cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
BEST PRACTICES IN PASTORAL COUNSELING: IS THEOLOGY NECESSARY?

The significance and role of theology in pastoral counseling has been a controversial issue from the beginning of the modern pastoral care movement in the years immediately following World War II. While many factors may have contributed to this debate, an accumulated impression that pastoral care in the heyday of Neo-Orthodox theology had become clumsy, insensitive, and heavyhanded undoubtedly played a major role. Another prominent element was the fact that clinical training in pastoral care and counseling for the most part initially emerged in contexts away from both seminaries and churches. The first wave of pastoral counselors consisted largely of individuals who were enjoying their theological and institutional emancipation. By the time the movement had reached its pinnacle in the 1970’s, this situation had, if anything, become more entrenched. John Cobb, writing in 1977, introduced his book Theology and Pastoral Care with the following words: The academic disciplines of theology and pastoral counseling have too long been at odds. In many seminary faculties their representatives have been suspicious of one another. Professors of theology have suspected that the beliefs that inform the teaching of counseling are not clearly Christian, that they have been derived from secular psychology and only superficially adapted for pastoral use. Professors of pastoral counseling have suspected that most of what takes place in courses on theology is irrelevant to meeting the human needs the minister is called upon to address. Unfortunately, both suspicions are too wellfounded. (1977, p. 1) In the years subsequent to this observation, the relationship between pastoral counseling and theology has appeared to deteriorate. Farley’s words regarding pastoral care are perhaps especially true for pastoral counselors: “The general result was that, in spite of the theological orientations of the early leaders of the movement, pastoral care tended to lose its theological character” (2003, p. 149). Oddly, this has occurred despite emerging perspectives in theology, and even biblical studies, which may prove more amenable to clinical practices in pastoral care and counseling (Patton, 1994). I will begin this essay by outlining evidence for the declining significance of theology among professional pastoral counselors in the period since Cobb’s declaration. Second, I will locate this decline in the sociopolitical context of what has come to be known as neoliberalism. The consequence of this erosion, I will argue, is that the social consciousness of pastoral counseling is reduced. Thus it loses its capacity to resist social conditions that, in my judgment,
Receptor expression changes as a basis for endothelial cell identification using microfluidic channels

Microfluidic channels functionalized with adhesive ligands are versatile platforms for cell separation in a variety of applications. However, not much is known about how the adhesiveness of targeted cell types can vary within such channels due to the combined influence of fluid shear forces and exposure to ligands. Using microfluidic channels and the tetrapeptide ligand arg-glu-asp-val (REDV), we demonstrate how such dynamic changes can provide a basis for the identification of three distinct phenotypes of endothelial cells: human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), human microvascular endothelial cells (HMVECs), and endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs). This distinction is accomplished by characterizing changes in the adhesion profiles of the three cell types in REDV-coated microfluidic channels induced by soluble REDV and fluid shear forces. The significance of this technique lies in the ability to distinguish very similar cell-types without fluorescent label-based staining or flow cytometry.
Thermoelectric Powers of Palladium Alloys

The thermoelectric powers of a series of palladium alloys with elements from the first transition series have been measured between room temperature and 500°C. The probable variation of density of states with composition in these alloys is considered, and the thermoelectric power results are assessed in terms of this variation. It is found that, although in some cases the thermoelectric power shows a striking composition dependence, there is no obvious correlation between thermoelectric power and density of states.
Measuring the Impact of Financial Factors on College Persistence

An earlier study examined the impact of family income and financial aid on the enrollment decisions of accepted applicants at a single institution of higher learning. A companion analysis was under...
The thyroidal uptake, retention and iodine pool in rats under controlled iodide diet.

THIS laboratory has recently shown (Burns et al. 1951) by the in vivo method, that the biologic half-life of radioiodine in the normal human is approximately 100 days. The subjects for investigation were in the steady state and received a more than adequate iodide diet (Boston area). The divergent values given in the literature for the fractional uptake, biologic half-life, iodine pool of the thyroid and the quantity of thyroxin secreted per day suggested that a study of these factors in rats under strict dietary control might show to what extent they are dependent on the level of dietary iodide. Three levels of the steady state and two series approaching the above condition were chosen for investigation. It was desirable to use a method which, while avoiding anesthesia and sacrifice of the animal, would allow frequent, precise and convenient measurements of I131 in the living thryoid. Our method is a modification of that used by Raben.2
Three-dimensional base distributed effects of long stripe BJT's: AC effects on input characteristics

The small-signal voltage and current distributed effects in the polysilicon and intrinsic base regions of long stripe bipolar junction transistors (BJT's) at high frequencies are investigated, and simple analytic equations describing the voltage and current distribution in these regions are derived. It is shown that the frequency-dependent debiasing effects in the polysilicon contacts and intrinsic base region change the current behavior and modulate the input admittance. The current and voltage distributions in the polysilicon region are nonuniform and vary with frequency. Conventional two-dimensional (2-D) device simulations cannot accurately predict this three-dimensional (3-D) effect. A quasi-3D simulation scheme combining a 2-D device simulator and the distributed model is presented to properly and efficiently describe the input characteristics of the device at high frequencies. It is also shown the use of various polysilicon sheet resistances, geometry sizes, and layout structures changes the distributed characteristics and modulates device performance at high frequencies. The impact of the layout structure and geometry size on RF circuit design due to the distributed effects is also studied.
Morphometric studies of mitochondria in Tetrahymena pyriformis exposed to chloramphenicol or ethidium bromide.

