cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Machines of Security: Architecture, Geography, and Metropolitan Governance

This chapter follows a series of epidemics from the 1870s to the 1890s involving first smallpox and then scarlet fever, during which the small-scale, ad hoc hospitals occasionally employed as an emergency measure by parochial boards gradually gave way to the Metropolitan Asylums Board’s large, standing machinery of metropolitan-wide disease management. Hospitals became a key point of controversy within larger conflicts over the appropriate sources, sites, and scales of London government. These debates help to reveal connections between the political ordering of enclosed spaces and the biopolitics of the modern city. The MAB hospital network exemplifies the “naturalization of the urban,” by which the biological averages, propensities, and dispositions of contagion emerge as special concerns to government precisely because they provide the means by which governance is constructed.
Other Approaches to Therapy

This chapter represents a pot pourri of techniques, ideas, frames of reference and “therapies,” each of which, in and of itself, has not been sufficiently dealt with by the gerontological research community to warrant treatment in a separate chapter. This is not to imply that these treatment techniques are not widely applied if we consider all therapies currently employed with older adults. Large numbers of institutions caring for the mentally ill aged devote many staff-hours to remotivation therapy. Many group therapists may use a psychodynamic frame of reference in their treatment of older clients. However, relatively little research presently exists with respect to the application of these therapeutic techniques to older adults. Many of the articles and reports which can be found in the literature are think pieces, program descriptions, case studies, or recommendations based on a subjective evaluation on the part of the practitioner. Thus, the research clinical psychologist, with the specialized skills which training in clinical psychology produces, may find this chapter a veritable goldmine of intriguing hypotheses; on the other hand, relatively little in the way of “facts,” or even substantiated theory, will be apparent.
Combined orbital decompression and lower eyelid retraction surgery.

Abstract Purpose Orbital decompression and lower eyelid retraction surgery are traditionally performed separately in staged fashion, which may be unnecessary. Herein, we evaluate the safety and efficacy of combined orbital decompression and lower eyelid retraction surgery. Methods Retrospective analysis of patients undergoing combined orbital decompression and lower eyelid retraction surgery in patients with or without Graves orbitopathy, by one surgeon from 2016 to 2017. Patients with previous orbital or lower eyelid surgery were excluded. Surgical technique for orbital decompression included eyelid crease lateral-wall decompression, transconjunctival inferolateral-wall decompression, or transcaruncular medial-wall decompression, or combination. Surgical technique for lower eyelid retraction surgery described previously. Analysis included 34 surgeries (19 patients). Preoperative and postoperative photographs at longest follow-up visit were standardized and analyzed. Results Etiologies of lower eyelid retraction included thyroid eye disease (13 patients) and inherited (6 patients). Etiologies of proptosis included thyroid eye disease (13 patients) and inherited with shallow orbits and/or poor maxilla (6 patients). All 34 eyelids demonstrated improvement of lower eyelid position. The mean improvement of marginal reflex distance was 2.4 mm (range, 1.7–2.9 mm). There was one case of mild overcorrection and once case of prolonged chemosis. The average follow-up was 9 months (range, 6 months to 1 year). Conclusions This study demonstrates improvement of lower lid position in patients undergoing simultaneous orbital decompression and correction of lower eyelid retraction, irrespective of the etiology of lower eyelid retraction and proptosis or orbital decompression technique. Combined procedures may reduce the number of total procedures, patient anxiety, recovery time, and costs, without compromising the results.
Sodium Threshold in Model Reduced and Low Fat Oil-in-Water Emulsion Systems.

Sodium and fat reduction in the diet are key factors in the nutrition management of hypertensive individuals. Several reduced and lower fat foods have higher amounts of sodium than their regular fat counterparts, which contradict sodium and fat reduction goals for hypertensive individuals. The objective of this research was to determine the threshold of sodium in a model reduced and low fat oil-in-water emulsion system analogous to salad dressings, so as to identify a reduction level of sodium that may not compromise consumer acceptability. Thirty panelists used the R-index by rating method to evaluate a model reduced fat emulsion system with 7 sodium concentrations (175, 200, 230, 265, 305, and 350 mg) and a model low fat emulsion system with 6 sodium concentrations (160, 170, 180, 190, and 200 mg). For both emulsion systems, 30 g servings of each concentration were presented to panelists. Panelists received 10 replicates of noise and signal samples for both fat levels. The group sodium threshold for the reduced and low fat emulsions was 241.11 and 183.56 mg, respectively. Results indicate saltiness perception is increased when fat content is decreased, and threshold for sodium in the reduced fat emulsion system is higher than the low fat emulsion system with lower fat content. Study findings show opportunities for sodium reduction in reduced and low fat food emulsion systems, particularly additional reductions of sodium without consumer detection. Study results demonstrated sodium difference thresholds for the reduced and low fat emulsions were at levels lower than the mean sodium content found in comparable processed food emulsion systems. Results indicate sodium content can potentially be decreased in reduced and lower fat food emulsion systems without consumer detection. Having insight for where consumers are able to detect a difference in sodium levels within reduced and low fat food systems can contribute to a successful reduction of sodium in reduced and lower fat food systems and benefit individuals requiring reductions of sodium and fat in processed food systems.
Calcified amorphous tumor: A rare cause of central retinal artery occlusion.

