cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Does Skeptical Theism Lead to Moral Skepticism

beings suffering for no apparent good reason. Perhaps the most common criticism of the evidential argument comes from the camp of skeptical theism, whose lot includes William Alston, Alvin Plantinga, and Stephen Wykstra. According to skeptical theism the limits of human knowledge concerning the realm of goods, evils, and the connections between values, undermines the judgment that what appears as pointless evil really is pointless. For all we know the suffering of an innocent being, though appearing pointless, in fact leads to a greater good. In this paper I argue that no one who accepts the doctrines of skeptical theism has a principled way of avoiding moral skepticism. The evidential argument from evil seeks to show that evil is strong evidence against theism. While the evidential argument comes in various versions, perhaps its most prominent version is an argument that seeks to show that the apparent pointlessness of much of the pain and suffering found in the world makes it likely that God does not exist:
BISCALITHECA KANSANA SP. N. (COENOPTERIDALES, ZYGOPTERIDACEAE), A COMPRESSION FROM THE LAWRENCE SHALE (UPPER PENNSYLVANIAN), KANSAS, U. S. A.'

The organ bearing the sporangia of Biscalitheca kansana is a laminate rachis with subopposite fertile appendages, a structure previously unknown for Biscalitheca. The sporangia differ from those of the petrified Biscalitheca musata only by lacking nests of sclerotic cells. They contain spores which are called Convolutispora when found dispersed. Speculations are made that Monoscalitheca fasciculata will ultimately be regarded as a synonym of Biscalitheca musata and that some fossils called Aphlebia and Brittsia problematica may be the sterile foliage of zygopterids. THIS PAPER iS concerned with a beautiful, fertile, fern compression from the Pennsylvanian of Kansas. In its gross aspects and microscopic details, this fern is similar to previously described coenopterids and I consider it to be a new species of Biscalitheca, B. kansana. The single available specimen (Fig. 1, 21) was collected in 1961 by Michael Nixon, a student at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, while exploring outcrops of Lawrence Shale on the west bank of the spillway below the dam at Lone Star Lake, Douglas
Investigating Urban Spatial Mismatch Using Job–Housing Indicators to Model Home–Work Separation:

During the past four decades a great deal of research has been carried out investigating aspects of the spatial mismatch hypothesis. At its foundation, the notion of spatial mismatch is driven larg...
Performance of meadow fescue accessions under management-intensive grazing

Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) is a pasture grass that has been little used in North America since the introduction of its higher yielding relative, tall fescue (F. arundinacea Schreb.). The objectives of this study were to quantify genotypic variation for traits related to performance under management-intensive grazing (MIG) within the USDA-NPGS collection of meadow fescue accessions, to relate that variation to the geographic sources, and to compare these meadow fescue accessions to a range of tall fescue cultivars. One hundred-sixty meadow fescue accessions and 10 tall fescue cultivars were grazed for 2 yr under a free-choice MIG system. Meadow fescue accessions were an average of 3.0% lower in net herbage accumulation (NHA; 8.33 vs. 8.60 Mg ha -1 ), but 14.7% higher in apparent intake (3.13 vs. 3.58 Mg ha -1 ) and 15.1% higher in apparent preference (31.7 vs. 36.4%) compared with tall fescue cultivars. Naturalized meadow fescue accessions had greater apparent intake and preference and were lower in crown rust resistance than cultivated meadow fescue accessions. Cultivated meadow fescue accessions were less variable for all traits than naturalized accessions, reflecting nearly a century of breeding activity in Europe. Most of the variability among accessions was accounted for by geographic sources. Naturalized accessions from the Russian Black Sea region generally ranked most favorably for all traits.
Toward event-based haptics: rendering contact using open-loop force pulses

An event-based method is proposed to improve realism in haptic displays. Many interesting interactions, for example tapping on a stiff environment, are characterized by ringing and high-frequency force signals. Traditional closed loop controllers, however, do not generate much information between 300 Hz and 1 kHz, to which human users are very sensitive. We propose brief open-loop playback at these frequencies, triggered by appropriate events. As a first step in rendering contact with stiff virtual surfaces, we apply short force pulses that neutralize momentum as quickly as possible and bring the haptic device to rest. Experiments verify shorter penetration depths and higher effective stiffness compared to those of traditional displays. The pulses also provide high-frequency signals and improve the user's sense of touch. Event-based playback presents a substantial departure from traditional approaches, as high frequency forces are generated separately from low-frequency feedback. These forces are computed as functions of the contact event and conditions instead of the user's instantaneous state.
Origin and characteristics of the Mars north polar basal unit and implications for polar geologic history

