cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ultrastructural differentiation of stromal and vascular components in early macaque placental villi.

In this study, closely staged placental villi from rhesus monkeys between 19 and 60 days of gestation were used to examine (1) the origin of endothelial cells and the mechanism of angiogenesis in villi; (2) the origin of placental macrophages (Hofbauer cells), and (3) the origin of the reticular cells that compartmentalize the stroma. The results did not support the concept that early stromal cells in the villi were derived by in situ delamination from cytotrophoblast. The extraembryonic mesodermal (mesenchymal) cells at the earliest of ages examined contained considerable granular ER. These cells organized into groups and formed primitive intercellular junctions, thus giving rise to the early angioblastic masses. The angioblastic masses were cellular, not syncytial; and lumen formation was not the result of intracellular vacuolization, but rather was the result of the acquisition of junctionally defined spaces. The earliest capillaries lacked intravascular blood cells and a basal lamina. Later, blood cells were evident in the lumina. At about 45–50 days of gestation, fetal capillaries began to indent the basal surface of the trophoblast. The basal lamina of the fetal capillaries still had not developed by 60 days of gestation. Between 35 and 40 days of gestation, significant morphological changes took place in the villous stroma. Evidence was obtained that the mesenchymal cells differentiated into the reticular cells that subdivided the stroma into fibrilrich and fibril-free compartments. At the same time, Hofbauer cells were observed for the first time; they occupied the fibril-free regions of the stroma. We did not observe any clear indications of intermediate stages of differentiation between other stromal cell types and Hofbauer cells. It is suggested that placental macrophages may have an origin independent of other stromal types; one possibility is that they are derived from blood monocytes as in other tissues. It is further suggested that the activities of the macrophages and reticular cells may be important in remodeling the extracellular matrix and may be related to the process of branching morphogenesis in the villi.
The effect of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole on hepatic and renal deiodination of l-thyroxine to 3,5,3′-triiodothyronine☆

An in vitro model has been employed to evaluate the effects of administration of aminotriazole (ATZ) both in vivo and in vitro on the rate of outer-ring deiodination of thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3) by 2000g supernatants of fresh hepatic and renal homogenates. Administration of ATZ (29 ± 1 mg/kg body wt/day) in the diet for 2 weeks to male rats reduced hepatic and renal T3 generation to 7 and 15% of control, respectively. This was associated with a significant depression of serum T3 and T4 concentrations. Administration of T4 (50 μg/kg body wt/day) in combination with ATZ increased hepatic and renal T3 generation to 135 and 182% of control levels, respectively. T4 concentration in the serum of this group was significantly higher, while T3 concentration was significantly lower, than in control rats. The addition of ATZ (10−2 or 10−4 m) to the incubation medium in vitro did not affect significantly the T3 generation by control hepatic and renal homogenates. The results of this study suggest that the action of ATZ on peripheral deiodination of T4 may be indirect and secondary to inhibition of the synthesis of thyroid hormones and resulting hypothyroidism.
Use of RotaFlow (MAQUET) for temporary right ventricular support during implantation of heartmate II left ventricular assist device

Temporary right ventricular (RV) support is considered during insertion of a left ventricular assist device in patients who are at risk of right ventricular dysfunction. There are several circuits and cannulation strategies available. Here, we report an effective and safe method for achieving RV support using the RotaFlow (Maquet) extracorporeal pump with inflow and outflow grafts placed through small opposing lateral thoracotomy incisions.
Terres Inconnues: Cartographies of a Landscape to Be Invented

But I must here, once and for all, inform you that all this will be more exactly delineated and explained in a map, now in the hands of the engraver . . . not to swell the work . . . but by way of commentary, scholium, illustration, and key to such passages, incidents, or innuendoes as shall be thought to be either of private interpretation, or of dark and doubtful meaning after my life and my opinions shall have been read over (no don't forget the
Error rates in physician dictation: quality assurance and medical record production

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to determine the instance of errors made in physician dictation of medical records. Design/methodology/approach – Purposive sampling method was employed to select medical transcriptionists (MTs) as “experts” to identify the frequency and types of medical errors in dictation files. Seventy-nine MTs examined 2,391 dictation files during one standard work day, and used a common template to record errors. Findings – The results demonstrated that on the average, on the order of 315,000 errors in one million dictations were surfaced. This shows that medical errors occur in dictation, and quality assurance measures are needed in dealing with those errors. Research limitations/implications – There was no potential for inter-coder reliability and confirming the error codes assigned by individual MTs. This study only examined the presence of errors in the dictation-transcription model. Finally, the project was done with the cooperation of MTSOs and transcription industry organi...
Simultaneous image reconstruction and sensitivity estimation in parallel MRI using blind compressed sensing

