cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of electron cyclotron heating results in the helically symmetric experiment with and without quasi-symmetry

The extraordinary wave at the second harmonic of the electron cyclotron frequency produces and heats the plasma in the helically symmetric experiment. Ray-tracing calculations predict 40% first pass absorption at a plasma density of 1.5 x 10 18 m -3 and an electron temperature of 400 eV To measure the wave absorption, a set of absolutely calibrated microwave detectors is installed along the machine. It was found that the absorption efficiency is very high (about 0.9) in the quasi-helically symmetric (QHS) and mirror configurations, and it drops to 0.6 in the anti-mirror mode. The confinement of particles in the different configurations is studied in the neutral gas breakdown experiments. With the same gas pressure and heating power, the density for the QHS configuration has a larger growth rate (10 4 s -1 ) compared with the mirror (5 x 10 3 s -1 ) and anti-mirror modes (2 x 10 3 s -1 ). A study of the stored energy versus launched power and plasma density shows that it increases linearly (up to 50 J) with power and has a maximum at a low plasma density (at about 0.4 × 10 18 m -3 ). The central electron temperature measured by Thomson scattering also rises linearly with heating power and reaches 600 eV at 100 kW of launched power.
Sparse transformations and preconditioners for 3-D capacitance extraction

Three-dimensional (3-D) capacitance-extraction algorithms are important due to their high accuracy. However, the current 3-D algorithms are slow and thus their application is limited. In this paper, we present a novel method to significantly speed up capacitance-extraction algorithms based on boundary element methods (BEMs), under uniform and multiple dielectrics. The n/spl times/n coefficient matrix in the BEM is dense, even when approximated with the fast multipole method or hierarchical-refinement method, where n is the number of panels needed to discretize the conductor surfaces and dielectric interfaces. As a result, effective preconditioners are hard to obtain and iterative solvers converge slowly. In this paper, we introduce a linear transformation to convert the n/spl times/n dense coefficient matrix into a sparse matrix with O(n) nonzero entries, and then use incomplete factorization to produce a very effective preconditioner. For the k/spl times/k bus-crossing benchmark, our method requires at most four iterations, whereas previous best methods such as FastCap and HiCap require 10-20 iterations. As a result, our algorithm is up to 70 times faster than FastCap and up to 2 times faster than HiCap on these benchmarks. Additional experiments illustrate that our method consistently outperforms previous best methods by a large magnitude on complex industrial problems with multiple dielectrics.
Preprocessing of Low-Quality Handwritten Documents Using Markov Random Fields

This paper presents a statistical approach to the preprocessing of degraded handwritten forms including the steps of binarization and form line removal. The degraded image is modeled by a Markov random field (MRF) where the hidden-layer prior probability is learned from a training set of high-quality binarized images and the observation probability density is learned on-the-fly from the gray-level histogram of the input image. We have modified the MRF model to drop the preprinted ruling lines from the image. We use the patch-based topology of the MRF and belief propagation (BP) for efficiency in processing. To further improve the processing speed, we prune unlikely solutions from the search space while solving the MRF. Experimental results show higher accuracy on two data sets of degraded handwritten images than previously used methods.
The Reducing Capacity of Milk and Milk Products as Measured by a Modified Ferricyanide Method

Summary and Conclusions A modification of Chapman and MeFarlane's ferricyanide procedure for evaluating the reducing capacity of milk is presented. This modification, which involves raising the pH to 6.6 and lowering the temperature to 50° C, proved somewhat more satisfactory, particularly with milk powders of high reducing capacity, than the original method. The method has been calibrated in terms both of ferricyanide reduced and of cysteine or ascorbic acid oxidized. The capacity of milk to reduce ferricyanide is increased both by heat treatment and by spray drying. Study of simplified systems of milk constituents has shown that some of the reducing substances produced by heat treatment of milk and aging of dry milk are formed from laetose and from protein-lactose interactions.
Life during wartime: aspirational kinship and the management of insecurity

This article explores the ways that the institution of the avunculate has been used as an idiom for negotiating forced displacement, dispossession, and insecurity in the forested region where modern-day Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire converge. The essay analyses the ways that the rights and responsibilities that inhere in the MB-ZS relationship are both invoked ‘aspirationally’ by those with no prior link of kinship and parried by those who should in principle be bound by them. This degree of play suggests that the avunculate in this region is best understood as one of several idioms used to legitimate claims made on others, often in times of uncertainty and instability. Rather than treat this relationship as an always-already existing social institution, the article suggests that it is also the product of a historical experience of persistent warfare, displacement, and flight. How does a refugee manage her arrival in a village where she knows no one? When talking with Loma-speakers in southeastern Guinea about the ways that people are related to one another, men in particular often refer to the institution of Mother’s Brother-Sister’s Son (keke-daabe) relations to explain their mutual rights and responsibilities. However, as I describe below, these ostensible rights and responsibilities are flouted or cancelled out as often as they are respected. Meanwhile, the stranger arriving in a new village might at first seem to be excluded from such pre-existing relations. However, it is in its aspirational and negotiable mode that the keke-daabe relationship may be most predictably enacted. It is paradoxically this same keke-daabe idiom that has been historically used by weaker autochthones to try to bind powerful conquerors to themselves by granting conquerors the symbolic legitimacy (and the attendant responsibilities) that comes with becoming ‘owners of the land’. We are thus faced with a situation in which the idiom of the avunculate is used to incorporate both powerless refugees and powerful conquerors. This paradox suggests that the institution, while articulated in discursive terms as being the product of past marriage alliances and relations of descent, is as a matter of practice something different. It is these things, but it may also be part of a ‘toolkit’, developed over many centuries of recurrent insecurity and unpredictability caused by slave-raiding warfare, colonial military conquest, and the recent regional wars, for managing and negotiating such uncertainty, forced movement, and dispossession. bs_bs_banner
Life Under a Sea of Air

