cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A tale of two auctions

Advocates for a ‘different and innovative approach’ to conceptualizing markets have argued that it is possible to reengineer markets to deliver any number of salutary public policy goals. These ‘consulting engineers for the market economy’ have supported their ambitions by referring to the participation of game theorists in the design and implementation of spectrum auctions. However, the variegated and inconsistent lessons drawn from their participation indicate that the role game theorists actually played in the auctions is not well understood. The confusion appears to stem from significant omissions in the available (mostly first-hand) accounts, which are boastful in taking credit for the performance of the auctions but strangely demure in recounting the precise measures undertaken to bring it about. In this paper, I provide an unexpurgated account of the circumstances surrounding the participation of game theorists in the most celebrated of spectrum auctions, those held under the auspices of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Using the FCC's archival records, I recover the suppressed role of the commercial funding of economic research in determining both the extent and the nature of the economists' participation. This analysis emphasizes the crucial importance of the method of funding in determining how economic research is brought to bear on public policy.
Estrous activity in the white rat: A function of time spent in activity

The estrous activity cycle of the rat was analyzed to determine whether the variation in activity is accounted for by changes in rate of responding or duration of daily periods of activity. Running-wheel data indicated that time in activity is the critical variable.
ZENK protein regulation by song in the brain of songbirds

When songbirds hear the song of another individual of the same species or when they sing, the mRNA levels of the ZENK gene increase rapidly in forebrain areas involved in vocal communication. This gene induction is thought to be related to long-term neuronal change and possibly the formation of song-related memories. We used immunocytochemistry to study the levels and distribution of ZENK protein in the brain of zebra finches and canaries after presentation of song playbacks. Birds that heard the playbacks and did not sing in response showed increased ZENK protein levels in auditory brain areas, including the caudomedial neostriatum and hyperstriatum ventrale, fields L1 and L3, the shelf adjacent to the high vocal center (HVC), the cup adjacent to the nucleus robustus archistriatalis (RA), and the nucleus mesencephalicus lateralis pars dorsalis (MLd). No ZENK expression was seen in song nuclei in these birds. Males that sang in response to the playbacks showed, in addition to auditory areas, increased ZENK protein in several song control nuclei, most prominently in HVC, RA, area X, and the dorsomedial nucleus (DN) of the intercollicular complex. The rise in ZENK protein followed that described previously for ZENK mRNA by a short lag, and the distribution of ZENK-labeled cells was in agreement with previous analysis of mRNA distribution. Thus, ZENK protein regulation can be used to assess activation of brain areas involved in perceptual and motor aspects of song. Possible implications of ZENK induction in these areas are discussed. J. Comp. Neurol. 393:426‐438, 1998. r 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Indexing terms: plasticity; memory; auditory; avian; immediate-early gene
The Statistical Reliability of Differential Counts of Chicken Blood

ABSTRACT REPEATED differential counts made by the same person on the same slide often give quite different percentages for each leukocyte type. When this happens it is usually assumed that the cells were not uniformly distributed. When such differences are found by different persons on the same slide, identification of the cells by these different persons sometimes is brought into question. If the differences are small it is generally conceded that the laws governing random distribution may be responsible for these differences, but if the differences are large some other explanation usually is sought. It is the purpose of this paper to determine whether the variability in differential counts on smears of avian blood is due to random distribution or to other causes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Significance of mean differences for Latin square groups, regions, persons, interaction of group and person, and bird, for each cell type were tested by using . . .
Poe's Taking of Pelham One Two Three Four Five Six

I t’s not that Poe hijacked a subway train. Rather, he transformed a narrative train—Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1828 novel Pelham. This essay will focus on six of his transformations from Pelham for six of his greatest tales.1 Scholars have long acknowledged some of Poe’s obligations to Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman. Fred Lewis Pattee wrote in 1923 that “whatever debt [Poe’s short story ‘The Visionary’] owes is to the Bulwer of the Pelham period.” In the 1960s, G. R. Thompson observed Poe’s indebtedness to Bulwer’s novel for elements of “Lionizing,” “Marginalia,” “Ulalume,” and “The Bells.” In the 1970s, Stuart and Susan Levine noted Poe’s borrowing such features as Rousseau’s La Nouvelle Heloise, Crebillon, and Faubourg St. Germain from Bulwer’s Pelham for “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Stephen Rachman, in 1995, stated that the epigraph from a chapter in Pelham became the epigraph for “The Man of the Crowd.” The Burton R. Pollin edition, Collected Writings (1981–97), has a number of references to Pelham (see 2:110, 112–13, 181, 214– 15, 409, 495, 501; 4:95, 112; 5:80, 132), to which the Levines’ 2004 edition of Eureka adds another reference.2 Yet there is more. Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–73) was a highly successful British novelist whom Poe in February 1836 considered to be “unsurpassed by any writer living or dead” (Writings, 5:121). Although his opinion of Bulwer did diminish over time—perhaps in part because of Horace Binney Wallace’s disparagement of him in the 1838 novel Stanley3—Poe continued to transform passages from Bulwer’s work. And we should not be deterred in our investigation of Bulwer by his modest reputation in our own time—owing, in part, to Snoopy’s use of the now-cliched first line of Bulwer’s 1830 novel Paul Clifford, “It was a dark and stormy night,” and to the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (honoring extravagantly bad writing). Bulwer was an important literary figure in Poe’s time; further attention to his Pelham, a “silver fork” novel of urban mystery and intrigue, reveals important additional source material for Poe’s tales. The search that led to my study of Bulwer’s Pelham began in 1982 when I visited Poe scholar Palmer C. Holt at his home in Englewood, Florida; it continued in 2005 when I visited the Palmer C. Holt Collection of the Holland/New Library of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
Gender and Genocide in Burundi: The Search for Spaces of Peace in the Great Lakes Region – By Patricia O. Daley

