cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Applying fuzzy logic and reinforcement learning to track a mobile target using a wireless sensor network

This dissertation introduces new fuzzy logic and fuzzy logic with reinforcement learning techniques that are designed to track a mobile target as it travels within a Distributed Wireless Sensor Network (DWSN). In this research, a DWSN is defined as a network of spatially distributed sensors that each have the capability to perform distributed processing and data fusion by communicating with neighboring sensor nodes in the system. The accuracy of the target position prediction process, amount of communication between distributed sensors, and the resulting power consumption are all issues that impact the performance, reliability, and survivability of such a network. The specific DWSN that is the focus of this dissertation conforms to the Deployable Autonomous Distributed System (DADS) model. In the DADS model a field of autonomous sensors is distributed along the ocean floor. These sensors are able to communicate with one another and detect the position of a target within a specified range. The communication and active sensing operations are considered to be quite costly in terms of power consumption. Also, the physical constraints that are imposed by the undersea environments limit the achievable inter-node communication rates. Fuzzy set theory has been successfully applied in a wide range of applications in the area of complex control systems that cannot be modeled precisely even under various assumptions and approximations. Fuzzy logic technique can be combined with other techniques such as reinforcement learning. Reinforcement learning is based upon the concept of reward and punishment, where the status of a situation will promote an action and the merits of each action will be reinforced by a positive or negative reward. In this dissertation, an existing target tracking approach is augmented using both stand-alone fuzzy logic and fuzzy logic with reinforcement learning techniques. Simulations are presented that illustrate how these approaches compare with this well documented reference approach in terms of prediction accuracy, message frequency, and projected power consumption. The simulation results presented in this research are used to support the relative effectiveness of the enhanced approaches as compared to the unaugmented tracking approach for a variety of target movement scenarios.
Serological Comparison of Five Arginine-Utilizing Mycoplasma Species by Two-Dimensional Immunoelectrophoresis

Five arginine-utilizing, nonglycolytic Mycoplasma species were compared serologically by two dimensional immunoelectrophoresis. The survey included: Mycoplasma hominis, Mycoplasma arthritidis, Mycoplasma gateae, Mycoplasma gallinarum, and three strains of Mycoplasma arginini. Although the M. arginini strains showed strong cross-reactions, each strain produced a different antigenic profile which was distinct and which indicated significant antigenic differences between strains. The M. arginini strains showed strong relationships with M. gateae; lesser cross-reactions were observed with other strains. Common antigens were demonstrable in the entire group. When all these species were compared with a glycolytic species, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, no cross-reactions were observed. Two-dimensional immunoelectrophoresis was a far more sensitive technique than double-immunodiffusion since as many as 20 components could be resolved.
"Acute reactions to urographic contrast medium: incidence, clinical characteristics, and relationship to history of hypersensitivity states"--a commentary.

1431 circumstance well known by most physicians. With the advent of nonionic, low-osmolality contrast media, the overall incidence of adverse reactions has significantly decreased. For example, the incidence of severe and very severe contrast reactions was noted to be 0.26% for ionic and 0.04% for nonionic contrast media in a study by Katayama et al. [6], indicating that the current agents are safer by a factor of six compared with ionic media. However, the increased use of contrast media on a daily basis has not decreased radiologists’ exposure to patient risk and possibly increases patient vulnerability to a greater extent today than during the ionic contrast media era because CT is a procedure that generally no longer involves direct physician–patient contact as was the case for urography. Thus the classic, milestone centennial article by Witten et al. [1] is even more relevant today than it was when published 35 years ago. Witten et al. [1] prospectively studied 32,964 consecutive outpatients at the Mayo Clinic who were referred to the department of diagnostic radiology for excretory urography during a 27-month period, gathering a tabulation of the presence or absence of “allergy,” specific allergens if known, and clinical characteristics of previous hyper sensitivity responses, if known in the first phase of 9,934 patients. In the remaining 23,030 patients in the study, details of historical data relating to history of allergy or hypersensitivity were obtained before injection but tabulated only in those patients who developed acute reactions. Clinical char acteristics, severity, and treat ment for analysis were recorded for any reactions that occurred in all patients. A unique value of the Witten et al. [1] approach was that all patients were examined “Acute Reactions to Urographic Contrast Medium: Incidence, Clinical Characteristics, and Relationship to History of Hypersensitivity States”— A Commentary
The modulatory cholinergic system in goldfish tectum may be necessary for retinotopic sharpening

