cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transaction Systems and Unlawful Organizational Behavior

The transaction systems of complex organizations are a critical but understudied element of inter-organizational relations. Transactions between complex organizations are characterized by formalization, intricate and highly specialized processing and recording methods, reliance on trust, and general, rather than specific, monitoring procedures. These characteristics may each facilitate unlawful behavior, or they may combine in ways which systematically produce illegality. When this is the case, the organization may have a criminogenic transaction system.
Survival Advantage and Improved Durability of Mitral Repair for Leaflet Prolapse Subsets in the Current Era

Background Factors predicting long-term survival and reoperative risk after mitral valve repair for subsets with prolapse involving the anterior leaflet in the current era are unclear. Methods Between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1999, surgical correction of mitral regurgitation was performed in 2,219 patients. We analyzed a subset of 1,411 patients with isolated mitral regurgitation due to leaflet prolapse undergoing mitral repair or replacement (± coronary bypass). Results Mean age was 64 years, and 1,003 (71%) were men. Mitral repair was performed in 1,173 (83%) patients. Factors independently predicting overall long-term survival included valve repair, younger age, better functional class, and the absence of significant coronary artery disease. After adjusting for these, smaller preoperative left ventricular end-systolic dimension and greater preoperative ejection fraction were associated with superior survival. Mitral reoperation occurred in 97 patients (75 repairs, 22 replacements), at a mean of 4.8 years after initial procedure. Cumulative risk of reoperation was similar for patients having valve repair or replacement. Factors predictive of need for reoperation after initial repair were younger age, anterior leaflet prolapse, chordal shortening, no leaflet resection, no prosthetic annuloplasty, greater than mild residual mitral regurgitation, and coronary artery disease. After valve replacement, the sole determinant of reoperation was use of a biological prosthesis. The durability of repair for prolapse of the anterior leaflet improved significantly during the second decade of the study. Conclusions Mitral repair affords superior long-term survival, with permanence comparable with mechanical valve replacement. In all categories of mitral leaflet prolapse, durability of valve repair has improved over the past decade.
Trypsin‐Like Activity in Subgingival Plaque

Taxonomic screening of subgingival plaque organisms with various enzyme assays have shown that Treponema denticola, Bacteroides gingivalis and an unspeciated Capnocytophaga species possess a trypsin-like enzyme (TLE) that can be detected by the hydrolysis of N-benzoyl-DL-arginine-2-naphthylamide (BANA). As these organisms can be considered to be periodontopathic, it was of interest to determine whether this BANA hydrolyzing enzyme could be detected directly in subgingival plaque samples. Subgingival plaque samples were collected from single sites of known pocket depth, and after dispersal by vortexing, aliquots were incubated overnight with BANA and were counted microscopically. The color reactions were developed with fast garnet, read by the eye and classified as positive (red to red-orange), negative (yellow) and questionable. In the BANA-positive plaques, the spirochetes averaged 43% of the microscopic count, whereas in the BANA negative plaques the spirochetes averaged 8% of the microscopic count. The average pocket depth of BANA-positive plaques was 6.7 mm, whereas the average pocket depth of BANA-negative plaques was 4.5 mm. When both of these parameters were combined, the presence of a positive BANA reaction was usually indicative of subgingival plaques containing greater than 34% spirochetes removed from sites that had probing depths of 7 mm or more. Seventy-one per cent of the plaques removed from untreated periodontal patients were BANA-positive, while only 8% of the plaques removed from successfully treated patients seen at maintenance recall visits were BANA-positive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
HYBRID VIGOR IN A TROPICAL PACIFIC SOFT-CORAL COMMUNITY

Although hybridization is a relatively widespread phenomenon in marine ecosystems, the ecological importance of hybrids is poorly understood. As crosses between two distinct genotypes, hybrids might express fitness characteristics similar to either parent species, or they might produce unique phenotypic attributes that make them more or less fit than either parent species. We identified a potential hybrid zone among soft corals in a back-reef community on Guam, where the broadcast-spawning species Sinularia maxima and S. polydactyla co-occur. Morphological and chemical traits confirmed the intermediate and unique status of the putative hybrid. Laboratory cross-fertilization experiments using S. maxima and S. polydactyla gametes demonstrated that barriers to hybridization are absent and that the laboratory-reared hybrids developed specific characteristics identified in adult hybrid field populations. Changes in the populations of each parent species and the hybrid were monitored over a decade. While popula...
Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase gene expression: synergistic activation by Egr-1, AP-2 and the glucocorticoid receptor

