cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of serotonergic activity in nucleus accumbens septi on drug-induced circling

The effects of injections of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) into the nucleus accumbens and lesions of the nucleus accumbens induced by 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine (5,7-DHT) on drug-induced circling were investigated in rats with unilateral nigrostriatal lesions induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). Injections of 5-HT (60–120 μg in 1 μl; 1 μl/min) into the nucleus accumbens caused a significant decrease in the circling response to 5.0 mg/kg of d-amphetamine (s.c.). The distribution of radioactivity after intracerebral injections of [3H]5-HT using these parameters showed that although much of the injected material was retained in the nucleus accumbens there was also considerable spread to the frontal cortex. However, in further behavioural experiments, using an injection procedure (0.5 μl; 0.11 μl/min) which caused much greater retention of injected material in the nucleus accumbens, with minimal spread to the frontal cortex, the ability of 5-HT injected into the accumbens to block amphetamine-induced circling was not diminished. Moreover, injections of 5-HT into the frontal cortex did not have any effect on amphetamine-induced circling. Lesions of the nucleus accumbens induced by 5,7-DHT caused a significant enhancement of the contralateral circling response to 1.0 mg/kg of apomorphine and a similar but non-significant tendency to increase the circling responses to several other doses of apomorphine and amphetamine. The results provide evidence that serotonergic mechanisms in the nucleus accumbens inhibit circling behaviour generated by unilateral activation of nigrostriatal dopaminergic mechanisms.
Accurately measuring dynamic coefficient of friction in ultraform finishing

UltraForm Finishing (UFF) is a deterministic sub-aperture computer numerically controlled grinding and polishing platform designed by OptiPro Systems. UFF is used to grind and polish a variety of optics from simple spherical to fully freeform, and numerous materials from glasses to optical ceramics. The UFF system consists of an abrasive belt around a compliant wheel that rotates and contacts the part to remove material. This work aims to accurately measure the dynamic coefficient of friction (μ), how it changes as a function of belt wear, and how this ultimately affects material removal rates. The coefficient of friction has been examined in terms of contact mechanics and Preston’s equation to determine accurate material removal rates. By accurately predicting changes in μ, polishing iterations can be more accurately predicted, reducing the total number of iterations required to meet specifications. We have established an experimental apparatus that can accurately measure μ by measuring triaxial forces during translating loading conditions or while manufacturing the removal spots used to calculate material removal rates. Using this system, we will demonstrate μ measurements for UFF belts during different states of their lifecycle and assess the material removal function from spot diagrams as a function of wear. Ultimately, we will use this system for qualifying belt-wheel-material combinations to develop a spot-morphing model to better predict instantaneous material removal functions.
Mast cells and mastocytosis

Mast cells have been recognized for well over 100 years. With time, human mast cells have been documented to originate from CD34+ cells, and have been implicated in host responses in both innate and acquired immunity. In clinical immunology, they are recognized for their central role in IgE-mediated degranulation and allergic inflammation by virtue of their expression of the high-affinity receptor for IgE and release of potent proinflammatory mediators. In hematology, the clinical disease of mastocytosis is characterized by a pathologic increase of mast cells in tissues, often associated with mutations in KIT, the receptor for stem cell factor. More recently, and with increased understanding of how human mast cells are activated through receptors including the high-affinity receptor for IgE and KIT, specific tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been identified with the potential to interrupt signaling pathways and thus limit the proliferation of mast cells as well as their activation through immunoglobulin receptors.
Evaluation of Atmospheric Correction Methods in Identifying Urban Tree Species With WorldView-2 Imagery

The radiance recorded at a sensor is not fully a representative of Earth surface section features but is altered by atmosphere. In this study, we evaluated three atmospheric correction (AC) methods (a typical empirical modeling method, a radiative transfer modeling approach, and a combination of the both methods) in identifying urban tree species/groups with high-resolution WorldView-2 (WV2) imagery in the City of Tampa, FL, USA. We tested whether AC methods were necessary in urban tree species discrimination. In situ spectral measurements were taken from tops of tree canopy and tree crowns were delineated from WV2 imagery. Two-sample $\bm{t}$ -tests, repeated measures ANOVA (RANOVA) tests, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and classification and regression trees (CART) classifiers were used to test the spectral difference between in situ spectra and atmospherically corrected image spectra and to discriminate urban tree species/groups. The experimental results demonstrate that 1) the empirical line-based AC methods were relatively more effective than a radiative transfer-based AC model to atmospherically correct the image data, due to lacking accurate and reliable atmospheric parameters to run the radiative transfer model and 2) the AC processing to WV2 imagery was unnecessary in identifying seven tree species/groups in this particular case, most likely because the WV2 image data used in this analysis were acquired on a single date and covered a relatively small area ( ${303}\;\mathbf{km}^{2}$ ). The study results also indicate that compared with a nonparametric classifier CART, the parametric classifier LDA produced higher overall accuracy (55% vs. 48%) for identifying the seven species/groups.
The contamination of glass by platinum

