cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patient interest in and familiarity with anti-aging therapies: A survey of the general dermatology clinic population.

SummaryBackground The appearance of aging skin is a common complaint among dermatology patients. There is an expanding market for anti-aging therapies, but little information is available regarding which patients utilize these treatments and patient preferences regarding treatment. Aims To describe the patient population utilizing anti-aging therapies, assess patient familiarity with treatment options, and learn where treatment information is most often obtained. Patients/Methods Three hundred patients were surveyed in the University of Michigan General Dermatology Clinic. Results Fifty-three percent of the general dermatology patient population has used an anti-aging treatment in the past; 66% reported interest in the future use. Interest is high among all genders, ages, and incomes. Most subjects obtained treatment information from magazines, but subjects were more likely to pursue treatment if information was obtained from a dermatologist. Conclusion Demographics of anti-aging therapy are changing, and a wide variety of patients pursue treatment. Patients are largely unfamiliar with most treatment options and are more likely to pursue treatment after receiving treatment information from a dermatologist. The information presented in this study is helpful to both dermatologists and marketers of anti-aging products.
Endocytosis in primary mesenchyme cells during sea urchin larval skeletogenesis

Abstract The sea urchin larval embryo elaborates two calcitic endoskeletal elements called spicules. Spicules are synthesized by the primary mesenchyme cells (PMCs) and begin to form at early gastrula stage. It is known that the calcium comprising the spicules comes from the seawater and we wish to further consider the mode of calcium transport from the extracellular seawater to the PMCs and then onto the forming spicules. We used PMC in vitro cultures, calcein, fluorescently labeled dextran, and fluorescently labeled Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) to track calcium transport from the seawater into PMCs and spicules and to determine how molecules from the surface of PMCs interact with the incoming calcium. Labeling of PMC endocytic vesicles and forming spicules by both calcein and fluorescently tagged dextran indicate that calcium is taken up from the seawater by endocytosis and directly incorporated into spicules. Calcein labeling studies also indicate that calcium from the extracellular seawater begins to be incorporated into spicules within 30 min of uptake. In addition, we demonstrate that fluorescently labeled WGA and calcein are taken up by many of the same endocytic vesicles and are incorporated into growing spicules. These findings suggest that PMC specific surface molecules accompany calcium ions as they enter PMCs via endocytosis and are incorporated together in the growing spicule. Using anti-spicule matrix protein antibodies, we pinpoint a subset of spicule matrix proteins that may accompany calcium ions from the surface of the PMCs until they are incorporated into spicules. Msp130 is identified as one of these spicule matrix proteins.
Video coding layer optimization for target detection

One challenge in a video surveillance system is the data rate required to represent digital video. Accordingly, the use of lossy video compression at a compression ratio of 100:1, or higher, is an essential part of any distributed live video system. The ensuing distortion can interfere with the goals of surveillance by confounding both human analysis and computer vision based processing. This paper investigates the interaction between the video coding layer and target detection, and proposes methods for improving overall system effectiveness. Previous related research has focused on joint optimization of the video coding layer where several streams share the same bandwidth. Our work is distinguished from prior studies in several area: we use Gradual Decoder Refresh, rather than the traditional GOP, to enable low delay and similarly avoid the use of B frames, which necessitate frame reordering. We extend the previous work by providing the ROC curves for the detection of foreground object motion, as a function of the quantization parameter. We also consider the H.265 video coding standard, in addition to H.264. We note some surprising findings. We show that H.265 can significantly underperform H.264 in terms of Area Under Curve vs. Bitrate, and that it is possible to produce large "false alarm" blobs for moving object detection, even for a stationary, relatively noise-free source coded at low QP.
Microsequence analysis of peptides and proteins: II. Separation of amino acid phenylthiohydantoin derivatives by high-performance liquid chromatography on octadecylsilane supports

A comparison of the separation of the common phenylthiohydantoin derivatives of amino acids on DuPont octadecylsilane with that obtained with Ultrasphere octadecylsilane supports is given together with the effect of acetate, phosphate, and trifluoroacetate buffers in the elution solvents. An important change in performance for two different batches of DuPont Zorbax octadecylsilane was noted. The use of combined trifluoroacetate/acetate buffer with Ultrasphere octadecylsilane gives optimal separations and peak sharpness. Practical examples of the performance of this system in low-nanomole NH2-terminal sequence analysis are discussed with emphasis on identification of unusual amino acid derivatives and interfering background peaks.
Glycobiology of syndecan-1 in bacterial infections

