cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Legal Lessons in On-Stage Character Development: Comedians, Characters, Cable Guys & Copyright Convolutions

This article addresses the trials and tribulations faced by stand-up comedians who seek copyright protection for on-stage characters they create, often during solo performances. The article initially explores the current, confused state of the law surrounding the copyrightability of fictional characters. The doctrinal muddle is magnified for comedians because the case law that addresses the fictional character facet of copyright jurisprudence overwhelmingly involves characters developed within the broader framework of plots and storylines found in traditional media artifacts such as books, comic strips, cartoons and movies. The article then deploys the 2014 federal court ruling in Azaria v. Bierko as a timely analytical springboard for addressing comedic-character copyright issues. Finally, the article offers multiple tips and suggestions for comedians and actors seeking copyright protection in their onstage characters.
A data-driven storage recommendation service for multitenant storage management environments

Storage management aims to improve the data center performance by optimizing the underlying storage resources more efficiently. The advent of cloud computing technologies introduces a paradigm shift from conventional on-premise storage management solutions to multitenant storage management as a service models. The advantage of centralized multitenant storage management platforms lies in the integrated procedures and the unified platform of data collection, governance, and analytics to gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of tenant storage environments. In this paper, we introduce our data-driven storage optimization framework, which is a centralized storage data analytics module to provide recommendations for the storage administrator. We use three example use cases to illustrate the exploitation of individual data center operational data to obtain actionable insights for better storage management solutions.
Collagen fibril assembly in the developing avian primary corneal stroma.

PURPOSE The primary stroma of the developing avian cornea is a highly organized extracellular matrix composed largely of striated collagen fibrils synthesized by the epithelium. These fibrils are heterotypic structures consisting of at least two different fibrillar collagen types (I and II) and probably a fibril-associated collagen (type IX). The epithelial derivation and vectorial secretion of the components of this matrix provide an advantageous system to study the steps in the assembly of this developmentally regulated matrix, as well as in the assembly and maturation of heterotypic collagen fibrils in general. To ascertain when and where two of the collagens of the primary stroma (collagen types II and IX) are assembled into fibrils, monoclonal antibodies were used that bind to the newly deposited, "immature" (non-cross-linked) forms of these molecules, but not to ones that have been assembled into fibrils and have become cross-linked. METHODS The patterns of immunoreactivity for newly deposited versus total collagens were compared by immunofluorescence histochemistry on sections of corneas from developing chicken embryos. Pretreatments that affect collagen cross-linking and enzymatic digestions with collagenase also were used. RESULTS In early corneas, immunoreactivity for the newly deposited forms of both collagen types II and IX was confined to a narrow subepithelial zone, their epitopes being masked in the deeper layers of the stroma. The masked immunoreactivity could be exposed in these layers by inhibiting cross-link formation with beta-aminopropionitrile. At later developmental stages, after the stroma has swollen and become invaded by mesenchymal cells, type IX collagen is no longer detectable either as an "immature" or as a fibril-associated form. During most of this period, the distribution of "immature" type II collagen is noticeably more restricted to the subepithelial zone than is total type II. Much of the undetectable immunoreactivity for collagen type II could be "unmasked" in deeper stromal layers by brief digestions with bacterial collagenase as well as by inhibition of cross-link formation. The extent of such unmasking of type II, however, is more limited in older corneas, suggesting that some of the putatively masked epitopes at these stages may in fact be proteolytically degraded. CONCLUSIONS These results conform with previous studies suggesting that the type II and type IX collagens of the primary stroma are derived from the epithelium. They also suggest that (1) the assembly and maturation of the heterotypic fibrils, including the addition of the fibril-associated collagen type IX and covalent cross-link formation, occur shortly after synthesis and secretion of the molecules; (2) most, if not all, of the corneal type IX collagen becomes fibril-associated; and (3) during much of corneal development the N-telopeptide epitope in type II collagen is largely retained in a sterically masked form, but in later stages, during remodeling it may be removed by proteolytic degradation.
Attainder and Amendment 2: Romer's Rightness

Call me silly. In fact, call me terminally silly. For despite Justice Scalia's remarkably confident claim, I believe, and shall try to prove below, that the Romer Court majority opinion invalidating Colorado's Amendment 2 was right both in form and in substance, both logically and sociologically. I stress "form" and "logic" at the outset because I share Justice Scalia's belief in the importance of these things in constitutional adjudication. I also share his commitment to constitutional text, history, and structure, and his suspicion of "free-form" constitutionalism.2 And so I shall highlight the text, history, and spirit of a constitutional clause that though not explicitly invoked by the Romer majority clarifies and supports the majority's theory: the Article I, section 10 Attainder Clause.3 My claim is not that the Equal Protection Clause, relied upon by the Romer Court, was incapable of doing the work; but that the sociology and principles underlying the Attainder Clause
In vivo cholinergic modulation of the cellular properties of medial entorhinal cortex neurons