Abstract The contamination of glass by platinum due to melting in platinum crucibles has been investigated. It was determined that unstirred melts prepared by induction melting in nonoxidizing atmospheres suffered only surface contamination due to a process involving atmospheric oxidation of the crucible. In this process oxygen is contributed to the atmosphere by dissociation of volatile components of the melt and is a function of both the glass composition and the melting temperature. A new laser glass matrix composition has been developed which minimizes platuinum contamination.
Characterization of Biochars Produced from Cornstovers for Soil Amendment

Through cation exchange capacity assay, nitrogen adsorption−desorption surface area measurements, scanning electron microscopic imaging, infrared spectra and elemental analyses, we characterized biochar materials produced from cornstover under two different pyrolysis conditions, fast pyrolysis at 450 °C and gasification at 700 °C. Our experimental results showed that the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the fast-pyrolytic char is about twice as high as that of the gasification char as well as that of a standard soil sample. The CEC values correlate well with the increase in the ratios of the oxygen atoms to the carbon atoms (O:C ratios) in the biochar materials. The higher O:C ratio was consistent with the presence of more hydroxyl, carboxylate, and carbonyl groups in the fast pyrolysis char. These results show how control of biomass pyrolysis conditions can improve biochar properties for soil amendment and carbon sequestration. Since the CEC of the fast-pyrolytic cornstover char can be about double that...
Time-lapse monitoring of CO2 sequestration: A site investigation through integration of reservoir properties, seismic imaging, and borehole and surface gravity data

ABSTRACTWe have developed a feasibility study on the application of time-lapse gravity as a monitoring tool for a proposed CO2 sequestration test site. The results are a component of a larger geotechnical suitability study to evaluate a specific field’s potential for CO2 storage and to evaluate viable techniques for effective monitoring there. The reservoir model for this study was constructed from detailed reservoir data available through separate reservoir characterization studies of the field. The gravity inversion used was a highly constrained binary approach that incorporated reservoir geometry from seismic data and the internal 3D distributions of density change predicted from the reservoir engineering database. Incorporating borehole data for joint surface/borehole monitoring further improved the potential of time-lapse gravity to define CO2 movement during sequestration. In this paper, we present a subset of the entire study. Our results indicate that the site likely has a favorable combination of...
Some limit results for longest common subsequences

Abstract The length ln of a longest common subsequence before time n sequences (B11, B12, …) (B21, B22, …) is the cardinality of the largest increasing set of pairs of integers {(j1α, j2α)} l⩽ j 11 j 12 j 11 n ⩽ n l⩽ j 21 j 22 j 21 n ⩽ n such that ∀1⩽α⩽ln, (B1j1α=B2j2α). If B1 and B2 are independent random sequences with co-ordinates i.i.d. uniform on {1, 2, …, k}, it follows from Kingman's subadditive ergodic theorem that the ratio ln/n converges to a constant ck a.s. A method of deriving lower bounds for the constants ck is given, the bounds obtained improving known lower bounds, for k>2. The rate of decrease of ck with k is shown to be no faster than 1/√k, contrasting with P{B1i−B2i}=1/k. Finally, an alternative method of deriving lower bounds is given and used to improve the lower bound for c2.
Multicenter evaluation of a novel surveillance paradigm for complications of mechanical ventilation.

Background Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) surveillance is time consuming, subjective, inaccurate, and inconsistently predicts outcomes. Shifting surveillance from pneumonia in particular to complications in general might circumvent the VAP definition's subjectivity and inaccuracy, facilitate electronic assessment, make interfacility comparisons more meaningful, and encourage broader prevention strategies. We therefore evaluated a novel surveillance paradigm for ventilator-associated complications (VAC) defined by sustained increases in patients' ventilator settings after a period of stable or decreasing support. Methods We assessed 600 mechanically ventilated medical and surgical patients from three hospitals. Each hospital contributed 100 randomly selected patients ventilated 2–7 days and 100 patients ventilated >7 days. All patients were independently assessed for VAP and for VAC. We compared incidence-density, duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care and hospital lengths of stay, hospital mortality, and time required for surveillance for VAP and for VAC. A subset of patients with VAP and VAC were independently reviewed by a physician to determine possible etiology. Results Of 597 evaluable patients, 9.3% had VAP (8.8 per 1,000 ventilator days) and 23% had VAC (21.2 per 1,000 ventilator days). Compared to matched controls, both VAP and VAC prolonged days to extubation (5.8, 95% CI 4.2–8.0 and 6.0, 95% CI 5.1–7.1 respectively), days to intensive care discharge (5.7, 95% CI 4.2–7.7 and 5.0, 95% CI 4.1–5.9), and days to hospital discharge (4.7, 95% CI 2.6–7.5 and 3.0, 95% CI 2.1–4.0). VAC was associated with increased mortality (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3–3.2) but VAP was not (OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.5–2.4). VAC assessment was faster (mean 1.8 versus 39 minutes per patient). Both VAP and VAC events were predominantly attributable to pneumonia, pulmonary edema, ARDS, and atelectasis. Conclusions Screening ventilator settings for VAC captures a similar set of complications to traditional VAP surveillance but is faster, more objective, and a superior predictor of outcomes.
Mechanical Folding Kinetics of RNA Hairpins: a New Computational Approach

