cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
EEG-Based Quantification of Cortical Current Density and Dynamic Causal Connectivity Generalized across Subjects Performing BCI-Monitored Cognitive Tasks.

Quantification of dynamic causal interactions among brain regions constitutes an important component of conducting research and developing applications in experimental and translational neuroscience. Furthermore, cortical networks with dynamic causal connectivity in brain-computer interface (BCI) applications offer a more comprehensive view of brain states implicated in behavior than do individual brain regions. However, models of cortical network dynamics are difficult to generalize across subjects because current EEG signal analysis techniques are limited in their ability to reliably localize sources across subjects. We propose an algorithmic and computational framework for identifying cortical networks across subjects in which dynamic causal connectivity is modeled among user-selected cortical regions of interest (ROIs). We demonstrate the strength of the proposed framework using a “reach/saccade to spatial target” cognitive task performed by ten right-handed individuals. Modeling of causal cortical interactions was accomplished through measurement of cortical activity using electroencephalography (EEG), application of independent component clustering to identify cortical ROIs as network nodes, estimation of cortical current density using cortically constrained low resolution electromagnetic brain tomography (cLORETA), multivariate autoregressive (MVAR) modeling of representative cortical activity signals from each ROI, and quantification of the dynamic causal interaction among the identified ROIs using the Short-time direct Directed Transfer function (SdDTF). The resulting cortical network and the computed causal dynamics among its nodes exhibited physiologically plausible behavior, consistent with past results reported in the literature. This physiological plausibility of the results strengthens the framework’s applicability in reliably capturing complex brain functionality, which is required by applications such as diagnostics and BCI.
Design and implementation of an operational multimodel multiproduct real-time probabilistic streamflow forecasting platform

The task of real-time streamflow monitoring and forecasting is particularly challenging for ungauged or sparsely gauged river basins, and largely relies upon satellite-based estimates of precipitation. We present the design and implementation of a state-of-the-art real-time streamflow monitoring and forecasting platform that integrates information provided by cutting-edge satellite precipitation products (SPPs), numerical precipitation forecasts, and multiple hydrologic models, to generate probabilistic streamflow forecasts that have an effective lead time of 9 days. The modular design of the platform enables adding/removing any model/product as may be appropriate. The SPPs are bias-corrected in real-time, and the model generated streamflow forecasts are further bias-corrected and merged, to produce probabilistic forecasts that are computed via several model averaging techniques. The platform is currently operational in multiple river basins in Africa, and can also be adapted to any new basin by incorporating some basin-specific changes and recalibration of the hydrologic models.
P45 Mechanisms of regeneration: retinoic acid acts via the endothelium to drive human lung repair

Retinoic acid (RA) is essential for correct mammalian lung development and remarkably can induce alveolar regeneration in rodent models of COPD. However, clinical trials of RA and RA-Receptor gamma agonists in patients with COPD were disappointing. The reasons for the lack of effect in COPD patients are unknown but there is a clear need for a greater understanding of the underlying biology driving RA-induced lung regeneration. To investigate this, I studied the role of RA in human alveolar repair using isolated human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMEC), alveolar epithelial cells (A549) and developed a novel human alveolar model using Precision-Cut Lung Slices (PCLS). In HPMECs, All-trans RA (ATRA) induced angiogenesis in a dose dependent manner (p≤0.01, n=5). Pharmacological inhibition of VEGF receptor-2 with the selective inhibitor Ki8751 (Tocris) abolished this effect (p≤0.05, n=6) (figure 1). A proteome profiler array of PCLS, demonstrates an increase in pro-angiogenic proteins in the ATRA group, including CXCL16, IGFBP-3, PIGF, VEGF-A, HB-EGF and MCP-1. In addition, ATRA treatment of PCLS generated from histologically normal human lung lead to increased endothelial (PECAM-1) and alveolar type 2 (Pro-SPC) cell markers (n=3). Further investigation revealed that in wound-healing (scratch) assays of confluent cell monolayers, ATRA had no direct effect on the rate of wound healing in alveolar epithelial cells (A549) but significantly increased healing in HPMECs (p≤0.01, n=3). Moreover, siRNA knock-down of VEGF-R2 inhibited ATRA-induced wound-healing in HPMECs. Conditioned media from ATRA-treated HPMEC increased wound healing in A549 cells suggesting that the effects of RA on alveolar epithelial repair are mediated indirectly via the vascular network. HPMEC secreted HB-EGF with ATRA stimulation and HB-EGF treatment significantly increased A549 wound healing (n=2) suggesting it may act as a paracrine endothelial-epithelial regulator. My work demonstrates that RA has biological activity in human lung with direct effects on human lung microvasculature including cell migration, angiogenesis, and regulation of proteins likely to be important in alveolar repair. Together my data significantly advances our understanding of the mechanisms of RA induced repair in human lung tissue.
Flow cytometry-based drug screening system for the identification of small molecules that promote cellular differentiation of glioblastoma stem cells