Extensive in vitro data and modeling studies suggest that intrinsic properties of medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) neurons contribute to the spiking behaviour of functional cell types of MEC neurons, such as grid cells, recorded in behaving animals. It remains unclear, however, how intrinsic properties of MEC neurons influence cellular dynamics in intact networks in vivo. In order to begin to bridge the gap between electrophysiological data sets from brain slices and behaving animals, in the present study we performed intracellular recordings using sharp electrodes in urethane-anaesthetized rats to elucidate the cellular dynamics of MEC neurons in vivo. We focused on the h-current-dependent sag potential during hyperpolarizing current steps, subthreshold resonance in response to oscillatory frequency sweeps (chirp stimuli), persistent spiking in response to brief depolarizing inputs and the relationship between firing frequency and input (f-I curve), each of which is sensitive to cholinergic modulation in vitro. Consistent with data from in vitro studies, cholinergic activation by systemic application of the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, physostigmine, resulted in decreased sag amplitude, increased sag time constant and a decrease of the peak resonance frequency. The f-I curve was also modulated by physostigmine in many neurons, but persistent spiking was not observed in any of our recordings, even when picrotoxin, a GABAA blocker, was included in the internal solution of the recording pipette to reduce possible effects of network inhibition. These results suggest that intrinsic oscillatory and rate-coding mechanisms, but not intrinsic bistability, are significantly modulated by acetylcholine in the intact entorhinal network.
Tiered Reference Services: A Survey.

Summary Customer feedback is essential for determining what elements constitute quality service in a reference department. At Texas A&M University, we use concise user surveys to elicit feedback on the different aspects of tiered services. This study identifies whether or not customers find the information they need and allows customers to evaluate the services. User surveys and return boxes are accessible at several discrete locations throughout the reference unit. The department modified services to better meet customers' expectations after analyzing the data gathered from nearly 200 surveys. A library display showed the results of the survey. Comments and suggestions made by the customers were included in the display.
Ceramic Problems/Challenges in High Temperature Oxide Superconductors; Hysteretic Force Measurements As a New Analysis Tool

Increasing realism that high temperature oxide superconductors have many unusual and difficult aspects is setting in. It is becoming apparent that many of the problems/challenges are directly dependent upon the ceramic-like properties of these materials, when in polycrystalline form, and that many of these have been encountered before in other ceramic guises. We originally guessed, without making hundreds of specimens, that the peculiar R/T double step (with one drop at ~ 100K, and a second drop at ~ 85K) in the Bi HTSC and the inability initially to get R = 0 at > 100K came about through syntactic (coherent) intergrowths [1,2] which are so well known in minerals [2]. We therefore disagree with many ideas that have been put forward to explain this phenomenon [3–12]. We will show that problems with the Bi containing superconductors are extreme to the point where our personal decision is to abandon work on their polycrystalline forms in favor of Tl materials, at least for the time being. We prefer to make bad ceramics of a 125K material than of a 90K variety for obvious reasons. Space applications, where passive cooling, with attendant weight saving and increased robustness, are our major incentive.
Drought-influenced mortality of tree species with different predawn leaf water dynamics in a decade-long study of a central US forest

Abstract. Using decade-long continuous observations of tree mortality and predawn leaf water potential (ψpd) at the Missouri Ozark AmeriFlux (MOFLUX) site, we studied how the mortality of important tree species varied and how such variations may be predicted. Water stress determined inter-annual variations in tree mortality with a time delay of 1 year or more, which was correlated fairly tightly with a number of quantitative predictors formulated based on ψpd and precipitation regimes. Predictors based on temperature and vapor pressure deficit anomalies worked reasonably well, particularly for moderate droughts. The exceptional drought of the year 2012 drastically increased the mortality of all species, including drought-tolerant oaks, in the subsequent year. The drought-influenced tree mortality was related to the species position along the spectrum of ψpd regulation capacity with those in either ends of the spectrum being associated with elevated risk of death. Regardless of species and drought intensity, the ψpd of all species recovered rapidly after sufficiently intense rain events in all droughts. This result, together with a lack of immediate leaf and branch desiccation, suggests an absence of catastrophic hydraulic disconnection in the xylem and that tree death was caused by significant but indirect effects. Species differences in the capacity of regulating ψpd and its temporal integral were magnified under moderate drought intensities but diminished towards wet and dry extremes. Severe droughts may overwhelm the capacity of even drought-tolerant species to maintain differential levels of water potential as the soil becomes exhausted of available water in the rooting zone, thus rendering them more susceptible to death if predisposed by other factors such as age.
PERBEDAAN PENGGUNAAN MEDIA PENDIDIKAN TERHADAP PERUBAHAN PENGETAHUAN DAN SIKAP IBU DALAM SARAPAN ANAK SEKOLAH DASAR DI KABUPATEN BOGOR

