cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design of Distributed Simulation Environments: A Unified System-Theoretic and Logical Processes Approach

This article presents a framework for distributed simulation that is based on system-theoretic and logical-process concepts. The framework describes a three-part worldview for developing simulation models. These are modeling formalisms, abstract simulators, and computational environments. A unified view of time and causality allows for the application of system-theoretic notions of causality within a distributed simulation environment. Within this framework, the authors introduce a unified notion of causality for use in parallel simulations. Furthermore, they describe an approach for developing distributed simulation models that evolve from modeling constructs to simulation algorithms and their implementations. The framework is exemplified using the discrete event system specification (DEVS) modeling formalism, its abstract simulator, and a parallel algorithm that implements the abstract simulator.
Grazing effects on plant community succession of early- and mid-seral seeded grassland compared to shortgrass steppe

AbstractQuestions: Grazing may speed or slow secondary succession, and the directionmay depend on seral stage and relative tolerance of native perennial grassescompared with annual invasive species. How does grazing affect successionwhere undisturbed communities have a long evolutionary history of grazing bynativeherbivoresandaretoleranttolivestockgrazing?Location: Shortgrass steppe, North American Great Plains, Colorado (40°49′N,104°46′W),USA.Methods: Ungrazed and grazed early-seral (4–6 yr) and mid-seral (18–20 yr)seeded ﬁelds (Conservation Reserve Program) and traditionally grazed nativesteppe were compared for effects on plant composition in relation to changesexpectedfromregionalsuccessionmodels.Results: Recovery towards undisturbed native shortgrass steppe for early- andmid-seralcommunities,respectively,was19%and36%fortotalvegetationcover,5% and 21% for planted native species, 10% and 88% for non-planted nativeperennialgrasses,only0.2%and13%forshortgrasses,andoveralldissimilarityincommunity species compositions was 97% and 68%. In general, grazing effectswere neutral or most often not signiﬁcant in all years and/or were small in overallcommunitymagnitude.Theearly-seralcommunitydisplayedmorechangesindic-ativeofaslowingofsuccessionwithgrazing(totalvegetativeandgrassbasalcover)rather than reducing invasive species ( species targeted by timing of grazing),although drought had limited the establishment of grazing-tolerant short grasses.The mid-seral community showed more changes consistent with advancing suc-cessional recovery with grazing (overall community dissimilarity, forbs, plantednative perennial grasses, tall grasses and target species). However, non-plantednative perennial grasses responded negatively to grazing in the mid-seral commu-nityandpositivelyinnativeshortgrasssteppewhereoutsideseedwouldoriginate.Conclusions: Grazing effects on particular functional groups and species werenotthesameacrossseralstages,weremixedintermsofspeedingorslowingsuc-cession, and were generally not large at the community level. Evolutionary his-tory of grazing may serve as a general guide but decisions on whether to grazesuccessional grasslands may best be made after assessing whether tolerantperennial short grass species are signiﬁcant components. Monitoring may thenbe necessary to determine species responses in particular community matrixesandeffectsonsubsequentimmigrationofnon-seedednativeperennialspecies.IntroductionHerbivorymay speed or slowplant communitysuccession,and synthesis as to where or when each may occur hasprimarily been based on studies of specialist herbivores inwoody communities, with only four of 34 cases of largegeneralist grazers in grasslands and none involving live-stock and secondary succession (Davidson 1993). Grazing
Eclipse work on astrophysics, and on the moon's place

Abstract The role played by the Royal Observatory in eclipse expeditions to observe the Sun's chromosphere and corona is briefly summarized. Eclipse work on the Moon's place (not always involving expeditions) is then dealt with, culminating in the author's cinematographic method which was used successfully at Mombasa in 1948.
Fenofibrate Potentiates Warfarin Effects

OBJECTIVE:To describe 2 patients in whom the initiation of fenofibrate potentiated warfarin's anticoagulant effects.CASE SUMMARY:A 71-year-old white woman and an 80-year-old white woman with multiple medical conditions were both stabilized on long-term warfarin therapy. During the course of anticoagulation, both patients were prescribed fenofibrate and experienced threefold and twofold increases in international normalized ratio (INR), respectively, requiring total weekly warfarin dosage reductions of 30–40%. Before starting fenofibrate therapy, both patients' coagulation values were within the therapeutic range. When interviewed, patients and caregivers denied bleeding, bruising, changes in diet, alcohol ingestion, nonadherence with therapy, or changes in drug regimen except for the addition of fenofibrate. Upon chart review, evaluation of potentially contributory parameters, such as other changes in drug therapy, thyroid function, liver function, and drug–disease interactions, showed that these paramete...
Stakes and probabilities in information purchase

