cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Korteweg-de Vries equation and water waves. Part 2. Comparison with experiments

The Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation is tested experimentally as a model for moderate amplitude waves propagating in one direction in relatively shallow water of uniform depth. For a wide range of initial data, comparisons are made between the asymptotic wave forms observed and those predicted by the theory in terms of the number of solitons that evolve, the amplitude of the leading soliton, the asymptotic shape of the wave and other qualitative features. The KdV equation is found to predict accurately the number of evolving solitons and their shapes for initial data whose asymptotic characteristics develop in the test section of the wave tank. The accuracy of the leading-soliton amplitudes computed by the KdV equation could not be conclusively tested owing to the viscous decay of the measured wave amplitudes; however, a procedure is presented for estimating the decay in amplitude of the leading wave. Computations suggest that the KdV equation predicts the amplitude of the leading soliton to within the expected error due to viscosity (12%) when the non-decayed amplitudes are less than about a quarter of the water depth. Indeed, agreement to within about 20% is observed over the entire range of experiments examined, including those with initial data for which the non-decayed amplitudes of the leading soliton exceed half the fluid depth.
Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases: A Practical Evidence-Based Approach

Despite the fact that we possess highly effective tools for the primary and secondary prevention of myocardial infarction and other complications of atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease remains the most common cause of death in our society. Arterial inflammation and endothelial dysfunction play central roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and adverse cardiovascular (CV) events. Therapeutic lifestyle changes in conjunction with an aggressive multidrug regimen targeted toward the normalization of the major CV risk factors will neutralize the atherogenic milieu, reduce vascular inflammation, and markedly decrease the risk of adverse CV events and need for revascularization procedures. Specific CV risk factors and optimal therapies for primary and secondary prevention are discussed.
Management of laparoscopic bladder injuries.

Injuries to the urinary system have been reported in up to 8% of minimally invasive gynecologic surgeries. Intraoperative recognition of a bladder injury allows for immediate repair and decreased postoperative morbidity rates. Although laparoscopic repair of such injuries requires advanced surgical skills, it affords the patient the benefits of minimally invasive surgery. In addition, laparoscopic visualization of the intravesical anatomy may help to delineate the relationship of the ureters to the bladder injury, thus avoiding further complication. This article will review the techniques and devices used to facilitate laparoscopic cystotomy repair.
Health-Related Stigma and Discrimination

Stigma is the process of negative discrimination against people for having certain physical, behavioral, or social attributes. Many health conditions are socially stigmatized in certain societies. Where present, stigma and discrimination can have a significant impact upon the epidemiology, course, and control of human diseases. For this reason, it is important to better understand the biosocial dynamics of disease discrimination and address it as a public health problem. This article outlines the history of stigma studies, key relationships between discrimination and disease, and factors related to its etiology and possible control.
Nelson Goodman’s philosophy: an analytical account of architecture

Architects resort to philosophy to get inspiration for their projects and to interpret their work. While mainly philosophical currents belonging to the continental tradition have made important contributions to architectural theory, the Anglo-American or analytical tradition is generally not considered. This paper presents the thought of American philosopher Nelson Goodman (1906-1998) as a fruitful alternative to continental accounts of architecture. Goodman’s approach to architecture provides new insights to understanding and interpreting the built environment, and his philosophy serves as an example of analytical thinking on architecture that complements the variety of reasoning already at hand for architects. Following Goodman, architecture plays a key role in the creation of meaning and reality. First, architecture creates meaning and contributes to the advancement of our understanding in a unique manner: buildings are symbols, they mean in various ways, and these meanings are irreducible to other kinds of knowledge. Second, architecture contributes to the making of the world in a radical sense: not only in that buildings are physical objects and, as such, constitutive elements of our world, but in that their various meanings have an ontological counterpart. That is to say, it is not the case that there is one world and many interpretations of it, but rather that these various interpretations and meanings actually constitute different worlds. Given this interrelation with meaning and reality and architecture’s central role in both, the task of the architect acquires a wider significance, for designing entails the very creation of meaning as well as of our world. This paper aims to show how both Goodman’s thought and the concepts and methods characteristic of analytical philosophy are helpful conceptual tools to examine buildings. Simultaneously, it shows how analytical philosophy can enhance the architect’s critical skills when designing and thinking about architecture.
Abstract WMP34: Endogenous Plasminogen is Essential for Motor Functional Recovery and Axonal Remodeling after Stroke in Mice