Syndecan-1 (Sdc1) is a major cell surface heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycan of epithelial cells, a cell type targeted by many bacterial pathogens early in their pathogenesis. Loss of Sdc1 in mice is a gain-of-function mutation that significantly decreases the susceptibility to several bacterial infections, suggesting that subversion of Sdc1 is an important virulence strategy. HS glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains of cell surface Sdc1 promote bacterial pathogenesis by facilitating the attachment of bacteria to host cells. Engagement of cell surface Sdc1 HS chains by bacterial adhesins transmits signal through the highly conserved Sdc1 cytoplasmic domain, which can lead to uptake of intracellular bacterial pathogens. On the other hand, several bacteria that do not require Sdc1 for their attachment and invasion stimulate Sdc1 shedding and exploit the capacity of Sdc1 ectodomain HS GAGs to disarm innate defense mechanisms to evade immune clearance. Recent data suggest that select HS sulfate motifs, and not the overall charge of HS, are important in the inhibition of innate immune mechanisms. Here, we discuss several examples of Sdc1 subversion in bacterial infections.
Effects of cardiorespiratory fitness and weight status on knowledge of physical activity and fitness, attitude toward physical education, and physical activity

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cardiorespiratory fitness and weight status on knowledge of physical activity and fitness (PAF knowledge), attitude toward physical education (PE), and physical activity. A total of 343 middle school students participated in the study (Age: M/SD = 12.76/.94, ranging from 11 to 14 years old). PE Metrics™ was used to measure PAF knowledge, and Attitude toward Physical Education Questionnaire and Youth Activity Profile were used to measure attitude, physical activity and sedentary behavior. Fitness and weight status were assessed using FitnessGram and converted to in Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) or Not in HFZ. Two-way multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA; gender and grade as covariates) showed a significant group effect for cardiorespiratory fitness (ΛPilla = .07, F4,255 = 5.03, p = .001, $$ {\eta}_p^2 $$ = .07) but not for weight status (p = .57). PAF knowledge (F1,258 = 9.49, p < .01, $$ {\eta}_p^2 $$ = .04), attitude (F1,258 = 4.45, p < .05, $$ {\eta}_p^2 $$ = .02) and sedentary behavior (F1,258 = 6.89, p < .01, $$ {\eta}_p^2 $$ = .03) all favored the HFZ group. The findings reinforce the importance of promoting cardiorespiratory fitness in middle school PE as students acquire attitude, knowledge, and behaviors needed for active-living.
Effects of topically applied biomaterials on paranasal sinus mucosal healing.

BackgroundRecently, nasal packing made of absorbable biomaterial has become increasingly popular. Although absorbable packs are effective for hemostasis, their impact on healing mucosa is unknown. ...
Contribution of ANSYS: Main achievements in FLOMANIA

The main targets for ANSYS in FLOMANIA are turbulence model improvements and the validation of established turbulence models. These issues are: Development of an improved DES model based on the SST turbulence model Evaluation of the DES model for separated flows Support the definition of common RSM formulation Provide know-how on advanced wall treatments to consortium. Testing common Reynolds stress model for generic applications Testing and validation of eddy viscosity models for complex aerodynamic applications
Career Decision Scale

(1984). Career Decision Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development: Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 98-100.
Predictors of Falls per Step and Falls per Year At and Away From Home in Glaucoma

Objective To determine where glaucoma patients most often fall and how integrated visual field (IVF) damage affects falls rates per year (falls/year) and per step (falls/step) at and away from home. Design Prospective, observational cohort study. Methods In 225 patients with glaucoma or suspected glaucoma, falls data were collected via calendars, fall location was classified through follow-up questionnaires, and steps taken at and away from home were judged by integrating data from annual week-long accelerometer and GPS trials. Main outcome measures were the association of IVF sensitivity with fall rates per year or step, stratified by location. Results Participants took more away steps than home steps (2366 vs 1524, P .1 for both), but was associated with a higher rate of home falls/step (rate ratio = 1.34/5 dB worse sensitivity, P = .03) and away falls/step (rate ratio = 1.47/5 dB worse sensitivity, P = .003). Conclusions In this glaucoma population, most falls occurred at home, and the risk of any step resulting in a fall was higher at home. Those with greater VF damage were more likely to fall for each step taken both at and away from home. Efforts such as home environmental modification should be considered in the visually impaired to prevent falls while maintaining physical activity.
Moral Content in Workplace Conflict

Using moral foundations theory and text analysis tools, two studies were conducted to explore the moral content in workplace conflict accounts. In Study 1, conflict narratives provided by MTurk par...
An Economic Analysis of Overtime Pay Regulations

