cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Ecology of Extinctions in Kelp Forest Communities

: We recognize three levels of extinction–global, local, and ecological – and provide examples of each. The protection and recovery of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) has provided abundant evidence of the consequences of their local extinction from kelp forest communities in the North Pacifc Ocean. These consequences include release of benthic invertebrate populations from limitation by predation; deforestation of kelp beds due to increased grazing by herbivorous sea urchins, one of the otter's main prey; and various cascading effects resulting from the biological and physical importance of kelp in coastal ecosystems. These interactions probably were important agents of selection for certain species. Two other examples are discussed: Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), a case of global extinction, and spiny lobsters, a possible case of ecological extinction. We speculate that grazing by sea cows was an important disturbance to surface-canopy-forming kelps and other algae in the littoral zones, but also point out that any such interactions probably acted in concert with physical disturbances by ocean waves. The ecological and evolutionary importance of sea cow grazing probably will remain a matter of speculation and conjecture because the species is globally extinct. Predation by spiny lobsters limits a variety of littoral and sublittoral invertebrate populations, particularly mollusks In one remarkable example, the reduction or local extinction of spiny lobsters enabled predutory whelks to increase in size and abundance, ultimately resulting in a predutor-prey role reversal. From these and other case studies we can clued that (1) the extinction of consumers may have brad and sometimes unexpected influences on kelp forest ecosystems; (2) direct or indirect interactions with now-extinct species probably exerted important selective influences on many extant forms; (3) such ecological and evolutionary influences are best understood where local or ecological extinctions, followed by recoveries, have provided comparisons in space or time; and (4) because of various ecological and behavioral barriers, local extinctions and their ecological consequences may not be simply reversed by protecting or reintroducing depleted or locally extinct species.
Senate Representation and Coalition Building in Distributive Politics

The Senate's equal representation of states shapes coalition building in distributive politics. The great variation in state population means that some states have far greater need for federal funds than others, but all senators have equal voting weight. As a result, even though all senators' votes are of equal value to the coalition builder, they are not of equal “price.” Coalition builders can include benefits for small states at considerably less expense to program budgets than comparable benefits for more populous states. Building on formal models of coalition building, two hypotheses are developed and tested. First, coalition builders will seek out less costly members to build supportive coalitions efficiently. Second, the final outcomes of distributive policy will more closely reflect the preferences of small-state senators than large-state senators. The hypotheses are tested by examining the 1991 and 1997–98 reauthorizations of federal surface transportation programs. The findings support both hypotheses.
An Agent-Based Framework for Occupant-Oriented Intelligent Facility Management Scheduling

Facility managers today inevitably deal with various tasks from daily operations. With the advances in facility technologies, the amount of data available is increasingly larger and more complex, especially for campus and healthcare facilities. A significant challenge is how to improve efficiency, productivity and profitability with limited resources, budget pressures and tight schedules, while still meeting the expectations of building occupants. To address such a challenge, this paper proposes an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) framework that utilizes agent modeling to facilitate system-wide decision making for facility management. The framework is developed to help facility managers analyze and prioritize tasks according to factors such as degree of emergency, budget, and occupant satisfaction level, etc. Unlike previous construction industry agent models, this framework takes into consideration both the preferences and feedback of building occupants in the decision-making process for facility management. This paper realizes this framework through Anylogic based on a real case study and proposes a unique algorithm. The AI model will combine opinions from facility managers and occupants to automatically generate an optimal task schedule. The simulation in a residential building demonstrates that the framework is feasible for dealing with real-world operations.
Thromboelastography and sonoclot analysis in the healthy parturient

Abstract Study Objective : To compare values for two whole blood viscoelastic coagulation tests, thromboelastography (TEG) and Sonoclot analysis (Sonoclot R Coagulation Analyzer, Sienco, Inc., Morrison, CO), between healthy parturients and nonparturients. Design : Prospective study. Setting : University hospital. Patients : 41 healthy, nonpregnant females and full-term nonlaboring and laboring parturients. Interventions : Blood samples for TEG and Sonoclot analysis were taken from all patients. TEG tracings were analyzed for reaction time (R), coagulation time (RK), the difference between RK and R (K), clot formation rate (α°), and maximum amplitude (MA) values. Sonoclot tracings were analyzed for onset, rate ↑, peak, and rate ↓ values. Measurements and Main Results : All TEG values were significantly different between nonpregnant females and parturients ( p p Conclusion : The differences found in the parturients reflect a hypercoagulable state. If these tests are to be used in evaluating obstetric patients, the results should be compared with values obtained for healthy parturients, not healthy nonparturients.
A scaling procedure for Domino CMOS logic

