cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Communicating about marine disease: The effects of message frames on policy support

Abstract Oceans are suffering from the dual climatic pressures of warming temperatures and acidification, increasing the presence of disease risks that affect marine organisms and public health. Through a randomized field-based experiment, this study examines the effects of communicating about risks to marine organisms and public health on people’s support for policies aimed at mitigating those risks as a function of different message frames. To maximize the salience of these issues, participants were recruited from ferry passengers ( N =543) in the San Juan Islands of Washington State in the summer of 2013 and randomized to read one of four fictitious news articles detailing the increased incidence of deadly bacteria ( Vibrio ) in oysters in the Pacific Northwest. Depending on condition, the article attributed the causes to global warming or climate change and the consequences primarily to oyster health or public health—frames that recent research suggests can influence how the public responds to environmental messages. Results showed high levels of support for marine policy and high concern about the prevalence of marine disease risks across the sample (i.e., irrespective of framing condition). Analysis of individual differences suggested that participants with lower biocentric (i.e., environmental) values were more supportive of marine policy when exposed to the article highlighting consequences to oyster health from global warming, an effect that was fully mediated (or explained) by level of self-reported concern. The results demonstrate the importance of communication about marine disease in showing how subtle changes in message frames can elicit differential support for marine policy.
Nonstress and contraction stress testing of baboon fetuses

This study of six pregnant baboons at 133 to 175 days of gestation indicates that all of 26 nonstress tests (two to seven per animal) and all of eight contraction stress tests (one or two per animal) were successfully performed despite the need for sedation of the dam with ketamine.
In vivo diagnostic accuracy of high resolution microendoscopy in differentiating neoplastic from non-neoplastic colorectal polyps: a prospective study

In Vivo Diagnostic Accuracy of High-Resolution Microendoscopy in Differentiating Neoplastic from Non-Neoplastic Colorectal Polyps: A Prospective Study
On multiplicities for SL(n)

We use the strong Artin conjecture for Galois extensions of Heisenberg type to show that a cuspidal automorphic representation of SL(N)/F, forF a number field andN>2, can occur with multiplicity greater than one. We also exhibit two cuspidalL-packets (forF=Q andN prime) which are locally isomorphic for primesp different fromN, but which are disjoint atN, i.e. thatL-packets are not rigid.
Men are more likely than women to slow in the marathon.

ABSTRACTStudies on nonelite distance runners suggest that men are more likely than women to slow their pace in a marathon.PurposeThis study determined the reliability of the sex difference in pacing across many marathons and after adjusting women’s performances by 12% to address men’s greater maxima
Measurements of solar ultraviolet‐b radiation in Greece

Measurements of the ultraviolet region of the solar spectrum have been made at Argolida, location not influenced by air pollution, southeast Greece (37.5°N, 24°E), since July 1993. The data presented here show the daily and monthly variability within the ultraviolet‐B wave band and its relation to total ozone amount during the summer ‐ fall period, mainly characterized by the lowest total ozone values ever observed at the Southern Europe, since 1978.
Flight muscle development in a hemimetabolous insect

The size of the metathoracic dorsal longitudinal flight muscle (DLM) in the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus remains a constant proportion of metathoracic volume during most of nymphal life. Between the middle of the last nymphal instar and the fifth day of adult life, the DLM grows more rapidly than the metathorax, so that the ratio of DLM weight to metathoracic volume increases by a factor of 4. During this time, the DLM changes in appearance from translucent to pink, indicating an increase in mitochondrial content. Isometric twitch duration remains unchanged through late nymphal and early adult life (21 msec, onset to 50% relaxation, 25°C), as does fusion frequency (approximately 100 Hz, 25°C). During late adult life, DLM size decreases to 13% of the average for a young adult, isometric twitch duration doubles, and the DLM changes in appearance from pink to white. Since the flight motor program develops late in nymphal life and wings are produced only at the terminal molt, contraction kinetics that are characteristic of adult flight muscles appear to develop before the DLM receives the neural activity pattern for or becomes functional in flight. The appearance of adult contraction kinetics is apparently controlled by factors different from those that control increase in muscle size and mitochondrial content, since these processes are temporally separated during development.
Seasonal patterns in acute aortic diseases: US results confirm Italian findings—The author's reply

