cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multiplied-Poisson noise in pulse, particle, and photon detection

Multiplication effects in point processes are important in a number of areas of electrical engineering and physics. We examine the properties and applications of a point process that arises when each event of a primary Poisson process generates a random number of subsidiary events, with a given time course. The multiplication factor is assumed to obey the Poisson probability law, and the dynamics of the time delay are associated with a linear filter of arbitrary impulse response function; special attention is devoted to the rectangular and exponential cases. The process turns out to be a doubly stochastic Poisson point process whose stochastic rate is shot noise; it has application in pulse, particle, and photon detection. Explicit results are obtained for the single and multifold counting statistics (distribution of the number of events registered in a fixed counting time), the time statistics (forward recurrence time and interevent probability densities), and the power spectrum (noise properties). These statistics can provide substantial insight into the underlying physical mechanisms generating the process. An example of the applicability of the model is provided by cathodoluminescence (the phenomenon responsible for the television image) where a beam of electrons (the primary process) impinges on a phosphor, generating a shower of visible photons (the secondary process). Each electron produces a random number of photons whose emission times are determined by the (possibly random) lifetime of the phosphor, so that multiplication effects and time delay both come into play. We use our formulation to obtain the forward-recurrence-time probability density for cathodoluminescence in YVO 4 :Eu3+, the excess cathodoluminescence noise in ZnS:Ag, and the counting distribution for radioiuminescence photons produced in a glass photomultiplier tube. Agreement with experimental data is very good in all cases. A variety of other applications and extensions of the model are considered.
Consistency Analysis of Redundant Probe Sets on Affymetrix Three-Prime Expression Arrays and Applications to Differential mRNA Processing

Affymetrix three-prime expression microarrays contain thousands of redundant probe sets that interrogate different regions of the same gene. Differential expression analysis methods rarely consider probe redundancy, which can lead to inaccurate inference about overall gene expression or cause investigators to overlook potentially valuable information about differential regulation of variant mRNA products. We investigated the behaviour and consistency of redundant probe sets in a publicly-available data set containing samples from mouse brain amygdala and hippocampus and asked how applying filtering methods to the data affected consistency of results obtained from redundant probe sets. A genome-based filter that screens and groups probe sets according to their overlapping genomic alignments significantly improved redundant probe set consistency. Screening based on qualitative Present-Absent calls from MAS5 also improved consistency. However, even after applying these filters, many redundant probe sets showed significant fold-change differences relative to each other, suggesting differential regulation of alternative transcript production. Visual inspection of these loci using an interactive genome visualization tool (igb.bioviz.org) exposed thirty putative examples of differential regulation of alternative splicing or polyadenylation across brain regions in mouse. This work demonstrates how P/A-call and genome-based filtering can improve consistency among redundant probe sets while at the same time exposing possible differential regulation of RNA processing pathways across sample types.
An assortative model of island biogeography

Abstract A model for the assortative phase of island biogeography is proposed which emphasizes interspecific interactions. This model is based upon trends between complexity and both relative stability and invulnerability as observed from computer simulations. The model indicates that island community complexity decreases with decreasing island size, increasing insularity or increasing environmental stochasticity, and that community complexity varies most with area on distant islands. Differences between estimated colonization times and relaxation times observed for island communities are ascribed to the progressive assortment of these communities toward more complementary species compositions. Greater relative endemism on more isolated islands is partially attributed to reduced interspecific invasion pressure. Invasion pressure is emphasized as a significant force in community organization.
Harris County Public Library: creating a design paradigm for twenty‐first century libraries

Purpose – To highlight the new service model used by Harris County Public Library and point out what has been successful.Design/methodology/approach – Using a libraries new service model, key points are brought out to identify what has been changed, and why these changes are important.Findings – By changing its service model and design approach, Harris County Public Library has been able to maintain staffing levels and use space more efficiently as library use has increased.Originality/value – Uses examples that can benefit other libraries on using space and staffing efficiently.
Hepatic Microsomal Enzymes in Man and Rat: Induction and Inhibition by Ethanol

The feeding of ethanol increased significantly the activities of hepatic pentobarbital and benzpyrene hydroxylases in rats, and, in human volunteers, doubled pentobarbital hydroxylase activity. In vitro ethanol inhibited aniline, pentobarbital, and benzpyrene hydroxylases. These data may explain, at least in part, the increased tolerance of alcoholics to sedatives when sober, and the enhanced sensitivity to sedatives when inebriated.
Routing tree construction under fixed buffer locations

