cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Self-interest, public interest, and public health

Although the activities of physicians, as represented by the AMA, have long been viewed from a self-interest perspective by economists, public-health processes have not been subjected to such an examination. But just as the conduct of ostensibly charitable hospitals cannot be examined independently of the interests of the physicians who staff them, so too, we think, the conduct of public-health bureaus should not be examined in isolation from the interests of the medical community that they represent. An interest-group interpretation of public health would look to the ways in which public-health processes increase the aggregate demand for medical services, thereby generating quasirents for specialized input suppliers. We have explored in preliminary fashion some ways in which public-health agencies may advance the collective interests of physicians, though we would be the first to acknowledge that much work remains to be done on this topic.
Sonography of the fetal neural axis: a practical approach

Among serious fetal anomalies currently detectable with ultrasound, defects of the central nervous system (CNS) are among the most common. These congenital anomalies are especially likely to burden not only affected children with severely limiting handicaps, but also their families with long-lasting anguish and financial responsibility. It is appropriate that interest in methods for improving prenatal detection of these abnormalities has intensified. Alphafetoprotein screening programmes are now widely available, and many papers have been written describing useful sonographic observations that enhance prenatal diagnosis. As a consequence, the majority of the most common serious neural axis defects including fetal hydrocephalus, anencephaly, myelomeningocele and encephalocele, previously detected almost exclusively at birth, today can be accurately detected prenatally. A few observations in the fetal brain and spine have proven to be especially useful in this task. This article presents a simplified and effective approach to the general sonographic survey of the neural axis in fetuses at average and increased risk for these anomalies. The aim is to improve not only accuracy of diagnosis of CNS malformations, but the efficiency and confidence of the examiner.
Calculation of optical absorption in Al across the solid-to-liquid transition

We calculate the optical-absorption spectrum of solid and liquid Al for temperatures between 0 and 1800 K with an empirical pseudopotential technique. It is found that a prominent peak in the spectrum of the solid !at !"#1.5 eV" smoothly disappears as the temperature is raised above Tmelt=938 K. This is in agreement with earlier measurements on solid and liquid Al, but is in disagreement with more recent measurements on the liquid, in which the peak was seen to remain at T=1550 K. Our results suggest that in situ optical constants measurements may be used as a diagnostic for the shock melting of Al.
Experimental investigation of melt topology in partially molten quartzo‐feldspathic aggregates under hydrostatic and non‐hydrostatic stress

Continental collision results in deep burial of crustal rocks and their subsequent partial melting. Field relations of melt along zones of intense deformation suggest that partially molten rocks may play an important role in regional tectonics. However, subsequent deformation may erase the microstructures produced by the earlier deformation mechanisms, inhibiting our understanding of the rheology of partially molten crustal rocks. Thus, in this paper, we report the results of an experimental study of the distribution of 2–5 vol% melt in quartzo-feldspathic aggregates of various grain sizes: 2–5, 5–10, 10–16 and 26–31 μm. Three types of samples were examined, all with the composition of 60 wt% albite, 25 wt% potassium feldspar, 10 wt% quartz and 5 wt% biotite. The first group included mineral powders annealed at 1000 °C, 1.0 GPa, for c. 100 h. The second group included commercially hot-pressed mineral powders which yielded c. 25 vol% glass; cores of this material were also annealed at 1000 °C, 1.0 GPa, for c. 100 h. The third group included cores of hot-pressed material that were annealed at 1000 °C, 1.0 GPa, for c. 45 h, then deformed. All samples were quenched rapidly in order to examine the melt distribution. Wetting angles are very similar in both the hydrostatically annealed and the deformed samples. Analysis of melt pool orientations reveal that melt migrates away from grain boundaries normal to the maximum compressive stress direction in response to the applied non-hydrostatic stress. This response is easily seen in the coarser-grained samples in which melt pools elongated parallel to the maximum compressive stress direction formed during deformation. If these results extrapolate to naturally deformed rocks, it will be important to consider the orientation of the state of stress in a region during syn-magmatic deformation because of its effect on the melt distribution.
IL-1β is upregulated in the diabetic retina and retinal vessels: cell-specific effect of high glucose and IL-1β autostimulation.

