cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stream cipher design using cellular automata implemented on FPGAs

Pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) are a key component of stream ciphers used for encryption purposes. While linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs) combined with nonlinear feedback shift registers (NFSRs) have typically been utilized for PRNGs, the use of cellular automata (CA) is another viable option. This paper explores the combination of LFSRs and CA as the key components of an efficient stream cipher design for implementation on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The proposed stream cipher design builds upon a recent published design known as A2U2. The suite of statistical tests found in the Diehard program is utilized to evaluate the quality of random numbers from the proposed CA-based stream cipher. Comparisons with the A2U2 design indicate that the use of CA have the potential to improve the quality of the random numbers generated and hence increase the security of the cipher.
Opto-photo-thermo-elastic displacement detection, using coherent confocal microscope

Photothermal spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate the optical absorption and thermal characteristics of a sample. The photo-thermal effect, that is the basis for photothermal spectroscopy, is the conversion of optical energy into heat. Photothermal spectroscopy is implemented in a variety of methods. Biomedical imaging applications commonly implement the Photo-Thermo-Acoustic (PTA) method, that is based on measuring the acoustic pressure wave that propagates due to the photothermal effect, caused by absorption of energy from a heating laser. This research demonstrates photothermal elastic displacement measurement using a coherent confocal microscope, as a first step towered pothothermal spectroscopy. The high accuracy of the interferometer, that is the heart of the coherent confocal microscope, in detecting small changes in position makes it intrinsically adequate to measure the thermoelastic expansion of the sample that results from the photothermal process. In this research Polyvinyl-Chloride Plastisol (PVCP) samples, constructed with different absorption coefficients, were tested using different heating light fluences. The results are compared against an approximate theoretical model and are found to be in good agreement. The Opto-Photo-Thermo-Elastic (Optical detection of elastic displacement changes due to the phototheraml process) technique is demonstrated in this research as a first step toward extending the capability of confocal microscopes to image deeper into tissues than is presently possible, and to detect new modes of contrast.
STUDIES OF ANTERIOR PITUITARY TISSUE IN VITRO: COMPARISON OF CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM IN GLANDS FROM MALE AND FEMALE RATS.

The metabolism of radioactive glucose in vitro has been compared in anterior pituitary tissue (AP) from male and female rats. The pathways leading to the major products of glucose metabolism in AP, CO2, lactate, protein and amino acids, were equally active in the 2 sexes when expressed per unit weight of tissue. The female AP is 1.5-fold heavier than the male AP, however, and therefore the total metabolic activity of the AP is correspondingly greater in females of comparable body weight. Glucose assimilation by AP was increased with increasing concentrations of medium glucose. The fraction of assimilated glucose converted to the various products measured changed as the concentration of medium glucose was increased. At a concentration of medium glucose of 1.0 mg/ml, 24% of assimilated glucose was converted to amino acids, peptides and protein in both sexes. A comparable amount was oxidized to CO2, and much smaller fractions were recovered in glycogen and lipid. Male and female differences in glycogen synth...
Facility location with nonuniform hard capacities

The authors give the first constant factor approximation algorithm for the facility location problem with nonuniform, hard capacities. Facility location problems have received a great deal of attention in recent years. Approximation algorithms have been developed for many variants. Most of these algorithms are based on linear programming, but the LP techniques developed thus far have been unsuccessful in dealing with hard capacities. A local-search based approximation algorithm (M. Korupolu et al., 1998; F.A. Chudak and D.P. Williamson, 1999) is known for the special case of hard but uniform capacities. We present a local-search heuristic that yields an approximation guarantee of 9 + /spl epsi/ for the case of nonuniform hard capacities. To obtain this result, we introduce new operations that are natural in this context. Our proof is based on network flow techniques.
Dna2 mutants reveal interactions with Dna polymerase alpha and Ctf4, a Pol alpha accessory factor, and show that full Dna2 helicase activity is not essential for growth.

Mutations in the gene for the conserved, essential nuclease-helicase Dna2 from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were found to interact genetically with POL1 and CTF4 , which encode a DNA Polymerase α subunit and an associated protein, suggesting that Dna2 acts in a process that involves Pol α. DNA2 alleles were isolated that cause either temperature sensitivity, sensitivity to alkylation damage, or both. The alkylation-sensitive alleles clustered in the helicase domain, including changes in residues required for helicase activity in related proteins. Additional mutations known or expected to destroy the ATPase and helicase activities of Dna2 were constructed and found to support growth on some media but to cause alkylation sensitivity. Only damage-sensitive alleles were lethal in combination with a ctf4 deletion. Full activity of the Dna2 helicase function is therefore not needed for viability, but is required for repairing damage and for tolerating loss of Ctf4. Arrest of dna2 mutants was RAD9 dependent, but deleting this checkpoint resulted in either no effect or suppression of defects, including the synthetic lethality with ctf4. Dna2 therefore appears to act in repair or lagging strand synthesis together with Pol α and Ctf4, in a role that is optimal with, but does not require, full helicase activity.
Reducing Body CT Radiation Dose: Beyond Just Changing the Numbers

