cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structural identification of a tied arch bridge using parallel genetic algorithms and ambient vibration monitoring with a wireless sensor network

Structural identification has received increased attention as an applied technique for performance-based assessment of large civil structures by providing a means to improve the correlation of simulated responses in numerical models to experimental measurements of actual behavior under in-service conditions. This paper presents the application of structural identification to a large set of modal parameter estimates obtained through ambient vibration monitoring of a tied arch bridge with a wireless sensor network facilitating high-rate, real-time vibration measurement over 48 measurement channels. Model updating of a finite element model of the span is achieved through global optimization of an objective function using an integer-constrained genetic algorithm implemented on a parallel computing cluster to facilitate the use of large population sizes. The influence of the number of modes included in the objective function and the number of uncertain parameters included in the optimization are explored for this real-world application. The results highlight the capability of the genetic algorithm to achieve an exceptionally strong correlation between the calibrated finite element model and the experimentally measured natural frequencies and mode shapes over a large set of modal parameter estimates. However, variations observed in the parameter solutions, identified as the number of uncertain parameters updated and modes included in the objective function are varied, serve to highlight the challenges associated with reliable parameter estimation in structural identification using classical optimization-based approaches.
Direct Frequency Measurement of the 260 THz (1.15 μm) 20Ne Laser: And Beyond

Absolute frequency measurement has been extended to the visible spectrum with the measurement of the strong 1.15 μm laser line in 20Ne at 260 THz and lines in iodine at twice this frequency. The 260 THz frequency was synthesized in nonlinear crystals of CdGeAs2 and AgAsS3 from stabilized CO2 lasers and the 1.5 μm laser line in 20Ne. The visible frequencies were synthesized by generating the second harmonic of the 260 THz radiation with a LiNb03 crystal. The absolute frequencies of ten hyperfine components of 127I2 near 520 THz were measured.
Targeting p21-Dependent Pathways for Cell Death in Cancer Therapy

Checkpoint activation is a natural response to DNA damage that enables cells to take approp-riate action, which results in cells either living or dying. A major target in checkpoint response is the tumor suppressor p53, which becomes stabilized and activated following the post-translation modifications. The activated p53 then transactivates the downstream p21 gene to inhibit cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK), induce cell cycle arrest to allow DNA repair, and enable cells to survive. If DNA damage is excessive, then p53-dependent apoptosis is affected. Since cell cycle arrest precedes cell death, it is not surprising that checkpoint response has been correlated with apoptosis, and the possibility that these two processes cross-communicate is supported by evidence that p21, like p53, is a tumor suppressor, and its expression is downregulated in apoptosis-defective cancers. In addition to affecting apoptosis through checkpoint response, p21 can also induce this mode of cell death through a different mechanism that involves repression of anti-apoptotic genes. It becomes apparent that p21 may be an important component of not only checkpoint response, but also apoptosis.
Isothermal and Thermomechanical Fatigue of Type 316 Stainless Steel

Discussed is the thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) life of Type 316 stainless steel under in-phase and out-of-phase cycling and a comparison with the isothermal fatigue case. The TMF tests were conducted in air over a temperature range of 399 C (750 F) to 621 C (1,150 F) at several mechanical strain ranges: {Delta}{var_epsilon}{sub m} = 0.4% through 1.0%. The isothermal fatigue data were from total strain range ({Delta}{var_epsilon}{sub m} = 0.35%, 0.5%, 0.68% and 1.0%) tests conducted at 621 C (1,150 F). The results show that in-phase TMF is the most damaging cycle for Type 316 stainless steel at the high strain range levels ({Delta}{var_epsilon}{sub m} > 0.7%), followed by isothermal fatigue cycling at 621 C (1,150 F) and then out-of-phase TMF cycling. The out-of-phase TMF life curve was observed to cross over the isothermal fatigue life curve at {Delta}{var_epsilon}{sub m} {approx_equal} 0.6%, and the trend of the data indicate that the out-of-phase TMF life curve will cross over the in-phase TMF life curve at {Delta}{var_epsilon}{sub m} < 0.4%, and become the most damaging cycle type at the lower strain range levels.
Designing with Waste: A Situated Inquiry into the Material Excess of Making

This paper describes a series of collaborative studio explorations in examining waste. We assembled a design team to explore how designers might conceive, handle, and rework the material left behind as waste within an on-campus makerspace and adjacent design labs. We turned discarded 3D printing filament into a reparative glue for broken prints and dissolved cardboard boxes into a medium for pollinator habitats. We describe how attending to waste involves understanding the relationships that define it, like how a material comes to be categorized as biodegradable but is impossible to break down in practice. Bringing this insight to the design context, we introduce the tactic of ecological inversions, experiments in reversing material flows to expose the wider infrastructure on which they depend. We discuss how ecological inversions could invite design researchers to notice the infrastructural relationships that exceed the physical limitations of the makerspace, revealing challenges around complicity and legibility.
17-α Hydroxyprogesterone Nanoemulsifying Preconcentrate-Loaded Vaginal Tablet: A Novel Non-Invasive Approach for the Prevention of Preterm Birth.

