cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Field development studies by neuro-simulation: an effective coupling of soft and hard computing protocols

Abstract This paper establishes the principles of a novel simulation methodology that effectively brings together the specific advantages of hard and soft computing techniques. Accordingly, the work described in this paper conjoins the accurate and precise nature of the existing hard computing algorithmic approaches with the pragmatic nature of soft computing techniques. The capabilities of the proposed approach are demonstrated by the implementation of the process to various field development studies practised in the petroleum and natural gas industry. In structuring the proposed methodology, full advantages of the deterministic techniques (in terms of the accurate description of the physical phenomena) and the parallel processing power of the artificial neural network technology are taken into account to ensure the solution integrity and solution speed during the overall implementation of the process. By applying the neuro-simulation methodology to field development problems, it is shown that a substantial reduction in cost, energy and time factors of the conventional simulation approach are achieved by the pragmatic character of the artificial neural network technology. Various case studies involving different reservoirs with different flow dynamics in an increasing level of complexity are examined to illustrate the implementation of the neuro-simulation guidelines as well as to highlight the power of the proposed methodology.
Single luteal phase serum progesterone assay as an indicator of ovulation.

Abstract The availability of a rapid, accurate serum progesterone assay would alleviate many of the problems of patient inconvenience and discomfort encountered with the classical methods of ovulation detection. With the use of a competitive protein binding technique, by which a single technician can assay 30 or more samples for serum progesterone in one day, a range of daily follicular and luteal phase values was ascertained in a group of normally menstruating women. After a normal luteal phase range was established, single luteal phase serum progesterone sampling was performed in 51 infertile women with regular menses and 35 oligomenorrheic women undergoing clomiphene therapy. In the follicular phase of the cycle, progesterone levels were consistently less than 2 ng. per milliliter. Between 11 and 4 days prior to the onset of menses, in presumptively ovulatory cycles, serum progesterone levels were always 3 ng. per milliliter or greater. Progesterone values in this range were always accompanied by a secretory endometrium and, thus, can be considered presumptive evidence of ovulation.
Residence Time Calculations Using the Numerical Simulation of Incinerator Flows

Abstract The value of knowing residence time distributions (RTD's) in mass burn incinerators and the serious limitation imposed by the use of gas volume-flow rate based average residence lime with regard to these incinerators are recognized. The utility for understanding macromixing of having detailed RTD-information about the incinerator overfire region is demonstrated by estimating RTD's using transient numerical simulation of tracer injection into the 2-D, isothermal flow field of a typical mass burn incinerator configuration. Several numerical experiments are conducted to determine the effect of overfire jets on the RTD's of tracer flows introduced into different grate streams. The results indicate that valuable diagnostic information on the state of mixedness in the overfire region can be extracted from these RTD's by mapping them onto a macromixing scale whose extremes are the RTD of a plug flow and that of a stirred tank. Further, they not only underscore the critical role played by jets in achievi...
Understanding how orthopaedic surgery practices generate value for healthcare systems.

Background Orthopaedic surgery practices can provide substantial value to healthcare systems. Increasingly, healthcare administrators are speaking of the need for alignment between physicians and healthcare systems. However, physicians often do not understand what healthcare administrators value and therefore have difficulty articulating the value they create in discussions with their hospital or healthcare organization. Many health systems and hospitals use service lines as an organizational structure to track the relevant data and manage the resources associated with a particular type of care, such as musculoskeletal care. Understanding service lines and their management can be useful for orthopaedic surgeons interested in interacting with their hospital systems.
Are there economies of traffic density in the Less-Than-Truckload motor carrier industry? An operations planning analysis

Abstract An operations planning model of less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carrier operations is developed. The model determines the number of terminals, and the routing of trucks between terminals, to minimize pickup and delivery, platform handling, and linehaul costs subject to service level constraints. Heuristic techniques are used, so the solution is only approximate. Analysis of a number of hypothetical LTL networks shows that there are substantial economies of traffic density. As traffic volume increases over a region of fixed size, average cost falls sharply, especially at the lower density levels. This finding is consistent with the behavior of the carriers which have expanded since de facto deregulation in 1980, and helps to explain why a few large carriers are coming to dominate the LTL market.
Role of the Pulmonary Circulation in the Distribution of Human Fetal Cardiac Output During the Second Half of Pregnancy

Background By using Doppler echocardiography, we determined the normal distribution of human fetal combined cardiac output (CCO) from the left and right ventricles. We also established weight-index...
Extraction of copper and zinc from rubber and silicone stoppers

Drugs and other chemicals are often administered in the drinking water of laboratory animals, and bottles for this purpose usually have rubber stoppers. We studied the ability of solutions of several drugs to extract copper and zinc from rubber and silicone stoppers. Water and isoniazid extracted little copper or zinc from rubber stoppers, whereas EDTA, ethambutol, tetracycline, and chlorpromazine generally extracted considerable quantities of copper and zinc from these stoppers. Neither water nor solutions of the above drugs extracted copper or zinc from silicone stoppers. We routinely use silicone stoppers on water bottles when conducting laboratory studies requiring administration of drugs, toxins, or nutrients in the drinking water.
The natural history of aberrant crypt foci

