cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Properties of the balanced half-sample and jackknife variance estimation techniques in the linear case

The balanced half-sample and jackknife techniques are most useful for estimating variances in large scale sample surveys. Considered in this paper are two balanced half-sample estimates and three jackknife estimates of the variance of , the estimated population mean. The particular situation considered is one in which the population is subdivided into L strata of known sizes or weights from which ni observations are selected. Theorems are presented which explicitly state the properties of these techniques when used for estimating the variance of an estimate which is a linear combination of the sample observations.
Hormesis and aging in Caenorhabditis elegans

Hormesis has emerged as an important manipulation for the study of aging. Although hormesis is manifested in manifold combinations of stress and model organism, the mechanisms of hormesis are only partly understood. The increased stress resistance and extended survival caused by hormesis can be manipulated to further our understanding of the roles of intrinsic and induced stress resistance in aging. Genes of the dauer/insulin/insulin-like signaling (IIS) pathway have well-established roles in aging in Caenorhabditis elegans. Here, we discuss the role of some of those genes in the induced stress resistance and induced life extension attributable to hormesis. Mutations in three genes (daf-16, daf-18, and daf-12) block hormetically induced life extension. However, of these three, only daf-18 appears to be required for a full induction of thermotolerance induced by hormesis, illustrating possible separation of the genetic requirements for stress resistance and life extension. Mutations in three other genes of this pathway (daf-3, daf-5, and age-1) do not block induced life extension or induced thermotolerance; daf-5 mutants may be unusually sensitive to hormetic conditions.
Drug contamination of mortars and pestles.

Evidence is presented suggesting that potent water-insoluble antipentylenetetrazol agents triturated in porcelain mortars and pestles are not removed from this mixing device by the usual laboratory washing procedure. Moreover, amounts sufficient to contaminate the next substance triturated in this vessel can be demonstrated by the subcutaneous pentylenetetrazol seizure threshold test. The data show that a rigorous washing routine must be followed to achieve a "clean" mortar and pestle. Attention is also directed to the importance of using disposable hypodermic syringes, test tubes, etc., whenever possible and of designing an internal control test to determine when implements that must be reused are "clean."
Adult plasticity in the subcortical auditory pathway of the maternal mouse.

Subcortical auditory nuclei were traditionally viewed as non-plastic in adulthood so that acoustic information could be stably conveyed to higher auditory areas. Studies in a variety of species, including humans, now suggest that prolonged acoustic training can drive long-lasting brainstem plasticity. The neurobiological mechanisms for such changes are not well understood in natural behavioral contexts due to a relative dearth of in vivo animal models in which to study this. Here, we demonstrate in a mouse model that a natural life experience with increased demands on the auditory system – motherhood – is associated with improved temporal processing in the subcortical auditory pathway. We measured the auditory brainstem response to test whether mothers and pup-naive virgin mice differed in temporal responses to both broadband and tone stimuli, including ultrasonic frequencies found in mouse pup vocalizations. Mothers had shorter latencies for early ABR peaks, indicating plasticity in the auditory nerve and the cochlear nucleus. Shorter interpeak latency between waves IV and V also suggest plasticity in the inferior colliculus. Hormone manipulations revealed that these cannot be explained solely by estrogen levels experienced during pregnancy and parturition in mothers. In contrast, we found that pup-care experience, independent of pregnancy and parturition, contributes to shortening auditory brainstem response latencies. These results suggest that acoustic experience in the maternal context imparts plasticity on early auditory processing that lasts beyond pup weaning. In addition to establishing an animal model for exploring adult auditory brainstem plasticity in a neuroethological context, our results have broader implications for models of perceptual, behavioral and neural changes that arise during maternity, where subcortical sensorineural plasticity has not previously been considered.
Weights and variability of components of the human vertebral column.

Principal vertebral segments and individual vertebrae of 83 Asian skeletons were weighed and the data treated statistically. Average weight in grams per unit vertebra in the cervical segment was 6.3, in the thoracic, 8.7, in the lumbar, 17.9 and in the sacrum, 10.6. Mean weights of segments of this series were the lightest of the populations compared except those of the American White and Japanese females. Individual vertebral weights increased in caudad sequence except that the first two cervical and first two thoracic were respectively heavier than the third cervical and third thoracic. Mean weights of the twelfth thoracic, fifth lumbar and the sacrum were approximate multiples of that of the seventh cervical. The third cervical was the lightest in the column. The cervical segment represented 15% of the weight of the entire column, the thoracic segment 36%, lumbar 31%, sacral 18% and coccygeal 0.4%. Relative weights of individual vertebrae corresponded closely with those of other populations compared. Coefficients of variation ranged from 16% in the cervical segment, 19% in the thoracic, 17% in the lumbar, 18% in the sacral to 48% in the coccygeal. Variation was least in the second cervical and greatest in the third thoracic vertebra.
Demography: Babies make a comeback.

