cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Silicon carbide nanowires under external loads: An atomistic simulation study

The nanomechanical response properties of $3\mathrm{C}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{SiC}$ nanowires are investigated using molecular dynamics simulation with Tersoff bond-order interatomic potential. Under axial compression and tensile strain, the computed Young's modulus and structural changes at elastic limit do not depend appreciably on the diameter of the nanowire except for the nanowire of the smallest diameter $(\ensuremath{\approx}1\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm})$ under compression. The elastic modulus and structural failure near the elastic limit regime, for nonaxial bending and torsional strains, are found to depend strongly on the nanowire diameters through a power-law behavior. The exponent of the power-law behavior and mechanisms of the material failure under different types of loading strains are described in this work.
Localization and chemical characterization of a partially purified bovine pineal antigonadotropin

An antigonadotropic substance was partially purified from aqueous extracts of bovine pineal glands by methods of gel filtration, ultrafiltration and ion exchange chromatography. Two biological tests,viz. inhibition of compensatory ovarian hypertrophy and reduction of ventral prostate weight, were used to guide the purification. The partially purified antigonadotropin was characterized chemically using techniques of UV and fluorescence spectrometry, thin layer and paper chromatography, paper electrophoresis and amino acid analysis. The results reveal a diversity of ninhydrin-positive components present in the preparations, including free and peptide-bound amino acids, as well as other unidentified components, but not including any of the commonly occurring indoles, indoleamines or catecholeamines. One peptide, oxidized glutathione, was identified in the most purified material containing the biologically active principle yet pure, synthetric glutathione has no antigonadotropic activity in the biological tests utilized. Although the chemical nature of the bovine pineal antigonadotropin remains in question it may be purified by the methods described. The activity is thought to reside in the extremely small, perhaps trace quantities of residues derived. It is believed that large scale, preparative studies will be required for structural determination.
Impact Properties of Thiol-Ene Networks

In this study, a series of thiol–ene networks having glass transition temperatures ranging from −30 to 60 °C were synthesized utilizing several multifunctional thiols and two trifunctional alkenes. Thermomechanical properties were determined using dynamic mechanical analysis, and impact properties were determined using pendulum impact and drop impact testing protocols. The impact behavior was found to directly correlate to the glass transition temperature, except when the temperature at which the impact event occurs overlaps with the range of temperatures corresponding to the viscoelastic dissipation regime of the polymer. Additionally, we discuss insight into the spatial limitations of energy dissipation for thiol–ene network polymers and establish a platform for predictability in similar systems.
Impact of a randomized controlled educational trial to improve physician practice behaviors around screening for inherited breast cancer

BACKGROUND Many primary care physicians (PCPs) are ill-equipped to provide screening and counseling for inherited breast cancer.
Sand bed roughness in the nearshore

[1] Measurements made using sonar altimeters mounted on an amphibious surveying vehicle are analyzed for root-mean-square (RMS) bedform roughness. Observations for 22 days over a 500 m × 700 m area are used to quantify the cross-shore distribution of roughness and its variability. Large bedforms (with amplitudes 5–50 cm) occur frequently in shallow water (<2 m water depth). However, the patchiness of these bedforms is also largest in shallow water. This is likely owing to the spatial and temporal variability of the waves and currents, of the sediment grain size distributions, and of the large-scale nearshore morphology. Large bedforms were observed to exist only for mobility numbers <150, above this threshold the RMS roughness was <2 cm and the bed was interpreted to have transitioned to sheet flow conditions. However, the state of the bed (e.g., large ripples, small ripples, flat bed) was not predictable for mobility numbers between about 30 and 150. Existing models for orbital ripples do not predict the observed large bedforms and have little predictive skill for these data.
Ethylene evolution and ammonium accumulation by nutrient‐stressed tomatoes grown with inhibitors of ethylene synthesis or action

Abstract Ammonium accumulation and ethylene biosynthesis by plants may be interrelated events that lead to expression of symptoms of environmental stress. Compared to unstressed tissues, foliage of environmentally stressed plants often has accelerated rates of ethylene evolution and enhanced accumulation of uncombined ammonium. The present study assessed the effects of inhibitors of ethylene synthesis or action on ethylene evolution, ammonium accumulation, and symptoms of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) stressed by ammonium toxicity or nutrient (P, K, Ca, Mg) deficiency. ‘Heinz 1350’ and neglecta‐1 tomato were grown in sand culture in greenhouses. Plants receiving ammonium nutrition and (aminooxy)acetic acid (AOA), a purported inhibitor of ethylene synthesis, had no symptoms of ammonium toxicity. Ethylene evolution and ammonium accumulation were suppressed by AOA. Silver thiosulfate (STS), a purported inhibitor of ethylene action, delayed the appearance of ammonium toxicity symptoms and maximum eth...
CDF Run I B physics results

