cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sexual dimorphism in broiler chick embryos and embryonic muscle development in late incubation

Studies were conducted to compare the weights and the characteristics of the Pectoralis superficialis, Semimembranosus, and Gastrocnemius of male and female chicken embryos at 16 and 20 d of incubation. Male embryos were significantly heavier than females at 16 d of incubation, but not at 20 d. The cross-sectional area of myofibers in the P. superficialis of 20-d-old female embryos was greater than that of males and the area of Semimembranosus myofibers was greater at 16 and 20 d. The Semimembranosus apparent myofiber number of 16-d-old male embryos was greater than of females (P = 0.002). There was a significant increase in apparent myofiber number in this muscle between 16 and 20 d of incubation but there was no sex difference at 20 d. The number of Type I myofibers per 30,000 microm2 area of the Gastrocnemius of 20-d-old male embryos was greater than that in females (P = 0.06). There were no significant sex differences in the protein concentration, DNA concentration, or protein:DNA ratio in the muscles at either age when data were pooled across the whole population. There were significant differences in these characteristics between sire families and in some sire families significant sex differences were noted. The protein:DNA ratio of the muscles increased between 16 and 20 d of incubation and the mitotic index decreased. These data suggest that the muscles of male embryos have more but smaller, myofibers than females, which may be responsible for the sex difference in embryo weight and provide the framework for the greater posthatching muscle growth.
Late cenozoic alkali-olivine basalts of the Basin-Range Province, USA

Petrographic and chemical analyses demonstrate that late Cenozoic mafic lavas from the Basin-Range Province, western United States, are predominantly alkali-olivine basalts. Associated with these lavas are lesser volumes of basaltic andesite which appear to be differentiates from the more primitive alkali basalts. Late Cenozoic basalts from adjacent regions (Columbia River Plateau, Snake River Plain, Yellowstone area, High Cascades and Sierra Nevada) are predominantly tholeiitic. This apparent petrologic provincialism is supported by complementary variations in heat flow, seismic velocities, crustal thickness, magnetic anomalies and geologic setting. Alkali-olivine basalts from Japan and eastern Australia are analogous to those from the Basin-Range province both in composition and tectonic environment. It is suggested that these lavas are the products of a unique environment characterized by high heat flow and a thin crust. Recent melting experiments on peridotites and basalts and measurements of heat flow allow limits to be placed on the depth of origin of Basin-Range alkali-olivine basalt magmas. It is proposed that these lavas are produced by partial melting (less than 20%) of peridotitic mantle material at depths between 40 and 60 km in response to an elevated geothermal gradient. The basaltic andesites may be derived from hydrous alkali basalt magma by fractionation at depths of 30 to 40 km.
Deformations of general parametric shells: Computation and robot experiment

A shell is a body enclosed between two closely spaced and curved surfaces. Classical theory of shells (Timoshenko and Woinowsky-Krieger, 1959; Saada, 1993; and Gould, 1999) assumes a parametrization along the lines of principal curvature on the middle surface of a shell. Such a parametrization, while always existing locally, is not known for many surfaces, and deriving one can be very difficult if not impossible. This paper generalizes the classical strain-displacement equations and strain energy formula to a shell with an arbitrary parametric middle surface. We show that extensional and shearing strains can all be represented in terms of geometric invariants including principal curvatures, principal vectors, and the related directional and covariant derivatives. Computation of strains and strain energy is also described for a general parametrization. The displacement field on a shell is represented as a B-spline surface. By minimization of potential energy, we have simulated deformations of algebraic surfaces under applied loads, and performed experiments on an aluminum soda can and a stretched cloth using a three-fingered Barrett hand. The measured deformations on each object match those in the simulation with good accuracy. The presented work is an initial step in our research on robot grasping of deformable objects.
Compression of an anomalous single coronary artery from pulmonary artery by banding

This report describes a case with double outlet right ventricle and doubly committed ventricular septal defect associated with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. The patient underwent pulmonary artery banding and clipping of patent ductus arteriosus after repair of the diaphragmatic hernia. At 6 months, cardiac catheterization revealed anomalous origin of a single coronary artery from the pulmonary artery of the proximal banding. Although ischaemic symptoms had not been observed, the banding had resulted in compression of the coronary ostium. An emergency Rastelli procedure with Damus-Kaye-Stansel anastomosis was successfully performed.
Laser-induced surface perturbations in silicon

In this paper it is shown that the initial stages in the laser-induced roughening in silicon is independent of the atmosphere used, whether it is Ar, vacuum, or SF6. It is also shown that the morphology that results after a few hundred laser pulses strongly depends on the crystallographic orientation of the surface. The morphological features that appear in this first stage have been related to the nature of the solidification process that follows laser melting. A second stage in the roughening process with a dramatic change in morphology takes place when a surface with deep depressions and hills is further irradiated in SF6. Very deep etching occurs in the depressions promoting the formation of microholes that with further irradiation lead to cone formation. It is further shown that the distance between microholes is equal to the distance between the depressions that formed as the initial perturbations developed. Then the wavelength of the initial perturbation and by extension the distance between microholes has been estimated.
Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1 and Hypertensive Nephropathy

Hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is associated with renal redox stress, and we hypothesized that nephropathy arises in SHR-A3 from altered capacity to mitigate redox stress compared with nephropathy-resistant SHR lines. We measured renal expression of redox genes in distinct lines of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR-A3, SHR-B2, SHR-C) and the normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) strain. The SHR lines differ in either resisting (SHR-B2, SHR-C) or experiencing hypertensive nephropathy (SHR-A3). Immediately before the emergence of hypertensive renal injury expression of redox genes in SHR-A3 was profoundly altered compared with the injury-resistant SHR lines and WKY. This change appeared to arise in antioxidant genes where 16 of 28 were expressed at 34.3% of the level in the reference strain (WKY). No such change was observed in the injury-resistant SHR lines. We analyzed occurrence of transcription factor matrices in the promoters of the downregulated antioxidant genes. In these genes, the hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 (HNF1) transcription factor matrix was found to be nearly twice as likely to be present and the overall frequency of HNF1 sites was nearly 5 times higher, compared with HNF1 transcription factor matrices in antioxidant genes that were not downregulated. We identified 35 other (nonredox) renal genes regulated by HNF1. These were also significantly downregulated in SHR-A3, but not in SHR-B2 or SHR-C. Finally, expression of genes that comprise HNF1 (Tcf1, Tcf2, and Dcoh) was also downregulated in SHR-A3. The present experiments uncover a major change in transcriptional control by HNF1 that affects redox and other genes and precedes emergence of hypertensive renal injury.
Curricula Enhancement and Thematic Learning via Undergraduate Design Projects

Teaching fundamental engineering concepts by using advanced and applicable design projects is often a challenging task. Baccalaureate I and II institutions face additional challenges to conduct meaningful and fulfilling research projects with the inherent lack of graduate students and potentially limited financial resources. To address these issues, we propose the use of a project-based thematic learning approach. The project, to control and operate a model train system, is introduced during the fall semester of the sophomore year during the digital logic course and continues through the curricula culminating in advanced senior design projects. Advantages to this project-based thematic learning approach include the reduction of project ramp-up time, early exposure for students to project task management skills, and leveraging multiple learning experiences on one relatively low-cost project thus making the initial investment all the more worthwhile.
Diagnosis of De Novo Acute Myelogenous Leukemia With Myelodysplasia Related Changes

Patient : 46-year-old male. Chief Complaint : Fatigue, weight loss, decreased appetite, shortness of breath. History of Present Illness : Symptom onset appeared approximately 1 month ago, but progressively worsened over time. Medical History : No known current medical problems, but has a long history of smoking; no relevant family history. Physical Examination : Patient appeared frail and weak, tachycardic, and had shortness of breath. Positive for all myeloid markers (HLA-DR, CD13, CD33, CD34, CD36, CD11c, CD15, and CD71) Negative for T-cell, B-cell, and megakaryocytic and monocytic markers. No monocytic differentiation. 1. Upon review, what is significant about the patient’s CBC with differential? What is significant about the patient’s bone marrow biopsy? The bone marrow is absent for iron stores. What does this tell you? 2. What is the differential diagnosis? Based on the peripheral smear findings and the bone marrow biopsy alone, can you make a preliminary diagnosis? 3. Flow cytometry confirmed the patient’s diagnosis. What is the final diagnosis? 4. What are the symptoms of AML? What symptoms did the patient present with? What is unique about the progression of this patient’s disease? 5. What is the WHO criteria for diagnosis of AML-MRC? 6. What does the chromosomal analysis tell you about the patient’s prognosis? 1. The significance of the patient’s CBC result showed marked leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and microcytic hypochromic anemia (Table 1 and 2).The hemoglobin level of only 2.8 g/dL exhibited by this patient is almost incompatible with life, and …
Identification of Molecular Switch Regulating Interactions of Janus Kinase 3 with Cytoskeletal Proteins

