cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 14988: Low Beta-Carotene Levels are Associated with Elevated Insulin and Insulin Resistance in Healthy African American Men and Women

Introduction: Lower levels of beta-carotene are associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance. Given the higher prevalence of Type 2 diabetes and poor conversion of beta-carotene to retinol in African Americans (AA), it was hypothesized that, relative to Caucasians, AA would exhibit lower beta-carotene levels and lower beta-carotene levels would be associated with insulin resistance in AA. . Methods: Data were collected on 177 non-smoking, healthy adult men and women (18-65 yrs, 48% women, 33% African American). Fasting blood samples were collected for assessment of beta-carotene, insulin and glucose. Blood samples for premenopausal women were collected during the follicular phase. The Homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) was used to calculate insulin resistance (IR). Multivariate models with age, body mass index, vitamin supplement use, exercise, alcohol intake, education, and total cholesterol as covariates were used to test the interaction between log-transformed beta-carotene and ethnicity. Outcome variables included fasting insulin and glucose and log-transformed HOMA. Results: Average level of beta-carotene was 21.5 mg/dl. Consistent with previous studies, significantly higher beta-carotene levels were observed in women (p = .008), Caucasians (p = .02) and vitamin supplement users (p < .001). Use of vitamin supplements did not differ by race or gender. Results of multivariate analysis revealed a significant Ethnicity by beta-carotene interaction for HOMA-IR (p = .037) and fasting insulin (p < .001) but not glucose. Among Caucasians, beta-carotene was not associated with HOMA-IR and fasting insulin. In contrast, for African Americans, lower beta-carotene levels were associated with greater HOMA-IR (beta = -0.91, p < .001) and higher fasting insulin (beta = -5.14, p < .001). Discussion: Independent of potential confounding factors, African Americans exhibited lower beta-carotene levels that were associated with insulin resistance and higher fasting insulin levels, factors associated with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes. These observations may reflect ethnic differences in dietary intake and genetic influences on beta-carotene conversion to retinol in AA.
Total Power Optimization for Wireless Multimedia Communication

In this work we provide tools for optimizing total power consumption of a mobile transmitter due to compression, channel coding and transmission subject to a fixed end-to-end source distortion. We show that the best coding and transmission strategy depends on the channel quality and that optimizing can prolong the battery considerably. We illustrate our approach both on an abstract class of sources and channels and on a realistic H.263 video transmission system through a wireless channel.
Gas-Liquid Chromatography for Fatty Acid Separation

In the gas-liquid Chromatographic system (GLC) the mobile phase is a carrier gas and the stable phase is a liquid, which impregnates an inert porous material.
Flow Cytometry Analysis of Fungal Ploidy

Ploidy, the number of sets of homologous chromosomes in a cell, can alter cellular physiology, gene regulation, and the spectrum of acquired mutations. Advances in single-cell flow cytometry have greatly improved the understanding of how genome size contributes to diverse biological processes including speciation, adaptation, pathogenesis, and tumorigenesis. For example, fungal pathogens can undergo whole genome duplications during infection of the human host and during acquisition of antifungal drug resistance. Quantification of ploidy is dramatically affected by the nucleic acid staining technique and the flow cytometry analysis of single cells. Ploidy in fungi is also impacted by samples that are heterogeneous for both ploidy and morphology, and control strains with known ploidy must be included in every flow cytometry experiment. To detect ploidy changes within fungal strains, the following protocol was developed to accurately and dependably interrogate single-cell ploidy. © 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Analytical Models of Wireless Power Transfer Systems with a Constant-Power Load

Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) has attracted much attention in recent years. Voltage tuning and frequency tuning are two major tuning methods to control the output of a WPT system. For the design of a WPT system at the rated output power, it is crucial to analyze the WPT system with a constant-power load under voltage tuning and frequency tuning. The analytical models of a WPT system with a constant-power load both at and off the resonant frequency are established. The expressions of the transmitter current, the receiver current, the DC voltage of the rectifier, and the coil-to-coil efficiency are derived. The conditions to achieve the maximum coil-to-coil efficiency for voltage tuning and frequency tuning are obtained. An experimental prototype is implemented. The experimental results agree well with the analysis and the calculations. With a strong coupling, the maximum efficiency of frequency tuning can be as high as that of voltage tuning.
Helpless Martyr or Hardened Mambisa: Race, Gender, and Agency in the Cisneros Affair

I am submitting a paper concerned with investigating the events of Cisneros Affair of 1897. In the course of my research, I found that the vast majority of prior scholarship focused on the affair in the context of US Imperialism and print culture. Consequently, scholars rarely examined the actual events of the affair, and so the majority of scholarship accepted the American version of events in which Cisneros is an undeserving victim of Spanish Imperialism as deeply gendered and racially charged but accurate overall, . However, several scholars acknowledged evidence of an alternative telling of the story in which Cisneros attempted to kill a Spanish officer. A wide ranging survey of scholarship and primary sources presents a strong argument for an alternative interpretation. I argue there is a strong possibility that Cisneros was not a helpless innocent but in fact schemed to murder a Spanish officer for the cause of Cuban Independence.
Optimizing starts for capacity, velocity, and output during the ramp-up period of a semiconductor fab

