cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Double-Edged Sword: The Effects of Journalists' Social Media Activities on Audience Perceptions of Journalists and Their News Products

As social media become popular news platforms, journalists and news organizations have been keen to capitalize on their potential to build and maintain audiences. However, little is known about the extent to which these efforts may have adverse implications. Based on normative theories, the present study investigates the influence of journalists' social media activities specifically, self-disclosure and interaction with other users on audience perceptions of journalists. An experiment N = 267 revealed that: Although both journalists' self-disclosure and interaction positively influenced audience perceptions of the journalists in the personal dimension, interaction negatively influenced audience perceptions in the professional dimension; and the perceptions transferred to perceptions of news products, thereby mediating the relationship between journalists' social media activities and audience news perceptions.
Harvest date effects on biomass quality and ethanol yield of new energycane (Saccharum hyb.) genotypes in the Southeast USA

Energycane (Saccharum hyb.) is a perennial bioenergy crop derived from sugarcane, but with higher fiber, greater biomass yields, and better cold tolerance than typical sugarcane. Two commercial sugarcanes, two high-sugar (Type I) energycanes, and five high-fiber (Type II) energycanes were planted at Tifton, GA, USA in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Beginning in October, 2008 (plant-cane crop year) five monthly samples were taken to assess the effects of delaying harvest on biomass composition and quality for ethanol production. The monthly harvests were repeated in the winter of 2010–2011 (second-ratoon crop year). Delaying harvest into the winter months resulted in minimal reductions in biomass moisture and N mass fractions, while K mass fraction decreased significantly. Free sugar mass fraction also decreased, thus causing the biomass to have an apparent increase in relative mass fractions of ash and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). The reduction in free sugars was more pronounced in the colder harvest season (2010–2011). The composition of biomass fiber (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) was generally stable over time. A bench-top partial saccharification and co-fermentation (PSCF) protocol employing xylose-fermenting Escherichia coli was used to assess ethanol yields from the sequentially harvested biomass. Ethanol yield from sugarcanes and Type I energycanes was more variable over time, due to degradation of free sugars. Thus, early harvest is recommended to avoid loss of fermentable sugars. Type II energycanes can be harvested later during the winter months with little change in conversion properties.
Key role of active-site water molecules in bacteriorhodopsin proton-transfer reactions.

The functional mechanism of the light-driven proton pump protein bacteriorhodopsin depends on the location of water molecules in the active site at various stages of the photocycle and on their roles in the proton-transfer steps. Here, free energy computations indicate that electrostatic interactions favor the presence of a cytoplasmic-side water molecule hydrogen bonding to the retinal Schiff base in the state preceding proton transfer from the retinal Schiff base to Asp85. However, the nonequilibrium nature of the pumping process means that the probability of occupancy of a water molecule in a given site depends both on the free energies of insertion of the water molecule in this and other sites during the preceding photocycle steps and on the kinetic accessibility of these sites on the time scale of the reaction steps. The presence of the cytoplasmic-side water molecule has a dramatic effect on the mechanism of proton transfer: the proton is channeled on the Thr89 side of the retinal, whereas the trans...
EFFECT OF TOASTING ON THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BREAD

The nutritive value of bread was significantly reduced by toasting. Rat-feeding tests showed that the feed conversion ratio, calculated from weight gain and feed intake, was increased, while the protein efficiency ratio of bread was reduced significantly with toasting and with degree toasted. The changes correlated with browning intensities of toasted bread slices. So far as the nutritive value of bread is concerned, toasting, particularly to darkening, is not recommended.
Geometries and focal properties of two electron-lens systems useful in low-energy electron or ion scattering.

Geometries and focal properties are given for two types of electron‐lens systems commonly needed in electron scattering. One is an electron gun which focuses electrons from a thermionic emitter onto a fixed point (target) over a wide range of final energies. The other is an electron analyzer system which focuses scattered electrons of variable energy onto a fixed position (e.g., the entrance plane of an analyzer) at fixed energy with a zero final beam angle. Analyzer‐system focusing properties are given for superelastic, elastic, and inelastically‐scattered electrons. Computer calculations using recent, accurate tube‐lens focal properties are used to compute lens voltages, locations and diameters of all pupils and windows, and filling factors and asymptotic rays throughout each lens system. Focus voltages as a function of electron energy and energy change are given, and limits of operation of each system discussed. Both lens systems have been in routine use for several years, and good agreement has been consistently found between calculated and operating lens voltages.
Intrinsic constraints on language: Grammar and hermeneutics

