cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Elastic shape models for interpolations of curves in image sequences

Many applications in image analysis are concerned with the temporal evolution of shapes in video sequences. In situations involving low-contrast, low-quality images, human aid is often needed to extract shapes from images. An interesting approach is to use expert help to extract shapes in certain well-separated frames, and to use automated methods to extract shapes from intermediate frames. We present a technique to interpolate between expert generated shapes. This technique preserves salient features in the interpolated shapes, and allows analysts to model a continuous evolution of shapes, instead of a coarse sampling generated by the expert. The basic idea is to establish a correspondence between points on the two end shapes, and to construct a geodesic flow on a shape space maintaining that correspondence. This technique is demonstrated using echocardiagraphic images and infrared human gait sequences.
Mechanism of hepatocellular uptake of albumin-bound bilirubin.

We previously demonstrated that unconjugated bilirubin spontaneously diffuses through phospholipid bilayers at a rate which exceeds albumin dissociation, suggesting that solvation from albumin represents the rate-limiting step in hepatic bilirubin clearance. To further examine this hypothesis, we studied the uptake of bovine serum albumin (BSA)-bound bilirubin by cultured hepatoblastoma (HepG2) cells. Uptake of bilirubin was saturable, with a K(m) and V(max) of 4.2+/-0.5 microM (+/-S.E.M.) and 469+/-41 pmol min(-1) mg(-1) at 25 degrees C. Substantial bilirubin uptake also was observed at 4 degrees C (K(m)=7.0+/-0.8 microM, V(max)=282+/-26 pmol min(-1) mg(-1)), supporting a diffusional transport mechanism. Consistent with reported solvation rates, the cellular uptake of bilirubin bound to human serum albumin was more rapid than for BSA-bound bilirubin, indicative of dissociation-limited uptake. Counterintuitively, an inverse correlation between pH and the rate of bilirubin flip-flop was observed, due to pH effects on the rate of dissociation of bilirubin from albumin and from the membrane bilayer. The identification of an inflection point at pH 8.1 is indicative of a pK(a) value for bilirubin in this range. Taken together, our data suggest that hepatocellular uptake of bilirubin is dissociation-limited and occurs principally by a mechanism involving spontaneous transmembrane diffusion.
Role of Nlrp6 and Nlrp12 in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis

There has been significant interest in understanding how interactions between the host immune system and the gut microbiota regulate intestinal homeostasis. Recent data suggest that the Nod-like receptor (NLR) family of PRRs regulate both the composition of the gut microbiota and innate immune signaling pathways that prevent pathologic intestinal inflammation and tumorigenesis. In this review, we will focus on NLRP6 and NLRP12, two members of the NLR family that have emerged as important players in the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis, and discuss the signaling pathways engaged by these receptors as well as the current models of how these receptors protect against the development of colitis and tumorigenesis.
Speculating on a Cure for Cancer: A Non-Event that Made Stock Prices Soar

A front page Sunday New York Times article on a potential development of new drugs to cure cancer caused the price of EntreMed (ENMD) stock to rise from 12.063 at the Friday close, to open at 85 and close near 52 on Monday. Trading volume was more than 400 times the normal trading volume, and liquidity in the stock seems to improve on that day. The stock price closed above 30 in the two weeks following the Times article. The market's enthusiasm lifted the prices of other biotechnology stocks. Although the market seems to have reacted to genuine news featured in the Times piece, the article in fact contained no new-news: the potential breakthrough in cancer research had been published in Nature, and in various popular newspapers (including the Times) more than five months earlier. ENMD stock price change was much milder then. Market reaction was also relatively subdued seven months later, when the Wall Street Journal reported prominently that other laboratories had failed to replicate the results reported in Nature. No contagion to other biotech firms seems to have taken place on these two occasions. These extreme events offer a clean experiment. They suggest that enthusiastic public attention can induce a permanent rise in share prices, even when no genuinely new information is presented. The events call into question the role of expectations in the standard finance paradigm, which argues that a security price is the present value of expected future cash flows.
High Bandwidth Control of Flexible Robots: Proof of Concept Experiments for Momentum Management

The authors have proposed in several previous papers that high bandwidth position control of robotic end effecters can be achieved with momentum exchange with essentially collocated masses. The actuator for momentum exchange would typically be a moving coil motor with bandwidth of the order of 10 kHz, thus giving the ability to provide a force to the end-of-arm orders of magnitude quicker than conventional actuation methods and unlike micro-manipulators, without the force being transmitted to the robot arm itself. However, conventional joint servos must be retained for the purpose of removing momentum from the proof mass(es) instead of being the primary positioning device. This paper presents a summary of the theory, but is primarily concerned with a one dimensional experimental proof of concept. Here a simple one-link flexible arm (actually a linear motion) is controlled by two identical linear motors, one at the base and the second to drive the proof mass. Experiments demonstrate the ability of momentum management to provide disturbance rejection in a bandwidth of up to 100 Hz, confirming the potential to overcome the limitations of drive train flexibility. The limit of performance is the result of measurement bandwidth rather than actuation limits.
Eine Methode zur Bewertung der Eignung von Anforderungsspezifikationen für Offshoring-Projekte

