cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Does swarming cause honey bees to update their solar ephemerides

Spatial orientation in the social insects offers several examples of specialized learning mechanisms that underlie complex learning tasks. Here we study one of these systems: the processes by which honey bees update, or fail to update, their memories of the sun's daily pattern of movement (the solar ephemeris function) in relation to the landscape. Specifically, we ask whether bees that have initially learned the solar ephemeris function relative to a conspicuous treeline at their natal site can later realign the ephemeris to a differently oriented treeline. We first confirm and clarify an earlier finding that bees transplanted passively (by being carried) do not re-learn the solar ephemeris in relation to the new treeline. When they cannot detect the sun directly, as on overcast days, these transplanted bees use a solar ephemeris function appropriate for their natal site, despite days or weeks of experience at the new site. We then ask whether bees put through a swarming process as they are transplanted are induced to re-learn the solar ephemeris function at the new site, as swarming is a natural process wherein bees transplant themselves. Most of the swarmed bees failed to re-learn, even though they did extensive learning flights (in comparison with those of non-swarmed controls) as they first emerged from the hive at the new site. We hypothesize that the bees' representation of the solar ephemeris function is stored in an encapsulated cognitive module in which the ephemeris is inextricably linked to the reference landscape in which it was learned.
Distributional and Biological Notes on Buprestidae (Coleoptera) in North and Central America and the West Indies, with Validation of One Species

Abstract Distributional and/or biological data are presented for 92 species and 1 subspecies of Buprestidae from Canada, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and the United States in the following genera and subgenera: Acmaeodera Eschscholtz, Acmaeoderopsis Barr, Actenodes Dejean, Agrilaxia Kerremans, Agrilus (s. str.) Curtis, Agrilus (Engyaulus) Waterhouse, Anthaxia (Haplanthaxia) Reitter, Aphanisticus Latreille, Brachys Dejean, Buprestis (s. str.) Linneaus, Buprestis (Knulliobuprestis) Kurosawa, Chrysobothris Eschscholtz, Chrysophana LeConte, Dicerca (s. str.) Eschscholtz, Dicerca (Argante) Gistel, Hippomelas Laporte and Gory, Mastogenius Solier, Pachyschelus Solier, Phaenops Megerle, Polycesta (Jamaiquesia) Cobos, Polycesta (Tularensia) Nelson, Sphaerobothris (s. str.) Semenov-Tian-Shanskij and Rikhter, Taphrocerus Solier, and Xenorhipis LeConte. Acmaeodera cazieri Knull is validated.
Xerostomic complaints induced by an anti-sialogogue in healthy young vs. older adults.

Complaints of xerostomia and salivary hypofunction are common in older adults. However, recent studies reported that dehydration-induced salivary hypofunction caused fewer xerostomic complaints in older compared with young adults. This may predispose older adults to developing oral problems that will subsequently not receive attention from health care providers. Since many medications are known to inhibit salivation, this study attempted to determine if an anticholinergic drug (glycopyrrolate) had a differential effect on xerostomic complaints in young vs. older adults. Eighteen young (age 20-38 yrs) and 18 older (age 60-77 yrs) healthy adults were given a 4.0 micrograms/kg dose of i.v. glycopyrrolate. For 6 hrs after drug administration, stimulated parotid salivary flow was collected, and an eight-item Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) subjective xerostomia test was given. At several time points post-i.v. glycopyrrolate, salivary flow rates were consistently lower in older compared with young adults. For some measures of xerostomic complaint (time to first complaint; time to maximum complaint; mean maximum complaint), there were no age-related differences for all VAS items. However, a trend for increased xerostomic complaints in older adults was demonstrated (time to recovery; total duration of complaint; number xerostomic at 6 hrs). These findings suggest that, given equal doses of an anti-sialogogue, salivary hypofunction is greater in healthy older adults, while increased complaints of xerostomia are not as consistent.
Coarse Grained Ion-Ion and Ion-Water Interactions

A detailed knowledge of ion transfer mechanisms between water and low-polarity media is crucial for many areas of chemistry and biochemistry such as phase transfer catalysis, separations, and biomembranes. [1,2] It has become clear from experiments [3] and simulations[4] that the transfer of small hydrophilic ions from water to an immiscible organic liquid is typically accompanied by the co-transfer of several water molecules. As a result, the ion exists in the organic phase as a hydrated cluster. To properly simulate biological phenomena at the coarse grained (CG) level, a proper treatment of the hydrated ions and solvent is crucial and is nontrivial. We have recently parameterized an uncharged and 4:1 mapped CG water with 3 interaction sites based on a generalized Morse -like potential which has greater flexibility in tuning the landscapes of CG effective pairwise potentials. [5] This new CG water becomes polarizable when it interacts with ions (Na+, Cl-) and or any other charged sites but not among its own species. The Morse interaction parameters for the CG ion-ion, ion-water, and ion-alkane are to be parameterized against the free energy of transfer of ions between water and liquid alkanes as well as radial distributions of ion-ion and ion-water. The target data are to be derived from atomic simulations.References:1. Girault, H. H. In Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry; Bockris, J. O'M., Conway, B. E., White, R. E., Eds.; Plenum Press: New York, 1993; Vol. 25, Chapter 1.2. Gennis, R. B. Biomembranes; Springer-Verlag: New York, 1989.3. Sun, P.; Laforge, F. O.; Mirkin, M. V. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 12410.4. Wick, C. D.; Dang, L. X. J. Phys. Chem. C 2008, 112, 647.5. S.-W. Chiu, E. Jakobsson. Manuscript in preparation.
Fabrication and testing of bulk micromachined silicon carbide piezoresistive pressure sensors for high temperature applications

