cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Efficient ZnO-based counter electrodes for dye-sensitized solar cells

ZnO is usually exploited as a photoelectrode for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), but it has not been applied as a DSSC counter electrode. Herein, it is reported that ZnO with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) could be an efficient DSSC counter electrode with a maximum power conversion efficiency of 8.17%. Furthermore, it was found that the conversion efficiency of DSSCs with the ZnO/PEDOT:PSS counter electrode strongly depends on the ZnO content. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements revealed that the variation of the conversion efficiency with ZnO content is determined by the fill factor (FF), which is dependent on the combination of the catalytic activity of ZnO and the conductivity of PEDOT:PSS.
Boiling range distribution of petroleum and coal‐derived heavy ends by supercritical fluid chromatography

Alternatives to conventional gas chromatographic simulated distillation methods for high boiling materials are reviewed. Operational parameters for the use of supercritical fluid chromatography for simulated distillation are explored and examples for the analysis of both petroleum and coal-derived samples are compared to conventional gas chromatographic methods and thermogravimetric analysis. Extension of the boiling range determined by simulated distillation to over 800°C is demonstrated. An n- octylpolysiloxane stationary phase minimized the aliphatic versus aromatic boiling point discrepancy common to other chromatographic methods.
Capitalist China: Strategies for a revolutionized economy

Jonathan R. Woetzel. 2003. Capitalist China: Strategies for a Revolutionized Economy. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 250 pages. ISBN: 0-470-82108-6.
Exposition Effects on Decision Making: Choice and Confidence in Choice

Abstract Many of us believe that, after writing about a subject, we understand it more deeply. Studies in education indicate that writing does indeed enhance comprehension. Three experiments examined whether similar “exposition effects” exist for decision making. In these experiments, subjects were confronted with standard framing problems. Positive exposition effects would require that the influence of alternative frames on subjects' choices be diminished by exposition demands. Control subjects made choices under customary, non-exposition instructions. Others chose after writing rationales for their selections (exposition), after explicitly planning to write such rationales, or merely in anticipation of writing the rationales. Exposition reduced framing effects in each of the experiments. The magnitudes of the effects were greatest for subjects who wrote before choosing. Also, exposition markedly increased subjects' confidence that their choices were appropriate. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Effects of Cantilever Stiffness on Unfolding Force in AFM Protein Unfolding

Direct mechanical unbinding of ligand-receptor pairs and the similar process of mechanically unfolding single protein molecules are common methods for exploring the energy landscape of unbinding/unfolding interactions. In these experiments, mechanical force applied through a cantilever and linking molecule causes the test system to transition between a bound/folded state and unbound/unfolded state. The effective linker stiffness k depends on both the chemical linker and the cantilever and is of central importance in calculating the loading rate df/dt = kv. This effect is well appreciated in standard analysis of unbinding/unfolding results. However, the effect of effective linker stiffness on the underlying energy landscape itself is often overlooked. Recent experiments on biotin-streptavidin by Walton et al. have shown surprisingly strong effects on average unbinding force under standard conditions, suggesting that future work should take the stiffness-modified landscape into account. We carry out force spectroscopy measurements on I27 octomers using cantilevers with a range of spring constants and discuss our findings and their effect on the analysis of mechanical protein unfolding experiments.
Concerning Hunt's new ways of assessing intelligence

Abstract Hunt envisions the automation of intelligence testing ( Intelligence , 1982, 6 , 231–240), but he appears to be overly optimistic. He neglects to mention conceptual and practical difficulties at the interface of measurement and theory that place psychometry not in the dawn of microcomputerization, but rather more nearly in its primordium.
A comprehensive integrated computing curriculum for end-users

Microcomputers are relatively new to education. As their use expands, microcomputer experience is fast becoming a prerequisite skill for all students. Maintaining a relevant, manageable curriculum for this rapidly changing field is a challenge for educators. This paper proposes a plan for “Computing Across the Curriculum” which provides for multiple, flexible learning pathways in a manageable environment. The plan utilizes content-specific, workshop-style classes to create an integrated and comprehensive approach to computer education. The plan consists of three inter-related components: Concept Introduction and Reinforcement; Training for Specific Applications; and Integration Throughout the Curriculum. The Concept component introduces basic microcomputer principles and applications. The Training component develops skills in specific hardware and software packages. The Integration component applies microcomputer technology to subject areas throughout the curriculum. This plan has been implemented and tested with positive results. It provides students with more options than traditional approaches.
Do Credit Cards Really Reduce Aggregate Money Holdings

This paper discusses whether the use of credit cards reduces aggregate money holdings in an economy. Applying and modifying the Baumol-Tobin model (Baumol Quarterly Journal of Economics 66:545–556, 1952 and Tobin Review of Economics and Statistics 38(3):241–247, 1956), it studies how much money a credit card bank would normally maintain to support retail trade, and shows that whether or not the use of credit cards actually reduces the aggregate demand for money depends on how often consumers visit the bank and how long it takes to clear a check. With innovations in the banking industry such as ATMs, online banking, and other electric funds transfer services, the cost of visiting banks (i.e., switching funds between a checkable account and an interest-earning account) is now very low. For the whole economy, as a result, the use of credit cards may not necessarily reduce aggregate money holdings.
Dynamics of a Phase Conjugate Resonator: Transient Build-up and Decay Rates.

