cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An energy-based conformer library for side chain optimization: improved prediction and adjustable sampling.

Side chain optimization is a fundamental component of protein modeling applications such as docking, structural prediction, and design. In these applications side chain flexibility is often provided by rotamer or conformer libraries, which are collections of representative side chain conformations. Here we demonstrate that the sampling provided by the library can be substantially improved by adding an energetic criterion to its creation. The result of the new procedure is the Energy-Based library, a conformer library selected according to the propensity of its elements to fit energetically into natural protein environments. The new library performs outstandingly well in side chain optimization, producing structures with significantly lower energies and resulting in improved side chain conformation prediction. In addition, because the library was created as an ordered list, its size can be adjusted to any desired level. This feature provides unprecedented versatility in tuning sampling. It allows to precisely balance the number of conformers required by each amino acid type, equalizing their chances to fit into structural environments. It also allows to scale the amount of sampling to the specific requirement of any given side optimization problem. A rotameric version of the library was also produced with the same method to support applications that require a dihedral-only description of side chain conformation. The libraries are available at http://seneslab.org/EBL. Proteins 2012; © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Effects Of The Use Of Striker Replacement Workers In Canada: An Analysis Of Four Cases1

The use of striker replacements is one of the most controversial and emotional issues facing those involved with the industrial relations system. However, a paucity of research has been done on the actual use of replacement workers and how that affects industrial relations outcomes, such as strike activity. Initial research suggests that the use of replacements is associated with longer strikes, supporting the con tention that the use of replacements should be prohibited. Using four case studies, we explore some of the dynamics of strikes that utilize replacements versus those that do not. The results suggest that, in ad dition to economic factors, social and psychological variables may be intricately linked to the relationship between the use of replacements and strike activity.
Wound Signaling in Tomato Plants Evidence That ABA Is Not a Primary Signal for Defense Gene Activation

The effects of abscisic acid (ABA) on the accumulation of proteinase inhibitors I (Inh I) and II (Inh II) in young, excised tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) plants were investigated. When supplied to excised plants through the cut stems, 100 μm ABA induced the activation of the ABA-responsive le4 gene. However, under the same conditions of assay, ABA at concentrations of up to 100 μm induced only low levels of proteinase-inhibitor proteins or mRNAs, compared with levels induced by systemin or jasmonic acid over the 24 h following treatment. In addition, ABA only weakly induced the accumulation of mRNAs of several other wound-response proteins. Assays of the ABA concentrations in leaves following wounding indicated that the ABA levels increased preferentially near the wound site, suggesting that ABA may have accumulated because of desiccation. The evidence suggests that ABA is not a component of the wound-inducible signal transduction pathway leading to defense gene activation but is likely involved in the general maintenance of a healthy plant physiology that facilitates a normal wound response.
A comparison of algorithms for the pairwise alignment of biological networks

Motivation: As biological inquiry produces ever more network data, such as protein-protein interaction networks, gene regulatory networks, and metabolic networks, many algorithms have been proposed for the purpose of pairwise network alignment‐ finding a mapping from the nodes of one network to the nodes of another in such a way that the mapped nodes can be considered to correspond with respect to both their place in the network topology and their biological attributes. This technique is helpful in identifying previously undiscovered homologies between proteins of different species and revealing functionally similar subnetworks. In the past few years, a wealth of different aligners have been published, but few of them have been compared to one another, and no comprehensive review of these algorithms has yet appeared. Results: We present the problem of biological network alignment, provide a guide to existing alignment algorithms, and comprehensively benchmark existing algorithms on both synthetic and real-world biological data, finding dramatic differences between existing algorithms in the quality of the alignments they produce. Additionally, we find that many of these tools are inconvenient to use in practice, and there remains a need for easy-to-use, cross-platform tools for performing network alignment.
Productive human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection of epithelial cell lines of salivary gland origin.

To ascertain whether epithelial cells of oral cavity origin may be infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), a study to determine susceptibility to infection of salivary gland epithelial cell lines (HSY and HSG) was undertaken. Because of the potential for oral-genital transmission, an endometrial cell line, HEC-1, was also studied. Epithelial cell monolayers were infected with cell-free HTLVIIIB or a primary HIV-1 isolate. Several lines of evidence indicated that inoculation of these cell lines with HIV-1 led to productive infection: 1) p24 antigen was present in supernatants, with levels peaking on days 3–4; 2) provirus was found in cells by polymerase chain reaction; 3) virions present in supernatants were infectious as confirmed by coculture with the T-lympho- blastoid line CEM-NKr. Following a period of virus production, HIV-1 entered a latency phase over 10 weeks. All epithelial cell lines were positive for galactosylceramide (GalC) and CXCR4. HSY was weakly positive for surface CD4, and also expressed mRNA for CD4 and CCR5, as did HEC-1. Blocking studies indicated that anti-GalC, but not anti-CD4, significantly reduced productive infection, and that regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) but not stromal cell–derived factor (SDF-1) could partially block infection of the M-tropic primary isolate. These results suggest that epithelial cells in the oral cavity and the genital tract might be targets of HIV-1 and potentially serve as a mediator of systemic infection.
Protecting Iris Images through Asymmetric Digital Watermarking

