cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Goal Setting and Open Digital Badges in Higher Education

While Open Digital Badges (ODBs) has gained an increasing recognition as micro-credentials, many researchers foresee the role of ODBs as an innovative learning tool to enhance learning experiences beyond that of an alternative credential. However, little research has explored this topic. The purposes of this paper are to 1) argue that one way to expand the impact of ODBs on learning is to integrate them with goal setting, 2) establish how ODBs could offer as an important tool in optimizing goal setting effects on learning, and 3) provide design recommendations for future educational practices that incorporate ODBs as a pedagogical tool.
Mucus Matters: The Slippery and Complex Surfaces of Fish

Teleost scales are extremely diverse in morphology, with different categories (cycloid, crenate, spinoid, ctenoid) once used to define major groups of fish. We describe these different classical categories of scales and discuss the structure and potential function of small features of scale morphology such as spines, ctenii, radii, and circuli. Modern techniques now make analysis of scale morphology using three-dimensional quantitative data possible. This ability is crucial because many of the hydrodynamic and protective hypotheses concerning the function of scales are dependent on three-dimensional structure. We discuss different techniques to investigate and image the structure of fish scales and skin, and we highlight gel-based surface profilometry as a new valuable tool for studying fish skin. In addition to bony scales, fish skin is also covered by an epidermis that secretes mucus that can coat the exterior of scales. Fish scales are often studied in isolation with the epidermis removed; here we present topographic, three-dimensional, analyses of fish skin surfaces from seven species with the mucus, epidermis, and relative positions of scales intact. We compare these images qualitatively and quantitatively to the same individuals with the epidermis and mucus removed to show a previously unexplored axis of diversity in fish: how mucus and epidermis interact with scale morphology to create surface texture. The three-dimensional structure of fish skin has important implications for hydrodynamic function during locomotion, but this remains a largely unexplored area.
The Effects of Children’s Literature on Preservice Early Childhood Mathematics Teachers’ Thinking

In this article, the author shares an intervention of using children’s literature as a pedagogical frame for an undergraduate mathematics content course with early childhood education majors to influence their thinking about mathematics teaching and learning. With this case study of 29 preservice teachers, the author found that literature increased preservice elementary teachers’ excitement about mathematics, heightened their self-efficacy in mathematics, and motivated them to design innovative mathematics lessons. By elaborating on these findings, the author makes a case for the continued need for mathematically competent teachers in elementary classroom spaces, and the author advocates for the incorporation of literature as a means to do this work. Finally, the author provides implications for future research and practice with other SoTL-related projects involving children’s literature.
TreeShrink: fast and accurate detection of outlier long branches in collections of phylogenetic trees

Sequence data used in reconstructing phylogenetic trees may include various sources of error. Typically errors are detected at the sequence level, but when missed, the erroneous sequences often appear as unexpectedly long branches in the inferred phylogeny. We propose an automatic method to detect such errors. We build a phylogeny including all the data then detect sequences that artificially inflate the tree diameter. We formulate an optimization problem, called the k-shrink problem, that seeks to find k leaves that could be removed to maximally reduce the tree diameter. We present an algorithm to find the exact solution for this problem in polynomial time. We then use several statistical tests to find outlier species that have an unexpectedly high impact on the tree diameter. These tests can use a single tree or a set of related gene trees and can also adjust to species-specific patterns of branch length. The resulting method is called TreeShrink. We test our method on six phylogenomic biological datasets and an HIV dataset and show that the method successfully detects and removes long branches. TreeShrink removes sequences more conservatively than rogue taxon removal and often reduces gene tree discordance more than rogue taxon removal once the amount of filtering is controlled. TreeShrink is an effective method for detecting sequences that lead to unrealistically long branch lengths in phylogenetic trees. The tool is publicly available at https://github.com/uym2/TreeShrink .
Noise and vibration refinement of powertrain systems in vehicles

The noise level and sound quality of the powertrain system is arguably one of the most significant influences on the customer’s perception of a new car. This chapter describes the process for integrating the powertrain into passenger vehicles. The first step in the process is to set targets for the vibration source levels and isolation of paths to meet the noise level requirements. The second step is to incorporate enablers to tailor the induction and exhaust sound quality in order to meet the customer’s expectation of the vehicle. The chapter concludes with a review of future powertrain trends and the challenges they pose for noise and vibration refinement.
Die Verfassung als politische Macht