Subjects purchased information to increase P (probability of a correct decision) in tasks with net expected value held constant. In Experiment 1, Ss purchased more information, and thereby increased P, when stakes were higher. Experiment 2 showed a positive relation between stakes and P regardless of which variable was independent. The hypothesis that Ss were holding variance constant could not account for this tradeoff, however, because Ss treated P as relatively more important than stakes. Finally, under the assumption that risk increases with stakes and decreases with P, the riskier Ss treated P as relatively more important than did the less risky Ss.
On the cost of fairness in ring networks

The impact of fairness on the throughput of ring networks with spatial reuse is investigated. A model for a slotted ring with spatial reuse that employs a simple fairness mechanism is presented. An exact expression for the expected time taken to evacuate this ring when each node initially contains one packet is derived. The expected evacuation time is used to obtain an exact expression for the throughput of the ring. It is shown that as the number of nodes on the ring increases, the penalty for fairness in terms of throughput becomes negligible. >
Chlorellosis in a Lamb

Bright green necrotic lesions were seen in the liver and hepatic lymph nodes of a slaughtered lamb. The lesions contained numerous organisms that had the morphology, staining properties, and mode of division typical of both Chlorella and Prototheca. The presence of pigment, presumably chlorophyll, suggests that the organisms were indeed Chlovella.
Performance of Kilgour's truncation algorithm in files of different subjects

Frederick Kilgour's algorithm for forming search keys for automated library catalogs was tested in a file of about 2000 books in science and technology and in a file of about 2000 books in art and literature. Both 3–3 and 2–2 author-title search keys were tested. It was found that both types of search keys yielded a significantly greater number of false-drops in the file of science and technology than in the file of art and literature.
Public Choice in the New Century

This special issue of Public Choice was designed to afford leading scholars the opportunity to summarize the current state of the public choice literature in key areas of public policy concern and to offer their thoughts about future directions of research. By laying out public choice frameworks for analyzing some of the major challenges confronting democratic governments at the dawn of the 21st century, the issue’s overarching goal is to demonstrate the vibrancy and continuing relevance of the public choice research program.
A J-Integral Analysis to Fracture Toughness of Plates Containing Surface Cracks

The J-integral approach was applied to plates containing surface flaws type of cracks. The experimental procedure followed in this investigation was based on a proposed method by Begley and Landes that utilizes a resistance “R” type curve to find a critical value of J for specimens containing straight cracks. Furthermore, the Begley-Landes procedure was modified to consider the incremental growth of the crack frontal area due to static loading. An interpolation process was used for estimating average values of Jc and Kc for crack geometries which lie between those obtained experimentally. Moreover, a shape correction factor was obtained which shows the dependence of the average value of the stress intensity factor, Kc , on the crack geometry and the relative crack-to-specimen dimensions.
Increasing Conversational Interactions Between Verbal High School Students With Autism and Their Peers Without Disabilities

Self-prompted communication books were used in combination with conversational peer orientation to increase conversational interactions of verbal high school students with autism or autistic-like behavior with their peers without disabilities. Previous investigators have used communication books only with students with autism or intellectual disability with limited or no verbal or reading skills. The six high school participants in this study could read and were verbal. We sought to determine whether the communication books would be accepted by peers without disabilities in general education classrooms or whether the books would stigmatize the students with disabilities. Finally, we assessed the effects of having a peer with a learning disability as the teacher of conversational interaction skills. We interpreted our results to conclude that the communication book package was associated with increased conversational interactions for all participants with their general education peers and that communicatio...
Angiographic estimates of myocardium at risk during acute myocardial infarction: validation study using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Aims Global angiographic scores have been developed to determine the extent of myocardium jeopardized by significant coronary stenosis. We adapted these scores to quantify the anatomic area at risk during acute myocardial infarction. We used contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (CMR) infarct imaging to measure the portion of myocardium that developed necrosis within the so defined angiographic area at risk. Methods and results In 83 subjects presenting for primary percutaneous intervention, the myocardium at risk was estimated angiographically using the Myocardial Jeopardy Index (BARI) and a modified version of the Alberta Provincial Project for Outcome Assessment in Coronary Heart Disease (APPROACH) scores. CMR was performed within a week to measure infarct size, infarct endocardial surface area (infarct-ESA), and infarct transmurality. As infarct transmurality increased, the infarct size closely approximated the myocardium at risk by angiography. In 35 subjects with transmural infarcts, the area at risk by BARI and APPROACH scores matched the infarct size ( r = 0.90 and r = 0.92, P < 0.001). Additionally, BARI and APPROACH scores matched the infarct-ESA in all subjects independently of collateral flow and time to reperfusion ( r = 0.90 and r = 0.87, P < 0.001). The presence of early reperfusion, collaterals, or both was associated with a progressive decrease in infarct transmurality ( P < 0.001 for trend) with no difference in the infarct-ESA. Conclusion The myocardium at risk of infarction can be determined angiographically as validated in subjects with transmural myocardial infarcts. Salvage provided by early reperfusion or collaterals occurs by limiting infarct transmurality, thereby the extent of endocardial infarct involved also allows estimation of the myocardium at risk in patients presenting with STEMI.
Greater mass increases annual survival of Prothonotary Warblers wintering in northeastern Costa Rica