When biometric systems require raw images to be stored in centralized databases, it is imperative that appropriate measures are taken to secure these images. A combination of asymmetric digital watermarking and cryptography can serve as a powerful mechanism for facilitating such security needs. The combination of these techniques enables the system to handle many issues associated with storing and using raw biometric data. In this paper, we propose a framework that encodes voice feature descriptors in raw iris images thereby offering an example of a secure biometric system. The contributions of this work are as follows: application of biometric watermarking to iris images in order to provide an added level of authentication; a mechanism to validate the originating source of iris images; understanding levels in which watermarks can be compromised in a biometric system; and implementation of an asymmetric watermarking framework.
The timing of penile rehabilitation after bilateral nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy affects the recovery of erectile function.

Study Type – Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4 OBJECTIVE To define if erectile function (EF) outcomes were better in men with early institution of penile rehabilitation after radical prostatectomy (RP), as one of the mechanisms by which patients fail to recover EF after RP is collagenization of corporal smooth muscle with subsequent venous leak development, and rehabilitation is aimed at preventing these structural alterations. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study population comprised patients who: (i) had clinically organ-confined prostate cancer; (ii) had fully functional erections, corroborated by the partner; (iii) had bilateral nerve-sparing RP; and (iv) committed to pharmacological penile rehabilitation. Patients completed the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) serially after RP. Patients were instructed to obtain three erections/week using initially sildenafil, and if unsuccessful, then intracavernous injections. Patients were subdivided into those starting rehabilitation at <6 months after RP (early) and those starting at ≥6 months after RP (delayed). RESULTS There were 48 patients in the early group and 36 in the delayed group; patients in both groups were matched for age, comorbidity status and baseline EF. The mean duration after RP at the time of starting penile rehabilitation was 2 and 7 months in the early and delayed groups, respectively (P < 0.01). At 2 years after surgery there was a highly statistically significant difference in IIEF EF domain score between the early and delayed groups (22 vs 16, P < 0.001). There were also statistically significant differences between the groups in the percentage of men at 2 years after RP who had unassisted functional erections and sildenafil-assisted functional erections (58% vs 30%, P < 0.01; 86% vs 45%, P < 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that delaying the start of penile rehabilitation after RP is associated with poorer outcomes for EF.
Development of Tools for Genetic Analysis of Phenanthrene Degradation and Nanopod Production by Delftia sp. Cs1-4.

The bacterium Delftia sp. Cs1-4 produces novel extracellular structures (nanopods) in conjunction with its growth on phenanthrene. While a full genome sequence is available for Strain Cs1-4, genetic tools that could be applied to study phenanthrene degradation/nanopod production have not been reported. Thus, the objectives of this study were to establish such tools, and apply them for molecular analysis of nanopod formation and/or phenanthrene degradation. Three types of tools were developed and/or validated. First, we developed a new expression system based on a strong promoter controlling expression of a surface layer protein (NpdA) from Delftia sp. Cs1-4, which was ca. 2,500-fold stronger than the widely used lactose promoter. Second, the Cre-loxP system was validated for generation of markerless, in-frame, gene deletions, and for in-frame gene insertions. The gene deletion function was applied to examine potential roles in nanopod formation of three genes (omp32, lasI, and hcp), while the gene insertion function was used for reporter gene tagging of npdA. Lastly, pMiniHimar was modified to enhance gene recovery and mutant analysis in genome-wide transposon mutagenesis. Application of the latter to strain Cs1-4, several new genes with potential roles in phenanthrene degradation or npdA expression were identified. Collectively, the availability of these tools has opened new avenues of investigation in Delftia sp. Cs1-4 and other related genera/species with importance in environmental toxicology.
Dynamic Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radio based Tactical Networks

