cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optimizing Age of Information in Wireless Networks with Throughput Constraints

Age of Information (AoI) is a performance metric that captures the freshness of the information from the perspective of the destination. The AoI measures the time that elapsed since the generation of the packet that was most recently delivered to the destination. In this paper, we consider a single-hop wireless network with a number of nodes transmitting time-sensitive information to a Base Station and address the problem of minimizing the Expected Weighted Sum AoI of the network while simultaneously satisfying timely-throughput constraints from the nodes. We develop three low-complexity transmission scheduling policies that attempt to minimize AoI subject to minimum throughput requirements and evaluate their performance against the optimal policy. In particular, we develop a randomized policy, a Max-Weight policy and a Whittle's Index policy, and show that they are guaranteed to be within a factor of two, four and eight, respectively, away from the minimum AoI possible. In contrast, simulation results show that Max-Weight outperforms the other policies, both in terms of AoI and throughput, in every network configuration simulated, and achieves near optimal performance.
Engineering Quality by Design: Interpreting the Taguchi Approach

(1991). Engineering Quality by Design: Interpreting the Taguchi Approach. Journal of Quality Technology: Vol. 23, No. 4, pp. 371-371.
Nitrogen cycling in large temperate floodplain rivers of contrasting nutrient regimes and management

Hydraulic connection between channels and floodplains (“connectivity”) is a fundamental determinant of ecosystem function in large floodplain rivers. Factors controlling material processing in these rivers depend not only on the degree of connectivity but also on the sediment conditions, nutrient loads, and source. Nutrient cycling in the nutrient‐rich upper Mississippi River (MISS) is relatively well studied, whereas that of less eutrophic tributaries is not (e.g., St Croix River; SACN). We examined components of nitrogen cycling in 2 floodplain rivers of contrasting nutrient enrichment and catchment land use to test the hypothesis that N‐cycling rates will be greater in the MISS with elevated nutrient loads and productivity in contrast to the relatively nutrient‐poor SACN. Nitrate (NO₃⁻‐N) concentrations were greatest in flowing habitats in the MISS and often undetectable in isolated backwaters except where groundwater inputs occurred. In the SACN, NO₃⁻‐N concentrations were greatest in the flowing backwater where groundwater inputs were high. Ambient nitrification in the MISS was twice that in the SACN and tended to be lowest in the main channel. Denitrification was 3× greater in the MISS than that in the SACN, N‐limited in both rivers. Community production/respiration was >1 in the MISS and likely provisioned labile C to fuel microbial metabolism and dissimilatory NO₃⁻‐N reduction, whereas the heterotrophic (production/respiration < 1) nature of the SACN likely limited microbial metabolism and NO₃⁻‐N dissimilation. It appears that N‐cycling in the SACN was driven by groundwater, whereas that in the MISS was supported mainly by water column N‐sources.
Artificial Burrow Use By Burrowing Owls In Northern California

One common strategy to mitigate the loss of natural nest burrows for Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) from ground-disturbing activities has been the installation of artificial burrows outside the disturbance area. I assessed the effectiveness of artificial burrows as a mitigation tool at two study sites in northern California. Parameters included nesting success at natural and artificial burrows; long-term occupancy rates of maintained and unmaintained artificial burrows; choice of burrow type (natural vs. artificial burrows) by owls raised in artificial burrows; and site fidelity and natal philopatry of Burrowing Owls raised in artificial burrows. I analyzed long-term datasets biologists collected from 1990 through 2012, including demographic data, band resightings, and burrow maintenance records. Nesting success at artificial burrows was significantly higher than at natural burrows at both study sites. At one site, nesting success at artificial burrows was 83% compared to 76% at natural burrows (P = 0.035); at the other site, nesting success at artificial burrows was 96% compared to 75% at natural burrows (P = 0.036). Artificial burrows that received annual surface maintenance were occupied for a significantly longer time (2.1 ± 1.9 yr; n = 57) than unmaintained artificial burrows (0.5 ±1.0 yr, n = 51; U = 561, P < 0.001) during the first 8 yr post-installation. Even with surface maintenance, occupancy rates declined from 44% (n = 25) of burrows occupied during the first year post-installation, to 28% (n = 15) of burrows occupied during the fourth year post-installation. Based on this decline, regular maintenance of the entire artificial burrow, including tunnel and nest chamber, may be crucial for longer-term use. Of 120 Burrowing Owls raised in maintained artificial burrows and resighted during subsequent breeding seasons, 70% occupied artificial burrows and 30% natural burrows. Only 3% of these owls occupied their natal burrow during the first nesting season post-fledging. Of those owls that were resighted during two or more nesting seasons, almost half (48%) occupied different artificial burrows from one year to the next; therefore, the number of artificial burrows at a management site should be sufficient to provide opportunities for Burrowing Owls to move between nest burrows from year to year.
Development of Artificial Neural Networks for Predicting the Response of Bonded Concrete Overlays of Asphalt for Use in a Faulting Prediction Model

