cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Releasing Locks As Early As You Can: Reducing Contention of Hotspots by Violating Two-Phase Locking (Extended Version).

Hotspots, a small set of tuples frequently read/written by a large number of transactions, cause contention in a concurrency control protocol. While a hotspot may comprise only a small fraction of a transaction's execution time, conventional strict two-phase locking allows a transaction to release lock only after the transaction completes, which leaves significant parallelism unexploited. Ideally, a concurrency control protocol serializes transactions only for the duration of the hotspots, rather than the duration of transactions. We observe that exploiting such parallelism requires violating two-phase locking. In this paper, we propose Bamboo, a new concurrency control protocol that can enable such parallelism by modifying the conventional two-phase locking, while maintaining the same guarantees in correctness. We thoroughly analyzed the effect of cascading aborts involved in reading uncommitted data and discussed optimizations that can be applied to further improve the performance. Our evaluation on TPC-C shows a performance improvement up to 4x compared to the best of pessimistic and optimistic baseline protocols. On synthetic workloads that contain a single hotspot, Bamboo achieves a speedup up to 19x over baselines.
The Paradoxical Protective Effect of Immigration on Colorectal Cancer Survivals

ABSTRACT Background It is unknown whether the place of birth would affect colon cancer survival. Methods An observational study of colon cancer patient data using the SEER database from 1973 to 2010 was performed. Patients with more than one primary cancer in their lifetime or patients who were under age 18 were excluded. The primary outcome was cancer-specific survival. Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed, adjusting for patient demographics and oncological characteristics. Results A total of 262,618 colon cancer patients were analyzed, with the majority (86.0%) born in the US. The overall 5-year cancer-specific survival rate was 51.4% and was significantly lower for US-born than non-US born patients (50.4% vs 58.1%). This difference persisted in local/regional disease and in cases with distant metastasis, and across racial groups. On adjusted analysis, US-born patients had worse disease-specific survivals (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.24-1.33), and this effect persisted in all racial groups except in Asians. Conclusion US-born patients have worse survivals than non-US born patients. This is paradoxical given known disparities in quality of care delivered to immigrant populations. It may be useful to consider including geographical histories in patient interviews.
Cocrystalline Polymer Films Exhibiting Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties

Tailored polymer materials exhibiting high-glass transition temperatures, cross-linked matrices, and/or strong intermolecular interactions containing electric-field poled nonlinear optical (NLO) ch...
Race-Based Stress Reactions and Recovery: Pilot Testing a Racial Trauma Meditation:

Twenty-six Black collegians were exposed to a vicarious racial harassment stimulus (VRHS) then randomized into a Black Lives Matter Meditation for Healing Racial Trauma condition or a silence contr...
Economic evaluation of quality improvement interventions to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections in the hospital setting: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Hospitals have implemented diverse quality improvement (QI) interventions to reduce rates of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs). The economic value of these QI interventions is uncertain. OBJECTIVE To systematically review economic evaluations of QI interventions designed to prevent CAUTI in acute care hospitals. METHODS A search of Ovid MEDLINE, Econlit, Centre for Reviews & Dissemination, New York Academy of Medicine's Grey Literature Report, WorldCat, IDWeek conference abstracts and prior systematic reviews was conducted from January 2000 to October 2020.We included English-language studies of any design that evaluated organisational or structural changes to prevent CAUTI in acute care hospitals, and reported programme and infection-related costs.Dual reviewers assessed study design, effectiveness, costs and study quality. For each eligible study, we performed a cost-consequences analysis from the hospital perspective, estimating the incidence rate ratio (IRR) and incremental net cost/savings per hospital over 3 years. Unadjusted weighted regression analyses tested predictors of these measures, weighted by catheter days per study. RESULTS Fifteen unique economic evaluations were eligible, encompassing 74 hospitals. Across 12 studies amenable to standardisation, QI interventions were associated with a 43% decline in infections (mean IRR 0.57, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.70) and wide ranges of net costs (mean US$52 000, 95% CI -$288 000 to $392 000), relative to usual care. CONCLUSIONS QI interventions were associated with large declines in infection rates and net costs to hospitals that varied greatly but that, on average, were not significantly different from zero over 3 years. Future research should examine specific practices associated with cost-savings and clinical effectiveness, and examine whether or not more comprehensive interventions offer hospitals and patients the best value.
Nucleoplasmic and Cytoplasmic Degradation of Telomerase: implications toward telomerase-based cancer therapy

Nucleoplasmic and Cytoplasmic Degradation of Telomerase: Implications Toward Cancer Therapy
Evidence-Based Physical Diagnosis

Here is a one-of-a-kind guide to the physical examination, providing a critical review of the accuracy of traditional physical signs. "Diagnostic Accuracy" tables compare physical signs to contemporary diagnostic tools (such as clinical imaging and laboratory testing), and identify which traditional findings are accurate and which have little clinical value.
An Exploration of Optimization Algorithms and Heuristics for the Creation of Encoding and Decoding Schedules in Erasure Coding