Janus kinase 3 (Jak3) is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase expressed in both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells. Although mutations that abrogate Jak3 functions cause different immunological disorders, its constitutive activation leads to various types of cancer. Previously, we demonstrated that Jak3 interacted with actin-binding protein villin, thereby facilitating cytoskeletal remodeling and wound repair. In this study, we characterize the structural determinants that regulate the interactions between Jak3 and cytoskeletal proteins of the villin/gelsolin family. Functional reconstitution of kinase activity by recombinant full-length (wt) Jak3 using Jak3-wt or villin/gelsolin-wt as substrate showed that Jak3 autophosphorylation was the rate-limiting step during interactions between Jak3 and cytoskeletal proteins. Determination of kinetic parameters showed that phosphorylated (P) Jak3-wt binds to P-villin-wt with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 23 nm and a Hill's coefficient of 3.7. Pairwise binding between Jak3 mutants and P-villin-wt showed that the FERM domain of Jak3 was sufficient for binding to P-villin-wt with a Kd of 40.0 nm. However, the SH2 domain of Jak3 prevented P-villin-wt from binding to the FERM domain of nonphosphorylated protein. We demonstrate that the intramolecular interaction between the FERM and SH2 domains of nonphosphorylated Jak3 prevented Jak3 from binding to villin and that tyrosine autophosphorylation of Jak3 at the SH2 domain decreased these intramolecular interactions and facilitated binding of the FERM domain to villin. Thus we demonstrate the molecular mechanism of interactions between Jak3 and cytoskeletal proteins where tyrosine phosphorylation of the SH2 domain acted as an intramolecular switch for the interactions between Jak3 and cytoskeletal proteins.
On the output power division in a captured hard-limiting repeater

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate interest in captured limiters through examination of a common conjecture concerning the output power division of a hard-limiting satellite repeater when the repeater input, consisting of constant-envelope signals (with unrestricted spectral occupancy), is dominated (captured) by one strong signal. The other input signals (taken to be mutually independent) are sufficiently numerous and sufficiently small to allow the following conditions to exist: 1) Their sum can be approximated as a Gaussiano ise process with power in the repeater bandwidth equal to the sum of the individual (weak) signal powers. 2) The summed power at the repeater input of the weak signals is small compared to the strong signal.
Comparison of age-specific incidence rate patterns for different histopathologic types of breast carcinoma.

Objective: The age-specific incidence rate curve for breast carcinoma overall increases rapidly until age 50 years, and then continues to increase at a slower rate for older women. In this analysis, our objective was to compare age-specific incidence rate patterns for different morphologic types of breast carcinoma. Materials and methods: We analyzed age-specific incidence rate curves by histopathologic subclassification using records from 11 standard National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries, diagnosed during the years 1992 to 1999. Data were examined by age <50 and ≥50 years to simulate menopause. Results: Age-specific incidence rate curves showed three dominant patterns: (1) Rates for infiltrating duct carcinoma of no special type (duct NST), tubular, and lobular carcinomas increased rapidly until age 50 years then rose more slowly. (2) Rates for medullary and inflammatory breast carcinomas increased rapidly until age 50 years then failed to increase. (3) Rates for papillary and mucinous carcinomas increased steadily at all ages. Rate patterns varied by estrogen receptor expression but were unaffected by SEER registry, race, nodal status, or grade. Conclusion: Age-specific incidence rates for breast carcinomas differed by histopathologic type. Rates that failed to increase after 50 years suggested that menopause had greater impact on medullary and inflammatory carcinomas than on duct NST, tubular, and lobular carcinomas. Menopause did not seem to have any effect on papillary or mucinous carcinomas as evidenced by steadily rising rates at all ages. Future etiologic and/or prevention studies should consider the impact of age-specific risk factors and/or exposures on different histopathologic types of breast carcinomas.
Doubly excited states

Multistep laser excitation makes it possible to excite one electron at at time in the excitation of doubly excited states. This suppresses the direct continuum excitation, removing the familiar Beutler–Fano interference profiles from the excitation of autoionizing states. Removing this complexity in the excitation process allows one to investigate inherently complex atomic systems, such as interacting autoionizing series. The ability to examine such systems experimentally has led to the development of theoretical techniques based on quantum-defect theory to interpret the experimental results. This powerful combination of complementary experimental and theoretical techniques has led to substantial advances in the study of autoionizing states.
The Effect and Importance of Technology in the Research Process

From elementary schooling to doctoral-level education, technology has become an integral part of the learning process in and out of the classroom. With the implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards, the skills required for research are more valuable than ever, for they are required to succeed in a college setting, as well as in the business world. Traditional paperbased materials and methods have been left behind, while Web 2.0 tools and other technologies and programs are used to discover, gather, and organize information. Collaboration is encouraged and feedback has become a part of constructing drafts and disseminating discovered information and written material. The aim of this article is to answer the question, “How does technology affect the teaching and learning of the research process, and why is it important to enforce technology use into the teaching of the research process?” In other words, this article intends to discover how different research technologies are used during each step of the research process, as well as how effective these tools are in making research more efficient or instead, a consequentially more complicated process. Within schools, opposing views may further complicate the process of learning research methods, for in libraries, a greater emphasis and reliance is placed on online databases and search engines as an access point to acquire information; however, other educators and historians prefer a traditional method of research by relying on primary and paper-based resources. Therefore, this article analyzes what is currently being done with the research process in education with or without technology use, and what must occur in order for educators and students to experience more efficiency, understanding, and success while conducting research. 75
Rabe rest in peace: confirmation of the rabe-kindler conversion of D-quinotoxine into quinine: experimental affirmation of the Woodward-Doering formal total synthesis of quinine.