Background Aberrant crypt foci (ACF) are the putative precursors to colorectal adenomas and may be useful as biomarkers. Knowledge of their natural history is essential to understanding their potential utility. Objective Our purpose was to examine ACF detection 1 year after initial observation. Design We conducted a multicenter study of ACF by using a standardized protocol. ACF in the rectum were assessed and subjects returned 1 year later to evaluate the natural history of the lesions. Setting Ancillary study to the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Results Of 78 subjects enrolled, 64 (82%) returned for a repeat examination 1 year later. The mean age was 71 years, 70% were male, and 54% had a history of adenomatous polyps. At the initial examination, 66% of subjects had at least 1 ACF detected in the rectum, with a mean of 2.1 ± 2.3 per person. One year later, 60% of these subjects had at least 1 of the original ACF reidentified, but only 43% of all ACF were reidentified. A total of 56% of subjects had new ACF identified. Limitations These results are generated from the pilot phase. Improvements or change in technique over time could have influenced the results. Conclusions A total of 60% of subjects who had ACF continued to have at least one ACF 1 year later, but less than half the specific ACF could be reidentified, and more than 50% of subjects had new ACF. These results imply a considerable dynamic to ACF detection over a 1-year period of observation.
Improved line-broadening coefficents for asymmetric rotor molecules with application to ozone lines broadened by nitrogen

Abstract A procedure for obtaining atom-atom intermolecular potentials from the two-center expansion using symbolic manipulations in FORTRAN and MATHEMATICA on a computer is described. The atom-atom potential for an XY 2 molecule ( C 2 v symmetry) and a linear, AB, molecule with the XY 2 molecule positioned in the molecule-fixed axes in two different orientations (representations), labeled II R and II L , are calculated. It has been found that the previous development of the atom-atom potential in the II R representation is incorrect and leads to a mixed formulation with electrostatic terms in the I R and atom-atom terms in the III L representation. Broadening-coefficient calculations presented here show that when the correct potential is used anomalous oscillations in the Ka ″ = 1 transitions for O 3 broadened by N 2 disappear. Further investigation has shown that the variations can be associated with particular quantum state symmetries. Improved agreement with the experimental measurements is observed.
Tissue-Engineered Urinary Conduits

The role of tissue engineering in the cystectomy population rests on the principle of sparing healthy intestinal tissue while replacing diseased bladder. Over the last 25 years advances in cell biology and material science have improved the quality and durability of bladder replacement in animals. The neo-urinary conduit ([NUC]-Tengion) employs autologous fat smooth muscle cells which are seeded onto synthetic, biodegradable scaffolds. This seeded construct is then implanted in the patient and purportedly regenerates native urinary tissue to serve as a passive channel connecting the ureters to the skin surface. Preclinical animal studies as well as the first phase I human trial implanting the NUC are reviewed. While the ultimate goal of creating a durable, effective, tissue-engineered conduit is still in its infancy, important technical and experimental strides have been made.
Risk Assessment of Potentially Genotoxic Impurities within the Framework of Quality by Design

A strategy for the risk assessment of potentially genotoxic impurities is described that utilizes Quality by Design in an effort to furnish greater process and analytical understanding, ultimately ...
The Hypophysiotropic Neurotensin-Immunoreactive Neuronal System of the Rat Brain

The present study describes the distribution of hypophysiotropic neurotensin-immunoreactive (NTi) perikarya in the rat hypothalamus. After peripheral administration of the retrograde tracer Fluoro-Gold, NT immunoreactivity was demonstrated with fluorescence immunocytochemistry using Texas red-labeled avidin. The results indicate that approximately 70% of all NTi neurons that are connected to the hypophysial portal system are located in the arcuate nucleus. Approximately 30% of these hypophysiotropic NTi neurons reside in the parvocellular subdivisions of the paraventricular nucleus. Our results also show that both the arcuate and the paraventricular nuclei contain NTi perikarya that do not project to the median eminence. (Endocrinology 129: 2875–2880,1991)
Multiple molecular forms of prostaglandin 15-hydroxydehydrogenase and 9-ketoreductase in chicken kidney.

