cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A CHARACTERIZATION OF CERTAIN DISCRETE EXPONENTIAL FAMILIES

For independent random variables X and Y, define % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiGc9yrFr0xXdbba91rFfpec8Eeeu0x% Xdbba9frFj0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs% 0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaacaqabeaadaqaaqGaaO% qaaiaabofaruWrL9MCNLwyaGqbciaa-bcacqGHHjIUcaWFGaGaa8hw% aiaa-TcacaWFzbaaaa!4551!\[{\rm{S}} \equiv X + Y\]. When the conditional expectations % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiGc9yrFr0xXdbba91rFfpec8Eeeu0x% Xdbba9frFj0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs% 0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaacaqabeaadaqaaqGaaO% qaaiaadweacaGGBbqefCuzVj3zPfgaiuGajaaqcaWFNbGccaGGOaGa% amiwaiaacMcacaGG8bGaam4uaiaac2facqGHHjIUcaWGHbGaaiikai% aadofacaGGPaaaaa!4BC4!\[E[g(X)|S] \equiv a(S)\]and % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXafv3ySLgzGmvETj2BSbqefm0B1jxALjhiov2D% aebbfv3ySLgzGueE0jxyaibaiGc9yrFr0xXdbba91rFfpec8Eeeu0x% Xdbba9frFj0-OqFfea0dXdd9vqaq-JfrVkFHe9pgea0dXdar-Jb9hs% 0dXdbPYxe9vr0-vr0-vqpWqaaeaabiGaciaacaqabeaadaqaaqGaaO% qaaiaadweacaGGBbGaamiAaiaacIcacaWGybGaaiykaiaacYhacaWG% tbGaaiyxaiabggMi6kaadkgacaGGOaGaam4uaiaacMcaaaa!4894!\[E[h(X)|S] \equiv b(S)\]are given, then under certain assumptions, the density function of X has the form of u(x)k(α)eax, where u(x) is uniquely determined by the functions a(·) and b(·).
Towards power efficient deployment for underwater sensing systems

Underwater sensing receives increasing attentions in recent years due to its wide range of scientific, industrial and military applications. Because of the power-constrained underwater environment, power efficiency becomes a hard requirement for the majority of underwater systems. This paper targets power efficient deployment issue for underwater sensing systems. We first analyze the power consumption of each system component and explore various ways to improve their power efficiency. Then we propose a collaborative power-saving framework benefiting from communication and computation abilities of the sensing system. We also conduct case studies with two types of aquatic applications and provide corresponding power management strategies. Our studies show that the proposed power saving strategies could effectively extend the system life time.
Nonlinear Prices and the Regulated Firm

This paper examines the problem of a regulated utility that sells output according to a nonlinear price schedule. Three results are obtained. First, rate-of-return regulation lowers the price schedule charged by the firm along its entire length. Second, some units of output will always be sold at a marginal price below true marginal cost. Third, a move from linear to nonlinear prices at a given fair rate-of-return can lead to an unambiguous increase in welfare.
Chronic Factitious Illness: A Behavioral Approach:

This paper describes a unique treatment for chronic factitious illness. While primarily behavioral in orientation, the treatment was designed to account for underlying dynamics of patients with this disorder. The advantage of combining behavioral methods with dynamic conceptualizations are underscored. The limitations of this treatment with factitious illness patients are discussed.
Cuing Consumerism Situational Materialism Undermines Personal and Social Well-Being

Correlational evidence indicates that materialistic individuals experience relatively low levels of well-being. Across four experiments, we found that situational cuing can also trigger materialistic mind-sets, with similarly negative personal and social consequences. Merely viewing desirable consumer goods resulted in increases in materialistic concerns and led to heightened negative affect and reduced social involvement (Experiment 1). Framing a computer task as a “Consumer Reaction Study” led to a stronger automatic bias toward values reflecting self-enhancement, compared with framing the same task as a “Citizen Reaction Study” (Experiment 2). Consumer cues also increased competitiveness (Experiment 3) and selfishness in a water-conservation dilemma (Experiment 4). Thus, the costs of materialism are not localized only in particularly materialistic people, but can also be found in individuals who happen to be exposed to environmental cues that activate consumerism—cues that are commonplace in contempora...
Modulation of soluble guanylate cyclase for the treatment of erectile dysfunction

Nitric oxide (NO) is the principal mediator of penile erection, and PDE-5 inhibitors are the first-line agents used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED). When NO formation or bioavailability is decreased by oxidative stress and PDE-5 inhibitors are no longer effective, a new class of agents called soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulators like BAY 41-8543 will induce erection. sGC stimulators bind to the normally reduced, NO-sensitive form of sGC to increase cGMP formation and promote erection. The sGC stimulators produce normal erectile responses when NO formation is inhibited and the nerves innervating the corpora cavernosa are damaged. However, with severe oxidative stress, the heme iron on sGC can be oxidized, rendering the enzyme unresponsive to NO or sGC stimulators. In this pathophysiological situation, another newly developed class of agents called sGC activators can increase the catalytic activity of the oxidized enzyme, increase cGMP formation, and promote erection. The use of newer agents that stimulate or activate sGC to promote erection and treat ED is discussed in this brief review article.
Security modeling in the Ulysses environment