The gene encoding the epinephrine synthesizing enzyme, phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT), is transcriptionally activated by Egr-1, AP-2, and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Stimulation by AP-2 requires its synergistic interaction with an activated GR. The present studies show that the GR also cooperates with Egr-1 or the combination of Egr-1 and AP-2 to activate the PNMT promoter. Together Egr-1, AP-2, and the GR can induce PNMT promoter-mediated luciferase reporter gene expression beyond the sum of their independent contributions as well as synergistically activate the endogenous PNMT gene leading to marked increases in PNMT mRNA. Examination of the effects of mutation of the AP-2 or Egr-1 binding sites on PNMT promoter activation by DEX and the factor binding to the remaining intact site or by all three transcriptional activators showed changes in luciferase reporter gene expression which suggest that DNA structure may be altered thereby reducing or enhancing synergistic activation. It also appears that the -165 bp Egr-1 site may not be critical for the synergism observed between Egr-1, AP-2 and the GR. When the glucocorticoid response element (GRE) within the PNMT promoter was mutated, PNMT promoter activation by Egr-1 and DEX, AP-2 and DEX or all three showed both inhibition and enhancement, even when the GRE was completely eliminated. These observations indicate that induction of PNMT gene transcription may occur either through GR interaction with other transcriptional proteins after binding to its cognate GRE or through direct protein-protein interaction in the absence of GRE binding. While the mechanisms by which Egr-1 and the GR and Egr-1, AP-2 and the GR function cooperatively to stimulate PNMT promoter activity remain to be elucidated, this synergistic stimulation of the PNMT promoter by these factors may provide important in vivo and in vitro regulatory control of the PNMT gene.
An 8-Channel Sample-and-Hold with Multiplexed Analog Output

An economical 8-channel sample-and-hold unit, serially addressable with multiplexed output, is described. The unit accepts clipped inputs of 5 nsec (nominal) FWHM; the positive overshoot of the clipped pulse is rejected. The outputs are held to ± 1 mV for ? 1 msec, and are linear to ±1% from 30 mV to 1 V. The output sensitivity is 10 mV per picocoulomb of input charge.
OBSERVATIONS OF FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES IN THE DEMAND FOR AVIATION SERVICES

Abstract This paper addresses the seemingly inexorable decline in yield in the airline industry. The external shocks to the industry of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, wars in Afghanistan and the Arabian Gulf and SARS all had downward impacts on the demand for air travel. However, these effects mask a more fundamental change in the demand for aviation services. The analysis uses published sources and a survey of 264 travellers to examine the fall in yields. The traffic mix of economy, business and first class passengers is shown to have changed over a 10 year period as proportionally more travellers choose to use economy class products. This combined with a fall in yield by a third in this cabin during the same period has lead to a significant fall in industrywide yields. Behavioural shifts in business travel and leisure demand are examined. Business travellers have switched from business class products as the difference between business class and leisure fares have increased significantly and as economy class and low-cost carrier products are increasingly viewed as acceptable for business traveller needs, particularly in short-haul markets. Leisure travel has increased as low-cost carriers have introduced low fares, generating new traffic and winning market share from scheduled and charter airline competitors alike.
Pressure-induced transformations of the low-cristobalite phase of GaPO4.

Tsuneyuki et al. predicted a new high pressure phase of silica using a molecular dynamics calculation; this calculation was novel in that it predicted a new crystal structure using only a knowledge of the chemical composition [Nature (London) 339, 209 (1989)]. We report that the low-cristobalite phase of ${\mathrm{GaPO}}_{4}$ undergoes a pressure-induced transition at 15.9 GPa to this novel phase, which contains tetrahedral and octahedral coordination shells of oxygen atoms around the phosphorus and gallium atoms, respectively. This pressure-induced coordination change in ${\mathrm{GaPO}}_{4}$ verifies a mechanism proposed for the tetrahedral-to-octahedral coordination change in minerals that occurs in the transition zone between the upper and lower mantle.
The Noncatalytic C-terminal Segment of the T Cell Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Regulates Activity via an Intramolecular Mechanism

Human T cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TCPTP) is a nontransmembrane enzyme, the first of the protein tyrosine phosphatase family to be cloned. Alternative mRNA splicing results in variation in the sequence at the extreme C terminus of TCPTP and generates a 45-kDa form (TC45) that is targeted to the nucleus and a 48-kDa variant (TC48) associated with membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum. In this report, we assessed the role of the C-terminal, noncatalytic segment of TCPTP in regulating activity, concentrating primarily on the TC45 variant. We have demonstrated that limited tryptic proteolysis of TC45 releases first a 42-kDa fragment, then a 33-kDa catalytic domain. Using reduced carboxyamidomethylated and maleylated lysozyme as substrate (RCML), the catalytic domain displays 20–100-fold more activity than the full-length enzyme. Analysis of the time course of limited trypsinolysis revealed that proteolytic activation occurred following cleavage of a protease-sensitive region (residues 353–387) located at the C terminus of TC45. The activity of truncation mutants illustrated that removal of 20 C-terminal residues was sufficient to activate the enzyme fully. The 33-kDa catalytic domain, but not the full-length enzyme, was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by addition of the noncatalytic C-terminal segment of TC45. A monoclonal antibody to TCPTP, CF4, which recognizes an epitope located between residues 350 and 363, was capable of fully activating TC45. These data indicate that the noncatalytic segment of TC45 contains an autoregulatory site that modulates activity via a reversible intramolecular interaction with the catalytic domain. These studies suggest that the C-terminal noncatalytic segment of TC45, and possibly TC48, may not only direct the enzyme to different subcellular locations but may also modulate activity in response to the binding of regulatory proteins and/or posttranslational modification.
Evaluation of a clinical pathway for sedation and analgesia of mechanically ventilated patients in a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU): The Brigham and Women's Hospital Levine CICU sedation pathways.

