cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Role of Solar Energy in Electric Power Generation

This chapter focuses on the role of solar energy in electric power generation. Solar–thermal electric research and development is in the initial phase of demonstrating engineering feasibility. If all goes well, before the end of the century, it may show its commercial attractiveness. It is important to remember that a time window exists for the introduction of each generation option. If the new technology is not ready at the proper time to replace competitive matured technologies, a new technology with marginal gains will not achieve acceptance in the marketplace of end use on operating systems. The probable timing of a successful solar–thermal option shows its potential utility integration phase between the fission breeder and the fusion systems. Because the solar–thermal generating options could experience a similarly changing situation, a thorough understanding of the criteria by which a utility will select new generation options is of utmost importance in judging its potential benefits and merits.
Using Data to Support Collection Development and Improve Library Value

Data analytics and data visualization can help librarians understand their collections in a new way. Predictive analytics and other statistical analytic techniques may aid librarians in predicting ...
Utility of Hemoccult Testing Before Therapeutic Anticoagulation in Venous Thromboembolism.

Objectives Fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) is performed routinely before starting therapeutic anticoagulation in patients despite it never being validated to predict gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) risk. Our objective was to determine the utility in checking the guaiac FOBT test (gFOBT) before initiating therapeutic anticoagulation in patients with a new diagnosis of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Methods This was a retrospective chart review that examined patients with a diagnosis of VTE admitted during a 2-year period in one mid-sized tertiary care center. The gFOBT was performed before initiating anticoagulation, excluding patients with overt GIB, and analysis was performed to determine GIB outcomes. In addition, demographics, laboratory data, and comorbidities were recorded at the time of admission, and an admission hypertension, abnormal renal/liver function, stroke history, GIB history or predisposition, labile international normalization ratio, elderly, drugs/alcohol concomitantly (HAS-BLED) score was recorded to determine other factors that were predictive of new-onset GIB when starting anticoagulation. Results Initially, 718 patients with a new diagnosis of VTE were screened for 2 years. Ultimately, 375 patients were prescribed anticoagulation therapy and 244 had documented gFOBT. Of these 375, 14 (3.73%) had a GIB episode. A positive gFOBT was present on admission in 85.7% of those who bled (P 2 at admission significantly predicted GIB during admission as well (median 2.4 for those with GIB and 1.6 for those without GIB, P = 0.02). Conclusions Despite its beneficial negative predictive value, gFOBT before initiating therapeutic anticoagulation is unlikely to change the management of patients without evidence of overt GIB.
Deciphering the postsynaptic calcium-mediated energy homeostasis through mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum contact sites using systems modeling

Abstract Spatiotemporal compartmentation of calcium dynamics is critical for neuronal function, particularly in post-synaptic spines. This exquisite level of Ca2+ compartmentalization is achieved through the storage and release of Ca2+ from various intracellular organelles particularly the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the mitochondria. Mitochondria and ER are established storage organelles controlling Ca2+ dynamics in neurons. Mitochondria also generate a majority of energy used within postsynaptic spines to support the downstream events associated with neuronal stimulus. Recently, high resolution microscopy has unveiled direct contact sites between the ER and the mitochondria, which directly channel Ca2+ release from the ER into the mitochondrial membrane. In this study, we develop a computational 3D reaction-diffusion model to investigate the role of MERCs in regulating Ca2+ and ATP dynamics. This spatiotemporal model accounts for Ca2+ oscillations initiated by glutamate stimulus of metabotropic and ionotropic glutamate receptors and Ca2+ changes in four different compartments: cytosol, ER, mitochondria, and the MERC microdomain. Our simulations predict that the organization of these organelles and differential distribution of key Ca2+ channels such as IP3 receptor and ryanodine receptor modulate Ca2+ dynamics in response to different stimuli. We further show that the crosstalk between geometry (mitochondria and MERC) and metabolic parameters (cytosolic ATP hydrolysis, ATP generation) influences the cellular energy state. Our findings shed light on the importance of organelle interactions in predicting Ca2+ dynamics in synaptic signaling. Overall, our model predicts that a combination of MERC linkage and mitochondria size is necessary for optimal ATP production in the cytosol.
Intracardiac paragangliomas: surgical approach and perioperative management

Intracardiac paragangliomas most commonly arise from the left atrium and are often infiltrative and densely adherent to surrounding structures. Given their rarity, only scattered reports exist in the literature and standardized perioperative and surgical management is not well established. We describe a case of a 60-year-old woman with a mildly functioning intracardiac paraganglioma in which division of the superior vena cava improved exposure and enabled a complex limited resection. Further, we provide an overview of the diagnostic workup, perioperative medical management, surgical approach, and surveillance strategy in patients with these challenging tumors.
Tricksters and female warriors: womanist interweavings from Oríta to Wakanda

