cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Shared-Savings Contracts for Indirect Materials in Supply Chains: Channel Profits and Environmental Impacts

There are many materials for which the quantity needed by a firm is at best indirectly related to the quantity of final product produced by that firm, such as solvents in manufacturing processes or office supplies. For any such "indirect" materials, an inescapable incentive conflict exists: The buyer wishes to minimize consumption of these indirect materials, while the supplier's profits depend on increasing volume. Both buyer and supplier can exert effort to reduce consumption, hence making the overall supply chain more efficient. However, no supplier will voluntarily participate unless contract terms are fundamentally revised. This can be done through a variety of "shared-savings" contracts, where both parties profit from a consumption reduction. This paper analyzes several such contracts currently in use for chemicals purchasing. We show that such contracts can always increase supply-chain profits but need not lead to reduced consumption. We analyze equilibrium effort levels, consumption, and total profits, and show how these change with the contract parameters. We find that the goals of maximizing joint profits and minimizing consumption are generally not aligned. Also, surprisingly, a decrease in a cost parameter can lead to a decrease in profits; it may be necessary but is always possible to renegotiate the shared-savings contract to reap the benefits of a cost decrease.
Creatine uptake and creatine transporter expression among rat skeletal muscle fiber types

Total creatine (Crtotal = phosphocreatine + creatine) concentrations differ substantially among mammalian skeletal muscle. Because the primary means to add Crtotal to muscle is uptake of creatine t...
A data type to exploit online data sources

Recent work in developing student assignments has involved making use of online data resources to make them more interesting and to give students real world information to interact with in some manner. While definitely a practical approach, the work that has been done so far is either for "CS0" courses targeted at non-majors, often using tools like Microsoft Excel, or courses that require a level of skill at programming from the students. Additionally, existing tools are specific to a particular structure of the data (CSV, XML, and others). As a result, these constraints make on-line real-world data sets difficult to use in typical introductory programming courses for majors.Objects-first approaches to teaching introductory programming advocate the use of objects early on. Consequently, students are able to take advantage of using data types early on. We have created an interface that allows students to access real-world data sets from online (or local) sources in a uniform fashion. This abstraction allows students with minimal programming experience to load, process, and manipulate external data sets in a variety of formats. We also developed a lab assignment where students accessed an online CSV data source to demonstrate feasibility and to gain experience with classroom use of this approach.
Diversity by race, Hispanic ethnicity, and sex of the United States medical oncology physician workforce over the past quarter century.

Purpose: To assess the medical oncology (MO) physician workforce diversity by race, Hispanic ethnicity, and sex, with attention to trainees. Methods: Public registries were used to assess 2010 differences among MO practicing physicians, academic faculty, and fellows; internal medicine (IM) residents; and the US population, using binomial tests with P .001 significance adjusting for multiple comparisons. Significant changes in fellow representation from 1986 to 2011 were assessed. Results: Female representation as MO fellows (45.0%) was significantly increased compared with faculty (22.4%) and practicing physicians (27.4%); was no different than IM residents (44.7%, P .853); and increased significantly, by 1.0% per year. Women were significantly underrepresented as practicing physicians, faculty, and fellows compared with the US population (50.8%). Traditionally underrepresented minorities in medicine (URM) were significantly underrepresented as practicing physicians (7.8%), faculty (5.7%), and fellows (10.9%), versus US population (30.0%). Hispanic MO fellows (7.5%) were increased compared with faculty (3.9%) and practicing physicians (4.1%); Black fellows (3.1%) were no different than faculty (1.8%, P .0283) or practicing physicians (3.5%, P .443). When comparing MO fellows versus IM residents, there were no differences for American Indians/ Alaska Natives/Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (0.3%, 0.6%, respectively, P .137) and Hispanics (7.5%, 8.7%, P .139), unlike Blacks (3.1%, 5.6%, P .001). There has been no significant change in URM representation, with negligible changes every 5 years for American Indians/Alaska Natives/ Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders (0.1%), Blacks (0.3%), and Hispanics (0.3%). Conclusions: Female fellow representation increased 1% per year over the quarter century indicating historical gains, whereas URM diversity remains unchanged. For Blacks alone, representation as MO fellows is decreased compared with IM residents, suggesting greater disparity in MO training.
"Where National Revolutionary Ends and Communist Begins": The League against Imperialism and the Meerut Conspiracy Case