Abstract. Estimates of survival of nearctic—neotropic migrants have broadened our understanding of lifehistory variation across taxa and latitudes. Despite the importance of assessing migrants' survival through all phases of their life-cycle, data from their tropical winter ranges are few. In this study we used 14 years of data on captured birds to quantify the influence of mass on the annual survival of the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) in northeastern Costa Rica and compared our results to survival estimates generated from the breeding grounds. Furthermore, from estimates of population growth (λ) based on marked individuals, we projected the Prothonotary Warbler's demographic trajectory at our study site. Our results suggest that heavier individuals had higher rates of annual survival. Population growth at our study sites was stable, punctuated by swings in growth and decline. We believe the benefits of weight gain (preparation for migration and intraspecific competition for territories) ou...
Effects of UHMWPE wear debris generated from total hip and total knee replacements

In general, UHMWPE wear particles generated by total knee replacements and total hip replacements are different, with particles from hip prostheses being on the average smaller than particles from knee prostheses. The reason that wear debris from total hip and total knee replacements seem to be different, may be because the predominant wear processes in these total joint replacements are different. Artificial knee joints are typically less conforming than artificial hip joints. Studies of the surface of retrieved UHMWPE acetabular cups and tibial liners and of the wear debris produced by these components in vivo suggest that adhesion and abrasion are the predominant wear mechanisms in hips, although fatigue wear, subsurface delamination, and pitting are more prevalent in tibial liners.
Eye-mouse coordination patterns on web search results pages

We analyzed the patterns of coordination between users' eye movements and mouse movements when scanning a web search results page, using data gathered from a study with 32 participants. We discovered 3 patterns of active mouse usage: following the eye vertically with the mouse, following the eye horizontally with the mouse, and using the mouse to mark a promising result.
Sexually dimorphic effects of a prenatal immune challenge on social play and vasopressin expression in juvenile rats

Infectious diseases and inflammation during pregnancy increase the offspring’s risk for behavioral disorders. However, how immune stress affects neural circuitry during development is not well known. We tested whether a prenatal immune challenge interferes with the development of social play and with neural circuits implicated in social behavior. Pregnant rats were given intraperitoneal injections of the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS – 100 μg /kg) or saline on the 15th day of pregnancy. Offspring were tested for social play behaviors between postnatal days 26–40. Brains were harvested on postnatal day 45 and processed for arginine vasopressin (AVP) mRNA in situ hybridization. In males, LPS treatment reduced the frequency of juvenile play behavior and reduced AVP mRNA expression in the medial amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. These effects were not found in females. LPS treatment did not change AVP mRNA expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, paraventricular nucleus, or supraoptic nucleus of either sex, nor did it affect the sex difference in the size of the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area. Given AVP’s central role in regulating social behavior, the sexually dimorphic effects of prenatal LPS treatment on male AVP mRNA expression may contribute to the sexually dimorphic effect of LPS on male social play and may, therefore, increase understanding of factors that contribute to sex differences in social psychopathology.
Fast Tweet Retrieval with Compact Binary Codes

The most widely used similarity measure in the field of natural language processing may be cosine similarity. However, in the context of Twitter, the large scale of massive tweet data inevitably makes it expensive to perform cosine similarity computations among tremendous data samples. In this paper, we exploit binary coding to tackle the scalability issue, which compresses each data sample into a compact binary code and hence enables highly efficient similarity computations via Hamming distances between the generated codes. In order to yield semantics sensitive binary codes for tweet data, we design a binarized matrix factorization model and further improve it in two aspects. First, we force the projection directions employed by the model nearly orthogonal to reduce the redundant information in their resulting binary bits. Second, we leverage the tweets’ neighborhood information to encourage similar tweets to have adjacent binary codes. Evaluated on a tweet dataset using hashtags to create gold labels in an information retrieval scenario, our proposed model shows significant performance gains over competing methods.
Notes on financial econometrics

The first part of the discussion reviews recent successes in modeling of discrete time financial data and argues that a direct approach is better suited than stochastic volatility. The second part reviews recent work on estimating continuous time models with emphasis on simulation-based techniques and joint estimation of the risk neutral and objective probability distributions.
A wideband 77GHz, 17.5dBm power amplifier in silicon

A 77GHz, +17.5dBm fully-integrated power amplifier (PA) with 50/spl Omega/ input and output matching is fabricated in a 0.12/spl mu/m SiGe BiCMOS process. The power amplifier achieves a peak power gain of 17dB and a maximum single-ended output power of +17.5dBm with 12.8% of power-added efficiency (PAE). It has a 3dB bandwidth of 15GHz and draws 165mA from a 1.8V supply. Microstrip tubs are used as the transmission line structure resulting in large isolation between adjacent lines, enabling integration of the PA in a small area of 0.6mm/sup 2/.
Gender influences the effect of perinatal copper deficiency on cerebellar PKC gamma content