The cholinergic circuit within the tectum and the cholinergic input from the nucleus isthmi mediate a presynaptic augmentation of retinotectal transmitter release via nicotinic receptors. In this study, the cholinergic systems were either eliminated using the cholinergic neurotoxin AF64A or blocked using nicotinic antagonists to test for effects on the activity-driven sharpening of the regenerating retinotectal projection. The effectiveness of the AF64A was verified by recording field potentials elicited by optic tract stimulation and by immunohistochemical staining for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). At 1 week after intracranial (IC) injection of AF64A (12 to 144 nmoles) into the fluid above the tectum, field potentials showed a selective dose-dependent decrement of the cholinergic polysynaptic component with no effect on the amplitude of the glutamatergic monosynaptic component. The decrement was only partially recovered in recordings at 2 and 6 weeks. In normal fish, the ChAT antibody stains a population of periventricular neurons, their apical dendrites, and a dense plexus within the optic terminal lamina that consists of their local axons and fine dendrites and of input fibers from the nucleus isthmi. One week after IC AF64A injection (48-72 nmoles), most immunostaining in superficial tectum was lost but most neuronal somas in the deep tectum could still be seen, and staining in the tegmentum below the tectum was completely intact. At 2 weeks and later, the staining of neuronal somata largely recovered, but staining of the superficial plexus did not. AF64A treatment at 18 days after nerve crush, when regenerating retinal fibers are beginning to form synapses, prevented retinotopic sharpening of the projection. Recordings showed a rough retinotopic map on the tectum but the multiunit receptive fields (MURFs) at each tectal point averaged 34 deg vs. 11 deg in vehicle-injected control regenerates. AF64A treatment before nerve crush also blocked sharpening, ruling out a direct effect on retinal growth cones or retinal fibers, as AF64A rapidly decomposes, whereas its effect on the cholinergic fibers is long-lasting. IC injection or minipump infusion of the nicotine antagonists alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha BTX), neuronal bungarotoxin (nBTX), and pancuronium during regeneration also prevented sharpening (MURFs averaging 29.4 deg, 33.0 deg, and 31.4 deg, respectively). Control Ringer's solution infusions or injections over the same period (19-37 days postcrush) had no effect on regenerated MURF size (11.7 deg). The results show that the cholinergic innervation, which modulates transmitter release, is required for activity-driven retinotopic sharpening, thought to be triggered by NMDA receptor activation.
The Science of Toxicology and Its Relevance to MCS

The definitions and current practice of multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) are considered in relation to the fundamental principles of toxicology. The salient problem with MCS is that there is no consistent and specific effect from exposure to any specific chemical. This does not allow for any objective test for any disease entity which might be caused by the chemicals as indicated by the theory of MCS. The effects of exposure to chemicals as defined today as MCS are subjective and no report is available to convincingly demonstrate that these effects would not have occurred merely by chance. It is concluded that (1) MCS, as defined, does not allow specificity or consistency for biological reactions to the effects of chemicals; (2) MCS does not provide a testable hypothesis; (3) MCS is contradictory to the fundamental principles of toxicology; (4) current testing procedures for MCS are so subjective that they are useless; (5) there is no evidence that the responses attributed to MCS are any other than those that would occur merely by chance; and (6) the MCS literature attaches an emotional bias to chemicals.
Museum bodies: The politics and practices of visiting and viewing

In my sociology classes, I have a semester-long team project in which I include an art walk, a theatre or film event and a dinner meeting. This is, in part, a socialisation exercise and pertains to...
Parallel-Band Effects in Interband Optical Absorption

Absorption edges associated with nearly parallel bands, proposed by Ehrenreich, Philipp, and Segall for aluminum, are discussed for the general case. Numerical estimates of the position, form, and strength of such edges are made for all polyvalent metals with simple structures. It is noted further that such edges provide a direct measurement of the magnitude of the orthogonalized-plane-wave form factor, or pseudopotential, for the metal.
Consumption in Early Modern Europe. A Review Article

Probably no law passed during the French Revolution seems odder to us than that of 8 Brumaire on II (October 29, 1793), which decreed that freedom of dress was a basic human right. That it might be illegal for certain types of people to wear certain types of clothing offends us, yet this was common in early modem Europe. It was part of a world of consumption now lost to us: a world of scarcity in which clothes were bought third, fourth, or twelfth hand; in which a rich merchant's house might have hundreds of sheets but only six uncomfortable chairs; in which rulers, not designers or rock stars, set fashions, and governments regarded increases in consumer spending as signs not of economic growth but political decline. We are starting to know this world through the many fine recent studies of material culture in early moder Europe. Consumption was a hot topic for historical research in the 1980s. Doubtless the Zeitgeist was partially responsible for this; that decade was, after all, the decade of the yuppie, the BMW, and Nancy Reagan. But trends in historical methods also played a role. The eighties saw a battle between the partisans of the New Social History, who employed rigorous quantitative analysis and emphasized social class, and practitioners of the new New Social History, who found their methods and insights in anthropology and literary criticism. Consumption appealed to both camps. That its major sources, estate inventories, were suitable for quantitative analysis over a longue duree attracted the old New Social Historians; trendier types were drawn by the fact, as anthropologist Mary Douglas put it,
Free-standing nanoparticle superlattice sheets controlled by DNA

Free-standing nanoparticle superlattices offer interesting possibilities for the design of devices free from undesired effects of substrates. DNA can now be used to obtain superlattices with control over interparticle spacing, offering an alternative perspective on the synthesis of nanoparticle solids.
A network of conserved interactions regulates the allosteric signal in a glutamine amidotransferase.