The area required by domino CMOS gates to support a specific response-time performance and capacitive load can be substantially reduced by scaling the NFET chain. A scaling procedure that requires little execution time is described and illustrated by its application to AND, AOI, and OAI Domino CMOS gates. The scaling procedure has resulted in scaled NFET widths very close to those obtained by Monte Carlo techniques and SPICE. >
Mass Limit on a Positively Charged Heavy Muon

We report a preliminary search for a positively charged lepton (Y+) coupled directly to the μ- and νμ (i.e., muon number = + 1). Using the production process νμ+N→Y++anything, we have looked for the μ+ from the decay Y+→μ++νμ+νμ. The expected number of μ+ events is given as a function of the heavy-lepton mass, the branching fraction to muons, and the heavy-lepton coupling. For typical gauge-theory predictions, we obtain the 90% confidence limit MY>2 GeV/c^2.
XV-Pod: An Emotion Aware, Affective Mobile Video Player

Today’s vast use and frequent uploading of videos on the internet has created a need for a product that would search, select, and recommend videos that would be of interest to the user. Specifically, the video play list will be tailored to the user’s emotional mood. In this paper, we proposed XV-Pod, an emotion aware mobile video player that aims to tailor video selection based on a user’s emotional mood. In order to select videos that would be best suited to the user, the user’s emotional impact of videos was studied through physiological signals collected by BodyMedia SenseWear [2]. We investigated two different approaches on recognizing user’s emotional response. In the first approach, we conducted an empirical study to find the emotional intensity change of the user before and after viewing the video. In the second approach, we tried to identify emotions of user by using a decision tree machine-learning algorithm. We discuss the results of both approaches. Finally, we discuss some implications of our findings and future work.
Exploiting common targets in human fertilization and HIV infection: development of novel contraceptive microbicides

The continued high rates of unintended pregnancies and the unrelentless expansion of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, especially in less developed countries, warrant the development of novel strategies to help individuals avoid these risks. Dually active compounds displaying contraceptive and microbicidal anti-human immunodeficiency virus (anti-HIV) properties constitute one such strategy. Sharing the same anatomical and functional context, sperm fertilization and genital infection by HIV offer an opportunity for simultaneous intervention. Some of the molecules and mechanisms used by sperm to fertilize the oocyte are similar, if not identical, to those used by HIV while infecting host cells. An example of common structures is the lipid membrane surrounding the spermatozoon and the HIV core. Disruption of its architecture by surface-active compounds exerts both spermicidal and virucidal activity. A more specific alteration of lipid rafts [membrane microdomains enriched in cholesterol and glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins] by beta-cyclodextrins also results in similar effects. During fertilization and infection, both sperm and HIV interact with their target cell receptors through chemical charges, hydrophobic forces and carbohydrate recognition. Anionic polymers such as cellulose sulphate and polystyrene sulphonate (PSS) inhibit sperm and HIV cell binding. Because some of the molecules involved in this interaction, e.g. heparin sulphate proteoglycan, are also used by other pathogens to infect their target tissues, polyanions exert broad antimicrobial activity as well. During fertilization and infection, sperm and HIV, as well as other microbes, use signal transduction molecules and mechanisms such as adenyl cyclase/cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent kinase, calcium and tyrosine phosphorylation, whose inhibition has been shown to impair sperm function and HIV replication. These commonalities at the level of sperm and HIV structure, cell binding and fusion processes, and signalling pathways therefore provide the biological framework to develop bifunctional inhibitors with both antimicrobial and contraceptive properties.
Pregnancy and Rheumatic Diseases

If a patient tells you she has become pregnant or is considering pregnancy, ask the rheumatologist to see her Female patients on methotrexate, leflunomide or cyclophosphamide should not attempt to become pregnant; a male patient should not attempt to father a child. The drugs are potentially teratogenic Women on biologic agents (e.g. etanercept, anakinra, infliximab) should use adequate contraception as the effects on the foetus are unknown Sulfasalazine, methotrexate and azathioprine may reduce the sperm count and thus fertility Women with active inflammatory arthritis appear less likely to become pregnant that than those whose arthritis is inactive Those starting cyclophosphamide should consider sperm or ovum banking
Testing the Hypothesis that the MJO is a Mixed Rossby–Gravity Wave Packet

The Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO), also known as the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO), is a planetaryscale mode of variation in the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Basic questions about the MJO are whyitpropagateseastwardat ; 5ms 21 ,whyitlastsforintraseasonaltimescales,andhowitinteractswiththe fine structure that is embedded in it. This study will test the hypothesis that the MJO is not a wave but a wave packet—the interference pattern produced by a narrow frequency band of mixed Rossby‐gravity (MRG) waves. As such, the MJO would propagate with the MRG group velocity, which is eastward at ; 5ms 21 . Simulation with a 3D model shows that MRG waves can be forced independently by relatively short-lived, eastward- and westward-moving disturbances, and the MRG wave packet can last long enough to form the intraseasonalvariability.ThishypothesisisconsistentwiththeviewthattheMJOisepisodic,withanirregular time interval between events rather than a periodic oscillation. The packet is defined as the horizontally smoothed variance of the MRG wave—the rectified MRG wave, which has features in common with the MJO. The two-dimensional Fourier analysis of the NOAA outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) dataset herein indicates thatthereisastatisticallysignificant correlationbetweentheMJO amplitudeandwavepackets ofMRG waves but not equatorial Rossby waves or Kelvin waves, which are derived from the Matsuno shallow water theory. However, the biggest absolute value of the correlation coefficient is only 0.21, indicating that the wave packet hypothesis explains only a small fraction of the variance of the MJO in the OLR data.
Cerebral blood volume measurements by T*2-weighted MRI and contrast infusion.

A reliable, accurate, and accessible method for measuring cerebral blood volume (CBV) has been developed based on T(*) (2)-weighted MRI and a 1-min infusion of gadolinium instead of a bolus. Computer simulations predict that this infusion CBV method will have a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) 3-5 times greater than that obtained by area-under-the-curve (AUC) methods, with high accuracy over a wide range of arterial, tissue, and MRI conditions. In six healthy controls, the CBV was 1.87 +/- 0.44 in white matter (WM), 3.40 +/- 0.44 in deep gray matter (DGM), and 3.84 +/- 1.87 ml blood/100 g tissue in cortical GM (CGM). The mean GM/WM ratio was 1.94. In five patients with bilateral carotid disease, the corresponding values were 2.63 +/- 0.33, 4.72 +/- 0.33, and 5.27 +/- 2.40 ml blood/100 g tissue, all of which were significantly different from controls. AUC values were generally higher and failed to demonstrate differences between controls and patients. The infusion method shows great potential for providing reliable, accurate, and accessible CBV values with the ability to discriminate physiologic or pathological volume changes under a wide range of conditions.
Restructuring VLSI layout representations for efficiency

VLSI mask layouts usually have a hierarchical representation which serves to record the structure of the design while saving storage space. It is often convenient to work directly on such a representation for performing some operations. However for many other operations it is preferable to work on the flattened representation of the circuit. In this paper we look at the unnesting operation on layouts to demonstrate that simple transformations of one hierarchy to an equivalent one help tremendously in improving the performance of typical operations on hierarchical layout representations, while not requiring as much memory as flattened representations.
The “depression effect” and the problem of odor control

The possibility that distinctive odor cues contribute to the depression effect typically found in studies of incentive shift is discussed. The results of two experiments are presented in which an attempt was made to control odor cues. The effectiveness of the procedures used, and directions for further research along these lines, are also discussed.
Metal salen complexes incorporating triphenoxymethanes: efficient, size selective anion binding by phenolic donors with a visual report.

A metal salen complex has been designed to orientate four phenol groups into a tetrahedral array that tightly binds fluoride ion though four OH⋯F hydrogen bonding interactions.
Towards Estimation of Electronic Laboratory Reporting Volumes in a Meaningful Use World

Given the prospect of a dramatic increase in anticipated electronic laboratory reporting volume due to Stage 2 meaningful use criteria, we calculated a rough estimate based on prior volumes in a large population.
Differential effects of pulsatile versus steady flow on coronary endothelial membrane potential

Steady shear stress stimulates transient hyperpolarization coupled to calcium-sensitive potassium (KCa) channels and sustained depolarization linked to chloride-selective channels. Physiological fl...
Cognitive appraisal and cardiac risk reduction behavior following coronary angioplasty.

Clinicians express concern that because percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is minimally invasive and yields rapid symptom relief, patients with successful PTCA may be too optimistic about theirfuture health status, may no longer perceive heart disease as a threat to health, and thus, may view cardiac risk-reduction behaviors as unnecessary. This study examined the relationship between patients'cognitive appraisal of PTCA (treatment appraisal and heart disease threat) and subsequent participation in cardiac risk-reduction behavior 2 weeksfollowing hospital discharge. The sample included S8subjects with successful PTCA. The majority were older, married, Caucasian men who reported participation in cardiac riskreduction behavior (not smoking, exercising regularly, andfollowing a lowfat/low sodium diet) following PTCA. Although heart disease threat was a significant negative predictor of psychological well-being, itdid notpredict self-reportedparticipation in cardiac risk-reduction behavior
Development of the Risø wind turbine airfoils