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and most lethal primary brain tumor in adults, causing roughly 14,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone. Median survival following diagnosis is less than 15 months with maximal surgical resection, radiation, and temozolomide chemotherapy. The challenges inherent in developing more effective GBM treatments have become increasingly clear, and include its unyielding invasiveness, its resistance to standard treatments, its genetic complexity and molecular adaptability, and subpopulations of GBM cells with phenotypic similarities to normal stem cells, herein referred to as glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs). Because GSCs are required for tumor growth and progression, differentiation-based therapy represents a viable treatment modality for these incurable neoplasms. The following protocol describes a collection of procedures to establish a high throughput screening platform aimed at the identification of small molecules that promote GSC astroglial differentiation. At the core of the system is a glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) differentiation reporter-construct. The protocol contains the following general procedures: (1) establishing GSC differentiation reporter lines; (2) testing/validating the relevance of the reporter to GSC self-renewal/clonogenic capacity; and (3) high-capacity flow-cytometry based drug screening. The screening platform provides a straightforward and inexpensive approach to identify small molecules that promote GSCs differentiation. Furthermore, utilization of libraries of FDA-approved drugs holds the potential for the identification of agents that can be repurposed more rapidly. Also, therapies that promote cancer stem cell differentiation are expected to work synergistically with current "standard of care" therapies that have been shown to target and eliminate primarily more differentiated cancer cells.
Validation of the Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool-II.

The accurate assessment of risk of sexual reoffense for juveniles has the potential to inform many actions, including the segregation of low risk from high risk offenders, allocation of limited resources, matching treatment assignments and other programming with risk, and implementation of various state and federal regulations (e.g., registration and community notification laws) (Epperson, Ralston, Fowers, DeWitt, & Gore, 2006). The Juvenile Sexual Offense Recidivism Risk Assessment Tool – II (JSORRAT-II; Epperson et al., 2006) is the only known fully actuarially-derived risk assessment tool designed specifically for juveniles who have offended sexually (JSOs). However, it has yet to be validated. To test the predictive validity of the JSORRAT-II, the present study employed an archival file review of an exhaustive and representative sample of JSOs ages 11 through 17 from Utah (n = 566) who entered the juvenile justice system for a sexual offense, their index offense, in 1996 or 1997. Juvenile sexual recidivism data, defined as a new formal charge for a sexual offense prior to age 18, was obtained for all JSOs in order to determine the predictive validity of the JSORRAT-II. The results indicated that the tool can be scored with a high degree of reliability (ICC = .96) when research assistants received extensive training and oversight. Additionally, the JSORRAT-II predicted juvenile sexual recidivism at greater than chance levels (ROC = .64, 95% CI from .58 to .71), and this level of predictive accuracy was the same regardless of time at risk. Because this level of accuracy was substantially below the values reported on the original development sample, several additional analyses were carried out to attempt to find its cause. First, several coded variables were examined to determine their impact on the predictive validity. Of these, it appeared that the JSORRAT-II did not perform well for JSOs who had exclusively offended against siblings (ROC = .58; 95% CI
Non-monotonic temporal logics for goal specification

One of the main ways to specify goals of agents is to use temporal logics. Most existing temporal logics are monotonic. However, in representing goals of agents, we often require that goals be changed non-monotonically. For example, the initial goal of the agent may be to be always in states where p is true. The agent may later realize that under certain conditions (exceptions) it is ok to be in states where p is not true. In this paper, we propose a simple extension of LTL, which we call N-LTL, that allows non-monotonic specification of goals. We study properties of N-LTL. We also consider a translation from N-LTL to logic programs and study the relationship between N-LTL and logic programs.
The Sun Amongst the Stars

To determine the distance of a nearby star (other than the Sun), astronomers measure its angular displacement when viewed from opposite sides of the Earth’s orbit, or from a separation of twice the AU. The AU is the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun, with a value of about 149.6 million km. This angle is known as the annual parallax, from annual for the Earth’s yearlong orbit and the Greek parallaxis for the “value of an angle”.
Synthesis and Self-Assembly of Amphiphilic Star/Linear-Dendritic Polymers: Effect of Core versus Peripheral Branching on Reverse Micelle Aggregation