The authors give an overview of how the Ulysses system can be used for security modeling. The default theory of security permits the security analysis of complex designs by decomposing them into their parts. System specifications may be made by using a specialized graphical language interface and a textual interface. In addition, there are a number of support tools which aid the modeler. One of these tools is the natural language component, which allows users to automatically generate short English descriptions of a graphical design. There is also a library component that facilitates the reuse of secure designs. In addition, there are mechanisms for adding security theories and other mathematical facts to augment the power of the theorem prover. >
A High Sensitivity Power Factor Bridge

This paper describes an a-c. bridge of high precision, used for power factor measurements in one of the dielectric investigations being carried on at the Johns Hopkins University. The bridge, a modified form of the Schering bridge, possesses several novel features and advantages. The detecting instrument is a moving coil a-c. galvanometer; its field excitation is supplied from a phase shifting transformer, which permits obtaining independent ratio and phase angle balances. A shielded transformer electrostatically isolates the galvanometer from the bridge circuits. This bridge is completely shielded and guarded and the analytical theory of the resulting mesh connection is given in the paper. The mathematical treatment is general and may be applied to any similar network. A full discussion is given of the effects upon the balance relation of various sources of error, for example, as failure to balance guard circuits properly and the presence of leakage resistance between measuring and guard circuits. Experimental verification of the equations is presented. Power factors of specimens of cable material have been measured ranging from 0.00007 to 0.16 with a maximum variation of ± 0.000005.
SIMMONDS' DISEASE: REPORT OF A CASE OBSERVED FOR NINIO YEARS, WITH POSTMORTEM FINDINGS

FOR a decade following Simmonds' report (1) of the syndrome bearing his name, many cases were recorded as Simmonds' disease which were not proven at autopsy. Excellent clinical reviews by Silver (2), Calder (3), and Escamilla and Lisser (4) revealed that most of the cases that had been reported as Simmonds' disease were in reality instances of anorexia nervosa. Of 595 case reports reviewed by Escamilla and Lisser (4) in 1942, there were 101 verified cases of Simmonds' disease. Additional verified cases have been reported by Robertson (5), Darley (6), and Beare (7). Because of the relatively few proven cases in the literature, the following confirmed case is reported. CASE HISTORY B.C., a 28-year-old white primipara, was first admitted to Saint Louis City Hospital in 1935 because of toxemia of pregnancy. At the age of 9 she had had scarlet fever which she did not recall as eventful and at no other time had she experienced any serious illness. Following several mild convulsions, cesarean section was perform...
Sidewall oxide effects on spin-torque- and magnetic-field-induced reversal characteristics of thin-film nanomagnets

The successful operation of spin-based data storage devices depends on thermally stable magnetic bits. At the same time, the data-processing speeds required by today's technology necessitate ultrafast switching in storage devices. Achieving both thermal stability and fast switching requires controlling the effective damping in magnetic nanoparticles. By carrying out a surface chemical analysis, we show that through exposure to ambient oxygen during processing, a nanomagnet can develop an antiferromagnetic sidewall oxide layer that has detrimental effects, which include a reduction in the thermal stability at room temperature and anomalously high magnetic damping at low temperatures. The in situ deposition of a thin Al metal layer, oxidized to completion in air, greatly reduces or eliminates these problems. This implies that the effective damping and the thermal stability of a nanomagnet can be tuned, leading to a variety of potential applications in spintronic devices such as spin-torque oscillators and patterned media.
High-Pressure Burning Rate Studies of Solid Rocket Propellants

Increasedrocketmotorperformanceisamajordriverinthedevelopment of solid rocket propellant formulations for chemical propulsion systems. The use of increased operating pressure is an option to improve performance potentially without the cost of reformulation. A technique has been developed to obtain burning rate data across a range of pressures from ambient to 345 MPa. The technique combines the use of a low loading density combustion bomb with a high loading density closed bomb technique. A series of nine ammonium perchlorate (AP) based propellants were used to demonstrate the use of the technique, and the ‘
Incremental validity of noncognitive tests for medical school academic achievement

Summary This paper reports an investigation of the incremental validity of noncognitive tests. Incremental validity is the predictive ability of a measure when entered into a regression equation after the routine predictors have first been included. Three noncognitive tests—Rotter Locus of Control, Adjective Check List, and Student Orientations Survey—were administered to a first-year medical school class. When entered after the usual academic predictors of success in medical school—Undergraduate Grade Point Average and Medical College Admission Test—the three noncognitive tests added little to the prediction of first-year medical school Grade Point Average. It is concluded that while noncognitive measures are useful in characterizing a medical school class and in discovering nonacademic correlates of academic success in medical school, limited incremental validity related to first-year academic performance was demonstrated.
Pubertal Administration of DEHP Delays Puberty, Suppresses Testosterone Production, and Inhibits Reproductive Tract Development in Male Sprague-Dawley and Long-Evans Rats

