cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The N-Terminal Domains of MyBPC3 Restrict Actin Dynamics and Increase Resilience in a Phosphorylation-Dependent Manner

We have determined the effects of myosin binding protein-C (MyBP-C) N-terminal domains on the microsecond rotational dynamics of actin, detected by time-resolved phosphorescence anisotropy (TPA). MyBP-C modulates muscle contractility and is capable of interacting with thin filaments. Protein kinase A (PKA) phosphorylates cardiac and slow skeletal MyBP-C, altering myofilament structure and function. We previously used TPA to show that full-length MyBP-C restricts actin torsional dynamics, and effects by cardiac and slow skeletal MyBP-C (cMyBP-C; ssMyBP-C) are relieved by PKA phosphorylation. To determine the effects of MyBP-C N-terminal domains on actin structural dynamics, we labeled actin at C374 with a phosphorescent dye and performed TPA experiments. The interaction of all three MyBP-C isoforms with actin increased the final anisotropy of the TPA decay, indicating restriction of the amplitude of actin flexibility at saturation of the TPA effect. PKA phosphorylation of ssMyBP-C domains C1-C2 and cMyBP-C domains C0-C2 relieved the restriction of torsional amplitude but also increased the rate of torsional motion, thus increasing actin resilience (rate/amplitude; less brittle). Moreover, effects of cardiac C0-C2 on actin resilience were also PKA-dependent, whereas slow skeletal C1-C2 effects which promote actin resilience persisted independently of phosphorylation. In the case of fast skeletal C1-C2, actin resilience was unaffected and its effect to restrict actin dynamics was unchanged by phosphorylation. The N-terminal domains of cMyBP-C (C0-C2) and skeletal MyBP-C's (C1-C2) had effects on actin dynamics similar to those determined for the full-length MyBP-C isoforms. Effects of phosphomimetic mutations were also investigated. These unique isoform-dependent MyBP-C-induced changes in actin dynamics may play a role in the functional effects of MyBP-C on contraction. This work was supported by NIH grants to DDT (R01 AR032961), to SS (R01 AR067279), and to BC (R00 HL122397).
Affective Goal and Task Selection for Social Robots

Effective decision-making under real-world conditions can be very difficult. From a purely decision-theoretic standpoint, the optimal way of making decisions – rational choice – requires an agent to know the utilities of all choice options as well as their associated likelihoods of succeeding for the agent to be able to calculate the expected utility of each alternative and being able to select the one with the maximum utility. Unfortunately, such rational methods are in practice often not applicable (e.g., because the agent does not have reliable or sufficient knowledge) or feasible (e.g., because it is too time-consuming to perform all necessary calculations). Psychologists have long hypothesized that humans are able to cope with time, knowledge and other resource limitations by employing affective evaluations (Clore, Gasper, & Conway, 2001) rather than rational ones. For affect provides fast, low-cost (although often less accurate) mechanisms for estimating the value of an object, event, or situation for an agent, as opposed to longer, more complex and more computationally intensive cognitive evaluations (e.g., to compute the expected utilities) (Kahneman, Wakker, & Sarin, 1997). Humans also rely on affective memory, which seems to encode implicit knowledge about the likelihood of occurrence of a positive or negative future event (Blaney, 1986). Finally, affect also influences human problem-solving and reasoning strategies, leading to global, top-down approaches when affect is positive, and local, bottom-up approaches when affect is negative (Bless, Schwarz, & Wieland, 1996). For (autonomous) social robots that are supposed to interact with humans in natural ways in typically human environments, affect mechanisms are doubly important. For one, such robots will also have to find fast solutions to many of the same kids of difficult problems that humans ordinarily face, often with the same degree of uncertainty–if not more. Hence, affect mechanisms in robotic architectures might help robots cope better with the intrinsic resource limitations of the real world. The second reason why affect mechanisms are essential for social robots is grounded in their intended role as social agents interacting with humans. For those interactions to be natural (and effective), robots need to be sensitive to human affect, both in its various forms of expression and in its role in human social interactions. We have started to address affect mechanisms that can serve both functions in our DIARC architecture (Scheutz, Schermerhorn, Kramer, & Middendorff, 2006; Scheutz, Schermerhorn, Kramer, & Anderson, 2007). DIARC is a “distributed integrated affect cognition and reflection” architecture particularly intended for social robots that need to interact with humans in natural
Elevational divergence and clinal variation in floral color and leaf chemistry in Silene vulgaris