Abstract Prostaglandin-15-hydroxydehydrogenase and prostaglandin-9-ketoreductase were purified from chicken kidney. Both enzymes exist in multiple forms as determined by isoelectric focusing. The dehydrogenases catalyze the transformation of the functional group at C-15 but not the functional group at C-9. The preferred cofactors in these reactions are NAD + or NADH. The 9-ketoreductases catalyze the reversible transformation of the functional group at C-9 and also the oxidation or reduction of the C-15 functional group. The preferred cofactors are NADP + or NADPH. Bradykinin does not affect the activities of any of the three prostaglandin 9-ketoreductases. Flavin mononucleotide and the flavonoid, quercetin, as well as indomethacin, ethacrynic acid, and furosemide, inhibit all three 9-ketoreductases. An inhibitor of 9-ketoreductase isolated from chicken breast muscle also inhibits the three separable reductases, but the pattern of inhibition of the reductase that focuses at pH 5.7 differs from that of the reductases focusing at pH 7.8 and 8.2.
Bringing Diversity and Activism to Media Education through African American-Centered Pedagogical Cases: The Mediation of Ebonics and the NAACP Television Networks Boycott

This article works to illustrate the manner in which two principal goals of media education can be fulfilled in media instruction. These goals are to create savvy media consumers who are empowered to demystify their mediated worlds and to foster recognition in media consumers that they possess agency to inform their mediated worlds. Toward these ends, the author provides media educators with two case studies—the mediation of Ebonics and the NAACP television boycott—as curricular models. Each case study concludes with suggestions for further inquiry, discussion, and debate. These African American-centered cases also work to evidence how diversity can be brought to media education lessons.
Low-Temperature Sintering of TiO2 Colloids: Application to Flexible Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Colloidal TiO2 films have been prepared in a manner suitable for use with flexible substrates. Sol−gel particles were sintered under various conditions of temperature and initial presence/absence of organic surfactants. The physicochemical properties of the resulting films are reported. Independent of the sintering temperature, films that did not initially contain organic surfactants adhered more strongly to the underlying F:SnO2 substrate. The amount of sensitizing dyes adsorbed by a film is also sensitive to the initial presence or absence of organic surfactants and to the sintering temperature. Used as a dye-sensitized anode in photoelectrochemical cells, an open-circuit photovoltage of 647 mV and a short-circuit photocurrent density of 2 mA/cm2 were obtained for 1 μm thick TiO2 films sintered at 100 °C; normalized to the same thickness, similar results were obtained with films initially containing surfactant and sintered at 450 °C.
Integrating image quality in 2nu-SVM biometric match score fusion.

This paper proposes an intelligent 2ν-support vector machine based match score fusion algorithm to improve the performance of face and iris recognition by integrating the quality of images. The proposed algorithm applies redundant discrete wavelet transform to evaluate the underlying linear and non-linear features present in the image. A composite quality score is computed to determine the extent of smoothness, sharpness, noise, and other pertinent features present in each subband of the image. The match score and the corresponding quality score of an image are fused using 2ν-support vector machine to improve the verification performance. The proposed algorithm is experimentally validated using the FERET face database and the CASIA iris database. The verification performance and statistical evaluation show that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing fusion algorithms.
Applications of the Polymerase Chain Reaction to Diagnosis of Ophthalmic Disease

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a powerful molecular biologic technique for the analysis of very small amounts of DNA. This technique has found increasing use in the past 10 years for the detection of pathogenic organisms associated with many forms of ocular inflammatory and infectious disease. PCR has shown utility in the diagnosis of viral uveitis, infectious endophthalmitis, and parasitic eye disease. The strengths and weaknesses of this diagnostic technique are discussed. Additionally, uses of PCR in linking known pathogens to disease, and to discovering novel pathogens, are addressed.
THz impedance surface waveguides

A impedance waveguide working in the THz spectrum is studied. A high impedance (Z1) is surrounded by two lower impedance (Z2) surfaces. Total internal reflection is the requirement for the guidance and confinement of the waves in the waveguide. The waveguide model predicts the dispersion relation for the lowest five TM modes. The guiding channel is varied for different impedance ratios Z2:Z1 of 1:10 and 1:3.
Designing ECM-mimetic materials using protein engineering.

The natural extracellular matrix (ECM), with its multitude of evolved cell-instructive and cell-responsive properties, provides inspiration and guidelines for the design of engineered biomaterials. One strategy to create ECM-mimetic materials is the modular design of protein-based engineered ECM (eECM) scaffolds. This modular design strategy involves combining multiple protein domains with different functionalities into a single, modular polymer sequence, resulting in a multifunctional matrix with independent tunability of the individual domain functions. These eECMs often enable decoupled control over multiple material properties for fundamental studies of cell–matrix interactions. In addition, since the eECMs are frequently composed entirely of bioresorbable amino acids, these matrices have immense clinical potential for a variety of regenerative medicine applications. This brief review demonstrates how fundamental knowledge gained from structure–function studies of native proteins can be exploited in the design of novel protein-engineered biomaterials. While the field of protein-engineered biomaterials has existed for over 20 years, the community is only now beginning to fully explore the diversity of functional peptide modules that can be incorporated into these materials. We have chosen to highlight recent examples that either (i) demonstrate exemplary use as matrices with cell-instructive and cell-responsive properties or (ii) demonstrate outstanding creativity in terms of novel molecular-level design and macro-level functionality.
Induction of CYP26A1 by Metabolites of Retinoic Acid: Evidence That CYP26A1 Is an Important Enzyme in the Elimination of Active Retinoids