In this paper, we address the question of how to maximize output over the ramp-up period of a semiconductor fab. We postulate that by keeping a margin between the constraint capacity and the ramp starts cumulative output can be increased over a desired planning horizon (e.g. first year of production). A mathematical framework of the problem is offered and then used to prove our hypothesis. We demonstrate the benefit via a numerical example and a set of simulation experiments.
Tax rates of responsible stock mutual fund holdings

ABSTRACTTwo limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) discussion are addressed in this paper: first, the investment attributes of CSR have been prioritized over the tax implications; and...
High NPM1 mutant allele burden at diagnosis correlates with minimal residual disease at first remission in de novo acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with mutated NPM1 is a newly recognized separate entity in the revised 2016 WHO classification, and is associated with a favorable prognosis. While previous studies have evaluated NPM1 in a binary fashion, we recently demonstrated a significant independent negative prognostic effect of high NPM1 mutant allele burden (VAF) at diagnosis in a cohort of de novo AML patients. Although the importance of minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring in NPM1-mutated AML has been well characterized, the potential relationship between diagnostic allele burden and MRD is unknown. We retrospectively evaluated for MRD at first remission (CR1). We used either next-generation sequencing (NGS) [n = 71], and/or immunohistochemistry (IHC) for mutant NPM1 (NPM1c) [n = 60], in a subset of patients from our recently examined cohort. We identified a statistically significant positive correlation between the VAF at diagnosis, and at CR1 (Spearman r = 0.4, P = .006), and enrichment for MRD in high diagnostic VAF patients (P = .05), as previously defined. IHC-positivity also correlated significantly with a higher median diagnostic NPM1 VAF (0.42 vs 0.39, P = .02), and with the VAF at CR1 (Spearman r = 0.7, P = .003). In multivariable analyses, both high diagnostic VAF (P = .003) and MRD (P = .02) were independent predictors of shorter event-free survival (EFS). Our findings suggest a relationship between the NPM1 mutant allele burden at diagnosis, and the presence of MRD at first remission. Our findings support IHC as a potentially useful adjunctive tool for disease monitoring.
The Complementarity of Health Information & HIT For Reducing Opioid-Related Mortality and Morbidity

In response to the opioid crisis, each U.S. state has implemented a prescription drug monitoring program (PMP) to provide health providers with patients’ controlled substance prescription informati...
Phytoglycogen, a natural dendrimer-like glucan, improves the soluble amount and Caco-2 monolayer permeation of curcumin and enhances its efficacy to reduce HeLa cell viability

Abstract This study evaluated the potential of phytoglycogen (PG) to solubilize curcumin (CCM) and improve its in vitro permeation and anticancer efficacy. CCM and PG were incorporated using co-solvent mixing followed by spray- or vacuum-drying. The obtained CCM/PG solid dispersions were evaluated for soluble CCM amount, CCM-PG interactions, Caco-2 monolayer permeation, and inhibitory efficacy against HeLa cells. Results showed that preparation method and PG-to-CCM ratio affected CCM soluble amount, favoring spray-drying and high PG-to-CCM ratios. FTIR spectra suggested the presence of hydrogen bonding between CCM and PG in spray-dried solid dispersions. For Caco-2 monolayer permeation, CCM/PG solid dispersion resulted in the basolateral CCM accumulation of 0.53 μg per well in 120 min, compared with 0.13 μg for curcumin alone. In particular, CCM/PG solid dispersions showed much greater efficacy than CCM alone in reducing the viability of HeLa cells, suggesting the potential of PG to enable CCM as a bioactive compound.
Optimal Entropy Compression and Purification in Quantum Bits

Global unitary transformations that optimally increase the bias of any mixed computation qubit in a quantum system, represented by a diagonal density matrix, towards a particular state of the computational basis which, in effect, increases its purity are presented. Quantum circuits that achieve this by implementing the above data compression technique, a generalization of the 3B-Comp [Fernandez, Lloyd, Mor, Roychowdhury (2004); arXiv: quant-ph/0401135] used before, are described. These circuits enable purity increment in the computation qubit by maximally transferring part of its von Neumann or Shannon entropy to any number of surrounding qubits and are valid for the complete range of initial biases. Using the optswaps, a practicable new method that algorithmically achieves hierarchy-dependent cooling of qubits to their respective limits in an engineered quantum register opened to the heat-bath is delineated. In addition to multi-qubit purification and satisfying two of DiVincenzo's criteria for quantum computation in some architectures, the implications of this work for quantum data compression and quantum thermodynamics are discussed.
Introduction to the Inaugural Issue of the Annual “Psychometric Development and Evaluation of Measures in the Organizational Sciences” Series

