cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Distributed revision of composite beliefs

Abstract This paper extends the applications of belief network models to include the revision of belief “commitments,” i.e., the categorical acceptance of a subset of hypotheses which, together, constitute the most satisfactory explanation of the evidence at hand. A coherent model of nonmonotonic reasoning is introduced, and distributed algorithms for belief revision are presented. We show that, in singly connected networks, the most satisfactory explanation can be found in linear time by a message-passing algorithm similar to the one used in belief updating. In multiply connected networks, the problem may be exponentially hard but, if the network is sparse, topological considerations can be used to render the interpretation task tractable. In general, finding the most probable combination of hypotheses is no more complex than computing the degree of belief for any individual hypothesis. Applications to circuit and medical diagnosis are illustrated.
Alpha-Tocopherol Alters Transcription Activities that Modulates Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-α) Induced Inflammatory Response in Bovine Cells

To further investigate the potential role of α-tocopherol in maintaining immuno-homeostasis in bovine cells (Madin-Darby bovine kidney epithelial cell line), we undertook in vitro experiments using recombinant TNF-α as an immuno-stimulant to simulate inflammation response in cells with or without α-tocopherol pre-treatment. Using microarray global-profiling and IPA (Ingenuity Pathways Analysis, Ingenuity® Systems, http://www.ingenuity.com) data analysis on TNF-α-induced gene perturbation in those cells, we focused on determining whether α-tocopherol treatment of normal bovine cells in a standard cell culture condition can modify cell's immune response induced by TNF-α challenge. When three datasets were filtered and compared using IPA, there were a total of 1750 genes in all three datasets for comparison, 97 genes were common in all three sets; 615 genes were common in at least two datasets; there were 261 genes unique in TNF-α challenge, 399 genes were unique in α-tocopherol treatment, and 378 genes were unique in the α-tocopherol plus TNF-α treatment. TNF-α challenge induced significant change in gene expression. Many of those genes induced by TNF-α are related to the cells immune and inflammatory responses. The results of IPA data analysis showed that α-tocopherol-pre-treatment of cells modulated cell's response to TNF-α challenge. In most of the canonical pathways, α-tocopherol pretreatment showed the antagonistic effect against the TNF-α-induced pro-inflammatory responses. We concluded that α-tocopherol pre-treatment has a significant antagonistic effect that modulates the cell's response to the TNF-α challenge by altering the gene expression activities of some important signaling molecules.
Simulated effects of flow rate on phosphate retention in soils

Abstract Phosphate in waste water disposed in the field can be partially or wholly retained in soil, eliminating ground water pollution. The retention ability of soil is affected by many factors, such as soil pH, minerals, structure, water content, solute concentration, solution pH, etc. The flow rate of waste water within a soil profile may be an important factor as well. It is the purpose of this paper to simulate different flow patterns in soils and their effect on the renovation of waste water by soils. A system of partial differential equations, including water flow and phosphate transport equations with a P-soil reaction model, were solved simultaneously to simulate the saturated or unsaturated flow of phosphate solution and its reactions in soils. Euler implicit and general explicit finite difference methods were applied to solve these equations. The results indicate that phosphate retention by soils from a finite quantity of waste effluent could be increased by decreasing the flow rate. An on-and-off intermittent disposal of waste water would also increase the retention capacity when compared to continuous flooding of the same amount of effluent. The main cause of these effects is the difference of reaction time of phosphate with soils.
Observations on photosynthesis and related systems. I. Influence of anaerobiosis on photosynthetic rates during continuous irradiation.

Abstract The extremely sensitive method of oxygen determination by the quenching of phosphorescence and the technique for the study of anaerobic photosynthesis used previously by Franck et al. has been modified and improved to the point where it has been possible to establish a known anaerobic state of 10−6 mm. Hg of oxygen within 10 min. During photosynthesis at saturation, the concentration of oxygen in the sample (expressed in terms of the pressure of oxygen in an atmosphere above the sample which would be in equilibrium with this concentration) has been maintained at a measured value of 0.004 mm. Hg. Under this severe oxygen restriction, the saturation rates observed are as good as, and often better than ordinary aerobic rates. The suggestion that molecular oxygen per se enters into the mechanism of photosynthesis by way of a fast back-reaction is, therefore, rendered untenable. These results, coupled with the studies of Brown et al. with the mass spectrometer and isotopically labeled oxygen and with the work of Calvin et al. on the dilution of a C14O2 enriched gas phase with C12O2 from endogenous carbon, tend to discredit almost to the point of certainty the mechanism suggested by Burk and Warburg.
The Autoignition of Cyclopentane in an Ignition Quality Tester