The standard four wave mixing model in a sluggish photorefractive medium is used to calculate the transient response of a phase conjugate resonator. General trends are unveiled and discussed in view of the possible use of the system in image processing. Experimental results are shown to confirm qualitatively the predicted behaviour.
Using binary surfactant mixtures to simultaneously improve the dimensional tunability and monodispersity in the seeded growth of gold nanorods.

We report a dramatically improved synthesis of colloidal gold nanorods (NRs) using a binary surfactant mixture composed of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium oleate (NaOL). Both thin (diameter 30 nm) gold NRs with exceptional monodispersity and broadly tunable longitudinal surface plasmon resonance can be synthesized using seeded growth at reduced CTAB concentrations (as low as 0.037 M). The CTAB–NaOL binary surfactant mixture overcomes the difficulty of growing uniform thick gold NRs often associated with the single-component CTAB system and greatly expands the dimensions of gold NRs that are accessible through a one-pot seeded growth process. Gold NRs with large overall dimensions and thus high scattering/absorption ratios are ideal for scattering-based applications such as biolabeling as well as the enhancement of optical processes.
Abstractions for distributed programming

The StarMod language is designed to provide its users with abstractions for distributed computations. The language is based on Wirth's definition of a ''module'' as impiemented in Modula. The paper discusses abstraction mechanisms for distributed access control and scheduling: in addition, several examples are used to illustrate these concepts.
Über die Variabilität zweier mariner Oscillatorien aus der Sektion «Margaritiferae»

Es wurde die Variabilitat der Dimensionen zweier mariner Oscillatorien aus der Adria (Rovinj, Istrien) verglichen und ihre taxonomische Zugehorigkeit diskutiert. Die sectioMargaritiferae Gom. der GattungOscillatoria Vauch. umfasst zwei Artengruppen. Die eine um die ArtOscillatoria margaritifera Kutz. hat eine Endzelle mit Kalyptra und zeigt eine Tendez zur Granulierung an den Querwanden. Die andere um die ArtO. bonnemaisonii Crouan mit abgerundeten Trichomenden ohne Kalyptra zeigt eine Tendez zum spiraligen Trichomverlauf. Einige Arten der GattungArthrospira Stitz. [=Spirulina Turp. sectioArthrospira (Stitz.) Geitl.] zeigen grosse Ahnlichkeit zu der letzten Gruppe und eine Zuordnung derselben innerhalb der GattungOscillatoria steht zur Diskussion.
Detection and recognition of intensity changes in tone and noise: The detection-recognition disparity

Recognition of increments vs decrements in auditory intensity improves with signal duration, relative to detection of increments and decrements. This effect obtains whether the background stimulus is a tone, noise, or a tone with noise masker, and is largely uninfluenced by the rise time of the signals. These data are inconsistent with detection models in which the O makes only one sensory observation during each observation interval, but can be described in terms of a neural timing model in which transients play a critical role.
RON Receptor Tyrosine Kinase, a Negative Regulator of Inflammation, Is Decreased during Simian Immunodeficiency Virus–Associated Central Nervous System Disease

Expressed on tissue-resident macrophages, the receptor tyrosine kinase, recepteur d'orgine nantais (RON), functions to maintain inflammation homeostasis by activating genes that promote wound repair and resolve inflammation while repressing genes that perpetuate tissue damage and cell death. Chronic HIV-1 infection is associated with dysregulated inflammation, and we hypothesize that diminished RON expression contributes to the development of end organ diseases such as HIV-1-associated CNS disease. To explore RON function in vivo, we used CNS tissue from a well-characterized SIV macaque model and examined the temporal regulation of RON in the brain during the course of infection. Following prolonged SIV infection, RON expression was inversely correlated with the development of CNS disease; RON was maintained in animals that did not develop CNS lesions and was reduced in SIV-infected macaques that demonstrated moderate to severe inflammatory lesions. Arginase-1 expression was reduced in the brain during late infection, whereas expression of the inflammatory genes, IL-12p40 and TNF-α, was elevated. To validate a role for RON in regulating HIV-1 in primary cells, we used human tissue-resident macrophages isolated from tonsil as a tractable cell model. RON signaling in tissue-resident macrophages, both ligand dependent and independent, limited HIV-1 replication. Furthermore, prolonged HIV-1 infection in vitro resulted in downregulation of RON. We propose a model in which, following chronic HIV-1 infection in the brain, RON expression is decreased, genes that quell inflammation are repressed, and inflammatory mediators are induced to promote tissue inflammation.
“Above the Bath of Myrtinus”: Justin Martyr's “School” in the City of Rome

