cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Articulation and Intelligibility

Immediately following the Second World War, between 1947 and 1955, several classic papers quantified the fundamentals of human speech information processing and recognition. In 1947 French and Steinberg published their classic study on the articulation index. In 1948 Claude Shannon published his famous work on the theory of information. In 1950 Fletcher and Galt published their theory of the articulation index, a theory that Fletcher had worked on for 30 years, which integrated his classic works on loudness and speech perception with models of speech intelligibility. In 1951 George Miller then wrote the first book Language and Communication, analyzing human speech communication with Claude Shannon's just published theory of information. Finally in 1955 George Miller published the first extensive analysis of phone decoding, in the form of confusion matrices, as a function of the speech-to-noise ratio. This work extended the Bell Labs' speech articulation studies with ideas from Shann n's Information theory. Both Miller and Fletcher showed that speech, as a code, is incredibly robust to mangling distortions of filtering and noise. Regrettably much of this early work was forgotten. While the key science of information theory blossomed, other than the work of George Miller, it was rarely applied to aural speech research. The robustness of speech, which is the most amazing thing about the speech code, has rarely been studied. It is my belief (i.e., assumption) that we can analyze speech intelligibility with the scientific method. The quantitative analysis of speech intelligibility requires both science and art. The scientific component requires an error analysis of spoken communication, which depends critically on the use of statistics, information theory, and psychophysical methods. The artistic component depends on knowing how to restrict the problem in such a way that progress may be made. It is critical to tease out the relevant from the irrelevant and dig for th key issues. This will focus us on the decoding of nonsense phonemes with no visual component, which have been mangled by filtering and noise. This monograph is a summary and theory of human speech recognition. It builds on and integrates the work of Fletcher, Miller, and Shannon. The long-term goal is to develop a quantitative theory for predicting the recognition of speech sounds. In Chapter 2 the theory is developed for maximum entropy (MaxEnt) speech sounds, also called nonsense speech. In Chapter 3, context is factored in. The book is largely reflective, and quantitative, with a secondary goal of providing an historical context, along with the many deep insights found in these early works.
Regulation of functionally related enzymes during alternative developmental programs.

Abstract Cell aggregates of Dictyostelium discoideum can either construct fruiting bodies directly at the site of aggregation or transform into migrating slugs and move away. The latter can be induced at any time by appropriate environmental signals to stop migrating and construct fruits. In this and a previous publication ( P. C. Newell and M. Sussman , J. Mol. Biol. , 49 (1970)627), the patterns of accumulation and disapperance of three enzymes have been examined during these alternative developmental programs. The enzymes are: UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (EC 2.7.7.9), UDP-galactose 4-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.2), and UDP-galactose : polysaccharide galactosyl-transferase. The results indicate that: 1. 1. The performances of all three enzymes differ drastically but consistently in these two developmental modes in respect to times at which the activities begin to accumulate, the periods of accumulation, and the periods of disappearance. There is no evidence that the three are coordinately controlled with respect to any of the above. 2. 2. When slugs are induced to stop migrating and to start fruiting they accomplish a complete second round of pyrophosphorylase and of transferase accumulation and a complete first round or epimerase accumulation (having synthesized none as slugs). 3. 3. The activities may accumulate rapidly, slowly, or not at all but where the developmental program does call for a round of accumulation, a peak level on specific activity characteristic of each enzyme is always attained. 4. 4. The basic control of these events appears to be at the level of genetic transcription.
Plant Chromosomes: Brassinosteroids in the spotlight

Recent studies on dwarf mutants of the model plant Arabidopsis thallana have provided convincing evidence that brassinosteroids-natural plant products similar to animal steroid hormones-are essential for normal plant growth and development.
Release of Mitochondrial Apoptogenic Factors and Cell Death are Mediated by CK2 and NADPH Oxidase

Activation of the NADPH oxidase subunit, NOX2, and increased oxidative stress are associated with neuronal death after cerebral ischemia and reperfusion. Inhibition of NOX2 by casein kinase 2 (CK2) leads to neuronal survival, but the mechanism is unknown. In this study, we show that in copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase transgenic (SOD1 Tg) mice, degradation of CK2α and CK2α′ and dephosphorylation of CK2β against oxidative stress were markedly reduced compared with wild-type (WT) mice that underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion. Inhibition of CK2 pharmacologically or by ischemic reperfusion facilitated accumulation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymers, the translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), and cytochrome c release from mitochondria after ischemic injury. The eventual enhancement of CK2 inhibition under ischemic injury strongly increased 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and phosphorylation of H2A.X. Furthermore, CK2 inhibition by tetrabromocinnamic acid (TBCA) in SOD1 Tg and gp91 knockout (KO) mice after ischemia reperfusion induced less release of AIF and cytochrome c than in TBCA-treated WT mice. Inhibition of CK2 in gp91 KO mice subjected to ischemia reperfusion did not increase brain infarction compared with TBCA-treated WT mice. These results strongly suggest that NOX2 activation releases reactive oxygen species after CK2 inhibition, triggering release of apoptogenic factors from mitochondria and inducing DNA damage after ischemic brain injury.
Carbon deposition in an SOFC fueled by tar-laden biomass gas: a thermodynamic analysis

