cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Concept of Political Culture in Comparative Politics

*I wish to thank the Research Councils of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and of the College Center of the Finger Lakes for financial support for the research project from which this paper is drawn. I wish also to thank Professors John C. Wahlke, Leon Stover and Dan Nimmo for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. 1Kroeber & Kluckhohn undertook a critical review of a few hundred definitions of culture: A. L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions, 1952. 2"Culture, or civilization, . . is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society," quoted by Kroeber-Kluckhohn, Ibid., p. 43. 3A. L. Kroeber, Anthropology, 1948, p. 253 & p. 292. 4Clyde Klyckhohn, "The Concept of Culture," Culture and Behavior, ed., Richard Kluckhohn, 1962, pp. 19-20.
Local Regularity-Driven City-Scale Facade Detection from Aerial Images

We propose a novel regularity-driven framework for facade detection from aerial images of urban scenes. Gini-index is used in our work to form an edge-based regularity metric relating regularity and distribution sparsity. Facade regions are chosen so that these local regularities are maximized. We apply a greedy adaptive region expansion procedure for facade region detection and growing, followed by integer quadratic programming for removing overlapping facades to optimize facade coverage. Our algorithm can handle images that have wide viewing angles and contain more than 200 facades per image. The experimental results on images from three different cities (NYC, Rome, San-Francisco) demonstrate superior performance on facade detection in both accuracy and speed over state of the art methods. We also show an application of our facade detection for effective cross-view facade matching.
Regulation of the kinase RSK1 by arsenic trioxide and generation of antileukemic responses.

Arsenic Trioxide (As2O3) is one of the most effective agents in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), but has no significant efficacy in other forms of AML. The mechanisms of relative resistance of non-APL cells are not well understood, but emerging evidence suggests that activation of negative feedback regulatory loops and pathways contributes to such resistance. We provide evidence that a signaling cascade involving the kinase RSK1 is engaged in a negative feedback manner during arsenic-treatment of cells and exhibits regulatory effects on growth and survival of AML cells in response to treatment with As2O3. Our data demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition or molecular disruption of expression of RSK1 enhances As2O3-dependent apoptosis and/or growth inhibition of AML cells. Importantly, combination of a pharmacological inhibitor of RSK and As2O3 results in enhanced suppression of primary AML leukemic progenitors. Altogether, our findings suggest an important regulatory role for RSK1 in the generation of the effects of As2O3 in AML cells. They also raise the potential of RSK1 targeting in combination with As2O3 as a novel approach to promote antileukemic responses.
Biphasic cerebral blood flow velocity profile in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Introduction: Increases in cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) as measured by transcranial Doppler (TCD) sonography are reflective of cerebral vasospasm in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). In serial TCD measurements, some patients exhibit CBFV temporal profiles with two peaks (biphasic). The significance of this finding remains unclear. This retrospective case-control study was conducted to investigate the characteristics and possible predictors of biphasic CBFV profiles.
Coherent backscattering and localization in a single-mode fiber with random imperfections.

We show that two modes counterpropagating in a single-mode fiber in the presence of random coupling due to refractive-index fluctuations can interfere constructively and give rise to a coherent backscattering process analogous to that associated with backscattering from a disordered medium. Both strong- and weak-localization limits are studied and the interplay between localization and radiation losses is analyzed.
Validation of a decision rule for selective TSH screening in atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac dysrhythmia. Current guidelines recommend obtaining thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in all patients presenting with AF.Our aim was to investigate the utility of TSH levels for emergency department (ED) patients with a final diagnosis of AF while externally validating and potentially refining a clinical decision rule that recommends obtaining TSH levels only in patients with previous stroke, hypertension, or thyroid disease. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study of consecutive patients who presented to an ED from January 2011 to March 2014 with a final ED diagnosis of AF. Charts were reviewed for historical features and TSH level. We assessed the sensitivity and specificity of the previously derived clinical decision rule. Results: Of the 1,964 patients who were eligible, 1,458 (74%) had a TSH level available for analysis. The overall prevalence of a low TSH ( 5µIU/mL) were identified in 11% (n=159). The clinical decision rule had a sensitivity of 88.9% (95% CI [73.0-96.4]) and a specificity of 27.5% (95% CI [25.2-29.9]) for identifying a low TSH. When analyzed for its ability to identify any abnormal TSH values (high or low TSH), the sensitivity and specificity were 74.4% (95% CI [67.5-80.2]) and 27.3% (95% CI [24.9-29.9]), respectively. Conclusion: Low TSH in patients presenting to the ED with a final diagnosis of AF is rare (2%). The sensitivity of a clinical decision rule including a history of thyroid disease, hypertension, or stroke for identifying low TSH levels in patients presenting to the ED with a final diagnosis of atrial fibrillation was lower than originally reported (88.9% vs. 93%). When elevated TSH levels were included as an outcome, the sensitivity was reduced to 74.4%. We recommend that emergency medicine providers not routinely order TSH levels for all patients with a primary diagnosis of AF. Instead, these investigations can be limited to patients with new onset AF or those with a history of thyroid disease with no known TSH level within three months . [West J Emerg Med. 2015;16(1):–0.]
Stress and placental resistance measured by Doppler ultrasound in early and mid‐pregnancy

