cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-efficiency pollen samplers for use in clinical allergy.

I NTEREST in the particulate population of the atmosphere is common to personnel in many scientific fields, including the botanist, the plant pathologist, the cloud physicist, the medical allergist, the public health official, and the military and civilian air pollution expert. These scientists are faced with the very difficult problem of attempting to measure particulate concentrations in a turbulent atmosphere. The same problem has been encountered by the staff of the Meteorological Laboratories of the University of Michigan in the course of interdisciplinary studies carried out by a research team of botanists, allergists, public health statisticians and meteorologists. A sampler which would collect ra,gweetl pollen (20 microns in diameter) efficiently and which would be inexpensive enough to use in mass sampling programs was needed. The meteorological group has at its disposal a closed-circuit wind tunnel, which was used during the spring of 1958 to measure the efficiencies of * several of the common sampling techniques. The results were so definitive that the investigation was continued both in the tunnel and out of doors. New sampling techniques were developed and tested; two of t,hese proved to be much more efficient than the standard techniques in use.
Using cyclodextrin complexation to enhance secondary photoprotection of topically applied ibuprofen

Each year millions of people are overexposed to the sun resulting in photodamage of the skin. Secondary photoprotection is the application of medicinal agents to the body after sun exposure to reduce this damage. The objective of this study was to determine the affects of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPCD) complexation on the secondary photoprotective properties of topically applied ibuprofen. Complexation of ibuprofen by HPCD was demonstrated by differential scanning calorimetry, while solubilities were determined using HPLC. A linear (r2>0.999) relationship was found between ibuprofen solubility and HPCD concentration. For subsequent experiments, the concentration of ibuprofen was held constant at the solubility in 10% HPCD (10.6 mg/ml), while the HPCD concentration varied from 0 to 20% (w/w). In vitro transdermal permeation experiments demonstrated a parabolic relationship between transdermal kinetic parameters and HPCD concentration, with maximum values for both flux and skin accumulation occurring with the 10% HPCD formulation. In vivo experiments were performed by exposing hairless mice to UV radiation and applying ibuprofen-HPCD formulations topically at various times following UV exposure. Edema and epidermal lipid damage data demonstrated that application of ibuprofen-HPCD formulations within 1h of UV exposure provided significant photoprotection.
Kinetic isotope effect in CO2 degassing: Insight from clumped and oxygen isotopes in laboratory precipitation experiments

Abstract Laboratory precipitation experiments provide the basis for the common calibration of both the oxygen isotope and the clumped isotope thermometers. These focus on CaCO3 crystals that form deep in the bulk of the solution, often by the bubbling of N2(g) through a saturated Ca(HCO3)2 solution, following the classic experiments on McCrea (1950). Here we examine oxygen and clumped isotopes in CaCO3 that was precipitated at the surface of a solution that undergoes passive CO2 degassing. This CaCO3 is affected by enhanced disequilibrium that is associated with degassing, and has therefore higher δ18O and lower Δ47 values than those of the accepted thermometer calibrations. These offsets from the common thermometers calibrations increase with decreasing temperature for Δ47 but decrease with decreasing temperature for δ18O. The Δ47-δ18O co-variance is therefore strongly temperature dependent, in contrast to theoretical predictions. This suggests an influence of additional fractionation in fast growing minerals, between DIC and calcite, that affects δ18O and counteracts some of the degassing related enrichment. This effect seems not to influence Δ47. The physical setup of CaCO3 minerals growing at the solution surface is analogous to the degassing and precipitation processes that occur in stalagmites, such that these laboratory experiments may help shed light on the isotopic disequilibrium that is observed in speleothems.
Isolation of large sheets of frog skin epidermis

Nach Trypsinbehandlung abgetrennte Froschepidermis von bis zu 5 cm o zeigt dieselbe Potenialdifferenz, Stromkurzschluss- und Sulfatpermeabilitat wie die unveranderte Froschhaut. Die praparierte Epidermis besitzt fast keine Hautdrusen, Jedoch fast vollig verschlossene Drusenausfuhrungsgange.
A comparison of prompting strategies for improving appointment compliance of hypertensive individuals

This study compared four strategies designed to encourage hypertensive individuals to seek treatment. Following a missed health center appointment, 148 individuals were identified as either borderline or clinical hyptertensive. Each individual was assigned to one of four prompting conditions: telephone call, home visit, postcard, or a rotating condition involving all three methods. Subjects were contacted a maximum of three times or until they complied with the health center appointment. For both borderline and clinical hypertensive individuals, the rotating condition was most effective, yielding compliance rates of 75% and 88% respectively. For all message modes, the second contact was the most effective contact. Home visits were the most expensive method per compliant subject, followed in order by the postcard, rotating, and telephone strategies. The rotating condition yielded impressive compliance rates at a relatively low cost per compliant subject.
A method to correct for charged-particle signal loss in lithium-drifted detectors