In this paper, we investigate how cognitive radio (CR) enabled devices can self-organize to form a tactical mesh network and operate on non-dedicated (secondary) spectrum. Each node in the network constantly senses the environment and maintains an up-to-date spectrum usage report. This report is used by a central controller (CC) to initialize the network formation. Then the other CR nodes gradually join the mesh network in a repeated, distributed manner. We provide the detailed steps for the mesh creation and also propose some refinements. We also compute the spectral efficiency that is achieved through our algorithm. Through simulation experiments, we study the effectiveness of the proposed schemes on mesh initialization latency, control signaling, collision rate during network initialization, and spectrum utilization.
Quantifying the Rheological and Hemodynamic Characteristics of Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle erythrocytes exhibit abnormal morphology and membrane mechanics under deoxygenated conditions due to the polymerization of hemoglobin S. We employed dissipative particle dynamics to extend a validated multiscale model of red blood cells (RBCs) to represent different sickle cell morphologies based on a simulated annealing procedure and experimental observations. We quantified cell distortion using asphericity and elliptical shape factors, and the results were consistent with a medical image analysis. We then studied the rheology and dynamics of sickle RBC suspensions under constant shear and in a tube. In shear flow, the transition from shear-thinning to shear-independent flow revealed a profound effect of cell membrane stiffening during deoxygenation, with granular RBC shapes leading to the greatest viscosity. In tube flow, the increase of flow resistance by granular RBCs was also greater than the resistance of blood flow with sickle-shape RBCs. However, no occlusion was observed in a straight tube under any conditions unless an adhesive dynamics model was explicitly incorporated into simulations that partially trapped sickle RBCs, which led to full occlusion in some cases.
Effect of Replacing Total Mixed Ration with Pasture on Ruminal Fermentation

Mixed cultures of ruminal microorganisms were used to examine the fermentation profile of diets (DM basis) consisting of 1) 100% TMR, 2) 85:15 TMR:pasture, 3) 70:30 TMR:pasture, and 4) 55:45 TMR:pasture. The pasture portion of the diets consisted of annual ryegrass harvested at a height (5 to 7 cm) that simulated animal grazing. The proportion of forage (silage in TMR plus pasture) to concentrate ranged from 40:60 (100% TMR) to 67:33 (55:45 TMR:pasture). Increasing the proportion of dietary pasture increased total dietary soluble protein, forage, and total diet digestibility (P < 0.01) and decreased (P < 0.001) ruminal methane. Increased forage from pasture improved ruminal fermentation in a manner consistent with enhanced feed nutrient utilization. Data from this study support the enhanced lactational performance observed with cows fed similar diets in a concurrent study.
Arytenoid abduction for bilateral vocal fold immobility.

Purpose of review The pathophysiology of bilateral vocal fold immobility includes two broad categories: mechanical fixation and neurogenic paralysis. A mobile arytenoid can be surgically abducted, and this procedure has been reported as a treatment for patients with bilateral neurogenic laryngeal paralysis. This article reviews the theoretical basis and clinical outcomes of this procedure. Recent findings Two concepts form the theoretical basis for arytenoid abduction. First, in most cases of neurogenic paralysis, laryngeal muscles are not denervated; there is considerable residual or regenerated function of adductor muscles. The vocal fold lies near the midline, because there is inadequate force to abduct the vocal fold. Second, the cricoarytenoid joint is multiaxial. The posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle rotates the arytenoid about an oblique axis to pull the vocal process laterally and superiorly, while the axis of adduction is nearly vertical. Thus, surgical abduction of the arytenoid, by simulating contraction of the PCA muscle, should not preclude active adduction during phonation or swallow. Surgical arytenoid abduction has been reported to improve the airway in many patients with bilateral laryngeal paralysis, with little or no impairment of vocal function. It is less successful in patients with inspiratory adductor muscle activity, long-term immobility, or previous procedures to statically enlarge the glottis. Summary Arytenoid abduction is a promising treatment for selected patients with bilateral neurogenic laryngeal paralysis.
Why Does the Complete Iterative Inversion Method Work so Well

Consider a dilute gas composed of identical, isotropic molecules in which the potential energy of interaction between pairs of particles is an analytic function of the distance of separation with either a monomial or a normal binomial Laurent expansion. It is shown that the complete iterative inversion method inverts second virial coefficient data in one step to obtain the pair potential. In particular, the CIIM inverts second virial coefficient data in one step for gases with a Lennard-Jones pair potential.
Non-holonomic control systems: from steering to stabilization with sinusoids

We present a control law for globally asymptotically stabilizing a class of controllable nonlinear systems without drift. The control law converts into closed loop feedback earlier strategies for open loop steering of non-holonomic systems using sinusoids at integrally related frequencies. The global result is obtained by introducing saturation functions. Simulation results for stabilizing a simple kinematic model of an automobile are included.
Fluid shear-induced membrane fluctuations measured by laser dark field microscopy

The mechanism of mechanochemical signal transduction remains to be elucidated. There is mounting evidence that mechanochemical transduction in response to fluid shear stress occurs at the cell membrane. We previously demonstrated that fluid shear stress increases membrane free volume. Here we present evidence that fluid shear amplifies thermal fluctuations in the cell membrane. These results present further support of the membrane free volume theory of mechanochemical transduction.
Precoding and the MMSE-DFE

This paper provides upper and lower bounds on the information rates achievable with a minimum mean square error (MMSE) Tomlinson-Harishima precoder (THP) assuming ideal interleaving. We also give an exact formula for zero-forcing (ZF) THP achievable information rates. At high SNR, the performance of the MMSE-THP and the ZF-THP identically suffer only the 2.55 bit or 1.53 dB -shaping" loss from capacity. At low SNR, shaping loss is negligible, but the THP systems again do not achieve capacity, largely due to the receiver modulo operation (and interleaving in the MMSE case). In general, the MMSE-THP outperforms the ZF-THP at low SNR. We show these effects for an example ISI channel. >
Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in primary headache disorders.

