cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Complexity measurement of a graphical programming language

For many years the software engineering community has been attacking the software reliability problem on two fronts: First via design methodologies, languages and tools as a precheck on quality and second by measuring the quality of produced software as a postcheck. This research attempts to unify the approach to creating reliable software by providing the ability to measure the quality of a design prior to its design implementation. Using a graphical design language in an effort to support cognitive science research, we have successfully defined and applied Software Quality Metrics to graphical designs in an effort to predict software quality early in the software lifecycle. Metrics values from the Graphical Design are input to predictor equations, provided in this paper, to give metric values for the resultant source code.
Dayton's neighborhood school centers

When Dayton Public Schools committed to return to neighborhood K-8 schools, the community organized to refocus many youth programs in schools and neighborhoods. This article describes the planning and implementation of Dayton's Neighborhood School Centers. Special emphasis is placed on the role of the University of Dayton, especially the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community. The Fitz Center plays a pivotal role in implementing this highly collaborative effort, including project leadership; community organizing; coaching of five site coordinators at neighborhood school sites; and faculty-mentored student interns to assist with programming for student success, family support, health and team sports, and extensive service-learning coordination. The Dayton Foundation, Dayton Public Schools, City of Dayton, Montgomery County, and sixteen foundation and corporate supporters are partners with the Fitz Center in a bold initiative to reconnect five Dayton public elementary schools to their neighborhoods, after more than thirty years of court-ordered busing, and create full-service, year-round opportunities for neighborhood families and youth at these new schools. More than forty programs have been started at each site, all emphasizing youth and community assets.
Korteweg–de vries zero dispersion limit: Through first breaking for cubic-like analytic initial data

The characteristic solution of the initial value problem for the Riemann invariant form of the Korteweg-de Vries modulation equations is obtained locally through first breaking in the case of initial data which is analytic near a cubic inflection point. Tsarev's (see [11]) system is used to define the solution implicitly in terms of the speeds of the generalized KdV modulation equations. These “higher flow” speeds satisfy the same derivative identities obtained by Levermore for the KdV flow (see [6]). Moreover, by explicitly constructing the Lax-Levermore (see [5]) minimizer the Tsarev solution is shown to be the unique solution of Whitham's equations corresponding to the KdV zero dispersion limit. Also the Tsarev system possesses at most one three-sheeted solution in a uniform neighborhood of the inflection point. Finally the explicit minimizer provides phase information for the Venakides' small dispersion KdV waveform through first breaking; see [12]. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Assembly of the dorsal horn somatotopic map.

We hypothesize: (a) peripheral innervation densities determine map scales in dorsal horn, (b) dorsal horn cell (DHC) receptive field (RF) geometries are determined by map scales, and (c) morphologies of primary afferents (PAs) and DHCs reflect their developmental history. We suggest the following sequence: (A) PAs project in a somatotopic mediolateral sequence. (B) DHCs assemble prototype RFs by sampling presynaptic neuropil with their dendrites. (C) PAs then project to all levels where their RFs are contained within prototype RFs of DHCs. (D) A competitive mechanism produces the adult form of DHC RFs. (E) Adult distributions of PA terminals and DHC dendrites reflect this developmental history. (F) Mediolateral somatotopic gradients are determined by RF densities of axons entering at the same levels. (G) Map scales at different rostrocaudal levels are determined by somatotopic gradients. (H) Geometries of DHC RFs are determined by constant convergence and divergence of monosynaptic connections. (I) Second...
Post‐transfer editing in vitro and in vivo by the β subunit of phenylalanyl‐tRNA synthetase

Translation of the genetic code requires attachment of tRNAs to their cognate amino acids. Errors during amino-acid activation and tRNA esterification are corrected by aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase-catalyzed editing reactions, as extensively described for aliphatic amino acids. The contribution of editing to aromatic amino-acid discrimination is less well understood. We show that phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase misactivates tyrosine and that it subsequently corrects such errors through hydrolysis of tyrosyl-adenylate and Tyr-tRNAPhe. Structural modeling combined with an in vivo genetic screen identified the editing site in the B3/B4 domain of the β subunit, 40 A from the active site in the α subunit. Replacements of residues within the editing site had no effect on Phe-tRNAPhe synthesis, but abolished hydrolysis of Tyr-tRNAPhe in vitro. Expression of the corresponding mutants in Escherichia coli significantly slowed growth, and changed the activity of a recoded β-galactosidase variant by misincorporating tyrosine in place of phenylalanine. This loss in aromatic amino-acid discrimination in vivo revealed that editing by phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase is essential for faithful translation of the genetic code.
Quantitative Serum Proteomics from Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging

The detection and quantification of specific proteins in complex mixtures is a major challenge for proteomics. For example, the development of disease-related biomarker panels will require fast and efficient methods for obtaining multiparameter protein profiles. We established a high throughput, label-free method for analyzing serum using surface plasmon resonance imaging of antibody microarrays. Microarrays were fabricated using standard pin spotting on bare gold substrates, and samples were applied for binding analysis using a camera-based surface plasmon resonance system. We validated the system by measuring the concentrations of four serum proteins using part of a 792-feature microarray. Transferrin concentrations were measured to be 2.1 mg/ml in human serum and 1.2 mg/ml in murine serum, which closely matched ELISA determinations of 2.6 and 1.2 mg/ml, respectively. In agreement with expected values, human and mouse albumin levels were measured to be 24.3 and 23.6 mg/ml, respectively. The lower limits of detection for the four measurements ranged from 14 to 58 ng/ml or 175 to 755 pm. Where purified target proteins are not available for calibration, the microarrays can be used for relative protein quantification. We used the antibody microarray to compare the serum protein profiles from three liver cancer patients and three non-liver cancer patients. Hierarchical clustering of the serum protein levels clearly distinguished two distinct profiles. Thirty-nine significant protein changes were detected (p < 0.05), 10 of which have been observed previously in serum. alpha-Fetoprotein, a known liver cancer marker, was observed to increase. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this high throughput approach for both absolute and relative protein expression profiling.
Regulation of Yeast Actin Behavior by Interaction of Charged Residues across the Interdomain Cleft

Abstract His73 participates in the regulation of the nucleotide binding cleft conformation in yeast actin. Earlier molecular dynamics studies suggested that Asp184interacts with His73 thereby stabilizing a “closed-cleft” G-actin. However, β-actin in the open-cleft state shows a closer interaction of His73 with Asp179than with Asp184. We have thus assessed the relative importance of Asp184 and Asp179 on yeast actin stability and function. Neutral substitutions at 184 or 179 alone had little adverse effect on the monomer and polymerization behavior of actin. Arg or His at 184 in H73E actin partially rescued the monomeric properties of H73E actin, as demonstrated by near-normal thermostability and wild-type (WT)-like protease digestion patterns. ATP exchange was still considerably faster than with WT-actin although slower than that of H73E alone. However, polymerization of H73E/D184R and H73E/D184H is worse than with H73E alone. Conversely, D179R rescued all monomeric properties of H73E to near WT values and largely restored polymerization rate and filament thermostability. These results and new simulations of G-actin in the “open” state underscore the importance of the His73-Asp179 interaction and suggest that the open and not the closed state of yeast actin may be favored in the absence of the methyl group of His73.
A Sharp Interface Method for Two-Phase Flows Interacting with Moving Bodies

In this paper, we present a combined immersed-boundary/ghost-fluid sharp interface method for the simulations of three-dimensional two-phase flows interacting with moving bodies on fixed Cartesian grids. This work is based on a sharp interface immersed boundary method for fluid flows interacting with moving bodies 32 and a level set based ghost fluid method (GFM) for two-phase interface treatment. 21,15 Several cases with dierent scales are used to validate our numerical method. In the first case, the parasitic current in still fluid induced by numerical errors is chosen to show the accuracy of our ghost fluid implementation for very small scale problems. Then the small scale cases of water exit and entry of a circular cylinder are used to demonstrate how the immersed boundary approach works together with ghost fluid method. Finally, the case of waves generated by sliding mass is presented to illustrate the applicability of our method in large scale problems.
Modelling familial dysautonomia in human induced pluripotent stem cells

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have considerable promise as a novel tool for modelling human disease and for drug discovery. While the generation of disease-specific iPS cells has become routine, realizing the potential of iPS cells in disease modelling poses challenges at multiple fronts. Such challenges include selecting a suitable disease target, directing the fate of iPS cells into symptom-relevant cell populations, identifying disease-related phenotypes and showing reversibility of such phenotypes using genetic or pharmacological approaches. Finally, the system needs to be scalable for use in modern drug discovery. Here, we will discuss these points in the context of modelling familial dysautonomia (FD, Riley–Day syndrome, hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy III (HSAN-III)), a rare genetic disorder in the peripheral nervous system. We have demonstrated three disease-specific phenotypes in FD-iPS-derived cells that can be partially rescued by treating cells with the plant hormone kinetin. Here, we will discuss how to use FD-iPS cells further in high throughput drug discovery assays, in modelling disease severity and in performing mechanistic studies aimed at understanding disease pathogenesis. FD is a rare disease but represents an important testing ground for exploring the potential of iPS cell technology in modelling and treating human disease.
Examining the Link Between Perceptions of Relationship Quality With Parole Officers and Recidivism Among Female Youth Parolees

