cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparative Analysis of the Hidden Markov Model and LSTM: A Simulative Approach.

Time series and sequential data have gained significant attention recently since many real-world processes in various domains such as finance, education, biology, and engineering can be modeled as time series. Although many algorithms and methods such as the Kalman filter, hidden Markov model, and long short term memory (LSTM) are proposed to make inferences and predictions for the data, their usage significantly depends on the application, type of the problem, available data, and sufficient accuracy or loss. In this paper, we compare the supervised and unsupervised hidden Markov model to LSTM in terms of the amount of data needed for training, complexity, and forecasting accuracy. Moreover, we propose various techniques to discretize the observations and convert the problem to a discrete hidden Markov model under stationary and non-stationary situations. Our results indicate that even an unsupervised hidden Markov model can outperform LSTM when a massive amount of labeled data is not available. Furthermore, we show that the hidden Markov model can still be an effective method to process the sequence data even when the first-order Markov assumption is not satisfied.
Going back to the roots: Evaluating Bayesian phylogeographic models with discrete trait uncertainty

Phylogeography is a popular way to analyze virus sequences annotated with discrete, epidemiologically-relevant, trait data. For applied public health surveillance, a key quantity of interest is often the state at the root of the inferred phylogeny. In epidemiological terms, this represents the geographic origin of the observed outbreak. Since determining the origin of an outbreak is often critical for public health intervention, it is prudent to understand how well phylogeographic models perform this root state classification task under various analytical scenarios. Specifically, we investigate how discrete state space and sequence data set influence the root state classification accuracy. We performed phylogeographic inference on several simulated DNA data sets while i) increasing the number of sequences and ii) increasing the total number of possible discrete trait values. We show that phylogeographic models tend to perform best at intermediate sequence data set sizes. Further, we demonstrate that a popular metric used for evaluation of phylogeographic models, the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence, both increases with discrete state space and data set sizes. Further, by modeling phylogeographic root state classification accuracy using logistic regression, we show that KL is not supported as a predictor of model accuracy, indicating its limited utility for assessing phylogeographic model performance on empirical data. These results suggest that relying solely on the KL metric may lead to artificially inflated support for models with finer discretization schemes and larger data set sizes. These results will be important for public health practitioners seeking to use phylogeographic models for applied infectious disease surveillance.
Importance of mirror modes in binary black hole ringdown waveform

The postmerger signal in binary black hole merger is described by linear, black hole perturbation theory. Historically, this has been modeled using the dominant positive-oscillation frequency (corotating), fundamental mode. Recently, there has been a renewed effort in modeling the postmerger waveform using higher, positive-oscillation frequency overtones in an attempt to achieve greater accuracy in describing the waveform at earlier times using linear perturbation theory. It has been shown that the inclusion of higher overtones can shift the linear regime to the peak of $(l,m)=(2,2)$ spherical harmonic mode. In this work, we show that the inclusion of negative-oscillation frequency (counterrotating) modes, called ``mirror'' modes, extends the validity of linear perturbation theory to even earlier times, with far lower systematic uncertainties in the model in recovering remnant parameters at these early times. A good description of the signal at early times also enables for a greater signal-to-noise ratio to be accumulated in the ringdown phase, thereby allowing for a more accurate measurement of remnant parameters and tests of general relativity.
Population Genomics of Phaseolus spp.: A Domestication Hotspot

The genus Phaseolus includes five domesticated species. Collectively, Phaseolus beans are produced across all inhabited continents under a variety of environments, mainly for dry beans but also green pods. Building on the development of genetic tools, the last two decades have seen an active development of genomic resources, comprising several whole-genome reference sequences (in common, lima, and tepary beans), gene expressions databases, and genotyped diversity and MAGIC populations. The genus is a domestication hotspot with seven independent domestication events, including two species (common and lima beans) that were each domesticated twice. The five domesticated species represent diverse ecological niches and form a gradient in the intensity of domestication, perenniality, and rate of outcrossing. In common bean, genomic regions and candidate genes have been correlated with different climatic variables to which these wild populations are adapted. The different domestications have induced – to varying extents – a reduction in molecular diversity. Bottom-up (or reverse genetic) approaches have identified regions with reduced genetic diversity (potential selective sweeps) and high differentiation in ~15% of the genome. Although such a large proportion is probably an overestimate due to linkage disequilibrium and background selection, some genome regions coincide with domestication quantitative loci identified through top-down (or direct genetic) approaches, and contain candidate genes. Genes have been identified that control several domestication syndrome traits. These often are loss-of-function mutations, underscoring the importance of this mutation type in adaptation. Traits such as photoperiod insensitivity, determinacy and pigmentation changes reflect convergent evolution intra-specifically and possibly inter-specifically. Further developments in Phaseolus population genomics should involve a more detailed analysis of the domestication process across the five domesticated species, a better understanding of differential gene expression networks, application to marker-assisted and genomic selections, and transfer of traits from unadapted germplasm into advanced cultivars.
Aesthetic Judgment and the Public Sphere in the Thought of Hannah Arendt