From the distribution of the low-lying states on the energy landscape, we recently developed a new computational method for the prediction of RNA folding kinetics [1]. The method can treat long sequences because it is based on a small ensemble of seed states. Additionally, the method is based on an analytic formalism and thus enables predictions for long-time folding kinetics. Applications of the new kinetic model to mechanical folding of RNA hairpins reveal distinct kinetic behaviors for a wide range of different force regimes, from zero force to forces much stronger than the critical force for the folding-unfolding transition. In the low force limit, folding can be initiated (nucleated) at any position by the formation of the first base stack and folding can proceed through many parallel pathways. In contrast, for a higher force, the folding/unfolding would predominantly proceed along a single zipping/unzipping pathway. Studies for different hairpin-forming sequences indicate that depending on the nucleotide sequence, a kinetic intermediate can emerge in the low force regime but disappear in high force regime, and a new kinetic intermediate, which is absent in the low and high force regimes, can emerge in the medium force range. Variations of the force lead to changes in folding cooperativity and rate-limiting steps. For TAR RNA sequence, we predicted two parallel dominant pathways. The rate-limiting folding steps (at f = 8 pN) are the formation of specific base pairs that are 2-4 base pairs away from the loop. At a higher force (f = 11 pN), the folding rate is controlled by the formation of the bulge loop. The predicted rates and transition states are in good agreement with the experimental data for a broad force regime.[1] Cao and Chen, 2009, Biophys. J., 96, 4024-4034.
The Conformation of Bound GMPPNP Suggests a Mechanism for Gating the Active Site of the SRP GTPase

Abstract Background: The signal recognition particle (SRP) is a phylogenetically conserved ribonucleoprotein that mediates cotranslational targeting of secreted and membrane proteins to the membrane. Targeting is regulated by GTP binding and hydrolysis events that require direct interaction between structurally homologous "NG" GTPase domains of the SRP signal recognition subunit and its membrane-associated receptor, SRα. Structures of both the apo and GDP bound NG domains of the prokaryotic SRP54 homolog, Ffh, and the prokaryotic receptor homolog, FtsY, have been determined. The structural basis for the GTP-dependent interaction between the two proteins, however, remains unknown. Results: We report here two structures of the NG GTPase of Ffh from Thermus aquaticus bound to the nonhydrolyzable GTP analog GMPPNP. Both structures reveal an unexpected binding mode in which the β-phosphate is kinked away from the binding site and magnesium is not bound. Binding of the GTP analog in the canonical conformation found in other GTPase structures is precluded by constriction of the phosphate binding P loop. The structural difference between the Ffh complex and other GTPases suggests a specific conformational change that must accompany movement of the nucleotide from an "inactive" to an "active" binding mode. Conclusions: Conserved side chains of the GTPase sequence motifs unique to the SRP subfamily may function to gate formation of the active GTP bound conformation. Exposed hydrophobic residues provide an interaction surface that may allow regulation of the GTP binding conformation, and thus activation of the GTPase, during the association of SRP with its receptor.
The chief security officer problem

This paper introduces the chief security officer (CSO) problem for the first time and defines its scope based on two well known concepts in information theory: the Central Estimation Officer (CEO) problem and the secrecy capacity of communication channels. The CSO framework consists of a CSO, several secret agents gathering intelligence information from an open forum that may include one or more eavesdroppers capable of listening to all conversations. While there are several important research questions relevant to the CSO framework, this paper focuses on two central issues (1) how much information can be exchanged between the CSO and the agents without leaking it to the eavesdropper? (2) What is the power allocation strategy that the CSO needs to follow so as to maximize the secrecy rate of information transfer?
BCR-Mediated Decrease of CXCR4 and CD62L in CLL – Letter

Recently, Vlad and colleagues ([1][1]) published that cross-linking of the B-cell receptor (BCR) regulates chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cell retention within lymphatic tissues by downregulation of CXCR4 chemokine receptors, l-selectins (CD62L), reduced CLL chemotaxis toward the ligand for
Structure of Reacting and Non-Reacting Swirling Air-Assisted Sprays

