cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Refinement of the Duc de Chaulnes’ Image Displacement Method of Measuring Refractive Index

The Duc de Chaulnes’ image-displacement method is refined to account for errors associated with thin slices of crystals and found to give results accurate to ±0.006 in the 2.4-refractive index range. Some of the inherent errors of the method are accounted for exactly, while others are treated statistically. The method has distinct advantages in measuring n at selected sites in solids and in determining indices at ranges above those of useful immersion media. The ordinary-ray index in BaTiO3 was measured on two crystals at room temperature, and the average index determined was 2.369±0.31% (the crystal thicknesses were 0.0126 and 0.0209 cm).
The Impact of Enterprise Zones on Job Creation in Mississippi

The designation of enterprise zones has been touted as an effective tool in efforts to reduce poverty, but scant evidence exists to support this. In 1983, Mississippi passed legislation authorizing the creation of enterprise zones in the most distressed counties of the state as a way of directing new jobs toward those areas. This study examines the effect of enterprise zone designation on the creation of jobs in new or expanding manufacturing establishments. Using a model estimated from panel data, the study found that qualifying as an enterprise zone had a positive effect on a county's rate of job creation. (JEL O180, H710)
Go with the Flow: Improving Multi-view Vehicle Detection with Motion Cues

As vehicles travel through a scene, changes in aspect ratio and appearance as observed from a camera (or an array of cameras) make vehicle detection a difficult computer vision problem. Rather than relying solely on appearance cues, we propose a framework for detecting vehicles and eliminating false positives by utilizing the motion cues in the scene in addition to the appearance cues. As a case study, we focus on overtaking vehicle detection in a freeway setting from forward and rear views of the ego-vehicle. The proposed integration occurs in two steps. First, motion-based vehicle detection is performed using optical flow. Taking advantage of epipolar constraints, salient motion vectors are extracted and clustered using spectral clustering to form bounding boxes of vehicle candidates. Post-processing and outlier removal further refine the detections. Second, the motion-based detections are then combined with the output of an appearance-based vehicle detector to reduce false positives and produce the final vehicle detections.
Concrete-based constrained layer damping

This method allows a fabricated (welded) machine tool structure to be designed for minimum cost and maximum dynamic stiffness comparable to polymer concrete structures.
Dispersion and particle packing of magnetic oxide powders

Abstract Magnetic oxide powders (BaFe12O19, SrFe12O19, Fe3O4 and γ-Fe2O3) were dispersed in 36 liquid systems, and their particle packing by sedimentation investigated. Sedimentation volume mesurements showed dispersibility to be highly dependent on the liquid's polarity: nonpolar liquids such as n-hexane, benzene and cyclohexane are not suited for dense particle packing, while polar organic liquids, especially alcohols and carboxylic acids, are good dispersion media, aiding particle packing. Sediment density was doubled by agitating suspension ultrasonically, as particle agglomerates were effectively broken up by the action of ultrasonic cavitation. Application of a weak magnetic field to suspensions did not improve sediment density, but formed loose microstructures characterized by closed loops of crystallites.
Colonial Legacies and the Struggle for Social Membership in a National Community: The 1946 People's Uprisings in Korea

The historical experience of colonialism exerts a profound influence upon emergent postcolonial societies. Yet colonial legacies are not passed on in precisely the same way; rather, they are contingent on particular historical processes. In the case of Korea, Japanese colonialism gave way to a brief liberation phase that was followed by another foreign occupation (the U.S. in the south and the U.S.S.R. in the north) during which efforts were made to rebuild the political community. Focusing on the 1946 people's uprisings, the largest popular social movement during the U.S. occupation period, as a pivotal historical event, this article examines why the primary target of the uprisings was not the foreign military government but fellow Koreans, especially police officers, bureaucrats, and wealthy landlords, thereby revealing how Japanese colonial rule influenced the movement's choice of targets as well as its eventual failure. Through this historical analysis, I demonstrate that internal conflicts among Koreans, which were created and rearticulated through Japanese colonial rule, became critical sources of social and political struggles under the American occupation, the important consequence of which lies in the creation of a pattern of internal exclusion that characterized South Korea's post-war political trajectory.
Enhanced cell attachment and osteoblastic activity by P-15 peptide-coated matrix in hydrogels

The cells in bone grow on a composite matrix made up of mineral and organic (mainly type-I collagen) components. In this study, anorganic bone mineral (ABM) particles were coated with a cell-binding domain of type-I collagen (P-15 peptide) to mimic the bone matrix components and suspended in injectable hyaluronate (Hy) hydrogels. The ABM/P-15/Hy was compared to ABM/Hy-the same matrix without P-15 peptide. Osteoblast-like HOS cells migrated through the hydrogels around ABM/P-15 or ABM particles; however, more cells adhered to ABM/P-15/Hy particles, and the cells formed better surface coverage and had more stress fibers on ABM/P-15/Hy. HOS cells cultured on ABM/P-15/Hy had increased osteogenic gene expression for alkaline phosphatase and bone morphogenetic proteins, and deposited more mineralized matrix. Studies with two different hydrogels (carboxymethylcellulose and sodium alginate) showed similar enhanced cell attachment and mineralization. The studies suggest that the ABM/P-15 in hydrogels can be used as an injectable biomimetic matrix to facilitate bone repair.
Development of the summer breeze circulation in the west part of the Black Sea

