cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Information Theoretic Active Exploration in Signed Distance Fields

This paper focuses on exploration and occupancy mapping of unknown environments using a mobile robot. While a truncated signed distance field (TSDF) is a popular, efficient, and highly accurate representation of occupancy, few works have considered optimizing robot sensing trajectories for autonomous TSDF mapping. We propose an efficient approach for maintaining TSDF uncertainty and predicting its evolution from potential future sensor measurements without actually receiving them. Efficient uncertainty prediction is critical for long-horizon optimization of potential sensing trajectories. We develop a deterministic tree-search algorithm that evaluates the information gain between the TSDF distribution and potential observations along sequences of robot motion primitives. Efficient planning is achieved by branch-and-bound pruning of uninformative sensing trajectories. The effectiveness of our active TSDF mapping approach is evaluated in several simulated environments with complex visibility constraints.
Heinrich von Kleist’s “Marquise von O....”: Literary honesty and the precarious potential of disclosure

Kleist’s early prose tale begins with the announcement of the Marquise’s unusual circumstances in the local intelligence gazettes. The Marquise’s announcement calls on readers to reflect on the fun...
Internal measurement of magnetic turbulence in ELMy H-mode tokamak plasmas

Magnetic turbulence is directly observed internally in the pedestal of ELMy H-mode tokamak plasmas using a newly developed Faraday-effect polarimetry measurement. Fluctuation amplitude is δ b r ≥ 15 G (150–500 kHz), with a ratio of magnetic to density fluctuation | δ b r / B | / | δ n / n | ≥ 0.15. Magnetic turbulence is identified as resulting from micro-tearing-instability and mode growth accompanied by degraded plasma confinement is observed.
A History of Hittite Literacy: Writing and Reading in Late Bronze-Age Anatolia (1650–1200 BC)

Why did the Anatolians remain illiterate for so long, although surrounded by people using script? Why and how did they eventually adopt the cuneiform writing system and why did they still invent a second, hieroglyphic script of their own? What did and didn't they write down and what role did Hittite literature, the oldest known literature in any Indo-European language, play? These and many other questions on scribal culture are addressed in this first, comprehensive book on writing, reading, script usage, and literacy in the Hittite kingdom (c.1650–1200 BC). It describes the rise and fall of literacy and literature in Hittite Anatolia in the wider context of its political, economic, and intellectual history.
Benzodiazepine Withdrawal Insomnia

This chapter explores the topic of rebound insomnia that typically arises following detox from benzodiazepines (BZDs) used for sleep. It discusses the improper use and the risks of using BZDs for the long-term treatment of insomnia, specifically the risk of developing addiction. Current clinical guidelines for the treatment of insomnia are then presented followed by a discussion of BZD rebound insomnia. Finally, the importance of treatment as well as the available pharmacological and behavioral interventions is examined.
Machine learning identifies novel markers predicting functional decline in older adults.

The ability to carry out instrumental activities of daily living, such as paying bills, remembering appointments and shopping alone decreases with age, yet there are remarkable individual differences in the rate of decline among older adults. Understanding variables associated with a decline in instrumental activities of daily living is critical to providing appropriate intervention to prolong independence. Prior research suggests that cognitive measures, neuroimaging and fluid-based biomarkers predict functional decline. However, a priori selection of variables can lead to the over-valuation of certain variables and exclusion of others that may be predictive. In this study, we used machine learning techniques to select a wide range of baseline variables that best predicted functional decline in two years in individuals from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative dataset. The sample included 398 individuals characterized as cognitively normal or mild cognitive impairment. Support vector machine classification algorithms were used to identify the most predictive modality from five different data modality types (demographics, structural MRI, fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, neurocognitive and genetic/fluid-based biomarkers). In addition, variable selection identified individual variables across all modalities that best predicted functional decline in a testing sample. Of the five modalities examined, neurocognitive measures demonstrated the best accuracy in predicting functional decline (accuracy = 74.2%; area under the curve = 0.77), followed by fluorodeoxyglucose-PET (accuracy = 70.8%; area under the curve = 0.66). The individual variables with the greatest discriminatory ability for predicting functional decline included partner report of language in the Everyday Cognition questionnaire, the ADAS13, and activity of the left angular gyrus using fluorodeoxyglucose-PET. These three variables collectively explained 32% of the total variance in functional decline. Taken together, the machine learning model identified novel biomarkers that may be involved in the processing, retrieval, and conceptual integration of semantic information and which predict functional decline two years after assessment. These findings may be used to explore the clinical utility of the Everyday Cognition as a non-invasive, cost and time effective tool to predict future functional decline.
Asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) with fluorescence and multi-detector analysis for direct, real-time, size-resolved measurements of drug release from polymeric nanoparticles.