Many molecular and cellular abnormalities detected in the diabetic retina support a role for IL-1β-driven neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. IL-1β is well known for its role in the induction and, through autostimulation, amplification of neuroinflammation. Upregulation of IL-1β has been consistently detected in the diabetic retina; however, the mechanisms and cellular source of IL-1β overexpression are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of high glucose and IL-1β itself on IL-1β expression in microglial, macroglial (astrocytes and Muller cells) and retinal vascular endothelial cells; and to study the effect of diabetes on the expression of IL-1β in isolated retinal vessels and on the temporal pattern of IL-1β upregulation and glial reactivity in the retina of streptozotocin-diabetic rats. IL-1β was quantified by RealTime RT-PCR and ELISA, glial fibrillar acidic protein, α2-macroglobulin, and ceruloplasmin by immunoblotting. We found that high glucose induced a 3-fold increase of IL-1β expression in retinal endothelial cells but not in macroglia and microglia. IL-1β induced its own synthesis in endothelial and macroglial cells but not in microglia. In retinal endothelial cells, the high glucose-induced IL-1β overexpression was prevented by calphostin C, a protein kinase C inhibitor. The retinal vessels of diabetic rats showed increased IL-1β expression as compared to non-diabetic rats. Retinal expression of IL-1β increased early after the induction of diabetes, continued to increase with progression of the disease, and was temporally associated with upregulation of markers of glial activation. These findings point to hyperglycemia as the trigger and to the endothelium as the origin of the initial retinal upregulation of IL-1β in diabetes; and to IL-1β itself, via autostimulation in endothelial and macroglial cells, as the mechanism of sustained IL-1β overexpression. Interrupting the vicious circle triggered by IL-1β autostimulation could limit the progression of diabetic retinopathy.
From Increasing Gas Efficiency to Enhancing Creativity: It Pays to Go Green

What are the common denominators for success when we consider increasing gas efficiency and enhancing creativity in organizations? As an analogy, the principles of increasing gas efficiency are applicable to enhancing creativity in organizations: Plan activities in advance, allocate sufficient time, resources, and set a SMART goal with clear priority and focus. Identify talent in ourselves and others and do not fall into the temptation of following others. Big ideas take time. Maintain momentum, avoid interruptions, incorporate new technologies, information, and feedback, and modify action to achieve goals. We have 100% control of our thoughts and action. Stop idling, take action, and do it now. If everyone contributes just a little, the cumulative effect over time can be huge. If we have the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) for doing the right things that will benefit humanity and the whole world, but fail to do them, is this ethical? We, the managers, need to focus on what we have done and what we have failed to do, change our thinking, change our behavior, and accomplish our goals.
Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-stimulating Factor Induces the Transcriptional Activation of egr-1 through a Protein Kinase A-independent Signaling Pathway

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) rapidly and transiently induces the transcriptional activation of the early growth response gene-1 (egr-1) in the human factor-dependent myeloid leukemic cell line, TF-1. We previously demonstrated that the cAMP response element (CRE) is required for GM-CSF-induced egr-1 expression and that phosphorylation of CREB on serine 133 plays a critical role during GM-CSF signal transduction. To determine whether GM-CSF activates signaling pathways through a protein kinase Adependent or -independent pathway, we measured cAMP levels following GM-CSF or forskolin treatment of TF-1 cells. Forskolin but not GM-CSF stimulation resulted in an increase in cAMP levels. Transient transfection assays with TF-1 cells were also performed with a −116-nucleotide egr-1 promoter construct and the protein kinase inhibitor, PKI. Although PKI inhibited forskolin induction of the −116-nucleotide construct, it did not affect GM-CSF stimulation of this construct. In the present study, we demonstrated that GM-CSF induces egr-1 expression through a protein kinase A-independent pathway.
A Hand-held Mosaicked Multispectral Imaging Device for Early Stage Pressure Ulcer Detection

The use of a custom filter mosaic overlaying a CMOS/CCD sensor represents a novel idea to multispectral imaging. The innovation provides simple, miniaturized, low cost instrumentation that has many potential biological applications which require a hand-held detector. This makes it extremely adaptable and can serve as an integrated component to distributed diagnosis and home healthcare (D2H2). A mosaicked sensor is a monolithic array of many sensors, arranged in a geometric pattern with each sensor covered by an optical filter sensitive to a specified wavelength. In this way, only one spectral component is sensed at each pixel and the other spectral components must be estimated from neighbors. Although with great potential, one challenge faced by this device, however, is the reconstruction of the high-resolution full-spectral image from the low-resolution input. Due to the physical limitations in fabrication and the usage of the multispectral filter mosaic, two types of degradations exist, including filter misalignment and the missing spectral components, that must be corrected using intelligent algorithms to take full advantage of the hardware capability of the device. In this paper, we first describe a custom geometric correction method to restore the image from the misalignment distortion. We then present a binary tree-based generic demosaicking algorithm to efficiently estimate the missing special components and reconstruct a high-resolution full-spectral image. We choose early detection of pressure ulcer as a targeting area as early stage pressure ulcers and other subcutaneous lesions are nearly invisible in clinical settings, particularly so for dark pigmented skin. We show how the geometric correction and demosaicking algorithms successfully reconstruct a full-spectral image from which apparent contrast enhancement between damaged skin and the normal skin is observed.
Models and approximations for random genetic drift.

