cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synchronization of Concurrently-Implemented Fluidic Operations in Pin-Constrained Digital Microfluidic Biochips

The implementation of bioassays in pin-constrained biochips may involve pin-actuation conflicts if the concurrently implemented fluidic operations are not carefully synchronized. We propose a two-phase optimization method to identify and synchronize the fluidic operations that can be executed in parallel. The goal is to implement these fluidic operations without pin-actuation conflict, and minimize the duration of implementing the outcome sequence after the synchronization. The effectiveness of the proposed two-phase optimization method is demonstrated for a representative 3-plex assay performed on a fabricated pin-constrained biochip.
Action principle for continuous quantum measurement

We present a stochastic path integral formalism for continuous quantum measurement that enables the analysis of rare events using action methods. By doubling the quantum state space to a canonical phase space, we can write the joint probability density function of measurement outcomes and quantum state trajectories as a phase space path integral. Extremizing this action produces the most likely paths with boundary conditions defined by preselected and postselected states as solutions to a set of ordinary differential equations. As an application, we analyze continuous qubit measurement in detail and examine the structure of a quantum jump in the Zeno measurement regime.
Diabetes confusion; stroke symptom overlap

Abstract Background: Stroke symptoms to which all "at risk" patients should respond by calling 911 include sudden/unusual numbness or dizziness. Because these stroke symptoms overlap with symptoms of diabetes alone, diabetics are at greater risk of failing to seek medical attention at stroke onset. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a nurse-administered educational intervention can improve diabetic's appropriate response to such symptoms. Methods: Subjects were part of a randomized controlled pilot study of an interdisciplinary care management intervention for improving the well being of stroke survivors post-discharge. Knowledge of and appropriate response to stroke symptoms were measured at baseline and 3 months Results: Thirty-two diabetics were enrolled. By 3 months, there was no difference between the intervention and control diabetics in knowing that sudden/unusual numbness and dizziness are stroke symptoms. However, significantly more patients in the intervention group would have called 911 with dizziness ( P = .04). Likewise, more, though not significant, would have called 911 for numbness ( P = .09). Conclusion: This intervention improved diabetics' knowledge of the appropriate response to two stroke symptoms that overlap with diabetes symptoms. By knowing to seek medical attention at the onset of these symptoms, intervention diabetics are at less risk of poor stroke outcomes.
Environmental geophysics training facility

The renewed interest in preserving and restoring our country’ s cultural and natural resources has led to the use of geophysics in fields such as hydrology, archaeology, and environmental engineering. Many individuals, who have no formal training in geophysics, are now using the various methods to investigate a variety of problems. These individuals require some degree of training in the geophysical techniques, and this training can be obtained through university courses or short courses offered by several organizations, The U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station (WES) offers courses for training Corps personnel involved in geophysical surveys. The WES offers a one week course in geophysics which includes hands-on training in shallow exploration geophysics at their newly constructed test facility. Several buried drums, a pipe, and trench are the anomaly sources, and there are future plans to install boreholes for borehole logging and crosshole EM training. It is important that personnel receive the necessary training to ensure that the Corps of Engineers continues to provide quality services.
How now, brown cow, vaccine or extract?

In summary, the word “allergen vaccine” should be used to denote FDA-approved preparations of therapeutic allergens used to treat allergic diseases. The term “allergen extract” should be used for preparations of allergens that are not yet FDA-approved, are FDA-approved but not yet incorporated into a therapeutic vaccine for an individual patient, or are used for experimental purposes. The term “diagnostic allergens”, in this case also approved by the FDA or its equivalent is appropriate when these products are used for skin testing. The use of these terms by physicians in allergy/immunology will enhance the specialty and be useful to patients who do not and never did understand the term “allergen extract”.
Effects of field-of-view on pilot performance in night vision goggles flight trials: preliminary findings

Night vision goggles (NVGs) allow pilots to see and navigate under minimal levels of illumination. While NVGs allow the user to see more than they typically could under these levels of illumination, the visual information provided by NVGs has a limited field-of-view. The size of the field-of- view can diminish the pilot's spatial orientation ability in the night flying environment. We examined pilot performance in low level helicopter flight while the pilots were using NVGs with 40 degree(s), and 52 degree(s) fields-of-view. The pilots flew a standardized ADS-33D hover maneuver in a Bell 206 helicopter equipped with an accurate position measurement system. The tests were conducted in simulated night conditions and both subjective and objective measures of task performance were obtained. Pilot Cooper-Harper ratings increased from Level 1 baseline ratings to Level 2 ratings when the NVGs were used, indicating worse performance when using the NVGs. Small rating differences were noticed between the 52 degree(s) and 40 degree(s) field-of-view conditions. Similar trends were noticed in the objective data of altitude, and lateral and longitudinal station keeping errors.
A numerical analysis of variational valuation techniques for derivative securities

