cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Investigation of optically stimulated luminescence behavior of quartz from crystalline rock surfaces: A look forward

Abstract Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating has recently been applied to crystalline (i.e. igneous and metamorphic) rock surfaces. With the advent of this technique, early studies can guide improvements to the methodology that will lead to more robust age constraints. Low OSL sensitivity, poor measurement reliability, and equivalent dose scatter are common problems with dating quartz from crystalline rock surfaces. We investigate OSL characteristics of quartz extracted from crystalline Antarctic beach cobbles. Comparison of OSL behavior with cathodoluminescene characteristics and mineral composition and texture does not show a distinct relationship, suggesting luminescence behavior results from the natural radiation environment and post-crystallization transport history, rather than provenance source and the nature of crystal defects. Elemental composition of processed samples used for OSL measurements indicates standard methods of chemical preparation are not always suitable to extract pure quartz samples. Additionally, heterogeneous radiation production and attenuation poses a problem for estimating dose rates, in particular regarding beta contributions that dominate effective dose rates. We determine the sensitivity of effective dose rates to water content parameters and crystal size needed to calculate dose rates for crystalline rock surfaces. An increase in the value of all modelled parameters serves to reduce effective dose rates and, thus increase OSL ages. Dose rates are most sensitive to crystal size, which can introduce large uncertainty in burial ages from crystalline rocks due to heterogeneous crystal morphology (i.e. size and shape). This study provides a step forward in understanding the challenges and improving the methodology of luminescence dating of quartz from crystalline rock surfaces.
Fault tree analysis for software design

We present a study on software fault tree analysis (SFTA) conducted at the Software Assurance Technology Center at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. While researchers have made various attempts at SFTA, software assurance practitioners have been slow to adopt it. One reason is the intense manual effort needed to identify and draw the fault trees for the code of large software projects. Another is the lack of commercial tools to assist in the technique for software. Most SFTA research efforts have been directed at requirements or code. Performing SFTA on the design may enable application of SFTA to critical code only, thus reducing the amount of effort. We attempt to develop a relationship between UML/spl trade/ design diagrams and fault tree symbology to enable adaptation of a commercial FTA tool to at least one software design language. Such a result would reduce the amount of fault tree effort both for size (design instead of code) and for manual effort.
Betrayed Futures: Uneconomic Schooling in Liberalizing Kerala (India)

This chapter describes the social practices of mothers whose children study at Malayalam-medium schools, arguing that these mothers’ struggles highlight the extent to which Malayalam-medium schooling has become a sign of marginalization and abjection. Further, ethnographic inquiry reveals how, despite experiencing abjection, mothers yet hoped for more just and desirable futures. However, mothers were simultaneously aware of the inadequacies of hope in effecting radical material and social change, and the costs entailed in hoping were exacting. For former slave-caste mothers whose children disproportionately remain at Malayalam-medium schools, schooling was thus entangled in obsessive hope and overwhelming despair.
ENTEROVIRUS PERSISTENCE IN SAUSAGE AND GROUND BEEF

Persistence of coxsackievirus type A9 suspended in ground beef was found not to be sufficiently affected by extensive bacterial growth, during periods of up to 8 days at 23 or 4 C, to afford any notable degree of protection to the consumer. Longer storage times resulted in marked virus loss. After 2 weeks at both temperatures >90% of the input virus was no longer infective. In the preparation of Thuringer sausage, approximately 85% of the input virus was lost during a 24-hr fermentation at 30 C. Subsequent heating of the prepared sausage at 49 C resulted in a progressive loss of virus. However, after 6 hr at 49 C, an average of 1.1 × 103 infectious units of virus per gram of sausage remained of an initial 7.5 × 105 infectious units per gram.
Pertechnetate Abdomen Scan in a Patient with Ascaris Lumbricoides Infestation

A 6-year-old Vietnamese girl was admitted with a 3-day history of rectal bleeding of unknown etiology. A [99mTc] pertechnetate abdomen scan was performed and revealed multiple areas of abnormal uptake in the small-bowel region. Subsequent upper gastrointestinal radiography studies revealed an infestation of Ascaris lumbricoides.
Why Every Pathologist Needs to Know Statistics

Statistics is integrated in many aspects of practice of pathology; we use statistics in design, implementation, and interpretation of diagnostic and prognostic tests. Tests are only meaningful because they can distinguish diseased status from the unaffected status. This distinction can only be made with acceptable certainty if statistical process has been followed in the design and interpretation of the test; characteristics such as sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy are derived from statistical methods. The application of statistics in pathology encompasses clinical, technical, and administrative aspects of practice of pathology.
Strengthening the Rule of Law through the UN Security Council

This work represents the tenth instalment within a series of academic volumes examining the challenges presented by the emergence of globalisation on the geo-political scene. The series claims to m...
Deep Structures of the Head and Neck

The skin and subcutaneous tissue is an intricate and dynamic network with many key components contributing to its overall structural and functional integrity. Precise knowledge of the individual components that make up this vital organ as well as the manner by which they interact with one another is a critical tool for the cutaneous surgeon. This chapter explores the deep subcutaneous structures of the head and neck including motor and sensory nerves, muscles of facial expression, soft tissue structures (fatty layers and fascia), mucosa, and bony and cartilaginous skeletons.
Could payer mix affect length of stay or readmissions among an outpatient palliative care cohort

165Background: Outpatient palliative care clinics (PCC) are a developing frontier of palliative medicine. Characterizing and promoting financially viable models for payment of services are imperati...
Programmed Death Ligand 1: A Step Toward Immunoscore for Esophageal Cancer.

