cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multi-organ segmentation in pelvic CT images with CT-based synthetic MRI

We propose a hybrid deep learning-based method, which includes a cycle consistent generative adversarial network (CycleGAN) and deep attention fully convolution network implemented by a U-Net (DAUnet), to perform volumetric multi-organ segmentation for pelvic computed tomography (CT). The proposed method first utilized CycleGAN to generate synthetic MRI (sMRI) to provide superior soft tissue contrast. Then, the proposed method fed the sMRI into the DAUnet to obtain the volumetric segmentation of bladder, prostate and rectum, simultaneously, via a multi-channel output. The deep attention strategy was introduced to retrieve the most relevant features to identify organ boundaries. Deep supervision was incorporated into the DAUnet to enhance the features’ discriminative ability. Segmented contours of a patient were obtained by feeding the CT image into the trained CycleGAN to generate sMRI, which was then fed to the trained DAUnet to generate the organ contours. A retrospective studied was performed with data sets from 45 patients with prostate cancer. The Dice similarity coefficient and mean surface distance indices for bladder, prostate, and rectum contours were 0.94, 0.47 mm; 0.86, 0.78 mm; and 0.89, 0.85 mm, respectively. The proposed network provides accurate and consistent prostate, bladder and rectum segmentation without the need of additional MRIs. With further evaluation and clinical implementation, this method has the potential to facilitate routine prostate-cancer radiotherapy treatment planning.
A Comprehensive Review of Over-the-counter Treatment for Chronic Migraine Headaches

Migraine headaches are a neurologic disorder characterized by attacks of moderate to severe throbbing headache that are typically unilateral, exacerbated by physical activity, and associated with phonophobia, photophobia, nausea, and vomiting. In the USA, the overall age-adjusted prevalence of migraine in female and male adults is 22.3% and 10.8%, respectively. Migraine is a disabling disease that ranks as the 8th most burdensome disease in the world and the 4th most in women. The overarching hypothesis of migraine pathophysiology describes migraine as a disorder of the pain modulating system, caused by disruptions of the normal neural networks of the head. The activation of these vascular networks results in meningeal vasodilation and inflammation, which is perceived as head pain. The primary goals of acute migraine therapy are to reduce attack duration and severity. Current evidence-based therapies for acute migraine attacks include acetaminophen, four nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), seven triptans, NSAID–triptan combinations, dihydroergotamine, non-opioid combination analgesics, and several anti-emetics. Over-the-counter medications are an important component of migraine therapy and are considered a first-line therapy for most migraineurs. These medications, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin, have shown strong efficacy when used as first-line treatments for mild-to-moderate migraine attacks. The lower cost of over-the-counter medications compared with prescription medications also makes them a preferred therapy for some patients. In addition to their efficacy and lower cost, over-the-counter medications generally have fewer and less severe adverse effects, have more favorable routes of administration (oral vs. subcutaneous injection), and reduced abuse potential. The purpose of this review is to provide a comprehensive evidence-based update of over-the-counter pharmacologic options for chronic migraines.
Menopausal hormone therapy and mortality among endometrial cancer patients in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.

While menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is an established endometrial cancer risk factor, its relationship with mortality among endometrial cancer patients is understudied. Within the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, we examined the associations of pre-diagnosis MHT use with 10-year all-cause and endometrial cancer-specific mortality among 890 endometrial cancer patients. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for tumor characteristics, treatment, and other risk factors. Endometrial cancer cases were diagnosed a median of 4.6 years (range 0.0–10.1 years) after the second risk factor questionnaire was completed. We identified a total of 241 deaths, of which 104 were due to endometrial cancer. Compared with non-MHT use, pre-diagnosis use of estrogen plus progestin therapy (EPT)-only was associated with lower 10-year all-cause (HR 0.65, 95 % CI 0.43–0.99, based on 29 deaths) and endometrial cancer-specific mortality (HR 0.51, 95 % CI 0.26–0.98, based on 11 deaths). Recency of MHT use, assessed approximately 5 years prior to the endometrial cancer diagnosis, was associated with mortality. Compared with non-MHT users, former ET users had higher all-cause (HR 1.71, 95 % CI 1.02–2.88, based on 18 deaths) and endometrial cancer-specific mortality (HR 2.17, 95 % CI 0.96–4.90, based on 8 deaths), whereas current EPT users had nonsignificant lower risks of death. Based on small numbers, we observed that pre-diagnosis use of EPT was related to lower mortality among endometrial cancer patients. Future studies examining the biological mechanisms underlying this association are warranted.
Incarcerating Exceptional Pupils: Is There a School‐to‐Prison Pipeline in Eastern Oklahoma?*