In the first half of his Treatise on the Weight of the Mass of the Air, Pascal argued that air has weight, just like water, and that many of the observations which had previously been attributed to nature’s “abhorrence of a vacuum” could be readily explained by this fact. For example, the adhesion of a suction cup to a glass block is caused not by a vacuum pulling them together. After all, how can nothing (a vacuum) act on something (a suction cup)? Rather, the adhesion is caused by the weight of the atmosphere pushing the suction cup and the glass block together from behind. Likewise, water in a cup is not drawn up into a drinking straw by a vacuum pulling up on it. Rather the water is pushed up into the straw by the weight of the air acting on the surface of the water remaining in the cup. The drinker, after placing her mouth over the straw, merely reduces the force with which the weight of the atmosphere had initially been pushing down on the water inside the straw. In the remaining chapters of this Treatise, Pascal explains more of the surprising consequences of accepting the idea that we on Earth are living at the bottom of a heavy sea of air. In particular, he considers the circumstances under which the effects of the weight of the air can be increased or diminished. Perhaps most amazingly Pascal also attempts to calculate the weight of the entire atmosphere of air surrounding the Earth. How does he do this? Is he right?
Improved model for the non-destructive estimation of strawberry leaf area

Improved model for the non-destructive estimation of strawberry leaf area. Abstract -- Introduction. Non-destructive estimation of leaf area saves time as compared with geometric measurements. For this reason, several leaf area prediction models were produced for some plant species such as grape, avocado and kiwifruit in previous studies. In this research, we attempted to offer a reliable equation that predicts strawberry leaf area non-destructively by linear measurements of leaf geometry. Materials and methods. An equation was developed by using Sweet Charlie and Camarosa strawberry cultivars and by measuring lamina width, length and leaf area. Results and discussion. It was found that the relationships between the actual leaf area and the predicted leaf area given by the equation developed were significant at a level of 0.1% and that r 2 was 0.993. In addition, the model was validated by measurements of new leaf areas of seven other strawberry cultivars. Conclusions. The model developed could be used for strawberries in relevant studies. Turkey / Fragaria / leaf area index / methods / evaluation / mathematical models
A Unified Approach to Axillosubclavian Venous Thrombosis in a Single Hospital Admission

Spontaneous or effort-related thrombosis of the axillosubclavian vein, termed Paget-Schroetter syndrome, is thought to be related to repetitive upper extremity physical activity, most commonly afflicting young, otherwise healthy, individuals. For the past 25 years, the mainstay of treatment for acute axillosubclavian venous thrombosis has consisted of early local catheter-directed thrombolytic therapy, an interval period of anticoagulation (3 months), and late surgical decompression of the thoracic outlet, with either a transaxillary or supraclavicular first rib resection. Immediate thrombolytic therapy followed by early surgical decompression has also been suggested previously, but has only recently been shown to be safe and efficacious, while significantly decreasing the duration of disability suffered by patients with this form of thoracic outlet syndrome. Therefore, a unified approach to acute axillosubclavian venous thrombosis in a single hospital admission should be considered an alternative standard of care for treatment of Paget-Schroetter syndrome.
The effect of topical ophthalmic 1% atropine on heart rate and rhythm in normal dogs.

Objective To determine if topically administered ophthalmic atropine affects heart rate or rhythm in clinically normal dogs. Methods Two groups of 15 healthy dogs were evaluated, one consisting of dogs weighing 15 kg. Each dog was suited with a Holter monitor. At start time 0, dogs received one drop of ophthalmic 1% atropine solution, or one drop of sterile saline solution as a control in each eye, via random assignment. Each dog served as their own control. This procedure was repeated two more times, at 6-h intervals, for a total of three treatments over a 12-h period. Holter monitors recorded heart rate and rhythm for 24 h. Statistical analysis was performed to compare values between the groups. Dose dependent changes in cardiac parameters were evaluated. Results The mean heart rate and average minimum heart rate was significantly higher during the treatment period compared to the control period (8% and 13%, respectively). The mean number of hours with a heart rate 180 bpm did not differ significantly between the two groups. There was no evidence of dose dependence on heart rate when comparing small and large dogs. No significant differences in heart rhythm were noted between groups for measurable parameters. Conclusions Topically administered atropine causes a small but significant increase in heart rate in healthy dogs.
Efficacy of Educational and Medical Intervention for Prevention of Mental Retardation Based on Physiological and Psychological Research