Background This study sought to evaluate the effect of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) density and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression on the prognosis of esophageal cancer. Methods Banked tissue specimens from 53 patients who underwent esophagectomies for malignancy at a single institution over a 6-year period were stained for cluster of differentiation 3 (CD3), CD8, and PD-L1. Tumors were characterized as staining high or low density for CD3 and CD8, as well as positive or negative for PD-L1. TIL density and PD-L1 expression were analyzed in the context of survival, recurrence, and perioperative characteristics. Results Median follow-up was 823 days, with 92.5% survival and 26.8% recurrence rates. All tumors were adenocarcinomas. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was given in 56.6% of cases, and neoadjuvant radiotherapy was given in 37.7%. High CD3 density was found in 83%, whereas high CD8 density was found in 56.6%. A total of 18.9% of the tumors stained positive for PD-L1. Survival was significantly shorter in Kaplan-Meier analysis for patients with primary tumors staining positive for PD-L1 (log rank: p = 0.05). Multivariable analysis controlling for neoadjuvant therapy, TIL markers, PD-L1, age, and sex found no significant difference in recurrence or survival. Conclusions Positive staining for PD-L1 may be a prognostic marker for decreased survival in esophageal adenocarcinoma. Additional TIL cell types should be investigated for creation of an esophageal cancer Immunoscore. PD-L1 has potential as a therapeutic target.
Slab-mantle interaction, carbon transport, and kimberlite generation in the deep upper mantle

Abstract Low-degree partial melts from deeply subducted, carbonated ocean crust are carbonatite liquids with ∼35–47 wt% CO2. Their reactions with the overlying mantle regulate the slab–mantle interaction and carbon transport in the deep upper mantle but have not been investigated systematically. Here we present new multi-anvil experiments and parameterized phase relation models to constrain the fate of slab-derived carbonatite melts in the upper mantle. The experiments were conducted at 7 GPa/1400 °C and 10 GPa/1450 °C, and used starting compositions mimicking the ambient mantle infiltrated by variable carbonatite fluxes (0–45 wt%) from the slab surface. Kimberlitic melts (CO2 = 14–32 wt%, SiO2 = 15–33 wt%, and MgO = 20–29 wt%) were produced from experiments with 5.8–25.6 wt% carbonatite influxes. Experimental phase relations demonstrate a reactive melting process in which the carbonatite influx increases in proportion by dissolution of olivine, orthopyroxene, garnet and precipitation of clinopyroxene. This manifests a feasible mechanism for slab-derived carbonatite melts to efficiently transport in the ambient mantle through high-porosity channels. The melt and mineral fractions from this study and previous phase equilibria experiments in peridotite + CO 2 ± H 2 O systems were empirically parameterized as functions of temperature (900–2000 °C), pressure (3–20 GPa), and bulk compositions (e.g., CO2 = 0.9–17.1 wt% and Na2O + K2O = 0.27–2.51 wt%). Applications of the phase relation models to prescribed melting processes indicate that reactive melting of a carbonatite-fluxed mantle source could produce kimberlitic melts with diverse residual lithologies under various melting conditions. However, reactive melting at the slab–mantle interface can only commence when the slab-released carbonatite melt conquers the carbonation freezing front, i.e., the peridotite solidi suppressed by infiltration of CO2-rich melts in an open system. Depending on temperatures and local influxes, reactive melting and carbonation/redox freezing can occur simultaneously above the slab–mantle interface, yielding heterogeneous lithologies and redox conditions as well as various time-scales of carbon transport in Earth's mantle.
Improved approximation of transverse and shear stiffness for high volume fraction uniaxial composites

Abstract With uniaxial composites, the matrix material properties dominate the overall transverse and shear composite stiffness. Knowledge of these quantities are of practical importance in composite structures such as large wind turbine blades, which despite having a predominantly uniaxial layup, have both their torsional response and buckling behavior as critical design considerations. Accurate estimations of transverse and torsional rigidity for high volume fraction composites are currently dependent on extensive experimental work due to the low reliability and precision of transverse/shear micromechanical models. The Continuous Periodic Fiber Model is proposed to improve these predictions by considering fiber-fiber interactions through the use of periodic boundary conditions. Experimental data and standard models are used to validate the results and quantify the predictive improvements relative to traditional methods. The Continuous Periodic Fiber Model offers greatly improved accuracy for transverse stiffness estimations, reducing the average difference from the experiments by a factor of 1.7 (an average difference with experiment of 14% compared to the next best approach value of 24%) as well as modest improvements for the shear moduli.
Spatiotemporal Coupling of Vessel Cavitation and Discharge of Stored Xylem Water in a Tree Sapling