Race, class, gender, militarism, and imperialism are some of the dominant concepts in the study of modern history and politics; the author of this book attempts to use the “intersectionality” of th...
Loss of consciousness from acute quetiapine overdosage

AbstractBackground: Quetiapine (SeroquelR) is a new atypical antipsychotic agent developed for the treatment of schizophrenia. This dibenzothiazepine derivative possesses high affinity for 5-HT2 receptors with lower affinity for D1 and D2 dopamine receptors. In comparison to other antipsychotic agents, quetiapine has less antimuscarinic and alpha antagonist receptor activity. Overdose reports outside of clinical trials are limited. We report an intentional overdose of quetiapine by a schizophrenic. Case Report: A 26-year-old female presented to the emergency department following an alleged ingestion of greater than 10,000 mg of quetiapine. At IVi hours postingestion, the patient was awake, ambulatory, and responded to verbal stimuli. At 2′/i hours postingestion, the patient experienced a decreased level of consciousness and responded only to deep pain. Physical findings included sinus tachycardia, pupils 3-4 nun and sluggish, and BP 135/70. Within 16 hours, the patient became awake and alert and was subse...
Experimental persistent infection with bovine viral diarrhea virus in white-tailed deer ☆

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infections cause substantial economic losses to the cattle industries. Persistently infected (PI) cattle are the most important reservoir for BVDV. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are the most abundant species of wild ruminants in the United States and contact between cattle and deer is common. If the outcome of fetal infection of white-tailed deer is similar to cattle, PI white-tailed deer may pose a threat to BVDV control programs. The objective of this study was to determine if experimental infection of pregnant white-tailed deer with BVDV would result in the birth of PI offspring. Nine female and one male white-tailed deer were captured and housed at a captive deer isolation facility. After natural mating had occurred, all does were inoculated intranasally at approximately 50 days of pregnancy with 10(6) CCID(50) each of a BVDV 1 (BJ) and BVDV 2 (PA131) strain. Although no clinical signs of BVDV infection were observed or abortions detected, only one pregnancy advanced to term. On day 167 post-inoculation, one doe delivered a live fawn and a mummified fetus. The fawn was translocated to an isolation facility to be hand-raised. The fawn was determined to be PI with BVDV 2 by serial virus isolation from serum and white blood cells, immunohistochemistry on skin biopsy, and RT-PCR. This is the first report of persistent infection of white-tailed deer with BVDV. Further research is needed to assess the impact of PI white-tailed deer on BVDV control programs in cattle.
Fundamental Limits on Synchronizing Clocks Over Networks

We characterize what is feasible concerning clock synchronization in wireline or wireless networks. We consider a net work of n nodes, equipped with affine clocks relative to a designated clock that exchange packets subject to link delays. Determining all unknown parameters, i.e., skews and offsets of all the clocks as well as the delays of all the communication links, is impossible. All nodal skews, as well as all round-trip delays between every pair of nodes, can be determined correctly. Also, every transmitting node can predict precisely the time indicated by the receiver's clock at which it receives the packet. However, the vector of unknown link delays and clock offsets can only be determined up to an (n - 1)-dimensional subspace, with each degree of freedom corresponding to the offset of one of the (n - 1) clocks. Invoking causality, that packets cannot be received before they are transmitted, the uncertainty set can be reduced to a polyhedron. We also investigate structured models for link delays as the sum of a transmitter-dependent delay, a receiver-dependent delay, and a known propagation delay, and identify conditions which permit a unique solution, and conditions under which the number of the residual degrees of freedom is independent of the network size. For receiver-receiver synchronization, where only receipt times are available, but no time-stamping is done by the sender, all nodal skews can still be determined, but delay differences between neighboring communication links with a common sender can only be characterized up to an affine transformation of the (n - 1) un known offsets. Moreover, causality does not help reduce the uncertainty set.
The Dynamic Structure of the Estrogen Receptor

