cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Role of the Homeodomain Transcription Factor Bapx1 in Mouse Distal Stomach Development

Background & Aims Expansion and patterning of the endoderm generate a highly ordered, multiorgan digestive system in vertebrate animals. Among distal foregut derivatives, the gastric corpus, antrum, pylorus, and duodenum are distinct structures with sharp boundaries. Some homeodomain transcription factors expressed in gut mesenchyme convey positional information required for anterior-posterior patterning of the digestive tract. Barx1, in particular, controls stomach differentiation and morphogenesis. The Nirenberg and Kim homeobox gene Bapx1 ( Nkx3-2 ) has an established role in skeletal development, but its function in the mammalian gut is less clear. Methods We generated a Bapx1 Cre knock-in allele to fate map Bapx1 -expressing cells and evaluate its function in gastrointestinal development. Results Bapx1 -expressing cells populate the gut mesenchyme with a rostral boundary in the hindstomach near the junction of the gastric corpus and antrum. Smooth muscle differentiation and distribution of early regional markers are ostensibly normal in Bapx1 Cre/Cre gut, but there are distinctive morphologic abnormalities near this rostral Bapx1 domain: the antral segment of the stomach is markedly shortened, and the pyloric constriction is lost. Comparison of expression domains and examination of stomach phenotypes in single and compound Barx1 and Bapx1 mutant mice suggests a hierarchy between these 2 factors; Bapx1 expression is lost in the absence of Barx1. Conclusions This study reveals the nonredundant requirement for Bapx1 in distal stomach development, places it within a Barx1-dependent pathway, and illustrates the pervasive influence of gut mesenchyme homeobox genes on endoderm differentiation and digestive organogenesis.
Thermal stability of benzotriazole on copper during atmospheric corrosion

Atmospheric corrosion of copper can result in substantial problems for electrical interconnection in microelectronic applications. We have used x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to examine the effects of benzotriazole (BTA), an organic corrosion inhibitor, on atmospheric oxidation and sulfidation of polycrystalline copper in the temperature range 30-200 °C. XPS results demonstrated that BTA was lost depended on the ambient composition. BTA was least stable in sulfur-containing environments, disappearing from the surface at temperatures above 150 °C. BTA was quite stable in pure nitrogen and in a vacuum up to temperatures near 200 °C. This suggests that the loss mechanism involved a chemical reaction rather than solely a thermal process. The BTA-Cu(II) complex existing at room temperature was irreversibly converted into a BTA-Cr(I) complex upon heating above 90 °C in a vacuum.
Forum: Transitional Justice: The Quest for Theory to Inform Policy

Transitional justice (or TJ) emerged as a subject of policy debate and academic study by the late 1980s and early 1990s due to two developments (see Teitel 2009; Arthur 2009; Bell 2009; Roht-Arriaza and Mariezcurrena 2006). First, there was the end of brutal authoritarian regimes in Latin America and various responses in that region. Second, there was the end of repressive European communism and the political space subsequently opened up for various national and international policies. A very lively debate thus emerged about criminal prosecution, truth or fact finding commissions (TCs), apologies and reparations, amnesties and other forms of impunity involved in “just moving on,” memorials, lustration or barring human rights violators from holding public office, and more. Academic assertions, and eventually careful studies, followed. The central question in both political and academic circles was: What to do after atrocities or gross violations of human rights, with one central concern being how to prevent their reoccurrence. To track developments, there is now a journal, The International Journal of Transitional Justice. Various Web sites keep us update and provide perspective: “Track Impunity Always,”“Crimes of War Project,”“International Justice Tribune,”“International Criminal Law Bureau.” It is not easy to come to clear conclusions about preferable policies in varying contexts (see especially Minow 1998; also Roht-Arriaza and Mariezcurrena ibid ). The latter break down the subject into policy options—for example, trials versus TCs—and level of action—for example, national versus international. A short forum such as this one can hardly expect to do more than scratch the surface of a very large and complex subject. Yet one can: give a brief introduction that hopefully stimulates, look at developments in two important regions (Africa and Latin America), and discuss TJ in the United States after torture and other gross violations of human rights (and …
State of the Art in Anti-Aging Trends

This chapter is an effort to provide a cursory overview of current paradigms in the realm of anti-aging medicine. This subject will be evaluated according to current philosophic, clinical and scientific perspectives which are predominant in the field at this time.
Lifestyle and quality of life in long-term cardiac transplant recipients.

