cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating crisis perturbations on urban mobility using adaptive reinforcement learning

Abstract The objective of this study is to propose and test an adaptive reinforcement learning model that can learn the patterns of human mobility in a normal context and simulate the mobility during perturbations caused by crises, such as flooding, wildfire, and hurricanes. Understanding and evaluating human mobility patterns, such as destination and trajectory selection, can inform emerging congestion and road closures raised by disruptions in emergencies. Data related to human movement trajectories are scarce, especially in the context of emergencies, which places a limitation on applications of existing urban mobility models learned from empirical data. Models with the capability of learning the mobility patterns from data generated in normal situations and which can adapt to emergency situations are needed to inform emergency response and urban resilience assessments. To address this gap, this study creates and tests an adaptive reinforcement learning model that can predict the destinations of movements, estimate the trajectory for each origin and destination pair, and examine the impact of perturbations on humans’ decisions related to destinations and movement trajectories. Employing millions of trajectory data from INRIX, the application of the proposed model is shown in the context of Houston and the flooding scenario caused by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017. The results show that the model can achieve more than 76% precision and recall at the model learning stage. The mean percentage error of the travel distance in predicted trajectories is 4.29%, compared to the travel distances in empirical data. In addition, predicted density of vehicles in grid cells are negatively associated with the traffic speed on road segments and inundation intensity in grid cells during the flooding. The results from the simulation further show that the model could predict traffic patterns and congestion resulting from urban flooding. The outcomes of the analysis demonstrate the capabilities of the model for analyzing urban mobility during crises, which can inform the public and decision-makers about the response strategies and resilience planning to reduce the impacts of crises on urban mobility.
Anterior Striatal Lesions are Associated with Aiming Neglect After Right Brain Stroke (P3.228)

Objective: To determine whether spatial-motor Aiming bias is predominant in neglect due to lesions affecting subcortical nuclei/white matter. Background: Spatial neglect after right stroke causes functional disability due to asymmetric perception and attention, but asymmetric spatial Aiming (failure to move or act leftward, or directional hypokinesia) can also increase the risk of falls, accidents and long-term skilled placement. Our research group reported that prism adaptation therapy, which specifically improves directional hypokinesia, is more effective in patients with frontal cortical lesions (Chen et al. 2014). However, many patients with spatial neglect have subcortical strokes, and we need to understand whether these brain lesions induce Aiming errors in humans, as they do in animals. Design/Methods: We retrospectively identified 16 brain images in consecutive right subcortical stroke patients (6 women, mean age 66.6, mean education 13.2) with spatial neglect on the Behavioral Inattention Test-conventional (mean 80.3). Clinical brain MRI or CT, mapped using MRIcron, were classified categorically. Results: 5 of 16 subjects had right Aiming bias (Garza et al., 2008). Overlap imaging revealed common lesion sites of the head of the caudate, putamen, internal capsule and periventricular white matter. Compared with 11 subjects who lacked right Aiming bias, subtraction analysis with minimum threshold of 3 subjects revealed lesions in caudate head, anterior putamen, and anterior limb of internal capsule. We identified more posterior subcortical lesions in subjects without Aiming bias. The rightward Aiming bias group tended to have larger stroke volume (43.13 CC, range 10.13 to 102.14 vs 16.64 CC, range 2.62 to 42.06, p value 0.056). Conclusions: These data support that subcortical lesions of the right hemisphere produce neglect. A subset of these patients, who had anterior, striatal lesions, demonstrated Aiming bias. Further research is required to confirm the association of striatal lesions and spatial Aiming bias in subcortical neglect. Study Supported by: NIH, NIDILRR, and the Kessler Foundation Disclosure: Dr. Thomas has nothing to disclose. Dr. Caulfield has nothing to disclose. Dr. Barrett has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with emedicine/WebMD.
The Virtual Guru and Beyond: the Changing Role of Teacher in North Indian Classical Music

This project, which encompasses both written and performed aspects, is an exploration of the North Indian classical music tradition as it is taught in twenty-first century California, and a de-exoticization of a musical style that most Americans are unacquainted with. A brief overview of the basic theory, history, and practice of North Indian classical music is followed by a comparison of oral and written musical traditions. A specific composition from the North Indian classical tradition is included as an example of the form and how that form is transmitted. Emerging modes of transmission include multimedia and network technologies; their use, and their limitations, are investigated, along with deeper questions of pedagogical utility.
In Search of Universal Parametric Correlations for Wind Waves

A large number of wave and wind data recorded from eight NOMAD buoys in the Great Lakes during 1981 were used to examine correlations of wind wave parameters. The results show no precise universal relations among the parameters. The only correlation that shows a universal behavior is that of nondimensional energy versus nondimensional peak-energy frequency.
Controlling the American Community Survey to intercensal population estimates