The objective of the study was to analyze the differences of applying educational media to change mother’s knowledge and attitude on the breakfast of the elementary school children in Bogor District. The study was a quasy experimental study. Subjects in this research were 225 mothers of elementary school children in the nine villages in Bogor District. Nutrition education media used for this study were power point slides, flip charts, and combination of the power point slides and leaflets. Score of knowledge and attitude on breakfast increased significantly after the intervention. ANOVA analysis results on knowledge and attitude on the breakfast showed better improvement for the combination of power point slides and leaflets. The proportion of knowledge and attitude of the mothers increased after the intervention. The combination of the power point slides and leaflets was the type of educational media which could increase the rate of mother’s knowledge and attitude score compared to power point slides and flip chart.
Dixon-type and subtraction-type contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography: A theoretical and experimental comparison of SNR and CNR.

Purpose The purpose of this work is to compare the behavior of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in contrast-enhanced MR angiography with background suppression performed by either a Dixon-type or subtraction-type method. Theory and Methods Theoretical expressions for the SNR and CNR for both background suppression techniques were derived. The theoretical Dixon:subtraction SNR and CNR ratios were compared to empirical ratios measured from phantom and in vivo studies for Dixon techniques utilizing one, two, and three echoes. Specifically, the SNR and CNR ratios were compared as the concentration of contrast material in the blood changed. Results Empirical measurements of the SNR and CNR ratios compared favorably with the ratios predicted by theory. As the contrast concentration was reduced, the SNR advantage of the Dixon techniques increased asymptotically. In the ideal case, the SNR improvement over subtraction contrast-enhanced MR angiography was at least twofold for one- and two-echo Dixon techniques and at least a factor of for the three-echo Dixon technique. Conclusion Expressions showing a contrast concentration-dependent SNR and CNR improvement of at least a factor of two when Dixon-type contrast-enhanced MR angiography is used in place of subtraction-type contrast-enhanced MR angiography were derived and validated with phantom and in vivo experiments. Magn Reson Med 74:81–92, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Electrochemical isomerization of cis‐(CH)x to trans‐(CH)x

Abstract : Electrochemical isomerization of films of cis-(CH)x may be accomplished conveniently by first n-doping the (CH)x with (Bu4N)(+) to the metallic regime or p-doping the (CH)x with (ClO4)(-) to the metallic regime followed in each case by electrochemical undoping to yield pure trans-(CH)x. (Author)
Selected Short-Term Memory Tests as Predictors of Reading Readiness.

Three standardized measures of short-term memory (STM) were compared to determine their relative efficacy in predicting reading achievement for primary grade students (n = 36) over a two-year time period. Regression analyses revealed that not all of the STM tests were significant (p < .05) predictors of reading. Moreover, predictive power varied as a function of the reading skill assessed (e.g., decoding or comprehension) and the grade placement of the student. A letter sequences test was found to be the task most frequently associated with reading performance. A memory-for-sentences task also showed a significant relationship to certain aspects of reading. However, a word sequences test was found not to be predictive of reading achievement. Implications for test selection and remedial planning are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
BOTS: a constraint-based component system for synthesizing scalable software systems

Embedded application developers create applications for a wide range of devices with different resource constraints. Developers want to maximize the use of the limited resources available on the device while still not exceeding the capabilities of the device. To do this, the developer must be able to scale his software for different platforms. In this paper, we present a software engineering methodology that automatically scales software to different platforms. We intend to have the application developer write high level functional specifications of his software and have tools that automatically scale the underlying runtime. These tools will use the functional and non-functional constraints of both the hardware and client application to produce an appropriate runtime. Our initial results show that the proposed approach can scale operating systems and virtual machines that satisfy the constraints of varying hardware/application combinations.
α,β-Unsaturated carbonyl compounds: inhibition of rat liver glutathione S-transferase isozymes and chemical reaction with reduced glutathione

Abstract Five different α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds displayed different reactivities with regard to inhibition of α- and μ-class isozymes of rat liver glutathione S -transferases and the chemical reaction with glutathione. Only ( E )-2-octenal and ( E )-3-nonen-2-one exhibited significant levels of inhibition for each of the rat liver GST isozymes examined. The ( E )-2-octenal was more effective as an inhibitor of the α-class of isozymes when compared to the μ-class, whereas the ( E )-3-none-2-one showed a greater degree of inhibition of the μ-class of isozymes relative to the α-class. Isozyme 1-1 demonstrated the greatest degree of inhibition with ( E )-2-octenal (IC 50 = 5.89 μ M) of all inhibitor/isozyme combinations. The K i values for ( E )-2-octenal and ( E )-3-none-2-one toward selected α-and μ-class of rat liver glutathione S -transferase isozymes were determined and both of these compounds competitively inhibited all five of the rat liver glutathione S -transferase isozymes examined. The K i values obtained for these two compounds were significantly different for each of the isozymes except for isozyme 4-4. With the α-class of rat liver GST isozymes, ( E )-3-nonen-2-one showed a larger K i value than ( E )-2-octenal. Whereas, with the μ-class, ( E )-2-octenal exhibited a larger k i value than ( E )-3-nonen-2-one. The rate constants of the forward reaction ( k +1 ), as well as the equilibrium constants ( K d ) were determined and the rate constants of the reverse reaction ( k −1 ) were calculated.
Letter recognition: Effects of interitern similarity and report requirements