Nach Rousseau ist das wichtigste aller Gesetze, „das nicht auf Tafeln von Marmor oder Erz, sondern in die Herzen der Burger eingegraben ist“, niedergelegt in dem, was er „die wahre Verfassung“ nennt. Dieses Gesetz „gewinnt jeden Tag neue Macht, wenn andere Gesetze verfallen oder aussterben, stellt sie wieder her oder tritt an ihre Stelle, halt ein ganzes Volk auf den Wegen, die zu gehen seine Bestimmung ist, und ersetzt unmerklich die Autoritat durch die Macht der Gewohnheit“1. An dieser merkwurdigen Stelle, die an Burke und andere Traditionalisten erinnert, spricht der grose schweizerische Revolutionar nach seinen eigenen Worten „von der Sittlichkeit, von der Gewohnheit und vor allem von der offentlichen Meinung, einer den politischen Denkern unbekannten Macht, von der nichtsdestoweniger der Erfolg in allen anderen Dingen abhangt“. Seit den Tagen Rousseaus hat sich jedoch die Wissenschaft von der Politik eingehend mit dieser wichtigen Macht befast, obgleich sie nicht selten ihre Beziehung zu Sitte und Gewohnheit und zur Verfassung auser acht gelassen hat. Jedenfalls unterstreicht Holcombe diesen Zusammenhang, wenn er sagt: „Die grundlegenden Fragen der staatlichen Ordnung sind auserhalb der Verfassungskonvente durch die offentliche Meinung vorbestimmt … Insofern dies der Fall ist und geschriebene Verfassungsurkunden die anerkannten moralischen Auffassungen, Sitten und Gebrauche und die offentliche Meinung zur Geltung bringen, stellen sie selbst eine politische Macht von grosem Einflus dar. Bis zu einem gewissen Grad ist dies selbstverstandlich; denn ware es anders, so hatte es wenig Sinn, Verfassungen zu schaffen.“
Value of various taxa in breeding tetraploid blueberries in Florida

Many species and races of blueberries native to the southeastern United States have been used in the University of Florida breeding program. Highbush blueberry cultivars from a program started in 1908 in the northern United States were used at the start of the Florida program as a source of early ripening, large fruit size and high fruit quality. Vaccinium species native to Florida were used to obtain adaptation to the Florida environment, which is characterized by a long growing season, mild winters interrupted by killing freezes, low number of chill hours, and warm, moist conditions that favor fungal pathogens. The Florida species that have proved most useful in breeding have been southern races of Vaccinium corymbosum, which produce hybrids with high vigor and upright growth habit, and V. darrowi, which produces hybrids that retain their leaves late into the winter and have a very low chilling requirement. Species that have been less useful in breeding are V. elliottii and V. myrsinites. V. arboreum, in Vaccinium section Batodendron, is the only species outside of section Cyanococcus that has been used in breeding Florida blueberries, and has been a good source of vigor and tolerance to soils low in organic matter and high in bicarbonates. Although the gene pool available for improving low-chill highbush blueberries is large and diverse, progress is slowed by the need to improve simultaneously a large number of traits.
A Predictive Procedure for Vapor Pressure

A vapor pressure equation containing only three parameters has been proposed to calculate vapor pressures from the triple point to the normal boiling point of both organic and inorganic liquids. One of the three parameters is the normal boiling point. The other two parameters are obtained from only two pieces of experimental data, namely, the enthalpy of vaporization at the normal boiling point, and the enthalpy of vaporization at 298.15 K. There are several empirical procedures for the calculation of the boiling points of most liquids. The enthalpy of vaporization at the boiling point is obtainable from the Trouton’s constant. The enthalpy of vaporization at 298.15 K is obtainable from group contributions. Thus one obtains a simple predictive procedure for the vapor pressure. We call our vapor pressure equation the quadratic equation. By the addition of one more constant we may make the quadratic equation a cubic equation.
The External Validity of College Student Subject Pools in Experimental Research: A Cross-Sample Comparison of Treatment Effect Heterogeneity

Are student subject experiment pools comparable across institutions? Despite repeated concerns over the “college sophomore problem,” many experiment-based studies still rely on student subject pools due to their convenience and accessibility. In this paper, I investigate whether student subject pools are comparable across universities by examining how respondents across three student subject pools at distinct educational institutions perform on the same survey experiment about crisis bargaining between states. I argue that, due to selection biases inherent in university matriculation and the self-selection of students into experimental protocols, respondents across these subject pools will exhibit key demographic differences. I also examine whether respondents across these subject pools think similarly about international politics and respond comparably to experimental treatments. I find that, while there are significant demographic differences across subject pools, subjects across institutions respond similarly to experimental treatments—with the key exception of information regarding the regime type of a state. Furthermore, there is little evidence that these demographic differences impact conditional average treatment effects across subgroups. These findings carry critical implications for the use of student samples across political science and within international relations more specifically, particularly regarding the current replication crisis in the discipline.
A Tunable Low-Power Oscillator Based on High- $Q$ Lithium Niobate MEMS Resonators and 65-nm CMOS