Abstract The multinomial-sampling model of Ethier and Nagylaki (1980) for selection, mutation, and random genetic drift at a single multiallelic locus in a panmictic, monoecious, diploid population with discrete, nonoverlapping generations is described and discussed. Four different approximations for large population number are presented. For frequent alleles, the standard diffusion approximation holds if all the evolutionary forces are comparable ( Ethier and Nagylaki, 1980 ), whereas there are small Gaussian fluctuations about the deterministic trajectory if the deterministic forces, though still weak, dominate random drift ( Nagylaki, 1986 ). For rare alleles, it is proved here that a branching process with immigration applies if the allelic numbers are small, whereas a diffusion approximation holds if they are moderate ( Ethier and Nagylaki, 1988 ). The branching-process limit is established also for autosomal and X -linked loci in a dioecious population. Extensions and open problems are also discussed.
Characterization of fiber damage affecting the reliability of terminated optical fiber

The current approach to predicting the reliability of optical fiber systems is based, in part, on calculations involving the strength of buffered fiber. In actual applications the fiber is often damaged during the process of termination for use in either splices or connectors. This damage may contribute to unanticipated, early-life failures. A brief overview of the mechanisms of delayed failure in glass is given. Specific examples of splice and connector failures that were initiated by flaws generated during termination are shown. Data are presented which show the variability in fiber damage associated with both the personnel and the type of tools used in stripping buffer coatings from optical fiber. Application of this information to the use of accelerated life testing is reviewed.
Measurements of radiated elastic wave energy from dynamic tensile cracks

The role of fracture-velocity, microstructure, and fracture-energy barriers in elastic wave radiation during a dynamic fracture was investigated in experiments in which dynamic tensile cracks of two fracture cofigurations of double cantilever beam geometry were propagating in glass samples. The first, referred to as primary fracture, consisted of fractures of intact glass specimens; the second configuration, referred to as secondary fracture, consisted of a refracture of primary fracture specimens which were rebonded with an intermittent pattern of adhesive to produce variations in fracture surface energy along the crack path. For primary fracture cases, measurable elastic waves were generated in 31 percent of the 16 fracture events observed; the condition for radiation of measurable waves appears to be a local abrupt change in the fracture path direction, such as occurs when the fracture intersects a surface flaw. For secondary fractures, 100 percent of events showed measurable elastic waves; in these fractures, the ratio of radiated elastic wave energy in the measured component to fracture surface energy was 10 times greater than for primary fracture.
Dissections of regular polygons into triangles of equal areas

This paper answers the question, "If a regular polygon withn sides is dissected intom triangles of equal areas, mustm be a multiple ofn?" Forn=3 the answer is "no," since a triangle can be cut into any positive integral number of triangles of equal areas. Forn=4 the answer is again "no," since a square can be cut into two triangles of equal areas. However, Monsky showed that a square cannot be dissected into an odd number of triangles of equal areas. We show that ifn is at least 5, then the answer is "yes." Our approach incorporates the techniques of Thomas, Monsky, and Mead, in particular, the use of Sperner's lemma and non-Archimedean valuations, but also makes use of affine transformations to distort a given regular polygon into one to which those techniques apply.
Regulation of hepatic insulin receptor activity following injury

Impaired insulin receptor (IR) activity has been found in various models of insulin resistance, including models of injury or critical illness and Type 2 diabetes. However, mechanisms that modulate IR function remain unclear. With an animal model of critical-illness diabetes, we found insulin-induced IR tyrosine phosphorylation in the liver was impaired as early as 15 min following trauma and hemorrhage. Possible mechanisms for this defect were examined, including IR protein levels and IR posttranslational modifications. The total amounts of hepatic IRα and IRβ subunits and the membrane localization of the IR were not altered by trauma and hemorrhage, and, likewise, no change in IR tyrosine nitration was found in the liver. However, there was a decrease in the level of protein O-linked β-N-acetlyglucosamine (O-GlcNac) modification on Ser/Thr in the liver following trauma and hemorrhage. Inhibition of JNK increased IR O-GlcNac modification, implicating an involvement of JNK. These findings suggest that a balance between O-GlcNac modification and JNK-induced phosphorylation may exist, with decreased Ser/Thr O-GlcNac modification following trauma and hemorrhage, allowing JNK to phosphorylate the IR on neighboring Ser/Thr residues, which subsequently inhibits IR activity. The present studies suggest potential mechanisms of hemorrhage-induced defects in IR activity and a potential role for acutely decreased O-GlcNac and increased serine phosphorylation of the IR.
3-D Image Denoising by Local Smoothing and Nonparametric Regression

Three-dimensional (3-D) images are becoming increasingly popular in image applications, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), and other image applications. Observed 3-D images often contain noise that should be removed beforehand for improving the reliability of subsequent image analyses. In the literature, most existing image denoising methods are for 2-D images. Their direct extensions to 3-D cases generally cannot handle 3-D images efficiently, because the structure of 3-D images is often substantially more complicated than that of 2-D images. For instance, edge locations are surfaces in 3-D cases, which are much more challenging to handle, compared to edge curves in 2-D cases. In this article, we propose a novel 3-D image denoising procedure, based on nonparametric estimation of a 3-D jump surface from noisy data. One important feature of this method is its ability to preserve edges and major edge structures, such as intersections of two edge surfaces, pyramids, pointed corn...
Can the patient make treatment decisions? Evaluating decisional capacity.

