cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The application of the framework of Situational Crime Prevention to ‘organized crime’:

This essay and review examines to what extent the conceptual framework of Situational Crime Prevention can be meaningfully applied to the phenomena variously labelled ‘organized crime’. Several approaches are identified which in different respects imply modifications to the situational framework in order to accommodate assumed specificities of ‘organized crime’, including ‘organized’ criminal activities transcending space and time, and ‘organized’ criminals being capable of selecting and shaping crime settings. It is argued that while a situational approach to the study of ‘organized crime’ is useful in some respects, in other respects the conceptual framework of Situational Crime Prevention needs to be modified to a point where its universal applicability is called into question.
Early Childhood Mathematics Education: The Critical Issue is Change

I chose the term revolution because it comes from the Latin word revolutio, which means “a turn around.” Leading researchers in the early 20th century were advocating that young children were mathe...
Acrosin, Proacrosin, and Acrosin Inhibitor of Guinea Pig Spermatozoa Capacitated and Acrosome-Reacted in vitro

Guinea pig epididymal spermatozoa were either capacitated only, or capacitated and acrosomereacted in vitro. The spermatozoa were separated from the supernatant incubation media, the spermatozoa extracted, and the amount of acrosin, proacrosin, and acrosin inhibitor in the sperm extracts as well as in the supernatant solutions was measured. A dialyzable factor was present which inhibited proacrosin activation as well as acrosin activity, although the latter to a lesser degree, and was partially removed during the acrosome reaction. The total amount of acrosin (nonzymogen acrosin + proacrosin) in untreated, control spermatozoa was 3 to 5 times that in mouse and human spermatozoa. A reduction of �\�50% in the total amount of sperm acrosin occurred after induction of the acrosome reaction. Whether spermatozoa were untreated, capacitated, or acrosome-reacted, ‘\:90% of the acrosin present on the spermatozoa was in proacrosin form. The loss of acrosin activity after induction of the acrosome reaction was due to its release into the surrounding medium, and all of the released enzyme was in the nonzymogen acrosin form. The amount of acrosin released from control spermatozoa kept in buffer, which underwent the “false” acrosome reaction, was approximately the same as that released from “true” acrosomereacted spermatozoa. The total amount of acrosin released after induction of the acrosome reaction was never more than about 55% of the original amount present, even if more than 80% of the spermatozoa had undergone the acrosome reaction. Proacrosin activation apparently does not occur, or occurs only minimally, during in vitro capacitation of guinea pig spermatozoa, but approximately half is activated just before, during, or immediately after the spermatozoa show morphological changes in the acrosome, whether induced by sperm death or capacitation. Approximately the same small amount of acrosin inhibitor was released from capacitated spermatozoa as from noncapacitated spermatozoa kept in buffer that had undergone the “false” acrosome reaction. By contrast, a much higher amount of acrosin inhibitor was liberated from capacitated, ,sc:osome-reacted spermatozoa.
HMM trajectory-guided sample selection for photo-realistic talking head

In this paper, we propose an HMM trajectory-guided, real image sample concatenation approach to photo-realistic talking head synthesis. An audio-visual database of a person is recorded first for training a statistical Hidden Markov Model (HMM) of Lips movement. The HMM is then used to generate the dynamic trajectory of lips movement for given speech signals in the maximum probability sense. The generated trajectory is then used as a guide to select, from the original training database, an optimal sequence of lips images which are then stitched back to a background head video. We also propose a minimum generation error (MGE) training method to refine the audio-visual HMM to improve visual speech trajectory synthesis. Compared with the traditional maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, the proposed MGE training explicitly optimizes the quality of generated visual speech trajectory, where the audio-visual HMM modeling is jointly refined by using a heuristic method to find the optimal state alignment and a probabilistic descent algorithm to optimize the model parameters under the MGE criterion. In objective evaluation, compared with the ML-based method, the proposed MGE-based method achieves consistent improvement in the mean square error reduction, correlation increase, and recovery of global variance. For as short as 20 min recording of audio/video footage, the proposed system can synthesize a highly photo-realistic talking head in sync with the given speech signals (natural or TTS synthesized). This system won the first place in the A/V consistency contest in LIPS Challenge, perceptually evaluated by recruited human subjects.
The Transfer Moment: The Pivotal Partnership Between Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions in Securing the Nation's College Completion Agenda

This chapter addresses transfer from a community college to a four-year institution, an important pathway for students seeking the bachelor's degree, especially students from underserved groups. The transfer pathway will be an increasingly important source of bachelor's degree holders as colleges and universities strive to meet President Obama's college completion agenda.
Relationship between cingulo-insular functional connectivity and autistic traits in neurotypical adults.