The purpose of this article is to (1) review research that is relevant to the learning deficits exhibited by the mentally retarded; (2) attempt to indicate the physiological processes that may be responsible for the learning deficit; (3) focus on early stimulation as a possible procedure to prevent retardation; and (4) discuss the physiological changes that occur as a result of early education. It is hoped that by integrating what is known about the learning characteristics of the retarded as well as early educational intervention programs with current knowledge about the physiological changes as a result of early stimulation, that programs for the retarded can be developed. Programs built upon an empirical base may ultimately lead to the prevention and/or remediation of a large percentage of people who would otherwise be labelled mentally retarded. It should be clear that this paper is concerned only with the cases of mental retardation which demonstrate non-pathology and are labelled the cultural-famili...
AURKA amplification, chromosome instability, and centrosome abnormality in human pancreatic carcinoma cells

To test the hypothesis that AURKA amplification contributes to pancreatic tumorigenesis by increasing centrosome abnormality and chromosome instability, the current study explored the associations between AURKA amplification, chromosome instability, centrosome abnormality, and the expression of several important proteins that are involved in cell proliferation (Ki-67), cell cycle regulation (p53, p16), and apoptosis (survivin) in 12 human pancreatic carcinoma cell lines. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), we observed that 5 of the 12 cell lines had an AURKA amplification index (AI) (percentage of cells with more than three signals) >60%. Both the AURKA AI and the average number of signals per cell (ANSPC) were significantly associated with the copy number of chromosome 9 but not chromosome 17. The AURKA ANSPC was positively associated with the percentage of cells with the centrosome abnormality. Furthermore, centrosome abnormality was significantly associated with the frequency of cells with abnormal nuclei and abnormal mitotic figures, but no direct association was detected between the frequency of centrosome abnormalities and chromosome instabilities. The AURKA AI was also associated with a lower expression of Ki-67, a higher expression of survivin, and the lack of expression of p16. These associations support our hypothesis that AURKA amplification contributes to pancreatic carcinogenesis by increasing chromosome instability and centrosome abnormality.
PrEsto: An FPGA-accelerated Power Estimation Methodology for Complex Systems

Reduced or bounded power consumption has become a first-order requirement for modern hardware design. As a design progresses and more detailed information becomes available, more accurate power estimations become possible but at the cost of significantly slower simulation speeds. Power simulation that is both sufficiently-accurate and fast would have a positive impact on architecture and design. In this paper, we propose PrEsto, a power modeling methodology that improves the speed and accuracy of power estimation through FPGA-acceleration. PrEsto automatically generates FPGA-based power estimators consisting of linear models that are designed to be integrated into fast, accurate FPGA-based performance simulators of microprocessors. Our prototype implementation predicts the cycle-by-cycle power dissipation of the LEON3 core and the ARM Cortex-A8 core to within 6% of a commercial gate-level power estimation tool, while running several orders of magnitude faster. The combination of simulation speed and accuracy is not only useful to architects and designers, it is fast enough to be useful for power-sensitive operating system and application developers.
Fundamental Neurological Research and Human Neurosurgery Using Intense Ultrasound

Focused high intensity ultrasound can be used, under accurately controlled dosage conditions, to produce either temporary or permanent changes in practically any desired brain structure. Volumes of tissue smaller than one tenth of a cubic millimeter can be affected in deep brain structures of experimental animals (cats and monkeys), and regions as large as desired can be changed by moving the focal spot of the ultrasonic beams through an appropriately chosen path. The changes can be induced without adversely affecting intervening brain structure and without interrupting the vascular system even within the site in which irreversible or permanent changes in the neural components are produced. The selectivity and absence of effects on the intervening tissue make focused ultrasound a tool of considerable power for investigating basic brain mechanisms. It is now being used in an extensive experimental animal program involving neuroanatomical, behavioral and physiological studies. It is also being used to study and modify the symptoms of various neurological disorders in humans. The signs and symptoms which have been and are under investigation in human patients at the present time include abnormal movements (tremor and nonpatterned), muscular rigidity), intractable pain (following amputations, cerebral vascular accidents, the acute phase of herpes zoster) and hypersensitivity to stimulation of the body surface.
Legislative Institutions and Corruption in Developing Country Democracies