The colonial state specifically targeted the League against Imperialism (LAI) as an institution on trial in Meerut; however, authorities did not arrest and charge Jawaharlal Nehru, the official representative of the LAI in India. Louro’s article argues that this oversight on the part of the colonial state was not coincidence, but rather a maneuver designed to construct the LAI, an international anti-imperialist institution based in Berlin, as anathema to the anticolonial nationalist movement led by Nehru and other leaders of the Indian National Congress (INC). Rather than create an opportunity for anticolonial nationalists and anti-imperialists abroad to challenge this colonial maneuver, the Meerut trial deepened the fragmentation of solidarities Nehru forged among the LAI, international anti-imperialists, and the anticolonial nationalists of the INC.
The Influence of Muscle Physiology and Advanced Technology on Sports Performance

Muscle mechanical output such as force and power are governed by highly nonlinear intrinsic muscle properties associated with different muscle fiber types and are influenced by training and age. Many of the interactions between these properties pose trade-offs such that an individual’s anthropometrics and muscle morphology may allow an athlete to excel in one sport but not in others. Advanced modeling and simulation techniques are powerful tools to gain insight into performance limits, optimal equipment designs, and mechanisms that may lead to injury. Recent technological innovations have produced faster running tracks, bicycles, speed skates, and swimming pools. This review discusses the influence of intrinsic muscle properties in sports and how advanced technology can be used to extend the limits of human performance.
High‐gradient magnetic separation of coated magnetic nanoparticles

The feasibility is examined of using high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) to recover about 8-nm magnetite nanoparticles that are tailored specifically to extract target solutes (polymer-coated nanoparticles for the extraction of soluble organic contaminants from water and phospholipid-coated particles for the selective extraction of proteins). A general model for nanoparticle capture based on calculating the limit of static nanoparticle buildup around the wires in an HGMS column is presented. Model predictions are compared successfully with experimental results from a bench-scale HGMS column for both the polymer- and phospholipid-coated particles. A minimum diameter for successful particle capture is derived for both individually dispersed nanoparticles and aggregates of nanoparticles. The individually dispersed polymer-coated nanoparticles are less easily captured in the HGMS column than are the phospholipid-coated particles, which exist as submicron aggregates. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 50: 2835–2848, 2004
Gross and Microscopic Pathological Changes Associated With Nonthoracotomy Implantable Defibrillator Leads

Background—Although the effects of epicardial implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) leads on underlying cardiac tissue have been reported, the gross and microscopic changes associated with endocardial ICD leads are less well described. This study describes the gross and microscopic changes associated with endocardial ICD leads in humans. Methods and Results—The hearts from 8 patients were examined. At the time of ICD implantation, the patients’ mean age was 47±11 years, and the left ventricular ejection fraction was 0.24±0.10. Four patients had ischemic heart disease, and 4 had dilated cardiomyopathy. Five hearts were examined after transplantation; 3, after death. The electrode-myocardial interfaces were characterized by intense endocardial fibrosis and were remarkably consistent. Each lead was encased by a ring of fibroelastic tissue, and there was fibrosis of the right ventricular myocardium adjacent to the leads. Fibrosis involved the tricuspid valve in 5 patients, and 1 had perforation of the ...
On Heavy Ion Induced Hard-Errors in Dielectric Structures

Heavy ion induced failures in SiO2 and SiO2/Si3N4 composite capacitors were studied for ion linear energy transfers (LETs) from 15 to 85 MeV/(mg/cm2). Key findings of this study were the following: 1) hard errors are caused by a combination of energy deposited by the ion and from electrical conduction through the plasma channel formed by the ion strike, 2) there is an inverse linear relationship between ion energy deposition and the bias voltage required for composite device failure and 3) the angular dependence of the failure threshold voltage closely follows an inverse cosine relationship. Empirical equations are presented that allow the critical failure thresholds to be calculated from the ion LET for both silicon dioxide and metal-nitride-oxide-semiconductor (MNOS) composite devices. A failure model is proposed based on the energy deposition in the dielectric and rapid thermal diffusion of gate material through the dielectric.
Trusting Your Gut, Among Other Things: Digestive Enzyme Secretion, Intuition, and the History of Science

The role of intuition in scientific endeavor is examined through the lens of three philosophers/historians of science—Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and Gerald Holton. All three attribute an important role to imagination/intuition in scientific endeavor. As a case study, the article examines the controversy between the generally accepted Vesicular Sequestration/Exocytosis Model of pancreatic digestive enzyme secretion and an alternative view called the Equilibrium Model. It highlights the intertwining of intuition and reason in the genesis of the Equilibrium Model developed in response to findings that could not readily be explained by the consensus view. It suggests that tacit knowledge/understanding works in conjunction with philosophical and aesthetic presuppositions that function to a greater or lesser extent below awareness. Together they guide judgments about whether falsification has occurred and help frame alternative theories.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system activities in Pima Indians and Caucasians