Abstract Background: The purposes of this study were to describe long-term (>1 year) cardiac transplant recipients' perceptions of barriers to health-promoting behaviors; ability to manage their health, health-promoting lifestyle, health status and quality of life (QOL); and determine predictors of QOL. Methods: Data were collected from 93 recipients who completed a self-report questionnaire incorporating: (1) patient characteristics; (2) barriers to health promotion, perceived health competence and health-promoting lifestyle; (3) perceived health status; and (4) QOL. All instruments used had acceptable reliability and validity. Objective measures of health status were retrieved from medical records. Data were analyzed using descriptive and comparative statistics, measures of association and multiple regression. Results: Recipients were uncertain about their ability to manage their health; felt that barriers sometimes interfered with engaging in health-promoting behaviors; and often included health-promoting behaviors in their lifestyle. They rated their health as good and were moderately satisfied with life. Predictors of better perceptions of QOL included less education, longer time since transplant, ischemic etiology of heart failure, fewer barriers, higher perceived health competence and a health-promoting lifestyle ( R 2 = 0.51; F = 14.77; p = 0.001). Conclusions: The present results provide information regarding factors that contribute to perceptions of quality of life after cardiac transplantation, have implications for identifying patients at risk for poor QOL, and sensitize clinicians to the need for ongoing patient education.
The Implementation and Effectiveness of Geographic Information Systems Technology and Methods in Secondary Education

Abstract Geographic information systems (GIS) technology and methods have transformed decision-making in society by bringing geographic analysis to the desktop computer. Although some educators consider GIS to be a promising means for implementing reform, it has been adopted by less than 2 percent of American high schools. The reasons behind the interest in GIS, its slow implementation, and its effectiveness in teaching and learning are unclear. To address these concerns, this research describes the extent to which GIS is being implemented in American secondary education and assesses the effectiveness of lessons that use GIS. A survey of 1,520 high schools that own GIS software, along with experiments and case studies in three high schools, provided primary data for assessing the implementation and effectiveness of GIS.
Formation of Cocaisopropylene (Isopropylcocaine) by Human Liver In Vitro

The formation of cocaisopropylene (CI), the isopropyl homologue of cocaine (COC), was demonstrated by the incubation of whole human liver homogenates with cocaine hydrochloride and isopropanol. Measurable concentrations of CI were noted within 1 h of incubation. The reaction was completely inhibited by sodium fluoride. As a control on hepatic enzymatic activity, aliquots of the same homogenates were also incubated with COC and ethanol to yield cocaethylene (CE), which was previously demonstrated by this system. Peak concentrations of CI were approximately 0.1-0.2 of those of CE.
Searching for On-Field Parity: Evidence From National Football League Scheduling During 1991-2006

The authors analyze whether the scheduling changes the National Football League (NFL) made at the time to promote parity had the desired impact on the 1995-1998 and the 2003-2006 seasons compared to the 1991-1994 and the 1999-2002 seasons. Using the relative standard deviation (RSD), the authors find that the scheduling changes did not significantly influence parity. However, this result does not imply that scheduling changes do not affect competitive balance or have no benefits. Competitive balance can manifest itself in different ways and, therefore, it is imperative to look at multiple indicators before declaring policy and rule changes a failure or a success.
Multi-cell upset probabilities of 45nm high-k + metal gate SRAM devices in terrestrial and space environments

Multi-cell soft errors are a key reliability concern for advanced memory devices. We have investigated single-bit (SBU) and multi-cell upset (MCU) rates of SRAM devices built in a 45 nm high-k + metal gate (HK+MG) technology under neutron, proton and heavy-ion radiation. Our data highlight the excellent soft error reliability scaling properties of HK+MG. MCU rates were kept at 10% or less of SBU ones and bit-level SBU rates continue to decrease 2times per technology generation for terrestrial applications. SRAM upset rates in orbit are projected to be 2 to 4 orders of magnitude higher than at sea-level. A dramatic increase in MCU rates relative to SBU is projected for geosynchronous orbits, where direct ionization by heavy-ions dominates. No indication of charge amplification by parasitic bipolar devices has been observed for all investigated radiation environments. The observation that SBU error rates and small MCU error rates are elevated at locations in close proximity to well contacts for high LET values is speculated to be the result of the formation of a funnel between well contacts and sensitive drains.
Gene editing toward the use of autologous therapies in recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa

Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a disease caused by mutations in the COL7A1 gene that result in absent or dysfunctional type VII collagen protein production. Clinically, RDEB manifests as early and severe chronic cutaneous blistering, damage to internal epithelium, an increased risk for squamous cell carcinoma, and an overall reduced life expectancy. Recent localized and systemic treatments have shown promise for lessening the disease severity in RDEB, but the concept of ex vivo therapy would allow a patient's own cells to be engineered to express functional type VII collagen. Here, we review gene delivery and editing platforms and their application toward the development of next-generation treatments designed to correct the causative genetic defects of RDEB.
Harmonic Shape and Optimum Design

The harmonic condition and strategy for the inverse design problem in elasticity is examined. The analogy to membrane shapes and free-surface potential flow problems due to the irrotational character of the perturbations introduced by harmonic shapes is highlighted. Basic equations for the interior problem for holes and inclusions are derived using the complex variable formulation. They are than applied to determine the harmonic shape for a rigid inclusion in a biaxial field which is shown to be optimum giving the minimum possible stress concentration.
Clinical Practice of Whole-Body Hyperthermia: New Directions