Erasure codes are employed by disk systems to tolerate failures. They are typically characterized by bit-matrices that are used for encoding and decoding. The efficiency of an erasure code using a bit-matrix is directly related to the number of exclusive-or (XOR) operations required during the encoding process. Thus, a problem within the field of erasure coding is how to schedule the XOR operations for any given bit-matrix so that the fewest number of XOR operations are required. This paper develops an algorithm for finding the optimum solution and analyzes the performance of two known heuristics on a set of encoding matrices.
Parallel Algorithms for Bridge- and Bi-Connectivity on Minimum Area Meshes

We present parallel algorithms for finding tbe bridgeand bi~onDected components of an undirected graph G =(V .E) with n vertices and t1 edges on 2-dimensiooal mesh of size n1/lxnJ/2. In conventional parallel models any bridge. and bi-connectivity algorithm requires at least n processing elements, and tbus our algorithms run on minimum area networks. OUf algorithms find tbe bridge-connected components in 0(n /2) time for both input in the form of an adjacency matrix and in the form of edges. For bi-connectivity we show how achieve 0 (n 3/2) time when the input is adjacency matrix form, and 0 (e +n312) time when the input is in the form of edges.
Aleatory Uncertainty and Scale Effects in Computational Damage Models for Failure and Fragmentation

Summary Stress concentrations near grain boundaries, precipitates, and similar micro-heterogeneities nucleate instabilities leading to macroscale fracture. As it is not practical to model each flaw explicitly, their ensemble effect is modeled statistically. Accounting for this aleatory uncertainty requires smaller specimens (e.g., small finite elements) to have generally higher and more variable strengths, which is necessary for the initial failure probability of a finite domain to be unaffected by its discretization into elements. Localization itself, which might be attributed to constitutive instability, requires realistic numerical perturbations to predict bifurcations such as radial cracking in axisymmetric problems. These perturbations, stemming from microscale heterogeneity, are incorporated in simulations by imposing statistical spatial variability in the parameters of an otherwise conventional (deterministic and scale-independent) damage model. This approach is attractive for its algorithmic simplicity and straightforward calibration from standard strength tests. In addition, it results in virtually no loss of efficiency or robustness relative to deterministic models and accommodates general three-dimensional loading. Despite these advantages, some significant challenges remain and are discussed. However, it is demonstrated that including aleatory uncertainty with associated scale effects significantly improves predictiveness on large-scale computational domains, where it is impractical to resolve each crack or localization zone.Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Factors Affecting the Pathways of Glucose Catabolism and the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle in Pseudomonas natriegens

Less than 50% of theoretical oxygen uptake was observed when glucose was dissimilated by resting cells of Pseudomonas natriegens. Low oxygen uptakes were also observed when a variety of other substrates were dissimilated. When uniformly labeled glucose-(14)C was used as substrate, 56% of the label was shown to accumulate in these resting cells. This material consisted, in part, of a polysaccharide which, although it did not give typical glycogen reactions, yielded glucose after its hydrolysis. Resting cells previously cultivated on media containing glucose completely catabolized glucose and formed a large amount of pyruvate within 30 min. Resting cells cultivated in the absence of glucose catabolized glucose more slowly and produced little pyruvate. Pyruvate disappeared after further incubation. In this latter case, experimental results suggested (i) that pyruvate was converted to other acidic products (e.g., acetate and lactate) and (ii) that pyruvate was further catabolized via the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Growth on glucose repressed the level of key enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and of lactic dehydrogenase. Growth on glycerol stimulated the level of these enzymes. A low level of isocitratase, but not malate synthetase, was noted in extracts of glucose-grown cells. Isocitric dehydrogenase was shown to require nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) as cofactor. Previous experiments have shown that reduced NADP (NADPH(2)) cannot be readily oxidized and that pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase could not be detected in extracts. It was concluded that acetate, lactate, and pyruvate accumulate under growing conditions when P. natriegens is cultivated on glucose (i) because of a rapid initial catabolism of glucose via an aerobic glycolytic pathway and (ii) because of a sluggishly functioning tricarboxylic acid cycle due to the accumulation of NADPH(2) and to repressed levels of key enzymes.
High Sensitivity Peptide Sequence Analysis Using In Situ Proteolysis on High Retention PVDF Membranes and a Biphasic Reaction Column Sequencer