This essay is on the conception of political space as a space of singular events, rhetorical speech and plurality. It shows that Arendt’s deep suspicion of a cognitively-based practice of political judgment is not based on a naive concept of logical reasoning. Her point is not to exclude so-called rational discourse or knowledge claims from the practice of aesthetic or political judgment – as if something or someone could stop us from making arguments in public contexts – but to press us to think about what we are doing when we reduce the practice of politics or judgment to the contest of better arguments. She disputes not the idea of argument as such but rather the assumption (central to Habermas’ discourse ethics) that agreement in procedures for making arguments ought to produce agreement in conclusions, hence agreement in the political realm can be reached in the manner of giving proofs.
Comparison of the Intestinal Pharmacokinetics of Two Different Florfenicol Dosing Regimens and Its Impact on the Prevalence and Phenotypic Resistance of E. coli and Enterococcus over Time.

In order to mitigate the food animal sector’s role in the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests the use of lower tier antimicrobials, such as florfenicol. Florfenicol has two dosing schemes used to treat primarily bovine respiratory disease. In this study, the objective was to characterize the plasma and gastrointestinal pharmacokinetics of each dosing regimen and assess the effect of these dosing regimens on the prevalence of resistant indicator bacteria over time. Twelve steers underwent abdominal surgery to facilitate the placement of ultrafiltration probes within the lumen of the ileum and colon, as well as placement of an interstitial probe. Following surgery, cattle were dosed with either 20 mg/kg IM every 48 h of florfenicol given twice (n = 6) or a single, subcutaneous dose (40 mg/kg, n = 6). Plasma, interstitial fluid, gastrointestinal ultrafiltrate, and feces were collected. Pharmacokinetic analysis demonstrated high penetration of florfenicol within the gastrointestinal tract for both the high and low dose group (300%, 97%, respectively). There was no significant difference noted between dosing groups in proportion or persistence of phenotypically resistant bacterial isolates; however, the percent of resistant isolates was high throughout the study period. The recommendation for the use of a lower tier antimicrobial, such as florfenicol, may allow for the persistence of co-resistance for antibiotics of high regulatory concern.
Relationships between Dry Deposition of Ions and Urban Land Cover in the South Carolina Piedmont

Atmospheric deposition can be an important source of ions to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Previous studies have indicated that dry deposition of ions in and near large cities is greater than in nearby rural areas. However, few studies have compared dry deposition in and near smaller cities. We measured dry deposition of ions at various distances from Greenville, a smaller city in the piedmont of northwestern South Carolina. Dry deposition was estimated by exposure of artificial surfaces (glass Petri plates and paper filters) to the atmosphere at 13 locations during June–July 2008. Petri plates were expected to collect dust particles primarily, whereas filters were expected to collect both dust and gases. Fluxes measured by filters were significantly greater than those measured by Petri plates for nitrate and ammonium, suggesting that dry deposition of nitrogen in gases exceeded dry deposition in dust. Dry deposition of ammonium and nitrate declined significantly with distance from Greenville, and rates were significantly higher at urban than at rural locations. Also, dry deposition rates of ammonium correlated positively with road densities and traffic volumes around sampling locations, suggesting that automobiles were important sources of ammonia gas. Relationships between ammonium deposition and urban land cover and roads were stronger than for nitrate deposition, perhaps reflecting the influence of automobiles using catalytic converters. Base cation concentrations in dry deposition typically were below detection, precluding flux calculations. Overall, our results provide evidence that smaller cities influence atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, though perhaps not as strongly as larger cities.
Designing Enterprise System Information Architecture Using Task Data

Much of today’s information architecture for enterprise tools is organized in a complex and feature oriented way – frustrating the users and requiring tons of learning to be efficient. We introduced a task taxonomy research project that studied a few hundred database users to understand their responsibilities, roles, and tasks. We created a task taxonomy model filled with large quantitative data on tasks. We found task hierarchy emerged from the model and it had a strong relationship with user roles – implying role-based workspace design principles. With the task hierarchy data, the degree of relevance of task hierarchy could be estimated and applied for enterprise information architecture designs.
HLA-Linked Regulation of Immune Responsiveness in Man