It has been proposed that both hypercortisolism and low sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity contribute to obesity. Because glucocorticoids inhibit SNS activity, we hypothesized that hypercortisolism and low SNS activity may be found in association in Pima Indians, a population with a high prevalence of obesity. We therefore measured indices of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and SNS activities in 39 nondiabetic men, 20 Pimas (age, 30 ± 5 years; weight, 94 ± 26 kg; 35% ± 8% body fat [mean ± SD]) and 19 Caucasians (33 ± 9 years, 91 ± 23 kg, 28% ± 11% body fat). HPA axis activity was assessed by measurements of morning fasting plasma corticotropin (ACTH) and cortisol concentrations and 24-hour urinary free cortisol (UFC) excretion. SNS activity was assessed as muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) by microneurography and by measurement of catecholamines (fasting plasma concentration and 24-hour urinary excretion). Plasma ACTH and cortisol and UFC were similar in Pimas and Caucasians. MSNA was positively correlated with percent body fat (r = .49, P = .002) and was lower in Pimas compared with Caucasians after adjustment for percent body fat (24 ± 9 v 31 ± 10 bursts/min, P = .04). We conclude that Pima Indians, a population with a high prevalence of obesity, have lower SNS activity but normal HPA axis activity compared with Caucasians.
Note on combining risks using a logistic discriminant function approach

A simple method for combining risks based on repeated observations on an individual is presented. Implications of this model are explored for several special cases, and an example is presented.
Safety of 2 Recombinant Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Envelope Vaccines in Neonates Born to HIV-1-Infected Women

To determine the safety of 2 candidate vaccines against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), a randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial compared low, medium, and high doses of the vaccines or an adjuvant among infants born to HIV-infected women. No local or systemic reactions of grade 2 or greater were reported 48 h after the subjects underwent immunization. Grade 3 or 4 chemistry toxicities occurred in 5 (3%) and grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxicities in 17 (11%) of 154 vaccinated subjects (not significantly different from 29 adjuvant recipients). CD4(+) cell percentages of < or = 20% occurred at least once in 9 vaccinated subjects and 1 control subject. Sustained CD4(+) cell percentages of < or = 20% occurred in 4 HIV-infected children. Fourteen infants (8%) were confirmed to be HIV-infected; median CD4(+) cell counts among these children were 2074, 1674, 1584, and 821 cells/mm(3) at birth and weeks 24, 52, and 104, respectively. Thus, both vaccines were safe and well tolerated in neonates, and there was no evidence of accelerated immunologic decline in HIV-infected infants.
Angiogenesis in multiple myeloma

Angiogenesis is the process of new blood vessel formation, and normally occurs during embryonal growth, wound healing, and the menstrual cycle. It is essential for the proliferation and metastases of most malignant neoplasms. There is now growing evidence that angiogenesis is increased and is likely important in multiple myeloma. Recent evidence suggests that angiogenesis is greater in multiple myeloma compared to monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Angiogenic cytokines such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are expressed by neoplastic plasma cells, and may play a role in the increased angiogenesis seen in myeloma. In a study of 400 patients with plasma cell disorders, microvascular density (MVD) was significantly higher in smoldering myeloma, newly diagnosed myeloma, and relapsed myeloma compared to controls, MGUS, and primary amyloidosis. In another study involving 74 newly diagnosed patients with myeloma treated at the Mayo Clinic, overall survival was significantly longer in patients with low-grade angiogenesis compared to those with high-grade or intermediate-grade angiogenesis. The finding of increased angiogenesis in myeloma provides the rationale for the study of antiangiogenic therapy in this disease.
The S ocial Maze: Navigating the Space Between Cultural Ideas and Social Action in an Urban World

This dissertation explores the paths individuals and organizations take to choose cultural ideas and transform those ideas into social actions. Each chapter is written as an article to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. Data for this set of articles comes from content analysis of the Dear Abby newspaper column, archival records from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the stories of professional city planners working in a particular planning context. These studies are not psychological examinations of why actors select certain cultural ideas over others. Rather, the studies examine the structural elements actors navigate in modern life such as the extent to which choices are voluntary; shifting cultural ideas and expectations; and the need for trusted sources for sanctions and rewards. The first chapter introduces the four chapters that follow and situates these within the context of social change. The second chapter uses content analysis to view the Dear Abby newspaper column from 1956-2005 as a modern reflection of Durkheim’s concept of the conscience collective. The third chapter uses content analysis from twenty-one Dear Abby newspaper columns to examine the current relevance of neighboring. The fourth chapter uses archival information from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s collection at the University of Maryland to offer a case study of a social movement organization that has had and continues to have an influence on local development decisions. The fifth chapter uses the stories of professional planners to describe how conflicting institutional values are negotiated and used in a particular planning practice context. The sixth chapter is a general conclusion for the dissertation. It ties the preceding four chapters together and discusses the contributions and limitations of this study as well as areas for future research
The Disparate Impact of Metropolitan Economic Change: The Growth of Extreme Poverty Neighborhoods, 1970–1990*

