cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-term clinically relevant rodent model of methotrexate-induced cognitive impairment.

Background With the enhanced use of chemotherapy and the advent of increased patient survival rates, there is an increasing number of cancer survivors living with chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment. A growing number of clinical studies have brought to light the association of agents like methotrexate in generating these neurological sequelae, although mechanisms remain unclear. Methods Here, we use a clinically relevant regimen of several cycles of methotrexate and leucovorin rescue to develop a model of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment, and investigate the in vivo long-term (16-months) impact of high dose systemic methotrexate on white matter cellular dynamics as assessed by stereology, animal behavior, and diffusion tensor imaging. Results Our results indicate that at 6- and 16-months post-chemotherapy, methotrexate-treated rats exhibit a significant and permanent decrease in the number of oligodendrocytes and their progenitors in the white matter, in corpus callosum volumes, and myelin basic protein. These findings are associated with mostly delayed deficits in performance on Morris Water Maze and Novel Object Recognition tasks. Diffusion tensor imaging demonstrates significantly decreased fractional anisotropy values in the callosum genu, body, and splenium, as well as previously unassessed areas like the fimbria. Interestingly, these white matter changes are preceded by an earlier, transient decrement in white matter microglia at 3-months, and hippocampal neural progenitors at 3- and 6-months. Conclusion These results demonstrate a significant negative impact of methotrexate on the oligodendrocyte compartment and white matter, associated with cognitive impairment. The data also support the use of diffusion tensor imaging in monitoring white matter integrity in this context.
Learning Structures: Predictive Representations, Replay, and Generalization

Memory and planning rely on learning the structure of relationships among experiences. Compact representations of these structures guide flexible behavior in humans and animals. A century after ‘latent learning’ experiments summarized by Tolman, the larger puzzle of cognitive maps remains elusive: how does the brain learn and generalize relational structures? This review focuses on a reinforcement learning (RL) approach to learning compact representations of the structure of states. We review evidence showing that capturing structures as predictive representations updated via replay offers a neurally plausible account of human behavior and the neural representations of predictive cognitive maps. We highlight multi-scale successor representations, prioritized replay, and policy-dependence. These advances call for new directions in studying the entanglement of learning and memory with prediction and planning.
Too Good to Ignore? A Primer on Listed Penny Stocks

This paper identifies distinct characteristics of U.S. penny stocks listed on NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ. They are characterized by high return, high beta, small capitalization, high book-to-market ratio, high idiosyncratic volatility, and poor liquidity. The liquidity costs as measured by Gibbs effective transaction costs for penny stocks are more than twice as large as the magnitude of non-penny stocks. Abnormal returns of penny stocks estimated using the Fama-French (1993) three-factor model and the Carhart (1997) four-factor model become insignificant after additional risk factors capturing short- and long-term return reversals and liquidity risk introduced to the asset pricing model. Although abnormal returns are insignificant for the entire penny stocks in the context of the seven-factor model, zero-cost portfolios built on firm characteristics (such as firm size, value, momentum, and idiosyncratic volatility) yield significant profitability. Because these results are sensitive to portfolio weighting scheme (value vs. equal weight) and the lengths of holding periods, further analyses are warranted for trading strategies.
Wildfire impacts on schools and hospitals following the 2018 California Camp Fire

Wildfire impacts on communities have become more pronounced in recent years as the intensity and frequency of wildfires have increased in densely populated areas of the USA. Communities located in the wildland–urban interface (WUI) neighboring high wildfire risk zones are at highest risk of damage to civil infrastructure. This paper summarizes an investigation on the 2018 Camp Fire impacts to schools and healthcare facilities in Paradise, CA. The paper demonstrates that interdisciplinary data collection methods can provide a comprehensive overview of school and hospital damage after a wildfire. Photographs, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scans of damaged buildings, drone aerial images, and interviews with key school and healthcare stakeholders provided valuable information on the structural and nonstructural damages to infrastructure. Interviews also provided context to the impacts of infrastructure damage on the ability of education and healthcare facilities to operate or reopen following the fire. Nonstructural damage to schools and hospitals, such as damage to electrical systems or other utilities, significantly impacted the functionality of these facilities. Understanding the vulnerabilities of WUI communities to wildfire will help with disaster mitigation and recovery planning and aid in restoring critical services after the disaster.
International barriers to parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health topics: a qualitative systematic review

Research indicates that parent-child communication about sexual and reproductive health can improve safe sex practices among adolescents, but barriers to such communication exist. In this systemati...
Location-based social simulation for prescriptive analytics of disease spread

