cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Information Processing and Partisan Neutrality: A Reexamination of the Party Decline Thesis

The party decline thesis asserts that political parties have become less relevant to the American electorate. This assertion is examined by analyzing trends in an information processing construct developed by Lau (1986, 1989) across the 1952-1992 NES series. The analysis shows that the accessibility of party schemata in the electorate did appear to decline between 1952 and 1972, but that it rose to well above the 1952 level by the 1980s only to drop dramatically again in 1992. While some support for the notion of party decline is found, the findings suggest that such a decline did not necessarily entail the perceived irrelevance of parties as accountability mechanisms. Not only does this provide an important reinterpretation of the changing salience of parties, but also demonstrates a fruitful application of schema theory to political phenomena.
An evaluation of one-on-one advanced proficiency training in clinicians' use of computer information systems.

Abstract Objective: We examined the effectiveness of a one-on-one training strategy for advanced proficiency in computer information systems (CIS) by clinicians in a large Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). Specifically, this study assessed the level of self-reported improvement in CIS efficiency following one-on-one training, and assessed the perceived value of one-on-one training compared to other teaching methods. Design: We performed a cross-sectional study using a paper-based survey of 129 clinicians practicing in the HMO. Measurements: We used a multi-item satisfaction index to measure clinician satisfaction with the one-on-one training. We measured whether clinicians thought they were more efficient using the system after training. Results: The one-on-one method was significantly preferred over other teaching methods. Compared to other CIS components, use of the electronic medical record (EMR) improved most following one-on-one training. Sixty-one percent of the clinicians reported major improvements (i.e., >3 on a 5-point Likert scale; five being the highest score) in using the EMR. Conclusion: Perceived effectiveness of one-on-one training and overall satisfaction were ranked high by clinicians. The findings support the assumption that clinicians value one-on-one training and value this training method above other methods.
Gauge theory of the three-dimensional chiral spin liquid

Abstract We have perturbatively evaluated the dynamics of the gauge field seen in finite-size studies of quasiparticle interactions in the 3-d chiral spin liquid [2]. The calculated dynamics agree with the near-field behavior of the gauge field seen in the previous numerical work. However, the far-field behavior of a quasiparticle's magnetic field configuration is found to be dipolar, rather than monopolar as previously claimed. We also identify a new non-rotationally invariant 3-d term in the gauge field's effective lagrangian and ascribe the observed behavior to this term.
On the effective moduli of composite materials: Effect of fiber length and geometry at dilute concentrations

An earlier theoretical, study [3] regarding the effect of inclusion length, and geometry on the bulk elastic moduli of fiber-or whisker-reinforced composite materials is hereby extended. Specifically, with slender-body theory, moduli for materials containing dilute dispersions of aligned inclusions of slender, but otherwise arbitrary, axial geometry are found for the “elastic” range,\(\frac{{E^* }}{E}\kappa ^2 \ln 2/\kappa > 1\), the special case of slender prolate, spheroidal inclusions is considered and expressions for the moduli which are valid for all values of the above parameter are derived from a known general solution obtained by Eshelby. These analytic results are then presented in a compact graphical form which provides a useful means for estimating the moduli when the slender inclusions have non-prolate spheroidal geometries.
Damage‐coupled viscoplastic constitutive modeling for solder materials

Abstract This paper presents a damage‐coupled viscoplastic constitutive model for characterizing thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) life of solder materials. The model takes into account the effects of microstructure, temperature and strain rate in the development of damage evolution equations. The TMF model is applied to characterize hysteresis loops of two solder materials, 63Sn‐37Pb and 95.5Sn‐3.9Ag‐0.6Cu, under both isothermal and thermomechanical cyclic loads. The TMF life prediction of 63Sn‐37Pb solder has been found to be a successful model, based on the load‐drop criterion, under fatigue loading.
Process Water from Soybean Soapstock Refining as a Nutrient Source for Corn Production

Land application is often used to agriculturally utilize by-product and industrial process wastes, which can provide essential crop nutrients and soil benefit, but often lack adequate research-based agronomic decision support information. Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] soapstock refining process water (PW) derived from soybean oil processing is a growing by-product from an important bioindustry. Objectives of this study were to determine crop availability of nutrients in PW and if Na added in the oil refining process would affect corn (Zea mays L.) production. Two years of study indicated that when fall applied the N in PW was readily plant available and essentially equivalent to fertilizer urea; PW P significantly increased soil test P (STP) as a result of the high concentration in PW relative to N and the apparent high P availability; PW S increased extractable soil S; and Na in PW increased extractable soil Na and potentially reduced yield in some instances when PW was applied at high rates and in drier soil conditions. Management of PW as part of a crop fertility program should consist of low to moderate application rates, routine PW analysis, and routine soil testing to monitor STP and Na. If STP is at High levels or Na is building in the soil, then applications should be withheld until levels are reduced.
Comparisons of lactic dehydrogenase in rat and turtle organs