Although is clear that exposure to high dosage levels of some phthalates delays the onset of puberty in the male rat, it has been hypothesized that low levels of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) accelerate puberty by enhancing testicular androgen synthesis. The current study was designed to determine if the dose response to DEHP was nonmonotonic, as hypothesized. Pubertal administration of DEHP delayed the onset of puberty and reduced androgen-dependent tissue weights in both Long-Evans (LE) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) male rats 300 and 900 mg DEHP/kg/day. These effects were generally of greater magnitude in LE than SD rats. By contrast, alterations in testis histopathology (300 and 900 mg/kg/day) were more severe in SD than in LE rats. Taken together, these results suggest that DEHP may be acting on the pubertal male rat testis via two modes of action; one via the Leydig cells and the other via the Sertoli cells. Treatment with DEHP generally reduced serum testosterone and increased serum luteinizing hormone (LH) levels, demonstrating that the reduction in testosterone was due to the effect of DEHP on the testis and not via an inhibition of LH from hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Testosterone production ex vivo (with and without human chorionic gonadotropin stimulation) was consistently reduced in males at the time of puberty and shortly thereafter. DEHP treatment did not accelerate the age at puberty or enhance testosterone levels at 10 or 100 mg/kg/day in either LE or SD rats, as some have hypothesized. Taken together, these results do not provide any evidence of a nonmonotonic dose response to DEHP during puberty. Phthalate esters (PEs) are high production volume chemicals used in a variety of consumer products including polyvinyl chloride plastics, toys, personal care products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Among the PEs, di(2ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is the most abundant, with about four million tons of di-octyl phthalates being produced in 1997. This PE is one of several that induce testicular atrophy in the immature male rat after acute or subacute exposure to high dosage levels (Foster et al., 1980). Research
Aging and Caloric Restriction in Nonhuman Primates

In a long-term longitudinal study of aging in rhesus monkeys, a primary objective has been to determine the effects of aging and caloric restriction (CR) on behavioral and neural parameters. Through the use of automated devices, locomotor activity can be monitored in the home cages of the monkeys. Studies completed thus far indicate a clear age-related decline in activity consistent with such observations in many other species, including humans. However, no consistent effects of CR on activity have been observed. Selected groups of monkeys have also been involved in brain imaging studies, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). MRI studies completed thus far reveal a clear age-related decline in the volumes of the basal ganglia, the putamen, and the caudate nucleus, with no change in total brain volume. PET analysis has revealed an age-related decline in the binding potential of dopamine D2 receptors in the same brain regions. These results are consistent with findings in humans. Although additional longitudinal analysis is needed to confirm the present results, it would appear that locomotor activity, volume of the basal ganglia, as well as dopamine D2 receptor binding potential provide reliable, noninvasive biomarkers of aging in rhesus monkeys.
Comparison of Diapause Termination in Tarnished Plant Bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae) from the Mississippi Delta and Springfield, Illinois

Abstract In a laboratory test, we compared diapausing adult tarnished plant bugs, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois), from Stoneville, MS, and Springfield, IL, for their ability to break diapause when kept at 25°C on a nutritious food source (broccoli, Brassica oleracea variety botrytis L.) under a diapause-maintaining photoperiod of 10:14 light:dark hours. The temperature, photoperiod, and food simulated environmental conditions in the mid-South region during December when overwintering tarnished plant bugs on blooming winter hosts break diapause. It was unknown if plant bugs from areas such as Springfield (upper Midwest) in which the winters are too cold for hosts to be available also had the ability to break diapause under a diapause-maintaining daylength. One-day-old diapausing adults from Stoneville and Springfield were kept in environmental cabinets for 5 weeks. Males and females from both locations were dissected at weekly intervals to determine their reproductive status. Diapausing adults from...
Adapting to network and client variability via on-demand dynamic distillation

The explosive growth of the Internet and the proliferation of smart cellular phones and handheld wireless devices is widening an already large gap between Internet clients. Clients vary in their hardware resources, software sophistication, and quality of connectivity, yet server support for client variation ranges from relatively poor to none at all. In this paper we introduce some design principles that we believe are fundamental to providing "meaningful" Internet access for the entire range of clients. In particular, we show how to perform on-demand datatype-specific lossy compression on semantically typed data, tailoring content to the specific constraints of the client. We instantiate our design principles in a proxy architecture that further exploits typed data to enable application-level management of scarce network resources. Our proxy architecture generalizes previous work addressing all three aspects of client variation by applying well-understood techniques in a novel way, resulting in quantitatively better end-to-end performance, higher quality display output, and new capabilities for low-end clients.
Age-Related Intimal Stiffening Enhances Endothelial Permeability and Leukocyte Transmigration

