cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Developmental relationships between language and theory of mind.

Purpose This tutorial is intended to inform readers about the development of theory of mind (understanding of mental states) and to discuss relationships between theory of mind and language development. Method A narrative review of selected literature on language and theory of mind is presented. Theory of mind is defined, and commonly used measures of theory of mind are described. Developmental relationships between language and theory of mind in typical and atypical populations are discussed. Literature-based suggestions for clinical assessment and intervention are provided, using a hypothetical case study. Conclusions The article serves as an introduction to current research about language and theory of mind, and emphasizes their interdependence in development. Implications of the relationships between theory of mind and language development for language assessment and intervention are discussed, and an argument is made that taking theory of mind into account will help clinicians enhance children’s comm...
High Performance Vanadium Oxide Thin Film Electrodes for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) was used to prepare vanadium oxide thin films as cathodes for rechargeable lithium batteries. The reactants consisted of a high vapor pressure liquid source of vanadium (VOCl{sub 3}) and hydrogen and oxygen gas. Deposition parameters such as the flow rates of H{sub 2}, O{sub 2} and VOCl{sub 3}, the substrate temperature and the Rf power were optimized, and high deposition rate of 11 {angstrom}/s was obtained. Vanadium oxide films with high discharge capacities of up to 408 mAh/g were prepared. The films also showed a superior cycling stability between 4 and 1.5 V at a C/0.2 rate for more than 4,400 cycles. The films were amorphous up to a deposition temperature of 300 C, however, deposition on to substrates with textured surfaces facilitated the formation of crystalline films. The authors demonstrate that both the vanadium oxide material and the PECVD deposition method are very attractive for constructing thin-film rechargeable lithium batteries with high capacity and long-term cyclic stability.
Comparative analyses of gene copy number and mRNA expression in glioblastoma multiforme tumors and xenografts

Development of model systems that recapitulate the molecular heterogeneity observed among glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors will expedite the testing of targeted molecular therapeutic strategies for GBM treatment. In this study, we profiled DNA copy number and mRNA expression in 21 independent GBM tumor lines maintained as subcutaneous xenografts (GBMX), and compared GBMX molecular signatures to those observed in GBM clinical specimens derived from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The predominant copy number signature in both tumor groups was defined by chromosome-7 gain/chromosome-10 loss, a poor-prognosis genetic signature. We also observed, at frequencies similar to that detected in TCGA GBM tumors, genomic amplification and overexpression of known GBM oncogenes, such as EGFR, MDM2, CDK6, and MYCN, and novel genes, including NUP107, SLC35E3, MMP1, MMP13, and DDX1. The transcriptional signature of GBMX tumors, which was stable over multiple subcutaneous passages, was defined by overexpression of genes involved in M phase, DNA replication, and chromosome organization (MRC) and was highly similar to the poor-prognosis mitosis and cell-cycle module (MCM) in GBM. Assessment of gene expression in TCGA-derived GBMs revealed overexpression of MRC cancer genes AURKB, BIRC5, CCNB1, CCNB2, CDC2, CDK2, and FOXM1, which form a transcriptional network important for G2/M progression and/or checkpoint activation. Our study supports propagation of GBM tumors as subcutaneous xenografts as a useful approach for sustaining key molecular characteristics of patient tumors, and highlights therapeutic opportunities conferred by this GBMX tumor panel for testing targeted therapeutic strategies for GBM treatment.
Mid-Holocene Orbital Forcing of Regional-Scale Climate: A Case Study of Western North America Using a High-Resolution RCM

Abstract Within the context of anthropogenic climate change, paleoclimate modeling has become a key technique for studying climate system responses to changes in external forcing. Of current interest is the response of regional-scale climate to global-scale changes in climate forcing, a problem made particularly difficult in regions of topographic complexity. In an effort to understand the role that regional-scale climate processes play in shaping the response of regional climate to changes in external forcing, the sensitivity of a high-resolution regional climate model (RCM) to mid-Holocene orbital forcing was tested, focusing on the Pacific coast region of the western United States as a case study. Mid-Holocene orbital forcing resulted in RCM-simulated summer warming of 1°–2.5°C over most of the western United States. This result is in strong agreement with proxy reconstructions, suggesting that regional mid-Holocene temperature change can be explained by direct orbital forcing alone, independent of cli...
Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in non-ICU Inpatient Wards: A 2-year Analysis

