cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Monitoring the Kalman Gain Behavior for Maneuver Detection

A different way to detect maneuvers in Kalman-filter-based target tracking is discussed. By examining the behavior of the Kalman gains, a target maneuver may be detected prior to the state change being detected. A first look at this approach is presented. The individual Kalman gains of the target tracking algorithm are monitored over time. Variations in the gains' behaviors such as zero crossings and short-term high frequency energy are seen to indicate the existence target maneuvers.
Computation of Survey Weights

The basic theoretical foundation for weighting survey data is not controversial. Weights account for each respondent’s selection or inclusion probability, and as such, weights say how many people each person who responds to the survey represents in the population. However, in practice weighting is done ad hoc, with little transparency or consistency. This chapter discusses the limitations of ad hoc weighting, advocates greater transparency, accessibility, and replicability, and describes methodological developments to make the computation of survey weights easier for more people to do using transparent and replicable methods.
Nonlinear ultrasonic methods for nondestructive damage assessment in structural materials (Conference Presentation)

In this talk, I will first introduce recent models that relate the measured nonlinear ultrasonic signals to pertinent microstructural parameters that characterize the state of damage in structural materials. This will be followed by discussions of several ultrasonic measurement techniques including the generation of second harmonic and nonlinear wave mixing. The talk will conclude with several case studies involving fatigue damage in high-strength superalloys, radiation damage in stainless steels, plastic deformation in aluminum alloys, ASR-induced damage in concrete, etc. These studies clearly demonstrated that nonlinear ultrasonic measurements provide quantitative inputs to determine the material state and measure damage in structural materials.
Groups, Graphs and Trees: An Introduction to the Geometry of Infinite Groups

Preface 1. Cayley's theorems 2. Groups generated by reflections 3. Groups acting on trees 4. Baumslag-Solitar groups 5. Words and Dehn's word problem 6. A finitely-generated, infinite, Torsion group 7. Regular languages and normal forms 8. The Lamplighter group 9. The geometry of infinite groups 10. Thompson's group 11. The large-scale geometry of groups Bibliography Index.
Achieving Sustained Quantifiable Results in an Interdepartmental Quality Improvement Project

Article-at-a-Glance Background In the mid-1980s Beth Israel Hospital Boston began a participatory management approach that encourages all members of the organization to improve productivity, efficiency, and quality through interdepartmental and intradepartmental project teams. The CT [computerized tomography]-Nursing-Transport Team, the hospital’s first quality improvement project Team, grew out of an organizational challenge to solve an interdepartmental problem. The goal of the project was to have inpatients arrive on time for their scheduled CT-Scan appointment. Prior to the project’s inception, over 50% of all inpatients scheduled for CT-Scans arrived more than 20 minutes late. Methods The team learned the Juran quality improvement methodology, using just-in-time training. The methodology consists of four major steps: problem definition and organization, the diagnostic journey, the remedial journey, and holding the gains. The team used many quality improvement tools including flowcharting, checksheets, histograms, Pareto charts, run charts, and brainstorming to find the root causes of the problem and achieve results. Results The team members collected data and flowcharted the complexity of the CT appointment and patient pick-up process to pinpoint the root causes of delays. They found that three floors accounted for a majority of the delays and that four reasons for delays explained two-thirds of the problem. Additionally, as nurses and CT technologists flowcharted the process, they found that they used a different definition of “on-call” and that misconceptions existed about the scan and the preparation for it. When transporters were included on the team, the team discovered that delays occurred in a pattern and that communication with central transport was poor and inconsistent. After the team made changes in break times, equipment, communication, planning, and timing, the late patient arrivals dropped dramatically–more than 80% of patients arrived within five minutes of a scheduled appointment. One year after the project team stopped meeting, close to 70% of patients continue to arrive within five minutes of their scheduled appointment time, despite increased volume and no additional scanners. Conclusion The success of the project reinforced many well-known quality improvement conditions for success. These include (1) choosing a project that is “high pain, high drain,” (2) having a committed project leader who can keep the team effort going, (3) using data to lead the team to the root cause of a problem by pointing out where, when, and why the problems occur, (4) utilizing flowcharting and shadowing to understand the process from a fresh perspective, and (5) holding well-facilitated meetings with a defined purpose, ground rules, and meaningful agenda.
Consistency of standardized uptake value with variation in PET reconstruction parameters