This article extends the research on institutional sources of corruption by investigating whether legislative institutions play a significant role in driving corruption in developing country democracies. The author argues that when legislative rules (a) give parties control over agenda setting and (b) allow parties to strip legislators who vote against the party line of their legislative mandates, parties can exercise valuable influence over the legislative policy process, which allows them to engage in practices leading to higher corruption. The author derives two testable hypotheses linking higher party influence over agenda setting and voting in the legislature to higher corruption and test them by using a new data set on legislative rules for 64 developing country democracies from 1984 to 2004. The empirical results corroborate the hypotheses and remain robust when controlling for alternative explanations, employing different estimation techniques, and using different measures of corruption.
A highly selective lead sensor based on a classic lead DNAzyme

A catalytic beacon sensor for Pb2+ has been developed based on the first DNAzyme discovered in the field, and such a sensor has shown a much higher metal ion selectivity (40 000 times) than the previously reported Pb2+ sensor based on 8-17 DNAzyme and thus is suitable for a wider range of practical applications.
GRK2 negatively regulates IGF-1R signaling pathway and cyclins' expression in HepG2 cells†

G protein coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) plays a central role in the regulation of a variety of important signaling pathways. Alternation of GRK2 protein level and activity casts profound effects on cell physiological functions and causes diseases such as heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis, and obesity. We have previously reported that overexpression of GRK2 has an inhibitory role in cancer cell growth. To further examine the role of GRK2 in cancer, in this study, we investigated the effects of reduced protein level of GRK2 on insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling pathway in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) HepG2 cells. We created a GRK2 knockdown cell line using a lentiviral vector mediated expression of GRK2 specific short hairpin RNA (shRNA). Under IGF-1 stimulation, HepG2 cells with reduced level of GRK2 showed elevated total IGF-1R protein expression as well as tyrosine phosphorylation of receptor. In addition, HepG2 cells with reduced level of GRK2 also demonstrated increased tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS1 at the residue 612 and increased phosphorylation of Akt, indicating a stronger activation of IGF-1R signaling pathway. However, HepG2 cells with reduced level of GRK2 did not display any growth advantage in culture as compared with the scramble control cells. We further detected that reduced level of GRK2 induced a small cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase by enhancing the expression of cyclin A, B1, and E. Our results indicate that GRK2 has contrasting roles on HepG2 cell growth by negatively regulating the IGF-1R signaling pathway and cyclins' expression. J. Cell. Physiol. 228: 1897–1901, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
DAS PESSOAS E O DIREITO PENAL: A PERSONALIDADE COMO PRÉ-REQUISITO PARA A VITIMAÇÃO

O presente estudo analisa o tratamento juridico dado aos animais e as chamadas “nao-­‐‑pessoas”, considerando a possibilidade de os mesmos serem considerados “vitimas” dos delitos. Procura-­‐‑ se quebrar, deste modo, o pensamento de que o Direito Penal deve visar somente a tutela de direitos cocedidos aos seres humanos. Dai a necessidade de se distinguir personalidade de humanismo, levando-­‐‑ se em conta que os tribunais e os criticos frequentemente recorrem a definicoes artificiais de personalidade, com o objetivo de atender a complexas questoes normativas sobre os direitos e obrigacoes dos animais nao humanos. Desta forma, a analise de tais conceitos e realizada por meio da teoria do “tudo ou nada” e teoria de “categorias de personalidade”, buscando resolver a dificil questao sobre quem deve ser considerado vitima.
A 14 nm 1.1 Mb Embedded DRAM Macro With 1 ns Access

A 1.1 Mb embedded DRAM macro (eDRAM), for next-generation IBM SOI processors, employs 14 nm FinFET logic technology with $\hbox{0.0174}~\mu\hbox{m}^{2}$ deep-trench capacitor cell. A Gated-feedback sense amplifier enables a high voltage gain of a power-gated inverter at mid-level input voltage, while supporting 66 cells per local bit-line. A dynamic-and-gate-thin-oxide word-line driver that tracks standard logic process variation improves the eDRAM array performance with reduced area. The 1.1 $~$ Mb macro composed of 8 $\times$ 2 72 Kb subarrays is organized with a center interface block architecture, allowing 1 ns access latency and 1 ns bank interleaving operation using two banks, each having 2 ns random access cycle. 5 GHz operation has been demonstrated in a system prototype, which includes 6 instances of 1.1 Mb eDRAM macros, integrated with an array-built-in-self-test engine, phase-locked loop (PLL), and word-line high and word-line low voltage generators. The advantage of the 14 nm FinFET array over the 22 nm array was confirmed using direct tester control of the 1.1 Mb eDRAM macros integrated in 16 Mb inline monitor.
Seeing and Tasting: The Evolution of Dessert in French Gastronomy

Drawing from historical cookbooks, literary works, and contemporary sources, this article traces a shift in the conception of the French dessert course from an adjunct but fully edible form in the seventeenth century to a mainly visual element in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the current balance between edibility and “legibility” in iconic desserts. What was once simply fruit and then pure ornament is now at once delicious and symbolic. The essay argues that present-day desserts represent a merging of taste and aesthetics, with the “decoration” now in the form of a colorful and sometimes invented history. When the dessert course was democratized in the nineteenth century—open to bourgeois tables—specific dishes became “textualized,” codified by name and form and inscribed with origin stories that connect these dishes to French identity, making dessert both symbolically and materially accessible to a wider public.
Epitope mapping and eludication of the mechanism of action of panitumumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)

