cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Seasonal Variation in Basking in Two Syntopic Species of Map Turtles (Emydidae: Graptemys)

Abstract The purpose of this study was to quantify seasonal variation in basking habits within 2 syntopic species of map turtles (Graptemys pseudogeographica kohnii and Graptemys ouachitensis sabinensis) in eastern Texas. Basking surveys were conducted twice per week from January 2005 to January 2006 along a 1.5-km transect of the Sabine River in Smith County. During this period, 312 observations of male and 178 observations of female G. pseudogeographica kohnii were recorded, while 2761 observations of male and 1334 observations of female G. ouachitensis sabinensis were made. Basking activity peaked in March (G. pseudogeographica kohnii) and May (G. ouachitensis sabinensis) with a peak of lesser magnitude for both species occurring in November. Within G. ouachitensis sabinensis, significantly more males than females were recorded basking throughout the year; however, in G. pseudogeographica kohnii significantly more males were recorded only during spring and fall.
Fossil evidence of Archaean life

Evidence for the existence of life during the Archaean segment of Earth history (more than 2500 Myr ago) is summarized. Data are presented for 48 Archaean deposits reported to contain biogenic stromatolites, for 14 such units reported to contain 40 morphotypes of putative microfossils, and for 13 especially ancient, 3200-3500 Myr old geologic units for which available organic geochemical data are also summarized. These compilations support the view that life's existence dates from more than or equal to 3500 Myr ago.
Rotavirus VP2 Core Shell Regions Critical for Viral Polymerase Activation

The innermost VP2 core shell of the triple-layered, icosahedral rotavirus particle surrounds the viral genome and RNA processing enzymes, including the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (VP1). In addition to anchoring VP1 within the core, VP2 is also an essential cofactor that triggers the polymerase to initiate double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) synthesis using packaged plus-strand RNA templates. The VP2 requirement effectively couples packaging with genome replication and ensures that VP1 makes dsRNA only within an assembling previrion particle. However, the mechanism by which the rotavirus core shell protein activates the viral polymerase remains very poorly understood. In the current study, we sought to elucidate VP2 regions critical for VP1-mediated in vitro dsRNA synthesis. By comparing the functions of proteins from several different rotaviruses, we found that polymerase activation by the core shell protein is specific. Through truncation and chimera mutagenesis, we demonstrate that the VP2 amino terminus, which forms a decameric, internal hub underneath each 5-fold axis, plays an important but nonspecific role in VP1 activation. Our results indicate that the VP2 residues correlating with polymerase activation specificity are located on the inner face of the core shell, distinct from the amino terminus. Based on these findings, we predict that several regions of VP2 engage the polymerase during the concerted processes of rotavirus core assembly and genome replication.
Analysis and Characterization of 1930s Evening Dresses in a University Museum Collection

The purpose was to demonstrate a process to characterize a segment of a university collection from an object base using an existing aesthetic framework. A collection consisting of 160 evening dresses from the 1930s were analyzed for their repetitive and defining features and their dispersion throughout the decade. Dresses were selected as examples of the defining features and analyzed using the concept of structuring within DeLong’s (1998) framework of visual analysis. This process demonstrated how aesthetics could be applied to raise awareness of artifacts within the collection. The result was a characterization of this 1930s collection in terms of defining features that included structuring and the visual result of an integration of layout, surface, and light and shadow.
S14. Critical Care Medicine: Hospital Ethics Committee.

Although the Hippocratic Oath set ethical standards for the practice of medicine in the late fifth century BC, the systematic implementation of bioethics is a recent phenomenon. In the United States, bioethics emerged in response to scandal and uncertainty, and JCAHO mandated the formation of hospital ethics committees (HEC) in 1992. For the critical care physician, the HEC can prove an invaluable resource, helping to balance the role of cutting-edge technology with a patient and society’s values. Critical care medicine is the lifeblood of bioethics. This talk will address the history of the HEC, its value, and use to the critical care physician, practical approaches, and intrinsic flaws of the system. For instance, currently, JCAHO does not stipulate the qualifications for HEC membership. Methods: 1. Literature search. 2. Interviews with critical care physicians and members of the HEC at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. 3. Project supervision by Dr. David Kaufman, surgical intensive care unit director at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Linguistic Practice and Language

Linguistic practice refers to language use in all walks of human life including using language to shape and reshape the meaning, truth, knowledge, and value of human activities. To be sure, the ming-shi discourse was itself a linguistic practice paralleling to philosophical discourses on other key issues in ancient China.
New Sources of Southern Chinch Bug (Hemiptera: Blissidae) Resistance in St. Augustinegrass Varieties