A series of branched polymers, consisting of a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) core and lipophilic peripheral dendrons, were synthesized and their self-assembly into reverse micelles studied toward the ultimate goal of carrier-mediated transdermal drug delivery. More specifically, this investigation systematically explores the structure-property contributions arising from location and extent of branching by varying the number of branch points at the core and the generation of dendrons at the polar/nonpolar interface. For branching at the core, PEGs were selected with one, two or four arms, with one terminal functionality per arm. For peripheral branching, end groups were modified with polyester dendrons (of dendritic generations 0, 1, and 2) for each of the three cores. Finally, lauric acid (LA) was used to esterify the periphery, yielding a library of branched, amphiphilic polymers. Characterization of these materials via MALDI-TOF MS, GPC and NMR confirmed their exceptionally well-defined structure. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) confirmed these polymers' abilities to make discrete aggregates. As expected, increased multiplicity of branching resulted in more compact aggregates; however, the location of branching (core vs periphery) did not seem as important in defining aggregate size as the extent of branching. Finally, computational modeling of the branched amphiphile series was explored to elucidate the macromolecular interactions governing self-assembly in these systems.
The First 20 Years of Organizational Research Methods: Trajectory, Impact, and Predictions for the Future:

We analyze the trajectory of Organizational Research Methods (ORM) during the first 20 years of its existence (i.e., 1998-2017). First, beginning with the inaugural volume, we review the editorials...
Do Health Care Insurance Expenditures and State Policies Affect State Self-Employment Rates?

Previous research on self-employment has focused on employers asinsurance-providers or how individuals make job choices under health insuranceconstraints. We add to the literature by examining whether certain health insurance factorsdetermine the self-employment rate at the state level. One explored variable is the percapita health insurance expenditure for states. Using panel data for the years 1999-2004,a random effects model indicates that per capita private health expenditures reduce thestate self-employment rate. We also analyze the impact of state health insuranceregulations that support small businesses and self-employment. The results indicate thatthose states with relatively strict limits on health insurance premiums charged to smallbusinesses or the self-employed have higher average self-employment rates. The mandatemay be reducing the cost difference between paid and self-employed workers, making thedecision between paid and self-employment less about health insurance costs. And, ifhealth insurance costs distort the choice between the two labor market paths, stateregulation on carriers, at least as they relate to premiums, may be leading to economicdecisions that are more socially efficient. (J48, I13)
6-Biphenylmethyl-3-hydroxypyrimidine-2,4-diones potently and selectively inhibited HIV reverse transcriptase-associated RNase H.

Abstract Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase (RT)-associated ribonuclease H (RNase H) remains an unvalidated drug target. Reported HIV RNase H inhibitors generally lack significant antiviral activity. We report herein the design, synthesis, biochemical and antiviral evaluations of a new 6-biphenylmethyl subtype of the 3-hydroxypyrimidine-2,4-dione (HPD) chemotype. In biochemical assays, analogues of this new subtype potently inhibited RT RNase H in low nanomolar range without inhibiting RT polymerase (pol) or integrase strand transfer (INST) at the highest concentrations tested. In cell-based assays, a few analogues inhibited HIV in low micromolar range without cytotoxicity at concentrations up to 100 μM.
Liver Dysfunction in a Patient with Ventricular Assist Device

Patients with severe or chronic heart failure (CHF) are at risk for hepatic ischemia due to poor global perfusion from left heart failure or for passive congestion from right heart failure, both of which can lead to significant liver dysfunction. In patients with left heart failure, perfusion of the liver tends to improve with ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation; a few patients, however, develop worse liver function post-VAD due to right heart failure, which can threaten patient survival. Identification of patients who need optimization of liver function prior to VAD and consideration of alternative strategies to improve liver function beyond standard of care before and after VAD placement are critical in optimizing patient outcome.
THE POLITICS OF FILTH: SANITATION, WORK, AND COMPETING MORALITIES IN URBAN MADAGASCAR 1890s–1977

This article tracks the historical processes that shaped human waste management practices in Majunga, Madagascar from the city's founding in the mid-eighteenth century to contemporary times. Moving beyond colonial urban histories of sanitation, this article charts the meanings, strategies, and work practices Majunga residents employed to deal with predicaments of waste in everyday life. I argue that the particular material configuration of the colonial sanitation infrastructure in Majunga required new forms of labor — especially maintenance work — which city dwellers evaluated through existing moral norms. With the construction of French colonial sanitation infrastructures and the new labor regimes they necessitated, waste management became a key vector through which notions of difference were negotiated over the early- to mid-twentieth century. Shifting emphasis away from colonial infrastructure as disparity and onto moments of reception can contribute fresh insights not only on the histories of African cities, but also to histories of technology in the Global South.
Phenotypic variation across populations of red mullet (Mullus barbatus) in different environments of the central Mediterranean

