cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Interactive and Personalized Cloud-Based Virtual Learning System to Teach Computer Science

Virtual learning environments VLE provide up-to-date education and training for individuals, and in some cases they can generate personalized feedback based on the learner's performance. Unlike other VLE's available to-date, the learning system developed in this work extends the basic instructional and assessment capabilities of a typical VLE by dynamically creating a cloud-based computer laboratory that is needed by Computer Science students. Specifically, the basic capabilities of Moodle are enhanced by developing two new modules: a virtual lab module VLM and a study progress module SPM. VLM utilizes Amazon's EC2 cloud-based web services technology in order to create a personalized experimental environment especially suited for Computer Science students although the same concept can easily be applied to other disciplines. SPM, on the other hand, evaluates student progress in terms of specific learning objectives and offers personalized guidance using the Apriori data mining technique. An implemented cloud-based Internet Application Development laboratory highlights the advantages of the proposed approach.
Tracking, Parameter Identification, and Convergence Rates for Model Reference Adaptive Control

We prove tracking, parameter identification, and rate of convergence results for a class of partially linear systems from model reference adaptive control, in which the parameters that we identify are the entries of the unknown weight and control effectiveness matrices. We provide easily checked sufficient conditions for our persistency of excitation condition to hold. Our example illustrates the usefulness of our adaptive controller.
Single-Event Characterization of a Stratix ® 10 FPGA Using Neutron Irradiation

FPGAs are being used in data center applications in large quantities. Single-event upsets (SEUs) occur more frequently within large-scale deployments of SRAM-based FPGAs. This work estimates the neutron cross section for SEUs in the configuration memory and memory blocks of a 14-nm FinFET Stratix 10 FPGA. SEU data was collected using a custom SEU data collection system. The developed system takes advantage of SEU mitigation features available on the device. The New York City FIT rate for SEUs is estimated to be 3.2 FIT per Mbit for configuration memory and 7.1 FIT per Mbit for memory blocks.
SCERM—A novel framework for automated management of cyber threat response activities

Abstract Cyber Threat Management (CTM) involves prevention, detection, and response to cyber-attacks by identifying and understanding threats, and applying appropriate actions. This is not practical for an organization to perform these activities within the time-frame of an impending attack. Organizations should swiftly accumulate and share Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) with peers to make effective use of shared threat information. Efforts are underway for standardizing the expression of threats into a machine-understandable format. Structured Threat Information eXpression (STIX) is a comprehensive effort that structures CTI, enables its sharing, visualization, and analysis. Although a large volume of STIX reports is available publicly, their state remains poor. Reports are not appropriately formatted, use incorrect vocabulary, and mislabel or omit key components, which curtail their usefulness for effective cyber threat management. For a meaningful analysis, an analyst needs a curated document list categorized according to cyber threat management phases for the under-investigation threat. We believe that methods for valuation of structured threat documents based on cyber threat management phases are limited or non-existent. We present a novel framework named SCERM—Structured threat data Cleansing, Evaluation, and Refinement. SCERM formally models the STIX architecture and valuates reports on the basis of the use case “managing cyber threat response activities”. It uplifts CTI by remapping wrongly placed contents to the STIX data model. SCERM refines incomplete or missing components through a pre-prepared dataset of curated blog reports. This process is repeated until the reports improve to a threshold suitable for cyber threat management. A case study is presented to demonstrate the working of SCERM. The evaluation valuates publicly available STIXs for cyber threat management. It is observed that current STIX reports have limited information on prevention and almost none for the response phase of cyber threat management. The results demonstrate that SCERM significantly enriches STIX reports. The improvement in prevention is 73% and in the response is a 100%.
Using 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide as a model of menopause for cardiovascular disease

Before menopause, women are protected against cardiovascular disease compared with age-matched men; this protection is gradually lost after menopause. We present the first evidence that demonstrate...
Coworking: A Rhetorical Enterprise Situated in Place

Mobile information and communication technology (ICT) and ubiquitous connectivity, among other forces, have led to changes in the concept of knowledge work and “enable[d] a reinvention of where, how and when work happens” (Laing and Bacevice 2013, p. 39). These changes have inspired entrepreneurs to create a new kind of commercial workplace, called coworking spaces, part office with advanced technology and part social setting, available for short- or longer-term rental. To appeal to potential customers, founder-entrepreneurs of such spaces have created, in text and images, virtual representations of their enterprises on their websites. What counts as data in this study are the websites of five coworking spaces. A mixed-methods approach incorporating material culture studies, design thinking, and rhetoric was used to analyze the persuasive structure of these virtual representations. More than mere real-estate, coworking has become a values-driven culture. In an aesthetically pleasing environment, that culture fosters community, mutual support among members of the space, and a bias toward innovation and creativity. This sample, while admittedly small, represents different regions internationally and different customer demographics. The analysis demonstrates the power of a rhetorical persona, the founder-entrepreneur, who speaks for the enterprise, and the continuing importance of well-tested rhetorical strategies of persuasion—logical, ethical, and emotional—in building an argument in virtual space for the spatial experience a customer will find on the ground.
C-H Bond Functionalization of Amines: A Graphical Overview of Diverse Methods.

