cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Study of the Demand for Convenience Food

A variation of the household production theory was used to select relevant explanatory variables for the demand for convenience foods. A convenience food index was used to measure the convenience in food preparation. Because of the nature of the measure of convenience, the Tobit regression technique was used to examine the importance of these explanatory variables to the demand for convenience foods. Results show that the presence of children in a household increases the demand for convenience, especially in those households that have children of different age groups. Results show that the number of end dishes eaten is positively related to the demand for convenience foods and primary users of convenience foods are non-black, single, and higher income respondents.
On density, hydration, shape, and charge of micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate and dodecyl ammonium chloride

Abstract The micelle density is discussed and a reinterpretation is presented of the viscosity and electric conductance of micellar solutions, and of electrophoresis and self-diffusion of micelles. The treatment allows for spheroidal micelles with a Gouy-Chapman electric double layer outside the shear surface. It is concluded that the shear surface coincides, within 1 A, with the surface enveloping the heads of the micellized ions; that spherical micelles may grow into flexible rods; and that about one half of the total number of counterions is located inside the shear surface.
Association of variants in the carnosine peptidase 1 gene (CNDP1) with diabetic nephropathy in American Indians

CNDP1 is located on 18q22.3, where linkage with diabetic nephropathy has been observed in several populations, including Pima Indians. However, evidence for association between CNDP1 alleles and diabetic nephropathy is equivocal and population-dependent. This study investigated CNDP1 as a candidate for diabetic kidney disease in Pima Indians. Nineteen tag single nucleotide polymorphisms spanning the CNDP1 locus were selected using genotype data from Chinese individuals in the HapMap resource along with 2 variants previously associated with diabetic nephropathy. All variants were genotyped in 3 different samples including a diabetic end-stage renal disease (ESRD) case-control study, a family-based study of diabetic individuals who participated in the linkage study for nephropathy, and a cohort of diabetic individuals in whom longitudinal measures of glomerular filtration rates (GFR) were performed. There was no statistically significant evidence for association with diabetic ESRD. However, nominal evidence for association was found in the family study, where markers rs12957330 (Odds ratio [OR]=0.29 per copy of G allele; p=0.04) and rs17817077 (OR=0.46 per copy of G allele; p=0.05) were associated with diabetic nephropathy. In addition, markers rs12964454, rs7244647, and rs7229005 were associated with changes in GFR (-8.5ml/min per copy of the G allele; p=0.04; 18.8ml/min per copy of the C allele; p=0.03; and -13.4ml/min per copy of the C allele; p=0.001, respectively). These findings provide nominal evidence supporting a role between CNDP1 variants and diabetic kidney disease.
The chemical composition of smelter flue dusts

Abstract The chemical composition of two copper and three lead smelter flue dust samples has been studied by wet chemical analysis techniques for sulfite, sulfate, arsenite, anenate, chloride, fluoride, phosphate and acid species; by photoetoctron spectroscopy; by X-ray diffraction analysis; and by proton induced X-ray emission spectroscopy. The results indicate the acidity, chemical composition, and time stability of the flue samples varies greatly. Specific components identified in the samples include; sulfate, sulfite, bisulfate, elemental sulfur, sulfide, arsenite, arsenate, arsenic suifide, chloride, fluoride, phosphate, Fe(II), Fe(III), total trace metal composition, and the specific compounds As 2 O 3 , PbSO 4 , PbO · PbSO 4 , ZnO, Fe 3 O 4 , and Fe 2 O 3 . Acidity, and die chemical components controlling acidity vary widely among the samples studied. Comparisons of the bulk and surface composition of the samples indicate that the surface species cannot be predicted from the bulk composition. From the data obtained, satisfactory total mass and charge balance is obtained for the major (> 1 wt%) components present in the flue dusts studied.
The Effects of Overfeeding and Propensity to Weight Gain on the Neuronal Responses to Visual Food Cues

Obesity is a serious and growing public health problem in the United States and the world. The pathophysiological processes that underlie the increasing prevalence of obesity have not been clearly defined but likely involve faulty interactions between environmental factors, which favor positive energy balance, and weight regulatory systems in genetically susceptible individuals. Individuals who are genetically predisposed to thinness in the current environment may be able to sense and respond to excess energy intake more rapidly and accurately than those predisposed to obesity. The regulation of energy intake and therefore the potential adaptation to changes in energy balance is a complex process with interactions between homeostatic and non-homeostatic signals likely being critical. We have observed that thin (obese-resistant) individuals quickly sense changes in positive energy balance with not only changes in measures of appetite but also in brain regions important for the regulation of energy intake. This is in contrast to reduced-obese (obese-prone) individuals who do not appear to appropriately sense the changes in positive energy balance, suggesting that there is a differential sensitivity to positive energy balance between obese-resistant and obese-prone individuals. We have also found evidence for important interactions between external food cues and activation of brain regions important in the homeostatic regulation of energy balance. These findings emphasize the important role of environmental visual cues and suggest that there are important phenotypic differences in the interactions between external visual sensory inputs, energy balance status, and brain regions important in the regulation of energy intake.
Uniform temperature cooling power of the superfluid Stirling refrigerator