Objectives To examine the association between self reports and biomarkers of stress and placental resistance (measured by Doppler ultrasound of the uterine and umbilical arteries), to determine if restriction of blood flow to the placenta is a mechanism by which stress might affect health during pregnancy. Methods Eight hundred and seventy-two women had ultrasound examinations of the uterine artery at 15–19 weeks' gestation and the uterine and umbilical arteries at 24–29 weeks, and resistance and pulsatility indices were calculated. Psychosocial stress was measured by telephone interview and self-administered questionnaire using several validated tools twice during the pregnancy. Cortisol and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) were measured twice during the pregnancy. Linear and hierarchical models were used to examine the relationships among reported stress, stress hormones and placental Doppler indices. Results The umbilical artery resistance index was higher in younger women, those with less education, those who were single and those who smoked. The uterine artery pulsatility index was higher in women with pre-eclampsia, those living alone, those with high body mass index, and those who gained the least weight during pregnancy. A higher CRH level was associated with small increases in uterine artery pulsatility and umbilical artery resistance indices. Psychosocial measures of stress were not consistently associated with higher placental resistance. Conclusions Increased CRH levels may be associated with increased placental resistance. Otherwise, these findings do not support the hypothesis that restriction of blood flow to the fetus is a major mechanism by which stress affects infant health. Copyright © 2008 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Influence of Phenotypic Plasticity in Photosynthetic Functions on the Spatial Distributions of Tropical Trees

The services that tropical rain forests provide and the roles they play in harboring much of the world's terrestrial biodiversity are widely appreciated. There is worldwide concern about the consequences of human activities on these services. Knowledge of the role of plant function in shaping biogeographical distributions of trees contributes to efforts to preserve, restore, and manage these forests. Recognition is growing that plasticity in the expression of functions by a given genotype and not just genotypic specialization may play an adaptive role in shaping spatial distributions of species. Their structure and life history characteristics make trees among the most likely candidates for higher levels of plasticity in functional phenotype of all plant forms. Moreover, many tropical areas meet theoretical expectations for the environmental heterogeneity that may favor selection for phenotypic plasticity. Trees are, however, generally avoided in tests of the adaptiveness of levels of phenotypic plasticit...
A formulation of plasma transport in the laser-fusion regime

The Braginskii system of fluid equations has been extended up to the flux moment of the Vlasov equation. The collision terms and higher moments have been evaluated explicitly with the distribution functions approximated by drifting Maxwellians and obtained in closed form. The resulting formulation is a reasonable representation for the region of parameter space corresponding to a laser-fusion plasma on the low-density side of the critical density, where flux-limiters have been invoked.
Second Harmonic Generation Imaging Microscopy: Applications to Diseases Diagnostics

Second Harmonic Generation microscopy has emerged as a powerful new optical imaging modality. This Feature describes its chemical and physical principles and highlights current applications in disease diagnostics.
Examining Instructional Practices of Elementary Science Teachers for Mathematics and Literacy Integration.

Integration of content in core disciplines is viewed as an important curricular component in promoting scientific literacy. This study characterized the current practices of a group of elementary teachers relative to their development of interdisciplinary links between science, mathematics, and literacy. A qualitative analysis of survey data showed that there were substantial differences in the use of a well-developed process for integrating instruction. Teachers also lacked a conceptual connection to integration, showed contradictions in the importance placed on hands-on experiences, used measurement as the primary interdisciplinary connection between mathematics and science, and did not use instructional strategies designed specifically for nonfiction/expository text. The findings underscore the need for professional development that assists teachers in changing their conceptual perspectives to integration while also building pedagogical knowledge related to integration of science, mathematics, and literacy.
Climate change: Aerosols heat up

Solid particles suspended in the atmosphere have long played second fiddle to greenhouse gases as agents of climate change. A study of atmospheric heating over the Indian Ocean could provoke a rethink.
The value of shared visual space for collaborative physical tasks

The goal of this research is to elucidate the ways shared visual space supports group communication and performance. This work involves three stages: a series of empirical studies that decompose the features of shared visual space and task, a methodology for assessing the sequential structure of how visible actions serve to augment discourse, and the development of a computational model of discourse to further our theoretical understanding of the ways in which shared visual information serves communication in collaborative physical tasks.
Methane activation by hole sites on AlN: A molecular orbital study

A molecular orbital study shows AlN behaves similarly to oxides such as MgO toward CH4. Stoichiometric AlN is inactive. CH4 is readily activated by surface N2− hole sites, forming surface HN2− and gas phase methyl radicals. The CH3· can dimerize or form weak σ bonds of bond order 12 to surface Al3+ or strong σ bonds of order 1 to a second N2−.
Mechanisms Governing the Persistence and Diurnal Cycle of a Heavy Rainfall Corridor