Change in cerebellar protein kinase C gamma (PKCgamma) content caused by perinatal copper (Cu) deficiency was determined in 22-day old rats. The offspring of dams with low Cu intake during gestation and lactation exhibited signs characteristic of Cu deficiency including anemia, greater than 90% reduction in liver Cu concentration, and undetectable serum ceruloplasmin. In addition, brain Cu concentrations were reduced 80%. No differences in the signs of Cu deficiency were observed between female and male offspring. However, cerebellar PKCgamma content was reduced 54% (P 0.05) in male offspring. Following 6 weeks of Cu supplementation, brain Cu concentrations remained depressed in female and male rats that experienced perinatal Cu deficiency, but cerebellar PKCgamma content was completely restored to control levels. Postnatal expression of PKCgamma in the cerebellum coincides with and regulates cerebellar maturation. The results of the present study indicate perinatal Cu deficiency may impair cerebellar maturation to a greater extent in females than in males. However, it is not clear whether suppression of PKCgamma by perinatal Cu deficiency produces permanent neuropathology in the cerebellum because the effects were reversed by Cu supplementation.
MARCH: A Distributed Incentive Scheme for Peer-to-Peer Networks

As peer-to-peer networks grow larger and include more diverse users, the lack of incentive to encourage cooperative behavior becomes one of the key problems. This challenge cannot be fully met by traditional incentive schemes, which suffer from various attacks based on false reports. Especially, due to the lack of central authorities in typical P2P systems, it is difficult to detect colluding groups. Members in the same colluding group can cooperate to manipulate their history information, and the damaging power increases dramatically with the group size. In this paper, we propose a new distributed incentive scheme, in which the benefit that a node can obtain from the system is proportional to its contribution to the system, and a colluding group cannot gain advantage by cooperation regardless of its size. Consequently, the damaging power of colluding groups is strictly limited. The proposed scheme includes three major components: a distributed authority infrastructure, a key sharing protocol, and a contract verification protocol.
Jackson, John Hughlings (1835–1911)

John Hughlings Jackson (1835–1911) was a British physician who helped to establish the emerging field of clinical neurology in the late nineteenth century, and argued for its relevance to the concerns of psychology, psychiatry, and philosophy of mind. In particular, his evolutionary-dynamic approach to brain function and malfunction had a significant influence on twentieth-century psychology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis. Keywords: history of science; neuropsychology; aphasia; behavioral neuroscience; epilepsy; history of medicine; mind; mind-body problem
A Gut Odyssey: The Impact of the Microbiota on Clostridium difficile Spore Formation and Germination.

The Gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of health care–associated infections and gastroenteritis-associated deaths in the United States [1]. C. difficile-associated disease is primarily toxin-mediated, although the organism’s natural antibiotic resistance and propensity to cause disease recurrence can lead to severe clinical complications, such as pseudomembranous colitis and toxic megacolon [2]. Antibiotic exposure potentiates C. difficile infections (CDI) by disrupting the colonization resistance conferred by the normal gut microbiota [3–5], while spore formation allows C. difficile to outlast antibiotic therapies and persist in the environment. The remarkable success of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in treating severe recurrent CDI provides the most direct evidence that our gut microbiota protects us from C. difficile invasion [4–6]. While the most effective antibiotic-based therapies lead to an ~20% CDI recurrence rate [1], FMT has an ~95% cure rate [6]. However, since FMT may cause unforeseen complications [4,7], there is obvious interest in determining the mechanisms that control colonization resistance in order to produce more targeted therapies. Several mechanisms have been suggested by which the microbiota antagonizes C. difficile, including increased competition for resources, inhibition of germination and/or vegetative growth, and enhancement of host defense mechanisms [3,5]. In this Pearl, we focus on how the microbiota alters the developmental life cycle of C. difficile during infection.
Arraying SH0 Lithium Niobate laterally vibrating resonators for mitigation of higher order spurious modes

This paper studies the origin of higher-order spurious modes in shear horizontal (SH0) mode Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) laterally vibrating resonators (LVRs). Near-zero spurious mode response and a high figure of merit (FoM) of 154 have been achieved concurrently by arraying single resonators with only two electrodes at the orientation of 10° to -Y axis in the X-cut plane. The high FoM (154) results from a high electromechanical coupling (kt2) of 14.1% and quality factor (Q) of 1093. In contrast to a conventional resonator with multiple (> 2) interdigitated electrodes, the fabricated resonator array exhibits an unprecedented spectral range of spurious-free response, 320% centered about the resonance, thus further advancing the LiNbO3 LVR technology toward the wireless marketplace.
Environmental Enrichment Stimulates Immune Cell Secretion of Exosomes that Promote CNS Myelination and May Regulate Inflammation.