Objective We examine the referral of students, including special needs students, from public schools in eastern Oklahoma to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA), the state's juvenile justice authority. Methods Using data from 154 public schools in 10 eastern Oklahoma counties and using ordinary least squares and Tobit analyses, we explore the following general research question: Do some schools refer students to the OJA at greater rates than other schools, and if so, why? Results The results indicate that greater percentages of students referred by public schools to the OJA are consistently related to higher percentages of African‐American, Latino, and male students—and in some cases, to higher percentages of special needs students and students receiving free/reduced lunch. Conclusion These findings strongly suggest that policies and practices implemented by public schools may contribute to disparate outcomes.
Learning Approaches for Facial Expression Recognition in Ageing Adults: A Comparative Study

Average life expectancy has increased steadily in recent decades. This phenomenon, considered together with aging of the population, will inevitably produce in the next years deep social changes that lead to the need of innovative services for elderly people, focused to improve the wellbeing and the quality of life. In this context many potential applications would benefit from the ability of automatically recognize facial expression with the purpose to reflect the mood, the emotions and also mental activities of an observed subject. Although facial expression recognition (FER) is widely investigated by many recent scientific works, it still remains a challenging task for a number of important factors among which one of the most discriminating is the age. In the present work an optimized Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture is proposed and evaluated on two benchmark datasets (FACES and Lifespan) containing expressions performed also by aging adults. As baseline, and with the aim of making a comparison, two traditional machine learning approaches based on handcrafted features extraction process are evaluated on the same datasets. Experimentation confirms the efficiency of the proposed CNN architecture with an average recognition rate higher than 93.6% for expressions performed by ageing adults when a proper set of CNN parameters was used. Moreover, the experimentation stage showed that the deep learning approach significantly improves the baseline approaches considered, and the most noticeable improvement was obtained when considering facial expressions of ageing adults.
Exploring the effects of allegations of sexual misconduct on political careers

Recently, many prominent public figures have been accused of sexual misconduct, with American politicians being no exception. In light of the prominence and deeply personal nature of sexual miscond...
An Integrated Data System Lens Into Evictions and Their Effects

This study uses linked administrative records to examine the disruptive effects of eviction on adults and children in low-income households. By linking eviction filings for the City of Cleveland, O...
Charismatic and Visionary Leaders.

Charismatic leaders play fascinating roles in society, for good and for ill. In the United States, we are aware of the power of Martin Luther King and John Lewis in the fight for equal rights, and every country will have its heroes in its struggles for freedom. And, we are equally aware of the impact of despots who have led to terrible miscarriages of justice. We are less accustomed to think of the roles of charismatic leaders in our scientific communities, as we prefer to believe that we all “follow the science” rather than the scientist! Nonetheless, my eyes were opened to the impact of personal charisma in science at the Society for Neuroscience Meeting in 1980. I was chatting with a very fine membrane biophysicist when Eric Kandel walked by and my colleague said, “Kandel is my hero.” I was surprised, as the work my friend did was detailed characterization of membrane currents, far from the grand sweep of Kandel’s work. And when I asked my friend why he revered Kandel, he said that he didn’t dare to dream to big picture questions but restricted himself to elucidating the details of cellular mechanisms precisely because of his own lack of visionary courage. My friend valued Kandel, not for the details of his experiments, but for articulating that someday it would be possible to establish the molecular and cellular bases of learning and memory. I learned from this conversation that scientists add value or are destructive to our collective enterprise in disparate ways. Henry Markram is one of these fascinating individuals who dared to set himself and our community the most ambitious of goals. I first met Markram early in his career when he was doing breathtaking and virtuoso work in brain slices, first as a postdoc and then as …
Avoiding bias when inferring race using name-based approaches.

Racial disparity in academia is a widely acknowledged problem. The quantitative understanding of racial-based systemic inequalities is an important step towards a more equitable research system. However, few large-scale analyses have been performed on this topic, mostly because of the lack of robust race-disambiguation algorithms. Identifying author information does not generally include the author's race. Therefore, an algorithm needs to be employed, using known information about authors, i.e., their names, to infer their perceived race. Nevertheless, as any other algorithm, the process of racial inference can generate biases if it is not carefully considered. When the research is focused on the understanding of racial-based inequalities, such biases undermine the objectives of the investigation and may perpetuate inequities. The goal of this article is to assess the biases introduced by the different approaches used name-based racial inference. We use information from US census and mortgage applications to infer the race of US author names in the Web of Science. We estimate the effects of using given and family names, thresholds or continuous distributions, and imputation. Our results demonstrate that the validity of name-based inference varies by race and ethnicity and that threshold approaches underestimate Black authors and overestimate White authors. We conclude with recommendations to avoid potential biases. This article fills an important research gap that will allow more systematic and unbiased studies on racial disparity in science.
Recruitment of newly acquired category exemplars into unconscious processing systems is rapid and durable.