All-trans-retinoic acid (atRA), the active metabolite of vitamin A, induces gene transcription via binding to nuclear retinoic acid receptors (RARs). The primary hydroxylated metabolites formed from atRA by CYP26A1, and the subsequent metabolite 4-oxo-atRA, bind to RARs and potentially have biologic activity. Hence, CYP26A1, the main atRA hydroxylase, may function either to deplete bioactive retinoids or to form active metabolites. This study aimed to determine the role of CYP26A1 in modulating RAR activation via formation and elimination of active retinoids. After treatment of HepG2 cells with atRA, (4S)-OH-atRA, (4R)-OH-atRA, 4-oxo-atRA, and 18-OH-atRA, mRNAs of CYP26A1 and RARβ were increased 300- to 3000-fold, with 4-oxo-atRA and atRA being the most potent inducers. However, >60% of the 4-OH-atRA enantiomers were converted to 4-oxo-atRA in the first 12 hours of treatment, suggesting that the activity of the 4-OH-atRA was due to 4-oxo-atRA. In human hepatocytes, atRA, 4-OH-atRA, and 4-oxo-atRA induced CYP26A1 and 4-oxo-atRA formation was observed from 4-OH-atRA. In HepG2 cells, 4-oxo-atRA formation was observed even in the absence of CYP26A1 activity and this formation was not inhibited by ketoconazole. In human liver microsomes, 4-oxo-atRA formation was supported by NAD+, suggesting that 4-oxo-atRA formation is mediated by a microsomal alcohol dehydrogenase. Although 4-oxo-atRA was not formed by CYP26A1, it was depleted by CYP26A1 (Km = 63 nM and intrinsic clearance = 90 μl/min per pmol). Similarly, CYP26A1 depleted 18-OH-atRA and the 4-OH-atRA enantiomers. These data support the role of CYP26A1 to clear bioactive retinoids, and suggest that the enzyme forming active 4-oxo-atRA may be important in modulating retinoid action.
Dauphiné twinning as evidence for an impact origin of preferred orientation in quartzite: An example from Vredefort, South Africa

Large meteorite impacts cause great changes to geologic features on Earth, ranging from cratering and ejecta blankets to phase transformations in minerals. In this report we describe the effect of a shock wave on the crystallographic orientation of quartz crystals in quartzite from the Vredefort impact site in South Africa. Preferred orientation of bulk quartzite samples was measured by time-of-flight neutron diffraction. With a random distribution of c-axes, a weak but distinct difference between the orientation distribution of positive and negative rhombs was observed, as illustrated with pole figures and inverse pole figures. Results for the natural Vredefort sample are compared with deformation
Sleep disturbances are linked to both upper and lower gastrointestinal symptoms in the general population

In tertiary referral patients, there is association between altered sleep patterns, functional bowel disorders and altered gut motor function. Body mass index (BMI) is also associated with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms including diarrhoea, and with sleep disturbances. Our hypothesis is that sleep disturbances are associated with GI symptoms, and this is not explained by BMI. A 48-item-validated questionnaire was mailed to 6939 community participants in Olmsted County, MN. The survey included GI symptoms, sleep disturbance, daily lifestyle and quality of life (QOL). Independent contributions of sleep disturbance to individual symptoms were assessed using logistic regression adjusting for age, gender, lifestyle and mental health status. The association of an overall sleep score with an overall symptom score was examined and the ability of both scores to predict SF-12 physical and mental functioning scores assessed in multiple linear regression models. Among 3228 respondents, 874 (27%) reported trouble staying asleep. There was a significant correlation of overall sleep scores with overall GI symptom scores (partial r = 0.28, P < 0.001). Waking up once nightly at least four times a month was significantly associated with pain, nausea, dysphagia, diarrhoea, loose stools, urgency and a feeling of anal blockage. Trouble falling asleep was significantly associated with rectal urgency. Associations were independent of gender, age, lifestyle factors and BMI. Overall, sleep scores and GI symptom scores were both significant independent predictors of impaired QOL. In the community, reporting poor sleep is associated with upper and lower GI symptoms, but this is independent of BMI.
Reply to ‘Comment on “The beginnings of hydrous mantle wedge melting” by Till et al.’ by Stalder

The comment of Stalder raises three main concerns regarding the interpretation of the experiments presented by Till et al. (2012): (1) our inability to uniquely distinguish between high-pressure hydrous silicate melt and solute-rich aqueous fluid leads to the incorrect interpretation of phase relations, (2) the temperature interval over which hydrous melting takes places is inordinately large and contrary to expectations, and/or (3) the possibility that the system may be above the second critical end point (SCEP) in this H2O-rich silicate system has been insufficiently discussed. In this reply, we provide clarification on these concerns and argue that with the extent of knowledge available today, the chemical characteristics of our experimental products at 3.2 and 4 GPa evince the presence of a silicate melt at temperatures <1,000 °C and we are below the SCEP in the peridotite–H2O system at the P–T conditions of our experiments. If in fact the quench observed in our experiments does represent that of a supercritical (SC) fluid, then our data suggest Mg and Fe are highly soluble in SC fluids at the P–T conditions of the base of the mantle wedge below arc volcanoes. Therefore, our results would require a significant change in thinking about the chemical compositional characteristics of SC fluids.
Abstract PD09-09: The Akt inhibitor MK-2206 is an effective radio-sensitizer of p53 deficient triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells.