Abstract Purpose We report the case of a central retinal artery occlusion secondary to presumed embolus from a calcified amorphous tumor of the heart, a very rare non-neoplastic cardiac mass. Observations A 60-year-old female presented with acute unilateral vision loss of the left eye. Examination revealed hand motion visual acuity of the left eye and a left relative afferent pupillary defect. Fundoscopy showed whitening of the macula with a cherry red spot, consistent with a central retinal artery occlusion. Initial workup was unremarkable, including hypercoagulability labs, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, and magnetic resonance angiography of the head and neck. Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) showed calcification of the mitral valve but no masses. Subsequently, transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) was performed, which revealed a mobile calcified amorphous tumor of the heart. Conclusions Calcified amorphous tumor of the heart is a very rare cardiac mass that may cause retinal artery occlusion. TEE is a more sensitive imaging modality to assess for potential cardio-embolic sources if TTE is unrevealing.
Effect of multiscale precursor damage on wave propagation through modulated constitutive properties of composite materials

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of nonlocal precursor damages through modulated constative properties on the Guided wave propagation in composite materials. To understand the effect of lower scale damage on the interaction of wave propagation in composite materials, all the constitutive coefficients need to be evaluated. Hence, a method is developed to investigate the effective material properties of damaged composite materials using the representative volume element (RVE) model. To calculate the full matrix of constitutive coefficients, periodic boundary conditions were applied on the RVE and average stresses and strains were evaluated using a finite element model. In this study, the effect of different percentages of void contents on effective material properties is presented. Further, the effect of modified material properties on the Guided wave propagation in a transversely isotropic composite plate was investigated.
Characterization of xenon ion and neutral interactions in a well-characterized experiment

Interactions between fast ions and slow neutral atoms are commonly dominated by charge-exchange and momentum-exchange collisions, which are important to understanding and simulating the performance and behavior of many plasma devices. To investigate these interactions, this work developed a simple, well-characterized experiment that accurately measures the behavior of high energy xenon ions incident on a background of xenon neutral atoms. By using well-defined operating conditions and a simple geometry, these results serve as canonical data for the development and validation of plasma models and models of neutral beam sources that need to ensure accurate treatment of angular scattering distributions of charge-exchange and momentum-exchange ions and neutrals. The energies used in this study are relevant for electric propulsion devices ∼1.5 keV and can be used to improve models of ion-neutral interactions in the plume. By comparing these results to both analytical and computational models of ion-neutral int...
Is imaging of the brain necessary at diagnosis for cutaneous head and neck melanomas

Abstract Objective To evaluate the frequency of brain metastasis at the time of diagnosis for patients with cutaneous head and neck melanoma (CHNM). Methods Patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were included from 2010 to 2014 based on a diagnosis of CHNM using ICD O-3 histology codes and primary site location documentation. Patients were also included if they had a “yes” or “no” documented in the “Mets at Dx–Brain” category. Results In this study, 46 out of 19,066 (0.2%) patients diagnosed with CHNM presented with brain metastasis at diagnosis. Of the 19,066 patients, 14,124 (74.1%) were male. Caucasian race was noted in 18,299 cases (96.0%). 16.8% of patients with AJCC 7 Stage IV/M1 CHNM had brain metastasis at the time of diagnosis as compared to 0% in Stage I-III/M0 lesions (p Conclusions and relevance The 2018 NCCN guidelines recommend healthcare providers consider ordering a baseline brain MRI for patients with stage IIIC or greater melanoma. This study demonstrates the very low frequency of brain metastasis at time of diagnosis in patients with CHNM and supports the NCCN recommendations demonstrating that only very advanced stages of CHNM require baseline brain imaging.
David Oliver: At last, some political honesty?