Abstract In a series of 3 unconscious priming experiments, we investigated if newly acquired English language words can become integrated into unconscious processing systems, and what preconditions are required to enable this process. In each experiment participants learned English language names of extremely rare fish and flowers in a single learning session. After a varying interval of time and in some cases a brief session of repeated conscious exposure (relearning), the newly learned words were presented as briefly flashed, visually masked primes in a standard unconscious category priming procedure. Results show that newly acquired words are recruited quickly into unconscious processing systems. Furthermore, this acquisition persists for at least 48 h and is dependent on prime duration. Since priming was only obtained after an interval that included overnight sleep, consolidation during sleep may play a role in the integration of novel words into unconscious processing systems.
The Genocide of Whales:A Crime Against Humanity

Whales, which spend their entire lives roaming over the oceans of our planet, are true world citizens. They pass through man's carefully defined boundaries without hesitation. National fishing or economic zones and territorial claims are not, in reality, painted on the seas and do not interrupt their instinctual travels. Although the migratory patterns of individual species vary, whales generally feed in the world's rich cold waters during the summer months, then breed in the warmer waters in the winter.1 For example, every winter the gray whale migrates approximately 5,000 miles from Arctic feeding waters down the Pacific Coast to the calving and mating sanctuaries in the lagoons of lower California.2 A complete seasonal trip for these world travelers is about 10,000 miles.
The enhanced mutagenic potential of the MucAB proteins correlates with the highly efficient processing of the MucA protein.

Inducible mutagenesis in Escherichia coli requires the direct action of the chromosomally encoded UmuDC proteins or functional homologs found on certain naturally occurring plasmids. Although structurally similar, the five umu-like operons that have been characterized at the molecular level vary in their ability to enhance cellular and phage mutagenesis; of these operons, the mucAB genes from the N-group plasmid pKM101 are the most efficient at promoting mutagenesis. During the mutagenic process, UmuD is posttranslationally processed to an active form, UmuD9. To explain the more potent mutagenic efficiency of mucAB compared with that of umuDC it has been suggested that unlike UmuD, intact MucA is functional for mutagenesis. To examine this possibility, we have overproduced and purified the MucA protein. Although functionally similar to UmuD, MucA was cleaved much more rapidly both in vitro and in vivo than UmuD. In vivo, restoration of mutagenesis functions to normally nonmutable recA430, recA433, recA435, or recA730 delta(umuDC)595::cat strains by either MucA+ or mutant MucA protein correlated with the appearance of the cleavage product, MucA9. These results suggest that most of the differences in mutagenic phenotype exhibited by MucAB and UmuDC correlate with the efficiency of posttranslational processing of MucA and UmuD rather than an inherent activity of the unprocessed proteins. Images
Method of Moments

This article describes empirical methods for estimating dynamic economic systems using time-series data. By design, the methods target specific feature of the dynamic system and do not require a complete specification of the time-series evolution. The resulting generalized-method-of-moments estimation and inference methods use estimating equations implied by some components of a dynamic economic system. This entry describes the statistical methods and some applications of these methods.
Symmetry and satisfiability: an update

The past few years have seen significant progress in algorithms and heuristics for both SAT and symmetry detection. Additionally, the thesis that some of SAT’s intractability can be explained by the presence of symmetry, and that it can be addressed by the introduction of symmetry-breaking constraints, was tested, albeit only to a rather limited extent. In this paper we explore further connections between symmetry and satisfiability and demonstrate the existence of intractable SAT instances that exhibit few or no symmetries. Specifically, we describe a highly scalable symmetry detection algorithm based on a decision tree that combines elements of group-theoretic computation and SAT-inspired backtracking search, and provide results of its application on the SAT 2009 competition benchmarks. For SAT instances with significant symmetry we also compare SAT runtimes with and without the addition of symmetry-breaking constraints.
Adaptive filtering without a desired signal

In least-squares estimation problems, a desired signal d(n) is estimated using a linear combination of L successive data samples, [ x(n), x(n - 1), . . . , x(n-L+1) ]. The weight set W opt which minimizes the mean-square error between d(n) and the estimate is given by the product of the inverse data covariance matrix and the cross-correlation between the data vector and the desired signal, i.e. the P-vector. For those cases in which time samples of both the desired and data vector signals are available, a variety of adaptive methods have been proposed which will guarantee that an iterative weight vector W_{a}(n) converges (in some sense) to the optimal solution. Two which have been extensively studied are the recursive least-squares (RLS) method and the LMS gradient approximation approach. There are several problems of interest in the communication and radar environment in which the optimal least-squares weight set is of interest and in which time samples of the desired signal are not available. Examples can be found in array processing in which only the direction of arrival of the desired signal is known and in single channel filtering where the spectrum of the desired response is known a priori. One approach to these problems which has been suggested is the P-vector algorithm which is an LMS-like approximate gradient method. Although it is easy to derive the mean and variance of the weights which result with this algorithm, there has never been an identification of the corresponding underlying error surface which the procedure searches. The purpose of this paper is to suggest an alternative approach to providing adaptive solutions to problems in which samples of d(n) are unavailable. The method is based on the use of linearly-constrained minimum mean-square error methods. The constraint used is simply that the inner product of the filter weights with the known P-vector must be unity. The criterion employed is then minimization of total output power, subject to this constraint. Once this problem has been formulated, it can be readily implemented in either scalar or multi-channel form using the Generalized Sidelobe Canceller method. Both LMS-like and RLS algorithms may be employed to update the coefficients.
Domain structure and RNA annealing activity of the Escherichia coli regulatory protein StpA