The CDF Run I B physics program has been very successful, making numerous measurements over a wide variety of B physics topics. Measurements have included masses and lifetimes; discovery of the B{sub c}; B{sub s} {r_arrow} J/{psi}{phi} polarization; B{sup 0} {leftrightarrow} {bar B}{sup 0} mixing; sin (2{beta}); and rare decay limits. Recent results include a search for {Lambda}{sub b} {r_arrow} {Lambda}{gamma} and a study of B{sup 0} {r_arrow} J/{psi}K(*){sup 0} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup {minus}} decays. The tools and experience developed during Run I are quite valuable as CDF enters Run II.
Outbreak of Salmonella javiana infection at a children's hospital

Objective To determine the source of an outbreak of Salmonella javiana infection. Design Case-control study. Participants A total of 101 culture-confirmed cases and 540 epidemiologically linked cases were detected between May 26, 2003, and June 16, 2003, in hospital employees, patients, and visitors. Asymptomatic employees who had eaten in the hospital cafeteria between May 30 and June 4, 2003, and had had no gastroenteritis symptoms after May 1, 2003, were chosen as control subjects. Setting A 235-bed academic tertiary care children's hospital. Results Isolates from 100 of 101 culture-confirmed cases had identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. A foodhandler with symptoms of gastroenteritis was the presumed index subject. In multivariate analysis, case subjects were more likely than control subjects to have consumed items from the salad bar (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-12.1) and to have eaten in the cafeteria on May 28 (aOR, 9.4; 95% CI, 1.8-49.5), May 30 (aOR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.0-12.7), and/or June 3 (aOR, 4.0; 95% CI, 1.4-11.3). Conclusions Foodhandlers who worked while they had symptoms of gastroenteritis likely contributed to the propagation of the outbreak. This large outbreak was rapidly controlled through the use of an incident command center.
Requirements for efficient minus strand strong-stop DNA transfer in human immunodeficiency virus 1

After HIV-1 enters a human cell, its RNA genome is converted into double stranded DNA during the multistep process of reverse transcription. First (minus) strand DNA synthesis is initiated near the...
The Exit-Voice Tradeoff in the Labor Market: Unionism, Job Tenure, Quits, and Separations

This paper examines the effect of trade unionism on the exit behavior of workers in the context of Hirschman's exit-voice dichotomy. Unionism is expected to reduce quits and permanent separations and raise job tenure by providing a "voice" alternative to exit when workers are dissatisfied with conditions. Empirical evidence supports this contention, showing significantly lower exit for unionists in several large data tapes. It is argued that the grievance system plays a major role in the reduction in exit and that the reduction lowers cost and raises productivity.
Curse of the qualia

In this paper I distinguish three alternatives to the functionalist account of qualitative states such as pain. The physicalist-functionalist1 holds that (1) there could be subjects functionally equivalent to us whose mental states differed in their qualitative character from ours, (2) there could be subjects functionally equivalent to us whose mental states lacked qualitative character altogether and (3) there could not be subjects like us in all objective respects whose qualitative states differed from ours. The physicalist-functionalist2 holds (1) and (3) but denies (2). The transcendentalist holds (1) and (2) and denies (3). I argue that both versions of physicalist-functionalism inherit the problem of property dualism which originally helped to motivate functionalist theories of mind. I also argue that neither version of physicalist-functionalism can distinguish in a principled way between those neurophysiological properties of a subject which are relevant to the qualitative character of that subject's mental states and those which are not. I conclude that the only alternative to a functionalist account of qualitative states is a transcendentalist account and that this alternative is not likely to appeal to the critics of functionalism.
North Atlantic Power Dissipation Index (PDI) and Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE): Statistical Modeling and Sensitivity to Sea Surface Temperature Changes

AbstractThis study focuses on the statistical modeling of the power dissipation index (PDI) and accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) for the North Atlantic basin over the period 1949–2008, which are metrics routinely used to assess tropical storm activity, and their sensitivity to sea surface temperature (SST) changes. To describe the variability exhibited by the data, four different statistical distributions are considered (gamma, Gumbel, lognormal, and Weibull), and tropical Atlantic and tropical mean SSTs are used as predictors. Model selection, both in terms of significant covariates and their functional relation to the parameters of the statistical distribution, is performed using two penalty criteria. Two different SST datasets are considered [the Met Office’s Global Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature dataset (HadISSTv1) and NOAA’s extended reconstructed SST dataset (ERSSTv3b)] to examine the sensitivity of the results to the input data.The statistical models presented in this study are able to well de...
Identification of contact regions in semiconductor transistors by level-set methods