1976 Objectives As PET/CT is increasingly being used for biomarker-like assessments, both adequate image quality and robust quantitative measurement are essential. Variations in reconstruction parameters affect both aspects and are again becoming relevant as technology evolves. We assessed and quantified how different reconstruction settings impact standardized uptake value (SUV). Methods Using a current release time of flight system (Gemini 64 TOF PET/CT Philips) we reconstructed listmode data under all available reconstruction settings. Iterative reconstructions labeled as high quality (3 iterations, 33 subsets, 23 cm kernel width), normal (3 iterations, 33 subsets, 14.1 cm kernel width), and fast (3 iterations, 20 subsets, 14.1 cm kernel width) were evaluated. "Sharpness" was varied as the relaxation setting from a normal setting of 1, smooth of 0.7, smooth A of 0.6 to smooth B of 0.5, the smallest with the least refinement per iteration. The 12 resulting image sets per patient were analyzed, comparing changes in SUVmax for regions of interest (ROIs) drawn in target lesions as well as organ regions. A total of 11 patient studies were evaluated. Results Using normal speed, normal sharpness as a baseline, SUVmax was found to be highest (on average 9.7% higher) for the "high quality" images reconstructed with 3 iterations, 33 subsets, 23 cm kernel width and relaxation parameter of 1, and lowest (on average 8.2% below baseline) for "fast" settings with 3 iterations, 20 subsets, 14.1 cm kernel width and relaxation parameter of 0.5. As the SUVmax increased per ROI, variance in SUV diminished, with "fast" settings becoming more consistent with baseline (on average 2.4% below), while "high quality" settings continued to increase (on average 11.3% above). Conclusions The consistency of SUV is affected by altered reconstruction approaches such as subset settings and kernel width. While they lead to perceived improvement in image quality, the impact on SUV needs to be considered. Research Support OSUMC Imaging Signature Progra
Laparoscopic management of common bile duct stones.

Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (CBDE) was the subject of a multi-institutional study on 226 patients from 19 major hospital centers. Female patients predominated (2.3:1); the average age was 54; 75% of cases were chronic, and the remainder were acute. Although 97% had preoperative ultrasonograms, only 12% showed a stone in the dilated common bile duct. The alkaline phosphatase was elevated in 41% and the serum bilirubin in 28% of cases. Preoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiography with sphincterotomy (ERC-ES) was performed in 8.5%; there was a successful stone extraction in less than half the cases. Cholangiography was performed in 99.5%, and in 94% of those cases, stones were found.
Increasing Average Feed Particle Size During the Starter Period Maximizes Ross × Ross 708 Male Broiler Performance

SUMMARY Recent research in our laboratory demonstrated that average particle size of feed from 0 to 14 d influenced overall (0 to 46 d) performance. However, optimal starter average feed particle size has not been identified and represents an important void, as this is a critical stage in a broiler's lifecycle. Therefore, 2 experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of average particle size on 0 to 14 d broiler performance in an effort to determine the optimal average particle size. Both experiments utilized Ross × Ross 708 male broiler chicks that were provided diets varying in average feed particle size from 1,202 to 2,172 μm (Experiment 1) or 1,174 to 3,736 μm (Experiment 2). Performance variables were analyzed with a randomized complete block design using one-way ANOVA. Improvements were most apparent for FCR with an associated 0.03 improvement in both experiments when broilers were provided feed of 1,760 or 2,172 μm (Experiment 1) or larger than 2,257 μm, compared to those receiving smaller average feed particle sizes (Experiment 2). Additionally, a 30 g improvement for ending BW and BW gain was demonstrated in Experiment 2 for broilers receiving ≥2,800 μm. However, linear relationships for 0 to 14 d FCR, ending BW, and BW gain for Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that the optimal particle size may not have been achieved during these experiments. Therefore, future research should focus on further expanding the range of particle sizes tested (beyond 3,700 μm) from 0 to 14 d to identify the optimal average feed particle size during this growth phase.
Case Study 7: Relapse Prevention

The case of David, a 17-year-old male with a history of using benzodiazepines, stimulants, and alcohol, is used to highlight how a relapse prevention plan can be established. A relapse prevention plan helps a patient/client identify early warning signs and triggers and maximizes the use of recovery tools such as self-help meetings, ongoing treatment, and support from family members. Early warning signs and triggers can include changes in routine/schedule, loss of connection with non-drug using friends, and a willing exposure to known high-risk environments and situations.
Variability Expeditions: A Retrospective

Expeditions in Computing are among the largest and most ambitious projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation that seek to explore far out ideas in computing with potential for significant impact on computing and its industry. In 2009, we conceived of an Expeditions project in response to an alarming trend in the semiconductor industry: the manufactured chips were demonstrating significant variation in their performance and power consumption that was increasing at a rapid pace, leading designers to overdesign circuits with margins (e.g., margins on speed and voltage, also referred to as guard bands) that often exceeded 40% of the nominal target specifications. This overdesign threatened to make new process nodes ineffective by causing significant loss of yield, effectively wiping out gains due to scaling geometries. In addition to manufacturing, computing machines were experiencing increasing variation in operating conditions due to the proliferating use of these devices in mobile and wireless applications.
Simultaneous Determination of Amino Acids and Biogenic Amines in Tuna and Mahi-Mahi by Reversed-Phase Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Tuna and mahi-mahi are two major fish species responsible for histamine poisoning. This research developed a rapid ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) method to determine a...
Predicting Death After Thrombectomy in the Treatment of Acute Stroke

