cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transcranial Brain Stimulation With Rapidly Spinning High-Field Permanent Magnets

Transcranial stimulation of the brain can be achieved by pulses of magnetic field delivered by a large electric coil. However, application of such pulses by rapidly moving small permanent magnets could offer several advantages in terms of ease of use, safety, multifocality, and portability. We have, therefore, developed a wearable brain stimulator consisting of small neodymium magnets that are spun at high speed by electric motors mounted on a cap. Here, we describe the operation of the stimulator and present initial evidence that its stimulation of the cerebral cortex produces physiological effects. We first physically tested the electromagnetic induction pattern produced by our stimulator compared with conventional transcranial magnetic stimulation. We then recorded the effects of stimulation of the primary motor cortical representation of the intrinsic muscles of the thumb including abductor pollicis brevis (APB). We studied these effects on spontaneously occurring electromyographic fasciculation potentials or spontaneous motor unit potentials (sMUPs) known to occur in healthy adult human subjects in resting APB, and compared them with the effects of sham stimulation. We found that while a single stimulus cannot elicit a motor-evoked potential, repetitive stimulation delivered by our stimulator modulates sMUP activity. This transcranial rotating permanent magnet stimulation could, therefore, produce neuromodulation at a single or multiple closely spaced cortical sites.
From Terman to Today: A Century of Findings on Intellectual Precocity

One hundred years of research (1916–2016) on intellectually precocious youth is reviewed, painting a portrait of an extraordinary source of human capital and the kinds of learning opportunities nee...
Functional Analysis of the Differential Gene Expression Profile of Human HSC Using a Functional Genomics Screen in the Zebrafish.

Self-renewal and lineage differentiation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) is likely regulated by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic signals. At present these signals are poorly understood. Recently, numerous groups have identified the expressed gene profile of HSC in an attempt to identify novel genes that regulate HSC fate decisions. Likewise, our group compared the expressed gene profiles of CD34 + CD33 − CD38 − Rho lo c-kit + (Rho lo ) cells, enriched in primitive progenitors and presumed human HSC, compared to CD34 + CD33 − CD38 − Rho hi (Rho hi ) cells, depleted of such cells, from umbilical cord blood (UCB) and bone marrow (BM) to identify conserved signaling pathways active in these ontogenically distinct populations using the Afftymetrix™ HG-U133 GeneChip® set. We identified a putative molecular signature for human HSC containing 286 genes, expressed more highly in Rho lo or Rho hi cells from both cell sources using a p + blood cells and blood production was scored by fluorescence microscopy at 30 and 48 hours post-fertilization. Of the 286 differentially expressed genes, 128 were deemed too universal or likely non-specific for hematopoiesis, and were not targeted. These included histones, HLA-antigens, hemoglobin genes, and genes encoding proteins involved in general cellular metabolism. Of the remaining 158, MO were designed for 70 (44%), no zebrafish ortholog could be identified for 72 (46%), inadequate sequence information was available to design morpholinos for 9 (6%) and multiple zebrafish orthologs were identified for 7 (4%). Fluorescence microscopy of GATA1:DsRed fish has revealed a reproducible reduction in GATA1 + blood cell number for 13 of 55 MO-targeted genes analyzed to date, giving a 24% frequency for hematopoietic phenotypes in the screen, that compares very favorably with the noted 0.5–1% frequency of hematopoietic genes identified in ENU mutagenesis screens that mutate genes in a near random fashion. The functionally-validated genes identified thus far include known genes that lack a known hematopoietic function such as SPRY1, CRTAP, IRAK3 and UCP2, as well as genes that currently lack a functional annotation such as C12orf2, DKFZp564D137, MGC15875 and FLJ21269. Hematopoietic phenotypes are being further characterized by whole-mount in situ hybridization for hematopoietic genes and rescue of hematopoietic phenotypes by co-injection of overexpression vectors in the zebrafish. In addition, we are confirming the role of the genes in mammalian hematopoiesis using overexpression and knockdown studies in murine and human repopulating HSC. This is the first description of a high-throughput functional genomics screen in the zebrafish to functionally validate differentially expressed genes, an essential step in obtaining meaningful functional data from global gene profiling studies.
The MPFA: A multiple-place foraging algorithm for biologically-inspired robot swarms

Finding and retrieving resources in unmapped environments is an important and difficult challenge for robot swarms. Central-place foraging algorithms can be tuned to produce efficient collective strategies for different resource distributions. However, efficiency decreases as swarm size scales up: larger swarms produce more inter-robot collisions and increase competition for resources. We propose a novel extension to central-place foraging in which multiple nests are distributed in the environment. In this multiple-place foraging algorithm, robots depart from a home nest but always return to the nest closest to them. We simulate robot swarms that mimic foraging ants using the multiple-place strategy, employing a genetic algorithm to optimize their behavior in the robot simulator ARGoS. Experiments show that multiple nests produce higher foraging rates and lower average travel time compared to central-place foraging for three different resource distributions. Time spent avoiding robot-robot collisions is not always reduced as was expected, primarily because the use of pheromone-like waypoints leads to more collisions when robots forage for clustered resources. These results demonstrate the importance of careful design in order to create efficient multiple collection points to mitigate the central-place bottleneck for foraging robot swarms.
Gas production in the radiolysis of Poly(dimethysiloxanes)