Functional and pragmatic approaches to grammar, and to language more broadly, are well known. All of these approaches, however, accept a core aspect of sentences, or utterances, as consisting of encodings of propositions. They proceed on their functional and pragmatic explorations with this much, at least, taken for granted. I wish to argue, to the contrary, that the functional characteristics of utterances penetrate even to the level of the structure - the grammar - of supposed propositional encodings. More specifically, I argue that the structure that is taken as a structure of propositional encodings is not that at all, but is instead a structure of functionally organized action. Constraints on such structures, in turn - constraints on grammars - emerge as intrinsic constraints on that functional organization. My point will of necessity be made programmatically, since to fill it out completely would be to complete a functional version of universal grammar. The mere logical possibility of intrinsic constraints on the grammatical possibilities of language refutes attempts to construe grammatical constraints as logically arbitrary. Typically, because grammatical constraints are construed as being (logically) arbitrary, some additional explanation of the constraints is required should those constraints be shown or argued to be universal. That additional explanation is usually some equally logically arbitrary innateness postulate. I will show that the possibility of intrinsic grammatical constraints invalidates standard arguments for such innateness - specifically, that such a possibility invalidates the poverty of the stimulus argument. Grammatical constraints are not the only characteristics of language that are intrinsic to its nature. I also show how phenomena of implicature, the hermeneutic circle, and forms of creative language can be understood as being naturally emergent in the functional nature of language. Most broadly, then, intrinsic constraints constitute a rich realm for exploration in attempting to understand language.
Errata: A New Algorithm for Scheduling Periodic, Real-Time Tasks

Two well known algorithms for real-time scheduling are the Least Laxity First (LLF) algorithm and the Earliest Deadline First (EDF) algorithm. The EDF algorithm always runs the jobs with earliest deadline. The LLF algorithm always runs the jobs with least laxity; the laxity of a job is its deadline minus the sum of its remaining processing time and the current time. In the paper [1], it was claimed that every instance schedulable by EDF on m processors is also schedulable by LLF on m processors. We show that this claim is, in fact, incorrect. We give an instance I DfJ1; J2; J3; J4; J5; J6g, such that EDF completes all jobs in I by their deadline on two processors, while LLF does not complete every job in I by its deadline on two processors. We use the notation JiD.ri; xi; di/ to denote that the arrival time of the job Ji is ri , the length of the job Ji is xi , and the deadline of the job Ji is di . The instance I is then
Serum C-reactive protein and the site of urinary tract infections.

Elevated serum levels of C-reactive protein have been found regularly in girls with acute clinical pyelonephritis but only infrequently in those with clinical cystitis. Based on these data, the suggestion has been made that elevated serum CRP concentrations may be useful in identifying patients with upper urinary tract infections. In a study in which the bladder washout test was used to localize the site of urinary tract infections, we identified nine girls with renal bacteriuria who did not have clinical findings suggesting acute pyelonephritis; four of these girls had serum CRP concentrations 30 μg/ml. These studies show that an elevated serum CRP concentration is not accurate in localizing the site of a urinary tract infection in girls who do not have clinical signs of acute pyelonephritis.
Susceptibility of a Dual Phase Steel to Hydrogen Embrittlement

Dual phase steels are used in many applications for which electroplating is required. Hydrogen absorption and consequent loss of strength and ductility is therefore possible. Tensile tests and subsequent fractographic analysis of charged and uncharged specimens of a dual phase steel showed that hydrogen absorption resulted in deterioration of tensile properties. The deterioration was attributed to weakening of interfaces between ferrite and other constituents.
A β-glucosidase gene of Dictyostelium discoideum

Seven mutations affecting β-glucosidase activity in Dictyostelium discoideum were found to be non-complementing, recessive to the wild-type allele, and to occur in the gene locus, gluA. This gene, which is likely to be the structural gene for β-glucosidase, since a mutation in it gives rise to thermolabile activity and other mutations in it result in no measurable activity, was mapped to linkage group VI. The expression of the β-glucosidase gene is regulated such that the enzyme is synthesized during the growth phase and during culmination, but not during the first 18 hours following the initiation of development. If expression of the structural gene required the function of a positive regulatory protein coded for by a gene as mutable as the gluA gene, there was greater than 99% chance one of the mutations of this series would have affected the regulatory locus. The absence of a second complementing locus for β-glucosidase suggests that this enzyme is regulated by other means.
Salt entrainment in ice crystallized from brine

Abstract The salt content of ice grown on the outer surface of a flat pellet containing an initially frozen eutectic solution melting at 27.2°F and immersed in 35,000 ppm NaC1-H2O brine flowing vertically upward at 0.009 and 0.016 ft/sec was measured for pellet initial temperatures ranging from 22.7°F to 25.7°F and brine temperatures from 28.8°F to 29.3°F. The ratio of salt concentration in the melted ice to that in the brine varied from 0.16 to 0.81. A model which assumes the ice growth to be controlled solely by heat diffusion fails to describe the observed growth behavior.
A possible case of radially antisunward propagating substorm onset in the near-Earth magnetotail