Background:Intravenous sedation and analgesia are important therapies during mechanical ventilation (MV). However, daily interruption of these medications is associated with improved outcomes in mechanically ventilated patients. We tested a clinical pathway for the use of sedation and analgesia during MV in a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU).Methods and results:We evaluated all mechanically ventilated patients in a CICU during two phases: phase 1 prior to pathway implementation (PRE) and phase 2 post-pathway implementation (POST). A total of 198 patients (98 PRE and 100 POST) and 1012 days of intubation (574 PRE and 434 POST) were included in this analysis. We found an increase in the frequency of daily interruptions of sedation post-implementation (49.3% PRE and 58.4% POST, p=0.0041). There was a significant decrease in the mean duration of MV in the POST vs PRE periods (5.0±2.3 vs 6.1±2.8 days, p=0.015). There was also a significant decrease in total neuroimaging studies (9 vs 49, p=0.001) and a trend...
Saved by a Log How Do Humans Perform Hybrid Visual and Memory Search

Could you find 1 of your 1,000 Facebook friends in a crowd of 100? Even at a rate of 25 ms per comparison, determining that no friends were in the crowd would take more than 40 min if memory and visual search interacted linearly. In the experiment reported here, observers memorized pictures of 1 to 100 targets and then searched for any of these targets in visual displays of 1 to 16 objects. Response times varied linearly with visual set size but logarithmically with memory set size. Data from memory set sizes of 1 through 16 accurately predicted response times for different observers holding 100 objects in memory. The results would be consistent with a binary coding of visual objects in memory and are relevant to applied searches in which experts look for any of many items of interest (e.g., a radiologist running through a mental checklist of what might be wrong in a car-crash victim or an airport screener looking for any of a list of prohibited items in a carry-on bag).
Abstract 388: Body Mass Index Predicts Major leeding Risks in Patients on Warfarin

Background: Despite the lack of an optimum dosing strategy in obese patients, warfarin remains the most commonly used anticoagulant. Body mass index (BMI) > 30 has been linked to increased time to obtain a therapeutic institutionalized normalized ratio (INR) on initiation of warfarin as well as higher maintenance dose. Obese patients have higher dosage requirements, however, few studies have examined the relationship between warfarin and bleeding events in these patients. Aim: We examined the performance of BMI in predicting the incidence of bleeding at an anticoagulation clinic (ACC) over a one year period. Methods: 863 patients followed in an ACC were evaluated for bleeds according to BMI over a one year period. BMI was defined as weight (kg)/height (m2). CHADS2VASC scores were calculated. Major (gastrointestinal, intracerebral and retroperitoneal hemorrhage) and minor bleeding events (epistaxis, hematuria, vaginal and skin bleeds) were ascertained. Results: 71 ( 8.2%) of the 863 patients had a bleeding...
Robust mask-layout and process synthesis

A method for automated mask-layout and process synthesis for MEMS is presented. The synthesis problem is approached by use of a genetic algorithm. For a given desired device shape, and several fabrication process choices, this synthesis method will produce one or more mask-layouts and associated fabrication process sequences (which when used can generate shapes close to the desired one). Given complicated device shapes and wide range of fabrication process possibilities, the designer may encounter difficulty producing the right mask-layout and fabrication procedure by experience and trial and error. An automated synthesis tool like this will be helpful to the designer by increasing the efficiency and accuracy of the design of MEMS devices.
Has evolution in awareness of guidelines for institution of damage control improved outcome in the management of the posttraumatic open abdomen