We have combined equilibrium and steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations with principal component and correlation analyses to probe the mechanism of allosteric regulation in imidazole glycerol...
Purified prostaglandin synthase activates aromatic amines to derivatives that are mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium.

Abstract Prostaglandin H synthase (PHS) is widely distributed in mammalian tissues and has the ability to oxidize a variety of mutagens and carcinogens. It may therefore play a key role in the metabolic activation of xenobiotics. The present study documents that highly purified PHS can be used in conjunction with 5-phenyl-4-pentenyl-1-hydroperoxide (PPHP), a relatively stable and non-mutagenic hydroperoxide substrate, for the metabolic activation of aromatic amines to mutagenic derivatives that can be detected in short-term Salmonella typhimurium mutagenesis assays. The PHS-based activation system alone was not mutagenic for these tester strains, nor were the test compounds significantly toxic for the bacteria over the concentration range tested. When used in conjunction with Salmonella strains TA98 and TA100 in a modified Ames assay, this system should prove useful for screening of a wide range of compounds for metabolic activaton by this mammalian peroxidase. The potential broad utility of this purified PHS-dependent metabolic activation system was investigated by evaluating the activation of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) and 2-amino-3,4-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (MeIQ), which are representative of a group of mutagenic and carcinogenic heterocyclic arylamines to which humans are exposed via their diet. Both IQ and MeIQ were activated by PHS to potent mutagens and confirm the utility of the PPHP/PHS system for the activation of premutagens. Whereas the extent of activation of aromatic amines by S9-based systems is significantly greater than for the PHS activation system described herein, PHS may play a significant role in target tissues in which it is present at significantly greater levels than P450 isoenzymes. Moreover, it is likely that the substrate specificity of PHS differs sufficiently from that of P450 isoenzymes so that PHS may activate some compounds that are not efficiently activated by mixed-function oxidase based systems.
Identifying and using critical success factors

Abstract This article focuses on defining and discussing the concept of critical success factors as input into the environment analysis, resource analysis, and strategy evaluation steps in the strategic planning/strategy development process. The reader is provided with eight possible sources of critical success factors including environmental analysis, analysis of industry structure, industry/business experts, analysis of competition, analysis of dominant firm in the industry, company assessment, temporal/intuitive factors and PIMS results. Examples of CSF's from various sources are provided and a scheme by which the reader can assess the relative importance of identified CSF's is presented.
Influence of OKY-1581 on responses to arachidonic acid in the feline pulmonary vascular bed

The effects of OKY-1581, a thromboxane synthesis inhibitor, on pulmonary vascular responses to arachidonic acid (AA) were investigated under baseline and elevated tone conditions in the intact chest cat. Under conditions of controlled blood flow at baseline tone, intralobar injections of AA increased lobar arterial pressure in a dose-related manner. These pressor responses were reduced by OKY-1581, and a small vasodilator response was unmasked. The administration of indomethacin to these same animals abolished all responses to AA. When baseline tone in the pulmonary vascular bed was elevated by infusion of U46619, intralobar injections of AA caused a biphasic change in lobar arterial pressure characterized by an initial increase followed by a secondary fall in pressure. Treatment with OKY-1581 attenuated the pressor component of the response and enhanced the depressor component of the response. All responses to AA at elevated tone were also blocked by indomethacin. Pressor responses to intralobar injections of U46619 were not altered by OKY-1581 or indomethacin and were similar under baseline and high pulmonary vascular tone conditions. The results of this study suggest that the pulmonary pressor response to AA in the cat is dependent in large part on the formation of TXA2 and also suggest that TXA2, PGI2, and vasoconstrictor prostaglandins (PGF2 alpha, PGD2, PGE2) are formed from AA in the cat lung.
Assessing Registered Dietitian’S Competency and Comfort Levels with the Pediatric Patient

Abstract Pediatrics as a specialty lends itself to a distinct set of medical parameters and guidelines which are very different than those used when assessing the adult patient (pt). The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of pediatric (ped.) competency workshops for increasing the competency and reducing anxiety levels of registered dietitians (RDs) who are at times required to assess or educate a ped. pt. &/or their family. The study population included sixteen RDs. Prior to participating in ped. competency workshops, each completed a questionnaire asking them to rate their personal competency and comfort levels when performing specific tasks required of a ped. RD such as plotting growth charts, assessing energy needs, and providing nutrition education for particular disease states. Each RD attended two ped. competency workshops; and successfully completed three complex ped. case studies, one high-calorie infant formula instruction and one standard hospital formulary card. Prior to the workshop, 58% of the RDs did not feel competent to accurately assess or educate and ped. pt and 88% did not feel comfortable when assigned to peds. Post-workshop, an identical questionnaire was completed by each RD. Dramatic improvements in personal competency and comfort levels were observed in all areas. An increase of 51% was observed in those RDs who agreed they were competent to accurately assess and/or educate a ped. pt. and an increase of 76% who felt comfortable performing tasks required of a ped. RD. These results indicate that conducting ped. competency workshops is an effective method for improving the competency and comfort levels of RDs who are assigned a ped. pt. Annual ped. competency evaluation is now a part of our continuous process improvement for enhancement of pt. care.
Wear and Range of Motion of Different Femoral Head Sizes