Abstract Polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) are typically designed to enhance the efficiency of drug delivery by controlling the drug release rate. Hence, it is critical to obtain an accurate drug release profile. This study presents the first application of asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) with fluorescence detection (FLD) to quantify release profiles of fluorescent drugs from polymeric NPs, specifically poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) NPs loaded with enrofloxacin (PLGA-Enro NPs). In contrast to conventional measurements requiring separation of the NPs and dissolved drugs (typically by dialysis) prior to quantification, AF4 provides in situ removal of unincorporated drugs, while the judicious combination of online FLD and UV detection selectively provides the entrapped drug and PLGA NP concentrations, respectively, and hence the drug loading. NP size and shape factors are simultaneously obtained by online dynamic and multi-angle light scattering (DLS, MALS) detectors. The AF4 and dialysis approaches were compared to evaluate drug release from PLGA-Enro NPs containing a high proportion (≈ 94%) of unincorporated (burst release) drug at three temperatures spanning the glass transition temperature (Tg ≈ 33 °C) of the NPs. The AF4 method clearly captured the temperature dependence of the drug release relative to Tg (from no release at 20 °C to rapid release at 37 °C). In contrast, dialysis was not able to distinguish differences in the extent or rate of release of the entrapped drug because of interferences from the burst release, as well as the dialysis lag time, as supported through a diffusion model and validation experiments on purified NPs with low burst release. Finally, the multi-detector AF4 analysis yielded unique size-dependent release profiles across the entire NP size distribution, with smaller NPs showing faster release consistent with radial diffusion from the NPs. Overall, this study demonstrates the novel application and advantages of multi-detector AF4 methods, particularly AF4-FLD, to obtain direct, size-resolved release profiles of fluorescent drugs from polymeric NPs.
Modulation of near-inertial motions on the Mississippi-Alabama Shelf

In this study, we diagnose the time variability and vertical structure of the high- and low-frequency motions on the Mississippi-Alabama Shelf as observed with a bottom-mounted ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) and CTD (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth). The mooring was deployed about 20 km offshore of Mobile Bay for a period from May 17 to August 23, 2018. At this latitude, the diurnal land and sea breeze has the same frequency as the local inertial frequency. Similar to the wind, the observed high-frequency baroclinic velocities (> 30 cm/s) have a broadband diurnal peak and more energy in the clockwise motions. About 60% of the variance in these motions is due to mode 1, which resembles a two-layer structure with surface and bottom velocities that are 180∘ out of phase. These are all characteristics of wind-driven motions that interact with the coastal wall. The month of June features the best conditions for energetic near-inertial motions: upwelling, consistent sea breeze, and a more continuous instead of a two-layer stratification. This causes near-inertial energy to be also projected on a baroclinic mode 2, featuring a subsurface maximum. This maximum may be attributed to the downward propagation of near-inertial internal wave energy. The observed alongshore low-frequency flows and the up- and downwelling are mostly driven by low-frequency winds. About 83% of the variance in the alongshore low-frequency flows is due to mode 1, which eigenfunction resembles a vertically sheared flow. We find that the amplitude of the near-inertial motions is modulated by the up- and downwelling. During downwelling, the near-inertial baroclinic kinetic energy is greatly reduced because of a reduction in stratification and weaker diurnal winds.
Protein translocation in yeast

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on protein translocation in yeast. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae carries out secretion and membrane biogenesis in a fashion analogous to mammalian cells and possesses all the relevant organelles: rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER), golgi apparatus, and secretory vesicles. It has a well-characterized, easily manipulated genome, and a convenient methodology exists for the isolation of genes of interest. The combination of in vivo and genetic analyses of yeast translocation mutants with the in vitro analysis of these mutants, using the yeast cell-free translocation assay, represents a powerful system for characterizing both membrane and cytosolic components involved in translocation. Several studies have examined the effect of precursor folding on translocation. Mitochondria1 membranes, which are able to translocate even large, branched molecules, show dramatically reduced translocation efficiencies when the preprotein is artificially held in a folded conformation. The use of denatured precursor proteins enhanced the efficiency of posttranslational translocation across mitochondrial, bacterial, and yeast ER membranes in vitro .
Viviendo en las márgenes del imperio: Luis Jerónimo de Oré y la exploración del Otro

Este ensayo reconstruye la biografia del franciscano Luis Jeronimo de Ore, uno de los personajes mas destacados de la historia colonial americana entre fines del siglo XVI y comienzos del XVII. Destaca su rol como misionero en America y representante de su orden en el Viejo Continente. Miembro de una antigua familia de la elite local huamanguina, Ore establecio lazos con otros grupos culturales en lugares tan disimiles como los Andes centrales del Peru y Bolivia, la costa de Florida y el Chile meridional
A multi-scale approach to molecular dynamics simulations of shock waves