Abstract This work presents a thermodynamic analysis of the carbon deposition in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) fueled by a biomass gasifier. Integrated biomass-SOFC units offer considerable benefits in terms of efficiency and fewer emissions. SOFC-based power plants can achieve a system efficiency of 70–80% (including heat utilization) as compared to 30–37% for conventional systems. The fuel from the biomass gasifier can contain considerable amounts of tars depending on the type of gasifier used. These tars can lead to the deposition of carbon at the anode side of SOFCs and affect the performance of the fuel cells. This paper thermodynamically studies the risk of carbon deposition due to the tars present in the feed stream and the effect various parameters like current density, steam, and temperature have on carbon deposition. Since tar is a complex mixture of aromatics, it is represented by a mixture of toluene, naphthalene, phenol, and pyrene. A total of 32 species are considered for the thermodynamic analysis, which is done by the Gibbs energy minimization technique. The carbon deposition is shown to decrease with an increase in current density and becomes zero after a critical current density. Steam in the feed stream also decreases the amount of carbon deposition. With the increase in temperature the amount of carbon first decreases and then increases.
#50-S residential proximity at birth to industrial sites and subsequent risk of breast cancer

Abstract PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between residential proximity at birth to industrial sites contracted by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to process radioactive material and the subsequent development of breast cancer (BC) in pre and post menopausal women. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study (n = 3,335) and restricted subjects to residents born in Western New York (n = 1,181). Subjects were further restricted to those born in 1940 or later because the first industrial sites began operating under the AEC contract in 1940. A total of 266 incident, primary, histologically confirmed breast cancer cases and 411 controls frequency matched by age were included in this analysis. Exposure was assessed as distance (in miles) of residence at birth to 13 industrial sites. The closest site was then selected for each subject as a surrogate for environmental exposure. The distance to the closest site was categorized into quartiles based on the distribution in the controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were used to estimate the association between residential proximity and subsequent BC. The ORs were adjusted for age, education, age at menarche, parity, and age at first birth. RESULTS: We observed an adjusted OR of 3.8 (95% CI 1.9–7.7) for premenopausal women residing less than 2.45 miles from the closest site when compared to women residing greater than 8 miles from the closest industrial site. No such association was observed in post-menopausal women. CONCLUSION: These preliminary findings suggest that relatively close residential proximity at birth to industrial sites involved in uranium processing may increase the risk of premen-opausal BC. However, it is unclear whether this association can be attributed to environmental contamination with radioactive material, or some other environmental contaminate also produced at these industrial sites.
Increased interleukin-10 expression is not responsible for failure of T helper 1 immunity to resolve airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice.

Summary With a view to determining whether failure of mice to resolve Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection is a consequence of downregulation of T helper 1 (Th1) immunity by interleukin (IL)-10, mice deleted of the gene for IL-10 were compared with wild-type (WT) mice in terms of their ability to make IL-10 mRNA, generate Th1-mediated immunity [as measured by synthesis of mRNA for interferon-γ (IFN-γ)], IL-12p40 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and to control lung infection. It was found that the response of WT mice to infection included a substantial and sustained increase in IL-10 mRNA synthesis in the lungs. A Th1 response in the lungs of WT and IL-10−/− mice was evidenced by a large and sustained increase in the synthesis of mRNA for IFN-γ, IL-12p40 and iNOS, with somewhat higher levels of these mRNA species being made in the lungs of IL-10−/− mice, particularly at an early stage of infection. However, IL-10−/− mice were no more capable than WT mice at combating infection.
High-dose oxytocin is not associated with maternal temperature elevation: a retrospective cohort study of mid-trimester pregnancy with intrauterine fetal demise.

