cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sound Attenuation in Heterogeneous Porous Media Due to Viscous Effects

Volume averaging theory (VAT) is used to develop acoustic governing equations and consistent closure for one dimensional wave propagation in a heterogeneous porous media. These equations are based on continuum mechanics and scaled to delineate the parameters governing wave propagation in the media. The parameters can be evaluated for different media and be the basis for calculation of the performance of a given porous media. Comparison with experimental data are made and the comparison is very good. More general closure parameters will require experimental measurement to give appropriate models of non-homogeneous, media.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
"Apple peel" syndrome. A radiological study.

Three cases of “apple peel” syndrome are reported. The radiological features of this abnormality are discussed, and the possibility of pre-operative diagnosis stressed.
Endothelial Injury in Transgenic (mRen-2)27 Hypertensive Rats

Abstract Transgenic [(mRen-2)27] rats develop severe hypertension as the result of transfection with the mouse Ren-2 gene. This study tested the hypothesis that hypertensive [(mRen-2)27] rats have increased endothelial dysfunction by examining the extent of vascular endothelial cell injury and turnover within the thoracic aorta of age-matched female transgene positive [Tg(+)] and transgene negative [Tg(−)] littermates. Transgenic hypertensive rats had arterial pressures significantly higher than Tg(−) animals, but no differences in heart rate or body weight. The extent of endothelial cell injury was estimated in Hautchen preparations of thoracic aorta endothelium by counting cells immunostained for the presence of cytoplasmic immunoglobulin G (IgG) at sites with or without intercostal artery branches. Both Tg(+) and Tg(−) littermates had a greater percentage of injured endothelial cells at branch sites than at nonbranch aorta (P
Multi-hop probing asymptotics in available bandwidth estimation: stochastic analysis

This paper analyzes the asymptotic behavior of packet-train probing over a multi-hop network path P carrying arbitrarily routed bursty cross-traffic flows. We examine the statistical mean of the packet-train output dispersions and its relationship to the input dispersion. We call this relationship the response curve of path P. We show that the real response curve Z is tightly lower-bounded by its multi-hop fluid counterpart F, obtained when every cross-traffic flow on P is hypothetically replaced with a constant-rate fluid flow of the same average intensity and routing pattern. The real curve Z asymptotically approaches its fluid counterpart F as probing packet size or packet train length increases. Most existing measurement techniques are based upon the single-hop fluid curve S associated with the bottleneck link in P. We note that the curve S coincides with F in a certain large-dispersion input range, but falls below F in the remaining small-dispersion input ranges. As an implication of these findings, we show that bursty cross-traffic in multi-hop paths causes negative bias (asymptotic underestimation) to most existing techniques. This bias can be mitigated by reducing the deviation of Z from S using large packet size or long packet-trains. However, the bias is not completely removable for the techniques that use the portion of S that falls below F.
Distinct Alkaline Phosphatase in Serum of Patients with Lymphatic Leukemia and Infectious Mononucleosis

A distinct alkaline phosphatase (phosphatase N) was demonstrated in the serum of patients with acute lymphatic leukemia, chronic lymphatic leukemia, and infectious mononucleosis. This enzyme closely resembles that extracted from the thymus of mice with lymphoma or lymphatic leukemia, both in its electro-phoretic mobility and its substrate specificity. The phosphatase N activity was related to the clinical state of patients with lymphatic leukemia and disappeared with recovery from infectious mnononucleosis.
The effect of antral acidification on serum gastrin levels in neonatal pigs

Abstract The cause of the physiologic hypochlorhydria and hypergastrinemia of the newborn is not understood. The effect of antral acidification on basal serum gastrin was studied in 32 anesthetized Landrace piglets divided into four groups of eight animals each: Group A, 1 to 7 days old; Group B, 8 to 15 days old; Group C, 16 to 24 days old; and Group D, 25 to 48 days old. After a 2-hr fast, halothane anesthesia was administered. Inflow and outflow cannulae were inserted into the gastric lumen to create an intact isolated gastric antrum. HCl in saline (pH 2.5) was infused (10 cc/min) for 15 min and drained by continuous suction. The effluent was confirmed to be pH 2.5. Portal venous blood samples were obtained at basal levels and at 5, 10, and 15 min and assayed for gastrin. All groups had markedly elevated serum gastrin levels, as compared to normal adult values, in the basal state. Basal gastrin levels declined with increasing age to approach adult values by 7 weeks. Following antral acidification in Groups A, B, and C, there was a significant reduction in serum gastrin. All suppressed values remained significantly higher than adult basal, however. There was no significant change in gastrin levels in Group D with acidification. These data demonstrate a wide variability of basal gastrin levels in neonatal pigs which begin to approach adult values at 7 weeks of age. Nonetheless, significant hypergastrinemia was present in all groups studied. Antral acidification results in significant suppression of gastrin in animals 3 weeks of age or younger. The physiologic hypochlorhydria of the newborn may be responsible for a portion, but not all, of the hypergastrinemia of the neonate.
Prospects for the Mott Transition Field Effect Transistor