Objective: The Social Responsiveness Scale—Adult Version (SRS-A) measures autistic traits that are continuously distributed in the general population. Based on increased recognition of the dimensional nature of autistic traits, the authors examined the neural correlates of these traits in neurotypical individuals using the SRS-A and established a novel approach to assessing the neural basis of autistic characteristics, attempting to directly relate SRS-A scores to patterns of functional connectivity observed in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, a region commonly implicated in social cognition. Method: Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were collected for 25 neurotypical adults. All participants provided SRS-A ratings completed by an informant who had observed them in natural social settings. Whole brain-corrected connectivity analyses were then conducted using SRS-A scores as a covariate of interest. Results: Across participants, a significant negative relationship between SR...
Precambrian Evolution of the Spanish Peaks Area, Montana

Precambrian crystalline rocks in the Spanish Peaks area of southwestern Montana are composed primarily of granitic and amphibolitic gneiss, quartzite, and amphibolite. Sillimanite gneiss, ultrabasic intrusions, marble, and post-Precambrian basalt are also present. Almandine-amphibolite metamorphic facies and sillimanite-almandine-orthoclase subfacies are widely distributed in the area. Two major Precambrian orogenic events followed accumulation of a thick sedimentary sequence. An early Precambrian orogenic deformation produced isoclinal folds, folded pegmatites, and amphibolite boudins. These structural features were deformed in a second orogeny, which was characterized by large, open northeast-trending folds that developed under metamorphic conditions favorable for ductile deformation and a second generation of pegmatites. Cross folding and flexure of the second generation folds and development of kinks accompanied or followed the second orogeny. Mafic dikes and sills were emplaced following the second orogenic event and subsequently metamorphosed. They cut across the second-generation folds. Young, probably post-Precambrian quartz veins, plus felsic porphyry dikes, and basalt dikes cut all earlier structures. Alternate correlation of thermal events whose ages have been determined radiometrically at 2.6, 1.9, and 1.6 b.y. with metamorphic and structural events are made as follows: Amphibolitization of unfolded dikes and sills: I, 1.9 b.y; II, 1.6 b.y. Open, subhorizontal folds: I, 2.6 b.y.; II, 1.9 b.y. Isoclinal folds: I, age uncertain; II, 2.6 b.y.
Development and maturation of the immune system in preterm neonates: results from a whole genome expression study.

To expand the knowledge about the consecutive expression of genes involved in the immune system development in preterm neonates and to verify if the environment changes the gene expression after birth we conducted a prospective study that included three cohorts: (A) extremely (gestational age (GA): 23–26 weeks; n = 41), (B) very (GA: 27–29 weeks; n = 39), and (C) moderately preterm infants (GA: 30–32 weeks; n = 33). Blood samples were drawn from the study participants on the 5th and 28th day of life (DOL). The mRNA samples were evaluated for gene expression with the use of GeneChip Human Gene 1.0ST microarrays. Differential expression analysis revealed small subsets of genes that presented positive or negative monotone trends in both the 5th (138 genes) and 28th DOL (308 genes) in the three subgroups of patients. Based on pathway enrichment analysis, we found that most of the pathways that revealed a positive monotone trend were involved in host immunity. The most significantly GA dependent pathways were T-cell receptor signaling pathway and intestinal immune network for IgA production. Overall 4431 genes were differentially expressed between the 5th and 28th DOL. Despite differences in gestational age, patients with the same postconceptional age have a very similar expression of genes.
An extremal fields approach for the analysis of human planning and control performance

In this paper we describe a study of the human pilot control behavior in a planar goal directed flight task. The experimental data was collected using a miniature helicopter in an indoor flight test facility. To provide insight into the human's control behavior we developed a technique to extract extremal fields from the family of collected trajectories. These fields describe the spatial distribution of the vehicle states and cost- to-go, including their statistical distribution, which provides information about the variability of the pilot's control behavior over the task domain. Once extracted we can compare these fields to the value functions obtained from the task's equivalent optimal control problem. The comparison of the human-extracted and the computed value function maps suggests that on average, the human acts similarity to an optimal control policy. The results also suggests that a simple mass-point model used for our analysis, and motivated by the hypothesis that the pilot acts as a dynamic inverse controller, is sufficient to explain the pilot's performance at the planning level. We use these results to develop hypotheses about human planning and control processes and discuss their biological plausibility based on control-theoretic interpretations. We plan to use the new insights from this framework to help design more capable and versatile algorithms for autonomous vehicle control, as well as help design man-machine interfaces that enable a more natural link with the operator's internal control and planning processes.
Mitochondrial HSP70, HSP40, and HSP60 bind to the 3′ untranslated region of the Murine hepatitis virus genome

We have previously shown that mitochondrial-aconitase binds specifically to the 3' terminal 42 nucleotides of the Murine hepatitis virus (MHV) RNA along with three additional proteins of 70, 58 and 40 kDa to form a stable RNA-protein complex. Supershift and western blot assays have identified these three proteins as mitochondrial HSP70 (mtHSP70), HSP60, and HSP40. A series of co-immunoprecipitation assays have established that these four MHV RNA binding proteins are associated, even in the absence of MHV RNA. However, the presence of a synthetic RNA containing the sequence bound by these four proteins does increase the amount of co-precipitated protein, in particular the amount of HSP60 which is brought down with antibodies directed against HSP40 and mtHSP70. We have provided evidence for the interaction of these four proteins with the 3' end region of MHV RNA in infected cells by a series of immunoprecipitation RT-PCR assays. We believe it is likely that MHV RNA interacts with m-aconitase prior to its import into mitochondria in cooperation with extra-mitochondrial mtHSP70, HSP60, and HSP40.
Elektive Stentimplantation bei Patienten mit Stenosen der A. carotis interna und koronarer Herzkrankheit