Cyclopentane is a flammable hydrocarbon being considered as a working fluid for waste heat recovery applications using Organic Rankine Cycles with direct evaporators. A postulated failure mode consisting of a pinhole leak in a heat exchanger tube raises safety concerns because of autoignition of the working fluid. The ignition delay time of cyclopentane was measured using an Ignition Quality Test device (Advanced Engine Technology Ltd., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada). Hot vitiated air was used to simulate turbine exhaust gas. Experiments were conducted in accordance with ASTM D6890 (with exception to charge pressure and temperature) to determine ignition delay of the fuel at atmospheric pressure for vitiated air (13.3% oxygen). The test matrix encompassed equivalence ratios from 0.5 to 5.0 and chamber temperatures ranging from 673 K to 823 K to establish a set of ignition delay curves. The ignition delay time was observed to decrease with increasing temperature and equivalence ratio. For the cases tested, no ignition was observed at temperatures at or below 723 K or at an equivalence ratio of 0.5.
A direct interaction between the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and retinoblastoma protein: Linking dioxin signaling to the cell cycle

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor in eukaryotic cells that alters gene expression in response to the environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). In 5L hepatoma cells, TCDD induces a G1 cell cycle arrest through a mechanism that involves the AhR. The retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (pRb) controls cell cycle progression through G1 in addition to promoting differentiation. We examined whether the human AhR or its dimerization partner, the AhR nuclear translocator, interacts with pRb as a basis of the TCDD-induced cell cycle arrest. In vivo and in vitro assays reveal a direct interaction between pRb and the AhR but not the AhR nuclear translocator protein. Binding between the AhR and pRb occurs through two distinct regions in the AhR. A high affinity site lies within the N-terminal 364 amino acids of the AhR, whereas a lower affinity binding region colocalizes with the glutamine-rich transactivation domain of the receptor. AhR ligand binding is not required for the pRb interaction per se, although immunoprecipitation experiments in 5L cells reveal that pRb associates preferentially with the liganded AhR, consistent with a requirement for ligand-induced nuclear translocation. These observations provide a mechanistic insight into AhR-mediated cell cycle arrest and a new perspective on TCDD-induced toxicity.
Allosteric regulation by calcium of rabbit polyclonal anti-cyclic GMP antibody

Calcium increased the binding of rabbit polyclonal antibodies and cGMP by increasing antibody affinity without altering the number of binding sites (Bmax). Competitive binding studies revealed that calcium increased the affinity of antibody for cGMP derivatives similarly, suggesting that the effects of this cation were antigen-independent. Kinetic binding studies demonstrated that calcium increased affinity by decreasing the dissociation rate without altering the association rate of antigen and antibody. Studies of the dissociation of antigen-antibody complexes preformed in the absence of calcium suggested that this cation regulated antibody function allosterically. These data contrast with those obtained previously suggesting that calcium regulated the interaction of cAMP and antibodies by increasing Bmax without altering affinity by reaction coupling. Re-analysis of those data demonstrated that calcium increased the affinity without altering the number of binding sites of antibodies to cAMP, in close agreement with the present results. These data suggest that allosteric modulation of antibody function by calcium may be a general mechanism regulating the interaction of polyclonal antibodies with cyclic nucleotides.
Application of Leu M5 (CD 11c) antibody in the cytodiagnosis of body fluids: Preliminary results

Identification of metastatic malignant cells in body fluids and their distinction from reactive mesothelial cells is a common diagnostic problem. Application of the immunoalkaline phosphatase method using epithelial membrane antigen, cytokeratin, vimentin, carcinoembryonic antigen, lysozyme, and leukocyte common antigen (CD 45) is routinely performed in our Hematology Laboratory in conjunction with morphological examination of body fluids. Recently, we found that anti-Leu M5 (CD 11 c), a monoclonal antibody to human monocyte/macrophage, is frequently reactive to mesothelial cells. We then undertook a prospective study, adding anti-CD 11c to the above-listed antibody panel and applying to cytocentrifuge preparations of body fluid. The neoplastic cells in only 2 out of 34 cases (5.9%) with the diagnosis of metastatic carcinomas reacted positively for CD 11c. The neoplastic cells in four cases of malignant lymphoma were non-reactive for CD 11c. In addition, malignant cells on touch preparations of 25 carcinomas were also negative. Mesothelial cells in all 15 cases of reactive effusions and those mesothelial cells present in malignant effusions were positively stained with CD 11c, although the intensity of staining varied in different mesothelial cells of the same cases. We conclude that anti-CD 11c can be considered as a useful adjunct to the differential diagnosis of malignant effusions. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Design of complex flow line system by simulation