Geometric morphometrics is an effective tool for quantifying intraspecific variations in fish body shape and differentiating populations and fisheries stocks. This study used geometric morphometrics to examine patterns of intraspecific morphological differentiation among four red mullet (Mullus barbatus) populations in the Strait of Sicily in the central Mediterranean Sea. We hypothesised that morphological differences among local populations were caused by the diverse hydrodynamic features characterising the sampled areas and maintained by geographical isolation. We also examined whether body shape homogeneity or variability within local populations was related to seabed rugosity as an indicator of habitat complexity. We found that the morphological divergence between local populations was constrained by geographical proximity. Populations varied primarily in body depth, with more elongate specimens inhabiting hydrodynamic areas. In addition, site-specific homogeneity in body shape was positively related to seabed rugosity, so that in more structurally complex habitats body shape was less morphologically variable. An improved understanding of the spatial structure of red mullet populations in the Strait of Sicily is needed to better define the boundaries of natural populations.
Connecting without Connection: Using Social Media to Analyze Problematic Drinking Behavior among Mothers

Alcohol abuse among women, specifically mothers, is on the rise and has been called an emerging public health crisis. Social media, unrealistic societal expectations, and alcohol dependency drive s...
Let’s Cross the Next One: Parental Scaffolding of Prospective Control Over Movement

This investigation examined parental scaffolding of children's prospective control over decisions and actions during a joint perception-action task. Parents and their 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-year-old children (N = 128) repeatedly crossed a virtual roadway together. Guidance and control shifted from the parent to the child with increases in child age. Parents more often chose the gap that was crossed and prospectively communicated the gap choice with younger than older children. Greater use of an anticipatory gap selection strategy by parents predicted more precise timing of entry into the gap by children. This work suggests that social interaction may serve as an important experiential mechanism for the development of prospective control over decisions and actions in the perception-action domain.
Effect of almond hulls as an alternative ingredient on broiler performance, nutrient digestibility, and cecal microbiota diversity.

The objective of this study was to evaluate 2 types of almond hulls (prime hulls and California-type hulls) as alternative feed ingredients for broilers. A total of 560 one-day-old Cobb male chicks were randomly placed to 7 experimental treatments with 8 replicates of 10 birds each. Seven treatments consisted of a corn-soybean meal control diet and diets containing prime hulls or California-type hulls at 3, 6, and 9%. The nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy, crude protein, and crude fiber from prime hulls and California-type hulls were 1,624 and 1,514 kcal/kg, 4.8 and 5.0%, and 13.1 and 26.45%, respectively. During 0-19 d of age, the inclusion of the prime hulls at 3 levels had no significant effects on growth performance, but the California-type hulls at 9% increased feed intake (P = 0.02) and feed conversion ratio (P < 0.01), compared with control. The prime hulls at 9% decreased (P < 0.01) ileal dry matter and ileal nitrogen digestibility, and the California-type hulls at 9% only decreased ileal dry matter digestibility, but both prime hulls and California-type hulls at 6% had no effects on ileal dry matter digestibility and nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy compared to control. In addition, inclusion of prime hulls at 3% decreased (P < 0.01) AMEn compared with control group. There were no significant differences in cecal microbiota diversity at a phylum or genus level among treatments, but 9% inclusion rate of the California-type hulls increased (P < 0.05) the population of certain bacteria in the genus Clostridium and Oscillospira compared with control. In conclusion, as a dietary energy and fiber source, the prime hulls can be used at up to 9% without a negative effect on body weight gain, whereas the California-type hulls can be used up to 6%.
Association of remote mild traumatic brain injury with cortical amyloid burden in clinically normal older adults

We investigated whether clinically normal older adults with remote, mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) show evidence of higher cortical Aβ burden. Our study included 134 clinically normal older adults (age 74.1 ± 6.8 years, 59.7% female, 85.8% white) who underwent Aβ positron emission tomography (Aβ-PET) and who completed the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification questionnaire. We limited participants to those reporting injuries classified as mTBI. A subset (N = 30) underwent a second Aβ-PET scan (mean 2.7 years later). We examined the effect of remote mTBI on Aβ-PET burden, interactions between remote mTBI and age, sex, and APOE status, longitudinal Aβ accumulation, and the interaction between remote mTBI and Aβ burden on memory and executive functioning. Of 134 participants, 48 (36%) reported remote mTBI (0, N = 86; 1, N = 31, 2+, N = 17; mean 37 ± 23 years since last mTBI). Effect size estimates were small to negligible for the association of remote mTBI with Aβ burden (p = .94, η2 < 0.01), and for all interaction analyses. Longitudinally, we found a non-statistically significant association of those with remote mTBI (N = 11) having a faster rate of Aβ accumulation (B = 0.01, p = .08) than those without (N = 19). There was no significant interaction between remote mTBI and Aβ burden on cognition. In clinically normal older adults, history of mTBI is not associated with greater cortical Aβ burden and does not interact with Aβ burden to impact cognition. Longitudinal analyses suggest remote mTBI may be associated with more rapid cortical Aβ accumulation. This finding warrants further study in larger and more diverse samples with well-characterized lifelong head trauma exposure.
New York’s Proposed Mark-to-Market Tax Decouples From Federal Tax

