cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Predictive Modeling of Cricket Game Duration Using Multiple Machine Learning Algorithms

Cricket has the second-largest fan-base after football. Interest in any game is a factor of quality of the game which in turn depends on the quality of players. It is therefore important to have good players and that they are paid well. Sports industry largely relies on the advertising sector for sponsorship and financing of games. Advertisement companies spend a fortune to acquire the best slots during a game to catch the maximum viewership. This implies that advertising companies have a lot of interest in the duration of a match. Indian Premier League (IPL) has a huge fan-base and is one of the major events where companies spend a large amount of money to advertise their products. Due to this, a short game, which ends prior than expected, results in loss of opportunity in terms of time-slots lost and hence revenue and fan interest. The prediction of duration of a game will be beneficial for both sport and advertisement industry. In this paper, we use machine learning algorithms to predict the duration of a match in terms of the number of balls expected to be delivered in the match. The work introduces four different approaches, using historical data, to predict the number of balls in a match.
The Problem of Accountability: Environmental Justice and the Trump Administration

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been the epicenter of national environmental justice (EJ) work since President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order (EO) 12898 in 1994. De...
Scale gaps in landscape phenology: challenges and opportunities

Phenology, or the timing of life history events, can be heterogeneous across biological communities and landscapes and can vary across a wide variety of spatiotemporal scales. Here, we synthesize information from landscape phenology studies across different scales of measurement around a set of core concepts. We highlight why phenology is scale dependent and identify gaps in the spatiotemporal scales of phenological observations and inferences. We discuss the consequences of these gaps and describe opportunities to address the inherent sensitivities of phenological metrics to measurement scale. Although most studies we review and discuss are focused on plants, our work provides a broadly relevant overview of the role of observation scale in landscape phenology and a general approach for measuring and reporting scale dependence.
The Biomechanical Disadvantage of Dysplastic Hips

Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is strongly associated with increased risk for hip osteoarthritis. Skeletal deformities undeniably contribute to detrimental biomechanical loading in dysplastic hips, but cannot explain all types of damage and symptoms that patients with DDH experience. Characterizing the geometry and function of the muscles spanning the hip is a logical next step in our progression of knowledge about DDH pathomechanics. In this study, we compared skeletal geometry, muscle volumes, intramuscular fatty infiltration, moment arms, and isometric strength in patients with DDH (N=20) to healthy controls (N=15). Femoral coverage was significantly less in patients (p<.001, Cohen's d effect size =2.2), femoral neck shaft angles were larger (p=.001, d=1.3), and hip joint centers were more lateral (p=.001, d=1.3). These skeletal abnormalities were associated with smaller abductor muscle moment arms in patients with DDH (e.g., gluteus medius: p=.001, d=1.2). Patients with DDH also had larger gluteus medius volumes (p=.02, d=.83), but no differences in fatty infiltration, compared to controls. Isometric strength of the hip abductors, extensors, and flexors was lower in patients, but not significantly different from controls. The abnormal skeletal geometry, lateralized hip joint center, and reduced muscle moment arms represent a chronic biomechanical disadvantage under which patients with DDH operate. This phenomenon causes increased demand on the abductor muscles and results in high medially and superiorly directed joint reaction forces, which can explain reports of superomedial femoral cartilage damage in patients. The abnormal muscle geometry and function, in context with abnormal skeletal structure, are likely strong, but underappreciated, contributors to damaging loads in DDH. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The search for a new reference rate

The LIBOR manipulation scandal of 2008 spurred extensive policy debates regarding the importance of market-based reference rates. The alternative reference rates committee (ARRC) eventually identified the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR) to be a suitable replacement to LIBOR. In this study, we question the underlying process behind the choice of SOFR as a replacement for LIBOR. Both academic literature and regulatory bodies fail to identify a consistent definition and criteria of a good reference rate. We fill in this gap in the literature by providing an empirically testable ‘checklist’ to evaluate any potential money market rate to gauge its suitability as a reference rate. We also carry out an empirical evaluation of various money market rates against our criteria and identify the 1-month AA non-financial commercial paper rate as the best available replacement for LIBOR.
The Increase in Intergenerational African American Families Headed by Grandmothers

This article analyzes census data on grandparent heads of household. Information on African American grandparents, grandmothers in particular, is the focus of this analysis. The data include a profile of African American grandparent householders, reasons for the increase in households headed by grandparents, challenges and problems, living arrangements/household characteristics, and implications for practice. African American children are more likely to live in the home of their grandparents than are White or Hispanic children. In 1993, 12 percent of African American children lived in the home of their grandparent in comparison to 4 percent for Whites and 6 percent for Hispanics. The increased complexity of intergenerational households, along with a variety of social problems, suggest that new strategies must be developed to help these families cope
The Effect of Internal Reporting Structure on Management Earnings Forecast Accuracy: Evidence from U.S. Multinational Firms

Using a sample of U.S. multinational firms, we examine whether the internal reporting structure affects the accuracy of management earnings forecasts provided to external users. Focusing on internal information aggregation, we find that management earnings forecasts are less accurate when the internal information reported to the general manager is more aggregated. Further, we document that financial analysts’ reactions to management forecasts are weaker for firms with a high level of internal information aggregation. Our results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests. Overall, our study suggests that the internal reporting structure plays an important role in shaping the corporate external financial disclosure behavior.
Inspection time and IQ: Fluid or perceptual aspects of intelligence?