Mehrere grose multizentrische randomisierte Studien haben die Effizienz der Carotisendarteriektomie (CEA) bei der symptomatischen extrakraniellen Carotisstenose belegt [2, 8]. Obwohl auch bei der asymptomatischen Carotisstenose positive Studiendaten vorliegen [3], ist der Nutzen eher marginal und wird v.a. von den meisten Neurologen in Zweifel gezogen [4]. Ein wesentlicher Faktor bezuglich des Nutzens der gefaschirurgischen Therapie ist die strenge Abhangigkeit von der perioperativen Mortalitat und Morbiditat. Sie sollte fur die symptomatische Carotisstenose unter 6% und die asymptomatische Carotisstenose unter 3% liegen. Dabei muss berucksichtigt werden, dass in diesen Studien ein selektiertes Patientengut untersucht wurde, insbesondere wurden Patienten mit hoher koronarer Komorbiditat (instabile Angina pectoris, nicht langer als 6 Monate zuruckliegender Myokardinfarkt, manifeste Herzinsuffizienz, unkontrollierte Hypertonie und Diabetes) ausgeschlossen.
Bäcklund transformations of linear Weingarten surfaces in Minkowski three‐space

The classical Backlund transformation, which transforms surfaces of constant negative curvature, has been extended to surfaces in Minkowski three‐space. In this article the tangency requirement of the Backlund transformation is relaxed to obtain a transformation of surfaces of Minkowski three‐space with mean and Gaussian curvatures satisfying a linear relationship.
Characterization of metabolites of a NK1 receptor antagonist, CJ‐11,972, in human liver microsomes and recombinant human CYP isoforms by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

The in vitro metabolism of CJ-11,972, (2-benzhydryl-1-aza-bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-3-yl)-(5-tert-butyl-2-methoxybenzyl)amine, an NK1 receptor antagonist, was studied in human liver microsomes and recombinant human CYP isoforms. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) coupled to radioactive detection were used to detect and identify the metabolites. CJ-11,972 was extensively metabolized in human liver microsomes and recombinant human CYP 3A4/3A5 isoforms. A total of fourteen metabolites were identified by a combination of various MS techniques. The major metabolic pathways were due to oxidation of the tert-butyl moiety to form an alcohol (M6) and/or O-demethylation of the anisole moiety. The alcohol metabolite M6 was further oxidized to the corresponding aldehyde (M7) and carboxylic acid (M4). Two unusual metabolites (M13, M17), formed by C-demethylation of the tert-butyl group, were identified as 2-{3-[(2-benzhydryl-1-aza-bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-3-ylamino)methyl]-4-methoxyphenyl}propan-2-ol and (2-benzhydryl-1-aza-bicyclo[2.2.2]oct-3-yl)-(5-isopropenyl-2-methoxybenzyl)amine. A plausible mechanism for C-demethylation may involve oxidation of M6 to form an aldehyde metabolite (M7), followed by cytochrome P450-mediated deformylation leaving an unstable carbon-centered radical, which would quickly form either the alcohol metabolite M13 and the olefin metabolite M17. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
HIGH PERFORMANCE THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF NEUTRAL LIPIDS IN THE MARINE SNAILS ILYANASSA OBSOLETUS AND LITTORINA LITTOREA INFECTED WITH LARVAL TREMATODES

High performance thin-layer chromatography analysis was used to analyze neutral lipids in the digestive gland-gonad (DGG) complex of the marine snails Ilyanassa obsoletus and Littorina littorea infected with larval trematodes. The results were compared with the DGGs of snails not infected with larval trematodes. The most abundant neutral lipid in both infected and non-infected snails was triacylglycerols, with percentages ranging from 2.8% in I. obsoletus snails infected with unidentified armatae cercariae to 24.7% in I. obsoletus snails infected with Zoogonius rubellus. L. littorea snails infected with an unidentified armatae cercaria contained 6 to 7 times the amount of cholesteryl ester than uninfected snails or those infected with Cryptocotyle lingua cercariae. I. obsoletus snails infected with Z. rubellus or an unidentified armatae cercaria contained 2 to 3 times more free sterol than the uninfected controls. Larval trematode parasitism was found to alter the neutral lipid profiles of the marine snai...
Continuous-wave synchronously pumped femtosecond dye laser at 1.3 μm

We report a synchronously pumped, cw mode-locked, near-IR dye laser based on the Kodak Q-switch dye No. 5. Benzyl alcohol is used as the solvent to form a flowing dye jet. Synchronously pumped by 2-psec, 950-mW, compressed pulses of a Nd:YAG laser, the dye laser can be tuned from 1210 to 1340 nm with a maximum output of 5 mW and a pulse duration of 600 fsec.
Performance of garden roses in north-central Texas under minimal input conditions.

