cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Voting for two speaker segmentation

The process of locating the end points of each speakers voice in an audio file and then clustering segments based in speaker identity is called speaker segmentation. In this paper we present a method for two speaker segmentation, though it can be extended to more than two speakers. Most methods for speaker segmentation and clustering start with an initial computationally inexpensive speaker segmentation method, followed by a more accurate segment clustering. In this paper we describe a simple algorithm that improves the accuracy of the segment clustering while not increasing the computational complexity. Since the clustering is done iteratively, the improvement in each segment clustering step results in a significant overall increase in segmentation accuracy and cluster purity. We borrow ideas from speaker recognition to perform segment clustering by frame based voting. We look at each frame as an independent classifier deciding which speaker generated that segment. These ’classifiers’ are combined by voting to make a decision as to which segments should be clustered together. This simple change leads to 56.9% decrease in error rates on a segmentation task for the SWITCHBOARD corpus. Index Terms: Speaker segmentation, Voting based classifier combination, Speaker change detection, Speaker clustering.
Cell Type-Specific Epigenetic Signatures Accompany Late Stages of Mouse Retina Development

We have used ChIP-seq to map the distribution of two important histone H3 modifications, H3K4me2 and H3K27me3, over the whole genome at multiple time points during late mouse retina development. We merged these data with our previous retina developmental expression profiles and show that there are several epigenetic signatures specific for different functional groups of genes. The main conclusion from our study is that epigenetic signatures defined by H3K4me2 and H3K27me3 can distinguish cell-type specific genes from widespread transcripts and may be reflective of cell specificity during retina maturation. Rod photoreceptor-specific genes have a striking signature, a de novo accumulation of H3K4me2 and a complete absence of H3K27me3. We were able to use this signature in an unbiased search of the whole genome and identified essentially all the known rod photoreceptor genes as well as a group of novel genes that have a high probability of being rod photoreceptor specific. Comparison of our genome-wide chromatin signature maps with available data sets for Polymerase-II (Pol-II) and CRX binding sites and DNase1 Hypersensitive Sites (DHS) for retina shows great agreement. Because our approach is not dependent on high levels of gene expression, it provides a new way of identifying cell type-specific genes, particularly genes that may be involved in retinal diseases.
The Federalism Decisions of Justices Rehnquist and O'Connor: Is Half a Loaf Enough?

In many ways the basic structure of constitutional law circa 2006 which features a strong national government of unlimited authority and weak protection of economic liberties and property rights derives from the New Deal synthesis circa 1937. That synthesis insists that an extensive national role in the regulation of economic affairs is an indispensable tool for social progress. For the better part of fifty years that synthesis dominated both judicial and academic writing on American federalism. One of the great transformations that took place during the critical Chief Justiceship of William H. Rehnquist involved a systematic and prolonged challenge of that worldview. I have little doubt that many contributors to this Symposium will be critical of
Diastolic Versus Systolic Heart Failure

Heart failure is defined as the pathologic state in which the heart is unable to pump blood at a rate required by the metabolizing tissues or can do so only with an elevated filling pressure. Inability of the heart to pump blood sufficiently to meet the needs of the body’s tissues is due to the inability of the left ventricle (LV) to fill (diastolic performance) and eject (systolic performance). Thus, consideration of the systolic and diastolic performance of the LV provides a conceptual basis to classify and understand the pathophysiology of heart failure.
An overview of cognitive impairment

Cognitive decline occurs in all persons during the aging process. Eventually, this can result in mild cognitive impairment and dementia. There are more than 100 causes of dementia. A multifocal approach to slowing cognitive decline (Mediterranean diet, exercise, computer games, socialization, and treatment of cardiovascular risk factors) appears to be effective.
Defining Usage and Clinical Outcomes Following Perioperative Fresh Frozen Plasma and Platelet Administration in Spine Surgery Patients.

Study design This was a retrospective study. Objectives The main objectives of this study were to characterize the utilization of fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and platelets in spine surgery and the clinical outcomes following their administration. Summary of background data Blood component transfusion is often a crucial therapy during spine surgery. Little is known about the association between transfusion with FFP and/or platelets and perioperative morbidity in patients undergoing spine surgery. Materials and methods At a single large tertiary medical center, the surgical billing database was retrospectively queried for patients undergoing spinal surgery from 2008 to 2015. A univariate analysis compared patient characteristics for those who received FFP and/or platelets perioperatively and those who did not. To determine independent predictors of FFP and platelet administration and independent predictors of perioperative complications, both univariate and multivariate analyses were used. Results In total, 6931 patients met inclusion criteria. One thousand seven (14.5%) patients received perioperative FFP transfusion and 432 (6.2%) received platelets. In multivariate analysis, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) ≥4, preoperative hemoglobin Conclusions The majority of patients were given FFP with a liberal INR trigger of >1.7. Perioperative FFP and platelet administration are independent predictors of perioperative complications following spine surgery.
Sleeping position of shelter dogs

Abstract There has been considerable interest in canine laterality. Some dogs will hold a toy or take their first step consistently using a right paw, whereas others will use their left paw. Some species also show laterality of lying position. We investigated the postures assumed by 12 dogs living in a shelter. The dogs spent 492 ± 116.4 min/night lying in lateral recumbency curled clockwise and 807.4 ± 129 min/night lying in lateral recumbency curled counterclockwise. Nine of the 12 dogs spent the majority of their recumbent time curled counterclockwise, but there was no significant difference in direction (P
Structured Learning Using Self-Monitoring to Promote Maintenance and Generalization of Social Skills across Settings for a Behaviorally Disordered Adolescent.