This study explored 140 female youth parolees’ characterization of their relationships with their parole officers (PO), examined whether the quality of PO–youth relationships relate to recidivism, and explored the role of parental assistance in acquiring services during reintegration as a moderator of the link between PO–youth relationship and recidivism. Female youth perceived both an interpersonal and professionalism aspect of PO–youth relationship. The association between the interpersonal quality of PO–youth relationship and violent recidivism was strong and significant for those who had low parental assistance, but nonsignificant for those with high parental assistance. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.
MULTIPLE VASCULOPATHIES AND HEPATITIS B IN A FAMILY

A unique kindred with an unusual high incidence of serological markers of past or present hepatitis B infection was studied. None of eight relatives had clinical or chemical evidence of hepatitis and all were negative for IgM anti-hepatitis A, but four sisters, each with at least one hepatitis B marker, had features of rheumatic disorders. The index patient had polyarteritis nodosa, two sisters had Raynaud's disease, and the fourth and unclassifiable non-inflammatory polyarthralgia. A daughter of one sister with Raynaud's developed the aortic arch syndrome. There was no segregation of HLA-A, -B and -C alleles with hepatitis B infection. The intrafamilial occurrence of B virus infection and multiple vasculopathies suggests a wider role of this virus in inflammatory vessel diseases.
Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Preterm Infants is Related to Enteral Feeding, But the Mechanisms Remain Uncertain and Have Changed Over Time

Although the pathophysiology of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) remains incompletely understood, recent evidence supports the important role of aberrant bacterial colonization and activated pro-inflammatory signaling in the high-risk premature infant (Neu and Walker, N Engl J Med 364:255–264, 2011). Nonetheless, most clinicians surmise that enteral feeding significantly contributes to the initiation of intestinal injury in NEC, and multiple studies have provided insight into the impact of feeding on intestinal health and homeostasis (Meinzen-Derr et al., J Perinatol 29:57–62, 2009). In this report, the impact of feeding on NEC will be reviewed, and it is suggested that enteral feedings can have a protective role in the disease, while conversely in other situations, enteral feedings might initiate changes contributing to this devastating condition. It is concluded that our understanding of enteral feeding and NEC has changed over time, and new insights continue to provide clues to the pathogenesis of this challenging condition.
Land cover and land-cover change from MODIS

The MODIS land cover and land-cover change products are global products that will be derived from MODIS data following the launch of the MODIS instrument in 1998. The land cover product will provide about 20 classes of land cover based largely on major life-form vegetation types. The land-cover change product will recognize change processes, rather than simply document change with time from one cover category to another. Both products will be derived from a database of monthly composited MODIS products ranging from surface reflectance to surface temperature. The products will be available beginning 18 months (land cover) or 27 months (land-cover change) after launch.
Recusatio as Political Theatre: Horace's Letter to Augustus.

Among the most potent devices that Roman emperors had at their disposal to disavow autocratic aims and to put on display the consensus of ruler and ruled was the artful refusal of exceptional powers, or recusatio imperii. The practice had a long history in Rome prior to the reign of Augustus, but it was Augustus especially who, over the course of several decades, perfected the recusatio as a means of performing his hesitancy towards power. The poets of the Augustan period were similarly well practised in the art of refusal, writing dozens of poetic recusationes that purported to refuse offers urged upon them by their patrons, or by the greater expectations of the Augustan age, to take on projects. It is the purpose of this paper to put the one type of refusal alongside the other, in order to show to what extent the refusals of the Augustan poets are informed not just by aesthetic principles that derive, most obviously, from Callimachus, but by the many, high-profile acts of denial that were performed as political art by the emperor himself.
Local motion feature aided ground moving target tracking with GMTI and HRR measurements

Tracking ground moving targets with ground moving target indicator (GMTI) measurements only could face a potential problem of losing tracks or track mingling, if the targets move together within the range of GMTI sensing uncertainty for an extended period of time. We propose a remedy for this problem by using local motion features extracted from high resolution range (HRR) profiles to assist data association. Unlike other HRR features, the new local motion features carry both spatial and temporal information and are ideal for feature aided tracking. A probabilistic logic based tracker is developed for local motion feature aided tracking.
A novel degron-mediated degradation of the RTG pathway regulator, Mks1p, by SCFGrr1.