Objective Little is known about patient-specific factors contributing to central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) outside of the intensive care unit (ICU). We sought to describe these factors and hypothesized that dialysis patients would comprise a significant proportion of this cohort. Design Retrospective observational study from January 2010 to December 2011. Setting An 880-bed tertiary teaching hospital. Patients Patients with CLABSI in non-ICU wards. Methods CLABSI patients were identified from existing infection-control databases and primary chart review was conducted. National Health and Safety Network (NHSN) definitions were utilized for CLABSI and pathogen classification. CLABSI rates were calculated per patient day. Total mortality rates were inclusive of hospice patients. Results Over a 2-year period, 104 patients incurred 113 CLABSIs for an infection rate of 0.35 per 1,000 patient days. The mean length of hospital stay prior to CLABSI was 16±13.3 days, which was nearly 3 times that of hospital-wide non-ICU length of stay. Only 11 patients (10.6%) received dialysis within 48 hours of CLABSI. However, 67% of patients had a hematologic malignancy, and 91.8% of those admitted with a malignant hematologic diagnosis were neutropenic at the time of CLABSI. Enterococcus spp. was the most common organism recovered, and half of all central venous catheters (CVCs) present were peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC lines). Mortality rates were 18.3% overall and 27.3% among dialysis patients. Conclusions In patients with CLABSIs outside of the ICU, only 10.6% received dialysis prior to infection. However, underlying hematologic malignancy, neutropenia, and PICC lines were highly prevalent in this population.
To Be With Them: A Hospital Chaplain's Reflection of the Bedside Ministry to Terminally III and Dying People

The author, an ordained Lutheran pastor, reflects upon his experiences as chaplain at a small hospital in southwestern Germany (Tropenklinik – Paul Lecher Krankenhaus, Tubingen). Besides its expertise in the treatment of tropical diseases this 100+ bed hospital serves as the referral hospital for terminally ill and dying patients from the local University hospitals and the surrounding area. The experiences at the bedside of such patients with various denominational and religious backgrounds challenged the chaplain to go beyond the confines of any fixed theological system or counseling technique. They made him to discover three essentials as the very basis of such ministry, which he shares in this article. He identifies these as (1) the necessity to realize the situation sober mindedly, (2) the desire to become a companion, and (3) the venture of confident faith, where holding on to any genuine perspective of life is deemed ridiculous.
Entropy of expansive flows

Let h(φ) be the topological entropy of a real continuous flow φ on a compact metric space X. Introducing an equivalent definition for the topological entropy on an expansive real flow enables us to investigate the topological entropies of mutually conjugate expansive flows and estimate the periodic orbits of an expansive flow which has the pseudo-orbit tracing property.
Synthesis of Pyrroloquinones via a CAN Mediated Oxidative Free Radical Reaction of 1,3-Dicarbonyl Compounds with Aminoquinones

Pyrroloquinone ring systems are important structural units present in many biologically active molecules including a number of marine alkaloids. For example, they are found in a series of marine metabolites, such as tsitsikammamines, zyzzyanones, wakayin, and terreusinone. Several of these alkaloids have exhibited antimicrobial, antimalarial, antifungal, antitumor, and photoprotecting activities. Synthesis of pyrroloquinone unit is the key step in the synthesis of many of these important organic molecules. Here, we present a ceric (IV) ammonium nitrate (CAN) mediated oxidative free radical cyclization reaction of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds with aminoquinones as a facile methodology for making various substituted pyrroloquinones. 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds used in this study are ethyl acetoacetate, acetylacetone, benzoyl acetone, and N,N-dimethyl acetoacetamide. The aminoquinones used in this study are 2-(benzylamino)naphthalene-1,4-dione and 6-(benzylamino)-1-tosyl-1H-indole-4,7-dione. The yields of the synthesized pyrroloquinones ranged from 23–91%.
Ultrahigh resolution characterization of domain motions and correlations by multialignment and multireference residual dipolar coupling NMR.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) provide a unique opportunity for spatially characterizing complex motions in biomolecules with time scale sensitivity extending up to milliseconds. Up to five motionally averaged Wigner rotation elements, ⟨D0k2(αβ)⟩, can be determined experimentally using RDCs measured in five linearly independent alignment conditions and applied to define motions of axially symmetric bond vectors. Here, we show that up to 25 motionally averaged Wigner rotation elements, ⟨Dmk2(αβγ)⟩, can be determined experimentally from multialignment RDCs and used to characterize rigid-body motions of chiral domains. The 25 ⟨Dmk2(αβγ)⟩ elements form a basis set that allows one to measure motions of a domain relative to an isotropic distribution of reference frames anchored on a second domain (and vice versa), thus expanding the 3D spatial resolution with which motions can be characterized. The 25 ⟨Dmk2(αβγ)⟩ elements can also be used to fit an ensemble consisting of up t...
Wheat and Maize Price Policies in Hungary: Tradeoffs between Foreign Exchange and Government Revenue

Braverman, A., Hammer, J.S. and Morduch, J.J., 1987. Wheat and maizeprice policies in Hungary: tradeoffs between foreign exchange and government revenue. Agric. Econ., 1: 273-290. This paper reports on a methodology designed to examine the effects of selected agricultural policies in Hungary. The purpose of the paper is twofold. The first is to explain the methodology, dubbed multi-market analysis in previous work, which is implemented on personal computers to support discussions on policy reforms.
A SIMPLE SYNTHESIS OF 4-CYCLOHEXENE-1,2-cis-DIOL AND ITS USE AS THE PRECURSOR OF A FUNCTIONALIZED CYCLOHEXENONE SYNTHON

