cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Peculiarities of the Mexican Legal System that Could Potentially Prevent Prosecution of International Crimes

This chapter examines potential obstacles to the prosecution of international crimes. The main obstacles identified were: (a) Article 21 (8) of the Mexican constitution (CPEUM) and (b)the expansive character of military jurisdiction in Mexican domestic law. Due to its historical and political background, Mexico opted for an amendment in the constitution in order to ratify the Rome Statute (RS). Due to the content of Article 21 (8) CPEUM, it could be regarded as a disguised reservation. A thorough assessment is made of this provision in light of the Vienna Convention on Treaties as well as the RS in order to define its scope vis-a-vis the ICC jurisdiction. In terms of the expansive character of military jurisdiction, this chapter describes how the close link between the military and the executive has led to the military enjoying privileges. One of these privileges is autonomy, with the military able to hold its own trials whenever a member of the military is involved. Even though the provisions related to the military jurisdiction were domestically challenged and even though international advocates showed concern, it was not until the IACtHR’s ruling in the Radilla case, that the Mexican Supreme Court (SCJN) took the matter seriously and statutory reform followed. Notwithstanding these developments, as this chapter will show, military jurisdiction remains an obstacle to domestic prosecution and could hinder cooperation with the ICC.
Macro-level Criminological Perspectives and School Delinquency: A Meta-analysis:

School delinquency in public elementary, middle, and high schools has decreased in recent years, but is still a major issue that has negative mental health and academic implications for adolescents...
Exploring the Nature of Anti-trafficking Laws: A Content Analysis of State Statutes

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 set the tone for anti-trafficking legislation nationwide. Though all states criminalized human trafficking by 2013, policy adoption has not been wides...
Immune-Related Adverse Events as Clinical Biomarkers in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.

BACKGROUND Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are an important treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). These agents may cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs), and the relationship between irAEs and outcomes is poorly understood. We investigated the association between irAEs and clinical outcomes in patients with mRCC treated with ICIs. METHODS We performed a retrospective study of 200 patients with mRCC treated with ICIs at Winship Cancer Institute from 2015 to 2020. Data on irAEs were collected from clinic notes and laboratory values and grades were determined using Common Terminology Criteria in Adverse Events version 5.0. The association with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was modeled by Cox proportional hazards model. Logistic regression models were used to define odds ratios (ORs) for clinical benefit (CB). Landmark analysis and extended Cox models were used to mitigate lead-time bias by treating irAEs as a time-varying covariate. RESULTS Most patients (71.0%) were male, and one-third of patients (33.0%) experienced at least one irAE, most commonly involving the endocrine glands (13.0%), gastrointestinal tract (10.5%), or skin (10.0%). Patients who experienced irAEs had significantly longer OS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.52; p = .013), higher chance of CB (OR, 2.10; p = .023) and showed a trend toward longer PFS (HR, 0.71; p = .065) in multivariate analysis. Patients who had endocrine irAEs, particularly thyroid irAEs, had significantly longer OS and PFS and higher chance of CB. In a 14-week landmark analysis, irAEs were significantly associated with prolonged OS (p = .045). Patients who experienced irAEs had significantly longer median OS (44.5 vs. 18.2 months, p = .005) and PFS (7.5 vs. 3.6 months, p = .003) without landmark compared with patients who did not. CONCLUSION We found that patients with mRCC treated with ICIs who experienced irAEs, particularly thyroid irAEs, had significantly improved clinical outcomes compared with patients who did not have irAEs. This suggests that irAEs may be effective clinical biomarkers in patients with mRCC treated with ICIs. Future prospective studies are warranted to validate these findings. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE This study found that early onset immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are associated with significantly improved clinical outcomes in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). In this site-specific irAE analysis, endocrine irAEs, particularly thyroid irAEs, were significantly associated with improved clinical outcomes. These results have implications for practicing medical oncologists given the increasing use of ICIs for the treatment of mRCC. Importantly, these results suggest that early irAEs and thyroid irAEs at any time on treatment with ICIs may be clinical biomarkers of clinical outcomes in patients with mRCC treated with ICIs.
Five-Year Project-Level Statewide Pavement Performance Forecasting Using a Two-Stage Machine Learning Approach Based on Long Short-Term Memory:

An accurate pavement performance forecasting model is essential for transportation agencies to perform pavement maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction (MR&R) in a predictive and cost-effec...
Procedure for determining heptose and hexose in lipopolysaccharides. Modification of the cysteine-sulfuric acid method.

