cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Object Based Attention Through Internal Gating.

Object-based attention is a key component of the visual system, relevant for perception, learning, and memory. Neurons tuned to features of attended objects tend to be more active than those associated with non-attended objects. There is a rich set of models of this phenomenon in computational neuroscience. However, there is currently a divide between models that successfully match physiological data but can only deal with extremely simple problems and models of attention used in computer vision. For example, attention in the brain is known to depend on top-down processing, whereas self-attention in deep learning does not. Here, we propose an artificial neural network model of object-based attention that captures the way in which attention is both top-down and recurrent. Our attention model works well both on simple test stimuli, such as those using images of handwritten digits, and on more complex stimuli, such as natural images drawn from the COCO dataset. We find that our model replicates a range of findings from neuroscience, including attention-invariant tuning, inhibition of return, and attention-mediated scaling of activity. Understanding object based attention is both computationally interesting and a key problem for computational neuroscience.
Multicarrier Spectral Shaping for Non-White Interference Channels: Application to Aeronautical Communications in the L-Band

Adaptive radio techniques have been extensively studied over the past two decades. In this paper, we investigate an adaptive algorithm to attain additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) performance in non-white channels, using multicarrier communications such as OFDM and filter-bank multicarrier (FBMC). The non-white channel can be from non-white noise, or more commonly, interference. Our proposed algorithm: spectral shaping (SS), follows a simple optimization problem to find what we term reliable subcarriers, and then per subcarrier power allocations are made in order to attain the AWGN channel bit error ratio (BER). Subcarriers that experience high interference are deactivated or chosen as guard subcarriers. After describing our analysis, we show some simulation results in two non-white interference signal examples: the Gaussian pulse shaped high-power distance measuring equipment (DME) and a classical rectangular-pulse signal. The DME example is pertinent for currently proposed aeronautical communication systems, where new multicarrier techniques, e.g., the L-band digital Aeronautical communication systems (LDACS) have been designed as an inlay approach between the high-power DME channels in L-band. Our results show that in high DME power interferences, using this adaptive technique can improve the overall reliability and attain AWGN BER performance in AWGN channel. We provide power spectral density (PSD) results to compare OFDM and FBMC based spectra when our SS algorithm is applied. Also, we provide BER vs. bit energy to noise density ratio ( Eb / N0 ) results in the AWGN, as well as more realistic aeronautical channels to compare SS system performance. Our results show that in the presence of high power DME interference, using this adaptive technique can improve the overall reliability and enable us to attain non-interference BER performance in realistic aeronautical channels.
A Systematic Review of Dependent Group Contingencies (1970–2019):

Dependent group contingencies offer an efficient way to improve the behavior of an entire group of students, as the performance of only one or a few students needs to be monitored at a time. Prior ...
Randomized and non-randomized designs for causal inference with longitudinal data in rare disorders.

In the United States, approximately 7000 rare diseases affect 30 million patients, and only 10% of these diseases have existing therapies. Sound study design and causal inference methods are essential to demonstrate the therapeutic efficacy, safety, and effectiveness of new therapies. In the rare diseases setting, several factors challenge the use of typical parallel control designs: the small patient population size, genotypic and phenotypic diversity, and the complexity and incomplete understanding of the disorder’s progression. Repeated measures, when spaced appropriately relative to disease progression and exploited in design and analysis, can increase study power and reduce variability in treatment effect estimation. This paper reviews these longitudinal designs and draws the parallel between some new and existing randomized studies in rare diseases and their less well-known controlled observational study designs. We show that self-controlled randomized crossover and N-of-1 designs have similar considerations as the observational case series and case-crossover designs. Also, randomized sequential designs have similar considerations to longitudinal cohort studies using sequential matching or weighting to control confounding. We discuss design and analysis considerations for valid causal inference and illustrate them with examples of analyses in multiple rare disorders, including urea cycle disorder and cystic fibrosis.
The Politics of Sex Abuse in Hierarchies: A Comparative Study of the Catholic Church and the United States Military

This is an exploratory comparative paper about sex abuse in two male dominated hierarchies, the Catholic Church and the U.S military. The paper aims to see if there are similarities in patterns of abuse and in patterns of how the known abuse cases are handled by the Catholic Church and the U.S. military, and to develop preliminary explanations of why. The paper considers how the two organizations deal with external efforts by civil authorities at oversight and prosecution, and the extent to which they invoke their moral authority to evade responsibility and civilian oversight. I extrapolate from theories of bureaucratic politics, of religion and politics, and of military structure and relations with the civilian state, to develop hypotheses accounting for why cases have happened as they have and why the institutions have dealt with them in ways that seem to have perpetuated the climate and conditions for abuse. The paper compares the Church’s and the U.S. military’s stance towards the oversight efforts of civil authorities. It attempts to assess whether the tolerance of sex abuse in each organizations has been partly due to these institutions seeing themselves as something apart from the secular state, beholden to alternative authorities. To assess the role of hierarchical structure in (mis)handling of abuse cases, the paper compares the entities’ structures and tracks management of several cases. The comparison will allow for some discussion of what difference, if any, religion (being a religious organization) makes in the pattern of abuse and how the abuse has been handled in the Church, as opposed to the formally secular U.S. military. Later work will include comparison with non-hierarchical organizations. The study utilizes extensive documentation of Church pedophile cases in the US and documentation of sex abuse cases in the US military, including documentation from Congressional hearings.
Methods with insect cells in suspension culture. I. Aedes albopictus.