Study of the propagation of shock waves in condensed matter has led to new discoveries ranging from new metastable states of carbon [1] to the metallic conductivity of hydrogen in Jupiter, [2] but progress in understanding the microscopic details of shocked materials has been extremely difficult. Complications can include the unexpected formation of metastable states of matter that determine the structure, instabilities, and time-evolution of the shock wave. [1,3] The formation of these metastable states can depend on the time-dependent thermodynamic pathway that the material follows behind the shock front. Furthermore, the states of matter observed in the shock wave can depend on the timescale on which observation is made. [4,1] Significant progress in understanding these microscopic details has been made through molecular dynamics simulations using the popular non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) approach to atomistic simulation of shock compression. [5] The NEMD method involves creating a shock at one edge of a large system by assigning some atoms at the edge a fixed velocity. The shock propagates across the computational cell to the opposite side. The computational work required by NEMD scales at least quadratically in the evolution time because larger systems are needed for longer simulations to prevent the shock wave from reflecting from the edge of the computational cell and propagating back into the cell. When quantum mechanical methods with poor scaling of computational effort with system size are employed, this approach to shock simulations rapidly becomes impossible.
The Nature of Sexual Difference: irigaray and darwin

This paper addresses the question of sexual difference as a pre-eminent question not only of cultural and social but also of biological relations. If sexual difference is a biological force then it must pervade the world of animals as much as the cultural world of humans. Charles Darwin’s work may provide a framework from which to understand Luce Irigaray’s central conception of sexual difference. This paper explores the possible relations between them.
A rare presentation and challenging reconstruction of an extensive cystic orbital Schwannoma

A 57 year old female presents with an irritated right eye and right-sided enophthalmos for the past year. The patient previously had an extensive right-sided cystic orbital schwannoma removed with reconstruction 5 years ago. Imaging revealed an enlarged right orbit with medial wall collapse and inferior displacement of a floor plate implant. An anterior orbitotomy with placement of an enophthalmos implant and 1mm Medpor sheets was conducted to reconstruct the orbit and corrected the ocular misalignment and right lower lid retraction. We report a successful case of orbital reconstruction in a patient with orbital deformity due to the removal of a massive cystic schwannoma.
Purification and properties of D-glycerate 3-kinase from Escherichia coli.

Abstract The adaptive d-glycerate 3-kinase from glycerate-adapted Escherichia coli has been purified 4200-fold in 37% yield and has been crystallized. The procedure, starting with the crude, cell-free extract, consisted of treatment with protamine sulfate, ammonium sulfate, passage through a diethylaminoethyl Sephadex column, and precipitation with ethanol. The reaction product, 3-phosphoglycerate, has been identified by paper chromatography and specific enzymatic assay. Some characteristics of the enzyme which show clearly its differences from other glycerate kinases are described.
The effect of farrowing crate heat lamp location on sow and pig patterns of lying and pig survival.

Three experiments were conducted to study sow and pig behavior during the 1st 3 d after birth and pig survival during the 1st 2 wk after farrowing. In Exp. 1, 23 sows were housed in conventional farrowing crates that were divided into five sections: a .5- x 1.5-m front creep section and the remaining area divided into four sections, .75 x 1.05 m each. Air temperature was maintained at 19 degrees C, and a 250-W heat lamp was placed at the right side of the front creep in Treatment 1 (T1), or in the creep at the right side of the sow for Treatment 2 (T2). The percentage of pigs within 8 cm of the sow's trunk was not affected by treatment, but it decreased (P < .001) from 61.8 +/- 3.4% on d 1 to 28.1 +/- 3.5% on d 3. As the percentage of pigs near the sow decreased, the percentage of pigs within the section containing the heat lamp increased (T1, P < .05; T2, P < .10). Experiment 2 involved 15 sows and litters housed as in Exp. 1, except that heat lamps were not provided, and average air temperature was 27.3 +/- .2 degrees C during behavioral observations. Even though the portion of the litter near the sow decreased (P < .001) from d 1 to d 3 (d 1, 57.0 +/- 3.4%; d 2, 42.9 +/- 3.3%; d 3, 31.7 +/- 3.3%), pigs did not concentrate in any specific section as they moved away from the sow. The average number of pigs within the front creep section (Section 1) for the 3-d period was less than (P < .01) the number in any other crate section. Experiment 3 involved 147 sows and tested the effect of solid creep floor covering on pig survival for each of the heat lamp locations used in Exp. 1. Neither heat lamp location nor floor covering affected pig survival. During the 1st 3 d of life, pigs tend to lie near the sow regardless of heat lamp location or air temperature. Heat lamp position and floor covering under the lamp do not affect pig survival.
Modeling the Disease Course of Zaire ebolavirus Infection in the Outbred Guinea Pig

