cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Auger Electron Spectroscopy of The CVD Diamond Surface Under Electron Exposure

A simultaneous study of Auger spectra and secondary electron emission from the chemical vapor deposited diamond films under extended electron beam exposure is presented. Up to a 1.2 eV increase in energy of the carbon Auger peak accompanied by the decrease of the total secondary electron yield has been found. Exposure to hydrogen has resulted in recovery of the both Auger peak position and secondary yield. First-principles electronic structure calculations have been carried out to interpret the Auger peak shift. The effect is shown to be due to a change in the surface upper-valence band local density of states of the diamond crystal which is dependent on the extent of hydrogen coverage of the surface.
Effect of Papain-Induced Emphysema on Canine Pulmonary Elastin

AbstractExperimental emphysema was induced in eight beagles by repeated administration of crude papain via aerosol and intratracheal instillation. Significant increases in mean linear intercept in the lungs of the papain treated dogs were consistent with morphological evidence of ruptured alveolar septa. The proportions of elastin in the parenchymal connective tissue were calculated from the desmosine and isodesmosine content of the total connective tissue and of purified elastin from the same specimens. Mean pulmonary elastin proportions determined 2 weeks after the last dose of papain in four dogs with experimental emphysema were only 4.52% ± 1.84 whereas mean pulmonary elastin proportions in four control dogs were 14.42% ± 3.55. In two dogs sacrificed 3 months after the termination of the insult, mean pulmonary elastin proportions were not significantly different from those in the control dogs. Since the elastolytic activity of papain is very low these data suggest that the elastin may be degraded in v...
A forecasting model for state expenditures

In this study, the median voter model is applied to the problem of predicting state public expenditures in four major categories: human services, elementary and secondary education, higher education, and health services. Demand functions for public services are derived within a formal utility-maximizing model. The resulting model is estimated using time-series data for a representative state and the model is used to predict state spending for fiscal year 1985. The results of the estimation are consistent with the predictions of the median voter model and the forecasts correspond closely to those made by the State Bureau of the Budget. In contrast, a naive autoregressive model of state spending performs poorly.
Leaflet geometry extraction and parametric representation of a pericardial artificial heart valve.

AbstractReverse engineering technology was used to reconstruct the complex leaflet geometry of a commercial pericardial valve in our study. Results show that the three-dimensional computer-aided design model of the leaflet surface can be rendered by fitting the surface either to cloud points or by a group of B-splines fitted to a set of cloud points that had been obtained by the process of laser-scanning digitizing. However, an acceptable smooth surface is usually not guaranteed and additional manipulation is required.An alternative method is introduced in this paper, which involves the fitting of an equation to the leaflet geometry to create a smooth surface. The geometrical profile of a pericardial artificial heart valve was scanned using a laser digitizing system. The leaflet profile is represented as a set of cloud points. A quadric surface is fitted to a set of unique points, which were located on the set of cloud points. A mathematical equation is obtained by solving a least-squares fit. The geometr...
Strategies that improve paralyzed human quadriceps femoris muscle performance during repetitive, nonisometric contractions.

Abstract Kebaetse MB, Lee SC, Johnston TE, Binder-Macleod SA. Strategies that improve paralyzed human quadriceps femoris muscle performance during repetitive, nonisometric contractions. Objective To determine the effect of combining different stimulation frequencies on the ability of paralyzed human quadriceps muscle to produce a 50° knee excursion repetitively when starting at 90° of flexion. Design Repeated-measures design. Setting Clinical research laboratory. Participants Complete data were collected from 9 subjects aged 11 to 25 years (mean ± standard deviation, 17.1±4.5y) with spinal cord injury (SCI). Intervention Three protocols were each tested during separate sessions: 20-Hz trains of pulses followed by 66-Hz trains (C20+66), 33-Hz trains followed by 66-Hz trains (C33+66), and 66-Hz trains alone (C66). For each frequency, stimulation was repeated until the knee failed to produce a 50° excursion. This approach allowed us to evaluate the response to stimulation with 20-, 33-, and 66-Hz and combinations of 20- and 66-Hz and 33- and 66-Hz trains. Main Outcome Measure Number of successful contractions. Results The C20 and C33 did not differ (mean, 41.0±12.6 excursions and 42.0±12.3 excursions, respectively), and each produced more excursions than the C66 protocol. The C20+66 and C33+66 protocols produced 51.4±15.0 and 44.9±13.6 excursions, respectively, and the C20+66 was the best protocol overall (all P ≤.05). Conclusions This study showed that stimulation strategies that start with low frequencies and switch to higher frequencies as the muscle fatigues could improve the ability of functional electric stimulation applications to perform repetitive, nonisometric contractions in subjects with SCI.
SU-GG-T-324: Characteristics and Dosimetric Parameters of Small Radiosurgery Photon Beams