B121 Background: Understanding an antibody’s binding epitope may shed light on its mechanism of action (MOA). Panitumumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody directed against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), has demonstrated anti-tumor efficacy as a monotherapy in both preclinical models and in clinical trials. The objective of this study was to identify the residues on EGFR that are critical for panitumumab binding and to gain further information on the mechanism of action of panitumumab. Methods: The extracellular region of EGFR (amino acids 1-618) was expressed as an avidin fusion protein in 293T cells and purified using biotin coated polystytene beads. Fusion proteins were used to determine the binding affinity of panitumumab using BIAcore technology and were used as a control for further epitope mapping studies using a flow cytometry based assay. EGFR truncation mutations, including individual domains I, II, III and IV, were also expressed to determine the domain on EGFR that was necessary for panitumumab binding. Replacement scanning was performed on solvent-accessibleamino acids in domain III (ligand binding domain) to further define the critical residues involved in panitumumab binding. Using diffraction data from the panitumumab Fab’2, the crystal structure of the EGFR and the residues determined to be critical for panitumumab binding, a model for panitumumab binding that minimize steric clashes was built. To evaluate the potential MOA, A549 NSCLC cells were treated with 20μg/ml of panitumumab 1 hour prior to a 15 minute stimulation with known EGFR ligands (TGF-α, amphiregulin, epiregulin, HB-EGF, betacellulin and EGF). Inhibition of ligand-induced phosphorylation of EGFR was determined using a specific anti-pEGFR (pY1068) antibody. Results: The binding affinity of panitumumab for the extracellular domain of EGFR was 50 pM by BIAcore. Further truncation analysis by flow cytometry narrowed the binding epitope of panitumumab to domain III of the EGFR. Point mutations revealed that amino acids 349, 355, 412 and 438 were critical for panitumumab binding. A 2.9 Angstrom crystal structure of the panitumumab Fab’2 was solved. A model of the panitumumab-EGFR complex was generated and predicts that the CDRs for both light and heavy chains of panitumumab would be proximal to domain III of EGFR. In vitro studies determined that panitumumab can inhibit receptor activation of all known EGFR ligands in A549 NSCLC tumor cells. Conclusion: From our model using the point mutation and crystal structure data, we determined that panitumumab binds to surface exposed amino acids in the ligand binding domain of EGFR (domain III). Panitumumab inhibits all known EGFR ligands, resulting in inhibition of receptor activation.
Industrial Eden: A Chinese Capitalist Vision

Industrial Eden tells a complex story of two men, father and son, who built business enterprises in northeastern China during the first half of the twentieth century. The father, Song Chuandian (宋傳...
Prevalence and Clinical Outcomes of Clostridium difficile Infection in the Intensive Care Unit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background. Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at higher risk for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Methods. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies from 1983 to 2015 using the PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases to study the prevalence and outcomes of CDI in this patient population. Among the 9146 articles retrieved from the studies, 22 articles, which included a total of 80 835 ICU patients, were included in our final analysis. Results. The prevalence of CDI among ICU patients was 2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1%–2%), and among diarrheic ICU patients the prevalence was 11% (95% CI, 6%–17%). Among CDI patients, 25% (95% CI, 5%–51%) were diagnosed with pseudomembranous colitis, and the estimated length of ICU stay before CDI acquisition was 10.74 days (95% CI, 5%–51%). The overall hospital mortality among ICU patients with CDI was 32% (95% CI, 26%–39%), compared with 24% (95% CI, 14%–36%) among those without CDI presenting a statistically significant difference in mortality risk (P = .030). It is worth noting that the length of ICU and hospital stay among CDI patients was significantly longer, compared with non-CDI patients (standardized mean of difference [SMD] = 0.49, 95% CI, .39%–.6%, P = .00 and SMD = 1.15, 95% CI, .44%–1.91%, P = .003, respectively). It is noteworthy that the morbidity score at ICU admission (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II [APACHE II]) was not statistically different between the 2 groups (P = .911), implying that the differences in outcomes can be attributed to CDI. Conclusions. The ICU setting is associated with higher prevalence of CDI. In this setting, CDI is associated with increased hospital mortality and prolonged ICU and overall hospital stay. These findings highlight the need for additional prevention and treatment studies in this setting.
Video denoising by online 3D sparsifying transform learning