“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, yo...
Prevalence and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives The prevalence and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune diseases who are frequently treated with disease modifying therapies remains poorly understood. This meta-analysis aims to assess the prevalence and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in autoimmune diseases. Methods Electronic databases were searched for observational and case–controlled studies. We sorted medications into glucocorticoids, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) and biologic or targeted synthetic DMARDs (b/tsDMARDs), which was also divided into monotherapy and b/tsDMARDs–csDMARDs combination therapy. Results We analysed 62 observational studies with a total of 319 025 patients with autoimmune diseases. The prevalence of COVID-19 was 0.011 (95% CI: 0.005 to 0.025). Meta-analysis of seven case–controlled studies demonstrated that the risk of COVID-19 in autoimmune diseases was significantly higher than in control patients (OR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.05 to 4.58, p=0.038). Meta-regression analysis showed glucocorticoids were significantly associated with the risk of COVID-19. For clinical outcomes, we assessed 65 studies with 2766 patients with autoimmune diseases diagnosed with COVID-19. The rates of hospitalisation and mortality were 0.35 (95% CI: 0.23 to 0.50) and 0.066 (95% CI: 0.036 to 0.12), respectively. Glucocorticoids, csDMARDs and b/tsDMARDs–csDMARDs combination therapy increased the risk of these outcomes, whereas b/tsDMARDs monotherapy, particularly antitumour necrosis factor agents, were associated with a lower risk of hospitalisation and death. Conclusions Our meta-analysis demonstrated that patients with autoimmune diseases had an increased risk of COVID-19, primarily attributed to glucocorticoid use. b/tsDMARDs monotherapy was associated with a lower risk of severe COVID-19 suggesting its safety in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I appreciate u not being a total prick …”: Oppositional stancetaking, impoliteness and relational work in adversarial Twitter interactions

Abstract By examining a set of Twitter interactions following a 2018 media event, this article contributes to a growing body of research addressing the fluid and shifting nature of relational work in digital contexts. The Twitter interactions were posted in response to a tweet by documentarian Hari Kondabolu, in which he thanked actor Hank Azaria for Azaria's apology about voicing the controversial character of “Apu” on the long-running animated television program, The Simpsons. Kondabolu's tweet prompted responses from over 500 Twitter users, some of whom contributed to larger discussions about racism and structural inequality on one hand, to extreme political correctness on the other. As they participated in acts of online stancetaking to express their often-opposing positions, Twitter users simultaneously engaged in face-work to manage the interpersonal dimensions of their communication. Providing a micro-analysis of two case study examples, I highlight some of the relationally-oriented discourse-pragmatic strategies employed by Twitter users in interaction with others. One instance shows how a dismissal of the other user's perspectives leads to increased aggression, while the other instance offers insights into how users might signal their willingness to engage in a civil exchange, despite opposing stances.
Extrapericardial cardiac tamponade secondary to traumatic hemorrhage of the thymus

This report describes a 90-year-old man who sustained blunt chest trauma that progressed to circulatory failure from an enlarging anterior mediastinal hematoma. Emergent sternotomy was performed, r...
Disturbance Bounds for Signal Temporal Logic Task Satisfaction: A Dynamics Perspective

This letter offers a novel approach to Test and Evaluation of pre-existing controllers from a control barrier function and dynamics perspective. More aptly, prior Test and Evaluation techniques tend to require apriori knowledge of a space of allowable disturbances. Our work, however, determines a two-norm disturbance-bound rejectable by a system's controller without requiring specific knowledge of these disturbances beforehand. The authors posit that determination of such a disturbance bound offers a better understanding of the robustness with which a given controller achieves a specified task - as motivated through a simple, linear-system example. Additionally, we show that our resulting disturbance bound is accurate through simulation of 1000 randomized trials in which a Segway-controller pair satisfies its specification despite randomized perturbations within our identified bound.
Design of web-based courses for secondary students

This study considers the perceptions of course developers, teachers, and students on the characteristics of effective Web-based design for secondary school students. Through interviews and document analysis, the views of the participants on Web-based components, instructional strategies, and the effectiveness of both are investigated in a virtual high school context.
Automata-Theoretic Analysis of Bit-Split Languages for Packet Scanning

Bit-splitting breaks the problem of monitoring traffic payloads to detect the occurrence of suspicious patterns into several parallel components, each of which searches for a particular bit pattern. We analyze bit-splitting as applied to Aho-Corasick style string matching. The problem can be viewed as the recovery of a special class of regular languages over product alphabets from a collection of homomorphic images. We use this characterization to prove correctness and to give space bounds. In particular we show that the NFA to DFA conversion of the Aho-Corasick type machine used for bit-splitting incurs only linear overhead.
Race and Religion: Voting Behavior and Political Attitudes†