The effects. of auditory similarity, visual similarity, and position of letters within the Visual field upon letter recognition were investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, significant differences associated with visual, but not. auditory, similarity were found when Os were asked to report one, three, or all Items from five-item linear arrays. As report requirements increased left-right differences in report accuracy increased, although items in the center of the field were reported most accurately. In Experiment 2, either one or five items were requested from the arrays presented in Experiment 1 after a delay of 2 or 4 sec. Significant effects associated with both auditory and visual similarity were found, together with a tendency for items to the left of fixation to be reported most accurately. These results were discussed in terms of recent theories dealing with the encoding of visually presented material.
Computers and girls: rethinking the issues

A perspective is developed about emerging sex differences in the use of computer technology in education. Computers tend to be conceptually assimilated to the category of science/mathematics/technology, and thus acquire some of the traditional qualities of differentiated interest among boys and girls. Findings from several research projects are reported which point to patterns of difference in educational settings. It is argued that sex differences emerge in relation to the functions computers serve and the organization of learning settings of which they are a part.
The long-term clinical course of patients with cutaneous melanoma.

Background The clinical course of cutaneous melanoma is associated with pathologic and clinical factors, such as thickness, ulceration, and location of tumor and gender of the patient. The authors used a parametric survival model that incorporated a cured fraction of patients to translate these factors into specific estimates of long-term outcome. Methods A cohort study was conducted of 5837 patients who were treated for localized cutaneous melanoma between 1978 and 1990 at the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. Of these, 495 patients were excluded because the survival status or one or more of the prognostic factors was unknown. Maximum follow-up was 22 years. The primary outcome measures examined were cured fraction (probability of cure), median tumor specific survival (i.e., median time to death from tumor), and the probability of tumor-related survival at fixed intervals after treatment. Results For an example of a class of patients with a relatively good prognosis, consider women with nonulcerated lesions measuring 0.5 mm thick on an extremity. The probability of cure (+/- standard error) for these patients was estimated at 80.8% +/- 2.0%, and the median tumor specific survival was 10.0 years +/- 0.8 years. This suggests that, in these patients, half of the deaths from melanoma will occur more than 10 years after treatment, barring death from other causes. Conversely, men with ulcerated lesions measuring 8.00 mm thick on the trunk have a relatively poor prognosis. The probability of cure for these patients was 16.8% +/- 2.4%, and the median tumor specific survival was 2.7 years +/- 0.2 years. Despite this poor initial prognosis, the conditional probability of cure increased to 90%; after 15 years of recurrence free survival. Conclusions Parametric statistical analysis provides quantitative measures of long-term survival. These measures show that late recurrence-longer than a decade after treatment-is to be expected in a significant portion of patients, although the probability of cure increases with progressively longer recurrence free survival.
The ratchet, price sensitivity, and assortment plan

Abstract The performance of the USSR economy is seriously damaged by the proclivity of enterprises to restrict output and to violate their assortment plan. This note shows that when managers of multiproduct enterprises successfully restrict output, they thereby also increase the influence of output prices on their selection of the relative levels of production of the various goods. If Soviet prices are irrational in that they do not reflect relative scarcities, the increased influence of output prices on this set of managerial decisions induces socially dysfunctional decisions. Moreover, the restriction of output may cause enterprises to violate their assortment plan. The analysis focuses on the two features of the incentive system that induce managers to restrict output and abstracts away from other considerations.
Second Language Socialization Through Team Interaction Among Electrical and Computer Engineering Students

This article, based on a longitudinal, ethnographic study among engineering students, examines the interactional processes surrounding second language (L2) socialization. L2 socialization perspectives argue that the cognitive and the social are interconnected, and that learning an L2 is a process of coming to understand socially constructed meaning distinctions. Recent studies examining L2 socialization have demonstrated that L2 instruction, or L2 instruction in combination with participation in particular speech communities, serves to socialize nonnative speakers into the community's speech norms. This study, with its focus on naturalistic L2 socialization, demonstrates that particular interactional processes define expert, socialized participants, and that particular interactional processes work to socialize novice participants in the electrical and computer engineering team meeting. The study ultimately demonstrates that L2 soci
Ribonucleic acid polymerase activity in extended and contracted chromosomes.