SYNOPSIS Cultures of Tetrahymena pyriformis strain ST were exposed to 300 μg chloramphenicol/ml or 15 μg ethidium bromide/ml for 48 hr. Qualitative assessments of electron micrographs reveal that the abundance of mitochondrial cristae decreases greatly. By equating the spatial characteristics of the organism with those of a prolate spheroid, the distribution and abundance of mitochondria were quantified. Such characterizations reveal that the size of individual mitochondria decreases by 35–60% and that the number of mitochondria/cell increases ∼8 fold. The observations are discussed in terms of coordinated mitochondrial and nuclear genetic activities.
The Relationship Between Increasing Sea-surface Temperature and the Northward Spread of Perkinsus marinus (Dermo) Disease Epizootics in Oysters

From its initial discovery in the Gulf of Mexico in the late 1940s until 1990,Perkinsus marinus, the parasite responsible for Dermo disease in the eastern oyster,Crassostrea virginica, was rarely found north of Chesapeake Bay. In 1990–92, an apparent range extension of the parasite led to epizootic outbreaks of the disease over a 500 km range north of Chesapeake Bay. One of the hypotheses for the range extension argues that small, undetected numbers of parasites were already present in northern oysters as the result of repeated historical introductions, and that a sharp warming trend in 1990–92 stimulated the disease outbreak. This argument was based on trends in air temperature. The present study examined this hypothesis by analysing water temperatures, rather than air temperatures, for five stations located in areas affected by the recent epizootics. At all five stations, there was a strong increasing trend in winter sea-surface temperature (SST) between 1986 and 1991. At four of the five stations, there was a smaller increasing trend in winter temperatures after 1960. There were no consistent or obvious trends in summer (August) temperatures. In Delaware Bay, which has a 40 year history of monitoring for oyster diseases, occasional findings ofP. marinusin oysters were correlated with warming episodes that were especially notable in the winter (February) record. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis showed that winter temperatures varied consistently at the stations examined and were associated with variations inP. marinusprevalence. Associations using EOF analysis with August temperatures were much weaker. The SST record is consistent with the hypothesis that increasing winter water temperatures have been important in the recent outbreak ofP. marinusepizootics in the north-eastern U.S.A.
Colloid-mediated vertical phosphorus transport in a waste-amended soil

Abstract Vertical phosphorus (P) transport in relatively high clay content (≥10%) soils is often assumed to be a minor contributor to surface-water P enrichment, when compared with runoff-P losses. Studies have emphasized the importance of P sorbed by colloidal particles in runoff-P losses, but little is known about the role of soil colloids on the vertical P transport in manure-amended soils. The objectives of this study were: firstly, to determine the effect of water-dispersible soil colloids (WDC) isolated from a long-term (∼ 10 years) manure-amended soil on the forms and concentrations of leached-P from manured and unmanured intact soil columns; and secondly, to evaluate whether the potential for soluble and particulate-P transport was greater in manure-amended soil columns. Around 30% of the initially added WDC concentration was detected in the effluent of both manured and unmanured columns, although WDC particle breakthrough was earlier in the manured than that of the unmanured columns. Manure-amended soil columns exhibited higher P concentrations in all P forms (MRP, particulate) when compared to the unmanured. Breakthrough curves for inorganic-particulate P (IPP) and organic-particulate P (OPP) partially explained vertical P movement with WDC. In the manure-amended soils, dissolved inorganic P (MRP) concentrations were reduced in the presence of WDC relative to the untreated (no WDC added), but did not reduce MRP concentrations to levels observed with the unmanured columns. Iron-hydroxide-rich WDC particles exhibited similar breakthrough with particulate P and suggested an iron-phosphate association in the transported WDC fraction of the soil. Not only do naturally occurring WDC act as P carriers, but upon saturation of their P sorption sites are unable to reduce MRP “leaking” in long-term manured soils. Results illustrated the soluble and particulate P vertical transport through a waste-amended soil.
Left atrial appendage occlusion

Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion for stroke and thromboembolism prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) represents a significant advancement in the field of cardiovascular disease. Prevention and avoidance of the devastating consequences of thromboembolic complications from AF continues to be central in the management of these patients. The role of LAA as a nidus for thrombus formation is well documented. Multiple approaches to exclude the LAA from the circulation either percutaneously or surgically have been described and are undergoing testing. Although pharmacological therapy for stroke prevention remains the cornerstone of treatment, device and surgical exclusion of the LAA have proven to be viable alternatives in carefully selected patients. Even though current evidence show that LAA occlusion is safe and effective, approval and adoption of this strategy has been quite difficult due to paucity of randomised clinical trial data on the risk and benefit ratio, cost effectiveness and the issues of procedural risk as well as longer-term outcome. This review aims to provide an update on the current status of LAA occlusion, specifically looking at interpretation of current clinical data, available techniques and devices, issues with current devices and future direction.
A mixed-language simulator for concurrent engineering

We have constructed a simulator that can be used to verify models of hardware whose descriptions can take a variety of forms. This simulator provides a means for sharing models among different project teams at different stages of progress. A key feature of the simulation environment is the ability to use the same test source code for stimulating C-language models, Verilog HDL RTL and gate-level models, emulation hardware, and actual hardware. The simulator can be configured so that mixtures of these model forms can be used for total system-level simulation and regression testing. Another feature of the simulator is that its implementation is fairly project-independent, having been designed to be leveraged across multiple product development cycles.
Ligand-Specific Dynamics of the Progesterone Receptor in Living Cells and during Chromatin Remodeling In Vitro

Progesterone receptor (PR), a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily, is a key regulator of several processes in reproductive function. We have studied the dynamics of the interaction of PR with a natural target promoter in living cells through the use of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) analysis and also have characterized the dynamics of the interaction of PR with the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) promoter reconstituted into chromatin in vitro. In photobleaching experiments, PR in the presence of the agonist R5020 exhibits rapid exchange with the MMTV promoter in living cells. Two PR antagonists, RU486 and ZK98299, have opposite effects on receptor dynamics in vivo. In the presence of RU486, PR binds to the promoter and is exchanged more slowly than the agonist-activated receptor. In contrast, PR bound to ZK98299 is not localized to the promoter and exhibits higher mobility in the nucleoplasm than the agonist-bound receptor. Significantly, PR bound to R5020 or RU486 can recruit the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex to the promoter, but PR activated with ZK98299 cannot. Furthermore, we found ligand-specific active displacement of PR from the MMTV promoter during chromatin remodeling in vitro and conclude that the interaction of PR with chromatin is highly dynamic both in vivo and in vitro. We propose that factor displacement during chromatin remodeling is an important component of receptor mobility and that ligand-specific interactions with remodeling complexes can strongly influence receptor nuclear dynamics and rates of exchange with chromatin in living cells.
Why We Do Not See What We Feel

Of all of Berkeley’s claims about perception, perhaps the most unusual is his assertion that we do not see the numerically same objects we feel. Ideas are radically heterogeneous. The question I seek to answer is why Berkeley thought this thesis true. Traditional accounts hold that Berkeley was forced into accepting heterogeneity by his views concerning either distance or abstraction, but careful analysis reveals these to be mistaken. I conclude that how Berkeley thought of the ontic status of ideas finishes the incomplete picture provided by traditional accounts, and supplies us with a better under-standing of his views on perceptual heterogeneity.
Coherent optical receiver with linear XOR phase detection and frequency down-conversion

A novel optical coherent receiver architecture for linear optical phase modulation based on mixed signal circuit concepts is presented. This approach relies on heterodyne optical-to-RF down-conversion and linear RF phase demodulation using an XOR gate, generating a linear phase response over +/-pi/2 modulation depth. Adding digital frequency division by a factor n before the phase detector increases the linear range n-fold. Further, the coherent receiver is shown to perform frequency down-conversion in a linear manner. A first proof-of-principle discrete components demonstration has been performed to verify the frequency division architecture.
Making Sense of Methods and Measurement: Q-Methodology—Part II—Methodological Procedures

This is the second column on Q-methodology (Q) with a focus on Q’s methodological procedures. As introduced in a prior column, Q combines quantitative and qualitative techniques (Newman & Ramlo, 2010) to reveal what Q-methodologist call ‘‘subjectivity’’. Subjectivity describes peoples’ points of view about a particular topic of interest. A person’s point of view reveals itself as one rank orders (Q-sorts) a number of items (opinions on the topic of interest). Through the use of factor analytic techniques, the researcher is then able to reveal how groups of people share similar to divergent points of view. A study that explored perspectives nurse educators hold about simulation design illustrates the Q-sort process as experienced by a participant. A simplified explanation illustrates how the researcher analyzed and interpreted the data (Q-sorts). Terminology unique to Q (Table 1) and resources useful for researchers undertaking Q (Table 2) are shared.
Functional Analytic Analysis of a Pursuit Problem

Some new results related to pursuit problems considered in Ref. 1 are presented here. The present formulation of the problem is more general than that of Ref. 1 in some respects. It allows one to consider magnitude, effort, and energy constraints on the control action. The concept of interceptibility of the pursued by the pursuer is introduced. Several necessary and sufficient conditions of interception are then developed. Finally, optimal strategies of pursuit are discussed.
An optically transparent membrane supports shear stress studies in a three-dimensional microfluidic neurovascular unit model

