cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ruminal Degradation, Amino Acid Composition, and Intestinal Digestibility of the Residual Components of Five Protein Supplements

Two ruminally cannulated Holstein cows (approximately 202 DIM) were used to determine the in situ degradability of five protein supplements: blood meal, meat and bone meal, corn gluten meal, expeller soybean meal, and solvent extracted soybean meal. Dacron bags containing 4 g of each supplement in duplicate were soaked in water and then incubated in the rumen for 0, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h for 3 d. Four extra sample bags of each supplement were incubated in the rumen for 12 h to determine the in vitro intestinal digestibility and AA analysis of the residues. Protein supplements were also analyzed for their AA content. Ruminal degradability of individual supplements varied. Solvent soybean meal was the most degradable, and blood meal was the least degradable. Specific first-limiting essential AA were isoleucine for blood meal and meat and bone meal, lysine for corn gluten meal, and methionine for the soybean meals. The RUP fraction in solvent-extracted and expeller soybean meals tended to be more intestinally digestible than did the protein in blood meal and meat and bone meal. In general, all protein supplements, except solvent-extracted soybean meal, were high in RUP and had the potential to provide good quality AA to complement microbial AA for production.
Natural suppression of strong P and T non-invariance

Abstract In gauge theories with spontaneously broken left-right symmetry, strong P and T non-invariant effects can also be made to vanish naturally in the tree approximation without introducing massless quarks or axions. In a four-flavor SU(2)L × SU(2)R × U(1)L+R model with manifest left-right symmetry, we show that strong CP noninvariance is absent up to the one-loop level and weak CP-violation is of superweak type. Extension to the case of six quarks gives a left-right symmetric generalization of the Kobayashi-Maskawa model without axions.
Online quality control for real-time crowd captioning

Approaches for real-time captioning of speech are either expensive (professional stenographers) or error-prone (automatic speech recognition). As an alternative approach, we have been exploring whether groups of non-experts can collectively caption speech in real-time. In this approach, each worker types as much as they can and the partial captions are merged together in real-time automatically. This approach works best when partial captions are correct and received within a few seconds of when they were spoken, but these assumptions break down when engaging workers on-demand from existing sources of crowd work like Amazon's Mechanical Turk. In this paper, we present methods for quickly identifying workers who are producing good partial captions and estimating the quality of their input. We evaluate these methods in experiments run on Mechanical Turk in which a total of 42 workers captioned 20 minutes of audio. The methods introduced in this paper were able to raise overall accuracy from 57.8% to 81.22% while keeping coverage of the ground truth signal nearly unchanged.
The effect of ice application versus controlled cold therapy on skin temperature when used with postoperative bulky hand and wrist dressings: a preliminary study.

Abstract Skin temperature of the hands of 12 volunteers was monitored. The hands were placed in bulky dressings and treated with a standard ice bag (group I) or a new cooling blanket (group 11). The contralateral hands served as controls. The mean difference in skin temperatures between group I and controls was 1.5°F, while the difference between group II and controls was 13°F. Temperatures of the controls did not decrease with time. Newer cooling devices appear to be more efficacious than standard ice bags in accurately and significantly lowering skin temperature when used with traditional bulky hand dressings.
The impact of three-dimensional CT imaging on intraobserver and interobserver reliability of proximal humeral fracture classifications and treatment recommendations

Background: The classification systems for fractures of the proximal part of the humerus provide low interobserver and intraobserver reliability when radiographs or two-dimensional computed tomography scans are used. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the use of three-dimensional computed tomography scans could improve interobserver and intraobserver reliability of AO/OTA (Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Osteosynthesefragen/Orthopaedic Trauma Association) and Neer classifications and treatment recommendations. Methods: Two trauma surgeons, one shoulder surgeon, two senior orthopaedic residents, and two junior orthopaedic residents reviewed the radiographs and two and three-dimensional computed tomography scans of forty fractures of the proximal part of the humerus. Each imaging modality was reviewed in isolation, and fractures were classified according to the Neer and AO/OTA classifications and treatment recommendations were provided. This process was repeated for intraobserver analysis. Interobserver agreement was calculated within and between levels of training for each classification and treatment recommendation with respect to radiographs and two and three-dimensional computed tomography scans. Results: Among attending orthopaedic surgeons and senior residents, the use of three-dimensional computed tomography did not improve agreement compared with the use of two-dimensional computed tomography for the Neer classification based on planes, the AO/OTA classification, or the treatment recommendation, but it did improve agreement among junior residents. Comparing between levels of training, three-dimensional computed tomography increased agreement only between junior residents and more experienced reviewers for the Neer classification based on planes and for the AO/OTA classification but not for the treatment recommendation. Intraobserver agreement for each reviewer for classification and treatment ranged from slight to fair and was not improved through the use of three-dimensional computed tomography. Conclusions: In this investigation, the use of three-dimensional computed tomography imaging did not offer improved interobserver and intraobserver agreement compared with the use of two-dimensional computed tomography imaging with regard to classification and treatment of fractures of the proximal part of the humerus, except among reviewers with limited clinical experience. Level of Evidence: Diagnostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Liposuction and Surgical Recontouring of the Neck: A Retrospective Analysis