Abstract The southern chinch bug, Blissus insularis Barber, is the most damaging insect pest of St. Augustinegrass, Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze. Historically, host plant resistance has been important for control of southern chinch bugs in St. Augustinegrass. In this study we screened 36 St. Augustinegrass varieties for resistance to southern chinch bugs. Four varieties were shown to have significant resistance using 2 different testing methods. Morphological data for these 4 varieties also were measured.
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEMS, MORPHOLOGY, AND GENETICAL DIVERSITY IN DID YMIUM IRIDIS (MYXOMYCETES)

Of 44 Didymium iridis isolates examined, 12 are heterothallic and 32 are nonheterothallic (presumptively apomictic). Isolates belonging to the two reproductive systems are essentially indistinguishable and therefore constitute a single morphospecies. There is a considerable amount of genetical variability among isolates studied. For example, heterothallics are divisible into three breeding groups whose isozyme patterns indicate they have diverged genetically from one another. Nonheterothallics do not interbreed with heterothallics or among themselves, and their isozyme patterns indicate divergence from one another as well as from all heterothallics. Thus, D. iridis is partitioned into many "biological species." The evolutionary relationships of reproductive systems and their probable consequences for myxomycete speciation are discussed. Myxomycetes are primitive, holotrophic eukaryotes which may be direct descendants of the earliest sexual amoeboflagellates, so from an evolutionary standpoint, they constitute especially appropriate material for investigations on reproductive systems. Didymium iridis (Ditmar) Fries (Physarales, Didymiaceae) has become a wellknown research organism, largely because mating types were discovered in it
Feasibility of Swept Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Imaging

Ultrasound image quality is often inherently limited by the physical dimensions of the imaging transducer. We hypothesize that, by collecting synthetic aperture data sets over a range of aperture positions while precisely tracking the position and orientation of the transducer, we can synthesize large effective apertures to produce images with improved resolution and target detectability. We analyze the two largest limiting factors for coherent signal summation: aberration and mechanical uncertainty. Using an excised canine abdominal wall as a model phase screen, we experimentally observed an effective arrival time error ranging from 18.3 ns to 58 ns (root-mean-square error) across the swept positions. Through this clutter-generating tissue, we observed a 72.9% improvement in resolution with only a 3.75 dB increase in side lobe amplitude compared to the control case. We present a simulation model to study the effect of calibration and mechanical jitter errors on the synthesized point spread function. The relative effects of these errors in each imaging dimension are explored, showing the importance of orientation relative to the point spread function. We present a prototype device for performing swept synthetic aperture imaging using a conventional 1-D array transducer and ultrasound research scanner. Point target reconstruction error for a 44.2 degree sweep shows a reconstruction precision of 82.8 μm and 17.8 μm in the lateral and axial dimensions respectively, within the acceptable performance bounds of the simulation model. Improvements in resolution, contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio are demonstrated in vivo and in a fetal phantom.
Analysis on Results of AIDS Sentinel Surveillance Among Female Sex Workers,Quanzhou City,2011-2013

Objective To evaluate the effect of AIDS comprehensive intervention among female sex workers(FSWs).Methods Analysis was made on the monitoring data among female sex workers(FSWs),2011-2013. Results A total2 576 FSWs were surveyed,and 2 519 blood samples were collected.During 2011-2013,the number of understanding prevention knowledge was 1 996,the average awareness rate of AIDS knowledge was 77.48%(P0.01),the number of admitting drug use was 36(accounting for 1.40%).The number of condom use with last commercial sex behavior among FSWs was 1 671(accounting for 64.87%).There was 90 FSWs infecting sexual diseases(accounting for 3.49%),including 5cases of gonorrhea,20 cases of syphilis,7cases of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection,23 cases of condyloma acuminatum,0cases of genital herpes and 14 case of other sexual diseases.The number of receiving condom promotion and distribution or AIDS counseling and testing was 1 168(accounting for 45.34%),receiving peer education was 115(accounting for 4.46%).The HIV prevalence was 0in the three years,the TP prevalence was 1.55%(39cases)and the HCV prevalence was 0.44%(11cases). Conclusion The HIV prevalence among FSWs in Quanzhou city is low,but the awareness rate of AIDS knowledge and the rate of condom use are not very high,it is necessary to expand the publicity and education,spread the condom using and so on,raise the high coverage of comprehensive intervention in target population in the future.
The influence of prearrest factors on the preservation of left ventricular function during cardiopulmonary bypass