Abstract A modification is presented of the cysteine-H 2 SO 4 procedure for the quantitative assays of heptose and hexose in unhydrolyzed lipopolysaccharide of P. multocida . The modification overcomes the problems of interference and low sensitivity which we found in applying the heptose procedures of Dische and Osborn to unhydrolyzed lipopolysaccharide. We changed these procedures by ( a ) adding the cysteine-HCl to the reaction mixture before heating, ( b ) increasing the H 2 SO 4 concentration in the reaction mixture, ( c ) extending the heating period to 20 min, and ( d ) reading the absorbances at 1 hr. The resulting modification, when compared with the procedures of Dische and Osborn, gave the characteristic heptose absorbance peak with an increased differential absorbance of 1.7-fold for unhydrolyzed lipopolysaccharide of P. multocida and 2.5-fold for a commercial sample of E. coli lipopolysaccharide. d -Glycero- l -mannoheptose responded linearly over a 25–100 μg range with a 1.5-fold increase in sensitivity. Heptose in mixtures with hexoses gave a linear response with a 1.8-fold increase in detection. We also obtained a 2-fold increase in the determination of the primary cysteine-H 2 SO 4 product of glucose with our modification.
The Role of Affect in the Computational Modeling of Natural Language

Expressivity is an intrinsic component of natural language. This article follows the tradition of affective computing (Picard 1997) in using affect to refer to connected concepts such as emotion, mood, feelings, personality, attitude, polarity, and related subjective phenomena. The overview clarifies the relevance of affect for linguistics and computational linguistics, summarizes useful background, outlines helpful resources, and highlights important considerations for computational modeling of affect in language and affect-related linguistic behaviors. In addition, the article sketches unsettled debates, topics, problems, and areas in need of further exploration.
The effects of simulated buffering on the internal pressure of man.

The effects of mechanically induced vibration upon the human abdomen were determined by measuring the pressure in the rectal end of the colon sigmoideum.A technique was developed for transmitting the internal pressure to external recorders, and the amplitudes of the colon pressure fluctuations were determined, when eight human subjects and one Rhesus monkey were subjected to vertical sinusoidal vibration, at vector accelerations of less than one g, in the frequency range of one through twenty c/s.The pressure fluctuations were found to vary with frequency, showing maximum mean “peak to peak” pressure, per one g acceleration, of 57 mm Hg at 4.5 c/s and 4 c/s, sitting erect and sitting relaxed; and 30 mm Hg at 7 c/s in the semi-supine posture of human subjects.These resonances confirm the results of related prior studies of the human body as a mechanical system.
Long-Acting Propranolol (Inderal LA): Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Therapeutic Use

Long-acting propranolol (Inderal LA) is a new formulation of propranolol that allows release of the drug in a controlled manner, so that the plasma concentration at 24 hr after dosing is greater with long-acting propranolol than with conventional tablets. A single dose of 160 mg of long-acting propranolol can produce cardiac beta-adrenoceptor blockade throughout a 24 hr period without variability due to multiple peak concentrations. It has been shown that this formulation is as effective in the treatment of angina pectoris, hypertension and hyperthyroidism as the standard formulation. Studies with long-acting propranolol in cardiac dysrhythmias are lacking. This new dosage form would be a means of simplifying dosing regimens and thereby hopefully enhancing patient convenience and compliance.
Segmentation of speech using speaker identification

This paper describes techniques for segmentation of conversational speech based on speaker identity. Speaker segmentation is performed using Viterbi decoding on a hidden Markov model network consisting of interconnected speaker sub-networks. Speaker sub-networks are initialized using Baum-Welch training on data labeled by speaker, and are iteratively retrained based on the previous segmentation. If data labeled by speaker is not available, agglomerative clustering is used to approximately segment the conversational speech according to speaker prior to Baum-Welch training. The distance measure for the clustering is a likelihood ratio in which speakers are modeled by Gaussian distributions. The distance between merged segments is recomputed at each stage of the clustering, and a duration model is used to bias the likelihood ratio. Segmentation accuracy using agglomerative clustering initialization matches accuracy using initialization with speaker labeled data. >
Simulation of an ATM queueing system with a fractional Brownian noise arrival process

Poisson based traffic models do not accurately model the characteristics of many types of real network traffic. Several studies have shown that LAN traffic (and some other types) are well characterized by self-similar processes. Moreover, there are strong indications that traditional Markov queueing systems can overestimate the performance of real ATM systems. We investigate the performance of an ATM queueing system fed by a self-similar arrival process. The packet arrivals are generated by a fractional Brownian noise process and the service process is deterministic. There are no analytical or even numerical solutions for this non-Markov system, therefore we collected our performance measures through simulation. We are able to observe many of the characteristics found in measurement studies. The results are compared to another ATM queueing system with an autoregressive arrival process.
Total Biosynthesis and Diverse Applications of the Nonribosomal Peptide-Polyketide Siderophore Yersiniabactin