The estrogen receptor (ER) mediates most of the biological effects of estrogens at the level of gene regulation by interacting through its site-specific DNA and with other coregulatory proteins. In recent years, new information regarding the dynamic structural nature of ER has emerged. The physiological effects of estrogen are manifested through ER's two isoforms, ERα and ERβ. These two isoforms (ERα and ERβ) display distinct regions of sequence homology. The three-dimensional structures of the DNA-binding domain (DBD) and ligand-binding domain (LBD) have been solved, whereas no three-dimensional natively folded structure for the ER N-terminal domain (NTD) is available to date. However, insights about the structural and functional correlations regarding the ER NTD have recently emerged. In this paper, we discuss the knowledge about the structural characteristics of the ER in general and how the structural features of the two isoforms differ, and its subsequent role in gene regulation.
The use of matrix signal-flow graph in state-space formulation of feedback theory

Presents a unified summary on the formulation of the general feedback theory in terms of the coefficient matrices of the state equations. The author expresses the feedback matrices with respect to the coefficient matrix of the state equation for a single-input and single-output feedback network, and shows how they are related to the poles and zeros of the transfer function. The author extends these concepts to multiple-input, multiple-output and multiple-loop feedback networks, and derives expressions for the return difference matrix and the null return difference matrix and relations of the zeros and poles of their determinants to the eigenvalues of the coefficient matrices under the nominal condition and under the condition that the elements of interest vanish. >
Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes During 6.8 Years of Hormone Therapy: Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study Follow-up (HERS II)

1.22); HERS II, 1.00 (95% CI, 0.77-1.29); and overall, 0.99 (0.84-1.17). The overall RHs were similar after adjustment for potential confounders and differential use of statins between treatment groups (RH, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.82-1.14), and in analyses restricted to women who were adherent to randomized treatment assignment (RH, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.77-1.19). Conclusions Lower rates of CHD events among women in the hormone group in the final years of HERS did not persist during additional years of follow-up. After 6.8 years, hormone therapy did not reduce risk of cardiovascular events in women with CHD. Postmenopausal hormone therapy should not be used to reduce risk for CHD events in women with CHD.
SIMPLIFIED ESTIMATION OF LEUCINE AMINOPEPTIDASE (LAP) ACTIVITY.

An accepted colorimetric assay for the end product of the enzymic hydrolysis of L-leucyl-β-naphthylamide by leucine aminopeptidase in serum and urine has been modified. This modification has been shown to result in enhanced facility of handling large numbers of assays of this enzyme with considerably improved precision.
Set-membership adaptive equalization and an updator-shared implementation for multiple channel communications systems

This paper considers the problems of channel estimation and adaptive equalization in the novel framework of set-membership parameter estimation. Channel estimation using a class of set-membership identification algorithms known as optimal bounding ellipsoid (OBE) algorithms and their extension to tracking time-varying channels are described. Simulation results show that the OBE channel estimators outperform the least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm and perform comparably with the RLS and the Kalman filter. The concept of set-membership equalization is introduced along with the notion of a feasible equalizer. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for the existence of feasible equalizers in the case of linear equalization for a linear FIR additive noise channel. An adaptive OBE algorithm is shown to provide a set of estimated feasible equalizers. The selective update feature of the OBE algorithms is exploited to devise an updator-shared scheme in a multiple channel environment, referred to as updator-shared parallel adaptive equalization (USHAPE). U-SHAPE is shown to reduce the hardware complexity significantly. Procedures to compute the minimum number of updating processors required for a specified quality of service are presented.
Fate of biosolids Cu and Zn in a semi-arid grassland

Abstract Biosolids land application applies varying trace metal amounts to soils. Measuring total soil metals is typically performed to ensure environmental protection, yet this technique does not quantify which soil phases play important metal release or attenuation roles. We assessed the distribution of biosolids-borne Cu and Zn associated with soluble/exchangeable, specifically adsorbed/carbonate-bound, amorphous and crystalline Mn/Fe oxyhydroxide-bound, residual organic, and residual inorganic phases. Biosolids were surface-applied (no incorporation) to experimental plots, at the Meadow Springs Ranch (40 53′46″N, 104 52′28″W) which is owned by the city of Fort Collins, CO, USA, in 1991 at rates of 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 21, and 30 Mg ha−1. Plots were split in half in 2002, with one-half receiving biosolids at rates identical to 1991 rates. In 2003, 0–8, 8–15, and 15–30-cm soil depths were collected and subjected to 4 M HNO3 digestion and sequential fractionation. The 4 M HNO3 extraction suggested downward Cu transport, while Zn was immobilized in the soil surface. The sequential extraction procedure, more sensitive to changes in soil metal pools, suggested that repeated biosolids application did not affect vertical Zn movement, but did increase the downward transport potential of organically complexed Cu. In the given time, organically complexed Cu was likely mineralized and subsequently associated with soil mineral oxide phases. Because bioavailability of Cu is associated with dissolved phases, and soluble/exchangeable Cu concentrations were below detection limits in the subsoil, a reduction in environmental quality should be minimal. Still, we advocate that on coarse-textured semi-arid soils, biosolids application rates should match the plant N needs to avoid potential downward trace metal transport.
Students Talk About Prime: What We Heard About Definitions