Background.With the advent of tumescent liposuction, many advances in cosmetic surgery have occurred. Liposuction of excess adipose tissue from the submental area, jowls, and neck, along with cold steel surgery, has become an attractive alternative to the facelift for cervicomental aesthetic surgery
Social skills, social support, and psychosocial adjustment

Abstract This study examined the interrelations of a standardized, multidimensional measure of social skills and various self-report measures related to the psychosocial adjustment of college students. One hundred and thirty-six undergraduates were administered the Social Skills Inventory, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, an adaptation of the Dimensions of Social Support Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and self-report measures of participation in college activities, college satisfaction, and a general life satisfaction measure. Correlational analyses revealed that possession of social skills was positively correlated with perceived social support and with most of the measures of psychosocial adjustment. Regression analysis indicated that social skills combined with perceived social support predicted certain aspects of adjustment in college students, particularly satisfaction with college, satisfaction with life in general, and reduced perceptions of loneliness.
Identification of nonischemic stroke mimics among 411 code strokes at the University of California, San Diego, Stroke Center.

Background Code Stroke systems are widely used to expedite emergency treatment of patients with stroke. Code Stroke for mimic patients–those without a stroke cause–wastes resources. We investigated how many times a Code Stroke was initiated for patients who did not have a stroke appropriate for thrombolysis. Methods We conducted a retrospective review of the discharge diagnoses of all patients who presented to our emergency department as a Code Stroke. A patient was considered a stroke mimic if a stroke code was activated, but none of the first 3 International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes on discharge were transient ischemic attack–related or ischemic stroke–related. Results A total of 411 patients presented to the emergency department as Code Stroke. In all, 104 (25.3%) were discharged without a diagnosis of stroke or transient ischemic attack. The diagnoses in this group were intracranial hemorrhage in 19 patients, subarachnoid hemorrhage 6, subdural hematoma 3, old deficit 11, hypotension 11, seizure 10, intoxication 8, hypoglycemia 7, mass lesion 6, migraine 5, and other 18. In all, 33 of 307 eligible patients (10.7%) were treated with tissue-type plasminogen activator. None of the patients with a stroke mimic received tissue-type plasminogen activator. In 44 of 104 stroke mimics (42.3%), the acute disease was caused by a severe neurologic condition other than ischemic cerebrovascular disease. Only 60 of 411 stroke codes (14.6%) were initiated for patients without a severe and acute neurologic condition. Conclusions In our community, 25.5% of all Code Strokes were initiated for stroke mimics. Most mimic patients had an illness likely to benefit from urgent neurologic evaluation.
Cancer: New-age tumour suppressors

The discovery of a gene that is inactivated in stomach cancers illustrates the value of mouse models for finding tumour-suppressor genes that are switched off by mechanisms other than mutation.
Fast algorithms to implement N-FINDR for hyperspectral endmember extraction

N-FINDR suffers from several issues in its practical implementation. One is the search region which is usually the entire data space. Another related issue is its excessive computation. A third issue is the use of random initial conditions which causes inconsistency in final results that can not be reproducible. This paper develops two ways to speed up the N-FINDR in computation. One is to narrow down the search region for the N-FINDR to a feasible range, called region of interest (ROI) where data sphering/thresholding and the well-known pixel purity index (PPI) are used as a preprocessing to find a desire ROI. The other is to simplify the simplex volume computation where three methods are proposed for this purpose to reduce computational complexity of matrix determinant. In addition, in order to further reduce computational complexity two sequential N-FINDR algorithms are developed which implement the N-FINDR by finding one endmember after another in sequence so that the information provided by previously found endmembers can be used to reduce computational complexity. The conducted experiments demonstrate that while the proposed fast algorithms can greatly reduce computational complexity, their performance remains as good as the N-FINDR is and is not compromised by reduction of the search region to an ROI and simplified matrix determinant.
Linking Contextual Factors with Rhetorical Pattern Shift: Direct and Indirect Strategies Recommended in English Business Communication Textbooks in China:

Scholars have consistently claimed that rhetorical patterns are culturally bound, and indirectness is a defining characteristic of Chinese writing. Through examining how the rhetorical mechanism of...
Quantum synchrotron spectra from semirelativistic electrons in teragauss magnetic fields