Yersiniabactin (Ybt) is a mixed nonribosomal peptide-polyketide natural product natively produced by the pathogen Yersinia pestis. The compound enables iron scavenging capabilities upon host infection and is biosynthesized by a nonribosomal peptide synthetase featuring a polyketide synthase module. This pathway has been engineered for expression and biosynthesis using Escherichia coli as a heterologous host. In the current work, the biosynthetic process for Ybt formation was improved through the incorporation of a dedicated step to eliminate the need for exogenous salicylate provision. When this improvement was made, the compound was tested in parallel applications that highlight the metal-chelating nature of the compound. In the first application, Ybt was assessed as a rust remover, demonstrating a capacity of ∼40% compared to a commercial removal agent and ∼20% relative to total removal capacity. The second application tested Ybt in removing copper from a variety of nonbiological and biological solution mixtures. Success across a variety of media indicates potential utility in diverse scenarios that include environmental and biomedical settings.
Impact of Various Caffeine Vehicles on Mood and Cognitive, Neurological and Physiological Functions over Five Hours

Although college students’ caffeine consumption has increased over the last decade, studies have not yet determined the time frame in which caffeine exerts its effects nor the impact of the vehicle by which caffeine is consumed. Sixty college students were randomly divided into one placebo (flour) and three caffeine treatment groups: 5-Hour Energy ®, Starbucks DoubleShot ®, or caffeine powder; all dosed at 3 mg caffeine/kg of body weight. A battery of tests was performed prior to dosing and repeated 2.5 and 5 hours post treatment. Mood was self-reported on a scale of 1-100 for happiness, alertness and focus. Cognitive function was assessed by Stroop and memory tests. Reaction time, heart rate, blood glucose, and electroencephalogram were recorded. All initial measurements across groups and group baselines vs 2.5 and 5 hour results were analyzed by ANOVA followed, when indicated, by post hoc t-tests at 95% confidence levels and only significant results are reported. All caffeine groups had elevations in mood and faster reaction times at 2.5 hours (most effects sustained for 5 hours). The 5-Hour Energy® group rated alertness higher than other caffeine treatments, and was the only group to demonstrate decreases in alpha waves, memory improvements, and impaired glucose homeostasis. All caffeine groups had improved cognition with decreased Stroop test time and the caffeine powder and 5-Hour Energy ® groups had improved Stroop test accuracy at 2.5 hours. The 5-Hour Energy shot ® had the greatest proportion of sustained caffeine effects across test parameters.
Wideband polarization converters based on miniaturized-element frequency selective surfaces

Polarization of a wave is an important aspect of its propagation characteristics. In antenna design, the choice of the polarization mostly depends on the application and also the propagation environment. For instance, in satellite communications or navigation systems, circularly-polarized waves are preferred due to advantages such as lower sensitivity to multipath fading. Over the past decades, several designs of antennas have been reported that radiate circularly-polarized waves. An alternative way of generating such waves is to generate waves with linear polarization and pass them through a polarization converter. Polarization converters are anisotropic media that convert linearly-polarized incoming waves to circularly-polarized waves at their output apertures. Traditionally, frequency selective surfaces with resonant elements have been employed to design such converters. The drawback associated with most of these structures, however, is their narrow bandwidths (due to the resonant nature of their element) as well as the deterioration of their phase response under oblique incidences.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: new evidence and an improved standard of care in 2012

1Although these recommendations were based on the consensus of an expert panel and limitations of the data were acknowledged, a combination of prednisone and azathioprine or cyclo phosphamide was suggested as an appropriate treatment regimen for idiopathic pulmonary fi brosis. Worldwide, treatment with combined prednisone and azathioprine became standard care—essentially on the basis of fi ndings from an early study. 2 The IFIGENIA trial 3 showed that the addition of N-acetyl cysteine to a regimen of prednisone plus azathioprine (pred-aza-NAC) preserved forced vital capacity and the diff using capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide compared with prenisone plus azathioprine in 1 year; therefore, the standard of care for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fi brosis changed to pred-aza-NAC from 2005. Sub stantial evidence accumulated after publication of the 2000 recommendations 1 led to robust grading of the evidence and the development of new evidencebased guidelines. 4,5
PLZT electrooptic shutters: applications

This paper describes advances in the development of several electrooptic shutter devices utilizing the quadratic electrooptic effect of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) ceramic wafers. Aperture sizes utilized in these PLZT devices ranged from 25 μm to 0.25 m. Practical applications of the shutters discussed in this paper include eye protection in military and industrial applications, a goggle-type device with dual synchronously operated PLZT shutters for use in a stereoscopic three-dimensional TV display, an electrically controlled variable density filter for use with vidicon tubes, a large-aperture photographic shutter for image motion compensation cameras, and a page composer for use in a holographic memory system.
Induction of full-length survival motor neuron by polyphenol botanical compounds

