cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
c-kit+ Cardiac Stem Cells: Spontaneous Creation or a Perplexing Reality.

c-kit+ Cardiac Progenitors of Neural Crest Origin Hatzistergos et al PNAS. 2015;112(42):13051–13056. One of the lingering controversies in the field of cardiac regenerative medicine has been around the origin of c-kit+ cardiac stem cells in the heart and their contribution toward cardiac homeostasis. A recent study reports that a subpopulation of c-kit+ cardiac progenitors emerges from the cardiac neural crest (CNC) with the capacity to give rise to cardiomyocytes. Contribution of CNC-derived c-kit+ cells to cardiac myocyte development is regulated by bone morphogenetic protein (BMP). However, ex vivo manipulation of CNCc-kit cells reveals efficient transformation to early cardiac progenitors. The idea of the heart as a mitotic organ capable of cardiomyocyte renewal has been the subject of scientific polarization for over a decade. The ensuing years have witnessed a relentless quest to identify the true cardiac stem cell capable of regulating cardiac homeostasis, thereby providing evidence for any mitotic nature of cardiac tissue. Importantly, studies have effectively shown that similar to other organs, the heart contains a small population of resident stem cells responsible for cellular turnover to physiological and pathological demands.1 Ex vivo manipulation of this cardiac stem cell population unequivocally has demonstrated the repair potential of these cells after adoptive transfer in pathological heart tissue in a variety of small2 and large animal models.3 That being said, the controversy has been the true identity of a putative cardiac stem cell as recent studies have shown that this cell in question does not have significant cardiomyocyte forming potential and although it may have exogenous repair processes, its endogenous repair potential is not robust.4 The presented notion in 2003 was that the tyrosine kinase protein CD117 or c-kit was a bona fide marker to identify and study resident cardiac stem cells, …
The President's Duty to Defend Statutes

Statutes often come under constitutional attack. The president traditionally provides a defense. This has led some to conclude that the president has a duty to defend — perhaps under the Oath or Take Care Clauses. My article examines the text and original understanding of the Constitution. Neither indicates the president has a duty to defend. The text implies that the president shouldn’t defend unconstitutional statutes. And in early cases, the president generally didn’t defend, nor did anyone expect him to.
Principled Missing Data Treatments

We review a number of issues regarding missing data treatments for intervention and prevention researchers. Many of the common missing data practices in prevention research are still, unfortunately, ill-advised (e.g., use of listwise and pairwise deletion, insufficient use of auxiliary variables). Our goal is to promote better practice in the handling of missing data. We review the current state of missing data methodology and recent missing data reporting in prevention research. We describe antiquated, ad hoc missing data treatments and discuss their limitations. We discuss two modern, principled missing data treatments: multiple imputation and full information maximum likelihood, and we offer practical tips on how to best employ these methods in prevention research. The principled missing data treatments that we discuss are couched in terms of how they improve causal and statistical inference in the prevention sciences. Our recommendations are firmly grounded in missing data theory and well-validated statistical principles for handling the missing data issues that are ubiquitous in biosocial and prevention research. We augment our broad survey of missing data analysis with references to more exhaustive resources.
Analysis of EGF receptor amplicons reveals amplification of multiple expressed sequences

In this study we have examined the epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) region for the amplification of novel expressed sequences in 28 glioblastoma tumors and two cell lines with EGFR gene amplification. Southern analysis with expressed sequence tag (EST) probes revealed instances of amplification for 11 of 13 loci investigated. Northern blot analysis with the same probes indicated that three ESTs identified transcripts that are over-expressed in cell lines having corresponding sequence amplification. The determination of increased dosage and transcript levels for multiple expressed sequences raises the possibility that there are genes in addition to EGFR whose elevated expression contribute to the biologic behavior of tumors with amplification of this region.
Centrifugation of human spermatozoa induces sublethal damage; separation of human spermatozoa from seminal plasma by a dextran swim-up procedure without centrifugation extends their motile lifetime

While washing of human sperm cells by centrifugation and resuspension is a procedure in widespread use, there have been indications that this procedure per se may be harmful to the cells. The objective of this study was to investigate this question. To this end, a method for the clean separation of motile human spermatozoa from seminal plasma in the absence of centrifugation was developed, using a modified swim-up procedure, in which liquefied semen was mixed with an equal volume of 30 mg/ml dextran in medium, and the mixture overlaid with medium containing 5 mg/ml bovine serum albumin, forming two discreet layers with stable interface. The percentage of motile cells in a given sample was consistently > 80% immediately after recovery. Damage to the cells was assessed by loss of motile cells during incubation up to 96 h post-recovery. Comparison of aliquots of spermatozoa obtained by the dextran swim-up procedure showed that the aliquot subjected to centrifugation had 4 +/- 3% motile cells after 48 h, while the untreated aliquot had 52 +/- 12%. The aliquots showed no difference 1 h post-recovery. Similar results were obtained with spermatozoa that had been centrifuged in seminal plasma and resuspended in fresh plasma, then recovered by dextran swim-up. The delayed onset of motility loss in the centrifuged samples implies that this treatment induces sublethal damage in the cells. Comparison of the standard swim-up and Percoll gradient methods for sperm recovery, both of which involve centrifugation steps, showed decline in motility of the samples similar to that seen with dextran swim-up of centrifuged cells. We conclude that centrifugation per se induces sublethal damage in human spermatozoa, independently of treatment method, and suggest that recovery methods for human spermatozoa which avoid centrifugation might partially alleviate the damage incurred by these cells during cryopreservation.
Digital Principles and Design with CD-ROM