Objective.—The object of this review is to examine the published literature for cerebrospinal fluid laboratory measures of primary headache disorders to identify biomarkers and provide recommendations for future biomarker discovery. Background.—Biomarkers may distinguish deviation from a normal state, provide insight into mechanisms of pathophysiology, quantify the degree of change, discriminate what may be clinically overlapping disorders, and allow monitoring and/or selection of specific treatment. High-throughput, discovery technologies fuel the ability to reveal more biomarkers than past hypothesis-driven studies. Design or Methods.—Publications were identified in PubMed, ISI web of knowledge (both Web of Science and BIOSYS), and SciFinder, using the key words for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and migraine, headache, or biomarkers. Additional references were sought from the papers identified in these searches. Data were assessed relating to all primary headache types for clinical and scientific methods and results. Results.—Fifty-five out of 82 biomarkers were found from 55 publications, though none have been validated for clinical utility. Data for site (ventricular, cervical, lumbar) and timing of CSF collection, headache state, and diagnostic description were patchy, and controls were often poorly defined. Most routinely performed CSF measurements were within normal limits. Most levels of pain-related molecules were reduced, and concentrations of most neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, proteins, and small molecules were increased. Though few studies assessed the specificity of biomarkers for primary headaches, it is clear that there are differences in CSF biomarkers between migraine, cluster headache, tension-type headache, and trigeminal neuralgia. Conclusions.—The high proportion (67%) of biomarkers identified from laboratory measures tested thus far predicts that many more biomarkers will be identified for primary headaches when more candidates are evaluated. In order to discover and evaluate more biomarkers, especially those that may have clinical application for headache management, 3 recommendations are encouraged: prospective design of care-independent studies; evaluation of more clinical variables; and evaluation of substantially more candidates by using discovery-based research methods. Outlines of approaches to pursue these aims are proposed.
Quantification and semi-supervised classification methods for handling changes in class distribution

In realistic settings the prevalence of a class may change after a classifier is induced and this will degrade the performance of the classifier. Further complicating this scenario is the fact that labeled data is often scarce and expensive. In this paper we address the problem where the class distribution changes and only unlabeled examples are available from the new distribution. We design and evaluate a number of methods for coping with this problem and compare the performance of these methods. Our quantification-based methods estimate the class distribution of the unlabeled data from the changed distribution and adjust the original classifier accordingly, while our semi-supervised methods build a new classifier using the examples from the new (unlabeled) distribution which are supplemented with predicted class values. We also introduce a hybrid method that utilizes both quantification and semi-supervised learning. All methods are evaluated using accuracy and F-measure on a set of benchmark data sets. Our results demonstrate that our methods yield substantial improvements in accuracy and F-measure.
Sonography and Sonographically Guided Needle Biopsy of Internal Mammary Nodes in Staging of Patients With Breast Cancer.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of occult nodal metastases on routine ultrasound examination of internal mammary (IM) nodal basins in patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Patients with primary breast cancer (n = 595) underwent breast ultrasound evaluation between September 1, 2011, and April 1, 2012. For all patients, ultrasound examination included a survey of the axillary, infraclavicular, IM, and supraclavicular nodal basins. Patient demographics, breast cancer histopathologic type, and grade, size, location, and presence of metastatic nodes in regional nodal basins were recorded. Fisher exact test and Wilcoxon rank test were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS. Fifty-eight of 595 (10%) patients had positive IM ultrasound finding, with eight (1.3%) patients having isolated IM involvement. Patients with positive IM ultrasound findings were statistically significantly younger than those without such findings (median age, 42 vs 57 years; p < 0.0001). O...
Hughes Properties and General Dynamics: The Supreme Court, the All Events Test, and the 1984 Tax Act

This article discusses United States v. Hughes Properties, a 1986 case in which the Supreme Court blessed an accrual-basis taxpayer's current deduction for amounts guaranteed as payoffs on progressive slot machines but for which no winner had yet been determined. The author notes that, had the case been governed by section 461(h) of the Internal Revenue Code, as it was amended by the 1984 Tax Reform Act, the deductions would have been deferred. He speculates about the Supreme Court's willingness to decide an issue rendered moot by subsequent legislation, and ponders the effect that the decision in Hughes Properties will have on United States v. General Dynamics, a case for which the Court had recently granted certiorari.
The practice of light: a genealogy of visual technologies from prints to pixels