Modern high performance design requires using a large number of buffers. In practice, buffers are organized into buffer blocks and planned in the early stages of design process [1]. Thus, the locations of buffer blocks are usually fixed prior to routing tree construction. In this paper we present the first algorithm for simultaneous routing tree construction and buffer insertion for multiple-pin nets under fixed buffer locations. Given a source and n sinks of a net, the required arrival time associated with each sink, and m buffers with fixed locations, our algorithm can construct a routing tree for this net with possible insertion of buffers at given locations such that the required arrival time at the source is maximized. Experimental results show that our algorithm is efficient to handle fixed buffer location constraints and can also be used for routing tree construction without buffer insertion. Moreover, it can handle obstacles and congestion which will benefit its adaption in a global router. Compared to the well-known BA-tree algorithm [2] followed by a post-processing step for handling fixed buffer location constraints, our algorithm outperforms it by up to 46% in terms of delay while using comparative wirelength.
A comprehensive evaluation of indoor ranging using ultra-wideband technology

Ultra-wideband technology shows promise for precision ranging due to its fine time resolution to resolve multipath fading and the presence of lower frequencies in the baseband to penetrate walls.While a concerted effort has been conducted in the extensive modeling of the indoor UWB channel in recent years, to our knowledge only two papers have reported ranging performance, but for limited range and fixed bandwidth and center frequency. In principle, boosting power can guarantee connectivity between transmitter and receiver, but not precision due to the distorting effects of walls and other objects in the direct path. In order to gauge the limits of UWB ranging, we carry out 5000 measurements up to an unprecedented 45m in non-line-of-sight conditions in four separate buildings with dominant wall material varying from sheet rock to steel. In addition, we report performance for varying bandwidth and center frequency of the system.
The House of Being Still Stands: Nuclear Holocaust and Human Meaning

The “A-Bomb Dome” is a building that miraculously survived the atomic blast at Hiroshima in 1945.This article explores the image of this surviving building, Heidegger’s proclamation that “language is the house of Being,” and the diaries maintained by surviving physician Michihiko Hachiya to meditate on what of the human spirit survives nuclear holocaust. It is shown that the capacity for making meaning survives, and it is language in its poetic—as opposed to scientific—sensibilities, resonant with primordial silence and ambiguity, that connects us to an essential need to preserve and communicate meaning. Existentially, the way out of our predicament, and the means by which future nuclear catastrophe can be averted, is through genuinely grieving the losses inherent in the state of the modern world and in learning to heed the silence at the root of our own authentic language
Nuclear receptor that identifies a novel retinoic acid response pathway

Molecular cloning and transcriptional activation studies have revealed a new protein similar to the steroid hormone receptors and which responds specifically to vitamin A metabolites. This protein is substantially different in primary structure and ligand specificity from the products of the previously described retinoic acid receptor gene family. By indicating the existence of an additional pathway through which retinoic acid may exert its effects, these data lead to a re-evaluation of retinoid physiology.
Design for Testability of Sleep Convention Logic

Testability is a major concern in industry for today’s complex system-on-chip design. Design-for-testability (DFT) techniques are essential for any logic style, including asynchronous logic styles in order to reduce the test cost. Sleep convention logic (SCL) is a new promising asynchronous logic style that is based on the more well-known asynchronous logic style NULL convention logic (NCL). In contrast to the NCL, there are currently no design for testability methodologies existing for the SCL. The aim of this paper is to analyze the various faults within SCL pipelines and propose a scan-based DFT methodology to make the SCL testable. The proposed DFT methodology is then validated through a number of experiments, showing that the methodology provides a high test coverage (>99%). The complete DFT methodology as well as the scan chain and scan cell design are presented.
Dynamic expression profiles from static cytometry data: Component fitting and conversion to relative, "same scale" values

BACKGROUND Cytometry of asynchronous proliferating cell populations produces data with an extractable time-based feature embedded in the frequency of clustered, correlated events. Here, we present a specific case of general methodology for calculating dynamic expression profiles of epitopes that oscillate during the cell cycle and conversion of these values to the same scale. METHODS Samples of K562 cells from one population were labeled by direct and indirect antibody methods for cyclins A2 and B1 and phospho-S10-histone H3. The same indirect antibody was used for both cyclins. Directly stained samples were counter-stained with 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole and indirectly stained samples with propidium to label DNA. The S phase cyclin expressions from indirect assays were used to scale the expression of the cyclins of the multi-variate direct assay. Boolean gating and two dimensional, sequential regions set on bivariate displays of the directly conjugated sample data were used to untangle and isolate unique, unambiguous expression values of the cyclins along the four-dimensional data path through the cell cycle. The median values of cyclins A2 and B1 from each region were correlated with the frequency of events within each region. RESULTS The sequential runs of data were plotted as continuous multi-line linear equations of the form y = [(y(i+1)-y(i))/(x(i+1)-x(i))]x + y(i)-[(y(i+1)-y(i))/(x(i+1)-x(i))]x(i) (line between points (x(i),y(i)) and (x(i+1), y(i+1))) to capture the dynamic expression profile of the two cyclins. CONCLUSIONS This specific approach demonstrates the general methodology and provides a rule set from which the cell cycle expression of any other epitopes could be measured and calculated. These expression profiles are the "state variable" outputs, useful for calibrating mathematical cell cycle models.
An Unusual Late Complication of Axillobifemoral Bypass Graft: A Case Report