Abstract A detailed characterization of a methanol spray produced by an air-assist atomizer with swirling atomizing air has been conducted. This study is the third of a series which examines the structure of sprays produced by a standardized atomizer which can be operated in three modes, pressure swirl, non-swirling air-assist, and swirling air-assist. Measurements of drop size and three components of velocity, three components of the gas phase velocity, the concentration of hydrocarbons within the spray, and time resolved droplet measurements are obtained at axial locations of 7·5, 15, 25, 35, 50, 75, and 100 mm. These measurements are obtained for both reacting and non-reacting cases. In addition, the atomizing air flow in the absence of the spray is characterized. Primary observations from the present study are that (1) the presence of the drops alters the structure of the gas phase turbulence, including the degree of isotropy, (2) the presence of reaction strongly impacts the axial and radial velocity...
MassConf: automatic configuration tuning by leveraging user community information

Configuring modern enterprise software can be extremely difficult because their behaviors often depend on large numbers of configuration parameters. Software vendors can simplify the configuration process for new users by collecting and using configuration information from existing users. In particular, we observe that (1) a 'good' configuration may work well for many different users, and (2) multiple configurations may work well for each user. We leverage these observations to design MassConf, a system that collects and uses existing configurations to automatically configure new software installations. Our evaluations with a case study confirm our observations and show that MassConf successfully reaches the targets of many more new installations than an existing efficient optimization algorithm.
AN OPTIMAL CENTRALIZED CONTROLLER WITH NONLINEAR VOLTAGE CONTROL

Abstract Power system multiswing transient stability during a disturbance may be substantially improved through proper control of power system bus voltages. These bus voltages are normally nonlinear functions of state variables defined for the generators and their control elements. Postfault changes in the power system may also require a power system operating point different from the prefault value. An optimal centralized controller capable of tracking these changes and controlling the nonlinear elements of the power system state vector is proposed in this paper. The primary role played by voltage control and the need to represent the dynamics of the external system are shown from the results of simulation case studies.
Lightweight asynchrony using parasitic threads

Message-passing is an attractive thread coordination mechanism because it cleanly delineates points in an execution when threads communicate, and unifies synchronization and communication: a sender is allowed to proceed only when a receiver willing to accept the data being sent is available and vice versa. To enable greater performance, however, asynchronous or non-blocking extensions are usually provided that allow senders and receivers to proceed even if a matching partner is unavailable. Lightweight threads with synchronous message-passing can be used to encapsulate asynchronous message-passing operations, although such implementations have greater thread management costs that can negatively impact scalability and performance.This paper introduces parasitic threads, a novel mechanism for expressing asynchronous computation, that combines the efficiency of a non-declarative solution with the ease of use provided by languages with first-class channels and lightweight threads. A parasitic thread is a lightweight data structure that encapsulates an asynchronous computation using the resources provided by a host thread. Parasitic threads need not execute cooperatively, impose no restrictions on the computations they encapsulate, or the communication actions they perform, and impose no additional burden on thread scheduling mechanisms.We describe an implementation of parasitic threads in MLton, a whole-program optimizing compiler and runtime for Standard ML. Benchmark results indicate parasitic threads enable construction of scalable and efficient message-passing parallel programs.
Silicon radiation detectors - materials and applications

Silicon nuclear radiation detectors are available today in a large variety of sizes and types. This profusion has been made possible by the ever increasing quality and diameter silicon single crystals, new processing technologies and techniques, and innovative detector design. The salient characteristics of the four basic detector groups, diffused junction, ion implanted, surface barrier, and lithium drift are reviewed along with the silicon crystal requirements. Results of crystal imperfections detected by lithium ion compensation are presented. Processing technologies and techniques are described. Two recent novel position-sensitive detector designs are discussed—one in high-energy particle track reconstruction and the other in x-ray angiography. The unique experimental results obtained with these devices are presented.
The Effects of Ionic Strength on the Hydrodynamic Properties of I-Motif Folding

Cytosine-rich nucleic acid sequences found in human DNA can adopt multiple intramolecular structures identified as i-motifs that are dependent on physiochemical solution conditions. The focus of this study is a four-stranded structure from the promoter of the human c-MYC gene. This compact, stable, and monomeric structure forms upon a decrease in pH (<5.0) causing hemi-protonation of a cytosine that results in a stable C-C+ hydrogen bond. Sedimentation velocity experiments were performed with the analytical ultracentrifuge in order to determine the hydrodynamic properties of the folded i-motif. The sedimentation velocity experiments were carried out in buffer conditions that differed in pH (4.5-8.0), salt type (NaCl and KCl), and salt concentration (up to 400 mM). Experiments were run at different pH values in order to observe the linkage between the pKa of the Hoogsteen base pair and i-motif folding. High salt concentration was used to avoid non-ideality (primary charge effect) observed when nucleic acids sediment at low salt concentration. The data indicates that the S20,w value increases when the primary charge effect is overcome at a higher salt concentration. The experimental S20,w values are compared with values obtained by bead model simulations using SOMO as implemented in Ultrascan 3. (Supported by UMC AUC Facility.)
Protection against the cardiotoxic effect of isoproterenol-HCl by dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and exercise.