Preterm birth (PTB) is a major cause of infant mortality in the United States and around the globe. Makena®—once-a-week intramuscular injection of 17-α Hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17P)—is the only FDA approved treatment for the prevention of PTB. Invasive delivery of 17P requires hospitalization and expert personnel for injection. Vaginal delivery of 17P would be preferable, because of high patient compliance, reduced systemic exposure, fewer side effects, and no need for hospitalization. The objective of the present study was to prepare and evaluate a self-nanoemulsifying vaginal tablet of 17P. A solid self-nanoemulsifying preconcentrate (S-SNEDDS) of 17P and dimethylacetamide (DMA) was developed using medium chain triglycerides, a non- immunogenic surfactant, and co-processed excipient (PVA-F100). The tablet prepared was characterized for emulsification time, particle size, solid state properties, and drug release. The formulation showed >50% inhibition of TNF-α release from LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Importantly, there were significant differences in rates of PTB and average time to delivery between control and vaginal 17P-treated groups in LPS-stimulated timed pregnant E15.5 mice. Considering the lacuna of therapeutic approaches in this area, vaginal delivery of 17P for the prevention of preterm birth has significant clinical relevance.
Utilization of Augmentation Cystoplasty for Myelomeningocele Patients Remained Stable Over the Past Decade

Abstract OBJECTIVE To understand the utilization of augmentation cystoplasty (AC) for the management of neurogenic bladder in children with myelomeningocele (MMC). AC carries considerable risk. To mitigate this, recent studies have emphasized alternatives to AC, but it is unknown if these interventions have resulted in fewer ACs being performed. Our goal was to evaluate the use of AC in MMC patients over the past decade. We hypothesized that the use of AC had decreased and that the age at AC increased. METHODS Using the Pediatric Health Information System, we studied patients with MMC who had an AC between January 2009 and December 2018. International Classification of Disease procedure codes were used to identify AC procedures. We quantified trends in AC utilization by estimating the annual proportion of MMC admissions with an AC. We also assessed trends in patient age at the time of AC. RESULTS Proportion of AC per MMC admissions across the study period was 4.8%. There was no significant annual trend in the overall number of ACs performed each quarter over the past decade nor was there any change in the estimated annual incidence rate ratio of AC (1.01, 95% confidence interval 0.96, 1.05; P =.75). The estimated annual change in patient age at procedure remained relatively constant over the study period (−0.03 years, 95% confidence interval −0.13, 0.07; P = .51). CONCLUSION Practice patterns for the utilization of AC in MMC did not change significantly over the past decade despite prominent voices in the literature emphasizing alternative interventions in this patient population.
The Relation of Vision Loss to Depression in Older Veterans

This study examined the relationship between degree of visual loss and depression in male veterans over age 60, while controlling for the influences of general health and age. No relationship was e...
Hypnosis for refractory severe neuropathic pain: A case study.

Chronic pain not only has the greatest negative effect on quality of life compared with other chronic health problems but also contributes to the greatest disability worldwide. Management of chroni...
MRI subcortical segmentation in neurodegeneration with cascaded 3D CNNs

The subcortical structures of the brain are relevant for many neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington’s disease (HD). Quantitative segmentation of these structures from magnetic resonance images (MRIs) has been studied in clinical and neuroimaging research. Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been successfully used for many medical image analysis tasks, including subcortical segmentation. In this work, we propose a 2-stage cascaded 3D subcortical segmentation framework, with the same 3D CNN architecture for both stages. Attention gates, residual blocks and output adding are used in our proposed 3D CNN. In the first stage, we apply our model to downsampled images to output a coarse segmentation. Next, we crop the extended subcortical region from the original image based on this coarse segmentation, and we input the cropped region to the second CNN to obtain the final segmentation. Left and right pairs of thalamus, caudate, pallidum and putamen are considered in our segmentation. We use the Dice coefficient as our metric and evaluate our method on two datasets: the publicly available IBSR dataset and a subset of the PREDICT-HD database, which includes healthy controls and HD subjects. We train our models on only healthy control subjects and test on both healthy controls and HD subjects to examine model generalizability. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods, our method has the highest mean Dice score on all considered subcortical structures (except the thalamus on IBSR), with more pronounced improvement for HD subjects. This suggests that our method may have better ability to segment MRIs of subjects with neurodegenerative disease.
Effects of Temperature and Pressure on Interfacial Tensions of Fluid Mixtures. II. Propane/n-Pentane and Propane/n-Hexane Binaries