I’ve repeatedly criticised the government and its arm’s length bodies for selective use of data on NHS performance, staffing, and funding.12 Spin is futile when there are frequent independent reports on the true picture. In May and June 2018, for instance, we’ve seen a King’s Fund report on NHS funding performance and international comparators,3 the Centre for Progressive Policy’s Diagnosis Critical paper,4 the House of Commons Library’s own hard hitting, data rich report on NHS performance,5 and the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ reports on health6 and social care7 funding. There’s no hiding place from such scrutiny for politicians. The NHS has among the fewest acute beds and clinicians per 1000 among OECD nations; it faces major funding shortfalls, workforce gaps, declining staff morale, recruitment, and retention, and worsening operational performance. Reductions in social care funding have left that sector on the brink of collapse, …
Primary Tumor Location in Colorectal Cancer: Comparison of Right- and Left-Sided Colorectal Cancer Characteristics for the Interventional Radiologist

One area which has emerged as an important factor for predicting molecular profile and treatment outcomes in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is primary tumor location. The importance of molecular characteristics of colorectal cancer has been firmly established in terms of prognosis and treatment algorithms for many years. Recent studies have also suggested that molecular profiles are important in locoregional therapies as well, with some data suggesting changes in treatment algorithms based on tumor location. Therefore, it is important for interventional radiologists to understand the basic molecular characteristics and development pathways of mCRC. Here, these disease characteristics are reviewed and the differences in left- versus right-sided primary tumor location are explored.
The Why and the Who of Family Homelessness

This chapter provides a structural explanation of the problem of family homelessness that draws from population-based public health and epidemiologic principles. A “simplifying model,” or metaphor, is used to explain homelessness from a top-down, macro-perspective. The metaphor fosters an understanding of the root causes of homelessness and distinguishes these causal factors from the attributes of individuals and families who have become homeless. Specifically, the game of musical chairs is used as a metaphor to aid in understanding why homelessness exists as a social problem and who is most vulnerable to becoming homeless. Risk and protective factors for homelessness are discussed. Policy implications of the metaphor for lowering the incidence and prevalence of family homelessness—an extremely complex social and structural challenge—are provided. It is argued that the structural imbalance between affordable housing supply and demand must be addressed through an increase in the supply of housing. Furthermore, addressing the health, mental health, and related service needs of homeless individuals and families can be important in shortening the duration of an episode as well as lowering the reoccurrence rate of homelessness. Such service-based interventions can be important in improving the quality of life of persons, both when they are homeless and once rehoused. In addition, policy makers, researchers, and advocates must systematically consider the base population at risk of family homelessness and alleviate pressures emanating from insufficient incomes that make existing housing units unaffordable to many families.
Membrane and Cytoplasmic Proteins of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis that Bind to Novel Monoclonal Antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map) proteins are important tools in Johne’s disease research and diagnostics. Johne’s disease is a chronic inflammatory intestinal disease of cattle, sheep, and other ruminant animals. We have previously generated multiple sets of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in different studies; however, because many were generated and screened against a whole-cell extract of Map, the antigens that bind to these antibodies remained unknown. In this study, we used three different approaches to identify the corresponding Map antigens for 14 mAbs that could not be identified previously. In the first approach, a new Map-lambda phage expression library was screened to identify corresponding antigens for 11 mAbs. This approach revealed that mAbs 7C8, 9H3, 12E4, 3G5, and 11B8 all detect MAP_3404 encoding the biotin carboxylase subunit of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, while mAbs 7A6, 11F8, and 10C12 detect the GroEL2 chaperonin (MAP_3936), 6C9 detects electron transfer flavoprotein (MAP_3060c), and 14G11 detects MAP_3976, a lipoprotein anchoring transpeptidase. The epitopes to a selection of these mAbs were also defined. In a second approach, MAP_2698c bound monoclonal antibody (mAb) 14D4 as determined using protein arrays. When both of these approaches failed to identify the antigen for mAb 12C9, immunoprecipitation, mass spectrometry analysis, and codon optimization was used to identify the membrane protein, MAP_4145, as the reacting antigen. Characterized antibodies were used to quickly interrogate mycobacterial proteomic preps. We conclude by providing a complete catalog of available mAbs to Map proteins, along with their cognate antigens and epitopes, if known. These antibodies are now thoroughly characterized and more useful for research and diagnostic purposes.
Autologous rectus fascia sling for treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women: A review of the literature.

Author(s): Mahdy, Ayman; Ghoniem, Gamal M | Abstract: AimsStress urinary incontinence (SUI) is common in the adult females. Surgical treatment options include synthetic mid-urethral sling (MUS), autologous sling, bulking agents, and Burch colposuspension. The autologous pubovaginal sling (PVS) has re-emerged in response to complications of synthetic MUSs and FDA communications regarding the use of vaginal mesh. This resulted in patients' fear related to vaginal mesh and drop in number of patients seeking surgical treatment of SUI. PVS has re-emerged as an option for treatment of primary SUI. The aim of this review is to familiarize, disseminate information, and share tips for the practicing female pelvic surgeons related to the practice of the autologous fascia sling.MethodsWe reviewed the literature related to the autologous sling. We used the following data bases and search engines: GoPubMed (Transinsight), Cochrane reviews (Wiley Interscience), google scholar (google), and Scopus (Elsevier). Because it is the most commonly investigated and utilized, we focused on the autologous rectus fascia sling. We also focused on the retropubic sling approach because the literature on transobturator rectus fascia sling is sparse.ResultsOut of 307 articles related to the subject found, 22 articles were included and the rest were excluded.ConclusionARFS is a valid primary method of treatment for female SUI. Also, it is used in particular indications such as patients with intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD), prior pelvic irradiation, failed and/or complicated synthetic MUS, and violated urethral lumen.
Joint Sensing and Communications Multiple-Access System Design and Experimental Characterization