Water discharge from stem internal storage compartments is thought to minimize the risk of vessel cavitation. Based on this concept, one would expect that water storage compartments involved in the buffering of xylem tensions empty before the onset of vessel cavitation under drought stress, and potentially refill after soil saturation. However, scant in vivo data exist that elucidate this localized spatiotemporal coupling. In this study on intact saplings of American chestnut (Castanea dentata), x-ray computed microtomography (microCT) showed that the xylem matrix surrounding vessels releases stored water and becomes air-filled either concurrent to or after vessel cavitation under progressive drought stress. Among annual growth rings, the xylem matrix of the current year remained largely water-filled even under severe drought stress. In comparison, microtomography images collected on excised stems showed that applied pressures of much greater than 0 MPa were required to induce water release from the xylem matrix. Viability staining highlighted that water release from the xylem matrix was associated primarily with emptying of dead fibers. Refilling of the xylem matrix and vessels was detected in intact saplings when the canopy was bagged and stem water potential was close to 0 MPa, and in leafless saplings over the winter period. In conclusion, this study indicates that the bulk of water stored in the xylem matrix is released after the onset of vessel cavitation, and suggests that capillary water contributes to overall stem water storage under drought but is not used primarily for the prevention of drought-induced vessel cavitation in this species.
An Overview of the Epigenetic Landscape of the Male Germline

The challenges faced in agriculture for improving crop yield and overcoming natural barriers are becoming more complex due to environmental changes and population growth. Improving agriculture will, in many ways, require a better understanding of the genetics and epigenetics behind plant adaptation and inheritance of desirable traits. In order to do so, it is essential to understand the mechanisms of germline regulation. The epigenetic mechanisms that orchestrate chromatin remodeling include DNA methylation, histone modifications, and small RNAs that act in synergy to modulate gene expression and regulatory elements. In pollen, these mechanisms are still poorly understood, but nevertheless, are coming to light.
Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor in young adult mice causes low bone blood flow and bone strength with no effect on bone mass in trabecular regions.

Abstract Objective To determine the effect of an antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on bone blood flow, bone strength, and bone mass in the young adult mouse. Methods Ten-week-old male BALB/cJ mice were body weight-randomized into either a rodent anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (anti-VEGF, B20-4.1.1; 5 mg/kg 2×/wk.; n = 12) group or a vehicle (VEH; n = 12) group. After 42 days, mice were evaluated for bone blood flow at the distal femur by 18F-NaF-PET/CT and then necropsied. Samples from trabecular and cortical bone regions were evaluated for bone strength by mechanical testing, bone mass by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT), and micoarchitecture (MicroCT). Hydration of the whole femur was studied by proton nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry (1H NMR). Results Distal femur blood flow was 43% lower in anti-VEGF mice than in VEH mice (p = 0.009). Ultimate load in the lumbar vertebral body was 25% lower in anti-VEGF than in VEH mice (p = 0.013). Bone mineral density (BMD) in the trabecular region of the proximal humeral metaphysis by pQCT, and bone volume fraction and volumetric BMD by MicroCT were the same in the two groups. Volume fraction of bound water (BW) of the whole femur was 14% lower in anti-VEGF than in VEH mice (p = 0.003). Finally, BW, but not cortical tissue mineral density, helped section modulus explain the variance in the ultimate moment experienced by the femur in three-point bending. Conclusion Anti-VEGF caused low bone blood flow and bone strength in trabecular bone regions without influencing BMD and microarchitecture. Low bone strength was also associated with low bone hydration. These data suggest that bone blood flow is a novel bone property that affects bone quality.
Effects of sprint interval training on cardiorespiratory fitness while in a hyperbaric oxygen environment.

Objectives Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) exposure may enhance cardiorespiratory fitness. Exercise training and HBO2 exposure stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis, increase capillary density, and induce adaptive antioxidant mechanisms. We hypothesized that an exercise regimen of sprint interval training (SIT) while breathing HBO2 would lead to a greater improvement in exercise performance compared to the same training breathing ambient air. Methods Healthy long-term intermediate-altitude residents, ages 20-39 years, with normal spirometry and cardiorespiratory fitness were randomized to two groups: one performing six sessions of a SIT regimen over two weeks in a hyperbaric chamber (1.4 ATA [141.9 kPa], FiO2=1.0); the other performing under ambient pressure conditions (0.85 ATA [86.1 kPa], FiO2=0.21). Training effect was evaluated by comparing incremental cycle ergometry cardiopulmonary exercise testing before and after the training regimen. The primary outcome measure was peak oxygen consumption (VO2), while secondary outcomes included additional exercise parameters. The effect of study group on exercise parameters was assessed using two-factor repeated measures ANOVA. Results Of 58 participants randomized, 49 completed the training program and all cardiopulmonary exercise tests (n=23 HBO2, n=26 ambient). Both groups experienced an increase in peak VO2: 8.1% HBO2 and 7.1% ambient; the differences were not significant (p=0.50). Secondary parameters of peak work rate and peak VE experienced a significantly higher change in the HBO2 group compared to the ambient group (p=0.05 and p=0.03, respectively). Conclusion Cardiorespiratory fitness improved after a two-week SIT regimen, but improvement in peak VO2 was not significantly different between ambient and HBO2 groups.
Does Driving as a Form of

