cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Continuous-Time Discrete-State Modeling for Deep Whale Dives

Understanding unexposed/baseline behavior of marine mammals is required to assess the effects of increasing levels of anthropogenic noise exposure in the marine environment. However, quantifying variation in the baseline behavior of whales is challenging due to the fact that they spend much of their time at depth, and therefore, their diving behavior is not directly observable. Data collection employs tags as measurement devices to record vertical movement. We focus here on satellite tags, which have the advantage of collection over a time window of weeks. The type of data we analyze here suffers the disadvantage of being in the form of depths attached to an arbitrarily created set of depth bins and being sparse in time. We provide a multi-stage generative model for deep dives using a continuous-time discrete-space Markov chain. Then, we build a likelihood, incorporating dive-specific random effects, in order to fit this model to a set of satellite tag records, each consisting of a temporally misaligned collection of deep dives with sparse binned depths for each dive. Through simulation, we demonstrate the ability to recover true model parameters. With real satellite tag records, we validate the model out of sample and also provide inference regarding stage behavior, inter-tag record behavior, dive duration, and maximum dive depth. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Functional gastrointestinal disorders are defined by symptoms because there are no specific disease markers available and there are no structural, mechanical, or biochemical abnormalities. These disorders are divided into seven categories based on anatomic location, as well as a pediatric grouping based on a consensus of experts (1) (Table 1). There can be significant overlap in these disorders in the same patient and the diagnosis is usually made by primary care physicians, gynecologists, and gastroenterologists (2). This chapter will focus on the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Coupling Model of Adsorption Capacity-Temperature-Pressure and Its Prediction for Methane Adsorption on Coals

The Langmuir adsorption model cannot well describe the methane adsorption characteristics of dark lignite and meta-anthracite. Aiming to solve this problem, an adsorption model was derived on the basis of adsorption potential theory. Its prediction capacity was also studied in terms of methane adsorption isotherms on a wide variety of coals and anthracite samples at temperature between 20 and 50 °C. The characteristic curve of methane adsorption capacity to adsorption potential of each coal sample at different temperatures is unique. A coupling adsorption model involving adsorption capacity, temperature and pressure is established, which is capable of well describing methane adsorption characteristics of various rank coals including dark lignite and meta-anthracite. Furthermore, based on isothermal adsorption data of the coal sample, this model also able to predict adsorption capacity under other experimental equilibrium conditions. Finally, based on the isotherm adsorption experimental data at 30 °C of more than 40 coal samples of different coal ranks (Rmax = 0.28–7.05%) collected from typical areas of China, the adsorption model of different coal ranks is established to predict adsorption capacity, which helps gain insight into the adsorption characteristics of unknown areas before coalbed methane exploration and production.
FastDTW is approximate and Generally Slower than the Algorithm it Approximates (Extended Abstract)

Many time series data mining problems can be solved with repeated use of distance measure. Examples of such tasks include similarity search, clustering, classification, anomaly detection and segmentation. For over two decades it has been known that the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) distance measure is the best measure to use for most tasks, in most domains. Because the classic DTW algorithm has quadratic time complexity, many ideas have been introduced to reduce its amortized time, or to quickly approximate it. One of the most cited approximate approaches is FastDTW. The FastDTW algorithm has well over a thousand citations and has been explicitly used in several hundred research efforts. In this work, we make a surprising claim. In any realistic data mining application, the approximate FastDTW is much slower than the exact DTW. This fact clearly has implications for the community that uses this algorithm: allowing it to address much larger datasets, get exact results, and do so in less time.
Why so serious? Tragedy and whimsy in late Soviet and post-Soviet Russian monuments

Serious monuments to the tragic past and whimsical representations of the everyday reflect the structural realities of a new Russian memorial culture. Structural pluralism provides space for expres...
An inflammatory switch for stem cell plasticity.

Tissue-resident stem cells are capable of remarkable plasticity in areas of tissue damage, where inflammatory cells accumulate as part of the reparative response. A study in the lung now provides critical insight on how inflammatory signals alter cell-to-cell Notch signalling within the airway niche to drive stem cell plasticity.
The Menace of Right wing Parties Across the African Diaspora: Extremist Trends in Europe and the Americas.