It is generally thought that the local effects associated with substorm onset in the near-earth magnetotail (R less than about 10 earth radii) have a component of propagation which is radially earthward. This study presents a case during which it is possible that the local effects of substorm onset propagated radially antisunward, examining energetic-ion and magnetic-field data from AMPTE/CCE and energetic-particle data from the GEO satellite 1982-019 during a period of weak substorm activity on June 11, 1985. Although the effects of this event on the ground were very weak, the substorm had a dramatic effect on at least one portion of the near-earth magnetotail. During the period the spacecraft were in an unusually close radial alignment. The data show that phenomena associated with the local effects of substorm onset began at or near GEO before they were observed at CCE. This event is best explained by a near-earth disruption of the cross-tail current sheet and the consequent formation of a substorm current wedge, with a component of expansion antisunward down the tail.
Computer-Based Math for Gifted Students: Comparison of Cooperative and Competitive Strategies:

This study investigated the influence of several factors in the instruction of gifted students with classroom computers. Forty grade 3 (n = 21) and grade 4 (n = 19) gifted students were assigned to...
“I Grew Up a Working-Class Evangelical”: Lived Experience, Intersubjectivity, and Ethnography

This article explores three ways intersubjectivity is implicated in an ethnography of the lived experience of members of an interfaith and labor coalition. First challenging dualistic thinking and the strict application of typologies, I emphasize the importance of understanding faith practices through the study of lived experience. When one studies lived experience, several layers of intersubjectivity are at play. Because I grew up in a religious, working-class family, aspects of my life now serve as cultural capital in understanding the daily challenges of coalition participants who redefine the institutional boundaries between religion and work. Furthermore, field interactions between the researcher and participants affect members’ explanations of their activism. Finally, the life of the ethnographer is affected by the overall experience of fieldwork.
Yellowstone plume trigger for Basin and Range extension, and coeval emplacement of the Nevada–Columbia Basin magmatic belt

Widespread extension began across the northern and central Basin and Range Province at 17–16 Ma, contemporaneous with magmatism along the Nevada–Columbia Basin magmatic belt, a linear zone of dikes and volcanic centers that extends for >1000 km, from southern Nevada to the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington. This belt was generated above an elongated sublithospheric melt zone associated with arrival of the Yellowstone mantle plume, with a north-south tabular shape attributed to plume ascent through a propagating fracture in the Juan de Fuca slab. Dike orientation along the magmatic belt suggests an extension direction of 245°–250°, but this trend lies oblique to the regional extension direction of 280°–300° during coeval and younger Basin and Range faulting, an ∼45° difference. Field relationships suggest that this magmatic trend was not controlled by regional stress in the upper crust, but rather by magma overpressure from below and forceful dike injection with an orientation inherited from a deeper process in the sublithospheric mantle. The southern half of the elongated zone of mantle upwelling was emplaced beneath a cratonic lithosphere with an elevated surface derived from Late Cretaceous to mid-Tertiary crustal thickening. This high Nevadaplano was primed for collapse with high gravitational potential energy under the influence of regional stress, partly derived from boundary forces due to Pacific–North American plate interaction. Plume arrival at 17–16 Ma resulted in advective thermal weakening of the lithosphere, mantle traction, delamination, and added buoyancy to the northern and central Basin and Range. It was not the sole cause of Basin and Range extension, but rather the catalyst for extension of the Nevadaplano, which was already on the verge of regional collapse.
A method for quantifying adrenocortical nodular hyperplasia at autopsy: some use of the method in illuminating hypertension and atherosclerosis.

Abstract Quantifying the severity of adrenocortical nodular hyperplasia at autopsy or surgery has much potential practical value. For instance, this inquiry explores the correlation of adrenal nodularity with features of atherosclerosis in coronary arteries and microvascular features of hypertension in the renal cortex. Tissue retrieved from forensic autopsies in 96 men and women ages 16 to 88 years were evaluated for adrenal nodularity, coronary atheroma, and hypertensive renal microvasculopathies. Formalin-fixed adrenal glands were cut into 0.5-cm thick slices and fixed to plastic sheets with SuperGlue (Ross Products, Inc, Columbus, OH). After ranking the specimens on increasing nodularity, they were judged to fall into 10 distinguishable grades of increasing severity; photographs of a representative in each grade were arranged onto a panel. Each gland was then assigned the grade of the photograph it most resembled. Coronaries and kidneys were evaluated in paraffin sections. Weight and nodularity of adrenal glands increased with age. Men with at least one instance of atheroma in the coronary sample had heavier and more nodular glands (age-adjusted) than in men without atheroma. The differences held stronger statistical significance for nodularity than for weight because nodularity continued to show significance even within age groups sometimes represented by few cases. Hypertensive renal microvasculopathies failed to correlate with any of the adrenal features. Women were too few for the analysis. Findings made with the panel of photographs now available for grading adrenocortical nodular hyperplasia showed interesting correlations with coronary atherosclerosis in this data set, suggesting that use of this method might offer some insight into cardiovascular disease. Ann Diagn Pathol 6: 20-29, 2002.
Paths, trees, and minimum latency tours