Abstract A variety of small poly(dimethyl siloxanes) were irradiated with γ-rays followed by the determination of the production of methane and molecular hydrogen and characterization of spectroscopic changes in the medium. The yields of methane was found to be about twice that of molecular hydrogen indicating that breakage of the C-Si bond occurs at a frequency comparable to the breakage of the C-H bond. Both yields slowly decrease with increasing molecular weight of the medium. The presence of oxygen decreases the yield of both gases suggesting radical precursors to methane and molecular hydrogen, presumably the methyl radical and H atom, respectively. Temperature gravimetric analysis and UV–visible spectroscopy both suggest the formation of higher molecular weight compounds with radiolysis, which agrees with bond loss and formation observed in infrared spectroscopy.
Translating Polygenic Analysis for Prevention: From Who to How.

There are no easy answers in complex disease genetics. Common, chronic health conditions such as obesity and heart disease are influenced by many genetic variants scattered across the genome, with each variant making small contributions to risk. Ever-larger genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are uncovering more and more of these variants. For many diseases and disease-related traits, discovered loci now number in triple digits. As GWAS sample sizes grow, the volume of discovered variants is expected to increase further.1,2 Translation of this growing volume of genetic discoveries to improve population health is needed. See Articles by Seyednasrollah et al and Nuotio et al The classic model of translation is to work from the bottom up, from a discovered DNA sequence variant through RNA transcription, protein production, and so on to disease pathogenesis. Such bottom-up translation is critical but can be time and resource intensive. For example, the FTO locus associated with obesity and the 9p21 locus associated with coronary artery disease were discovered a decade ago; understanding their molecular mechanisms remains a work in progress.3–6 With genetic discoveries already numbering in the hundreds and new findings expected to have ever-smaller individual effects on risk, complementary translational approaches are needed to generate return on investments in GWAS discovery. An alternative to bottom-up translation of discovered variants one at a time is polygenic score analysis. Polygenic score analysis models genetic influence quantitatively, as the combined effects of many independent variants.7 Typically, each locus is assigned a weight based on the effect size estimated in GWAS. The count of risk alleles at that locus is then multiplied by the weight, and weighted counts are summed across an individual’s genome to compute their polygenic score. That polygenic score provides an overall summary of an individual’s genetic liability to …
THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MYELOMA-LIKE CONDITION IN MINK WITH ALEUTIAN DISEASE.

Aleutian disease of mink, apparently of viral etiology, is characterized by an extreme diffuse proliferation of plasma cells, and a marked hypergammaglobulinemia, which is electrophoretically heterogeneous. In some mink with this disease serially followed by serum protein electrophoresis, a transition to a homogeneous myeloma-like hypergammaglobulinemia, together with the appearance of Bence Jones proteinuria, was observed late in their course. Thus, this viral disease shows plasma cell proliferation beginning as a multiclonal hyperplasia which may terminate as a monoclonal, possibly neoplastic overgrowth of the plasma cell system.
Paracrine Secretion of Transforming Growth Factor β by Ductal Cells Promotes Acinar-to-Ductal Metaplasia in Cultured Human Exocrine Pancreas Tissues.

Objective We aimed to evaluate the contribution of acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM) to the accumulation of cells with a ductal phenotype in cultured human exocrine pancreatic tissues and reveal the underlying mechanism. Methods We sorted and cultured viable cell populations in human exocrine pancreatic tissues with a flow cytometry-based lineage tracing method to evaluate possible mechanisms of ADM. Cell surface markers, gene expression pattern, and sphere formation assay were used to examine ADM. Results A large proportion of acinar cells gained CD133 expression during the 2-dimensional culture and showed down-regulation of acinar markers and up-regulation of ductal markers, assuming an ADM phenotype. In a serum-free culture condition, ADM induction was mainly dependent on transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) secreted from cultured ductal cells. Human acinar cells when cultured alone for a week in a serum-free condition do not undergo ADM. However, serum may contain other factors besides TGF-β to induce ADM in human acinar cells. In addition, we found that TGF-β cannot induce ADM of murine acinar cells. Conclusions Ductal cells are the major source of TGF-β that induces ADM in cultured human exocrine pancreatic tissues. This culture system might be a useful model to investigate the mechanism of ADM in human cells.
Even More Challenges in Building Usable Knowledge in Education

I want to begin by thanking Larry Hedges for a stimulating article based upon his keynote address at the spring 2016 Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) meeting. All educationa...
Pediatric Vascular Surgical Practice Patterns.