Der globale Offshoring-Trend hat auch die Entwicklung betrieblicher Anwendungssysteme erfasst. Anforderungsspezifikationen sind hierbei das zentrale Medium, mit dem Auftraggeber wahrend der arbeitsteiligen Entwicklung im zwischenbetrieblichen und interkulturellen Kontext so explizit wie moglich kommunizieren, was zu realisieren ist. Eine entsprechende Eignung der erstellten Anforderungsspezifikationen ist in Offshoring-Projekten daher haufig erfolgsentscheidend. Um deren Eignung zu bewerten werden zunachst acht Qualitatskriterien fur Anforderungsspezifikationen vorgestellt. Weiterhin werden funf Kompensationsfaktoren diskutiert, die eine unzureichende Spezifikationsqualitat im weiteren Offshoring-Projekt gegebenenfalls ausgleichen konnen. Auf diesen Grundlagen aufbauend wird eine Methode beschrieben, mit der die Eignung einer Anforderungsspezifikation fur ein Offshoring-Projekt rational abgeschatzt werden kann. Die Anwendung der Methode wird anhand einer grosen Fallstudie illustriert, die bei einem Praxispartner durchgefuhrt wurde. Die bei der Anwendung der Methode erzielten Ergebnisse werden vor dem Hintergrund des tatsachlichen weiteren Entwicklungsverlaufs bestatigt.
Variability of motility of the ileum and jejunum in healthy humans.

Motor patterns of the distal small bowel were defined in healthy humans, using a multilumen polyvinyl tube, passed by mouth in 11 healthy subjects. Five recording sites, spanning 100 cm of tube and featuring a nitrogen hydraulic infusion system, were used to obtain records during 6 h of fasting and 6 or more hours after ingestion of a 600-kcal liquid test meal. The loci of recordings were designated as jejunal, ileal, or terminal ileal, as judged by the length of tube within the intestine and by fluoroscopy. During fasting, the migrating motor complex was present in all subjects and at all levels of the small intestine, but it could not be traced into the colon. Interdigestive cycles were defined primarily by the presence of an "activity front" (phase 3 of the migrating motor complex). Ninety-six migrating motor complexes occurred each 97 min (grand mean for all loci), but intervals between individual activity fronts varied markedly (15-195 min), in contrast to what is reported in other species. The velocity of aboral migration was 4.7 +/- 1.8, 1.3 +/- 0.4, and 0.9 +/- 0.2 cm . min-1 (mean +/- SD) in jejunal, ileal, and terminal ileal, respectively. Rates of continuous, rhythmic contractions during activity fronts declined distally: 12.5 to 10.5 (jejunal), 10.9 to 9.3 (ileal), and 10.0 to 8.6 cycle/min (terminal ileal), respectively. In individual subjects, maximum rates of contraction and velocities of migration always declined distally, but the duration of activity fronts was unrelated to the level of recording. Food interrupted the fasting cycles of motility for periods ranging from 2.75 to greater than 10 h. The transition from the fasting to the fed pattern was prompt and the postprandial motility was that of irregular bursts of contractions interspersed with transient quiescence. These studied demonstrate that the migrating motor complex occurs throughout the human small intestine, and that inter- and intraindividual variations are marked; food disrupts the complex for variable periods. These variations must be considered when abnormalities are being sought in disease states.
Parallel Modularity-Based Community Detection on Large-Scale Graphs

We present a parallel hierarchical graph clustering algorithm that uses modularity as clustering criteria to effectively extract community structures in large graphs of different types. In order to process a large complex graph (whose vertex number and edge number are around 1 billion), we design our algorithm based on the Louvain method by investigating graph partitioning and distribution schemes on distributed memory architectures and conducting clustering in a divide-and-conquer manner. We study the relationship between graph structure property and clustering quality, carefully deal with ghost vertices between graph partitions, and propose a heuristic partition method suitable for the Louvain method. Compared to the existing solutions, our method can achieve nearly well-balanced workload among processors and higher accuracy of graph clustering on real-world large graph datasets.
Regional dust deposits on Mars - Physical properties, age, and history

This paper presents a description of the use of Viking infrared thermal mapper (IRTM), earth-based radar, and visual observations for the study of the existence of regional dust deposits. It is pointed out that these observations provide estimates of particle size, rock abundance, surface texture, thermal emissivity, and albedo. These estimates can be used to characterize surface deposits and to determine the degree of surface mantling. Attention is given to the regolith properties, atmospheric dust properties, and a model for formation of low-inertia regions. It is found that global dust storms deposit currently approximately 25 microns of material per year in the equatorial region. Over geologic time this value may vary from 0 to 250 microns due to variations in atmospheric conditions produced by orbital variations.
K252a potentiates epidermal growth factor-induced differentiation of PC12 cells.