The loss of survival motor neuron-1 (SMN1) is responsible for the development of the neurodegenerative disorder spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). A nearly identical copy of SMN1 is present on the same chromosomal region called SMN2. While SMN2 encodes a normal SMN protein, the majority of SMN2-derived transcripts are alternatively spliced, resulting in a truncated protein that lacks the 16 amino acids encoded by SMN exon 7. Numerous studies have shown that the SMN2-derived protein product, called SMNΔ7, is unstable and dysfunctional. Therefore, identifying molecules that stimulate full-length SMN expression from the SMN2 gene could lead to the development of effective therapies for a broad range of SMA patient populations. Polyphenol compounds have been shown to provide benefit in varied genetic disease contexts. For example, epigallocatechin galate (EGCG) was found to correct aberrant alternative mRNA splicing in familiar dysautonomia (FD). A series of polyphenols were screened and a subset was shown to increase full-length SMN expression from SMN2. Curcumin, EGCG, and resveratrol increased exon 7 inclusion of SMN2 transcripts in transient reporter assays. In SMA patient fibroblasts, these compounds stimulated the production of full-length SMN RNA and protein as well as the formation of SMN-containing nuclear gems. Collectively, these compounds elevated total SMN concentrations in SMA patient fibroblasts, potentially through the modulation of SMN2 exon 7 alternative splicing.
Reversal potentials of L-glutamate and the excitatory transmitter at the neuromuscular junction of the crayfish.

Abstract Extracellular recording was utilized to determine the reversal potentials for L-glutamate and the excitatory transmitter at the neuromuscular junction of the crayfish Orconectes virilis. The reversal potentials for both substances were the same. Thus, L-glutamate remains the best candidate as the naturally occurring transmitter at this synapse.
Interaction of “normal modes” in the harmonic approximation in case of molecular impurities☆

Abstract Due to the additional degrees of freedom of molecular impurity centers we find an interference term in the scattering cross section for lattice waves. The modes involved show acoustical activity. The possible extent of defects of lower symmetry is discussed.
Predicting efficacy of cancer cell killing under hypoxic conditions with single cell DNA damage assay.

The activity of anticancer drugs determined under normal conditions cannot accurately reflect true drug efficacy in a patient, as a tumor is often under low oxygen (hypoxia) conditions. In addition, patient responses to the same therapy can be drastically different due to tumor heterogeneity. This paper describes the use of single cell halo assay for detection and quantification of DNA damage induced by anticancer drugs or radiation under hypoxic conditions. By combining classical halo assay and state-of-the-art microfabrication techniques, this single cell approach allows drug and radiation responses of cancer cells to be determined without population interference. The results from single cell assay indicate a diminished level of DNA damage at hypoxic conditions compared with those at normal conditions at the same drug concentrations or radiation dose, suggesting in vitro preclinical studies of drug and radiation activity can be performed under conditions that mimic physiological conditions of tumors and...
Bilateral renal cortical necrosis in the newborn infant: roentgenographic diagnosis.

Bilateral renal cortical necrosis following shock and renal cortical ischemia in the neonatal period is usually fatal. Improvement in medical care has led to longer survivals, and radiographic diagnosis can now be made during life by demonstration of a characteristic pattern of bilateral and symmetrical calcification of the renal cortex, which appears a few weeks after the onset of renal failure.
A Jurisdiction-Based Model of Intergovernmental Management in U.S. Cities

Variations in levels of intergovernmental activity are explained in terms other than standard “top-down” or “bottom-up” federal management perspectives. Data from 237 cities on intergovernmental management by local managers of economic development policy indicate that differences are determined by the degree to which managers assume a more mutually interactive approach through bargaining, strategic activity, local adjustment, and other internal actions. The jurisdiction-based model is consistent with growing diversity in the federal system and with changing models of public management. Copyright , Oxford University Press.
Scattering of Waves and Particles by Inhomogeneous Regions

A review is given of the classification of several different kinds of wave motion that are of physical interest. Effects of the wave medium, nonlinearity, transformation properties, interaction between wave systems, and quantization, are discussed briefly. Examples are given of the analogy between electromagnetic and Schrodinger waves, and of the calculational methods used both in normal mode and in scattering problems.
Genetics of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders.

Twin and family studies support a significant genetic contribution to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders such as chronic tic disorders, trichotillomania, skin picking disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, and hoarding disorder. Recently, population-based studies and novel laboratory-based methods have confirmed substantial heritability in OCD. Genome-wide association studies and candidate gene association studies have provided information on specific genes that may be involved in the pathobiology of OCD and also of related disorders, particularly chronic tic disorders, though these genes each contribute only a small portion of the total genetic risk and a substantial portion of the specific genetic risk profile in OCD is still unknown. Nevertheless, there are some examples of genes for which perturbations produce OCD-like phenotypes in animal model systems, allowing a laboratory platform for investigating the pathobiology of --- and new treatments for --- OCD and related disorders. Future work promises to continue to clarify the specific genes involved in risk for OCD as well as their interaction with environmental variables.
"False positive" claims of near-death experiences and "false negative" denials of near-death experiences.