Objectives The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between religion and voting behavior and political attitudes. Moreover, this work examines the distinction between black and white evangelicals. Methods This article makes use of regression and logit analysis of the American National Election Studies of 1992 through 2008. Results Identification with a particular tradition is important, along with attitudes concerning the authorship of the Bible. Moreover, affiliation with an evangelical tradition works in opposite directions for African Americans and whites. African-American evangelicals, perhaps because of the messages on economics and civil rights that are preached in the traditional black church, are more likely than other African Americans to vote Democratic. Looking at differences concerning political issues, however, shows much less clarity than does voting behavior. The differences between African-American and white evangelicals are largely nonexistent, except on issues that deal specifically with race. Conclusion The relationship between religion and voting behavior in presidential elections is more complex than previously thought.
The truncated complex -moment problem

Let γ ≡ γ(2n) denote a sequence of complex numbers γ00, γ01, γ10, . . . , γ0,2n, . . . , γ2n,0 (γ00 > 0, γij = γji), and let K denote a closed subset of the complex plane C. The Truncated Complex K-Moment Problem for γ entails determining whether there exists a positive Borel measure μ on C such that γij = ∫ zizj dμ (0 ≤ i + j ≤ 2n) and suppμ ⊆ K. For K ≡ KP a semi-algebraic set determined by a collection of complex polynomials P = {pi (z, z)}mi=1, we characterize the existence of a finitely atomic representing measure with the fewest possible atoms in terms of positivity and extension properties of the moment matrix M (n) (γ) and the localizing matrices Mpi . We prove that there exists a rankM (n)-atomic representing measure for γ(2n) supported in KP if and only if M (n) ≥ 0 and there is some rankpreserving extension M (n+ 1) for which Mpi (n+ ki) ≥ 0, where deg pi = 2ki or 2ki − 1 (1 ≤ i ≤ m).
Hemodynamic responses of patients with heart disease to pregnancy and exercise

Abstract Twenty-one patients with various valve lesions (New York Heart Association Functional Classes I and II) underwent serial hemodynamic studies during pregnancy and post partum. Cardiac output in the patients with heart disease was below normal at rest in the nonpregnant state. Pregnancy accentuated this hemodynamic difference, especially in patients with mitral stenosis and aortic stenosis and less in patients with aortic insufficiency or pulmonic stenosis. The increase of cardiac output during light exercise was lower than normal in patients with all types of valve lesions, and the abnormality was accentuated during pregnancy. This was especially marked in the patients with mitral stenosis. It appears that valvular heart disease, even when symptomatically mild, results in reduced hemodynamic responses, at least to the demands of pregnancy and exercise. Factors other than changes in circulating blood volume must be involved because all the cardiac patients showed a normal rise during pregnancy. All of the pregnant cardiac patients showed evidence of some cardiac reserve, and none encountered difficulty attributable to their cardiac disease during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. However, several infants were born prematurely by weight or gestational age while others were small even though delivered at term. This suggests that patients with heart disease, even of Classes I and II severity, may have a sufficiently limited blood flow and oxygen supply to the fetus to interfere with proper growth and development.
The nicotinamide dinucleotide binding motif: a comparison of nucleotide binding proteins.

Classical nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) binding proteins contain a beta alpha beta alpha beta unit. By comparing 14 such proteins, it is observed that an additional beta strand associates with this unit to form the "core" topology, the minimum structure necessary to bind cofactor. Although the overall topologies of the cofactor binding domains of nicotinamide binding proteins vary, they all contain at least the core topology. The first 30-35 amino acids of the core topology, called the "fingerprint" region, are diagnostic for the presence of a dinucleotide binding fold. There are four characteristics of this fingerprint region: 1) a phosphate binding consensus sequence, GXGXXG, 2) six positions usually occupied by small hydrophobic amino acids, 3) a conserved, negatively charged residue (Glu or Asp) at the end of the second beta strand of the fingerprint region, and 4) a conserved positively charged residue (Arg or Lys) at the beginning of the first beta strand of the fingerprint region. The co...
A Creative and Innovative Problem Solver: Tabatabai Actively Involved in Recruitment and Mentoring [WIE from Around the World]

Shirin Tabatabai was not sure she wanted to be an engineer until a conversation with a high school teacher sparked an idea. Her calculus teacher suggested either becoming a math teacher (which was immediately not appealing to her) or pursuing a career in engineering. She asked what engineers do and he stated, "they use creative, innovative ideas to solve problems." That immediately stoked her curiosity and after studying the field in her early college career, she pursued her electrical engineering degree. With assistance from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), she also completed her master's in power engineering. She has been with the utility company for ten years.
Tracking and approximate model matching for non-linear systems