Abstract During the last two decades or so, there have been several attempts to gain insights into the operational behaviour of mechanical and manual flow lines. However, an area which has received very little attention is the area of manual flow lines with more than one type of product input with constant or variable processing times. Such lines are more complex because each product entering into the system has a different work content which causes an uneven work flow and consequent station idle time and/or congestion of semi-finished products. In this paper, a flow line with mixed product supply which is deterministicin the number of arriving units and probabilistic in the structure of the product mix is considered. No buffer stocks between service stations are provided; queue formation of limited length is allowed; the stations are located in series on the line, and each station is allowed to use multiple servers working in parallel. The service times are assumed to be normally distributed with known mean times and variances. The objective is to design a flow line system which would provide an even flow of work where over or under utilization of servers is avoided. This is achieved by increasing or decreasing the number of service stationsby several simulations until a utilization level is achieved which is feasable for the management. GERTS III Q network modeling and simulation technique is used for the solution of the design problem. This technique leads effectively to the achievement of the objective set forth for the solution of the problem.
Nephrotoxicity of ifosfamide in rats.

Renal proximal tubule cell injury is an important side effect of the chemotherapeutic agent ifosfamide in humans. We investigated the effect of this medication on kidney function in rats. Animals received either 40 or 80 mg kg−1 ifosfamide intraperitoneally daily for 3 days every 3 weeks for a total of four treatment courses. Ifosfamide-treated rats had significantly lower body weight and hematocrit than sterile water-treated control rats. Animals receiving 40 mg kg−1 ifosfamide developed isolated phosphaturia after their fourth and final treatment course. Rats receiving 80 mg kg−1 ifosfamide had low-grade glucosuria, phosphaturia and proteinuria throughout the study. Urine flow rate, creatinine clearance, urinary sodium and potassium excretion and kidney glutathione and malondialdehyde content were not affected by ifosfamide at either dose. These findings indicate that ifosfamide produces abnormalities in rat renal function resembling subclinical Fanconi syndrome.
Internal Energy, Q-Energy, Poynting's Theorem, and the Stress Dyadic in Dispersive Material

General expressions are derived for time-domain energy density and the time integral of the Poynting vector that are related to the kinetic, potential, and heat energy densities of the bound charge-polarization carriers and the stored electromagnetic field energy density in passive, nonlinear or linear, lossy or lossless, temporally and/or spatially dispersive polarized media. In the most general linear, lossless, spatially nondispersive media, the energy expressions reveal non-negative quadratic forms for the frequency-domain internal energy densities that are used in expressions for the quality factor (Q) of antennas containing lossless dispersive material. The analysis also reveals useful inequalities that imply that the magnitude of the group velocity in lossless material is always less than or equal to the speed of light. The energy expressions do not, however, predict an internal energy in highly lossy temporally dispersive media that can be used to improve upon the expressions for the Q of antennas in such media. To improve upon the accuracy of the Q of antennas with highly lossy dispersive media, a non-negative "Q-energy" density is found that maintains the accuracy of the inverse relationship between Q and matched VSWR half-power fractional bandwidth for antennas containing highly lossy dispersive material. Lower bounds for this improved Q are found in terms of previously determined lower bounds. The paper also confirms the result that, for general linear lossy or lossless dispersive material, the steady state time averages of the electromagnetic power density, force density, and stress dyadic with sinusoidal time dependence that turns on at some finite time in the past, unlike the internal energy, does not contain derivatives with respect to frequency.
Some recent evaporation investigations

Little can be done toward prevention of evaporation from water surfaces, but much has been learned from investigations that can be useful in estimating evaporation losses. In the aggregate such losses are tremendous and are increasing in proportion to the areas flooded by the construction of additional reservoir systems. With the objective of adding to the general knowledge of the subject, the Division of Irrigation, United States Soil Conservation Service, has made a series of studies in Southern California. These cover: (1) Determination of reduction coefficients for several commonly-used evaporation land pans; (2) development of a special screened pan having a coefficient that approaches unity; (3) effect of colored pans and of salt solutions on evaporation losses; and (4) some limited evaporation studies at lakes and reservoirs.
The effects of gastropod shell availability and habitat characteristics on shell utilization by the intertidal hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus Say