The population of some wealthy countries is shrinking because of a declining birth rate. It comes as a surprise, and one with policy implications, that after a certain point of development that trend can reverse.
Modulatory effects of Gs-coupled excitatory opioid receptor functions on opioid analgesia, tolerance, and dependence

Electrophysiologic studies of opioid effects on nociceptive types of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in organotypic cultures have shown that morphine and mostμ, δ, and κ opioid agonists can elicit bimodal excitatory as well as inhibitory modulation of the action potential duration (APD) of these cells. Excitatory opioid effects have been shown to be mediated by opioid receptors that are coupled via Gs to cyclic AMP-dependent ionic conductances that prolong the APD, whereas inhibitory opioid effects are mediated by opioid receptors coupled via Gi/Go to ionic conductuances that shorten the APD. Selective blockade of excitatory opioid receptor functions by low (ca. pM) concentrations of naloxone, naltrexone, etorphine and other specific agents markedly increases the inhibitory potency of morphine or other bimodally acting agonists and attenuates development of tolerance/dependence. These in vitro studies have been confirmed by tail-flick assays showin that acute co-treatment of mice with morphine plus ultra-low-dose naltrexone or etorphine remarkably enhances the antinociceptive potency of morphine whereas chronic co-treatment attenuates development of tolerance and naloxone-precipitated withdrawal-jumping symptoms.
Biochemical Mechanisms Responsible for Stage-Dependent Propoxur Tolerance in the German Cockroach

Abstract Final instar nymphs and adult males of the Village Green strain of German cockroach were investigated to determine the biochemical mechanisms responsible for conferring stage-dependent propoxur tolerance. Propoxur susceptibility was dependent upon age within the final instar. Final instar nymphs (1 day old) were as susceptible to topically applied propoxur as adult males (7 to 14 days old) while 7- and 12-day-old nymphs were up to 16-fold more tolerant. Piperonyl butoxide, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase inhibitor, almost completely eliminated the tolerance of propoxur in male and female nymphs compared with adult males. The rate of in vitro microsomal oxidation of propoxur was three times higher in male and female final instars than in adult males. Nymphs had significantly higher cytochrome P450 content and methoxyresorufin O -demethylase and ethoxyresorufin O -deethylase activities than adult males. Similar k i (bimolecular rate constant) values for propoxur in nymphs and adult males indicated that acetylcholinesterase insensitivity did not contribute to the enhanced nymphal tolerance. Cuticular penetration studies using [ 14 C]propoxur revealed that there was no marked difference in the rate of penetration of propoxur in nymphs and adults. However, compared with adult males, less radioactivity was observed in nymph internal extracts and more was observed in nymphal excreta. The results indicated that nymphal tolerance toward propoxur was largely due to enhanced microsomal oxidation.
PETROLOGY OF UPPER DEVONIAN PELLETOIDAL LIMESTONES, ARROW CANYON RANGE, CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA

SUMMARY Approximately 1,200 ft. of Devonian limestone, 900 ft. belonging to the Arrow Canyon Formation and 280 ft. to the Crystal Pass Limestone, were sampled at 2 ft. intervals. A thin-section was prepared for each sample and examined petrographically. Polished specimens were examined also and a selected group of these slabs were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis to determine their gross mineralogy. The petrographic examination involved the measurement of the particle size and determination of the frequency of occurrence of all the inorganic particles such as pellets and quartz grains. The organic elements such as Amphipora, stroniatopo- roids, calcispheres, bryozoans, ostracods and crinoids were also counted. On the basis of these measurements the samples were divided into ten microfacies, which are calcilutite, fossiliferous calcilutite, calcilutite with pocket-like structures, breccia- conglomerate, poorly sorted calcarenite, arenaceous poorly sorted calcarenite, well sorted calcarenite, arenaceous well sorted calcarenite, sandstone and bioconstructed Amphipora-stromatoporoid limestone. The raw data were subjected to a multiple correlation analysis in order to determine the inter-relationships of the microfacies. This information also made it possible to order the microfacies in such a way that the microfacies from the highest environmental energy was one end-member, and the microfacies formed in the lowest environmental energy was the other end-member. These two end-members were deposited in the deepest and the shallowest parts respectively, of the carbonate environment. The variation in relative depth was plotted against the lithological column to give the bathymetric curve. Tangents drawn to the maxima and minima of this curve defined the degree of Juctunfion of the environmental energy. The mean of these maxima and minima values was defined as the energy index. This was also plotted against the lithological column in order to trace the evolution of the environmental energy. Near the base of the measured section the degree of fluctuation is large and the energy index also has a great range in intensity. As sedimentation progressed, the degree of fluctuation lessened and the environmental energy attained a uniformly high value. The periodicity, that is apparent in the lower portion of the section for both the degree of fluctuation and the energy index, becomes less pronounced and then disappears completely in the Crystal Pass Limestone. The increasing environ- mental energy and the decreasing fluctuation in the bathymetry have been interpreted as being due to the carbonate basin being slowly infilled with sediments. The deposits were subjected to prolonged periods of reworking and occasional violent disturbances such as severe storms.
Experimental folding of rocks under confining pressure: Part III. Faulted drape folds in multilithologic layered specimens