About 20% of the U.S. unemployed population has been out of the labor force for more than 6 months. The rise of the gig economy has changed the landscape of nontraditional employment opportunities for these predominantly low-skilled long-term unemployed workers. This particular type of on-demand work can be used to fill unemployment gaps and offers little to no training costs and flexible hours. Therefore, we explore whether driving as a form of gig work helps to mitigate the negative effects of long-term unemployment for low-skilled job seekers with employment gaps, and how employers evaluate workers who have held non-traditional jobs. Using a correspondence audit study with 1006 job applications, we evaluated whether a set of resumes "enhanced" with experience driving for a real-time ridesharing service received more callbacks than baseline resumes with an employment gap. We found no evidence that driving as a form of gig work increased the callback rates of applicants. In fact, we observed that in comparison to men, the callback rates for women slightly declined. Our study suggests that driving 'gigs' might not be a substitute for traditional employment on resumes for low-skilled workers. We contribute a call to CSCW to investigate methods that help to understand why real-time ridesharing services do not substitute for traditional jobs in bridging employment gaps and solutions on how to overcome it. Finally, we reflect on our use of audit studies in the new digital era and present potential CSCW and HCI contributions using this method.
Developmental constraints on fin diversity.

The fish fin is a breathtaking repository full of evolutionary diversity, novelty, and convergence. Over 500 million years, the adaptation to novel habitats has provided landscapes of fin diversity. Although comparative anatomy of evolutionarily divergent patterns over centuries has highlighted the fundamental architectures and evolutionary trends of fins, including convergent evolution, the developmental constraints on fin evolution, which bias the evolutionary trajectories of fin morphology, largely remain elusive. Here, we review the evolutionary history, developmental mechanisms, and evolutionary underpinnings of paired fins, illuminating possible developmental constraints on fin evolution. Our compilation of anatomical and genetic knowledge of fin development sheds light on the canalized and the unpredictable aspects of fin shape in evolution. Leveraged by an arsenal of genomic and genetic tools within the working arena of spectacular fin diversity, evolutionary developmental biology embarks on the establishment of conceptual framework for developmental constraints, previously enigmatic properties of evolution.
Analysis and Modeling of Oxide Reduction Processes for Uranium Oxides

Abstract This article describes a kinetic model for the reduction process of used oxide nuclear fuel with molten LiCl at 650°C. In this process, metal oxides, primarily UO2, react to form metallic U and Li2O. As UO2 is gradually reduced, metallic U and Li2O form in molten LiCl, in and through which Li2O dissolves and diffuses. To capture the prescribed chemical and physical phenomena, two classical kinetic models are integrated sequentially to describe Li2O formation, dissolution, and diffusion behaviors. The first part of the integrated model uses a shrinking core kinetics to explain the formation, dissolution, and diffusion of Li2O while accounting for the expanding metallic uranium layer. The second part of the integrated model begins with the completion of Li2O dissolution and deals with the diffusion of excess Li2O in the metallic uranium layer. A Fick's second law without an external source describes the second part of the process behavior. The integrated model explains engineering scale kinetic measurement data from the literature with the effective Li2O diffusion coefficient range between 2 and 6 ( 10 − 5 c m 2 / s e c).
Hydrocortisone decreases lethality and inflammatory cytokine and nitric oxide production in rats challenged with B. anthracis cell wall peptidoglycan

Lethal B. anthracis infection produces high proinflammatory peptidoglycan (PGN) burdens in hosts. We investigated whether the lethality and inflammation anthrax PGN can produce are related. At 6 h before and the start of 24 h anthrax PGN infusions, rats (n = 198) were treated with diluent (controls) or one of three IV-doses of either hydrocortisone (125, 12.5 or 1.25 mg/kg) or TNF-soluble receptor (TNFsr; 2000, 1000 or 333 μg/kg), non-selective and selective anti-inflammatory agents, respectively. Compared to controls, hydrocortisone 125 and 12.5 mg/kg each decreased 7-day lethality (p ≤ 0.004). Hydrocortisone 125 mg/kg decreased IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα, MCP, MIP-1α, MIP-2, RANTES and nitric oxide (NO) blood levels at 4 and 24 h after starting PGN (except MCP at 24 h). Each decrease was significant at 4 h (except MIP-1α that was significant at 24 h) (p ≤ 0.05). Similarly, hydrocortisone 12.5 mg/kg decreased each measure at 4, 24 and 48 h (except TNFα at 24 h and MIP-1α at 24 and 48 h and NO at 48 h). Decreases were significant for IL-6 and NO at 4 h and RANTES at 48 h (p ≤ 0.05). Hydrocortisone 1.25 mg/kg had non-significant effects. Each TNFsr dose decreased lethality but non-significantly. However, when doses were analyzed together, TNFsr decreased lethality in a potential trend (p = 0.16) and IL-6 and NO significantly at 4 h (p = 0.05). Peptidoglycan-stimulated host inflammation may contribute to B. anthracis lethality.
Real-time crash prediction for a long low-traffic volume corridor using corrected-impurity importance and semi-parametric generalized additive model