This paper presents a comprehensive guide to co-design piezoelectric RF-micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) resonators and CMOS for enabling voltage-controlled MEMS oscillators (VCMOs) that harness the best benefits out of both platforms. The analysis, focusing on understanding different tradeoffs among the tuning range, power consumption, gain, and phase noise, is generic to any kind of piezoelectric resonators and specific for Colpitts VCMOs. As a result of this paper, the first VCMO based on the heterogeneous integration of a high-Q lithium niobate (LiNbO3) micromechanical resonator and CMOS has been demonstrated. A LiNbO3 resonator array with a series resonance at 171.1 MHz, a Q of 410, and an electromechanically coupling factor of 12.7% is adopted, while the TSMC 65-nm RF LP CMOS technology is used to implement the feedback and tuning circuitry with an active area of $220\times 70\,\,\mu \text{m}^{2}$ . The frequency tuning of the VCMO is achieved by programming a binary weighted digital capacitor bank and a varactor that are both connected in series to the resonator. The best measured phase noise performance of the VCMO is −72 and −153 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz and 10-MHz offsets from 178.23- and 175.83-MHz carriers, respectively. The VCMO consumes a dc current of $60~\mu \text{A}$ from a 1.2-V supply while realizing a tuning range of 2.4 MHz (~1.4% fractional tuning range). Such VCMOs can be applied to enable ultralow power, low phase noise, and wideband RF signal synthesis for emerging applications in Internet of Things.
Methylammonium lead tribromide semiconductors: Ionizing radiation detection and electronic properties

Abstract The response of single crystal methylammonium lead tribromide (MAPbBr 3 or MAPB) semiconductors to alpha particles at low voltage is presented. Through analysis of the preamplifier traces induced by 210Po alpha particles and collecting holes, we were able to determine the mobility–lifetime product, apparent mobility, trapping time constant, and the detrapping time constant. In addition, a quantitative study of the rate of positive polarization and device breakdown time at different applied voltages is presented. Finally, using a 239 Pu/Be fast neutron source, we were able to demonstrate the response of MAPB to fast neutrons for the first time via benchmarking experiment with Monte Carlo simulations.
Authentic Subcultural Identities and Social Media: American Skateboarders and Instagram

This article explores how “core” members within skateboarding develop, maintain, and perform their “authentic” skate identities through interactions with the social media application Instagram. Sup...
The Reading Habits and Preferences of LGBTIQ+ Youth

The author of this article presents the available findings on the reading habits and preferences of LGBTIQ+ youth. She will discuss the information seeking behavior of LGBTIQ+ youth and challenges that these youth face in locating LGBTIQ+ reading materials, whether in traditional book format or via social media. Finally, the author will provide recommendations to librarians on how to make LGBTIQ+ library resources more relevant for youth, as well as identify areas that require more research.
Lewis Henry Morgan: American Beavers and Their Works

Morgan’s The American Beaver and His Works (1868) argued for animals to be understood as living thinking communicating beings. Working in northern Michigan with Ojibwe (Anishinaabeg), Morgan docume...
Spaces, Places, Faces- Erases and Embraces: Actions and Experiences of the Trans Child Within Normative Frameworks

This chapter focuses on the detailed recollections of the early childhood social experiences of the research partners in educational environments. Relationships with peers are discussed, including the formation of friendships, bullying, and physical assaults. Those interviewed for the study experienced both positive and negative experiences with teachers. Academic performance and the influence of parents are explored. The recollections present narratives that range from raw and painful to comical. The research partners responded to negative treatment by others in a variety of ways, from fighting, to acting out, to rule nonconformity.
A stability theorem for maximal K r+1 -free graphs

Abstract For r ≥ 2 , we show that every maximal K r + 1 -free graph G on n vertices with ( 1 − 1 r ) n 2 2 − o ( n r + 1 r ) edges contains a complete r-partite subgraph on ( 1 − o ( 1 ) ) n vertices. We also show that this is best possible. This result answers a question of Tyomkyn and Uzzell.
Apolipoprotein A-I Mimetic 4F Peptide Generates Amyloid Cytotoxins by Forming Hetero-oligomers with β-amyloid

Apolipoproteins are involved in pathological conditions of Alzheimers disease (AD), truncated apolipoprotein fragments and {beta}-amyloid (A{beta}) peptides coexist as neurotoxic heteromers within the plaques. Therefore, it is important to investigate these complexes at the molecular level to better understand their properties and roles in the pathology of AD. Here, we present a mechanistic insight into such heteromerization using a structurally homologue apolipoprotein fragment of apoA-I (4F) complexed with A{beta}(M1-42) and characterize their toxicity. The 4F peptide slows down the aggregation kinetics of A{beta}(M1-42) by constraining its structural plasticity. NMR and CD experiments identified 4F-A{beta}(M1-42) heteromers as being comprised of unstructured A{beta}(M1-42) and helical 4F. A uniform {approx}2-fold reduction in A{beta}42 15N/1H NMR signal intensities with no observable chemical shift perturbation indicated the formation of a large complex, which was further confirmed by diffusion NMR experiments. Microsecond scale atomistic molecular dynamics simulations showed that 4F interaction with A{beta}(M1-42) is electrostatically driven and induces unfolding of A{beta}(M1-42). Neurotoxicity profiling of A{beta}(M1-42) complexed with 4F confirms a significant reduction in cell-viability and neurite growth. The molecular architecture of heteromerization between 4F and A{beta}(M1-42) discovered in this study provides evidence towards our understanding of the role of apolipoproteins or their truncated fragments in exacerbating AD pathology.
Asynchronous Byzantine Consensus on Undirected Graphs under Local Broadcast Model