Premise of study Environmental heterogeneity over a species range can lead to divergent selection among populations, leading to phenotypic differences. The plant flavonoid pathway controls key reproductive and defense-related traits and responds to selection and environmental stressors, allowing for hypotheses about phenotypic divergence across environmental gradients. We hypothesized that with increasing elevation, more flavonoids would be produced as a response to increased UV radiation and that plants would be better defended against herbivores. Methods We measured floral color, flavonoids, and herbivory in natural populations of Silene vulgaris (Caryophyllaceae) along elevational transects in the French Alps. We correlated phenotypes with environmental variables and calculated genotypic divergence (FST) to compare with phenotypic divergence (PST). Key results We found significant phenotypic variation in S. vulgaris along elevational gradients. Strong positive correlations were observed between floral color, leaf non-anthocyanidin flavonoid concentration, and elevation. Floral anthocyanin and leaf non-anthocyanidin flavonoid phenotypes negatively covaried with temperature and precipitation seasonality. Comparisons of PST to FST provided evidence for stabilizing selection on floral color among transects and divergent selection along the elevational gradient. Conclusions Flavonoid production increases along elevational gradients in S. vulgaris, with clinal variation in calyx anthocyanins and increasing leaf non-anthocyanin flavonoid concentrations. Despite the photoprotective and antiherbivore properties of some flavonoids, flavonoid production in flowers and leaves was correlated with population microclimatic variables: temperature and precipitation. Taken together, the results suggest that different flavonoid groups are targeted by selection in different tissues and provide evidence for divergent patterns of selection for flavonoids between high and low elevations.
A performance comparison of LFS and LYSO scintillators for TOF PET

Scintillator is an important component which determines the overall performances of PET detectors, and scintillators with fast timing in addition to high light yield are required to achieve better performances, especially for TOF PET scanners. Recently, there have been several reports [1] [2] [3] on Lutetium Fine Silicate (LFS) [4] scintillator showing its improved timing and energy resolution than LYSO (LSO), which has been commonly used for TOF PET. In addition to the superior timing performance of LFS, excellent time resolution, e.g., 96 and 148 ps fwhm, were reported in [2] and [3], respectively, by using 15 mm LFS scintillator. We have carried out a performance comparison between LFS and LYSO scintillator to check the reported results experimentally. In our study, a high-speed waveform sampling digitizer, DRS4 [5], is used for signal readout to measure the event time of the detectors precisely; the electronic time resolution of the DRS4 readout is measured to be ∼5 ps fwhm [6]. To investigate the effects on the timing performances, scintillators with three different length are tested in our study. Some preliminary results on decay time, time and energy resolution at 511 keV are presented here.
Role of bandwidth in the quality of inversion of linear multirate systems with noise

A multirate system called the fractional sampling rate alteration system makes frequent appearance in many signal processing applications including fractionally spaced equalizers (FSE) and in multirate feedback control. In some applications it is necessary to invert this system, as in the example of a zero-forcing FSE. There is usually noise at the input of the inverse, and the noise amplification properties depend crucially on the bandwidth of the original system, as shown in this paper. Even though this effect is qualitatively known in FSE applications, the purpose of this paper is to provide the quantitative theoretical foundations for this effect. It will be shown that if the system has excess bandwidth, then the noise gain can be readily controlled, whereas unbounded noise amplification can result if there is no excess bandwidth.
Development of an Attitude Inventory to Measure the Attitude of High School Girls toward Physical Education as a Career for Women

Abstract An attitude inventory was developed for the purpose of determining the attitudes of high school girls toward physical education as a career for women. Likert's technique of scale construction was selected for use in this study. Statements covering aspects of the physical education profession as they apply to women were prepared according to recommended criteria. Each statement was subjected to statistical analysis in order to eliminate those which were ambiguous or which had poor discriminatory power. Following the use of the split-half method for determining reliability, the statements were divided into two equivalent forms of the inventory.
The Closed-Form Solution to Bertrand Competition with Exogenous Entry Costs or Participation

With entry costs, there are closed-form solutions for the canonical symmetric common-value Bertrand game. Equilibrium product prices are no longer zero. With zero entry costs, the Bertrand solution obtains; with unit entry cost, the monopoly solution obtains. A more general solution can be found in Lang and Rosenthal (1991).
The role of quasi-optics at the 35 GHz millimeter-wave radar

The millimeter-wave radara (MMW) is a 100-kW instrumentation dual- frequency tracking radar located at Kiernan Reentry Measurements Site Cf.e.,Ei\IS_ on the Kwajalein in the Repub.F.,-., of the Marshall Islands. This radar has undergone a series of hardwareimprovements over the past 5 years, the most notable of whit 7_ are the beam waveguide (BWG) feed system and the dual-tube quasi-optical combiner. This paper will describe the current 35 GHz system configuratior with emphasis on the quasi-optical dual-tube power amplifier combiner and the beam waveguide antenna feed system. The paper will also describe the development of a BWG feed system for the 9 GHz system which is currently being reactivated. The impact of these upgrades on the radar performance will be discussed in detail.
Mechanical Reliability of Thick Films for High-Temperature Packaging