In this paper, we consider the partial differential equations approach for valuing European and American style options on multiple assets. We use a method of lines finite element implementation available in the software package Femlab in order to solve the variational inequality that characterizes the American style option, as well as the partial differential equation that defines the European style option, for two and three state variables. A detailed study of the approximation error is provided, including a theoretical estimate, an asymptotic analysis, the space-time distribution, and the dependence on the size of the truncation domain.
Role of the polychaete Neanthes succinea in phosphorus regeneration from sediments in the Salton Sea, California

The Salton Sea currently suffers from several well-documented water quality problems associated with high nutrient loading. However, the importance of phosphorus regeneration from sediments has not been established. Sediment phosphorus regeneration rates may be affected by benthic macroinvertebrate activity (e.g. bioturbation and excretion). The polychaete Neanthes succinea (Frey and Leuckart) is the dominant benthic macroinvertebrate in the Salton Sea. It is widely distributed during periods of mixing (winter and spring), and inhabits only shallow water areas following development of anoxia in summer. The contribution of N. succinea to sediment phosphorus regeneration was investigated using laboratory incubations of cores under lake temperatures and dissolved oxygen concentrations typical of the Salton Sea. Regeneration rates of soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) were lowest (−0.23–1.03 mg P m−2 day−1) under saturated oxygen conditions, and highest (1.23–4.67 mg P m−2 day−1) under reduced oxygen levels. N. succinea most likely stimulated phosphorus regeneration under reduced oxygen levels via increased burrow ventilation rates. Phosphorus excretion rates by N. succinea were 60–70% more rapid under reduced oxygen levels than under saturated or hypoxic conditions. SRP accounted for 71–80% of the dissolved phosphorus excreted under all conditions. Whole-lake SRP regeneration rates predicted from N. succinea biomass densities are highest in early spring, when the lake is mixing frequently and mid-lake phytoplankton populations are maximal. Thus, any additional phosphorus regenerated from the sediments at that time has potential for contributing to the overall production of the lake.
Multiprocessor implementation of modeling method for Planted Motif Problem

The Planted Motif Problem is a pattern-finding problem that arises in computational biology. In our previous work, we used Modeling Method has to solve these problems up to a size of (48, 12). For a certain range of problem sizes, the Modeling Method is much faster than other methods described in the literature. However, outside this range, the method is very slow, and this imposes a practical limitation on the range of problem sizes that can be solved by it. Here, we describe a multiprocessor implementation of the Modeling Method, which increases the range of problem sizes that can be solved in practical times. We also present a comprehensive table of running times observed to be taken by the multiprocessor implementation, to solve 52 problems over a range of problem sizes.
Spatial perception orientation task (SPOT): developing an accessible tool for measuring spatial working memory.

Software applications are becoming increasingly realistic and complex which creates greater opportunities for work, gameplay and education. However, the limitations of human working memory create serious constraints for software and hardware designers and developers. Working memory capacity differs across individuals and shows growth through early childhood and decline in many older adults. However, recent research has shown that working memory is trainable and can improve problems such as attentional deficit disorder and cognitive problems in aging. The current work describes the development and preliminary validation of SPOT; the Spatial Perception Orientation Task. Spatial working memory is particularly important to spatial cognition, including mental rotation and spatial visualization. It is also important to understanding navigation in complex game worlds. After validation is complete, HCI practitioners will find SPOT easy to use, and available on-line. It will also be usable for different age groups and for those with color deficiencies.
Simultaneous determination of fluoride, phosphate and sulfate in wet-process phosphoric acid by ion chromatgraphy

Abstract In the production of phosphoric acid, frequent, rapid and accurate determinations of sulfate and phosphate are needed to monitor the concentration of product acid, prepare recycle acid of the proper concentration, and maintin the desired amount of free sulfuric acid in the slurry. The density method for phosphate and the barium sulfate-centrifuge method for sulfate, along with various other methods, have been widely used. However, they are not as accurate and reliable as desired becasue they are affected by changes in the amounts of impurities in the acid. The reactor slurry also contains significant amounts of fluoride, which may affect both the composition and crystalline habit of the by-product calcium sulfate. Thus, a routine, yet acurate, method is needed for the simultaneous determination of anions in wet-process phosphoric acid. The use of ion chromatography (IC) has grown rapidly in recent years, and a few applications to fertilizer materials have been reported. Phosphate rock1–3, urea4–6, and granular fertilizers7 were successfully analyzed, but no reports have appeared on the analysis of wet-process phoshoric acid by IC. This note describes a simple, rapid, and reliable ion chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of fluoride (F-), phosphate (HPS2-4), and sulfate (SO2-4 in wet-process phosphoric acid.
Time-Out as a Punishment for Button Pushing