This paper explores the development of high-temperature pressure sensors based on polycrystalline and single-crystalline 3C-SiC piezoresistors and fabricated by bulk micromachining the underlying 100-mm diameter (100) silicon substrate. In one embodiment, phosphorus-doped APCVD polycrystalline 3C-SiC (poly-SiC) was used for the piezoresistors and sensor diaphragm, with LPCVD silicon nitride employed to electrically isolate the piezoresistor from the diaphragm. These piezoresistors fabricated from poly-SiC films deposited at different temperatures and doping levels were characterized, showing -2.1 as the best gauge factor and exhibited a sensitivities up to 20.9-mV/V*psi at room temperature. In a second embodiment, epitaxially-grown unintentionally nitrogen-doped single-crystalline 3C-SiC piezoresistors were fabricated on silicon diaphragms, with thermally grown silicon dioxide employed for the piezoresistor electrical isolation from the diaphragm. The associated 3C-SiC/SiO/sub 2//Si substrate was fabricated by bonding a (100) silicon wafer carrying the 3C-SiC onto a silicon wafer with thermal oxide covering its surface. The 3C-SiC handle wafer was then etched away in KOH. The diaphragm was fabricated by time etching the silicon substrate. The sensors were tested at temperatures up to 400/spl deg/C and exhibited a sensitivity of 177.6-mV/V*psi at room temperature and 63.1-mV/V*psi at 400/spl deg/C. The estimated longitudinal gauge factor of 3C-SiC piezoresistors along the [100] direction was estimated at about -18 at room temperature and -7 at 400/spl deg/C.
Rethinking motor learning and savings in adaptation paradigms: model-free memory for successful actions combines with internal models.

Although motor learning is likely to involve multiple processes, phenomena observed in error-based motor learning paradigms tend to be conceptualized in terms of only a single process: adaptation, which occurs through updating an internal model. Here we argue that fundamental phenomena like movement direction biases, savings (faster relearning), and interference do not relate to adaptation but instead are attributable to two additional learning processes that can be characterized as model-free: use-dependent plasticity and operant reinforcement. Although usually "hidden" behind adaptation, we demonstrate, with modified visuomotor rotation paradigms, that these distinct model-based and model-free processes combine to learn an error-based motor task. (1) Adaptation of an internal model channels movements toward successful error reduction in visual space. (2) Repetition of the newly adapted movement induces directional biases toward the repeated movement. (3) Operant reinforcement through association of the adapted movement with successful error reduction is responsible for savings.
Perracotta: mining temporal API rules from imperfect traces

Dynamic inference techniques have been demonstrated to provide useful support for various software engineering tasks including bug finding, test suite evaluation and improvement, and specification generation. To date, however, dynamic inference has only been used effectively on small programs under controlled conditions. In this paper, we identify reasons why scaling dynamic inference techniques has proven difficult, and introduce solutions that enable a dynamic inference technique to scale to large programs and work effectively with the imperfect traces typically available in industrial scenarios. We describe our approximate inference algorithm, present and evaluate heuristics for winnowing the large number of inferred properties to a manageable set of interesting properties, and report on experiments using inferred properties. We evaluate our techniques on JBoss and the Windows kernel. Our tool is able to infer many of the properties checked by the Static Driver Verifier and leads us to discover a previously unknown bug in Windows.
Exploring Basic Processes Underlying Acceptance and Mindfulness

We know of only two unpublished case reports examining the use of ACT with childhood anxiety disorders. In the first case, ACT was used to treat anxiety-based school refusal behavior in an 11-year-old boy, with gains maintained over a 2-year follow-up period (Wilson & Coyne, 2003). In a second report,ACTwas used with a 10-year-old girl with social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder (Greco, 2002). Core components of ACT were implemented in a 12-week outpatient protocol composed of eight individual and four family sessions. Throughout treatment, the young girl demonstrated improved school attendance. Furthermore, she reported decreases in social anxiety and increases in acceptance and values-consistent behavior at posttreatment and 4-week follow-up. Collectively, clinical and empirical work suggests that ACT can be adapted for children and adolescents experiencing a range of presenting concerns. It is clear, however, that continued treatment development and rigorous empirical evaluation are needed to document the short- and long-term effects of ACT relative to other treatment approaches.
SHORT LENGTH AMINO ACID SEQUENCE HOMOLOGY AMONG ANCESTRALLY UNRELATED PROTEINS

