cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Macro camera temperature logger array for deep‐sea hydrothermal vent and benthic studies

Long-term observations of faunal communities are essential to identify biological and ecological key phenomena. Observational studies of deep sea habitats such as hydrothermal vents, however, have been restricted by technological limitations. Here we describe our recently developed instrument SMOKE (Submersible Macrophotography Observation Kamera Equipment) that was used for time-lapse macrophotography synchronized with temperature readings for up to 28 h at 2200 m depth. Lighting was provided by a novel low-cost white LED array powered by AA or AAA batteries embedded in epoxy within an aluminum case. SMOKE was successfully deployed at the Juan de Fuca ridge in the Northeast Pacific and delivered fine-resolution pictures as well as centimeter-scale temperature readings in diffuse vent flow habitats of small motile invertebrates. We found high spatial temperature changes within faunal assemblages and could identify and track specimens down to a size of 2 mm. SMOKE is also characterized by low fabrication and maintenance costs and a straightforward, reliable design. Overall, this device proved to be a valuable tool for macrofaunal observations linked with temperature changes over extended time periods.
Sequential Testing in Product Development

A fundamental problem in managing product development is the optimal timing, frequency, and fidelity of sequential testing activities that are carried out to evaluate novel product concepts and designs. In this paper, we develop a mathematical model that treats testing as an activity that generates information about technical and customer-need related problems. An analysis of the model results in several important findings. First, optimal testing strategies need to balance the tension between several variables, including the increasing cost of redesign, the cost of a test as function of fidelity, and the correlation between sequential tests. Second, a simple form of our model results in an EOQ-like result: The optimal number of tests called the Economic Testing Frequency or ETF is the square root of the ratio of avoidable cost and the cost of a test. Third, the relationship between sequential tests can have an impact on optimal testing strategies. If sequential tests are increasing refinements of one another, managers should invest their budgets in a few high-fidelity tests, whereas if the tests identify problems independently of one another it may be more effective if developers carry out a higher number of lower-fidelity tests. Using examples, the implications for managerial practice are discussed and suggestions for further research undertakings are provided.
Interactive Theater and Self-Efficacy

What are the advantages and drawbacks of using inter-active theater for faculty development on multicultural issues?
A Review of the Psychometric Properties of Breastfeeding Assessment Tools

ABSTRACT Objective: To compare and contrast the clinical usefulness and psychometric properties of existing self-report instruments designed to assess maternal breastfeeding attitudes, experience, satisfaction, and confidence. Data Sources: CINAHL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, PubMed databases from 1990 through 2009, and reference lists from selected articles were included in the search. Only published research articles written in English that provided reliability and validity of the self-report instruments for breastfeeding assessment were reviewed. Study Selection: A total of 301 articles were retrieved according to the initial selection criteria; 24 articles met the final inclusion criteria. Data Extraction: Data extracted from research studies addressing the purpose of the review and demonstrating psychometric properties were presented. Data Synthesis Seven breastfeeding assessment tools were identified, and each tool demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. Conclusion: Seven self-report instruments were found to be valid, reliable, and feasible measures for assessing breastfeeding relationships. But two of the seven self-report instruments were only tested in one study, and only one study used a self-report instrument (the Breastfeeding Attrition Prediction Tool—BAPT) to test the effectiveness of an intervention. It is recommended that researchers consider using the existing self-report instruments in future experimental studies to test the feasibility and effectiveness of breastfeeding interventions. Moreover, it is important to continue to conduct more well designed research to further test and refine these self-report instruments in a variety of diverse populations and ethnic groups and to further examine their psychometric properties. Clinical applications have not been well addressed and need to be considered in the design of these future works. Understanding how to best support the breastfeeding mother must be the long-term outcome of instrument development in this area.
Magnetic properties of a mixture of two nanosized Co-S powders produced by hydrothermal reduction

Hydrothermal reduction synthesis of transition-metal sulfide nanophase is the treatment of aqueous solutions of precursors such as cobalt acetate and thiourea at elevated temperatures in pressurized vessels. In this technique, particle size, morphology, and phase homogeneity can be controlled rendering materials with a wide range of magnetic properties. We report the synthesis and structural characterization of a mixture of CoS/sub 1.035/ (30%) and Co/sub 9/S/sub 8/ (70%) nanoparticles that were prepared by this method and discuss their magnetic properties over the temperature range 2.0-300 K.
Benzoin‐ and benzoin methyl ether‐sensitized photopolymerization of styrene and methyl methacrylate: Quantum yields and mixing effects

Styrene and methyl methacrylate have been polymerized in a batch photoreactor using two sensitizers–benzoin (C6H5COCHOHC6H5) and benzoin methyl ether (C6H5COCHOCH3C6H5)–and light with a peak intensity at 366 nm. Primary quantum yields have been calculated for each monomer-sensitizer combination. Effects of mixing on the rate of polymerization and product molecular weight distribution have been determined and correlated with a two-region reactor model.
Epistemic Virtues and the Success of Science