Uniform temperature cooling power measurements of a superfluid Stirling refrigerator are presented for3He-4He molar concentrations of 5.9%, 17% and 36% and for temperatures between 0.37 K and 1.4 K. The results are compared to an ideal Fermi gas model and to a more general thermodynamic model. The Fermi model agrees well with the 5.9% concentration data; however, the more elaborate model is needed for higher concentration mixtures.
Stress and coping among parents of children awaiting cardiac transplantation

Psychosocial support during the waiting period for pediatric transplant recipients and their families is vital. This study describes the stress levels and coping techniques among parents of children awaiting cardiac transplant. Twenty-six parents of 18 children demonstrated a range of stress with 77% scoring at a moderate stress level. They perceived transplantation neutrally and used a similar number of coping mechanisms as did a normative group of adults. Use of coping mechanisms significantly decreased over the 3-month study period. A moderate correlation between a negative perception of transplantation and parental stress was found. Parents of girls viewed transplant more negatively than did boys' parents. This study provides a beginning for assisting families during the waiting period.
Comparisons between ambient and forced vibration experiments

The ambient and forced vibration techniques for testing full-scale structures are critically compared. Both methods, based on small level excitation, may be used to determine many mode shapes and frequencies of vibration and the corresponding damping values, with adequate accuracy for most purposes. The two techniques give mutually consistent results. The mode amplitudes determined by ambient and forced vibration tests show systematic departure for high modes and near the top levels of buildings tested. This phenomenon is attributed to the participation of all mode shapes and is a consequence of excitation by a concentrated force near the top of a building and at a frequency differing by only a few per cent from a natural frequency of vibrations. A new way of showing the effect of unwanted modes on the response near resonance of the mode being sought is developed. It is particularly useful for the analysis of steady, forced vibration tests of structures using eccentric mass vibration generators.
Aristotle's Analysis of Change and Plato's Theory of Transcendent Ideas

Jaeger found evidence of Platonism in Aristotle's Eudemus, and commented that "at that time Aristotle was still completely dependent on Plato in metaphysics."1 Further he discovered a fragment of Aristotle's Protrepticus (since then numbered 132), and showed in detail that cx&r&v &eorr' there refers to Plato's Ideas.3 Thus, for the first time in the history of the study of Aristotle it was asserted that there was a Platonic period in the development of his thought. Among the opponents to this view was I. Dfiring who wrote repeatedly to the effect "that Aristotle never accepted the theory of Ideas" of Plato.4 1. In discussing Dfiring's position Cornelia J. de Vogel reformulated his question by adding the word "transcendent" to make his meaning more explicit. Thus she asks: "Did Aristotle ever accept Plato's theory of transcendent Ideas?"5 This addition is correct because Plato's Ideas, according to Aristotle in Book M of the Metaphysics, are the universals of Socrates made transcendent.6 Since transcendence is the distinguishing mark of Ideas, "Plato's Ideas" implicitly means "transcendent Ideas". 2. She is also correct from a methodological standpoint in taking into consideration such matters as Aristotle's positive theory in the
Crisis theory: a definitional study.

A cognitive model of crisis theory and data validating the theory are presented. The research is structured in terms of construct validation of a test of crisis behavior. Two hypotheses regarding the crisis test were tested. Hypothesis One states that individuals in situations that typically produce crisis will have a higher crisis score on the test, and Hypothesis Two states that there will be a negative correlation between crisis and defensiveness. Both hypotheses were validated and the meaning of the results and significance for future research are discussed.
Novel medical image enhancement algorithms

In this paper, we present two novel medical image enhancement algorithms. The first, a global image enhancement algorithm, utilizes an alpha-trimmed mean filter as its backbone to sharpen images. The second algorithm uses a cascaded unsharp masking technique to separate the high frequency components of an image in order for them to be enhanced using a modified adaptive contrast enhancement algorithm. Experimental results from enhancing electron microscopy, radiological, CT scan and MRI scan images, using the MATLAB environment, are then compared to the original images as well as other enhancement methods, such as histogram equalization and two forms of adaptive contrast enhancement. An image processing scheme for electron microscopy images of Purkinje cells will also be implemented and utilized as a comparison tool to evaluate the performance of our algorithm.
Optical heterodyne imaging and Wigner phase space distributions

We demonstrate that optical heterodyne imaging directly measures smoothed Wigner phase space distributions. This method may be broadly applicable to fundamental studies of light propagation and tomographic imaging. Basic physical properties of Wigner distributions are illustrated by experimental measurements.
Characteristics of an SV40-plasmid recombinant and its movement into and out of the genome of a murine cell

