cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maximizing Outpatient Computed Tomography Productivity Using Multiple Technologists

Purpose A key radiology stakeholder demand is to increase patient access to computed tomography (CT) and reduce waiting lists. However, the number of patients that a single technologist can scan is limited because of the many tasks required to process a patient through a CT scan. However, many tasks could be performed simultaneously by using additional personnel. This study evaluated how many additional patients can be scanned using a 2- or 3-technologist model with outpatient multidetector CT and its impact on CT capacity. Methods The number and type of individual technologist tasks were initially evaluated. The time to perform these tasks was then measured using 1-, 2-, and 3-technologist models, including the time a patient was within the CT scanner room, to determine the hourly patient throughput on a CT scanner. Two theoretic CT operations were then developed to evaluate the impact on CT capacity. Results Thirty-four technologist workflow tasks were identified. A total of 205 outpatients were evaluated. The total time to perform all tasks for 1-, 2-, and 3-technologist models was 27, 23, and 22 minutes, respectively. CT room time per patient for 1-, 2-, and 3-technologist models was 12, 9.7, and 8.0 minutes, respectively. However, the number of patients scanned per hour for 1-, 2-, and 3-technologist models was 2.2, 5.2, and 7.5, respectively. There was an increase of more than 12,000 potential patient CT slots made available using 2 technologists 7 days per week and 22,000 additional slots for a 3-technologist model when compared with a single-technologist model on weekdays only. Conclusion A single-technologist model for outpatient multidetector CT is inefficient with limited opportunity for increased patient throughput. The use of multiple technologists (or other key personnel) optimizes CT throughput and capacity, particularly with a 3-technologist model, which can yield a greater than three-fold increase in CT productivity.
Computed tomographic evaluation and guided correction of malpositioned nephrostomy catheters

Background: To determine the utility of computed tomography (CT) in the detection and correction of malpositioned nephrostomy catheters after contrast spillage during nephrostograms. Methods: CT was performed in nine patients after an abnormal (contrast spillage) tube nephrostogram performed during or after nephrostomy tube placement. CT was used to locate the nephrostomy catheter position in relation to the renal collecting system. If possible, CT was also used for guidance and repositioning of the nephrostomy catheters into the intrarenal collecting system. Results: In all nine cases, CT was successful in detecting the position of the suspected malpositioned catheter. In seven of nine cases, CT demonstrated the catheter outside the renal collecting system and effectively helped reposition the catheters into the intrarenal collecting system. In one case, the malpositioned nephrostomy catheter was within the intraperitoneal cavity and required surgical correction. Another case required fluoroscopic-guided repositioning for the initial nephrostomy catheter, which was partly posterior to the kidney and partly within the kidney. The catheter in this latter case was successfully advanced over a guidewire into the collecting system. Conclusions: CT may be used to detect possible catheter malposition associated with nephrostomy tube placement. CT may also be used to successfully guide catheter repositioning in the renal collecting system.
Weak lensing of the CMB: Cumulants of the probability distribution function

We discuss the real-space moments of temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) due to weak gravitational lensing by intervening large-scale structure. We show that if the probability distribution function of primordial temperature anisotropies is Gaussian, then it remains unchanged after gravitational lensing. With finite resolution, however, nonzero higher-order cumulants are generated both by lensing autocorrelations and by cross-correlations between the lensing potential and secondary anisotropies in the CMB such as the Sunayev-Zel’dovich (SZ) effect. Skewness is produced by these lensing-SZ correlations, while kurtosis receives contributions from both lensing alone and lensing-SZ correlations. We show that if the projected lensing potential is Gaussian, all cumulants of higher order than the kurtosis vanish. While recent results raise the possibility of detection of the skewness in upcoming data, the kurtosis will likely remain undetected.
Brain serotonin turnover and morphine tolerance-dependence induced by multiple injections in the rat.

Tolerance to and physical dependence on morphine in the rat was induced by injecting increasing doses of morphine sulfate (M.S.) administered i.p. twice daily for 14 days. The last dose of M.S. was 200 mg/kg. This procedure produced a 4-fold tolerance to morphine as evidence by the increased dose of morphine required to produce analgesia. The degree of dependence was quantified by determining the naloxone ED50 for the stereotyped withdrawal jumping response. Body weight loss and hypothermic responses during abrupt and naloxone-induced withdrawal were also measured. The degree of tolerance and dependence produced by multiple injection procedure was comparable to that produced by 2 pellets containing 75 mg of morphine base implanted for 3 days. The level and turnover of brain serotonin, determined 6 or 12 h after the last morphine sulfate injection did not differ significantly from that of saline injected control animals. These data indicate that multiple injection technique produces a mild degree of tolerance to, and physical dependence on, morphine which was not related to changes in brain serotonin level or turnover.
Beyond acute appendicitis: Imaging and pathologic spectrum of appendiceal pathology

