cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Risk-sensitive planning with one-switch utility functions: value iteration

Decision-theoretic planning with nonlinear utility functions is important since decision makers are often risk-sensitive in high-stake planning situations. One-switch utility functions are an important class of nonlinear utility functions that can model decision makers whose decisions change with their wealth level. We study how to maximize the expected utility of a Markov decision problem for a given one-switch utility function, which is difficult since the resulting planning problem is not decomposable. We first study an approach that augments the states of the Markov decision problem with the wealth level. The properties of the resulting infinite Markov decision problem then allow us to generalize the standard risk-neutral version of value iteration from manipulating values to manipulating functions that map wealth levels to values. We use a probabilistic blocks-world example to demonstrate that the resulting risk-sensitive version of value iteration is practical.
Assessing the Febrile Child for Serious Infection: A Step Closer to Meaningful Rapid Results.

* Abbreviations: CRP — : C-reactive protein PCT — : procalcitonin WBC — : white blood cell All pediatricians have experienced the difficult decision about whether a young infant has a life-threatening infection that requires hospitalization or has a self-limited viral disease that can safely be managed at home. As our appreciation of the negative aspects of antibiotic overuse (both to society and individuals) has matured, these situations have become more rather than less frequent. The almost dizzying development of sophisticated diagnostic modalities over the past 10 to 20 years has, in at least some situations, outpaced our ability to know how to use the test results. No single test has proven adept at accurately distinguishing the child with a life-threatening infection from the child who will get better on his or her own. Into this terrain, Srugo et al1 increase the number of tools in our toolbox and potentially move us substantially closer to that Holy Grail of accurately determining which child truly is at risk for having a serious bacterial infection. To fully scrutinize the results of this large, international study, we must first discuss how we assess the utility of … Address correspondence to David W. Kimberlin, MD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1600 7th Ave South CHB 303, Birmingham, AL 35233. E-mail: dkimberlin{at}peds.uab.edu
How Not to Conduct an Investigation

The first and most extensive investigation of the Sobells’ alleged fraud was conducted by the Dickens Committee appointed by the Sobells’ employer at the time allegations of misconduct appeared (Boffey, 1982), the Addiction Research Foundation, a state supported research and treatment foundation in Toronto, Canada. Chairman of the Committee, Bernard M. Dickens was a professor of law at the University of Toronto, as well as a professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, and a member of the Graduate Faculty in Law, Criminology, and Community. A second member was Anthony N. Doob, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and Director of its Center of Criminology. He was also a member of the Professional Advisory Board of the Addiction Research Foundation. O. Harold Warwick, M.D. was the third member of the Committee, a professor emeritus of the University of Western Ontario. William Charles Winegard, a physicist and former President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guelph was the final member of the Committee. It was a distinguished group, in the sense that all had illustrious careers within their professions. None, however, had any apparent experience in the investigation of fraud in science or in the conduct of treatment outcome studies.
Magnitude-based angle-of-arrival estimation, localization, and target tracking

In this paper, we are interested in estimating the angle of arrival (AoA) of all the signal paths arriving at a receiver array using only the corresponding received signal magnitude measurements (or, equivalently, the received power measurements). Typical AoA estimation techniques require phase information, which is not available in some WiFi/Bluetooth receivers, and is further challenging to properly measure in a synthetic antenna array due to synchronization issues. In this paper, we then show that AoA estimation is possible with only the received signal magnitude measurements. More specifically, we first propose a framework, based on the spatial correlation of the received signal magnitude, to estimate the AoA of signal paths from fixed signal sources (both active transmitters and passive objects). Next, we extend our AoA estimation framework to a dual setting, and further utilize a particle filter, to show how a moving target (both active transmitters and passive robots/humans) can be tracked, based on only the received signal magnitude measurements of a small number of fixed receivers. We extensively validate our proposed framework with several experiments (total of 22), in both closed and open areas. More specifically, we first utilize a robot to emulate an antenna array, and estimate the AoA of active transmitters, as well as passive objects using only the received WiFi signal magnitude measurements. We next validate our tracking framework by using only three off-the-shelf WiFi devices as receivers, to track an active transmitter, a passive robot that writes the letters of IPSN on its path, and a walking human. Overall, our results show that AoA can be estimated, with a high accuracy, with only the received signal magnitude measurements, and can be utilized for high quality angular localization and tracking.
Morality and the Politics of Practice

It is crucial for social workers to develop and support practice principles that will instill trust in the helping relationships associated with their services
Development of a finite element human vibration model for use in spacecraft coupled loads analysis

Finite element human vibration models were developed and implemented for use in human-tended spacecraft-coupled loads analysis, an analytical process used to predict low-frequency spacecraft loads ...
Trauma-Associated Sleep Disturbances: a Distinct Sleep Disorder?

