cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Brief Announcement: Extending Transactional Memory with Atomic Deferral

Atomic deferral is a language-level mechanism for transactional memory (TM) that enables programmers to move output and long-running operations out of a transaction's body without sacrificing serializability: the deferred operation appears to execute as part of its parent transaction, even though it does not make use of TM. We introduce the first implementation of atomic deferral, based on transaction-friendly locks; describe enhancements to its API; and demonstrate its effectiveness. Our experiments show that atomic deferral is useful for its original purpose of moving output operations out of transactions, and also for moving expensive library calls out of transactions. The result is a significant improvement in performance for the PARSEC dedup kernel, for both software and hardware TM systems.
The AEGIS Database

The AEGIS (advancing knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and innovation for growth and social well-being in Europe) database is described in this chapter, including the origin of the data product, the purpose of the data collection effort, and its completeness relative to other collections of information about small entrepreneurial firms.
Social Inequality and Recession – Causes and Possible Cure

Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the world has seen economic growth with recessions and social inequality. What restrains social inequality while generating economic growth without recessions? Can the solution be understood, learnt and used by businesses and citizens? This article, first, uses research data to identify the cause of social inequality and recession. The solution, as suggested by research, is given next - with ideas of leading academics seeking socially responsible attitudes to profits. A real life example of the solution - of how individual e ff ort can achieve society s goals is, then, given. Finally, current e ff orts that work to replicate it, to create Well Being and prevent recession, are discussed.
Modeling Brief Alcohol Intervention Dialogue with MDPs for Delivery by ECAs

This paper describes the design of a multimodal spoken dialogue system using Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) to enable embodied conversational virtual health coach agents to deliver brief interventions for lifestyle behavior change - in particular excessive alcohol consumption. Its contribution is two fold. First, it is the first attempt to-date to study stochastic dialogue policy optimization techniques in the health dialogue domain. Second, it provides a model for longer branching dialogues (in terms of number of dialogue turns and number of slots) than the usual slot filling dialogue interactions currently available (e.g. tourist information domain). In addition, the model forms the basis for the generation of a richly annotated dialogue corpus, which is essential for applying optimization methods based on reinforcement learning.
BOOM TOWNS: QUEUE UP OR BUST A WELFARE ECONOMY ANALYSIS

Abstract The paper deals with the choice between the inconvenience due to congestion during boom times and the excess capacity after the boom causing resource is exhausted. It deals explicitly with the potential conflict between old, new, local and national interests. The basic models are formulated as differential games. The concept of a Pareto solution is adopted to characterize the planning games.
Relative Contribution of Cellular Complement Inhibitors CD59, CD46, and CD55 to Parainfluenza Virus 5 Inhibition of Complement-Mediated Neutralization

The complement system is a part of the innate immune system that viruses need to face during infections. Many viruses incorporate cellular regulators of complement activation (RCA) to block complement pathways and our prior work has shown that Parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) incorporates CD55 and CD46 to delay complement-mediated neutralization. In this paper, we tested the role of a third individual RCA inhibitor CD59 in PIV5 interactions with complement pathways. Using a cell line engineered to express CD59, we show that small levels of functional CD59 are associated with progeny PIV5, which is capable of blocking assembly of the C5b-C9 membrane attack complex (MAC). PIV5 containing CD59 (PIV5-CD59) showed increased resistance to complement-mediated neutralization in vitro comparing to PIV5 lacking regulators. Infection of A549 cells with PIV5 and RSV upregulated CD59 expression. TGF-beta treatment of PIV5-infected cells also increased cell surface CD59 expression and progeny virions were more resistant to complement-mediated neutralization. A comparison of individual viruses containing only CD55, CD46, or CD59 showed a potency of inhibiting complement-mediated neutralization, which followed a pattern of CD55 > CD46 > CD59.
Motion-induced error compensation for 3D shape measurement with phase shifting technique

This paper proposes a motion compensation method to reduce the motion-induced error in phase shifting pro-filometry. We first estimate the motion of an object from the difference between two subsequent 3D frames. After that, by taking the advantage of projector's pinhole model, we can determine the motion-induced phase shifting error from the estimated motion. A generic three-step phase-shifting algorithm considering phase shift error is then utilized to compute the phase. We have conducted quantitative experiments to demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can effectively improve the measurement accuracy without additional information or further constraints.
Spectral Eigen Index: Military vehicle fingerprinting using Eigen analysis in spectral domain

Abstract It is of great interest for military to identify specific vehicles using vibrating data collected by sensors. In view of the special spectral properties of military vehicles, for a vibration measurement, we first formulate a matrix by stacking the overlapped short-duration measures, the eigenvector of the largest eigenvalue is taken to represent the original measurement after a sequence of Gaussian smoothing, high frequency suppression, sub-sampling and an additional Fourier transform. A new vibration index, denoted by spectral eigenvector index, is formed as the fingerprint of the vehicle in consequence. A feed-forward Neural Network N with 70 hidden nodes is trained as the vehicle type classifier. Vehicle classification using N trained based on this new index can achieve valuable accuracies for a standard testbed of military vehicles.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in pregnancy.