In this paper we present the formulation of level-set methods for the inverse problem of identifying an interface in the coefficient of an elliptic equation from a boundary measurement. This problem arises from the modeling of the identification of contact regions by boundary measurements for semiconductor transistors. We propose the Gauss-Newton direction as the interface velocity, and implement the scheme for a parameterized class of interfaces.
The Role of the Arabidopsis ELD1 Gene in Cell Development and Photomorphogenesis in Darkness

Because cell growth and differentiation are regulated by complex interactions among different signaling pathways, a growth defect affects subsequent differentiation. We report on a growth-defective mutant of Arabidopsis, called eld1 (elongation defective 1). Cell elongation was impaired in every organ examined. Later characteristics of the eld1 phenotype include defective vascular tissue differentiation, the inability to grow in soil, ectopic deposition of suberin around twisted vascular bundles, the de-etiolation phenotype, and continuation of shoot development and flowering in the dark. The dwarf phenotype of eld1 could not be rescued by treatment with exogenous growth regulators. Because defective cell elongation is the earliest and most universal feature detected in eld1 mutants, control of or activity in cell elongation may be the primary function of the ELD1 gene. The impaired cell growth results in pleiotropic effects on cell proliferation and differentiation, and the retardation in hypocotyl elongation enables growth and development in darkness.
A cautionary note on image downgrading

The results of an experiment that shows that it is very simple to contaminate digital images with information that can later be extracted are presented. This contamination cannot be detected when the image is displayed on a good quality graphics workstation. Based on these results, it is recommended that image downgrading based on visual display of the image to be downgraded not be performed if there is any threat of image contamination by Trojan horse programs. Potential Trojan horse programs may include untrusted image processing software. >
The material and immaterial in conflict: Spirituality reduces conspicuous consumption

Many spiritual leaders have argued that materialistic pursuits are incompatible with following a spiritual life. Consistent with this view, we found that higher levels of spirituality correspond to a decreased desire to consume material goods in a conspicuous manner. Study 1 was correlational, and found that people who reported having spiritual experiences reported a decreased desire to spend lavishly for visible consumer goods, such as a cell phone. Study 2 was experimental, and found that participants assigned to recall a spiritual event also demonstrated a decreased desire to consume conspicuously, relative to participants assigned to recall an enjoyable event.
Free Fatty Acids Induce JNK-dependent Hepatocyte Lipoapoptosis

Elevated serum free fatty acids (FFAs) and hepatocyte lipoapoptosis are features of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. However, the mechanism by which FFAs mediate lipoapoptosis is unclear. Because JNK activation is pivotal in both the metabolic syndrome accompanying non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cellular apoptosis, we examined the role of JNK activation in FFA-induced lipoapoptosis. Multiple hepatocyte cell lines and primary mouse hepatocytes were treated in culture with monounsaturated fatty acids and saturated fatty acids. Despite equal cellular steatosis, apoptosis and JNK activation were greater during exposure to saturated versus monounsaturated FFAs. Inhibition of JNK, pharmacologically as well as genetically, reduced saturated FFA-mediated hepatocyte lipoapoptosis. Cell death was caspase-dependent and associated with mitochondrial membrane depolarization and cytochrome c release indicating activation of the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis. JNK-dependent lipoapoptosis was associated with activation of Bax, a known mediator of mitochondrial dysfunction. As JNK can activate Bim, a BH3 domain-only protein capable of binding to and activating Bax, its role in lipoapoptosis was also examined. Small interfering RNA-targeted knock-down of Bim attenuated both Bax activation and cell death. Collectively the data indicate that saturated FFAs induce JNK-dependent hepatocyte lipoapoptosis by activating the proapoptotic Bcl-2 proteins Bim and Bax, which trigger the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.
Human Interactions with Ecosystem Processes: Causes of Aspen Decline in the Intermountain West

Aspen is the most widely distributed tree species in North America and is the second most widely distributed tree species in the world. In the intermountain West of North America, aspen covers only a small percentage of the landscape. Despite its relative rarity, aspen is critical to the health of western landscapes. Aspen groves harbor a rich diversity of understory plants, butterflies, and birds not found in neighboring coniferous forest. Aspen also provide forage and cover for native and domestic ungulates and give us the spectacular fall vistas typical of the mountain west.
In favor of continued use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA, Depo-Provera) in adolescents.