In this work we look at Byzantine consensus in asynchronous systems under the local broadcast model. In the local broadcast model, a message sent by any node is received identically by all of its neighbors in the communication network, preventing a faulty node from transmitting conflicting information to different neighbors. Our recent work has shown that in the synchronous setting, network connectivity requirements for Byzantine consensus are lower under the local broadcast model as compared to the classical point-to-point communication model. Here we show that the same is not true in the asynchronous setting, and the network requirements for Byzantine consensus stays the same under local broadcast as under point-to-point communication model.
Technical Note: Investigation of the dosimetric impact of stray radiation on the Common Control Unit of the IBA Blue Phantom2

Purpose This technical note aims to investigate the dosimetric impact of stray radiation on the Common Control Unit (CCU) of the IBA Blue Phantom2 and the measured beam data. Methods Three CCUs of the same model were used for the study. The primary test CCU was placed at five distances from the radiation beam central axis. At each distance, a set of depth dose and beam profiles for two open and two wedge fields were measured. The field sizes were 10 × 10 cm2 and 30 × 30 cm2 for the open fields, and 30 × 30 cm2 and 15 × 15 cm2 for the 30° and 60° wedges, respectively. The other two CCUs were used to cross check the data of the primary CCU. Assuming the effect of stray radiation on the data measured at the farthest reachable distance 4.5 m is negligible, the dosimetric impact of stray radiation on the CCU and consequently on the measured data can be extracted for analysis by comparing it with those measured at shorter distances. Results The results of three CCUs were consistent. The dosimetric impact of stray radiation was greater for lower energies at larger field sizes. For open fields, the data variation was up to 4.5% for depth dose curves and 7.1% for beam profiles. For wedge fields, the data variation was up to 9.3% for depth dose curves and 10.6% for beam profiles. Moreover, for wedge field profiles in the wedge direction, they became flatter as the CCU was placed closer to the primary radiation beam, manifesting smaller wedge angles. Conclusion The stray radiation added a uniform background noise on all measured data. The magnitude of the noise is inversely proportional to the square of the distance of the CCU to the primary radiation beam, approximately following the inverse square law.
Dielectric Nanofluids for Electrostatic Machines & Actuators

Dielectric suspensions consisting of sterically coated, nano-scale barium titanium particles in the organic ester, isoamyl isovalerate, were developed to enhance the field forces in electrostatic machinery. The relative permittivity and conductivity of the suspensions were measured experimentally, as was the electrostatic force developed upon application of significant electric fields. At a particle concentration of 10% by volume, the relative permittivity of the suspension was approximately 50% greater than that of the base solvent. However, this improvement came at the expense of detriments to the conductivity and rheology of the suspension. These challenges must be addressed before dielectric suspensions can be used in such challenging applications.
Subcloud and Cloud-Base Latent Heat Fluxes during Shallow Cumulus Convection

AbstractDoppler and Raman lidar observations of vertical velocity and water vapor mixing ratio are used to probe the physics and statistics of subcloud and cloud-base latent heat fluxes during cumu...
Comparative nitrogen removal via microbial ecology between soil and green sorption media in a rapid infiltration basin for co-disposal of stormwater and wastewater

In this study, a rapid infiltration basin (RIB) designed as green infrastructure for co-disposal of wastewater effluent and stormwater runoff was retrofitted for sustainable groundwater recharge after nitrogen removal. For comparison of nitrogen removal efficiency via different filtration media, the RIB was divided into two sub-basins for different filtration processes. One sub-basin was filled with a native sandy soil with about 2-4% clay (Control RIB), and the other sub-basin was modified with Biosorption Activated Media (BAM) (BAM RIB), for the enhancement of microbial nitrogen removal. The two sub-basins accept an equal amount of excess reclaimed wastewater in non-storm periods, and stormwater during periodic storm events. The infiltrate in both the BAM RIB and the Control RIB eventually reaches the Upper Floridan Aquifer. The seven microbial species involved in this microbial ecology study are nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB), ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), anaerobic oxidation of ammonium (anammox) bacteria, complete ammonia oxidizer (Comammox) bacteria, denitrifiers, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The population dynamics study was conducted with the aid of the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) for the quantification of the microbial gene population in support of microbial ecology discovery. The qPCR results demonstrated the competition effect between AOA, AOB, and Comammox, the inhibition effect between NOB and DNRA with the presence of anammox, and the complementary effect due to an abundance of NOB and AOB in the microbial ecology. Although, competition between denitrifiers and DNRA was expected to impact population dynamics, both microbial species were found to be the most predominant in both control and BAM RIBs. Research findings indicate that the use of BAM RIB achieves significantly efficient nitrogen removal driven by complementary effects in the microbial ecology.
A Three-Person Teaching Machine Designed for Crisis: The Geromat III in Berlin and Ulm