AbstractObservations and convection-permitting simulations are used to study a 12-day warm-season heavy precipitation corridor over the central U.S. plains and Mississippi River valley regions. Such precipitation corridors, defined by narrow latitudinal widths (~3°–4°) and only modest north–south drifts of their centroids (<2° day−1), often yield extreme total precipitation (100–250 mm), resulting in both short-term and seasonal impacts on the regional hydrologic cycle.The corridor precipitation is predominately nocturnal and located several hundred kilometers north of a quasi-stationary surface front. There, hot, dry air from the daytime boundary layer located underneath a persistent upper-level anticyclone requires large vertical displacements along the axis of the southerly low-level jet (LLJ) above the front to eliminate convection inhibition (CIN). Composites reveal ~500 J kg−1 of average convective available potential energy (CAPE) when this air reaches the southern edge of the precipitation corrido...
A method for the large scale isolation of high transformation efficiency fungal genomic DNA.

Abstract A procedure for isolation of genomic DNA from the zygomycete Cunninghamella elegans and other filamentous fungi and yeasts is reported. This procedure involves disruption of cells by grinding using dry ice, removal of polysaccharides using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and by phenol extractions, and precipitation of DNA with isopropanol at room temperature. The isolation method produced large scale (approximate 1 mg DNA/5 g wet cells) and highly purified high molecular mass DNA. Sau3AI partially digested DNA showed high transformation efficiency ( 10 6 100 ng DNA ) when ligated to ZAP-express λ vector.
A technique for quantifying and analyzing evoked responses

Two computer programs are discussed. One is used in the analog-to-digital conversion of and averaging of the responses; the other employs fuil-wave rectification and numerical integration as a method of comparing waveforms.
Graduate education and the role of the physical anthropologist in biomedical teaching and research

There is a place for the physical anthropologist in biomedical teaching and research because of the special and unique skills possessed by this individual. However, eventual success in the health sciences environment requires the student to obtain the knowledge and background for functionally oriented teaching and research. Students interested in a biomedical teaching and research career must prepare themselves methodologically and theoretically. This requires: (1) teaching qualifications, (2) an increased emphasis on methodology and technology, (3) an increased emphasis on research and experimental design, (4) appropriate interdisciplinary courses which provide the background for both teaching and research, (5) increased interaction with graduate faculty active in research, and (6) the latitude to adapt the graduate program to meet these specific needs. Students who finish their graduate training with a marketable skill, and who can apply their unique talents to a specialized area, will have broad appeal in the job market and will considerably strengthen their career opportunities.
Detection of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coil in Foods by DNA Colony Hybridization

A DNA colony hybridization procedure was used to identify and enumerate a heat-labile toxin-producing strain of Escherichia coli (H10407) in various types of foods. Foods were seeded with H10407 cells and examined by DNA hybridization on nitrocellulose filters with 32P- labeled heat-labile toxin gene fragments. The number of cells recovered on plate count agar and eosine methylene blue agar was compared. With nitrocellulose filters, recoveries were about 81% on plate count agar and about 76% on eosine methylene blue agar. No significant differences in recovery were observed with ten different food types.
Balancing detector effects with aberrations in the design of wide-field grazing incidence x-ray telescopes

Most imaging systems today include a mosaic detector array in the focal plane. Optical designers of astronomical telescopes typically produce a design that yields a superb on-axis aerial image in the focal plane, and detector effects are included only in the analysis of the final system performance. Aplanatic optical designs (corrected for spherical aberration and coma) are widely considered to be superior to nonaplanatic designs. However, there is little merit in an aplanatic design for wide-field applications because one needs to optimize some field-weighted-average measure of resolution over the desired operational field of view (OFOV). Furthermore, when used with a mosaic detector array in the focal plane, detector effects eliminate the advantage of the aplanatic design even at small field angles. For wide fields of view, the focal plane is frequently despaced to balance field curvature with defocus thus obtaining better overall performance. We will demonstrate that including detector effects in the optical design process results in a different optimal (nonaplanatic) design for each OFOV that is even superior to an optimally despaced aplanatic design.
Changes Across Time in the Temporal Responses of Auditory Nerve Fibers Stimulated by Electric Pulse Trains