Abstract Femoral head sizes greater than 32 mm are more prevalent with current total hip arthroplasty. We hypothesized that linear wear rates of Durasul highly cross-linked polyethylene would not differ with different head sizes. We also compared the range of motion of the hip. Ninety-four consecutive arthroplasties in 84 patients were studied for a mean 3.6 ± 0.7 years. There was no statistical difference in linear wear rates and annual or total penetration rates when 28-mm and 32-mm heads were compared to 38-mm and 44-mm heads. Volumetric wear was 12.4 mm 3 /y higher with bigger heads. Range of motion did not differ. Larger femoral head sizes show no evidence of an accelerated wear pattern when used with Durasul.
Uric acid excretion as an indicator of the amino acid requirement of chicks.

SummaryStudies were conducted with chicks fed crystalline L-amino acid and glucose-safflower meal diets to compare uric acid excretion with weight gain as indicators of the lysine requirement of chicks. Uric acid excretion decreased and weight gain increased as dietary lysine was increased to the requirement level, at which point both parameters plateaued with only slight changes occurring as the dietary lysine levels were increased beyond that point. Least-squares analysis of the uric acid excretion and weight gain data indicated good agreement between the requirement values obtained from the two parameters. Plasma uric acid concentrations followed a similar pattern as was noted with excreta uric acid. Xanthine dehydrogenase activity, on the other hand, was somewhat higher in chicks fed the higher levels of lysine in a glucose-safflower meal diet. The results of these studies suggest that uric acid excretion may serve as an accurate indicator of the amino acid requirement of the chick.
Clarifying needs of the pediatric disaster patient: A descriptive analysis of pediatric patient encounters from four disaster medical assistance team deployments

Study objectives: Disaster preparedness enhanced to meet children's needs has become a growing priority, especially in light of recent world events. In the wake of a catastrophic disaster, children can be a significant part of the surviving population in need of disaster medical assistance teams (DMAT) aid. Pediatric patients represented approximately a third of all patients treated in New Mexico DMAT (NMDMAT) field clinics in the days and weeks after 4 recent natural disasters. We have no information on the specific needs of pediatric patients who present to DMAT field clinics. The purpose of this study is to describe pediatric patient encounters in 4 natural disaster DMAT deployments. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort review of pediatric patient encounter forms from NMDMAT field clinics during deployments to hurricanes Andrew (Florida, August 1991) and Iniki (Hawaii, September 1991), the Northridge earthquake (California, January 1994) and the Houston flood caused by Tropical Storm Allison (Texas, June 2001). All patients 18 years and younger were included. Data abstracted included age, sex, triage level, chief complaint, diagnosis, treatment, and disposition. For analysis, patients were placed by age into 5 groups: 2 months and younger; 3 months to 1 year; 1 to 5 years; 5 to 12 years; and 12 to 18 years. Simple descriptive statistics were used to describe patient variables. Results: Six hundred sixty-one patients were 18 years or younger, ranging from 0 to 18 years. The median age was 4 years. Children aged 1 year to 5 years represented the largest patient group ( Conclusion: DMATs should be prepared to treat pediatric patients of all ages, particularly young children and infants, and anticipate medical and minor injury complaints. Field teams must be prepared to care for the infrequent pediatric patient in yellow and red triage categories who may need stabilization and hospital transfer. This unique study yields several interesting trends. First, minor trauma complaints and diagnoses (wounds and msk) increase in frequency as the children get older, whereas the medical complaints are more common in younger children. Next, the youngest children (0 to 2 months) were sent to hospitals more frequently than the other age groups. Finally, triage category was missing more often in the younger age groups. These latter 2 observations may indicate a lack of provider comfort in evaluating and treating young children. Further work is indicated: to improve field documentation, especially of younger children; to plan and implement postdisaster parent and pediatric injury prevention interventions; and to enhance the pediatric capability of DMATs. This first report of DMAT deployments specifically focused on children clarifies the specific needs of pediatric disaster victims and can serve as an important guide to future DMAT deployments.
Composing our careers: Susan Hanson's contributions to geography and geographers