Human mobility and social networks have received considerable attention from researchers in recent years. What has been sorely missing is a comprehensive data set that not only addresses geometric movement patterns derived from trajectories, but also provides social networks and causal links as to why movement happens in the first place. To some extent, this challenge is addressed by studying location-based social networks (LBSNs). However, the scope of real-world LBSN data sets is constrained by privacy concerns, a lack of authoritative ground-truth, their sparsity, and small size. To overcome these issues we have infused a novel geographically explicit agent-based simulation framework to simulate human behavior and to create synthetic but realistic LBSN data based on human patterns-of-life (i.e., a geo-social simulation). Such data not only captures the location of users over time, but also their motivation, and interactions via temporal social networks. We have open sourced our framework and released a set of large data sets for the SIGSPATIAL community. In order to showcase the versatility of our simulation framework, we added disease a model that simulates an outbreak and allows us to test different policy measures such as implementing mandatory mask use and various social distancing measures. The produced data sets are massive and allow us to capture 100% of the (simulated) population over time without any data uncertainty, privacy-related concerns, or incompleteness. It allows researchers to see the (simulated) world through the lens of an omniscient entity having perfect data.
A systematic comparison of fibroblasts derived from postmortem human dura mater versus dermal epithelium for neurodegenerative disease modeling

ABSTRACT Patient-derived cells hold great promise for precision medicine approaches in human health. Fibroblast cells have been a major source of human cells for reprogramming and differentiating into specific cell types for disease modeling. Such cells can be isolated at various stages during life (presymptomatic, symptomatic, and postmortem) and thus can potentially be used to model different phases of disease progression. In certain circumstances, however, tissues are not collected during life and only postmortem tissues are the only available source of fibroblasts. Fibroblasts cultured from postmortem human dura mater of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases have been suggested as a primary source of cells for in vitro modeling of neurodegenerative diseases. Although fibroblast-like cells from human and mouse dura mater have been previously described, their utility for reprogramming and direct differentiation protocols requires further characterization. In this study, cells derived from dermal biopsies performed in living subjects were compared to cells derived from postmortem dura mater. In two instances, we have isolated and compared dermal and dural cell lines from the same subject. Notably, striking differences between the dermis and dura mater-derived cell lines were found. Compared to dermal fibroblasts, postmortem dura mater-derived cells demonstrated different morphology, exhibited slower growth rates, failed to express fibroblast protein markers, and exhibited significant differences in gene expression profiles. In addition, dura mater-derived cells were found to exhibit a high rate of chromosomal abnormalities, particularly in the loss of the Y chromosome. Our study highlights potential limitations of postmortem human dura mater-derived cells for disease modeling, argues for rigorous karyotyping prior to reprograming, and brings into question the identity of dura mater-derived cells as belonging to a fibroblast lineage.
Women's Health - Traversing Medicine and Public Policy.

Women’s Health The United States has seen advances in reproductive health and improvements in women’s well-being throughout the life course, including reductions in cardiovascular and cancer mortal...
Advances in OpenDSS smart inverter modelling for quasi-static time-series simulations

The fleet of smart distributed energy resource (DER) inverters is expected to grow rapidly as a result of growing DER penetration levels and requirements in interconnection standards/rules such as IEEE Std 1547-2018. Smart inverters have the potential to help to maintain and/or enhance grid safety, reliability and customer affordability. Advanced modelling and analytical capabilities are required from distribution planning tools to understand the full potential of smart inverters. This study presents enhanced smart inverter modelling and simulation features included in a recent release of the open-source distribution system modelling and simulation software suite OpenDSS. The enhanced features include detailed modelling of the inverter capability curve along with significant improvements to the simulation speed and convergence. The enhanced features make it more practical to perform long quasi-static time-series load flow simulations with thousands of time steps on large-scale utility feeder models with up to thousands of autonomously controlled smart inverters. Some of the enhanced speed, convergence and other features are demonstrated on a large-scale real U.S. utility feeder model with >1100 solar photovoltaic systems.
19 Improving utilization of peritoneal dialysis amongst undocumented immigrants at Parkland hospital

Background Patients with ESRD comprise less than 1% of the Medicare population, however they are responsible for 7% of all Medicare spending. Hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) have equivalent clinical outcomes; however, PD is more cost-effective. Undocumented immigrants, when given access to dialysis, are suspected to have lower PD utilization. Objectives Establish baseline PD utilization rates amongst patients stratified by funding status, design an intervention to improve PD utilization, and assess impacts of interventions on utilization rates. Methods The intervention was designed by using interview data to identify patient and provider barriers to selection of PD and stratifying the top failure causes through failure modes and effects analysis (figure 1). PD utilization rates before and after the intervention were determined through a retrospective chart review. The impact of the intervention on patient understanding was assessed with patient surveys. Results The chosen intervention was to revise educational materials to address common misconceptions. Prior to the class update, the utilization rate for PD was 14.3% in the non-traditionally funded group, primarily containing undocumented immigrants, compared to a 21.0% utilization rate in the traditionally funded group. After the updated class was implemented, PD utilization in increased to 26.1% and 22.9% in the non-traditionally and traditionally funded groups, respectively (figure 2–4). Preliminary data from post-class patient surveys suggests that patients with a better understanding of class material are more likely to make an earlier selection of a dialysis modality. Conclusions Addressing patient misconceptions about peritoneal dialysis by updating educational materials is an intervention that can increase the utilization rates of PD in patients with non-traditional funding. External factors could have played a role in increased PD utilization and additional data is needed to establish a more robust correlation.
Correlates of Empathy to Depressive Phenomena