During the past decade, there has been an ever-increasing interest in the interaction between the immune system and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of the species. The impetus for this intense scientific focus derives for the most part from the discovery that immune responsiveness is genetically controlled by genes mapping in the H-2 complex of the mouse, i.e., the observation of linkage between the Ir-1 locus and H-2 (McDevitt and Chinitz, 1969). Since that time, many associations between immune-response (Ir) genes and the MHC have been detected in inbred strains of mice (Martin et al., 1971; Vaz and Levine, 1970; McDevitt et al., 1969) and guinea pigs (Green and Benacerraf, 1971; Ellman et al., 1970; Green et al., 1970). This subject has been extensively reviewed in several books (McDevitt, 1978; Sercarz et al., 1977; Snell et al., 1976; Klein, 1975) and will not be dealt with in any detail in this chapter.
Concurrently learning neural nets: encouraging optimal behavior in cooperative reinforcement learning systems

Reinforcement learning agents interacting in a common environment often fail to converge to optimal system behaviors even when the individual goals of the agents are fully compatible. Claus and Boutilier have demonstrated that the use of joint action learning helps to overcome these difficulties for Q-learning systems. This paper studies an application of joint action learning to systems of neural networks. Neural networks are a desirable candidate for such augmentations for two reasons: (1) they may be able to generalize more effectively than Q-learners, and (2) the network topology used may improve the scalability of joint action learning to systems with large numbers of agents. Preliminary results indicate that neural nets benefit from joint action learning in the same way that Q-learners do.
The genus sidastrum E. G. Baker (Malvaceae): A correction

Examination of a Jacquin type reveals an incorrect interpretation in a recent treatment ofSidastrum and requires the publication of the new combinationSidastrum multiflorum as the correct name for the species previously calledS. acuminatum.
Effects of gallium nitrate on calcium transients in UMR-106 rat osteoblastic osteosarcoma cells

Gallium nitrate is an effective antihypercalcemic and antiresorptive agent. Although its effects on osteoclasts are well documented, the mechanism of action of gallium nitrate on osteoblasts is still not established. To determine the effects of gallium nitrate on calcium signalling, we studied its effects on intracellular calcium concentration in UMR-106 rat osteoblastic osteosarcoma cell line. Cells were loaded with a calcium binding fluorescent dye, fluo-3. Changes in fluorescence reflected changes in cytosolic calcium. Gallium nitrate elicited a dose-dependent biphasic calcium transient with an initial decrease followed by an increase, and these changes were seen at high extracellular calcium concentration. Markedly altered signal was seen in nominal calcium-free medium, suggesting that gallium nitrate mobilized calcium only partly from intracellular stores. Gallium nitrate, at concentrations as low as 3 micrograms/ml, inhibited parathyroid hormone-stimulated calcium transients. High doses of parathyroid hormone could overcome this inhibition. This inhibitory effect appears to be selective, since gallium nitrate did not prevent calcium transients elicited by alpha-thrombin or prostaglandin F1 alpha. Failure of gallium nitrate to prevent calcium transients elicited by these agents, even after the inhibition of parathyroid hormone-induced signal, indicates that the inhibition is not a toxic effect. In conclusion, gallium nitrate has a marked effect on calcium signalling in UMR-106 cells that might be of major importance in modifying the effects of calcemic hormones or local factors on osteoblasts.
Using books to implement triad activities with elementary students

Numerous resources in book form, both fiction and nonfiction, are available to assist gifted youngsters in pursuing their interests. There are books to help students explore an identified interest with greater depth and breadth, as well as to stimulate new interests. For youngsters who are already in the process of an in‐depth investigation, there are references and indexes and how‐to‐do‐it books to give assistance in skills areas. The books reviewed in this article are identified in terms of a specific conceptual model for gifted education, the Enrichment Triad Model (Renzulli, 1977), but the materials could be used in any program which focuses on the encouragement and development of students’ interests.
Studies on the intracellular localization of anterior pituitary hormones by means of differential centrifugation.

Following the development of means for the separation of subcellular particles in anterior pituitary and the establishment of criteria of purity, each of the fractions was analyzed for hormone content and compared with results obtained by others. The fractions were assayed by a three-dose response method for TSH ACTH, LH, and FSH. TSH was found in mitochondria, LH and STH in acidophilic granules, and FSH was distributed over several fractions. ACTH was found in the microsomes and in supernatant depending on themethod of assay adopted. The predominant activity appeared in the indicated fraction, but there was scattered activity over several fractions. The resultsagree in the main with those of other investigators.
Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy of ischemic stroke

A major obstacle in understanding the mechanism of ischemic stroke is the lack of a tool to noninvasively or minimally invasively monitor cerebral hemodynamics longitudinally. Here, we applied optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) to longitudinally study ischemic stroke induced brain injury in a mouse model with transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). OR-PAM showed that, during MCAO, the average hemoglobin oxygen saturation (sO2) values of feeder arteries and draining veins within the stroke core region dropped ~10% and ~34%, respectively. After reperfusion, arterial sO2 recovered back to the baseline; however, the venous sO2 increased above the baseline value by ~7%. Thereafter, venous sO2 values were close to the arterial sO2 values, suggesting eventual brain tissue infarction.
Vortex Sheet Analysis of the Giromill

