cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Modified Beam-Walking Apparatus for Assessment of Anxiety in a Rodent Model of Blast Traumatic Brain Injury (P6.082)

Objective: Our study aimed to develop a novel beam-walking apparatus in addition to a novel anxiety index to simultaneously assess anxiety and motor functions in a rodent model of blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI). Background: The elevated plus maze (EPM) is commonly used to assess anxiety in rodents after brain injury. Beam-walking tasks are also routinely used to assess vestibulomotor function after brain injury in rodents. In this study, we evaluated the use of a novel modified beam-walking (MBW) apparatus containing a safe box as a surrogate indicator for anxiety using a novel model of bTBI. Methods: Wistar rats (N=39) were assessed before and at 3, 6, 24, 72, and 168h either post- bTBI (n=33) or no-injury (n=6) using both EPM and MBW apparatuses. A novel anxiety index was developed that incorporated the length of duration of peeking and full-body emergences out of the MBW safe box. Anxiety scores were compared with an anxiety index calculated from number and duration of entries into different sections of EPM. Results: Post- bTBI, rats had an increased anxiety index when measured using EPM. Similarly, they peeked or fully emerged less out of the safe box on MBW. It was found that this novel MBW anxiety index captured similar aspects of behavior when compared to the standard anxiety index obtained from EPM. Concurrently, peeking time, anxiety index, and motor function per MBW were found to be minimally multicollinear, indicating that the MBW apparatus succeeded at dissociating motor function and anxiety levels simultaneously. Over the course of 168h post-bTBI, rats gradually recovered on both EPM and MBW. Conclusions: In this study, we successfully developed a novel MBW apparatus that succeeded at capturing and dissociating two separate facets of rat behavior, motor function and anxiety, simultaneously. Disclosure: Dr. Sweis has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bachour has nothing to disclose. Dr. Safinia has nothing to disclose. Dr. Hevesi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Divani has nothing to disclose.
Bladder Cancer Chemopreventive Agents: Current Knowledge and Concepts

Bladder cancer is the most prevalent malignancy of the urinary tract and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Preventative efforts to reduce the medical and financial burdens of bladder cancer are highly desirable. However, the utilization of natural and pharmaceutical products for the prevention and treatment of bladder cancer remains largely controversial. Herein, we review the current body of evidence surrounding a number of natural dietary substances and their roles in chemoprevention of bladder cancer. Possible chemopreventative properties of several pharmaceutical agents are also reviewed. Overall, the current body of evidence is insufficient to establish a clear link between these proposed chemopreventive agents and risk of bladder cancer.
Creatine Kinase (CK): Its Use in the Evaluation of Perioperative Myocardial Infarction

Establishing the diagnosis of acute perioperative myocardial infarction by the mere presence of a serum CK-MB band alone is not valid. Laboratory investigations have shown that tissues other than ventricular myocardium hold appreciable quantities of CK-MB. Moreover, each of the laboratory methods commonly used for measuring serum total CK and its isoenzymes have inherent strengths and weaknesses. Hence, accurate evaluation of perioperative CK-MB bands requires determination of the amplitude and the temporal course of the elevation. Confirmation of the CK-MB findings by analysis of another enzyme system is advisable. Serum lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes can fulfill this role. Institution of a dual enzyme evaluation is achieved easily in most hospitals and can yield a very high degree of sensitivity and specificity. The final step in diagnostic accuracy is completed by continuing evaluation of the enzyme diagnostic system in each individual institution.
Losing inhibitions: Expect the unexpected

Programmed death 1 (PD-1) is a well-known inhibitory receptor on T cells. Expression of its ligand PD-L1 on cancer cells restrains T cell activation, and this mechanism is reversed upon antibody-mediated blockade of PD-1 or PD-L1, thus generating antitumor immune responses in patients with cancer.
Mathematical Optimization of Treatment Schedules

In the past decades mathematical optimization has found its way into radiation therapy and has made profound practice changing impact. Today, virtually all advanced treatment delivery methods, such as IMRT, VMAT, tomotherapy, LDR/HDR brachytherapy, proton therapy, are based on some form of optimization approach that changes the treatment variables (beam intensities, multileaf collimator shapes, beam angles, dwell times and seed or source positions) in the planning computer using an optimization algorithm, until the best value of the treatment (planning) objective has been found. It is fair to say though that a truly optimal radiation treatment plan remains elusive. The reasons for that include difficulties in defining meaningful planning objectives and constraints in mathematical terms, various uncertainties in the planning and delivery process, and the inability of optimization algorithms to find the true optimum. Radiation therapy optimization therefore remains an active field of research.
YODEL: Peak calling software for HITS-CLIP data