While acute appendicitis is a common and important clinical problem, a variety of other disease processes can affect the appendix. Simple and perforated appendicitis, tip appendicitis, and stump appendicitis share a common clinical presentation including anorexia, right lower quadrant pain, and fever. By imaging, most cases of acute appendicitis exhibit luminal dilation, wall thickening, and periappendiceal inflammatory stranding. In tip appendicitis, these changes are isolated to the distal appendix, often with an obstructing appendicolith. Perforated appendicitis can exhibit mural discontinuity, periappendiceal abscess, and/or extraluminal appendicoliths. After appendectomy, the appendiceal remnant or “stump” can become inflamed, often necessitating repeat surgery. Inflammatory bowel disease can involve the terminal ileum, secondarily involving the appendix, or may primarily involve the appendix. Patient symptoms can be chronic in such cases, and mucosal hyperenhancement is a pronounced imaging feature. In asymptomatic patients without appendiceal inflammation, the appendix can be dilated by intraluminal material such as inspissated succus in cystic fibrosis or mucus from benign appendiceal mucocele. Finally, neoplasms such as typical appendiceal carcinoid tumor and mucinous adenocarcinoma can involve the appendix. Carcinoids are often small and incidentally discovered at pathologic examination, while malignant mucinous adenocarcinoma tends to present with advanced disease including pseudomyxoma peritonei. Cecal cancers can also obstruct the appendiceal lumen and cause acute appendicitis; an astute radiologist can recognize this prospectively and facilitate definitive resection (right hemicolectomy) at the time of surgery. Attention to mural features, cecal configuration, and periappendiceal inflammation is essential to the correct prospective diagnosis of complicated appendicitis and less common appendiceal pathologies.
T-wave inversion in Q wave myocardial infarction does not predict myocardial viability on Rb-82/18-FDG P.E.T. imaging

Abstract Background: The12-lead ECG has been used as a clinical predictor of myocardial viability. Q-waves on ECG suggest irreversible scarring, but are relatively inaccurate descriptors. T-wave inversion in an area of Q-wave infarction (QWMI) has been advocated as a parameter identifying viable myocardium, but its accuracy is not defined. We thus correlated the presence of T-wave inversion in QWMI with the results of PET imaging to define its value as an ECG predictor of viability. Methods: We evaluated 25 patients with QWMI on ECG who had Rb-82 PET perfusion and 18-FDG metabolic imaging (PET) for viability. Patients with QRS duration >110 msec, or acute ST elevation were excluded. ECGs were interpreted as follows: Pathologic Q-waves were defined using standard criteria. Q-waves and T-wave inversion were ascribed to the anterior, inferior, and lateral myocardial regions using Novacode system. For each myocardial region having Q-waves, a Novacode T-wave score (T) was calculated (10 points for each mm T-wave inversion in the lead with greatest T-wave depth). PET images were scored using a 21 segment, five-grade system. Regions were considered viable if the majority of segments had tracer uptake graded 0–3. We tested the hypothesis that increasing T in areas of QWMI could predict viable myocardium. Results: Twenty-five patients had 35 myocardial regions with Q-waves. Of 35 regions, 19 (54%) were viable. T = 0 (no T-inversion) was present in 8/19 regions with viability (42%), vs. 11/16 regions with no viability (specificity 69%, NPV 58%). T ≥ 10 (T-inversion present) was present in 11/19 regions with viability, but was also present in 5/16 (31%) without viability (sensitivity 58%, PPV 69%). Of 9 regions with T ≥ 20, 7 were viable (sensitivity 37%, PPV 78%). There were no significant differences in sensitivity, specificity, or predictive value for varying T in identifying myocardial viability. Conclusions: T is neither a sensitive nor a specific predictor of viability in myocardial regions with QWMI. Thus, clinical decision-making involving issues of viability should not be based on ECG criteria, but should include scintigraphic perfusion and metabolic imaging.
Modeling and simulation of oxygen transfer in airlift fermentors

A mathematical model for simulation of oxygen transfer in airlift fermentors is presented. The airlift fermentor is represented by a number of interconnected compartments, each of which is assumed to be well mixed. In the annular region, the model includes both upflow and downflow for the gas phase. The model contains several adjustable parameters through which important hydrodynamic effects affecting oxygen transfer are incorporated. The effect of hydrostatic pressure is also included in the model. The model is simple enough to be used in design studies and it can be easily adapted to other airlift system configurations. The simulation results show good qualitative agreement with available experimental results.
Inverted-U shaped effects of D1 dopamine receptor stimulation in the medial preoptic nucleus on sexually motivated song in male European starlings.