This paper examines the US Department of Labors proposed regulation to extend overtime pay to employees with base salaries of $23,660 to $50,440. We find that the department provides no evidence that an underpayment or overwork problem exists in the United States. Nonetheless, we evaluate the stated policy objectives. The Department of Labor indicates that the proposed regulation will meet three policy objectives: spread employment, improve worker health and well-being, and increase wages for employees. We find problems in the theoretical mechanisms by which these policy objectives are to be met and conclude that those mechanisms are not supported by economic theory. Furthermore, in a review of the empirical literature, we find no empirical support for achieving any of the policy objectives. That is, there is neither theoretical nor empirical support that the proposed regulation will meet its stated objectives; in fact, evidence suggests that moonlighting may increase in response to regulations. Finally, we anticipate that the proposed regulation would have a structural impact on the economy because salaried jobs may turn into hourly wage jobs. We believe such a shift will have a negative impact on certain labor contracts that would be ill suited to hourly payspecifically, technology start-up and telecommuting jobs. Given that the birth of start-ups is on a decline and the death of start-ups is at a peak, we believe it would be unwise to further hamper the technology start-up market by adopting the proposed regulation.
30 Day Survival in Heart Transplant Patients Bridged with Short Term Mechanical Circulatory Support: Are We Failing to Rescue?

Purpose UNOS heart allocation policy has changed with patients receiving temporary MCS being prioritized. Failure to rescue (FTR) describes a phenomenon where patients with in-hospital complications demonstrate increased 30 day mortality. We sought to identify 30 day mortality rates in BTT recipients supported with temporary MCS. Methods International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) provided de-identified patient data. Between 2005 and 2018, 63,866 heart transplant recipients ≥18 years were identified. Of these, 658 (1.0%) were bridged with VA-ECMO, 1991 (3.1%) with IABP, 11960 (18.7%) with continuous-flow LVAD. Patients who underwent re-operative heart transplantation were excluded. Results Patients who were pre-operatively supported with VA-ECMO were younger when compared to the IABP or LVAD group. Donors were more likely to be older, female, and with a slightly longer ischemic time when transplanted into VA-ECMO recipients compared to IABP or LVAD recipients (Table 1). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a post-transplant survival of 81% (124/658 VA-ECMO), 95% (104/1991 IABP), 95% (552/11960 LVAD), at 30 days (p Conclusion BTT with VA-ECMO is associated with decreased 30-day survival compared to IABP or LVADs. With the prioritization of patients transplanted from temporary MCS, multi-institutional collaborative efforts are necessary to define if FTR versus specific donor or recipient factors contribute to this survival differential.
Thermodynamics, dynamics, and structure of supercritical water at extreme conditions

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to understand the thermodynamic, dynamic, and structural changes in supercritical water across the Frenkel line and the melting line have been performed. The two-phase thermodynamic model [J. Phys. Chem. B, 2010, 114(24), 8191–8198] and the velocity autocorrelation functions are used to locate the Frenkel line and to calculate the thermodynamic and dynamic properties. The Frenkel lines obtained from the two-phase thermodynamic model and the velocity autocorrelation criterion do not agree with each other. Structural characteristics and the translational diffusion dynamics of water suggest that this inconsistency could arise from the two oscillatory modes in water, which are associated with the bending of hydrogen bonds and intermolecular collisions inside the first coordination shell. The overall results lead us to conclude that the universality of the Frenkel line as a dynamic crossover line from rigid to nonrigid fluids is preserved in water.
Effect of the finite width of the temperature transition in diffusive condensation particle counters

The fluid streamlines ψ moving near the hot-cold wall junction in diffusive condensation particle counters (DCPCs) experience close to unit saturation ratio (S = 1), being ineffective for nucleatio...
Neuromechanical Assessment of Activated vs. Resting Leg Rigidity Using the Pendulum Test Is Associated With a Fall History in People With Parkinson's Disease

Leg rigidity is associated with frequent falls in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting a potential role in functional balance and gait impairments. Changes in the neural state due to secondary tasks, e.g., activation maneuvers, can exacerbate (or "activate") rigidity, possibly increasing the risk of falls. However, the subjective interpretation and coarse classification of the standard clinical rigidity scale has prohibited the systematic, objective assessment of resting and activated leg rigidity. The pendulum test is an objective diagnostic method that we hypothesized would be sensitive enough to characterize resting and activated leg rigidity. We recorded kinematic data and electromyographic signals from rectus femoris and biceps femoris during the pendulum test in 15 individuals with PD, spanning a range of leg rigidity severity. From the recorded data of leg swing kinematics, we measured biomechanical outcomes including first swing excursion, first extension peak, number and duration of the oscillations, resting angle, relaxation index, maximum and minimum angular velocity. We examined associations between biomechanical outcomes and clinical leg rigidity score. We evaluated the effect of increasing rigidity through activation maneuvers on biomechanical outcomes. Finally, we assessed whether either biomechanical outcomes or changes in outcomes with activation were associated with a fall history. Our results suggest that the biomechanical assessment of the pendulum test can objectively quantify parkinsonian leg rigidity. We found that the presence of high rigidity during clinical exam significantly impacted biomechanical outcomes, i.e., first extension peak, number of oscillations, relaxation index, and maximum angular velocity. No differences in the effect of activation maneuvers between groups with clinically assessed low rigidity were observed, suggesting that activated rigidity may be independent of resting rigidity and should be scored as independent variables. Moreover, we found that fall history was more common among people whose rigidity was increased with a secondary task, as measured by biomechanical outcomes. We conclude that different mechanisms contributing to resting and activated rigidity may play an important yet unexplored functional role in balance impairments. The pendulum test may contribute to a better understanding of fundamental mechanisms underlying motor symptoms in PD, evaluating the efficacy of treatments, and predicting the risk of falls.
How COVID-19 Influences Hospitality and Tourism Education: Challenges, Opportunities, and New Directions