This exciting first edition provides more depth than existing digital design books, using a traditional approach to the subject. Digital Principles and Design contains introductory material in digital principles with emphasis on logic design, as well as more advanced material. With the exception of the digital circuits appendix, it assumes no background on the part of the reader. The text can be used by readers in computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering. The emphasis in the book is on the thorough presentation of basic principles of logic design and the illustration of these principles. While many introductory texts only provide the mechanics of classical logic design, Givone provides justifications behind these procedures to give students the understanding they need for the advanced topics they will learn about in subsequent courses. Some of the topics that the book thoroughly presents include: the simplification of Boolean expressions with Karnaugh maps, variable-entered Karnaugh maps, and the analysis and design of both clocked synchronous sequential networks and asynchronous sequential networks. Every book contains a CD-ROM with Altera’s advanced MAX+plus II 10.1 Student Edition CAD system, as well as Multisim 2001 Textbook Edition from Electronics Workbench. An appendix and the book website provide additional resources on these software tools, as well as LogicWorks. Table of contents 1 Introduction 2 Number Systems, Arithmetic, and Codes 3 Boolean Algebra and Combinational Networks 4 Simplification of Boolean Expressions 5 Logic Design with MSI Components and Programmable Logic Devices 6 Flip-flops and Simple Flip-flop Applications 7 Synchronous Sequential Networks 8 Algorithmic State Machines 9 Asynchronous Sequential Networks Appendix Digital Circuits Appendix Altera and LogicWorks Tutorials
The effect of cocaine on sperm motility characteristics and bovine cervical mucus penetration

Objectives To determine the in vitro effects of cocaine on sperm motility and bovine mucus penetration because cocaine abuse is associated with decreased sperm motility, and related compounds, such as procaine, are known to decrease sperm motility. Design Human semen samples were exposed to a range of cocaine concentrations and the effects quantified using computer-assisted sperm analysis and the bovine mucus penetration test. Setting University research laboratory. Patients, Participants Samples were obtained from 18 healthy volunteers. Interventions Normal semen samples were exposed to concentrations of cocaine ranging from 10 −11 to 10 −4 M. Motility characteristics were evaluated after 2 hours, and bovine mucus penetration was evaluated after 30 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours. Mucus penetration by washed sperm was also evaluated. Main Outcome Measures Motility characteristics were evaluated using computer-assisted sperm analysis, and functional sperm motility was evaluated using the bovine mucus penetration test. Results Cocaine exposure decreased the percentage of motile sperm in a concentration-dependent manner with a maximum decrease of 23% at 10 −4 M but had no effect on other motility characteristics. Cocaine decreased bovine mucus penetration by 12% at high cocaine concentrations (10 −4 M), but increased penetration by 69% at low concentrations (10 −9 M). Washing sperm before cocaine exposure attenuated the increased sperm penetration. Conclusion The ability of cocaine to decrease the percentage of motile sperm at high concentrations may explain the decreased sperm motility associated with cocaine use. Cocaine's ability to augment sperm penetration at low concentrations suggests an interaction of cocaine with the sperm adrenergic system.
Direct measurement of monoamine oxidase inhibition in humans

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity was measured in specimens of human jejunal mucosa obtained by peroral biopsy. Oral administration of isocarboxazid and oral and intravenaus administration of pargyline (MO-911) were found to produce marked inhibition of MAO in this tissue. That these results are probably indicative of MAO inhibition in other tissues as well was suggested by correlative studies with MO-911 in rats, and by concomitant alterations in urinary tryptamine. It appears that man is much more sensitive to MAO-inhibiting drugs than are several other mammalian species. The usefulness of direct assays of tissue MAO in man is discussed.
Deadly Connections: Pakistan and Kashmir