Abstract 1. 1. Lactic dehydrogenases (LDH) were compared in brain, heart and skeletal muscle of the albino rat ( Rattus rattus ) and the turtle ( Pseudemys elegans ). 2. 2. Brain LDH activity was higher in turtle than in rat, but heart and skeletal muscle LDH activities were approximately the same in the two organisms. 3. 3. The ratio of M-LDH to H-LDH and the optimal substrate concentrations were high in all three turtle organs, suggesting an adaptation for anaerobic metabolism. 4. 4. It has not yet been established that the characteristics of its lactic dehydrogenase are a significant factor in the long anaerobic survival of the turtle.
People and Technology Management in Flexible Manufacturing: An Apparel Industry Case Study

Interviews were conducted with senior and middle managers, sales and marketing staff, and production employees who worked in teams at a small apparel manufacturing plant in the northeastern United States. The input of technology management was incorporated into Bailey’s model of high-performance work systems (i.e., flexible manufacturing) and used as a conceptual framework to organize and analyze the case study. Interviews focused on technology management, employee involvement, technical and people skills, and employee discretionary effort. Interrelationships among people and technology created greater organizational capacity. Employees at all levels in the firm described their opportunities for involvement, technical and soft skill development, and the discretionary efforts by employees that these opportunities promoted. The results support implementation of flexible or high-performance work systems that focus on technology management, skill development, and employee involvement through team organization...
An algal assay method for determination of copper complexation capacities of natural waters.

The complexation capacities determined for natural waters by the Davey and the biological titration methods were statistically the same. However, these two methods differ in an important way. For Davey's method only those data in the vicinity of the equivalence point are used. For the biological titration all data can be used if the complex is strong. For weaker complexes, the data for total metal concentrations similar to that of the complexation capacity will deviate from linear behavior. In these cases the data which deviate can be disregarded. The biological titration method is easier to use because it does not require that a significant number of samples have metal concentrations similar to the value of the complexation capacity.
The suppression method of powder formation in ArF photoresist

Powder formation of ArF photoresist in nozzle tip of track is very serious problem because particles of photoresist drop on wafer during process. To cope with this issue, we have studied several factors affecting powder formation in ArF photoresist processing such as polymer type, solvent for photoresist, thinner for solvent bath, and the structure of solvent bath. This report shows solutions for this issue. Chemical structure of polymer in ArF photoresist is the origin of powder formation but solvents for photoresist and thinner for solvent bath have an important role for improvement. Above all, the modification of solvent bath structure is most effective to remove this issue.
Kant's Subjective Deduction

Kant's transcendental deduction of the categories, the central argument of the Critique of Pure Reason, is an account of our cognitive relation to the world. In it Kant seeks to address a problem i...
An analysis of chemical reactor stability and sensitivity — XIV the effect of the steady state hypothesis

Abstract This paper is concerned with the effect of neglecting certain chemical species on the stability of a stirred tank chemical reactor as is done when one assumes the steady state hypothesis in chemical kinetics. Two examples, one the HBr reaction and the other a simple consecutive reaction, are considered. It is shown for these two cases that there is no effect on the stability of the reactor when this assumption is made. The analysis is carried out by studying the eigenvalues of the two linearized systems.
Lyn kinase promotes erythroblast expansion and late-stage development.

Lyn kinase is known to modulate the formation and function of B cells, monocytes, and mast cells. However, Lyn-/- mice also develop erythrosplenomegaly, and cases for both negative and positive erythropoietic actions of Lyn recently have been outlined. In phenylhydrazine-treated Lyn-/- mice, extramedullary splenic erythropoiesis was hyperactivated, but this did not lead to accelerated recovery from anemia. Furthermore, ex vivo analyses of the development of bone marrow-derived Lyn-/- erythroblasts in unique primary culture systems indicated positive roles for Lyn at 2 stages. Late-stage Lyn-/- erythroblasts exhibited deficit Ter119pos cell formation, and this was paralleled by increased apoptosis (and decreased Bcl-xL expression). During early development, Lyn-/- erythroblasts accumulated at a KitposCD71high stage, possessed decreased proliferative capacity, and were attenuated in entering an apparent G1/S cell-cycle phase. In proposed compensatory responses, Lyn-/- erythroblasts expressed increased levels of activated Akt and p60-Src and decreased levels of death-associated protein kinase-2. Stat5 activation and Bcl-xL expression, in contrast, were significantly decreased in keeping with decreased survival and developmental potentials. Lyn, therefore, is proposed to function via erythroid cell-intrinsic mechanisms to promote progenitor cell expansion beyond a KitposCD71high stage and to support subsequent late-stage development.
The Number of Erythrocytes in the Blood of the Silver Salmon