Uniformly excellent myocardial protection during global ischemia in cardiac procedures requiring cessation of aortic root perfusion remains an elusive goal. This study establishes the importance of the preischemic inotropic state of the left ventricle and the arterial blood glucose concentration ([glucose]) immediately prior to an elective period of myocardial ischemia. Thirty-one experiments were performed on dogs subjected to 90 minutes of global ischemia on cardiopulmonary bypass at 28° C with perfusion pressure constantly maintained at 90 mm Hg. The maximum rate of development of left ventricular pressure (LVdp/dtmax) at constant arterial and left atrial (LAP) pressures was used as a measure of contractility prior to ischemia. In a group of 18 of these dogs undergoing anoxic cardiac arrest, arterial blood [glucose], in conjunction with the preischemic LVdp/dtmax and the cross-clamp to asystole time interval (metabolic supply/demand index), significantly predicted (p 120 mg/100 ml and treated with potassium cardioplegia, “normal” preischemic LVdp/dtmax (N = 7) was associated with a good functional result, but an elevated preischemic LVdp/dtmax (N = 6) produced severe functional impairment following ischemia. Optimum myocardial protection thus involves minimizing metabolic demands and maximizing metabolic supply immediately prior to and during the period of aortic cross-clamping.
Software transactional memory

This article consists of a collection of slides from the author's conference presentation on software transactional memory (STM). Some of the specific topics discussed include: how to translate a language construct via STM, including runtime and compiler support; example of hybrid TM; and the outlook for the future development STM and the applications to be supported.
Building a Foundation, Defining Terms, and Looking Toward the Future

Objectives: To discuss why pharyngeal residue has been an integral and foundational component of the fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) examination from its inception and why determination of pharyngeal residue severity ratings is an important clinical challenge and worthy goal to achieve
Programming with BIG Data in R: Scaling Analytics from One to Thousands of Nodes

Abstract We present a tutorial overview showing how one can achieve scalable performance with R. We do so by utilizing several package extensions, including those from the pbdR project. These packages consist of high performance, high-level interfaces to and extensions of MPI, PBLAS, ScaLAPACK, I/O libraries, profiling libraries, and more. While these libraries shine brightest on large distributed platforms, they also work rather well on small clusters and often, surprisingly, even on a laptop with only two cores. Our tutorial begins with recommendations on how to get more performance out of your R code before considering parallel implementations. Because R is a high-level language, a function can have a deep hierarchy of operations. For big data, this can easily lead to inefficiency. Profiling is an important tool to understand the performance of an R code for both serial and parallel improvements. The pbdR packages provide a highly scalable capability for the development of novel distributed data analysis algorithms. This level of scalability is unmatched in other analysis software. Interactive speeds (seconds) are achieved for complex analysis algorithms on data 100 GB and more. This is possible because the interfaces add little overhead to the scalable libraries and their extensions. Furthermore, this is often achieved with little or no change to serial R codes. Our overview includes codes of varying complexity, illustrating reading data in parallel, the process of changing a serial code to a distributed parallel code, and how to engage distributed matrix computation from within R.
Teaching Individuals with Life-Limiting Illness

Life-limiting illness refers to a serious and progressive medical condition that has high likelihood to limit both the quality and length of one’s life. With this type of illness, for which there is no definitive cure, there are usually significant physical symptoms and functional debilitation over time. All of the usual issues that come up in the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class are magnified in those with life-limiting illness. It’s like a perfect storm of unpleasantness – a barrage of physical and mental suffering that is exponentially greater than during other life experiences. This chapter addresses special considerations to most skillfully teach mindfulness based interventions to individuals experiencing life-limiting illnesses.
Axis or Allies? Coordinating the Rescuers of Downed Allied Airmen in World War II Yugoslavia

During World War II, American Army Air Forces commanders cooperated with Communist Partisans and their Chetnik enemies to rescue thousands of downed airmen from occupied Yugoslavia. American intell...
Direct measurement of dissipation in phononic crystal and straight tethers for MEMS resonators

This paper presents optical measurements of the dynamic strain profiles along the tethers of microelectromechanical resonators and relates them to mechanical quality factor (Q). Such measurements allow for the quantification of tether dissipation and fair comparison between various tether designs. Our experiments present the first systematic comparison between the best-performing conventional tethers with one-dimensional phononic crystal (PnC) tethers for silicon bulk acoustic resonators, and demonstrate more than 3× improvement in Q when the PnC tethers are used. The spatial decay rate of the mechanical strain profile along the tethers correlates well with the measured Q. This work is the first to demonstrate one-dimensional PnC tethers for electrostatic bulk acoustic resonators.
Advances in antibody-drug conjugates: A new era of targeted cancer therapy.