Homologous amino acid sequences of short length among apparently unrelated proteins may be responsible for similar structural or functional relations among such proteins. A method based on McLachlan's method for determining ancestral relatedness of proteins from sequence information (McLachlan 1971) is presented for determining and evaluating short sequence (“local”) homology. Some local homologies are reported.
On throughput efficiency of geographic opportunistic routing in multihop wireless networks

Geographic opportunistic routing (GOR) has shown throughput efficiency in coping with unreliable transmissions in multihop wireless networks. The basic idea behind opportunistic routing is to take advantage of the broadcast nature and spacial diversity of the wireless medium by involving multiple neighbors of the sender into the local forwarding, thus improve transmission reliability. The existing GOR schemes typically involve as many as available next-hop neighbors into the local forwarding, and give the nodes closer to the destination higher relay priorities. In this paper, we show that it is not always the optimal way to achieve the best throughput. We introduce a framework to analyze the one-hop throughput of GOR, provide a deeper insight into the trade-off between the benefit (packet advancement and transmission reliability) and cost (medium time delay) associated with the node collaboration, and propose a local metric named expected one-hop throughput (EOT) to balance the benefit and cost. We also identify an upper bound of EOT and its concavity, which indicates that even if the candidate coordination delay were negligible, the throughput gain would become marginal when the number of forwarding candidates increases. Based on the EOT, we also propose a local candidate selection and prioritization algorithm. Simulation results validate our analysis and show that the EOT metric leads to both better one-hop and path throughput than the corresponding pure GOR and geographic routing.
Two-photon excitation in square and cylindrical capillaries

The loss in sensitivity of two-photon excited fluorescence, when switching from a 1 cm cell format to square and cylindrical capillaries, is described quantitatively. Sensitivities are determined with calibration curves, and beam shapes are computed with optical design software. The decreased sensitivity with square capillary (75 μm i.d.) is shown to be the simple result of a truncated pathlength resulting in a factor of ~ 2 reduction in sensitivity from a 1 cm cell. Cylindrical capillary of the same i.d. is characterized by astigmatism caused by the curved refractive index boundary in addition to the truncation. The astigmatism is determined to be smaller in the thin-walled capillary, allowing for better performance than the thick-walled capillary. In fact, the thin-walled capillary is found to have similar performance to the square capillary.
Liver disease in the adolescent.

Abstract This article discusses common liver diseases in the adolescent. Briefly reviewed is the evaluation of the adolescent with new-onset liver enzyme elevation. Then the article discusses common liver diseases, such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, hepatitis, metabolic disease, biliary atresia, cystic fibrosis, and inherited disorders of cholestasis. Finally, a management approach to the adolescent with liver disease is outlined, noting the challenges that must be addressed to effectively care for not only liver disease in the adolescent but also the patient as a whole.
Spatial and Temporal Divergence of Expression in Duplicated Barley Germin-Like Protein-Encoding Genes

Subfunctionalization is the process by which a pair of duplicated genes, or paralogs, experiences a reduction of individual expression patterns or function while still reproducing the complete expression pattern and function of the ancestral gene. Two germin-like protein (GLP)-encoding genes, GerB and GerF, are paralogs that belong to a small gene family in barley (Hordeum vulgare). Both genes share high nucleotide sequence similarity in coding and noncoding regions and encode identical apoplastic proteins. The use of RNA gel blots, coupled with single-stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of RT–PCR products, elucidated the developmental and tissue-specific expression patterns of each gene. Individual expression patterns provided evidence of both overlapping redundancy and early subfunctionalization. GerB is predominantly expressed in developing shoots, while GerF is predominantly expressed in seedling roots, developing spikes, and pericarp/testa. GerF promoter deletion studies located a region (−356/−97) responsible for high promoter activity and showed the ability of GerB and GerF upstream regions to drive gfp expression in coleoptiles, epicarps, and lemma/palea of developing spikes. The observed expression patterns are consistent with proposed roles in plant development and defense mechanisms for this gene family. These roles may explain why redundancy has been selectively maintained in this duplicate gene pair.
Cardiorespiratory responses to systemic administration of a protein kinase C inhibitor in conscious rats

Gozal, David, Gavin R. Graff, Jose E. Torres, Sanjay G. Khicha, Gautam S. Nayak, Narong Simakajornboon, and Evelyne Gozal.Cardiorespiratory responses to systemic administration of a protein kinase C inhibitor in conscious rats. J. Appl. Physiol. 84(2): 641–648, 1998.—Although protein kinase C (PKC) is an essential component of multiple neurally mediated events, its role in respiratory control remains undefined. The ventilatory effects of a systemically active PKC inhibitor (Ro-32-0432; 100 mg/kg ip) were assessed by whole body plethysmography during normoxia, hypoxia (10% O2), and hyperoxia (100% O2) in unrestrained Sprague-Dawley rats. A sustained expiratory time increase occurred within 8–10 min of injection in room air [mean 44.8 ± 5.2 (SE) % ], was similar to expiratory time prolongations after Ro-32-0432 administration during 100% O2 (45.5 ± 8.1%; not significant), and was associated with mild minute ventilation (V˙e) decreases. Hypercapnic ventilatory responses (5% CO2) remained unchanged after Ro-3...
The Valuation of American Barrier Options using theDecomposition Technique