This paper describes a newly proposed sleep disorder, trauma-associated sleep disorder (TSD). Whether or not this represents a truly unique condition is controversial. In this paper, we describe the overlapping features and differences between TSD, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD). While REM sleep without atonia (RWA) and dream enactment are part of the diagnostic criteria for both RBD and TSD, only TSD features nightmares that occur both in non-REM and REM. A key difference between TSD and PTSD is the presence of symptoms during wakefulness in the latter, though the relationship between the two disorders is, as of yet, unclear. It is unknown whether or not a relationship exists between TSD and neurodegeneration; thus, this needs to be explored further. Additional research, such as application of TSD diagnostic criteria to more diverse population, would help to determine whether or not TSD is a distinct clinical entity, its relationships to PTSD, as well as the association of this condition with the development of neurodegeneration.
Injury type-dependent differentiation of NG2 glia into heterogeneous astrocytes

The glial scar is comprised of a heterogeneous population of reactive astrocytes. NG2 glial cells (also known as oligodendrocyte progenitor cells or polydendrocytes) may contribute to this heterogeneity by differentiating into astrocytes in the injured CNS, but there have been conflicting reports about whether astrocytes comprise a significant portion of the NG2 cell lineage. By using genetic fate mapping after spinal cord injury (SCI) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice, the goal of this study was to confirm and extend upon previous findings, which have shown that NG2 cell plasticity varies across CNS injuries. We generated mice that express tdTomato in NG2 lineage cells and express GFP under the Aldh1l1 or Glt1 promoter so that NG2 glia-derived astrocytes can be detected by their expression of GFAP and/or GFP. We found that astrocytes comprise approximately 25% of the total NG2 cell lineage in the glial scar by 4 weeks after mid-thoracic contusive SCI, but only 9% by the peak of functional deficit after EAE. Interestingly, a subpopulation of astrocytes expressed only GFP without co-expression of GFAP, uncovering their heterogeneity and the possibility of an underestimation of NG2 glia-derived astrocytes in previous studies. Additionally, we used high performance liquid chromatography to measure the level of tamoxifen and its metabolites in the spinal cord and show that genetic labeling of NG2 glia-derived astrocytes is not an artifact of residual tamoxifen. Overall, our data demonstrate that a heterogeneous population of astrocytes are derived from NG2 glia in an injury type-dependent manner.
Peptide Intervention in Neuronal Death Caused by the HIV External Envelope Protein: Clinical Implications

An early manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) infection is the occurrence of neuropsychiatric and neurological impairment (Snider et al. 1983; Ultmann et al. 1985; Navia and Price 1987). Neuropathological changes include infiltrates of macrophages and multinucleated cells and often white matter pallor and vacuolar myelopathy (Nielsen et al. 1984; Navia et al. 1986). In addition, neuronal cell death has been observed in the globus pallidus and substantia nigra (Rosenblum et al. 1988). However, very few brain cells have demonstrable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infectivity (Wiley et al. 1986). Furthermore, even in advanced stages of the disease, not all patients have evidence of secondary infections. The fundamental question remains: what is the mechanism of the CNS deficits when there is so little direct HIV infection? We have examined the possibility that the envelope protein, which is shed by HIV, plays a role in mediating the losses of neuronal function and survival.
A National Survey of Learning Assistance Evaluation: Rationale, Techniques, Problems

(1978). A National Survey of Learning Assistance Evaluation: Rationale, Techniques, Problems. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Western College Reading Association: Vol. 11, Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Conference of the WCRA. Learning Assistance: Charting Our Course, pp. 21-30.
Beach Pollution Effects on Health and Productivity in California

The United States (U.S.) Clean Water Act triggered over $1 trillion in investments in water pollution abatement. However, treated sewage discharge and untreated runoff water that are contaminated by fecal matter are discharged into California beach waters daily. Warnings are posted to thwart the public from contacting polluted coastal water, according to the California Code of Regulations (CCR). This paper evaluated the current policy by empirically examining the productivity loss, in the form of sick leave, which is caused by fecal-contaminated water along the California coast under the CCR. The findings of this study showed that Californians suffer productivity losses in the amount of 3.56 million sick leave days per year due to recreational beach water pollution. This paper also empirically examined the pollution-to-sickness graph that Cabelli’s classic study theoretically proposed. The results of the research assure that the existing water quality thresholds are still reasonably safe and appropriate, despite the thresholds being based on studies from the 1950s. The weakness of the CCR lies in its poor enforcement or compliance. Better compliance, in terms of posting pollution advisories and increasing public awareness regarding beach pollution effects on health, would lead to a significant decrease in sick leaves and a corresponding increase in productivity. Therefore, this study advocates for stronger enforcement by displaying pollution advisories and better public awareness of beach pollution effects on health.
Multi-Timescale Microscopic Theory for Radiation Degradation of Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices

A multi-timescale hybrid model is proposed to study microscopically the degraded performance of electronic devices, covering three individual stages of radiation effects studies, including ultra-fast displacement cascade, intermediate defect stabilization and cluster formation, as well as slow defect reaction and migration. Realistic interatomic potentials are employed in molecular-dynamics calculations for the first two stages up to 100 ns as well as for the system composed of layers with thicknesses of hundreds of times the lattice constant. These quasi-steady-state results for individual layers are input into a rate-diffusion theory as initial conditions to calculate the steady-state distribution of point defects in a mesoscopic-scale layered-structure system, including planar biased dislocation loops and spherical neutral voids, on a much longer time scale. Assisted by the density-functional theory for specifying electronic properties of point defects, the resulting spatial distributions of these defects and clusters are taken into account in studying the degradation of electronic and optoelectronic devices, e.g., carrier momentum-relaxation time, defect-mediated non-radiative recombination, defect-assisted tunneling of electrons and defect or charged-defect Raman scattering as well. Such theoretical studies are expected to be crucial in fully understanding the physical mechanism for identifying defect species, performance degradations in field-effect transistors, photo-detectors, light-emitting diodes and solar cells and in the development of effective mitigation methods during their microscopic structure design stages.
On synchronous, asynchronous, and randomized best-response schemes for stochastic Nash games

In this paper, we consider a stochastic Nash game in which each player minimizes a parameterized expectation-valued convex objective function. In deterministic regimes, proximal best-response (BR) ...
Discerning the body: Recentering Christian community in the vocational formation of university undergraduates:

We report and analyze undergraduate students’ perceptions of vocation and propose constructive responses that prepare students for purposeful Christian lives. Discussion in focus groups elicited ac...
Perspectives of infant active play: a qualitative comparison of working versus stay-at-home parents.

Parents play a key role in infant’s development through their interactions and the type of environment they provide to promote active play. The amount of time parents are able to spend with their infant is dependent on their working status, yet few studies have explored parent perception of their infant’s active play by working status. The purpose of this study was to explore parent perception of active play and compare responses between working and stay-at-home parents. Twenty-nine parents participated in this qualitative study by completing a one-time, in-person semi-structured interview based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Themes were developed and compared based on parental working status using a directed content analysis approach. All parents believed active play could have a positive effect on their child’s development through physical, social and emotional, cognitive, and/or language and communication development. However, stay-at-home parents reported a broader impact of active play across these domains; whereas working parents most often referenced active play as impacting infant’s physical development. Social and emotional interactions were the highest reported form of active play among all parents. Additionally, all parents described similar barriers to increasing the time for active play. The most commonly reported barrier for all parents was time or schedule followed by care needs of the infant, environmental concerns, and need for restrictive devices (e.g., car seats). More stay-at-home parents than working parents reported the care needs of the infant as being a barrier. Recommendations for active play were not widely known amongst all parents, with a higher percentage of working parents reporting they would desire advice from a healthcare provider. Working status of parents appears to have implications on perceptions of active play which in turn may influence infants’ development. Future studies should objectively assess the impact of parents’ working status on infant development and explore how gender of the parent may serve as a confounding variable.
Effects of Mixing Weights and Predictor Distributions on Regression Mixture Models

Regression mixture models (RMMs) can be used to specifically test for and model differential effects in heterogeneous populations. Based on the results of the Aim 1 simulation study, enumeration co...
Strategic Management: Value Creation, Sustainability, and Performance, 5th Edition

This revised and updated 5th edition combines a critical foundation of strategic management theory with useful guidance on putting analytical frameworks to use. Developed in the digital environment and not tied to print production leadtimes, the 5th edition uses the most up-to-date examples from companies and industries. The text uses two integrating mechanisms to tie content together: 1) reliance on value chain and resource based advantage as key theoretical tenets, and 2) the use of dual strategic imperatives (value creation and opportunity recognition) that firms practically confront.
LB771 Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19-Related Infection in Patients with Psoriasis: A Cross-Sectional Study

Psoriasis severity may vary due to demographics and geography, yet data on the risk, racial disparities, and outcomes for COVID-19 in patients with psoriasis is limited. We evaluated rates of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality among psoriasis patients in a California-based population through a cross-sectional study utilizing the University of California COVID Research Data Set (UC CORDS). Psoriasis diagnosis, COVID-19 testing, demographics, hospitalizations, and mortality were collected. Specific biologic (adalimumab, ustekinumab, secukinumab, guselkumab, and etanercept) and systemic (cyclosporine and methotrexate) treatment for at least 30 days prior to COVID-19 testing were identified. Data from 290,838 patients is included in UC CORDS with a 3.59% positive COVID-19 test rate. Of these, 3,566 patients had a diagnosis of psoriasis, with a 2.44% positive infection rate;lower than the 3.56% infection rate for those without psoriasis (p=0.00021). There were no significant differences in hospitalization or mortality rate for COVID-19-positive psoriasis patients compared to those without psoriasis (p=0.5523, p=0.1152, respectively). Lastly, no significant difference in infection rate for psoriasis patients on systemic (2.92%, p=0.579) or biologic agents (2.46%, p=0.986) in comparison to psoriasis patients not on these treatments. UC CORDS data showed higher COVID-19 infection rates in non-white (3.05%) and Hispanic (8.35%) patients compared to non-Hispanic Caucasians (1.95%, p<0.00001). No significant differences were seen in infection, hospitalization, or mortality rates between non-Hispanic races (Caucasian, African American, and Asian). Overall, psoriasis patients did not have increased risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, or mortality, regardless of treatment modality.
Regression and Generalized Additive Model to Enhance the Performance of Photovoltaic Power Ensemble Predictors