Abstract The shell utilization patterns of two intertidal populations of the hermit crab, Pagurus longicarpus Say, were studied. The populations differed with respect to the physical characteristics of their habitats and the availability of empty gastropod shells. The first population was in an estuary connected to Narragansett Bay. This population had few, if any. empty shells available in the area. The second population was in a rock-cobble area directly on Block Island Sound. There were large numbers of empty gastropod shells available for this population. The consistently high gastropod mortality on this shore appears to be caused by the animals being washed up on the beach, where they die due to desiccation. Data from samples collected from June to November of both 1974 and 1975 showed that there were distinct differences in the shell utilization patterns of the two populations. A greater proportion of the animals collected from the estuary population inhabited damaged shells and/or shells with symbionts compared to the individuals from the population with large numbers of empty shells available. The results of shell selection experiments indicated that individuals from both populations inhabited less than preferred shells. The population with large numbers of empty shells available was qualitatively shell-limited because of the effect of physical factors on the morphology of the gastropod species of that area. In addition, the shell selection experiments showed that individuals from the two areas had significantly different shell preferences. This result may be explained by the effects of the environment on the growth rates of the hermit crabs and/or as an indication that shell preferences may vary in response to the physical factors of a given habitat.
Fraction of Cases of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Prevented by the Interactions of Identified Restriction Gene Variants

Previous research has demonstrated isolated effects of host genetic factors on the progression of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. In this paper, the authors present a novel use of multivariable methods for estimating the prevented fraction of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases attributable to six restriction genes after accounting for their epidemiologic interactions. The methods presented will never yield a prevented fraction above 1. The study population consisted of a well-characterized cohort of 525 US men with HIV-1 seroconversion documented during follow-up (1984-1996). On the basis of a regression tree approach using a Cox proportional hazards model for times to clinical AIDS, the combinations of genes associated with the greatest protection, relative to the lack of a protective genotype, consisted of: 1) C-C chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5)-Delta 32 and C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2)-64I (relative hazard = 0.44); 2) interleukin 10 (IL10)-+/+ in combination with CCR5-Delta 32 or CCR2-64I (relative hazard = 0.45); and 3) IL10-+/+ in combination with stromal-derived factor (SDF1)-3 'A and CCR5 promoter P1/approximately P1 (relative hazard = 0.37). Overall, 30% of potential AIDS cases were prevented by the observed combinations of restriction genes (95% confidence interval: 7, 47). However, the combined effect was confined to the first 4 years following HIV-1 seroconversion. Additional research is needed to identify AIDS restriction genes with stronger and long-lasting protection to better characterize the genetic epidemiology of HIV-1.
Incentive-based cooperative and secure inter-personal networking

In this paper we describe a framework for enabling a "stranded" mobile user to negotiate connectivity and networking resources through another user's devices. (A "stranded" user is one who has no direct means to access a network for communication purposes or other computing services.) The entity under consideration in this paper is the Wireless Personal-Area Network (WPAN). We regard the user's WPAN as an entity that negotiates short-term contracts on behalf of the user for access services through WPANs of other users that act as bridges to locally available resources. This collaborative approach allows on-the-go users to be always connected, even in locations where their service providers offer no coverage.
Disappearing Lake Alaotra: Monitoring catastrophic erosion, waterway silting, and land degradation hazards in Madagascar using Landsat imagery

Abstract At the turn of the century the island of Madagascar was densely forested, but it has recently been dramatically deforested with most damage since French colonization of the island in 1896. When the French arrived many Malagasy people fled into the forest to survive and practiced deforestation to obtain land for cultivation. However, limited slash and burn had already been an historical practice even before French colonization. Over 90% of the Malagasy original forest is now gone. Severe environmental issues have arisen on the island caused by this deforestation including degradation of the landscape due to erosion followed by siltation of many streams and rivers, and loss of Madagascar’s biodiversity. Only the humid eastern and northeastern forests remain in significant amounts and even these are concentrated in areas of steep slope and difficult access. Madagascar’s largest lake, Lake Alaotra, is located at about 750 m elevation along the eastern escarpment, in the east-central part of the country. The lake is in a large fault-controlled basin and is known for the islands most fertile and productive rice fields. However, in the past 30 years, silt derived from erosion of the soil horizon, a consequence of the deforestation, has clogged the streams and rivers in the Lake Alaotra Basin, and has filled in most of the lake. Examination of sequential Landsat TM imagery, along with field and historical observations, has shown that the lake had shrunk to 60% of its former size by the 1960s, 40% of its former size by the 1980s, and 20% of its former size in 2000. Fieldwork in the lake basin in 2003 revealed that Lake Alaotra was essentially gone, leaving only small swampy areas and perhaps a shallow small remnant lake and surrounded by marsh transformed into rice-cultivation. Crop productivity in the basin has also dropped dramatically to about 40% of its former level as a consequence of the silting of the rivers and irrigation canals, yet clear-cutting and slash and burn clearing continues in the basin. The disappearance of Lake Alaotra and the loss of crop productivity are the result of the environmental degradation. Image analysis and GIS modeling is used to locate areas that are contributing the largest amount of silt to the basin so remedial action can be taken to reduce further loss and crop yield degradation, but no matter what is done, Lake Alaotra has filled with silt and will not easily return.
Combining Techniques to Reveal Emergent Effects in Infants' Segmentation, Word Learning, and Grammar