We use the experimental setup and protocols described in Toutouni et al. (Effects of Temperature and Pressure on Interfacial Tensions of Fluid Mixtures. I. CO2/n-Pentane Binary. J. Chem. Eng. Data,...
Community Response to Disaster: Hurricanes in the Caribbean

Psychosocial resilience is the ability of groups or communities to cope with external stresses and disturbances as a result of social, political, and environmental change (Adger, Prog Hum Geogr 24(3):347–364, 2000). We will discuss in this chapter the response of two communities to the same disaster, the 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria. Puerto Rico and The British Virgin Islands are two island communities struck by devastation that relied on community supports for emotional healing. We will also discuss the social resilience and ethical themes surrounding the community’s role in the response to disaster.
Evolutionary velocity with protein language models

Predicting the order of biological homologs is a fundamental task in evolutionary biology. For protein evolution, this order is often determined by first arranging sequences into a phylogenetic tree, which has limiting assumptions and can suffer from substantial ambiguity. Here, we demonstrate how machine learning algorithms called language models can learn mutational likelihoods that predict the directionality of evolution, thereby enabling phylogenetic analysis that addresses key limitations of existing methods. Our main conceptual advance is to construct a "vector field" of protein evolution through local evolutionary predictions that we refer to as evolutionary velocity (evo-velocity). We show that evo-velocity can successfully predict evolutionary order at vastly different timescales, from viral proteins evolving over years to eukaryotic proteins evolving over geologic eons. Evo-velocity also yields new evolutionary insights, predicting strategies of viral-host immune escape, resolving conflicting theories on the evolution of serpins, and revealing a key role of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of eukaryotic glycolysis. In doing so, our work suggests that language models can learn sufficient rules of natural protein evolution to enable evolutionary predictability.
The German Spa in the Long Eighteenth Century: A Cultural History

Shifting the focus from the medical use of spas to their cultural and social functions, this study shows that eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century German spas served a vital role as spaces where new ways of perceiving the natural environment and conceptualizing society were disseminated. Although spas continued to be places of health and healing, their function and perception in central Europe changed fundamentally around the middle of the eighteenth century. This transformation of the role of the spa occurred in two ways. First, the spa popularized a new perception of the landscape with a preference for mountains and the seacoast, forming the basis for the cultural assumptions underlying modern tourism. Second, contemporaries perceived spas as meeting places comparable to institutions of Enlightenment sociability like coffeehouses, salons, and Masonic lodges. Spas were conceived as spaces where the nobility and the bourgeoisie could interact on an equal footing, thereby overcoming the constraints of early modern social boundaries. These changes were negotiated through both personal interactions at spas and an increasingly sophisticated published spa discourse. The late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century German spa thus helped to bring about social and cultural modernity.
A self-controlled approach to survival analysis, with application to air pollution and mortality.

Abstract Background Many studies have reported that long-term air pollution exposure is associated with increased mortality rates. These investigations have been criticized for failure to control for omitted, generally personal, confounders. Study designs that are robust to such confounders can address this issue. Methods We used a self-controlled design for survival analysis. We stratified on each person in the Medicare cohort between 2000 and 2015 who died, and examined whether PM2.5, O3 and NO2 exposures predicted in which follow-up period the death occurred. We used conditional logistic regression stratified on person and controlled for nonlinear terms in calendar year and age. By design slowly varying covariates such as smoking history, BMI, diabetes and other pre-existing conditions, usual alcohol consumption, sex, race, socioeconomic status, and green space were controlled by matching each person to themselves. Results There were 6,452,618 deaths in the study population in the study period. We observed a 5.37% increase in the mortality rate (95% CI 4.67%, 6.08%) for every 5 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5, a 1.98% (95% CI 1.61%, 2.36%) increase for 5 ppb increment in O3, and a 2.10% decrease (95% CI 1.88%, 2.33%) for a 5 ppb increase in NO2. When restricted to persons whose PM2.5 exposure never exceeded 12 μg/m3 in any year between 2000 and 2015, the effect size increased for PM2.5 (12.71% (11.30, 14.15)), and the signs of O3 and NO2 reversed (-0.26% (-0.88, 0.35) for O3 and 1.77% increase (1.40, 2.13) for NO2). Effect sizes were larger for Blacks (e.g. 7.71% (5.46, 10.02) for PM2.5). Conclusion There is strong evidence that the association between annual exposure to PM2.5 and mortality is not confounded by individual or neighborhood covariates, and continues below the standard. The effects of O3 and NO2 are difficult to disentangle.
A New Perspective on Redefining and Preventing Diabetes to Prevent Dementia in High-Risk Populations