Abstract In semiconductor detectors, the charge collection time will vary with the physical point of deposition of energy within the intrinsic region of the detector. This leads to a geometrical dependence of the signal risetime so that if the signal risetime is not negligible relative to the amplifier differentiation time constant, varying signal loss will occur. For charged-particle spectroscopy, this loss will vary with incident particle kinetic energy. An energy-scale correction method is described for charged-particle spectroscopy in detectors of the p-i-n type. This method reduces energy scale distortions by about a factor of ten.
The association between lower extremity energy absorption and biomechanical factors related to anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Abstract Background Greater total energy absorption by the lower extremity musculature during landing may reduce stresses placed on capsuloligamentous tissues with differences in joint contributions to energy absorption potentially affecting anterior cruciate ligament injury risk. However, the relationships between energy absorption and prospectively identified biomechanical factors associated with non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury have yet to be demonstrated. Methods Sagittal plane total, hip, knee and ankle energy absorption, and peak vertical ground reaction force, anterior tibial shear force, knee flexion and knee valgus angles, and internal hip extension and knee varus moments were measured in 27 individuals (14 females, 13 males) performing double leg jump landings. Correlation coefficients assessed the relationships between energy absorption during three time intervals (initial impact phase, terminal phase, and total landing) and biomechanical factors related to anterior cruciate ligament injury. Findings More favorable values of biomechanical factors related to non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury were associated with: 1) Lesser total ( R 2 = 0.178–0.558), hip ( R 2 = 0.229–0.651) and ankle ( R 2 = 0.280), but greater knee ( R 2 = 0.147) energy absorption during the initial impact phase; 2) Greater total ( R 2 = 0.170–0.845), hip ( R 2 = 0.599), knee ( R 2 = 0.236–0.834), and ankle ( R 2 = 0.276) energy absorption during the terminal phase of landing; and 3) Greater knee ( R 2 = 0.158–0.709), but lesser hip ( R 2 = 0.309) and ankle ( R 2 = 0.210–0.319) energy absorption during the total landing period. Interpretation These results suggest that biomechanical factors related to anterior cruciate ligament injury are influenced by both the magnitude and timing of lower extremity energy absorption during landing.
Invoking scalarity: The development of in fact

The discourse contexts are analyzed in which clause-internal in fact developed pragmaticalized meanings and came to invoke scalarity in two domains: epistemic sentence adverb (IPAdv), and additive discourse marker (DM). In both these uses, in fact tightens word to world fit (Powell 1992): the world of epistemic belief in the case of the IPAdv, the world of evaluative, rhetorical perspective in the case of the DM. The analysis therefore provides further evidence for (i) pragmatic ambiguities across these worlds (Sweetser 1990), (ii) subjectification that shifts perspectives from interpersonal (adversative) to personal evaluation (Traugott 1989), (iii) the pragmatic relationship between scalarity, adversativity and additivity (Schwenter 1999). The different orientations of the two uses suggest they are polysemous, not contextually bound.
Treatment of hematological malignancies with nonmyeloablative, HLA-haploidentical bone marrow transplantation and high dose, post-transplantation cyclophosphamide.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation provides the only potential curative option in many patients with hematological malignancies. Finding a suitably matched donor in a timely manner is often difficult. However, most patients have a partially HLA-mismatched (HLA-haploidentical) first-degree relative readily available. Historically, HLA-haploidentical bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has been considered extremely high risk due to high rates of life-threatening graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and non-relapse mortality (NRM). Modifications of the stem cell graft, such as T-cell depletion, have resulted in poor rates of engraftment. We have recently completed a phase II clinical trial of nonmyeloablative HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic BMT followed by post-transplantation high-cyclophosphamide. High-dose cyclophosphamide has been shown to create immunogenic tolerance by specifically killing activated mature T-cells. As a result, alloreactive T-cells in the donor graft are selectively destroyed thereby decreasing the incidence of severe GVHD. As well, host-versus-graft reactive T-cells are also selectively eliminated thereby increasing rates of engraftment. Among 210 patients with hematological malignancies receiving nonmyeloablative, HLA-haploidentical BMT with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide, the rate of sustained donor cell engraftment has been 87%. The cumulative incidence of grade 2–4 acute GVHD is 27%, grade 3–4 acute GVHD is 5% and chronic GVHD is 15%. Interestingly, increasing HLA disparity between donor and recipient was not associated with increasing incidence of GVHD or decreased event-free survival. Nonmyeloablative haploidentical stem cell transplantation with post-transplantation cyclophosphamide seems to be a promising, potentially curative, option for patients with hematological malignancies who either lack an HLA-matched related or unrelated donor, or in whom a myeloablative preparative regimen is contraindicated due to significant co-morbidities or history of extensive pre-treatment.
Adversarial memory for detecting destructive races

