cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Water diffusion measurements in perfused human hippocampal slices undergoing tonicity changes.

Diffusion MRI has the potential to probe the compartmental origins of MR signals acquired from human nervous tissue. However, current experiments in human subjects require long diffusion times, which may confound data interpretation due to the effects of compartmental exchange. To investigate human nervous tissue at shorter diffusion times, and to determine the relevance of previous diffusion studies in rat hippocampal slices, water diffusion in 20 perfused human hippocampal slices was measured using a wide-bore 17.6-T magnet equipped with 1000-mT/m gradients. These slices were procured from five patients undergoing temporal lobectomy for epilepsy. Tissue viability was confirmed with electrophysiological measurements. Diffusion-weighted water signal attenuation in the slices was well-described by a biexponential function (R2 > 0.99). The mean diffusion parameters for slices before osmotic perturbation were 0.686 ± 0.082 for the fraction of fast diffusing water (Ffast), 1.22 ± 0.22 × 10−3 mm2/s for the fast apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and 0.06 ± 0.02 × 10−3 mm2/s for the slow ADC. Slice perturbations with 20% hypotonic and 20% hypertonic artificial cerebrospinal fluid led to changes in Ffast of −8.2% and +10.1%, respectively (ANOVA, P < 0.001). These data agree with previous diffusion studies of rat brain slices and human brain in vivo, and should aid the development of working models of water diffusion in nervous tissue, and thus increase the clinical utility of diffusion MRI. Magn Reson Med 49:856–863, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Species tree estimation of North American chorus frogs (Hylidae: Pseudacris) with parallel tagged amplicon sequencing.

Abstract The field of phylogenetics is changing rapidly with the application of high-throughput sequencing to non-model organisms. Cost-effective use of this technology for phylogenetic studies, which often include a relatively small portion of the genome but several taxa, requires strategies for genome partitioning and sequencing multiple individuals in parallel. In this study we estimated a multilocus phylogeny for the North American chorus frog genus Pseudacris using anonymous nuclear loci that were recently developed using a reduced representation library approach. We sequenced 27 nuclear loci and three mitochondrial loci for 44 individuals on 1/3 of an Illumina MiSeq run, obtaining 96.5% of the targeted amplicons at less than 20% of the cost of traditional Sanger sequencing. We found heterogeneity among gene trees, although four major clades (Trilling Frog, Fat Frog, crucifer, and West Coast) were consistently supported, and we resolved the relationships among these clades for the first time with strong support. We also found discordance between the mitochondrial and nuclear datasets that we attribute to mitochondrial introgression and a possible selective sweep. Bayesian concordance analysis in BUCKy and species tree analysis in *BEAST produced largely similar topologies, although we identify taxa that require additional investigation in order to clarify taxonomic and geographic range boundaries. Overall, we demonstrate the utility of a reduced representation library approach for marker development and parallel tagged sequencing on an Illumina MiSeq for phylogenetic studies of non-model organisms.
Elimination of depth degeneracy in optical frequency-domain imaging through polarization-based optical demodulation

A novel optical frequency-domain imaging system is demonstrated that employs a passive optical demodulation circuit and a chirped digital acquisition clock derived from a voltage-controlled oscillator. The demodulation circuit allows the separation of signals from positive and negative depths to better than 50 dB, thereby eliminating depth degeneracy and doubling the imaging depth range. Our system design is compatible with dual-balanced and polarization-diverse detection, important techniques in the practical biomedical application of optical frequency-domain imaging.
Dynamics of the liquid-solid transition

Associated with the stability limit of the liquid phase, we find a soft mode with purely imaginary frequency at a wave vector corresponding to the first peak of the structure factor. The corresponding critical fluctuations show up in neutron-scattering experiments as the de Gennes narrowing of the quasielastic peak. We investigate in this note the dynamical response of a fluid, with particular emphasis on exhibiting the nature of those fluctuations which may be considered as preeursors to freezing. As generally expected at a first-order phase transition, freezing is associated with supercooling, i.e., the liquid phase remains metastable below the thermodynamic phase boundary (freezing point). We disregard the instability of the liquid phase against nucleation and growth of small crystallites, which is a very improbable process at least for moderate supercooling. We find then a definite stability limit at which the supercooled liquid as a whole becomes intrinsically unstable against a density fluctuation of wave number q„which corresponds to the first peak in the structure factor, or to the reciprocal lattice vector of the solid into which the liquid freezes. We show that the dynamics of this phenomenon offers a simple explanation to line narrowing of the neutron frequency spectrum in the stable liquid near the freezing point for wave numbers in the neighborhood of q, . The effect will be far more dramatic in an experiment performed on supercooled liquids, and we encourage neutron scattering as well as computer experiments in this direction. In the first part of our Letter we show the essential ideas which center interest on the "softmode" phenomenon. In the later parts we develop an approximation which we hope contains most of the essential features of the phenomenon we wish to describe. The (longitudinal) dynamic properties of a fluid can be derived from its density response function X(q, &u) which describes the linear response («(q, &u)) of the density to an external potential y'"(q, &u),
Operation of SiGe bipolar technology at cryogenic temperatures