Abstract Background Maternal intrapartum fever has been associated with an increased incidence of neonatal morbidity. In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated whether intravenous oxytocin has a fever-inducing effect. Oxytocin augments secretion of prostaglandins E 2 and F 2α which are inflammatory mediators known to elevate body temperature. Methods Between January 2005 and June 2008, 279 patients were admitted with mid-trimester fetal demise. Patients meeting inclusion criteria included 34 women who received a high-dose intravenous oxytocin regimen and 29 patients who delivered after spontaneous labor without the need for augmentation. Oral temperatures were measured on admission and at delivery. Results The median length of oxytocin infusion was 5.3h. The calculated temperature change was −0.14°C in the oxytocin group and +0.12°C in the control group. These findings were confirmed in a model adjusted for patients' white blood cell count and duration of labor. We did not observe an effect of analgesia type, epidural versus intravenous analgesia, on duration of labor. Conclusion Based on this comparative analysis of pregnant women who received high-doses of oxytocin, we found insufficient evidence to support that high-dose intravenous oxytocin elevates intrapartum maternal temperature.
Selective inactivation of opioid receptors in rat hippocampus demonstrates that dynorphin-A and -B may act on μ-receptors in the CA1 region

Dynorphin-A1−17 and dynorphin-B-increased the evoked response of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells, as did other opioids tested. Treatment of the hippocampal slice with β-funaltrexamine, a μ-receptor selective antagonist, blocked the effects of normorphine, dynorphin-A and dynorphin-B, but did not change the response tod-Ala2,d-Leu5-enkephalin. The low potency of ℵ selective agonists and the antagonism by β-funaltrexamine of the dynorphins effect indicate that ℵ-opioid receptors may not be involved in these observed responses. Our data suggest that both μ- and δ-receptors are functionally represented and provide evidence that the dynorphins or their derivatives may also be agonists at the μ-receptor.
Disrupting Ovarian Cancer Metastatic Colonization: Insights from Metastasis Suppressor Studies

Ovarian cancer affects approximately 25,000 women in the United States each year and remains one of the most lethal female malignancies. A standard approach to therapy is surgical cytoreduction, after which the remaining microscopic residual disease is treated with chemotherapy. The vast majority of patients have disease recurrence, underscoring the crucial need for approaches to control the regrowth, or colonization, of tissues after local treatment. Improved therapies require mechanistic information about the process of metastatic colonization, the final step in metastasis, in which cancer cells undergo progressive growth at secondary sites. Studies of metastasis suppressors are providing insights into events controlling metastatic colonization. This paper reviews our laboratory's approach to the identification, characterization, and functional testing of the JNKK1/MKK4 metastasis suppressor in ovarian cancer metastatic colonization. Specifically, we demonstrate that interaction of ovarian caner cells with the omental microenvironment activates JNKK1/MKK4 resulting in decreased proliferation without affecting apoptosis. The potential role of the omental microenvironment, specifically milky spot structures, is also described. It is our goal to provide this work as a usable paradigm that will enable others to study metastasis suppressors in clinical and experimental ovarian cancer metastases.
Latch design for transient pulse tolerance

Previous work on radiation hardening has focused on designing memory elements to tolerate direct hits by high energy particles. The study of latch designs to tolerate high energy particle induced transient pulses arising in the combinational part of the circuit and traveling to the inputs of DFFs has been, ignored. In this work, we look at ways to slow down the input stage of latches by inserting resistances to tolerate transient pulses. Fault injection experiments indicates that most of the transient pulses can be tolerated with 7.5 ns penalty in performance, at least for the ISCAS-89 benchmark circuits. In circuits for critical systems, this penalty may be acceptable. Furthermore, this is not the best case penalty since the DFF can be individually optimized for the circuit and the transient pulse width can be somewhat shortened through redesign. Therefore, this is a viable approach for tolerating transient pulses in VLSI circuits used in critical systems. >
Within-population Variation in Free-Living Adult and Ectoparasitic Larval Trombiculid Mites on Collared Lizards

We quantified within-population variation in the seasonal abundance of free-living adult trombiculid mites and infestation of collared lizards by parasitic mite larvae at the Arcadia Lake Dam in Edmond, OK, U.S.A. Lizards on one of two habitat patches (front) harbored many more larval mites, and were more rapidly re-infested after mites were removed experimentally. Although female and male lizards and males displaying alternative social tactics had different activity rates, they harbored similar numbers of parasites, which is inconsistent with the hypothesis that the degree of ectoparasitism is positively related to host activity. Heavy mite infestation of front patch lizards was related to greater exposure to vegetation/soil surrounding this habitat patch, and perhaps more favorable physical conditions there for mite reproduction and development. The abundance of free-living adult mites on the rock substrata occupied by collared lizards was temporally dissociated from infestation of lizards by mite larvae. Free-living adult mites were abundant in May, but declined precipitously in June shortly after larvae began to appear on lizards. Larval parasites remained until lizards entered hibernacula in late summer. There was no effect of marked differences in larval mite load on any of the behavioral, and most of the life-historical variables that we measured. The exception was growth rate. First-year males grow faster than any of the other social classes in this population, and their rates were reduced on the front habitat patch suggesting a growth cost of heavy parasitism at a time when lizards exhibit maximal growth.
A wearable wireless RFID system for accessible shopping environments