Background Vascular surgeons infrequently care for pediatric patients. As such, variability in operative management and available hospital resources at free-standing children's hospitals (CHs) may exist. The study aims were (1) to determine vascular surgeon comfort level with pediatric vascular surgery and (2) to determine variations in pediatric vascular surgery practice patterns. Methods A survey composed of clinical vignettes emailed to all members of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society was designed to assess operative management of pediatric vascular conditions and hospital resources. Comparisons of surgeon satisfaction between free-standing CHs and a CH within an adult general hospital were made using Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Comparison of surgeon comfort between hospital types was made using a McNemar's test. P-values less than or equal to 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results Response rate was 18% (93/525) with 96% (89/93) indicating completion of a 2 year vascular fellowship. Surgeon satisfaction with operative equipment (P = 0.002), support staff (P Conclusions Most vascular surgeons do not feel comfortable in the operative management of pediatric vascular disease, and optimal resource availability within pediatric CHs may be lacking. Centralized care of this patient population may be warranted.
Organizational Strategies Partially Account for Race-related Differences in List Recall Performance

Objective Organizational strategies have been shown to improve one's ability to recall items from a list. Specifically, use of semantic clustering, the tendency to group items by category when recalling them, predicts better free recall of word lists after short and long delays. The present study utilized a healthy adult sample to examine use of efficient memory strategies as a predictor of differences in neurocognitive findings between African American and white participants. Method Participants provided demographic information and completed the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) and Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence-Second Edition (WASI-2). Results Groups were matched across socioeconomic status and years of education. White participants used more semantic clustering and performed better on recall measures after short and long delays than their African American peers, and semantic clustering predicted recall in both groups. Regression analyses suggested that use of semantic clustering is a significant partial mediator of the relationship between race and free recall abilities. Intelligence scores from the WASI-2 were correlated with CVLT-II measures in white participants but not African American participants. Conclusions Despite quantitatively similar backgrounds, white and African American participants differed in recall performance. However, this study showed that African American participants' poorer recall may be partially attributed to less frequent use of semantic clustering as a strategy. These discrepancies may be rooted in inequalities in educational experiences and suggest that providing organizational strategies during early learning may be an area of intervention to mitigate racial differences seen in neuropsychological testing.
Some Basic Results of First-order Logic

We now introduce the basic notions of model and truth for first-order languages. Then we prove the completeness theorem, which shows the equivalence between the proof-theoretic notion ├ and the corresponding semantic notion. Following this we give a series of simple but basic results concerning first-order logic. Namely, we will discuss compactness, the elimination of operation symbols, extensions by definitions, Skolem functions, Herbrand’s theorem, and interpretations from one language to another. These results will be useful in discussing decidable and undecidable theories as well as in the model-theoretic portion of the book.
Beliefs of Icelandic elderly living in the greater Reykjavik area toward autonomy and paternalism in caregiving of the elderly

OF THE THESIS BELIEFS OF ICELANDIC ELDERLY LIVING IN THE GREATER REYKJAVIK AREA TOWARD AUTONOMY AND PATERNALISM IN CAREGIVING OF THE ELDERLY By Ingibjbrg Svava Asgeirsd6ttir Florida International University, 1998 Miami, Florida Gail Ann Hills, Major Professor With the aging population and the increase in health care costs, issues of independence and autonomy will have a greater impact on formal and informal health care. Changes in occupational functioning that accompany increased age has raised the demand for family assistance to the elderly. It is important for occupational therapists to understand the elderly's perceptions toward autonomy and paternalism in caregiving of the elderly because it is assumed that attitudes and beliefs affect how people interact and care for the
Adults with advanced cancer: Spiritual and existential struggles.

e22004Background: Adults with advanced cancer face emotional and spiritual distress through cancer trajectory. Spirituality and religion (SR) have been found to be central to many Americans. RS pla...
Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction by Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography in Nonelderly Patients Referred for Computed Tomographic Coronary Angiography.