Most auditory prostheses use modulated electric pulse trains to excite the auditory nerve. There are, however, scant data regarding the effects of pulse trains on auditory nerve fiber (ANF) responses across the duration of such stimuli. We examined how temporal ANF properties changed with level and pulse rate across 300-ms pulse trains. Four measures were examined: (1) first-spike latency, (2) interspike interval (ISI), (3) vector strength (VS), and (4) Fano factor (FF, an index of the temporal variability of responsiveness). Data were obtained using 250-, 1,000-, and 5,000-pulse/s stimuli. First-spike latency decreased with increasing spike rate, with relatively small decrements observed for 5,000-pulse/s trains, presumably reflecting integration. ISIs to low-rate (250 pulse/s) trains were strongly locked to the stimuli, whereas ISIs evoked with 5,000-pulse/s trains were dominated by refractory and adaptation effects. Across time, VS decreased for low-rate trains but not for 5,000-pulse/s stimuli. At relatively high spike rates (>200 spike/s), VS values for 5,000-pulse/s trains were lower than those obtained with 250-pulse/s stimuli (even after accounting for the smaller periods of the 5,000-pulse/s stimuli), indicating a desynchronizing effect of high-rate stimuli. FF measures also indicated a desynchronizing effect of high-rate trains. Across a wide range of response rates, FF underwent relatively fast increases (i.e., within 100 ms) for 5,000-pulse/s stimuli. With a few exceptions, ISI, VS, and FF measures approached asymptotic values within the 300-ms duration of the low- and high-rate trains. These findings may have implications for designs of cochlear implant stimulus protocols, understanding electrically evoked compound action potentials, and interpretation of neural measures obtained at central nuclei, which depend on understanding the output of the auditory nerve.
Structural Effects of Crosslinking a Biopolymer Hydrogel Derived from Marine Mussel Adhesive Protein

In an effort to explore new biocompatible substrates for biomedical technologies, we present a structural study on a crosslinked gelatinous protein extracted from marine mussels. Prior studies have shown the importance of iron in protein crosslinking and mussel adhesive formation. Here, the structure and properties of an extracted material were examined both before and after crosslinking with iron. The structures of these protein hydrogels were studied by SEM, SANS, and SAXS. Viscoelasticity was tested by rheological means. The starting gel was found to have a heterogeneous porous structure on a micrometer scale and, surprisingly, a regular structure on the micron to nanometer scale. However disorder, or "no periodic structure", was deduced from scattering on nanometer length scales at very high q. Crosslinking with iron condensed the structure on a micrometer level. On nanometer length scales at high q, small angle neutron scattering showed no significant differences between the samples, possibly due to strong heterogeneity. X-ray scattering also confirmed the absence of any defined periodic structure. Partial crosslinking transformed the viscoelastic starting gel into one with more rigid and elastic properties.
Regular- and postseason comparisons of playing time and measures of running performance in NCAA Division I women soccer players

The management of playing time in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) soccer athletes may be a key factor affecting running performance during competition. This study compared playing time and running performance between regular-season and postseason competitions during a competitive women's soccer season. Nine NCAA Division I women soccer players (age, 21.3 ± 0.9 years; height, 170.3 ± 5.7 cm; body mass, 64.0 ± 5.8 kg) were tracked using portable GPS devices across 21 games during a competitive season (regular season (n = 17); postseason (n = 4)). Movements on the field were divided into operationally distinct thresholds defined as standing/transient motion, walking, jogging, low-speed running, moderate-speed running, high-speed running, sprinting, low-intensity running, and high-intensity running. A significant increase in minutes played (+17%, p = 0.010) was observed at postseason compared with the regular season. Concomitant increases in time spent engaged in low-intensity running (LIR: +18%, p = 0.011), standing/transient motion (+35%, p = 0.004), walking (+17%, p = 0.022), distance covered while walking (+14%, p = 0.036), and at low intensity (+11%, p = 0.048) were observed. Performance comparisons between the first and second half within games revealed a significant decrease (p ≤ 0.05) in high-speed and high-intensity runs during the second half of the postseason compared with the regular season. Changes in minutes played correlated significantly with changes in absolute time spent engaged in LIR (r = 0.999, p < 0.001), standing/transient motion (r = 0.791, p = 0.011), walking (r = 0.975, p = 0.001), jogging (r = 0.733, p = 0.025), distance covered while walking (r = 0.898, p < 0.001) and low-intensity activity (r = 0.945, p < 0.001). Negative correlations were observed between minutes played and absolute time sprinting (r = -0.698, p = 0.037) and distance covered sprinting (r = -0.689, p = 0.040). Results indicate that additional minutes played during the postseason were primarily performed at lower intensity thresholds, suggesting running performance during postseason competitions may be compromised with greater playing time in intercollegiate women's soccer.
Susceptibility to actively-induced murine experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is not linked to genes of the T cell receptor or CD3 complexes.