A two-dimensional analysis of the performance and flowfield of the Giromill is presented. The Giromill is a vertical-axis wind turbine with straight blades that are articulated to produce maximum energy extraction from the wind. It is found that the power coefficient and windwise force coefficient for the Giromill have the same limit as obtained for the horizontal-axis wind turbine. A cross-wind force is also obtained with this type of wind turbine. The cross-wind force is of second order and decreases with tip speed. Streamlines and velocity profiles are illustrated for several loading conditions.
Magnetic Domain Walls in Nanowires

Two important aspects of domain walls in ferromagnets were experimentally investigated by spin-polarized scanning electron microscopy: The influence of geometrical constraints on the domain wall and the motion of domain walls upon injection of short current pulses. With such experiments insight is gained into fundamental aspects of domain walls, which are important for possible future applications in memory, storage, or logic devices.
Food intake, body weight, and brain histopathology in mice following chronic methylmercury treatment.

Abstract Forty-eight male CD-1 mice were given daily intragastric doses of 0, 0.25, 1.0, and 4.0 mg of Hg/kg as methylmercury for up to 60 days. The intake of a liquid diet and body weight were recorded daily. Onset of hypophagia, body weight loss, and weakness in the hind legs of more than half the animals appeared after 1, 7, and 14 days, respectively, in the 4-mg/kg group and after 23, 23, and 44 days in the 1-mg/kg group. The lowest dose level did not change intake and body weight. Evidence of neuron degeneration was present within the corpus striatum, the cerebral cortex, the thalamus, and the hypothalamus. Autoradiography showed accumulation of 203Hg in the cytoplasm of periventricular glial cells for all dose groups.
Algorithmic foundations for a parallel vector access memory system

This paper presents mathematical foundations for the design of a memory controller subcomponent that helps to bridge the processor/memory performance gap for applications with strided access patterns. The Parallel Vector Access (PVA) unit exploits the regularity of vectors or streams to access them efficiently in parallel on a multi-bank SDRAM memory system. The PVA unit performs scatter/gather operations so that only the elements accessed by the application are transmitted across the system bus. Vector operations are broadcast in parallel to all memory banks, each of which implements an efficient algorithm to determine which vector elements it holds. Earlier performance evaluations have demonstrated that our PVA implementation loads elements up to 32.8 times faster than a conventional memory system and 3.3 times faster than a pipelined vector unit, without hurting the performance of normal cache-line fills. Here we present the underlying PVA algorithms for both word interleaved and cache-line inter-leaved memory systems.
Commensurate and incommensurate hydrogen bonds. An exercise in crystal engineering.

Ureas characteristically form one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded α-networks with a repeat distance of about 4.60 A. Oxamides form similar α-networks with a longer 5.05 A repeat distance. The urea of glycine and the oxamide of glycine were each cocrystallized with a series of four bipyridines, including two urea derivatives and two oxamide derivatives. This series of eight cocrystals was studied by X-ray diffraction in order to see what would happen when molecules that would normally form α-networks with incommensurate distances were forced into the same crystal. The two all-urea crystals and the two all-oxamide crystals contained the expected α-networks with repeat distances in accordance with normal urea or oxamide values. Four of the crystals were mixed, containing both oxamide and urea molecules. Three consisted of two-dimensional β-networks with alternating parallel urea and oxamide subnetworks. The repeat distances averaged 4.87 A, a value close to the value expected for oxamides, but shorter than any p...
Pro-inflammatory prostaglandins and progression of colorectal cancer

Chronic inflammation is a risk factor for several gastrointestinal malignancies, including esophageal, gastric, hepatic, pancreatic and colorectal cancer. It has long been known that long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) reduces the relative risk of developing colorectal cancer. NSAIDs exert their anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects primarily by inhibiting activity of cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes. Cyclooxygenase enzymes catalyze the conversion of arachidonic acid into prostanoids, including prostaglandins (PGs) and thromboxanes (TXs). Emerging evidence demonstrates that prostaglandins play an important role in inflammation and cancer. In this review, we highlight recent breakthroughs in our understanding of the roles of the different prostaglandins in colorectal cancer (CRC) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These findings may provide a rationale for the development of new anti-inflammatory therapeutic approaches to cancer prevention and/or treatment.
Impact of ocean model resolution on CCSM climate simulations