Synchrotron spectra are calculated from quantum electrodynamic transition rates for thermal and power-law electron distributions. It is shown that quantum effects appear in thermal spectra when the photon energy is greater than the electron temperature, and in power-law spectra when the electron energy in units of the electron rest mass times the magnetic field strength in units of the critical field strength is of order unity. These spectra are compared with spectra calculated from the ultrarelativistic approximation for synchrotron emission. It is found that the approximation for the power-law spectra is good, and the approximation for thermal spectra produces the shape of the spectrum accurately but fails to give the correct normalization. Single photon pair creation masks the quantum effects for power-law distributions, so only modifications to thermal spectra are important for gamma-ray bursts.
Cell therapy for heart failure.

Correspondence: A. Terzic, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic, 200, First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, United States E-mail: terzic.andre@mayo.edu The pandemic of ischemic heart disease is increasingly recognized as a leading cause of global morbidity. While modern treatment modalities for acute myocardial infarction have reduced early mortality, they have concurrently precipitated a higher incidence of chronic heart failure among survivors. Recurrent hospitalizations and premature death, prevalent in this growing patient population, have imposed a major unmet need associated with the inability of current, largely palliative, therapies to address massive tissue destruction post-infarction. The myocyte-deficit in infarction-induced heart failure is in the order of 1 billion cells with a 25% loss of the left ventricle mass.1 The hallmark of this malignant pathology is the progressive maladaptive remodeling of the myocardium that precipitates contractile dysfunction, and ultimately leads to the overt syndrome of congestive organ failure. Repair of failing infarcted hearts is a formidable challenge confronted by cardiovascular medicine, considering not only the magnitude of cardiomyocyte loss but also the requirements to reestablish optimal supply in support of functional and structural demands.2 A compelling clinical need thus exists for the establishment of innovative cardiovascular therapies that will extend the reach of the medicine of today. In this context, the emergence of regenerative medicine—a vanguard in healthcare paradigms—has begun to transform the perspectives of clinical practice.3 Applied in the management of cardiovascular diseases, regenerative medicine tools aim at enabling the functional restoration of damaged heart tissues, not a mere abatement or mitigation of symptoms. Accordingly, the ongoing global efforts of the scientific and healthcare community are essential steps in ensuring safe and effective translation of fundamental knowledge underlying cardiac cell repair therapy into algorithms for broader clinical use.4 Indeed, based on rapid advances in stem cell biology, successful application of regenerative medicine principles promises significant human health benefit with tangible outcomes for increased quality of life and improved future patient care.
A numerical study of Richtmyer-Meshkov instability driven by cylindrical shocks

As an incident shock wave hits a material interface between two fluids of different densities, the interface becomes unstable. Small disturbances at the interface start to grow. This interfacial instability is known as a Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM) instability. It plays an important role in the studies of inertial confinement fusion and supernova. The majority of studies of the RM instability were in plane geometry—namely, plane shocks in Cartesian coordinates. We present a systematic numerical study of the RM instability driven by cylindrical shocks for both the imploding and exploding cases. The imploding (exploding) case refers to a cylindrical shock colliding with the material interface from the outside in (inside out). The phenomenon of reshock caused by the waves reflected from the origin is also studied. A qualitative understanding of this system has been achieved. Detailed studies of the growth rate of the fingers at the unstable interface are presented.
Finding Event-Specific Influencers in Dynamic Social Networks

Many methods have been proposed to determine influential nodes or links in network structures. However, most methods typically operate on a global scale with the assumption of static networks. Here a new ranking algorithm is proposed to find local influencers on Twitter that appear within the context of a specific event being discussed, incorporating the network dynamics as the event evolves with time. The algorithm is executed on data collected on Twitter during the Four-mile Canyon fire started on September 6th, 2010 in Boulder, Colorado. The ranking results are compared to other ranking techniques, and are shown to be the most effective in discovering local, event-specific influencers in the network during the fire.
DNA sequencing on microfabricated electrophoretic devices.

We present a model that quantitatively describes the performance of microfabricated electrophoretic devices filled with linear polyacrylamide as replacable sieving material for single-stranded DNA analyses. The dependence of resolution on various separation parameters such as selectivity, diffusion, injector size, device length, and channel folding was investigated. A previously predicted dependence of longitudinal diffusion coefficient on electric field strength has been verified. We have used this model to develop and optimize microfabricated electrophoretic devices for DNA analyses. For single-color DNA sequencing mixtures, we routinely achieve separations of 400 bases in under 14 min at 200 V/cm, and separation of 350 bases in only 7 min at 400 V/cm, with a minimum resolution of R = 0.5. Our results also indicate reduced fragment biasing and efficient sample stacking for DNA sample loading on microfabricated devices.
Topographic distribution of Thy-1 positive cells in epithelial tissues of BALB/c mice.