Past studies in songbirds highlight a central role for the medial preoptic nucleus (mPOA) in context-appropriate vocal communication. During the breeding season, male songbirds sing primarily to attract females (sexually-motivated song) and to repel competitors (agonistically-motivated song). Past data link dopamine and D1 dopamine receptors in the mPOA to sexually-motivated but not agonistically-motivated song; however, direct effects of dopamine receptor manipulations in the mPOA on song have not been experimentally tested. Here we tested the hypothesis that D1 receptor stimulation in the mPOA selectively influences sexually-motivated male song and the possibility that the effects of D1 agonism differ at low and high doses. In a first study, breeding condition male European starlings received infusions of saline or a single dose of the D1 receptor agonist SKF 38393 on separate test days into mPOA or hypothalamic control areas. Stimulation of D1 receptors in mPOA triggered sexually-motivated but not agonistically-motivated song. A second study showed inverted-U shaped dose-response effects of the agonist such that low levels of sexually-motivated song were observed at low and high levels of D1 receptor activation. A third study showed that effects of the D1 agonist were blocked by the D1 receptor antagonist SCH 23390. These findings suggest that an optimal level of D1 dopamine receptor stimulation in mPOA is needed to facilitate sexually-motivated vocal production. The results support a central, context-specific role for the mPOA in vocal communication and more broadly demonstrate a complex, modulatory influence of D1 receptors in mPOA on sexually-motivated behavior.
Sepsis Increases Lung Glutamine Synthetase Expression in the Tumor-Bearing Host

Acute stresses such as trauma or endotoxemia augment GLN demand and are associated with increased release of this amino acid from skeletal muscle and lung as well as increased expression of glutamine synthetase (GS, the principal enzyme of GLN synthesis) in these tissues. Muscle GLN release is also increased during chronic catabolic states which are associated with depletion of lean body mass, such as starvation or malignancy. We hypothesized that the expression of GS in response to an acute stress would be altered in tumor-bearing rats (TBR) experiencing severe cachexia and therefore a previously heightened GLN demand. Male Fischer 344 rats were implanted with methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma tumors or underwent sham operations and pair-feeding (sham) with TBR partners. When tumor burden reached approximately 15% of carcass weight, animals received injections of either Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 mg/kg body wt) or saline vehicle. Rats were sacrificed 8 h after injection and lung and muscle tissue were analyzed for GS mRNA and protein via Northern and Western blot techniques, respectively. LPS injection caused an equivalent 4- to 6-fold increase in lung and muscle GS mRNA in both TBR and sham rats (P < 0.01). LPS did not produce a significant increase in GS protein level in muscle tissue of either group or in lung tissue of sham rats. In contrast, endotoxin did lead to a 3.5-fold increase in GS protein levels in lung tissue of TBRs (P < 0.05). This increase in lung GS protein may signify the importance of the lung in maintaining GLN homeostasis during chronic catabolic states where muscle mass is diminished.
Chemotherapy-Induced Amenorrhea from Adjuvant Breast Cancer Treatment: The Effect of the Addition of Taxanes

Purpose: Adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer can be associated with a variety of side effects, one of which is the induction of premature menopause in premenopausal patient. Although taxanes have increasingly been used in the adjuvant setting, there has been relatively little published on the frequency of amenorrhea related to their use. Patients and Methods: We review records of 159 premenopausal patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy from our practice. Results: Altogether, 51% of all patients retained menstrual function after chemotherapy. Conclusion: It was observed that patients receiving adjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy with sequential taxane therapy did not have a higher rate of amenorrhea than those not receiving a taxane.
Seasonal spatial dynamics and causes of nest movement in colonies of the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile)

1. Colony organisation and movement behaviour of the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) was studied over 3 years in field populations in California and in captive colonies in the laboratory. This invasive species is highly polydomous and unicolonial; colonies consist of expansive and fluid networks of nests and trails. The spatial and temporal organisation of colonies may contribute to ecological dominance. 2. Argentine ant nests and inter-nest trails shift in size, abundance, and location, so that colony networks are spatially contracted in the winter and expanded spring to autumn. Colonies occupy permanent sites; ants migrated to and from the same winter nest locations year after year, and occupied 30% of the same nests repeatedly during seasonal migrations. 3. Nests were moved on average 2-3 m. Forty-two per cent were occupied less than 1 month, 4% the entire study, and the other 54% lasted 3.9 ± 2.3 months (mean ± SD). 4. Nests were located within 2-4 m of woody plants, in warm sites in the winter and cool sites in the summer. Both humidity and food availability influenced nest-site choice in laboratory colonies. However, when faced with a trade-off between factors, the ants chose humid nest boxes over nest boxes near food, and ants moved nests only in response to changes in humidity and not distance to food. 5. The results indicate that L. humile colonies are seasonally polydomous, and that nest movements are driven by changes in microclimate. Colony organisation maintains high local density and increases food supply, which may improve the competitive ability of L. humile colonies and reduce opportunities for species coexistence.
Sonic spray ionization mass spectrometry : a powerful tool used to characterize fragile metal-assembled cages

