disadvantage: Word Frequency Affects Processing Demands.

Low-frequency words produce more hits and fewer false alarms than high-frequency words in a recognition task. The low-frequency hit rate advantage has sometimes been attributed to processes that operate during the recognition test (e.g., L. M. Reder et al., 2000). When tasks other than recognition, such as recall, cued recall, or associative recognition, are used, the effects seem to contradict a low-frequency advantage in memory. Four experiments are presented to support the claim that in addition to the advantage of low-frequency words at retrieval, there is a low-frequency disadvantage during encoding. That is, low-frequency words require more processing resources to be encoded episodically than high-frequency words. Under encoding conditions in which processing resources are limited, low-frequency words show a larger decrement in recognition than high-frequency words. Also, studying items (pictures and words of varying frequencies) along with low-frequency words reduces performance for those stimuli.
Effect of protamine on the permeability and structure of rat peritoneum

Effect of protamine on the permeability and structure of rat peritoneum. The effect of protamine, a polycationic protein, on the mesothelial permeability and ultrastructure was evaluated in a rat model of peritoneal dialysis. The peritoneal permeability to urea and inulin were measured after the intraperitoneal instillation of protamine sulfate in varying concentrations. A functional correlation was made with the ultrastructure of omentum. Protamine concentrations between 5 and 30 µg/ml decreased the permeability to inulin without significantly altering that of urea. At concentrations from 30 to 75 µg/ml, protamine increased permeability to urea by 50% and to inulin by 20%. Mesothelial cells revealed a loss of microvilli and minor degrees of disorganization of submembranous, cytoplasmic microfilaments without significant changes in the intramembranous structure of occluding junctions. Effects were partially reversible. At a concentration of 100 µg/ml, there was an irreversible doubling in permeability to inulin without a comparable effect on permeability to urea associated with the disruption of occluding junctions in focal areas. This complex response to protamine suggests at least two transperitoneal diffusion pathways, transcellular and paracellular. The mesothelial cell occluding junctions may be a diffusion barrier in the latter pathway. Effet de la protamine sur la permeabilite et la structure du peritoine de rat. L'effet de la protamine, une proteine polycationique, sur la permeabilite mesotheliale et Fultrastructure a ete evalue dans un modele de dialyse peritoneale du rat. La permeabilite peritoneale a l'uree et a l'inuline a ete mesuree apres l'instillation intra-peritoneale de sulfate de protamine a diverses concentrations. Des correlations fonctionnelles ont ete faites avec la structure de Iepiploon. Des concentrations de protamine de 5 et 30 µg/ml diminuent la permeabilite a l'inuline sans modifier significativement celle de l'uree. A des concentrations de 30 a 75 µg/ml la protamine augmente la permeabilite a Puree de 50% et a l'inuline de 20%. Les cellules mesotheliales ont perdu leurs microvillosites et il apparait un certain degre de desorganisation des microfilaments cytoplasmiques sous-membranaires sans modification de la structure intramembraneuse des jonctions. Les effets sont partiellement reversibles. A la concentration de 100 µg/ml il apparait un doublement irreversible de la permeabilite a l'inuline, sans effet comparable sur la permeabilite a l'uree, associee a la rupture focale des jonctions. Cette reponse complexe a la protamine suggere au moins deux voies de diffusion transperitoneale. transcellulaire et paracellulaire. Les jonctions des cellules mesotheliales peuvent etre une barriere de diffusion pour la voie para-cellulaire.
Characterization of a human endometrial carcinoma cell line producing intraperitoneal tumor growth in immunodeficient mice