Parallel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reconstruction problem can be formulated as a multichannel sampling problem where solutions can be sought analytically. However, the channel functions given by the coil sensitivities in parallel imaging are not known exactly and the estimation error usually leads to artifacts or degraded SNR. In the context of parallel MRI, this work investigates the blind multichannel under-sampling problem where both the channel functions and signal are reconstructed simultaneously under sparseness constraints. We propose a novel algorithm to reconstruct both the coil sensitivities and image simultaneously from randomly undersampled, multichannel k-space data. The algorithm effectively applies the concept of compressed sensing (CS) to solve an underdetermined nonlinear problem, but is different from the conventional CS in that the sensing matrix is not known exactly. The proposed algorithm is shown to improve the reconstruction accuracy of SparseSENSE and L 1 -SPIRiT when the same number of measurements is used.
Transesophageal echocardiography and carotid ultrasound in patients with cerebral ischemia: Prevalence of findings and recurrent stroke risk

Abstract Objectives . This study was conducted to determine the yield of transesophageal echocardiographic findings in a consecutive series of patients with stroke and transient ischemic attack with and without carotid stenosis, and to estimate the recurrent stroke risk associated with specific echocardiographic findings. Background . Transesophageal echocardiography has a high yield for identification of potential sources of cardiac embolism in patients with cerebral ischemia; however, the clinical significance of the most commonly detected abnormalities is uncertain. methods . We evaluated 145 consecutively admitted patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack with both transesophageal echocardiography and carotid ultrasound. Patients were followed up prospectively for a mean duration of 18 months to document the rate of recurrent cerebral ischemia. Results . Transesophageal echocardiography detected at least one potential cardiac source of embolism in 45% of the patients. Atrial septal aneurysm and interatrial shunt were detected more frequently in patients who did not have a significant carotid stenosis that could account for their ischemic event. During follow-up, a higher rate of recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack occurred in patients with positive transesophageal echocardiographic findings, particularly atrial septal aneurysm, interatrial shunt and left atrial thrombus. Conclusions . These data support recent studies that suggest that atrial septal aneurysm and interatrial shunts may be a significant source of cardioembolic stroke. Further studies are needed to clarify the optimal management of patients with these abnormalities.
Quantification of internal electric fields and local polarization in ferroelectric superlattices.

Oxide heterostructure superlattices constitute a new family of materials with tunable ferroelectric properties. While theoretical models predict the presence of nanosized ferroelectric domains in these films, they had not been observed as the magnitude of the response functions challenges the limits of experimental detection. Here, a new protocol in a precise variant of piezoforce microscopy is used to image domains in BaTiO3/SrTiO3 superlattices. Comparison of experimentally determined polarization to predictions of phase-field calculations is in quantitative agreement. Additionally, a combination of theory and experiment is used to determine the magnitude of internal electric field within the thin film, in a procedure that can be generalized to all ferroelectric films.
THE EFFECT OF SUBSTRATE CONCENTRATION ON THE VISUALIZATION OF ISOPEROXIDASES IN DISC ELECTROPHORESIS

THE HETEROGENEITY of plant peroxidase has been the subject of several recent reports. The spectrum of isoperoxidases, as revealed by electrophoresis in starch gels or polyacrylamide gels is constant for a given species or tissue under specified conditions and is apparently influenced by species or varieties,1-6 age,‘, 11, I3 growth-regulating substanceqs and disease.g-14 In several cases, isoperoxidases which were not detected in young healthy tissue were detected in plant tissues upon aging or after infection by various pathogens. Such changes have been attributed to biosynthesis of new proteins under these conditions. However, we recently reported that the appearance of these “new” isoperoxidases may simply represent an increase in activity of isoperoxidases normally present at low activity or concentration in young healthy tissue. I5 The failure to detect them in young healthy tissues appeared to result from substrate or product inhibition. We have, therefore, investigated the effect of substrate concentration on the visualization of individual isoperoxidases in polyacrylamide gels.
Where is River City, USA? Measuring Community Attachment to the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers

This paper attempts to determine the location of towns self-identifying as metaphorical “River Cities” through quantitative methods informed by concepts of place attachment. Relative levels of river-oriented community attachment are measured by a frequency analysis of certain river-related terms in the names of businesses located in 213 U.S. counties adjacent to the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Population-adjusted frequencies of the terms “river city,” “river cities,” “river town,” “big river,” “great river,” “Missouri River,” and “Mississippi River” in business names are used as proxy measures of community attachment to the river. The mapped results identify regional concentration and variation in river-centered community identity. Contextualized within the place attachment literature, these results suggest that the importance of big rivers to collective sentiment, self-presentation, image, and identity varies greatly from place to place.
Effect of Surface Friction on Tire–Pavement Contact Stresses during Vehicle Maneuvering