Publisher Summary Techniques for growing cells and tissues of insects in culture have improved dramatically and it may be possible to obtain cell lines with known genetic alterations by the choice of an appropriate mutant strain as starting material. This chapter describes the methods utilized for adapting Aedes cells and for their fractionation. It also discusses basic cellular parameters as measured by these techniques. The Aedes albopictus line is established using the medium of Mitsuhashi and Maramorosch, originally designed for the culture of leafhopper cells. It contains large quantities of yeast extract and lactalbumin hydrolysate and is supplemented with fetal bovine serum (FBS) for use with mosquito cells. Eagle's minimal essential medium (MEM) (Joklik-modified) is used as a basic medium. The A. albopictus subline obtained from suspension culture is of two basic types—namely, (1) spherical cells and (2) spindle shaped cells. Each contains a single large nucleus, usually with one prominent nucleolus. The development of an adapted line of A. albopictus that can be manipulated in much the same manner as cultured mammalian cells should significantly increase the utility of this line in many areas of cell biology.
A rigid space homeomorphic to Hilbert space

A rigid space is a topological vector space whose endomorphisms are all simply scalar multiples of the identity map. This is in sharp contrast to the behavior of operators on e2, and so rigid spaces are, from the viewpoint of functional analysis, fundamentally different from Hilbert space. Nevertheless, we show in this paper that a rigid space can be constructed which is topologically homeomorphic to Hilbert space. We do this by demonstrating that the first complete rigid space can be modified slightly to be an AR-space (absolute retract), and thus by a theorem of Dobrowolski and Torunczyk is homeomorphic to e2. Rigid topological vector spaces first appeared in the literature in 1977 with an example by Waelbroeck, in the paper [11]. This first rigid space, however, was not complete, and the existence of a complete rigid space was first confirmed by Kalton and Roberts in [5]. In that paper, the constructed space is not only complete and rigid, but is also quotient-rigid and a subspace of Lo[0, 1] (quotient-rigid meaning that every quotient of the space inherits the rigid character). A rigid space which serves as the domain space of a non-trivial compact operator was constructed in [9], illustrating that rigid spaces can have relatively rich topologies. In this paper we demonstrate that rigid spaces can in fact be topologically homeomorphic to Hilbert space, thus illustrating the degree to which the two concepts of topological homeomorphism and topological vector space isomorphism can differ. To do this, we will first modify slightly the rigid space constructed in [5], and then employ a characterization of ANR-spaces (absolute neighborhood retract spaces) due to the first author, which appeared in its original form in [6] and in a refined form in [7]. It is this second version that we will apply in this paper. The first section of the paper contains the characterization we will apply, as well as an explanation of the modifications we must make to the first rigid space. We will then show in the second and third sections that the rigid space under consideration is an AR-space. 1. THEOREMS AND A CONSTRUCTION We begin with an explanation of the characterization of ANR spaces to be found in [7]. Received by the editors January 23, 1996. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 46A16, 54F65; Secondary 46C05, 54G15. (? 1998 American Mathematical Society
Finite Structures with Few Types