Introduction: Treatments for acute stroke have significantly improved in the past decade, with emergent thrombectomy emerging as the standard of care. Despite these advancements, death after successful thrombectomy continues to pose a significant problem. Identifying patients least likely to benefit from thrombectomy would improve use of a limited resource and management of patient expectations. Method: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent emergent thrombectomy of either anterior or posterior circulation strokes between January 2012 and January 2017. Relevant patient clinical data was collected and analyzed in a multivariable regression with a primary outcome of death at 90 days. Results: A total of 134 patients underwent emergent endovascular thrombectomy during the study period; sufficient clinical data was available in 111 of the them. Of these, 42 patients died during the 90 day post-procedural period and 69 patients survived this period. The mean NIHSS score at presentation was 14.9 in surviving patients and 19.6 in non-surviving patients (p < 0.002). Surviving patients were less likely to have a history of cancer (4.4% vs. 26.2%, p < 0.002), achieved higher rates of revascularization (78.3% vs. 50.0%, p < 0.003), had a lower rate of hemorrhagic conversion (21.7% vs. 47.6%, p < 0.004), and experienced fewer technical complications during their treatment (7.4% vs. 26.2%, p < 0.01). Overall, there were 16 intraprocedural complications and no procedural deaths. Conclusion: As emergent thrombectomy for the treatment of acute stroke becomes more prevalent, appropriate patient selection will be crucial in the utilization of a limited and costly intervention. Death within 90 days after thrombectomy appears to be more prevalent among patients with higher NIHSS at presentation, those with postprocedural hemorrhage or intraprocedural complications, and those with a history of cancer.
Pricing Of Products & Services

The price of a product or a service is a critical element of the marketing mix. Price influences product demand, and the firm's revenue and profits. Prices also signal product quality and value, customer self-image, and the seller's pricing practices. With appropriate balance of theory, applications, and analytics, this book provides business students and practitioners the tools to make profitable pricing decisions under a variety of real-life contexts — current and emerging.
Fabrication of 2D Block Copolymer Brushes via a Polymer-Single-Crystal-Assisted-Grafting-to Method

Block copolymer brushes are of great interest due to their rich phase behavior and value-added properties compared to homopolymer brushes. Traditional synthesis involves grafting-to and grafting-from methods. In this work, a recently developed "polymer-single-crystal-assisted-grafting-to" method is applied for the preparation of block copolymer brushes on flat glass surfaces. Triblock copolymer poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(l-lactide)-b-poly(3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) (PEO-b-PLLA-b-PTESPMA) is synthesized with PLLA as the brush morphology-directing component and PTESPMA as the anchoring block. PEO-b-PLLA block copolymer brushes are obtained by chemical grafting of the triblock copolymer single crystals onto a glass surface. The tethering point and overall brush pattern are determined by the single crystal morphology. The grafting density is calculated to be ≈0.36 nm-2 from the atomic force microscopy results and is consistent with the theoretic calculation based on the PLLA crystalline lattice. This work provides a new strategy to synthesize well-defined block copolymer brushes.
Chronic Disease as Reverse Evolution

Dobzhansky famously said, “Evolution is all of biology.” This resolute dictum raised the bar by challenging the field to exactly explain what he meant. The crux in biology is that it is easier to describe the relationship between ontogeny and phylogeny than it is to determine the mechanistic interrelationships between them. Retrospective reasoning has resulted in the generation of “Just So” teleologies instead of causal relationships. In the spirit of Dobzhansky, the following is a direct means of exploiting developmental biologic mechanisms of cell–cell signaling to understand how and why chronic diseases are a manifestation of “reverse evolution.”
Degenerate Quasilinear Parabolic Problems with Slow Diffusions

Let T (> 0), m (> 1), p (> 0) and q (≥ 0) denote constants, D = (0, 1), Ω T = D × (0, T], and \(\bar D\) and \({\bar\Omega_T}\) be the closures of D and Ω T respectively. We consider the following degenerate quasilinear parabolic problem, $$\left. {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}} {{{x}^{q}}{{u}_{t}} = {{{\left( {{{u}^{m}}} \right)}}_{{xx}}} + {{u}^{p}}} \hfill & {in} \hfill & {{{\Omega }_{T}},} \hfill \\ {u(x,0) = {{u}_{0}}(x)} \hfill & {on} \hfill & {\bar{D},} \hfill \\ {u(0,t) = 0 = u(1,t)} \hfill & {for} \hfill & {t \in \left( {0,T} \right],} \hfill \\ \end{array} } \right\}$$ (1.1) where \({{u}_{0}}(x) \in {{C}^{{2 + \alpha }}}\left( {\bar{D}} \right)\) for some α ∈ (0, 1) is a positive function in D such that u 0(0)=0=u 0(1) and $$(u_0^m)??+ u_0^p\geqslant 0{\text{in}}D$$ (1.2)
Cost Analysis of Emergency Department Criteria for Evaluation of Febrile Infants Ages 29 to 90 Days.