Whole-body hyperthermia (WBH) is a modality that was developed to treat disseminated cancer (LARKIN et al. 1977; Pettigrew et al. 1974a, b). It is generally used in combination with chemotherapy (Bull et al. 1987, 1992b; Engelhardt et al. 1982, 1990; Koga et al. 1985; Page et al. 1992a; Robins et al. 1993), and less frequently with radiation; although therapies combining WBH with cytokines also promise to become effective anticancer treatments (Anjum and Fleischmann 1992; Doleire et al. 1992; Geehan et al. 1993; Makino et al. 1993a; Robins et al. 1989; Tapazaglou et al. 1990).In Addition to its major application to treat metastic disease, WBH may be useful with chemotherapy as a neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment.
Biomarkers detected by proteomic analysis predicts breast cancer response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy

669 Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy provides an excellent opportunity for objective assessment of treatment-induced tumor response and for studying biomarkers characteristic of therapy-induced...
Cross-Country Comparisons of Asset Management Companies on Loan Sales and Workouts

This paper is intended to describe and compare the AMC policies on the sales of loans and negotiated loan workout in Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, China and Malaysia.
Evaluation of Hepatic Hemangioma with Tc-99m Labeled Red Blood Cells

Six patients with cold defects on sulfur colloid liver/spleen scans and no history suggestive of malignant disease were imaged with Tc-99m in vivo labeled red blood cells. Dynamic, immediate, and delayed static images of the liver were obtained on all patients, demonstrating accumulation of activity in the lesions over time in five patients. This correlates well with the suspected diagnosis of hepatic hemangioma. We suggest using this simple, non-invasive technique for evaluating the presence and the extent of hepatic hemangiomas.
Sperm-agglutinating and sperm-immobilizing antibodies in vasectomized men.

Blood was obtained from 55 men prior to vasectomy. Sperm-agglutination and sperm-immobilization activity were measured to determine the presence of sperm antibody activity in the serum. Blood samples collected at six months postoperatively were examined similarly. Of 48 men who returned for their six-month check 26 had agglutinating antibodies. Of these 15 showed sperm immobilizing antibodies. Autoimmune conditions may develop as a remote result of vasectomy.
Magnesium deficiency in the sexually mature rat.

SummarySexually mature rats maintained on a magnesium-deficient diet develop lesions of the skin characterized by erythema, purpural hemorrhages and eschars. The addition of magnesium to the diet results in recovery from the skin lesions. Other symptoms observed are essentially the same as in the immature animal deprived of magnesium. The increased length of time before the appearance of symptoms in older animals probably reflects increased body stores of magnesium with an increment in the time required to deplete the tissues of this element.
Time-resolved multimodal analysis of Src Homology 2 (SH2) domain binding in signaling by receptor tyrosine kinases

While the affinities and specificities of SH2 domain-phosphotyrosine interactions have been well characterized, spatio-temporal changes in phosphosite availability in response to signals, and their impact on recruitment of SH2-containing proteins in vivo, are not well understood. To address this issue, we used three complementary experimental approaches to monitor phosphorylation and SH2 binding in human A431 cells stimulated with epidermal growth factor (EGF): 1) phospho-specific mass spectrometry; 2) far-Western blotting; and 3) live cell single-molecule imaging of SH2 membrane recruitment. Far-Western and MS analyses identified both well-established and previously undocumented EGF-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation and binding events, as well as dynamic changes in binding patterns over time. In comparing SH2 binding site phosphorylation with SH2 domain membrane recruitment in living cells, we found in vivo binding to be much slower. Delayed SH2 domain recruitment correlated with clustering of SH2 domain binding sites on the membrane, consistent with membrane retention via SH2 rebinding.
Synthesis of iron-doped Na-β”-alumina + yttria-stabilized zirconia composite electrolytes by a vapor phase process

Abstract Two phase samples containing ~ 30 vol.% of 3 mol% Y2O3-stabilized zirconia (TZ-3Y) and ~ 70 vol.% of α-Al2O3 doped with 5 mol% Fe2O3 were fabricated by sintering powder compacts in air at 1450 °C. The added Fe2O3 was fully dissolved in Al2O3 as determined by X-ray diffraction. The two phase samples were packed in Na-β”-alumina powder of nominal composition 8.85 wt.% Na2O, 0.75 wt.% Li2O and balance Al2O3 and heat treated in air at 1250 °C for 20 h. The samples were sectioned, polished and examined by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The as-sintered samples were ~ 97% of theoretical density with an approximate grain size of ~ 0.8 μm. In the samples packed in Na-β”-alumina powder and heat treated in air, Fe-doped α-Al2O3 converted into Fe-doped Na-β”-alumina. A sample of 2.35 mm in thickness could be fully converted into iron-doped Na-β”-alumina in 17 h at 1450 °C. Ionic conductivity was measured by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) over a temperature range from 197 °C to 485 °C. The bulk conductivity of the converted sample exhibited Arrhenius behavior with an activation energy of 0.20 eV and a pre-exponential factor of 421 Ω− 1cm− 1 K.
Coupled Thermo-Mechanical Finite Element Analysis of Damaged Rotor in 600 MW Supercritical Steam Turbine