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and dementia are costly, long-term conditions with significant social, economic, and health consequences for many populations around the world. Globally, T2DM is the seventh leading cause of death (Correa, Harsha Tella, Elshimy, & Davidson, 2020; World Health Organization, 2016). WHO estimates suggest the global prevalence was 8.5% in 2014, the most recent year for which data are available. A growing body of evidence links diabetes with important cognitive sequelae, ranging from mild cognitive impairment to several types of severe dementias. The data show both that diabetes increases the risk of developing cognitive impairment, and that those with T2DM are more likely (than those without) to experience progression of cognitive decline to dementia (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020).
Assessing the utility of FIB-SEM images for shale digital rock physics

Abstract Shales and other unconventional or low permeability (tight) reservoirs house vast quantities of hydrocarbons, often demonstrate considerable water uptake, and are potential repositories for fluid sequestration. The pore-scale topology and fluid transport mechanisms within these nanoporous sedimentary rocks remain to be fully understood. Image-informed pore-scale models are useful tools for studying porous media: a debated question in shale pore-scale petrophysics is whether there is a representative elementary volume (REV) for shale models? Furthermore, if an REV exists, how does it differ among petrophysical properties? We obtain three dimensional (3D) models of the topology of microscale shale volumes from image analysis of focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) image stacks and investigate the utility of these models as a potential REV for shale. The scope of data used in this work includes multiple local groups of neighboring FIB-SEM images of different microscale sizes, corresponding core-scale (milli- and centimeters) laboratory data, and, for comparison, series of two-dimensional (2D) cross sections from broad ion beam SEM images (BIB-SEM), which capture a larger microscale field of view than the FIB-SEM images; this array of data is larger than the majority of investigations with FIB-SEM-derived microscale models of shale. Properties such as porosity, organic matter content, and pore connectivity are extracted from each model. Assessments of permeability with single phase, pressure-driven flow simulations are performed in the connected pore space of the models using the lattice-Boltzmann method. Calculated petrophysical properties are compared to those of neighboring FIB-SEM images and to core-scale measurements of the sample associated with the FIB-SEM sites. Results indicate that FIB-SEM images below ∼5000 µm3 volume (the largest volume analyzed) are not a suitable REV for shale permeability and pore-scale networks; i.e. field of view is compromised at the expense of detailed, but often unconnected, nanopore morphology. Further, we find that it is necessary to acquire several local FIB-SEM or BIB-SEM images and correlate their extracted geometric properties to improve the likelihood of achieving representative values of porosity and organic matter volume. Our work indicates that FIB-SEM images of microscale volumes of shale are a qualitative tool for petrophysical and transport analysis. Finally, we offer alternatives for quantitative pore-scale assessments of shale.
The Third Wave of Marketing Intelligence

During the last 25 years, marketing research in retail settings has been transformed by technological change. The first wave of change occurred when retailers adopted point-of-sale (POS) systems with UPC barcode scanning. This provided companies with real-time data on purchase transactions and accurate estimates of product sales and market share. Retailers used this information in combination with shelf space allocation and product inventory information to measure the productivity of their stores. By modeling these data as a function of causal variables, such as product price, display activities, and feature advertising, marketers were able to assess the performance and profitability of their marketing investments (e.g., Blattberg and Neslin 1990). UPC scanning served as the foundation for syndicated research services such as A.C. Nielsen and Information Resources, and led to the development of brand and category management. Scanner data are in widespread use today and support many critical business decisions.
Votes and Violence: THE ELECTORAL INCENTIVES FOR ETHNIC VIOLENCE

In the 1960s Richard Nixon, reflecting on race riots in America, tried to define the difference between riots and other types of violent conflict. “Riots,” he said, “are spontaneous. Wars require advance planning.” My argument in this book, by contrast, is that ethnic riots, far from being relatively spontaneous eruptions of anger, are often planned by politicians for a clear electoral purpose. They are best thought of as a solution to the problem of how to change the salience of ethnic issues and identities among the electorate in order to build a winning political coalition. Unpleasant as this finding may be, political competition can lead to peace as well as violence, and I identify the broad electoral conditions under which politicians will prevent ethnic polarization and ethnic violence rather than incite it. I demonstrate, using systematic data on Hindu-Muslim riots in India, that electoral incentives at two levels – the local constituency level and the level of government that controls the police – interact to determine both where and when ethnic violence against minorities will occur, and, more important, whether the state will choose to intervene to stop it. Pointing out that there is a relationship between political competition and ethnic violence is not in itself new. Ethnic violence has often been portrayed as the outcome of a rational, if deplorable, strategy used by political elites to win and hold power. Bates, for example, argued two decades ago that in Africa, “electoral competition arouses ethnic conflict.”
Electromyography: Its Use and Misuse in Physical Education

(1974). Electromyography: Its Use and Misuse in Physical Education. Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 45, No. 5, pp. 61-64.
The reference state and the metric structure of biological networks: a network thermodynamic study