Three normal-speaking adults were assigned the task of speaking spontaneously for fifteen 40-minute sessions. During baserate, the subjects simultaneously performed a motor task that consisted of d...
The Biology of Azospirillum-sugarcane Association I. Establishment of the Association

Summary Callus cultures of tobacco, pearl millet, and centipede grass do not survive when inoculated with the free-living, nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azospirillum. The rapidly multiplying bacteria overgrow the callus, and death of the plant tissues ensues in about a week after inoculation. However, so long as the callus cells survive, the bacteria show nitrogenase activity if the callus is being grown on nutrient media totally or largely devoid of combined nitrogen. Under similar conditions, sugarcane callus cultures grow for periods of more than 18 months with regular sub-culture, and considerable amounts of nitrogenase activity can be demonstrated in such associated cultures. Plantlets have been regenerated from sugarcane callus tissues inoculated with Azospirillum.
Reduced expression of early growth response-1 gene in leiomyoma as identified by mRNA differential display.

Abstract Objectives. Despite being the most common pelvic tumor in women, little is known about the molecular basis of uterine leiomyoma growth. The purpose of this study was to (1) identify genes important for leiomyogenesis by comparing gene expression in leiomyoma and normal myometrium and (2) examine the expression level of selected genes on a larger panel of leiomyomas. Methods. The technique of mRNA differential display (DD) was used to perform a larger survey of gene expression in leiomyoma by comparing it to matched normal myometrium. Transcripts differentially expressed in leiomyoma were sequenced and further analyzed. Selected differentially expressed transcripts were used as probes on RNA blots of 20 pairs of leiomyomas and their matched myometria to evaluate their expression. The level of expression was analyzed by densitometry. Results. From 80 differentially expressed transcripts picked by DD, 30 were sequenced and compared to GenBank data. Selected transcripts were analyzed for mRNA levels on a panel of 20 pairs of leiomyomas and matched normal myometria. One transcript that matches the early response gene EGR1 was found to be dramatically reduced (9.2 times on average) in leiomyomas. The reduction was present in 100% of the tumors. Conclusions. mRNA differential display is a valid method for finding differences in gene expression between leiomyoma and normal myometrium. The consistency and level of EGR1 mRNA reduction in leiomyoma is an indication that this gene may play a role in the origin or growth of leiomyoma.
Papillomavirus common antigens. Papillomavirus antigen in verruca, benign papillomatous lesions, trichilemmoma, and bowenoid papulosis: an immunoperoxidase study.

• We surveyed a variety of papillomatous lesions, trichilemmoma, and bowenoid papulosis for the presence of papillomavirus common antigen using an unlabeled antibody peroxidase-antiperoxidase technique and an antibody against papillomavirus common antigen. Papillomavirus common antigen was detected in four of six verruca vulgaris lesions overlying the nuclei of koilocytotic cells. The antigen was observed much less often in the granular zone of verrucous lesions that did not contain koilocytotic cells. Thirteen of 18 lesions of bowenoid papulosis had positive immunostaining overlying occasional nuclei in the granular zone but the antigen was not detected in the granular zone of squamous cell carcinoma in situ or of trichilemmoma. These data support the hypothesis that some lesions of bowenoid papulosis represent a form of cutaneous infection by papillomavirus. (Arch Dermatol1984;120:859-861)
Polymidines. V. Poly[(3,3‐diphenyl‐2,6‐phthalimidinediyl)‐carbonyl(3,3‐diphenyl‐6,2‐phthalimidine)]s

A new diphthalide monomer, bis(3,3-diphenyl-6-phthalidyl) ketone, was polymerized with six diamines: 1,6-diaminohexane, benzidine, p-phenylene diamine, p,p′-diaminodiphenyl ether, p,p′-diaminodiphenylmethane, and 4,4′-diaminodiphenylsulfone. Solution polymerization in benzhydrol, biphenyl, or p-phenylphenol solvents gave low-molecular-weight polymers (inherent viscosity 0.13 dl/g or less) which were soluble in chloroform and dimethylformamide. TGA data showed 10% weight losses at 445–525°C in air and 475–540°C in nitrogen for the aromatic backbones. Yields ranged from 47 to 78%. The application of continuous vacuum to the polymerization allowed the removal of water by-product and resulted in a light-colored polymer.
Xanes Study of Hydrothermal Mo-V-Based Mixed Oxide M1-Phase Catalysts for the (Amm)oxidation of propane

The hydrothermal Mo−V-based mixed oxide catalysts possessing the M1-phase structure were investigated by XANES and in situ X-ray diffraction under ambient and dynamic redox conditions in the presence of O2 and H2 at 693 K. Under ambient conditions, XANES, with the use of model compounds, suggested oxidation states of Nb, Te, Mo, and V close to 5+, 4+, 6+, and 4+, respectively, in the bulk M1 phase. The oxidation state changes of Nb, Te, and Mo were not detected under the dynamic redox conditions employed, while the pre-edge peak of vanadium in the M1 phase exhibited small, reproducible shifts, suggesting that VOx is the active catalytic species in the bulk M1-phase catalysts for selective (amm)oxidation of propane.
New regulators for quantum field theories with compactified extra dimensions. I. Fundamentals