The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 entirely disrupted everyone’s daily life including the education system (UNESCO, 2020). The pandemic influenced nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countri...
Innovation and differentiation of emerging market international new ventures the role of entrepreneurial marketing

This study examines the phenomenon of high-tech innovation in international new ventures (INVs) from emerging markets. Such investigation is important as innovation is the catalyst for internationa...
Participants’ perceptions of a residency teaching certificate program: the quality, impact and benefits

Background: Currently, there are no accreditation requirements for pharmacy resident teaching certificate programs (RTCPs) but rather suggested guidelines and documents for individual programs to follow. RTCP curriculums are often “handed-down” from past personnel and vary based on individual interpretation. Quality improvement may be overlooked when programs do not report to governing bodies. Objective: The primary objective of this quality improvement project was threefold: 1) to identify past RTCP participants’ perceptions regarding program seminars, activities, and requirements; 2) to determine the short-term and long-term impact on participant careers and interaction with learners; and 3) to improve the program to meet participants' needs. Methods: A 25 item Qualtrics survey was sent to 93 past pharmacy residents who completed the RTCP. Delivery of the survey was confirmed to 89 previous residents. Participants provided consent and were given 12 days to complete the survey. Data was collected and coded by the research team independently. Results: The participants hold positions in a variety of roles, with 68.3% of participants currently holding a non-academia position. The top five most beneficial activities during the RTCP were: giving a large room lecture, facilitating small group learning, developing test questions, delivering professional CE, and meeting with their teaching mentor. Most seminar topics were beneficial to residents during the RTCP, with over two-thirds of the topics (n=23) found beneficial by at least 90% of the participants. A total of 92.9% of respondents said that the most beneficial aspect of having an assigned mentor was the teaching advice and feedback provided. Conclusions: The perceptions and beliefs of past RTCP participants were obtained regarding how beneficial the programming, activities, and mentorship offered were during and after RTCP completion. Quality improvement ideas from this work include redistribution of time in seminars compared to hands-on activities, the adoption of tracks or concentrations within the RTCP, and the creation of mentor training and development.
Central Park East Secondary School: Teaching and Learning through Freire

This article connects the theoretical perspective of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed with the teaching and learning styles of teachers and students at Central Park East Secondary School (CPESS) in East Harlem, New York. It examines some of the ways the Freireian model has worked within the public school system and considers some of the challenges in implementing it. The article is based on research conducted on former students of the New York high school, using survey- and interview-based methods. The study concludes that while much of the model has been used successfully at CPESS—especially those aspects that focus on relationships inside the school—questions remain about the implementation of some of Freire’s curricular recommendations.
In situ carcinoma-associated immunogenicity : therapeutic and prophylactic implications in breast cancer patients

Publisher Summary This chapter examines data bearing on the antigenicity of breast cancer and the prognostically significant immunity of the host. Particular attention is paid to documenting the presence of such characteristics in the preinvasive phase of breast cancer and demonstrating the therapeutic and the prophylactic significance of in situ carcinoma (ISC)-associated antigenicity and immunity. Any serious consideration of the immunological control of morbidity and mortality from cancer should pay attention to those variables that are critical to the immunological control of infectious diseases. Successful immunoprophylaxis of cancer requires that preinvasive cancers be immunogenic, that the immunogen be similar in most, if not all, preinvasive lesions, and that the immunogen provoke an immune reactivity in the host that is capable of impeding the progression from preinvasive to invasive cancer. The immunological considerations in breast cancer may be prototypical, since ISC-associated immunogenicity and prognostically significant skin window reactivity occur in patients with carcinomas of nonbreast origin. Most importantly, the cohesive whole of the assembled data is consistent with the ultimate control of morbidity and mortality from breast cancer by the immunization of control women against the ISC-associated cell-mediated immunity (CMI) determinant .
The Theory of Counting

The theory of counting, or enumeration, is the theoretical counterpart of everyday practical counting. The chapter starts by defining an experiment to be any activity with well-defined, observable outcomes or results, and an event as a set of outcomes. Tree diagrams are introduced to represent sequences of events.
Abstract 12638: Hsp20-Reprogrammed Exosomes Derived From Cardiomyocytes Provide Protection Against Diabetic Cardiomyopathy in Mice