Publisher Summary This chapter explores the high-sensitivity peptide sequence analysis using in situ proteolysis on high-retention polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes and a biphasic reaction column sequencer. In a study described in the chapter, comparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) peptide maps of transferrin and myoglobin were used to evaluate relative yields of tryptic peptides from different types of blotting membranes. The recovery of most tryptic myoglobin peptides from Trans-Blot PVDF is three to five times higher than from nitrocellulose. The observed differences in yields between membrane types appear to primarily reflect differences in electroblotting recoveries rather than variations in proteolysis or peptide extraction because the observed peptide yields on the HPLC profile roughly correlate with the blotting efficiency on the different membrane types. In addition, only minor differences in peptide recoveries from different membrane types were observed for transferrin, which is well retained by all membrane types evaluated. High-retention PVDF membranes such as Trans-Blot are the preferred membranes for routine in situ protease digestions of gel purified proteins because of their high retention of proteins during electroblotting.
Challenges and opportunities for computer science in services science

Information technology is playing more vital roles as service businesses increasingly dominate the world's economy. Computer science, which has evolved over the past 50 years, faces new opportunities and challenges to solve critical problems in services science. This presentation discusses these opportunities and challenges from a computer scientist's point of view.
Some critical properties of G/H non-linear sigma models near two dimensions: (I). Universal scaling law for the coupling constant

Abstract Background field methods are applied to study G/H non-linear σ models in 2 + ϵ dimensions. The large distance behavior of the running coupling constant and the symmetry breaking field can be explicitly identified by this method and expressed in terms of correlation functions. We identify these quantities as “physical observables” and determine their scaling properties near critically in 2 + ϵ dimensions from the renormalization group. We extract explicit scaling laws from weak coupling perturbation theory. Application of the results to Anderson localization yields a universal scaling law for the AC conductivity near the mobility edge.
SU‐E‐T‐101: An Arc Based Treatment Technique for Proton PBS Beam Utilizing Overlaid Bragg Peak Spots

Purpose: When Bragg peaks from proton PBS beams are overlaid from a large number of directions, it creates a localized dose distribution with rapid falloff. By positioning these overlaid Bragg peak (OBP) spots strategically throughout the targeted volume, a uniform and conformal dose distribution can be achieved. When PBS spots from all the directions are delivered in an arc fashion, it becomes the Volume Modulated Proton Therapy (VMPT) technique which corresponds to the VMAT technique in photon therapy. Methods: PBS beam from an IBA machine and a 20cm radius cylindrical phantom were simulated with GATE/GEANT4. To position the OBP spot at the center of the phantom, single energy PBS beam from 10/36/360 equally-spaced directions around the phantom was used. To position the OBP spot at an off-center position, PBS beams with various energies were used. To form a uniform dose distribution in 1D/2D, OBP spots are positioned in arrays with spot intervals and weight optimized. Results: Dose profile for single energy OBP spot improved when the number of beam angles increased from 10 to 36, but remained same from 36 to 360 angles. Multi-energy OBP spot had a slightly non-symmetrical profile due to the different energy proton beams used. By optimizing each OBP spot’s weight, 11 OBP spots with 10mm interval size created a uniform dose distribution covering a length of 10cm. Similarly, 11×11 OBP spots in an array of 10mm interval size created a uniform dose distribution covering an area of 10×10cm2. Conclusion: We demonstrated the technique of using OBP spots to deliver uniform dose in 1D/2D. This technique can be easily extended through the optimization of position and weight of OBP spots in 3D and becomes the arc based VMPT technique. Further studies are needed to explore the optimization methods and full potential of the VMPT technique.
Mechanistic modeling of fingering, nonmonotonicity, fragmentation, and pulsation within gravity/buoyant destabilized two‐phase/unsaturated flow

[1] Fingering, nonmonotonicity, fragmentation, and pulsation within gravity/buoyant destabilized two-phase/unsaturated flow systems has been widely observed with examples in homogeneous to heterogeneous porous media, in single fractures to fracture networks, and for both wetting and nonwetting invasion. To model this phenomena, we consider a mechanistic approach based on forms of modified invasion percolation (MIP) that include gravity, the influence of the local interfacial curvature along the phase-phase interface, and the simultaneous invasion and reinvasion of both wetting and nonwetting fluids. We present example simulations and compare them to experimental data for three very different situations: (1) downward gravity-driven fingering of water into a dry, homogeneous, water-wettable, porous medium; (2) upward buoyancy-driven migration of gas within a water saturated, heterogeneous, water-wettable, porous medium; and (3) downward gravity-driven fingering of water into a dry, water-wettable, rough-walled fracture.
Continued recovery in an adult with cerebellar ataxia

Background and purpose: The authors previously reported on the functional recovery of an adult with chronic, severe ataxia secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI) after 28 sessions of trunk stabilization and locomotor training (LT). The purpose of this case report is to describe this individual's functional abilities 3.5 years after the intervention. Case description: Thirteen months post-TBI and not expected to be a functional ambulator, an adult male participated in a trunk stabilization and LT intervention. After the intervention, he continued to exercise in a hospital-based fitness program and received additional physical therapy. Evaluation of balance, gait, trunk performance, self-reported function, and quality of life was performed at 6 weeks (baseline), 1 year, and 3.5 years after completing the intervention. Outcomes: Balance, gait, and function improved. Resting left transverse abdominis thickness, measured using ultrasound imaging, increased as did left-side bridge and trunk flexion endurance...
Parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) of rabbitbrush aphids and linkage with agriculturally important pest aphids in Washington State, United States of America