The US Census Bureau has proposed the use of demographic projections as population controls for the American Community Survey at a fine level of geographic and demographic stratification. These projections are known to be imperfect. Bias and variance of post-stratification estimators with imperfect population controls at various levels of aggregation are considered. The bias and variance are computed with respect to the “model” (including data generation and demographic projection) or with respect to the “design” (including coverage, sampling, response and demographic projection). Bias and variance depend in a complex way on the interactions of demographic projection errors with undercoverage error and nonresponse. Numerical examples illustrate that in the presence of imperfect demographic projections, control at higher levels of aggregation may be better in terms of bias than control at a fine level of post-stratification.
Example: Two Servers

In this Chapter we will go through some of the computations discussed in Chapter 8. We will use the same data as in Chapter 7, except now c = 2, so we may compare the result of increasing the number of servers from c = 1 to c = 2. At the end of Chapter 7 we concluded that the system was too congested and we suggested adding another server. In this chapter we will see what happens when we do add another identical server.
Is awareness of the ability to forget (or to remember) critical for demonstrating directed forgetting

Abstract Directed forgetting magnitude increases when participants use forgetting strategies (Foster & Sahakyan, 2011). Furthermore, intentional forgetting ability may depend on memory monitoring if active engagement in the task is motivated by awareness of this ability. Accordingly, across four experiments, we investigated whether people judged that they could engage in intentional forgetting by measuring the sensitivity of list-level, or global, judgments of learning (JOLs). Participants studied two lists of words: List 1 was cued to be forgotten or remembered, but List 2 was always cued to be remembered. JOLs for both lists were collected under contexts of actual forget or remember cues (single-cue groups; Experiments 1, 2, and 4) or hypothetical remember and forget cues (contrasted group; Experiments 3 and 4). Sensitivity to directed forgetting costs was most evident when JOLs were made in close temporal proximity, suggesting that beliefs about costs emerge from contrasting the cues. Sensitivity to directed forgetting benefits depended on (a) List 2 study and (b) beneficial influence that forgetting List 1 had on List 2. Also, awareness of directed forgetting rarely coincided with actual directed forgetting effects. These results suggest that intentional forgetting does not depend on awareness of the ability to forget.
Matters of Life and Death: Making Moral Theory Work in Medical Ethics and the Law

Acknowledgments vii One: Introduction 1 PART ONE: THE APPROACH OF USING GENERALLY VALID RULES Two: The Importance of Generally Valid Rules in Implementing Moral Principle 11 Three: The Absence of a Moral Distinction between Treatment Withdrawal and Assisted Suicide 24 Four: The Distinction between Treatment Withdrawal and Assisted Suicide as a Generally Valid Way to Distinguish between Morally Justified and Morally Unjustified Deaths 53 PART TWO: AVOIDING PERVERSE INCENTIVES Five: The Implications for Practice of a Policy's Perverse Incentives 83 Six: Underlying Moral Principle Permits a Limited Legal Obligation for Pregnant Wowen to Accept Life-Saving Treatment for Their Fetuses 91 Seven: The Problems with a Legal Duty for Pregnant Wowen Because of Perverse Incentives 113 PART THREE: THE "TRAGIC CHOICES" MODEL Eight: Avoiding Explicit Trade-offs through Implicit Choices 123 Nine: Limitations of the "Futility" Concept in Medical Treatment Decisions 132 Ten: Futility as a Way to Make "Tragic Choices" 153 Conclusion 167 Notes 171 Index 225
Integrating Internet Resources into the Science Classroom: Teachers' Perspectives

This paper presents teachers' perspectives on the impact of Internet usage on their teaching practices. Semi-structured interviews with ten teachers and two identical on-line surveys were used to collect data from teacher participants in the West Virginia K-12 RuralNet Project. Questions were directed toward teachers' understandings of Internet resources, the development of collaborative relationships and the use of investigative projects in classrooms. Teacher enthusiasm for benefits of the information highway is mingled with frustrations with the nature of the Internet medium and constraints within schools.
Notchless T cell maturation

Notch is heavily involved in T cell lineage commitment . . . or is it? New data indicates that neither CD4 nor CD8 cell maturation is Notch1-dependent, whereas Notch1 is critical for earlier steps in T cell development.
An Outcome Measure for Social Goals of Inclusion

Teachers in rural areas are finding that more and more special needs children are being included in their K-12 classrooms to comply with the mandate for a free and appropriate public education even...
Influence in the United States Senate

Interpersonal influence is an important, yet difficult to measure factor mediating legislative outcomes in the United States Congress. Building on theories that conceptualize a legislator's influence as an individual property, I cast influence in a relational framework, recognizing that influence is exercised through legislators’ social and political networks. I develop a novel measure of legislative influence using temporal patterns in bill cosponsorship data as an instrument to infer a latent network of influence relationships between legislators. I then validate the measure of legislative influence I derive from these networks in several contexts. For example, scholars have observed a decrease in the power of committee chairs relative to party leadership over time, yet existing quantitative measures of interpersonal influence do not agree with these findings at a micro level. I find that my measure performs like an effective measure of interpersonal influence in Congress.
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy of Graphene

