cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Autonomous navigation with teams of aerial robots

There are many examples in nature where large groups of individuals are able to maintain three-dimensional formations while navigating in complex environments. This paper addresses the development of a framework and robot controllers that enable a group of aerial robots to maintain a formation with partial state information while avoiding collisions. The central concept is to develop a low-dimensional abstraction of the large teams of robots, facilitate planning, command, and control in a low-dimensional space, and to realize commands or plans in the abstract space by synthesizing controllers for individual robots that respect the specified abstraction. The fundamental problem that is addressed in this paper relates to coordinated control of multiple UAVs in close proximity. We develop a representation for a team of robots based on the first and second statistical moments of the system and design kinematic, exponentially stabilizing controllers for point robots. The selection of representation permits a controller design that is invariant to the number of robots in the system, requires limited global state information, and reduces the complexity of the planning problem by generating an abstract planning and control space determined by the moment parameterization. We present experimental results with a team of quadrotors and discuss considerations such as aerodynamic interactions between robots.
Towards educational responsiveness to society's needs: A tentative utility model

Abstract A utility model based upon three possible referents for defining educational needs is presented. This model postulates that an individual's “value” to his society may be determined by his position on a consumption-production continuum. It is suggested that these dimensions and criteria might be useful to educational planners and designers.
A model for vibrational and translational energy accommodation of NO molecules during scattering from a Pt(111) crystal surface

A model is formulated and applied to the recently measured vibrational and translational accommodation of NO scattered from a Pt(111) crystal surface. The model assumes that the initial adsorption of NO occurs via a precursor state. Experimentally observed memory of the incident energy by the scattered molecules is a result of competition between chemisorption and desorption from the precursor state.
Experimental and Computational Study of Heat/Mass Transfer and Flow Structure for Four Dimple Shapes in a Square Internal Passage

Mass/heat transfer measurements are made using the naphthalene sublimation method in a square internal passage where one wall has a single dimple. Four types of dimple shapes are studied: square, triangular, circular and teardrop. Sherwood numbers are obtained both inside and around the dimples. Measurements are made at a Reynolds number of 21,000. In addition, computations are performed for the same dimple geometries, and with the same flow conditions as in the experiments. Flow patterns for the four dimples are identified, and heat transfer distributions for each dimple are obtained. Computational results are compared with the experimental data and show satisfactory agreement. Both experimental and numerical results suggest that the teardrop dimple has the highest heat /mass transfer among the four dimple shapes studied.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Two white roses

Abstract This research project began as an assignment for an interdisciplinary honors course to incorporate three articles from professional journals into a dramatic presentation. Three articles on AIDS from Death Studies and other relevant journals were selected as the basis of the plot, each of which focused on caregivers' coping with a significant other's illness and impending death. The scene started as an improvisation that was eventually worked into a scripted scene approximately 15 minutes in length. Through the life of the characters, this scene depicted the various emotions felt by two gay men as their life together was relived through a conversation at the grave site. This project was an exercise in intertwining art and research so that research findings are conveyed in a medium intended to help viewers process professional understandings of AIDS at an emotional as well as an intellectual level.
Interactive Homework: A Tool for Fostering Parent–Child Interactions and Improving Learning Outcomes for At-risk Young Children

The notion that parent involvement impacts student learning outcomes for children who are at risk for failing academically has been supported by prominent early childhood education experts. Recent attention has been given to specific ways parents can help increase student learning through their interactions with children as they complete home learning activities. It is important to note that the term parent is used interchangeably with the terms adult, guardian and family member. The term “at-risk reader” refers to readers who are at risk of failing school because of reading deficiencies. This report will examine whether parent training to increase parent–child interactions during the completion of second grade Interactive Homework Assignments (IHA) can facilitate increases in a student’s ability to draw inferences from reading selections, a skill closely aligned with proficiency in reading acquisition. The second grade level was chosen because these children were those whose teachers were concerned with preparing them to take the third grade SAT9. Third grade level was not selected because many of their professional development activities were prescribed due to their immediate concern with preparing students to take the SAT9. IHA, for the scope of this study, is homework designed to increase parent involvement and student achievement. The results indicate that specific parent training during a brief period of time, approximately four weeks, has the potential for improving academic performance for academically at-risk students.
Sheeted dikes, gabbro, and pillow basalt in flysch of coastal southern Alaska