The Escherichia coli regulatory protein StpA bears striking similarity to the chromatin-associated protein H-NS. These two proteins have many structural, functional and mechanistic parallels. Although H-NS is more abundant in the cell, both proteins act as transcriptional regulators, both bind to curved DNA and both restrain DNA supercoils. However, StpA is better able to promote RNA annealing and trans-splicing in vitro. In this study, phylogenetic analyses and experiments to examine the protease sensitivity of StpA and H-NS suggest a similar structure for the two proteins. Both proteins consist of two structured domains separated by an exposed protease-sensitive linker. The N-terminal (StpA-NterL) and C-terminal (StpA-CterL) domains of StpA, as well as the full-length StpA and H-NS proteins, were cloned, overproduced in E. coli and purified to homogeneity. StpA-CterL, but not StpA-NterL, promotes strand annealing of complementary RNA oligonucleotides and in vitro trans-splicing of a model group I intron. Both StpA and StpA-CterL exhibited stronger RNA-modulating activity than H-NS. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the N-terminal and C-terminal domains can exist autonomously. The phylogenetic and experimental data are compatible with a two-domain model for StpA and H-NS, with independently functioning modules joined by a non-conserved linker, and with the observed RNA-related activities residing entirely within the C-terminal domain.
PSEUDOMONAS BURN WOUND SEPSIS. I PATHOGENESIS OF EXPERIMENTAL PSEUDOMONAS BURN WOUND SEPSIS.

Summary The bacteriologic and clinicopathologic features of experimental Pseudomonas burn wound sepsis display an orderly sequence of progression. There is initial supraeschar and intrafollicular (hair) bacillary localization followed by more widespread intraeschar colonization. By the fourth and fifth days, bacilli have invaded to the junction of the burned and viable tissue, and at this time a low grade bacteremia becomes evident. Bacteria then invade to the zone of viable granulation tissue. During the terminal phase of the disease, the bacterial invasion front destroys the granulation tissue zone and invades the deeper tissues. This is associated with a rise in pseudomonad count in the blood stream and the appearance of visceral hematogenous lesions, leukopenia and hypothermia. The hematogenous lesions not infrequently show Pseudomonas vasculitis similar to that seen in the human disease. The details of the bacteriologic and clinicopathologic findings of burn wound sepsis in the rat are discussed in relation to its human counterpart.
Dynamics of Large Autonomous Computational Systems

Distributed large-scale computation gives rise to a wide range of behaviors, from the simple to the chaotic. This diversity of behaviors stems from the fact that the agents and programs have incomplete knowledge and imperfect information on the state of the system. We describe an instantiation of such systems based on market mechanisms, which provides an interesting example of autonomous control. We also show that when agents choose among several resources, the dynamics of the system can be oscillatory and even chaotic. Furthermore, we describe a mechanism for achieving global stability through local controls.
Fos protein expression and cocaine-seeking behavior in rats after exposure to a cocaine self-administration environment

To examine neuronal activation associated with incentive motivation for cocaine, cocaine-seeking behavior (operant responding without cocaine reinforcement) and Fos expression were examined in rats exposed to saline and cocaine priming injections and/or a self-administration environment. Rats were first trained to self-administer cocaine or received yoked saline administration ("control"). They then received 21 daily exposures to either the self-administration environment ("extinction") or a different environment ("no extinction") without cocaine available. Extinction training, used to decrease incentive motivation for cocaine elicited by the self-administration environment, decreased cocaine-seeking behavior elicited by both the environment and the cocaine priming injection. Exposure to the self-administration environment enhanced Fos expression in the no extinction group relative to control and extinction groups in the anterior cingulate, basolateral amygdala, hippocampal CA1 region, dentate gyrus, nucleus accumbens shell and core, and central gray area, regardless of whether or not priming injections were given. The priming injections enhanced Fos expression in the ventral tegmental area, caudate putamen, substantia nigra pars reticulata, entorhinal cortex, central amygdala, lateral amygdala, arcuate nucleus, and central gray area, regardless of group. Thus, these changes likely reflect an unconditioned effect from either cocaine or injection stress. The priming injections also enhanced Fos expression in the anterior cingulate, but only in cocaine-experienced groups, suggesting that this enhancement reflects an experience-dependent motivational effect of the priming injections. The results suggest that different neural circuits may be involved in the incentive motivational effects of cocaine-paired environmental stimuli versus priming injections and that the anterior cingulate may be part of a common pathway for both.
Visual collision avoidance by segmentation