Sonic spray ionization mass spectrometry (SSI MS) is shown to be effective in characterizing metal-assembled cage structures that are not observed using conventional electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) techniques. A palladium-assembled resorcinarene-based cage containing nitrile ligands and a palladium(II) triazine cage were characterized and their +1 molecular ion peaks were observed using this method. An N,N-bis(pyridylmethyl)amine resorcinarene cavitand–metal ion complex was observed to yield peaks corresponding to open tetranuclear complexes and closed cage complexes depending on the metal ion. Molecular ion peaks for these complexes were not detected when ESI MS was used. The soft ionization inherent in SSI MS coupled with its relatively simple design provides a powerful tool to characterize such supramolecular assemblies, which are of current interest.
Growth inhibition of colon cancer cells by compounds affecting AMPK activity

AIM: To determine if other molecules reported to modulate AMP-dependent protein kinase (AMPK) activity would have effects resembling those of metformin and phenformin on colon cancer cell proliferation and metabolism. METHODS: Studies were performed with four human colon cancer cell lines, Caco-2, HCT116, HT29 and SW1116. The compounds that were studied included A-769662, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-ribofuranoside, butyrate, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), KU-55933, quercetin, resveratrol and salicylates. The parameters that were measured were cell proliferation and viability, glucose uptake, lactate production and acidification of the incubation medium. RESULTS: Investigations with several molecules that have been reported to be associated with AMPK activation (A-769662, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-b-D-ribofuranoside, EGCG, KU-55933, quercetin, resveratrol and salicylates) or AMPK inhibition (compound C) failed to reveal increased medium acidification and increased glucose uptake in colon cancer cells as previously established with metformin and phenformin. The only exception was 5-aminosalicylic acid with which there were apparently lower glucose levels in the medium after incubation for 72 h. Further study in the absence of cells revealed that the effect was an artifact due to inhibition of the enzyme-linked glucose assay. The compounds were studied at concentrations that inhibited cell proliferation. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that treatment with several agents that can affect AMPK activity resulted in the inhibition of the proliferation of colon cancer cells under conditions in which glucose metabolism is not enhanced, in contrast to the effect of biguanides.
Veneziano Formula with Trajectories Spaced by Two Units

By representing a scattering amplitude as a sum of terms of the Veneziano type, we can cancel alternate trajectories and remain with trajectories spaced by two units of angular momentum. This result is obtained without imposing a supplementary condition and without introducing poles in the Regge residues at nonsense wrong-signature integers.
The significance of sonographic gallbladder wall thickening

The value of gallbladder thickening in predicting the presence of acute cholecystitis was assessed by reviewing gallbladder sonograms for 150 normal patients, 15 fasting normal patients, 24 patients with proven acute cholecystitis, 24 patients with ascites or an alcoholic history, and 50 patients with surgically proven chronic cholecystitis and gallstones. Thickened gallbladder walls were found in all patients with ascites, 45 percent of patients with acute cholecystitis, and approximately 10 percent of those with chronic cholecystitis. The finding of gallbladder wall thickening is suggestive evidence of acute cholecystitis, but it is not a pathognomonic finding.
Personality constellations in patients with a history of childhood sexual abuse

Although childhood sexual abuse (CSA) appears to have an impact on personality, it does not affect all survivors the same way. The goal of this study was to identify common personality patterns in women with a history of CSA. A national sample of randomly selected psychologists and psychiatrists described 74 adult female patients with a history of CSA and a comparison group of 74 without CSA using the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200 (SWAP-200), a Q-sort procedure for assessing personality pathology. Q-factor analysis identified four personality constellations among abuse survivors: Internalizing Dysregulated, High Functioning Internalizing, Externalizing Dysregulated, and Dependent. The four groups differed on diagnostic, adaptive functioning, and developmental history variables, providing initial support for the validity of this classification. The data have potential methodological and treatment implications.
Regional Innovative Capacity with Endogenous Employment: Empirical Evidence from the U.S.

Using the endogenous growth model proposed by Romer (1990) and operationalized by Stern, Porter, and Furman (2000), we seek to identify factors that affect innovative capacity in the U.S. We find strong evidence of endogeneity between employment growth and innovative capacity. In response, we estimate a generalized two-stage random effects model of hi-tech employment and patenting activity. We find that the stock of knowledge (standing on shoulders effect), industry R&D expenditures, and the number of high-tech employees explain the rate of change of innovation among the states during the 1990s. The stock of human capital also influences the innovation rate. Our findings suggest that patenting activity and wages in the high-tech sector are the primary forces influencing the demand for high-tech labor.
Toward realistic pursuit-evasion using a roadmap-based approach

In this work, we describe an approach for modeling and simulating group behaviors for pursuit-evasion that uses a graph-based representation of the environment and integrates multi-agent simulation with roadmap-based path planning. Our approach can be applied to more realistic scenarios than are typically studied in most previous work, including agents moving in 3D environments such as terrains, multi-story buildings, and dynamic environments. We also support more realistic three-dimensional visibility computations that allow evading agents to hide in crowds or behind hills. We demonstrate the utility of this approach on mobile robots and in simulation for a variety of scenarios including pursuit-evasion and tag on terrains, in multi-level buildings, and in crowds.
Falcons pursue prey using visual motion cues: new perspectives from animal-borne cameras