The standard underdetermination argument relies on the assumption that empirical evidence is the only epistemic constraint on theory-choice. One prominent response to this has been the invocation of theoretical virtues, properties of our scientific theories that scientific realists take to be epistemic in nature and that are such that, if they are had by our theories, make it more likely for those theories to be true. It thus becomes a main goal for scientific realists to establish a link between the theoretical virtues and truth. However, despite the fact that the virtues are frequently invoked in response to underdetermination arguments, how to do so has not been addressed in any detail. In this chapter, I will spell out the most promising approach in making this link: an account according to which the question of whether the virtues are epistemic is answered empirically, through an examination of cases of epistemically successful (and unsuccessful) theories. I will illustrate how this approach works concretely by discussing a case-study from mid-nineteenth century Britain concerning the debate about the transmissibility of puerperal fever. After showing how some specific virtues are put to work in this case, I will explain what is required in order to make a more general argument for the epistemic potential of the theoretical virtues. I then argue that putting the virtue-question on empirical grounds is enough to undermine the anti-realist position on underdetermination – regardless of whether, in fact, the virtues turn out to be epistemically potent or not.
E-Learning Pedagogy: Addressing Struggling Learners in Regular K-12 Classrooms as an Intransigent Design Problem

As online education providers gain a foothold in the US public education system nationwide as supplemental and primary providers of curriculum materials, they are replicating some of the same pedagogical mistakes that brick-and-mortar schools have created in the curriculum development process—by not accommodating the struggling learner. Our paper and discussion concerns K-12 online content providers and their curriculum development processes.
Qualitative regional differences in adipose tissue growth and cellularity in male Wistar rats fed ad libitum

Adipose tissue grows primarily by a combination of increases in fat cell volume (hypertrophy) and in fat cell number (hyperplasia), but the regional growth pattern of white adipose tissue depots in animal species and in the human is still unclear. In this study we characterized fully the age-related changes in adipose tissue growth, composition, and cellularity of four fat depots of male Wistar rats that varied in age from 7 wk to 15 mo and in body weight from 178 to 808 g. Body weight and the weight of each of the four adipose depots studied (epididymal, mesenteric, subcutaneous inguinal, and retroperitoneal) increased progressively with age and ad libitum feeding. Comparison of the cellularity of the four adipose depots, however, showed remarkable and significant differences in the pattern of growth within the same animals. The cumulative growth of the two intra-abdominal fat depots (mesenteric and epididymal) was due mostly to hypertrophy (increases in cell volume of 83 and 64%, respectively), whereas the growth of the other two depots (retroperitoneal and inguinal) was due predominantly to hyperplasia (increases in cell number of 58 and 65%, respectively). These findings uncover major and unexpected regional differences in the modulation of adipose tissue growth within aging animals fed ad libitum and suggest local, region-specific regulatory controls of this growth.
Safety and General Principles of Botulinum Toxin Therapies: Pearls From Across Medical Fields

Since the initial trials and approval of the medicinal use of botulinum toxin in the 1980s, therapeutic applications of botulinum neurotoxins have come from virtually every medical specialty. Table 1.1 is a list of applications of botulinum toxin (BoNT) and the list continues to expand. In this chapter, we hope to summarize some of the general treatment principles that have been learned from other specialties, especially neurology and rehabilitation medicine who both have been using BoNT for much longer than urologists and gynecologists, in order to help us better treat our patients.
Measurement in Nursing Research and Practice

AbstractMeasurement in nursing is used to (a) evaluate clinical methodologies and the effects of new interventions on clients, (b) test theories, and (c) appraise learning by students and clients. The status of measurement in nursing is assessed. Considerations in the selection and evaluation of extant psychometric tools are presented. The procedural steps in constructing new measures of outcome behaviors are outlined including the acquisition of knowledge of content in the area of interest, definition of the behavior to be measured, formulation of items, development of instructions for users and respondents, and collection of data for evaluation of reliability and validity. The importance of collegial exchange is recognized as the means of expanding the body of tools presently available, increasing accessibility of instruments, adapting measures borrowed from other disciplines to fit health care settings of interest to the nurse scientist, and facilitating further study of multiple indices of selected ou...
Lessons learned from a rational reconstruction of minstrel

Scott Turner's 1993 Minstrel system was a high water mark in story generation, harnessing the concept of imaginative recall to generate creative stories. Using case based reasoning and an author level planning system, Minstrel models human creative processes. However, the algorithmic and representational commitments made in Minstrel were never subject to principled and quantitative analysis. By rationally reconstructing Minstrel, we are able to investigate Turner's computational model of creativity and learn new lessons about his architecture. We find that Minstrel's original performance was tied to a well groomed case library, but by modifying several components of the algorithm we can create a more general version which can construct stories using a sparser and less structured case library. Through a rational reconstruction of Minstrel, we both learn new architectural and algorithmic lessons about Minstrel's computational model of creativity as well as make his architecture available to the contemporary research community for further experimentation.
AGGREGATION | Physical Aspects