I will report on joint work with G. Cherlin on the quasi-finite axiomatizability of smoothly approximable structures, and on finite structures with few types. Let L be a finite language, k an integer, and C(L, k) be the class of finite L-structures with at most k 5-types, The large members of C(L, k) with no nontrivial 0-definable equivalence relation are known to be bi-interpretable with (finite unions of) certain classical geometries. (Work of Cherlin-Lachlan, Kantor-Liebeck-Macpherson.) A dimension of an L-structure M is the dimension of a geometry interpretable in M, such that every automorphism of the geometry lifts to an automorphism of M (with some other conditions.) C(L, k) can be naturally (and effectively) divided into a finite number of families C ϕ (L, k). Within each C ϕ , a finite number of dimensions is identified; every first order statement is equivalent to a Boolean combination of statements asserting that a given dimension is finite (and fixed). In particular, the isomorphism type of a structure in F i is determined by its dimensions. These dimensions can be varied essentially independently. This generalizes Lachlan’s theory of shrinking and stretching homogeneous structures for a finite relational language. The proof involves methods of stability theory (geometries, orthogonality, modularity, stable groups) applied in this unstable context.
Successful transplantation of marginally acceptable thoracic organs.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the efficacy of personally inspecting marginal thoracic organ donors to expand the donor pool. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The present donor criteria for heart and lung transplantation are very strict and result in exclusion of many potential thoracic organ donors. Due to a limited donor pool, 20-30% of patients die waiting for transplantation. METHODS: The authors have performed a prospective study of personally inspecting marginal donor organs that previously would have been rejected by standard donor criteria. RESULTS: Fourteen marginal hearts and eleven marginal lungs were inspected. All 14 marginal hearts and 10 of the marginal lungs were transplanted. All cardiac transplant patients did well. The mean ejection fraction of the donor hearts preoperatively was 39 +/- 11% (range 15-50%). Postoperatively, the ejection fraction of the donor hearts improved significantly to 55 +/- 3% (p < 0.002). Nine of the ten lung transplant patients did well and were operative survivors. Our donor pool expanded by 36% over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: The present donor criteria for heart and lung transplantation are too strict. Personal inspection of marginal thoracic donor organs will help to maximize donor utilization.
REDOR NMR Characterization of DNA Packaging in Bacteriophage T4

Abstract Bacteriophage T4 is a large-tailed Escherichia coli virus whose capsid is 120 × 86 nm. ATP-driven DNA packaging of the T4 capsid results in the loading of a 171-kb genome in less than 5 min during viral infection. We have isolated 50-mg quantities of uniform 15 N- and [e- 15 N]lysine-labeled bacteriophage T4. We have also introduced 15 NH 4 + into filled, unlabeled capsids from synthetic medium by exchange. We have examined lyo- and cryoprotected lyophilized T4 using 15 N{ 31 P} and 31 P{ 15 N} rotational-echo double resonance. The results of these experiments have shown that (i) packaged DNA is in an unperturbed duplex B-form conformation; (ii) the DNA phosphate negative charge is balanced by lysyl amines (3.2%), polyamines (5.8%), and monovalent cations (40%); and (iii) 11% of lysyl amines, 40% of –NH 2 groups of polyamines, and 80% of monovalent cations within the lyophilized T4 capsid are involved in the DNA charge balance. The NMR evidence suggests that DNA enters the T4 capsid in a charge-unbalanced state. We propose that electrostatic interactions may provide free energy to supplement the nanomotor-driven T4 DNA packaging.
Microchemical Analysis of the SCS‐6 Silicon Carbide Fiber

A detailed quantitative study of the microstructural variation of chemical composition of chemically vapor-deposited commercial SiC SCS-6 fiber is presented. Chemical etching and various electron-optical techniques including SEM, TEM, scanning Auger microscopy, AES, and parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy are used to analyze the chemical composition of the as-received fiber. In addition, some results on stereology of the high-temperature annealed fiber are presented. The results show that the carbon-to-silicon atom ratio in the SiC layers decreases in a stepwise fashion from about 3:2 to about 1:1 in going from the innermost layer to the outermost layer.
Quasi-microscope concept for planetary missions: stereo.

The quasi-microscope has been used for stereo pictures using a small aperture placed at the right and left over the entrance aperture. A 16-degree stereo view angle yields an enhanced stereo effect. When viewed upward through a transparent support, all grains come into focus. The technique may be used for determining mineral constituents on the basis of cleavage and fracture patterns, grain details, and surface slopes used in estimating single-particle albedo and the illumination of scattering profiles.
Language Performance in Low-Achieving Elementary School Students

The purpose of the present study was to compare normally achieving and low-achieving (LA) elementary school-age children on a wide range of linguistic tasks. Over half of the LA group earned scores on the language measures that were low enough to suggest consideration for evaluation and/or treatment. Implications for referral and treatment of the LA population are discussed.
Role of transmembrane domain 4 in ligand permeation by crithidia fasciculata equilibrative nucleoside transporter 2 (CfNT2)

Equilibrative nucleoside transporters play essential roles in nutrient uptake, cardiovascular and renal function, and purine analog drug chemotherapies. Limited structural information is available for this family of transporters; however, residues in transmembrane domains 1, 2, 4, and 5 appear to be important for ligand and inhibitor binding. In order to identify regions of the transporter that are important for ligand specificity, a genetic selection for mutants of the inosine-guanosine-specific Crithidia fasciculata nucleoside transporter 2 (CfNT2) that had gained the ability to transport adenosine was carried out in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nearly all positive clones from the genetic selection carried mutations at lysine 155 in transmembrane domain 4, highlighting lysine 155 as a pivotal residue governing the ligand specificity of CfNT2. Mutation of lysine 155 to asparagine conferred affinity for adenosine on the mutant transporter at the expense of inosine and guanosine affinity due to weakened contacts to the purine ring of the ligand. Following systematic cysteine-scanning mutagenesis, thiol-specific modification of several positions within transmembrane domain 4 was found to interfere with inosine transport capability, indicating that this helix lines the water-filled ligand translocation channel. Additionally, the pattern of modification of transmembrane domain 4 suggested that it may deviate from helicity in the vicinity of residue 155. Position 155 was also protected from modification in the presence of ligand, suggesting that lysine 155 is in or near the ligand binding site. Transmembrane domain 4 and particularly lysine 155 appear to play key roles in ligand discrimination and translocation by CfNT2.
Clinical and Hemodynamic Evaluation of the 19 mm Björk-Shiley Aortic Valve Prosthesis