Over the past several years evidence has been building that indicates a negative impact of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) on bone mineral density in women. The strength and consistency of this evidence culminated in the FDA’s recent action to add a “black box” warning regarding this potential side effect to the package insert of the drug. Included in the warning is mention of particular concern for use of DMPA in adolescents with the potential prospect of reduction of peak bone mass a significant predictor of osteoporosis later in life. Thus the directly relevant issue for the clinician is based on this information how to tailor a prescription of DMPA in the adolescent population. I have devoted the last 20 years to contraceptive care in adolescents and conducted research on DMPA and bone for the last decade. Based both on my clinical and research experience as well as knowledge of the scientific literature on the important and complex issues related to DMPA and bone health in very young women I advise “staying the course” and continuing prescription of DMPA. I set forth below the rationale for this position. (excerpt)
Tips on technical writing

A technical writer must keep the needs of his readers in mind. His primary purpose is to explain technical material, and a key to accomplishing this is simplicity. Factors to be concerned with are abstract words and meanings, generalization, passive description, capitalization, and hyphenation.
2010 Special Issue: The origins of social impairments in autism spectrum disorder: Studies of infants at risk

Core impairments in social and communicative behaviors are among the defining characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), making this a model syndrome for investigating the mechanisms that underlie social cognition and behavior. Current research is exploring the origins of social impairments in prospective longitudinal studies of infants who are at high risk for ASD, defined as having an older sibling with the disorder. Behavioral studies that have followed these infants through to outcomes have found that during the early months of life they are no different from typically developing infants; they are socially interested, engaged and enjoy interactions with people. By the end of the first year risk signs for later ASD can be identified though no single marker has been identified. It seems that an aggregate of risk markers together may be needed to predict ASD. Other studies have compared infants at risk for ASD to low risk controls to identify neurocognitive endophenotypes. Several differences in subtle aspects of behavior and in brain organization have been found in infants younger than 12 months, though it is not known whether these differences are also risk markers for a later ASD diagnosis. The findings from these lines of research are used to provide a new view of ASD, as a disorder defined on the basis of alterations in the developmental trajectories across multiple domains. ASD is an emergent disorder that is characterized by the loss of social communication skills in the period between 9 and 24 months. Across children the rate, timing and severity of this loss is highly variable. Future research will lead to a greater understanding of the genetic and neurocognitive mechanisms that underlie these fundamental changes in the developmental patterns of individuals with ASD.
Energy metabolism and energy-sensing pathways in mammalian embryonic and adult stem cell fate

Metabolism is influenced by age, food intake, and conditions such as diabetes and obesity. How do physiological or pathological metabolic changes influence stem cells, which are crucial for tissue homeostasis? This Commentary reviews recent evidence that stem cells have different metabolic demands than differentiated cells, and that the molecular mechanisms that control stem cell self-renewal and differentiation are functionally connected to the metabolic state of the cell and the surrounding stem cell niche. Furthermore, we present how energy-sensing signaling molecules and metabolism regulators are implicated in the regulation of stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. Finally, we discuss the emerging literature on the metabolism of induced pluripotent stem cells and how manipulating metabolic pathways might aid cellular reprogramming. Determining how energy metabolism regulates stem cell fate should shed light on the decline in tissue regeneration that occurs during aging and facilitate the development of therapies for degenerative or metabolic diseases.
Human Resource Management As Small Businesses Grow

In order to gain a perspective on the contemporary state of human resource management in smaller businesses, a total of 247 small firms were surveyed to investigate the degree and effectiveness of personnel/human resource practices currently being utilized. Using a data base of firms with less than 150 employees, three distinct size categories were devised to examine specific practices as small businesses grow in size. The results indicate that certain practices are more effective for smaller firms. In addition there is a higher level of sophistication in personnel practices than cited in the literature.
Feeding, Medical Factors, and Developmental Outcome in Premature Infants

This is a prospective, longitudinal study of premature infants investigating whether the length of time needed to reach full enteral feedings (FEF) or full nipple feedings (FNF) is related to medical complications and/or developmental outcome at 24 months corrected age. Premature infants (n=161) from three institutions with birth weights less than 1,600 grams were followed up from birth to 24 months corrected age. The infants were stratified into groups by the severity of medical complications. Bayley Scales of Infant Development were performed at 24 months corrected age. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the association between feeding milestones, medical complications, and developmental outcomes. Our results show that when controlling for birth weight and gestational age (GA), the severity of respiratory complications was significantly related to reaching FEF (p=0.024) and FNF (p=0.0014). Furthermore, when controlling for the severity of respiratory complications, GA, and socioeconomic stat...
Asymmetric linear correlations of projective planes over fields

Abstract For a projective plane over a field F , we classify all asymmetric linear correlations up to equivalence under the group of all collineations. The result is derived from the finer equivalence of bilinear forms on three-dimensional spaces.
Design SRAMs for burn-in

SRAM designers and product engineers must balance the diverse aspects involved in developing and manufacturing quality ICs. This paper describes how cost and complexity design techniques to improve burn-in, noting implications for performance, power and density. >
A novel lightwave device integration and coupling process for optical interconnects