(1977). A SIMPLE SYNTHESIS OF 4-CYCLOHEXENE-1,2-cis-DIOL AND ITS USE AS THE PRECURSOR OF A FUNCTIONALIZED CYCLOHEXENONE SYNTHON. Organic Preparations and Procedures International: Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 285-288.
Heterogeneity of a Fluorescent Tegument Component in Single Pseudorabies Virus Virions and Enveloped Axonal Assemblies

The molecular mechanisms responsible for long-distance, directional spread of alphaherpesvirus infections via axons of infected neurons are poorly understood. We describe the use of red and green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions to capsid and tegument components, respectively, to visualize purified, single extracellular virions and axonal assemblies after pseudorabies virus (PRV) infection of cultured neurons. We observed heterogeneity in GFP fluorescence when GFP was fused to the tegument component VP22 in both single extracellular virions and discrete puncta in infected axons. This heterogeneity was observed in the presence or absence of a capsid structure detected by a fusion of monomeric red fluorescent protein to VP26. The similarity of the heterogeneous distribution of these fluorescent protein fusions in both purified virions and in axons suggested that tegument-capsid assembly and axonal targeting of viral components are linked. One possibility was that the assembly of extracellular and axonal particles containing the dually fluorescent fusion proteins occurred by the same process in the cell body. We tested this hypothesis by treating infected cultured neurons with brefeldin A, a potent inhibitor of herpesvirus maturation and secretion. Brefeldin A treatment disrupted the neuronal secretory pathway, affected fluorescent capsid and tegument transport in the cell body, and blocked subsequent entry into axons of capsid and tegument proteins. Electron microscopy demonstrated that in the absence of brefeldin A treatment, enveloped capsids entered axons, but in the presence of the inhibitor, unenveloped capsids accumulated in the cell body. These results support an assembly process in which PRV capsids acquire a membrane in the cell body prior to axonal entry and subsequent transport.
A DHT-based Infrastructure for Content-based Publish/Subscribe Services

Publish/subscribe model has become a prevalent paradigm for building distributed event delivering systems. Content-based publish/subscribe allows high expresses in subscriptions and thus is more appropriate for content dissemination. However, the scalability has remained a challenge in the design of distributed content-based publish/subscribe systems due to the expensive matching and delivering cost of content-based events. In this paper we propose an infrastructure built on top of distributed hash table for efficient content-based data distribution. Based on efficient subscription installation, event publication and event delivery mechanisms, the proposed infrastructure can simultaneously support any numbers of pub/sub schemas with different number of attributes. There are three key features in our design: (1) a locality-preserving hashing mechanism which partitions and maps the content space to nodes. Subscriptions and events are mapped to the corresponding node for efficiently matching; (2) an efficient event delivery algorithm which exploits the embedded trees in the underlying DHT to deliver events to the corresponding subscribers; (3) light-weighted load balancing mechanisms to adjust the load among peers and ensure that no peer is unduly loaded.
Sparse patch-guided deformation estimation for improved image registration

This paper presents a novel patch-guided initial deformation estimation framework for improving performance of the existing registration algorithms. It is challenging for the registration algorithm to directly align two images with large anatomical shape difference, when no good initial deformation is provided. Inspired by the patch-based multi-atlases segmentation method, we propose to estimate the initial deformation between two images (under registration) in a patch-by-patch fashion. Specifically, after obtaining the sparse representation for each local patch in the subject by using the training patches in the over-complete dictionary that include both patches and their associated deformations from the training images, the initial deformation for each local subject patch can be predicted by those estimated sparse coefficients. More specifically, after registering all training images to the template in the training stage, the following three steps can be used to register any given subject image. First, for each key point in the subject, we can construct a coupled dictionary from the nearby patches in the training images and their associated deformations, and can then use this dictionary to seek for sparse representation of the respective subject patch. The estimated sparse coefficients can be used to fuse the associated deformations in the dictionary, for estimating the initial deformation for the respective subject key point. Second, after estimating the initial deformations on a small number of key points in the subject, thin-plate spline (TPS) can be applied to interpolating the dense deformation field. Finally, we can apply any existing deformable registration method (with reasonable performance) to estimate the remaining deformation from the template to subject. Experimental results on both simulated and real data show that our patch-guided deformation estimation framework can allow for more accurate registration than the direct use of the original methods for registration.
India for the Working Classes: The Maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge

This paper examines the maps of India published under the supervision of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) during the 183os and 1840s.1 The Society was established in London in late 1826 to educate poor adults and the working classes in a variety of intellectual and practical subjects. It published an encyclopaedia, a magazine and a series of monographs, including a book on The Hindoos. But it also published, in instalments, an atlas that featured India in twelve sheets together with a detailed map of Calcutta. The maps were first issued in the 183os and reissued a decade later. The India maps of the SDUK are the first multi-sheet maps that were sold explicitly for non-elite British audiences and, as such, are of great interest. Moreover, they were among the most detailed, well-drawn maps generally available, and were sometimes eagerly sought-after. A close examination of the maps - their symbols, names, regions and perspectives - reveals how the Company's Indian empire was depicted, described, taught and made 'useful' to the working classes. The SDUK map project was more than a geography lesson. As J. B. Harley has reminded us, maps are not mirrors of topography, but cultural texts, or re-descriptions of the social and political world. Embedded in their signs are clues as to how the map maker viewed the world -what he felt was important, what priorities he established, what
Isolation and characterization of viruses from fetal calf serum.