Present day shopping environments are centered around the needs of the consumer, and they aim to facilitate convenient access to different product lines varying from groceries to books to everyday electronics. Supermarkets and hypermarkets are examples of trends that have evolved providing a rich shopping experience. Unfortunately, such systems have been envisioned to cater to sighted customers and inadequately address the necessities of a person who is blind or visually impaired. In this work, we present a new system design that leverages the potential of emerging technologies like Electronic Product Code (EPC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to provide a wearable wireless device capable of delivering product information at realtime in order to enhance the shopping experience of customers who are visually impaired or blind. Various technologies have been proposed by earlier researchers to address the accessible shopping problem. In this paper, we have discussed each of these approaches, and analyzed their benefits and limitations, eliciting the motivation for a new design. Detailed descriptions of the various components of the proposed system are presented. An implementation of our system is illustrated with results from calibrated tests with wearable RFID readers and tags installed on various products. Studies of crucial design parameters like the variation of RFID reader sensitivity with orientation, range and material, along with system response time, are discussed to highlight the choice of technology elements in the design.
Matched interface and boundary (MIB) method for elliptic problems with sharp-edged interfaces

Elliptic problems with sharp-edged interfaces, thin-layered interfaces and interfaces that intersect with geometric boundary, are notoriously challenging to existing numerical methods, particularly when the solution is highly oscillatory. This work generalizes the matched interface and boundary (MIB) method previously designed for solving elliptic problems with curved interfaces to the aforementioned problems. We classify these problems into five distinct topological relations involving the interfaces and the Cartesian mesh lines. Flexible strategies are developed to systematically extends the computational domains near the interface so that the standard central finite difference scheme can be applied without the loss of accuracy. Fictitious values on the extended domains are determined by enforcing the physical jump conditions on the interface according to the local topology of the irregular point. The concepts of primary and secondary fictitious values are introduced to deal with sharp-edged interfaces. For corner singularity or tip singularity, an appropriate polynomial is multiplied to the solution to remove the singularity. Extensive numerical experiments confirm the designed second order convergence of the proposed method.
Vector meson and associated strangeness production using a linearly polarized photon beam at Jefferson lab

The set of experiments forming the g8a run took place in the summer of 2001 in Hall B of Jefferson Lab. The g8a run was the commissioning experiment for the linearly-polarized photon beam at CLAS. The aim of these experiments is to improve the understanding of the underlying symmetry of the quark degrees of freedom in the nucleon, the nature of the parity exchange between the incident photon and the target nucleon, and the mechanism of associated strangeness production in electromagnetic reactions. A beam of tagged and collimated linearly polarized photons (energy range 1.8-2.2 GeV) in conjunction with the large solid angle coverage of CLAS make possible the extraction of the differential cross-sections and polarization observables for the photoproduction of vector mesons and kaons. The reaction channels -p ® r0p ® p+p-p and p ® K+L0 ® K+p-p are under investigation to search for possibly missing nucleon resonances. An overview of the experiment and preliminary results on the measurement of the photon asymmetries of the aforementioned reactions will be presented in this paper.
The Social Contract and the Idea of Sovereignty in Rousseau

An organic character in the work of most great thinkers makes it extremely difficult to isolate a part and explain it without multiple references to the whole. This problem is, I believe, especially acute in the case of Rousseau, and a failure to recognize it is the probable cause of so many unsatisfactory and even absurd interpretations of his basic principles. As he said, "All my ideas hang together, but I cannot expound them all at once."'1 In this article I propose to present some of the interrelations that closely unite Rousseau's ideas on the social contract, sovereignty, moral or political obligation, and on one aspect of the general will. Because of the organic nature of his thought, a comprehensive analysis in article form is impossible. For example, no attempt has been made to include his detailed justifications of the positions given below, and his treatment of various kinds of freedom has been omitted. It is hoped, however, that this article will help the reader to deal more satisfactorily with some of the simplistic interpretations of Rousseau's work. In the religious tradition of the West the idea of sovereignty was well known even if under other terms. God's will, whether interpreted voluntaristically or not, was binding law from which no appeal could be taken. In this sense sovereignty implied legitimacy and morality as distinguished from naked force. By analogy Bodin invested the king with this property. But since the right inherent in the idea of sovereignty seemed too dangerously absolute, he rather unclearly limited it by natural law. With a more rigorous logic Hobbes removed all limitations, though it must be added that he believed that the sovereign would in fact be limited by pragmatic considerations. Since there is no distinction between sovereign de facto and sovereign (le fure, this version reduces moral
Expression of individual forms of peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase in AtT-20 cells: endoproteolytic processing and routing to secretory granules