This paper provides three representative examples that highlight the ways in which procedures can be combined to study interactions across traditional domains of study: segmentation, word learning, and grammar. The first section uses visual familiarization prior to the Headturn Preference Procedure to demonstrate that synchronized visual information aids in speech segmentation in noise. The second section uses audio familiarization prior to the Preferential Looking Procedure to demonstrate that speech perception aids in the learning of meaning. The third section uses visual familiarization prior to the Preferential Looking Procedure to demonstrate that attentional distractions inhibit grammatical understanding. Thus, what infants see affects what they hear. What infants hear affects the words they learn. What infants remember affects the sentences they understand.
Regulation of Erythropoietin Expression in the Nervous System: The Hypoxia Inducible Factor

Hypoxia is associated with a variety of CNS diseases including stroke, traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. Induction of erythropoietin (EPO) is a physiological response to hypoxia in oxygen-deprived tissues. Hypoxia-induced epo gene expression is regulated by the transcriptional activator hypoxia inducible factor (HIF). The epo gene contains a HIF binding site in its 3′ untranslated region, and its expression is upregulated concomitantly with HIF activation in a variety of cell culture models as well as in the brains of rodents exposed to hypoxia or pharmacological agents that mimic hypoxia, such as iron chelators and cobalt chloride. Since HIF is a master regulator of oxygen homeostasis in all mammalian cells and controls the expression of a variety of genes required for cellular adaptation to hypoxia (including epo), this review covers the current knowledge about the oxygen sensing mechanism that regulates the activation of HIF under hypoxic conditions. An important challenge for the future is to determine how modulating the activation of HIF with the subsequent expression of EPO can be beneficial for neural survival under stress conditions that involve hypoxia.
Biogeomorphic Impacts of Invasive Species

Invasive species, often recognized as ecosystem engineers, can dramatically alter geomorphic processes and landforms. Our review shows that the biogeomorphic impacts of invasive species are common, but variable in magnitude or severity, ranging from simple acceleration or deceleration of preexisting geomorphic processes to landscape metamorphosis. Primary effects of invasive flora are bioconstruction and bioprotection, whereas primary effects of invasive fauna are bioturbation, bioerosion, and bioconstruction. Land-water interfaces seem particularly vulnerable to biogeomorphic impacts of invasive species. Although not different from biogeomorphic impacts in general, invasive species are far more likely to lead to major geomorphic changes or landscape metamorphosis, which can have long-lasting impacts. In addition, invasive species can alter selection pressures in both macroevolution and microevolution by changing geomorphic processes. However, the differing timescales of biological invasions, landscape ev...
Safety and tolerance of oral dextromethorphan in patients at risk for brain ischemia.

Experimental ischemia models have shown the antitussive dextromethorphan to be an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist with neuroprotective properties. We treated 10 patients with a history of recent stroke or transient ischemic attack with oral dextromethorphan (60 mg q.i.d.) for 3 weeks in a placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover tolerance study. We documented no clinical evidence of toxicity attributable to dextromethorphan in this preliminary study.
Comments on modified condition/decision coverage for software testing [of flight control software]

This paper considers the modified condition/decision coverage method of testing software. There is an explanation of the method and why it appears reasonable; the probability model offered as a justification is closely examined; and several experiments are described that check the underlying assumptions of the method and its probability model. The method checks the implementation of Boolean expressions by checking the correctness of certain entries in the truth table. These entries are the ones for which a change in a single variable changes the evaluation of the entire expression. The probability model offered as a justification, however, is shown to be equivalent to a binomial distribution of errors, which says all entries are equally likely to be incorrect, Hence, there is not a match between the method and the model. For this reason, a number of experiments are proposed to test the assumptions of the method and the model.
THE XCPR PROTEIN OF PSEUDOMONAS AERUGINOSA DIMERIZES VIA ITS N-TERMINUS