The importance of understanding the developmental course of empathy has been recognized only relatively recently, since the publication of Feshbach and Roe’s (1968) paper on empathetic responses in children ages six and seven. At that time the authors noted that little was known about the developmental aspects of empathy, its causes, and its social consequences. Not until Hoffman and others formulated a developmental model was a comprehensive link established between empathy and other affective, social, and cognitive realms.
Epidemiology of Seizures and Epilepsy in Cerebrovascular Disease

Epilepsy and stroke are two of the most common neurologic diseases. Classically, epilepsy has been considered to be predominantly a disease of the young while stroke is commonly considered to be a disease of older adults. However, as more people live to more advanced ages, seizures have become more common in the elderly. In fact, new-onset seizures now occur most commonly in senior adults. As in younger people, the causes of seizures in older adults are often not identified. However, stroke is the underlying cause of a significant minority of seizures in older adults. This chapter reviews the basic epidemiology of seizures and epilepsy and then the epidemiology of stroke. Next, the focus shifts to the epidemiology of epilepsy in stroke. Finally, the epidemiology of seizures in selected cerebrovascular diseases is reviewed.
Reducing Stress Associated with Participating in a Usability Test

Although usability tests are typically conducted with a purpose of making products less stressful for people to use, the usability testing process itself can be stressful for many test participants. The combination of trying to use a new product, being videotaped, and being watched by others, is a potentially stressful environment for many people. Although the Subject Precautions section of the Human Factors Society Code of Ethics clearly states that “the exposure of human or animal research subjects to … stress” should be “commensurate with the significance of the problem being researched,” the Code of Ethics does not provide guidance for reducing exposure of human subjects to stress. This paper describes several practical extensions to the Subject Precautions that can help reduce stress associated with participating as a subject in a usability test. The recommendations in this paper are based on anecdotal evidence gathered in numerous usability tests conducted in both laboratory and field settings. Reco...
Macroeconomic Context and Fiscal Policy Design : Europe and Central Asia during 2000–2012

This paper examines the interaction between fiscal policy and the broader macroeconomic context in open economies. It asks two questions. First, what was the relationship between fiscal policy and current account balances in countries in Europe and Central Asia during the past dozen years? Second, how might changes in (a) output composition and (b) financial sector profitability affect revenues and thus, the assessment of the underlying structural fiscal balance? The study finds that, for flexible exchange rate countries, expansionary fiscal policy has been associated with wider current account deficits. Moreover, changes in net exports and in financial sector profitability may have significant impacts on fiscal balances because of changes in revenues from the value-added tax and the corporate profits tax as a share of gross domestic product. These findings suggest that the countries of Europe and Central Asia have reason to be prudent in terms of fiscal policy choices, even as gross domestic product rises.
In vitro translation of polyadenylate-containing RNAs from dormant and germinating spores of the fungus Botryodiplodia theobromae

Polyadenylated RNA isolated by oligodeoxythymidylate-cellulose chromatography from spores of the fungus Botryodiplodia theobromae was translated in a cell-free protein-synthesizing system derived from wheat embryo. Reaction conditions which would yield efficient and accurate in vitro translation of the spore RNA were established. Dual isotopically labeled mixtures of in vitro translation products from germinated and dormant spore polyadenylated RNA, as well as polyadenylated RNAs from intermediate stages of germination, produced qualitatively similar gel electrophoresis patterns, with polypeptides of 10,000 to 55,000 molecular weight. Proteins synthesized in vivo and extracted from germinating spores at three different stages possessed a greater size range, with molecular weights up to 85,000, although the in vitro synthesis apparently did yield the lower-molecular-weight proteins which were synthesized in vivo. Tryptic digest patterns of proteins translated in vitro from polyadenylated RNA of dormant and germinated spores were found to be identical in positions in only 40% of the spots. Furthermore, a dual-label comparison by isoelectric focusing of proteins translated from polyadenylated RNA of germinated and dormant spores also showed qualitative and quantitative differences among the in vitro translation products. We conclude that there are differences between the in vitro translation products of mRNA from dormant and germinated spores and that the mRNA preserved in the dormant spores contains genetic information which is qualitatively different from that of the germinated spores.
Enhanced Gluino Box Contribution to epsilon'/epsilon in SUSY