Peptidylglycine alpha-amidating monooxygenase (PAM: EC 1.14.17.3) is a bifunctional protein which catalyzes the COOH-terminal amidation of bioactive peptides; the NH2-terminal monooxygenase and mid-region lyase act in sequence to perform the peptide alpha-amidation reaction. Alternative splicing of the single PAM gene gives rise to mRNAs generating PAM proteins with and without a putative transmembrane domain, with and without a linker region between the two enzymes, and forms containing only the monooxygenase domain. The expression, endoproteolytic processing, storage, and secretion of this secretory granule-associated protein were examined after stable transfection of AtT-20 mouse pituitary cells with naturally occurring and truncated PAM proteins. The transfected proteins were examined using enzyme assays, subcellular fractionation, Western blotting, and immunocytochemistry. Western blots of crude membrane and soluble fractions of transfected cells demonstrated that all PAM proteins were endoproteolytically processed. When the linker region was present between the monooxygenase and lyase domains, monofunctional soluble enzymes were generated from bifunctional PAM proteins; without the linker region, bifunctional enzymes were generated. Soluble forms of PAM expressed in AtT-20 cells and soluble proteins generated through selective endoproteolysis of membrane-associated PAM were secreted in an active form into the medium; secretion of the transfected proteins and endogenous hormone were stimulated in parallel by secretagogues. PAM proteins were localized by immunocytochemistry in the perinuclear region near the Golgi apparatus and in secretory granules, with the greatest intensity of staining in the perinuclear region in cell lines expressing integral membrane forms of PAM. Monofunctional and bifunctional PAM proteins that were soluble or membrane-associated were all packaged into regulated secretory granules in AtT-20 cells.
Understanding injection locking in negative-resistance LC oscillators intuitively using nonlinear feedback analysis

Simple, accessible and intuitive treatments of oscillator injection locking, that at the same time maintain rigour especially with regard to nonlinearities, appear to be lacking in the literature. We present a novel analysis that incorporates all these features but uses only basic mathematical and circuit theory concepts. We develop a graphical procedure for finding the nonlinear relationship between injection amplitude and lock range that is both accurate and insightful. We also provide freely downloadable MATLAB scripts implementing our analysis and graphical procedures. These scripts can be easily adapted to any negative-resistance LC oscillator and used for convenient and accurate exploration of injection locking and other properties
Effects of Clothing Attractiveness on Perceptions

In many physical attractiveness studies, it is clothing and other appearance vari ables that are manipulated, not actual physical beauty, in order to vary physical attractiveness. Thus, results that have been attributed to physical attractiveness may actually be due to clothing attractiveness. The purpose of this research was to determine whether people perceive others differentially as a function of the attractiveness of their clothing. Slides of six different models in business attire, three wearing attractive clothing and three wearing unattractive clothing, served as stimuli. Fifty-nine participants listened to a pre-recorded audio tape consisting of 30 suggestions relative to marketing a perfume. As a comment was heard, a slide of the woman purported to have made the comment was projected. Sub jects rated the women on competence, work comfort, and sociability. Multivari ate and univariate analyses of variance revealed that, as expected, models dressed in attractive clothing were perceived more positively than models dressed in unattractive clothing on each of the three dependent variables. These results provide some support for a clothing attractiveness stereotype that may function analogously to the well-documented physical attractiveness stereotype. It is known that physical attractiveness, a variable over which one has little control, exerts a potent influence in social situations. These results imply that clothing attractiveness, a variable over which one has potential control, might exert a similar influence.
Nonlinear formulas for interpolation, extrapolation, and estimation of single and multiple sinusoids

Formulas for determining frequency, magnitude, and phase of one and two sinusoids are presented. A nonlinear difference equation that all sinusoids must satisfy is also derived for the single sinusoid case. Using the above results, an exact interpolation formula that allows determination of values in a local area of three sampled values for the single sinusoid case and 2N+1 values for N sinusoids is developed. The interpolation formula presented is of a simple symmetric linear form of the sample values, where the coefficients are determined from a nonlinear function involving the distance of the interpolated point from the middle point. >
Experimental Validation of Analytical Model for Electromagnetic Forming Using a Uniform Pressure Actuator

For certain applications, the welding of dissimilar metals is highly desired, e.g. an automotive shaft assembly with both steel and Aluminum components, so that material properties can be tailored to specific locations within the assembly where required. Fusion welding cannot be used in such applications due to the disparity of the material properties involved and the concern of cracking due to intermetallic phases. Electromagnetic welding is a solid-state process where a capacitor bank is charged and then quickly dissipated into a magnetic coil. Eddy currents in the workpiece are created which repel the material from the coil at a high velocity, on the order of 200–300 m/sec. At a critical velocity, the impact energy welds the two components together. In this paper, an analytical model to predict workpiece velocities, which is attractive for its simplicity and cost, is presented and compared to experimental data. The model focuses on a Uniform Pressure Actuator [1], which accelerates sheet metal workpieces. In addition, magnetic effects of workpiece thickness are evaluated.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Using adaptive rate estimation to provide enhanced and robust transport over heterogeneous networks