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. Rosa, EarthKind TM , black spot, shrub roses, alkaline soils SUMMARY. One hundred sixteen rose (Rosa spp.) cultivars were evaluated under minimal input conditions in north-central Texas for 3 years. Plant quality data included overall plant performance, number of flowers, percentage of bloom coverage,finalvigor,andsurvival.Diseaseratingsforblackspot(Diplocarponrosae), petal blight (Alternaria alternata), powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca pannosa), and aphid (Myzus spp.) infestations were previously reported. Of the original 116 cultivars, 25 had 50% or higher mortality during the trial. Own-root cultivars performed significantly better than the grafted cultivars and had significantly better survival (P = 0.001). As a class, the Polyantha cultivars exhibited the best overall performance, mean bloom percentage, final vigor and survival, while cultivars in the HybridTeaclasshadtheworstperformanceinallmeasures.Foliarnutrientcontent, bloom number, and mean percentage of bloom were not good predictors of overall performance. Of the diseases monitored, black spot was the most severe and was closely correlated to overall performance and final vigor, but was not the only factor determining overall performance. The top five cultivars in mean overall performance were RADrazz (Knock Out TM ), Caldwell Pink, Sea Foam, Perle d’Or, and The Fairy, in descending order.
Drought response of two Mexican oak species, Quercus laceyi and Q. sideroxyla (Fagaceae), in relation to elevational position

To investigate the relationship between the altitudinal distribution of Quercus laceyi and Q. sideroxyla and their physiological responses to drought, we measured relative water content (RWC), water potentials (Ψ(predawn) and Ψ(midday)), photosynthesis (A(max)), stomatal conductance (g), chlorophyll fluorescence (F(v)/F(m)), and spectral reflectance (400-1100 nm) five times during a 7 wk acute drought. Quercus laceyi was drought tolerant, while Q. sideroxyla was a drought avoider; Q. laceyi tolerated lower RWC (Q. sideroxyla = 54%, Q. laceyi = 44%), Ψ(pd) (Q. sideroxyla = -2.6 MPa, Q. laceyi = -3.3 MPa), and Ψ(md) (Q. sideroxyla = -4.5 MPa, Q. laceyi = -6.6 MPa). The F(v)/F(m) also declined first in Q. sideroxyla in wk 6, whereas F(v)/F(m) did not decline in Q. laceyi until wk 7. A(max) and g fell in wk 4, 6, and 7 in drought seedlings of both species, suggesting a decline in CO(2) assimilation during the drought. Leaf spectral reflectance increased with time in response to decreases in leaf photosynthetic pigment concentrations in latter weeks of the drought. The results suggest a close association between the altitudinal distributions of these species and their adaptation to water stress.
Impact of velocity overshoot, polysilicon depletion, and inversion layer quantization on NMOSFET scaling

The impact of electron velocity overshoot on MOSFET scaling is investigated. The calibration of a MEDICI 2D device simulator to experimental data is first described. Then, NMOS scaling trends are studied using the calibrated simulator. Inversion layer quantization effects and polysilicon gate depletion are taken into account, and are shown to have a significant impact on NMOS current drive. The results show that velocity overshoot will allow continued enhancement of the NMOS current drive, despite power supply voltage scaling.
Uptake of vWF–Anti-vWF Complexes by Platelets in Suspension

Efforts to identify the translocation of glycoprotein (GP) Ib/IX receptors, either bound to von Willebrand factor (vWF) or not, from exposed surfaces to interior membranes of thrombin-activated platelets in suspension have been unsuccessful. To observe vWF uptake by platelets, we added an anti-vWF antibody and staphylococcal protein A-gold (to act as a marker for the antibody) to an incubation medium containing washed platelets and bovine plasma vWF or ristocetin-activated human vWF. Thin sections of platelets incubated for 10, 20, or 30 minutes with vWF but without antibody revealed no internalization and minimal changes in the original discoid form. Over the same 30-minute period with anti-vWF, however, GPIb/IX-vWF-anti-vWF complexes were cleared from cell exteriors to channels of the open canalicular system. Engorgement of the open canalicular system with vWF multimers resulted in changes in shape, internal transformation, and degranulation. Physical changes associated with anti-vWF-induced uptake of vWF are not seen in platelets that are involved in hemostatic plug formation or clot retraction.
Articles On International Themes In The Journal Of Travel Research

The Journal of Travel Research is one of the outstanding journals in the area of travel and tourism studies. Its national and international accomplishments have been consid erable since the early 1970s. This study examines articles on international themes from 1973 through 1989 published in the Journal of Travel Research. The study examined whether international coverage has increased in the journal and how these articles were distributed in their discussion of the world's regions and nations, and where the authors of the articles resided at the time the articles were produced.
The Colonial Origins of Guyana's Underdevelopment

