cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Null model analysis of species co-occurrence patterns

The analysis of presence-absence matrices with ''null model'' randomization tests has been a major source of controversy in community ecology for over two decades. In this paper, I systematically compare the performance of nine null model algorithms and four co-occurrence indices with respect to Type I and Type II errors. The nine algorithms differ in whether rows and columns are treated as fixed sums, equiprobable, or proportional. The three models that maintain fixed row sums are invulnerable to Type I errors (false positives). One of these three is a modified version of the original algorithm of E. F. Connor and D. Simberloff. Of the four co-occurrence indices, the number of checkerboard com- binations and the number of species combinations may be prone to Type II errors (false negatives), and may not reveal significant patterns in noisy data sets. L. Stone and A. Robert's checkerboard score has good power for detecting species pairs that do not co- occur together frequently, whereas D. Schluter's V ratio reveals nonrandom patterns in the row and column totals of the matrix. Degenerate matrices (matrices with empty rows or columns) do not greatly alter the outcome of null model analyses. The choice of an ap- propriate null model and index may depend on whether the data represent classic ''island lists'' of species in an archipelago or standardized ''sample lists'' of species collected with equal sampling effort. Systematic examination of a set of related null models can pinpoint how violation of the assumptions of the model contributes to nonrandom patterns.
Teaching Length Measurement: Research Challenges

Many publications and curriculum materials promote a specific instructional sequence for introducing length measure: gross comparisons of length, measurement with nonstandard units such as paper clips, measurement with manipulative standard units, and finally measurement with standard instruments such as rulers. Several recent studies, however, imply that aspects of this traditional approach may not match children's developmental progression. This article describes several studies that challenge conventional wisdom regarding the teaching and learning of nonstandard and standard units, rulers, and measurement sense and draws educational implications from their results.
Beating Heart Surgery with Pulmonary Perfusion and Ventilation During Cardiopulmonary Bypass: Target Organs' Perfusion Without Plegia

Myocardial and pulmonary ischemia during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is associated with cardiac and pulmonary dysfunction that may result in poor outcomes after cardiac surgery. Beating heart surgery and continuous pulmonary perfusion and ventilation represent emerging strategies targeting the cardiopulmonary bypass-induced ischemia and ischemia-reperfusion injury in susceptible organs—heart and lungs.
Corneal penetration of topical and subconjunctival bevacizumab.

Topical application of drug is the preferred method of administration to the cornea, ocular surface, and anterior segment, because achieving a high therapeutic level of medicine in these tissues can often be feasible without imposing systemic side effects. However, topical treatment and periocular injections will only be effective if the drug can penetrate through the ocular barriers (e.g., corneal and conjunctival epithelium for topical route; sclera for subconjunctival route) to reach the target tissues within a therapeutic level.1 Recently, use of topical as well as subconjunctival bevacizumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal IgG1 antibody that inhibits human vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, has been considered for the treatment of corneal neovascularization (NV).2–12 Bevacizumab is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for intravenous use for metastatic colorectal cancer or recurrent or metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer, but is also used off-label intravitreally to treat VEGF-mediated diseases such as choroidal NV,13 central retinal vein occlusion,14 proliferative diabetic retinopathy,15 and neovascular glaucoma16 with encouraging results. Bevacizumab which is a full-length immunoglobulin has a 12 nm long, Y-shaped configuration with a molecular weight of 149 kDa. Its three arms are rods approximately 3.5 nm in diameter. The healthy corneal epithelium is a stratified layer of cells connected by tight junctions that provide a barrier against compounds larger than 10 Å (1 nm).1 Although it has been shown that engineered antibody fragments of 28 kDa and 67 kDa17,18 or single-chain antibodies19 can penetrate through intact corneas into the anterior chamber, topical administration of full-length immunoglobulins are typically considered ineffective because such molecules are too large to penetrate the intact cornea. However, the clinical effectiveness of topical bevacizumab in the treatment of corneal NV which has been shown before by our group12 as well as other investigators2,3,7,10,20 indirectly implies that topical bevacizumab can go through the epithelial barrier in patients with ocular inflammation and corneal NV which may affect the integrity of the epithelial barrier. The purpose of this study was to examine corneal penetration of bevacizumab after topical application in a mouse model of corneal NV. Moreover, corneal penetration of bevacizumab injected subconjunctivally with an intact epithelium or administered topically with denuded corneal epithelium was evaluated.
An expert system based controller for an automated storage/retrieval system

SUMMARY Expert systems have demonstrated their ability to solve problems of a specific domain and achieve quality performance. The technology has been applied in numerous engineering areas. In this paper, an expert system based AS/RS controller, ECSSIM, is presented. The system plans a control strategy based on the long term system characteristics. However, the system alters the control strategy tactically according to the short term control needs. The system performed very well particularly at high demand levels. It also demonstrated its capability of sensing poor control strategies, and tactically compensate for the strategy selection error.
Gravitational radiation, gravitational collapse, and numerical relativity