This study reports on experiments on falcons wearing miniature videocameras mounted on their backs or heads while pursuing flying prey. Videos of hunts by a gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), gyrfalcon (F. rusticolus)/Saker falcon (F. cherrug) hybrids and peregrine falcons (F. peregrinus) were analyzed to determine apparent prey positions on their visual fields during pursuits. These video data were then interpreted using computer simulations of pursuit steering laws observed in insects and mammals. A comparison of the empirical and modeling data indicates that falcons use cues due to the apparent motion of prey on the falcon's visual field to track and capture flying prey via a form of motion camouflage. The falcons also were found to maintain their prey's image at visual angles consistent with using their shallow fovea. These results should prove relevant for understanding the co-evolution of pursuit and evasion, as well as the development of computer models of predation and the integration of sensory and locomotion systems in biomimetic robots.
Compact, Low-Cost, Surface-Mount Active Antenna

A very simple surface-mount dual-polarized active antenna module consists of up/down converter ICs mounted directly on top of a patch antenna radiator. By incorporating ICs on the patch surface, the design saves space, an important feature in phased arrays where wide scanning range requires half-wave spacing. The module is fabricated on a soft substrate and contains only one dielectric layer, no cutouts, and no blind vias. Measurements of both single- and dual-polarized 10-GHz prototypes show a normal copolarized radiation pattern and less than - 12 dB of cross polarization.
Theoretical efficiency and asymptotic cost of grid-connected photovoltaic systems

Photovoltaics (PV) are regarded as a clean source energy technology and their use has expanded dramatically in recent years for both commercial and residential sectors. Learning curve studies show that PV modules have experienced very rapid reductions in commercial prices. The current approach to experience curves is based on the equation: Unit Cost = CPα, (1) where Unit Cost is the price per unit of energy produced (e.g. $/MJ or $/kWh), C is an empirical constant, P is a measure of adoption of the technology (e.g. total watt capacity produced of solar cells) and α is an empirical constant which reflects the rate of technological progress. Asymptotic cost is the expected long-term price of energy delivered after the technology has been developed and implemented on a mass scale. Note that the asymptotic cost in the long-term of all technologies is zero in this model. No technology yet seen delivers free energy, thus while (1) can describe near-term rates of change it is clearly not sufficient to address the crucial question of long-term potential. This paper proposes to develop a new method to estimate lower bounds on asymptotic cost of PV system, which may lead to a more appropriate expression of unit cost and adoption [1]: Unit Cost = CPα + lower bound cost. (2)
Time to benefit for colorectal cancer screening: survival meta-analysis of flexible sigmoidoscopy trials

Objective To determine the time to benefit of using flexible sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer screening. Design Survival meta-analysis. Data sources A Cochrane Collaboration systematic review published in 2013, Medline, and Cochrane Library databases. Eligibility criteria Randomized controlled trials comparing screening flexible sigmoidoscopy with no screening. Trials with fewer than 100 flexible sigmoidoscopy screenings were excluded. Results Four studies were eligible (total n=459 814). They were similar for patients’ age (50-74 years), length of follow-up (11.2-11.9 years), and relative risk for colorectal cancer related mortality (0.69-0.78 with flexible sigmoidoscopy screening). For every 1000 people screened at five and 10 years, 0.3 and 1.2 colorectal cancer related deaths, respectively, were prevented. It took 4.3 years (95% confidence interval 2.8 to 5.8) to observe an absolute risk reduction of 0.0002 (one colorectal cancer related death prevented for every 5000 flexible sigmoidoscopy screenings). It took 9.4 years (7.6 to 11.3) to observe an absolute risk reduction of 0.001 (one colorectal cancer related death prevented for every 1000 flexible sigmoidoscopy screenings). Conclusion Our findings suggest that screening flexible sigmoidoscopy is most appropriate for older adults with a life expectancy greater than approximately 10 years.
Bandwidth-Scalable Long-Haul Transmission Using Synchronized Colorless Transceivers and Efficient Wavelength-Selective Switches

We propose a modular scalable long-haul architecture supporting variable-bandwidth channels with bit rates from 100 Gbit/s to beyond 1 Tbit/s. Colorless transceivers have two operating modes. One transceiver can transmit/receive a conventional narrow-band channel occupying a 30-GHz bandwidth and conveying 100 Gbit/s, or a set of M transceivers can cooperate to transmit/receive a wideband channel occupying an M 50-GHz bandwidth and conveying roughly 160 Gbit/s per 50 GHz (assuming polarization-multiplexed quaternary phase-shift keying). A colorless wavelength-selective switch supports two modes of add/drop (or (de)multiplexing) operation. It can add/drop narrow-band channels (each from/to one port) with minimal loss, or can add/drop wideband channels (each from/to M ports) without spectral gaps, with an additional loss not exceeding 1/3 (-4.8 dB), independent of M. Transceivers can use either single-carrier modulation or orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). We analyze and simulate OFDM-based systems to determine key design requirements, especially for synchronization of cooperating transceivers. A representative design achieves 1520-km reach with 1.4-dB margin in a dispersion-managed network using only erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, improving average spectral efficiency from about 2 to nearly 3 bits/s/Hz.
BSB training scheme implementation on memristor-based circuit