Susan Hanson's career exemplifies the notion that our lives are compositions rather than predictable, linear trajectories. In this essay I argue that Susan's career is an empowering example of a collage of woven-together life experiences, substantive research interests, feminist values and progressive professional practices. I illustrate these ideas through three compositions that I trace throughout Susan's career: networking gender; caring geography; and reproducing geography. Susan's work connects and validates the diverse elements of our lives through her scholarship, her commitment to feminist values and her disciplinary leadership.
Denosumab for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Being a connective tissue, bone can increase or decrease its mass through the process of remodeling. Using a discovery in the mid-1980s—that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) could dramatically increase formation of osteoclasts (the cells that break down bone)—researchers at Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA) discovered a TNF-like molecule that regulated bone resorption. Elevations in the expression of this molecule, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL), can cause excessive bone destruction. A blocking antibody to RANKL named denosumab inhibits osteoclast formation and bone degradation. In a large multicenter clinical trial, known as the FREEDOM trial (Fracture Reduction Evaluation of Denosumab in Osteoporosis Every 6 Months), the effects of denosumab were tested in 60- to 90-year-old women over 3 years. Statistically significant reductions in fracture risk at the vertebral column, hip, and nonvertebral sites were associated with increases in bone mineral density (BMD) and reciprocal decreases in markers of bone resorption. However, the FREEDOM trial did not test the most beneficial use of a resorption blocking drug—to target the rapid bone loss that occurs in late perimenopause and early postmenopause. One adverse effect from denosumab is cellulitis, and research in animals suggests that RANKL/RANK interaction is needed for Langerhans cell (LC) survival in the skin. Further mechanistic and clinical studies on the role of RANKL in the skin are needed.
Combination of all-trans retinoic acid and paclitaxel-induced differentiation and apoptosis in human glioblastoma U87MG xenografts in nude mice.

BACKGROUND. Glioblastoma, which is the most malignant brain tumor, remains incurable and almost always causes death. As a new treatment strategy, the combination of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and paclitaxel was explored for controlling the growth of glioblastoma U87MG xenografts. METHODS. Human glioblastoma U87MG xenografts were developed in athymic nude mice for treatments with ATRA, paclitaxel, and ATRA plus paclitaxel. The efficacy of treatments in controlling tumor growth was assessed by histologic examination, Western blot analysis, and immunofluorescent labelings. RESULTS. Astrocytic differentiation in U87MG xenografts was associated with increased GFAP expression and decreased telomerase expression. The combination of ATRA and paclitaxel was found to cause more apoptosis than paclitaxel alone. Apoptosis occurred with down-regulation of MEK-2 and overexpression of p-ERK, p-JNK, and p-p38 MAPK. Down-regulation of both Akt and p-Akt also favored the apoptotic process. Combination therapy activated the receptor-mediated pathway of apoptosis with induction of TNF-α, activation of caspase-8, and cleavage of Bid to tBid. Combination therapy also induced the mitochondria-mediated pathway of apoptosis with an increase in the Bax:Bcl-2 ratio and mitochondrial release of cytochrome c and Smac/Diablo into the cytosol. In addition, combination therapy promoted phosphorylation of Bcl-2 for its inactivation and down-regulated NF-κB and BIRC proteins, indicating suppression of several cell survival factors. Western blot analysis demonstrated that activation of cysteine proteases such as calpain, caspase-12, caspase-9, and caspase-3 contributed to apoptosis. Immunofluorescent labelings confirmed overexpression of cysteine proteases in apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS. Treatment of U87MG xenografts with a combination of ATRA and paclitaxel induced differentiation and also multiple molecular mechanisms for apoptosis. Cancer 2008. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Correlation and the 5F–3F energy separation in Ti

Multiconfiguration Hartree–Fock studies of the 4s3d3 5F– 4s23d2 3F energy separation in titanium are reported. The f‐orbital basis is shown to be important as well as the LS dependent relativistic effects.
Software for Teaching Physiology and Biophysics

We describe a software library that we have developed to teach biophysics and physiology to undergraduate engineering and science students as well as to medical students. The library, which is under development, now includes software on: (1) the Hodgkin-Huxley model for excitation of action potentials in electrically excitable cells (such as nerve and muscle cells); (2) a random-walk model of diffusion; (3) single voltage-gated ion channels; (4) steady-state chemically mediated transport; and (5) macroscopic diffusion processes. The software is used in a variety of ways: as an integral part of lectures, as the basis of special sessions held in electronic classrooms, as a source of homework assignments, and for special projects defined by the students. We describe the software and some of the pedagogic methods we have used.
SU-E-T-537: A Dosimetric Study of Gafchromic EBT2 Film for Small Field Size Stereotactic Radiosurgery QA

Purpose: To perform a dosimetric study of Gafchromic EBT2 film for small field size SRS/SBRT QA. Methods: patient‐specific QA was performed using the Lucy phantom and doses were measured with EBT2 films and a PinPoint ion chamber. The films were scanned using Epson perfection V700 flatbed scanner. Open source program (ePin) software was employed to read the films using the red channel that converted the image pixel values into OD values. Changes in HD curves corresponding to different films and film orientations were investigated. Results: For small field size dose measurements, percent differences between calculated and measured doses for the ion chamber ranged from 3.83% to 0.2% for cone sizes 30 mm down to 10 mm, respectively. For the two smallest cones, 7.5 and 5 mm, the percent difference was beyond clinical tolerance (&#8805; 5%). For EBT2 films, the differences were less than 3% for cone sizes down to 10 mm, and the difference was less than 4% for cone sizes less than 10 mm. The variation in the HD curves for different films ranged from 1 % to 6%, and for different film orientations it ranged from 1% to 5%. Conclusions: EBT2 film gave better results for the small field sizes between 30 mm down to 10 mm than the ion chamber. For the field sizes less than 10mm, the current market available PinPoint ion chamber can not measure it while the EBT2 film has its advantage over ion chambers to measure absolute dose of these very small field sizes. The dose calibration curves were difference for different films and different film orientations. EBT2 film can measure the absolute small field size dose very accurately as long as proper calibration curves are used and proper quality control is performed.
Electron tunneling from polysilicon asperities into poly-oxides