This study examines data from college students who worked in pairs to make decisions about a list of potential definitions of prime number. Analysis focused on the evidence each student pair cited when they decided whether or not a statement could be used as a definition for prime number. The purpose of this paper is to describe patterns in the ways students used the evidence they cited. Findings suggest that students attend to important features of mathematical definitions, with some students giving preference to usability and others giving preference to definitions that are unambiguous.
A Diode-Pumped Solid State Blue Laser for Monitoring the CMS Lead Tungstate Crystal Calorimeter at the LHC

Monitoring the changes in channel response is crucial to maintain the energy resolution of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter. A new diode-pumped solid state blue laser was commissioned and installed at CERN for 2012 operation. This laser has a simple structure and is more reliable than the existing lamp-pumped lasers used by the monitoring system. The stability of critical parameters, such as the pulse energy, width and centre timing, is much better than that of the lamp-pumped lasers. The characteristics of this blue laser are described. Its performance in-situ at LHC is elaborated. The prospects for improving the light monitoring precision are discussed.
The other revolution in the life sciences.

In his Perspective "The revolution in the life sciences" (14 December 2012, p. [1427][1]), S. Brenner refers to the celebrated book W hat Is Life? , published in 1944 by the Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger, best known for the development of wave mechanics ([ 1 ][2]). Brenner focuses on only
Total and methyl mercury in wetland soils and sediments of Louisiana's Pontchartrain Basin (USA).

Accumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic biota is a primary toxicological concern associated with Hg contamination in the environment. This study reports total mercury (THg) and MeHg measurements in 11 swamp and 24 marsh soils/sediments in wetlands surrounding Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas located in Louisiana's Pontchartrain Basin. The salinity level ranged from fresh, brackish to salt water. Average THg content in the swamp soils/sediments (112.3 μ g kg−1, n = 10) was significantly higher (P = 0.04) than in the marsh soils/sediments (56.5 μ g kg−1, n = 24). The THg content in the marsh soils/sediments tended to decrease with salinity increase, probably due to geographical locations of the sampling sites with less Hg input in more saline regions. Average MeHg content in the soils/sediments was 1.3 μ g kg−1 (n = 34), higher than reported values in the bottom sediments of Lake Maurepas (0.8 μ g kg−1, n = 27) and Lake Pontchartrain (0.6 μ g kg−1, n = 147). Average MeHg/THg ratio in the marsh s...
Application of nonlinear friction compensation to robot arm control

This paper deals with a design of a digital servo controller for a robot manipulator with mechanical nonlinearities. The experimental system is a D.C. motor driven manipulator arm. A model to predict the nonlinear behavior exhibited by the experimental system and a nonlinear controller with Coulomb friction compensator are developed and tested. The effectiveness of the nonlinear controller is certified by designing a linear tracking controller based on this scheme. Experimental and simulated responses are given.
Understanding Disease–Drug Interactions in Cancer Patients: Implications for Dosing Within the Therapeutic Window

The human inflammatory response can result in the alteration of drug clearance through effects on metabolizing enzymes or transporters. In this article we briefly review the theory of how cancer can lead to indirect changes in drug metabolism, review acute phase proteins and cytokines as markers of changes in cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity in cancer patients, and provide clinical case examples of how the inflammation in advanced cancer patients can lead to altered CYP-mediated drug clearance.
Designing Schools to Meet the Needs of Students Who Exhibit Disruptive Behavior

This article offers an evaluation of a school-wide program designed to increase the institutional capacity of elementary schools to educate students who exhibit disruptive or externalizing behavior. The project included four elements: school organizational practices, a school-wide classroom management intervention, individual behavioral programs, and an advisory board. Two elementary schools serving large numbers of disadvantaged students were studied over a period of 2 years. Comparisons with two matched elementary schools indicated strong positive effects on the disciplinary actions of the schools and on the teachers' perceptions of their ability to work with children who exhibit disruptive behavior as well as the extent of shared goals among staff for working with disruptive behavior. Additionally, comparisons between target students (i.e., those who exhibited disruptive behavior), and criterion students indicated positive effects on the social adjustment, academic performance, and school survival skills of target students. T HE HARSH TRUTH IS THAT
Using broadcast to protect user privacy in location-based applications