Abstract The mean blood count of 119 fingerling silver salmon from Swamp Creek, Washington, was 1,496,000 erythrocytes per cubic millimeter of blood. The data suggested that within a single collection the larger fish had a slightly higher blood count than that of the smaller fish. The average blood counts seemed to increase and decrease with changes in water temperature. The number of erythrocytes in silver salmon feeding in salt water and in salmon preparing to spawn was not greatly different from that of the fingerling fish.
Identification of small lung nodules at autopsy: implications for lung cancer screening and overdiagnosis bias

Purpose: Unsuspected cases of lung cancer are reported to be uncommon in autopsy series, and these data have been used to suggest that indolent tumors are rare and that overdiagnosis bias is not an important factor in lung cancer screening. The purpose of this study was to determine if a retrospective autopsy review is indeed accurate in identifying all small lung nodules on CT, and thus provide a true estimate of unsuspected lung tumors. Materials and Methods: We identified all 1047 patients who had an autopsy at our institution from 1994 to 1998. We then reviewed the patients radiology records and found 187 patients with a thoracic CT within 2 months of the postmortem examination. All 187 CT reports were reviewed in order to identify patients with at least one pulmonary nodule. CT studies with reports that described a nodule(s) were then re-reviewed to confirm presence and location of the nodule(s). The CT findings were than compared to the autopsy report to determine if the postmortem examination indeed found the nodule(s). Results: 28 autopsy patients had at least one pulmonary nodule identified on their thoracic CT no more than 2 months before death. Nineteen patients (68%) had nodule(s) recorded on the autopsy report, two (∼10%) of which proved to have undiagnosed squamous cell carcinoma. Nine patients (22%) had no mention of pulmonary nodules seen on the CT recorded on their autopsy report. Conclusions: This study suggests autopsies do not identify all small pulmonary nodules found at CT. The true incidence of clinically insignificant lung cancer is thus uncertain, and overdiagnosis bias in lung cancer screening may be more important than previously recognized.
A chemical equilibrium algorithm for highly non-ideal multiphase systems: Free energy minimization

A method is presented for calculating equilibrium phase assemblages in very nonideal systems. It may be applied to any system for which a thermodynamically consistent model of the free energy which satisfies the usual Maxwell relations and convexity criterion is available. The algorithm minimizes the Gibbs free energy by independently choosing stable reaction directions. The procedure is described in detail and various numerical problems encountered and strategies for dealing with them are discussed. It will be shown that the necessary and sufficient conditions for solution phase selection may be derived from the values of the Lagrange multipliers corresponding to constraints on phases that are not present in the system. The method for evaluating the solution phase Lagrangian multipliers and choosing the optimum composition with which to bring the new solution phase into the system involves a separate constrained minimization problem. This method is sufficiently general so that the correct phase assemblage is chosen free from external control. Special procedures for adding and removing phases including solution phases are also described.
A Hybrid Rogue Access Point Protection Framework for Commodity Wi-Fi Networks

We develop a practical and comprehensive hybrid rogue access point (AP) detection framework for commodity Wi- Fi networks. It is the first scheme that combines the distributed wireless media surveillance and the centralized wired end socket level traffic "fingerprinting" The former is designed not only to detect various types of rogue APs, but also to discover suspicious activities so as to prevent the adversaries from turning victim APs into rogue devices. Moreover, the socket level traffic fingerprinting helps our frame work to achieve a finer granularity on rogue AP detection among the existing schemes. This framework has the following nice properties: i) it requires neither specialized hardware nor modification to existing standards; ii) the proposed mechanism greatly improves the rogue AP detection probability so that network resilience is improved; iii) it provides a cost-effective solution to Wi-Fi network security enhancement by incorporating free but mature software tools; iv) it can protect the network from adversaries capable of using customized equipment and/or violating the IEEE 802.11 standard; v) its open architecture allows extra features to be easily added on in the future. Our analysis and evaluation demonstrate that this hybrid rogue AP protection framework is capable of reliably revealing rogue devices and preempting potential attacks.
GUMBOS matrices of variable hydrophobicity for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE Detection of hydrophobic peptides remains a major obstacle for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). This stems from the fact that most matrices for MALDI are hydrophilic and therefore have low affinities for hydrophobic peptides. Herein, 1-aminopyrene (AP) and AP-derived group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS) as novel matrices for MALDI-MS analyses of peptides were investigated for hydrophobic and hydrophilic peptides. METHODS A number of solid-phase AP-based GUMBOS are synthesized with variable hydrophobicity simply by changing the counterions. Structures were confirmed by use of 1H NMR and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). 1-Octanol/water partition coefficients (Ko/w) were used to measure the hydrophobicity of the matrices. A dried-droplet method was used for sample preparation. All spectra were obtained using a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer in positive ion reflectron mode. RESULTS A series of AP-based GUMBOS was synthesized including [AP][chloride] ([AP][Cl]), [AP][ascorbate] ([AP][Asc]) and [AP][bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide] ([AP][NTf2]). The relative hydrophobicities of these compounds and α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA, a common MALDI matrix) indicated that AP-based GUMBOS can be tuned to be much more hydrophobic than CHCA. A clear trend is observed between the signal intensities of hydrophobic peptides and hydrophobicity of the matrix. CONCLUSIONS MALDI matrices of GUMBOS with tunable hydrophobicities are easily obtained simply by varying the counterion. We have found that hydrophobic matrix materials are very effective for MALDI determination of hydrophobic peptides and, similarly, the more hydrophilic peptides displayed greater intensity in the more hydrophilic matrix. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
VEGF-C: putting the ‘lymph’ back in lymphoma?