Age is the most significant risk factor for atherosclerosis; however, the link between age and atherosclerosis is poorly understood. During both aging and atherosclerosis progression, the blood vessel wall stiffens owing to alterations in the extracellular matrix. Using in vitro and ex vivo models of vessel wall stiffness and aging, we show that stiffening of extracellular matrix within the intima promotes endothelial cell permeability--a hallmark of atherogenesis. When cultured on hydrogels fabricated to match the elasticity of young and aging intima, endothelial monolayers exhibit increased permeability and disrupted cell-cell junctions on stiffer matrices. In parallel experiments, we showed a corresponding increase in cell-cell junction width with age in ex vivo aortas from young (10 weeks) and old (21 to 25 months) healthy mice. To investigate the mechanism by which matrix stiffening alters monolayer integrity, we found that cell contractility increases with increased matrix stiffness, mechanically destabilizing cell-cell junctions. This increase in endothelial permeability results in increased leukocyte extravasation, which is a critical step in atherosclerotic plaque formation. Mild inhibition of Rho-dependent cell contractility using Y-27632, an inhibitor of Rho-associated kinase, or small interfering RNA restored monolayer integrity in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that extracellular matrix stiffening alone, which occurs during aging, can lead to endothelial monolayer disruption and atherosclerosis pathogenesis. Because previous therapeutics designed to decrease vascular stiffness have been met with limited success, our findings could be the basis for the design of therapeutics that target the Rho-dependent cellular contractile response to matrix stiffening, rather than stiffness itself, to more effectively prevent atherosclerosis progression.
Half-wave potential shifts at rotating disk electrodes oxidation of N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine

Summary Equations for E 1/2 of current-potential curves at the rotating disk electrode in the case of rapid electron transfer followed by pseudo-first order transformation of the product are discussed. In cases where k 1/2 /ω 1/2 >10, a linear relation between E 1/2 and log ω having a slope of 0.059/2 n V is indicative of this kinetic type. The cyclic voltammetry of N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl- p -phenylenediamine at pH 9.8 indicates that the second step in the oxidation conforms to this reaction scheme. Measured E 1/2 values at the rotating disk electrode of the first wave were independent of ω in the region 10–70 rev. s −1 . The E 1/2 of the second wave is linear with log ω in this region indicating a rate constant >10 4 s −1 for the deamination of the quinone diimine formed in this step.
The Accuracy of Academic Self-Evaluations in Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to document the degree of overestimation of academic skills among students with learning disabilities (LD) and to evaluate the role of reference group and metacognitive awareness in such overestimation. High school students with (n = 52) and without (n = 49) LD in Grades 9 through 12 completed a self-concept scale and a survey requiring them to rate their own academic skills in 17 specific skill areas. Students were further asked to predict their performance on two academic tasks prior to actually performing the tasks. The students' mothers or fathers, their English teachers or academic advisors, and (in the case of the students with LD) their special education case managers also completed the skill rating inventory and predicted student performance on the two tests. Despite reporting significantly lower academic self-concepts, students with LD overestimated their academic skills relative to the ratings of others and to their actual test performance. Such overestimation was l...
RUGRAT: Runtime Test Case Generation Using Dynamic Compilers

The testing of error handling and dynamic security mechanisms often depends on reproducing specific conditions outside the realm of an application's normal program state. We present RUGRAT, a novel technique to automatically generate tests for these challenging test situations. RUGRAT uses a dynamic compiler to add instructions to the program during execution, and thus dynamically generates tests to exercise code designed to handle uncommon situations during program execution. The RUGRAT testing approach is independent of the source language, requires no modification to the source orbinary program under test and generates runtime tests automatically based on a simple test specification. We demonstrate RUGRAT's capabilities by targeting two particular uncommon situations: handling errors from system and application calls, and testing security mechanisms that protect a program against attacks on function pointers. Both code coverage and failure detection results indicate that RUGRAT is a cost effective approach that reduces the number of required test inputs and need for vulnerable programs.
Personal Account Retirement Plans: An Analysis of the Survey of Consumer Finances

This report analyzes data from the Federal Reserve Board's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which provides the most comprehensive data available on the wealth of American households. The most recent SCF data are for 1998, and this report tracks information from the 1992, 1995, and 1998 surveys on personal account retirement plans--defined contribution plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Pension plan type participation is examined across demographic characteristics, and the percentage of households participating in 401(k)-type plans increased from 31.6 percent in 1992 to 64.3 percent in 1998. The account balances of these types of plans are also studied. The percentage of assets that were attributable to personal account plans are also investigated. These types of assets represented nearly one-half (49.5 percent) of all the financial assets for those families with these types of assets--personal account retirement plans. This was a significant increase from 43.6 percent in 1992. The average total account balance in personal account plans for families with a plan in 1998 was $78,417, an increase of 54 percent in real terms over the 1992 balance of $50,914 (expressed in 1998 dollars). Lastly, the impact of rollovers from a previous employer's pension plan on the average total account balance for all individual account balances is determined. It appears to be quite large: $152,451 for those with at least one rollover, versus $78,471 for all families participating in at least one personal account plan, regardless of whether they have had a rollover. The vast majority of the rollovers would appear to be going to IRAs, as opposed to a defined contribution plan with a new employer.
Facial trustworthiness perception bias elevated in individuals with PTSD compared to trauma exposed controls