Ten lots of specially procured fetal calf serum collected under sterile conditions and not filtered and 16 lots of commercial fetal calf serum were tested for both human and bovine viral contamination. The presence of viruses was evaluated by observing for cytopathogenic effect (CPE), hemadsorption with guinea pig erythrocytes, and interference with cytopathogenic challenge viruses in both embryonic bovine trachea (EBTr) and human diploid lung (HDL) cells.
Inflammation-mediated cytosine damage: A mechanistic link between inflammation and the epigenetic alterations in human cancers

Aberrant methylation patterns have long been known to exist in the promoter regions of key regulatory genes in the DNA of tumor cells. However, the mechanisms by which these methylation patterns become altered during the transformation of normal cells to tumor cells have remained elusive. We have recently shown in in vitro studies that inflammation-mediated halogenated cytosine damage products can mimic 5-methylcytosine in directing enzymatic DNA methylation and in enhancing the binding of methyl-binding proteins whereas certain oxidative damage products inhibit both. We have therefore proposed that cytosine damage products could potentially interfere with normal epigenetic control by altering DNA-protein interactions critical for gene regulation and the heritable transmission of methylation patterns. These inflammation-mediated cytosine damage products may provide, in some cases, a mechanistic link between inflammation and cancer.
A generalized framework for providing QoS based registry in service oriented architecture

This paper provides a generalized approach for building a QoS based registry for service oriented architecture. This framework enhances the current universal description, discovery and integration (UDDI) standard in order to achieve better search efficiency and improved quality of search based on user specified QoS parameters. The proposed model does not require any changes or modification to the current UDDI standard but provides a middleware repository that is used to store a valid subset of the UDDI data with QoS specifications. The proposed framework is expandable to include additional quality of service parameters depending on the application. The implementation of this framework illustrates the effectiveness of our proposed QoS based registry.
In Vivo Imaging of Ca2+, pH, and Reactive Oxygen Species Using Fluorescent Probes in Plants

Changes in the levels of Ca2+, pH, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are recognized as key cellular regulators involved in diverse physiological and developmental processes in plants. Critical to understanding how they exert such widespread control is an appreciation of their spatial and temporal dynamics at levels from organ to organelle and from seconds to many hours. With appropriate controls, fluorescent sensors can provide a robust approach with which to quantify such changes in Ca2+, pH, and ROS in real time, in vivo. The fluorescent cellular probes available for visualization split into two broad classes: (a) dyes and (b) an increasingly diverse set of genetically encoded sensors based around green fluorescent proteins (GFPs). The GFP probes in particular can be targeted to well-defined subcellular locales, offering the possibility of high-resolution mapping of these signals within the cell.
Cluster-extent based thresholding in fMRI analyses: Pitfalls and recommendations

article i nfo Article history: Accepted 30 December 2013 Available online xxxx Cluster-extent based thresholding is currently the most popular method for multiple comparisons correction of statistical maps in neuroimaging studies, due to its high sensitivity to weak and diffuse signals. However, cluster- extent based thresholding provides low spatial specificity; researchers can only infer that there is signal somewhere within a significant cluster and cannot make inferences about the statistical significance of specifi cl ocations within the cluster. This poses a particular problem when one uses a liberal cluster-defining primary threshold (i.e., higher p-values), which often produces large clusters spanning multiple anatomical regions. In such cases,itisimpossibletoreliably infer which anatomicalregionsshowtrue effects.Froma survey of 814 function- al magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies published in 2010 and 2011, we show that the use of liberal pri- mary thresholds (e.g., p b .01) is endemic, and that the largest determinant of the primary threshold level is the default option in the software used. We illustrate the problems with liberal primary thresholds using an fMRI dataset from our laboratory (N = 33), and present simulations demonstrating the detrimental effects of liberal primary thresholds on false positives, localization, and interpretation of fMRI findings. To avoid these pitfalls, we recommend several analysis and reporting procedures, including 1) setting primary p b .001 as a default lower limit; 2) using more stringent primary thresholds or voxel-wise correction methods for highly powered studies; and 3) adopting reporting practices that make the level of spatial precision transparent to readers. We also sug- gest alternative and supplementary analysis methods.
Characterizing Structural Ensembles of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Determined via a Broad Ensemble Generator with Reweighting