In early May 2015, I attended the Nitrate Picture Show, a festival of nitrate film, held in Rochester, New York, and hosted by the George Eastman House International Museum of Film and Photography....
Number Fluctuations in a Macroscopic Subvolume of Quantum Fluids: A Possible Experiment

In this paper, the particle number fluctuations in a macroscopic subvolume of a quantum Bose fluid are considered, and the effects of the existence of a Bose-Einstein condensate on the magnitude of number fluctuations is discussed. The feasibility of measuring such particle number fluctuations is analyzed and the possibility is offered that such measurements could provide information on the existence of a Bose-Einstein condensate in liquid 4He as well as the recently discussed “exotic” quantum fluid, polarized atomic hydrogen.
Imperial remains: Post-colonialism in Portuguese literature and cinema

Post-1974 literature and cinema have contributed to a reflection about the Colonial War and, more broadly, about Portuguese colonialism. Novels like Antonio Lobo Antunes’s South of Nowhere , Lidia Jorge’s The Murmuring Coast , Isabela Figueiredo’s Notebook of Colonial Memories , and Dulce Maria Cardoso’s The Return , as well as films such as Joao Botelho’s A Portuguese Goodbye , Teresa Villaverde’s Coming of Age , Antonio Pedro Vasconcelos’s The Immortals , and Manoel de Oliveira’s, Non, or the Vain Glory of Command , to name but a few, deal with the country’s long colonial past, try to come to terms with the heritage of colonial violence and reflect upon Portugal’s postcolonial identity. In this paper, I argue that this literary and cinematic production mirrors what I have identified as the four modes of being post-colonial in contemporary Portuguese culture: 1. Nostalgia with bad conscience; 2. Trauma; 3. Melancholia; 4. Trace.
History of the Insect Photo Salon

At the first annual meeting of the newly organized Entomological Society of America at Los Angeles in 1953, A. C. Smith organized a group for a special afternoon session entitled “The Use of Photography in Entomology.” There was tremendous interest and an overflow audience. The success of this presentation fostered the formation of the Pacific Coast Salon in 1956.
Optimization of Excess System Capability for Increased Reconfigurability

System reconfigurability is vital to the longevity of Large-Scale Complex Engineered Systems (LSCES). The need for reconfigurability in LSCES is a result of their long service lives, rapid advances to their integrated technologies, unforeseen operating conditions, and emerging system requirements. Building excess capability into the design of LSCES will improve their ability to evolve while in service. However, excess capability increases the initial cost of LSCES. Additionally, the operating cost of unused excess capability is compounded during the service lives of LSCES. Excess capability that is eventually used adds value to LSCES by allowing for in-service reconfiguration to meet new system requirements. Therefore, there is a tradeoff between the amount of excess capability initially built into LSCES, the cost of this excess capability, and its value added when used. This paper introduces a framework for optimizing the amount of excess capability in a given LSCES design, resulting in the most reconfigurable system at the least total cost. We demonstrate how the proposed framework can be used to optimally select parameters for competing aspects of a military ground vehicle.
Change in straight ahead during adaptation to prism

The course of adaptation to prism was examined by recording S’s localization of (a) an object which was objectively straight ahead and (b) straight ahead. It was found that, as the object of regard changed in apparent position and came to be localized correctly, straight ahead changed concomitantly with it. Mean data for 20 Ss with a 25 diopter prism showed that, of the total change in localization during adaptation to the prism, 71% resulted from a concomitant change in the test stimulus and straight ahead, while only 29% could be attributed to a reduction in the disparity between the test stimulus and straight ahead.
Proteomic analysis and differential expression in protein extracted from chicken with a varying growth rate and water-holding capacity.

Chickens from a randomly bred genetic line were segregated into high and low growth rates and high and low water-holding capacities (WHCs). The objective of this study was to identify protein marke...
Stress and premenstrual symptoms among Korean women studying in the U.S. and South Korea: A longitudinal web-based study.

ABSTRACTPremenstrual symptoms have been reported to be highly correlated with levels of perceived stress; however, the magnitude of the relationship remains unclear. The purpose of the study was to identify the relationships among perceived stress, acculturative stress, and premenstrual symptoms. The study used a 10-week longitudinal web-based design. A total of 98 female Korean international students studying in the U.S. and 89 Korean domestic students studying in South Korea were recruited using convenience sampling. Data collection was conducted between November 2014 and February 2015. The participants completed 10 weekly web-based surveys. Data were analyzed through descriptive analyses, linear multivariable mixed model regressions, t-tests, and hierarchical multiple regressions. The levels of both perceived stress and menstrual-related symptoms were higher during the premenstrual phase in Korean international students than in domestic students (p < .001). In Korean international students, perceived s...
Novel Risk Score Model for Prediction of Survival Following Elective Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair.