Abstract Past research has found an association between inspection time (IT) and fluid intelligence using measures confounded with visual processing (e.g., Wechsler PIQ or Ravens Progressive Matrices). The present study related IT to intelligence using a measure (Woodcock–Johnson—Revised, WJ-R) that has nonconfounded factors of mental ability in order to determine whether the association is based upon fluid IQ or perceptual processes. Thirty-seven undergraduate students were given fluid, crystallized, and visual processes subtests from the Woodcock–Johnson and a visual IT task. Stepwise multiple regression and partial correlations revealed that IT was related only to fluid intelligence (range corrected correlation of −.74), supporting the notion that IT reflects some fundamental underlying aspect of intelligence such as neural processing efficiency.
Recruiting and retaining young adults in a weight gain prevention trial: Lessons learned from the CHOICES study

Background/Aims:Young adults are at risk of weight gain, but little is known about designing effective weight control trials for young adults or how to recruit and retain participants in these prog...
Comment on “The Law of Large Demand for Information”

Say that one information structure is eventually Blackwell sufficient for another if, for every large enough n, an n-sample from the first is Blackwell sufficient (Blackwell (1951, 1954)) for an n-sample from the second. This note shows that eventual Blackwell sufficiency lies strictly between (one-shot) Blackwell sufficiency and the ordering of information structures formulated by Moscarini and Smith (2002), and thus offers a new criterion for comparing experiments. A characterization of eventual Blackwell sufficiency in terms of the one-shot experiments remains an open question.
Misaligned Bank Executive Incentive Compensation

We study the executive compensation structure in 14 of the largest U.S. financial institutions during 2000-2008. We focus on the CEO’s purchases and sales of their bank’s stock, their salary and bonus, and the capital losses these CEOs incur due to the dramatic share price declines in 2008. We consider three measures of risk-taking by these banks. Our results are mostly consistent with and supportive of the findings of Bebchuk, Cohen and Spamann (2010), that is, managerial incentives matter - incentives generated by executive compensation programs led to excessive risk-taking by banks.
Computer Attitude of Teaching Faculty: Implications for Technology-Based Performance in Higher Education

This study examined the validity of Selwyn’s computer attitude scale (CAS) and its implication for technology-based performance of randomly sampled (n=167) multidiscipline teaching faculty in higher education in Ghana. Considered, computer attitude is a critical function of computer attitude and potential performance. Composed of four constructs, and using a five-point Likert rating scale, the CAS measured affective, perceived behavioral control, behavior, and perceived usefulness attitudes as multi-construct of computer attitude. The reliability of the overall computer attitude and all four constructs scales are positive with high internal consistencies (> .70) and significant construct validity (p < 0.001). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant mean differences across all four constructs at p = 0.001. Affective attitude was the highest contributor of computer attitude followed by perceived usefulness, behavior, and perceived behavioral control attitudes. The teaching faculty has relatively high positive computer attitude; with purposeful practice and enabling environment, they can manage technology-oriented proficiencies and professional performances effectively. Further studies in private and public universities worldwide are proposed for practical and academic significance. In addition, relational and invariance of CAS across demographic factors such as gender, age, academic status, and subject discipline are proposed for their differential influence.
Stata tip 38: Testing for groupwise heteroskedasticity