Objective To compare the medical costs associated with risk stratification criteria used to evaluate febrile infants 29-90 days of age. Study design A cost analysis study was conducted evaluating the Boston, Rochester, Philadelphia, Step-by-Step, and PECARN criteria. The percentage of infants considered low risk and rates of missed infections were obtained from published literature. Emergency department costs were estimated from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Health Care Cost and Utilization Project databases were used to estimate the number of infants ages 29-90 days presenting with fever annually and costs for admissions related to missed infections. A probabilistic Markov model with a Dirichlet prior was used to estimate the transition probability distributions for each outcome, and a gamma distribution was used to model costs. A Markov simulation estimated the distribution of expected annual costs per infant and total annual costs. Results For low-risk infants, the mean cost per infant for the criteria were Rochester: $1050 (IQR $1004-$1092), Philadelphia: $1416 (IQR, $1365-$1465), Boston: $1460 (IQR, $1411-$1506), Step-by-Step $942 (IQR, $899-$981), and PECARN $1004 (IQR, $956-$1050). An estimated 18 522 febrile 1- to 3-month-old infants present annually and estimated total mean costs for their care by criteria were: Rochester, $127.3 million (IQR, $126.1-$128.5); Philadelphia, $129.9 million (IQR, $128.7-$131.1); Boston, $128.7 million (IQR, $127.5-$129.9); Step-by-Step, $ 126.6 million (IQR, $125.4-$127.8); and PECARN, $125.8 million (IQR, $124.6-$127). Conclusions The Rochester, Step-by-step, and PECARN criteria are the least costly when evaluating infants 29-90 days of age with a fever.
Incentivising wealthy nations to participate in the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX): a game theory perspective.

### Summary box Progress in developing COVID-19 vaccines has been rapid: the first clinical trial of a vaccine candidate began in Seattle, USA on 16 March 2020—just 63 days after China shared the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. As of 12 November 2020, there were 48 candidate vaccines in clinical trials.1 Given standard attrition rates, we can expect at least a handful of COVID-19 vaccines to eventually be launched. However, developing a safe, effective vaccine alone will not be enough to end the pandemic. The vaccine must also be delivered globally at a price affordable to all governments and allocated in a way that maximises immediate and long-term public health impact and simultaneously achieves equity. In previous pandemics, these goals were not achieved. For example, in the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, rich countries monopolised the vaccine supply; low-income countries (LICs) and middle-income countries (MICs) received …
Animal Breeding, Disease and Welfare

In the United States, people display two very different and conflicting attitudes towards the animals that they use. The pet paradigm evolves toward an anthropomorphic viewpoint in which the animal is seen as a dependent, obedient child. The production paradigm evolves towards a "machinomorphic" viewpoint in which the animal becomes an economic unit in a production system. An understanding of animals as animals leads to rejection of the extreme viewpoint of each paradigm. Such understanding is prerequisite to our attention to their welfare. Much of the disease experienced by domesticated animals is a result of 1) the environmental conditions of their confinement; 2) the management practices to which the animals are subjected or; 3) breeding practices that create genetic stock that is defective or predisposed to disease. Essential elements of animal health concern proper management and housing for animals and breeding programs that emphasize functional efficiency and disease resistance. Disease prevention should be a major concern of animal welfarists.
Training Parallel Solvers

In the last decade, solver portfolios have boosted the capability to solve hard combinatorial problems. Portfolios of existing solution algorithms have excelled in competitions in satisfiability (SAT), constraint programming (CP), and quantified Boolean formulae (QBF). Since around 2010, a new trend has emerged, namely the development of parallel solver portfolios. The obvious next step is to therefore consider dynamic parallel portfolios, i.e., portfolios that are composed based on the features of the given problem instance. Traditionally, sequential portfolios simply select one of the constituent solvers that appears best suited for the given problem instance. And, as seen in Chap. 6, at least since the invention of CP-Hydra and SatPlan, sequential portfolios also schedule solvers. That is, they may select more than just one constituent solver and assign each one a portion of the time available for solving the given instance.The solver presented at the end of Chap. 6 dominated the sequential portfolio solvers at the 2011 SAT Competition, where it won gold medals in the CPU-time category for random and crafted instances. In this chapter, the 3S methodology is augmented to devise dynamic parallel SAT solver portfolios.
A Mild Transamination Route to [EtGaNEt]6: A Twelve-Vertex Gallium-Nitrogen Cluster

The reaction of [EtGa(NMe2)2]2 with neat, excess EtNH2 afforded a glassy solid whose IR spectrum did not exhibit any N–H absorptions and 1H NMR spectrum indicated the presence of more than one compound. Refluxing a toluene solution of this solid afforded the imido gallium compound, (EtGaNEt)6 (1), in 56% yield. Compound 1 crystallized in space group R¯3 with a hexagonal prismatic structure constructed with two planar Ga3N3 rings.
Path planning for autonomous information collecting vehicles