We report a microfluidic blood-brain barrier model that enables both physiological shear stress and optical transparency throughout the device. Brain endothelial cells grown in an optically transparent membrane-integrated microfluidic device were able to withstand physiological fluid shear stress using a hydrophilized polytetrafluoroethylene nanoporous membrane instead of the more commonly used polyester membrane. A functional three-dimensional microfluidic co-culture model of the neurovascular unit is presented that incorporates astrocytes in a 3D hydrogel and enables physiological shear stress on the membrane-supported endothelial cell layer.
Writer and Reader Head-to-Media Spacing Sensitivity Assessment in HAMR

We collate multiple experimental measurements of heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) near-field transducer (NFT) and reader sensitivity measurements on spinstand to compare and contrast with the conventional perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR). The readback process shares many similarities, but differences appear due to the increased measured curvature of the prewritten track, which increases the observed pulsewidth (Pw50), lower readback amplitude due to reduced flux from the media transition (MrT), and increased coating thicknesses. We find that the reader head-to-media spacing (HMS) sensitivities and requirements converge toward the conventional scaling requirements. The HAMR write process is more complex due to the uncertainties associated with the optical properties and protrusion position of the NFT. However, accumulating multiple studies varying write HMS with coatings, NFT changes, and media changes, we consistently observe lower sensitivities compared with the conventional writer HMS, in line with modeled comparisons, leading to more relaxed requirements on the NFT clearance than the PMR write HMS. A 1.5 Tbpsi basic technology demonstration demo is shared using the HMS numbers in the bounds of the claims.
In situ X-ray nanotomography of metal surfaces during electropolishing

A low voltage electropolishing of metal wires is attractive for nanotechnology because it provides centimeter long and micrometer thick probes with the tip radius of tens of nanometers. Using X-ray nanotomography we studied morphological transformations of the surface of tungsten wires in a specially designed electrochemical cell where the wire is vertically submersed into the KOH electrolyte. It is shown that stability and uniformity of the probe span is supported by a porous shell growing at the surface of tungsten oxide and shielding the wire surface from flowing electrolyte. It is discovered that the kinetics of shell growth at the triple line, where meniscus meets the wire, is very different from that of the bulk of electrolyte. Many metals follow similar electrochemical transformations hence the discovered morphological transformations of metal surfaces are expected to play significant role in many natural and technological applications.
Growth of bedding plants in sphagnum peat and coir dust-based substrates

Abstract Water-holding capacity of substrates increased as the proportion of sphagnum peat and coir increased, and coir-based substrates had greater water-holding capacities than comparable peat-based substrates. There were no significant differences between coir and peat-based substrates with respect to bulk density, percent pore space and percent solids. Air-filled pore space and water-filled pore space decreased and increased, respectively, as the proportion of peat and coir increased. ‘Pink Elite’ geranium plants grown in coir-based substrates had greater root fresh weights than those grown in sphagnum-peat based substrates. Greatest root fresh weight occurred in an 80% coir and 20% perlite substrate. Days to flower, height, shoot fresh weight and number of axillary shoots were not significantly different between substrates. ‘Janie Bright Yellow’ marigold and ‘Blue Lace Carpet’ petunia plants had increased heights and shoot fresh weights when grown in coir-based substrates as compared with sphagnum pe...
Social Cleavages and Party Choice in Israel: A Log-Linear Analysis*

This article attempts to fill two gaps in the literature on individual party choice. First, it deals with hitherto unanswered questions about relationships between social cleavages and party choice in Israel. Second, the article attempts to overcome methodological problems arising in the multivariate analysis of multiparty systems by utilizing Goodman's method of log-linear contingency table analysis. In the sample, occupation is not as strongly related to party choice as is a nonhierarchical dimension of economic position, sector of the economy. Ethnicity is modestly related to party choice, but hypotheses that the relationship is affected by place of birth, age, or other variables are disconfirmed. Hypotheses that the relationship between religiosity and party choice is affected by economic position are also disconfirmed. The advantages of using log linear contingency table analysis are demonstrated.
In vitro sensitivity and resistance of cultured human squamous carcinoma cells to cis-platinum and methotrexate.

To determine whether resistance to chemotherapy in advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma stems from biochemical mechanisms and to assess the potential usefulness of new anticarcinogens, an in vitro test would be highly desirable. In the past 4 years our laboratory has developed methodology to establish squamous carcinoma cell lines in tissue culture from patients with squamous cancer of the head and neck. We used some of these lines to compare the in vitro effects of methotrexate on squamous carcinoma, fibrosarcoma, and melanoma cells. Three of the squamous carcinoma lines were tested for sensitivity to both methotrexate and cis-platinum; all but one squamous carcinoma cell line exposed to methotrexate showed growth inhibition at the physiologically attainable concentration of 10−7 M. In contrast, a tenfold higher concentration was required to produce similar effects in the melanoma, while no concentration inhibited fibrosarcoma growth. Cis-platinum showed consistent squamous carcinoma cytotoxici...
On the features of the sentence structure and semantics of the auxiliary word "Deng等" in the history of Chinese language