High-temperature electronics are required to reliably operate at 300 °C in gas and oil exploration and downhole drilling for geothermal energy applications. Advances in SiC and GaN devices enabled these applications. Reliable interconnect materials and technology are necessary to build functional circuits in high-temperature packaging. This paper investigated the mechanical reliability of two thick-film conductors (PtPdAu and Au) and two dielectrics at 300 °C with bias. Test vehicles (TVs) were fabricated with thick films as capacitors and aged at 300 °C with a 100-V bias. For the TVs fabricated with PtPdAu and thin dielectrics, adhesion degradation was first observed after 100-h aging with positive bias voltage applied on the top electrode. The adhesion remained relatively constant when vehicles were aged with positive bias voltage applied on the bottom electrode. Increasing the dielectric thickness or reducing the Bi concentration in PtPdAu delayed the first observed adhesion degradation from 100 to 500 h. Aging with alternating polarities also resulted in adhesion degradation. In all tests, no adhesion degradation was observed with the thick-film Au, which did not contain Bi.
Transsylvian-Transinsular Approach for an Insular Cavernous Malformation Resection: 3-Dimensional Operative Video

Surgical resection of insular lesions is challenging due to their proximity to critical neurovascular structures such as the middle cerebral arteries (MCA), Sylvian veins, thalamus, internal capsule (IC), and lenticulostriate arteries. A surgical series using the transsylvian-transinsular approach to treat cerebrovascular pathologies reported ∼5% permanent neurological morbidity.1,2 This case demonstrates the utility of this approach for resecting an insular cavernous malformation (CM).A 25-yr-old female presented with an acute-onset right homonymous hemianopsia. Neuroimaging revealed a large left insular CM, adjacent to the posterior limb of IC. After obtaining IRB approval and patient consent, a left pterional craniotomy with a wide distal Sylvian fissure split was completed. Using neuronavigation, an insular entry point was chosen for corticectomy. The CM was opened with subsequent hematoma evacuation and intracapsular resection technique. Inspection of the cavity revealed remnants anteromedially near the IC, which were removed meticulously, mobilizing the CM away from the IC. Postoperative MRI demonstrated gross total resection of the CM. The patient was discharged home on postoperative day 5 with persistent homonymous hemianopia.This case describes the use of a transsylvian-transinsular approach to access deep lesions with the shortest surgical distance and minimal cortical transgression. A wide Sylvian fissure split exposes the M2 MCA and accesses a safe insular zone, keeping the most eloquent structures deep to the lesion in the surgical corridor. This approach can safely expose vascular pathologies in the insular region without the risk of injury to overlying eloquent frontal and temporal lobes, even in the dominant hemisphere.
Jamming with Disaster: New Orleans Jazz in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

While storms such as the Hurricane of 1915 and Betsy (1965) occasioned major damage and dislocations for many New Orleans residents, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was the first such event to receive international media coverage as it was happening. Televised reports emphasized the misery of black refugees massed at the Convention Center and Superdome: depictions of New Orleans as “third world,” deviant, and unworthy of salvation revealed the negative underside of the exoticism that had fueled the city’s cultural tourism industry for centuries. Yet, the resilience of jazz musicians and concomitant festival traditions (Carnival, “second lines,” “jazz funerals,” and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival) became the city’s barometer for recovery. Seven years later, one can offer some tentative conclusions about the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the fortunes of New Orleans jazz musicians. In time, positive media coverage surfaced in Spike Lee’s film “When the Levees Broke” and David Simon’s HBO series “Treme,” providing New Orleans musicians with national exposure and, in some cases, substantial revenue. Moreover, an amelioration of the factionalism that had plagued the New Orleans brass band scene for at least three decades prior to Katrina has led to a renewed sense of community among these musicians. Fears that the city’s jazz culture would not survive have abated. Increased visibility, combined with the psychic and material impact of private sector aid to musicians, has given New Orleans jazz musicians new opportunities for growth and hope for a better future. In fact, many writers now feel that Katrina has ushered in a renaissance for New Orleans jazz, an awakening based in catharsis and a renewed commitment to a cultural environment that posits music as necessary to existence.
Role of Accommodation and Developmental Aspects of Experimental Myopia in Chicks

We have previously shown that extreme axial myopia (often more than 40 D) could be produced by raising chicks with their field of view restricted to the frontal visual field.
Data-Mining Process Overview

This chapter gives a description of data mining and its methodology. First, the definition of data mining along with the purposes and growing needs for such a technology are presented. A six-step methodology for data mining is then presented and discussed. The goals and methods of this process are then explained, coupled with a presentation of a number of techniques that are making the data-mining process faster and more reliable. These techniques include the use of neural networks and genetic algorithms, which are presented and explained as a way to overcome several complexity problems that the data-mining process possesses. A deep survey of the literature is done to show the various purposes and achievements that these techniques have brought to the study of data mining.
Indexing Support Vector Machines for Efficient top-k Classification