This Graphical Review provides a concise overview of the manifold and mechanistically diverse methods that enable the functionalization of sp3 C–H bonds in amines and their derivatives.
Freeze-thaw Cycles Enable a Prebiotically Plausible and Continuous Pathway from Nucleotide Activation to Nonenzymatic RNA Copying

Nonenzymatic template-directed RNA copying using chemically activated nucleotides is thought to have played a key role in the emergence of genetic information on the early Earth. A longstanding question concerns the number and nature of different environments that might have been necessary to enable all of the steps from nucleotide synthesis to RNA replication. Here we explore three sequential steps from this overall pathway: nucleotide activation, synthesis of imidazolium-bridged dinucleotides, and template-directed primer extension. We find that all three steps can take place in one reaction mixture, under conditions of multiple freeze-thaw cycles. Recent experiments have demonstrated a potentially prebiotic methyl isocyanide-based nucleotide activation chemistry. Unfortunately, the original version of this approach is incompatible with nonenzymatic RNA copying because the high required concentration of the imidazole activating group prevents the accumulation of the essential imidazolium-bridged dinucleotide needed for primer extension. Here we report that ice eutectic phase conditions facilitate not only the methyl isocyanide-based activation of ribonucleotide 5'-monophosphates with stoichiometric 2-aminoimidazole, but also the subsequent conversion of these activated mononucleotides into imidazolium-bridged dinucleotides. Furthermore, this one pot approach is compatible with template-directed primer extension in the same reaction mixture. Our results suggest that the simple and common environmental fluctuation of freeze-thaw cycles could have played an important role in prebiotic nucleotide activation and nonenzymatic RNA copying. Significance StatementThe replication of RNA without the aid of evolved enzymes may have enabled the inheritance of useful molecular functions during the origin of life. Several key steps on the path to RNA replication have been studied in isolation, including chemical nucleotide activation, synthesis of a key reactive intermediate, and nonenzymatic RNA copying. Here we report a prebiotically plausible scenario under which these reactions can happen together under mutually compatible conditions. Thus, this pathway could potentially have operated in nature without the complicating requirement for exchange of materials between distinct environments.
Chronic Rhinosinusitis and the Risk of Erectile Dysfunction

Chronic rhinosinusitis is a common disease associated with reductions in quality of life across a range of measures, including sexual health. We conducted a case-control study assessing chronic rhinosinusitis prevalence among men with and without clinically significant erectile dysfunction. We found that chronic rhinosinusitis was significantly associated with erectile dysfunction (odds ratio = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.8-2.4, P < .001) and that this association remained significant even when the interval between chronic rhinosinusitis diagnosis and erectile dysfunction treatment was restricted. This study adds to a growing body of literature demonstrating an association between chronic rhinosinusitis and sexual dysfunction.
Cross Sections of Threshold Reactions for Fission Neutrons: Nickel as a Fast Flux Monitor*

Measured values of effective cross sections for fission neutrons obtained for n,p reactions on Ni58, Fe54, Zn64, Mg24, Fe56, Zn67, and Cu65 are 92, 54, 28, 1.2, 0.82, 0.57, and 0.36 mb, respectivel...
Rational voting applied to choice of taxes

Fulton County (Atlanta, Georgia) conducted a referendum on a local option sales tax. The referendum offered voters an opportunity to substitute a 1% sales tax for an equal amount of property taxes. The precinct level voting patterns of the referendum are analyzed using a rational voter framework. The regression results generally support the implication of the model.
Data-Driven Discoveries: Pushing Visualization Research Further

Data visualization is ubiquitous in today's society. In the last decade, research in the field has increased tremendously, and the research community has pushed the state of the art in many novel directions. In 2014, the IEEE VIS Conference celebrated its 25th year and grew to incorporate new symposia on large-scale data analysis and visualization (LDAV) and biological visualizations (BioVis). It also featured an increasingly popular art program (VISAP) and an impressive array of workshops and tutorials. The VIS 2014 workshop program, through eight extremely well attended half-day and full-day events, offered a unique peak at emerging research topics in the field of data visualization. This special issue samples contributions made to these workshops by showcasing two research pieces that aim at pushing the state of the art to enable data-driven discoveries with visualization.
Electron microscopy of the chorioallantoic placenta of the rabbit: II. The decidua and the maternal vessels