Justin's social context in the city of Rome may seem to have only a tenuous connection with his beliefs about God, his doctrine of the Logos and the other religious commitments for which he ultimately laid down his life. Perhaps, had Justin lived in Athens or Ephesus, he would have written much the same thing. This, after all, is a man deeply moved by Platonist philosophy and the "perception of immaterial things."' Furnished with such Platonist wings, Justin himself would surely claim to soar high over all such mundane realities as the streets, bridges, and buildings of ancient Rome. It is not surprising that the vast majority of scholarship on Justin and other early Christian intellectuals follows him on a similar trajectory. But of course, it is not at all clear that Justin's work would have taken the shape it did had it been written in Ephesus or Athens. Given the social-historical turn in scholarship on early Christianity over the last thirty years, we hardly need reminding that people are not disembodied intellects: they live in cities, their activities are constrained by bodily needs, they are caught up in webs of relationship with others and in the cross-currents of social, economic, and political forces. Justin, Marcion, and Valentinus were all expatriates from the eastern empire; all spoke and wrote in Greek; all sought students and cultivated study circles or "schools." "Church Fathers" and "heretics" alike had to get up in the morning and procure their food and drink. They walked the streets of Rome, patronized markets, went to restaurants and baths, and visited other Christians. Justin in particular was hardly a stay-at-home bookworm. By adopting the philosopher's cloak, he advertised publicly his chosen vocation and sought to provoke interaction and debate. In the case of his Cynic
The use of noise properties in set theoretic estimation

In most digital signal processing problems, the goal is to estimate an object from noise corrupted observations of a physical system. The authors describe how a wide range of probabilistic information pertaining to the noise process can be used in a general set theoretic estimation framework. The basic principle is to constrain the sample statistics of the estimation residual to be consistent with those probabilistic properties of the noise which are available and to construct sets accordingly in the solution space. Adding these sets to the collection of sets describing the solution will yield a smaller feasibility set and, hence, more reliable estimates. Pieces of information relative to quantities such as range, moments, absolute moments, and second and higher order probabilistic attributes are considered, and properties of the corresponding sets are established. Simulations are provided to illustrate the theoretical developments. >
Results on the time-frequency characterization of the first heart sound in normal man

The first heart sound (S1) recorded at four standard auscultatory locations in 80 subjects is analyzed for its time-frequency characteristics. Based on the continuous wavelet transform using the Morlet wavelet function, a methodology to identify the frequency components of the first heart sound together with their time locations with respect to the beginning of each cardiac cycle is proposed. As a result, the summary time-frequency characterization of S1 obtained by this approach is reported.
Understanding the Development of Flexibility in Struggling Algebra Students

The ability to flexibly solve problems is considered an important outcome for school mathematics and is the focus of this paper. The paper describes the impact of a three-week summer course for students who struggle with algebra. During the course, students regularly compared and contrasted worked examples of algebra problems in order to promote flexible use of solution strategies. Assessments were designed to capture both knowledge and use of multiple strategies. The students were interviewed in order to understand their rationales for choosing particular strategies as well as their attitudes toward instruction that emphasized multiple strategies. Findings suggest that students gained both knowledge of and appreciation for multiple strategies, but they did not always use alternate strategies. Familiarity, understandability, efficiency, and form of the problem were all considerations for strategy choice. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Viscoelastic earthquake cycle models with deep stress‐driven creep along the San Andreas fault system

[1] We develop a two-dimensional boundary element earthquake cycle model including deep interseismic creep on vertical strike-slip faults in an elastic lithosphere coupled to a viscoelastic asthenosphere. Uniform slip on the upper part of the fault is prescribed periodically to represent great strike-slip earthquakes. Below the coseismic rupture the fault creeps in response to lithospheric shear stresses within a narrow linear viscous fault zone. The model is applied to the GPS contemporary velocity field across the Carrizo Plain and northern San Francisco Bay segments of the San Andreas fault, as well as triangulation measurements of postseismic strain following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Previous analysis of these data, using conventional viscoelastic coupling models without stress-driven creep [Segall, 2002], shows that it is necessary to invoke different lithosphere-asthenosphere rheology in northern and southern California in order to explain the data. We show that with deep stress-driven interseismic creep on the San Andreas fault, the data can be explained with the same rheology for northern and southern California. We estimate elastic thickness in the range 44–100 km (95% confidence level), fault zone viscosity per unit width of 0.5–8.2 × 1017 Pa s/m, and asthenosphere relaxation time of 24–622 years (0.1–2.9 × 1020 Pa s) for northern and southern California. We estimate a slip rate of 21–27 mm/yr and recurrence time of 188–315 years for the northern San Francisco Bay San Andreas fault and slip rate of 32–42 mm/yr with recurrence time of 247–536 years for the Carrizo Plain.
Improving Legal Writing - Quantifiably