Due to high steam parameters,high speed,poor working conditions of high and intermediate pressure rotors in 600 MW supercritical steam turbine,it will cause great stress change in the operation process. Rotor burnout occurred due to oil breakoff in a 600 MW supercritical unit,which seriously affected the safe operation of the unit. In order to grasp the stress state of the rotor,and ensure its safety operation,a finite element analysis mode was established by software ANSYS APDL for rotors under cold starting condition. Based on the engineering thermodynamics calculation,the convection coefficients of rotors were calculated,which was used as boundary conditions of the finite element model for the calculation and analysis of temperature field. Then the analytical method of indirect thermo-structure coupling was adopted to calculate and analyze the stress field of rotor,in which the stress distribution and the stress concentration position during the cold starting process of rotor could be obtained. The results show that the equivalent stress of rotor after cutting processing is less than its yield stress,but the stress is larger at the roots groove of governing stage,oil retainer and journal,which can provide technical support for the safety assessment and life management of damaged rotor.
Investigation of latent iron deficiency in preschool children by FEP/Hb

Objective] To study the status of latent iron deficiency (LID) in preschool children in urban area. [Methods] An investigation of iron nutrition status was made by dynamically observing FEP/Hb in children aged 2～6 years each year. [Results] The incidence of LID was 22.9%～28.3% in children in kindergarten. There was no significant difference among different groups. The incidence of LID was the highest (46.5%) in children of 2 years of age, who were the new comers, it decreased to 16.8% after 6 months (P0.01). The incidence in new comers of 4 years of age was 11.7%, but it increased to 36.4% after 6 months and decreased to 9.8% after 18 months. [Conclusion] Achievements in the management of iron deficiency has been made, but there are much room for improvement in the future.
Basic Linear Filtering with Application to Image Enhancement

Publisher Summary Linear image processing filters are characterized in terms of their frequency responses, specifically by their spectrum shaping properties. Coarse descriptions that apply to many two-dimension image processing filters include lowpass, bandpass, or highpass. In such cases, the frequency response is primarily a function of radial frequency, and may even be circularly symmetric, viz., a function of U2 +V2 only. In other cases, the filter may be strongly directional or oriented, with response strongly depending on the frequency angle of the input. Of course, the terms lowpass, bandpass, highpass, and oriented are only rough qualitative descriptions of a system frequency response. Each broad class of filters has some generalized applications. For example, lowpass filters strongly attenuate all but the lower radial image frequencies (as determined by some bandwidth or cutoff frequency), and so are primarily smoothing filters. They are commonly used to reduce high-frequency noise, or to eliminate all but coarse image features, or to reduce the bandwidth of an image prior to transmission through a low-bandwidth communication channel or before sub sampling the image.
India’s Daughter

India’s Daughter: The Story of Jyoti Singh. Written, directed, and produced by Leslee Udwin, for Women Make Films and BBC, in association with Assassin Films and Tathagat Films; 2015; color, 63 min...
Contrast enhancement for color images using discrete cosine transform coefficient scaling

For numerous security applications, the timeliness of having quality enhanced images are very critical. Therefore, it is essential to have a low-cost, real-time image enhancement and automatic evaluation tools that can be used be provided across many image based security platforms. In the past, there have been many algorithms proposed to improve image contrast, but most of these algorithms are implemented in the Spatial Domain and very few are designed to work in a Transform Domain. Furthermore, many existing contrast enhancement algorithms only improve the contrast of color images by enhancing the luminance of the image without improving the color content of the image. Besides, many of these methods are tailored to specific image settings. Furthermore, most current state of the art processors used in imaging systems today are equipped with built-in hardware Discrete Cosine Transform or Discrete Fourier Transform modules. In this article, a novel enhancement method to improve image contrast for grayscale and color images is introduced. The proposed method operates in the DCT domain and is computationally efficient, which makes it suitable for realtime imaging systems. Computer simulations demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.
Radial velocities, metallicities, and distances of Cepheids in M31 and M33

Cepheid variable stars are fundamental to the calibration of the extragalactic distance scale. We present radial velocities, preliminary metallicities, and preliminary surface brightness distances of Cepheids in Local Group galaxies M31 and M33 using data obtained with the High Resolution Spectrograph on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory. These data are the first step toward surface brightness distance measurements and metallicity calibrations of these extragalactic Cepheids.
Linear Mixed-Effects Models in Analyzing Repeated-Measures Data