Background: Although pregnancy was initially considered an absolute contraindication to laparoscopic cholecystectomy, there have been several case reports of successful laparoscopic cholecystectomy in pregnant patients in the literature over the past 4 years. We report our experience with six patients managed successfully with laparoscopic cholecystectomy during pregnancy. Methods: More than 1,300 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were performed by the Norfolk Surgical Group between May 1991 and June 1994. Six of these patients (∼0.5%) were operated on during pregnancy. We reviewed the management and operative technique used in these patients compared to our standard approach. The available literature was reviewed to identify any other factors which might be helpful in the management of these patients. Results: In this series we were able to perform laparoscopic cholecystectomy successfully in all six patients in whom it was attempted, with an overall course similar to that of nonpregnant patients. There were no significant complications to the patient or the fetus. All six patients have delivered healthy children and continue to do well. Discussion: With the addition of our 6 patients, there have been 32 successful laparoscopic cholecystectomies during pregnancy reported in the English literature. We feel laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed safely in pregnant patients and should be considered in any patient who presents with symptomatic cholelithiasis during pregnancy.
Leveraging variation of historical number systems to build understanding of the base-ten place-value system

Prospective elementary school teachers (PTs) come to their mathematics courses fluent in using procedures for adding and subtracting multidigit whole numbers, but many are unaware of the essential features inherent in understanding the base-ten place-value system (i.e., grouping, place value, base). Understanding these features is crucial to understanding and teaching number and place value. The research aims of this paper are (1) to present a local instructional theory (LIT), designed to familiarize PTs with these features through comparison with historical number systems and (2) to present the effects of using the LIT in the PT classroom. A theory of learning (variation theory) is paired with a framework related to motivation (intellectual need) to illustrate the mutually supporting roles they may play in mathematical learning and task design. The LIT, a supporting task sequence, and the rationale for task design are shared. This theoretical contribution is then paired with evidence of PTs’ changing growth in their conceptions of whole number before and after courses leveraging this task sequence.
Reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase in adipocyte plasma membrane and its activation by insulin. Possible role in the hormone's effects on adenylate cyclase and the hexose monophosphate shunt.

Abstract An oxidase activity utilizing reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and producing H2O2 was observed in intact adipocytes of rat, as well as in the isolated plasma membranes of these cells. A stoichiometry of 1 mol of H2O2 production per mole of NADPH disappearance was found with isolated plasma membranes. Activation of this enzyme (R) was produced by pretreatment of cells with insulin, dithiothreitol, or sulfhydryl inhibitors, e.g., p-chloromercuribenzoate or tosyl-l-lysine chloromethyl ketone. All of these agents also stimulated glucose oxidation via the hexose monophosphate shunt. Activation of R was also observed with biologically active derivatives of insulin, e.g., proinsulin or desalanine insulin, but not with an inactive derivative, desoctapeptide insulin. The enzyme could not be activated by exposing the cells to membrane perturbants, e.g., hypotonic conditions or Triton X-100 (0.01–0.1%). The enzyme activity in the plasma membrane had a pH optimum at 6.0 and, from the Lineweaver-Burke plot, V was determined at 230 nmol and Km for NADPH was at 5.8 × 10−5, m . The activity remained unaltered in the presence of sodium azide or cyanide. Preincubation of adipocytes with insulin or SH reagents or direct addition of oxidants, e.g., H2O2, potassium ferricyanide, or phenazine methosulfate, to the membranes also caused inhibition of adenylate cyclase (AC). This enzyme activity could be restored in these preparations by adding thiols. It is suggested that inhibition of AC in whole cells in response to insulin may be caused by oxidation of its SH groups by the H2O2 generated from the activated NADPH oxidase. Reversal of this inhibition may involve cellular reducing equivalents. The evidence suggests that the plasma membrane enzymes, i.e., NADPH oxidase and adenylate cyclase, are controlled, in part, by the intracellular redox potential.
Marine Boundary Layer Clouds Associated with Coastally Trapped Disturbances: Observations and Model Simulations

AbstractModeling marine low clouds and fog in coastal environments remains an outstanding challenge due to the inherently complex ocean–land–atmosphere system. This is especially important in the c...
An Estimation of the Effect of Women's Employment on the Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence in Mexico