This paper proposes an approach to efficiently execute approximate top-k classification (that is, identifying the best k elements of a class) using Support Vector Machines, in web-scale datasets, without significant loss of effectiveness. The novelty of the proposed approach, with respect to other approaches in literature, is that it allows speeding-up several classifiers, each one defined with different kernels and kernel parameters, by using one single index.
Metabolic aspects of plant interaction with commensal methylotrophs

Pink-pigmented, facultatively methylotrophic bacteria (PPFM’s) are normally associated with seeds and leaves of soybean and all other plants we have examined. We became aware of PPFM’s as covert colonizers of callus cultures. PPFM’s produce a constitutive urease which appears to contribute to the ‘background’ urease of callus cultures and unifoliate leaves of a mutant defective in the structural gene (Eu4) for the plant-encoded ubiquitous urease isozyme (Polacco et al., 1989; Holland and Polacco, 1992). A second class (class II) of soybean mutants, which have pleiotropically lost the activities of both the ubiquitous urease and the embryo-specific ureases (Meyer-Bothling et al., 1987) harbors PPFM’s which are deficient in urease and hydrogenase activities in planta. The bacteria are transiently urease- and hydrogenase-negative when cultured away from the plant, and re-acquisition of these activities is accelerated by supplemental nickel (Holland and Polacco, 1992).
Historical Perspective on Sleepiness and Fatigue-Related Accidents

Sleepiness and fatigue go hand in hand, so much so that the terms are often incorrectly used interchangeably. Nonetheless, sleepiness is arguably the most important factor contributing to what are called “fatigue-related accidents.” In material sciences, fatigue is the factor producing performance failure. In human studies, all stressors contribute to performance failure, and sleepiness is typically the predominant stressor.
Pharmacotherapy for patent ductus arteriosus closure

Even though up to 60% of premature infants less than 28 weeks gestation develop persistent patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), there remains controversy regarding if, when, and how to close the PDA. Failure to close the PDA has been associated with significant morbidity but no cause-and-effect has been proven for short-term or long-term outcomes in modern times. Surgical closure has the advantage of eliminating the PDA, but short-term complications and long-term adverse outcomes are worrisome. Intravenous indomethacin has been the "gold standard" for pharmacologic treatment over the past 40 years with high closure rates and decreased incidence of severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and pulmonary hemorrhage with early treatment but without improvement in long-term outcomes and with risk of renal toxicity. Intravenous ibuprofen has less vasoconstrictive toxicity than indomethacin with comparable closure rates but without improvement in IVH and with hyperbilirubinemia risks. Earlier this decade, acetaminophen (paracetamol) was discovered to effectively close the PDA with good short-term safety profile. Although promising, acetaminophen treatment requires further studies regarding long-term safety as well as ideal dosing and route of administration.
(164) Negative Affect as a Predictor of Opioid Prescription Misuse and Abuse in Chronic Pain Patients: A Collaborative Health Outcomes Information Registry Study

The widespread misuse and abuse of prescribed opioid pain relievers amongst chronic pain patients is a central contributor to the opioid epidemic. The current study aimed to identify potential risk factors and treatment targets that may reduce and prevent opioid misuse. The NIH's Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-Abuse of Prescription Medication item bank (Rx-Abuse) was validated in both community and clinical samples to assess self-reported severity of medication abuse. The Rx-Abuse item bank was included in Stanford University's Collaborative Health Outcomes Information Registry (CHOIR), an open-source healthcare system to monitor chronic pain patients’ health status as part of clinical care, quality improvement, and research. We compared physical, mental and social health status factors of patients taking and not taking opioid medications and examined which of these factors best associated with prescription abuse. We hypothesized that negative affect would predict more opioid misuse in view of its crucial role in managing chronic pain and substance use. A sample of 1193 (age=50.72±14.97; 64.04% female, mean pain=5.24±2.47) patients with a mix of chronic pain disorders presenting for medical evaluations at a tertiary pain clinic completed the CHOIR survey. Participants endorsing current use of prescribed opioid medication (n=692, 58.01%) also completed the Rx-Abuse assessment. Results indicated that patients currently taking opioid medications reported significantly greater symptomatology and impairment across almost all PROMIS and pain severity measures compared to non-opioid taking patients. A data-driven stepwise hierarchical regression analysis (n=589) confirmed that a composite score of negative affect comprising anxiety, anger and depression, was the most significant predictor (β=0.36, p
Measuring and forecasting progress towards the education-related SDG targets.