Environmental enrichment (EE) consists of increased physical, intellectual, and social activity, and has wide-ranging effects, including enhancing cognition, learning and memory, and motor coordination. Animal studies have demonstrated that EE improves outcome of brain trauma and neurodegenerative disorders, including demyelinating diseases like multiple sclerosis, making it a promising therapeutic option. However, the complexity of applying a robust EE paradigm makes clinical use difficult. A better understanding of the signaling involved in EE-based neuroprotection may allow for development of effective mimetics as an alternative. In prior work, we found that exosomes isolated from the serum of rats exposed to EE impact CNS myelination. Exosomes are naturally occurring nanovesicles containing mRNA, miRNA, and protein, which play important roles in cell function, disease, and immunomodulation. When applied to hippocampal slice cultures or nasally administered to naive rats, EE-serum exosomes significantly increase myelin content, oligodendrocyte precursor (OPC) and neural stem cell levels, and reduce oxidative stress (OS). We found that rat EE exosomes were enriched in miR-219, which is necessary and sufficient for OPC differentiation into myelinating cells. Thus, peripherally produced exosomes may be a useful therapy for remyelination. Here, we aim to better characterize the impact of EE on CNS health and to determine the cellular source of nutritive exosomes found in serum. We found that exosomes isolated from various circulating immune cell types all increased slice culture myelin content, contained miR-219, and reduced OS, suggesting that EE globally alters immune function in a way that supports brain health.
Failure of Elastin or Collagen as Possible Critical Connective Tissue Alterations Underlying Aneurysmal Dilatation

Previous studies in the authors' laboratory have demonstrated that degradation of arterial elastin produces vessel dilatation, decreased vessel distensibility, and vessel elongation which can cause...
Coal aquifer contribution to streams in the Powder River Basin, Montana

Summary Groundwater contributions to streams can be reduced by groundwater withdrawal associated with coalbed methane and coal mine production. Quantifying the groundwater contribution to streams aids the assessment of potential impacts to in-stream flow and provides information necessary for energy producers to use coproduced water for beneficial purposes, rather than treating it as a waste product. Stream flow, field parameters, common ions, and isotopes of carbon and strontium were measured on Otter Creek and the Powder River in southeastern Montana. Direct streamflow measurements were ineffective because of the magnitude and nature of coalbed contribution. The coal groundwater contribution did not exceed the geochemical detection threshold on two nearby streams. Geochemical models based on isotopic data proved to be the most effective analytical method, resulting in baseflow measurements from coal aquifers of 28–275 l s −1 .
Spatially Resolved Gelled Propellant Spray Characteristics of Impinging Jets

The spatially resolved spray characteristics created by the like-on-like impingement of two gelled propellant simulants was experimentally investigated using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA). Water based gels of 1.0 wt.-% agar and 1.0 wt.-% kappa carrageenan, which were characterized using the Herschel-Bulkley rheological model, were used as the gel propellant simulants. Spatially resolved measurements for drop size and drop velocity were obtained up to 10 mm away from the centerline along the transverse axis in the plane of the sheet and up to 20 mm away from the centerline along the transverse axis in the plane normal to the sheet. All measurements were obtained at an axial plane 5 cm downstream of the impingement point. Larger D10 and D32 mean diameters and lower mean axial drop velocity Uz-mean were observed for transverse distances away from the centerline of the spray along both the axis in the plane of the sheet and in the plane normal to the sheet.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Individual differences in reasoning and visuospatial attention are associated with prefrontal and parietal white matter tracts in healthy older adults.

OBJECTIVE: Although reasoning and attention are 2 cognitive processes necessary for ensuring the efficiency of many everyday activities in older adults, the role of white matter integrity in these processes has been little studied. This is an important question due to the role of white matter integrity as a neural substrate of cognitive aging. Here, we sought to examine the white matter tracts subserving reasoning and visuospatial attention in healthy older adults. METHOD: Sixty-one adults ages 60 and older completed a battery of cognitive tests to assess reasoning and visuospatial attention. In addition, diffusion tensor images were collected to assess fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter integrity. A principle components analysis of the test scores yielded 2 components: reasoning and visuospatial attention. Whole-brain correlations between FA and the cognitive components were submitted to probabilistic tractography analyses for visualization of cortical targets of tracts. RESULTS: For reasoning, bilateral thalamo-anterior prefrontal, anterior corpus callosum, and corpus callosum body tracts interconnecting the superior frontal cortices and right cingulum bundle were found. For visuospatial attention, a right inferior fronto-parietal tract and bilateral parietal and temporal connections were found. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in older adults, prefrontal cortex white matter tracts and interhemispheric communication are important in higher order cognitive functioning. On the other hand, right-sided fronto-parietal tracts appear to be critical for supporting control of cognitive processes, such as redirecting attention. Researchers may use our results to develop neuroscience-based interventions for older adults targeting brain mechanisms involved in cognitive plasticity. (PsycINFO Database Record(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
SPONTANEOUS MUTATIONS FOR LIFE-HISTORY CHARACTERS IN AN OBLIGATE PARTHENOGEN.