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), a potent class of anticancer therapeutics, comprise a high-affinity antibody (Ab) and cytotoxic payload coupled via a suitable linker for selective tumor cell killing. In the initial phase of their development, two ADCs, Mylotarg®, and Adcetris® were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating hematological cancer, but the real breakthrough came with the discovery of the breast cancer-targeting ADC, Kadcyla®. With advances in bioengineering, linker chemistry, and potent cytotoxic payload, ADC technology has become a more powerful tool for targeted cancer therapy. In addition, ADCs with improved safety using humanized Abs with a unified ‘drug:antibody ratio’ (DAR) have been achieved. Concomitantly, there has been a significant increase in the number of clinical trials with anticancer ADCs with high translation potential.
THREE-DIMENSIONAL MULTI-SEGMENTED SPINE JOINT REACTION FORCES DURING COMMON WORKPLACE PHYSICAL DEMANDS/ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING

Objective: The quantification of inter-segmental spine joint reaction forces during common workplace physical demands. Background: Many spine reaction force models have focused on the L5/S1 or L4/L5 joints to quantify the vertebral joint reaction forces. However, the L5/S1 or L4/L5 approach neglects most of the intervertebral joints. Methods: The current study presents a clinically applicable and noninvasive model which calculates the spinal joint reaction forces at six different regions of the spine. Subjects completed four ambulatory activities of daily living: level walking, obstacle crossing, stair ascent, and stair descent. Results: Peak joint spinal reaction forces were compared between tasks and spine regions. Differences existed in the bodyweight normalized vertical joint reaction forces where the walking (8.05±3.19N/kg) task had significantly smaller peak reaction forces than the stair descent (12.12±1.32N/kg) agreeing with lower extremity data comparing walking and stair descent tasks. Conclusion: This method appears to be effective in estimating the joint reaction forces using a segmental spine model. The results suggesting the main effect of peak reactions forces in the segmental spine can be influenced by task.
Effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in a ventilator-induced injury mouse model

Background Positive-pressure mechanical ventilation is an essential therapeutic intervention, yet it causes the clinical syndrome known as ventilator-induced lung injury. Various lung protective mechanical ventilation strategies have attempted to reduce or prevent ventilator-induced lung injury but few modalities have proven effective. A model that isolates the contribution of mechanical ventilation on the development of acute lung injury is needed to better understand biologic mechanisms that lead to ventilator-induced lung injury. Objectives To evaluate the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers in reducing lung injury in a ventilator-induced lung injury murine model in short- and longer-term ventilation. Methods 5–12 week-old female BALB/c mice (n = 85) were anesthetized, placed on mechanical ventilation for either 2 hrs or 4 hrs with either low tidal volume (8 ml/kg) or high tidal volume (15 ml/kg) with or without positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers. Results Alteration of the alveolar-capillary barrier was noted at 2 hrs of high tidal volume ventilation. Standardized histology scores, influx of bronchoalveolar lavage albumin, proinflammatory cytokines, and absolute neutrophils were significantly higher in the high-tidal volume ventilation group at 4 hours of ventilation. Application of positive end-expiratory pressure resulted in significantly decreased standardized histology scores and bronchoalveolar absolute neutrophil counts at low- and high-tidal volume ventilation, respectively. Recruitment maneuvers were essential to maintain pulmonary compliance at both 2 and 4 hrs of ventilation. Conclusions Signs of ventilator-induced lung injury are evident soon after high tidal volume ventilation (as early as 2 hours) and lung injury worsens with longer-term ventilation (4 hrs). Application of positive end-expiratory pressure and recruitment maneuvers are protective against worsening VILI across all time points. Dynamic compliance can be used guide the frequency of recruitment maneuvers to help ameloriate ventilator-induced lung injury.
Mu2e Solenoid Field Mapping System Design

The Mu2e experiment at Fermilab plans to search for charged-lepton flavor violations by looking for neutrino-less muon to electron conversions in the field of the nucleus. A complex solenoid system and precise knowledge of its magnetic field play a major role in the experimental approach Mu2e has chosen. It is essential to map the solenoid field up to 10−4 accuracy. This article describes the design of the Field Mapping System Mu2e will use to measure the magnetic field. Two different mechanical mapper systems, a survey-based position determination of the in-house calibrated three-dimensional Hall probes, a motion control system, and a data acquisition and readout system are presented.
Understanding of How Communications Students Use Interactive Instructional Technology From a User Experience Perspective

The ubiquitous nature of technology presents new paradigms for higher education as students are bombarded by information in a media-rich world. College students are taking multiple courses at a tim...
Hegel and the Doctrine of Expressivism

Contemporary criticisms of modern thought and culture often invoke the concept of expressivism. Although variously construed, expressivism generally is a view of reason, humans and their world opposed to Enlightenment dichotomies. According to the expressivist doctrine, man and world are not abstractly juxtaposed but integrally interrelated: individuals exist as parts of a broader whole, just as the world is the place for their self-realization and self-discovery. Similarly, norms of rationality are not abstractly contraposed to particular forms of life but deemed to have meaning and reality only in expressing existing social practices.
Evaluation of Breast Microcalcifications by Means of Optically Magnified Tissue Specimen Radiographs

Although the presence of microcalcifications in a breast cancer mass seen on mammography was first reported by Salomon (1913), Leborgne (1949) was the first to recognize that microcalcifications can represent the only mammographie manifestation of carcinoma. Since then, it has become apparent that 29%–48% of nonpalpable carcinomas are visible on the basis of microcalcifications alone (Table 1).
Window of vulnerability of vaccinia virus-infected cells to natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytolysis correlates with enhanced NK cell triggering and is concomitant with a decrease in H-2 class I antigen expression