Pakistan is not on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, and indeed is often praised as a vital ally in the war on terrorism. Since September 11, 2001, the Pakistani government has detained hundreds of al-Qa'ida members, including several of its most senior officials, and Pakistani and US forces work together to hunt down al-Qa'ida members who fled from Afghanistan. Yet even as Pakistan cooperates on al-Qa'ida, it sponsors several terrorist groups, particularly those active in the disputed state of Kashmir. Since 1989, Pakistan has funded, armed, trained, and otherwise supported a host of Kashmiri organizations in their struggle against Indian rule. Although US pressure after the September 11 attacks led this support to diminish at times, Islamabad's ties to, and backing of, various groups in Kashmir remains significant. Indeed, with the possible exception of Iran, Pakistan is probably today's most active sponsor of terrorism. Pakistan's support for radicals in Kashmir is part of its overall effort to back various insurgent movements in Kashmir. In general, Pakistan is not interested in the Kashmiri militants exclusively because of their involvement in terrorism. Islamabad's emphasis is on guerrilla war. Kashmiri groups, however, use attacks on civilians to gain tactical advantages in their guerrilla war as well as for more traditional terrorist purposes such as undermining New Delhi's rule and defeating rivals within the opposition movement.
United States Service Sector Data

This chapter provides data on service sector exports from and imports to the United States; extent of internationalization of a particular sector measured through export and import ratio; extent of foreign investment in the industry sector measured through foreign investment ratio; degree of asset intensity of the industry sector; degree of labor intensity of the industry measured through the labor ratio; profits before taxes; and sector output. Elaboration of the variables covered in this chapter along with their specific operationalization and data sources are provided at the beginning of each subsection. At the bottom of each corresponding table, a short note is provided on the data source and its operationalization if applicable.
Is There a Need for Repeat Radiologic Examination of Children with Esophageal Coin Foreign Body

Objectives To determine factors associated with the passage of coins. To determine the need for repeat preoperative chest x-ray (CXR) for esophageal coin foreign body. Setting Academic tertiary care center. Design Case series with chart review. Subjects and Methods Patient information was retrieved from an Institutional Review Board-approved database. We identified 1359 children with esophageal coin foreign bodies from 2001 to 2013. Patients with both initial diagnostic and immediate preoperative CXR were included. Results A total of 406 patients met inclusion criteria. The average age was 47 months (range, 1.8-194 months). On preoperative CXR, the position changed in 29 patients (7%). Age, type of coin, and location of coin were all statistically significant factors affecting the passage of the coin ( P < .0001). Coins in the distal esophagus were 9.3 times more likely to pass than coins in the proximal esophagus. The longer the object was in the esophagus, the less likely it was to pass. Conclusions This study characterizes when esophageal coins may pass. Age, type of coin, location of coin at initial x-ray, and length of time are all important considerations to determine if the coin will pass. This information may be used to counsel families about the likelihood of coins to pass and whether repeat x-ray is necessary prior to surgical removal. Additionally, it may be more cost-effective to obtain repeat films in select patients and prevent those from going to the operating theater who are more likely to pass the coin spontaneously.
Some Optimal Nested Row-Column Designs

Binary nested row-column designs have been provided by several authors. Recently Bagchi, Mukhopadhyay and Sinha (1990) have shown that non-binaey designs are really the appropriate candidates for being optimal. This paper provides some methods of constructing optimal nested row-column designs. As expected, the methods provide non-binary designs. Further, it is shown that in a class of binary designs, balanced iocomple block designs with nested rows and columns are optimal.
Heuristic Network Search Algorithm

Many AI applications require a search for a best (or shortest) path through a net-work. Applications for network searches include routing problems (such as aircraft or sales route planning and terrain traversal for robotic vehicles).
Networking sensors using belief propagation

This paper investigates the performance of belief propagation (BP) as a distributed solution to two combinatorial resource allocation problems arising in sensor networks: network formation and fusion center location. We model these problems by max-weight b-matching and uncapacitated facility location, respectively. Each of these is a classical optimization problem. For both problems, we (a) show how BP can be simplified for implementation in distributed environments where transmissions are broadcast and can interfere, (b) derive a principled interpretation of estimates before convergence, and (c) compare the performance of BP to that of linear programming.
User-process model approach to improve user interface usability: Book Reviews

Our purpose in this study is to inductively reorganize software interface menu items based on a user's process model. The proposed menu interface in this study used direct users' input, such as goals and strategies for solving their information needs, to reorganize and re-label menus. To assess its effectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction with actual users, we implemented and compared this new menu version to the original interface that was based upon a traditional categorical menu organization. The significance of this study is that it incorporates user process modeling into the design of the user interface, providing insights into the impact of such modeling on the usability of an information system. Results from the usability testing do indicate that the proposed menu and the traditional menu are similarly effective for users in terms of task completion time and accuracy. User preferences and debriefing comments from usability testing also indicate users preferred the user-process based arrangement of menu items as displayed. However, the types of tasks (different problem type) suggest significant differences for results in task completion time and in accuracy, sometimes favoring the new version. In other words, usable and effective menu organization depends more on the types of tasks and the domain of knowledge than mere menu organization, although menu organization is a factor in the process. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Global Biogeography and Invasions of Ectomycorrhizal Plants: Past, Present and Future

Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) plants have evolved multiple times from arbuscular mycorrhizal or non-mycorrhizal ancestors, and they have a broad distribution on Earth, with abundant recent human introductions. The evolution as well as historical and current distribution of these EcM plant groups and mechanisms of their invasion have remained poorly understood. The purpose of this review/synthesis is fivefold: (1) to determine the time and place of evolution for EcM plant groups based on dated phylogenies and fossil evidence, (2) to characterise the historical and current natural distribution patterns based on fossil record and information from accumulated observations and specimens, (3) to establish the major global biodiversity hotspots for EcM plants based on the present distribution patterns of EcM plant lineages, (4) to determine the relative importance and role of EcM plants in human-mediated plant invasions and to shed light on the mechanisms and (5) integrate this information with climate change scenarios into predictions of the future biogeography of EcM plants.
Self Breakdown Gaps

All spark gaps will “break down” or transition from the insulating state to the conducting state, if the voltage across the gap is increased above the gap self breakdown voltage. The self breakdown voltage for a uniform field and a given gap spacing, gas specie and pressure, electrode material, dielectric environment, and ambient radiation environment is commonly described by the Paschen curve as discussed in Chapter 2. However, actual spark gaps do not commonly have uniform fields and must operate for many discharges with a gas dielectric mixture in a manner that is not well defined. Therefore, the uniform field Paschen curves are used to define an initial design and empirical breakdown behavior are obtained to define the actual gap operating range.
Do the status and empowerment of mothers predict their daughters' reproductive outcomes?

Despite increased recognition of the important influences of women’s status and empowerment on social and health outcomes for women and their families, there are few investigations that examine the extent to which any gains in women’s empowerment may be transmitted intergenerationally, that is, between mothers and their daughters. This study seeks to address this gap by using data from a unique, longitudinal, and intergenerational dataset from Cebu, Philippines (1994–2009), to examine potential influences of the status of mothers on subsequent reproductive health outcomes among their daughters. Using data from 648 mother-daughter dyads, we examine a multidimensional set of women’s status and empowerment measures among the mothers to predict three outcomes among their daughters: sexual onset by 2009 (ages 25–26), use of family planning, and experience of an unintended pregnancy. We find that that while some of the mothers’ characteristics and measures of empowerment and status were predictive of their daughters’ sexual initiation, these effects were not consistent across empowerment indicators, nor were there significant effects on two of the outcomes: use of family planning or occurrence of an unintended pregnancy. Older mothers (45+ years in 1994) and mothers who were considered to be “well-kept”, a locally defined measure of empowerment, were more likely to have daughters who had not engaged in sex by 2009 (ages 25–26). Daughters with higher educational levels were also more likely to delay sex, as compared to their peers. Among young women who had become sexually active, 54% reported an unintended pregnancy (mistimed or unwanted) by the age of 25–26, yet their mothers’ empowerment and status were not predictive of daughters’ reports of an unintended pregnancy. Overall, these findings suggest that further research is needed to explore more proximal impacts on young women’s reproductive behavior in this setting, given other related investigations on women’s empowerment and its linkages to sexual debut and educational attainment in this setting. Findings from this examination of daughters’ reproductive outcomes suggest that there are likely additional intervening mechanisms between onset on sexual activity and mistimed or unintended pregnancy that need further elaboration.
Measurements of Stellar Obliquities

As mentioned in Chap. 1, stars hosting hot Jupiters exhibit a wide range of obliquities. The knowledge comes from the spectroscopic technique, that is, modeling of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect in the radial velocity (RV) times series. While the RM effect is difficult to observe for planets with smaller radii or on wider orbits than hot Jupiters, new methods based on the high-precision photometric data have recently been developed to provide complimentary information on those planets. In this chapter, we review the methods to measure stellar obliquities and summarize our current knowledge from observations. The implications for the formation scenario of hot Jupiters will be discussed in the next chapter.
Software Agents, Anticipatory Ethics, and Accountability

This chapter takes up a case study of the accountability issues around increasingly autonomous computer systems. In this early phase of their development, certain computer systems are being referred to as “software agents” or “autonomous systems” because they operate in a variety of ways that are seemingly independent of human control. However, because of the responsibility and liability issues, conceptualizing these systems as autonomous seems morally problematic and likely to be legally problematic. Whether software agents and autonomous systems are used to make financial decisions, control transportation, or perform military objectives, when something goes wrong, issues of accountability will indubitably arise. While it would seem that the law will ultimately have to handle these issues, law is currently being used only minimally or indirectly to address accountability for computer software failure. This nascent discussion of computer systems “in the making” seems a good focal point for considering innovative approaches to making law, governance, and ethics more helpful with regard to new technologies. For a start, it would seem that some anticipatory reasoning as to how accountability/liability issues are likely to be handled in law could have an influence on the development of the technology (even if the anticipatory thinking is ultimately wrong). Such thinking could – in principle at least – shape the design of computer systems.
Lectures on Minimal Surfaces, Vol. 1. By Johannes C. C. Nitsche