The design of non-linear tracking systems is investigated in a general setting that guarantees internal stability. It is shown that, by adopting an appropriate design methodology, tracking accuracy can be improved to any desirable level. The proposed methodology is computationally, as well as conceptually, undemanding, and it also leads to a simple solution of a class of non-linear approximate model matching problems.
In defense of magmatic diapirs

Abstract Diapirism as a crustal magma ascent mechanism has been recently criticized. We contend that this reflects an overly simplistic view that diapirs must resemble modeled hot-Stokes diapirs and the perception that magma ascent in dikes is a more problem-free mechanism for the construction of plutons. We describe four Cordilleran plutons that have characteristics much more compatible with diapirs than dike-fed chambers. These plutons were emplaced at depths ranging from ∼10 to 30 km and record different parts of diapiric ascent paths. Most ascended during complex visco-elastic flow of host rock during regional deformation, have narrow structural aureoles indicating power-law behavior of host rock, and were constructed of multiple batches of magma, attributes enabling them to ascend greater distances than single hot-Stokes diapirs. Some features of these plutons are not typically attributed to diapirs, and thus we introduce the term visco-elastic diapir for bodies consisting of one or more batches of magma rising together, with length to width ratios
Multi-Threaded OpenSHMEM: A Bad Idea?

The purpose of this document is to stimulate discussions on support for multi-threaded execution in OpenSHMEM. Why is there a need for any thread support at all for an API that follows a shared global address space paradigm? In our ongoing work, we investigate opportunities and challenges introduced through multi-threading, namely implementation challenges and opportunities and required -- as well desirable -- extensions to the API.
Probing the functional conformation of the tridecapeptide mating pheromone of Saccharomyces cerevisiae through study of disulfide-constrained analogs.

Analogs of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae alpha-mating factor, Trp-His-Trp-Leu-Gln-Leu-Lys-Pro-Gly-Gln-Pro-Met-Tyr, where Lys7 and Gln10 were replaced with Cys, Cys(CH3), or Ser, were synthesized using solid-phase procedures on a phenylacetamidomethyl resin. Cyclo7,10[Cys7,X9,Cys10,Nle12]alpha-factor , where X=D-Val, D-Ala, L-Ala and Gly, were prepared by on-resin cyclization using thallic trifluoroacetate in yields of 20-30%. Linear sulfhydryl-containing peptides were generated from their corresponding cyclic peptide by treatment with dithioerythritol in basic solution. In the linear analogs, replacement of both Lys7 and Gln10 with a cysteine residue resulted in an over 100-fold loss of the biological activity when compared with the native pheromone. The corresponding cyclic disulfides were 5-10-fold more active than their sulfhydryl-containing homologs, and cyclo7,10[Cys7,L-Ala9,Cys10,Nle12] alpha-factor was 50-fold more potent than linear analogs containing Ser or Cys(CH3) in positions 7 and 10. Binding competition studies indicated that all analogs had low affinity for the alpha-factor receptor and there was a poor correlation between binding and activity in a growth arrest assay. A cyclic analog in which residues 8 and 9 were replaced by 5-aminopentanoic acid was not biologically active. Based on NMR studies, all cyclic peptides have a higher tendency to form beta-turns spanning residues 7-10 than their less active linear counterparts. The results provide strong evidence that this beta-turn is important for optimal signal transduction by alpha-factor.
The effect of 5-azacytidine on mammary gland differentiation in vitro

Summary 5-Azacytidine, a cytidine analog which leads to hypomethylation in DNA and usually induces differentiation, actually inhibits differentiation in mammary gland explants. Either the genes for casein and the components of lactose synthetase are inactivated by hypomethylation or, more likely, mammary differentiation is inhibited by regulatory gene(s) which must be inactivated by methylation before differentiation can commence.
Dielectric Response of Suspended Nucleotides at Terahertz Frequencies

Terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) was used to determine the dielectric response of hydrated nucleotides at different concentrations. A Debye model with two relaxation times was used to fit the data for each concentration. We found that the hydrogen-network structure of the hydrated purine nucleotides is more stable than that of the pyrimadines. A suspension model was used to separate the dielectric response of the hydrated nucleotide from that of bulk water, and from this analysis the thickness of the hydration layer is determined.
Can Values be Manipulated Arbitrarily? A Replication that Controls for Regression Effects

Earlier research has indicated that value changes initiated through self-confrontation procedures are apparently unidirectional-that is, occur only in a direction that serves positive self-conceptions. However, to rule out the possibility that the previous findings may be the result of statistical regression, the present study replicated this earlier research and controlled for this possible artifact. Results indicated that the experimental treatment led to significant increases in equality 3 to 5 weeks later only among respondents whose values were inconsistent with their self-conceptions. The results thus provide further support for Rokeach's (1973) theory of cognitive organization and change and suggest that it is unlikely self-confrontation can be used to manipulate values in whatever direction is arbitrarily decided upon by an experimenter.
Synthesis of 4- and 4,5-functionalized imidazol-2-ylidenes from a single 4,5-unsubstituted imidazol-2-ylidene.