Yeast cells respond to mitochondrial dysfunction by altering the expression of a subset of nuclear genes, a process known as retrograde signaling (RS). RS terminates with two transcription factors,...
Fibroplasia Per SMC in the Media of Coronary Arteries

Foregoing chapters repeatedly emphasized the importance of Fc, fibroplasia per SMC in the intimal layer, in the formation of atheroma. This chapter now reviews evidence that the same principles apply also in the medial layer. The evidence suggests a generalized arterial degeneration acting throughout the artery wall, but progressing much faster in the intima.
Spindle-to-cortex communication in cleaving, polyspermic Xenopus eggs

Mitotic spindles specify cleavage planes in early embryos by communicating their position and orientation to the cell cortex using microtubule asters that grow out from the spindle poles during anaphase. Chromatin also plays a poorly understood role. Polyspermic fertilization provides a natural experiment in which aster pairs from the same spindle (sister asters) have chromatin between them, whereas asters pairs from different spindles (nonsisters) do not. In frogs, only sister aster pairs induce furrows. We found that only sister asters recruited two conserved furrow-inducing signaling complexes, chromosome passenger complex (CPC) and Centralspindlin, to a plane between them. This explains why only sister pairs induce furrows. We then investigated factors that influenced CPC recruitment to microtubule bundles in intact eggs and a cytokinesis extract system. We found that microtubule stabilization, optimal starting distance between asters, and proximity to chromatin all favored CPC recruitment. We propose a model in which proximity to chromatin biases initial CPC recruitment to microtubule bundles between asters from the same spindle. Next a positive feedback between CPC recruitment and microtubule stabilization promotes lateral growth of a plane of CPC-positive microtubule bundles out to the cortex to position the furrow.
Activity diagrams for DEVS models: a case study modeling health care behavior (WIP)

Discrete Event Systems Specification (DEVS) is a widely used formalism for modeling and simulation of discrete and continuous systems. While DEVS provides a sound mathematical representation of discrete systems, its practical use can suffer when models become complex. Five main functions, which construct the core of atomic modules in DEVS, can realize the behaviors that modelers want to represent. The integration of these functions is handled by the simulation routine; however, modelers can implement each function in various ways. Therefore, there is a need for graphical representations of complex models to simplify their implementation and facilitate their reproduction. In this work, we illustrate the use of activity diagrams for this purpose in the context of a health care behavior model, which is developed with an agent-based modeling paradigm.
Interactive cartography

The authors present a software program that allows users to interactively create different map projections. The system allows users to view a representation of the Earth simultaneously as a sphere and as a projection with the ability to interact with both images. Map projections are created by projecting the sphere onto one of three developable surfaces. The choices are a cylinder, cone, or a plane. The surface can then be manipulated interactively e.g. orientation, size, distance, adjust central meridian, etc. to instantly create the corresponding map projection. The projection calculations take advantage of the GCTPC package provided by the USGS. Their implementation is written in C++ and uses OpenGL for the graphics rendering. The graphical user interface is built using FLTK. This software has been tested on SGIs and SUNs running Unix and PCs running both Linux and NT. Software as well as additional information are available from www.cse.ucsc.edu/research/avis/map.html.
Evaluation of a New Two-Hour System for Identification of Urine Isolates

The ability of the RapID SS/U system to accurately identify common isolates from urine was compared with the present conventional 18- to 24-hour system using MicroScan Combo Panels®. The RapID SS/U system uses a combination of conventional tests and single substrate chromogenic tests in a ten-cavity panel that identify select gram-negative bacilli, gram-positive cocci, and yeasts in two hours. A total of 203 clinical urinary isolates were tested as well as quality control organisms in the 12 taxa of the RapID SS U database. The RapID SS/U system correctly identified 194 (95.5%) of 203 isolates to genus level, and 157 (94%) of 167 isolates to species level. The system incorrectly identified nine (4.4%) isolates, one each of Escherichia coli, Citrobacter freundii, and Proteus mirabilis, three yeasts, and three organisms not included in the database. The RapID SS/U system requires minimal "hands-on" time for inoculation and readout and provides rapid, accurate identification of clinically significant urine isolates.
Excretion of pigeon serum proteins in pigeon droppings.

SummaryThe pigeon serum proteins albumin (PSA) and gamma globulin (PGG) were present in extracts of pooled pigeon droppings collected within 16 hr of voiding, but were not detected in extracts of pooled pigeon droppings from the same birds that had remained at room temperature for over 1 month. The results of incubating 131I-labeled PGG or PSA with a pigeon “intestinal contents” extract, an overnight droppings extract, or a month-old droppings extract suggest that continued enzyme activity could account for the absence of PSA and PGG in extracts of month-old droppings.
Ragweed Borer (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae: Eucosmini): Taxonomic Implications of an Allometric Analysis of Adult Characters