Female labor force participation is important for women, children, and societies, but also may have unintended impacts including an increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV is a global health, human rights, and development problem with far-reaching economic and societal consequences. Mexico has a very high prevalence of IPV: 43.9% of Mexican women have reported experiencing IPV at the hands of their current partner. The literature on women's economic participation reveals mixed evidence on whether women's employment is associated with higher levels of IPV or whether it is protective against IPV. As the effect of women's work operates differently across contexts, we aim to estimate the effect of women's employment on their risk of experiencing IPV in rural and urban Mexico. Utilizing the nationally representative 2016 Mexican National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relationships (ENDIREH), we employ propensity score matching (PSM) to address the potential selection bias between women who are employed and/or receiving a cash transfer with women who are not. We additionally implement inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) to explore this relationship and compare the results with the PSM findings. Three different measures of women's economic participation are analyzed: whether they had engaged in any productive work outside of the home in the past year, whether they received conditional cash transfers through Mexico's Prospera program, and whether they received Prospera and worked. Given the high levels of IPV in Mexico and the greater levels of economic participation borne of an increased number of women in the workforce, our results have important potential implications for targeting support to survivors of violence who receive cash transfers and undertake employment in both urban and rural areas.
Advancing Environmental Health Literacy: Validated Scales of General Environmental Health and Environmental Media-Specific Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors.

Environmental health literacy (EHL) involves understanding and using environmental information to make decisions about health. This study developed a validated survey instrument with four scales for assessing media-specific (i.e., air, food, water) and general EHL. The four scales were created as follows: 1) item generation: environmental health scientists and statisticians developed an initial set of items in three domains: knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; 2) item review: items were reviewed for face validity; 3) validation: 174 public health students, the exploratory sample, and 98 community members, the test sample, validated the scales. The scales’ factor structure was based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and model fit was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). For each scale, the final EFA resulted in an independent three-factor solution for knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Good fit for the three-factor structure was observed. Model fit for CFA was generally confirmed with fit indices. The scales showed internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha from 0.63 to 0.70. The 42-item instrument represents an important contribution towards assessing EHL and is designed to enable meaningful engagement between researchers and community members about environmental health. The intended outcome is sustained community–academic partnerships benefiting research design, implementation, translation, dissemination, and community action.
Throughfall volume and chemistry as affected by precipitation volume, sapling size, and defoliation intensity

Throughfall and stemflow are important components of hydrologic processes in forests, but relative contributions of multiple factors, including precipitation volume, plant size, and folivory (leaf removal by defoliators(, on throughfall/stemflow have not been reported. This paper reports the relative influences of precipitation volume (0-230 L m -2 ), sapling size (1.4-6.7 cm diameter at root collar; 0.07-0.45 kg calculated dry foliage mass), and manipulated folivory (0-20% foliage removal) on throughfall volume and N, K, and Ca fluxes as evaluated with stepwise multiple regression in a young Douglass-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) ecosystem. Precipitation volume explained most variation in throughfall volume ( R 2 = 0.81). Folivory and sapling size each had significant but minor effects on throughfall volume and nutrient fluxes. These data indicated that folivore effects, while significant, are masked by precipitation in this wet ecosystem. Wider ranges in sapling size and folivory and/or drier conditions likely would improve interpretation of their influence on throughfall volume and chemistry.
Investment in Green Technology and Entry Deterrence

This paper analyzes an entry-deterrence model in which the incumbent decides whether to invest in research and development (R&D) that promotes clean technology. We consider the case in which the entrant could benefit from a technology spillover and analyze the conditions that facilitate the incumbent’s entry-deterrence behavior. We show that higher levels of the spillover make entry more attractive compared to a standard entry game. In addition, regulator and incumbent prefer entry when the spillover from clean technology is sufficiently high and the cost of investing in R&D is relatively low. However, preferences are misaligned when the spillover and cost of R&D are low.
Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: An Update and Review

Abstract Background In recent years, there has been an increasing burden of child and adolescent mental illness recognized in the United States, and the need for pediatric mental health care is growing. Pediatric consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatrists are increasingly playing a role in the management of medical and psychiatric disease for pediatric patients. The field is a fast-moving one, with understanding of new neuropsychiatric disease entities; reformulation of prior disease entities; and new interdisciplinary treatments and models of care. Methods In this study, we aim to review recent advances in the field of pediatric C-L psychiatry, including new diagnostic entities, updated management of frequently encountered clinical presentations, and developments in systems of care. Conclusion The advances in pediatric C-L psychiatry are broad and serve to promote more streamlined, evidence-based care for the vulnerable population of psychiatrically ill pediatric medical patients. More work remains to determine the most effective interventions for the wide array of presentations seen by pediatric C-L psychiatrists.
Bisexuality and /s/ production