Using the nucleophilicity of NHCs and aNHCs, as well as the leaving group ability of the former, the carbon−carbon double bond of imidazol-2-ylidenes can be readily mono- and difunctionalized. These results provide also a new light on the formation of abnormal carbene adducts from classical unsaturated NHCs.
Scalable program analysis using Boolean satisfiability

Summary form only given. Static program analysis suffers from a fundamental trade-off between precision and scalability, and the analyses that scale to the largest programs are generally not the most precise methods known. This talk describes how recent advances in algorithms for solving instances of Boolean satisfiability (SAT) can be exploited to relax this trade-off, resulting in analyses that are both more precise and more scalable than existing techniques, as well as how these improved capabilities might be used in verification of properties of large systems.
Evaluation of a novel access and closure device for NOTES applications: a transcolonic survival study in the porcine model (with video).

Background Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) is a novel, potentially less invasive alternative to laparoscopic surgery. However, the problems of transluminal access and closure represent significant obstacles to its successful introduction in humans. Objective Our purpose was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of a novel device designed for transluminal access and closure. Design Experimental endoscopic study of transcolonic incision and closure with use of a prototype device in a survival porcine model. Subjects Four adult female Yorkshire pigs were used in the study. Interventions While under general anesthesia, the animals were prepped with multiple tap water enemas followed by instillation of an antibiotic suspension and povidone-iodine lavage. At a distance of 15 to 20 cm from the anus, the prototype device deployed a circumscribing purse-string suture around the planned incision site and subsequently used a blade mechanism to create a 2.5-cm linear incision. The peritoneum was then accessed with a standard double-channel enodoscope. The transcolonic incision was then closed by cinching and securing the purse-string suture with a titanium knot by use of a separate hand-activated suture-locking device. All animals were allowed to eat immediately after recovering from general anesthesia. Main Outcome Measurements The animals were monitored daily for signs of peritonitis and sepsis and were electively killed on day 14. The peritoneal cavity was examined for peritonitis, and the colonic incision site was examined for wound dehiscence, pericolic abscess formation, and gross adhesions. Tissue samples from both incisional and random peritoneal sites were obtained for histologic examination. Results Transcolonic incision and closure were successful in all 4 animals. The device performed in a rapid and reproducible fashion. All animals recovered without septic complications. At necropsy, there was no evidence of peritonitis, abscesses, or wound dehiscence. Salpingocolonic and colovesicular adhesions were noted in 3 of 4 animals. Histologic examination revealed microabscesses at the incision site in all animals. Conclusions The prototype incision and closure device represents a promising solution to the problems of transluminal access for NOTES. The presence of incision-related adhesions and microabscesses signal the need for further refinement in aseptic technique.
Fuzzy image algebra neural networks for target classification

This paper presents a neural network application to target classification using a new type of neural network called the Fuzzy Image Algebra Neural Network (FIANN). The FIANN is used in a heterogenous network structure. The first layer of the net performs feature extraction, while the remaining layers are used for classification. Generalized image algebra operations are used to obtain fuzzy morphological or linear operation. The parameters for the generalized operations are learned in a fashion similar to standard backpropagation, but with training rules based on a combination of stochastic learning and gradient descent techniques. The type of data used is the range data part of tank LADAR data. The objective is to classify the tanks by type. The range data is first converted to elevation data, which is input to the net for feature extraction and classification. A two tiered approach is used for training. The first layer learns image features, while the top layers perform classification.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Unlicensed Teenaged Drivers: Who Are They, and How Do They Behave When They Are Behind the Wheel?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors for unlicensed driving among 9th- through 11th-graders. METHODS: A nationally representative school-based survey of 5665 9th-, 10th-, and 11th-graders ascertained whether students engaged in unlicensed driving and determined associated driving behaviors, risk behaviors, and demographic factors. Unlicensed driving, defined as not having any type of license and"driving on [one's] own"as opposed to learning to drive, or not driving yet was ascertained. RESULTS: One (4.2%) in 25 US 9th- through 11th-graders reported that they drove at least 1 hour/week without a license. Unlicensed drivers were more likely to identify as being black or Hispanic, to live in rural or central city districts, and to report lower grades in school. No relationship was found between license status and reported crashes; however, unlicensed teenaged drivers were less likely to report seat belt use, more likely to report driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and more likely to report more trips without a purpose. One fourth (28%) of them had taken a driver's education class, and one half (50%) reported parents as most helpful in learning to drive. Two thirds (66%) of the unlicensed drivers reported most often using a vehicle that others usually drive. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the high burden of teen crashes, it is important to reach and deliver effective anticipatory guidance to unlicensed teenaged drivers who are at high risk for unsafe driving practices. Parents and driver's education instructors have contact with many of these unlicensed drivers. Clinicians, particularly those in rural and central city districts, should discuss unlicensed driving starting before the legal age of driving while screening for other health risk behaviors. Additional research is needed for better understanding of barriers to licensing among the teen population of licensing age. Language: en
A molecular dynamics study of thin-film formation via molecular cluster beam deposition: effect of incident species