The current literature provides compelling evidence suggesting that an eddy-resolving (as opposed to eddy-permitting or eddy-parameterized) ocean component model will significantly impact the simulation of the large-scale climate, although this has not been fully tested to date in multi-decadal global coupled climate simulations. The purpose of this paper is to examine how resolved ocean fronts and eddies impact the simulation of large-scale climate. The model used for this study is the NCAR Community Climate System Model version 3.5 (CCSM3.5)—the forerunner to CCSM4. Two experiments are reported here. The control experiment is a 155-year present-day climate simulation using a 0.5° atmosphere component (zonal resolution 0.625 meridional resolution 0.5°; land surface component at the same resolution) coupled to ocean and sea-ice components with zonal resolution of 1.2° and meridional resolution varying from 0.27° at the equator to 0.54° in the mid-latitudes. The second simulation uses the same atmospheric and land-surface models coupled to eddy-resolving 0.1° ocean and sea-ice component models. The simulations are compared in terms of how the representation of smaller scale features in the time mean ocean circulation and ocean eddies impact the mean and variable climate. In terms of the global mean surface temperature, the enhanced ocean resolution leads to a ubiquitous surface warming with a global mean surface temperature increase of about 0.2 °C relative to the control. The warming is largest in the Arctic and regions of strong ocean fronts and ocean eddy activity (i.e., Southern Ocean, western boundary currents). The Arctic warming is associated with significant losses of sea-ice in the high-resolution simulation. The sea surface temperature gradients in the North Atlantic, in particular, are better resolved in the high-resolution model leading to significantly sharper temperature gradients and associated large-scale shifts in the rainfall. In the extra-tropics, the interannual temperature variability is increased with the resolved eddies, and a notable increases in the amplitude of the El Nino and the Southern Oscillation is also detected. Changes in global temperature anomaly teleconnections and local air-sea feedbacks are also documented and show large changes in ocean–atmosphere coupling. In particular, local air-sea feedbacks are significantly modified by the increased ocean resolution. In the high-resolution simulation in the extra-tropics there is compelling evidence of stronger forcing of the atmosphere by SST variability arising from ocean dynamics. This coupling is very weak or absent in the low-resolution model.
Female intimate partner violence survivors' experiences with accessing resources.

This phenomenological study investigates the types of personal and community resources that female intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors used when leaving an abusive male partner. Three African American and 2 European American IPV survivors, ages 24 to 38 years, described positive and negative experiences with social support, personal validation, self-care, connection, IPV assessment, community validation, protection, and community support. On the basis of their experiences, a checklist of IPV competencies for counselors is presented.
Ninth SPE Comparative Solution Project: A Reexamination of Black-Oil Simulation

The ninth SPE Comparative Solution Project presented in the following paper provides a reexamination of black-oil simulation based on a model of moderate size (9,000 cells) and with a high degree of heterogeneity provided by a geostatistically-based permeability field. Nine participants provided data for the comparison which is based on a dipping reservoir with twenty-five somewhat randomly placed producers and a single water injector. Results showed that significant agreement could be achieved for this problem on the basis of total production rates, saturations, and reservoir pressures. On the other hand, rates for some individual wells did show variations of as much as bottomhole pressures. All participants were able to simulate the study in fewer than sixty time steps with an average of 4-5 Newton iterations per step. In addition, the results showed that this moderate-sized problem could be simulated in only a few minutes in a workstation environment for the two plus years of data.
The different approaches to the study of propulsion of granular materials and the value of their coordination

The general property of fluid motion which is most striking to me is its shifting character. If we vary only one factor of a well-defined fluid motion problem, for example, if we vary the opening of the flow from a drinking fountain, we can observe a series of phenomena which differ from each other not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively, that is, in their physical nature and appearance. Let us examine an example somewhat closer to our problem of propulsion of sand and other granular media by fluids: consider the flow of an infinitely broad turbulent stream around a smooth obstacle. The detailed data given here refer to a cylindrical body of infinite length, this being the shape of the obstacle most completely studied to date. We can distinguish five qualitatively different types of flow, each having a fairly well-defined range of Reynolds' numbers (a, b, c, d, e of Fig. 1). The first type is characterized by steady flow, which is of necessity symmetrical with reference to the flow-direction. With increasing Reynolds numbers. it varies continuously from a flow which is almost symmetrical with respect to the perpendicular to the main flow-direction, until a stage is reached where a strong unsymmetry is caused by two oblong vortices in a fixed position in the rear of the obstacle (Fig. 1a). But vortices lose their stability when they are very oblong, decomposing into several vortices, and thus giving place to a double row of vortices. Von Karman showed the instability of a symmetrical disposition of two parallel vortex-rows, explaining why an “antisymmetric” (alternating) pattern of vortices always is found. These antisymmetric vortex-rows in their turn, for obvious reasons, cannot exist in fixed positions with respect to the obstacle, but must travel downstream. Thus we have here the familiar phenomenon of vortices separating from the body alternately at the sides and giving a perfectly regular pattern of vortex-filaments, each parallel to the axis of the cylinder (Fig. 1b). At a certain distance downstream from the obstacle they gradually lose their identity, giving place to an irregular, turbulent flow. As Fage and Falkner showed experimentally, this turbulent wake resulting from the disintegration of the double row of vortices shows a three-dimensional distribution of vorticity and of velocity-fluctuations in spite of the fact that the double row of vortices itself is, within the accuracy of measurement, a strictly two-dimensional phenomenon.
Intrathymic immunomodulation and the "infectious" tolerance pathway in allograft recipients.