Drape folds and reverse faults are produced experimentally at confining pressures to 2.0 kb and shortening rates of 10 −3 to 10 −6 sec −1 by displacing a block of brittle sandstone (2 by 3 by 12.6 cm) along a lubricated saw cut into one to five initially intact layers (0.2 to 1.0 cm thick and as much as 12.6 cm long) of limestone, sandstone, and rock salt. The saw cut is inclined at from 30° to 90° to the layer boundary. The deformation is characterized from studies of fault geometry, displacements and sequence, bedding-plane slip, layer-thickness changes, and the development of fault gouge, fold hinges, microfractures, calcite twin lamellae, and dimensional orientations of grains (in the rock salt). Stress trajectories are inferred from faults, microfractures, and calcite twin lamellae, and strains are calculated from layer-thickness changes and from calcite twin lamellae. Reverse faults curving concave downward propagate upward from the saw cut in the forcing block. With increasing displacement along the precut faults, the faults and associated gouge zones in the layer steepen and become progressively younger toward the upthrown block as displacement increases. The faults are preceded by swarms of extension microfractures that form throughout the deformation and that are the best clues to the stress trajectories. The downthrown layers are thickened by uniform flow and by repetition caused by the faulting. They are displaced away from the faults by bedding-plane slip. Trajectories of the greatest principal compressive stress (σ 1 ) are inclined at low angles to the layer boundaries near the faults and become perpendicular to these boundaries away from the fault. The maximum deformation of the downthrown block occurs when the saw cut is inclined at about 65° to the layering. The upthrown layers are all extended parallel to the layering and perpendicular to the fold axes, as indicated by extension fractures, thinned layers, and calcite twin lamellae and the development of graben zones and low-angle normal faults that are conjugate to the reverse faults. The layers are translated by bedding-plane slip away from the fault zone. Trajectories of σ 1 are inclined from 45° to 90° to the layering. The fabric data are internally consistent, and inferred stresses are in good agreement with those calculated from an elastic solution of the experimental boundary conditions. Principal strains calculated from calcite twin lamellae are within an average of 0.01 of those calculated from layer-thickness changes and permit clear resolution of individual events in domains of superposed deformations.
Vision-based robotic person following under light variations and difficult walking maneuvers

The paper addresses the problem of robotic person following indoors and outdoors with significant light variation such as moving from sunny areas into shade and difficult walking maneuvers such as jumping to the side or making sharp turns. These are achieved through certain image processing techniques and by real-time control of camera parameters affecting the light exposure, i.e., camera gain and shutter speed. Several strategies are also formulated and integrated to quickly recognize and segment the person from the environment during difficult walking maneuvers. The centroid of a person's image, which is a critical quantity for person following, is determined using a new method based on aggregation of the detected regions and their color characteristics. In addition to the camera exposure control, the camera pan and tilt and the robot speed and steering are controlled using the characteristics of the detected person's image such as mass (area) and centroid. Although the emphasis of the paper is on person following, the same techniques can be adapted for following moving objects such as another robot or a car. The system has been implemented on a Segway robotic platform that has been equipped with a camera, an onboard computer, loudspeakers, game pad, etc. Extensive trials have been carried out both indoors and outdoors, and a video has been prepared that shows person following under a variety of conditions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
SLAC measurement of the spin‐structure function of the neutron

Results from a measurement of the neutron spin dependent structure function gn1(x) over a range in x from 0.03 to 0.6 with an average Q2 of 2 (GeV/c)2 are reported. gn1(x) was determined from the asymmetry in deep inelastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from a polarized 3He target. The results are interpreted in the frame work of the Quark Parton Model (QPM) and used to test the Ellis‐Jaffe and Bjorken sum rules.
MEASUREMENT OF THE RATIO OF THE AXIAL-VECTOR TO THE VECTOR COUPLING IN THE DECAY $Sigma$$sup -$ $Yields$ ne$sup -$anti .