four million and is representative of Italy as a whole. The authors found significant evidence of seasonality for the total sample and subgroups of younger and older patients, males and females, hypertensives and normotensives. While seasonality was evident in all anatomic subtypes of aortic dissection (thoracic, abdominal and thoracoabdominal), there was no such evidence of seasonality in the incidence of aortic aneurysm ruptures, which constituted 40.2% of the entire cohort. In contrast, our study excluded patients with chronic aortic aneurysms thereby narrowing the confidence intervals in estimates of the magnitude of seasonality and allowing us to draw robust conclusions about seasonality in the incidence of AAD in the United States. Moreover, the magnitude of seasonality in AAD incidence in hypertensives was almost three times that of normotensives (p b 0.001 for difference). This interaction in the magnitude of seasonal variability in AAD for hypertensives versus normotensives has not been reported in previous studies.
Renal interstitial expansion in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Renal interstitial expansion in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Eighty-four patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus had studies of renal function and quantitative renal morphometry including mesangial volume fraction (Vv mes/glom ), index of arteriolar hyalinosis, percentage of globally sclerosed glomeruli (%GS), and interstitial volume fraction for total renal cortex (Vv int/T ). There was significant correlation among these four parameters, and all four structural parameters correlated with glomerular filtration rate and the log of urinary albumin excretion. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that Vv mes/glom and Vv int/T were additive, suggesting that they are partially independent. Arteriolar hyalinosis and %GS did not improve the correlations further. We hypothesize that V vmes/glom , Vv int/T , arteriolar hyalinosis, and %GS represent multiple but probably interrelated pathologic mechanisms leading to the functional disturbances of diabetic nephropathy. Longitudinal studies of patients with diabetes and studies of patients with diseases producing interstitial expansion in the absence of glomerular disease may help clarify the independent role of interstitial expansion in the kidney disease of diabetes mellitus.
Abstract 3250: Bioluminescence imaging of prostate cancer progression and response to therapy in PTEN-deficient mice

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Prostate specific deletion of PTEN function in mice has been reported to recapitulate histological progression of human prostate cancers. Here we describe an improvement on this previously characterized model of prostate cancer by incorporation of a luciferase reporter allele. Specifically, the cancer initiating event is coupled to activation of firefly luciferase from the endogenous ROSA26 promoter in the same prostate epithelial cells. Additionally, we have extensively backcrossed our model onto the albino C57BL/6J background which enhances BLI sensitivity. Consistent with previous studies, we show that progression of prostate cancer from 3-12 weeks is rapid and is correlated with an increase in bioluminescence. However, longitudinal BLI from 12-40 weeks reveals a plateau in bioluminescence signal that is correlated with a halt in cellular proliferation as evidenced by Ki67 staining at necropsy. This may be related to activation of a cellular senescence pathway as reported previously in PTEN deficient mice. We further demonstrate the utility of this model to evaluate the effects of diet induced obesity on disease progression and to monitor response to therapy. Our model may offer advantages in sensitivity and specificity of cancer detection compared to other similar approaches. This work is supported by NIH grant R21 CA137490 Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3250.
Molecular and histological responses in rat skin exposed to m-xylene.

Solvents, surfactants, cutting fluids, hydrocarbons, and oils cause skin irritation by incompletely understood mechanisms. This study examined histological and molecular changes in rodent skin caused by brief topical exposures to m-xylene. At 0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 h after 1-h exposure, skin samples were removed and analyzed for histopathological changes and interleukin-1α (IL-1α) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein levels. Histopathological changes (epidermal–dermal separation and granulocyte infiltration) and increases in IL-1α and iNOS protein expression occurred during our observation period. IL-1α levels increased by 80% immediately after exposure and iNOS levels increased about 60% 4 hours after exposure. Our study demonstrates that dermal exposure to m-xylene promotes IL-1α and iNOS production in skin and these proteins may serve as early indicators of skin irritation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 17:92–94, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.10065
Challenges for rechargeable batteries

The challenges for further development of Li rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles are reviewed. Most important is safety, which requires development of a nonflammable electrolyte with either a larger window between its lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) or a constituent (or additive) that can develop rapidly a solid/electrolyte-interface (SEI) layer to prevent plating of Li on a carbon anode during a fast charge of the battery. A high Li+-ion conductivity (σLi > 10−4 S/cm) in the electrolyte and across the electrode/electrolyte interface is needed for a power battery. Important also is an increase in the density of the stored energy, which is the product of the voltage and capacity of reversible Li insertion/extraction into/from the electrodes. It will be difficult to design a better anode than carbon, but carbon requires formation of an SEI layer, which involves an irreversible capacity loss. The design of a cathode composed of environmentally...
Gramicidin A crystals contain two cation binding sites per channel

GRAMICIDIN A, a pentadecapeptide antibiotic from Bacillus brevis, dimerises to form transmembrane channels in biological and synthetic membranes1–4. These channels are permeable to alkali cations and protons, impermeable to anions and blocked by calcium ions5–8. The high transport rate (∼107 ions s−1), moderate selectivity and simplicity of the gramicidin channel make it an attractive model for elucidating the mechanism of ion transport in biological membranes. Our previous X-ray crystallographic study showed that crystals of native gramicidin and of its complex with caesium ion contain cylindrical channels which are formed from helical dimers of gramicidin9. We also found that the binding of caesium leads to a large conformational change: the length of the channel decreases from 32 to 26 A, whereas the diameter of the cylinder formed by the peptide main chain atoms increases from about 5 to 6.8 A. We report here X-ray studies showing that the same conformational change is induced by the binding of potassium ion. Furthermore, the isomorphism of the K+-complex and Cs+-complex crystals enabled us to calculate difference Fourier projections and define the location of the ion-binding sites.
I. Cultivation of vesicular exanthema virus in vitro using pig embryo tissues.