OBJECTIVE. CT dose reduction has become a top priority for many radiology practices as a result of federal and state initiatives and public concern. Implementing this in practice, however, is difficult because of the variability between practices, CT scanners, radiologist preferences, and institutional capacity. CONCLUSION. This article will discuss strategies for successful CT dose reduction instituted in multivendor practices.
Time optimal control of mobile robot motion using neural nets

A multilayer neural network architecture is proposed as a trainable controller for realizing time-optimal switching surfaces. The locomotion mechanism of a mobile robot is modeled by a double integrator dynamic system with linear acceleration as the control input to the actuators. A four-layer feedforward neural network is then trained, using a collection of representative samples chosen from a certain region of the state space, to realize a continuous mapping between the system's states and optimal control actions. This network is then used as part of a specified control loop. Simulation of the overall system generated nearly optimal state trajectories. >
Carbon dioxide action on metabolism of organic and amino acids in crisphead lettuce

Tissue of crisphead lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) was kept in air or air enriched with 5% to 20% CO 2 at 0°C for 2 to 9 days followed by transfer to air or the CO2-enriched atmosphere at 20°C for 1 day to study the mode of CO 2 action on metabolism of organic and amino acids. Exposure to 20% CO 2 reduced the extractable activity of succinate dehydrogenase. The 20% CO 2 treatment caused a decrease in pH, which partially inhibited the catalytic activity of succinate dehydrogenase and substantially activated glutamate decarboxylase. As a result, succinate and y-aminobutyrate accumulated and concentrations of malate and glutamate decreased. Such effects on the organic and amino acids were more pronounced with higher temperature, higher CO 2 concentrations, and longer exposure to CO 2. The accumulation of succinate and y-aminobutyrate was induced by 15% or 20% CO 2 in all the three tested cultivars ('Climax', 'Salinas', and 'Winter Haven') and in both green and white tissues of lettuce, regardless of variation in their susceptibilities to CO 2 injury.
Sorting N items using a p-sorter in optimal time

A sorting device capable of sorting p items in constant time is called a p-sorter. It is known that the task of sorting N items using a p-sorter requires at least /spl Omega/ (N log N/p log p) applications of the p-sorter. This bound is tight: there exist algorithms that use O (N log N/p log p) calls to the p-sorter to sort N items. However, there is no known implementable algorithm that can sort N items in O(N log N/p log p) time using a p-sorter. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a simple VLSI architecture and to show that in our architecture N items can be sorted in O(N log N/p log p) calls to the p-sorter, while enforcing conflict-free memory accesses. An important feature of our design is that the total additional VLSI area for hardware, other than the memory for data and the p-sorter, is kept to a minimum.
The Impact of Omitted Responses on the Accuracy of Ability Estimation in Item Response Theory

Practitioners typically face situations in which examinees have not responded to all test items. This study investigated the effect on an examinee's ability estimate when an examinee is presented an item, has ample time to answer, but decides not to respond to the item. Three approaches to ability estimation (biweight estimation, expected a posteriori, and maximum likelihood estimation) were examined. A Monte Carlo study was performed and the effect of different levels of omissions on the simulee's ability estimates was determined. Results showed that the worst estimation occurred when omits were treated as incorrect. In contrast, substitution of 0.5 for omitted responses resulted in ability estimates that were almost as accurate as those using complete data. Implications for practitioners are discussed.
Modified robust variance estimator for generalized estimating equations with improved small-sample performance

Generalized estimating equations (GEE (Biometrika 1986; 73(1):13-22) is a general statistical method to fit marginal models for correlated or clustered responses, and it uses a robust sandwich estimator to estimate the variance-covariance matrix of the regression coefficient estimates. While this sandwich estimator is robust to the misspecification of the correlation structure of the responses, its finite sample performance deteriorates as the number of clusters or observations per cluster decreases. To address this limitation, Pan (Biometrika 2001; 88(3):901-906) and Mancl and DeRouen (Biometrics 2001; 57(1):126-134) investigated two modifications to the original sandwich variance estimator. Motivated by the ideas underlying these two modifications, we propose a novel robust variance estimator that combines the strengths of these estimators. Our theoretical and numerical results show that the proposed estimator attains better efficiency and achieves better finite sample performance compared with existing estimators. In particular, when the sample size or cluster size is small, our proposed estimator exhibits lower bias and the resulting confidence intervals for GEE estimates achieve better coverage rates performance. We illustrate the proposed method using data from a dental study.
[2.2]Paracyclophane as a Target of the Organic Solid State: Emergent Properties via Supramolecular Construction