Most existing cloaking techniques are based on a three-tier architecture: mobile users, a trusted anonymizer server, and service providers. In this paper, we propose a new three-tier architecture, where the trusted anonymizer server also serves as a broadcast server. The trusted anonymizer server takes a proactive approach. It first groups mobile users into clusters. Then for each cluster, it fetches the most popular query results from service providers. The query results are then broadcast through an air channel to reach all mobile users. As a result, to get a query answered, a mobile user can first tune into the air channel to determine if the query result is available. If not, the mobile user just sends a traditional location-based query to the trusted anonymizer server. Other than the novel new three-tier architecture, we also propose two cell-based clustering algorithms, and a broadcast index to facilitate the download of query results. The proposed techniques are compared using simulation against the improved Interval Cloak technique under the traditional three-tier architecture. The extensive results show that our system is better in reducing communication cost and protecting user privacy.
Scalable manufacturing of hierarchical nanostructures for thermal management

Thermal oxidation of copper is a simple and scalable method to produce copper oxide nanowires. We report for the first time the formation of nanowires on copper powder during thermal oxidation and the resulting nanowire coverage that is dependent on initial particle size. Systematic thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and in-situ x-ray diffraction (XRD) studies of thermal oxidation of particles of different sizes provide insights into the size-dependent process and evolution of the various phases of copper and copper oxide with time. Furthermore, we find that a large void is formed within these particles after oxidation and propose a mechanism based on the Kirkendall effect. Using this new size-dependent oxidation process, we demonstrate the simple and scalable creation of new hierarchical structures for applications in thermal management, including electronics cooling and boiling.
Hemoglobin Concentration Overestimates Oxygen Carrying Capacity during Favic Crises

Acute hemolytic anemia in patients with red blood cells deficient in enzymes such as G-6-PD is characterized by excessive oxidation of hemoglobin (Hgb) to a variety of soluble heme pigments and to precipitates, known as Heinz bodies, attached to the inner coat of the red cell membrane. These pigments and precipitates do not carry oxygen. The cyanmethemoglobin method, widely used to determine blood Hgb concentration, detects not only Hgb but methemoglobin and other non-oxygen carrying heme pigments as well. In a previous study (P. M. Taylor, et al., Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. Med., in press) we tested the hypothesis that non-oxygen carrying pigments might constitute a significant fraction of “hemoglobin,” as measured by the cyanmethemoglobin method, during the course of acute hemolytic anemia induced in dogs by Phenylhydrazine, a potent oxidizing agent.
Applications of DAWGs to data compression

A string compression technique can compress well only if it has an accurate model of the data source. For a source with statistically independent characters, Huffman or arithmetic codes give optimal compression [11]. In this case it is straightforward to use a fixed source model if the statistics are known in advance, or to adapt the model to unknown or changing statistics. For the many sources which produce dependent characters, a more sophisticated source model can provide much better compression at the expense of the extra space and time for storing and maintaining the model. The space required by a straightforward implementation of a Markov model grows exponentially in the order of the model. The Directed Acyclic Word Graph (DAWG) can be built in linear time and space, and provides the information needed to obtain compression equal to that obtained using a Markov model of high order. This paper presents two algorithms for string compression using DAWGs. The first is a very simple idea which generalizes run-length coding. It obtains good compression in many cases, but is provably non-optimal. The second combines the main idea of the first with arithmetic coding, resulting in a great improvement in performance.
Interactive Robotic Fish: A Tool for Informal Science Learning and Environmental Awareness

Robotics has often been proposed as a tool to support informal science education through hands-on activities and learning across fields in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, instances in which robots have been effectively integrated into informal science learning events are rare, and data on participants' learning and engagement are even harder to find. We present the deployment of a new robotic fish controlled by an iDevice application at a series of informal science learning events. Visitors to the exhibit are offered a unique learning experience and can interact with the robotic fish through a range of control modalities, highlighting the principles of autonomy and remote operations. Data collected on visitor interactions with the application indicate a longer time usage for more interactive control modes with less autonomy. Moreover, survey data garnered after the interaction with the robots suggest that visitors are concerned about the environmental issue of marine pollution and they are eager to learn more. This platform can serve as the basis for systematically exploring the potential of robotics in informal science education by combining refined data collection with interactive control.
An upper bound for λ 1 for Γ( q ) and Γ 0 ( q )

Under the assumption of the Selberg conjecture I establish by means of the Selberg trace formula the following:Theorem. Let Γ denote Γ(q) or Γ0(q), q square-free. Let Δq denote the Laplace operator on L2(Γ\H), and let Σq denote its discrete spectrum. Then there exists an absolute positive constant A such that for q≧A
Electrohydraulic Modeling of a Fluidic Artificial Muscle Actuation System for Robot Locomotion