In this issue of Leukemia & Lymphoma[1], Paydas et al. report significantly shorter median overall survival in patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma whose lymphoma cells produce immunohisto...
"We are definitely the pioneers of this movement": The Regis Lay Apostolate and the Origins of Postgraduate Volunteerism, 1949-1972

The Regis Lay Apostolate was a pioneering postgraduate lay volunteer program that grew out of the heyday of Catholic Action and the lay apostolate in the mid-century American church. The program operated out of Regis College, an all-female school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Weston, Massachusetts. Under the vision of Sister Mary John Sullivan, the program ran from 1949 through 1972 and sent approximately 225 Regis graduates to serve at Catholic mission schools domestically and internationally. Sister Mary John and the Regis volunteers played an important role in spearheading and shaping a larger movement of postgraduate Catholic lay volunteers. This phenomenon remains a vibrant force in American Catholicism today, but has gone largely unstudied. As such, exploring the Regis Lay Apostolate as well as the motivations and experiences of its volunteers provides an important first step towards understanding the emergence, development, growth, and impact of the Catholic postgraduate volunteer model, and where it fits within the greater narratives of both Catholic American history and twentieth-century American volunteerism.
Dynamical spin correlations in the B-P-W cluster model as applied to inelastic neutron scattering

Abstract The magnetic neutron scattering function for a Heisenberg antiferromagnet with spin 3 2 per atom in a bcc lattice at finite temperature is evaluated from first principles in the Bethe-Peierls-Weiss cluster model, and the temperature dependence of the frequencies and half widths of spin excitations is deduced from the scattering function for the temperature range 0 ⩽ T T N ⩾ 1.5. The results show the essential features observed in recent experiments.
Toward Internet distributed computing

Emerging Internet uses-including peer-to-peer and grid computing-provide both a glimpse of and the impetus for evolving the Internet into a distributed computing, platform of unprecedented scale. Taking a longer view, the authors consider what would be needed to make the Internet an application-hosting platform: a networked, distributed counterpart of the hosting environment traditional operating systems provide to applications within a single node. The foundation of their proposed approach is to disaggregate and virtualize individual system resources as services that can be described, discovered, and dynamically configured at runtime to execute an application.
Improving Adaptation Performance For Systems With Slow Dynamics

It is often difficult to achieve good tracking performance in the presence of modeling error with the use of high adaptation gain when a system has slow modes. This leads to unnecessary high frequency control effort that can excite unmodeled dynamics. This paper introduces an adaptive control architecture that allows fast adaptation for systems with both fast and slow modes. Fast adaptation is achieved using a high bandwidth state emulator to train the adaptive element. The state emulator allows the drift part of the adaptation dynamics to be set arbitrarily. This allows a control designer to shift the adaptive process dynamics to a more favorable set and represents a new strategy for improving the adaptation process in that no modification terms need to be added to the adaptive law to improve adaptation. Though not required for system stability, the system tracking error is kept small via a low bandwidth feedback on the emulator tracking error. The usefulness of the architecture is illustrated on a nonlinear model for wing rock and a linear model of a Boeing 747.
Automatic Construction of Cognitive Radio Network

This paper presents a scheme for cognitive radio network construction. Incorporating the available spectrum, cognitive radio nodes automatically construct a local area network. The active cognitive radio nodes in an area form groups. Each group consists of a leader node, inter-group nodes and regular nodes. Inter-group nodes connect different groups to construct a network. Furthermore, the group leaders of different groups form virtual groups to facilitate the network management. The proposed scheme can also be used to construct large scale cognitive radio networks. Its applications include temporal network deployment in emergency situations and home appliance network construction.
Drosophila RB Proteins Repress Differentiation-Specific Genes via Two Different Mechanisms