Other than hepatic derived plasminogen (Plg) in the circulation system for intravascular thrombolysis, Plg is also synthesized in neuroendocrine tissues, and may play a role in neuritogenesis and axonal outgrowth. To demonstrate the contribution of Plg to neurological recovery after stroke, we examined functional recovery and axonal remodeling between wild type (WT) and plasminogen knockout (Plg -/- ) mice. In the 1 st experiment, adult male WT and Plg -/- mice (n=10/group) were subjected to permanent right middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). A single pellet reaching test and a foot fault test were performed before and on day 3 after stroke and weekly thereafter. Biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) was injected into the left motor cortex to anterogradely label the corticorubral tract (CRT) and corticospinal tract (CST). Mice were euthanized 4 weeks after stroke. In the 2 nd experiment, Western blot was employed to examine expression level of neurotrophins and inhibitory proteins in the brain and spinal cord in WT and Plg -/- mice euthanized at day 0, 3, 7 and 14 after MCAo, respectively (n=5/group). There was no significant difference in volume of cerebral infarction between groups. In WT mice, the motor function deficits after stroke progressively recovered with time. In contrast, the motor recovery post stroke in Plg -/- mice was significantly impaired compared to WT mice (p -/- mice compared with WT mice (p -/- mice (p
The Political Structure of a Japanese Village

The basic unit for economic and social activities in rural Japan is the buraku, a cluster of houses, surrounding rice fields, and, very often, a small acreage of forest land. Although the buraku has had no legal status, since the war, it remains as the focus of loyalty and in-group feeling beyond the level of the household. It is within the buraku that the Japanese farmers cooperate with each other to meet and to solve their immediate problem.2 The lowest level of formal government in the farming countryside is the mura or son (village).3 It is at this point of contact that the Japanese farmer as a buraku inhabitant meets government in the actual administration of law. The Japanese farmer regards village administration in two ways. On the one hand, it provides him with formal machinery for the solution of the immediate and personal problems he faces in his community. To this extent, the in-group feeling extends to the village in which his buraku is located; it rarely extends beyond to the gun, ken, or national level. The political horizon of the typical farmer ends at his village's borders. On the other hand, the village administration represents the burden of ken and national government. Here, the farmer is faced with the consequence of problems that are not immediately his, problems which he does not understand, and at times does not even desire to understand, and
Messages for Clinicians: Moderators and Mediators of Treatment Outcome in Randomized Clinical Trials

Many problems in randomized clinical trial design, execution, analysis, presentation and interpretation stem in part from an inadequate understanding of the roles of moderators and mediators of treatment outcome. As a result, 1) the results of clinical research are slow to have an impact on clinical decision making and thus to benefit patients; 2) it is difficult for clinicians or patients to apply randomized clinical trial results comparing two treatments (treatment versus control); 3) when such trials are conducted at various sites, the results often do not replicate; 4) when the results influence clinical decision making, the results clinicians obtain do not match what researchers report; and 5) the treatment effects comparing treatment and control conditions, particularly for psychiatric treatments, often seem trivial. In this review article, the author reviews and integrates the methodological literature concerning dealing with covariates in trials to emphasize their impact on clinical decision makin...
Characterization of the Dopamine Defect in Primary Cultures of Dopaminergic Neurons from Hypoxanthine Phosphoribosyltransferase Knockout Mice

Lesch-Nyhan disease (LND) is an X-linked metabolic disorder caused by lack of activity of the purine salvage enzyme hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) and characterized by hyperuricemia and debilitating neurological manifestations. The mechanisms underlying the neuropathology are not well understood and the principal neurochemical lesion characterized to date is a deficiency of the dopamine system in the basal ganglia. To facilitate the study of mechanism(s) by which HPRT deficiency causes the dopamine defect, we have compared the survival and dopamine phenotype of primary cultures of dopamine neurons derived from HPRT-deficient mice with the dopaminergic neurons from wild-type mice. The survival of dopaminergic neurons from both sources was promoted to an equal extent by glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a potent survival factor for dopamine neurons in vitro. Although the survival of the HPRT-deficient neurons was indistinguishable from that of cells derived from wild-type counterparts, the HPRT-deficient cells demonstrated a persistent deficiency of dopamine content and dopamine uptake with increasing neuritic differentiation, indicating that GDNF does not restore the normal phenotype in HPRT-deficient dopamine neurons despite its well-known protective and regenerative properties in several neurodegeneration models. Nevertheless, the demonstration that GDNF trophic support promotes the survival of these dopaminergic neurons will facilitate gaining a better understanding of the neuropathological mechanisms of LND by allowing a more extensive analysis of the cells central to the Lesch-Nyhan phenotype, the dopaminergic neurons of the basal ganglia.
Vaginal adenosis. Analysis of 325 biopsy specimens from 100 patients.

Biopsy-proven vaginal adenosis was found in 88% of a group of 100 asymptomatic young women with known or suspected to have histories of intrautering diethylstilbestrol (DES) exposure. Histologic features were roughly quantitated and were found to vary markedly from patient to patient, but the following proved to be the most consistent features: (1) variation in glandular configuration (simple, complex, cystic); (2) the presence of epithelium recapitulating all parts of the mullerian duct system (endocervical, endometrial and tubal); (3) limited involvement of the vaginal mucosa (no surface involvemtn in 23.8% of the patients); (4) extensive squamous metaplasia; (5) submucosal inflammation. There was no glandular dysplasia or coexistent adenocarcinoma. The squamous epithelium in many specimens contained little or no glycogen, and in some manifested cellular activity consistent with a regenerative response to inflammation. Sufficient atypicality to implicate vaginal adenosis as a premalignant lesion was not found in any biopsy specimen.
Investigation on Measles Antibody Level Among Healthy Population in Tongchuan