The recent introduction of silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloys has proven exceptionally promising for achieving excellent bipolar transistor performance at cryogenic temperatures, while maintaining the cost and yield advantages traditionally associated with silicon (Si) manufacturing. In this paper we review the features of silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors (SiGe HBTs) which make them particularly suitable for cryogenic operation. Using dc and ac experimental results, we also address the issues associated with profile optimization of SiGe HBTs for the cryogenic environment, the potential for cryogenic SiGe BiCMOS technologies, and present new results on liquid-helium temperature operation of SiGe HBTs. We conclude that SiGe HBT technology offers significant leverage for future cryogenic digital, analog and mixed-signal applications requiring the highest levels of performance
An Unconditionally Stable MacCormack Method

The back and forth error compensation and correction (BFECC) method advects the solution forward and then backward in time. The result is compared to the original data to estimate the error. Although inappropriate for parabolic and other non-reversible partial differential equations, it is useful for often troublesome advection terms. The error estimate is used to correct the data before advection raising the method to second order accuracy, even though each individual step is only first order accurate. In this paper, we rewrite the MacCormack method to illustrate that it estimates the error in the same exact fashion as BFECC. The difference is that the MacCormack method uses this error estimate to correct the already computed forward advected data. Thus, it does not require the third advection step in BFECC reducing the cost of the method while still obtaining second order accuracy in space and time. Recent work replaced each of the three BFECC advection steps with a simple first order accurate unconditionally stable semi-Lagrangian method yielding a second order accurate unconditionally stable BFECC scheme. We use a similar approach to create a second order accurate unconditionally stable MacCormack method.
Peer Acceptance in Middle Childhood Among Rural and Urban Boys and Girls

Abstract Children's peer acceptance in the classroom setting was investigated for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade boys and girls in both rural and urban schools. The sample comprised 650 children from 33 classrooms in four different schools. Each child completed the Peer Acceptance Index on which they rated each child in the classroom on a scale of never my friend (1) to my best friend (5). The Peer Acceptance score was a composite of all the ratings of their classmates for each child. A 2 × 2 x 3 (Location x Gender x Grade) analysis of variance was employed to examine the between-group differences on peer acceptance. Significant between-group differences were found for the location and grade variables. A significant location-by-grade interaction also was found. When the grade variable was examined by location, there were significant between-group differences for urban children but not for rural children, with diminishing levels of peer acceptance for fifth and sixth graders. The contrast of location by ...
An Examination of the Motor Unit Number Index (MUNIX) in Muscles Paralyzed by Spinal Cord Injury

The objective of this study was to assess whether there is evidence of motor unit loss in muscles paralyzed by spinal cord injury (SCI), using a measurement called motor unit number index (MUNIX). The MUNIX technique was applied in SCI (n=12) and neurologically intact (n=12) subjects. The maximum M waves and voluntary surface electromyography (EMG) signals at different muscle contraction levels were recorded from the first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle in each subject. The MUNIX values were estimated using a mathematical model describing the relation between the surface EMG signal and the ideal motor unit number count derived from the M wave and surface EMG measurements. We recorded a significant decrease in both maximum M wave amplitude and in estimated MUNIX values in paralyzed FDI muscles, as compared with neurologically intact muscles. Across all subjects, the maximum M wave amplitude was 8.3±4.4 mV for the paralyzed muscles and 14.4±2.0 mV for the neurologically intact muscles (p <; 0.0001). These measurements, when combined with voluntary EMG recordings, resulted in a mean MUNIX value of 112±71 for the paralyzed muscles, much lower than the mean MUNIX value of 228±49 for the neurologically intact muscles (p <; 0.00001). A motor unit size index was also calculated using the maximum M wave recording and the MUNIX values. We found that paralyzed muscles showed a mean motor unit size index value of 80.7±17.7 μV, significantly higher than the mean value of 64.9±10.1 μV obtained from neurologically intact muscles (p <; 0.001). The MUNIX method used in this study offers several practical benefits compared with the traditional motor unit number estimation technique because it is noninvasive, induces minimal discomfort due to electrical nerve stimulation, and can be performed quickly. The findings from this study help understand the complicated determinants of SCI induced muscle weakness and provide further evidence of motoneuron degeneration after a spinal injury.
Growth Rates for Semiflows on Hausdorff Spaces