Evaluations of a patient's ability to make treatment decisions are common in everyday practice. Dr. Agich reviews the standards for evaluating decisional capacity.
Evidence for glutathione peroxidase activities in cultured plant cells

Abstract Extracts from cultured plant cells of spinach, maize and sycamore and from Lemna plants contain detectable glutathione peroxidase activity, using either hydrogen peroxide or t-butyl hydroperoxide as substrates. Using extracts from cultured maize cells, two peaks of glutathione peroxidase activity could be resolved by a combination of gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. One peak was eluted along with glutathione transferase activity; the second was distinct from both glutathione transferase and ascorbic acid peroxidase, and was active with both hydrogen peroxide and organic hydroperoxides. It seems likely that at least two enzymes with glutathione peroxidase activity exist in higher plant cells.
Unexpected autocrine role of vascular endothelial growth factor in squamous cell carcinoma.

Mirones et al. demonstrate that keratinocytes deficient in VEGF are capable of forming tumors but use a distinct form of aneuploidy and signaling to form tumors. This knowledge is important because inhibitors of VEGF, including bevacizumab (anti-VEGF antibodies) and sorafenib (Braf/VEGFR2 kinase inhibitor), have already entered the clinic. These agents may “remodel” tumor signaling.
Ground-water, salt-water infiltration, and ground-surface recession in Santa Clara Valley, Santa Clara County, California

The Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District includes 138,000 acres of the Santa Clara Valley, California, of which 120,700 acres are cultivated lands, roads, and cities which are watered by approximately 2,000 pumping wells. During the period of deficient rainfall, 1916–1934, prior to Santa Clara Valley water Conservation District's spreading operations, the average water-level in wells dropped about 108 feet. Attention of those interested in ground-water conservation has been focussed on this area because of the successful organization of the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District, the recovery of water-level due to water-spreading operations, the contamination of ground-water around San Francisco Bay, and the sinking of land-surface over an area of about 200 square miles, forming a trough-like depression with maximum lowering in 1937 at San Jose of 5.57 feet.
The NIFS protein can function as a selenide delivery protein in the biosynthesis of selenophosphate.

Abstract The NIFS protein from Azobacter vinelandii is a pyridoxal phosphate-containing homodimer that catalyzes the formation of equimolar amounts of elemental sulfur andl-alanine from the substrate l-cysteine (Zheng, L., White, R. H., Cash, V. L., Jack, R. F., and Dean, D. R. (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 90, 2754–2758). A sulfur transfer role of NIFS in which the enzyme donates sulfur for iron sulfur center formation in nitrogenase was suggested. The fact that NIFS also can catalyze the decomposition ofl-selenocysteine to elemental selenium andl-alanine suggested the possibility that this enzyme might serve as a selenide delivery protein for the in vitrobiosynthesis of selenophosphate. In agreement with this hypothesis, we have shown that replacement of selenide with NIFS andl-selenocysteine in the in vitroselenophosphate synthetase assay results in an increased rate of formation of selenophosphate. These results thus support the view that a selenocysteine-specific enzyme similar to NIFS may be involved as anin vivo selenide delivery protein for selenophosphate biosynthesis. A kinetic characterization of the two NIFS catalyzed reactions carried out in the present study indicates that the enzyme favors l-cysteine as a substrate compared with its selenium analog. A specific activity for l-cysteine of 142 nmol/min/mg compared with 55 nmol/min/mg forl-selenocysteine was determined. This level of enzyme activity on the selenoamino acid substrate is adequate to deliver selenium to selenophosphate synthetase in the in vitroassay system described.
Negative and positive regulation of IGF-II mRNA expression in cultured rat cells by chicken serum.