In this account, we review the synthesis of (2.2)paracyclophanes in the organic solid state. Reactions in crystalline solids provide a means to obtain molecules with high degrees of stereocontrol that can also be unattainable in solution. We show that (2.2)paracyclophanes form in the solid state stereospecifically and in quantitative yield via in- termolecular (2+2) double photodimerization reactions. The double cycloaddition that affords a paracyclophane in the solid state does not readily occur in solution. Small mole- cules in the form of hydrogen-bond-donor templates can provide access to (2.2)paracyclophanes in a solid by design. A (2.2)paracyclophane obtained using a hydrogen-bond tem- plate is shown to exhibit attractive optical properties and has been employed as a building block of a metal-organic framework (MOF).
Fertile offspring derived from mouse spermatogonial stem cells cryopreserved for more than 14 years

BACKGROUND Approximately 80% of childhood cancers can now be cured but a side effect of treatment results in about one-third of the surviving boys being infertile or severely subfertile when they reach reproductive age. Currently, more than 1 in 5000 men of reproductive age who are childhood cancer survivors suffer from this serious quality of life problem. It is possible to obtain a testicular biopsy before treatment to preserve the spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) of the male by cryopreservation, but the results of long-term storage of SSCs on their subsequent functional ability to generate normal offspring has not been examined in any mammalian species. Moreover, it will be necessary to increase the number of these cryopreserved SSCs to remove any contaminating malignant cells and assure regeneration of spermatogenesis.
Prospects and performance limitations for Cu–Zn–Sn–S–Se photovoltaic technology

While cadmium telluride and copper-indium-gallium-sulfide-selenide (CIGSSe) solar cells have either already surpassed (for CdTe) or reached (for CIGSSe) the 1 GW yr⁻¹ production level, highlighting the promise of these rapidly growing thin-film technologies, reliance on the heavy metal cadmium and scarce elements indium and tellurium has prompted concern about scalability towards the terawatt level. Despite recent advances in structurally related copper-zinc-tin-sulfide-selenide (CZTSSe) absorbers, in which indium from CIGSSe is replaced with more plentiful and lower cost zinc and tin, there is still a sizeable performance gap between the kesterite CZTSSe and the more mature CdTe and CIGSSe technologies. This review will discuss recent progress in the CZTSSe field, especially focusing on a direct comparison with analogous higher performing CIGSSe to probe the performance bottlenecks in Earth-abundant kesterite devices. Key limitations in the current generation of CZTSSe devices include a shortfall in open circuit voltage relative to the absorber band gap and secondarily a high series resistance, which contributes to a lower device fill factor. Understanding and addressing these performance issues should yield closer performance parity between CZTSSe and CdTe/CIGSSe absorbers and hopefully facilitate a successful launch of commercialization for the kesterite-based technology.
2‐(o‐Methoxyphenyl)‐4,4‐dimethyl‐2‐oxazoline

[57598-33-1] C12H15NO2 (MW 205.28) InChI = 1S/C12H15NO2/c1-12(2)8-15-11(13-12)9-6-4-5-7-10(9)14-3/h4-7H,8H2,1-3H3 InChIKey = ZGDUNGBWVZKWGE-UHFFFAOYSA-N (electrophilic arylation of Grignard reagents, lithium reagents, and lithium amides by methoxy displacement; synthesis of o-substituted benzoic acids, o,o′-biphenyls, and o-aminobenzoates3, 4) Alternate Name: 2-(2′-methoxyphenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-4,5-dihydrooxazole. Preparative Method: prepared from o-anisic acid and 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol in two steps.3, 4 Handling, Storage, and Precautions: no special precautions are warranted.
DEVELOPMENT OF A LIFE-MEANINGS SURVEY

Summary.-This paper's purpose was to describe an interview which purports to survey some important areas in life meanings. The "Life-meanings Survey" is a semi-structured, depth interview which has been used to assess the outcomes of various humanistically oriented, confluent educational projects. It attempts to reach a deeper, more personal level of response than the usual paperand-pencil personality, attitude, or achievement measures by probing into relatively enduring effects which make a difference in the lives of the participants. It investigates some of the major philosophical-psychological domains of what is substantially worth believing in, doing and living for, and what is a coherent, useful philosophy of life. Divided into five areas of meaning, the interview technique includes intentionality, significance, symbols, sense and the meaniagful impact of a given project. Research results are reported from three studies: the effects of confluent education on high school students, the outcomes of a humanistically oriented medical program, and the results of a 1-yr. program in confluent education for school administrators. These studies indicate that quantitative assessments can be made using this instrument Rough reliability and validity measures of the interview have also indicated its usefulness and stability.
Immunization against Haemophilus influenzae Type B Fails to Prevent Orbital and Facial Cellulitis: Results of a 25-Year Study among Military Children