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) research has focused largely on fear processing. However, interpersonal trauma exposure can also impact interpersonal functioning and the perception of the trustworthiness of others. The present study examined facial perceptions of fearfulness and trustworthiness in individuals with PTSD (n=29), trauma-exposed without PTSD (n=19), and healthy controls (n=18). The PTSD group was hypothesized to exhibit a bias to perceive more fear and untrustworthiness in faces relative to controls. Participants rated the level of fearfulness or trustworthiness of faces that were parametrically morphed along a fear or trustworthiness dimension. The PTSD group was biased to perceive faces as more trustworthy compared to the trauma-exposed healthy controls, yet there were no differences between groups in fear processing. A trustworthiness bias in PTSD may represent a vulnerability factor. Conversely, lower trustworthiness perception may represent a protective disposition in trauma-exposed individuals who do not develop PTSD. Differences in the perception of trustworthiness may be an aspect of social perception that is independent of the fear processing abnormalities observed in PTSD.
Outcomes of autologous bone marrow transplantation in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients who failed peripheral blood stem cell mobilization

7040 Background: Patients (pts) with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) who fail to mobilize adequate peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) often undergo bone marrow (BM) harvest for autologous transplantation. The outcome of these pts is not known. Methods: In this retrospective study (May 1996-September 2006), we identified 36 out of a total of 750 pts with advanced NHL, who failed to collect adequate PBSC and subsequently underwent BM harvest followed by ABMT. Decision to harvest BM was left to the treating clinician. Median age at transplant was 53 years (range 15–73). Twenty of 36 pts (55%) were male. Histology was intermediate grade in 31 (86%) patients and low grade in 5 (14%). Twelve pts (35%) had history of BM involvement with lymphoma. Median number of chemotherapy cycles received prior to mobilization was 3 (range 1–6). At the time of stem cell mobilization 18 (50%) were in complete remission (CR), 13 (37%) were in partial remission (PR) and 5 (13%) had progressive disease (PD). Twen...
Intersubunit Interactions at Putative Sites of Ethanol Action in the M3 and M4 Domains of the NMDA Receptor GluN1 and GluN2B Subunits

Background and purpose The NMDA receptor is an important target of alcohol action in the brain. Recent studies in this laboratory have demonstrated that alcohol-sensitive positions in the intersubunit interfaces of the M3 and M4 domains of GluN1 and GluN2A subunits interact with respect to ethanol sensitivity and receptor kinetics and that alcohol-sensitive positions in the M domains of GluN2A and GluN2B subunits differ. In this study, we tested for interactions among alcohol-sensitive positions at the M domain intersubunit interfaces in GluN1/GluN2B NMDA receptors. Experimental approach We used whole-cell patch-clamp recording in tsA201 cells expressing tryptophan substitution mutants at ethanol-sensitive positions in the GluN1 and GluN2B NMDA receptor subunits to test for interactions among positions. Key results Six pairs of positions in GluN1/GluN2B significantly interacted to regulate ethanol inhibition: Gly(638) /Met(824) , Gly(638) /Leu(825) , Phe(639) /Leu(825) , Phe(639) /Gly(826) , Met(818) /Phe(637) and Val(820) /Phe(637) . Tryptophan substitution at Met(824) or Leu(825) in GluN2B did not alter ethanol sensitivity but interacted with positions in the GluN1 M3 domain to regulate ethanol action, whereas tryptophan substitution at Gly(638) , which is the cognate of an ethanol-sensitive position in GluN2A, did not alter ethanol sensitivity or interact with positions in GluN1. Two and three pairs of positions interacted to regulate glutamate steady-state and peak current EC50 , respectively, and one pair interacted with respect to macroscopic desensitization. Conclusions Despite highly-conserved M domain sequences and similar ethanol sensitivity in the GluN2A and GluN2B subunits, the manner in which these subunits interact with the GluN1 subunit to regulate ethanol sensitivity and receptor kinetics differs.
IP reuse - pitfalls and providence

We've all heard by now of the “Design Gap”, that latest of buzz words that keeps design managers awake at night and EDA vendors secure in their jobs. We know that the industry's ability to build more transistors onto a single piece of silicon is growing at a rate that far outstrips the growth in our ability to design new functionality. We know that one of the techniques that offers some relief from this state of affairs is to reuse existing functional blocks rather than designing each chip from the ground up. What we are now learning is that reuse is a complete discipline in itself, forcing the designer to take into consideration a whole new set of issues. In the course of this paper I would like to touch on some of these issues as they relate to specific areas such as IP creation, selection, integration and implementation. (5 pages)
Encoding Abrupt and Uniform Dopant Profiles in Vapor–Liquid–Solid Nanowires by Suppressing the Reservoir Effect of the Liquid Catalyst