Exploiting the sparsity of signals in an adaptive dictionary or transform domain benefits various applications in image/video processing. As opposed to synthesis dictionary learning, transform learning allows for cheap computations, and has been demonstrated to perform well in applications such as image denoising. Very recently, we proposed methods for online sparsifying transform learning, which are particularly useful for processing large-scale or streaming data. Online transform learning has good convergence guarantees and enjoys a much lower computational cost than online synthesis dictionary learning. In this work, we present a video denoising framework based on online 3D spatio-temporal sparsifying transform learning. The proposed scheme has low computational and memory costs, and can potentially handle streaming video. Our numerical experiments show promising performance for the proposed video denoising method compared to popular prior or state-of-the-art methods.
Asthma: Pathophysiology and Clinical Correlates

Sufficient data has now accumulated that demonstrates that a careful analysis of the presenting signs and symptoms of a patient with acute asthma will permit clinically useful conclusions to be drawn regarding the magnitude and severity of the underlying airway obstruction and the expected response to therapy. If a patient with severe obstruction deviates from this expected course, objective measurements of mechanical function and gas exchange should be obtained. In our current state of knowledge, these measurements should then be used as the prime indices of therapeutic effectiveness and less reliance should be placed on traditional clinical approaches.
Insects as Sacred Symbols in Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptians were fascinated by the sacred scarab beetle, Scarabaeus sacer L. and the beetle symbol known as a scarab was ubiquitous in ancient Egyptian religion. Scarabs were found in religious rites, tomb hieroglyphics, drawings, as amulets, commemoratives, good luck charms, and hand-carved scarabs Were buried with the dead. We can trace the ideas which the Egyptians held about this insect as far back in time as the building of the pyramids (ca. 2500 B.C.) and there is no doubt that they represented beliefs which even at that early period were very old. The worship of this creature antedates the history of any land.
Identity and Writing: A Lacanian Reading of ALBA DE CÉSPEDES' QUADERNO PROIBITO and Dacia Maraini's DONNA IN GUERRA

Lacan approach to identity and language represents a most critical revision of Western metaphysics and Cartesian certainties. His works have also ignited a number of heated responses from feminist critics. Lacan controversial theories offer much to consider for the analysis proposed in this paper, which is a reading of Cespedes Quaderno proibito and Maraini Donna in guerra using Lacan theoretical frame as the critical tool. Valeria and Vanna, the female characters in de Cespedes and Maraini novels, exemplify problems that arise from holding on to a sense of security that reasonableness and social propriety promise at the expense of one own desire. For both, the awareness of such conflict emerges through the process of writing a diary. Their diary entries reflect a gradual realization of the distance between what they discover about themselves and what the outside order tells them to be. Lacan explanation of reality through the orders of the Imaginary, Symbolic and Real, and his understanding of truth, lac...
The Impact of Acculturation on Informal and Formal Volunteering of Korean Americans in the United States

This study examines the impact of acculturation on Korean Americans’ decisions to volunteer either for secular and religious organizations or informally. The results show that language difficulty and Korean identity lower the likelihood of secular volunteering, but not of informal volunteering. Koreans who are Protestants or Catholics, and those with higher levels of education, are more likely to volunteer formally, but not informally. The findings indicate formal volunteering is strongly associated with acculturation factors, along with personal and social variables but informal volunteering appears to be independent from and not complementary of the other two types of volunteering.
Application of neutrophil VCS parameters in diagnosing acute bacterial infection

Objective:To investigate the change and significance of neutrophil VCS parameters in patients with bacterial infection.Methods:The mean neutrophil volume(MNV),neutrophil conductive average(MNC),neutrophils scattering average(MNS) and their respective average standard deviation.were analyzed from 103 patients with bacterial infection and 107 healthy individuals using the volume(V),conductivity(C) and light scattering(S) parameters of Beckman-Coulter GenS automated hematology analyzer.Results:The MNV in the infection group was significantly higher than in the healthy group(P0.01),MNS is significantly lower(P0.01);regardless of WBC count,neutrophil percentage is higher in infection group or not,there is significant difference in MNV and MNS between the infection and healthy group(P0.01);When the MNV≥148,its sensitivity was 75.7%,specificity was 84.2%;when MNS≤145,the sensitivity was 86.4%,specificity was 66.7%,the sensitivity and specificity in MNV and MNS were significantly higher than them in WBC count,neutrophil percentage.Conclusion:VCS parameters in neutrophil can be used as one of the secondary indicators for bacterial infection.
Breeding and Application of Rice Restorer Lines with Cold Tolerance by Using Sub-species Superiority of Homogeneous Restorer with Compatible Japonica

The three-line breeding method with cold tolerance and good restorer ability and strong superiority from Indica and Japonica hybridization was established to improve selection efficiency and combining ability of rice restorer lines and promote application of local rice resources with cold tolerant genes in rice hybridization breeding.Qianhui 481,R467,Q431 and Q568 restorer lines with homogeneous restorer lines bred from the above three-line breeding method had the advantages of cold tolerance,strong superiority and good resistance to rice blast.Seven hybrid rice combinations with cold tolerance and good resistance to rice blast bred from these restorer lines express the fertility and stability of yield in middle-high elevation areas with cold damage and rice blast disease area in Guizhou.
Mechanical exsufflation, noninvasive ventilation, and new strategies for pulmonary rehabilitation and sleep disordered breathing.