A Paleocene to Eocene(?) mafic sequence of igneous rocks on Knight Island and a Cretaceous mafic and ultramafic sequence of the Resurrection Peninsula in coastal southern Alaska are characterized by pillow basalts, sheeted dikes, and gabbro intrusions. At both localities, pillow basalts are interbedded with flysch, and the gabbros intrude both the sheeted dikes and the immediately overlying sedimentary rocks. At the Resurrection Peninsula, small bodies of serpentinized dunite are present in the gabbro, and overlying low-grade metasedimentary rocks and mafic tuffs are interbedded with sedimentary rocks. At Knight Island the sheeted dikes intrude Paleocene and Eocene(?) sedimentary rocks. These igneous rocks have petrographic features similar to those of oceanic tholeiites and have some of the characteristics of ophiolites. They apparently were formed near the continental margin, because both sequences intrude and are interlayered with flysch. We believe the igneous rocks were intruded along faults (perhaps leaky transform faults) of ocean floor that happened to be near the continental margin; the faults were oriented parallel to the depositional strike and subsequent deformational strike of the Valdez(?) and Orca Groups.
Characterization of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe Cdk9/Pch1 Protein Kinase Spt5 PHOSPHORYLATION, AUTOPHOSPHORYLATION, AND MUTATIONAL ANALYSIS

Schizosaccharomyces pombe Cdk9/Pch1 protein kinase is a functional ortholog of the essential Saccharomyces cerevisiae Bur1/Bur2 kinase and a putative ortholog of metazoan P-TEFb (Cdk9/cyclin T). SpCdk9/Pch1 phosphorylates of the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the S. pombe transcription elongation factor Spt5, which consists of 18 tandem repeats of a nonapeptide of consensus sequence 1TPAWNSGSK9. We document the divalent cation dependence and specificity of SpCdk9/Pch1, its NTP dependence and specificity, the dependence of Spt5-CTD phosphorylation on the number of tandem nonamer repeats, and the specificity for phosphorylation of the Spt5-CTD on threonine at position 1 within the nonamer element. SpCdk9/Pch1 also phosphorylates the CTD heptaptide repeat array of the largest subunit of S. pombe RNA polymerase II (consensus sequence YSPTSPS) and does so exclusively on serine. SpCdk9/Pch1 catalyzes autophosphorylation of the kinase and cyclin subunits of the kinase complex. The distribution of phosphorylation sites on SpCdk9 (86% Ser(P), 11% Thr(P), 3% Tyr(P)) is distinct from that on Pch1 (2% Ser(P), 98% Thr(P)). We conducted a structure-guided mutational analysis of SpCdk9, whereby a total of 29 new mutations of 12 conserved residues were tested for in vivo function by complementation of a yeast bur1Delta mutant. We identified many lethal and conditional mutations of side chains implicated in binding ATP and the divalent cation cofactor, phosphoacceptor substrate recognition, and T-loop dynamics. We surmise that the lethality of the of T212A mutation in the T-loop reflects an essential phosphorylation event, insofar as the conservative T212S change rescued wild-type growth; the phosphomimetic T212E change rescued growth at 30 degrees C; and the effects of mutating the T-loop threonine were phenocopied by mutations in the three conserved arginines predicted to chelate the phosphate on the T-loop threonine.
Can Registration-Based Sampling Improve the Accuracy of Midterm Election Forecasts?

We compare the predictive accuracy of preelection polls using two types of sampling frames, random digit dialing (RDD) and registration-based sampling (RBS). The latter involves stratified random sampling from voter registration lists. In order to assess the accuracy with which RDD and RBS predict election out? comes, we collaborated with the Washington Post, Quinnipiac, and CBS News polls, which conducted parallel RDD and RBS surveys in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota prior to the November 5, 2002, elections. The results suggest that in the guber- natorial and congressional elections studied, RBS performed as well, if not better, than RDD, both in terms of forecasting accuracy and cost. Each election year features an implicit competition between polls using two different approaches to sampling. Media, commercial, and academic pollsters rely almost exclusively on random digit dialing (RDD). This sampling method directs calls to randomly generated telephone numbers within certain area codes and exchanges (Groves 1990). Pollsters for political campaigns, on the
Market-timing the business cycle

Abstract As a group, professional portfolio managers have been largely unable to outperform the market buy-and-hold benchmark. Likewise, professional forecasters have been unable to predict recessions reliably. The paper contributes to the literature in two significant respects. First, the Recession Probability Model herein correctly forecasts out-of-sample the probability of a downturn and the binary state over a 45-year validation sample. This is important as it is around cyclical turning points that forecast errors are largest, and dependable forecasts are most useful. Reliable recession forecasts are essential for risk-management, planning capital outlays, and for portfolio management. Moreover, accurate forecasts of the turn allow policy-makers to mitigate the social cost of recessions. Second, the paper shows that it is extremely profitable to switch from equities to T-bills when the one-quarter-ahead probability of recession reaches a certain threshold. Several market-timing rules dominate the buy-and-hold in terms of the risk-adjusted measures of Treynor, Sharpe, and Jensen. One trading rule achieves triple the terminal wealth of the buy-and-hold.
NAL Quadrupole Power Supply Active Filter

A 40 kW active filter is used with each of the main accelerator's 12 quadrupole power supplies to reduce the power supply's voltage ripple. The active filter operates on a voltage-bucking principle with the filter output transformer coupled into the quadrupole magnet bus. The filter electronics is designed to respond to the first three harmonic components of ripple in the power supply output. Voltage ripple attenuation during injection, acceleration, and extraction is approximately 30 dB. Quadrupole magnet current ripple is correspondingly reduced.
Idiopathic neutropenia of childhood is associated with Fas/FasL expression