Visual collision avoidance involves two difficult subproblems: obstacle recognition and depth measurement. We present a class of algorithms that use particularly simple methods for each subproblem and derive a set of sufficient conditions for their proper functioning based on a set of idealizations. We then discuss and compare two different implementations of the approach on mobile robots and discuss their performance. Finally, we experimentally validate the idealizations. >
People, Stars, and Scopes

Miss Leavitt's Stars . The Untold Story of the Woman Who Discovered How to Measure the Universe. By George Johnson . Norton, New York, 2005. 176 pp. $22.95, C$34. ISBN 0-393-05128-5. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. £14.99. ISBN 0-297-84647-7. Great Discoveries. Stargazer . The Life and Times of the Telescope. By Fred Watson . Da Capo, Cambridge, MA, 2005. 352 pp. $24.95, C$32.95. ISBN 0-306-81432-3. Allen and Unwin, St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia, 2004. A$35. ISBN 1-865-08658-4. Writing for a popular audience, the authors take a human-interest approach to the history of astronomy. Johnson focuses on the woman whose computations led to the use of Cepheid variable stars as a cos-mic yardstick. Watson highlights people who made important contributions to the development of optical telescopes over the past four centuries.
Carrier false lock performance for TDRS TT&C transponder

In this paper the mechanism of carrier false lock phenomenon of a design of TDRS TT&C transponder is analyzed in details. It is found that the carrier false lock is due to the excessive time delays in the filters and other electronic components in the long tracking loop. The stability of the AGC and the command lock out issues of the same transponder are also addressed. Suggestions on the fixes are also provided. >
The Tracking of Pioneer IV; The Elements of a Deep Space Tracking System

THE tracking of the lunar probe Pioneer IV is described. A number of different types of facilities were used for this purpose, using equipments of varying complexity from a 3-foot diameter antenna as launch instrumentation to the 250-foot antenna at Jodrell Bank, England. The Goldstone Lake, Calif. equipment, installed and used by JPL for tracking this vehicle is described. This consists of an 85-foot diameter parabolic antenna located on a polar mount. A phase-locked receiving system was used in conjunction with this antenna. Automatic, real-time data transmission was used between the computing center and some of the receiving stations. The extension of this three station system into a comprehensive network for the tracking of probe and satellite vehicles is described. The pertinent features of the stations that would form this network will be enumerated, ated, such as the effect of location upon efficiency of coverage for various types of orbits. The design of multipurpose equipment which can be of service to a number of programs is of importance. The gathering of both position and telemetry data is assumed for these stations.
Thermodynamic representation of high-pressure vapour-liquid equilibria

Abstract The purpose of thermodynamic analysis of high-pressure equilibrium data is outlined and techniques for performing such analysis along an isotherm are proposed. In the liquid phase, the activity coefficient of the heavy component is referred to the pure component but the activity coefficient for the light component is referred to the infinitely dilute solution; thus both activity coefficients approach unity as the mole fraction of the light component approaches zero. By adjusting all activity coefficients to correspond to a fixed pressure, they must satisfy the isothermal, isobaric Gibbs-Duhem equation without corrections for volume change on mixing; as a result it is possible to use well-known integrated forms of the Gibbs-Duhem equation to give analytical representation of the adjusted activity coefficients as a function of composition. It is shown that the general treatment proposed here reduces to the Krichevsky-Kasarnovsky equation for very dilute solutions. The proposed analysis is applied to phase equilibrium data for the butane-carbon dioxide system up to the critical composition and it is shown that at 160°F the activity coefficients are well represented by the two-constant Van Laar equation; at 280°F a one-constant equation is sufficient. A comparison is made between the observed adjusted activity coefficient for butane and that calculated by various theories of solutions due to L onguet -H iggins , to P riogogine and to S cott . Only the last of these gives rough numerical agreement with the experimental results but it cannot account for the sharp curvature which is observed in the vicinity of the critical point when the adjusted activity coefficient is plotted against composition. On the basis of the thermodynamic analysis, semi-empirical techniques are proposed for estimating high-pressure vapour-liquid equilibrium data in simple mixtures from a minimum of experimental data; these techniques are illustrated for the systems nitrogen-methane and methane-ethylene.
Effects of Depletion Sampling by Standard Three-Pass Pulsed DC Electrofishing on Blood Chemistry Parameters of Fishes from Appalachian Streams