In this paper, we propose two new regulators for quantum field theories in spacetimes with compactified extra dimensions. We refer to these regulators as the 'extended hard cutoff' and 'extended dimensional regularization'. Although based on traditional four-dimensional regulators, the key new feature of these higher-dimensional regulators is that they are specifically designed to handle mixed spacetimes in which some dimensions are infinitely large and others are compactified. Moreover, unlike most other regulators which have been used in the extra-dimension literature, these regulators are designed to respect the original higher-dimensional Lorentz and gauge symmetries that exist prior to compactification, and not merely the four-dimensional symmetries which remain afterward. This distinction is particularly relevant for calculations of the physics of the excited Kaluza-Klein modes themselves, and not merely their radiative effects on zero modes. By respecting the full higher-dimensional symmetries, our regulators avoid the introduction of spurious terms which would not have been easy to disentangle from the physical effects of compactification. As part of our work, we also derive a number of ancillary results. For example, we demonstrate that in a gauge-invariant theory, analogues of the Ward-Takahashi identity hold not only for the usual zero-mode (four-dimensional) photons, but for all excitedmore » Kaluza-Klein photons as well.« less
Stepwise activation of the immunoglobulin μ heavy chain gene locus

The immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene locus spans several megabases. We show that IgH activation during B-cell differentiation, as measured by histone acetylation, occurs in discrete, independently regulated domains. Initially, a 120 kb domain of germline DNA is hyperacetylated, that extends from D(FL16.1), the 5'-most D(H) gene segment, to the intergenic region between Cmu and Cdelta. Germline V(H) genes were not hyperacetylated at this stage, which accounts for D(H) to J(H) recombination occurring first during B-cell development. Subsequent activation of the V(H) locus happens in at least three differentially regulated domains: an interleukin-7-regulated domain consisting of the 5' J558 family, an intermediate domain and the 3' V(H) genes, which are hyperacetylated in response to DJ(H) recombination. These observations lead to mechanisms for two well-documented phenomena in B-cell ontogeny: the sequential rearrangement of D(H) followed by V(H) gene segments, and the preferential recombination of D(H)-proximal V(H) genes in pro-B cells. We suggest that stepwise activation may be a general mechanism by which large segments of the genome are prepared for expression.
Mesophase formation in coal liquid solvent fractions

Abstract The single greatest influence on the mesophase microstructure is the chemical composition of the organic precursor. The effects of oxygen content and structural parameters of precursors from solvent fractions of coal liquefaction products on the microstructure and pyrolysis yields were determined. The fractions were analysed using the Brown-Ladner method to obtain average molecular structural parameters. It was found that pyrolysis yield increases with increased aromaticity and oxygen content and that mesophase microstructure is determined primarily by the oxygen content of the precursors.
Membrane estrogen signaling enhances tumorigenesis and metastatic potential of breast cancer cells via estrogen receptor-α36 (ERα36)

Protein kinase C (PKC) signaling can be activated rapidly by 17β-estradiol (E2) via nontraditional signaling in ERα-positive MCF7 and ERα-negative HCC38 breast cancer cells and is associated with tumorigenicity. Additionally, E2 has been shown to elicit anti-apoptotic effects in cancer cells counteracting pro-apoptotic effects of chemotherapeutics. Supporting evidence suggests the existence of a membrane-associated ER that differs from the traditional receptors, ERα and ERβ. Our aim was to identify the ER responsible for rapid PKC activation and to evaluate downstream effects, such as proliferation, apoptosis, and metastasis. RT-PCR, Western blot, and immunofluorescence were used to determine the presence of ER splice variants in multiple cell lines. E2 effects on PKC activity were measured with and without ER-blocking antibodies. Cell proliferation was determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation, and cell viability was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, (MTT) whereas apoptosis was determined by DNA fragmentation and TUNEL. Quantitative RT-PCR and sandwich ELISA were used to determine the effects on metastatic factors. The role of membrane-dependent signaling in cancer cell invasiveness was examined using an in vitro assay. The results indicate the presence of an ERα splice variant, ERα36, in ERα-positive MCF7 and ERα-negative HCC38 breast cancer cells, which localized to plasma membranes and rapidly activated PKC in response to E2, leading to deleterious effects such as enhancement of proliferation, protection against apoptosis, and enhancement of metastatic factors. These findings propose ERα36 as a novel target for the development of therapies that can prevent progression of breast cancer in the primary tumor as well as during metastasis.
Fractal trajectories in a numerical model of the upper Indian Ocean