Epiblema strenuana (Walker) and E. minutana (Kearfott), which develop on ragweed ( Ambrosia spp.) and other plants, have been differentiated by previous authors on the basis of forewing length-width ratio, male valval neck width, male socius length, female signa base diameter, and female sterigma length-width ratio. These variables (y) were examined relative to forewing length (L), a surrogate for insect size, using the nonlinear form of the allometric equation, y = b(Lk). Study material consisted of 101 adults corresponding to both species originating in 17 states. All variables were significantly affected by insect size, with values of k ranging from −0.25 to 2.32. No discontinuities suggesting multiple species or interspecies limits were found in any relation. Allometric analysis could prove useful in studying problems of this type in other Lepidoptera. Lectotypes of E. strenuana and E. exvagana (Walker) are also designated.
'Civil Death’: The Ideological Paradox of Criminal Disenfranchisement Law in the United States

This Article holds that the most powerful critique of criminal disenfranchisement begins by appreciating the policy’s deep roots in American political ideology. First, the Article argues that only a combination of contractarian liberal, civic-virtue republican, and racially discriminatory ideologies explains the persistence of criminal disenfranchisement in the United States. Second, the Article shows that while liberal and republican ideas about self-government have long provided solid foundations for criminal disenfranchisement in American political thought, the goals and principles of both ideologies also undergoes powerful challenges to the practice. At the heart of this argument lies a paradox: although all three ideological traditions have contributed to the development of criminal disenfranchisement law in the United States, the modern commitments of both liberalism and republicanism should lead Americans to abandon the practice. By analyzing the liberal, republican, and racially discriminatory approaches to criminal disenfranchisement, the article attempts to explain both the durability and the incoherence of the policy. The article finds indefinite disenfranchisement — also called “ex-offender,” “ex-felon,” or permanent disenfranchisement — to be the most egregious form of the practice, as it imposes on criminal offenders something akin to the medieval condition of “civil death.” But to a greater degree than many authors have recognized, temporary and indefinite disenfranchisement policies rest on fundamentally similar premises, and are equally vulnerable to principled challenge.
Ankle-brachial index predicts change over time in functional status in the San Diego Population Study.

Background Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects millions of people, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Even when asymptomatic, PAD and the ankle-brachial index (ABI), the major clinical diagnostic criterion for PAD, are associated with decreased functional status and quality of life, as well as mobility impairment. Whether the ABI or change in the ABI predicts decline in functional status over time has not been previously assessed in a population-based setting. Methods Participants were 812 non-Hispanic white, African American, Hispanic, and Asian men and women from the San Diego Population Study (SDPS) who attended a baseline examination (1994-1998), and follow-up clinic examination approximately 11 years later. The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) was obtained at both the baseline and follow-up examinations, and the summary performance score (SPS) at the follow-up examination. Associations of the baseline ABI and clinically relevant change in the ABI ( Results Mean ± standard deviation (SD) for the baseline ABI was 1.11 ± 0.10, and 50.8 ± 9.0 for the baseline Physical Component Score (PCS), 50.1 ± 9.5 for the baseline Mental Component Score (MCS), and 11.2 ± 1.9 for the SPS at the follow-up examination. In fully adjusted models, each SD lower of the baseline ABI was significantly associated with an average decrease over time of 0.6 (95% confidence interval [CI], −1.1 to −0.1; P = .02) units on SF-36 PCS. Each SD lower of the baseline ABI was also significantly associated with an average decrease over time of 1.2 units (95% CI, −2.3 to −0.2; P = .02) on the SF-36 physical functioning subscale, and a decrease of 1.3 units (95% CI, −2.3 to −0.3; P = .01) on the SF-36 energy/vitality subscale in fully adjusted models. Baseline ABI was not significantly associated with change in the SF-36 MCS over time, or the SPS at the follow-up examination. Change in the ABI was not associated with SF-36 PCS, MCS, or the SPS. Conclusions In this multiethnic population of healthy middle-aged community-living men and women, we showed that participants with a lower baseline ABI had declines in functional status over 11 years. Findings suggest that small differences in the ABI, even within the normal range, may identify subclinical lower extremity PAD, which in turn may help to identify individuals at risk for declining functional status with age.
A New Standard Addition Method of ISEs Using Sample and Standard Series with Concentrations Decreased at Identical Rates

In this paper a new standard addition method is proposed, in which sample solutions with the same volumes Vx and different concentrations Cx/N(in general, 1≤N≤2) are separately titrated with the standard solution . The volume and concentration of the standard solution added to each sample are Vs and Cs/N, where N is the same as that of the titrated sample solution. Based on this procedure semilogarithmic linear plots of △EN vs. N were obtained, where △EN is the difference between potential after addition and potential of the original sample, N is the decreased times of concentrations of correlative sample and the standard solution. The con-centration Cx of the analyte is determined from the intersection, N0, by the equation- .
Expression of Bcl2 and Bax in cell line BGC-823 induced by the panax notoginseng saponins