AbstractAccurate modeling of tire–pavement contact behavior plays an important role in the analysis of pavement performance and vehicle stability control. A three-dimensional (3D) tire–pavement interaction model was developed using the FEM to analyze the forces and contact stresses generated during vehicle maneuvering (free rolling, braking/acceleration, and cornering). A pneumatic radial-ply tire structure with rubber and reinforcement was simulated. The steady-state, tire-rolling process was simulated using an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation. An improved friction model that considers the effect of sliding speed on friction coefficients was implemented to analyze the effects of pavement surface friction on contact stresses, friction forces, and cornering forces. The results showed that the magnitudes and nonuniformity of contact stresses are affected by vehicle-maneuvering conditions. As the pavement surface friction increases, the tangential tire–pavement contact stresses at various roll...
Dysrhythmia of Caloric Nystagmus

Objectives: Objectives of the study were 1) to determine the prevalence and characteristics of dysrhythmia, 2) to identify associations between dysrhythmia and other patient variables, and 3) to determine whether dysrhythmia is more a characteristic of individuals than simply a correlate of alertness or response intensity. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Methods: Review of records from 150 patients undergoing the caloric test. Results: Dysrhythmia severe enough to interfere with accurate analysis of the caloric test was present in 40% of the cases. Individuals were entered into an orderly group (n = 67) or a dysrhythmic group (n = 83) and were 5.8 times more likely to remain in the same group on a second visit than to change groups. Stronger response scores were associated with less dysrhythmia. Higher caloric-induced vertigo scores were associated with both stronger response scores and lower dysrhythmia scores. Cases in the dysrhythmic group were 3.8 times more likely to have abnormal caloric test results than individuals in the orderly group. Conclusions: Dysrhythmia frequently interferes with valid and accurate interpretation of the caloric test. Current methods of mental alerting frequently fail to eliminate dysrhythmia. The presence of dysrhythmia appears to be a strong predictor of an abnormal caloric test result, and there is a moderate correlation between dysrhythmia and response intensity. Nevertheless, our results suggest that dysrhythmia is specific to individuals, rather than simply a manifestation of peripheral vestibular disease or a correlate of alertness or response intensity.
Solid-State 13C Chemical Shift Tensors in Terpenes. 3. Structural Characterization of Polymorphous Verbenol

Solid-state NMR analyses demonstrate that verbenol is a mixture of polymorphic materials containing two distinct lattice types. The major crystalline component, characterized by X-ray, consists of three molecules per asymmetric unit. The minor form contains four molecules per asymmetric unit but crystals suitable for X-ray analysis are unavailable. The minor polymorph is metastable and may be converted to the major form by melting and cooling to resolidify. Experimental and ab initio computed chemical shift tensors are compared to demonstrate that most of the structural variations in both polymorphs arise from differences in the orientation of the hydroxy hydrogen. Intramolecular steric interactions partially restrict allowed hydroxy hydrogen dihedral angle orientations. For the major form, comparison of experimental and various theoretical tensor principal values further narrows this dihedral angle to the range between 45° and 80°. Hence, tensor predictions generally agree with X-ray determined angles of...
Production of Contact Lenses by Spin-Casting*

(1976). Production of Contact Lenses by Spin‐Casting* Clinical and Experimental Optometry: Vol. 59, No. 8, pp. 286-289.
The preparation and analysis of quercetin.

Quercetin (3, 3′, 4′, 5, 7-pentahydroxyflavone ) was prepared by hydrolysis with dilute acids of the naturally occurring glycosides, rutin and quercitrin. Data were ogtained on the rate of hydrolysis of pure glycosides in concentrations from 2 to 10%.
Discovery of Al2O3 particles incorporation mechanism in plasma electrolytic oxidation of AM60B magnesium alloy

Abstract Al 2 O 3 particles were suspended in the aluminate electrolyte to form a ceramic coating on an AM60B magnesium alloy by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO), and a new mechanism for the Al 2 O 3 particle incorporation in the coating was discovered. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) results showed that Al 2 O 3 addition increased the Al content in the coating. The absence of Al 2 O 3 particles combined with the increased MgAl 2 O 4 /MgO phase ratio in the coatings with the addition of Al 2 O 3 indicated that the Al 2 O 3 particles participated in chemical reactions during the coating formation, as opposed to a previously reported understanding of simple mechanical incorporation.
Industrialization Spawns the Elder Craftsmen Shop

Research on the Wilmington Senior Center Elder Craftsmen Shop provides the background for this sociological examination of the role of the elder craftsmen shop in our society. The shop is put into historical context by discussing the development of pension plans and the evolution in the means of producing goods. It is argued that, as a social utility, the nonprofit elder craftsmen shop provides a uniquely flexible work situation. It allows for the expression of the work ethic in the framework of retirement.
NUCLEAR DNA CONTENT VARIATION WITHIN THE ROSACEAE