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are abundant in nature and play important roles in many cellular processes. Developing a description of structural ensembles for IDPs is essential for understanding their function. In this study we introduce a broad ensemble generator with reweighting (BEGR) approach to determine all-atom structural ensembles for the transactivation domain p53TAD of the p53 protein. This approach uses computer simulation to generate a large pool of candidate structures that are then reweighted to best fit experimental data. The p53TAD is an IDP that is involved in cellular signal transduction, genome re-generation, regulation of both cellular division and cellular death. Results from our study show that while independent BEGR ensembles do not appear to be structurally similar, one can calculate features that are persistent between ensembles. These findings suggests that the persistent features have biological significance, and that one should gauge the quality of the ensembles based on the ability to reproduce these features.
Taking a cue from big business: strategies for optimizing pediatric recruitment.

T o paraphrase Mark Twain, the report of the death of primary care specialties is an exaggeration. But, like all exaggerations, truths are told and there are lessons to be learned. Between 1997 and 2006, the percentage of US medical school graduates entering primary care specialties did decrease. Pediatrics did not escape this epidemic. Although the past 3 years have seen a significant resurgence of students matching in pediatrics, the prospect of a ‘‘near-death experience’’ of our specialty warrants a period of reflection on how to improve its vitality. The long-term health of pediatrics is dependent upon our ability to recruit students into the profession. In fact, we do not want just any students: we must continue to seek out actively the most exceptional candidates to serve the children of tomorrow. Recruiting in any successful business venture takes substantial effort. Historically, pediatrics has relied on its altruistic nature to entice idealistic medical students. This is an incredibly passive approach to healthy and sustainable recruitment. We can no longer wait for students to discover us or to choose us based on the good deeds we do or the satisfaction we derive from serving children. It is time for pediatrics to emerge from its dependency on the good will of others and start behaving more like a Fortune 500 company that is competing to capture recruits from the finest institutions of learning. To be successful, we need to be innovative about our business practices and sales efforts by borrowing from the triumphs realized in the corporate boardroom. We have, therefore, drawn from the expertise of corporate recruiting firms to create a model that optimizes the recruitment of medical students into pediatrics. By Creating a Corporate Brand, Becoming Competitive, and Creating a Pipeline we will become recruitment leaders in medicine, thereby ensuring the development of future physician leaders in pediatrics.
Wireless gas sensors for industrial life safety

Gas detection in industrial plants has mostly consisted of detectors worn by personnel or detectors placed in certain locations. The readings from these sensors were available to the personnel only. With wireless gas sensing, the readings from a particular gas sensor can be shared throughout the plant and with the control room operators. Such wireless connectivity for mobile sensing devices requires a robust two-tier architecture, which is presented in this chapter. In addition, the wireless architecture provides a means for quickly determining the location at which a particular gas sensor reading was taken. This location calculation is made possible via RSSI-based multilateration within the wireless two-tier architecture. Finally, some interesting new use cases for location-aware gas sensing systems are discussed.
The Role of Input-Output Models in Regional Impact Analysis

“Impact analysis” is the most frequently suggested use of regional input-output models. This paper outlines approaches to impact analysis used in two studies with which the author has been involved: the Georgia input-output study, and a study of the impact of the Montreal Expos.1 The paper has four parts: an outline of a simple regional model, to establish a starting point; a review of the place of structural change in input-output analysis; a discussion of the development-simulation technique used in Georgia; and, finally, an illustration of impact analysis in Montreal.
The allocation of attentional resources in a dynamic environment

Three experiments are reported in which subjects performed a primary task, whose difficulty varied quasi-randomly over time, concurrently with a secondary task, whose difficulty remained constant. Three models of resource allocation were described which varied in the degree of optimality with which operators can mobilize resources in response to the demand changes. These are quantified by linear time-series analysis. In experiment 1 employing two tracking tasks, allocation behavior was non-optimal, but indicated a trend toward optimality with practice. In experiment 2 when tracking difficulty was varied concurrently with a dynamic system monitoring task, behavior was somewhat optimal. In experiment 3 which again paired tracking and monitoring, but varied monitoring task demand, resource allocation was extremely non-optimal. Some reasons for this departure from optimality are considered. Language: en
Multi-Object Classification via Crowdsourcing With a Reject Option

Consider designing an effective crowdsourcing system for $M$ -ary classification where crowd workers complete simple binary microtasks, which are aggregated to give the final result. We consider the novel scenario where workers have a reject option, so they may skip microtasks they are unable or unwilling to do. For example, in mismatched speech transcription, workers who do not know the language may be unable to respond to microtasks in phonological dimensions outside their categorical perception. We present an aggregation approach using a weighted majority voting rule, where each worker's response is assigned an optimized weight to maximize the crowd's classification performance. We evaluate system performance in both exact and asymptotic forms. Furthermore, we consider the setting where there may be a set of greedy workers that complete microtasks even when they are unable to perform it reliably. We consider an oblivious and an expurgation strategy to deal with greedy workers, developing an algorithm to adaptively switch between the two based on the estimated fraction of greedy workers in the anonymous crowd. Simulation results show improved performance compared with conventional majority voting.
Evaluation of levels of plumbic pollution near Highway using phanerogamic and cryptogamic species in the city of Annaba (Algeria)