By allowing mutations to accumulate spontaneously in different lines derived from a single female of an obligately parthenogenetic Daphnia, it has become possible to estimate the rate at which new genetic variance for life-history characters arises as well as to identify the average pleiotropic effects of mutant polygenes. The estimated polygenic mutation rates are quite compatible with those available for sexual organisms. The results are therefore in conflict with the hypothesis that parthenogens compensate for the loss of recombination by elevating the mutation rate. Based on these results, it is argued that the rate of phenotypic evolution may be enhanced as much as five-fold by sexuality. However, if dominance or epistatic gene interactions are of major importance, or if the sensitivity to environmental effects is reduced or the rate of polygenic mutation enhanced under asexuality, the full advantage of sex will not be attained and may even be reversed. Regardless of these conditions, it is clear that the mutational rate of production of polygenic variation is sufficient to allow significant rates of phenotypic evolution in purely asexual organisms.
Efficient Greedy LLL Algorithms for Lattice Decoding

The Lenstra-Lenstra-Lovasz (LLL) algorithm has been adopted as a lattice reduction (LR) technique for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications to improve performance with low complexity. However, implementing the LLL algorithm is still challenging due to slow convergence especially for large channel matrices. One of the main reasons is that the column swap may not happen in some LLL iterations, which leads to more iterations. To address it, some greedy LLL algorithms have recently been proposed, which only perform the iterations with column swaps. In this paper, we propose two efficient greedy LLL algorithms for various LR-aided MIMO detectors. First, both algorithms use a relaxed Lovasz condition to search the candidate set of LLL iterations. Then, to select an LLL iteration in the candidate set each time, one is based on a relaxed decrescence of LLL potential, and the other takes the error performance of the LR-aided MIMO detectors into consideration. The proposed two algorithms are proved to collect full receive diversity in both LR-aided linear and successive-interference-cancellation detectors. Furthermore, compared to existing greedy LLL algorithms, simulations show that the proposed two algorithms not only converge faster but also exhibit much lower complexity while maintaining comparable error performance in LR-aided MIMO detectors.
Impulsive Phase Coherent Femtosecond Spectroscopy of Atomic and Molecular Transients with Phase-Locked Pulse Pairs

Advances in the development of experimental techniques for coherent femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopy of atomic and molecular transients using phase-locked pulse pairs are reported.
The Emergence and Underlying Neurobiology of Psychosis

Abstract Psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience disciplines, whose organ is the nervous system and whose outcome measures are “behavior,” are hampered in relation to genomics by limited information in large-scale databases regarding symptoms and neurocognitive performance. With increased availability of noninvasive neuroimaging and neurocognitive methodology, studies of youths became feasible and indicated neurocognitive deficits and brain abnormalities early in the course of illness. The identification of common variants across several disorders such as bipolar, autism spectrum disorders, and intellectual disability exposes the limitation of the categorical approach. If different disorders share genomic variance, mechanistic explanations require linking genomic to behavioral parameters related to dysfunction in brain circuitries spanning disorders. We highlight the emergence of psychosis, summarizing progress in elucidating neurocognitive and neuroimaging measures and neurobiological pathways in individuals at clinical risk for psychosis. We conclude by considering how the study of clinical risk may be integrated with progress in genomics.
Reversal of anticoagulation with four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate without concurrent vitamin K (phytonadione) for urgent surgery in a patient at moderate-to-high risk for thromboembolism.

Successful vitamin K antagonist (eg, warfarin) reversal with 4-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4F-PCC) without vitamin K (phytonadione) for emergent surgery in a patient at moderate-to-high risk for thromboembolism is reported. This approach may decrease the risk for development of thrombus, as it limits the amount of time the patient9s anticoagulation is subtherapeutic. It also may increase the risk of bleeding, so patient selection is essential if this strategy is employed. Caution must be exercised to complete the procedure or surgery in the window of peak 4F-PCC effect (∼1–6 hours postinfusion).
The Impact of Design-Based STEM Integration Curricula on Student Achievement in Engineering, Science, and Mathematics

The new science education reform documents call for integration of engineering into K-12 science classes. Engineering design and practices are new to most science teachers, meaning that implementing effective engineering instruction is likely to be challenging. This quasi-experimental study explored the influence of teacher-developed, engineering design-based science curriculum units on learning and achievement among grade 4–8 students of different races, gender, special education status, and limited English proficiency (LEP) status. Treatment and control students (n = 4450) completed pretest and posttest assessments in science, engineering, and mathematics as well as a state-mandated mathematics test. Single-level regression results for science outcomes favored the treatment for one science assessment (physical science, heat transfer), but multilevel analyses showed no significant treatment effect. We also found that engineering integration had different effects across race and gender and that teacher gender can reduce or exacerbate the gap in engineering achievement for student subgroups depending on the outcome. Other teacher factors such as the quality of engineering-focused science units and engineering instruction were predictive of student achievement in engineering. Implications for practice are discussed.
At-Risk Students: drug prevention through afterschool/latchkey programs?