HYPOTHESIS Awareness of guidelines for damage control can improve patient outcomes after postraumatic open abdomen. DESIGN Retrospective (November 1992 to December 1998), prospective (January 1999 to July 2001), 104-month study. SETTING Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles. PATIENTS All patients undergoing damage control resulting in posttraumatic open abdomen. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The main outcome measure was survival. Data were also collected on surgical findings and indications for damage control, including organs injured, intraoperative estimated blood loss, and intraoperative fluids, blood, and blood products administered. Postoperative complications, length of time patients had an open abdomen, and surgical intensive care unit and hospital length of stay were also recorded. RESULTS No difference in mortality existed between patients admitted before awareness of guidelines (group 1; 21 [24%] of 86 patients died) and patients who underwent damage control following these suggested guidelines (group 2; 13 [24%] of 53 patients died) (P =.85). Of the 139 patients, 100 had penetrating injuries and 39 had blunt injuries. Estimated blood loss was 4764 +/- 5349 mL. Mean intraoperative fluid replacement was 22 034 mL. One hundred one patients (73%) experienced 228 complications, for a mean of 2.26 complications per patient. Group 1 patients spent a longer time in the operating room (mean, 4.09 +/- 1.99 hours; range, 0.4-9.5 hours) vs group 2 patients (mean, 2.34 +/- 1.50 hours; range, 0.3-6.2 hours; P<.001). The surgical intensive care unit length of stay was 23.5 +/- 18.3 days vs 8.7 +/- 14.9 days (P<.001), and the hospital length of stay was 37.4 +/- 27.5 days vs 12.4 +/- 21.0 days (P<.001) in survivors and nonsurvivors, respectively. CONCLUSIONS We recommend close monitoring of intraoperative outcome predictors as validated within our guidelines and recommend following our model for early institution of damage control.
PRISM: A Practical Mealtime Imaging Stereo Matcher

A fast stereo-matching algorithm designed to operate in the presence of noise is described. The algorithm has its roots in the zero-crossing theory of Marr and Poggio but does not explicitly match zero-crossing contours. While these contours are for the most part stably tied to fixed surface locations, some fraction is always perturbed significantly by system noise. Zero-crossing contour based matching algorithms tend to I- very sensitive to these local distortions and ar, prevented from operating well on signals with moderate noise levels even though a substantial amount of information may still be present. The dual representationA¢â¬â?regions of constant sign in the V2G convolution persist much further into the noise than does the local geometry of the zero-crossing contours that delimit them. The PRISM system was designed to test this approach. The initial design task of the implementation has been to rapidly detect obstacles in a robotics work space and determine their rough extents and heights. In this case speed and reliability are important but precision is less critical. The system uses a pair of inexpensive vidicon cameras mounted above the workspace of a PUMA robot manipulator. The digitized video signals are fed to a high speed digital convolver that applies a 322 VG operator to the images at a 106 pixel per second rate. Matching is accomplished in software on a lisp machine with individual near/far tests taking less than i3luth of a second. A 36 by 26 matrix of absolute height measurements - in mm - over a 100 pixel disparity range is produced in 30 seconds from image acquisition to final output. Three scales of resolution are used in a coarse guides fine search. Acknowledgment: This report describes research done at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of 'Technology Support for the laboratory's artificial intelligence research is provided in part by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense under Office of Naval Research contract N00014-80-C-0505 and in part by National Science Foundation Grant 79-23110MCS.© (1984) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Looking Backward: Twentieth-Century Themes in Charity, Voluntarism, and the Third Sector

A central theme is identified in high school texts published in the 20th century: that philanthropy and voluntary service in the late 19th and early 20th centuries formed meaningful responses to the circumstances of their times. A second part of the theme says that, when the time came, the third sector proved inadequate to the challenges posed by the Great Depression. The authors identify seven themes in 20th-century third sector study that elaborate this basic story: complement, challenge, auxiliary, alternative, apostasy, impediment, and transformation. The authors conclude that the third sector articulates needs, offers assurance and comfort, permits individuals to join in creating the joys of shared community life, and provides opportunities for the greatest and the least in society to make common cause. Although they are not likely to get much notice in the popular histories abounding with the new millennium, ideas produced by our recently concluded century abound concerning where charity, voluntarism, and the third sector fit into the common American story. Those who rely on these ideas to describe the realities they study or to justify favored policies may not be fully familiar with the paths by which these ideas came into common use. Nor is it widely known how these ideas were used in the past or what their connections were to other, seemingly different, conceptions that aimed to describe the same phenomena and relationships. In this article, we identify one key theme in the American story and briefly describe how it came about. We then proceed to illustrate why this idea seems to have persisted and, even where it is vigorously challenged, how it retains a major part of its influence.
Probing silicon substitution in molecular sieves by plasma desorption mass spectrometry

Abstract Plasma desorption was used to produce secondary ion mass spectra from samples of unsubstituted and substituted aluminum phosphate materials. The yield of fingerprint ions representative of silicon oxide solids indicates that the incorporation of silicon into the material during synthesis and following calcination occurs via the formation of silicon-rich islands. Complementary X-ray photoelectron data provide supporting evidence that the surface of the substituted aluminum phosphate material becomes silicon rich and phosphorus depleted. No changes in the unsubstituted and substituted material with respect to composition and phase were detected using powder X-ray diffraction.
Laboratory studies of the nitric acid trihydrate: Implications for the south polar stratosphere