Building upon previous studies, we have used Mars Orbiter Camera and Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter data to characterize in detail the newly discovered north polar basal unit. Lying stratigraphically between the polar layered deposits, from which it is likely separated by an unconformity, and the Vastitas Borealis Formation, this unit has introduced new complexity into north polar stratigraphy and has important implications for polar history. Exposures of the basal unit in Olympia Planitia and Chasma Boreale reveal relatively dark layers which exhibit differential erosion. Eroded primarily by wind, the basal unit may be the major if not sole source for the north polar dunes and ergs and has contributed material to the lower polar cap layers. We investigate four possible origins for the basal unit (outflow channel/oceanic deposits, basal ice, paleopolar deposits, and eolian deposits). The patchy layering within the unit, its likely sandy grain size, and presence only in the north polar basin suggest that it is primarily an eolian deposit, supporting Byrne and Murray's 2002 earlier conclusion. This implies that at some time during the Early to Late Amazonian, migrating sand was mixed with water ice, forming a relatively dark, sandy deposit. During this time, either no classic polar layered deposits were forming or smaller caps were growing and shrinking, possibly adding material to the basal unit.
Persistent atrial standstill in a cat

A domestic shorthaired cat was presented with a 1-month history of cardiomegaly and recurrent chylothorax. The heart rate was 130 beats/min and no P waves were present on a surface electrocardiogram. Thoracic radiographs and an echocardiogram demonstrated severe biatrial dilatation, pleural effusion and restrictive pleural disease. Permanent atrial standstill was suspected. Pleurocentesis was performed and therapy was started with enalapril, frusemide and aspirin. Intracardiac electrograms revealed no atrial activity, and atrial pacing failed to elicit atrial or ventricular depolarisations. The patient was euthanased. Necropsy showed severe atrial wall thinning with marked cardiocyte loss. Persistent atrial standstill is a rare disease in the cat. Clinical signs may have been due to loss of atrial function, ventricular diastolic dysfunction, bradycardia, neurohormonal activation and reduced atrial natriuretic peptide plasma concentrations.
Undulation instability of a compressed elastic film on a nonlinear creeping substrate

Undulation instabilities in a tri-layer system subject to variations of temperature are studied for the purpose of revealing a mechanism leading to the failure of thermal barrier systems. A pre-compressed oxide film with a small initial non-planarity is attached to a metal bond coat layer that is, in turn, attached to a thick superalloy substrate. The oxide film and the superalloy substrate are elastic, while the bond coat undergoes power-law creep at high temperature. The bond coat and the oxide film are subject to equi-biaxial stress changes whenever the temperature changes due to thermal mismatch with the superalloy substrate. The mismatch can be very large for some bond coat materials, such as PtNiAl, as a result of a reversible phase transformation that occurs while the temperature is changing. In the bond coat layer, the stress decays due to creep during periods at high temperature. However, during the initial stages of the decay period, the bond coat is highly susceptible to transverse deformation due to the nonlinear character of power-law creep, enabling the compressed film to undergo significant undulation growth over hundreds of thermal cycles. These periods of susceptibility appear to be a primary mechanism for undulation growth in a film that is initially nearly planar, and they explain the observation that undulation growth under cyclic temperature histories far exceeds that under isothermal conditions for the same total time exposure at high temperature. Although the behavior of the bond coat is highly nonlinear, an approximation has been developed which permits accurate description of undulation development under quite general conditions. Possibilities for reducing the susceptibility to undulation growth are discussed, as are further avenues for research.
Performance analysis of FFH/BFSK product-combining receiver with partial-band jamming over independent Rician fading channels

This study investigates how independent Rician fading channels affect both the fast frequency-hopped binary frequency shift keying (FFH/BFSK) product-combining receiver (PCR) and partial-band jammer (PBJ). We demonstrate that the average bit-error-rate (BER) expressions of FFH/BFSK PCR can be derived with the aid of an approximation by quantizing the product-combiner's output. Numerical results show that system performance of the FFH/BFSK PCR over fading channels and PBJ is lower than that in nonfaded PBJ at a low signal-to-jammer density ratio E/sub b//N/sub J/.
The hydrostatic gradient, not light availability, drives height-related variation in Sequoia sempervirens (Cupressaceae) leaf anatomy