Abstract We have investigated the possibility that some serum factors might negatively regulate the expression of the insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) gene in 18–54,SF cells. Northern blot analyses indicated that there were three major transcripts (3.8 kb, 1.8 kb, and 1.2 kb) of the IGF-II gene in these cells. We found that incubation of 18–54,SF cells in medium containing very high concentrations (50–100%) of chicken serum greatly inhibited the steady-state level of all three IGF-II mRNA species. In addition, we also found that incubation of 18–54,SF cells in medium containing lower concentrations (10–50%) of chicken serum induced a 3.5 kb IGF-II mRNA. The inhibitory effect of high concentrations of chicken serum on IGF-II mRNA expression was not due to a cytotoxic effect of the serum, because these cells were maintained in 100% chicken serum for up to two weeks without loss of cell viability. The inhibitory effect of chicken serum on IGF-II mRNA was reversible after withdrawl of the serum. Nuclear run-on assays suggested that this negative regulation of IGF-II mRNA in 18–54,SF cells by chicken serum was not the result of transcriptional inhibition. Treatment of 18–54,SF cells that had been previously incubated in 100% chicken serum for 24 h with actinomycin D resulted in a partial restoration of the expression of the 3.8 kb and 1.2 kb IGF-II mRNA in these cells. Finally, we also obtained a crude fraction of chicken serum and showed that treatment of 18–54.SF cells with this fraction not only inhibited the steady-state level of the 3.8 kb, 1.8 kb and 1.2 kb IGF-II mRNA, but also induced the appearance of new species of IGF-II mRNAs in these cells. These observations suggest that chicken serum may serve as a potential source for the isolation of putative factors that regulate IGF-II mRNA expression in cultured cells.
A Comparison of Functional Behavior Assessment Methodologies with Young Children: Descriptive Methods and Functional Analysis

The use of functional behavior assessment (FBA) to guide the development of behavior intervention plans continues to increase since they were first mandated in IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, 20 U.S.C. Section 1400 et seq, 1997). A variety of indirect and direct instruments have been developed to facilitate this process. Although many researchers believe that a full functional analysis is necessary to identify the function of a behavior, more rapid and efficient FBA procedures are more commonly used. This investigation examined the correspondence between indirect and direct FBA procedures. Specifically, the results of three descriptive assessments and a functional analysis for four young children at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders were compared. Separation of all descriptive and experimental results was maintained and the assessment order was counterbalanced. Results of the descriptive assessments had low consistency with each other, and the results of two indirect FBA assessments (the Functional Assessment Interview and Motivation Assessment Scale) had low agreement with the results of functional analyses. On the other hand, the direct assessment procedure (ABC assessment) agreed with the results of functional analyses for all participants. These results support the use of direct observations and indicate that indirect measures should be used with caution as stand-alone assessments of the function of challenging behaviors.
The Surgical Anatomy of the Canine Sacrum for Lag Screw Fixation of the Sacroiliac Joint

One hundred canine sacral bone specimens were examined to identify surgical landmarks that may improve screw placement in sacroiliac repair. A lateral view of the sacral wing was studied, as this structure is most easily identified in the dorsal approach used for sacroiliac repair. The height and length of each sacral wing were measured. Four other features of the canine sacrum were identified and measured in comparison with the sacral wing height and length. The cranial overlap of the sacral wing over the intervertebral space of L7-S1 was found to have a mean of 14% of the length of the sacral wing. The ventral overlap of the sacral wing over the pelvic canal was found to be 21% of the height of the sacral wing. The ventral limit of the spinal canal (dorsal limit of the sacral body) was 45% of the sacral wing height. The first pelvic foramen was located at a mean distance of 64% of the sacral wing length and 20% of the sacral wing height. Using these four features, a composite view of the sacral wing is described to illustrate the area of the sacral body where screw placement is optimal.
A grinding method for producing sections of large areas of plastic embedded tissues

SUMMARY We have developed a method utilizing relatively thick ground sections of plastic embedded tissue which affords the resolution obtained with 0·5 μm cut sections. The sections, which are permanently affixed to plastic microscope slides, are much larger in area than ultramicrotome sections. Additional advantages are: sections can be destained and restained and selected areas can be examined with various forms of electron microscopy. Autoradiographic studies are also possible. Although the method has a broader application, it is particularly useful in examining the interface between hard and soft tissues.
Calculating the reduced scattering coefficient of turbid media from a single optical reflectance signal

When light interacts with tissue, it can be absorbed, scattered or reflected. Such quantitative information can be used to characterize the optical properties of tissue, differentiate tissue types in vivo, and identify normal versus diseased tissue. The purpose of this research is to develop an algorithm that determines the reduced scattering coefficient (μ s ’) of tissues from a single optical reflectance spectrum with a small source-detector separation. The basic relationship between μ s ’ and optical reflectance was developed using Monte Carlo simulations. This produced an analytical equation containing μ s ’ as a function of reflectance. To experimentally validate this relationship, a 1.3-mm diameter fiber optic probe containing two 400-micron diameter fibers was used to deliver light to and collect light from Intralipid solutions of various concentrations. Simultaneous measurements from optical reflectance and an ISS oximeter were performed to validate the calculated μ s ’ values determined by the reflectance measurement against the 'gold standard’ ISS readings. The calculated μ s ’ values deviate from the expected values by approximately m 5% with Intralipid concentrations between 0.5 − 2.5%. The scattering properties within this concentration range are similar to those of in vivo tissues. Additional calculations are performed to determine the scattering properties of rat brain tissues and to discuss accuracy of the algorithm for measured samples with a broad range of the absorption coefficient (μ a ).
Electrophysiological characterization of cardiac veins in humans.