YODEL is a peak calling software for analyzing RNA sequencing data generated by High-Throughput Sequencing of RNA isolated by Crosslinking Immunoprecipitation (HITS-CLIP; also known as CLIP-SEQ), a method to identify RNA-protein interactions genome-wide. We designed YODEL to analyze HITS-CLIP experiments, in which Argonaute proteins are immunoprecipitated, followed by sequencing of the associated RNA in order to identify bound microRNAs and their mRNA targets. The HITS-CLIP sequenced reads are mapped to the genome, and then read peaks are visualized where clustered sets of reads map to the same region. Several peak calling algorithms have been developed to define the boundaries of these peaks. In contrast to other peak callers for HITS-CLIP data, such as Piranha, YODEL does not map the starts of reads to fixed interval bins, but instead uses a heuristic approach to iteratively find the tallest point within a set clustered reads and examine bases upstream and downstream of that point until a peak has been determined. This allows the peak boundary to be defined more precisely than coordinates that are multiples of the bin size. Per-sample peak counts are also generated by YODEL, which quickly enables downstream differential representation analysis. YODEL is available at https://github.com/LancePalmerStJude/YODEL/ .
Gastric perforation secondary to a trichobezoar: A case report and review of the literature

Abstract This paper describes a 10-year-old female in whom gastric perforation occured secondary to a massive gastric trichobezoar. A literature review of this rare cause of gastric perforation follows.
Intrabronchial Catheter Resuscitation for Respiratory and Cardiorespiratory Arrest.

INTRODUCTION We sought to determine whether intrabronchial oxygenation would provide adequate gas exchange during both anesthesia induced apneic and cardiopulmonary arrest and cardiac massage (CPR). METHODS Ten pigs underwent general anesthesia with mechanical ventilation. Blood gases were measured in each animal at 4 min intervals for up to 28 min. An intrabronchial catheter (4 L/min O2) was inserted through an endotracheal tube after respirator cessation. Group A animals (6) were resuscitated with the catheter but without CPR. Group B animals (4) were rendered apneic and cardioplegic and resuscitated by CPR for 28 min using the intrabronchial device. RESULTS All group A animals were resuscitated and survived after 24 min of apnea. Mean pO2 decreased from 378 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI], 288-468) to 292 mmHg (95% CI, 246-339), P = 0.009; pCO2 increased from 52 mmHg (95% CI, 43-61) to 137 mmHg (95% CI, 116-158), P < 0.0001; and pH decreased from 7.32 (7.29-7.36) to 6.98 (6.92-7.03), P < 0.0001. In a control animal bronchial catheter oxygen flow ceased at baseline and pO2 decreased from 268 to 30 mmHg by 20 min. In group B animals mean pO2 decreased from 426 mmHg (95% CI, 273-579) to 130 mmHg (95% CI, 92-168) after 28 min, P < 0.0001; pCO2 increased from 49 mmHg (95% CI, 41-58) to 73 mmHg (95% CI, 61-86), P = 0.03; and pH decreased from 7.34 (7.33-7.35) to 7.07 (6.98-7.16), P < 0.0001. In the control receiving intratracheal oxygen pO2 decreased from 324 to 88 mmHg after 16 minu of CPR. CONCLUSIONS Intrabronchial oxygenation provides sustained hyperoxemia during complete apnea and cardiac arrest with CPR.
Proposing Development and Utility of a Mobility Composite Measure in Patients with a Neurologic Disorder.

Background. Outcome measures typically assess single domains making holistic assessment difficult. Our purpose was to develop a mobility composite measure (MCM) based on four commonly used outcome measures and compare this composite score to the individual measures in patients with neurologic disorders. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 148 medical records for inclusion of primary neurologic diagnosis and scoring for 5 times sit-to-stand test (5TSST), 10-meter walk test (10MWT), 2-minute walk test (2MWT), and activities-specific balance confidence (ABC) scale. Results. After establishing that a single concept was being assessed with interitem correlations, raw scores were converted to percentage of normal and combined into the MCM for analysis from admission to discharge. Scores on each measure significantly improved after intervention (5TSST, ; 10MWT, ; 2MWT, ; ABC, ). Mean MCM () admission scores were % and discharge scores were % (). On average, patients improved 7.26% on the MCM exceeding the threshold of expected error (MDC95 = 3.59%). Conclusions. MCM detected change in patient outcomes statistically and clinically and appears to capture a holistic picture of functional status. We recommend a prospective study to further investigate a “composite measure” incorporating measures from several functional domains.
Compressive sampling for phenotype classification