Purpose: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive tumor with a higher locoregional recurrence compared to estrogen receptor (ER) positive breast cancer. Mutations in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway leading to up-regulation of Akt occur with high frequency in TNBC. Hyperactive Akt is associated with increase radiation resistance, mediated through inhibition of apoptosis and up-regulation of DNA damage-induced G2 arrest. p53 plays a key role in mediating G1 cell cycle arrest following genotoxic stress such as radiation; p53-deficient cells however must rely on alternate mechanisms for cell cycle arrest in S- and G2-phases. Inhibition of Akt therefore would be expected to act in a synthetic lethal fashion to radiosensitize p53 deficient TNBC cells by decreasing their ability to arrest in G2. Given that p53 mutations occur in 44% of TNBC this may be an effective strategy for radiosensitizing TNBC. Methods: Experiments were conducted using MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-231 and SUM 149 cells, all well established models for p53-deficient TNBC. Cells were treated with MK-2206, a potent allosteric Akt inhibitor, alone or in combination with increasing doses of radiation from 0–8 Gy. In vitro studies preformed included; cell survival assays, MTT assay, immunoblot analysis of key proteins, FACS analysis for cell cycle, apoptosis, and gH2AX staining. Results: We found that the combination of IR and Akt inhibition by MK-2206 is synergistic. MK-2206 inhibited both endogenous and radiation-induced Akt activation and phosphorylation of its down-stream targets. Decreased clonogenic survival was seen after 2 or 24 hours pretreatment with MK-2206 as well as decreased viability by MTT assay. Cell cycle analysis demonstrates MK-2206 decreases the proportion of cells in G2/M arrest following irradiation, as well as induced a greater proportion of apoptosis. Evaluation of the DNA damage response pathway demonstrated decreased levels of total DNA-PK, as well as a delayed DNA damage response. Conclusions: These studies demonstrate that targeted inhibition of Akt effectively radiosensitizes p53 deficient TNBC cells lines, possibly through a synthetic lethal effect on the DNA damage response. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2012;72(24 Suppl):Abstract nr PD09-09.
The interaction of a dislocation with a coated plane boundary

Abstract Experimental results have indicated that a surface layer may act as a barrier to the egress of edge dislocations from the interior of a crystal. A mathematical model for this barrier effect is developed here, using a superposition integral technique from continuum elasticity theory. Exact solutions are found for the case of free boundaries and for perfectly rigid coatings. An approximate solution is obtained for the case of coatings with finite rigidity which indicates a change from attractive to repulsive interactions with increasing coating modulus. An intermediate range of moduli is found in which the interaction changes from attractive to repulsive as the boundary is approached.
AN EXPLORATION OF FACULTY HIRING PRACTICES IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

With the average age of faculty members exceeding 55, it is expected that “large numbers of community college faculty may retire at virtually the same time and in the near future” (Gahn & Twombly, 2001, p. 260). In the wake of their exodus, it is a reasonable assumption that community colleges will be faced with hiring many new full- and part-time faculty members within the same time frame. Add to this that little information exists regarding the effectiveness of hiring practices, specifically related to the hiring of faculty in community colleges. Past and current practices represent somewhat amorphous processes with little internal consistency among various stages of decision-making. Considering the probable turnover in full-time faculty, and their subsequent replacement, in many cases, by adjuncts, community college leaders must respond to the challenges, both inherent and learned, in the hiring process to ensure quality instruction in light of diminishing legislative support and the significant, long-...
Inhibitors of Monoamine Oxidase: Influence of Methyl Substitution on the Inhibitory Activity of β-Carbolines

A number of tetrahydro and aromatic β -carbolines, mostly with a methyl substituent at various positions, were synthesized and their in vitro inhibitory activities on monoamine oxidase evaluated. Substitution of a methyl group at the N-9 nitrogen of tetrahydro- β -carboline gave a potent competitive inhibitor of the enzyme. Methyl groups at C-1 of both tetrahydro and aromatic β -carbolines generally reduced the potency, whereas introduction of a methyl group at the N-2 nitrogen of tetrahydro- β -carboline gave a compound of equal activity.
Nestmate recognition in sweat bees (Lasioglossum zephyrum): Does an individual recognize its own odour or only odours of its nestmates?