A natural source of heteroskedasticity in many kinds of data is group membership: observations in the sample may be a priori defined as members of groups, and the variance of a series may di!er considerably across groups. This concept will also apply to the errors from a linear regression. The assumption of homoskedasticity in the relationship may reasonably hold within each group, but not between groups. This assumption most commonly arises in cross-sectional datasets. In economic data, for instance, the groups may correspond to firms in di!erent industries or workers in di!erent occupations. It could also apply in a time-series context: for instance, the variance of daily temperature may not be constant over the four seasons. In any case, a test for heteroskedasticity of this sort should take this a priori knowledge into account. How might we test for groupwise heteroskedasticity in a variable or in the errors from a regression? In the context of regression, if we can argue that each group’s regression equation satisfies the classical assumptions (including that of homoskedasticity), the s 2 computed by regress (see [R] regress )i s ac onsistent estimate of the group-specif ic variance of the disturbance process. For two groups, an F test may be constructed, with the larger variance in the numerator; the degrees of freedom are the residual degrees of freedom of each group’s regression. Conducting an F test is easy if both groups’ residuals are stored in one variable, with a group variable indicating group membership (in this case 1 or 2). The third form of sdtest may then be used, with the by(groupvar) option, to conduct the F test. What if there are more than two groups across which we wish to test for equality of disturbance variance, for instance, a set of 10 industries? We may then use the robvar command (see [R] sdtest), which like sdtest expects to find one variable containing each group’s residuals, with a group membership variable identifying them. The by(groupvar) option is used here as well. The test conducted is that of Levene (1960) labeled as W0, which is robust to nonnormality of the error distribution. Two variants of the test proposed by Brown and Forsythe (1974), which uses more robust estimators of central tendency (e.g., median rather than mean), W50 and W10, are also computed. We illustrate groupwise heteroskedasticity with state-level data: 1 observation per year for each of the six states in the New England region of the United States for 1981‐ 2000. We first apply robvar to the state-level population series to examine whether the variance of population is constant across states.
Relationship-Based Competitive Advantage: The Role of Relationship Marketing in Marketing Strategy

Abstract Relationship marketing research to date has focused for the most part on two sets of issues. First, what are the benefits of relationship marketing adoption? Second, how are marketing relationships built and maintained? Although these are important questions for researchers to address, we believe an understanding of the strategic impact of relationship marketing is equally important. We hold that relationship marketing should only be adopted when it offers, or contributes to, a firm's competitive advantage—a competitive advantage that, it is hoped, proves sustainable. As a first step toward better understanding the strategic role of relationship marketing, adopting a resource-based approach, we first clarify the role that resources gained through relationships may play in marketing relationships. Then we isolate and discuss the various kinds of resources that might be gained through relationships. Finally, we develop five propositions for assessing the strategic worth of these resources in marketing relationships.
Bacteriology of Spoilage of Fish Muscle III. Characterization of Spoilers

A total of 807 bacterial isolates from fresh and spoiling fillets of English sole (Parophrys vetulus) stored at 5 C were classified as to genus and tested for various biochemical activities, including the ability to spoil sterile muscle press juice at 5 C. Production of off-odor, volatile reducing substances, and trimethylamine was used to estimate spoilage. It was found that (i) spoilers could be distinguished from nonspoilers on the basis of the juice spoilage test, (ii) differentiation between spoilers and nonspoilers could not be achieved by means of the usual biochemical tests, (iii) no micrococci, flavobacteria, and “coryneforms” were spoilers, (iv) certain specific subgroups of the genus Pseudomonas consisted exclusively of spoilers whereas others were inactive, (v) the genus Achromobacter likewise consisted of spoilers and nonspoilers, and (vi) “coliforms” could produce spoilage. It was concluded that a method is now available to determine directly and unequivocally the role played in spoilage by various bacterial groups and that it is no longer necessary to rely on indirect evidence.
Characteristics of an inhibitor of the Na+/K+ pump in human cerebrospinal fluid.

Human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inhibits the Na+/K+ pump in human red cells and the activity of purified Na+/K+-ATPase (Halperin, J. A., Shaeffer, R., Galvez, L., and Malave, S. (1985) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S. A. 80, 6102-6104, 1983; Halperin, J. A., Martin, A. M., and Malave, S. (1985) Life Sci. 37, 561-566. We describe here some properties of the CSF inhibitor of the Na+/K+ pump. Active material was extracted from human CSF with 50% methanol and then concentrated and desalted by ultrafiltration. This extract inhibited, in a dose-dependent manner, the ouabain-sensitive influx of K+ into human red cells and the activity of purified Na+/K+-ATPase. Partial separation of the inhibitory activity was achieved by gel filtration and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Inhibition of both pump and enzyme was specific in that other red cell membrane transport systems or enzymes examined were not influenced by CSF extracts. Dialysis and ultrafiltration experiments indicate that the molecular weight of the inhibitor is approximately equal to 600. The inhibitory activity is sensitive to proteolytic enzymes indicating that the inhibitor might be a small peptide. In the presence of CSF extract the K0.5 for external K+ to stimulate the Na+/K+ pump increased from 1.4 to 3.1 mM, suggesting that the CSF inhibitor competes with external K+ for stimulation of the pump. We estimate that the concentration of the inhibitor in CSF might be approximately equal to 50 pg/ml, a value close to the concentration of other active peptides found in human CSF.
Turbulent Mixing in Accelerating Jets