One solution to addressing the spectral congestion problem is to co-design communications and remote sensing systems to cooperate, such that each system benefits from the presence of one another. In this work, we present a novel joint sensing and communications multiple access system architecture that allows for simultaneous decoding of communications information and radar target tracking and parameter estimation within the same space, time, and frequency continuum. We demonstrate the feasibility of this co-design architecture by implementing it on a network of software defined radios (SDRs). To characterize the system, we consider a scenario where one transceiver transmits an emulated radar return waveform, while a second transceiver simultaneously transmits a communications waveform. A third transceiver receives and processes the emulated radar return and communications waveforms jointly. The radar transmitter and joint sensing and communications receiver acts as a quasi-monostatic tracking radar. We characterize the joint performance of the system using the communications and estimation rate metrics. The results show that the system achieves high throughput and excellent radar tracking performance for the given experiment parameters.
Single block attacks and statistical tests on CubeHash

This paper describes a second preimage attack on the CubeHash cryptographic one-way hash function. The attack finds a second preimage in less time than brute force search for these CubeHash variants: CubeHash r/b-224 for b > 100; CubeHashr/b-256 for b > 96; CubeHashr/b-384 for b > 80; and CubeHashr/b-512 for b > 64. However, the attack does not break the CubeHash variants recommended for SHA-3. The attack requires minimal memory and can be performed in a massively parallel fashion. This paper also describes several statistical randomness tests on CubeHash. The tests were unable to disprove the hypothesis that CubeHash behaves as a random mapping. These results support CubeHash’s viability as a secure cryptographic hash function.
Convergence estimates for a series approximation of dynamic response of a perturbed system

Abstract This paper presents a new method for efficiently computing the response of a perturbed dynamic system. The method is based on predicting the convergence of a Neumann series expansion that approximates the displacement response of a perturbed system. The Neumann series is often faster than a direct solve, but only converges when the spectral radius of the system is less than unity. However, direct computation of the spectral radius is often expensive. The proposed method avoids this expense by predicting convergence using a ratio of adjacent terms early in the evaluation of the series. Stochastic simulations are presented for determining the convergence bound on this ratio as a function of term index. These simulations demonstrate that the resulting convergence predictions are very accurate after only 5–20 terms, and that the proposed method is significantly faster than the computation of the spectral radius. The proposed method is also inherently faster than other published methods, as it requires fewer terms in the series to assess convergence. Numerical examples involving the steady-state vibrations of an elastic bar and an elastic plate illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the method.
Understanding the functions and mechanisms of plant cytoskeleton in response to environmental signals

Plants perceive multiple physiological and environmental signals in order to fine-tune their growth and development. The highly dynamic plant cytoskeleton, including actin and microtubule networks, can rapidly alter their organization, stability and dynamics in response to internal and external stimuli, which is considered vital for plant growth and adaptation to the environment. The cytoskeleton-associated proteins have been shown to be key regulatory molecules in mediating cytoskeleton reorganization in response to multiple environmental signals, such as light, salt, drought and biotic stimuli. Recent findings, including our studies, have expanded knowledge about the functions and underlying mechanisms of the plant cytoskeleton in environmental adaptation.
Introduction: Thinking About Brands

This chapter considers topics such as the ubiquity of brands, the cultural studies nature of this book, the importance of logos and brands in consumer cultures, and the amount of advertising, for brands, to which we are subjected. It argues that because brands play such a large role in our lives, we don’t pay much attention to them—except, of course, when we decide to buy something.
Digital-based processing in-memory: a highly-parallel accelerator for data intensive applications

Recently, Processing In-Memory (PIM) has been shown as a promising solution to address data movement issue in the current processors. However, today's PIM technologies are mostly analog-based, which involve both scalability and efficiency issues. In this paper, we propose a novel digital-based PIM which accelerates fundamental operations and diverse data analytic procedures using processing in-memory technology. Instead of sending a large amount of data to the processing cores for computation, our design performs a large part of computation tasks inside the memory; thus the application performance can be accelerated significantly by avoiding the memory access bottleneck. Digital-based PIM supports bit-wise operations between two selected bit-line of the memory block and then extends it to support row-parallel arithmetic operations.
Robust terrain classification of high spatial resolution remote sensing data employing probabilistic feature fusion and pixelwise voting