Purpose: The accuracy of dosimetric parameters, such as water‐to‐air stopping power ratios, directly affects the accuracy of a beam calibration. This study investigates the variation of dosimetric parameters, such as energy spectrum, water‐to‐air stopping power ratios, energy absorption coefficient, etc., as a function of field size and depth in water for small radiosurgeryphoton beams. Method and Materials: The Monte Carlo simulation techniques were used in this study. The accelerator head geometries of a Varian Trilogy were simulated in detail including two designs of flattening filters: one for a conventional dose rate (100–600 MU/min) and the other for a high‐dose rate (1000 MU/min) 6 MV beam. The design of the flattening filter to produce a high‐dose rate beam limits its maximum field size to 10×10 cm2. The investigated field sizes range from 0.5 cm in diameter to 10×10 cm2 and depths range from 0–50 cm in water. Results: Although there are noticeable differences in the spectrum distributions for beams with different flattening filters, the variations in calculated water‐to‐air stopping power ratios (SPR) are within 0.2%. The values of calculated water‐to‐air SPR as a function of field size and depth in a water phantom show a maximum variation of 0.4% and 1% respectively. The mean energy of photons increases as depth increases at a rate of 22 keV/cm for small fields. Conclusion: There is an insignificant variation (<0.4%) in water‐to‐air stopping power ratios between a small narrow field and a reference 10×10 cm2 field. There is negligible difference (0.2%) in water‐to‐air SPR between beams with two very different beam flattening filters. Variations of water‐to‐air SPR are not significant between small and large field. Hence correction of water‐to‐air SPR between a reference field and a small field is negligible in the dose measurement for the small field.
Abstract 3053: Identification of a novel cytoplasmic role for MTDH/AEG-1 in chemoresistance as a RNA binding protein

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Overexpression of metadherin (MTDH/AEG-1) has been documented in many solid tumors and is implicated in metastasis and chemoresistance. MTDH has been detected at the plasma membrane as well as in the cytoplasm and nucleus, and the function of MTDH in these locales remains under investigation. In the nucleus, MTDH acts as a transcription co-factor to induce expression of chemoresistance-associated genes. However, MTDH is predominantly cytoplasmic in solid tumors, and this localization has been shown to correlate with poor prognosis. In this study, we used endometrial cancer cells as a model system to define a new role for MTDH in the cytoplasm. First, MTDH was primarily localized to the cytoplasm in endometrial cancer cells, and the N-terminal region of MTDH was required to maintain cytoplasmic localization. Depletion of cytoplasmic MTDH in endometrial cancer cells restored chemosensitivity to various DNA damaging agents including mitomycin C (MMC) and doxorubicin. Next, we identified novel binding partners for cytoplasmic MTDH, including ribosome protein RPL4, ribosome biogenesis-related protein NPM1, and a component of the RNA induced silencing complex SND1. Association of MTDH with these cytoplasmic proteins was disrupted by nuclease treatment, demonstrating that nucleic acid is required for the interaction of cytoplasmic MTDH with these RNA metabolism and processing proteins. Furthermore, RNA binding protein-chromatin IP (RIP-chIP) analysis demonstrated that MTDH interacted with multiple mRNAs, and treatment with the PI3K and mTOR dual inhibitor BEZ235 altered the pattern of mRNAs that associate with MTDH. Knockdown of MTDH promoted an increase in protein levels of some MTDH-associated mRNAs. Finally, increased stress granule formation was observed in MTDH knockdown cells in response to heat shock, suggesting that one mechanism by which MTDH promotes chemoresistance is prevention of stress granule formation. Taken together, our data identify MTDH as an active RNA binding protein in the cytoplasm of cancer cells. Our findings suggest that the RNA binding properties of cytoplasmic MTDH serve to regulate genes involved in the drug resistance and metastasis of tumors and highlight MTDH as an ideal target for future drug development. Acknowledgements: This work was supported by NIH Grant R01CA99908 to K.K.L., and in part by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research Development Fund, the Institutional Research Grant Number IRG-77-004-31 from the American Cancer Society to XM. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3053. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3053
Flotillin-1 is essential for PKC-triggered endocytosis and membrane microdomain localization of DAT

The authors report that the protein Flotillin-1/Reggie-2 (Flot1) is required for PKC-regulated internalization of the dopamine transporter (DAT) and the glial glutamate transporter EAAT2. Flot1 was required to localize DAT within plasma membrane microdomains in stable cell lines, and for amphetamine-induced reverse transport of dopamine in neurons.
Hierarchical indexing data structure method for verifying the functionality of the STI-to-PCI bridge chips of the IBM eServer z900

The IBM eServer z900 has an overall system I/O bandwidth which is three times that of IBM S/390® G5/G6 servers, necessitating the use of Self-Timed-Interface (STI)-to-Peripheral-Component-Interface (PCI) bridge chips to exploit this bandwidth. The chips are used to form a layer between the networking attachments of the z900 and its main storage complex. The layer adapts the high-speed point-to-point packet-oriented STI interface of the z900 to its multi-drop PCI bus structure. This paper describes a method for verifying the functionality of the STI-to-PCI bridge chips by implementing a hierarchical indexing method to support all address dispatching, data management, and data integrity checking. The method is at the core of the random-element-level verification methodology to support all data movement mainline testing of the z900. Monitors, checkers, and drivers were developed and integrated as part of the overall methodology to verify all external interfaces.
A continuum model for momentum, heat and species transport in binary solid-liquid phase change systems—I. Model formulation