Recent literature has highlighted the importance of teaching social skills to behaviorally disordered adolescents. Although it has been demonstrated that social skills can be taught to this populat...
Investigating relationship dispositions as explanations for on-again/off-again relationships:

The current study explored whether individuals with certain relationship dispositions were more likely to be involved in on-again/off-again (on-off) relationships. A sample of 211 currently dating ...
Change Point Detection in a Dynamic Stochastic Blockmodel.

We study a change point detection scenario for a dynamic community graph model, which is formed by adding new vertices and randomly attaching them to the existing nodes. The goal of this work is to design a test statistic to detect the merging of communities without solving the problem of identifying the communities. We propose a test that can ascertain when the connectivity between the balanced communities is changing. In addition to the theoretical analysis of the test statistic, we perform Monte Carlo simulations of the dynamic stochastic blockmodel to demonstrate that our test can detect changes in graph topology, and we study a dynamic social-contact graph.
Identification and Characterization of Hematopoietic Stem (HSC)/Progenitor Cells in Human Solid Tumors

It has recently been shown that a solid tumor recruits cells to the tumor mass, which facilitate vascularization, suppress immune responses, aid its growth, and influence metastatic potential. These recruited cells include mesenchymal stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells and tumor infiltrating leukocytes. By performing multiparameter FACS analysis on primary lung carcinoma and pleural effusion material, we demonstrate for the first time the consistent presence of CD45 + /CD34 + cells (mean 1.6% of total CD45 + cells range 0.24–13.2% n=12). In primary tumor samples, CD45 + lymphohematopoietic cells were purified by the MACS system and examined for progenitor colony formation in methycellulose. Erythroid and myeloid colony formation was observed in the CD45 + selected subfraction. We assayed for HSC activity by cobblestone formation (CAFC) on MS-5 stroma. Week 2 and week 5 CAFC potential was present in CD45 + purified ovarian cancer ascites. In non-irradiated NOD/SCID IL2 gamma null mice injected subcutaneously with dissociated and unfractionated lung tumor and ovarian peritoneal ascites, small numbers of human CD45 + cells were recovered from the bone marrow after 2–3 months which gave rise to hematopoietic colonies. Human CD45 + cells also persisted within the retransplanted subcutaneous tumors. In conclusion, we report the recruitment of HSCs and progenitors to primary tumor sites. The differentiation and self-renewal potential of these HSCs indicate a potential alternative source of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes as opposed to or in addition to recruitment of mature cells from the circulation. The role of solid tumors in mobilizing HSCs and progenitors from the bone marrow and their selective chemotaxis to the primary and metastatic sites require further investigation. Targeting this novel tumor-HSC interaction may offer new therapeutic opportunities for controlling tumor growth and metastasis.
Exact Equivocation Expressions for Wiretap Coding Over Erasure Channel Models

Traditional security analysis of wiretap codes requires evaluation of equivocation in the asymptote as the code blocklength tends to infinity. Finite blocklength codes, however, require exact expressions for equivocation so as to allow for comparison of parameterized codes across different code constructions or within the same construction. In this letter, we present two exact equivocation expressions for coset coding over the wiretap channel model with binary erasure channels (BECs) for both the main channel and the eavesdropper’s channel. The expressions are functions of the algebraic structure of the binary wiretap codes, and they also hold for the special case when the main channel is noiseless.
Algebraic Neural Networks: Stability to Deformations

We study algebraic neural networks (AlgNNs) with commutative algebras which unify diverse architectures such as Euclidean convolutional neural networks, graph neural networks, and group neural networks under the umbrella of algebraic signal processing. An AlgNN is a stacked layered information processing structure where each layer is conformed by an algebra, a vector space and a homomorphism between the algebra and the space of endomorphisms of the vector space. Signals are modeled as elements of the vector space and are processed by convolutional filters that are defined as the images of the elements of the algebra under the action of the homomorphism. We analyze stability of algebraic filters and AlgNNs to deformations of the homomorphism and derive conditions on filters that lead to Lipschitz stable operators. We conclude that stable algebraic filters have frequency responses – defined as eigenvalue domain representations – whose derivative is inversely proportional to the frequency – defined as eigenvalue magnitudes. It follows that for a given level of discriminability, AlgNNs are more stable than algebraic filters, thereby explaining their better empirical performance. This same phenomenon has been proven for Euclidean convolutional neural networks and graph neural networks. Our analysis shows that this is a deep algebraic property shared by a number of architectures.
A Multi-Stage Curriculum Development Model to Address Knowledge Gaps Between Academia and Industry