The belief that there are systematic differences in speech production as a function of sexual orientation has inspired a vast body of linguistic research investigating the acoustic correlates of sounding queer. Although gay-sounding voices and to a lesser extent lesbian-sounding voices are well represented in this literature, bisexuality is conspicuously absent. The current study addresses this gap through an acoustic analysis of bisexual English speakers’ read speech vis-a-vis lesbian, gay, and straight speakers, specifically attending to three measures of the voiceless alveolar fricative /s/: center of gravity, skew, and duration. A qualitative analysis of post-test participant information surveys contextualizes the statistical results. The study finds that bisexual women and men do not pattern consistently with lesbian, gay, or straight speakers, or even with each other. The results call into question the common methodological practice of grouping bisexual speakers with lesbian and gay speakers a priori and underscore the importance of intersectionality, gender normativity, and ideology in sociophonetic studies of sexuality and the voice.
Kinetics and dynamics of surface thermal oxidation in Al-ZrB2 nanocomposites

Abstract Aluminum nanocomposites are important for various applications. However, it’s not understood how thermal oxidation can be altered by their nano-scale reinforcements. Here, we systematically studied the kinetics and dynamics of the thermal oxidation in in-situ Al-ZrB2 nanocomposites in air. The results indicate that the ZrB2 nanoparticles enhance the thermal stability of the Al crystal planes. It’s also confirmed that ZrB2 worsens the anti-oxidation performance of Al under lower temperature ( 673 K). A detailed quantitative study indicates the electric field-controlled mechanism dominates the oxidation. This understanding will be of significance for engineering their surface properties.
Artificial Muscles for Underwater Soft Robotic System

Soft actuators, often also referred as artificial muscles, have been intensively developed in recent decades for constructing novel soft robots and machines. Diverse materials and structures have been designed and fabricated to exhibit various actuating behaviors. This chapter briefly reviews several representative soft actuators that have been recently widely explored, including pneumatic/hydraulic actuators, electroactive polymers, liquid crystal elastomers, responsive hydrogels, shape memory polymers, twisted fiber artificial muscles, and magneto-active elastomers. Their fabrication, performance, unique features, and modelling are discussed in detail. We also discuss special requirements of soft actuators for underwater soft robotic systems.
Coding of chromatic spatial contrast by macaque V1 neurons

Color perception relies on spatial comparisons of chromatic signals, but how the brain performs these comparisons is poorly understood. Here, we show that many V1 neurons compare signals across their receptive fields (RF) using a common principle. We estimated the spatial-chromatic RFs of each neuron, and then measured neural selectivity to customized colored edges that were sampled using a novel closed-loop technique. We found that many double-opponent (DO) cells, which have spatially and chromatically opponent RFs, responded to chromatic contrast as a weighted sum, akin to how simple cells respond to luminance contrast. Other neurons integrated chromatic signals non-linearly, confirming that linear signal integration is not an obligate property of V1 neurons. The functional similarity of DO and simple cells suggests a common underlying neural circuitry, promotes the construction of image-computable models for full-color image representation, and sheds new light on V1 complex cells.
Analysis of Training Data Sets in Artificial Neural Networks Applied to a Radio Frequency Problem

In this paper, a novel study has been carried out to understand the functionality of artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms on a radio frequency (RF) problem. Determining the dominant TM 0 resonant frequency of a rectangular microstrip patch located above dielectric substrate backed by a ground plane has been chosen as our RF problem. Extensive training has been carried out using two widely used ANN algorithms: radial basis function (RBF) and feed-forward backpropagation network (FFBNET). Later, a different input testing data set was generated and fed into the ANN algorithms to determine the resonant frequency. Comparative analysis indicated that the RBF is suitable for small data sets whereas the FFBNET is applicable to large data sets.
Anterior cingulate and putamen neurons flexibly learn whether a hot dog is a sandwich.

Policy search lets you discover rules and adapt behavior. In this issue of Neuron, Cohen et al. (2021) demonstrate that the dynamics of neurons in primate anterior cingulate cortex and putamen indicate when a correct policy is discovered and confidence in executing decisions under that policy.
Data Points Clustering via Gumbel Softmax

Finding useful patterns in the dataset has been a fascinating topic, and one of the most researched problems in this area is identifying the cluster groups within the dataset. This research paper introduces a “new data clustering method” called Data Points Clustering via Gumbel Softmax (DPCGS) and demonstrates that it is suitable for clustering the data points datasets. We evaluate DPCGS efficiency and clustering quality through several experiments. Experiments show that statistically relevant clustering structures can be identified with our method, depending on the dataset. We also present a performance comparison table where we use datasets such as Wine, Wheat seeds, Iris, Wisconsin breast cancer and compare the DPCGS results with different benchmarking and recently proposed clustering algorithms such as Birch, K-Means, Affinity propagation, Agglomerative clustering, and Mini-batch K-Means and Nested mini-batch K-Means. Our method DPCGS performs better than most of the previously and recently proposed clustering algorithms.
Compensating Founders and Executives, Unit 13 from open-access book Entrepreneurship Law: Company Creation

Unit 13 covers: • Compensating Owners and Execs in Unincorporated Entities • Compensating Owners and Execs in Corporations • Incentive Stock Options • Non-qualified Stock Options • Stock Appreciation Rights
Internationalizing college algebra

Few undergraduate classes match the potential of college algebra to internationalize the university experience. The complexity and variability of the world’s most pressing issues—of health outcomes, income, access to education, access to clean water—mean that a great deal of influential information is conveyed mathematically, usually as tables of values and graphs.
Brief communication: Investigation of the semicircular canal variation in the Krapina Neandertals.