Abstract Semi-empirical laws and microscopic descriptions of transport behavior have been integrated with principles of classical mixture theory to obtain a set of continuum conservation equations for binary, solid-liquid phase change systems. For a restricted, yet frequently encountered, class of phase change systems, the continuum equations have been cast into forms amenable to clear physical interpretation and solution by conventional numerical procedures.
Determination of three-dimensional grain boundary connectivity from two-dimensional microstructures

The connectivity of so-called “special” and “general” grain boundaries at a quadruple node is known to be nonrandom as a result of crystallographic constraints. Although a quadruple node is a three-dimensional feature, there exist two-dimensional features which are topologically identical. Therefore, the distribution of these two-dimensional features may be used to determine the three-dimensional connectivity. Computer simulations of a three-dimensional microstructure which is virtually serial sectioned are used to validate the proposed approach.
Direct Loss Minimization for Structured Prediction

In discriminative machine learning one is interested in training a system to optimize a certain desired measure of performance, or loss. In binary classification one typically tries to minimizes the error rate. But in structured prediction each task often has its own measure of performance such as the BLEU score in machine translation or the intersection-over-union score in PASCAL segmentation. The most common approaches to structured prediction, structural SVMs and CRFs, do not minimize the task loss: the former minimizes a surrogate loss with no guarantees for task loss and the latter minimizes log loss independent of task loss. The main contribution of this paper is a theorem stating that a certain perceptron-like learning rule, involving features vectors derived from loss-adjusted inference, directly corresponds to the gradient of task loss. We give empirical results on phonetic alignment of a standard test set from the TIMIT corpus, which surpasses all previously reported results on this problem.
Disk reads with DRAM latency

To overcome the relative deterioration of secondary storage performance, input/output systems are being designed around highly parallel disk arrays, high-bandwidth optical networks, and cache-specialized file systems. Disk arrays increase secondary storage throughput by spreading data over many disks so that large accesses are striped for parallel operation and so that many small accesses can operate concurrently. Fast networks preserve throughput improvements derived from disk arrays on file server as data is delivered to increasingly distant client systems. Secondary storage latency is primarily addressed by large client and server file caches. Whenever data to be read is found in the cache or data to be written can be delayed in the cache, latency is as short as if secondary storage were constructed with semiconductor memory. The current research focuses on reducing the access latency for data to be read that is not already cached. >
The ADMSEP Education Scholars Program: a novel approach to cultivating scholarship among psychiatry educators.

The author describes the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry’s Education Scholars Program, a 2-year longitudinal, guided mentorship program, anchored by didactic instruction in the fundamental concepts of educational scholarship.
Immediate prosthesis for the resected mandible

One of the most challenging problems confronting the prosthodontist at the present time is the cosmetic and func­ tional reconstruction of the resected mandible. The search for a method of immediate and permanent replacement of this structure had led to the use of various materials and technics. Freeman1 reports several cases where Vitallium plates were used to immobilize the bony ends after resection of the mandible. He states that although the use of bars and plates in the mandible has been decried by others,2 technics, rather than the appliances employed, have been at fault. Conley and Pack3 describe a method of fixing a bone graft firmly and perma­ nently in place by the use of a stainless steel bone plate; however, the plate itself was not used as the prosthetic restoration. Castigliano and Gross4 report a case of advanced primary neoplasm treated by preoperative irradiation therapy, fol­ lowed by radical resection of the man­ dible and immediate prosthetic replace­ ment. The prosthesis consisted of a Vitallium frame, which was attached to the remaining mandibular fragment by three small Vitallium screws. An 18
Evaluation of Dimensionality in the Assessment of Internal Consistency Reliability: Coefficient Alpha and Omega Coefficients

In the lead article, Davenport, Davison, Liou, & Love demonstrate the relationship among homogeneity, internal consistency, and coefficient alpha, and also distinguish among them. These distinctions are important because too often coefficient alpha—a reliability coefficient—is interpreted as an index of homogeneity or internal consistency. We argue that factor analysis should be conducted before calculating internal consistency estimates of reliability. If factor analysis indicates the assumptions underlying coefficient alpha are met, then it can be reported as a reliability coefficient. However, to the extent that items are multidimensional, alternative internal consistency reliability coefficients should be computed based on the parameter estimates of the factor model. Assuming a bifactor model evidenced good fit, and the measure was designed to assess a single construct, omega hierarchical—the proportion of variance of the total scores due to the general factor—should be presented. Omega—the proportion of variance of the total scores due to all factors—also should be reported in that it represents a more traditional view of reliability, although it is computed within a factor analytic framework. By presenting both these coefficients and potentially other omega coefficients, the reliability results are less likely to be misinterpreted.
Two New Species of Pleopeltis (Polypodiaceae) from Andean South America