This innovate practice research is a work in Progress. Curriculum for technology programs must remain current with the recent developments and present needs of industry to ensure their continued success. Identifying and incorporating the newer developments requires a knowledge of those things that are important to the commercial users of technology. We have proposed and are testing a methodology that can easily allow educational programs to remain current using natural language processing followed up with confirmatory surveys. Our research used employment postings and website descriptions of ongoing research/ product development from technology companies to identify current interests. This data provided a window into where companies have invested their resources for future growth, which we used to understand where their technology needs were. The findings will then be used to determine what changes a program should make in their curriculum to address these needs.The information from these different sources was collected from the websites of selected technology companies as well as from technology related job listings. We then programmatically determined the ten most frequent words found in each subsection of the job listings search parameters. A correlation analysis for each word was obtained to give a context to the words in the resulting corpora. Our next step in developing this process was to extract more focused topics in our data from the correlations using focus topics extracted from the information available in the technology companies’ sites.The process used to focus the topics in our data was started by capturing research and services related to health informatics and bioscience informatics. These research and services were obtained from a sample of 34 local and 39 national companies. The University of Massachusetts’ (Amherst) free and open source machine learning toolkit, MALLET, was used to discover the topics present in the datasets via Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and then compare and interpret each topic present in the job posting frequent word correlations. This allowed us to determine more specific informatic subjects of interest along with the importance of these subjects to industry.Immediately following the analysis, we will incorporate our results into a survey, which will be sent to the companies that we identified in our data search. This will be used to validate our findings as well as obtain more specific information on their needs related to the curriculum. This second component will allow us to obtain more actionable information for making and incorporating new information and materials into the curriculum.
Identification and fine mapping of a multi‐tillering semi‐dwarf gene in rice

Plant height is one of the most important agronomic traits of rice. So far, more than 80 genes related to dwarf mutants had been cloned in rice, but most of them cause severe dwarf and other adverse phenotypes, which is difficult to apply in rice breeding. Here, we identified a novel multi-tillering semi-dwarf line sde, a near-isogenic line of ZX5T. Compared with ZX5T, sde performed proportionally shortened internodes. Thus, sde is a semi-dwarf of “dn” type. The longitudinal sections of stem showed that the decrease of cell number should be the major mechanism for sde semi-dwarfism. Moreover, sde was insensitive to exogenous GA3 and GR24. Genetic analysis revealed that sde was controlled by single recessive nuclear gene. To isolate SDE gene, a map-based cloning method was employed using F2 recessive plants derived from a cross between sde and NJ6. Finally, the target SDE gene was located to a 58 Kb region on the short arm of chromosome 6. There were 9 predicted opening reading frames located in this region, but only one nucleotide substitution (C to T) has been detected in the first exon of Os06g0154200 between sde and ZX5T, which result in a substitution of amino acid (R to W). Additionally, expression of Os06g0154200 in the culm and panicle of the sde was significantly increased compared to ZX5T. Interestingly, SDE shared the common locus with tillering dwarf mutant DWARF3 (D3) gene, suggesting sde may be a novel weak allelic of D3. Collectively, we here identified a novel multi-tillering semi-dwarf line sde, which would provide novel dwarf source and improving the genetic diversity for important agronomic traits of rice and the main component of plant architecture.
Observational Evidence and Open Questions on the Role of Internal Tidal Waves on the Concentration and Transport of Floating Plastic Debris

Tidal currents flowing over benthic relief (e.g., banks, shelf break) produce large internal waves. These waves propagate away from their origin and are capable of crossing the continental shelf and traveling hundreds of kilometers in across seas. Research into the role these internal waves play in the shoreward transport of larval invertebrates and fish unintentionally tested whether they can capture, concentrate and transport floating plastic. Plastic surface drifters deployed in front of sets of internal wave convergences were often captured (>90% captured) and transported kilometers by the waves. While convergence zones over tidally generated internal waves have been demonstrated to capture, concentrate, and transport a variety of larvae and plastic surface drifters there are no investigations into how internal tidal waves may affect the fate and distribution of floating plastic waste. A number of areas of future research are suggested: 1) How much floating plastic is found in internal wave convergences? 2) At locations where internal waves cross the continental shelf, how far offshore does transport commence? 3) How does this vary between geographic locations. 4) How buoyant must floating plastic be to be captured by internal waves? 5) Does capture, concentration and transport of floating plastic vary over the spring/neap tidal cycle? 6) Do seasonal changes in the depth of the pycnocline alter the transport of floating plastic by internal waves? 7) Where the topography of the continental shelf is conducive to the formation of internal waves is more plastic debris transported to shore? 8) In locations where internal waves propagate over large distances, do they capture, concentrate and transport large amounts of floating plastic?
Large parental differences in chromatin organization in pancreatic beta cell line explaining diabetes susceptibility effects