Axillobifemoral bypass is a well-established surgical procedure performed in conditions that preclude direct arterial reconstruction due to aortic sepsis, aortoenteric fistula, or other hostile abdominal pathology or prohibitive surgical risk. The choice of prosthetic graft used is either knitted Dacron® or polytetrafluoroethylene, with equally good results. Although externally supported grafts reportedly yielded improvement in primary patency compared to historical controls, no consensus exists as to which demonstrates superiority over the other despite several retrospective studies. Complications are usually limited to the perioperative period, although late anastomotic disruption, graft thrombosis, axillary thromboembolism, pseudoaneurysm formation due to seat belt trauma, and hemorrhage or graft rupture have all been described. In addition to the above complications responsible for graft failure, perigraft infection, intimal hyperplasia, poor distal runoff, anastomotic fibrosis, and comorbid conditions may contribute to graft failure. We describe an unusual late complication of an axillobifemoral bypass graft whereby an organized thrombus within the layers of the bypass graft led to luminal compromise and, hence, attenuation of flow and resultant “failing graft.”
Effect of Sodium Fluoride, Inorganic Phosphate, and Oxymetholone Therapies in Osteoporosis: A Six-Year Progress Report

Elderly osteoporotic males treated with sodium fluoride or inorganic phosphate for 4 years plus 2 years of follow-up observations exhibited a mean but not significant decrease in the rate of bone mass loss in comparison with those receiving oxymetholone or a placebo. No hip fractures occurred in the patients who received fluoride, while 11 hip fractures occurred in the patients in the phosphate, oxymetholone, and control groups. Because the densitometric trends and fracture incidence are impressive, the progress of all subjects will be followed for an additional 4 years.
N-Dealkylation of atrazine and simazine in Senecio vulgaris biotypes: A major degradation pathway

Abstract Separate populations of Senecio vulgaris were found that evolved partial tolerance to s -triazine herbicides and others that were totally resistant (plastid resistance). In plants from the susceptible, tolerant, and resistant populations, about one half of applied [ 14 C]atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino- s -triazine) was rapidly N -dealkylated to the des-ethyl and des-isopropyl products. These products were relatively inactive in inhibiting photosystem II and did not compete with atrazine. After 6 days, less than 25% of the applied [ 14 C]atrazine was metabolized to water-soluble degradation products but they were not 2-hydroxy derivatives. Less than 2% of the applied atrazine was incorporated into methanol-insoluble residues. The results on metabolism do not explain the tolerance of Senecio to atrazine. However, our results show that N -dealkylation of the s -triazines is more active than previously reported.
Emotions and Practical Reason: Rethinking Evaluation and Motivation

L'A. propose ici de repenser le probleme de la volonte et de la raison pratique en revisant la connexion conceptuelle entre l'evaluation et la motivation d'une action. Distinguant les raisons normatives et le jugement evaluatif, l'A. montre que l'evaluation implique a la fois le jugement et les emotions.
Hormonal regulation of sexual reproduction and mating type change in heterothallic Pythium splendens

When different mating types of Pythium splendens were paired on opposite sides of a polycarbonate membrane, numerous oospores were produced by (+) but not (−) isolates, indicating that sexual reproduction of this fungus is a result of selfing of the (+) isolate in response to the stimulation by a hormone produced by the (−) isolate. Hormonal regulation of sexual reproduction in P. splendens was greatly affected by culture age and different isolates also differed in ability to produce hormone and to form oospores in response to the hormone. Four single-conidium subcultures of (+) isolate 461 of Pythium splendens produced oospores in sectors on fresh V-8 agar after being stored in sterile distilled water for 48–93 months. Single-spore cultures obtained from conidia produced on oospore sectors consisted of 293 (+), 3 (−) and 3 (±) type. All the 36 single-propagule colonies obtained from a stored culture originated from spherical structures smaller than conidia produced on V-8 agar. The mating type distribution of these colonies were 33 (+), 1 (−) and 2 (±). Single-conidium cultures from the ± type behaved either as (+) or (−). Hormone production and reception of the (−) variant were characteristic of the (−) wild type. Results suggested that oospore formation in single cultures by aged P. splendens is due to the appearance of the opposite mating type during the storage period and the (±) type is a transitional state in the process of mating type change.
A C-H...O=C hydrogen bond? Intramolecular hydrogen bonding in a novel semirubin.