The ultrastructure of the decidual cells at different stages of gestation is described. The decidual cells are formed from the perivascular cells from the eight day of pregnancy. Their ultrastructure resembles that of fetal liver cells. The maternal vessels in the latter part of gestation are lined by multinucleated cells, the origin of which is unknown. The different possibilities are discussed, and evidence is presented in favor of the theory that they may be decidual in origin. The “zone of separation” at parturition is formed mainly by the degeneration of the multinucleated giant cells of the “intermediate zone,” but the debris of degenerated decidual cells also takes part in its formation.
Law of the horse to law of the submarine: The future of State behavior in cyberspace

States are rapidly approaching an international law crossroads in cyberspace. While many States, led by the United States, take the view that existing international law, including the law of armed conflict, is sufficient to cover cyberspace (“law of the horse”), such a view is being overtaken by reality. The Sony hack allegedly by North Korea is only the latest, and most blatant, in the long history of State activity in cyberspace. The current architecture of cyberspace makes it very attractive for States to pursue their national interests via this domain in a manner that is easily denied. With such a state of affairs persisting into the foreseeable future, it is very likely that international law will soon be sidelined or ignored by States as they seek to respond to cyber activity undertaken by other States (“law of the submarine”). With most, if not all, State-sponsored cyber activity not rising to the level of a use of force, countermeasures are one of the most viable international law tools for States to respond to State-sponsored cyber activity. Countermeasures, however, is the international law concept most at risk of being ignored by States. The customary international law of countermeasures imposes many conditions and limitations on their use, conditions and limitations that States will be inclined to ignore because they can under cyberspace's current architecture. Fortunately, the customary international law of countermeasures remains fluid enough that it can be sufficiently adapted to accommodate State behavior in cyberspace while still accounting for the international law interests underlying countermeasures.
Decisionmaking, Risk, and Uncertainty: An Analysis of Climate Change Policy

This article explores four questions. First, what theoretical frameworks help describe policy failure and success? Second, how might the decision that leads to failure or success be understood in terms of differing concepts of rationality and decisionmaking? Third, how does the discussion of risk and uncertainty as originally proposed by Frank Knight (1921) apply to a better understanding of both the first and second questions? Fourth, what is the relationship between serial and parallel processing and how are these administrative systems related to important aspects of the prior questions? Our chief contribution in this article is to show the ways in which these questions and their respective theoretical frameworks are interrelated as applied to one important contemporary policy question - climate change. We think our proposed integration of the various literatures offers important insights into the challenges policymakers face in deciding whether or not to adopt a particular policy.
Big Synapse Stories

The Squid Giant Synapse A Model for Chemical Transmission. Rodolfo R. Llinas. Oxford University Press, New York, 1999. 332 pp. + CD-ROM. $85, £49.95. ISBN 0-19-511652-6. The squid giant synapse has provided a model system for investigating how synapses allow communication among nerve cells. Llinas has contributed much to our understanding of the system, and his personal perspective provides a valuable background for synaptic physiologists.
Can clinical tests help monitor human papillomavirus vaccine impact

As immunization programs for human papillomavirus (HPV) are implemented more widely around the world, interest is increasing in measuring their impact. One early measurable impact of HPV vaccine is on the prevalence of specific HPV types in a population. In low-resource settings, a potentially attractive strategy would be to monitor HPV prevalence using clinical cervical cancer screening test results to triage specimens for HPV typing. We assessed this approach in a nationally representative population of U.S. females aged 14–59 years. Using self-collected cervico-vaginal swab specimens from 4,150 women participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 2003–2006, we evaluated type-specific HPV prevalence detected by the Roche linear array (LA) research test on all specimens, compared with type-specific HPV prevalence detected by LA conducted only on specimens positive by the digene hybrid capture 2 (HC-2) clinical test. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and examined relative type-specific HPV prevalence according to the two testing approaches. The population prevalence of oncogenic HPV vaccine types 16/18 was 6.2% (CI:5.4–7.1) by LA if all specimens were tested, and 2.4% (CI:1.9–3.0) if restricted to positive HC-2. Relative prevalence of individual HPV types was similar for both approaches. Compared with typing all specimens, a triage approach would require testing fewer specimens, but a greater reduction in HPV prevalence or a larger group of specimens would be needed to detect vaccine impact. Further investigation is warranted to inform type-specific HPV monitoring approaches around the world.
Representation and the Removal of State Capitals, 1776-1812.

Most Americans today assume that the only just form of representation is based on population. This idea has become so pervasive that numerical representation, as it is now called, has been attributed to the Founding Fathers and identified with the cause of republican government. In one of the apportionment cases of the early 1960s, Reynolds v. Sims, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that "the fundamental principle of representative government in this country is one of equal representation for equal numbers of people, without regard to race, sex, economic status, or place of residence within a State." In a 1983 case involving congressional districts in New Jersey, Justice William Brennan commented that "adopting any standard other than population equality, using the best census data available, would subtly erode the Constitution's ideal of equal representation", Yet the primacy of numerical representation (or proportional representation, as it was called at the time) in the American political system was by no means established or assured by the United States Constitution. States were represented equally, rather than proportionally, in the upper house of Congress. Furthermore, many states had successful republican governments without having numerical representation in either house of their legislatures. It took many decades before the system was fully accepted, either in principle or in practice. To assume an anachronistic acceptance of numerical representation is to ignore the extent to which the years during and after the Revolution formed a period of experimentation in politics and governmental structure. At both the state and the national levels, Americans attempted to apply the lessons of the historical past and of their own experience to make government more just and equitable. Yet there were no clear answers, no easy solutions to the dilemmas they faced. One of their most perplexing problems was in the realm of representation. Who would be represented and in what manner were questions that lay at the heart of republican government. Inequities in representation would reverberate through any
Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process to Assess Gender Differences in the Evaluation of Microcomputer Vendors