Establishment of laboratory models of gynecologic neoplasms provides an important means of studying the biologic characteristics of these tumors. We report a previously uncharacterized human endometrial adenocarcinoma cell line that produces both intraperitoneal and subcutaneous growth in nude mice. The line was derived from a poorly differentiated endometrial cancer and has been carried in continuous tissue culture for greater than 100 passages. Doubling time in culture is approximately 48 hr. Antigenic phenotyping against a panel of murine monoclonal antibodies by rosetting cell surface assay on live cells or peroxidase assay on fixed cells has shown reactivity with a number of determinants, including MH99, MT334, MQ49, and the blood group antigens F3, 118, and 41-83. Cytogenetically, the line displays an aneuploid human karyotype with several chromosomal rearrangements and deletions. When injected intraperitoneally into nude mice, animals develop intraperitoneal nodules and ascites and succumb with wasting in 30-40 days. The intraperitoneal tumor has been passaged multiple times in nude mice by direct transfer of ascites. Subcutaneous injection of tumor cells produces nodules that grow at a reproducible rate. By light and electron microscopy, the nude mouse tumor is a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma, similar to the original patient's tumor. It expresses both estrogen and progesterone receptors. CA 125 is not elevated in the serum of animals with tumor implants. The line appears to be cisplatin sensitive as determined by rates of growth of subcutaneous nodules. This cell line may be useful in studying the in vitro and in vivo properties of human endometrial carcinoma.
The role of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board in a clinical trial: the CRISIS study.

Objectives: Randomized clinical trials are commonly overseen by a Data and Safety Monitoring Board comprised of experts in medicine, ethics, and biostatistics. Data and Safety Monitoring Board responsibilities include protocol approval, interim review of study enrollment, protocol compliance, safety, and efficacy data. Data and Safety Monitoring Board decisions can affect study design and conduct, as well as reported findings. Researchers must incorporate Data and Safety Monitoring Board oversight into the design, monitoring, and reporting of randomized trials. Design: Case study, narrative review. Methods: The Data and Safety Monitoring Board’s role during the comparative pediatric Critical Illness Stress-Induced Immune Suppression (CRISIS) Prevention Trial is described. Findings: The National Institutes of Health-appointed CRISIS Data and Safety Monitoring Board was charged with monitoring sample size adequacy and feasibility, safety with respect to adverse events and 28-day mortality, and efficacy with respect to the primary nosocomial infection/sepsis outcome. The Federal Drug Administration also requested Data and Safety Monitoring Board interim review before opening CRISIS to children below 1 yr of age. The first interim analysis found higher 28-day mortality in one treatment arm. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board maintained trial closure to younger children and requested a second interim data review 6 months later. At this second meeting, mortality was no longer of concern, whereas a weak efficacy trend of lower infection/sepsis rates in one study arm emerged. As over 40% of total patients had been enrolled, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board elected to examine conditional power and unmask treatment arm identities. On finding somewhat greater efficacy in the placebo arm, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board recommended stopping CRISIS due to futility. Conclusions: The design and operating procedures of a multicenter randomized trial must consider a pivotal Data and Safety Monitoring Board role. Maximum study design flexibility must be allowed, and investigators must be prepared for protocol modifications due to interim findings. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board must have sufficient clinical and statistical expertise to assess potential importance of interim treatment differences in the setting of multiple looks at accumulating data with numerous outcomes and subgroups. (Pediatr Crit Care Med 2013; 14:374–383)
Tweeting under pressure: analyzing trending topics and evolving word choice on sina weibo

In recent years, social media has risen to prominence in China, with sites like Sina Weibo and Renren each boasting hundreds of millions of users. Social media in China plays a profound role as a platform for breaking news and political commentary that is not available in the state-sanctioned news media. However, like all websites in China, Chinese social media is subject to censorship. Although several studies have identified censorship on Weibo and Chinese blogs, to date no studies have examined the overall impact of censorship on discourse in social media.In this study, we examine how censorship impacts discussions on Weibo, and how users adapt to avoid censorship. We gather tweets and comments from 280K politically active Weibo users for 44 days and use NLP techniques to identify trending topics. We observe that the magnitude of censorship varies dramatically across topics, with 82% of tweets in some topics being censored. However, we find that censorship of a topic correlates with high user engagement, suggesting that censorship does not stifle discussion of sensitive topics. Furthermore, we find that users adopt variants of words (known as morphs) to avoid keyword-based censorship. We analyze emergent morphs to learn how they are adopted and spread by the Weibo user community.
γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase from WI-38 fibroblasts: Purification and active site modification studies

γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase has been purified to homogeneity from WI-38 human fetal lung fibroblasts, following extraction with Triton X-100 in the absence of added proteases. The specific activity of the purified enzyme is 16 units/mg protein at the optimum of pH 8.0. Although this activity value is low, the WI-38 enzyme is very similar to previously described γ-glutamyl transpeptidases in its molecular properties. The native molecule (apparent molecular weight of 82,000) is composed of one light and one heavy subunit (apparent molecular weights of 20,000 and 62,000, respectively). Papain digestion reduces the native molecular weight to an apparent value of 73,000 by proteolysis of the heavy chain. The known active site modifying agent and glutamine analog 6-diazo-5-oxo-l-nor-leucine, completely inactivates the enzyme, coincident with its stoichiometric incorporation into the light subunit. This inactivation is accelerated by maleate and prevented by S-methylglutathione. The WI-38 γ-glutamyl transpeptidase is also inactivated by the fluorescent alkylating agent, 5-iodoacetamidofluorescein. Selective reaction of this reagent with an active site residue is suggested by prevention of the inactivation by S-methylglutathione, the stoichiometric incorporation of the fluorescein moiety, and the loss of one methionine residue per molecule of protein accompanying inactivation.
Failure Mechanisms of Uni-Ply Composite Plates With a Circular Hole Under Static Compressive Loading

The objective of the study was to identify and study the failure mechanisms associated with compressive-loaded uniply graphite/epoxy square plates with a central circular hole. It is found that the type of compressive failure depends on the hole size. For large holes with the diameter/width ratio exceeding 0.062, fiber buckling/kinking initiated at the hole is found to be the dominant failure mechanism. In plates with smaller hole sizes, failure initiates away from the hole edge or complete global failure occurs. Critical buckle wavelengths at failure are presented as a function of the normalized hole diameter.
Rate of Behavior Development: Direct and Continuous Measurement:

A new method using direct and continuous records of specific behavior rates provides precisely quantified descriptions of behavior development. Dynamic developmental changes are reflected in the acceleration, maintenance, and deceleration of the behavior rates.
Tidal Volume Estimation Using the Blanket Fractal Dimension of the Tracheal Sounds Acquired by Smartphone

In this paper, we propose the use of blanket fractal dimension (BFD) to estimate the tidal volume from smartphone-acquired tracheal sounds. We collected tracheal sounds with a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone, from five (N = 5) healthy volunteers. Each volunteer performed the experiment six times; first to obtain linear and exponential fitting models, and then to fit new data onto the existing models. Thus, the total number of recordings was 30. The estimated volumes were compared to the true values, obtained with a Respitrace system, which was considered as a reference. Since Shannon entropy (SE) is frequently used as a feature in tracheal sound analyses, we estimated the tidal volume from the same sounds by using SE as well. The evaluation of the performed estimation, using BFD and SE methods, was quantified by the normalized root-mean-squared error (NRMSE). The results show that the BFD outperformed the SE (at least twice smaller NRMSE was obtained). The smallest NRMSE error of 15.877% ± 9.246% (mean ± standard deviation) was obtained with the BFD and exponential model. In addition, it was shown that the fitting curves calculated during the first day of experiments could be successfully used for at least the five following days.
Intersections of Religion and Language Revitalization

In this chapter, I draw upon ethnographic research in three geographically and linguistically different communities facing language endangerment in order to discuss the intersection between language revitalization efforts and religious practice: the Bretons of Brittany, France; the Chickasaws of Southeastern Oklahoma, U.S.; and the Nahuas of Hueyapan, Mexico. I argue that religious ideologies, practices, and texts often play critical roles in endangered language revitalization. While language revitalization can be interwoven with any number of social practices, I focus on one such aspect of social and personal life—religion. Religion’s intersection with language revitalization is often intertwined with the both the specific history of a given language and with the broader community in which it is, or was, spoken. Not surprisingly, the products of both religious practices and language revitalization are often connected. On the one hand, texts and genres incorporated into language revitalization efforts carry not just the primary function of language learning, but also underlying themes of religious (and cultural) beliefs and practices. Religious activities and writings conducted in endangered languages can also carry the secondary effect of encouraging language revitalization.
But How Do We Talk About It?: Critical Literacy Practices for Addressing Sexuality With Youth