Multithreaded programs are notoriously prone to race conditions, a problem exacerbated by the widespread adoption of multi-core processors with complex memory models and cache coherence protocols. Much prior work has focused on static and dynamic analyses for race detection, but these algorithms typically are unable to distinguish destructive races that cause erroneous behavior from benign races that do not. Performing this classification manually is difficult, time consuming, and error prone.This paper presents a new dynamic analysis technique that uses adversarial memory to classify race conditions as destructive or benign on systems with relaxed memory models. Unlike a typical language implementation, which may only infrequently exhibit non-sequentially consistent behavior, our adversarial memory implementation exploits the full freedom of the memory model to return older, unexpected, or stale values for memory reads whenever possible, in an attempt to crash the target program (that is, to force the program to behave erroneously). A crashing execution provides concrete evidence of a destructive bug, and this bug can be strongly correlated with a specific race condition in the target program.Experimental results with our Jumble prototype for Java demonstrate that adversarial memory is highly effective at identifying destructive race conditions, and in distinguishing them from race conditions that are real but benign. Adversarial memory can also reveal destructive races that would not be detected by traditional testing (even after thousands of runs) or by model checkers that assume sequential consistency.
Differential effects of load stiffness on matching pinch force, finger span, and effort

Disparities in load stiffness were used to differentiate and characterize pinch-force, finger-span, and pinch-effort matching in two experiments. All subjects squeezed a spring-loaded manipulandum in each hand using three-finger pinch. Subjects in the first experiment were instructed explicitly to match one of the three continua. Subjects matching force or span were told to attend carefully to sensations from the hand or arm and to ignore differences in the effort required to make the sensations equal. They had to achieve and hold a particular target force with the reference hand and then match force or span with the opposite hand, usually against a spring with a different stiffness. These subjects were given as much time as necessary to make their matches and were told which hand was serving as the reference in each trial. Effort-matching subjects were told to ignore peripheral sensations and to match effort or motor commands. These subjects were not told which hand was the reference and were given only 1 s to make a match, so they made matches by rapidly squeezing both manipulanda simultaneously and, presumably, with the same voluntary motor command. The matching behaviors of the three groups were clearly distinguishable and were consistent with instructions. Results were similar whether different subjects were assigned different instructions or the same subjects performed all three match types. In a second experiment, naive subjects were given purposely ambiguous instructions without reference to a specific continuum and had no time or accuracy constraints. Subjects produced the same three sensorimotor behaviors obtained with explicit instructions, showing that the different behaviors were not artifacts of strict protocols. Taken together, the results show that force, span, and effort are distinct sensorimotor continua that can be judged reliably.
Smooth Transitioning of Wind Turbine Operation between Region II and Region III with Adaptive Disturbance Tracking Control

In large wind turbines, direct switching between Region II and Region III controllers lacks smooth operation while moving from one region to another. The Transition Region is a region between Region II and Region III which ensures this smoothness of operation and achieves the rated generator torque at rated speed while switching Region III controller. In this paper, we use the theory of Adaptive Disturbance Tracking Control (ADTC) with wind speed and partial state estimation, and state feedback to achieve this goal. To ensure the rated torque while switching to Region III when wind speed increases from below rated to rated value, the generator torque is varied linearly with the generator speed, whereas to achieve rated generator speed at Region III, the tracking ratio (Q) is linearly adapted based on the estimated wind speed. The proposed scheme is implemented and simulated on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)'s 5 MW onshore wind turbine model.
The cleft ion fountain: A two‐dimensional kinetic model

The transport of ionospheric ions from a source in the polar cleft ionosphere through the polar magnetosphere is investigated using a two-dimensional, kinetic, trajectory-based code. The transport model includes the effects of gravitation, longitudinal magnetic gradient force, convection electric fields, and parallel electric fields. Individual ion trajectories as well as distribution functions and resulting bulk parameters of density, parallel average energy, and parallel flux for a presumed cleft ionosphere source distribution are presented for various conditions to illustrate parametrically the dependences on source energies, convection electric field strengths, ion masses, and parallel electric field strengths. The essential features of the model are consistent with the concept of a cleft-based ion fountain supplying ionospheric ions to the polar magnetosphere, and the resulting plasma distributions and parameters are in general agreement with recent low-energy ion measurements from the DE 1 satellite.
Stimulation of cyclic GMP production via a nitrosyl factor in sensory neuronal cultures by algesic or inflammatory agents