Abstract Epithelial sheets prepared from murine oral epithelia (palate, lining mucosa, gingiva) and oesophagus contained dendritic and round Thy-1 positive (+) cells similar to those observed in epidermis by immunofluorescence microscopy. Bladder, intestine and tracheal epithelium did not contain such cells. Thus, cells bearing the cells-surface glycoprotein Thy-1, like 1a-antigen-bearing Langerhans cells, may be restricted to stratified squamous epithelia.
Interpretation of contested heritage at an attraction in St. Lucia

The tangible sugar heritage in the Anglophone Caribbean is important to its tourism product. This heritage, like the plantations which play a central role in regional preservation efforts, was created as a result of the enslavement of Africans to provide a large, cheap labour force. Sugar heritage is thus a contested heritage and there is disagreement about how this heritage should be interpreted. In fact, the silence of slaves resounds in the interpretation evident at many former sugar plantations in the Americas. The question, however, is if consumers of this heritage notice the absence of slave voices at this sites that are now primarily used as places of leisure and pleasure in the tourism industry. This study confirms that the silence is perceived by tourists visiting Morne Coubaril Estate, a popular attraction in St. Lucia. Though their satisfaction and overall quality of experience are not related to their disappointment with this component of interpretation, they nonetheless overwhelmingly support...
Territorial behaviour of Pemphigus gall aphids

ALTHOUGH insects are known to defend nests, breeding sites and females1, the defence of feeding sites is less well documented. Other than the defence of egg clutches and nymphs by female treehoppers2 and the existence of a soldier caste in wooly aphids3, territoriality has not been reported in the large insect order Homoptera which includes aphids, scale insects, hoppers, cicadas and whiteflies. As the evolution of territoriality is thought to be directly correlated with competition for resources in short supply4, territorial behaviour should only be exhibited when population densities approach the carrying capacity of the environment. Because parthenogenetic reproduction and the high population growth rates of aphids seem contradictory to the notion of limited resources, aphid territorial behaviour is not expected. I report here on the settling behaviour of the aphid, Pemphigus betae Doane, which forms galls of the leaf blade of narrowleaf cottonwood, Populus angustifolia. We have quantified the existence of a defended micro-territory, the production of a floater population of individuals displaced through competitive interactions, and the differential mortality of residents and floaters which favours the evolution of territorial behaviour.
Activation of the Factor VIIIa-Factor IXa Enzyme Complex of Blood Coagulation by Membranes Containing Phosphatidyl-L-serine

Factor IXa, a serine protease of blood coagulation, functions at least 100,000 times more efficiently when bound to factor VIIIa on a phospholipid membrane than when free in solution. We have utilized the catalytic activity of the factor VIIIa-factor IXa complex to report the effect of phospholipid membranes on binding of factor IXa to factor VIIIa and on enzymatic cleavage of the product. The apparent affinity of factor IXa for factor VIIIa was 10-fold lower in the absence of phospholipid membranes with a KD of 46 nMversus 4.3 nM with phospholipid membranes. The Kmfor activation of factor X by the factor VIIIa-factor IXa complex was 1700 nM in solution, 70-fold higher than the value of 28 nM when bound to membranes containing phosphatidyl-L-serine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylcholine at a ratio of 4:20:76. The largest effect of phosphatidyl-L-serine-containing membranes on the factor VIIIa-factor IXa complex was the accelerated rate of peptide bond cleavage, with the kcat increased by 1,500-fold from 0.022 to 33 min-1. Membranes in which phosphatidyl-L-serine was replaced by phosphatidyl-D-serine, phosphatidic acid, or phosphatidylglycerol were at least 10-fold less effective for enhancing the kcat. Thus, while membranes containing phosphatidyl-L-serine enhance condensation of the enzyme with its cofactor and substrate, their largest effect is activation of the assembled factor VIIIa-factor IXa enzyme complex.
A Supply and Demand Model of the College Admissions Problem

We develop a decentralized Bayesian model of college admissions with two ranked colleges, heterogeneous students and two realistic match frictions: students find it costly to apply to college, and college evaluations of their applications is uncertain. Students thus face a portfolio choice problem in their application decision, while colleges choose admissions standards that act like market-clearing prices. Enrollment at each college is affected by the standards at the other college through student portfolio reallocation. In equilibrium, student-college sorting may fail: weaker students sometimes apply more aggressively, and the weaker college might impose higher standards. Applying our framework, we analyze affirmative action, showing how it induces minority applicants to construct their application portfolios as if they were majority students of higher caliber.
Microwave Power Transmission: Historical Milestones and System Components