Abstract Adverse effects on fishes captured by electrofishing techniques have long been recognized, although the extent of associated physical injury and behavioral alterations are highly variable and dependent on a number of factors. We examined the effects of three-pass pulsed DC (PDC) electrofishing on two salmonid species (Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis) and five other genera (Green Sunfish Lepomis cyanellus, Potomac Sculpin Cottus girardi, Fathead Minnow Pimephales promelas, Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, and Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus) common to Appalachian streams. We examined the corresponding effects of PDC electroshock on the following physiological indicators of stress and trauma: blood glucose and serum lactate, as well as on other blood chemistry, namely, enzymes, electrolytes, minerals, and proteins. All species demonstrated physiological responses to PDC electroshock, indicated by the biochemical differences in blood parameters in un...
User-centric exergaming with fine-grain activity recognition: a dynamic optimization approach

Exergaming, the use of activity, exercise, and information in video games, has been a growing field for the promotion of wellness and for preventing and treating obesity. Realistic exergaming requires movements that are adapted from detailed, fine-grain motions. An appropriate, active exergame requires a user-centric design, allowing for accurate motion recognition as well as a real-time responsiveness, often balancing accuracy with latency. This paper presents a framework for such an exergaming system, specializing on human interaction. This system includes a method for dynamically altering the algorithm to analyze the trade-off between classification accuracy and real-time responsiveness, allowing for a unique, tailored, interactive experience.
Comment on the Riker paper

I find very little to criticize in this paper and a great deal to admire. What I wish to do therefore is to examine the role that institutions play in political economy and the performance of economies and to look at Bill's paper in the context of that role. Institutions are worth studying for two reasons. (1) They define a limited choice set at a moment of time--limited compared to the tabula raga that is implicit in neoclassical economic theory. Such a set not only limits the choices that can be made but also plays a crucial role in economic performance. (2) They provide the only handle we have to explore the dynamics of political-economic change over time. The path of change and its direction surely are a series of connecting links established by the way institutions evolve through time. I wish to explore both of these issues. First: choice sets are defined by a set of rules, but by themselves rules are insufficient to give us the performance characteristics of an economy or polity at a moment of time. Commenting on Vince Ostrom in a paper that appeared in Public Choice in 1976, Bill said it as well as anybody could. But another main theme is a celebration of the efficacy of constitutional forms in restraining the tyrannical exercise of political power. This is the theme I wish to address. I guess I want to defend the view he attributes
Equity and bond flows to Latin America and Asia: the role of global and country factors

Abstract This paper investigates the factors motivating the large capital flows to a number of developing countries in recent years. We use monthly US capital flows to nine Latin American and nine Asian countries to analyze the behavior of bond and equity flows. Employing a panel data approach, we find that although global factors—the drop in US interest rates and the slowdown in US industrial production—are important in explaining capital inflows, country-specific developments are at least as important, especially for Asia. We also find that equity flows are more sensitive than bond flows to global factors, but that bond flows are generally more sensitive to a country's credit rating and secondary market debt price.
STRICR-FB, a novel Size-Translation-Rotation-Invariant Character Recognition method

Character recognition is an active field of research. Applications include point of sale systems, tablet computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, and military applications. Recognizing Asian characters has been pursued since 1984, and difficulties exist in Japanese due to the complexity and numbers of Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana characters. It is further complicated by differences in size, translation, and rotation. This paper contributes an original approach to constructing feature vectors. The presented Size-Translation-Rotation-Invariant Character Recognition and Feature vector Based STRICR-FB algorithm is based on the Kohonen Winner Take All (WTA) type of unsupervised learning. The algorithm clusters a multidimensional space vectors uniquely derived from the Hiragana characters. The STRICR-FB methodology creates a neural network by design and not by training. This alleviates typical training problems like instability and no convergence. Furthermore, an upper bound degree of closeness is determined by the distance between the two closest unique feature vectors. The STRICR-FB algorithm was implemented in Matlab and uses the Image Processing Toolbox to process the images. The algorithm was tested on the MS Mincho font set. It demonstrated a recognition rate of 90% independent of size, translation, and rotation.
New submillimeter laser lines in optically pumped gas molecules

Abstract A small, pulsed CO2 laser has been used to optically pump gaseous formic acid, ethyl fluoride and ozone as well as other molecules previously know to lase. A large number of new far infrared lines with high intensity have been observed and accurately calibrated.
Intracoronary radiation therapy using a novel beta emitter for in-stent restenosis: Tungsten WRIST