Convection-diffusion is used as an example to examine the recently discovered metric structure underlying nonequilibrium thermodynamics and its dependence on the reference state in a nonlinear, coupled energy conversion system. The properties of convection-diffusion systems have been examined using L. Peusner's formulation. In a chosen reference state, these systems are linear, reciprocal 2-ports and therefore have associated with them an orthogonal coordinate system which yields the metric for the system. The relationship of the metrics for the separate elements to that of a series combination is also explored. By combining them in series, the reference state which would yield this property for the composite is more complicated and often inaccessible to the experimenter. The organization of epithelial membranes has its basis in these very fundamental considerations. It is noted that the results are a contribution to complex systems theory and illustrate the role that engineering principles play in the theoretical biology of complexity. >
Mixing metaphors: Building infrastructure for large scale school turnaround

The purpose of this analysis is to increase understanding of the possibilities and challenges of building educational infrastructure—the basic, foundational structures, systems, and resources—to support large-scale school turnaround. Building educational infrastructure often exceeds the capacity of schools, districts, and state education agencies and, thus, requires collaborating with “lead turnaround partners” with specialized capabilities for such work. However, there is little research to guide the selection or operation of lead turnaround partners. The analysis uses a descriptive case study of one organization with success operating as a lead turnaround partner (Success for All) to develop a framework to guide the selection of lead turnaround partners, support their operations, and structure further research. While base level achievement gains can be realized within 3 years, the analysis suggests that fully establishing school-level infrastructure is estimated conservatively as a 7 years process, and fully establishing system-level infrastructure has been an on-going, 40 year process. The analysis suggests a strong need to balance the rhetorical urgency of “turnaround” with the understanding that building educational infrastructure to improve large numbers of underperforming schools will likely require massive, sustained technical, financial, policy, and political support.
Optical Phonon Lifetimes in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Time-Resolved Raman Scattering

The lifetimes of optical phonons (OPs) in single-walled carbon nanotubes are determined by time-resolved incoherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering using a subpicosecond pump−probe method. Lifetimes i...
Risk of low red or white blood cell count related to estimated benzene exposure in a rubberworker cohort (1940–1975)

This study evaluated the relationship between benzene exposure and low white blood cell (WBC) and red blood cell (RBC) counts. Hematologic screening data collected over a 35 year period at a rubber hydrochloride manufacturing plant were analyzed; an increased risk of leukemia had been demonstrated previously among workers at the plant [Infante et al. (1977).' Lancet 2:76-78; Rinsky et al. (1981): Am J Ind Med 2:217-45 (1987): NEJM 316:1044-1050/. Hematologic screening data were available for 657 of 1,037 (63.3%) individuals employed at the plant from 1939 through 1976. There was a total of 21. 710 blood test records (range per individual 1-354). The study utilized a case-control design and estimated benzene exposures using the job exposure matrix developed by Rinsky et al. (1987): NEJM 316:1044-1050]. The effects of benzene exposure in the 30, 90, and 180 days before the blood test date, as well as cumulative exposure up until the blood test date, were examined using conditional logistic regression. For WBCs there was a strong exposure response and all of the exposure metrics selected showed a significant relationship with low blood count. For RBCs there was a weak positive exposure-response, which was significant (p = 0.03) for one of the dose metrics. The finding of an exposure-response relationship in the range of exposures represented in this study, where the maximum daily benzene exposure estimate was 34 ppm, is consistent with findings of several animal studies demonstrating a decrease in peripheral lymphocyte counts at benzene exposures as low as 10 ppm, and a stronger effect of benzene exposure on lymphocytes (as reflected in total WBC count) than on red cells. There was no evidence for a threshold for the hematologic effects of benzene exposure, suggesting that even exposure to relatively low levels of benzene (e.g., <5 ppm) may result in hematologic suppression.
Crude oil moments and PNG stock returns

Abstract We examine the risk-neutral moments of crude oil and their relationship to stock returns in the Petroleum and Natural Gas (PNG) industry. We find substantial overlaps in the association between returns and S&P 500- and crude oil higher moments. Net of these overlaps, PNG stocks share a significant negative relationship with crude volatility and positive relationships with crude skewness and kurtosis. Large cap stocks and those with a history of hedging exhibit negative loadings on crude volatility. However, after controlling for S&P 500- and crude oil returns and their risk-neutral moments, there is little evidence that PNG stocks systematically and significantly price either S&P 500- or crude oil volatility. We document a weak pricing of crude skewness, but find no evidence for the pricing of the implied higher moments of market returns.
Prenatal malnutrition alters diazepam-mediated suppression of ultrasonic vocalizations in an age dependent manner.