In this work, we propose a hardware realization of the Brain-State-in-a-Box (BSB) neural network model training algorithm. This method can be implemented as an analog/digital mixed-signal circuit to train memristor crossbar arrays within BSB circuits. The training effect is demonstrated through experimentation and the quality as an auto-associative memory is also analyzed and compared with software based training methods. The impacts of non-ideal device characteristics and fabrication defects in crossbar arrays are discussed. Our hardware architecture shows great potential for low power, high speed, small hardware size computations, and provides inherent security features.
“The best surprise is no surprise”: Architecture, imagery, and omnitopia among American mom and pop motels

This essay explores the critical role of motels as markers of transition between idiosyncratic locales and homogenized chains. Toward that end, the essay expands on a newly proposed concept of omnitopia—an intersection of architectural design and human practice through which distinct places become nodes of a perpetual continuum—by focusing on the construction of “place” in roadside motels. From the analysis of omnitopia found in early-20th-century motels, three practices emerge: dislocation through vernacular architecture, fragmentation through iconic signage, and mutability through roadside simulacra.
Role of Interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-12, and Gamma Interferon in Primary and Vaccine-Primed Immune Responses to Friend Retrovirus Infection

The immunological resistance of a host to viral infections may be strongly influenced by cytokines such as interleukin-12 (IL-12) and gamma interferon (IFN-γ), which promote T helper type 1 responses, and IL-4, which promotes T helper type 2 responses. We studied the role of these cytokines during primary and secondary immune responses against Friend retrovirus infections in mice. IL-4- and IL-12-deficient mice were comparable to wild-type B6 mice in the ability to control acute and persistent Friend virus infections. In contrast, more than one-third of the IFN-γ-deficient mice were unable to maintain long-term control of Friend virus and developed gross splenomegaly with high virus loads. Immunization with a live attenuated vaccine virus prior to challenge protected all three types of cytokine-deficient mice from viremia and high levels of spleen virus despite the finding that the vaccinated IFN-γ-deficient mice were unable to class switch from immunoglobulin M (IgM) to IgG virus-neutralizing antibodies. The results indicate that IFN-γ plays an important role during primary immune responses against Friend virus but is dispensable during vaccine-primed secondary responses.
Effect of guided imagery with relaxation on health‐related quality of life in older women with osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of disability in older adults, which, in turn, leads to poor quality of life (QOL). Disability is caused primarily by the joint degeneration and pain associated with OA. A randomized pilot study was conducted to test the effectiveness of guided imagery with relaxation (GIR) to improve health-related QOL (HRQOL) in women with OA. A two-group (intervention versus control) longitudinal design was used to determine whether GIR leads to better HRQOL in these individuals and whether improvement in HRQOL could be attributed to intervention-associated improvements in pain and mobility. Twenty-eight women were randomized to either the GIR intervention or the control intervention group. Using GIR for 12 weeks significantly increased women's HRQOL in comparison to the women who used the control intervention, even after statistically adjusting for changes in pain and mobility. These findings suggest that the effects of GIR on HRQOL are not limited to improvements in pain and mobility. GIR may be an easy-to-use self-management intervention to improve the QOL of older adults with OA.
Spiral CT image deblurring for cochlear implantation

Cochlear implantation is the standard treatment for profound hearing loss, Preimplantation and postimplantation spiral computed tomography (CT) is essential in several key clinical and research aspects. The maximum image resolution with commercial spiral CT scanners is insufficient to define clearly anatomical features and implant electrode positions in the inner ear, In this paper, the authors develop an expectation maximization (EM)-like iterative deblurring algorithm to achieve spiral CT image super-resolution for cochlear implantation, assuming a spatially invariant linear spiral CT system with a three-dimensional (3-D) separable Gaussian point spread function (PSF). The authors experimentally validate the 3-D Gaussian blurring model via phantom measurement and profile fitting. The imaging process is further expressed as convolution of an isotropic 3-D Gaussian PSF and a blurred underlying volumetric image. Under practical conditions, an oblique reconstructed section is approximated as convolution of an isotropic two dimensional (2-D) Gaussian PSF and the corresponding actual cross section. The spiral CT image deblurring algorithm is formulated with sieve and resolution kernels for suppressing noise and edge artifacts. A typical cochlear cross section is used for evaluation, demonstrating a resolution gain up to 30%-40% according to the correlation criterion. Physical phantoms, preimplantation and postimplantation patients are reconstructed into volumes of 0.1-mm cubic voxels. The patient images are digitally unwrapped along the central axis of the cochlea and the implanted electrode array respectively, then oblique sections orthogonal to the central axis formed. After deblurring, representation of structural features is substantially improved in all the cases.
Neighborhood Poverty and the Social Isolation of Inner-City African American Families