Previous studies comparing bony labyrinth morphology in geographically-dispersed samples of Neandertals and modern Homo sapiens (H. sapiens) showed that Neandertals generally have smaller semicircular canals than modern H. sapiens (Hublin et al., 1996; Spoor et al., 2003; Glantz et al., 2008). Here we analyze the morphology of a single group of Neandertal specimens from one locale, the Krapina site, to determine the intraspecific variation in Neandertal semicircular canal sizes. Dimensions of the semicircular canals were collected from computed tomography scans of nine temporal bones. With the rare exception, the dimensions of the semicircular canals in the Krapina sample are similar to those previously reported across a geographically-dispersed sample of Neandertals, further supporting previous studies that suggest low levels of variation in the semicircular canals for Neandertals. Am J Phys Anthropol 154:302–306, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Adiabatic compression of a closed-field-line configuration by a centimeter-size liner

The paper considers adiabatic compression of a pre-formed closed field line configuration by an imploding liner. Three configurations are discussed: the field-reversed configuration, the spheromak and the Z-pinch. It is shown that, by employing a 2D-compression, one can reach a break-even condition with an energy input as low as 100 kJ. It is emphasized that the possibility of performing crucial experiments on small-to-medium-scale experimental devices may considerably shorten the development path for the system under consideration.
Information Technology Payoff in E-Business Environments: An International Perspective on Value Creation of E-Business in the Financial Services Industry

Grounded in the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework, we develop a research model for assessing the value of e-business at the firm level. Based on this framework, we formulate six hypotheses and identify six factors (technology readiness, firm size, global scope, financial resources, competition intensity, and regulatory environment) that may affect value creation of e-business. Survey data from 612 firms across 10 countries in the financial services industry were collected and used to test the theoretical model. To examine how e-business value is influenced by economic environments, we compare two subsamples from developed and developing countries. Based on structural equation modeling, our empirical analysis demonstrates several key findings: (1) Within the TOE framework, technology readiness emerges as the strongest factor for e-business value, while financial resources, global scope, and regulatory environment also significantly contribute to e-business value. (2) Firm size is negatively related to e-business value, suggesting that structural inertia associated with large firms tends to retard e-business value. (3) Competitive pressure often drives firms to adopt e-business, but e-business value is associated more with internal organizational resources (e.g., technological readiness) than with external pressure to adopt. (4) While financial resources are an important factor in developing countries, technological capabilities become far more important in developed countries. This suggests that as firms move into deeper stages of e-business transformation, the key determinant of e-business value shifts from monetary spending to higher dimensions of organizational capabilities. (5) Government regulation plays a much more important role in developing countries than in developed countries. These findings indicate the usefulness of the proposed research model and theoretical framework for studying e-business value. They also provide insights for both business managers and policy-makers.
A Hybrid of Counterexample-Based and Proof-Based Abstraction

Counterexample- and proof-based refinement are complementary approaches to iterative abstraction. In the former case, a single abstract counterexample is eliminated by each refinement step, while in the latter case, all counterexamples of a given length are eliminated. In counterexample-based abstraction, the concretization and refinement problems are relatively easy, but the number of iterations tends to be large. Proof-based abstraction, on the other hand, puts a greater burden on the refinement step, which can then become the performance bottleneck. In this paper, we show that counterexample- and proof-based refinement are extremes of a continuum, and propose a hybrid approach that balances the cost and quality of refinement. In a study of a large number of industrial verification problems, we find that there is a strong relation between the effort applied in the refinement phase and the number of refinement iterations. For this reason, proof-based abstraction is substantially more efficient than counterexample-based abstraction. However, a judicious application of the hybrid approach can lessen the refinement effort without unduly increasing the number of iterations, yielding a method that is somewhat more robust overall.
The Search for Fair Agency Process: The Immigration Opinions of Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, 1994-2010

Judge Michael Daly Hawkins has been a member of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals since 1994; but he has been concerned with the forms and varieties of administrative or bureaucratic process his entire career. When he became a member of the federal judiciary, his role was clearly altered. However, his commitment to fairness and integrity in adjudication remained undiminished. This article will explore some of Judge Hawkins’s many immigration decisions, both majority and dissenting opinions, which reflect his commitment to the preservation of a due process.The reality of immigration adjudication in the Ninth Circuit is that there are a vast number of non-precedential, “unpublished” decisions issued by three judge panels with a heavy role for the staff attorneys drafting all or parts of the opinion. It is in this context that we examine the key immigration cases of Judge Hawkins, knowing that no immigration opinion can be written in the Ninth Circuit without an understanding that perhaps one hundred or more immigration cases may be decided in a month within the Ninth Circuit alone.
Learning in Genetic Algorithms