A bacterial plasmid carrying the early region of SV40 (pOT) has been stably established in high molecular weight (hmw) DNA of mouse L cells by selection for the herpes virus thymidine kinase (tk) gene. DNA blotting has demonstrated that most cell lines contain multiple discrete copies of pOT, generally with an intact SV40 early region. No free copies of pOT have been detected. Both pOT and tk sequences may be amplified up to 20-200 copies of the SV40 early region. In contrast to the uniform staining pattern normally observed in SV40-transformed lines, indirect immunofluorescence using antiserum to the SV40 T antigen has demonstrated that the expression of the early region is heterogeneous in these cell lines. This fraction expressing T is characteristic of a given cell line, and varies from 0 to 99% positive. Several pOT cell lines have been fused to simian cells, and replicating low molecular weight DNAs were isolated from the heterokaryons. Transformation of E. coli with this DNA demonstrates that pOT can be rescued from hmw DNA in L cells and reestablished as a plasmid in E. coli. Excision is generally precise when pOT is introduced to the murine cells as supercoiled molecule, and imprecise when pOT is introduced in linear form.
Implementation of clinical guidelines through an electronic medical record: physician usage, satisfaction and assessment.

Context: We developed and evaluated the Emergency Department Expert Charting System (EDECS) to provide real-time guidance regarding the care of low back pain in adults, fever in children, and occupational exposure to blood and body fluids in health care workers, by embedding clinical guidelines within an electronic medical record. Objective: To describe the behaviors and attitudes of physicians who used EDECS. Design: Pre-post questionnaires were used to assess physician attitudes. Time studies of the intervention phase were observational, using clocks embedded in the software. Participants: One hundred and forty two residents and interns in emergency, pediatric, internal, and family medicine and patients with the above-mentioned complaints. Main outcome measures: Physician utilization of EDECS, time spent using EDECS, physician satisfaction and beliefs. Results: Eighty four percent of the 142 eligible physicians used EDECS at least once. Five hundred and ninety one of 789 (75%) eligible cases were completed using EDECS. Median session time decreased from 12 min for session 1, to 5.5 min for sessions 16 and above. Physicians generally agreed that care with EDECS was better than standard care, particularly with respect to documentation. There was, however, considerable heterogeneity in belief among complaints. Conclusions: These data illuminate both the potentials of computer-assisted decision making and the need for context-specific approaches when attempting to implement guidelines.
Mercantile Networks, Port Cities, and “Pirate” States: Conflict and Competition in the Indian Ocean World of Trade before the Sixteenth Century

The prevailing image of the Indian Ocean world of trade before the arrival of western Europeans and Ottomans in the region in the sixteenth century is one of a generally peaceful, conflict-free realm dominated by cosmopolitan traders who moved easily across boundaries of geography, ethnicity, language, and religion. This paper modifies this picture by examining the evidence for conflict and competition between pre-modern maritime polities in the western end of the Indian Ocean. In the fifth/eleventh and sixth/twelfth centuries maritime polities on the islands of Kish in the Persian Gulf and Dahlak in the Red Sea antagonized Aden's supremacy as the region's most frequented entrepot. In the subsequent three centuries, the Ayyubids and Rasulids of Yemen also strove to control maritime routes and networks. L'historiographie en vigueur de l'Ocean Indien a l'epoque precedant la venue des Ottomans et des Europeens au XVI eme siecle, decrit une aire commerciale generalement paisible parcourue aisement par des negociants cosmopolites par-dela les obstacles geographiques, ethniques, religieux et linguistiques. Cette contribution modifie cette image par un examen des temoignages des V eme /XI eme et VI eme /XII e siecles qui attestent les conflits et rivalites des cites portuaires de Kish en la Golfe de Perse, de Dahlak en la Mer Rouge contestant la suprematie d'Aden, l'entrepot le plus frequente. Durant les trois siecles suivants, les Ayyubides et Rasulides du Yemen s'efforcerent egalement de controler les routes et reseaux maritimes.
Minimum Mate Selection Standards as a Function of Perceived Mate Value, Relationship Context, and Gender

Abstract The present study explored minimum mate selection standards (i.e., the lowest levels of various characteristics that an individual must possess in order to be considered a potential partner) and the extent to which gender, self-perceived mate value, and relationship context moderate minimum standards. Men and women were more selective (expressed higher minimum standards) as the mating context shifted from short- to long-term, for a number of partner attributes. As expected, gender moderated these effects; women were more selective than men when considering a potential short-term (but not long-term) mate. Men's self-perceived mate value largely was unassociated with their selection standards; however, women's mate value correlated positively with their minimum criteria, across a variety of characteristics and for a short-term sex and a long-term romantic partner. As expected, gender differences in the strength of these correlations were greater in the short-term than in the long-term mating context.
Robust real time vehicle contour tracking on moving camera aerial infra red imagery