Education is a key dimension of well-being and a crucial indicator of development1–4. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prioritize progress in education, with a new focus on inequality5–7. Here we model the within-country distribution of years of schooling, and use this model to explore educational inequality since 1970 and to forecast progress towards the education-related 2030 SDG targets. We show that although the world is largely on track to achieve near-universal primary education by 2030, substantial challenges remain in the completion rates for secondary and tertiary education. Globally, the gender gap in schooling had nearly closed by 2018 but gender disparities remained acute in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and North Africa and the Middle East. It is predicted that, by 2030, females will have achieved significantly higher educational attainment than males in 18 countries. Inequality in education reached a peak globally in 2017 and is projected to decrease steadily up to 2030. The distributions and inequality metrics presented here represent a framework that can be used to track the progress of each country towards the SDG targets and the level of inequality over time. Reducing educational inequality is one way to promote a fairer distribution of human capital and the development of more equitable human societies. Great progress toward the education-related SDG targets has been made; however, global estimates of within-country distributions of education reveal gender disparities and high levels of total inequality in many parts of the world.
Hospital financial preparedness and covid-19

It is highly likely that COVID-19 will result in a drain on hospitals financial resources, not the least of which being cash. Not all hospitals are financially prepared for any enduring loss of cash, with hospitals in few states being well prepared. Those states that have experienced early cases of COVID-19 are less well prepared financially. Several policy options merit consideration. Keywords: COVID-19, hospital, finance, preparedness
Advertising for Demographically Fair Outcomes.

Online advertising on platforms such as Google or Facebook has become an indispensable outreach tool, including for applications where it is desirable to engage different demographics in an equitable fashion, such as hiring, housing, civic processes, and public health outreach efforts. Somewhat surprisingly, the existing online advertising ecosystem provides very little support for advertising to (and recruiting) a demographically representative cohort. We study the problem of advertising for demographic representativeness from both an empirical and algorithmic perspective. In essence, we seek fairness in the outcome or conversions generated by the advertising campaigns. We first present detailed empirical findings from real-world experiments for recruiting for civic processes, using which we show that methods using Facebook-inferred features are too inaccurate for achieving equity in outcomes, while targeting via custom audiences based on a list of registered voters segmented on known attributes has much superior accuracy. This motivates us to consider the algorithmic question of optimally segmenting the list of individuals with known attributes into a few custom campaigns and allocating budgets to them so that we cost-effectively achieve outcome parity with the population on the maximum possible number of demographics. Under the assumption that a platform can reasonably enforce proportionality in spend across demographics, we present efficient exact and approximation algorithms for this problem. We present simulation results on our datasets to show the efficacy of these algorithms in achieving demographic parity.
“Asymmetry is the rhythmic expression of functional design” a quotation from Jan Tschichold

ABSTRACT The outer membranes of Gram-negative bacteria provide a permeability barrier to antibiotics and other harmful chemicals. The integrity of this barrier relies on the maintenance of the lipid asymmetry of the outer membrane, and studies of suppressors of a decades-old mutant reveal that YejM plays a key regulatory role and provide a model for the maintenance of this asymmetry.
The Effect of Learning Community Participation on Community College Students’ Perceptions of Learning Gains and Engagement

This study investigated the relationship learning community participation has with community college students’ perceived learning gains and engagement in educationally purposeful activities. Study ...
Close Enough for Government Work: The Committee Rulemaking Game

Procedural rules in U.S. courts often have predictable and systemic substantive consequences. Yet the vast majority of procedural rules are drafted, debated, and ultimately enacted by a committee rulemaking process substantially removed from significant legislative or executive supervision. This Article explores the dynamics of the committee rulemaking process through a game-theoretical lens. The model reveals that inferior players in the committee rulemaking game - advisory committees, the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Judicial Conference and the Supreme Court - are sometimes able to arbitrage Congressional transaction costs to obtain results at odds with the results Congress would prefer in a world without transaction costs. The Article presents two real-world examples of possible transaction-cost arbitrage, one involving the 1993 adoption of the 'initial disclosures' requirement under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and one involving the implementation of the 'means test' requirement of the 2005 bankruptcy reform statute. Though the normative implications of committee rulemaking are ambiguous, the dynamics of the game suggest that a better preference fit between Congress and the membership of the various advisory committees would mitigate the risks of transaction cost arbitrage substantially while retaining most of the advantages of the committee rulemaking system.
Understanding Traditional and Nontraditional Students’ Job Skill Preparation from a Career Capital Perspective

Using data from the 2014 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), we examined traditional and nontraditional students’ perceived preparation for job skills in terms of the three ways...
SME Internet Use: The Moderating Role of Normative Influence

Of all electronic commerce technologies, the Internet is particularly relevant to SMEs interested in improving efficiency and competitive position. A consistent theme in the SME Internet adoption literature relates to the potential importance of accounting for normative influence. We extend thinking in the area by exploring the potential moderating effect of behavioral normative influence in SME technology acceptance. Consistent with predictions, owner/manager perceptions of normative Internet usage are found to interact with usefulness perceptions, which moderate the relationship between owner/manager perceived usefulness and Internet usage intention. Specifically, when normative influence is not perceived to be prevalent in the SME's environment, perceptions that the Internet could prove useful have a strong positive effect on ow ner/manager intention to increase usage of the Internet. In contrast, when the SME context is perceived to be associated with strong normative influence, usefulness perceptions do not greatly affect owner/manager intention to increase use of the Internet.
Critical parameters for coarse coal underground slurry haulage systems