Abstract Idiopathic neutropenia (IN) in children is characterized by decreased neutrophil counts (
Micromechanical modeling of powder compacts—II. Truss formulation of discrete packings

Abstract A numerical model for the constitutive response of powder compacts during densification is presented. Particle packings are treated as frameworks of links that connect the centers of particles through inter-particle contacts. The behavior of each link in the framework is based on unit problems for the interaction between individual spheres [ Acta metall. 36 , 2551 (1988)]. This approach bridges the gap between unit models on the level of individual particles and the continuum behavior of very large packings of particles. Furthermore, since the model deals with individual particles, it is possible to predict the evolution of several details of packings that are important to the properties of the deformed part. Using this model the deformation of discrete powder packings under combined sintering and traction-induced compaction may be studied. Comparisons between model predictions and experimental data are presented for the sintering of a two-dimensional packing of mono-sized glass spheres. The model compares well with the experiment and is able to predict several microscopic features of the sintered packing.
The Meaning-Frequency Relationship of Words

(1945). The Meaning-Frequency Relationship of Words. The Journal of General Psychology: Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 251-256.
λ-Size ITO and Graphene-Based Electro-Optic Modulators on SOI

One of the key devices that convert electronic signals into high bit-rate photonic data is the electro-optic modulator (EOM). Its on-chip design plays an important role for the integration of electronic and photonic devices for various types of applications including photonic computing and telecommunication. Recently, indium tin oxide (ITO) and graphene have attracted significant attention primarily due to their extraordinary electro-optic properties for the design of ultra-compact EOMs to handle bandwidth and modulation strength trade-off. Here we show design details of a high-performance ITO-EOM in a plasmonic silicon-on-insulator hybrid structure. Results show that ITO is capable of changing its extinction coefficient by a factor of 136 leading to 3 λ-short devices with an extinction ratio of about 1dB/μm. Further numerical device optimizations demonstrate the feasibility for an extinction ratio and on-chip insertion loss of about 6 dB/μm and 0.25 dB, respectively, for a sub-wavelength compact (0.78 λ) EOM design using ITO. Utilizing graphene as an active switching material in a similar ultra-compact plasmonic hybrid EOM design yields enhanced light-matter interaction, in which extinction-ratio is 9 times larger than the insertion-loss for a 0.78 λ short device. Both ITO and graphene EOMs are capable of broadband operations (>500 nm) since no resonator is deployed.
Correspondence Counter-example to ‘Clockwise nature of Nyquist locus of stable transfer functionsrsquo;

Horowitz and Ben-Adam (1989) noted that the Nyquist loci of stable proper real rational functions tend to be clockwise. They conjectured that these loci are always clockwise. It will be shown by counter-example that this conjecture is false. The conjecture had been proved using Theorem 1 of their paper. The same counterexample can be used to show that Theorem 1 is incorrect.
Reduction of vancomycin use in orthopedic patients with a history of antibiotic allergy.

Objective To reduce prophylactic vancomycin use in patients with a history of penicillin or cephalosporin allergy undergoing elective orthopedic surgery by using a targeted allergy consultation and penicillin allergy skin testing. Patients and Methods The participants in this practice improvement study were patients with a history of penicillin or cephalosporin allergy who were scheduled for elective orthopedic surgery and referred by orthopedic surgeons for allergy consultation and penicillin allergy skin testing between September 22, 1998, and April 15, 1999. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of participants who received prophylactic cefazolin during the study period compared with historical controls. Results Of the 60 study patients, 59 received a penicillin allergy skin test, 58 underwent orthopedic surgery, and 55 received antibiotic prophylaxis. Fifty-five patients had a history of allergy to penicillin, a cephalosporin, or both, and 5 had a history of nonspecific antibiotic allergy. Of the 59 patients, 55 (93%) had negative penicillin allergy skin test results. Fifty-four (90%) of the 60 patients were given clearance by the allergist to receive cefazolin. Of the 55 study patients who received antibiotic prophylaxis, 6 (11%) received vancomycin compared with 38 (30%) of 127 historical controls ( P ≤05). None of the study patients had an immediate reaction to cefazolin or to vancomycin. Conclusion Prophylactic vancomycin use in patients with a history of penicillin or cephalosporin allergy undergoing elective orthopedic surgery can be reduced by a targeted allergy consultation and penicillin allergy skin testing.
A moving horizon-based approach for least-squares estimation

A general formulation of the moving horizon estimator is presented. An algorithm with a fixed-size estimation window and constraints on states, disturbances, and measurement noise is developed, and a probabilistic interpretation is given. The moving horizon formulation requires only one more tuning parameter (horizon size) than many well-known approximate nonlinear filters such as extended Kalman filter (EFK), iterated EKF, Gaussian second-order filter, and statistically linearized filter. The choice of horizon size allows the user to achieve a compromise between the better performance of the batch least-squares solution and the reduced computational requirements of the approximate nonlinear filters. Specific issues relevant to linear and nonlinear systems are discussed with comparisons made to the Kalman filter, EKF, and other recursive and optimization-based estimation schemes.
Long-term persistence of prairie dog towns: insights for designing networks of prairie reserves