We have been investigating the potential for a channel transistor which utilizes a perovskite oxide capable of undergoing the Mott metal-insulator transition as the channel material. Our experiments have identified three limitations to the performance of the oxide devices: contact resistance to the channel, mobility limitations due to polycrystalline channels, and inadequate field induced surface charge density. In this paper we review progress we have made in oxide electrodes and in improving channel growth conditions which have mitigated the limitations due to contact resistance and polycrystalline channels. We conclude with an outline of our approach to improving the field induced surface charge density.
The Future of Family Engagement in Residential Care Settings

In Collaboration with The Residential Care Consortium Residential programs for children and youth are increasingly implementing engagement strategies to promote family-centered and family-driven mo...
The effect of compounding on the conductive properties of EMI shielding compounds

Conductive fillers are currently being evaluated for their ability to produce conductive plastic parts which shield electromagnetic interference (EMI). These fillers all have a geometrical characteristic to them which makes them susceptible to damage during compounding and processing. In this paper the effects of compounding and processing on the electrical properties of compounds produced from a variety of conductive fillers are presented. These fillers include carbon black, carbon fibers, aluminum-coated glass fibers, stainless steel fibers, and aluminum flakes. Thermoplastic polymers were used as matrices in the preparation of the conductive compounds. This study shows that a balance must be reached between dispersive mixing requirements and minimizing damage to the filler particles.
Modeling the Runtime Integrity of Cloud Servers: A Scoped Invariant Perspective

One of the underpinnings of Cloud Computing security is the runtime integrity of individual Cloud servers. Due to the on-going discovery of runtime software vulnerabilities like buffer overflows, it is critical to be able to gauge the integrity of a Cloud server as it operates. In this paper, we propose scoped invariants as a primitive for analyzing the software system for its integrity properties. We report our experience with the modeling and detection of scoped invariants. The Xen Virtual Machine Manager is used for a case study. Our research detects a set of essential scoped invariants that are critical to the runtime integrity of Xen. One such property, that the addressable memory limit of a guest OS must not include Xen’s code and data, is indispensable for Xen’s guest isolation mechanism. The violation of this property demonstrates that the attacker only needs to modify a single byte in the Global Descriptor Table to achieve his goal.
Metamorphic graded bandgap InGaAs-InGaAlAs-InAlAs double heterojunction p-i-I-n photodiodes

High-speed metamorphic double heterojunction photodiodes were fabricated on GaAs substrates for long-wavelength optical fiber communications. The high quality linearly graded quaternary InGaAlAs metamorphic buffer layer made possible the growth of excellent InGaAs-InGaAlAs-InAlAs heterostructures on GaAs substrates. The use of a novel double heterostructure employing an InGaAlAs optical impedance matching layer, a chirped InGaAs-InAlAs superlattice graded bandgap layer (SL-GBL), and a large bandgap i-InAlAs drift region enabled photodiodes to achieve a low dark current of 500 pA, a responsivity of 0.6 A/W, and a -3 dB bandwidth of 38 GHz at -5 V reverse bias for 1.55 /spl mu/m light. The effect of accumulated charges at the InGaAs-InAlAs heterointerface was examined through a comparison of the dark currents of InGaAs-InAlAs and InGaAs-InP abrupt single heterojunction photodiodes; to photodiodes with chirped InGaAs-InAlAs SL-GBLs. The charge accumulation effects observed in abrupt heterojunction devices were suppressed by including a chirped InGaAs-InAlAs SL-GBL between the InGaAs absorption layer and InAlAs drift layer. The effect of passivation techniques was evaluated by comparing dark currents of unpassivated photodiodes and photodiodes passivated with either polyimide or SiN/sub x/. The enhancement of photodiode bandwidth through the inclusion of a transparent large bandgap I-InAlAs drift region was verified by comparing the bandwidths of the P-i-I-N photodiodes that have I-InAlAs between i-InGaAs photoabsorption layer and N/sup +/ InAlAs cathode to conventional P-i-N photodiodes without a drift region.
Pure Exchange Equilibrium of Dynamic Economic Models.