Objective To know the measles antibody level among healthy population in Tongchuan City,and to provide the evidence for working out measles control strategy. Methods With cluster sampling,stratified sampling,and random sampling surveys,235 individuals were selected by age-stratified sampling in three districts and one county of Tongchuan City,and their serum antibody levels were detected. Results The results showed that the positive rate of measles antibody was 92.77%. No statistically significant difference was found in the positive rate of measles antibody between different districts,sex,age,city and rural areas. Conclusions The measles antibody level is high among healthy population of Tongchuan City,so there will be no measles outbreak in recent years.
Quantitative Trait Loci Controlling Amounts and Types of Epicuticular Waxes in Onion

Natural variation exists in onion (Allium cepa L.) for amounts and types of epicuticular waxes on leaves. Wild-type waxy onion possesses copious amounts of these waxes, while the foliage of semi-glossy and glossy phenotypes accumulate significantly less wax. Reduced amounts of epicuticular waxes have been associated with resistance to onion thrips (Thrips tabaci Lindeman), an important insect pest of onion. A segregating family from the cross of waxy and semi-glossy onions was used to map single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and identify chromosome regions affecting amounts and types of epicuticular waxes as measured by gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry (GCMS). The amount of the primary epicuticular wax on onion leaves, hentriacontanone-16, was controlled by one region on chromosome 5. One region on chromosome 2 affected concentrations of several primary fatty alcohols. Results indicate that the region on chromosome 2 may be associated with the acyl reduction pathway, and the region on chromosome 5 may affect the decarbonylation pathway, of epicuticular-wax biosynthesis. Because lower amounts of epicuticular waxes are recessively inherited, SNPs tagging regions on chromosomes 2 and 5 will be useful for marker-assisted breeding to vary amounts and types of epicuticular waxes on onion foliage with the goal to develop cultivars resistant to onion thrips.
Macroeconomic Disasters and the Equity Premium Puzzle in High-Income and Developing Countries

I provide evidence that high-income countries’ equity premium and consumption growth differ significantly from those of developing countries. I then estimate distinct disaster risk parameters for these two country groups. My Bayesian analysis allows for both permanent and temporary disasters and for correlations within and across country groups. I find that distinguishing between high-income and developing countries’ disaster outcomes is important in resolving the equity premium puzzle.
Gender Diversity Dynamics in Humanitarian Negotiations: The International Committee of the Red Cross as a Case Study on the Frontlines of Armed Conflicts

Negotiations for access are crucial for the success of humanitarian operations. They also occur in contexts of armed conflict and violence that typically entrench gender identities. Building on the vast research showing that gender affects the conduct and outcome of negotiations, this paper explores gender dynamics in a humanitarian setting. After outlining its methodology and surveying the relevant literature, this paper sketches out the ways 21 practitioners at the International Committee of the Red Cross see gender dynamics affecting their work in the field. These interviews support previous findings on men and women’s diverging conceptions of gender’s impact and relevance, as well as on the cross-cultural consistency of gender dynamics in war. In a context where, unlike in many corporate settings, women’s work as humanitarian actors is congruent with prescriptive gender stereotypes, this study shows that they can be perceived as more legitimate because they are thought of as selfless caregivers and potential mothers. This paper ultimately argues that, rather than studying the impact of gender in isolation, further research should explore how the intersectionality of different diversity dimensions — such as gender, race/ethnicity, age, and religion — affect humanitarian negotiations. In terms of policy implications, this study makes the case for actively fostering diversity, including in terms of gender, within negotiating teams to ensure they are more flexible in adapting to different scenarios and more creative in dealing with complex problems.
Intrinsic and extrinsic evaluations of word embeddings

In this paper, we first analyze the semantic composition of word embeddings by cross-referencing their clusters with the manual lexical database, WordNet. We then evaluate a variety of word embedding approaches by comparing their contributions to two NLP tasks. Our experiments show that the word embedding clusters give high correlations to the synonym and hyponym sets in WordNet, and give 0.88% and 0.17% absolute improvements in accuracy to named entity recognition and part-of-speech tagging, respectively.
Plurality of inherent states in equiatomic solid solutions

We show that single-crystal, equiatomic solid solutions of Lennard-Jones particles have a plurality of inherent states: mechanically stable configurations with identical lattice site occupancies, yet distinct potential-energy minima. External loading triggers transitions between inherent states via localized shear transformations. A plurality of inherent states and mechanically activated transitions between them make equiatomic solid solutions an unusual form of matter: one that is crystalline like single-component metals, yet exhibits localized shear transformations like metallic glasses.
Guided head rotation and amplified head rotation: Evaluating semi-natural travel and viewing techniques in virtual reality