Semiconductor nanowires (NWs) are often synthesized by the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism, a process in which a liquid droplet—supplied with precursors in the vapor phase—catalyzes the growth o...
A Study of Trailing-Edge Scalloping on Flat-Plate Membrane Wing Performance

The objective of this investigation was to study how membrane scalloping and the onset of vibration affect the aerodynamic efficiency of flat, membrane wings at low Reynolds numbers (Re = 10,000 to 61,000) and moderate-to-high membrane extensibility (Π < 18). While the removal of trailing-edge material was expected to reduce drag by decreasing trailing-edge vibration, the subsequent effects on lift and lift-to-drag ratio were not known. A series of flat plates with moderate aspect ratio and repeating batten-reinforced, membrane cell structure were studied and compared to a solid flat plate and a solid scalloped plate. Centerline wake profiles, wake spectral characteristics and the onset of membrane vibration were measured using hot-wire anemometry; membrane vibration amplitude was measured using a laser vibrometer. Lift and drag measurements were acquired using an external force-balance. Results showed that the size and aspect ratio of the latex cell had a greater impact on lift than the amount of scalloping and that the amount of scalloping had a greater affect on drag than the cell shape. Compared to the solid plates, the membrane plates exhibited higher lift and drag coefficients. Trailing-edge scalloping decreased both the lift and drag coefficients relative to no scalloping, with a greater relative effect on drag. The maximum lift-todrag ratio was attained for a 25% scallop with a square repeating cell geometry sized at 80% of the wing chord. These results indicate that the membrane scalloping can lead to more efficient wings.
SYNAPTONEMAL COMPLEXES AND MEIOSIS IN DIDYMIUM IRIDIS: A REINVESTIGATION

SUMMARY The ultrastructure of meiotic events has been studied in three isolates of Didymium iridis, including the one used by Carroll and Dykstra in an earlier study. In all three isolates a precleavage mitotic division occurs. About 9-12 hr after spore cleavage, synaptonemal complexes appear in virtually all spore nuclei, indicating the onset of meiotic prophase. Subsequent division stages have also been observed. Attempts to change the time of meiosis by manipulation of the time of onset of illumination were unsuccessful. Re-examination of the original blocks used by Carroll and Dykstra revealed that the sporangium containing the synaptonemal complexes studied by them represented an incompletely cleaved, aberrant development and was in reality a stage about 12-18 hr after an abnormal cleavage.
Investigation of Copper Ferrite, Cu0.5Fe2.5O4, as a High Saturation Magnetization Material

The ferrite of composition Cu 0.5 Fe 2.5 O 4 , prepared using a conventional solid-state processing route, was soaked at different temperatures between 1200°C and 1350°C, for an hour, in air. The samples were rapidly quenched into oil. Mossbauer, resistivity and x-ray lattice parameter data were obtained for the quenched phase. The maximum saturation magnetization value, obtained at 10K, was close to 5.0 μB . The characterization of the sample showed Cu +1 to be partially disordered across both A and B sites of the spinel structure, with an excess occupancy of the A-site showing that under the proper conditions the ordered high 4πM s Cu +1 phase will be stable.
Neurology of Sign Language

The neurology of American Sign Language, which originated from French signing about 200 years ago, is reviewed by a pediatric neurologist in the UK.
Complications of Ureterosigmoidostomy

En plus de l'ureterosigmoidostomie on discute d'autres types de derivations intestinales internes et souligne les complications en rapport avec l'infection, l'obstruction de l'anastomose ureterocolique, l'acidose metabolique et a l'incontinence rectale traitee par des evacuations minutees. Le risque de presenter un cancer du colon au siege de l'anastomose et actuellement tres pris en consideration
Cost-aware Targeted Viral Marketing in billion-scale networks

Online social networks have been one of the most effective platforms for marketing and advertising. Through the “world-of-mouth” exchanges, so-called viral marketing, the influence and product adoption can spread from few key influencers to billions of users in the network. To identify those key influencers, a great amount of work has been devoted for the Influence Maximization (IM) problem that seeks a set of k seed users that maximize the expected influence. Unfortunately, IM encloses two impractical assumptions: 1) any seed user can be acquired with the same cost and 2) all users are equally interested in the advertisement. In this paper, we propose a new problem, called Cost-aware Targeted Viral Marketing (CTVM), to find the most cost-effective seed users who can influence the most relevant users to the advertisement. Since CTVM is NP-hard, we design an efficient (1 − 1/√e-∊ − e)-approximation algorithm, named BCT, to solve the problem in billion-scale networks. Comparing with IM algorithms, we show that BCT is both theoretically and experimentally faster than the state-of-the-arts while providing better solution quality. Moreover, we prove that under the Linear Threshold model, BCT is the first sub-linear time algorithm for CTVM (and IM) in dense networks. In our experiments with a Twitter dataset, containing 1.46 billions of social relations and 106 millions tweets, BCT can identify key influencers in each trending topic in only few minutes.
The Role of Dendritic Cells in S. pneumoniae Transport to Follicular Dendritic Cells