Background: It has been shown that exosomes, a group of nanovesicles naturally released from living cells, have either beneficial or deleterious effects on cell behavior, depending on the contents encased. We recently showed that Hsp20, as a chaperon protein, could be included in cardiomyocyte exosomes which promoted angiogenesis. Whether such exosomes derived from Hsp20-overexpressing myocytes play any protective role in diabetic animals remains unknown. Methods and Results: Cultured myocytes were infected with Ad-Hsp20 to overexpress Hsp20. Ad-GFP was used as controls. Then supernatants were collected for purification of exosomes by differential centrifugation. While exosomes derived from Hsp20-myocytes (Hsp20-Exo) displayed similar size and molecular markers (CD63 and CD81) to those originated from the control GFP-myocytes (GFP-Exo), the protein contents encased were different. Western-blotting or ELISA assays revealed that Hsp20-Exo contained higher levels of Hsp20, VEGFR2, Survivin, p-Akt, and SOD1 than GFP-Exo. We next tested the effects of such exosomes in vivo using a diabetic mouse model, which was induced by daily peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 50μg/g) for 5 days. Three days after the last injection of STZ, blood glucose levels were measured. Mice were considered diabetic (≥15 mmol/L) and used for the study. We then treated such diabetic mice with exosomes via the tail vein injection (5μg/g body weight). One month later, cardiac function was measured by echocardiography, and showed that left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) were increased by 33% and 28%, respectively, in Hsp20-Exo-treated mice, compared with GFP-Exo-controls. We also found that Hsp20-Exo led to an increased density of cardiac blood vessels and reduction of myocardial fibrosis to a greater degree than GFP-Exo-samples. Mechanistically, we identified that PKH67-labled exosomes could be detected in mouse hearts at 2 hours after the tail vein injection and confirmed that exosomal Hsp20 was transferred to the in vivo hearts. Conclusions: This study indicates that the exosome contents can be modified by Hsp20 in cardiomyocytes. Injection of Hsp20-reprogrammed exosomes protects diabetic animals against cardiomyopathy.
8 Protein detection and imaging in IEF gels

Publisher Summary The chapter discusses protein detection and imaging in isoelectric focusing (IEF) gels. Because of its relative simplicity in implementation, carrier ampholyte-mediated IEF remains a popular separation approach, being commonly employed in basic research, clinical chemistry, agriculture science, food industry , and forensics. Immobilized pH gradient (IPG) gel electrophoresis has become particularly important as the first dimension component of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), although carrier ampholyte-mediated IEF still has its proponents. Two categories of silver staining have found widespread utility for the detection of proteins in polyacrylamide gels, the alkaline silver diamine, and the acidic silver nitrate methods. Two categories of silver staining have found widespread utility for the detection of proteins in polyacrylamide gels, the alkaline silver diamine, and the acidic silver nitrate methods. The categories of fluorescent detection methods have gained prominence in the field of proteomics in recent years. The introduction of fluorescent dye technology in particular has played an important role in the development of advanced imaging instrumentation.
Access strategies for peripheral arterial intervention.

An operator’s ability to determine the optimal vascular access strategy for patients undergoing peripheral endovascular intervention is critical to maximizing procedural safety and success. Individualizing an approach to access requires careful planning, and is contingent upon a solid general knowledge of normal and abnormal vascular anatomy, as well as the particulars of each patient’s history, physical examination, and non-invasive test results. An awareness of the technical nuances, relative safety, and indications for obtaining percutaneous arterial access at all potential sites is essential. Available means for approaching lower extremity arterial disease include the retrograde and antegrade common femoral approaches, the contralateral crossover technique, upper extremity approaches from the radial, brachial, or axillary arteries, or occasionally retrograde access via the popliteal, dorsalis pedis, or tibial arteries. These techniques, as well as important considerations for approaching disease of the renal, subclavian, and carotid arteries are reviewed.
Conformational kinetics reveals affinities of protein conformational states

Most biological reactions rely on interplay between binding and changes in both macromolecular structure and dynamics. Practical understanding of this interplay requires detection of critical intermediates and determination of their binding and conformational characteristics. However, many of these species are only transiently present and they have often been overlooked in mechanistic studies of reactions that couple binding to conformational change. We monitored the kinetics of ligand-induced conformational changes in a small protein using six different ligands. We analyzed the kinetic data to simultaneously determine both binding affinities for the conformational states and the rate constants of conformational change. The approach we used is sufficiently robust to determine the affinities of three conformational states and detect even modest differences in the protein’s affinities for relatively similar ligands. Ligand binding favors higher-affinity conformational states by increasing forward conformational rate constants and/or decreasing reverse conformational rate constants. The amounts by which forward rate constants increase and reverse rate constants decrease are proportional to the ratio of affinities of the conformational states. We also show that both the affinity ratio and another parameter, which quantifies the changes in conformational rate constants upon ligand binding, are strong determinants of the mechanism (conformational selection and/or induced fit) of molecular recognition. Our results highlight the utility of analyzing the kinetics of conformational changes to determine affinities that cannot be determined from equilibrium experiments. Most importantly, they demonstrate an inextricable link between conformational dynamics and the binding affinities of conformational states.
Acromioclavicular joint injuries.