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy (STS) are powerful tools that can reveal the intrinsic properties of the masslesss Dirac fermions in graphene. In particular in the presence of a magnetic field STS gives direct access to the unique sequence of quantized Landau levels providing evidence of the chiral nature of the Dirac fermions and their ultrarelativistic spectrum. A twist between graphene layers gives rise to moire patterns viewed in STM and to Van Hove singularities in the density of states obtained with STS, which enables direct comparison between structure and electronic properties. STM/STS in graphene on SiO2 provide valuable information about trapped charges, ripples, and other defects. Furthermore, STM can be used to manipulate graphene at nanometer scale.
Effects of rhodamine 6G on the mitochondrial ultrastructure of mouse spermatocytes.

Effects of rhodamine 6G on spermatocyte mitochondria were assessed in BALB/c mice in vivo. Four groups of mice were given rhodamine 6G doses of 0.0, 0.3 and 0.5 and 0.8 mg.kg-1.d-1 i.p. for 5 days. On the 5th day after the last day of dye administration, the mice were killed and testicular tissue was prepared for electron microscopy. Exposure to rhodamine 6G resulted in dose-dependent effects, primarily intracristal expansion of mitochondria.
Interpreting Documentary Sources on the Early History of the Congo Free State: The Case of Ngongo Luteta's Rise and Fall

This paper considers an under-used and under-discussed archive of unpublished documentary sources that concern the rise and fall of an eastern Congolese warlord, Ngongo Luteta, during the late nineteenth century. It argues that Africanist historians not only need to pay greater attention to unpublished documentary sources - the weight of methodological discussion usually orients around oral sources - but also to treat them with the same interpretive rigor as oral sources. The argument is demonstrated by discussing the existing studies of Ngongo Luteta, which tend to focus on oral fieldwork even while they often employ documentary sources, and, then, pointing to some interpretive strategies for unpublished documentary sources that suggests a more complicated history of the interactions between Ngongo Luteta and the emergent Congo Free State. Resume : Cet article prend en consideration un fond d'archive sous-utilise et sous-debattu de sources documentaires inedites concernant la montee et la chute d'un seigneur de la guerre de l'Est Congo, Ngongo Luteta, a la fin du XIXe siecle. L'on affirme que les historiens africains non seulement devraient etre plus attentifs
Characterization of headache after traumatic brain injury.

Background: Headache is a common and persistent symptom following traumatic brain injury (TBI). Headaches following TBI are defined primarily by their temporal association to injury, but have no de...
Testing visual short-term memory: Simultaneous versus sequential presentations

Two experiments testing immediate ordered recall are presented; in these experiments, subjects engaged in repetitive speech (“articulatory suppression”) during a visual presentation in order to prevent auditory recoding of the stimuli. In both experiments, a simultaneous presentation produced results that suggested the use of visual short-term memory, whereas a sequential presentation did not. In Experiment 1, visual confusion errors occurred more often than would be expected by chance for a simultaneous presentation but not for a sequential presentation. In Experiment 2, recall from visual short-term memory was expected to suffer more when subjects wrote a prefix than when they spoke a prefix; this effect occurred for a simultaneous presentation but not for a sequential presentation. These results suggest that existence of a visual short term store that retains a simultaneous presentation but not a sequential presentation.
Nucleolar Dominance of the Y Chromosome in Drosophila melanogaster

The rDNA genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase I to make structural RNAs for ribosomes. Hundreds of rDNA genes are typically arranged in an array that spans megabase pairs of DNA. These arrays are the major sites of transcription in growing cells, accounting for as much as 50% of RNA synthesis. The repetitive rDNA arrays are thought to use heterochromatic gene silencing as a mechanism for metabolic regulation, since repeated sequences nucleate heterochromatin formation in eukaryotes. Drosophila melanogaster carries an rDNA array on the X chromosome and on the Y chromosome, and genetic analysis has suggested that both are transcribed. However, using a chromatin-marking assay, we find that the entire X chromosome rDNA array is normally silenced in D. melanogaster males, while the Y chromosome rDNA array is dominant and expressed. This resembles “nucleolar dominance,” a phenomenon that occurs in interspecific hybrids where an rDNA array from one parental species is silenced, and that from the other parent is preferentially transcribed. Interspecies nucleolar dominance is thought to result from incompatibilities between species-specific transcription factors and the rDNA promoters in the hybrid, but our results show that nucleolar dominance is a normal feature of rDNA regulation. Nucleolar dominance within D. melanogaster is only partially dependent on known components of heterochromatic gene silencing, implying that a distinctive chromatin regulatory system may act at rDNA genes. Finally, we isolate variant Y chromosomes that allow X chromosome array expression and suggest that the large-scale organization of rDNA arrays contribute to nucleolar dominance. This is the first example of allelic inactivation in D. melanogaster.
Maximal multiplicities in cocharacter sequences