Lawyers wishing to improve their own legal writing or that of others may benefit from using readability statistics such as the “Flesch Reading Ease” score and the “Flesch Kincaid Grade Level.” As their names indicate, these statistics help to quantify the ease of reading and the grade level of a piece of writing. They are built into Microsoft Word and relatively easy to use. Considering readability statistics is valuable because legal writing that is easier to read is easier to comprehend, more persuasive, more prestigious, and just more likeable than less-readable alternatives. This column in the Georgia Bar Journal describes several readability statistics, provides references for how to use them, and discusses their strengths and weaknesses for legal writers.
International Software Piracy: Analysis of Key Issues and Impacts

The pervasiveness of software piracy throughout the world is having a profound effect on the software publishing industry and the development of digital intellectual properties and technologies-especially in developing countries, where the piracy rates are extremely high. An economic model is first presented that incorporates the incentive structures for governments, software publishers, and individual consumers. The analytical model provides the economic rationale for the reluctance of a number of governments to aggressively enact and enforce intellectual property rights. An important proposition derived from the analysis states that the government's incentive to enact and enforce copyright laws are closely related to the size of the domestic software industry. The ensuing empirical study provides support for the proposition and further suggests that this relationship holds regardless of the income levels of the countries. Our analysis reveals that alliances between foreign and domestic software publishers through product relationships can be mutually beneficial and will provide an environment of increased copyright enforcement. These results provide a viable strategy to combat global software piracy. With strong policies on copyright enforcement, and a vigorous promotion of alliances between foreign and domestic publishers, a government can increase the net welfare of the country and help establish a strong domestic software industry. Through product relationships with domestic publishers, a foreign publisher can improve profits and operate in an environment of increased intellectual property protection. We then present a general model of ethical behavior related to the impact of behavioral and cultural factors on software piracy. The purpose of this model is to examine whether these determinants of piracy behavior are supranational and transcend cultural and ethical barriers. An empirical study involving U.S. and Indian graduate students suggests that the general model of ethics as related to software piracy is valid in the United States. However, the model results from the Indian sample suggest that additional cross-cultural research with revised models and improved scales is necessary.
Improving the quality of NMR and crystallographic protein structures by means of a conformational database potential derived from structure databases

A new conformational database potential involving dihedral angle relationships in databases of high-resolution highly refined protein crystal structures is presented as a method for improving the quality of structures generated from NMR data. The rationale for this procedure is based on the observation that uncertainties in the description of the nonbonded contacts present a key limiting factor in the attainable accuracy of protein NMR structures and that the nonbonded interaction terms presently used have poor discriminatory power between high- and low-probability local conformations. The idea behind the conformational database potential is to restrict sampling during simulated annealing refinement to conformations that are likely to be energetically possible by effectively limiting the choices of dihedral angles to those that are known to be physically realizable. In this manner, the variability in the structures produced by this method is primarily a function of the experimental restraints, rather than an artifact of a poor nonbonded interaction model. We tested this approach with the experimental NMR data (comprising an average of about 30 restraints per residue and consisting of interproton distances, torsion angles, 3JHN alpha coupling constants, and 13C chemical shifts) used previously to calculate the solution structure of reduced human thioredoxin (Qin J, Clore GM, Gronenborn AM, 1994, Structure 2:503-522). Incorporation of the conformational database potential into the target function used for refinement (which also includes terms for the experimental restraints, covalent geometry, and nonbonded interactions in the form of either a repulsive, repulsive-attractive, or 6-12 Lennard-Jones potential) results in a significant improvement in various quantitative measures of quality (Ramachandran plot, side-chain torsion angles, overall packing). This is achieved without compromising the agreement with the experimental restraints and the deviations from idealized covalent geometry that remain within experimental error, and the agreement between calculated and observed 1H chemical shifts that provides an independent NMR parameter of accuracy. The method is equally applicable to crystallographic refinement, and should be particular useful during the early stages of either an NMR or crystallographic structure determination and in cases where relatively few experimental restraints can be derived from the measured data (due, for example, to broad lines in the NMR spectra or to poorly diffracting crystals).
Silicon Optical Modulator for High-speed Applications

We review silicon photonic technologies enabling low-cost photonic integrated circuits (PIC) for future optical interconnects. In particular, we discuss design, fabrication, and characterization of a high-speed silicon optical modulator capable of transmitting data up to 30 Gbps.
Patients with special needs: dental students' educational experiences, attitudes, and behavior.