Abstract We studied the persistence of 281 towns of the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) from surveys conducted in Oklahoma in 1966 and 1967 and again in 1988 and 1989. Town size during initial surveys tended to increase along a northwesterly gradient toward the panhandle of the State, and larger towns tended to occur in clusters while small towns occurred as isolates. Persistence of prairie dog towns from 1967 to 1989 increased significantly with town size and decreased with town isolation, with higher persistence for towns that occurred in landscapes with greater coverage of other towns. Comparisons to our studies of persistence of towns mapped in 1989 and resurveyed in 1997 [Journal of Mammalogy, 82 (2001) 937] indicate that the latter part of this pattern was reversed, with persistence highest for the most isolated towns. The reversal in persistence patterns may be attributed to an outbreak of plague (Yersinia pestis) during the early 1990s, favoring isolated towns. We recommend adaptive management and a mixed strategy for the development of prairie reserves which should include networks (clusters) of relatively large reserves, along with large but isolated reserves across the species’ native range.
Third‐Degree Atrioventricular Block in 21 Cats (1997–2004)

The effect of 3rd-degree atrioventricular block on long-term outcome in cats is unknown. Clinical findings and long-term outcome of 21 cats with 3rd-degree atrioventricular block were studied retrospectively. Median age of cats studied was 14 years (range 7-19 years). Presenting signs included respiratory distress or collapse, but 6 cats had no clinical signs of disease. Eight cats had congestive heart failure (CHF) at the time that 3rd-degree atrioventricular block was detected. Heart rates ranged from 80 to 140 beats per minute (bpm; median 120 bpm) with no difference in heart rate between cats with and those without CHF. Eleven of 18 cats that had echocardiograms had structural cardiac disease, and 6 cats had cardiac changes consistent with concurrent systemic disease. No atrioventricular nodal lesions were detected by echocardiography. One cat had atrioventricular nodal lesions detected on histologic examination. Median survival of 14 cats that died or were euthanized was 386 days (range 1-2,013 days). Survival did not differ between cats with or without CHF or between cats with or without structural cardiac disease. Thirteen cats with 3rd-degree atrioventricular block survived > 1 year after diagnosis, regardless of presenting signs or underlying cardiac disease. Third-degree heart block in cats is often not immediately life threatening. Survival was not affected by the presence of underlying heart disease or congestive heart failure at the time of presentation. Even cats with collapse might survive > 1 year without pacemaker implantation.
The uptake of H3 proline in the guinea pig gingiva and palate

Keratinization is a complex process and at present only incompletely understood. This series of experiments demonstrates the uptake of H3 proline and subsequent appearance of a radioautographic label six to twelve hours later in the keratin of the guinea pig gingiva and palate. Furthermore, the label is lost between day four and day five. The negative result of externally applied H3 proline on the palate rules out external diffusion confirming that at least a portion of the keratin is proline derived.
Spectroscopic and computational study of a non-heme iron [Fe-NO]7 system: exploring the geometric and electronic structures of the nitrosyl adduct of iron superoxide dismutase.

Like many non-heme iron enzymes, reduced iron superoxide dismutase (Fe2+SOD) reacts with nitric oxide (NO) to yield an {Fe−NO}7 system. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) data obtained for this Fe−NO adduct of FeSOD (NO−FeSOD) exhibit two rhombic S = 3/2 signals of comparable population; E/D = 0.128 (42%) and 0.154 (58%). While similar results were previously reported for NO−FeSOD [Niederhoffer, E. C.; Fee, J. A.; Papaefthymiou, V.; Munck, E. Magnetic Resonance Studies Involving Iron Superoxide Dismutase from Escherichia coli. Isotope and Nuclear Chemistry Division Annual Report; Los Alamos National Laboratory: Los Alamos, NM, 1987], detailed geometric and electronic structure descriptions of these {Fe−NO}7 systems had not yet been developed. Therefore, in addition to EPR spectroscopy, we have used electronic absorption, magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), variable-temperature, variable-field MCD, and resonance Raman spectroscopies to determine ground-state spin Hamiltonian parameters, electronic trans...
Coating metal oxide particles via the combustion of deposited polymer precursors