Injuries of the acromioclavicular (AC) joint and their sequelae occur commonly, especially in contact sports. This article reviews the nonoperative management of distal clavicle fractures; intra-articular conditions without associated AC instability, including osteoarthritis and osteolysis; and AC joint sprains and dislocations.
Low cost high-speed test data acquisition: Accurate period estimation driven signal reconstruction using incoherent subsampling

In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to estimate the fundamental period (frequency) of a highspeed pseudo random bit sequence (PRBS) or multitone signal using incoherent subsampling. While incoherent subsampling suffers from spectral leakage due to the mismatch between the input test signal and the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) basis, the proposed algorithm efficiently resolves the spectral leakage problem using a back-end signal process. The approach requires incoherent digitization of the periodic sequence using at least two clocks running at different speeds. No additional hardware to synchronize the input signal frequency with the sampling clock frequency is needed. A new discrete frequency shifting approach for determining the period of the input signal is proposed that is computationally efficient. The signal reconstruction approach has been tested with experimental results.
Dinosaurs and horses, or: Ways with nature

Parallel to alternative approaches to given problems within a given field of science, or even to competing hypotheses within it, we observe alter native ways of dealing with, coping with, mastering nature. These ways are manifest in diverse cultures and civilizations, primitive or sophisti cated indeed at times within complexes of all these, and thus the ways manifest are all too often highly complex as well. Within each of these complexes, some approaches or slants or interests, some elements, turn out to be more viable than others. Dealing with the same nature, the alternatives differ, and they are viable to differing degrees and in different ways. In two respects they all are equal: they exhibit both the fallibility and the incompleteness of human knowledge. It is this shared shortcoming which has for long made philosophers overlook their obvious differences. In the West, attitudes to nature were all judged by the positivistic yard stick, even when the judges were not in the least positivists and ofttimes boldly metaphysical. Positivists have expressly demanded of all decent thinking compliance with the same universal criterion which transcends differences between cultures; this criterion was, inter alia, intended to narrow down our rational reconstruction of the history of any given cog nitive contribution of any culture a contribution to what may be viewed as the scientific core of the culture reconstructed. Let us stress this item of positivist tolerance : no matter how it may have been articulated in mystical or metaphysical or religious or any other idiom, an item may be reconstructed as cognitive and as such sustained or exonerated. It is not that positivists are agreed on what exactly is the correct formu lation of the universal criterion; nor need they be; rather, what they are agreed upon is that the criterion be universal. This is not to say, however, that positivists idly disregarded the question, what is the right formulation of that universal criterion? Following Rudolf Carnap we use the label 'testability' for our universal criterion, as a label vague enough to cover diverse specific proposals for its formulation. For our own part we find reconstructions founded on testability to be understandable and not in
Necessary conditions for microscopic many-body theories☆

Familiar necessary conditions for the saturation of many-body binding energies are reconsidered in order to provide a better understanding of the analyticity properties of the ground state energy and of the convergence properties of certain sums of Goldstone diagrams. Using these results and other elementary arguments, we identify a minimum class of diagrams which must be summed to all orders if the perturbative treatment of other diagrams is to converge.
Enlivening the Adult Education Foreign Language Conversation Course

MANY OF US TEACH, on the side, one of those ever-popular adult education foreign language courses, where we are confronted for eight long weeks by a classroom full of earnest souls who wish to become "fluent" in the foreign language (hereafter FL) without ever having to study. In order to maintain a semblance of academic order and, in fact, to preserve my own sanity for the duration; I have developed a series of lessons in each of which little or no previous knowledge of the FL is required. Each week's presentation is a unit unto itself, one for which the student has to have retained only a minimum of what was introduced the week before.
Open secrets The affective cultures of organizing on Mexico’s northern border

Taking sexuality and affect as its focus, this article leads us into the uncharted terrain of ‘outlawed affects’, those unspeakable sensations that do not fall easily into established categories an...
Experiences of Model Year 2011 Dodge and Jeep Owners With Collision Avoidance and Related Technologies