If A is a p.i. algebra, mn(A) is the maximum multiplicity of the Sn irreducible characters in the nth cocharacter of A. We prove that if 1∈A, then mn(A) is asymptotic to a polynomial and we compute the degree of this polynomial for the verbally prime p.i. algebras.
Use of Fungal Blood Cultures in an Academic Medical Center

We studied the use of fungal blood cultures in our hospital. They added little compared to routine culture results, but clinicians ordered them for sicker patients, when facing diagnostic uncertainty, or after prior candidemia. We need a practical guideline for when to order fungal blood cultures.
Meson decays in an effective perturbative QCD model

Abstract In a continuation of the examination of an effective perturbative QCD approach to some low-energy phenomena of nuclear and particle physics, we consider the decays of mesons into two other mesons. We include S-state and P-state (excited) mesons of the standard quark model description of mesons. Simple effective propagators are used for the colored vector (e.g. gluon-like) boson and the results are compared to experiment.
Urethral adenocarcinoma associated with urethral diverticulum in a patient with progressive voiding dysfunction

Urethral adenocarcinoma associated with urethral diverticulum is a rare condition that requires a high index of suspicion to ensure early diagnosis and appropriate therapy. The development of urethral stenosis in a patient with a urethral diverticulum warrants early biopsy to rule out a malignant lesion.
High rate space frequency block codes for next generation 802.11 WLANs

Achieving higher link rates in support of newer services and increasing range are the two main goals for next generation wireless LAN networks. This work primarily contributes to a high rate solution, based on a novel extension to the rate-1 space-frequency block code (SFBC) design in L. Shao et al. (Dec. 2003) to full rate case. To further improve performance without increasing complexity, we propose unequal power allocation at the transmitter with no requirement of channel knowledge. Compared with standard 802.11a transmitter which uses convolutional code with a single transmit antenna and antenna selection diversity among 2 receive antennas with soft Viterbi decoding, we show that our HR-SFBC code with 2 transmit antenna not only doubles the throughput (as expected) but also provides additional link margin (and hence improves range).
A case study of Congressional hostility to agency public relations: The Federal Reserve and Senator Heflin, 1922

Abstract This is an historical case study of one US Senator's effort to reduce the public information activities of a federal agency. In 1922, Senator Thomas Heflin, an opponent of the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank, took especial umbrage at the Bank's use of public relations to reply to his own attacks on it. This is an example of a politician trying to muzzle government public relations regardless of fairness or reciprocity.
Response to Levodopa Treatment in Dopa-Responsive Dystonia

Background Dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) is similar to Parkinson disease in that both disorders have impaired dopamine synthesis and respond to levodopa treatment. Dopa-responsive dystonia differs in that dopamine storage is intact in contrast to Parkinson disease in which it is markedly reduced. Objective To examine the short- and long-duration responses to levodopa dosing in subjects with DRD. Methods The response to brief infusions of levodopa was examined in 4 subjects with DRD and the effects of withdrawal of levodopa for 3 to 7 days studied in the 3 subjects receiving long-term levodopa therapy. Motor function was measured with tapping speed, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor score, and global dystonia score. Results The short-duration response to levodopa dosing seems to develop more slowly and persists longer in subjects with DRD than in subjects with Parkinson disease. Withdrawal of levodopa leads to a gradual decline in tapping speed and reemergence of dystonia over several days, similar to the rate of decay of motor function in Parkinson disease. The short- and long-duration responses were not clearly differentiated in DRD. Conclusions This pilot study suggests that retained dopamine storage in DRD may prolong the short-duration response and blur the distinction of the short- and long-duration responses. The decline in motor function in DRD on withdrawal of long-term levodopa therapy resembles that in Parkinson disease, suggesting that a long-duration response, if it exists in DRD, is unrelated to dopamine storage.
The incidence of recurrence of leukemia in donor cells after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Abstract A total of 243 patients with acute leukemia received a marrow graft from a donor of the opposite sex. Seventy-five patients subsequently relapsed, and specimens of the recurrent leukemia cells were available for cytogenetic analysis in 54. Three relapses were in donor-type cells. Four patients whose relapses were in host-type cells showed a cytogenic abnormality that differed from the original leukemic clone. We conclude that a ‘new’ leukemia in donor cells, and possibly in host cells, constitutes a small but significant fraction of recurrent leukemia after marrow grafting.
Do spontaneous thoughts mediate the effect of affect intensity on attitude formation and behavioural intention

Subjects who were classified as high or low on the affect intensity measurement (AIM) scale were exposed to either an emotional or a non-emotional version of a public service advertisement concerning child abuse. The results showed that high A1 subjects engaged in a greater number of spontaneous thoughts (cognitive operations) only when exposed to the emotional advertising appeal; and that cognitive operations which involved personalizing, emotional and globalizing thoughts served as the process through which affect intensity influenced attitude and behavioural intention formation. The implications of these findings for advertising researchers and marketing practitioners are also discussed.
ABSOLUTE GAMMA-RAY DOSIMETRY BY RECOIL ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY.