Background Microvascular dysfunction (MVD) is a potential cause of chest pain in younger individuals. The authors hypothesized that nonelderly patients referred for computed tomographic angiography (CTA) but without significant stenosis would have a high prevalence of MVD by myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE). Secondary aims were to test whether the presence of nonobstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) or reduced brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD) predicted MVD. Methods Subjects ≤60 years of age undergoing CTA were recruited if they had either no evidence of coronary plaque or evidence of mild CAD ( Results Of the 29 patients in whom MCE could be performed, 12 (41%) had MVD. These subjects, compared with those with normal microvascular function, had lower hyperemic perfusion (mean, 236 ± 68 vs 354 ± 161 intensity units/sec; P = .02) and microvascular flux rate (mean, 1.6 ± 0.4 vs 2.5 ± 0.9 sec−1; P = .002) on quantitative MCE. The degree of FMD was not significantly different in those with or without MVD (mean, 11 ± 4% vs 9 ± 4%; P = .32), and there was a poor correlation between results on stress MCE and FMD. Only eight of the 29 subjects were classified as having nonobstructive CAD. There were no groupwise differences in the prevalence of MVD function in those with versus without CAD (43% vs 38% for negative and positive findings on CTA, respectively, P = .79). Conclusions MVD is a common finding in the nonelderly population referred for CTA for evaluation of possible CAD but without obstructive stenosis. Neither the presence of noncritical atherosclerotic disease nor abnormal FMD increases the likelihood for detecting MVD in this population.
Fighting Opinion Control in Social Networks via Link Recommendation

The process of opinion formation is inherently a network process, with user opinions in a social network being driven to a certain average opinion. One simple and intuitive incarnation of this opinion attractor is the average of user opinions weighted by the users' eigenvector centralities. This value is a lucrative target for control, as altering it essentially changes the mass opinion in the network. Since any potentially malicious influence upon the opinion distribution in a society is undesirable, it is important to design methods to prevent external attacks upon it. In this work, we assume that the adversary aims to maliciously change the network's average opinion by altering the opinions of some unknown users. We, then, state an NP-hard problem of disabling such opinion control attempts via strategically altering the network's users' eigencentralities by recommending a limited number of links to the users. Relying on Markov chain theory, we provide perturbation analysis that shows how eigencentrality and, hence, our problem's objective change in response to a link's addition to the network. The latter leads to the design of a pseudo-linear-time heuristic, relying on efficient estimation of mean first passage times in Markov chains. We have confirmed our theoretical and algorithmic findings, and studied effectiveness and efficiency of our heuristic in experiments with synthetic and real networks.
“Homeschooling Is Our Protest:” Educational Liberation for African American Homeschooling Families in Philadelphia, PA

ABSTRACTAs increasing numbers of researchers, parents, and youth are rethinking the traditional school system as the default educational option in the United States, homeschooling is not only growi...
Shorelines in the Desert: Mapping Fish Trap Features along the Southwest Coast of Ancient Lake Cahuilla, California

In the desert of southeastern California, the geological and archaeological remnants of a once massive lake, Lake Cahuilla, are still visible. One of the most distinctive features marking Lake Cahuilla's relic shorelines is a series of rock fish trap features that, in some cases, stretch across thousands of square meters. These fish traps are severely understudied, and systematic archaeological survey can help scientists reconstruct the dynamic human-environmental history of the region. The large number of fish traps along with the rocky desert terrain, however, make traditional pedestrian archaeological surveys both difficult and inefficient. We used unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology along with traditional archaeological methods to conduct surveys and identify patterning in the shapes, orientations, and frequencies of fish traps. Our study demonstrates the potential of emerging archaeological field technology to better understand the nature of human-environmental ecodynamics through time and space.
A cost-benefit analysis of 3D scanning technology for crime scene investigation

Abstract Properly and thoroughly documenting a crime scene is of utmost importance in solving a crime, yet the process is often difficult and labor intensive. 3D scanning technology allows for the rapid acquisition of highly detailed 3D models of a physical environment. In recent years, adoption of 3D scanning technology has increased amongst crime scene investigation (CSI) units across the world to aid in the investigative process. The technology allows investigators to analyze crime scenes at a later point in time with a scanned 3D model. Unfortunately, the adoption cost of this technology remains a detractor to many CSI units. The presented research seeks to better understand whether investing in this technology results in an overall benefit for CSI units, and if so, when and how? To answer these questions, the research team developed a formal cost-benefit analysis algorithm for 3D scanning technology adoption. Considerations of the algorithm were influenced by actual 3D scanning results of mock crime scenes, together with a focus group of crime scene investigators that discussed the technology. A 100,000 count Monte-Carlo simulation of the developed cost-benefit algorithm enabled researchers to seek an answer to the question of adoption. The results of the simulation are presented in this document as well as through an interactive web application.
The relationship between entrepreneurial intent, gender and personality.