Factors are identified which must be considered in meeting the requirements of a transportation system for conveying, in a pipeline, the coal mined by a continuous mining machine to a storage location neat the mine entrance or to a coal preparation plant located near the surface. For successful operation, the slurry haulage the system should be designed to operated in the turbulent flow regime at a flow rate at least 30% greater than the deposition velocity (slurry flow rate at which the solid particles tend to settle in the pipe). The capacity of the haulage system should be compatible with the projected coal output. Partical size, solid concentration, density, and viscosity of the suspension are if importance as well as the selection of the pumps, pipes, and valves. The parameters with the greatest effect on system performance ar flow velocity, pressure coal particle size, and solids concentration.
The One Weird Old Trick to Frustrate Online Scammers, Reduce Fees for Consumers, and Make Americans Happier with Their Finances

What do Match.com, Gold's Gym, Time Magazine, and AOL all have in common with Internet hucksters? They've all been caught using automatically recurring transactions to squeeze every last dime out of unwilling customers. Using electronic payment systems, such as credit cards and debit cards, unscrupulous merchants are able to preauthorize deductions from a consumer's account. In doing so, they can conduct "automatic selling," or sales in which a consumer participates in a transaction as a default, and must act affirmatively to cancel the exchange. Automatic selling and preauthorized payment are dangerous for consumers, because they can easily lead to overpayment or ignorance of a transaction's true cost, and incentivize the merchant to create obstacles to cancellation. This paper contains case studies demonstrating the spread of automatic selling throughout the modern economy, as it crops up in a diverse set of industries and contexts. It discusses the failures of current regulatory attempts to protect consumers from automatic selling; including efforts by the FTC, Congress, state government, and private regulation. Finally, it describes a simple, straightforward mechanism for reducing or eliminating the harms of automatic selling. This mechanism, called an "authorization catalogue," functions much like a bank balance sheet, providing consumers with a standardized interface, which lists all current open authorizations on a particular bank account or credit card. It allows consumers to cancel any authorization at any time with the press of a single button.
The Role of Demeanor Evidence in Determining Creditability of Witnesses in Fact Finding: The Views of ALJS

Prof. Ogden presents the views of administrative law judge’s on the role of demeanor evidence in determining the credibility of witnesses’ testimony in fact finding. The opinions of administrative law judges add an important new perspective on the issue of whether demeanor evidence increases the accuracy of credibility determinations. The views of administrative law judges were determined through the techniques of survey research, utilizing a questionnaire. After defining demeanor evidence for purposes of the study, Ogden explains the administrative law principle of judicial review that gives weight or deference to credibility determinations based on demeanor evidence. A statistical analysis of the gathered data is provided which demonstrates that administrative law judges view demeanor evidence to be of relatively low value. This finding warrants further study of the fact finding process as well as the process of determining credibility.
Shock-induced fine-grained recrystallization of olivine - Evidence against subsolidus reduction of Fe/2+/

Electron spin resonance (ESR) studies have been carried out on three single grains of terrestrial olivine (F0_(90)) shock loaded along [010] to peak pressures of 280, 330, and 440 kbar. The results indicate that neither metallic Fe similar to that observed in returned lunar soils nor paramagnetic Fe^(3+) caused by oxidation of Fe^(2+) has been produced in these shock experiments. Trace amounts of Mn^(2+) have been detected in both shocked and unshocked olivine. The ESR signals of Mn^(2+) show spectral features which are found to correlate with the degree of shock-induced recrystallization observed petrographically. The increasing mass fraction of recrystallized olivine correlates with increasing shock pressures. This phenomenon is modelled assuming it results from the progressive effect of the shock-induced transformation of the olivine to, a yet unknown high-pressure phase, and its subsequent reversion to the low-pressure, olivine phase. The mass fraction of recrystallized material is predicted to be nearly linear with shock pressure.
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT AND INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE: NEW THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS FROM THE JAPANESE EXPERIENCE 1

IN recent years Japanese industry has suddenly gone multinational. Direct investment capital has been flowing out of Japan at a much faster pace than out of any other industrialized country.2 Many studies have recently appeared describing the magnitude and patterns of Japan's overseas investment. These studies, however, are mostly descriptive and do not offer theoretical exposition (excepting only a handful of attempts, to be noted below) to explain the characteristics of Japanese overseas investment; characteristics that these studies have identified, in one way or another, as 'distinct' from those of Western, particularly US, overseas investment. Moreover, the prevailing view is that the theories, notably the 'monopolistic' theory, already advanced to explain Western multinationals are considered sufficiently general to cover Japan-based mnultinationals as well, and that any noticeably unique features of Japan's
Guidelines and suggestions for ABET accreditation