We give improved approximation algorithms for a variety of latency minimization problems. In particular, we give a 3.59-approximation to the minimum latency problem, improving on previous algorithms by a multiplicative factor of 2. Our techniques also give similar improvements for related problems like k-traveling repairmen and its multiple depot variant. We also observe that standard techniques can be used to speed up the previous and this algorithm by a factor of O/sup /spl tilde//(n).
Measuring line-edge roughness of masks with DUV light

Line edges on masks are not perfectly smooth and straight due to writer shot placement errors and randomness in photo-resist processes. This mask roughness may affect local CD defects and CD non-uniformity on the printed wafer. We are able to measure some aspects of line edge roughness using line-space patterns and DUV light in an inspection tool. Analyzing inspection images can make visible both edge placement errors with periodic character (writer generated) and more-random, higher-spatial frequency variations (photo-resist process generated). Our technique observes relative edge placement errors of <1 nm. For example, on one mask the periodic peak-to-peak writer errors are 4 nm, the random edge noise has a standard deviation of about 1.3 nm, and there are ~7 nm steps in the edge position, about one per 200 micron mask field. These values are affected by the inspection tool lateral resolution and thus are actually higher than these values. However, this method is useful in monitoring mask relative edge quality.
Both TEAD-Binding and WW Domains Are Required for the Growth Stimulation and Oncogenic Transformation Activity of Yes-Associated Protein

The Yes-associated protein (YAP) transcription coactivator is a candidate human oncogene and a key regulator of organ size. It is phosphorylated and inhibited by the Hippo tumor suppressor pathway. TEAD family transcription factors were recently shown to play a key role in mediating the biological functions of YAP. Here, we show that the WW domain of YAP has a critical role in inducing a subset of YAP target genes independent of or in cooperation with TEAD. Mutation of the WW domains diminishes the ability of YAP to stimulate cell proliferation and oncogenic transformation. Inhibition of YAP oncogenic-transforming activity depends on intact serine residues 127 and 381, two sites that could be phosphorylated by the Hippo pathway. Furthermore, genetic experiments in Drosophila support that WW domains of YAP and Yki, the fly YAP homologue, have an important role in stimulating tissue growth. Our data suggest a model in which YAP induces gene expression and exerts its biological functions by interacting with transcription factors through both the TEAD-binding and WW domains.
A comparison of wavelet, ridgelet, and curvelet-based texture classification algorithms in computed tomography

The research presented in this article is aimed at the development of an automated imaging system for classification of normal tissues in medical images obtained from computed tomography (CT) scans. This article focuses on comparing the discriminating power of several multi-resolution texture analysis techniques using wavelet, ridgelet, and curvelet-based texture descriptors. The approach consists of two steps: automatic extraction of the most discriminative texture features of regions of interest and creation of a classifier that automatically identifies the various tissues. The algorithms are extensively tested and results are compared with standard texture classification algorithms. Tests indicate that using curvelet-based texture features significantly improves the classification of normal tissues in CT scans.
Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Recombination Rates From Population Data

We describe a method for co-estimating r = C /μ (where C is the per-site recombination rate and μ is the per-site neutral mutation rate) and Θ = 4 N e μ (where N e is the effective population size) from a population sample of molecular data. The technique is Metropolis-Hastings sampling: we explore a large number of possible reconstructions of the recombinant genealogy, weighting according to their posterior probability with regard to the data and working values of the parameters. Different relative rates of recombination at different locations can be accommodated if they are known from external evidence, but the algorithm cannot itself estimate rate differences. The estimates of Θ are accurate and apparently unbiased for a wide range of parameter values. However, when both Θ and r are relatively low, very long sequences are needed to estimate r accurately, and the estimates tend to be biased upward. We apply this method to data from the human lipoprotein lipase locus.
A Color Reflectance Model And Its Use For Segmentation

This paper presents a color reflectance model and demonstrates its usefulness for segn~entation. I adopt general physical models which describe the interaction of light with matter. These models apply to both metal and dielectric materials. The models indicate that, in general, reflectance is a complicated function of waveleiigth and geometry. An analysis of the general reflectance models, however, shows that approximate reAectance models exist which preserve much of the structure of the more detailed models. The approximate color reflectance model is the basis of an algorithm which is used during segmentation. This algorithm uses normalized color to classify surfaces according to milr terial composition. Experimen ta1,results are presented. electrics, ACRM is equivalent to the dichromatic reflection model suggested by Shafer [14]. In this paper, I use the Reichman body scattering model [13] to show that the dichromatic reflection model is a reasonable approximation for a large class of inhomogeneous dielectrics. I also show from the Torrance-Sparrow [17] specular reflection model and the Fresnel equations [2] that a unichromatic reflection model is a reasonable approximation for metals. Thus, ACRM combines the dichromatic reflection model for inhomogeneous dielectrics with a unichromatic reflection model for metals. The analysis includes an estimate of the accuracy of ACRM for various materials. An algorithm is derived from ACRM which is used to classify image regions based on the material of the corresponding object surfaces.
Contact creep compliance of viscoelastic materials via nanoindentation