The influence of the decision maker’s sex on the choice process in specific business buying situations is not well-established. Within an organizational buying context, this study compares men’s and women’s evaluations of decision criteria and examines whether they form different preferences in the selection of microcomputer vendors. Expert Choice, a microcomputer software package for performing the analytic hierarchy process methodology, served as the decision support tool to structure the decision process, to collect the data, to derive the importance weights for the decision criteria, and to synthesize them with the vendor preferences. The results of a multivariate analysis of the experimental data indicate that men and women do not differ in weighting the importance of decision criteria nor in forming preferences for alternative PC vendors. Instead, the type of organization employing the subjects and the influence of their boss’s decision rules were found to significantly affect the vendor evaluation process.
Back to basics: Percentage agreement measures are adequate, but there are easier ways.

Percentage agreement measures of interobserver agreement or “reliability” have traditionally been used to summarize observer agreement from studies using interval recording, time-sampling, and trial-scoring data collection procedures. Recent articles disagree on whether to continue using these percentage agreement measures, and on which ones to use, and what to do about chance agreements if their use is continued. Much of the disagreement derives from the need to be reasonably certain we do not accept as evidence of true interobserver agreement those agreement levels which are substantially probable as a result of chance observer agreement. The various percentage agreement measures are shown to be adequate to this task, but easier ways are discussed. Tables are given to permit checking to see if obtained disagreements are unlikely due to chance. Particularly important is the discovery of a simple rule that, when met, makes the tables unnecessary. If reliability checks using 50 or more observation occasions produce 10% or fewer disagreements, for behavior rates from 10% through 90%, the agreement achieved is quite improbably the result of chance agreement.
Electron microscope observations of irradiated graphite single crystals

Abstract Graphite single crystals have been studied by dark field transmission electron microscopy after irradiation with fast neutrons between 5.2×l0 17 and 1.5×10 20 n/cm 2 at temperatures below 150°C. Subsequent annealing has been investigated up to 2000°C. For comparison, specimens irradiated by electrons, C 12 -ions and fission fragments have been studied. Contrast effects have been calculated by means of the kinematical theory of electron diffraction. The distribution of vacancies was studied by a surface etch and surface decoration technique. All the observations are compatible with the assumption of the primary formation of independent interstitials and vacancies and subsequent clustering of only the interstitials. Only a small fraction of these clusters can be resolved by electron microscopy; these contain about 1 per cent of the originally displaced atoms. At a dose above 10 20 n/cm 2 more complex phenomena are observed.
Expanding the horizon of reflection on health and disease.

Les concepts de la sante et des maladies ne peuvent etre elucides sans une etroite reflexion sur l'axiologie et l'epistemologie, afin d'analyser les differences entre la pratique et la theorie en medecine
‘Coming home’ to new homes and new schools: critical race theory and the new politics of containment

Older cities in the United States have long been trying to ‘bring back’ the middle class in order to increase tax base. The poor quality of schools and the presence of public housing often were cited as deterrents for attracting higher income families. When the 2000 Census data revealed improvements in many cities, some elected officials and scholars attributed the turnaround to policies such as those aimed at transforming public housing and urban schools. In this article the authors examine these strategies as they have played out in a Chicago community to illustrate how these policies also facilitate the displacement and containment of poor people of color. Utilizing critical race theory, they argue that race continues to guide both education and public housing policy in historically segregated places like Chicago, and that racism is masked by class claims that allow the interests of middle class to trump educational opportunities for poor.
Nanofiber‐Based Bulk‐Heterojunction Organic Solar Cells Using Coaxial Electrospinning