Accreditation from a professional organization bestows an intangible credibility on a program, its faculty, curriculum and resources. Colleges and universities that can boast of accredited programs have a distinct edge in marketing themselves as quality institutions and can thereby attract talented faculty and students. Although the advantages of accreditation are numerous, some institutions are reluctant to pursue it because of the enormous workload involved, particularly in the area of assessment, and the uncertainties surrounding the outcome. This panel discussion will focus on the accreditation processes that ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) requires for CS (Computer Science) and IS (Information Systems) programs. Panelists from accredited institutions will discuss their experiences and offer suggestions to facilitate the process. A third panelist will present the accreditation process from the point of view of the evaluators and shed some light on how institutions can make the system work to their advantage. Sufficient time will be allocated at the end to take questions and to hear the accreditation experiences of other institutions.
The Effect of Geomagnetic Disturbances on Ecosystem

ABSTRACT To investigate the ecological effect of geomagnetic disturbances, we studied the ring pattern of trees grown in the northern auroral zone. It was found that the ring pattern of trees grown in Denali National Park has a clear correlation with the solar activity variation whereas in other locations, the correlation is poor. We believe that the geomagnetic disturbances have an effect on the ecosystem but the effect is frequently obscured by other factors.
Analysis of the impact of layered soil heterogeneity on optimal policies for groundwater, remediation

Typical groundwater remediation problems involve selection of the number, location, and flow rate schedule of pumping and injection wells. Simulation models combined with optimization models are used to find optimal designs while considering management objectives and constraints. Due to the high computational effort involved and lack of data, simulation models often are based on simplified 2-D homogeneous hydrogeological settings. The purpose of this work is to investigate how simplifying hypotheses may affect the final optimal remediation policy. In particular, the analysis addresses the case of a heterogeneous layered aquifer versus a homogeneous one with an equivalent (lumped) hydraulic conductivity. The analysis is carried out by determining the optimal solution for the remediation of the plume in the case of a homogeneous aquifer, and then simulating this optimal policy with the actual layered aquifer.
A Comparative Study of Quality Outcomes in Freestanding Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Hospital‐Based Outpatient Departments: 1997–2004

Over the past few decades, several factors including improvements in medical technology, anesthesia, and pain management have facilitated the push of surgical services to outpatient facilities (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission [MedPAC] 2004; Shugarman et al. 2004; Wynn 2004). Today, up to 70 percent of all surgeries performed in the United States take place in the ambulatory setting (MedPAC 2004). Medicare spending on outpatient services has dramatically increased for hospital-based outpatient departments (HOPDs) and freestanding ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) between 1993 and 2003 (MedPAC 2004). Despite these recent trends and the Institute of Medicine's (2000) suggestion to focus research on adverse events in the outpatient setting, little comparative research on quality outcomes exists. The current study compares quality outcomes for ASCs and HOPDs. To date, a limited number of studies have examined quality outcomes by location of outpatient care and yielded mixed findings. Vila et al. (2003) compared office-based and ASC-based mortality and found a 10-fold increased death rate in office settings in Florida. These results have been questioned in a reanalysis of the same data by Hancox et al. (2004) and by Venkat et al. (2004). We identified only two studies by Fleisher et al. (2004) and Fleisher, Pasternak, and Lyles (2007) that examined patient outcomes in settings that included both ASCs and HOPDs. Fleisher et al. (2004) used Medicare data to study quality outcomes following 16 combined outpatient procedures. After adjusting for patient demographics and the Charlson comorbidity index, patients treated at HOPDs were at an increased risk of 7-day mortality, emergency department visits, and hospitalization. The current study builds on previous work, but is different in several important ways. First, using large patient-level, all payer claims data allowed us to study quality outcomes for each of the 12 most common outpatient procedures performed at ASCs and HOPDs in Florida during the 1997–2004 period. Second, we compared outcomes individually for these procedures in order to explicitly examine whether ASCs or HOPDs perform better for certain types of procedures. Third, we used the literature on specialty facilities (especially studies relevant to ASCs) and general hospitals to conceptualize on whether ASCs or HOPDs may provide superior quality care. Fourth, we utilized the Diagnostic Cost Groups/Hierarchical Condition Categories (DCG/HCC) for risk-adjustment. Finally, using the DCG/HCC, we applied multiple approaches to risk-adjustment to address the issue of nonreporting of secondary diagnoses in ambulatory surgical data.
Equilibrium theory of a pressure swing adsorption process