Photovoltaic (PV) power prediction has a constantly evolving solutions landscape with a myriad of data-driven techniques. Each technique leverages a self-adaptive algorithm that must retrain in intervals, be it each day, week, or season, to avoid the model generalizing poorly because of overfitting, underfitting, or concept drift. This paper aims to improve the generalization capability of PV power predictors such as autoencoders used widely in the industry by introducing feature-enhanced ensemble learning (FEEL) after the feature selection step. This framework uses a combination of nonparametric regression and generalized additive models, and an ensemble of weak regularized multilayer perceptron models. Once trained, the framework can reliably generalize on test data across long time periods without any significant degradation in performance. The proposed framework was validated against the baseline autoencoder-based feature enhancement model on a real PV system from a smart neighborhood in Alabama for September 2019. The FEEL framework performed three times better than the baseline, but when applied to the baseline, its performance improved by two times on average. Furthermore, the framework generalized consistently better than five other feature enhancement strategies. Despite fluctuations in weather, the FEEL framework’s R-square score had a range of 8.1%, whereas that of the baseline was 48.3%. The mutual information and Minkowski distance scores attempted to quantify concept and model drift, respectively. These scores show that the FEEL framework generalized the ensemble learning models at least two times better than the baseline across the different test days. These results form the first step toward decentralized intelligence for smart grid applications that could free up resources for other expensive analytics in the field.
Understanding the benefits of providing peer feedback: how students respond to peers’ texts of varying quality

Prior research on peer assessment often overlooks how much students learn from providing feedback to peers. By practicing revision skills, students might strengthen their ability to detect, diagnose, and solve writing problems. However, both reviewer ability and the quality of the peers’ texts affect the amount of practice available to learners. Therefore, the goal of the current study is to provide a first step towards a theoretical understanding about why students learn from peer assessment, and more specifically from providing feedback to peers. Students from a large Introduction to Psychological Science course were assigned four peers’ papers to review. The reviewing ability of each student was determined, and to whom the students provided feedback was manipulated. The features and focus of the comments from a sample of 186 participants were coded, and the amount of each type was analyzed. Overall, reviewer ability and text quality did not affect the amount of feedback provided. Instead, the content of the feedback was affected by reviewer ability. Low reviewers provided more praise than high reviewers, whereas high reviewers provided more criticism than low reviewers. This criticism from high reviewers described more problems and offered more solutions, and it focused more often on high prose and substance. In the only significant reviewer ability × text quality interaction, high reviewers described more problems in the low-quality texts than in the high-quality texts, whereas low reviewers did not make this distinction. These results suggest that high reviewers and low reviewers may utilize different commenting styles, which could significantly impact the benefits of peer assessment.
Personalized and Focused Web Spiders

As the size of the Web continues to grow, searching it for useful information has become increasingly difficult. Researchers have studied different ways to search the Web automatically using programs that have been known as spiders, crawlers, Web robots, Web agents, Webbots, etc. In this chapter, we will review research in this area, present two case studies, and suggest some future research directions.
Dye Sensitized Photopolymerization

Revue (contenant aussi des brevets) decrivant les methodes connues pour induire la polyaddition vinylique a l'aide de la lumiere visible. De nombreux donneurs d'electrons organiques et organometalliques et un petit nombre d'accepteurs d'electrons servent de coamorceurs
Cloning of a cDNA for liver microsomal retinol dehydrogenase. A tissue-specific, short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase.