Dutch settlements on the coastal plain locked Guyana into polder agriculture and inadvertently a small widely dispersed population. The former requires high cost for drainage, irrigation and agricultural production. The latter implies the high costs – including the cost of infrastructure – cannot be distributed over a large enough population. Wages were therefore suppressed by immigration that increased the elasticity of supply of labour, which facilitated the playing off of one ethnic group against the other. A review of the historical literature reveals that several authors saw geography more as a secondary constraint. This paper argues that geography is the primary constraint and it interacts with another exogenous variable – world price competition – to create a vicious cycle of low growth, income stagnation, limited structural change, and ethnic polarisation today.
Implementing Inductor Function with Vibrating Capacitor Structures

One of the most common uses of inductors is in filtering electrical signals to remove oscillations over selected frequency ranges. In this application, they are combined with capacitors to build resonant circuits to either block or dissipate signals at the unwanted frequencies. Similar, but larger current capacity filters are used to eliminate oscillatory ripple voltages from DC power supply outputs. Inductors are also essential components in buck converter type power supplies in which they store energy supplied by an oscillatory source to power a circuit, which generates a constant voltage. Inductors of various constructions have proven highly successful in all of these applications, but their performance is not ideal. For one, they dissipate the energy that is stored in them via a number of mechanisms. The conductivity of the wire comprising their windings is finite, so they suffer Ohmic losses. Their magnetic fields induce eddy currents within their cores and dissipative currents in surrounding circuit...
Preventive health care for the adolescent.

Adolescents represent the only segment of the population with an increasing mortality rate. The majority of deaths are due to accidents, homicide and suicide. The risks for these events are associated with developing sexuality and the use of drugs and alcohol. Behaviors that put the young person's future health at risk, such as poor nutritional habits, the use of tobacco and lack of exercise, are often established during adolescence. Surveillance of risk and interventions to prevent problems are critical activities for the family physician. Language: en
Homeschool Decision-Making and Evidence-Based Practice for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Homeschooling children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased in popularity and is an educational option considered by parents. Interviews were conducted with 9 parents homeschooling children with ASD to systematically characterize reasons parents provide for their decision to homeschool and the educational experiences parents are providing. Five distinct themes emerged regarding reasons parents decided to homeschool children with ASD. Parents began homeschooling at a mean grade of 4.33 and their decision to homeschool was characterized by a long-term process for 55.56% and following one catalyst event for 44.44%. Results suggest that parents are largely not implementing evidence-based practices or are utilizing methods that directly contradict best practice standards. The majority of homeschool programming described did not meet minimum educational requirements of amount of daily instruction and content areas covered, and social opportunities were limited. Results indicate clear areas where education professionals can improve service delivery for children with ASD.
Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Echinocandin Nonsusceptible Candida glabrata Bloodstream Infections: Data From a Large Multisite Population-Based Candidemia Surveillance Program, 2008-2014.

Background. Echinocandins are first-line treatment for Candida glabrata candidemia. Echinocandin resistance is concerning due to limited remaining treatment options. We used data from a multisite, population-based surveillance program to describe the epidemiology and risk factors for echinocandin nonsusceptible (NS) C glabrata candidemia. Methods. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infections Program conducts population-based laboratory surveillance for candidemia in 4 metropolitan areas (7.9 million persons; 80 hospitals). We identified C glabrata cases occurring during 2008-2014; medical records of cases were reviewed, and C glabrata isolates underwent broth microdilution antifungal susceptibility testing. We defined echinocandin-NS C glabrata (intermediate or resistant) based on 2012 Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute minimum inhibitory concentration breakpoints. Independent risk factors for NS C glabrata were determined by stepwise logistic regression. Results. Of 1385 C glabrata cases, 83 (6.0%) had NS isolates (19 intermediate and 64 resistant); the proportion of NS isolates rose from 4.2% in 2008 to 7.8% in 2014 (P < .001). The proportion of NS isolates at each hospital ranged from 0% to 25.8%; 3 large, academic hospitals accounted for almost half of all NS isolates. In multivariate analysis, prior echinocandin exposure (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.3; 95% CI, 2.6-1.2), previous candidemia episode (aOR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.2-5.1), hospitalization in the last 90 days (aOR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.0-3.5, and fluconazole resistance [aOR, 3.6; 95% CI, 2.0-6.4]) were significantly associated with NS C glabrata. Fifty-nine percent of NS C glabrata cases had no known prior echinocandin exposure. Conclusion. The proportion of NS C glabrata isolates rose significantly during 2008-2014, and NS C glabrata frequency differed across hospitals. In addition to acquired resistance resulting from prior drug exposure, occurrence of NS C glabrata without prior echinocandin exposure suggests possible transmission of resistant organisms.
Randomized positioning DSSS for anti-jamming wireless communications