From a sample of 393 ${\ensuremath{\Sigma}}^{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\beta}$ decays, we have selected 63 events in which a proton recoil from a neutron interaction in the chamber is observed. From the measured values of the electron-neutrino angle we conclude that for the ${\ensuremath{\Sigma}}^{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}n{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}\overline{\ensuremath{\nu}}$, $|\frac{{g}_{A}}{{g}_{V}}|={0.29}_{\ensuremath{-}0.29}^{+0.28}$. This result is obtained from a maximum-likelihood calculation which includes the effect of a well-understood background of 27\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}6 events contained in our sample.
Empowering women in the global media

Global mass communications media are among the most powerful institutions in U.S. society but they need radical restructuring to make them more democratic and inclusive. An oligopoly of five hugely profitable mega‐corporations has consolidated control of the mass media worldwide. Its concentration of the contours and content of mass culture has increasingly disempowered and marginalized ordinary citizens—including women: the majority of the world's population.
Towards the assessment of adolescent problem drinking.

Longitudinal data were obtained from a nonclinical sample of 1,308 male and female adolescents covering the age range from 12 to 21. Factor analyses of 52 symptoms and/or consequences of alcohol use yielded three problem dimensions. In addition, a unidimensional, 23-item scale (the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index, RAPI) was constructed with an internal consistency of .92. Correlations between RAPI and alcohol-use intensity were moderately strong for all age groups at each test occasion (ranging from .20 to .57), yet low enough to suggest that identification of problem drinkers requires both types of measures. The results suggest that the RAPI may be a useful tool for the standardized and efficient assessment of problem drinking during adolescence.
Citizen Perceptions of Local Government Responsiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa

Summary This article focuses on political relationships between citizens and local government in sub-Saharan Africa, with special attention to leadership responsiveness. Cross-national survey data provide popular insights into performance. Citizens regard local councils as weak institutions with limited functions (rarely performed well) and elected councilors as largely unresponsive. Although civic activism is a corrective, people have yet to make use of tax payment as a device to hold councilors accountable. In endeavoring to improve client satisfaction, policy actors should attend as much to the procedural dimensions of local government performance as to the substance of service delivery.
An exact solution approach for the time‐dependent traveling‐salesman problem

We present an algorithm for solving the time-dependent traveling-salesman problem (TDTSP), a generalization of the classical traveling salesman problem in which the cost of travel between two cities depends on the distance between the cities and the position of the transition in the tour. The algorithm is derived by applying Benders decomposition to a mixed-integer linear programming formulation for the problem. We identify trivial TDTSPs for which a standard implementation of the algorithm requires an exponential number of iterations to converge. This motivates the development of an efficient, network-flow-based method for finding Pareto-optimal dual solutions of a highly degenerate subproblem. Preliminary computational experience demonstrates that the use of these Pareto-optimal solutions has a dramatic impact on the performance of the algorithm. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Simplified approach to characterize optical properties and blood oxygenation in tissue using continuous near-infrared light

We present a new data reduction algorithm to quantify absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of living tissues. The method requires source-detector separations larger than 2 cm and provides a simple, economic way to characterize tissue optical properties in the range of 600-900 nm and blood oxygenation. The results show that blood oxygenation in tissue can be quantified simply and accurately with this method for diffusing steady-state light, provided a suitable base-line calibration is available.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Behavioral Differences between Phosphatidic Acid and Phosphatidylcholine in the Presence of the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor

It has been found experimentally that negatively charged phosphatidic acid (PA) lipids and cholesterol molecules stabilize the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in a functional resting state that can participate in an agonist-induced conformational change. In this study, we compare phosphatidylcholine (PC) and PA lipid behavior in the presence of the nAChR to determine why PC lipids do not support a functional nAChR. For lipids that are located within 1.0 nm of the protein, both PC and PA lipids have very similar order-parameter and bilayer-thickness values, which indicate that the annular lipid properties are protein-dependent. The most significant difference between the PC and PA bilayers is the formation of a lipid domain around the protein, which is visible in the PA bilayer but not the PC bilayer. This suggests that the PA domain may help stabilize the nAChR resting state. The PA lipids in the microdomain have a decreased order compared to a homogeneous PA bilayer and the lipids near the protein attempt to increase the free space in their vicinity by residing in multiple lateral planes.
Caenorhabditis elegans BAH-1 is a DUF23 protein expressed in seam cells and required for microbial biofilm binding to the cuticle.