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Leaves at the tops of most trees are smaller, thicker, and in many other ways different from leaves on the lowermost branches. This height-related variation in leaf structure has been explained as acclimation to differing light environments and, alternatively, as a consequence of hydrostatic, gravitational constraints on turgor pressure that reduce leaf expansion. • METHODS To separate hydrostatic effects from those of light availability, we used anatomical analysis of height-paired samples from the inner and outer tree crowns of tall redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). • KEY RESULTS Height above the ground correlates much more strongly with leaf anatomy than does light availability. Leaf length, width, and mesophyll porosity all decrease linearly with height and help explain increases in leaf-mass-to-area ratio and decreases in both photosynthetic capacity and internal gas-phase conductance with increasing height. Two functional traits-leaf thickness and transfusion tissue-also increase with height and may improve water-stress tolerance. Transfusion tissue area increases enough that whole-leaf vascular volume does not change significantly with height in most trees. Transfusion tracheids become deformed with height, suggesting they may collapse under water stress and act as a hydraulic buffer that improves leaf water status and reduces the likelihood of xylem dysfunction. • CONCLUSIONS That such variation in leaf structure may be caused more by gravity than by light calls into question use of the terms "sun" and "shade" to describe leaves at the tops and bottoms of tall tree crowns.
Critical interactions between TGF-β signaling/ELF, and E-cadherin/β-catenin mediated tumor suppression

Inactivation of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) pathway occurs often in malignancies of the gastrointestinal (GI) system. However, only a fraction of sporadic GI tumors exhibit inactivating mutations in early stages of cancer formation, suggesting that other mechanisms play a critical role in the inactivation of this pathway. Here, we show a wide range of GI tumors, including those of the stomach, liver and colon in elf+/− and elf+/−/Smad4+/− mutant mice. We found that embryonic liver fodrin (ELF), a β-Spectrin originally identified in endodermal stem/progenitor cells committed to foregut lineage, possesses potent antioncogenic activity and is frequently inactivated in GI cancers. Specifically, E-cadherin accumulation at cell–cell contacts and E-cadherin-β-catenin-dependent epithelial cell–cell adhesion is disrupted in elf+/−/Smad4+/− mutant gastric epithelial cells, and could be rescued by ectopic expression of full-length elf, but not Smad3 or Smad4. Subcellular fractionation revealed that E-cadherin is expressed mainly at the cell membrane after TGF-β stimulation. In contrast, elf+/−/Smad4+/− mutant tissues showed abnormal distribution of E-cadherin that could be rescued by overexpression of ELF but not Smad3 or Smad4. Our results identify a group of common lethal malignancies in which inactivation of TGF-β signaling, which is essential for tumor suppression, is disrupted by inactivation of the ELF adaptor protein.
Dehydroepiandrosterone inhibits DNA synthesis of rat hepatocytes induced by partial hepatectomy or mitogen (ciprofibrate)

In a previous study we have shown that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) inhibits hepatocyte DNA synthesis after short-term administration and induces hepatocellular carcinomas after long-term administration in the rat. It is not known whether DHEA is also capable of inhibiting replicative and mitogen-induced DNA synthesis. In the present study, we have evaluated the effect of DHEA on DNA synthesis in the rat liver after partial hepatectomy and mitogen administration. After partial hepatectomy, DHEA significantly inhibited DNA synthesis at 20, 26, 32 and 38 h. Similarly, combined administration of ciprofibrate, a peroxisome proliferator and mitogen, and DHEA also resulted in significant hepatocyte DNA synthesis. However, DHEA did not affect liver enlargement caused by ciprofibrate. This experimental system will serve as useful tool to evaluate the role of cell proliferation in carcinogenesis.
Elliptical and Circular Current Sheets to Produce a Prescribed Internal Field

Any desired two-dimensional magnetic field, which is compatible with Maxwell's equations in empty space, can be produced inside a given elliptic or circular cylinder by a distribution of currents flowing along the elements of the cylinder. Formulas are given for the required current distribution, the resulting external field, and for the total field energy in the internal and external regions. It is further possible to eliminate the external or stray field completely while producing the prescribed inner field by adding a second confocal elliptic (or coaxial circular) current sheet. Formulas are given for the required current distributions. To facilitate their use the formulas are here presented unencumbered by derivations but in a form which makes the correspondence between the elliptic and circular cases, as well as the specialization to median plane fields, appear as simply as possible.
Resilient microring resonator based photonic networks

Microring resonator-based photonic interconnects are being considered for both on-chip and off-chip communication in order to satisfy the power and bandwidth requirements of future large scale chip multiprocessors. However, microring resonators are prone to malfunction due to fabrication errors, and they are also extremely sensitive to fluctuations in temperature. In this paper we derive a fault model for microring based optical links that can be used by computer architects to make informed design choices. We evaluate different schemes for improving resilience, such as retransmission versus error-correction, using an optical fault simulator based on our fault model. We show how meeting a target mean time between failures (MTBF) affects the choice of resilience scheme - our investigation indicates that until fault rates are in the range of 10−21 to 10−24 per cycle, error detection/correction schemes will be needed in order to meet a 1M hour MTBF. We also evaluate how the resilience scheme impacts the performance of the link, which will help an architect choose the appropriate scheme based on the throughput requirements of a particular design.
An electromyographic analysis of hindlimb function in Alligator during terrestrial locomotion.

