cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The effect of FLCoS-display hold time on the perceived blur of moving imagery

— The on- and off-times of LCDs have decreased significantly over the past few years. However, long hold times, while increasing light output, have limited the temporal resolution of these devices. We have varied hold time and used a perceptual technique to assess the resulting change in blur of a moving test target presented on an FLCoS display. The technique requires observers to adjust the gap between two vertical lines that move across the display at various speeds. It was found that for a 13.4-msec hold time, the threshold gap width, and thus by implication the perceived blur, increased significantly from about 3 to 22 pixels as line speed was increased. For hold times of 8, 6, 4, and 2 msec, threshold gap width remained approximately constant at between about 2 and 5 pixels as line speed was increased. The results of the perceptual test used here suggest that reducing FLCoS hold time to 8 msec significantly improves the quality of moving imagery. Further, decreasing the hold time to 2 msec results in perceptual blur that extends over as little as 6 arc-minutes.
Kinematic reduction and planning using symmetry for a variable inertia mechanical system

Motivated by finding locomotion primitives for a legged robot, we present controllability results and a technique for kinematic reduction for a variable inertia mechanical system. We demonstrate configuration controllability for the system under consideration and use the symmetry resulting from angular momentum conservation to develop a kinematic representation of the mechanical system. We also show through simulation how plans for the kinematic representation can be implemented on the full dynamical mechanical system. It is hoped that this technique leads us to a general procedure for solving the gait synthesis problem.
What is Corruption?: A History of Corruption Studies and the Great Definitions Debate

This paper reviews the evolution of corruption studies over time, with a focus on the second half of the 20th century when the study of corruption closely mirrored increased interest in issues of democratization and economic development. The paper also reviews the great definitional debates of the 1950s and 1960s, and explains the reasons for the convergence towards a public-office centered definition in the 1980s and 1990s. These definitional debates have had a lasting impact on the corruption literature, and they have influenced the different ways in which scholars have attempted to study corruption in recent years. The paper concludes with a discussion on the benefits and shortcomings of a public-office centered definition, and a warning about the relative imprecision of cross-national surveys.
Stability Analysis of a Symmetrical Induction Machine

A stability study of an induction machine is performed by applying the root-locus criterion to the equations which describe the behavior of the machine during small displacements about a steady-state operating point. This investigation reveals that a symmetrical induction machine may become unstable at low speeds (low frequencies) even though balanced, constant amplitude, sinusoidal voltages are applied to the stator terminals. Regions of machine instability are established from the results of a digital computer study. The results of an analog computer study are included to illustrate the modes of operation which occur within these regions. Regions of instability for changes of system parameters are presented and discussed. Also, it is shown that the root- locus criterion can be utilized to identify regions of lightly damped operation.
Optical absorption spectrum of PMMA via laser calorimetry

The optical absorption spectrum of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has been obtained in the wavelength range 570–780 nm via laser calorimetry (employing a dye laser source). Because of the low thermal conductivity of PMMA, the complete solution to the heat conduction equation (carried out numerically) was required in the analysis of the data. At the wavelength of minimum absorption (near 647 nm), the absorption coefficient had the value 153 dB/km.
The Intergranular Phase in Hot‐Pressed Silicon Nitride: I, Elemental Composition

The elemental composition of the noncrystalline intergranular phase in two MgO-fluxed hot-pressed silicon nitrides, determined by X-ray microanalysis and electron energy loss spectroscopy in the transmission electron microscope, is reported. The composition is similar in both and lies near the SiO2-MgSiO3 tie line with impurities of Ca, Al, and Cl. No nitrogen could be detected in the noncrystalline phase, implying that the nitrogen concentration was below the experimental detectability limit.
Review of Acanthocephala (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Coreidae) of America north of Mexico with a key to species

A review of Acanthocephala of America north of Mexico is presented with an updated key to species. A. confraterna is considered a junior synonym of A. terminalis, thus reducing the number of known species in this region from five to four. New state and country records are presented.
Databases for Pediatric Cardiac Transplantation: The United Network for Organ Sharing/Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (UNOS/SRTR) and the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (PHTS)

Collection, analysis, and dissemination of data have been part of the transplantation since its earliest days. The two largest databases containing information on pediatric cardiac transplant patients are the United Network for Organ Sharing/Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (UNOS/SRTR) database and the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (PHTS). These data have enabled examination of patients undergoing transplantation, including modeling of outcomes, analysis of allocation decisions, and the examination of criteria for listing. Extensive literature exists utilizing this data, but must be read critically, recognizing the limitations presented by missing variables (whether uncollected or collected but left blank), reproducibility, and small sample sizes among pediatric patients. However, despite these limitations, these datasets provide an important resource in the ongoing examination of cardiac transplantation in children.
GuideLiner Mother-and-Child Guide Catheter Extension: A Simple Adjunctive Tool in PCI for Balloon Uncrossable Chronic Total Occlusions