Epidermal growth factor (EFG) induced short neurites in two different strains of PC12 cells. The length of the EGF-induced neurites was markedly increased in the presence of the protein kinase inhibitor K252a, which is known to inhibit differentiation induced by nerve growth factor (NGF). EGF-induced differentiation of PC12 required RNA synthesis and activity of the ras proto-oncogene product. EGF increased the levels of three neurofilament proteins and the mRNA level of two late response genes (SCG10 and 63) known to be induced by NGF. Together, EGF and K252a caused a greater increase in these mRNAs than did either agent alone. K252a did not alter the extent of EGF-induced autophosphorylation of the EGF receptor, but it did decrease the extent of receptor phosphorylation in the absence of added EGF. Thus, the ability of the EGF receptor to trigger neuronal differentiation may depend on the state of its phosphorylation at serine and/or threonine residues. Two other strains of PC12 did not extend neurites when exposed to EGF, even when K252a was also present. Thus the differentiating effect of EGF on PC12 is PC12 strain-specific. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Structural and functional analysis of a mutant Ras protein that is insensitive to nitric oxide activation

Ras proteins cycle between active, guanosine triphosphate (GTP)-bound and inactive, guanosine diphospate (GDP)-bound states to mediate signal transduction pathways that promote cell growth and differentiation. It is believed that the major physiological mechanism for Ras activation is via interaction with guanine-nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs). This interaction is highly regulated and results in elevated levels of Ras-GTP by facilitating GDP dissociation. Recently, a novel mechanism of Ras activation has been proposed, whereby nitric oxide (NO) modification of Cys-118, like GEF interaction, populates Ras in its biologically active form by stimulating GDP release. Here, we describe characterization of a variant of Ras, C118S, that is insensitive to NO modification. We have measured the GTPase activity and the GDP dissociation rate of the C118S mutant and found them to be similar to wild-type Ras. We have also analyzed the structure of this mutant using multidimensional heteronuclear NMR methods. Analysis of chemical shifts and distance restraints demonstrates that this mutation has not disrupted the structure of the protein. These results suggest that NO modification of Cys-118 may not alter Ras structure and that the basis of Ras activation by NO is destabilization of a crucial interaction between residues in the GDP-binding pocket and the nucleotide. We have also found that this mutant is a more stable form of Ras at concentrations required for NMR studies, probably due to the removal of a surface-accessible cysteine residue. This stable variant may facilitate structural and biochemical investigations of Ras and other guanine-nucleotide-binding proteins containing a cysteine at this position.
Norepinephrine, Dopamine, and Serotonin in Brain Parts of Female Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) as Found by Two Dissimilar Fluorometric Procedures

Two dissimilar fluorometric procedures were used to compare norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin in the telencephalon, diencephalon, cerebellum, and brain stem of female Japanese quail. Amount of norepinephrine in the telencephalon and brain stem was similar using both procedures, but more norepinephrine was found in the cerebellum and diencephalon by the Jacobowitz-Richardson method compared to the Anton-Sayre method. Serotonin could not be determined using the Anton-Sayre procedure but was detected easily by the Jacobowitz-Richardson procedure in all brain parts assayed. The most striking difference between the two procedures was in the level of dopamine detected. Dopamine was found only in the telencephalon using the Anton-Sayre procedure, but it was found in all brain parts using the Jacobowitz-Richardson procedure. This is the first report of significant dopamine in all principle parts of the Japanese quail brain.
Meanings of state hospital nursing. I: Facing challenges.

The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of work for nurses employed in two state psychiatric hospitals. Nurses at both hospitals participated in designing and carrying out the research. In Phase I, nurses described situations in which they had been observers or participant observers and the way that they understood what was occurring in the situations described. The data from these descriptions were analyzed in collaboration with small groups of nurse co-investigators at each hospital. In Phase II, patterns of meaning identified in Phase I were checked and further refined based on focus groups and interviews with nurses at both hospitals. The interrelated dilemmas faced by nurses are discussed as (1) challenges in clinical decision making, (2) challenges regarding personal control, and (3) challenges of maintaining professional standards. Ways of meeting these challenges, coping, and making meaning are discussed in a companion article, "Meanings of State Hospital Nursing II: Coping and Making Meaning" ( Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 13 (1), 55–60).
Essential trace metals in man: cobalt.