ABSTRACT Pleopeltis orientalis and P. oreophila are described as new. Pleopeltis orientalis is restricted to the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia. It resembles the South American species Pleopeltis fraseri (Mett. ex Kuhn) A. R. Sm. and Pleopeltis remota (Desv.) A. R. Sm. Pleopeltis oreophila is found in interandean valleys of northern Peru. It resembles Pleopeltis pycnocarpa (C. Chr.) A. R. Sm. and Polypodium segregatum Hook.
Nearest-neighbor architecture to overcome effects of qubit precessions in gate operations

We design a nearest-neighbor architectural layout that uses fixed positive and negative couplings between qubits, to overcome the effects of relative phases due to qubit precessions, both during idle times and gate operations. The scheme uses decoherence-free subspaces, and we show how to realize gate operations on these encoded qubits. The main advantage of our scheme is that most gate operations are realized by only varying a single control parameter, which greatly reduces the circuit complexity. Moreover, the scheme is robust against phase errors occurring as a result of finite rise and fall times due to non-ideal pulses.
Analysis of Risk and Protective Factors for Arthritis Status and Severity Using Survey Data

This study looked at how cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity, and physical activity are associated with the prevalence and severity of arthritis among adults living in Delaware, U.S. through the analysis of survey data. We examined data from the 2009 Delaware Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Weighted percentages were calculated for the arthritis-related factors above by arthritis status and activity limitation due to arthritis/joint symptoms, and were analyzed using the Rao-Scott � 2 test. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine an odds ratio (OR) while adjusting for gender, age, race/ethnicity, and education. Adult Delawareans self-reporting arthritis were more likely to be former and current smokers than those without self-reported arthritis (p < 0.001; OR = 1.58 for former smokers vs. non-smokers; OR = 1.52 for current smokers vs. non-smokers). Moderate and heavy alcohol consumption was associated with lower severity of arthritis (p < 0.001; OR = 0.66 for moderate drinking vs. no drinking; OR = 0.50 for heavy drinking vs. no drinking). There was a significant relationship of obesity to both arthritis status (p < 0.001; OR = 2.13 for obesity vs. not overweight/obesity) and severity (p < 0.008; OR = 1.67 for obesity vs. not overweight/obesity). Furthermore, people having arthritis-related activity limitation were more likely to not meet the current physical activity recommendations (p = 0.013; OR = 1.46). It appears that smoking and obesity have a negative impact on the risk and severity of arthritis, whereas alcohol consumption and physical activity may be protective against arthritis. A proper analysis of survey data is essential to truly understand how human behavior impacts people's health.
Mutational analysis of the tyrosine kinome in colorectal cancers

Tyrosine kinases (TKs) are central regulators of signaling pathways that control differentiation, transcription, cell cycle progression, apoptosis, motility, and invasion ( [1][1] ). Although a few TK genes have been shown to be mutationally altered in specific human cancers ( [1][1] ), it is not
Putting the cart before the horse: merging traffic for energy conservation

Reducing energy consumption in the Internet has become an increasingly important goal recently. Previous work on reducing energy consumption has primarily looked at either changing link rates or putting interfaces to sleep. Due to the unpredictable nature of traffic, the energy savings achieved have been modest, do not scale, and incur losses and delay. This article proposes a different approach to the problem, which involves aggregating traffic from multiple input links prior to feeding them to the switch interfaces. The main results we obtain are that energy consumption, measured as fraction of interfaces that are awake, scales linearly with load for all loads and the algorithms are fully deterministic yielding zero packet loss.
Uniaxial fatigue of human cortical bone. The influence of tissue physical characteristics.

Abstract Monotonic tensile tests and uniaxial fatigue tests were conducted on devitalized human cortical bone specimens. Fatigue testing was conducted with strain rantes (Δe) from 0.005 to 0.010 and mean strains of either −0.002, 0.0, or +0.002. The stress range of the first loading cycle (Δσ0) was documented for each specimen. The results showed that the number of cycles to failure (Nf) was independent of mean strain and that fatigue is more strongly controlled by strain range than stress range. Data scatter was much more pronounced in plots of Δσ0 versus Nf than in plots of Δe versus Nf. Statistical analysis showed that much of the data scatter in the Δσ0 versus Nf curve could be explained by a strong positive correlation between specimen modulus and fatigue life. There was a weak negative correlation between specimen porosity and fatigue life and a weak positive correlation between Nf and bone density but no correlation between Nf and bone ash fraction. In analyzing the Δe versus Nf plot, there was a weak positive correlation between Nf and specimen modulus and a weak negative correlation between Nf and bone porosity. No significant correlations were found between fatigue life and bone density or ash fraction. The data also show that the fatigue resistance of bone is much lower than indicated by previous bending fatigue tests. The results suggest that the fatigue strength of cortical bone at 107 cycles may be closer to 7 than 40 MPa as indicated by previous bending fatigue tests.
Vitamin E Protects against Lipid Peroxidation and Rescues Tumorigenic Phenotypes in Cowden/Cowden-like Patient-Derived Lymphoblast Cells with Germline SDHx Variants