Rabbitbrush, Chrysothamnus Nuttall spp. (Asteraceae), is a common perennial native shrub across the inland western United States. In the Columbia Basin growing district of Washington State, rabbitbrush is often found in close proximity to potatoes and other agronomic crops, but its value as a conservation reservoir and source of parasitoids of merit in agriculture is unknown. Here, we define the aphid parasitoids frequenting rabbitbrush, their aphid host preferences, seasonal occurrence, and linkage or association with other aphids of economic and noneconomic importance. Extensive field collections, lab-holdings, and rearings were used to explore and characterise the fauna. One new species of aphidiine parasitoid is described and illustrated: Praon cowiche Hollingbery and Pike, new species and a key to the parasitoids of rabbitbrush aphids is provided.
Pulse radiolysis study of the reaction of OH radicals with C2H4 over the temperature range 343-1173 K

The reaction of OH and OD radicals with ethylene in the presence of 1 atm argon and 6 Torr water vapor was studied in the temperature range 343–1173 K. The results reveal three kinetically separate temperature regions: (1) 343–563 K, where the disappearance of OH radical is dominated by the addition of OH to the double bond of ethylene; (2) 563–748 K, where concurrent reactions of addition, the reverse reaction of addition and H-atom abstraction is dominant; and (3) 748–1173 K, where H-atom abstraction is likely the main reaction. The rate for hydrogen abstraction is 2.4 × 10−11 exp[(−2104 ± 125)/T] cm3/molec-s (for OD 2.1 × 10−11 exp[(−2130 ± 172)/T] cm3/molec-s). There was no obvious pyrolysis of ethylene below 1073 K. The study of OD radical with ethylene shows a small isotope effect.
The growth-stimulating activity of peptides on human hematopoietic cell cultures☆

Abstract We have investigated the influence of 21 individual peptides on the growth of RPMI no. 5328 cells in medium RPMI no. 1640 supplemented with 2% dialyzed fetal calf serum. The quantitative data demonstrate that some differences exist between the activity of the dipeptide and the corresponding free amino acid, and also that the cells require pre-formed peptide as such. The media supplemented separately with dl -alanyl- dl -alanine, dl -alanyl- dl -norvaline, dl -alanyl- dl -phenylalanine, dl - or l -leucyl-glycylglycine, l -leucyl- l -tyrosine, tetraglycine, glycyl- dl -phenyl-alanine, glycyl- l -tryptophane and glycyl- dl -valine stimulated cell growth 10% greater than did the controls. The media supplemented with 11 other peptides were slightly active, and some of them occasionally approximated the growth-stimulating effects of these active media, but statistically they were not significantly different from the controls.
PITFALLS IN THE APPLICATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INSIGHTS TO AFRICAN HISTORY

Twenty-one collaborators and I recently have championed the use of demographic insights in the reconstruction of African history.' The advocacy, however, does not mean that we endorse all uses to which demography has been put in the recent literature. We all recognize the delicacy of transferring methods from one discipline to another. In this essay I would like to suggest five pitfalls into which some distinguished scholars have fallen as a caution for further research. Some of the authors of course, may not believe them pitfalls at all, but the production of history requires debates on methods as well as fact and theory. Before.embarking on this critique, however, let me propose a framework which relates primarily to one of the three major components of demography, the study of mortality. The analysis of mortality in Africa really involves three nested questions which researchers inevitably address either implicitly or explicitly: why do organisms die? why and how do people die? and why and how do people die in Africa? In the course of explaining how demographers answer these questions, I will illustrate the methodological errors which I believe fellow historians have committed. Death is the inevitable outcome of life; it comes to all organisms, large and small. The causes of death and disease often work in combination. Some organisms are born defective, genetically unable to function in the same way as others of their species. Others, although properly equipped, experience accidents or shortages of food. Those which have survived to maturity experience aging, a process by which the biological mechanisms which have enabled creatures to repair themselves and to fight off enemies, cease functioning, and death is the final outcome. All these causes of death can occur without the intervention of other creatures. The earth, however, is filled with a variety of organisms which are capable of killing one another. Members of some species kill each other, but the most common causes of death are interspecific, involving the relationships of predation and parasitism.2 Predation is the more obvious interspecific cause of mortality. The food chain consists of small animals and plants which are eaten by their (usually larger) neighbors. Smaller organisms are not, however, entirely defenseless; often they can insinuate themselves into the very bodies of larger animals or plants, living as parasites. Both predation and parasitism involve notions of balance: the predator which eats all of the prey will starve, as will the parasite which multiplies too successfully within the host. This regularity applies to the very smallest creatures-to bacteria which live symbiotically inside their hosts and to viruses which exist only within individual cells.3
Disp1 regulates growth of mammalian long bones through the control of Ihh distribution.