Transverse joint faulting is a common distress in bonded concrete overlays of asphalt pavements (BCOAs), also known as whitetopping. However, to date, there is no predictive faulting model availabl...
Moral Development in Sport Education: A Case Study of a Teaching-Oriented Preservice Teacher

Purpose: The occupational socialization literature suggests that teaching-oriented teachers are more likely to deliver Sport Education (SE) in its purest form and so provide conditions in which fair play and sporting behavior can be developed. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Derrick, a teaching-oriented preservice teacher, promoted moral and sporting behavior while teaching 38 middle school boys within two SE seasons of team handball. Method: The theoretical perspectives employed were structural development theory and social learning theory. Data were collected with eight qualitative methods and analyzed with standard interpretive techniques. Results: Many of the students gained a more sophisticated understanding of fair play and sporting behavior during the study. On numerous occasions, students were observed playing fairly and acting in a sporting manner. Derrick’s teaching orientation, his own concept of sporting behavior and fair play, his delivery of a pure version of SE, and his pedagogy had much to do with these positive outcomes. However, many of the more skilled students’ willingness to engage in sporting behavior was context specific. As gameplay became more competitive, some of these more skilled students engaged in more unsporting behaviors. Conversely, many of the less skilled students maintained a universal concept of sporting behavior and fair play when the competition became fiercer. Conclusion: The results of the study confirm that the pure form of the SE model is an excellent medium through which sporting behavior and fair play can be developed.Subscribe to TPE
Efficient model selection for large-scale nearest-neighbor data mining

One of the most widely used models for large-scale data mining is the k-nearest neighbor (k-nn) algorithm. It can be used for classification, regression, density estimation, and information retrieval. To use k-nn, a practitioner must first choose k, usually selecting the k with the minimal loss estimated by cross-validation. In this work, we begin with an existing but little-studied method that greatly accelerates the cross-validation process for selecting k from a range of user-provided possibilities. The result is that a much larger range of k values may be examined more quickly. Next, we extend this algorithm with an additional optimization to provide improved performance for locally linear regression problems. We also show how this method can be applied to automatically select the range of k values when the user has no a priori knowledge of appropriate bounds. Furthermore, we apply statistical methods to reduce the number of examples examined while still finding a likely best k, greatly improving performance for large data sets. Finally, we present both analytical and experimental results that demonstrate these benefits.
The Feminization of the Labor Force: Research for Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Projections of the female labor force to the 1990’s (Smith, 1979) present a picture not radically different from the labor force today. The female labor force has grown rapidly in this century, especially since World War II. In 1978, there were over 40 million women in the labor force; about half of all women age 16 and over. By 1990, 52 million are expected to be in the labor force; about 55% of the women over 16. Other estimates were made by another study (Flaim & Fullerton, 1978) which had three different scenarios depending on varying assumptions about future growth in the U.S. work force. Under their low growth assumption, their labor force estimates projected close to 51 million women (a 54% participation rate); their intermediate growth assumption projected about 54 million (a 57% participation rate), and their high growth assumption projected about 57 million women (a 60% participation rate) in 1990. Under any of these circumstances, therefore, more than half of the women would be in the labor force, and they would constitute close to half of the entire labor force.
Non-Asymptotic Guarantees for Correlation-Aware Support Detection

This paper considers the problem of sparse support recovery in Multiple Measurement Vector (MMV) models, where the support size (K) can exceed the dimension (M) of individual measurement vectors. Existing results in this regime mostly establish asymptotic performance guarantees, where the number of measurement vectors $L\rightarrow\infty$ . In this paper, we develop non-asymptotic guarantees (finite $L$ ), and demonstrate that it is possible to recover supports of size $K= \mathcal{O}(M^{2})$ provided the sparse signals are statistically uncorrelated. In particular, the probability of detecting a wrong support is shown to approach zero exponentially fast in $L$ even when $K > M$ , for appropriately designed measurement matrices. Our analysis is based on a simple least squares estimation of signal powers, followed by hard thresholding to detect the support.
Integrated cognitive behavioral therapy for comorbid cannabis use and anxiety disorders: A pilot randomized controlled trial

Abstract Cannabis use disorder (CUD) is the most common illicit substance use disorder and individuals with CUD have high rates of comorbid anxiety disorders. Comorbidity between CUD and anxiety disorders is of public health relevance given that although motivation enhancement therapy (MET) combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an efficacious intervention for CUD, outcomes are worse for patients with elevated anxiety. The current study tested the acceptability and efficacy of the integration of a transdiagnostic anxiety CBT (i.e., treatment of patients with any anxiety disorder) with MET-CBT (integrated cannabis and anxiety reduction treatment, or ICART) for CUD compared to MET-CBT alone. Treatment-seeking cannabis users (56.4% male, Mage = 23.2, 63.3% non-Hispanic White) with CUD and at least one comorbid anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to ICART (n = 27) or MET-CBT (n = 28). Patients in the ICART condition attended significantly more treatment sessions than those in the MET-CBT condition. Patients in the ICART condition were more likely to be abstinent post-treatment than those in MET-CBT. Further, treatment produced decreases in cannabis use and related problems. Notably, therapy type did not moderate the impact of treatment on frequency of use and related problems. Together, these data suggest that ICART may be at least as efficacious as a gold-standard psychosocial CUD treatment, MET-CBT, for a difficult-to-treat subpopulation of cannabis users.
Justice Is Not Blind: Disproportionate Incarceration Rate of People of Color