This paper studies competitive equilibrium over time of a one good model in which the agents are members of a population which grows at a constant rate. Each agent lives for n periods and in the i-th period of his life receives an endowment of ei units of goods. Goods can neither be produced nor stored. The model is thus the n-period generalization of the two- and three-period models studied by Samuelson in [4]. We seek to ascertain the structure of the time paths of consumption in these models. Our results can be summarized roughly as follows: In general, there will exist two kinds of steady state paths, (i) golden rule paths in which the rate of interest equals the growth rate of population and (ii) “balanced” paths in which the aggregate assets or indebtedness of the society as a whole is zero (a fundamental fact about dynamic models is that it is possible for aggregate debt not to equal aggregate credit as it must in the static case). A model is termed classical if in the golden rule state aggregate assets are negative (or debt positive) and Samuelson (following [4]) in the opposite case. It is conjectured that the golden rule program is globally stable in the classical case and the balanced program is stable in the Samuelson case. This is established for the special case n = 2.
Automatic Elicitation System of Network Service Specifications from a Set of Rules

Proposals have been made to describe services programs in a rule-based language, because it is easier to describe programs in a rule-based language than a procedural language. But, it is difficult to find bugs in programs described in a rule-based language. To solve the problem and to make it easier for service developers to find bugs in programs, service specifications can be elicited from programs described in a rule-based language. This paper proposes a system for automatically eliciting state transition diagrams based on an enhanced state transition model from a set of rules.
Online zealotry: la France du peuple virtuel

The Front National, a far-Right French political party which had long been ostracized and criticized by the mainstream media, was among the first to adopt a presence on the web as a means to publicize its goals. This article outlines the party’s growth, disaffection with traditional media and its online strategy using discursive analysis of the web site over five years. The article analyzes the internet as a site of cultural negotiation between the national discourse governed by dominant political parties and the more marginalized Front National. France, a centralized government, anxious about the cultural imperialism of English, at first resisted the introduction of the internet, but later promoted it to ensure the presence of French content. The Front National contested the more mainstream notions of French citizenship and nationhood and employed the internet as a catalyst and outlet for its ‘counter-knowledge’.
A Further Test of the Model Minority Thesis: Japanese Americans in a Sunbelt State

This article examines data on Japanese Americans in Arizona in terms of the model minority thesis and addresses the question of whether or not this image is a myth. Occupation and income return from education, based on the 1980 census data, are examined for Japanese American males in Arizona. The findings suggest that the model minority thesis does not apply for the Japanese Americans in Arizona; for example, white males are more than two times as likely to be in managerial positions as Japanese American males, and the latter receive less return from education than the former. It is suggested that further studies explore in depth cultural and structural factors in relation to mobility, income, and occupation for Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans.
China's human capital investment

This paper discusses human capital investment in China. China’s current policies favor physical capital investment over schooling and urban human capital investment over rural human capital investment. Current migration policies discriminate against children of migrants. A more balanced investment strategy across rural and urban regions and types of capital is appropriate. Private funding for education through tuition and fees should be encouraged and can supplement government funding and make schools more financially self-sufficient. However, if this policy is enacted, capital markets for financing education need to be developed to avoid discouraging students from poor families from attending school.
A low voltage to high voltage level shifter circuit for MEMS application

High voltage (>15 V) drivers are integrated into the VLSI chip for MEMS application with the development of SOC technology. The pre-driver circuit, which generates the pull-up and pull-down signal, is mainly a voltage level shifter circuit. It converts the low voltage control signal to high voltage control signal. Conventional voltage level shifter circuit using high voltage NMOS and high voltage PMOS operates well on 0.8 /spl mu/m process. However, with the continuous process shrinking, conventional voltage level shifter circuit is not suitable for high voltage power supply due to the reduced breakdown voltage of the high voltage devices. Although stacked high voltage devices can be applied to solve this issue, the circuit will have DC leakage current and the internal high voltage swing problem. This paper describes a new low voltage to high voltage converter circuit. By using all the low voltage devices, the DC leakage current and the high voltage swing node have been eliminated. This circuit is fabricated in 0.35 SOI process. Both simulation and test results validate its operations for controlling high voltage drivers.
More than blood, a novel gene required for mammalian postimplantation development.

More than blood (Mtb) is a novel gene that is widely expressed in mouse embryos prior to gastrulation but is subsequently restricted to specific tissues, including the developing central nervous system and hematopoietic organs. Since MTB is highly expressed in the fetal liver and developing thymus, we predicted that MTB would be required for hematopoiesis and that embryos deficient in MTB would die of anemia. Surprisingly, embryos with a targeted disruption of Mtb died prior to the initiation of blood cell development, immediately following implantation. This lethality is due to a defect in expansion of the inner cell mass (ICM), as Mtb−/− blastocysts failed to exhibit outgrowth of the ICM, both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, Mtb−/− blastocysts exhibited a higher frequency of apoptotic cells than wild-type or heterozygous blastocysts. These findings demonstrate that Mtb is a novel gene that is essential for early embryonic development.
Stem cells and the origin and propagation of brain tumors.