Tunde Kelani's The Narrow Path (2006) may be read as prefiguring the emancipatory, womanist project of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther (2018). Hence, a broad understanding of the black struggle in Bla...
Applying feminist criminology to social work criminal justice research: treating addiction, mental health, and victimization

While the Smart Decarceration movement was developed by social work academics to encourage research on reducing the U.S. criminal justice population, justice-involved women have thus far been large...
Economic Policy Uncertainty and Bank Liquidity Creation

We examine the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on bank liquidity hoarding. We create a comprehensive measure of bank liquidity hoarding that takes into account asset-, liability-, and off-balance sheet activities. Using over one million bank-quarter observations, we find that in response to EPU, banks hoard liquidity overall and through all three components. This behavior is more pronounced for banks with less liquidity, more peer-bank spillover effects, and more EPU exposure. Additional analyses of interest rate spreads on several bank products suggest that our findings reflect at least in part bank choices, rather than just the reactions of customers.
The effect of stock splits on clientele: Is tick size relevant?

Abstract We explore whether the relation between stock splits and clientele is driven by binding tick sizes. We find little evidence that firms adjusted prices to maintain similarly binding tick sizes as the NYSE reduced tick sizes. Furthermore, though splits that increase the extent to which tick sizes are binding are associated with greater increases in spreads, these splits experience similar changes in measures related to clientele, including trade size, breadth of individual and institutional ownership, and analyst following. We find little evidence supporting theories, such as spread-induced sponsorship, that rely on binding tick sizes to link splits and clientele.
A Robust Energy and Emissions Conscious Speed Control Framework for Connected Vehicles with Privacy Considerations

While perturbation schemes for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications can address data privacy concerns, they can significantly compromise the performance of the speed controllers of connected automated vehicles (CAVs) if such controllers rely on the preview information available through V2V in car-following scenarios. This paper presents a robust predictive speed controller for a CAV when preview information is provided through a privacy-guaranteed V2V communication network. This is the first such controller that considers energy and emissions concurrently. The impact of privacy assurance in the communication data is studied, while inter-vehicular distance constraint is guaranteed to be satisfied through a robust design of the predictive controller using a robust control invariant set. The robust optimal speed controller is shown to reduce fuel consumption and emissions successfully while satisfying the constraints even in the presence of perturbations in the V2V communication. Results suggest a need for an integrated design procedure to achieve the best performance under a given level of privacy guarantee and emissions requirements.
Development of a quantum dots-based strip immunoassay for the detection of pyrimethanil in fruit and vegetable samples

We present a quantum dots (QDs)‐based lateral flow immunoassay for the determination of pyrimethanil in fruit and vegetable samples. This QDs‐based strip immunoassay had a cut‐off value of 25 ng/ml, under optimal conditions; linear calibration for pyrimethanil was obtained in the range of 1.9–13.3 ng/ml. The entire sample detection operation could be completed in 30 min. With the strip assay, vegetable and fruit samples spiked with pyrimethanil were extracted and tested, the average recoveries were ranging from 85.6 to 104.3%, with the coefficient of variation below 15%. The results tested from the strip assay were consistent with that obtained from liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (R² = .98), indicating the developed QDs‐based strip assay is a convincing and useful tool.
Analysis of deep complex-valued convolutional neural networks for MRI reconstruction and phase-focused applications.

Purpose Deep learning has had success with MRI reconstruction, but previously published works use real-valued networks. The few works which have tried complex-valued networks have not fully assessed their impact on phase. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to fully investigate end-to-end complex-valued convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for accelerated MRI reconstruction and in several phase-based applications in comparison to 2-channel real-valued networks. Methods Several complex-valued activation functions for MRI reconstruction were implemented, and their performance was compared. Complex-valued convolution was implemented and tested on an unrolled network architecture and a U-Net-based architecture over a wide range of network widths and depths with knee, body, and phase-contrast datasets. Results Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrated that complex-valued CNNs with complex-valued convolutions provided superior reconstructions compared to real-valued convolutions with the same number of trainable parameters for both an unrolled network architecture and a U-Net-based architecture, and for 3 different datasets. Complex-valued CNNs consistently had superior normalized RMS error, structural similarity index, and peak SNR compared to real-valued CNNs. Conclusion Complex-valued CNNs can enable superior accelerated MRI reconstruction and phase-based applications such as fat-water separation, and flow quantification compared to real-valued convolutional neural networks.
Immune mechanisms of Texel sheep to adult and egg stages of Haemonchus contortus.