This is the first paper to discuss the Geromat III teaching machine developed at the Berlin Institute for Cybernetics in relationship to the Geromat III prototypes developed at Ulm School of Design in the 1960s. The Geromat III was an electro-mechanical teaching machine that could train up to three students at three separate multimedia consoles. The system required all learners to answer correctly in order to progress through the instructional program; if not, the students were required to speak to each other in order to reach agreement. The paper analyzes archival material and first-hand accounts with the Geromat III, as well as the social context of federal funding for research into computing and education in West Germany of the 1960s, in order to understand how this teaching machine, an early form of computer-aided instruction (CAI), came to be. The Geromat III, though utilized on a small scale, found an audience of enthusiastic supporters on the other side of the country, with artist-designers at the Ulm School of Design who created prototypes for consoles to be used with the system. While hands-on knowledge about the system was unavailable to the console designers, an ideological affinity between the Ulm School of Design and the Berlin Institute for Cybernetics bridged any technical gaps in knowledge; the resulting design prototypes, one for mass-production and one for DIY (do-it-yourself) construction, point to speculative futures for the system.
Biddulph Phillipps Reads William Cobbett or 19th Century Catholic Convert Reads 19th Century Political Journalist and Follows His Advice and Endows Monasteries: A Tale for a Wintry Day

Written in the 1820s, William Cobbett's book, A History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland, defended medieval Catholicism primarily to criticize his contemporaries’ treatment of t...
COLOR AND CONSTRAINT: Skin Tone and Identification among Recent Immigrants to the United States

Immigrants to the United States are assigned to ethnic and racial categories that often make little sense in an international context or are actively resisted by new arrivals. This study uses a large, nationally representative sample to test how skin color constrains and patterns that resistance, and how individual characteristics shape identification choices. Using the 2003 New Immigrant Survey, I find that skin tone has significant relationships with ethnic and racial self-identification choices for immigrants, even after controlling for characteristics like country of origin, with higher rates of Latinx identification among light-skinned immigrants than dark-skinned respondents, and especially high rates of refusing the “standard” racial categories for those near the middle of the skin tone scale. The racial categories selected by immigrants reflect not only their region of origin, but also their education level and their age, controlling for a range of demographic predictors. I discuss the implications for the racialization of immigrants to the United States.
Resisting the temptation to compete: Self-control promotes cooperation in mixed-motive interactions

Abstract This article provides a self-control analysis of mixed-motive interactions, including 2-person social dilemmas and bargaining encounters. We propose that mixed-motive interactions pose a self-control conflict between pursuing immediate benefits through competition and pursuing long-term benefits through cooperation. As such, anticipating high (vs. low) barriers to successful outcomes triggers counteractive self-control operations that increase cooperation, so long as people believe that by doing so they can influence others to reciprocate.
Associations of mental health with driving while impaired and risky driving in emerging adults.

Examined cross-sectional associations of driving while impaired (DWI) and risky driving with mental and psychosomatic health among U.S. emerging adults. Data were from years 1–4 after high school (...
The Epistemic Value of Libraries: An Ecologic and Holistic Analysis

We have applied an ecological holistic analysis to examine whether in face of new technologies libraries are part of the "epistemic foundation of society," a question perhaps raised by recent remarks by AALS President Vici Jackson. We have adapted holistic ecological media theory, as developed by Ronald Deibert, to reject a technologically deterministic view of libraries as having no future. We have considered the role of libraries, especially law libraries, in the social epistemology or cognitive authority of society, the role of libraries as knowledge institutions (in multiple facets), the function of technology (including language and media), and geopolitical and physical considerations such as resources. We reviewed our past in terms of reading and the development of libraries and speculated about our future through ecological holistic lenses.
De-icing Test of the Externally Heated Geothermal Bridge in Texas

In recent years, a geothermal heat pump de-icing system (GHDS) has been introduced as an alternative for conventional snow and ice removal systems (CSRS). Application of the CSRS for bridges highly prone to ice formation is not a satisfactory solution as it has a negative impact on the environment, bridge deck condition, motorist safety, and travel time. Although GHDS has proved to be a sufficient and feasible solution, it is only applicable to new bridges. However, a new method of GHDS has been developed which utilizes an external hydronic pipe attached to the bottom surface of the bridge deck and is applicable even for existing bridges. In this study, the performance of the external hydronic heating system, installed and tested on the full-scale mock-up bridge deck, was investigated in Texas. The system has experienced several cold events and de-icing tests, in which it was successful in maintaining the surface temperature above freezing. However, the results show the system is capable of de-icing the bridge deck and provide an ice-free surface. In order to enhance the de-icing operation, the system requires about 8 h of preheating; however, less time is required during mild events. Furthermore, the system is energy-efficient with a coefficient of performance (COP) of more than 4.
Life in the slow lane: Unintended consequences of public transit in Jakarta