Objectives To investigate the use of the GuideLiner “mother-and-child” guide catheter extension system as a simple solution to facilitate initial device delivery in balloon uncrossable chronic total occlusions (CTOs) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Background During PCIs for CTO lesions, an important reason for procedural failure is the inability to deliver a balloon or microcatheter across the lesion. Methods We retrospectively accessed our interventional registry for 07/01/2010 to 03/21/2012 and extracted data on all CTO lesions involving GuideLiner catheter use. Cine review was performed to identify cases where a guidewire had crossed the CTO and the use of a GuideLiner catheter facilitated initial device delivery. Results We identified 28 patients that underwent PCI for CTO with a GuideLiner catheter used to assist initial balloon or microcatheter advancement across the culprit lesion. Mean overall CTO length was 26.3 ± 18.1 mm. The GuideLiner catheter was successful in delivering a small balloon to the CTO lesion in 85.7% of cases (24/28). A single CTO PCI resulted in a distal guidewire perforation, but there was no hemodynamic compromise or pericardial effusion and the patient was discharged the next day. Overall procedural success in these selected cases (where a guidewire had already crossed the CTO) was 89.3% (25/28). Conclusions The GuideLiner mother-and-child catheter is a simple, safe and efficacious adjunctive device for difficult CTO PCIs where despite standard measures it is not possible to deliver an initial balloon or microcatheter across the occluded segment.
Id2 Promotes Apoptosis by a Novel Mechanism Independent of Dimerization to Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Factors

Members of the helix-loop-helix (HLH) family of Id proteins have demonstrated roles in the regulation of differentiation and cell proliferation. Id proteins inhibit differentiation by HLH-mediated heterodimerization with basic HLH transcription factors. This blocks their sequence-specific binding to DNA and activation of target genes that are often expressed in a tissue-specific manner. Id proteins can also act as positive regulators of cell proliferation. The different mechanisms proposed for Id-mediated promotion of entry into S phase also involve HLH-mediated interactions affecting regulators of the G1/S transition. We have found that Id2 augments apoptosis in both interleukin-3 (IL-3)-dependent 32D.3 myeloid progenitors and U2OS osteosarcoma cells. We could not detect a similar activity for Id3. In contrast to the effects of Id2 on differentiation and cell proliferation, Id2-mediated apoptosis is independent of HLH-mediated dimerization. The ability of Id2 to promote cell death resides in its N-terminal region and is associated with the enhanced expression of a known component of the programmed cell death pathway, the proapoptotic gene BAX.
Optimization of solvation models for predicting the structure of surface loops in proteins.

A novel procedure for optimizing the atomic solvation parameters (ASPs) sigma(i) developed recently for cyclic peptides is extended to surface loops in proteins. The loop is free to move, whereas the protein template is held fixed in its X-ray structure. The energy is E(tot) = E(FF)(epsilon = nr) + summation operator sigma(i)A(i), where E(FF)(epsilon = nr) is the force-field energy of the loop-loop and loop-template interactions, epsilon = nr is a distance-dependent dielectric constant, and n is an additional parameter to be optimized. A(i) is the solvent-accessible surface area of atom i. The optimal sigma(i) and n are those for which the loop structure with the global minimum of E(tot)(n, sigma(i)) becomes the experimental X-ray structure. Thus, the ASPs depend on the force field and are optimized in the protein environment, unlike commonly used ASPs such as those of Wesson and Eisenberg (Protein Sci 1992;1:227-235). The latter are based on the free energy of transfer of small molecules from the gas phase to water and have been traditionally combined with various force fields without further calibration. We found that for loops the all-atom AMBER force field performed better than OPLS and CHARMM22. Two sets of ASPs [based on AMBER (n = 2)], optimized independently for loops 64-71 and 89-97 of ribonuclease A, were similar and thus enabled the definition of a best-fit set. All these ASPs were negative (hydrophilic), including those for carbon. Very good (i.e., small) root-mean-square-deviation values from the X-ray loop structure were obtained with the three sets of ASPs, suggesting that the best-fit set would be transferable to loops in other proteins as well. The structure of loop 13-24 is relatively stretched and was insensitive to the effect of the ASPs.
Evaluation of Simple Methods for Estimating Contaminant Removal by Flushing