In the past few years, if not longer, there has been a fairly steady rise in rightwing party politics with strongly xenophobic and racist tendencies in Europe and in Latin America. Along with post tea party U. S. Republican Party politics and the election of Donald Trump, similarities, sympathies and even direct links have developed across borders between several of these parties. This panel will explore the similarities and differences in the party politics of several countries where conservative racially tinged extremism has emerged. Four to six papers will examine the ideological and behavioral characteristics of these parties in their electoral contexts. In addition, the paper presentations will be tasked with a comparative focus that explores international continuities and more direct possible links with international cohorts. Three expected paper contributions come from political scientists who have been doing relevant research for years as well as a doctorate candidate with many years of related research experience. One paper will examine the evolution of party politics in France under the Macron government and the resurgence of the former National Front as a central part of the opposition. A second paper will examine of striking success of right wing politics in Brazil and its roots in the populist reaction to Lula’s legacy. A third paper will examine the history of Pan African politics in Austria and Germany in the face of resurgent post-Nazi conservatism. Additional papers are expected on British and other Western political parties. Perhaps most significant, the panel invitations will be structured to maximize the analysis of comparative data and factors that are most likely to expose international influence, continuities and changes in these development of these parties.
Cashew-Induced Oxalate Nephropathy: A Rare Cause of Acute Renal Failure.

We present a rare case of cashew-induced oxalate nephropathy in a 69 year old veteran male with history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, nephrolithiasis, and undiagnosed chronic kidney disease (CKD). Oxalate nephropathy is a rare cause of acute renal failure with poor prognosis. The various causes of oxalate nephropathy are categorized as primary or secondary hyperoxaluria. Primary hyperoxaluria is caused by genetic mutation in genes involved in the metabolism of glyoxylate. Secondary hyperoxaluria is caused by mal-absorptive state, excessive intake of oxalate-rich diet, inflammatory diseases, and medications such as orlistat and antibiotics. Diet-induced oxalate nephropathy is often identified after unexplained acute kidney injury in patients with underlying CKD. Definitive diagnosis requires renal biopsy as laboratory tests are non-specific. A simple dietary history in CKD patients during routine primary care visit may lead to early diagnosis and lead to prevention of acute renal failure and progression of renal disease.
Rapid mixing of the hardcore Glauber dynamics and other Markov chains in bounded-treewidth graphs.

We give a new rapid mixing result for a natural random walk on the independent sets of an input graph $G$. Rapid mixing is of interest in approximately sampling a structure, over some underlying set or graph, from some target distribution. In the case of independent sets, we show that when $G$ has bounded treewidth, this random walk -- known as the hardcore Glauber dynamics -- mixes rapidly for all values of the standard parameter $\lambda > 0$, giving a simple alternative to existing sampling algorithms for these structures. We also show rapid mixing for Markov chains on dominating sets and $b$-edge covers (for fixed $b\geq 1$ and $\lambda > 0$) in the case where treewidth is bounded, and for Markov chains on the $b$-matchings (for fixed $b \geq 1$ and $\lambda > 0$), the maximal independent sets, and the maximal $b$-matchings of a graph (for fixed $b \geq 1$), in the case where carving width is bounded. We prove our results by developing a divide-and-conquer framework using the well-known multicommodity flows technique. Using this technique, we additionally show that a similar dynamics on the $k$-angulations of a convex set of $n$ points mixes in quasipolynomial time for all $k \geq 3$. (McShine and Tetali gave a stronger result in the special case $k = 3$.) Our technique also allows us to strengthen existing results by Dyer, Goldberg, and Jerrum and by Heinrich for the Glauber dynamics on the $q$-colorings of $G$ on graphs of bounded carving width, when $q \geq \Delta + 2$ is bounded. Specifically, our technique yields an improvement in the dependence on treewidth when $\Delta < 2t$ or when $q < 4t$ and $\Delta < t^2$. We additionally show that the Glauber dynamics on the partial $q$-colorings of $G$ mix rapidly for all $\lambda > 0$ when $q \geq \Delta + 2$ is bounded.
Political and Religious Beliefs as Personality Predictors for Mexican American College Students

Approximately seven hundred Mexican American college students in South Texas were surveyed via an anonymous questionnaire to determine the following: 1) views regarding religion, the paranormal, and science, and 2) whether they view themselves as politically conservative versus politically liberal. A second questionnaire (the BFI-44) was utilized to evaluate personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). It was hypothesized, and the results verified, that political attitudes, religiosity, and views toward science among Mexican American college students relate to several personality traits.
Universality and language inclusion for open and closed timed automata

The algorithmic analysis of timed automata is fundamentally limited by the undecidability of the universality problem. For this reason and others, there has been considerable interest in restricted classes of timed automata. In this paper we study the universality problem for two prominent such subclasses: open and closed timed automata. This problem is described as open in [6,8] in the case of open timed automata. We show here that the problem is undecidable for open timed automata over strongly monotonic time (no two events are allowed to occur at the same time), and decidable over weakly monotonic time. For closed timed automata, we show that the problem is undecidable regardless of the monotonicity assumptions on time. As a corollary, we settle the various language inclusion problems over these classes of timed automata.
Median cleft of mandible and lower lip with ankyloglossia and ectopic minor salivary gland on tongue