This paper presents the wind turbine airfoil development at Riso. The design method is described together with our target characteristics for wind turbine airfoils. The use of the CFD code Ellipsys2D for prediction of final target characteristics is described together with the VELUX wind tunnel testing setup. Three airfoil families were developed; Riso-A1, Riso-P and Riso-B1. The Riso-A1 airfoil family was developed for rotors of 600 kW and larger. Wind tunnel testing and field testing showed that this airfoil family is well suited for stall and active stall control. However, sensitivity to roughness was higher than expected. Field tests of a 600 kW active stall wind turbine showed an estimated reduction in blade fatigue loading of up to 15% at the same annual energy yield and at the same time reduced blade weight and blade solidity. The Riso-P airfoils were developed to replace the Riso-A1 airfoils for use on pitch controlled wind turbines. Improved design objectives should reduce the sensitivity to roughness, but measurements are not yet available. The Riso-B1 airfoil family was developed for variable speed operation with pitch control of large megawatt sized rotors. Wind tunnel testing verified the high maximum lift for these airfoils, and the airfoils were found to be very insensitive to leading edge roughness. Performance with vortex generators and Gurney flaps in combination was found to be attractive for the blade root part. Field testing of a 1·5 MW rotor is in progress. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ovine intramembranous pathway permeability: use of solute clearance to determine membrane porosity

Objective: The contribution of the fetal chorioamniotic membranes (i.e. the intramembranous pathway) to the regulation and maintenance of amniotic fluid (AF) volume and composition has yet to be completely understood. Knowledge of membrane permeability properties is vital to understanding how the intramembranous pathway contributes to the overall maintenance of AF homeostasis. Although there are significant data regarding the regulation of intramembranous water flow, there is little understanding of the regulation of intramembranous solute flow. In the present study, we sought to determine the effect of molecular weight or size of non-polar compounds on intramembranous solute movement in the ovine model. Methods: Five singleton ovine fetuses (117 &#45 3 days) were chronically prepared with bladder, tracheal, amniotic cavity and femoral arterial and venous catheters and an esophageal occluder. The allantoic membranes were excised. After 5 days' recovery, AF volume was calculated by intraamniotic injection ...
Structured Rank-Reducing Matrix Perturbations: Theory and Computation

The paper investigates the problem of computing structured matrix perturbations that cause some specified system matrix to fail to have full rank. It also considers a related problem: finding a perturbation that most nearly causes some specified system matrix to have full rank. The paper discusses theoretical issues concerning the existance of solutions to these problems. It suggests a new approach for problems requiring the differentiation of singular values. Finally an algorithm for finding structured rank-reducing perturbations and structured nearly rank-reducing perturbations are developed. The paper demonstrates convergence of the algorithm to a rank-reducing perturbation or to a local minimum for a nearly rank-reducing perturbation. Numerical examples illustrating the technique are included.
PRESENTATION OF THE PALEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY MEDAL TO RICHARD K. BAMBACH

In 1981, a short paper was published in Nature Magazine that was among the most influential paleontological publications of the past quarter century. Officially titled “Phanerozoic Marine Diversity and the Fossil Record,” the Consensus Paper, as it has come to be known, juxtaposed several depictions of the history of Phanerozoic marine taxonomic diversity, each developed with a different protocol for data collection. Despite these differences, a robust signal emerged at three different taxonomic levels, which the authors attributed to an unmistakable—and biologically meaningful—Phanerozoic trajectory. Of course, as many of us know, this paper played—and continues to play—a remarkable role in shaping the interests of paleontologists. The four authors of the Consensus Paper, Jack Sepkoski, Richard Bambach, Dave Raup, and Jim Valentine, were a remarkable bunch. They have long been among the giants of our profession, and, over the years, they have received a number of accolades that testify to their status. To list just some of their collective honors: two are members of the National Academy of Sciences; one was a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences; two received the Schuchert Award; one received the medal of the University of Helsinki; and Richard, who already has the SEPM's Moore Medal in his trophy case, today becomes the third member of the group to be awarded the Paleontological Society Medal. So, as we honor Richard Bambach today, I think it also presents us with an opportunity to search for a common thread that might help us to understand the inherent characteristics of people who go on to especially creative careers in paleontology. Is there anything we can recognize as key characteristics—call them key adaptations if you'd like—shared by the members of this quartet? Well… of course, I've thought about this…. long and hard. They come from different socioeconomic backgrounds and …
The Regulation of Differentiation in Murine Virus-Induced Erythroleukemic Cells

Continuous lines of erythroleukemia cells, which originate from the spleens of mice with Friend virus-induced leukemia, provide a convenient experimental system in which the molecular control of erythrodifferentiation can be examined in some detail (Friend et al. 1966; Ikawa and Sugano 1966; Ostertag et al. 1972; Freedman and Lilly 1975). The cultures contain cells at various stages of differentiation. The majority are large, primitive erythroid cells with prominent nucleoli, but a few more mature cells recognizable as normoblasts are present. We had developed these lines with the idea of studying leukemia as a disease resulting from a block in maturation, and had hoped to find means of stimulating the cells to differentiate. To a certain extent, we achieved this goal.
Engineering pH-gated transitions for selective and efficient double-strand DNA photocleavage in hypoxic tumors.