Previous GWAS studies identified non-coding loci with parent-of-origin-specific effects on Type 2 diabetes susceptibility. Here we report the molecular basis for one such locus near the KRTAP5-6 gene on chromosome 11. We determine the pattern of long-range contacts between an enhancer in this locus and the human INS promoter 460 kb away, in the human pancreatic β-cell line, EndoC-βH1. 3C long range contact experiments distinguish contacts on the two sister chromosomes. Coupling with allele-specific SNPs allows construction of maps revealing marked differences in organization of the two sister chromosomes in the entire region between KRTAP5-6 and INS. Further mapping distinguishes maternal and paternal alleles. This reveals a domain of parent-of-origin-specific chromatin structure extending in the telomeric direction from the INS locus. This suggests more generally that imprinted loci may extend their influence over gene expression beyond those loci through long range chromatin structure, resulting in parent-of-origin-biased expression patterns over great distances. A SNP distant from the human insulin (INS) gene near the KRTAP5-6 gene confers increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes when present on the paternal allele while decreased susceptibility when on the maternal allele. Here the authors show that long-range contacts between the INS locus and the KRTAP5-6 gene locus distinguish paternal and maternal alleles.
Are Trp53 rescue of Brca1 embryonic lethality and Trp53/Brca1 breast cancer association related?

Brca1 is involved in multiple biological pathways including DNA damage repair, transcriptional regulation, and cell-cycle progression. A complex pattern of interactions of Brca1 with Trp53 has also emerged. Xu and coworkers found that haploid loss of Trp53 significantly reduces the embryonic lethality observed in mice with a homozygous in-frame deletion of Brca1 exon 11. They report that widespread apoptosis correlates with the embryonic lethality resulting from this homozygous Δ11 Brca1 mutation. A mechanism responsible for Brca1-associated carcinogenesis is proposed. These experiments extend our knowledge of a complex Brca1/Trp53 relationship. However, the precise mechanisms through which Brca1 interacts with Trp53 to suppress mammary tumor formation have yet to be elucidated.
Binding of eosinophil peroxidase to mast cell granules with retention of peroxidatic activity

Eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) and to a lesser degree neutrophil peroxidase (myeloperoxidase, MPO) bound tightly to mast cell granules (MCG), particularly when the latter were depleted of histamine by suspension in physiologic salt solutions. The bound EPO was localized on the surface of the granule, and its dissociation required salt concentrations of high enough ionic strength (greater than 0.75 M) to solubilize the MCG matrix. Elution of MPO from the complex occurred at a lower salt concentration. The MCG/EPO complex retained the capacity of the isolated EPO to catalyze the iodination reaction when supplemented with iodide, H2O2, and a protein acceptor and to kill microorganisms when supplemented with H2O2 and a halide (iodide, chloride). Indeed, the MCG/EPO complex had significantly greater iodinating and bactericidal activity than the free enzyme when standardized to equal guaiacol units of peroxidase activity. Thus, in areas of inflammation where mast cells and phagocytic leukocytes coexist, there is the potential for the formation of active complexes extracellularly between mast cell granules and molecules such as EPO (or MPO) that can affect the inflammatory response.
Peptides accelerate their uptake by activating a ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic pathway

Protein degradation by the ubiquitin system controls the intracellular concentrations of many regulatory proteins. A protein substrate of the ubiquitin system is conjugated to ubiquitin through the action of three enzymes, E1, E2 and E3, with the degradation signal (degron) of the substrate recognized by E3 (refs 1-3). The resulting multi-ubiquitylated substrate is degraded by the 26S proteasome. Here we describe the physiological regulation of a ubiquitin-dependent pathway through allosteric modulation of its E3 activity by small compounds. Ubr1, the E3 enzyme of the N-end rule pathway (a ubiquitin-dependent proteolytic system) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mediates the degradation of Cup9, a transcriptional repressor of the peptide transporter Ptr2 (ref. 5). Ubr1 also targets proteins that have destabilizing amino-terminal residues. We show that the degradation of Cup9 is allosterically activated by dipeptides with destabilizing N-terminal residues. In the resulting positive feedback circuit, imported dipeptides bind to Ubr1 and accelerate the Ubr1-dependent degradation of Cup9, thereby de-repressing the expression of Ptr2 and increasing the cell's capacity to import peptides. These findings identify the physiological rationale for the targeting of Cup9 by Ubr1, and indicate that small compounds may regulate other ubiquitin-dependent pathways.
Information Sharing in Critical Infrastructure Industries: Understanding the Behavioral and Economic Impediments