The RB and E2F proteins play important roles in the regulation of cell division, cell death, and development by controlling the expression of genes involved in these processes. The mechanisms of repression by the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) have been extensively studied at cell cycle-regulated promoters. However, little is known about developmentally regulated E2F/RB genes. Here, we have taken advantage of the simplicity of the E2F/RB pathway in flies to inspect the regulation of differentiation-specific target genes. These genes are repressed by dE2F2/RBF and a recently identified RB-containing complex, dREAM/MMB, in a cell type- and cell cycle-independent manner. Our studies indicate that the mechanism of repression differs from that of cell cycle-regulated genes. We find that two different activities are involved in their regulation and that in proliferating cells, both are required to maintain repression. First, dE2F2/RBF and dREAM/MMB employ histone deacetylase (HDAC) activities at promoter regions. Remarkably, we have also uncovered an unconventional mechanism of repression by the Polycomb group (PcG) protein Enhancer of zeste [E(Z)], which is involved in silencing of these genes through the dimethylation of histone H3 Lys27 at nucleosomes located downstream of the transcription start sites (TSS).
Endoscopy in the pregnant patient with inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) commonly presents before or during the childbearing years, and women with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis may be first diagnosed during pregnancy or become pregnant some time after diagnosis. During pregnancy approximately one-third of IBD patients will have a disease flare, at times requiring endoscopic evaluation. Although little direct study of endoscopy in the pregnant patient with IBD has been reported, extrapolation from studies evaluating the usefulness and safety of endoscopy in the pregnant non-IBD patientsuggeststhat itisbeneficial andsafeforbothmotherandfetus.Inparticular, esophagogastroduodenoscopy and sigmoidoscopy are well tolerated and especially helpful in the evaluation of gastrointestinal bleeding during pregnancy. Little information on colonoscopy in the pregnant patient with IBD exists, but it appears safe in carefully selected patients. Familiarity with the potential risks to the fetus and pregnant mother of conscious sedation is a prerequisite for safe endoscopic examination in the pregnant woman with IBD. Women and their spouses are often concerned about the effects of IBD on fertility, pregnancy, and the fetus. Additionally, patients may worry about how pregnancy may affect their disease activity. Concerns of the gastroenterologist and obstetrician include the optimal timing of a planned pregnancy, the safety of and the need for continued medical treatment during pregnancy, and the potential for symptomatic recurrence of IBD during pregnancy with the potential for associated complications. As reviewed and discussed elsewhere throughout this volume, endoscopy is a common and valuable tool, greatly aiding the assessment and treatment of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. However, the role of endoscopic evaluation in the management of the pregnant IBD patient is less well defined. When considering endoscopy in the pregnant IBD patient, the physician must
The effect of certain pure digitalis-like glucosides on the frog's heart

Abstract Certain glucosides of the digitalis group have been found to reduce the duration of electrical systole (Q-T) of both the auricles and ventricle of the frog. The refractory period is shortened pari passu with this reduction of electrical systole. It was not possible to bring out any differences in the mode of action of the various glucosides tested by the methods used.
Using geographical coordinates to attain efficient route signaling in ad hoc networks

Flooding of route requests or link states is a necessity in many routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), and several mechanisms have been devised to make flooding more efficient; however, all flooding approaches to date are such that the number of neighbors each node must use to relay a flooded packet grows as the node density increases. A new method, called ORCA (On-demand Routing with Coordinates Awareness) is introduced for the dissemination of route requests in MANETs. The selection of relaying nodes at each node in ORCA is done by computing the shortest Euclidean Distance from all neighbors of the node to four polar points located in the transmission range of the node. We prove that ORCA guarantees the coverage of all nodes in a connected MANET, and that the number of relays for each node is at most six. ORCA is compared with representative routing protocols, namely AODV, OLSR, LAR, and THP. The simulation results in networks of 200 and 250 nodes show that ORCA incurs the smallest routing load while attaining average delays and packet delivery ratios that are comparable to or better than those obtained with the other four routing protocols.
Friending your way up the ladder: Connecting massive multiplayer online game behaviors with offline leadership

Abstract In what ways do the online behaviors of wizards and ogres map to players’ actual leadership status in the offline world? What can we learn from players’ experience in Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOGs) to advance our understanding of leadership, especially leadership in online settings (E-leadership)? As part of a larger agenda in the emerging field of empirically testing the “mapping” between the online and offline worlds, this study aims to tackle a central issue in the E-leadership literature: how have technology and technology mediated communications transformed leadership-diagnostic traits and behaviors? To answer this question, we surveyed over 18,000 players of a popular MMOG and also collected behavioral data of a subset of survey respondents over a four-month period. Motivated by leadership theories, we examined the connection between respondents’ offline leadership status and their in-game relationship-oriented and task-related-behaviors. Our results indicate that individuals’ relationship-oriented behaviors in the virtual world are particularly relevant to players’ leadership status in voluntary organizations, while their task-oriented behaviors are marginally linked to offline leadership status in voluntary organizations, but not in companies.
Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Power System Reactive Power Optimization