Purpose: Cowden syndrome (CS), a Mendelian autosomal-dominant disorder, predisposes to breast, thyroid, and other cancers. Germline variations in succinate dehydrogenase genes ( SDHx ) occur in approximately 10% PTEN mutation-negative CS and CS-like (CSL) individuals ( SDHvar+ ). We previously showed that SDHx variants result in elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS), disruption of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) equilibrium, and destabilization of p53 hence apoptosis resistance in CS/CSL patient-derived lymphoblastoid cells. In the present study, we sought to address the tumorigenic impacts of increased ROS and the potential of protecting SDHvar+ cells with antioxidants. Experimental Design: We measured the lipid peroxidation levels in patient-derived SDHvar+ lymphoblastoid cells and sequenced 74 controls or SDHvar+ germline DNA samples for mitochondrial hypervariable region II (HVRII) polymorphisms. SDHvar+ lymphoblastoid cells were treated with various antioxidants to check p53 expression and sub-G1 cell population with cell-cycle analysis. Results: We showed that elevated ROS results in higher lipid peroxidation in SDHvar+ cells. Accumulation of polymorphisms in mitochondrial HVRII was observed in SDHvar+ samples. Interestingly, α-tocopherol (vitamin E) treatment, but not other antioxidants, rescued SDHvar+ cells from apoptosis resistance and protected SDHvar+ cells from oxidative damage such as decreased lipid peroxidation as well as partially recovered p53 expression and NAD/NADH levels. Conclusions: We conclude that disruption of complex II because of SDHx variants leads to increased ROS generation, specifically accompanied by lipid peroxidation. The lipid soluble antioxidant α-tocopherol can selectively protect SDHvar+ cells from oxidative damage, apoptosis resistance, and rebalance redox metabolites NAD/NADH. Clin Cancer Res; 18(18); 4954–61. ©2012 AACR .
Ideal or Not Ideal Interregional Input–Output Accounts and Model

The significant role that Walter Isard played in regional analyses is well known at least among those of us conducting regional studies, as recently reviewed by Boyce. In this short article, we examine several aspects of Isard’s input–output accounts and models and raise two important points about his accounting framework and the underlying theory.
Influences of Corticosteroids on Cardiac Glycogen Concentration in the Rat

Bilateral adrenalectomy resulted in a decrease (4.97 to 2.79 mg/g) in cardiac glycogen concentration in pentobarbital-anesthetized rats. Similar differences were observed at 10 to 14 days and at 27 days after adrenalectomy. Sham-adrenalectomized rats had normal cardiac glycogen concentration (4.98 mg/g). Total phosphorylase and phosphorylase α activities and glucose-6-phosphate concentrations in hearts obtained from adrenalectomized rats were not significantly different from controls. Total glycogen transferase activity was decreased in adrenalectomized rats and for any given glycogen concentration, the percent of the glycogen transferase in the independent form (percent transferase I) was significantly lower in the adrenalectomized rats than in the intact controls. The glucocorticoid dexamethasone (40 µg/day) prevented the decreases in cardiac glycogen concentration and percent transferase I in adrenalectomized rats. In the intact rat dexamethasone (40 µg/day) increased cardiac glycogen concentration and total transferase activity to above control levels as did larger doses in both adrenalectomized and control rats. The mineralocorticoid deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA), had relatively little effect on cardiac glycogen concentration. Conclusion: glucocorticoids exert a regulatory role in cardiac glycogen metabolism.
A Comparison of Schizophrenic and Autistic Children

A comparison of schizophrenic, autistic, and conduct disordered children ages 5.2 to 12.10 years is presented. Diagnosis was made by the authors in all cases using DSM-III criteria. The children were compared on a variety of variables including pre- and perinatal complications, intellectual functioning, and behavioral profile. Findings indicate that children under 12 years of age can be diagnosed schizophrenic disorder by DSM-III criteria. All schizophrenic children had a disorder of thinking and most had hallucinations (83.3%) while delusions were somewhat less frequent (54.2%). Schizophrenic children differ from autistic children on most variables although there is some overlap.
K-means+ method for improving gene selection for classification of microarray data

Microarray gene expression techniques have recently made it possible to offer phenotype classification of many diseases. One problem in this analysis is that each sample is represented by quite a large number of genes, and many of them are insignificant or redundant to clarify the disease problem. The previous work has shown that selecting informative genes from microarray data can improve the accuracy of classification. Clustering methods have been successfully applied to group similar genes and select informative genes from them to avoid redundancy and extract biological information from them. A problem with these approaches is that the number of clusters must be given and it is time-consuming to fry all possible numbers for clusters. In this paper, a heuristic, called K-means+, is used to address the number of clusters dependency and degeneracy problems. The result of our experiments shows that K-means+ method can automatically partition genes into a reasonable number of clusters and then the informative genes are selected from clusters.
Iterative convex I-projection algorithms for maximum entropy and minimum cross-entropy computations