Dispatched1 (Disp1) is required for the release of cholesterol modified hedgehog (Hh) proteins from producing cells. We investigated the role of Disp1 in Indian hedgehog (Ihh) signaling in the developing bone bypassing the lethality of the Disp1 C829F allele at early somite stages through the supply of non-cholesterol modified Sonic hedgehog (N-Shh). The long bones that develop in the absence of wild-type Disp1, while clearly shorter, have a juxtaposition of proliferating and non-proliferating hypertrophic chondrocytes that is markedly more normal in organization than those of ihh null mutants. Direct analysis of Ihh trafficking in the target field demonstrates that Ihh is distributed well beyond Ihh expressing cells though the range of movement and signaling action is more restricted than in wild-type long bones. Consequently, a PTHrP–Ihh feedback loop is established, but over a shorter distance, reflecting the reduced range of Ihh movement. These analyses of the Disp1 C829F mutation demonstrate that Disp1 is not absolutely required for the paracrine signaling role of Ihh in the skeleton. However, Disp1 is critical for the full extent of signaling within the chondrocyte target field and consequently the establishment of a normal skeletal growth plate.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene expression during adaptation to stationary phase and low-oxygen dormancy

The innate mechanisms used by Mycobacterium tuberculosis to persist during periods of non-proliferation are central to understanding the physiology of the bacilli during latent disease. We have used whole genome expression profiling to expose adaptive mechanisms initiated by M. tuberculosis in two common models of M. tuberculosis non-proliferation. The first of these models was a standard growth curve in which gene expression changes were followed from exponential growth through the transition to stationary phase. In the second model, we followed the adaptive process of M. tuberculosis during transition from aerobic growth to a state of anaerobic non-replicating persistence. The most striking finding from these experiments was the strong induction of the entire DosR "dormancy" regulon over approximately 20 days during the long transition to an anaerobic state. This is contrasted by the muted overall response to aerated stationary phase with only a partial dormancy regulon response. From the results presented here we conclude that the respiration-limited environment of the oxygen-depleted NRP model recreates at least one fundamental factor for which the genome of M. tuberculosis encodes a decisive adaptive program.
Using the Analysis of Covariance to Increase the Power of Priming Experiments

Although priming paradigms are widely used in cognitive psychology, the statistical analyses typically applied to priming data may not be optimal. Conceiving of priming paradigms as change-from-baseline designs suggests that the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), using baseline performance as the covariate, is a more efficient (i.e., powerful) analysis. Specifically, ANCOVA provides more powerful tests of 1) the presence of priming and 2) between-group differences in priming. In addition, for within-subject designs with multiple baseline conditions, ANCOVA may increase the power of within-subjects effects. Efficiency gains are demonstrated with a re-analysis of priming datasets from implicit memory research. It is suggested that similar gains may be realized in other areas of priming research. Important assumptions of this procedure, which must be evaluated for the appropriate application of ANCOVA, are discussed.
Transport of ionic species through functionalized poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) membranes

Solid polymeric membranes of poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) (VBC), lightly crosslinked with divinyl benzene, were incompletely reacted such that a fraction of the benzyl chlorines in different membranes was replaced with either dimethyl phosphonate esters (MPE) or triethyl ammonium chloride groups (QA). This work was conducted in an effort to investigate ionic transport through charged and uncharged membranes and to develop fixed site carrier membranes to facilitate the transport of selected metal ions from an aqueous feed stream to a concentrated acid receiving stream. Bulk solution flow does not occur through these membranes. Instead, solute diffusion occurs through the membrane matrix. The effects of hydrogen ion gradient, metal ion identity and charge, reactive site type, acid type, and ionic strength on metal ion transport were investigated. Results are also presented on the effect of membrane orientation and pretreatment (swelling) on metal ion transport. Facilitated transport was investigated through the testing of membranes with varying MPE percent functionalization. The results presented compare the metal ion transport rate to the functionalization of the membranes.
Specific Gene Repression by CRISPRi System Transferred through Bacterial Conjugation

In microbial communities, bacterial populations are commonly controlled using indiscriminate, broad range antibiotics. There are few ways to target specific strains effectively without disrupting the entire microbiome and local environment. Here, we use conjugation, a natural DNA horizontal transfer process among bacterial species, to deliver an engineered CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) system for targeting specific genes in recipient Escherichia coli cells. We show that delivery of the CRISPRi system is successful and can specifically repress a reporter gene in recipient cells, thereby establishing a new tool for gene regulation across bacterial cells and potentially for bacterial population control.
Embedded-atom-method study of structural, thermodynamic, and atomic-transport properties of liquid Ni-Al alloys