Abstract Manual and mechanical exsufflation are important but underutilized ways to clear airway secretions. These methods are especially useful when used in concert with noninvasive intermittent positive airway pressure ventilatory assistance to facilitate extubation and ventilator weaning. This can be used as much as 24 hours a day as an alternative to tracheostomy ventilation or body ventilator use for patients with paralytic restrictive ventilatory insufficiency. These techniques expedite community management of ventilator assisted individuals by avoiding tracheostomy and need for invasive suctioning and ongoing wound care. For these techniques to be effective and to prevent further suppression of ventilatory drive, supplemental oxygen administration must be avoided unless pO2 is less than 60 mm Hg despite normalization of pCO2. Custom molded interfaces for the delivery of noninvasive intermittent positive airway pressure ventilatory assistance can also be used to facilitate the delivery of variable inspiratory expiratory positive airway pressure for patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Noninvasive intermittent positive airway pressure ventilatory assistance or body ventilator use can rest the respiratory muscles of patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This and pulmonary rehabilitation programs geared to exercise reconditioning are therapeutic options that significantly improve the quality of life of these patients. For both paralytic restrictive and obstructive pulmonary patients, these techniques decrease cost and frequency of hospitalizations.
A case-based reasoning system for subjective assessment

People tend to improve their abilities to reason about situations by amassing experiences in reasoning. Resorting to previous instances of similar situations for guidance is known as case-based reasoning. This paper presents JUDGE, a computer model of judges who sentence criminals. The task is viewed as one in which people learn empirically from the process of producing relative assessments of input situations with respect to several concerns, with little external feedback. People can perform such subjective tasks by at least trying to keep their assessments consistent. For assessment tasks, this reasoning style involves comparing a previous similar situation with an input one, and then extracting an assessment for the new input, based on both the assessment previously assigned to the older example, and differences found between them. The system also stores input items to reflect their relationships to situations already contained in memory.
Perceptual Sequencing and Higher Level Activation

Having examined the problem of sequencing in action, I turn now to the problem of perception, especially the problem of how we perceive input sequences in proper serial order when we do and improper order when we make errors. As in the previous chapter, I will begin with some general constraints that apply to any theory of perception and then construct a node structure theory of perception that incorporates these general constraints and makes predictions for future test.
Reaction Patterns of Skin Xenografts

The mode of vascularization and the course of tissue morphology and vascular changes following the transplantation of skin xenografts have not been extensively investigated. It has been generally held that skin transplanted between members of different species induces a more rapid and violent rejection reaction than do allografts. According to Ribbert-Gottingen (1904), who transplanted skin from humans and guinea pigs to rabbits, xenografts were rejected within 3 days after transplantation. Loeb and Addison (1909, 1911) reported that skin xenografts interchanged between various animals, including rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, and even pigeons, eventually became necrotic after 6–11 days and occasionally even more rapidly. They did not provide information regarding either the vascularization or the vascular pattern of the xenografts. Woodruff (1960) maintained that xenografts show little or no evidence of vascularization and that ischemia rather than rejection is responsible for the lack of success of the xenografts. Indeed, for a long time most authorities agreed that xenografts invariably fail to receive a direct blood supply from the recipient before the onward rush of the rejection phenomenon.
“Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom”: Jihadist Tactical Technical Communication and the Everyday Practice of Cooking

ABSTRACTSince the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Jihadist organizations such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have focused increasingly on motivating unaffiliated individuals in the United States and Western countries to carry out lone-wolf attacks in their home countries. To this end, many Jihadist organizations produce what is known as tactical technical communication. Jihadist tactical technical communication persuades individuals to act by creating identification between individuals and audiences, and by associating terrorist tactics with everyday practices such as cooking.
Old Words, New Words, Wrong Words: Coleridge’s Poetics of Interruption in “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere”

ABSTRACTThis essay examines a poetics of interruption in “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere.” It argues that in Coleridge’s verse as well as in his philosophical prose, anachronisms, neologisms, and other words “unsuited to the time, place, and company” disrupt habitual forms of thought. This poetics of interruption produces a contingent ethics that can help illuminate a middle ground between extreme positions concerning the status of narrative in contemporary theory. Straddling the divide between essentialist claims among advocates of narrative ethics and the anti-narrativity that characterizes much of the work in the so-called descriptive turn, Coleridge handles words as antiquarian relics that tell stories about groups who use them.
Differing instructional modalities and cognitive structures: Linear algebra

Abstract This paper discusses the aspects of twelve first-year linear algebra students' thinking modes displayed on their interview responses to questions addressing linear independence ideas. Studying thinking modes allowed us to make inferences about the role of differing instructional modalities in shaping one's cognitive structures.
The Observation of Dispersionless Superluminal Propagation in a Non-Foster Loaded Waveguide and Its Fundamental Limitations