The cuticle of Caenorhabditis elegans, a complex, multi-layered extracellular matrix, is a major interface between the animal and its environment. Biofilms produced by the bacterial genus Yersinia attach to the cuticle of the worm, providing an assay for surface characteristics. A C. elegans gene required for biofilm attachment, bah-1, encodes a protein containing the domain of unknown function DUF23. The DUF23 domain is found in 61 predicted proteins in C. elegans, which can be divided into three distinct phylogenetic clades. bah-1 is expressed in seam cells, which are among the hypodermal cells that synthesize the cuticle, and is regulated by a TGF-β signaling pathway.
How Discrimination and Stress Affects Self-Esteem Among Dominican Immigrant Women: An Exploratory Study

Understanding the factors that contribute to the health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States is very important given the growing Latina population. Although researchers have investigated the health and mental health status among Latinas, the relationship between mental health and self-esteem has not been given a lot of attention. Given that self-esteem is a proxy for mental health status, investigations exploring the factors that can negatively affect self-esteem are needed. Therefore, the current study examined the influence of discrimination and stress on self-esteem among Dominican immigrant women. A cross-sectional study was undertaken among 235 immigrant Dominican women in New York City. Women (age 18-49 years) and in the United States for fewer than 20 years were more likely to report experiencing discrimination compared to women older than age 50 years and in the United States for more than 20 years. After controlling for age, time in the United States, educational level, and income, high levels of discrimination (-0.09, p < 0.01) and stress (-0.69, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with reduced self-esteem. Interventions with Latino/a populations, especially women, need to acknowledge their individual evaluations of the discriminatory and stressful experiences that negatively influence their self-esteem and subsequently their mental health status.
Storage stability of screwpress-extracted oils and residual meals from CELSS candidate oilseed crops.

Abstract The efficacy of using screwpress extraction for oil was studied with three Controlled Ecological Life-Support System (CELSS) candidate oilseed crops (soybean, peanut, and canola), since use of volatile organic solvents for oil extraction likely would be impractical in a closed system. Low oil yields from initial work indicated that a modification of the process is necessary to increase extraction efficiency. The extracted oil from each crop was tested for stability and sensory characteristics. When stored at 23°C, canola oil and meal were least stable to oxidative rancidity, whereas peanut oil and meal were least stable to hydrolytic rancidity. When stored at 65°C, soybean oil and canola meal were least stable to oxidative rancidity, whereas peanut oil and meal were least stable to hydrolytic rancidity. Sensory evaluation of the extracted oils used in bread and salad dressing indicated that flavor, odor intensity, acceptability, and overall preference may be of concern for screwpress-extracted canola oil when it is used in an unrefined form. Overall results with screwpress-extracted crude oils indicated that soybean oil may be more stable and acceptable than canola or peanut under typical storage conditions.
Discriminative Hierarchical K-Means Tree for Large-Scale Image Classification

A key challenge in large-scale image classification is how to achieve efficiency in terms of both computation and memory without compromising classification accuracy. The learning-based classifiers achieve the state-of-the-art accuracies, but have been criticized for the computational complexity that grows linearly with the number of classes. The nonparametric nearest neighbor (NN)-based classifiers naturally handle large numbers of categories, but incur prohibitively expensive computation and memory costs. In this brief, we present a novel classification scheme, i.e., discriminative hierarchical K-means tree (D-HKTree), which combines the advantages of both learning-based and NN-based classifiers. The complexity of the D-HKTree only grows sublinearly with the number of categories, which is much better than the recent hierarchical support vector machines-based methods. The memory requirement is the order of magnitude less than the recent Naive Bayesian NN-based approaches. The proposed D-HKTree classification scheme is evaluated on several challenging benchmark databases and achieves the state-of-the-art accuracies, while with significantly lower computation cost and memory requirement.
Colocalization and coassembly of two human brain M-type potassium channel subunits that are mutated in epilepsy

Acetylcholine excites many central and autonomic neurons through inhibition of M-channels, slowly activating, noninactivating voltage-gated potassium channels. We here provide information regarding the in vivo distribution and biochemical characteristics of human brain KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, two channel subunits that form M-channels when expressed in vitro, and, when mutated, cause the dominantly inherited epileptic syndrome, benign neonatal familial convulsions. KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 proteins are colocalized in a somatodendritic pattern on pyramidal and polymorphic neurons in the human cortex and hippocampus. Immunoreactivity for KCNQ2, but not KCNQ3, is also prominent in some terminal fields, suggesting a presynaptic role for a distinct subgroup of M-channels in the regulation of action potential propagation and neurotransmitter release. KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 can be coimmunoprecipitated from brain lysates. Further, KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 are coassociated with tubulin and protein kinase A within a Triton X-100-insoluble protein complex. This complex is not associated with low-density membrane rafts or with N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors, PSD-95 scaffolding proteins, or other potassium channels tested. Our studies thus provide a view of a signaling complex that may be important for cognitive function as well as epilepsy. Analysis of this complex may shed light on the unknown transduction pathway linking muscarinic acetylcholine receptor activation to M-channel inhibition.
Dynamic Modeling of a Novel Cooling, Heat, Power, and Water Microturbine Combined Cycle