: Metropolitan areas have experienced an increase in neighborhood poverty over the last few decades. Two lines of explanation for such poverty growth focus on the role of economic transformations and increasing welfare dependency. This paper considers the argument that the growth of extreme poverty is related to a number of complex economic changes at the metropolitan level that have had variable impacts on the nature of poverty neighborhoods. Using 1970, 1980, and 1990 economic and population data for a sample of 205 metropolitan areas, I found that employment dynamics had significant effects on the growth of extreme poverty among African-Americans, whites, and Hispanics. My interpretations partially confirm Wilson's deindustrialization hypothesis, as metropolitan areas experiencing declining employment availability within the manufacturing/construction sector exhibited the greatest increase in extreme poverty during the 1970s, especially among African-Americans. However, the effect of deindustrialization on neighborhood poverty declined over time. During the 1980s poverty became more generally linked to changes within other economic sectors, notably retail. Moreover, in certain contexts, the public sector functions as an employment niche that limits poverty growth among minorities. My findings provide no support for the “conservative hypothesis” linking concentrated urban poverty to the availability of welfare benefits. Empirical analysis incorporates the concept of metropolitan contingency, or the notion that the impacts of economic change on poverty are significantly conditioned by the nature of metropolitan economic structure.
Sprinkling Psychology Courses with Peace

The field of psychology has paid little attention to the most nucia1 issue facing our world: the threat of nuclear devastation. We propose that psychology teachers help to promote a more active consideration of psychology and peace/war in the nuclear age by including the topic in their courses. We suggest specific ways to incorporate this issue into psychology courses, with special reference to courses in social psychology and personality.
The common case transactional behavior of multithreaded programs

Transactional memory (TM) provides an easy-to-use and high-performance parallel programming model for the upcoming chip-multiprocessor systems. Several researchers have proposed alternative hardware and software TM implementations. However, the lack of transaction-based programs makes it difficult to understand the merits of each proposal and to tune future TM implementations to the common case behavior of real application. This work addresses this problem by analyzing the common case transactional behavior for 35 multithreaded programs from a wide range of application domains. We identify transactions within the source code by mapping existing primitives for parallelism and synchronization management to transaction boundaries. The analysis covers basic characteristics such as transaction length, distribution of read-set and write-set size, and the frequency of nesting and I/O operations. The measured characteristics provide key insights into the design of efficient TM systems for both non-blocking synchronization and speculative parallelization.
Wild boars as sources for infectious diseases in livestock and humans

Wild boars (Sus scrofa) are indigenous in many countries in the world. These free-living swine are known reservoirs for a number of viruses, bacteria and parasites that are transmissible to domestic animals and humans. Changes of human habitation to suburban areas, increased use of lands for agricultural purposes, increased hunting activities and consumption of wild boar meat have increased the chances of exposure of wild boars to domestic animals and humans. Wild boars can act as reservoirs for many important infectious diseases in domestic animals, such as classical swine fever, brucellosis and trichinellosis, and in humans, diseases such as hepatitis E, tuberculosis, leptospirosis and trichinellosis. For examples, wild boars are reservoirs for hepatitis E virus, and cluster cases of hepatitis E have been reported in Japan of humans who consumed wild boar meat. In Canada, an outbreak of trichinellosis was linked to the consumption of wild boar meat. The incidence of tuberculosis owing to Mycobacterium bovis has increased in wild boars, thus posing a potential concern for infections in livestock and humans. It has also been documented that six hunters contracted Brucella suis infections from wild swine in Florida. This article discusses the prevalence and risk of infectious agents in wild boars and their potential transmission to livestock and humans.
Lithium-induced thyroid disturbance: case report and review.

Abstract The appearance of goiter and hypothyroidism was observed in a 41-year-old female maintained on lithium carbonate for approximately two years as a prophylaxis against recurrent manic-depressive illness. After lithium was discontinued, the patient became euthyroid, and the goiter decreased in size. Chemical evidence of hypothyroidism reappeared when treatment with lithium was resumed. Moderately elevated levels of antithyroglobulin antibody were present throughout the investigation, independent of lithium ingestion. Various pathways by which lithium may interfere with thyroid functioning are explored and discussed with reference to pertinent literature. The findings suggest that lithium interferes with thyroxin production resulting in deficiency of the circulating hormone. Our patient was unable to adequately compensate for this deficit because of an underlying chronic thyroiditis, probably Hashimoto's Disease. The authors propose that a damaged thyroid gland is prerequisite for uncovering the defect produced by chronic lithium ingestion, in the absence of which, patients usually remain euthyroid albeit some show goiter.
Properties of the Ground State in the Hubbard-Hirsch Model

Using Bogolyubov's variational principle and the mean-field theory the properties of the ground state in the Hubbard-Hirsch model are discussed for weak coupling condition, and the phase diagrams are plotted. It is pointed out that the ground state of the system can be paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, or antiferromagnetic, depending on the intensity of the Coulomb interaction U and the exchange interaction J; the charge-ordered phase does not exist.
Topography of estradiol-modulated genomic responses in the songbird auditory forebrain.