Microwave power transmission (MPT) is the wireless transfer of large amounts of power at microwave frequencies from one location to another. MPT research has been driven primarily by the desire to remotely power unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and by the concept of space solar power (SSP) first conceived by Dr. Peter Glaser of the Arthur D. Little Company in 1968. This paper attempts to reveal, in adequate chronological detail, many of the MPT milestones reached over the past 50 years, including those related to SSP. Key components to various MPT systems are presented as well as design schemes for achieving efficient MPT. Special focus is given to rectenna design since this particular MPT component has received the most attention from researchers over the last couple of decades.
Therapeutic Issues with Gay and Lesbian Elders

McDougall helps sensitize us to issues of the homosexual aged, not only their stigmatized existence, but also their remarkable strengths and special needs. Being old and being gay may seem like an overwhelming task to accomplish, since aging has its share of emotional challenges and concerns. Ten years ago Dawson (1982) estimated up to 3.5 million homosexual men and women, over the age of 60, were currently living in the United States. A more conservative estimate of 1.75 million was given by Berger in 1984. Loss is the predominant theme of aging in all older adults who experience many losses which often occur simultaneously, e.g., death of spouse and friends, retirement, change in social status and loss of status, loss of income or drastic reductions in income, decline in physical health, and impending death. Emotional responses experienced by older people such as anxiety, depression, grief and mourning, guilt, helplessness, loneliness, are universal, which means that homosexuals as well as heterosexuals will experience similar emotions in old age. In general the mental health needs of the older homosexual are similar to the needs of the older heterosexual (Berger, 1984). There are differences, however, in the way both groups have learned to cope with the stresses of life (Berger, 1982). To be old and gay demands adaptation that most people have never had to experience with life. Wolf (1982) conducted in-depth interviews with 100 older lesbians and gay men and documented their many strengths. These strengths include learning at an early age to fend for themselves; cultivating several noncareer interests; preserving friendships outside a lover relationship; increasing their personal autonomy; and adjusting easier to old age since homosexuality means one has to live with a stigmatized identity throughout life. As a result of these learned coping strategies, elderly homosexuals may be better prepared for old age and adjust easier to old age than elderly heterosexuals. There is a paucity of published research on the mental health needs of the older gays and lesbians since many tend to be invisible. The goal of this chapter is to critically analyze the literature on the mental health of aging homosexual men and women from a developmental perspective. Myths, stereotypes, historical events, and developmental issues are evaluated in the context of stress and coping. Finally, the therapeutic issues discussed are anxiety, bereavement, homophobia, homosexual dissatisfaction, intimacy, and sexuality.
The Place of Erotic Transference and Countertransference in Clinical Practice

Patients who express intense, erotic attraction to their therapists pose special treatment challenges that may not respond well to the interpretative effects of the therapist. The wish that the therapist demonstrate love for the patient and the therapists' own erotic feelings toward such patients can create misalliances as well difficult technical moments. Furthermore, some patients expressing their love for their therapist may have physiological manifestations while others would not. At the same time, therapists may not experience erotic feelings toward the patients' expressions of love. The purpose of this paper is to try to answer the following questions: How do we conceptualize our patients' erotic manifestations? Are those expressions of Oedipal or preoedipal pathology? What are the countertransference reactions of the analyst? Two clinical examples will highlight these issues.
Optimization of Acoustic-Resonance Spectrometry for Analysis of Intact Tablets and Prediction of Dissolution Rate

Acoustic-resonance spectrometry (ARS) provides a means of identifying and quantifying materials. A new ARS instrument incorporates a three-transducer design that increases sensitivity through interferometry and uses polyvinylidene fluoride piezoelectric films instead of ceramic transducers to give high output voltages, broader bandwidth, and lower cost. The operating parameters of the ARS are optimized with a widely applicable technique named Universal Numerical Optimization (UNO). The UNO technique allows refinement of instrumental parameters on the basis of distances in hyperspace between sample sets. The new ARS is able to identify different intact tablets and predict the percent dissolution of intact carbamazepine tablets at one hour in a standard apparatus to within 4.6% at a fraction of the cost of traditional or even near-IR methods.
Error augmentation enhancing arm recovery in individuals with chronic stroke: A randomized crossover design

Background. Neurorehabilitation studies suggest that manipulation of error signals during practice can stimulate improvement in coordination after stroke. Objective. To test visual display and robotic technology that delivers augmented error signals during training, in participants with stroke. Methods. A total of 26 participants with chronic hemiparesis were trained with haptic (via robot-rendered forces) and graphic (via a virtual environment) distortions to amplify upper-extremity (UE) tracking error. In a randomized crossover design, the intervention was compared with an equivalent amount of practice without error augmentation (EA). Interventions involved three 45-minute sessions per week for 2 weeks, then 1 week of no treatment, and then 2 additional weeks of the alternate treatment. A therapist provided a visual cursor using a tracking device, and participants were instructed to match it with their hand. Haptic and visual EA was used with blinding of participant, therapist, technician-operator, and ...
Reader question formation as a tool for measuring comprehension: narrative and expository textual inferences in a second language