ABSTRACT Some persons who claim to have had near-death experiences (NDEs) fail research criteria for having had NDEs (“false positives”); others who deny having had NDEs do meet research criteria for having had NDEs (“false negatives”). The author evaluated false positive claims and false negative denials in an organization that promotes near-death research and in psychiatric outpatients. The frequency of false positives and negatives varied in samples that differed in prevalence of, and knowledge about, NDEs. The influence of participants’ knowledge about NDEs on the findings of near-death research makes it critically important to use standardized criteria for identifying NDEs.
Allostasis and the human brain: Integrating models of stress from the social and life sciences

We draw on the theory of allostasis to develop an integrative model of the current stress process that highlights the brain as a dynamically adapting interface between the changing environment and the biological self. We review evidence that the core emotional regions of the brain constitute the primary mediator of the well-established association between stress and health, as well as the neural focus of wear and tear due to ongoing adaptation. This mediation, in turn, allows us to model the interplay over time between context, current stressor exposure, internal regulation of bodily processes, and health outcomes. We illustrate how this approach facilitates the integration of current findings in human neuroscience and genetics with key constructs from stress models from the social and life sciences, with implications for future research and the design of interventions targeting individuals at risk.
Gene expression profiling reveals intrinsic differences between T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma

Background T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LL) and are often thought to represent a spectrum of a single disease. The malignant cells in T-ALL and T-LL are morphologically indistinguishable, and they share the expression of common cell surface antigens and cytogenetic characteristics. However, despite these similarities, differences in the clinical behavior of T-ALL and T-LL are observed. Procedure We analyzed the gene expression profiles of T-ALL and T-LL samples obtained from Children's Oncology Group (COG) tumor banks using DNA arrays. Immunohistochemistry was also performed to validate the expression of selected targets. Results Unsupervised hierarchical clustering of all samples showed complete segregation of T-ALL and T-LL into distinct clusters. Next, we identified the top 201 genes that best differentiated T-ALL from T-LL using significance analysis of microarrays (SAM), a supervised statistical approach. Genes representing several functional groups were differentially expressed in T-LL and T-ALL. Prediction analysis of microarrays (PAM) identified a subset of genes, which accurately classified all 19 T-ALL and T-LL samples with an overall misclassification error rate of 0. Immunohistochemical validation of protein expression of selected genes identified by microarray analysis confirmed overexpression of MLL-1 in T-LL tumor cells compared to T-ALL and CD47 in T-ALL tumors cells when compared to T-LL. Conclusions Despite significant similarities between the malignant T-cell precursors, clear differences in the gene expression profiles were observed between T-ALL and T-LL implying underlying differences in the biology of the two entities. Pediatr Blood Cancer © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
RESIDUE REPLACEMENTS OF BURIED ASPARTYL AND RELATED RESIDUES IN SENSORY RHODOPSIN I : D201N PRODUCES INVERTED PHOTOTAXIS SIGNALS

Abstract Residue replacements were made at five positions (Arg-73, Asp-76, Tyr-87, Asp-106, and Asp-201) in the Halobacterium salinarium phototaxis receptor sensory rhodopsin I (SR-I) by site-specific mutagenesis. The sites were chosen for their correspondence in position to residues of functional importance in the homologous light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin found in the same organism. This work identifies a residue in SR-I shown to be of vital importance to its attractant signaling function: Asp-201. The effect of the substitution with the isosteric asparagine is to convert the normally attractant signal of orange light stimulation to a repellent signal. In contrast, similar neutral substitution of the four other ionizable residues near the photoactive site allows essentially normal attractant and repellent phototaxis signaling. Wild-type two-photon repellent signaling by the receptor is intact in the Asp-201 mutant, genetically separating the wild-type attractant and repellent signal generation processes. A possible explanation and implications of the inverted signaling are discussed. Results of neutral residue substitution for Asp-76 confirm our previous evidence that proton transfer reactions involving this residue are not important to phototaxis but that Asp-76 functions as the Schiff base proton acceptor in proton translocation by transducer-free SR-I.
Body in Mind: The Role of Embodied Cognition in Self‐Regulation