Abstract Between November, 1973, and March, 1980, 43 patients underwent isolated aortic valve replacement with 19 mm Bjork-Shiley prostheses at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. There were 4 male and 39 female patients ranging from 12 to 75 years old (mean, 54.5 years). Average weight was 62 ± 2 kg and average body surface area, 1.64 ± 0.3 m 2 . Five patients died within thirty days of operation; however, since 1975, hospital mortality has been 5.9%. The 38 survivors have been followed up for as long as 85 months (mean, 40 months). There were 4 late deaths, and actuarial survival in patients discharged from the hospital was 81% at five years. All long-term survivors were in New York Heart Association Functional Class I (29 patients) or Class II (5 patients). Preoperative and postoperative echocardiograms in 17 patients demonstrated significant decreases in mean left ventricular wall thickness (12.9 ± 1.8 mm vs 10.3 ± 1.4 mm; p p Postoperative cardiac catheterization data were obtained from an additional 24 patients undergoing aortic valve replacement with the 19 mm Bjork-Shiley prosthesis at the National Heart Institute. Average peak systolic gradient at rest was 16 mm Hg (range, 0 to 45 mm Hg) and was found to be directly related to body surface area ( r = 0.60, p 2 (range, 0.63 to 2.02 cm 2 ). For patients with small aortic roots, aortic valve replacement with the 19 mm Bjork-Shiley valve is a satisfactory and, perhaps, preferable alternative to aortic annuloplasty to accommodate larger sized prostheses.
Access to Knowledge of Spatial Structure at Novel Points of Observation

Adults were asked to judge the self-to-object directions in a room from novel points of observation that differed from their actual point at times only by a rotation and at other times only by a translation. The results show for the rotation trials that the errors and latencies when a novel point was imagined were worse than the baseline responses from their actual points of observation, and the latencies varied as a function of the magnitude of the to-be-imagined rotation. For the translation trials, on the other hand, the errors and latencies when a novel point was imagined were comparable to the baseline responses from their actual point and did not vary significantly across the different imagined station points. The evidence indicates that subjects know the objectto-object relations directly, without going through the origin of a coordinate system. In addition, similarities in processing during imagination on the one hand, and perception and action on the other are discussed. The spatial structure of a place consists of the distances and directions relating its objects, features, and events. Observers often produce spatially coordinated action while on the move and plan actions before reaching the station points from which they intend to launch them. This is the case when one plans a route before embarking on a trip. And it is implied whenever one launches an act while on the move, because the motor plan to control the act must be set before the launching point is reached. Because of this, observers need access to knowledge of the spatial structure of places from novel station points. The present experiments are about observers' abilities to imagine the spatial structure available at novel points of observation and about some of the conditions that facilitate access to such knowledge. In each experiment observers stood at one point of observation and viewed the locations of target objects scattered around them in a room. Then they were asked to close their eyes, imagine they occupied a novel point of observation, and aim a pointer at the targets relative to the novel point.
Regulation of the Bacteriophage T4 Dda Helicase by Gp32 Single-stranded DNA-Binding Protein

Dda, one of three helicases encoded by bacteriophage T4, has been well-characterized biochemically but its biological role remains unclear. It is thought to be involved in origin dependent DNA replication, recombination-dependent replication, anti-recombination, and recombination repair. The Gp32 protein of bacteriophage T4 plays critical roles in DNA replication, recombination, and repair by coordinating protein components of the replication fork and by stabilizing ssDNA. Previous work demonstrated that stimulation of DNA synthesis by Dda helicase appears to require direct Gp32-Dda protein-protein interactions and that Gp32 and Dda form a tight complex in the absence of ssDNA. Here we characterize the effects of Gp32-Dda physical and functional interactions through changes in the duplex DNA unwinding and ATPase activities of Dda helicase in the presence of different variants of Gp32 and different DNA repair and replication intermediate structures. Results show that Gp32-Dda interactions can be enhancing or inhibitory, depending on the Gp32 domain seen by Dda. Protein-protein interactions with Gp32 stimulate the unwinding activity of Dda, an effect associated with increased turnover of ATP, suggesting a higher rate of ATPase-driven translocation. Dda-Gp32 interactions also promote the unwinding of DNA substrates at higher salt concentrations and in the presence of substrate-bound DNA polymerase. Conversely, the formation of Gp32 clusters on ssDNA can inhibit unwinding, suggesting that Gp32-ssDNA formation sterically regulates which portions of replication and recombination intermediates are accessible for processing by Dda helicase. The data suggest a mechanism of replication fork restart in which Gp32 promotes Dda activity in template switching while preventing premature fork progression.
A monochromator based on wic multilayers of 40Å layer spacing