Traditionally in virtual reality systems, head tracking is used in head-mounted displays (HMDs) to allow users to control viewing using 360-degree head and body rotations. Our research explores interaction considerations that enable semi-natural methods of view control that will work for seated use of virtual reality with HMDs when physically turning all the way around is not ideal, such as when sitting on a couch or at a desk. We investigate the use of amplified head rotations so physically turning in a comfortable range can allow viewing of a 360-degree virtual range. Additionally, to avoid situations where the user's neck is turned in an uncomfortable position for an extended period, we also use redirection during virtual movement to gradually realign the user's head position back to the neutral, straight-ahead position. We ran a controlled experiment to evaluate guided head rotation and amplified head rotation without realignment during movement, and we compared both to traditional one-to-one head-tracked viewing as a baseline for reference. After a navigation task, overall errors on spatial orientation tasks were relatively low with all techniques, but orientation effects, sickness, and preferences varied depending on participants' 3D gaming habits. Using the guided rotation technique, participants who played 3D games performed better, reported higher preference scores, and demonstrated significantly lower sickness results compared to non-gamers.
Case Report: Three-Dimensional Printed Model for Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis

The combination of a thorough physical examination and imaging with either magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or pelvic ultrasound are important in the preoperative planning for deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE). A 2-dimensional (2D) rendering of the pathology by imaging does not always accurately represent intraoperative findings. The detailed topographical relationship and extent of surrounding tissue invasion can be better appreciated by 3-dimensional (3D) modeling. A 49-year-old patient with history of endometriosis and persistent pain underwent preoperative MRI that showed features consistent with DIE endometriosis. Surgery was performed, and the findings were documented. A 3D printed model of the DIE was generated from the MRI and retrospectively compared with intraoperative findings. The 3D model demonstrated both the laterality and spatial relationship of the endometriotic nodule to the posterior uterine wall and rectum. Three-dimensional printing of DIE may be a beneficial adjunct to 2D imaging and can identify further structural relationships to support surgical planning.
The Mind is Not in the Brain

This book is not about the brain or the role of brain studies in psychology and education. Instead, it is about understanding the mind as a property of the active agent and as a form in itself of the agent’s external activity, as well as the critical educational implications of such an understanding.
Marie Curie: Radiation as a Medium That Can Cure

The relentless work ethic of Marie Sklodowska-Curie realized the discovery of radium. This led to its medical application and advent for the mainstay treatment of the most common primary intraocular tumor, uveal melanoma. It is clear that intellectual, physical and emotional obstacles challenged Marie’s accomplishments. Accompanied by her husband, Marie’s systemic approach using quantitative methodology allowed her to make numerous pioneering landmarks in history.
Edgar Allan Poe's, "The Fall of the House of Usher": a Symbol of the Crumbling Borders of American and Psychic Consciousness and the Birth of Gothic Transcendence

Beginning right from the title , “The Fall of the House of Usher”, containing the word house which has been metaphorically used to depict the crumbling down of the house due to incestuous genetic patterns, the whole story is interwoven into the theme of transcendence. Again the word fall itself signifies rebirth. The paper attempts to delve into the concept of gothic transcendence as explored in the story by Poe.
Predictors of Severe Obesity in Low-Income, Predominantly Hispanic/Latino Children: The Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Study.

Introduction The objective of this study was to identify predictors of severe obesity in a low-income, predominantly Hispanic/Latino sample of children in Texas. Methods This cross-sectional analysis examined baseline data on 517 children from the secondary prevention component of the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (TX CORD) study; data were collected from September 2012 through February 2014. Self-administered surveys were used to collect data from parents of children who were aged 2 to 12 years, had a body mass index (BMI) in the 85th percentile or higher, and resided in Austin, Texas, or Houston, Texas. Multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic covariates were used to examine associations of children's early-life and maternal factors (large-for-gestational-age, exclusive breastfeeding for ≥4 months, maternal severe obesity [BMI ≥35.0 kg/m2]) and children's behavioral factors (fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity, screen time) with severe obesity (BMI ≥120% of 95th percentile), by age group (2-5 y, 6-8 y, and 9-12 y). Results Across all ages, 184 (35.6%) children had severe obesity. Among children aged 9 to 12 years, large-for-gestational-age at birth (odds ratio [OR] = 2.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13-4.73) was significantly associated with severe obesity. Maternal severe obesity was significantly associated with severe obesity among children aged 2 to 5 years (OR = 2.67; 95% CI, 1.10-6.47) and 9 to 12 years (OR = 4.12; 95% CI, 1.84-9.23). No significant association was observed between behavioral factors and severe obesity in any age group. Conclusion In this low-income, predominantly Hispanic/Latino sample of children, large-for-gestational-age and maternal severe obesity were risk factors for severe obesity among children in certain age groups. Promoting healthy lifestyle practices during preconception and prenatal periods could be an important intervention strategy for addressing childhood obesity.
Fisher, Louis. Supreme Court Expansion of Presidential Power: Unconstitutional Leanings: Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2017. 352 pages. $39.95 (hardcover).