Sex steroids facilitate dramatic changes in behavioral responses to sociosexual signals and are increasingly implicated in the sensory processing of those signals. Our previous work demonstrated that in female white-throated sparrows, which are seasonal breeders, genomic responses in the auditory forebrain are selective for conspecific song over frequency-matched tones only when plasma estradiol (E2) reaches breeding levels. Here, we sought to map this E2-dependent selectivity in the best-studied area of the auditory forebrain, the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM). Nonbreeding females with low endogenous levels of E2 were treated with E2 or a placebo and exposed to conspecific song, tones, or no sound playback. Immunoreactive protein product of the immediate early gene zenk (egr-1) was then quantified within seven distinct subregions, or domains, of NCM. We report three main findings: (1) regardless of hormone treatment, the zenk response is significantly higher in dorsal than in ventral NCM, and higher in medial than in lateral NCM; (2) E2-dependent selectivity of the response is limited to the rostral and medial domains of NCM; in the more caudal domains, song induces more zenk expression than tones regardless of hormone treatment; (3) even when no sound stimuli were presented, E2 treatment significantly increased zenk expression in the rostral, but not the caudal, domains of NCM. Together, the latter two findings suggest that E2-dependent plasticity in NCM is concentrated in rostral NCM, which is hodologically and neurochemically distinct from caudal NCM. Activity in rostral NCM may therefore be seasonally regulated in this species. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 2010
Effect of Probiotic Adult Diets on Fitness Components of Sterile Male Mediterranean Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) Under Laboratory and Field Cage Conditions

Abstract The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of probiotic adult diets, i.e., adult diets containing viable symbiotic intestinal bacteria, on the pheromone-calling activity, mating success, life expectancy, and survival of mass-reared male Mediterranean fruit flies, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann), as an avenue for improving the field performance of sterile males in release programs to eradicate, suppress, or prevent spread of wild populations. The effect of inoculation of two standard adult diets (sugar-yeast granulate [SY] and sugar agar [s]) and two experimental formulations (yeast-reduced granulate [Sy] and yeast-enhanced sugar agar [sy]) with Enterobacter agglomerans and Klebsiella pneumoniae (typically occurring in the gut of wild flies) on the different fitness components was assessed in the laboratory and on field-caged host trees. We found that, in the laboratory, males reared on the probiotic yeast-enhanced agar, sy, had a significant mating advantage over competitors fed th...
Addicted health protessionals

Through in-depth interviews, 55 formerly addicted health professionals (18 physicians, 12 dentists, 13 pharmacists and 12 nurses currently practising in the USA and Canada) provide information about their chemical dependence. The psychosocial factors that contributed to their addictive lifestyles are reviewed. Transcribed interviews indicate that contributing factors include professional pride which makes them feel immune, ignorance of addiction's developmental dynamics, a pervasive optimism about the benefits of drugs as a cure for patients' (and their own) ills, an attempt to manage stressful career demands with chemicals, and easy access to potent psychoactive chemicals. Professionals raised by emotionally impaired parents are especially at risk.
Gene expression profiling in neurological and neuroinflammatory diseases

Neurological diseases arise when a sufficient number of neural cells cease to perform their normal functions, lose their ability to respond to the local environment, and die. In the last decade, a major technological leap led to the development of efficient and cost-effective high-throughput methods for determining gene expression. This in turn resulted in rapid accumulation of data describing gene expression patterns in human and experimental animal brains. In this chapter, I review several of the latest advances in large-scale gene expression in neurological and neuroinflammatory disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy. The need for integration of different sources of data is discussed in the context of systems biology, and I also address how such integration could result in improved diagnostics, therapies, and disease prevention.
An Exponent Bound for Relative Difference Sets in p-Groups