(1991). Lectures on Minimal Surfaces, Vol. 1. By Johannes C. C. Nitsche. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 98, No. 1, pp. 72-74.
Could conflict transformation education serve as a mechanism for increasing peacefulness in Colombia

Conventional approaches to peace education have not led to more peaceful societies. In order to produce the broad political and social shifts that many peace educators have envisioned, a new type of educational approach is needed. Conflict transformation education (CTE) is a promising new approach that seeks to shift attitudes at a group level rather than individually, and embraces rather than denies its explicit political aim to shift social norms regarding the use of violence. CTE could be a useful tool in the post-peace agreement Colombian context.
Sustaining Social Protection and Provision: the front line in the battle for the Good Society

Abstract In an era when social policy priorities are subordinated to regressive capitalist agendas, sustaining collective commitments to social protection and social provision defines the front line of the battle for the good society. The conflict manifests itself across a range of arenas, but health is analytically archetypal. This introductory article for the special issue assumes the dynamics of the contradiction between the inherently collective character of health provision and capitalist insistence on using individual consumption valued in market prices to measure societal success. Left unchecked, the elite bloc whose agenda is defined by pursuit of the interests of capital will destroy existing social provision and protection, making societies, especially in the Global South, ugly places to live for ordinary citizens. The articles in this volume leave us with a challenge: how can we construct the oppositional agency necessary to expand and strengthen social provision and protection in an era of regressive capitalist domination?
Sex-biased hippocampal pathology in the 5XFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease: A multi-omic analysis.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia. Like many neurological disorders, Alzheimer's disease has a sex-biased epidemiological profile, affecting approximately twice as many women as men. The cause of this sex difference has yet to be elucidated. To identify molecular correlates of this sex bias, we investigated molecular pathology in females and males using the 5XFamilial Alzheimer's disease mutations (5XFAD) genetic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. We profiled the transcriptome and proteome of the mouse hippocampus during early stages of disease development (1, 2, and 4 months of age). Our analysis reveals 42 genes that are differentially expressed between disease and wild-type animals at 2 months of age, prior to observable plaque deposition. In 4-month-old animals, we detect 1,316 differentially expressed transcripts between transgenic and control 5XFAD mice, many of which are associated with immune function. Additionally, we find that some of these transcriptional perturbations are correlated with altered protein levels in 4-month-old transgenic animals. Importantly, our data indicate that female 5XFAD mouse exhibit more profound pathology than their male counterparts as measured by differences in gene expression. We also find that the 5XFAD transgenes are more highly expressed in female 5XFAD mice than their male counterparts, which could partially account for the sex-biased molecular pathology observed in this dataset.
Motivation, Fit, Confidence, and Skills: How Do Individual Differences Influence Emotional Labor?

In her seminal work on emotional labor, Hochschild (1983) described how airline stewardesses at Delta Airlines needed to have the right “Delta personality” (p. 98) to generate convincing emotional displays, which consisted of qualities like emotional stability, interpersonal warmth, and a collective orientation. Nearly 30 years later, many researchers are still focused on identifying the individual differences that are predictive of success in the emotional labor process (e.g., Grandey, 2000). This focus involves adopting a between-person perspective on emotional labor, in contrast to the within-person research described by Beal and Trougakos (2013, Chapter 2). Rather than attempting to explain variability in emotional labor within-persons and over time, our focus in this chapter is on understanding the variability in emotional labor that is observed between different people based on their stable characteristics. Accordingly, this chapter approaches emotional labor in terms of the third lens described by Grandey, Diefendorff, and Rupp (2013, Chapter 1); our focus is on emotional labor as an intrapsychic process, and we seek to explain between-person variability in the use of different strategies, investedeffort to perform emotional labor, and the self-regulatory outcomes experienced from emotional labor.
Directed in Vitro Evolution of Therapeutic Bacteriophages: The Appelmans Protocol

The 'Appelmans protocol' is used by Eastern European researchers to generate therapeutic phages with novel lytic host ranges. Phage cocktails are iteratively grown on a suite of mostly refractory bacterial isolates until the evolved cocktail can lyse the phage-resistant strains. To study this process, we developed a modified protocol using a cocktail of three Pseudomonas phages and a suite of eight phage-resistant (including a common laboratory strain) and two phage-sensitive Pseudomona aeruginosa strains. After 30 rounds of selection, phages were isolated from the evolved cocktail with greatly increased host range. Control experiments with individual phages showed little host-range expansion, and genomic analysis of one of the broad-host-range output phages showed its recombinatorial origin, suggesting that the protocol works predominantly via recombination between phages. The Appelmans protocol may be useful for evolving therapeutic phage cocktails as required from well-defined precursor phages.
Small room auralizations: Investigating hybrid methods of acoustic simulations utilizing wave field synthesis