Repeated-measures data are common in behavioral research. They can be part of questionnaire/survey studies with longitudinal assessments or laboratory studies with within-subject designs. This chapter covers some of these considerations. We begin with an example addressing the “language-as-fixed-effect” fallacy(Clark 1973). Baayen, Davidson,and Bates (2008) provide a complete solution to the problem. The rest of the chapter extends the sphericity analysis with other types of within-subject correlation patterns. Repeated-measures data are analyzed using linear mixed-effects models with the lme() function and generalized least squares using the gls() function, both available in the nlme package. Linear mixed-effects models better utilize all available data. We no longer need to exclude study participants with one or more missed assessments. Linear mixed-effects modeling also provides a flexible mechanism in addressing heteroscedasticity (unequal variances in within-subject errors) and dependence (within-subject correlations). These advantages over repeated-measures ANOVA are covered in this chapter.
Specification Mining for Machine Improvisation with Formal Specifications

We address the problem of mining musical specifications from a training set of songs and using these specifications in a machine improvisation system capable of generating improvisations imitating a given style of music. Our inspiration comes from control improvisation, which combines learning and synthesis from formal specifications. We mine specifications from symbolic musical data with musical and general usage patterns. We use the mined specifications to ensure that an improvised musical sequence satisfies desirable properties given a harmonic context and phrase structure. We present a specification mining strategy based on pattern graphs and apply it to the problem of supervising the improvisation of blues songs. We present an analysis of the mined specifications and compare the results of improvisations generated with and without specifications.
Communicating in Challenging Environments: Noise and Reverberation

In everyday listening situations, speech perception is challenged by interfering noise and other adverse room acoustics (e.g., reverberation). These intrusions hinder verbal communication and prevent audible access to salient cues by masking (noise) and smearing (“reverb”) spectrotemporal features of the speech signal. The brainstem frequency-following response (FFR) provides a detailed window into the early neural transcription of complex sounds and how normal and degraded speech signals are coded by the human auditory nervous system. This chapter provides an overview of noise-related and reverb-related changes in brainstem representations for speech as reflected in the scalp-recorded FFR. Although noise and reverberation affect behavior to a similar extent, they have a differential effect on neural speech representations, noise being a larger detriment to the speech code than reverberation. Acoustic interferences also produce distinct effects within the speech signal: the neural encoding of “timbre” is more affected than voice “pitch” cues. Applications for the FFR as a “biomarker” for understanding the neural basis and individual differences in degraded speech perception skills are also discussed.
Embryonic-only arsenic exposure in killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) reduces growth and alters muscle IGF levels one year later

Arsenic is a contaminant of drinking water and crops in many parts of the world. Epidemiological studies have shown that arsenic exposure is linked to decreased birth weight, weight gain, and proper skeletal muscle function. The goal of this study was to use killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) as a model to determine the long-term effects of embryonic-only arsenic exposure on muscle growth and the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway. Killifish embryos were exposed to 0, 50, 200 or 800ppb AsIII from fertilization until hatching. Juvenile fish were reared in clean water and muscle samples were collected at 16, 28, 40 and 52 weeks of age. There were significant reductions in condition factors, ranging from 12 to 17%, in the fish exposed to arsenic at 16, 28 and 40 weeks of age. However, by 52 weeks, no significant changes in condition factors were seen. Alterations in IGF-1R and IGF-1 levels were assessed as a potential mechanism by which growth was reduced. While there no changes in hepatic IGF-1 transcripts, skeletal muscle cells can also produce their own IGF-1 and/or alter IGF-1 receptor levels to help enhance growth. After a 200 and 800ppb embryonic exposure, fish grown in clean water for 16 weeks had IGF-1R transcripts that were 2.8-fold and 2-fold greater, respectively, than unexposed fish. Through 40 weeks of age, IGF1-R remained elevated in the 200ppb and 800ppb embryonic exposure groups by 1.8-3.9-fold, while at 52 weeks of age, IGF-1R levels were still significantly increased in the 800ppb exposure group. Skeletal muscle IGF-1 transcripts were also significantly increased by 1.9-5.1 fold through the 52 weeks of grow-out in clean by water in the 800ppb embryonic exposure group. Based on these results, embryonic arsenic exposure has long-term effects in that it reduces growth and increases both IGF-1 and IGF-1R levels in skeletal muscle even 1year after the exposure has ended.
Fully Printed Silver‐Nanoparticle‐Based Strain Gauges with Record High Sensitivity

This paper describes a strategy to impart brittle conductive patterns composed of silver nanoparticles with high stretchability and structure-dependent electrical characteristics. Silver nanoinks are printed on an elastomeric polyurethane acrylate substrate in the form of planar serpentine structures that can effectively mitigate strain concentration. The relative changes in resistance (∆R/R 0) and stretchability are found to strongly depend on the serpentine radius (r) that determines the strain relieving efficiency. Features with small radius of curvature show colossal ∆R/R 0 and hold great promise as ultrasensitive stretchable strain gauges. A record high gauge factor of 107 is achieved at 12% strain with r = 200 µm. Devices with larger radius of curvature exhibit higher stretchability and much more stable conductance, thus can be used as stretchable conductors. The results demonstrate the versatile functionalities that can be acquired from conventional materials by judicious structural designs.
Physical security and cyber security issues and human error prevention for 3D printed objects: detecting the use of an incorrect printing material

A wide variety of characteristics of 3D printed objects have been linked to impaired structural integrity and use-efficacy. The printing material can also have a significant impact on the quality, utility and safety characteristics of a 3D printed object. Material issues can be created by vendor issues, physical security issues and human error. This paper presents and evaluates a system that can be used to detect incorrect material use in a 3D printer, using visible light imaging. Specifically, it assesses the ability to ascertain the difference between materials of different color and different types of material with similar coloration.
The sound and the fury: Late positive potential is sensitive to sound affect.