Aiming at the precocious convergence problem of particle swarm optimization algorithm, adaptive particle swarm optimization(APSO) algorithm was presented. In this algorithm, the notion of species was introduced into population diversity measure. The species technique is based on the concept of dividing the population into several species according to their similarity. The inertia weight was nonlinearly adjusted by using population diversity information at each iteration step. Velocity mutation operator and position crossover operator were both introduced and the global performance was clearly improved. The algorithm had been applied to reactive power optimization. The simulation results of the standard IEEE-30-bus power system had indicated that APSO was able to undertake global search with a fast convergence rate and a feature of robust computation. It was proved to be validity, fast convergence and computation efficiency during the reactive power optimization.
Optimal VSC design based on Nash strategy for differential 2-player games

For optimal vehicle yaw stability control system development, inclusion of driver dynamics seems necessary. In this paper, a novel design approach is proposed for developing optimal solutions to vehicle stability control problems in the presence of the driver-in-the-loop steering models. The design concept is inspired by a Nash strategy for exactly known systems with more than two players. In the presented method, driver, controlling the steering wheel, and vehicle stability control unit, applying braking torques on the wheels, are defined as two dynamic players in a 2-player differential LQ game, and as a result, a novel control algorithm is developed. The results from a numerical simulation of a single lane change maneuver show the effectiveness of this controller over the common LQR control approach.
The effect of rounding errors on a certain class of iterative methods

In this study we are concerned with the problem of approximating a solution of a nonlinear equation in Banach space using Newton-like methods. Due to rounding errors the sequence of iterates generated on a computer differs from the sequence produced in theory. Using Lipschitztype hypotheses on the mth Frechet derivative (m ≥ 2 an integer) instead of the first one, we provide sufficient convergence conditions for the inexact Newton-like method that is actually generated on the computer. Moreover, we show that the ratio of convergence improves under our conditions. Furthermore, we provide a wider choice of initial guesses than before. Finally, a numerical example is provided to show that our results compare favorably with earlier ones.
Spherical conformal geometry with geometric algebra

The recorded study of spheres dates back to the first century in the book Sphaerica of Menelaus. Spherical trigonometry was thoroughly developed in modern form by Euler in his 1782 paper [75]. Spherical geometry in n-dimensions was first studied by Schlafli in his 1852 treatise, which was published posthumously in [202]. The most important transformation in spherical geometry, the Mobius transformation, was considered by Mobius in his 1855 paper [171].
Multiple new species of Ophiocordyceps on ants

In tropical forests, one of the most common relationships between parasites and insects is that between the fungus Ophiocordyceps (Ophiocordycipitaceae, Hypocreales, Ascomycota) and ants, especially within the tribe Camponotini. These fungi have the ability to penetrate the exoskeleton of the ant and to manipulate the behavior of the host, making it leave the nest and ascend understorey shrubs, to die biting onto the vegetation: hence, the term zombie-ant fungi to describe this behavioral changes on the host. It is posited that this behavioral change aids spore dispersal and thus increases the chances of infection. Despite their undoubted importance for ecosystem functioning, these fungal pathogens are still poorly documented, especially regarding their diversity, ecology and evolutionary relationships. Here, we describe three new and host-specific species of the genus Ophiocordyceps on Camponotus ants from the central Amazonian region of Brazil which can readily be separated using classic taxonomic criteria, in particular ascospore morphology. In addition, we also employed molecular techniques to show for the first time the phylogenetic relationships between these taxa and closely related species within the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis complex, as well as with other members of the family Ophiocordycipitaceae.
Reducing Homophobia within the College Community.

Research over the last two decades reveals widespread anti-gay prejudice on many college campuses. Faculty can improve the climate for lesbian and gay students in our classes and on our campuses in a number of ways.
Actions of Nuclear Receptors

The Nuclear Hormone Receptor Superfamily is a group of proteins which function as transcriptional regulators in a vast array of diverse processes. In mammals, these processes include embryonic development, maintenance of body fluid and electrolyte composition, regulation of energy sources and metabolism, and protection of organ systems from endogenous and exogenous toxic compounds. The nuclear hormone receptors may also be involved in the pathophysiology of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and atherosclerosis. This chapter begins with a brief overview of general nuclear hormone receptor structure. It then introduces the basic mechanistic concepts underlying transcriptional activation of gene expression by these proteins. In closing, this chapter looks in more detail at specific members of the Nuclear Hormone Receptor Superfamily, and describes their individual roles in the processes introduced above.
Materials, Data, and Informatics

This introductory chapter sets the stage for the emerging discipline of Materials Informatics at the intersection of materials science, computational science, and information science. Attention is drawn to specific opportunities afforded by this new field in accelerating materials development and deployment efforts. A particular emphasis is placed on materials exhibiting hierarchical internal structures spanning multiple length/structure scales and the impediments involved in establishing invertible process—structure—property linkages for these materials.
Transcriptional profiling of cortical versus cancellous bone from mechanically-loaded murine tibiae reveals differential gene expression