In many environments where autonomous air or ground vehicles are used to collect information, there will be a known prioritization of areas of the environment where most valuable information will be found. Over time, priorities may change with areas losing value or suddenly becoming important. In this paper, we present an approach to planning paths for vehicles collecting information in such environments, such that they maximize the overall system information gain over time. A key feature of this path planning problem is that there is not a single or small set of goal points to which the vehicles should try to reach, instead information is collected over the entire path without a particular goal in mind. We present a planning approach, which rapidly expands a search tree, inspired by an RRT planner by choosing promising nodes to expand and expanding them randomly. Genetic algorithms are used to learn sets of configuration parameters for the planner, i.e., how to expand which nodes. Results show that the learned planner gets more substantially information than pre-defined paths in a variety of domains.
Impact of Perceived Barriers to Healthy Eating on Diet and Weight in a 24-Month Behavioral Weight Loss Trial

Abstract Objective To examine longitudinal changes in perceptions of barriers to healthy eating and its impact on dietary intake and weight loss in a 24-month trial. Methods A secondary analysis was conducted using data from a behavioral weight loss trial (n = 210). The Barriers to Healthy Eating (BHE) scale was used to measure perceived barriers to healthy eating. Weight, total energy, and fat intake were measured. Longitudinal mixed regression modeling was used for data analysis. Results The BHE total score decreased from baseline to 6 months and increased slightly from 6 to 24 months ( P P P Conclusions and Implications Reducing barriers could lead to improved short-term dietary changes and weight loss. Innovative strategies need to be developed to prevent barriers from increasing when intervention intensity begins to decrease.
The neurotrophic effects of fibroblast growth factors on dopaminergic neurons in vitro are mediated by mesencephalic glia.

Neurotrophic support is generally believed to result from a direct action of growth factors on developing neurons. However, there is increasing evidence that growth factors can indirectly affect neuronal development by glial-mediated processes. To investigate a possible role of glia in mediating neurotrophic effects on dopaminergic neurons, four purified growth factors were screened for dual effects on the survival and differentiation of dopaminergic neurons and on the proliferation of mesencephalic glial cells in vitro. Dissociated embryonic day 14.5 rat mesencephalon was grown at low cell density without serum, conditions under which both glial growth and neuronal survival are not optimal. Treatment of these cultures with acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) or basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) increased the number of surviving tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive (TH-IR) neurons by 90- 110% [corrected] at 8 d in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. The effects of these factors were not additive. High-affinity dopamine uptake was increased by bFGF, but not by aFGF. Length of TH-IR neurites was not affected by either aFGF or bFGF. Both growth factors induced proliferation of mesencephalic astrocytes as demonstrated by autoradiographic labeling with 3H-thymidine combined with immunocytochemistry for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). In contrast, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and interleukin-1 had no effect on the survival or differentiation of dopaminergic neurons or the proliferation of mesencephalic astrocytes. Inhibition of glial proliferation abolished the neurotrophic effects exerted by aFGF or bFGF on dopaminergic neurons. Moreover, conditioned medium derived from mesencephalic glial cultures replated in the virtual absence of neurons also contained neurotrophic activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Translational Performances: Toward Relevant, Engaging, and Empowering Social Science

In diesem Beitrag hinterfrage ich die Annahme, dass schriftliche Berichte das wesentlichste Medium fur die Distribution sozialwissenschaftlicher Befunde sind und optiere dagegen fur eine Umsetzung von Forschungsergebnissen mittels unterschiedlichster multimedialer Varianten. Hierzu beschreibe ich verschiedene Prasentationsformen, gebe Beispiele ausgewahlter Projekte und schlage Richtlinien fur die Umsetzung solcher Vorhaben vor. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0802541
Distributed particle filter with GMM approximation for multiple targets localization and tracking in wireless sensor network

Two novel distributed particle filters with Gaussian mixer approximation are proposed to localize and track multiple moving targets in a wireless sensor network. The distributed particle filters run on a set of uncorrelated sensor cliques that are dynamically organized based on moving target trajectories. These two algorithms differ in how the distributive computing is performed. In the first algorithm, partial results are updated at each sensor clique sequentially based on partial results forwarded from a neighboring clique and local observations. In the second algorithm, all individual cliques compute partial estimates based only on local observations in parallel, and forward their estimates to a fusion center to obtain final output. In order to conserve bandwidth and power, the local sufficient statistics (belief) is approximated by a low dimensional Gaussian mixture model (GMM) before propagating among sensor cliques. We further prove that the posterior distribution estimated by distributed particle filter convergence almost surely to the posterior distribution estimated from a centralized Bayesian formula. Moreover, a data-adaptive application layer communication protocol is proposed to facilitate sensor self-organization and collaboration. Simulation results show that the proposed DPF with GMM approximation algorithms provide robust localization and tracking performance at much reduced communication overhead.
Extracting Relations from Text: From Word Sequences to Dependency Paths