In this paper, we propose an alternative approach for pricing and hedging non-standard American options. In principle, the proposed approach applies to any kind of American-style contract for which the payoff function has a Markovian representation in the state space. Specifically, we obtain an analytic solution for the value and hedge parameters of barrier options, an important example of path-dependent options. The solution includes standard American options as a special case. The analytic formula also allows us to identify and exploit two key properties of the optimal exercise boundary - homogeneity in price parameters and time-invariance - for American options. In addition, some new put-call ``symmetry" relations are also derived. These properties suggest a new, efficient and integrated approach to pricing and hedging a variety of standard and non-standard American options. From an implementation perspective, this approach avoids the current practice of repetitive computation of option prices and hedge ratios. Our implementation of the analytic formula for barrier options indicates that the proposed approach is both efficient and accurate in computing option values and option hedge parameters. In some cases, our method is substantially faster than existing numerical methods with equal accuracy. In particular, the method overcomes the difficulty that existing numerical methods have in dealing with prices close to the barrier, the case where the barrier matters most.
An Auto-Focusing Method in a Microscopic Testbed for Optical Discs.

An auto-focusing method in a digital image system is demonstrated that uses a standard deviation of pixel gray levels as a feedback signal. In this system, an optical microscope and a charge coupled device (CCD) camera are used to create clear pit images of optical discs. A dynamic focusing scheme is designed in the systemcontrol software, which is able to eliminate environmental disturbances and other noises so that a fast and stable focus can be achieved. The method shows an excellent focusing accuracy. The performance and possible applications of this method are discussed. The test results for optical discs are given in this paper.
A short-term assessment of a multi-faceted engineering retention program

A set of formative tools have been designed to assess the short-term progress of a multi-faceted program aimed at improving the overall graduation rate from 37 to 67 percent over a five-year period at a College of Engineering. The holistic program consists of a set of academic and non-academic components designed to improve first- and second-year retention rates to 80 and 90 percent, respectively. Using selective performance indicators, each program component is assessed to determine its impact on the program's short-term progress. The assessment shows that the student support offered by the program components has a positive impact on the number of enrolled engineering majors. Following one year of implementation, the program is approximately half way towards reaching its target retention rates. The program has also unexpectedly and positively impacted student recruitment and campus-wide retention efforts. A key lesson learned through project implementation is that strategic assessment of activities is crucial not only to determine the extent to which the desired objectives have been met but to also refine the program components to achieve the desired retention goals. Furthermore, the efforts which focus on first-year students should not overlook the fact that parental/guardian consent may be required as part of assessment activities.
The central domain of core RAG1 preferentially recognizes single-stranded recombination signal sequence heptamer.

RAG1 and RAG2 initiate V(D)J recombination by introducing DNA double strand breaks between each selected gene segment and its bordering recombination signal sequence (RSS) in a two-step mechanism in which the DNA is first nicked, followed by hairpin formation. The RSS consists of a conserved nonamer and heptamer sequence, in which the latter borders the site of DNA cleavage. A region within RAG1, referred to as the central domain (residues 528–760 of 1040 in the full-length protein), has been shown previously to bind specifically to the double-stranded (ds) RSS heptamer, but with both weak specificity and affinity. However, additional investigations into the RAG1-RSS heptamer interaction are required because the DNA substrate forms intermediate conformations during the V(D)J recombination reaction. These include the nicked and hairpin products, as well as likely base unpairing to produce single-stranded (ss) DNA near the cleavage site. Here, it was determined that although the central domain showed substantially higher binding affinity for ss and nicked versus ds substrate, the interaction with ss RSS was particularly robust. In addition, the central domain bound with greater sequence specificity to the ss RSS heptamer than to the ds form. This study provides important insight into the V(D)J recombination reaction, specifically that significant interaction of the RSS heptamer with RAG1 occurs only after the induction of conformational changes at the RSS heptamer.
Diabetes outcomes in the Indian health system during the era of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians and the Government Performance and Results Act.

Objectives. We reviewed changes in blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels among American Indians and Alaska Natives between 1995 and 2001 to estimate the quality of diabetes care in the Indian Health Service (IHS) health care delivery system.Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Indian Health Service Diabetes Care and Outcomes Audit.Results. Adjusted mean Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels (7.9% vs 8.9%) and mean diastolic blood pressure levels (76 vs 79 mm Hg) were lower in 2001 than in 1995, respectively. A similar pattern was observed for mean total cholesterol (193 vs 208 mg/dL) and triglyceride (235 vs 257 mg/dL) levels in 2001 and 1995, respectively.Conclusions. We identified changes in intermediate clinical outcomes over the period from 1995 to 2001 that may reflect the global impact of increased resource allocation and improvements in processes on the quality of diabetes care, and we describe the results that may be achieved when community, health program, and...
ENPP1-positive B cells and activation in human peripheral blood (LYM6P.772)