Experimental Haemonchus contortus (Hc) infections revealed that Texel sheep have faecal egg counts (FEC) comparable to parasite-resistant St. Croix but adult worm burden comparable to parasite-susceptible Suffolk sheep. The aim of these studies was to further investigate the mechanism causing this disparity. Cellular and humoral immune responses to adult- and egg stage Hc were compared amongst St. Croix, Texel and Suffolk sheep. Adult worms and eggs were exposed to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and serum from the three breeds in vitro. There was a greater IgA binding to eggs when treated with St. Croix and Texel serum (p < .05), and these eggs exhibited a lower hatch rate (p < .05) when exposed to serum and PBMC. Adult worms exposed to St. Croix and Texel-derived PBMC, and serum had greater binding around the head and reproductive structures than worms exposed to Suffolk-derived cells and serum. Consequently, egg release tended to be affected by breed (p = .09). To further examine differences, Suffolk and Texel lambs (n = 5/breed) were infected with 10,000 Hc L3 for 30 days. Suffolk sheep had greater egg release per worm than Texel (3.8 vs. 2.1 eggs/worm). Taken together, these data would indicate one of the mechanisms in Texel's targeting adult-stage Hc reducing worm fecundity.
[13] Quantitation of HIV-1 RNA in plasma or serum samples

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the quantitation of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) RNA in plasma or serum samples. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used to quantitate levels of RNA and DNA from a variety of samples. A variation in the use of an internal control is the competitive PCR procedure. The chapter presents a method to measure the HIV-1 RNA in patients' plasma or sera using an infectious mutant virus as an internal control. The mutant virus, VX-46, has a 25 bp insert in a conserved region between the primer binding and major splice donor sites. To utilize this virus as an internal control, different dilutions of this virus are added to aliquots of the plasma sample to be measured and RNA is isolated and reverse-transcribed to cDNA. PCR is performed with primers selected to include the sequences on either side of the insert contained in the externally added virus. The DNA product from the control virus is 25 bp longer than that from the virus present in plasma. The amount of viral RNA present in a plasma sample is calculated after the PCR-amplified products are separated by gel electrophoresis. Unlike other quantitative PCR assays, this internally controlled virion PCR (ICVPCR) assay eliminates errors introduced by variable recovery during the RNA purification step and enhances the accuracy of the assay. This method can also be applied to other DNA or RNA viruses.
Dominance of Ultraviolet Radiation Resistance in Partial Diploids of Escherichia coli K-12

Although an F′13 capR+/capR9 strain is nonmucoid and an F′13 capR9/capR+ strain is mucoid, both strains are ultraviolet (UV)-resistant. In contrast, haploid capR9 strains are UV-sensitive. Therefore, UV resistance is dominant to UV sensitivity, regardless of whether the capR+ allele is on the chromosome or on the F′13 episome.
EXAMINER ERRORS ON THE REYNOLDS INTELLECTUAL ASSESSMENT SCALES COMMITTED BY GRADUATE STUDENT EXAMINERS

Protocols from 108 administrations of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales were evaluated to determine the frequency of examiner errors and their impact on the accuracy of three test composite scores, the Composite Ability Index (CIX), Verbal Ability Index (VIX), and Nonverbal Ability Index (NIX). Students committed at least one administration, scoring, or recording error on 98% of protocols and averaged 7.53 errors per protocol. Administration errors were most common on VIX subtests (Guess What and Verbal Reasoning), whereas recording errors occurred most frequently on NIX subtests (Odd Item Out and What's Missing). Error correction and rescoring resulted in changes to all three index scores, although VIX and CIX changed most frequently.
An analytical approach to the consolidation of counties in North and West Florida based on educational efficiency criteria

Both public officials and private organizations are becoming increasingly concerned with the need for improved efficiency in and reorganization of local governments. The seriousness of the financial crises in both state and local governments is nowhere more evident than in the President's proposal for federal revenue sharing with the state and local governments. The fiscal problems of local government, however, are more pervasive than temporary funding solutions alone can deal with.Exhaustive studies of the origins, political and social influences, organization and accomplishments of local governments themselves and their relationships with other units and levels of government are needed in order to develop a governmental organization consistent with contemporary needs. Several areas in the South have dealt forcefully with governmental reorganization through city-county consolidation. Notable examples of this are Miami-Dade and Jacksonville-Duval in Florida, and Nashville-Davidson in Tennessee.
Ontogeny of Human T Cells

Current knowledge of human T cell ontogeny is reviewed in terms of appearance of T cells in central and peripheral lymphoid organs, maturation of T cell markers, and development of immune functions. Extrapolation of growth curves derived from cell counts from fetal thymus, spleen, and bone marrow indicates the appearance of lymphocytes at 3.5 weeks gestation. E-rosette-forming cells are present in thymus at 11 weeks and in peripheral organs 15 to 16 weeks gestation. beta-2-Microglobulin is associated with all lymphoid cells by 13 weeks gestation. Lymphocyte responses to the T cell mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA) are first detected in thymus at 10 weeks and in spleen and blood 3 to 4 weeks later. Allogeneic responses in mixed lymphocyte reactions develop at about 7.5 weeks in fetal liver and later in thymus and peripheral organs. Lymphocytotoxicity for xenogeneic cells is a property of bone marrow cells and not thymocytes. Several aspects of development of a suppressor T cell in human neonates is discussed and related to similar findings in the mouse. These studies indicate a relatively high degree of maturation of human T cells during fetal life.
Study of hybrid metal-dielectric photonic crystals