Understanding both the impact and intersection of race in the criminal justice system is critical to understanding cyclical factors driving the disproportionate minority incarceration rate. Through the Critical Race Theory (CRT) lens, this article examines race and the criminal justice system by reviewing specific aspects of the legal system and its arbitrary application of the system's significant discretionary power, which is a major influencer in the disparate incarceration rates for people of color. The Sentencing Project reports that racial disparity the criminal justice system exists when the proportion of a racial or ethnic group, within the control of the system, is greater than the proportion of such groups in the general population.
Reliability of balanced multi-level Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract This paper presents reliability modeling and estimation of multi-level balanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). This type of UAVs includes n pairs and m levels of rotors and is modeled as a (k1,k2)-out − of−(n, m) Pairs: G balanced system. In many cases, reallocating thrust force or changing rotors’ rotational directions when a failure occurs are infeasible in controlling and maintaining stability of the UAV. We present an operational control that forces down and resumes rotors at specific locations according to balance and control requirements. We present two scenarios: (1) forced down rotors are considered as failed and (2) forced down rotors are considered as standbys and are resumed when needed. Reliability estimations for the both scenarios are obtained by enumerating operational states and calculating the probability of their occurrences. Algorithms are provided for efficient calculations. We demonstrate that operational control is a viable alternative to the engineering control and it achieves system's controllability in cases when the engineering approach fails.
Tuning Attention to Object Categories: Spatially Global Effects of Attention to Faces in Visual Processing.

Feature-based attention is known to enhance visual processing globally across the visual field, even at task-irrelevant locations. Here, we asked whether attention to object categories, in particul...
CD4+ T-Cells With High Common γ Chain Expression and Disturbed Cytokine Production Are Enriched in Children With Type-1 Diabetes

The common gamma chain (γc) contributes to the formation of different cytokine receptors [e.g., IL-2 receptor (IL-2R), IL-7R, and IL-15R], which are important for generation of self-reactive T-cells in autoimmune diseases, like in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Whereas, the roles of membrane and soluble IL-2Rα and IL-7Rα variants in T1D disease pathogenesis are well-described, effects of γc expression and availability for dependent receptors remain elusive. We investigated expression of the γc and dependent receptors on T-cells and soluble γc concentrations in serum from patients with T1D (n = 34) and healthy controls (n = 27). Effector T-cell cytokines as well as IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15 induced STAT5 phosphorylation were analyzed to determine functional implications of differential γc expression of CD4+ T-cell subsets classified by t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) analyses. We found increased γc and IL-7Rα expression of CD4+ T-cells from T1D patients as compared to controls. t-SNE analyses assigned differential expression to subsets of memory T-cells co-expressing γc and IL-7Rα. Whereas, γc expression was positively correlated with IL-2Rα in memory T-cells from healthy controls, no dependency was found for patients with T1D. Similarly, the effector T-cell cytokine, IL-21, correlated inversely with γc expression in healthy controls, but not in T1D patients. Finally, T1D patients with high γc expression had increased proportions of IL-2 sensitive pSTAT5+ effector T-cells. These results indicated aberrantly high γc expression of T-cells from T1D patients with implications on dependent cytokine receptor signaling and effector T-cell cytokine production.
The Mediating Role of Adaptive Personalization in Online Shopping

In the context of e-commerce, personalization system provides customers with recommendations on what products to buy. Grounded on social exchange theory, this study empirically examines and theoretically articulates the effects of willingness to share information and adaptive personalization on willingness to repurchase products. A survey was conducted and PLS was used demonstrating that adaptive personalization fully mediates the relationship between willingness to share information and willingness to repurchase products. The results suggest that online customers might take risks to provide their information to online retailers in exchange of offerings, and that continuous capturing of customer’s preferences throughout their interaction time with the system can lead to better recommendations from the system, thus providing more incentives for them to repurchase products.
Understanding Collaboration in Disaster Assistance Networks: Organizational Homophily or Resource Dependency?:

Greater collaboration among nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) after disasters is important in helping them deliver services, share information, and avoid resource duplication. Following a disast...
L ∞-Extremal Mappings in AMLE and Teichmüller Theory