The difficulties associated with the measurement of continuous gamma-ray spectra can be overcome by a new absolute dosimetry method which does not require the use of other detectors or of radiation standards.
Measurement of methylmalonic acid in urine filter paper specimens by gas chromatography.

Methylmalonic acidemia is an inherited metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of methylmalonyl CoA mutase activity due either to a defect of the apoenzyme or to a defect in the metabolism of its B,, coenzyme. As a result of this deficiency methylmalonic acid (MMA) accumulates in blood and urine. The major clinical findings include recurrent metabolic acidosis, hyperammonemia and mental retardation. If treated early, these symptoms may be prevented. Routine screening for methylmalonic aciduria among newborns has been performed in the Massachusetts Metabolic Disorders Program for the past 12 years [ 11. Filter paper urine specimens collected and submitted by the parents when the infants are 3-4 weeks of age are examined by unidimensional paper chromatography and a location reagent sensitive to MMA [2]. Since other organic acids may have similar chromatographic characteristics as MMA, it is important to confirm its identity. Several methods have been described for the specific determination of urinary MMA. They include calorimetry [3] and gas chromatography (GC) [4-91. In some of these methods MMA is prepurified by thin layer chromatography, ion-exchange resins and/or Sephadex gel filtration. This requires large amounts of urine for the accurate determination of small quantities of MMA. In the GC procedure described by Millar and Lorentz [4], however, MMA is directly extracted from urine and measured as its butyl ester. We have modified this latter method and adapted it for use with urine specimens impregnated into filter paper.
Can elevated CO2 modify regeneration from seed banks of floating freshwater marshes subjected to rising sea-level?

Higher atmospheric concentrations of CO2 can offset the negative effects of flooding or salinity on plant species, but previous studies have focused on mature, rather than regenerating vegetation. This study examined how interacting environments of CO2, water regime, and salinity affect seed germination and seedling biomass of floating freshwater marshes in the Mississippi River Delta, which are dominated by C3 grasses, sedges, and forbs. Germination density and seedling growth of the dominant species depended on multifactor interactions of CO2 (385 and 720 μl l−1) with flooding (drained, +8-cm depth, +8-cm depth-gradual) and salinity (0, 6% seawater) levels. Of the three factors tested, salinity was the most important determinant of seedling response patterns. Species richness (total = 19) was insensitive to CO2. Our findings suggest that for freshwater marsh communities, seedling response to CO2 is species-specific and secondary to salinity and flooding effects. Elevated CO2 did not ameliorate flooding or salinity stress. Consequently, climate-related changes in sea level or human-caused alterations in hydrology may override atmospheric CO2 concentrations in driving shifts in this plant community. The results of this study suggest caution in making extrapolations from species-specific responses to community-level predictions without detailed attention to the nuances of multifactor responses.
Continuous program improvement: a project to automate record-keeping for accreditation

Preparing for an accreditation visit is generally viewed as a huge ask. The new accreditation guidelines for Information Technology (IT) suggest that accreditation should not be viewed as a discrete event. With an emphasis on outcomes, assessment, and continuous improvement, the guidelines seek to encourage IT departments to look at accreditation as a continuous process; an iteration of data collection, analysis, and change. To that end, the IT Department at Clayton State University has developed a prototype system that maps the department's outcomes and course objectives to ABET-CAC's outcomes for IT. Student assignments are mapped to course objectives and program outcomes. Students submit their work for assessment via the web. Assessment metadata is extracted and used to revise individual courses and the program as a whole. To develop this system, students in database, ecommerce, programming, and quality assurance courses teamed with faculty to design and implement a prototype. The initial design was described in an earlier paper. Here, the development process and the prototype are described and a SQL script is provided so that other IT departments can create their own systems, benefiting from the work completed.
The effect of previous d-amphetamine treatment on the disposition and lethality of fenfluramine in the rat

In an earlier study, it was found that a 15-day ip postfeeding session d-amphetamine treatment rendered an apparent “tolerance” to the feed intake suppressant effects of fenfluramine. The purpose of the present study was to determine if such d-amphetamine treatment altered the disposition of fenfluramine in a way which might account for this decrement in the feed intake suppressant effect of fenfluramine. In addition, the effect of d-amphetamine on fenfluramine toxicity was also examined in an attempt to further characterize and correlate fenfluramine dispositional changes. It was found that plasma and, to some extent, brain concentrations of fenfluramine were elevated in the d-amphetamine-treated rats as compared to a saline control group. The acute, ip LD50 for fenfluramine in d-amphetamine-treated rats was 68 mg/kg (95% CI = 64.8 to 71.4), a value significantly lower than that observed in the saline-treated animals (97 mg/kg; 95% CI = 93.3 to 100.9). The overall results of this study suggest that the anorectic tolerance conferred toward fenfluramine by previous subchronic treatment with d-amphetamine does not result from decreased plasma or brain concentrations of fenfluramine. In fact, such concentrations are increased by prior d-amphetamine treatment, and this increase may in part account for the increased lethality of fenfluramine observed in these animals.
Review: Anti-infectives Echinocandin lipopeptide antifungal agents: New agents and recent chemical modification studies