Objective: Crash avoidance technologies have the potential to prevent or mitigate many crashes, but their effectiveness depends on drivers’ acceptance and proper use. Owners of 2011 Dodge Charger, Dodge Durango, and Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles were interviewed about their experiences with their vehicles’ technologies.Methods: Interviews were conducted in April 2013 with 215 owners of Dodge and Jeep vehicles with adaptive cruise control and forward collision warning and 215 owners with blind spot monitoring and rear cross-path detection.Results: Most owners said that they always keep each collision avoidance technology turned on, and more than 90% of owners with each system would want the technology again on their next vehicle. The majority believed that the systems had helped prevent a collision; this ranged from 54% of drivers with forward collision warning to more than three-quarters with blind spot monitoring and rear cross-path detection. Some owners reported behavioral changes with the systems, but ...
Comparison of Cooperativity in CH···O and OH···O Hydrogen Bonds

The ability of one H-bond in a chain to affect others is assessed by comparing the CH···O bonds in (H2CO)n and (HFCO)n to the OH···O bonds in (H2O)n. Both sorts of interactions grow stronger, and t...
Intermodal Transportation Disruption and Reroute Simulation Framework: Lesson for Freight Planning

The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act strives to improve the condition and performance of the national freight network and support investment in freight-related surface transportation projects. To address these freight provisions, ways to understand freight movement are being sought. Findings from the project Multimodal Transportation Disruption and Reroute Simulation Framework are discussed. Lessons learned can benefit planners seeking to create the first national intermodal freight plan. Major components of the study include constructing baseline overviews of identified commodity flow on freight, railroad, and water-borne networks and developing network disruption scenarios occurring in areas of vital transportation infrastructure to simulate disaster impacts on the intermodal flow of goods. A key lesson learned was that effective data management was enhanced by process decomposition and breaking the modeling, simulation, and analysis of disruptions into discrete parts of a multistep eff...
Are Sunspots Stabilizing

The reduced form solutions of indeterminate rational expectations models often include extraneous expectational errors or “sunspots”. Sunspots are usually modeled as independent of the model’s fundamentals, and are often presumed to result in excess volatility. An alternate approach, however, is to assume that sunspots include both an overreaction or underreaction to fundamentals, as well as genuine extraneous noise. This paper uses a simple linear model to formally show how the relationship between sunspots and fundamentals affects aggregate volatility. Sunspots reduce volatility if 1) they include an undereaction to fundamentals, 2) the variance of genuine extraneous noise is sufficiently small, and 3) the root that causes indeterminacy is sufficiently far from one.
Detection And Classification Of Target Formations In Infrared Image Sequences

This paper describes a knowledge-based approach to the detection and classification of ground-based military target, formations in infrared (IR) image sequences at long range from an airborne platform. The motivation for this ap-proach is that at long range military vehicle targets in IR imagery typically consist of only a few pixels, have low contrast and exist in a high clutter environment making reliable detection, classification or identification of indivi-dual targets extremely difficult. Thus, the system detailed here detects targets based on their membership in a military target formation or convoy, relying on the structure or spatial organization of the formation and not individual target signatures. The system consists of two major components: Point Target Detection and Tracking (PTD); and Knowledge-Based Constraint Hierarchical Target Formation Detection and Classification (TFD). The first component detects and tracks both stationary and moving point targets which are passed on as candidates for clustering into target formations by a rule-based matching process in the second component. The PTD module makes use of image pre-processing, stationary and moving target detectors, image registration for sensor motion compensation, temporal processing for detection consistency over a large number of frames, in addition to inter-frame target and formation tracking. The TFD module consists of an expandable knowledge base containing characteristics of typical target formation types and a flexible set of rules that are used to match reference formations to actual formations in an image. The paper contains a complete description of the system methodology and provides experimental performance results of the system operating on real IR data.
Suppressor cell activity in primary biliary cirrhosis

Recent evidence has suggested that peripheral blood suppressor cell populations can modulate immune responsiveness. Absence of suppressor cell activity has been noted in diseases of presumed autoimmune basis. We determined inducible suppressor cell activity in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) as compared to age and sex-matched controls. There was a significant loss of suppressor cell activity for mitogen response in patients with PBC (−4.5±8.0%) versus controls (43.7±7.8%). No correlation of this loss to clinical parameters was observed. This study suggests PBC patients lack inducible suppressor cell activity. Such loss could allow continued reactivity to hepatic autoantigens and might provide partial explanation for the perpetuation of this disease.
Inelastic Electron Scattering from Carbon

The energy spectrum of electrons inelastically scattered from nuclei was measured, with the aim of studying the giant-resonance region of nuclear excitation. Scattered electrons corresponding to excitation of the giant resonance were observed at large angles for targets of Si and C. The scattering distribution from C was investigated in detail, and a peak at 15 Mev was observed. The Mark II linear accelerator and an 18-in. double-focusing spectrometer were used for the experiment. (W.D.M.)
Endohedral nickel and palladium atoms in metal clusters: analogy to endohedral noble gas atoms in fullerenes in polyhedra with five-fold symmetry