The three-step conversion of d-quinotoxine into quinine, as originally reported by Rabe and Kindler in 1918, has been experimentally verified. This conversion serves to re-affirm the formal total synthesis of quinine reported by Woodward and Doering in 1944.
Impact on arsenic exposure of a growing proportion of untested wells in Bangladesh

In many areas of Bangladesh, it has been more than six years since a national campaign to test tubewells for arsenic (As) was conducted. Many households therefore draw their water for drinking and cooking from untested wells. A household drinking water survey of 6646 households was conducted in Singair upazilla of Bangladesh. A subset of 795 untested wells used by 1000 randomly selected households was tested in the field by trained village workers with the Hach EZ kit, using an extended reaction time of 40 min, and in the laboratory by high-resolution inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HR ICP-MS). The household survey shows that more than 80% of the wells installed since the national testing campaign in this area were untested. Less than 13% of the households with untested wells knew where a low-As well was located near their home. Village workers using the Hach EZ kit underestimated the As content of only 4 out of 795 wells relative to the Bangladesh standard. However, the As content of 168 wells was overestimated relative to the same threshold. There is a growing need for testing tubewells in areas of Bangladesh where As concentrations in groundwater are elevated. This could be achieved by village workers trained to use a reliable field kit. Such an effort would result in a considerable drop in As exposure as it increases the opportunities for well switching by households.
Redescription of Hammondia hammondi and its differentiation from Toxoplasma gondii

Hammondia hammondi is a protozoan parasite that, until 1975, was misidentified as Toxoplasma gondii. Recently, the validity of H. hammondi has been questioned. In this article, the authors redescribe the parasite and its life cycle, provide accession numbers to its specimens deposited in a museum, and distinguish it structurally and biologically from T. gondii. Hammondia hammondi was found to be structurally, biologically, and molecularly different from T. gondii.
The Civic Origins of Progressive Policy Change: Combating Violence against Women in Global Perspective, 1975–2005

Over the past four decades, violence against women (VAW) has come to be seen as a violation of human rights and an important concern for social policy. Yet government action remains uneven. Some countries have adopted comprehensive policies to combat VAW, whereas others have been slow to address the problem. Using an original dataset of social movements and VAW policies in 70 countries over four decades, we show that feminist mobilization in civil society—not intra-legislative political phenomena such as leftist parties or women in government or economic factors like national wealth—accounts for variation in policy development. In addition, we demonstrate that autonomous movements produce an enduring impact on VAW policy through the institutionalization of feminist ideas in international norms. This study brings national and global civil society into large-n explanations of social policy, arguing that analysis of civil society in general—and of social movements in particular—is critical to understanding progressive social policy change.
Lineage-specific Effects of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 on the Development of Effector CD4 T Cells

Vitamin D deficiency is implicated in autoimmune disease. We therefore evaluated the effects of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-D3), the active form of vitamin D, on the development of T helper 1 (Th1), Th17, and Th9 cells, which are implicated in the pathogenesis of different types of autoimmunity. 1,25-D3 compromised the development of Th17 and Th9 cells, including IL-22-expressing cells while simultaneously increasing the frequency of IL-10-competent cells. Relative to Th17 and Th9 cells, the effects of 1,25-D3 on Th1 cells were modest, reflecting the significantly reduced levels of the receptor for vitamin D in this lineage. The use of cells deficient in IL-10 or antibodies that block IL-10 signaling abolished the inhibitory effect of 1,25-D3 on Th9 cells but had no effect on inhibition of Th17 cell frequencies. Thus, the induction of IL-10 in cultures of Th9 cells is an important mechanism by which 1,25-D3 compromises Th9 development but does not explain inhibition of Th17 cells. A survey of select representatives of the Th17 transcriptome revealed that the levels of mRNA that encode RORγt, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-23R, and IL-22, were reduced by 1,25-D3, whereas IL-21 and aryl hydrocarbon receptor mRNA remained unchanged. These data suggest that vitamin D deficiency may promote autoimmunity by favoring the inordinate production of Th17 and Th9 cells at the expense of regulatory IL-10-producing T cells.
The Development and Validation of the Science Learning Assessment (SLA): A Measure of Kindergarten Science Learning.