Nanofi bers consisting of the bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic (BHJ‐ OPV) electron donor‐electron acceptor pair poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenylC 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) are produced through a coaxial electrospinning process. While P3HT:PCBM blends are not directly electrospinnable, P3HT:PCBM-containing fi bers are produced in a coaxial fashion by utilizing polycaprolactone (PCL) as an electrospinnable sheath material. Pure P3HT:PCBM fi bers are easily obtained after electrospinning by selectively removing the PCL sheath with cyclopentanone (average diameter 120 ± 30 nm). These fi bers are then incorporated into the active layer of a BHJ‐OPV device, which results in improved short-circuit current densities, fi ll factors, and power-conversion effi ciencies (PCE) as compared to thin-fi lm devices of identical chemical composition. The best-performing fi ber-based devices exhibit a PCE of 4.0%, while the best thin-fi lm devices have a PCE of 3.2%. This increase in device performance is attributed to the increased in-plane alignment of P3HT polymer chains on the nanoscale, caused by the electrospun fi bers, which leads to increased optical absorption and subsequent exciton generation. This methodology for improving device performance of BHJ‐OPVs could also be implemented for other electron donor‐electron acceptor systems, as nanofi ber formation is largely independent of the PV material.
Purification and Characterization of an Immunomodulatory Endometrial Protein, Glycodelin

Human glycodelin is synthesized by endometrial cells in the late secretory phase and early pregnancy under hormonal regulation. Whereas the precise physiological functions of glycodelin are unknown, its expression during embryonic nidation and its inhibition of T cell proliferation suggest an immunomodulatory role. We purified human glycodelin from first trimester human decidual cytosol by using a rapid two-step high-performance liquid chromatography method and investigated its effects on human monocyte migration. Human U937 cells were used as a model of monocyte chemotaxis in Boyden chamber migration assays. N-Formyl-Met-Leu-Phe and the beta-chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted) were used as monocyte chemoattractants. Purified glycodelin inhibited monocyte migration in a dose-dependent fashion (IC50 = 550 nm). Glycodelin activity was totally reversed by heat inactivation (95 degrees C x 15 min) and neutralized by pretreatment with specific anti-glycodelin antibodies. Deglycosylated glycodelin was equipotent to intact glycodelin in the monocyte migration assay. 125I-Glycodelin binding to whole U937 cells revealed a single, saturable site with a Kd = 48 +/- 21 nm by Scatchard analysis. Cross-linking studies indicated that glycodelin binds to a high molecular mass (approximately 250 kDa) protein complex at the monocyte cell surface. Our findings support the hypothesis that glycodelin reduces the local maternal inflammatory response toward the implantation of a semiallogeneic conceptus.
An experimental investigation on the breakup of surfactant-laden non-Newtonian jets

Abstract The combined effect of polymers and soluble surfactants on the dynamics of jet breakup, and especially on satellite drop formation, was experimentally investigated. Xanthan gum and Carbopol ® 934 NF were dissolved in water with Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate as the surfactant. Controlled disturbances were imposed at the laminar jet interface using a piezoelectric vibrating nozzle with breakup dynamics recorded using a high-speed camera. Drop and ligament diameters were measured from the digital images. The focus of the work was investigating how bulk and interfacial properties of the prepared fluids influenced ligament and drop evolution. It was found that if the proper concentration of surfactant (close to the critical micelle concentration, CMC) was selected, and if the flow time scales were large enough, Marangoni interfacial stresses may lead to an increase in satellite drop size as previously reported for breakup simulations of shear-thinning jets covered with insoluble surfactant. It was also experimentally confirmed that the introduction of surfactant contributes to a delay in jet breakup.
Chronic kidney disease management in an academic internal medicine clinic

Objective We sought to evaluate the current state of chronic kidney disease (CKD) management in our academic internal medicine clinic.
Nucleotide-Dependent Reprogramming of mRNAs Encoding Acetyl Coenzyme A Carboxylase and Lipoxygenase in Relation to the Fat Contents of Peanut

The nucleotide-dependent reprogramming of the mRNAs encoding acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC, EC 6.4.1.2) and lipoxygenase (LO, EC 1.13.11.12) was studied by Northern analysis. Equal concentrations of total RNA from the peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. cv. “Valencia”) seedlings were probed with those glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH)-synthesized RNAs that were homologous to the mRNAs encoding ACC and LO. Treatment (4NTPs solution) of the peanuts increased the abundance of the mRNAs encoding the LO and ACC about 5 and 10 folds respectively but decreased the fat accumulation by 37% compared with the control peanut. Treatments (pyrimidine NTPs)of the peanut induced up to 60% more fat accumulation than the control. The high fat (40.0–44.0%) contents of the UTP-, and 3NTP-treated peanuts were characterized by very high abundance of the mRNA for ACC, but low abundance of the mRNA for LO. The inverse relationship between the abundance of the mRNAs encoding ACC and LO compared with the seedlings fat contents was due to the plus/minus strands sequence homologies between the Northern probes for ACC and LO. Therefore, LO, ACC, and the GDH-synthesized RNAs participated in the regulation of the fat contents. These results could be useful in the environmental manipulation of the quantity and quality of peanut oil.
Synthesis and Characterization of Perfluorinated Carboxylate/Sulfonate Ionomer Membranes for Separation and Solid Electrolyte Applications

A synthesis procedure is given for mixed functionality carboxylate/sulfonate (c/s) perfluorinated ionomer membranes starting from sulfonyl fluoride-form Nafion precursor. The described method produ...
A method for the measurement of absolute gravity