The rapid advancement in wireless communication technology has spurred significant interest in the design and development of enhanced TCP protocols. Among them, TCP Westwood (TCPW) is a sender side only modification to improve TCP performance particularly over heterogeneous networks. The key idea of TCPW is to use rate estimation methods to set the congestion window and slow start threshold after a packet loss. When packet losses are not only due to buffer overflow, but random errors as well, TCPW estimation methods have been shown to provide significant performance improvement. The earliest estimation method, called bandwidth estimation (BE), however, may result in over-estimation under certain circumstances, and thus may be unfriendly toward non-TCPW traffic. TCPW CRB (combined rate and bandwidth estimation) and TCPW ABSE (adaptive bandwidth share estimation), have been later introduced to address this concern. The schemes provide better control of the tradeoffs among efficiency, friendliness, and implementation complexity. CRB may slightly sacrifice the efficiency gain to ensure friendliness. ABSE adaptivity mechanisms are more sophisticated and provide both better efficiency and friendliness.We summarize ABSE, which adapts to congestion level, as well as round drip time, and other network dynamics, thus providing enhanced and robust performance under various network conditions. Extensive experiments show that TCPW ABSE is able to enhance TCP performance significantly over "large leaky pipes", while maintaining friendliness toward TCP NewReno. We show that TCPW ABSE is robust to packet and ACK compression due to cross traffic on forward and backward paths. We also show that ABSE is robust to buffer size variations, which are inevitable in today's networks.
Efficient Global Motion Estimation using Fixed and Random Subsampling Patterns

Global motion generally describes the motion of the camera, although it may comprise large object motion. The region of support for global motion representation consists of the entire image frame. Therefore, estimating global motion parameters tends to be computationally costly due to the involvement of all the pixels in the calculation. Efficient global motion estimation (GME) techniques are sought after in many applications such as video coding, image stabilization and super-resolution. In this paper, we propose to select only a small subset of the pixels in estimating the global motion parameters, based on a combination of fixed and random subsampling patterns. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method was able to speed up the conventional all-pixel GME approach by up to 7 times, without significant loss in the estimation accuracy. The combined subsampling patterns were also found to provide better motion estimation accuracy/complexity tradeoffs than those achievable by using either fixed or random patterns alone.
The Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) as a Model System for Study of the Evolution of Intelligence

Large brains and great intelligence are metabolically costly, but the social complexity hypothesis suggests that these traits were favored nonetheless in primates by selection pressures associated with life in complex societies. If so, then cognitive abilities and nervous systems with primatelike attributes should have evolved convergently in nonprimate mammals living in large, elaborate societies in which social dexterity enhances individual fitness. Societies of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) are remarkably similar to those of cercopithecine primates with respect to size, structure, and patterns of competition and cooperation. These similarities set an ideal stage for comparative analysis of social intelligence and nervous system organization. As in cercopithecine primates, spotted hyenas use multiple sensory modalities to recognize their kin and other conspecifics as individuals, they know that some group-mates are more valuable social partners than others, they recognize 3rd-party kin and rank relationships among their clan-mates, and they use this knowledge adaptively during social decision-making. Examination of the available data strongly suggests convergent evolution of intelligence between spotted hyenas and primates. Evidence that less gregarious members of the family Hyaenidae lack some of the cognitive abilities found in spotted hyenas would provide further support for the idea that social complexity favors enhancement of intelligence in mammals.
Review of systemic therapies for locally advanced and metastatic rectal cancer

Rectal cancer, along with colon cancer, is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Up to a quarter of patients have metastatic disease at diagnosis and 40% will develop metastatic disease. The past 10 years have been extremely exciting in the treatment of both locally advanced and metastatic rectal cancer (mRC). With the advent of neoadjuvant chemoradiation, increased numbers of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) are surviving longer and some are seeing their tumors shrink to sizes that allow for resection. The advent of biologics and monoclonal antibodies has propelled the treatment of mRC further than many could have hoped. Combined with regimens such as FOLFOX or FOLFIRI, median survival rates have been increased to an average of 23 months. However, the combinations of chemotherapy regimens seem endless for rectal cancer. We will review the major chemotherapies available for locally advanced and mRC as well as regimens currently under investigation such as FOLFOXIRI. We will also review vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors as single agents and in combination with traditional chemotherapy regimens.
Factors that influence adherence to a gluten-free diet in adults with celiac disease.