The purpose of this work was to briefly outline and evaluate simple methods used for estimating the volume of water and the time required to remove contaminants from the subsurface by flushing (e.g., “pump-and-treat,”“soil washing”). The methods are based on three general approaches to treating flow and transport: perfectly mixed flow, hydraulic, and advective-dispersive. Data obtained from a small field experiment designed to evaluate aquifer flushing was used to illustrate the performance of the estimation methods. The methods based on the hydraulic and ideal advective-dispersive transport approaches will generally provide estimates that underpredict the actual time. The magnitude of the underprediction will depend, in part, on the degree of nonideal behavior influencing contaminant removal (e.g., heterogeneity, rate-limited mass transfer) and on the ratio of target to initial contaminant concentration. The perfectly mixed flow reactor approach, because of its asymptotic removal curve, may be useful in providing rough approximations of required pore volumes and times. However, it cannot be overemphasized that all estimation techniques are prone to failure as long as the conceptual models upon which they are based do not accurately represent field-scale contaminant transport.
Use of Intravenous Valproic Acid for Acute Migraine

Objective:To review the literature regarding the use of intravenous valproic acid in aborting an acute migraine attack.Data Sources:A MEDLINE (1967–June 2007) and bibliographic search of the English-language literature was conducted using the search terms valproic acid and migraine disorders.Study Selection and Data Extraction:All articles indentified through the search were included.Data Synthesis:Divalproex sodium is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of migraine headaches. The use of intravenous valproic acid has been studied as a possible treatment for acute migraine. Available studies are small, mostly open-label and non–placebo-controlled, and used variable doses. Valproic acid has not been shown to be superior to comparator drugs and was inferior to prochlorperazine in one trial.Conclusions:Intravenous valproic acid has not been proven effective for acute migraine treatment. Future trials should be larger, placebo-controlled, and use a standardized dose and outcome meas...
A comprehensive data acquisition and management system for an ecosystem-scale peatland warming and elevated CO 2 experiment

Abstract. Ecosystem-scale manipulation experiments represent large science investments that require well-designed data acquisition and management systems to provide reliable, accurate information to project participants and third party users. The SPRUCE project (Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, http://mnspruce.ornl.gov ) is such an experiment funded by the Department of Energy's (DOE), Office of Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) Program. The SPRUCE experimental mission is to assess ecosystem-level biological responses of vulnerable, high carbon terrestrial ecosystems to a range of climate warming manipulations and an elevated CO2 atmosphere. SPRUCE provides a platform for testing mechanisms controlling the vulnerability of organisms, biogeochemical processes, and ecosystems to climatic change (e.g., thresholds for organism decline or mortality, limitations to regeneration, biogeochemical limitations to productivity, and the cycling and release of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere). The SPRUCE experiment will generate a wide range of continuous and discrete measurements. To successfully manage SPRUCE data collection, achieve SPRUCE science objectives, and support broader climate change research, the research staff has designed a flexible data system using proven network technologies and software components. The primary SPRUCE data system components are the following: 1. data acquisition and control system – set of hardware and software to retrieve biological and engineering data from sensors, collect sensor status information, and distribute feedback to control components; 2. data collection system – set of hardware and software to deliver data to a central depository for storage and further processing; 3. data management plan – set of plans, policies, and practices to control consistency, protect data integrity, and deliver data. This publication presents our approach to meeting the challenges of designing and constructing an efficient data system for managing high volume sources of in situ observations in a remote, harsh environmental location. The approach covers data flow starting from the sensors and ending at the archival/distribution points, discusses types of hardware and software used, examines design considerations that were used to choose them, and describes the data management practices chosen to control and enhance the value of the data.
Advanced Support Structures for Enhanced Catalytic Activity

Enhanced catalytic combustion of methane gas was achieved using novel ceramic support structures. These support structures consist of a three-dimensional lattice of rods, created by a direct fabrication technique (robocasting). The rods (725−1000 μm in diameter) are oriented in such a way as to create no line-of-sight pathways, to have high surface-to-volume ratios (15−43 cm2/cm3), and to generate highly turbulent flow, promoting increased mass transfer without sacrificing low pressure drops when compared to conventional extruded-honeycomb supports. The flow behaviors of both robocast and honeycomb supports were characterized, and the catalytic activities for the combustion of methane gas were compared. Under otherwise equivalent conditions, robocast lattices converted approximately 6 times more methane at 600 °C than extruded-honeycomb supports.
Activation of the Nrf2 Cell Defense Pathway by Ancient Foods: Disease Prevention by Important Molecules and Microbes Lost from the Modern Western Diet