In recent years there has been a flood of interest in the relationship between brain tumors and stem cells. Some investigators have focused on the sensitivity of normal stem cells to transformation, others have described phenotypic or functional similarities between tumor cells and stem cells, and still others have suggested that tumors contain a subpopulation of ``cancer stem cells'' that is crucial for tumor maintenance or propagation. Although all these concepts are interesting and provide insight into the origins and properties of brain tumors, the use of similar terms to describe them has led to confusion. The goal of this review is to sort out some of that confusion and highlight what we know and what we have yet to learn.
Designing a 3 GHz, 130 nm, Intel/sup /spl reg// Pentium/sup /spl reg// 4 processor

The design of an IA32 processor fabricated in a state-of-the art 130 nm CMOS process with improved six layers of dual-damascene copper metallization is described. This paper describes the methodology employed to simultaneously achieve high frequency and low power in the Pentium/sup /spl reg// 4 processor, suitable for all segments-server, desktop, and mobile-meeting diverse challenges of performance, power delivery, and dissipation.
Updated systematic review suggests that cranberry juice is not effective at preventing urinary tract infection

Commentary on: Jepson RG, Williams G, Craig JC. Cranberries for preventing urinary tract infections. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012;10:CD001321.[OpenUrl][1][PubMed][2] UTIs are a significant public health challenge with more than 15 million cases in the USA each year, with their treatment accounting for 15% of all community-prescribed antibiotics at a cost of $500 million annually. For decades, cranberry juice and powders have been routinely recommended by healthcare practitioners for the prevention of UTIs. Meta-analyses of the clinical studies … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DCochrane%2Bdatabase%2Bof%2Bsystematic%2Breviews%2B%2528Online%2529%26rft.stitle%253DCochrane%2BDatabase%2BSyst%2BRev%26rft.aulast%253DJepson%26rft.auinit1%253DR.%2BG.%26rft.volume%253D10%26rft.spage%253DCD001321%26rft.epage%253DCD001321%26rft.atitle%253DCranberries%2Bfor%2Bpreventing%2Burinary%2Btract%2Binfections.%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F23076891%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=23076891&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febnurs%2F16%2F4%2F113.atom
Who Benefits from Environmental Regulation? Evidence from the Clean Air Act Amendments

Abstract Using geographically disaggregated data and exploiting an instrumental variable strategy, we show that contrary to conventional wisdom, the benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) were progressive. The CAAA created incentives for local regulators to target the initially dirtiest areas for cleanup, creating heterogeneity in the incidence of air quality improvements that favored lower-income households. Based on house price appreciation, households in the lowest quintile of the income distribution received annual benefits from the program equal to 0.3% of their income on average during the 1990s, over twice as much as those in the highest quintile.
Effect of treated filler on the compatibility of poly(methyl methacrylate) / polystyrene blends

This work describes a new approach for compatibilizing immiscible polymer blends by fillers. The polystyrene - poly(methyl methacrylate) - glass beads is the studied system. The role of the silane-treated and non-treated filler surface on the compatibilization process of this immiscible blend has been evaluated by dynamic mechanical spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy and size exclusion chromatography. The observed changes in morphology are correlated with the enhancement of the interfacial adhesion between polymer/filler and polymer/polymer.
Innocence Abroad: The “American Religion” in Europe

Americans pondering cultural relationships to Europe have always rather enjoyed quoting that splendidly splenetic outburst of rhetorical questions that the Reverend Sydney Smith posed in 1820 in the Edinburgh Review: "In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue? What does the world yet owe to American physicians or surgeons?" As Smith's catalogue continues, it becomes Job-like; or rather, by no accident, like God's questions to poor Job. Where were the Americans, Smith thunders, when we British laid the foundations of modern culture? "Where are their Foxes, their Burkes, their Sheridans?... What new substances have their chemists discovered? What new constellations have been, discovered by [their] telescopes?"1 One must point out, in fairness, that this diatribe arose in answer to an American boastfulness that was something new in the world, as Smith would readily have agreed. But have you ever noticed that this haughty cleric did not even ask about American religion? His list of our failures was long and minute. "Who drinks out of American glasses?... or sleeps in American blankets?" But it simply did not extend to anything so utterly beneath notice as American sermons, theologies, or churches. And though Smith went to his reward (whatever that was) in 1845, his method of dismissing things American assuredly did not die with him, however many young Emersons and Noah Websters and Benjamin Sillimans had by then risen in fury to his challenge. When Friedrich Nippold of Heidelberg published his Handbook of the Most Recent Church History in 1867, he granted the American churches thirteen pages out of 484.2 As for histories of doctrine, American tinkerers in
A Method of Analysis of Symmetrical Four-Port Networks

An analysis of four-arm symmetrical networks such as a branched directional double stub coupler or the hybrid ring (rat race) is presented. The input wave is broken into an even and an odd mode and the vector amplitude out the various arms is computed from the sums or differences of the reflection or transmission coefficients for the two modes. A zero decibel directional coupler is described and its possible use as a duplexer is proposed. The design of multiple stub directional couplers for any degree of coupling is discussed. A method of computing the bandwidth of all these couplers is outlined, and the bandwidth curves, the power out the various arms with respect to frequency of the zero decibel coupler, are computed. A tabulation is made for six different 3 db couplers (even-power split) and their standing wave ratio, evenness of power split and isolation of the fourth arm as a function of frequency assuming perfect performance at the band center.
Solution-Focused Group Therapy for Level 1 Substance Abusers.