Objective The only treatment for celiac disease is lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet, yet adherence is limited and factors influencing adherence are poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing gluten-free diet adherence in adults with celiac disease. Methods A questionnaire was developed and administered to 154 adults with celiac disease who then underwent a standardized gluten-free diet evaluation by an experienced nutritionist. Multivariate analysis was conducted to determine factors associated with adherence level. Results Thirteen factors hypothesized to contribute to gluten-free diet adherence were found to be significantly associated with improved adherence including: understanding of the gluten-free diet, membership of a celiac disease advocacy group, and perceived ability to maintain adherence despite travel or changes in mood or stress (P < 0.001). Conclusions This study identified specific factors correlated with gluten-free diet adherence. These results provide a foundation for the design of educational interventions to improve adherence.
Listeria monocytogenes cell wall constituents exert a charge effect on electroporation threshold

Genetically engineered cells with mutations of relevance to electroporation, cell membrane permeabilization by electric pulses, can become a promising new tool for fundamental research on this important biotechnology. Listeria monocytogenes mutants lacking DltA or MprF and assayed for sensitivity to the cathelicidin like anti-microbial cationic peptide (mCRAMP), were developed to study the effect of cell wall charge on electroporation. Working in the irreversible electroporation regime (IRE), we found that application of a sequence of 50 pulses, each 50μs duration, 12.5kV/cm field, delivered at 2Hz led to 2.67±0.29 log reduction in wild-type L. monocytogenes, log 2.60±0.19 in the MprF-minus mutant, and log 1.33±0.13 in the DltA-minus mutant. The experimental observation that the DltA-minus mutant was highly susceptible to cationic mCRAMP and resistant to IRE suggests that the charge on the bacterial cell wall affects electroporation and shows that this approach may be promising for fundamental studies on electroporation.
Children Who Fall Behind

In this chapter you will meet three children. All three had problems learning to read and write in school. Javier was retained at the end of first grade. He followed the typical pattern of children who are retained; he did better in the repeated first-grade year, but fell behind in subsequent grades (Juel & Leavell, 1988). Grace and Anna are typical of other poor readers in the study; they got off to a poor start in first grade and never caught up. The literacy difficulties of each of these three children will be related to the models of literacy acquisition presented in Chapters 1 and 2.
The Ras-related protein AGS1/RASD1 suppresses cell growth

AGS1/RASD1 is a Ras-related protein identified as a dexamethasone-inducible cDNA and as a signal regulator in various functional and protein-interaction screens. As an initial approach to define the role of AGS1/RASD1 as a Ras-family member, we determined its influence on cell growth/survival. In clonogenic assays with NIH-3T3 murine fibroblast cells, the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line and the human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549, AGS1/RASD1 markedly diminished the number of G418-resistant colonies, whereas the Ras subgroup member K-Ras was without effect. A549 cell infection with adenovirus engineered to express AGS1/RASD1 (Ad.AGS1) inhibited log phase growth in vitro and increased the percentage of cells undergoing apoptosis. The anti-growth action was also observed in vivo as the expression of AGS1/RASD1 inhibited the subcutaneous tumor growth of A549 cells in athymic nude mice. These data indicate that AGS1/RASD1, a member of the Ras superfamily of small G-proteins that often promotes cell growth and tumor expansion, plays an active role in preventing aberrant cell growth.
Problem-Based Learning Versus a Traditional Educational Methodology: A Comparison of Preclinical and Clinical Periodontics Performance

To evaluate efficacy of a problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy in preclinical and clinical teaching, test scores of 234 undergraduate dental students from the conventionally taught classes of 2003 and 2004 were compared with scores of 274 dental students from the PBL classes of 2005 and 2006. Although the groups’ means were close together, t-test analysis of scores revealed that PBL students performed significantly better than traditional (TRAD) students on midterm (p=.0001) and final (p=.015) examinations taken on student partner/mock patients. ANOVA comparing the classes with each other showed significant differences for the midterm and final, but not for the clinical examination. Further multiple comparison tests (Tukey HSD) for the midterm and final revealed that differences specifically reflected superior performance of PBL classes against one of the TRAD classes (2004). There was no difference in performance between PBL (n=134) and TRAD (n=233) students on examinations taken with actual clinical patients who were undergoing nonsurgical periodontal treatment. Over a two-year period, PBL students rated their program instructors at a mean of 4.41 on a Likert-type scale of 1 (not helpful) to 5 (outstanding). The program provides a PBL model for teaching preclinical and clinical skills supported by a four-year evaluation of manual skills outcomes.
Strain engineered high reflectivity DBRs in the deep UV