In this paper, we propose a real time, robust contour tracker for vehicles in IR images captured from an aerial moving camera. Lack of a background model, lack of a motion model and lack of any training data make the job challenging, but realistic. We compare a standard approach of contour evolution using energy minimization in the snakes algorithm with our Harris corner based Elliptical Fourier contour representation. We show that our approach produces better results and is robust to different initialization strategies.
Exposure to Nicotine Adversely Affects the Dendritic Cell System and Compromises Host Response to Vaccination

The magnitude of Th1 cells response to vaccination is a critical factor in determining protection from clinical disease. Our previous in vitro studies suggested that exposure to the nicotine component of cigarette smoke skews the differentiation of both human and mouse dendritic cell (DC) precursors into atypical DCs (DCs differentiated ex vivo in the presence of nicotine) lacking parameters essential for the development of Th1-mediated immunity. In this study, we determined the causal relationship between nicotine-induced DC alterations and host response to vaccines. We show that animals exposed to nicotine failed to develop and maintain Ag-specific effector memory Th1 cells and Ab production to protein-based vaccine formulated with Th1 adjuvants. Accordingly, both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines failed to protect and cure the nicotine-exposed mice from disease. More importantly, we demonstrate the nicotine-induced defects in the biological activities of in vivo DCs as an underlying mechanism. Indeed, i.v. administration of DCs differentiated in the presence of nicotine preferentially promoted the development of Ag-specific IL-4–producing effector cells in the challenged mice. In addition, DC subsets isolated from mice exposed to nicotine produced significantly less cytokines in response to Th1 adjuvants and inadequately supported the development of Ag-specific Th1 cells. Collectively, our studies suggest that nicotine-induced defects in the DC system compromises vaccine efficacy in smokers.
Displaying mobile feedback during a presentation

Smartphone use in presentations is often seen as distracting to the audience and speaker. However, phones can encourage people participate more fully in what is going on around them and build stronger ties with their companions. In this paper, we describe a smartphone interface designed to help audience members engage fully in a presentation by providing real time mobile feedback. This feedback is then aggregated and reflected back to the group via a projected visualization, with notifications provided to the presenter and the audience on interesting feedback events. We deployed this system in a large enterprise meeting, and collected information about the attendees' experiences with it via surveys and interaction logs. Participants report that providing mobile feedback was convenient, helped them pay close attention to the presentation, and enabled them to feel connected with other audience members.
A Novel Means of Assessing Institutional Adherence to Blood Transfusion Guidelines

Risk-adjusted institutional transfusion rates are not currently available on a national level. A surrogate means of benchmarking transfusion practices to use for internal quality improvement was studied. Blood utilization was prospectively studied among all colorectal surgery patients at the study institution (July 2010-November 2012), and these data were benchmarked with transfusion data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database by hospital type and size. Using NSQIP, the study institution's colorectal surgery transfusion rate was 16.3% (150/920 cases), which was slightly higher than the 14.3% national mean transfusion rate (12 191/85 507 cases; P = .08). When broken down by hospital type and size, the study hospital had a similar rate of blood transfusion compared with academic hospitals (P = .35) but a significantly higher rate than community hospitals, regardless of patient volume (P = .03). Benchmarking blood utilization compared with similar-type hospitals using NSQIP may be a surrogate method to assess adherence to evidence-based transfusion guidelines and identify areas for structured quality improvement initiatives.
Genetic Variability in Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis)