On the basis of the results of regional reanalysis of the atmospheric circulation presented with a resolution of 9 km, the process of formation of breezes is studied for the case of weak synoptic background activity in the rectilinear part of the west coast of the Black Sea for the period 01–04.07.2007. It is shown that the gravitational currents, breeze fronts, and intense internal waves are formed under these conditions in the troposphere during the daytime. The Hovmoller diagrams of the wind velocity and the maps of the vertical sections of potential temperature, vertical velocity of the air masses, and other parameters are presented. On the basis of these diagrams and maps, we obtain quantitative estimates of the wind velocity in the breeze and of the velocity of propagation of the breeze front and compare these estimates with the available literature data.
Modulation of fluoropyrimidines by leucovorin: Rational and status

In recent years the concept of metabolic modulation of fluoropyrimidines by leucovorin has been introduced clinically in patients with advanced colorectal cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer and head and neck cancer among others. The concept of metabolic modulation was developed in the laboratory and employed clinically. Leucovorin is a noncytotoxic compound used to increase the therapeutic efficacy of 5-fluorouracil. Following 5-fluorouracil activation to 5-fluorodeoxyuridine monophosphates, its binding to thymidylate synthase is stabilized by the active cofactor, 5,10 methylene tetrahydrofolate and its polyglutamate forms. Under these conditions, both the extent and duration of inhibition of thymidylate synthase and consequently, DNA synthesis are more pronounced. The results of clinical trials (phase II and III) indicate that the response rates to 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin modulation are significantly higher than that of fluorouridine alone.
Conventional free radical polymerization in room temperature ionic liquids: a green approach to commodity polymers with practical advantages.

Free-radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate and styrene using conventional organic initiators in the room temperature ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C4mim][PF6]) is rapid and produces polymers with molecular weights up to 10× higher than from benzene; both polymerization and isolation of products were achieved without using VOCs, offering economic as well as environmental advantages.
BIG & QUIC: Sparse Inverse Covariance Estimation for a Million Variables

The l1-regularized Gaussian maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) has been shown to have strong statistical guarantees in recovering a sparse inverse covariance matrix even under high-dimensional settings. However, it requires solving a difficult non-smooth log-determinant program with number of parameters scaling quadratically with the number of Gaussian variables. State-of-the-art methods thus do not scale to problems with more than 20,000 variables. In this paper, we develop an algorithm BIGQUIC, which can solve 1 million dimensional l1-regularized Gaussian MLE problems (which would thus have 1000 billion parameters) using a single machine, with bounded memory. In order to do so, we carefully exploit the underlying structure of the problem. Our innovations include a novel block-coordinate descent method with the blocks chosen via a clustering scheme to minimize repeated computations; and allowing for inexact computation of specific components. In spite of these modifications, we are able to theoretically analyze our procedure and show that BIGQUIC can achieve super-linear or even quadratic convergence rates.
Perceived and actual diabetes risk in the Chinese and Hispanic/Latino communities in Portland, OR, USA.

Diabet. Med. 28, 658–667 (2011) Abstract Aims The burden of diabetes is considerable for racial and ethnic minority populations in many places in the USA and worldwide, often disproportionately affecting immigrant communities. This paper reports findings from a community-based participatory research study that described diabetes risk and awareness, assessed the association between perceived and actual risk (high, two or more diabetes risk factors; low, fewer than two risk factors) and identified factors associated with disease risk among Chinese and Hispanic/Latino immigrant populations in Portland, OR, USA. Methods Cross-sectional, self-reported data were collected from a purposive sample of 324 Chinese (n = 159) and Hispanic/Latino (n = 165) adults, aged 18–86 years [mean (SD) age, 45.2(17.9) years; 50.7% women). Analyses described differences in variable distributions. Logistic regression estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals in pooled and ethnic group-specific samples. Results Approximately 43% of participants were at high risk for diabetes, regardless of ethnicity or age. Of those unaware of their risk, or who perceived themselves not to be at risk, 25–53% had two or more risk factors (high risk); these patterns varied by ethnicity. The proportion of participants who reported two or more risk factors and were unaware of their risk status (31.8% Hispanic/Latino; 17% Chinese) or self-identified as not at risk (12.5% Hispanic/Latino; 13.0% Chinese) was substantial. Factors associated with diabetes risk also varied by ethnicity. Conclusions This study assessed the degree and determinants of diabetes risk and awareness among local Hispanic/Latino and Chinese communities and identified significant variation between groups. The results are important because they highlight substantial diabetes risk among persons who misestimate or are unaware of their risk status, regardless of ethnicity, and, in the USA, the Chinese immigrant population commonly is not considered a high-risk group for Type 2 diabetes.
Overview: Obesity: What Does It Have to Do with Kidney Disease?