Abstract Retinoic acid, a hormone biosynthesized from retinol, controls numerous biological systems by regulating eukaryotic gene expression from conception through death. This work reports the cloning and expression of a liver cDNA encoding a microsomal retinol dehydrogenase (RoDH), which catalyzes the primary and rate-limiting step in retinoic acid synthesis. The predicted amino acid sequence and biochemical data obtained from the recombinant enzyme verify it as a short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase. Like microsomal RoDH, the recombinant enzyme recognized as substrate retinol bound to cellular retinol-binding protein, had higher activity with NADP rather than NAD, was stimulated by ethanol or phosphatidylcholine, was not inhibited by 4-methylpyrazole, was inhibited by phenylarsine oxide and carbenoxolone and localized to microsomes. RoDH recognized the physiological form of retinol, holocellular retinol-binding protein, with a K of 0.9 μM, a value lower than the 5 μM concentration of holocellular retinol binding protein in liver. Northern and Western blot analyses revealed RoDH expression only in rat liver, despite enzymatic activity in liver, brain, kidney, lung, and testes. These data suggest that tissue-specific isozyme(s) of short chain alcohol dehydrogenases catalyze the first step in retinoic acid biogenesis and further strengthen the evidence that the “cassette” of retinol bound to cellular retinol-binding protein serves as a physiological substrate.
Interfaces in Particulate Materials

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an exposition of the interface models that describe the force-deformation behavior of interfaces between particles. The modeling methodologies in the mechanics of particulate media are described. It is suggested that the interface stiffness tensors that connect the force and deformations at particle interface, have a central role in the mechanics of particulate media. While discussing interface models, the Hertzian contact theory of contacting non-conforming elastic bodies under normal forces is described. The extension of Hertzian theory to account for tangential forces, including the effect of partial slip and consequent irrecoverable deformations, is presented. In addition, work on Hertzian theory to account for non-spherical particle shapes, surface roughness, and particle adhesion are described. Interface models for particles undergoing relative rotation, such as rolling and torsion, are also described. A compendium of measured inter-particle friction angles on various types of particle materials is presented from the data available in the literature.
A GPS-free power grid monitoring system over mobile platforms

In smart grids, the deviation of frequency and phase angle serves as an important indicator of abnormal events, the detection of which is critical to maintain reliable and stable operations of the power grid. However, the high cost and low accessibility of current power grid monitoring systems restrict their large-scale deployment over highly distributed microgrids. In this paper, we present a practical frequency and phase angle monitoring system design over mobile platforms, which significantly reduces the cost of power grid monitoring by utilizing the functionalities of modern mobile devices. We harvest the 200 Hz Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) embedded in the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular signal for time synchronization in power grid monitoring, replacing the Pulse-Per-Second (PPS) signal that is retrieved from GPS receivers and being used by current monitoring systems. We implement our system over realistic smartphones with a few peripheral hardware, and realize a frequency monitoring accuracy of 0.2 mHz and a phase angle monitoring accuracy of 0.01 rad. Experiment results compared with the traditional Frequency Disturbance Recorders (FDRs) verify the effectiveness of our proposed system.
Suppression of the inductive effects of phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene on ascorbic acid synthesis and hepatic cytochrome P-450-linked monooxygenase systems by the interferon inducers, poly rI.rC and tilorone

Abstract The interferon inducing agents, poly rI·rC and tilorone, cause a marked depression of hepatic cytochrome P-450-linked monooxygenase systems. Ascorbate synthesis and hepatic monnoxygenase systems are induced by phenobarbital and 3-methylcholanthrene. Poly rI·rC and tilorone suppressed the induction of ascorbate synthesis, P-450 and monooxygenase activity (ethylmorphine N-demethylase and benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase) by phenobarbital. 3-Methylcholanthrene-induced ascorbate synthesis was suppressed by poly rI·rC, but equivocal results were obtained with tilorone. Induction of P-450 by 3-methylcholanthrene was suppressed completely by poly rI·rC or tilorone, but that of benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase was lowered by only 40%, thus demonstrating the selective depressive action of interferon inducing agents on different species of P-450.
From Currere To Curriculum Spaces: Bringing Together Curriculum Theory and Educational Research

(2006). From Currere To Curriculum Spaces: Bringing Together Curriculum Theory and Educational Research. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 148-167.
Heuristic search with multiple criteria and additive cost structure

We present a multiobjective generalization of the heuristic search algorithm A*. We call this generalization MOA*. The research is motivated by the observation that most real-world problems involve multiple, conflicting, and noncommensurate objectives. MOA* explicitly accommodates this observation by identifying the set of all nondominated paths from a specified start node to a given set of goal nodes in an OR graph. We present results indicating that MOA* is complete and, when used with a suitably defined set of admissible heuristic functions, admissible. We also present results that provide a means for comparisons to be made among sets of heuristic functions and the versions of MOA* that they direct, in terms of the number of nodes expanded during a search. A simple example is used to illustrate the algorithm.
Carbon black-catalyzed olefin isomerization: II. Kinetics of a three-membered, first-order, reversible system