Capsaicin stimulates cyclic GMP production via nitric oxide (NO) (or another nitrosyl factor) in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons maintained in culture. The purpose of the present study was to characterize further capsaicin stimulation of cyclic GMP production in DRG cells maintained in culture, investigate other algesic and/or inflammatory agents for effects on cyclic GMP production, and examine cells responsible for NO production and cyclic GMP production. Capsaicin stimulation of cyclic GMP production in DRG cells was dose dependent, receptor mediated, and attenuated by hemoglobin. Prostaglandin E2, substance P, and calcitonin gene-related peptide did not affect basal, capsaicin-stimulated, or bradykinin-stimulated cyclic GMP production. Other inflammatory or algesic agents, including serotonin, histamine, ATP, glutamate, aspartate, and NMDA, did not affect cyclic GMP production. Pretreatment of DRG cells with lipopolysaccharide increased basal cyclic GMP production in neuronal but not in nonneuronal cultures and facilitated stimulation of cyclic GMP production by L-arginine. Capsaicin pretreatment of neuronal DRG cultures, which destroys capsaicin-sensitive (small diameter) afferent neurons, attenuated capsaicin- and bradykinin-stimulated cyclic GMP production but did not affect basal or sodium nitroprusside-stimulated cyclic GMP production. These results indicate that capsaicin elicits production of a nitrosyl factor via capsaicin-sensitive (small diameter) neurons. Capsaicin evoked cyclic GMP production in nonneuronal DRG cultures in the presence but not in the absence of apposed neuronal DRG cultures. Overall, these findings suggest that specific exogenous (or endogenous) substances may stimulate production of a nitrosyl factor(s) by a subset of DRG neurons, and nitrosyl factors produced by these neurons may affect cyclic GMP production in neighboring neuronal or non-neuronal cells.
A method for measuring residual strains in fiber-reinforced titanium matrix composites

A new method for measuring the residual fiber strains in fiber-reinforced titanium matrix composites has been developed. The method involves selectively etching the matrix over a prescribed length of composite and subsequently measuring the extension of the relaxed fibers relative to neighboring fibers that are still embedded within the matrix material. The extensions are measured using confocal microscopy. The method is demonstrated on three unidirectionally reinforced composites with varying fiber volume fractions. The effects of specimen tilt and fiber splaying following dissolution on the measured fiber extensions are analyzed. The residual fiber strains are rationalized on the basis of the thermoelastic properties of the constituents through a concentric cylinder model. The current method can be applied to other metal matrix composites reinforced with large diameter (monofilament) fibers, provided the matrix can be selectively etched.
Depositional Turbidity Currents in Diapiric Minibasins on the Continental Slope: Formulation and Theory

The northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico is riddled with numerous subsiding diapiric minibasins bounded by ridges, many but not all of which are connected by channels created by turbidity currents. The region is economically relevant in that many of these diapiric minibasins constitute focal points for the deposition of sand. Some of these sandy deposits in turn serve as excellent reservoirs for hydrocarbons. A better understanding of the "fill and spill" process by which minibasins fill with mud and sand as the intervening ridges are dissected by canyons may serve to aid in the location of such reservoirs. In the present paper a theory is developed to describe sediment deposition in minibasins. The theory relies on the hypotheses that the turbidity currents in question are sustained for at least about one hour. Two key and heretofore unrecognized aspects of the "fill and spill" process are revealed: (1) the formation of an internal hydraulic jump as a turbidity current spills into a confined basin, and (2) the detrainment of water across a settling interface forming at the top of the ponded turbidity current downstream of the hydraulic jump. It is shown that sufficiently strong detrainment can consume the flow, so that they is no outflow of either water or sediment even with continuous inflow. As the basin fills with sediment, however, overspill is eventually realized. The theory is developed into a numerical model, tested against experiments and applied at field scale in a companion paper.
Mining the execution history of a software system to infer the best time for its adaptation

An important challenge in dynamic adaptation of a software system is to prevent inconsistencies (failures) and disruptions in its operations during and after change. Several prior techniques have solved this problem with various tradeoffs. All of them, however, assume the availability of detailed component dependency models. This paper presents a complementary technique that solves this problem in settings where such models are either not available, difficult to build, or outdated due to the evolution of the software. Our approach first mines the execution history of a software system to infer a stochastic component dependency model, representing the probabilistic sequence of interactions among the system's components. We then demonstrate how this model could be used at runtime to infer the "best time" for adaptation of the system's components. We have thoroughly evaluated this research on a multi-user real world software system and under varying conditions.
Simultaneous in situ measurements and diurnal variations of NO, NO2, O3, jNO2, CH4, H2O, and CO2 in the 40‐ to 26‐km region using an open path tunable diode laser spectrometer