The role of the T cell receptor (TCR) in the genetic control of susceptibility to autoimmune demyelinating diseases remains shrouded in controversy. We have used the CXD2 series of recombi-nant inbred lines (RIL) and a (B10.S/DvTe × SJL/J) x B10.S/DvTe backcross (BC1) population to test for linkage between susceptibility to actively-induced EAE and the different TCR and CD3 loci. The two populations were inoculated for induction of EAE, phenotyped for both clinical and histological parameters of disease, and genotyped using markers flanking the loci of interest in the CXD2 RIL and an SJL/J allele-specific TCR Vβ assay in the BC1 mice. Comparisons between the CXD2 strain distribution pattern (SDP) for disease and the SDPs for the chromosomal regions containing the TCR α,βp,γ, δ, and CD3 δ, γ and ζ loci showed no linkage to these loci. Additional tests between EAE susceptibility and several other immunologically important loci for which the SDPs were known also showed no linkage to the minor lymphocyte-stim...
Resume of interview with Ron Nicol, Boston Consulting Group

In this interview, Ron Nicol, Senior Partner and Managing Director at BCG and John Joseph, Assistant Professor of Strategy at the University of California-Irvine, discuss BCG’s approach to organizational design known as “delayering.” Delayering is the process by which the layers and levels in the organization are reduced and aligned so as to provide better decision making and reduce costs. As Nicol discusses, delayering is a multi-step process based on two key concepts: the geometric nature of organizational structure and LeChatelier’s Principle. Key success factors include CEO involvement, participation at multiple levels of the organization, and adherence to a carefully crafted set of design principles. Nicol also discusses the optimal structure for Fortune 500 companies and their international equivalents.
Abstraction and Specification in Program Development

"Abstraction and Specification in Program Development" offers professionals in program design and software engineering a methodology that will enable them to construct programs that are reliable and reasonably easy to understand, modify, and maintain. Good programming involves the systematic mastery of complexity, and this book provides the first unified treatment of the techniques of abstraction and specification, which, the authors argue, are the linchpin of any effective approach to programming. They place particular emphasis on the use of data abstraction to produce highly modular programs.The authors focus on the process of decomposing large program projects into independent modules that can be assigned to independent working groups. They discuss methods of decomposition, the kinds of modules that are most useful in this process, and techniques to increase the likelihood that modules produced can in fact be recombined to solve the original programming problem. There are many examples of abstractions throughout the text, and each chapter ends with pertinent references and exercises.Most of the sample implementations in the book are written in CLU, one of a growing number of languages able to support data abstraction. Sufficient material is included, however, to allow the reader to work in Pascal as well.The material in this book was developed by the authors during a decade of teaching undergraduate, graduate, and professional-level courses. Barbara Liskov, the developer of CLU, is Professor and John Guttag an Associate Professor of Computer Science at MIT. "Abstraction and Specification in Program Development" is included in the MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science series.
How well do purchase of development rights programs contribute to park and open space goals in the United States

Abstract In the United States, momentum for purchase of development rights (PDRs) programs is accelerating and they now exist in 20 of the 50 states. Their primary constituents are agricultural interests, and conservation and open space advocates. The 20 states' statutes were reviewed and telephone interviews conducted with officials in each of the states who were responsible for implementing the legislation. Three analyses were undertaken. The first confirmed that a large proportion of funding was supplied by taxpayers and relatively little by agricultural landowners. However, most benefits were found to accrue to landowners not to taxpayers. The second analysis reviewed the components of state statutes and concluded that in most cases: (i) statements of purpose were confined to agricultural interests, omitting reference to preserving environmentally and aesthetically important lands; (ii) the range of benefits cited did include open space; and (iii) term and rescinding provisions were authorized as well...
Physical and chemical forces in solvent selectivity for hydrocarbons

An analysis is given of the role of physical and chemical forces in determining the selectivity of a solvent for different hydrocarbons. The physical contribution to selectivity depends on the polar energy density of the solvent and on the difference in size of the hydrocarbons to be separated; this effect is well-demonstrated by solvent selectivity data for paraffins where no chemical forces are important. The chemical contribution depends on the ability of the solvent to form acid-base complexes with the hydrocarbon. Chemical forces leading to complex formation can be detected by measurements on the heat of mixing, the volume change of mixing, and on the ultraviolet absorption of solvent-hydrocarbon mixtures; some illustrations of such measurements are presented. Finally an equation is proposed for correlating selectivity data in extractive distillation, and its applicability is demonstrated with activity coefficient data for saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons in various polar solvents.
Roles of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration and myofilament Ca2+ sensitization in age-dependent cerebrovascular myogenic tone.