The maximum achievable reflectivity of current III-nitride Bragg reflectors in the UV-C spectral range is limited due to plastic relaxation of thick multilayer structures. Cracking due to a large mismatch of the thermal expansion and lattice constants between AlxGa1-xN/AlyGa1-yN alloys of different composition and the substrate at the heterointerface is the common failure mode. Strain engineering and strain relaxation concepts by the growth on a strain reduced Al0.85Ga0.15N template and the implementation of low temperature interlayers is demonstrated. A significant enhancement of the maximum reflectivity above 97% at a resonance wavelength of 270 nm due to an increase of the critical thickness of our AlN/Al0.65Ga0.35N DBRs to 1.45 μm (25.5 pairs) prove their potential. By comparing the growth of identical Bragg reflectors on different pseudo-templates, the accumulated mismatch strain energy in the DBR, not the dislocation density provided by the template/substrate, was identified to limit the critical thickness. To further enhance the reflectivity low temperature interlays were implemented into the DBR to partially relief the misfit strain. Relaxation is enabled by the nucleation of small surface domains facilitating misfit dislocation injection and glide. Detailed structural and optical investigations will be conducted to prove the influence of the LT-AlN interlayers on the strain state, structural integrity and reflectivity properties. Coherent growth and no structural and optical degradation of the Bragg mirror properties was observed proving the fully applicability of the relaxation concept to fabricate thick high reflectivity DBR and vertical cavity laser structures.
Development of a Hydrogenative Reductive Amination for the Synthesis of Evacetrapib: Unexpected Benefits of Water

For the synthesis of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor evacetrapib, a hydrogenative reductive amination was chosen to join the substituted cyclohexyl subunit to the benzazepine core. The addition of water, which suppressed undesired epimerization without affecting the rate of product formation, was key to the reaction’s success. The process was scaled to produce more than 1100 kg of material.
Sequential H‐κ Stacking to Obtain Accurate Crustal Thicknesses beneath Sedimentary Basins

Abstract Low‐velocity sedimentary basins introduce error in many standard receiver‐function (RF) analysis techniques including common conversion point (Dueker and Sheehan, 1997) and crustal thickness‐ V P / V S ratio ( H ‐ κ ) stacking (Zhu and Kanamori, 2000). We describe a simple RF analysis method for obtaining accurate crustal thickness below seismic stations located in sedimentary basins. The method extends the methods of Zhu and Kanamori (2000). It employs an iterative two‐layer depth‐ V P / V S stacking approach that first characterizes sediment properties (thickness and V P / V S ) allowing for the accurate interpretation of Moho conversions. Without accounting for sedimentary layers, standard‐RF analysis can mischaracterize crustal thickness based on Ps ‐phase delay by >10 km beneath deep basins. We test the technique with synthetic seismograms and with data from US Array Transportable Array (TA) stations from regions with sediment thicknesses that are well determined through other means. We find sequential H ‐ κ stacking for sediment properties to be a simple technique that can benefit many RF‐analysis studies and can play an important role in crustal seismic studies in areas with thick or variable sediments.
Trajectories and Prognosis of Older Patients Who Have Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation After High-Risk Surgery.

Objectives:Surgical patients often receive routine postoperative mechanical ventilation with excellent outcomes. However, older patients who receive prolonged mechanical ventilation may have a significantly different long-term trajectory not fully captured in 30-day postoperative metrics. The object
HF verification and validation (V&V)

This chapter will give guidance on how to assist the performance of system verification and validation (V&V) through the application of human factors (HF) to design during the various phases of a system's life cycle. Notably, a system will be considered as consisting of both humans and machines operating within social, cultural and operating environments. Figure 12.1 depicts this problem space and suggests that HF should be central to the consideration of systems. Therefore, the importance of empathy by the HF practitioner to the activities of the system engineer/maintainer and the user/operator should be emphasised. Moreover, it is argued that true expertise in HF is only acquired through a polymathical approach to work and an understanding of the approaches to the challenges of a system's life cycle by other disciplines such as systems engineering and integrated logistics support.
On the Punitive Damages' Implementation of Food ProductionEnterprises from the Perspective of Piercing the Corporate Veil

Food safety is of great benefit relating to the national economy and the national welfare and the people's livelihood,once food production enterprises violate the food safety standards,this will cause the loss of interests of consumers and the food security interests.The system of punitive damages in "Food Safety Law" applying to the food manufacturers whose production does not meet food safety standards,on the one hand encourage consumers to defend their own rights by the system punitive damages,on the other hand,deterrence through punitive damages food manufacturers to food safety.When the food manufacturers are unable to compensate for consumers by applying the punitive damages system,the joint and several liability of the shareholders especially insider shareholders of food production enterprise/company will be undertaken in certain circumstances,which not only can promote the realization of punitive damages,but also prosper the practice of piercing the corporate veil.