The combination of physical, chemical, and biological influences active in soil gives rise to aggregates, groups of soil particles that cohere more closely to each other than to other soil particles. The size, shape, and cohesive stability of soil aggregates are vital controls on soil function and development as well as on the transport of water and other substances. Numerous techniques are available for evaluating aggregate properties and their distribution, as essential for the characterization and understanding of soil.
Melittin creates transient pores in a lipid bilayer: results from computer simulations.

To study the interaction between melittin peptides and lipid bilayer, we performed coarse-grained simulations on systems containing melittin interacting with a bilayer containing zwitterionic dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and anionic palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylglycerol (POPG) phospholipids in a 7:3 ratio. Eight different systems were considered: four at low and four at high peptide to lipid (P/L) ratios. In case of low P/L ratio we did not observe any pore creation in the bilayer. In two out of four of the simulations with the high P/L ratio, appearance of transient pores in the bilayer was observed. These pores were created due to an assembly of 3–5 melittin peptides. Not all of the peptides in the pores were in a transmembrane conformation; many of them had their termini residues anchored to the same leaflet, and these peptides assumed bent, U-shaped, conformations. We propose that when an assembly of melittin peptides creates pores, such an assembly acts as a “wedge” that splits the bilayer. To...
Characterization of refractoriness in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) to infection by Dirofilaria immitis.

Moribundity of prelarvae of Dirofilaria immitis in the Malpighian tubules of a highly refractory strain of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes was investigated. Prelarvae showed signs of moribundity within hours after reaching the tubules. The entire population of prelarvae was not affected simultaneously; some prelarvae were still viable (capable of development) after having been exposed to the refractory tubule environment for as long as 24 h. Increasing the rate of migration of microfilariae from the midgut to the tubules and avoidance of pre-midgut events, such as passage through the bucco-pharyngeal apparatus, were not associated with increases in the proportion of mosquitoes harboring developing forms. None of the treatments to supply missing growth factors, alter vector physiological state, or interfere with the melanization process was associated with the conversion of all or nearly all mosquitoes to the susceptible state. Only reduced glutathione and phenylthiourea produced a relatively large susceptible class without the simultaneous production of a large negative group. Many microfilariae injected into the hemocoels of Ae. aegypti developed to the sausage stage (at least some of which were found in each injected mosquito). Furthermore, the fate of prelarvae in tubules of selected strains remained unaltered after transfer of these tubules to culture media. These experiments suggest that prelarvae must be in the developmental site for prelarval moribundity to be manifest. If the factors responsible for moribundity are also systemic, they are apparently not expressed in the hemolymph environment.
Women's health content validity of the Family Medicine In-training Examination.

Background: Women’s health is the field of medicine that addresses the special health care needs of women. It includes conditions more common, different, or unique to women. The primary means of knowledge assessment for family medicine residents is the Family Medicine In-training Examination (FMITE). This study describes the degree to which the FMITE tests residents for knowledge of women’s health. Methods: This was a content validity study using item analysis to identify FMITE women’s health questions. The curriculum standard was the 2004 American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Women’s Health Curriculum Guidelines. Two independent reviewers verified the method of identifying women’s health questions. The test sample included 3,460 questions (1996–2005 FMITEs). Results: Women’s health questions made up 23% of the sample. Content areas and topics from the AAFP curriculum were sampled unevenly. The exam emphasized reproductive health and failed to assess knowledge of older women’s health. Discussion: The FMITE does test resident knowledge of the traditional subjects of obstetrics and gynecology but does not provide an adequate assessment of the breadth of knowledge of women’s health.
Update and Review of Congenital Myopathies

Congenital myopathies are reviewed by neuropathology researchers in New Delhi, India, and Mainz, Germany.
Investigation and countermeasures on project of rural drinking water safety in Yingcheng City of Hubei Province

[Objective]To understand the situation of project of rural drinking water safety in Yingcheng City.[Methods]The water quality and operational state of 44 rural drinking water safety projects in 14 counties of Yingcheng City were monitored and investigated.The water quality was tested according to GB/T 5750-2006.Test results evaluation was based on GB 5749-2006,GB 3838-2002,GB14848-1993.[Results]Of 135 water samples,the total qualified rate was only 34.1%.The major failed indexes were aerobic bacterial count,coliform bacterial,thermotolerant coliform,iron and manganese.The qualified rate of water quality between groundwater and surface water was significantly different(χ2=5.333 1,P0.05).[Conclusion]The situation of drinking water safety project in rural areas is worrying in Yingcheng.The possibility of causing waterborne diseases is high.Strengthening health monitoring of rural drinking water safety project plays important role in its success.
Antibodies to Ro and La.