The greatest difficulty in measurements of absolute gravity with either pendulums or falling bodies is the distance determination. It is proposed to avoid the distance measurement in a falling-body experiment by determining g in terms of c, the velocity of light. A pulse of light is directed up toward and reflected from a falling ball. The reflected light pulse, upon being detected by a photomultiplier, initiates a new pulse. A pulse recycle oscillator is thus set up whose frequency is a function of the position of the ball. By measuring the frequency for three successive time intervals, g may be determined in units of c independent of the time and position at the release of the ball.
Inheritance of Traits Associated with Sexual Maturity when Populations of Chickens Reach 50% Lay

Abstract In order to study the mode of inheritance of traits associated with the onset of sexual maturity, data from stocks differing greatly in genetic background were analyzed when populations achieved 50% lay. Chickens used in this experiment consisted of three parental lines and five crosses. Parental lines were White Plymouth Rocks bidirectionally selected for high (HH) and low (LL) 56-day body weight, and a closed population of Jersey Black Giants (JJ). Crosses were produced from reciprocal matings of the White Rock lines (HL and LH), their F2 (HL × HL), and Jersey males mated to weight-line females (JH, JL). When 50% of the pullets within a population had laid, various traits were measured for each individual in that population. Retrospective analyses showed that sexually mature pullets were heavier at 91 and 126 days of age than those which had not commenced lay. Body weight dimorphism between layers and nonlayers was disproportionately greater in LL and F2 pullets than in those of other populations, resulting in a population by physiological stage interaction. Fat depots were heavier and percentages of fat were higher in laying than nonlaying pullets. Evidence was obtained suggesting that an absolute quantity of breast tissue was necessary before lean tissue percentage became meaningful as a threshold trait for the onset of egg production. Modes of inheritance for body weight and compositional characteristics were different in sexually immature and mature pullets, suggesting that muscle functioned as a nutrient reserve in laying pullets and a nutrient store in those that had not reached this physiological stage.
An evaluation of the fathead minnow seven‐day subchronic test for estimating chronic toxicity

Renewal and flow-through subchronic tests were conducted on fathead minnows (Pime-phales promelas) with nine chemicals and the results compared to early life stage (ELS) or life cycle toxicity values for one water type. In addition, ELS tests were conducted simultaneously with four chemicals to compare 7-d and 32-d test values. Reproducibility of the 7-d test was high. The no observable effect concentrations (NOECs) and lowest observed effect concentrations (LOECs) of the 7-d tests agreed with those of the life cycle test for 60% of the chemicals tested, similar to the agreement of the ELS tests to the life cycle tests for the same chemicals. ELS and 7-d NOECs and LOECs for seven of the nine chemicals agreed within a factor of two. For four chemicals, embryos exposed before the 7-d renewal test did not show greater sensitivity than unexposed embryos; with carbaryl, exposed embryos were less sensitive than the unexposed fish. Renewal and flow-through tests agreed well. Growth was the most sensitive parameter for 59% of the tests and survival was the most sensitive for only 11%.
Light-harvesting materials: Soft support for energy conversion

To convert solar energy into viable fuels, coupling light-harvesting materials to catalysts is a crucial challenge. Now, the combination of an organic supramolecular hydrogel and a non-precious metal catalyst has been demonstrated to be effective for photocatalytic H2 production.
Relationships Between Engineering Student and Faculty Demographics and Stakeholders Working to Affect Change

Recent data suggest that the United States is unable to meet the demand for individuals well prepared to contribute to science, mathematics, and engineering with their native workforce. Low participation rates of females and underrepresented minorities in these fields are major factors contributing to this situation. This study tracks the progress of the high school class of 1990 through the engineering pipeline and beyond, specifically focusing on the progress of female and underrepresented minority students within the class. Points along the pipeline where the participation rates of students dropped significantly are identified as critical decision points and factors contributing to students leaving at these decision points are discussed. Key stakeholder groups working with underrepresented minority and female students at these critical decision points are identified. The intent of this paper is to create a synthesized, national picture of the student and faculty who make up engineering schools in the United States, and of the stakeholder groups actively working to change this picture.
Effects of a major androgen-dependent urinary protein, α2u-globulin on the pituitary-gonadal axis and hypothalamic monoamines in adult male mice