In this paper, we present a theory of vector-valued growth rates for discrete- and continuous-time semiflows on Hausdorff spaces. For a given compact flow-invariant set M and an associated growth rate, we introduce the uniform growth spectrum over M, and associated real-valued spectra via projections of the vector-valued spectrum onto one-dimensional subspaces. We show that these real-valued spectra are closed intervals if M is additionally connected. We also define the Morse spectrum associated with a growth rate by evaluating the growth rate along chains. Moreover, we relate the uniform growth spectrum to the Morse spectrum and we analyze the meaning of limit sets for the long-time behavior of growth rates.
Transcriptome profiling of the virus-induced innate immune response in Pteropus vampyrus and its attenuation by Nipah virus interferon antagonist functions

ABSTRACT Bats are important reservoirs for several viruses, many of which cause lethal infections in humans but have reduced pathogenicity in bats. As the innate immune response is critical for controlling viruses, the nature of this response in bats and how it may differ from that in other mammals are of great interest. Using next-generation transcriptome sequencing (mRNA-seq), we profiled the transcriptional response of Pteropus vampyrus bat kidney (PVK) cells to Newcastle disease virus (NDV), an avian paramyxovirus known to elicit a strong innate immune response in mammalian cells. The Pteropus genus is a known reservoir of Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV). Analysis of the 200 to 300 regulated genes showed that genes for interferon (IFN) and antiviral pathways are highly upregulated in NDV-infected PVK cells, including genes for beta IFN, RIG-I, MDA5, ISG15, and IRF1. NDV-infected cells also upregulated several genes not previously characterized to be antiviral, such as RND1, SERTAD1, CHAC1, and MORC3. In fact, we show that MORC3 is induced by both IFN and NDV infection in PVK cells but is not induced by either stimulus in human A549 cells. In contrast to NDV infection, HeV and NiV infection of PVK cells failed to induce these innate immune response genes. Likewise, an attenuated response was observed in PVK cells infected with recombinant NDVs expressing the NiV IFN antagonist proteins V and W. This study provides the first global profile of a robust virus-induced innate immune response in bats and indicates that henipavirus IFN antagonist mechanisms are likely active in bat cells. IMPORTANCE Bats are the reservoir host for many highly pathogenic human viruses, including henipaviruses, lyssaviruses, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and filoviruses, and many other viruses have also been isolated from bats. Viral infections are reportedly asymptomatic or heavily attenuated in bat populations. Despite their ecological importance to viral maintenance, research into their immune system and mechanisms for viral control has only recently begun. Nipah virus and Hendra virus are two paramyxoviruses associated with high mortality rates in humans and whose reservoir is the Pteropus genus of bats. Greater knowledge of the innate immune response of P. vampyrus bats to viral infection may elucidate how bats serve as a reservoir for so many viruses.
Untying the HYV package: A Filipino farmer grapples with the new technology

A Filipino farmer keeps his own record of his experience with the new high‐yielding rice varieties and their accompanying technology over a period of eight years. Since in some seasons he accepts the government's technology and credit package, and in other seasons he manages the farm independently, the record enables comparison of management strategies and results. It suggests how erratic and expensive the new technology is, and indicates that both costs and risks increase under the state's finance and supervision. The liabilities and implications of agricultural research and assistance ‘packages’ are discussed.
Coalescing a coalition [engineering education]

The Gateway Engineering Education Coalition is briefly described. The Gateway Coalition addresses the educational program structure beyond course content; stresses circular integration across disciplinary units; employs design as both as motivator and driver of curriculum, students, and faculty with individual and team challenges; invests in the developing human capital to increase the successful transition from high school; increases sensitivity to multicultural environments, mentoring, and retention; incorporates leading technology into the educational environment to serve development, delivery and motivation; and experiments with quality assurance methods in the educational component of the university. >
Joint super-resolution moving target feature extraction and stationary clutter suppression

High range resolution (HRR) moving target indicator radar is becoming increasingly important for many military and civilian applications involving the detection and classification of moving targets within a clutter background. For ground-based HRR radar, when targets are moving slowly or near-broadside and the coherent processing interval or dwell time is not too long, the effects of range migration and range feature distortion can be ignored. Based on this assumption, relaxation-based algorithms that are robust and computationally simple are proposed for HRR feature extraction of moving targets consisting of scatterers closely spaced in range in the presence of stationary clutter. Numerical examples show that the proposed algorithms exhibit super-resolution and excellent estimation performance.
Extensive Degradation of Recently Synthesized Collagen in Gingiva of Normal and Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats

The degradation of recently synthesized collagen (probably procollagen) in rat incisor gingiva was three times greater than that in skin. Concomitantly, the formation of undegraded (intact) collagen molecules in gingiva was slower than that in skin. This high basal rate of degradation in gingiva was just slightly increased in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, whereas the low basal rate in skin was dramatically increased by the diabetic state.The degradation of recently synthesized collagen was measured by the relative amounts(%) of [3H]hydroxyproline-containing material in the TCA-soluble fraction of a tissue, compared with the total amount (TCA-soluble + TCA-insoluble) of [3H]hydroxyproline-containing material. Separation of the TCA fractions allowed the formation of collagen degradation products (TCA-soluble) to be viewed separately from the formation of undegraded collagen molecules (TCA-insoluble).The [3H]hydroxyproline-containing material in the TCA-soluble fraction was greatest in amount and in ...
Leadership in research and development organizations: A literature review and conceptual framework