Superluminal pulse propagation has been observed in past investigations. Conventional methods rely on resonance-based gain/absorption line materials, inevitably inducing significant pulse distortion. Motivated by the negative reactance slope of the non-Foster circuits, we investigated superluminal propagation based on a non-Foster loaded waveguide. Superluminal square-wave pulse transmission with negligible distortion has been observed in time-domain measurements. In addition, the propagation distance limitation for a non-Foster-based superluminal waveguide is derived by analyzing the distortion of the transmitted waveform. We conclude that a distortion-limited superluminal output pulse cannot emerge more than the original pulse duration ahead of the same pulse transmitted in vacuum, in agreement with causality. This investigation provides an alternative solution to the gain/absorption approaches, and is directed toward a more comprehensive understanding of superluminal propagation.
Economic considerations in the treatment of systemic allergic reactions

Epinephrine is a life-saving medication used to treat systemic allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. Epinephrine autoinjectors (EAIs) are expensive and worldwide availability is limited. Epinephrine prefilled syringes and epinephrine kits are potentially lower-cost alternatives to EAIs. Advantages, disadvantages, and costs of available products are discussed. The socioeconomic factors impacting access to EAIs are described.
Heterodimers of the Zebra and Fos Basic Domains Bind DNA with the Specificity of Zebra

Many DNA binding proteins dimerize and interact with palindromic DNA sequences to regulate gene expression (for review see 1). One class of DNA-binding proteins has been shown to dimerize through a leucine zipper structural motif. A domain of basic amino acids, immediately 5’ to the heptad leucine repeat, mediates specific chemical interactions with DNA and is responsible for binding specificity. Protein dimers can not bind DNA unless there are two functional basic domains (2).
Charged Current ν and ν̄ Interactions in Hydrogen and Deuterium

I will present some recent results from two experiments. The first is the continuing study of ν interactions in hydrogen and deuterium using the low momentum ν beam from the Zero Gradient Synchrotron (ZGS) incident on the 12-foot bubble chamber. This experiment is being done by an Argonne-Purdue group. The second experiment is in the Fermilab 15-foot hydrogen-filled bubble chamber exposed to the high energy ν beam and is being done by an Argonne-Carnegie Mellon-Purdue collaboration.
Development of an Animal Model for the Study of Spinal Spasticity

For over a decade the commonly adopted definition of human spasticity has been “a motor disorder characterized by a velocity dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes (muscle tone) with exaggerated tendon jerks” (Lance 1980). However, the manifestations of spasticity are heterogeneous, which complicates attempts to develop a test that encompasses all the clinical signs observed in human spinal cord injury (SCI; Wiesendanger 1985). To avoid this problem, Noth (1991) has suggested that the term spasticity be used “only when the typical increase in muscle tone is present.” Thus, progress in understanding human spasticity might arise from the study of “one typical subtype of ‘spasticity’“(Young 1980). Accordingly, we have operationally defined animal spinal spasticity as augmented muscle tone and stretch reflexes resulting from spinal injury (for a review on the mechanisms and quantitation of spastic hypertonia see Katz and Rymer 1989).
Metabolic Syndrome and Inflammation

The “metabolic syndrome” is a cluster of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors including abdominal obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance, and hyperglycemia. These components reflecting overnutrition, sedentary lifestyles, and resultant excess adiposity may associate with various conditions and therefore multiple definitions were developed over time. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing at rates paralleling the epidemic prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the USA as well as in the rest of the world including the developing nations. Unlike autoimmune diabetes, accumulating evidence suggests that metabolic syndrome is strongly linked to chronic systemic inflammation. The presence of metabolic syndrome is associated with an approximate doubling of cardiovascular disease risk and a fivefold increased risk for incident type 2 diabetes. Although it is unclear whether a unifying pathophysiological mechanism results in the presence of the specific clinical clusters of the metabolic syndrome, abdominal adiposity with subsequent chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress and insulin resistance appear to play a central role. Landmark investigations of the inflammasome activity provide great potential for insights into the molecular basis for the inflammatory nature of metabolic syndrome beginning a story that continues to unfold. The evolving concept of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and hypertension as having common inflammatory components provides new opportunities for developing strategies, currently underway, to correct the metabolic consequences of metabolic syndrome and chronic inflammation.
Environmental Challenges for the Ceramic Industry

Although environmental problems have been with us for many centuries, it is only in the present century that pollution has become of primary concern. The first organization to combat pollution in the U.S. was formed early in the 20th century. The Air Pollution Control Association (as it is now called) pioneered in the measurement of air pollution and the elimination of smoke.
Nonlinear Site Response Analysis with Pore-Water Pressure Generation for Liquefaction Triggering Evaluation

AbstractThe cyclic-stress approach is widely used to evaluate level-ground liquefaction triggering. Although easy to use, several limitations introduce significant uncertainty in the analysis, incl...