Simultaneous in situ measurements of temperature, pressure, and the NO, NO2, O3, jNO2, CH4, H2O, and CO2 concentrations were conducted in the 40- to 26-km region of the stratosphere using the JPL Balloon-borne Laser In Situ Sensor, a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer. The NO, NO2, CH4, H2O, and CO2 concentration measurements generally show good agreement with previous observations, with a tendency for somewhat lower NO2 amounts. Measured O3 concentrations at 38 km agree well with comparable measurements from in situ UV photometers, but at 28 km they are lower by about 10 percent and agree more closely with the solar backscattered UV data. A decline was found in NO2 during the night over a 5-km altitude range, which implies either lower NO2 postsunset profiles, or an NO2 decay rate that is significantly higher than current model predictions that use N2O5 chemistry.
Transient multicomponent diffusion with heterogeneous reaction

The problem of transient multicomponent diffusion of an arbitrary number of components in one-dimension with heterogeneous reaction has been solved exactly by means of the Laplace transform. Linearized expressions for the diffusion and reaction were used. Numerical evaluations of the solution are given and a comparison made with results derived by use of an effective diffusivity.
Adoption and diffusion of encoded archival description

In this article, findings from a study on the diffusion and adoption of Encoded Archival Description (EAD) within the U.S. archival community are reported. Using E. M. Rogers' (1995) theory of the diffusion of innovations as a theoretical framework, the authors surveyed 399 archives and manuscript repositories that sent participants to EAD workshops from 1993-2002. Their findings indicated that EAD diffusion and adoption are complex phenomena. While the diffusion pattern mirrored that of MAchine-Readable Cataloging (MARC), overall adoption was slow. Only 42% of the survey respondents utilized EAD in their descriptive programs. Critical factors inhibiting adoption include the small staff size of many repositories, the lack of standardization in archival descriptive practices, a multiplicity of existing archival access tools, insufficient institutional infrastructure, and difficulty in maintaining expertise.
Automated spacecraft monitoring

The spacecraft and ground systems monitoring processes at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are described, focusing on the monitoring of spacecraft telecommunications subsystem health and telecommunications link status operations. A system based on artificial intelligence technology that seeks to overcome many of these limitations is described. The system, called the Spacecraft Health Automated Reasoning Prototype (SHARP), is designed to automate health and status analysis for multimission spacecraft and ground data systems operations. The use of SHARP during the Voyager encounter with Neptune is evaluated. It has proved to be effective for detecting and analyzing potential spacecraft and ground systems problems by performing real-time analysis of spacecraft and ground data systems engineering telemetry. Four principal areas where benefits from the use of SHARP and its descendants, namely, safety, workforce savings, reliability, and productivity, are discussed. >
Replacement strategies for XQuery caching systems

To improve the query performance over XML documents in a distributed environment, we develop a semantic caching system named ACE-XQ for XQuery queries. ACE-XQ applies innovative query containment and rewriting techniques to answer user queries using cached queries. We also design a fine-grained replacement strategy which records user access statistics at a finer granularity than the complete XML query regions. As a result, less frequently used XML view fragments are replaced to maintain a better utilization of the cache space. Extensive experimental results illustrate the performance improvement achieved by this strategy over the traditional one for a variety of situations.
Exploring the Attraction of Local Congregations to Community Organizing

This article explores why certain churches have become engaged in local faith-based community organizing at a time when the majority of congregations are not politically active and many of their denominational lobbying offices have come under heavy fire. It is based on interviews with the pastors of 15 congregations actively engaged in faith-based community organizing in three cities. The results suggest that community organizing fits into congregations’ localized priorities, with the majority of the pastors expressing primarily local concerns. Organizing has led to tangible community improvements, especially within poorer communities that are often excluded from professionalized forms of civic engagement. It has strengthened congregations’ social service efforts, which appear to be more extensive than is the norm. However, the most frequently cited benefit was the creation of relational bonds among diverse congregations.
The family group conference in the New Zealand children, young persons, and their families act of 1989 (CYP&F): review and evaluation.

The family group conference is an innovation introduced into New Zealand law as a means of resolving child protection and youth justice cases. The law requires the conference to include the offender, the victim, the extended family, and other relevant parties. This article reviews New Zealand research and commentary, and publications reporting on experiences with the methods in other countries. The discussion emphasizes problems in adapting a method based on one culture to a different culture and social organization. The article also considers the law from the viewpoint of therapeutic jurisprudence. Although the research is sparse, the FGC has strong promise for resolving problems, enhancing the sense of community and participation, and empowering families. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Monolayer cell culture of adult rat islets of Langerhans.