Background. Rodent models that accurately reflect human filovirus infection are needed as early screens for medical countermeasures. Prior work in rodents with the Zaire species of Ebola virus (ZEBOV) primarily used inbred mice and guinea pigs to model disease. However, these inbred species do not show some of the important features of primate ZEBOV infection, most notably, coagulation abnormalities. Methods. Thirty-six outbred guinea pigs were infected with guinea pig–adapted ZEBOV and examined sequentially over an 8-day period to investigate the pathologic events that lead to death. Results. Features of disease in ZEBOV-infected outbred guinea pigs were largely consistent with disease in humans and nonhuman primates and included early infection of macrophages and dendritiform cells, apoptosis of bystander lymphocytes, and increases in levels of proinflammatory cytokines. Most importantly, dysregulation of circulating levels of fibrinogen, protein C activity, and antifibrinolytic proteins and deposition of fibrin in tissues demonstrated both biochemical and microscopic evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Conclusions. These findings suggest that the outbred guinea pig model recapitulates ZEBOV infection of primates better than inbred rodent models, is useful for dissecting key events in the pathogenesis of ZEBOV, and is useful for evaluating candidate interventions prior to assessment in primates.
Overview of Tidal Power Technology

Our earth’s atmosphere is being compromised by +2.3G tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year mainly from the generation of electricity. Tidal energy resources are globally significant and should be developed as part of the diverse clean energy portfolio that will be necessary to reach expected future carbon reduction targets. In this article, an overview of some of the current tidal technologies is presented including different available designs of tidal turbines and existing large projects around the world. Given that the tidal energy resources are globally significant it is concluded that they should be developed as part of the diverse clean energy portfolio to reach expected future carbon reduction targets.
Coupled effects of mass transfer and uptake kinetics on in vivo microdialysis of dopamine.

Voltammetric microelectrodes and microdialysis probes were used simultaneously to monitor extracellular dopamine in rat striatum during electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle. Microelectrodes were placed far away (1 mm) from, immediately adjacent to, and at the outlet of microdialysis probes. In drug-naive rats, electrical stimulation (45 Hz, 25 s) evoked a robust response at microelectrodes far away from the probes, but there was no response at microelectrodes adjacent to and at the outlet of the probes. After nomifensine administration (20 mg/kg i.p.), stimulation evoked robust responses at all three microelectrode placements. These results demonstrate first that evoked release in tissue adjacent to microdialysis probes is suppressed in comparison with evoked release in tissue far away from the probes and second that equilibration of the dopamine concentration in the extracellular fluid adjacent to and far away from the probes is prevented by the high-affinity dopamine transporter. Hence, models of microdialysis, which assume the properties of tissue to be spatially uniform, require modification to account for the distance that separates viable sites of evoked dopamine release from the probe. We introduce new mass transfer resistance parameters that qualitatively explain the observed effects of uptake inhibition on stimulation responses recorded with microdialysis and voltammetry.
Observations and numerical simulations of mountain waves in the presence of directional wind shear

Three research aircraft observed small-amplitude gravity waves over the south-western French Alps on 13 November 1999 during the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP). Radiosonde ascents and Global Positioning System dropsondes deployed by MAP research aircraft indicate that the upstream flow was characterized by topographic blocking below 2 km and low-level directional wind shear associated with a synoptic-scale depression that extended above the Alpine crest. The in situ vertical velocity data from the three research aircraft, and backscatter from lidar onboard the low-level and upper-level aircraft, exhibit gravity-wave signatures in the lower troposphere that are characterized by relatively short horizontal wavelengths on a scale of 5 km or less. The in situ flight-level and backscatter data also suggest a rapid decrease in the wave amplitude with height, due to a directional critical layer that partially absorbs wave energy in the lower to middle troposphere in concert with a decrease in the Scorer parameter with height that traps the wave energy. Numerical simulation results, obtained from the non-hydrostatic Coupled Ocean–Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System model using a horizontal resolution of 556 m, indicate the presence of low-level wave breaking above the highest peaks, and confirm the presence of trapped waves and a directional critical level. Results based on linear theory and nonlinear model simulations suggest that the absorption of wave energy associated with the directional critical layer has an important impact on the wave characteristics including the momentum flux. Copyright © 2006 Royal Meteorological Society
Hyperbaric ethanol antagonism: role of temperature, blood and brain ethanol concentrations.

Abstract Three studies investigated the mechanism of hyperbaric ethanol antagonism. C57 B1/6j mice were injected intraperitoneally with 3.6 g/kg ethanol and were exposed to 1–12 atmospheres absolute (ATA) helium-oxygen or to 1 ATA air at temperatures that offset the cooling effects of helium or helium and ethanol. Hyperbaric treatment significantly reduced sleep-time and increased wake-up brain ethanol concentrations compared to temperature matched controls. Treatment with 12 ATA helium-oxygen increased the brain ethanol concentration and the brain-blood ethanol ratio at 150 minutes after ethanol administration. These results exclude helium or pressure-induced changes in body temperature, rate of blood ethanol decline or distribution to the brain as mechanisms mediating the antagonism. The data support a membrane site of antagonism.
Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Liver Metastases from Colorectal Cancer: Analysis of Safety, Feasibility, and Early Outcomes