The purpose of this study is to examine gender differences in personality traits of people with and without entrepreneurial intent to assess whether women who intend to become entrepreneurs exhibit particular tendencies that can be fostered.,Participants completed an online battery of well-established questionnaires to cover a range of personality traits relevant to entrepreneurship and gender. Participants also answered items concerning intent to become an entrepreneur. A factor analysis of personality traits produced four factors (esteem and power, ambition, risk propensity and communal tendency, the latter reflecting openness and cooperation, without hubris). The authors constructed four parallel regression models to examine how gender, entrepreneurial intent and the interaction of gender with intent related to these four personality factor scores.,Participants who endorsed a desire to become an entrepreneur reported higher ambition. Women with entrepreneurial intentions endorsed higher levels of communal tendency than men with entrepreneurial intent. Those without entrepreneurial intent did not show gender differences in communal tendency.,Current findings suggest that men and women who intend to become entrepreneurs share many traits, but women with entrepreneurial intent show unique elevations in communal tendencies. Thus, a worthwhile locus for intervention into the gender disparity in self-employment would be providing space and acknowledgement of prosocial motivation and goals as one highly successful route to entrepreneurship.,Given the underused economic potential of women entrepreneurs, there is a fundamental need for a rich array of research on factors that limit and promote women’s entry into entrepreneurship. Current findings indicate that personality may be one piece of this puzzle.
Advanced EO/IR technologies at DARPA/MTO

In this paper, we review selected imaging and related technology development programs in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Microsystems Technologies Office (MTO). An overview is presented for the evolution of Joule-Thomson (J-T) micro-cryogenic cooler (MCC) technology. The initial design of a system on a chip method is shown for these micro-coolers to be used in conjunction with high operating temperature mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) focal plane arrays. For the reflective visible band, results are shown for a gigapixel monocentric multi-scale camera design to solve the scaling issues for high pixel count and wide field of view. Lastly, we discuss two different approaches to multiband imaging and the potential advantages of this technology for the enhanced detection, recognition, and identification of targets.
Evaluation of an Online Early Mathematics Professional Development Program for Early Childhood Teachers

Research Findings: This is an evaluation study of the effectiveness of an online early mathematics professional development program for early childhood teachers. The eight online courses, along wit...
Retailer’s Dilemma: Personalized Product Marketing to Maximize Revenue

Companies face many challenges when it comes to increasing revenue, but one of them is how to turn low or no-revenue customers into high revenue customers. When surveying their opportunities to do so, companies often turn to marketing. However, when deciding which among the many options to market to an existing customer, with only finite resources to do so, companies must make a choice rooted in the expected value that reflects the customer’s interest in the offer and the business value of that product or feature. This paper explores techniques to identify customers and study product allocations that allow to increase revenue by nudging customers from lower-revenue groups to higher-revenue groups by recommending the next product to market. Our approach utilizes k-means clustering to identify customer segments based on the recency, frequency, and monetary value (RFM) of their purchases. Further, we demonstrate that an association analysis technique called Market Basket Analysis (MBA) can be extended to not only identify products commonly purchased with the products a specific customer already has, but also to identify which products are associated with higher-revenue customer behavior. We close with a discussion on how these two techniques (clustering and association analysis) can be combined to optimally nudge customers from low-revenue groups to high-revenue groups by incrementally marketing products that more-closely align with the purchasing behavior of higher-revenue customers.
Training Needs Among Family Caregivers Assisting During Home Health, as Identified by Home Health Clinicians.

Abstract Objectives To estimate the proportion of family caregivers assisting older adults during Medicare home health who have an identified need for activity-specific training and identify characteristics associated with caregiver training needs. Design Nationally representative retrospective cohort study. Setting and Participants 1758 (weighted n = 8,477,990) Medicare beneficiaries who participated in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and received Medicare-funded home health care between 2011 and 2016. Measures Older adult and caregiving network characteristics before home health (sociodemographic factors, caregiver assistance, older adult health and function) were drawn from NHATS; characteristics during home health (family caregiver training needs, older adult health and function) were drawn from home health patient assessments. Weighted proportions of family caregivers with an identified need for activity-specific training were estimated. Weighted, multivariable logistic regressions modeled associations between older adult/caregiving network characteristics and family caregivers’ identified activity-specific training needs during home health. Results More than 1 in 3 (35.7%) family caregivers assisting older adults during Medicare home health had an identified training need with at least 1 caregiving activity. Rates of need for training varied widely, from 8.6% among caregivers helping with advocacy to 48.2% among caregivers helping with medical procedures. In weighted analyses that adjusted for older adults’ health and function, family caregivers were less likely to have identified training needs when assisting older adults with ongoing disability or who received caregiver assistance before home health admission. Conclusions and Implications Findings highlight the pervasiveness of family caregivers' training needs, particularly with medically oriented activities, and indicate that escalations in older adults’ care needs are linked to caregiver training needs. Therefore, transitions of care may present critical opportunities to connect family caregivers with training resources.
Explaining Support for Conspiratorial Leaders in the Time of COVID-19: The Role of Situational Anxiety