Abstract Protection against myocardial necrosis in exercised or sedentary rats fed equal calories of a rat chow or a chow + polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) diet (50% of calories from PUFA) was determined by using l -isoproterenol-HCl. Approximately 25% of the sedentary rats fed the PUFA diet (Fat-C) diet following isoproterenol administration, while all rats in the other groups survived. Increased severity of the focal lesion of the heart and increased circulating isozyme concentration were observed in Fat-C fed rats when compared to exercised rats on a chow (Chow-Ex) or PUFA (Fat-Ex) diet. Fat-fed sedentary rats also exhibited significant increases in hepatic lipid when compared to all other groups and increases in cardiac lipid when compared to exercised rats (Fat-Ex, Chow-Ex). On the basis of circulating isozyme concentration and severity of focal lesion, Fat-Ex-fed rats exhibited the least amount of myocardial damage of all groups tested. Concentrations of hepatic lipid, cardiac lipid, circulating triglyceride, and cholesterol in Fat-Ex-fed rats were similar to or less than those exhibited by rats fed the standard lab chow diet. These results suggest that the reported beneficial effects of high concentrations of dietary PUFA can be undermined by increased lipid deposition. However, exercise caused a decrease in circulating and tissue lipid which together with dietary PUFA produced a resistance against the cardiotoxic effect of isoproterenol not seen with either exercise or PUFA alone.
Clinical characteristics and pituitary dysfunction in patients with metastatic cancer to the sella.

Objective: Metastatic disease to the sella is uncommon and there are limited available data regarding the clinical aspects of this disease. We therefore sought to characterize the clinical demograp...
On distributed optimization under inequality constraints via Lagrangian primal-dual methods

We consider a multi-agent convex optimization problem where agents are to minimize a sum of local objective functions subject to a global inequality constraint and a global constraint set. To deal with this, we devise a distributed primal-dual subgradient algorithm which is based on the characterization of the primal-dual optimal solutions as the saddle points of the Lagrangian function. This algorithm allows the agents to exchange information over networks with time-varying topologies and asymptotically agree on a pair of primal-dual optimal solutions and the optimal value.
The atrial coronary arteries in man.

An anatomic study of the atrial coronary arteries in 43 fresh normal human hearts is described. The implications of the findings are discussed for clinical problems facing the cardiologist and the cardiovascular surgeon.
Simulating greenhouse gas budgets of four California cropping systems under conventional and alternative management

Despite the importance of agriculture in California's Central Valley, the potential of alternative management practices to reduce soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has been poorly studied in California. This study aims at (1) calibrating and validating DAYCENT, an ecosystem model, for conventional and alternative cropping systems in California's Central Valley, (2) estimating CO2, N2O, and CH4 soil fluxes from these systems, and (3) quantifying the uncertainty around model predictions induced by variability in the input data. The alternative practices considered were cover cropping, organic practices, and conservation tillage. These practices were compared with conventional agricultural management. The crops considered were beans, corn, cotton, safflower, sunflower, tomato, and wheat. Four field sites, for which at least five years of measured data were available, were used to calibrate and validate the DAYCENT model. The model was able to predict 86–94% of the measured variation in crop yields and 69–8...
Effect of decrease in both postprandial blood glucose (PBG) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels in normal beagle dogs with nateglinide enteric coated granules and immediate release tablets.

Nateglinide is a new quick action/short duration (QRSD) type of oral blood glucose regulator, and nateglinide immediate release tablets are used for patients with mild diabetes under the trade name of Fastic® tablets. In this study, we attempted to determine if it was possible to control both post-prandial blood glucose level (PBG) and fasting blood glucose level (FBG) for moderate or severe diabetes through controlled release of nateglinide. Enteric coated granules were selected for the administration form for controlled release of nateglinide, and three types of enteric coated granules were prepared having dissolution pH values of 5.5, 6.5 and 7.2. The three types of enteric coated granules were each administered separately or the enteric coated granules having an dissolution pH of 6.5 were administered simultaneous to administration of nateglinide immediate release tablets to normal beagle dogs just before feeding followed by measurement of plasma nateglinide concentration, plasma insulin concentration and blood glucose level. In the case of administering enteric coated granules alone (nateglinide: 9 mg/kg), the absorption of nateglinide was confirmed to tend to be delayed as the dissolution pH increased. In the case of an dissolution pH of 5.5, decreases in both PBG and FBG were observed. In the case of dissolution pH values of 6.5 and 7.2, only decrease in FBG was observed. In case of nateglinide immediate release tablets (nateglinide: 9 mg/kg), only decrease in PBG was observed. Decreases in both PBG and FBG were observed in the case of simultaneous administration of dissolution pH 6.5 enteric coated granules and nateglinide immediate release tablets just before feeding (nateglinide: 90 mg/head+60 mg/head). A correlation was observed between plasma nateglinide concentrations and blood glucose levels. On the other hand, there were no correlations observed between changes in plasma insulin concentrations and blood glucose levels. In case of nateglinide immediate release tablets (nateglinide: 150 mg/head), Decreases in both PBG and FBG were observed. However, the nateglinide controlled release formulation is more useful than the nateglinide immediate release tablets from the view point of avoidance of side effect, or of easy control of both PBG and FBG. On the basis of these results, the design of a controlled release formulation that contains nateglinide was suggested to enable control of both PBG and FBG for moderate and severe diabetes patients.
Extracting energies and intensities from complex coincidence matrices