VARIOUS reports have appeared in the literature concerning the absence of RNA synthesis in metaphase cells. An explanation commonly given is that the condensed or compacted state of chromosomes prohibits DNA transscription1. This explanation is supported by evidence that regions of condensed chromatin in an interphase nucleus are sites of minimal RNA synthesis2. We wish to report some results of recent studies on RNA metabolism during the meiotic cycle which provide additional evidence on the relationship between the physical state of the chromosomes and RNA synthesis. Two features of meiosis are relevant to this report: (1) Cells in early prophase of meiosis (leptotene) synthesize RNA at a much higher rate than those at metaphase3. Indeed, it is probable that no RNA is synthesized during metaphase. (2) At leptotene, chromosomes are in their most extended form; at metaphase, they are in their most contracted form. The biochemical and cytological data are thus consistent with the view that the capacities of chromosomes to transcribe DNA into RNA are inversely related to their degree of condensation. We addressed ourselves to the question of whether in vitro studies of isolated nuclei and chromosomes could yield information on the respective roles of RNA polymerase and template availability in accounting for established observations. Meiotic cells obtained from anthers of Tulipa gesneriana were used in these experiments.
Cerebral and somatic near-infrared spectroscopy in normal newborns

Abstract Purpose Near-infrared spectroscopy has been used increasingly in the pediatric population as a continuous, noninvasive indicator of trends in organ perfusion and oxygenation. We studied healthy newborn babies to establish normal values during rest and feeding. Methods Forty-four term newborns were recruited. Near-infrared spectroscopy probes were placed on the forehead and over the right kidney to record cerebral (rSO 2 C) and renal-somatic (rSO 2 R) regional oxyhemoglobin saturation. Readings were collected continuously for 2 to 8 hours, spanning 1 to 3 feeding episodes. Results Data were available on 26 patients, with an average age of 44 ± 28 hours. The overall average rSO 2 C was 77.9% ± 8.5%, rSO 2 R was 86.8% ± 8.1%, and ΔrSO 2 RC (somatic-cerebral rSO 2 difference) was 8.9% ± 9.4%. During feeding, rSO 2 C was minimally decreased (78.6% ± 8.4% versus 78.0% ± 9.0%, P = .023), rSO 2 R did not change (87.0% ± 8.1% versus 87.3% ± 8.0%, P = .31), and ΔrSO 2 RC was minimally increased (8.5% ± 9.5% versus 9.2% ± 9.1%, P = .014). Over the first 120 hours after birth, average rSO 2 C decreased ( P 2 R remained relatively unchanged. Conclusions Clinical utility of near-infrared spectroscopy was partly limited by lack of normative data. These data demonstrate that regional oxygen extraction is greater across cerebral than across renal-somatic beds in normal newborns. Healthy newborns do not have clinically significant changes in organ oxygenation with feeding.
Magnetic and structural effects of partial Ce substitution in Y b14MnSb11

Single crystals of Y b14−xCexMnSb11 were grown from tin metal as a flux solvent with a maximum Ce incorporation of 0.6. The phases with x ∼ 0.1–0.6 crystallize in the tetragonal Ca14AlSb11 structure type with I41/acd space group. In this structure type, there are 4 crystallographically unique Yb sites and the structure can be described according to the Zintl concept as containing 14Y b2+ + [MnSb4]9− + [Sb3]7− + 4Sb3−. For x > 0.3, Ce is incorporated on specific Yb sites in the structure as a function of x, initially at x = 0.3 on the Yb(2) site followed by Yb(4) at higher values of x. These sites have the largest volume as indicated by Hirshfeld surface analysis of chemical bonding. As Ce content is increased, the ferromagnetic ordering temperatures decrease and effective paramagnetic moments increase. The magnetic ordering temperatures decrease from the undoped TC of 50 K until x ∼ 0.4, where the lowest TC of 39 K is reached. As the additional electron introduced by Ce3+ fills the hole associated with [M...
Endogenous interferon α/β produced by Kupffer cells inhibits interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor α production and interleukin-2-induced activation of nonparenchymal liver cells

We have previously reported liver-specific interferon (IFN) α/β production by murine Kupffer cells that was not observed with other tissue macrophages incubated in the absence of stimulators such as IFNγ or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Consequently, while interleukin-2 (IL-2) alone induced pronounced lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) activity from splenocytes, combination of anti-IFNα/β antibody with IL-2 was required to generate significant LAK activity from nonparenchymal liver cells. This endogenous IFNα/β production by Kupffer cells was not induced by LPS because (a) addition of polymyxin B did not abolish the positive effects of anti-IFNα/β antibody on nonparenchymal liver cells, and (b) similar results were obtained when comparing the responses of LPS-responsive C3HeB/FeJ and LPS-hyporesponsive C3H/HeJ mice. The possibility of hepatotropic infection was also ruled out in that anti-IFNα/β antibody enhanced hepatic but not splenic LAK cell induction in vitro in both conventional and germfree C3H/HeN mice. IFNα/β played an autoregulatory role by down-regulating the production of IL-1 and tumor necrosis factor α by Kupffer cells. However, the augmenting effect of anti-IFNα/β antibody on LAK induction from non-parenchymal liver cells was not mediated through an increase in the level of either IL-1 or TNFα, as specific antisera against either cytokine did not abrogate this positive effect. Finally, flow-cytometry analysis showed that IFNα/β significantly diminished the expression of IL-2 receptor α chain, indicating an inhibition of LAK cell generation at a relatively early stage of induction.
Uniformly adaptive estimation for models with arma errors