The effects of acceleration on the mixing in free turbulent jets are discussed theoretically. If the characteristic time constant of the acceleration is comparable to or less than the large eddy turn over time, it is postulated that the entrainment rate of ambient fluid into the turbulence is inhibited. Then the engulfment appetite of each vortex is predominantly satisfied by rotational fluid overtaking from behind, thereby displacing the normal entrainment of pure, irrotational fluid. This nonstationary condition may be maintained if the acceleration function is exponential. Preliminary experiments with other acceleration functions support the hypothesis. A new class of self-similar accelerating flows is proposed in which the global vorticity remains constant with time. In this sense, the vortices do not age. Hence, the rates of irreversible processes such as dissipation and molecular scale mixing tend to zero. The concept is applied to the temporally stationary but spatially accelerating transverse jet.
Natural Rights and the Ninth Amendment: How Does Lockean Legal Theory Assist in Interpretation?

Some of the most contested questions for modern constitutional law stem from the decision of the First Congress to enumerate some – but necessarily not all – fundamental rights as part of our basic legal framework. Lockean social compact theory can help us to understand these provisions of the Constitution, and especially the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.
Factors associated with suicidal ideation among women abused in intimate partner relationships

This study examines factors associated with suicidal ideation among women abused in intimate partner relationships. Data were collected from the case records of 95 women screened upon in‐person contact with admissions workers in a domestic violence shelter in one Midwestern state. Forty‐three percent of the women reported suicidal ideation as significantly associated with childhood sexual abuse, childhood physical abuse, and adulthood intimate partner abuse lasting fewer than 12 months in duration. The results have policy and practice implications for those interested in the mental health needs of women abused in childhood and adulthood. Implications for research are presented that more precisely identify how the effects of past and current traumatic experiences intersect and contribute to suicidal ideation among women abused in intimate relationships.
Judgments of policies designed to elicit local cooperation on LLRW disposal siting: Comparing the public and decision makers

Abstract The study reported here solicited the opinions of the general public of the State of Pennsylvania and of key decision makers in environmental, civic, industry, and health groups, on various policy issues connected with the establishment of low-level radioactive waste disposal sites. Specifically, the focus was on their judgment of options designed to elicit local cooperation and their trust in various officials and agencies. The data indicates that the general public views both compensation and power sharing options as important in promoting local cooperation. However, power sharing options are viewed as more important than incentives. The general public consistently demonstrates a preference for options which put control of the site in the hands of locals. On the other hand, influential decision-makers, with the exception of those representing environmental advocacy organizations, tend to view compensation as more important than local power sharing. Their preferences mirror those programs currently being pursued by federal and state officials. Preferences exhibited by leaders of environmental advocacy organizations parallel those of the general public. Furthermore, the general public demonstrates a relative lack of trust in local officials to represent their interests in siting decisions. This raises the issue of legitimacy in negotiations with local communities.
Metcalfe's law and the biology information commons.

Open collaboration on biomedical discoveries requires a fundamental shift in the traditional roles and rewards for both investigators and participants in research.
A spatial assessment of hydrologic alteration within a river network

Maintaining natural hydrologic variability is essential in conserving native riverine biota and river ecosystem integrity. Hydrologic variation plays a major role in structuring the biotic diversity within river ecosystems as it controls key habitat conditions within the river channel, the floodplain, and hyporheic (stream-influenced ground water) zones. Alterations in streamflow regimes may modify many of these habitat attributes and impair ecosystem connectivity. We demonstrate use of the ‘Range of Variability Approach’ for assessing hydrologic alteration at available streamgauge sites throughout a river basin. We then illustrate a technique for spatially mapping the degree of hydrologic alteration for river reaches at and between streamgauge sites. Such maps can be used to assess the loss of natural hydrologic variation at a river basin scale, thereby facilitating river restoration planning. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Haptics in virtual environments: Taxonomy, research status, and challenges

Abstract Haptic displays are emerging as effective interaction aids for improving the realism of virtual worlds. Being able to touch, feel, and manipulate objects in virtual environments has a large number of exciting applications. The underlying technology, both in terms of electromechanical hardware and computer software, is becoming mature and has opened up novel and interesting research areas. In this paper, we clarify the terminology of human and machine haptics and provide a brief overview of the progress recently achieved in these fields, based on our investigations as well as other studies. We describe the major advances in a new discipline, Computer Haptics (analogous to computer graphics), that is concerned with the techniques and processes associated with generating and displaying haptic stimuli to the human user. We also summarize the issues and some of our results in integrating haptics into multimodal and distributed virtual environments, and speculate on the challenges for the future.
Neurologic Complications of Influenza