Structural, thermodynamic, and atomic-transport properties of liquid Ni-Al alloys have been studied by Monte Carlo and molecular-dynamics simulations based upon three different embedded-atom method (EAM) interatomic potentials, namely those due to Foiles and Daw (FD) [J. Mater. Res. 2, 5 (1987)], Voter and Chen (VC) [in Characterization of Defects in Materials, edited by R. W. Siegel et al. MRS Symposia Proceedings. No. 82 (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, 1987), p.175] and Ludwig and Gumbsch (LG) [Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 3, 533 (1995)]. We present detailed comparisons between calculated results and experimental data for structure factors, atomic volumes, enthalpies of mixing, activities, and viscosities. Calculated partial structure factors are found to be in semiquantitative agreement with published neutron scattering measurements for ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{20}{\mathrm{Al}}_{80}$ alloys, indicating that short-range order in the liquid phase is qualitatively well described. Calculated thermodynamic properties of mixing are found to agree very well with experimental data for Ni compositions greater than 75 atomic %, while for alloys richer in Al the magnitudes of the enthalpies and entropies of mixing are significantly underestimated. The VC and LG potentials give atomic densities and viscosities in good agreement with experiment for Ni-rich compositions, while FD potentials consistently underestimate both properties at all concentrations. The results of this study demonstrate that VC and LG potentials provide a realistic description of the thermodynamic and atomic transport properties for ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{x}{\mathrm{Al}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}$ liquid alloys with $xg~0.75,$ and point to the limitations of EAM potentials for alloys richer in Al.
Prevalence of Yersinia enterocolitica in antimicrobial-free and conventional antimicrobial use swine production.

Abstract Swine are the primary reservoir for foodborne illness associated with Yersinia enterocolitica. The use of antimicrobials in animal agriculture has been hypothesized as having a potential role in the increase in prevalence of zoonotic pathogens. The objective of this study was to compare the frequency of Y. enterocolitica fecal shedding in swine reared on farms with conventional antimicrobial use policies to farms that were antimicrobial free (ABF). Swine farms were selected from three regions in the United States. In each region, farms were categorized based on antimicrobial use policy. Fecal samples were collected from pigs on-farm within 48 h of harvest. The overall proportion of Y. enterocolitica and ail-harboring Y. enterocolitica–positive pigs was 10.9% and 4.0%, respectively. There were increased odds (odds ratio [OR] 6.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.46–13.28) for a pig to be Y. enterocolitica positive if it was reared on an ABF farm as compared to a conventional farm. There was no signi...
DWT-based scene-adaptive color quantization

Color quantization is the process of reducing the number of colors in an image. That is, color quantization maps a large number of colors into a much smaller number of representative colors while keeping color distortion to an acceptable level. The reduction in the number of colors lowers computational complexity associated with color processing, and achieves higher color image compression for storage and transmission purposes. The existing color quantization methods require that the number of representative or prominent colors be specified by the user. This paper presents a scene-adaptive color quantization method which eases this constraint by determining the number of representative colors automatically. This method utilizes the discrete wavelet transform to achieve a computationally efficient implementation of the multi-scale clustering algorithm in a 3D color space. The performance is evaluated in terms of compression ratio or number of representative colors, color distortion, and computational complexity. It is shown that the developed method outperforms the popular color quantization methods in terms of color distortion.
Predicting Costs of Pipe Cleaning and Lining Projects

Cleaning and cement‐mortar lining of water mains is the method of choice for many water utilities seeking to restore lost carrying capacity to their old pipes. In order to make good decisions concerning whether to clean and line a main, as opposed to replacing it, paralleling it, or leaving it alone, it is important to he able to quickly, yet accurately, estimate the costs of a cleaning and lining project. This paper gives a procedure for estimating the costs of cleaning and lining water mains. The costs predicted using the procedure described in this paper were compared with actual costs from 51 projects and were found to be within an average of 16% of the actual costs, even though a large variety of projects were considered.
Rendering from compressed high dynamic range textures on programmable graphics hardware