Emotion is an emergent construct of multiple distinct neural processes. EEG is uniquely sensitive to real-time neural computations, and thus is a promising tool to study the construction of emotion. This series of studies aimed to probe the mechanistic contribution of the late positive potential (LPP) to multimodal emotion perception. Experiment 1 revealed that LPP amplitudes for visual images, sounds, and visual images paired with sounds were larger for negatively rated stimuli than for neutrally rated stimuli. Experiment 2 manipulated this audiovisual enhancement by altering the valence pairings with congruent (e.g., positive audio + positive visual) or conflicting emotional pairs (e.g., positive audio + negative visual). Negative visual stimuli evoked larger early LPP amplitudes than positive visual stimuli, regardless of sound pairing. However, time frequency analyses revealed significant midfrontal theta-band power differences for conflicting over congruent stimuli pairs, suggesting very early (∼500 ms) realization of thematic fidelity violations. Interestingly, late LPP modulations were reflective of the opposite pattern of congruency, whereby congruent over conflicting pairs had larger LPP amplitudes. Together, these findings suggest that enhanced parietal activity for affective valence is modality independent and sensitive to complex affective processes. Furthermore, these findings suggest that altered neural activities for affective visual stimuli are enhanced by concurrent affective sounds, paving the way toward an understanding of the construction of multimodal affective experience.
Characterizing the Paralation Model using Dynamic Assignment

Collection-oriented languages provide high-level constructs for describing computations over collections. These languages are becoming increasingly popular with the advent of massively parallel SIMD machines. Even on serial machines, collection-oriented languages are interesting because they allow the user to describe computation in a concise manner.
Maximizing throughput using 2D-Markov models for LTE and WiFi heterogeneous network

Validated by Mote Carlo simulations, a 2D-Markov chain model is proposed for analyzing the throughput of a simplified LTE system. User scheduling strategy for maximizing the sum throughput in a heterogeneous network consisting of LTE and WiFi systems is obtained using the proposed LTE's 2D-Markov chain model and a previously developed WiFi's 2D-Markov chain model.
Evolution of RNA Editing Sites in the Mitochondrial Small Subunit rRNA of the Myxomycota

Because of their unique and unprecedented character, it is often difficult to imagine how and why the different, diverse types of RNA editing have evolved. Information about the evolution of a particular RNA editing system can be obtained by comparing RNA editing characteristics in contemporary organisms whose phylogenetic relationships are known so that editing patterns in ancestral organisms can be inferred. This information can then be used to build models of the origins, constraints, variability, and mechanisms of RNA editing. As an example of the types of information that can be obtained from these analyses, we describe how we have used cDNA, covariation, and phylogenetic analyses to study the evolution of the variation in RNA editing site location in the core region of the small subunit rRNA gene in the mtDNA of seven myxomycetes, including Physarum polycephalum. We find that the unique type of insertional RNA editing present in mitochondria of P. polycephalum is also present in the mitochondrial small subunit (SSU) rRNA of the other six myxomycetes. As in Physarum, this editing predominantly consists of cytidine insertions, but also includes uridine insertions and certain dinucleotide insertions such that any of the four canonical ribonucleotides can be inserted. Although the characteristics of RNA editing in these organisms are the same as in Physarum, the location of the insertion sites varies among the seven organisms relative to the conserved primary sequence and secondary structure of the rRNA. Nucleotide insertions have been identified at 29 different sites within this core region of the rRNA, but no one organism has more than 10 of these insertion sites, suggesting that editing sites have been created and/or eliminated since the divergence of these organisms. To determine the order in which editing sites have been created or eliminated, the sequences of the mitochondrial SSU rRNA have been aligned and this alignment has been used to produce phylogenetic trees showing the sequence relationship of these organisms. These phylogenetic trees are congruent with phylogenetic trees predicted by alignment of nuclear rDNA sequences. These trees indicate that editing sites change rapidly relative to mtDNA sequence divergence and suggest that some editing sites have been created more than once during the evolution of the Myxomycota.
Making Non-Transitive Betterness Behave