ENPP1 (ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1), also known as PC1 (plasma cell alloantigen 1), is a homodimeric type II transmembrane glycoprotein that mediates nucleotide recycling by breaking down ATP to AMP. Previous studies of mouse B lineage cells showed that levels of PC1 expression could distinguish two distinct subsets of peritoneal B -1a cells. In addition, PC1 expression increases progressively on germinal center B cells and splenic plasma cells with highest levels on bone marrow plasma cells. To determine if PC1 might also help define human B1-like cells, we have used a mouse mAb to human PC1 to characterize its expression on human cells. The frequency of PC1-positive cells from cord blood (mean 6%, n=10) was higher than that from adult peripheral blood (1.34%, n=15). These PC1-positive cells are mostly derived from CD27- naive B cells expressing CD38, IgM and IgD, and were detected in plasmablast/plasma cells in peripheral blood. In contrast to B-1a cells in mice, human PC1-positive cells did not secrete natural Abs or produce IL10. Expression of PC1 was greatly increased on purified peripheral blood B cells stimulated with anti-CD40, IL4 and IL21. These activated PC1-positive cells expressed low levels of CD5, HLA-DR, surface IgM, and high levels of B cell activation markers and CD138. Our results indicated that PC1-positive B cell populations in humans are different from either CD20+CD27+CD43+ B1 cells in human, or CD5+ B-1a cells in mice.
Decentralized formation control with variable shapes for aerial robots

We address formation control for a team of quadrotors in which the robots follow a specified group trajectory while safely changing the shape of the formation according to specifications. The formation is prescribed by shape vectors which dictate the relative separations and bearings between the robots, while the group trajectory is specified as the desired trajectory of a leader or a virtual robot in the group. Each robot plans its trajectory independently based on its local information of neighboring robots which includes both the neighbor's planned trajectory and an estimate of its state. We show that the decentralized trajectory planners (a) result in consensus on the planned trajectory for predefined shapes and (b) achieve safe reconfiguration when changing shapes.
Sleep-disordered breathing in patients with opioid use disorders in long-term maintenance on buprenorphine-naloxone: A case series.

Background: Rates of opioid overdose deaths are increasing in the United States, leading to intensified efforts to provide medication-assisted treatments for opioid use disorders. It is not clear what effect opioid agonist treatments (ie, the μ-opioid receptor full agonist methadone and the partial agonist buprenorphine) may have on respiratory function. However, sleep-disordered breathing has been documented in methadone maintenance pharmacotherapy, and there is emerging evidence for similar sleep-disordered breathing in buprenorphine and buprenorphine-naloxone maintenance treatment . Objective: To provide further clinical evidence of sleep-disordered breathing emerging in the context of buprenorphine-naloxone maintenance pharmacotherapy . Methods: The authors report two additional cases of sleep-disordered breathing that developed in patients with severe opioid use disorders, treated successfully as outpatients with buprenorphine-naloxone maintenance. Both patients provided written consent for their clinical information to be included in this case report, and elements of their identities have been masked to provide confidentiality . Results: Two adult female patients, who were stable in buprenorphine-naloxone maintenance treatment developed daytime sleepiness, were referred for evaluation and found to have sleep-disordered breathing. One patient's daytime sleepiness improved with reduction in both buprenorphine-naloxone and other sedating medications as well as initiation of a constant positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. However, the other patient could not tolerate decreases in buprenorphinenaloxone and/or CPAP initiation and her daytime sleepiness persisted . Conclusion: Buprenorphine-naloxone maintenance treatment can be associated with sleep-disordered breathing. It can be difficult to differentiate the cause(s) of sleep-disordered breathing among the effects of buprenorphine-naloxone treatment itself, co-occurring conditions, such as obesity and cigarette smoking or other medications, or some combination thereof. Regardless of etiology, sleep-disordered breathing and its consequences present unique challenges to the patient in recovery from an opioid use disorder and therefore warrants careful evaluation and management .
Langmuir-Blodgett Films for Nonlinear Optics

The Langmuir-Blodgett (L-B) technique provides a useful method to prepare novel molecular assemblies with unique structure, in order to probe structure-property relationship for nonlinear optics, and to explore new device configurations. One can take advantage of the monolayer thickness control to fabricate layered structures, leading to the possibility of molecular engineering of alternate-layer heterostructures and superlattice structures. Furthermore, as our work shows, in certain favorable cases, one can also control the microscopic structure in the L-B films, by appropriately selecting the film-forming and transferring conditions. This prospect leads to opportunities for studying the effects of these structural variations on the nonlinear optical properties and, therefore, to enrich our microscopic understanding of these processes.
Consonant Mutation in Seereer-Siin