The creep compliance of viscoelastic materials such as synthetic polymers is an established metric of the rate at which strain increases for a constant applied stress and can, in principle, be implemented at the nanoscale to compare quantitatively bulk or thin film polymers of different structures or processing histories. Here, we outline the evolution of contact creep compliance analysis and application for both conical and spherical indenter geometries. Through systematic experiments on four amorphous (glassy) polymers, two semi-crystalline polymers and two epoxies, we show that assumptions of linear viscoelasticity are not maintained for any of these polymers when creep compliance is measured via conical indentation at the nanoscale, regardless of the rate of stress application (step or ramp). Further, we show that these assumptions can be maintained to evaluate the contact creep compliance Jc(t) of these bulk polymers, regardless of the rate of stress application, provided that the contact strains are reduced sufficiently through spherical indentation. Finally, we consider the structural and physical properties of these polymers in relation to Jc(t), and demonstrate that Jc(t) correlates positively with molecular weight between entanglements or crosslinks of bulk, glassy polymers.
The use and misuse of pleasure in sex education curricula

Since Michelle Fine's writing on the missing discourse of desire in sex education, there has been considerable prompting among sexuality educators and feminist scholars to incorporate talk of pleasure into sex education curricula. While the calls for inclusion continue, few have actually examined the curricula for a pleasure discourse or explored how it is contextualised within sex education curricula. In this paper, we analysed curricula used in the USA in the past decade. A qualitative thematic analysis revealed that the discourse around pleasurable sex was often linked to a range of dangerous or negative outcomes including not using condoms, rushing into sex without thinking, regretted sex, and pregnancy or STDs. When the discourse around pleasure was included in sections on ‘knowing one's body’, this discourse took a medicalised, scientific tone. Pleasurable sex was also presented in more positive ways, either linked to marriage in Abstinence Only Until Marriage curricula, or within a more feminist di...
The Maltz-McCleary Model of Recidivism A Reexamination

This article clarifies several issues raised by Stollmack (1979) concerning the Maltz- McCleary (1977) model of recidivism. In particular, the model is reformulated without using a "defective" distribution thus permitting the variance of the parameter estimates to be obtained.
Turning the bucket of text into a pipe

Many visual analysis tools operate on a fixed set of data. However, professional information analysts follow issues over a period of time and need to be able to easily add new documents to an ongoing exploration. Some analysts handle documents in a moving window of time, with new documents constantly added and old ones aging out. This paper describes both the user interaction and the technical implementation approach for a visual analysis system designed to support constantly evolving text collections.
The wire-limited logic chip

Highly integrated complex logic chips contain large amounts of wiring. Characteristics of a chip that is physically dominated by wires are examined.
Relationships between aflatoxin production and sclerotia formation among isolates of Aspergillus section Flavi from the Mississippi Delta

Aspergillus section Flavi isolates, predominately A. flavus, from different crops and soils differed significantly in production of aflatoxin and sclerotia. About 50% of the isolates from corn, soil and peanut produced large sclerotia, while only 20% of the rice isolates produced large sclerotia. There was a higher frequency of small sclerotia-producing isolates from rice compared to the other sources and isolates that did not produce sclerotia were significantly less likely to be toxigenic than strains that produced large sclerotia.
Structural, Magnetic and Electronic Properties of Dilute MnScN(001) Grown by RF Nitrogen Plasma Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of dilute Mn-doped scandium nitride thin films grown by radio frequency N-plasma molecular beam epitaxy are explored. The results indicate a small magnetization extending up to as high as 350K. There is a slight dependence on the manganese concentration, with the lower Mn concentration showing a larger saturation magnetization.
Wnt signaling promotes proliferation and stemness regulation of spermatogonial stem/progenitor cells

Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) self-renew throughout life to produce progenitor cells that are able to differentiate into spermatozoa. However, the mechanisms underlying the cell fate determination between self-renewal and differentiation have not yet been delineated. Culture conditions and growth factors essential for self-renewal and proliferation of mouse SSCs have been investigated, but no information is available related to growth factors that affect fate determination of human spermatogonia. Wnts form a large family of secreted glycoproteins, the members of which are involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, organogenesis, and cell migration. Here, we show that Wnts and their receptors Fzs are expressed in mouse spermatogonia and in the C18-4 SSC line. We demonstrate that WNT3A induces cell proliferation, morphological changes, and cell migration in C18-4 cells. Furthermore, we show that beta-catenin is activated during testis development in 21-day-old mice. In addition, our study demonstrates that WNT3A sustained adult human embryonic stem (ES)-like cells derived from human germ cells in an undifferentiated stage, expressing essential human ES cell transcription factors. These results demonstrate for the first time that Wnt/beta-catenin pathways, especially WNT3A, may play an important role in the regulation of mouse and human spermatogonia.
Model-Driven System Capacity Planning under Workload Burstiness

In this paper, we define and study a new class of capacity planning models called MAP queueing networks. MAP queueing networks provide the first analytical methodology to describe and predict accurately the performance of complex systems operating under bursty workloads, such as multitier architectures or storage arrays. Burstiness is a feature that significantly degrades system performance and that cannot be captured explicitly by existing capacity planning models. MAP queueing networks address this limitation by describing computer systems as closed networks of servers whose service times are Markovian Arrival Processes (MAPs), a class of Markov-modulated point processes that can model general distributions and burstiness. In this paper, we show that MAP queueing networks provide reliable performance predictions even if the service processes are bursty. We propose a methodology to solve MAP queueing networks by two state space transformations, which we call Linear Reduction (LR) and Quadratic Reduction (QR). These transformations dramatically decrease the number of states in the underlying Markov chain of the queueing network model. From these reduced state spaces, we obtain two classes of bounds on arbitrary performance indexes, e.g., throughput, response time, and utilizations. Numerical experiments show that LR and QR bounds achieve good accuracy. We also illustrate the high effectiveness of the LR and QR bounds in the performance analysis of a real multitier architecture subject to TPC-W workloads that are characterized as bursty. These results promote MAP queueing networks as a new class of robust capacity planning models.
Effect of Apple Rootstocks on Average `Gala' Fruit Weight at Four Locations after Adjusting for Crop Load

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. Malus sylvestris var. domestica, crop density, analysis of covariance, least squares means ABSTRACT. The influence of rootstock on average fruit weight was evaluated for a subset of data from a multilocation NC-140 apple (Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. var. domestica (Borkh.) Mansf.) rootstock trial. Data for eight dwarf rootstocks were collected at four locations for 2 years. Analysis of covariance was used to evaluate the effect of rootstock on average fruit weight when crop density or number of fruit per tree was included in the linear model as a covariate. When number of fruit harvested per tree was used as a covariate, average fruit weight was not affected by rootstock in either year in Ontario. In Michigan and Virginia, rootstock and number of fruit per tree, but not the rootstock × number of fruit interaction, were significant, so common slopes models were used to estimate least squares means for average fruit weight. In general, trees on M.27 and P.1 produced the smallest fruit, and trees on B.9, M.9 EMLA, and Mac.39 produced the largest fruit. In New York the interaction of rootstock × number of fruit was significant, so least squares means were estimated at three levels of number of fruit per tree. Both years, at all levels of number of fruit, trees on M.26 EMLA produced the smallest fruit and trees on M.27 EMLA produced the largest fruit. Average fruit weight was most affected by number of fruit per tree when Mark was the rootstock. In general, results were similar when crop density was used as the covariate, except that trees on M.27 EMLA did not produce small fruit in Michigan and Ontario.
Prevalence of Vigabatrin-Induced Visual Field Loss

The magnitude of risk of vigabatrin-associated visual field loss and any clinical predictors of risk were determined by systematic review of 32 studies identified by electronic searches of the literature.
Focal expression of mutant huntingtin in the songbird basal ganglia disrupts cortico-basal ganglia networks and vocal sequences

The basal ganglia (BG) promote complex sequential movements by helping to select elementary motor gestures appropriate to a given behavioral context. Indeed, Huntington’s disease (HD), which causes striatal atrophy in the BG, is characterized by hyperkinesia and chorea. How striatal cell loss alters activity in the BG and downstream motor cortical regions to cause these disorganized movements remains unknown. Here, we show that expressing the genetic mutation that causes HD in a song-related region of the songbird BG destabilizes syllable sequences and increases overall vocal activity, but leave the structure of individual syllables intact. These behavioral changes are paralleled by the selective loss of striatal neurons and reduction of inhibitory synapses on pallidal neurons that serve as the BG output. Chronic recordings in singing birds revealed disrupted temporal patterns of activity in pallidal neurons and downstream cortical neurons. Moreover, reversible inactivation of the cortical neurons rescued the disorganized vocal sequences in transfected birds. These findings shed light on a key role of temporal patterns of cortico-BG activity in the regulation of complex motor sequences and show how a genetic mutation alters cortico-BG networks to cause disorganized movements.
Introduction: U.S. Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court