Abstract Background Intracoronary β-radiation therapy reduces in-stent restenosis (ISR). We aimed to determine the safety and feasibility of intracoronary radiation therapy (IRT) utilizing tungsten ( 188 W), a beta emitter. Methods A total of 30 patients with angiographic evidence of ISR in a previously treated native coronary artery underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; balloon angioplasty, ablation by atherectomy, or laser angioplasty). After the intervention, a noncentered delivery catheter with a side guide 0.014-in. wire carrying a tungsten ( 188 W) coil, with an active length of 33 mm, was inserted. Patients were randomized to a radiation dose of 18, 22, or 25 Gy at 2 mm from the center of the source. Aspirin and Plavix, at 300 mg loading dose, were administered prior to intervention. Plavix 75 mg/day was prescribed for 6 months after the procedure. Results At 6 months follow-up, the overall binary angiographic restenosis rate was 18.8%. Target vessel revascularization (TVR) was 23% and target lesion revascularization related major adverse cardiac events (TLR-MACE) was 13.3%, without any intergroup differences. A comparison with the original Washington Radiation for In-stent restenosis Trial (WRIST) radiation cohort utilizing an 192 Iridium source (prescription dose 15 Gy at 2 mm from the source) showed similar TVR and TLR-MACE rates of 30% and 18%, respectively. The TVR and TLR-MACE rates in the WRIST placebo cohort were 70% and 66%, respectively. Conclusions Vascular brachytherapy with tungsten ( 188 W) is feasible and safe. The 6-month clinical outcomes are similar to the original WRIST radiation group.
Electrodialytic Reagent Introduction in Flow Systems

We report on electrodialytic introduction of ionizable molecules of significant size (e.g., 4-(2-pyridyl(azo) resorcinol, PAR)) in capillary scale flow systems. Such reagent introduction can be conducted without volumetric dilution, easily programmed through current control and with excellent mixing characteristics. Electrodialytic transport of large hydrophobic aromatic ions through conventional aromatic ion exchangers is inefficient. Such ions are strongly retained by hydrophobic and pi-pi interactions. An external electric field cannot modulate this retention. We show that the electrodialytic introduction of aromatic dye anions is readily possible through both unmodified cellulose dialysis membranes and through cellulose membranes modified with methacrylate skeleton anion exchangers. The applied electrodialysis current conveniently controls the reagent flux. Although the applied voltage is sufficient to cause electrolytic production of hydrogen and oxygen; the gases are generated outside the flowstream of interest. The present device was constructed with a sub-microliter internal volume. We show capillary scale trace analysis of transition metals. A limit of detection of 0.5 fmol Zn (S/N = 3) is demonstrated with a capillary scale flow injection system with a simple light emitting diode based detector.
An exactly soluble problem of radiative transfer without redistribution in frequency in an inhomogeneous atmosphere.

Abstract The transfer of radiation by coherent scattering and gray absorption is described by the integral equation.
Effects of diffusion on the stability of the equilibrium in multi-species ecological systems.

Continuous population distributions that undergo self-diffusion, migrational cross-diffusion and interaction in a region of (1-, 2- or 3-dimensional) space are described dynamically by a governing system of nonlinear reaction-diffusion equations. It is shown that the constants associated with migrational cross-diffusion are ordinarily nonnegative or nonpositive, contingent on the type of species interaction. A simple sign relationship obtains between the latter diffusivity constants and the rate constants for species interaction in the neighborhood of a spatially uniform equilibrium state, and this relationship of signs serves to simplify the general stability theory for the growth or decay of arbitrary perturbations on a spatially uniform equilibrium state. The stability of the equilibrium state is analyzed and discussed in detail for the case of a generic two-species model, where the self-diffusion and migrational cross-diffusion of species act to either stabilize or destabilize the equilibrium, depending essentially on the character of the species interaction and also on the magnitude of the Helmholtz eigenvalues associated with the region and boundary conditions. In particular, for a prey-predator or host-parasite model, self-diffusion usually helps to stabilize the equilibrium state and migrational cross-diffusion can only act as an additional stabilizing influence, as evidenced generally by the experiments on such two-species systems. Sufficient conditions are derived for stability of the equilibrium state in the general case for an arbitrarily large number of interacting species. It is shown that the equilibrium state is always stable if all species undergo significant self-diffusion and the Helmholtz eigenvalues are suitably large.
Capuchin monkey (Cebus apella) grooms her infant's wound with tools.

After an attack on her 6-day-old infant, a capuchin monkey manufactured, modified, and used simple tools to manipulate her infant's head wound, and applied modified plant materials to the wound. The monkey's preparation and use of plant materials were varied and skillful. Several contextual factors probably facilitated the extension of tool-using behaviors that this female used in treating her own wounds to treating another's wound. We consider these in relation to the prehistorical development of social medicine in our own species.
A pilot study to identify correlates of intentional versus unintentional nonadherence to analgesic treatment for cancer pain.