Psychological models of first language (L1) textual comprehension distinguish between expository and narrative texts but are unclear on differences of inference generation between the two types of texts in a second language (L2). Forty-seven undergraduate students performed a comprehension task using two narrative and two expository texts in an L2. Participants generated questions at specific points throughout each text. Responses were categorised under six question types: scripturally implicit, textually implicit, textually explicit, linguistic and miscomprehension. Results showed that subjects generated more inferences for narrative texts while exhibiting more miscomprehension for expository texts.
Cross-Evaluation: A new model for information system evaluation

In this article, we introduce a new information system evaluation method and report on its application to a collaborative information seeking system, AntWorld. The key innovation of the new method is to use precisely the same group of users who work with the system as judges, a system we call Cross-Evaluation. In the new method, we also propose to assess the system at the level of task completion. The obvious potential limitation of this method is that individuals may be inclined to think more highly of the materials that they themselves have found and are almost certain to think more highly of their own work product than they do of the products built by others. The keys to neutralizing this problem are careful design and a corresponding analytical model based on analysis of variance. We model the several measures of task completion with a linear model of five effects, describing the users who interact with the system, the system used to finish the task, the task itself, the behavior of individuals as judges, and the self-judgment bias. Our analytical method successfully isolates the effect of each variable. This approach provides a successful model to make concrete the “three-realities” paradigm, which calls for “real tasks,” “real users,” and “real systems.” © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
2006 HES PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS A TALE OF TWO MAINSTREAMS: ECONOMICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL SCIENCE IN THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY

HES Presidential addresses often attempt to answer a substantive question (or number of related questions) in the history of economic thought. The answers provided are not “answers” in the sense that one finds an answer to a simple numerical problem; rather they are historical narratives, stories, that bring the listener/reader to a new, and hopefully deeper, understanding of a particular author, piece of economic literature, or episode in the history of economic thought.
Early auditory processing inspired features for robust automatic speech recognition

In this paper, we derive bio-inspired features for automatic speech recognition based on the early processing stages in the human auditory system. The utility and robustness of the derived features are validated in a speech recognition task under a variety of noise conditions. First, we develop an auditory based feature by replacing the filterbank analysis stage of Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) feature extraction with an auditory model that consists of cochlear filtering, inner hair cell, and lateral inhibitory network stages. Then, we propose a new feature set that retains only the cochlear channel outputs that are more likely to fire the neurons in the central auditory system. This feature set is extracted by principal component analysis (PCA) of nonlinearly compressed early auditory spectrum. When evaluated in a connected digit recognition task using the Aurora 2.0 database, the proposed feature set has 40% and 18% average word error rate improvement relative to the MFCC and RelAtive SpecTrAl (RASTA) features, respectively.
A Framework for Robust Online Video Contrast Enhancement Using Modularity Optimization

We address the problem of video contrast enhancement. Existing techniques either do not exploit temporal information at all or do not exploit it correctly. This results in inconsistency that causes undesirable flash and flickering artifacts. Our method analyzes video streams and cluster frames that are similar to each other. Our method does not have omniscient information about the entire video sequence. It is an online process with a fixed delay. A sliding window mechanism successfully detects shot boundaries “on-the-fly” in a video. A graph-based technique called “modularity” performs automatic clustering of video frames without a priori information about clusters. For every cluster in the video, we extract key frames belonging to each cluster using eigen analysis and estimate enhancement parameters for only the key frame, then use these parameters to enhance frames belonging to that cluster, thus making our method robust. We evaluate the clustering method on video sequences from the TRECVid 2001 dataset and compare it with existing methods. We show reduction of flash artifacts in enhanced videos. We show statistically significant improvement in perceived video quality and validate that by conducting experiments on human observers. We show application of our clustering process to perform robust video segmentation.
The content-pipe divide

The growth of video content and diversification of content-sharing methods in the Internet lead to an exciting range of new problems in networking, communications, and signal processing. This informal note outlines the opportunities arising out of the “content-pipe divide” and presents some of the recent work from my research group and collaborators.
GeneMark.hmm: New solutions for gene finding