Precipitating antibodies to Ro and La occur in a subset of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) constituting just under 50 and 20% respectively of the total spectrum. These precipitating autoantibodies are even more prevalent in primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS) occurring in 60-80% (anti-Ro) and 40-60% (anti-La) of that disease. Patients with an overlap of SLE and SS virtually all possess both anti-Ro and anti-La. These autoantibodies appear years before the appearance of clinical disease as evidenced by the behavior of women who possess them and herald this presence by having children born with the manifestations of neonatal lupus, principally a characteristic lupus dermatitis or complete congenital heart block. The close association of several clinical manifestations involving the skin, lung, and blood elements suggests a pathogenic role for these autoantibodies in disease expression. The elucidation of these relationships should greatly improve our understanding of the etiopathogenesis of both SLE and SS.
Is aggressive therapy effective for lupus

SUMMARY Intravenous cyclophosphamide is an effective form of aggressive therapy for the management of a wide range of serious manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Although it has been best studied in patients with progressive lupus nephritis, recent evidence indicates an important role for this therapy for other clinical lupus indications, particularly acute neurologic diseases. The available comparative data suggest that intravenous cyclophosphamide is far more effective than intensive corticosteroid therapies, including conventional high-dose oral therapy as well as bolus intravenous therapy. Differences in efficacy compared with oral regimens of cyclophosphamide or azathioprine are less clear, although clinical experience would seem to suggest that intravenous cyclophosphamide has a more rapid onset of action clinically than low-dose oral therapies. Finally, the toxicity profile of intravenous cyclophosphamide compares favorably with other aggressive approaches to drug management and does not pose an unacceptable risk. The future impact of several current investigational therapies remains to be defined.
Transmission of Random Vibration

A vibratory system is said to be linear and time-invariant if its equations of motions take the form of linear differential equations with constant coefficients. A system with a single degree of freedom can be described by a single second-order ordinary differential equation. A two-degree freedom system can be described by a pair of coupled second-order ordinary differential equations. The excitation–response or inputoutput problem for linear time-invariant systems in terms of particular responses to particular excitations is extended to the case where the excitation is no longer an individual time history but is an ensemble of possible time histories, that is, a random process. When the excitation is a stationary random process, then the response is also a stationary random process.
Key residues for catalytic function and metal coordination in a carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase.

Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs) are non-heme iron-containing enzymes found in all domains of life that generate biologically important apocarotenoids. Prior studies have revealed a critical role for a conserved 4-His motif in forming the CCD iron center. By contrast, the roles of other active site residues in catalytic function, including maintenance of the stringent regio- and stereo-selective cleavage activity, typically exhibited by these enzymes have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we examined the functional and structural importance of active site residues in an apocarotenoid-cleaving oxygenase (ACO) from Synechocystis Most active site substitutions variably lowered maximal catalytic activity without markedly affecting the Km value for the all-trans-8'-apocarotenol substrate. Native C15-C15' cleavage activity was retained in all ACO variants examined suggesting that multiple active site residues contribute to the enzyme's regioselectivity. Crystallographic analysis of a nearly inactive W149A-substituted ACO revealed marked disruption of the active site structure, including loss of iron coordination by His-238 apparently from an altered conformation of the conserved second sphere Glu-150 residue. Gln- and Asp-150-substituted versions of ACO further confirmed the structural/functional requirement for a Glu side chain at this position, which is homologous to Glu-148 in RPE65, a site in which substitution to Asp has been associated with loss of enzymatic function in Leber congenital amaurosis. The novel links shown here between ACO active site structure and catalytic activity could be broadly applicable to other CCD members and provide insights into the molecular pathogenesis of vision loss associated with an RPE65 point mutation.
Use of online communication and social media by newly diagnosed breast cancer patients: Results from the iCanCare Study.

6518 Background: Online communication (OC) and social media (SM) could be used to enhance cancer treatment decision-making and care support. Yet, virtually nothing is known about whether and how ne...
Abstract 13444: Longer Telomere Length is Associated With More Distensible Carotid Arteries in a Healthy Adult Population

Introduction: Chronological age is associated with loss of arterial distensibility leading to greater cardiac afterload and inefficient systemic perfusion. It is not known if cellular aging, marked...
Should Opioid Analgesics Be Used for Managing Pain in a Patient with a Drug Addiction

A 45-year-old man presents for his initial appointment to your pain clinic with chronic hip pain. The pain started after a total hip arthroplasty about 2 years ago for a right femoral neck fracture. Oxycodone for pain was prescribed by his orthopedic surgeon. All subsequent evaluations have been negative.
Bleeding Complications following Image-Guided Percutaneous Biopsies in Patients Taking Clopidogrel—A Retrospective Review