Water-swellable chelated polymers were synthesized, starting either from (1) In(III) or In(III) and Sn(II) as central ions and N-trimethoxysilylpropylethylenediamine or ethylenediamine each together with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as coordination ligands, or from (2) Ag(I) as the central ion and ethylene glycol (EG) and EDTA as coordination ligands, as follows: The nitrate(s) of the above metal ions together with the corresponding ligands were dissolved in water, and the solution was concentrated by heating to carry out the chelating polymerization. After cooling, the polymer was dried and ground to a fine powder, which was then mixed with a metal oxide powder by grinding in the presence of a small amount of water. A paste was thus obtained, which, after drying, was calcined at 200°C and subsequently at 750°C. The polymer became a sticky gel at 200°C, which adhered to the surface of the metal oxide particles; it was converted to an inorganic coating, In2O3—SnO2—SiO2, In2O3—SnO2, SnO2, or Ag, during the subsequent calcination at 750°C. Two metal oxide powders, namely, the electrically conductive In2O3 and the nonconductive SnO2, were used as substrates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) indicated that the substrate particles were coated after calcination by a multicomponent oxide or silver layer. Temperature-resistant electrically antistatic film could be prepared by using the metal oxide coated In2O3 particles as pigments and polypropylsiloxane as the binder. The Ag-coated SnO2 powder had a conductivity σ = 1.0 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 8.6 vol % Ag, while the mechanically mixed powders of Ag and SnO2 exhibited a conductivity of 2.0 × 10−7 S cm−1 at 16 vol %. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 67:1891–1903, 1998
Phospholipids chiral at phosphorus: Synthesis and configurational assignment of phosphorothioate analogs of phosphatidylserine☆

Abstract Phosphorothioate analogs of phosphatidylserine, (R p + S p )-1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn -glycero-3-thiophospho- l -serine were synthesized from 1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn -glycerol and N -trityl- l -serine methoxymethyl ester, using chloro( N,N -diisopropylamino)methoxyphosphine as a phosphitylating agent. The configuration at phosphorus of these phosphorothioate analogs was assigned on the basis of the stereospecific hydrolysis of the R p isomer by phospholipase A 2 from bee venom.
The essential oil of Amphiachyris dracunculoides (DC) Nutt.

Steam distillation of the flowering tops of Amphiachyris dracunculoides (DC) Nutt. yielded 1.6 per cent of an essential oil. Physical and chemical properties of the oil are given. The oil has been fractionally distilled and the components investigated.
Lack of potent antinociceptive activity by substance P antagonist CP-96,345 in the rat spinal cord

Abstract Substance P (SP) binds to the NK-1 receptor and has been implicated in the transmission of pain as well as in physiological responses such as salivary gland secretion and neurogenic inflammation. Studies in this field have been limited due to the lack of specific antagonists that are not degraded rapidly and are not neurotoxic. However, a recently developed non-peptide SP antagonist, CP-96,345, is specific for the NK-1 receptor. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of this antagonist on nociception. The tail flick, paw pinch and hot plate tests were used to assess nociception in rats. Following baseline determination of tail skin temperature and analgesiometric tests, the rats received intrathecal injections of various doses of CP-96,345, and pain sensitivity was assessed at several time intervals up to two hours after injection. The ability of CP-96,345 to inhibit SP induced biting and scratching was also assessed. Results from the analgesiometric tests indicated that there were no significant elevations in the latency of tail flick test or the paw pinch thresholds even at 240 μg of CP-96,345. The hot plate latency was elevated at the highest dose of antagonist. In addition, there was a significant dose-related elevation in latency on the hot plate test. CP-96,345 also produced a dose-related decrease in tail skin temperature. CP-96,345 did not block SP induced biting and scratching. CP-96,345 and SP were evaluated for their ability to displace 125I-Tyr8-SP from rat spinal cord, brain and submandibular gland membrane fractions. It was found that although the affinity of CP-96,345 was 56 fold lower than that of SP in the brain, the antagonist was nearly as potent as SP in the spinal cord and submandibular gland. The results of this study suggest that, while CP-96,345 binds to the NK-1 receptor in the spinal cord, this receptor is most likely not involved in mediating some types of nociception at the spinal cord level.
Interaction between E-protein and Oct transcription factors in the function of the catfish IGH enhancer.

Summary Transcriptional control of the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) locus in the channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is incompletely understood. It is, however, known that 2 variant octamer motifs and a mE5 motif in the core region of the enhancer (Em3 0 ) are important in driving transcription, and it has been suggested that interaction between transcription factors (Oct factors and E-proteins) bound to these sites contributes to enhancer function. In this study, the functional relationships between the mE5 motif, the proximal octamer motif, and the factors that bind them have been examined. The results of mutational analysis of these motifs showed that their interaction is important to driving transcription from the enhancer. Furthermore, the catfish Oct transcription factors were capable of a physical interaction with the catfish E-proteins. These results support a role for interaction between transcription factors bound to the octamer and mE5 motifs in the function of the Em3 0 enhancer.
AI as Sport

Kasparov versus Deep Blue. Computer Chess Comes of Age. MONTY NEWBORN. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1996. xiv, 322 pp., illus. $29.95 or DM 49.90. ISBN 0-387-94820-1.
Combustion synthesis and quasi-isostatic densification of powder cermets