Summary form only given. We study fcc photonic crystals assembled to include surface plasmons to the propagation picture. The structure, made of 10 mm polypropylene and steel spheres, was scaled to match the wavelength of microwave radiation in the 5-15 GHz range. Steel spheres were placed in a next-nearest-neighbor distribution throughout the crystal.
Distinct cellular and therapeutic effects of obatoclax in rituximab‐sensitive and ‐resistant lymphomas

Bcl-2 proteins represent a rheostat that controls cellular viability. Obatoclax, a BH3-mimetic, has been designed to specifically target and counteract anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins. We evaluated the biological effects of obatoclax on the anti-tumour activity of rituximab and chemotherapy agents. Obatoclax induced cell death of rituximab/chemotherapy-sensitive (RSCL), -resistant cell lines (RRCL) and primary tumour-cells derived from patients with B-cell lymphomas (N=39). Obatoclax also enhanced the activity of rituximab and had synergistic activity when combined with chemotherapy agents. The ability of Obatoclax to induce PARP cleavage varied between patient samples and was not observed in some RRCL. Inhibition of caspase activity did not affect obatoclax activity, suggesting the existence of caspase-independent death pathways. Autophagy was detected by LC3 conversion and/or electron microscopy in RRCL and in patient-derived tumour cells. Moreover, obatoclax activity was inhibited by Beclin-1 knockdown. In summary, obatoclax is an active Bcl-2 inhibitor that potentiates the activity of chemotherapy agents and, to a lesser degree, rituximab. Defining the molecular events triggered by obatoclax is necessary to further its clinical development and identify potential biomarkers that are predictive of response.
Hierarchical Secure Information and Resource Sharing in OpenStack Community Cloud

Community clouds provide efficient and secure environments for organizations with similar organization structures or business models to host their systems. Since threat analysis and incident response infrastructure and resources can be rapidly shared on a community cloud, the participating organizations save time and cost in handling cyber incidents. Unfortunately, contemporary cloud platforms are lacking a widely accepted access control model for secure information and resource sharing. Following the recent innovation of Hierarchical Multitenancy in OpenStack community, we propose a hierarchical secure information and resource sharing model in the context of an OpenStack community cloud. Our model enables secure and effective management of information sharing in a community cloud for both routine and cyber incident response needs. We believe this model is applicable in community clouds beyond OpenStack as well.
Brain Modules, Personality Layers, Planes of Being, Spiral Structures, and the Equally Implausible Distinction between TCI-R "Temperament" and "Character" Scales: A Reply to Cloninger

In this reply we address comments by Cloninger (this issue) related to our report (Farmer & Goldberg, this issue) on the psychometric properties of the revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) and a short inventory derivative, the TCI-140. Even though Cloninger's psychobiological model has undergone substantial theoretical modifications, the relevance of these changes for the evaluation and use of the TCI-R remains unclear. Aspects of TCI-R assessment also appear to be theoretically and empirically incongruent with Cloninger's assertion that TCI-R personality domains are non-linear and dynamic in nature. Several other core assumptions from the psychobiological model, including this most recent iteration, are non-falsifiable, inconsistently supported, or have no apparent empirical basis. Although researchers using the TCI and TCI-R have frequently accepted the temperament/character distinction and associated theoretical ramifications, for example, we find little overall support for the differentiation of TCI-R domains into these two basic categories. The implications of these observations for TCI-R assessment are briefly discussed.
Bisexuality and School Culture: School as a Prime Site for Bi-Intervention

Bisexuality has been a neglected topic in U.S. schools. This is not entirely surprising given bisexuality's marginal positionality in U.S. society. Before exploring how, and to what degree, bisexuality gets treated in schools, this article sets the larger context by beginning with a brief description and analysis of societal attitudes about bisexuality in general. Then, an examination of the status of bisexuality in schools with particular foci on the curricular (e.g., the sexuality education and general curriculum) and extracurricular (e.g., Gay-Straight Alliances) components is undertaken. Finally, reasons are offered about why bisexuality should be genuinely and fully included in sexuality education and other courses across the curriculum and in extracurricular settings. The main arguments advanced are that there has been widespread binegativity in U.S. society that not only has been harmful to bisexuals, but also has reified and reproduced binary, dichotomous thinking about sexual and gender matters, ...
Empty sella following spontaneous resolution of a pituitary macroadenoma.