Traditional anti-jamming approaches like Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) and Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) require the sender and the receiver to share a secret key prior to their communication. If this key is compromised by the jammer, the jammer can then generate the frequency hopping patterns or the spreading codes used by the communicators to disrupt the wireless communication. In recent years, DSSS based schemes have been proposed to provide the anti-jamming communication without the shared key. In particular, Randomized Differential DSSS (RD-DSSS) was developed to spread messages based on the indices of public known spreading code sequences. RD-DSSS can effectively mitigate reactive jamming attacks and do not need a shared key, but it appends the indices, which are critical to enable the decoding at the receiver, to the end of the spread messages. As a result, the indices can easily become the jamming target of adversaries. To solve this problem, we propose the Randomized Positioning DSSS (RP-DSSS) scheme that randomly relocate the index codes for each message. Compared to RD-DSSS, the randomization hides the indices from the adversaries and thus achieves the enhanced security.
Note on Effect of Cylinder Head Design on Detonation

I the course of the development and subsequent use of the M.I.T. knockmeter 1 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, information on the effect of combustion chamber design on detonation has been , discovered which seems worthy of attention. The physical nature of detonation has been analyzed by C. S. Draper. This work showed that the characteristic noise of detonation originates in pressure waves in the cylinder gases which result from sudden burning and very rapid rise of pressure in a portion of the fuel-air mixture. The frequency of these waves has been computed for the cylindrical form of combustion chamber, and has been found to agree with measured values. The M.I.T. detonation indicator, or "knockmeter," is shown diagramatically in Figs, la and lb. The cylinder element consists of a relatively thick diaphragm mounted in an assembly which screws into a threaded hole in the cylinder head. The diaphragm carries an aluminum cup-shaped armature located between the poles of ah electro-magnet. A small winding is mounted on the inside pole in line with the armature. Pressure waves in the cylinder cause motion of the diaphragm which, in turn, moves the armature axially and varies the magnetic field surrounding the coil, which thus generates an electro-motive force.
On Reliability and Validity of English Language Testing

Testing is an important step in language teaching,and reliability and validity are two basic concepts in testing.This article introduces the definitions of reliability and validity,measuring methods as well as affecting factors,besides,based on analysis of English language testing methods,it reviews the development of reliability and validity.And it draws the conclusion that only by guaranteeing the quality of language testing,can language testing be the effective measuring means.
Structural and Functional MRI Studies of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research has significantly contributed to our understanding of the neurobiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Structural MRI studies have demonstrated increased total brain volume, as well as an atypical trajectory of neurodevelopment in children with ASD. Differences in cortical gray and white matter volume have also been recorded in affected individuals, with diffusion tensor imaging revealing decreased white matter integrity at a microstructural level. Functional MRI research has found abnormalities in cortical activation and connectivity in ASD via task-based approaches. In addition, resting state studies have revealed atypical patterns of connectivity in the default-mode network. Despite these encouraging findings, additional large-scale neuroimaging studies are needed to further inform the neurobiological underpinnings of ASD.
30 GHz second-harmonic TE/sub 21/ Cusp-gun gyro-TWT amplifier

Summary form only given. A second-harmonic TE/sub 21/ gyro-TWT amplifier with an axis-encircling beam is being constructed at UCD that is predicted to double the efficiency of our previous 200 kW, 12% efficient MIG TE/sup (2)//sub 21/ gyro-TWT. The new device will avoid the loss in efficiency due to off-axis electrons interacting with a linear polarized mode. The 70 W, 3.5 A axis-encircling beam with v/sub /spl perp///v/sub 2/ = 1.2 will be produced by a Cusp electron gun delivered by Northrop Grumman. The amplifier is predicted by our large signal code to produce 50 KW in Ka-band with 20% efficiency, 30dB saturated gain and 3% saturated bandwidth. An important advantage of harmonic gyro-TWTs is that they are capable of higher power than at the fundamental cyclotron harmonic because they are more stable to the absolute instability at cutoff of the operating mode. Due to the weaker strength of the harmonic interactions, the start-oscillation current is significantly higher for higher harmonic operation. This allows higher harmonic gyro-TWTs to operate stably with appreciably higher beam current. The second-harmonic TE/sub 21/ gyro-TWT amplifier is predicted to have a start oscillation current of 5 A for v/sub /spl perp///v/sub 2/, = 1.2, Bo/Bg = 0.99 which yields a safety margin 30% for our planned operating parameters. The device will employ a sliced mode-selective interaction circuit to destroy the odd order TE/sub ml/ modes. The circuit is sliced with two orthogonal slices through the axis to interrupt the wall currents and is surrounded by a lossy cylinder to absorb radiated power. Also, loss will be added to the interaction circuit to suppress gyro-BWO. The interaction circuit will have a wall resistivity 2300 times copper to yield a stable interaction length of 220 r/sub w/ for the strongest gyro-BWO threat, the TE (4)41 mode. The last 11.5 cm of the 42 cm circuit is not loaded to avoid attenuating the wave after it reaches high power levels. Identical multi-hole 0 dB input and output couplers were designed with the BFSS code using the same design as the previous UCD experiment. The directional coupler contains an array of slots connecting the narrow wall of the TE/sub 10/ rectangular input waveguide to the TE/sub 21/ circular interaction waveguide. HFSS simulation results predict that the coupler will have less than 0.3 dB insertion loss over a bandwidth of 10%. All modes are matched in the coupler due to upstream termination. BFSS simulation results predict that the return loss will be greater than 19 dB for the TE/sub 11/ circular mode and 45 dB for the TE/sub 21/ circular mode over the 10% bandwidth.
Fighting Threats to Legislative Advances in Tobacco Control