We show that in supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model gluino box diagrams can yield a large CP-violating Delta(I)=3/2 contribution to s->d+q(bar)+q flavor-changing neutral current processes, which feeds into the I=2 isospin amplitude in K->pi+pi decays. This contribution only requires moderate mass splitting between the right-handed squarks u(tilde)_R and d(tilde)_R, and persists for squark masses of order 1 TeV. Taking into account current bounds on Im(delta_{sd}^{LL}) from K-K(bar) mixing, the resulting contribution to epsilon'/epsilon could naturally be an order of magnitude larger than the measured value.
A Case of Supratrochlear, Supraorbital, and Trigeminal Neuralgia Associated with Neurofibromas of Multiple Cranial Nerves (P6.202)

OBJECTIVE: To present a case of localized neuritic pain in a patient with a history of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) with large recurrent neurfibromas of the supraorbital, supratrochlear, and trigeminal nerves. BACKGROUND: It is known that patients with NF-1 complain of disabling pain, including headaches. Treatment for headaches and pain include tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), anticonvulsants, and schwannoma removal. DESIGN/METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: This is a case of a 59 year old male with NF-1 with a 9-year history of intractable right frontal and supraorbital headaches described as sharp, stabbing, lancinanting pain. These episodes lasted up to 30 minutes and occurred several times a day. He endorsed lacrimation and forehead swelling. He had 2 debulking surgeries of right orbit neurofibromas since his headache started with little relief. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was consistent with neurofibromas of bilateral trigeminal nerves within each foramen ovale, right worse than left. He also had a lesion of the right supraorbital nerve with associate proptosis. He was initially treated with bupivacaine injections, as well as indomethacin, with minimal relief. He also had trials of daily gabapentin, carbamazepine, and amitriptyline, which were discontinued due to side effects. He has found symptomatic relief with daily topical lidocaine and as-needed gabapentin. CONCLUSIONS: This report describes a case of neuritic pain likely secondary to irritation of the supraorbital, supratrochlear, and trigeminal nerves. It is unclear the irritation is secondary to the progression of neurofibromas, scar tissue from multiple debulkings, or a combination. It is important to recognize pain symptoms in patients with NF-1. There is little information available regarding the benefit of debulking surgeries at present. Disclosure: Dr. Lopez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Watson has received personal compensation for activities with Merck & Co. Inc., and GlaxoSmithKline Inc. as a speaker. Dr. Hogg has nothing to disclose.
Cerebrovascular disease in the era of left ventricular assist devices with continuous flow: Risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment

Cerebral infarction and hemorrhage are among the principal sources of morbidity and mortality associated with mechanical circulatory support. There has been particular concern with the recently reported increased rate of device thrombosis in continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices. The neurologic management of stroke among these patients has limited data to inform current clinical practices. In this investigation we review the available literature on stroke in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices, with a focus on treatment algorithms in the acute setting and for secondary stroke prevention.
Significance of the surface microlayer to the environmental fate of di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate predicted from marine microcosms

Abstract The quantitative significance of the surface microlayer (SML) to the environmental fate of the industrial plasticizer di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), in marine coastal systems was established by the use of experimental microcosms. The effects of season, sea-state and associated solvents were investigated. The results demonstrated that the SML community rapidly degraded DEHP to such an extent that under certain treatment conditions biodegradation was the dominant removal process compared with physical transport. Biodegradation of DEHP by the SML biota was estimated to account for at least 30% of the total budget. Extrapolation of the laboratory results to the simulated field system (the West Passage of Narragansett Bay, RI), is discussed within the context of potential artifacts of the marine microcosms.
Parametric Design Sensitivity Analysis of High Frequency Structural-Acoustic Problems Using Energy Finite Element Method

A design sensitivity analysis of high frequency structuralacoustic problem is formulated and presented. The Energy Finite Element Method (EFEM) is used to predict the structuralacoustic responses in high frequency range, where the coupling between the structural and acoustic domain are modeled by using radiation efficiency. The continuum design sensitivity formulation is derived from the governing equation of EFEM and the discrete method is applied in the variation of the structural-acoustic coupling matrix. The direct differentiation and adjoint variable method are both developed for the sensitivity analysis, where the difficulty of the adjoint variable method is overcome by solving a transposed system equation. Parametric design variables such as panel thickness and material damping are considered for sensitivity analysis, and the numerical sensitivity results show excellent agreement comparing with the finite difference results.
A control problem with structural choices