Median cleft of lower lip and mandible is a rare anomaly. This Cleft has also been described as Cleft No. 30 of Tessier's classification. In minor forms only lower lip is cleft. Frequently, the cleft extends into the mandibular symphysis and the tongue is attached to the cleft alveolar margin. At times the tongue may be bifid or absent, hyoid absent, thyroid cartilage underdeveloped, strap muscles atrophic, manubrium sterni absent, clavicles widely spaced etc. The earliest report of this anomaly was by Couronne' in 1819. Since then very few cases have been reported in literature with variations. We describe a male child who presented at the age of 6 months with an ectopic salivary gland on the dorsum of the tongue in addition to median cleft of lower lip, ankyloglossia and notching of the mandible. Excision of mass on dorsum of tongue, release of ankyloglossia and lip from the alveolus followed by repair was done. No bony work was done since the mandible was only notched. On post-operative follow-up at 18 months, dentition was delayed in both maxillary as well as mandibular teeth and there was a gap between the lower central incisors. At the age of 2 years 4 months, the dentition is still not complete and the gap between the lower central incisors is very apparent. There is a supernumerary upper central incisor on right side. There is no mobility between the two segments of mandible. Speech is normal. A regular follow-up will be done to study the eruption of permanent central incisors at the age of 7 years and till eruption of all permanent teeth to assess the occlusion and to decide whether any bony work is needed or not.
Strategy and methodology for rank-ordering Virginia State agencies regarding "solar attractiveness" and identification of specific project possibilities

This paper describes the strategy and computer processing system that NREL, the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME), USA, and the State Energy Office, are developing for computing "solar attractiveness" scores for state agencies and the individual facilities or buildings within each agency. In the case of an agency, "solar attractiveness" is a measure of that agency's having a significant number of facilities for which solar has the potential to be promising. In the case of a facility, "solar attractiveness" is a measure of its potential for being good, economically viable candidate for a solar water heating system. Virginia State agencies are charged with reducing fossil energy and electricity use and expense. DMME is responsible for working with them to achieve the goals and for managing the state's energy consumption and cost monitoring program. This is done using the Fast Accounting System for Energy Reporting (FASER) computerized energy accounting and tracking system and database. The computer processing system described in this paper computes numerical "solar attractiveness" scores for the state's agencies and the individual facilities using the energy use and cost data in the FASER system database and the state's and NREL's experience in implementing, testing and evaluating solar water heating systems in commercial and government facilities.
Declarative Combinatorics: Boolean Functions, Circuit Synthesis and BDDs in Haskell

We describe Haskell implementations of interesting combinatorial generation algorithms with focus on boolean functions and logic circuit representations. First, a complete exact combinational logic circuit synthesizer is described as a combination of catamorphisms and anamorphisms. Using pairing and unpairing functions on natural number representations of truth tables, we derive an encoding for Binary Decision Diagrams (BDDs) with the unique property that its boolean evaluation faithfully mimics its structural conversion to a a natural number through recursive application of a matching pairing function. We then use this result to derive ranking and unranking functions for BDDs and reduced BDDs. Finally, a generalization of the encoding techniques to Multi-Terminal BDDs is provided. The paper is organized as a self-contained literate Haskell program, available at this http URL . Keywords: exact combinational logic synthesis, binary decision diagrams, encodings of boolean functions, pairing/unpairing functions, ranking/unranking functions for BDDs and MTBDDs, declarative combinatorics in Haskell
Convergence Rates for Nonholonomic Systems in Power Form

This paper investigates the convergence rates of several controllers for low dimenional nonholonomic systems in power form. The method of multiple scales is found to be effective in determining the asymptotic form of the solutions. The general form of the perturbation solutions indicates how parameters in the control laws may be chosen to achieve a desired convergence rate. A detailed analysis of controllers exhibiting exponential convergence is included.
Effect of annealing on the local microstructure and Tc in Y1-zCazBa2(Cu0.90Co0.10)3O6+y.

An investigation of the Co distribution in Y{sub 1{minus}{ital z}}Ca{sub {ital z}}Ba{sub 2}(Cu{sub 0.90}Co{sub 0.10}){sub 3}O{sub 6+{ital y}}, {ital z}=0.00 and 0.05, for different annealing treatments has been made with {sup 57}Co emission Moessbauer spectroscopy. Samples prepared by conventional ceramic techniques were first annealed in oxygen at 650 {degree}C for 15 h, 800 {degree}C for 1 h, and 400 {degree}C for 3 h (treatment (O)); they were next annealed at 700 {degree}C in N{sub 2} (treatment (N)); they were finally annealed at 350 {degree}C in O{sub 2} (treatment (NO)). After (O), the Co atoms for {ital z}=0.00 were distributed nearly 50-50 on Cu(1) and Cu(2) sites with evidence for Co-atom clustering in the Cu(1)O{sub {ital y}} planes; for {ital z}=0.05, over 80% of the Co were on the Cu(1) sites, and, more important, Co-atom clustering was evident. During treatment (N), Co atoms migrated form Cu(2) sites to the cobalt clusters in the Cu(1)O{sub {ital y}} planes. After (NO), the Co-atom clusters remained, with some increase in size in the {ital z}=0.00 sample, and the superconductive onset temperature {ital T}{sub 0} increased from its value after (O), but its superconductive transition width {Delta}{ital T}{sub {ital c}} also increased. A {sup 57}Fe{supmore » 4+} daughter is observed for Co{sup 3+} in a fivefold-coordinated Cu(1) site. These observations are discussed in comparison with results of similar experiments by others.« less
Building and analyzing timed influence net models with internet-enabled pythia