Abstract. A wind-driven numerical model of the Indian Ocean is used to examine the horizontal statistics of hundreds of passive tracers spread evenly over the model domain. The distribution covers several dynamically distinct regions, revealing a variety of Lagrangian behaviours associated with different geographic locations. In particular, a cluster of trajectories with scaling dimension as large as 1.3 exists throughout the equatorial zone. Spectral analysis of trajectory displacements indicates mixed Rossby-gravity waves are involved in the production of some fractal trajectories.
Global Optimization of Pavement Structural Parameters during Back-Calculation Using Hybrid Shuffled Complex Evolution Algorithm

In this paper, the use of a hybrid evolutionary optimization algorithm is proposed for global optimization of pavement structural parameters through inverse modeling. Shuffled complex evolution (SCE) is a population-based stochastic optimization technique combining the competitive complex evolution with the controlled random search, the implicit clustering, and the complex shuffling. Back-calculation of pavement layer moduli is an ill-posed inverse engineering problem, which involves searching for the optimal combination of pavement layer stiffness solutions in an unsmooth, multimodal, complex search space. SCE is especially considered a robust and efficient approach for global optimization of multimodal functions. A desirable characteristic of the SCE algorithm is that it uses information about the nature of the response surface, extracted using the deterministic Simplex geometric shape, to direct the search into regions with higher posterior probability. The hybrid back-calculation system described in this paper combines the robustness of the SCE in global optimization with the computational efficiency of neural networks and advanced pavement system characterization offered by employing finite-element models. This is the first time the SCE approach is applied to real-time nondestructive evaluation of pavement systems required in the routine maintenance and rehabilitation activities for sustainable transportation infrastructure.
Role of the pituitary and sex hormones in the synthesis of cholinesterases

Abstract Following DFP poisoning pseudo-cholinesterase levels in plasma and liver returned to normal in about 3 weeks in ovariectomized, estrogen-treated, hypophysectomized, and control groups of female mice. True cholinesterase levels of the brain returned to baseline values in about 3 weeks in control, ovariectomized and estrogen-treated animals. Lower baseline values and also a significant delay in regeneration was found in the hypophysectomized animals. True cholinesterase levels of muscle 3 weeks after DFP treatment were higher than the baseline values in all but the hypophysectomized mice. This “overshoot” of enzyme production was significant at the 5% level. It appears that some endocrine influence may affect the true cholinesterase synthesis in nervous and striated muscle tissue, but it probably does not affect pseudo-cholinesterase production.
Out-of-core visualization using iterator-aware multidimensional prefetching

Visualization of multidimensional data presents special challenges for the design of efficient out-of-core data access. Elements that are nearby in the visualization may not be nearby in the underlying data file, which can severely tax the operating system’s disk cache. The Granite Scientific Database System can address these problems because it is aware of the organization of the data on disk, and it knows the visualization method’s pattern of access. The access pattern is expressed using a toolkit of iterators that both describe the access pattern and perform the iteration itself. Because our system has knowledge of both the data organization and the access pattern, we are able to provide significant performance improvements while hiding the details of out-of-core access from the visualization programmer. This paper presents a brief description of our disk access system placing special emphasis on the benefits offered to a visualization application. We describe a simple demonstration application that shows dramatic performance improvements when used with the 39GB Visible Woman Dataset.
Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders in liver transplantation: a 20-year experience.

Objective To evaluate the incidence of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) and the risk factors and the impact of this complication on survival outcomes in a large cohort of liver transplant recipients at a single institution.
Effect of DMPS and DMSA on the Placental and Fetal Disposition of Methylmercury

Methylmercury (CH3Hg+) is a serious environmental toxicant. Exposure to this metal during pregnancy can cause serious neurological and developmental defects in a developing fetus. Surprisingly, little is known about the mechanisms by which mercuric ions are transported across the placenta. Although it has been shown that 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulfonate (DMPS) and 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) are capable of extracting mercuric ions from various organs and cells, there is no evidence that they are able to extract mercury from placental or fetal tissues following maternal exposure to CH3Hg+. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the ability of DMPS and DMSA to extract mercuric ions from placental and fetal tissues following maternal exposure to CH3Hg+. Pregnant Wistar rats were exposed to CH3HgCl, containing [203Hg], on day 11 or day 17 of pregnancy and treated 24 h later with saline, DMPS or DMSA. Maternal organs, fetuses, and placentas were harvested 48 h after exposure to CH3HgCl. The disposition of mercuric ions in maternal organs and tissues was similar to that reported previously by our laboratory. The disposition of mercuric ions in placentas and fetuses appeared to be dependent upon the gestational age of the fetus. The fetal and placental burden of mercury increased as fetal age increased and was reduced by DMPS and DMSA, with DMPS being more effective. The disposition of mercury was examined in liver, total renal mass, and brain of fetuses harvested on gestational day 19. On a per gram tissue basis, the greatest amount of mercury was detected in the total renal mass of the fetus, followed by brain and liver. DMPS and DMSA reduced the burden of mercury in liver and brain while only DMPS was effective in the total renal mass. The results of the current study are the first to show that DMPS and DMSA are capable of extracting mercuric ions, not only from maternal tissues, but also from placental and fetal tissues following maternal exposure to CH3Hg+.
Current Status of Large-Scale InP Photonic Integrated Circuits