AbstractTo date, literacy educators receive little instruction and, indeed, little research exists on facilitating critical discussions about sexuality in classrooms. Addressing these issues with students, however, grows increasingly urgent, particularly in light of critical media literacy efforts and progressive literacy pedagogies that incorporate students’ identities and life experiences into the classroom. Given the pervasive nature of sexuality in popular culture and in adolescent lives, such efforts are far less likely to be effective if educators ignore or repress this significant area of student experience. Addressing sexuality, however, is important not only because the current trend to ignore it is impeding current critical literacy efforts, but also because sexuality is itself an important site for students’ critical literacy development. In this article, I draw from my 9‐month ethnographic study of a community‐based educational program to offer an initial look at what classroom languages and p...
Office device to aid in Implanon insertion.

This commentary describes a simplified office device that has been developed to assist in proper placement of the Implanon a hormonal contraceptive implant. The device consists of a tongue depressor skin marker and a centimeter rule and explains how to use these tools for the insertion process. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
"Why 6?" Defining the operational limits of stide, an anomaly-based intrusion detector

Anomaly-detection techniques have considerable promise for two difficult and critical problems in information security and intrusion detection: detecting novel attacks, and detecting masqueraders. One of the best-known anomaly detectors used in intrusion detection is stide. Developed at the University of New Mexico, stide aims to detect attacks that exploit processes that run with root privileges. The original work on stide presented empirical results indicating that data sequences of length six and above were required for effective intrusion detection. This observation has given rise to the long-standing question, "why six?" accompanied by related questions regarding the conditions under which six may or may not be appropriate. This paper addresses the "why six" issue by presenting an evaluation framework that maps out stide's effective operating space, and identifies the conditions that contribute to detection capability, particularly detection blindness. A theoretical justification explains the effectiveness of sequence lengths of six and above, as well as the consequences of using other values. In addition, results of an investigation are presented, comparing stide's anomaly-detection capabilities with those of a competing detector.
Computer Simulation of Charging and Erasing Transients of a Ge/Si Hetero-nanocrystal-based Flash Memory

The transient process of the programming and erasing is very important for a nanocrystalfloating-gate flash memory. In this work, a computer simulation was carried out to investigate the charging, retention and erasing processes of our proposed Ge/Si hetero-nanocrystal floating gate flash memory. The transient gate current, the transient drain current and the average charge in one dot were simulated respectively. Evident hysteresis features can be observed in the transient processes in a voltage-sweeping measurement mode. While measuring the transient process in a constant voltage mode, the time decay of transient current and charge are weakened if Ge is used on the Si dot, indicating a longer retention time for Ge/Si-floating-gate flash memory.
Comparing Treatment Outcomes of Bipolar Patients Between Psychiatry Residents and Attending Physicians

The authors sought to compare the outcomes of patients treated by psychiatric residents and attending psychiatrists. Charts of 121 outpatients meeting criteria for bipolar spectrum disorder were analyzed. Residents treated 41, and attending physicians 80, of 121 patients. Improvement was defined as at least 12 consecutive months of the following: Remission— euthymic mood; Response—much improved mood, not meeting DSM-IV criteria for mild illness; Relapse—remission or response followed by recurrence. The Active Illness group contained patients who did not have 12 months of Remission or Response. The percentage of improved patients was similar between residents (46.3%; 19/41) and attending physicians (42.5%; 34/80). There was a significant difference in the number of patients in the Remission or Response categories between attending physicians: (26.5%; 21/80) and residents (12.2%; 5/41). Similar numbers of residents’ and attending physicians’ patients achieved improvement for 12 months, but twice the number of attending physicians’ patients achieved and maintained euthymia.
Increased susceptibility to MPTP toxicity in middle-aged rhesus monkeys