Background: The coronary sinus is a complex structure with a surrounding myocardial coat and muscle bundles that course within it. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the electrical activity of the coronary sinus (CS), great cardiac vein (GCV) and related structures, such as the Vein of Marshall (VOM).
A general modelling and control framework for electrostatically actuated mechanical systems

This paper presents a geometric framework for the stabilization and control of a general class of electrostatically actuated mechanical systems. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), such as micromirrors, are one motivating application for this work. There wavelengths of applications of interest lead to positioning requirements on the order of 40–100 nm. Furthermore, electrostatic actuation is poised to be the method of choice for the emerging field of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), and the approach presented should be applicable there as well. The class of devices under study consists of a movable, rigid, grounded electrode, with a variety of allowable rotational and/or translational degrees of freedom, and a set of multiple, fixed, independently addressable, drive electrodes. A key contribution of this paper places general electrostatic forces in a framework suitable for passivity-based control. The configuration space of the movable body is assumed to have the structure of a simple mechanical system on a Lie group, and stabilizing static and dynamic feedback control laws are derived in terms of co-ordinate-independent geometric formulas. To obtain controllers for a specific device it is then necessary only to evaluate these formulas. Appropriate approximations may be applied to make the computations more tractable. The static output feedback controller requires only measurement of the charge and voltage on each drive electrode to provide almost-global stabilization of a desired feasible configuration, but performance is limited by the natural dynamics of the mechanical subsystem. Performance may be improved using dynamic output feedback, but additional information is needed, typically in the form of a model relating electrode capacitances to the system configuration. We demonstrate the controller computations on a representative MEMS, and validate performance using ANSYS simulations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
“The Black Struggle”: Metaphors of Depression in Styron's Darkness Visible

Abstract We used a content analytic methodology to search William Styron's memoir, Darkness Visible, for metaphors of depression, treatment, recovery, and psychological phenomena. Of the 1,383 metaphors identified, 55% dealt with depression. Treatment, recovery, and suicide metaphors represented 9%, 7%, and 6% of the sample, respectively. Inspection of Styron's metaphors suggested that he characterized depression and suicide as having a directionality that is down, in, and away and as a sequential process of suffering and adversity that is a form of malevolence and annihilation. In contrast, recovery is up, out, and through and characterized as a sequential process of return to a life of goodness and light. Our analysis indicated that the metaphor system of Darkness Visible is internally consistent: Metaphors for similar concepts show recurrent and compatible patterns whereas metaphors of opposing concepts contain opposing comparisons. Styon's metaphor system is also externally valid, in the sense that it...
Microburst prediction algorithm for the FAA Integrated Terminal Weather System

Lincoln Laboratory is developing a prototype of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) to provide improved aviation weather information in the terminal area by integrating data and products from various FAA and National Weather Service (NWS) sensors and weather information systems. The ITWS Microburst Prediction product is intended to provide an additional margin of safety for pilots in avoiding microburst wind shear hazards. The product is envisioned for use by traffic managers, supervisors, controllers, and pilots (directly via datalink). Our objective is to accurately predict the onset of microburst wind shear several minutes in advance.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Energetics of linear carbon chains in one-dimensional restricted environment

The energetics of even and odd linear Cncarbon chain clusters are investigated by hybrid density functional theory (DFT) calculations. These molecular species are especially interesting due to their recent observation inside carbon nanotubes by polarized resonant Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) by different research groups. Neutral, anionic and dianionic carbon chains were studied with sizes up to n= 75, although most presented calculations are limited to n≤ 24. Aggregation into longer chains is favored for neutral and anionic chains of any size. The barrier to aggregation of 2Cn↔ C2n is of the order of 40–20 kcal mol−1, which gradually decreases with increasing chain size, n. These barriers can be overcome during the high temperature synthesis or annealing conditions, but not when cooled down for the HRTEM and Raman experiments. Therefore, in addition to the already observed long chains also shorter chains should be observable under appropriate conditions inside carbon nanotubes.
Grain Marketing and Transportation Interdependencies: A National Model

Ten specifications of a linear programming model are developed to jointly select the least cost locations of grain production and interregional grain transportation in the United States. Analyses are based on 1980 demand projections for wheat, soybeans, and feed grains. Seven model options represent alternative transportation systems and include alternative cost estimates for railroad and barge transportation. Three other options are specified to analyze interdependencies between grain exports and transportation. Results suggest that choice of transportation mode and grain flows are sensitive to transportation cost changes and the distribution of exports among ports but the location of grain production is not.
The 21st Century Urban Landscape: Plus ça change:

In his account of the turbulent decade of the 1960s, in which New York City dealt with endemic corruption, racism and economic distress, English begins by telling us “(u)ntold thousands, perhaps millions, have fallen prey to the perils of municipal dysfunction, to the growing pains of a city forced to adjust to violent demographic shifts, internal hostilities, wrenching social changes…(2011: xi).” It is a description that those of us who lived through that decade in that city would find neither unfamiliar nor surprising. It is a description that can still describe urban society in the advanced industrial societies today, half a century later. We are not surprised to learn about administrative dysfunction any more than we are surprised to see graft and corruption at a time when there are fewer and fewer resources in municipal coffers. Xenophobia increasingly is the expressed sentiment among citizens of more advanced industrialized nations, reflecting a rightward shift among European and North American populations resentful of the influx of immigrants that is the result of rapidly expanding globalized patterns of migration from the underdeveloped regions of the world. As Davis (2006) points out, industrial cities like Chicago, Manchester or Berlin did not end up being the model for globalization the world over, much as the models of “modernization” did not produce emergent industrial countries following the European model of development. Rather, dependent development describes countries under the sway of advanced capitalist countries, and the ravages of poverty and dysfunction in cities of these countries have created the Dickensonian urban disasters causing Davis to anticipate a planet of slums. These cities are attracting a constant stream of rural migrants in the hopeless search for employment bloating already large urban populations in the mega-cities of developing countries. Davis states, “(s)ince 1970, slum growth everywhere in the South has outpaced urbanization per se (2006:17)” and suggests that Engel’s tome on working class conditions at the middle of the 19th Century is still applicable as a description of urban conditions today (2006:138). Indeed, as reflected in the title of his work, Davis paints a rather dystopic vision of the cities of the near future. Even as Davis details the patterns of growth and decay in these mega-cities of the world, we might consider that his vision and framework is rooted in an urbanism set against the standard of Western urbanization. Implicit in this understanding of the spread of urbanization in industrial societies is the role globalization plays–not just in the movement of people, but the standardization that comes with globalization leading us assume that there is standard urbanization narrative. Relying on what he calls urban imaginaries, Huyssen (2008) presents a series of essays that combat the idea that globalization, with its McDonaldization and consumerism driven by some global media recreating suburban malls everywhere, is both inevitable and dominant. Urban spaces are
Chlorpropamide-Induced Hyponatremia

A 29-year-old woman with severe idiopathic diabetes insipidus, while being treated by a combination of chlorpropamide and chlorothiazide, developed the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of ADH (SIADH) following an overdose of chlorpropamide. The syndrome resolved as the serum chlorpropamide level fell. This report demonstrates that a chlorpropamide-induced SIADH can occur in a patient with idiopathic diabetes insipidus, and it appears that the antidiuretic effect of the drug is dose-related.
Immigration and the Legacies of the Past: The Impact of Slavery and the Holocaust on Contemporary Immigrants in the United States and Western Europe

It is a basic truism that the past influences the present, but the key questions concern which past and how its impact occurs. In this paper we seek to understand how legacies of the past affect the pathways and experiences of contemporary immigrants. Our specific concern is with the present-day impact of two momentous historical ethno-racial traumas: the Holocaust in Western Europe, and slavery and ensuing legal segregation (“Jim Crow”) in the United States. At first blush, their legacies seem unrelated to immigration today, and these pasts are rarely central to discussions about it. But in fact memories of and institutional responses to the sins of the Nazi genocide, on the one hand, and of slavery and legal racial segregation, on the other, have played a role in shaping public perceptions and policies that affect contemporary immigrants and their children.
Hepatitis C Virus and the Infectious Diseases Community

It is a perfect storm for the chronic viral infection associated with the greatest morbidity and mortality in the United States. Of the ≥3 million Americans infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), only ≤50% know they are infected. Infections acquired many years ago from parenteral exposures—injection drug use, transfusions received before screening assay availability (in 1992), or other healthcare exposures—have either no or nonspecific (but highly prevalent) symptoms, such as fatigue, arthritis, and depression. Clinicians tend to discount the extrahepatic effects of HCV infection, although HCV has been associated with diabetes and other serious morbidities. Now, after latencies of 20–30 years, there are rapidly increasing cases of cirrhosis,end-stageliverdisease,hepatocellularcarcinoma,
Fine tuning non-uniform space charge-limited emission in high power microwave devices