A semiparametric estimator based on an unknown density isuniformly adaptive if the expected loss of the estimator converges to the asymptotic expected loss of the maximum liklihood estimator based on teh true density (MLE), and if convergence does not depend on either the parameter values or the form of the unknown density. Without uniform adaptivity, the asymptotic expected loss of the MLE need not approximate the expected loss of a semiparametric estimator for any finite sample I show that a two step semiparametric estimator is uniformly adaptive for the parameters of nonlinear regression models with autoregressive moving average errors.
ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES AND THE FREE WILL DEFENCE

The free will defence attempts to show that belief in an omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient God may be rational, despite the existence of evil. At the heart of the free will defence is the claim that it may be impossible, even for an omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient God, to bring about certain goods without the accompanying inevitability, or at least overwhelming probability, of evil. The good in question is the existence of free agents, in particular, agents who are sometimes free with respect to morally significant actions and who are thereby responsible, at least in part, for those actions and the personal character which is a function of and exhibited in those actions. The free will defender contends that if an agent is to be truly responsible for her actions, then she must be free to bring about both good and evil, and God cannot be blamed if such agents choose to bring about the latter rather than the former.
The ventilatory response to carbon dioxide in high risk infants.

Abstract Purpose: To examine the ventilatory response to inspired carbon dioxide in infants considered to be at risk for sudden infant death syndrome or apnea. Design: Clinical data measurement. Setting: Infant apnea evaluation program of a university division of neonatology. Patients: Fifty nine infants were full term characterized by the following diagnoses; siblings of infants who had died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) ( n = 7), apparent life threatening event (ALTE) ( n = 24), apnea/cyanosis in the newborn nursery ( n = 21), and controls [7]. Sixty-nine infants were preterm and consisted of patients suffering from idiopathic apnea ( n = 61), and bronchopulmonary dysplasia ( n = 8). Measurements: The ventilatory response to carbon dioxide was measured with a computerized waveform analyzer. Main results: Among full term infants no significant differences in the ventilatory slope in response to CO 2 was seen. The range of mean slope was 19.4 ± 7.6 in siblings of SIDS and 36 ± 17 in control infants. Greater number of sibling of SIDS had slopes less than 20 ml/kg/min/mmHg in comparison to control infants. Sibling of SIDS had less increase in minute ventilation and inspiratory flow in response to CO 2 administration in comparison to control infants. Preterm infants had similar slopes with a mean of 33 ml/kg/min/mmHg in infants with idiopathic apnea and 28 ml/kg/min/mmHg in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Conclusions: The large intragroup variability in the ventilatory response to inspired CO 2 , confirming previously reported data, compromises the benefit of this test. Thus, ventilatory response to CO 2 administration is not useful in unselected patients at risk of SIDS or apnea.
Approximate depth of field effects using few samples per pixel

We present a method for rendering depth of field (DoF) effects in a ray-tracing based rendering pipeline using very few samples (typically two or three) per pixel, with the ability to refocus at arbitrary depths at a given view point without gathering more samples. To do so, we treat each sample as a proxy for possible nearby samples and calculate its contributions to the final image with a splat-and-gather scheme. The radiance for each pixel in the output image is then obtained via compositing all contributing samples. We optimize the pipeline using mipmap-like techniques so that the running time is independent of the amount of focal blur in the image. Our method approximates the underlying physical image formation process and thus avoids many of the artifacts of other approximation algorithms. With very low budget it provides satisfactory DoF rendering for most purposes, and a quick preview of DoF effects for applications demanding high rendering quality.
Smooth solutions to a quasi-linear system of diffusion equations for a certain population model☆

Abstract : The system of diffusion equations proposed by Kawasaki, Shigesada and Teramoto describes a population model of two competing species with self- and cross-population pressures. The densities of the two species are denoted by u and v. In this paper the author studies the initial-boundary value problem associated with (*). The Neumann boundary condition (***) corresponds to the case where the flux is zero at the boundary. Many investigators have considered nonlinear diffusion systems arising from various physical and biological problems. These equations, however, have a special structure: the highest order derivatives are not coupled or, at least, the coefficient matrix for the highest order derivatives is positive definite. This is not the case for the system (*) and hence, some of the techniques which are effective for the system are no longer applicable to our case. Nevertheless, we can still use Sobolevski's method (see Reference 2) to establish the local existence of solutions. Under the special assumption c1 = c2 in (*), we can also prove the global existence of solutions by energy estimates. The unusual structure of (*) seems to make it difficult to settle the question of asymptotic stability of solutions.
A Preliminary Numerical Study on the Effect of High Freestream Turbulence on Anti-Vortex Film Cooling Design at High Blowing Ratio