These lecture focus on two vector-valued extremal problems which have a common feature in that the corresponding energy functionals involve L ∞ norm of an energy density rather than the more familiar L p norms. Specifically, we will address (a) the problem of extremal quasiconformal mappings and (b) the problem of absolutely minimizing Lipschitz extensions.
Development of a systemic lupus erythematosus cardiovascular risk equation

Objective Accelerated atherosclerosis remains the major cause of late death (after 5 years) in SLE. Yet, the ‘traditional’ cardiovascular risk equations (such as Framingham) consistently underestimate the risk. We sought to construct a data-driven formula for cardiovascular risk in SLE, based on data collected during the first year in a longitudinal cohort, for research purposes. Methods Two risk formulas were derived: one was for a broad set of cardiovascular outcomes (myocardial infarction, stroke, onset of angina, coronary procedures such as bypass or stent, claudication, peripheral artery disease or congestive heart failure); and the other for hard outcomes (myocardial infarction or stroke). Traditional and SLE-specific risk factors for cardiovascular disease were measured during the first year of cohort participation. Using Cox proportional hazards modelling, SLE formulas to calculate the 10-year risk of a subsequent cardiovascular event were derived and compared with the Framingham (for the broader outcome) and American College of Cardiology formulas (for the hard outcomes). Results SLE-related risk factors for each model included mean disease activity score (as measured by the SELENA revision of the SLE Disease Activity Index), low C3 and history of lupus anticoagulant. In those with SLE-related risk factors, the estimated 10-year risk based on our formula was substantially higher than the risk estimated based on the formulas for the general population. Conclusions The excess cardiovascular risk among patients with SLE varies substantially depending on the SLE-related risk factors, age and traditional risk factors. Cardiovascular risk formulas based on individual data from patients with SLE may better estimate 10-year cardiovascular risk among patients with SLE than the Framingham or American College of Cardiology equations.
GLFP: Global Localization from a Floor Plan

In this paper, we describe a method for global localization in a previously unvisited environment using only a schematic floor plan as a prior map. The floor plan need not be a precision map–it can be the sort of image found in buildings to guide people or aid evacuation. The core idea is to identify features that are stable across both a drawn floor plan and robot point-of-view LIDAR data, for example wall intersections, which appear as corners from overhead and as vertical lines from the ground. We introduce a factor graph-based global localization method that uses these features as landmarks. The detections of such descriptorless features are noisy and often ambiguous. We therefore propose robust data association based on a pairwise measurement consistency check and maxmixtures error model. We evaluate the resulting system in a real-world indoor environment, demonstrating performance comparable to a baseline system that uses a conventional LIDAR-based prior map.
Response probability enhances robustness in decentralized threshold-based robotic swarms

In this paper, we investigate how response probability may be used to improve the robustness of reactive, threshold-based robotic swarms. In swarms where agents have differing thresholds, adding a response probability is expected to distribute task experiences among more agents, which can increase the robustness of the swarm. If the lowest threshold agents for a task become unavailable, distributing task experience among more agents increases the chance that there are other agents in the swarm with experience on the task, which reduces performance decline due to the loss of experienced agents. We begin with a mathematical analysis of such a system and show that, for a given swarm and task demand, we can estimate the response probability values that ensure team formation and meet robustness constraints. We then verify the expected behavior on an agent based model of a foraging problem. Results indicate that response probability may be used to tune the tradeoff between system performance and system robustness.
Knowledge in the face of conspiracy conditionals

A plausible principle about the felicitous use of indicative conditionals says that there is something strange about asserting an indicative conditional when you know whether its antecedent is true. But in most contexts there is nothing strange at all about asserting indicative conditionals like ‘If Oswald didn’t shoot Kennedy, then someone else did’. This paper argues that the only compelling explanation of these facts requires the resources of contextualism about knowledge.
How Well Do Large-Eddy Simulations and Global Climate Models Represent Observed Boundary Layer Structures and Low Clouds Over the Summertime Southern Ocean?

Climate models struggle to accurately represent the highly reflective boundary layer clouds overlying the remote and stormy Southern Ocean. We use in-situ aircraft observations from the Southern Oc...
Comparing Elemental Sensitivities Obtained With an Aperture and a Monolithic Polycapillary Optic Using a Commercial Micro-X-Ray Fluorescence (MXRF) Instrument

Recent MXRF reports have demonstrated marked x-ray flux enhancements over traditional aperturecollimating systems when using a total reflection capillary optic. In the present work, several standard reference materials (SRMs) were examined with a Kevex Omicron MXRF system to compare the elemental sensitivities achieved with an aperture x-ray guide to those obtained with a monolithic polycapillary optic (X-ray Optical Systems). This study is relevant to the MXRF community using commercial aperture-based instruments where trace elemental concentrations in a sample sometimes mandate the need for a higher primary x-ray dose, but the flexibility of incorporating various sized apertures for other samples is still maintained.By scanning the x-ray beam over a nickel/gold knife edge, the capillary focal spot diameter at the time of this work was determined to be ∼400 μm, while a 300 μm aperture provided a beam size of ∼550 μm due to beam divergence past the aperture.
Gender Identification and the Fear of Crime: Do Masculinity and Femininity Matter in Reporting Fear of Crime?