Neurologic complications associated with influenza infection represent rare, but often underappreciated, manifestations of both seasonal and global pandemic influenza. Seizures are the most common neurologic complication, occurring as febrile seizures, as exacerbations in patients with epilepsy, or as symptoms of other influenza-induced neurologic disorders. Encephalopathy is the second most common neurologic complication associated with influenza. A wide spectrum of conditions ranging from coma with severe long-term morbidity or mortality and more mild altered mental states that resolve with minimal-to-no sequelae have been reported. Other less common neurologic complications that have been described include stroke, focal neurologic deficits, Guillain–Barre syndrome, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, and transverse myelitis.
Prevalence of Active Commuting at Urban and Suburban Elementary Schools in Columbia, SC

We directly observed the prevalence of walking and bicycling (active commuting) to 8 randomly selected urban and suburban elementary schools. When school was used as the unit of analysis, only 5.0% of the students actively commuted to or from school across all observed trips. Active commuting was not affected (P ≥; 18) by school urbanization level, school socioeconomic status, time of day, day of week, weather conditions, or temperature. These results indicate a need for school- and community-based interventions.
Components of Resistance to Magnaporthe grisea in ‘Coyote’ and ‘Coronado’ Tall Fescue

The components of resistance in tall fescue to Magnaporthe grisea, the causal agent of gray leaf spot, were measured in growth chamber experiments. Cultivars ranging in susceptibility to M. grisea were selected: 'Kentucky 31' (susceptible), 'Rebel III' (moderately susceptible), 'Coronado' (resistant), and 'Coyote' (resistant). Plants were inoculated with nine M. grisea isolates representing five clonal lineages associated with tall fescue in Georgia. Compared to Kentucky 31, Coronado and Coyote exhibited longer incubation and latent periods, reduced rates of disease progress and lesion expansion, and lower final disease incidence, final foliar blight incidence, final mean lesion length, area under the lesion expansion curve, and area under the disease progress curve. No evidence of hypersensitive response was observed, all M. grisea isolates completed the disease cycle by producing secondary inoculum, and no differential response to isolates from different clonal lineages was detected in Coronado and Coyote. These results indicate that Coronado and Coyote have partial resistance to M. grisea. Measurement of resistance components using primary parameters and derived parameters yielded similar results. Foliar blight incidence data exhibited increased variation relative to other parameters and was less powerful for detection of M. grisea resistance. Measurements of incubation period, latent period, final disease incidence, and final mean lesion length were the most effective and efficient methods for detecting M. grisea resistance in tall fescue.
Autoantibody profiles in two patients with non-autoimmune muscle disease implicate a role for gliadin autoreactivity

The objective of this case study was to characterize autoreactivity in two patients with non-autoimmune forms of muscle disease who had positivity for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and Ro (SSA) autoantibodies. Serum samples from these two patients were applied to an autoantigen protein array with more than 70 specificities and were compared to samples from healthy controls and patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Both myopathy patients had high levels of gliadin autoreactivity in serum and one patient had an overall autoantibody profile with lupus-like features. The findings suggest that some disorders of muscle that are considered non-autoimmune, may in fact have autoimmune features. Further examination of the role of subclinical gluten autoreactivity in the pathogenesis of myopathy syndromes has the potential to suggest improved approaches to diagnosis and treatment of these conditions.
Bora-driven potential vorticity banners over the Adriatic

A case study is presented of the secondary potential vorticity (PV) banners over the northern Adriatic that occurred in an early stage of a bora on 7 November 1999 during the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP) Special Observation Period. The dynamics and structure of the lee-side and cross-mountain flow past the Dinaric Alps were investigated using data collected in a dual-aircraft (NCAR Electra and NOAA P-3)MAP Intensive Observing Period 15 mission over the Adriatic and high-resolution numerical simulations. The observational study employs flight-level, dropsonde, and Scanning Aerosol Backscatter Lidar data. The observed flow structure is compared with simulations results of the COAMPS model run at a horizontal resolution of 3 km. The Dinaric Alps, the north-west/south-east oriented coastal mountain range of Croatia, has an irregular ridge line with a number of peaks in the range of 1.5–2 km with several prominent mountain passes. The identified jet and wake structure within the east-north-easterly bora over the Adriatic was found to be well correlated with the upwind distribution of mountain passes and peaks. The wake flow structure was found also to be in excellent agreement with the climatological profile of the bora strength along the Croatian coast. The attendant secondary PV banners separating individual jets and wakes, diagnosed by computing PV from the flight-level data, were found to have a characteristic horizontal scale of 10–25 km, and a maximum amplitude of up to ∼6 pvu within the boundary layer. Over the open sea, the thickness of the boundary layer, within which the east-north-easterly bora also achieved its maximum strength, was approximately 1 km. Detailed comparison with the numerical model results shows that, at the horizontal resolution of 3 km, the COAMPS model reproduces well the overall flow structure. The COAMPS-simulated PV field was found to be in good agreement with the PV derived from observations. The differences in substructure between simulated and experimentally derived PV profiles derive from minor differences between modelled and observed velocity and potential temperature profiles, which are subsequently accentuated by computing differentiated quantities such as vorticity and potential temperature gradients. The high predictability and steadiness of the PV banners, and a good correlation with the geometry of the upwind topography, support the orographic generation mechanism of PV with dissipation in hydraulic jumps and gravity-wave breaking regions as the likely main source of PV. Copyright © 2004 Royal Meteorological Society
Statistical approach for optimizing sputtering conditions of highly oriented aluminum nitride thin films