Summary and ConclusionsA rapid, simple, and inexpensive method of propagating vesicular exanthema virus of swine was accomplished in a medium of Baker's fluid containing minced swine embryos harvested from sows in the third to the fifth week of gestation.
X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease and Connexin32

X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is caused by mutations in the gene for the gap junction protein connexin32. This protein is expressed in peripheral nerve and present in noncompacted myelin, where it likely forms channels around and across the myelin sheath. Studies in cell culture and in transgenic mice show that connexin32 mutations can cause a loss of channel function or a gain of toxic effects on myelinating Schwann cells or both, with resulting peripheral nerve degeneration.
Optimal environmental regulation of politically influential sectors with asymmetric information

Abstract Politically motivated subsidies can have undesired environmental consequences. Asymmetric information regarding firm productivity constrains the government's ability both to redistribute income and control emissions. Taking political and information constraints as given, this article characterizes a social-welfare maximizing policy. The optimal policy uses a single instrument to achieve both goals, making income-support subsidies contingent upon pollution reduction. Price variation allows the government to design contracts with countervailing incentives, potentially eliminating some firms’ information advantage.
Soil nitrogen distribution and deposition on shortgrass prairie adjacent to a beef cattle feedyard

Cattle feedyards can impact local environments through emission of ammonia and dust deposited on nearby land. Impacts range from beneficial fertilization of cropland to detrimental effects on sensitive ecosystems. Shortgrass prairie downwind from an adjacent feedyard on the southern High Plains of Texas, USA changed from perennial grasses to annual weeds. It was hypothesized that N enrichment from the feedyard initiated the cascade of negative ecological change. Objectives were to determine the distribution of soil nitrogen and estimate N loading to the pasture. Soil samples were collected from 119 locations across the pasture and soil total N (TN), nitrate-N and ammonium-N (AN) determined in the top 30 cm. Soil TN concentration decreased with distance downwind from the feedyard from 1.6 ± 0.2 g kg−1 at 75 m to 1.2 ± 0.05 g kg−1 at 582 m. Nitrate-N concentration decreased within 200 m of the feedyard and changed little at greater distances. Ammonium-N concentration decreased linearly (P < 0.001) with increasing distance from the feedyard from 7.9 ± 1.7 mg kg−1 within 75 m from the feedyard to 5.8 ± 1.5 mg kg−1 at more than 550 m from the feedyard; however, distance only explained 12% of the variability in AN concentration. Maximum nitrogen loading, from 75 to 106 m from the feedyard, was 49 kg ha−1 year−1 over 34 years and decreased with distance from the feedyard. An estimate of net dry deposition of ammonia indicated that it contributed negligibly to N loading to the pasture. Nitrogen enrichment that potentially shifted vegetation from perennial grasses to annual weeds affected soil N up to 500 m from the feedyard; however, measured organic and inorganic N beyond that returned to typical and expected levels for undisturbed shortgrass prairie.
Comparison of pallidal and subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation for advanced Parkinson's disease: results of a randomized, blinded pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus internus (GPi) and subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been reported to be effective in alleviating the symptoms of advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD). Although recent studies suggest that STN stimulation may be superior to GPi stimulation, a randomized, blinded comparison has not been reported. The present study was designed to provide a preliminary comparison of the safety and efficacy of DBS at either site. METHODS: Ten patients with idiopathic PD, L-dopa-induced dyskinesia, and response fluctuations were randomized to implantation of bilateral GPi or STN stimulators. Neurological condition was assessed preoperatively with patients on and off L-dopa and on DBS at 10 days and 3, 6, and 12 months after implantation. Patients and evaluating clinicians were blinded to stimulation site throughout the study period. Complete follow-up data were analyzed for four GPi patients and five STN patients. RESULTS: When off-L-dopa, both GPi and STN groups demonstrated a similar response, with approximately 40% improvement in Unified PD Rating Scale motor scores after 12 months of DBS. Rigidity, tremor, and bradykinesia improved in both groups. In combination with L-dopa, Unified PD Rating Scale motor scores were more improved by GPi stimulation than by STN stimulation. On-L-dopa axial symptoms were clinically improved in the GPi but not the STN group. L-Dopa-induced dyskinesia was reduced by DBS at either site, although medication requirement was reduced only in the STN group. There were no serious intraoperative complications among patients in either group. CONCLUSION: Pallidal and STN stimulation appears to be safe and efficacious for the management of advanced PD. A larger study is needed to investigate further the differences in symptom response and the interaction of L-dopa with stimulation at either site. (Neurosurgery 45:1375‐1384, 1999)
Gas carburizing of steel with furnace atmospheres formed In Situ from propane and air: Part III. Control of furnace atmosphere composition with a zirconia oxygen sensor