Abstract We study how TransJakarta, one of the worlds largest BRT systems, impacted commuting outcomes in Jakarta, Indonesia from 2002 to 2010. Using planned lines for identification, we find that BRT station proximity neither reduced vehicle ownership nor travel times, and it did not increase commuter flows. Instead, the BRT exacerbated congestion along service corridors. To evaluate welfare effects, we calibrate a quantitative spatial general equilibrium model with multiple congestible transport networks. Counterfactual simulations suggest that implementation improvements, including increasing the quality of expansion corridors, would significantly improve welfare with only modest costs.
IT Security Risk Management under Network Effects and Layered Protection Strategy

This paper considers the implications of network effects and distinction of security measures in the risk management procedure. We compare three models in the risk management procedure: without network effects and general protection measures, without network effects but with general protection, and with both network effects and general protection measures. The paper details the impact in terms of security risks, investment levels, and benefits of security investment, in the three models. We show that the preferable way to conduct risk management procedure is to follow the latter of the three models.
The molecular genetics of thalassemia.

In the past few years analysis of the genetics and disorders of human hemoglobins has undergone a revolution as new research tools have provided the means to obtain long-sought-after answers regarding gene structure and function. Study of human hemoglobins and their disorders, particularly the thalassemia syndromes, is at the forefront of the interaction of new genetic technology and medicine. It offers the promise of understanding an entire class of diseases at the molecular level in detail totally unforeseen just a short time ago. In this review we will attempt to summarize recent approaches and findings in this rapidly moving area and illustrate how these studies may provide important models for the analysis of other human diseases.
Probabilistic exploration in planning while learning

Sequential decision tasks with incomplete information are characterized by the exploration problem; namely the trade-off between further exploration for learning more about the environment and immediate exploitation of the accrued information for decision-making. Within artificial intelligence, there has been an increasing interest in studying planning-while-learning algorithms for these decision tasks. In this paper we focus on the exploration problem in reinforcement learning and Q-learning in particular. The existing exploration strategies for Q-learning are of a heuristic nature and they exhibit limited scaleability in tasks with large (or infinite) state and action spaces. Efficient experimentation is needed for resolving uncertainties when possible plans are compared (i.e. exploration). The experimentation should be sufficient for selecting with statistical significance a locally optimal plan (i.e. exploitation). For this purpose, we develop a probabilistic hill-climbing algorithm that uses a statistical selection procedure to decide how much exploration is needed for selecting a plan which is, with arbitrarily high probabiiity, arbitrarily close to a locally optimal one. Due to its generality the algorithm can be employed for the exploration strategy of robust Q-learning. An experiment on a relatively complex control task shows that the proposed exploration strategy performs better than a typical exploration strategy.
Only the first steps of the parallel evolution have been taken thus far

We are roughly fives years into the multicore era of computing, and it is safe to say that a parallel evolution is well underway.We have only taken the first steps along this evolution. In my talk, and this paper, I offer a brief history of the evolution and predictions of four major trends that will, or have, emerged and help characterize the future.
Does Personality Matter? Expressive Generation for Dialogue Interaction

This paper summarizes our recent work on developing the technical capabilities needed to automatically generate dialogue utterances that express either a personality or the persona of a dramatic character. In previous work, we developed a personality-based generation engine, PERSONAGE, that produces dialogic restaurant recommendations that varied according to the speakers personality. More recently we have been exploring three issues: (1) how to coordinate verbal expression of personality or character with nonverbal expression through facial or body animation parameters; (2) whether we can express character models that we learn from film dialogue with the existing parameters of the PERSONAGE engine; and (3) whether we can show experimentally that expressive generation is useful in a range of tasks. Our long-term goal is to create off-the-shelf tools to support the creation of spoken dialogue agents with their own persona and personality, for a broad range of types of dialogue agents in task-oriented applications or in interactive stories and games.
Happily Never After

The research topic I addressed regarded the idealized concept of marriage and the “happy ending” seen in a majority of fairytales, compared to the darker Bluebeard tale that focuses on what happens after the marriage, a time frame rarely addressed. This tale places emphasis on material good as a means of entering marriages, which often causes members of the marriage to have limited knowledge of their spouse and the skeletons in their closets. This can lead to grave consequences such as loss of innocence, being placed in subordinate gender roles for women, and reliance on male saviors, all impacting both male and female identities. I use close reading of mainly the Perrault version of the “Bluebeard” tale and also some of the Brothers Grimm version to support my argument. I used a variety of secondary sources as well in order to provide another perspective and also to validate my claims. This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol14/iss1/4
Prosthetic Gait Training Using the Concept of Biofeedback and Instrumented Gait Analysis

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present a gait analysis system (Chao, 1980) which is routinely used in the clinical evaluation of amputees, to report the preliminary results from a new gait training device, and to describe one additional training device, both of which utilize the biofeedback concept.
Profile of select hepatic insulin signaling pathway genes in response to 2-aminoanthracene dietary ingestion.