Genome classification has become an increasingly important genomic research method for cancer identification and treatment. One challenge associated with genome classification is feature selection; which genes can be used for phenotyping. This challenge is made more complicated considering affected gene mutate at different rates and schedules. In addition, the number of genes and consequently the number of base pairs cause genome classification to suffer from the curse of dimensionality. Some previous classification efforts rely on variant detection for feature selection. Variant detection aligns a target genome to a reference genome in order to identify the variations between the two. Other methods are sequence-based, which involve generating features from base pairs of genome sequences. This paper details a sequence-based methodology developed using k-length subsets of the genome sequence, k-mers, as features for phenotype classification. As a result of the methodology introduced here, we remedied challenges associated with high-dimensional data and improved phenotype classification performance using sequence-based classification.
Assessing the management costs of delivering services under alternative institutional arrangements

In this paper we assess the management costs of delivering services under alternative institutional arrangements. We develop an analytic framework based on transaction cost and public sector network theories to identify management costs public managers face in delivering services directly and via contract. Results from a survey of refuse collection managers in Ohio indicate that direct service provision carries higher management costs, though when combined with vendors’ activities, contracting carries more monitoring costs. These results suggest two important contributions to knowledge and contract management practice. First, we develop an innovative approach to assessing management costs. Second, we use our framework to determine whether there are differences in management costs under alternative institutional arrangements that managers should take into account as they approach the “make or buy” decision.
Cardiotoxicity associated with carfilzomib: systematic review and meta-analysis

Carfilzomib is a second-generation proteasome inhibitor (PI) that is approved for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who failed ≥1 prior lines of therapy. We performed a s...
Stepwise Optical Saturation Microscopy: Obtaining Super-Resolution Images with Conventional Fluorescence Microscopes

We propose stepwise optical saturation (SOS) microscopy, in which two conventional fluorescence images are linearly combined to extend the resolution by 41%. We experimentally perform the SOS microscopy with one-photon (confocal) and multiphoton excitation fluorescence.
Target Setting in Multi-Divisional Organizations

ABSTRACT The target-setting literature has primarily focused on motivation issues in relatively simple single-task settings. I argue that performance targets also play an important role in addressi...
Joint Chinese Word Segmentation, POS Tagging and Parsing

In this paper, we propose a novel decoding algorithm for discriminative joint Chinese word segmentation, part-of-speech (POS) tagging, and parsing. Previous work often used a pipeline method -- Chinese word segmentation followed by POS tagging and parsing, which suffers from error propagation and is unable to leverage information in later modules for earlier components. In our approach, we train the three individual models separately during training, and incorporate them together in a unified framework during decoding. We extend the CYK parsing algorithm so that it can deal with word segmentation and POS tagging features. As far as we know, this is the first work on joint Chinese word segmentation, POS tagging and parsing. Our experimental results on Chinese Tree Bank 5 corpus show that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art pipeline system.
Matrix-Free Method for Maxwell-Thermal Co-Simulation in Unstructured Meshes

Existing electrical-thermal co-simulation methods require solving a system matrix when handling inhomogeneous materials and irregular geometries discretized into unstructured meshes. In this work, a matrix-free method is developed for co-simulating full-wave Maxwell's equations and the thermal diffusion equation in time domain. The method is free of matrix solutions regardless of the shape of the element used for space discretization. A theoretical stability analysis is also developed for the coupled electrical and thermal analysis, which is nonlinear in nature. Numerical experiments have validated the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method.
Does the Theory of Voluntary Sector Failure Provide Insight into Food Pantries? A Case Study of a Network of Food Pantries in San Diego, CA

Individuals seek food assistance from both government and nongovernmental services. The theory of voluntary sector failure asserts that governments act where nonprofits fail. How, if at all, does this theoretical approach provide insight into basic food provision through food pantries? We conducted a single embedded case study of one network of food pantry programs (n = 298) in one county of approximately 3 million people in the southwest of the USA. We used a survey (n = 137) to measure programmatic and organizational capacity and, then, categorized capacity measures into the four failure categories identified in the theory of voluntary sector failure. We found moderate to strong evidence of failure in all of the categories; however, we also argue that these data do not necessarily support the theory of voluntary sector failure. Two key nuances are identified.
Use of a pooled cohort to impute cardiovascular disease risk factors across the adult life course.

Background In designing prevention strategies, it may be useful to understand how early and midlife cardiovascular disease risk factor (CVDRF) exposures affect outcomes that primarily occur in mid to late life. Few single US cohorts have followed participants from early adulthood to late life. Methods We pooled four prospective cohorts that represent segments of the adult life course, and studied 15 001 White and Black adults aged 18 to 95 years at enrollment. We imputed early and midlife exposure to body mass index (BMI), glucose, lipids and blood pressure (BP). CVDRF trajectories were estimated using linear mixed models. Using the best linear unbiased predictions, we obtained person-specific estimates of CVDRF trajectories beginning at age 20 until each participant's end of follow-up. We then calculated for each CVDRF, summary measures of early and midlife exposure as time-weighted averages (TWAs). Results In the pooled cohort, 33.7% were Black and 54.8% were female. CVDRF summary measures worsened in midlife compared with early life and varied by sex and race. In particular, systolic and diastolic BP were consistently higher over the adult life course among men, and BMI was higher among Blacks, particularly Black women. Simulation studies suggested acceptable imputation accuracy, especially for the younger cohorts. Correlations of true and imputed CVDRF summary measures ranged from 0.53 to 0.99, and agreement ranged from 67% to 99%. Conclusions These results suggest that imputed CVDRFs may be accurate enough to be useful in assessing the effects of early and midlife exposures on later life outcomes.
Race and Ideology: African-American Images in Television Advertising:

Although the numerical representation of African-Americans in contemporary television advertising has improved in recent years, the authors’ analysis illustrates how the potentially positive effect...
A City on a Lake: urban political ecology and the growth of Mexico City

Historians of Mexico City oftentimes suffer from a zocalo-centric perspective – the zocalo being Mexico City’s famous central square. This vantage point erases the city’s hinterland, casting it as ...
Nafta Ramifications of Hydropower Restrictions in the Waxman-Markey Bill’s Proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard

Article 6 of Nafta allows for free movement of energy between Parties, and Canadian hydropower already comprises a significant portion of capacity for border states throughout New England, in the Pacific Northwest and along the Great Lakes. But, as states have crafted Renewable Portfolio Standards to spur increased deployment of renewable resources, many have explicitly excluded hydropower from qualification for RPS credit. Now, as Congress considers a national RPS, restrictions on hydro are on the verge of nationalization. What do the leading WTO national treatment cases show to indicate how a Canadian challenge to a US national hydro restriction may be decided given the environmental justifications forwarded for the differential treatment of hydro and other non-greenhouse gas technologies‘ Joe Walsh graduated from Suffolk University Law School in 2010 and is a post-grad John E. Fenton Fellow at the school, where he combines professional experience in government, community and regulatory affairs in the utility sector with award-winning energy and environmental law scholarship and a record of service in military intelligence for analysis of energy policy in climate change, national security and international trade contexts.
Increasing the Braille Reading Rate

"Increasing the Braille Reading Rate," by Emerson Foulke, published in the October 1979 issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, Volume 73, Number 8, pp. 318-323. Although I have been a braille user for a long time, it was not until I began my doctoral program at the University of Arizona that I could examine the technical aspects of braille, including its acquisition, instruction, and construction. My dissertation topic, which was directly related to instructional braille methods, provided me with many opportunities to study and gain a deeper understanding of braille. My personal interests as well as my professional inquiries combined to prompt me to search for ways in which braille reading speed could be improved, but there were very few studies aimed at increasing braille reading speed. Furthermore, it was very difficult to comprehend the complex perspectives of the topic, recognizing that numerous factors would be associated with the query. An article by Emerson Foulke about increasing braille reading speed gave me the framework in which to approach the topic. The article I chose to highlight in this essay was one of the first to summarize the findings of previous studies on increasing the speed of braille reading and offer practical applications. By contrasting the differences between visual and tactual reading, Foulke viewed braille not simply as a code, but as a tool to facilitate reading for people with visual impairments. More important, Foulke suggested ways in which the theories outlined in the articles he summarized could be implemented in practice. FOULKE'S VIEW OF BRAILLE Foulke saw reading behaviors and perceptual ability of readers as two of the biggest obstacles to increasing braille reading speed. It is not surprising to modern readers that the importance of proper hand movements, appropriate mechanical skills, and constant and fluid touch skills have been regarded as crucial factors in braille reading. Perceptual ability relates to potential modifications of ways in which braille text is being displayed. Foulke also perceived that using all fingers in the braille reading process would assist in improving reading speed. Furthermore, he proposed alternative methods of presenting braille characters, such as presenting braille characters in columns. Foulke examined changing the braille code as a viable option for improving the system and outlined a blueprint for making modifications to it. Since 1979, much has changed. There are now more people with visual impairments whose needs for braille are functional. …
The third face of education: moving beyond the good/bad binary in conflict and post-conflict societies

Bush and Saltarelli’s (2000) ‘The Two Faces of Education in Ethnic Conflict,’ which argues that schooling can contribute to peace or violence, has influenced a generation of scholars in internation...
Interactions between core histone marks and DNA methyltransferases predict DNA methylation patterns observed in human cells and tissues

DNA methylation and histone modifications are two major epigenetic marks in mammalian cells. Previous studies have revealed that these two mechanisms interact although a quantitative model of these...
Hard science and the paranormal in Gravity's Rainbow: precognition machines, cockroaches, and not that Helmut Schmidt