Learning in artificial neural networks is often cast as the problem of “teaching” a set of stimulus-response (or input-output) pairs to an appropriate mathematical model which abstracts certain known properties of neural networks. A paradigm which has been developed independently of neural network models are genetic algorithms (GA). In this paper we introduce a mathematical framework concerning the manner in which genetic algorithms can learn, and show that gradient descent can be used in this frameork as well. In order to develop this theory, we use a class of stochastic genetic algorithms (GA) based on a population of chromosomes with mutation and crossover, as well as fitness, which we have described earlier in [18].
Flavodoxin CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

Flavodoxin contains flavin mononucleotide as the flavin prosthetic group. One mole of FMN is bound per mole of flavodoxin and can be dissociated by sodium mersalyl and by guanidine-HCl. Flavodoxin contains 149 amino acid residues per mole. Amino acid analysis indicates 1 cysteine residue per mole, but no free sulfhydryl was detected. Apoflavodoxin, however, contains free sulfhydryl. An oxidation-reduction potential of -0.28 volt has been calculated for flavodoxin from spectrophotometric measurements of the equilibrium reaction of reduced triphosphopyridine nucleotide and flavodoxin catalyzed by spinach triphosphopyridine nucleotide reductase. Flavodoxin has been shown to replace bacterial ferredoxin in the reduction of TPN by extracts of Clostridium pasteurianum and to replace plant ferredoxin in the reduction of TPN by illuminated chloroplasts.
Statistical measurement of the combined effect of PMD and PDL using a 10-Gb/s recirculating loop testbed

The combined effect of polarisation mode dispersion (PMD) and polarization dependent loss (PDL) is investigated statistically using a 10-Gb/s, 8/spl times/82-km, recirculating fiber-loop testbed. As average PDL varies from 1.0 to 2.1 dB with a fixed average PMD of 18 ps, the power penalty at 2% probability increases from 2.5 to 4.3 dB.
What Is the Value of Public School Accountability

In this review essay, Michael Gunzenhauser and Andrea Hyde consider three recent edited collections that address the potential value of public school accountability policy: Kenneth Sirotnik’s Holding Accountability Accountable: What Ought to Matter in Public Education; Martin Carnoy, Richard Elmore, and Leslie Santee Siskin’s The New Accountability: High Schools and High-Stakes Testing; and Linda Skrla and James Scheurich’s Educational Equity and Accountability: Paradigms, Policies, and Politics. Taken together, the texts provide a snapshot of current scholarly discourse about the phenomenon of accountability policy and provide educators with conceptual tools for analyzing and responding to accountability pressures. While these conceptual distinctions help advance scholarly discourse on accountability, ultimately the texts demonstrate the conceptual poverty of accountability policy for guiding educational improvement. Gunzenhauser and Hyde argue that current state accountability systems are not likely to encourage the broad, systemic capacity building that these three volumes describe as fundamental to achieving the requirements of federal policies.
Effect of vegetable and animal protein diets in chronic hepatic encephalopathy.

In the present investigation, studies were carried out to examine the effect of a vegetable-protein diet as compared to an animal-protein diet on standard clinical and laboratory parameters in 3 patients with chronic hepatic encephalopathy. To evaluate more objectively the effects of vegetable or animal protein diets, an hepatic encephalopathy index was developed, and this included the following parameters: fetor hepaticus, asterixis, stage of hepatic coma (Parson-Smith), arterial ammonia levels, EEG, Reitan trail test, and any reduction or improvement in dietary protein tolerance. In controlled, randomized, single-blind trials, it was found that a vegetable-protein diet resulted in overall clinical improvement, decreased hepatic encephalopathy index scores, decreased arterial ammonia levels, improved performance on intellectual tasks, and in one case, markedly improved protein tolerance. Further, the beneficial effects of a vegetable-protein diet were enhanced by the use of the synthetic disaccharide, lactulose. These studies do not provide a clear-cut definition of the mechanism for the observed beneficial effects of vegetable protein in chronic hepatic encephalopathy. However, the most plausible explanation is that vegetable-protein diets contain lower amounts of certain amino acids and other putative materials which may be important in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy.
Natural frequencies for out-of-plane vibrations of continuous curved beams considering shear and rotary inertia

Abstract The dynamic stiffness matrix for horizontally circular curved members of constant section is presented for determining natural frequencies of continuous curved beams undergoing out-of-plane vibrations. A three-span curved beam is provided to illustrate the application of the proposed method and to show the effects of transverse shear, rotary inertia and the opening angle of the arc on the natural frequencies of the beam.
CONCEPTUALIZING THE GOAL AND SYSTEM MODELS OF ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS —IMPLICATIONS FOR COMPARATIVE EVALUATION RESEARCH