Abstract An equilibrium theory of the separation of two-component gaseous mixtures via the pressure swing adsorption process known as heatless adsorption is presented. Both components of the mixture are adsorbable. One is present at a trace level and is preferentially adsorbed. Principal predictions of the theory for the condition of complete removal of the trace component from the high pressure product stream when using the least possible amount of adsorbent are as follows. When the separation factor is large, high recovery of purified high pressure product is obtained and blowdown and purge losses are small. Recovery is increased and losses decreased by increasing the pressure ratio. Conversely, recovery of the purif high pressure product is small and blowdown and purge losses are large when the separation factor is small. In this case the use of high pressure ratio not improve performance. The trace level component in the combined blowdown and purge stream is derived increasingly from the blowdown as the pressure ratio is increased.
Effect of post-weld heat treatment and electrolytic plasma processing on tungsten inert gas welded AISI 4140 alloy steel

Abstract Post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) is commonly adopted on welded joints and structures to relieve post-weld residual stresses; and restore the mechanical properties and structural integrity. An electrolytic plasma process (EPP) has been developed to improve corrosion behavior and wear resistance of structural materials; and can be employed in other applications and surface modifications aspects. In this study the effects of PWHT and EPP on the residual stresses, micro-hardness, microstructures, and uniaxial tensile properties are explored on tungsten inert gas (TIG) welded AISI-4140 alloys steel with SAE-4130 chromium–molybdenum alloy welding filler rod. For rational comparison all of the welded samples are checked with nondestructive Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing (PAUT) and to ensure defect-free samples before testing. Residual stresses are assessed with ultrasonic testing at different distances from weld center line. PWHT resulted in relief of tensile residual stress due to grain refinement. As a consequence higher ductility but lower strength existed in PWHT samples. In comparison, EPP-treated samples revealed lower residual stresses, but no significant variation on the grain refinement. Consequently, EPP-treated specimens exhibited higher tensile strength but lower ductility and toughness for the martensitic formation due to the rapid heating and quenching effects. EPP was also applied on PWHT samples, but which did not reveal any substantial effect on the tensile properties after PWHT at 650 °C. Finally the microstructures and fracture morphology are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscope to study the evolution of microstructures.
Afferent connections of the thalamic intralaminar nuclei in the cat

Abstract Afferents to the central lateral (CL), paracentral (PC) and central medial (CE) intralaminar nuclei (ILN) from cortical and subcortical sites were studied in the cat. We utilized stereotaxically guided injections of HRP into the CL and PC nuclei and tritiated leucine injections into various visual, parietal and limbic areas of cortex to demonstrate these connections. In studying the relatively weak visual cortical projections to the ILN, we demonstrated projections from areas 19, 20a, 21a, 21b, AMLS, PMLS and PLLS. However, our HRP injections into the ILN often revealed only a few labeled cells in any of the above areas; therefore conclusions regarding the absence of projections to ILN from remaining visual cortical areas should be made cautiously. The ILN receive heavier projections from the frontal eye fields, cingulate cortex, splenial cortex, insular cortex, somatosensory areas SI and SII, auditory areas SF, AII, and Ep, and parietal areas 5 and 7. The most robust projections appear to be from frontal eye fields, cingulate and parietal areas. No topography was apparent in the projections to the ILN. All cortical projections originate ipsilaterally from layers V and VI. Heavy subcortical projections to the ILN originate in the pretectum, superior colliculus, reticular formation, and periaqueductal grey. Fewer afferents arise from several other brainstem and thalamic nuclei.
Ultrastructural study of the sinus gland of the crab, Cardisoma carnifex

The sinus gland of Cardisoma carnifex was examined by light and transmission electron microscopy. This neurohemal organ is composed primarily of enlarged, branching axon terminals with numerous finger-like projections, which act as storage and release sites for neurohormones that are assumed to be contained in membrane-bound, electron-dense neurosecretory granules. Also present in the sinus gland are glial cells with cytoplasmic processes which form elaborate wrappings around neurosecretory terminals, and an acellular fibrillar lining of the branching blood sinus. Six types of neurosecretory terminals are identified on the basis of granule size, granule density, and density of the axoplasmic matrix. Images supporting the hypothesis of release of neurosecretory material by exocytosis from terminals abutting the blood sinus lining are found. Large multilamellate bodies appear in terminals depleted of neurosecretory granules and may be involved in the recycling of granule membrane.
Effects of Entrainment and Bypass at Screened Irrigation Canals on Juvenile Steelhead

Abstract Expensive bypass screens have been installed throughout the western United States to prevent the entrainment of valuable anadromous salmonids into irrigation canals. However, few studies have quantified the annual extent and variability of entrainment and bypass success for anadromous salmonids emigrating through screened irrigation diversion networks in a basinwide context. By monitoring the movement of hatchery steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss surrogates marked with passive integrated transponder tags through three irrigation canals, we estimated canal entrainment, bypass success, and survival for threatened juvenile steelhead emigrating from the Umatilla River in northeast Oregon. Annual entrainment of steelhead was positively related to the days of canal operation and negatively related to mean seasonal river flow. The relationship between flow and entrainment differed by canal; as a result, steelhead entrainment was not always greatest at canals with the largest water diversion rates. Binary mo...