Nuclear DNA content has been estimated using flow cytometry for 17 species and eight cultivars of Malus and for 44 species of 29 other genera within the Rosaceae. Compared to other angiosperms, diploid genome sizes vary little within the family Rosaceae and within the genus Malus. C-values of genera within the subfamilies Spiraeoideae and Rosoideae are among the smallest of flowering plants thus far reported. In general, the Maloideae have the largest diploid genomes of the family, consistent with their higher chromosome numbers and presumed polyploid origin. The Rosaceae, including such economically important plants as almond, apple, strawberry, and rose, is considered a natural group held together by similarities in floral structures. The four subfamilies are defined by fruit type (Robertson, 1974), and each includes polyploid series with fairly consistent chromosome base numbers: Spiraeoideae (x = 9); Amygdaloideae (x = 8); Rosoideae (x = 7, 8, and 9); and Maloideae (x = 17) (Sax, 1931, 1932). The subfamily Maloideae, with its relatively high base chromosome number, has been hypothesized to be either of autopolyploid (Darlington and Moffett, 1930) or allopolyploid origin (Sax, 1931, 1932; Stebbins, 1950). Although numerous chromosome numbers have been reported for Rosaceae, the amount of DNA per nucleus (C-value) has been reported for only 14 species of the family (Bennett and Smith, 1976, 1991; Bennett, Smith, and Heslop-Harrison, 1982; Arumuganathan and Earle, 1991b). Apart from the utility of genome size data in ongoing molecular studies in this important plant family, the amount and distribution of nuclear DNA content variation among related taxa may give insights into genomic evolution that underlies or parallels speciation (Raina and Narayan, 1984; Ohri and Khoshoo, 1986; Price, 1988). In this study, flow cytometry was used to estimate nuclear DNA contents of 28 genera from each of the four Rosaceae subfamilies. Compared to Feulgen densitometry or reassociation kinetics, flow cytometry is a rapid and reliable method for estimating C-values in plants (Galbraith et al., 1983; De Laat, Gohde, and Vogelzang, 1987; Raybum et al., 1989; Raybum, 1990; Michaelson et al., 199 la). We here report low levels of nuclear DNA variation within the Rosaceae and find that Spiraeoideae C-values are among the smallest of angiosperms. Relatively large C-values of Maloideae support the polyploid origin of the subfamily.
Beyond the Reservation: Indians, Settlers, and the Law in Washington Territory, 1853-1889

Beyond the Reservation is the first in-depth examination of the American Indian presence in local courts during the nineteenth century. Through examination of Washington Territory's district court records for 1853-1889, as well as other archival materials, Brad Asher provides a detailed portrait of Indian-white contact within this region.Overturning the conventional notion that Indians were confined to reservations during the latter half of the nineteenth century, Asher shows that most Indians in Washington Territory never moved to reservations or resided on them only seasonally. As the central mechanism for governing interracial contact outside of reservations, the courts were the primary vehicle for creating and policing racial boundaries. Initially denied legal standing in white courts, Indians at first attempted to resolve disputes with settlers and with other Indians according to their cultural traditions. In the 1870s, when they did gain access to legal institutions, they began using these for their own ends. The legal systems remained far from race blind, however, and few Indians gained satisfaction in American courts. By focusing on contact between Indians and whites, this book challenges the emphasis of most histories on the exclusion and separation of Indians during the settlement period. In addition, by conceiving of law as a mode of governance, it sheds new light on the role of the state in the colonization of the American West.
GuideView: a system for developing structured, multimodal, multi-platform persuasive applications

Persuasive technologies for healthcare have great potential to beneficially impact the well-being of individuals with chronic disease, support self-care, and encourage adherence to correct treatment guidelines by non-physician care providers such as medics and community health workers. However healthcare poses special challenges with respect to design and development of persuasive applications. We describe GuideView, a system now undergoing beta testing, that enables interactive, structured, multi-modal delivery of clinical advice and the authoring of such content. Information and advice is presented simultaneously using voice, pictures, video, and animation. GuideView is multi-platform, executing on desktops, over the web, on Pocket PCs, and on Windows Mobile cell-phones.
Hydroxyproline and proline inhibit α-amylase from isolated barley aleurone layers

Previously, we reported that 1 mM hydroxyproline appeared to inhibit the gibberellic acid-induced release of α-amylase from isolated Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Himalaya aleurone layers into an incubation medium. Here, we report our attempts to determine the mechanism(s) for this inhibition and whether this inhibition can be caused by other proline analogues. Both 1 mM hydroxyproline and proline inhibited extracellular a-amylase activity without affecting its intracellular activity. This suggested that neither hydroxyproline nor proline impaired the release of a-amylase. Lineweaver-Burk plots revealed that both hydroxyproline and proline uncompetitively inhibited α-amy-lase. Thus, the inhibition is probably an assay artifact resulting from the formation of an enzyme-substrate-hydroxyproline or -proline complex. Because azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, glutamic acid and pipecolic acid did not inhibit extracellular α-amylase activity, the uncompetitive inhibition of a-amylase must be unique to imino aicids as well as their precursors and derivatives which possess a five membered ring.
On the calculation of convolutions with Gaussian Kernels

The calculation of convolutions with Gaussian kernels arises in many applications. The accuracy of a family of recently developed numerical integration rules is studied in this paper. In spite of the attractive implementation properties of the method, the poor convergence properties greatly restrict the situations in which the method should be used.
Calcitriol treatment in metabolic bone disease of prematurity with elevated parathyroid hormone: A preliminary study.