Abstract Understanding population genetics is important for increasing both our basic knowlege of wild species and our ability to conserve endangered species. In the Carnivora questions about genetic variability across the order also require population genetic information about more species. I present estimates of polymorphism and heterozygosity in the striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis, an abundant species throughout North America. In two populations in eastern Tennessee the average heterozygosity and polymorphism are, respectively: Cades Cove, 0.038 and 0.11; Knoxville, 0.040 and 0.11. These values are well within the ranges for mammals and are intermediate between values suggested by previous studies of skunks using small numbers of individuals. Possible explanations are discussed.
The incidence of high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and atypical glands suspicious for carcinoma on first-time saturation needle biopsy, and the subsequent risk of cancer.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the detection rate and extent of high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) and atypical glands (AG) suspicious for prostate cancer, and the cancer risk in subsequent biopsies, diagnosed by a first 24-core saturation biopsy, as although the optimum extent of biopsy is controversial there is a trend to increase the number of cores taken, and apart from detecting prostate cancer, identifying HGPIN and AG is associated with a greater risk of finding cancer in subsequent biopsies, thus warranting a closer follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 100 men with consecutive first-time saturation biopsies; the indications for biopsy were an abnormal digital rectal examination and/or a serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of >2.5 ng/mL. Each biopsy specimen was reviewed retrospectively by two pathologists to confirm the histological diagnosis. The number and percentage of cores positive for HGPIN, bilateral involvement and multifocality (HGPIN involving two or more cores) were recorded in each case. The presence of AG and cancer was also recorded. An extended (10–12 cores) repeat biopsy was available in 23 patients. RESULTS The median (range) age and PSA level of the patients was 63 (41–80) years and 4.9 (1.5–67.0) ng/mL, respectively. Of the 100 patients, 34% had normal findings (benign prostatic tissue, BPT), 39% had cancer, 26% had HGPIN and cancer, 22% had HGPIN alone, and 5% had AG. Repeat biopsies were available in nine of the 22 (41%) patients with HGPIN, four of five with AG, and 10 of the 34 (29%) with BPT. The median (range) interval between the first and second biopsy was 13 (4–36) months. Prostate cancer was detected at the second biopsy in a third of patients with isolated HGPIN on the first biopsy, and one of the four with AG. None of the patients with BPT had cancer on re-biopsy. The cancer detection rate was significantly greater in patients with multifocal than in those with unifocal HGPIN (80% vs none, P = 0.010). The median number of cores and percentage of tissue involved by HGPIN was 3.5 (2–5) and 1.0 (0.5–1.2)%, respectively, in patients with cancer detected in repeat biopsies, compared to 1.0 (1–3) and 0.2 (0.2–0.6)% in patients without cancer on repeat biopsy (P = 0.023 and 0.015, respectively). CONCLUSION Identifying multifocal HGPIN on first saturation biopsy is associated with an overall cancer detection rate of 80% on repeat 10–12-core biopsy. Although there were few patients, the detection of multifocal HGPIN warrants additional searches for concurrent invasive carcinoma by repeated biopsy.
Generalized vector radiative transfer and applications to pulse scattering, nonspherical particles and wave correlations in the atmosphere

We present our studies related to wave propagation and scattering in the atmosphere. First, we consider pulse scattering. General formulations are given for two-frequency radiative transfer and two-frequency complex Stokes vectors. The problem of a short pulse incident on a plane parallel scattering medium is formulated, and numerical examples are given for optical pulse scattering in fog and millimeter pulse scattering in rain. Included in this study is the case of resonance scattering where particle sizes are comparable to a wavelength. Phase, group, and energy velocities are identified, and distinction is made for coherent and incoherent pulse waves. Next, we consider vector radiative transfer applied to nonspherical particles such as ice particles and Pruppacher-Pitter raindrops in the atmosphere. General extinction matrix formulations and first-order solutions are presented with numerical examples for microwave scattering. Generalizations of polarization signature and angular, frequency and polarization correlations are then discussed, including imaging and vector radar equations in the atmosphere.
A recurrent dynamic network for associative recall

A model for recurrent artificial neural networks which can store any number of any prespecified patterns as energy local minima is presented. Therefore, all the prespecified patterns can be stored and recalled. Some examples are given to show how this model can be used in image recognition and association. Generalization of the energy function is discussed. Variations of this model are also investigated for performance improvement and potential hardware implementation. >
Development of an elective course in rare and interesting diseases

Abstract Objective To create, implement, and assess an elective course on the pharmacist's role in rare and interesting disorders and cases, including methemoglobinemia, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, immune/thrombotic thrombocytopenia, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, porphyria, therapeutic considerations in Jehovah's Witnesses, pharmacotherapy with organ donation, and others from the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). Limited information regarding these disorders is found in common pharmacy textbooks. A search of pharmacy academic literature did not retrieve any unique required or elective courses that focused on these disorders either. Methods A 1.5 unit (15 hours total) elective course was implemented in a three-year accelerated pharmacy program using case-based pedagogy and unique case-based andragogy. Student learning was assessed through short answer, essay, and fill-in-the-blank quizzes; SOAP notes created from mock hard-copy patient medical records; and an oral presentation on a rare disorder. Focused feedback on assignments was individualized for each student and disseminated electronically. All students enrolled in the course over a three-year period ( n = 43) were eligible to provide quantitative and qualitative feedback regarding the elective. Results All students met or exceeded minimum competency levels on assignments. The majority of students ( n = 33) rated the course favorably on standardized evaluations (weighted mean, 4.77; 5=strongly agree) and with qualitative comments. Conclusion The Rare and Interesting Diseases elective proved to be a popular course, which filled a gap in the required curriculum by emphasizing the role of the pharmacist in rare and interesting disorders. Additional skill sets gained far exceeded the diseases covered.
Toxicity-distribution relationships among 3-alkylfurans in mouse liver and kidney.