ABSTRACT Vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae type B (HI) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) have dramatically reduced the incidence of bacterial meningitis (due to both HI and SP) and epiglottitis (due to HI) in childhood. The effects of these vaccines on other conditions, however, are less clear. We report an analysis of the effect of serial deployment of various HI and SP vaccines over a 25-year period, involving an examination of over half a million pediatric hospitalizations occurring in Army hospitals worldwide. We show that, in marked contrast to the reduction in the number of meningitis and epiglottitis cases, the disease burden of orbital and facial cellulitis— conditions oft attributed to HI and SP— did not diminish.
Situational and dispositional influences on cardiovascular reactivity to daily academic stressors

Stress has many physical effects on the body, including producing elevations in heart rate and blood pressure. This study investigated associations between daily academic stressors and cardiovascular activity. Because individual differences may influence physical reactions to academic stressors, differences in threat/challenge appraisal, test anxiety, and behavioral inhibition were considered as potential moderators of the relationship between academic stressors and cardiovascular activity. Forty-five undergraduate student participants (10 men, 35 women, M age = 20.58) wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for four consecutive days, and completed a series of individual difference assessments. Acute and anticipatory academic stressors were associated with cardiovascular reactivity for men only. Challenge appraisals (low threat) were associated with elevated cardiovascular responses during times of greater academic stress. Additionally, test anxiety and behavioral inhibition moderated the association between academic stressors and cardiovascular activity. However, these patterns were somewhat varied and inconsistent. This research suggests that men’s everyday academic stressors are linked with blood pressure, and such reactivity may predict health complications later in life. Interventions in early college, or earlier in life, may be helpful in promoting good health among students.
Preliminary results of adjunctive use of endoanchors in the treatment of short neck and pararenal abdominal aortic aneurysms

Objectives To present our initial experience with the use of EndoAnchors for endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) with little to no infrarenal landing zone. Background EndoAnchors have been reported to assist in the prevention and treatment of type 1a endoleaks in patients with hostile aortic necks who undergo EVAR. Methods Between July 2013 and July 2014, nine patients with AAAs and short proximal aortic necks (i.e., 0–10 mm in length) underwent EVAR. In five patients, utilization of the chimney graft technique was necessary. A mean of 2.5 (range 1–4) visceral vessels underwent chimney graft. The prophylactic use of EndoAnchors was utilized in all 9 patients. The decision to use the EndoAnchors was made in the preoperative planning phase. Results Technical success was achieved in 100% of cases. In two cases, type 1a endoleaks were noted before the deployment of any EndoAnchors. In both cases, a final angiogram depicted resolution of the type 1a endoleak after insertion of the EndoAnchors. Mean follow-up time was 8 months. At 30 days, 3 months, and 6 months, 100% of the endografts remained patent and free from type 1a endoleaks. No adverse renal complications or mortality was reported. Conclusions EndoAnchors are an applicable adjunct to EVAR as treatment for short infrarenal neck and pararenal AAAs. Further investigations are needed to determine the durability of this novel application. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
How to Reconcile Participation and Representation: A Defense of Arendt's Argument for the Council System

In On Revolution and other writings, Arendt advocates the form of political organization known as the council system. This aspect of her thought has been sharply criticized or — more often — simply ignored. How, both sympathizers and detractors wonder, could Arendt in all earnest propose the council system as an alternative to parliamentary democracy? The aim of the present paper is to defend Arendt’s position. I argue that her enthusiasm for the council system is an integral element of her thought and defend it against the criticisms it has provoked. Furthermore, I highlight the relevance of her arguments for the current debate about the idea of deliberative democracy. Her thesis that (top-down) party politics and (bottom-up) deliberative politics are antithetical and hence cannot coexist poses a serious challenge to the idea that parliamentary democracy can be made more deliberative while leaving its basic framework intact.
UK Higher Education Framework: Saved by Bologna?

The UK higher education system has been coming to terms with the policy of successive governments of increasing participation and yet reducing the unit of resource available to accommodate this growth in undergraduates. In the early 1990's there was the introduction of two year accelerated degrees whereby students studied the degree modules over an intensive two-year period, following the example of degree programmes at the University of Buckingham. The LLB degree by this accelerated route was introduced at the University of Hertfordshire as part of this HEFCE initiative. However, these programmes were not imitated at other institutions. The Dearing Committee in 1996 gave another impetus for two-year degrees for the 'more able student'. However, the universities received this with the comment that such degrees 'raised serious issues of admissions policy, quality and standards'. In 1999 two year degrees were placed back on the agenda as a 'quick, cheap programme designed to prepared large numbers for jobs at technician level where skill shortages had been identified in the UK economy'. The Quality Assurance Agency at the same time was consulting on its Higher Education Framework and the government announced plans for two year 'foundation degrees'. The writing appeared to be quite clearly on the wall. However, the UK is a member of the EU and in 2000 a declaration was signed at Bologna with the aim of developing a European-wide system of easily readable and comparable degrees. The Bologna Declaration stated that all degree qualifications should involve a minimum of three years' full-time study. The British government had been one of the leading forces behind the efforts to standardised higher education qualifications across Europe and yet the Declaration seems to undermine the policy pursued by the British government. Are these developments compatible? This paper looks at the wider issues behind the Bologna Declaration and the implications they could have for developments in UK legal education.
St John’s Wort Complementary Therapy for ADHD