Abstract Objective To describe the association of calcitriol treatment with the change in parathyroid hormone (PTH) and biochemical markers of bone disease in infants with metabolic bone disease of prematurity (MBD) and secondary hyperparathyroidism. Study design This retrospective chart review examined serum intact PTH, serum calcium (Ca), serum phosphorus (P), serum alkaline phosphatase (APA), urine calcium/creatinine (UCa/Cr), and tubular reabsorption of phosphate (TRP) in 32 infants prior to and following calcitriol treatment for MBD with PTH >100 pg/ml. 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were recorded. Results Following calcitriol treatment, PTH decreased from median (min/max) 220 (115/593) to 25 (3/259) pg/ml, p p p = 0.001; and TRP increased from 81 (59/98) to 91.5 (78/98) %, p = 0.03. APA did not differ pre-treatment: 616 (209/1193) vs. post-treatment 485 (196/1229) U/L, p = 0.12. Vitamin D deficiency was not present. Hypercalcemia with hypercalciuria occurred in 3/32 subjects, all normalized after dose reduction. Conclusion Improvements in MBD markers and lack of serious adverse effects suggest calcitriol may be a treatment option in infants with MBD and secondary hyperparathyroidism.
Hoaxes in Educational Policy

This article address the falsehoods regarding No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top legislation, the educational reformers' stance that schools are failing, the privatization movement in education, and the issues of technology in the schools. The importance of poverty is emphasized, although policymakers ignore it and advocate school choice as a civil rights issue. The article examines the distortions of the teaching profession, including the lack of respect of teaching as a profession, evaluations of teacher preparation programs, the Teach for America program, and complications that result from teacher evaluation. There is hope for real change, but advocates must be vocal and take action.
Exploring Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology, Second Edition

Exploring Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology, Second Edition reminds me of why I found geology so exciting as a beginning student. This introductory physical geology textbook was written for future scientists to give them the basic background and tools needed to understand geologic processes. It is unusual in terms of both its rigor and its use of plate tectonics as a unifying theme. The book is surprisingly enjoyable to read, well-written, and scientifically up-to-date. The authors do not oversimplify or gloss over difficult concepts; they explain them clearly in far more depth than most introductory textbooks.
Resource Allocation in 4G MIMO Cellular Uplink

In this paper, we consider resource allocation in the the fourth generation multi antenna (4G MIMO) cellular uplink. In particular, we consider the two 4G standards, IEEE 802.16m and 3GPP LTE-A, that have recently been approved. We show that the uplink resource allocation problems in both 802.16m and LTE-A networks are NP-hard. We then propose constant-factor polynomial-time approximation algorithms for both these problems. We also provide linear programming (LP) based upper bounds to benchmark the performance of our proposed approximation algorithms. Simulations reveal that the proposed algorithms have excellent performance, much superior to their worst-case guarantees.
Executive Function in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: In Search of Distinct Phenotypic Profiles

Often, there is diagnostic confusion between bipolar disorder (BD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in youth due to similar behavioral presentations. Both disorders have been implicated as having abnormal functioning in the prefrontal cortex; however, there may be subtle differences in the manner in which the prefrontal cortex functions in each disorder that could assist in their differentiation. Executive function is a construct thought to be a behavioral analogy to prefrontal cortex functioning. We provide a qualitative review of the literature on performance on executive function tasks for BD and ADHD in order to determine differences in task performance and neurocognitive profile. Our review found primary differences in executive function in the areas of interference control, working memory, planning, cognitive flexibility, and fluency. These differences may begin to establish a pediatric BD profile that provides a more objective means of differential diagnosis between BD and ADHD when they are not reliably distinguished by clinical diagnostic methods.
Performance and resource optimization of NoC router architecture for master and slave IP cores

System-on-Chip architectures incorporate several IP cores with well defined master and slave characteristics in terms of on-chip communication. The paper presents a parameterized NoC router architecture that can be optimized for performance and resource requirement by exploiting the master or slave behavior of the cores that are attached to it. We implemented the proposed router architecture for the IBM Coreconnect protocol and mapped it on the Xilinx Virtex series FPGA. We compared the FPGA based implementation against industry strength bus design that supports the IBM Coreconnect protocol, namely processor local bus (PLB). For similar resource requirements, our design demonstrated a 97.6% increase in throughput and 76.53% decrease in latency in comparison to the PLB. We also compared the proposed architecture with an existing NoC router design that is oblivious to master/slave IP cores. In the case of a router with all shared slaves our design resulted in 65.9% reduction in resources, 548% increase in throughput and 84.7% reduction in latency.
Ecosystem Alteration Detection By Aerial Color Infrared Photography And Satellite Multispectral Scanner