Abstract The present study was designed to extend previous observations regarding toxicity of furans and related compounds to liver and kidney. It was desired to test a series of homologous 3-alkylfurans, where changes in lipophilic character might be related to changes in toxicity. Additionally, it was desired to measure distribution of toxins to the target organs to ascertain whether organ selectivity might be determined by the concentrations attained in the target organs by the toxins. A synthesis for 3-ethylfuran and 3-pentylfuran was devised, and the toxicity of these, in addition to 3-methylfuran and furan itself, to mouse liver and kidney at 2.6 mmol/kg was determined. 2-Furamide and 2-ethylfuran were used as examples of substances known to be toxic to liver and kidney, respectively. 3-Methylthiophene was also included to determine whether results with furans extend to the closely related thiophenes. Histopathological examination of both organs was done, and quantitative estimates of liver toxicity were obtained from plasma levels of glutamate-pyruvate transaminase. Renal urine concentrating ability and plasma urea nitrogen levels were useful as quantitative indices of nephrotoxicity. It was found that both 3-ethyl and 3-pentylfuran exhibited pronounced toxicity to the kidney, and that both also caused moderate liver damage. Furan caused serious damage to the liver and produced somewhat lesser effects on the kidney. Equimolar doses of 3-methylfuran did not significantly damage either organ. Among the 3-alkyl furans, there is an impression that the more volatile compounds damage lung (3-methylfuran is reported to be a potent lung toxin), with liver and kidney toxicity increasing with molecular weight, and that compounds found in higher concentration produce greater damage in liver and kidney. However, among compounds other than alkyl furans, there is no obvious correlation between toxicity and organ concentration of toxin.
Nano-CMOS thermal sensor design optimization for efficient temperature measurement

We present a novel and efficient thermal sensor design methodology. The growing demand for power management on VLSI systems drives the need for accurate thermal sensors. Conventional design techniques for on-chip thermal sensors in nanometer technologies consume expensive design iterations and result in increased power consumption and area overhead. Power-efficient, high-sensitivity thermal sensors are important for reducing the thermal stress on the systems or circuits which are being monitored. The proposed design flow methodology, which incorporates a stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithm, optimizes the power consumption (including leakage) of IC subsystems. An illustration of the proposed design methodology is presented using a ring oscillator (RO) based on-chip thermal sensor which was designed using 45nm CMOS technology. The RO based thermal sensor has a resolution of 0.097^oC/bit. Experimental tests and analysis of the design methodology on a full layout-accurate parasitic netlist of the RO demonstrate the applicability of our methodology towards optimization of the power consumption with temperature resolution as a design constraint. A reduction of power consumption by 52% with a final area of 1389.1@mm^2 is obtained.
Analysis of the junction between ribosomal RNA genes and single-copy chromosomal sequences in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a single tandem array of 100 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. We have cloned and characterized a junction between the centromere-distal end of this array and the adjacent single-copy chromosomal sequences. We have shown that the junction occurs within the nontranscribed region of the repeat. By mapping the junction, we have found that the 35S rRNA precursor is transcribed toward the centromere while the 5S rRNA is transcribed away from the centromere. We have also shown that different yeast strains can have different single-copy sequence at the junction.
Data-Flow Analysis for MPI Programs

Message passing via MPI is widely used in single-program, multiple-data (SPMD) parallel programs. Existing data-flow frameworks do not model the semantics of message-passing SPMD programs, which can result in less precise and even incorrect analysis results. We present a data-flow analysis framework for performing interprocedural analysis of message-passing SPMD programs. The framework is based on the MPI-ICFG representation, which is an interprocedural control-flow graph (ICFG) augmented with communication edges between possible send and receive pairs and partial context sensitivity. We show how to formulate nonseparable data-flow analyses within our framework using reaching constants as a canonical example. We also formulate and provide experimental results for the nonseparable analysis, activity analysis. Activity analysis is a domain-specific analysis used to reduce the computation and storage requirements for automatically differentiated MPI programs. Automatic differentiation is important for application domains such as climate modeling, electronic device simulation, oil reservoir simulation, medical treatment planning and computational economics to name a few. Our experimental results show that using the MPI-ICFG data-flow analysis framework improves the precision of activity analysis and as a result significantly reduces memory requirements for the automatically differentiated versions of a set of parallel benchmarks, including some of the NAS parallel benchmarks
Approaches and Experiences in Projecting Mortality Patterns for the Oldest-Old

Abstract In 1998 the United Nations Population Division extended the age format of its estimates and projections of population dynamics for all countries and areas of the world from 80 years and above to 100 years and above. The paper is based on experiences made during the implementation of relevant mortality projection methodologies and their application in two rounds of global population projections. The paper first briefly addresses the need for the explicit inclusion of very old population segments into the regular UN estimates and projections. It is argued that since population aging is an important issue for both developed and developing countries, the need for more information regarding the elderly, and the oldest-old in particular, is significant. The paper then documents the methods that have been evaluated and implemented, namely, the relational mortality standard proposed by Himes, Preston, and Condran, the Coale-Kisker extrapolation method for extending empirical age patterns of mortality to ...
Atonement, Impassibility and the Communicatio Operationum