In the history of Chinese language,there are two usages about auxiliary word "Deng等",which are enumerative usage and the plural usage.The enumerative "Deng等" adheres to the single or multinomial proper nouns or to the common nouns.It indicates three types of relations,that is,selective illustration,unfinished listing and detailed listing.It serves as a central word more than a modifier.The plural "Deng等" only adheres to the single pronouns or to the nouns which means respectful or modest or to the common nouns.It shows two types of relations: the similar polymerization of the internal relations among groups and the equivalent similar polymerization of each other.It serves as a central word more than a modifier.The enumerative "Deng等" is used earlier than the usage of the plural "Deng等".
Building a Bioinformatics Platform for Clinical Research of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture:Lessons Learnt from the Greatest Geneticist of Our Time,Gregor J.Mendel

Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)and acupuncture are ancient medical theories that combine the experience of clinical practice of TCM and acupuncture with ancient Chinese philosophy.Although basic and clinical researches have been carried out to explore the effectiveness and possible mechanisms of TCM and acupuncture treatment,many aspects of TCM and acupuncture in daily patient care still need to be optimized under the framework of TCM and acupuncture.The greatest geneticist Gregor J.Mendel had shown us that great science like Mendel's Law can be developed with a careful planning of a large sample collection,accurate observation,data recording,innovative data analysis and mathematic modeling.Learning from Mendel,TCM and acupuncture can take advantage of bioinformatics in genomic and post-genomic era to advance TCM and acupuncture according to their own theories.In recent years,many new data mining and statistical analysis methods developed with bioinformatics platforms provide tools for scientists to investigate diseases and treatments using less of a reductionism approach and more of a systemic approach.Bioinformatics can provide an effective platform to improve the accuracy of data collection in TCM and acupuncture clinic.It can facilitate large sample collections and provide computational tools for data mining and statistical analysis.It is a systems approach to advance TCM and acupuncture in genomic and post genomic era.
Intel® Core ™ i7 processor execution engine validation in a functional language based formal framework

Formal verification of microprocessor components has been pursued in Intel processor development projects in various forms for over a decade. Usually formal verification has been used to supplement more traditional coverage oriented testing activities. For the Intel® Core™ i7 design we took a step further and used formal verification as the primary validation vehicle for the core execution cluster, the component responsible for the functional behaviour of all microinstructions.We applied symbolic simulation based formal verification techniques for full datapath, control and state validation for the cluster, and dropped coverage driven testing entirely. The project, involving some twenty person years of verification work, is one of the most ambitious formal verification efforts in the hardware industry to date, and shows that under the right circumstances, full formal verification of a major design component is a feasible, industrially viable and competitive validation approach. Technically the verification work was carried out in the Forte verification framework, originally built on top of the Voss system. It is based on a strongly typed ML-like lazy functional programming language reFLect. Most of the verification code is written in reFLect: specifications, whether they are functional specifications or relational constraints, verification facilities, analysis routines etc. The execution of an individual verification task in the framework amounts to the evaluation of a reFLect program, and the entire verification initiative involves significant software engineering aspects. In the reFLect language binary decision diagrams are first-class objects: the type Bool includes not just the constants T and F, but arbitrary BDD's. For verification purposes, a very important feature of the language is that it allows symbolic evaluation of objects containing BDD's and symbolic circuit simulation using BDD's. Similar facilities exist for non-canonical graph representations of Booleans, used for interfacing with satisfiability solvers.
Cultured erythroid cells as a model for Hb regulation: ability of cultured cells to synthesize Hb lepore and HbA2 and to maintain balanced globin synthesis

Abstract To be useful in the study of mechanisms controlling hemoglobin synthesis, erythroid bursts cloned from peripheral blood burst-forming units (BFU-E) must be shown to perform functions characteristic of bone marrow erythroid cells. To this end, peripheral blood BFU-E were cloned from two carriers of Hb Lepore. This globin chain has the N-terminal sequence of the δ chain and C-terminal sequence of the β chain. Reticulocytes from carriers of Hb Lepore do not synthesize the δβ chain and also synthesize an excess of α chain. In contrast, nucleated erythroid cells from bone marrow of Hb Lepore carriers can both synthesize the δβ chain and maintain balanced synthesis of the α and non-α chains. Like bone marrow cells, colonies derived from BFU-E of the Hb Lepore carriers incorporated 3H-leucine into a peak that cochromatographed with the δβ chain and contained 9%–16% of the non-α chain counts. Colonies derived from peripheral blood BFU-E from normal persons incorporated little radioactivity into this position. The counts in the δβ position were unlikely to represent artifacts of the culture system, since little radioactivity was found in this position when 3H-isoleucine was used as a label. When hemoglobins A2, Lepore, and A + F were isolated before chain separation, both the δ and the δβ chains contained significant amounts of radioactivity. Neither of these chains was synthesized in reticulocytes from either subject. Thus, the cultured cells, like bone marrow cells, must synthesize and translate the mRNA for each of these globin chains. In addition, cultured cells also behaved like bone marrow cells in that an excess of radioactive α chains was not observed, suggesting that the cultured cells possess the balancing mechanisms found in bone marrow cells.
Autonomous Learning Agents: Layered Learning and Ad Hoc Teamwork