A proposal decouples NY from federal tax computations to tax billionaires on unrealized appreciation. If enacted, the proposal generates basis discontinuities across borders but enhances state revenue and may prove attractive to many states. The article reviews how states seek to enhance revenues and considers issues of cross-border taxation and the fundamental right to travel.
Current-Source Inverter Integrated Motor Drives Using Dual-Gate Four-Quadrant Wide-Bandgap Power Switches

Four-quadrant (FQ) switches that have both bidirectional current and reverse-voltage blocking (RVB) capabilities are appealing candidates for use in current-source inverters (CSI) to significantly reduce the switch conduction losses. However, the FQ characteristics of these switches can create problems during switching events by causing transient overcurrent pulses that damage the inverter. Commutation methods for FQ switches in CSI topologies that address these challenges are presented in this article. Several key aspects of the performance and implementation of these commutation methods are explored for a high-power density 3 kW integrated motor drive incorporating both a current-source active rectifier and inverter stage that has been developed using these FQ switch methods. Experimental results demonstrate the benefits of implementing these commutation methods in CSIs that use FQ switches. The benefits include substantial efficiency improvement compared to the conventional CSI implemented with series power diodes as well as reduced mass and volume of passive components due to the high switching frequency (100 kHz).
Earnings function in Lebanon: does religion matter?

This paper aims to study the wage gap among religions in Lebanon using a random sample. The advantage of using Lebanon as a case is due to its historical diversification. This case excludes any imp...
Insidious Procedures: Diversity Awards Legitimize Unfair Organizational Practices

Does the presence (versus absence) of an organizational diversity award increase the perceived fairness of biased personnel procedures? Participants examined fair or unfair personnel procedures at a company that had received a diversity award or an award unrelated to diversity. When the company had received a diversity award (versus a control award), participants perceived the unfair personnel procedure as fairer for minorities, and White participants were more supportive of enacting the biased procedure. These findings suggest that organizations perceived as successfully supporting diversity might be afforded particular legitimacy to enact policies and procedures that disadvantage the very groups they are perceived as valuing.
The Allure of the Nation: The Cultural and Historical Debates in Late Qing and Republican China

In The Allure of the Nation , Tze-ki Hon offers an account of early twentieth-century China where the nation was understood as a cluster of spatial-temporal relations that link individuals to a native place, a social network, and a territorial state.
2 Cyclic Cascades and Metabolic Regulation

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the characteristics of cyclic cascade systems that make them suited for their central position in cellular regulation. The cyclic cascade model, derived mainly from data based upon detailed studies of glutamine synthetase, is applicable to all covalent interconvertible enzyme systems. It reveals many regulatory advantages, such as signal amplification, rate amplification, sensitivity, and flexibility. This regulatory mechanism makes use of both covalent modification and allosteric interactions. By means of allosteric interactions with one or more enzymes, cyclic cascades can continuously monitor fluctuations in the concentrations of a multitude of metabolites and adjust the specific activities of the target enzymes according to biological requirements. Thus, they serve as biological integrators. Although a cyclic cascade modulates the specific activity of the interconvertible enzyme smoothly and continuously over a wide range of conditions, it can under extreme physiological situations serve as a switch to turn on or off an interconvertible enzyme. The energy for maintaining such an efficient regulatory mechanism is the consumption of ATP and other energy-rich donor molecules.
Nonlinear target tracking for threat detection using RSSI and optical fusion

Video surveillance data analysis plays a key role in homeland security where non-linear target tracking through distributed camera systems is often necessary. However, such a tracking problem poses a grand challenge because the subject of interest can be lost through obscuration. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to solving the track obscuration problem by f using optical measurements and Received-Signal-Strength-Indicator (RSSI) techniques. While the RSSI of wireless sensing systems is coordinated to allow for continuous tracking, a distributed camera system is applied to track a target in its line of sight. The video and RSSI measurements are fused to enhance the location estimate accuracy of the studied target. Our real-world experiments demonstrate the applicability and accuracy of the proposed approach.
The relative contributions of alpine and subalpine ecosystems to the water balance of a mountainous, headwater catchment