Design of experiments and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are very efficient methods to optimize the sputtering conditions for highly c-axis oriented aluminum nitride (AlN) thin films. The effects of the five sputtering control factors; substrate temperature, nitrogen concentration, rf power, sputtering pressure and sputtering time, were simultaneously investigated by only 16 experiments. It could be proved statistically at the 5% level that the substrate temperature, the rf power and the sputtering pressure are significant control factors for the crystal orientation of the films. Especially, the rf power is the most important control factor. On the other hand, the effects of the nitrogen concentration and the sputtering time are not statistically significant. Our results were ascertained at the 95% confidence level. The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the X-ray rocking curves of the film deposited under the optimized sputtering conditions was 2.7° (σ=1.6°). The orientation of the film was the highest of the films deposited on glass substrates reported to our knowledge.
The role of fire in the competitive dynamics of coast redwood forests.

Fire is a major component of the disturbance regime and a critical determinant of competitive outcomes in many ecosystems. In forests dominated by coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), fire was frequent and ubiquitous prior to European settlement, but fires have been exceedingly small and rare over the last 70–80 years because of aggressive fire prevention and suppression policies. As a result, many aspects of redwood fire ecology remain poorly understood. However, in 2008 a single storm ignited numerous fires throughout the redwood region, providing a rare opportunity to conduct replicated fire effects research. One year post-fire, we investigated competitive dynamics by quantifying bole survival and basal sprouting, for redwood and associated species, at four field sites that spanned much of the latitudinal range of redwood and encompassed (1) second-growth and old-growth stands, (2) burned and unburned areas, and (3) a wide range of fire severities. We employed a mixed effects analytical framework and found that: (1) the probability of bole survival was greater for redwood than for its primary competitor (tanoak; Notholithocarpus densiflorus), (2) this divergence was much more pronounced at higher fire severities, and (3) tanoak exhibited a slight advantage in terms of post-fire basal sprouting, but the dominance of tanoak basal sprouts in burned areas was reduced relative to unburned areas. For many disturbance types in many ecosystems, the empirical data necessary for effective management decisions are lacking, and studies incorporating vegetative tree regeneration are especially scarce. Our work demonstrates the importance of utilizing unique field research opportunities to test current theories, while unequivocally documenting that fires of all severities increased the abundance of redwood relative to tanoak, and that higher severity fires more strongly favored redwood.
Analysis and discretization of an optimal control problem for the time-periodic MHD equations

We consider the mathematical formulation and analysis of an optimal control problem associated with the tracking of the velocity and the magnetic field of a viscous, incompressible, electrically conducting fluid in a bounded two-dimensional domain through the adjustment of distributed controls. Existence of optimal solutions is proved and first-order necessary conditions for optimality are used to derive an optimality system of partial differential equations whose solutions provide optimal states and controls. Semidiscrete-in-time approximations are defined and their convergence to the exact optimal solutions is shown.
A virtual “field test” of forest management carbon offset protocols: the influence of accounting

Of the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation options available from U.S. forests and agricultural lands, forest management presents amongst the lowest cost and highest volume opportunities. A number of carbon (C) accounting schemes or protocols have recently emerged to track the mitigation achieved by individual forest management projects. Using 50-year C cycling data from the Calhoun Experimental Forest in South Carolina, USA, C storage is estimated for a hypothetical forest management C offset project operating under seven of these protocols. After 100 years of project implementation, net C sequestration among the seven protocols varies by nearly a full order of magnitude. This variation stems from differences in how individual C pools, baseline, leakage, certainty, and buffers are addressed under each protocol. This in turn translates to a wide variation in the C price required to match the net present value of the non-project, business-as-usual alternative. Collectively, these findings suggest that protocol-specific restrictions or requirements are likely to discount the amount of C that can be claimed in “real world” projects, potentially leading to higher project costs than estimated in previous aggregate national analyses.
Sensitive assay of hydroxyl free radical formation utilizing high pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection of phenol and salicylate hydroxylation products