Tobacco control legislation has been enacted in 91 countries, rising from 57 countries in 1982. Sub-national legislation at the state/provincial, county, and city levels of government has spread widely to provide restraints on tobacco use where people live, work, and play.
The impact of narrative disclosure readability on bond ratings and the cost of debt

Prior research on the determinants of credit ratings has focused on rating agencies’ use of quantitative accounting information, but the there is scant evidence on the impact of textual attributes. This study examines the impact of financial disclosure narrative on bond market outcomes. We find that less readable financial disclosures are associated with less favorable ratings, greater bond rating agency disagreement, and a higher cost of debt. We improve causal identification by exploiting the 1998 Plain English Mandate, which required a subset of firms to exogenously improve the readability of their filings. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that the firms required to improve the readability of their filings experience more favorable ratings, lower bond rating disagreement, and lower cost of debt. Collectively, our evidence suggests that textual financial disclosure attributes appear to not only influence bond market intermediaries’ opinions but also firms’ cost of debt.
The Diabetic Retina: Anatomy and Pathophysiology

Throughout the world diabetic retinopathy (DR) has emerged as a major cause of permanent loss of vision among people over the age of 20 years. Retinopathy has generally been considered a vasculopathy that results from breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier and closure of retinal capillaries. Recent evidence, however, suggests that DR begins as a neuro-retinopathy with vascular changes occurring later during the disease.
Financial Variables' Predictive Content for the U.S. Economy During the Great Recession

This paper uses data from 1960-2015 to evaluate the predictive content of financial variables and unconventional monetary policy measures for the U.S. output growth and inflation before, during, and after the Great Recession. During the Great Recession, this work shows that the predictive ability of the credit spread, stock price, and market expectation measures for output growth and inflation change significantly increased. The result is consistent with the idea that the Great Recession was primarily driven by a financial shock and market sentiment shock, and that the market expectation measures, liquidity risk, and credit risk were more important indicators during the Great Recession than during previous recessionary periods.
Genetic and functional studies of guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins.

Recent research in many laboratories is rapidly elucidating the structure and functions of a family of GTP-binding regulatory proteins, each of which carries information across a membrane from a receptor protein to an effector enzyme. The family includes three known members: Ns, Ni, and retinal transducin. Adenylate cyclase serves as the effector for two of these proteins, which stimulate (Ns) or inhibit (Ni) the enzyme when triggered by specific receptors for hormones or neurotransmitters. Transducin, a protein found in high abundance in retinal rod outer segments, couples photoexcitation of rhodopsin to stimulation of a specific cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE).
Abstract 5360: DNA repair increases sequencing accuracy without altering actual mutation frequency in clinical samples

Targeted cancer therapy based on genomic alterations can be remarkably effective. Currently, cancer genome profiling using next generation sequencing (NGS) is routinely applied in cancer care to guide personalized treatment. The accuracy of this profiling directly impacts therapeutic choices and the outcomes of patient care. We previously showed that false positive variants are abundant and can account for a major fraction of identified somatic variations in publicly available datasets (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/070334). These false positive variants show signs of mutagenic DNA damage. We further demonstrated that enzymatic DNA repair increases sequencing quality by lowering damage-induced background noise. Therefore, enzymatic DNA repair has the potential to improve sequencing accuracy, avoiding incorrect somatic variant calls and consequently reducing incorrect diagnostic conclusions. In this study, we investigated whether enzymatic DNA repair introduces any bias to NGS libraries using analysis by droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and deep sequencing. DNA Reference Standards containing multiple common cancer mutations (Horizon Discovery, Inc.) were spiked into formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) DNA isolated from tumor samples from different tissue types at defined frequencies (0.5-10% quantified by ddPCR). Genotyping of the FFPE DNA ensured that they were free of any of the spiked-in mutations. After DNA repair and library preparation, mutation frequencies were quantified by ddPCR, and compared to the mutation levels in input DNA and control libraries without repair. Deep sequencing of 151 cancer genes including these spike-ins showed no difference in mutation frequency for the spiked-in mutations between the control and repair groups. However, the number of false positive variant calls was reduced in the repair group. Our data demonstrates that DNA repair significantly increases sequencing accuracy without altering the frequency of actual mutations in tumor samples. Citation Format: Pingfang Liu, Lixin Chen, Laurence Ettwiller, Eileen Dimalanta, Theodore B. Davis, Thomas C. Evans. DNA repair increases sequencing accuracy without altering actual mutation frequency in clinical samples [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5360. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5360
Decomposing the performance of admittance and series elastic haptic rendering architectures