Abstract Coincidence intensities and uncertainties are extracted at the statistical limits from γ-γ coincidence matrices. The matrices are decomposed into continuum, ridges and peaks. The continuum is successfully modeled by the product of two vectors which describe the Compton distributions in the coincident detectors or groups of detectors. The ridges are represented by the corresponding continuum vector scaled according to the intensity and energy of the associated γ-ray. The peaks are fitted as the product of two, one-dimensional Gaussians. This technique has been applied to the analysis of prompt gamma-rays from the spontaneous fission of 252 Cf and the high spin states in 163 Lu populated via the 122 Sn( 45 Sc, 4n) reaction.
Extracting Product Features and Opinions from Reviews

Consumers are often forced to wade through many on-line reviews in order to make an informed product choice. This paper introduces Opine, an unsupervised information-extraction system which mines reviews in order to build a model of important product features, their evaluation by reviewers, and their relative quality across products.Compared to previous work, Opine achieves 22% higher precision (with only 3% lower recall) on the feature extraction task. Opine's novel use of relaxation labeling for finding the semantic orientation of words in context leads to strong performance on the tasks of finding opinion phrases and their polarity.
Recombination hotspot activity of hypervariable minisatellite DNA requires minisatellite DNA binding proteins

Hypervariable minisatellite DNA repeats are found at tens of thousands of loci in the mammalian genome. These sequences stimulate homologous recombination in mammalian cells [Cell60:95–103]. To test the hypothesis that protein-DNA interaction is required for hotspot functionin vivo, we determined whether a second protein binding nearby could abolish hotspot activity. Intermolecular recombination between pairs of plasmid substrates was measured in the presence or absence of thecis-acting recombination hotspot and in the presence or absence of the secondtrans-acting DNA binding protein. Minisatellite DNA had hotspot activity in two cell lines, but lacked hotspot activity in two closely related cell lines expressing a site-specific helicase that bound to DNA adjacent to the hotspot. Suppression of hotspot function occurred for both replicating and non-replicating recombination substrates. These results indicate that hotspot activityin vivo requires site occupancy by minisatellite DNA binding proteins.
Essential cohomology of finite groups

In this paper we prove that a finite group G with Cohen-Macaulay mod p cohomology will have non-trivial undetectable elements in $H^*(G,{\Bbb F}_p)$ if and only if G is a p-group such that every element of order p in G is central. Applications and examples are also provided.
‘Praise the Lord, All you Gentiles’: The Encoded Audience of Romans 15.7-13