The Nrf2 (NFE2L2) cell defense pathway protects against oxidative stress and disorders including cancer and neurodegeneration. Although activated modestly by oxidative stress alone, robust activation of the Nrf2 defense mechanism requires the additional presence of co-factors that facilitate electron exchange. Various molecules exhibit this co-factor function, including sulforaphane from cruciferous vegetables. However, natural co-factors that are potent and widely available from dietary sources have not been identified previously. The objectives of this study were to investigate support of the Nrf2 cell defense pathway by the alkyl catechols: 4-methylcatechol, 4-vinylcatechol, and 4-ethylcatechol. These small electrochemicals are naturally available from numerous sources but have not received attention. Findings reported here illustrate that these compounds are indeed potent co-factors for activation of the Nrf2 pathway both in vitro and in vivo. Each strongly supports expression of Nrf2 target genes in a variety of human cell types; and, in addition, 4-ethylcatechol is orally active in mice. Furthermore, findings reported here identify important and previously unrecognized sources of these compounds, arising from biotransformation of common plant compounds by lactobacilli that express phenolic acid decarboxylase. Thus, for example, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, and Lactobacillus collinoides, which are consumed from a diet rich in traditionally fermented foods and beverages, convert common phenolic acids found in fruits and vegetables to 4-vinylcatechol and/or 4-ethylcatechol. In addition, all of the alkyl catechols are found in wood smoke that was used widely for food preservation. Thus, the potentially numerous sources of alkyl catechols in traditional foods suggest that these co-factors were common in ancient diets. However, with radical changes in food preservation, alkyl catechols have been lost from modern foods. The absence of alkyl catechols from the modern Western diet suggests serious negative consequences for Nrf2 cell defense, resulting in reduced protection against multiple chronic diseases associated with oxidative stress.
Killing of Intraleukocytie Staphylococcus aureus by Rifampin: In-Vitro and In-Vivo Studies

Many virulent Staphylococcus aureus phagocytized by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) remain viable. Human PMN were mixed with S. aureus aerobically and anaerobically, and it was observed that many intracellular bacteria survived incubation with high concentrations of nine commonly used antistaphylococcal agents. In marked contrast to this, low concentrations of rifampin completely killed intraleukocytic bacteria. Experiments were then performed to evaluate the efficacy of rifampin in staphylococcal infections in mice. Treatment with penicillin or methicillin of mice that had been given intraperitoneal injections of S. aureus was only minimally effective in reducing mortality (93.1% in untreated mice, 83% in penicillin-treated mice, and 70% in methicillin-treated mice). In contrast to this, treatment with rifampin reduced mortality to 27.1% (P < .0005). In other experiments, rifampin alone prevented the formation of abscesses resulting from subcutaneous inoculation of staphylococci. The mechanism for this marked activity of rifampin in the treatment of experimental staphylococcal infections may be the unique ability of this antibiotic to kill intracellular staphylococci.
Prime-producing Polynomials and Principal Ideal Domains

(Of course, C 2 is the largest upper limit on x for which such an assertion could be true; for if x = C 1, then x2 + x + C = C2, which is not prime.) Interestingly, all such values C are known, and 41 is the largest of them. The values of C which answer the above question are: C= 1,2,3,5,11,17, and 41. There is a natural connection between the polynomials x2 + x + C and imaginary quadratic fields. We can see this by factoring the polynomial over the complex numbers:
Assigning Salesmen to Accounts to Maximize Profit

A mathematical programming model and linear programming solution procedure are developed to assign salesmen to accounts and simultaneously to determine appropriate time allocations to the accounts....
Transient Hub Loads and Blade Deformation of a Mach-Scale Coaxial Rotor in Hover

A Mach-scale, rigid, counter-rotating coaxial rotor system, 80 inches in diameter and operating at a tip speed of 190 m/s was tested in hover in two configurations: two-bladed single rotor and two bladed counter-rotating coaxial rotor. Individual upper and lower rotor steady and vibratory hub loads were collected at four operating conditions for each rotor configuration. An in-place, uncoupled dynamic calibration was performed on both upper and lower rotor load cells using an electrodynamic shaker to correct unsteady thrust load measurements. The lower coaxial rotor exhibits significant four-per revolution vibrational loads with an average amplitude 11% of the mean thrust Full span three-dimensional blade deformations were measured for a single lower rotor blade at 11 azimuth locations between 66◦ and 126◦ with 6◦ resolution via the digital image correlation (DIC) optical method. From these measurements high resolution elastic axis flap-bending displacements, as well as blade sectional pitch angles were extracted and examined. The lower coaxial rotor was found to operate at higher pitch angles while also exhibiting increased variation in tip bending displacement when compared to the isolated rotor at similar blade loadings.
Inhibition of Biocatalysis in [Fe–Fe] Hydrogenase by Oxygen: Molecular Dynamics and Density Functional Theory Calculations

Designing O2-tolerant hydrogenases is a major challenge in applying [Fe–Fe]H2ases for H2 production. The inhibition involves transport of oxygen through the enzyme to the H-cluster, followed by binding and subsequent deactivation of the active site. To explore the nature of the oxygen diffusion channel for the hydrogenases from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (Dd) and Clostridium pasteurianum (Cp), empirical molecular dynamics simulations were performed. The dynamic nature of the oxygen pathways in Dd and Cp was elucidated, and insight is provided, in part, into the experimental observation on the difference of oxygen inhibition in Dd and the hydrogenase from Clostridium acetobutylicum (Ca, assumed homologous to Cp). Further, to gain an understanding of the mechanism of oxygen inhibition of the [Fe–Fe]H2ase, density functional theory calculations of model compounds composed of the H-cluster and proximate amino acids are reported. Confirmation of the experimentally based suppositions on inactivation by oxygen ...
Genetic Analysis for Minor Effect Restoring Gene for CMS-WA in Rice(Oryza sativa L.)