The Science Learning Assessment (SLA) is an individually administered, instructionally sensitive science assessment for kindergarten students. The SLA is a 24-item objective test, broken down into ...
Unsupervised Event Coreference Resolution with Rich Linguistic Features

This paper examines how a new class of nonparametric Bayesian models can be effectively applied to an open-domain event coreference task. Designed with the purpose of clustering complex linguistic objects, these models consider a potentially infinite number of features and categorical outcomes. The evaluation performed for solving both within- and cross-document event coreference shows significant improvements of the models when compared against two baselines for this task.
Permselectivity of Sound and Carious Human Dental Enamel as Measured by Membrane Potential

A microwell technique was used for determination of the permselectivities of sound and carious enamel in the same slice of tooth. The permselectivity determination was accomplished by drilling microwells in the enamel and filling them with a simulated plaque fluid containing lactate, carbonate, and inorganic ions at concentrations similar to those in resting plaque fluid, but with different concentrations of KCI. The electrical potentials developed across the enamel membrane were measured with microreference electrodes placed in the wells or in the solution outside the tooth. The results showed that the membrane potential was a function of the composition of the solutions separated by the enamel membrane and was independent of the composition of the solutions in the adjacent wells. The enamel was found to be cation-permselective, and sound enamel was more permselective than carious enamel. The flux rate of K+ was estimated from the change in the K+ concentration of the well solution as a function of time....
FGF21 is an endocrine signal of protein restriction

Enhanced fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) production and circulation has been linked to the metabolic adaptation to starvation. Here, we demonstrated that hepatic FGF21 expression is induced by dietary protein restriction, but not energy restriction. Circulating FGF21 was increased 10-fold in mice and rats fed a low-protein (LP) diet. In these animals, liver Fgf21 expression was increased within 24 hours of reduced protein intake. In humans, circulating FGF21 levels increased dramatically following 28 days on a LP diet. LP-induced increases in FGF21 were associated with increased phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) in the liver, and both baseline and LP-induced serum FGF21 levels were reduced in mice lacking the eIF2α kinase general control nonderepressible 2 (GCN2). Finally, while protein restriction altered food intake, energy expenditure, and body weight gain in WT mice, FGF21-deficient animals did not exhibit these changes in response to a LP diet. These and other data demonstrate that reduced protein intake underlies the increase in circulating FGF21 in response to starvation and a ketogenic diet and that FGF21 is required for behavioral and metabolic responses to protein restriction. FGF21 therefore represents an endocrine signal of protein restriction, which acts to coordinate metabolism and growth during periods of reduced protein intake.
Preventing Instrumentation Failure in Three-Column Spinal Osteotomy: Biomechanical Analysis of Rod Configuration

Abstract Study Design Biomechanical analysis. Objectives To show the role of additional rods and long-term fatigue strength to prevent the instrumentation failure on three-column osteotomies. Summary of Background Data Three-column osteotomy such as pedicle subtraction osteotomy (PSO) and vertebral column resections are surgical correction options for fixed spinal deformity. Posterior fixation for the PSO involves pedicle screw–and rod-based instrumentation, with the rods being contoured to accommodate the accentuated lordosis. Pseudarthrosis and instrumentation failure are known complications of PSO. Methods Unilateral pedicle screw and rod constructs were mounted in ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene blocks using a vertebrectomy model with the rods contoured to simulate posterior fixation of a PSO. Each construct was cycled under a 200 N load at 5 Hz in simulated flexion and extension to rod failure. Three configurations (n = 5) of titanium alloy rods were tested: single rod (control), double rod, and bridging rod. Outcomes were total cycles to failure and location of rod failure. Results Double-rod and bridging-rod constructs had a significantly higher number of cycles to failure compared with the single-rod construct (p Conclusions Double-rod and bridging-rod constructs are more resistant to fatigue failure compared with single-rod constructs in PSO instrumentation and could be considered to mitigate the risk of instrumentation failure.
Growth and Characterization of 3-inch-dia. Double-sided HTS Thin Film

For application of the HTS films to passive microwave devices, YBa2Cu3O7-d and HoBa2Cu3O7-d thin films were deposited by off-axis pulsed laser deposition with laser scanning method on both sides of 3-inch-dia. LaAlO3 substrates. Uniformity of J c was confirmed using inductive method with 8mm grid over the 3-inch-dia. films. Microwave characteristics were measured by dielectric resonator method at 27.1GHz. From AFM observation, grain boundaries affect to the J c value and microwave characteristics.
A Cartesian parametrization for the numerical analysis of material instability

Summary We examine four parametrizations of the unit sphere in the context of material stability analysis by means of the singularity of the acoustic tensor. We then propose a Cartesian parametrization for vectors that lie a cube of side length two and use these vectors in lieu of unit normals to test for the loss of the ellipticity condition. This parametrization is then used to construct a tensor akin to the acoustic tensor. It is shown that both of these tensors become singular at the same time and in the same planes in the presence of a material instability. The performance of the Cartesian parametrization is compared against the other parametrizations, with the results of these comparisons showing that in general, the Cartesian parametrization is more robust and more numerically efficient than the others. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Do Facebook Likes Lead to Shares or Sales? Exploring the Empirical Links between Social Media Content, Brand Equity, Purchase Intention, and Engagement