For decades, presidential assertions of constitutional authority have grown, and the U.S. Supreme Court has largely accommodated and encouraged those assertions of power. Few have done as much to c...
Semi-automated home-based therapy for the upper extremity of stroke survivors

Technology assisted home based rehabilitation therapy offers a potentially cost-effective and convenient solution for those affected by neuro and musculoskeletal impairments. Home based solutions, however, face many challenges, the most significant of which is trying to reproduce a complex adaptive therapy experience in the home without the continuous presence of the therapist. Building on our prior work creating interactive systems for the clinic, we present our home-based system that integrates customized therapy objects, camera based movement capture and assessment techniques, and a flexible exercise protocol aimed at generalizing to variable daily life activities. We present findings from two pilot studies with unimpaired and impaired users and describe how insights from these studies will guide future work.
Recent Advances of the Use Of Lamb Waves for Material Characterization

In recent years Lamb waves have been successfully used for detecting defects in homogeneous metal plates, coated plates, and multi-layered composite plates. Different Lamb modes generate various stress and displacement profiles in the plate. These stress and displacement components are altered by the internal defects, and thus the defects are detected. All Lamb modes are not equally sensitive to a particular defect. A number of studies have been carried out to identify which Lamb mode is most effective for detecting a defect at a specific location of the plate. Superiority of the Lamb wave inspection technique compared to the conventional ultrasonic technique using P-waves has been established. The overwhelming success of the Lamb wave inspection technique for metal and composite plate inspection has encouraged Kundu and his coworkers to investigate its applicability for some new problems. The new applications include internal defect detection in metal pipes, concrete beams, as well as some new applications in composite plate inspection. One such new application is to generate the “Near-Lamb Mode Image” of a multi-layered composite plate, instead of the “Lamb Mode Image”. Advantage of the ”Near-Lamb Mode Image” is that it can distinguish between the layers of mirror symmetry in a composite plate. The pipe inspection has been carried out by the higherorder non-axisymmetric flexural modes instead of the commonly used longitudinal and torsional modes. A brief review of these recent advances of the Lamb wave inspection technique is presented in this paper.
The Unintended Consequences of Efforts to Target Gun Violence: Changing the Incentives for Congress and Prosecutors, Shifting the Balance Between Prosecution and Defense

This paper explores how legislative attempts to crack down on gun violence have affected the behavior of courts and prosecutors in the federal system, putting pressure on the boundary between federal and state law, as well as the boundaries of the elements defining various federal offenses. Legislative efforts to expand the boundaries of federal criminal jurisdiction to deter and punish gun violence brought Congress to the threshold of a major shift in the federal/state boundary, as Congress came within a hair's breadth of making every crime involving a firearm that had crossed state lines a federal offense. At that point, the Supreme Court responded with its first decision in half a century limiting congressional power under the Commerce Clause, United States v. Lopez. Although the Court also has a broader federalism agenda, this paper argues that Lopez and United States v. Morrison were motivated, to a significant degree, by the Court's institutional concerns about a possible flood of federal gun prosecutions. From the viewpoint of positive political theory, Lopez and Morrison can be understood as the Supreme Court's effort to reshape Commerce Clause doctrine to protect the traditional role and status of the federal courts, and to prevent their transformation into police courts. At the administrative level, gun-related penalties have generated pressure on a different boundary, as federal prosecutors sought expansive interpretations of the elements defining the most commonly prosecuted federal firearm offense, 18 U.S.C. ? 924(c). Section 924(c) provides for super enhanced penalties that are severe, mandatory, and consecutive to all other penalties under federal and state law. This section of the paper explores the question whether prosecutors--like counsel for private plaintiffs in civil RICO treble damage cases-- press for extreme interpretations of the Section 924(c) and seek to bring many marginal cases within its ambit. A review of the litigation under Section 924(c) does seem to reflect a prosecutorial response to the incentive created by super enhanced penalties, including aggressive pursuit of extreme interpretations of various elements of the statute. On the other hand, a review of prosecutorial practices also reveals apparently conflicting trends: federal prosecutors bargain away or decline to bring charges under the enhanced penalties in the majority of cases. Ironically, though the penalties established in Section 924(c) are mandatory, they are imposed in less than one half of the federal cases in which the facts appear to fall within the ambit of 924(c). Thus the effect of enhancing the penalties applicable to gun related crime has been to greatly enlarge the scope of the discretion exercised by federal prosecutors, and the magnitude of the consequences controlled by their discretion, without the development of any additional checks against the abuse of this enhanced discretion.
Self-supervised aerial image analysis for extracting parking lot structure