In this paper, we explore certain tradeoffs in haptic rendering performance with different device architectures, specifically examining admittance and series elastic actuator (SEA) architectures. We apply performance analysis techniques that decompose the driving point impedance frequency response into effective stiffness, inertia, and damping and discuss device behaviors as rendering reverts to hardware dynamics with increasing frequency. SEA has previously been discussed in terms of stiffness limitations due to stability; here we discuss a frequency limit for haptic rendering with both architectures, and discuss differing high-frequency behaviors to consider when selecting a device architecture. Theoretical conclusions are accompanied by experimental frequency response data and a perceptual experiment using a reconfigurable haptic device.
Optical remote sensing for monitoring flying mosquitoes, gender identification and discussion on species identification

Mosquito-borne diseases are a major challenge for Human health as they affect nearly 700 million people every year and result in over 1 million deaths. Reliable information on the evolution of population and spatial distribution of key insects species is of major importance in the development of eco-epidemiologic models. This paper reports on the remote characterization of flying mosquitoes using a continuous-wave infrared optical remote sensing system. The system is setup in a controlled environment to mimic long-range lidars, mosquitoes are free flying at a distance of ~ 4 m from the collecting optics. The wing beat frequency is retrieved from the backscattered light from mosquitoes transiting through the laser beam. A total of 427 transit signals have been recorded from three mosquito species, males and females. Since the mosquito species and gender are known a priori, we investigate the use of wing beat frequency as the sole predictor variable for two Bayesian classifications: gender alone (two classes) and species/gender (six classes). The gender of each mosquito is retrieved with a 96.5% accuracy while the species/gender of mosquitoes is retrieved with a 62.3% accuracy. Known to be an efficient mean to identify insect family, we discuss the limitations of using wing beat frequency alone to identify insect species.
Colley's Coin: Ranking Sports Teams With Laplace's Rule of Succession

The Colley ranking method was adopted by the NCAA to rank college football teams and has also been used by ecologists and social scientists. This ranking method is based on the ratio (wins+1)/(game...
Meeting report: 2017 Winter School on Therapeutic Ultrasound

The Winter School on Therapeutic Ultrasound held its biennial meeting at the Ecole de Physique des Houches in Les Houches, France from March 26-31, 2017. The program brought together a globally and scientifically diverse group of faculty, clinicians, and trainees with interest in elements of therapeutic ultrasound. The meeting agenda was composed of daily lectures on various topics of relevance, supplemented with evening seminars, excursions, and networking opportunities. In anticipation of the next edition of the Winter School expected in 2019, we are nearly reaching the half way point between offerings of this unique and specialized meeting. Thus, this meeting report offers a reflection on the 2017 Winter School with the intention of setting the stage for 2019. Reviewed within this report are the lectures, student presentation series, and evening seminars encompassed within meeting agenda. It is my hope that this resource will be utilized by investigators within the therapeutic ultrasound community considering attending the Winter School in 2019.
Acute Leukemia in Idiopathic Sideroblastic Anemia: Response to Combination Chemotherapy

Three patients with idiopathic sideroblastic anemia of variable duration developed acute leukemia. In two the leukemia was morphologically and histochemically myeloblastic, in one lymphoblastic. With combination chemotherapy remission was achieved in all three. The remission inductions were complicated by long periods of bone marrow suppression and the duration of remissions was brief (3, 2 and 3 months). Survival after diagnosis was 13, 10 and 9 mo, respectively. The ring sideroblast abnormality persisted during the leukemic and remission phases and transfusion requirements remained unaltered in the two patients with transfusion dependent anemia throughout their courses.
Systemic immune effects boost radiotherapy.

Nanoscale metal–organic frameworks carrying an immunotherapy payload and administered into tumours alongside a low dose of radiotherapy enhance local and systemic antitumour immunity in mouse models of breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
Glycine-rich cell wall proteins in bean: gene structure and association of the protein with the vascular system

A single genomic clone (14 kb) isolated from bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) contains two genes that encode glycine-rich proteins. These genes are present as single copies in the genome, are separated by 2.85 kb and encode transcripts of 1.8 kb and 1.0 kb respectively. The encoded proteins contain 60% glycine and have amino-terminal signal peptides. The 1.8 kb transcript is present in young hypocotyls and in ovary tissue. Excision-wounding transiently induced this transcript in old, but not in young hypocotyl tissue. Antibodies raised against regions of the glycine-rich protein 1.8, expressed as a lacZ fusion protein in bacteria, react with a protein of 53 kd in a protein fraction extracted from cell walls of bean ovaries. Tissue imprints of bean ovaries treated with anti-glycine-rich protein antibodies showed that the glycine-rich protein was distributed in a regular pattern of small, highly localized discrete sites. The immunoreactive regions correspond to the pattern of vascular tissue in the pod. In young hypocotyls, glycine-rich protein is present at four pairs of discrete sites symmetrically arranged on the inner side of the vascular ring. These results suggest a close relationship between glycine-rich proteins and development of the vascular system.