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 3rd leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. Many patients with CRC develop hepatic metastases as the sole site of metastases. Historical treatment options were limited to resection or conventional radiation therapy. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has emerged as a rational treatment approach. This study reviews our experience with SBRT for patients with liver metastases from CRC. Material and Methods: Fourteen histologically confirmed hepatic CRC metastases in 11 consecutive patients were identified between November, 2004 and June, 2009 at Georgetown University. All patients underwent CT-based treatment planning; a few also had MRI or PET/CT. All patients had fiducial markers placed under CT guidance and were treated using the CyberKnife system. Treatment response and toxicities were examined; survival and local control were evaluated. Results: Most patients were treated to a single hepatic lesion (n=8), with a few treated to 2 lesions (n=3). Median treatment volume was 99.7 cm3, and lesions were treated to a median BED10 of 49.7 Gy (range: 28 – 100.8 Gy). Median follow-up was 21 months; median survival was 16.1 months, with 2-year actuarial survival of 25.7%. One-year local control was 72%. Among patients with post-treatment imaging, 8 had stable disease (80%) and 2 had progressive disease (20%) at first follow-up. The most common grade 1-2 acute toxicities included nausea and alterations in liver function tests; there was one grade 3 toxicity (elevated bilirubin), and no grade 4-5 toxicities. Discussion: SBRT is safe and feasible for the treatment of limited hepatic metastases from CRC. Our results compare favorably with outcomes from previous studies of SBRT. Further studies are needed to better define patient eligibility, study the role of combined modality treatment, optimize treatment parameters, and characterize quality of life after treatment.
Initial application of EPIC-μCT to assess mouse articular cartilage morphology and composition: effects of aging and treadmill running

Summary Objective The current study was undertaken to adapt Equilibrium Partitioning of an Ionic Contrast agent via microcomputed tomography (EPIC-μCT) to mouse articular cartilage (AC), which presents a particular challenge because it is thin (∼30 μm) and has a small volume (0.2–0.4 mm 3 ), meaning there is only approximately 2–4 μg of chondroitin sulfate (CS) glycosaminoglycan per joint surface cartilage. Design Using 6 μm isotropic voxels and the negatively charged contrast agent ioxaglate (Hexabrix), we optimized contrast agent concentration and incubation time, assessed two methods of tissue preservation (formalin fixation and freezing), examined the effect of ex vivo chondroitinase ABC digestion on X-ray attenuation, assessed accuracy and precision, compared young and skeletally mature cartilage, and determined patterns of degradation in a murine cartilage damage model induced by treadmill running. Results The optimal concentration of the contrast agent was 15%, formalin fixation was preferred to freezing, and 2 h of incubation was needed to reach contrast agent equilibrium with formalin-fixed specimens. There was good agreement with histologic measurements of cartilage thickness, although μCT over-estimated thickness by 13% (∼5 μm) in 6-week-old mice. Enzymatic release of 0.8 μg of chondrotin sulfate (about 40% of the total) increased X-ray attenuation by ∼17%. There was a 15% increase in X-ray attenuation in 14-week-old mice compared to 6-week-old mice ( P P P = 0.012) and a 12% increase in X-ray attenuation ( P = 0.006) in 14-week-old mice. Conclusion This technique enables non-destructive visualization and quantification of murine femoral AC in three dimensions with anatomic specificity and should prove to be a useful new tool in studying degeneration of cartilage in mouse models.
Comparison of low- and high-passage bovine turbinate cells for assay of bovine viral diarrhea virus.

The preparation and maintenance of a culture of bovine turbinate cells is described. The cell line is free of bovine viral diarrhea, parainfluenza-3, and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis viruses; and although the modal chromosome number changed significantly between the 9th passage and the 81st passage, no definite morphological changes were observed. Low- and high-passage bovine turbinate cells were equally susceptible to bovine viral diarrhea virus.
The response of floating ice to a moving, vibrating load

Abstract We investigated the wave motion in floating sea ice that results from a moving, vibrating load. For a fixed driving frequency, increasing the speed of the load results in shorter, smaller amplitude waves ahead and longer, larger amplitude waves behind the load. For realistic loads, the mass of the load may be neglected. If the mass of the load is small, then resonant solutions are found.
Wetting behavior of polymer melts on polydisperse grafted polymer layers

The thickness dependence of the free energy of a polymeric film is calculated for monodisperse melts on grafted polymer layers of the same composition. For monodisperse grafted layers, a comparison is made between the full equilibrium (constant chemical potential) case and the restricted equilibrium (constant grafting density) case. Results for the two situations are nearly identical, indicating that previous results obtained for full equilibrium conditions are valid for restricted equilibrium conditions as well. A monodisperse polymer on a polydisperse grafted layer, consisting of loops and tails of different lengths, is also considered. A simple statistical analysis indicates that a layer produced by uniform adsorption of all segments of the polymer chain will be dominated by relatively long tails. Calculations for representative loop and tail distributions give a monotonically decreasing free energy with increasing film thickness. The absence of an attractive minimum at a finite film thickness means th...
Semantic Externalism, Language Variation, and Sociolinguistic Accommodation