Road network information simplifies autonomous driving by providing strong priors about environments. It informs a robotic vehicle with where it can drive, models of what can be expected, and contextual cues that influence driving behaviors. Currently, however, road network information is manually generated using a combination of GPS survey and aerial imagery. These manual techniques are labor intensive and error prone. To fully exploit the benefits of digital imagery, these processes should be automated. As a step toward this goal, we present an algorithm that extracts the structure of a parking lot visible from a given aerial image. To minimize human intervention in the use of aerial imagery, we devise a self-supervised learning algorithm that automatically generates a set of parking spot templates to learn the appearance of a parking lot and estimates the structure of the parking lot from the learned model. The data set extracted from a single image alone is too small to sufficiently learn an accurate parking spot model. However, strong priors trained using large data sets collected across multiple images dramatically improve performance. Our self-supervised approach outperforms the prior alone by adapting the distribution of examples toward that found in the current image. A thorough empirical analysis compares leading state-of-the-art learning techniques on this problem.
Steady state terrestrial ecosystems and the global carbon cycle

The assumption that landscapes dominated by mature vegetation are presently in carbon steady state with the atmosphere is challenged. Evidence suggests that the vegetation and soils of these landscapes are frequently disturbed and over short time periods (<300 yr) slowly sequester atmospheric carbon. The critical consideration in this argument is the time interval used to evaluate a steady state. Current models of carbon flux through the terrestrial biota limit their time considerations to 120 yr, a short and inadequate time interval for realistic assumptions about steady state in the carbon cycle of vegetation.
Electrification of Class 8 Trucking: Economic Analysis of In-Motion Wireless Power Transfer Compared to Long-Range Batteries

In-motion wireless power transfer (WPT) has been demonstrated as a safe and viable technology for operating and recharging electric vehicles while meeting consumer demands. In this research, in-motion WPT is applied to an electrified class 8 line-haul truck and evaluated for economic and environmental impacts. The results of this in-motion WPT truck architecture are compared against a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) truck architecture and a long-range battery electric truck architecture. Results of this research show that an in-motion WPT truck has an estimated overall cost that is 35% lower than an ICE truck and 21% lower than a long-range battery truck. Additionally, in-motion WPT has the potential to reduce truck operational greenhouse gas emissions by 12% compared to ICE trucks and 7% compared to long-range battery trucks. This analysis supports the viability of in-motion WPT and identifies key areas for future assessment of vehicle architectures.
Effects of Immersive, Sexually Objectifying, and Violent Video Games on Hostile Sexism in Males

Research suggests that media images depicting aggression against sexually objectified women may promote hostile sexism in men. We empirically tested if such effects might occur when men commit simu...
Stromal cells maintain immune cell homeostasis in adipose tissue via production of interleukin-33

Obesity is driven by chronic low-grade inflammation resulting from dysregulated immune cell accumulation and function in white adipose tissue (WAT). Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a key cytokine that controls innate and adaptive immune cell activity and immune homeostasis in WAT, although the sources of IL-33 have remained controversial. Here, we show that WAT-resident mesenchyme-derived stromal cells are the dominant producers of IL-33. Adipose stem and progenitor cells (ASPCs) produced IL-33 in all WAT depots, whereas mesothelial cells served as an additional source of IL-33 in visceral WAT. ASPC-derived IL-33 promoted a regulatory circuit that maintained an immune tone in WAT via the induction of group 2 innate lymphoid cell-derived type 2 cytokines and maintenance of eosinophils, whereas mesothelial IL-33 also acted as an alarmin by inducing peritoneal immune response upon infection. Together, these data reveal a previously unrecognized regulatory network between tissue-resident progenitor cells and innate lymphoid cells that maintains immune homeostasis in adipose tissue.
International honey laundering and consumer willingness to pay a premium for local honey: an experimental study

Fraudulent activities in the international honey market affect 10% of food, and cost the global food market $50 billion per annum. Although many developed countries have created regulations to combat food fraud, illegally imported honey, especially originating from China, still enters through transshipments and relabelling to mask its true origin. This honey laundering poses a health risk to consumers, as Chinese honey potentially contains illegal and unsafe antibiotics and high levels of herbicides and pesticides. We analyse whether information about the negative health impacts of laundered honey increases the proportion of consumers willing to pay a premium for local fraud‐free honey. Using a laboratory experiment, we find when consumers are given honey laundering information, their willingness to pay a premium for local fraud‐free honey increases by as much as 27 percentage points. Our findings suggest that by conveying honey laundering information and guaranteeing their honey is fraud‐free, producers can potentially increase revenues and reduce the prevalence of food fraud. Our results further show that consumers' preference for various honey characteristics and age also influence the probability of paying a premium for local honey.
Mapping Center Of Pressure during Standing Reach Tasks

Postural stability and balance during manual material handling and industrial tasks are fundamental to ergonomic assessment of workplace tasks. Previous research has determined that accurate predic...
The Symmetry-Driven Transition in Magnetoluminescence at νe = 2: The Rashba Method in Action

The magnetoluminescence spectra of symmetric quantum wells containing an electron gas show an abrupt transition from Landau level behavior (i.e. a linear shift of energy with field) to quadratic (exciton-like) behavior at the field at which the lowest Landau level is just filled, so that the electron filling factor νe = 2. Professor Rashba's insight was that this transition is a natural (although surprising, since the high field limit is by no means reached) consequence of the hidden symmetry which is known to hold in two-dimensional systems at high fields. This interpretation also accounts for the appearance ofmagnetoplasmon, “shake-up” and cyclotron satellites when νe > 2.
Optimales Stoppen von endlichen Markoff-Ketten