Prior studies report organizations' increasing fiscal investments in social media marketing communications reflecting anticipated benefits for bottomline improvements. Yet, few studies have looked at the empirical link between messaging dimensions, brand equity, consumer engagement and associated purchase intentions. Through a four-week long, between-group longitudinal experiment, we assess the relationships between these factors, and produce the following contributions: (i) developed and empirically supported our proposed monitoring metric, Brand Social Media Engagement Index, (ii) observed that brand equity is a full, direct mediator between engaging brand content and both purchase intention and brand social media engagement intention, and (iii) demonstrated the positive effect of engaging brand content on consumer brand equity, thereby establishing the value behind brand social media marketing communications to consumers.
Rydberg States of H4

Energies of the 15 lowest Rydberg states of the metastable H4 cluster have been determined using Koopman's theorem at the equilibrium geometry of the parent ion, H4+. To represent the core orbitals of H4, a 6-31G** basis set has been used at the SCF, MP2, MP4(SDTQ), CI-SD, and CI-SDT levels. The Rydberg orbitals have been modeled using a basis set analogous to that used to model the Rydberg orbitals of H3 in previous theoretical calculations. To test the validity of the calculations for the H4 molecule, ab initio calculations were repeated for the Rydberg orbitals of the H3 molecule at the stable geometry of the H3+ core. Predicted transitions were within 2% of the rotational band spectra of H3 observed by Herzberg. The metastable H4 cluster formed from charge neutralization of H4+ decomposes into two H2 molecules. Previous calculations have predicted that one of the two H2 products will be vibrationally hot while the other will be relatively cold and that a large recoil energy of approximately 9 eV is ex...
The Creation Station: An Approach to a Multimedia Workstation

The Center for Performing Arts and Technology at the University of Michigan is developing the Creation Station , a workstation-based software package that will provide the artist advanced sound synthesis and graphics capabilities, as well as the tools necessary to create multimedia pieces of art. This paper discusses the design criteria, programming obstacles and implementation details of the Creation Station. Because the Creation Station is coded in Objective-C, a brief tutorial on Object-Oriented Programming Languages is included.
An 8-Bit parasitic-insensitive switched-capacitor A/D converter

An algorithmic A/D converter (ADC) is presented which employs switched capacitors. The ADC is insensitive to parasitic capacitances and op-amp offset voltages. Capacitor ratio-mismatch errors and charge injection errors are investigated. System level computer simulations are included to support the theory. The technique is suitable for 8-bit A/D conversion using present CMOS technology.
A randomized double blinded placebo controlled trial of sildenafil for renoprotection prior to hilar clamping in patients undergoing robotic assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy.

OBJECTIVE To perform a randomized control trial (RCT) assessing the effect of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor (PDE5i) used prior to hilar clamping during robot assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) for renoprotection. MATERIALS AND METHODS We performed an institutional review board approved, placebo controlled, double blinded RCT evaluating a single 100 mg oral dose of sildenafil immediately prior to RAPN. Primary end point was accrual, participation and retention of patients with secondary endpoints assessing post-operative renal functional outcomes and safety. Exclusion criteria included history of coronary artery disease, solitary kidney, suspected benign pathology, PDE5i intolerance or pregnant females. RESULTS Of 40 eligible consecutive patients undergoing RPN between 9/2013 and 12/2014, 30 (75%) were randomized to treatment and there was 100% participation and retention. The groups were well matched for all measured comorbidities. Intraoperative outcomes including warm ischemia time (median 15 vs. 16.5 min, P = 0.29) were similar. Change in eGFR demonstrated similar decrease between sildenafil versus placebo at 1 day (-8% vs. -10%, P = 0.53), 2 days (-9% vs. -9%, P = 0.77), and 1 month (-4% vs. -6%, P = 0.31) following RAPN. Intermediate follow up (median 183 days) demonstrated similar results (-8% vs. -1%, P = 0.16) between the two cohorts. Safety profiles were similar between the two cohorts without any adverse reactions to the sildenafil. CONCLUSIONS Successful retention of patients was achieved in this RCT. The secondary outcome of renoprotection was not identified. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:785-788. © 2016 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Influence of clinicians' experience and gender on extraction decision in orthodontics.

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine whether, in Class I borderline cases, experienced orthodontists choose nonextraction treatment more frequently than do orthodontists with less experience. A secondary aim was to evaluate whether clinicians' gender and place of education play a role in extraction decision making. Materials and Methods: An online survey was developed using three Class I borderline patient cases. The survey included questions about clinicians' demographics as well as questions about the selected cases. The survey was distributed to approximately 2000 clinicians through the American Association of Orthodontics. Results: Of the 253 responses collected, a trend was observed wherein clinicians with more than 15 years of experience preferred an extraction treatment option more frequently than did clinicians with less than 5 years of experience. There was no association between gender and place of education and the decision to extract in the selected borderline cases. Crowding, patient's profile, a...
Assessment of metabolites in bioequivalence studies: should bioequivalence criteria be applied on the sum of parent compound and metabolite?