Extracting semantic relationships between entities mentioned in text documents is an important task in natural language processing. The various types of relationships that are discovered between mentions of entities can provide useful structured information to a text mining system [1]. Traditionally, the task specifies a predefined set of entity types and relation types that are deemed to be relevant to a potential user and that are likely to occur in a particular text collection. For example, information extraction from newspaper articles is usually concerned with identifying mentions of people, organizations, locations, and extracting useful relations between them. Relevant relation types range from social relationships, to roles that people hold inside an organization, to relations between organizations, to physical locations of people and organizations. Scientific publications in the biomedical domain offer a type of narrative that is very different from the newspaper discourse. A significant effort is currently spent on automatically extracting relevant pieces of information from Medline, an online collection of biomedical abstracts. Proteins, genes, and cells are examples of relevant entities in this task, whereas subcellular localizations and protein-protein interactions are two of the relation types that have received significant attention recently. The inherent difficulty of the relation extraction task is further compounded in the biomedical domain by the relative scarcity of tools able to analyze the corresponding type of narrative. Most existing natural language processing tools, such as tokenizers, sentence segmenters, part-of-speech (POS) taggers, shallow or full parsers are trained on newspaper corpora, and consequently they inccur a loss in accuracy when applied to biomedical literature. Therefore, information extraction systems developed for biological corpora need to be robust to POS or parsing errors, or to give reasonable performance using shallower but more reliable information, such as chunking instead of full parsing.
Plasmon resonance in single- and double-layer CVD graphene nanoribbons

Dynamic tunability of the plasmonic resonance in graphene nanoribbons is desirable in the near-infrared. We demonstrated a constant blue shift of plasmonic resonances in double-layer graphene nanoribbons with respect to single-layer graphene nanoribbons.
Growth of Callus Tissue of Catharanthus roseus in Suspension Culture

The successful suspension culture of Catharantbus roseus (L.) G. Don callus tissue for an indefinite period of time has been accomplished. The growth rates of the suspension cultures, which were grown in media with and without growth substances, are reported. Alkaloids were detected in both the tissue and the media.
The isolation and preliminary characterization of a major soluble protein of the sea urchin egg

The soluble protein fraction of the eggs of Arbacia punctulata and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus was investigated by physical methods. This fraction contains only two major ultracentrifugal components, with uncorrected sedimentation constants of 7 and 20 S. The addition of small amounts of calcium ion causes the formation of a gel in these extracts. This gel can be removed from the solution and redissolved by dialyzing off the calcium. Such a redissolved gel solution contains only the 7 S component. Through the use of differential centrifugation and this calcium reaction, the 7 S component was isolated and some of its physical properties determined. At neutral pH the particle has a molecular weight in the range of 3.5 × 105 and an asymmetry of approximately 15 to 1. The gelation reaction is not specific for calcium, occurring with other alkaline earth metals. However, the minimum concentration for gelation with calcium is lower than all other ions tested. The large amount of this protein present in the cell plus the calcium reaction suggest that it may be of major importance in the structural organization of the cell.
Heat expanded starch-based compositions.

A heat expansion process similar to that used for expanded bead polystyrene was used to expand starch-based compositions. Foam beads made by solvent extraction had the appearance of polystyrene bea...
SU‐E‐CAMPUS‐T‐04: A Delivery Method of Tumor Tracking Radiation Beam Using a Beam Switching Interface for Irregular Breathing

Purpose: Dose rate regulated Tracking (DRRT) is known to be an efficient method which adaptively deliver tracking treatments when patient breathing is irregular. The interface for the dose rate controlling, however, is not commercially available. The Motion Management Interface (MMI, Varian Medical System, CA), which provides beam on/off switching during treatment is available for clinic. This study is to test if delivering the adaptive tumor tracking is feasible for irregular breathing using beam switching with MMI. Methods: Fifty‐five free breathing RPM traces acquired from lung cancer patients are used. The first day RPM traces of the patients are utilized to design preprogrammed tracking MLC patterns, of which periods are intentionally reduced by 20% in order to catch up the variation of patient breathing irregularity in the treatment day. Eligibility criteria for this technique is variation of amplitude and period less than 20%. An algorithm which determines beam on/off every 100 ms by considering the preprogrammed (MLC) positions and current breathing positions is developed. Tracking error and delivery efficiency is calculated by simulating the beam‐switching adaptive tracking from the RPM traces. Results: Breathing patterns of 38 patients (70%) met the eligibility criteria. Tracking errors of all of the cases who meet the criteria are less than 2mm (average 1.4mm) and the average delivery efficiency was 71%. Those of rest of the cases are 1.9 mm and 48%. Conclusions: Beam switching is effectively equivalent to the dose rate regulation for DRRT. Adaptive tracking with beam switching is feasible if patient selection is based on the eligibility criteria. NIH R01CA133539
Invariant imbedding and distributed optimal control problems