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of hypericum perforatum (St John’s Wort) in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was conducted in 54 children aged 6 to 17 years at Bastyr University, Kenmore, WA.
Cytomegalovirus and Human Herpes Virus-6 Reactivation Following Tandem Transplantation Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation for Multiple Myeloma (MM)

s / Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 22 (2016) S19eS481 S178 CMV serostatus was positive in 51 patients. Overall 23 (24.2% overall, 45.1% in seropositive patients) patients had CMV reactivation of which 11 had reactivation after first transplant, 8 after second and 4 after both transplants. 13 patients received treatment with foscarnet, valganciclovir and/or ganciclovir. CMV symptoms were fever (4 patients), pneumonitis (2) and possible pericarditis (1) and esophagitis (1). No CMV reactivation was seen in seronegative patients. Seven patients were found to have HHV-6 reactivation, 4 after first and 3 after second transplant. Two patients needed treatment with foscarnet and ganciclovir. HHV-6 symptoms were fever (1 patient) and possible encephalitis (1). With early treatment, no death occurred due to CMV and HHV-6 reactivation. Conclusions: Our experience shows that CMV reactivation is very common (almost 50%) in CMV seropositive patients whereas HHV-6 reactivation is relatively rare. CMV surveillance should be performed routinely after APBSCT.
Spectrum sensing in satellite cognitive radios: Blind signal detection technique

In this article, cyclostationary analysis of the communication satellite signals has been performed and a simpler spectrum sensing technique using the features in the spectral density has been devised. The proposed technique makes use of the time smoothing cyclic periodogram for estimating the spectral density of the captured signal and a normalized feature vector is calculated from the spectral density. Using the defined threshold, feature vector peaks are counted and decision of signal presence or absence is made. The proposed technique is simpler in operation as compared to other techniques, which requires high resolution analysis for feature detection, particularly pattern recognition using artificial neural networks training datasets or wavelet analysis for de-noising spectral density. The proposed technique works without any prior knowledge of the captured data. It is also found to be least affected by the location and magnitudes of the feature peaks as they appear in the spectral density due to maximum value normalization. Detection of the signals has been done without any pre-processing such as de-noising. The USRP2 platform is used to capture the real-time satellite modulated carriers of BPSK, QPSK, and 16-QAM along with the noise in the satellite spectrum using GNU Radio. Further analysis and simulations are performed in the Matlab. The next generation of satellite cognitive radio designs can use this new algorithm to quickly sense, at low resolution and with less complexity/stability in the presence of a carrier signal or noise in the satellite spectrum. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 58:1377–1384, 2016
Implicit responses in discrimination learning of retardates

15 severely retarded Ss received 12 sessions of 4 12-trial object discrimination problems differentiated by the following procedures enforced during the first 6 trials only: a prompt (light cue in front of correct stimulus) appeared or did not, and an instrumental response was permitted or was not. Subsequent intraproblem performance indicated (1) significant learning when only the prompt appeared and no response was permitted, and (2) more learning with prompt plus response than with response alone (conventional trial-and-error procedure). MA was correlated significantly with performance on prompt-only problems but not with trial-and-error performance. These data suggested a differentiation between implicit and explicit response learning processes.
Fluorescence line narrowing and Δ-FLN spectra in the presence of excitation energy transfer between weakly coupled chromophores.

The results of simulations of fluorescence line narrowed (FLN) and Δ-FLN spectra of weakly coupled chromophore dimers and trimers, connected by slow (hundreds of picoseconds) excitation energy transfer and embedded in amorphous solids such as proteins, are presented. The model includes wavelength-dependent excitation energy transfer (EET) rate distributions converted to nonidentical sub- site distribution function (sub-SDF) (one for each EET rate), as well as spectral hole burning in pigments excited via EET. Emission of the donor molecules and realistic EET probability dependence on the donor–acceptor energy gap are also included. The shapes of the FLN and Δ-FLN spectra are very sensitive to even small variations of interpigment coupling in this weak-coupling regime, and proper modeling is essential for extracting correct parameters from the experimental spectra. Applications of the model to the trimeric FMO complex and the dimeric cytochrome b6f are demonstrated.
Investigation on density and infection rate in Fengcheng city