Background/Aim: Empty sella is a radiological finding characterized by the presence of arachnoid herniation into the sella, resulting in compression of the pituitary against the sel
Histone Demethylases in Cancer

Epigenetic regulation, which involves with covalent modifications of DNA and the protein that bundles DNA, namely histones, is an exciting and variable phenomenon that affects normal cellular genetic character and contributes to human diseases. One key histone modification is methylation, regulated by methyl transferases and demethylases. Recent studies have demonstrated that histone demethylases as new therapeutic targets in different diseases including cancers. In this manuscript, we summarize the current view of the histone demethylase families and their role as activators or repressors of various genes in cancer. It has been demonstrated that hypoxia is a driving force for the regulation of histone demethylases in different cancers. We have also discussed the latest development of the role of hypoxia in regulating histone demethylases and its effects on tumor progression.
Peripheral and eccentric vertices in graphs

LetG be a simple connected graph. Theeccentricity e(u) of a vertexu inG is given bye(u)=max {d(u,v): v?V(G)}. A vertexv is called aperipheral vertex ofG ife(v)=dia(G). A vertexv is called aneccentric vertex ofG ifd(v,c)=e(C) for some center vertexc ofG. LetP(G) andEC(G) denote the sets of peripheral vertices and eccentric vertices ofG, respectively. The main result in this paper is a discription of general classes of graphs for whichP(G)=EC(G). In particular, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for a graphG withdia(G)=2r(G) ordia(G)=2r(G)?1 to satisfyP(G)=EC(G). Also, we present several graphs which then are used to show that all possible set-inclusion relations betweenP(G) andEC(G) may occur.
Estimation and interpretation of models of absolute risk from epidemiologic data, including family-based studies.

Absolute risk is the chance that a person with given risk factors and free of the disease of interest at age a will be diagnosed with that disease in the interval (a, a + τ]. Absolute risk is sometimes called cumulative incidence. Absolute risk is a “crude” risk because it is reduced by the chance that the person will die of competing causes of death before developing the disease of interest. Cohort studies admit flexibility in modeling absolute risk, either by allowing covariates to affect the cause-specific relative hazards or to affect the absolute risk itself. An advantage of cause-specific relative risk models is that various data sources can be used to fit the required components. For example, case–control data can be used to estimate relative risk and attributable risk, and these can be combined with registry data on age-specific composite hazard rates for the disease of interest and with national data on competing hazards of mortality to estimate absolute risk. Family-based designs, such as the kin-cohort design and collections of pedigrees with multiple affected individuals can be used to estimate the genotype-specific hazard of disease. Such analyses must be adjusted for ascertainment, and failure to take into account residual familial risk, such as might be induced by unmeasured genetic variants or by unmeasured behavioral or environmental exposures that are correlated within families, can lead to overestimates of mutation-specific absolute risk in the general population.
The binding of various mercurial compounds to serum proteins.

Binding study of Hg-labeled Hg2+, PMA, MMC and EMC to serum albumin of six mammalian species, bovine hemoglobin and bovine γglobulin is presented. Both MMC and EMC bound only weakly to serum albumin and γ-globulin and more strongly to hemoglobin; Hg2+ bound very strongly to both albumin and hemoglobin and weakly to γ-globulin; and PMA bound most strongly to albumin, next to hemoglobin and the least, to γ-globulin. The available binding sites varied from one to five per molecule of protein. Human serum albumin has the lowest association constants with all four mercurial compounds, indicating that it was not as tightly bound to mercurial compounds as found with serum albumins from other species.
On the role of isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase in multivalent repression.

An isoleucine auxotroph of Salmonella typhimurium was derived from a merodiploid strain (containing the F′-14 episome from Escherichia coli) that contained two copies of the structural genes concerned with isoleucine and valine biosynthesis. A haploid derivative, strain TU6001, having the same growth properties as the original merodiploid mutant was found to have normal biosynthetic enzymes and an altered isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase. The K m for isoleucine was increased by about 200-fold over that for the wild-type enzyme. All five enzymes in the isoleucine and valine biosynthetic pathway were derepressed relative to wild-type enzyme levels. A partial revertant of strain TU6001 was isolated which had properties that were intermediate between those of the mutant and the wild type (i.e., intermediate growth dependence on exogenous isoleucine, intermediate activity of isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase, and intermediate derepression of biosynthetic enzymes). The properties of strain TU6001 were demonstrated to be simultaneously transferable by transduction (using PLT22 H4 bacteriophage) of a single genetic locus, linked to pyr A, which has been designated ilv S. It is concluded that some function of the isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase is important in repression of the isoleucine and valine biosynthetic enzymes.
20.1: Invited Paper: What Is A Pixel?