Why do people support politicians who endorse conspiracy theories? Previous studies have examined structural and personal factors that relate to beliefs in conspiracy theories, yet those beliefs are not necessarily predictive of voting preferences. Our study addresses support for conspiratorial candidates by highlighting the role of anxiety. In particular, we draw attention to the distinction between general anxiety, which results from individual disposition and long-term structural forces; and situational anxiety, which arises from unexpected events that produce sudden shocks. We test the effects of general versus situational anxiety by leveraging the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using two survey experiments, one pre-COVIDand the other during the pandemic, we show that situational anxiety but not general anxiety is related to support for conspiratorial candidates. We also find that the effect of situational anxiety is not limited to conspiracy theories related to COVID-19, but generalizes to other types of conspiracy theory as well. We further find that people who support conspiratorial candidates do not view them as better equipped to solve the problem than non-conspiratorial ones. We discuss implications for how sudden societal events can shift political support and provide opportunities for political actors whose rhetoric signals counter-establishment credibility rather than effective governance.
Applying Bachelier Part 1: Option Value

This paper reviews the form of the Louis Bachelier model for the modern option contract. This enables basic model properties to be analysed and the model’s key elements to be defined being the intrinsic value and the instability or option risk premium. Further the paper reviews the option contract value, vis-a-vis the option contract premium or price, and based on this defines certain rational expectations propositions to demonstrate its operation. The purpose is to provide the groundwork for applying this form of option model to other financial questions, briefly addressed in this paper.
Integral-based spectral method for inextensible slender fibers in Stokes flow

Every animal cell is filled with a cytoskeleton, a dynamic gel made of inextensible fibers, such as microtubules, actin fibers, and intermediate filaments, all suspended in a viscous fluid. Numerical simulation of this gel is challenging because the fiber aspect ratios can be as large as $10^4$. We describe a new method for rapidly computing the dynamics of inextensible slender filaments in periodically-sheared Stokes flow. The dynamics of the filaments are governed by a nonlocal slender body theory which we partially reformulate in terms of the Rotne-Prager-Yamakawa hydrodynamic tensor. To enforce inextensibility, we parameterize the space of inextensible fiber motions and strictly confine the dynamics to the manifold of inextensible configurations. To do this, we introduce a set of Lagrange multipliers for the tensile force densities on the filaments and impose the constraint of no virtual work in an $L^2$ weak sense. We augment this approach with a spectral discretization of the local and nonlocal slender body theory operators which is linear in the number of unknowns and gives improved spatial accuracy over approaches based on solving a line tension equation. For dynamics, we develop a second-order semi-implicit temporal integrator which requires at most a few evaluations of nonlocal hydrodynamics and a few block diagonal linear solves per time step. After demonstrating the improved accuracy and robustness of our approach through numerical examples, we apply our formulation to a permanently cross-linked actin mesh in a background oscillatory shear flow. We observe a characteristic frequency at which the network transitions from quasi-static, primarily elastic behavior to dynamic, primarily viscous behavior. We find that nonlocal hydrodynamics increases the viscous modulus by as much as 25%, even for semi-dilute fiber suspensions.
Kicks Inc.: Confidential Information for Jason Priddy (Kicks Brand Manager)

Kicks Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of athletic apparel and shoes, had plans to launch a new tennis shoe line within the year and was seeking an up-and-coming young athlete to be its spokesperson. Sebastian Martinez had emerged as an ideal candidate, and contract discussions were underway. Six issues need to be resolved to the satisfaction of the six parties involved—the athlete, the athlete's mother, the athlete's father, the athlete's agent, the Kicks brand manager, and an International Tennis Federation representative. This case provides specific role information for the Kicks brand manager. The case needs to be accompanied by the background information case, UVA-QA-0739. Excerpt UVA-QA-0743 Rev. Jun. 14, 2011 Confidential Information for Jason Priddy (Kicks Brand Manager) Jason Priddy was a young manager at Kicks Inc. He had joined the Kicks team just under a year earlier and had recently been assigned as brand manager of the new tennis shoe line. He wanted to prove himself and demonstrate to the company that he could manage the new brand well by staying within budget while signing big names to effectively promote the shoe. Upon accepting the position, Priddy extensively researched the market for tennis shoes, especially among the professionals. Although many companies sponsored athletes with clothing, few companies offered tennis shoes as well. The biggest names among the shoe companies were Nike and Adidas, but Kicks would also compete against smaller companies in the market, including K-Swiss, Babolat, Reebok, and New Balance. Nike, a $ 16 billion company, boasted over 50% of the athletic shoe market and annually offered more than $ 400 million in endorsements. New Balance, however, also a top-five athletic shoe manufacturer, did not offer any athlete endorsements. Kicks's endorsement plans would fall somewhere between thosetwo extremes. Priddy was certain Kicks wouldn't be able to compete with what Nike had to offer, but upon further research found that it might be able to more directly compete with K-Swiss, a$ 1 billion company. After a long period without athlete endorsements, K-Swiss had begun in 2006 to offer contracts again to tennis players, starting with a 19-year-old American named Phillip Simmonds. Simmonds, ranked 202 at the time, had been offered a four-year endorsement contract for $ 50,000 annually. By 2009, K-Swiss was able to endorse other bigger-name players such as Mardy Fish, Anna Kournikova, and Tommy Haas, and all for modest compensation amounts, especially compared with Nike's athletes. Priddy decided he would try to model his strategy after K-Swiss's. Nike was proficient at scouting athletic talent, ultimately signing some of the biggest names in sports. Priddy would have to target up-and-coming athletes, who would accept a lower compensation amount, and hope they would live up to their potential. Given that K-Swiss had offered a 200-ranked player $ 50,000, he figured $ 200,000 would be a respectable offer to a top-50 player. . . .
Genomic landscape of malignnant mesothelioma by site and histology.