Affinity-mature B cells require cognate antigen, retained by follicular dendritic cells (FDCs), for clonal selection within germinal centers. Studies on how FDCs in lymphoid tissues acquire antigen have relied primarily on model protein antigens. To examine delivery of intact bacteria to FDCs, we used inactivated Streptococcus pneumonia (SP). We found that both medullary macrophages and a subset of SIGN-R1-positive dendritic cells (DCs) in the lymph node capture SP from the draining afferent lymphatics. The presence of DCs is required for initial complement activation, opsonization of the bacteria, and efficient transport of SP to FDCs. Moreover, we observed a major role for transport of bacteria to FDCs by naive B cells via a CD21-dependent pathway. We propose a mechanism by which efficient transport of SP to FDCs is dependent on DCs for initial binding and activation of complement and either direct transport to FDCs or transfer to naive B cells.
Exosome secretion promotes chemotaxis of cancer cells

ABSTRACTMigration of cells toward chemical cues, or chemotaxis, is important for many biologic processes such as immune defense, wound healing and cancer metastasis. Although chemotaxis is thought to occur in cancer cells, it is less well characterized than chemotaxis of professional immune cells such as neutrophils. Here, we show that cancer cell chemotaxis relies on secretion of exosome-type extracellular vesicles. Migration of fibrosarcoma cells toward a gradient of exosome-depleted serum was diminished by knockdown of the exosome secretion regulator Rab27a. Rescue experiments in which chemotaxis chambers were coated with purified extracellular vesicles demonstrate that exosomes but not microvesicles affect both speed and directionality of migrating cells. Chamber coating with purified fibronectin and fibronectin-depleted exosomes demonstrates that the exosome cargo fibronectin promotes cell speed but cannot account for the role of exosomes in promoting directionality of fibrosarcoma cell movement duri...
Thematic accuracy assessment of the 2011 National Land Cover Database (NLCD)

Accuracy assessment is a standard protocol of National Land Cover Database (NLCD) mapping. Here we report agreement statistics between map and reference labels for NLCD 2011, which includes land cover for ca. 2001, ca. 2006, and ca. 2011. The two main objectives were assessment of agreement between map and reference labels for the three, single-date NLCD land cover products at Level II and Level I of the classification hierarchy, and agreement for 17 land cover change reporting themes based on Level I classes (e.g., forest loss; forest gain; forest, no change) for three change periods (2001-2006, 2006-2011, and 2001-2011). The single-date overall accuracies were 82%, 83%, and 83% at Level II and 88%, 89%, and 89% at Level I for 2011, 2006, and 2001, respectively. Many class-specific user's accuracies met or exceeded a previously established nominal accuracy benchmark of 85%. Overall accuracies for 2006 and 2001 land cover components of NLCD 2011 were approximately 4% higher (at Level II and Level I) than the overall accuracies for the same components of NLCD 2006. The high Level I overall, user's, and producer's accuracies for the single-date eras in NLCD 2011 did not translate into high class-specific user's and producer's accuracies for many of the 17 change reporting themes. User's accuracies were high for the no change reporting themes, commonly exceeding 85%, but were typically much lower for the reporting themes that represented change. Only forest loss, forest gain, and urban gain had user's accuracies that exceeded 70%. Lower user's accuracies for the other change reporting themes may be attributable to the difficulty in determining the context of grass (e.g., open urban, grassland, agriculture) and between the components of the forest-shrubland-grassland gradient at either the mapping phase, reference label assignment phase, or both. NLCD 2011 user's accuracies for forest loss, forest gain, and urban gain compare favorably with results from other land cover change accuracy assessments.
New Advances in Convex Optimization and Control Applications

Abstract Since 1984 there has been a concentrated effort to develop efficient interior-point methods for linear programming (LP). In the last few years researchers have begun to appreciate a very important property of these interior-point methods (beyond their efficiency for LP): they extend gracefully to nonlinear convex optimization problems. New interior-point algorithms for problem classes such as semidefinite programming (SDP) or second-order cone programming (SOCP) are now approaching the extreme efficiency of modern linear programming codes. In this paper we discuss three examples of areas of control where our ability to efficiently solve nonlinear convex optimization problems opens up new applications. In the first example we show how SOCP can be used to solve robust open-loop optimal control problems. In the second example, we show how SOCP can be used to simultaneously design the set-point and feedback gains for a controller, and compare this method with the more standard approach. Our final application concerns analysis and synthesis via linear matrix inequalities and SDP.
a long the riverrun

Progress in sustainable water resources development involves several and diverse disciplines and abilities, including ecologists, economists, sociologists, representatives of the public and private sectors and citizens groups, politicians, and others. Environmental engineers are essential co-participants in this multidisciplinary array, providing scientific and technological expertise that is essential in arriving at sustainable solutions. This theme is illustrated ‘a long the riverrun’ with four cases: cholera, chlorides, cryptosporidiosis and crabs.
Examination of an experimental manipulation of intolerance of uncertainty on obsessive-compulsive outcomes