The most recent client-server version of Pythia modeling software is presented. Pythia is a software implementation of a Bayesian Net framework and is used for course of action development, evaluation, and selection in the context of effects-based planning. A new version, Pythia 1.5, is a part of a larger suite of tools for behavioral influence analysis, brought into the state-of-the-art client-server computing environment. This server application for multi-user and multiprocess computing relies on the Citrix Presentation Server for integration, security and maintenance. While Pythia's process is run on a server, the input/output services are controlled and displayed through a client PC. Example use of Pythia is illustrated through its application to a suppression of IED activity in an Iraqi province. This case study demonstrates how analysts can create executable (probabilistic) models that link potential actions to effects, based on knowledge about the cultural and social environment. Both the tool and the process for creating and analyzing the model are described as well as the benefits of using the new server based version of the tool.
FIBROBLAST-PNEUMONOCYTE FACTOR PURIFIED WITH THE AID 0F MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES STIMULATES CHOLINEPHOSPHATE CYTIDYLYLTRANSFERASE ACTIVITY IN FETAL TYPE II CELLS

Fibroblast-pneumonocyte factor (FPF) was purified from cortisol-treated fetal lung fibroblast conditioned medium by gel filtration and affinity chromatography. Based on bioactivity (choline incorporation into saturated phosphatidylcholine (SPC) by fetal type II cells), a 3,000-fold purification was obtained. Maximal stimulation by FPF was observed after 60 min of incubation. This finding suggests that the effect of FPF on SPC formation by fetal type II cells is not due to new protein synthesis but rather to an activation of enzymes involved in SPC production. A pulse-chase study on the metabolism of choline in fetal type II cells revealed that the presence of FPF in the chase medium increased the rate of disappearance of label from choline-phosphate and the rate of appearance in phosphatidylcholine. The radioactivity in CDPcholine was not significantly affected. This result indicates that FPF stimulates the activity of choline-phosphate cytidylyltransferase, the rate-controlling enzyme in the formation of phosphatidylcholine by fetal type II cells.
Nutrient-Health Associations in the Historic and Contemporary Diets of Southwest Native Americans

Nutritional characteristics and associated lifestyle factors, e.g. activity level, contribute to at least four (heart disease, cancer, cirrhosis and diabetes) of the 10 leading causes of Native American mortality and morbidity. Over the past three centuries, Native American diet and activity levels have changed dramatically. In the Southwest, high-fiber, nutrient-dense precontact foods requiring a moderate level of regular physical activity to gather, hunt and process have been replaced with readily accessible, low-fiber, high-fat and high-sugar foods and beverages. Changes in diet and activity levels have been accompanied by a shift in epidemiological patterns. Intervention trials among both Native Americans and non-Native Americans demonstrate that consumption of a high-fiber, low-fat diet and regular physical activity can be used not only in the treatment but perhaps more importantly in the prevention or delay of disease onset.
Formation of alliin in the culture tissues of Allium sativum. Oxidation of S-allyl-l-cysteine

Abstract Addition of S -allyl- l -cysteine markedly increased the level of alliin in both shoot-forming and root-forming callus tissues of A. sativum .
Patient-centered feedback on the results of personality testing increases early engagement in residential substance use disorder treatment: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Patient-centered models of assessment have shown considerable promise for increasing patients’ readiness for mental health treatment in general, but have not been used to facilitate patients’ engagement in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. We developed a brief patient-centered intervention using assessment and feedback of personality data and examined its acceptability and efficacy to increase early engagement in residential SUD treatment. Thirty patients entering a 90-day residential SUD treatment program were randomly assigned to a feedback (n = 17) or control (n = 13; assessment-only) condition. Normal-range personality was assessed with the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R). Patients were re-interviewed one month after treatment entry to obtain information on their satisfaction with the intervention, as well as their adjustment to the residential milieu. Electronic medical records were reviewed to obtain information on patients’ length of stay in the program and discharge status. Univariate ANOVAs and chi-square tests were conducted to examine group differences on outcomes. Patients’ ratings indicated strong satisfaction with the feedback intervention and expectations that it would have a positive impact on their treatment experiences. Among patients who had not previously been treated in the residential program, the feedback intervention was associated with more positive relationships with other residents in treatment and a stronger alliance with the treatment program one month after treatment entry. The feedback intervention was also associated with a longer length of stay in treatment, although this effect did not reach statistical significance. The findings highlight the clinical utility of providing SUD patients with patient-centered feedback based on the results of personality testing, and provide preliminary support for the acceptability and efficacy of this intervention to facilitate early engagement in residential SUD treatment.
Two Standards for Rigorous MANET Routing Protocol Evaluation