Romans 15.7-13 addresses an encoded gentile audience. The best solution to the syntactical challenges posed by 15.8-9a places the focus on the gentiles who now glorify God as a result of Christ’s servanthood. Paul’s identification of the Jewish people as ‘the circumcision’, a negative category earlier in the letter (2.25—3.30; 9.18), is hardly apt if he is also addressing Jewish Christians. Romans 15.6-9a links the Roman audience’s mutual welcoming ‘for the glory of God’ to the gentiles’ glorifying God. The Scripture citations in 15.9b-12 remain riveted on God’s purpose for the gentiles and address the Romans as gentiles. Romans 15.12-13 links the Roman audience’s hope with the hope of the gentiles. The preceding context identifies the ‘weak’ not as Jews but by customs that were popular among gentile sympathizers. Romans 15.14-21 conforms to Paul’s pattern elsewhere in the letter of identifying the encoded audience as the recipients of his gentile ministry.
Upper Cretaceous-Cenozoic Paleobathymetric Cycles, Eastern Panama and Northern Colombia: ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Analysis of planktonic microfossils and benthic foraminifera indicates one deep-water depositional cycle in the Upper Cretaceous of northern Colombia and two major deep-water sequences in the Cenozoic of both northern Colombia and eastern Panama. Only slight evidence of an Upper Cretaceous deep-water cycle was found in eastern Panama. The Upper Cretaceous deep-water cycle in the radiolarian-rich Campanian sequence of northern Colombia is characterized by a Dictyomitra multicostata radiolarian assemblage. Deep-water or abyssal depths of the next younger cycle (Upper Paleocene-Lower Eocene) are suggested by a Pleurostomella-Nuttallides fauna in combination with a rich radiolarian assemblage. A third abyssal sequence or cycle, in Middle Oligocene-to-Lower Miocene strata, is indicated by a Melonis pompilioides fauna together with a rich radiolarian assemblage. The shallowest-water facies, separating the deep-water cycles, represent mostly neritic or upper-bathyal depths. These are characteristic of the basal Paleocene, the Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene, and the Upper Miocene through Quaternary sequences of eastern Panama and northern Colombia. Locally, unconformities and/or nonmarine beds may represent these geologic ages. In contrast to the deep-water cycles of eastern Panama, the sections of the Gatun Lake area, to the west of the Rio Limon fault, show relatively shallow-water marine facies (neritic to upper-bathyal depths at the most). These shallow marine facies occur in the Eocene, in the Upper Oligocene, and in the Upper Miocene-Pliocene sections. They are separated by either paralic beds or unconformities. Faults such as the Rio Limon fault separate tectonic blocks that have contrasting stratigraphic and depositional records throughout most of the Cenozic. In eastern Panama and northern Colombia, the shallowest-water horizons of each paleobathymetric cycle may represent times conducive to the migration of land faunas. These times are: latest Cretaceous-earliest Paleocene; late Eocene-early Oligocene; Pliocene and Quaternary.
Branch Current Control on a Superconducting DC Grid

The challenges of transferring large levels of renewable generation output from remote locations to load centers through congested ac transmission networks has renewed interest in high-voltage dc (HVDC) transmission. Mesh-connected HVDC grids are under consideration to maximize utilization of available transmission accessible corridors. High-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables are candidates for future implementations of future dc grids with their high current capabilities and low losses. The branch current flows in a conventional HVDC grid are determined by voltage differences between the ends of a line, making it difficult to regulate currents in different paths. This becomes even more difficult in a superconducting grid where the steady-state voltage is equal across the system, and line current flows only change during temporary voltage differences. If a line needs to be removed from service for maintenance it is difficult to bring the current in that line to zero without de-energizing the entire system. In addition, once the line is re-energized it will not carry any load current until a voltage difference occurs. This paper will explore options to control individual branch currents on an HTS mesh by exploring controllable circuit configurations without the need to add series elements. A control scheme will be developed for a dc grid with a controllable configuration.
Childhood Economic Strains in Predicting Substance Use in Emerging Adulthood: Mediation Effects of Youth Self-Control and Parenting Practices

OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of childhood economic strains on substance use in young adulthood and to assess the mediating roles of self-control as well as positive parenting during adolescence in a nationally representative longitudinal cohort. METHODS: The study included data from participants (n = 1,285) in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, Child Development Supplement, and Transition to Adult. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the associations among risk factors during childhood and adolescence that predicted substance use in early adulthood. RESULTS: Conditions of economic strains, especially poverty, during childhood were associated with an increased likelihood of regular smoking in adulthood, which was partially mediated by poorer self-control during adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Self-control is negatively affected by economic strains and serves as a mediator between poverty and risk of regular smoking. Additional research is needed to better understand how economic strains effect the development of self-control. Language: en
A quantitative reference transcriptome for Nematostella vectensis early embryonic development: a pipeline for de novo assembly in emerging model systems.

The de novo assembly of transcriptomes from short shotgun sequencesraises challenges due to random and non-random sequencing biases andinherent transcript complexity. We sought to define a pipeline for denovo transcriptome assembly to aid researchers working withemerging model systems where well annotated genome assemblies are notavailable as a reference. To detail this experimental and computationalmethod, we used early embryos of the sea anemone, Nematostellavectensis, an emerging model system for studies of animal body planevolution. We performed RNA-seq on embryos up to 24 h of developmentusing Illumina HiSeq technology and evaluated independent de novoassembly methods. The resulting reads were assembled using either theTrinity assembler on all quality controlled reads or both the Velvet andOases assemblers on reads passing a stringent digital normalization filter.A control set of mRNA standards from the National Institute of Standards andTechnology (NIST) was included in our experimental pipeline to invest ourtranscriptome with quantitative information on absolute transcript levelsand to provide additional quality control. We generated >200 million paired-end reads from directional cDNA librariesrepresenting well over 20 Gb of sequence. The Trinity assembler pipeline,including preliminary quality control steps, resulted in more than 86% ofreads aligning with the reference transcriptome thus generated.Nevertheless, digital normalization combined with assembly by Velvet andOases required far less computing power and decreased processing time whilestill mapping 82% of reads. We have made the raw sequencing reads andassembled transcriptome publically available. Nematostella vectensis was chosen for its strategic position in thetree of life for studies into the origins of the animal body plan, however,the challenge of reference-free transcriptome assembly is relevant to allsystems for which well annotated gene models and independently verifiedgenome assembly may not be available. To navigate this new territory, wehave constructed a pipeline for library preparation and computationalanalysis for de novo transcriptome assembly. The gene modelsdefined by this reference transcriptome define the set of genes transcribedin early Nematostella development and will provide a valuabledataset for further gene regulatory network investigations.
Open reduction of fractures of the mandible.