A time course study was performed in order to determine if vaccinia virus (VV)-infected targets were more susceptible to murine natural killer (NK) cell-mediated lysis during a discrete period of time postinfection. Activated NK cells were used in short-term (e.g. 4 h) assays in order to avoid a further in vitro activation of the NK cells by interferon (IFN) and to test the innate susceptibility of target cells to lysis. The sensitivity of VV-infected L929 cells to lysis by NK cells increased as the infection progressed, reached a peak at approximately 24 h postinfection, and subsequently declined to levels lower than that of uninfected cells. This window of vulnerability was not due to an increase in the number of effector/target cell conjugates, which continually decreased as the VV infection progressed. Triggering of NK cells was measured by the influx of 45Ca2+. Target cells treated with IFN induced less 45Ca2+ uptake, whereas cycloheximide treatment of targets caused a greater influx of 45Ca2+ into the effector cells. When L929 cells were infected with VV for various time intervals and used in the triggering assays, an enhanced triggering of the effectors corresponding to the time of enhanced susceptibility of the target cells to lysis was detected. Quantitative decreases in H-2Kk and Dk class I antigens were observed following VV infection of target cells as measured by FACS analysis using alloantibodies. Qualitative changes in H-2 class I antigens were also observed, as detected by a loss in VV-infected target cell susceptibility to lysis by allospecific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) at a time when they were highly sensitive to killing by NK cells and VV-specific CTL. These results show that virus-infected targets may become innately more sensitive to lysis by NK cells at discrete time points after infection and that the susceptibility to lysis correlates with enhanced triggering of NK cells and reduced H-2 class I antigen expression.
Watershed filling in age-related macular degeneration: the implications of panretinal photocoagulation

The previous literature describing choroidal vascular circulatory organization is highly controversial. In vivo indocyanine green (ICG) videoangiographic studies using dye subtraction algorithms confirm prior in vitro latex injection studies which demonstrated the choroidal vascular bed as one continuous, freely anastomotic system. In contrast, laser targeted fluorescein angiographic dye studies confirm previous conventional fluorescein angiographic studies which illustrated multiple choroidal vascular zones of watershed filling in the posterior pole. This latter type of choroidal watershed vascular physiology is consistent with clinical entities such as the triangular syndrome and Elschnig’s spots. Overall, these findings may represent a normal spectrum of choroidal vascular physioanatomical heterogeneity, thereby explaining the variability found in the literature.
Direct Comparison of Probe Reorientation and Linear Mechanical Measurements of Segmental Dynamics in Glassy Poly(methyl methacrylate)

Optical probe reorientation experiments and mechanical stress relaxation measurements in the linear response regime were performed on a polymer glass. Segmental dynamics of lightly cross-linked poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were monitored via both methods at temperatures between 9 and 24 K below the glass transition temperature (Tg) and over the course of 8 h of aging. Relaxation times from the two methods cover a range of ∼1.7 decades. Similar results were obtained from the two experiments other than a slight difference in the aging rate. A difference of ∼0.3 decades (a factor of ∼2) is observed between the optically and mechanically obtained relaxation times, related primarily to the size of the probe. Both experiments give a value near 0.3 for the Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts (KWW) β parameter. These results provide an important baseline for the interpretation of optical probe reorientation experiments during nonlinear deformation.
Dysregulated gene expression predicts tumor aggressiveness in African-American prostate cancer patients

Molecular mechanisms underlying the health disparity of prostate cancer (PCa) have not been fully determined. In this study, we applied bioinformatic approach to identify and validate dysregulated genes associated with tumor aggressiveness in African American (AA) compared to Caucasian American (CA) men with PCa. We retrieved and analyzed microarray data from 619 PCa patients, 412 AA and 207 CA, and we validated these genes in tumor tissues and cell lines by Real-Time PCR, Western blot, immunocytochemistry (ICC) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses. We identified 362 differentially expressed genes in AA men and involved in regulating signaling pathways associated with tumor aggressiveness. In PCa tissues and cells, NKX3.1, APPL2, TPD52, LTC4S, ALDH1A3 and AMD1 transcripts were significantly upregulated (p < 0.05) compared to normal cells. IHC confirmed the overexpression of TPD52 (p = 0.0098) and LTC4S (p < 0.0005) in AA compared to CA men. ICC and Western blot analyses additionally corroborated this observation in PCa cells. These findings suggest that dysregulation of transcripts in PCa may drive the disparity of PCa outcomes and provide new insights into development of new therapeutic agents against aggressive tumors. More studies are warranted to investigate the clinical significance of these dysregulated genes in promoting the oncogenic pathways in AA men.
Combating Starvation: Comparing Agrarianism, Ethics, and Statecraft in the Legend of Shen Nong and in Andō Shōeki’s Thought