Climate change is affecting the hydrology of high-elevation mountain ecosystems, with implications for ecosystem functioning and water availability to downstream populations. We directly and continuously measured precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET) from both subalpine forest and alpine tundra portions of a single catchment, as well as discharge fluxes at the catchment outlet, to quantify the water balance of a mountainous, headwater catchment in Colorado, USA. Between 2008 and 2012, the water balance closure averaged 90% annually, and the catchment ET was the largest water output at 66% of precipitation. Alpine ET was greatest during the winter, in part because of sublimation from blowing snow, which contributed from 27% to 48% of the alpine, and 6% to 9% of the catchment water balance, respectively. The subalpine ET peaked in summer. Alpine areas generated the majority of the catchment discharge, despite covering only 31% of the catchment area. Although the average annual alpine runoff efficiency (discharge/precipitation; 40%) was greater than the subalpine runoff efficiency (19%), the subalpine runoff efficiency was more sensitive to changes in precipitation. Inter-annual analysis of the evaporative and dryness indices revealed persistent moisture limitations at the catchment scale, although the alpine alternated between energy-limited and water-limited states in wet and dry years. Each ecosystem generally over-generated discharge relative to that expected from a Budyko-type model. The alpine and catchment water yields were relatively unaffected by annual meteorological variability, but this interpretation was dependent on the method used to quantify potential ET. Our results indicate that correctly accounting for dissimilar hydrological cycling above and below alpine treeline is critical to quantify the water balance of high-elevation mountain catchments over periods of meteorological variability. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Digital Image Processing with Application to Digital Cinema

1. Introduction 2. Two-Dimensional Signal, Systems, and Discrete Fourier Transform 3. Human Visual Perception 4. Image Acquisition 5. Image Enhancement 6. Image Transforms 7. Basic Principles of Image Compression 8. Video Compression Standards 9. Digital Cinema 10. Microarray Image Processing Appx A: Fourier Transform Appx B: Definitions and Units of Photometric Quantities Appx C: Derivation of Histogram Equalization Appx D: Basics of Information Theory
Progress in malaria research: the case for phylogenetics

Malaria, from the Italian for "bad air", is a term used to describe a human disease caused by any of four parasites of the genus, Plasmodium. There are in fact over 200 described species of Plasmodium that parasitize reptiles, birds, and mammals, and may or may not cause disease in these various hosts. In this chapter, we highlight important evolutionary studies that have been undertaken to determine the relatedness among these species and their place in the taxonomic hierarchy. We begin by providing an overview of our present understanding of the phylum to which malaria parasites belong--Apicomplexa. The unique characteristics of these parasites reflect both their adaptation to the parasitic life style as well as some vestigial remnants of their pre-parasitic evolutionary past. Phylogenetic analyses provide the means for discerning the means by which these characteristics have come into existence. We next discuss the systematics of the genus Plasmodium. Morphology, genomic structure and content as well as host affiliation of these parasites are all traits that have been used for establishing taxonomic arrangements. Molecular phylogenetics has proven to be an invaluable tool in this regard and so we discuss the current phylogenetic picture of the genus as well as the correspondence among the various datasets (morphology, molecules, and host-preference). Lastly, we present a detailed account of our current understanding of the evolutionary past of the most deadly of the human malaria species--P. falciparum.
Weaving Java threads: some student-friendly examples

Large, complex, and highly interactive software applications are inherently concurrent with many processes competing and cooperating with each other. Multithreaded programming is one way to implement concurrent applications. In this paper we present some introductory student-friendly examples of multithreaded programming in Java. Independent console/graphical windows are used to depict thread activities to help the student better appreciate concurrency. We believe that this topic can easily be assimilated by beginning programmers so that they can start using them in CS1 and CS2 assignments/projects. Students exposed to multithreaded style programming early on will be better prepared to handle projects in advanced courses such as operating systems, databases, software engineering, graphics, and networking.
Relation decomposition: the theory

Data Mining explanatory models must deal with relevance: how values of different data items are relevant to the values of other data items. But to be able to construct explanatory models, and in particular causal explanatory models, we must do so by first understanding irrelevance and exactly how irrelevance plays a role in explanatory models. The reason is that the conditional irrelevance or conditional no influence relation defines the boundaries of the ballpark within which an explanatory model lives. This paper reviews the theory of no influence in the mathematical relation data structure. We discuss the relationship this theory has to graphical models and we define a coefficient of no influence and give a method for the estimation of its p-value.
Child Health Psychology

This chapter aims to integrate the literature in child health psychology—a broad, multifaceted, and multidisciplinary field that encompasses the well-being of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults and includes an emphasis on health, illness and injuries. Four basic assumptions are presented: (1) Children's health and illness must be viewed contextually, (2) pediatric psychology provides an umbrella through which child health can be summarized and integrated, (3) competence and stress-and-coping paradigms define our understanding of child health, (4) outcome studies are important in establishing psychological interventions within child health. A model describing three levels of child and family response to health care issues and suggesting three levels of psychological intervention is proposed as a framework for understanding the state of research on interventions in child health psychology. The empirical literature on universal (disease preventions: immunizations and primary care settings, prevention of unintentional injuries), selective (management of procedure-related and disease-related pain and distress, improving treatment adherence), and targeted (cognitive rehabilitation for children with traumatic brain injuries, social skills training for survivors of brain tumors, and interventions in transplantation) is reviewed and evaluated. Future goals for research in child health psychology are discussed. Keywords: child health psychology; pediatric interventions; pediatric psychology
Don Ramón de la Cruz y sus sainetes: víctimas de la bipolaridad historiográfica dieciochista