A simple two-mirror monochromator based on multilayer films has been developed for use with synchrotron radiation. Measurements of the performance of this monochromator and the characterization of a typical component mirror are described.
The lead vectors of multiple dipoles located on an electrically homogeneous circular lamina.

Abstract 1. 1. The uniformity of the magnitudes and directions of the lead vectors of various leads calculated for multiple dipoles located on an electrically homogeneous circular lamina has been investigated by graphic and by statistical methods. 2. 2. The results of this study strongly support the contention of Johnston and associates that, under certain circumstances, a lead recorded between two networks of points is greatly superior, from a vectorcardiographic standpoint, to a lead recorded between two single points. 3. 3. On the basis of these findings a reference frame is suggested for investigation gation as to its possible superiority to those currently used in vectorcardiography. Methods of evaluating such a frame are outlined. 4. 4. A statistical expression (Equation 4) involving the concept of the co-efficient of variation has been developed to estimate the degree to which a given lead varies from an ideal vectorcardiographic lead. The wide field of application of this expression to the evaluation of data collected from the study of the distribution of dipole currents in models is pointed out.
Using principal-agent theory as a framework for analysis in evaluating the multiple stakeholders involved in the accreditation and quality assurance of international medical branch campuses

This article applies the theoretical framework of principal-agent theory in order to better understand the complex organisational relationships emerging between entities invested in the establishment and monitoring of cross-border international branch campus medical schools. Using the key constructs of principal-agent theory, information asymmetry and goal conflict, the article explores the multiple information asymmetries and potential goal conflicts that exist in the establishment of branch campus medical programmes. A review of the literature on international medical programme oversights revealed several considerations for organisations to contemplate in the physical movement of their institutions across borders. Using examples drawn from Weill Medical College in Qatar and Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia, the article illustrates how multiple overlapping agencies can provoke information asymmetry regarding quality standards and conflict of goals between the branch campus and the accrediting agenc...
Measuring body temperature in the field—evaluation of external vs. implanted transmitters in a small mammal

Abstract Measuring the body temperature of animals living under natural conditions has gained increasing interest. This study shows in the small lemur Cheirogaleus medius that for many questions external collar transmitters can constitute an excellent alternative to implanted transmitters. During both active as well as inactive phases, data from collar transmitters precisely reflect core body temperature over a wide range of ambient temperatures. Even minor changes in the body temperature are detected, and collar transmitters are very adequate for determining general patterns of body temperature and activity in suitable species.
Design of Flowable Fill: Waste Foundry Sand as a Fine Aggregate

Flowable fill is generally a mixture of sand, fly ash, a small amount of cement, and water. Sand is the major component of most flowable fill mixes; consequently, using a waste material as a substitute for natural sand results in the beneficial use of the waste material. Waste foundry sand (WFS) was used as a fine aggregate in this study. Three green sands from ferrous foundries and two Class F fly ashes were used. A natural river sand was used for comparison. The flow behavior, hardening characteristics, and ultimate strength behavior of flowable fill were investigated. The penetration resistance necessary to sustain walkability as the fresh flowable fill hardens was determined, and the time necessary to achieve this penetration resistance was defined as "walkable time." The unconfined compressive strength at 28 days appeared to correlate well with the water-to-cement ratio. The 90-day compressive strength test results indicate that a maximum rise of 25 to 30 percent in long-term strength with respect to...
Computer-produced mapping of dialectal variation