Abstract Purpose To report incidence of bleeding after image-guided percutaneous core needle biopsy performed in patients taking clopidogrel within 5 days. Materials and Methods This was a retrospective review of image-guided percutaneous core needle biopsies performed in patients with clopidogrel use within 5 days of the procedure between January 2002 and November 2014. Data including biopsy site, needle size, number of samples, and serum coagulation studies were collected. Routine follow-up of patients was performed 24–72 hours after biopsy. Major bleeding complications were defined as grade 3 or greater using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. There were 63 deep biopsies performed in 63 patients with recent use of clopidogrel. Mean time of clopidogrel abstinence before biopsy was 2.9 days ± 1.9 (median 3 days). Clopidogrel had been taken within 24 hours of the biopsy by 12 patients. There were 48 patients (76%) who also took aspirin within 5 days of the procedure. The most common procedure was liver biopsy (21/63; 33%), followed by lung (12/63; 19%), abdominal/pelvic/retroperitoneal mass (12/63; 19%), and renal (11/63; 17%) biopsies. Results A major bleeding complication (1/63; 1.6%) occurred after injury to an intercostal artery during lung biopsy, which was successfully treated with coil embolization. No minor bleeding complications were identified. Conclusions In this study comprising a small number of patients undergoing various biopsy procedures, recent clopidogrel use was associated with a very low incidence of major bleeding.
Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and Postpartum Major Depression: Chronobiology

Investigators have proposed many theories for the pathogenesis of premenstrual and postpartum depression. Evidence for chronobiological theories shows that disturbances in the timing (phase) or amplitude of circadian rhythms contribute to the symptoms manifested in these disorders related to women’s reproductive cycle. Relevant circadian rhythms include sleep, melatonin, cortisol, thyroid hormones, and prolactin (PRL). Diurnal patterns of secretion of these hormones in relation to sleep and to the changing reproductive hormones of each epoch are described. Disturbances in melatonin and PRL characterize premenstrual depressive disorders, whereas disturbances in sleep are common in postpartum depressive disorders.
A New Existential Model of God: A Synthesis of Themes from Kierkegaard, Buber, Levinas, and Open Theism

The Standard Anselmian Model of God conceives perfection as a static state that cannot improve, and thus interprets divine attributes as fixed maximal states of a being that is impassible yet still personal. This paper argues that a coherent alternative view, labeled the New Existential Model, can be collected from several alternative traditions, including Existential personalism, Process theology, Panentheism, and recent work on Open Theism. The new model is unified by the central idea that the divine is distinguished by two attributes or features: being the free creative genesis of reality, including creatures that enjoy derivative alterity, and being the source of eschatological possibilities in which the good is completely fulfilled in the culmination of time. The eschatological idea, which is the core of Kierkegaard’s conception of God as the object of existential faith, implies that God’s perfection is processive – growing rather than static – and that divine greatness is enriched rather than diminished by relation to free beings who add to reality through their own initiative and who enter into free relation with God. This model has several interesting implications for the problem of evil, foreknowledge, and providence.
Adaptive optical networks for image recognition

Periodic copying and electrical fixing are presented as two practical methods for controlling the decay rate of volume photorefractive holograms in the implementation of optical image processing systems.
A Convolutional Neural Network Smartphone App for Real-Time Voice Activity Detection

This paper presents a smartphone app that performs real-time voice activity detection based on convolutional neural network. Real-time implementation issues are discussed showing how the slow inference time associated with convolutional neural networks is addressed. The developed smartphone app is meant to act as a switch for noise reduction in the signal processing pipelines of hearing devices, enabling noise estimation or classification to be conducted in noise-only parts of noisy speech signals. The developed smartphone app is compared with a previously developed voice activity detection app as well as with two highly cited voice activity detection algorithms. The experimental results indicate that the developed app using convolutional neural network outperforms the previously developed smartphone app.
Interessante reelle Zahlen

Es sind nicht alle Zahlen gleich vor dem Herrn. Die reellen Zahlen entsprechen zwar Punkten auf der Zahlengeraden und ahneln in diesem Sinne einander, aber es gibt dennoch gewaltige Unterschiede zwischen ihnen. Einige von ihnen wurden von den Fruhmenschen geschaffen (1,2,3), andere von den kultivierten Griechen (√2, π) und wieder andere von den Entdeckern der Differential- und Integralrechnung (e). Uber die elementare Unterscheidung zwischen ganzen und nichtganzen Zahlen hinaus gibt es die Einteilungen in rationale und irrationale Zahlen oder in algebraische und transzendente Zahlen. Moderneren Ursprungs sind andere Eigenschaften gewisser — aber nicht aller — reeller Zahlen wie z.B. Normalitat und Berechenbarkeit in Echtzeit. In diesem Kapitel stellen wir einige ungeloste Probleme zu Eigenschaften einiger beruhmter Zahlen vor und werden unterwegs einigen interessanten, aber weniger bekannten Zahlen begegnen, wie zum Beispiel der Champernowneschen Zahl (0,12345678910111213...) und der Liouvilleschen Zahl (0,1100010000000000000001000...).
Police Body Cameras in Missouri: Good or Bad Policy? An Academic Viewpoint Seen Through the Lens of a Former Law Enforcement Official