8559Background: Malignnant mesothelioma (MM) is a highly lethal tumor that can develop in the pleura, the peritoneum, the pericardium or the testes. While the genomic features of pleural MM have be...
Abnormal fetal heart rate patterns and percentage of creatine phosphokinase-2.

Eighteen term newborn infants who had been evaluated by internal fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring were studied to correlate fetal monitor tracings with Apgar scores and serum creatine phosphokinase-2 (CPK2), the myocardium-specific isoenzyme of CPK. The percentage of CPK2 at 30 ± 6 hours did not correlate significantly with Apgar scores. However, values for the percentage of CPK2 at 30 ± 6 hours were significantly higher in neonates with abnormal FHR tracings than in those with normal FHR tracings (p < 0.01). These preliminary data suggest that subtle intrapartum asphyxial injury may be present without adversely affecting Apgar scores.
The Choice Between Proportionate Fault or Ryan Indemnity in Maritime Property Damage Cases

The warranty of workmanlike performance was implied in stevedoring contracts by the Supreme Court's 1956 decision in Ryan Stevedoring Co. v. Pan Atlantic Steamship Corp. A breach of the warranty entitled a shipowner to full indemnity for any judgment or reasonable settlement amount paid to a third party, including reimbursement of fees and expenses incurred in defending the third party's claim. Like the common law doctrine of contributory negligence, a breach of the warranty had all-or-nothing consequences.Ryan indemnity caught on quickly as part of the law of maritime contracts, and during the 1960's it developed into a very potent doctrine. The lower courts applied it to contexts outside that in which it had arisen. The doctrine grew steadily until the 1970's when a number of developments in the maritime law, both statutory and decisional, cut back on its application and eroded its rationale. In 1972 Congress amended the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, overruling Ryan insofar as it applied to the tri-party personal injury litigation among longshoremen, shipowners, and stevedores. Supreme Court decisions in 1974 and 1975 re-established the right to contribution among joint tortfeasors in non-collision cases and adopted a rule allocating damages in maritime cases based on proportionate fault.This article discusses the Ryan warranty and the Ryan indemnity action in light of these developments. Particular attention is given to the justification for Ryan indemnity under an implied warranty in view of the ability of courts to award contribution and/or proportion damages based on fault. The emphasis of the article is on the applicability of Ryan indemnity to other than personal injury and death cases.
Turbulent statistics of neutrally stratified flow within and above a sparse forest from large-eddy simulation and field observations

Turbulent statistics of neutrally stratified shear-driven flow within and above a sparse forest canopy are presented from a large-eddy simulation (LES) and compared with those from observations within and above a deciduous forest with similar height and foliage density. First- and second-order moments from the LES agree with observations quite well. Third-order moments from the LES have the same sign and similar vertical patterns as those from the observations, but the LES yields smaller magnitudes of such higher-order moments. Turbulent spectra and cospectra from the LES agree well with observations above the forest. However, at the highest frequencies, the LES spectra have steeper slopes than observations. Quadrant and conditional analyses of the LES resolved-scale flow fields also agree with observations. For example, both LES and observation find that sweeps are more important than ejections for the transport of momentum within the forest, while inward and outward interaction contributions are both small, except near the forest floor. The intermittency of the transport of momentum and scalar increases with depth into the forest. Finally, ramp structures in the time series of a passive scalar at multiple levels within and above the forest show similar features to those measured from field towers. Two-dimensional (height-time cross-section) contours of the passive scalar and wind vectors show sweeps and ejections, and the characteristics of the static pressure perturbation near the ground resemble those deduced from field tower-based measurements. In spite of the limited grid resolution (2 m × 2 m × 2 m) and domain size (192 m × 192 m × 60 m) used in this LES, we demonstrate that the LES is capable of resolving the most important characteristics of the turbulent flow within and above a forest canopy.
Ethical Criticism in Perspective: A Defense of Radical Moralism