There are several factors that should be considered for robust terrain classification. We address the issue of high pixel-wise variability within terrain classes from remote sensing modalities, when the spatial resolution is less than one meter. Our proposed method segments an image into superpixels, makes terrain classification decisions on the pixels within each superpixel using the probabilistic feature fusion (PFF) classifier, then makes a superpixel-level terrain classification decision by the majority vote of the pixels within the superpixel. We show that this method leads to improved terrain classification decisions. We demonstrate our method on optical, hyperspectral, and polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data.
Periodic pattern repetition for unbounded solutions to finite difference equations

We study a large class of finite difference equations that exhibit a type of periodic pattern repetition in their solutions for certain choices of initial conditions and prove the existence of unbo...
Circular Dichroism in Atomic Resonance-Enhanced Few-Photon Ionization

We investigate few-photon ionization of lithium atoms prepared in the polarized $2p\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}({m}_{\ensuremath{\ell}}=+1)$ state when subjected to femtosecond light pulses with left- or right-handed circular polarization at wavelengths between 665 and 920 nm. We consider whether ionization proceeds more favorably for the electric field co- or counter-rotating with the initial electronic current density. Strong asymmetries are found and quantitatively analyzed in terms of ``circular dichroism'' (CD). While the intensity dependence of the measured CD values is rather weak throughout the investigated regime, a very strong sensitivity on the center wavelength of the incoming radiation is observed. While the co-rotating situation overall prevails, the counter-rotating geometry is strongly favored around 800 nm due to the $2p\text{\ensuremath{-}}3s$ resonant transition, which can only be driven by counter-rotating fields. The observed features provide insights into the helicity dependence of light-atom interactions, and on the possible control of electron emission in atomic few-photon ionization by polarization-selective resonance enhancement.
ANCA-associated vasculitis in Caucasian and Hispanics of the Inland Empire of Southern California.

ANCA-associated vasculitis is a disease with high morbidity and mortality which has shown to have different phenotypes in different ethnic and racial groups. This disease has been most frequently studied in Caucasians. We studied a group in Southern California where the Hispanics make up half of the population. We believe there will be different phenotypes between the two. A retrospective study of 114 patients was conducted at two tertiary care centers between 2003 and 2019. Demographic data, ICU admission, ANCA antibody status, BVAS on presentation, VDI per the last clinic visit, the number of hospitalizations, the number of follow-up years, and treatment were recorded. We calculated odds ratios for the categorical data and ran independent sample T test for the continuous data with alpha equal to 0.05 for statistical significance. Difference was found in antibody status, disease presentation, morbidity, and age at diagnosis. Hispanics had greater number of AAV flares despite BVAS and VDI being comparable. Caucasians had more frequent follow-up. Hispanics had a 4.39 increase in odds of being admitted to the ICU, a 1.33 increased odds of developing acute respiratory failure, and a 67% increased odds of developing hemoptysis or pulmonary alveolar hemorrhage. Further, Hispanics had a 1.22 increase in odds of having ESRD. Clinicians treating Hispanic patients with AAV should have a high index of suspicion for severe disease in this patient population. Further, epidemiologic and disparities research should be conducted to evaluate the discrepancy in outcomes in these groups.
Recurrent neural network-based multiaxial plasticity model with regularization for physics-informed constraints

Abstract A recurrent neural network (RNN) based model is developed as a surrogate to predict nonlinear plastic response under multiaxial loading. The RNN-based model is trained and tested on stress versus strain curves generated using a numerical solution based on the classical radial return method. Besides simply learning the basic constitutive relationship, a novel approach is taken to enforce certain physical conditions. Specifically, regularization is employed to maintain non-negative plastic power density throughout the loading history thereby ensuring monotonically increasing plastic work and thermodynamic consistency. Enforcing physics in this manner permits coupling of the data-driven RNN approach with physics-based knowledge and laws. This has the effect of reducing the necessary amount of data and ensuring known physical laws are not violated. Since, once trained, the model need not perform the expensive task of solving nonlinear equations, its efficiency is orders of magnitude greater than its numerical counterpart. The RNN-based model has been trained on varied sets of data and the accuracy on test datasets validated. The developed model is general and robust and has widespread application such as in the simulation of metal forming, large scale plasticity, and part life prediction.
The recovery process and chronic illness and disability: Applications and implications

Individuals who acquire a chronic illness or disability face a number of significant and profound challenges. Among these is coping with the permanence of the condition and its effects. Rehabilitation counselors working with people who are in the process of coping with such realities may feel that they have little to offer in the face of such monumental life changes. The recovery concept, which has, over the last decade, been receiving increased attention in the mental health literature, offers counselors and consumers a positive framework for healing and growth in the face of chronic disability. The recovery process and its potential application in working with persons with chronic illnesses and disabilities are presented in this paper. Recovery-based implications for rehabilitation service systems are also addressed.
Microstructural examination of the influence of Si substrate orientation on the morphology of CdTe/ZnTe films