General multiple-constraint minimum-cross-entropy and maximum-entropy problems can be solved by the iterative solution of single constraint subproblems. Existing theoretical results justify iterative I-projection algorithms that may be computationally expedient in some cases. An iterative algorithm for J.E. Shore's (ibid., vol.IT-28, no.6, p.956-61, Nov. 1982) minimum cross-entropy spectral analysis is developed as an example. >
Universal Self-Replication Using Graph Grammars

A graph grammar is described that can be used to replicate arbitrarily labeled strands of particles (modeled as linear graphs). The rules of the grammar dictate how pairs of particles should attach or disassociate upon random collisions, and thus describes a parallel and completely distributed algorithm for replication. The correctness of the algorithm is proved and the rate at which replication occurs is characterized. The algorithm may be applied to systems of programmable parts (stirred or agitated in a fluid) that can encode the (very simple) rules of the grammar and that can attach and dis-attach to create strands and other structures.
Fast Image Deconvolution using Hyper-Laplacian Priors

The heavy-tailed distribution of gradients in natural scenes have proven effective priors for a range of problems such as denoising, deblurring and super-resolution. These distributions are well modeled by a hyper-Laplacian (p(x) ∝ e-k|x|α ), typically with 0.5 ≤ α ≤ 0.8. However, the use of sparse distributions makes the problem non-convex and impractically slow to solve for multi-megapixel images. In this paper we describe a deconvolution approach that is several orders of magnitude faster than existing techniques that use hyper-Laplacian priors. We adopt an alternating minimization scheme where one of the two phases is a non-convex problem that is separable over pixels. This per-pixel sub-problem may be solved with a lookup table (LUT). Alternatively, for two specific values of α, 1/2 and 2/3 an analytic solution can be found, by finding the roots of a cubic and quartic polynomial, respectively. Our approach (using either LUTs or analytic formulae) is able to deconvolve a 1 megapixel image in less than ~3 seconds, achieving comparable quality to existing methods such as iteratively reweighted least squares (IRLS) that take ~20 minutes. Furthermore, our method is quite general and can easily be extended to related image processing problems, beyond the deconvolution application demonstrated.
Determination of Mode I and Mode II Static and Fatigue Delamination Toughness of a Laminated Graphite/Epoxy Composite

Results are presented from an experimental study to determine the mode I and mode II static and fatigue delamination toughness of a fiber reinforced laminated composite. The double cantilever beam test was used for all mode 1 tests, and the endnotched flexure test was used for all mode II tests. Static delamination toughnesses were first obtained. Specimens were then cycled at various load levels in both mode I and mode 11 until failure occurred. These data were used to determine the fatigue fracture toughness as a function of load level. The results from this investigation were used to generate a surface plot relating fracture toughness to mode mix and the number of cycles achieved before the onset of fracture. This plot characterizes the behavior of the material under virtually all static and fatigue conditions, thus providing a valuable tool for the design of composite structures in those applications where delamination growth is of concern.
Traffic control: From hand signals to computers'

An overview is given of current applications of computers to traffic control. It includes a discussion of types of hardware and control strategies used in computerized systems developed for the control of urban street networks, as well as critical traffic links such as freeways and tunnels. Some remarks are made concerning possible future development in the use of computers for better management of traffic facilities.
Ideograph/ideogram: framework/hardware for eager evaluation

Ideograph integrates data and control dependencies into a unified representation and is used to precisely characterize the concepts of branch prediction and eager evaluation. The Ideogram computer is designed to execute Ideographs. Unlike dataflow computers, The Ideogram computer accepts a 3-address code language called igf. Through igf, Ideographs are constructed and executed by the Ideogram computer at run-time. In this paper, the descriptions of both Ideograph and Ideogram computer are introduced, and the preliminary benchmark results are included. >
Comparative effectiveness of exercise electrocardiography with or without myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography in women with suspected coronary artery disease: Results from the what is the optimal method for ischemia evaluation in women (WOMEN) trial

Background—There is a paucity of randomized trials regarding diagnostic testing in women with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). It remains unclear whether the addition of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) to the standard ECG exercise treadmill test (ETT) provides incremental information to improve clinical decision making in women with suspected CAD. Methods and Results—We randomized symptomatic women with suspected CAD, an interpretable ECG, and ≥5 metabolic equivalents on the Duke Activity Status Index to 1 of 2 diagnostic strategies: ETT or exercise MPI. The primary end point was 2-year incidence of major adverse cardiac events, defined as CAD death or hospitalization for an acute coronary syndrome or heart failure. A total of 824 women were randomized to ETT or exercise MPI. For women randomized to ETT, ECG results were normal in 64%, indeterminate in 16%, and abnormal in 20%. By comparison, the exercise MPI results were normal in 91%, mildly abnormal in 3%, and moderate to severely abnormal i...
Maritime education factors and presenteeism: a comparative quantitative study