Objective To analysis Fengcheng rodent species composition,density,the infection rate and provide scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.Methods Night trap method,bait for the peanuts.Results 7 species of rodent were captured in the village,the dominant species was Rattus norvegicus,accounting for 59.65%.Outside the village,Apodemus agrarius were the dominant species which accounted for 82.05%.The rat density were 6.19% in the village and 5.60% outside the village.The total rat density was 5.88%.Conclusion Fengcheng region hemorrhagic fever epidemic peaks and spring and autumn density of rodents are closely related to carriers of the virus.
Contamination Sensitivity Among Children and Adults in Rural Uganda

Research on the development of contamination sensitivity, detecting when water or food is safe to consume, has been conducted mainly in western, industrialized settings. Little is known about it in...
Density of solid—Organic compounds

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the density of solid for organic compounds in tabular form. The tabulation is arranged by carbon number such as C, C2, and C3 to provide ease of use in quickly locating the data by using the chemical formula. The compound name and chemical abstracts registry number (CAS No) are also provided in columns. Values for representative temperature and density at the representative temperature are given in the adjacent columns. The next column provides the code for the tabulation. In preparing the tabulation, a literature search is conducted to identify data source publications. Both experimental values for the property under consideration and parameter values for estimation of the property are included in the source publications. The publications are screened, and copies of appropriate data are made. These data are keyed into the computer to provide a database of values for compounds for which experimental data are available. The database also serves as a basis to check the accuracy of the estimation methods. Upon completion of data collection, estimation of values for the remaining compounds is performed. The compilations of CRC, Daubert and Danner, and Yaws are used extensively for solid density. Many of the estimates are based on extending the liquid density to the triple point.
Managed Bumble Bees (Bombus impatiens) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Caged With Blueberry Bushes at High Density Did Not Increase Fruit Set or Fruit Weight Compared to Open Pollination.

Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is an important crop grown throughout Florida. Currently, most blueberry growers use honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) to provide pollination services for highbush blueberries even though bumble bees (Bombus spp.) have been shown to be more efficient at pollinating blueberries on a per bee basis. In general, contribution of bumble bees to the pollination of commercial highbush blueberries in Florida is unknown. Herein, we determined if managed bumble bees could contribute to highbush blueberry pollination. There were four treatments in this study: two treatments of caged commercial bumble bee (Bombus impatiens Cresson) colonies (low and high weight hives), a treatment excluding all pollinators, and a final treatment which allowed all pollinators (managed and wild pollinators) in the area have access to the plot. All treatments were located within a highbush blueberry field containing two cultivars of blooming plants, 'Emerald' and 'Millennia', with each cage containing 16 mature blueberry plants. We gathered data on fruit set, berry weight, and number of seeds produced per berry. When pollinators were excluded, fruit set was significantly lower in both cultivars ( 58%). Berry weight was not significantly different among the treatments, and the number of seeds per berry did not show a clear response. This study emphasizes the importance of bumble bees as an effective pollinator of blueberries and the potential beneficial implications of the addition of bumble bees in commercial blueberry greenhouses or high tunnels.
An Ecological Perspective to Training Teachers of the Behaviorally Disordered: Where Are We Now?.

This investigation examined the extent to which an ecological perspective is taught to teachers of the behaviorally disordered. Questionnaire data were obtained on 139 undergraduate and 144 graduat...
An event-triggered consensus approach for distributed clock synchronization

Distributed clock synchronization with intermittent communication is addressed in this paper. An event-triggered control and communication approach is presented in order to determine in a decentralized way the time instants at which each agent transmits information. The decentralized event-triggered synchronization of clocks is formulated as a single integrator consensus problem in the particular case and as double integrator consensus problem in the general case. The main contribution of this paper, besides the implementation of event-triggered mechanisms, is the feature that the virtual clocks are continuous. This is an important property because of the processes associated to each local clock, where missing deadlines or performing time dependent tasks more than once needs to be avoided.
Causative Effects of Genetically Determined High Maternal/Fetal Endothelin-1 on Preeclampsia-Like Conditions in Mice

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is implicated in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. An association between an EDN1 gene polymorphism with high ET-1 and preeclampsia was reported in humans, but their cause and effect relationships have not been defined. We examined the pregnancy effects in mice with a modified Edn1 allele that increases mRNA stability and thus ET-1 production. Heterozygous Edn1 H/ + females showed no obvious abnormalities before pregnancy, but when mated with wild-type (WT) males developed a full spectrum of preeclampsia-like phenotypes, including increased systolic blood pressure, proteinuria, glomerular endotheliosis, and intrauterine fetal growth restriction. At 7.5 days post-coitus, the embryos from Edn1 H/ + dams, regardless of their Edn1 genotype, lagged 12 hours in development compared with embryos from WT dams, had disoriented ectoplacental cones, and retained high E-cadherin expression. In contrast, WT females mated with Edn1 H/ + males, which also carried half of the fetuses with Edn1 H/ + genotype, showed a mild systolic blood pressure increase only. These WT dams had 2× higher plasma soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 than WT dams mated with WT males. In human first trimester trophoblast cells, pharmacological doses of ET-1 increased the cellular sFlt1 transcripts and protein secretion via both type A and B ET-1 receptors. Our data demonstrate that high maternal ET-1 production causes preeclampsia-like phenotypes during pregnancy, affecting both initial stage of trophoblast differentiation/invasion and maternal peripheral vasculature during late gestation. High fetal ET-1 production, however, could cause increased soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 in the maternal circulation and contribute to blood pressure elevation.
Modeling Strategies for Superconducting Microstrip Transmission Line Structures