Gas carburizing experiments were conducted in a batch-type sealed-quench furnace using furnace atmospheres produced by the reaction of propane and air within the furnace. The air-propane ratio of the inlet gases was automatically controlled to maintain a constant oxygen potential, as measured by a zirconia oxygen sensor, within the furnace. The results of carburizing trials at 843 and 927 °C are described. The effect of inlet gas flow rate on furnace atmosphere composition and the amount of carburizing is illustrated.
Membrane hyperpolarization is not required for sustained muscarinic agonist-induced increases in intracellular Ca2+ in arteriolar endothelial cells.

Objective: Hyperpolarization modulates Ca2+ influx during agonist stimulation in many endothelial cells, but the effects of hyperpolarization on Ca2+ influx in freshly isolated arteriolar endotheli...
Wnt pathway curation using automated natural language processing: combining statistical methods with partial and full parse for knowledge extraction

Motivation: Wnt signaling is a very active area of research with highly relevant publications appearing at a rate of more than one per day. Building and maintaining databases describing signal transduction networks is a time-consuming and demanding task that requires careful literature analysis and extensive domain-specific knowledge. For instance, more than 50 factors involved in Wnt signal transduction have been identified as of late 2003. In this work we describe a natural language processing (NLP) system that is able to identify references to biological interaction networks in free text and automatically assembles a protein association and interaction map. Results: A 'gold standard' set of names and assertions was derived by manual scanning of the Wnt genes website (http://www.stanford.edu/~rnusse/wntwindow.html) including 53 interactions involved in Wnt signaling. This system was used to analyze a corpus of peer-reviewed articles related to Wnt signaling including 3369 Pubmed and 1230 full text papers. Names for key Wnt-pathway associated proteins and biological entities are identified using a chi-squared analysis of noun phrases over-represented in the Wnt literature as compared to the general signal transduction literature. Interestingly, we identified several instances where generic terms were used on the website when more specific terms occur in the literature, and one typographic error on the Wnt canonical pathway. Using the named entity list and performing an exhaustive assertion extraction of the corpus, 34 of the 53 interactions in the 'gold standard' Wnt signaling set were successfully identified (64% recall). In addition, the automated extraction found several interactions involving key Wnt-related molecules which were missing or different from those in the canonical diagram, and these were confirmed by manual review of the text. These results suggest that a combination of NLP techniques for information extraction can form a useful first-pass tool for assisting human annotation and maintenance of signal pathway databases. Availability: The pipeline software components are freely available on request to the authors. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: http://stateslab.bioinformatics.med.umich.edu/software.html
Checking the hardware-software interface in spec#

Research operating systems are often written in type-safe, high-level languages. These languages perform automatic static and dynamic checks to give basic assurances about run-time behavior. Yet such operating systems still rely on unsafe, low-level code to communicate with hardware, with little or no automated checking of the correctness of the hardware-software interaction. This paper describes experience using the Spec# language and Boogie verifier to statically specify and statically verify the safety of a driver's interaction with a network interface, including the safety of DMA.
The length effect on packed bed effective heat transfer parameters

Abstract The effective radial thermal conductivity and apparent wall heat transfer coefficient in a packed bed were determined experimentally in a laboratory-scale packed bed heat exchanger. Care was taken to use a thermo-couple support cross made out of low conductivity materials and to measure the wall temperature profile in the calming section. A new model, which took heat leaks into the calming section into account, yielded effective parameters which showed little or no systematic length effects, in contrast to all previous work using two-parameter models. The effective axial thermal conductivity, introduced in previous publications to overcome length effects, was shown to owe its high values to the inadequate experimental elimination of extraneous axial heat transfer.
Consulting communities: using audience response system (ARS) technology to assess community preferences for sustainable recreation and tourism development

Audience response system (ARS) technology (also known as “clickers”) has emerged as an educational tool that promotes active learning. This paper describes how ARS works and how it can also be used in research to assess community preferences for tourism development. A case study that used ARS technology shows how stakeholder preferences for extraction, heritage tourism and recreation within two rural mountain economies in the US west were effectively assessed. The use of ARS was backed by situation assessment procedures to determine appropriate stimulus questions probing trade-offs, perceived costs/benefits and cultural fit. A detailed series of key results measured community preferences and were made available to guide policymaking and future empirical survey work. Public meeting arrangements, publicity, structure and moderation for the ARS work is described and discussed. Evaluation of the use of ARS technology showed high levels of participant satisfaction with both the technology and the situation ass...
Evidence for paleolakes in Erythraea Fossa, Mars: Implications for an ancient hydrological cycle