I defend the ethical fittingness theory (EFT), the thesis that whenever it is legitimate ethically to evaluate a representational artwork for the perspective it embodies, such evaluation systematically bears on the work's artistic value. EFT is a form of radical moralism, claiming that the systematic relationship between the selected type of ethical evaluation and artistic evaluation always obtains, for works of any kind. The argument for EFT spells out the implications of ethically judging an artwork for its perspective, where such an ethical evaluation is understood as an assessment of how well the work's ethical perspective fits extra-fictional reality�how appropriate, correct, or true the perspective is. The argument shows that the ethical legitimacy of judging a work for its perspective ipso facto proves the judgment's art-critical relevance. Hence, the argument effectively amounts to a reductio ad absurdum of theories that admit the legitimacy of ethically judging artworks this way, but deny or qualify the judgment's relevance to artistic merit. Since EFT is stated conditionally, the argument need not indicate how often artworks are subject to this type of ethical evaluation. Nonetheless, I make a case for the relevance of EFT to actual art criticism and contemporary philosophical debate.
Electronic Commerce: Privacy, Security, and Control

This chapter examines technical and non-technical issues related to privacy, security and control in Electronic Commerce. These issues are of great concern to consumers and businesses and continue to evolve at an impressive rate. This chapter presents many of the more common problems and fears that accompany electronic transactions as well as many of the behavioral and technical responses.
Assessment of the crop coefficient for saltgrass under native riparian field conditions in the desert southwest

Limited urban water supplies in southwestern USA cause water managers and planners to re-assess water losses and needs from consumptive water use by riparian vegetation. Here, we report on field measurements of evapotranspiration (ET) for inland saltgrass [Distichlis spicata var. stricta (L.) Greene]; a once common riparian plant native to the desert southwest. The objective was to develop a saltgrass crop coefficient, Kc, similar to agricultural crop coefficients commonly used in irrigation water management. The developed Kc, in conjunction with the local climate, can then be used to assess the water savings that may be achieved in riparian zones for saltgrass versus invasive species and for use in irrigation management and scheduling of saltgrass in urban setting. The ET of saltgrass was measured in its native riparian setting located in the flood plain of the Rio Grande, north of Caballo Lake, New Mexico, in 2011 using an eddy covariance technique in the energy budget method. Total ET of 692 mm was measured during the growing season (n = 241 days) and 837 mm during the year. The American Society of Civil Engineers standardized ET for short crop (ETso) was calculated using climate data measured at the study site as 1560 mm during the growing season and 1870 mm during the year. Crop coefficients (ET/ETso) were fitted with a polynomial equation as a function of day of the year to develop saltgrass Kc function. A graphical and simplified method of computing Kc as a function of day of the year and crop season was also developed as an alternative method. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comprehensive methods for earlier detection and monitoring of forest decline

Forested ecosystems are threatened by invasive pests, pathogens, and unusual climatic events brought about by climate change. Earlier detection of incipient forest health problems and a quantitatively rigorous assessment method is increasingly important. Here, we describe a method that is adaptable across tree species and stress agents and practical for use in the field. This approach relies on: (1) measurements covering a range of forest decline symptoms, from early decline to imminent death, (2) normalization of each measurement within each species’ natural range, and (3) combining normalized measurements into one summary decline rating, thus creating a rigorous, detailed assessment of forest condition within the context of the species’ typical characteristics. We demonstrate the utility of this approach in comparison to traditional field assessments of forest condition for both early detection and more sensitive monitoring over time. This comprehensive approach will allow researchers and forest managers to track subtle changes in tree condition over shorter periods of time, an imperative advancement for the detection and monitoring of invasive pests. While the case studies presented here are based on specific tree species and stress agents, this approach is scalable and broadly applicable to other tree species and stressors, making it a valuable approach for forest health monitoring and assessment.
Physical vs psychological: A need for an integrated approach

(1990). Physical vs psychological: A need for an integrated approach. Sexual and Marital Therapy: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 103-104.
On the Factors Controlling Glass Forming Ability of Metallic Alloys Formed by Fast Liquid Quenching

Solid solubility maps are constructed for Ni alloys and Zr alloys using the ratio of atomic radii rA/rB and the heat of mixing LHM of the liquid alloy as coordinates. Highly soluble elements appear wcll separated from insoluble elements in this map. The map is also able to discriminate between easy glass forming and non glass forming alloys. It is argued that the map contains the factors usually considered to be responsible for the glass forming ability of alloys. High solid solubility and glass forming ability exclude each other. Die Diagramme der Loslichkeit binarer Legierungen von Ni und Zr werden dargestellt. Das Ver-haltnis der Atomradien rn/rB und der Bildungswarme AHM der fliissigen Legierung werden als Koordinaten genornmen. Es wird festgestellt, daB die hochloslichen Elemente von den unloslichen deutlich separiert sind. Das Diagramm zeigt ebenfalls den Unterschied zwischen den leicht amorphisierbaren sowie nicht-amorphisierbaren Legierungen. Es wird hervorgehoben, das das Diagramm Faktoren enthllt, die fur die Bildung des arnorphen Zustands verantwortlich sind. Gute Loslichkeit und die Fahigkeit zur Bildung einer amorphen Struktur schliesen sich aus.