Fluidic artificial muscles have the potential for a wide range of uses; from injury rehabilitation to high-powered hydraulic systems. Their modeling to date has largely been quasi-static and relied on the operator to adjust pressure so as to control force output and utilization while little work has been done to date to analyze the kinematics of the driving-systems involved in their operation. This paper establishes a combined electro-hydraulic model of a fluidic artificial muscle actuated climbing robot to establish a method for studying the relationships between muscle size, robot size and function, and system design. The study indicates a strong relationship between appropriate system component selection and not only system efficiency but individual component effectiveness. The results of the study show that robot mass, operating pressure, muscle size, and motor-pump selection have noteworthy impacts on the efficiency and thereby longevity of the robot for performing its task.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Intellectual Vicissitudes: The Black Athena Debate

Historiography is at its best when the historian interpreting data stays within the limits dictated by the range of knowledge he/she commands. No historian should be so credulous to believe that they can get away with positing a thesis, no matter how plausible, on unconventional evidence outside their field of knowledge. Therefore, it is fundamentally important for the historian interested in the study of ancient history to either narrow the scope of his/her inquiry or acquire the necessary languages and other disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology and/or statistics to more effectively facilitate and engender a first rate historical analysis. These principles have guided my effort to grasp Martin Bernal’s methodological scheme and interpretation of evidence supporting his thesis outlined in Black Athena. This is not such an easy task since the breadth of Bernal’s argument is supported by a variety of academic disciplines. Hence, I have circumscribed this study’s scope to the business of critically presenting those conclusions that best represent Bernal’s overall view: that Egypt and not Greece was the progenitor of Western Civilization.
The ‘Turned-on’ Generation: New Antiestablishment Action Roles

■ The current radicalism and declining legitimacy of our entire system have placed social work in special jeopardy. Clients, students, and young practitioners have challenged both the relevance and commitment of social workers. The author describes six emerging social action roles that provide an opportunity for the joint development by clients and professionals of new participatory institutions. ■
Effect of group size and location within the group on the foraging behavior of White Ibises

We studied adult White Ibises (Eudocimus albus) on a South Carolina salt marsh to determine the effects of social grouping on the birds' foraging behavior. White Ibises on our study site fed almost exclusively on fiddler crabs (Uca spp.). Four social categories were recognized: (1) central adults in flocks of 15 birds, (2) peripheral adults in flocks of 15 birds, (3) adults in small flocks of five or fewer birds, and (4) solitary adults (singletons). We used a paired sampling scheme to compare the behavior of ce tral birds with the behavior of birds in the other three social groupings. Although peripheral adults did not differ significantly from central adults in number of steps, number of crabs captured, or number of capture attempts, they looked up more often and for longer periods of time than did central adults. Behavior of solitary ibises was similar to that of ibises in small flocks, but both foraged differently than central adults in large flocks. Birds in the center of large flocks took fewer steps, probed more frequently, and scanned the surroundings less often than birds in the other two social groupings; there were no differences in capture rates. Thus, White Ibises used two distinct types of foraging strategies depending on flock size and their position within the flock. Ibises in small flocks, singletons, and, to some extent, ibises on the edges of large flocks, stepped quickly to capture fiddler crabs before the crabs could retreat into burrows. Centrally-located ibises in large flocks were unable to use this foraging technique because the surrounding members of the flock created a disturbance that caused the fiddler crabs to remain in their burrows. These birds, therefore, probed into crab burrows and found their prey by tactile means. Our results support the predator-protection advantage of feeding within a flock independent of the feeding-efficiency hypotheses.
A u-shaped backward masking function in vision: A partial replication of the Weisstein and Haber study with two ring sizes

A partial replication of the visual masking study by Weisstein & Haber (1965) was performed incorporating the additional variable of masking ring size in order to investigate the discrepancy between findings of that study and the study by Eriksen & Collins (1964). Errors in discriminating the capital letters 0 and D in a forced-choice design were measured with 4 Ss when the exposure of either letter was accompanied or followed by either a masking ring of a stroke width equal to that of the letter or five times as large as the stroke width of the letter. The delays between the offset of the letter and the onset of the masking ring were concurrent, 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80 msec. Recognition was a u-shaped function of the delay for both ring sizes; however, the number of errors for the two ring sizes differed significantly, with the smaller ring having more overall errors. Therefore, the results approximated those of Weisstein & Haber, and indicated that masking ring size is an important variable in visual masking studies, although this variable alone did not produce the discrepancy that is found between Weisstein & Haber and Eriksen & Collins.
Fire Protection Design of Underground Garage