(4Z)-8-(5-Carboxypentyl)-9-butyl-2,3-diethyl-dipyrrin-1-one (1), a new analogue of xanthobilirubic acid, (4Z)-8-(carboxyethyl)-2,7,9-dimethyl-3-ethyl-dipyrrin-1-one, was synthesized in four steps from the known 2,3-diethyl-dipyrrin-1-one. Whereas xanthobilirubic acid (which is a model for one-half of bilirubin, the yellow pigment of jaundice) and its homologues with hexanoic and longer acid chains at C-8 engage only in intermolecular hydrogen bonding, 1 is found to engage in intramolecular hydrogen bonding. In CDCl3 solution, dipyrrinone 1 adopts an anti-Z conformation, and its hexanoic acid COOH is hydrogen-bonded to the lactam H−N−CO and to the pyrrole C(7)-H but not to the pyrrole NH. The latter constitutes an example of a hydrogen bond of the type C−H···OC, weak and detected typically in crystals. Dipyrrinone 1 is found by vapor pressure osmometry to be monomeric in CHCl3, but its methyl ester (2) tends toward being dimeric, like that of methyl xanthobilirubinate, which is dimeric.
Photoionization and electron-ion recombination: The carbon sequence

We describe close-coupling calculations for photoionization and recombination using the R -matrix method. Photoionization of a large number of bound states of each atom or ion is considered, and cross sections are computed at a fine mesh of energies to delineate the extensive resonance structures. Photo­ ionization of ground and excited configurations with n ~ 10 and 1~ 3 is considered. Partial photoioniza­ tion cross sections into excited states of the residual ion are also obtained for the ground states of CJ, N+, and 0 2 + . An important type of autoionizing resonances due to the photoexcitation of the core ion is discussed. As the photoiomzation cross sections incorporate autoionization in detail, it is possible in principle to employ the Milne relation to obtain total, radiative plus dielectronic, recombination cross sections and rate coefficients. However, practical difficulties arise, and various approaches are described to overcome these. Comparison is made with the earlier results for photoionization cross sections and recombination coefficients. This work forms an extension of the Opacity Project.
A better understanding of CMOS latch-up

Both lumped-element two-transistor circuit model and two-dimensional finite-element analyses are used to study the latch-up phenomena in CMOS structures. The equivalent circuit model offers a simple view on latch-up, while 2-D modeling provides more physics and quantitative understanding of latch-up. A generalized criterion for p-n-p-n latch-up is derived based on the equivalent circuit. 2-D modeling confirms the latch-up triggering condition described by the criterion. Furthermore, 2-D simulation models the entire latch-up process, including the dynamic triggering stage, and determines the intrinsic steady-state I - V characteristics of p-n-p-n devices.
Optically pumped polarized H− ion sources

The state of the art of optically pumped polarized H − ion sources is discussed. The H − ion current and polarization of such sources can be increased provided that the optically pumped Na charge exchange target density and percentage polarization can be increased. Our research on wall surfaces with low collisional depolarization rates and on the effects of radiation trapping on the target polarization show promise for improved performance of optically-pumped, polarized H − ion sources.
Corruption and Decentralization of Infrastructure Delivery in Developing Countries 1

Corruption in the delivery of public services in developing countries has frequently been argued to result from overcentralization and lack of suitable information systems required for effective oversight of the behavior of bureaucrats. Devolution of powers to procure and deliver these services to elected local governments better informed about local conditions may accordingly improve service delivery. However, if political accountability of local governments is limited, decentralization is also prone to leakages and targeting failures. This paper presents a simple analytical framework to evaluate the effects of decentralization of infrastructure delivery in different institutional contexts. It argues that the mode of financing local governments is a key parameter. Given limited accountability of local governments, expenditure decentralization accompanied by full devolution of revenue raising authority to local governments may lead to efficiency and equity losses relative to centralization. These pitfalls can be avoided if local services are funded by user fees. User-fee-financed decentralization generally dominates both centralization and local-tax-financed decentralization, regardless of patterns of political accountability. However, it may allow local elites to be overprovided the service and evade paying fees. Fiscal grants from the center restrict the scope of such overprovision, at the cost of imposing financial constraints on local governments that limit flexibility in service allocations to local need. From a design perspective, therefore, the real choice of financing mode is between user fees and fiscal grants: either can dominate the other
Accelerated Protein Evolution and Origins of Human-Specific Features: FOXP2 as an Example