Abstract Some genes that regulate various processes such as insulin signaling, glucose metabolism, fatty acid, and lipid biosynthesis were profiled. The objective of the current investigation is to examine the mRNA expression of some genes that mediate insulin signaling due to 2AA toxicity. 2AA is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) that has been detected in broiled food and tobacco smoke. Twenty-four post-weaning 3-4-week-old F344 male rats were exposed to 0 mg/kg-diet, 50 mg/kg-diet, 75 mg/kg-diet, and 100 mg/kgdiet 2AA for 2 weeks and 4 weeks. The mRNA expression of AKT1, G6PC, GCK, GLUT4, INSR, IRS1, PP1R3C, PAMPK, SOCS 2, and SREBF1 was determined by qRTPCR followed by the quantification of G6PC and AMPK via ELISA. The results suggest that 2AA modulates these genes depending on the length of exposure. Up-regulation of AMPK and SOCS2 genes in animals treated with 100 mg/kg-diet and 50 mg/kg-diet, respectively, during 14 days of feeding was noted. G6PC expression was inhibited in the 2-week group while being dose-dependently increased in the 4-week group. Hepatic activity of G6PC was enhanced significantly in the livers of rats that ingested 2AA. It appears that 2AA intoxication leads to the activation of irs1 and akt1 genes in the liver. Quantified AMPK amounts increased significantly in the short-term treatment group. Dose-dependent rise of AMPK in animals treated to 2AA showed an increased production of hepatic AMPK in response to the toxicity of 2AA in order to maintain cellular homeostasis. In contrast, the reduction in AMPK concentration in treated animals within the 4-week set indicated an adaptive recovery.
Empowering kids to create and share programmable media

such as Flickr and YouTube and blogs, which support usergenerated content, enabling people to create and share text, graphics, photos, and videos. But for the most part, Web 2.0 does not include interactive content. People interact with Web-based animations and games all the time, but few people can create and share their own interactive content. The Scratch project [1] from MIT Media Lab aims to change that, making it easy for everyone, especially children and teens, to create and share interactive stories, games, and animations on the Web, in the participatory spirit of Web 2.0. With the Scratch programming environment [2], users snap together graphical programming blocks to control the actions and interactions of rich media content, including photos, graphics, music, and sound. Then they upload their interactive creations to the shared Scratch website, where other members of the Scratch community can interact with the projects on the site and download the original source code to examine or modify the project [3]. The Scratch website offers an alternate model for how children Empowering Kids to Create and Share Programmable Media
Parallel Efficient Sparse Matrix-Matrix Multiplication on Multicore Platforms

Sparse matrix-matrix multiplication (SpGEMM) is a key kernel in many applications in High Performance Computing such as algebraic multigrid solvers and graph analytics. Optimizing SpGEMM on modern processors is challenging due to random data accesses, poor data locality and load imbalance during computation. In this work, we investigate different partitioning techniques, cache optimizations (using dense arrays instead of hash tables), and dynamic load balancing on SpGEMM using a diverse set of real-world and synthetic datasets. We demonstrate that our implementation outperforms the state-of-the-art using Intel\(^{{\textregistered }}\) Xeon\(^{{\textregistered }}\) processors. We are up to 3.8X faster than Intel\(^{{\textregistered }}\) Math Kernel Library (MKL) and up to 257X faster than CombBLAS. We also outperform the best published GPU implementation of SpGEMM on nVidia GTX Titan and on AMD Radeon HD 7970 by up to 7.3X and 4.5X, respectively on their published datasets. We demonstrate good multi-core scalability (geomean speedup of 18.2X using 28 threads) as compared to MKL which gets 7.5X scaling on 28 threads.
One Moment Please: Private Devotion in the Public Schools

Twenty-five years ago, in the celebrated case of Eng le vs. Vitale, the United States Supreme Court held that the establishment clause of the First Amendment precluded the board of education of Union Free School District Number 9, Hyde Park, New York, from causing the following prayer to be said aloud at the beginning of the school day: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country.'" The Court, through Justice Black, concluded that the practice was unconstitutional because it was "part of a governmental program to further religious beliefs" that "breach[ed] the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State."2 In Karcher vs. May (no. 85-1551), the Court recently faced, but ultimately did not decide, whether the New Jersey legislature violated Engel' s constitutional strictures by providing a moment of silence at the start of each school day during which students could ponder, daydream, meditate, plan a date, or if they chose pray.3 The question of private devotion in the public schools has been a contentious one since the Engel decision. Persons opposed to any official recognition of divinity have used the decision to argue for the extirpation of all reference to deity from public life.4 On the other hand, the decision has been used as emotional fodder by radicals of another ilk to whip devotees into furious indignation over the banishment of God from the classroom.5 Whatever the perspective, the decision simply resists receding quietly into the constitutional background. The continuing debate over private devotion in the public schools has many facets. The problem can be approached on a historical basis. Those who favor a "strict" or "original intent" construction of the Constitution insist that Engel and other establishment clause decisions are flatly inconsistent with the goals originally animating the First Amendment.6 Alternatively, the controversy can be analyzed somewhat more pragmatically by focusing not on what the Founding Fathers thought or intended but rather on whether prayer or moments of
Cooperative types for controlling thread interference in Java