Nowadays, a serious problem emerged in the natural environments of many countries: they are increasingly subjected to a large number of air pollution: industrial pollution, pollution related to agriculture, but also pollution related to transport. The pollution of lead has constantly evolved over time, due to the considerable increase in the number of vehicles on the market. Our work is based primarily on the use of plants as bio indicator of air pollution in the region of Annaba. The evaluation of the pollution levels near the main roads is a complex exercise, given the many factors to consider at this scale. To do this, we chose three locations on three main roads Greater Annaba: ((RN 44): Annaba - El Kala; (RN 16): Annaba - El Hadjar; (RN 44): Annaba - Skikda), plants used are: phanerogamic namely species (Fraxinus angustifolia, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, and Eriobotrya japonica) and a cryptogamic species (a lichen (Ramalina farinacea)). An appropriate sampling strategy, a spatio-temporal monitoring, a counting vehicle at our study sites and measurements of physiological parameters combined with the determination of lead allowed us to assess not only the state of the air quality but also the impact of this pollution on the environment caused by a heavy traffic in the area. Keyword: Pollution, lead, bio indication, bioaccumulation, road traffic, Annaba, Algeria.
Nondestructive Evaluation of Thin Film Microstructures by Picosecond Ultrasonics

We describe a technique by which ultrasonic measurements can be made in the picosecond time domain. A light pulse (duration of the order of 0.1 psec) is absorbed at a surface, thereby setting up an elastic stress. This stress launches an elastic pulse into the interior. The propagation of this strain, including its reflection at interfaces within a microstructure, is monitored through measurements of the time-dependent changes of the optical reflectivity. These measurements are made using a time-delayed probe pulse. In these experiments the spatial length of the elastic pulses can be as short as 50 A. We can therefore use this technique to perform a nondestructive ultrasonic evaluation of thin-film microstructures. We describe here results we have obtained which demonstrate the application of the method to the study of the mechanical properties of thin films, the geometry of microstructures, and the quality of bonding at interfaces.
Effect of Changes in Sodium Intake on Atrial Natriuretic Factor (ANF) and Peptides Derived from the N Terminus of the ANF Prohormone in the Rat

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether variations in salt intake would alter the plasma concentrations of atrial natriuretic factor and the N-terminal atrial natriuretic factor prohormone peptides proANF 1-98 and proANF 31-67. Two groups of rats were placed on different salt intakes for 1 week. The low salt group of rats was fed a diet providing less than 0.1 mM NaCl/day and given deionized water to drink. The normal salt group of rats was fed regular rat chow with deionized water to drink, providing them with approximately 2 mM NaCl/day. Plasma atrial natriuretic factor was 204 +/- 60 pg/ml (mean +/- SE) in normal salt rats and was significantly lower in the low salt group (44 +/- 13 pg/ml, P less than 0.01). ProANF 1-98 was also significantly higher in the normal salt group (635 +/- 47 pg/ml) compared with the low salt group (353 +/- 33 pg/ml, P less than 0.01). ProANF 31-67 was 123 +/- 21 pg/ml in the normal salt group and 59 +/- 12 pg/ml in the low salt group (P less than 0.05). Plasma renin activity in ng angiotensin l/ml/hr averaged 1.80 +/- 0.15 in the normal salt group of rats and was significantly higher in the low salt group of rats (5.66 +/- 1.07, P less than 0.05). These results suggest that atrial natriuretic factor and the atrial natriuretic factor prohormones may play a role in the physiological adjustments to low salt intake.
Active control of vortex-driven oscillations in a solid rocket motor using a cold-flow simulation

The Aerospace Corporation has been conducting an experimental program on active control of vortexdriven instabilities in a solid rocket motor (SRM). This type of low-frequency combustion instability is due to the coupling between an internal vortex shedding frequency and a ‘natural acoustic frequency of the motor. Experiments using a new cold-flow simulation are underway. The 3-dimensional, Plexiglas model uses air as the primary fluid and has both a choked inlet and a choked exit flow to simulate the closed-end acoustics of a SRM. Two orhfice plates are responsible for the vortex shedding and impingement. The cold-flow facility produces fixed-frequency, vortex-driven pressure oscillations near the 3’d axial (closed-closed cavity) acoustic mode near 600 Hz and the I” axial mode at about 200 Hz. Frequency tracks similar to ones seen in actual hot-fire motors were demonstrated using a variable-area nozzle. The time-dependent exit area results in a changing internal Mach number and, hence. a timedependent vortex shedding frequency. This frequency changes continuously from 635 to 550 Hz and then jumps to another track and changes continuously from 270 to 250 Hz over a 7-second time period. A simplifted model of the chamber pressure response to the secondary-injection active control technique is also presented.
Mutations in the Substrate Binding Glycine-Rich Loop of the Mitochondrial Processing Peptidase-α Protein (PMPCA) Cause a Severe Mitochondrial Disease