After the fatal shooting of an African American teenager in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014, various police departments are exploring the use of body cameras. With tensions high, it is hopeful that body worn camera policies will be based on sound research and that appropriate measures are made to achieve optimum effectiveness. The author of this writing, a former law enforcement official and current academic, presents some challenges that police administrators will need to address toward body camera implementation. Because racism is difficult to accurately measure and police are historically reluctant to provide genuine feedback for researchers, the author introduces hypothetical, but realistic, phenomena for Missouri law enforcement leaders to assess. This writing raises questions to who is attracted to or being chosen for the police profession. While difficult and perhaps impossible to prove because of hidden factors, conservatism and lack of college education might be correlated to an officer’s judgment toward delivering equitable treatment to all citizens. Thus, some officers might be motivated to undermine any new policies that hinder their autonomy in policing? The author’s personal experiences are laid out to acknowledge the complexities behind introducing new policies based on knee jerk reactions if self-assessments within departments are not first drawn out.
Trimer bonding states on the surface of the transition-metal dichalcogenide TaT e 2

We report a comprehensive study on the surface structural and electronic properties of $\mathrm{TaT}{\mathrm{e}}_{2}$ at room temperature. The surface structure was investigated using both low energy electron diffraction intensity versus voltage and density functional theory calculations. The relaxed structures obtained from the two methods are in good agreement, which is very similar to the bulk, maintaining double zigzag trimer chains. The calculated density of states indicates that such structure originates from the trimer bonding states of the Ta ${d}_{xz}$ and ${d}_{xy}$ orbitals. This work will further provide new insights towards the understanding of the charge density wave phase transition in $\mathrm{TaT}{\mathrm{e}}_{2}$ at low temperature.
Hardware Trojan Horses

Over the last two decades we have become dependent on a network of electronic devices that supports a plethora of services, ranging from delivery of entertainment and news to maintenance of business records to filing of legal forms. This network provides a robust platform to handle all kinds of sensitive information at the personal, corporate, or government levels. Furthermore, many physical systems, e.g., the power grid, are currently being connected and to some extent controlled by commands relayed over the very same network. In essence the network permeates and blends into the physical infrastructure.
Antitrust in the International Telecommunications Sector: The United States Challenges Mexico’s Telmex Monopoly

Mexico’s telecommunications sector mirrors other industries in Mexico that have long been subject monopolistic business practices. Telmex, Mexico’s telecommunications monopoly benefited heavily from political corruption and back-room alliances during the rapid growth of the telecom sector in the 1990s. The Mexican government effectively hindered foreign competition from challenging Telmex’s control of incoming and outgoing communications apparatus and transmission lines, which prompted the United States Trade Representative to file a formal complaint before World Trade Organization to force Mexico to open its telecommunications markets to foreign investment and foreign competition. This article examines the United States dispute against Telmex and the international trade agreements that govern the business relationships between multinational corporations, the state, and consumers.
Jewish ethnicity and prostate cancer mortality in two large US cohorts.

Objective: To investigate prospectively the relationship between Jewish ethnicity and prostate cancer mortality. Methods: Men were selected from white male participants in two large American Cancer Society cohorts: Cancer Prevention Studies I (CPS-I) (enrolled in 1959 and followed through 1972) and II (CPS-II) (enrolled in 1982 and followed through 1996). During the follow-up periods there were 1751 prostate cancer deaths among 417,018 men in CPS-I and 3594 deaths among 447,780 men in CPS-II. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to compute rate ratios (RR) and to adjust for known and suspected risk factors for prostate cancer. Results: Prostate cancer death rates were substantially lower among Jewish men than other white men in both cohorts (multivariate adjusted rate ratios (RR) = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.38–0.77 in CPS-I; RR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.61–0.86 in CPS-II). Factors such as tobacco avoidance and measured dietary patterns did not account for this difference. Lower prostate cancer death rates were observed among Jewish men regardless of place of birth of the participants or their parents. Conclusions: Prostate cancer death rates are lower among Jewish men in the US and in Israel than among non-Jewish US white men. This may reflect persistent differences in unknown environmental risk factors or possible genetic susceptibility.
Adhesive, Invasive, and Growth Properties of Organ-Specific Metastatic Cells