Accreditation standards require U.S. dental schools to prepare their graduates for the diagnosis of treatment needs of patients with special health care needs (SHCN). The objective of this study was to explore dental students’ perceptions of their education about these issues, their satisfaction with this education, and their professional attitudes and behavioral intentions concerning treating patients with SHCN in the future. Web-based survey data were collected from forty-nine dental student leaders in thirteen U.S. dental schools and paper-and-pencil survey data from 397 dental students at a Midwestern dental school. Most respondents agreed that it is important to be educated about providing care for patients with SHCN and that they will provide care for these patients in the future. However, their satisfaction with their education was not equally positive. Their perceived quality of their dental education was correlated with their confidence concerning treating SHCN patients; their confidence was in turn correlated with their intentions to include these patients in their patient families in their future professional lives. In conclusion, dental students are strongly motivated to learn about providing care for patients with SHCN. The better their dental education prepares them for this task, the more confident they will be when treating these patients and the more likely they will be to provide care for these patients.
Behavioural response of carp ( Cyprinus carpio , L.) pond stock upon occurrence of hunting great cormorant ( Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis ) flocks

Besides various physiological and biological indices, stress in fish can be expressed directly by changes in their behaviour. Electrofishing point sampling approach based on CPUE (catch per unit effort) was used to evaluate fish density (escapement) into the littoral zones of four Czech ponds as a reaction to the occurrence and hunting activities of great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) flocks. The behaviour of two-year-old common carp (Cyprinus carpio) before and after cormorant arrival was compared. Significant differences (P < 0.001) in CPUE were recorded in fish density before and after cormorant arrival on all of four ponds under study—Žofinský: 0.04 ± 0.18 and 22.38 ± 26.87 (mean ± SD), Starý Hospodař: 0.05 ± 0.29 and 25.49 ± 25.45, Žebrakov: 0.16 ± 0.57 and 28.58 ± 24.75 and Travicný: 0.03 ± 0.19 and 17.18 ± 18.20, respectively. The evaluation of fish wounding in the CPUE fish samples proved the proportion of fish injured by cormorant attacks ranging from 3.33 to 18.19% in the ponds under study.
The Effects of Prostaglandins on Extrarenal Erythropoietin Production

AbstractThe E and A series prostaglandins have been reported to stimulate erythropoiesis and renal erythropoietin (Ep) production. In the present study, these prostaglandins also stimulated the elaboration of extrarenal Ep in renoprival animals after hypoxia. This extrarenal response was primarily due to hepatic Ep synthesis; when subtotal hepatectomy (hepx) was followed by nephrectomy, the Ep response to hypoxia was almost completely abolished. The synthetic methylated prostaglandins (16, 16-dimethyl E2 and (15s)-15 methyl E2) exerted the most potent effects on both the hepatic and renal Ep response. It is believed that this is attributable, at least in part, to the greater stability of these compounds in vivo. Prostaglandins do not appear to be capable of substantially elevating Ep production by the regenerating liver. When compared to vehicle- or saline-injected rats, a greater stimulation of hepatic Ep elaboration after prostaglandin treatment was observed in animals with normal livers than in rats wi...
Characterization of Complex Formation Between Small Molecules by Membrane Permeation Measurements

A membrane permeation technique is described which permits characterization of complex formation between small molecules. The method is applicable if the components of the complex diffuse across a nonporous membrane at markedly different rates. The procedure may be used (a) to determine the stoichiometry and stability constant of a complex, (b) to verify values of stability constants obtained by other methods, (c) to check assumptions concerning the stoichiometry of a complex, and (d) to determine the degree of complexation of a compound in systems complicated by the existence of two or more simultaneous equilibria, where other methods of determination may fail or be very time consuming. The membrane permeation technique has been applied to the characterization of the complex formation between salicylamide and caffeine at concentrations where appreciable self-association of caffeine occurs.
Heat Load due to Ortho-Para Conversion in a Closed-Loop Hydrogen Refrigerator

The hydrogen refrigerator, that is part of the 12-ft bubble chamber complex at the Argonne National Laboratory, is a closed-loop system. When the chamber is in operation, the refrigerator supplies liquid hydrogen to cooling loops for temperature control of the chamber liquid. This refrigerator takes gas from a compressor through cold boxes to a Joule-Thomson valve. Liquid and saturated gas are routed to a 12,000-gal dewar, where the liquid is retained. This liquid goes to the chamber cooling loops, where it is vaporized. The gas goes back through the cold boxes, to the suction of the compressor, thereby completing the loop.
COMPARISON OF ALLO–KRAMER, WARNER–BRATZLER AND RAZOR BLADE SHEARS FOR PREDICTING SENSORY TENDERNESS OF BROILER BREAST MEAT