We review a growing body of literature that evidences the reciprocal relationship between body and mind, known as embodied cognition. We argue that an embodied mind may serve a functional purpose, aiding in self-regulatory processes. Specifically, we suggest that embodied cognition assists in self-regulation by increasing signal strength, encouraging appropriate goal-relevant action, and incorporating situational constraints to cue appropriate information processing styles. Furthermore, we propose that affect serves as the link between an embodied mind and self-regulatory action. Finally, we situate this research in debates on theories of mind, and we advocate for a highly interactive system that integrates information across modalities.
Virtual Mentoring and HRD

The problem and the solution. The purpose of this article is to explore virtual mentoring and discuss its implications for human resource development (HRD) as an individual and career development intervention. The authors recognize virtual mentoring as an alternative to traditional mentoring that is easier to manage, less costly, unconstrained by geography or time, faster, and more egalitarian than traditional mentoring. This article defines, compares, and contrasts traditional and virtual mentoring. It discusses the benefits and challenges of using computer-mediated communication for mentoring purposes. It concludes with a discussion of how human resource development professionals can facilitate virtual mentoring in the global knowledge age. Key implications for HRD include using virtual mentoring as a lifelong education tool, educating mentors and proteges, supporting a multicultural workforce, and building knowledge.
Mixed outbreak of parainfluenza type 1 and influenza B associated with tourism and air travel.

Abstract Background: A preseasonal outbreak of influenza-like illness was reported in a tourist group that had returned from Ireland to the United States on October 1 and 2, 1999. The authors investigated to determine the timing, extent, and nature of the outbreak. Methods: A cohort study was conducted among the entire group. Cases were defined as illness occurring among tour members who experienced cough or sore throat with onset from September 29 through October 5. Nasopharyngeal and throat cultures were examined for respiratory viruses. Results: Eighteen (60%) of the 30 tourists were ill; the majority (66%) of cases had onset of illness within 1 day of departure from Ireland. Human parainfluenza virus type 1 was isolated from six cultures, and influenza B from three. The attack rate was 100% among the eight persons 65 years of age or older versus 45% among the 22 persons younger than 65 years (P = 0.01). Conclusion: International travellers, particularly older persons and members of organized tour groups, may experience increased risks for respiratory viral infection. and containment of imported infectious diseases depend on prompt reporting and epidemiologic investigation.
The evolution of sociopolitical complexity in prehistoric Hawaii: An assessment of the archaeological evidence

The sociopolitical system of late prehistoric Hawaii was among the most complex of any Oceanic chiefdom, as indexed by such characteristics as scale, rate of energy extraction, degree of functional specialization, and political hierarchy. Various anthropologists and archaeologists have advanced models of how this complex sociopolitical system developed out of an earlier Ancestral Polynesian society. Recent advances in Hawaiian archaeology have now begun to provide a wealth of data on the course of prehistoric change in the archipelago over some 1500 years and, thus, provide evidence which can be used to test alternative models of the evolution of sociopolitical complexity. This paper reviews the major alternative models that have been put forward and provides a synopsis of the archaeological evidence relevant to their testing.
Challenges in the development of high temperature reactors

Advanced reactor designs offer potentially significant improvements over currently operating light water reactors including improved fuel utilization, increased efficiency, higher temperature operation (enabling a new suite of non-electric industrial process heat applications), and increased safety. As with most technologies, these potential performance improvements come with a variety of challenges to bringing advanced designs to the marketplace. There are technical challenges in material selection and thermal hydraulic and power conversion design that arise particularly for higher temperature, long life operation (possibly >60 years). The process of licensing a new reactor design is also daunting, requiring significant data collection for model verification and validation to provide confidence in safety margins associated with operating a new reactor design under normal and off-normal conditions. This paper focuses on the key technical challenges associated with two proposed advanced reactor concepts: the helium gas cooled Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) and the molten salt cooled Advanced High Temperature Reactor (AHTR).
A note on the geostrophic velocity field referenced to a point

Abstract An alternative to the Dynamic Method for determining the geostrophic flow over shallow, irregular bathymetry is presented. The steric heights of water columns are computed by integrating the density from the surface to the bottom and then along bathymetric fall lines to a deepest common point. By assuming that the bottom pressures along these fall lines are isostatically adjusted, the steric height distribution can be converted into an adjusted sea-level distribution by using the deepest common point as a reference. The total pressure difference between two water columns is then available for conversion to geostrophic flow. An example of an application of the method to data from the Northern Adriatic, together with a discussion of the uncertainties involved, is given.
Efficient near-duplicate document detection using FPGAs