There is now widespread agreement that the surface of Mars underwent some degree of fluvial modification, but there is not yet full understanding of its surface hydrological cycle and the nature of standing bodies of water, rivers, and precipitation that affected its surface. In this paper we explore Erythraea Fossa (31.5 W, 27.3 S), a graben adjacent to Holden crater, which exhibits strong evidence that it once housed a chain of three lakes, had overland water flow, and was subject to precipitation. The inlet valley, outlet valley, and fan morphologies in the paleolakes are used to qualitatively discern the hydrologic history of the paleolakes; based on topography constraints, the three basins combined once held 56 km^3 of water. Depositional features within the basins that change with drainage area and nearby valleys that start near drainage divides indicate that the paleolakes may have been fed by precipitation driven runoff. This suggests the presence of an atmosphere, at least locally, that was capable of supporting a hydrological cycle.
Translocation and assembly of mitochondrially coded Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytochrome c oxidase subunit Cox2 by Oxa1 and Yme1 in the absence of Cox18.

Members of the Oxa1/YidC/Alb3 family of protein translocases are essential for assembly of energy-transducing membrane complexes. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Oxa1 and its paralog, Cox18, are required for assembly of Cox2, a mitochondrially encoded subunit of cytochrome c oxidase. Oxa1 is known to be required for cotranslational export of the Cox2 N-terminal domain across the inner mitochondrial membrane, while Cox18 is known to be required for post-translational export of the Cox2 C-tail domain. We find that overexpression of Oxa1 does not compensate for the absence of Cox18 at the level of respiratory growth. However, it does promote some translocation of the Cox2 C-tail domain across the inner membrane and causes increased accumulation of Cox2, which remains unassembled. This result suggests that Cox18 not only translocates the C-tail, but also must deliver it in a distinct state competent for cytochrome oxidase assembly. We identified respiring mutants from a cox18Δ strain overexpressing OXA1, whose respiratory growth requires overexpression of OXA1. The recessive nuclear mutations allow some assembly of Cox2 into cytochrome c oxidase. After failing to identify these mutations by methods based on transformation, we successfully located them to MGR1 and MGR3 by comparative hybridization to whole-genome tiling arrays and microarray-assisted bulk segregant analysis followed by linkage mapping. While Mgr1 and Mgr3 are known to associate with the Yme1 mitochondrial inner membrane i-AAA protease and to participate in membrane protein degradation, their absence does not appear to stabilize Cox2 under these conditions. Instead, Yme1 probably chaperones the folding and/or assembly of Oxa1-exported Cox2 in the absence of Mrg1 or Mgr3, since respiratory growth and cytochrome c oxidase assembly in a cox18 mgr3 double-mutant strain overexpressing OXA1 is YME1 dependent.
The Blood Sugar Response of Turkey Poults to Insulin

Abstract OUR interest in the blood sugar response of poults to insulin (Snedecor, 1952) arose from studies on insulin resistance in mice (Chase et al., 1948; MacGrath and Snedecor, 1953). Birds in general frequently have been reported to be much more resistant to insulin than are mammals. This resistance, however, must be qualified depending upon dosage and criteria of response. Chen, Anderson and Maze (1945) showed that the median convulsive doses of insulin for the duck, pigeon, and canary were 157, 705, and 2,396 units per kilogram as compared with 5 for the rabbit and about 20 for mouse, rat, and dog. Roosters showed no convulsions even at 5,000 units per kilogram. Convulsions seem a less reliable criterion of insulin effect in birds than in mammals as birds frequently may succumb to insulin without showing any convulsive behavior. When blood sugar responses have been employed as a criterion for insulin effect, …
Gel Point of Whey and Egg Proteins Using Dynamic Rheological Data

The gel point temperatures of coagulation type proteins and gelation type proteins were determined by extrapolating the rapidly rising phase of the storage modulus G’back to the temperature axis. The gelation onset. temperatures of the concentration-independent proteins oval-bumin, ovotransferrin, and BSA were 81°C, 62°C, and 75°, respectively, Gelation of whey protein isolate and egg white gels, both concentration-dependent, was presumably due to disulfide bonds formed by the interactions of the concentration-independent proteins: α-lac-talbumin and β-lactoglobulin, and ovalbumin and ovotransferrin, respectively. Moreover, the incipient gel temperature of whey proteins decreased when the concentration of whey proteins increased.
A 550ps Access-Time Compilable SRAM in 65nm CMOS Technology