An exponent bound ia presented for abelian (pi+j, p0, p•+;, pi) relative c:liffere.nce sets: this botllld can be met for i $ j. RESULT For background in Relative Difference Sets (RDS), see [3]. The basic group ring equation for a RDS Din a group G with a forbidden subgroup N is nn = k + A(GN) If x is a character on the abelian group G, then we have three possibilities for I x(D) l=I L:dED x(d) I: if x is the principal character (identically 1) on G, then x(D) = k. If xis principal on N but nonprincipal on G, then I x(D) I= Jk A IN I· Finally, if x is a nonprincipal character on N , then I x(D) I= ../f. The last possibility is the case considered in this paper. We will consider the following parameters: v = p2;+;, I N I= p1, k = p;+;, and A = pi. Many examples of RDS with these parameters can be found in [l],[2],and [3). If Dis a RDS with these parameters, and x is a character that is nonprincipal on N, then I x(D) I= pi¥. Consider the i + j even case. This last equation transfers a group ring question into a number theoretic question; namely, when can the algebraic integer x(D) have modulus p!ti . This question was considered in the classical paper by Turyn [4). He based many of the arguments in that paper on the result due to Kronecker that if A and B are algebraic integers in the number field Q[{) ({ a n1h root of unity), and (A)= (B) as ideals, then A= B{i for some j (see p.321 of [4]). This implies that x(D) =pi¥ e; fore a '[I' root of unity. If we rewrite x(D) = E~=l Y;{i' then all of the Yi will be 0 except one, which will be p.!¥. Since x is a homomorphism of G, we can bound the Y; by 0 $ Yi $I Ker(x) I· Thus, I Ker(x) I has to be at least p.!¥ in order for the character sum to work. If we define the exponent of the group (written ezp(G)) is the size of the largest cyclic subgroup, and the order of x is the smallest n so that (x(g)r = 1 for every g E G, then there is a character x of ARS COMBINATORIA 34(1992), pp. 318-320
Direct measurement of transverse mode correlation and fiber-enhanced RIN through MMF using 850nm VCSELs

Cross-correlations between VCSEL transverse modes are synchronously observed and used to predict kmpn and dispersion dependent RIN. Experiments with MMF of different dispersion slope confirm importance of reach-dependent RIN currently neglected in the IEEE model.
A new digital field data collection system for dendrochronology

University of Arizona; Malcolm H. Wiener Foundation; Climate Assessment of the Southwest at the University of Arizona; United States Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellowship [F13F51318]
Cardiovascular effects of severe liver disease

This is the definitive review of the cardiovascular effects of liver disease. Physiologic and pathologic studies accomplished primarily in the 1950s and 1960s have been applied to a case of a 16-year-old boy with cirrhosis of the liver who presented with weakness, dyspnea, cyanosis, and clubbing. The probable mechanisms for his signs and symptoms are discussed in detail. The cause for the hyperkinetic circulation is unknown. By exclusion, the cyanosis is attributed to intrapulmonary shunting. Portapulmonary shunts are not quantitatively important. The suitability of the termsmicronodular andmacronodular cirrhosis is highlighted. Indications, for various types of surgical portal shunts are discussed. The value of preoperative hemodynamic measurements of the portal circulation to the individual patient is debated. A liver transplant is considered in this, case with no promising medical therapy and a very poor prognosis. The renal disease manifested by red cell casts in the urine is thought to be caused by an immunologic reaction in the kidney somehow related to his liver disease. This discussion is led by Dr. Jack Myers, but his opinions are correlated with those of a pathologist, radiologist, surgeon, and gastroenterologist. It is a clinicaltour de force, although not all the predictions are confirmed, by laboratory studies such as this patient's hepatic wedge pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, and cardiac fluoroscopy.
Data Compression of Images for Intelligent Vision Systems

The success of flexible CIMS required for the “factory of the future” depends on the accuracy and speed of intelligent machine vision systems. The huge amount of digital data resulting from BW and RGB images, and the absence of a predetermined format and mathematical relationship in highly redundant patterns of image data require data compression. This paper explores the integration of Data Dependent Systems with differential pulse code modulation for removing some of the system pressures related to a large as well as high-speed bulk data storage. It has been found that low order DDS models provide adequate redundancy models required for data compression schemes.
Aloha teachers: teacher autonomy support promotes Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students’ motivation, school belonging, course-taking and math achievement

Among 110 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, teacher autonomy support in 9th grade significantly predicted intrinsic motivation for math in 9th grade as well as math course-taking over the next 2 years, both of which in turn significantly predicted math achievement by 11th grade. In a second model, teacher autonomy support was positively associated with sense of school belonging; however, school belonging did not predict math achievement. Because of the Hawaiian cultural concept of Aloha and the effect of teacher autonomy support on intrinsic motivation, school belonging, math course-taking, and math achievement, researchers may wish to develop interventions for Hawaiian students that focus on elevating intrinsic motivation and belonging via increasing teacher autonomy support. Because Native Hawaiians and most other Pacific Islanders are involuntary minorities, this research may have implications for other involuntary minorities across the world, such as the Buraku in Japan, and the Maori people of New Zealand.
Sensory Biology: How Female Treefrogs Pick Mates at a Noisy Party