Abstract We have examined quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons from polysilicon asperities into the poly-oxide as a function of the electric field at the injector. Barrier lowering due to image charge interaction is also calculated for the structure. The local cathode field is determined by the radius of the asperity, and hence, the local barrier height is lowered as this field increases. The consequences of this action causes a local increase in the tunneling current. Previously, workers considered a constant barrier height for all fields and the local tunneling current was determined by the local electric field and Fowler-Nordheim injection. A closed form analytical expression for electron tunneling probability including image force effects has been derived and compared with the commonly utilized Fowler-Nordheim expression. The analysis is relevant to the temperature dependent discharge of floating gate memory structures. The analysis is also applicable for analyzing scanning tunneling microscopy data.
Multistranded DNA homopolymer interactions

A new structure is formed when the homopolymer pairs dI : dC and d B C ¯ are mixed together and heated. The over-all reaction is given by the following equation: d I : d C + d I : d B C ¯ → d I : d B C ¯ : d I + d C Similarly on mixing the homopolymers dI and d B C ¯ it is possible to demonstrate the existence of two consecutive reactions. The simpler interaction leads to the formation of the homopolymer pair d B C ¯ while the more complex interaction results in the formation of dI : d B C ¯ : dl. The two interactions (which occur at purine/pyrimidine interactions of 1 : 1 and 2 : 1 respectively) are given by the following equations: d I + d B C ¯ → d I : d B C ¯ d I + d I : d B C ¯ → d I : d B C ¯ : d I The structure dI : dC : dI can also be formed by mixing the homopolymers dC and dI. The order-disorder transitions of these complex structures are examined by melting experiments.
Coreex: content extraction from online news articles

We developed and tested a heuristic technique for extracting the main article from news site Web pages. We construct the DOM tree of the page and score every node based on the amount of text, the number of links it contains and additional heuristics. The method is site-independent and does not use any language-based features. We tested our algorithm on a set of 1120 news article pages from 27 domains. Our algorithm achieved over 97% precision and 98% recall, and an average processing speed of under 15ms per page.
The practical utility of gag clause legislation.

Efforts to limit gag clauses by state legislatures and Congress have received kudos from many quarters. But without attention to other standard aspects of physician contracts, the effects of gag clauses will continue. Some physicians who feel the difficulties of current medical practice are too onerous will leave the profession if they can; the vast majority who stay, with patients, families, and others who rely on them, will simply try to do their best under these constraints. That means dealing with the effects of severing the patient-physician relationship and with conflicting ethical concerns on an ad hoc basis. And that also means heeding the insight that formal rules may not have their desired effect when, in practice, others don’t really need to play by them. Only through refocusing the health delivery system on the patient and public scrutiny of provider terminations and MCO actions can the prohibition of gag clauses truly be effected. Let us hope that this insight is not lost on lawmakers in their efforts to substantively eliminate the effects of gag clauses on patients and physicians in our health delivery system.
Utilizing Web Tools for Computer-Mediated Communication to Enhance Team-Based Learning

Team-based learning is an active learning instructional strategy used in the traditional face-to-face classroom. Web-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools complement the face-to-face classroom and enable active learning between face-to-face class times. This arti-cle presents the results from pilot assessments of computer-supported team-based learning. The authors utilized pedagogical approaches grounded in collaborative learning techniques, such as team-based learning, and extended these techniques to a Web-based environment through the use of computer-mediated communications tools (discussion Web-boards). This approach was examined through field studies in the course of two semesters at a US public technological university. The findings indicate that the perceptions of team learning experience such as per-ceived motivation, enjoyment, and learning in such a Web-based CMC environment are higher than in traditional face-to-face courses. In addition, our results show that perceived team mem-bersâ€™ contributions impact individual learning experiences. Overall, Web-based CMC tools are found to effectively facilitate team interactions and achieve higher-level learning.
KS7-2 Healthcare-associated infections: think globally, act locally

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have been a hot topic for several decades. An understanding of HAIs should be based on an understanding of the organisms that cause infection and determine prevention. Although some improvements in control in hospitals have been recorded, the community setting is now implicated, and the role of microbiology in diagnosis, detection of carriers and strain typing of organisms is evident. As healthcare systems vary widely, prevention strategies must be designed accordingly. Hand hygiene, however, remains applicable in all settings, and the WHO is strongly promoting alcohol-based hand rubs to interrupt transmission. Some countries are only beginning to develop standards, whereas compliance is obligatory in others. Economics and cost factors are common to all countries, and litigation is increasingly a factor in some.
Myxomavirus anti-inflammatory chemokine binding protein reduces the increased plaque growth induced by chronic Porphyromonas gingivalis oral infection after balloon angioplasty aortic injury in mice.