Optical interconnects technology is considered by many researchers and system engineers as the next paradigm shift in data transport technology within a shelf of line cards or data processing boards. A continuing challenge over the past ten years has been the integration process of the laser, detector and waveguide. A major difficulty of this integration process is the optical alignment of these three components which is exacerbated by the fact that both a VCSEL and a standard PIN PD are surface emitting and surface viewing devices, respectively, while waveguides are generally fabricated parallel to the surface of the substrate. Power losses occur for different reasons in the electrical and optical domain. Power losses in the electrical domain are mainly due to the distance traveled, while the power loss in the optical domain is mostly due to light guiding (reflecting, bending, etc.). Choosing an architecture that benefits of the metal medium's advantages and the optical medium's advantages will yield a better channel. In the proposed approach the VCSEL and PIN PD are side-mounted on a sub-anchor board so that the light emission and viewing directions are both in the plane of the substrate. A liquid, photo-definable monomer is placed between the two O/E components and forms a monomer-component interface. Polymerization of the monomer film between VCSEL and PIN PD is initiated with a stripe of UV light defined by a glass mask. By inserting a small distance in the electrical domain such that the light emission, light viewing and waveguide are in the same plane eliminates the need for 45° mirrors, or alternate bending methods, and reduces the overall loss of the optical channel. In addition, the process is simple and inexpensive, making it appealing to access (and other mass produced) networking products for home and in-building communications systems. We have designed, integrated and tested prototype devices using this process. Preliminary experimental results show an average coupling efficiency of 20% and crosstalk of ≪ 27 dB.
Ultrafast Electron Diffraction of Transient [Fe(CO)4 ]: Determination of Molecular Structure and Reaction Pathway.

The temporal diffraction-difference approach of the ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) technique was used to determine the molecular structure of the transient [Fe(CO)4 ] formed during the elimination of CO ligands from [Fe(CO)5 ]. The results clearly show that the major product, up to 200 ps, is the transient [Fe(CO)4 ] which is formed in the 1 A1 state, rather than the ground 3 B2 state.
Power-efficient topology control for static wireless networks with switched beam directional antennas

Topology control problems are associated with assignment of power levels to nodes of a wireless network so that the resulting graph topology satisfies certain properties. In this paper we consider the problem of power-efficient topology control with switched beam directional antennas taking into account their non-uniform radiation pattern within the beamwidth. Previous work in the area have all assumed a uniform gain model with these antennas which renders antenna orientation insignificant as a parameter in topology control algorithms. We present algorithms that take into account a model of non-uniform gain with the objectives of minimizing the total power and maximum power to keep the network connected. We consider two cases: one where the antenna orientation is assumed given and another where the antenna orientation needs to be derived as well. For the first case, we present optimal and approximation algorithms for constructing power-efficient topologies. For the second case, we prove the problem to be NP-complete and present heuristic solutions along with approximation bounds. Through comparison of the two cases by simulation, significant reductions are shown in the maximum as well as total power required to keep the network connected for the second case, thus demonstrating the benefits of using antenna orientation as parameter in topology construction.
Physical activity participation may offset some of the negative impact of diabetes on cognitive function.

Objective Diabetes increases an individual's risk of developing dementias (eg, vascular), whereas regular physical activity has been shown to lower this risk. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine the relationships among cognitive function, exercise status, and type 2 diabetes (T2 DM) to determine whether physical activity participation offsets any of the increased risk of cognitive dysfunction frequently associated with diabetes. Measurements A total of 145 subjects, 71 controls (Con) and 74 with T2 DM (DM), were studied using 2 cognitive tests (Mini-Mental State Exam [MMSE], and the Saint Louis University Mental Status exam [SLUMS]); the Even Briefer Assessment Scale for Depression (EBAS-DEP); the Harvard Alumni Physical Activity Questionnaire (HAPAQ); the Modified Barthel Index (MBI); and fasting insulin, glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and lipid levels. Results The presence of diabetes had a negative impact on at least one measure of cognitive function (MMSE), even though such function was fairly intact in most subjects (29.3 ± 0.1 Con, 28.7 ± 0.2 DM, P Conclusions Certain types of physical activity, including light and moderate exercise, appear to be beneficial to mental function in individuals with T2 DM. Having diabetes, particularly when less well controlled, is associated with lower cognitive function scores, and physical activity participation may prevent some of the potential decline in cognition.
Using Phospho-Motif Antibodies to Determine Kinase Substrates