Objectives: The objective of this study was to demonstrate the impact of the sum of parent compound and metabolite in bioequivalence assessment. Methods: Four drugs with active metabolite were selected to assess bioequivalence Bioequivalence criteria of 80 - 125% were applied to the parent compound, the metabolite, and the sum of parent compound and metabolite. Results: The results indicated that the application of 80 - 125% bioequivalence criteria to the sum of parent compound and metabolite might be misleading. Conclusion: The 90% confidence interval should be applied separately to the parent compound and each metabolite.
Designing a Farmer Interface for Smart Irrigation in Developing Countries

This paper presents an application designed for interfacing the farmers and the communications and control systems when automated irrigation is used. The proposed application allows visualization and compilation of the data collected by the sensors used in a smart agriculture system. The objective is to minimize the farmers' direct interaction with the technical apparatus. It also aims to allow the farmer or an authorized third party to modify the irrigation parameters without knowledge of the irrigation hardware system, given them control back of the irrigation when required. In this design, GSM communications networks are used due to their widespread implementation in developing countries, their extended coverage and relatively low cost in these countries.
First JAM results on the determination of polarized parton distributions

The Jefferson Lab Angular Momentum (JAM) Collaboration is a new initiative to study the angular momentum dependent structure of the nucleon. First results on the determination of spin-dependent parton distribution functions at intermediate and large x from world data on polarized deep-inelastic scattering are presented. Different aspects of global QCD analysis are discussed, including the effects of nuclear structure of deuterium and {sup 3}He targets, target mass corrections and higher twist contributions to the g{sub 1} and g{sub 2} structure functions.
Understanding the impressions, motivations, and barriers of one time code contributors to FLOSS projects: a survey

Successful Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects must attract and retain high-quality talent. Researchers have invested considerable effort in the study of core and peripheral FLOSS developers. To this point, one critical subset of developers that have not been studied are One-Time code Contributors (OTC) - those that have had exactly one patch accepted. To understand why OTCs have not contributed another patch and provide guidance to FLOSS projects on retaining OTCs, this study seeks to understand the impressions, motivations, and barriers experienced by OTCs. We conducted an online survey of OTCs from 23 popular FLOSS projects. Based on the 184 responses received, we observed that OTCs generally have positive impressions of their FLOSS project and are driven by a variety of motivations. Most OTCs primarily made contributions to fix bugs that impeded their work and did not plan on becoming long term contributors. Furthermore, OTCs encounter a number of barriers that prevent them from continuing to contribute to the project. Based on our findings, there are some concrete actions FLOSS projects can take to increase the chances of converting OTCs into long-term contributors.
Sonification Blocks: A Block-Based Programming Environment For Embodied Data Sonification

High school students often struggle to find the motivation to learn to program. Music can be a powerful motivator for these students, but existing tools that combine music production with programming often fail to meaningfully engage students with core computer science concepts. Sonification Blocks was created to shift the focus back toward big ideas in programming. Sonification Blocks is a programming language for data sonification, the process of creating audio algorithms and controlling them with streams of data. Its implementation as a block-based language with clear, interactive data visualizers allows high-school-aged learners to develop computational literacy. Furthermore, the act of manipulating sound parameters with data streams that are controlled through body motion may help connect learners with powerful ideas in programming and data science.
Robust Representations for Response Prediction

Measuring the performance of display advertising is an important problem in estimating campaign effectiveness and understanding user behaviors. The two key performance indicators are the click-through rates (CTR) of the ads and conversion rates (CVR) on the advertisers website. Existing approaches for conversion prediction and for click prediction usually look at the two problems in isolation. However there is considerable benefit in jointly solving the problems as the two goals are often intertwined. In this chapter, we aim to predict the conversion response of the users by jointly examining the past purchase behavior and the click response behavior. To achieve this, we explicitly model the temporal dynamics between the click response and purchase activity into a unified framework. More specifically, we propose a novel matrix factorization approach named the dynamic collective matrix factorization (DCMF) to address this problem. Our model considers temporal dynamics of post-click conversions and also takes advantages of the side information of users, advertisements, and items. An efficient optimization algorithm based on stochastic gradient descent is presented in the chapter. We further show that our approach can be used to measure the effectiveness of advertisements. Our approach and several representative baselines are evaluated on a public dataset and a real-world marketing dataset. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our model achieves significant improvements over the baselines.
Exercise times enhance child skill building

ABSTRACTExercise times can enhance a variety of child learning goals and especially help some children with attention span difficulties to concentrate better on class lessons. Specific ways for tea...
The lived experience of CrossFit as a context for the development of women’s body image and appearance management practices