We describe a family of hybrid compounds for the most efficient light-activated double-strand (ds) DNA cleavage known to date. This family represents the second generation of “switchable” molecular systems for pH-gated ds DNA-cleavage which combine a potent DNA-photocleaver and a pH-regulated part derived from a dipeptide. Design of the pH-switchable part utilizes amino groups of different basicity. Whereas the basic amino groups are protonated throughout the biologically relevant pH range, the pH-gating amines undergo protonation at the pH threshold which separates cancer and normal cells. Control over the reactivity and selectivity is achieved via transformation of the initial protonation state (a monocation or a dication) into a trication at the acidic pH. This change leads to an extraordinary increase in the efficiency of ds DNA cleavage leading to the ds:ss ratios comparable with the most efficient nonenzymatic ds DNA cleavers. Statistical analysis reveals that these high ds:ss ratios result from the...
Improving Situation Awareness with a Traffic Management Portal

Obtaining common situation awareness has been repeatedly identified as an operational shortfall by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) traffic managers. Traffic managers balance National Airspace System (NAS) capacity and traffic demand in the face of daily variability and uncertainty. They each construct a mental picture of the actual and predicted operational situations by combining observations from many different visual displays (e.g., traffic, weather, airspace) with data from multiple automated information systems. The retrieval of relevant data to develop situation awareness can be a scavenger hunt, and traffic management experience plays the greatest role in determining actions to take. To coordinate potential solutions, traffic managers verbally communicate their mental picture of the operation to others who are impacted by the problem, who in turn have their own views and experience. Differences between these views must be reconciled to reach a decision. The MITRE Corporation’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (MITRE CAASD) has developed a concept to improve access to relevant information and traffic management collaboration. This concept, Traffic Flow Management Initiatives Performance Status (TIPS), provides a traffic management portal with quick reference access to relevant operational information, replacing the scavenger hunt for data with a comprehensive, shareable, integrated system view. The portal allows users to select and configure applications (apps) designed to reduce the need for mental integration by providing cues that alert them to potential problems, based on traffic-manager defined thresholds. This paper documents the need, the idea, and the technical approach used to develop the framework and initial app set.
Estimating Soybean Genetic Gain for Yield in the Northern United States—Influence of Cropping History

Mean on-farm U.S. soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield increased at a rate of 23.4 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ between 1924 and 2010 due to a combination of genetic improvements, agronomic technologies, and climatic changes. To estimate annual rates of genetic yield gain in three northern U.S. soybean maturity groups (MGs) and determine if these estimates are influenced by cropping history, 45 MG II, 40 MG III, and 45 MG IV cultivars released between 1923 and 2008 were evaluated in split-plot trials conducted in Illinois in 2010 where the main plot prior cropping treatments were either 11 yr of continuous corn (Zea mays L.) or 11 yr of a soybean–corn rotation. The experiment-wide genetic yield gain estimate was 22.8 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ and, after covariate adjustment of yields for maturity, the estimate was 19.8 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. These estimates show that soybean genetic yield potential has been a large contributor to the rate of on-farm yield improvement. The rate of yield gain estimates were not significantly different (P = 0.38) between the two cropping history treatments on an experiment-wide basis or at the MG III and MG IV individual locations but were significantly different at the MG II locations, where yield gain for soybean following continuous corn was significantly greater compared with the soybean–corn rotation treatment. Modern cultivars were not observed to be able to close the yield gap between the two cropping history treatments used in this experiment.
A Posteriori Error Bounds for Reduced-Basis Approximation of Parametrized Noncoercive and Nonlinear Elliptic Partial Differential Equations

We present a technique for the rapid and reliable prediction of linear-functional outputs of elliptic partial differential equations with affine parameter dependence. The essential components are (i) rapidly convergent global reduced-basis approximations - (Galerkin) projection onto a space WN spanned by solutions of the governing partial differential equation at N selected points in parameter space; (ii) a posteriori error estimation relaxations of the error-residual equation that provide inexpensive yet sharp bounds for the error in the outputs of interest; and (iii) off-line/on-line computational procedures methods which decouple the generation and projection stages of the approximation process. The operation count for the on-line stage - in which, given a new parameter value, we calculate the output of interest and associated error bound - depends only on N (typically very small) and the parametric complexity of the problem. In this paper we develop new a posteriori error estimation procedures for noncoercive linear, and certain nonlinear, problems that yield rigorous and sharp error statements for all N. We consider three particular examples: the Helmholtz (reduced-wave) equation; a cubically nonlinear Poisson equation; and Burgers equation - a model for incompressible Navier-Stokes. The Helmholtz (and Burgers) example introduce our new lower bound constructions for the requisite inf-sup (singular value) stability factor; the cubic nonlin-earity exercises symmetry factorization procedures necessary for treatment of high-order Galerkin summations in the (say) residual dual-norm calculation; and the Burgers equation illustrates our accommodation of potentially multiple solution branches in our a posteriori error statement. Numerical results are presented that demonstrate the rigor, sharpness, and efficiency of our proposed error bounds, and the application of these bounds to adaptive (optimal) approximation. © 2003 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.
Epidemiology of measles in infants aged < 8 months and related risk factors in Wenzhou,Zhejiang