The selective metastatic colonization of certain organ sites has intrigued pathologists since the early 1800s. Paget (1889) observed quite different patterns of organ colonization in breast cancers and microorganism infections and proposed that metastatic development was a consequence of particular or specialized tumor cells (seeds) finding a suitable environment (soil) in order to develop and grow. Although several tumor cell and host mechanisms have been proposed to explain preferential organ colonization by metastatic cells, most investigators feel that malignant cells simultaneously use a variety of different tumor and host properties to spread to specific organ sites (Sugarbaker 1981; Hart 1982; Nicolson 1982; 1988a, b; Kiernan and Longenecker 1983; Nicolson and Poste 1983; Schirrmacher 1985). This has been most convincingly demonstrated using animal metastatic models, where low and high metastatic potential cells that colonize particular organs are available (reviewed in Nicolson 1988a, b).
Cobalt-Catalyzed Acceptorless Dehydrogenative Coupling of Primary Alcohols to Esters

A novel catalytic system with a tripodal cobalt complex is developed for efficiently converting primary alcohols to esters. KOtBu is found essential to the transformation. A preliminary mechanistic study suggests a plausible reaction route that involves an initial Co-catalyzed dehydrogenation of alcohol to aldehyde, followed by a Tishchenko-type pathway to ester mediated by KOtBu.
Comparative Evaluation of Snowfall Retrievals from the CloudSat W-band Radar Using Ground-Based Weather Radars

AbstractInstantaneous liquid-equivalent snowfall rates S retrieved from CloudSat W-band cloud radar reflectivity Ze measurements are compared to estimates of S from operational Weather Surveillance...
MeetCI: A Computational Intelligence Software Design Automation Framework

Computational Intelligence (CI) algorithms/techniques are packaged in a variety of disparate frameworks/applications that all vary with respect to specific supported functionality and implementation decisions that drastically change performance. Developers looking to employ different CI techniques are faced with a series of trade-offs in selecting the appropriate library/framework. These include resource consumption, features, portability, interface complexity, ease of parallelization, etc. Considerations such as language compatibility and familiarity with a particular library make the choice of libraries even more difficult. The paper introduces MeetCI, an open source software framework for computational intelligence software design automation that facilitates the application design decisions and their software implementation process. MeetCI abstracts away specific framework details of CI techniques designed within a variety of libraries. This allows CI users to benefit from a variety of current frameworks without investigating the nuances of each library/framework. Using an XML file, developed in accordance with the specifications, the user can design a CI application generically, and utilize various CI software without having to redesign their entire technology stack. Switching between libraries in MeetCI is trivial and accessing the right library to satisfy a user’s goals can be done easily and effectively. The paper discusses the framework’s use in design of various applications. The design process is illustrated with four different examples from expert systems and machine learning domains, including the development of an expert system for security evaluation, two classification problems and a prediction problem with recurrent neural networks.
Predictors of neurodegeneration differ between cognitively normal and subsequently impaired older adults

Abstract Effects of Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk factors on brain volume changes may partly explain what happens during the preclinical AD stage in people who develop subsequent cognitive impairment (SI). We investigated predictors of neurodegeneration, measured by MRI-based volume loss, in older adults before diagnosis of cognitive impairment. There were 623 cognitively normal and 65 SI Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging participants (age 55–92 years) enrolled in the neuroimaging substudy from 1994 to 2015. Mixed-effects regression was used to assess the associations of AD risk factors (age, APOE e4 carrier status, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, current smoking, and elevated cholesterol) with brain regional volume change among the overall sample and by diagnostic status. Older age, APOE e4 carrier status, hypertension, and HDL cholesterol were predictors of volumetric change. Among SI participants only, hypertension, obesity, and APOE e4 carrier status were associated with greater declines in selected brain regions. SI individuals in the preclinical AD stage are vulnerable to risk factors that have either a protective or null effect in cognitively normal individuals.
Feeling Nature, Reconsidered: Ecocriticism, Affect, and the Case of H Is for Hawk

This essay considers how affect theory might inform ecocriticism. While ecocriticism has historically rejected anthropocentrism, recent nature writing such as Helen Macdonald’s bestselling H Is for Hawk embraces human experience, including the subtleties of human emotion. Drawing on work by William Reddy and other theorists of affect, Ottum argues that affect is not only anthropocentric: in H Is for Hawk affect amplifies the text’s “ecocentric” elements. By describing her own process of feeling, reflecting, and learning to describe her emotions, Macdonald models for readers how to “do something” with the affective intensities provoked by nonhuman nature. Specifically, the text demonstrates how affect can be channeled toward a stance of humility and respect for nature’s agency.
Recognizing Activities of Daily Living Using Binary Sensors