In this paper, the current state of the art for large-scale InP photonic integrated circuits (PICs) is reviewed with a focus on the devices and technologies that are driving the commercial scaling of highly integrated devices. Specifically, the performance, reliability, and manufacturability of commercial 100-Gb/s dense wavelength-division-multiplexed transmitter and receiver PICs are reviewed as well as next- and future-generation devices (500 Gb/s and beyond). The large-scale PIC enables significant reductions in cost, packaging complexity, size, fiber coupling, and power consumption which have enabled benefits at the component and system level.
Operating system exploitation of the POWER5 system

The POWER5TM system incorporates several features designed to improve performance by eliminating bottlenecks and accelerating common functions used in operating systems. This paper discusses how two of the supported operating systems for POWER5--AIX® and LinuxTM--make use of these features to deliver improved system scalability and performance. In particular, the overheads for synchronizing translation-lookaside buffer (TLB) invalidations between processors, and for ensuring that the instruction cache is kept coherent by software, have been removed. The POWER5 simultaneous multithreading (SMT) implementation has features which allow operating systems to optimize the system for the kinds of applications being executed. We discuss how the operating systems approach the problems of scheduling tasks across the system, of determining when to switch processors between single-threaded (ST) and SMT mode, and of accounting accurately for CPU usage when in the SMT mode.
Efficient low-dose CT artifact mitigation using an artifact-matched prior scan.

Purpose: Low-dose CT has attracted increasing attention due to growing concerns about radiation exposure in medical scans. However, the frugal use of x-ray radiation inevitably reduces the quality of the CTimages, introducing artifacts such as noise and streaks which make the reconstructed images difficult to read in clinical routine. For follow-up CT exams a prior scan is often available. It typically contains the same anatomical structures, just somewhat deformed and not aligned. This work describes a two-step technique that utilizes this prior scan to achieve high-quality low-dose CTimaging, overcoming difficulties arising from noise artifacts and misalignment. We specifically focus on reducing the dose by lowering the number of projections. This gives rise to severe streak artifacts which possibly lower the readability of CTimages to a larger extent than the fine-grained noise that results from lowering the mA or kV settings. Methods: A common approach is to apply image filtering to reduce the noise artifacts. These techniques typically utilize pixel neighborhoods in the degraded image to estimate the true value of a pixel at the center of this neighborhood. However, this can lead to poor results when the image is severely contaminated under very low low-dose situations. We propose a method that utilizes the nondegraded, clean prior to determine higher quality pixel statistics to form the pixel estimates, supported by the matching scheme of the non-local means filter. To make this matching reliable, a good registration of prior and low-dose image is required. For this, we employ a state-of-the-art registration method, called SIFT-flow, which can tolerate the high amount of streak noise. But even for properly registered images, using an artifact free prior for the matching yields inferior results. We hence describe a scheme that first constructs a tandem-prior with streak artifacts resembling those in the low-dose image, and then employs this image for the matching, but uses the corresponding high-quality prior to determine the pixel estimates. Results: Two experimental studies are carried out, using a head phantom and a human lung with projections gathered via simulation. We assess the quality of the processed reconstruction with various metrics: mathematical and perceptual. We find that the quality that can be obtained with the artifact-matched prior-based scheme significantly exceeds that of all competing schemes. Even though the general prior-based approach is able to eliminate the streak artifacts, only the artifact-matched scheme can restore small detail and feature sharpness. Conclusions: The reduced-projection low-dose image reconstruction algorithm we present outperforms traditional image restoration algorithms when a prior scan is available. Our method is quite efficient and as such it is well suited for fast-paced clinical applications such as image-assisted interventions, orthopedic alignment scans, and follow-ups.
Effect of genotyping error in model-free linkage analysis using microsatellite or single-nucleotide polymorphism marker maps