The power, water extraction, and refrigeration (PoWER) engine has been investigated for several years as a distributed energy (DE) system among other applications for civilian or military use. Previous literature describing its modeling and experimental demonstration have indicated several benefits, especially when the underlying semiclosed cycle gas turbine is combined with a vapor absorption refrigeration system, the PoWER system described herein. The benefits include increased efficiency, high part-power efficiency, small lapse rate, compactness, low emissions, lower air and exhaust flows (which decrease filtration and duct size), and condensation of fresh water. The present paper describes the preliminary design and its modeling of a modified version of this system as applied to DE, especially useful in regions, which are prone to major grid interruptions due to hurricanes, undercapacity, or terrorism. In such cases, the DE system should support most or all services within an isolated service island, including ice production, so that the influence of the power outage is contained in magnitude and scope. The paper describes the rather straightforward system modifications necessary for ice production. However, the primary focus of the paper is on dynamic modeling of the ice making capacity to achieve significant load-leveling via thermal energy storage during the summer utility peak, hence reducing the electrical capacity requirements for the grid.
EVALUATION OF CROSSOVER AND PARTIAL LANE CLOSURE STRATEGIES FOR INTERSTATE WORK ZONES IN INDIANA

There are two main lane closure strategies for Interstate highway work zones, crossover and partial lane closure. Depending on the situation one or the other strategy may be more desirable. However, little research has been done to develop a systematic method for selecting appropriate lane closure strategies. The selection of appropriate lane closure strategies at Interstate highway work zones is discussed.
Optimally minimizing overlay violation in self-aligned double patterning decomposition for row-based standard cell layout in polynomial time

Self-aligned double patterning is one of the most promising double patterning techniques for sub-20nm nodes. As in any multiple patterning techniques, layout decomposition is the most important problem. In SADP decomposition, overlay is among the most primary concerns. Most of the existing works target at minimizing the overall overlay, while others totally forbid the overlay. On the other hand, most of the works either rely on exponential time methods, or apply heuristic that cannot guarantee to find a solution. In this paper, we consider the SADP decomposition problem in row-based standard cell layout, where the overlay violations are minimized. Although SADP decomposition has been shown to be NP-hard in general, we showed that it can be solved in polynomial time when the layout is row-based standard cells. We propose a polynomial time optimal algorithm that finds a decomposition with minimum overlay violations. The efficiency of our method is further demonstrated by the experimental results.
Survival results in adult patients treated for medulloblastoma

The records of all 27 adult patients (age, greater than or equal to 16 years) diagnosed with cerebellar medulloblastoma between 1968 and 1986 were reviewed. Twenty-four patients (89%) were treated with postoperative megavoltage irradiation. Twenty of these patients underwent craniospinal irradiation. Sixteen patients received greater than 5000 cGy to the posterior fossa (range, 2340 to 6600 cGy; median, 5490 cGy). Forty-eight percent of patients also received adjuvant chemotherapy. A 5-year and 10-year actuarial survival rate of 48% was achieved. The use of adjuvant chemotherapy did not improve survival in this series. All relapses occurred within 35 months of diagnosis (median time to relapse, 23.5 months), except one patient who had a recurrence in the posterior fossa at 140 months. The posterior fossa was the most common site of treatment failure and represented 50% of all initial relapses. All survivors had no sequelae, except one in whom leukoencephalopathy developed after craniospinal irradiation and intrathecal methotrexate administration. The survival results obtained in this series compare favorably with other reported modern adult medulloblastoma series.
An Update on the High-Tech MBA.

The popularity of the master's of business administration (MBA) degree has resulted in booming enrollments in the United States and around the world. In the late 1990s, the MBA degree seemed to be in danger of being taken over by trends in high technology. First, forprofit providers gained students and credibility to such an extent that respected traditional not-for-profit universities were tempted to create new for-profit subsidiaries. Second, online delivery became the "medium of the future." Third, the dot-com explosion made technology-related programs attractive. In this article, the authors evaluate the current status of the MBA, update these three developments of the degree programs, and reflect on the MBA degree's prospects for the future.
Monotonic estimators for the survival function of quality adjusted lifetime

The simple weighted estimator of the survival function of quality adjusted lifetime is a consistent estimator and a proper survival function. It is considerably less efficient than many estimators that are not monotonic and therefore are not proper survival functions. The non monotonic estimators can be modified to be monotonic, but additional work is required to determine the effect of the modification on their consistency and efficiency. As a prelude to the main results, we introduce a new non monotonic estimator and study the positive and negative mass jump points of three estimators. This article proposes several classes of monotonic estimators for the survival function of quality adjusted life. All proposed estimators are shown to be consistent. Two proposed estimators are nearly as efficient as their non monotonic counterparts, when the sample size is large.
Effects of Wrack Burial in Salt-Stressed Habitats: Batis Maritima in a Southwest Atlantic Salt Marsh