This paper is a specialized version, abbreviated and focused on application to critical infrastructure protection, of our paper titled "Overcoming Impediments to Information Sharing." Impediments to information sharing between firms operating critical infrastructure have been identified as a key security concern in the recently promulgated National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets. This paper identifies economic and behavioral impediments to information sharing among rivals in general, and rivals operating critical infrastructure in particular. The paper then assesses conditions affecting the severity of these impediments. Finally, the paper takes first steps in developing a framework that will predict more accurately when private information sharing would be suboptimal and suggest how better to align private information sharing with social optimality.
Equational Logic and Equational Theories of Algebras

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses several metalogical notions referring to equational theories of algebras and, more generally, to equational logic. It also presents a short survey of the results obtained from these theories and open problems concerning these notions. The chapter also presents several decision problems. These problems are associated with the recursive nature of a given set of equations, or of finite sets of equations, or of finite algebras. The conceptually simplest decision problems concern the decidability of individual theories. A theory is called decidable simply if it is recursive. Most familiar equational theories and the theory of any finite algebra prove to be decidable. Further, as in the predicate logic, every complete theory with a finite (or, more generally, a recursive) base is decidable.
SELECTION OF THERMOSTABLE SERRATIA MARCESCENS FROM LOGARITHMIC-PHASE CULTURES AS A MEANS FOR INDUCING SYNCHRONOUS GROWTH

Hess, George E. (U. S. Army Chemical Corps, Fort Detrick, Maryland) and Milton Shon. Selection of thermostable Serratia marcescens from logarithmic-phase cultures as a means for inducing synchronous growth. J. Bacteriol. 83:781–784. 1962.—A relatively thermostable, apparently nonmultiplying, population of Serratia marcescens was found in cultures in the exponential phase of growth. Thermal treatment of the whole culture resulted in the death of the multiplying cell fraction, although the nonmultiplying fraction remained viable. Subcultivation of the thermally treated suspensions yielded cultures in which most of the viable organisms multiplied synchronously for at least two generations.
Marcel Minnaert and optics in nature

This historical note was presented at the OSA Topical Meeting on Meteorological Optics held at Keystone in August 1978. It seemed appropriate to publish it in the issue that gathered together some related papers given at the other Keystone meeting last August, on atmospheric spectroscopy, but that honorable intention was thwarted because the author wanted to do some more work on his manuscript. We now publish a revision of the introductory comments given at Keystone. Some of the meteorological optics papers have been published in the Journal of the Optical Society of America.
Long-Term Control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection Is Mediated by Dynamic Immune Responses

The primary goal of this study was to determine how chronic exposure to Ag influences the functionality of Mycobacterium tuberculosis -specific T cell responses. The frequency of IFN-γ-producing effector CD4 + and CD8 + T cells dynamically changed during persistent M. tuberculosis infection. CD8 + T cells used differential effector functions during acute and chronic phases of the immune response, where CD8 + T cells produced negligible amounts of IFN-γ early in infection, but switched to cytokine production during the chronic stage of infection. Using limiting dilution analysis, CD8 + T cells isolated during the initial phase of infection demonstrated lytic potential, but this waned in the chronic stage. The apparent loss of cytotoxic activity was not associated with the lack of perforin. Ag dose could potentially govern the functional program of CD8 + T cells. Collectively, these results depict a host immune response mounted against M. tuberculosis of a significantly more dynamic nature than previously recognized.
Cultural phenomena and the syndemic factor: Substance abuse, violence, hiv, and depression among hispanic women

Researchers exploring the health of Hispanics in South Florida utilizing a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods have identified that substance abuse, violence, risky sexual behavior, and depression are not only conceptualized as tightly interrelated health and social problems, but also hold together in a measurement model to represent an underlying phenomenon (i.e., the Syndemic Factor). The purpose of this study is to test hypothesized relationships between cultural phenomena and the Syndemic Factor among community-dwelling Hispanic women. Standardized questionnaires assessing Acculturation, Hispanic Stress, Familism, and the Syndemic Factor were administered to a cross-sectional sample of 548 Hispanic women from South Florida. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze relationships. The model explained 61 percent of the variance in the Syndemic Factor. There was a large positive relationship between the Syndemic Factor and Hispanic Stress, and a small inverse relationship between the Syndemic Factor and Familism. Women with high Hispanic Acculturation and low U.S. Acculturation scored lower on the Syndemic Factor than Integrated/Bicultural women. Familism buffered the relationship between Hispanic Stress and the Syndemic Factor. Structural, community, family, and individual prevention strategies that address underlying conditions associated with the Syndemic Factor must be developed and formally evaluated.
WE-E-217A-03: Methodologies for Evaluation of Effects of CAD on Users