Vapor pressures of HNO3 and H2O have been measured over the trihydrate crystal, formed by vapor deposit on a glass surface. In the temperature range 190 to 205 K the two phase-equilibrium trihydrate/vapor was studied by adding and removing H2O. Coexistence equilibria vapor pressures of trihydrate/solid solutions of HNO3 in ice and of mono-/trihydrate were also measured. Results show that for typical mixing ratios of H2O and HNO3 found in the lower stratosphere (3 ppm H2O, 5 ppb HNO3) the trihydrate would start to form at temperatures about 7 K higher than the ice point. The pressure of atmospheric HNO3 would rapidly decrease as the atmosphere cools without large changes in partial pressures of H2O. These laboratory results provide information on the formation of polar stratospheric clouds containing H2O and HNO3.
Knowledge discovery using big data in biomedical systems

The 13th International Workshop on Data Mining in Bioinformatics (BIOKDD'14) was organized in conjunction with the ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining on August 24, 2014 in New York, USA. It brought together international researchers in the interacting disciplines of data mining, systems biology, and bioinformatics at the Bloomberg Headquarters venue. The goal of this workshop is to encourage Knowledge Discovery and Data mining (KDD) researchers to take on the numerous challenges that Bioinformatics offers. This year, the workshop featured the theme of "Knowledge discovery using big data in biological/biomedical systems".
PNEUMONIA IN OTTOMAN VIPERS (VIPERA XANTHENA XANTHENA) ASSOCIATED WITH A PARAINFLUENZA 2-LIKE VIRUS

A paramyxovirus related to parainfluenza 2 (PI2) virus was recovered from the lungs of two dead ottoman vipers from a zoological collection. Snakes of other species in the collection were unaffected. Histologic examination of the vipers' lungs revealed interstitial pneumonia, and degeneration and hyperplasia of bronchial and atrial epithelia. Scattered vacuoles, some of which contain eosinophilic inclusion bodies, were seen in the cytoplasm of several cells of affected epithelial tissues. The virus recovered from pulmonary tissues of the snakes replicated optimally at 30 C in a variety of cell cultures and hemagglutinated chicken erythrocytes. Viral hemagglutination was inhibited by PI2 virus antiserum, but not by antisera to PI1, PI3, respiratory syncytial, and canine distemper viruses. Indirect immunofluorescence with PI2 antiserum specifically stained inclusions in the epithelial cells of respiratory tissues and infected cell cultures.
Convenient operator formalism for Fourier optics and inhomogeneous and nonlinear wave propagation

A simple operator symbolism is proposed for describing paraxial propagation with a combination of plane-wave spectra and Fresnel diffraction concepts. When it is applied to typical optical configurations, the symbolism permits rapid calculation of the operator characterizing the overall system. Applied to inhomogeneous and nonlinear media, it describes the various split-step wave-propagation algorithms conveniently and plausibly.
Comparison of text-independent speaker recognition methods on telephone speech with acoustic mismatch

We compare speaker recognition performance of vector quantization (VQ), Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM) and the Arithmetic Harmonic Sphericity measure (AHS) in adverse telephone speech conditions. The aim is to address the question: how do multimodal VQ and GMM typically compare to the simpler unimodal AHS for matched and mismatched training and testing environments? We study identification (closed set) and verification errors on a new multi environment database. We consider LPC and PLP features as well as their RASTA derivatives. We conclude that RASTA processing can remove redundancies from the features. We affirm that even when we use channel and noise compensation schemes, speaker recognition errors remain high when there is acoustic mismatch.
The Evolutionary Seesaw: Origins of biodiversity?

I consider the problem of evolutionary branching in adaptive dynamics without applying the limits of separation of timescales between ecological and evolutionary processes. I derive expressions for the waiting time for a branching event to occur and survive in terms of both ecological and evolutionary parameters, and show how demographic stochasticity alone can result in the frequent failure of adaptive branching.
The BCH Epidural System, a safe system for epidural infusion analgesia in children

Epidural infusions in children are usually delivered by syringe drivers because of the lower volumes of local anaesthetic solutions used in children rather than in adult practice. Recently concern has arisen both via the media and anecdotally over a number of adverse events associated with intravenous administration of bupivacaine. We have designed and validated a system that should significantly reduce the possibility and incidence of this adverse effect. (1) [ The system is based on the reversal of the standard luer-lock system. ] A female 60 cc syringe is connected to a reversed 150 cm infusion line that is connected to a male epidural filter. The filter connects with standard epidural infusion catheters. The reversal of the luer-lock system requires that devices are also available for the initial doses of local anaesthetic, for the preparation of the epidural infusion syringe and for administration of rescue boluses of local anaesthetic. With this system it is extremely unlikely that the epidural syringe or infusion catheter can be connected to an intravenous line. It is also less likely that intravenous drugs may be connected to the epidural filter.
Approximation of Ground State Eigenvalues and Eigenfunctions of Dirichlet Laplacians