Objective:The purpose of this study was to identify significant predictors of long-term mortality after elective endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR).Methods:We included all cases with elective EVAR based on a national data set from the Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization. Clinical and anatomic variables were analyzed with a Kaplan-Meier and Cox-regression model to determine predictors of mortality and develop a score equation to categorize patients into low, medium, and high long-term mortality risk.Results:A total of 5678 patients with EVAR were included with an average age of 73.6 ± 8.2 years. The majority were male (81.6%) with a history of smoking (86.1%). There were 3 deaths within 30 days (0.1%). Several factors were associated with poor survival: unstable angina (hazard ratio [HR], 2.8; P = .008), dialysis (HR, 3.7; P 80 (HR, 3.2; P < .001), age...
Spatially resolved 3D noise

When evaluated with a spatially uniform irradiance, an imaging sensor exhibits both spatial and temporal variations, which can be described as a three-dimensional (3D) random process considered as noise. In the 1990s, NVESD engineers developed an approximation to the 3D power spectral density (PSD) for noise in imaging systems known as 3D noise. In this correspondence, we describe how the confidence intervals for the 3D noise measurement allows for determination of the sampling necessary to reach a desired precision. We then apply that knowledge to create a smaller cube that can be evaluated spatially across the 2D image giving the noise as a function of position. The method presented here allows for both defective pixel identification and implements the finite sampling correction matrix. In support of the reproducible research effort, the Matlab functions associated with this work can be found on the Mathworks file exchange [1].
Economic burden estimation for pandemic hand foot and mouth disease in Ningbo City,2011

[Objective] To estimate the economic burden resulting from pandemic hand foot and mouth disease(HFMD) in Ningbo.[Methods] During the HFMD epidemics in 2011,by using face to face questionnaire survey and checking hospital fees system,the data on the direct and indirect economic cost of randomly selected HFMD outpatients,general and severe inpatients in Ningbo was collected.[Results] In total,56 outpatients,42 general inpatients and 68 severe cases hospitalized were surveyed.The average cost for the outpatients was 1005.30 yuan,with relative direct cost being 686.39 yuan,and indirect cost about 318.91 yuan.The average cost of hospitalization was 3303.00 yuan,with relative direct cost being 2770.12 yuan,and indirect cost about 532.88 yuan.For the severe inpatients,the average cost was 7866.35 yuan,with relative direct cost being 6598.57 yuan,and indirect cost about 1267.78 yuan.Through the economical burden investigation,the total economical burden caused by HFMD in Ningbo proved to be 15.2204 million yuan in 2011.[Conclusion] The economic burden resulting from HFMD is heavy to patients.It is imperative to enhance the control and prevention of HFMD.
Uniaxial Compression Test and Numerical Simulation of Stratified Biotite Granulite

The transversely isotropic rock samples with different dip angles were studied under uniaxial compression using the bonded particle model( BPM) of PFC2 D. The strength and failure patterns were explored and compared with the experimental results. The results showed that the mechanical properties are affected significantly when the ratio of joint contact bond strength( both shear and normal) to rock contact bond strength is below15%. The failure pattern is similar to the experimental result when the ratio falls into the range of approxiamtely 2% ~ 4%. The uniaxial compressive strength decreases firstly at a certain value with the increase of joint angles and increases subsequently with a U-shape. The results can provide a reference for jointed rock mass with PFC2 D code.
Analysis Research on Coal Supply States and Electricity Generating Capacity of Thermal Power Generator in Yunnan Province

In combination with electricity generating capacity states of thermal power generator, analysed the coal resources and motivation applied coal states in Yunnan province. Researched into the effect of power plant coal supply characteristics and quality changes on electricity generating capacity.
Quantifying over play: Constraining undesirable solutions in puzzle design.

Motivated by our ongoing efforts in the development of Refraction 2, a puzzle game targeting mathematics education, we realized that the quality of a puzzle is critically sensitive to the presence of alternative solutions with undesirable properties. Where, in our game, we seek a way to automatically synthesize puzzles that can only be solved if the player demonstrates specific concepts, concern for the possibility of undesirable play touches other interactive design domains. To frame this problem (and our solution to it) in a general context, we formalize the problem of generating solvable puzzles that admit no undesirable solutions as an NPcomplete search problem. By making two design-oriented extensions to answer set programming (a technology that has been recently applied to constrained game content generation problems) we offer a general way to declaratively pose and automatically solve the high-complexity problems coming from this formulation. Applying this technique to Refraction, we demonstrate a qualitative leap in the kind of puzzles we can reliably generate. This work opens up new possibilities for quality-focused content generators that guarantee properties over their entire combinatorial space of play.
Etzioni versus becker: Do moral sentiments differ from ordinary tastes?