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of alpha-2u-globulin, a sex-dependent male rat urinary protein on pituitary-gonadal functions and hypothalamic monoamine contents in male mice. Adult male mice, maintained under standardized laboratory conditions (L:D, 14:10) were injected subcutaneously with alpha-2u-globulin at a dose of 1 mg/animal/day or with vehicle daily for 14 days and killed 16 h after the last injection. Plasma levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone (T) and testicular levels of T were measured by radioimmunoassays. The concentrations of norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in medial basal hypothalamus (MBH) and anterior hypothalamus (AH) were measured by high performance liquid chromatography. Administration of alpha-2u-globulin led to a significant increase in plasma FSH and LH levels (P less than 0.05) as well as in plasma and testicular T levels (P less than 0.025). In the MBH of alpha-2u-globulin treated mice, there were significant elevations of NE (P less than 0.025), DA (P less than 0.01) and 5-HT (P less than 0.025) contents. In the AH, both DA (P less than 0.025) and 5-HT (P less than 0.01) contents were decreased while NE content remained unaltered. These results indicate that administration of alpha-2u-globulin can lead to a significant stimulation of pituitary-testicular axis and that this effect may be mediated through alteration of hypothalamic monoamines.
Tomographic three-dimensional imaging of a biological specimen using wavelength-scanning digital interference holography

The principle of wavelength-scanning digital interference holography is applied to three-dimensional imaging of a small biological specimen. The images are reconstructed from a number of holograms digitally recorded while the wavelengths are varied at regular intervals, and the numerical interference of the multiple three-dimensional hologram fields results in tomographic images with narrow axial resolution. An animated three-dimensional model of the object is constructed from the tomographic images.
Mohs micrographic surgery for skin cancer

Mohs micrographic surgery is a reliable outpatient surgical method of removing skin cancer. The method includes tissue excision in thin layers, colour-coding of excised specimens, accurate orientation of excised tissue through construction of tissue maps, and microscopic examination of horizontal frozen sections. Selected basal and squamous cell carcinomas are treated most commonly by this method, however, a variety of less common tumors are also amenable to treatment. Mohs micrographic surgery offers the highest cure rates for selected malignancies while maintaining maximal preservation of normal tissue and important anatomic structures.
Radiation therapy for cutaneous melanoma.

In 2002, the Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes Research and Evaluation of Australia estimated that over the course of their disease approximately 23% of patients diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma (CM) would be appropriately treated with radiation therapy (RT) based on the best available evidence. Using population registry data, these investigators found that RT was part of the treatment of 13% of patients in New South Wales, Australia, and 1-6% of patients in the United States of America (USA)1. Others have noted the infrequent and dwindling use of RT for CM over time2,3. Awareness of the evidence supporting the use of RT for the treatment of CM is vital to delivering the optimal care of patients with this potentially lethal disease. Several general aspects of RT for melanoma will not be addressed in this review. The myth that melanoma is not responsive to RT has been adequately described and dispelled elsewhere4,5 The curative and organ-preserving potential of RT for uveal melanoma has been demonstrated by the Collaborative Ocular Melanoma Study6 and is beyond the scope of this review. Likewise, the role of RT in the management of mucosal melanoma is beyond the scope of this review. Herein, data providing the highest levels of evidence supporting the use of RT for CM will be presented and discussed, acknowledging a significant dearth of high level evidence in many situations.
Fast online learning of control regime transitions for adaptive robotic mobility

We introduce a new framework, Model Transition Control (MTC), that models robot control problems as sets of linear control regimes linked by nonlinear transitions, and a new learning algorithm, Dynamic Threshold Learning (DTL), that learns the boundaries of these control regimes in real-time. We demonstrate that DTL can learn to prevent understeer and oversteer while controlling a simulated high-speed vehicle. We also show that DTL can enable an iRobot PackBot to avoid rollover in rough terrain and to actively shift its center-of-gravity to maintain balance when climbing obstacles. In all cases, DTL is able to learn control regime boundaries in a few minutes, often with single-digit numbers of learning trials.
Characterization of state controllable time-delay systems with piecewise constant inputs. Part I. Derivation of general conditions†

The possibility of sampled-data feedback control for linear time-invariant multiple delay systems is studied using the constraint of piecewise constant control inputs. A split system representation is utilized to derive both necessary and sufficient conditions for control of the system state to the null function in the state space.
Spectroscopic effects of disorder and vibrational localization in mixed-halide metal-halide chain solids

Resonance Raman techniques, together with lattice-dynamics and Peierls-Hubband modelling, are used to explore the electronic and vibrational dynamics of the quasi-one-dimensional metal-halogen chain solids [Pt(en) 2 ][Pt(en) 2 X 2 ](ClO 4 ) 4 , (en equals C 2 H 8 N 2 and X equals Cl, Br), abbreviated 'PtX.' The mixed-halide materials PtCl 1-x Br x and PtCl 1-x I x consist of long mixed chains with heterojunctions between segments of the two constituent materials. Thus, in addition to providing mesoscale modulation of the chain electronic states, they serve as prototypes for elucidating the properties to be expected for macroscopic heterojunctions of these highly non-linear materials. Once a detailed understanding of the various local vibrational modes occurring in these disordered solids is developed, the electronic structure of the chain segments and junctions can be probed by tuning the Raman excitation through their various electronic resonances.
Community socioeconomic status and disparities in mortgage lending: An analysis of Metropolitan Detroit