A recent study has found that, despite strong acoustic masking from background noise, female treefrogs are able to select among individual males advertising for mates by taking advantage of small, periodic decreases in the overall noise structure.
School Counselors’ Perceptions of Family Systems Perspectives:

School counselors traditionally have been trained in individual models and often lack the training in a family systems perspective that is necessary to provide a comprehensive school counseling program. One project 10 years ago empirically studied school counselors’™ perceptions of the importance of utilizing a family systems perspective when working with children and families. The present study updated this information, and determined how prepared and competent they felt, and how frequently they use a family systems perspective. A total of 657 school counselors completed 56 online questions about a family systems approach, including its importance, their preparedness, rating of their own competency, frequency of use, how they learned about family systems, and barriers might prevent use. Less than half (39%) reported taking a course in family systems, but more than half (87%) said that such a course should be required. They used family systems daily or at least several times per week. Overall, the more me...
On optimization of energy harvesting from base-excited vibration

Abstract This paper re-examines and clarifies the long-believed optimization conditions of electromagnetic and piezoelectric energy harvesting from base-excited vibration. In terms of electromagnetic energy harvesting, it is typically believed that the maximum power is achieved when the excitation frequency and electrical damping equal the natural frequency and mechanical damping of the mechanical system respectively. We will show that this optimization condition is only valid when the acceleration amplitude of base excitation is constant and an approximation for small mechanical damping when the excitation displacement amplitude is constant. To this end, a two-variable optimization analysis, involving the normalized excitation frequency and electrical damping ratio, is performed to derive the exact optimization condition of each case. When the excitation displacement amplitude is constant, we analytically show that, in contrast to the long-believed optimization condition, the optimal excitation frequency and electrical damping are always larger than the natural frequency and mechanical damping ratio respectively. In particular, when the mechanical damping ratio exceeds a critical value, the optimization condition is no longer valid. Instead, the average power generally increases as the excitation frequency and electrical damping ratio increase. Furthermore, the optimization analysis is extended to consider parasitic electrical losses, which also shows different results when compared with existing literature. When the excitation acceleration amplitude is constant, on the other hand, the exact optimization condition is identical to the long-believed one. In terms of piezoelectric energy harvesting, it is commonly believed that the optimal power efficiency is achieved when the excitation and the short or open circuit frequency of the harvester are equal. Via a similar two-variable optimization analysis, we analytically show that the optimal excitation frequency depends on the mechanical damping ratio and does not equal the short or open circuit frequency. Finally, the optimal excitation frequencies and resistive loads are derived in closed-form.
Endogenous Learning in Multi User Virtual Environments

Video games, simulations, and, more importantly, virtual worlds, are now legitimated as media for instructional use in formal and informal learning environments. A case in point is the MacArthur Foundation (USA), which in 2010 launched a national initiative, the Digital Media and Learning Competition, to spark innovative development of new teaching and learning contexts. A specific media type, digital video games, has recently garnered a significant amount of attention in this new agenda. As Squire (in press) notes: “Video games are a powerful new medium with potential implications for schooling” (p. 22). In addition, Pellegrino and Scott (2004) suggest that “games can become exciting for the learner and effective as a learning tool” through use of “an engaging learning strategy coupled with structured learning objectives” (p. 1).
Depression and Handgrip Strength Among U.S. Adults Aged 60 Years and Older from NHANES 2011–2014

Sarcopenia is a gradual loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with aging. This muscle deterioration is linked to increased morbidity, disability, and other adverse outcomes. Although reduced handgrip strength can be considered a marker of sarcopenia and other aging-related decline in the elderly, there is limited research on this physical health problem in at-risk groups with common biopsychosocial conditions such as depression. Our primary objective was to ascertain level of combined handgrip strength and its relationship with depression among adults aged 60 years and older. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models were conducted with a cross-sectional survey dataset. Secondary dataset from the 2011–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Community-dwelling, noninstitutionalized adults ≥60 years old (n=3,421). The predictor variables included a positive screen for clinically relevant depression (referent=PHQ-9 score <10). The criterion variable of combined handgrip strength (kg) was determined using a dynamometer. Mean age and BMI were 69.9 years (51.5% female) and 28.8 kg/m2, respectively. Mean combined handgrip strength in the overall cohort was 73.5 and 46.6 kg in males and females, respectively. Three hundred thirty-six (9.8%) reported symptoms of depression. In unadjusted and fully adjusted models, depression was significantly associated with reduced handgrip strength (B =–0.26±0.79 and B =–0.19±0.08, respectively; p<0.001). Our findings demonstrate handgrip strength has a significant inverse association with depression. Future longitudinal studies should investigate the causal processes and potential moderators and mediators of the relationships between depression and reduced handgrip strength. This information may further encourage the use of depression and handgrip strength assessments and aid in the monitoring and implementation of health care services that address both physical and mental health limitations among older adult populations.
Addressing replicability concerns via adversarial collaboration: Discovering hidden moderators of the minimal intergroup discrimination effect