Criminologists have been interested in the gap in reported levels of fear of crime between men and women for decades. Our study advances and empirically tests the hypothesis that gender identity is...
Sex chromosome complement affects multiple aspects of reversal-learning task performance in mice

Determining the mechanisms by which the sex-chromosome complement (SCC) affects learning, attention, and impulsivity has implications for observed sex differences in prevalence, severity, and prognosis of psychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders and syndromes associated with sex-chromosome aneuploidy. Here, Four Core Genotypes (FCG) mice were evaluated in order to assess the separable and/or interacting effects of gonads (testes vs. ovaries) and their secretions and/or SCC (XX vs. XY) acting via non-gonadal mechanisms on behavior. We tested FCG mice on a reversal-learning task that enables the quantification of aspects of learning, attention and impulsivity. Across testing phases (involving the initial acquisition of a spatial discrimination and subsequent reversal learning), overall error rate was larger in XY compared with XX mice. Although XX and XY groups did not differ in the total number of trials required in order to reach a preset performance criterion, analyses of reversal error types showed more perseverative errors in XY than XX mice, with no difference in regressive errors. Additionally, prepotent-response latencies during the reversal phase were shorter in XY males, as compared with both XX gonadal males and females of either SCC, and failures to sustain the observing response were more frequent in XY mice than XX mice during the acquisition phase. These results indicate that SCC affects the characteristic pattern of response selection during acquisition and reversal performance without affecting the overall learning rate. More broadly, these results show direct effects of the SCC on cognitive processes that are relevant to psychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders and syndromes associated with sex-chromosome aneuploidies.
Associations between daily aspirin use and cancer risk across strata of major cancer risk factors in two large U.S. cohorts

Daily aspirin use has been shown to reduce risk of colorectal, and possibly other, cancers, but it is unknown if these benefits are consistent across subgroups of people with differing cancer risk factors. We investigated whether age, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, physical inactivity, and family history of cancer modify the effect of daily aspirin use on colorectal, ovarian, breast, endometrial and aggressive prostate cancer risk. We pooled 423,495 individuals from two prospective, U.S.-based studies: the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study (1995–2011) and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (1993–2009). Using Cox proportional hazards regression, we examined associations between daily aspirin use (≥ 5 days/week) and risk of colorectal, ovarian, breast, endometrial, and aggressive prostate cancer, overall and across strata of risk factors. Daily aspirin use was associated with a 15% reduction in colorectal cancer risk (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80–0.89). Risk reductions were generally consistent across strata of risk factors but attenuated with increasing BMI (p-interaction = 0.16). For ovarian cancer, there was no significant association overall (HR: 0.93, 95% CI 0.80–1.08) but reduced risk among obese women (HR: 0.73, 95% CI 0.52–0.98, p-interaction = 0.12). Weak or null associations were observed for breast, endometrial, and aggressive prostate cancer, with no strong effect modification observed. Daily aspirin use appears to reduce colorectal cancer risk regardless of other risk factors, though the potential modifying effect of BMI warrants further investigation and may need to be considered in risk–benefit calculations for aspirin use.
The Mammalian Jaw: A Mechanical Analysis

Mammalian skull structure is notably diverse; however at a basic level the jaw mechanism is remarkably similar, if not essentially the same, in the majority of mammals. Using simple models that are compared with real animals at every step, this book examines the basic structural features of the mammalian jaw mechanism from a mechanical point of view. It explores how the mechanical constraints placed on the jaw have contributed to the evolution of an efficient basic structure, used by many mammals, which precludes mechanical difficulties and uses a minimum amount of bone tissue. Throughout the book the emphasis is on conceptual understanding, with explanations linked together to form a complete story that can be applied to both fossil and extant mammals. Summarising over forty years of research from one of the leading pioneers in 3D jaw mechanics, this is a must-have for anyone interested in mammalian jaw morphology.
Learning With Fewer Images via Image Clustering: Application to Intravascular OCT Image Segmentation

Deep learning based methods are routinely used to segment various structures of interest in varied medical imaging modalities. Acquiring annotations for a large number of images requires a skilled analyst, and the process is both time consuming and challenging. Our approach to reduce effort is to reduce the number of images needing detailed annotation. For intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) image pullbacks, we tested 10% to 100% of training images derived from two schemes: equally-spaced image subsampling and deep-learning- based image clustering. The first strategy involves selecting images at equally spaced intervals from the volume, accounting for the high spatial correlation between neighboring images. In clustering, we used an autoencoder to create a deep feature space representation, performed k-medoids clustering, and then used the cluster medians for training. For coronary calcifications, a baseline U-net model was trained on all images from volumes of interest (VOIs) and compared with fewer images from the sub-sampling strategies. For a given sampling ratio, the clustering based method performed better or similar as compared to the equally spaced sampling approach (e.g., with 10% of images, mean F1 score for calcific class increased from 0.52 to 0.63, with equal spacing and with clustering, respectively). Additionally, for a fixed number of training images, sampling images from more VOIs performed better than otherwise. In conclusion, we recommend the clustering based approach to annotate a small fraction of images, creating a baseline model, which potentially can be improved further by annotating images selected using methods described in active learning research.
Microbial linkages to soil biogeochemical processes in a poorly drained agricultural ecosystem