Abstract 1. 1. Cases in which it is advisable to consider open reduction and direct wiring of fractured mandibles are discussed. 2. 2. Three cases are reported in which open reductions have been employed.
Apparent and true metabolizable energy values of feedstuffs for ducks

Two experiments were conducted, each with 24 White Pekin ducks, to determine the AME and TME content of five feedstuffs for ducks. In each experiment, fasting losses were obtained from six ducks and six ducks were used for each feedstuff. Each experiment lasted 102 h with an initial 48-h period and a 54-h excreta collection period. During the first 48-h period, all birds were tube-fed dextrose (30 g/100 mL of water) at 8 and 32 h after feed was withdrawn. Thirty grams of each feedstuff were tube-fed (30 g/100 mL of water) at 48 and 54 h after feed was withdrawn. The birds from which fasting losses were obtained were intubated with 30 g dextrose (30 g/100 mL of water) at 48 and 54 h after feed was withdrawn. Excreta were collected during the last 54 h into bags screwed onto lids sutured around the vent of each bird. In the first experiment, the feedstuffs evaluated were corn, dehulled oats, and wheat. The fasting energy and nitrogen losses per bird in the 54-h collection period were 12.1 kcal and 0.29 g, respectively. The AMEn values for the birds fed corn, dehulled oats, and wheat were 3.10, 3.48, and 3.14 kcal/g, respectively. The TMEn values for the respective feedstuffs were 3.27, 3.64, and 3.30 kcal/g. In the second experiment, the feedstuffs evaluated were corn, parboiled rice, and rye. The fasting energy and nitrogen losses per bird in the 54-h collection period were 18.9 kcal and 1.09 g, respectively. The AMEn values for the birds fed corn, parboiled rice, and rye were 3.24, 3.45, and 2.69 kcal/g, respectively. The TMEn values for the respective feedstuffs were 3.40, 3.61, and 2.85 kcal/g. The data provide new information on AMEn and TMEn values of corn, wheat, parboiled rice, dehulled oats, and rye for ducks.
Predictive Control for Dynamic Resource Allocation in Enterprise Data Centers

It is challenging to reduce resource over-provisioning for enterprise applications while maintaining service level objectives (SLOs) due to their time-varying and stochastic workloads. In this paper, we study the effect of prediction on dynamic resource allocation to virtualized servers running enterprise applications. We present predictive controllers using three different prediction algorithms based on a standard auto-regressive (AR) model, a combined ANOVA-AR model, as well as a multi-pulse (MP) model. We compare the properties of the predictive controllers with an adaptive integral (I) controller designed in our earlier work on controlling relative utilization of resource containers. The controllers are evaluated in a hypothetical virtual server environment where we use the CPU utilization traces collected on 36 servers in an enterprise data center. Since these traces were collected in an open-loop environment, we use a simple queuing algorithm to simulate the closed-loop CPU usage under dynamic control of CPU allocation. We also study the controllers by emulating the utilization traces on a test bed where a Web server was hosted inside a Xen virtual machine. We compare the results of these controllers from all the servers and find that the MP-based predictive controller performed slightly better statistically than the other two predictive controllers. The ANOVA-AR-based approach is highly sensitive to the existence of periodic patterns in the trace, while the other three methods are not. In addition, all the three predictive schemes performed significantly better when the prediction error was accounted for using a feedback mechanism. The MP-based method also demonstrated an interesting self-learning behavior
Effects of the built environment on physical activity of adults living in rural settings

Abstract Objective To conduct a systematic review of the literature to examine the influence of the built environment (BE) on the physical activity (PA) of adults in rural settings. Data Source Key word searches of Academic Search Premier, PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Sport Discus were conducted. Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Studies published prior to June 2008 were included if they assessed one or more elements of the BE, examined relationships between the BE and PA, and focused on rural locales. Studies only reporting descriptive statistics or assessing the reliability of measures were excluded. Data Extraction Objective(s), sample size, sampling technique, geographic location, and definition of rural were extracted from each study. Methods of assessment and outcomes were extracted from the quantitative literature, and overarching themes were identified from the qualitative literature. Data Synthesis Key characteristics and findings from the data are summarized in Tables 1 through 3. Re...