Abstract In response to a series of studies failing to replicate the well-known ingroup favoritism effect in the minimal group paradigm, an adversarial collaboration was undertaken to identify possible moderators of the effect. The variables examined were prominent differences between studies undertaken by the co-authors that had vs. had not observed the effect. The resulting study found that the tendency to allocate more rewards to members of one's minimal group (vs. allocating equally to minimal in- and outgroup members) was stronger when participants were not socially isolated, when they received written (vs. verbal) instructions, and among Americans (vs. Australians). These results are consistent with certain theories of ingroup favoritism, and contradict others, particularly those that rely on some universal, context-independent psychological process (e.g., striving to enhance self-esteem following mere social categorization; evolved xenophobia). The study also illustrates the utility of adversarial collaborations, particularly when issues of replicability arise.
Random Forests Applied as a Soil Spatial Predictive Model in Arid Utah

We sought to predict soil classes by applying random forests (RF), a decision tree analysis, to predict 24 soil classes across an arid watershed of western Utah. Environmental covariates were derived from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and digital elevation models (DEM). Random forests are similar to classification and regression trees (CART). However, RF is doubly random. Many (e.g., 500) weak trees are grown (trained) independently because each tree is trained with a new randomly selected bootstrap sample, and a random subset of variables is used to split each node. To train and validate the RF trees, 561 soil descriptions were made in the field. An additional 111 points were added by case-based reasoning using photo interpretation. As RF makes classification decisions from the mode of many independently grown trees, model uncertainty can be derived. Furthermore, the probability that a pixel belongs to one or more classes in the legend can be determined. The overall out of the bag (OOB) error for discrete classes was 55.2%. The confusion matrix revealed that four soils that frequently co-occurred on landforms were frequently misclassified as each other. These soils were combined into six soil map units. To identify pixels that might belong to one of these newly created combinations of soil classes, minimum threshold probabilities were set. Employing probability by class can be an effective and objective method of determining membership in soil map unit associations and complexes mapped at the 1:24,000 scale.
The mechanism of V(D)J joining: lessons from molecular, immunological, and comparative analyses.

Publisher Summary This chapter attempts an interdisciplinary perspective to consider that that both molecular biologists and immunologists have learned about the V (D) J recombination process, as instructed by cross-species (and cross-locus) comparisons. Immune recognition in vertebrates is based on the antigen receptors manufactured by B and T cells. The antigen-binding polypeptides within these multiunit conglomerates are encoded at the immunoglobulin (Ig) and T cell receptor (TCR) loci. Through the process called “V (D) J joining,” antigen receptor genes are constructed from multiply reiterated DNA segments in B and T cells. By this means, an enormous number of binding specificities can be generated in lymphoid cells from a relatively minimal amount of germline information. V (D) J rearrangement can culminate in the production of alternative or “nonstandard” junction products. Demonstrated nonstandard products can account for all theoretically possible signal end-to-coding end assortments. A picture emerges of V (D) J joining as an orderly process that is the sum of disorderly parts. Variability comes into play at a number of levels—namely, variable crossover sites, variable joining signals, variable strand exchange, variable degrees of reciprocity, and so forth. It is argued that the main tactic employed by other site-directed recombination systems is not in evidence for V (D) J joining.
Welcome to light fields

Light Fields let us experience freedom of motion and realistic reflections and translucence like never before in VR. Explore the Gamble House, Mosaic Tile House, and Space Shuttle Discovery. These navigable light field stills showcase the emerging technology Google is using to power its next generation of VR content.
Psychosocial factors associated with treatment outcomes in women with obesity and major depressive disorder who received behavioral activation for depression

Behavioral activation is an empirically supported treatment for depression, but much is unknown about factors associated with treatment response. The present study aimed to determine whether baseline levels and subsequent changes in psychosocial factors were associated with improvement in depression in women with comorbid obesity who received behavioral activation treatment for depression and a lifestyle intervention. Multilevel modeling was used to estimate the associations between psychosocial factors and change in depression scores during the first 10 weeks of treatment and associations between changes in psychosocial factors from baseline to 6-month follow-up and change in depression over the same time period. No baseline psychosocial factors were associated with depression improvement during treatment (p = 0.110–0.613). However, greater improvement in hedonic capacity (p = 0.001), environmental reward (p = 0.004), and social impairment (p = 0.012) were associated with greater reductions in depression over 6 months. Findings highlight the differential relationship specific psychosocial factors have with depression treatment outcomes.