COBALT, atomic number 27, takes its name either from the German Kobold, meaning hobgoblin, house spirit, or gnome [ 1,2] or from the Greek cobalos, meaning mine. [3] According to the first version, the skin lesions occurring in miners of arsenical silvercobalt ores in Saxony and Bohemia during the 15th century, as well as the poisonous arsenical fumes coming from smelters, were believed to be caused by mischievous spirits. Another account has it that the smelting of the silvery cobalt arsenates produced only poisonous fumes and no silver. [4] The second version is found in AGRICOLA’S De Re Metallica, published in 1556. [3] Cobalt blue has colored pottery and glass since 1450 B.C. when the Babylonians and the Egyptians used it extensively. The blue of Ming china and Venetian glass owes its brilliance to cobalt salts. Colors from deep blue to green in all shades can be made by combining cobalt with nickel, chromium or manganese compounds. Thus, its first contribution to civilization was to beautify. Not until the 20th century was cobalt used in alloys. Their high melting points, great strengths at elevated temperatures and resistance to oxidation by hot gases have increased demands for cobalt for such essentials as jet engines, rocket nozzles and gas turbines, which use a quarter of the annual consumption. Their magnetic properties have allowed development of the permanent magnet of high fidelity loudspeakers, which consume almost a quarter of the total. High speed tool steels, paint driers, pigments and catalysts use most of the remainder. [2] As such, cobalt has become an essential metal in modern civilization. In another less scientific age, the biological activity of cobalt might have seemed to earlier investigators governed by hobgob1ins.f Because of its ubiquity in small traces, cobalt-free diets and culture media are most difficult to prepare, yet there is
Poor Fluidization Phenomena and Detection in the FBAC of the Tonghae CFB Boiler

Detection and clearance of poor fluidization in a simulated fluidized bed ash cooler were studied by analyzing the mixing properties of the bed materials and the pressure fluctuation of the air header distributor. We observed a bridge of large particles at the bed surface which caused the poor fluidization area to form at the entrance of the FBAC. The poor fluidization was caused not only by airflow rates but also by the particle discharge rates as well as particle size distribution in the FBAC. Additionally, we could easily detect the local poor fluidization through a simple method developed in the simulated FBAC and in the FBAC of the Tonghae CFB boiler. As local poor fluidization is detected, it should be possible to clear it up by regulating the flow rate of each air header in the FBAC.
Dimensions of manifest depression

DEPRESSION is a complex psychiatric concept. The term is used to refer to subjective mood as well as to symptom syndromes associated with psychopathologic states called depression. As a psychiatric syndrome, depression is manifest in a number of signs and symptoms which distinguish the depressed patient from the normal. As in the case of other recognized syndromes, not all depressed patients evidence all symptoms, at least not to the same degree of intensity. An important question concerns characteristics of individual difference in depressed patients. If depressed patients vary in the nature and intensity of symptoms presented, what primary symptom dimensions are most useful in characterizing these individual differences ? Must variation in the symptomatology of depressed patients be accounted for in terms of a unique set of factors which are not recognized dimensions of psychiatric symptomatology in other patient populations, or is there a common set of factors which exist at different levels in various types of psychiatric patients including cases of depression? The methods of factor analysis were employed in the present investigation in an effort to provide answers to these questions. The factor analysis model assumes that observed behavior is complex and that it is determined by a parsimonious set of underlying factors, traits, or processes. Any given bit of observed behavior, such as rateable psychiatric symptomatology, may be determined by more than a single basic factor, and certainly several different measureable patient characteristics may result from the same underlying factor. To the extent that several measureable patient characteristics reflect a single underlying factor which exists at different levels in different individuals, these characteristics will tend to co-vary (or to be correlated). That is, an individual who is high on the underlying factor will tend to have high scores on the several characteristics reflecting that factor, and individuals who are low on the factor will have low scores on these same characteristics. It is through identification of sets of patient characteristics which tend to co-vary that factor analysis leads to inferences concerning the nature of primary sources of variance responsible for this co-variation. Thus, factor analysis is a methodology for the study of individual differences. The co-variation or correlation of symptom measures depends upon the fact that they reflect underlying factors which exist at different levels in different individuals.
IEEE IRI 2006 Keynote Speech(I); System of Systems - From Definition to Architecture to Simulation to Space Applications

One of the main challenges of any related paradigms in systems engineering is being able to handle complex systems under unforeseen uncertainties. A system may be called complex if its dimension (order) is too high and its model (if available) is nonlinear, interconnected, and information on the system is so uncertain that classical techniques cannot easily handle the problem. A system of systems (SoS) is a "super system," or an integration of complex systems coordinated together in such a way as to achieve a wider set of goals with possible higher significance such as global warming, Mars missions, air traffic control, global earth observation system, etc. Computational Intelligence or Soft Computing, a consortium of fuzzy logic (approximate reasoning), neuro-computing (learning), genetic algorithms and genetic programming (optimization), has proven to be a powerful set of tools for adding autonomy and semi-autonomy to many complex systems. For such systems the size of soft computing control architecture will be nearly infinite. In this presentation, paradigms using soft computing approaches are utilized to design autonomous controller with controller reuse for a number of space applications. The notion of adaptation in autonomous controller reuse can be handled via intelligent tools to add on additional capabilities in real-time scenarios. Learning from past experience is but one such scenario for the reuse of autonomous controllers. These applications include satellite array formations, robotic agents and the Virtual Laboratory (V-LAB®) for multi-physics modeling and simulation.
Government reforms and public productivity: do we have all the answers?