Existing studies of medication adherence treat “nonadherence” as a monolithic concept. The goal of this study was to isolate correlates of intentional versus unintentional nonadherence for analgesic treatment for cancer pain. Patients were recruited from outpatient oncology clinics in the middle Atlantic region, ≥18 years old, and diagnosed with solid tumors, and had an active prescription of at least one around-the-clock analgesic. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) was used to assesses “unintentional” (forgetfulness/carelessness) and “intentional” (stopping use of medication if feeling better or worse) dimensions of analgesic nonadherence. A visual analog scale was used to assess the percentage of analgesic doses taken in the preceding month. A majority of participants (85.5%) took prescribed analgesics in the index period. However, 51% reported taking only up to 60% of the analgesic doses prescribed to them. Stopping taking analgesics when feeling better was the most commonly reported nonadherence behavior (74%); those reporting “intentional” nonadherence when feeling better were more likely to report not using analgesics in the index week (100% vs. 67.7%; p = .029) and agree that pain medication can keep you from knowing what is going on in your body (p = .029) and were less likely to need stronger pain medication (33.3% vs. 81.5%; p = .003). “Unintentional” nonadherence, i.e., forgetfulness/carelessness, though associated with many analgesic beliefs, was not associated with measures of analgesic use in the index period. These preliminary data indicate that different heuristics underlie intentional versus unintentional nonadherence to analgesia and that intentional and unintentional nonadherence behaviors may have different implications for pain treatment outcomes.
Evidence based medicine in the Intensive Care Unit: Improving care for the septic patient

Evidence based medicine (EBM) introduces a systematic approach to caring for patients that integrates scientific evidence with pathophysiologic reasoning, personal experience and patient values. Published reports are accumulating for the treatment of sepsis and septic shock. Using a case-based approach, we sought to review the evidence, specifically the use of early goal-directed therapy, appropriate and timely administration of broad spectrum antibiotics, availability of blood culture results, source control, appropriate assessment for activated protein C, appropriate assessment for and treatment of adrenal insufficiency, and intensive insulin therapy. Incorporation of evidence based interventions, in addition to active research into the pathogenesis and treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock may reduce the unacceptably high mortality of this disease.
Nuclear data sheets for A = 92

Abstract The 1960 version of the Nuclear Data Sheets for A = 92 has been revised on the basis of experimental data received prior to March 1, 1972. Information from approximately 150 papers and communications has been included in the present evaluation. Ten nuclei are known for A = 92. Only the presumed ground states and their half-lives have been established for 92Br, 92Kr, and 92Ru. Extensive investigations of the 92Kr, 92Rb, and 92Sr decay schemes have been reported, but few spin-parity assignments can be made for levels in the daughter nuclei. The stable nuclei 92Zr and 92Mo have been studied via β-decay, γ-decay, transfer reactions, and inelastic scattering; an appreciable number of spin assignments for low-lying levels are firm. Levels in 92Nb up to 0.5 MeV in excitation are well established by transfer reaction and γ-decay studies; however, only tentative spin assignments can be made, many of which are based on shell-model arguments. An analysis of a preliminary 92Tc decay scheme has resulted in a tentative Jπ=(7+) assignment for the 92Tc ground state, a value not previously suggested in the literature. Reaction, γ-decay, and 92Ru decay studies have established some excited levels in 92Tc, but no spins are known. Several important gaps and uncertainties remain in the data. The normalizations for transition intensities in the 92Kr and 92Rb decay schemes determined by an indirect method result in unexpectedly low log ft values for the ground-state β-branches. Reaction studies are needed to resolve the ambiguity in the placement of low-lying levels in 92Y from 92Sr decay. Above 2.4 MeV in excitation in 92Zr, the correspondence between levels observed in 92Y decay, transfer reactions, and inelastic scattering is not well determined, resulting primarily from the lack of precise energy determinations in reaction studies. An accurate determination of the half-life of the 92Nb ground state and a careful search for the γ-decay of the first-excited state might establish the spin of the ground state independently of shell-model arguments. Firm spin assignments for the lowest-lying 6+ and 8+ levels in 92Mo and a confirmation of the proposed 92Tc decay scheme are required for a firm spin assignment for the 92Tc ground state. The placement of levels in 92Tc observed in γ- and β-decay is uncertain.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL USE OF THE CALLAN--SYMANZIK EQUATION.

Abstract We find that the Callan-Symanzik equation with the intrinsic breaking term omitted suggests ansatz for the differential cross section in the high energy wide angle limit. The agreement with experimental data for the reactions ep → ep, π−p → π−p, pp → pp is very satisfactory.
Methotrexate inhibition of normal trophoblasts in vitro

Abstract Methotrexate is a folic acid inhibitor useful in the treatment of gestational trophoblastic disease. Its effect on normal trophoblast in vitro was studied to help establish a minimum effective dose in vivo for the conservative treatment of ectopic pregnancy. In vitro inhibition of normal trophoblastic cell growth was measured after 48 hours of exposure to variable concentrations of methotrexate (10 −2 to 10 −9 mol/L) and rescue with leucovorin. A modification of Cotte's method of trophoblastic cell enrichment was used. Long-term (10 days) linear growth inhibition was observed at concentrations >10 −5 mol/L. Leucovorin control cultures showed no inhibition of cell growth. The study demonstrates that methotrexate is effective in inhibiting normal trophoblastic cell culture growth in vitro at concentrations 1000 times those reported necessary to inhibit deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in choriocarcinoma cell cultures.