Abstract Previous work by Corbo and Lapidus has indicated how invariant imbedding may be used to compute optimal control policies for lumped parameter systems. The present paper extends this analysis to the much more complicated distributed parameter systems. The distributed state and adjoint equations are reduced to a lumped boundary value problem which can then be solved by an appropriate form of invariant imbedding. This reduction is handled by the method of characteristics or orthogonal collocation. Numerical results are presented demonstrating the accuracy and efficiency of the methods.
Anatomy and biomechanics of the acromioclavicular and sternoclavicular joints

The acromioclavicular and sternoclavicular joints have important soft-tissue static constraints that, based on biomechanical studies, imply a great deal of stability. The infrequency of significant symptoms following dislocations of these joints certainly highlights the fact that the dynamic muscle support is also very important. In performing resections of these joints for degenerative disease, our goal should be to preserve these important ligamentous supports by minimizing the amount of bone excised, as this seems to optimize results [84]. Precise isometric reconstruction of these complex, three-dimensional ligamentous structures merits further investigation in the laboratory and clinical settings.
Mortality rates in subjects with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and their siblings.

BACKGROUND: Our objective was to estimate the mortality rate in subjects with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and their siblings whose FASD status was unknown. METHODS: We used the state FASD Registry to link subjects with FASD to a North Dakota birth certificate. We were able to link 304 of 486 cases (63%). We used the birth certificates to identify the mother and children born to the mother (siblings). We then searched for death certificates for both the FASD cases and their siblings. We then calculated the annual and age-adjusted mortality rates for the siblings of the Registry cases and compared them with mortality rates from North Dakota. RESULTS: The FASD case mortality rate was 2.4%, with a 4.5% mortality rate for their sibings, accounting for 14% of all deaths when compared to the North Dakota residents matched by age and year of death. The sibling deaths accounted for 21.5% of all cause mortality matched by age and year of death. The age-standardized mortality ratios were 4.9 for the FASD cases and 2.6 for their siblings whose FASD status was unknown. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality rates for FASD cases and their siblings were increased and represent a substantial proportion of all cause mortality in North Dakota. Prevention of FASD may be a useful strategy to decrease mortality. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Comparison of Energy Requirements for Classical and Quantum Information Processing

By considering the energy requirements of quantum and classical computers we propose a criterion to separate the classical from the quantum regime and show that the classical scaling laws are much more favorable for conventional, general purpose computation.
Emergency medical care for spectators attending national football league games

Objective. To analyze medical care facilities and resources available for spectators attending football games in the current National Football League (NFL) stadiums.Methods. A prospective, structured questionnaire regarding facilities, transportation, medications and equipment, personnel configuration, compensation, and communications was mailed to all 28 NFL organizations. Those failing to respond were interviewed by telephone using the identical questionnaire. Data were compiled using Lotus 1-2-3.Results. Data were collected from all 28 NFL organizations. Because two teams use the same stadium, results were calculated for 27 facilities (n = 27). The number of stadium first aid rooms ranges from 1 to 7, with an average of 2.4 ± 1.3 rooms per stadium (± 1 SD) and these vary in size from 120 to 2,000 square feet, with a mean of 434 ± 377 square feet. Each room is equipped with an average of 3.3 ± 2.9 stretchers (or tables), with telephones being present in 91% and sinks in 88% of all rooms. To provide cont...
Behind the help desk: evolution of a knowledge management system in a large organization

This paper examines the way in which a knowledge management system (KMS)-by which we mean the people, processes and software-came into being and evolved in response to a variety of shifting social, technical and organizational pressures. We draw upon data from a two year ethnographic study of a sophisticated help desk to trace the KMS from its initial conception as a "Common Problems" database for help desk personnel, to its current instantiation as a set of Frequently Asked Questions published on an intranet for help desk clients. We note how shifts in management, organizational structure, incentives, software technologies, and other factors affected the development of the system. This study sheds light on some of the difficulties that accompany the implementation of CSCW systems, and provides an analysis of how such systems are often designed by bricolage.
An Improved Pressurized Liquid Extraction Method for the Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Freshwater Sediments by Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry

Abstract An improved pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) method for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in freshwater sediment is described. The optimized method is simple, fast, efficient, and requires small amounts of sample and generates small amounts of secondary waste. Five optimization factors were chosen for study: extraction temperature, extraction time, sample mass, solvent volume, and post‐extraction cooling time. Method development was performed using authentic PAH‐contaminated (“aged”) sediment samples; optimal conditions were identified based upon a response function (recovery/precision) for three representative PAHs (naphthalene, pyrene, and benzo[g,h,i]perylene). In the optimized method, 3.00 mL of n‐hexane and 0.500 g of sediment were heated in a closed stainless steel extraction cell for 60.0 min at 200°C. The cell was then placed in an ice bath for 5.0 min, and the PAH content of the collected extract was determined by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). Detection limits fo...
Raman scattering from in-plane lattice modes in low-stage graphite-alkali-metal compounds

Low-temperature Raman scattering results for stage 1, 2, and 3 graphite-alkali-metal intercalation compounds are reported for in-plane modes using the Brewster-angle back-scattering geometry. Detailed full spectra are presented for stage 1, 2, and 3 compounds of graphite-Rb at 77 K. Particular attention is given to the structure which occurs at $\ensuremath{\gtrsim}560$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ in the stage-1 compounds ${\mathrm{C}}_{8}$K, ${\mathrm{C}}_{8}$Rb, ${\mathrm{C}}_{8}$Cs. This structure is shown to have two components of different symmetries and is related to the zone-edge ${M}_{1g}$ phonon mode of pristine graphite.
African American race, obesity, and blood product transfusion are risk factors for acute kidney injury in critically ill trauma patients.