Objective To understand the reason for the high incidence of measles in infants aged 8 months in Wenzhou,Zhejiang province,and provide evidence for the development of measles immunization strategy to reduce the incidence of measles in young infants. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis w as conducted on the 350 measles cases in infants aged 8 months in Wenzhou reported to national measles surveillance information management system during 2009- 2013. Frequency matching case control study w as conducted( case group: measles cases reported through surveillance system,control group: non measles cases). Logistic regression analysis w as done to identify risk factors, and the serum antibody level to measles virus w as detected. Results The average annual incidence rate of measles w as 83. 05 / lakh during 2009- 2013 in Wenzhou,the cases in infants aged 8 months accounted for 35. 79% of the total and w ere mainly distributed in age group 6- 8 months. The OR for infants receiving no medical care 7 days before the onset w as 0. 68( 95% CI: 0. 49- 0. 94). Compared w ith the infants in floating population,the OR w as 0. 53( 95% CI: 0. 39- 0. 72) for local infants aged 8 months and 1. 53( 95% CI: 1. 07- 2. 18) for local infants aged 3 months. The detection of serum measles antibody level in healthy infants indicated that the mean antibody level w as 214. 94 IU / L for the new borns and 86. 38 IU / L for infants aged 6 months,and over 80% of infants in Wenzhou might be susceptible to measles at the age of 6 months,. Conclusion Infants aged 8 months are at risk to be affected by measles due to low antibody level among them and other risky factors,such as nosocominal infection and being floating population. The reproductive w omen are recommended to receive MCV vaccination before marriage to increase maternal measles antibody level. It is necessary to strength the management of floating population and control of nosocominal infection.
Minimization of Symbolic Tree Automata

Symbolic tree automata allow transitions to carry predicates over rich alphabet theories, such as linear arithmetic, and therefore extend finite tree automata to operate over infinite alphabets, such as the set of rational numbers. Existing tree automata algorithms rely on the alphabet being finite, and generalizing them to the symbolic setting is not a trivial task. In this paper we study the problem of minimizing symbolic tree automata. First, we formally define and prove the properties of minimality in the symbolic setting. Second, we lift existing minimization algorithms to symbolic tree automata. Third, we present a new algorithm based on the following idea: the problem of minimizing symbolic tree automata can be reduced to the problem of minimizing symbolic (string) automata by encoding the tree structure as part of the alphabet theory. We implement and evaluate all our algorithms against existing implementations and show that the symbolic algorithms scale to large alphabets and can minimize automata over complex alphabet theories.
The Position of Research in African Archaeology: Future Developments and Needs

This report is the result of discussions and recommendations of the Archaeology Committee of the African Studies Association, which met in Chicago early in April, 1966. African archaeology is at present an international discipline producing close collaboration among scientists from different countries, and the future of archaeological research in the continent can best be viewed as an international exercise in which American palaeo-anthropologists are beginning to play an increasingly important part. These brief notes attempt to synthesize the present position in African prehistoric studies, to show the general direction in which these are being developed, and to indicate immediate priorities in basic research and training. The 1965 Wenner-Gren Conference on African archaeology and evolutionary studies showed that palaeo-anthropology and the closely associated studies of stratigraphers and palaeontologists are now entering upon a new stage of precision in analysis, dating, and interpretation. It emphasized the absolute necessity for new basic research to be undertaken, organized as a series of team projects. New discoveries have resulted in revised concepts of the origin and evolution of animal species, vegetation patterns, landscape features, and of man himself and his culture. This more precise knowledge has underlined the need above all to review the revised dating of human and cultural evolution in the light of the geophysical methods that now provide an absolute time scale. This is equally as applicable to archaeologists and ethnohistorians concerned with later prehistoric times as it is to those dealing with the study of early man.
Best Clinical Practice: Blood Culture Utility in the Emergency Department