We describe a large Lebanese family with two affected members, a young female proband and her male cousin, who had multisystem involvement including profound global developmental delay, severe hypotonia and weakness, respiratory insufficiency, blindness, and lactic acidemia-findings consistent with an underlying mitochondrial disorder. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on DNA from the proband and both parents. The proband and her cousin carried compound heterozygous mutations in the PMPCA gene that encodes for α-mitochondrial processing peptidase (α-MPP), a protein likely involved in the processing of mitochondrial proteins. The variants were located close to and postulated to affect the substrate binding glycine-rich loop of the α-MPP protein. Functional assays including immunofluorescence and western blot analysis on patient's fibroblasts revealed that these variants reduced α-MPP levels and impaired frataxin production and processing. We further determined that those defects could be rescued through the expression of exogenous wild-type PMPCA cDNA. Our findings link defective α-MPP protein to a severe mitochondrial disease.
Intermittent total fasts and obesity; indications, results and preventable hazards.

Intermittent fasting can be an effective temporary therapeutic measure in obesity refractory to conventional methods of weight reduction. The patient is hospitalized for the initial 7 to 14 day period of total fasting. Then a low-calorie diet is allowed and the patient fasts on one day of each week. Later the periods between fasts are extended to two weeks and a month. Preliminary observations based on a series of 890 patients are presented. About half of the patients have continued to progress favorably in their weight reduction program since the initial fast and indoctrination.
Surveillance of Epidemic Hemorrhagic Fever in Lulong County of Hebei Province during 1988 -2009

[Objective]To understand the epidemiological features and epidemiological factors of epidemic hemorrhagic fever( EHF) in Lulong County of Hebei Province,and provide scientific evidence for prevention and control of it.[Methods]Epidemiological survey method was adopted to perform investigation,indirect fluorescent antibody test ( IFAT) antigen was used to detect EHF for monitoring of virus carrying status of rats. Night rat clip method was used for rat density investigation.[Results]EHF characteristics: EHF cases appeared in each month,the peak incidence appeared in March - May; the onset age was 2 ～ 76 years,the most aged 30-49 years; natural infection rate was 6% ; rat density was 3. 32% ; rate of carrying virus in rats was 10. 55% .[Conclusion]The launch of anti-rodent activities and vaccination are the effective prevention and control measures for EHF.
Epidemiological analysis on 57 public health emergency events in Hefei City

Objective The study was conducted to analyze the epidemiological features of public health emergencies in Hefei,and provide scientific evidence for prevention and control of public health emergencies.Methods Descriptive epidemiological study were adopted to analyze the reported public health emergencies from 2005 to 2007 in Hefei City by the national information systerm of public health emergency reporting.Result Infection diseases and occupational poisongings were the most common cases of public health emergency,which accounted for 59.65% and 22.81% of the total number of incidents;the peak time and area had difference in different types of events;the time from event occurred to reported was related to the type and source of incident.Conclusion The emergency preparation based on various incidents,timely reporting by concerned units and the diagnosis capability of medical institutions were the foundation of early detection of public health emergency.
The University Association for Emergency Medical Services: History and Perspective

The UA/EMS has as its primary objective improving the quality and delivery of care to the acutely ill and injured through educational programs centered in teaching hospitals.
The Alfalfa Yield Gap: A Review of the Evidence

Knowledge of feasibly attainable crop yields is needed for many purposes, from field-scale management to national policy decisions. For alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), the most widely used estimates of yield in the US are whole-farm reports from the National Agriculture Statistics Service, which are based on the farmer’s estimates of total production. These estimates combine establishment-year and production-year harvests, which may inadvertently reduce yield expectations for production-year stands. This article presents new summaries of information from the small-plot to the whole-farm scale, which support the conclusion that dry hay yields (13% moisture) greater than 8 t/acre are feasible under irrigation in the West and yields greater than 6 t/acre are feasible under nonirrigated conditions in many states in the East. Therefore, there is a yield gap of 2- to 3-fold between average and top-tier producers in most states. In the process of reviewing the Census of Agriculture data, it was apparent that some reported yields were unrealistically high, which indicates the need for improved survey questions and independent, on-farm validation.
Student Outcomes of School-Based Physical Therapy as Measured by Goal Attainment Scaling.