Summary form only given. Two very well understood geometries for space charge-limited flow are the 1-D planar diode (as described by Child and Langmuir) and the Pierce diode (for laminar flow in a 2-D geometry). Many interesting and useful diodes, however, fall into neither of these two categories. Even the seemingly simple problem of space charge-limited emission from a finite-width emission strip in a planar diode geometry has yet to be fully described analytically. In the present work, simulations of 2-D space charge-limited emission in pseudo-planar geometries are used to provide insight regarding the non-uniformities introduced in the current density emitted from the cathode - in particular, near the edges of the emission site. These insights are shown to be a valuable predictor of performance in two separate experimental projects: - Simulations show that the current density emitted from a space charge-limited cathode can be tailored by modifying the local vacuum electric field (no space charge) at specific locations on the cathode surface. Such an idea was implemented by using "miniature" focusing electrodes to locally reduce the emitted current density inside the Air Force Research Laboratory's Magnetically Insulated Line Oscillator (MILO). Design simulations and experimental data will be presented detailing this effort to help mitigate plasma production and beam interception inside the device. Another effect seen in simulation is the ability of many small emission patches to provide a total current equivalent to a uniformly emitting surface even when the total area of the emission patches is a mere fraction of the area of the uniformly emitting surface. In AFRL's cathode development program, a variety of cathode materials have been characterized under HPM device-relevant conditions. While these cathodes have widely differing geometries at the scale of their surface structure, they were each tested in identical diode geometries with the same bulk emission area. Data that details the non-uniform current density drawn from these various cathodes will be presented and compared to the reproducibility of the total current drawn from each emitter.
Event driven model of an unreliable production line with storage

We have developed an event-driven algorithm for simulating a factory production line with storage. Using this algorithm, a production line, with an arbitrary number of machines each processing items at different rates and with buffers of any size, can be modeled efficiently. The algorithm is based on computing the time to the next event for each buffer and machine, where the events are: a buffer becomes full, a buffer becomes empty, a machine fails, and a machine is repaired. By collapsing the production line to exclude empty buffers that stay empty and full buffers that stay full, piece-by-piece computation is avoided. Computation time is reduced further by updating a buffer only when the input or output rate of that buffer changes or when the state of that buffer changes. An example of a line consisting of 100 machines and 99 buffers illustrates the efficiency of the model.
The Marginal World of Ōe Kenzaburo: A Study in Themes and Techniques . By Michiko N. Wilson. Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, 1986. viii, 160 pp. Biographical Notes, Notes, Selected Bibliography, Index. $30.

The first full-length book devoted to Japan's 1994 Nobel Laureate, The Marginal World of Kenzaburo Oe introduces the literary universe bursting with the explosive energies of Bakhtinian grotesque realism. In its center stands the "idiot son," a trickster and soulful healer, unknowingly thrown into the world of myth-making and history. The diverse voices of Oe's characters resonate with one another within and between reinvented texts as the book's analysis flow into the very pores and veins of his masterful writing.
Identification of potent and novel small-molecule inhibitors of caspase-3.

The design and synthesis of a series of novel, reversible, small molecule inhibitors of caspase-3 are described.
Sporadic Burkitt's lymphoma masquerading as an orbital complication of sinusitis

Summary Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is a high grade B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma found predominantly in children. The non-endemic form of the disease rarely involves the paranasal sinuses. We present a case of BL which presented with all signs and symptoms of an orbital complication of sinusitis. Initial computerized tomographic (CT) scanning too suggested an orbital abscess. Nasal endoscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed the extent of sinonasal and orbital involvement and helped clinch the diagnosis.
Processing Visual Words With Numbers: Electrophysiological Evidence for Semantic Activation

Perea, Dunabeitia, and Carreiras (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 34:237–241, 2008) found that LEET stimuli, formed by a mixture of digits and letters (e.g., T4BL3 instead of TABLE), produced priming effects similar to those for regular words. This finding led them to conclude that LEET stimuli automatically activate lexical information. In the present study, we examined whether semantic activation occurs for LEET stimuli by using an electrophysiological measure called the N400 effect. The N400 effect, also known as the mismatch negativity, reflects detection of a mismatch between a word and the current semantic context. This N400 effect could occur only if the LEET stimulus had been identified and processed semantically. Participants determined whether a stimulus (word or LEET) was related to a given category (e.g., APPLE or 4PPL3 belongs to the category “fruit,” but TABLE or T4BL3 does not). We found that LEET stimuli produced an N400 effect similar in magnitude to that for regular uppercase words, suggesting that LEET stimuli can access meaning in a manner similar to words presented in consistent uppercase letters.
Input modeling when simple models fail

A simulation model is composed of inputs and logic; the inputs represent the uncertainty or randomness in the system, while the logic determines how the system reacts to the uncertain elements. Simple input models, consisting of independent and identically distributed sequences of random variates from standard probability distributions, are included in every commercial simulation language. Software to fit these distributions to data is also available. In this tutorial we describe input models that are useful when simple models are not.
Multi-use and constraints from original use

Anderson's theory is plausible and largely consistent with the data. However, it remains underspecified on several fronts, and we highlight areas for potential improvement. Reuse is described as duplicating a functional component, preserving one function and tinkering to add another function. This is a promising model, but Anderson neglects other reasonable alternatives and we highlight several. Evidence cited in support of reuse fails to uniquely support it among a broader set of multi-use theories. We suggest that a more stringent criterion for direct support of reuse may be satisfied by focusing on previous adaptive functions (original use).