Obesity has become a national epidemic, with ∼65% of Americans currently above ideal body weight ([1,2][1][⇓][2]). It is widely recognized that obesity contributes to morbidity and mortality from diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some cancers, yet the important role that it plays in
Three‐Dimensional Chemical Patterns for Cellular Self‐Organization

In nature, three dimensional (3D) chemical patterns are generated and sustained with precisely controlled spatial and temporal profiles, on a variety of length and time scales.[1,2] Several studies have outlined the need for the development of in vitro methodologies that replicate the 3D spatio-temporal chemical patterns associated with chemotaxis, cell signaling, angiogenesis, homeostasis and immune surveillance.[3–7] There are a number of in vitro microfluidic systems that have been developed to mimic in vivo chemical micro-environments such as the creation of interleukin-8 gradients to study neutrophil chemotaxis.[8] However, microfluidic systems are inherently planar (2D) and their overall size and dependency on external equipment to enable active flow restricts their applicability.[9–11] Hence, the development of passive systems that enable diffusion-based 3D chemical pattern formation is attractive since they can be readily utilized to generate and sustain patterns within cell culture, homogeneous gels and other stationary media. Existing microparticles and reservoirs[12] can be utilized to create chemical patterns in 3D environments, however, the pre-dominant spatial release profile is one that is spherically symmetric[13] (Figure 1a).
Fixed-gain two-stage estimators for tracking maneuvering targets

The two-stage alpha-beta-gamma estimator is proposed as an alternative to adaptive gain versions of the alpha, beta and alpha, beta, and gamma filters for tracking maneuvering targets. The aim is to achieve fixed-gain, variable dimension filtering. The two-stage alpha-beta-gamma estimator is derived from the two-stage Kalman estimator, and the noise variance reduction matrix and steady-state error covariance matrix are given as a function of the steady-state gains. A procedure for filter parameter selection is also given along with a technique for maneuver response and a gain scheduling technique for initialization. The kinematic constraint for constant speed targets is also incorporated into the two-stage estimator to form the two-stage alpha-beta-gamma-lambda estimator. Simulation results are given to compare the performances of other estimators with that of the alpha-beta-gamma filter. >
Middle and Later Stone Age large mammal and tortoise remains from Die Kelders Cave 1, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Die Kelders Cave 1, South Africa, has provided more than 150,000 taxonomically identifiable mammal and tortoise bones from Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) deposits. Cape dune molerats dominate the mammal sample, and they appear to have been accumulated mainly by people during the LSA occupation and mainly by eagle owls in the MSA. In sharp contrast to the LSA fauna, the MSA sample contains extralimital ungulates that imply relatively moist, grassy conditions. The large mean size of the MSA molerats also points to greater humidity, while the large size of the gray mongooses implies cooler temperatures. The sum supports luminescence and ESR dates that place the MSA occupation within the early part of the Last Glaciation (global isotope stage 4). The Die Kelders ungulate bones support those from Klasies River Mouth in suggesting that MSA people obtained dangerous terrestrial prey much less frequently than their LSA successors, probably because MSA people lacked the bow and arrow and other projectile weapons. The Die Kelders tortoise bones constrain the extent of climatic change, since their abundance indicates that warm, dry days remained common, at least seasonally. The tortoises tend to be much larger in the MSA layers than in the LSA ones, suggesting that MSA people collected tortoises less intensively, probably because MSA populations were relatively sparse.
Exploring heterogeneous NoC design space

The Network-on-Chip (NoC) plays a crucial role in designing low cost chip multiprocessors (CMPs) as the number of cores on a chip keeps increasing. However, buffers in NoC routers increase the cost of CMPs in terms of both area and power. Recently, bufferless routers have been proposed to reduce such costs by removing buffers from the routers. However, bufferless routers can provide competitive performance only when network utilization is moderate. In this paper, we propose a novel heterogeneous design that employs both buffered and bufferless routers in the same NoC to achieve high performance at low cost. We evaluate a variety of plans to place buffered and bufferless routers in an NoC based CMP according to performance requirements and power allowances. In order to take full advantage of these heterogeneous NoCs, we also propose novel strategies for buffered-router-aware application thread mapping and a routing algorithm (once the router placement is fixed). Our evaluations show that, by utilizing the techniques we proposed, a heterogeneous NoC does not only achieve performance comparable to that of the NoCs with buffered routers but also reduces buffer costs and energy consumption.
Body weight-dependent troponin T alternative splicing is evolutionarily conserved from insects to mammals and is partially impaired in skeletal muscle of obese rats