Regression models were established to predict sensory tenderness of broiler pectoralis major muscles from instrumental shear values. Birds were processed and the breasts were removed at one of nine postmortem (PM) deboning times: 0.25, 1.25, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 6.0 and 24.0 h. A seven-member trained panel evaluated the cooked samples for initial hardness, cohesiveness, moisture release, hardness of mass, cohesiveness of mass and number of chews. A 74-member consumer panel was used to evaluate the samples for acceptance of overall texture and tenderness, appropriateness of juiciness and tenderness, and intensity of tenderness. The samples were analyzed using three instrumental shear tests (Allo-Kramer [AK], Warner-Bratzler [WB] and razor blade [RB]). Shear values and sensory scores were significantly affected by PM deboning time. Shear values correlated well with descriptive sensory attributes (R 2 = 0.57-0.89) and consumer sensory attributes (R 2 = 0.76-0.96). Descriptive sensory tenderness (hardness) was predicted better by the RB test, while consumer tenderness was predicted well equivalently by all three shear tests. As the RB test is simple and rapid, it is recommended that it be evaluated by the poultry industry as a quality control method.
Speeding Up a Large-Scale Filter

Abstract Wolfson et al. introduced a storm tracking algorithm, called the Growth and Decay Storm Tracker, in which the large-scale features were extracted from radar data fields by using an elliptical filter. The elliptical filter as introduced was computationally too expensive to be performed in real time. In this paper, it is shown that although the elliptical filter is nonlinear, it can be decomposed into two parts, one of which is, under some simplifying assumptions, linear and shift-invariant. The linear component can be accelerated using fast algorithms available to compute the digital Fourier transform (DFT). Furthermore, it is shown that the nonlinear part can be written as an update equation, thus reducing the amount of computer memory required. With these improvements to the basic large-scale filtering technique, this paper reports that the large-scale filtering can be done 1–2 orders of magnitude faster. The improvement makes it possible to use the large-scale filtering technique in situations ...
Outcomes and risk factors for listing for heart transplantation after the Norwood procedure: An analysis of the Single Ventricle Reconstruction Trial

Background Infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome after palliation have the worst survival among heart transplant recipients. Heart transplantation is often reserved for use in patients with sub-optimal results after palliative surgery. This study characterized outcomes after listing in infants with a single ventricle who had undergone the Norwood procedure and identified predictors of the decision to list for heart transplantation. Methods The public-use database from the multicenter, prospective randomized Single Ventricle Reconstruction trial was used to identify patients who were listed for heart transplantation. Outcomes on the waiting list and after transplantation were determined. Risk factors were compared between those who were listed and those who survived without listing. Results Among 555 patients, 33 patients (5.9%) were listed and 18 underwent heart transplantation. Mortality was 39% while waiting for a heart and was 33% after heart transplantation. Overall, 1-year survival after listing (including death after transplantation) was 48%. Factors associated with listing were a lower right ventricular fractional area change at birth, non-hypoplastic left heart syndrome diagnosis, and a more complicated post-Norwood course, defined as a higher need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, longer intensive care unit stay, more complications, and a higher number of discharge medications. Conclusions Worse right ventricular function, non-hypoplastic left heart syndrome diagnosis, and complex intensive care unit stay were significant risk factors for listing for heart transplantation after the Norwood procedure. Heart transplantation as a rescue procedure after the Norwood procedure in the first year of life carries a significant risk of mortality.
Integrating Multiscale Modeling with Drug Effects for Cancer Treatment.

In this paper, we review multiscale modeling for cancer treatment with the incorporation of drug effects from an applied system’s pharmacology perspective. Both the classical pharmacology and systems biology are inherently quantitative; however, systems biology focuses more on networks and multifactorial controls over biological processes rather than on drugs and targets in isolation, whereas systems pharmacology has a strong focus on studying drugs with regard to the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) relations accompanying drug interactions with multiscale physiology as well as the prediction of dosage-exposure responses and economic potentials of drugs. Thus, it requires multiscale methods to address the need for integrating models from the molecular levels to the cellular, tissue, and organism levels. It is a common belief that tumorigenesis and tumor growth can be best understood and tackled by employing and integrating a multifaceted approach that includes in vivo and in vitro experiments, in silico models, multiscale tumor modeling, continuous/discrete modeling, agent-based modeling, and multiscale modeling with PK/PD drug effect inputs. We provide an example application of multiscale modeling employing stochastic hybrid system for a colon cancer cell line HCT-116 with the application of Lapatinib drug. It is observed that the simulation results are similar to those observed from the setup of the wet-lab experiments at the Translational Genomics Research Institute.
Zika virus: A newly emergent vector-borne public health threat in the Americas

25 Zika virus is a newly emergent mosquito-borne flavivirus. Once almost ignored 26 epidemiologically, recent major outbreaks and links to neurological birth defects have 27 focused attention on this neglected pathogen. We review the discovery, biology and 28 symptomatology of Zika virus, what is known and not known about the mosquitoes that 29 transmit the virus, conspiracy theories currently hampering control efforts, and potential 30 avenues of Zika control. It is likely that Zika virus is here to stay in the Americas, so a 31 thorough understanding of the complete epidemiological transmission cycle and 32 potential effects on the human population will be critical for managing this new disease 33 in the coming years. 34
Influence of Direct Computer Experience on Older Adults' Attitudes Toward Computers