Ein Grundstuck in einem verkehrstechnisch unerschlossenen Gebiet ist zur Zeit zwei Geldeinheiten, etwa (DM 200.000,--) wert und kann auch zu diesem Preis verkauft werden. Zur Verbesserung der Verkehrslage sind zwei Plane in der Diskussion, die beide die gleiche Chance haben realisiert zu werden: Bau einer Landstrase und Bau einer Hauptdurchgangsstrase. Der Bau einer Landstrase erhoht den Grundstuckswert auf funf Einheiten, der Bau der Durchgangsstrase wegen des Larms nur auf 14ier Einheiten. Nach Fertigstellung der Landstrase bestehen die Moglichkeiten: a) Ausbau zur Durchgangsstrase (Realisierungswahr-scheinlichkeit 1/4 oder b) Errichtung einer Fabrik in der Nahe mit starker Umweltverschmutzung (Realisierungswahrscheinlichkeit 3/4 Wertminderung auf vier Einheiten).
Effects of Temperature on Amine-Mediated CO2 Capture and Conversion in Li Cells

Integrated CO2 capture-conversion, which directly employs post-combustion CO2 in the chemisorbed state for subsequent transformations, is becoming an interesting avenue to facilitate CO2 utilizatio...
Genetic diversity analysis of a flax ( Linum usitatissimum L.) global collection

A sustainable breeding program requires a minimum level of germplasm diversity to provide varied options for the selection of new breeding lines. To maximize genetic gain of the North Dakota State University (NDSU) flax breeding program, we aimed to increase the genetic diversity of its parental stocks by incorporating diverse genotypes. For this purpose, we analyzed the genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium, and population sub-structure of 350 globally-distributed flax genotypes with 6200 SNP markers. All the genotypes tested clustered into seven sub-populations (P1 to P7) based on the admixture model and the output of neighbor-joining (NJ) tree analysis and principal coordinate analysis were in line with that of structure analysis. The largest sub-population separation arose from a cluster of NDSU/American genotypes with Turkish and Asian genotypes. All sub-populations showed moderate genetic diversity (average H = 0.22 and I = 0.34). The pairwise Fst comparison revealed a great degree of divergence (Fst > 0.25) between most of the combinations. A whole collection mantel test showed significant positive correlation (r = 0.30 and p 0.50). In contrast, low genetic differentiation between P5 and P2 may enhance the accumulation of favorable alleles for oil and fiber upon crossing to develop dual purpose varieties. As each sub-population consists of many genotypes, a Neighbor-Joining tree and kinship matrix assist to identify distantly related genotypes. These results also inform genotyping decisions for future association mapping studies to ensure the identification of a sufficient number of molecular markers to tag all linkage blocks.
Amplitude-based Generalized Plane Waves: new Quasi-Trefftz functions for scalar equations in 2D.

Generalized Plane Waves (GPWs) were introduced to take advantage of Trefftz methods for problems modeled by variable coefficient equations. Despite the fact that GPWs do not satisfy the Trefftz property, i.e. they are not exact solutions to the governing equation, they instead satisfy a quasi-Trefftz property: they are only approximate solutions. They lead to high order numerical methods, and this quasi-Trefftz property is critical for their numerical analysis. The present work introduces a new family of GPWs, amplitude-based. The motivation lies in the poor behavior of the phase-based GPW approximations in the pre-asymptotic regime, which will be tamed by avoiding high degree polynomials within an exponential. The new ansatz is introduces higher order terms in the amplitude rather than the phase of a plane wave as was initially proposed. The new functions' construction and the study of their interpolation properties are guided by the roadmap proposed in [16]. For the sake of clarity, the first focus is on the two-dimensional Helmholtz equation with spatially-varying wavenumber. The extension to a range of operators allowing for anisotropy in the first and second order terms follows. Numerical simulations illustrate the theoretical study of the new quasi-Trefftz functions.
Malondialdehyde-Acetaldehyde Adduct Formation Decreases Immunoglobulin A Transport across Airway Epithelium in Smokers Who Abuse Alcohol