In the present study, age-associated effects of the neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) administered via the right carotid artery were evaluated pre- and post-MPTP treatment in 26 female rhesus monkeys ranging in age from young adulthood to middle age (5 to 23 years old). A significant inverse correlation was seen between age and MPTP dose needed to produce stable, moderate parkinsonian features. Rhesus in the 5- to 9-year-old group required approximately three times the amount of MPTP as 20- to 23-year-old animals. Even though they received less MPTP, the older animals consistently displayed more severe bradykinesia, upper limb rigidity, and balance and gait abnormalities. Prior to MPTP treatment, home cage activity levels were strongly age dependent, with animals in the 10- to 19-year and 20- to 23-year groups displaying significantly less daytime activity than 5- to 9-year-old rhesus. Home cage activity levels tended to decrease in all age groups following MPTP treatment, but significant decreases were only measured in daytime activity in the 10- to 19- and 20- to 23-year age groups.
An empirical test of cooperative game solution concepts

This article reports the largest empirical test to date of cooperative game solution concepts with observations taken from naturally occurring markets. In contrast to some previous empirical tests of cooperative game solution concepts with observations taken from classrooms, the empirical results support the theory of the core in general and the “equal propensity to disrupty” solution concept in particular. The Shapley value and the nucleolus receive weaker empirical support.
Elimination of menstrual-related migraine beneficially impacts chronification and medication overuse.

Objectives.— This study seeks to determine whether menstrual-related migraine (MRM) has a discrete, attributable impact on migraine chronicity and medication overuse. Background.— Menstrual-related migraine can be a disabling headache on its own; but when seen in headache clinics, it is often enmeshed in the setting of chronic migraine (CM) and medication overuse headache (MOH). Whereas nonspecific migraine preventives bestow their benefit uniformly, hormonal preventives (HPs)—when they are successful—address a discrete hormonal mechanism. They confer no known benefit to migraines that are not hormonally triggered. This selective property of HPs could potentially isolate MRM and segregate its effect on the overall clinical picture. Methods.— This is a retrospective review of 229 consecutive women seen in follow-up for hormonal prevention of MRM at an academic headache center. Patients kept standardized diaries from which separate menstrual-week (MW) and non-menstrual week (nonMW) headache indices were calculated and compared. Resolution of MRM was defined by reduction of the MW headache index to a score not exceeding the nonMW headache indices. Consumption of all acute and preventive agents used in the preceding month was tallied. We performed post-treatment comparisons of medication usage and headache characteristics among subjects in whom MRM was resolved and those in whom it was not resolved. Results.— At baseline, CM was present in 92% of subjects, 72% of whom also met criteria for MOH. Resolution of MRM was achieved in 81% of subjects who were compliant with HP and was associated with reversion to episodic migraine (59% vs 18%, P < .001) and resolution of medication overuse (54% vs 20%, P < .001). Resolution of MRM was associated with significant decreases in per capita consumption of triptans, opioids, all acute agents, and migraine preventive medications. Conclusions.— Resolution of MRM correlated not only with conversion of CM to an episodic pattern, but also with a significant reduction in medication usage. It offers preliminary evidence that hormonal regimens may have a beneficial role in prevention of MRM.
A Freehand Ultrasound Elastography System with Tracking for In Vivo Applications

Ultrasound transducers are commonly tracked in modern ultrasound navigation/guidance systems. In this article, we demonstrate the advantages of incorporating tracking information into ultrasound elastography for clinical applications. First, we address a common limitation of freehand palpation: speckle decorrelation due to out-of-plane probe motion. We show that by automatically selecting pairs of radio frequency frames with minimal lateral and out-of-plane motions, combined with a fast and robust displacement estimation technique, greatly improves in vivo elastography results. We also use tracking information and image-quality measures to fuse multiple images with similar strains that are taken from roughly the same location so as to obtain a high-quality elastography image. Finally, we show that tracking information can be used to give the user partial control over the rate of compression. Our methods are tested on a tissue-mimicking phantom, and experiments have been conducted on intraoperative data acquired during animal and human experiments involving liver ablation. Our results suggest that in challenging clinical conditions, our proposed method produces reliable strain images and eliminates the need for a manual search through the ultrasound data in order to find radio frequency pairs suitable for elastography.
Estimation Risk in Farm Planning Under Uncertainty