Phosphorylation of substrates by protein kinases regulates a myriad of cellular processes, ranging from proliferation and migration to autophagy, senescence, and apoptosis. Kinase substrate selectivity is largely dependent on the amino acid sequence surrounding the phosphorylation site; therefore, substrate-directed, phosphorylation-state-sensitive, motif-specific ("phospho-motif") antibodies represent powerful tools to identify novel kinase substrates and to investigate mechanisms of substrate phosphorylation in many signaling pathways typically associated with human malignancies. Phospho-motif antibodies are engineered to recognize proteins that contain a phosphorylated residue in the context of a specific motif. They are raised against a library of phospho-peptides comprising both the phosphorylated residue and the surrounding residues that determine kinase specificity, with degenerate residues taking up the remaining positions. Currently, several categories of phospho-motif antibody are commercially available, which may be used to specifically detect Ser, Thr, Ser/Thr, or Tyr residues phosphorylated by different protein kinase families. These antibodies are commonly used in immunoprecipitation and/or immunoblotting protocols to determine kinase-induced substrate phosphorylation. This unit describes the use of phospho-motif antibodies to elucidate the kinase(s) responsible for phosphorylating substrate proteins.
PREVALENCE OF SARCOCYSTIS SPECIES SPOROCYSTS IN WILD-CAUGHT OPOSSUMS (DIDELPHIS VIRGINIANA)

Sarcocystis sporocysts were found in intestinal scrapings from 24 (54.5%) of 44 opossums (Didelphis virginiana). The number of sporocysts varied from a few (<10,000) to 245 million. Sporocysts from 23 of 24 opossums were fed to captive budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatas), and the inocula from 21 opossums were infective, indicating the presence of Sarcocystis falcatula. Sporocysts from 24 opossums were fed to gamma-interferon-knockout (KO) or nude mice; inocula from 14 opossums were infective to mice. Sarcocystis neurona was detected in tissues of KO mice by specific staining with anti-S. neurona antibodies, and the parasite was cultured in vitro from the brains of KO mice fed sporocysts from 8 opossums. Sarcocystis speeri was identified by specific staining with anti-S. speeri antibodies in tissues of KO mice fed inocula from 8 opossums; 3 opossums had mixed S. neurona and S. speeri infections. Thus, the prevalences of sporocysts of different species of Sarcocystis in opossums were: S. falcatula 21 of 4...
New compartment model analysis of lean-mass and fat-mass growth with overfeeding.

Abstract Objectives Mathematical models of lean- and fat-mass growth with diet are useful to help describe and potentially predict the fat- and lean-mass change with different diets as a function of consumed protein and fat calories. Most of the existing models do not explicitly account for interdependence of fat-mass on the lean-mass and vice versa. The aim of this study was to develop a new compartmental model to describe the growth of lean and fat mass depending on the input of dietary protein and fat, and accounting for the interdependence of adipose tissue and muscle growth. Methods The model was fitted to existing clinical data of an overfeeding trial for 23 participants (with a high-protein diet, a normal-protein diet, and a low-protein diet) and compared with the existing Forbes model. Results Qualitatively and quantitatively, the compartment model data fit was smoother with less overall error than the Forbes model. The root means square error were 0.39, 0.93 and 0.72 kg for the new model, the Forbes model, and the modified Forbes model, respectively. Additionally, for the present model, the differences between some of the coefficients (on the cross dependence of fat and lean mass as well as on the intake diet dependence) across different diets were statistically significant ( P Conclusions Our new Dey-model showed excellent fit to overfeeding data for 23 normal participants with some significant differences of model coefficients across diets, enabling further studies of the model coefficients for larger groups of participants with obesity or other diseases.
Univocal and dialogic discourse in secondary mathematics classrooms: the case of attending to precision

Univocal discourse, characterized by its function of conveying information from one person to another, is common in mathematics classrooms but dialogic teaching aims at students coming to participate in dialogic discourse, that is, discourse functioning to generate new meaning within a community. Many mathematical practices are directed at the development and refinement of new mathematical ideas, and many mathematics educators call for collaborative sense making, so there is potential for mutual support between dialogic discourse and such practices as attending to precision. Drawing on data from five secondary mathematics classrooms, this study focused on instances of attending to precision in whole-class settings. We coded these instances based on the degree to which the discourse was univocal or dialogic. We found that the instances were predominantly univocal but that these univocal instances varied with regard to whose ideas were being transmitted—the teacher’s or a student’s. Dialogic instances were rare but we share examples in which the co-construction of meaning through discourse involved attending to precision in ways that were qualitatively different than the univocal instances. The study provides illustrations of dialogic interactions and discusses the balance between univocal and dialogic discourse that is sought within dialogic teaching. It also contributes to the field an initial analytic framework for and examples of attending to precision in secondary classrooms. We discuss implications with regard to students’ roles in secondary mathematics classroom discourse.
Mean-Reversion in the Net Discount Rate: The Evidence from the Manufacturing Sector