In this paper, we study about the microstructural characterization of CdTe/ZnTe thin films grown on Si substrates having (311), (211), and (111) orientations using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM images of a ZnTe buffer layer grown on a (111) Si substrate that has twinning across the (111) plane. The twinned and untwinned regions have identical crystal structures, but the twinned region is misoriented across the twinning plane with respect to the parent crystal.
Stress-Induced Deficits in Cognition and Emotionality: A Role for Glutamate

Stress is associated with a number of neuropsychiatric disorders, many of which are characterized by altered cognition and emotionality. Rodent models of stress have shown parallel behavioral changes such as impaired working memory, cognitive flexibility and fear extinction. This coincides with morphological changes to pyramidal neurons in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala, key cortical regions mediating these behaviors. Increasing evidence suggests that alteration in the function of the glutamatergic system may contribute to the pathology seen in neuropsychiatric disorders. Stress can alter glutamate transmission in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala and altered glutamate transmission has been linked to neuronal morphological changes. More recently, genetic manipulations in rodent models have allowed for subunit-specific analysis of the role of AMPA and NMDA receptors as well as glutamate transporters in behaviors shown to be altered by stress. Together these data point to a role for glutamate in mediating the cognitive and emotional changes observed in neuropsychiatric disorders. Furthering our understanding of how stress affects glutamate receptors and related signaling pathways will ultimately contribute to the development of improved therapeutics for individuals suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders.
Alice in Legal Wonderland: A Cross-Examination of Gender, Race and Empire in Victorian Law and Literature

Lewis Carroll's 1865 scene of a recalcitrant Alice in the courtroom, defying the court's authority as she grows (literally) into a large and threatening presence, dramatizes what was becoming an increasingly common Victorian spectacle: a woman questioning and critiquing the law and claiming a place for herself within its institutions. Women have played a significant (but much overlooked) role in legal history and, in this paper, I argue for the importance of examining various narratives of the past (including literary accounts) that explored women's relationship to the law. Against the backdrop of several legal cases in which women sought entry into law and politics, I focus on representations of two surprising nineteenth-century characters - female judges, one fictional and one real: She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, or Ayesha, from Rider Haggard's 1887 novel She; and the real-life missionary Mary Slessor, who was the first woman appointed as a magistrate in the British Empire. Employing a theoretical approach I term cross-examination, I analyze representations of these women in sources of direct testimony, including fictional descriptions of Ayesha in her capacity as judge and written accounts of Slessor's courtroom persona by the Chief Magistrate of Calabar. These texts, like the legal cases, reveal cultural anxieties about women in the public and powerful realm of law. In my analysis, I discuss the negotiations at the level of narrative to keep these nineteenth-century Portias within their proper womanly roles. Also, both Ayesha and Slessor exercised legal power in Africa, a place where, in the context of Empire, traditional ideas about gender were complicated and disrupted by racial politics. In reading these texts that cross continents, I explore intersections of gender and race, illuminating the differences in the perceptions of women and power when those women were white women judging indigenous people in Africa.
Free radical-induced generation of isoprostanes in vivo. Evidence for the formation of D-ring and E-ring isoprostanes.

Abstract We recently reported the discovery that a series of novel prostaglandin (PG)F2-like compounds (F2-isoprostanes) are produced in vivo independent of the cyclooxygenase as products of free radical-catalyzed lipid peroxidation. F2-isoprostanes are initially formed in situ from arachidonic acid esterified to phospholipids and then released preformed. We have now investigated whether PGD2/E2-like isoprostanes are also produced by rearrangement of the PGG2-like intermediates involved in isoprostane formation. Using a variety of approaches utilizing mass spectrometry, compelling evidence was obtained for the presence of D2/E2-isoprostane-containing phosphospholipids in the liver (85 +/- 33 ng/g of liver) and free D2/E2-isoprostanes in the circulation (215 +/- 90 pg/ml) of rats treated with CCl4 to induce lipid peroxidation. In untreated rats, levels of D2/E2-isoprostanes esterified in liver phospholipids were much lower (0.90 +/- 0.10 ng/g), and free compounds could not be detected in the circulation (< 5 pg/ml). Interestingly, one of the E2-isoprostanes that would be expected to be formed in abundance, 8-epi-PGE2, was found to be a potent renal vasoconstrictor, and these effects could be abrogated by SQ29548, a thromboxane receptor antagonist. Further understanding of the biological consequences of the formation of these novel compounds and factors that influence their formation may provide valuable insights into the pathophysiology of oxidant injury.
The Most Complex Machine: A Survey of Computers and Computing