In coastal salt marshes, mats of wrack (dead plant stems) that are deposited on the marsh by high tides can kill underlying vegetation and initiate secondary succession. The importance of wrack disturbance in northwest Atlantic salt marshes has been a topic of recent debate. The importance of wrack disturbance in southwest Atlantic salt marshes, which experience a very different climate regime than do northern marshes, has rarely been examined. Working in a Georgia salt marsh, we documented a pattern of positive association between wrack and Batis maritima biomass, and conducted experiments that indicated that wrack was beneficial to Batis maritima. Sampling indicated that natural wrack deposition was correlated with areas of vigorous Batis growth and mild soil conditions. Natural wrack deposition occurred primarily at the highest elevations occupied by Batis maritima (the high Batis zone). Batis plants in the high zone were taller, with more and larger leaves, and contained several times the biomass/unit area than Batis plants at lower elevations. High zone soils had lower salinities, better percolation rates, and a lower organic content than did soils from lower elevations. Experimental manipulations demonstrated that deposition of wrack was partially responsible for these patterns. In each of two experiments, soil salinities were lower and plants taller and larger in the presence of wrack compared to in its absence. Although wrack lowered salinities and enhanced plant growth, the effects were not large enough to completely explain the differences between Batis zones. Instead, wrack probably reinforced pre-existing gradients in flooding and salinity caused by differences in elevation and terrestrial runoff. Our results contrast with previous studies from northern marshes. Because of geographic differences in climate and plant phenology, northern marshes are more likely than southern marshes to receive patches of wrack thick enough to kill underlying vegetation. Plants covered by thin layers of wrack, as commonly occurs in southern marshes, may often grow through the wrack rather than suffer mortality. Also because of climatic differences, wrack is more likely to benefit plants by ameliorating salinity stress in southern marshes, where soil salinities are often hypersaline, than in northern marshes where soils are rarely hypersaline. Although ecological processes may differ between northern and southern salt marshes, these differences may be predictable based on an understanding of geographic variation in climate.
Studies of sodium taurocholate micelles using fluorescent probe molecules

AbstractMicelles formed by sodium taurocholate (NaTC) and mixed micelles formed by NaTC with detergents (SDS, reduced Triton X-100 and CTAC) were studied with fluorescent probes. Pyrene was used as an indicator of the polarity of the micellar binding site by comparison of the fluorescence spectra and vibronic band intensity ratios of pyrene in the different systems. Perylene was used as a fluorescence polarization probe to study the rigidity of the NaTC and mixed micelles. The fluorescence lifetime of perylene in the different systems was also measured. Results of the studies were compared with measurements of the probes in cyclohexane, ethanol and aqueous beta-cyclodextrin. Perylene was found to be more rigidly bound in the NaTC micelles than in the detergent micelles. Insertion of small amounts of reduced Triton X-100 into the NaTC micelles appears to increase the rigidity. The binding sites of NaTC and CTAC have similar polarities, and are more polar than those of SDS and reduced Triton X-100. Insertion of any of the detergents into the NaTC micelle decreases the polarity of the binding site, possibly by reducing the penetration of water into the micelle.
H2, Mixed H2/H∞ and H2/L1 Optimally Tuned Passive Isolators and Absorbers

In many practical applications, unbalanced rotating machinery cause vibrations that transmit large oscillatory forces to the system foundation. Using ad hoc optimization schemes tuned isolators and absorbers have traditionally been designed to suppress system vibration levels by attempting to minimize the peak frequency, response of the force/displacement transmissibility, system transfer function. In this paper, we formulate the classical isolator and absorber vibration suppression problems in terms of modern system theoretic criteria involving H 2 (shock response), mixed H 2 /H∞ (worst-case peak frequency response ), and mixed H 2 /L 1 ( worst-case peak amplitude response ) performance measures. In particular, using a quasi-Newton optimization method we design H 2 , mixed H 2 /H∞, and mixed H 2 /L 1 optimally tuned isolators and absorbers for multi-degree-of-freedom vibrational systems. Finally, we compare our results to the classical Snowdon and Den Hartog absorbers.
Differences and similarities in monetary benefits for informal care in old and new EU member states

This article presents an overview of the monetary benefits available in the context of long-term care provided by family or other informal carers in 11 old and 10 new EU member states. All but one country in our sample offer at least some monetary benefits that can be used to help finance informal care. Old EU member states tend to direct benefits to individuals in need of care, whereas new EU member states place more emphasis on benefits for carers. Among new EU member states, monetary benefits are less often means-tested and tend to be lower compared with benefits in old EU member states. Because social policies in many countries increasingly rely on monetary benefits rather than on benefits in kind and because the share of informal care in the overall provision of elderly care will scarcely decline, monetary benefit incentives for labour market participation need to be carefully monitored. (author's abstract)
Metal-catalyzed semiconductor nanowires: a review on the control of growth directions