Abstract The carbon black-catalyzed interconversion of 2-ethyl-1-butene (A1), cis-3-methyl-2-pentene (A2), and trans-3-methyl-2-pentene (A3) has been studied using a computerized kinetic analysis. The computer analysis has been augmented by more traditional but less rigorous kinetic treatment. The isomerizations in slurry are observed to occur at moderate temperatures by first-order, reversible processes. The values of all six empirical rate constants in the reaction system have been determined. The selectivity of formation of A2 and A3 from A1 is temperature independent. The activation energy for disappearance of A1 is 16.1 ± 2 kcal/mole. These results have been interpreted in terms of a mechanism consisting of protonation of adsorbed olefin to form a single, common tertiary carbonium ion.
Ultimate strength analysis of structural components using the continuum damage mechanics approach

Abstract In this study, an analytical model is developed to include the effect of material fracture on the overall behavior of a structure. The continuum damage mechanics approach is used to describe the continuous deterioration of the material stiffness that leads to total failure. The damage evolution is assumed to be anisotropic and the effect of the triaxiality of stress on the fracture criterion is included in the analysis. The above modifications were applied to an existing finite element program which is capable of including both geometric and material nonlinearities in the analysis. The program was used to analyze a welded tubular connection (T-joint). This joint was chosen because fracture was shown experimentally to control its ultimate behavior. Solid finite elements were used to model the chord and the branch in the intersection region, wedge elements were used for the weld profile, and the rest of the geometry was modeled using shell elements. The joint was subjected to an increasing amount of displacement at the far end of the branch. The loading was continued until total failure. During this process, the evolution of the damage and its propagation were monitored. Divergence of the solution was obtained at a failure load of 42.4 kips compared to 44.0 kips obtained experimentally. In addition, the failure mode of the joint predicted by the analysis was identical to that observed experimentally.
Nonlinear anelasticity and the martensitic transformation

Abstract Zener's model of a standard linear solid is extended to include nonlinearities characteristic of metals and alloys in the vicinity of a martensitic transformation. The equation of motion of a nonlinear anelastic solid is derived and solved using van der Pol's method. The characteristics of the solutions indicate that auto-oscillations of finite amplitude can be excited externally. It is proposed that the streaming oscillations represent the beat between the external excitation and the auto-oscillation.
BIPARENTAL INBREEDING DEPRESSION IN THE SELF-INCOMPATIBLE ANNUAL PLANT GAILLARDIA PULCHELLA (ASTERACEAE).

Biparental inbreeding is thought to be a common feature of plant populations with restricted pollen dispersal. It is generally assumed that the inbreeding depression frequently observed to accompany self-fertilization can be extrapolated to the lesser degrees of consanguinity involved in biparental inbreeding, but this is virtually untested. To test this assumption, seeds collected from a single natural population of the self-incompatible annual Gaillardia pulchella were used to generate fullsib families derived by crossing either noninbred full-sibs (inbred families) or noninbred nonrelatives (outbred families). Members of each family were divided between high-stress and low-stress treatments that differed in soil volume and nutrient level. Inbred seedlings had a lower chance of survival, were more likely to be morphologically abnormal, and grew more slowly than outbred seedlings, indicating the presence of biparental inbreeding depression. Stress treatment had no significant effect on inbreeding depression, and no family x stress-environment interactions were detected. Inbreeding did not increase the among-family variance in growth rate, suggesting that inbreeding depression of growth rate is caused by many genes with small individual effects. Relative to direct estimates of inbreeding depression, observed levels of near-neighbor outcrossing depression, presumed to be biparental inbreeding depression, are surprisingly high in many plant species. Allozyme variation within plant populations often is structured in space, presumably reflecting kinship structure that has arisen through isolation by distance due to restricted dispersal (Heywood, 1991). Once kinship structure is established, restricted pollen dispersal leads to outcrossing between genetic relatives, a phenomenon known as biparental inbreeding (Uyenoyama, 1986). Thus, even populations of obligate outcrossers may routinely experience some level of inbreeding.
The bastides of southwest France

This paper examines a group of towns in southwest France founded during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Many of the towns were designed according to a regular, standardized plan. This paper studies these foundations as formal, historical, juridical, and political phenomena. Moreover, it proposes that the spatial dispositions of the towns be read as a product of the social relations enshrined in their charters.
Pyridyl aminothiazoles as potent Chk1 inhibitors: Optimization of cellular activity

Translation of significant biochemical activity of pyridyl aminothiazole class of Chk1 inhibitors into functional CEA potency required analysis and adjustment of both physical properties and kinase selectivity profile of the series. The steps toward optimization of cellular potency included elimination of CDK7 activity, reduction of molecular weight and polar surface area and increase in lipophilicity of the molecules in the series.
Effects of autoshaping procedures on 3H-8-OH-DPAT-labeled 5-HT1a binding and 125I-LSD-labeled 5-HT2a binding in rat brain.