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), or a person’s routine activities of self-care, are important factors influencing the feasibility of home health care or aging in place for many individuals. Automated, sensor-based recognition of such activities affords home stay, greater independence and privacy, and improved quality of life to individuals who would require stay in a supervised or medical facility. This paper describes a data-driven framework for the design and deployment of such an automated system for activity recognition using simple, unobtrusive, and privacy-friendly binary sensors. It presents the results of an experimental study, with both numerical and qualitative observations, of this framework on a publicly available real dataset.
Luxe-Bargain Shopping: Relationships Among Perceived Values, Satisfaction, and Future Intentions

Over the past few decades, bargain shopping has become a popular shopping type among American consumers. Shopping for luxury goods is not an exception to the bargain shopping concept. Deep-discounted luxury items are sold in online stores, factory outlet malls, and upscale department outlet stores and luxury retailers are undertaking their off-price operations with aggressive expansion plans of launching outlet stores. This phenomenon can be epitomized by the term “massclusivity–exclusivity for mass” of luxury (Koval 2005), representing accessible and affordable luxury for mass consumers. Although previous research on consumption behavior of luxury brands has focused on symbolic meanings and emotional values of luxury possession, there is no research framework that captures the nature of consumers’ luxury consumption behavior in today’s value-oriented environment. With an attempt to describe the aforementioned phenomenon, this study introduces a new term, “Luxe-Bargain Shopping,” which is defined as “purchasing a luxury brand at a bargain, which generates values in association with both the product (luxury brand) and process (bargain shopping),” and examines the relationships among consumers’ perceived values, satisfaction, and future purchase intentions in the context of Luxe-Bargin Shopping. The relationship among perceived values, satisfaction, and future purchase intentions can be established by the conceptual framework of Cognition-Affect-Behavioral Intention. This study distinguishes perceived values associated with bargain process from the perceived values derived from the luxury consumption. Snob and Bandwagon effect (Leibenstein 1950), Multi-dimensional perceived value (Sweeney and Soutar 2001), and Transaction Utility Theory (Thaler 1983) were employed to explore the two sources of perceived values in Luxe-Bargain Shopping.
Gestational high fat diet protects 3xTg offspring from memory impairments, synaptic dysfunction, and brain pathology.

Maternal history for sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) predisposes the offspring to the disease later in life. However, the mechanisms behind this phenomenon are still unknown. Lifestyle and nutrition can directly modulate susceptibility to AD. Herein we investigated whether gestational high fat diet influences the offspring susceptibility to AD later in life. Triple transgenic dams were administered high fat diet or regular chow throughout 3 weeks gestation. Offspring were fed regular chow throughout their life and tested for spatial learning and memory, brain amyloidosis, tau pathology, and synaptic function. Gestational high fat diet attenuated memory decline, synaptic dysfunction, amyloid-β and tau neuropathology in the offspring by transcriptional regulation of BACE-1, CDK5, and tau gene expression via the upregulation of FOXP2 repressor. Gestational high fat diet protects offspring against the development of the AD phenotype. In utero dietary intervention could be implemented as preventative strategy against AD.
Identification of in vivo nonlinear anisotropic mechanical properties of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm from patient-specific CT scans

Accurate identification of in vivo nonlinear, anisotropic mechanical properties of the aortic wall of individual patients remains to be one of the critical challenges in the field of cardiovascular biomechanics. Since only the physiologically loaded states of the aorta are given from in vivo clinical images, inverse approaches, which take into account of the unloaded configuration, are needed for in vivo material parameter identification. Existing inverse methods are computationally expensive, which take days to weeks to complete for a single patient, inhibiting fast feedback for clinicians. Moreover, the current inverse methods have only been evaluated using synthetic data. In this study, we improved our recently developed multi-resolution direct search (MRDS) approach and the computation time cost was reduced to 1~2 hours. Using the improved MRDS approach, we estimated in vivo aortic tissue elastic properties of two ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (ATAA) patients from pre-operative gated CT scans. For comparison, corresponding surgically-resected aortic wall tissue samples were obtained and subjected to planar biaxial tests. Relatively close matches were achieved for the in vivo-identified and ex vivo-fitted stress-stretch responses. It is hoped that further development of this inverse approach can enable an accurate identification of the in vivo material parameters from in vivo image data.
Psychoanalysis and the Philosophy of Film

Psychoanalytic treatments of film encounter difficulties resembling those that Plato faced when he criticized tragedy: uncertainty over which persons are the objects of theoretical scrutiny; the call for the theorist’s anhedonia; and confusion between unperceived cognitive processes and those that are unconscious because disavowed. The uncertainty over objects lets us sort psychoanalyses of film according to whether they assess a film’s maker, its characters, the work, or its audience. Each approach shows promise but also comes with problems. Each approach also implies a stance on the refusal of pleasure. And the nature of the unconscious is always at stake. This survey of the field is sympathetic to the general enterprise but comments on the main objections that have arisen.