Abstract Multithreaded programs are notoriously prone to unintended interference between concurrent threads. To address this problem, we argue that yield annotations in the source code should document all thread interference, and we present a type system for verifying the absence of undocumented interference in Java programs. Under this type system, well-typed programs behave as if context switches occur only at yield annotations. Thus, well-typed programs can be understood using intuitive sequential reasoning, except where yield annotations remind the programmer to account for thread interference. Experimental results show that yield annotations describe thread interference more precisely than prior techniques based on method-level atomicity specifications. In particular, yield annotations reduce the number of interference points one must reason about by an order of magnitude. The type system is also more precise than prior methods targeting race freedom, and yield annotations highlight all known concurrency defects in our benchmarks. The type system reasons about program behavior modularly via method-level specifications. To alleviate the programmer burden of writing these specifications, we extend our system to support method specification inference, which makes our technique more practical for large code bases.
A new method for rapid mapping of the retinal thickness at the posterior pole.

Purpose An objective, quantitative, and sensitive method to map retinal thickness is needed to diagnose more effectively the conditions causing alterations in thickness, such as macular edema and neuroretinal atrophy. Methods An instrument, the retinal thickness analyzer, was developed into a rapid scanning instrument, capable of covering macular areas of 2 x 2 mm in 200 or 400 msec and generating a detailed map of the retinal thickness. The performance was assessed in vitro and in five normal subjects who were scanned on three separate visits. Results Optimal depth precision was 5 to 10 microns, and the optimal depth resolution was 50 microns. Reproducibility was +/- 12 microns on the same day, +/- 13 microns for single maps obtained in multiple visits, and +/- 10 microns for three averaged maps per visit obtained in multiple visits. Conclusions This new method to analyze retinal thickness provides four unique features: multiple optical cross-sectioning of the retina, mapping of retinal thickness, high reproducibility, and short acquisition time. These capabilities promise to improve the diagnosis and management of common diseases such as macular edema and glaucoma.
Approaches to the analysis of relativistic superdense matter

Recent discoveries in astrophysics and in elementary-particle theory have indicated the need for relativistic models of super-dense matter. Computational schemes based on relativistic quantum field theory developed to meet these needs are systematically discussed. A review of the problems which arise at the many different levels of approximation is given, and attempts at their solution are presented. Finally, a consistent approximation scheme suited to relativistic systems is developed and its justification discussed. This paper provides a theoretical basis for the approximation scheme which has previously been applied to model neutron star calculations.
Influence of Supplemental Light on Sow Performance during and after Lactation

A completely randomized block experiment with two treatments was designed to investigate the effect of supplemental light on sow performance during and after lactation. Crossbred multi- and primiparous sows were exposed to either limited (control, n = 164) or 16 h (n = 163) timer-controlled supplemental light beginning 3 to 9 d before expected farrowing. Overhead illumination (32 to 266 lux) was furnished by seven fixtures (two tubes each) of cool white fluorescent light at twice-daily feedings in control rooms (less than 1 h/d) and for 16 h/d in supplementally lighted rooms (16 h). Litter size was equalized within 48 h postpartum (10 +/- .1 pigs/litter; X +/- SE) in each of five identical rooms that served alternately as control or 16-h treatments during 10 consecutive weekly farrowings (September 24 to November 26, 1981). Litters were heavier (P less than .05) at weaning (26 +/- .1 d) for 16-h than for control sows (57.8 +/- 1 vs 54.3 +/- 1 kg) while pigs weaned (9.2 +/- .1 vs 9.1 +/- .1), piglet survival (90 vs 91%) and days to mating (5.9 +/- .4 vs 5.5 +/- .3) were similar (P greater than .05). However, more (P less than .01) 16-h than control sows (83 vs 68%) were mated by 5 d postweaning. Multiparous sows weaned heavier (P less than .05) litters than primiparous sows (57.9 +/- 1 vs 50.1 +/- 1 kg) while overall litter weight increased (P less than .05) 141 +/- 6 g for each 10 lux increase in light intensity. We concluded that litter weight is increased and return to postweaning estrus more synchronous when sows are exposed to 16 h supplemental ligh/d during a 4-wk lactation.