Researchers at NASA Glenn Research Center have developed and investigated a novel film cooling design, the anti-vortex hole (AVH), which has been shown to cancel or counter the vorticity generated by conventional holes and increase film effectiveness at high blowing ratios and low turbulence levels. This paper presents preliminary CFD results on the film effectiveness and net heat flux reduction at high blowing ratio and elevated freestream turbulence levels for the adjacent AVH. Baseline cases at low turbulence levels of 5% intensity and length scale of Λx /dm = 1 with a nominal blowing ratio of 2 and a density ratios of 1 and 2 were compared to previous results reported by Heidmann [1]. Higher freestream turbulence cases were investigated with a turbulence intensity and length scale of 10% and Λx /dm = 1 and 3, respectively. Results showed that higher freestream turbulence improves adiabatic effectiveness for the AVH design.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Effect of inorganic and organic ligands on the bioavailability of methylmercury as determined by using a mer-lux bioreporter.

A mer-lux bioreporter was constructed to assess the bioavailability of methylmercury [CH3Hg(II)] in Escherichia coli. The bioreporter was shown to be sensitive, with a detection limit of 2.5 nM CH3Hg(II), and was used to investigate the effects of chlorides, humic acids, and thiols on the bioavailability of CH3Hg(II) in E. coli. It was found that increasing the concentration of chlorides resulted in an increase in CH3Hg(II) bioavailability, suggesting that there was passive diffusion of the neutral complex (CH3HgCl0). Humic acids were found to reduce the bioavailability of CH3Hg(II) in varying degrees. Complexation with cysteine resulted in increased bioavailability of CH3Hg(II), while assays with equivalent concentrations of methionine and leucine had little or no effect on bioavailability. The mechanism of uptake of the mercurial-cysteine complexes is likely not passive diffusion but could result from the activities of a cysteine transport system. The bioavailability of CH3Hg(II) decreased with increasing glutathione concentrations.
Transfer of heat from bubbles in a fluidised bed

Abstract Experimental measurements of heat transfer from a gas-fluidised bed to a chain of gas bubbles are presented. Glass beads were fluidised in a vertical cylinder at the minimum velocity by heated air while a cold air stream was introduced at the center of the base plate from a single orifice. Steady-state dense-phase and bubble temperatures were measured with bare thermocouples immersed in the bed. The data were analysed with a bubble and dense-phase energy balance assuming equilibrium between gas and solids in the dense phase. Heat transfer coefficients for bubbles are presented versus flow rate with particle size as a parameter. The concept of a bubble model for heat transfer is compared to the classical plug flow model by which all previous data were analysed. The notion that bubble to dense-bed heat-transfer resistance is limiting while local equilibrium occurs in the dense bed is consistent with heat transfer observations and bubble fluid mechanics using no adjustable parameters.
Free Energy Relationships in the Electrical Double Layer Over Single Layer Graphene

Fluid/solid interfaces containing single-layer graphene are important in the areas of chemistry, physics, biology, and materials science, yet this environment is difficult to access with experimental methods, especially under flow conditions and in a label-free manner. Herein, we demonstrate the use of second harmonic generation to quantify the interfacial free energy at the fused silica/single-layer graphene/water interface at pH 7 and under conditions of flowing aqueous electrolyte solutions ranging in NaCl concentrations from 10–4 to 10–1 M. Our analysis reveals that single-layer graphene reduces the interfacial free energy density of the fused silica/water interface by a factor of up to 7, which is substantial given that many interfacial processes, including those that are electrochemical in nature, are exponentially sensitive to interfacial free energy density.
ACCURATE MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES FOR NANOSECOND DELAYS AND TIME SCALE CALIBRATION.

Abstract This paper describes the practical use of two independent techniques which will measure nanosecond delays to an accuracy within 10 psec. The second technique is also useful for TPHC time scale calibrations.
GRIN IV: gradient-index optical imaging systems.