The biblical account of sin and the saving power of the cross stipulates that only one who is God himself can atone for the sin of the world. Older Protestant theologians expounded this scriptural teaching by using the christological concept of the communicatio operationum, without foregoing the doctrine of divine impassibility. However, in contemporary discussion of the atonement, the viability of the communicatio operationum and the impassibility of God have both been called into question. This article recognizes the need for God the Son himself to act and suffer directly on the cross but, in doing so, also argues that we can uphold the impassibility of God by recovering the communicatio operationum and setting out how it coheres with God's impassibility. I therefore discuss the exegetical purpose and dogmatic contours of the communicatio operationum and then display its relationship to God's impassibility in a retrieval of several moves in traditional Reformed theology proper and Christology, in particular the distinction between essence and person in God, the meaning of the enhypostasis of Christ's humanity and the meaning of the communicatio idiomatum.
Including and Serving Students with Special Needs in Catholic Schools: A Report of Practices.

Based on responses to a survey of 19 Midwestern Catholic dioceses, the author reports the mission, educational practice, and financial means utilized to serve students with special needs in Catholic schools.
A detailed comparison of backpropagation neural network and maximum-likelihood classifiers for urban land use classification

A detailed comparison of the backpropagation neural network and maximum-likelihood classifiers for urban land use classification is presented. Landsat Thematic Mapper images of Tucson, Arizona, and Oakland, California, were used for this comparison. For the Tucson image, the percentage of matching pixels in the two classification maps was only 64.5%, while for the Oakland image it was 83.3%. Although the test site accuracies of the two Tucson maps were similar, the map produced by the neural network was visually more accurate; this difference is explained by examining class regions and density plots in the decision space and the continuous likelihood values produced by both classifiers. For the Oakland scene, the two maps were visually and numerically similar, although the neural network was superior in suppression of mixed pixel classification errors. From this analysis, the authors conclude that the neural network is more robust to training site heterogeneity and the use of class labels for land use that are mixtures of land cover spectral signatures. The differences between the two algorithms may be viewed, in part, as the differences between nonparametric (neural network) and parametric (maximum-likelihood) classifiers. Computationally, the backpropagation neural network is at a serious disadvantage to maximum-likelihood, taking nearly an order of magnitude more computing time when implemented on a serial workstation. >
Sencil TM Project: Development of a Percutaneous Optical Biosensor

We describe the design, fabrication method, biocompatibility test results, and first application of the novel chemical sensor technology that is under development. The sensor is designed to be minimally invasive, disposable and easily readable to make frequent measurements of various analytes in vivo over a period of 1-3 months. It uses photonic sensing of a chemical reaction that occurs in a polymer matrix bound to the internal end of a chronically implanted percutaneous optical fiber.
Does Economic Education Make a Difference in Congress? How Economics Majors Vote on Trade

The author of this article expands the background theory of voting to incorporate the undergraduate majors of members of Congress. Examining nine votes on trade across the 109th and 110th Congresses reveals that economics majors are the only category of college major to vote in favor of free trade in a predictable way. Controls for a variety of factors including ideology, race, campaign contributions, and the inclusion of votes specifically on Cuba fail to diminish the effect. While economics majors are more likely to take a free trade position, not every vote that presupposes a free trade outcome is supported by economics majors. On the issue of sugar subsidies, being an economics major does not influence the direction of a congressional member's vote.
Disparity: Scalable Anomaly Detection for Clusters

In this paper, we describe disparity, a tool that does parallel, scalable anomaly detection for clusters. Disparity uses basic statistical methods and scalable reduction operations to perform data reduction on client nodes and uses these results to locate node anomalies. We discuss the implementation of disparity and present results of its use on a SiCortex SC5832 system.
TROUBLE WITH SHE-DICKS: PRIVATE EYES AND PUBLIC WOMEN IN THE ADVENTURES OF LOVEDAY BROOKE, LADY DETECTIVE

C. L. (CATHERINE LOUISA) PIRKIS'S “The Murder at Troyte's Hill,” second in her series of stories about Detective Loveday Brooke, begins with Brooke's boss debriefing her on a case: “Griffiths, of the Newcastle Constabulary, has the case in hand…. Those Newcastle men are keen-witted, shrewd fellows, and very jealous of outside interference. They only sent to me under protest, as it were, because they wanted your sharp wits at work inside the house” (528). This is a typical beginning for one of Brooke's adventures, which were published in the London magazine Ludgate Monthly in 1893 and 1894. As one of the earliest professional female detectives in English literary history, Brooke's career was marked by conflicts with territorial male officers and the ever-present pressure to keep her detective work “inside the house.” Emerging at a historical moment when understandings of women, criminality, and law enforcement were rapidly changing in Britain, Pirkis's stories offer an interpretation of these intersecting cultural shifts that is surprisingly different from her contemporaries. In a decade rife with scientific interrogation into the nature of criminality, such as in the work of Havelock Ellis and Francis Galton, detective fiction of the 1890s tended to mimic scientific discourse in its representations of criminals. The Brooke stories, however, challenge such conceptions of deviance and reveal the poverty of their underlying understandings of crime as well as gender.
Mechanisms of Transmembrane Signaling