Real-time risk assessment studies have investigated a limited length of corridors. However, the necessity of assessing the safety performance of Connected Vehicles (CVs) requires looking into an en...
Location Based Services

Ortsbezogene Dienste (Location Based Services, LBS) sind Dienste, die uber mobile elektronische Kommunikationstechniken (typischerweise Mobilfunk) zur Verfugung gestellt werden fur deren Ausfuhrung der aktuelle Standort des dienstaufrufenden Nutzers (und/oder eines anderen Nutzers) bekannt sein muss und deren Ausfuhrung abhangig von diesem Standort erfolgt.
First-Order Approximations of Dynamic Material Strengths for the Ballistic Perforation of Aluminum Target Plates

Perforation of aluminum alloy target plates by armor-piercing rounds have been shown to follow the cavity expansion scaling law, while fragment-simulating projectiles follow a shear-plugging scaling law. In both models, experimental compressive stress–strain data is needed to derive their respective material strength parameters, which are not always available. By comparison, modified Ludwik plasticity parameters are more widely available in existing literature for the aluminum alloys of interest in armor applications. We show that the maximum compressive strengths may be approximated using a fixed true strain value across 33 aluminum alloys. A simple linear relation is further established between the maximum compressive strength and the cavity expansion strength.
Optimal Reactive Power Allocation in Large-Scale Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems

In this paper, an optimal strategy is proposed for the reactive power allocation in large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic systems. Grid-connected photovoltaic systems with direct current to alternating current inverters are able to supply active power to the utility grid as well as reactive power. The active power, extracted by the direct current to alternating current inverters, is usually controlled to be around the maximum power point of the photovoltaic array attached to it. For large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic systems with multiple direct current to alternating current inverters, due to the limited apparent power transfer capability of each inverter, the reactive power needs to be allocated among the direct current to alternating current inverters in a proper way. The proposed method achieves the maximum reactive power transfer capability of the entire system by applying classic Lagrange multiplier method. The sufficient conditions of the optimal reactive power allocation strategy are provided and mathematically proved. The proposed optimal reactive power allocation strategy is then tested in a case study against a sample large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic system.
Dielectric spectroscopy of fresh fruit and vegetable tissues from 10 to 1800 MHz.

Dielectric spectroscopy data from measurements on tissue samples of nine fresh fruits and vegetables were used to study their dielectric behavior over the frequency range from 10 MHz to 1.8 GHz at 5 to 65 °C. Dielectric constant and loss-factor data are presented graphically for apple, avocado, banana, cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, grape, orange, and potato, showing dielectric constants ranging from values of several hundred at JO MHz to less than 100 at 1.8 GHz and loss factors on the order of one thousand at JO MHz to less than 20 at 1.8 GHz. The dielectric loss factor increased consistently with increasing temperature at frequencies below 1 GHz. The dielectric constant increased with temperature at lower frequencies, but it decreased with temperature at the higher frequencies. This reversal of the sign of the temperature coefficient occurred at some point in the frequency range between 20 and 120 MHz where the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant was zero. At frequencies below this point, ...
Science Is Important, but Politics Drives the Siting of Nuclear Waste Repositories

In 1982, I worked on the Nuclear Waste Policy Act as an AGU Congressional Science Fellow tasked with assisting a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. When I recently read the suggestion that clay-rich strata (shales) could be a viable medium for high-level nuclear waste (HLW) disposal [Neuzil, 2013], I could not help but remember the insights I gained more than 30 years ago from my time on the Hill.
Calibration of nonlinear car-following laws for traffic oscillation prediction

Frequency-domain analysis has been successfully used to (i) predict the amplification of traffic oscillations along a platoon of vehicles with nonlinear car-following laws and (ii) measure traffic oscillation properties (e.g., periodicity, magnitude) from field data. This paper proposes a new method to calibrate nonlinear car-following laws based on real-world vehicle trajectories, such that oscillation prediction (based on the calibrated car-following laws) and measurement from the same data can be compared and validated. This calibration method, for the first time, takes into account not only the driver's car-following behavior but also the vehicle trajectory's time-domain (e.g., location, speed) and frequency-domain properties (e.g., peak oscillation amplitude). We use Newell's car-following model (1961) as an example and calibrate its parameters based on a penalty-based maximum likelihood estimation procedure. A series of experiments using Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) data are conducted to illustrate the applicability and performance of the proposed approach. RESULTS show that the calibrated car-following models are able to simultaneously reproduce observed driver behavior, time-domain trajectories, and oscillation propagation along the platoon with reasonable accuracy. Language: en
Detrimental Reliance on IRS Guidance