Strategies are explored to reduce the electromagnetic simulation time of electrically large superconducting transmission line structures while retaining model accuracy. The complex surface reactance of an infinite thin-film superconducting sheet is evaluated with the BCS (Bardeen–Cooper—Schrieffer) theory and is used as an input to model the phase velocity and characteristic impedance of finite width transmission line structures. Commercially available electromagnetic simulation software packages are employed for the calculations, and the results are compared with limiting analytic forms from the literature. The influences of line width, metallization thickness, and substrate height on microstrip transmission line propagation are considered in detail, and a scaling approach is presented to compensate for the leading-order effect in numerical simulations. These findings are particularly important near the energy gap of the superconductor due to the influence of the kinetic inductance on the transmission line dispersion.
Sexual Harassment: Legal Perspectives

After a remarkably swift development in law and popular consciousness, the concept of sexual harassment has become the subject of controversy and debate. Sexual harassment is a legal concept that originated in the United States in the 1970s, when feminists succeeded in establishing it as a form of sex discrimination prohibited by national employment discrimination laws. The law defines harassment in sexual terms: Harassment consists of powerful men directing unwanted sexual advances toward less powerful women. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, this sexual view of harassment had been consolidated in law, media representation, social science research, organizational practice, and everyday thought. Recently, however, this view has come under challenge in the US among civil libertarians, feminists, and gay/lesbian theorists, many of whom have voiced concerns that the emphasis on curbing sexual conduct may penalize less mainstream workers who are viewed as sexually deviant such as sexual minorities, people of color, and working class men and women. Some feminists have also warned that the focus on sexuality neglects equally pernicious, non-sexual forms of gender-based harassment and discrimination designed to exclude and marginalize women (and many men) from the work they want to pursue. At the same time, as feminists and policymakers around the globe have begun to regulate harassment, many have imported into their own legal traditions a version of the US model now being reexamined. It is to be hoped that such new international efforts will pay heed to recent debates about workplace harassment in the US, and that US reformers will seek to learn from broader traditions of worker empowerment upon which other nations draw.
A comparison of control modes for time-delayed remote manipulation

Transmission time delay in the communication channel of a manual control system is investigated. A time delay can exist in remote manipulation systems, caused by long communication distances or bandwidth limitations. Ferrell 1 conducted the first research in time-delayed manipulation using a two degree-of-freedom manipulator. His subjects, working at time delays of 1.0, 2.1, and 3.2 s, could accomplish tasks even requiring great accuracy. The subjects spontaneously adopted a pattern of moving cautiously, then waiting to see the results of their actions. In experiments with a six degree-of-freedom master-slave manipulator system and time delays of 1.0 to 6 s, Black 2 saw that subjects tried to use the move-and-wait strategy; but there were often difficulties. The subjects seemed to have a problem in holding the master arm stationary while waiting for feedback. Any undesired drifting of the master arm introduced a discrepancy between the positions of the master and slave. This discrepancy was not perceived because of the time delay. The subject would then begin his next move with an inherent error. The difficulty of effectively using the move-and-wait strategy with a master-slave manipulator suggested that rate control might be a more effective control mode with time delay.
Deligne Cohomology and the Geometric (Co-)Bar Constructions

Deligne cohomology is one of the key invariants of complex algebraic varieties which plays a fundamental role in problems related to algebraic cycles and Beilinson regulators. For that reason it is important to understand its geometric structure. This paper is a survey of main results as well as methods and techniques involved in the studies of geometry of Deligne cohomology groups. Our basic references are [G1], [G3], and [G2].
Congenital mitral regurgitation: Report of two cases∗

Abstract Isolated congenital mitral regurgitation is a rare resultant of developmental abnormalities of the mitral valve. This defect is related to the valve itself and is due to an inadequate leaflet, a dilated annulus, or abnormally positioned chordae. Two 4 year old girls with classic clinical and radiographic evidence of mitral regurgitation were studied by cardiac catheterization and selective cineangiocardiography. The pulmonary arterial wedge pressure pulse tracings revealed the characteristic contour of moderately severe mitral regurgitation. Selective left ventricular cineangiocardiograms demonstrated severe mitral regurgitation. The clinical, hemodynamic and angiocardiographic findings are compared with those noted in 33 other reported cases.
Helgason’s Conjecture in Complex Analytical Interior

We discuss Helgason’s conjecture in the language of complex analysis and integral geometry on symmetric Stein manifolds.
The relationship between composition of gain and circulating hormones in growing beef bulls fed three dietary crude protein levels.