In order to achieve long-term autonomy in the real world, fully autonomous agents need to be able to learn, both to improve their behaviors in a complex, dynamically changing world, and to enable interaction with previously unfamiliar agents. This talk begins by presenting layered learning, a hierarchical machine learning paradigm that enables learning of complex behaviors by incrementally learning a series of sub-behaviors. Layered learning was the key deciding factor in UT Austin Villa's recent RoboCup 3D simulation league championship. The talk then introduces ad hoc teamwork as an emerging multiagent learning challenge. Ad hoc teamwork is based on the premise that as autonomous agents become capable of long-term autonomy, they will increasingly need to band together for cooperative activities with previously unfamiliar teammates. In such "ad hoc" team settings, team strategies cannot be developed a priori. Rather, an agent must learn to cooperate with new teammates on the fly. This talk reports on both theoretical and empirical ad hoc teamwork results, including from recent "pick up" RoboCup robot soccer competitions.
The new senate of the empire and religion

It is undeniable that the senate lost much of its earlier political power with the coming of the new order introduced by the first emperor, Augustus. As Tacitus, one of the transformation's most acute observers, put it, the ruler “drew to himself the functions of the senate, the magistrates and the laws.” 1 In two reviews of the senatorial roll, in 29 and 18 bce , even the senators' numbers were reduced, and the membership of many was challenged. It is, therefore, not surprising that modern scholarship on the imperial senate depicts an outdated, dying institution. In fact, from a social-historical perspective, there is good reason to doubt the usefulness of the senate as a distinct category for analysis, given that the sociological boundaries of the ordo diverged from those of the functional governing elite in imperial society: 2 in addition to the ruler himself, others − such as members of the imperial family, influential freedmen, and rising knights − could affect Roman policy in a way once reserved exclusively for senators. Further, many aspects of what still distinguished senators from people of lower social status were now under the direct influence of the emperor. The newly established requirements for wealth, at a million sesterces for senators, could be satisfied by the emperors' financial grants to those without sufficient funds, unless, of course, the ruler preferred expelling a senator from the order or not letting him in.
Flight, Emmanuel Levinas, and the Critique of Theodicy

This article analyzes the 2012 Paramount Pictures film Flight for the various theodicies that the film presents. It does so alongside the twentieth-century philosopher Emmanuel Levinas's critique of theodicy and suggests that Flight provides illustrations of what Levinas sees as the problem with theodicies, namely that they work to relativize the unconditional call to responsibility that sits at the heart of human consciousness. The article analyzes such examples in detail and does so alongside a presentation of Levinas's philosophy and his critiques of theodicy. Furthermore, the article suggests that the closing scenes of Flight present what is a moment of anti-theodicy, according to the philosophy of Levinas, whereby the main character embraces his responsibility and thereby exemplifies an ethical freedom. Readers of this article should note that it deals with all of the aspects of the film's plot and so will spoil the ending for anyone who has not seen it.
Impact of antibacterial prophylaxis during reinduction chemotherapy for relapse/refractory acute myeloid leukemia

This study evaluated the impact of antibacterial prophylaxis with levofloxacin in relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. This was a retrospective, single-center, cohort study. Adult patients with relapsed/refractory AML admitted for reinduction chemotherapy between November 1, 2006 and June 15, 2015 were screened for inclusion. A protocol initiating levofloxacin prophylaxis was implemented on December 1, 2013. Patients receiving hypomethylating agents (decitabine/azacitidine) were not administered antibacterial prophylaxis and thus not included in this analysis. Patients receiving broad spectrum antibiotics on day 1 of reinduction chemotherapy or receiving another antibacterial agent for prophylaxis were also excluded. Ninety-seven patients were included in the control group (no prophylaxis), while 48 patients received levofloxacin prophylaxis. Patients in the prophylaxis group received levofloxacin 500 mg once daily on day 1 of chemotherapy and continued until neutrophil recovery (or hospital discharge or death). There was a reduction in the rate of bacteremia in the prophylaxis group (37.5 %) compared to the control group (53.6 %, p = 0.0789), largely due to a reduction in gram-negative bacteremia (2.1 vs. 21.6 % respectively, p = 0.001). No difference was found between prophylaxis and the control groups in the incidence of neutropenic fever, incidence of multidrug resistance, length of hospital or ICU stay, or mortality. Levofloxacin prophylaxis reduced the rate of infections overall in adult patients with relapsed/refractory AML, without increasing rates of multidrug-resistant organisms.
Go it alone: four-electron oxidations by mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes

This review discusses the current mechanistic understanding of a group of mononuclear non-heme iron-dependent enzymes that catalyze four-electron oxidation of their organic substrates without the use of any cofactors or cosubstrates. One set of enzymes acts on α-ketoacid-containing substrates, coupling decarboxylation to oxygen activation. This group includes 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, 4-hydroxymandelate synthase, and CloR involved in clorobiocin biosynthesis. A second set of enzymes acts on substrates containing a thiol group that coordinates to the iron. This group is comprised of isopenicillin N synthase, thiol dioxygenases, and enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of ergothioneine and ovothiol. The final group of enzymes includes HEPD and MPnS that both carry out the oxidative cleavage of the carbon-carbon bond of 2-hydroxyethylphosphonate but generate different products. Commonalities amongst many of these enzymes are discussed and include the initial substrate oxidation by a ferric-superoxo-intermediate and a second oxidation by a ferryl species.
Father Knows Best Mary R. Desjardins. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2015.

Father Knows Best Mary R. Desjardins. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 2015.Father Knows Best is something of a cultural litmus test. Defenders praise it as a realistic, warm-hearted depiction of five people who tried hard to be a moral and caring family. Detractors (including almost all scholarly treatments) lamb as t it as self-satisfied, heavyhanded melodrama that fostered paternal-directed conformity.Interestingly, the show almost was cancelled after the first season on CBS, which broadcast it, when most kids were in bed, at 10:00 p.m. on Sundays. NBC picked it up and moved it to Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., so that kids could watch. It ended its six award-winning seasons (1954-1960) as number six in the Nielsen ratings. Jim Anderson (Robert Young) is an insurance agent happily married to Margaret Anderson (Jane Wyatt). Their main job is parenting three children: Betty (Elinor Donahue), Bud (Billy Gray), and Kathy (Lauren Chapin). In the first season, their ages are seventeen, fourteen, and nine.Desjardins makes a convincing case that, despite its title, the show is not all that authoritarian or sexist. Father may know best by the end of most episodes but only because he is willing to listen to other family members and learn from them, sometimes swallowing his own obstructive pride in the process.Father Knows Best began life as a radio series (1949-1954) with identically named characters but broader treatment, more jokes, and slapstick sound effects. Radio's Jim and Margaret were dictatorial; Betty was naive and boy crazy; Bud was a smart aleck; and Kathy was a whiny brat. Robert Young approached his coproducer Eugene Rodney with a kinder and gentler television reincarnation. Young, the only actor from the radio cast to make the transition to the television version, wanted to portray a reasonable father, unlike television's standard boob father on shows like The Life of Riley. Another contrast would be technical quality. Filmed by Screen Gems, a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, the series had a featurefilm look.Desjardins is best when she analyzes specific episodes. Take, for example, her comments about gender roles as they are experienced by the parents. In "The Grass Is Greener" (Season 2), Jim feels inadequate around a college friend who is now a prominent tycoon. Turns out, the friend, estranged from his wife and children, has always envied Jim's involvement as a father. In "An Extraordinary Woman" (Season 5), Margaret has a similar exchange with an unmarried college rival, now a famous author. In each twenty-six minute teleplay, Jim and Margaret feel anxious and frustrated: they envy apparently more successful cohorts who chose public status over parenthood. …
Role of Tank-Binding Kinase in Neurodegeneration Produced by Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 13

Inherited mutations in the Kv3.3 potassium channel, such as the G952R Kv3.3 mutation, Kv3.3 mutations result in Spinocerebellar Ataxia 13 (SCA13). In contrast to wild type Kv3.3 channels, G592R mutant channels have slowed inactivation and fail to trigger the formation of a Hax-1- and Arp2/3- dependent actin cytoskeleton under the plasma membrane, but significantly increase the rate of cell death in transfected cells. To determine which transduction pathways are activated by G592R Kv3.3 we carried out an in situ kinase profiling screen to compare levels of activity of protein kinases in the cerebella of G592R-knock-in mice with those of wild type animals. The activity of TBK1 was found to be significantly elevated in the cerebellum but not the cerebral cortex of G592R Kv3.3 mice. This result was confirmed by western blotting. We found that enhanced TBK1 activity accounts for the slowed inactivation of the mutant channel. Pharmacological inhibition of TBK1 increased the rate of inactivation of Kv3.3 currents, while TBK1 overexpression slowed their inactivation rate. In order to explore the role of TBK1 in cell death caused by G592R Kv3.3, we measured levels of cleaved caspase 7 in different conditions, and found that the level of cleaved caspase 7 is increased in cells expressing mutant Kv3.3 channels compared with that in cells expressing wild type channels, particularly under condition of depolarization with high K+. Pretreatment with the TBK1 inhibitor, however, reduced expression levels of cleaved caspase 7 under high K+ stimulation in both types of cells, but not in untransfected cells. Our results suggest that the interactions of the Kv3.3 potassium channel with TBK1 and Hax-1 regulate channel gating and may link the channel to signaling pathways that protect cerebellar neurons from apoptosis.
Motor-Like Properties of Non-Motor Enzymes