Evidence is presented for a sensitive method useful for the detection of hydroxyl free radical generation in various systems. The methodology employs high pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (LCED) for the quantification and identification of the hydroxylation products from the reaction of OH with both phenol and salicylate. A detection limit of less than 1 pmol for the hydroxylation products has been achieved with electrochemical detector responses linear over at least three orders of magnitude. Detection and quantitation of the hydroxylation products obtained and formed during OH generation from biologically meaningful systems have been demonstrated. The three systems utilized were ADP/FE(II)/H2O/, hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase plus chelated iron, and UV photolysis of H2O2.
Finite element approximation of solutions to a class of nonlinear hyperbolic-parabolic equations

Abstract The numerical approximation of Antman and Seidman's (1996) model of the longitudinal motion of a viscoelastic rod is investigated. Their constitutive assumptions ensure that infinite compressive stress is needed to produce total compression of the rod. Analyses of the regularity of the solution of the continuous problem, the convergence of a semi-discrete finite element method, and the properties of a space–time finite element scheme are furnished. Results of a sample computation are also provided.
Size–density sorting of sand‐size spheres during deposition from bedload transport and implications concerning hydraulic equivalence

It is well known that sediment sorting according to size, shape and density occurs, but the exact mechanisms involved are poorly understood. To assess the effects of size and density, sand-size spheres of two densities were transported and deposited under controlled flume conditions. Observations on the motion of discrete particles show that grains smaller than bed-roughness grains move continuously and have the same transport velocities regardless of density. For grains near and slightly larger than the roughness, movement is intermittent and, for a given size, heavy particles move more slowly than lights. For grains much larger than bed roughness grains, movement is continuous over the rough surface and light and heavy grains have nearly the same transport velocities. Analyses of bulk sediment deposited from plane-bed transport, show that the size and proportion of heavies decreases and that of lights increases with distance transported. For ripple bed transport, however, the size relations between associated light and heavy grains remains essentially unchanged with transport distance and the proportion of light and heavy grains is extremely variable. These results suggest that size-density sorting in plane-bed transport is a function of the transportabilities identified in the discrete grain studies but that sorting in ripple-bed transport is related to deposition on, and recycling through, the bed forms. Application of these findings to the concept of hydraulic equivalence implies that some indication of bed configuration may be necessary for the concept to be useful.
Antiquarianism and Contemporaneity: The Relevance of Studies in Religion

A NTIQUARIANISM and contemporaneity are terms that seem to me to apply to the diverse role of the scholar and the teacher, especially in significant aspects of the field of religion. I use "scholar" for want of a better word. The difficulty is its frequent sense of an accolade, with the consequence that though I secretly think that I am a scholar, it is unbecoming for me to say so about myself. By "scholar" I mean a professional student; a scholar in that sense I certainly am. As such, I have been engaged for several decades in studying an ancient period, and in that sense I am distinctly an antiquarian. On the other hand, I earn my livelihood as a teacher.
Combined stereovision and phase shifting method: a new approach for 3D shape measurement

A new method, which combines the stereovision and phase shifting techniques, is proposed for more accurate 3-D shape measurement. This method uses two cameras and one projector and can eliminate errors caused by inaccurate phase measurement, for example, periodic errors due to the nonlinearity of the projector's gamma curve. The two cameras are set up for stereovision. The projector is used to project phase-shifted fringe patterns onto the object twice with the fringe patterns rotated by 90 degrees in the second time. Fringe images are taken by the two cameras from different directions simultaneously. The resulting phase maps are used to assist stereo matching at the pixel level. The coordinates of the object surface are calculated based on triangulation. Since the phase value at each pixel is used to assist stereo matching only, it does not have to be accurate. This means that the projector does not need to be calibrated, which simplifies the system calibration. Errors due to inaccurate phase measurement are significantly reduced because the two cameras produce phase maps with the same phase errors. This combined method is better than stereovision method alone because it provides higher resolution and easier stereo matching. It is better than the phase shifting method alone because it eliminates the need of accurate phase measurement in order to ensure high measurement accuracy. Experimental results and comparisons with the typical phase shifting method are presented to show the effectiveness and advantages of this newly proposed method.
MV-algebras derived from ideals in BL-algebras

We introduce the notion of ideal in BL-algebras as a natural generalization of that of ideal in MV-algebras. We show that from a purely algebraic point of view, the introduced notion has the proper meaning. Among other things, we establish that an ideal is prime if and only if the quotient BL-algebra is an MV-chain, and also that the MV-center of a BL-algebra as treated by Turunen and Sessa is simply the factor of the BL-algebra by the trivial ideal. We also analyze the relationship between ideals and deductive systems using the set of complement elements. It is our hope that this work will settle once and for all the existence of ideals in BL-algebras settings.
XPS Structural Studies of Nano-composite Non-platinum Electrocatalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