Extracellular protein secretion by the main terminal branch of the general secretory pathway in Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires a secretion machinery comprising the products of at least 12 genes. One of the components of this machinery, the XcpR protein, belongs to a large family of related proteins distinguished by the presence of a highly conserved nucleotide binding domain (Walker box A). The XcpR protein is essential for the process of extracellular secretion and amino acid substitutions within the Walker A sequence result in inactive XcpR. The same mutations exert a dominant negative effect on protein secretion when expressed in wild-type bacteria. Transdominance of XcpR mutants suggests that this protein is involved in interactions with other components of the secretion machinery or that it functions as a multimer. In this study, the amino-terminal portion of the cl repressor protein of phage lambda was used as a reporter of dimerization in Escherichia coli following fusion to full-length as well as a truncated form of XcpR. The cl-XcpR hybrid proteins were able to dimerize, as demonstrated by the immunity of bacteria expressing them to killing by lambda phage. The full-length XcpR as well as several deletion mutants of XcpR were able to disrupt the dimerization of the chimeric cl-XcpR protein. The disruption of cl-XcpR dimers using the deletion mutants of XcpR, combined with the analysis of their dominant negative effects on protein secretion, was used to map the minimal dimerization domain of XcpR, which is located within an 85 amino acid region in its N-terminal domain. Taken together, the data presented in this paper suggest that the XcpR protein dimerizes via its N-terminus and that this dimerization is essential for extracellular protein secretion.
Finite-Difference Schemes for Reaction–Diffusion Equations Modeling Predator–Prey Interactions in MATLAB

We present two finite-difference algorithms for studying the dynamics of spatially extended predator–prey interactions with the Holling type II functional response and logistic growth of the prey. The algorithms are stable and convergent provided the time step is below a (non-restrictive) critical value. This is advantageous as it is well-known that the dynamics of approximations of differential equations (DEs) can differ significantly from that of the underlying DEs themselves. This is particularly important for the spatially extended systems that are studied in this paper as they display a wide spectrum of ecologically relevant behavior, including chaos. Furthermore, there are implementational advantages of the methods. For example, due to the structure of the resulting linear systems, standard direct, and iterative solvers are guaranteed to converge. We also present the results of numerical experiments in one and two space dimensions and illustrate the simplicity of the numerical methods with short programs MATLAB. Users can download, edit, and run the codes from http://www.uoguelph.ca/~mgarvie/, to investigate the key dynamical properties of spatially extended predator–prey interactions.
In situ transmission electron microscopy observations of electric-field-induced domain switching and microcracking in ferroelectric ceramics

In situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique was developed to examine micromechanisms of the electric fatigue in ferroelectric ceramics. The technique was based on a specially designed specimen connected to a modified TEM heating stage. With this technique, domain switching and nanodomain alignment near crack-like flaws were observed under cyclic electric fields. Following repeated electric cycles, microcracks were found to develop along domain and grain boundaries.
The Attention-Getting Capacity of Whines and Child-Directed Speech

The current study tested the ability of whines and child-directed speech to attract the attention of listeners involved in a story repetition task. Twenty non-parents and 17 parents were presented with two dull stories, each playing to a separate ear, and asked to repeat one of the stories verbatim. The story that participants were instructed to ignore was interrupted occasionally with the reader whining and using child-directed speech. While repeating the passage, participants were monitored for Galvanic skin response, heart rate, and blood pressure. Based on 4 measures, participants tuned in more to whining, and to a lesser extent child-directed speech, than neutral speech segments that served as a control. Participants, regardless of gender or parental status, made more mistakes when presented with the whine or child-directed speech, they recalled hearing those vocalizations, they recognized more words from the whining segment than the neutral control segment, and they exhibited higher Galvanic skin response during the presence of whines and child- directed speech than neutral speech segments. Whines and child-directed speech appear to be integral members of a suite of vocalizations designed to get the attention of attachment partners by playing to an auditory sensitivity among humans. Whines in particular may serve the function of eliciting care at a time when caregivers switch from primarily mothers to greater care from other caregivers.
Outcomes of a Character Strengths–Based Intervention on Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy of Psychiatrically Hospitalized Youths

Objective:Mental health treatment approaches based on character strengths can be used to complement the traditional focus on functional impairment. The study tested use of a character strengths–based intervention to enhance the self-esteem and self-efficacy of psychiatrically hospitalized youths.Methods:Eighty-one hospitalized adolescents were randomly assigned to intervention or comparison groups. The intervention used the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth to discover character strengths and incorporate them into coping skills. Self-efficacy and self-esteem were measured at baseline, postintervention, two weeks, and three months.Results:Self-esteem and self-efficacy initially increased in both groups, but only the intervention group showed sustained improvement. The intervention was associated with increased self-efficacy at two weeks and increased self-efficacy and self-esteem at three months.Conclusions:A brief, easily administered character strengths–based intervention may be an adjunc...
High-permeability functionalized silicone magnetic microspheres with low autofluorescence for biomedical applications