This article examines different ways agrarian thought has been interpreted and employed by ancient Chinese and early modern Japanese philosophers to criticize and attempt to limit the state’s power, and, in at least one case, to try to strengthen it. It analyzes the manner in which arguably the most fundamental human activities of farming, weaving, and governing have been conceptualized in a normative way, and the extent to which thinkers and statesmen in these East Asian historical contexts debated their correct interrelation. The state’s critics were deeply concerned about the tragic occurrence of death by starvation during their ages, and by the conditions that allowed it to happen. They identified and advocated certain ethical values and political measures they believed would mitigate and help prevent this avoidable circumstance. Conversely, the state’s supporters appropriated agrarian thinking to demonstrate how the sovereign’s control of the realm and its subjects could be significantly enhanced by strategically apportioning the land in a particular way. Lastly, both groups of thinkers sought unity, ethically or geopolitically (or both), but they conceived of this ideal in contrasting ways.
Recent Results from the Search for New Phenomena at D0

We present results from several new searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We describe a search based on the scalar sum of the transverse energy of the event, a global quantity nearly independent of the event topology. We summarize our searches for first generation leptoquarks into all three decay channels, eq eq, eq nu q, and nu q nu q, and note that this is the first time that the triumvirate of decay channels has been searched. We do not find any evidence for production of first generation leptoquarks and set a lower limit on the mass of the leptoquark of 175 GeV/c^2, assuming the decay is exclusively into eq eq. We also present results from the first search for a third generation leptoquark with charge = +/- 1/3. Again, we find no evidence for its existence for a mass less than 80 GeV/c^2. Finally, we discuss one of our searches for supersymmetry, specifically the pair-production of selectrons, sneutrinos, and chi_2^0 where the decay yields final states with two photons plus missing transverse energy. We set limits on the production cross section ranging from 1 pb to 400 fb, depending on the mass. This analysis also sets a model-independent upper limit on the cross section times branching ratio to two photons + missing transverse energy + X of 185 fb at the 95% CL for transverse energy of the photons > 12 GeV with eta 25 GeV.
Using Hybrid Methods for Relevance Assessment in TREC Crowd '12.

Abstract : The University of Iowa (UIowaS) submitted three runs to the TRAT subtask of the 2012 TREC Crowdsourcing track. The task objective was to evaluate approaches to crowdsourcing high quality relevance judgments for a text document collection. We used this as an opportunity to examine three hybrid (combination of human-based and machine-based) approaches while simultaneously limiting time and cost. We create a training set from topics, which were previously assessed for relevance on the same document set, and use this training set to build strategies. We apply machine approaches, including clustering, to order documents for each topic, and then ask crowdworkers to provide relevance judgments for a subset of documents. One of our runs provides the best logistic average misclassification (LAM) rates of all submitted TRAT runs.
Age and Species Comparisons of Visual Mental Manipulation Ability as Evidence for its Development and Evolution.

Intelligent behavior is shaped by the abilities to store and manipulate information in visual working memory. Although humans and various non-human animals demonstrate similar storage capacities, the evolution of manipulation ability remains relatively unspecified. To what extent are manipulation limits unique to humans versus shared across species? Here, we compare behavioral signatures of manipulation ability demonstrated by human adults and 6-to-8-year-old children with that of an animal separated from humans by over 300 million years of evolution: a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). All groups of participants completed a variant of the “Shell Game”, which required mentally updating the locations of varying set sizes of occluded objects that swapped places a number of times. The parrot not only demonstrated above-chance performance, but also outperformed children across all conditions. Indeed, the parrot’s accuracy was comparable to (and slightly better than) human adults’ over 12/14 set-size/number-of-swaps combinations, until four items were manipulated with 3–4 swaps, where performance decreased toward that of 6- to 8-year-olds. These results suggest that manipulation of visual working memory representations is an evolutionarily ancient ability. An important next step in this research program is establishing variability across species, and identifying the evolutionary origins (analogous or homologous) of manipulation mechanisms.
Submerged prehistory and anthropological archaeology: Do underwater studies contribute to theory?