The present study compared solution-focused group therapy (SFGT) with a traditional problem-focused treatment for level 1 substance abusers. Outcome research on the effectiveness of solution-focused group therapy is minimal, especially in treating substance abusers. In the present study, clients were measured before and after treatment to determine therapeutic effectiveness. Clients in the solution-focused group significantly improved on both the Beck Depression Inventory and the Outcome Questionnaire. The clients in the comparison group did not improve significantly on either measure. Therapist skill level and adherence to theoretical models were measured in each group to reduce confounding variables.
Checking If There Exists a Monotonic Function That Is Consistent with the Measurements: An Efficient Algorithm

In many problems in science and engineering ranging from astrophysics to geosciences to financial analysis, we know that a physical quantity y depends on the physical quantity x, i.e., y = f(x) for some function f(x), and we want to check whether this dependence is monotonic. Specifically, finitely many measurements of xi and y = f(x) have been made, and we want to check whether the results of these measurements are consistent with the monotonicity of f(x). An efficient parallelizable algorithm is known for solving this problem when the values xi are known precisely, while the values yi are known with interval uncertainty. In this paper, we extend this algorithm to a more general (and more realistic) situation when both xi and yi are known with interval uncertainty.
Minimax description length for signal denoising and optimized representation

Approaches to wavelet-based denoising (or signal enhancement) have generally relied on the assumption of normally distributed perturbations. To relax this assumption, which is often violated in practice, we derive a robust wavelet thresholding technique based on the minimax description length (MMDL) principle. We first determine the least favorable distribution in the /spl epsiv/-contaminated normal family as the member that maximizes the entropy. We show that this distribution, and the best estimate based upon it, namely the maximum-likelihood estimate, together constitute a saddle point. The MMDL approach results in a thresholding scheme that is resistant to heavy tailed noise. We further extend this framework and propose a novel approach to selecting an adapted or best basis (BB) that results in optimal signal reconstruction. Finally, we address the practical case where the underlying signal is known to be bounded, and derive a two-sided thresholding technique that is resistant to outliers and has bounded error.
Measuring Internal Political Efficacy in the 1988 National Election Study.

Political efficacy has been studied extensively since the 1950s, hut analysts have never been fully satisfied with its measurement. After considerable testing, four new questions tapping internal political efficacy were added to the 1988 National Election Study. Our investigation shows that inter-item correlations among these questions indicate high internal consistency, that by both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis the items measure a single concept distinct from external efficacy and political trust, that the measurement model is robust across major subgroups, and that the overall scale is externally valid and provides a good distribution of efficacy scores across the population. Further, the results of an order experiment in the survey suggest that responses are unaffected by mode of presentation. In short, the four new questions constitute the most satisfactory measure of internal political efficacy to date.
Horizontal Gene Transfer is a Significant Driver of Gene Innovation in Dinoflagellates

The dinoflagellates are an evolutionarily and ecologically important group of microbial eukaryotes. Previous work suggests that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is an important source of gene innovation in these organisms. However, dinoflagellate genomes are notoriously large and complex, making genomic investigation of this phenomenon impractical with currently available sequencing technology. Fortunately, de novo transcriptome sequencing and assembly provides an alternative approach for investigating HGT. We sequenced the transcriptome of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense Group IV to investigate how HGT has contributed to gene innovation in this group. Our comprehensive A. tamarense Group IV gene set was compared with those of 16 other eukaryotic genomes. Ancestral gene content reconstruction of ortholog groups shows that A. tamarense Group IV has the largest number of gene families gained (314‐1,563 depending on inference method) relative to all other organisms in the analysis (0‐782). Phylogenomic analysis indicates that genes horizontally acquired from bacteria are a significant proportion of this gene influx, as are genes transferred from other eukaryotes either through HGT or endosymbiosis. The dinoflagellates also display curious cases of gene loss associated with mitochondrial metabolism including the entire Complex I of oxidative phosphorylation. Some of these missing genes have been functionally replaced by bacterial and eukaryotic xenologs. The transcriptome of A. tamarense Group IV lends strong support to a growing body of evidence that dinoflagellate genomes are extraordinarily impacted by HGT.
Biotechnology, Religion, Modern Science and Law: Shaping or Testing the New Modernity? The Curse of Itching Ears