Abstract The case is considered in which, during the operation of an optimal control system, the optimizer, in addition to applying his usual control, may switch structures. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived and emphasis is placed on the special characteristics of this problem. Continuous and discrete time set-ups are considered and the separation principle is shown not to hold for the linear quadratic case in the presence of noise.
The University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison electronic library: integrating resources and services

The theme of integrating technology and the higher‐education mission is explored in the context of the evolving Electronic Library and UW‐Madison‘s priorities for the next century. Links between historical and contemporary strategic visions for the University and its libraries are considered. The idea of institutional process as local culture (compared to specific technical outcomes at UW‐Madison) is emphasized and the planning and daily efforts of the Library Technology Group are acknowledged.
Agitation and pressure effects on acetone‐butanol fermentation

Batch fermentations were run at varying agitation rates and were either pressurized to 1 bar (15.2 psig) or nonpressurized. Agitation and pressure both affect the level of dissolved hydrogen gas in the media, which in turn influences solvent production. In nonpressurized fermentations volumetric productivity of butanol increased as the agitation rate decreased. While agitation had no significant effect on butanol productivity under pressurized conditions, overall butanol productivity was increased over that obtained in the nonpressurized runs. Maximum butyric acid productivity, however, was found to occur earlier and increased as agitation increased. Peak hydrogen productivity occurred simultaneously with peak butyric acid productivity. The proporation of reducing equivalents used in forming the above products was determined using a redox balance based on the fermentation stoichiometry. An inverse relationship between the final concentrations of acetone and acetoin was found in all fermentations studied. The results show that agitation and pressure are important parameters for solvent productivity in acetone-butanol fermentation.
Magnetic separation of colloidal nanoparticle mixtures using a material specific peptide.

A material specific peptide bound to Fe2O3 facilitates the selective sequestration of Au from a colloidal mixture of Au and CdS nanoparticles; the Au–Fe2O3 precipitate can then be magnetically separated from the colloidal CdS, and the Au nanoparticles can be recovered upon release from the Fe2O3.
Myelomeningocele: an overview.

yelomeningocele, themost severe form of spina bifida, is a defect of primary neurulation that results from the M failed fusion in the caudal region of the neural tube, the so-called neuropore, at 25e28 days of gestation (12). The resulting unclosed segment of the neural plate (the neural placode) floats on top of a cerebrospinal fluidefilled, membrane-bound sac (9). Established risk factors, such as previous affected pregnancies, inadequate maternal intake of folic acid, pregestational diabetes, use of some antiepileptic drugs, and somegenetic pathways, such as folateehomocysteine pathway genes, have been linked to primary neurulation failure. Other suspected maternal risk factors are vitamin B12 status, obesity, hyperthermia, and diarrhea (10).
Decreased neurogenesis in aged rats results from loss of granule cell precursors without lengthening of the cell cycle.

It is well established that neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus slows with aging, but it is unclear whether this change is due to slowing of the cell cycle, as occurs during development, or to loss of precursor cells. In the current study, we find that the cell cycle time of granule cell precursors in middle-aged male rats is not significantly different from that in young adults. The size of the precursor pool, however, was 3– 4 times smaller in the middle-aged rats, as determined using both cumulative bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling as well as labeling with the endogenous marker of cell proliferation, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Loss of precursor cells was much greater in the granule cell layer than in the hilus, suggesting that dividing cells in the hilus belong to a distinct population, most likely glial progenitors, that are less affected by aging than neuronal precursors. BrdU-labeled precursor cells and young neurons, labeled with doublecortin, appeared to be lost equally from rostral and caudal, as well as suprapyramidal and infrapyramidal, subregions of the granule cell layer. However, doublecortin staining did show large parts of the caudal granule cell layer with few if any young neurons at both ages. Taken together, these findings indicate that precursor cells are not distributed evenly within the dentate gyrus in adulthood but that precursors are lost from throughout the dentate gyrus in old age with no concomitant change
A Laboratory Study of the Local Cooling Resulting from the Dissolution of Soluble Ice Nuclei Having Endothermic Heats of Solution

Abstract Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the local cooling resulting from the dissolution of soluble ice nuclei which have endothermic heats of solution. The local cooling was determined from ice nucleation activity measurements. The bulk of the measurements involved an expansion technique which produced a supersaturation to activate the ice nuclei. The local cooling under supersaturated conditions was found to be slightly less than the cooling one would obtain from bulk adiabatic dissolution in forming a saturated solution. The local cooling is greatly reduced when condensation is entirely due to particle hygroscopicity. Maximum local cooling results if nuclei collide with cloud droplets.
INFORMATIONAL ANALYSIS OF AGONISTIC BEHAVIOUR AND DOMINANCE HIERARCHY FORMATION IN A COCKROACH, NAUPHOETA CINEREA