The neuromuscular control of the hindlimb of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) walking on a treadmill was analyzed using simultaneous electromyography (EMG) and cineradiography. EMG and kinematic data were integrated with myological information to discern the interplay of muscles mediating hip and knee movement during the high walk. Twelve muscles, subdivided into 23 individual heads, cross the hip joint of Alligator. Activity patterns of 12 heads of 11 hip muscles and one knee muscle were recorded and quantified. An additional five heads from four muscles were recorded in single individuals. During the stance phase, the caudofemoralis longus prevents hip flexion and actively shortens to retract the femur through an arc of 60-80°. At the same time, the adductor femoris 1 and pubo-ischio-tibialis control femoral abduction. The knee is extended 30-40° during stance by contraction of the femoro-tibialis internus. These stance phase muscles often produce discontinuous, periodic EMG signals within their normal burst profile. In late stance and early swing, the ilio-fibularis and the pubo-ischio-tibialis are responsible for flexing the knee. The limb is protracted by the pubo-ischio-femoralis internus 2 and pubo-ischio-femoralis externus 2, which flex the hip. The ilio-femoralis abducts the limb during swing to suspend it above the tread. The role of the ambiens 1, which is active in midswing, is unclear. The ilio-tibialis 2, flexor-tibialis externus and flexor-tibialis internus 2 yield sporadic, low amplitude EMGs; these muscles are recruited at a very low level, if at all, during the slow high walk. Although EMGs do not conclusively delineate muscle function, activity patterns are particularly helpful in elucidating the complex interaction of muscular heads in this system. J. Morphol. 234:197-212, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A chordal preconditioner for large-scale optimization

We propose an automatic preconditioning scheme for large sparse numerical optimization. The strategy is based on an examination of the sparsity pattern of the Hessian matrix: using a graph-theoretic heuristic, a block diagonal approximation to the Hessian matrix is induced. The blocks are submatrices of the Hessian matrix; furthermore, each block is chordal. That is, under a positive definiteness assumption, each block can be Cholesky factored without creating new nonzeroes (fill). Therefore the preconditioner is space efficient. We conduct a number of numerical experiments to determine the effectiveness of the preconditioner in the context of a linear conjugate gradient algorithm for optimization.
Describing Function Properties of a Magnetic Pulsewidth Modulator

An analysis is presented for the transfer functions of a particular pulsewidth modulator and power-stage subsystem that has been widely used in practical switching-mode dc regulator systems. The switch and filter are in a ?buck? configuration, and the switch is driven by a constant-frequency, variable duty-ratio, push-pull magnetic modulator employing square-loop cores. The two transfer functions considered are that with modulator control signal as input and that with line voltage as input. For ac signal,the corresponding describing functions (DF) are derived. It is shown thatcurrent-source drive to the modulator extends the control DF frequency response over that with voltage drive, and that complete cancellation of the effects of line variations can be obtained at dc, but not for ac. Experimental confirmation of the analytical results for the control DF are presented.
Creating and validating assessment instruments for a discipline-specific writing course

This paper reports on a sustained interdisciplinary effort between applied linguists and chemistry faculty to create and validate writing assessment instruments for an advanced-level Write Like a Chemist course, one component of a much larger interdisciplinary project. The article describes a multiple-year effort to form valid analytic and holistic assessment instruments to be used by chemistry faculty to assess the writing performance of chemistry majors. Emphasis is placed on the joint contributions of applied linguists and chemists in (a) the identification of meaningful writing criteria, (b) the development of assessment scales with distinct score points and descriptors, (c) socialization sessions that prepared chemists to help build the assessment instruments, and (d) the validation of assessment instruments with other chemists. Outcomes exemplify the mediating role that applied linguistics can play in the design of a discipline-specific course, instructional materials, and assessment instruments that support the development of disciplinary expertise. The results also demonstrate the positive consequences of crossing disciplinary boundaries for both subject-area faculty and applied linguists
An interactive tutorial system for Java

As part of the documentation for its library packages, the Java Task Force (JTF)developed an online tutorial system that enables teachers and students to explore the resources provided by the Task Force in a highly interactive style. The individual pages that make up the tutorial often include demonstration programs that the reader can experiment with while remaining on the same web page as the explanatory text. Although the original motivation for developing that tutorial system was to document the JTF packages themselves, the structure is general enough for teachers to design their own tutorials and interactive demonstrations. This paper describes the structure of that tutorial system and illustrates its use. In addition, the paper describes some work-in-progress that will make it possible to create interactive lecture demonstrations from PowerPoint™ slides.
On the determination of frequency factor in log‐probability plotting