Abstract Effects of experience with Pavlovian autoshaping procedures on lever-press autoshaping conditioned response (CR) performance and 3H-8-OH-DPAT-labeled binding of 5-HT1a receptors as well as 125I-LSD-labeled binding of 5-HT2a receptors were evaluated in four groups of male Long-Evans hooded rats. Two groups of rats (Group Paired High CR and Group Paired Low CR) received Pavlovian autoshaping procedures wherein the presentation of a lever (conditioned stimulus, CS) was followed by the response-independent presentation of food (unconditioned stimulus, US). Rats in Group Paired High CR (n=12) showed more rapid CR acquisition and higher asymptotic levels of lever-press autoshaping CR performance relative to rats in Group Low CR (n=12). Group Omission (n=9) received autoshaping with an omission contingency, such that performing the lever-press autoshaping CR resulted in the cancellation the food US, while Group Random (n=9) received presentations of lever CS and food US randomly with respect to one another. Though Groups Omission and Random did not differ in lever-press autoshaping CR performance, Group Omission showed significantly lower levels of 3H-8-OH-DPAT-labeled 5-HT1a binding in post-synaptic areas (frontal cortex, septum, caudate putamen), as well as significantly higher plasma corticosterone levels than Group Random. In addition, Group Random showed higher levels of 3H-8-OH-DPAT-labeled 5-HT1a binding in pre-synaptic somatodendritic autoreceptors on dorsal raphe nucleus relative to each of the other three groups. Autoradiographic analysis of 125I-LSD-labeled 5-HT2a receptor binding revealed no significant differences between Groups Paired High CR and Paired Low CR or between Groups Omission and Random in any brain regions.
Polymorphism in the rotiferAsplanchna sieboldi: Some chemical constituents of the saccate and campanulate females

No detectable differences in total protein, DNA, RNA and glycogen content were found between the morphologically and physiologically distinct saccate and campanulate morphotypes in one clone of the rotiferAsplanchna sieboldi.
Structural analysis by matrix decomposition

Abstract A physical interpretation is derived for the Choleski decomposition method as applied to structural analysis. Both the stiffness (displacement) and flexibility (force) methods of structural analysis are treated. The interpretation is shown to be valuable in providing physically meaningful upper and lower bounds on the elements of the decomposed diagonal matrix. These bounds are useful in error analysis of structural computations on a digital computer.
Asynchronous hybrid systems with jumps – analysis and synthesis methods

Abstract In this paper we show that the H ∞ synthesis problem for a class of linear systems with asynchronous jumps can be reduced to a purely discrete-time synthesis problem. The system class considered includes continuous-time systems with discrete jumps, or discontinuities, in the state. New techniques are developed for the analysis of asynchronous time-varying hybrid systems which allow a particularly simple treatment, and provide an elementary proof for the sampled-data H ∞ problem.
Additivity of detector responses of a portable direct-reading 10.2 eV photoionization detector and a flame ionization gas chromatograph for atmospheres of multicomponent organics: use of PID/FID ratios.

The H-Nu PI-101 with a photoionization detector (PID) of 10.2 eV and the Century OVA-128 equipped with a flame ionization detector (FID) were evaluated for the additivity of their responses to a defined mixture of dissimilar organic vapors at a 0 and 90% relative humidity (RH). The responses of both instruments were additive as long as the effect of RH was accounted for with the PID. The PI-101 was not as precise as the Century OVA-128 for 90% RH atmospheres. PID/ FID ratios did not change in the presence of 90% RH as long as the effect of RH also was accounted for in the PID reading.
Intramolecular interactions mediate pH regulation of connexin43 channels

We have previously proposed that acidification-induced regulation of the cardiac gap junction protein connexin43 (Cx43) may be modeled as a particle-receptor interaction between two separate domains of Cx43: the carboxyl terminal (acting as a particle), and a region including histidine 95 (acting as a receptor). Accordingly, intracellular acidification would lead to particle-receptor binding, thus closing the channel. A premise of the model is that the particle can bind its receptor, even if the particle is not covalently bound to the rest of the protein. The latter hypothesis was tested in antisense-injected Xenopus oocyte pairs coexpressing mRNA for a pH-insensitive Cx43 mutant truncated at amino acid 257 (i.e., M257) and mRNA coding for the carboxyl terminal region (residues 259–382). Intracellular pH (pHo) was recorded using the dextran form of the proton-sensitive dye seminaphthorhodafluor (SNARF). Junctional conductance (Gj) was measured with the dual voltage clamp technique. Wild-type Cx43 channels showed their characteristic pH sensitivity. M257 channels were not pH sensitive (pHo tested: 7.2 to 6.4). However, pH sensitivity was restored when the pH-insensitive channel (M257) was coexpressed with mRNA coding for the carboxyl terminal. Furthermore, coexpression of the carboxyl terminal of Cx43 enhanced the pH sensitivity of an otherwise less pH-sensitive connexin (Cx32). These data are consistent with a model of intramolecular interactions in which the carboxyl terminal acts as an independent domain that, under the appropriate conditions, binds to a separate region of the protein and closes the channel. These interactions may be direct (as in the ball-and-chain mechanism of voltage-dependent gating of potassium channels) or mediated through an intermediary molecule. The data further suggest that the region of Cx43 that acts as a receptor for the particle is conserved among connexins. A similar molecular mechanism may mediate chemical regulation of other channel proteins.
Chemical evolution of rare earth elements: fractionation between colloidal and solution phases of filtered river water