Thrombotic occlusion of inflammatory plaque in coronary arteries causes myocardial infarction. Treatment with emergent balloon angioplasty (BA) and stent implant improves survival, but restenosis (regrowth) can occur. Periodontal bacteremia is closely associated with inflammation and native arterial atherosclerosis, with potential to increase restenosis. Two virus-derived anti-inflammatory proteins, M-T7 and Serp-1, reduce inflammation and plaque growth after BA and transplant in animal models through separate pathways. M-T7 is a broad spectrum C, CC and CXC chemokine-binding protein. Serp-1 is a serine protease inhibitor (serpin) inhibiting thrombotic and thrombolytic pathways. Serp-1 also reduces arterial inflammation and improves survival in a mouse herpes virus (MHV68) model of lethal vasculitis. In addition, Serp-1 demonstrated safety and efficacy in patients with unstable coronary disease and stent implant, reducing markers of myocardial damage. We investigate here the effects of Porphyromonas gingivalis, a periodontal pathogen, on restenosis after BA and the effects of blocking chemokine and protease pathways with M-T7 and Serp-1. ApoE−/− mice had aortic BA and oral P. gingivalis infection. Arterial plaque growth was examined at 24 weeks with and without anti-inflammatory protein treatment. Dental plaques from mice infected with P. gingivalis tested positive for infection. Neither Serp-1 nor M-T7 treatment reduced infection, but IgG antibody levels in mice treated with Serp-1 and M-T7 were reduced. P. gingivalis significantly increased monocyte invasion and arterial plaque growth after BA (P<0.025). Monocyte invasion and plaque growth were blocked by M-T7 treatment (P<0.023), whereas Serp-1 produced only a trend toward reductions. Both proteins modified expression of TLR4 and MyD88. In conclusion, aortic plaque growth in ApoE−/− mice increased after angioplasty in mice with chronic oral P. gingivalis infection. Blockade of chemokines, but not serine proteases significantly reduced arterial plaque growth, suggesting a central role for chemokine-mediated inflammation after BA in P. gingivalis infected mice.
Economic concentration and corporate political behavior: A cross-industry comparison

Abstract Several political sociologists have argued that the trend toward economic concentration in major industries in advanced capitalist societies has led to a growth in corporate political power. Most of these arguments are based on the notion that economic concentration facilitates the mobilization of industries as cohesive politica actors. This paper presents an empirical examination of this argument. The similarity of campaign contributions in the 1980 Congressional elections by the four largest members of 25 industries is employed as the dependent variable. Concentration ratios within the industries, sizes and geographical proximities of the firms, and measures of within-industry economic and social integration are employed as independent and intervening variables. Employing a spatial autocorrelation model to correct for nonindependence among observations, we find that although concentration and similarity of political behavior are positively associated in a bivariate correlation, the relation disappears when controls are introduced. Common stock ownership by the same institutions and indirect director interlocks through financial institutions are significant predictors of behavioral similarity.
Immunological detection of cat uterine proteins in ferrets, dogs and baboons.

In the cat, a high molecular weight ( > 320 kDa) estrogen (E2)-dependent protein (CUPED) and a group of low molecular weight (28 kDa, 36 kDa, 41 kDa) progesterone (P)-dependent proteins (PDP) are synthesized by the epithelial cells of the deep uterine glands and secreted into the lumen. The present study was designed to investigate the possibility that other species synthesize proteins similar to CUPED and PDP in response to steroids. Uterine flushings and media from cultured endometrial explants obtained from E2 or P dominated animals were analyzed on Western blots for the presence of proteins which cross-react with antibodies raised against CUPED and PDP. CUPED antibody immunoreacted with a protein band at approximately the same molecular weight as CUPED in the media and flushings from E2-treated ferret, dog and baboon, but not from rat, mouse or hamster. In the cat, ferret and dog, specific immunocytochemical staining was observed in the apical portion of the secretory cells. In the baboon, staining was observed in both the basal and apical areas of the epithelial cells. The presence of CUPED in the uterine lumen during the E2-dominated phase of the reproductive cycle in several species suggests that CUPED may play a general role in providing the necessary biochemical milieu for reproductive success. The PDP antibody did not cross-react with proteins in the media of species other than cat, and therefore may be unique to the cat.
Magnetostratigraphy of the Eldorado Mountains volcanic complex and the calibration of the early to middle Miocene polarity time scale

[1] Magnetic polarity measurements from a well dated (15.6–13.7 Ma) volcanic section in southern Nevada allow resolution of controversies in the calibration of the Middle Miocene polarity time scale. A sequence of lavas yielding exclusively reversed polarities dated at 15.5–14.9 Ma can be confidently identified as C5Br, and the C5Cn.ln(y) reversal is bracketed between 15.67 and 15.48 Ma (relative to TC = 27.92 Ma). Integration with other recent studies shows that polarity chrons C5Cr–C5ABr are now confidently correlated with lava flows dated from 16.9 to 13.4 Ma by the 40Ar/39Ar method.
"Incessant ovulation" and ovarian cancer.