In light of evidence that immature arteries contain a higher proportion of noncontractile smooth muscle cells than found in fully differentiated mature arteries, the present study explored the hypo...
Sediment with porous grains: Rock-physics model and application to marine carbonate and opal

We offer an effective-medium model for estimating the elastic properties of high-porosity marine calcareous sediment and diatomite. This model treats sediment as a pack of porous elastic grains. The effective elastic moduli of the porous grains are calculated using the differential effective-medium (DEM) model, whereby the intragranular ellipsoidal inclusions have a fixed aspect ratio and are filled with seawater. Then the elastic moduli of a pack of these spherical grains are calculated using a modified (scaled to the critical porosity) upper Hashin-Shtrikman bound above the critical porosity and modified lower (carbonates) and upper (opal) Hashin-Shtrikman bounds below the critical porosity. The best match between the model-predicted compressional- and shear-wave velocities and Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) data from three wells is achieved when the aspect ratio of intragranular pores is 0.5. This model assigns finite, nonzero values to the shear modulus of high-porosity marine sediment, unlike the suspe...
Optimal Partitioning and Coordination Decisions in Decomposition-Based Design Optimization

The solution of complex system design problems using decomposition-based optimization methods requires determination of appropriate problem partitioning and coordination strategies. Previous optimal partitioning techniques have not addressed the coordination issue explicitly. This article presents a formal approach to simultaneous partitioning and coordination strategy decisions that can provide insights on whether a decomposition-based method will be effective for a given problem. Pareto-optimal solutions are generated to quantify tradeoffs between the sizes of subproblems and coordination problems as measures of the computational costs resulting from different partitioning and coordination strategies. Promising preliminary results with small test problems are presented. The approach is illustrated on an electric water pump design problem.
Residential Radon Exposure and Incidence of Childhood Lymphoma in Texas, 1995-2011.

There is warranted interest in assessing the association between residential radon exposure and the risk of childhood cancer. We sought to evaluate the association between residential radon exposure and the incidence of childhood lymphoma in Texas. The Texas Cancer Registry (n = 2147) provided case information for the period 1995–2011. Denominator data were obtained from the United States Census. Regional arithmetic mean radon concentrations were obtained from the Texas Indoor Radon Survey and linked to residence at diagnosis. Exposure was assessed categorically: ≤25th percentile (reference), >25th to ≤50th percentile, >50th to ≤75th percentile, and >75th percentile. Negative binomial regression generated adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We evaluated lymphoma overall and by subtype: Hodgkin (HL; n = 1248), Non-Hodgkin excluding Burkitt (non-BL NHL; n = 658), Burkitt (BL; n = 241), and Diffuse Large B-cell (DLBCL; n = 315). There was no evidence that residential radon exposure was positively associated with lymphoma overall, HL, or BL. Areas with radon concentrations >75th percentile had a marginal increase in DLBCL incidence (aIRR = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.03–2.91). In one of the largest studies of residential radon exposure and the incidence of childhood lymphoma, we found little evidence to suggest a positive or negative association; an observation consistent with previous studies.
Mechanisms of reduced fertility in Hoxa-10 mutant mice: uterine homeosis and loss of maternal Hoxa-10 expression

The establishment of a receptive uterine environment is critical for embryonic survival and implantation. One gene that is expressed in the uterus during the peri-implantation period in mice and is required for female fertility is the homeobox gene Hoxa-10. Here we characterize the peri-implantation defects in Hoxa-10 mutant females and investigate functions of Hoxa-10 in the uterine anlage during morphogenesis and in the adult uterus during pregnancy. Examination of pregnancy in Hoxa-10 mutant females has revealed failure of implantation as well as resorption of embryos in the early postimplantation period. Morphologic analysis of the mutant uterus has demonstrated homeotic transformation of the proximal 25% into oviduct. Histology and molecular markers confirm this anterior transformation. Furthermore, in situ hybridization shows that this region coincides with the anterior limit of embryonic Hoxa-10 expression in the urogenital ducts and a parallel transformation is observed in Hoxa-10 mutant males at the junction of the epididymis and ductus deferens. Female fertility could be compromised by either the homeotic transformation or the absence of Hoxa-10 function in the adult during pregnancy. To distinguish between these two potential mechanisms of infertility, wildtype blastocysts were transferred into mutant uteri distal to the transformed region on day 2.5 of pseudopregnancy. This procedure did not rescue the phenotype, suggesting that adult uterine expression of Hoxa-10 is required during pregnancy. Moreover, when implantation was experimentally delayed, homozygous uteri were able to support survival of blastocysts comparable to wild-type controls, indicating that the requirement for Hoxa-10 is intrinsic to implantation. While expression of LIF and HB-EGF appears unaffected in the mutant uteri, a decrease is observed in the intensity and number of blue dye reactions, an indicator of increased vascular permeability in response to implantation. In addition, mutant uteri exhibited decreased decidualization in response to artificial stimuli. These results show that Hoxa-10 is required during morphogenesis for proper patterning of the reproductive tract and in the adult uterus for peri-implantation events.
Online Spatio-Temporal Risk Assessment for Intelligent Transportation Systems