Auralizations have become a beneficial tool in acoustic design of performance spaces, but nearly all research has been limited to Western classical music venues. Other venues, for example, jazz clubs, pose very different auralization challenges because their dimensions are typically smaller, and pure geometrical methods can no longer be applied. With a dramatic increase in computational performance, an effort has been placed in integrating geometric and wave-based models in auralization simulations that are suitable to auralize smaller venues. Finite difference time domain methods are applied for low-frequency numerical analysis of the Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola and The Village Vanguard. This research endeavors to establish a method in identifying the crossover frequency between the geometric and wave-based models, as it pertains to small room acoustics to recreate the sound of jazz venues using the wave field synthesis. The 128-channel wave field synthesis system of Rensselaer’s Collaborative Research Augmented Immersive Virtual Environment Laboratory (CRAIVE-Lab) is used to perceptually evaluate the hybridized auralizations. Room acoustical measurements are obtained within the rendered sound field and compared to the measurements of the original locations for an objective analysis.
Animal procrastination: Pigeons choose to defer experiencing an aversive gap or a peck requirement

When humans procrastinate, they delay completing a required relatively aversive task. In the present experiments with pigeons, we considered the possibility that completing the task close to the deadline results in the formation of a stronger conditioned reinforcer. In Experiment 1, pigeons were given a choice between two chains: (a) a signaled long period, followed by a dark gap, followed by a signaled short conditioned reinforcer, and food and (b) a signaled short period, followed by a dark gap, followed by a signaled long conditioned reinforcer, and food. We found a reliable preference for the delayed gap. In Experiment 2, we let pigeons choose between two chains: (a) walking to a near panel to peck a key, followed by a long walk to peck a key for reinforcement and (b) walking to a far panel to peck a key followed by a short walk to peck a key for reinforcement. When a single peck was required to either key, the pigeons were indifferent. When ten pecks were required to the near key but only one peck to the far key, the pigeons preferred the far key. When ten pecks were required to either key, the pigeons preferred the far key. The results of both experiments suggest that pigeons prefer to defer a relatively aversive event but, in keeping with Fantino's Delay Reduction Theory, this effect may result from the development of a strong conditioner reinforcer that occurs when the event (the gap or required pecking) comes close to reinforcement.
Motivation and the Virtue of Honesty: Some Conceptual Requirements and Empirical Results

The virtue of honesty has been stunningly neglected in contemporary philosophy, with only two papers appearing in the last 40 years. The first half of this paper is a conceptual exploration of one aspect of the virtue, namely the honest person’s motivational profile. I argue that egoistic motives for telling the truth or not cheating are incompatible with honest motivation. At the same time, there is no one specific motive that is required for a person to be motivated in a virtuously honest way. Instead I advance a pluralistic theory of honest motivation, which allows for motives of caring, fairness, and virtue, among others. The second half of the paper then turns briefly to the empirical literature in psychology and behavioral economics on cheating, to see to what extent honest motives appear to be operative. The upshot is that we have good preliminary evidence for the claim that most people are not virtuously honest.
Effects of magnesium content and carbonation on the multiscale pore structure of alkali-activated slags

Abstract While CO2-resistant cement materials are crucial in oil and gas industries, the CO2 emissions associated with manufacturing oil-well cements have necessitated the development of lower-CO2 alternatives with enhanced carbonation resistance. A higher magnesium content blast furnace slag precursor for alkali-activated slag (AAS) has been shown to increase resistance to accelerated carbonation-induced degradation. This investigation assesses the effects of sample age, AAS magnesium content, and carbonation (exposure to 100% CO2) on the multiscale pore structure of AASs (nanometers to microns). The pore size distributions and diffusion tortuosities of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and silicate-activated slag pastes are obtained through the techniques of nitrogen sorption, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and X-ray microtomography. These pore morphology properties show AAS to be more resistant to pore structural degradation following accelerated carbonation than OPC, and increased magnesium content in AAS is shown to improve its resistance to gel decalcification and capillary pore formation during carbonation.
Paraspinal Fat Stranding as an Unexpected Finding on Body Computed Tomography: A Key to Early Detection of Spinal Osteomyelitis.