Abstract Soil microorganisms mediate biogeochemical processes, but how microbial community composition influences these processes remains contested. We combined monthly sequencing of soil 16S rRNA genes and intensive measurements of nitrogen (N), carbon (C), and iron (Fe) cycling along a topographic gradient in a poorly drained intensive agricultural ecosystem (corn–soybean rotation) in the midwestern United States. Observed microbial composition changed little over time within and among years despite large differences in weather and crop type. Yet, microbial composition varied greatly with topographic location and correlated strongly with moisture, soil organic carbon (SOC), and especially pH. Microbial families, genera, and/or amplicon sequence variants often correlated significantly with measured biogeochemical processes or pools, yet different taxa within the same phylogenetic groups often responded in opposite ways, indicating a lack of ecological coherence among close relatives. Dominant phyla were generally similar across the topographic gradient but specific members showed consistent tradeoffs among locations. Ammonia oxidizing archaea and bacteria sequences varied oppositely with pH across the gradient, but their combined relative abundances remained similar, as did potential nitrification rates. Nitrospira sequences correlated positively with nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes, suggesting a direct or indirect contribution of nitrification (or possibly comammox) to N2O production. We also found significant linkages between taxonomic groups and redox-sensitive Fe pools, indicating a role for redox variation in structuring microbial communities. Several globally dominant bacteria identified previously correlated significantly with measured biogeochemical variables, providing insights into their possible functional roles. Overall, microbial composition provided a coarse measure of several key biogeochemical functions and implicated taxa that possibly mediate these processes in a widespread agroecosystem of North America.
Testing models for the compositions of chondrites and their components: I. CO chondrites

Abstract We present the first results of a comprehensive investigation aimed at testing the hypothesis of chondrule-matrix complementarity and the four-component model for the compositions of the carbonaceous chondrites and their components. Combining point-counting with electron microprobe analyses, we have determined the bulk compositions of thin sections, as well as the average abundances and compositions of the major chondritic components (chondrules, matrix, refractory inclusions, isolated silicate grains and isolated opaque grains). To minimize the potential for element exchange between components during parent body processing, the two most primitive COs, DOM 08006 and ALH 77307, and the primitive ungrouped CO/CM-like Acfer 094 were selected for this study. To verify our method, we also examined one section of the well-studied CO3.2 Kainsaz, a fall that is free of weathering. We were able to reproduce all major and many minor elemental concentrations reported in the literature for average bulk COs and Kainsaz to better than 10%. The elements most commonly cited as displaying evidence for complementarity are Mg, Si, Al, Ca, Fe and Ti. Iron, however, can be easily affected by chondrule metal-silicate fractionation, redistribution in the parent body and weathering, and our Ti data for matrix are likely compromised by an analytical artifact. Hence, we focused on Mg, Al, Si and Ca – four elements that we can determine very accurately – and show that their relative abundances in chondrules are on average CI-like within the uncertainties of the method. The matrix is not CI-like, but its composition can be explained by the loss of 10–15 wt.% of forsterite from an initially CI-like material prior to or during parent body accretion. These results are inconsistent with chondrule-matrix complementarity. Our average CO chondrule compositions, as well as chondrule and matrix abundances, are in line with the predictions of the four-component model. However, the four-component model assumes a CI-like composition for matrix, and also predicts refractory inclusion abundances that are higher and compositions that are less refractory than we observe. While similar studies of the other carbonaceous chondrite groups are needed, these differences may indicate the limitations of the simplifying assumptions made in the four-component model.
Framing Effects on Decision-Making for Diagnostic Genetic Testing: Results from a Randomized Trial.