Although social isolation has been posited as a critical structural mechanism linking neighborhood disadvantage to the reduced life chances of inner-city residents, there have been few empirical tests of this proposition. We examine the relative importance of neighborhood poverty and individual and family characteristics on social-network composition and community organizational participation of inner-city Chicago African American families. The results of the multilevel analysis indicate that, while most of the variation in isolation outcomes is due to individual-level respondent characteristics, social-network composition and someforms of organizationalparticipation are affected by neighborhoodpoverty. Implications of thefindings and directionsforfuture research are discussed.
History and the Critique of Social Concepts

Many theorists have regarded genealogy as an important technique for social criticism. But it has been unclear how genealogy can go beyond the accomplishments of other, more mundane, critical methods. I propose a new approach to understanding the critical potential of history. I argue that theorists have been misled by the assumption that if a claim is deserving of criticism, it is because the claim is false. Turning to the criticism of concepts rather than criticism of claims, I expand on the distinction between “descriptive semantics” and “foundational semantics” to show that genealogy can be uniquely qualified to explore the foundations of concepts, and hence to criticize concepts that are problematic in nonobvious ways. Suppose a critic is concerned about some social phenomenon. She is disconcerted, say, by rehabilitation practices in Texas prisons, or by the aggressive entrepreneurial culture of Silicon Valley, or by the admiration of contestants in “America’s Top Model” for Tyra Banks even as she belittles them. The critic suspects that such phenomena are oppressive, whether or not that oppression is evident to the players involved. To unearth potential oppression, suppose the critic looks into the history of the phenomena in question. For example, she might examine the evolution of approaches to prisoner rehabilitation, testing the hypothesis that actual rehabilitation practices were developed on the basis of public relations value rather than for the good of the prisoners. In showing that the origin of the practice was dubious or deplorable, the critic aims to vindicate her suspicion and undermine the practice, with its history providing an argument for its revision.
Expert elicitation of cost, performance, and RD&D budgets for coal power with CCS

There is uncertainty about the ex-ante returns to research, development, and demonstration programs in the United States on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. To quantify this uncertainty, we conducted a written expert elicitation of thirteen experts in fossil power and CCS technologies from the government, academia, and the private sector. We asked experts to provide their recommended budget and allocation of RD&D funds by specific fossil power and CCS technology and type of RD&D activity (i.e. basic research, applied research, pilot plants, and demonstration plants) for the United States. The elicitation instrument was structured around estimating the cost and performance of coal-fired power plants with and without CCS in the years 2010 and 2030 under four funding scenarios for federal fossil energy RD&D in the USA. The most important areas identified for basic research were chemical looping combustion and membrane technology. The most important area for commercial demonstration was integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC). There was substantial disagreement between experts on both the current and future capital cost to build a new coal-fired power plant with CCS. There was also disagreement across experts as to whether the capital cost of a new coal plant with CCS would increase or decrease if federal RD&D funding stayed constant at current levels. However, there was a consensus among our experts that accelerated federal RD&D would (weakly) lower the capital cost requirements for a new coal plant with CCS. On average, experts estimated that if their recommended RD&D portfolio was implemented, the capital cost of new coal plants with CCS in 2030 would decrease by 10% in addition to the cost reductions/increases that would occur by 2030 through non-public RD&D related factors.
Distributed Transactional Memory for General Networks

We consider the problem of implementing transactional memory in large-scale distributed networked systems. We present and analyze {\sf Spiral}, a novel distributed directory-based protocol for transactional memory. {\sf Spiral} is designed for the {\em data-flow} distributed implementation of software transactional memory which supports three basic operations: {\sl publish}, allowing a shared object to be inserted in the directory so that other nodes can find it, {\sl lookup}, providing a read-only copy of the object to the requesting node, {\sl move}, allowing the requesting node to write the object locally after the node gets it. The protocol runs on a hierarchical directory construction based on sparse covers, where clusters at each level are ordered to avoid race conditions while serving concurrent requests. Given a shared object the protocol maintains a directory path pointing to the object. The basic idea is to use ``spiral'' paths that grow outward to search for the directory path of the object in a bottom-up fashion. For general networks, this protocol guarantees an $O(\log^2 n\cdot\log D)$ approximation for move requests, where $n$ is the number of nodes and $D$ is the diameter of the network. It also guarantees poly-log approximation for lookup requests. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first consistency protocol for distributed transactional memory that achieves poly-log approximation in general networks.
The Olympiad: How It Has Continued and What It Has Become