The purpose of this note is to revise the procedure of transformation of the variate in the logarithmically normal probability (abbreviated hereafter as log-probability) discussed in the Transactions [Chow, 1952]. The correct procedure and the resulting expressions for determining the frequency factor of the log-probability plotting should be developed as follows: Let y = logex, then y is normally distributed and the frequency function of y is Figure 1. in which and σ y = σ logex are respectively the mean and standard deviation of y, and e is the base of natural logarithms A typical example of this distribution is shown on the top of Figure 1. The dotted lines indicate the variate y in rectangular scale. The variate x is shown in natural log-scale. It is apparent that y is normally distributed, being symmetrical with respect to the mode.
Challenges and opportunities in accounting for non-energy use CO2 emissions: an editorial comment

The combustion of fossil fuels for energy purposes is by far the most signiﬁcantcontributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, fossilfuels also contribute to GHG emissions via so-called “non-energy” (i.e., productfeedstock) uses by the global chemicals and petroleum reﬁning industries. Theseemissions, which are often referred to as non-energy use carbon dioxide (NEU-CO2)emissions, represent a signiﬁcant and potentially growing source of global GHGemissions.Simply described, NEU-CO2 emissions are generated via two primary mecha-nisms. First, oxidation can occur during production, conversion, use, and treatmentprocesses related to certain chemical and reﬁnery products. Important examplesinclude: oxidation during steam cracking in ethylene production and steam reformingin ammonia production; use phase oxidation of products such as solvents, lubricants,urea fertilizers, and solid carbon for metals manufacture; and oxidation of surfactantsand fossil carbon residues during facility wastewater treatment operations.Second, a fraction of the carbon contained in feedstock fuels can be released viacombustion during incineration or energy recovery processes applied to chemicalby-products in various chemical plant and reﬁnery operations. Data permitting,NEU-CO2 emissions arising from energy recovery operations are typically treated asenergy-related emissions in national energy balances and GHG emissions inventories(IPPC 2006). In cases where available data are inadequate—for example, whenfeedstock fuel data are available only on a gross (as opposed to a net) energy basis—all by-product combustion emissions are sometimes treated as NEU-CO2 emissions(Weiss et al. 2008; Patel et al. 2005).
Relationships between Methylobacteria and Glyphosate with Native and Invasive Plant Species: Implications for Restoration

After removing invasive plants, whether by herbicides or other means, typical restoration design focuses on rebuilding native plant communities while disregarding soil microbial communities. However, microbial–plant interactions are known to influence the relative success of native versus invasive plants. Therefore, the abundance and composition of soil microorganisms may affect restoration efforts. We assessed the effect of herbicide treatment on phytosymbiotic pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophic (PPFM) bacteria and the potential consequences of native and invasive species establishment post-herbicide treatment in the lab and in a coastal sage scrub (CSS)/grassland restoration site. Lab tests showed that 4% glyphosate reduced PPFM abundance. PPFM addition to seeds increased seedling length of a native plant (Artemisia californica) but not an invasive plant (Hirschfeldia incana). At the restoration site, methanol addition (a PPFM substrate) improved native bunchgrass (Nassella pulchra) germination and size by 35% over controls. In a separate multispecies field experiment, PPFM addition stimulated the germination of N. pulchra, but not that of three invasive species. Neither PPFM nor methanol addition strongly affected the growth of any plant species. Overall, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that PPFMs have a greater benefit to native than invasive species. Together, these experiments suggest that methanol or PPFM addition could be useful in improving CSS/grassland restorations. Future work should test PPFM effects on additional species and determine how these results vary under different environmental conditions.
Quantifications and water quality implications of minerogenic particles in Cayuga Lake, New York, and its tributaries

An individual particle analysis technique, scanning electron microscopy interfaced with automated image and X-ray analyses (SAX), was applied to characterize the minerogenic particle populations of Cayuga Lake (New York) and its primary tributaries and quantify their effects on common water quality metrics. The primary summary metric of SAX results is demonstrated to be the total projected area of minerogenic particles per unit volume of water (PAV m ). PAV m is documented to be linearly related to the minerogenic components of particulate phosphorus (PP m ), turbidity (T n/m ), and the light scattering coefficient, and inversely related to Secchi depth (SD). SAX is demonstrated to support partitioning of PAV m into contributions of multiple size and geochemical classes. Clay mineral particles dominated in the tributaries and the lake, although they shifted somewhat to smaller sizes (1–15 µm) in the lake. Levels of PAV m were higher in a lake area that adjoins the tributary inputs than in pelagic waters, particularly after runoff events. This increased PAV m degraded water quality, including higher PP m and T n/m and lower SD relative to the pelagic waters, although diminished (still recognizable) signatures are documented lake-wide. Advantages of SAX over gravimetric analyses for the minerogenic particle populations of lakes include (1) improved analytical performance, (2) insights from the more robust size and composition information, (3) theoretical advantages for optical impacts, and (4) stronger relationships with water quality metrics.
Application of the Output Error System Identification Method to the Calibration of Underwater Acoustic Transducers