Abstract We investigated the olfactory mechanism by which guard bees of Lasioglossum zephyrum decide whether to admit conspecifics to their nests. First we set up colonies of young bees, consisting of sisters from a single family or a mixture of bees from two distinct families. These bees were then introduced into colonies other than their own. Our experimental evidence shows that guards learn the odours of their nestmates, then accept or reject other bees on the basis of the similarity of the latters' odours to those of the guards' nestmates. Guards act as though they do not use their own odour as a reference for nestmate recognition. This recognition mechanism enables individuals with different odours to live together; it may also enhance the operation of kin selection by providing a more complete basis for discriminating relatives from non-relatives. No evidence was found that nestmates acquire one another's odours. Such lack of odour transfer may be characteristic of early stages in the evolution of recognition mechanisms.
Composition dependence of the photoinduced refractive-index change in lead silicate glasses.

A large photoinduced refractive-index change (as great as ?n=0.21±0.04) is obtained in lead silicate glasses by irradiation with the frequency-quadrupled output of a Q-switched YAG laser (266 nm). An approximately exponential relationship is found between the photoinduced refractive-index change and the lead cation mole fraction over the composition range from 18.7% to 57%. The induced refractive-index change is permanent and shows no decay after heating to 360 °C during 1 h. Dispersion of the refractive-index change suggests that the photosensitivity is associated with changes in the intrinsic glass absorption edge.
Russian hyperTutor: Designing interactive multimedia for the macintosh

THIS PAPER describes a multimedia project developed at Auburn University for the interactive teaching of Russian grammar. TheRussian HyperTutor was developed using Apple’s HyperCard™ and is designed to accompany the textbookRussian for Everybody. There are 35 lesson stacks inRussian HyperTutor and each lesson integrates graphics, sound, and animation. In addition to the lesson stacks, the program includes a dictionary and extensive vocabulary exercises. Tutorials provide simple, but concise grammar explanations which can be edited and augmented by an instructor. A hypertext approach was used in writing the tutorials. Student can jump from any point in a tutorial to any other point simply by clicking buttons.
On Angle Feedback and Antenna Shuffling in Double Space-Time Transmit Diversity Systems

In this letter, we compare angle feedback and transmit antenna shuffling schemes for double space-time transmit diversity (DSTTD) systems with four transmit antennas and at least two receive antennas. We show that a DSTTD system with one bit of angle feedback does not provide better performance than the same system with one bit of transmit antenna shuffling. We also present a simplified general result about the selection of antenna shuffling matrix from six permutation matrices to facilitate our arguments. In simulation, we observe that antenna shuffling outperforms angle feedback in i.i.d. Rayleigh fading channels.
Effects of Psychotropic Drugs on Human Erection and Ejaculation

• Evidence concerning pharmacological effects on human sexuality suggests that dopaminergic receptor activation may be associated with penile erection. Erection also appears to involve inhibition of α-adrenergic influences and β-adrenergic stimulation plus the release of a noncholinergic vasodilator substance, possibly vasoactive intestinal peptide. Ejaculation appears to be mediated primarily by α-adrenergic fibers. Serotonergic neurotransmission may inhibit the ejaculatory reflex. An understanding of the neurobiological substrate of human sexuality may assist clinicians in choosing psychotropic agents with minimal adverse effects on sexual behavior and may also contribute to the development of pharmacological interventions for sexual difficulties.
The bi-mode branch predictor

Dynamic branch predictors are popular because they can deliver accurate branch prediction without changes to the instruction set architecture or pre-existing binaries. However, to achieve the desired prediction accuracy, existing dynamic branch predictors require considerable amounts of hardware to minimize the interference effects due to aliasing in the prediction tables. We propose a new dynamic predictor, the bi-mode predictor, which divides the prediction tables into two halves and, by dynamically determining the current "mode" of the program, selects the appropriate half of the table for prediction. This approach is shown to preserve the merits of global history based prediction while reducing destructive aliasing and, as a result, improving prediction accuracy. Moreover, it is simple enough that it does not impact a processor's cycle time. We conclude by conducting a comprehensive study into the mechanism underlying two-level dynamic predictors and investigate the criteria for their optimal designs. The analysis presented provides a general framework for studying branch predictors.
A pilot trial assessing the efficacy of paroxetine hydrochloride (Paxil®) in controlling hot flashes in breast cancer survivors

Summary Background: Many breast cancer survivors suffer debilitating hot flashes. Estrogen, the drug of choice in perimenopausal women, is generally not recommenced to breast cancer survivors. Nonhormonal treatments are mostly disappointing. Anecdotal reports in our institution suggested that the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine hydrochloride, might be efficacious in alleviating hot flashes. Patients and methods: Thirty women with prior breast cancer who were suffering at least two hot flashes a day entered a single institution pilot trial to evaluate paroxetine's efficacy in reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes. After completing daily diaries for one week on no therapy, the women received open-label paroxetine, 10 mg daily for one week, followed by four weeks of paroxetine, 20 mg daily. The women completed hot-flash daily diaries throughout the study period, and a health-related symptom-assessment questionnaire and a quality-of-life rating scale in the first and sixth week of the study. Results: Twenty-seven women completed the six-week study period. The mean reduction of hot flash frequency was 67% (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 56%-79%). The mean reduction in hot flash severity score was 75% (95% CI: 66%85%). There was a statistically significant improvement in depression, sleep, anxiety, and quality of life scores. Furthermore, 25 (83%) of the study participants chose to continue paroxetine therapy at the end of study. The most common adverse effect was somnolence, resulting in drug discontinuation in two women, and dose reduction in two women. One woman discontinued drug due to anxiety. Conclusions: Paroxetine hydrochloride is a promising new treatment for hot flashes in breast cancer survivors, and warrants further evaluation in a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial.
Women’s reproductive autonomy: medicalisation and beyond