Abstract We present a conceptual framework and review the empirical literature on leadership in research and development (R&D) organizations. Findings of studies reviewed suggest that transformational project leaders who communicate an inspirational vision and provide intellectual stimulation and leaders who develop a high-quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship with project members are associated with project success. Boundary-spanning activity and championing by the leader are also found to be important factors for project success. The review also suggests that a number of moderators and contextual variables such as project group membership and rate of technological change may make leadership in R&D organizations different from that in operating organizations. Propositions for future research are suggested.
Exploiting set-level non-uniformity of capacity demand to enhance CMP cooperative caching

As the Memory Wall remains a bottleneck for Chip Multiprocessors (CMP), the effective management of CMP last level caches becomes of paramount importance in minimizing expensive off-chip memory accesses. For the CMPs with private last level caches, Cooperative Caching (CC) has been proposed to enable capacity sharing among private caches by spilling an evicted block from one cache to another. But this eviction-driven CC does not necessarily promote the cache performance since it implicitly favors the applications full of block evictions regardless of their real capacity demand. The recent Dynamic Spill-Receive (DSR) paradigm improves CC by prioritizing applications with higher benefit from extra capacity in spilling blocks. However, the DSR paradigm only exploits the coarse-grained application-level difference in capacity demand, making it less effective as the non-uniformity exists at a much finer level. This paper (i) highlights the observation of cache set-level non-uniformity of capacity demand, and (ii) presents a novel L2 cache design, named SNUG (Set-level Non-Uniformity identifier and Grouper), to exploit the fine-grained non-uniformity to further enhance the effectiveness of cooperative caching. By utilizing a per-set shadow tag array and saturating counter, SNUG can identify whether a set should either spill or receive blocks; by using an index-bit flipping scheme, SNUG can group peer sets for spilling and receiving in an flexible way, capturing more opportunities for cooperative caching. We evaluate our design through extensive execution-driven simulations on Quad-core CMP systems. Our results show that for 6 classes of workload combinations our SNUG cache can improve the CMP throughput by up to 22.3%, with an average of 13.9% over the baseline configuration, while the state-of-the-art DSR scheme can only achieve an improvement by up to 14.5% and 8.4% on average.
A Multisensor Approach to Detecting Drizzle on ASOS

Abstract National Weather Service Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) stations do not currently report drizzle because the precipitation identification sensor, called the light-emitting diode weather identifier (LEDWI), is thought not to have the capability to be able to detect particles smaller than about 1 mm in diameter. An analysis of the LEDWI 1-min channel data has revealed, however, that the signal levels in these data are sufficiently strong when drizzle occurs; thus, they can be used to detect drizzle and distinguish it from light rain or snow. In particular, it is shown that there is important information in the LEDWI particle channel that has not been previously used for precipitation identification. A drizzle detection algorithm is developed, based on these data, and is presented in the paper. Since noise in the LEDWI channels can sometimes obscure the drizzle signal, a technique is proposed that uses data from other ASOS sensors to identify nondrizzle periods and eliminate them from con...
What predicts the trajectory of rumination?: A prospective evaluation

The current report aimed to document individual differences that predict the trajectory of post-event rumination following an evaluative event. In this study, 127 undergraduate students were assessed over a 5-day period preceding and following a mid-term exam. Participants completed measures of anticipatory processing, trait test anxiety, trait tendency to ruminate, negative affect, and post-event rumination. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine predictors of post-evaluative rumination. Results suggested that individuals who reported high levels of anticipatory processing and trait test anxiety tended to experience prolonged amounts of rumination following the exam, even when controlling for negative affect, relative to those who scored low on these measures. These results suggest that specific individual difference factors impact the amount and trajectory of rumination beyond levels of general negative affect. Implications for understanding risk factors for heightened rumination are discussed, with particular attention to the larger rumination literature.
A Rational Analysis of Cognitive Control in a Speeded Discrimination Task

We are interested in the mechanisms by which individuals monitor and adjust their performance of simple cognitive tasks. We model a speeded discrimination task in which individuals are asked to classify a sequence of stimuli (Jones & Braver, 2001). Response conflict arises when one stimulus class is infrequent relative to another, resulting in more errors and slower reaction times for the infrequent class. How do control processes modulate behavior based on the relative class frequencies? We explain performance from a rational perspective that casts the goal of individuals as minimizing a cost that depends both on error rate and reaction time. With two additional assumptions of rationality—that class prior probabilities are accurately estimated and that inference is optimal subject to limitations on rate of information transmission—we obtain a good fit to overall RT and error data, as well as trial-by-trial variations in performance.
A performance measure for computing the reverse kinematic solution for robots with redundant degrees of freedom