A historically-based net discount rate (NDR) opens the possibility of computing an award for lost future earnings without explicitly identifying or forecasting the lost stream of earnings. At the heart of this approach is the assumption that the NDR is level-stationary. Curiously, the data generating process of the NDR has not been studied. This paper shows that the NDR is a level-stationary process characterized by large shocks. The effect of a shock dissipates with time, and the NDR reverts to its long-run level in a slow and loosely structured reversion process.
The Relationship between Public and Private Information: An Experimental Economics Investigation

This study investigates the relationship between public and private information using experimental markets. The level of public disclosure is varied to examine the effect on private information consumption and the informedness of price. The experimental setting consists of a double auction security market and an information market running concurrently. After all traders received public information, the markets commenced and both the informedness of price and the amount spent on private information were determined endogenously. The results indicate that an inverse relation exists between public disclosure and private information consumption and between the informedness of price and private information consumption. The evidence also suggests that the overall informedness of traders increases with increases in the level of public disclosure. These results are consistent with the predictions of Verrecchia (1982a,b). Unlike prior studies, this study finds that, after considering the cost of information, less-informed traders earned considerably more than relatively informed traders and this was consistent over all subject groups, days, and levels of public information.
Emotional Reactions to War: What's in a Name?

Edited by Jacquelyn H. Flaskerud, RN, PhD, FAANSchool of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USAA lecture at a university continuing education class drew my interest for its...
Heavy-Ion Induced Transfer Reaction to High-J Orbital States

The importance of high-J orbitals predicted by the shell-model1 in the level structure of nuclei has been recognized for a long time. The most dramatic confirmation of these high-J orbitals is certainly the observation of islands of isomers in nuclei with proton or neutron number immediately below the major shell closure2.
Dynamic Pricing of Preemptive Service for Secondary Demand

Motivated by recent regulatory evolutions that pave the way to secondary spectrum markets, we investigate profit maximization in a loss network that accommodates calls of two classes of users: 1) primary users (PUs) and 2) secondary users (SUs). PUs have preemptive priority over SUs, i.e., when a PU arrives to the system and finds all channels busy, it preempts an SU. We assume that SU demand is sensitive to price whereas PU demand is inelastic. We study the optimal pricing policy of SUs to maximize the average profit by introducing a finite horizon discounted dynamic programming formulation. Our main contribution is to show that the optimal pricing policy depends only on the total number of users, i.e., the total occupancy. We also demonstrate that optimal prices increase with the total occupancy and show that the optimal pricing policy structure of the original system is not preserved for systems with price-sensitive PUs. Finally, we extend the results to non-preemptive loss systems and establish a connection with results obtained for such models in the literature.
Parameterized principal component analysis

Abstract When modeling multivariate data, one might have an extra parameter of contextual information that could be used to treat some observations as more similar to others. For example, images of faces can vary by age, and one would expect the face of a 40 year old to be more similar to the face of a 30 year old than to a baby face. We introduce a novel manifold approximation method, parameterized principal component analysis (PPCA) that models data with linear subspaces that change continuously according to the extra parameter of contextual information (e.g. age), instead of ad-hoc atlases. Special care has been taken in the loss function and the optimization method to encourage smoothly changing subspaces across the parameter values. The approach ensures that each observation’s projection will share information with observations that have similar parameter values, but not with observations that have large parameter differences. We tested PPCA on artificial data based on known, smooth functions of an added parameter, as well as on two real datasets with different types of parameters. We compared PPCA to PCA, sparse PCA and to independent principal component analysis (IPCA), an atlas based method that groups observations by their parameter values and projects each group using PCA with no sharing of information between groups. PPCA recovers the known functions with less error and projects the datasets’ test set observations with consistently less reconstruction error than IPCA does. In some cases where the manifold is truly nonlinear, PCA outperforms all the other manifold approximation methods compared.
Mining frequent episodes from multivariate spatiotemporal event sequences

Thanks to recent prevalence of location sensors, collecting massive spatiotemporal datasets containing moving object trajectories has become possible, providing an exceptional opportunity to derive interesting insights about behavior of the moving objects such as people, animals and vehicles. In particular, mining patterns from interdependent co-movements of objects in a group/team (such as players of a sports team, ants of a colony in search of food, and cars in a congested downtown district) can lead to the discovery of interesting patterns (e.g., offense tactics and strategies of a sports team). Various trajectory mining, and in particular frequent episode mining (FEM), approaches have been proposed to discover such patterns from trajectory datasets. However, the existing FEM approaches neither are applicable to multivariate spatial (MVS) event sequences nor consider and leverage all spatial features of the input data. In this paper, we first introduce a Spatial Apriori property which extends the well-known Apriori property to consider the spatial properties of the input data. We present a data preprocessing technique that leverages the aforementioned Spatial Apriori to reduce the search space of our problem by filtering out irrelevant events from a given MVS event sequence. Second, we present the MVS-FEM framework which efficiently discovers co-movements patterns from MVS datasets. The efficiency of our proposed solutions is evaluated using a real dataset.
Time indices of multiphasic development in genotypes of sweet cherry are similar from dormancy to cessation of pit growth.