Background.We have previously shown that >75% of LEW cardiac allografts survive indefinitely in BUF rats pretreated at Day −21 intrathymically (IT) with donor alloantigen in conjunction with a single intravenous dose of ALS. Spleen cells can adoptively transfer the tolerant state to new cohorts of test recipients. This study was designed to analyze cellular and humoral events contributing to the “infectious” tolerance pathway in this model. Methods.Spleen cells (25 × 106) harvested from BUF recipients bearing long-term cardiac allografts were injected intravenously into lightly irradiated (450 R) secondary BUF rats, followed 24 h later by transplantation of LEW of ACl hearts. Cardiac allografts were then analyzed serially by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for Th1 and Th2 cytokine gene expression. Donor-specific IgM and IgG alloantibody responses in host serum were screened by flow cytometry. Results.Transfer of regulatory spleen cells harvested between Days 80 and 140 from tolerant hosts induced tolerance to heart grafts in a donor-specific manner. In the early posttransplant period, selective sparing of Th2 cytokines was noted. Adoptively transferred hosts showed overall depression of IgM, but a vigorous IgG1 and IgG2a alloantibody response. Conclusion.IT + ALS-induced tolerance can be transferred in a donor-specific “infectious” manner to new cohorts of engrafted recipients. The development of tolerance is nontemporally bound, and associates with an early Th2-type immune deviation at the graft site. The elevated levels of T cell-dependent IgG1 and IgG2 may interfere with the antigen reactivity and alloresponsive effector functions, contributing to graft acceptance in the “infectious” tolerance pathway.
Axisymmetric tandem mirrors: Stabilization and confinement studies

The 'Kinetic Stabilizer' has been proposed as a means of MHD stabilizing an axisymmetric tandem mirror system. The K-S concept is based on theoretical studies by Ryutov, confirmed experimentally in the Gas Dynamic Trap experiment in Novosibirsk. In the K-S beams of ions are directed into the end of an 'expander' region outside the outer mirror of a tandem mirror. These ions, slowed, stagnated, and reflected as they move up the magnetic gradient, produce a low-density stabilizing plasma. At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory we have been conducting theoretical and computational studies of the K-S Tandem Mirror. These studies have employed a low-beta code written especially to analyze the beam injection/stabilization process, and a new code SYMTRAN (by Hua and Fowler) that solves the coupled radial and axial particle and energy transport in a K-S TM. Also, a 'legacy' MHD stability code, FLORA, has been upgraded and employed to benchmark the injection/stabilization code and to extend its results to high beta values. The FLORA code studies so far have confirmed the effectiveness of the K-S in stabilizing high-beta (40%) plasmas with stabilizer plasmas the peak pressures of which are several orders of magnitude smaller than those of the confined plasma.more » Also the SYMTRAN code has shown D-T plasma ignition from alpha particle energy deposition in T-M regimes with strong end plugging. Our studies have confirmed the viability of the K-S-T-M concept with respect to MHD stability and radial and axial confinement. We are continuing these studies in order to optimize the parameters and to examine means for the stabilization of possible residual instability modes, such as drift modes and 'trapped-particle' modes. These modes may in principle be controlled by tailoring the stabilizer plasma distribution and/or the radial potential distribution. In the paper the results to date of our studies are summarized and projected to scope out possible fusion-power versions of the K-S T-M« less
Isomerizing-Hydroboration of the Monounsaturated Fatty Acid Ester Methyl Oleate†

Biodiesel fuel, a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) derived from plant oils, is increasingly available as a chemical feedstock. Methyl oleate (18:1), the 18-carbon monounsaturated FAME, is shown to undergo [Ir(COE)2Cl]2/dppe-catalyzed hydroboration with pinacolborane to give the product (7) in which the boronate ester group is in the terminal (C18) position. The formation of this product shows that the catalyst promotes both (1) the isomerization of the double bond from the 9,10-position of 18:1 to the terminal position and (2) the selective hydroboration of this isomer to give the product (7) in 45% yield. This tandem reaction should be capable of converting all isomers of 18:1 into the same product 7.
Application of genomic technologies to crop plants: opportunities and challenges

It is not clear how broadly applicable genetic associations revealed in model systems will be to economically important plants. This paper discusses some potential inconsistencies between model systems and economically important plants, using onion as an example.
The Ezh2 methyltransferase complex: actin up in the cytosol