Objective:To investigate the expression of Bcl2 and Bax in cell line BGC-823 induced by the panax notoginseng saponins.Method:Cell line BGC-823 was induced by panax notoginseng saponins in different concentration.The expression of Bcl2 gene and Bax gene were measured by Real-Time PCR and Western Blot.Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry.Result:After the induction of panax notoginseng saponin,real-time PCR showed that the expression of Bcl2 was reduced,whereas the expression of Bax was increased.Flow cytometry showed that the growth of cell line BGC-823 was inhibited.Conclusion:The panax notoginseng saponins can induce the apoptosis of BGC-823 cell and have potential activity against the gastric cancer cell
Video Games and the Right of Publicity The Courts Drop the Ball

The right of publicity—the right to control commercial uses of one’s identity—stands in an ambiguous relationship to First Amendment free speech interests. This article explores the origins of the publicity tort, including its recent expansion into domains formerly thought to be protected by the First Amendment. The article then analyzes two questionable rulings from federal appellate courts in 2013. Both cases held that the First Amendment did not protect a video game maker using the personae of college athletes. These rulings carry serious implications not only for video game creators but also for a variety of media entities.
Empirical study on portfolio model with random fuzzy variables and weighted max-min operator in frictional market

As investors face the uncertainty of randomness and fuzziness simultaneously in stock market,the paper regarded the security returns as random fuzzy variables,and built the membership functions of expected return and target probability in accordance with the investors' psychological trait based on the prospect theory.A weighted max-min random fuzzy portfolio model with unequal target weights was proposed.In frictional market with transaction cost and minimum trading unit constraints,the improved dynamic neighborhood particle swarm optimization was proposed to solve the portfolio problems.Under the rise and decline states of stock market,the performance of the proposed model was empirically studied.The result shows that the proposed model can outperform the mean-variance model,and construct a portfolio which meets the need of investors with different risk-taking attitudes.
Evaluating chronic pelvic pain. A consensus recommendation. Pelvic Pain Expert Working Group.

OBJECTIVE: To identify a comprehensive approach to evaluating women with chronic pelvic pain based on findings in the literature. STUDY DESIGN: A working group of gynecologist pelvic pain specialists was convened to consider principles on which consensus could be reached and to identify areas in which consensus is not yet possible. RESULTS: Chronic pelvic pain affects 15% of American women. The diagnostic and therapeutic approach to the complaint may be influenced inordinately by the specialty of the practitioner to whom the woman presents. A comprehensive approach to the complaint requires recognition of the multiple organ systems that may be involved. Evaluation of the woman with chronic pelvic pain begins with a comprehensive history and physical examination, followed by selected laboratory and imaging studies. For those women in whom the evaluation does not yield a likely cause of the complaint, the empiric use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents, oral contraceptives, and perhaps antibiotics or antispasmodics is indicated. Women who fail to respond to empiric therapy should be considered highly likely to have endometriosis or adenomyosis. Further diagnostic (laparoscopy) or therapeutic (gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist) interventions should be directed toward the high likelihood of endometriosis or adenomyosis. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive approach to chronic pelvic pain includes consideration of multiple organ systems, with empiric therapy appropriate after a thorough history and physical examination, to further delineate the pain problem.
Rights Come to Mind: Brain Injury, Ethics, and the Struggle for Consciousness

Through the sobering story of Maggie Worthen and her mother, Nancy, this book tells of one family's struggle with severe brain injury and how developments in neuroscience call for a reconsideration of what society owes patients at the edge of consciousness. Drawing upon over fifty in-depth family interviews, the history of severe brain injury from Quinlan to Schiavo, and his participation in landmark clinical trials, such as the first use of deep brain stimulation in the minimally conscious state, Joseph J. Fins captures the paradox of medical and societal neglect even as advances in neuroscience suggest new ways to mend the broken brain. Responding to the dire care provided to these marginalized patients, after heroically being saved, Fins places society's obligations to patients with severe injury within the historical legacy of the civil and disability rights movements, offering a stirring synthesis of public policy and physician advocacy.
The Stuff of Stereotypes: Toward Unpacking Identity Threats amid African American Students' Learning Experiences.