It has become apparent to some dialectologists that dialectology, especially in its interpretive phase, is a branch of linguistics particularly adapted to the use of computers. The dialectologist typically deals with large bodies of data, usually in the form of single words and short phrases, and he is interested in sorting and comparing individual items on many bases: phonological, morphological, lexical, and geographical. The major obstacle that has prevented widespread use of computers in dialect study is that the data for most of the great dialect surveys have been collected, recorded, and in most cases edited prior to the computer age. Thus the problem of preparing large bodies of data, much of it in narrow phonetic transcription, for computer use has been formidable. One of the aims of our research was to determine whether results can be obtained relatively easily by computerized sorting and mapping that would take endless hours by traditional methods. Accordingly we sought a problem complex enough to reveal the advantages of computerized dialectology while at the same time involving a body of data small enough to be quickly prepared. We turned to the published volumes of the Survey of English Dialects, which embody carefully controlled data, collected with professional skill and presented in convenient tabular form. And since one of the two areas covered by the volumes in print at the time the study was undertaken (May 1969) was the south of England, the problem of the voicing of initial fricatives in the southwest naturally suggested itself. This problem had the further advantage, for our purposes, of dealing with consonants (simpler than vowels in most varieties of English) in initial position, hence easily sorted and examined. The selection of this problem proved to be a happy one. A total of 75 locations in the ten southernmost counties of England were reported on by the survey. These were identified by a four-digit number, the first two digits indicating the county and the remaining two the locality. Thus 3906 stands for Burley, the sixth locality listed in Hampshire, the county numbered 39. Our data consisted of 68 words for each of the 75 localities. Thus our corpus had 5100 (68 x 75) items. A coding system was devised which preserved all significant features of the phonetic transcription. The words were transcribed in this code directly onto cards for the guidance of the keypuncher, who then punched the
Real-time compression for dynamic 3D environments

The goal of tele-immersion has long been to enable people at remote locations to share a sense of presence. A tele-immersion system acquires the 3D representation of a collaborator's environment remotely and sends it over the network where it is rendered in the user's environment. Acquisition, reconstruction, transmission, and rendering all have to be done in real-time to create a sense of presence. With added commodity hardware resources, parallelism can increase the acquisition volume and reconstruction data quality while maintaining real-time performance. However this is not as easy for rendering since all of the data need to be combined into a single display.In this paper we present an algorithm to compress data from such 3D environments in real-time to solve this imbalance. We expect the compression algorithm to scale comparably to the acquisition and reconstruction, reduce network transmission bandwidth, and reduce the rendering requirement for real-time performance. We have tested the algorithm using a synthetic office data set and have achieved a 5 to 1 compression for 22 depth streams.
Statistical mechanics of scale-free gene expression networks

The gene co-expression networks of many organisms including bacteria, mice and man exhibit scale-free distribution. This heterogeneous distribution of connections decreases the vulnerability of the network to random attacks and thus may confer the genetic replication machinery an intrinsic resilience to such attacks, triggered by changing environmental conditions that the organism may be subject to during evolution. This resilience to random attacks comes at an energetic cost, however, reflected by the lower entropy of the scale-free distribution compared to the more homogenous, random network. In this study we found that the cell cycle-regulated gene expression pattern of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae obeys a power-law distribution with an exponent α = 2.1 and an entropy of 1.58. The latter is very close to the maximal value of 1.65 obtained from linear optimization of the entropy function under the constraint of a constant cost function, determined by the average degree connectivity 〈k〉. We further show that the yeast's gene expression network can achieve scale-free distribution in a process that does not involve growth but rather via re-wiring of the connections between nodes of an ordered network. Our results support the idea of an evolutionary selection, which acts at the level of the protein sequence, and is compatible with the notion of greater biological importance of highly connected nodes in the protein interaction network. Our constrained re-wiring model provides a theoretical framework for a putative thermodynamically driven evolutionary selection process.
Exposing the Impact of Opp(reg)ressive Policies on Teacher Development and on Student Learning.

This case study draws attention to Pedro’s story, a Grade 6 Latino teacher who, along with other grade 4–6 teachers, participated in a three-year professional development research project. By using data analyzed from multiple ethnographic interviews with teachers and students, and by drawing from the quantitative analyzes of concept map unit tests, we illustrate how Pedro’s significant professional growth and his students’ learning were truncated by top-down school district policies. These policies were implemented because of the punitive nature of the No Child Left Behind Act. Simply put, this case study exposes the impact of opp(reg)ressive policies on learning, that is, policies simultaneously oppressive and regressive. The critical perspective of the project, and its emphasis on assisting teachers to make their pedagogy and curriculum more culturally and socially relevant, was informed by sociotransformative constructivism (sTc). This is a theoretical framework that affords equal importance to cross-cultural education (learning about and acting on socially/culturally relevant issues) and social constructivism (learning to critically produce and consume knowledge). We hope that this case study will provide additional insights into the slow progress we continue to make in science teacher professional development and in closing the achievement gap.
The diuretic dilemma and the management of mild hypertension.