Genes responsible for human-specific phenotypes may have been under altered selective pressures in human evolution and thus exhibit changes in substitution rate and pattern at the protein sequence level. Using comparative analysis of human, chimpanzee, and mouse protein sequences, we identified two genes (PRM2 and FOXP2) with significantly enhanced evolutionary rates in the hominid lineage. PRM2 is a histone-like protein essential to spermatogenesis and was previously reported to be a likely target of sexual selection in humans and chimpanzees. FOXP2 is a transcription factor involved in speech and language development. Human FOXP2 experienced a >60-fold increase in substitution rate and incorporated two fixed amino acid changes in a broadly defined transcription suppression domain. A survey of a diverse group of placental mammals reveals the uniqueness of the human FOXP2 sequence and a population genetic analysis indicates possible adaptive selection behind the accelerated evolution. Taken together, our results suggest an important role that FOXP2 may have played in the origin of human speech and demonstrate a strategy for identifying candidate genes underlying the emergences of human-specific features.
Hormone therapy and the rise and perhaps fall of US breast cancer incidence rates: critical reflections

Background Results of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study-which to many unexpectedly showed that hormone therapy (HT) did not decrease and may in fact have elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, while also finding expected links between HT and breast cancer-have spurred critical reflection chiefly regarding the cardiovascular results. Suggesting similar scrutiny of cancer epidemiology is warranted are new studies linking the post-WHI drop in HT use to a substantial decline in breast cancer incidence and the implications of these findings for prior explanations of the rising rates of US breast cancer incidence during the 1980s. Methods Literature search for review and research articles on temporal trends in US breast cancer incidence during the past 25 years, starting in the mid-1980s, when extant epidemiologic evidence had already indicated that HT increased risk of breast cancer. Results Among the 21 articles identified, spanning from 1987 to 2007, nine included no mention of HT as a possible factor contributing to the steep rise in breast cancer incidence in the 1980s, seven included a minor mention and only five (one published in 2003, the others in 2006 and 2007) provided any substantive discussion of this issue-but only in relation to current trends and not the 1980 rise in breast cancer incidence. Conclusion A critical appraisal of the epidemiologic literature highlights important gaps in explanations for breast cancer incidence trends and also how current and changing population patterns of disease distribution are ultimately what put our aetiologic explanations to the test.
Verifiably-safe software-defined networks for CPS

Next generation cyber-physical systems (CPS) are expected to be deployed in domains which require scalability as well as performance under dynamic conditions. This scale and dynamicity will require that CPS communication networks be programmatic (i.e., not requiring manual intervention at any stage), but still maintain iron-clad safety guarantees. Software-defined networking standards like Openflow provide a means for scalably building tailor-made network architectures, but there is no guarantee that these systems are safe, correct, or secure. In this work we propose a methodology and accompanying tools for specifying and modeling distributed systems such that existing formal verification techniques can be transparently used to analyze critical requirements and properties prior to system implementation. We demonstrate this methodology by iteratively modeling and verifying an Openflow learning switch network with respect to network correctness, network convergence, and mobility-related properties.We posit that a design strategy based on the complementary pairing of software-defined networking and formal verification would enable the CPS community to build next-generation systems without sacrificing the safety and reliability that these systems must deliver.
Exploring nonresponse bias in a health survey using neighborhood characteristics.

OBJECTIVES: We examined potential nonresponse bias in a large-scale, population-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey in California and its association with the response rate. METHODS: We used California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data and US Census data and linked the two data sets at the census tract level. We compared a broad range of neighborhood characteristics of respondents and nonrespondents to CHIS. We projected individual-level nonresponse bias using the neighborhood characteristics. RESULTS: We found little to no substantial difference in neighborhood characteristics between respondents and nonrespondents. The response propensity of the CHIS sample was similarly distributed across these characteristics. The projected nonresponse bias appeared very small. CONCLUSIONS: The response rate in CHIS did not result in significant nonresponse bias and did not substantially affect the level of data representativeness, and it is not valid to focus on response rates alone in determining the quality of survey data.
The role of early lineage in GABAergic and glutamatergic cell fate determination in Xenopus laevis.

Proper functioning of the adult nervous system is critically dependent on neurons adopting the correct neurotransmitter phenotype during early development. Whereas the importance of cell-cell communication in fate determination is well documented for a number of neurotransmitter phenotypes, the contributions made by early lineage to this process remain less clear. This is particularly true for -aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic and glutamatergic neurons, which are present as the most abundant inhibitory and excitatory neurons, respectively, in the central nervous system of all vertebrates. In the present study, we have investigated the role of early lineage in the determination of these two neurotransmitter phenotypes by constructing a fate map of GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons for the 32-cell stage Xenopus embryo with the goal of determining whether early lineage influences the acquisition of these two neurotransmitter phenotypes. To examine these phenotypes, we have cloned xGAT-1, a molecular marker for the GABAergic phenotype in Xenopus, and described its expression pattern over the course of development. Although we have identified isolated examples of a blastomere imparting a statistically significant bias, when taken together, our results suggest that blastomere lineage does not impart a widespread bias for subsequent GABAergic or glutamatergic fate determination. In addition, the fate map presented here suggests a general dorsal-anterior to ventral-posterior patterning progression of the nervous system for the 32-cell stage Xenopus embryo. J. Comp.
Development and Evaluation of the Air Travel Stress Scale.