Purpose The main purposes were to describe individualized outcomes of students receiving school-based physical therapy and determine if goal attainment differed by gross motor ability and age. Methods One hundred nine physical therapists and 296 students participated. At the beginning of the school year, therapists translated students' Individualized Education Program goals into subgoals using Goal Attainment Scaling and determined students' Gross Motor Functional Classification System level. Researchers categorized goals (posture/mobility, recreation/fitness, self-care, or academics), and therapists identified students' primary goal. At the end of the school year, therapists scored the goals. Descriptive statistics and 2-way analyses of variance were conducted. Results Students exceeded their expected goal level for primary goals and goals categorized as posture/mobility, recreation/fitness, and self-care and made progress on academic goals. No differences were found by gross motor ability. Younger students had higher goal attainment for primary and recreation goals. Conclusion Students achieve individualized outcomes addressed by school-based physical therapy.
Prevalence of anaemia, deficiencies of iron and vitamin A and their determinants in rural women and young children: a cross-sectional study in Kalale district of northern Benin

Objective To identify the magnitude of anaemia and deficiencies of Fe (ID) and vitamin A (VAD) and their associated factors among rural women and children. Design Cross-sectional, comprising a household, health and nutrition survey and determination of Hb, biochemical (serum concentrations of ferritin, retinol, C-reactive protein and α1-acid glycoprotein) and anthropometric parameters. Multivariate logistic regression examined associations of various factors with anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies. Setting Kalale district, northern Benin. Subjects Mother–child pairs (n 767): non-pregnant women of reproductive age (15–49 years) and children 6–59 months old. Results In women, the overall prevalence of anaemia, ID, Fe-deficiency anaemia (IDA) and VAD was 47·7, 18·3, 11·3 and 17·7 %, respectively. A similar pattern for anaemia (82·4 %), ID (23·6 %) and IDA (21·2 %) was observed among children, while VAD was greater at 33·6 %. Greater risk of anaemia, ID and VAD was found for low maternal education, maternal farming activity, maternal health status, low food diversity, lack of fruits and vegetables consumption, low protein foods consumption, high infection, anthropometric deficits, large family size, poor sanitary conditions and low socio-economic status. Strong differences were also observed by ethnicity, women’s group participation and source of information. Finally, age had a significant effect in children, with those aged 6–23 months having the highest risk for anaemia and those aged 12–23 months at risk for ID and IDA. Conclusions Anaemia, ID and VAD were high among rural women and their children in northern Benin, although ID accounted for a small proportion of anaemia. Multicentre studies in various parts of the country are needed to substantiate the present results, so that appropriate and beneficial strategies for micronutrient supplementation and interventions to improve food diversity and quality can be planned.
RAIL: A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Links in Data Center Networks.

While there are many proposals to reduce the cost of data center networks (DCN), little attention has been paid to the role played by the physical links that carry packets. By studying over 300K optical links across many production DCNs, we show that these links are operating quite conservatively relative to the requirements in the IEEE standards. Motivated by this observation, to reduce DCN costs, we propose using transceivers—a key contributor to DCN cost—beyond their currently specified limit. Our experiments with multiple commodity transceivers show that their reach can be “stretched” 1.6 to 4 times their specification. However, with stretching, the performance of 1–5% of the DCN paths can fall below the IEEE standard. We develop RAIL, a system to ensure that in such a network, applications only use paths that meet their performance needs. Our proposal can reduce the network cost by up to 10% for 10Gbps networks and 44% for 40Gbps networks, without affecting the applications’ performance.
DIGITAL CAPTURE AND FABRICATION TOOLS FOR INTERPRETATION OF HISTORIC SITES

Abstract. Historic sites and the narratives they produce can have a lasting impact on the community through public engagement and education. However, when these sites are neglected and lost over time, opportunities to engage the public with the history of these places is lost with them. The interpretation of heritage that has been lost or forgotten is an emerging trend in humanities studies. This trend, in combination with technological advancements in digital media and representation, presents an innovative opportunity for historic preservation professionals to create new paths for public engagement. This paper discusses applications of photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and digital fabrication in digitally reconstructing interpretive models of the Larz Anderson Estate (now Larz Anderson Park). This site has changed dramatically through its transition from a private estate to a public park and recreation area, with few remnants of the original estate remaining extant. The above stated use of digital strategies aims to create digital and physical models of the estate’s change over time, with the aim of interpreting the site's lost heritage for the public. Combining existing archival research and heritage documentation methods with these digital representation techniques tells the story of a place that no longer exists.
Information Privacy on Online Social Networks: Illusion-in-Progress in the Age of Big Data?

In the age of big data where vast amounts of data are collected, stored, and analyzed from all possible sources, the growth of social media and the culture of sharing personal information have created privacy and security related issues. Drawing on the prospect theory and rational apathy theory, we present a research model to investigate why people disclose personal information on Online Social Networks. This paper analyzes the impact of situational factors such as information control, ownership of personal information, and apathy towards privacy concern of users on Online Social Network. We describe the proposed research design for collecting our data and analysis using structural equation modeling to analyze the data. The findings and conclusions will be presented after the data is analyzed. This work contributes to the network analytics by developing new constructs using the Prospect Theory and the Rational Apathy theory from the fields of behavioral economics and social psychology respectively.