Twenty-one Simmental crossbred bulls (311 +/- 11 kg, 9 mo of age) were used to determine the effect of feeding 10, 12 or 14% CP on concentration of hormones in blood and the relationship of these hormones to composition of gain. Six bulls were slaughtered on d 0 to provide an estimate of initial carcass composition (9-11 rib section). Remaining bulls were assigned to dietary treatments. Blood samples were collected every 30 min from 0800 to 2000 on d 0, 66, 136 and 202 of treatment; bulls were slaughtered on d 203. Across all treatments, growth hormone (GH) declined (P less than .05) from d 0 to d 202. Free insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) was lowest (P less than .05) on d 0. In four randomly selected bulls, IGF-I fluctuated during the 12-h sampling periods. Within each treatment group, insulin was greatest on d 202 (P less than .05). Testosterone (T) increased from d 0 to d 66, then declined. Cortisol (C) was lowest on d 66. Thyroid hormones increased (P less than .05) after d 0. Growth hormone and IGF-I were correlated negatively with carcass fat percentage, fat accretion rate and fat thickness. IGF-I concentrations were correlated positively with percentage of carcass protein. Testosterone:cortisol ratio was not related to composition, but high T coupled with low C may be related to carcass leanness (mean carcass fat = 24.4%). These data suggest that GH and IGF-I are the hormones most related to composition of gain in growing beef bulls.
Applications to Marketing

Over the years, a number of applications of optimal control theory have been made to the field of marketing. Many of these applications deal with the problem of finding or characterizing the optimal advertising rate over time. Others deal with the problem of determining the optimal price and quality over time, in addition to or without advertising. The reader is referred to Sethi (1977a) and Feichtinger et al. (1994a) for comprehensive reviews on dynamic optimal control problems in advertising and related problems. In this chapter we discuss optimal advertising policies for two of the well-known models called the Nerlove-Arrow model and the Vidale-Wolfe model.
The Role of High Voltage Electrode Material in the Inactivation of E. coli by Direct-in-Liquid Electrical Discharge Plasma

This work investigates the effect of high voltage (HV) electrode material of a point-plane plasma reactor on the inactivation rate of E. coli in both direct plasma and post-discharge inactivation processes. For the direct plasma processes, nickel chromium alloy, iron, tungsten and copper were used as HV electrode materials. In comparison with the other three materials, a significantly higher inactivation rate of E. coli was achieved with copper as the HV electrode. The inactivation effect was demonstrated to be mainly associated with the toxicity of copper ions, rather than from copper nanoparticles released from the electrode during the treatment. Similarly, for the post-discharge inactivation process, a higher E. coli inactivation rate was achieved in both post-plasma and plasma-treated water treatment using copper as the HV electrode, as compared to the tungsten control case. Increased inactivation rates are a result of a synergistic action between copper ions and the hydrogen peroxide generated by the plasma.
On Block-Structured Integer Programming and Its Applications

Integer programming in a variable dimension is a crucial research topic that has received a considerable attention in recent years. A series of fixed parameter tractable (FPT) algorithms have been developed for a variety of integer programming that has a special block structure, and such results were later applied successfully in many classical combinatorial optimization problems to derive FPT or approximation algorithms. From a theoretical point of view, it is important to understand the overall landscape, and distinguish the structures of integer programming that are tractable vs. intractable or unknown so far. From the application point of view, it is important to understand how the structure of such integer programming is related to the structure of concrete combinatorial optimization problems. The goal of this survey is to summarize recent progress in theory and application of integer programming that has a block structure and point to important open problems in this research direction.
The Technical Efficiency of Organic Herbs: The Case of Egypt

The main purpose of this study is to compare the efficiency ratings of organic and conventional herbs and spices farms in the Egyptian delta. To do so, we use stochastic production frontier (SPF) analysis with a Cobb–Douglas stochastic frontier model as a functional form specification for the data. Additionally, we study the factors affecting technical efficiency scores reflecting farmer and farm characteristics (i.e., farmer experience, type of soil and irrigation, location in different governorates as an indicator of being located in a less favored area). Computing output elasticity of different inputs assesses productivity differences between both agricultural practices. The analysis adopts cross-sectional, farm-level data collected from a random sample of 232 (135 organic and 97 conventional) farms that specialize in herbs and spices. Output elasticities of different inputs show that organic farms exhibit higher output elasticities than conventional farms. Labor and area are found to be the most productive factors in organic farming. Organic farmers, on average, are more technically efficient than their conventional counterparts (efficiency ratings are approximately 0.75 and 0.91, respectively). Hence, the results suggest that, by using available resources more efficiently and without changing current technology, organic (conventional) farms can increase their output by about 9% (25%). Concerning the factors influencing technical efficiency, they are found to be relevant.