The IRS issues different types of guidance to taxpayers, and the extent to which taxpayers can rely on IRS guidance depends on the form in which it was offered. For instance, taxpayers generally cannot rely on oral advice provided over the phone but can rely on more formal types of advice. The current state of the law harms unsophisticated taxpayers who disproportionately obtain informal advice -- the least reliable type of IRS guidance.Existing literature lacks a thorough discussion of why, as a policy matter, we allow taxpayers to rely on some forms of IRS guidance more than others. This Article fills that gap by suggesting and critically evaluating potential justifications for this practice. As the analysis in this Article reveals, while a number of potential justifications are ultimately unconvincing, others are persuasive. Given the existence of several satisfactory justifications, the practice of disallowing reliance on informal guidance ought to be continued with some critical modifications. In particular, this Article proposes specific reform options that would assist unsophisticated taxpayers without undermining any compelling justifications for generally forbidding reliance on informal advice.
Descartes' Baby: How the Science of Child Development Explains What Makes Us Human

Why is a forgery worth so much less than an original work of art?What's so funny about someone slipping on a banana peel? Why, as Freud once asked, is a man willing to kiss a woman passionately, but not use her toothbrush? And how many times should you baptize a two-headed twin? Descartes' Baby answers such questions, questions we may have never thought to ask about such uniquely human traits as art, humour, faith, disgust, and morality. In this thought-provoking and fascinating account of human nature, psychologist Paul Bloom contends that we all see the world in terms of bodies and souls. Even babies have a rich understanding of both the physical and social worlds. They expect objects to obey principles of physics, and they're startled when things disappear or defy gravity. They can read the emotions of adults and respond with their own feelings of anger, sympathy and joy. This perspective remains with us throughout our lives. Using his own researches and new ideas from philosophy, evolutionary biology, aesthetics, theology, and neuroscience, Bloom shows how this way to making sense of reality can explain what makes us human. The myriad ways that our childhood views of the world undergo development throughout our lives and profoundly influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions is the subject of this richly rewarding book.
Number of Endomorphisms

Since there are usually lots of endomorphisms in a BA, the variations of this function under algebraic operations have not been studied much. Its main relationships to our other functions are the following two easily established facts: |UltA| ≤ |EndA| and |AutA| ≤ |EndA|. If A is the BA of finite and cofinite subsets of an infinite cardinal κ, then |UltA| = κ while |AutA| = |EndA| = 2 κ . For an infinite rigid BA A we have |AutA| < |EndA|.
Nature of the Interactions among Organizational Commitments: Complementary, Competitive or Synergistic?*

Although organizational commitment is a multidimensional construct, researchers have tended to examine the independent effects of its different forms. However, doing so creates potential problems of model misspecification and under-prediction if interactions exist among different commitments. In this paper we discuss theoretically plausible interactions among different commitments, the patterns of which are expected to vary depending on the nature of the criterion and the foci of commitment. We then test these predictions via empirical data. Results revealed a ‘synergistic’ pattern of effects for discretionary outcomes, such that levels of organizational citizenship behaviour and strain were most favourable when employees reported high levels on multiple commitments. Importantly, no evidence was found for competitive effects between commitments, such that high levels on multiple commitments are detrimental. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice.
Technical and theoretical considerations in the HLA typing of amniotic fluid cells for prenatal diagnosis and paternity testing

HLA typing of amniotic fluid cells has been used for the prenatal diagnosis of the HLA linked diseases congenital adrenal hyperplasia (21-OH-deficiency (21-OH-def) type) and complement C4 deficiency and it has also been used for the prenatal de termination of paternity. There are, however, technical difficulties in this test associated with the weak expression of some B locus antigens on amniotic fluid cells, and theoretical difficulties related to associations between particular HLA antigens and the 21-OH-def allele. Since certain HLA-B locus antigens are found in significantly increased frequencies among patients with 21-OH-def, there is a relatively high incidence of HLA-B homozygosity among the patients and over 40 percent of the parents of these patients share one or more HLA-B locus antigens. Results of some prenatal HLA typing tests may thus be difficult to interpret, and supplementary tests should be used whenever possible. HLA typing of amniotic cells is, however, the only available procedure for prenatal diagnosis of C4 deficiency and it is the best available procedure for prenatal determination of paternity. A modification of our original procedure allows HLA typing to be performed with increased numbers of HLA typing sera, and sera with optimum reactivity for amniotic fluid cells have now been selected for the definition of most of the more commonly expressed HLA antigens. Although amniotic fluid cells do not express DR antigens, amniotic fluid cells can be typed for the HLA-linked marker glyoxalase I (GLO) and this may be the informative for prenatal diagnosis in some cases.
Multivariate tests of the zero-beta CAPM

Abstract A ‘cross-sectional regression test’ (CSRT) of the CAPM is developed and its connection to the Hotelling T2 test of multivariate statistical analysis is explored. Algebraic relations between the CSRT, the likehood ratio test and the Langrange multiplier test are derived and a useful small-sample bound on the distribution function of the CSRT is obtained. An application of the CSRT suggests that the CRSP equally-weighted index is inefficient, but that the inefficiency is not explained by a firm size-effect from February to December.
Integrating Medical Students’ Goals, Self-Assessment and Preceptor Feedback in an Ambulatory Clerkship