The lack of comparative evaluation research on organizational-effectiveness models is the primary focus of this discussion. Problems in conceptually and operationally defining evaluation models, such as those in the goal and system model classes, are the proposed reason for this lack of comparative research. In this paper, goal and system models are formally defined in terms of their historical origins, underlying criteria and differing methods of application. A goal and system model classification continuum is also presented. Five comparative evaluation research questions are proposed and their implications for research are discussed. From a theoretical perspective this paper attempts to go beyond the sound foundation laid by Campbell (1977) in his discussion of these two schools of thought on organizational effectiveness.
Trisomy 22 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia and absence of corpus callosum in a liveborn premature infant.

We report on a liveborn premature male with trisomy 22 who had multiple congenital anomalies, including congenital diaphragmatic hernia and absence of corpus callosum. He died of pulmonary hypoplasia associated with diaphragmatic hernia within 12 hours of age. Chromosome analysis by multiple banding techniques based on lymphocyte culture confirmed that he had trisomy 22. This may be the first report of congenital diaphragmatic hernia and isolated absence of corpus callosum associated with trisomy 22. © Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A Non—Ion-Pairing HPLC Method for Measuring New Forms of Ascorbate and Ascorbic Acid

Abstract A new high-performance liquid-chromatography (HPLC) method separates vitamins L-ascorbic acid (C1) and L-ascorbyl-2-sulfate (C2). Previous HPLC reverse phase methods utilized ion-pairing reagents and resulted in co-elution with other substances. Vitamin C1 preceded C2 in retention time. In this new method, which deletes the ion-pairing reagent, vitamin C2 precedes the elution of vitamin C1. This new direct method allows for a better separation from other conflicting metabolites and constituents of extraction mixtures. In addition, this method provides a way of identifying ascorbyl-2-monophosphate (C3). a form of vitamin C that may be found in animal diets. Examples will be shown of HPLC profiles of extractives from tissue and diets known to contain these new forms of vitamin C.
Lipidomics Reveals a Link between CYP1B1 and SCD1 in Promoting Obesity

Cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) is involved in the metabolism of xenobiotic compounds and endogenous metabolites. Disruption of Cyp1b1 in mice results in suppression of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and an extensive change in hepatic energy regulation despite minimal constitutive expression of CYP1B1 in hepatocytes. Lack of CYP1B1 is correlated with altered lipid metabolism, especially lysophosphatidylcholines, contributing to protection against obesity. Ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-QTOFMS)-based metabolomics revealed lysophosphatidylcholine 18:0 (LPC 18:0) as a biomarker positively related to HFD-induced obesity. The increased serum LPC 18:0 in wild-type mice is reduced in Cyp1b1-null mice on a HFD, which is reversed in CYP1B1-humanized mice. CYP1B1-humanized mice show higher diet-induced obesity compared with Cyp1b1-null mice, suggesting that human CYP1B1 shows a similar response to HFD as mouse Cyp1b1. In addition, hepatic stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) expression was decreased in Cyp1b1-null mice, and the attenuated diet-induced obesity and lower serum LPC 18:0 in the Cyp1b1-null mice is elevated after SCD1 overexpression, suggesting that SCD1 is correlated with CYP1B1-induced obesity. These studies establish a biochemical link between cytochromes P450, lipids, and metabolic disorders and suggest that inhibition of CYP1B1 could be target for antiobesity drugs.
Mate choice and reproductive success of pikas

Abstract Factors affecting mate choice and female reproductive success were studied in a population of pikas,Ochotona princeps, in northeastern Oregon. Features of the den habitat (number of entrances to the den, size of the surrounding talus, distance to vegetation, amount of grass and forb present) and the mate or potential mate (weight and age) were analysed with respect to their effects on offspring production and survival, maternal survival and female mate choice. Female pikas chose mates primarily on the basis of the type of den available and the distance from the den to vegetation. These features were the primary determinants of the number of young weaned, but had no significant effects on maternal survival. Paternal weight was an important influence on offspring production, but its effect on female fitness was tempered by a negative effect on female survival. Characteristics important to female choice had no significant influence on the survival of young between weaning and natal dispersal and so cannot be considered to be male ‘handicaps’. Male pikas tended to be philopatric so that sons of males with territories that were attractive to females tended to inherit the attractive territories of their fathers. Female choice among pikas is thus best explained by Darwin's and Fisher's theories of intersexual selection.
Microvascular spasm as a cause of cardiomyopathies and the calcium-blocking agent verapamil as potential primary therapy