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study thin-film nucleation and growth through the deposition of molecular cluster beams on diamond surfaces. A reactive, empirical bond-order hydrocarbon potential is used to calculate the forces on the atoms. Beams of ethylene (C2H4) molecular clusters, adamantane (C10H16) molecules, and fullerene (C20) molecules are deposited on hydrogen terminated diamond (1 1 1) surfaces at room temperature. These three beams are chosen because of the different chemical bonding in the incident particles––van der Waals interactions in the case of the ethylene molecular clusters, pure sp3 bonds in the case of the adamantane molecules, and covalent sp2 bonds with distorted p-orbitals in the case of the fullerene molecules. All three beams are deposited on the surface along either the [112] direction or the [110] direction at incident angles of 0°, 15°, 45° and 60° from the surface normal. Two deposition energies are considered: a total energy of 400 eV/cluster or molecule and a total energy where the momentum normal to the surface is equivalent to an energy of 400 eV/cluster or molecule. The C20 is found to be the most efficient species at producing an amorphous thin film while the molecular cluster beam of ethylene is the least efficient. Despite the differences in the chemical bonding in the three incident species, the structures of the resultant thin films are predicted to be similar at these energies.
The composition of planetary atmospheres

Abstract The present status of research on the composition of planetary atmospheres is reviewed. It is shown that CO 2 is the major constituent in the atmospheres of Venus and Mars, and that H 2 is almost certainly the dominant constituent for the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Ground based i.r. spectroscopy is the largest single source of information on atmospheric composition and much of the paper is concerned with difficulties involved in the interpretation of i.r. spectra. The mechanisms for line formation are examined carefully and it is concluded that multiple scattering by cloud materials must play a dominant role for Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus. There is no evidence for visible cloud layers on either Uranus or Neptune. Both planets, however, exhibit deep molecular atmospheres and Rayleigh scattering will affect the strength of absorption features. Considerable attention is given to the techniques available for the line formation problem in a scattering medium, and the usefulness of similarity relations is emphasized. The dependence of equivalent width on abundance and pressure is obscure for a scattering atmosphere. The principal characteristics of the scattering curve of growth are reviewed from an intuitive rather than mathematical viewpoint.
Ordering of holes and spins in La2NiO4.125 and La1.8Sr0.2NiO4

Abstract Single-crystal neutron diffraction studies of La2NiO4.125 and La1.8Sr0.2NiO4 reveal evidence for a long-period-commensurate coupled ordering of spins and charges below approximately 110 K. Analysis of the superlattice peaks indicates that the dopant-induced holes order in domain walls that form antiphase boundaries between antiferromagnetic stripes.
Further evidence for alpha-2 adrenergic receptor mediated inhibition of prolactin secretion: the effect of yohimbine.

(1) Yohimbine was administered to non-human primates (M. arctoides) in doses believed to preferentially inhibit alpha-2 receptors in the brain. Two and a half mg/kg of yohimbine was compared with 2·5 mg/kg piperoxane and with 1 mg/kg each of yohimbine or piperoxane. (2) The higher doses of yohimbine and piperoxane produced a rapid and significant (p < 0.01) increase in serum prolactin (PRL). (3) None of these treatments resulted in any significant change in serum growth hormone. (4) These data support the hypothesis that pharmacologically-defined alpha-2 receptors, stimulated by clonidine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, and inhibited by yohimbine and piperoxane, are involved in the regulation of prolactin secretion. (5) These data are compatible with a noradrenergic mechanism which facilitates or an adrenergic mechanism which inhibits prolactin secretion.
Unemployment insurance and strikes

In several states workers who are unemployed because of a labor dispute can collect unemployment benefits. Due to imperfect experience rating, such policies can create a public subsidy to strikes. This study examines whether these policies affect strike activity. In particular, both cross-sectional and fixed effects models are employed to test whether an increase in the public subsidy inherent in unemployment insurance leads to an increase in strike frequency.
Getting balance: drugs for bipolar disorder share target.