While underwater archaeology has been practiced for decades, there is a resurgence in the field moving beyond shipwrecks to investigate sites of great antiquity. Over 50 years ago, archaeologists d...
Major Variations In Intelligence

During the past two decades, the traditional concept of comprehensive health care for children has been significantly modified, with particular emphasis on providing for the child’s psychobiological, educational, and psychosocial needs. The primary care physician has been mandated increasing responsibilities in the management of developmental-behavioral problems. For the pediatrician, this expanded medical challenge requires the acquisition of skills in neurodevelopmental screening, counseling, management strategies, and child advocacy roles, for children with a variety of chronic handicapping conditions. A spirited pediatric interest for children with developmental disabilities is in part the result of (1) improved skills in prevention and management of acute pediatric problems (e.g., infection control), (2) an increasing population of children with chronic handicapping disorders, (3) federal legislation (PL 94–142) enacted to protect the rights of all handicapped children, (4) successful lobbying by various parent advocacy groups, (5) popularizing these issues by the communications media, and (6) a renewed commitment by professionals to protect and improve the quality of life for all children.
Contraction–relaxation coupling is unaltered by exercise training and infarction in isolated canine myocardium

The two main phases of the mammalian cardiac cycle are contraction and relaxation; however, whether there is a connection between them in humans is not well understood. Routine exercise has been shown to improve cardiac function, morphology, and molecular signatures. Likewise, the acute and chronic changes that occur in the heart in response to injury, disease, and stress are well characterized, albeit not fully understood. In this study, we investigated how exercise and myocardial injury affect contraction-relaxation coupling. We retrospectively analyzed the correlation between the maximal speed of contraction and the maximal speed of relaxation of canine myocardium after receiving surgically induced myocardial infarction, followed by either sedentary recovery or exercise training for 10-12 wk. We used isolated right ventricular trabeculae, which were electrically paced at different lengths, frequencies, and with increasing β-adrenoceptor stimulation. In all conditions, contraction and relaxation were linearly correlated, irrespective of injury or training history. Based on these results and the available literature, we posit that contraction-relaxation coupling is a fundamental myocardial property that resides in the structural arrangement of proteins at the level of the sarcomere and that this may be regulated by the actions of cardiac myosin binding protein C (cMyBP-C) on actin and myosin.
Uncertainty in Prognostics and Health Management: An Overview

This paper presents an overview of various aspects of uncertainty quantification in prognostics and health management. Since prognostics deals with predicting the future behavior of engineering systems and it is almost practically impossible to precisely predict future events, it is necessary to account for the different sources of uncertainty that affect prognostics, and develop a systematic framework for uncertainty quantification and management in this context. Researchers have developed computational methods for prognostics, both in the context of testing-based health management and conditionbased health management. However, one important issue is that, the interpretation of uncertainty for these two different types of situations is completely different. While both the frequentist (based on the presence of true variability) and Bayesian (based on subjective assessment) approaches are applicable in the context of testing-based health management, only the Bayesian approach is applicable in the context of condition-based health management. This paper explains that the computation of the remaining useful life ismoremeaningful in the context of condition-based monitoring and needs to be approached as an uncertainty propagation problem. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the various concepts discussed in the paper.
The incompetent cervix and accelerated fetal lung maturation.

Abstract The incompetent cervix is an infrequent but identifiable cause of late midtrimester pregnancy loss. The early diagnosis and surgical treatment of these patients have resulted in successful outcomes in 70 to 80 per cent of patients treated. However, this closure of the cervix may be only partially successful, in that the pregnancy may continue beyond the age of fetal viability, but the fetus may be born prematurely. There are no reports in the literature of the neonatal respiratory status of these infants delivered between 24 and 33 weeks of gestation. Nineteen preterm infants of less than 34 weeks' gestation were born to mothers with an incompetent cervix. The incidence of the respiratory distress syndrome was significantly less in infants of mothers with an incompetent cervix than in control infants of similar gestation (p
Self-Assembly of Monolayers of Micron Sized Particles on Thin Liquid Films

We have recently shown that the capillarity-based process for self-assembling particle monolayers on fluid-liquid interfaces can be improved by applying an electric field in the direction normal to the interface. In this paper, we present a technique for freezing monolayers of micron-sized particles onto the surface of a flexible thin film. Micron sized particles do not self-assemble under the action of lateral capillary forces alone since capillary forces among them are small compared to Brownian forces. The technique involves assembling the monolayer on the interface between a UV-curable resin and a fluid which can be air or another fluid by applying an electric field, and then curing the resin by applying UV light. The monolayer becomes embedded on the surface of the solidified resin film.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Design and Implementation of a Practical Security-Conscious Electronic Polling System

We present the design and implementation of Sensus, a practical, secure and private system for conducting surveys and elections over computer networks. Expanding on the work of Fujioka, Okamoto, and Ohta, Sensus uses blind signatures to ensure that only registered voters can vote and that each registered voter only votes once, while at the same time maintaining voters’ privacy. Sensus allows voters to verify independently that their votes were counted correctly, and anonymously challenge the results should their votes be miscounted. We outline seven desirable properties of voting systems and show that Sensus satisfies these properties well, in some cases better than traditional voting systems. Design and Implementation of a Practical Security-Conscious Electronic Polling System Lorrie Faith Cranor lorracks@cs.wustl.edu +1 314 935 5095 Ron K. Cytron cytron@cs.wustl.edu +1 314 935 7527
Bending the rules : discretionary pollution control in China