This research examined whether older adults' attitudes toward computers became more positive as a function of computer experience. The sample comprised 101 community-dwelling older adults aged 57 to 87. The intervention involved a 2-week computer training program in which subjects learned to use a desktop publishing software program. A multidimensional computer attitude measure was used to assess differential attitude change and maintenance of change following training. The results indicated that older adults' computer attitudes are modifiable and that direct computer experience is an effective means of change. Attitude change as a function of training was found for the attitude dimensions targeted by the intervention program: computer comfort and efficacy. In addition, maintenance of attitude change was established for at least two weeks following training.
Response of Focus of Origin of Experimental Ventricular Extrasystoles to Warming or Cooling

ConclusionsCoupled extrasystoles appear in dogs following epicardial or sub-epicardial application of hypertonic solutions of sodium or barium chloride on circumscribed areas. Warming of the injected area increases the number and the rate of the extrasystoles or causes them to appear even if they were not present after the injection. Cooling the area of injection slows the rate of formation of extrasystoles or abolishes them completely.These results can be explained satisfactorily by assuming a heterogenetic stimulus formation in the treated area.
Node or Link? Fine-Grained Analysis of Packet-Loss Attacks in Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks, packet losses are often an indicator of possible undergoing attacks. Therefore, security solutions aiming at providing comprehensive protection must include functions for packet-loss detection. Determining the actual cause of these losses is crucial to a quick and automated reaction to the attack, be it a simple reporting of the attack or a more sophisticated action such as packet rerouting and retransmission. Packet losses in wireless sensor networks can be caused by either attacks affecting the nodes or attacks focused on the wireless links. The efficacy of the response to such attacks is highly dependent on an accurate identification of the actual attack cause. Therefore, approaches to correctly identifying the cause of packet losses are needed. The work presented in this article addresses this problem by designing and implementing a fine-grained analysis (FGA) tool that investigates packet-loss events and reports their most likely cause. Our FGA tool profiles the wireless links between the nodes, as well as their neighborhood, by leveraging resident parameters, such as RSSI and LQI, available within every received packet. The design of the system is fully distributed and event-driven, and its low overhead makes it suitable for resource-constrained entities such as wireless motes. We have validated our approach through real-world experiments, showing that our FGA tool is effective in differentiating between the various attacks that may affect nodes and links.
Exposure of Human Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells to Raf-1 Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotides: Cellular Responses and Pharmacodynamic Implications

To characterize the pharmacodynamic properties of CGP 69846A/ISIS 5132, an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide directed against the mitogenic signal transducer Raf-1 kinase, we investigated the elicited biological responses in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells. Cell exposure to CGP 69846A resulted in a reversible time- and concentration-dependent down-regulation of cellular Raf-1 gene expression and, ultimately, inhibition of cell cycle progression. The highest potencies of this compound to reduce Raf-1 mRNA and protein levels were observed after 24 and 48 hr of cell exposure, respectively, with corresponding IC50 values of ∼100 and ∼300 nm. Proliferation was inhibited with an IC50value of ∼300 nm after 72 hr. We interpreted the recovery rate of Raf-1 mRNA after cell exposure to antisense ODNs as the half-life (t½ ∼50 hr) of active intracellular CGP 69846A in our cell culture system. The endogenous Raf-1 turnover half-life of ∼30 hr, as assessed by monitoring metabolically labeled Raf-1 protein, correlated kinetically with the antisense-induced protein decay rate (50% decay in ∼33 hr), indicating that the efficiency of CGP 69846A in decreasing Raf-1 protein levels was rate-limited by the endogenous protein turnover rate. The pharmacodynamic effects of CGP 69846A antisense ODNs are therefore limited by the duration of its intracellular activity rather than by its ability to transiently decrease mRNA levels. Local steady state exposure to CGP 69846A may represent a new approach to prevent the transition of quiescent vascular smooth muscle cells into the pathologically hyperproliferating cells seen after angioplasty.
Design of Computer Monitoring and Control System for Liaoning Pushihe Pumped Storage Power Station

With the expansion of the grid,it is necessity to build pumped storage power stations on a large scale.The design of the computer monitoring and control system for the Liaoning Pushihe Pumped Storage Power Station is introduced,including the design principles,structure,configuration and function of the system.The features of the system are analyzed briefly.On this basis,it is believed that the localization of domestic computer monitoring and control systems of large and medium-sized pumped storage power stations in planning or in construction is totally feasible.
Power Connection Technology for Full-Digital Real-Time Simulator and Analogue Simulator