Abstract Self-propagating High-temperature synthesis (also known as SHS or combustion synthesis) presents a bright potential for the synthesis of compounds with high degree of purity. However, for many reactions, the product is highly porous, and it must either be pulverized for subsequent densification, or densified while it is still hot and ductile. Densification has successfully been applied to a number of ceramic and metal–ceramic systems by (a) a high-speed forging technique, and (b) by a quasi-static pressing technique using a granular pressure-transmitting medium (PTM). The reactive mixture and PTM are placed in a piston and cylinder setup and the system is pressurized by uniaxial compression at a pre-established time after reaction completion. The state-of-stress is close to isostatic and the process is therefore termed as quasi-isostatic pressing (QIP). Modeling of the densification was carried out using the Skorohod constitutive equation; comparison of the results with experimental distortion obtained in indentation experiments enables obtaining equation parameters. The distortion undergone by the combustion synthesis products during QIP densification was modeled using the appropriately verified constitutive equation and assuming a linear elastic response for the granular PTM.
VIBRATING-REED DYNAMICS IN A MAGNETIC FIELD

Magnetic fields may alter the flexural resonant frequencies of vibrating reeds that possess anisotropic magnetic susceptibility. The magnitude of the effect is a quadratic in the field strength. It is also a function of field orientation, the reed's aspect ratio and Young's modulus, the vibrational mode, and the magnetic susceptibility tensor. This phenomenon can provide a direct and extremely sensitive measure of magnetic anisotropy.
Chemical structure—normal force relationships in polymer glasses

Abstract In previous work, we found that the normal force responses in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) subjected to torsional deformations were strongly influenced by their prominent β-relaxation mechanisms which are related to the n -alkyl methacrylate side group motions. Using the concept of an elastic stress relaxing material we were able to extract the derivatives of the strain energy density function with respect to the first and second invariants of the deformation tensor ( W 1 and W 2 ). In the present work, we report results from two materials, polysulfone (PSF) and polycarbonate (PC), with weak β-relaxations that are due to main chain motions. We find that for the two materials, the difference from neo-Hookean behavior is real though very small, contrary to the large deviations from neo-Hookean behavior observed for PMMA and PEMA. The results support the contention that the large normal force responses and the consequent strongly non neo-Hookean behavior of the glassy n -alkyl methacrylates is due to the side chain.
Instructional software for closed laboratories in CS1

The purpose of this paper is to describe the instructional software that is used on our campus to support closed laboratories in CS1. In addition to promoting the general benefits gained from closed labs, it has been highly successful at: encouraging collaborative learning; providing a consistent and user-friendly lab environment, providing instructors a software tool for creating new labs or editing existing labs; providing instructors a means for easily adapting lab materials to individual preferences; and permitting instructors to integrate multimedia features into laboratories.
International Commission on Radiological Protection Committee 1: current status and future directions.

Commission 1 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection considers the risk of induction of cancer and heritable disease (stochastic effects) together with the underlying mechanisms ...
Should We Care about Fine-Tuning?

There is an ongoing debate over cosmological fine-tuning between those holding that design is the best explanation and those who favor a multiverse. A small group of critics has recently challenged both sides, charging that their probabilistic intuitions are unfounded. If the critics are correct, then a growing literature in both philosophy and physics lacks a mathematical foundation. In this paper, I show that just such a foundation exists. Cosmologists are now providing the kinds of measure-theoretic arguments needed to make the case for fine-tuning.
Spatial and temporal shifts in suitable habitat of juvenile southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma)

Abstract Factors influencing suitable habitats of juvenile southern flounder ( Paralichthys lethostigma ) within the Galveston Bay Complex (GBC), Texas, were assessed using generalized additive models (GAM). Fishery independent data collected with bag seines throughout the GBC from 1999 to 2009 were used to predict the probability of southern flounder occurrence. Binomial GAMs were used to assess presence/absence of southern flounder and models included temporal variables, benthic variables such as distance to habitats generated within a geographic information system, and physicochemical conditions of the water column. Separate models were generated for newly settled southern flounder, young-of-the-year (YOY) southern flounder observed in the summer, and YOY southern flounder observed in fall based on size and collection month. Factors affecting southern flounder occurrence changed seasonally, as did the corresponding shifts in the spatial distribution of suitable habitat. Temporal effects (year and month) were retained in all models. Physicochemical conditions (temperature, turbidity, and measures of environmental variability), and the presence of seagrass beds were influential for newly settled southern flounder. Distance to marine and/or freshwater sources were found to be important for YOY southern flounder in the summer and fall seasons. The abundance of brown shrimp was found to only influence the distribution of YOY southern flounder in the fall, when intermediate abundances of the potential prey item increased the occurrence of southern flounder. After model completion, the availability and spatial distribution of suitable habitat within the GBC was predicted using available environmental and spatial data for 2005. Spatial distributions of predicted suitable habitat stress the relative importance of West Bay during the newly settled stage and in the fall season, and Upper Bay during the summer and fall of the first year of life. These models demonstrate the potential dynamics of suitable habitats for juvenile southern flounder and provide insight into ontogenetic shifts in habitat preference during the first year of life.
Using Virtual Articulations to Operate High-DoF Inspection and Manipulation Motions