Let Ω be a bounded connected open set in ℝ N , N [ges ]2, and let −Δ Ω [ges ]0 be the Dirichlet Laplacian defined in L 2 (Ω). Let λ Ω >0 be the smallest eigenvalue of −Δ Ω , and let ϕ Ω >0 be its corresponding eigenfunction, normalized by ∥ϕ Ω ∥ 2 =1. For sufficiently small e>0 we let R (e) be a connected open subset of Ω satisfying formula here Let −Δ e [ges ]0 be the Dirichlet Laplacian on R (e), and let λ e >0 and ϕ e >0 be its ground state eigenvalue and ground state eigenfunction, respectively, normalized by ∥ϕ e ∥ 2 =1. For functions f defined on Ω, we let S e f denote the restriction of f to R (e). For functions g defined on R (e), we let T e g be the extension of g to Ω satisfying formula here
Extreme value theory for precipitation: sensitivity analysis for climate change

Abstract Extreme value theory for the maximum of a time series of daily precipitation amount is described. A chain-dependent process is assumed as a stochastic model for daily precipitation, with the intensity distribution being the gamma. To examine how the effective return period for extreme high precipitation amounts would change as the parameters of the chain-dependent process change (i.e., probability of a wet day, shape and scale parameters of the gamma distribution), a sensitivity analysis is performed. This sensitivity analysis is guided by some results from statistical downscaling that relate patterns in large-scale atmospheric circulation to local precipitation, providing a physically plausible range of changes in the parameters. For the particular location considered in the example, the effective return period is most sensitive to the scale parameter of the intensity distribution.
Structure of the Haemophilus influenzae HMW1B Translocator Protein: Evidence for a Twin Pore

Secretion of the Haemophilus influenzae HMW1 adhesin occurs via the two-partner secretion pathway and requires the HMW1B outer membrane translocator. HMW1B has been subjected to extensive biochemical studies to date. However, direct examination of the structure of HMW1B has been lacking, leaving fundamental questions about the oligomeric state, the membrane-embedded β-barrel domain, the approximate size of the β-barrel pore, and the mechanism of translocator activity. In the current study, examination of purified HMW1B by size exclusion chromatography and negative staining electron microscopy revealed that the predominant species was a dimer. In the presence of lipid, purified HMW1B formed two-dimensional crystalline sheets. Examination of these crystals by cryo-electron microscopy allowed determination of a projection structure of HMW1B to 10 A resolution. The native HMW1B structure is a dimer of β-barrels, with each β-barrel measuring 40 A by 50 A in the two orthogonal directions and appearing largely occluded, leaving only a narrow pore. These observations suggest that HMW1B undergoes a large conformational change during translocation of the 125-kDa HMW1 adhesin.
Microcontroller based artificial synapse

This paper discusses a novel artificial synapse implementation utilizing a PIC microcontroller. This artificial synapse controls a postsynaptic neuron based upon the frequency of pulses input from a presynaptic neuron. The artificial synapse is constructed to interface the Lymnaea stagnalis neuron and a neuron emulator capable of simulating this type of neuron.
The probability distribution of intense daily precipitation

The probability tail structure of over 22,000 weather stations globally is examined in order to identify the physically and mathematically consistent distribution type for modeling the probability of intense daily precipitation and extremes. Results indicate that when aggregating data annually, most locations are to be considered heavy tailed with statistical significance. When aggregating data by season, it becomes evident that the thickness of the probability tail is related to the variability in precipitation causing events and thus that the fundamental cause of precipitation volatility is weather diversity. These results have both theoretical and practical implications for the modeling of high-frequency climate variability worldwide.
Exact closed-form performance analysis of optimum combining with multiple cochannel interferers and Rayleigh fading

A new closed-form expression is derived for the exact bit-error probability (BEP) for optimum combining with binary phase-shift keying. The exact BEP expression is for multiple, equal power, cochannel interferers and multiple reception branches. It is assumed that the aggregate interference and noise is Gaussian and that both the desired signal and interference are subject to Rayleigh fading. The derivation starts by expressing the optimum combining decision statistic as a sum of quadratic forms of Gaussian random variables and it proceeds to average over the fading interference. The new BEP expression has low complexity as it contains only finite sums and products.
Molecular dynamics simulations of the formation of ethane clathrate hydrates