The context of this problem is the calibration and testing of underwater acoustic transducers in reverberant environments. At low frequencies, especially for high Q devices such as high-power sonar projectors and complex hydrophones, reflections from the boundaries of the measurement vessel limit the applicability of nonparametric transfer function estimation methods. This paper focuses on parametric methods that use the initial echo-free transient signals to predict rational transfer functions for transducers under free-field conditions. The parametric models used can be seen as either phenomenological models, or as low-frequency approximations to transducer behavior when the device dimensions are small compared to a wavelength.
Super-ellipsoidal Potential Function for Autonomous Collision Avoidance of a Teleoperated UAV

In this paper, we present the design of the super-ellipsoidal potential function (SEPF), that can be used for autonomous collision avoidance of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in a 3-dimensional space. In the design of SEPF, we have the full control over the shape and size of the potential function. In particular, we can adjust the length, width, height, and the amount of flattening at the tips of the potential function so that the collision avoidance motion vector generated from the potential function can be adjusted accordingly. Based on the idea of the SEPF, we also propose an approach for the local autonomy of a UAV for its collision avoidance when the UAV is teleoperated by a human operator. In our proposed approach, a teleoperated UAV can not only avoid collision autonomously with other surrounding objects but also track the operator’s control input as closely as possible. As a result, an operator can always be in control of the UAV for his/her high-level guidance and navigation task without worrying too much about the UAVs collision avoidance while it is being teleoperated. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a human-in-the-loop simulation of quadrotor UAV teleoperation using virtual robot experimentation platform (v-rep) and Matlab programs. Keywords—Artificial potential function, autonomy, collision avoidance, teleoperation, quadrotor, UAV.
Evaluating Human Correction Quality for Machine Translation from Crowdsourcing

Machine translation (MT) technology is becoming more and more pervasive, yet the quality of MT output is still not ideal. Thus, human corrections are used to edit the output for further studies. However, how to judge the human correction might be tricky when the annotators are not experts. We present a novel way that uses cross-validation to automatically judge the human corrections where each MT output is corrected by more than one annotator. Cross-validation among corrections for the same machine translation, and among corrections from the same annotator are both applied. We get a correlation around 40% in sentence quality for Chinese-English and Spanish-English. We also evaluate the user quality as well. At last, we rank the quality of human corrections from good to bad, which enables us to set a quality threshold to make a trade-off between the scope and the quality of the corrections.
Geography, History, and the Left Hand

The population percentages of left-handedness vary from country to country and within different regions of a country. These rate fluctuations are explained by direct cultural and religious pressures against left-hand use and by differences in gene frequency. Theoretically, the two effects can be separated by examining rates of left-handedness and inheritance patterns in families with two left-handed parents. Cultural pressures against left-hand use lower the overt display of left-handedness but the alleles related to left-handedness remain in the population genotype. Left-handed parents produce more left-handed offspring than pairs of right-handed parents. A genetic basis for cross-cultural variations in left-handedness is supported if left-handed parents produce left-handed children despite overall low rates of left-handedness within a cultural group. Similar analyses have been applied to historical variation in rates of left-handedness. The percentage of left-handers in the population has remained steady across millennia except for a decrease in the nineteenth century. Indirect social pressures during this era could have made it difficult for left-handers to find partners and produce offspring. This caused a decrease in the gene frequency related to left-handedness and the population rates decreased as a result. The stigmatization of left-handedness was eliminated gradually over the decades of the twentieth century leading to the present day percentages of left-handers in the population.
C14 thyroxine transport in thoracic lymph in rats.

SummaryPlasma and thoracic lymph concentrations of thyroxine-1-C14 were followed in normal male rats after a single subcutaneous injection of 780 μg/kg body weight. Approximately 3% of administered dose appeared in the lymph during the 8 hour experimental period. The level of radioactivity in the lymph was lower than the plasma on a volume basis but significantly higher if calculated on the basis of protein content. Cellulose column chromatographic analysis of lymph samples taken between 2 and 4 hours, revealed the radioactivity present to be unaltered thyroxine.
The Voting Behavior of American Political Scientists: the 1980 Presidential Election