Presenteeism research has only recently extended from a construct capturing lost productivity due to attending work despite health issues to a construct representing students’ perceived academic performance. Aligning with presenteeism’s prevalent research paradigm, the pioneering studies used health-related issues to measure presenteeism. In contrast, this study used the Presenteeism and Perceived Academic Performance (PPAP) Scale, which the researcher developed for this study. The PPAP Scale comprises aspects of student behavior that support academic performance. This study filled gaps in the literature by investigating presenteeism as a concept associated with students’ perceived academic performance, measured with the PPAP Scale, and factors specific to maritime education. The factors investigated were self-identified by the study respondents, in sufficient numbers to support statistical analysis, as favorably (i.e., cruise and license/maritime instruction) or negatively (i.e., mandatory regimental activity, taps, morning or afternoon formations, and watch) impacting their academic performance. This study found no statistical evidence to suggest the level of presenteeism, measured with the PPAP Scale, among the study’s sample of license students is associated with factors perceived to favorably or negatively impact academic performance. Additional insight can be gained from license student participants’ responses to the study’s open-ended questions (e.g., a perceived imbalance between time available to allocate to their academics and time needed to fulfill regimental responsibilities).
Replication of bacteriophage M13

The origin for bacteriophage M13 single-strand synthesis has been localized by two different experimental approaches: (1) localization of the discontinuity in late life-cycle RFII ‡ , one of the initial product molecules during single-strand synthesis, and (2) determination of a gradient of radioactive label in RFI pulselabeled during single-strand synthesis. M13 RFII formed during single-strand synthesis contains a single discontinuity in the viral strand. Cleavage of this RFII species with the HindII restriction enzyme yields two discrete viral strand fragments that locate the discontinuity at a distance approximately 10% of the genome from the HindII restriction site. RFII molecules were also used as template for limited repair synthesis with Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I and 32P-labeled deoxynucleoside triphosphates. Upon treatment of these repaired RFII with HpaII restriction endonuclease and electrophoresis in an agarose gel, the discontinuity was localized in a specific restriction fragment, the F fragment. The existence of a gradient of pulse label in RFI isolated late in infection was determined by mixing [3H]thymidine pulselabeled RFI and uniformly-labeled [32P]RFI, treating this mixture with HpaII endonuclease, separating the fragments by electrophoresis in an agarose gel, and examining the ratio of pulse label to uniform label in the restriction fragments. The ratio varied with the position of the fragment on the cleavage map indicating the temporal order of synthesis. Both experimental approaches place the origin of M13 viral-strand synthesis within the HpaII fragment F. This fragment is approximately 400 base-pairs in length and is within an intergenic space between genes II and IV on the genetic map. This region was previously shown to contain the origin for complementary-strand synthesis in vitro.
“They Are Not Taking Cigarettes From Me . . . I’m Going to Smoke My Cigarettes Until the Day I Die. I Don’t Care If I Get Cancer”: Smoking Behaviors of Men Under Community Supervision in New York City

INTRODUCTION Cigarette smoking declined from 42.4% in 1965 to 19.3% in 2010 among the general population, but it remains the leading cause of preventable death and illness in the United States, especially among high-risk populations, including those with criminal justice involvement. METHODS A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate the smoking behaviors of men under parole or probation. Phase I focused on qualitative data of 30 semi-structured interviews of men who were recently released from a state prison and/or jail. Phase II analyzed quantitative data resulting from a study that examined smoking characteristics and treatment approaches of 259 participants, 197 of whom were cigarette smokers. RESULTS The survey participants' age of tobacco initiation ranged from 7 to 45 years of age. Participants smoked between 1 and 40 cigarettes per day; the mean number of cigarettes smoked per day was 10.37. Men released from prison used cigarettes for more years on average than men released from jail (t[194] = -2.22, p < .05). A linear regression procedure revealed that the influence of friends and family significantly predicted smoking behavior (β = .25, p < .0001). The qualitative data revealed the following themes: unintended consequences of the prison smoking ban, smoking as anxiety management, smoking cigarettes as part of a daily routine, and barriers to quitting. CONCLUSIONS Given the rapid growth of individuals under community supervision, public health and policy makers are missing an opportunity to develop strategies that promote smoking cessation treatments, especially among men who are serving parole or probation and during the incarceration period itself.
Basic fibroblast growth factor transcriptional autoregulation requires EGR-1