Abstract This note examines the effects of community socioeconomic status on mortgage lending patterns in Metropolitan Detroit. Data from 2000 HMDA reports and the 2000 U.S. Census are analyzed using multiple regression. The results from this analysis have two important implications for research on mortgage lending. First, they indicate that the effects of variables linked to a community's socioeconomic status on mortgage lending patterns are highly intercorrelated. As a result, variations in mortgage lending appear to be the result of the combined effects of a number of socioeconomic variables acting together. Second, the results from this analysis indicate that the socioeconomic status of a community is positively correlated with mortgage lending activity. In other words, a decline in neighborhood socioeconomic status is significantly correlated with a decline in mortgage lending.
T-systems and the pentagram map

Abstract This paper summarizes two direct connections between two different discrete integrable systems, the T -system or the octahedron relation, and the pentagram map and its various generalizations.
Relation Between Nonlinear and Linear Realizations of SU(3)×SU(3): Theory and Applications

In an earlier paper we took the most general, nonlinear form for the action [${K}_{a},{\ensuremath{\pi}}_{b}$] of chiral operators upon an octet of pseudoscalar-meson fields, and we developed functions ${z}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ and ${\overline{z}}_{\ensuremath{\beta}}$ ($\ensuremath{\alpha},\ensuremath{\beta}=0, 1, 2,\dots{}, 8$) which span the (3, \ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}3) and (\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}3, 3) representations of chiral SU(3) symmetry. Here we use the nonlinear properties of ${z}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$ to show that the 3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}3 matrix ($\ensuremath{\Sigma}{0}^{8}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}{z}_{\ensuremath{\alpha}}$) is proportional to a unitary, unimodular matrix exp ($i\ensuremath{\Sigma}{1}^{8}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{k}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{k}$). We then find that the matrix $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ which converts an arbitrary nonlinear field into a linear realization of SU(3) \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} SU(3) is a pure chiral transformation with ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{k}$ as its parameters, $\ensuremath{\Lambda}=\mathrm{exp}(i\ensuremath{\Sigma}{1}^{8}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{k}{X}_{k})$. This result enables us to demonstrate the equivalence of different approaches to the theory of nonlinear realizations, and to construct a model for meson-baryon scattering. In the model, chiral symmetry is broken by a mass term which transforms as an admixture of singlet and octet members of the ($m,\overline{m}$) representation of SU(3) \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} SU(3). There are thirty parameters in the most general symmetry-breaking Lagrangian, but this number can be reduced to eight with reasonable assumptions. Unfortunately this is still too large a number for us to learn anything definitive about the manner of chiral symmetry breaking.
Mammalian cell genetics III. Characterization of x-ray-induced forward mutations in chinese hamster cell cultures

Abstract X-irradiation induces forward mutations from 8-azaguanine sensitvity to resistance in Chinese hamster cells in culture. At this locus the number of induced mutations increases non-linearly with X-ray exposure. The mutation rate increase from 4.2·10−7 per locus per R with 200 R to 1.8·10−6 per locus per R with 1200 R. Several factors including cell density markedly influence the mutational yield. Reversion tests using specific chemical mutagens on 72 randomly isolated, azaguanine-resistant mutants suggest that both point mutations and chromosome deletions might have occurred in the hamster cells after exposure to ionizing radiation.
The culture of technical services

Summary Libraries are reevaluating technical services processes and making technological, organizational, and workflow changes in order to optimize productivity with ever shrinking resources and provide effective user services in the rapidly changing information environment. However, regardless of how much tinkering we do with streamlining processes, little will change until the culture of technical services changes. This workshop discusses the culture of the library profession and presents a case study of one library's attempt to transform that culture.
Tachycardia in Hypertension: A Saga of Progress Despite Prejudice, Confusion, and Inertia

Tachycardia is a strong predictor of both hypertension and excessive cardiovascular risk. This association is robust and prevails after multivariate adjustments for other cardiovascular risk factors. Despite the strong evidence, various guidelines do not list tachycardia as a risk factor because of unwarranted assumption that tachycardia is only a marker of patient's emotional state. Already in 1945, Levy et al showed that individuals with "transient tachycardia" at baseline developed 2-fold higher rates of "true" hypertension than the control group. In the general population of Tecumseh, Mich, tachycardia proved to be a permanently reproducible feature of prehypertension. In hypertension, fast heart rate is associated with high cardiac output, and this "hyperkinetic" hemodynamic picture is different from established hypertension. However, Lund Johansen has shown that after 20 years of observation, the cardiac output and stroke volume significantly decreased and a typical picture of high vascular resistance, treatment-requiring, established hypertension emerged. So far, only the 2007 European Society of Cardiology/European Society of Hypertension (ESC/ESH) guidelines acknowledged the validity of heart rate in evaluation of cardiovascular patients. The best way to convince the public is to demonstrate that lowering the heart rate with a drug without influence on blood pressure reduces cardiovascular events.