Industry compliance with pollution regulations is far from universal, even in North America. In developing countries, compliance rates are often quite low, particularly where budgets for regulation are low or inspectors are corrupt. And strictness of enforcement varies. Regulators are reluctant to impose stiff penalties on financially strapped plants that are major employers, and in many developing countries state-owned plants are treated more leniently than their private-sector counterparts. But research on determinants of compliance and enforcement is rare, even in industrial societies. The authors use new plant-level data for China to analyze variations in both compliance and enforcement, with a focus on regulation of water pollution. They look at the mechanics of official regulation, the economics of compliance, and regulatory discretion. They find: Cost-sensitive plants will try to adjust emissions to the point where the marginal levy equals the marginal cost of abatement. In practice, local regulators have considerable discretion in judging both compliance and appropriate penalties for noncompliance. China's regulators play by the rules, but often bend them. Underreporting and underassessment are common in China. But variable regulation is systematic, not random, and seems to reflect important environmental and social concerns. Old factories pay more, state-owned factories pay higher rates, and big employers get a discount. And regulators give little or no slack to heavy dischargers.
Chapter 10 Availability of Geospatial Data Through Libraries in the United States

Publisher Summary The so-called “map” libraries hold many other media, all the way from air photographs to globes to gazetteers, and encompass any sort of geospatial data or what is called “supporting material.” Map libraries are usually not only administratively but also physically part of larger libraries, e.g., university libraries. Occasionally, in the academic environment they are housed in the same building as a geography department. Wherever they are located, map libraries have long evidenced the library tradition of making information readily available to users. The digital revolution has affected these libraries, generally for the better, even before it made massive changes in life for the rest of LibraryLand. What has happened since approximately the 1950s, and what it means in terms of availability of information to users, is the focus of this chapter.
Stimulation of murine colony-forming cells with high proliferative potential by the combination of GM-CSF and CSF-1

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) has previously been shown to stimulate granulocyte, macrophage, and megakaryocyte lineages to act as an erythroid burst-promoting activity and to stimulate limited replication of spleen colony-forming cells. Here we demonstrate that murine GM-CSF alone or in combination with macrophage colony-stimulating factor (CSF-1) can stimulate colony- forming cells in bone marrow (BM) that have a high proliferative capacity. In cultures of BM from mice treated with 5-fluorouracil (FU) eight days before sampling, GM-CSF alone or in combination with CSF-1 stimulated the formation of large macrophage colonies with diameters greater than 0.5 mm. CSF-1 alone, at 800 units or greater, also stimulated larger colonies; however, these colonies were always less than 1.1 mm in diameter, whereas GM-CSF in combination with CSF-1 stimulated many colonies with diameters between 1 and 4 mm. At all doses of CSF-1 tested, the combination of factors resulted in a synergistic increase in colonies with diameters greater than 1.0 or 2.0 mm. Analysis of the incidence of colony-forming cells in the BM of normal mice and mice 2, 4, 6, and 8 days after FU treatment demonstrated that the progenitor cells stimulated by GM-CSF alone or in combination with CSF-1 were depleted by FU treatment in vivo and regenerated more rapidly than did the macrophage progenitors (M-CFC) stimulated by CSF-1 alone. This is similar to the properties of the previously described high-proliferative potential, colony-forming cell (HPP-CFC) that is responsive to interleukin-3 plus CSF-1 but not the HPP-CFC stimulated by hematopoietin 1 plus CSF-1. These data suggest that GM-CSF plus CSF-1 act synergistically to stimulate a population of progenitor cells that have a high proliferative potential and have properties similar to those of the population of HPP-CFC stimulated by interleukin-3 plus CSF-1.
Live-cell fluorescence imaging

This chapter examines the ways to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio while keeping the specimen healthy. Live cells expressing fluorescent protein fusions are usually dim compared to fixed specimens, both because the fluorescent proteins are not very bright and because there is, in most cases, only one fluorophores per protein. It is also favorable to choose cells that are expressing low levels of fluorescent protein fusions to minimize the difference from the levels of the endogenous protein in vivo. Long camera exposure times, which allow accumulation of weak signals, must be often avoided to reduce photobleaching and phototoxicity and to acquire images quickly enough to capture cell dynamics. Choices, such as objective lens and camera, determine the signal-to-noise ratio of an imaging system. Optimizing the imaging system to maximize signal and minimize noise is critical for live-cell fluorescence imaging. Imaging with high signal-to-noise ratio will allow detection of low concentrations of fluorescent fusion proteins with illumination conditions that are less likely to damage cells. Automation of an imaging system allows collection of multidimensional data while helping to maintain focus and minimize specimen exposure to light. Under all imaging conditions, maintaining and verifying cell health is essential to the validity of the experimental results.