Governments have to use changes in public sector organizations and public services to drive changes in national economies and the underlying industrial climate. However, creating lasting change at a rate that is sustainable is extremely difficult. Creating unrealistic expectations among government employees, users of government services, and the public at large may backfire and undermine the longevity of any reform effort. Government often has to start by changing the nature of government itself ‐ in terms of the relationships and interventions with commerce. Big changes at the centre drive a series of smaller changes throughout industry; but these changes cannot be arbitrarily imposed ‐ they must be part of a national consensus. Argues that the changes made and facilitated by governments must be dramatic: nations are unlikely to change their place significantly in the international league table with incremental changes, however sound they may be.
Collapse of a polymer chain

Abstract The behavior of a polymer chain near the Flory temperature is determined. The discussion is based on the analogy proposed by de Gennes between a polymer chain near the Flory temperature and a magnetic system near the tricritical point.
Assessment of Ionosphere Spatial Decorrelation for Global Positioning System-Based Aircraft Landing Systems

Ground-based augmentations of the global positioning system demand guaranteed integrity to support aircraft precision approach and landing navigation. To quantitatively evaluate navigation integrity, an aircraft computes vertical and lateral protection levels as position-error bounds using the standard deviation of ionosphere spatial decorrelation. Thus, it is necessary to estimate typical ionospheric gradients for nominal days and to determine an appropriate upper bound to sufficiently cover the differential error due to the ionosphere spatial decorrelation. Both station-pair and time-step methods are used to assess the standard deviation of vertical (or zenith) ionospheric gradients (σ vig ). The station-pair method compares the simultaneous zenith delays from two different reference stations to a single satellite and observes the difference in delay across the known ionosphere pierce point separation. Because these ionosphere pierce point separations limit the observability of the station-pair method, the time-step method is also used to better understand ionospheric gradients at short distance scales (10-40 km). The time-step method compares the ionospheric delay of a single line of sight at one epoch with the delay for the same line of sight at another epoch a short time (a few to tens of minutes) later. This method has the advantage of removing interfrequency bias calibration errors on different satellites and receivers while possibly introducing an estimation error due to temporal ionospheric gradients. The results of this study demonstrate that typical values of σ vig are on the order of 1-3 mm/km for nonstormy ionospheric conditions. As a result, σ vig of 4 mm/km is conservative enough to bound ionosphere spatial decorrelation for nominal days and still leave enough margin for more active days and for non-Gaussian tail behavior.
Risk of breast cancer according to clinicopathologic features among long-term survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with radiotherapy

Risk of breast cancer according to clinicopathologic features among long-term survivors of Hodgkin's lymphoma treated with radiotherapy
Method for measuring oxygen diffusion coefficients of polymer films by luminescence quenching.

To ascertain the relationship between the physical properties of polymer supports and the observed response of luminescence-based oxygen sensors, a quenching-based method was developed to measure oxygen diffusion in polymers. The method offers advantages over existing quenching-based techniques since it allows a simple correction for films of high optical density, and the computations do not assume uniform oxygen concentration throughout the film. Diffusion coefficients (D) were measured for a series of sensors with [Ru(Ph2phen)3]Cl2 (Ph2phen = 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) as the luminophore and polystyrene, poly(trimethylsilylmethyl methacrylate), poly(butyl methacrylate), poly(trimethylsilylmethyl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate), or poly(trimethylsilylmethyl methacrylate-co-1H,1H-heptafluorobutyl methacrylate) as the support. The solvent from which the films were cast was varied, and filler materials such as hydrophobic, amorphous silica or tributyl phosphate plasticizer were added. Results are...
Histone H3 lysine 56 acetylation is linked to the core transcriptional network in human embryonic stem cells

Lysine 56 acetylation in the helical core of histone H3 opens yeast chromatin and enables histone gene transcription, DNA replication, and DNA repair and prevents epigenetic silencing. While K56Ac is globally abundant in yeast and flies, its presence has been uncertain in mammals. We show here using mass spectrometry and genome-wide analyses that K56Ac is present in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), overlapping strongly at active and inactive promoters with the binding of the key regulators of pluripotency, NANOG, SOX2, and OCT4. This includes also the canonical histone gene promoters and those for the hESC-specific microRNAs. K56Ac then relocates to developmental genes upon cellular differentiation. Thus the K56Ac state more accurately reflects the epigenetic differences between hESCs and somatic cells than other active histone marks such as H3 K4 trimethylation and K9 acetylation. These results suggest that K56Ac is involved in the human core transcriptional network of pluripotency.
Model error concepts in control design

Abstract Traditional modelling notions presume the existence of a ‘truth’ model that relates the input to the output, without advanced knowledge of the input. This has led to the evolution of education and research approaches (including the available control and robustness theories) that treat the modelling and control design as separate problems. This paper explores the subtleties of this presumption. A detailed study of the nature of the modelling errors is useful to gain insight into the limitations of traditional control and identification points of view. Modelling errors need not be ‘small’ but simply ‘appropriate’ for control design. Furthermore, the modelling and control design processes are inevitably iterative in nature.
Quantification of four arsenic species in fruit juices by ion-chromatography–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry

A method using ion chromatography–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (IC–ICP–MS) for the quantification of arsenic species in fruit juices has been developed and validated. The method is capable of quantifying four anionic arsenic species – arsenite (As(III)), arsenate (As(V)), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) – in the presence of unretained species such as arsenobetaine (AsB). Method validation was based on repeatability, analysis of reference materials, recovery of fortified samples, and determination of detection and quantification limits. The method was tested for use with apple, pear, cranberry, grape (red, white and purple) juices, as well as several juice blends. Limits of detection were 0.35, 0.41, 0.45 and 0.70 µg kg−1 for As(III), DMA, MMA and As(V), respectively. Chromatographic recovery was good for most samples (90–107% compared to total arsenic), though recovery for some grape juice samples was lower (67–78%).
Improved lung function and body mass index associated with long-term use of Macrolide antibiotics.

Abstract Background: A number of studies have suggested that the non-antimicrobial actions of macrolide antibiotics may be valuable in treating patients with cystic fibrosis. The use of long-term macrolide antibiotics for the management of CF patients colonised by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and progressive pulmonary disease was introduced into our clinic in 1997. A retrospective study was undertaken to assess of the impact of this therapy. Methods: Twenty patients with progressive pulmonary disease (>10% fall in FEV 1 over 12 months despite optimising conventional therapy) were commenced on Azithromycin, 250 mg daily during a 21-month period. At the time of assessment they had remained on therapy for a mean of 0.9 years. Changes in lung function, weight, body mass index (BMI) and frequency of pulmonary exacerbations were assessed. A group of 20 patients with stable lung function and matched as far as possible for age and sex was identified for comparison. Results: Pulmonary function increased significantly in the Azithromycin group with FEV1% predicted increasing from a mean of 50.2–59.1% ( P =0.001) while FVC% predicted increase from 64.5 to 76.1% ( P =0.002). There was small but non-significant fall in lung function in the comparison group. Body mass index increased by a mean of 1.1 in the Azithromycin group but remained unchanged in the comparison group. The number of pulmonary exacerbations requiring intravenous antibiotics declined by 48.3% in macrolide treated subjects compared to the pre-treatment period ( P Conclusion: Long-term Azithromycin treatment in patients with progressive deterioration in lung function appears to have led to an improvement in pulmonary function, increased body mass index and decreased the frequency of pulmonary exacerbations requiring intravenous antibiotics.
Antinociceptive Effects of Cocaine in Rhesus Monkeys

The antinociceptive effects of (-)cocaine, (+)cocaine, and cocaine methiodide administered alone and in combination with the mu-opioid agonist morphine were evaluated in rhesus monkeys. The shaved tails of four rhesus monkeys were exposed to warm water (42, 46, 50, and 54 degrees C), and tail-withdrawal latencies (20-s maximum) from each temperature were determined. (-)Cocaine (0.032-1.8 mg/kg, s.c.) produced dose-dependent antinociceptive effects and enhanced the antinociceptive effects of morphine. Neither (+)cocaine nor cocaine methiodide (0.1-10 mg/kg, s.c.) produced antinociception or altered the effects of morphine. Pretreatment with the serotonin receptor antagonist mianserin (0.1-04).32 mg/kg, i.m.) produced dose-dependent rightward shifts in the dose-effect curve for (-)cocaine alone, and attenuated (-)cocaine-induced enhancement of the antinociceptive effects of morphine. However, mianserin (0.32 mg/kg, i.m.) did not alter the antinociceptive effects of morphine alone. These results suggest that in rhesus monkeys, the effects of cocaine on nociception may be stereoselective and centrally mediated. These findings further suggest that the antinociceptive effects of cocaine in primates may be mediated at least in part by cocaine's effects on serotonergic systems.
Algorithms for automated regulatory review of hazardous waste management facilities

Abstract The regulatory review of proposed hazardous waste facilities can offer considerable technological challenges to federal and state agencies. In addition to numerous procedural details, review can require complex engineering analysis and the judicious application of “expert” judgment and opinion. The Environmental Protection Agency is developing microcomputer-based expert systems to help support its regulatory review activities. These systems will help agency personnel analyze sophisticated design elements and qualitatively interpret the resulting information. The goal of this paper is to discuss the special requirements of engineering diagnosis, expert system design, and artificial intelligence applied to automated regulatory review. Many of the desirable features such as front-end information management, safety factor interpretation, assessment of potential “as-built” perturbation, and dynamic information accumulation have been coded into demonstration modules titles DIKE(1.0) and DIKE(1.1). The algorithmic design and function of these codes will also be discussed.
Is CS1 better with the same lecture and lab instructor