Objective At present, early detection of spinal osteomyelitis is a challenge. Patients may present with non-specific symptoms and diagnostic imaging studies may be obtained for seemingly unrelated complaints. Paraspinal fat stranding on body computed tomography (CT) as a sign of osteomyelitis is easily overlooked and has not been reported in the literature to our knowledge. The purpose of this study is to review findings on body CT that points to unsuspected spinal osteomyelitis. Material and methods A retrospective review of patients with spinal osteomyelitis who also had concomitant chest, abdominal, or pelvic CT scans between August 2013 and February 2017 yielded 10 patients who had confirmed osteomyelitis (ages between 51 and 75, mean age 64.8). Images and medical records were reviewed. Results The age of the patients ranged from 51 to 75 years (median value, 64). All patients had multiple underlying medical illnesses, and half of them had a known preceding infection such as sepsis or urinary tract infection. At presentation, three patients had a fever and two patients had neurologic deficits. Seven out of eight patients had elevated C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate, five patients had leukocytosis, and four patients had positive blood cultures. Paravertebral fat stranding and endplate erosions were observed in 9 and 6 cases, respectively, on initial body CT for unrelated indications, and subsequent magnetic resonance imaging confirmed osteomyelitis discitis. Conclusion Clinically significant, but initially unsuspected, spinal pathology such as osteomyelitis may present on body CT scans. Earlier diagnosis of spinal osteomyelitis can be made by performing a focused evaluation of the paraspinal soft tissues and including osteomyelitis in the differential diagnosis, particularly in high-risk patients.
Do Women in Leadership Reduce Sexual Harassment Claims on College Campuses

This article analyzes whether the representation of women in leadership roles reduces sexual harassment claims on college campuses. We test competing claims regarding the impact of women’s workplac...
Hydrologic Response of Sierra Nevada Mixed-Conifer Headwater Catchments to Vegetation Treatments and Wildfire in a Warming Climate

We used a hydro-ecologic model (RHESSys) constrained by measurements of stream discharge, and spatially distributed snow and soil moisture, to simulate the impacts of operational forest treatments, historical wildfire and climate warming on productive mixed-conifer forests. We compared the response of two headwater catchments at the rain-snow-transition elevation in the wetter central Sierra and more water-limited southern Sierra. The variability of precipitation exerted a greater influence on annual evapotranspiration and runoff than vegetation changes from operational fuels treatment or historical wildfire. The short-term impacts of vegetation changes associated with wildfire, however, did have a greater effect on evapotranspiration and runoff than temperature increases in a warming climate. The average central-Sierra headwater response of evapotranspiration and runoff to fuels treatments (-12%, +12%, respectively) and wildfire (-43%, +46%) were greater than the projected responses to a 4.5oC temperature increase (+2% and -7%). The response in the southern Sierra was limited by lower annual precipitation and showed no response to fuels treatments; but the catchment showed respective changes of -11% and +17% in evapotranspiration and runoff for wildfire, versus +9% and -3% to a 4.5oC temperature increase. These results suggest that in the central Sierra, reductions in vegetation from either fuels treatments or historical wildfire can, temporarily, offset reductions in streamflow from a warming climate. In the southern Sierra, impacts of fuels treatments were small, and only more-extensive vegetation removal as would occur with wildfire, results in significant changes in hydrologic fluxes. Further research is needed to investigate how initial hydrologic changes and climate effects evolve as vegetation adapts and regrows following disturbance.
Tiny Perforations in Minute Beads from the Prehistoric Southwest: An Experimental Case for Lithic Minute Microdrills

Minute disc beads from the prehistoric American Southwest often exhibit perforations finer than 0.75 mm in diameter. Early archaeologists postulated that these tiny perforations were created with o...
Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Cognitive Dysfunction, and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Objectives: The present study sought to evaluate the contribution of cardiovascular risk factors to cognitive functioning in a sample of Mexican Americans diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and obesity were diagnosed based on self-report and/or standardized procedures. Cognitive function was measured with MMSE, Logical Memory I and II, Trail A & B, FAS, animal naming, and digit span tests. Independent samples t tests and two-way ANOVAs were conducted for analyses, adjusting for relevant covariates. We studied 100 Mexican Americans (65 female) with MCI, ages 50–86, from a longitudinal study of cognitive aging conducted at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Results: A difference between subjects with and without obesity and memory scores was shown by t tests. Two-way ANOVAs detected an association between the coexistence of hypertension and diabetes with language measures, diabetes and dyslipidemia with executive function, and diabetes and obesity with memory and language measures. Conclusions: This study provides additional evidence about the link between cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive dysfunction in MCI subjects, and also demonstrated that comorbid risk factors increased the degree of cognitive deficit in many areas, which may indicate a higher risk of developing dementia.
VehCom: Delay-Guaranteed Message Broadcast for Large-Scale Vehicular Networks