Abstract Background Bacteremia affects 200,000 patients per year, with the potential for significant morbidity and mortality. Blood cultures are considered the most sensitive method for detecting bacteremia and are commonly obtained in patients with fever, chills, leukocytosis, focal infections, and sepsis. Objective We sought to provide emergency physicians with a review of the literature concerning blood cultures in the emergency department. Discussion The utility of blood cultures has been a focus of controversy, prompting research evaluating effects on patient management. Bacteremia is associated with increased mortality, and blood cultures are often obtained for suspected infection. False-positive blood cultures are associated with harm, including increased duration of stay and cost. This review suggests that blood cultures are not recommended for patients with cellulitis, simple pyelonephritis, and community-acquired pneumonia, because the chance of a false-positive culture is greater than the prevalence of true positive cultures. Blood cultures are recommended for patients with sepsis, meningitis, complicated pyelonephritis, endocarditis, and health care–associated pneumonia. Clinical prediction rules that predict true positive cultures may prove useful. The clinical picture should take precedence. If cultures are obtained, two bottles of ≥7 mL should be obtained from separate peripheral sites. Conclusions Blood cultures are commonly obtained but demonstrate low yield in cellulitis, simple pyelonephritis, and community-acquired pneumonia. The Shapiro decision rule for predicting true bacteremia does show promise, but clinical gestalt should take precedence. To maximize utility, blood cultures should be obtained before antibiotic therapy begins. At least two blood cultures should be obtained from separate peripheral sites.
Creating “flipping-the-classroom” cases in training in sensemaking and decision-making in marketing: A Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science Special Issue

ABSTRACTThough no one definition fully captures the proposal, “flipping-the-classroom” includes student/trainee creation of learning materials, “lesson plans”, and in-classroom administration, and/or coaching to fellow students/trainees of concepts, principles, procedures, tools, and interpretations of outcomes. This JGSMS special issue presents 11 flipping-the-classroom case studies. Most of these cases are creative writings by students. The cases include emic reports on interactions with service providers. Assigning and reading the cases may be useful for learning how to increase student joy-in-learning and deepening their skills in sensemaking and solving problems in customer–marketer interactions.
An implementation of the EM algorithm in white matter fiber tract clustering

Automatic unsupervised clustering of white matter fiber tracts is necessary for the group analysis of brain neural network integrity using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and DTI tractography techniques. In this paper, we present an implementation of the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm to conduct the automatic unsupervised clustering of reconstructed white matter fiber tracts in DTI. The statistical model is the multivariate and multi-mode Gaussian mixture which depicts the probability distribution of white matter fiber tracts. Issues related to the parameter estimation, initialization, and convergence for applying the EM algorithm in the context of the white matter fiber tract clustering are discussed in detail. Comparisons of the EM algorithm with the K-means approach are also performed. The difference between the fixed and variant prior probabilities on the clustering result as the EM algorithm proceeds is demonstrated by experiments. Real DTI datasets are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is feasible and may be useful in the automatic unsupervised clustering of white matter fiber tracts.
Weakly hierarchical lasso based learning to rank in best answer prediction

In community question and answering sites, pairs of questions and their high-quality answers (like best answers selected by askers) can be valuable knowledge available to others. However lots of questions receive multiple answers but askers do not label either one as the accepted or best one even when some replies answer their questions. To solve this problem, high-quality answer prediction or best answer prediction has been one of important topics in social media. These user-generated answers of ten consist of multiple "views", each capturing different (albeit related) information (e.g., expertise of the asker, length of the answer, etc.). Such views interact with each other in complex manners that should carry a lot of information for distinguishing a potential best answer from others. Little existing work has exploited such interactions for better prediction. To explicitly model these information, we propose a new learning-to-rank method, ranking support vector machine (RankSVM) with weakly hierarchical lasso in this paper. The evaluation of the approach was done using data from Stack Overflow. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach has superior performance compared with approaches in state-of-the-art.
The velocities in the outer core

abstract Earlier studies of the velocity distribution in the outer core have been based on the travel times of SKS. SKS arrivals can only be observed satisfactorily for arc distances at the surface greater than 85°. This lower limit of observation of SKS corresponds to an arc distance of 40.2° within the core. Thus the velocities in the outermost 250 km of the core are based upon an extrapolation. We have used observations of the difference in time of arrival of SKKS and SKS to obtain core travel times extending the range of observation down to a Δ within the core of about 14°. The velocity distribution thus found is significantly lower than those of Jeffreys (Bullen, 1963) and Randall (in press) near the core mantle boundary.
Pregnant adolescents living with HIV: what we know, what we need to know, where we need to go.

Introduction : HIV-infected pregnant and breastfeeding adolescents are a particularly vulnerable group that require special attention and enhanced support to achieve optimal maternal and infant outcomes. The objective of this paper is to review published evidence about antenatal care (ANC) service delivery and outcomes for HIV-infected pregnant adolescents in low-income country settings, identify gaps in knowledge and programme services and highlight the way forward to improve clinical outcomes of this vulnerable group. Discussion : Emerging data from programmes in sub-Saharan Africa highlight that HIV-infected pregnant adolescents have poorer prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) service outcomes, including lower PMTCT service uptake, compared to HIV-infected pregnant adults. In addition, the limited evidence available suggests that there may be higher rates of mother-to-child HIV transmission among infants of HIV-infected pregnant adolescents. Conclusions : While the reasons for the inferior outcomes among adolescents in ANC need to be further explored and addressed, there is sufficient evidence that immediate operational changes are needed to address the unique needs of this population. Such changes could include integration of adolescent-friendly services into PMTCT settings or targeting HIV-infected pregnant adolescents with enhanced retention and follow-up activities. Keywords Pregnant adolescents; HIV; antenatal care; infant outcomes; PMTCT cascade; retention (Published: 4 August 2017) Callahan T et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2017, 20 :21858 http://www.jiasociety.org/index.php/jias/article/view/21858 | http://dx.doi.org/10.7448/IAS.20.1.21858
Thymic and Extrathymic Development of Human γ/δT Cells