This paper assesses how the modern Church of Rome, while maintaining its anchor in faith, is taking a balanced and-indeed-enlightened approach in dealing with complex challenges presented by the "New Biology." This assessment is undertaken specifically within three contentious issues: evolution; condom use where one partner in a marriage is infected with AIDS; and the transplantation of animal organs into humans. These three issues bring into dramatic focus the question of change and immutability in Church doctrine. As well, these areas demonstrate-clearly-a refreshing openness and willingness of the Church to engage in honest dialogue with the laity. The contrasting attitudes of His Holiness Pope John Paul II and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI regarding the outreach of science and of faith is analyzed and the conclusion reached that an ongoing ethical and compassionate discourse into the vexatious issues of modernity and post modernity is being undertaken within a framework of enlightened reason which underscores the dignity of personhood. And, interestingly, the framework for this discourse is to be found in the work of The Pontifical Academy of Sciences reconstituted by His Holiness Pope Pius XI in 1936.
Smoothing, Big Baths, and Special Items

Using both large-sample tests and a detailed analysis of annual reports, we examine whether the recognition of income from special items is consistent with smoothing and/or big-bath behavior. Consistent with smoothing by firms with large earnings increases and big-bath behavior by firms with large earnings declines, we find that, relative to firms with small earnings changes, firms with large earnings changes on average recognize significantly negative income from special items. This recognition pattern appears to be driven by discretionary, rather than by semi-discretionary or nondiscretionary, items, and by items involving accounting choice rather than by items involving real economic events. Last, we find evidence that the placement of descriptions of special items in the financial statements is used to manage investors' perceptions. Specifically, this placement appears to be used to emphasize the transitory nature of income-decreasing special items and to avoid drawing attention to the transitory nature of income-increasing special items.
Self-emergence of structures in gene expression programming

Data mining tasks are pivotal for the improvement of manufacturing and design processes. However, some of the hidden patterns or relationships among the data are very complex, which cannot be easily detected by traditional data mining techniques. Several example industrial applications include cell phone reliability drop testing, call failure detection, wave filter design, and simulations, etc. Gene Expression Programming (GEP) was recently developed to address this challenge in data analysis and knowledge discovery. Being an evolutionary computation method, GEP distinguishes itself by searching the global optimum through a population of candidate solutions in parallel and being able to produce solutions of any possible form with minimum requirements of pre-knowledge. Although quite flexible, the algorithm still has limited performance with respect to complex problems since structure related information about evolving solutions is overlooked during its execution. This research aims to improve the problem solving ability of the GEP algorithm for complex data mining tasks by preserving and utilizing the self-emergence of structures during its evolutionary process. An incremental approach has been pursued to achieve the proposed research goal, including the investigation of the constant creation methods in GEP, for identifying and promoting good solution structures; the design of a new genotype representation, namely, Prefix Gene Expression Programming (P-GEP), for establishing a solution structure preserving evolutionary process; and the introduction and implementation of self-emergent structures in P-GEP, for speeding up the learning process by reusing some evolved useful structural components and hence decomposing the complexity of the target solutions. Benchmark testing and theoretical analysis have both demonstrated that this line of work successfully assists the evolutionary process in advocating solutions with good functional structures, and finding meaningful building blocks to hierarchically form the final solutions following a faster fitness convergence curve, especially when applied to structurally complex problems. In general, more accurate solutions, higher success rates, and more compact solution structures have been achieved compared to the original GEP algorithm and other traditional methods.
Dictum in alternative entity jurisprudence and the expansion of judicial power in Delaware

The liberal use of dictum by the Delaware courts to address matters unnecessary to the resolution of the disputes with which they are presented is a celebrated facet of the state’s rich corporate law tradition. Indeed, academics, practitioners and jurists alike have praised the judicial practice as a distinctive and invaluable feature of Delaware corporate law — a vital reason for the state’s success in attracting corporate charters. Less noticed, however, is dictum’s role in Delaware’s burgeoning unincorporated alternative entity jurisprudence. As this chapter shows, when one probes Delaware’s limited partnership and limited liability company decisions, one sees the same judicial hallmarks of dictum familiar to the state’s corporate law precedents. This use of dictum, in both the corporate and alternative entity contexts, in turn represents only one facet of a larger legal system that has evolved in Delaware to empower the state bench to act as the chief regulator of all Delaware businesses.
Modeling of aluminum particle ignition behavior in open atmosphere rocket propellant fires

The study of aluminum particle behavior in an open atmosphere propellant burn is of particular interest when considering accident scenarios for rockets carrying high-value payloads. One of the major difficulties in analyzing the thermal environment that a payload will see is the behavior of aluminum particles, which are a component in the propellant formulation. This research activity focuses on the development of models to rationalize observed aluminum behavior beginning with developing an understanding of particle–wall interaction and wall impingement process using STAR-CCM+, a commercial CFD code. Importance of implementation of aluminum evaporation models and radiation heat transfer are discussed.
'Let No Man Put Asunder': South Carolina's Law of Divorce, 1895-1950