A fixed-configuration custom SRAM macro with a highly-scalable architecture was used as the basis for an ASIC SRAM compiler. The 256 Kb fixed-configuration uses dynamic circuitry (Pito et al., 2004) and other design techniques, and has been demonstrated in silicon to have an access time of 550 ps. The compilable SRAM extends the column mux options, and can be compiled from 2 Kb to 1.1 Mb. Novel circuitry is used for efficient redundancy implementation in both the row and column dimensions.
The development and eStadium testbeds for research and development of wireless services for large-scale sports venues

We provide an overview of two closely related testbeds, a development testbed located in the CWSA wireless lab and the unique eStadium testbed located in Purdue's Ross-Ade Football Stadium. In the development testbed we have studied such high-bandwidth, delay-sensitive applications as on-demand streaming of video clips to a large number of wireless clients. This includes optimizing video streaming performance in wireless settings and characterizing the relationship between wireless LAN channel conditions and user-perceived quality. The lessons learned in this development testbed have been scaled up into the fully operational eStadium testbed in Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium. This large-scale "Living Lab" enables measurements of football fans' use of and experiences with wireless devices to access infotainment content during Purdue football games. These measurements, some of which are summarized in this paper, have led to further research issues that are being addressed in the development lab. These include selective broadcast and multicasting of video clips to enable services to a very large number of wireless clients.
An Examination of Deception in Virtual Teams: Effects of Deception on Task Performance, Mutuality, and Trust

Research Problem: This study investigates the impact of deception on the performance of tasks in virtual teams. While the advantages of virtual teams in organizations have been well-studied, as the use of these teams expands, organizations must acknowledge the potential for negative consequences of team member actions. Research Questions: (1) How does deceptive communication influence the outcomes of virtual group collaboration? and (2) How does perceived deception impact the individual perceptions, such as perceived trustworthiness and mutuality, of the virtual team itself? Literature Review: Based on (1), the conclusion from the literature on virtual teams that trust and mutuality are vital toward team development, (2) the propositions put forth by Interpersonal Deception Theory that deception will be perceived by team members, and (3) from the conclusion from the literature on interpersonal deception and trust that deception will impact outcomes of an interaction, including trust, mutuality, and ultimately team performance, we developed a model of the impact of deception on outcomes in virtual teams. This model suggests that deceptive communication negatively impacts task performance. Deceptive communication is also expected to impact perceived deception both within and between groups. The model further proposes that perceived deception will negatively impact both perceived trustworthiness and mutuality. Methodology: Through an experiment, virtual teams of three members participated in a group decision-making task in which team members must cooperate to search a grid for enemy camps and then collaborate on a strike plan, with half the teams populated by a deceptive team member. Two-hundred seventeen subjects were recruited from courses at three universities. Five experimental sessions were conducted across two semesters in computer labs at the three universities. Following the virtual team experiment, subjects completed surveys related to key constructs. Analysis of variance and linear regression were used to test the hypotheses. Results and Discussion: Deception has a negative impact on task performance by virtual teams. Participants perceived deception when it was present. Perceived deception led to decreased mutuality and trust among team members. These findings suggest that organizations that utilize virtual teams must be aware of and prepared to deal with negative behaviors, such as deception. The generalizability of these findings is potentially limited by the use of student subjects in a laboratory setting. Future research may extend these findings by incorporating additional variables that have been found to be important to virtual team outcomes or studying the current model in a longitudinal design.
On truth-table reducibility to SAT and the difference hierarchy over NP

It is shown that polynomial-time truth-table reducibility by Boolean circuits to SAT is the same as log-space truth-table reducibility via Boolean formulas to SAT and the same as log-space Turing reducibility to SAT. It is proved that a constant number of rounds of parallel queries to SAT is equivalent to one round of parallel queries. It is shown that the infinite difference hierarchy over NP is equal to Delta p/2, and an oracle separating Delta p/2 from the class of predicates polynomial time truth-table reducible to SAT is given. >
A Markov Model for Driver Turn Prediction

This paper describes an algorithm for making short-term route predictions for vehicle drivers. It uses a simple Markov model to make probabilistic predictions by looking at a driver’s just-driven path. The model is trained from the driver’s long term trip history from GPS data. We envision applications including driver warnings, anticipatory information delivery, and various automatic vehicle behaviors. The algorithm is based on discrete road segments, whose average length is 237.5 meters. In one instantiation, the algorithm can predict the next road segment with 90% accuracy. We explore variations of the algorithm and find one that is both simple and accurate.
Robust, Practical Adaptive Control for Launch Vehicles