Nickel and palladium atoms with their closed-shell d10 electronic configurations are encapsulated in the icosahedral clusters [Ni@Ni10E2(CO)18]4− (E = Sb, Bi, Sb→Ni(CO)3, CH3Sn and n-C4H9Sn) and the geometrically related pentagonal antiprismatic cluster Pd@Bi104+ found in Bi14PdBr16. Such endohedral d10 atoms in pentagonal antiprismatic clusters are donors of zero skeletal electrons and interact only weakly with the atoms in the surrounding polyhedron so that they may be regarded as analogous to endohedral noble gases in fullerenes such as He@C60. On the other hand, endohedral nickel and palladium atoms in 10- and 11-vertex flattened deltahedral bare metal clusters of group 13 metals without five-fold symmetry, such as Ni@E1010− found in Na10NiE10 (E = Ga, In) and Pd@Tl117− found in A8Tl11Pd (A = Cs, Rb, K), interact significantly with the cluster atoms, particularly those at the flattened vertices of the deltahedron. The role of endohedral d10 atoms Ni and Pd in polyhedra with five-fold symmetry as “pseudo-noble-gases” can be related to their positions at the “composite divide” of the “Metallurgists' Periodic Table” proposed by H. E. N. Stone on the basis of alloy systematics as well as the equivalence of the five d orbitals in polyhedra with five-fold symmetry.
Long-run behavior of constrained discrete-time linear dynamical systems

We consider a system of linear equations whose variablesy(t) ź Em describe an economy or process which is observed in succeeding discrete time periodst. With forms given for the equations relating the values of the state vectory(t) in succeeding periods and limiting the set of feasible choices ofy(t) in each period, conditions which determine the nature of feasible sequences of state vectors are given, and the characteristics ofy(t) astźź are analyzed. Some of the results are studied in the framework of specified infinite horizon optimization problems.
BML revisited: Statistical physics, computer simulation, and probability

Statistical physics, computer simulation, and discrete mathematics are intimately related through the study of shared lattice models. These models lie at the foundation of all three fields, are studied extensively, and can be highly influential. Yet new computational and mathematical tools may challenge even well-established beliefs. Consider the BML model, which is a paradigm for modeling self-organized patterns of traffic flow and first-order jamming transitions. Recent findings, on the existence of intermediate states, bring into question the standard understanding of the jamming transition. We review the results and show that the onset of full-jamming can be considerably delayed based on the geometry of the system. We also introduce an asynchronous version of BML, which lacks the self-organizing properties of BML, has none of the puzzling intermediate states, but has a sharp, discontinuous, transition to full jamming. We believe this asynchronous version will be more amenable to rigorous mathematical analysis than standard BML. We discuss additional models, such as bootstrap percolation, the honey-comb dimer model and the rotor-router, all of which exemplify the interplay between the three fields, while also providing cautionary tales. Finally, we synthesize implications for how results from one field may relate to the other, and also implications specific to computer implementations. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity, 12, 30–39, 2006
It is not a talking book;: it is more like really reading a book!

In this research we designed, developed, and tested a reading system that enables Individuals with Blindness or Severe Visual Impairment (IBSVI) to fuse audio, tactile landmarks, and spatial information in order to read. This system renders electronic text documents on iPad-type devices, and reads aloud each word touched by the user's finger. A tactile overlay on the iPad screen helps IBSVI to navigate a page, furnishing a framework of tactile landmarks to give IBSVI a sense of place on the page. As the user moves her finger along the tangible pattern of the overlay, the text on the iPad screen that is touched is rendered audibly using a text-to-speech bsynthesizer.
University Nanosat System Thermal Design, Analysis, and Testing

Thermal design for space systems is an iterative process that balances the temperature requirements for all mission phases with the available resources. Secondary payloads often have to be designed for a wide range of conditions available on various launch platforms, without the benefit of additional resources such as power or thermal shielding. This paper will discuss the thermal design, analysis, and thermal vacuum testing of a small satellite payload that was initially intended for launch from the US Space Shuttle and eventually launched on the EELV Heavy demonstration in December 2004.
On the existence of solutions for random differential inclusions in a Banach space

Abstract We prove two existence theorems for random differential inclusions defined in a separable Banach space. One is about differential inclusions defined on all of the Banach space X and the other for differential inclusion defined on a closed convex subset K. Both theorems are proved through the use of analogous deterministic results, which we also include, and techniques from the theory of measurable multifunctions.
A Study of the Metabolic Fate of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in Rabbits

SummaryApproximately 75% of HCG injected intravenously into female rabbits was recovered in the urine over a period of 4 to 24 days. The duration of excretion was directly proportional to the amount of HCG administered. Perfusion of the liver and kidney, in vivo, with HCG did not cause biologic inactivation of the hormone.