The importance of after school latchkey programs as a major deterrent to the onset of drug use among elementary and secondary school students is reviewed. Most of the data in this study support the need for after school latchkey programs, especially at the elementary school level. Elementary school students indicated gains in all diagnostic categories. The elementary school students showed positive gain scores in family, school, self-esteem, substance use, and personal abuse categories. Elementary school students showed positive gain scores in the substance use category while secondary school students showed negative gain in this area. There is a need to reassert the role of after school latchkey programs in the development of socially desirable behaviors in elementary school students, with a particular need to reassert the role of increasing positive self-esteem in relation to drug use and peer influences. Some implications for educational interventions and drug prevention programs are discussed.
Growing into Water Conservation? Decomposing the Drivers of Reduced Water Consumption in Las Vegas, NV

Abstract Increasing population and drought have lead to growing concerns about water scarcity across the US despite a long decline in per-capita consumption. To what extent is this decline the result of water policy vs. other exogenous changes? Many municipalities implement multiple water-focused policies simultaneously – while still subject to other exogenous drivers – so it is important to pair policy evaluations with approaches that examine multiple drivers of water use. The importance of water policy, infrastructure change, and broader technological and demographic trends in influencing water demand has not been measured. We demonstrate a novel method for decomposing multiple drivers of consumption using a dataset of neighborhood water consumption, home infrastructure characteristics, and vegetation in Las Vegas. The largest measureable factor driving conservation for Las Vegas as a whole is lower consumption from new homes, while in established neighborhoods it is declining vegetation area. However, factors we measure directly account for only half of the observed consumption decline. This provides indirect evidence that consumption declines coincident with a drought alert, increased water waste enforcement, and other policy responses also played an important role in conservation. An array of approaches directed at both infrastructure and behavior can effectively reduce consumption.
Massive Pulmonary Embolism and Thrombolytic Therapy: Case Study:

Acute pulmonary embolism is the third most common acute cardiovascular disease, with about 600,000 cases annually in the United States. Pulmonary embolism requires a multimodality diagnosis and imm...
Chronic Alcohol Exposure Differentially Alters One-Carbon Metabolism in Rat Liver and Brain

Background Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation play an important role in regulating the pathophysiology of alcoholism. Chronic alcohol exposure leads to behavioral changes as well as decreased expression of genes associated with synaptic plasticity. In the liver, it has been documented that chronic alcohol exposure impairs methionine synthase (Ms) activity leading to a decrease in S-adenosyl methionine/S-adenosyl homocysteine (SAM/SAH) ratio which results in DNA hypomethylation; however, it is not known whether similar alterations of SAM and SAH levels are also produced in brain. Methods Male adult Sprague Dawley rats were fed chronically with Lieber–DeCarli ethanol (EtOH) (9% v/v) or control diet. The EtOH-diet-fed rats were withdrawn for 0 and 24 hours. The cerebellum and liver tissues were dissected and used to investigate changes in one-carbon metabolism, SAM, and SAH levels. Results We found that chronic EtOH exposure decreased SAM levels, SAM/SAH ratio, Ms, methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase, and betaine homocysteine methyltransferase (Bhmt) expression and increased methionine adenosyltransferase-2b (Mat2b) but not Mat2a expression in the liver. In contrast, chronic EtOH exposure decreased SAH levels, increased SAM/SAH ratio and the expression of Mat2a and S-adenosyl homocysteine hydrolase, while the levels of SAM or Bhmt expression in cerebellum remained unaltered. However, in both liver and cerebellum, chronic EtOH exposure decreased the expression of Ms and increased Mat2b expression. All chronic EtOH-induced changes of one-carbon metabolism in cerebellum, but not liver, returned to near-normal levels during EtOH withdrawal. Conclusions These results indicate a decreased “methylation index” in liver and an increased “methylation index” in cerebellum. The opposing changes of the “methylation index” suggest altered DNA methylation in liver and cerebellum, thus implicating one-carbon metabolism in the pathophysiology of alcoholism.
To Squander the Fighting Strength? Personal Experiences with Preventive Psychiatry and the Dilemma of Wartime Public Mental Health