Based on the "Garage, Repair Garage, Parking for Fire Protection Design"(GB50067-97), the article analyzes the fire risk of underground garage, points out common problems in the layout of underground garage structure, safe evacuation, the design of automatic fire alarm system, to meet the require of cars parking and traffic while ensuring garage fire safety.
Effects of Common Occupational Hazards on Female Worker's Health Status

The current research work related to health effects of common occupational hazards on female workers,published both in international journals and in Chinese Journals,were reviewed.It is evident that exposure to lead,benzene,carbon disulfide,organophosphorus pesticides,gasoline,noise and vibration,as well as unreasonable task arrangement,can cause health problems among female workers,such as menstruation disorder,premature birth,abortion and low birth weight infant.The other physiological functions of female workers are also affected by these occupational hazards.
"Soldier's Heart": A Genetic Basis for Elevated Cardiovascular Disease Risk Associated with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

“Soldier’s Heart,” is an American Civil War term linking post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with increased propensity for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We have hypothesized that there might be a quantifiable genetic basis for this linkage. To test this hypothesis we identified a comprehensive set of candidate risk genes for PTSD, and tested whether any were also independent risk genes for CVD. A functional analysis algorithm was used to identify associated signaling networks.We identified 106 PTSD studies that report one or more polymorphic variants in 87 candidate genes in 83,463 subjects and controls. The top upstream drivers for these PTSD risk genes are predicted to be the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) and Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFA). We find that 37 of the PTSD candidate risk genes are also candidate independent risk genes for CVD. The association between PTSD and CVD is significant by Fisher’s Exact Test (P= 3*10-54). We also find 15 PTSD risk genes that are independently associated with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM; also significant by Fisher’s Exact Test (P= 1.8*10-16). Our findings offer quantitative evidence for a genetic link between post-traumatic stress and cardiovascular disease, Computationally, the common mechanism for this linkage between PTSD and CVD is innate immunity and NFκB-mediated inflammation.
Patient Preferences and Acceptability of Evidence-Based and Novel Treatments for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Objective:This study examined preferences for and acceptability of treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).Methods:Through an online survey, adults who self-reported OCD chose their preferred evidence-based treatments, rated acceptability of novel treatments, and answered open-ended questions about their preferences. Analyses examined associations between demographic, clinical, and treatment variables and first-line and augmentation treatment preferences. Latent class analysis (LCA) explored whether distinct profiles among participants predicted preferences. Data from open-ended questions were analyzed by using qualitative methods.Results:Among 216 adults with at least moderate OCD symptoms, first-line preferences for exposure and response prevention (EX/RP) and serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRI) medications were similar (55% and 45%). However, EX/RP was significantly preferred over antipsychotic medication as an augmentation treatment for SRIs (68% and 31%; p<.001). Regarding first-line prefer...
Network-based analysis of reverse phase protein array data

In this paper, we introduce a computational method for constructing networks based on reverse phase protein array (RPPA) data to identify complex patterns in protein signaling. The method is applied to phosphoproteomic profiles of basal expression and activation/phosphorylation of 76 key signaling proteins in three breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, LCC1, and LCC9). Temporal RPPA data are acquired at 48h, 96h, and 144h after knocking down four genes in separate experiments. These genes are selected from a previous study as important determinants for breast cancer survival. Interaction networks between the proteins and phosphorylated proteins are constructed by analyzing the expression levels of protein pairs using a multivariate analysis of variance model. A new scoring criterion is introduced to determine the proteins that changed significantly at each of the three time points. Signaling networks are constructed based on statistically significant protein pairs selected from the RPPA data. Through a topology based analysis, we search for wiring patterns to help identify key network nodes that are associated with protein expression changes in various experimental conditions.
Keynote speaker: Exascale numerical laboratories

The talk will describe how science is changing as a result of the vast amounts of data we are collecting from gene sequencers to telescopes and supercomputers. This “Fourth Paradigm of Science”, predicted by Jim Gray, is moving at full speed, and is transforming one scientific area after another. The talk will present various examples on the similarities of the emerging new challenges and how this vision is realized by the scientific community. Scientists are increasingly limited by their ability to analyze the large amounts of complex data available. These data sets are generated not only by instruments but also computational experiments; the sizes of the largest numerical simulations are on par with data collected by instruments, crossing the petabyte threshold. The importance of large synthetic data sets is increasingly important, as scientists compare their experiments to reference simulations. All disciplines need a new “instrument for data” that can deal not only with large data sets but the cross product of large and diverse data sets. There are several multifaceted challenges related to this conversion, e.g. how to move, visualize, analyze and in general interact with Petabytes of data.
Conservation, biopolitics, and the governance of life and death