Errors while genotyping are inevitable and can reduce the power to detect linkage. However, does genotyping error have the same impact on linkage results for single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and microsatellite (MS) marker maps? To evaluate this question we detected genotyping errors that are consistent with Mendelian inheritance using large changes in multipoint identity-by-descent sharing in neighboring markers. Only a small fraction of Mendelian consistent errors were detectable (e.g., 18% of MS and 2.4% of SNP genotyping errors). More SNP genotyping errors are Mendelian consistent compared to MS genotyping errors, so genotyping error may have a greater impact on linkage results using SNP marker maps. We also evaluated the effect of genotyping error on the power and type I error rate using simulated nuclear families with missing parents under 0, 0.14, and 2.8% genotyping error rates. In the presence of genotyping error, we found that the power to detect a true linkage signal was greater for SNP (75%) than MS (67%) marker maps, although there were also slightly more false-positive signals using SNP marker maps (5 compared with 3 for MS). Finally, we evaluated the usefulness of accounting for genotyping error in the SNP data using a likelihood-based approach, which restores some of the power that is lost when genotyping error is introduced.
Reliability of the Services Assessment for Children and Adolescents

Objective: This study examined the test-retest reliability of a new instrument, the Services Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA), for children’s use of mental health services. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken at two sites. The St. Louis site used a volunteer sample recruited from mental health clinics and local schools. The Ventura County, California, site used a double-blind, community-based sample seeded with cases of service-using children. Participating families completed the SACA and were retested within four to 14 days. The reliability of service use items was calculated with use of the kappa statistic. Results: The SACA– Parent Version had excellent test-retest reliability for both lifetime service use and previous 12-month use. The SACA also had good to excellent reliability when administered to children aged 11 and older for lifetime and 12-month use. Reliability figures for children aged nine and ten years were considerably lower for lifetime and 12-month use. The younger children’s responses suggested that they were confused about some questions. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that parents and older children can reliably report use of mental health services by using the SACA. The SACA can be used to collect currently unavailable information about use of mental health services. (Psychiatric Services 52:1088–1094, 2001)
Reliability of lead-free copper columns in comparison with tin-lead solder column interconnects

The thermo mechanical behavior of the ceramic lead-free copper column grid array (CuCGA) package has bee characterized under accelerated thermal cycling using high sensitivity moire interferometry and compared with conventional ceramic tin-lead column grid arrays (CCGA). Unlike tin-lead columns, where the failure occurs at the column near the top of the solder fillet and through the thickness of the column, in the CuCGA, the failure is found to occur first in the solder fillet along the periphery of the copper column that propagates along the boundary of the column and solder fillet. The accumulated plastic deformation per cycle is bigger in tin-lead columns compared to the copper columns. A deformation mechanism is provided to explain the nature of this failure.
Gas chromatography of the dihydroxybenzoic acids

Abstract The properties and suitability of various volatile derivatives of the six isomeric dihydroxybenzoic acids were established on one nonpolar and two polar columns. A pooled specimen of urine from 15 normal adults was examined by a method which would detect the free acids or any of their O -methylated derivatives. None of the six acids were present in untreated or acid-hydrolyzed urine at levels by which 0.5 μg/mg creatinine would have been detected.
Effects of a metabotropic, mglu5, glutamate receptor antagonist on ethanol consumption by genetic drinking rats.

Aims: To compare the effect of an antagonist of the mGlu5 glutamate receptor, 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP) on a test for anxiety and on the volitional consumption of ethanol. Methods: The test for anxiety was placement of a Sprague-Dawley rat for a 5 min observation period in an elevated plus-maze. Volitional consumption of ethanol in a two-choice paradigm was determined for male and female myers high ethanol-preferring rats after a 10-day ‘step-up’ test of 3–30% v/v ethanol vs water used to determine each rat's preferred concentration of ethanol. Each rat received a 4-day baseline period, 3-days of drug injection b.i.d., and a 4-day post-treatment period and then rotated to a different dose of drug or vehicle. Results: The effects of MPEP on elevated plus-maze activity were not significant at doses up to 3.0 mg/kg subcutaneously 60 min. before observation. There was a dose-dependent, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0 mg/kg, decrease in consumption of preferred concentrations of ethanol, along with a decrease in the proportion of ethanol consumed to total fluids consumed. The 3.0 mg/kg b.i.d. dose of MPEP reduced consumption by 57%, proportion by 45%, and food intake by 10%. Conclusions: MPEP did not appear to have an anti-anxiety effect, but volitional drinking in a genetic model was reduced. The mGlu5 receptor may provide a target for drug action to reduce the consumption of ethanol. ( Received 18 March 2005; first review notified 31 May 2005; in final revised form 29 July 2005; accepted 29 July 2005)
Molecular recognition of neurotransmitter GABA using acoustic sensors