High dynamic range (HDR) images are increasingly employed in games and interactive applications for accurate rendering and illumination. One disadvantage of HDR images is their large data size; unfortunately, even though solutions have been proposed for future hardware, commodity graphics hardware today does not provide any native compression for HDR textures.In this paper, we perform extensive study of possible methods for supporting compressed HDR textures on commodity graphics hardware. A desirable solution must be implementable on DX9 generation hardware, as well as meet the following requirements. First, the data size should be small and the reconstruction quality must be good. Second, the decompression must be efficient; in particular, bilinear/trilinear/anisotropic texture filtering ought to be performed via native texture hardware instead of custom pixel shader filtering.We present a solution that optimally meets these requirements. Our basic idea is to convert a HDR texture to a custom LUVW space followed by an encoding into a pair of 8-bit DXT textures. Since DXT format is supported on modern commodity graphics hardware, our approach has wide applicability. Our compression ratio is 3:1 for FP16 inputs, allowing applications to store 3 times the number of HDR texels in the same memory footprint. Our decompressor is efficient and can be implemented as a short pixel program. We leverage existing texturing hardware for fast decompression and native texture filtering, allowing HDR textures to be utilized just like traditional 8-bit DXT textures. Our reduced data size has a further advantage: it is even faster than rendering from uncompressed HDR textures due to our reduced texture memory access. Given the quality and efficiency, we believe our approach suitable for games and interactive applications.
Transplanting wildings in small revegetation projects

Abstract Transplanting individuals from natural communities in the vicinity may provide an economical and rapid means of revegetating small, severely disturbed sites. We transplanted individuals of two bunchgrass and two shrub species from adjacent sagebrush steppe onto disturbed sites at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Plants and a shovel‐full of soil were moved in late fall. Survival was high for all species, ranging from about 80% for Artemisia tridentata and Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus to nearly 100% for Agropyron desertorum. Agropyron desertorum and Leymus cinereus plants extracted soil water to a depth of 1.6 m during the first year after transplanting, indicating a proliferation of roots in a short period of time.
Modulation of basal expression of the human α1(I) procollagen gene (COL1A1) by tandem NF-1/Sp1 promoter elements in normal human dermal fibroblasts

We previously demonstrated that a segment of the human alpha1 type I procollagen gene (COL1A1) promoter encompassing nt -174 to -84 is responsible for the highest transcriptional activity in collagen producing cells in vitro. Here, we identified two almost identical tandem NF-1/Sp1 binding sites located between nt -129 to -107 (distal element) and nt -104 to -77 (proximal element) that are responsible for the basal regulation of COL1A1 transcription in normal human dermal fibroblasts. Transient transfection studies revealed that 85% of the basal COL1A1 promoter activity resides within the distal element; however, site-directed mutagenesis within the CCAAT motif in the proximal element resulted in a 98% decrease of the COL1A1 promoter activity. We conclude that each of the NF-1/Sp1 tandem binding sites has a different function. The distal element drives the transcriptional activity of the COL1A1 promoter but is not sufficient for its basal expression, whereas the NF-1 binding site in the proximal element is essential for in vitro COL1A1 gene transcription.
A Test for Selection Employing Quantitative Trait Locus and Mutation Accumulation Data

Evolutionary biologists attribute much of the phenotypic diversity observed in nature to the action of natural selection. However, for many phenotypic traits, especially quantitative phenotypic traits, it has been challenging to test for the historical action of selection. An important challenge for biologists studying quantitative traits, therefore, is to distinguish between traits that have evolved under the influence of strong selection and those that have evolved neutrally. Most existing tests for selection employ molecular data, but selection also leaves a mark on the genetic architecture underlying a trait. In particular, the distribution of quantitative trait locus (QTL) effect sizes and the distribution of mutational effects together provide information regarding the history of selection. Despite the increasing availability of QTL and mutation accumulation data, such data have not yet been effectively exploited for this purpose. We present a model of the evolution of QTL and employ it to formulate a test for historical selection. To provide a baseline for neutral evolution of the trait, we estimate the distribution of mutational effects from mutation accumulation experiments. We then apply a maximum-likelihood-based method of inference to estimate the range of selection strengths under which such a distribution of mutations could generate the observed QTL. Our test thus represents the first integration of population genetic theory and QTL data to measure the historical influence of selection.
Independence and additivity of cultured hepatocyte killing by Ca2+ overload and ATP depletion.

Abstract In two competing models of toxic cell death, hepatocyte killing by chemical hypoxia (CN/IAA) is attributed to ATP depletion and killing by A23187 is attributed to Ca 2+ -induced damage. The independence of these models can be questioned because CN/IAA elevates Ca 2+ before killing lclc7 hepatoma cells and because the ATP source fructose prevents hepatocyte killing by Br-A23187. In the present studies, cultured mouse hepatocytes were exposed to CN/IAA, A23187, or treatments in combination. A23187 produced toxicity proportional to Ca 2+ -activated DNA fragmentation. CN/IAA caused comparable toxicity but no fragmentation of DNA. Treatments in combination were more toxic than either treatment alone. Aurintri-carboxylic acid, a Ca 2+ -endonuclease inhibitor, decreased DNA fragmentation and the toxicity of A23187 and combination treatment without affecting CN/IAA toxicity. ATP plus oligomycin decreased CN/IAA and combination treatment toxicity but not that of A23187. These findings indicate that cultured mouse hepatocytes are killed through mechanisms that are independent and additive in their toxicities.
Sequential support vector regression with embedded entropy for SNP selection and disease classification