Abstract: Chomsky (1986) has claimed that the prima facie incompatibility between descriptive linguistics and semantic externalism proves that an externalist semantics is impossible. Although it is true that a strong form of externalism does not cohere with descriptive linguistics, sociolinguistic theory can unify the two approaches. The resulting two-level theory reconciles descriptivism, mentalism, and externalism by construing community languages as a function of social identification. This approach allows a fresh look at names and definite descriptions while also responding to Chomsky’s (1993, 1995) challenge to articulate an externalist theory of meaning that can be used in the scientific investigation of language.
A pairing based cryptographic anonymous authentication scheme

Privacy and authenticity are two critical aspects of security. Our goal is to construct a protocol using pairing based cryptography that provides all of the necessary security properties, as well as make the protocol compliant to as many applications/problem domains as possible. Some motivating applications for an anonymous authentication protocol are E-commerce, E-voting, E-library, E-cash, as well as some medical applications, and mobile agent applications. Typically there are three parties involved, the user, servers, and the trusted third party TTP. Each entity in the system registers with the TTP only once. In our design we construct a fully anonymous pairing based authentication scheme, which allows each user to authenticates themselves to a server without requiring the identity of the user to be revealed. Further, in order to to deal with malicious users, we provide the TTP the capability to track malicious users.
Resistance to Phomopsis Seed Decay in Soybean

Phomopsis seed decay (PSD) of soybean is caused primarily by the fungal pathogen Phomopsis longicolla Hobbs along with other Phomopsis and Diaporthe spp. This disease causes poor seed quality and suppresses yield in most soybean-growing countries. Infected soybean seeds can be symptomless, but are typically shriveled, elongated, cracked, and have a chalky white appearance. Development of PSD is sensitive to environmental conditions. Hot and humid environments favor pathogen growth and disease development. Several control strategies have been used to manage PSD and reduce its impact; however, the use of resistant cultivars is the most effective method for controlling PSD. Efforts have been made to identify sources of PSD resistance in the past decades. At least 28 soybean lines were reported to have certain levels of PSD resistance in certain locations. Inheritance of resistance to PSD has been studied in several soybean lines. In this paper, general information about the disease, the causal agent, an overview of research on evaluation and identification of sources of resistance to PSD, and inheritance of resistance to PSD are presented and discussed.
The Milnor Fiber Conjecture and iterated branched cyclic covers

In this paper we prove the Milnor Fiber Conjecture of Neumann and Wahl for a class of isolated complete intersection singularities obtained by taking iterated branched cyclic covers of the singularity link. We also show that if the Milnor Fiber Conjecture holds for a given splice diagram, then it holds for any equivalent diagram satisfying the semigroup condition. We illustrate the application of these theorems in an example and discuss the relationship of these singularities with Neumann and Wahl's Splice Type Conjecture.
Managing New Industry Creation: Global Knowledge Formation and Entrepreneurship in High Technology

The article reviews the book “Managing New Industry Creation: Global Knowledge Formation and Entrepreneurship in High Technology,” by Thomas P. Murtha, Stephanie Ann Lenway, and Jeffrey A. Hart.
The Structural Basis for Promoter −35 Element Recognition by the Group IV σ Factors

The control of bacterial transcription initiation depends on a primary sigma factor for housekeeping functions, as well as alternative sigma factors that control regulons in response to environmental stresses. The largest and most diverse subgroup of alternative sigma factors, the group IV extracytoplasmic function sigma factors, directs the transcription of genes that regulate a wide variety of responses, including envelope stress and pathogenesis. We determined the 2.3-A resolution crystal structure of the -35 element recognition domain of a group IV sigma factor, Escherichia coli sigma(E)4, bound to its consensus -35 element, GGAACTT. Despite similar function and secondary structure, the primary and group IV sigma factors recognize their -35 elements using distinct mechanisms. Conserved sequence elements of the sigma(E) -35 element induce a DNA geometry characteristic of AA/TT-tract DNA, including a rigid, straight double-helical axis and a narrow minor groove. For this reason, the highly conserved AA in the middle of the GGAACTT motif is essential for -35 element recognition by sigma(E)4, despite the absence of direct protein-DNA interactions with these DNA bases. These principles of sigma(E)4/-35 element recognition can be applied to a wide range of other group IV sigma factors.
Teaching Accessibility, Learning Empathy

As information and communication technologies (ICTs) become more diffuse, the diversity of users that designers need to consider is growing; this includes people with disabilities and aging populations. As a result, computing education must provide students the means and inspiration to learn about inclusive design. This poster presents top-level findings from 18 interviews with professors from some of the top universities in the US. Our analysis yielded four categories of findings: (1) important student learning outcomes (the most common was for students to embrace diversity); (2) exercises and teaching materials (almost all focused on inclusion of people with disabilities in discovery and evaluation of ICTs); (3) frustrations and challenges (largely focused on how to engage students in accessibility topics); and (4) the importance of instructor initiative to include the topic of accessibility in their teaching. The unifying theme was the high importance of cultivating empathy with end users.
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is more diagnostic than 2-dimensional echocardiography in determining the presence of bicuspid aortic valve