Diuretics are used in first-step antihypertensive monotherapy or in combination with adrenergic-inhibiting agents in the majority of hypertensive patients in the United States. A 30-year experience has demonstrated that blood pressure is lowered to as great or greater a degree with diuretics than when many of the presently available antihypertensive drugs, including converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium entry blockers, β-or α-adrenergic inhibitors, or centrally acting sympatholytic agents, are used. Diuretics appear to be especially effective in the elderly and in black patients. All of the major hypertension clinical trials upon which we base our decisions for treatment have employed diuretics as step-1 therapy —with a reduction in morbidity and mortality. In addition, data suggest that more effective treatment of hypertension has contributed to the decrease of over 45% in deaths from cerebrovascular disease and the overall reduction of cardiovascular deaths over the past 15 to 20 years in the United States.
Comments on "On hidden nodes in neural nets" by G. Mirchandani and W. Cao

A comment on the above-named work (see ibid., vol.36, p.661-4, 1989) by G. Mirchandani and W. Cao is presented. The main contribution of that paper is a proof of a theorem showing that 'the maximum number of separable regions (M) in the input space is a function of both H and input space dimension (d),' where H is the number of hidden nodes or, equivalently, the number of hyperplanes. The commenter argues that this theorem was proven in the mid-nineteenth century by the mathematician Ludwig Schlafli. >
Circular dichroism of helical polynucleotides calculated by the linear response method

Linear response theory in the decorrelation or random-phase approximation is used to calculate the absorption and CD spectra of model helical polymers, including single-stranded polyadenylic acid. The method, which makes use of infinite polymer selection rules for the linear response tensor, has the advantages that (1) only a few three-dimensional matrices need be inverted; (2) spectral band shapes of the polymer arise naturally from those of the monomer, as well as from the geometry-dependent interactions in the helix; and (3) the spectral dependence of geometrical factors of the helix is made transparent. It is found that the structure of the polymer CD spectrum depends critically on monomer bandshape. An asymmetric CD spectrum, similar to some experimental spectra, arises from either a Gaussian or a composite monomer band. Single-stranded polyadenylic acid spectra are sensitive to helix geometry in the region 200 to 240 nm, in a reasonable agreement with experimental spectra. This sensitivity arises from the 207-nm monomer transition, and the results suggest that this region of the spectrum should be more fully exploited as a tool for helix geometry studies.
Mother-weanling interactions in Norway rats in the presence of a successive litter produced by postpartum mating.

Abstract When female Norway rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) become pregnant at the postpartum estrus they nurse this first litter concurrently with the gestation of a second litter. This second gestation is of variable length (23–31 days in this study) We investigated the behavior of mothers and their older litters around the time the second litter was born. Six female rats gave birth and were mated at the postpartum estrus. Continuous videotaped observation of each female and litter began approximately 3 days before, and continued for 3 days after the birth of the second litter. We found that suckling behavior and nest attendance by the older litter did not necessarily end when the second litter was born. When the gestation length of the second litter was short (23–25 days) older pups continued to spend time in the nest and to nurse along with their newborn siblings. These older pups also spent much time on the nest even in the absence of their mother. When gestation was long (27–31 days) older pups were weaned before the birth of the second litter and spent less time on the nest with the newborns. Stereotyped attacks by the female against her weanling age pups were seen both pre- and postpartum. This maternal aggression did not appear to deter suckling and nest attendance by the weanlings.
Effect of back-gate biasing on the performance and leakage control in deeply scaled SOI MOSFETs

In this paper, we examine the operation of SOI MOSFET devices with gate length down 10 nm. The results show that using the back gate as a threshold voltage control terminal offers significant advantage in terms of total power without sacrificing the performance significantly and with less constraint on fabrication. This scheme can also be used to adjust the threshold voltage caused by manufacturing variations.
Visual and vestibular contributions to prelanding EMG during jump-downs in cats

Prelanding EMG responses in elbow flexors and extensors were assessed during landing from jump-downs (0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 m) in normal blindfolded cats and labyrinthectomized cats with and without vision occluded. Jump-down conditions determined the strategy of response elicited in the normal cat. When the height could be anticipated by the blindfolded animals, a response typical of a jump in the presence of visual cues occurred; extensor activity began an average of 73 +/- 12 ms before landing, while flexor activity was minimal. When the animal was 'tricked' by an unexpected change in jump height, it displayed a pattern of EMG activity appropriate for the jump height just previously experienced, not for the actual height. If the jump height was uncertain, the cat commonly exhibited continuous extensor activity that began soon (100-150 ms) after both forepaws left the platform. In the presence of visual cues, labyrinthectomized cats were able to execute jump-downs at 0.6 m. Onset of extensor EMG activity was normal during the first postoperative jumps, although the typical two-burst pattern was absent, and average prelanding extensor IEMG was less than that of the control jumps. In addition, landing was usually awkward, as the forelimbs collapsed and the ventral surface of the trunk contacted the landing pad. During subsequent sessions, the two-burst pattern reappeared, average prelanding extensor IEMG increased, and flight position improved, so that landing occurred without the forelimbs collapsing. Without visual cues, the labyrinthectomized cats were unable to execute a jump-down. These results suggest that visual input may normally regulate timing of the extensor prelanding motor program; however, without visual input, prelanding responses can be preprogrammed. When visual input is present, vestibular input during the flight phase may be primarily manifested as gain in extensor activity rather than in the temporal sequencing. When visual input is absent and jump height is uncertain, vestibular input may become more influential in determining the pattern of prelanding activity.
S-nitrosylation: Physiological regulation of NF-κB