The politics of environmental conservation has long been a key concern for human and environmental geographers. Recently, geographers have begun to employ Foucauldian insights on biopower and biopolitics to understand conservation's changing agendas, techniques, and logics, focusing on the specific ways in which non-human nature is ordered, ranked, and promoted. This review examines how four domains of conservation—endangered species management, conservation breeding and genetics, protected areas, and rewilding—have been conceptualized as biopolitical. In each domain, different sets of scientific practices and understandings produce valuations of life that appear natural, universal, and technically derived even as they are particular and normative. Thus, we find that there is not a single “conservation biopolitics” but instead an entanglement of overlapping and contradictory logics and techniques. At its best, the Foucauldian biopolitical approach can help to parse the range of possible logics and techniques that constitute conservation and to expand who is authorized to take part in debates and decisions about what life should be protected, how, why, and for whom.
Rhetorical Realism: Rhetoric, Ethics, and the Ontology of Things

Rhetorical scholars that have shifted their focus to analyzing nonhuman beings often, as Scot Barnett observes, begin their study with the “assumption that rhetoric as it has traditionally been und...
Biologics in pediatric lung disease.

Purpose of reviewAlthough biologic therapies can provide outstanding efficacy in the management of lung disease, especially asthma, most of these agents have been approved only for adults. Recent findings provide new strategies for using these agents in children.Recent findingsExtensive evidence has
SPARTI: Scalable RDF Data Management Using Query-Centric Semantic Partitioning

Semantic data is an integral component for search engines that provide answers beyond simple keyword-based matches. Resource Description Framework (RDF) provides a standardized and flexible graph model for representing semantic data. The astronomical growth of RDF data raises the need for scalable RDF management strategies. Although cloud-based systems provide a rich platform for managing large-scale RDF data, the shared storage provided by these systems introduces several performance challenges, e.g., disk I/O and network shuffling overhead. This paper investigates SPARTI, a scalable RDF data management system. In SPARTI, the partitioning of the data is based on the join patterns found in the query workload. Initially, SPARTI vertically partitions the RDF data, and then incrementally updates the partitioning according to the workload, which improves the query performance of frequent join patterns. SPARTI utilizes a partitioning schema, termed SemVP, that enables the system to read a reduced set of rows instead of entire partitions. SPARTI proposes a budgeting mechanism with a cost model to determine the worthiness of partitioning. Using real and synthetic datasets, SPARTI is compared against a Spark-based state-of-the-art system and is shown to execute queries around half the time over all query shapes while maintaining around an order of magnitude enhancement in storage requirements.
NEAR INFRARED IMAGING AND SPECTROSCOPY FOR BRAIN ACTIVITY MONITORING

The first demonstration that near infrared (NIR) light can be used to monitor the state of cortical tissues noninvasively through the skull was presented by Jobsis in 1977 [53]. About a decade later, researchers started looking at the potential use of NIR spectroscopy for functional brain activity monitoring. Early studies began with simple motor and sensory tasks demonstrating the feasibility of the technology for noninvasively assessing the state of cerebral activity in a localized area. More recent studies have attempted to monitor more complex cognitive tasks such as warfare management [48] and aircraft landing simulations [102]. In this chapter, the research surrounding the application of NIR imaging and spectroscopy to noninvasive monitoring of functional brain activity is reviewed. A comprehensive review of equipment technologies, mathematical models, and past studies is given with some emphasis on the techology’s potential in security and defense applications.
Mapping topological relationships in context

In order to better understand how people construct maps when they are located within the setting they are mapping, we compared how people drew maps between two contexts. Thirty subjects drew maps that included three topological features: the lagoon, the edge of Lake Michigan, and the land between these two bodies of water. We present preliminary data that suggests the accuracy and coherence of the maps generally improved with experience in both contexts.
Which measures of obesity best predict cardiovascular risk

“ The possible relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease has been the subject of great controversy.” ([1][1]) In the 24 years since this statement was written, the contentiousness over the issue has evolved somewhat, but has not abated. Today, there is general acceptance that
Columbia University Statistics

While statistical research at Columbia predates the 1930s, the statistics department was officially formed in 1946. Since then, the department has ebbed and flowed, and its very existence was sometimes threatened. Throughout, faculty and graduates from Columbia have made important contributions to the discipline, often through innovative interdisciplinary research motivated by real world problems. That tradition continues to this day, with researchers working on problems in a variety of areas, especially problems generated by the need to make sense of large, noisy data sets. Currently, the department has 20 faculty members, 40 Ph.D. students, several sizeable masters-level programs, a thriving undergraduate program, and is still growing.
Louise Bourgeois: Architecture and Autobiography

For the artist Louise Bourgeois, architecture was a vital method of storytelling, from her earliest drawings to her Cells—full-scale rooms that disturb our notions of inside and outside. This essay...