The conventional detection methods for neurotransmitter /spl gamma/-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are concentrated on HPLC and enzymatic reactions. We report here a novel acoustic immunosensor for dynamic measurement of GABA in buffer solution using an immunohistochemical strategy. The adsorption process of anti-GABA on a well-defined gold electrode surface of a quartz crystal and the immuno-interaction between GABA and anti-GABA in liquid were monitored. Real time measurements of changes in the resonant frequency and electrical equivalent circuit parameters of the quartz crystal were used to monitor the above two processes. The resonant frequency changes of the quartz crystal were a direct indicator of change in mass of the quartz crystal. The electrical circuit parameters were used to analyze the changes in the interfacial viscoelastic properties of anti-GABA adsorption in air and GABA binding in liquid. It was found that water plays a critical role in antibody immobilization process. The proposed immunosensor can detect the concentration of GABA down to 38.0 /spl mu/M in buffer solution. Further, it showed no response against common interferents in brain, like L-aspartic acid, L-glutamine, L-alanine, 5-aminovaleric acid, glycine, (s)-(+)-2-aminobutyric acid. We conclude that this sensor will find potential application in real time monitoring of GABA.
Life history comparison of two green lacewing species Chrysoperla johnsoni and Chrysoperla carnea (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae)

We investigated the life histories of two green lacewing species, Chrysoperla johnsoni Henry, Wells, and Pupedis from western North America, and Chrysoperla carnea (Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) from western Europe in the laboratory. There were both similarities and differences in their life history characteristics. C. johnsoni exhibited a significantly longer developmental time for egg, first instar, and pupal stage than C. carnea. C. carnea exhibited a significantly shorter egg to adult developmental time than C. johnsoni. Except for the pupal stage, the survival of all other life history stages was not species-specific. All C. carnea pupae were able to develop into adults, whereas only 92% of adult eclosion was observed from C. johnsoni pupae. There was no difference in egg to adult survival between the two species. Adult longevity was not species- or gender-specific. Sex ratio of emerged adults was ≈50% in both species. C. johnsoni had a longer preoviposition period than C. carnea, while the oviposition period was similar for both species. C. carnea had higher lifetime fecundity and fertility than C. johnsoni, as measured by total number of eggs laid and production of fertile eggs, respectively. Egg viability did not differ between the two species. Intrinsic rates of increase (rm) for C. carnea and C. johnsoni were 0.161 and 0.132, respectively. All lacewings used in this experiment were laboratory reared under environmental conditions similar to field as possible. This is the first available information on the life history parameters of C. johnsoni.
Migraine Tweets – What can online behavior tell us about disease?

Social media provides a stream of real-time, user-generated updates from millions of people globally. What can Google and Twitter behavior teach us about migraine? With Google trends (http://www.google.com/trends/) we determined the relative number of “migraine” searches in the United States between 1 January 2007 and 31 July 2012 There were significantly more searches for “migraine” during weekdays than during weekends and holidays like Thanksgiving and Memorial Day (p <0.00001), consistent with studies indicating a decreased risk of migraine attacks on days o3 (1). During the working week, Tuesdays had the highest (p = 0.02) and Fridays the lowest (p = 0.00009) frequency of searches. Second, we used a publicly available online tool —timeuse (http://timeu.se/) — that consists of a timestamped searchable bank of millions of Twitter messages (2). “Migraine” was Tweeted significantly more on weekdays than on weekends (p = 0.00003). During the working week, Monday had the highest and Friday the lowest frequency, and Tweets were most common around 7 a.m. (See Figure 1.) This is consistent with a study on migraine attacks in patients, where these peaked between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. (3). On a population basis, the Tweeting of the terms “stress” and “migraine” were most correlated when the stress time series was lagged two hours (r = 0.67). Figure 1 Tweets of “Migraine” across the day. “Headache” Tweets peaked at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the working week, and at 9:30 on weekend mornings. “Headache” was Tweeted around six times more often than “migraine.” In 100 sampled Twitter reports of migraine, 81 were from women, 17 were from men and two were without identifiable gender. Both the ratio between headache and migraine, and the ratio between men and women, are comparable to results from large-scale epidemiological studies (4). Many of the sampled Tweets described frustration, symptoms, disease duration, medications and suspected triggers. An in-depth analysis of time series of Tweets by individual migraineurs may provide information on triggers such as sleep deprivation, stress and foods, as may analysis of Google searches and Tweets in relation to sunlight, temperature, latitude (5), cultural events or even barometric pressure. We conclude that online behavior is a rich, free source of voluntary self-reports that can enrich or supplement epidemiological and diary studies on disease.
The Effect of Social Support on Quality of Life in Older Adults Receiving Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The current study extends the findings of Scogin et al. (2007) by exploring the role of social support in changes in quality of life resulting from home-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). One hundred thirty-seven participants, characterized primarily as rural, low resource, and frail, were randomly assigned to either CBT or a minimal support control condition. Hierarchical regression revealed that positive change in satisfaction with social support was associated with improvement in quality of life beyond the effects of the CBT treatment. In addition, pretreatment satisfaction with social support, and change in satisfaction with social support moderated the effect of CBT on quality of life. These results suggest that bolstering social support concomitant to CBT may increase quality of life.