Abstract The sensitivity of prenatally malnourished rats to the ultrasonic vocalization (USV) suppressant effect of diazepam (a non-specific benzodiazepine (BZ) receptor agonist) was investigated. Male offspring of dams provided with a protein deficient diet (6% casein) for 5 weeks prior to mating and throughout pregnancy were compared to the offspring of mothers provided with a diet of adequate protein content (25% casein). At postnatal day 7 or 11, pups were injected with vehicle or one of five doses of DZ (0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1 or 3 mg/kg) 30 min after removal from their dam. Thirty minutes later they were subjected to 2 min of cooling on a 20 °C surface and their USVs were quantified. DZ dose-dependently suppressed USV at both ages. At P7, the USV suppressant effect of DZ was the same for both groups. However, by P11 the prenatally malnourished rats showed significantly greater suppression of USV by 0.03 and 0.1 mg/kg DZ than well-nourished controls. These differences were not related to degree of temperature loss or body weight. Thus, differential sensitivity to BZ receptor agonists develops in the second postnatal week in prenatally malnourished rats. This reflects either an altered program of development of the GABAergic system, or adaptive, compensatory changes in the GABAergic system in response to more extensive functional disturbances in the developing brain.
Temperamental variation as a determinant of learning efficiency in cercopithecoid monkeys

Adult and juvenileM. mulatta andM. speciosa were given two tests of emotional responsivity and three learning tasks, in order of increasing difficulty, to evaluate possible group differences in the learning measures as a function of temperamental factors. Results provided evidence of reliable differences in affective behavior, and, while no differences were seen in the simple learning task, differences in learning of the more complex tasks by adults appeared to be negatively correlated with intensity of affect. By contrast, although juveniles also mastered the learning tasks, neither group showed comparable changes.
Saxon-hutner theorem in the coherent potential approximation

Abstract We examine the application of the coherent potential approximation to the one-dimensional disordered diatomic Kronig-Penney model, for which the Saxon-Hutner theorem is known to be exactly true. It seems remarkable that this theorem also holds for the coherent potential approximation.
Asymmetric reduction of beta-ketonitriles with a recombinant carbonyl reductase and enzymatic transformation to optically pure beta-hydroxy carboxylic acids.

α-Ethylation is concomitant with the reduction of aromatic β-ketonitriles catalyzed by whole-cell biocatalysts. Use of isolated carbonyl reductase has completely eliminated this competing reaction. (R)-β-Hydroxy nitriles were obtained via a reduction catalyzed by a recombinant carbonyl reductase with excellent optical purity and were further converted to (R)-β-hydroxy carboxylic acids via a nitrilase-catalyzed hydrolysis. The present study allows ready access to both chiral β-hydroxy nitriles and β-hydroxy carboxylic acids of pharmaceutical importance.
A boundary tracking approach for tape substrate pattern inspection based on skeleton information

Tape substrate (TS) product is a high-density circuit pattern on thin film substrate, and it requires precise and high resolution imaging system for inspection. We introduce here a TS inspection system developed, where the products are fed through a reel to reel system, and a series of inspection algorithms based on a referential method. In the system, it is so hard to achieve consistent images for such a thin and flexible materials as TS product that the images suffer from individual, local distortion during the image acquisition. Since the distortion results in relatively big discrepancy between an inspection image and the master one, direct image to image comparison approach is not available for inspection. To inspect the pattern in a more robust way in this application, we propose a graph matching method where the patterns are modeled as a collection of lines with link points as features. In the offline teaching process, the graph model is achieved from skeleton of the master image, which is collected as a data base. In the run time, a boundary tracking method is used for extracting the graph model from an inspection image instead of a skeleton process to reduce the computation time. By comparing the corresponding graph models, a line that is linked to undesired endpoints can be detected, which becomes an open or short defect. Through boundary tracking approach, we can also detect boundary defects such as pattern nick and protrusions as well.
Principal component transport in turbulent combustion: A posteriori analysis

Abstract This paper presents a posteriori validation of the solution of a turbulent combustion problem based on the transport of principal components (PCs). The PCs are derived from a priori principal component analysis (PCA) of the same composition space. This analysis is used to construct and tabulate the PCs’ chemical source terms and diffusion coefficients in terms of the PCs using artificial neural networks (ANN). The a posteriori validation is implemented on a stand-alone one-dimensional turbulence (ODT) simulation of Sandia Flame F resulting in a very good reconstruction of the original thermo-chemical scalars profiles with 3 PCs at different downstream distances.
Values associated with management of Yellowstone cutthroat trout in Yellowstone National Park