Functionalized magnetic microspheres are widely used for cell separations, isolation of proteins and other biomolecules, in vitro diagnostics, tissue engineering, and microscale force spectroscopy. We present here the synthesis and characterization of a silicone magnetic microsphere which can be produced in diameters ranging from 0.5 to 50 μm via emulsion polymerization of a silicone ferrofluid precursor. This bottom-up approach to synthesis ensures a uniform magnetic concentration across all sizes, leading to significant advances in magnetic force generation. We demonstrate that in a size range of 5-20 μm, these spheres supply a full order of magnitude greater magnetic force than leading commercial products. In addition, the unique silicone matrix exhibits autofluorescence two orders of magnitude lower than polystyrene microspheres. Finally, we demonstrate the ability to chemically functionalize our silicone microspheres using a standard EDC reaction, and show that our folate-functionalized silicone microspheres specifically bind to targeted HeLa and Jurkat cells. These spheres show tremendous potential for replacing magnetic polystyrene spheres in applications which require either large magnetic forces or minimal autofluorescence, since they represent order-of-magnitude improvements in each. In addition, the unique silicone matrix and proven biocompatibility suggest that they may be useful for encapsulation and targeted delivery of lipophilic pharmaceuticals.
Differences Among Banks are More Important than Their Common Risks in Explaining Banking Profits

[Regulations following the Financial Crisis threaten to throw out the baby with the bathwater. The Evidence shows that Banks are profitable largely because of their differences. Federally encouraged mergers and other regulations that discourage these differences among banks may reduce the contribution of bank individuality to the financial system. Uniformity increases system risks.We measure differences among banks using financial statement value differences from sample means. Such differences test as “priced risks,” improving forecasts of financial institution stock returns. We find “differentness” carries greater weight in explaining recent long run financial institution returns than market excess returns within a CAPM framework. This result has important implications for financial-crisis-induced changes in financial regulation. If differentness is necessary to long run profits in banking, then different capital rules for different sorts of bank are more helpful than rules that encourage uniformity of behavior. Large retail banks and complex wholesale banks should be separate to protect depositors.
A Parameter Estimate Associated with the Adaptive Control of Stochastic Systems

Many physical phenomena are modeled by stochastic systems. Typically some parameters of the system are unknown so that these parameters must be estimated and often it is required to control this system. In this paper the parameter estimation problem is considered for this combined adaptive control problem. The unknown parameters appear affinely in the drift term of the stochastic differential equation that describes the nonlinear stochastic system. It is shown that the family of maximum likelihood estimates based on the observations of the system for increasing time are strongly consistent.
CO-OPERATION AND COLLABORATION IN COLONIAL EAST AFRICA: THE ASIANS' POLITICAL ROLE, 1890–1964

DURING the period of British colonial rule in East Africa, enterprising traders from South Asia co-operated and collaborated to their mutual advantage in the economic development of the whole region. Co-operation, which is readily apparent in the historical record, presents few problems for the historian. 'Collaboration', however, entails an element of secrecy that militates against its being adequately described and understood. As defined in recent studies with reference to certain East Africans, collaboration denotes an association with government by one who benefits personally at the expense of the community he represents.' During the colonial period, British officials, who strove to present always a detached and fairminded view, at least in their record keeping, tended not to describe collaboration as such, and the Asians, of course, shunned any publication of their involvement in it. It is through personal interview (mostly as one Asian testifies against another) that collaboration can best be understood. During the closing years of colonialism, most opportunities for it seem to have prevailed, and fortunately for those years the oral evidence is the most abundant.2 Increasingly uncertain of their future, a number of Asian leaders then entered into collaboration during these years with Africans and Arabs as well as with Europeans. The main features of Asian co-operation, as distinct from collaboration, have already been described in several major surveys of Asian history in East Africa, and many further particulars are beginning to appear in articles and doctoral dissertations.3 This is especially true of co-operative economic ventures which,
Exonerating Unethical Marketing Executive Behaviors: A Diagnostic Framework:

Although unethical marketing behaviors of corporations have been studied and some normative frameworks suggested for judging their ethicality, no research has focused on assessing individual respon...
Applications of MALDI-TOF MS in environmental microbiology

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) is an emerging technique for microbial identification, characterization, and typing. The single colony method can be used for obtaining a protein fingerprint or profile unique to each microorganism. This technique has been mainly used in the clinical field, but it also has significant potential in the environmental field. The applications of MALDI-TOF MS in environmental microbiology are discussed in this review. An overview on the use of MALDI-TOF MS for environmental proteomics and metabolomics is given as well as its use for bacterial strain typing and bioremediation research. A more detailed review on the use of this technique for the identification, differentiation, and categorization of environmental microorganisms is given. Some of the parameters that can influence the results and reproducibility of MALDI-TOF MS are also discussed.
Biological Observations on Exomalopsis (Anthophorula) Chionura Cockerell, including a Comparison of the Biology of Exomalopsis with that of Other Anthophorid Groups (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)