Ezh2, a polycomb group protein, is known to function in histone methylation, thereby regulating gene expression. However, in a recent study by Su et al., the Ezh2-containing complex has been given an additional role in cellular regulation. Cytosolic Ezh2 methyltransferase complexes were shown to associate with Vav1 and control receptor-induced actin polymerization and proliferation in a methylation-dependent manner. Overall, these findings implicate lysine methylation as a posttranslational modification crucial for receptor-mediated signal transduction events.
The Consumption Effects Associated with Filing for Personal Bankruptcy

This article examines the response of food consumption to filing for personal bankruptcy in the spirit of previous work on the benefits of other social-insurance programs. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we find that an increase in the financial benefit to filing for bankruptcy increases the growth in food consumption. In addition, we find that filing under chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code provides consumption insurance, while filing under chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code provides no significant consumption benefits. Personal bankruptcy in the United States is part of the social-insurance structure provided by the federal and state governments. Other programs in this network include, but are not limited to, Unemployment Insurance (UI), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and food stamps. While these latter three programs are targeted to specific groups, the recently unemployed for UI and low-income households for TANF and food stamps, personal bankruptcy is not. Much like these other programs, though, bankruptcy reduces income uncertainty and reduces wealth uncertainty. Surprisingly little work has been done on the direct benefits to filing for bankruptcy. This is in contrast with the growing literature on the costs of bankruptcy.1 Fay, Hurst, and White (2002) estimate the financial benefit to filing for bankruptcy, which equals the debt forgiven minus any lost assets. This measure is a good predictor of whether the household files for bankruptcy, but it is not clear that the financial benefit is the true measure of the welfare gain from bankruptcy. In fact, the financial benefit is most likely an overestimate of the household's gain in the year it files for bankruptcy. Unlike UI or TANF, bankruptcy provides no increase in money income for that period but rather increases net-of-debt income. This change is felt over the household's lifetime, and filers will most likely smooth this effect over multiple years because households cannot file for bankruptcy again for six years. Further, using the financial benefit makes it difficult to compare results against the
Treatment of acute idiopathic thrombocytopenia of childhood with intravenous infusions of gammaglobulin.

Gammaglobulin treatment was given at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day intravenously in 29 patients with acute idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: 15 previously untreated, 10 resistant to steroids, and four who were steroid dependent. The average platelet increase in 24 hours was >50,000/μl; the average peak platelet count was 194,000/μl. Eighteen of 25 patients required only one infusion; 10 of these 18 never required any additional (maintenance) therapy. Outcome in previously untreated and steroid-resistant patients was identical; however, previously untreated patients required only 1.8 gm/kg total dose of gammaglobulin, whereas steroid-resistant patients received 3.9 gm/kg. Only one steroid-dependent child of the 29 patients still requires maintenance therapy, at 6-week intervals. Toxicity was minimal. Cost was minimized by not admitting patients and by giving treatment in one visit, rather than five.
Past Developments and Present Currents in Ethnology

with sedentary village life. Whereas earlier reconstructions of American culture history were based upon ethnographic data, they are now done from archeological information. American archeology may be said to have become a study of American prehistory when it discovered stratigraphy and seriation, and when accurate techniques of determining prehistoric time were developed. There are now many professional and nonprofessional archeologists working in this country and contributing to the body of data on prehistory. There is a considerable degree of specialization among them with respect to geographical area or phase of prehistoric research. There is now also a healthy competition and cooperation in the study of most of the geographical areas and culture complexes. No individual nor institution has a monopoly on an area or program, or can restrict the variety of interpretations which need to be expressed. Archeologists increasingly employ a wide variety of approaches to chronology and ecology. For interpretative data they have benefited considerably from the biological and physical sciences, and there are clear indications that future excavation and interpretation will need to lean even more heavily on these fields. This is not to say that archeology in the past has not turned to geology, zoology, botany, or chemistry for information which would be of value, but only that now substantially more planned programs of research begin as team endeavors of archeologists, geologists, and paleobiologists, making it possible not only to reconstruct the cultural assemblage at a site or locality but also the environment in which it existed. This trend has recently been emphasized in the creation of a geochronology program in one university. Archeologists are devoting a considerable amount of time and energy to definition and clarification of their conceptual tools. One approach is the application of a variety of quantitative techniques and an increased sophistication as to their suitability to archeological problems. Archeologists are involved in the definition and recognition from archeological contexts of a variety of acculturation processes: the definition of the basic units of archeological data, the delineation of the varieties of cultural change and their speed and direction, the classification of prehistoric community patterns in terms of cultural complexity, and finally presenting hemispheric culture growth in terms of levels or stages of culture development.
Technology that educators of computing hail (TECH): come, share your favorites! (abstract only)