For the genetic analysis of minor effect restoring gene in rice,the CMS lines of Zhenshan 97A,Longtepu A and Jinfu 1A with different fertile levels were used as materials to investigate three sterility indexes,bagged seed setting rate,dark pollen rate by I2-IK dyed and rate of florets with fertile anthers.The results showed that the appearance of abnormal plants in CMS-WA was due to partial restoration of self-fertility few floras caused by minor effect restoring gene.Adopted the method of genetic improvement could eliminate part of minor effect restoring gene to get purification and elimination,but not completely ruled out.This index of rate of florets with fertile anthers could be use as a suitable tool to study heredity laws of minor effect restoring genes and its further molecular mechanism.
Alleviating Eye Fatigue Evaluation of Flaxseed Oil Soft Capsule

The crowd tasting experiment was carried out to assess the effect of flaxseed oil soft capsule on improving eye fatigue.101 high-school-student volunteers were randomly divided into two groups,experiment group(51 people) and placebo group(50 people).For experiment soft capsule was given for 30 days with 3 times a day,every l capsule.General observation,security Check,eye symptom,eyesight and duration of photopic vision were measured before and after experiment.As compared with placebo group and before experiment,the symptoms of eye ache,eye bulge,photophobia,eye blur,eye drying and duration of photopic vision after 30 days of taking flaxseed oil soft capsule in experiment group were improved significantly.The total effective rate of improving eye fatigue in experiment group was 51 %,duration of photopic vision was increased to 70.3 %,significantly higher than that of the placebo group.So flaxseed oil soft capsule could improve eye fatigue in high school students.
Virtuous Wives and Shrews in Feng Shuangfei: Empowering Female Characters Through a Revision of Stereotypes

This article looks at two stereotypes of women—the virtuous wife and the shrew—embodied in the mid-Qing tanci, Feng shuangfei , by Cheng Huiying. Zhang Feixiang is a virtuous and generous wife, the perfect match for her orthodox husband, Lingyun. Yet, in a new twist, Feng shuangfei suggests it’s the unconventional and unrestrained side of Feixiang that makes her an ideal wife. In contrast to Feixiang, Mu Qionghua fits the stereotype of the shrew in xiaoshuo fiction, but this tanci suggests it’s precisely her so-called shrewish qualities that shape her as an ideal match for a libertine husband like Yishao. Through close reading, the author demonstrates how this female writer assesses and reimagines the standards of ideal women established by the classics and their male authors.
Acoustic Bases for Place-Faithful Loan Adaptation

In adapting loanword consonants to native phonology, several strategies are available to languages. Two such strategies are the sacrifice of place to preserve manner (i.e. mannerfaithfulness) and the sacrifice of manner to preserve place (i.e. place-faithfulness). For example, the voiceless dental fricative [θ] of English thank is borrowed into manner-faithful languages as [s] /sank/, but into place-faithful languages as [th] /tank/. Likewise, the voiced dental fricative [ð] of Classical Arabic faxið ‘thigh’, is borrowed into manner-faithful languages as [z] /faxiz/, but place-faithful languages as [d] /faxid/. When languages borrow, they tend to employ one strategy more than the other. In languages with an impoverished fricative inventory and multiple parallel stop sets, it should come as no surprise that the fricative manner is sacrificed in loanwords in order to accommodate faithfulness of place. This is the case in the Sino-Tibetan language Newari, which has a rich series of stops, including parallel stop series with contrastive aspiration, but only two phonemic fricatives, [s] and [s]. Consequently, loan-fricatives [f], [x], [v], and [z] are mapped onto existing Newari stop phonemes, i.e. [ph], [kh], [b], [ǰ], respectively, exhibiting place-faithfulness. In languages with a richer fricative inventory and no parallel stop sets, it should come as no surprise that the place is sacrificed in loanwords in order to accomodate faithfulness of manner. This is the case with the Indo-Iranian language Persian, which has a rich series of fricatives phonemes: [f], [v], [s], [z], [s], [ž], [x], [ġ]. Consequently, non-native fricatives (such as Arabic [θ] and [ð]) are mapped onto native fricatives ([s] and [z] in the Arabic case) rather than onto stops, thus exhibiting manner-faithfulness. These typological observations are borne out by the UPSID data set. However, the present study goes a step further than simply making a typological claim. Place-faithful languages treat imported voiceless fricatives (e.g. [x]) as allophones of voiceless aspirate plosives (e.g. [kh]) when a contrast exists, but do not treat voiced fricatives (e.g. [ɣ]) as allophones of voiced aspirate plosives (e.g. [ɡɦ]) when a contrast exists; rather, they treat these as allophones of voiced non-aspirate plosives (e.g. [ɡ]).
Active Space Lidar Systems