CAD devices are specifically designed to aid the user in the diagnostic process. Therefore, the user (e.g., clinician) is an integral part of the CAD interpretation process and the impact of CAD on users needs to be accounted for in the assessment process. We use the term "reader performance assessment" to denote a test specifically designed to estimate the performance of the user (or reader) interpreting CAD as part of the diagnostic process. These reader assessment studies are generally more indicative of clinical performance compared with standalone testing. In this course, we will update the audience on the latest approaches and metrics being used to assess the impact of CAD on user performance, and discuss the opinions of the AAPM CAD subcommittee on the evaluation methodologies, Learning Objectives: 1. To review the most common reader performance assessment techniques and associated performance metrics including the multireader multi-case (MRMC) study design. 2. To review the AAPM CAD subcommittee's current thinking on best practices for performing and analyzing CAD reader performance assessment studies. 3. To understand the importance and limitations of various reader performance assessment approaches and metrics for various classes of CAD devices.
Perceived Other-Regarding Behaviors of Founder and Agent CEOs

Stewardship theory suggests that CEOs whose interests are intrinsically aligned with the firm and who are granted more autonomy will curb their self-interested behaviors and act in ways that benefit the firm. In this study, we contrast subordinate perceptions of the other-regarding behaviors of agent CEOs with founder CEOs. We also examine the relationship between these perceived CEO behaviors and employee willingness to sacrifice for the firm. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that founder CEOs are less likely to be perceived as displaying other-regarding behaviors, and these behaviors are in turn related to employee willingness to sacrifice. Implications for both stewardship and agency theory are discussed.
Delayed liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy in adipose differentiation related protein-null mice

Background & Aims Adult hepatocytes undergo cell cycle progression and proliferation in response to partial hepatectomy (PH). Transient lipid accumulation within hepatocytes preceding the peak proliferative phase is a characteristic feature of regenerating livers. However, the molecular mediators and mechanisms responsible for lipid accumulation in regenerating livers are not well understood. Adipose differentiation related protein (ADRP; Plin2 ) regulates hepatic triglyceride storage and Plin2 -deficient ( Plin2 −/− ) mice have significantly reduced triglyceride (TG) content in the liver. We sought to determine the functional significance of PLIN2 in liver regeneration in response to PH and toxic liver injury and examined whether absence of Plin2 expression modulates hepatocyte proliferation and liver regeneration. Methods We subjected wild-type (WT) and Plin2 −/− mice to 70% PH or acute carbon tetrachloride (CCL 4 ) treatment and examined the hepatic lipid content, the expression profile of lipid metabolism-related genes, the rate of cellular proliferation and the dynamics of liver regeneration in the treated animals. Results In response to PH, Plin2 −/− mice showed decreased hepatic triglyceride accumulation and delayed cell cycle progression, which was associated with impaired liver regeneration. Fatty acid (FA) synthesis and lipid transfer gene expression profile were comparable between Plin2 −/− and wild-type mice, while VLDL secretion rate was higher in the Plin2 −/− mice. Downregulated β-oxidation and reduced cytosolic FA level in Plin2 −/− mice may have contributed to the attenuation of the liver regeneration capacity in these animals. In parallel experiments, we also observed attenuated hepatic lipid accumulation and proliferation in response to CCl 4 -mediated acute toxic liver injury in Plin2 −/− mice. Conclusions We conclude that PLIN2-mediated lipid accumulation and utilization by the liver is important for efficient liver regeneration in response to PH and toxic liver injury.
Kinetics and Mechanism of a Catalytic Chloride Ion Effect on the Dissociation of Model Siderophore Hydroxamate−Iron(III) Complexes

Proton-driven ligand dissociation kinetics in the presence of chloride, bromide, and nitrate ions have been investigated for model siderophore complexes of Fe(III) with the mono- and dihydroxamic acid ligands R1C(O)N(OH)R2 (R1 = CH3, R2 = H; R1 = CH3, R2 = CH3; R1 = C6H5, R2 = H; R1 = C6H5, R2 = C6H5) and CH3N(OH)C(O)[CH2]nC(O)N(OH)CH3 (H2Ln; n = 2, 4, 6). Significant rate acceleration in the presence of chloride ion is observed for ligand dissociation from the bis(hydroxamate)- and mono(hydroxamate)-bound complexes. Rate acceleration was also observed in the presence of bromide and nitrate ions but to a lesser extent. A mechanism for chloride ion catalysis of ligand dissociation is proposed which involves chloride ion dependent parallel paths with transient Cl- coordination to Fe(III). The labilizing effect of Cl- results in an increase in microscopic rate constants on the order of 102−103. Second-order rate constants for the proton driven dissociation of dinuclear Fe(III) complexes formed with H2Ln were...
Wind generator fault detection using end effects processing of Hilbert-Huang transform

This paper presents a novel approach to improve the end effects of Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) for the wind generator fault detection. The proposed approach utilizes a back-propagation neural network (BPNN) to extent the end of the spectrum. HHT consists of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and Hilbert transform (HT), on which the end effects distort Hilbert spectrum. The extension of the two ends obtained by the BPNN forms a new spectrum to improve the end effects. Experimental results indicate utilizing the proposed approach to analyze generator currents can improve the exactitude of Hilbert spectrum.
IARC evaluation of ELF magnetic fields: public understanding of the 0.4-microT exposure metric.