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is an important growth factor for neuroectoderm- and mesoderm-derived cells. In addition bFGF is an important angiogenic factor and appears to contribute to tumorigenesis. This is exemplified by the fact that bFGF is expressed in a large majority of human gliomas and that bFGF expression is critical for the growth and tumorigenesis of these cells. It has been shown previously that bFGF can induce its own expression through an increase in bFGF mRNA. In this report, we show that bFGF leads to its own synthesis through an autoregulated transcriptional response that requires the transcription factor Egr-1 (also known as Krox24, Zif268 and NGFI-A). Egr-1 binds to two DNA elements in the bFGF promoter and positively regulates transcription. Mutation of these sites blocks the ability of bFGF to transcriptionally regulate the bFGF promoter. These data indicate a mechanism to explain how bFGF functions to autoregulate its expression and demonstrate that Egr-1 is as an essential transcription factor in this process.
The development of real-time PCR assay for the rapid detection of Laribacter hongkongensis

Objective:To develop a real-time PCR assay for the rapid detection of Laribacter hongkongensis.Methods: Based on the sequences of 16SrDNA gene published on GeneBank,primers and molecular beacon probe were designed,the real-time PCR assay for the rapid detection of Laribacter hongkongensis was developed.Then the specificity,sensitivity of the real-time PCR method were evaluated.Results: The detection system had high sensitivity and the lowest detection limit was 40CFU/reaction.There was no cross-reaction with other bacteria as control.The assay was tested against 329 strains,no false signals were observed and the result was consistence with the traditional method.Conclusion: The real-time PCR assay could be applied to the rapid detection of Laribacter hongkongensis on the foodborne pathogens.
Interpreting the"若"in"觳觫 if not Guilty"

Mencius 梁惠 king’s "I can not bear 觳觫 if not guilty while on death"how to read the sentence has been controversial generations,holding the view of senior scholar.This article pointed out that the reading of"若"is the key to punctuate the sentence.When"its"is demonstrative pronoun"it"refer to"cow"and punctuate simple to view.
Evaluation and Metrics

With the increased prevalence of EBED-related initiatives, evaluators are increasingly attracted to this topic area, and the number of evaluations in this domain will likely increase. Evaluations offer information that generates a shared understanding of what works well and what does not in areas of practice. In particular, a collection of quality evaluations in this domain will facilitate a stronger community of research and practice in EBED. To help guide evaluations, this chapter provides a review of the state of EBED evaluations in the peer-reviewed literature and suggests how a stronger understanding of the holistic nature of EBED can strengthen evaluations in the future. The discussion in this chapter focuses on outcome measures, type of initiatives studied, methodological approaches, and timing and research design. This chapter also offers suggestions for evaluators to consider employing as the field advances.
Measuring Supply Chain Integration: A Social Network Approach

The degree to which managers in organizations linked by a supply network coordinate their activities and communicate with each other influences the outcomes of supply chain integration. The completeness of ties formed by such communication and coordination is referred to as network density. Measurement of network density is not common in supply chain literature. This paper describes exploratory work on using Social Network Analysis (SNA) to measure the extent of network density in a South American port supply chain. I propose that SNA can be used to advance the theory and practice of supply chain management by giving academicians and managers a method to more finely estimate the impact of organizational structures they put in place on network density and supply chain integration.
Optical Imaging Procedures

Diverse optical imaging procedures have been developed and applied successfully to biophotonics in research laboratories and clinical settings during the past several decades. Technologies that have contributed to these successes include advances in lasers and photodetectors, miniaturization of optical probes and their associated instrumentation, and development of high-speed signal processing techniques such as advanced computations in image reconstructions, computer vision and computer-aided diagnosis, machine learning, and 3-D visualizations. This chapter expands on the microscopic and spectroscopic technologies described in the previous two chapters by addressing photonics-based imaging procedures such as optical coherence tomography, miniaturized endoscopic processes, laser speckle imaging, optical coherence elastography, photoacoustic tomography, and hyperspectral imaging.
DM-BLD: Differential methylation detection using a hierarchical Bayesian model exploiting local dependency

Motivation The advent of high-throughput DNA methylation profiling techniques has enabled the possibility of accurate identification of differentially methylated genes for cancer research. The large number of measured loci facilitates whole genome methylation study, yet posing great challenges for differential methylation detection due to the high variability in tumor samples. Results We have developed a novel probabilistic approach, D: ifferential M: ethylation detection using a hierarchical B: ayesian model exploiting L: ocal D: ependency (DM-BLD), to detect differentially methylated genes based on a Bayesian framework. The DM-BLD approach features a joint model to capture both the local dependency of measured loci and the dependency of methylation change in samples. Specifically, the local dependency is modeled by Leroux conditional autoregressive structure; the dependency of methylation changes is modeled by a discrete Markov random field. A hierarchical Bayesian model is developed to fully take into account the local dependency for differential analysis, in which differential states are embedded as hidden variables. Simulation studies demonstrate that DM-BLD outperforms existing methods for differential methylation detection, particularly when the methylation change is moderate and the variability of methylation in samples is high. DM-BLD has been applied to breast cancer data to identify important methylated genes (such as polycomb target genes and genes involved in transcription factor activity) associated with breast cancer recurrence. Availability and implementation A Matlab package of DM-BLD is available at http://www.cbil.ece.vt.edu/software.htm CONTACT: Xuan@vt.eduSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.