This chapter provides an overview of the active space lidar (light detection and ranging) systems. Passive space sensors have been developed for space remote sensing. A lidar sensor consists of lasers, an optical system, detectors, electronics, and a data recording system. The active system is a combination of a special light source system and a passive sensor system. The space laser is operated in a pulsed mode. The laser beam interacts with the target atmosphere and the earth's surface and the backscattered laser radiation is collected by the optical system and measured by the detector and electronics systems. The space shuttle or the space station would provide the ideal platform for lidar experiment missions designed to understand the processes governing the earth's atmosphere. Space lidar systems can make contribution in scientific applications, including remote sensing of the atmospheric species, high-resolution radiative transfer modeling, cloud physics measurements, high-resolution vertical temperature profiles, and surface albedo determinations. Space lidar sensors can be divided into two broad classes: direct and heterodyne sensor systems. Active laser systems on an orbiting satellite will provide new capabilities for high-specificity and high-spatial-resolution measurements in day and night operation.
A novel ?persister? phenotype of Vibrio cholerae

C continues to be a major public health threat, particularly in countries where safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are suboptimal. Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae, responsible for epidemic cholera, has two life styles, including (i) a transient and accidental occurrence in human intestine where it causes profuse diarrhea, and (ii) a ubiquitous occurrence in aquatic environments, including fresh, estuarine and marine waters. Although human acquire the disease by consumption of water contaminated with the bacterium, the genetic and physiologic basis of persistence of V. cholerae in the aquatic reservoirs, even during an ongoing cholera epidemic, is largely unknown. In response to stress such as in antibiotic stress, pathogenic bacteria are known to develop a “persister” phenotype which evades the stressful condition by stochastic mechanism. Using filter sterilized microcosm model, we recently demonstrated that, in response to nutrient stress,V. cholerae can select a subpopulation of bacterium, that, we termed as novel “persister” phenotype. The novel persister V. cholerae exhibited unprecedented bipolar and peritrichous flagella, diverse morphological cellular types, increased quorum sensing molecules, particularly CAI-1 molecule, and response to some nutrients while remained nonresponsive to others. We are currently examined other characteristics associated uniquely to persister V. cholerae and will be discussed in the proposed meeting. Afsar Ali, J Bacteriol Parasitol 2013, 4:4 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2155-9597.S1.004
Why Cops Love and Hate Everybody

Coping with people and social institutions who express both love and hate for you at the same time is a difficult job. For the police officer, however, this task is only a part of the complex and difficult job of dealing with both the ambivalence of others and also his own ambivalent feelings toward them. The police officer’s problem is that he is not simply the object of ambivalent feelings from the public, the department, his family, and fellow police officers. He has comparable feelings of love and hate for them as well.
Leaf-Disc Grafting for the Transmission of Candidatus Liberibacter Asiaticus in Citrus (Citrus sinensis; Rutaceae) Seedlings

Premise of the study: The search for resistance/tolerance to the devastating citrus huanglongbing disease (syn. HLB or citrus greening) is generating an increasing number of new plants of diverse genetic makeup. As the increasing number of new plants require more space, resources, and time, the need for faster and more efficient HLB screening tests becomes crucial. Methods and Results: The leaf-disc grafting system described here consists in replacing a disc of leaf tissue with a similar disc from an infected plant. This can be performed in young seedlings not yet big enough to endure other types of grafting. Graft success and infection rates average approximately 80%. Conclusions: We describe the successful adaptation of leaf-disc grafting as a powerful screening tool for HLB. The system requires minimal plant material and can be performed in seedlings at a very young age with increased efficiency in terms of time, space, and resources.
Techno‐economic assessment of biomass bales storage systems for a large‐scale biorefinery

Storage of agricultural residues and energy crops is essential for preserving and maintaining its economic value, and year-round continuous delivery to a biorefinery. In this study, a dynamic cost model was developed for three storage methods (Indoor, Outdoor-tarped, and Outdoor-open) with two biomass bale types (rectangular and round) to estimate the storage cost of corn stover and switchgrass. The effects of storage time and multiple-use of a storage facility on the storage cost were also evaluated to develop effective storage strategies. The cost of bale storage systems comprised of capital expenses for infrastructures, bale handling, dry matter loss (DML) and quality loss costs. Among storage methods, the outdoor-tarped storage with rectangular bales was the least expensive options for corn stover ($14.6 dry Mg−1) and switchgrass ($16 dry Mg−1). Indoor storage of round bales was costly due to the large storage footprint requirement and high infrastructure investment. However, the indoor storage cost could be reduced, if the storage facility could be used more than once a year. The sensitivity analysis study illustrated that the DML, biomass cost, loading/unloading time and bale density were the most sensitive parameters influencing the storage cost. An example storage strategy developed for a typical biorefinery could reduce the average annual storage cost (up to $10 dry Mg−1) along with an annual cost saving ranging from 10 to 100% compared with any single storage option. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gesture enhances learning of a complex statistical concept.