AbstractThe use of color infrared photography in stress detection in forestry and agriculturalapplications is well established. In the ecological succession process, the dominantvegetation population is deteriorated because of a change in the local environment. This change results in the proliferation of a species or community better suited to the alteredenvironment. Stresses on the health, vigor and productivity of the succeeded plant popula-tion are early signs of the environmental alteration. Visual interpretation of aerialcolor infrared photography of a south Louisiana swamp determines where an ecosystem succes-sion may occur by monitoring the advance signs of stress invisible to conventional films.The digital data from bands five (0.6 -0.7 micrometers) and seven (0.8 -1.1 micrometers) ofLANDSAT earth orbiting satellite is used to characterize and compare the spectral signa-tures of known areas of environmental alteration in the swamp lands with areas of unaffect-ed swamp vegetation. The image classification capability of a Comtal- Varian InteractiveImage Processing System uses the spectral signatures of the test areas as a search tool forlocating other potential succession areas over a wide region.IntroductionFilm and electro- optical scanners sensitive in the near infrared (0.7 -0.9 microns)region of the electromagnetic spectrum are used to detect vegetation stress in a wide rangeof applications(l)(2) Stress in vegetation is a symptomatic reaction to some deviation inthe normal environmental conditions. When an exosystem is altered by climatic, tectonicor anthropogenic factors, some plant populations are reduced or die out completely whileothers increase their population and range to take advantage of the favorable contitionsproffered by environmental change.(3) Those plant species whose tolerance range isexceeded by the new environment are succeeded by the mroe adaptable and better suited plant
Problems of Semi-Mechanized Assembly of Electronic Test Equipment

This paper describes a method-system for assembly of precision electronic test equipment. It is pointed out, when considering all segments of the electronics industry, that assembly methods vary from one extreme to the other. On the one hand, simple bench methods are used for single and limited-unit production; while at the 1000-per-day end of the production spectrum, highly mechanized power-driven conveyor assembly is in order. It is emphasized, although the precision electronic test equipment manufacturer has the same general assembly problems, that his specific assembly requirements lie midway between the two assembly method extreme s. The production requirements of this typical test equipment manufacturer are summarized as varying from 10 per year to several hundred per month, with 30 per month as an average for their 280 different instruments. Two previous method-systems are discussed from which has evolved the present "Roller-Skate" Conveyor System. The earlier "walkaround" system was used for large instruments and small-quantity production runs, while its companion "push-along" system was favored for smaller units especially if the production quantity was 50 or more. A 10% assembly-time saving is indicated when using the "push-along" method as compared to the "walk-around" method. The present "Roller-Skate" Conveyor System is described as built in 50-foot-bench units, at a total cost of $80.00 per lO-foot length. It is reported that assembly time was further reduced by 15 to 25%. Several other unanticipated benefits are listed, such as taking advantage of the "flow" of: sub-assemblies, inspection, testing calibrating, and shipping -- to provide the required day-to-day output. A discussion of the 1-minute versus 8-minute time cycle is given. The conclusion is reached that assembly time was reduced, while using semi-skilled workers and with an improved quality of the product.
A Simple Juggling Robot: Theory and Experimentation

We have developed a formalism for describing and analyzing a very simple representative of a class of robotic tasks which involve repeated robot-environment interactions, among them the task of juggling. We review our empirical success to date with a new class of control algorithms for this task domain that we call “mirror algorithms.” These new nonlinear feedback algorithms were motivated strongly by experimental insights after the failure of local controllers based upon a linearized analysis. We offer here a proof that a suitable mirror algorithm is correct with respect to the local version of a specified task — the “vertical one-juggle” — but observe that the resulting ability to place poles of the local linearized system does not achieve noticeably superior transient performance in experiments. We discuss the further analysis and experimentation that should provide a theoretical basis for improving performance.
Cataract and refractive surgery in ; a survey of KSCRS members from 1995~2006