This paper presents results from a four-semester classroom experiment to assess whether the introductory programming lecture and closed-laboratory courses would be more effective if they were taught by the same or different instructors. Using a common final exam and lab practical as dependent variables, we determined there is no statistically significant effect on learning outcomes by having the same instructor for lecture and lab. Results of a qualitative survey, however, showed a statistically significant difference in student satisfaction for the same-instructor group over the different-instructor group.
Cone heater ignition tests of liquid fuels

This study was undertaken in an effort to develop an understanding of the flammability characteristics of crude oils spilled on open waters and inland. Ignition tests were performed under various external radiant heat fluxes provided by a cone heater on three crude oils (Murban, La Rosa, and Alberta Sweet), black PMMA, and hexadecane. A small pilot flame and an electric spark were used as ignition sources. Ignition times were measured and were found to be inversely proportional to a power of the imposed radiant heat flux that varies from a value somewhat below to a value somewhat above two, the value two being derived from simplified modelling. For radiant fluxes above a threshold value of 10 kW/m2, ignition times are unaffected by exposure (weathering) or oil layer thickness. However, longer times are needed to ignite crude oils with a spark than with a pilot flame, which should be noted when flammability assessment is made. Effects of radiant heat flux, exposure time, and fuel thickness on ignition time are discussed.
Schooling, Moral Commitment, and the Preparation of Teachers:

Teaching has been conceived of as a decontextualized, apolitical, amoral enterprise in both historical and contemporary contexts of teacher education. For example, normal schools fostered a conception of competence in which moral deliberation was less than central by promoting vocationalism and an instrumental rationality that denigrated educational theory and critical reflection. Recent attempts to rekindle a science of education promote a similar kind of technical competence that ignores the importance of moral imagination. This conception of professionalism is in keeping with a focus on self-interest and individualism in American society that makes it hard to envision a common good. A new vision of profession alism is proposed that recognizes the centrality of moral commitment and moral discourse in teaching, and its application in teacher education programs at Knox College is described. Illustrations of how this view of professionalism must be connected to experiences in which preservice students conf...
Substrate Mobilization during Prolonged Exercise in 6-Hydroxydopamine Treated Rats

Exercise-induced lipolysis and glycogenolysis were studied in rats that had undergone chemical sympathectomy, surgical adrenomedullectomy, or a combination of these treatments. Sympathectomy was accomplished by injection of 6-hydroxydopamine. The exercise test administered immediately prior to sacrifice consisted of running 90 min (30 min at 22.5, 28.5, and 32.0 m/min, respectively, without interruption). Control animals were sacrificed at rest. Lipolysis, as measured by the rise in plasma and adipose tissue free fatty acid levels, was significantly (P<0.01) elevated over control values in all exercised groups. However, progressive (P<0.05) depression in lipolysis occurred as adrenergic control was successively eliminated. No treatment completely inhibited lipolysis or reduced work capacity. None of the treatments inhibited liver or muscle glycogenolysis in the exercised animals. The results demonstrate that prolonged exercise induces significant lipolysis and glycogenolysis in the rat after treatments designed to eliminate the sympathetic control over these processes. These data point to factors other than the adrenergic system as playing a role in substrate mobilization during endurance exercise.
Cement Hydration Inhibition with Sucrose, Tartaric Acid, and Lignosulfonate: Analytical and Spectroscopic Study

The reaction of the cement retarders tartaric acid, sucrose, and lignosulfonate with tricalcium silicate (C3S), tricalcium aluminate (C3A), and C3A/gypsum have been studied by 27Al and 29Si MAS NMR spectroscopy, SEM, XRD, and XPS to gain an understanding of the effect on the individual minerals prior to studying a typical sample of portland cement. Tartaric acid is the most effective at retarding C3A hydration and ettringite formation, while sucrose and the lignosulfonate accelerate ettringite formation but are more effective at retarding C3S hydration. We have confirmed that sucrose acts via nucleation poisoning/surface adsorption while lignosulfonates involve the formation of a semipermeable layer on the cement grains. The formation of calcium tartrate is clearly the most important step in tartaric acid inhibition; however, tartaric acid only exhibits a dissolution−precipitation mechanism for C3A. Under conditions of excess calcium, the formation of a calcium tartrate overlayer does not require the pred...
Nearly redundant parameters and measures of persistence in economic time series

Abstract Many economic time series are nonstationary, apparently exhibiting persistent cycles around a smoothly growing trend. First-differencing removes the nonstationarity, but creates another problem: near parameter redundancy. This paper explores the serious bias and wide dispersion of parameter estimates created by standard Box-Jenkins methods applied to weakly trend-reverting series, and shows that this bias can be substantially reduced by the estimation of appropriately specified unobserved components models.
Spin-fermion model near the quantum critical point: one-loop renormalization group results