Background: Self-assessment and feedback are important elements for improving performance. However, coordinating their content remains elusive. Purpose: The purpose is to determine whether student self-assessment and preceptor feedback correlate with course outcomes and whether preceptor feedback informs student self-assessment. Methods: Our students generate initial and midterm goals and preceptors provide midterm feedback. We coded goals and feedback as clinical subsets, knowledge, career oriented, and attitudinal. We assessed associations with exams and evaluations using correlations, chi-square, and comparisons of means. Results: Students usually listed clinical goals (72%), whereas preceptors noted attitudes (50%). Students’ self-assessments had little association with exams, evaluations, or preceptor feedback. Students cited by preceptors for clinical strengths scored higher on exams (77.2 vs. 72.7, p < .01). Those cited for knowledge received more honors and high pass (78 vs. 60%, p = .05) evaluati...
Lumbar facet joint cyst intervention: A minimally invasive treatment option we can offer our spine patients for a common cause of radiculopathy

Learning Objectives The purpose is to illustrate the potential clinical usefulness of CT guided lumbar facet synovial cyst rupture/decompression as a minimally invasive treatment of associated radicular back pain. Background Since starting a CT guided spine practice within the last two years, we treated 5 patients with symptomatic lumbar facet cysts. They consisted of 2 men and 3 women, mean age 62 with ongoing radicular pain referred by either Orthopedic Surgery or Neurosurgery. All patients had MR lumbar spine imaging showing unilateral lumbar facet synovial cysts causing mass effect upon the adjacent thecal sac and nerve root. All patients had congruent radicular pain at the level of the cyst on physical exam by their referring physician and prior to treatment. All 5 patient underwent CT guided facet joint injection with dilute contrast followed by a steroid/anesthetic combination until the cyst ruptured and/or a second needle was placed directly into the cyst via an interlaminar approach to aspirate and fenestrate the cyst. Cyst rupture was verified with contrast seen free flowing in the epidural space. Clinical Findings/Procedure Details Successful rupture/decompression of the cysts was achieved in all cases. Contiguity of contrast from the facet joint into the cyst was 100%. All patients reported significant improvement in pain score as measured by VAS. The mean pre and post procedure VAS were 6.4 and 1, respectively. Conclusion and/or Teaching Points Lumbar facet joint cysts are a more and more recognized cause of low back pain. Procedural treatments have ranged from epidural steroid injections, facet joint injections to surgical resection. Unfortunately, the literature is not robust in the description of CT guided facet joint cyst rupture/decompression for the treatment of associated radicular pain. The largest series may include just a half dozen or so patients. For many radiologist, whether Interventional, Neuro, or Musculoskeletal who have embarked to treat spine patients, CT guided lumbar facet joint cyst rupture/decompression appears to be a viable treatment option for their patients. Certainly larger cohorts and longer follow up is needed to assess the long term efficacy and durability of the procedure.
Ion-transport properties of cultured bovine pancreatic duct epithelial cells

Primary cultures of bovine pancreatic duct epithelial cells grown on permeable supports exhibit electrogenic transepithelial ion transport. The short-circuit current (I(sc)) generated by unstimulated duct cell monolayers and the increase in I(sc) elicited by increased levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) were greater in monolayers bathed by bicarbonate-containing solution compared with monolayers bathed by nominally bicarbonate-free solution. An inhibitor of epithelial sodium channels (amiloride, 10 microM) had no effect on I(sc), whereas a Cl- channel blocker, N-phenylanthranilic acid (DPC; 1 mM), reduced the forskolin-stimulated I(sc) by approximately 50% in the absence or presence of bicarbonate. Bumetanide (an inhibitor of Na+,K+,2Cl- cotransport activity; 10 microM) reduced forskolin-stimulated I(sc) by 49 +/- 6% in bicarbonate-free bathing solution and by only 18 +/- 1% in bicarbonate-containing solution. Measurements of unidirectional 36Cl- flux across short-circuited ductal monolayers in a bicarbonate-containing solution revealed that net Cl- secretion accounted for the I(sc) during secretin stimulation. However, the basal I(sc) and the I(sc) measured during exposure to secretin plus bumetanide were significantly greater than net Cl- flux. The permeability coefficient for [14C]acetate (a surrogate tracer for bicarbonate) measured in the secretory direction was approximately 1.5-fold greater than the permeability coefficient measured in the absorptive direction, indicating net secretion. These results suggest that primary cultures of bovine pancreatic duct epithelial cells secrete both Cl- and HCO3-.
Graphs isomorphic to subgraphs of their line-graphs

An embedding of graph G into graph H is by defenition an isomorphism of G onto a subgraph of H. It is shown in this paper that every unicycle U embeds in its line-graph L(U), and that every other connected graph that embeds in its own line-graph may be constructed from such an embedded unicycle in a natural way. A complete, explicit classification is also given of the graphs G that admit a special kind of embedding into L(G), called an incidence embedding. Moreover, the question of which graphs G are isomorphic to induced subgraphs G' of their line-graphs is shown to be formally equivalent to the original, more general question, where G' is not required to be induced.
Investigation of the reported protective effect of cycloheximide on memory.