The addition of a redundant joint to a robotic manipulator is considered. A redundant joint adds considerable flexibility to a standard robot. The kinematics of a two-dimensional robot with a single redundant joint is developed. An optimization technique to uniquely specify the joint angles is proposed. This technique maximizes the workable area around the hand. An example is provided which illustrates the technique.
TLR-mediated activation of type I IFN during antiviral immune responses: fighting the battle to win the war

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are crucially important in the sensing of viral infections and viral nucleic acids. TLR triggering leads to the induction of specific intracellular signaling cascades that result in the activation of two major families of transcription factors; the IFN-regulatory factors (IRFs) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB). IRFs and NF-κB work together to trigger the production of type I interferons (IFNα/β) or inflammatory cytokines leading to the maturation of dendritic cells and the establishment of antiviral immunity. This review will focus on the most recent findings relating to the regulation of IRF activity by TLRs, highlighting the increasing complexity of TLR-mediated signaling pathways.
The sensitivity of sulfur wet deposition to atmospheric oxidants

Abstract The wet deposition of sulfate (SO42−) in eastern North America is chemically linked to primary emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) via atmospheric oxidants and therefore also to the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons (RH) within the region. Despite the major reductions in SO2 sources mandated by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, large sulfate deposition events are still observed in eastern North America. A case study of one such event in June 1996 in central Pennsylvania is used to gain an understanding of the linkages between sulfur deposition and oxidant chemistry and transport. These issues are addressed here using a combination of meteorological and chemical models (HY-SPLIT and OZIPR) in order to interpret air and precipitation chemistry data (AIRMoN) from the Penn State research sites. The large deposition of sulfate resulting from this rain event can be accounted for by the scavenging of ambient sulfate formed prior to the storm. The potential impacts that future NOx controls might have on ambient sulfate, visibility, and acidic deposition depend in part on the resulting changes in total oxidant levels and the competition that naturally exists between the clear-air and in-cloud oxidation pathways. The findings here suggest that lowered levels of NOx, even when they result in reduced production of ozone (O3), may nevertheless lead to enhanced generation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and therefore to the continued occurrence of sulfate episodes and high-deposition events in the future.
Genome-wide linkage analysis to identify chromosomal regions affecting phenotypic traits in the chicken. II. Body composition.

ABSTRACT Two informative chicken F2 populations based on crosses between a broiler breeder male line and dams from genetically distinct, highly inbred (>99%) chicken lines, the Leghorn G-B2 and Fayoumi M15.2, have been used for genome-wide linkage and QTL analysis. Phenotypic data on 12 body composition traits (breast muscle weight, breast muscle weight percentage, abdominal fat weight, abdominal fat weight percentage, heart weight, heart weight percentage, liver weight, liver weight percentage, spleen weight, spleen weight percentage, and drumstick weight, and drumstick weight percentage) were collected. Birds were genotyped for 269 microsatellite markers across the genome. The QTL Express program was used to detect QTL for body composition traits. Significant levels were obtained using the permutation test. For the twelve traits, a total of 61 (Gga 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 24, and Z) and 45 (Gga 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, and E46) significant QTL were detected at the 5% chromosome-wise significance level, of which 19 and 11 were significant at the 5% genome-wise level for the broiler-Leghorn cross and broiler-Fayoumi cross, respectively. Phenotypic variation for each trait explained by all QTL across the genome ranged from 3.22 to 33.31% in the broiler-Leghorn cross and 4.83 to 47.12% in broiler-Fayoumi cross. Distinct QTL profiles between the 2 crosses were observed for most traits. Cryptic alleles were detected for each trait. Potential candidate genes within the QTL region for body composition traits at the 1% chromosome-wise significance level were identified from databases for future association study. The results of the current study will increase the knowledge of genetic markers associated with body composition traits and aid the process of identifying causative genes. Knowledge of beneficial genetic variation can be incorporated in breeding programs to enhance genetic improvement through marker-assisted selection in chickens.
Experience with a blood fibrinogen bank.