Due to modern pervasive wireless technologies and high-performance monitoring systems, spatio-temporal information plays an important role in areas such as intelligent transportation systems (ITS), surveillance, scheduling, planning, or industrial automation. Security or criminal/terrorist threat prevention in modern ITS is one of today's most relevant concerns. This paper presents an algorithm for online spatio-temporal risk assessment in urban environments. In its first phase, the algorithm uses the online nearest neighbor clustering (NNC) algorithm to identify a set of significant places. In the second phase, a fuzzy inference engine is employed to quantify the level of risk that each significant place poses to the place of interest (e.g., vehicle, person, building, or an object of high assets). The contributions of the presented algorithm are given as follows: 1) recognition and extraction of the set of the most significant places; 2) dynamic adaptation of the solution to time-dependent traffic distributions; 3) parametric control by adjusting geographical proximity threshold, significance threshold, and discount factor; and 4) online risk assessment. The performance of the algorithm was demonstrated on a problem of traffic density estimation and risk assessment in a virtual urban environment.
Semantic Web Services for Human Activit

Semantic Web services (SWSs) extend current Web services standards to help facilitate their usages. While current SWS approaches have shown some early promising results, they have focused on somewhat unrealistic use-cases that make various problematic assumptions and focus on somewhat farfetched usage scenarios. In this paper we present a category of use case scenarios for SWSs that centers around keeping human users in the automation process while facilitating their activities. We demonstrate our approach with a simplified scenario and highlight some of the details of our architecture and implementation. Finally, we also discuss how our approach could be extended and applied in other domains; namely, the domain of asset-based business approach to creating IT computing infrastructure.
SMART: A grammar - based semantic video modeling and representation

Multimedia database modeling and representation is significant for efficient storage and retrieval of multimedia. Modeling of semantic video content that enables spatiotemporal queries is one of the challenging tasks. In this paper, we provide a semantic modeling and retrieval system, termed as SMART. We provide a method that helps represent the semantic contents of video such as objects, events, and locations as a grammar based string. This linear string representation enables both the spatial and temporal description of the video. Various types of queries such as event-object-location, event-location, object-location, and event-object are supported by SMART. We show our results on the tennis video database.
Buckling and vibration analysis of composite sandwich plates with elastic rotational edge restraints

Thesmall-dee ectiontheorydevelopedforsimplysupportedorthotropicsandwichplatesisextendedfortheelastic buckling and free vibration analysis of anisotropic rectangular sandwich plates with edges elastically restrained againstrotation.Theplatedee ection andtransverseshearforcesarerepresentedby anindependentsetoffunctions that satisfy the essential boundary conditions for all and the natural boundary conditions for specie c cases. The Rayleigh‐Ritz method is used to solve for in-plane buckling loads and transverse natural frequencies through the solution ofaneigenvalueproblem. Thenumerical tablesincluded demonstratetheeffectsof elasticedgeconditions, aspectratio,andfacesheetplypatternonthebucklingloadsandnaturalfrequenciesofanisotropicsandwichplates.
Heritability of complex white matter diffusion traits assessed in a population isolate.

Introduction Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) methods can noninvasively ascertain cerebral microstructure by examining pattern and directions of water diffusion in the brain. We calculated heritability for DWI parameters in cerebral white (WM) and gray matter (GM) to study the genetic contribution to the diffusion signals across tissue boundaries. Methods Using Old Order Amish (OOA) population isolate with large family pedigrees and high environmental homogeneity, we compared the heritability of measures derived from three representative DWI methods targeting the corpus callosum WM and cingulate gyrus GM: diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), the permeability-diffusivity (PD) model, and the neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) model. These successively more complex models represent the diffusion signal modeling using one, two, and three diffusion compartments, respectively. Results We replicated the high heritability of the DTI-based fractional anisotropy (h2 = 0.67) and radial diffusivity (h2 = 0.72) in WM. High heritability in both WM and GM tissues were observed for the permeability-diffusivity index from the PD model (h2 = 0.64 and 0.84), and the neurite density from the NODDI model (h2 = 0.70 and 0.55). The orientation dispersion index from the NODDI model was only significantly heritable in GM (h2 = 0.68). Conclusion DWI measures from multicompartmental models were significantly heritable in WM and GM. DWI can offer valuable phenotypes for genetic research; and genes thus identified may reveal mechanisms contributing to mental and neurological disorders in which diffusion imaging anomalies are consistently found. Hum Brain Mapp, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The vitamin D analog ED-71 is a potent regulator of intestinal phosphate absorption and NaPi-IIb.

The vitamin D analog ED-71 [1α,25-dihydroxy-2β-(3-hydroxypropyloxy)vitamin D3] has been approved for treatment of osteoporosis in Japan, but its effects on mineral metabolism have not been fully explored. We investigated the actions of ED-71 on phosphate (Pi) absorption and induction of the intestinal sodium/phosphate cotransporters. Oral treatment of vitamin D-deficient rats with ED-71 (20 pmol every other day for 8 d) produced a maximal 8-fold increase in duodenal Pi absorption, measured by the in situ loop method, whereas 1,25-dihyroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3], at doses up to 150 pmol, had no effect. This action of ED-71 was attributable to a dramatic 24-fold induction of sodium-dependent Pi transporter type IIb (NaPi-IIb) mRNA in the duodenum; Pit-1 and Pit-2 mRNA levels were not increased. In vitamin D-replete rats, ED-71 treatment (50 pmol) at 72 and 24 h before death increased NaPi-IIb mRNA in the duodenum and jejunum, but not the ileum, whereas 1,25(OH)2D3 at 1000 pmol was ineffective in all segmen...
Pulmonic ingressive phonation : Diachronic and synchronic characteristics, distribution and function in animal and human sound production and in human speech