Despite anecdotal evidence suggesting that air travel is personally demanding, little research has examined air travel stress. To address these issues, the author developed and evaluated the 1st known measure of air travel stress—the Air Travel Stress Scale—in 3 studies. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated 3 components: (a) anxious reactions to adverse air travel events, (b) angry reactions to other passengers as well as an antecedent of air travel stress, and (c) the lack of trust that the airlines/airports will ensure one’s comfort and safety. Each component had good internal reliability and test–retest reliability over a 6- to 7-week interval. Each component showed evidence for discriminant and convergent validity. Implications for research into understanding and intervening on air travel stress are discussed.
Dynamics of the evolving Bolthausen-Sznitman coalecent

Consider a population of fixed size that evolves over time. At each time, the genealogical structure of the population can be described by a coalescent tree whose branches are traced back to the most recent common ancestor of the population. As time goes forward, the genealogy of the population evolves, leading to what is known as an evolving coalescent. We will study the evolving coalescent for populations whose genealogy can be described by the Bolthausen Sznitman coalescent. We obtain the limiting behavior of the evolution of the time back to the most recent common ancestor and the total length of the branches in the tree. By similar methods, we also obtain a new result concerning the number of blocks in the Bolthausen-Sznitman coalescent.
State-Level Origins of the United States Labor Relations Order

Why did the United States adopt its labor laws? The extant federal laws have undergone little substantive change since 1959, and are mainly intact from the 1947 Taft-Hartley amendments to the 1935 Wagner Act. This paper goes back to the Wagner to Taft-Hartley period to ask why some states adopted precursor laws to Taft-Hartley while others did not. These states are valuable and understudied sites of investigation in the development of the United States labor relations order. A key lesson of the state-level experience during the 1930s and 1940s is that Congress of Industrial Organization (CIO) density and militance are linked with the adoption of restrictive labor laws. These laws were adopted because they served to restrain organized worker resistance in the form of strikes. The resultant decline in efficacious militance led to the present political canalization of American labor unions. In this paper, I construct a unique dataset of state-level characteristics and laws from 1936 to 1948 and deploy penalized maximum likelihood logistic regression to evaluate standard American Political Development theories of New Deal policy change. Labor militance is found to be a strong predictor of restrictive law adoption. My findings suggest that extant explanations give short shrift to CIO disruption-backlash in the states in explaining the crystallizing of the long-running and extant labor law. This paper is of interest to students of New Deal policy, the development of the United States labor relations order, and American Political Development generally.
Strip Searches Incident to Arrest: Cabining the Authority to Humiliate

One of the more puzzling characteristics of current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence has been the inadequacy of judicial evaluation of strip searches that are conducted upon the sole justification that they are incident to a lawful arrest. At first glance, the issue may seem to arise infrequently in light of an arrestee's possible incarceration and the well-known latitude afforded jail administrators when addressing the special requirements of a prison environment. But the more-than-occasional case has placed a judicial imprimatur upon the warrantless strip search of an arrestee where no mingling with a jail population is imminent or even contemplated. With one exception, federal circuits have approached the matter as if the Fourth Amendment's preference for warrants is not sufficiently implicated to merit discussion and the Amendment's mandates are fulfilled solely by inquiry into the particularized facts possessed by the police. This article address this prevalent trend, and evaluates the apparent assumptions upon which this approach is grounded. It then suggests a more focused approach, which most appropriately comports with the Fourth Amendment's preference for warrants, its constitutional standard of reasonableness, and the practical realities of arrests.
Elastic cavitation and fracture via injection

The cavitation rheology technique extracts soft materials mechanical properties through pressure-monitored fluid injection. Properties are calculated from the system's response at a critical pressure that is governed by either elasticity or fracture (or both); however previous elementary analysis has not been capable of accurately determining which mechanism is dominant. We combine analyses of both mechanisms in order to determine how the full system thermodynamics, including far-field compliance, dictate whether a bubble in an elastomeric solid will grow through either reversible or irreversible deformations. Applying these analyses to experimental data, we demonstrate the sensitivity of cavitation rheology to microstructural variation via a co-dependence between modulus and fracture energy.
A Non-Linear Viscoelastic Characterization of a Natural Rubber Gum Vulcanizate