I. Agonistic interactions of Nauphoeta cinerea males were investigated with regard to establishment of dominance hierarchies and informational analysis of agonistic acts. 2. Dominance/subordinance sociality influences the behavioural acts of individuals in addition to the inherent information of an agonistic act. 3. Types of interactions change as dominance hierarchies become stabilized. 4. The unique sociality of Nauphoeta has marked influence on all aspects of agonistic behaviour of this species.
Absolute 60Co characterization based on gamma–gamma coincident detection by two NaI(Tl) detectors

Abstract A gamma–gamma coincidence measurement method was used for the characterization of 60 Co. A two-dimensional analysis of coincident events allows the careful calculation of the number of counts, when each of the two γ-rays emitted by 60 Co is in the photopeak area in each of the NaI(Tl) detectors. The standard formulas that were applied for absolute calibration of 125 I (Eldridge–Crowther formulas) were modified for the case of 60 Co decay. These modified Eldridge–Crowther formulas were applied to the absolute calibration of 60 Co samples measured by the two NaI(Tl) detectors both in coincidence and normal modes. Measurements were performed for three sources of different activities and for two positions of each source between the two NaI(Tl) detectors. Results are in good agreement with the measurements of the same samples done by the 4πβ-γ method.
Validating spectral spatial detection based on MMPP formulation

Spectral, shape or texture features of the detected targets are used to model the likelihood of the targets to be potential mines in a minefield. However, some potential mines can be false alarms due to the similarity of the mine signatures with natural and other manmade clutter signatures. Therefore, in addition to the target features, spatial distribution of the detected targets can be used to improve the minefield detection performance. In our recently published SPIE paper, we evaluated minefield detection performance for both patterned and unpatterned minefields in highly cluttered environments, simultaneously using both target features and target spatial distributions that define Markov Marked Point Process (MMPP). The results have suggested that proper exploitation of spectral/shape features and spatial distributions can indeed contribute improved performance of patterned and unpatterned minefield detection. Also, the ability of the algorithm to detect the minefields in highly cluttered environments shows the robustness of the developed minefield detection algorithm based on MMPP formulation. Moreover, the results show that the MMPP minefield detection algorithm performs significantly better than the baseline algorithm employing spatial point process with false alarm mitigation. Since these results were based on the simulated data, it is not clear that the MMPP detection algorithm has fully achieved its best performance. To validate its performance, an analytical solution for the minefield detection problem will be developed, and its performance will be compared with the performance of the simulated solution. The analytical solution for the complete minefield detection problem is intractable due to a large number of detections and the variation of the number of detected mines in the minefield process. Therefore, an analytical solution for a simplified detection problem will be derived, and its minefield performance will be compared with the minefield performance obtained from the simulation in the same MMPP framework for different clutter rates.
Wanted: an eighteenth-century Chinese Catholic priest in China, Italy, India, and Southeast Asia

Abstract This essay explores the life of Cai Ruoxiang (1739–1806), alias Pietro Zai, a native of southern Fujian, China, who was trained as a priest in the Chinese College of Naples in Italy. After returning to China, Cai quietly worked there for over a decade as an underground missionary, but in 1784 became the ‘number one’ on the list of wanted criminals in an empire-wide anti-Christian campaign launched by the Qianlong emperor and his governors. Cai was able to avoid the imperial wrath by sailing to Goa (India). From there he travelled back to southern China under a new name, Giovanni Maria Ly, passing through Siam, Malaysia, Batavia and Tonkin, and spent the rest of his life working again in central China. Cai's sixty letters in Italian archives reveal how a native priest born in China, transplanted for his education in Italy, and then again back in his home country, interpreted his own evangelical work, communicated with his superiors in Naples and Rome, and participated in a global network extending...
AN ASYMPTOTIC ANALYSIS ON THE FORM OF NAGHDI TYPE ARCH MODEL

We consider a one-dimensional model of generally curved elastic arches whose crosssections are rectangular. The model is of Naghdi’s type which is a generalization of the Timoshenko beam model, which allows bending, membrane and transverse shearing deformations. Its form is basically determined in the literature, except for the value of a shear correction factor. With this factor being set to 1, we prove that the modelling error in the interior relative energy norm is proportional to the arch thickness. This result holds for the full range of arch shapes and very general loads. Lower modelling accuracy is proven to hold up to the arch ends. Any shear correction factor other than 1 makes the model diverge from the elasticity theory when a significant shear is involved in the deformation.
Refutational proofs of geometry theorems via characteristic set computation