The number of completely sequenced bacterial genomes has been growing fast. There are computer methods available for finding genes but yet there is a need for more accurate algorithms. The GeneMark. hmm algorithm presented here was designed to improve the gene prediction quality in terms of finding exact gene boundaries. The idea was to embed the GeneMark models into naturally derived hidden Markov model framework with gene boundaries modeled as transitions between hidden states. We also used the specially derived ribosome binding site pattern to refine predictions of translation initiation codons. The algorithm was evaluated on several test sets including 10 complete bacterial genomes. It was shown that the new algorithm is significantly more accurate than GeneMark in exact gene prediction. Interestingly, the high gene finding accuracy was observed even in the case when Markov models of order zero, one and two were used. We present the analysis of false positive and false negative predictions with the caution that these categories are not precisely defined if the public database annotation is used as a control.
Model reference adaptive control with a constrained linear reference model

For systems with limited control authority and a control design that does not prevent saturation from occurring, using a linear reference model can introduce problems, especially when the external command is not necessarily conditioned to respect the capabilities of the plant. An example of this is commanding a large step command that cannot really be achieved linearly by the plant due to limited control authority. Linear reference models will attempt to elicit a linear response in the plant when no such response is possible (peaking). Although providing a realistic command that can be tracked is the job of the planner or trajectory generator, it is desirable if unrealistic commands can be handled at the reference model by shaping its own response trajectory in a way that prevents premature saturation of control signals. This paper introduces reference models that are linear locally but limit their internal dynamics using saturation functions as a part of its dynamics.
Structural Model of the mAb 806-EGFR Complex Using Computational Docking followed by Computational and Experimental Mutagenesis

In this work, we combined computational protein-protein docking with computational and experimental mutagenesis to predict the structure of the complex formed by monoclonal antibody 806 (mAb 806) and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). We docked mAb 806, an antitumor antibody, to its epitope of EGFR residues 287-302. Potential mAb 806-EGFR orientations were generated, and computational mutagenesis was used to filter them according to their agreement with experimental mutagenesis data. Further computational mutagenesis suggested additional mutations, which were tested to arrive at a final structure that was most consistent with experimental mutagenesis data. We propose that this is the EGFR-mAb 806 structure, in which mAb 806 binds to an untethered form of the receptor, consistent with published experimental results. The steric hindrance created by the antibody near the EGFR dimer interface interferes with receptor dimerization, and we postulate this as the structural origin for the antitumor effect of mAb 806.
Use of nutrition facts panels among adults who make household food purchasing decisions.

Abstract Objective To identify sociodemographic variables and beliefs about the causes of obesity associated with reported use of Nutrition Facts panel (NFP) information. Design/Setting Nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of 1139 adults. Data collection employed a single-stage, equal-probability sampling design with random-digit dialing across 50 states and the District of Columbia. Analysis sample consisted of 390 adults living with one or more children who reported making food purchasing decisions. Main Outcome Measure Respondents provided self-reported information on their use of NFP information when making food purchasing decisions for their household. Analysis Chi-square and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests compared the analysis sample to the broader population. Logistic regression analyses identified the sociodemographic and beliefs about obesity variables related to NFP use. Results Fifty-three percent of the sample reported using NFP information on a consistent basis. Females, those with more education, and those currently married were more likely to use NFP labels. The importance of knowledge in order to maintain healthy body weight was the only belief variable associated with use of NFP information. Implications for Research and Practice Nutrition educators interested in changing dietary behaviors should begin by identifying levels of nutritional literacy and beliefs about the importance of nutrition to motivate use of NFP labels.
Activation of methionine synthase by insulin-like growth factor-1 and dopamine: a target for neurodevelopmental toxins and thimerosal.

Methylation events play a critical role in the ability of growth factors to promote normal development. Neurodevelopmental toxins, such as ethanol and heavy metals, interrupt growth factor signaling, raising the possibility that they might exert adverse effects on methylation. We found that insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)- and dopamine-stimulated methionine synthase (MS) activity and folate-dependent methylation of phospholipids in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells, via a PI3-kinase- and MAP-kinase-dependent mechanism. The stimulation of this pathway increased DNA methylation, while its inhibition increased methylationsensitive gene expression. Ethanol potently interfered with IGF-1 activation of MS and blocked its effect on DNA methylation, whereas it did not inhibit the effects of dopamine. Metal ions potently affected IGF-1 and dopamine-stimulated MS activity, as well as folate-dependent phospholipid methylation: Cu 2 þ promoted enzyme activity and methylation, while Cu þ ,P b 2 þ , Hg 2 þ and Al 3 þ were inhibitory. The ethylmercury-containing preservative thimerosal inhibited both IGF-1- and dopamine-stimulated methylation with an IC50 of 1 nM and eliminated MS activity. Our findings outline a novel growth factor signaling pathway that regulates MS activity and thereby modulates methylation reactions, including DNA methylation. The potent inhibition of this pathway by ethanol, lead, mercury, aluminum and thimerosal suggests that it may be an important target of neurodevelopmental toxins. Molecular Psychiatry advance online publication, 27 January 2004; doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001476
Small changes in exercise, not nutrition, often result in measurable changes in bone