Background and Aims The archetypical double sigmoid-shaped growth curve of the sweet cherry drupe (Prunus avium) does not address critical development from eco-dormancy to anthesis and has not been correlated to reproductive bud development. Accurate representation of the growth and development of post-anthesis ovaries is confounded by anthesis timing, fruiting-density and the presence of unfertilized and defective ovaries whose growth differs from those that persist to maturation. These factors were addressed to assess pre-anthesis and full-season growth and development of three sweet cherry cultivars, ‘Chelan’, ‘Bing’ and ‘Sweetheart’, differing primarily in seasonal duration and fruit size. Methods Volume was calculated from photographic measurements of reproductive buds, ovaries and pits at all phases of development. A population of unfertilized ovaries was produced using bee-exclusion netting to enable a statistical comparison with an open pollinated population to detect differences in size and shape between successful and failing fruit growth. Anthesis timing and fruiting-density were manipulated by floral extinction at the spur and whole-tree scales. Developmental time indices were analysed using polynomial curve fitting of log-transformed data supported by Richards and logistic functions of asymptotic growth of the pit and maturing fruit, respectively. Key Results Pre-anthesis growth began at the completion of eco-dormancy. A slight decline in relative growth rate (RGR) was observed during bud scale separation approx. −16 d from anthesis (DFA) before resumption of exponential growth to a maximum about 14 DFA. After anthesis, reduced growth of unfertilized or defective ovaries was partly discriminated from successful fruit at 5 DFA and completely at 25 DFA. Time indices of RGR inflections were similar among cultivars when adjusted for anthesis date alone, until the end of pit growth. Asymptotic growth of the pit underpinned the declining growth rate of fruit at the end of the first exponential growth phase. Duration of the subsequent expansive growth phase accounted for genotypic differences in seasonal duration and final size. Pit size and final fruit size were inversely related to fruiting-density. Conclusions Developmental differences among early, mid and late maturing cultivars were not detected until the final growth period.
Response by Hess et al to Letter Regarding Article, “Sex and Race/Ethnicity Differences in Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Counseling and Use Among Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure: Findings From the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure Program”

We appreciate Drs Dhruva and Redberg’s thoughtful letter regarding our finding that counseled women were as likely as men to proceed with primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) placement (adjusted odds ratio, 1.13; 95% confidence interval, 0.99–1.29).1 Women were indeed underrepresented in the landmark clinical trials establishing the efficacy of primary prevention ICDs. Post hoc meta-analyses of the randomized data as well as observational studies have reached divergent conclusions regarding the survival benefit of primary prevention ICDs among women compared with men, yet no significant heterogeneity in ICD benefit by sex has been demonstrated to date.2,3 Definitive randomized data likely are not forthcoming given the ethical and cost considerations surrounding a primary prevention ICD trial among women. In this setting, professional societies and especially guideline writing committees have deliberated the body of evidence and determined …
Reducing Operating Room Turnover Time for Robotic Surgery Using a Motor Racing Pit Stop Model

Operating room (OR) turnover time, time taken between one patient leaving the OR and the next entering, is an important determinant of OR utilization, a key value metric for hospital administrators. Surgical robots have increased the complexity and number of tasks required during an OR turnover, resulting in highly variable OR turnover times. We sought to streamline the turnover process and decrease robotic OR turnover times and increase efficiency. Direct observation of 45 pre-intervention robotic OR turnovers was performed. Following a previously successful model for handoffs, we employed concepts from motor racing pit stops, including briefings, leadership, role definition, task allocation and task sequencing. Turnover task cards for staff were developed, and card assignments were distributed for each turnover. Forty-one cases were observed post-intervention. Average total OR turnover time was 99.2 min (95% CI 88.0–110.3) pre-intervention and 53.2 min (95% CI 48.0–58.5) at 3 months post-intervention. Average room ready time from when the patient exited the OR until the surgical technician was ready to receive the next patient was 42.2 min (95% CI 36.7–47.7) before the intervention, which reduced to 27.2 min at 3 months (95% CI 24.7–29.7) post-intervention (p < 0.0001). Role definition, task allocation and sequencing, combined with a visual cue for ease-of-use, create efficient, and sustainable approaches to decreasing robotic OR turnover times. Broader system changes are needed to capitalize on that result. Pit stop and other high-risk industry models may inform approaches to the management of tasks and teams.