There are two competing definitions of economics. One, exemplified in Etzioni's work, stipulates that economics is the study of one kind of ends, the pursuit of material benefits (welfare). This definition entails that material ends are incommensurable with moral ends. The other, expressed in Becker's work, registers that economics is the analysis of one aspect of all ends, optimization. This definition implies that material and moral ends are commensurable. The paper finds that each definition has its own shortcomings. The paper outlines an alternative view, illustrated by the difference between gifts and grants, which promises to supplant the shortcomings of each definition.
Enteral Nutrition in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

For over 30 years, exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) has been utilized to treat Crohn’s disease both in children and in adults. However, while EEN has gained widespread acceptance in Europe, Canada, and Japan, EEN treatment is not widely utilized in the USA. A study by Levine et al. demonstrated that approximately 60 % of European pediatric gastroenterologists utilize EEN, compared to approximately 4 % of their American counterparts [1]. The chapter below will review the evidence that EEN is effective in both adult and pediatric Crohn’s disease. I will discuss the impact of EEN on clinical disease activity, biomarkers, and endoscopic healing. The chapter will also provide instruction on how to implement an EEN program, as well as the challenges one may face. The advantages and disadvantages of this form of treatment in Crohn’s disease are listed in Table 6.1. The chapter will focus almost exclusively on the treatment of Crohn’s disease, as there is no evidence that EEN brings about a remission in ulcerative colitis. The reader is also referred to the excellent North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) clinical report on use of EEN to treat pediatric Crohn’s disease [2].
Dilemmas With Race and Heart Failure Treatment

The combination of hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate (H+ISDN) provides balanced vasodilatation, resulting in afterload and preload reductions in heart failure (HF). Both the V-HeFT (Vasodilator Heart Failure Trials) I and II showed improvement in functional capacity and ejection fraction with the use of this combination in HF patients with reduced ejection fraction.1 Subsequent secondary analysis of the V-HeFT data suggested that there might be a race-dependent response to H+ISDN therapy, with blacks deriving more benefit.1 In parallel, there was progress in understanding the role of oxidative stress in HF, varying racial trends in oxidative stress, and the role of H+ISDN in this respect, with ISDN donating nitric oxide and hydralazine being an antioxidant. The hypothesis drawn from these observations was tested in A-HeFT (African-American Heart Failure Trial), which was terminated early because of a 43% relative risk reduction in mortality with H+ISDN observed during data monitoring and led to the approval of BiDil (fixed-dose H+ISDN formulation used in A-HeFT) for the treatment of HF in self-identified blacks.2 This approval was the first where race was used to identify the target population. Although A-HeFT showed the efficacy of H+ISDN in blacks, it did not show H+ISDN to be nonefficacious in non-blacks. Although non-blacks patients did not seem to derive mortality benefit in a retrospective analysis of V-HeFT I, this subgroup finding should be viewed with caution. Rather than reviewing an individual subgroup, the statistical standard is to assess treatment-by-subgroup interaction, which was not …
Governing the fiduciary relationship in information security services

We propose a model of security governance that draws upon agency theory to conceptualize the InfoSec function as a fiduciary for business users. We introduce a ternary typology of governance and test the efficacy of governance on goal congruence and information asymmetry. Our survey of information security managers finds that: (1) governance enhances goal congruence but does not impact information asymmetry, and (2) perceived information security service effectiveness is positively related to both information asymmetry and goal congruence. Contrary to what agency theory suggests, in the InfoSec context, information asymmetry can be exactly what is needed to enhance the principal's welfare. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings. Develop a theory of Information Security (InfoSec) governance and effectivenessExamine roles of information asymmetry (IA) and goal congruence (GC) in one modelIntroduce a ternary typology of InfoSec governance mechanisms and test its efficacyFind that governance enhances GC but not IA; larger IA can be beneficial to InfoSecResults based on data collected from organizations from a wide array of industries
Anti-interference measures for GIS partial discharge detection on field

It is well known that there is much electromagnetic interference on the gases insulated switchgear (GIS) operation environment, and which would bring some difficulties to distinguish the actual partial discharge signals with those interference. In this paper, three kinds of measures are introduced in detail, which have been proved to be effective to realize anti-interference for GIS partial discharge detection on field. The first one is aluminum foil coated shielding, the second one is acoustic-electric joint measuring, for which could verify each other, i.e. once there is a partial discharge defect in GIS, the ultrasonic and UHF signals should be appeared simultaneously, the third one is time difference method, which could judge the measuring signals are from GIS internal or outside. The three above mentioned measures could do some favor for the electric engineers who will carry out any similar partial discharge detection on field.
Geriatric Infectious Diseases: Current Concepts on Diagnosis and Management

New information on infectious diseases in older adults has become available in the past 20 years. In this review, in-depth discussions on the general problem of geriatric infectious diseases (epidemiology, pathogenesis, age-related host defenses, clinical manifestations, diagnostic approach); diagnosis and management of bacterial pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and Clostridium difficile infection; and the unique challenges of diagnosing and managing infections in a long-term care setting are presented.
Differences in flexor and extensor activity during locomotor-related leg movements in chick embryos