Abstract This study details molecular dynamics simulations for the formation of ethane clathrate hydrates. Ethane hydrate nucleation shares with methane hydrate nucleation the formation of coordinated guest clusters in water, resulting in structures such as guest-saturated pentagonal and hexagonal faces. Ethane hydrate also forms structure I, which consists of two 512 and six 51262 cages in its unit cell. Observations from the simulations reveal differences between methane and ethane in the nucleation process, including the types and occupancies of cages. While the formation of occupied 512 cages dominates methane hydrate nucleation, nucleation of ethane hydrates predominately exhibits the 4151062 cage as both the first and most common early cage type. These 4151062 cages do not occur in the crystal structure, and due to their oblong shape, restrict the orientation of the coordinated guest ethane molecule. The initial kinetically favored 4151062 cages are observed to undergo transformation into different cage types, such as the thermodynamically favored 51262 cage.
The Tragedy of the Student Commons: Law Student Transfers and Legal Education

This research examines law student transfers. It aims to accomplish two things. First, it sets out some basic data on law student transfers. Using data collected from the last three editions of the ABA Official Guide to Law Schools, it quantifies some of the characteristics of transfer students based upon the characteristics of schools that are net gainers and net losers of transfers. While we do not know the individual characteristics of transfer students (such as their entering credentials, ethnicity, or law school GPA), one can ascertain the general flow of the population of transfers by looking at the schools that they come from and the schools to which they go. Some of the results are not surprising (the flow is in the direction of schools having higher U.S. News rankings and toward those with higher LSAT medians), but other findings are less expected (the flow of transfers is distinctly away from private schools). Even as to results which conform to what one might have expected, this research demonstrates and quantifies what many in the academy have supposed. The second aim of the article is to make a preliminary assessment of whether high volumes of law student transfers are a good or a bad thing. Much of the discussion among law schools on this point to date has been parochial. Transfers are good for some schools and bad for others; those whom receive transfers think they are good and those who lose them think they are bad. I attempt to rise above a purely self-interested viewpoint in order to examine whether the gain to the winners exceeds the loss to the losers. My thesis is that in the aggregate transfers cost the losing schools more than they benefit the gaining schools. The result is an inefficient taking of a common resource due to its being unprotected and underreported by the ABA and the US News ranking system, thus the title of the piece.
Properties of Epstein-Barr virus transformed woolly monkey lymphoblastoid cell lines.

SummaryLymphoblastoid cell lines were derived from peripheral blood leukocytes of woolly monkeys by exposure to the B95-8 strain of EB virus. Primary cells were relatively resistant to transformation and the resulting lines produced little virus. Almost half the lymphocytes in fresh blood had a receptor for IgFc and 60-90% of continuously cultured cells expressed receptors for both rabbit and human IgFc as detected with the “EA” rosette test. The IgFc receptor on woolly monkey cell lines was qualitatively different from that induced by herpes simplex virus which could be detected with rabbit but not human Ig. Monkeys inoculated with cell-free virus and autologous transformed cells remained well and showed no evidence of infection. There was thus no evidence that woolly monkey cells transformed in vitro by EBV were oncogenic when replaced in the autologous host.
The Supreme Court Prohibits Gerrymandering: A Gain or a Loss for the States?

The 1986 Davis v. Bandemer decision of the U.S. Supreme Court declared partisan gerrymandering to be justiciable, but overruled the federal district court's judgment that the Indiana legislative redistricting plan was unconstitutional. The Court split on the question of justiciability, and those justices who favored justiciability disagreed on the appropriate tests to apply in testing a districting plan for unfair partisan gerrymandering. The Court did not specify a clear measure and standard for outlawing gerrymandering. This gives state districting authorities and district courts little guidance in dealing with gerrymandering. If, however, a successful measure and standard are developed, this action is likely to be beneficial to the states.
A potassium channel in the apical membrane of rabbit thick ascending limb of Henle's loop.

We used the patch-clamp technique to study the activity of single potassium channels in the apical membrane of isolated thick ascending limbs of Henle's loop (TAL) of rabbit kidneys. In cell-attach...
The War Power and the Commander in Chief

No power of government is more momentous than that concerning war and peace. In the twentieth century, many presidents cited the commander-in-chief power as a basis for instituting military action, as if the power over military decisions rested with the president alone. Yet this is not what the Constitution says, nor was it the intention of the framers. As the wording of Article II of the Constitution says, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.” The Congress does the calling.
A modeling study of asymmetries in plasma irregularity characteristics near gradient reversals

Abstract. Asymmetries in plasma density irregularity generation between the leading and trailing edges of the large-scale plasma density structures in the high-latitude ionosphere are investigated. A model is developed that evaluates the gradient-drift instability (GDI) growth rate differences across the gradient reversal that is applicable at all propagation directions and for the broad range of altitudes spanning the entire lower ionosphere. In particular, the model describes asymmetries that would be observed by an oblique scanning radar near density structures in the polar cap such as elongated polar patches. The dependencies on the relative orientations between the directions of the gradient reversal, plasma convection, and wave propagation are examined at different altitudinal regions. At all altitudes, the largest asymmetries are expected for observations along the gradient reversals, e.g., when an elongated structure is oriented along the radar boresight. The convection direction that results in the strongest asymmetries exhibits a strong dependence on the altitude, with the optimal convection being parallel to the gradient reversal in the E region, perpendicular to it in the F region, and at some angle between these extremes in the transitional region. Implications for observations of polar patches by oblique scanning radars within the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network are discussed. It is demonstrated that the wave propagation direction relative to the prevalent convection and gradient directions plays a critical role in controlling both the irregularity growth rate and its asymmetries near gradient reversals.
An Exposition of Recent Results on Continuous Metric Selections