Prior research has shown that gestures that co-occur with speech can improve understanding of abstract concepts by embodying the underlying meaning of those concepts, thereby making them more accessible to the listener. The present study examined the effect of gesture on undergraduate students’ learning of a complex statistical concept (analysis of variance; ANOVA). Students in three classes watched a brief video in which the speaker explained the conceptual background of ANOVA while using gesture and students in three other classes saw a similar video with the same speech, but no gesture. Students who saw the gesture learned significantly more, as measured by the increase in scores between a pre-test and a post-test. These results suggest that teachers can enhance students’ learning through the strategic use of gesture.
Aesthetic Experience at the Limits of Thought in Hölderlin’s New Letters on Aesthetic Education

Holderlin challenges Schiller’s account of aesthetic education by arguing that aesthetic experience is not merely a means to attaining freedom or promoting liberation but is a method of recognizing and overcoming dualisms within experience. Aesthetic experience must not merely heal the dualisms diagnosed by Schiller but explain their origin. Aesthetic experience is thus critical experience. This chapter considers Holderlin’s involvement in ‘The Oldest System Program of German Idealism’, along with Hegel and Schelling. This text calls for a new mythology, an aesthetic act to reconcile freedom with experience. My study regards Holderlin’s subsequent philosophical writings, especially ‘On Religion’, as an extension of such a program. He argues for a mode of poetic creation that does not so much communicate a philosophy of freedom as enable an otherwise inaccessible experience of freedom. It does this by holding together in a dynamic tension the various elements of experience that become reified in reflection.
Opto-Valleytronic Spin Injection in Monolayer MoS2/Few-Layer Graphene Hybrid Spin Valves

Two-dimensional (2D) materials provide a unique platform for spintronics and valleytronics due to the ability to combine vastly different functionalities into one vertically stacked heterostructure, where the strengths of each of the constituent materials can compensate for the weaknesses of the others. Graphene has been demonstrated to be an exceptional material for spin transport at room temperature; however, it lacks a coupling of the spin and optical degrees of freedom. In contrast, spin/valley polarization can be efficiently generated in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) such as MoS2 via absorption of circularly polarized photons, but lateral spin or valley transport has not been realized at room temperature. In this Letter, we fabricate monolayer MoS2/few-layer graphene hybrid spin valves and demonstrate, for the first time, the opto-valleytronic spin injection across a TMD/graphene interface. We observe that the magnitude and direction of spin polarization is controlled by both helic...
Evaluation of Lures for Monitoring Silk Flies (Diptera: Ulidiidae) in Sweet Corn

Abstract Several morphologically similar species of picture-winged flies (the silk fly complex, Diptera: Ulidiidae) are severe primary pests of sweet corn (Zea mays L.; Poaceae) in Florida. Monitoring traps for these pests may aid threshold development and species complex determination in the field. This study evaluated floral lures, some previously used to monitor pest Lepidoptera, and liquid protein baits, used for other pest Diptera, for efficacy in attraction of silk flies. Baited universal moth traps were deployed for several weeks and placed in a summer fallow field (field trial 1), a fall sweet corn field (field trial 2), and a spring sweet corn field (field trial 3). Flies were removed weekly during each experiment. In field trial 1, traps baited with 1,4-dimethoxybenzene captured the most flies. The majority of flies captured were Chaetopsis massyla Walker. In field trial 2, aged torula yeast—baited traps captured more flies than other treatments, (1,4-dimethoxybenzene, geraniol, phenylacetaldehy...
Trigger Features for Conveying Facial Expressions: The Role of Segmentation

Primates are especially good at recognizing facial expression using two contrasting strategies-an individual diagnostic feature (e.g., raise eyebrows or lower mouth corner) versus a relationship between features. We report several novel experiments that demonstrate a profound role of grouping and segmentation-including stereo-on recognition of facial expressions.
“A Means of Removing Them Further from Us”: The Struggle for Waterpower on New England's Eastern Frontier

This article reframes the Anglo-Wabanaki wars as conflicts fought over river energy. Beginning in the 1680s, Massachusetts officials began building forts away from settlements and next to waterfalls to control prime fishing and portage sites. These river forts, particularly one at Pejepscot Falls in Brunswick, Maine, would trigger conflict more than colonial encroachments on Wabanaki land.
Unsupervised learning by competing hidden units