Alcohol misuse and smoking are risk factors for pneumonia, yet the impact of combined cigarette smoke and alcohol on pneumonia remains understudied. Smokers who misuse alcohol form lung malondialdehyde–acetaldehyde (MAA) protein adducts and have decreased levels of anti-MAA secretory IgA (sIgA). Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) down-regulates polymeric Ig receptor (pIgR) on mucosal epithelium, resulting in decreased sIgA transcytosis to the mucosa. It is hypothesized that MAA-adducted lung protein increases TGF-β, preventing expression of epithelial cell pIgR and decreasing sIgA. Cigarette smoke and alcohol co-exposure on sIgA and TGF-β in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and in mice instilled with MAA-adducted surfactant protein D (SPD-MAA) were studied herein. Human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs) and mouse tracheal epithelial cells were treated with SPD-MAA and sIgA and TGF-β was measured. Decreased sIgA and increased TGF-β were observed in bronchoalveolar lavage from combined alcohol and smoking groups in humans and mice. CD204 (MAA receptor) knockout mice showed no changes in sIgA. SPD-MAA decreased pIgR in HBECs. Conversely, SPD-MAA stimulated TGF-β release in both HBECs and mouse tracheal epithelial cells, but not in CD204 knockout mice. SPD-MAA stimulated TGF-β in alveolar macrophage cells. These data show that MAA-adducted surfactant protein stimulates lung epithelial cell TGF-β, down-regulates pIgR, and decreases sIgA transcytosis. These data provide a mechanism for the decreased levels of sIgA observed in smokers who misuse alcohol.
dV-Trainer vs. da Vinci Simulator: Comparison of Virtual Reality Platforms for Robotic Surgery.

ABSTRACT Background A virtual reality (VR) curriculum performed on the da Vinci Simulation System (DVSS) was previously shown to be effective in training fellows. The dV-Trainer is a separate platform with similar features to the da Vinci console, but its efficacy and utility versus the DVSS simulator are not well known. Materials and Methods A mastery-based VR curriculum was completed by surgical fellows on the DVSS (2014-2016) and on the dV-Trainer (2016-2018) at a large academic center. Pre-test/post-test scores were used to evaluate performance between the two groups. Data was collected prospectively. Results Forty-six fellows enrolled in the curriculum: surgical oncology (n=31), hepatobiliary (n=5), head/neck (n=4), endocrine (n=2), cardiothoracic (n=2), gynecology (n=1) and transplant surgery (n=1). Twenty-four used the DVSS and twenty-two used the dV-Trainer. Compared to the DVSS, the dV-Trainer was associated with lower scores on 2 of 3 VR modules in the pre-test (P=0.027, P Conclusions The dV-Trainer simulator allows for more usability outside the operating room to complete VR modules; however, the DVSS simulator group outperformed the dV-Trainer group on the post-test.
Air separation via two-step solar thermochemical cycles based on SrFeO3-δ and (Ba,La)0.15Sr0.85FeO3-δ perovskite reduction/oxidation reactions to produce N2: rate limiting mechanism(s) determination.

Two-step solar thermochemical cycles based on reversible reactions of SrFeO3−δ and (Ba,La)0.15Sr0.85FeO3−δ perovskites were considered for air separation. The cycle steps encompass (1) the thermal reduction of SrFeO3−δ or (Ba,La)0.15Sr0.85FeO3−δ perovskites driven by concentrated solar irradiation and (2) oxidation in air to remove O2 and produce N2. Rate limiting mechanisms were examined for both reactions using a combination of isothermal and non-isothermal thermogravimetry for temperature-swings between 673 and 1373 K, heating rates of 10, 20, and 50 K min−1, and O2 pressure-swings between 20% O2/Ar and 100% Ar at atmospheric pressure. Evolved O2 and associated lag due to transport behavior were measured with gas chromatography and used with measured sample temperatures to predict equilibrium compositions from a compound energy formalism thermodynamic model. Measured and predicted chemical equilibrium changes in deviation from stoichiometry were compared. Rapid chemical kinetics were observed as the samples equilibrated rapidly for all conditions, indicative that heat and mass transfer were the rate limiting mechanisms. The effects of bulk diffusion (or gas diffusion through the bed or pellet) were examined using pelletized and loose powdered samples and determined to have no discernable impact.
On stochastic equations with drift in Ld

For the Ito stochastic equations in Rd with drift in Ld, several results are discussed, such as the existence of weak solutions, the existence of the corresponding Markov process, the Aleksandrov type estimates of their Green’s functions, which yield their summability to the power of d/(d−1), the Fabes–Stroock type estimates, which show that Green’s functions are summable to a higher degree, the Fanghua Lin type estimates, which are one of the main tools in the Wp2-theory of fully nonlinear elliptic equations, the fact that Green’s functions are in the class A∞ of Muckenhoupt and a few other results.
Single Nanoparticles and Nanoplasmas in Femtosecond Laser Fields

We combine an aerodynamic lens with a velocity-map-imaging spectrometer to make the first measurements of ultrafast dynamics in individual nanoplasmas. By using two laser pulses (800 and 400 nm) delayed by several picoseconds, we find that we can generate and control shock wave propagation in nanoplasmas, confirming a decade of theoretical predictions. Additionally, we observe pronounced asymmetries in the photoion angular distributions resulting from nanoparticles of different structure and composition, demonstrating the ability to observe nanoscale light absorption at laser intensities near the damage threshold.
Transportation's oil dependence and energy security in the 21st century

The continuing dependence of the world’s growing transport sector on petroleum presents a threat to world economic security. This threat must be understood in the context of global efforts to solve environmental problems associated with petroleum use. The nature of the oil dependence problem is explained and the role of the technological change in its solution is highlighted.