The pace of technology for use in computing education is staggering. In the last five years, the following tools / websites have completely transformed our teaching: Piazza, Google Docs, YouTube, Doodle and whenisgood.net, Skype and Google Hangout, and Khan Academy among others. Hardware has also played a part -- we love our Zoom H2 digital voice recorder (for recording CD-quality lecture audio), Blue Yeti USB mike (for audio/videoconferences), and iClickers (for engaging students in class).Do you wish you could easily share your favorites? Want to find out what the others know that you don't? Have a tool you've built and want to get some users? Come to this BOF! We'll also show the TECH website (part of the ensemble computing portal) we've built that attempts to collect all of these tools in one place. A laptop is recommended if the tool you wish to share is more involved than simply visiting a website.
Effects of level of initial training on reversal shift performance and clustering in free recall: A test of the mediated association hypothesis

Reversal-shift superiority interacted significantly with level of initial training in a concept-attainment task employing CCC trigram stimuli. Reversal was superior to half-reversal performance following criterion training (one perfect trial block) and 100% overlearning, but not after subcriterion training (seven of eight trials correct in an eight-trial block). Stimulus-item clustering in free recall was used as a measure of the development of mediated associations between stimulus items within response categories. Clustering was not affected by level of initial training, by type of shift, or by occurrence or nonoccurrence of a shift, casting doubt on the mediated-association hypothesis that had been proposed to account for reversal-shift superiority in the type of task employed. A response-mediated response conversion mechanism was posited to account for the reversal-shift findings.
An examination of the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining on respiratory symptoms and COPD using propensity scores

Previous research on public health consequences of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining has been limited by the observational nature of the data. The current study used propensity scores, a method designed to overcome this limitation, to draw more confident causal inferences about mining effects on respiratory health using non-experimental data. These data come from a health survey of 682 adults residing in two rural areas of Virginia, USA characterized by the presence or absence of MTR mining. Persons with a history of occupational exposure as coal miners were excluded. Nine covariates including age, sex, current and former smoking, overweight, obesity, high school education, college education, and exposure to coal as a home-heating source were selected to estimate propensity scores. Propensity scores were tested for balance and then used as weights to create quasi-experimental exposed and unexposed groups. Results indicated that persons in the mountaintop mining group had significantly (p < 0.0001) ele...
Designing interfaces for guided collection of knowledge about everyday objects from volunteers

A new generation of intelligent applications can be enabled by broad-coverage knowledge repositories about everyday objects. We distill lessons in design of intelligent user interfaces which collect such broad-coverage knowledge from untrained volunteers. We motivate the knowledge-driven template-based approach adopted in Learner2, a second generation proactive acquisition interface for eliciting such knowledge. We present volume, accuracy, and recall of knowledge collected by fielding the system for 5 months. Learner2 has so far acquired 99,018 general statements, emphasizing knowledge about parts of and typical uses of objects.
Detection and analysis of β‐catenin mutations in prostate cancer

BACKGROUND E-cadherin and α-catenin are components of adherens junctions which mediate calcium-dependent, cell-cell adhesion in a homotypic manner. Both these molecules have been defined as useful tumor markers as their altered expression correlates with increased tumor aggressiveness and dedifferentiation. More recently, alterations of a third component of adherens junctions, β-catenin, have been observed to play a role in several human cancers. Dysregulation of β-catenin, either by direct mutation or by defects in interacting pathways/regulators, can result in its cytoplasmic accumulation and nuclear translocation. In the nucleus, β-catenin forms a transcriptional complex capable of upregulating target genes, many of which encode proliferative factors. Given its oncogenic activity and connection to human cancer, we examined the β-catenin gene and its expression in prostate cancer. METHODS By single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequencing analyses, we screened exon 3 of β-catenin from a panel of 81 primary tumors obtained at radical prostatectomy, 22 lymph node metastases from untreated patients, and a unique set of 61 metastatic tissues from 19 patients who died of hormone-refractory disease. RESULTS We found putative activating mutations (missense and deletion) at a rate of 5% (7/138). One patient had the same 72 base pair deletion in each of nine separate metastases examined, indicating that this change was associated with a clonal population of metastatic cells. CONCLUSIONS Immunohistological staining of mutation-positive tumors demonstrated β-catenin accumulation and nuclear localization in a heterogeneous fashion. Consistent with this in vivo finding, our in vitro analyses demonstrate that certain mutations can result in increased β-catenin nuclear activity in prostate cancer cell lines. These data implicate the β-catenin signaling pathway in the development of a subset of prostate cancers. Prostate 45:323–334, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Un/Covering: Female Religious Converts Learning the Problems and Pragmatics of Physical Observance in the Secular World

This article presents the experiences of three women who have chosen to move from secular, assimilated lives to lives characterized by the distinctive dress and practice associated with observant Islam, Orthodox Judaism, and Orthodox Christianity, respectively. All three relied upon informal, peer, and distance learning strategies for their religious education. The article analyzes both experiences in informal adult religious education and contemporary U.S. experiences with identity and assimilation, or covering (Yoshino 2006).