To meet the demands of real-time simulation of UHVAC/UHVDC hybrid power grid in planning,design,construction and operation during various stages and fully bring features of analogue HVDC simulator,such as reliable results,high precision,and features of full-digital real-time simulator,such as ability to simulate large-scale power grid and repeatable use of models,into play,by use of decoupling of transmission line with distributed parameters the power connection technology for full-digital real-time simulator and analogue HVDC simulator is implemented.Using this power connection technology,a digital/analogue hybrid simulator for a simple AC/DC hybrid power grid is set up.Results of DC start-up test and system fault simulation test show that this power connection technology is practicable and possesses higher simulation accuracy,thus it suits to real-time simulation for parallel operaton of AC/DC hybrid poewr grid.
The invariant integral of physical mesomechanics as the foundation of mathematical physics: Some applications to cosmology, electrodynamics, mechanics and geophysics

Phe general invariant integral based on the energy conservation law is introduced into physical mesomechanics, with taking into account the cosmic, gravitational, mass, elastic, thermal and electromagnetic energy of matter. Phe physical mesomechanics thus becomes a mega-mechanics embracing most of the scales of nature. Some basic laws following from the general invariant integral are indicated, including Coulomb’s law of electricity generalized for moving electric charges, Newton’s law of gravitation generalized for coupled gravitational/cosmic field, the Archimedes’ law of buoyancy generalized for bodies partially submerged in water, and others. Using the invariant integral the temperature track behind moving cracks and dislocations is found out, and the coupling of elastic and thermal energies is set up in fracturing and plastic flow, namely for opening mode cracks and edge dislocations. For porous materials saturated with a fluid or gas, the notion of binary continuum is used to introduce the corresponding invariant integrals. As applied to the horizontal drilling and hydrofracturing of boreholes in the Earth’ crust, the field of pressure and flow rate as well as the fluid output from both a horizontal borehole and a diskshape fracture issuing the borehole, are derived in the fluid extraction regime. A theory of fracking in shale gas/oil reservoirs is suggested for three basic regimes of the drill mud permeation into the multiply fractured rock region, with calculating the shape and volume of this region in terms of the geometry parameters and pressures of rock, drill mud and shale gas. Phe method of functional equations in the theory of a complex variable and the boundary layer method are also used to solve these problems.
Analysis of effective synaptic currents generated by homonymous Ia afferent fibers in motoneurons of the cat

1. We have developed a technique to measure the total amount of current from a synaptic input system that reaches the soma of a motoneuron under steady-state conditions. We refer to this quantity a...
Academic Writing for International Students of Business

Academic Writing for International Students of Business Bailey, Stephen. (2015). Academic Writing for International Students of Business. New York, NY: Routledge.The recently released 2nd edition of Stephen Bailey's Academic Writing for International Students of Business (2015) overviews general concepts about academic writing in English for non-native speakers studying business. Bailey's text can be utilized both as a classroom text and as a self-study guide, supported by a corresponding answer key at the end of the text. The 2nd edition differs from the first in that it offers a new section on writing a literature review (replacing the and a more in-depth explanation on the correct use of definite articles in English. Like the first edition, the 2nd edition is available as a softbound book as well as an electronic text in an easy to utilize, downloadable format.The primary strength of Academic Writing for International Students of Business for both students and faculty is the manageable amount of content. The text is not overwhelming; it covers fundamental concepts with brevity readers may welcome. However, this brevity does, in places, become the text's greatest weakness. Some aspects of academic writing deserve more attention and need additional explanation. In addition, most examples in the text are from the UK; it lacks examples from Australia, the United States, and other English-speaking countries. For instance, the authors present an opening quiz designed to help students test their knowledge and focus their interests. However, this quiz may not be applicable across all cultures or institutions.The text is organized in four parts: The Writing Process, Elements of Writing, Vocabulary for Writing and Writing Models. While generally straightforward and clear, occasionally the text can be confusing, especially when key ideas are alluded to, but not directly referenced. For example, in the section on critical reading, one activity addresses skimming versus scanning a text (p. 16), but the text itself makes no mention of scanning, outside of the glossary. The text also switches voice-sometimes Bailey addresses students directly as if they are his primary audience. At other times, as in the section on reading methods (p. 15) the voice shifts and the author seems to be writing to faculty, talking about students. For student readers, this shift potentially detracts from the effectiveness as they may not find material to be directly relevant to their own needs.The first section of Academic Writing for International Students of Business focusing on the Writing Process contains good information about effective critical reading, working in groups, and how to avoid plagiarism, along with a standard overview of stages of the writing process. The section on plagiarism effectively connects the importance of good study and notetaking habits to the goal of avoiding plagiarism. This section also reinforces understanding through activities on avoiding plagiarism by fully understanding and practicing summarizing and paraphrasing. However, some of the other sections are not as well-developed. …