The Colorado Mathematical Olympiad has survived another decade (actually by now it has survived for over a quarter a century). Looking back, I can attest that it has become more sophisticated, more closely linked to research mathematics. At the request of the Executive Director of mathematics at Springer, Ann Kostant, I am adding the second decade of the Olympiad’s history and problems in this new Springer edition. However, I cannot just add the Olympiad material without adding its links to and shared essence with “real” mathematics. I therefore am adding 10 new Further Explorations to emphasize – and celebrate – the togetherness of the Olympiads and Mathematics. These, now 20, Explorations are the bridges from the Olympiads to mathematical research. Walk across them – and you find yourself in the magical world of mathematics!
A programmable analog radial-basis-function based classifier

A 16 x 16 programmable analog radial-basis-function (RBF) based classifier is demonstrated. The distribution of each feature is modeled by a Gaussian function, which is realized by a proposed floating-gate bump circuit having bell-shaped transfer characteristics. The maximum likelihood, mean, and variance of the distribution are stored in floating-gate transistors and are independently programmable. By cascading these floating-gate bump circuits, the overall transfer characteristics approximate a multivariate Gaussian distribution with a diagonal covariance matrix. An array of these circuits constitutes a compact RBF-based classifier. When followed by a winner-take-all circuit, the analog classifier can implement vector quantization. Automatic gender identification is implemented on a 16 x 16 analog vector quantizer chip as one possible audio application of this work. The performance of the analog classifier is comparable to that of digital counter -parts. The proposed approach can be at least two orders of magnitude more power efficient than the digital microprocessors at the same task.
C-band low-loss phase shifter >360° for WLAN applications

This paper presents a single-stage 5.5-6.0 GHz reflection-type phase shifter based on a complex load design and Schottky varactor diodes. The measured phase shift is > 360deg at 5.8 GHz with an average insertion loss of 1.7 dB. The measured reflection coefficient is better than -17 dB at 5.8 GHz over all bias voltages. The phase shift is 440deg at 5.6 GHz with an associated insertion loss of only 2.1 dB and a reflection coefficient better than -13 dB. At 5.9 GHz, the phase shift reduces to 315deg which is equivalent to a 3-bit design with an insertion loss of still < 2.0 dB. The phase shifter results in state-of-the-art performance and is suitable for WLAN smart antennas at the 5.5-6.0 GHz.
Low-coordination topologies for redundancy in sensor networks

Tiny, low-cost sensor devices are expected to be failure-prone and hence in many realistic deployment scenarios for sensor networks these nodes are deployed in higher than necessary densities to meet operational goals. In this paper we address the question of how nodes should be managed in such dense sensor deployments so that the network topology formed by the active sensors is able to provide connected-coverage to the entire area of interest and at the same time increase the lifetime of the network. In particular, we propose and study distributed, low-coordination node wakeup schemes to efficiently construct multiple independent (node-disjoint) sensor network topologies to achieve good fault tolerance. We propose and evaluate different distributed, random and pattern-based wakeup policies for sensor nodes to construct connected-covered topologies. Through analysis and simulations we demonstrate that in dense sensor deployment scenarios, these policies can construct near-optimal topologies (within 2.7% of the optimal) with zero coordination between nodes, as long as location information is available at the individual sensor nodes.Based on these observations, we develop and evaluate a few simple distributed, wakeup based topology construction algorithms that can realize similar performance bounds in realistic sensor deployments, with varying node densities. These algorithms differ in terms of the required level of coordination and the use of sensor location information, and generate connected-covered topologies efficiently, with very low message-exchange overhead.
Identification of a Novel Raf-1 Pathway Activator that Inhibits Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Cell Growth

Carcinoids are neuroendocrine tumors (NET) that secrete hormones, including serotonin, resulting in the malignant carcinoid syndrome. In addition to the significant morbidity associated with the syndrome, carcinoids are frequently metastatic at diagnosis, and untreated mortality at 5 years exceeds 70%. Surgery is the only curative option, and the need for other therapies is clear. We have previously shown that activation of Raf-1 inhibits carcinoid cell proliferation. We investigated the ability of leflunomide (LFN), a Food and Drug Administration-approved medication for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and its active metabolite teriflunomide (TFN) as a potential anti-NET treatment. LFN and TFN inhibit the in vitro proliferation of gastrointestinal carcinoid cells and induce G(2)-M phase arrest. Daily oral gavage of nude mice with subcutaneous xenografted carcinoid tumors confirms that LFN can inhibit NET growth in vivo. Treatment with TFN suppresses the cellular levels of serotonin and chromogranin A, a glycopeptide co-secreted with bioactive hormones. Additionally, TFN reduces the level of achaete-scute complex-like 1 (ASCL1), a NET marker correlated with survival. These effects are associated with the activation of the Raf-1/mitiogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase-1/2 pathway, and blockade of mitiogen-activated protein kinase kinase signaling reversed the effects of TFN on markers of the cell cycle and ASCL1 expression. In summary, LFN and TFN inhibit carcinoid cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo and alter the expression of NET markers. This compound thus represents an attractive target for further clinical investigation.