Abstract Intolerance of uncertainty (IU)—the tendency to avoid ambiguous situations and view oneself as unable to cope with uncertainty—is a core cognitive vulnerability for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, no published data address whether IU causes OCD-related phenomena, as experimental research on IU primarily is conducted in the context of generalized anxiety disorder. The studies herein highlight the importance of replication in experimental psychopathology research and may inform future studies that seek to experimentally manipulate cognitive vulnerabilities such as IU or assess compulsions through behavioral measures. In the current studies, undergraduates (Study 1 n = 60; Study 2 n = 83; Study 3 n = 95) completed a false-feedback manipulation intended to either increase or decrease IU beliefs, followed by a catastrophizing worry interview (Study 1) or checking task (Studies 2 and 3). Participants in the high versus low IU condition evidenced significantly more steps during the worry interview and higher state distress, but did not evidence either significant alterations in checking behavior or consistent alterations in perception of threat. Examination of the relationship between IU and OCD can inform the use of treatment strategies that directly target IU. Limitations and key future directions are discussed.
Effect of Formulation and Process Parameters on the Disproportionation of Indomethacin Sodium in Buffered Lyophilized Formulations

(i) To investigate buffer salt crystallization and the consequent pH shifts during the freezing stage of the lyophilization of indomethacin sodium (IMCNa) in aqueous sodium phosphate buffer. (ii) To determine the effect of pH shift on the disproportionation of IMCNa in lyophilized formulations. Prelyophilization solutions containing IMCNa in sodium phosphate buffer, at initial buffer concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 mM (pH 7.0), and at IMCNa concentrations of 5, 10 & 15 mg/ml, were investigated. Their phase behavior during cooling was monitored by low temperature X- ray diffractometry (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and pH measurements. The final lyophiles were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR) and XRD. Upon cooling to −25°C, pronounced pH shifts were observed only in IMCNa buffered solutions containing high initial buffer concentration (100 mM), due to crystallization of Na2HPO4 . 12H2O. In the final lyophiles, disproportionation of IMCNa to the free acid (IMC) was observed in systems with buffer concentrations ≥50 mM, but not low buffer concentration (10 mM). At intermediate buffer concentrations (35 & 20 mM) the disproportionation depended on IMCNa concentration. The initial concentrations of both buffer and IMCNa influenced the buffer crystallization. During freeze drying, selective crystallization of a buffer component and the consequent pH shift can cause disproportionation of IMCNa. This can prolong the reconstitution time or retain particles of the poorly soluble free acid in the reconstituted solution.
Helping Christians Reclaim Some Abandoned Emotions: The ACE Model of Emotion

The arousal-cognition-expression (ACE) model of emotion suggests that all emotions have the capacity to be pleasing to God, displeasing to God, and/or morally neutral. Therefore, all emotions are p...
Disaster Research: A Strategic Research Site

Independent of its utility as a guide to specific studies, this inventory provides a more generalized function. Given its scope, major directions within disaster research can be identified more clearly—so too can areas that thus far have been ignored. Similarly, certain topics that may have unique policy applications or have matured to a state of model development become more visible. In short, as Merton (1969) stated so well in his preface to Barton’s (1969) synthesis that was based on the disaster literature of the 1950s, such reviews have important functions for sociological theory. Similarly, at times such syntheses may stimulate more informed social policy.
Historical reasoning - extended: a case study

In the study of learning, the educational research community focused nearly exclusively on the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As Wineburg (1996) and Leinhardt (1994) pointed out, compared to the amount of studies and research programs in these fields, we virtually don't know anything about learning in the fields of humanities. Most of the approaches focused on overhauling the curricula by integrating missing content, and identifying best resources and materialsCritique arose especially against the 'coverage of content' approach by pointing out that the mere remembrance of events, biographies, and the chronological ordering of them do not foster the meaning making and development of critical thinking skills (Seixas, 2000; Stearns 1993, 1998; Wineburg, 1991). The study on expert-novice differences brought another aspect of critique against traditional forms of teaching/learning history. Wineburg (1991), Seixas (1993), Greene (1994a), and Wiley & Voss (1996) argue that in studying history, students should be engaged in tasks that replicate real-historians' tasks. Students would become what Wiley & Voss call "knowledge transformers" instead of "knowledge tellers" (1996, p. S64) and classrooms would be transformed into "communities of inquiry" (Seixas 1993, p.310). So, a community of researchers focused on research on what Sam Wineburg calls "historical thinking" (Wineburg, 2001).
Reasoning about the intentions of agents

In this paper we further develop the formal theory of intentions suggested by C. Baral and M. Gelfond in 2005. In this work the authors formalized the behavior of an agent intending to execute a sequence of actions. The resulting axioms for intentions written in Knowledge Representation language Answer Set Prolog allowed to easily express such properties of intentions as persistence and non-procrastination. This paper expands this work to allow reasoning with intentions in the presence of unexpected observations, and intentions to achieve goals. The theory is formulated in the extension of Answer Set Prolog, called CR-Prolog.