This study presents a description and analysis of stem-initial consonant mutation within the nominal system of Seereer-Siin, a West Atlantic language closely related to Fula. Two distinct mutation patterns are isolated. The first consists of a voiced stop--voiceless stop--prenasalized stop set of alternations, while the second is a Fula-like pattern consisting of continuant-stop-pre nasalized stop alternations. Consonant mutation is shown to be the result of the prefixation of a class marker that contains a floating autosegment which associates to an underspecified stem-initial consonant. Both mutation patterns occur in the same morphological environments, thereby presenting a potential problem for an auto segmental analysis: e.g., How can we account for the occurrence of continuants and voiced stops in the same environment? By positing different underlying forms for each of the mutation patterns we show how consonant mutation in Seereer is quite complex but also more regular than previously thought.
On the Löwdin Bracketing Function

In his series of publications “studies in perturbation theory”, /1–2/ Lowdin introduced the bracketing function $$f(z) = $$ (1) where H is the Hamiltonian, φ the reference function belonging to the Hilbert space h and T the reduced resolvent $$T(z) = P{({z^{ - PHP}})^{ - 1}}P$$ (2) $$p = 1 - 0;{\kern 1pt} 0 = \left| {\phi > = 1.$$ (3)
Numerical investigation of the boiling crisis for helical cruciform-shaped rods at high pressures

Abstract The limiting factor in heat removal in engineering systems involving liquid heat transfer is the boiling crisis. The boiling crisis is especially important in the field of nuclear engineering, as it is one of the main limits on the power extracted per unit volume for both Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWR). The Helical Cruciform Fuel (HCF) bundle has been proposed to increase the power density in PWRs and BWRs through enhancement of the heat transfer area-to-volume ratio and mixing of the flow compared to the traditional cylindrical fuel rod bundle geometries. In order to explore the HCF improved performance limits, computational multiphase flow dynamics is pursued here, as the experimental testing of the conditions of interest in BWR and PWR is costly. The boiling crisis at low qualities is characterized by Departure from Nucleate Boiling (DNB) and at high qualities is understood to be the result of liquid film dryout. The two-phase Eulerian approach was used to develop a robust baseline framework for prediction of DNB under high pressures that predicts the trends in boiling crisis for engineering scale systems. Such numerical technique agreed with the trends observed in the collected experimental data related to HCF type geometry.
Assessing the Availability of Healthier Children's Meals at Leading Quick-Service and Full-Service Restaurants

Abstract Objective To compare the calorie, fat, saturated fat, and sodium content of available children's meal combinations in leading restaurants with national recommendations. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Children's menu offerings and corresponding nutrition information were collected (May, 2014) from Web sites of the top 10 quick-service (QSR) and top 10 full-service (FSR) restaurant chains that offered a children's menu and provided nutrition information. Variables Measured Total calories (kcal), percent calories from fat and saturated fat, and total sodium (mg) were calculated for children's meal combinations (QSR N = 1,363; FSR N = 6,654). Combinations with ≤ 600 kcal, ≤ 35% kcal from fat, ≤ 10% kcal from saturated fat, ≤ 770 mg sodium, and those that met all 4 of these criteria were identified. Analysis Frequencies by restaurant segment. Results The majority of QSR (72%) and FSR (63%) meal combinations had ≤ 600 kcal. Only 31.9% of combinations at QSRs and 21.7% at FSRs met all 4 criteria. In both segments the calorie target was most frequently met, and the sodium target the least. Conclusions and Implications Children's meal combinations with ≤ 600 kcal are available at leading restaurant chains, but many meals fail to meet current national recommendations for fat, saturated fat, and sodium. Menu labeling legislation may address caloric content but implications for other nutrients remain unclear.
Oxidative Damage in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Increasing evidence has implicated oxidative damage in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. The major source of free radicals in the cell is the mitochondria. Peroxynitrite is formed by the reaction of superoxide with nitric oxide, and it produces both oxidative damage and protein nitration. Mutations in CuZn superoxide dismutase associated with familial ALS may result in increased −OH radical generation or in increased reactivity with peroxynitrite to nitrate proteins. There is evidence for increased oxidative damage in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease in neurons undergoing neurodegenerative changes. A role for oxidative damage in Parkinson's disease toxicity and in Huntington's disease is supported by studies in animal models. Improved antioxidant therapies may prove useful in slowing or halting the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
Open Versus Endoscopic Cubital Tunnel In Situ Decompression: A Systematic Review of Outcomes and Complications:

Background: Endoscopic cubital tunnel release has been proposed as an alternative to open in situ release. However, it is difficult to analyze outcomes after endoscopic release, as only a few small case series exist. Methods: The electronic databases of PubMed (1960-June 2014) were systematically screened for studies related to endoscopic cubital tunnel release or open in situ cubital tunnel release. Baseline characteristics, clinical scores, and complication rates were abstracted. The binary outcome was defined as rate of excellent/good response versus fair/poor. Complications were recorded into 3 categories: wound problems, persistent ulnar nerve symptoms, and other. Results: We included 8 articles that reported the clinical outcomes after surgical intervention including a total of 494 patients (344 endoscopic, 150 open in situ). The pooled rate of excellent/good was 92.0% (88.8%-95.2%) for endoscopic and 82.7% (76.15%-89.2%) for open. We identified 18 articles that detailed complications including a to...
THE GAUSSIAN HYPERGEOMETRIC FUNCTION 2 F 1