This report describes a method for monolayer cell culture of adult rat pancreatic islets. In this procedure, the isolated islets of Langerhans were enzymatically dispersed and subsequently cultured for 2 to 3 weeks. Enhanced secretion of insulin was present over the basal secretion rate when the cultures were exposed to a high glucose concentration alone or to a combination of glucose, theophylline and glucagon. The ultrastructural studies of the beta cells in culture demonstrated preservation of their morphological characteristics throughout the culture periods.
Influence of Drying Techniques on Some Properties of Nonfat Dried Milk

Abstract The bulk density, particle density, sinkability, and dispersibility of nonfat dried milk was varied by vacuum shelf drying, instantizing, and foam-spray-drying techniques. Good sinking and dispersing properties were obtained only by vacuum shelf drying, instantizing conventional spray-dried material and foam-spray-drying with low levels of CO 2 or N 2 incorporated into the concentrate prior to drying. All spray-dried powders having instant action were at least partially aggregated. The bulk density of these aggregated materials was relatively low. Incorporation of low levels of CO 2 into the concentrates was done by direct injection of the liquefied gas under pressure, decomposition of ammonium carbonate, and addition of CO 2 gas immediately ahead of the high pressure pump. High bulk density products having good sinking and dispersing properties were obtained by adding detergents to the concentrate and spray drying under conditions which produced in-dryer particle aggregation.
Automated support for text-based system assessment

Describes the need to explore and evaluate text descriptions of proposed computer-based systems, presents an approach for automated support for text-based system assessment, and reports on the use of this approach in support of system assessment for a complex multi-segment project: the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). Text-based system assessment is a key to early discovery of issues and risk in system development. Text-based assessments encounter many challenges, particularly the high potential for ambiguity in English, but still have significant advantages.
A simple greedy heuristic for linear assignment interdiction

We consider a bilevel extension of the classical linear assignment problem motivated by network interdiction applications. Specifically, given a bipartite graph with two different (namely, the leader’s and the follower’s) edge costs, the follower solves a linear assignment problem maximizing his/her own profit, whereas the leader is allowed to affect the follower’s decisions by eliminating some of the vertices from the graph. The leader’s objective is to minimize the total cost given by the cost of the interdiction actions plus the cost of the assignments made by the follower. The considered problem is strongly $${ NP}$$ -hard. First, we formulate this problem as a linear mixed integer program (MIP), which can be solved by commercial MIP solvers. More importantly, we also describe a greedy-based construction heuristic, which provides (under some mild conditions) an optimal solution for the case, where the leader’s and the follower’s edge costs are equal to one. Finally, we present the results of our computational experiments comparing the proposed heuristic against an MIP solver.
Molecule Nanoelectronics

We measure the conductance of over 30 amine terminated molecules by breaking Au point-contacts in a molecular solution at room temperature. We find that the variability of the observed conductance for the diamine molecule-Au junctions is much less than the variability for diisonitrile and dithiol-Au junctions. This narrow distribution enables unambiguous conductance measurements of single molecules. For an alkane diamine series with 2-8 carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon chain and for polyphenyl diamine with 1-3 benzene rings, our results show that conductance decreases exponentially with length. For biphenyl diamines with different substituents that alter the phenyl-phenyl dihedral angle, we find that the conductance decreases with increasing twist angle, following a cosine squared dependence. Finally, for a series of substituted benzene diamines, we find that electron donating substituents on the ring, which drive the occupied molecular orbitals up, increase the junction conductance while electron withdrawing substituents have the opposite effect. Thus for this measured series, conductance varies inversely with the calculated ionization potential of the molecules. These results reveal that the occupied states are closest to the gold Fermi energy, indicating that the tunneling transport through these molecules is analogous to hole tunneling through an insulating film.
Composite follicular variant of papillary carcinoma and mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thyroid. Report of a case and review of the literature.

The follicular variant of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid gland is a commonly recognized, well-defined entity. However, primary mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the thyroid is rare, with only 21 cases reported. We describe a 29-year-old woman who presented with a mass in the right lobe of the thyroid.
Wrist and Forearm Movements While Homing in on Precision Targets

To determine whether people employed different movement strategies when they homed in on precision targets during repetitive tapping tasks, homing in movements were isolated for analysis. The time required to home in on the targets and the absolute magnitudes of peaks in joint velocities during homing in were calculated. In addition, the number of times that three types of corrective actions: changes in movement direction, inflections in velocity, and peaks in velocity, were made during pronation/supination and in radial/ulnar actions were counted.The number of times each type of corrective action was made was regressed against the time required for homing in. The relationships were highly linear, with correlation coefficients between 0.78 and 0.94. The implication was that corrective actions occurred at a similar mean frequency, regardless of the level of task precision and that homing in was a very active process at all levels of precision studied. The number of times any type of corrective action was t...
Creating Families: A Teaching Technique for Clinical Training Through Role-Playing