Biological molecular motors use chemical free energy to drive mechanical motion in a specific direction. This function appears to require high molecular complexity, and it is interesting to consider how the evolutionary leap from non-motor enzymes to molecular motors occurred. Here, atomistic simulations coupled with kinetic modeling show that conformational switching of non-motor enzymes, induced by substrate binding and catalysis, induces motor-like, directional torsional motions, as well as oar-like, reciprocating motions, which should be detectable experimentally. Such directional motions in the earliest enzymes would have been starting point for the evolution of motor proteins. Additionally, driven molecular motions in catalytically active enzymes may help explain why the apparent diffusion constants of some enzymes increase with enzyme velocity (1-3).
A Sequence Learning Model with Recurrent Neural Networks for Taxi Demand Prediction

In this paper, we focus on an application of recurrent neural networks for learning a model that predicts taxi demand based on the requests in the past. A model that can learn time series data is necessary here since taxi requests in the future relate to the requests in the past. For instance, someone who requests a taxi to a movie theater, may also request a taxi to return home after few hours. We use Long Short Term Memory (LSTM), one of the best models for learning time series data. For training the network, we encode the historical taxi requests from the official New York City taxi trip dataset and add date, day of the week and time as impacting factors. Experimental results show that our approach outperforms the prediction heuristics based on feed-forward neural networks and naive statistic average.
A Revision of Cuphea Section Brachyandra s. s. (Lythraceae)

This morphologically-based study of the New World genus Cuphea section Brachyandra is part of a revision-in-progress of the 1903 monograph of Cuphea by E. Koehne. The section is narrowly defined here as comprising annual and perennial herbs and subshrubs with floral tubes 3–9(-11.5) mm long, stamens deeply inserted, and anthers positioned proximal to the sinuses of the sepals. Thirteen species and three varieties are recognized. Four species are widely distributed in the New World, five are endemic to the Caribbean region, and four species and two varieties are restricted to South America. The revision includes a morphological overview, seed oil composition and chromosome number data, a key to the species, species descriptions, illustrations, and distribution maps. Neotypes are designated for: Cuphea balsamona Cham. and Schltdl., C. fuscinervis Koehne, C. urens Koehne, and Lythrum carthagenense Jacq. Lectotypes are designated for: Cuphea section Brachyandra Koehne, C.calophylla Cham. and Schltdl., C. calophylla var. calophylla f. deformis Koehne, C. orthodisca Koehne, C. anisophylla Hemsl., C. mesostemon Koehne, C. elliptica Koehne, and C. pustulata Koehne. New combinations are: C. calophylla var. fuscinervis (Koehne) S. A. Graham and C. calophylla var. mesostemon (Koehne) S. A. Graham. Relationships of the species are discussed based on evidence from morphology and available molecular phylogenetic studies. The section, although narrowly defined, remains polyphyletic. It is represented by at least three lineages differing in pollen and seed morphology, and occurring in three of the five major clades of the genus. Two of the three lineages, with South American origins, have given rise to the five species of sect. Brachyandra endemic to the Antilles.
Electrophotographic system models

Traditional photography produces images using light and chemical processing. Electrophotography produces images using light and electric charges. Electrophotography develops images much faster than traditional photography, as anyone who uses photocopy machines (such as xerox) can attest to.
Histology and immunohistology of Igh-1-restricted herpes simplex keratitis in BALB/c congenic mice.

In order to characterize the local ocular immunologic milieu of Igh-1-restricted herpes simplex keratitis (HSK), we investigated histologic and immunohistologic correlates of disease over a 21-day time course. Clinically observable keratitis began 10 days postinoculation in susceptible C.AL-20 (Igh-1d) and moderately susceptible BALB/c (Igh-1a) mice, whereas HSV-1-resistant C.B-17 (Igh-1b) mice rarely developed disease. Igh-1-restricted histologic differences were observed by day 11 postinoculation; C.AL-20 and BALB/c mice showed augmented recruitment of neutrophils and mononuclear cells in conjunctival, limbal, and corneal tissues compared to C.B-17 mice. On immunohistologic study, Lyt-1 to Lyt-2 cell ratios by day 11 postinoculation were 7:1, 2:1, and 1:8 in corneas from C.AL-20, BALB/c, and C.B-17 mice, respectively. Macrophages and neutrophils were absent in corneas from C.B-17 mice at this time, but could be found in large numbers in the corneas of susceptible mouse strains through day 21. These data demonstrate a strong relationship between Igh-1 phenotype and inflammatory cell recruitment in response to corneal infection with HSV-1, and support a role for T cell subpopulations in mediating Igh-1-restricted HSK.
Effects of the initial test interval and feedback timing on L2 vocabulary retention

Testing-effect literature has shown the benefits of retrieval practice to enhance retention and attenuate forgetting. However, research in memory reconsolidation has demonstrated that a memory trac...