Semiconductor nanowires have become an important building block for nanotechnology. The growth of semiconductor nanowires using a metal catalyst via the vapor‐liquid‐solid (VLS) or vapor‐solid‐solid (VSS) mechanism has yielded growth directions in � 111 � , � 100 � and � 110 � etc. In this paper, we summarize and discuss a broad range of factors that affect the growth direction of VLS or VSS grown epitaxial semiconductor nanowires, providing an indexed glimpse of the control of nanowire growth directions and thus the mechanical, electrical and optical properties associated with the crystal orientation. The prospect of using planar nanowires for large area planar processing toward future nanowire array-based nanoelectronics and photonic applications is discussed.
Increases in breastfeeding in Latin America and the Caribbean: an analysis of equity.

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding has large benefits for mothers and infants. The short-term benefits for child survival and reduced morbidity differ by population subgroup because of differences in underlying risk factors. Although breastfeeding is more common among poor than well-off women how breastfeeding patterns change between these subgroups is important from a policy perspective as the poor will benefit more from increased duration of breastfeeding. METHODS: We use nationally representative data from eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to document changes in breastfeeding duration between 1986 and 2005 and separate the overall change into the portion attributable to changing population characteristics and the portion resulting from changing breastfeeding behaviour within population subgroups. RESULTS: Breastfeeding duration increased in six out of the eight countries and the changes observed are largely explained by changing behaviour within population subgroups rather than changing population characteristics. Changes in breastfeeding duration did not tend to be equitably distributed but in four countries (Bolivia Brazil Colombia and Peru) the population subgroups whose children are most at risk for mortality and increased morbidity from not being breastfed were least likely to show improvements in breastfeeding duration. Between 1986 and 2004 in Peru breastfeeding duration declined by 0.6 months among rural women while increasing by 9.7 months among urban women; it increased by 6.3 months among women with prenatal care but only by 3.7 months among women with no prenatal care. Changes in breastfeeding in Guatemala and Haiti tended to favour the well-off compared with the poor though not consistently. In Nicaragua changes in breastfeeding duration tended to favour the less well-off. DISCUSSION: While promoting breastfeeding is a must for all women to maximize its benefits for child survival and health additional efforts are needed to reach poorly educated and rural women with little access to health care.
Weaponization of the body and politicization of death

The paper examines the psychology of martyrdom through the analysis of death speeches, the final letters, wills, and testaments left behind by men in the Middle East who undertook suicidal missions in war. The author maintains that the human body is as much a social object as it is a biological entity, and death is as much a social event as it is a physical happening. The biologically living body may be symbolically dead, and the physically dead person may be more powerful than the living. A communication that a person makes while he or she is anticipating an impending death is an overloaded message, comparable to the first or the last dream in psychoanalysis. It may provide important clues not only to the person’s immediate psychic experience, but also to one’s characteristic mode of encounter with the object world. Final letters, near-death or suicide notes have a particularly demanding, commanding, and pleading quality. The author finds several modes of communication and metacommunication in the notes: disengaged,
Using Sequence Similarity Networks for Visualization of Relationships Across Diverse Protein Superfamilies

The dramatic increase in heterogeneous types of biological data--in particular, the abundance of new protein sequences--requires fast and user-friendly methods for organizing this information in a way that enables functional inference. The most widely used strategy to link sequence or structure to function, homology-based function prediction, relies on the fundamental assumption that sequence or structural similarity implies functional similarity. New tools that extend this approach are still urgently needed to associate sequence data with biological information in ways that accommodate the real complexity of the problem, while being accessible to experimental as well as computational biologists. To address this, we have examined the application of sequence similarity networks for visualizing functional trends across protein superfamilies from the context of sequence similarity. Using three large groups of homologous proteins of varying types of structural and functional diversity--GPCRs and kinases from humans, and the crotonase superfamily of enzymes--we show that overlaying networks with orthogonal information is a powerful approach for observing functional themes and revealing outliers. In comparison to other primary methods, networks provide both a good representation of group-wise sequence similarity relationships and a strong visual and quantitative correlation with phylogenetic trees, while enabling analysis and visualization of much larger sets of sequences than trees or multiple sequence alignments can easily accommodate. We also define important limitations and caveats in the application of these networks. As a broadly accessible and effective tool for the exploration of protein superfamilies, sequence similarity networks show great potential for generating testable hypotheses about protein structure-function relationships.