Purpose: This purpose of this report was to study trends in cataract and refractive surgeries conducted during the past twelve years and to compare results to previous reports from the ASCRS and New Zealand (NZ) in order to forecast future medical services. Methods: We surveyed members of the Korean Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (KSCRS) every year from 1995 to 2006, and studied changes in cataract and refractive surgeries (RS). Results: The duration of hospitalization has been gradually decreasing to the point that a one day hospitalization following surgery has become common. The rate of topical anesthesia use has significantly increased since 1998. Sutureless incision methods are now commonly practiced. The use of acryl IOL as an optic material has been gradually increasing for cataract surgeries. KSCRS members showed an interest in the special intraocular lenses as multifocal IOL. While Excimer laser PRK was the most popular refractive surgery during the first stage, KSCRS members increasingly prefer LASIK to the Excimer laser PRK. Regression of the corrected visual acuity, dry eye, night halo, and flashes were the most common complications following refractive surgeries. Medical disputes related to PRK and LASIK have been gradually increasing throughout the study period. Conclusions: We confirm that the KSCRS practice styles for cataract and RS are similar to those of the ASCRS and NZ. We infer a world-wide trend from the comparison of these three societies. Korean J Ophthalmol 2009;23:142-147 ⓒ 2009 by the Korean Ophthalmological Society.
JORGE AMADO AND THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF BRAZILIAN LITERATURE

Jorge Amado (1912-2001) is the most translated Brazi- lian writer and the literary figure that has shaped the reception of Brazilian literature in the world. He is credited with opening the international literary market to the post-dictatorship generation of Brazilian writers. Yet Amado is also a controversial figure. The debate around him is sparked by what some believe is sexual and ethnic stereotyping in his post-1958 works and the reinforcement of "paternalistic "racial views. His reception therefore is mixed. For his English-language readers, he is a fascinating source of exotic and titillating narratives about the vast, unknown country of Brazil, and for Brazilians he is either a "great ambassador of Brazilian culture around the world" or a faux populist who dis- guises sexist and racist attitudes behind charming prose. This talk will address Amado's literary career, his unique contributions to Brazilian letters, the challenges of translating his work, and his influence on the production of a new Brazilian literature for export Keywords: reception, controversy, translation.
Organizational context and the use of accident investigation training

Training is widely supported as an effective means for maintaining and improving the quality of accident investigations conducted in various organizational and jurisdictional settings. A problem exists in that those who manage training typically restrict their attention to factors and conditions existing in the immediate training environment and pay little attention to problems and conditions existing in the organizational context from which the trainee is extracted and must return. In this study, a national sample of 297 local, county, and state law enforcement officers reported on organizational problems/conditions that blocked or impeded their use of accident investigation training. Graduates of a 2-week motor-vehicle accident investigation course rated 29 problems/conditions, hypothesized within the literature to influence behavior in organizations, on their relative influence on training use. Lack of rewards/incentives for job performance or for training use, lack of time and resources necessary to implement training outcomes, and lack of commitment, communication, and follow-through by administrators were identified by over 30% of the respondents as moderate or major impediments to training use. Findings may be used by safety managers, supervisors, and trainers to enhance training impact and to increase the quality and quantity of accident data and information.
Fire ignitions related to radar reflectivity patterns in Arizona and New Mexico

Over 5400 lightning-ignited wildfires were detected on federal land in Arizona and New Mexico from 1996 through 1998 during the fire season of May through September. The non-uniform and sporadic spatial nature of precipitation events in this region makes the use of rain gauge data a limited means of assessing when and where a cloud-to-ground lightning strike might have ignited a wildfire due to dry lightning. By analysing weather radar reflectivity data with lightning and wildfire data, characteristics of radar reflectivity can be used by fire weather forecasters to identify regions of increased ignition potential. Critical ranges of reflectivity, life span of a reflectivity cell, and storm movement are characteristics of radar reflectivity that are examined in this analysis. The results of this type of analysis can help focus attention of wildfire personnel to particular locations where there is known to be cloud-to-ground lightning in conjunction with radar reflectivity patterns that have been historically associated with wildfire ignition. Results from the analysis show that wildfire ignitions typically occur near the perimeter of a radar echo. The reflectivity values at the ignition location are less than the highest reflectivity located within the echo, and often magnitudes are sufficiently low to suggest that the precipitation is not reaching the ground in this dry region with high cloud bases. Interpretation of the duration, size and level of lightning activity of the radar echo associated with the ignition indicate that ignitions tend to occur in the early stages of a radar echo. However, there are often multiple storm cells having isolated areas of higher reflectivity within a radar echo at the time of ignition. Nearly two-thirds of radar echoes associated with wildfire ignitions moved more than 50 km throughout the echo’s lifetime. These moving storm systems often propagated in a northerly or easterly direction, and ignitions occurred on the leading edge of the storm in over half of the cases that propagated in the same direction. Forecasters can use results from this study to determine where there is an increased potential of wildfire ignitions when similar radar patterns appear in conjunction with lightning activity in the future.
SmartCar: detecting driver stress