In this paper we look at issues with the simulation of generic Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) routing protocols. MANET simulation-based research is an involved process driven by the scenarios used in the simulations. Scenarios must be properly constructed in order to be effective in evaluating the performance of generic MANET routing protocols. For example, in scenarios with a low average hop count, little routing is needed, and poor protocols might appear successful. On the other hand, in scenarios with a high degree of partitioning, many pairs of nodes have no usable route between them, and good protocols might appear unsuccessful. Many standards are needed to establish rigorous evaluations for MANET simulation research, from simulation scenario standards to random number generator standards to results analysis standards. We do not attempt to standardize all of these areas. We do, however, propose two standards that should be employed to ensure long routes are available and used in the evaluation of generic MANET routing protocols. That is, we qualify a simulation scenario to be used for rigorous generic MANET routing protocol evaluation, based on the scenario's average shortest-path hop count and its amount of network partitioning. We construct several simulation scenarios that meet our two standards, using example metric values for our two standards. We note that our method can be modified to generate scenarios with different metric values that a researcher finds appropriate. See http://toilers.mines.edu for information on obtaining code used in this study.
Low-density parity-check codes for 40 Gb/s transmission

BER performance of LDPC codes, generalized LDPC codes and nonbinary LDPC codes, suitable for 40 Gb/s transmission, are compared against turbo product codes and RS concatenation schemes.
An effective synchronization network for hot-spot accesses

In large multiprocessor systems, fast synchronization is crucial for high performance. However, synchronization traffic tends to create “hot-spots” in shared memory and cause network congestion. Multistage shuffle-exchange networks have been proposed and built to handle synchronization traffic. Software combining schemes have also been proposed to relieve network congestion caused by hot-spots. However, multistage combining networks could be very expensive and software combining could be very slow.In this paper, we propose a single-stage combining network to handle synchronization traffic, which is separated from the regular memory traffic. A single-stage combining network has several advantages: (1) it is attractive from an implementation perspective because only one stage is needed(instead of log N stages); (2) Only one network is needed to handle both forward and returning requests; (3) combined requests are distributed evenly through the network—the wait buffer size is reduced; and (4) fast-finishing algorithms [30] can be used to shorten the network delay.Because of all these advantages, we show that a single-stage combining network gives good performance at a lower cost than a multistage combining network.
Structure and Composition of the Fusion Pore

Earlier studies using atomic force microscopy (AFM) demonstrated the presence of fusion pores at the cell plasma membrane in a number of live secretory cells, revealing their morphology and dynamics at nm resolution and in real time. Fusion pores were stable structures at the cell plasma membrane where secretory vesicles dock and fuse to release vesicular contents. In the present study, transmission electron microscopy confirms the presence of fusion pores and reveals their detailed structure and association with membrane-bound secretory vesicles in pancreatic acinar cells. Immunochemical studies demonstrated that t-SNAREs, NSF, actin, vimentin, α-fodrin and the calcium channels α1c and β3 are associated with the fusion complex. The localization and possible arrangement of SNAREs at the fusion pore are further demonstrated from combined AFM, immunoAFM, and electrophysiological measurements. These studies reveal the fusion pore or porosome to be a cup-shaped lipoprotein structure, the base of which has t-SNAREs and allows for docking and release of secretory products from membrane-bound vesicles.
New Developments In The Design Of Holographic Optics

Conventional optics normally includes only two types of elements: refractive and reflective. Holographic optics encompasses a third type of element; one whose properties are diffractive in nature. The focus of this paper is to outline the properties of a general computer-based analysis and design tool that is directed to holographic optics. This tool is called the Holographic Optics-Analysis and Design (HOAD) program. The program has been designed to be both user oriented and flexible. Four sections are covered in the paper. They are directed to-wards (1) the operating system (MTS) used to support the HOAD program, (2) the hologram ray tracing programs which form the basis of the program, (3) a general discussion of the HOAD program, and (4) an outline of the techniques of using HOAD. The last section of the paper is directed towards an assessment of where HOAD presently stands and the direction it is going.© (1974) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Design and Analysis of a W-band 9-Element Imaging Array Receiver Using Spatial-Overlapping Super-Pixels in Silicon