The search for new and effective antifungal agents has been intensified by the increase in the incidence of opportunistic infections due to immunological diseases and aggressive immunosuppressive chemotherapy. Natural products have provided several novel leads in this field. Of these the echinocandin lipopeptides are of special interest due to their fungicidal properties and low toxicity. Their mode of action uniquely targets fungal cell wall biosynthesis by inhibiting the production of β-(1,3)-D-glucan, an essential cell wall component. Echinocandin B (ECB) consists of a cyclic hexapeptide whose N-terminus is acylated with linoleic acid. Other natural products of this class have closely related structures with some modification of the cyclic peptide and/or the N-acyl fatty acid chain. Although these natural products share excellent antifungal activity, especially against Candida albicans, and low toxicity, further improvements in therapeutic and solubility properties were sought through chemical modifica...
Comparison of electron-transfer rates for metal- versus ring-centered redox processes of porphyrins in monolayers on Au(111).

The standard electron-transfer rate constants (k0) are measured for redox processes of Fe versus Zn porphyrins in monolayers on Au(111); the former undergoes a metal-centered redox process (conversion between FeIII and FeII oxidation states) whereas the latter undergoes a ring-centered redox process (conversion between the neutral porphyrin and the π-cation radical). Each porphyrin contains three meso-mesityl groups and a benzyl thiol for surface attachment. Under identical solvent (propylene carbonate)/electrolyte (1.0 M Bu4NCl) conditions, the ZnII center has a coordinated Cl− ion when the porphyrin is in either the neutral or oxidized state. In the case of the Fe porphyrin, two species are observed—a low-potential form (El0 ≈ −0.6 V) wherein the metal center has a coordinated Cl− ion when it is in either the FeII or FeIII state and a high-potential form (Eh0 ≈ +0.2 V) wherein the metal center undergoes ligand exchange upon conversion from the FeIII to FeII states. The k0 values observed for all of the ...
Herbert Simon and the GSIA: Building an interdisciplinary community

This article explores Herbert Simon's attempts to build Carnegie Tech's Graduate School of Industrial Administration into a center for interdisciplinary social research. It shows that despite the pressures toward disciplinary specialization created by the rapid growth of the postwar social sciences, there were strong countercurrents supporting interdisciplinary work. Support for interdisciplinary work came from a network of powerful new patrons that were interested in transforming social science into behavioral science and that supported mathematical, behavioral-functional analysis whatever the topic of study. These patrons deliberately defined their goals in terms of solving problems, not building disciplines, and the networks of advisory committees they created enabled certain entrepreneurial researchers, such as Simon, to exert influence across a range of fields and institutions.
A lattice algorithm dual to the extended inverse QR algorithm

Abstract This paper presents a new lattice algorithm dual to the extended Inverse QR (IQR) algorithm recently derived by the authors. The original IQR and our extended IQR algorithms are transversal filter algorithms. We found that by assuming a spatial displacement property on the initial correlation matrix of reference data consistent with a time-shifting property of reference data stored in taps of a transversal filter, we could develop a fast version of the extended IQR algorithm. This fast IQR algorithm turns out to have a lattice filter structure instead of a transversal filter structure. Whereas the extended IQR algorithm requires O(M2p) computations per iteration, its fast version called a new hybrid QR/LLS algorithm requires O(Mp2p) computations per iteration, where M, the number of taps, is usually much greater than p, the number of channels. This new hybrid QR/LLS algorithm differs from Regalia and Bellanger's hybrid QR/LLS algorithm, because the former is dual to the IQR algorithm and is based on the use of variance-normalized a priori backwards prediction errors, while the latter is dual to the QR algorithm and is based on the use of variance-normalized a posteriori backwards prediction errors.
Context-driven interaction in immersive virtual environments

There are many interaction tasks a user may wish to accomplish in an immersive virtual environment. A careful examination of these tasks reveals that they are often performed under different contexts. For each task and context, specialized interaction techniques can be developed. We present the context-driven interaction model: a design pattern that represents contextual information as a first-class, quantifiable component within a user interface and supports the development of context-sensitive applications by decoupling context recognition, context representation, and interaction technique development. As a primary contribution, this model provides an enumeration of important representations of contextual information gathered from across the literature and describes how these representations can effect the selection of an appropriate interaction technique. We also identify how several popular 3D interaction techniques adhere to this design pattern and describe how the pattern itself can lead to a more focused development of effective interfaces. We have constructed a formalized programming toolkit and runtime system that serves as a reference implementation of the context-driven model and a discussion is provided explaining how the toolkit can be used to implement a collection of representative 3D interaction interfaces.
Markers of Basal Ganglia Dysfunction and Conversion to Psychosis: Neurocognitive Deficits and Dyskinesias in the Prodromal Period