A case-control study of 150 ovarian cancer patients under the age of 50 and individually matched controls was done to study the influence of fertility and oral contraceptive use on the risk of ovarian cancer. The risk decreased with increasing numbers of live births, with increasing numbers of incomplete pregnancies, and with the use of oral contraceptives. These three factors can be amalgamated into a single index of protection--"protected time"--by considering them all as periods of anovulation. The complement of protected time--viz., "ovulatory age", the period between menarche and diagnosis of ovarian cancer (or cessation of menses) minus "protected time"--was strongly related to risk of ovarian cancer. Other factors found to be associated with increased ovarian cancer risk were obesity, cervical polyps, and gallbladder disease. Women who had an "immediate" intolerance to oral contraceptive use had a fourfold increased risk of ovarian cancer. 7 patients, but no controls, could recall a family history of ovarian cancer.
Soviet policy towards South Asia since 1970

List of tables Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: South Asia in the USSR's Third World policy 2. Soviet perceptions of the Third World and South Asia 3. The Soviet Union in South Asia: objectives and instruments 4. Stability and change in Soviet-South Asian relations, 1970-1978 5. Soviet-South Asian relations in the wake of Afghanistan, 1978-1985 6. Soviet policy towards South Asia in the Gorbachev era 7. Conclusion Notes Index.
Ion-probe U–Pb dating of authigenic and detrital opal from Neogene-Quaternary alluvium

Abstract Knowing depositional ages of alluvial fans is essential for many tectonic, paleoclimatic, and geomorphic studies in arid environments. The use of U–Pb dating on secondary silica to establish the age of Neogene-Quaternary clastic sediments was tested on samples of authigenic and detrital opal and chalcedony from depths of ∼25 to 53 m in boreholes at Midway Valley, Nevada. Dating of authigenic opal present as rinds on rock clasts and in calcite/silica cements establishes minimum ages of alluvium deposition; dating of detrital opal or chalcedony derived from the source volcanic rocks gives the maximum age of sediment deposition. Materials analyzed included 12 samples of authigenic opal, one sample of fracture-coating opal from bedrock, one sample of detrital opal, and two samples of detrital chalcedony. Uranium–lead isotope data were obtained by both thermal ionization mass spectrometry and ion-microprobe. Uranium concentrations ranged from tens to hundreds of μg/g. Relatively large U/Pb allowed calculation of 206 Pb/ 238 U ages that ranged from 1.64±0.36 (2 σ ) to 6.16±0.50 Ma for authigenic opal and from 8.34±0.28 to 11.2±1.3 Ma for detrital opal/chalcedony. Three samples with the most radiogenic Pb isotope compositions also allowed calculation of 207 Pb/ 235 U ages, which were concordant with 206 Pb/ 238 U ages from the same samples. These results indicate that basin development at Midway Valley was initiated between about 8 and 6 Ma, and that the basin was filled at long-term average deposition rates of less than 1 cm/ka. Because alluvium in Midway Valley was derived from adjacent highlands at Yucca Mountain, the low rates of deposition determined in this study may imply a slow rate of erosion of Yucca Mountain. Volcanic strata underlying the basin are offset by a number of buried faults to a greater degree than the relatively smooth-sloping bedrock/alluvium contact. These geologic relations indicate that movement on most faults ceased prior to erosional planation and burial. Therefore, ages of the authigenic opal from basal alluvium indicate that the last movement on buried faults was older than about 6 Ma.
On the evolution of motility and intelligent tactic response

We present our first results concerning the de novo evolution of motility and tactic response in systems of digital organisms. Our model organism was E. coli and the behavior of interest was gradient following, since this represents simple decision-making. Our first experiments demonstrated the evolution of a tactic response, both when provided with a hand-coded system to remember previous gradient concentrations and without this crutch where the organisms must determine how to store previous values on their own. In our second set of experiments we investigated two different rotation strategies, random and systematic, and found no significant performance difference between the two strategies. These experiments served as a stepping-stone and proof-of-concept of the infrastructure needed for our future work on the evolution of simple intelligence.
Mechanisms of Sound Production by Echolocating Bats

The echolocative pulses emitted at high repetition rates by bats pose a number of questions regarding the mechanism of their production. We have investigated some physiologic parameters of vocalization in the North American Vespertilionid bat Eptesicus fuscus , including pulse insertion within the respiratory cycle and subglottic pressure changes accompanying these intense sounds. Subglottic pressures are considerably higher than those characteristic of human speech and, therefore, require a substantial structure to act as a glottal stop. We suggest that this is the role of the vocal fold and that the thin, paired vocal and ventricular membranes are the ultrasonic generators. The cricothyroid muscle, which is thought to influence sound frequency by altering the tension on these membranes, contracts just prior to each ultrasonic vocalization and relaxes during phonation. Cricothyroid muscle relaxation may gradually decrease the tension on the membranes and create the downward frequency sweep characteristic of most pulses.