This article examines an alternative marriage and family teaching method that provides students with a realistic clinical experience and increases their empathic understanding of family diversity. When the instructor incorporates a highly structured role-play protocol into the syllabus, students learn to create realistic family scenarios, without falling prey to the two main traps of role-play: the ill-prepared example that does not represent real cases; and the ethical problem in which students select characters too similar to themselves.
A Campaign of Truth: The State Department, Propaganda, and the Olympic Games, 1950–1952

Scholars who have examined the role of the Olympic Games in U.S. Cold War strategy have dealt mostly with the post-Stalin era, when the Olympic Games were a stage for “symbolic combat” between athletes from the East and West and a cultural force with a powerful and compelling message that could be used for political gain. The Games were overseen by the International Olympic Committee, which both influenced and was influenced by the actions of world leaders and states. Although U.S. officials generally refused to approve federal funds for the national Olympic team, they took steps to manipulate the Games for propaganda purposes. The Cold War origins of such activities have not yet been clearly delineated. This article shows that Harry Truman's administration in the late 1940s and early 1950s was the first to address and to take advantage of the propaganda potential of the Olympics in the Cold War era, and this transformative period coincided with, and was driven by, the government's much expanded informati...
Neuroimaging cognitive reappraisal in clinical populations to define neural targets for enhancing emotion regulation. A systematic review

Reduced capacity to cognitively regulate emotional responses is a common impairment across major neuropsychiatric disorders. Brain systems supporting one such strategy, cognitive reappraisal of emotion, have been investigated extensively in the healthy population, a research focus that has led to influential meta-analyses and literature reviews. However, the emerging literature on neural substrates underlying cognitive reappraisal in clinical populations is yet to be systematically reviewed. Therefore, the goal of the current review was to summarize the literature on cognitive reappraisal and highlight common and distinct neural correlates of impaired emotion regulation in clinical populations. We performed a two-stage systematic literature search, selecting 32 studies on cognitive reappraisal in individuals with mood disorders (n=12), anxiety disorders (n=14), addiction (n=2), schizophrenia (n=2), and personality disorders (n=5). Comparing findings across these disorders allowed us to determine underlying mechanisms that were either disorder-specific or common across disorders. Results showed that across clinical populations, individuals consistently demonstrated reduced recruitment of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) during downregulation of negative emotion, indicating that there may be a core deficit in selection, manipulation and inhibition during reappraisal. Further, in individuals with mood disorders, amygdala responses were enhanced during downregulation of emotion, suggesting hyperactive bottom-up responses or reduced modulatory capacity. In individuals with anxiety disorders, however, emotion regulation revealed reduced activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and inferior/superior parietal cortex, possibly indicating a deficit in allocation of attention. The reviewed studies thus provide evidence for both disorder-specific and common deficits across clinical populations. These findings highlight the role of distinct neural substrates as targets for developing/assessing novel therapeutic approaches that are geared towards cognitive regulation of emotion, as well as the importance of transdiagnostic research to identify both disorder specific and core mechanisms.
A decision-theoretic characterization of organizational influences

Despite a large body of research on integrating organizational concepts into cooperative multiagent systems, a formal understanding of how organizations can influence agents' decisions remains elusive. This paper works toward such an understanding by beginning with a model of agent decision making based on decision-theoretic principles, and then examining the possible routes that organizational influences can take to affect that model. We show that alternative avenues of applying influences correspond to different prior notions of organizational control, and empirically demonstrate the impact that each can have on the quality and overhead of coordinated behavior. To do so, we must define the agents' baseline behavior (without a designed organization), and we present a methodology for initializing agents' models to comprise what amounts to an "uninformed" organization. Finally, we show how the specification of organizational influences in terms of components of a decision-theoretic agent creates opportunities for agents to compare actual events with predictions implied in the models, such that agents can reason about whether to change organizations. We demonstrate that this capability to question and change organizations can be valuable if used judiciously.
Protoreodon walshi, a new species of agriochoerid (Oreodonta, Artiodactyla, Mammalia)) from the late Uintan of San Diego County, California

A new agriochoerid, Protoreodon walshi new species, from the middle Eocene Santiago Formation, San Diego County, California, is described from the Jeff9s Discovery and Rancho del Oro local faunas, considered to be late Uintan in age. It differs from most other species of Protoreodon in having an undivided P 4 para-metacone and a P 3 protocone connected to the paracone by a buccolingual crest. Associated postcranial material is abundant and well preserved. The postcranial skeleton shows several features which probably represent the primitive oreodont condition, including closely appressed metapodials, hoofed ungual phalanges, the lunar in broad contact with both the magnum and the unciform in anterior view, and having the magnum larger than the trapezoid. Two specimens of a larger morph, Protoreodon cf. walshi, show a different P 3 morphology and might represent another new species. Diversity of agriochoerid oreodonts in California is at least as high as has been reported for the Vieja Group of Texas, although not as high as in the Uinta Basin of Utah, where the genus Diplobunops is also present.
HYBRID TOTAL HIP ARTHROPLASTY IN PATIENTS UNDER THE AGE OF FIFTY : A FIVE-TO TEN-YEAR FOLLOW-UP