Timely vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication is a key component of intelligent transportation systems to improve driving safety and efficiency. Although many results have been produced for vehicular networks, most of them focused on improving vehicular communication capacity and reliability. Very limited progress has been made so far in the design of practical V2V communication schemes for large-scale vehicular networks. In this paper, we present VehCom, a fully distributed message broadcast scheme for V2V communication networks. VehCom offers a delay guarantee for each vehicle’s message broadcast while minimizing the packet loss rate. The enabler of VehCom is an asynchronous packet reception technique, which leverages a vehicle’s multiple antennas to decode asynchronous collided packets from its neighboring vehicles. We have implemented the asynchronous packet reception technique on a vehicular wireless testbed, and examined the performance of VehCom in a large-scale vehicular network where i) each vehicle is equipped with four antennas, ii) each vehicle has 240 vehicles in its communication range, and iii) each vehicle broadcasts a 624-bit packet over 10 MHz spectrum in every 100 ms (guaranteed delay). Our experimental and analytical results show that the packet loss rate is less than 3.9% on parking lots, less than 4.1% on local roads, and less than 6.2% on highways.
Impact of Internal Governance on a CEO’s Investment Cycle

This paper examines the impact of internal governance on a CEO’s investment cycle. Extant literature defines internal governance as the mechanism by which senior executives help discipline the CEO to maximize shareholder value. Weisbach (1995) finds that a year or two before the CEO retires, the firm experiences a decrease in total investment. Pan, Wang and Weisbach (2016) find evidence of a CEO’s investment cycle, in which investment increases over a CEO’s tenure, whereas disinvestment decreases. These papers suggest that older CEOs incur agency costs as they try to extract rents as their investment horizon declines. We confirm their results, and additionally find that good internal governance helps reduce older CEOs under-investing before their exit. For younger CEOs we do not find any relationship between internal governance and investment. This suggests that older CEOs who face good internal governance under-invest less. We also find that new incoming CEOs divest these projects profitably. These results are robust to: normal CEO retirements (exclude performance-related turnover), sudden CEO deaths, and controlling for measures of board size, proportion of outsiders on the board, CEO’s pay-performance sensitivity, CEO pay slice, CEO power, firm complexity and if the CEO was an outsider or not.
NK cells and CD8 T cells in cancer immunotherapy: Similar functions by different mechanisms

Abstract NK cells and CD8 T cells are cytotoxic lymphocytes that have critical protective roles against pathogens and cancers. NK cells are conventionally regarded as rapid-acting cells of the innate branch of the immune system, while CD8 T cells act later in infections and in long-term memory responses. Both cells have similar cytotoxic pathways and respond to the same cytokines. We discuss how NK cells and T cells break the mold of innate and adaptive immunity with evidence that NK cells exhibit memory-like responses and memory bystander T cells rapidly respond to cytokine signals in heterologous challenges. A great deal is still unknown about coregulation of NK cells and T cells and the factors that are necessary for preserving long-term memory responses; however, light is being shed on the importance of inhibitory receptors for preventing cells from activation-induced cell death (AICD). Above all, there is a fine balance between having a protective immune response at the time of challenge and preventing immune-mediated pathology, while also generating long-lived memory cell populations with enhanced functions for the future. There are many exciting new therapeutic approaches aimed at utilizing NK cells and T cells to their full advantage for potent and long-term antitumor responses.
Perceived Impact of USMLE Step 1 Score Reporting to Pass/Fail on Otolaryngology Applicant Selection.

Objectives:Recently, the decision was made to transition the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 score from a three-digit numerical score to a pass/fail system. Historically,...
(Be)coming Critical Teacher Educators: Collaborative Self-Study across Contexts

This collaborative self-study looks at how eight white literacy teacher educators worked together to re-center critical literacy and teaching for equity in methods courses. We used self-study metho...
Computer aided modelling based on Petri net theory and performance evaluation of flexible manufacturing systems

An approach to computer-aided modelling and performance evaluation is introduced. The model established was linear in the sense of minmax algebra. In the research of n*m FMS in the past, some strict restrictions were placed on its operational mechanism and environment. The authors tried to relax the requirements for FMS and study a more realistic FMS. The approach proposed can surmount most of the difficulty and complexity which is met in modelling and analysis. Thus a powerful software package for the modelling and performance evaluation of FMS was formed. The numerical results of analysing an exemplary FMS illustrated the quality of FMS, which would be greatly beneficial to further resources scheduling and operation optimization. >
A Proof Technique for Rely/Guarantee Properties

A rely/guarantee specification for a program P is a specification of the form R ⊃ G (R implies G), where R is a rely condition and G is a guarantee condition. A rely condition expresses the conditions that P relies on its environment to provide, and a guarantee condition expresses what P guarantees to provide in return. This paper presents a proof technique that permits us to infer that a program P satisfies a rely/guarantee specification R ⊃ G, given that we know P satisfies a finite collection of rely/guarantee specifications R i ⊃ G i , (i ∈ I). The utility of the proof technique is illustrated by using it to derive global liveness properties of a system of concurrent processes from a collection of local liveness properties satisfied by the component processes. The use of the proof rule as a design principle is also considered.