Most computer graphics researchers would agree that the pixel is the fundamental atomic element of imaging. But what is a pixel? The simple notion of a hardware displayable pixel becomes far more complex when it is examined more closely. Early 2D windowing systems considered a pixel to be a little square. A more enlightened signal processing approach thinks of a pixel as a point sample of a continuous function. Many signal processing problems occur since physical pixels can only have positive values. Hardware pixels are usually given with 8 bits of resolution. But the precise translation of these bit patterns into physical intensities is often not specified. More careful treatment of intensity encoding takes into consideration gamma correction and dithering, as well as the intensity sensitivity of the human eye. Color pixels are generally thought to have Red, Green and Blue components. A closer examination leads to the concept of a pixel as some projection of a full spectral distribution that must take into account the response of the eye and the physics of the display emitters. In addition, some modern displays, like LCD panels, have a predictable geometric offset between the color emitters. This has implications on the proper spatial filtering of an image in addition to any color matching problems. Compositing and blending images leads to the creation of a fourth channel, called alpha, to represent an amount of geometric coverage. The exact meaning of this transparency channel has also been a subject of debate. Furthermore, the traditional single alpha channel is often used to represent colored object transparency. This is another approximation to a more accurate approach that progresses through usage of three alpha channels per pixel to, ultimately, a whole spectral distribution for transmission as well as emission. Finally, there are reasons to specify still more quantities, such as depth information, on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Ultimatly, like the blind men and the elephant, a pixel means different things to different people. In fact, when we consider the proper handling of color, geometry and transparency we realize that an ordinary hardware pixel is simply a bad image compression technique.
Optical output silicon retina chip

We describe a unique implementation of an optical-in/optical- out focal plane processor whose functionality is derived from a biological retina. The retina chip has increased control over the output through a novel differential difference amplifier and a clocked analog scheme. Pro- cessing is done on-chip to produce an edge-detected version of the op- tical input signal. However, the output signal is also optical, enabled by a liquid crystal spatial light modulator on the chip. We present experimen- tal results from a 19319 array and demonstrate how the edge informa- tion can be controlled on-chip and read out in parallel from each process- ing cell. © 2003 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.
A Conceptual Exploration of Participation. Section II: Participation as Engagement in Experience—An Aesthetic Perspective

This is the second section of an article (each section in subsequent regular issues of EPAT) that explores the concept of participation. Section I: Introduction and Early Perspectives grounds our exploration of participation and explores definitions and early perspectives of participation we have identified as ‘historically original’ and ‘philosophical.’ Section II: Participation as Engagement in Experience—An Aesthetics Perspective is a continuation of our conceptual exploration of participation that digs into the world of aesthetics. Finally, Section III: The Utilitarian Perspective and Conclusion focuses on utilitarian meanings of participation from political and international development perspectives. Collectively, these sections focus on the meaning and deconstruction of the term, participation. By bringing attention to gradations in meaning, we hope to raise awareness of the superficial use of participation that is reflected in much of the educational literature and highlight possibilities that more...
Remaking the Growth Coalition: The Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development

An important determinant of success for community development corporations (CDCs) is their ability to create formal and informal interorganizational networks. The Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development is one of the earliest citywide CDC networks in the United States and one of the few that became tightly integrated into the complex of financial and corporate leadership in its city. The partnership itself operates as an intermediary network for CDC real estate development and operating support, and the partnership CDCs have formed their own hub-spoke and peer-to-peer networks for employment training. But declining organizational capacity, the persisting problems of urban poverty and unemployment, and troubled economic development projects that have typically involved greater risk than those undertaken by their more housing-focused counterparts in other cities have left the partnership network vulnerable, as the political environment in city hall and in the local foundations has changed.
Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine mineralization by zerovalent iron and mixed anaerobic cultures.

Soil microcosms were used to evaluate the potential benefits of an integrated microbial−Fe0 system to treat groundwater contamination by RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine). Microcosms amended with both Fe0 filings and municipal anaerobic sludge mineralized RDX faster and to a greater extent than separate treatments, with up to 51% 14CO2 recovery after 77 d. The nitroso byproducts 1,3-dinitro-5-nitroso-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (MNX), 1,3-dinitroso-5-nitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (DNX), and 1,3,5-trinitroso-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane (TNX) were detected in all microcosms, although these compounds never accumulated above 5% of the added RDX on a molar basis. A soluble intermediate that was tentatively identified as methylenedinitramine [(O2NNH)2CH2] was relatively persistent, although it accumulated to a much lower extent in combined-treatment reactors than in sets with Fe0 or sludge alone. Some of the radiolabel was bound to soil and Fe0 and could not be extracted with CH3CN. This fraction, which was...
Navigation with Local Sensors in Handheld 3D Ultrasound — Initial in-vivo Experience

Handheld ultrasound is useful for intra-operative imaging, but requires additional tracking hardware to be useful in navigated intervention settings, such as biopsies, ablation therapy, injections etc. Unlike common probe-andneedle tracking approaches involving global or local tracking, we propose to use a bracket with a combination of very low-cost local sensors - cameras with projectors, optical mice and accelerometers - to reconstruct patient surfaces, needle poses, and the probe trajectory with multiple degrees of freedom, but no global tracking overhead. We report our experiences from a rst series of benchtop and in-vivo human volunteer experiments.
The 2006-2007 PEMpix photo competition award winner: Mark Cicero, MD: Rash decisions: acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy in a 7-month-old boy.