What would United States Supreme Court opinions look like if key decisions on gender issues were written with a feminist perspective? To begin to answer this question, we brought together a group of scholars and lawyers to rewrite, using feminist reasoning, the most significant U.S. Supreme Court cases on gender from the 1800s to the present day. While feminist legal theory has developed and even thrived within universities, and feminist activists and lawyers are responsible for major changes in the law, feminist reasoning has had a less clear impact on judicial decision-making. Doctrines of stare decisis and judicial language of neutrality can operate to obscure structural bias in the law, making it difficult to see what feminism could bring to judicial reasoning. The twenty-five opinions in this volume demonstrate that judges with feminist viewpoints could have changed the course of the law. The rewritten decisions show that previously accepted judicial outcomes were not necessary or inevitable and demonstrate that feminist reasoning increases the judicial capacity for justice, not only for women but for many other oppressed groups. The remarkable differences evident in the rewritten opinions also open a path for a long overdue discussion of the real impact that judicial diversity has on law and of the influence that perspective has in judging.Included here are the table of contents for the book, and the introductory chapter to the book.
Constitutions and Consent

In his end-of-the-century plea for Protestant legislative autonomy in England’s most proximate — and most problematic — colonial possession, the Irishman William Molyneux cautioned that the rights of parliaments should be nurtured at all costs in every country. ‘This kind of government, once so universal all over Europe, is now almost vanished from amongst the nations thereof. Our king’s dominions are the only supporters of this noble Gothick constitution, save only what little remains may be found thereof in Poland.’1 For Molyneux, and for not a few like him who surveyed the political landscape of Europe at the close of the century, the ideal of the ‘Gothick’ constitution was being rapidly and insidiously eroded by the exaggerated claims of overly ambitious princes. The future of Europe seemed destined to follow the path of augmenting monarchical prerogative at the expense of broader consultation and consent, and inattention to this dangerous trend could only result in the eradication of all institutional and legal bulwarks against tyranny.
The Main Study

In this chapter, we present the methods and results of the main study. To simplify the exposition, we describe the methods only for the simpler model based on Poisson distributions of word frequencies but we give the numerical results for both the Poisson and the negative binomial. The technical development for the full model based on negative binomial distributions is postponed to Chapter 4, along with detailed mathematical treatments of special problems.
Polydopamine-Coated Manganese Complex/Graphene Nanocomposite for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity Towards Oxygen Reduction

Platinum electrodes are commonly used electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) in fuel cells. However, this material is not economical due to its high cost and scarcity. We prepared an Mn(III) catalyst supported on graphene and further coated with polydopamine, resulting in superior ORR activity compared to the uncoated PDA structures. During ORR, a peak potential at 0.433 V was recorded, which is a significant shift compared to the uncoated material’s −0.303 V (both versus SHE). All the materials reduced oxygen in a wide pH range via a four-electron pathway. Rotating disk electrode and rotating ring disk electrode studies of the polydopamine-coated material revealed ORR occurring via 4.14 and 4.00 electrons, respectively. A rate constant of 6.33 × 106 mol−1s−1 was observed for the polydopamine-coated material–over 4.5 times greater than the uncoated nanocomposite and superior to those reported for similar carbon-supported metal catalysts. Simply integrating an inexpensive bioinspired polymer coating onto the Mn-graphene nanocomposite increased ORR performance significantly, with a peak potential shift of over +730 mV. This indicates that the material can reduce oxygen at a higher rate but with lower energy usage, revealing its excellent potential as an ORR electrocatalyst in fuel cells.
Dependent, but not Perfectionistic, Dysfunctional Attitudes Predict Worsened Mood and Appraisals after Emotional Support from a Romantic Partner.

Background: Receiving emotional support from a romantic partner often leads to emotional costs via negative appraisals about the self and one’s relationship, but it is unclear whether certain individuals are more susceptible to these costs. We evaluate whether the presence of perfectionistic and dependent dysfunctional attitudes leads to more negative effects of receiving emotional support from a romantic partner. Methods: Twenty-nine couples (27 men, 31 women; mean age 24.5) completed the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale and then a daily online questionnaire by recording their mood, appraisals, and received emotional support. Mixed-effects regressions were used to evaluate whether perfectionistic and dependent dysfunctional attitudes moderated the relationship between emotional support receipt and subsequent mood and appraisals. Results: Perfectionism did not interact with emotional support but exerted a main effect of increasing negative moods and appraisals. Dependency interacted with emotional support such that those with more dependent attitudes, reported greater negative next-day moods and appraisals as a function of emotional support. Conclusions: Individuals with dependent, but not perfectionistic, dysfunctional attitudes are more likely to experience emotional and cognitive costs after receiving emotional support. These costs may stem from activation or exacerbation of the attitudes specific to dependency, including need for acceptance, support, and approval of others.
Photovoice: Capturing American Indian Youths’ Dietary Perceptions and Sharing Behavior-Changing Implications