Smart physiological sensors embedded in an automobile afford a novel opportunity to capture naturally occurring episodes of driver stress. In a series of ten ninety minute drives on public roads and highways, ECG, EMG, respiration and skin conductance sensors were used to measure the autonomic nervous system activation. The signals were digitized in real time and stored on the SmartCar's Pentium class computer. Each drive followed a pre-specified route through fifteen different events, from which four stress level categories were created according to the results of the subjects self report questionnaires. In total, 545 one minute segments were classified. A linear discriminant function was used to rank each feature individually based on the recognition performance, and a sequential forward floating selection algorithm was used to find an optimal set of features for recognizing patterns of driver stress. Using multiple features improved performance significantly over the best single feature performance.
Requirements Selection for Rapid Prototyping: Polyphenylsulfone as a Mold Material for Spin Casting Polyurethane Resin

For the development of a rotational symmetrical polyurethane part with a steel reinforcement, a requirement/constraint driven approach to process design has been taken. In this approach a scale model of the process was built using fused deposition modeling rapid prototyping technique, then used to validate design, material and process parameters. After selection and testing on the scaled prototype, results were used to define a full-sized spin casting mold built using Polyphenylsulfone.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Single collector analysis of collection mechanisms in water filtration

A complete trajectory analysis of particle collection on single spheres, which includes all the known collection mechanisms and forces, is presented here for later experimental verification. The results show that the surface interactions between the collector and the particles have negligible influence on collection rate except to determine whether the surface conditions are favorable or unfavorable for collection. It is also evident that the hydrodynamic retardation of the particle in the neighborhood of the collector can reduce deposition significantly (by 50% or more), but such effects may be negligible in view of the usually wide scatter of filtration data. This paper also provides examples of how the single collector analysis can be directly applied to modelling retention in packed beds. To make the work easily accessible to the readers, all the basic concepts necessary for future application of the trajectory analysis are presented clearly along with a table containing all the relevant forces and torques acting on the particle. An experimental analysis of the results reported here is presented in a subsequent publication. On presente, sujette a une verification experimentale subsequente, une analyse complete basee sur des trajectoires de la collection de particules sur de simples spheres; cette analyse embrasse toutes les forces et mecanismes connus de collection. Les resultats obtenus indiquent que les interactions superficielles entre le collecteur et les particules ont une influence negligeable sur le taux de collection; cependant, elles permettent de determiner si les conditions de la surface sont favorables ou non a la collection. Il est aussi evident que le retardement hydrodynamique des particules a proximite du collecteur peuvent diminuer leur sedimentation d'une maniere importante (50% ou plus), mais des effets de ce genre peuvent ětre negligeables etant donne la diffusion generalement considerable des donnees sur la filtration. On fournit aussi, dans le present travail, des exemples de la maniere avec laquelle on peut appliquer l'analyse avec simple collecteur pour simuler la retention dans des lits garnis. Pour rendre la presente etude facilement accessible aux lecteurs, on presente clairement tous les concepts fondamentaux qui sont requis pour toute application future de l'analyse basee sur les trajectoires; cette presentation comprend egalement toutes les forces et tous les couples pertinents qui agissent sur les particules. On presentera, dans une publication subsequente, une analyse experimentale des resultats rapportes dans le present travail.
Endocytic trafficking of Wingless and its receptors, Arrow and DFrizzled-2, in the Drosophila wing

During animal development, Wnt/Wingless (Wg) signaling is required for the patterning of multiple tissues. While insufficient signal transduction is detrimental to normal development, ectopic activation of the pathway can be just as devastating. Thus, numerous controls exist to precisely regulate Wg signaling levels. Endocytic trafficking of pathway components has recently been proposed as one such control mechanism. Here, we characterize the vesicular trafficking of Wg and its receptors, Arrow and DFrizzled-2 (DFz2), and investigate whether trafficking is important to regulate Wg signaling during dorsoventral patterning of the larval wing. We demonstrate a role for Arrow and DFz2 in Wg internalization. Subsequently, Wg, Arrow and DFz2 are trafficked through the endocytic pathway to the lysosome, where they are degraded in a hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate (Hrs)-dependent manner. Surprisingly, we find that Wg signaling is not attenuated by lysosomal targeting in the wing disc. Rather, we suggest that signaling is dampened intracellularly at an earlier trafficking step. This is in contrast to patterning of the embryonic epidermis, where lysosomal targeting is required to restrict the range of Wg signaling. Thus, signal modulation by endocytic routing will depend on the tissue to be patterned and the goals during that patterning event.
Development of Instructional Modules and Simulation Tools for Thermoelectric Systems

Thermoelectric (TE) technology currently serves several niche markets, but there is increasing interest in thermoelectric devices for emerging markets. One of the factors limiting the broader application of thermoelectric technology is the unfamiliarity of engineers with thermoelectric physics, device design, and system considerations. To address this need, we are developing a TE tutorial aimed (first) at undergraduate electrical engineering students. Thermoelectricity involves physics, materials science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. Preparing students and working engineers to contribute to the development and application of TE technology is a challenges that we are addressing by developing an online tutorial complemented by simulations to reinforce concepts.