CHIEF COMPLAINT: RASH AND FEVERCaseA 7-month-old boy was referred to the pediatric emergency department with a concerning rash. The patient, who has a history of von Willebrand disease, had a 1-week prodrome of cough, conjunctivitis, and rhinorrhea. During his first visit to the pediatrician, there
Analysis of drainage-basin symmetry as a rapid technique to identify areas of possible Quaternary tilt-block tectonics: An example from the Mississippi Embayment

There is a coincidence of seismicity and major river valleys in the southwestern Mississippi Embayment that suggests control of the drainage pattern by northwest-trending faults. Pleistocene river terraces reveal a strong southwestward preferred river migration in this region that may be a result of fault-block tilting. A rapid new technique of drainage-basin analysis is herein presented that quantifies transverse topographic basin symmetry. These data permit discrimination of random stream migrations and regionally preferred stream migrations and identify the direction of maximum migration. If bedrock dip can be shown to be a negligible influence on stream migration, then the direction of regionally preferred migration implies a period of ground tilting in that direction. Drainage-basin asymmetry vectors (bearing and degree of asymmetry) calculated from transverse topographic profiles of 271 4-km basin segments in the study area suggest preferred stream migration in response to west-southwest-ward ground tilting (bearing 259°). The eastward regional dip of bed-rock horizons only locally influences migration. River terrace distributions reveal a chronology of stream-migration episodes. Southwestward migration in the Ouachita, Saline, and Arkansas river basins occurred during early to middle Pleistocene time in the southwestern Mississippi Embayment. A Wisconsin/early Holocene southwestward migration episode is evidenced along southeast-flowing reaches of the Ouachita and Arkansas Rivers but not along the southeast-flowing reach of the intervening Saline River, suggesting that these rivers overlie separate northwest-trending tilt blocks. Although this technique does not provide direct evidence of ground tilting, it provides a quick-look method of identifying possible tilting elements in neotectonic regions using only topographic maps. This technique is of greatest utility where active faults are concealed or poorly exposed, such as in the Mississippi Embayment.
Isolation, cloning, and characterization of a novel rat lung zinc finger gene, RLZF-Y

Abstract Zinc-finger (ZF) proteins are widely distributed. The current study reports isolation, cloning and characterization of a novel ZF gene, RLZF-Y . Total RNA from rat lung was reverse transcribed. The 5′ and 3′ ends were isolated by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) using primers derived from a previously isolated partial clone. RACE products of 1.5 and 1.1 kb were cloned and sequenced. Identical overlapping sequence of 70 base pairs confirmed representation of the same cDNA approximately 2.5 kb in length. Probes derived from both 5′ RACE and 3′ RACE products independently hybridized to a 2.5 kb mRNA from rat lung. RLZF-Y mRNA is expressed in lung, brain, heart and kidney; expression is low in liver. Predicted amino acid sequence analysis defined three regions of similarity to known C 2 H 2 ZF proteins: a region containing seven ZF structures characteristic of the Kruppel -like subfamily of ZF genes; a region with sequence similarity to the Kruppel -associated box A (KRAB-A) domain at the amino end; an amino-terminal leucine-rich region (LeR) adjacent to KRAB-A. The presence of KRAB-A and the adjacent LeR implies RLZF-Y protein may function as a transcriptional repressor.
A genetic analysis of the response to morphine in mice: Analgesia and running

Two progenitor strains, BALB/cBy and C57BL/6By, their reciprocal F1 hybrids, and seven of their recombinant-inbred derived lines were used to examine the genetic basis of the response to thermal pain, and morphine analgesia at doses of 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg. Both the latency of response to thermal pain and the analgesic response differed significantly among the various strains tested. Strong genetic determinants appear to control their responses. Analyses of the data did not permit clarification regarding the linkage of these determinants. Photoelectric activity cages were used to test the running response of the same strains to 12.5, 25 and 40 mg/kg morphine sulfate. The genetic determinants for running activity were different from those for analgesia. There is clear evidence for two or more loci controlling the behavior at 60 and 75 min after injection, but not enough information to define the loci involved.
Scientific evidence and technically complex policy issues

Abstract Technically complex policy Issues depend for their resolution on scientific information. Only after research studies have been completed can a conclusipn be drawn that a certain chemical substance is toxic, or that burning fossil fuels increases the acidity of faraway lakes and soils. However, results must be aggregated, evaluated, and presented in non-technical language. The paper examines the process of preparing evidence and its role in decision making.
Assessing field experiences

The movement toward on-line learning presents challenges for professional preparation programs where field experiences are a traditional part of the course of study. Can professors effectively monitor and assess real-world experiences using the Internet?
A polymerized calix[6]arene monolayer having gas permeation selectivity that exceeds Knudsen diffusion.