A W-band direct-detection-based receiver array is presented using a new concept of spatial-overlapping super-pixels for millimeter-wave imaging applications in an advanced 0.18 µm BiCMOS process. The use of spatial-overlapping super-pixels results in 1) improved SNR at the pixel level through a reduction of spillover losses, 2) partially correlated adjacent super-pixels, 3) a 2×2 window averaging function in the RF domain, 4) the ability to compensate for the systematic phase delay and amplitude variations due to the off-focal-point effect for antennas away from the focal point, and 5) the ability to compensate for mutual coupling effects among the array elements. The receiver chip achieves a measured peak coherent responsivity of 1,150 MV/W, an incoherent responsivity of 1,000 MV/W, a minimum NEP of 0.28 fW/Hz $^{1/2}$ and a front-end 3-dB bandwidth from 87–108 GHz, while consuming 225 mW per receiver element. The measured NETD of the SiGe receiver chip is 0.45 K with a 20 ms integration time.
Sovereignty - Modern: A New Approach to an Outdated Concept

Although much criticized, the concept of “sovereignty” is still central to most thinking about international relations and particularly international law. The old “Westphalian” concept in the context of a nation-state’s “right” to monopolize certain exercises of power with respect to its territory and citizens has been discredited in many ways (as discussed below), but it is still prized and harbored by those who maintain certain “realist” views or who otherwise wish to prevent (sometimes withjustification) foreign or international powers and authorities from interfering in a national government’s decisions and activities. Furthermore, when one begins to analyze and disaggregate the concept of sovereignty, it quickly becomes apparent that it has many dimensions. Often, however, the term “sovereignty” is invoked in a context or manner designed to avoid and prevent analysis, sometimes with an advocate’s intent to fend off criticism orjustifications for international “infringements” on the activities of a nation-state or its internal stakeholders and power operators.
Current developments in reproductive toxicity testing of pesticides

A protocol to evaluate the potential developmental and reproductive effects of test chemicals has been developed by the Life Stages Task Force of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI)/Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) Agricultural Chemical Safety Assessment (ACSA) Technical Committee. Since the original publication, several international groups have provided public comment on conducting the test. The extended one-generation reproductive toxicity test is now under consideration as a potential test guideline. The protocol uses a flexible approach that is markedly different from the current multigenerational guidelines. It encourages the use of toxicokinetics when setting the doses, evaluates more than one rat per sex per litter in the F1 offspring and does not necessarily require mating of the F1 to produce an F2 (F1 mating may be triggered by the presence of effects in the P0 and developing F1 rats). A number of additional reproductive endpoints, and the neurotoxicity and immunotoxicity cohorts are included. The ACSA protocol was developed with the goal of assuring that the methods are scientifically appropriate and the toxicological endpoints and exposure durations are relevant for risk assessment. Compared to existing testing strategies, the proposed approach uses substantially fewer animals, provides additional information on the neonate, juvenile and pubertal animal, and includes an estimation of human exposure potential for making decisions about the extent of testing required. In this paper, the evolution of the protocol since the 2006 publication is discussed. These changes reflect the collective input of a U.S. expert panel of government and industrial scientist convened in 2007 and discussions of an OECD expert group held in Paris, France (October, 2008).
Measurement of the Resistance of Treated Metal Foils to Scrubbing Abrasion Using a Modified Reciprocating Wear Test

A reciprocating wear test method has been developed to evaluate the resistance of metal foils to scrubbing abrasion. Development included the definition of a quantitative measure of the scrubbing resistance. In order to test the ability of the new method to differentiate between surface treatments, four versions of Type 316 stainless steel foils were tested: annealed (A-NT), cold-worked (C-NT), annealed plus a case-hardened (A-T), and cold-worked plus case-hardened (C-T). Measurements were made of their scrubbing resistance using commercial kitchen scrub pads as the counterface material. Results showed that the case-hardening process significantly increased the scrubbing resistance both under dry conditions and with cleaning solutions to lubricate the contact. While this linearly-reciprocating method does not simulate the circular, overlapping motion commonly occurring in service, results indicated that the new test method could sufficiently discriminate levels of two-body abrasion behavior, and therefore can be useful for studying the effects of surface treatments on abrasion resistance.
A closer look at the brain of newborn infants with a congenital heart defect.

Since the introduction of open-heart surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) in the 1950s, there have been major advances in surgical techniques, which have resulted in a survival rate of more than 90% in neonates undergoing these procedures. While this is good news for those born with complex CHD such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), we are increasingly aware that infants who require cardiac surgery during the first weeks after birth are at increased risk of neurodevelopmental morbidity, even accounting for those with underlying genetic problems.
Diet as Primordial Prevention in Seventh-Day Adventists