Background Movement abnormalities and cognitive deficits may represent external markers of an underlying neural process linked with the early etiology of psychosis. As basal ganglia function plays a governing role in both movement and cognitive processes, an understanding of the relationship between these phenomena stands to inform etiologic conceptualizations of vulnerability and psychotic disorders. Methods In this investigation, trained raters coded movement abnormalities in videotapes from structured interviews of adolescents and young adults with a prodromal risk syndrome ( n = 90). The participants were administered a neuropsychological battery including measures of verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, immediate/delayed auditory memory, and an estimate of full-scale intelligence quotient. Diagnostic status was followed for a 2-year period utilizing structured clinical interviews, during which time 24 high-risk participants (26.66%) converted to an Axis I psychotic disorder. Results Elevated dyskinetic movements in the upper-body region were correlated with deficits in domains of verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, and both immediate and delayed auditory memory. Further, discriminant function analyses indicated that baseline movement abnormalities and neurocognitive deficits significantly classified those high-risk participants who would eventually convert to a psychotic disorder (72.3%). Conclusions Results support a common cortico-striato-pallido-thalamic circuit irregularity, underlying both movement abnormalities and cognitive deficits in individuals at high risk for psychosis. Models incorporating external markers of progressive basal ganglia dysfunction may enhance detection and preventive intervention for those high-risk individuals most in need of treatment.
Magnetic susceptibility and ESR in an exchange-coupled Cr3+ paramagnet: [SCr4(O2CCH3)8(H2O)4] (BF4)2·H2O

Abstract The magnetic susceptibility and ESR behavior of a single crystal of [SCr 4 (O 2 CCH 3 ) 8 ](BF 4 ) 2 ·H 2 O have been studied as a function of temperature and orientation of the magnetic field. It is shown from susceptibility measurements that the SCr 4 clusters exhibit isotropic ferromagnetic Heisenberg-like interactions. On the other hand, ESR experiments show the presence of other anisotropic-exchange contributions.
Statistics of velocity fluctuations observed by SuperDARN under steady interplanetary magnetic field conditions

[1] A study of velocity fluctuations observed by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) HF radar network is presented. The study was undertaken with the goals of determining the level of fluctuation due to internal magnetospheric processes, and to examine the probability of observing a significant velocity fluctuation within any given time interval. The study included 6 years of observations from periods when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) was moderately southward and steady. It was assumed that the IMF that encounters the magnetosphere is the same as that observed at a spacecraft located upstream from the Earth and that all variability of the plasma convection is due either to variability of the IMF driver or to internal magnetospheric processes. IMF variability away from the satellite was examined statistically by comparing the distributions of observations for the ACE and Wind satellites. The distribution of velocity fluctuations and their waiting time distribution were examined over a grid of latitude and local time. It was found that the waiting time is scale free over the range of times that could be examined. From the waiting time distributions, the probability of observing fluctuations within various time intervals was determined over the grid. It was found that the probability of observing a significant velocity fluctuation is high for all local times in the high-latitude region.
Distributed block independent set algorithms and parallel multilevel ILU preconditioners

We present a class of parallel preconditioning strategies utilizing multilevel block incomplete LU (ILU) factorization techniques to solve large sparse linear systems. The preconditioners are constructed by exploiting the concept of block independent sets (BISs). Two algorithms for constructing BISs of a sparse matrix in a distributed environment are proposed. We compare a few implementations of the parallel multilevel ILU preconditioners with different BIS construction strategies and different Schur complement preconditioning strategies. We also use some diagonal thresholding and perturbation strategies for the BIS construction and for the last level Schur complement ILU factorization. Numerical experiments indicate that our domain-based parallel multilevel block ILU preconditioners are robust and efficient.
SmartBalance: a sensing-driven linux load balancer for energy efficiency of heterogeneous MPSoCs

Due to increased demand for higher performance and better energy efficiency, MPSoCs are deploying heterogeneous architectures with architecturally differentiated core types. However, the traditional Linux-based operating system is unable to exploit this heterogeneity since existing kernel load balancing and scheduling approaches lack support for aggressively heterogeneous architectural configurations (e.g. beyond two core types). In this paper we present SmartBalance: a sensing-driven closed-loop load balancer for aggressively heterogeneous MPSoCs that performs load balancing using a sense-predict-balance paradigm. SmartBalance can efficiently manage the chip resources while opportunistically exploiting the workload variations and performance-power trade-offs of different core types. When compared to the standard vanilla Linux kernel load balancer, our per-thread and per-core performance-power-aware scheme shows an improvement in energy efficiency (throughput/Watt) of over 50% for benchmarks from the PARSEC benchmark suite executing on a heterogeneous MPSoC with 4 different core types and over 20% w.r.t. state-of-the-art ARM's global task scheduling (GTS) scheme for octa-core big.Little architecture.
Rate zonal centrifugation in a ficoll gradient