Aspate of recent discoveries indicates that the study of protein S-nitrosylation is rapidly leaving its salad days behind. S-nitrosylation, the formation of S -nitrosothiol (SNO) by covalent addition to cysteine (Cys) residues of a nitric oxide (NO) moiety (formally as NO+), has been shown to regulate in intact cells the function of a broad spectrum of proteins (1). Important recent findings include demonstrations of major roles for S-nitrosylation in vesicle-mediated insulin release (2), in protein processing associated with the neurodegeneration of Parkinson's disease (3), and in the essential mechanisms of vectorial membrane trafficking (4). In this issue of PNAS, Reynaert et al. (5) lend a hand in the unveiling of S-nitrosylation as it operates in cellular context by elucidating a role in regulating NF-κB. NF-κB denotes a ubiquitous family of transcription factors that transduce a wide range of noxious or inflammatory stimuli into the coordinated activation of multiple genes, including those coding for cytokines, cytokine receptors, adhesion molecules, and antiapoptotic proteins (6). NF-κB thus serves as a critical element in immune and inflammatory responses and in cell survival and proliferation, with central roles in host defense and in acute and chronic disorders of immune function. NF-κB can upregulate the expression of all major NO synthases (nNOS, iNOS, and eNOS). It is well established that NF-κB is complexed with and sequestered in the cytoplasm by inhibitory IκB (inhibitor of NF-κB) proteins and that many activating stimuli induce phosphorylation of IκB by the IκB-kinase complex (IKKα, IKKβ, and IKKγ), initiate IκB ubiquitinylation and degradation by means of the 26S proteasome, and allow translocation of NF-κB to the nucleus (6). The molecular cascades that run through NF-κB present multiple loci at which oxidative/nitrosative modification could potentially modulate signal transduction, but the role of NF-κB and its attendant proteins in physiological redox responsivity …
On the importance of the dilatational component of the stress state in the uniaxial yield-like behavior of rate-dependent polymers: C. Bauwens-Crowet revisited

The effect of the dilatational stress component on the yield-like behavior of ratedependent polymers is examined via the example of PMMA. Starting with uniaxial data published in 1973 by C. Bauwens-Crowet and describing the dependence of yield (maximum) stress in compression and in tension, the then offered reduction or “shift” scheme is reviewed, in particular the fact that tension and compression data lead to different data reductions. Following the argument that mechanically induced dilatation can affect the time dependence of polymeric deformation processes much like temperature affects temporal scaling, the same data is then subjected to an analysis based on volumetric changes accompanying mechanical loading. It is found that such a treatment unifies the compression and tension data into a single master curve to the extent that temperature and loads from the two deformation modes are congruous and exhibit no more data scatter than the presentation of the original data reduction. Moreover, the time–temperature shift properties for this newly reduced yield-like behavior then follows also the same rules and properties as do viscoelastic mechanical properties acquired under small deformations.
Predicting the influence of long-range molecular interactions on macroscopic-scale diffusion by homogenization of the Smoluchowski equation

The macroscopic diffusion constant for a charged diffuser is in part dependent on (1) the volume excluded by solute "obstacles" and (2) long-range interactions between those obstacles and the diffuser. Increasing excluded volume reduces transport of the diffuser, while long-range interactions can either increase or decrease diffusivity, depending on the nature of the potential. We previously demonstrated [P. M. Kekenes-Huskey et al., Biophys. J. 105, 2130 (2013)] using homogenization theory that the configuration of molecular-scale obstacles can both hinder diffusion and induce diffusional anisotropy for small ions. As the density of molecular obstacles increases, van der Waals (vdW) and electrostatic interactions between obstacle and a diffuser become significant and can strongly influence the latter's diffusivity, which was neglected in our original model. Here, we extend this methodology to include a fixed (time-independent) potential of mean force, through homogenization of the Smoluchowski equation. We consider the diffusion of ions in crowded, hydrophilic environments at physiological ionic strengths and find that electrostatic and vdW interactions can enhance or depress effective diffusion rates for attractive or repulsive forces, respectively. Additionally, we show that the observed diffusion rate may be reduced independent of non-specific electrostatic and vdW interactions by treating obstacles that exhibit specific binding interactions as "buffers" that absorb free diffusers. Finally, we demonstrate that effective diffusion rates are sensitive to distribution of surface charge on a globular protein, Troponin C, suggesting that the use of molecular structures with atomistic-scale resolution can account for electrostatic influences on substrate transport. This approach offers new insight into the influence of molecular-scale, long-range interactions on transport of charged species, particularly for diffusion-influenced signaling events occurring in crowded cellular environments.