Do animals know at a physiological level how much they weigh, and, if so, do they make homeostatic adjustments in response to changes in body weight? Skeletal muscle is a likely tissue for such plasticity, as weight-bearing muscles receive mechanical feedback regarding body weight and consume ATP in order to generate forces sufficient to counteract gravity. Using rats, we examined how variation in body weight affected alternative splicing of fast skeletal muscle troponin T (Tnnt3), a component of the thin filament that regulates the actin-myosin interaction during contraction and modulates force output. In response to normal growth and experimental body weight increases, alternative splicing of Tnnt3 in rat gastrocnemius muscle was adjusted in a quantitative fashion. The response depended on weight per se, as externally attached loads had the same effect as an equal change in actual body weight. Examining the association between Tnnt3 alternative splicing and ATP consumption rate, we found that the Tnnt3 splice form profile had a significant association with nocturnal energy expenditure, independently of effects of weight. For a subset of the Tnnt3 splice forms, obese Zucker rats failed to make the same adjustments; that is, they did not show the same relationship between body weight and the relative abundance of five Tnnt3 β splice forms (i.e. Tnnt3 β2-β5 and β8), four of which showed significant effects on nocturnal energy expenditure in Sprague-Dawley rats. Heavier obese Zucker rats displayed certain splice form relative abundances (e.g. Tnnt3 β3) characteristic of much lighter, lean animals, resulting in a mismatch between body weight and muscle molecular composition. Consequently, we suggest that body weight-inappropriate skeletal muscle Tnnt3 expression in obesity is a candidate mechanism for muscle weakness and reduced mobility. Weight-dependent quantitative variation in Tnnt3 alternative splicing appears to be an evolutionarily conserved feature of skeletal muscle and provides a quantitative molecular marker to track how an animal perceives and responds to body weight.
The morphology and physiology of a “mini-ommatidium” in the median optic nerve of Limulus polyphemus

Examination of the Limulus median optic nerve with low-magnification light microscopy allows clear visualization of an ultraviolet-sensitive mini-ommatidium enshrouded by pigment cells, glial cells, and guanophores. Serial 1-micron sections of median optic nerves containing mini-ommatidia revealed the presence of a single, heavily pigmented photoreceptor (retinular) cell and a single, unpigmented arhabdomeric cell. Computer-assisted serial reconstructions from 1-micron sections confirmed the presence of two cells, each bearing a nucleus, and two axons leaving the mini-ommatidium. The retinular cell is morphologically similar to retinular cells from the median and lateral eyes. Its rhabdomere appears to be a continuous sheet of microvilli with much infolding. The structure of the arhabdomeric cell is nearly identical to those found in the median ocellus. As in other photoreceptors in Limulus, the retinular cell of the mini-ommatidium is innervated by efferent fibers from the brain. Each mini-ommatidium generates a single train of nerve impulses in response to light, presumably from the arhabdomeric cell. Measurement of the spectral sensitivity of the mini-ommatidium based upon a constant-response criterion indicated that the retinular cell is maximally sensitive to near ultraviolet light with lambda max = 380 nm. Comparison of intensity-response functions revealed that those of the mini-ommatidium are significantly steeper than those of the ocellus almost certainly as the result of neural processing in the ocellus which is absent in the mini-ommatidium.
Discovering Program's Behavioral Patterns by Inferring Graph-Grammars from Execution Traces

Frequent patterns in program executions represent recurring sequences of events. These patterns can be used to reveal the hidden structures of a program, and ease the comprehension of legacy systems. Existing grammar-induction approaches generally use sequential algorithms to infer formal models from program executions, in which program executions are represented as strings. Software developers, however, often use graphs to illustrate the process of program executions, such as UML diagrams, flowcharts and call graphs. Taking advantage of graphs' expressiveness and intuitiveness for human cognition, we present a graph-grammar induction approach to discovering program's behavioral patterns by analyzing execution traces represented in graphs. Moreover, to improve the efficiency, execution traces are abstracted to filter redundant or unrelated traces. A grammar induction environment called VEGGIE is adopted to facilitate the induction. Evaluation is conducted on an open source project JHotDraw. Experimental results show the applicability of the proposed approach.
Giant Intraperitoneal Multiloculated Pseudocyst in a Male

Intraperitoneal pseudocysts are rare and may be difficult to differentiate from other malignant neoplasms. Reports of occurrences are mainly associated with long-term intraperitoneal catheter use, intraperitoneal catheter infections, or major pelvic surgery in females, although there are few reported incidences without prior trauma. We present a case of a male patient found to have a 19 × 15 × 9 cm intraperitoneal pseudocyst with other multiloculated areas and a history of a right inguinal hernia repair. After a thorough review of the literature, this is the first multiloculated nonpancreatic pseudocyst reported in a male patient.
E–H (E = B, Si, Ge) bond activation of pinacolborane, silanes, and germanes by nucleophilic palladium carbene complexes