Genetic testing is increasingly part of routine clinical care. However, testing decisions may be characterized by regret as findings also implicate blood relatives. It is not known if genetic testing decisions are affected by the way information is presented (i.e., framing effects). We employed a randomized factorial design to examine framing effects on hypothetical genetic testing scenarios (common, life-threatening disease and rare, life-altering disease). Participants (n = 1012) received one of six decision frames: choice, default (n = 2; opt-in, opt-out), or enhanced choice (n = 3, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior). We compared testing decision, satisfaction, regret, and decision cognitions across decision frames and between scenarios. Participants randomized to ‘choice’ were least likely to opt for genetic testing compared with default and enhanced choice frames (78% vs. 83–91%, p < 0.05). Neither satisfaction nor regret differed across frames. Perceived autonomy (behavioral control) predicted satisfaction (B = 0.085, p < 0.001) while lack of control predicted regret (B = 0.346, p < 0.001). Opting for genetic testing did not differ between disease scenarios (p = 0.23). Results suggest framing can nudge individuals towards opting for genetic testing. These findings have important implications for individual self-determination in the genomic era. Similarities between scenarios with disparate disease trajectories point to possible modular approaches for web-based decisional support.
Fluoride exposure and internalizing symptoms in adolescents in a United States cohort

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Studies have shown a relationship between early chronic, low-level fluoride exposure and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and learning abilities in children. Animal stud...
Interleukin-1 receptor antagonism leads to improved anaemia in a murine model of sickle cell disease and is associated with reduced ex vivo platelet-mediated erythrocyte sickling.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is associated with haemolytic anaemia and secondary activation of leucocytes and platelets, which in turn may further exacerbate haemolysis. As cytokine signalling pathways may participate in this cycle, the present study investigated whether pharmacological blockade of the interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) would mitigate anaemia in a murine model of SCD. Within 2 weeks of treatment, reduced markers of haemolysis were observed in anakinra-treated mice compared to vehicle-treated mice. After 4 weeks of anakinra treatment, mice showed increased numbers of erythrocytes, haemoglobin, and haematocrit, along with reduced reticulocytes. Blood from anakinra-treated mice was less susceptible to ex vivo erythrocyte sickling and was resistant to exogenous IL-1β-mediated sickling. Supernatant generated from IL-1β-treated platelets was sufficient to promote erythrocyte sickling, an effect not observed with platelet supernatant generated from IL-1R-/- mice. The sickling effect of IL-1β-treated platelet supernatant was inhibited by a transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) neutralising antibody, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase inhibition, and superoxide scavengers, but replicated by recombinant TGF-β. In conclusion, pharmacological IL-1R antagonism leads to improved anaemia in a murine SCD model. IL-1β stimulation of platelets promotes erythrocyte sickling. This effect may be mediated by platelet-derived TGF-β-induced reactive oxygen species generation though erythrocyte NADPH oxidase.
Thyroid Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy

Nodular thyroid disease is defined as the presence of single or multiple palpable or nonpalpable nodules within the thyroid gland. Thyroid nodules are common in clinical practice. Solitary palpable thyroid nodules are found in 4% to 7% of the adult population in North America (1–5). The prevalence of nodules increases linearly with age, in women, in iodine-deficient areas, and in populations exposed to ionizing radiation (2,3). Epidemiologic studies suggest that the annual incidence of thyroid nodules is 0.1% per year, which translates into approximately 275,000 new nodules in the United States, with an estimated 10% lifetime expectancy of a nodule developing (1). From a clinical standpoint, fewer than 5% of palpable nodules are malignant.
Actions of acetylcholine in the cerebral cortex and thalamus and implications for function.

Publisher Summary The concerted investigation of cholinergic systems by a large number of scientists has yielded an unparalleled wealth of information from molecular sequencing of the nicotinic receptor-channel to the firing patterns of cholinergic neurons in behaving primates. Acetylcholine (ACh) can activate a wide variety of pre- and post-synaptic responses ranging from rapid excitation to prolonged inhibition on the ionic level to stimulation of phospholipid turnover or inhibition of adenylyl cyclase in the biochemical realm. This versatility of cholinergic neurons contributes to their involvement in a variety of normal and abnormal neuronal functions, such as those underlying learning and memory, arousal and attentiveness, sleep and Alzheimer's disease. Of the variety of cholinergic pathways present in the mammalian CNS, the ascending projections from the brainstem to the thalamus and from the basal forebrain to the cerebral cortex appear to be particularly important in the modulatory control of forebrain activity. The cholinergic receptors that have been implicated in this ascending modulation of forebrain activity are both of the muscarinic and nicotinic type, with prolonged changes in activity generally associated with muscarinic receptors and more phasic responses associated with nicotinic receptors. Pharmacologically, nicotinic receptors have traditionally been categorized into two main groups: neural (or ganglionic) and muscular. The nicotinic receptor-channel is a pentameric structure composed of, in order of mobility on SDS polyacrylamide gels, two α, one β, one γ (expressed in development; replaced by ɛ in adults) and one δ subunit surrounding a water-filled pore. Amino acid sequencing of subunits, which contain the binding site for receptor activation, revealed the presence of at least four distinct subtypes, termed α1x-4. These four different α subunits (αl, muscle; α2-4 neural) differ not only in their primary structure, but also in their pharmacological properties and their distribution in the CNS.
Approximation of Dense- n /2-Subgraph and the Complement of Min-Bisection