Abstract Within the dissolved fraction of Connecticut River water, there is large scale fractionation of rare earth elements between colloidal and solution phases. Colloidal particles carry a large part of the dissolved REE pool. Filtration through filters with progressively smaller pore size (0.45, 0.22 and 0.025 μm) results in filtrates with lower absolute concentrations of REE and more fractionated compositions. With decreasing pore size, the filtrates have shale-normalized abundances which become systematically more depleted in the LREE relative to the HREE. Hence, both the solution and colloidal phases are significantly fractionated with respect to the dissolved fraction ( These conclusions are consistent with previous studies of REE in rivers, estuaries and soils and with surface-solution speciation models. Colloids play an important role in the aquatic geochemistry of rare earth elements. They are responsible for the fractionation of REE during the estuarine removal of REE. The removal of suspended and colloidal particles from river water leaves the solution phase of river water with compositions of REE as evolved as those of surface seawater. Hence, the evolution of the composition of REE in river water and seawater is significantly influenced by colloid formation during chemical weathering on the continents.
Steady State Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Recompression Closed Brayton Cycle Operating Point Comparison With Predictions

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) supercritical carbon dioxide recompression closed Brayton cycle (RCBC) test assembly (TA) construction has been completed to its original design and resides at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico. Commissioning tests were completed in July 2012, followed by a number of tests in both the recompression CBC configuration, and in a bottoming cycle configuration that is proprietary to a current customer. While the test assembly has been developed and installed to support testing, a computer model of the loop, written in Fortran programming language, has also been developed. The purpose of this iterative model is to facilitate data interpretation, guide test assembly design modifications, develop control schemes, and serve as a foundation from which to develop a transient model. Of central utility is its modular nature, which has already been leveraged to develop a customer’s bottoming cycle configuration. Verification that the model uses appropriate physical representations of components and processes, is performing as intended, and validation that the model accurately reproduces test data, are necessary activities. Completion of the model’s verification and validation (V&V) supports the long-term goal of commercializing the RCBC for a sodium fast reactor. This paper presents verification results of certain subprocesses of the iterative computer model. Verification of these subprocesses was completed with positive results. While an adequate range of data for complete and thorough validation do not yet exist, comparison of subprocess predictions with data from a single, representative operating point are presented as are explanations for differences. Recommendations for activities necessary to complete subprocess and model validation are given. The RCBC iterative computer model V&V process should be revisited following completion of these recommended actions and the generation of steady state data while operating near the test assembly design point.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Automatic model construction

An algorithm for the construction of finite models of sets of predicate-calculus sentences is given. The algorithm differs from resolution in its ability to incorporate certain extra sentences (human advice) gracefully. Since the problem attacked by the algorithm is NP-complete, it is hoped that this ability to accept advice will make the algorithm useful more as a tool in the hands of a researcher than as a stand-alone procedure.
COMPARISON OF ERYTHROCYTE SEDIMENTATION RATES IN THREE GROUPS OF CHILDREN WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE (INTER-CRISIS, CRISIS AND INFECTION)

It is widely believed that erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) determinations are of little value in sickle cell disease since the rate is comparatively slow. Using the Westergren method, uncorrected, we performed ESR's in 44 children with sickle cell disease during painful crises, periods of infection and during intercrisis visits when they were otherwise well. Comparison of these three groups revealed that in 19 children with sickle cell disease the average ESR was 7.9 mm (range 3-21 mm) during inter-crisis periods. In 10 of 12 children with proven infection, the ESR was above 20 mm (average 38.3 mm), while among 13 children with painful crises the ESR was above 20 mm in only 5 (average 21 mm). The average values in patients with painful crisis or with infection were significantly higher than those in the inter-crisis periods. In general, the ESR's were higher in children with infection than in those experiencing painful crises. There was no relationship between the ESR in these patients and the degree of anemia. The findings suggest that an elevated ESR (above 20 mm) is a useful diagnostic parameter suggesting infection in patients with sickle cell disease.
The application of perpendicular and forward light scatter to assess nuclear and cellular morphology

Perpendicular and forward light scatter have been employed in a multiparametric approach to distinguish the various lines of the transplantable Dunning R3327 rat prostatic adenocarcinoma. Perpendicular light scatter has been shown to correlate with nuclear size and shape. The average intensity of forward light scatter and perpendicular light scatter signals was demonstrated to increase as cells became less well-differentiated. The combination of perpendicular and forward light scatter allows for the discrimination of histologically indistinguishable tumors and may therefore be useful to establish a system of grading cancer.