We consider spin and electronic properties of itinerant electron systems, described by the spin-fermion model, near the antiferromagnetic critical point. We expand in the inverse number of hot spots in the Brillouin zone, $N$, and present the results beyond the previously studied $N\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\infty}$ limit. We found two new effects: (i) Fermi surface becomes nested at hot spots, and (ii) vertex corrections give rise to anomalous spin dynamics and change the dynamical critical exponent from $z\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}2$ to $zg2$. To first order in $1/N$ we found $z\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}2N/(N\ensuremath{-}2)$ which for a physical $N\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}8$ yields $z\ensuremath{\approx}2.67$.
Handprinting Input device for computer systems

As of the present moment, the slowest process in computer technology is data preparation and the input operation. Among the proposed solutions to this problem are direct-reading handprinting input devices that boast of at least 95 percent accuracy. Character recognition is accomplished by means of linear decision functions, which are designed using an adaptive procedure. This technique allows flexibility in the character set, and the system may be tailored to a variety of users. The only drawback to widespread use is the present lack of economically feasible applications.
Quantum informational model of 3+1 dimensional gravitational dynamics

Quantum information theory is undergoing rapid development and recently there has been much progress in mapping out its relationship to low dimensional gravity, primarily through Chern-Simons topological quantum field theory and conformal field theory, with the prime application being topological quantum computation. Less attention has been paid to the relationship of quantum information theory to the long established and well tested theory of gravitational dynamics of 3+1 dimensional spacetime. Here we discuss this question in the weak field approximation of the 4-space metric tensor. The proposed approach considers a quantum algorithmic scheme suitable for simulating physical curved space dynamics that is traditionally described by the well known Einstein-Hilbert action. The quantum algorithmic approach builds upon Einstein's veirbein representation of gravity, which Einstein originally developed back in 1928 in his search for a unified field theory and, moreover, which is presently widely accepted as the preferred theoretical approach for representing dynamical relativistic Dirac fields in curved space. Although the proposed quantum algorithmic scheme is regular-lattice based it nevertheless recovers both the Einstein equation of motion as an effective field theory and invariance of the gravitational gauge field (i.e., the spin connection) with respect to Lorentz transformations as the local symmetry group in the low energy limit.
DNA ribonucleases that are active against intracellular hepatitis B viral RNA targets

DNA ribonucleases directed against direct repeat 1 (DR1) and polyadenylation signal regions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) messages were prepared with phosphorothioate modifications and varying arm lengths. DNA ribonucleases modified throughout the entire molecule and in the target binding arms were completely protected from degradation after incubation with serum. DNA ribonuclease modified only at the 5' and 3' termini remained 92.9% intact after incubation. Molecules with no modification were degraded to 67.6% under the same conditions. However, modification of the entire molecule and in the recognition arms resulted in 99.8% and 98.4% inactivation of cleavage activity, respectively. Modification of only the termini resulted in retention of 20% to 40% of original activity. Lengthening each terminally modified arm from 9 to 11 nucleotides increased cleavage efficiency almost 10-fold. In Huh 7 cells, DR1-directed DNA ribonucleases with terminal modifications significantly suppressed HBV-luciferase fusion gene expression up to 48% of control. In contrast, DNA ribonucleases had no effect on a control construct lacking any HBV target sequences. Moreover, inactivated mutant and HCV-directed DNA ribonucleases had no significant effects on the HBV target. We conclude that resistance of DNA ribonucleases to degradation can be enhanced through phosphorothioate modification. Cleavage activity can be retained by limiting modification to the termini and lengthening the recognition arms. Such DNA ribonucleases can be made to specifically cleave target HBV RNA and substantially inhibit intracellular viral gene expression.
Car make and model recognition using 3D curve alignment

We present a new approach for recognizing the make and model of a car from a single image. While most previous methods are restricted to fixed or limited viewpoints, our system is able to verify a car's make and model from an arbitrary view. Our model consists of 3D space curves obtained by backprojecting image curves onto silhouette-based visual hulls and then refining them using three-view curve matching. These 3D curves are then matched to 2D image curves using a 3D view-based alignment technique. We present two different methods for estimating the pose of a car, which we then use to initialize the 3D curve matching. Our approach is able to verify the exact make and model of a car over a wide range of viewpoints in cluttered scenes.
Enabling Wide Area Single System Image Experimentation on the GENI Platform

The Single System Image (SSI) clustering technology hides the distributed nature of the participating resources, and makes them appear as a single homogeneous computing resource to the user. An SSI cluster can utilize all the available processing power and memory from its participating resources. However, using the current implementations, an SSI can only be formed using nodes which are within one-hop distance of each other. This implies that nodes have to be within the same broadcast domain / Local Area Network (LAN) in order to participate in an SSI cluster. This limits the full potential of SSIs. In this research, we propose enhancements to the existing SSI technology to overcome the one-hop limitation, thus enabling nodes over a WAN to form SSI clusters. GENI provides a perfect platform for such experimentation. In this paper, we report our initial success in enabling Transparent Interprocess Communication Protocol (TIPC) over wide area nodes in GENI and progress in backporting the TIPC 2.0 protocol, with support for communication over WANs, to Kerrighed, an open-source software for creating SSIs.