Skeletalinjuriesintheequineathleteareatremendousconcernwithbotheconomicandanimalwelfareimplications. As a result, much research has focused on improving bone quality through nutritional and exercise interventions. With the recent utilization of biochemical markers, changes in bone metabolism can be monitored. This study examined and compared the response of bone markers and estimates of bone mineral content, in studies with nutritional interventions, with those utilizing exercise interventions. The post hoc analyses suggest that nutritional interventions result in less change to bone markers and bone mineral content than exercise treatments. Of the bone markers examined, osteocalcin correlates most strongly to estimates of bone quality while keratin sulphate, an indicator of cartilage turnover, showed the least correlation. Comparing the results of this study with other publishedstudies,similarfindingswereobserved,suggestingthatsmallalterationsinexerciseplayagreaterroleinaffecting measurable changes in bone metabolism and quality of the equine athlete than do small changes in nutrition.
Secondhand smoke is associated with more frequent hospitalizations in children with sickle cell disease

Tobacco smoke exposure has been associated with more frequent hospitalizations in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), but previous studies have not quantified the exposure by objective methods. We enrolled 50 children and young adults with SCD in a retrospective and prospective cohort study and quantified tobacco smoke exposure by objective (salivary cotinine) and survey measures. We used a multivariable negative binomial regression model to evaluate the association between salivary cotinine and hospital admissions. Forty-five percent (22/49) of participants had significant elevation of salivary cotinine (≥ 0.5 ng/ml). The incidence risk ratio (IRR) for hospital admission for those with elevated cotinine was 3.7 (95% CI 1.8-8). Those exposed to secondhand smoke but not primary smokers (cotinine between 0.5 and 10 ng/ml) had a similarly increased risk of hospitalization [IRR 4.3 (95% CI 1.8-10)]. We show that an objective measure of tobacco smoke exposure, salivary cotinine, is strongly associated with the rate of hospital admissions in children and young adults with SCD. This association underscores the importance of screening for tobacco smoke exposure in people with SCD. Further investigation is warranted to determine the mechanisms of and to evaluate interventions to decrease tobacco smoke exposure.
Monitoring Biodegradation of Magnesium Implants with Sensors

Magnesium and its alloys exhibit properties such as high strength, light weight, and in vivo corrosion that make them promising candidates for the development of biodegradable metallic implant materials for bone repair, stents and other medical applications. Sensors have been used to monitor the corrosion of magnesium and its alloys by measuring the concentrations of the following corrosion products: magnesium ions, hydroxyl ions and hydrogen gas. The corrosion characterization system with home-made capillary pH and Mg2+ microsensors has been developed for real-time detection of magnesium corrosion in vitro. A hydrogen gas sensor was used to monitor the corrosion of magnesium by measuring the concentration of the hydrogen gas reaction product in vivo. The high permeability of hydrogen through skin allows transdermal monitoring of the biodegradation of a magnesium alloy implanted beneath the skin by detecting hydrogen gas at the skin surface. The sensor was used to map hydrogen concentration in the vicinity of an implanted magnesium alloy.
Polygenic risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus among individuals with psychosis and their relatives

Abstract Background An elevated prevalence of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has been observed in people with psychotic disorders and their relatives compared to the general population. It is not known whether this population also has increased genetic risk for T2D. Methods Subjects included probands with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or psychotic bipolar I disorder, their first-degree relatives without psychotic disorders, and healthy controls, who participated in the Bipolar Schizophrenia Network for Intermediate Phenotypes study. We constructed sets of polygenic risk scores for T2D (PGRS T2D ) and schizophrenia (PGRS SCHIZ ) using publicly available data from genome-wide association studies. We then explored the correlation of PGRS T2D with psychiatric proband or relative status, and with self-reported diabetes. Caucasians and African–Americans were analyzed separately. We also evaluated correlations between PGRS SCHIZ and diabetes mellitus among Caucasian probands and their relatives. Results In Caucasians, PGRS T2D was correlated with self-reported diabetes mellitus within probands, but was not correlated with proband or relative status in the whole sample. In African–Americans, a PGRS T2D based on selected risk alleles for T2D in this population did not correlate with proband or relative status. PGRS SCHIZ was not correlated with self-reported diabetes within Caucasian probands. Conclusion Differences in polygenic risk for T2D do not explain the increased prevalence of diabetes mellitus observed in psychosis probands and their relatives.