It is exceedingly plausible that the normative reason involving relations , ‘more reason to do than’ and ‘is rationally preferred to’, are transitive. Many philosophers and economists use the plausibility of covariation between these reason involving relations and the ‘better than’ relation to argue – or more often, to insist – that the ‘better than’ relation is also transitive. But Rachels, Temkin and Baumann provide powerful arguments for non-transitive betterness. Conversely, some defenders of non-transitive betterness, such as Friedman, use the covariation of betterness and reason to argue that the reason involving relations are also non-transitive. I will argue that both types of covariation argument are overly hasty. To do so, I will present two functions that input a non-transitive axiological ranking and output a transitive deontic ranking. I then argue that an ethical principle involving these functions has independent plausibility and avoids important objections associated with non-transitive betterness.
Evil and Suffering

The specifically modern problem of evil was, of course, unknown to Aquinas. This does not mean that evil did not pose an intellectual problem for him, but rather that the nature of the problem was not the need to provide a rational justification for belief in God’s goodness in the face of evil through either theodicy or logical defense.1 Aquinas instead began with a strong doctrine of divine providence and sought to show how that providence encompassed and defeated evil. In reply to the argument that the reality of evil is incompatible with infinite divine goodness, he invokes the fundamental Augustinian axiom that governs his entire treatment: “God, since he is maximally good, would not have allowed any evil into his work unless he were so omnipotent and good that he could even make good come out of evil. Hence it pertains to the infinite goodness of God that evil be permitted so that he might bring good out of it.”2 Thus rather than impugning or thwarting the goodness and omnipotence of God, evil instead provides the opportunity for God to display these attributes more clearly by making it the occasion for the introduction of an even a greater good than that which evil originally threatened. The root of this claim is decidedly theological since it presupposes the doctrines of original sin and redemption: in response to the evil introduced into creation by the sinful misuse of freedom, God has sent his Son as Savior so that human beings might reach a state of divinisation higher than that wh i ch nreceded the Fall . 3
uGloss: A Framework for Improving Spoken Language Generation Understandability

Understandable spoken presentation of structured and complex information is a difficult task to do well. As speech synthesis is used in more applications, there is likely to be an increasing requirement to present complex information in an understandable manner. This paper introduces uGloss, a language generation framework designed to influence the understandability of spoken output. We describe relevant factors to its design and provide a general description of our algorithm. We compare our approach to human performance for a straightforward task, and discuss areas of improvement and our future goals for this work.
Vibratory Onset of Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia and Muscle Tension Dysphonia: A High-Speed Video Study✰

Summary Objective Adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD) is a challenging voice disorder to diagnose, often erroneously diagnosed as muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) or vocal tremor, due to its similarity in auditory and perceptual presentation. Assessments using laryngoscopy or strobolaryngoscopy procedures have demonstrated limited utility in the diagnosis of spasmodic dysphonia. High-speed videoendoscopy (HSV) provides visualization of the precise vibratory pattern of phonatory onset and thus, offers an alternative to previous diagnostic strategies for visual diagnosis of AdSD. The purpose of this study was to examine vibratory onset of patients with AdSD and patients with MTD using HSV methodology. Methods HSV of six adults with AdSD and five adults with MTD were captured during sustained phonation. Digital kymography was used to obtain precise vibrogram data at the mid-membranous region of the vocal fold prior to and at the onset of phonation. Voice onset delay was examined by (1) quantifying timing of prephonatory delay and steady state delay and (2) describing vocal fold onset movements qualitatively in each diagnosis. Results HSV adequately captured the phonatory onset of the vocal folds. Voice onset delay was not significantly different between AdSD and MTD. However, there were distinct differences in voice onset gestures. Both AdSD and MTD patients presented with vocal hyperfunction during the onset of phonation. In a subset of AdSD patients, a rapid sustained adduction occurred following the initial vibratory motion. Vocal fold vibration then continued until steady phonation was achieved. This oscillatory break pattern was not observed in patients with MTD. Therefore, there appears to be differences in vocal fold vibratory onset motion between MTD and AdSD. Conclusion HSV captures the precise vibratory onset in patients with MTD and AdSD. Differences were most notable after vibratory onset as opposed to vibratory delay measurements. Examination of voice onset gesture may offer an additional laryngeal parameter to assist in the differential diagnosis of spasmodic dysphonia.
Comparison of Outpatient Satisfaction Survey Scores for Asian Physicians and Non-Hispanic White Physicians.