It is widely believed that end-to-end training with the backpropagation algorithm is essential for learning good feature detectors in early layers of artificial neural networks, so that these detectors are useful for the task performed by the higher layers of that neural network. At the same time, the traditional form of backpropagation is biologically implausible. In the present paper we propose an unusual learning rule, which has a degree of biological plausibility and which is motivated by Hebb's idea that change of the synapse strength should be local-i.e., should depend only on the activities of the pre- and postsynaptic neurons. We design a learning algorithm that utilizes global inhibition in the hidden layer and is capable of learning early feature detectors in a completely unsupervised way. These learned lower-layer feature detectors can be used to train higher-layer weights in a usual supervised way so that the performance of the full network is comparable to the performance of standard feedforward networks trained end-to-end with a backpropagation algorithm on simple tasks.
Dehydrocyclization of n-Paraffins Over Te-NaX Zeolite Catalystsa)

Both 14C and deuterium tracers have been used to establish the reaction pathways and rate limiting steps in the formation of aromatics from n-paraffins and cycloparaffins over a shape-selective tellurium zeolite catalyst. The catalyst functions mainly as a dehydrogenation agent with linear mono-olefins and higher olefins being exclusive gas phase intermediates. Cyclization is likely a non-catalytic step involving ring closure of a linear hexatriene unit, followed by catalytic dehydrogenation of the cyclohexadiene nucleus to an aromatic. Alkyl cyclohexanes definitely are not intermediates in the aromatization of n-paraffins, although by themselves they can be dehydrogenated to aromatics in high yields over this catalyst. The absence of extensive H-D scrambling and the presence of a large primary kinetic isotope effect (kH/kD >2 at 400°C) when deuterated hydrocarbons are reacted simultaneously with similar undeuterated molecules strongly suggests that the slow step in the reaction is cleavage of one or more C-H bonds.
Reducing negative emotional memories by retroactive interference

Because negative emotional memories are often disruptive, we conducted two experiments to reduce these memories by using a retroactive interference (RI) paradigm. In both experiments, participants were presented with highly negative pictures (List 1) followed by highly negative, moderately negative, or neutral pictures (List 2) or a rest period. Then, following a filler task, participants took a surprise free recall test, recalling pictures from List 1 in Experiment 1 and from both List 1 and List 2 in Experiment 2. In both experiments, recall of List 1 was reduced by List 2, indicating that RI was present. Furthermore, in Experiment 1, RI was similar between moderately negative and highly negative List 2 whereas in Experiment 2, RI was greater for highly negative List 2 than moderately negative List 2. These results showed that RI can be used to reduce negative emotional memories by making these memories inaccessible.
Mandibular Invasion by Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Clinicopathologic Features of 74 Cases:

Objectives(1) For patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and mandibular invasion, to determine whether prior radiation to the head and neck region (PXRTHN) affects the density of osteobl...
Vector quantization

A vector quantizer is a system for mapping a sequence of continuous or discrete vectors into a digital sequence suitable for communication over or storage in a digital channel. The goal of such a system is data compression: to reduce the bit rate so as to minimize communication channel capacity or digital storage memory requirements while maintaining the necessary fidelity of the data. The mapping for each vector may or may not have memory in the sense of depending on past actions of the coder, just as in well established scalar techniques such as PCM, which has no memory, and predictive quantization, which does. Even though information theory implies that one can always obtain better performance by coding vectors instead of scalars, scalar quantizers have remained by far the most common data compression system because of their simplicity and good performance when the communication rate is sufficiently large. In addition, relatively few design techniques have existed for vector quantizers. During the past few years several design algorithms have been developed for a variety of vector quantizers and the performance of these codes has been studied for speech waveforms, speech linear predictive parameter vectors, images, and several simulated random processes. It is the purpose of this article to survey some of these design techniques and their applications.
A Spread-Spectrum Mode Enabled Ripple-Based Buck Converter Using a Clockless Frequency Control

Current-mode ripple-based dc–dc converters have become a widely adopted topology due to their inherent advantages of improved dynamic transient response along with a simple current sensing scheme. However, the switching frequency of such converters is a function of the converter’s duty cycle and inherent circuit delays. In this brief, a novel frequency control of a buck converter is proposed through the implementation of a frequency-to-voltage converter that obviates the need for an external clock, and enables both fixed-switching frequency ( ${F} _{\textbf {SW}}$ ) and spread-spectrum modes of operation. A current-mode ripple-based buck converter is implemented in a 180-nm CMOS process for an input voltage of 2.8–4.2 V, output voltage range of 1.3–2.2 V, and load current range of 40–200 mA. In fixed- ${F} _{\textbf {SW}}$ mode, a peak efficiency of 89.4% was achieved at an input voltage of 3.8 V, load current of 200 mA and 1.8 V output voltage, while in spread-spectrum mode, a peak efficiency of 88.2% was achieved for similar conditions. Additionally, in spread-spectrum mode, a 19-dB reduction in peak noise power is observed in the output at the fundamental frequency.