The question of when a metric projection has a continuous selection has received much attention in recent years. There has been a flurry of activity in this area by mathematicians from all over the world. (At this writing, I am aware of relevant work by researchers located in over 17 different countries.) In spite of all this interest, or perhaps because of it, there are still many questions which remain unanswered. The writer gave a survey of continuous selections at a special meeting of the American Mathematical Society in January, 1982 (which appeared as [9]). At an Oberwolfach conference a few years later, NURNBERGER and SOMMER [22] concentrated their attention to the finite-dimensional subspaces in C[a,b] and gave a detailed description of the results available in this setting. Still later, the writer [10] announced some recent progress that had been made since the appearance of [9] and [22].
Machine learning for source localization in urban environments

This paper investigates source localization in urban environments using machine learning methods. Both classification and regression schemes are examined using the random forest algorithm. In both approaches, the localization performance depends mostly on arrival time information of received signals. It is shown that the use of a relative arrival time difference rather than the direct time of arrival (TOA) also provide good performance, which is beneficial for practical application. It is found that with enough number of receivers, the signal power parameter can be omitted, which eliminates frequency dependency of developed models. It is also found that at least three receivers should be used to achieve acceptable prediction performance. Additionally, the number of training examples needed depends on the approach used as well as the desired level of accuracy. This factor is more important in the classification approach, as the amount of training data required closely relates to the number of sectors created by the localization problem. A regression scheme is more natural for predicting spatial coordinate values, and achieved higher localization accuracy with fewer training examples as compared to classification. Ultimately, the regression based localization scheme using the time difference of arrival (TDOA) parameter at three receiver locations achieved an average localization accuracy of 2.8m.
Views of American OB/GYNs on the ethics of prenatal whole-genome sequencing.

OBJECTIVE Given public demand for genetic information, the potential to perform prenatal whole-genome sequencing (PWGS) non-invasively in the future, and decreasing costs of whole-genome sequencing, it is likely that OB/GYN practice will include PWGS. The goal of this project was to explore OB/GYNs' views on the ethical issues surrounding PWGS and their preparedness for counseling patients on its use. METHODS A national survey was administered to 2500 members of American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. RESULTS A total of 1114 respondents completed the survey (response rate = 45%). OB/GYNs are most concerned with ordering non-medical fetal genetic information, are worried about increasing parental anxiety, and feel it is appropriate to be directive when counseling parents about PWGS. Furthermore, most OB/GYNs have limited knowledge of genetics, rely heavily on genetic counselors and would like more guidance regarding the clinical adoption of PWGS. CONCLUSION OB/GYNs do not completely accept or reject PWGS, but a substantial number have significant ethical and practical concerns. They are most concerned with issues that will directly affect their practices and interactions with patients, such as increasing parental anxiety and costs of care. Professional guidance would be instrumental in directing the adoption of PWGS and alleviating the ethical burden posed by PWGS on individual OB/GYNs. Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Thoracoscopic Ligation of the Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation is a standard treatment method in infants and children who cannot achieve closure by medical methods. The technical aspects of PDA ligation have continued to evolve since its first description by Dr. Robert Gross at Boston Children’s in 1938. The application of minimally invasive techniques in the form of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for the management of PDA is now feasible even in the smallest of infants.
The Life Cycle of Clinical Decision Support (CDS): CDS Theory and Practice from Request to Maintenance.

The promise of Clinical Decision Support (CDS) has always been to transform patient care and improve patient safety with delivery of timely and appropriate recommendations that are both patient-specific and more often than not appropriately actionable. However, the users of CDS, providers, are frequently bombarded with inappropriate and inapplicable CDS that is frequently neither informational, integrated into the workflow, patient-specific, and may present out of date and irrelevant recommendations. The life cycle of Clinical Decision Support begins with a request for CDS, continues with design and implementation, and concludes with ongoing knowledge maintenance. This State of the Practice will look at how using the best science and latest knowledge regarding CDS can create request and maintenance processes that work in the real world. Dr. David Bates will present the best science and knowledge behind CDS that works. Dr.’s Joseph Kannry and Thomas Yackel will present case studies of CDS requests and design processes that use this science to generate useful, useable, and timely patient-specific recommendations. Dr. Tonya Hongsermeier will present best practices in knowledge maintenance. Finally, Dr. Michael Krall will present a case study of knowledge maintenance from Kaiser Permanente that results in appropriate and up-to-date CDS.