Recent emphasis on a holistic view of natural systems and their management is associated with a growing appreciation of the role of human values in these systems. In the past, resource management has been perceived as a dichotomy between extraction (harvest) and nonconsumptive use, but this appears to be an oversimplified view of natural-cultural systems. The recreational fishery for Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) in Yellowstone National Park is an example of the effects of management on a natural-cultural system. Although angler harvest has been drastically reduced or prohibited, the recreational value of Yellowstone cutthroat trout estimated by angling factors (such as landing rate or size) ranks above that of all other sport species in Yellowstone National Park. To maintain an indigenous fishery resource of this quality with hatchery propagation is not economically or technically feasible. Nonconsumptive uses of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout including fish-watching and intangible values, such as existence demand, provide additional support for protection of wild Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations. A management strategy that reduces resource extraction has provided a means to sustain a quality recreational fishery while enhancing values associated with the protection of natural systems. El enfasis reciente en una vision holistica de los sistemas naturales y su manejo, esta asociado con una apreciacion creciente del papel que juegan los valores humanos en estos sistemas. En el pasado el manejo del recurso era percibido como una dicotomia entre la extraccion (captura) y el uso no-consuntivo, pero esto parece ser una vision muy simplificada de los sitemas naturales-culturales. La pesca recreacional de la trucha (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) en el Parque Nacional Yellowstone, es un ejemplo de los efectos de manejo en un sistema natural-cultural. Si bien la captura ha sido drasticamente reducida o prohibida, el valor recreacional de la trucha del Yellowstone, estimado segun factores de captura (e.g., tasa de captura o tamano), se ubica por encima de todas las otras especies deportivas en el Parque Nacional Yellowstone. Mantener un recurso indigena de pesca de esta calidad con la propagacion de criaderos, no es economica o tecnicamente posible. Usos no-consuntivos de la trucha del Yellowstone, incluyendo observacion de peces y valores intangibles, tales como demanda de su existencia, proveen apoyo adicional para la proteccion de la poblacion de truchas silvestres del Yellowstone. Una estrategia de manejo que reduce la extraccion del recurso, ha constituido un medio para sostener la calidad de la pesca recreacional mientras se acrecientan los valores asociados con la proteccion de los sistemas naturales.
Corticotropin-releasing factor projections from limbic forebrain and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus to the region of the ventral tegmental area

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is a peptide neurotransmitter with high numbers of cell bodies found in limbic regions of the rat brain including the oval nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTov) and central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) as well as in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). CRF systems are activated in response to acute stressors and mediate a wide variety of physiological and behavioral responses to acute stress including aversive responses and responses that support appetitive behaviors. CRF is released in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the cell body region of the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic neurons, in response to acute stress and plays a role in stress-activation of appetitive behavior [Wang B, Shaham Y, Zitzman D, Azari S, Wise RA, You ZB (2005) Cocaine experience establishes control of midbrain glutamate and dopamine by corticotropin-releasing factor: a role in stress-induced relapse to drug seeking. J Neurosci 25:5389-5396]. However, although it is known that the VTA region contains significant levels of CRF-immunoreactive fibers [Swanson LW, Sawchenko PE, Rivier J, Vale WW (1983) Organization of ovine corticotropin-releasing factor immunoreactive cells and fibers in the rat brain: an immunohistochemical study. Neuroendocrinology 36:165-186], the source of CRF input to the region has not been identified. We used infusions of a fluorescent retrograde tracer, fluorogold, into the VTA region, combined with fluorescent immunocytochemistry for CRF to identify sources of this input. Double-labeled cells were found in BNSTov, CeA and PVN. The percent of fluorogold-labeled cells in each region that were CRF-positive was 30.8, 28.0 and 16.7% respectively. These data point to diffusely distributed sources of CRF-containing fibers in the VTA.
Second language acquisition research and the study of non‐native varieties of English: some issues in common

: It is proposed that the study of basilectal and acrolectal Singapore English can contribute to a better understanding of second-language acquisition and use. This proposal is made on the basis of developmental and performance parallels among: the speech continuum of Singapore English (acrolect, mesolect and basilect), dialectal variation in New York City, and the evidence from second-language development and use. This paper particularly emphasizes the operation of the monitor and specifications of the hierarchy of difficulty in the acquisition of syntactic structures. This paper suggests some ways in which the two lines of research (i.e. the descriptions of non-native varieties of English and stages/variability in second-language production) might be combined to enhance the advancement of each. The primary focus is on Singapore English.
Developmental profiles of glial enzymes in the chick embryo: In vivo and in culture.

Abstract The activities of two glial cell enzymes, glutamine synthetase (a marker for astrocytes) and 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphohydrolase (a marker for oligodendrocytes and myelination) were studied in the developing chick embryo brain in vivo and in cultures derived from chick embryos. The in vivo findings showed that the activities of both enzymes parallel the patterns of gliogenesis and myelination. Glutamine synthetase follows similar patterns in culture and in vivo, whereas the developmental profile of 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphohydrolase appears to be affected by the culture conditions.
Adaptation inWeb Service Composition and Execution