In this article, the authors explore the influence of stereotypes and stereotype threats on African American learners' experiences in situ, using mathematics-learning contexts as a specific setting...
New results on τ lepton

This is a review of new results on the τ lepton. The lifetime has been measured with improved precision, allowing the test of lepton universality to 0.2% level. There are several new measurements of the branching ratios for the hadronic decays, including much improved measurements for the Cabibbo-suppressed decays. All results are consistent with the Standard Model expectations.
Slut Shaming in a School Bullying Case: Evaluators Ignore Level of Harm When the Victim Self-Presents as Sexually Available

To investigate slut shaming (condemnation aimed at presumably sexually active females) as a form of bullying, we asked 142 U.S. college students acting as disciplinary committee members to decide a case involving two female high school students. We manipulated the victim’s self-presentation (sexually available, control) and the level of harm she suffered (mild anxiety, PTSD). Although evaluators typically make more pro-victim judgments when the level of harm is higher rather than lower, we expected participants to ignore harm when the victim self-presented as sexually available. As predicted, participants in the control condition made higher probability of guilt estimates and harsher sentence recommendations when the victim experienced PTSD versus mild anxiety. In contrast, harm level did not influence participants’ judgments in the sexually available condition. Additional analyses demonstrated that participants attributed relatively more responsibility to the sexually available than to the control victim, and the effect of the victim’s self-presentation on guilt estimates was mediated by attributions about the cause of the harm. The results correspond with previous findings that evaluators blame bullying victims whom they believe made themselves targets. We suggest that school districts revise their policies as necessary to avoid encouraging slut shaming and that evaluators receive training to help them apply the legal definition of bullying to specific situations.
Next k -Subset of an n -Set (NEXKSB/NXKSRD)

This chapter presents an algorithm for finding next k -subset of an n -set. The chapter considers the combinations of n things taken k at a time. There are ( n k ) k -subsets of an n -set altogether, and this chapter gives two different methods for generating them all, sequentially. The chapter discusses the revolving-door (RD) algorithm. The motivation for this is that if a calculation is to be done for each subset and a subset differs only slightly from its predecessor, much of the calculation can be saved from the predecessor, thereby saving time. Because the cardinality k is fixed, to differ only slightly means that each subset is obtained by ejecting one element and adjoining another. The FORTRAN program for NXKSRD is supplied in two versions, one in which the subsets are produced sequentially, from the beginning, with an MTC indicating the end of the list; the second version simply supplies the successor to a subset supplied by the user, with the initial set following the last. The second version gives the user more flexibility but requires also more user action.
Source models of the Harzer explosion from regional observations of fundamental-mode and higher mode surface waves.

Abstract For shallow source depths, the moment-tensor elements with isotropic radiation patterns, M zz and M xx + M yy , are not resolvable in moment-tensor inversions of long-period surface-wave data because their respective Green9s functions have similar frequency dependence. Examination of Green9s functions at higher frequencies shows that, while resolution for some momenttensor elements improves, it is still not possible to resolve the isotropic-radiating moments from fundamental-mode data recorded at regional distances. On the other hand, the addition of higher mode Rayleigh-wave amplitudes can improve the resolution of these moments significantly, since there are appreciable differences between the higher mode Green9s functions. An extension of Romanowicz9s algorithm is presented to invert fundamental-mode and higher mode data for the second-order moment tensor. A source of “noise” in the estimation of the moment tensor for underground explosions is the spallation of geologic strata at ground zero, since this too can be a significant source of higher modes. The inversion proposed in this paper accounts for possible higher mode excitation due to spall using the source model of Day et al . The inversion is applied to regional recordings of the Harzer explosion of 6 June 1981 at the Nevada Test Site. The results of the inversion demonstrate a trade-off between the second-order moment tensor representation and the single, directed force used to represent spall. Observations and numerical simulations of spall provide estimates of spall source parameters, which in turn constrain the moment-tensor representation of Harzer. The results of this study demonstrate the clear need for observations to characterize the spall source associated with underground explosions. Furthermore, they demonstrate the potential benefit of using higher modes to refine estimates of the explosion moment with reduced uncertainties compared to moment determinations from fundamental-mode data alone.
A build surface study of Powder-Bed Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing by 3D thermo-fluid simulation and white-light interferometry

Abstract In this study, a three dimensional (3D) thermo-fluid model for the Powder Bed Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (PB-EBAM) process was developed using ANSYS FLUENT software. Temperature dependence of both the surface tension and material physical properties was incorporated. In addition, the melt-pool free-surface dynamics was established using the volume of fluid (VOF) approach, taking into account the energy, volume fraction and flow equations at the interface when heated by a moving heat source. The developed model was applied to study the beam speed effect in the raster scanning scenario. In addition, the surfaces of PB-EBAM-fabricated Ti-6Al-4V parts were analyzed using a white-light interferometer. The results show that, in general the build surface roughness along the beam moving direction slightly increases with the scanning speed. On the other hand, the hatch spacing noticeably affects the surface roughness in the transverse direction. The experimentally acquired average surface roughness increased from about 3 µm for lower speed about 483 mm/s to 11 µm for higher speed case about 1193 mm/s. In addition, the average roughness of 4.28 µm, 5.5 µm, and 9.84 µm were obtained from simulation for different beam speeds which shows similar trend as that of experiment.
Intelectuais portugueses e brasileiros: tópicos para uma discussão de hibridismo cultural