We have developed a new operator interface system for high-DoF articulated robots based on the idea of allowing the operator to extend the robot’s actual kinematics with virtual articulations. These virtual links and joints can model both primary task DoF and constraints on whole-robot coordinated motion. Unlike other methods, our approach can be applied to robots and tasks of arbitrary kinematic topology, and allows specifying motion with a scalable level of detail. We present hardware results where NASA/JPL’s All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) executes previously challenging inspection and manipulation motions involving coordinated motion of all 36 of the robot’s joints.
Transparent Reliable Multicast for Ethernet-Based Storage Area Networks

As disk storage density increases and data availability requirements become ever more demanding, data replication is increasingly an indispensable feature of enterprise-class storage systems. For highly available storage systems, every disk block is typically replicated on a local mirror server and a remote mirror server in addition to being stored on the main storage server. In a network storage environment, this N-way data replication increases the write traffic load on the storage client's network interface by N times. Multicast is a natural solution to this problem. However, existing storage area network technologies such as fibre channel and Ethernet do not provide adequate support for linklayer multicast. This paper describes a novel reliable multicast mechanism for Ethernet-based storage area networks that effectively exploits the virtual LAN technology and is able to keep the traffic load of N-way replication roughly at the same level as the no-replication case regardless of the value of N. This technology greatly increases the appeal of using Ethernet as the physical-layer technology for storage area networking, as fibre channel networks currently do not support such in-network replication. Performance measurements on an iSCSI-based network storage system demonstrate that the proposed reliable multicast mechanism is able to reduce the end-to-end data transport time by a factor of 2.6 for three-way replication when the disk write size is more than 4 Mbytes.
Signal detection theory

Signal detection theory is one of the first attempts by psychologists to model the processes involved in elementary perceptual recognition tasks. The theory's main feature is a rigorous distinction between performance limits due to the quality of information provided by the senses (sensitivity), and limits arising from decision-making strategies (bias). Keywords: bias; sensitivity; optimality; response; selection; decision-making
Learning from Noisy Side Information by Generalized Maximum Entropy Model

We consider the problem of learning from noisy side information in the form of pairwise constraints. Although many algorithms have been developed to learn from side information, most of them assume perfect pairwise constraints. Given the pairwise constraints are often extracted from data sources such as paper citations, they tend to be noisy and inaccurate. In this paper, we introduce the generalization of maximum entropy model and propose a framework for learning from noisy side information based on the generalized maximum entropy model. The theoretic analysis shows that under certain assumption, the classification model trained from the noisy side information can be very close to the one trained from the perfect side information. Extensive empirical studies verify the effectiveness of the proposed framework.
A Place for Informal Learning in Teaching about Religion: The Story of an Experienced Non-Muslim Teacher and Her Learning about Islam.

Abstract Teacher learning about religion has remained an under-researched topic in spite of the professional accountability placed on teachers to teach about religion in a constitutionally permissible and pedagogically sound way. Using data collected from interviews, the purpose of this study is to describe and examine how and what an experienced Non-Muslim teacher of the world’s religions learned about Islam in today’s climate of accountability and negative imagery of Islam. The findings of this study suggest that informal learning through independent reading and interaction with a local Muslim community can be a means to enculturate teachers of world religions into ways of learning about Islam.
New Perspectives on Socialism I The Socialist Party Revisited

The essays contained in this and the October 2003 special issues of the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era were originally delivered at a conference sponsored by Indiana State University, the repository of the Debs papers and site of his house, now a national landmark. Intended to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of Debs' first run for the presidency, the conference themes of socialism and dissent attracted a diverse group of scholars, intellectuals, and activists. Their contributions help us gauge the state of the field. They also suggest new departures in the study of socialism.
Hyperoxia-induced hypertrophy and ion channel remodeling in left ventricle.

Ventricular arrhythmias account for high mortality in cardiopulmonary patients in intensive care units. Cardiovascular alterations and molecular-level changes in response to the commonly used oxygen treatment remains unknown. In the present study we investigated cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac complications in mice subjected to hyperoxia. Results demonstrate that there is a significant increase in average heart weight to tibia length (22%) in mice subjected to hyperoxia treatment vs. normoxia. Functional assessment was performed in mice subjected to hyperoxic treatment, and results demonstrate impaired cardiac function with decreased cardiac output and heart rate. Staining of transverse cardiac sections clearly demonstrates an increase in the cross-sectional area from hyperoxic hearts compared with control hearts. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis indicated differential mRNA and protein expression levels between hyperoxia-treated and control left ventricles for ion channels including Kv4.2 (−2 ± 0.08), Kv2.1 (2.54 ± 0.48), and Scn5a (1.4 ± 0.07); chaperone KChIP2 (−1.7 ± 0.06); transcriptional factors such as GATA4 (−1.5 ± 0.05), Irx5 (5.6 ± 1.74), NFκB1 (4.17 ± 0.43); hypertrophy markers including MHC-6 (2.17 ± 0.36) and MHC-7 (4.62 ± 0.76); gap junction protein Gja1 (4.4 ± 0.8); and microRNA processing enzyme Drosha (4.6 ± 0.58). Taken together, the data presented here clearly indicate that hyperoxia induces left ventricular remodeling and hypertrophy and alters the expression of Kv4.2 and MHC6/7 in the heart.
A formal framework for agent itinerary specification, security reasoning and logic analysis