Epidemiologic studies of Seventh-Day Adventists have clearly shown that dietary habits are associated with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and other chronic diseases. However, a few surprising results emerge. Meat consumption is clearly hazardous for Adventist men by raising CHD mortality. However, no such effect was seen in women. Possible reasons are discussed. Our data, and that of others, strongly support the role of a fatty food, specifically nuts, as protective for CHD. The possible implications of this result for fat intake as a risk factor for CHD are discussed. In particular, it may be that consumption of modest quantities of certain fats is beneficial, rather than hazardous. The lower risk of CHD in Adventists probably has a complicated explanation and certainly cannot be entirely explained by their nonsmoking status or a superior serum lipid profile. Adventists are unique in that the majority of this group have adopted a dietary habit that is either vegetarian or tending in this direction. The power of incorporating health into a system of religious belief is discussed. Possibly others can also implement such a model to their advantage.
Usefulness of a hand-carried cardiac ultrasound device for bedside examination of pericardial effusion in patients after cardiac surgery

To identify the incidence of pericardial effusion in patients after cardiac surgery using a hand-carried cardiac ultrasound device, 200 patients were assessed on postoperative day 3. If a pericardial effusion was found, patients were monitored for 3 consecutive days with a hand-carried cardiac ultrasound device. Within 72 hours after surgery, 43 patients (21.5%) had developed an effusion, of whom 2 patients had cardiac tamponade and 41 patients (21%) had a small pericardial effusion. No difference was found in the incidence of effusion based on the type of cardiac surgery. Of patients with a small pericardial effusion on day 3 after surgery, an additional 2 of 41 (5%) developed cardiac tamponade.
Persons Affected by Traumatic Brain Injury in the Workplace: Implications for Employee Assistance Programs

Employee Assistance Programs often provide behavioral health services to employees. The article discusses issues related to employees affected by traumatic brain injury such as psychosocial challenges that may accompany reentry into the workplace. Strategies that employers may utilize to accommodate such challenges are presented. Implications for practitioners are explored within the context of the Americans with Disabilities Act, disability management, and human resources.
Clostridial abomasitis in calves: case report and review of the literature.

Abstract Infections by Clostridium perfringens type A are perhaps the most common causes of clostridial hemorrhagic enteritis in neonatal ruminants. Affected calves exhibit tympany, hemorrhagic abomasitis, and abomasal ulceration. Gram-positive bacilli are often found on affected mucosa and in submucosa. Aspects of etiology beyond the infecting organism are little understood, but probably include dietary issues, perhaps relating to overfeeding, feeding of barely thawed or contaminated colostrum, or conditions which effect decreased gut motility. Fatal hemorrhagic enteritis in a cloned gaur calf is illustrative of the syndrome. The calf developed pasty yellow and bloody diarrhea, and the abdomen became distended and painful. In spite of intensive therapy, the calf died ∼48 h after birth. At necropsy, the distended abomasum contained clotted milk and bloody fluid, and the abomasal and omasal walls were thickened and hemorrhagic. The proximal duodenum was hemorrhagic and emphysematous, and microscopic examination revealed Gram-positive rods in association with acute, necrotizing, hemorrhagic mucosal inflammation. Isolates of C. perfringens from this calf were PCR positive for cpb2, the gene encoding beta2 toxin. This finding is of unknown significance; only 14.3% (8/56) of isolates from other calves with the syndrome have been cpb2 positive, and only 50% of cpb2 positive bovine isolates express CPB2. The most prominent needs to further our understanding of this problem are consistent experimental reproduction of the disease, elucidation of virulence attributes, and development and application of prevention and control strategies.
A Symmetric Representation for Three‐Body Problems. I. Motion in a Plane

A symmetric representation is sought for the motion of three particles in the limit of weak interaction. Operators with the desired symmetry can be obtained from the 6‐dimensional generalized angular momentum tensor [F. T. Smith, Phys. Rev. 120, 1058 (1960)]. Here, the 4‐dimensional problem of motion in a plane is worked out. Symmetric angular coordinates are found, operators and eigenfunctions are constructed, and the coupling coefficients connecting this with more familiar representations are discovered. Formally, the eigenfunctions are similar to the symmetric rotor functions, but with different arguments.
Appearance normalization of histology slides

This paper presents a method for automatic color and intensity normalization of digitized histology slides stained with two different agents. In comparison to previous approaches, prior information on the stain vectors is used in the plane estimation process, resulting in improved stability of the estimates. Due to the prevalence of hematoxylin and eosin staining for histology slides, the proposed method has significant practical utility. In particular, it can be used as a first step to standardize appearance across slides and is effective at countering effects due to differing stain amounts and protocols and counteracting slide fading. The approach is validated against non-prior plane-fitting using synthetic experiments and 13 real datasets. Results of application of the method to adjustment of faded slides are given, and the effectiveness of the method in aiding statistical classification is shown.
Remote sensing of biological soil crust under simulated climate change manipulations in the Mojave Desert