Este estudo financiado pela Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian em Portugal, faz parte de um projeto monografico mais longo, (Des)Conexoes entre Portugal e o Brasil: Seculos XIX e XX (Lisboa: Colibri, 2016), que propoe uma revisao da relacao entre os dois paises. Com base teorica no hibridismo cultural, o ensaio segue o ja bastante conhecido estudo de Homi Bhabha. No presente caso, no entanto, propoe-se por em destaque a relacao intrinseca entre as culturas do lado de ca e de la do Atlântico. O trabalho tem como data inicial a historica independencia do Brasil e segue alguns momentos especificos do universo cultural dos dois paises que, por vezes, podem ser considerados duas faces de uma mesma moeda. ******************************************************************* Portuguese and Brazilian Intellectuals: Topics for a Discussion about Cultural Hibridity Abstract: This paper is part of a book-length research project financed by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Portugal: (Dis)Connections between Portugal and Brasil – 19th and 20th centuries (Lisbon: Colibri, 2016). I propose the revision of the relationship between the two countries based on the theory of cultural hybridity, as Homi Bhabha puts it in his celebrated work. In the present study, however, I a highlight the intimate relationship between the two cultures from both sides of the Atlantic. My starting point is the historic moment of the Brazilian Independence, and continues through a path of encounters that are specific to the cultural universe of the two countries. I posit that, sometimes, we can regard Brazil and Portugal as “two sides of the same coin.” Keywords: cultural hybridity; Luso-Brazilian literature; cultural studies; Brazil and Portugal.
Student Diversity Representation and Reporting in Universal School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Programs: Implications for Generalizability.

This paper addresses two major and potentially conflicting movements: the importance of diversity as both a conceptual and political issue and the rise of the evidence-based practice movement in education. This tension is particularly important when evaluating and reporting universal interventions because of their intended applicability across diverse groups of children and adolescents. This study contributes to this discussion through an analysis of published school-based universal social and emotional learning (SEL) intervention evaluations in terms of their theoretical and empirical attention to student diversity characteristics. We defined student diversity in terms of five characteristics: gender, race/ethnicity, SES, disability status, and sexual orientation/gender identity. We assessed how and when demographic characteristics were reported, how these characteristics were analyzed as moderators of program outcomes, and how differential effects based on diversity were incorporated into reported intervention generalizability discussions. Results showed that diversity characteristics were inconsistently reported across articles. Most studies did not test for moderating effects, but those that did found inconsistent effects across diversity characteristics. Further, conceptual and/or empirical support for conducting the moderation analyses was often not provided or sufficiently supported by previous literature or a hypothesis. This research highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of how SEL program effects may be moderated by student demographic characteristics and suggests caution about the generalizability of the reviewed SEL programs across diverse groups of children and adolescents.
A Graphical Digital Personal Assistant that Grounds and Learns Autonomously

We present a speech-driven digital personal assistant that is robust despite little or no training data and autonomously improves as it interacts with users. The system is able to establish and build common ground between itself and users by signaling understanding and by learning a mapping via interaction between the words that users actually speak and the system actions. We evaluated our system with real users and found an overall positive response. We further show through objective measures that autonomous learning improves performance in a simple itinerary filling task.
The Optimization of Photochemical Energy Conversion: Synthetic Supramolecular Devices Vis À Vis Photosynthesis

A series of supramolecular compounds are described which are designed to undergo photochemical and subsequent dark intramolecular electron transfer reactions which result in electron transfer over a long distance and production of a long lived charge separated species. This requires a multistep electron transfer strategy in which intermediate species are formed. The decay of these intermediate species is partitioned between forward and recombination electron transfer steps. The rates of these steps are controlled by thermodynamic and electronic terms which must be optimized in order for the yield of the forward process to be high. An approach for making such an optimization is described and the results are compared to the natural photosynthetic electron transfer system.
Disasters Ever More? Reducing U.S. Vulnerabilities

Natural disasters, unintended disasters (largely industrial and technological), and deliberate disasters have all increased in number and intensity in the United States in the last quarter century2(see Figure 32.1) In the United States we may prevent some and mitigate some, but we can’t escape them. At present, we focus on protecting the targets and mitigating the consequences, and we should do our best at that. But our organizations are simply not up to the challenge from the increasing number of disasters. What we can more profitably do is reduce the size of the targets, that is, reduce the concentrations of energy found in hazardous materials, the concentration of power in vital organizations, and the concentrations of humans in risky locations. Smaller, dispersed targets of nature’s wrath, industrial accidents, or terrorist’s aim will kill fewer and cause less economic and social disruption.