Abstract An analysis of the first 76 obstetrical patients who received fibrinogen from the bank established in Philadelphia shows that there were 67 recoveries and 9 deaths. The fibrinogen was a decisive factor in the recovery of these patients with serious obstetrical hemorrhage. There is a close relationship between precipitate labor, abruptio placentae, postpartum hemorrhage, and fibrinogenopenia. The extremely large proportion of multiparas suggests that there may be a relationship between multiparity and precipitate labor that predisposes to this disease. Fibrinogen, as produced for the American Red Cross, is a relatively safe product as the incidence of hepatitis was only 3 cases, or 5 per cent. A supply of 10 Gm. of fibrinogen should be enough to meet the demands of any case that may develop. This supply might well be pooled by a community of several hospitals for reasons of economy. Analysis of the primary avoidable factors suggests that 9 cases were due to the elective use of Pitocin, either to induce or to stimulate labor without medical indication, and 3 cases to error in judgment or technique by the attending physician. This is a total of 12 cases, or 16 per cent, with 3 deaths. There were 9 cases attributed to the patient: 2 of induced abortion and death, and 7 with no prenatal care and recovery, making a total of 9 cases, or 12 per cent. In 51 cases, or 72 per cent, no avoidable factor was found.
Duality theory and simulation in financial engineering

This paper presents a brief introduction to the use of duality theory and simulation in financial engineering. It focuses on American option pricing and portfolio optimization problems when the underlying state space is high-dimensional. In general, it is not possible to solve these problems exactly due to the so-called "curse of dimensionality" and as a result, approximate solution techniques are required. Approximate dynamic programming (ADP) and dual based methods have recently been proposed for constructing and evaluating good approximate solutions to these problems. In this paper we describe these ADP and dual-based methods, and the role simulation plays in each of them. Some directions for future research are also outlined.
Coordinated spectral and XRD analyses of magnesite‐nontronite‐forsterite mixtures and implications for carbonates on Mars

[1] Mineral detection on Mars largely relies on laboratory data of minerals and mineral mixtures. The objective of this study is to provide reflectance spectra in the visible/near-infrared (VNIR) and mid-IR regions, X-ray diffraction (XRD) data and Mossbauer spectra of a suite of carbonate, phyllosilicate and olivine mixtures in order to facilitate identification and characterization of these minerals on Mars. Remote sensing observations indicate that combinations of these minerals are present in ancient rocks on Mars around the Isidis Basin and in Gusev crater. Magnesite, nontronite, and forsterite size fractions <125 µm were selected for this study. Results of the VNIR reflectance analyses illustrate the complexity of VNIR spectra of mixtures. Analyses of the NIR band depths near 2.3, 2.5, 3.4, and 4 µm showed clear trends with carbonate abundance, although the data are not linear. Mixtures of magnesite and nontronite exhibited a band near 2.3 µm much closer to that observed for nontronite than that for magnesite. VNIR analyses of the mixtures indicated that a small amount of forsterite in any of the mixtures contributed a large increase in the broad ~1 µm band and, hence, the red slope characteristic of Fe2+-bearing minerals. Mid-IR mixture spectra were dominated by magnesite and forsterite, and nontronite was much more difficult to detect by mid-IR spectra in the mixtures. This could be related to why phyllosilicates are detected in many locations on Mars using data collected by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, but not detected using data collected by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer. Mossbauer spectroscopy is well suited for analyses of Fe2+- and Fe3+-bearing minerals, and modeling of the peak areas gave well-correlated trends for nontronite and forsterite abundances where abundant Fe was present. XRD full-pattern fitting analyses were performed on the magnesite-forsterite series, giving results within 6 wt % of the actual values, with a mean difference between actual and calculated values of 2.4 wt %. This study provides important laboratory data for characterizing the spectral and XRD properties of mineral mixtures that will facilitate mineral identification on Mars. Carbonates, in particular, have been primarily observed at low abundances and in small outcrops, and they are frequently found mixed with other minerals. Through analyses of mineral mixtures using multiple data sets, this study seeks to provide ground truthing that will enable better coordination of carbonate detections in the dust and rocks of Mars.
Using integrated population models to improve conservation monitoring: California spotted owls as a case study

Abstract Integrated population models (IPMs) constitute a relatively new approach for estimating population trends and demographic parameters that makes use of multiple, independent data sources (e.g., count and mark-recapture data) within a unified statistical framework. In principle, IPMs offer several advantages over more conventional modeling approaches that rely on a single source of data, including greater precision in parameter estimates and the ability to estimate demographic parameters for which no explicit data are available. However, to date, the IPM literature has focused primarily on model development and evaluation, and few “real-world” applications have demonstrated that IPMs can strengthen inferences about population dynamics in a species of conservation concern. Here, we combined 23 years of count, occupancy, reproductive, and mark-recapture data into an IPM framework to estimate population trends and demographic rates in a population of California spotted owls ( Strix occidentalis occidentalis ). Using this framework, we observed a significant population decline, as evidenced by the geometric mean of the finite annual rate of population change ( λ t ¯ ˆ = 0.969 , 95% CRI 0.957–0.980) and the resulting realized population change (proportion of the initial population present in 2012; Δ ˆ 2012 = 0.501 , 95% CRI 0.383–0.641). The estimated decline was considerably greater than the approximately 30% decline estimated using conventional mark-recapture and occupancy approaches ( Tempel and Gutierrez, 2013 ). The IPM likely yielded a greater decline because it allowed for the inclusion of three years of data from the beginning of the study that were omitted from previous analyses to meet the assumptions of mark-recapture models. The IPM may also have yielded a greater estimate of decline than occupancy models owing to an increase in the number of territories occupied by single owls over the study period. All demographic parameters (adult and juvenile apparent survival, reproductive rate, immigration rate) were positively correlated with λ t ˆ , but immigration was fairly high ( i m m t ˆ = 0.097 , 95% CRI 0.055–0.140) and contributed most to temporal variation in λ t ˆ , suggesting that changes in owl abundance were influenced by processes occurring outside of our study area. More broadly, our results indicated that the IPM framework has the potential to strengthen inference in population monitoring and demographic studies, particularly for those involving long-lived species whose abundance may be slowly declining. In our case, the conservation implications from the results of the IPM suggested a decline in the population of owls that was steeper than previously thought.
High-Q X-band and K-band micromachined spiral inductors for use in Si-based integrated circuits