Objective This study compares 2-dimensional, transthoracic echocardiography with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the preoperative identification of bicuspid aortic valve before aortic valve surgery. Methods Of 1203 patients who underwent an aortic valve operation, 218 had both preoperative transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Patients in the study group were aged 56 years and had an ejection fraction of 56%, 76% were male, and 29% had associated coronary artery disease. The results of transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging were classified as bicuspid aortic valve, trileaflet aortic valve, or nondiagnostic. Of the 218 patients, 123 (56%) had bicuspid aortic valve as determined at the time of surgery and 116 (53%) had an ascending aortic aneurysm. Results Of the 123 patients with bicuspid aortic valve confirmed at surgery, by transthoracic echocardiography 76 (62%) were identified preoperatively with bicuspid aortic valve, 12 (10%) were misidentified with trileaflet aortic valve, and 35 (28%) were nondiagnostic for valve morphology. In the same patients with bicuspid aortic valve, by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging 115 (93%) were identified with bicuspid aortic valve, 5 (4%) were misidentified with trileaflet aortic valve, and 3 (2%) were nondiagnostic. The difference between transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to determine the presence of bicuspid aortic valve was statistically significant ( P P 001). Conclusions Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is more diagnostic than transthoracic echocardiography in determining the presence of bicuspid aortic valve. A significant factor is the rate of nondiagnostic transthoracic echocardiography for aortic valve morphology. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging can be performed as a complementary test when transthoracic echocardiography is nondiagnostic for aortic valve morphology.
Life history characteristics of the northern pipefish,Syngnathus fuscus, in Southern New Jersey

The northern pipefish,Syngnathus fuscus, is an abundant component of estuarine faunas along the east coast of the United States, yet little is known of its life history. Northern pipefish were collected from several areas in southern New Jersey, particularly the Great Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuarine system, to determine aspects of its reproduction and to estimate its age and growth. A monthly gonadosomatic index for both males and females indicated a spring through summer spawning period, with a peak in reproductive activity during June. A male brood pouch-somatic index indicated a prolonged male brooding period over spring through summer, with a peak in June. The size of males with broods ranged from 119–222 mm total length (TL), and the number of eggs within a brood varied from 45 to 1380. Individual embryos within a brood were identical in development stage, suggesting each brood resulted from a single mating. Young-of-the-year occurred in samples from May through November, with peak abundance in June. Individuals in this year class were extremely variable in size by the end of the first growing season, varying from 5 mm TL to 200 mm TL in November. At approximately 1 yr of age, individuals were 70–220 mm TL and many were of sufficient size to reproduce, indicating that the events of the first year of life for this species are of central importance to an understanding of its population dynamics.
c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK-1) Confers Protection against Brief but Not Extended Ischemia during Acute Myocardial Infarction

Brief periods of ischemia do not damage the heart and can actually protect against reperfusion injury caused by extended ischemia. It is not known what causes the transition from protection to irreversible damage as ischemia progresses. c-Jun N-terminal kinase-1 (JNK-1) is a stress-regulated kinase that is activated by reactive oxygen and thought to promote injury during severe acute myocardial infarction. Because some reports suggest that JNK-1 can also be protective, we hypothesized that the function of JNK-1 depends on the metabolic state of the heart at the time of reperfusion, a condition that changes progressively with duration of ischemia. Mice treated with JNK-1 inhibitors or transgenic mice wherein the JNK-1 gene was ablated were subjected to 5 or 20 min of ischemia followed by reperfusion. When JNK-1 was inactive, ischemia of only 5 min duration caused massive apoptosis, infarction, and negative remodeling that was equivalent to or greater than extended ischemia. Conversely, when ischemia was extended JNK-1 inactivation was protective. Mechanisms of the JNK-1 switch in function were investigated in vivo and in cultured cardiac myocytes. In vitro there was a comparable switch in the function of JNK-1 from protective when ATP levels were maintained during hypoxia to injurious when reoxygenation followed glucose and ATP depletion. Both apoptotic and necrotic death pathways were affected and responded reciprocally to JNK-1 inhibitors. JNK-1 differentially regulated Akt phosphorylation of the regulatory sites Ser-473 and Thr-450 and the catalytic Thr-308 site in vivo. The studies define a novel role for JNK-1 as a conditional survival kinase that protects the heart against brief but not protracted ischemia.
Nyström discretization of parabolic boundary integral equations

A Nystrom method for the discretization of thermal layer potentials is proposed and analyzed. The method is based on considering the potentials as generalized Abel integral operators in time, where the kernel is a time dependent surface integral operator. The time discretization is the trapezoidal rule with a corrected weight at the endpoint to compensate for singularities of the integrand. The spatial discretization is a standard quadrature rule for surface integrals of smooth functions. We will discuss stability and convergence results of this discretization scheme for second-kind boundary integral equations of the heat equation. The method is explicit, does not require the computation of influence coefficients, and can be combined easily with recently developed fast heat solvers.
Heterogenistics: An epistemological restructuring of biological and social sciences