Detecting duplicate and near-duplicate documents is critical in applications like Web crawling since it helps save document processing resources. Simhash is a state-of-art method to assign a bit-string fingerprint to a document, such that similar documents have similar fingerprints. Finding the near-duplicates in a large collection of documents consists of two stages: (a) compute the simhash fingerprint of each document, and (b) find pairs of similar fingerprints by computing their Hamming distance. Previous work has focused on optimizing the second stage, i.e., avoiding the quadratic number of comparisons to compute the all to all Hamming distance. However, our experiments show that the total time is dominated by the first stage (the fingerprints computation), which is the focus of this paper. We propose an implementation of simhash on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), by implementing a customized fingerprint computing engine in hardware that exploits parallelization and pipelining opportunities. We present a comprehensive experimental evaluation on large diverse real document datasets. Our experiments show a speedup of 362× in the simhash computation, and savings of up to 98% in overall near-duplicate detection execution time compared to using multi-core CPUs.
Prehispanic water pressure: A New World first

Ancient cultures have a wide range of water control management techniques, each associated with a particular purpose, including water for consumption, agriculture, flood control, drought relief, and rituals (Scarborough, 2003). One technique that has received limited archaeological attention is the purposeful creation of water pressure to perform useful work. Perhaps the earliest such example was found on the island of Crete in a Minoan palace and dates as early as 1400 BC. Terracotta pipe segments with graded diameter reductions were used to create fountains (Evans, 1921–1935). Although gravity and the weight of water are the most efficient means of generating water pressure in a closed conduit, natural conditions (climate, geology, topographic slope, etc.) that might lead to the construction of water pressure systems are less clear. Here we show that the Classic Maya (AD 250–600) constructed a water pressure system with the potential to control the flow of water within an urban area. By burying a conduit along a steep ephemeral channel passing through a residential group, upland springs could be diverted to build pressure in the conduit to provide a dry-season supply of water. Up to 6 m of hydraulic head could have been recovered to lift water from the pressurized conduit to a point of use. Water pressure systems were previously thought to have entered the New World with the arrival of the Spanish. Yet, archaeological data, seasonal climate conditions, geomorphic setting, and simple hydraulic theory clearly show that the Maya of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico had empirical knowledge of closed channel water pressure predating the arrival of Europeans.
Equation Of State Measurements of Warm Dense Matter Using Petawatt Laser Accelerated Proton Beams

We present experiments studying the behavior of warm dense copper and chromium, isochorically heated from solid density using petawatt laser accelerated protons. Temperature and expansion measurements are compared to hydrodynamic simulations using modern EOS models.
Small-stokes-shift frequency conversion in single-mode birefringent fibers

Abstract We report experimental observation of nondegenerate four-photon mixing (FPM) via a new phase-matched process in birefringent fibers. This phase-matching process is characterized by relatively long coherence lengths, and by small pump-to-Stokes frequency shifts (of the order of 100 cm -1 in high birefringence fibers) that are directly proportional to the fiber birefringence. Pump-to-Stokes energy conversion efficiencies of over 40 percent have been obtained with moderate pump powers (≈1 kW) from a visible cw mode-locked dye laser coupled into single-mode polarization-preserving high-birefringence fibers of a few meters length. In addition, we report the first observation of a totally non-degenerate phase-matched four-photon process in a fiber; this invokes mixing of the original FPM Stokes component with the pump and stimulated Raman radiation.
Using nanoparticles to push the limits of detection

The size-dependent chemical and physical properties of nanoparticles inspire the design of unique assays and the use of new detection schemes while also offering the opportunity to vastly improve the results achieved when using traditional signal transduction methods. Herein, the most commonly exploited nanoparticle amplification schemes are organized and reviewed on the basis of the detection methods used to monitor the nanoparticle property of interest. The topics covered include the improved signal photostability and brightness of semiconductor quantum dots, the increased extinction coefficient of noble metal nanoparticles, the advantages of having a magnetic label on individual target molecules to facilitate separation, the multiplexing that is enabled with ‘barcoded’ nanoparticles, and the greatly amplified signals that can be achieved on the basis of conductivity changes, generated current, or simply by adding a ‘massive’ nanoparticle onto a small molecule target. Common approaches emerge among different nanoparticle materials and detection schemes, and it is also clear that there is still significant opportunity to use nanoparticles in as-yet-unimagined ways to further improve assay and sensor limits of detection Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Multinationals and Linkages: An Empirical Investigation

Several recent papers have used plant-level data and panel econometric techniques to carefully explore the existence FDI externalities. One conclusion that emerges from this literature is that it is difficult to find evidence of positive externalities from multinationals to local firms in the same sector (horizontal externalities). In fact, many studies find evidence of negative horizontal externalities arising from multinational activity while confirming the existence of positive externalities from multinationals to local firms in upstream industries (vertical externalities). In this paper we explore the channels through which these positive and negative externalities may be materializing, focusing on the role of backward linkages. In particular, we criticize the common usage of the domestic sourcing coefficient as an indicator of a firm?s linkage potential and propose an alternative, theoretically derived indicator. We then use plant-level data from several Latin American countries to compare multinationals? linkage potential to that of domestic firms. We find that multinational?s linkage potential in Brazil, Chile and Venezuela is higher than for domestic firms. For Mexico, we cannot reject the hypothesis that foreign and local firms have similar linkage potential. Finally, we discuss the relationship between this finding and the conclusions that emerge from the recent empirical literature.
Quasiconformal Homogeneity after Gehring and Palka