A micromachined structure with reduced parasitics is proposed to enhance the resonant frequency and the quality factor (Q) of a spiral inductor. Inductors with various etch depths have been fabricated on a high resistivity Si substrate. Two-port S-parameters are measured to characterize the performance of the inductors. With an etch depth of 20 /spl mu/m, a fabricated 1.8 nH spiral inductor achieves a maximum resonant frequency of 25.6 GHz and a maximum Q of 20.2 at 14.5 GHz. This technology is compatible with SiGe-Si HBT technology, and the spiral inductors are especially suitable for Si-based monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) applications.
Control, deception, and communication: evaluating the deployment of a location-enhanced messaging service

We report on a two-week deployment of a peer-to-peer, mobile, location-enhanced messaging service. This study is specifically aimed at investigating the need for and effectiveness of automatic location disclosure mechanisms, the emerging strategies to achieve plausible deniability, and at understanding how place and activity are used to communicate plans, intentions and provide awareness. We outline the research that motivated this study, briefly describe the application we designed, and provide details of the evaluation process. The results show a lack of value of automatic messaging functions, confirm the need for supporting plausible deniability in communications, and highlight the prominent use of activity instead of place to indicate one's location. Finally, we offer suggestions for the development of social mobile applications.
Asymptotic Equivalence Between the UML and the Extended SLN Symbol Timing Estimation on an Additive Colored Gaussian Noise Channel

It has recently been reported that the unconditional maximum likelihood (UML) symbol-timing estimation is asymptotically equivalent to the square-law nonlinearity (SLN) on an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. By introducing a whitened matched filter (WMF), we propose an extended SLN and prove the asymptotical equivalence between the UML and the extended SLN on an additive colored Gaussian noise. Simulation results show the same behavior asymptotically when a mixture of an AWGN and a flicker noise is adopted as a noise source.
Experimental infection of tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) with Coxsackie virus A16

Coxsackie virus A16 (CA16) is commonly recognized as one of the main human pathogens of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD). The clinical manifestations of HFMD include vesicles of hand, foot and mouth in young children and severe inflammatory CNS lesions. In this study, experimentally CA16 infected tree shrews (Tupaia belangeri) were used to investigate CA16 pathogenesis. The results showed that both the body temperature and the percentages of blood neutrophilic granulocytes / monocytes of CA16 infected tree shrews increased at 4-7 days post infection. Dynamic distributions of CA16 in different tissues and stools were found at different infection stages. Moreover, the pathological changes in CNS and other organs were also observed. These findings indicate that tree shrews can be used as a viable animal model to study CA16 infection.
Educating Students About the Emotional Factors That Can Undermine Their Analytical Thinking