Abstract The utility of the generalized strain measure viscoelastic equation (the CBT theory) has been demonstrated in part by excellent agreement of experiment with pure shear predictions calculated from simple tension results. Similar successes employing the generalized strain measure have been reported elsewhere. FLV predictions also demonstrated good correlation by matching predictions based on the CBT theory. However, in order to avoid excessive sensitivity to experimental error, regression parameters appearing in the FLV theory, especially for the “third order” form, were evaluated from data first smoothed using the CBT tensile elastic equation. In the future, we expect the “third order ” form to be useful at large deformations where more regression constants are needed to adequately characterize a broad deformational domain. Predictions of the storage modulus in simple tension based on either the FLV or the CBT theory agree with experiment to within approximately 10% error. Although this error is c...
New zerovalent chromium complexes from cocondensations of chromium vapor with aminodifluorophosphines; the x-ray crystal structure of CH3N(PF2)2Cr[PF2N(CH3)2]4

Die Cokondensation von Cr-Atomen und eines Uberschusses an Dimethylamino-difluorphosphin bei -196°C fuhrt zu dem aus sterischen Grunden nur leidlich luftstabilen Produkt (Ia).
The Effects of Dietary Beeswax and Wax Components on the Larvae of the Greater Wax Moth, Galleria mellonella (L.)

Larvae of Galleria mellonella were fed diets containing a variety of long-chain materials, including beeswax, fatty acids, alcohols, and paraffins. Beeswax and some fatty acids enhanced normal growth; alcohols had a relative growth-suppressing action. The responses were affected by the humidity of the rearing chambers. The fatty acids of the insects were only slightly influenced by the diets.
Using Human Computation to Assist Biologically Inspired Design: Evaluating a Game-With-a-Purpose

Locating relevant biological analogies is a challenge that lies at the heart of practicing biologically inspired design. One promising solution involves computationally providing relevant inspiration to the designer. This paper presents a novel human computation game for collecting computable descriptions of biological strategies, an assessment of the quality of these descriptions gathered from experimental data, and an evaluation of the game’s user experience. This human computation approach to collecting and organizing biological phenomena improves upon the breadth of curated database approaches without sacrificing the accuracy afforded by human reasoning skills. The Biology Phenomenon Categorizer (BioP-C); a cooperative, asymmetric, online game; was deployed in a small engineering graduate class in order to collect assertions about the biological phenomenon of cell division. Through the course of playing, the students formed assertions describing key concepts in the passage. These assertions are assessed for their factual correctness, and these correctness ratings are used to identify directly measurable indicators of assertion truth. Areas for improved game design are also identified.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
An Unexpected Fish Bite

We report a case of a 22-month-old boy who suffered a piranha bite, amputating his fourth distal phalanx. His finger was irrigated and closed with a flap under sedation, but we could find little evidence during a brief literature search of what prophylactic antibiotics, if any, to provide. Because reports of infections from piranha bites are lacking, we examined studies evaluating oral flora from fish, as well as flora cultured from aquariums. In conclusion, if infection is present or prophylaxis is strongly desired, a broad spectrum oral antibiotic that covers Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria including Pseudomonas and Aeromonas species, such as ciprofloxacin, would be recommended; however, there is little evidence to suggest that prophylactic antibiotics provide benefit over appropriate wound management.
From Leopoldville to Liège: A Conversation with Paul Bonga Bonga

Gerard Akindes met Paul Bonga Bonga Gailly in Brussels on December 15, 2011. When the latter mentioned that his father was a former footballer from Congo, it immediately became clear that he was the son of Paul Bonga Bonga. A defensive midfielder from Kinshasa, Bonga Bonga was probably the most accomplished of the first generation of African footballers who played in Belgium (Alegi, 2010: 92). Since his remarkable experiences in football have largely been overlooked or forgotten, a request to meet with the elderly Bonga Bonga became obligatory. Following a telephone conversation, he graciously agreed to meet; a couple of days later, his son introduced Akindes to Paul Bonga Bonga in his Brussels apartment.
Linear Analysis with Delay: The network case

In this chapter, we extend the delay analysis of Chapter 5 to the case of a network. As in Chapter 5, we linearize the system around its equilibrium point and derive conditions for local stability. We consider three main classes of controllers: 1. We consider different variants of the primal controllers introduced in Chapter 3 with delays in both the forward and backward paths. We also consider the AVQ algorithm to achieve full utilization. 2. Next, we consider the dual controllers introduced in Chapter 3. Unlike the case with no delays, when delays are introduced into the network, we will see that, to ensure the stability of the dual controllers, only a certain class of source utility functions is allowed. However, borrowing the key idea from AVQ, we will see that a parameter in each source’s utility function can be dynamically chosen so that the network equilibrium can be interpreted as maximizing the sum of arbitrary source utilities. Another difference between the dual and primal controllers is that the congestion feedback in the dual algorithm is the delay in the network, whereas in the primal algorithm, the congestion feedback is in the form of packet marks or losses. 3. Finally, we will consider primal-dual algorithms which allow one to model today’s Internet, by allowing the source control algorithms to be like TCP- Reno while the congestion feedback is closely related to the RED algorithm.
Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-First Century by Orville Schell and John DeLury (review)