My colleagues who have known me throughout my controversial military career and beyond, and who know in particular of my work on the antimalarial drug mefloquine (marketed in the US previously as Lariam), could be excused for assuming this was an early interest of mine. In fact, my work on the mental health effects of antimalarials began relatively late, and then initially only as an aspect of a much broader and newfound interest in public mental health that matured only during my first wartime deployment. I am frequently asked if there was a specific patient or patient experience during this deployment that led me to my work in these areas. I reply that to assume as much is to misunderstand the public mental health perspective. The practice of public mental health deemphasizes the significance of individual clinical anecdote for the subtler but vital truths found in the dry statistics describing the health of populations. To practice public mental health is to not miss the forest for the trees.
Impact of rewetting and drying of rough rice on predicted moisture content profiles during in-bin drying and storage

ABSTRACTAccurate prediction of moisture content (MC) is vital for effective control of on-farm, in-bin drying and storage of rough rice, especially for systems using recently introduced technology ...
Beware of broad-spectrum generalizations: ceftazidime-avibactam compared to meropenem for the treatment of gram-negative pneumonia

Nosocomial pneumonia remains a serious challenge to modern healthcare and accounts for a substantial proportion of healthcare associated infections. Frequently, nosocomial pneumonia, and in particular ventilator-associated pneumonia, is caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) Gram-negative organisms, leaving clinicians few effective therapeutic options.
An inter-professional approach to train and evaluate communication accuracy and completeness during the delivery of nurse-physician student handoffs

Abstract Importance The I-PASS training bundle has been shown to improve communication errors during medical student and resident handoffs but has not been explored in the context of interprofessional care. Objective We examined the impact of an interprofessional I-PASS training on communication accuracy and completeness during the delivery of nurse-physician student handoffs. Design, participants, and setting A pre-post comparative design was used to evaluate the differential impact of training on sixty-three first year nursing students and sixty-nine first year medical students, as part of an interprofessional curricular intervention, at an integrated university campus. Intervention The interprofessional I-PASS training was adapted from the existing I-PASS: Medical Student Workshop by a team of interprofessional faculty and presented to nursing and medical students. Main measures Simulated patient handoffs were used to assess communication performance prior to and following training. Evaluation involved the transcription and scoring of all verbal units delivered during the nurse-physician student handoffs based on four levels of information accuracy: correct, missing, erred, and omitted. Proportional changes in verbal units produced during pre and post-training encounters were compared at the combine total and individual domain levels based on training, student type, gender, previous handoff experience, and their interactions. Results Significant improvements in the proportions of correct, erred, and omitted verbal units at the combined total levels were observed across students, all p Discussion I-PASS training can improve communication accuracy and completeness during nurse-physician student handoffs. An event-based tool and coding procedure allowed for the identification of differential training impact based on individual handoff domains and provider demographics.
Amygdala Hyperspindling and Seizures Induced by Cocaine

The temporal-lobe-like seizures produced by local anesthetics (deJong and Walts, 1966) have at least two possibly important contributions to human pathological conditions: 1) they may help explain the mechanisms underlying temporal lobe epilepsy and/or psychosis occasionally associated with this condition; 2) they may help elucidate the intervening links between the association of the overactivity of the limbic spindle and limbic discharges, with hyperarousal and hyperactive behaviors noted in animal models of chronic stimulant psychosis (see Ellinwood, 1974a for review). Chronic high-dose amphetamine (25–35 mg/kg) administration, or self-administration, in the cat results in bizarre hyperreactive behavior and associated high voltage limbic spindles that may precede tonic-clonic seizures. Furthermore, in chronic high dose amphetamine-intoxicated animals, specific hyperreactive behaviors (at times the animal appears to be reacting to non-existent stimuli) are often immediately preceded by a high voltage spindle and/or discharge in the amygdala, accumbens, and olfactory tubercle (Ellinwood, 1974a; Ellinwood, Sudilovsky, and Nelson, 1974). Much lower doses of amphetamine (10 mg/kg) when administered concomitantly with disulfiram (a dopamine beta hydroxylase inhibitor blocking norepinephrine [NE] synthesis) for only two to three days produces bizarre hyperreactive behavior with hyperspindling leading to tonicclonic seizures (Ellinwood, Sudilovsky, and Grabowy, 1973).
Conflict Resolution Protocols for Secure Multiple-Access Communication Systems

Significant demand exists for systems which permit a large population of occasionally active communicators to exchange messages securely. In these lectures we introduce and analyze efficient algorithms for resolving conflicts over access to the transmission medium among communicators who are employing either public key cryptography or spread spectrum signaling. Our intention is to extend some recent results in the theory of random multiple-access time-slotted communication systems to make them compatible with constraints imposed by the need for secure communications.
Measuring Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from the NASA Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2)

NASA’s OCO-2 spacecraft has returned observations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) since September 2014. These data are being used to study the processes emitting CO2 into the atmosphere and those absorbing it at the surface.