The purpose of this interpretive study was to explore how women’s participation in the sport of CrossFit sets a context for the development of their body images—including their thoughts and feelings about the body and their lived experiences of embodiment—as well as their perceptions of culturally constructed ideals of beauty and gender. Analyses were informed by feminist cultural studies. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 16 women who regularly participate in CrossFit. Data were analyzed using constant comparison processes. Findings illuminate how women experienced the culture of a male-owned, co-ed, CrossFit gym and how their immersion and participation in that gym culture gave rise to varied bodily experiences and practices, including body/appearance ideals, bodily appraisals, appetites and diets, physical fitness ideologies, appearance management routines, perspectives on gender, and identity development. Participant narratives revealed diverse lived realities across accounts as well as some evidence of contradiction or ambivalence within individual accounts. Implications for professionals who work in the body image area (e.g., nutritionists, counselors/therapists, sports psychologists), for the apparel and merchandising industry, for the sport of CrossFit, and for future work in the area are discussed.
CHEF: a model of case-based planning

Case-based planning is based on the idea that a machine planner should make use of its own past experience in developing new plans, relying on its memories instead of a base of rules. Memories of past successes are accessed and modified to create new plans. Memories of past failures are used to warn the planner of impending problems and memories of past repairs are called upon to tell the planner how to deal with them. Successful plans are stored in memory, indexed by the goals they satisfy and the problems they avoid. Failures are also stored, indexed by the features in the world that predict them. By storing failures as well as successes, the planner is able to anticipate and avoid future plan failures. These ideas of memory, learning and planning are implemented in the case-based planner CHEF, which creates new plans in the domain of Szechwan cooking.
The Effects of Drugs and Neuropeptides on Immunomodulation and Opportunistic Infection: Summary of Symposium 2

The use of recreational drugs of abuse by a large number of individuals in this country and abroad has aroused serious concerns about the consequences of this activity. The relationship between drug abuse and increased incidence of infectious diseases has stimulated investigations of whether and how such drugs affect immune function, especially against infectious agents. This symposium session focused attention on newer information about immunological effects of drugs of abuse and neuropeptides on infectious diseases. The overview speaker was Dr. Phillip K. Peterson of the University of Minnesota School of Medicine. He discussed "Microglia, Bugs and Drugs". When viewed from the perspective of the extraordinary number of pathogenic and opportunistic microorganisms that affect the central nervous system, the brain appears to be an "immunologically underprivileged site". His laboratory has been studying the effect of opioids and other psychoactive agents on human microglia. The results of studies in his laboratory indicate that the anti-inflammatory properties of certain psychoactive drugs, especially opioids, might be useful for treatment of CNS infection. Kappa opioid receptor agonist was shown to affect viral replication in microglial cell cultures of HIV-1, the cause of AIDS. Dr. Toby K. Eisenstein of Temple University presented data showing that opioids, especially morphine, directly subverted resistance to opportunistic enteric organisms. She reported that mice implanted with a morphine slow-release pellet were markedly sensitized to oral infection with virulent Salmonella typhimurium as determined by survival response, mean survival time and Salmonella burdon in their Peyer’s Patches, mesenteric lymph nodes and spleen. Studies using mini pumps to deliver opioids selective for kappa or delta opioid receptors showed that in addition to morphine, only delta-2 agonists had activity in enhancing Salmonella infection and it was much weaker than the activity of morphine. Both kappa agonists and delta-2 agonists delivered by pump were immunosuppressive in a plaque-forming assay measuring splenic capacity to mount an antibody response to sheep red blood cells. These studies define more closely the opiate pathway that regulates susceptibility to bacteria administered by the oral route.
A Study on the Suppression of Amusement

In this work, we aim to gain better insights into the underlying behaviors of people when they attempt to suppress amusement, the positive emotion experienced, specifically from finding something funny. We aim to better understand the different physiological manifestations that occur when this suppression happens. We investigate this phenomenon by observing the presence/absence of action units (AUs) during amusement expression and suppression. We also record galvanic skin responses (GSR) to more closely observe if there are major differences in physiological manifestations during amusement expression versus suppression. This study was performed as a part of a larger one on deceit detection since amusement suppression can also be viewed as a form deceit, based on the context. We showed that the overall facial expression signatures were unsurprisingly very different for amusement expression and suppression; the features associated with positive emotions were clearly dominant during free expression and sadness was especially dominant during suppression. In observing the GSR readings, free expression and suppression manifested quite differently across individuals but similarly within the same individual, suggesting that the internal state or emotional arousal level of the participants were not altered significantly when trying to suppress amusement. Finally, in more than 75\% of the cases, we found that arousal induced by amusement could not readily be eliminated, even when the individuals succeeded in masking it on their faces. This further validates the claim in the social psychology literature that suppression decreases expressive behavior, but does not decrease the emotional experience (measured via GSR).