A modern mechanization of a classical adaptive control concept is presented with an application to launch vehicle attitude control systems. Due to a rigorous flight certification environment, many adaptive control concepts are infeasible when applied to high-risk aerospace systems; methods of stability analysis are either intractable for high complexity models or cannot be reconciled in light of classical requirements. Furthermore, many adaptive techniques appearing in the literature are not suitable for application to conditionally stable systems with complex flexible-body dynamics, as is often the case with launch vehicles. The present technique is a multiplicative forward loop gain adaptive law similar to that used for the NASA X-15 flight research vehicle. In digital implementation with several novel features, it is well-suited to application on aerodynamically unstable launch vehicles with thrust vector control via augmentation of the baseline attitude/attitude-rate feedback control scheme. The approach is compatible with standard design features of autopilots for launch vehicles, including phase stabilization of lateral bending and slosh via linear filters. In addition, the method of assessing flight control stability via classical gain and phase margins is not affected under reasonable assumptions. The algorithm s ability to recover from certain unstable operating regimes can in fact be understood in terms of frequency-domain criteria. Finally, simulation results are presented that confirm the ability of the algorithm to improve performance and robustness in realistic failure scenarios.
A description of cutaneous-subcutaneous pythiosis in fifteen dogs

Information regarding signalment, duration of clinical signs, history of swimming, results of CBC and serum biochemical analyses, biopsy findings and mycological results, together with treatments and outcome, was retrieved from the medical records of 15 dogs with a diagnosis of pythiosis made between 1985 and 1995 at the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University and the University of Florida. Most of the dogs were young (median age 22 months) and represented larger breeds (\20 kg). Lesions were characteristically chronic, ulcerated, and nodular with multiple draining tracts on the limbs, thoracic wall or perineal regions. The median duration of these lesions was 3 months with a range of 2 weeks‐ 6 months. Seven dogs had a history of swimming. Peripheral eosinophilia was observed in 14 of the dogs. Cytological evaluation of discharge, aspirates, or impression smears made from biopsy specimens revealed hyphae in five of 11 dogs (45%). Histopathological evaluation using the Gomori Methenamine-Silver (GMS) stain was the most useful test for providing presumptive evidence of cutaneous pythiosis. Immunotherapy or antifungal therapy using either amphotericin B, liposomal nystatin, itraconazole, or ketoconazole were all unsuccessful. The only dog to survive underwent amputation of the affected limb; thus, the prognosis for cutaneous pythiosis in the dog is poor.
Gambel Oak Growth Forms: Management Opportunities for Increasing Ecosystem Diversity

Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) clones have several different growth forms in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests, and these growth forms each provide unique wildlife habitat and resource values. The purposes of this note are to review published growth-form classifications for Gambel oak, provide examples of ecological effects of different growth forms, and summarize management strate- gies for promoting desired growth forms. Four different growth-form classifications have been published, which generally recognize variants of three basic forms: shrubby thickets of small-diameter stems, pole-sized clumps, and large trees. These growth forms exemplify ecological and management tradeoffs. For example, shrubby forms provide browse and cover yet produce few acorns, while larger oaks supply more acorns but offer little accessible browse or cover near the ground. Large oaks can be encouraged by thinning competing trees and protecting existing large stems from damage by prescribed fire or unauthorized fuelwood harvest. Pole-sized clumps may develop from thickets through time by self-thinning. Mechanically thinning within clumps may accelerate growth of remaining stems, depending on resource allocation within clones. Burning or cutting to stimulate sprouting sustains shrub-thicket forms.
Research highlights: towards further understanding nanoparticle–cellular membrane interactions

With the continued increase in commercial and industrial use of nanomaterials, their interactions with biological interfaces in applied and natural systems will need to be understood to improve efficacy and assess ecological risks. Model systems are currently being developed that can be used to evaluate nanomaterial or cellular characteristics affecting the mechanism of attachment and uptake. The development of methods that can provide higher throughput for surveying specific interactions is also valuable for evaluating risk and binning systems of similar behavior, which can direct further detailed examination of specific systems. The first highlighted study demonstrates the development of supported phase segregated lipid bilayers with thoroughly characterized structures, which were subsequently used for evaluating specific chemical and morphological properties contributing to observed nanoparticle–membrane interactions. The second study employs a high throughput approach for evaluating lipid bilayer–nanoparticle interactions by using arrays of bilayers on a chip. The arrays provide a large parameter space to be examined, which included changes in both solution and membrane composition. The last study demonstrates the importance of the nanoparticles' mechanical properties on uptake by the cellular membrane using a combined experimental and computational approach.
Encouraging Higher-Order Thinking in General Chemistry by Scaffolding Student Learning Using Marzano's Taxonomy.