One of the quintessential lawyering skills we teach in law school is how to “think like a lawyer.” Traditionally, we have sought to teach this important skill by appealing almost exclusively to the analytical mind. Unfortunately, this strategy is based on a 19th Century understanding of the human brain that is both outdated and inherently flawed. Modern neuroscience reveals that the ideal of a dispassionate analytical mind untainted by emotions and personal biases is a fallacy. In fact, the limbic system (the “emotional” brain) is so intertwined with the neo-cortex (the “thinking” brain) that we literally cannot “think” without its influence. However, the emotional brain is not only overly simplistic in how it views the world (black/white; right/wrong; good/bad), but also self-confirming (discounting evidence that suggests our initial instincts might be wrong, and over-emphasizing “evidence” that proves we’re right). Left unexamined, the emotional brain’s pre-conscious agenda often subverts the thinking brain, offering tainted justifications and biased rationalizations to appease the thinking brain’s need for logic. As a result, students often become enmeshed in viewing legal problems through a myopic lens that reflects their limited worldviews, leap (and cling) to often inaccurate conclusions, and have difficulty grasping the bigger picture. In short, all too many students lack the judgment and perspective that are a necessary foundation from which they can accurately evaluate the law and assess its impact on clients. One reason students struggle is because poor judgment and a myopic perspective can’t be solved through the logic of the analytical mind. Instead, modern neuroscience suggests that such problems can be overcome only by first understanding, and then addressing, the hidden emotional biases and selective perceptions that are the root cause of the problem. Drawing on lessons from neuroscience and psychology, Legal Reasoning, Writing & Other Lawyering Skills seeks to reach first-year law students in a new way. This textbook aims to deepen students’ understanding of themselves and others, and of the emotional biases and filters that undermine their efforts to think clearly and to advise their future clients effectively. Sample Chapter 4 of the textbook, while written for law students, illustrates one way in which we as educators can expand our efforts to help students develop the judgment and perspective that are integral components of “thinking like a lawyer.” This paper is excerpted from Chapter 4 of Legal Reasoning, Writing, & Other Lawyering Skills (3d ed. 2011).
Mothers’ and Fathers’ Parental Warmth, Hostility/Rejection/Neglect, and Behavioral Control: Specific and Unique Relations with Parents’ Depression Versus Anxiety Symptoms

SYNOPSISObjective. This study advanced and tested conceptualizations of parents’ depression and anxiety in relation to parental warmth, hostility/rejection/neglect, and behavioral control, before and after controlling for comorbid symptoms. Design. Two-parent families (N = 119) with girls (aged 8 to 12) completed questionnaires on parents’ and girls’ depression and anxiety and parents’ parenting. Results. Both parents’ depression and anxiety were related to more hostility/rejection/neglect; and the relations with depression remained after controlling for anxiety, yet the relations with anxiety became non-significant after controlling for depression. Mothers’ and fathers’ depression remained significantly and uniquely related to more hostility/rejection/neglect after controlling for their anxiety in addition to parental warmth, family socioeconomic status, parents’ treatment status, and girls’ depression and anxiety symptoms. Both mothers’ and fathers’ anxiety were related to higher behavioral control, bef...
Commentary on the statistical properties of noise and its implication on general linear models in functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive neuroimaging technique that uses low levels of light to measure changes in cerebral blood oxygenation levels. In the majority of NIRS functional brain studies, analysis of this data is based on a statistical comparison of hemodynamic levels between a baseline and task or between multiple task conditions by means of a linear regression model: the so-called general linear model. Although these methods are similar to their implementation in other fields, particularly for functional magnetic resonance imaging, the specific application of these methods in fNIRS research differs in several key ways related to the sources of noise and artifacts unique to fNIRS. In this brief communication, we discuss the application of linear regression models in fNIRS and the modifications needed to generalize these models in order to deal with structured (colored) noise due to systemic physiology and noise heteroscedasticity due to motion artifacts. The objective of this work is to present an overview of these noise properties in the context of the linear model as it applies to fNIRS data. This work is aimed at explaining these mathematical issues to the general fNIRS experimental researcher but is not intended to be a complete mathematical treatment of these concepts.
A Simple Gravimetric Method to Determine Barometer Corrections.

Presented here is a gravimetric method to calibrate barometers. The difference in forces exerted on the pan of a balance is observed for two well characterized artifacts of nearly equal masses but different volumes. During the weighing, air temperature and relative humidity are measured; the ambient pressure is then calculated from an air density equation. A barometer correction is derived and then compared to an independent value based on a standard barometer. The data indicate that pressure can be calculated with an uncertainty (1 S.D.) of not more than 400 ppm at one atmosphere.
Conversion of biomass to ethanol : isomerization of xylose over HY zeolite

Xylose, a pentose indigestible to most yeasts, was converted to ethanol by a two-step isomerization and fermentation. HY zeolite was used to catalyze the isomerization of xylose, and the xylulose produced was directly used as the carbon source in ethanol fermentation. Zeolite catalysts offer pH compatibility with yeast fermentation and the ability to carry out isomerization at higher temperature where equilibrium xylulose concentration is higher. Initial rate studies indicate that xylose consumption follows pseudo-first-order kinetics, with a specific rate constant of 6.2×10−4 L/solution/g zeolite/h.
Phase measurements of EUV mask defects

Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Lithography mask defects were examined on the actinic mask imaging system, SHARP, at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. A quantitative phase retrieval algorithm based on the Weak Object Transfer Function was applied to the measured through-focus aerial images to examine the amplitude and phase of the defects. The accuracy of the algorithm was demonstrated by comparing the results of measurements using a phase contrast zone plate and a standard zone plate. Using partially coherent illumination to measure frequencies that would otherwise fall outside the numerical aperture (NA), it was shown that some defects are smaller than the conventional resolution of the microscope. Programmed defects of various sizes were measured and shown to have both an amplitude and a phase component that the algorithm is able to recover.