In the Zeitgeist of GR, the rational, quantifiable world of physics, engineering and rocket science coexists with the mysterious, occult demimonde of "The White Visitation," a bizarre locale characterized, from Brigadier Pudding's point of view, as With its collection of eccentric Pavlovians, Freudians, neurologists, statisticians, technicians, psychometrists and seance devotees, "The White Visitation" is a site where discourses concerning hard science and the paranormal first converge and interact. As the novel progresses, the seemingly disparate languages of the two systems – what Weisenburger calls the "professional jargon" of hard science and the "esoteric cant" of the paranormal (6) –become so inextricably interwoven that they may be seen as interdependent, interchangeable and, to a certain extent, symbiotic.
Diagnosis of T-Cell-Mediated Kidney Rejection by Biopsy-Based Proteomics and Machine Learning

ABSTRACT Purpose This study is aimed at developing a clinic-friendly proteomics protocol and a machine learning (ML)-based molecular diagnostic test for T-cell-mediated rejection (TCMR) using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) biopsies. Experimental design Based on the procedures we reported for proteomic profiling of FFPE biopsies using Tandem Mass Tag (TMT)-based technology, a label-free-based quantitative proteomics protocol was developed as a more clinical-practical and cost-efficient molecular diagnostic test for renal transplant injection. This new protocol was applied to a set of FFPE biopsies from renal allograft injury patients and normal controls, including 5 TCMR, 5 polyomavirus BK nephropathy (BKPyVN) and 5 stable graft function (STA). Three different machine learning algorithms, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), support vector machine (SVM) and random forests (RF), were tested to build a prediction model for TCMR. Results About 750-1250 proteins were identified and quantified in each sample with high confidence using the label-free-based proteomics protocol. 178, 450 and 281 proteins were defined as differential expression (DE) proteins for TCMR vs STA, BKPyVN vs STA and TCMR vs BKPyVN, respectively. By comparing the quantitative data from the TMT- and label-free-based proteomics profiling, a classifier panel comprised of 234 DE proteins commonly quantified by two methods was generated to test different ML algorithms. Leave-one-out cross-validation result suggested that the RF-based model achieved the best prediction power for TCMR at both proteome and transcriptome level. Conclusions and clinical relevance Proteomics profiling of FFPE biopsies using a platform integrated of label-free quantitative proteomics with ML-based predictive model can help to discover biomarker panels and provide clinical molecular diagnostic tests to enhance biopsy interpretation for renal allograft rejection. Clinical Relevance This study is to develop a molecular diagnostic test for kidney rejection. An easy-to-use and cost-efficient protocol using label-free quantitative strategy was developed to profile proteome of FFPE biopsies from kidney allografts. A list of 234 DE identified from TCMR, BKPyVN and STA was generated as a classifier panel for these different phenotypes. This classifier panel was subjected to the optimized ML model, achieving high accuracy among both positive and negative control. This proof-of-principle study demonstrated the clinical feasibility of implementation of molecular diagnostic tests integrated of label-free-based quantitative proteomics and ML-derived disease predictive models to enhance biopsy interpretation for kidney transplantation patients. More accurate and specific molecular tests can lead to more effective treatment, prolong graft life, and improve the quality of life for patients with chronic kidney failure.
Giant Quantum Oscillations in Ultrasonic Absorption

The physical origin of the “giant quantum oscillations” (hereafter GQO) can be understood by combining two arguments, a kinematic one and a statistical one (1). We start with the kinematic argument.
Community Therapist Response to Technology-Assisted Training in Exposure Therapy for Childhood Anxiety Disorders.

Despite the efficacy of exposure for childhood anxiety disorders (CADs), dissemination has been unsuccessful. The current study examined community-therapist response to a brief (90-minutes) trainin...
The Importance of Improving Educational Attainment for Dementia Prevalence Trends From 2000 to 2014, Among Older Non-Hispanic Black and White Americans.

OBJECTIVES While a number of studies have documented a notable decline in age-standardized prevalence in dementia in the U.S. population, relatively little is known about how dementia has declined for specific age and race groups, and the importance of changing educational attainment on the downward trend. We assess (a) how the trends in dementia prevalence may have differed across age and race groups and (b) the role of changing educational attainment in understanding these trends. METHODS This article estimates a series of logistic regression models using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2000-2014) to assess the relative annual decline in dementia prevalence and the importance of improving educational attainment for non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks. RESULTS Consistent with other studies, we found significant declines in dementia for non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites across this period. Nonetheless, these declines were not uniform across age and race groups. Non-Hispanic Blacks aged 65-74 years had the steepest decline in this period. We also found that improved educational attainment in the population was fundamentally important in understanding declining dementia prevalence in the United States. DISCUSSION This study shows the importance of improvement in educational attainment in the early part of the twentieth century to understand the downward trend in dementia prevalence in the United States from 2000 to 2014.
Viewpoint: Periprosthetic joint infection and dental antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines.