An emphasis on higher-order thinking within the curriculum has been a subject of interest in the chemical and STEM literature due to its ability to promote meaningful, transferable learning in students. The systematic use of learning taxonomies could be a practical way to scaffold student learning in order to achieve this goal. This work proposes the use of Marzano’s Taxonomy of Learning. Because it offers a functional way to distinguish lower from higher-order thinking, the taxonomy is particularly useful to instructors interested in helping students develop these skills. We outline and provide examples of how it was used in constructing Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), class activities, and assessments for a first semester general chemistry course. Preliminary observations of the impact of this methodology on student learning are presented.
Nonadherence to HIV Treatment: Implications for Health Educators

Abstract Combination antiretroviral therapies can improve the immune system and decrease mortality among individuals infected with HIV. Treatment advances over the past few years have raised a number of issues for those living with HIV, including adhering to difficult medication regimens. The promises of new treatments will not be realized if individuals do not adhere strictly to medications. It is vital that health educators keep pace with developments in the AIDS field and be aware of the realities of medical treatments for HIV disease. This article describes steps to help health educators identify and assess the problem of nonadherence to HIV treatment. It is critical that health educators have a good understanding of factors that influence the ability of infected individuals to be adherent. Guidelines for developing successful adherence-promoting programs are offered.
Assessment and Management of Depression in Cardiac Rehabilitation Patients

The relationship between depression and coronary heart disease (CHD) is well documented (1). Relative to the primary care setting, in which the prevalence is 5-9% (2), depression is highly prevalent in cardiac patients, with estimates ranging from 15 to more than 40% (3). Less is known about the prevalence of depression in patients enrolled in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs, but a recent study of patients entering a phase II program found that approximately 26% of patients met diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder (4).
Abstract 483: Non-redundant and Opposing Roles of Group X and Group V Secretory Phospholipase A2s on Pancreatic Beta-cell Function

Background: Group X and group V secretory phospholipase A2s (GX and GV sPLA2s) potently release arachidonic acid (AA) from the plasma membrane of intact cells. AA is an activator of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) by β-islet cells. However, the AA metabolite prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a known inhibitor of GSIS. Both GX and GV sPLA2s are expressed in mouse pancreatic islet cells. We previously demonstrated that GX sPLA2 negatively regulates GSIS by a PGE2-dependent mechanism. In this study we investigated whether GV sPLA2 similarly regulates GSIS. Methods and Results: GSIS was measured in pancreatic islet cells isolated from WT and GV sPLA2-deficient (GV KO) mice. To complement these studies, GSIS was also assessed in vitro using MIN6 pancreatic beta cell lines with or without GV sPLA2 overexpression or silencing. In marked contrast to our findings in GX KO mice, GSIS was significantly decreased in islets isolated from GV KO mice compared to WT mice. Similarly, there was a significant decrease ...
Weakening mechanisms imposed on California’s levees under multiyear extreme drought

California is currently suffering from a multiyear extreme drought and the impacts of the drought are anticipated to worsen with climate change. The resilience of California’s critical infrastructure such as earthen levees under drought conditions is a major concern that is poorly understood. California maintains more than 21,000 km of urban and nonurban levees which protect dry land from floods and deliver two-thirds of the state’s drinking water. Many of these levees are currently operating under a high failure risk condition. This essay argues that California’s protracted drought can further threaten the integrity of these already at-risk levee systems through the imposition of several thermo-hydro-mechanical weakening processes. Pertinent facts and statistics regarding California’s drought and current status of its levees are presented. Lessons from previous catastrophic levee failures and major damages which occurred under similar events are discussed. Weakening processes such as soil-strength reduction, soil desiccation cracking, land subsidence and surface erosion, and microbial oxidation of soil organic carbon are comprehensively evaluated to illustrate the adverse impacts that the ongoing California drought can have on levees. This essay calls for further research in light of these potential drought-induced weakening mechanisms to support adaptation and mitigation strategies to possibly avert future levee failures. These weakening processes can threaten any drought-stricken infrastructure interfacing with soil, including embankments, roads, bridges, building foundations, and pipelines.
A two-sided fractional conservation of mass equation

Abstract A two-sided fractional conservation of mass equation is derived by using left and right fractional Mean Value Theorems. This equation extends the one-sided fractional conservation of mass equation of Wheatcraft and Meerschaert. Also, a two-sided fractional advection-dispersion equation is derived. The derivations are based on Caputo fractional derivatives.
Repurposing exosomes: The (magnetic) force awakens

Exosomes, membrane-bound vesicles that are actively secreted by cells, present new opportunities for detecting and tracking cancers. They offer advantages as possible biomarkers of cancer: high abundance (1 mL of blood contains >109 vesicles but only 1 to 10 circulating tumor cells), prolonged
Comparability of dominance indices in captive pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina)

Frequencies of five agonistic behaviors were recorded in a captive group (n = 11) of pigtail macaques (Macaca nemestrina) at the Chicago Zoological Park (Brookfield Zoo). The data were used to construct rank orders according to three procedures. One of the procedures considered dyadic factors in assigning ranks, the other procedures did not. The first procedure was found to be the most reliable and to predict the results of the second and third procedures better than they predicted themselves. Furthermore, inclusion of data from infant monkeys produced serious distortions in the two nondyadic procedures, but not in the dyadic one.