From the Publisher: This unique introduction to computer science takes the unusual tack of presenting the fundamental ideas and principles upon which the field is built rather trying to teach the reader how to program or become an expert computer user. The book on one level examines that most complex machine - the computer - and provides an overview appropriate for all students regardless of whether they pursue their studies of computer science. But it is the idea of complexity itself, and the methods for creating and understanding the complexity, that is the book's real subject. Eck masterfully uses his detailed examination of the computer and its applications as a tool for elucidating more abstract ideas. The book contains an annotated bibliography and each chapter ends with a set of thought-provoking questions that are meant to be "read and pondered" (answers included). A set of Macintosh computer programs and "lab worksheets" based on these programs are available from the author and on the World Wide Web and are designed to make the abstract ideas in the text more accessible. The book will please computer scientists because it conveys concepts rather than the usual list of "recipes," and it will be useful to students because it serves as an introduction to tools they will use for the rest of their professional and personal lives.
Ligand binding in a hierarchy of globin complexes. The hexagonal bilayer hemoglobin of Lumbricus terrestris and its heme-containing subunits.

The kinetics of CO and NO recombination with the giant approximately 3600-kDa hexagonal bilayer hemoglobin of Lumbricus terrestris and its subunits, the approximately 200-kDa dodecamer of globin chains (3 x chains (I + II + III + IV] (see preceding paper (Vinogradov S.N., Sharma, P.K., Qabor, A.N., Wall, J.S., Westrick, J.A., Simmons, J.H., and Gill, S.J. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266, 13091-13096], the 50-kDa disulfide-bonded trimer (chains II-IV), the monomer (chain I), and the approximately 30-kDa linker (chains VA, VB, and VI), were measured following photolysis over time scales ranging from picosecond to millisecond. CO recombination at 436 nm subsequent to excitation (9 ns) at 532 nm showed three phases covering a 100-fold range for the Hb, dodecamer, trimer, and linker protein. The proportion of the fast phase was 0.1-0.2 for the trimer, dodecamer, and Hb. The relative rates and amplitudes of the phases were not affected by changes in CO concentration or excitation intensity. The monomer showed a single phase with a rate of 2 x 10(6) M-1 s-1. The second-order reaction with NO showed two rates. The faster rate was 90 x 10(6) M-1 s-1 and accounted for approximately 0.7 of the reaction for all species except the monomer, where it accounted for the full reaction. The slower rate was 15 x 10(6) M-1 s-1 for all species except the monomer.
Liquid-Metal-Based Reconfigurable Components for RF Front Ends

In June 2013, the White House identified the development of broadband wireless networks as crucial for economic growth, specifically identifying innovations in spectrum sharing as being the key to relieving an expected spectrum crunch caused by the rapidly increasing number of Internet-connected devices, currently estimated at over 500 million.
Robust Word Similarity Estimation Using Perturbation Kernels

We introduce perturbation kernels , a new class of similarity measure for information retrieval that casts word similarity in terms of multi-task learning. Perturbation kernels model uncertainty in the user's query by choosing a small number of variations in the relative weights of the query terms to build a more complete picture of the query context, which is then used to compute a form of expected distance between words. Our approach has a principled mathematical foundation, a simple analytical form, and makes few assumptions about the underlying retrieval model, making it easy to apply in a broad family of existing query expansion and model estimation algorithms.
Conformal growth of low friction HfBxCy hard coatings

Abstract Thin films of HfBxCy are deposited in a cold wall CVD apparatus using Hf(BH4)4 precursor and 3,3-dimethyl-1-butene, (CH3)3CCH CH2, as a controllable source of carbon, at substrate temperatures of 250–600 °C. As-deposited films grown at 250 °C are highly conformal (e.g., in a very deep trench, the step coverage is above 90% at a depth/width of 30:1), exhibit dense microstructure, and appear amorphous in X-ray diffraction. Increasing the carbon content from 5 to 21 at.% decreases the hardness from 21 to 9 GPa and the reduced modulus from 207 to 114 GPa. Films grown at 600 °C with carbon contents of 28 and 35 at.% exhibit enhanced hardness of 25 and 23 GPa, and reduced modulus of 211 and 202 GPa, respectively. Annealing the 300 °C grown films at 700 °C affords a nanocrystalline structure with improved mechanical properties. For films with the highest and lowest carbon contents, respectively: the coefficient of sliding friction is in the range of 0.05–0.08 and the H/E and H3/E2 ratios range from 0.08–0.11 and 0.15–0.40. These values indicate that C-containing films should exhibit improved wear performance in tribological applications.
Ethical Futures and Public-Private Partnerships: Peering Far Down the Track

This article employs an institutional perspective in formulating predictions about the ethical futures of privatization partnerships. Although this paper focuses on ethical concerns in the U.S. public sector, it incorporates a multinational dimension in (a) comparing the meaning of privatization among societies and (b) probing privatization financing in the “global economy.” Five assumptions that flow from institutional reasoning are made explicit as supports for subsequent predictions. The institutional logic shifts privatization conversation away from conventional debate about “competition” and “efficiency” toward centralizing forces in both sectors in response to globalization. In that regard, this study identifies the systemic erosion of (local) community integrity as the key privatization problem of the future.
Security issues to tele-medicine system design