IARC evaluation of ELF magnetic fields: Public understanding of the 0.4- μ T exposure metric
A microbiologist's odyssey: bacterial viruses to photosynthetic bacteria

Perspective can be defined as the relationships or relative importance of facts or matters from any special point of view. Thus, my Personal perspective reflects the threads I followed in a 50-year journey of research in the complex tapestry of bioenergetics and various aspects of microbial metabolism. An early interest in biochemical and microbial evolution led to the fertile hunting grounds of anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria. Viewed as a physiological class, these organisms show remarkable metabolic versatility in that certain individual species are capable of using all the known major types of energy conversion (photosynthetic, respiratory, and fermentative) to support growth. Since such anoxyphototrophs are readily amenable to molecular genetic/biological manipulation, it can be expected that they will eventually provide important clues for unraveling the evolutionary relationships of the several kinds of energy conversion. I gradually came to believe that understanding the evolution of phototrophs would require detailed knowledge not only of how light is converted to chemical energy, but also of a) pathways of monomer production from extracellular sources of carbon and nitrogen and b) mechanisms cells use for integrating ATP regeneration with the energy-requiring biosyntheses of biological macromolecules. Serendipic observation of photoproduction of H2 from organic compounds by Rhodospirillum rubrum in 1949 led to discovery of N2 fixation by anoxyphototrophs, and this capacity was later exploited for the isolation of hitherto unknown species of photosynthetic prokaryotes, including the heliobacteria. Recent studies on the reaction centers of the heliobacteria suggest the possibility that these bacteria are descendents of early phototrophs that gave rise to oxygenic photosynthetic organisms.
Stacked-cup-type MWCNTs as highly stable lithium-ion battery anodes

Stacked-cup type multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized by floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition methods. The materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Electrochemical measurements showed that the stacked-cup-type MWCNTs as lithium-ion battery anode materials delivered a stable capacity of ~310 mAh g−1 at a rate of C/2 to 300 cycles. Furthermore, the materials were very stable and the coulombic efficiency exceeded 99.9 % over more than 300 cycles. Stable materials structure and the solid electrolyte interphase films were the main reasons for the durable cycling behavior, as confirmed by ex situ TEM and Raman spectroscopy, as well as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results indicated that the stacked-cup-type MWCNTs produced in this work are candidate materials for lithium-ion battery anodes.
Comparison of three estimators of the number of species

We consider estimation of the number of cells in a multinomial distribution. This is one version of the species problem: there are many applications, such as the estimation of the number of unobserved species of animals; estimation of vocabulary size, etc. We describe the results of a simulation comparison of three principal frequent-ist’ procedures for estimating the number of cells (or species). The first procedure postulates a functional form for the cell probabilities; the second procedure approxi mates the distribution of the probabilities by a parametric probability density function; and the third procedure is based on an estimate of the sample coverage, i.e. the sum of the probabilities of the observed cells. Among the procedures studied, we find that the third (non-parametric) method is globally preferable; the second (functional parametric) method cannot be recommended; and that, when based on the inverse Gaussian density, the first method is competitive in some cases with the third method. We al...
Lung injury from smoke inhalation

Significant morbidity and mortality from smoke inhalation occurs in victims of fire. Lung injury can be caused by chemical and thermal insults. A variety of noxious gases, irritants and asphyxiants are generated depending on the material burnt. Carbon monoxide is the predominant cause of death among fire victims. Treatment should be directed at reversing hypoxaemia as a result of asphyxia or carbon monoxide poisoning. There is no evidence that the routine use of corticosteroids or prophylactic antibiotics is beneficial. Through a better understanding of the pathophysiology of smoke-induced lung injury, the effects of exogenous surfactant, leukotriene inhibitors, antioxidants, nitric oxide synthase inhibitors and fibrinolytics suggest that these compounds may have a future therapeutic role in smoke-induced injury. Studies are needed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of these potential therapies before they are used clinically.
Factors influencing bilingual expressive vocabulary size in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract This study explored bilingual exposure, language, social impairment and cognitive factors that could influence second language (L2) expressive vocabulary size as measured on the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories (various languages) in 33 children (mean age = 60 months) diagnosed with ASD. In the 23 children with L2 vocabularies, recent language exposure estimates accounted for 69% of the variation in L2 vocabulary size, and the VABS-II expressive scale score explained an additional 13% of the difference. The complete sample was then subgrouped into three levels of L2 vocabulary size to compare children with no L2 vocabularies (NON-B, n = 10), low L2 word counts (LOW-B, n = 11) and high L2 counts (HIGH-B, n = 12), as determined by a median split procedure. The HIGH-B group had significantly larger L1 vocabularies than both the LOW-B ( p = .045) and the NON-B ( p = .003) groups, and higher VABS-II expressive scale scores than both the LOW-B ( p = .008) and the NON-B ( p = .012) groups. Social impairment did not significantly differ across groups and cognitive impairment did not preclude the development of L2 vocabularies. Expressive bilingualism in this population appears related to high levels of recent direct L2 exposure in combination with stronger dominant language abilities.
ON NECESSARY AND SUFFICIENT CONDITIONS FOR TURBULENT SECONDARY FLOWS IN A STRAIGHT TUBE