Lithium and anticonvulsants such as valproic acid have the same end result: a more stable life for people with bipolar disorder. Now it seems they may also affect the same biochemical pathway in the brain.
Inhomogeneous dielectric filling to simulate curvature in model Earth-ionosphere waveguide

A careful study of the variation of the permittivity of synthetic foam materials under compression has led to a physically realisable solution to the problem of synthetising an inhomogeneous medium of propagation used to simulate curvature artificially in a microwave model of the Earth-ionosphere waveguide.
New simulation methodology for risk analysis: importance sampling for a mixed Poisson model of portfolio credit risk

Simulation is widely used to estimate losses due to default and other credit events in financial portfolios. The challenge in doing this efficiently results from (i) rare-event aspects of large losses and (ii) complex dependence between defaults of multiple obligors. We discuss importance sampling techniques to address this problem in two portfolio credit risk models developed in the financial industry, with particular emphasis on a mixed Poisson model. We give conditions for asymptotic optimality of the estimators as the portfolio size grows.
Elastoplastic deformation of multilayered materials during thermal cycling

Analytical models are presented for the elastoplastic deformation of multilayered materials subjected to fluctuating temperatures. The layered structure comprises an elastic-perfectly plastic ductile material sandwiched between two elastic brittle materials. With creep, heat transfer, and edge effects excluded, closed-form solutions for different characteristic temperatures for thermal cycling are presented as a function of the layer geometries and the thermomechanical properties of the constituent phases. The evolution of curvature, the generation of thermal residual stresses within each layer, and the onset and spread of plasticity in the ductile layer are also examined. It is theoretically shown that reversals of curvature in the layered solid can occur during monotonic changes in temperature, even when the thermomechanical properties of the layer do not vary significantly with temperature. The predictions of the analytical model are seen to compare favorably with experimental observations of curvatures during thermal cycling in the limiting case of bilayer composite with Al–Al2O3 layers and Al–Si layers and in a Si–Al–SiO2 trilayer system. Case studies of the effects of the relative variations in the geometry, elastic properties, and plastic response of the constituent phases on the overall deformation are examined for two practically significant layered systems: a Si–Al–SiO2 layered solid with extensive applications in the electronics industry and a Cr2O3-coated steel with an interlayer of a Ni–Al alloy which is used in structural applications.
Cross section for the production of N2+ (X2 Σg+) ions by electron impact on N2

Abstract A combination of electron scattering and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques has been employed in the direct experimental determination of the N 2 + ( X 2 Σ g + ) ionization cross section as a function of electron energy from threshold to 200 eV. Electron impact on N 2 produces N 2 + ground-state ions that are detected by pumping the X 2 Σ g + → B 2 Σ u + (0,0) vibrational transition at 391 nm with a tunable dye laser and detecting the subsequent LIF of the B 2 Σ u + → X 2 Σ g + (0,1) vibrational transition at 428 nm. LIF spectra obtained at different electron energies yield the relative N 2 + ( X ) cross section which is put on an absolute scale by normalization to the absolute cross section value of Doering and Yang [J. Geophys. Res. 102 (1996) 9683] obtained from electron–electron coincidence ( e ,2 e ) experiments at 100 eV.
Regeneration of motorneurones to a cricket muscle after partial or complete denervation

Abstract The metathoracic extensor tibiae muscle of the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus is innervated by two excitatory axons; one of which leaves the metathoracic ganglion through nerve 5, the other through nerve 3. Axons in nerve 5 frequently regenerate to reinnervate the extensor tibiae if the nerve is sectioned in a late nymphal stage; functional reinnervation is rare if the nerve is sectioned in young adults. The muscle may become reinnervated by several axons regenerating through nerve 5, and individual muscle fibres may receive inputs from two regenerated axons. Axons regrowing through nerve 5 to a partially-denervated extensor tibiae preferentially innervate fibres in the central portion of the muscle, which is the normal innervation field of nerve 5. If the muscle is totally denervated by transection of both nerve 5 and nerve 3b, reinnervation is less specific and fibres throughout the muscle may be reinnervated by axons in either nerve. Reinnervation by regenerating axons is progressive. The proportion of muscles which are functionally reinnervated by regenerated axons increases with survival time as does the proportion of fibres within a muscle with reinnervation. The amplitude of excitatory junctional potentials and of muscle contraction evoked by regenerated axons both increase with survival time.
Thermochemistry of binary liquid gold alloys: The systems (Au + Cr), (Au + V), (Au + Ti), and (Au + Sc) at 1379 K

This paper reports enthalpy of mixing information for the liquid alloys of gold with scandium, titanium, vanadium, and chromium at 1379 K. The results are compared with corresponding information for the alloys of gold with manganese, iron, cobalt, and nickel, with data for the liquid alloys of the first row transition metals with copper, and with the predictions provided by the semi-empirical theory of Miedemaet al. For Sc, Ti, and V the experimental values are 75 to 100 kJ mol−1 less exothermic than predicted by Miedema. A comparison of the emf data of Eremenkoet al. for the solid solutions of V and Cr in gold allows us to make estimates of the excess entropies of solution of these two metals in liquid gold. The values are positive, but numerically smaller than for the same metals in copper. The possible significance of this difference is discussed.