Although it is always of value to add hitherto unknown information to the fund of knowledge concerning the habits and life histories of the Apoidea, the data presented below are of special interest because they help to demonstrate the relationship of Exomalopsis and the Exomalopsinae with certain other groups of the Anthophoridae. This relationship has been a moot question in the phylogenetic understanding of the bees, as discussed by Michener (1953). The information supplements that set forth in another paper (Rozen, 1957) and corroborates the conclusions therein.
Explicit and implicit image cognitions toward destination: Application of the Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT)

Abstract Understanding the nature of destination images has considerable importance in the tourism industry, which is highly image-driven. This study aims to measure the image attributes of destinations using data for both explicit cognitions (based on self-report surveys) and implicit cognitions (based on reaction times) based on theory drawn from tourism psychology. A series of experimental studies was carried out using the Single-Target Implicit Association Test (ST-IAT) to measure individuals’ explicit and implicit cognitions of image attributes in the context of three destination countries: China, England and France. The findings imply that knowing the weight values between explicit image measures and the ST-IAT is imperative in predicting behavioral intentions in tourism.
What is Bullying

Publisher Summary This chapter explains the act of bullying in schools using the social information processing (SIP) theory and the theory of the mind (TOM). Many researchers use Olweus's (1993) definition of bullying, which states, “a student is being bullied or victimized when he is exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of one or more other students.” Most definitions of bullying categorize it as a subset of aggressive behavior that involves an intention to hurt another person. The SIP was originally developed by Dodge in 1986 and redefined by Crick and Dodge in 1994. The reformulated theory involves six sequential stages of processing social information. Children who are exposed to neglect or other inadequate experiences are likely to develop internal working models of human relationships that are not healthy or normal. The popular stereotype of a bully who is a social outcast and lacks social insight is implied by the SIP theoretical framework; however, some critics of the TOM framework argue that having advanced TOM skills can not only lead to various types of bullying but can also lead to highly pro-social behavior; thus, having a superior TOM says nothing about how that knowledge will be utilized.
AG-MIC: Azure-Based Generalized Flow for Medical Image Classification

Medical image-based research requires heavy computational workload associated with image analysis and collaborative device independent platforms to incorporate expert opinions from multiple institutions. Cloud-based resources such as Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio (MAMLS) provide such a platform that is conducive to the medical-image-based data analysis. This paper fosters the advantages of the cloud-based computing frameworks (such as MAMLS) and presents a practical work-flow well-suited for the standard machine learning tasks seen in medical image research viz., binary classification, multi-class learning, regression and so on. The proposed automated generalized workflow allows medical researchers/practitioners to focus on data inferencing rather than dealing with the intricate details of predictive modeling, such as feature and model selection. The scalable architecture of the proposed flow utilizes the MAMLS framework to processes data sets that require partial core storage space in the virtual machine to one complete core storage space in a common flow. Also, the proposed flow invokes multiple feature ranking and predictive models in parallel for automated selection and parameterization of the optimal data model. The performance of the proposed flow is bench-marked on 14 public data sets and four local medical image data sets (~0.12 MB–1.22 GB) using a single common flow, while ensuring better (~ 8% improvement) or atleast similar generalization capability with respect to existing works.
Retrieval of Intravascular Foreign Body

This section provides a comprehensive procedural report for retrieval of intravascular foreign body procedure with up-to-date explanatory notes, synopsis of the indications and contraindications, and potential complications in an organized and practical format.
On the relationship between argument structure change and semantic change

Argument structure (AS) and meaning are closely related, but the nature of the relationship is disputed. It is not entirely deterministic, as not all aspects of AS and meaning necessarily match up. Most discussion has focused on theory-internal issues and/or synchronic analysis of argument alternations. We, however, take a diachronic perspective, addressing how change in a verb’s AS correlates with meaning and vice-versa, and specifically asking if AS changes first, giving new semantics, or if meaning change triggers a different AS. We study these issues empirically via corpus work on the verb babysit , since it shows interesting changes involving AS and semantics in the relatively shallow diachrony of modern English.
Defending one-time pad cryptosystems from denial-of-service attacks

A one-time pad (OTP) can be conceived of as a stream cipher where the plaintext and key have equal length and the key is never reused. This cipher has easily proven properties of deniability and mathematical unbreakability, even in situations where an eavesdropper has access to unlimited computing power. Yet OTPs also have non-intuitive bottlenecks in CPU, RAM, disk I/O, and key material consumption, particularly when OTPs protect their own communication metadata (such as the volume of information exchanged) in the presence of random packet injection attacks, link failures, and endpoint outages. This paper explains how these problems arise and presents a set of countermeasures that treats them effectively and scalably.