The reactivity of two nucleophilic palladium carbenes, [PC(sp(2))P]Pd(PMe3) and [PC(sp(2))P]Pd(PPh3), where [PC(sp(2))P] = bis[2-(di-iso-propylphosphino)phenyl]methylene, toward the E-H bond activation of Ph4-nEHn (E = Si, Ge; n = 1-3) and pinacolborane (HBpin) is discussed. Unlike previous reports, both types of isomer species, hydride [PC(EHn-1Ph4-n)P]PdH or [PC(Bpin)P]PdH and silyl/germyl [PC(H)P]Pd(EHn-1Ph4-n), were observed depending on the substrate and the phosphine ligand, showing that the polarity of the Pd-C bond can be tuned by the phosphine substituents.
A LP-based neighborhood search for general integer programs

This paper presents a methodology to generate diverse solutions for linear programming relaxation and its application to solve integer programs using a neighborhood search. The algorithm generates multiple linear programming solutions of maximal difference and uses them as targets for a neighborhood search to locate high-quality integer solutions. The multiple diverse solutions provide a good coverage of the solution landscape and the neighborhood search reduces the computational effort in searching for good integer solutions. The algorithm is seeded into a genetic algorithm on benchmark knapsack problem and the results have shown that the algorithm is computationally effective, providing high-quality solutions at faster convergence rates than state-of-the-art commercial integer program solvers.
THE myRA PROGRAM: WILL AMERICANS SAVE?

In his 2014 State of the Union Address, President Obama announced his plans to create a new retirement account to be known as the my RA (My Retirement Account) program to address the underinvestment problem for lower income families in America. My RAs are specialized Roth IRAs that can only be invested in the Government Securities Investment Fund (G Fund) of the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees. Our analysis compares possible my RA investment outcomes with possible Roth IRA investment outcomes to determine which investment vehicle offers the best outcome to potential investors. We examine outcomes for investments in the G Fund ( my RA) and five mutual funds (Roth IRA). We find that equity mutual funds substantially outperform the G Fund. Despite this, my RAs might offer something in the way of helping individuals become disciplined investors by providing low barriers to entry. Additionally, my RAs might provide an interesting, and higher-yielding, option for short-term investment needs for individuals who already take advantage of employer-sponsored retirement accounts.
Narrative meaning making, attachment, and psychological growth and stress

Understanding how people turn episodes in time into subjectively meaningful narratives can shed light on adaptive meaning-making processes. Bridging attachment theory and narrative meaning making may elucidate how individuals distinctively narrate highly stressful and traumatic memories and whether such expression matters for psychological health. Single trauma narratives from 224 college participants were coded along dimensions of attachment theory, exploration and support seeking. Attachment style, stress-related growth, and event-related stress were also measured. Narrative exploration and support seeking were predictors of growth and stress, respectively, after controlling for personality traits and attachment. Importantly, we showed attachment moderates the relationship between narrative meaning making and psychological growth and stress. The relation between higher narrative exploration and increased growth levels was weaker for more avoidantly attached individuals, while the relation between lower ...
Modelling Toxic Response of Anaerobic Treatment

The toxicity response of the anaerobic treatment process can be modelled from a number of different approaches. Toxicity affects the growth rate and the effluent substrate concentration and can be modelled by competitive and uncompetitive inhibition. The biological safety factor is reduced. Most toxicants exhibit reversible toxicity, which is quite significant. Acclimation is noted to some toxicants. Molecular structure can be used to model and predict toxicity.
Comparison of Two Calculation Methods for Two-Dimensional Model for Tubular Reactor of Pyrolysis

A two-dimensional mathematical model of ethylene pyrolyzer was created by using two different solving methods.The model contains a complex reaction system including 49 components and 49 reactions.Via the description of axial and radial fluid flow,heat transfer and the coking reactions on the tube wall,the process,including fluid flow,reaction,heat transfer and coking etc.in the light hydrocarbon and oil pyrolysis tube can be fully simulated.These two solving methods of the two-dimensional model and the one-dimensional model were used to simulate Daqing type-W light hydrocarbon and oil pyrolyzer.The results show that using these two calculating methods,the description of the radial temperature,velocity and concentration distribution is in more conformity with the realities of industry pyrolyzer than using one-dimensional model,the changing tendencies of the radial velocity,temperature and concentration distribution approaching the tube wall match with industry practice,and the other main calculated results are consistent with industry data and the calculated results by the one-dimensional model.The two calculating methods have their own virtues and defects,so each of them has its own suitable usage for different computation goals of various pyrolysis systems.
An Adaptive SPWM Technique for Cascaded Multilevel Converters With Time-Variant DC Sources

An adaptive sinusoidal pulse-width modulation (SPWM) technique for cascaded H-bridge (CHB) multilevel converters is presented in this paper. The proposed technique enables the CHB topology to provide a symmetrical ac voltage from a set of asymmetrical time-variant input dc-source voltages. A sensor-per-source (SPS) algorithm and a sensor-per-leg (SPL) algorithm are described as alternatives for implementing the adaptive SPWM technique. Software simulations and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the presented SPS and SPL algorithms.
Relative abundance and phenology of Drosophila Fallén, 1815 (Diptera: Drosophilidae) species in south-central Washington State