This chapter discusses the Gaussian hypergeometric function. Gauss proved that between the 2 F 1 and any two functions contiguous to it, there exists a linear relation with coefficients which are linear in z. There are 15 relations of this kind. Only four of the 15 are really independent, as all others may be obtained by elimination and use of the fact that the 2 F 1 is symmetric in a and b . The integral equation defines a single valued analytic function of z in the domain |arg (1- z )| 2 F 1 hypergeometric series into this domain. It is convenient to denote the analytic continuation of the 2 F 1 series by 2 F 1 , and this means the principal branch of the analytic function generated by the hypergeometric series.
A “Spot” for Manifest Destiny

Ambitious congressmen needed little prodding to join the army when war erupted with Mexico in the spring of 1846. Since the earliest days of the Republic, Americans had promoted war heroes to their highest office. Generals George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and William Henry Harrison all won election as the nation’s chief executive primarily because of their military luster, and many other presidential contenders positioned themselves for presidential bids with martial exploits. No wonder, then, that a mere three days after Congress voted for war with Mexico on May 13 an observer in Washington reported some fifty congressmen had applied to the U.S. president, James K. Polk, for army commissions, in some instances on behalf of relatives, but many of them for themselves. Caught up in this rage militaire , Stephen A. Douglas joined the ranks of U.S. congressmen clamoring for a commission. Just before the war, Douglas had established a military record by participating in a volunteer militia campaign to pacify Hancock County (in west central Illinois), where disorder had erupted between Mormons and their neighbors. Douglas served there as aide-de-camp at the rank of major to his recent fellow Illinois congressman, the militia general John J. Hardin. When warfare erupted with Mexico, Douglas considered military service again, perhaps partly from a sense of personal responsibility. As chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Territories he had helped enact legislation annexing the independent Republic of Texas to the Union, a cause of the fighting since Mexico had never recognized the Lone Star Republic’s independence and still claimed it. Already known as a strident expansionist, Douglas emerged as the war progressed as one of the country’s most fervent apostles of Manifest Destiny – the new creed that God intended the United States, because of its superior democratic institutions, to possess the entire North American continent. Rather than campaigning with the army, however, Douglas remained in Congress, an arrangement that worked out to his political advantage.
CORROSION BEHAVIOR OF IRON IN NEUTRAL SOLUTIONS CONTAINING CARBOXYLIC COMPOUNDS

The electrochemical behavior of Fe in neutral solutions of acetate and benzoate buffers hasbeen investigated by the potentiodynamic sweep technique. In both solutions, two distinct anodicpeaks are present in the active dissolution region. The anodic currents are much smaller inbenzoate. Results from experiments using mixtures of acetate and benzoate indicate that benzoatehas a stronger control over the anodic electrochemical processes on Fe than acetate. Thegalvanostatic cathodic reduction technique was used to detect and characterize surface oxide filmsexisting at different potentials during the anodic sweep. The results show that most of the variationin anodic charge with changing experimental parameters is related to changes in oxide formationcurrent efficiency because of parallel metal dissolution
The Concealment of Written Blessings in Pennsylvania Barns

Although the history of the Pennsylvania barn and its migration throughout North America is well-trodden territory in the study of folklife, vernacular architecture, and cultural geography, few scholars have mentioned the presence of a tradition for the concealment of written talismanic blessings in the barns of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Because of the chance circumstances surrounding the discovery of these documents, only a few examples are known to have survived to the present day. This article will examine six specimens of concealed, written barn blessings found in southeastern Pennsylvania, representing a diversity of content ranging from folk-religious inscriptions to astrological symbols, as well as addressing a variety of intentions ranging from folk-medical concerns for livestock to the banishing of perceived hostile spirit entities. These examples provide evidence for an introductory examination of the background and scope of this ritual practice from the early 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Burnout, Rejuvenation Strategies, Job Satisfaction, and Quitting Intentions in Childcare Teachers

Guided by affective events theory, the purpose of this study was to examine the temporal aspects of childcare teacher burnout, particularly as to how feelings of exhaustion throughout the day relate to perceptions of end-of-day job satisfaction and quitting intentions. A secondary purpose of the study was to explore the frequency and type of rejuvenation strategies childcare teachers use to relieve perceived stress throughout the day. Ecological momentary assessment procedures were employed for 1 week to assess exhaustion levels (3 times/day), frequencies and types of rejuvenation strategies (3 times/day), and end-of-day job satisfaction perceptions and quitting intentions (1 time/day) among 50 childcare teachers. Results indicated that childcare teachers’ quitting intentions were positively predicted by emotional exhaustion (β = 0.52) and negatively predicted by overall job satisfaction (β = −0.28). Short (≤15 min), infrequently used (one to two times/day) physical or cognitive health reprieve strategies were reported by 86 % of teachers as the most effective for reducing daily stress. Findings suggest that daily accounts of burnout and quitting intentions have both exhaustive and restorative properties.
Asymmetric preferences and monetary policy deviations