Reproductive autonomy is central to women's welfare both because childbearing takes place in women's bodies and because they are generally expected to take primary responsibility for child rearing. In 2005, the factors that influence their autonomy most strongly are poverty and belief systems that devalue such autonomy. Unfortunately, such autonomy is a low priority for most societies, or is anathema to their belief systems altogether. This situation is doubly sad because women's reproductive autonomy is intrinsically valuable for women and also instrumentally valuable for the welfare of humankind. This paper takes for granted the moral and practical necessity of such autonomy and digs deeper into the question of what such a commitment might entail, focusing on the mid-level policy making that, at least in the US and Canada, plays a significant role in shaping women's options. This paper examines a large teaching hospital's policy on reduction of multifetal pregnancies. The policy permits reduction of triplets to twins, but not twins to a singleton. As there is no morally relevant difference between these two types of reduction, it is evident that inappropriate medicalisation can still limit women's autonomy in undesirable ways.
Enhanced Citizenship Verification and Children's Medicaid Coverage

This paper examines the impact of Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 mandated citizenship verification requirements on the Medicaid coverage of children using state administrative data from Georgia. Our analysis focuses on children enrolled in Medicaid prior to the reform in the eligibility category for which the reform is most likely to be binding. We find that these children were slightly more likely to exit during the first "high impact" recertification in which the enhanced citizenship verification was binding than children whose first recertification occurred just prior to the reform. In addition, we observe a slightly lower re-entry probability among children exiting during a "high impact" first recertification. Assuming at least some of the exiting children are non-citizens, the fact that the exit and re-entry rates associated with a "high impact" first recertification are only modestly different from other first recertification months suggests that the reform is probably not having a dramatic impact on citizens.
Directed Acyclic Graphs, Sufficient Causes, and the Properties of Conditioning on a Common Effect

In this paper, the authors incorporate sufficient-component causes into the directed acyclic graph (DAG) causal framework in order to make apparent several properties of conditioning on a common effect. By incorporating sufficient causes on a graph, it is possible to detect conditional independencies within strata of the conditioning variable which are not evident on DAGs without the representation of sufficient causes. It is also possible to determine the sign of the conditional covariance of two causes when conditioning on their common effect if some knowledge of the sufficient-cause mechanisms for the common effect is available. The incorporation of sufficient causes within the DAG framework also allows for the representation of interactions on DAGs and for the unification of several different causal frameworks. For illustration, the results are applied to an example concerning the familial coaggregation of two disorders.
DI-GRUBER: A Distributed Approach to Grid Resource Brokering

Managing usage service level agreements (USLAs) within environments that integrate participants and resources spanning multiple physical institutions is a challenging problem. Maintaining a single unified USLA management decision point over hundreds to thousands of jobs and sites can become a bottleneck in terms of reliability as well as performance. DIGRUBER, an extension to our GRUBER brokering framework, was developed as a distributed grid USLAbased resource broker that allows multiple decision points to coexist and cooperate in real-time. DIGRUBER addresses issues regarding how USLAs can be stored, retrieved, and disseminated efficiently in a large distributed environment. The key question this paper addresses is the scalability and performance of DI-GRUBER in large Grid environments. We conclude that as little as three to five decision points can be sufficient in an environment with 300 sites and 60 VOs, an environment ten times larger than todays Open Science Grid.
Advancing consumer behaviour theory in tourism via visual narrative art

This paper advances (i) propositions of consumer behaviour theory in tourism via storytelling theory and (ii) skills in decoding elements and subtle details that appear in ‘good stories’ versus not-so-good stories within travel contexts. The present paper presents a set of iconic story symbols for use in decoding stories and shows how to use these tools for decoding tourism-related narratives. Practice using these visual iconic symbols in decoding stories achieves effective storytelling learning via cognitive sculpting; that is, learning improves from moving and arranging (sculpting) potentially three-dimensional story or electronically movable icons while talking or writing narratives. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Performance evaluation of router switching fabrics

Switching fabrics with distributed control for scalable routers have been proposed recently. Such a fabric consists of small routing units (RU's) interconnected by multistage-based connecting components (CC's) according to grid structures, thereby referred to as a grid-oriented, Multistage-connected RU's, dubbed GMR, and is a direct interconnect with distributed routing. Performance of GMR is evaluated analytically and by simulation, with the packet mean latency being a key performance measure of interest. Under simplified assumptions and uniform traffic distributions, our analytic results are found to be very close to the simulation results (usually within 3% of each other) for a wide range of sizes, providing confidence to our simulation tool. Our simulation study demonstrates that GMR can deliver packets to their destination ports effectively in practical settings even when many ports run at a high-speed rate of 40 Gbps and non-uniform traffic exists. GMR is readily applicable to scalable routers with large numbers of high-speed ports.
Constructing Large Set Systems with Given Intersection Sizes Modulo Composite Numbers