A refutational approach to geometry theorem proving using Ritt-Wu's algorithm for computing a characteristic set is discussed. A geometry problem is specified as a quantifier-free formula consisting of a finite set of hypotheses implying a conclusion, where each hypothesis is either a geometry relation or a subsidiary condition ruling out degenerate cases, and the conclusion is another geometry relation. The conclusion is negated, and each of the hypotheses (including the subsidiary conditions) and the negated conclusion is converted to a polynomial equation. Characteristic set computation is used for checking the inconsistency of a finite set of polynomial equations over an algebraic closed field. The method is contrasted with a related refutational method that used Buchberger's Grobner basis algorithm for the inconsistency check.
Resonant scattering of plasma sheet electrons by whistler-mode chorus: Contribution to diffuse auroral precipitation

[1] A quantitative analysis is presented of the resonant scattering of plasma sheet electrons (∼100 eV–20 keV) at L = 6 due to resonant interactions with whistler-mode chorus. Using wave parameters modeled from observations under geomagnetically disturbed conditions, it is demonstrated that the rate of pitch angle scattering can exceed the level of strong diffusion over a broad energy range (200 eV–10 keV) containing the bulk of the injected plasma sheet population. Scattering by chorus appears to be more effective than previous analyses of resonant interaction with electrostatic electron cyclotron waves. Chorus scattering is therefore a major contributor to the origin of the diffuse aurora and should also control the MLT distribution of injected plasma sheet electrons. The rates of scattering are sensitive to the distributions of wave power with respect to wave normal direction and wave frequency spectrum. Upper-band chorus (ω/Ωe > 0.5) is the dominant scattering process for electrons below ≈5 keV while lower-band chorus (0.1 ≤ ω/Ωe ≤ 0.5) is more effective at higher energies especially near the loss cone.
Femtosecond probing of bimolecular reactions : the collision complex

Progress has been made in probing the femtosecond dynamics of transition states of chemical reactions.(1) The "half-collision" case of unimolecular reactions has been experimentally investigated for a number of systems and much theoretical work has already been developed.(2) For bimolecular reactions, the case of full collision, the zero of time is a problem which makes the femtosecond temporal resolution of the dynamics a difficult task.
Fine-Tuning the Physical Properties of Perovskite Related La-Ti-Oxides by Merely Altering the Oxygen Stoichiometry

The isostructural oxides LaTiO3.5, SrNbO3.5 and CaNbO3.5 adopt layered structures made up of perovskite related slabs intermitted by layers of non-linking BO6-octahedra (B=Ti, Nb). In these phases the transition metals Ti and Nb are in their highest oxidation states +IV and +V, respectively. They are insulators, in the case of the Ti phase a ferroelectric insulator with the highest known Tc (above 1700°C). By changing the oxygen stoichiometry, i.e. by controlled reduction or re-oxidation processes in the range of 2ABO3.5 o 2ABO3 + ½ O2 (A=La or Sr, B=Ti or Nb) mixed valence phases are obtained. Accordingly, the physical properties of the different phases alter from insulating to semiconducting or to conducting. Detailed studies on the structural changes reveal, however, that the sublattice of the metal cations is basically conserved. In principle the reduction corresponds to a condensation of the perovskite layers leading to intermediate phases such as the semiconducting LaTiO3.4, in which five TiO6-octahedra thick perovskite slabs constitute the structural framework and 20% of the Ti+IV cations are reduced to Ti+III. Conductivity measurements using single crystals of the corresponding Ti and Nb phases reveal that these mixed valence oxides must be considered as one-dimensional conductors. The fully reduced phases La+IIITi+IIIO3 and Sr+IINb+IVO3 adopt distorted perovskite structures. Extensive high resolution electron microscopic and light microscopic investigations have been carried out in order to characterize the structural mechanism of the reversible, highly topotactic reduction and re-oxidation processes. Thermogravimetric measurements in reducing and oxidizing atmospheres have been performed for the identification of the temperature ranges wherein the decisive mass changes take place. The results of the described experiments support that the properties of such metal oxides can be finely and reversibly tuned by merely changing the oxygen stoichiometries.
Webware: a course about the Web

Sophisticated applications and software development on the Web demand an extensive and thorough understanding of a variety of computer science disciplines, as well as providing their own set of issues. Therefore, we have created an advanced undergraduate computer science course called Webware: Computational Technology for Network Information Systems that builds upon and extends knowledge previously gathered by the students. We describe its contents, our teaching experience, and address the challenges of teaching both the foundations and current technological issues of Web programming.
Low-dose synergistic immunosuppression of T-dependent antibody responses by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and arsenic in C57BL/6J murine spleen cells