Schell, Orville and John DeLury. Wealth and Power: China's Long March to the Twenty-First Century . New York: Random House, 2013, pp. 478. Review by James Biedzynski.
Robotic paraesophageal hernia repair: a single-center experience and systematic review

Robotic Surgery is becoming increasingly used in general surgery. The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety, effectiveness and short-term (less than 1 year) outcomes of Robotic Paraesophageal Hernia (RPEH) Surgery using the DaVinci Surgical Robot system (Intuitive Surgical, CA) in a large community hospital. This is a retrospective cohort study of 28 consecutive patients who underwent robotic paraesophageal hernia repair January 2011–March 2013 in this institution. Data and outcomes collected for analysis include patient demographics, operating times, conversion, complications, mortality and recurrence. The mean age of the patients was 68.7 +/− 12.7 years, 82% were females and the mean BMI was 29 +/− 6.3. The mean operative time, including the robot docking time, was 83.6 + 24 min. The average length of hospital stay (LOS) was 2.8 +/− 1.9 days. There were no conversions to open or laparoscopic procedures. Postoperative complications were noted in 3 patients (10.7%), including one mortality (3.4%). One symptomatic recurrence (3.4%) was noted during the 12-month follow-up period. Robotic Paraesophageal repair is a safe (similar rate of complication and mortality to literature for laparoscopic procedure) and an effective (paraeshopageal hernia repaired without high recurrence) procedure with acceptable complication rates even in older patients with high operative risks.
The influence of firm and industry political spending on tax management among S&P 500 firms

Abstract Political expenditures are made by corporations to potentially influence legislators, regulators, and to encourage favorable outcomes for the corporation, such as policies which help reduce their corporate taxes. Using political spending data from Opensecrets.org , we examine whether SP instead they can benefit from lower taxes from a spillover effect from trade group contributions. However, the benefit is not as large as if the firm contributed themselves. Companies benefit from investing in political spending by reducing both their Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Cash ETRs, particularly if the firms use think tank and lobbying contributions which focus on tax issues. However, trade group contributions should focus on political contributions to candidates, particularly if those candidates are members of the Senate Finance or House Ways and Means committees. Finally, although there is a trailing effectiveness of political spending, a company needs to maintain it's spending in order to maintain the same level of tax savings as they have enjoyed in the past. The results are robust to a number of additional tests to control for causality and endogeneity. Overall, these results give additional insight into better understanding how different forms of political spending can benefit companies by lowering taxes.
Communication Networks: A Concise Introduction, Second Edition

Abstract This book results from many years of teaching an upper division course on communication networks in the EECS department at the University of California, Berkeley. It is motivated by the perceived need for an easily accessible textbook that puts emphasis on the core concepts behind current and next generation networks. After an overview of how today's Internet works and a discussion of the main principles behind its architecture, we discuss the key ideas behind Ethernet, WiFi networks, routing, internetworking, and TCP. To make the book as self-contained as possible, brief discussions of probability and Markov chain concepts are included in the appendices. This is followed by a brief discussion of mathematical models that provide insight into the operations of network protocols. Next, the main ideas behind the new generation of wireless networks based on LTE, and the notion of QoS are presented. A concise discussion of the physical layer technologies underlying various networks is also included. F...
Relationship Between Process of Care and a Subsequent Increase in Damage in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Objective To evaluate whether low ratings of interactions with providers and health plans in 2013 were associated with increased systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) damage in 2015. Methods Data were derived from the Lupus Outcomes Study (LOS) annual surveys and include items from the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans and Interpersonal Processes of Care Scale measuring dimensions of health care interactions. We used ordinary least squares regression to model the change in disease damage over a 2-year period, 2013–2015, as a function of ratings of multiple dimensions of interactions with providers and health plans, with and without adjustment for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and SLE and overall health status, and logistic regression to estimate the effect of the same matrix of variables on the probability of experiencing a minimum clinically important increase in damage. Results There were 566 LOS respondents who were followed from 2013–2015 and who rated their providers and health plans in 2013. After adjustment, persons with SLE rating their providers poorly in patient–provider communication experienced a significantly greater accrual of disease damage (odds ratio [OR] 0.23 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.09–0.38]) and were more likely to experience a minimum clinically important increase in damage (OR 2.35 [95% CI 1.25–4.39]). After adjustment, those rating their health plan poorly on care coordination experienced a significantly greater accrual of disease damage (OR 0.19 [95% CI 0.03–0.35]) and were more likely to experience a minimum clinically important increase in damage (OR 2.20 [95% CI 1.12–4.34]). Conclusion Poor patient–provider communication and care coordination may result in increased disease damage.