A SMALL FRACTION of the voting studies conducted during the past three decades focused on the electoral behavior of American political scientists. In 1959, Henry Turner, Charles McClintock, and Charles Spaulding used survey methods to explore the partisan orientations of a random sample of members of the American Political Science Association (APSA). Their findings (Turner, McClintock, and Spaulding, 1963: 650-65) sustained the conventional wisdom that their subjects were largely (74 percent) Democrats and led them to discount the influence of family and other customary explanatory variables of partisan choice. Instead, they concluded that the partisan preference of political scientists was "largely conscious" and "based upon their evaluations of the policies and leadership of the party and on the information and attitudes gained in the political science profession" (ibid., 665). A decade later (1970), Turner and Carl Hetrick replicated and extended the 1959 study. As before, the Association proved to be "largely a 'one-party' organization" (ibid., 374). Seventy-three percent of their respondents were Democrats (virtually the same percentage as before). These were also more politically active than Republican colleagues who, in turn, were more involved than independents. Turner and Hetrick presented additional evidence that adult socialization was more important than childhood socialization in the formation of partisan loyalties and political attitudes. In particular, they pointed to the influence of professional knowledge and the influence of colleagues. They concluded that political scientists "perceived marked differences in the policies of the two parties and exercised conscious value judgments in making partisan choices" (ibid., 374). In short, the political behavior of political scientists appeared more rational to them than did that of the general electorate. Articles by Everett Carll Ladd and Seymour Martin Lipset added depth to these findings. Two were based upon the 1969 Carnegie Commission Survey of students, faculty, and administrators. Responding to charges of conservatism within the discipline, they demonstrated that American political scientists were pervasively liberal in comparison with the general electorate and other academic groups (Ladd and Lipset, 1971: 135-44). In a subsequent essay, they argued that the belief systems of
An imaging informatics-based system to support animal studies for treating pain in spinal cord injury utilizing proton-beam radiotherapy

In previous years we demonstrated an imaging informatics system designed to support multi-institutional research focused on the utilization of proton radiation for treating spinal cord injury (SCI)-related pain. This year we will demonstrate an update on the system with new modules added to perform image processing on evaluation data using immunhistochemistry methods to observe effects of proton therapy. The overarching goal of the research is to determine the effectiveness of using the proton beam for treating SCI-related neuropathic pain as an alternative to invasive surgical lesioning. The research is a joint collaboration between three major institutes, University of Southern California (data collection/integration and image analysis), Spinal Cord Institute VA Healthcare System, Long Beach (patient subject recruitment), and Loma Linda University and Medical Center (human and preclinical animal studies). The system that we are presenting is one of its kind which is capable of integrating a large range of data types, including text data, imaging data, DICOM objects from proton therapy treatment and pathological data. For multi-institutional studies, keeping data secure and integrated is very crucial. Different kinds of data within the study workflow are generated at different stages and different groups of people who process and analyze them in order to see hidden patterns within healthcare data from a broader perspective. The uniqueness of our system relies on the fact that it is platform independent and web-based which makes it very useful in such a large-scale study.
Injuries Attributable to Cosmetic Procedures Performed by Unlicensed Individuals in the United States

Objective: Although only licensed professionals should be performing cosmetic procedures for patients, there are often news stories of unlicensed individuals performing procedures with serious consequences. This brief report seeks to determine the scope and magnitude of the problem by determining the number of cases of unlicensed procedures and determining the people, procedures, and states that are involved. Design: Various databases were used to find lawsuits and United States English-language news reports from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2013, which described cosmetic procedures performed by unlicensed individuals. Setting: The United States. Participants: All publicly reported cases. Measurements: Number of cases, case location, type of procedures and injuries, and demographics of the victims and perpetrators. Results: Twenty-eight unique cases were found. The three states with the highest number of cases were Florida (35.7%; n=10), Texas (14.3%; n=4), and California (10.7%; n=3). The type of procedures (n=28) performed were buttocks injections (n=1), face injections (n=7), laser facial procedures (n=2), liposuctions (n=4), and other cosmetic surgeries (n=4). The reported injuries (n=16) were hospitalization (n=8), death (n=4), amputation (n=1), burn (n=1), ptosis (n=1), and scar (n=1). Women and minorities appeared to be disproportionately affected by these illegal procedures. Conclusion: This study likely only provides a small snapshot of a much larger problem, as many cases are presumably not taken to the news or courts. The availability of illegal cosmetic procedures can be diminished with complementary efforts carried out both by law enforcement and the communities themselves.
Cytomegalovirus Cutaneous Infection in an Immunocompromised Patient

Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the Herpesviridae family, is an opportunistic infection with a typically benign course in the healthy host but has a more ominous course in the immunocompromised population. CMV infection commonly affects the visceral organs, particularly the respiratory and the gastrointestinal tract. CMV cutaneous lesions are rare and can be easily missed. We present a case of a 76-year-old woman presenting with a diffuse non-pruritic macular lesion with scattered vesicles and bullae, which was initially treated as a varicella zoster virus infection and herpes simplex viral infection, but was later found on biopsy to be due to cytomegalovirus. She has a history of Sjogren's syndrome, interstitial lung disease, and being on chronic immunosuppression therapy. This case highlights the importance of considering CMV infection in the differential diagnosis of vesicular skin lesions in immunocompromised patients. Based on a PubMed search for "cutaneous cytomegalovirus", "cutaneous CMV", "cytomegalovirus skin", and "skin CMV" in material published in the last 20 years (from 1996 to 2016) and reviewing any applicable referenced material outside of those dates, cases of cutaneous CMV are not well documented.
Paper 12: Human Factors Influencing Control Positions:

The ergonomic aspects of interior fittings is discussed with special reference to safety. International standardization of control positions and markings is an urgent need and more information is needed to help designers and stylists.
Efficacy of pyrethrin aerosol against mosquitoes and flies

Objective To observe the efficacy of pyrethrin aerosol against mosquitoes and flies by bioassay test.Methods Having test in the lab according to GB13917.2-92 and having test according to 13917.8～92 in mimic field.Results The KT_(50) of Culex pipiens pallens and Musca domestica in lab was 0.88～2.88 mins treated by pyrethrin aerosol with the dose of 0.5～1.0 g per one barrel.The 24h mortality reached 95.6%～100%.1h killing rate in mimic field was 98%～100% when Culex pipiens pallens and Musca domestica were treated by aerosol with dose of 0.5g per one barrel.24 h mortality reached 100%.Conclusion Pyrethrin aerosol was safe for use and had good efficacy.It should be generalized.
Open-Access Video-Based Orthopaedic Instructional Content is Inaccurate:

Objectives:The internet has an increasing role in both patient and physician education. While several recent studies critically appraised the quality and accuracy of web-based written information available to patients, no studies have evaluated such parameters for open access video content designed for provider use. The present study sought to determine utilization of video resources by orthopaedic residents and assess the quality and accuracy of their contentMethods:Surveys were distributed to orthopaedic surgery residents to to determine their use of open access instructional video content. An assessment of quality and accuracy of said video content was performed using the basic shoulder examination as a suragate for the “best-case scenario” due to its widely accepted components that are stable over time. Three search terms (“shoulder”, “examination” and “shoulder exam”) were entered into the four online video resources most commonly accessed by orthopaedic surgery residents (VuMedi, G9MD, Orthobullets,...
A neural approach to synchronization in wireless networks with heterogeneous sources of noise

Abstract The paper addresses state estimation for clock synchronization in the presence of factors affecting the quality of synchronization. Examples are temperature variations and delay asymmetry. These working conditions make synchronization a challenging problem in many wireless environments, such as Wireless Sensor Networks or WiFi. Dynamic state estimation is investigated as it is essential to overcome non-stationary noises. The two-way timing message exchange synchronization protocol has been taken as a reference. No a-priori assumptions are made on the stochastic environments and no temperature measurement is executed. The algorithms are unequivocally specified offline, without the need of tuning some parameters in dependence of the working conditions. The presented approach reveals to be robust to a large set of temperature variations, different delay distributions and levels of asymmetry in the transmission path.
The TUH EEG CORPUS: A big data resource for automated EEG interpretation

The Neural Engineering Data Consortium (NEDC) is releasing its first major big data corpus — the Temple University Hospital EEG Corpus. This corpus consists of over 25,000 EEG studies, and includes a neurologist's interpretation of the test, a brief patient medical history and demographic information about the patient such as gender and age. For the first time, there is a sufficient amount of data to support the application of state of the art machine learning algorithms. In this paper, we present pilot results of experiments on the prediction of some basic attributes of an EEG from the raw EEG signal data using a 3,762 session subset of the corpus. Standard machine learning approaches are shown to be capable of predicting commonly occurring events from simple features with high accuracy on closed-loop testing, and can deliver error rates below 50% on a 6-way open set classification problem. This is very promising performance since commercial technology fails on this data.
Primary immune deficiencies with defects in neutrophil function

Immune deficiencies resulting from inherited defects in neutrophil function have revealed important features of the innate immune response. Although sharing an increased susceptibility to bacterial and fungal infections, these disorders each have distinctive features in their clinical manifestations and characteristic microbial pathogens. This review provides an update on several genetic disorders with impaired neutrophil function, their pathogenesis, and treatment strategies. These include chronic granulomatous disease, which results from inactivating mutations in the superoxide-generating nicotinamide dinucleotide phosphate oxidase. Superoxide-derived oxidants play an important role in the control of certain bacterial and fungal species, and also contribute to the regulation of inflammation. Also briefly summarized are updates on leukocyte adhesion deficiency, including the severe periodontal disease characteristic of this disorder, and a new immune deficiency associated with defects in caspase recruitment domain-containing protein 9, an adaptor protein that regulates signaling in neutrophils and other myeloid cells, leading to invasive fungal disease.