Prior to hatching, chick embryos spontaneously produce repetitive limb movements (RLMs), a developmental precursor to walking. During RLMs, flexor and extensor muscles are alternately active as during stance and swing phases of gait. However, previous studies of RLMs observed that flexor muscles were rhythmically active for many cycles, whereas extensors often failed to be recruited. Thus, we asked if flexor muscles are preferentially recruited during RLMs in chick embryos 1 day before hatching and onset of walking. Using a within-subject design, we compared EMG burst parameters for flexor and extensor muscles acting at the hip or ankle. Findings indicated that flexor burst count exceeded extensor count. Also, flexor muscles were consistently recruited at the lowest levels of neural drive. We conclude that there is a bias favoring flexor muscle recruitment and drive during spontaneously produced RLMs. Potential neural mechanisms and developmental implications of our findings are discussed.
Investigation of the shear response and geometrically necessary dislocation densities in shear localization in high-purity titanium

Abstract The influence of microstructural anisotropy on shear response of high-purity titanium was studied using the compact forced-simple-shear specimen (CFSS) loaded under quasi-static loading conditions. Post-mortem characterization reveals significant difference in shear response of different directions in the same material due to material crystallographic texture anisotropy. Shear bands are narrower in specimens in which the shear zone is aligned along the direction with a strong {0001} basal texture. Twinning was identified as an active mechanism to accommodate strains in the shear region in both orientations. This study confirms the applicability of the CFSS design for the investigation of differences in the shear response of materials as a function of process-induced crystallographic texture. A detailed, systematic approach to quantifying shear band evolution by evaluating geometrically necessary dislocations (GND) associated with crystallographic anisotropy is presented. The results show that: i) line average GND density profiles, for Ti samples that possess a uniform equiaxed-grain structure, but with strong crystallographic anisotropy, exhibit significant differences in GND density close to the shear band center; ii) GND profiles decrease steadily away from the shear band as the plastic strain diminishes, in agreement with Ashby's theory of work hardening, where the higher GND density in the through-thickness (TT) orientation is a result of restricted type slip in the shear band compared with in-plane (IP) samples; iii) the anisotropy in deformation response is derived from initial crystallographic texture of the materials, where GND density of GNDs are higher adjacent to the shear band in the through-thickness sample oriented away from easy slip, but the density of type GNDs are very similar in these two samples; and iv) the increase in grain average GND density was determined to have strong correlation to an increase in the Euler Φ angle of the grain average orientation, indicating an increased misorientation angle evolution.
Master Builders, Master Criminals: Corruption and Racketeering in the Construction Industry

For years, the Fulton Fish Market in New YorkCity was a place where La Cosa Nostra operated as if laws and law enforcement did not exist. More than 125million pounds of fish moved through the market every year, and its wholesalers provided seafood of one type or another to nearly every region of the United States. The Fulton Market handled seafood from all over the world-not just the catch of the local commercial fishery boats around the Atlantic coast hugging New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. South African lobster tails, Norwegian salmon, and exotic catches from as far away as Alaska and Chile were flown in nightly by jumbo jets to Kennedy International airport and whisked away by truck directly to the Fulton Market.1
Development and Validation of an Assessment Instrument for Course Experience in a General Education Integrated Science Course.

Identifying instruments and surveys to address geoscience education research (GER) questions is among the high-ranked needs in a 2016 survey of the GER community (St. John et al., 2016). The purpos...
Inferring Formal Properties of Production Key-Value Stores

Production distributed systems are challenging to formally verify, in particular when they are based on distributed protocols that are not rigorously described or fully understood. In this paper, we derive models and properties for two core distributed protocols used in eventually consistent production key-value stores such as Riak and Cassandra. We propose a novel modeling called certified program models, where complete distributed systems are captured as programs written in traditional systems languages such as concurrent C. Specifically, we model the read-repair and hinted-handoff recovery protocols as concurrent C programs, test them for conformance with real systems, and then verify that they guarantee eventual consistency, modeling precisely the specification as well as the failure assumptions under which the results hold.
THE EFFECTS OF MUTUAL FUNDS ON M&A COMPENSATION

Motivated by shareholdersâ€™ interest in combating executive wealth expropriation through the merger and acqusition (M&A) process, we study how mutual funds influence firm behavior around an acquisition through votes against management proposals. We find that mutual funds reduce the chief executive officer's ability to extract rents during the M&A process by voting against managementâ€ sponsored compensation proposals after the acquisition, thus lowering both excess compensation and increasing payâ€ forâ€ performance sensitivity. Furthermore, mutual fund voting magnifies the impact on negatively performing firms and firms with a larger amount of the mutual fund's holdings in the firm.