In this paper, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the fully-developed turbulent secondary flow of a Newtonian fluid in a straight tube, under the influence of a conservative body force. Under special conditions, we show that in the absence of a body force, we can obtain a sufficient condition for turbulent secondary flow in terms of the transverse normal stress differences associated with the Reynolds stress and the transverse shear component of the Reynolds stress.
Paleomagnetic directions and 40Ar/39Ar ages from the Tatara‐San Pedro volcanic complex, Chilean Andes: Lava record of a Matuyama‐Brunhes precursor?

the same volcanic sequence overlain by flows with normal polarity. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar incremental heating experiments on lavas within the two sections provide nine independent age determinations and yield a weighted mean of 791.7 ± 3.0 ka (±2s) for the paleomagnetic transition. The sections are linked by geological mapping, the precise radioisotopic dating, and geochemical correlations. Alternating field and thermal demagnetization studies, rock magnetic analyses, and petrographic observations indicate that the magnetization is primary and carried by titanomagnetite. The polarity change is characterized by a jump from reverse poles to a quasi-stationary cluster of virtual geomagnetic poles over Australia, followed by a jump to normal polarity latitudes. Magnetization of these lavas is thus consistent with either a brief period when the field was dominated by a subequatorial dipole, or a more complex nondipolar field that may reflect the influence of a long-lived regional lower mantle control over a weakened dynamo. The Quebrada Turbia lavas are circa 16 kyr older than those, dated by exactly the same methods, which record a later more complex portion of the reversal at Haleakala volcano, Maui. Moreover, the 792 ka radioisotopic age of these Chilean lavas is older than most astronomical estimates for the Matuyama-Brunhes reversal suggesting that this section may, in fact, record a precursor to the actual field reversal, that is expressed by low paleointensities in more than a dozen well-studied marine sediment cores. INDEX TERMS: 1535 Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism: Reversals (process, timescale, magnetostratigraphy); 1030 Geochemistry: Geochemical cycles (0330); 9360 Information Related to Geographic Region: South America; 9604 Information Related to Geologic Time: Cenozoic; KEYWORDS: paleomagnetism, reversal,
WAIS-IV Digit Span variables: are they valuable for use in predicting TOMM and MSVT failure?

The Digit Span (DS) task in the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition differs substantially from earlier versions of the measure, with one of the major changes being the addition of a sequencing component. In the present investigation, the usefulness of the new sequencing task and other DS variables (i.e., DS Age-Scaled Score, DS Forward Total, DS Backward Total, and Reliable DS) was investigated with regard to the ability of these variables to predict negative response bias. Negative response bias was first defined and examined using below-cutoff performance on the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) (N = 99). Then, for comparison purposes, negative response bias was examined using below-cutoff performance on the Medical Symptom Validity Test (MSVT; N = 95). Study participants included primarily middle-aged outpatients at a Veterans Affairs medical center. Findings from this retrospective analysis showed that, regardless of whether the TOMM or the MSVT was used as the negative response bias crit...
Developing a Taxonomy of Risk-Mitigating Actions From a Legacy Database of a Large Design Organization

This paper presents a taxonomy for project-level risk-mitigating actions developed from a large design organization’s risk database. The taxonomy classifies actions according to their purpose and how they are embodied. The taxonomy along with the results of actions recorded in the database can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of risk-mitigating actions. A methodology for refining the taxonomy based on analyzing mismatches between different coders using the taxonomy is also given. Because the taxonomy is based on an existing legacy database, this paper discusses related issues such as missing contextual information.Developing this taxonomy will lead to further advances in empirically evaluating the usefulness of different risk-mitigating actions. This will allow for better understanding and improved prediction of how different types of risk-mitigating actions affect a project’s eventual outcomes such as cost and schedule, leading to future advances in decision-making approaches of risk-mitigating actions in complex environments.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Dilemmas in balancing a university literature collection

Abstract This essay explores some of the conflicts faced by the author, a liaison with book-selection responsibilities to a university English Department. These conflicts include: trying to fill gaps missed by profiles set up with our book vendor; trying to achieve a reasonable balance between canonical and non-canonical texts; between primary texts and the secondary works interpreting these texts; between works that might become classic versus those that are truly ephemeral; between controversial pornography and less controversial or non-controversial erotica; and between hypertext fiction and traditional print resources.