The Fourth International Meeting on Gradient-Index Optical Imaging Systems was held in Kobe, Japan, on 4–5 July 1983. A summary of that meeting and the papers published in this issue (1 June 1984) are described.
Nonclassical helical states and diverse biological functions of sequential polypeptides

Sequential polypeptides result in new polypeptide conformations with diverse biological roles. Collagen, a polytripeptide, is a familiar and unique structural protein: gramicidin A, an L-D polydipeptide, forms cation selective channels in biomembranes; a synthetic polytripeptide forms cation-selective voltage-dependent channels in lipid bilayers; the polypentapeptide of tropoelastin is a biological elastomer; and the pohtelra- and polyhexapeptides of tropoelastin can be ascribed specific functional roles. From these few examples one recognizes the almost limitless potential of studies on polysequential peptides. In the description of new helical conformations derived from repeating peptide sequences, the concept of cyclic conformations with linear conformational correlates is useful particularly in derivation, or even design, of single-stranded helical structures with a large number of residues per turn. The repeating peptide becomes a repeating conformational unit that can repeat on a helix axis. A common repeating conformational feature is the β turn, and helical repetitions of conformational units in which the β turn is the dominant conformational feature are designated β spirals.
The orness measures for two compound quasi-arithmetic mean aggregation operators

The paper first summarizes the orness measures and their common characteristics of some averaging operators: the quasi-arithmetic mean, the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator, the regular increasing monotone (RIM) quantifier and the weighted function average operator, respectively. Then it focuses on the aggregation properties and operator determination methods for two kinds of quasi-arithmetic mean-based compound aggregation operators: the quasi-OWA (ordered weighted averaging) operator and the Bajraktarevic mean. The former is the combination of the quasi-arithmetic mean and the OWA operator, while the latter is the combination of the quasi-arithmetic mean and the weighted function average operator. Two quasi-OWA operator forms are given, where the OWA operator is assigned directly or generated from a RIM (regular increasing monotone) quantifier indirectly. The orness indexes to reflect the or-like level of the quasi-OWA operator and Bajraktarevic mean are proposed. With generating function techniques, the properties of the quasi-OWA operator and Bajraktarevic mean are discussed to show the rationality of these orness definitions. Based on these properties, two families of parameterized quasi-OWA operator and Bajraktarevic mean with exponential and power function generators are proposed and compared. It shows that the method of this paper can also be applied to other function-based aggregation operators.
Transport coefficients in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions

In the expansion of matter following an ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collision, entropy is produced through viscous dissipation and thermal conduction. We derive expressions, in terms of scattering rates, for the thermal conductivities and coefficients of viscosity pertaining to matter in both the deconfined and hadronic phases, in the collision-time approximation. Variational calculations of the collision times are then performed for the hadronic (pion) phase. Dissipative effects in the pion fluid are then estimated.
A strategy for detecting extreme eigenvalues bounding gaps in the discrete spectrum of self-adjoint operators

For a self-adjoint linear operator with a discrete spectrum or a Hermitian matrix, the ''extreme'' eigenvalues define the boundaries of clusters in the spectrum of real eigenvalues. The outer extreme ones are the largest and the smallest eigenvalues. If there are extended intervals in the spectrum in which no eigenvalues are present, the eigenvalues bounding these gaps are the inner extreme eigenvalues. We will describe a procedure for detecting the extreme eigenvalues that relies on the relationship between the acceleration rate of polynomial acceleration iteration and the norm of the matrix via the spectral theorem, applicable to normal matrices. The strategy makes use of the fast growth rate of Chebyshev polynomials to distinguish ranges in the spectrum of the matrix which are devoid of eigenvalues. The method is numerically stable with regard to the dimension of the matrix problem and is thus capable of handling matrices of large dimension. The overall computational cost is quadratic in the size of a dense matrix; linear in the size of a sparse matrix. We verify computationally that the algorithm is accurate and efficient, even on large matrices.
Goals of therapy on psychiatric inpatient units

This paper studies goal settings in in-patient psychiatric units from the organizational behavior perspective. The Goal Profile is a questionnaire for assessing each ward's atmosphere on goals, the amount of agreement on goals between patients, staff, and between the two groups. Ten wards were studied. There is no significant correlation between patient goals and staff goals on any ward studied. The amount of general agreement of goals differs from ward to ward. On retest, staff goals on each unit remained more constant than patient goals. Goal agreement or disagreement is not related to general satisfaction with the ward. The implications of a social unit composed of two demarcated groups working for different goals are discussed.
Photoacoustic tomography with a virtual point detector

We devise and explore a ring-shaped acoustic detector associated with a virtual point detector concept for photoacoustic tomography. The center of the ring transducer scans a circle around the object to be imaged and then is treated as an omni-directional virtual point detector in photoacoustic image reconstruction. The virtual point detector introduces a space-invariant point spread function in photoacoustic image reconstruction and thus improves the tangential resolution, which is due to the finite aperture. Compared with a real point detector, the virtual point detector can provide similar spatial resolution but better SNR. Compared with a real finite-aperture detector, the virtual point detector can provide similar SNR but better spatial resolution. In addition, because of its virtual feature, the virtual point detector can be placed very close to and even inside of a tissue sample to locally scan a region of interest, which yields good SNR and spatial resolution.