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and arsenic are both environmental agents that are known to have significant immunotoxicity. Previous studies have shown that PAH exposure of spleen cells in vitro produces significant immune suppression of humoral immunity, especially when P450 activation products are examined. Exposure to arsenic, particularly sodium arsenite, has also been found to be suppressive to antibody responses in vitro and in vivo. The purpose of the present studies was to examine the immunotoxicity of PAHs and arsenite following coexposures with the theory being that the agents may exert synergistic actions, which might be based on their different mechanisms of action. Spleen cells were isolated from male C57BL/6J wild-type mice and treated with PAHs and/or arsenic (arsenite or arsenate). Immunotoxicity assays were used to assess the T-dependent antibody response (TDAR) to sheep red blood cells (SRBCs), measured by a direct plaque-forming cell (PFC) assay. Cell viability was measured by trypan blue staining. Spleen cell viability was not altered following 4 days of PAH and/or arsenic treatment. However, the TDAR demonstrated suppression by both PAHs and arsenic in a concentration-dependent manner. p53 was also induced by NaAsO(2) (As(3)(+)) and PAHs alone or in combination. The PAHs and their metabolites investigated included benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), BaP-7,8-diol, BaP-7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE), 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), DMBA-3,4-diol, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DB[a,l]P). PAH metabolites were found to be more potent than parent compounds in producing immunosuppression and inducing p53 expression. Interestingly, DB[a,l]P, a potent carcinogenic PAH not previously characterized for immunotoxicity, was also found to be strongly immunosuppressive. Arsenite (NaAsO(2), As(3)(+)) was found to produce immunosuppression at concentrations as low as 0.5 microM and was immunosuppressive at a 10-fold lower concentration than sodium arsenate (Na(2)HAsO(4), As(5)(+)). Coexposure of spleen cell cultures to PAHs and As(3)(+), both at individual low-effect concentrations, was found to produce profound suppression of the TDAR demonstrating synergy between these two chemical classes of agents.
The effect of large negative potentials and overcharge on the electrochemical performance of lithiated carbon

Abstract The effect 3f large negative potential excursions on the behavior of the lithiated carbon electrode is investigated by using a single-fiber electrode made from partially graphitic carbon. The micro-fiber technique allows one to isolate the properties intrinsic to the lithiation process, and the results are not complicated by the influence of binders, electronically conductive additives, current collectors, or other components necessary for the fabrication of porous carbon electrodes. The results indicate that the electrode can tolerate moderately negative potentials because the lithium insertion process is facile relative to that of lithium deposition. For sufficiently negative potentials, however, lithium deposition occurs, an event that is exacerbated by increasing the lithium content within the carbon.
Board Monitoring, Consulting, and Reward Structures

In general, board of directors’ compensation consists of stock option grants, equity stakes, meeting fees, and cash retainers. In this paper, we examine the short-term and long-term incentive effects of equity-based compensation on the board’s corporate governance (contracting and monitoring) and advisory (consulting) roles. We show that without short-term incentives, the board cannot effectively fulfill both roles. Providing the board with long-term incentives does help the advisory role, but, perhaps surprisingly, does not help with respect to the corporate governance role.
The Keats heuristic: Rhyme as reason in aphorism interpretation☆

Abstract Do people distinguish between the form and propositional content of a statement when evaluating its truthfulness? We asked people to judge the comprehensibility and ostensible accuracy of unfamiliar aphorisms presented in their original rhyming form (e.g., Woes unite foes ) or a semantically equivalent non-rhyming form ( Woes unite enemies ). Although the different versions were perceived as equally comprehensible, the rhyming versions were perceived as more accurate. This ‘rhyme as reason’ effect suggests that in certain circumstances, people may base their judgments of a statement's truth value in part on its aesthetic qualities. Our results are consistent with models of persuasion which assume that people rely on heuristic cues to evaluate messages when they lack the evidence and/or motivation to scrutinize message content (e.g., Eagly and Chaiken, 1993).
Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Interactive Simulator for Engineering Ethics Education (SEEE)

Societal pressures, accreditation organizations, and licensing agencies are emphasizing the importance of ethics in the engineering curriculum. Traditionally, this subject has been taught using dogma, heuristics, and case study approaches. Most recently a number of organizations have sought to increase the utility of these approaches by utilizing the Internet. Resources from these organizations include on-line courses and tests, videos, and DVDs. While these individual approaches provide a foundation on which to base engineering ethics, they may be limited in developing a student’s ability to identify, analyze, and respond to engineering ethics situations outside of the classroom environment. More effective approaches utilize a combination of these types of approaches. This paper describes the design and development of an internet based interactive Simulator for Engineering Ethics Education. The simulator places students in first person perspective scenarios involving different types of ethical situations. Students must gather data, assess the situation, and make decisions. This requires students to develop their own ability to identify and respond to ethical engineering situations. A limited comparison between the internet based interactive simulator and conventional internet web based instruction indicates a statistically significant improvement of 32% in instructional effectiveness. The simulator is currently being used at the University of Houston to help fulfill ABET requirements.