Abstract Earth's arid and semiarid ecosystems are subject to novel combinations of disruptive factors and unprecedented rates of change. Biotic soil crust is believed to be sensitive to impacts caused by land use and climate changes. This study examined the potential for spectral detection of different biological soil crusts (BSC: cyanobacteria, moss and lichen) and bare soil components at a long-term manipulative experiment at the Mojave Global Change Facility (MGCF) in southwestern Nevada. We evaluated the potential for spectral detection of experimental treatments using laboratory and field measured reflectance spectra in the second and third year of the experiment, and airborne hyperspectral data obtained in the third year of the manipulations for soil disturbance, increased summer rainfall, and dry nitrogen deposition. Laboratory spectra of individual components of biological soil crust and bare soil measured under controlled laboratory conditions were spectrally different over much of the spectrum and exhibited features at 0.42, 0.50, and 0.68 μm, which could differentiate these materials. Field measured spectra were more similar in overall shape in each of the MGCF treatments and individual BSC could not be distinguished. The field spectra most closely resemble cyanobacteria from laboratory measurements, which are known to cover up to 60% of the inter-shrub spaces. There were significant treatment differences between control, soil disturbance, and irrigation treatments in field spectral measurements and a spectral feature in the 2.00–2.08 μm region could distinguish these treatments. The treatments were also apparent in high spatial resolution (~ 4 m ground IFOV) airborne hyperspectral imagery using a minimum noise fraction (MNF) analysis, although treatments were not distinct in terms of laboratory or field-based specific features. Disturbance treatments were easily apparent in color-infrared imagery although other treatments were not distinguished. Three-band composites from a MNF analysis and classification images of the six most significant MNF bands for treatment differences, revealed disturbed and irrigation treatments and combinations of these with nitrogen treatments can be observed but control treatments were not separated from the untreated background. Nitrogen treatments were generally not significantly different from controls unless combined with irrigation or disturbance treatments. These data suggest that hyperspectral imagery could be used to monitor local and perhaps regional changes in biological soil crust in the southwestern deserts of the United States, even if crust components are not individually detected.
Velocity Profiles of Liquid Flow Through Circular Tubes and How They Affect Flow Measurement

This paper analyzes velocity profiles for flow through circular tubes in laminar, turbulent, and transition region flows and how they affect measurement by flowmeters. Experimental measurements of velocity profiles across the cross-section of straight circular tubes were made using laser Doppler velocimetry. In addition, flow visualization was done using the hydrogen bubble technique. Velocity profiles in the laminar and the turbulent flow are quite predictable which allow the determination of meter factors for accurate flow measurement, However, the profiles can not be predicted at all in the transition region. Therefore, for the accuracy of the flowmeter, it must be ensured that the flow is completely in the laminar regime or completely in the turbulent regime. In the laminar flow a bend, even at a large distance, affects the meter factor. The paper also discusses some strategies to restructure the flow to avoid the transition region.
Services research outcomes study: explanation of treatment effectiveness, using individual-level and programmatic variables.

This article examines the explanatory power of programmatic and individual-level variables, using the first nationally representative sample of both treatment facilities and clients. Multivariate statistical models accounted for almost half the variance in post- treatment heroin, marijuana, and any illicit drug use and about one- third the variance in crime. Use of any illicit drug during treatment, even after controlling for pretreatment use. was predictive of every type of drug use after treatment and three of the four major crimes analyzed. In addition, longer lengths of stay decreased the likelihood of alcohol/illicit drug use and criminal behavior after treatment. However, treatment variables added little explanatory power beyond the sociodemographic and pretreatment variables.
Modernity, History and the Theological Interpretation of the Bible

One of the more noticeable features of the landscape of theological studies, broadly conceived, is the trouble-some relationship between biblical studies and systematic or constructive theology. Following the programmatic comments of Colin Gunton, by ‘systematic theology’, I refer to that theology which is concerned (1) to elucidate in coherent fashion the internal relations of one aspect of belief to other potentially related beliefs; (2) to demonstrate an understanding of the relation between the content of theology and ‘the sources specific to the faith’; and (3) to evince an awareness of the relation between the content of theology and general claims for truth in human culture, not least those of philosophy and science. It is with this enterprise, the doing of systematic theology, that biblical studies has come in the last two centuries to have increasingly poor relations.
Test Platform for Millimeter-wave Amplifier Linearity Characterization

Many existing and proposed military satellite communication waveforms use spectrally confined modulations to increase the number of users that occupy a limited bandwidth. These modulations are non-constant modulus and require linear operation of the transmitters. Linearity requirements necessitate that amplifiers operate well below their saturated output power, which often requires devices larger in size and weight than acceptable for mobile terminals, such as those in vehicles. The Lincoln Laboratory Amplifier Testbed (LLAT) is a measurement platform designed to quantify the effects of amplifiers on spectrally confined waveforms. LLAT is capable of measuring amplifiers at millimeter-wavelengths with saturated output powers ranging from a few Watts to hundreds of Watts. To allow maximum flexibility in modem design, LLAT uses virtual modems running on a multiprocessor grid. The LLAT enables investigation of technology advances that may solve the size, weight and power constraints of small mobile terminals.