Abstract Many findings support the hypothesis that formation of long-term memory requires synthesis of protein in the nervous system close to the time of learning. This hypothesis has been challenged recently by reports that the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide (CYC) injected 2 hr prior to passive avoidance training in mice or rats attenuated the memory impairment induced by a usually amnestic dose of CYC administered 30 min pretraining. To investigate the reports of a “protective” effect of the prior injection, we attempted to replicate them and test their generality. For replication we administered either paired injections of CYC—120 mg/kg 2 hr prior to training and 30 mg/kg 30 min prior to training—or single injections of CYC (either 120 mg/kg or 30 mg/kg) 30 min pretraining and testing for retention of the passive avoidance habit either 1 or 7 days later. No attenuation of amnesia was observed at 1 day tests. Attenuation of amnesia following the double injection of CYC was observed at 7 day tests. When another protein synthesis inhibitor, anisomycin, was used in the same experimental design, there was no “protective” effect; two injections of anisomycin produced greater memory impairment for the passive avoidance habit than did the single low dose. Also, for active avoidance training, two successive injections of CYC caused significantly greater amnesia than did a single dose; this is the opposite of a “protective” effect. We suggest that the reported “protective” effect of CYC on memory is an as yet unexplained phenomenon that does not generalize to other antiobiotic drugs and is specific to the passive avoidance task.
SU‐FF‐J‐154: Computerized Method for Quantifying the Alignment of Mechanical Or Digital Graticules Relative to Radiation Fields Using Electronic Portal Images

Purpose: Accurate alignment of graticules in MV or kV portal images is important in radiation therapy, especially in sterotactic radiosurgey. A quick computerized method is developed to quantify the small misalignments of the MV and kV graticules, in either mechanical or digital form, from the radiation central axis (CAX) at selected gantry angles. Method and Materials: A metal ball was placed approximately at a Varian linac's isocenter. The center of the ball served as a reference point in space. A pair of MV and kV portal images was taken at each cardinal gantry angle (0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees). A 10×10 cm2 square radiation field was used for MV portal images. The images were processed to obtain the following informaiton: center of ball, radiation CAX, center of mechanical graticule, center of MV digital graticule, center of kV digital graticule. Hough transform was used to detect automatically the linear or circular features in these images. The accuracy of image analysis algorithms was tested with numerically simulated images.Results: On test images, detection error of ⩽ 0.2 pixels (or 0.05 mm for pixel size of 0.26 mm) was achieved in determining the center of ball, the radiation CAX, and the center of mechanical graticule. The centers of MV or kV digital graticules were defined at the center of imagerdetector array. For the linac studied, the gantry‐averaged displacements of MV mechanical graticule, MV digital graticule, and kV digital graticule were 0.52 mm, 1.07 mm, 0.63 mm, respectively, from the radiation CAX. Conclusions: An efficient method was presented to quantify the small misalignments of mechanical or digital graticules from the radiation CAX. Systematic displacements of the graticules may be compensated either mechanically or digitally. This method is useful in stereotacic radiosurgery programs that require high spatial accuracy in patient setup.
Modifications to the LP-140 pulsed CO 2 laser for lidar use

The Pulse Systems Inc. Model LP-140 is a commercial pulsed CO2 laser designed for marking and engraving. It is available with pulse energies in excess of 1 joule and repetition rates up to 7 Hz, thus making it a potential candidate for lidar applications. The authors document the characteristics of the LP-140 performance including power, temporal and spatial mode stability, chirp, and long term operational characteristics. The laser can be made to function as a coherent lidar only if modified to improve its inherent characteristics. This paper addresses work in progress on the following modifications and their effect on performance: gas flow, optical resonator configuration and discharge supply modifications.
Using an equity audit investigation to prepare doctoral students for social justice leadership

The purpose of this article is to both introduce and describe the use of an equity audit investigation to prepare students in an educational leadership doctoral program for social justice leadership. The course setting where the equity audit served as the culminating activity is described. The authors also report on a five‐question, open‐ended survey in which students identified the equity audit problem they investigated, their findings, the result of their findings, how the investigation impacted their school and the perceived value of the process to them as a scholar‐practitioner. Qualitative feedback from the student survey responses indicated that using an equity audit led to powerful experiences for students seeking to become social justice leaders. Most students reported that sharing data from their equity audit investigation led to changes on their campuses that were more equitable and more socially just. Students also reported that conducting an equity audit was one of the most educationally trans...
The System Manganese Oxide–Alumina in Air

The quenching technique has been used to determine equilibrium relations among the various phases in the system manganese oxide-alumina in air in the temperature range 800° to 1765°C. Three isobaric invariant situations have been determined, as follows: Tetragonal Mn2O3 solid solution, Mn203 solid solution, corundum, and gas (PO2= 0.21 atm) coexist in equilibrium at 881°± 5°C. Tetragonal Mn3O4 solid solution, spinel solid solution, corundum, and gas are the phases present together in equilibrium at 990°± 5°C. Spinel solid solution, corundum, liquid, and gas coexist in equilibrium at 1740°± 10°C.