The epistemology which sees intra-specific and intra-group heterogenization, symbiotization, interactive pattern-generating and change as basic principles produces types of theories and research strategies different from the epistemology based on the notions of intra-specific and intra-group uniformity, competition and stabilization. In the uniformistic view, individual variations have been reduced mainly either to statistical deviations from the mean or to dominance relationship. On the other hand in the heterogenistic view, mutual beneficial interactions between qualitatively heterogeneous individuals within a group is regarded as indispensable for the increase of the level of behavioral and biological sophistication and evolution. This article compares five epistemologies including the two mentioned above in the context of the current epistemological transition in science, particularly due to the emergence of non-equilibrium thermodynamics in physics and differentiation-amplifying reciprocal causal models in mathematics and engineering, both of which consider the universe as pattern-generating, information-creating and evolving.
Cornell Thomson scattering system.

A Thomson scattering system has been designed and constructed for probing a relativistic electron beam heated plasma. Ruby laser light scattered through 90° is resolved by a polychromator and detected by one of six photomultipliers. The system is capable of resolving electron temperatures of 150 eV at densities of ne<1013 cm−3 with a 4‐J ruby laser and an f/9 throughput collection system. Scaling to a 10‐J, f/5 system would allow resolving densities of approximately 1012 cm−3. System design, calibration, alignment, and data reduction are discussed. At elevated temperatures (Te≈600 eV) evidence of the relativistic blue shift was observed.
Isothiazoles. III. Synthesis of isothiazolo [5,4-d] pyrimidines†‡

5-Amino-3-methylisothiazole-4-carbonitrile 2 was prepared by oxidation of 3-amino-2-cyano-thiocrotonamide 1. A series of 4-amino-3-methylisothiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidines 6 was derived from 2 by reaction with orthoesters followed by cyclization with primary amines. Hydrolysis of 2 to the corresponding amide 10 followed by cyclization with orthoesters gave the corresponding 5H-isothiazolo[5,4-d]pyrimidin-4-ones 11. Reactions of 2 and 10 with sodium methyl xanthate gave the corresponding pyrimidinethione derivatives 12 and 13.
Preparing Addiction Specialists to Include Case Management and Vocational Rehabilitation Services in the Treatment Model for Problem Gamblers.

Professionals in the field of addictions view problems associated with recovery management across multiple domains. This exploratory study utilized concept mapping and pattern matching methodology to conceptualize the resulting 7 domains of concern for treatment and aftercare of problem and pathological gamblers. The information can be used by educators as they enhance their curriculum to address recovery management issues for this population and in furthering research.
The electoral effects of the descriptive representation of ethnic minority groups in Australia and the UK

In this article we assess the electoral effects of the nomination of ethnic minority candidates. We argue that descriptive representation is an important factor in how parties in SMD systems establ...
Hydrolyzed Leather Meal in Broiler Diets

Abstract SEVERAL by-product protein supplements have been demonstrated to be of value in poultry diets, such as feather meal, poultry by-product meal and more recently cattle and hog hair meal (Moran et al., 1966Moran et al., 1967 a,b; Moran and Summers, 1968 a,b). Hydrolyzed leather meal, a feedstuff produced from tanned leather scraps, offers the possibility of being used to supply part of the protein needs of the chick. This material has been approved for use as a source of protein in swine feeds at levels not to exceed 1% of the diet (Anonymous, 1967). Little experimental data has been reported regarding the feeding value of such a product in chick diets. Wisman and Engel (1961) reported that a tannery by-product meal could be used to replace up to one fourth of the protein supplied by soybean meal in a broiler diet. However, the product used in this report consisted of flesh scrapings…
The formation and biotransformation of cysteine conjugates of halogenated ethylenes by rabbit renal tubules

Abstract The nephrotoxicity of chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) was examined using isolated rabbit renal tubules suspensions. Exposure of the tubules to CTFE resulted in consumption of CTFE, formation of a glutathione conjugate and inhibition of active organic acid transport. Synthetic cysteine, N-acetylcysteine or glutathione conjugates of CTFE inhibited transport indicating S-conjugation as a possible toxic pathway. 1,2-dichlorovinyl glutathione (DCVG), a model synthetic glutathione conjugate, was used to examine the degradation and toxicity of these conjugates. DCVG inhibited rabbit renal tubule transport in vivo and in vitro. The DCVG was found to be degraded with the evolution of glutamine and glycine to produce the ultimate nephrotoxicant, dichlorovinyl cysteine. Dichlorovinyl cysteine is then bioactivated with the release of ammonia. This sequential degradation explains the latency of DCVG-induced renal transport inhibition relative to dichlorovinyl cysteine. It is now evident that certain halogenated ethylenes are capable of being biotransformed to glutathione conjugates in the kidney with their subsequent hydrolysis to nephrotoxic cysteine conjugates.