This paper looks at the phenomenon of ingressive speech, i.e. speech produced on a pulmonic ingressive airstream, set in the context of human and animal ingressive phonation. The literature on ingressive speech and phonation spanning several centuries is reviewed, as well as contemporary reports of their incidence and characteristics from both functional and acoustic perspectives. Ingressive phonation has been used as a deliberate means of speech or sound production for hundreds of years in order to achieve specific effects, and it is still used for the same purposes, by e.g. shamans and ventriloquists. In normal spoken conversation – contrary to what is often claimed – present-day ingressive speech is not limited to Scandinavia or Nordic languages, but is found on all continents, in genetically unrelated languages. Where ingressive speech occurs, it serves more or less the same paralinguistic functions, such as a feedback marker in a dialog. Since pulmonic ingressive phonation is also common in the calls of monkeys and apes, thus exhibiting a biological basis, it is suggested that ingressive speech might constitute a neglected universal phenomenon, rather than being highly marked, which is how it is commonly described in the literature.
At Empire's End: The Nizam, Hyderabad and Eighteenth-Century India

Nizam-ul-Mulk (d. 1748) was a Mughal nobleman who founded the post-Mughal successor state of Hyderabad. Engaging the Nizam's long and varied career, this essay re-evaluates the Nizam's decision to abandon the Mughal imperial system. In so doing, it highlights the ways in which the Nizam's story contrasts with that of founders of other post-Mughal successor states. This essay also seeks to explore Hyderabad's early history, the unique challenges faced by the new state, and the inventive ways in which it sought to overcome them. Ultimately, this essay aims to broaden and complicate our understanding of India's political history in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth century.
From the Dynamic Style to the Synoptic Style in Spectroscopic Articles in the Physical Review: Beginnings and 1980

This article presents evidence that, from selected spectroscopic articles in the earliest volumes of the Physical Review to other selected spectroscopic articles from the same journal in 1980, a shift in sentence style takes place. This shift is from what M.A.K. Halliday calls the dynamic style (which reflects happenings, processes, and actions) to the synoptic style (which reflects things, structures, and categories). The article proposes that the early writers used the dynamic style primarily to set information in a distinct time and thus to avoid giving the impression that the information should be regarded as widely generalizable. It also proposes that the later writers used the synoptic style because it allowed them to represent processes as things, to delineate many fine shades of meaning, and to extend their arguments economically. The article concludes by suggesting areas of future research for students of scientific style and for composition scholars.
146: Aquifer Recharge

Aquifer recharge is important both for hydrologic understanding and for effective water resource management. Temporal and spatial patterns of unsaturated-zone processes such as infiltration largely determine its magnitude. Many techniques of recharge estimation exist. Water budget methods estimate all terms in the continuity equation except recharge, which is calculated as the residual. Detailed hydrologic models based on water-budget principles can produce recharge estimates at various scales. Empirical methods relate recharge to meteorologic and geographic parameters for a specific location. Surface-water methods include stream-hydrograph analyses to estimate baseflow (groundwater discharge) at lower elevations in a watershed, which is taken to equal the recharge that has occurred at higher elevations. Subsurface methods include analysis of water-table fluctuations following transient recharge events, as well as diverse unsaturated-zone methods. The zero-flux plane method determines the recharge rate from the change in water storage beneath the zero-flux depth, a boundary between water moving upwards due to evapotranspiration and water moving downward due to gravity. Lysimeter methods use buried containers filled with vegetated soil to mimic natural conditions. Water exiting the bottom is considered to be recharge. Darcian methods for estimating flux densities use unsaturated hydraulic conductivities and potential gradients, indicating recharge rates under appropriate conditions. Chemical mass-balance methods use conservative tracers that move with recharging water. Tracer concentrations in deep unsaturated-zone water, together with tracer input rates, indicate recharge rates. Distinct chemical “markers” can indicate travel times, hence, recharge rates. Thermal methods use heat as a tracer. Moving water perturbs temperature profiles, allowing recharge estimation. Geophysical methods estimate recharge based on water-content dependence of gravitational, seismic, and electromagnetic properties of earth materials.
Treatment of Viral Infections in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Patient

A 37-year-old woman with AIDS presented with nonhealing perirectal ulcers (Fig. 1). Four years earlier she had been found HIV seropositive on routine screening as a blood donor. She was asymptomatic for 3 years, then presented with oral and esophageal candidiasis and a CD4 count of 30. She was begun on zidovudine at 600 mg/day which was reduced to 300 mg/day when she developed anemia.