Mobile agent technology supports object migration from one site to another autonomously and proactively, performing its designated location-dependent tasks. Although the concept of proactive mobility has recently been demonstrated in several research prototypes, there is a lack of formal treatment of such mobility from the perspective of a distributed programming language. How to specify, model and reason about travel itineraries of mobile agents is fundamentally important for the development of secure and reliable mobile agent systems. In this paper, first, we introduce an itinerary language, MAIL, to model the mobile behavior of proactive agents. The language is structured and compositional so that an itinerary can be constructed recursively from primitive itineraries. We then define the operational semantics of the language in terms of a set of inference rules and prove that MAIL is expressive enough for most migration patterns. Finally, we show that MAIL is amenable to formal methods to reason about mobility and verify correctness and safety properties.
Parametric modelling approach for development of an automotive bucket seat frame

This paper presents a design process of an automotive bucket seat frame using a parametric modelling approach. The design process involves, first, optimising a generic seat frame using OptiStruct optimisation software. Then, a parametric model of the seat frame was developed based on the optimisation analysis results using CATIA V5. The design parameters were changed in the parametric model and numerous static tests were also performed using CATIA V5. Design of Experiment (DOE) study was then conducted using MINITAB to optimise the design parameters. Finally, the optimised seat frame was evaluated based on the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) using in LS-DYNA.
Upper extremity arterial disease

Upper extremity arterial disease is much less common than lower extremity involvement and typically presents as arm claudication, Raynaud's syndrome, rest pain, ischemic ulcerations, or gangrene. The disease can reflect an underlying systemic disorder. In addition to clinical examination, diagnostic studies include noninvasive vascular studies, serologic, immunologic, and hematologic studies (when indicated), and selective arteriography. Atherosclerotic disease is the most common cause of large vessel obstruction, but it can also cause small vessel obstruction by atheromatous embolization or thromboembolism. Treatment varies from pharmacological therapy for vasospastic and vasculitic syndromes to operative approaches for endarterectomy or bypass of focal lesions. Angioplasty and stent techniques also can provide an effective treatment option.
DISTRIBUTION AND TAXONOMY OF THREE SPECIES OF ORCONECTES (DECAPODA: CAMBARIDAE) IN ILLINOIS, U.S.A

We examined Ohio and Mississippi River specimens of Orconectes that had been identified previously as O. placidus and collected new specimens or examined types of Orconectes luteus, O. placidus, O. forceps, O. medius, and O. rusticus from Illinois and other states. Our analyses revealed the presence of three species of Orconectes in the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, Orconectes luteus, O. placidus, and O. sp. (undescribed), based on chela morphometrics, gonopods, carpal spines, chela denticles, and life colors. All the Mississippi River records of O. placidus were O. luteus, and many of the Ohio River records of O. placidus were O. n. sp. Distinguishing characteristics for all three species, along with an addition to the dichotomous key to Illinois decapods, were included. The ranges of O. luteus, O. placidus, and O. n. sp. in Illinois were amended. Several problems were noted with the syntypes of O. placidus such as erroneous locality, misidentification, and mixing of specimens between localities. The ratio dactylus length/palm mesial margin length, which has been considered a distinguishing characteristic between O. forceps and O. placidus, was invalidated as a useful discriminator for these species, whereas presence or absence of a distomedian carpal spine was reliable. We consider Orconectes luteus and O. n. sp. native inhabitants of Illinois, and the latter species likely occurs in Kentucky portions of the Ohio River as well.
On the relationship between the Bushveld Complex and its felsic roof rocks, part 2: the immediate roof

Emplacement of large volumes of mafic magma into the crust undoubtedly causes significant thermal perturbation to the overlying crust. Despite the clear importance of the country rock in modulating the thermal evolution the Bushveld Complex, little is known about the nature and extent of its roof zone. This manuscript details the lateral variability of the rocks that make up the immediate roof of the intrusion in the Eastern Limb. In the Northern Segment of the eastern Bushveld, the roof is dominated by thermally metamorphosed metapelites; in the Central Segment, the roof is dominated by highly metamorphosed meta-volcanic rocks and their partially molten equivalents; and in the Southern Segment, the roof is likely composed of modestly thermally metamorphosed felsic volcanic rocks. The variability of roof lithology is also reflected in the variability of floor rocks to the intrusion. A new model for the emplacement of the eastern Bushveld Complex is proposed in which the mafic magmas intrude at a deeper level in the north and become shallower to the south.