Web services simplify enterprise application integration by facilitating reuse of existing components for creating new services. In a dynamic environment, it is imperative to design a Web Service Composition and Execution (WSCE) system that adapts to failure of component services or changes in their QoS offerings. In this paper, we motivate a staged approach for adaptive WSCE (A-WSCE) that cleanly separates the functional and non-functional requirements of a new service, and enables different environmental changes to be absorbed at different stages of composition and execution. We use Synthy, a prototype service creation environment, to implement our solution and demonstrate its effectiveness.
Everybody Talks About Organizational Justice, But Nobody Does Anything About It

Most organizational justice studies focus primarily on theoretical issues and identify implications for practice only in passing. I advocate moving to the next step by testing such implications in theory-based studies that implement and assess the impact of interventions designed to promote organizational justice. Research that promotes organizational justice promises to benefit both organizations and their employees, and may be considered morally appropriate. Although usually not considered in this connection, theory-based application studies also promise to shed light on the theories from which they are derived. Despite these benefits, there are several reasons why such investigations are conducted only rarely. First, because managers tend to be unaware of justice-related problems, they are unlikely to accede to researchers’ requests to address them in research. Second, many researchers erroneously believe that studies assessing ways of improving conditions in organizations lack scientific objectivity. Third, scholarly values favor research that addresses theoretical issues and that eschew practical applications. Finally, the challenges of conducting intervention studies are inclined to be formidable, and these may deter researchers from undertaking such efforts.
The Centenary of Alfred de Vigny's “Chatterton”

JUST a century ago, on February 12, 1835, Alfred de Vigny's last play, Chatterton, was played for the first time, at the Theatre Fransais. In the preceding half-dozen years he had staged Le More de Venise, based on Othello; la Marechale d'Ancre, a not particularly successful historical drama; and Quitte pour la peur, his only comedy, suggestive of Musset's plays. Other dramatists, Dumas with Henri III et sa cour, Hugo with Hernani, had recently won triumphs on the stage. But their plays were largely contaminated by the contemporary melodrama, which was enjoying huge popular success: Pixerecourt's melodramas are said to have had 30,000 representations. In the Notes on Chatterton, Vigny said scornfully: "Essayons a l'avenir de tirer la scene du dedain oiu sa futilite l'ensevilirait infailliblement en peu de temps." And in Derniere nuit de travail, the preface of his play, he had written: "Je crois surtout a l'avenir et au besoin universel de choses serieuses maintenant . . . c'est, ce me semble, le temps du DRAME DE LA PENSEE." Much earlier, he had declared: "L'Idee est tout."
Proteomic Approach to Evaluate Mechanisms That Contribute to Food Allergenicity: Comparative 2D-DIGE Analysis of Radioallergosorbent Test Positive and Negative Patients

Proteomic profiles of RAST+ subjects with severe food allergies and RAST− subjects were compared using 2D-DIGE analysis to obtain candidate biomarkers specific to food allergies. Our analysis highlighted 52 proteins that were differentially expressed between the RAST+ and RAST− groups of which 37 were successfully identified that include chondroitin sulfates, zinc finger proteins, C-type lectins, retinoic acid binding proteins, heat shock proteins, myosin, cytokines, mast cell expressed proteins, and MAP kinases. Biological network analysis tool Metacore revealed that most of these regulated proteins play a role in immune tolerance, hypersensitivity and modulate cytokine patterns inducing a Th2 response that typically results in IgE-mediated allergic response which has a direct or indirect biological link to food allergy. Identifying unique biomarkers associated with certain allergic phenotypes and potentially cross-reactive proteins through bioinformatics analyses will provide enormous insight into the mechanisms that underlie allergic response in patients with food allergies.
Hybrid ryegrass response to acid soil treatment with calcitic and dolomitic lime

Abstract Since ryegrass (Lolium sp.) is a widely grown cool‐season forage grass, its magnesium concentration is of special interest to ruminant livestock producers. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of calcitic or dolomitic lime addition on dry matter yield and mineral composition of hybrid ryegrass, Lolium (multiflorum x perenne x perenne) grown in eight acidic soils. Each soil received two levels of calcitic or dolomitic lime, L(C1) and L(C2) or L(D1) and L(D2), which raised pH to approximately 5.3, and 6.0. Dry matter yield response was obtained only in soils having an initial % Al saturation ≥59, % Mg saturation ≤10 and % Ca saturation ≤21. Only in one soil, which had an initial exchangeable Mg level of 0.05 cmolc/kg of soil, was response to dolomitic lime higher than that obtained with calcitic lime. Magnesium concentration in dry matter was increased by both levels of dolomitic lime with the increase dependent on the rate used and on the initial level of exchangeable Mg. The average...
Judith Thomson and the Logic of Rights

Examen d'analyses recentes de la notion de droit par J. Thomson. L'A. retablit l'argument critique par T. de la "specification morale" des droits (un droit autorise une action), parce qu'il permet de comprendre comment un droit peut etre rejete sans raisons specifiees.