With the rapid development of the Internet and Internet based applications, tele-medicine can potentially provide important health care coverage for remote and rural areas where specialized medical expertise is lacking. Using Internet based tele-medicine application, the records and vital signs of patients in remote or rural areas can be made available to medical experts in major medical centers for real-time evaluation or diagnosis. However, since the Internet is an open system with many potential security holes, special consideration and care must be taken to ensure the safety of patient and medical data. This paper addresses the security related issues for Internet based tele-medicine systems in two aspects: (1) medical data protection needs; and (2) system design issues.
The effects of video game controls on hostility, identification, and presence

Seventy-two male college undergraduates at a large southeastern university played a video game in one of two conditions: using a traditional handheld controller or using motion-based controls. Results showed that using motion-based controls significantly increased measures of hostility, identification with the avatar, and impacted a sense of self presence with the game. Results indicate motion-based controls, although helping to create a bond with the game's avatar, do not necessarily create a feeling of immersion into the game environment.
Becoming Modern Homo sapiens

Human beings are unusual in many ways but perhaps most strikingly in their unique symbolic form of processing information about the world around them. Although based on a long and essential evolutionary history, the modern human cognitive style is not predicted by that history: it is emergent rather than the product of an incremental process of refinement. Homo sapiens is physically very distinctive and is clearly the result of a significant developmental reorganization with ramifications throughout the skeleton and presumably beyond. It is reasonable to suppose that the neural underpinnings of symbolic thought were acquired in this reorganization. However, the fossil and archeological records indicate that the first anatomically recognizable members of the species substantially predated its first members who behaved in a demonstrably symbolic manner. Thus, while the biological potential for symbolic thinking most likely arose in the morphogenetic event that gave rise to H. sapiens as a distinctive anatomical entity, this new capacity was evidently exaptive, in the sense that it had to await its “discovery” and release through a cultural stimulus. Plausibly, this stimulus was the invention of language. One expression of symbolic reasoning is the adoption of technological change in response to environmental challenges, contrasting with earlier responses that typically involved using existing technologies in new ways. As climates changed at the end of the last Ice Age, the new technophile proclivity was expressed in a shift toward agriculture and sedentary lifestyles: a shift that precipitated a fundamentally new (and potentially self-destructive) relationship with nature. Thus, both of what are arguably the two most radical (and certainly the most fateful) evolutionary innovations in the history of life (symbolic thinking and sedentary lifestyles) were both very recent occurrences, well within the (so far rather short) tenure of H. sapiens.
A PERSPECTIVE ON ASPHALT CHEMISTRY RESEARCH AND THE USE OF HP-GPC ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT A model for the participation of asphalt cement in a pavement is suggested. In this model, polar entities in the asphalt interact with the aggregate surface; nonpolar materials in the asphalt matrix will then structure via coulombic forces, van der Waals and hydrogen bonding. A mechanism by which this structuring could lead to transverse cracking is also suggested. In studies of pavements from different climate regions, it has been found that the molecular size distribution, specifically the amount of large molecular size (LMS) material by High Performance Gel Permeation chromatography (HP-GPC) is related to transverse cracking. The possible relationship between the structuring hypothesized in the pavement and that indicated by HP-GPC analysis as well as the contribution of climate are discussed.
Higher Education as a Medium for Culture

The American university is at risk because of the very fact that it is so culturally important and because it is so consonant with American cultural values. As cultural values become more contentious in the public arena, the university becomes more tempting as a trophy and as a weapon in the culture wars. Ironically, the university can best protect itself using the camouflage provided by its historical accumulation of multiple functions, by accepting the ambiguity of the cultural role it plays, and by simultaneously emphasizing the way it faithfully reflects American culture and the way its special mystique sets it apart as a different kind of institution in American life.
A survey of vehicular communications for traffic signal optimization

Traffic congestion is an ever increasing problem on our roadways and city streets. The main contribution of this survey is a taxonomy of adaptive traffic signal control strategies achieved through various levels of vehicular communications.Strategies to optimize traffic signals fall into three categories based on the level of vehicle involvement. The first category involves those strategies that utilize legacy devices with no vehicular involvement. The second category comprises those strategies that utilize vehicles on the road to wirelessly transmit data about themselves (e.g. location, velocity). The third category involves strategies that utilize the vehicles' on-board computation power to help optimize traffic signals. The bulk of this survey deals with the second category as it appears to be the most prevalent in the research literature. We are however, quick to point out that the third category seems to be gaining momentum, as the prevalence of smartphones has suggested supplementing legacy traffic monitoring with traffic-related reports submitted by the driving public.