Abstract. The purpose of this viewpoint is to provide a framework that is used within the Mayo Clinic to align recommendations from infectious disease experts, dental specialists, and orthopedic surgeons with regards to need for antibiotic prophylaxis prior to invasive dental procedures.
The Hunter's Trail: Poems by Wendell Berry

Pound and Williams continue to be useful paradigms in our poetry: the one, an erudite antique collector who, after many expansions of shop, found himself with more curious merchandise than even he could inventory; the other, a provincial dealer in small pieces of Americana, a few of them perfect, but the rest easily duplicated. Pound shows the legacy of the Symbolist movement, for, like so many of its other inheritors, he writes poems which are intended not to be read but to be explicated. Language, one feels while reading him, is arcane and, save for flashes of suggested meaning, opaque to all but the most devoted researchers. Williams, on the other hand, believed that "the particles of language must be clear as sand," and his poems are illustrations of the theory. The best of them are written in plain, conventional language, and though they are not ultimately for the man on the street, it's plain that he would be able to get through them, often with pleasure. It's important to keep these two types in mind while reading modern poets, and to be aware that there are two. Reading a poem by someone like Robinson for the first time, I would almost certainly not understand it com pletely, but I would recognize it as understandable. Whereas after reading some one like Crane for the first time, I might say, "Not only do I fail to understand this poem completely, I don't understand it at all." But (and this perhaps only because I am an academic) I might declare it to be figurable. Figurable and Understandable poets are still with us, some of them as friendly to each other as were Pound and Williams: Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov, and Charles Olson and Robert Creeley, though far declined from their masters, are obvious examples. Wendell Berry (b. 1934) is an Understandable poet, and a good one. I can give no better example of his distance from much of what is fashionable than an ex change I overheard between Berry and a friend who wrote surrealist poems. The subject was teaching the writing of poetry. The friend said that his students did their writing in class, automatically, without reflection and without trying to make sense. He added that they often needed "inspiration" and, as an example, he told how he had once brought into the classroom a dressmaker's dummy and, placing a beercan on its head, had merely told his students, "Write!" It is typical that Berry did not comment directly, but instead gave his own example.
The active length-tension relationship in human uterine muscle☆

Abstract The active length-tension relationship in standard strips of human myometrium was studied using constant velocities of elongation to stretch the muscle and electrical stimulation to induce contraction. The position of the active tension maximum was not directly related to the length of the muscle but upon the tension developed in the passively stretched muscle. The position of the passive length-tension curve could be varied by changing the velocity of elongation, by sequential pulls, and by stress relaxation at a constant length. The peak of active tension occurred at a point on the passive tension curve of 15.0 Gm. ± 6.2 for the pregnant and 14.1 Gm. ± 7.6 for the nonpregnant uterus.
Toward Supporting Collaborative Discussion in an Ill-Defined Domain

It is important to investigate what tutoring paradigms are appropriate for ill-defined domains. We focus on teaching intercultural competence, where asynchronous online discussion is a typical instructional task. We explore two methods of assessing student contributions and delivering feedback: an adaptive support system that provides individual feedback, and a peer moderator from the class supported by adaptive assistance.
TerF, the sixth identified replication arrest site in Escherichia coli, is located within the rcsC gene.

Abstract We report the existence of a sixth replication arrest site, TerF, that is located within the coding sequences of the rcsC gene, a negative regulator of capsule biosynthesis. The TerF site is oriented to allow transcription of the rcsC gene but prevent DNA replication in the terminus-to-origin direction. Our results demonstrate that the TerF site is functional in both chromosomal and plasmid environments and that the stability of the Tus-TerF protein-DNA complex more closely resembles the plasmid R6K Ter sites than the chromosomal TerB site.
Modeling energy consumption in single-hop IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks

This paper presents an analytical model to predict energy consumption in saturated IEEE 802.11 single-hop ad hoc networks under ideal channel conditions. The model we introduce takes into account the different operational modes of the IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC, and is validated against packet-level simulations. In contrast to previous works that attempted to characterize the energy consumption of IEEE 802.11 cards in isolated, contention-free channels (i.e., single sender/receiver pair), this paper investigates the extreme opposite case, i.e., when nodes need to contend for channel access under saturation conditions. In such scenarios, our main findings include: (1) contrary to what most previous results indicate, the radio's transmit mode has marginal impact on overall energy consumption, while other modes (receive, idle, etc.) are responsible for most of the energy consumed; (2) the energy cost to transmit useful data increases almost linearly with the network size; and (3) transmitting large payloads is more energy efficient under saturation conditions
Structural Studies of Avian Myeloblastosis Virus: Comparison of Polypeptides in Virion and Core Component by Dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis

Two different systems of dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) in separate laboratories detected analogous patterns of dye bands in virions of avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV). At least 11 of the dye bands co-migrated with the major polypeptides reported in Rous sarcoma virus. Particles with the morphology of the AMV core component, obtained after exposure of AMV to the nonionic surfactant Sterox SL, contained major polypeptides p12, p27, p60, p64, p91, and p98. The polypeptide p12 has been previously shown to be the major constituent of the inner ribonucleoprotein (RNP) of the AMV core, and has been designated p12(N). Two RNP polypeptides, p64 and p91, co-electrophoresed with purified AMV DNA polymerase and have now been designated p64(P) and p91(P). The polypeptide p27 has been identified as a probable constituent of the core shell, and has accordingly now been designated p27(C). In comparison to virions of AMV, the AMV core component contained a greatly reduced amount of polypeptide p15 and appeared to lack a major polypeptide, p19. Consequently, these polypeptides may be associated either with the exterior of the core shell or the interior of the viral envelope. Glycopeptides were not detected in AMV cores, in agreement with earlier reports that they reside in external projections from the viral envelope.
Feedforward tracking for uncertain systems

The tracking problem for uncertain systems with time-invariant uncertainty is considered. A feedforward tracking approach to both full state feedback and measurement feedback problems is proposed. The design is reduced to a standard H/sub infinity / problem. >
Bootstrapping for pharmacokinetic models: visualization of predictive and parameter uncertainty.

Purpose. We explore use of "bootstrapping” methods to obtain a measure of reliability of predictions made in part from fits of individual drug level data with a pharmacokinetic (PK) model, and to help clarify parameter identifiability for such models.
The Limits of Violence: People and Property in Edward Abbey's "Monkeywrenching" Novels

This paper explores Edward Abbey’s fiction asking what kind of ethical imperative his monkeywrenching novels offer. While advocating the destruction of property in defense of wilderness, The Monkey Wrench Gang draws a clear ethical distinction between the destruction of property in defense of wilderness and the harming of people. Yet the sequel, Hayduke Lives!, blurs this ethical line when a security guard is killed during the novel’s final eco-sabotage scene. After exploring several possible textual explanations for this apparent change and then interviewing several of Abbey’s close friends regarding this issue, the author concludes that the shift does not represent a change in Abbey’s worldview, but rather a change in fictional circumstance.
Evaluation of Physical Carrier Sense Based Backbone Maintenance in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Physical carrier sensing has to date mainly been exploited for improving medium access control in wireless networks. Recently, a parallel algorithm striving to extensively exploit physical carrier sensing for constructing and maintaining a connected dominating set (CDS), which is also known as spanner, backbone, or overlay network in wireless ad hoc networks with interference ranges larger than transmission ranges has been proposed. Existing evaluations of this algorithm are limited to theoretical asymptotic bounds and simulations of static networks. In this paper, we evaluate the physical carrier sensing-based CDS maintenance for mobile ad hoc networks through discrete event simulations. For a wide range of node speeds and node densities, we evaluate the CDS characteristics and message exchanges required for maintaining the CDS. We find that the algorithm maintains a stable leader set dominating all nodes in the network for a wide range of mobility levels but struggles to maintain connectivity at high mobility levels. We also quantify the portions of the control messages for CDS maintenance that are exchanged through physical carrier sensing. We find that the parallel algorithm manages to greatly reduce the reliance on intact message receptions.
Quadruped Bounding Control with Variable Duty Cycle via Vertical Impulse Scaling

This paper introduces a bounding gait control algorithm that allows a successful implementation of duty cycle modulation in the MIT Cheetah 2. Instead of controlling leg stiffness to emulate a ‘springy leg’ inspired from the SpringLoaded-Inverted-Pendulum (SLIP) model, the algorithm prescribes vertical impulse by generating scaled ground reaction forces at each step to achieve the desired stance and total stride duration. Therefore, we can control the duty cycle: the percentage of the stance phase over the entire cycle. By prescribing the required vertical impulse of the ground reaction force at each step, the algorithm can adapt to variable duty cycles attributed to variations in running speed. Following linear momentum conservation law, in order to achieve a limitcycle gait, the sum of all vertical ground reaction forces must match vertical momentum created by gravity during a cycle. In addition, we added a virtual compliance control in the vertical direction to enhance stability. The stiffness of the virtual compliance is selected based on the eigenvalue analysis of the linearized Poincare map and the chosen stiffness is 700 N/m, which corresponds to around 12% of the stiffness used in the previous trotting experiments of the MIT Cheetah, where the ground reaction forces are purely caused by the impedance controller with equilibrium point trajectories. This indicates that the virtual compliance control does not significantly contributes to generating ground reaction forces, but to stability. The experimental results show that the algorithm successfully prescribes the duty cycle for stable bounding gaits. This new approach can shed a light on variable speed running control algorithm.
Collective excitations in a 2D electron system: Canted field geometry