Abstract This paper examines the linkages between monetary policy equilibria and asymmetric preferences. Much has been written on the relationship between discretionary monetary policy and policy under commitment from a timeless perspective. Additionally, there is a relatively robust literature that suggests monetary policy in the U.S. responds asymmetrically to fluctuations in the output gap. Here, asymmetric optimal policy is analyzed under both commitment and discretion in a simple dynamic New-Keynesian model. The timeless perspective equilibrium leads to a policy rule with inertia (consistent with the literature), but in this case implies asymmetry over time. This result is not found under discretion. Both model variants and those imposing linearity are estimated for five developed economies. Policy deviations are simulated for the linear and nonlinear rules. Results imply that the asymmetric commitment policy produces the lowest average deviations from observed policy, and also the policy deviations with the smallest variance, for all five countries. A linear Taylor rule produces statistically larger average deviations than both asymmetric commitment and asymmetric discretionary policy.
Mining peripheral arterial disease cases from narrative clinical notes using natural language processing

Abstract Objective Lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is highly prevalent and affects millions of individuals worldwide. We developed a natural language processing (NLP) system for automated ascertainment of PAD cases from clinical narrative notes and compared the performance of the NLP algorithm with billing code algorithms, using ankle-brachial index test results as the gold standard. Methods We compared the performance of the NLP algorithm to (1) results of gold standard ankle-brachial index; (2) previously validated algorithms based on relevant International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnostic codes (simple model); and (3) a combination of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes with procedural codes (full model). A dataset of 1569 patients with PAD and controls was randomly divided into training (n = 935) and testing (n = 634) subsets. Results We iteratively refined the NLP algorithm in the training set including narrative note sections, note types, and service types, to maximize its accuracy. In the testing dataset, when compared with both simple and full models, the NLP algorithm had better accuracy (NLP, 91.8%; full model, 81.8%; simple model, 83%; P P P Conclusions A knowledge-driven NLP algorithm for automatic ascertainment of PAD cases from clinical notes had greater accuracy than billing code algorithms. Our findings highlight the potential of NLP tools for rapid and efficient ascertainment of PAD cases from electronic health records to facilitate clinical investigation and eventually improve care by clinical decision support.
A comparison of two radiation therapy-treatment plans for carcinoma of the cervix: II. Complications and survival rates

One hundred and one cases of cervical cancer were randomized by a card selection system into two treatment groups. Group A patients (48) were treated according to the radiotherapy plans used at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Group B patients (53) were treated according to the radiotherapy plan used at the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Insitute. The purpose was to evaluate these two different therapy programs in terms of survival, complications, and physician radiation exposure. The latter has been reported. Life-table techniques revealed an over-all five-year survival rate of 68.6 per cent in Group A and 86.7 per cent in Group B (statistically significant to P = 0.05). Over-all radiation complication rates were similar although there were four radiation-induced vaginal fistulas in Group A and one in Group B. Our institution has converted to the treatment plan represented in Group B.
Differential predictors of DSM-5 PTSD and ICD-11 complex PTSD among African American women.

Background: Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is proposed for inclusion in the ICD-11 as a diagnosis distinct from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), reflecting deficits in affective...
Cataloger: Catalog Recommendation Service for IT Change Requests

Service automation improves the efficiency of IT service management processes. Traditionally, IT change management relies on humans to submit a change request ticket or navigate a cumbersome catalog. Today, new systems are created to execute changes based on a service catalog that is linked to back-end application programming interfaces (APIs). Consequently, a user would need to identify the right API among thousands or more items, and fill in all the required parameters. This interaction is fully self-served with little assistance. We present Cataloger a novel recommendation system that enables humans to specify their change requests in natural language sentences and recommends the most appropriate APIs. Cataloger incorporates multi-step process where IT change requests are first classified into categories, tasks and actions (APIs), and then parameters are extracted from the requests. We evaluate a well-known set of machine learning techniques for classification and parameters extraction for Cataloger, and propose a novel feedback method for improved accuracy. We evaluate Cataloger on real-world data from four different clients of IBM. Our evaluation shows that the feedback approach significantly improves the accuracy of identifying categories, tasks, and actions for change requests, thereby, improving the API recommendation to users.
Immune responses to Japanese encephalitis virus

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an acute viral encephalitis transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly Culex tritaeniorhyncus infected with JE virus. The ratio of asymptomatic to symptomatic infection is estimated to be 100:1–1000:1 (Vaughn and Hoke 1992). However, once symptoms develop, JE is a serious viral encephalitis with a high mortality rate and high percentage of neuropsychiatric sequelae (Hoke 1992; Monath and Heinz 1996; see chapter by Solomon and Vaughn, this volume). Japanese data during the past 20 years demonstrated that the mortality rate was 17%, 48% of the patients recovered with neuropsychiatric sequalae, and only 31% recovered completely (Matsunaga et al. 1999).