From the colonial era until 1950 (with a brief intermission during Reconstruction) South Carolina entirely forbid divorce among its citizens, constitutionally enshrining the prohibition in 1895. With increased mobility at the turn of the twentieth century and the rise of "divorce havens," foreign (or migratory) divorce became an increasing problem that troubled state family law. For a time, it appeared the Supreme Court might favor South Carolina-type restrictions on divorce against full faith and credit in migratory divorce decrees. When that window definitively closed with the Williams v. North Carolina cases in 1948, South Carolina lawyers acted quickly to permit divorce on the state's own terms.
Estimation of cost efficiencies from mergers: application to US radio

This article estimates fixed-cost efficiencies from mergers using a dynamic oligopoly model in which mergers and repositioning of products are endogenous. The inference is based on revealed preference approach selecting cost synergies that rationalize observed merger decisions. The estimates can be used to assess the total welfare impact of retrospective and counterfactual mergers. The framework is applied to estimate cost efficiencies after the 1996 deregulation of U.S. radio industry. Within the period of 1996 to 2006 the cost savings resulting from mergers amount to $1.2 billion per year (equally split across economies of scale and within-format cost synergies).
Rupturas y continuidades entre Poems by a Slave in the Island of Cuba y el portafolio antiesclavista de Domingo del Monte

In 1840, British diplomat Richard Robert Madden published Poems by a Slave in the Island of Cuba, which includes the autobiography and several poems of Cuban Juan Francisco Manzano (1797-1853). The criticism usually refers to the value of the volume because of the inclusion of the autobiography. However, the associations between those pages and the seven poems are typically overlooked, as well as the whole of the works that were originally part of the collection gathered together by the critic Domingo del Monte. This article explores the ideological similarities between Manzano's poems and other texts in this collection of antislavery writings, emphasizing the points of contact between Madden's political project and the interests of the criollos. The testimonial zeal, religious and moral denunciation, and the claims of its suitability to represent the Cuban colonial reality are consistent in Poems by a Slave in the Island of Cuba and in the del Monte’s collection. En 1840, el diplomatico britanico Richard Robert Madden publico Poems by a Slave in the Island of Cuba, el cual incluye la autobiografia y siete poemas del cubano Juan Francisco Manzano (1797-1853). La critica suele referirse al valor de ese volumen por la inclusion de la autobiografia. Sin embargo, queda soslayado el vinculo entre los textos de Manzano que fueron publicados y los que permanecieron ineditos, todos los cuales habian sido reunidos por el critico Domingo del Monte. Este articulo explora los puntos de contacto entre las paginas de Manzano y las restantes obras de esa coleccion de espiritu antiesclavista, subrayando los intereses politicos de Madden y los de intelectuales criollos. El afan testimonial, el enfasis en la religion y la denuncia moral son algunas de las constantes en los textos publicados y en los ineditos del album antiesclavista organizado por del Monte.
An inverse hygrothermal model for multi-zone buildings

The dynamic hygrothermal behaviour of existing buildings can be characterized using data-driven models that are established via system identification techniques. However, most of the time the identification problem is difficult to solve for multi-zone buildings due to high dimensionality of the model and poor excitation in the training data. In addition, building thermal and moisture dynamics are coupled and simultaneous identification of the coupled model is challenging. This paper presents a simplified one-way coupled inverse model to capture the building thermal and moisture dynamics where the impact of space moisture on the building thermal response is neglected. This simplification enables the thermal and moisture sub-models to be estimated sequentially which reduces the computation complexity and improves model identifiability. Both thermal and moisture sub-models adopt a physically based approach in which moisture interactions between different zones are neglected while the inter-zonal thermal inte...
Vaccination for Control of Infectious Diseases in Pacific Salmon

Experimental work done with the immunization against several fish pathogens is described. The agents studied included Flexibacter columnaris, Aeromonas salmonicida, Vibrio anguillarum and Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHNV). At the present, it appears that vaccines prepared against IHNV and bacterins against V. anguillarum show potential for use in aquaculture.
Comparing Impacts of Satellite Data Assimilation and Lateral Boundary Conditions on Regional Model Forecasting: A Case Study of Hurricane Sandy (2012)