Basandose en las figuras de los «petimetres», «payos», «majos», etc. del siglo dieciocho, el autor pretende cuestionar la supuesta polarizacion a la que la critica se ha referido al enjuiciar la ilustracion espanola. A partir de la historiografia del siglo XIX se comienza a establecer una equivocada identificacion entre unos tipos (majos-castizos // petimetres-afrancesados), y por extension de algunos dramaturgos, y una proyeccion o ideologia politica; ideologia que ademas se hacia evidente segun el grado de adhesion a o separacion de la estetica neoclasica. La utilizacion de la obra de don Ramon de la Cruz como arma patriotica y politica ante la invasion francesa del diecinueve, y la sucesiva separacion o fisura ideologica-estetica que la critica, erroneamente, aplica al siglo dieciocho tuvo el efecto de situar a don Ramon y demas dramaturgos populares inexorablemente del lado de los ortodoxos, o sea, de los no ilustrados, como si la ilustracion hubiera sido incompatible con lo nacional. Es esa vision bi-polar, creada por la manipulacion patriotica y politica del XIX y aplicada retro-activamente al dieciocho, la que cuestiona este ensayo.
Designing a Portable Gynecological Examination Table: Improving Access to Antenatal Care in Rural Ghana

Regular pelvic examinations and health care visits are important preventative measures for maintaining maternal health. However, in rural settings within the least developed countries, poor travel conditions, lack of resources, social constraints, lack of educational opportunities, and economic limitations make it difficult for women to receive proper healthcare during pregnancy. The goal of this design project is to diminish the barrier of transportation to secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities and services by developing a portable gynecological examination table for use by Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) workers in the Sene District, Ghana. Design for global health is a topic of increasing importance and places new constraints on the engineering design process. Throughout the design process, Ghanaian and American clinicians were interviewed in order to obtain user requirements for the initial prototype. These requirements were translated into engineering specifications, and brainstorming and functional decomposition were performed in order to generate solution concepts. In agreement with the engineering specifications and the outcomes of quality function deployment (QFD) and Pugh charts, a portable gynecological examination table prototype was designed that 1) supports a weight of 142 kg while only weighing 10 kg, 2) can be folded into a 17.8×50.8×50.8 cm 3 volume enabling transportation by backpack, 3) costs less than $100, 4) can be cleaned with bleach, and 5) has three adjustable back angles of 0, 30, and 60 degrees. This prototype was fabricated and then evaluated in Ghana, brought back to the UNIVERSITY, and redesigned. The redesigned prototype was evaluated to meet the specifications for table weight, support weight, ability to be cleaned, and durability in a laboratory testing. The table was then returned to Ghana, where acceptance of the design and its usability were assessed by interviewing and surveying midwives, physicians, and mothers.
Error detection and correction in an optoelectronic memory system

This paper describes the implementation of error detection and correction logic in the optoelectronic cache memory prototype at the University of Pittsburgh. In this project, our goal is to integrate a 3-D optical memory directly into the memory hierarchy of a personal computer. As with any optical storage system, error correction is essential to maintaining acceptable system performance. We have implemented a fully pipelined, real time decoder for 60-bit Spectral Reed-Solomon code words. The decoder is implemented in reconfigurable logic, using a single Xilinx 4000-series FPGA per code word and is fully scalable using multiple FPGA's. The current implementation operates at 33 Mhz, and processes two code words in parallel per clock cycle for an aggregate data rate of 4 Gb/s. We present a brief overview of the project and of Spectral Reed-Solomon codes followed by a description of our implementation and performance data.
Measuring the risk of physical neglect in a population-based sample