We consider k-uniform set systems over a universe of size n such that the size of each pairwise intersection of sets lies in one of s residue classes mod q, but k does not lie in any of these s classes. A celebrated theorem of Frankl and Wilson [8] states that any such set system has size at most (ns) when q is prime. In a remarkable recent paper, Grolmusz [9] constructed set systems of superpolynomial size Ω(exp(c log2 n/log log n)) when q = 6. We give a new, simpler construction achieving a slightly improved bound. Our construction combines a technique of Frankl [6] of applying polynomials to set systems with Grolmusz's idea of employing polynomials introduced by Barrington, Beigel and Rudich [5]. We also extend Frankl's original argument to arbitrary prime-power moduli: for any e > 0, we construct systems of size ns+g(s), where g(s) = Ω(s1−E). Our work overlaps with a very recent technical report by Grolmusz [10].
Extracorporeal life support after heart or lung transplantation

Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has been used in 10 patients after heart (5 patients), lung (3 patients), and heart-lung (2 patients) transplantation. The age range was 7 months to 55 years. Cardiopulmonary failure leading to institution of ECLS was due to acute postoperative organ malfunction in 4 patients (2 survived), subacute organ malfunction in 3 patients (none survived), and late rejection or infection in 3 patients (2 survived). Neurologic complications occurred in 3 patients (1 survived) and bleeding, in 5 patients (2 survived). Six patients (60%) were successfully weaned from ECLS, and 4 (40%) survived to leave the hospital. Survival was associated with younger age, shorter duration of ECLS, and longer interval from operation to initiation of ECLS but not to reason for initiating ECLS. Extracorporeal life support is feasible for sustaining both adults and children after heart, lung, or heart-lung transplantation. Best results were obtained in patients with conditions that, in retrospect, were treatable and reversible within days. More experience is needed to predict preoperatively which patients will benefit most from ECLS.
FleXilicon Architecture and Its VLSI Implementation

In this paper, we present a new coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture called FleXilicon for multimedia and wireless communications, which improves resource utilization and achieves a high degree of loop level parallelism (LLP). The proposed architecture mitigates major shortcomings with existing architectures through wider memory bandwidth, reconfigurable controller, and flexible word-length support. VLSI implementation of FleXilicon indicates that the proposed pipeline architecture can achieve a high speed operation up to 1 GHz using 65-nm SOI CMOS process with moderate silicon area. To estimate the performance of FleXilicon, we modeled the processor in SystemC and implemented five different types of applications commonly used in wireless communications and multimedia applications and compared its performance with an ARM processor and a TI digital signal processor. The simulation results indicate that FleXilicon reduces the number of clock cycles and increases the speed for all five applications. The reduction and speedup ratios are as large as two orders of magnitude for some applications.
Fast track matching and event detection

This paper addresses the problems of track stitching and dynamic event detection in a sequence of frames. The input data consists of tracks, possibly fragmented due to occlusion, belonging to multiple targets. The goals are to (i) establish track identity across occlusion, and (ii) detect points where the motion of these targets undergo substantial changes. The main result of the paper is a simple, computationally inexpensive approach that achieves these goals in a unified way. Given a continuous track, the main idea is to detect changes in the dynamics by parsing it into segments according to the complexity of the model required to explain the observed data. Intuitively, changes in this complexity correspond to points where the dynamics change. Since the problem of estimating the complexity of the underlying model can be reduced to estimating the rank of a matrix constructed from the observed data, these changes can be found with a simple algorithm, computationally no more expensive that a sequence of SVDs. Proceeding along the same lines, fragmented tracks corresponding to multiple targets can be linked by searching for sets corresponding to minimal complexity joint models. As we show in the paper, this problem can be reduced to a semi-definite optimization and efficiently solved with commonly available software.
Near Optimal Common Detection Techniques for Shaped Offset QPSK and Feher's QPSK

A detector architecture capable of detecting both shaped offset quadrature phase shift keying (SOQPSK-TG) and Feher's quadrature phase shift keying (FQPSK-JR) is developed and analyzed. Both modulations are embodied as fully interoperable modulations in the Interrange Instrumentation Group (IRIG) standard IRIG-106. It is shown that the common detector achieves near optimal bit error rate performance without knowledge of which modulation is used by the transmitter. The detection techniques are based on a common trellis-coded modulation representation and a common continuous phase modulation (CPM) representation for these two modulations. In addition the common pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) decomposition of the common CPM representation is developed. The common PAM-based detector offers the best performance- complexity trade-off among the detectors considered.