Importance Patient satisfaction scores are used to inform decisions about physician compensation, and there remains a lack of consensus regarding the need to adjust scores for patient race/ethnicity. Previous research suggests that patients prefer physicians of the same race/ethnicity as themselves and that Asian patients provide lower satisfaction scores than non-Hispanic white patients. Objective To examine whether Asian physicians receive less favorable patient satisfaction scores relative to non-Hispanic white physicians. Design, Setting, and Participants This population-based survey study used data from Press Ganey Outpatient Medical Practice Surveys collected from December 1, 2010, to November 30, 2014, which included 149 775 patient survey responses for 962 physicians. Every month, 5 patients per physician were randomly selected to complete a satisfaction survey after an outpatient visit. Hierarchical multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the association between Asian race/ethnicity of the physician and racial/ethnic concordance of the patient with the probability of receiving the highest score on the survey item rating the likelihood to recommend the physician. Statistical analysis was performed from April 2 to August 27, 2018. Exposures Physician characteristics included race/ethnicity, sex, years in practice, and proportion of Asian patient responders. Patient characteristics included race/ethnicity, sex, age, and language spoken. Main Outcomes and Measures The highest score (a score of 5 on a 1-5 Likert scale, where 1 indicates very poor and 5 indicates very good) on the survey item rating the likelihood to recommend the physician on the Press Ganey Outpatient Medical Practice Survey. Results Of the 962 physicians in this study, 515 (53.5%) were women; physicians had a mean (SD) of 19.9 (9.1) years of experience since graduating medical school; 573 (59.6%) were white, and 350 (36.4%) were Asian. In unadjusted analyses, the odds of receiving the highest score on the survey item rating the likelihood to recommend the physician were lower for Asian physicians compared with non-Hispanic white physicians (odds ratio, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.72-0.84;P Conclusions and Relevance This study suggests that Asian physicians may be more likely to receive lower patient satisfaction scores because they serve a greater proportion of Asian patients. Patient satisfaction scores should be adjusted for patient race/ethnicity.
Marketing Strategy Response to European Integration - An Opinion of Marketing Faculty Members

The integration of European Community is expected to reshape the global marketing, economic and political environments with far-reaching implications for trade relationships between the states of European Union (EU) as well as the EU and non-EU countries. Several business and academic communities have examined the implications of EU for the export trade of non-EU countries. Abdoo, Ryans and Rau (1992) surveyed the opinion of US District Export Council members’ views on the effect that non-EU exporting firms are likely to face in EU markets. Quelch, Buzzell and Salama (1992) conducted a survey among the executives of EU and non-EU companies on the likely changes they expect in their companies' product, price, distribution and promotion strategies in the EU markets. In this study we expand this dialogue. We surveyed the expert opinion of international marketing faculty members form developed and developing countries around the world on the effectiveness of various marketing measures that exporters from their countries may adopt to improve their competitive position within the EU markets.
Are added land and new producer provisions in crop insurance vulnerable to abuse? The case of insured Texas cotton producers

Reducing vulnerabilities in the crop insurance program is important to the welfare of Texas cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) producers because excessive losses due to the abuse of these vulnerabilities may result in producer premium increases in the future. Cotton farmers will benefit from identifying and reducing program vulnerabilities because it assures that the safety-net structure in U.S. agriculture remains intact and cotton farmers will remain competitive in the world market. The objective of this study was to analyze the added land and new producer provisions in crop insurance and assess whether these provisions are vulnerable to abuse. Based on the current structure of the provisions, the vulnerability of the added land and new producer provisions primarily stems from the informational advantage held by the producer with regards to the inherent productive capacity of his land. A descriptive statistical analysis of crop insurance data from insured Texas cotton producers showed statistically higher loss ratios (loss ratio = indemnity/premium) for producers utilizing the added land and new producer provisions relative to producers using traditional actual production history. The results of this study suggest that the added land and new producer provisions are vulnerable to abuse and have prompted policy makers to continually re-assess, re-evaluate, and actually adopt measures to mitigate this vulnerability.
WHAT CAUSES CIGUATERA

Ciguatera is a neurological and gastro-intestinal syndrome in humans resulting from the ingestion of fresh fishes and some invertebrates from shallow tropical marine environments. 1,2 The distribution of ciguatoxic organisms correspondends to that of coral reefs, but varies geographically and cyclically. The elaborator of the toxin probably starts at the lower part of the food chain of these organisms, and is passed onto successive trophic levels, which disclose similar kinds of toxins. Blue-green algae, fungi, bacteria, and dinoflagellates have all been suggested as toxic organisms responsible for ciguatera. The possibility that symbiotic relationships among these organisms may elaborate ciguatoxin(s) has not been investigated. Variations in light and nutrients and in man's activities such as pollution and dredging may trigger toxin production. Research needs are discussed.
Evolutionary responses to global change in species-rich communities

Evolution in nature occurs in the proverbial tangled bank. The species interactions characterizing this tangled bank can be strongly affected by global change and can also influence the fitness and selective effects of a global change on a focal population. As a result, species interactions can influence which traits will promote adaptation and the magnitude or direction of evolutionary responses to the global change. First, we provide a framework describing how species interactions may influence evolutionary responses to global change. Then, we highlight case studies that have explicitly manipulated both a global change and the presence or abundance of interacting species and used either experimental evolution or quantitative genetics approaches to test for the effects of species interactions on evolutionary responses to global change. Although still not frequently considered, we argue that species interactions commonly modulate the effects of global change on the evolution of plant and animal populations. As a result, predicting the evolutionary effects of the multitude of global changes facing natural populations requires both community ecology and evolutionary perspectives.