Abstract. A monitoring program for a recently introduced vinegar fly, Drosophila suzukii Matsumura, 1931, was conducted in south-central Washington State, U.S.A. from March 2011 to November 2013. Along with D. suzukii, a complex of nine additional Drosophila Fallen, 1815 species were captured in baited traps and identified to species. The Drosophila were captured in Nalgene® and Haviland traps baited with apple cider vinegar or a sugar yeast mixture that were distributed among seven different horticultural crops or unmanaged habitats. All flies captured were identified to species and quantified for each sampling period. The species identified and quantified included D. busckii Coquillett, 1901, D. funebris Fabricius, 1787, D. hydei Sturtevant,1921, D. immigrans Sturtevant, 1921, D. melanogaster Meigen, 1830, D. simulans Sturtevant, 1919, D. obscura Fallen, 1823, D. subobscura Collin, 1936, D. subquinaria Spencer, 1942 and D. suzukii. The predominant species in 2011 were the obscura group and D. hydei. In ...
Why Johnny Estrada Is Worth Kevin Millwood: Valuing Players As Assets

In the fall of 2002, Kevin Millwood was on top of the world. He had just completed his fifth full season as a regular in the Atlanta Braves starting rotation, helping lead the team to its eleventh consecutive Division crown. After posting the tenth best ERA in the National League he was poised take over as the staff ace from sure-to-be Hall-of-Fame rotation mates Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who would soon depart the club. At 27, he had already made one All-Star team (1999) and more trips to the mid-season classic seemed inevitable as he looked to be budding into one of the game’s most dominant pitchers entering the prime of his career.
Ensuring trust of third-party hardware design with constrained sequential equivalence checking

Globalization of semiconductor design and manufacturing has led to a concern of trust in the final product. The effect of any modifications made by an adversary can be catastrophic in critical applications. Because of the stealthy nature of such insertions, it is extremely difficult to detect them using traditional testing and verification methods. In this paper, we propose a novel technique for detection of malicious alteration(s) in a third party soft intellectual property (IP) using a clever combination of sequential equivalence checking (SEC) and test generation. The use of powerful inductive invariants can prune a large illegal state space, and test generation helps to provide a sensitization path for nodes of interest. Results for a set of hard-to-verify designs show that our method can either ensure that the suspect design is free from the functional effect of any malicious change(s) or return a small group of most likely malicious signals.
Predictors of amputation in high-energy forefoot and midfoot injuries

Abstract Introduction High energy injuries to the midfoot and forefoot are highly morbid injury groups that are relatively unstudied in the literature. Patients sustaining injuries of this region are challenging to counsel at the time of injury because so little is known about the short and long term results of these injuries. The purpose of this study was to investigate injury specific factors that were predictive of amputation in patients sustaining high energy midfoot and forefoot injuries. Patients and methods 137 patients with 146 injured feet [minimum of two fractures located in the forefoot and midfoot, excluding phalanges, talus, calcaneus, with a high energy mechanism]. Results 121 of 146 feet (83%) were treated operatively; 27 patients sustained 34 total surgical amputation events. 30-day amputation rate was 13.9% and 1-year amputation rate was 18.9%; 27 of 146 feet ultimately sustained amputation with 23 of 27 sustaining a below the knee amputation (BKA) and 17 of 23 (73.9%) received a BKA as their first amputation. Statistically significant predictors of amputation included the number of bones fractured in the foot (p = 0.015), open injury to the plantar or dorsal surfaces of the foot, Gustilo grade, vascular injury, and complete loss of sensation to any surface of the foot (all p Conclusions High-energy forefoot and midfoot injuries are associated with a high degree of morbidity; 1/5th of patients sustaining these injuries proceeded to amputation within 1 year. Injury characteristics can be used to counsel patients regarding severity and amputation risk.
Nonhuman Primate Gamma-herpesviruses and Their Role in Cancer

This chapter describes the nonhuman primate gamma-herpesviruses that have been isolated and found to induce oncogenesis in animals after experimental inoculation. These simian herpesviruses and animal models are important not only to understanding of the viral factors necessary for oncogenesis but also to the identification of host factors required for the viruses to induce disease. Three simian gamma-herpesviruses have been shown to be associated with oncogenesis, and a fourth is being further characterized. The first is Herpesvirus saimiri, the prototypic gamma-herpesvirus, which was found to induce lymphomas in New-World monkeys in 1970. The second is rhesus lymphocryptovirus, the rhesus macaque homologue of Epstein–Barr virus, which was also found to be associated with lymphoma in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected animals. The third is rhesus macaque rhadinovirus, a close relative to human Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, which has also been found to induce tumors, lymphoma, and mesenchymal cell proliferative lesion in SIV-infected animals. Each virus is described in detail, and strengths for tumor models are discussed.
Advanced Modalities and Rescue Therapies for Severe Respiratory Failure