A polymerized monolayer of 5,11,17,23,29,35-hexamercaptomethyl-37,38,40,41,42-hexakis-(1-n hexadecyloxy)calix[6]arene (1) has been synthesized on the surface of an ca. 15 mum-thick film derived from poly[1-(trimethylsilyl)-1-propyne] (PTMSP). This monolayer exhibits a permeation selectivity toward He and SF6 that exceeds Knudsen diffusion. Analogous membranes made from a calix[6]arene that contains amidoxime headgroups (i.e., 2) showed Knudsen diffusion characteristics.
Linking Self-Reported Childhood Behavioral Inhibition to Adolescent Social Phobia

ABSTRACT Objective Behavioral inhibition in children has been hypothesized to be a risk factor for the later development of social phobia. However, this hypothesis has yet to be demonstrated in a prospective study. The purpose of the study presented here is to test whether behavioral inhibition in childhood constitutes a risk factor for social phobia during adolescence. Method The sample consisted of 2.242 high school students assessed over a 4-year period. Assessments included self-report questionnaires, structured clinical interviews, and measurements of heart rate. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate risk. Results Social avoidance, a component of behavioral inhibition, predicted onset of social phobia during high school. However, social avoidance was not related to depression in adolescence. Another component of behavioral inhibition, fearfulness, increased the risk for both social phobia and depression. Among subjects who were both socially avoidant and fearful, 22.3% developed social phobia—a risk more than four times greater than that for subjects with neither feature of behavioral inhibition. Conclusion This prospective study demonstrates that behavioral inhibition in childhood increases the risk of social phobia in adolescence.
Loop gain measurement in feedback amplifiers

This paper presents a method of loop gain measurement for DC-coupled feedback amplifiers, which overcomes the short-comings of some earlier well-known methods. The method discussed in this paper is similar in principle to one presented by Middle-brook (1975), but has the advantage that the instrumentation which is required for its successful application is much simpler, This method can be applied fairly routinely to measure loop gain accurately.
Mechanical modeling of circumferential and radial dike intrusion on Galapagos volcanoes

A distinctive and unusual pattern of eruptive fissures is observed on the active volcanoes of the Galapagos islands, reflecting circumferential dike intrusion near the calderas and radial dike intrusion on the volcano flanks. Elastic finite-element models were used to investigate how a stress field could be produced and maintained to promote both circumferential and radial dike emplacement. Modeling results show that magma reservoirs of Galapagos volcanoes are probably diapiric, because this shape promotes both circumferential and radial intrusions, but magma pressure alone cannot create the observed pattern of dikes. Loading by volcano growth and magma reservoir pressure could produce a stress field of suitable orientation but insufficient magnitude. The intrusion of circumferential dikes could alter the stress field in a way that promotes future radial diking, and vice versa. Faulting or slumping within the calderas or on the volcano flanks in response to repeated intrusions could also create a stress field conducive to continued intrusion.
Development of the gametophytes, flower, and floral vasculature in Cochliostema odoratissimum (Commelinaceae)

Abstract Flowers of Cochliostema odoratissimum are trimerous with three fertile stamens, three unequal antherless staminodes, and three connate carpels. The fertile stamens are on one side of the flower and united by their filaments, forming a compound structure that curves to the flower's right as the flower opens. The thecae are longitudinally dehiscent, spirally coiled, and enveloped by petaloid extensions of the filaments of the two lateral stamens contributing to the three-staminate structure. Anther wall development is of the monocotyledonous type. Tapetal raphides are formed and appear to be widespread in Commelinaceae. Also known from Philydraceae and, perhaps, Haemodoraceae, tapetal raphides and their taxonomic distribution may be of phylogenetic utility. Microsporogenesis is successive, forming both isobilateral and decussate tetrads. Pollen is shed as single binucleate grains. Each ovary locule contains ten to twelve hemianatropous, crassinucellar, bitegmic ovules on axile placentae. The micropyle is formed by both the inner integument and one side of the outer integument. Megagametophyte development is of the Polygonum type. The mature megagametophyte consists of an egg apparatus, fusion nucleus, and three antipodals, the latter showing signs of degeneration. The salient features of the floral vasculature are the same as in the few other commelinaceous species for which complete data are available. Relative to the floral vasculature in the other species, differences in the vasculature lie primarily in the presence and origin of lateral carpel bundles and in the number of sepal and ovule traces.
Correlation of compressed liquid densities

Abstract With some exceptions, the densities of compressed liquids can be correlated accurately by a three-constant system of corresponding states. This method is based on the linearity of the unit-compressibility line, and the constancy of the ratio of the deviations from unit compressibility of two different liquids at equal reduced temperatures and densities. Each set of experimental measurements taken from the literature is characterized by a Boyle temperature, a unit-compressibility density, and a relative Boyle volume. In many cases the density of one liquid as a function of temperature and pressure can then be calculated within the reported experimental error from pvt measurements on another liquid.