In 37 patients, 45 total hip replacements were performed using contemporary cementing techniques, an uncemented Harris-Galante I acetabular component and a cemented precoated Iowa femoral component in patients under the age of 50 at the time of their surgery; 36 patients with 43 hybrid hips were living, 1 patient with 2 hybrid hips was decreased. No patients were lost to follow-up. At 5- to 10-year follow-up, eight hips were revised for aseptic loosening. No acetabular components, and eight femoral components (18%) were revised for aseptic loosening. When looking at radiographic results, including revision as well as those components that were probably or definitely loose on radiographs, 0 acetabular components and 11 femoral components (24%) were radiographically loose. These results demonstrate the excellent durability of the uncemented Harris-Galante acetabular component in the younger patient. However, the Iowa grit-blasted methyl methacrylate precoated femoral component had a magnitude increase in the prevalence of revision for aseptic femoral loosening when compared to the senior author's long-term Charnley results in this age group. The authors attribute the failure to the rough surface finish applied to the femoral component. However, the polymethyl methacrylate proximal precoating and the femoral component design may also contribute to the femoral failures.
Multiplex Analysis of Serum Cytokine Levels in Waldenström Macroglobulinemia Patients.

Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a monoclonal B cell disorder characterized by a circulating monoclonal IgM protein that may lead to serum hyperviscosity in association with an infiltration of lymphoplasmacytic cells into the bone marrow. Although proinflammatory and chemotactic cytokines can profoundly affect tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment, and many cytokines have been shown to have potent therapeutic efficacy in preclinical cancer models, the role of cytokine networks in WM is not fully understood. In this study, we used a high-throughput xMAP multiplex immunobead assay technology (Luminex Corp., Austin, TX) to simultaneously test 30 cytokines, chemokines, angiogenic factors as well as growth factors and soluble receptors in the sera of WM patients and compared them with other B cell malignancies including IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), follicular lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as well as healthy controls. Using a Mann-Whitney U test to analyze the differences between the groups, 15 of the 30 cytokines tested had significantly different levels in WM compared to healthy controls. Of those 15 cytokines, 11 were elevated in WM patients and 4 were decreased. Cytokines were grouped into 3 groups; those with 8-fold difference in their cytokine levels compared to healthy donors. There was a greater than 8-fold increase in the serum levels of Rantes, G-CSF and IL-2R (p 8-fold decreased, MCP-1 (p 8-fold) in WM patients compared to healthy donors also differed significantly from the MGUS patients. Rantes, G-CSF, IL-2R and EGF had significantly different levels compared to other B cell malignancies. We tested for a correlation between the cytokines that had > 2-fold difference between the WM group and control group with clinical features of the disease and found the cytokines IL-6 and IL-2R had a significant correlation with β2-microglobulin levels (p
Spectrally resolved localized states in GaAs1− x Bi x

The role of localized states and their influence on the broader band structure remains a crucial question in understanding the band structure evolution in GaAs1− x Bi x . In this work, we present clear spectroscopic observations of recombination at several localized states in GaAs1− x Bi x . Sharp and recognizable photoluminescence features appear in multiple samples and redshift as a function of GaBi fraction between x = 0.16% and 0.4% at a linearized rate of 34 meV per % Bi, weaker than the redshift associated with band-to-band recombination. Interpreting these results in terms of radiative recombination between localized holes and free electrons sheds light on the relative movement of the conduction band minimum and the characteristics of localized bismuth-related trap states in GaAs1− x Bi x alloys.
MerCat: a versatile k-mer counter and diversity estimator for database-independent property analysis obtained from metagenomic and/or metatranscriptomic sequencing data

MerCat (“ Mer - Cat enate”) is a parallel, highly scalable and modular property software package for robust analysis of features in next-generation sequencing data. Using assembled contigs and raw sequence reads from any platform as input, MerCat performs k-mer counting of any length k, resulting in feature abundance counts tables. MerCat allows for direct analysis of data properties without reference sequence database dependency commonly used by search tools such as BLAST for compositional analysis of whole community shotgun sequencing (e.g., metagenomes and metatranscriptomes).
Continuum theory for elastic sheets formed by inextensible crossed elasticae

Abstract An equilibrium theory for elastic surfaces formed by two families of intextensible fibers is developed. This extends the work of Wang and Pipkin, which accounts for the intrinsic flexural stiffness of the fibers, to include intrinsic twisting resistance. The constituent fibers behave mechanically like spatial Kirchhoff rods. These are regarded as being continuously distributed on the surface and convected by the underlying surface deformation as inextensible material curves.