This chapter focuses on frequently used adjuncts to traditional mechanical ventilation that are now available in the intensive care unit to manage severe respiratory failure and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Modalities discussed will include airway pressure release ventilation, high-frequency mechanical ventilation, prone positioning, neuromuscular blockade, inhaled selective pulmonary vasodilators nitric oxide and epoprostenol, and ECMO. These advanced modalities for severe respiratory failure will be described in some detail, but this is not intended as a definitive exploration of each topic. Where available, current data supporting each intervention is presented, but, importantly, definitive high-quality evidence is lacking for several of these modalities.
Examining implicit and explicit attitudes toward stuttering

Abstract Purpose This study assessed implicit and explicit attitudes toward people who stutter among typically-fluent young adults. Method Participants completed an Implicit Association Test, a measure of implicit attitudes, to assess the strength of association between stuttered vs. fluent speech and positive vs. negative evaluative words. Participants also completed self-report ratings of their attitudes toward people who do and do not stutter (explicit attitude scales). In addition, participants completed measures of social desirability and a survey that assessed lifetime experience with people who stutter. Results Results supported the existence of a negative stuttering stereotype. Participants demonstrated negative implicit and explicit attitudes toward people who stutter. Explicit attitudes toward those who stutter, but not implicit attitudes, were significantly predicted by social desirability scores. Familiarity with stuttering was significantly associated with implicit but not explicit attitudes toward stuttering. Conclusions These findings indicate the importance of examining both implicit and explicit attitudes toward stuttering to fully understand the challenges faced by those who stutter.
15.16 – Stable Isotope Techniques for Gas Source Mass Spectrometry

The gas source mass spectrometer is one of the most precise analytical instruments in existence. These sophisticated machines have evolved from complex and finicky homemade ‘beasts’ to robust, commercially available units. Although stability and maintenance have been dramatically improved, surprisingly, the sensitivity and precision attainable with a conventional gas source mass spectrometer have not changed appreciably over the last half century. The advantages that have been made center more on ease of use, allowing the geochemist to spend more time addressing scientific questions and less time working to collect data. This chapter reviews the fundamentals of mass spectrometry and the basic methods of application to different isotopic systems. The applications to natural sciences are clearly enormous, but the emphasis of this communication is the fundamentals of the technical aspects of stable isotope analysis and gas source mass spectrometry.
Contraction of Muscles

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses muscle structure in relation to contractility. The focus of the chapter is on the nature of the mechanochemical energy conversion. The chapter emphasizes largely on the relationships between muscle structure and function at the cellular and subcellular levels. The chapter discusses several related concepts, including the muscle mechanisms of force production and shortening, muscle energetics, and muscle metabolism. The muscle mechanisms of force production and shortening further discusses sliding filament theory, relationships among force, velocity and work, and energy utilization cross-bridge theory. Muscle structure is first developed in conjunction with mechanics, leading to the formulation of the sliding-filament theory. Muscle contractility continues with further characterization of the relationships among force, velocity, work, and energy utilization. The mechanism at the molecular level that is at the cross-bridge cycle is similarly developed, matching structural and biochemical knowledge with transient mechanical studies. The energy requirements of the cross-bridge cycle lead to presentation of energy use in intact muscle, which is considered in detail in muscle energetics. Energy use is then followed by a discussion of muscle metabolism and the route for synthesis of ATP necessary for contractile activity. The chapter discusses comparative muscle physiology and behavior of different fiber types. Smooth muscle is discussed in detail along with its regulation, mechanical properties, and energetics and contrasted to those of striated muscle.
Genetic polymorphisms in emerging cardiovascular risk factors and response to statin therapy.

Current strategies for both the primary and secondary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) focus on the traditional risk factors, such as hypertension, smoking cessation, and cholesterol, as the primary determinants of the cardiac risk profile, with particular emphasis on the reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) to targeted goal levels as endorsed by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII). Large primary and secondary prevention trials with the hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) have demonstrated varying reductions in cardiovascular events associated with similar changes in LDL-C levels, suggesting statins may possess additional beneficial effects on other risk factors. Retrospective analyses of many statin trials have evaluated the association between several polymorphic candidate genes (apolipoprotein E, stromelysin-1, β-fibrinogen, cholesteryl ester transfer protein, lipoprotein lipase, hepatic lipase, and platelet glycoprotein III) which have been identified as predictors of disease severity and both metabolic and clinical response to statin therapy. These results suggest that statin therapy improves plasma lipid profiles in all patients, but preferentially benefits individuals who carry a high risk, variant genotype for these risk factors as compared to individuals with the wild-type genotype. These observations suggest that determining individual patient genotype may be useful in optimizing the benefits of statin therapy. These hypothesis-generating data need to be prospectively evaluated in genotyped patients.
Divine Inheritance vs. Experience in the World: Where Does the Knowledge Base Come From?