We consider the DENSE-n/2-SUBGRAPH problem, i.e., determine a block of half number nodes from a weighted graph such that the sum of the edge weights, within the subgraph induced by the block, is maximized. We prove that a strengthened semidefinite relaxation with a mixed rounding technique yields a 0.586 approximations of the problem. The previous best-known results for approximating this problem are 0.25 using a simple coin-toss randomization, 0.48 using a semidefinite relaxation, 0.5 using a linear programming relaxation or another semidefinite relaxation. In fact, an un-strengthened SDP relaxation provably yields no more than 0.5 approximation. We also consider the complement of the graph MIN-BISECTION problem, i.e., partitioning the nodes into two blocks of equal cardinality so as to maximize the weights of non-crossing edges. We present a 0.602 approximation of the complement of MIN-BISECTION.
DEVELOPMENT OF A PHYSIOLOGICALLY MECHANISTIC MODEL FOR USE AT THE ALPINE TREELINE ECOTONE

Tree growth within the alpine treeline ecotone (ATE) is limited by a suite of environmental processes that are not included in general forest ecosystem process models. In this study, I explore the use of a one such model, FOREST-BGC, at four ATE sites in Glacier National Park, Montana. FOREST-BGC is modified to incorporate the effects of snow redistribution, frozen soil, and winter desiccation. Net primary productivity (NPP) and carbon balance are modeled at the four ATE sites. Under the carbon-balance hypothesis, carbon balance within the ATE should be near zero; however, the unmodified FOREST-BGC routinely predicts carbon balances greatly in excess of zero. The hydrologic modifications (snow redistribution and effects of frozen soil) produce the greatest reductions in NPP and carbon balance at the modeled sites. The incorporation of winter desiccation in the model has less effect than the hydrologic modification. To improve predictions of NPP and carbon balance at ATE locations, further modifications of...
Self-renewing HSCs respond directly to TLR4 ligand and are compromised in obesity, a disease linked to chronic TLR4 stimulation (HEM2P.270)

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), the sole source of blood cells throughout life, sense and respond to pathogen via toll like receptors (TLRs). Two TLR4 ligands that are persistently elevated in disease include bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and obesity-associated dietary lipids. Here, we show that CD150+ HSCs and downstream multipotent progenitors express TLR4 at levels comparable to bone marrow derived macrophages. When stimulated with LPS in culture, purified HSCs exhibit a 3-fold increase in myeloid output relative to vehicle controls. Moreover, LPS sensitivity is completely ablated in TLR4 KO HSCs. Thus, HSCs respond directly to LPS in a TLR4-dependent manner. We recently showed that chronic exposure to low-dose LPS drives HSC exhaustion and myeloid bias in vivo. We tested if diet-induced obesity, a disease marked by chronically elevated levels of the TLR4 agonists LPS and dietary fatty acids, compromised HSCs. Mice fed high fat diet for 16-20 weeks but otherwise unmanipulated had a 15-20% reduction in CD150+ self-renewing HSCs. The magnitude of HSC reduction strongly correlated with elevated blood glucose, a metabolic indicator of insulin resistance, and liver triglycerides, a morphometric risk factor for diabetes. This is the first study showing a link between diet-induced obesity and HSC integrity. Our findings imply that blood glucose levels may predict the severity of the HSC defect.
Deciding Presburger Arithmetic by Model Checking and Comparisons with Other Methods

We present a new way of using Binary Decision Diagrams in automata based algorithms for solving the satisfiability problem of quantifier-free Presburger arithmetic. Unlike in previous approaches [5, 2, 19], we translate the satisfiability problem into a model checking problem and use the existing BDD-based model checker SMV [13] as our primary engine.We also compare the performance of various Presburger tools, based on both automata and ILP approaches, on a large suite of parameterized randomly generated test cases. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach as a function of these parameters are reported, and the reasons for the same are discussed. The results show that no single tool performs better than the others for all the parameters.On the theoretical side, we provide tighter bounds on the number of states of the automata.
BEWILDERMENT AND THEREAFTER: Some Reflections in Response to Lee Yearley

The following reflections were originally an oral response to issues raised in Lee Yearley's presentation in May 2009 at Harvard Divinity School. As written here, they follow upon his oral and now written comments, highlighting key issues and points for development, drawing on this respondent's expertise in comparative and Hindu studies.
MTI radar stability measurement error

The stability of MTI radar measured as the ratio of power of test signal residue in the target filter to power of the test signal in the clutter filter does not necessarily correspond to the actual system stability over the range of test signal-to-noise ratios. The stability measurement algorithm should be based on the signal-to-noise ratio for which both figures match each other (that in the general case depends on the number of pulses and set of coefficients used to create a canceler or Doppler filter bank) or a correction coefficient should be introduced to account for possible discrepancy between measured and actual stability figures.
A method for γ-functionalization of tiglaldehyde via the lithio aldimine

LiCH2CC(CH3)CHNC6H11 reacts with carbonyl compounds to give γ capture products (HMPA present) or α capture products (no HMPA).