By immunohistochemical criteria. γ/δ cells represent only a minor population of cells in the developing human thymus (0.02%–0.5%) which remains relatively the same in post-natal thymus (0.02%-0.1%) (Campana et al. 1989). However, it is not clear whether different populations of γ/δ T cells reside in the thymus at different times during fetal gestation. Molecular analysis of human γ/δ leukemic lines suggests that there is a sequential and ordered activation of the human T cell receptor gamma locus during thymic ontogeny (Kimura et al, 1987; VanDongen et al, 1987; Triebel et al, 1988;). In order to achieve a better understanding of the origin and development of human γ/δ T cells, the developmental regulation and expression of all of the known Vγ and Vδ genes during fetal ontogeny needs to be studied.
Semi-automated detection of looting in Afghanistan using multispectral imagery and principal component analysis

High-resolution satellite imagery has proved to be a powerful tool for calculating the extent of looting at heritage sites in conflict zones around the world. Monitoring damage over time, however, has been largely dependent upon laborious and error-prone manual comparisons of satellite imagery taken at different dates. The semi-automated detection process presented here offers a more expedient and accurate method for monitoring looting activities over time, as evidenced at the site of Ai Khanoum in Afghanistan. It is hoped that this method, which relies upon multispectral imagery and principal component analysis, may be adapted to great effect for use in other areas where heritage loss is of significant concern.
Bilateral Ossicular Head Dehiscence Into the Middle Cranial Fossa

Objectives:To describe a unique case of bilateral dehiscence of the malleus and incus heads into the middle fossa making contact with the temporal lobes, along with its clinical implications.Methods:An analysis of a patient case and review of pertinent literature were performed.Results:A patient with a history of right-sided mastoidectomy for cholesteatoma was evaluated for persistent conductive hearing loss. On computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the patient had a complete dehiscence of the tegmen tympani on the right, with ossicular heads being located above the floor of the middle cranial fossa. A similar finding to a milder degree was noted on the left. The patient underwent revision tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy with removal of the incus and ossicular chain reconstruction and middle fossa craniotomy for repair of the right epitympanic dehiscence.Conclusions:We present some of the unique imaging and operative findings involved in an unusual presentation of encephalocele i...
Next Subset of an n -Set (NEXSUB/LEXSUB)

This chapter discusses an algorithm for finding the next subset of an n -set. The chapter discusses about imagining a machine which, on request, displays a subset S of {1, 2,…, n }. The user of the machine then does some calculation C ( S ) with the set S . The user then asks for the next subset, etc., until all subsets have been processed. This chapter is concerned with the design of the subset machine, under various hypotheses about the external calculation C ( S ). First it is supposed that there is nothing special about C ( S ) at all, in which case the simplest possible design of the subset algorithm will be best. Secondly, it is supposed that if S and S ′ are two consecutive sets produced by the algorithm, then S and S ′ are constrained to differ only by a singleton, for then the calculation C ( S ) might be rapidly done by using the results of C ( S ′). The chapter discusses in detail about the direct approach and the gray code. It also describes lexicographic sequencing.
The Demand for Local Calls and Related Local Services

This chapter returns to the local market, but the focus will shift from access per se to some of the services that are supplied by local exchange companies. The services to be examined include local calling, Extended Area Service (EAS), and custom calling features such as call-forwarding and call-waiting. Four studies will be reviewed in detail, Kling and Van der Ploeg (1990), Kridel (1990), Park, Wetzel, and Mitchell (1983), and Kridel and Taylor (1993). Kling and Van der Ploeg focus on the residential demand for local calls in an environment in which customers can choose between flat- and measured-rate service. The model is estimated with data obtained in a Subscriber Line Utilization Study in an exchange served by Michigan Bell. Kridel, on the other hand, is concerned with estimating the proportion of residential customers that will subscribe to Extended Area Service in situations where EAS was not previously available. Park, Wetzell, and Mitchell utilize data from the well-known GTE measured-service experiment involving three exchanges in central Illinois. Finally, the Kridel-Taylor study provides a glimpse, based on the initial results of the National Telecommunications Demand Study, at price elasticities for a variety of custom-calling options.