Purpose Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common source of morbidity after trauma. We sought to determine novel risk factors for AKI, by Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria, in critically ill trauma patients.
Distribution of the Formosa Strain of the Fire Ant Decapitating fly Pseudacteon curvatus (Diptera: Phoridae) Three and a Half Years after Releases in North Florida

ABSTRACT The Formosa biotype of the decapitating fly Pseudacteon curvatus Borgmeier was released and successfully established as a self-sustaining biocontrol agent of the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren at several sites around Gainesville, FL in 2003. In order to determine the status of these releases, 59 sites were surveyed for flies in the fall of 2006 with sticky traps and aspirators. Results of this survey showed that the flies had expanded outward an average of 74 km and occupied more than 30,000 km2 in North Central Florida. This rate of expansion was faster than rates reported for Pseudacton tricuspis Borgmeier in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. The rapid rates of expansion and high densities reported for the Formosa biotype of P. curvatus indicate that it is a vigorous parasitoid which will require relatively fewer field releases to establish it as biocontrol agent of red imported fire ants in the United States.
The triple point of xenon

The triple point of xenon is shown to be a suitable fixed point for incorporation into the next revision of the International Temperature Scale (ITS) as a means of reducing the non-uniqueness in the important 84 K to 273 K range. Isotopic effects, once thought to be a limiting factor, are shown to be negligible. Purity remains the overriding concern, but high-purity xenon gas is obtainable, giving a very flat plateau with a melting range within ±10 µK from 50% to 90% of the melted sample fraction. The triple point temperature of xenon is shown to be 161.405 96 K ± 0.32 mK (k = 1) on the ITS-90. The propagated calibration uncertainty of the platinum resistance thermometers and the component attributed to the non-uniqueness of the ITS-90, as evidenced by the differences among the seven calibrated thermometers, dominate the overall uncertainty of the estimated triple point temperature. The xenon triple point itself is highly reproducible, with a standard deviation of 48 µK for the eight melts of this study and a total realization uncertainty of just 76 µK.
The tensor product of representations of Uq(sl2) via quivers

Abstract Using the tensor product variety introduced in Malkin (Duke Math. J., to appear) and Nakajima (Invent. Math. 146 (2001) 399), the complete structure of the tensor product of a finite number of integrable highest weight modules of U q ( sl 2 ) is recovered. In particular, the elementary basis, Lusztig's canonical basis, and the basis adapted to the decomposition of the tensor product into simple modules are all exhibited as distinguished elements of certain spaces of invariant functions on the tensor product variety. For the latter two bases, these distinguished elements are closely related to the irreducible components of the tensor product variety. The space of intertwiners is also interpreted geometrically.
Evidence for surfactant solubilization of plant epicuticular wax.

The solubilization of isolated, reconstituted tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) fruit and broccoli (Brassica oleracaea var. botrytis L.) leaf epicuticular waxes (ECW) by nonionic octylphenoxypolyethoxy ethanol surfactant (Triton X-100) was demonstrated in a model system by TLC and fluorescence analysis using pyrene as a fluorescent probe. ECW was solubilized at or above the surfactant critical micelle concentration; solubilization increased with an increase in micelle concentration. As shown by the fluorescence quenching of pyrene, surfactant solubilization of the ECW increased rapidly for the first 12 h, then approached a plateau, increased linearly with an increase in temperature (22−32 °C), and decreased linearly with the log of the polyoxyethylene chain length (range 5−40 oxyethylenes). These data are discussed in relation to surfactant effects on phytotoxicity and performance of foliar spray application of agrochemicals. Keywords: Cuticular penetration; micelles; fluorescence quenching; tomato; ...
Characterization of β-endorphin-related peptides in the caudal medulla oblongata and hypothalamus of the prenatal, postnatal and adult rat

Abstract A comparison was made of β-endorphin (B-END) concentrations versus post-translation products during the perinatal period in the hypothalamus and the caudal medulla oblongata. The concentration of B-END-like immunoreactivity did not differ statistically between embryonic day 21 (E21) and postnatal day 1 (P1) in either area. There were significant differences in forms, with a shift from larger precursors at E21 to smaller peptides at P1, with the predominant form of B-END being the 31 residue form at E21 in both regions. B-END varied between the two regions at P1, the 27-26 residue predominant in the hypothalamus, and the 31 residue in the caudal medulla.