The origin of cardiomyopathies, a major cause of cardiac disability and death, has been largely unexplained. Pathologic features, common to all cardiomyopathies independent of origin, include ventricular hypertrophy and diffuse scarring with variable amounts of ventricular dilatation. This problem was studied experimentally in 2 models of congestive cardiomyopathy: the hereditary cardiomyopathic Syrian hamster and the hypertensive-diabetic rat. In both the genetic and the acquired disease models, there is focal myocytolytic necrosis followed by healing with focal scars, ventricular wall hypertrophy, ventricular dilatation with congestive heart failure and, ultimately, death. In view of the heterogeneous pathologic features of both diseases, silicone rubber perfusions have been used to study the microcirculation of the heart in these animals; microvascular spasm has been demonstrated early in the disease associated with small areas of myocytolytic necrosis that undergo subsequent fibrosis. Reactive hypertrophy then ensues as a compensatory response to this myocellular necrosis; it is the combination of cell loss and slowly decreasing contractility resulting from the reactive hypertrophy, which culminates in a cardiomyopathy. Administration of verapamil or prazosin to the cardiomyopathic Syrian hamster prevents microvascular spasm and development of cardiomyopathic changes in the myocardium. In view of these and other findings related to the anatomy and hyperreactivity of microcirculation, it is concluded that hypertrophic congestive cardiomyopathies may be caused by focal cell loss due to microvascular spasm and reperfusion injury, with the subsequent development of focal fibrosis and reactive hypertrophy in response to the myocardial necrosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae decreases cilia beating via protein kinase C epsilon

Background Haemophilus influenzae infection of the nasal epithelium has long been associated with observations of decreased nasal ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and injury to the ciliated epithelium. Previously, we have reported that several agents that slow CBF also have the effect of activating protein kinase C epsilon (PKCϵ) activity in bronchial epithelial cells. The subsequent auto-downregulation of PKCϵ or the direct inhibition of PKCϵ leads to the specific detachment of the ciliated cells. METHODS: Primary cultures of ciliated bovine bronchial epithelial cells were exposed to filtered conditioned media supernatants from non-typeable H. influenzae (NTHi) cultures. CBF and motile points were measured and PKCϵ activity assayed.
Microbubble drag reduction in liquid turbulent boundary layers

The interactions between a dense cloud of small bubbles and a liquid turbulent boundary layer are reviewed on the basis of available experimental observations to understand and quantify their capability for reducing skin friction. Gas bubbles are generally introduced into the boundary layer by injection through a porous surface or by electrolysis. After injection, the bubbles stay near the wall in boundary-layer-like fashion giving rise to strong gradients in both velocity and gas concentration. In general, the magnitude of the skin friction reduction increases as the volume of bubbles in the boundary layer is increased until a maximum skin friction reduction of typically 80–90% of the undisturbed skin friction level is reached. The volumetric gas flow required for this maximum is nominally equal to the volume flow of the liquid in the boundary layer. Bubble size estimates indicate that in most microbubble experiments the bubbles have been intermediate in size between the inner and outer scales of the undisturbed boundary layer. Additional studies with other nondimensional bubble sizes would be useful. However, the bubble size is most likely controlled by the injection process, and considerably different conditions would be required to change this ratio appreciably. The trajectories of the bubble clouds are primarily determined by the random effects of turbulence and bubble-bubble interactions. The effects of buoyancy represent a weaker effect. The trajectories are unlike the deterministic trajectory of an individual bubble in a time-averaged boundary layer. Bubbles are most effective in high speed boundary layers and, for the bubble sizes tested to date, produce an effect that persists for some one hundred boundary layer thicknesses. Modeling suggests that microbubbles reduce skin friction by increasing the turbulence Reynolds number in the buffer layer in a manner similar to polymers. Although the effects of microbubbles are consistent and reproducible, their primary practical limitation is the volume of gas needed. Studies aimed at reducing the volumetric gas flow requirements are recommended. Potential applications would favor high speed vehicles operating near the surface where pumping work is minimized.
Chemical Rearrangement under Hydrothermal Conditions: Formation of Polymeric Chains (CuX)2(dpiz) and (CuX)3(dpiz) (X = Cl, Br; dpiz = Dipyrido[1,2-a:2‘,3‘-d]imidazole) and Crystal Structures of [(CuCl)2(C10H7N3)] and [(CuBr)3(C10H7N3)]

Reactions of CuX2 (X = Cl, Br) and 2,2‘-dipyridylamine (dpa) in superheated water (170 °C) led to a chemical rearrangement of dpa to dpiz (dpiz = dipyrido[1,2-a:2‘,3‘-d]imidazole = C10H7N3) and new Cu(I)-based coordination polymers (CuX)2(dpiz) and (CuX)3(dpiz). The crystal structures of [(CuCl)2(C10H7N3)] (I) and [(CuBr)3(C10H7N3)] (II) were reported. The two structures are built upon a common structural motif Cu2X4(C10H7N3).