Mechanical loading is an anabolic stimulus that increases bone mass, and thus a promising method to counteract osteoporosis-related bone loss. The mechanism of this anabolism remains unclear, and needs to be established for both cortical and cancellous envelopes individually. We hypothesized that cortical and cancellous bone display different gene expression profiles at baseline and in response to mechanical loading. To test this hypothesis, the left tibiae of 10-week-old female C57Bl/6 mice were subjected to one session of axial tibial compression (9N, 1200cycles, 4Hz triangle waveform) and euthanized 3 and 24h following loading. The right limb served as the contralateral control. We performed RNA-seq on marrow-free metaphyseal samples from the cortical shell and the cancellous core to determine differential gene expression at baseline (control limb) and in response to load. Differential expression was verified with qPCR. Cortical and cancellous bone exhibited distinctly different transcriptional profiles basally and in response to mechanical loading. More genes were differentially expressed with loading at 24h with more genes downregulated at 24h than at 3h in both tissues. Enhanced Wnt signaling dominated the response in cortical bone at 3 and 24h, but in cancellous bone only at 3h. In cancellous bone at 24h many muscle-related genes were downregulated. These findings reveal key differences between cortical and cancellous genetic regulation in response to mechanical loading. Future studies at different time points and multiple loading sessions will add to our knowledge of cortical and cancellous mechanotransduction with the potential to identify new targets for mouse genetic knockout studies and drugs to treat osteoporosis.
Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery: current status and future prospects

Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery aims to provide a medication-sparing, conjunctival-sparing, ab interno approach to intraocular pressure reduction for patients with mild-to-moderate glaucoma that is safer than traditional incisional glaucoma surgery. The current approaches include: increasing trabecular outflow (Trabectome, iStent, Hydrus stent, gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy, excimer laser trabeculotomy); suprachoroidal shunts (Cypass micro-stent); reducing aqueous production (endocyclophotocoagulation); and subconjunctival filtration (XEN gel stent). The data on each surgical procedure for each of these approaches are reviewed in this article, patient selection pearls learned to date are discussed, and expectations for the future are examined.
The Geography of Bidder Behavior in Peer-to-Peer Credit Markets

Theoretical and empirical research on the traditional credit market finds strong evidence that investors and lenders are sensitive to their distance from the borrower, especially early on in a venture. This is due to the cost of information gathering and monitoring. However, new online platforms could overcome the geographical constraints on investing. Recent empirical work, across many types of crowdfunding, has found mixed results. In this paper, using transaction data from a peer-to-peer lending site, I find that local lenders tend to bid earlier, both chronologically and relatively to other bidders in the auction, and bid larger amounts than nonlocal lenders. Additionally, local lenders are more informed in the sense that they are better able to evaluate the underlying risk of borrowers. This is demonstrated by the fact that they bid significantly higher interest rates on loans that ex-post default and lower rates on loans that ex-post pay back in full. Lastly, I develop a simple model of social learning with heterogeneous agents that provides testable predictions. My results are consistent with this model; a listing with more early local bidding activity will attract more lenders, leading to a higher probability of funding and a lower final interest rate, if funded. This work suggests that the behavioral differences between local and nonlocal lenders are driven mostly by informational frictions and not merely preferences. Local lenders are better informed because they have easier and cheaper access to information, and this asymmetry contributes to explaining why geographic-based frictions are still present and relevant in online lending markets.
CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO AND OTHER RISK FACTORS FOR PANCREATITIS

Histories of alcohol and tobacco consumption and other potential risk factors were obtained from 98 patients with pancreatitis and 451 comparison patients at 11 large hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island between 1975 and 1979. The great majority of the patients with pancreatitis had chronic or recurrent disease. From the comparison patients were excluded patients with other diseases of the pancreas and biliary tract and those admitted for disorders known to be associated with smoking or alcohol use. A statistically significant association of pancreatitis with alcohol use was present in males, but not in females. Cigarette use was very strongly associated with pancreatitis in males and less so in females. The associations with alcohol and cigarette use were independent, each retaining significance after adjustment for the other. There was no significant association of risk with coffee consumption in either sex. A history of biliary tract disease was given by 45 per cent of the male and 60 per cent of the female cases. The associations with alcohol use and cigarette smoking did not appear to be restricted either to the patients with or those without a history of biliary tract disease. Chronic or recurrent pancreatitis appears to have different dominant etiologies in males and females.
Waiting to Exhale: Optimizing Noninvasive Synchrony in COPD?

Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has become a widely used modality for many types of respiratory conditions. Some advantages of NIV include lower sedation requirement, preservation of cough and pulmonary clearance, and reduced frequency of ventilator-associated pneumonia.[1][1] NIV has been used
Ag2ZnSn(S,Se)4: A highly promising absorber for thin film photovoltaics

The growth in efficiency of earth-abundant kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells has slowed, due in part to the intrinsic limitations imposed by the band tailing attributed primarily to I-II antisite exchange. In this study, density functional theory simulations show that when Ag is substituted for Cu to form kesterite Ag2ZnSnSe4 (AZTSe), the I-II isolated antisite formation energy becomes 3.7 times greater than in CZTSSe, resulting in at least an order of magnitude reduction in I-II antisite density. Experimental evidence of an optoelectronically improved material is also provided. Comparison of the low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) structure of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe), CZTSSe, and AZTSe shows that AZTSe has a shallow defect structure with emission significantly closer to the band edge than CZTSe. Existence of suppressed band tailing is found in the proximity of the room-temperature PL peak of AZTSe to its measured band gap. The results are consistent with AZTSe being a promising alternative to CZTSSe and CIGSe for thin film photovoltaics.
Systematics of fungi causing entomophthoramycosis.

The three species of the Entomophthorales that are known to cause human disease are Basidiobolus haptosporus, Conidiobolus coronatus, and C. incongruus. A brief characterization of the Entomophthorales provides a basis for understanding their broader relationships. Although B. haptosporus is generally considered to be the sole etiologic species of the genus, further work is necessary fully to elucidate the taxonomy within the genus. The systematics and biology of the ubiquitous C. coronatus have played a key role in separating the genera Entomophthora and Conidiobolus. Sporulation can present problems in identifying the three etiologic agents.
Neuroendocrine mechanisms for reproductive senescence in the female rat: gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons

Reproductive aging in female rats is characterized by profound alterations in the neuroendocrine axis. The preovulatory luteinizing hormone (LH) surge is attenuated, and preovulatory expression of the immediate early gene fos in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons is substantially reduced in middleaged compared with young rats. We tested the hypothesis that alterations in GnRH gene expression may be correlated with the attenuation of the LH surge and may be a possible mechanism involved in neuroendocrine senescent changes. Sprague-Dawley rats ages 4 to 5 mo (young), 12–14 mo (middle-aged), or 25 to 26 mo (old) were killed at 10:00 am or 3:00 pm on proestrus, the day of the LH surge, or diestrus I in cycling rats, and on persistent estrus or persistent diestrus in acyclic rats. RNase protection assays of GnRH mRNA and GnRH primary transcript were performed. GnRH mRNA levels in creased significantly with age, whereas GnRH primary transcripts levels, and index of GnRH gene transcription, decreased in old compared to young and middle-aged rats. This latter result suggests that an age-related change in GnRH mRNA levels occurs independently of a change in gene transcription, indicating a potential posttranscriptional mechanism. On proestrus, GnRH mRNA levels increased significantly from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm in young rats. This was in contrast to proestrous middle-aged rats, in which this afternoon increase in GnRH mRNA levels was not observed. Thus, the normal afternoon increase in GnRH mRNA levels on proestrus is disrupted by middle age and may represent a substrate for the attenuation of the preovulatory GnRH/LH surge that occurs in rats of this age, prior to reproductive failure.
Strong Photophysical Similarities between Conjugated Polymers and J-aggregates.

The photophysical properties of emissive conjugated polymer (CP) chains are compared to those of linear J-aggregates. The two systems share many properties in common, including a red-shifted absorption spectrum with increasing chain/aggregate length, enhanced radiative decay rates (superradiance) relative to a single monomer/molecule, and several vibronic signatures involving the vinyl-stretching mode common to many conjugated molecules. In particular, the scaling of the 0–0/0–1 photoluminescence ratio and radiative decay rate with the inverse square root of temperature in red-phase polydiacetylene is also characteristic of linear, disorder-free J-aggregates. The strong photophysical resemblance is traced to the excitonic band structure; in one-dimensional direct band gap semiconductors as well as J-aggregates, the exciton band curvature is positive at the gamma point (k = 0).
Study of the Inner Boundary Force of Axial Variable Cross Section Annulus Power Law Fluid

In oil drilling and production engineering,fluid in well bore are mostly non-Newtonian fluid,their flow pattern is eccentric annulus helical flow as the result of the effect of string rotation,the eccentricity change along the axial line of string arbitrarily.In view of this character,3D finite element model of axial variable cross-section eccentric annulus power law fluid is established.Adopting the finite volume method basing on finite element,the effect of flow field distribution rule,the eccentricity and the rotation velocity on boundary force are researched.The results demonstrate that the axial velocity with wide interspace is unchangeable and the rotation velocity is decreased,while the axial velocity with narrow interspace is decreased and the rotation velocity is increased.As the increase of the rotation velocity and the eccentricity,it increases to the cross force and the bending moment which bear on the string,it further provides the theoretical basis for the revealing and preventing the string from wear.