Comprehensive evaluation of common genetic variations through association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) structure with common diseases on the genome-wide scale is currently a hot area in human genome research. For less costly and faster diagnostics, advanced computational approaches are needed to select the minimum SNPs with the highest prediction accuracy for common complex diseases. In this article, we present a sequential support vector (SV) regression model with embedded entropy algorithm to deal with the redundancy for the selection of the SNPs that have best prediction performance of diseases. We implemented our proposed method for both SNP selection and disease classification, and applied it to simulation data sets and two real disease data sets. Results show that on the average, our proposed method outperforms the well-known methods of support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVMRFE), logistic regression, classification and regression tree (CART), and logic regression-based SNP selections for disease classification. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 2011 © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Processing and mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite–polysulfone laminated composites

Abstract Designing biocomposites that mimic bone with specific mechanical properties of toughness and elastic modulus is a long-standing challenge in the biomaterials field. Traditional biocomposites comprise polymer matrices reinforced with ceramic particles. Laminated composites are structures also found in nature that can offer improved mechanical properties such as strength, elastic modulus and toughness. Hydroxyapatite/polysulfone laminated composites were fabricated to develop biologically compatible, toughened composites that would match the elastic modulus of bone. Multilayered composites were successfully designed with improved toughness measured by the work of fracture. Toughness measurements were more than an order of magnitude greater than monolithic hydroxyapatite. The toughness and modulus values of hydroxyapatite/polysulfone were within the range of cortical bone.
Is the pre-Tg DSC endotherm observed with solid state proteins associated with the protein internal dynamics? Investigation of bovine serum albumin by solid state hydrogen/deuterium exchange

DSC thermograms of solid state pure proteins often show a distinct endotherm at a temperature far below the glass transition temperature of the system (Tg). We hypothesized this endotherm represents enthalpy recovery associated with an internal mobility transition of the protein molecule. Although the existence of an internal transition has been postulated, whether this endotherm is associated with such a transition has not previously been discussed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the origin of the pre-Tg endotherm in lyophilized bovine serum albumin (BSA). Due to strong glass behavior, the system Tg was determined by extrapolating Tg data of disaccharide/BSA formulations to zero saccharide. A small pre-Tg endotherm around 40-60 °C was observed in amorphous BSA equilibrated at 11%RH. The apparent activation energy suggested the endotherm was "α-mobility"-related. A solid state hydrogen/deuterium exchange study using FTIR was conducted over a temperature range spanning the endotherm. We found a fast phase, followed by essentially a plateau level which is highly temperature dependent in the 40-60 °C range, suggesting enhanced internal protein motion as the system passes through the temperature range of the endotherm. These results suggest the pre-Tg endotherm is associated with a protein internal mobility transition.
Context shifts: extending the meanings of physical objects with language

The influence that language has on contextual interpretations cannot be ignored by computer systems that strive to be context aware. Rather, once systems are designed to perceive language and other forms of human action, these interpretative processes will of necessity be context dependent. As an example, we illustrate how people simply and naturally create new contexts by naming and referring. We then describe Rasa, a mixed-reality system that observes and understands how users in a military command post create such contexts as part of the process of maintaining situational awareness. In such environments, commander's maps are covered with Post-it® notes. These paper artifacts are contextually transformed to represent units in the field by the application of multimodal language. Rasa understands this language, thereby allowing paper-based tools to become the basis for digital interaction. Finally, we argue that architectures for such context-aware systems will need to be built to process the inherent ambiguity and uncertainty of human input in order to be effective.
Soil-structure interaction effects for laterally excited liquid storage tanks

A comprehensive study is made of the effects of soil-structure interaction on the response of liquid containing, upright, circular cylindrical tanks subjected to a horizontal component of ground shaking. A simple, physically motivated method of analysis is employed which elucidates the effects and relative importance of the principal actions involved. Both the impulsive and convective actions of the liquid are examined. The interrelationship of the tank responses to horizontal and rocking actions of the foundation is established, and the well known mechanical model for laterally excited, rigid tanks supported on a non-deformable medium is generalized to permit consideration of the effects of tank and ground flexibilities and base rocking. Critical responses are evaluated for harmonic and seismic excitations over wide ranges of tank proportions and soil stiffnesses, and the results are presented in a form convenient for use in practical applications. In addition to a precise method of analysis, an approximate, hand-computation method is presented with which the effects of the primary parameters may be evaluated readily. The soil-structure interaction effects in the latter approach are provided for by modifying the natural frequency and damping of the tank-liquid system and evaluating its response to the prescribed free-field ground motion considering the tank to be rigidly supported at the base. The requisite modifications may be determined from information presented herein. It is shown that soil-structure interaction may reduce significantly the impulsive components of response but that it has a negligible effect on the convective components.