The UMass Mobile Robots project is investigating the integration of a broad range of capabilities into practical mobile robots. At the foundation of our work is the premise that higher-level vision beyond the first stages of sensory processing will greatly benefit from, and in many cases require, the use of knowledge and models of objects and the environment.
The Influence of Individual Differences in Cognitive Ability on Working Memory Training Gains

Working memory training research has produced mixed results in terms of finding benefits beyond the trained tasks (i.e., transfer). One potential limitation is that the research thus far has failed to isolate the specific combination of factors that makes working memory training work best. Individual differences in cognitive ability at pretest may be an important factor, suggesting possible aptitude-by-treatment interactions. Baseline cognitive ability could be (a) positively related, (b) negatively related, or (c) unrelated to training task improvements. The relationship between ability and training gains is important given the idea that larger training improvements should lead to greater transfer. However, the majority of training studies tend to be under-powered to examine individual differences. We pooled studies conducted in related labs to increase power while minimizing differences between studies. In the studies that were identified for this project, young adults completed complex span training and working memory and/or fluid intelligence as pretest measures. The combined samples from seven studies resulted in a sample of 192 participants. Analyses focused on the relationship between pretest cognitive ability and training performance across training days. There was no evidence that individuals lower in cognitive ability improved more than high-ability subjects on the training tasks. Instead, we found a positive relationship for both working memory and fluid intelligence measured at pretest with the amount of training improvement. In addition, the association between pretest working memory and working memory training performance appears to be domain-general - verbal and visuospatial content do not produce differential relationships.
Self-Calibration and Performance Control of MEMS with Applications for IoT

A systemic problem for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has been the large gap between their predicted and actual performances. Due to process variations, no two MEMS have been able to perform identically. In-factory calibration is often required, which can represent as much as three-fourths of the manufacturing costs. Such issues are challenges for microsensors that require higher accuracy and lower cost. Towards addressing these issues, this paper describes how microscale attributes may be used to enable MEMS to accurately calibrate themselves without external references, or enable actual devices to match their predicted performances. Previously, we validated how MEMS with comb drives can be used to autonomously self-measure their change in geometry in going from layout to manufactured, and we verified how MEMS can be made to increase or decrease their effective mass, damping, and or stiffness in real-time to match desired specifications. Here, we present how self-calibration and performance control may be used to accurately sense and extend the capabilities of a variety of sensing applications for the Internet of things (IoT). Discussions of IoT applications include: (1) measuring absolute temperature due to thermally-induced vibrations; (2) measuring the stiffness of atomic force microscope or biosensor cantilevers; (3) MEMS weighing scales; (4) MEMS gravimeters and altimeters; (5) inertial measurement units that can measure all four non-inertial forces; (6) self-calibrating implantable pressure sensors; (7) diagnostic chips for quality control; (8) closing the gap from experiment to simulation; (9) control of the value of resonance frequency to counter drift or to match modes; (10) control of the value of the quality factor; and (11) low-amplitude Duffing nonlinearity for wideband high-Q resonance.
Laser and Light-Based Therapies in the Treatment of Hair Loss

Laser and light-based therapies including low-level laser and light therapy, fractional, excimer, and other lasers are increasingly well-regarded treatment options for patients with hair loss.
Frequent loss of mutation-specific mismatch repair protein expression in nonneoplastic endometrium of Lynch syndrome patients.

Lynch syndrome is most often caused by a germline mutation in one of four DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes (MLH1, PMS2, MSH2, or MSH6) or EPCAM and is associated with a significantly increased risk of endometrial cancer in affected women. Although universal screening of endometrial cancer for Lynch syndrome is becoming increasingly common by various algorithms using MMR immunohistochemistry and/or microsatellite instability testing by PCR, establishing the diagnosis of Lynch syndrome can be still challenging. MMR-deficient nonneoplastic colonic crypts have been recently described in Lynch syndrome patients with colorectal carcinoma, and have been proposed to be a novel indicator of Lynch syndrome. Presence of MMR-deficient nonneoplastic endometrial glands have not yet been systematically evaluated in Lynch syndrome patients. We performed MMR protein immunohistochemistry in prophylactic hysterectomies and endometrial curettings/biopsies from 27 patients with known Lynch syndrome confirmed by germline mutation analysis. A total of 56 control benign endometrial tissues were also analyzed, and included benign endometrium adjacent to MMR-deficient sporadic (MLH1 promoter hypermethylated) endometrial carcinoma (n = 9), adjacent to MMR-intact sporadic endometrial carcinoma (n = 27), and normal endometrium from hysterectomies performed for benign disease (n = 20). MMR protein deficient nonneoplastic endometrial glands were identified in 70% (19 of 27) of Lynch syndrome patients. In all 19 cases the MMR protein loss was specific for the patients’ known germline mutation. None of the control cases showed loss of MMR protein expression in nonneoplastic endometrium. Our findings suggest that MMR-deficient nonneoplastic endometrial glands may be a unique, specific marker of Lynch syndrome, and may provide an important insight into the pathogenesis of Lynch syndrome-associated endometrial cancer. Evaluation of MMR protein expression of benign background endometrium in endometrial cancer patients may be further explored as a possible useful addition to the Lynch syndrome screening algorithm.