Rate sedimentation has been employed in an increasingly broad variety of separation problems, including macromolecules (1, 2)) viruses (3-5)) bacteria (6), cell organelles (7, 8), yeast (9, lo), and mammalian cells (11). Recent experimental work in our laboratory has required the development of a method for resolving mixtures of viable mammalian cells by zonal centrifugation. For this purpose we have used a Ficol12 (polysucrose) solution at 4°C. For this work it is ,desirable to be able to predict the rate of separation of the cells as a function of the density gradient and other known physical parameters. Diffusion effects are generally negligible for particles the size of cells, hence one can write an ordinary differential equation for the radial position of a cell as a function of time. The differential equation is a nonlinear one since both the density and viscosity of the gradient medium depend on position in the gradient. In earlier work on sedimentation through a sucrose gradient, McEwen found it necessary to assemble a large table to facilitate solution of the equation of motion (2). In the present paper we will show that Ficoll has the desirable property that both its viscosity and its density have a simple functional dependence on concentration, permitting a much simpler solution to be obtained. The equation of motion for a spherical particlc in the absence of diffusion is (9) :
Hypoxia-induced neuroinflammatory white-matter injury reduced by minocycline in SHR/SP.

Hypertensive small vessel disease is a major cause of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Spontaneously hypertensive/stroke prone rats (SHR/SP) with unilateral carotid artery occlusion (UCAO) and a Japanese permissive diet (JPD) have white-matter (WM) damage similar to that seen in VCI. We hypothesized that WM injury was due to hypoxia-mediated, blood–brain barrier (BBB) disruption. Twelve-week-old SHR/SP had UCAO/JPD and were studied with immunohistochemistry, biochemistry, multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and Morris water maze (MWM) testing. One week after UCAO/JPD, WM showed a significant increase in hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), which increased further by 3 weeks. Prolyl hydroxylase-2 (PHD2) expression decreased at 1 and 3 weeks. Infiltrating T cells and neutrophils appeared around endothelial cells from 1 to 3 weeks after UCAO/JPD, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) colocalized with inflammatory cells. At 3 weeks, WM immunostained for IgG, indicating BBB leakage. Minocycline (50 mg/kg intraperitoeally) was given every other day from weeks 12 to 20. Multimodal MRI showed that treatment with minocycline significantly reduced lesion size and improved cerebral blood flow. Minocycline improved performance in the MWM and prolonged survival. We propose that BBB disruption occurred secondary to hypoxia, which induced an MMP-9-mediated infiltration of leukocytes. Minocycline significantly reduced WM damage, improved behavior, and prolonged life.
Operative Therapy for Femoral-Popliteal Arterial Occlusive Disease: A Comparison of Therapeutic Methods

One hundred ninety-four patients underwent 222 operations for femoral-popliteal arterial occlusive disease between 1957 and 1965. The results of operative therapy employing synthetic bypass grafts, thromboendarterectomy, and autogenous saphenous veins were assessed by determining the accumulative patency rates for the three operative methods, the incidences of subsequent major amputations, and the degree of symptomatic relief (fig. 1, tables 9 and 10). The 2-year accumulative patency rates for synthetic bypass grafts, thromboendarterectomy, and saphenous vein bypass grafts were 28%, 50%, and 63%, respectively (table 8). Subsequent major amputations were performed in 37%, 27%, and 12% of the extremities in the three groups. Improvement in symptoms occurred in 33%, 48%, and 73% of the patients in the respective groups. When grouped according to severity of presenting symptoms and signs and the status of the arterial outflow by arteriography, patency rates were highest in the vein graft group and lowest in the synthetic graft groups. The patency rates after endarterectomy in those extremities with severe symptoms and poor arterial outflow tracts were similar to those of the synthetic graft group.
An experimental investigation of mixed-mode fracture

In this paper, mixed-mode fracture is investigated experimentally. In the first part, critical conditions for initiation of crack growth are explored. The method of caustics was used in conjunction with a high speed video system to determine critical stress intensity factors at initiation of crack growth. It was found that the maximum tangential stress criterion originally proposed by Erdogan and Sih [1] was the best criterion in terms of predictive capability. Polymethylmethacrylate and Homalite-100 were used in the experiments and Homalite-100 was found to exhibit significant rate dependence. In the second part, crack growth initiated under mixed-mode loading is addressed. It is shown that subsequent slow crack growth in PMMA is under pure mode-I conditions.