The chemical structure of non-platinum electrocatalysts obtained from cobalt porphyrins (CoTMPP or CoTPP) by pyrolysis is investigated by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The catalysts represent highly dispersed, self-supported nano-composites that demonstrate electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction and practically no activity in methanol electro-oxidation. High-resolution Co2p, C1s, N1s and O1s XPS spectra acquired from precursors and electrocatalysts pyrolyzed at various experimental conditions were curve-fit using (a) individual peaks of constrained width and shape as well as (b) experimentally obtained photopeaks from the precursor with additional peaks required for a complete curve fit. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) applied to quantitative results from the curve-fits of both types of spectra facilitates visualization and identification of the chemical species that are formed or destroyed, and simplifies evaluation of critical correlations. As a result of these studies it is established that the catalyst is a nano-composite of highly dispersed pyropolymer with some remaining N x -centers inserted into a graphite-like matrix. Approximately 50% of the metal is distributed as Co2+, associated with N4-centers. The remaining cobalt is present in crystallites of metallic Co. A thin layer of CoO coats these metallic cobalt phases. The developed methodology, described herein, combines model curve-fits and principal component analysis (PCA), resulting in a quantitative and unambiguous understanding of the chemical composition and structure of complex electrocatalysts.
Erythrocyte membrane sulfhydryl groups and cation permeability

Reaction of the slowly penetrating organic mercurial compound parachloromercuribenzene sulfonate (PCMBS) with intact erythrocytes has been characterized. Addition of concentrations of PCMBS which result in binding within the interior of the membrane of more than 1.9 × 10−18 moles/cell produces alterations in Na+ and K+ permeability, but does not affect choline permeability. However, the increased cation permeability is observed only after a lag period of over two hours. After ten hours, a spontaneous slow “recovery” to normal rates of K+ leakage occurs at 25°C but not at 2°C. Subsequent to the effects on cation balance, increasing degrees of hemolysis occur, interpreted as colloid osmotic lysis. The relationships between the binding of the agent and its effects are as follows: a small, rapid initial uptake does not affect cation permeability; the subsequent slower uptake is associated with increased leakage of K+ and Na+; and the recovery at 25°C is associated with desorption of about half of the PCMBS due to competition by soluble thiol substances released into the medium from the cells. Desorption and “recovery” can be mimicked at any time by addition of small amounts of protein in the medium. The half of the PCMBS that cannot be desorbed is assumed to be bound by the hemoglobin inside the cell. The sulfhydryl groups involved in control of cation permeability constitute only a fraction of the total within the membrane (4–18%). They are located within the interior of the membrane separated from the medium and from the interior of the cell by diffusion barriers to PCMBS.
Reducibility of matrix polynomials and their traces

Pour des variables matriciellesn x n, nous demontrons la reductibilite en degre de certains produits et de leurs traces, afin de generaliser au dela des dimensions 2 ou 3 quelques resultats employes parRivlin, Smith etSpencer, pour extraire une base d'integrite orthogonale des tenseurs symetriques. En particulier, pourn≥3, nous demontrons la reductibilite en degre de tout produit de 2n–1 matrices et de la trace de tel produit.
Mass movement of fine-grained sediment to the basin floor, bering sea, Alaska

Large volumes of fine-grained sediment have been transported to the deepbasin floor in the Bering Sea, especially during glacial low stands of sea level. Turbidity currents and several types of mass movement have been the chief transporting agents.
Products of the gas-phase reactions of the OH radical withn-butyl methyl ether and 2-isopropoxyethanol: Reactions of ROC(??) < radicals

The products of the gas-phase reactions of the OH radical with n-butyl methyl ether and 2-isopropoxyethanol in the presence of NO have been investigated at 298 ± 2 K and 740 Torr total pressure of air by gas chromatography and in situ atmospheric pressure ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The products observed from n-butyl methyl ether were methyl formate, propanal, butanal, methyl butyrate, and CH3C(O)CH2CH2OCH3 and/or CH3CH2C(O)CH2OCH3, with molar formation yields of 0.51 ± 0.11, 0.43 ± 0.06, 0.045 ± 0.010, ∼0.016, and 0.19 ± 0.04, respectively. Additional products of molecular weight 118, 149 and 165 were observed by API-MS/MS analyses, with those of molecular weight 149 and 165 being identified as organic nitrates. The products observed and quantified from 2-isopropoxyethanol were isopropyl formate and 2-hydroxyethyl acetate, with molar formation yields of 0.57 ± 0.05 and 0.44 ± 0.05, respectively. For both compounds, the majority of the reaction products and reaction pathways are accounted for, and detailed reaction mechanisms are presented. The results of this product study are combined with previous literature product data to investigate the tropospheric reactions of R1R2C(Ȯ)OR radicals formed from ethers and glycol ethers, leading to a revised estimation method for the calculation of reaction rates of alkoxy radicals. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 31: 501–513, 1999