The authors investigate the charge and spin collective modes induced in a 2D electron gas by a weak electromagnetic perturbation in the presence of a dc magnetic field which makes an angle {theta} with the electron layer. The excitation frequencies are determined within the framework of the Landau-Silin theory of Fermi liquids by solving a semi-classical equation for transport in the self-consistent electromagnetic field associated with particle density fluctuations. The quasiparticle interaction is spin dependent and varies parametrically with the degree of spin polarization. In the long wavelength limit, they obtain analytic results for the frequencies of the collective modes as functions of {theta}.
Using optical communication for remote underwater robot operation

Underwater vehicles are typically operated using a tether or a slow acoustic link. We present an underwater optical communication system that enables a high-throughput and low-latency link to an underwater robot. The optical link allows the robot to operate in cluttered environments without the need for a tether. We demonstrate the performance of the system in a number of experiments which characterize the optical link and demonstrate remote control of the robot using a human input device.
Effect of magnetic dilution on χ⊥ in the random antiferromagnets MnxZn1−xF2 and FexZn1−xF2

We have studied the effect of magnetic dilution on the low‐temperature perpendicular susceptibility χ⊥ in two random antiferromagnets. Measurements as T = 4.2 K in MnxZn1−xF2 show a dramatic increase in χ⊥ with dilution, while in FexZn1−xF2, a small decrease is seen. This contrast can only be due to the difference between the small dipolar anisotropy in MnxZn1−xF2 and the large single‐ion anisotropy in FexZn1−xF2. since the materials are otherwise very similar. We have explored several models in order to understand these effects. The initial slope χ′ of χ⊥ vs. x has been studied both with computer simulation and with a continuum model, in good agreement in both cases. The full dilution problem has been studied by computer simulation, which agrees very well with the data in both materials studied, and the initial slope χ′.
Determining the feasibility and cost of an ecologically-based design for a mitigation wetland in central Pennsylvania, USA

Studies indicate that mitigation wetlands are structurally and functionally different, not only from the wetlands they are intended to replace, but also from wetlands they ought to resemble based upon their position in the landscape. The objective of this study was to revisit a single wetland mitigation project to determine if a different, ecologically-based, design could have been developed in place of the original, at comparable cost. We selected a wetland in Pennsylvania (one of several built as mitigation totaling more than 12 ha) built during mitigation efforts for a major highway based upon available background data, the construction document package, and itemized costs. We prepared an alternative design using the original pre-construction site survey as a base map and local reference wetlands to inform the design process. We anticipated that the alternative design would cost less than the original, but due to site conditions and the objective of mimicking a natural wetland, much more earth needed to be excavated in the alternative design than anticipated. The cost of excavation, coupled with the added expense of hauling surplus fill off site, proved to be expensive. Nevertheless, other design differences, such the absence of water control structures, lack of instant habitat improvement devices, omission of an impermeable soil layer, and application of a simpler planting strategy, allowed for considerable cost savings.
Chemistry of Diffusion Barrier Film Formation: Adsorption and Dissociation of Tetrakis(dimethylamino)titanium on Si(100)-2 × 1

Tetrakis(dimethylamino)titanium (TDMAT) is one of the most prominent precursors for deposition of thin diffusion barrier films onto semiconductor substrates for microelectronic applications. Adsorption and dissociation of this compound on a Si(100)-2 × 1 surface is studied by a combination of density functional calculations and infrared spectroscopy. Our computational investigation suggests that initial interaction occurs through the nucleophilic attack of a surface silicon atom by the lone pair of nitrogen. This molecularly adsorbed state (where the N atom attached to the surface is tetra-coordinated) is found to be a local minimum, and further transformation leads to the dissociation through scission of either the N−Ti or the N−C bond. Dissociation of TDMAT is permitted kinetically if it occurs through the scission of the N−Ti bond, while scission of an N−C bond is kinetically hindered despite the thermodynamic stability of the structure produced. In view of its amine-like behavior upon adsorption, TDMA...
‘These Untutored Masses’: The Campaign for Respectability Among White and Black Evangelicals in the American South, 1870–1930

In the post-Civil War American South, leaders of both white and black denominations sought to root out southern ‘folk’ religious practices from their churches. Denominational modernizers preached the middle-class virtues necessary to the building of a new southern social order: piety, sobriety and the systematic accumulation of wealth. They built bureaucracies of benevolence and conceived of ‘intelligent worship’ as a means of schooling their ‘untutored masses’ in the ways of bourgeois religiosity. In response, white and black believers, predominantly small farmers and sharecroppers with limited educations, adopted certain forms suggested by the advocates of respectable religion while also maintaining publicly emotive and physically tactile expressions of southern religiosity derived both from the camp-meeting past as well as African-derived rituals of worship. By focusing on worship practices and musical styles, this article illuminates an episode in the dialectic of traditional spirituality and bourgeois decorum in a region in, but not fully of, America.