The sections in this article are: 1 Signal Transduction via Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins 1.1 G Protein Coupled Receptors (GCRs) 1.2 Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins (G Proteins) 1.3 Diseases Linked to GCRs and G Proteins 1.4 Examples of G Protein–Regulated Effectors and Signaling Pathways 2 Signal Transduction via Receptor Tyrosine Kinases 2.1 Introduction to Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (RTKs) 2.2 Initial Steps of RTK Signal Transduction 2.3 Ras Activation by RTK 2.4 Ras Stimulates the MAPK Pathway Via Its Effector, Raf-1 2.5 RTK Signaling Mechanisms Are Used by Other Receptor Families 3 Mitogenic Crosstalk: GCRs, RTKs, and the MAPK Pathway 3.1 A GCR Induces Tyrosine Phosphorylation of SHC 3.2 Ras Activation by Gβγ 3.3 Gβγ Stimulation of MAPK in Yeast 3.4 Gαi Stimulation of a MEK Kinase in Rat-1a Cells 3.5 GCR-Mediated Inhibition of Mitogenic Signaling 4 Conclusion
Confocal Raman Microscopy for pH-Gradient Preconcentration and Quantitative Analyte Detection in Optically Trapped Phospholipid Vesicles

The ability of a vesicle membrane to preserve a pH gradient, while allowing for diffusion of neutral molecules across the phospholipid bilayer, can provide the isolation and preconcentration of ionizable compounds within the vesicle interior. In this work, confocal Raman microscopy is used to observe (in situ) the pH-gradient preconcentration of compounds into individual optically trapped vesicles that provide sub-femtoliter collectors for small-volume samples. The concentration of analyte accumulated in the vesicle interior is determined relative to a perchlorate-ion internal standard, preloaded into the vesicle along with a high-concentration buffer. As a guide to the experiments, a model for the transfer of analyte into the vesicle based on acid–base equilibria is developed to predict the concentration enrichment as a function of source-phase pH and analyte concentration. To test the concept, the accumulation of benzyldimethylamine (BDMA) was measured within individual 1 μm phospholipid vesicles having...
Hand parsing for fine-grained recognition of human grasps in monocular images

We propose a novel method for performing fine-grained recognition of human hand grasp types using a single monocular image to allow computational systems to better understand human hand use. In particular, we focus on recognizing challenging grasp categories which differ only by subtle variations in finger configurations. While much of the prior work on understanding human hand grasps has been based on manual detection of grasps in video, this is the first work to automate the analysis process for fine-grained grasp classification. Instead of attempting to utilize a parametric model of the hand, we propose a hand parsing framework which leverages a data-driven learning to generate a pixel-wise segmentation of a hand into finger and palm regions. The proposed approach makes use of appearance-based cues such as finger texture and hand shape to accurately determine hand parts. We then build on the hand parsing result to compute high-level grasp features to learn a supervised fine-grained grasp classifier. To validate our approach, we introduce a grasp dataset recorded with a wearable camera, where the hand and its parts have been manually segmented with pixel-wise accuracy. Our results show that our proposed automatic hand parsing technique can improve grasp classification accuracy by over 30 percentage points over a state-of-the-art grasp recognition technique.
“It’s on the MCAT for a Reason” Premedical Students and the Perceived Utility of Sociology

Biomedical socialization and premed culture have been shown to promote reductionist and depersonalized approaches to understanding human difference, a serious problem in contemporary health care. In 2015, the Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC) launched a new version of its Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) that included material from sociology, providing sociology departments an unprecedented opportunity to instruct premed students on contextualizing human difference and being sensitive to the diverse trajectories of people in the health care system. This article describes a large, public research institution’s introductory sociology course for premeds and draws on the students’ reflective writing to show how premeds valued the complexity, critical perspective, open-minded capacity, and conceptual approaches that sociology had to offer. In applying the sociological material to their experiences or impressions of the medical field, premed students felt that sociological instruction would help them become a more socially minded and critically engaged doctor.
The effect of formalin fixation on the concentration of selenium in porcine liver.

Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI. agriculture, nutrition, and medicine. Champlain Printers, Bur19. Soil Conservation Service: 1988, Soil survey of Pottawattamie lington, VT. County, Iowa. United States Department of Agriculture, Wash21. Witte ST, Will LA, Olsen CR, et al.: 1993, Chronic selenium ington, DC. toxicosis in horses of western Iowa fed locally produced alfalfa 20. Trelease SF, Beath OA: 1949, Selenium: its geological occurhay. J Am Vet Med Assoc Feb 1, (in press). rence and its biological effects in relation to botany, chemistry,