In a very influential paper Gehring and Palka introduced the notions of quasiconformally homogeneous and uniformly quasiconformally homogeneous subsets of \(\overline{\mathbb {R}}^n\). Their definition was later extended to hyperbolic manifolds. In this paper we survey the theory of quasiconformally homogeneous subsets of \(\overline{\mathbb {R}}^n\) and uniformly quasiconformally homogeneous hyperbolic manifolds. We furthermore include a discussion of open problems in the theory.
Seedling growth and mycorrhizal formation in clearcut and adjacent, undisturbed soils in montana: A green-house bioassay

Abstract In a series of greenhouse bioassays, tree seedling growth and root-tip development were compared among soils from two areas that had been clearcut and site prepared 16 years earlier and adjacent, undisturbed forest. Seedlings grown in soil from logged areas were shorter and had fewer root tips than those grown in undisturbed forest soil; however, effects on seedling weights were not consistent among species or experimental series. Fertilizing with nitrogen eliminated size differences due to soil source. In Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco], the only species tested in sterilized soils, sterilization of logged soils resulted in increased seedling size and root-tip formation, whereas sterilization of unlogged soils had either no or a negative effect.
Biomass Production and Composition of Perennial Grasses Grown for Bioenergy in a Subtropical Climate Across Florida, USA

Carbohydrate and lignin composition of feedstock materials are major factors in determining their bioenergy potential. This study was conducted to quantify dry biomass yield and the carbohydrate and lignin composition of six potential biofuel grasses (elephantgrass, energycane, sweetcane, giant reed, giant miscanthus, and sugarcane) across three sites in Florida for plant (2009) and first ratoon (2010) crops. Dry biomass yields ranged from about 30 to 50 Mg ha−1 and were generally greatest for elephantgrass, energycane, sweetcane, and sugarcane. Accordingly, total plant carbohydrate yields (20 to 25 Mg ha−1) were comparable among sugarcane, energycane, sweetcane, and elephantgrass, but were generally less for giant reed and even less for giant miscanthus. However, the contribution of total extractable carbohydrates and total fiber carbohydrates to total plant carbohydrate yields differed among species. Sugarcane had the highest concentrations of extractable carbohydrates (219 to 356 mg g−1), followed by energycane, then sweetcane, elephantgrass, and giant reed, with giant miscanthus having the lowest. Energycane and elephantgrass tended to have significantly more fiber glucose, and elephantgrass less xylose, than other species. Variability in total lignin concentrations on a fiber basis was relatively modest (250 to 285 mg g−1) across species, but was generally highest in sweetcane and giant reed. Overall, elephantgrass and energycane were prime regional candidates for cellulosic conversion using fermentation processes due to high yields and favorable fiber characteristics, although energycane tended to have higher extractable carbohydrates.
Cardiovascular disease: Modifiable risk factors for sudden death in dialysis patients

Sudden death is very common in patients on dialysis, and identifying factors that may lower the risk of sudden death could improve survival of these patients. A recent international comparison of sudden death rates by Jadoul and colleagues gives us insight into how our clinical practice might affect rates of sudden death in dialysis patients.
Template-Directed Synthesis with Adenosine-5'-phosphorimidazolide

Adenosine-5'-monophosphorimidazolide reacts efficiently with adenosine derivatives on a polyuridylic acid template, with the formation of internucleotide bonds.
Surface Layer Dissolution Kinetics of Aluminum Alloy 7075 in Various Tempers

Abstract The breakdown behavior of aluminum alloy (AA)7075 (UNS A97075) samples at various tempers was studied using an in-situ observation system. All under-aged and peak-aged samples showed surfa...
Family involvement with middle-grades homework: Effects of differential prompting

A middle-grades homework intervention was investigated to determine if variations in prompting families to be involved with mathematics homework would influence their level of involvement. The extent to which family involvement was a predictor of student achievement in mathematics was also examined, as were the relationships among family involvement, student achievement, and parent education level. Families in the 2 prompted groups were significantly more involved with mathematics homework than were families in the no-prompt group. Level of family involvement was not significantly related to student achievement on the post-test. However, students across the 3 groups whose parent(s) held a 4-year college degree scored significantly higher on the post-test than did students neither of whose parents held a college degree, even though reported levels of family involvement were nearly identical across parent education levels. Qualitative data elicited in follow-up interviews with family members indicated that "quality of involvement" with homework merits examination in future research.