This paper examines the impact of estimation risk on a decision maker's ability to distinguish between the mean-variance characteristics of different farm plans. The importance of making such distinctions should be clear; risk-averse decision makers will want to bear risk only if they can be reasonably confident of commensurate increases in expected return. When parameters are unknown, statistically testing for differences in their estimated values is appropriate. An illustration of such tests using data from Hazell suggests considerable resources must be devoted toward data generation if normative statements under uncertainty are to be reliable.
History of uterine leiomyomata and incidence of breast cancer

Uterine leiomyomata (UL), benign tumors of the myometrium, are influenced by sex steroid hormones. A history of UL diagnosis has been associated with a higher risk of uterine malignancies. The relation between UL and breast cancer, another hormonally responsive cancer, has not been studied. We investigated the association between self-reported physician-diagnosed UL and incidence of breast cancer in the Black Women’s Health Study, a prospective cohort study. We followed 57,747 participants without a history of breast cancer from 1995 to 2013. UL diagnoses were reported at baseline and biennially. Breast cancer was reported on biennial questionnaires and confirmed by pathology data from medical records or cancer registries. Cox regression was used to derive incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) and adjust for potential confounders. There were 2,276 incident cases of breast cancer (1,699 invasive, 394 in situ, and 183 unknown) during 879,672 person-years of follow-up. The multivariable IRR for the overall association between history of UL and breast cancer incidence was 0.99 (95 % CI 0.90–1.08), with similar results for ER + (IRR = 1.03) and ER − breast cancer (IRR = 1.05). IRRs for early diagnosis of UL (before age 30) were slightly above 1.0, with IRRs of 1.14 (95 % CI 0.99–1.31) for overall breast cancer, 1.14 (95 % CI 0.93–1.40) for ER + breast cancer, and 1.20 (95 % CI 0.89–1.61) for ER − breast cancer. IRRs for early diagnosis of UL were elevated for breast cancer diagnosed before 40 years of age (IRR = 1.39, 95 % CI 0.97–1.99) and premenopausal breast cancer (IRR = 1.26, 95 % CI 1.01–1.58). No consistent patterns in risk were observed across estrogen receptor subtypes, and IRRs did not differ appreciably within strata of BMI, female hormone use, mammography recency, or family history of breast cancer. The present study of US black women suggests that a history of UL diagnosis is unrelated to the incidence of breast cancer overall. The positive associations observed for early diagnosed UL with breast cancer before age 40 and with premenopausal breast cancer require confirmation in future studies.
Reliability-Based Calibration of Load and Resistance Factors for Design of RC Bridges under Multiple Extreme Events: Scour and Earthquake

A multihazard reliability-based framework is developed through this study to evaluate the structural response of RC bridges under the combined effects of pier scour and earthquake events. This framework is used to calibrate the scour load-modification factors for the design of bridges located in high seismic areas. Toward this goal, a series of case study bridges are investigated. For each bridge case, the joint probability of failure owing to scour and earthquake hazards is determined for a range of expected combinations of these two extreme events. The occurrence probability of each scour-earthquake scenario is identified by taking into account all of the major sources of load uncertainty through scour risk and seismic hazard curves. Furthermore, the uncertainties inherent in the structural response of bridges are included in the framework to improve the accuracy of estimated failure probabilities. The calculated probabilities are then compared with the maximum acceptable probability of failure (or its equivalent target reliability index) given by current design codes to obtain scour load-modification factors. The developed framework provides a reliable approach for the calibration of code specifications in the extreme event situations and can be extended to other combinations of natural hazards.
Bilateral breast reconstruction in very thin patients with extended free TRAM flaps

A lateral extension of the free TRAM flap design is described for use in unusually thin patients who desire bilateral autologous tissue breast reconstruction. Because of the exceptionally good blood supply to the free TRAM flap, the lateral extensions are viable even when the flap is folded double to increase its thickness and projection. To increase the volume of the reconstructed breast, the flaps can be extended as far laterally as the surface of the operating table will permit. With this approach, bilateral TRAM flap breast reconstruction is possible even for extremely thin patients.