AbstractThe impacts of both satellite data assimilation (DA) and lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) on the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) Model forecasts of Hurricane Sandy 2012 were assessed. To investigate the impact of satellite DA, experiments were run with and without satellite data assimilated, as well as with all satellite data but excluding Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Sounder data. To gauge the LBC impact, these experiments were also run with a variety of outer domain (D-1) sizes. The inclusion of satellite DA resulted in analysis fields that better characterized the tropical storm structures including the warm core anomaly and wavenumber-1 asymmetry near the eyewall, and also served to reduce the forecast track errors for Hurricane Sandy. The specific impact of assimilating the GOES Sounder data showed positive impacts on forecasts of the storm minimum sea level pressure. Increasing the D-1 size resulted in increases in the day 4/5 forecast track er...
Polarizable Multipole-Based Force Field for Aromatic Molecules and Nucleobases

Aromatic molecules with π electrons are commonly involved in chemical and biological recognitions. For example, nucleobases play central roles in DNA/RNA structure and their interactions with proteins. The delocalization of the π electrons is responsible for the high polarizability of aromatic molecules. In this work, the AMOEBA force field has been developed and applied to 5 regular nucleobases and 12 aromatic molecules. The permanent electrostatic energy is expressed as atomic multipole interactions between atom pairs, and many-body polarization is accounted for by mutually induced atomic dipoles. We have systematically investigated aromatic ring stacking and aromatic-water interactions for nucleobases and aromatic molecules, as well as base–base hydrogen-bonding pair interactions, all at various distances and orientations. van der Waals parameters were determined by comparison to the quantum mechanical interaction energy of these dimers and fine-tuned using condensed phase simulation. By comparing to q...
WISE: Web-based Interactive Speech Emotion Classification.

The ability to classify emotions from speech is beneficial in a number of domains, including the study of human relationships. However, manual classification of emotions from speech is time consuming. Current technology supports the automatic classification of emotions from speech, but these systems have some limitations. In particular, existing systems are trained with a given data set and cannot adapt to new data nor can they adapt to different users’ notions of emotions. In this study, we introduce WISE, a web-based interactive speech emotion classification system. WISE has a web-based interface that allows users to upload speech data and automatically classify the emotions within this speech using pre-trained models. The user can then adjust the emotion label if the system classification of the emotion does not agree with the user’s perception, and this updated label is then fed back into the system to retrain the models. In this way, WISE enables the emotion classification models to be adapted over time. We evaluate WISE by simulating the user interactions with the system using the LDC dataset, which has known, ground-truth labels. We evaluate the benefit of the user feedback enabled by WISE in situations where manually classifying emotions in a large dataset is costly, yet trained models alone will not be able to accurately classify the data.
Linking dopaminergic reward signals to the development of attentional bias: A positron emission tomographic study

The attention system is shaped by reward history, such that learned reward cues involuntarily draw attention. Recent research has begun to uncover the neural mechanisms by which learned reward cues compete for attention, implicating dopamine (DA) signaling within the dorsal striatum. How these elevated priority signals develop in the brain during the course of learning is less well understood, as is the relationship between value-based attention and the experience of reward during learning. We hypothesized that the magnitude of the striatal DA response to reward during learning contributes to the development of a learned attentional bias towards the cue that predicted it, and examined this hypothesis using positron emission tomography with [11C]raclopride. We measured changes in dopamine release for rewarded versus unrewarded visual search for color-defined targets as indicated by the density and distribution of the available D2/D3 receptors. We then tested for correlations of individual differences in this measure of reward-related DA release to individual differences in the degree to which previously reward-associated but currently task-irrelevant stimuli impair performance in an attention task (i.e., value-driven attentional bias), revealing a significant relationship in the right anterior caudate. The degree to which reward-related DA release was right hemisphere lateralized was also predictive of later attentional bias. Our findings provide support for the hypothesis that value-driven attentional bias can be predicted from reward-related DA release during learning.
Pseudohypophosphatemia associated with high-dose liposomal amphotericin B therapy.

Abstract Background Hypophosphatemia is commonly observed in critically ill patients. Inorganic phosphorus is quantified by spectrophotometric measurement of a phosphomolybdate complex, a method with multiple documented interferents. Our clinical laboratory was contacted to investigate a case of asymptomatic hypophosphatemia in a patient receiving high-dose liposomal amphotericin B therapy (L-AMB). Methods In vitro experiments were performed by spiking L-AMB into residual plasma specimens. Phosphate was measured on the Beckman Coulter AU and Ortho Diagnostics Vitros instruments. Results When measured on the AU, phosphate in plasma with approximately 250 mcg/mL of L-AMB demonstrated a median negative bias of 3.45 mg/dL relative to unspiked samples. In contrast, Vitros phosphate measurements demonstrated excellent agreement for specimens with and without L-AMB (median bias − 0.2 mg/dL). Conclusions High L-AMB concentrations induced a significant negative bias on phosphate measured by the AU assay, but did not affect the Vitros assay. Laboratorians and clinicians should be aware of this phenomenon in patients receiving L-AMB who develop unexplained hypophosphatemia.