This illustrated article shares insights regarding American Indian youths’ perceptions of their daily environments with regard to their diet and eating healthily. Researchers used a community-based...
Role of Nurse Practitioners in Chest Wall Clinics as a Model for Care

Pectus excavatum, pectus carinatum, and rib resections are common chest wall deformities requiring surgical correction during the pediatric and adolescent period. The Ravitch and Nuss procedures are common surgical operations to treat these anterior chest wall deformities. Rib resections can be performed for oncological diagnostic purposes or to treat high-risk rib fractures. Nursing care focused on preoperative teaching as well as postoperative pain management is integral to successful outcomes for patients undergoing these procedures (J Pediatr Surg Nurs 5(1):22–7, 2016). In addition, nursing interventions should address the patients’ emotional and psychological well-being regarding their chest wall deformity.
A Model of Contingent Labor When Demand is Uncertain

In this paper we develop a new model for flexible workforce management in environments with uncertainty in the demand for labor. In particular we model a workforce comprised of regular workers who have fixed schedules and may work overtime, and contingent workers whose working hours are flexible as specified by a contract over a finite planning horizon. Our model can represent a variety of contracts, including: temporary workers, on-call workers with guaranteed minimum pay, and comp-time arrangements. We formulate the model as an optimization problem that determines the regular and contingent worker pool sizes that minimize expected labor and backlog costs. Embedded within this problem is a dynamic programming problem of making optimal operational staffing decisions with respect to the utilization of contingent and overtime resources. Numerical examples demonstrate the effect of information on the benefits of flexibility, the variety of contracts that can be represented, and the models used in practice. We also derive structural results that may be exploited to reduce the computational effort required to use the model under realistic conditions and analyze its computational complexity.
Cardio-oncology: The Role of Big Data

Despite its challenges, a "big data" approach offers a unique opportunity within the field of cardio-oncology. A pharmacovigilant approach using large data sets can help characterize cardiovascular toxicities of the rapidly expanding armamentarium of targeted therapies. Creating a broad coalition of data sharing can provide insights into the incidence of cardiotoxicity and stimulate research into the underlying mechanisms. Population health necessitates the use of big data and can help inform public health interventions to prevent both cancer and cardiovascular disease. As a relatively new discipline, cardio-oncology is poised to take advantage of big data.
The Effect of the Mental Representation of Programming Knowledge on Transfer

Programmers are often called upon to develop programs in several languages. At times they need to learn another language with little or no formal training. Studies in psychology of programming have looked at the representations of programming knowledge that are used during program development. These studies are reviewed here and are examined to see what effect these representations have on the process of transfer to another language.
Validating the social responsiveness scale for adults with autism.

Lay Abstract A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder currently requires an individual to have symptoms in two core areas, i.e., difficulties in social communication, and a restricted, repetitive pattern of behavior and interests. A screening tool for autism should reflect these two diagnostic criteria in order to provide a valid way for assessing behaviors related to autism. However, since most autism measurement tools were developed for use with children and adolescents, we do not know as much about the applicability of the measurement tools to adults. The present study evaluated the validity of a commonly used measure for autism symptom severity (i.e., Social Responsiveness Scale, SRS). We examined the relationships between the SRS factors (which were consistent with two core symptom areas) and other measures related to autism in adulthood, using data from 237 adults with autism spectrum disorders. Findings showed that the SRS factors were predictive of autism symptoms and behavioral measures. Results also demonstrated that SRS factors were differentially related to measures specific to social or behavioral domains. These results highlighted the importance of taking the two core symptoms into account at the same time to enhance our understanding of autism symptomatology in adulthood.
Zur neueren Entwicklung der Investitions- und Finanzierungstheorie

Die intensiven Bemuhungen um die Bestimmung von Kriterien fur optimale Investitions- und Kapitalstrukturentscheidungen auf der Grundlage der Kapitalmarkttheorie haben bisher nicht zu befriedigenden allgemein anerkannten Ergebnissen gefuhrt. Eine ernste Herausforderung der Kapitalmarkttheorie stellen die von Richard Roll vorgetragenen Zweifel an der Prufbarkeit ihrer Implikationen dar. Grose Hoffnungen knupfen sich an die Fruchtbarkeit der Optionspreistheorie von Black and Scholes.
Path and kinetics of microstructural change in simple sintering

Abstract: Simple sintering is here defined as the process by which a loose stack of chemically unchanging powder is transformed toward a fully dense block by heating at temperatures below the melting point. The microstructural description of the process is described in terms of the evolution in the geometry of two feature sets: the pore phase and the grain boundary network. The analysis is carried as far as possible without simplifying geometric assumptions, an approach which F. N. Rhines described as ‘microstructological’, and which leads to a description of the kinetics of densification which is free of simplifying geometric assumptions.