Child neglect accounts for the majority of officially substantiated cases of child maltreatment in this country, although population-based data are lacking. This study estimates the number of children at risk for specific subtypes of physical neglect, using results of an anonymous telephone survey administered to 1,435 mothers of children ages 0 to 17 years in North and South Carolina. Children were considered "at risk for neglect" from lack of enough food, lack of access to medical care when needed, and inadequate supervision. Demographic factors were significantly related to the outcomes of interest, including lower family income with lack of enough food and access to medical care. There was little overlap in children at risk for the different subtypes of neglect. Maternal self-report data can be used to improve researchers' understanding of children at risk for neglect and to explore gaps in knowledge that might be amenable to intervention and prevention efforts.
Subchondral bone and cartilage thickness from MRI: effects of chemical-shift artifact.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the modality of choice for visualizing and quantifying articular cartilage thickness. However, difficulties persist in MRI of subchondral bone using spoiled gradient-echo (SPGR) and other gradient-echo sequences, primarily due to the effects of chemical-shift artifact. Fat-suppression techniques are often used to reduce these artifacts, but they prevent measurement of bone thickness. In this report, we assess the magnitude of chemical-shift effects (phase-cancellation and misregistration artifacts) on subchondral bone and cartilage thickness measurements in human femoral heads using a variety of pulse sequence parameters. Phase-cancellation effects were quantified by comparing measurements from in-phase images (TE=13.5 ms) to out-of-phase images (TE=15.8 ms). We also tested the assumption of the optimal in-phase TE by comparing thickness measures at small variations on TE (13.0, 13.5 and 14.0 ms). Misregistration effects were quantified by comparing measurements from water+fat images (water-only+fat-only images) to the measurements from in-phase (TE=13.5) images. A correction algorithm was developed and applied to the in-phase measurements and then compared to measurements from water+fat images. We also compared thickness measurements at different image resolutions. Results showed that both phase-cancellation artifact and misregistration artifact were significant for bone thickness measurement, but not for cartilage thickness measurement. Using an in-phase TE and correction algorithm for misregistration artifact, the errors in bone thickness relative to water+fat images were non-significant. This information may be useful for developing pulse sequences for optimal imaging of both cartilage and subchondral bone.
Local loops for robust inter-layer routing at sub-20 nm nodes

As the metal pitch continues to shrink, it becomes inefficient, if not impossible, to use traditional via redundancy schemes at and below the 14 nm node. Double-cut vias and via bar connections will either block many adjacent routing resources or make it impossible to pattern at these advanced technologies nodes. In this paper we examine a scalable via redundancy strategy based on local loops. We evaluate the yield and timing impact of local loops and use a 14 nm standard cell library and functional block designs to assess the design cost of local loops. Furthermore, lithography contours and process window simulations are used to demonstrate the manufacturability of this structure. With supporting EDA tools and design-technology co-optimization (DTCO), local loops will become an important via redundancy topology at sub-20nm nodes.
Holocene sea-level changes along the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel, southernmost South America

Radiocarbon-dated marine sediments from five coastal sites along the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel in southernmost Chile permit construction of a curve of relative sea-level fluctuations during the Holocene. Morphologic and stratigraphic data point to coastal submergence during the early Holocene as the sea rose to a maximum level at least 3.5 m higher than present about 5000 yr ago. Progressive emergence then followed during the late Holocene. Data from widely separated localities define a smooth curve, the form of which is explainable in terms of isostatic and hydroisostatic deformation of the crust resulting from changing ice and water loads. Apparently anomalous data from one site located more than 100 km behind the outer limit of the last glaciation may reflect isostatic response to deglaciation. The sea-level curve resembles one derived by Clark and Bloom (1979, In “Proceedings of the 1978 International Symposium on Coastal Evolution in the Quaternary, Sao Paulo, Brasil,” pp. 41–60. Sao Paulo) using a spherical Earth model, both in amplitude and in the timing of the maximum submergence.
Time-course of location changes of visual attention

The shifting of visual attention is often described as being like a spotlight moving through empty space between locations. In the present experiment, a peripheral precue summoned attention to an initial location, and 200 msec later a second peripheral cue appeared beside a second location, 20° away. The target was twice as likely to appear at the location indicated by the immediately preceding cue as it was to appear at the other location, although the second location was completely predictable from the first. A fine-grained temporal analysis revealed that as attention was shifted, sensitivity to information at the second location gradually increased while sensitivity at the first location simultaneously decreased. Sensitivity averaged over the two locations during the shift remained significantly greater than sensitivity immediately following the initial precue. An attentional spotlight moving from the first to the second location would produce a decrease in average sensitivity to its initial level while the spotlight was between locations.
Cardiac strangulation: two-dimensional echo recognition of a rare complication of epicardial pacemaker therapy

Abstract Permanent epicardial pacemaker therapy is occasionally required in newborn infants for congenital complete heart block and in young infants for surgically acquired heart block. 1,2 In addition to the usual concerns encountered in any age group, such as lead fracture, pacemaker dysfunction, pericardial effusion and infection, 3–5 infants present the additional problem of requiring an adequate length of wire to allow for growth. We report an unusual complication of pacemaker therapy in a newborn: cardiac strangulation.
Volume visualization of multicolor laser confocal microscope data

Abstract The objective of this work is to give biologists the ability to visualize multicolor laser confocal microscope (MLCM) data sets. We present the application of volume ray casting techniques to create fast and accurate visualization of the spatial structures in MLCM data sets. We provide various volume pre-processing routines for noise removal, smoothing and edge enhancement. The tool has an interactive interface to assist the operator in classifying the volume using various transparency mappings. We have developed volume rendering using volumetric ray casting based upon a perspective camera model. We illustrate an innovative way to simultaneously visualize LCM data set from three lasers using voxel level merging. A method to generate key frame animation sequence of an arbitrary fly through path is also included in the visualization tool.