The generation of space-time by a computer and the application of numerical relativity to relativistic astrophysics are examined. The procedure used to calculate the total energy and the waveform of the emitted radiation is described. The accuracy of the code of Stark and Piran (1985) developed from the scheme of Bardeen and Piran (1983) and Piran (1982) is evaluated. The problem of generating gravitational radiation by a rotating, axisymmetric, stellar collapse is discussed; the results of the emission of gravitational radiation reveal that the efficiency of emission of gravitational radiation increases with angular momentum and that most of radiation is emitted in the + mode. 33 references.
Uptake of Isolated Chloroplasts by Mammalian Cells

Mouse fibroblasts (L cells) in suspension culture incorporated isolated chloroplasts of spinach and African violets and isolated mitochondria of chicken liver. The organelles resided in the cell cytoplasm and were not contained in vacuoles or digestion vesicles. Green cells divided like normal cells. Green chloroplasts were followed for five cell generations or 5 days, at which time hybrid cells were greatly outnumbered by nongreen progeny cells. The ingested chloroplasts retained their structural integrity as determined by electron microscopy of organelles and hybrid cells and by analysis of photochemical activity and DNA in chloroplasts reisolated from cells after 1 or 2 days in culture.
Serial force plate analyses of dogs with unilateral knee instability, with or without interruption of the sensory input from the ipsilateral limb

Abstract Objective and Design We characterized the mean peak vertical forces (MFz) in five groups of dogs which underwent transection of the left anterior cruciate ligament (ACLT) or sham ACLT and ipsilateral dorsal root ganglionectomy or sham-ganglionectomy, and the relationship of these forces to the severity of osteoarthritis (previously reported) 72 weeks after arthrotomy. Group I ( N =7) underwent ACLT; Group II ( N =8) underwent ACLT followed 52 weeks later by ganglionectomy; Group III ( N =7) underwent ganglionectomy followed 2 weeks later by ACLT; Group IV ( N =7) underwent sham-ganglionectomy followed 2 weeks later by ACLT; Group V ( N =8) underwent ganglionectomy followed 2 weeks later by sham-ACLT. The dogs were evaluated 2, 6, 12, 24, 52 and 72 weeks after arthrotomy. Results From 6 weeks after arthrotomy until death, the left hindlimb MFz in Group V was significantly greater ( P 0.05) than that in the other four groups. The MFz of all groups which underwent ACLT decreased after arthrotomy. While the MFz of Group III (very severe OA) was about 10–20% greater than that of Groups I, II and IV (mild OA) 6 and 12 weeks after ACLT, and generally about 5–10% greater subsequently, this difference was not statistically significant. The MFz of Group II returned to pre-ganglionectomy levels, rather than to baseline levels, following ganglionectomy. Conclusions (1) since the ipsilateral limb of dogs with ganglionectomy+sham ACLT bore normal amounts of weight throughout most of the postsurgical period, and its knee did not develop OA, one cannot argue that the knee was protected from OA because the limb was not used; (2) the fact that the MFz of dogs which underwent ACLT+ganglionectomy returned to pre-ganglionectomy levels, rather than baseline, is consistent with the hypothesis that the unstable joint was protected from accelerated breakdown by a central nervous system that was reprogramed by sensation from the unstable limb; (3) the slightly—but consistently—greater MFz of dogs which underwent ganglionectomy+ ACLT may contribute to the acceleration of OA in this model.
Supervised hashing with error correcting codes

One widely-used solution to expedite similarity search of multimedia data is to construct hash functions to map the data into a Hamming space where linear search is known to be fast and often sublinear solutions perform well. In this paper, we propose a Boosting based formulation for supervised learning of the hash functions that is based on Error Correcting Codes. This approach allows us to apply established theoretical results for Boosting in our analysis of our hashing solution. Specifically, we show that the training accuracy in Boosting can be considered as a lower bound on the (empirical) Mean Average Precision (mAP) score. In experiments with three image retrieval benchmarks, the proposed formulation yields significant improvement in mAP over state-of-the-art supervised hashing methods, while using fewer bits in the hash codes.
Exposure to methoxyfenozide-treated surfaces reduces the responsiveness of adult male codling moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) to codlemone and pear ester lures in a wind tunnel.

The responsiveness of male codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), exposed to surfaces treated with the ecdysteroid agonist methoxyfenozide, toward lures loaded with the synthetic sex pheromone codlemone and/or the pear ester kairomone were investigated in wind tunnel experiments. Five different kinds of commercially available codling moth monitoring lures (obtained from Trece Inc., Adair, OK) were used in the bioassay: Pherocon CM Standard lure (loaded with 1 mg of codlemone), Pherocon CM Long-Life L2 (loaded with 3.5 mg of codlemone), Pherocon CM 10X (loaded with 10 mg of codlemone), Pherocon CM-DA Combo (loaded with 3.0 mg of codlemone and 3.0 mg of pear ester), and Pherocon DA (loaded with 3.0 mg of pear ester). Results from the study revealed that male codling moth exposed to surfaces treated with methoxyfenozide and the surfactant exhibited a significant decline in responsiveness toward lures loaded with either codlemone or pear ester. The full impact of how this negative effect might alter current moth monitoring procedures in orchards receiving ecdysone agonist sprays requires further investigation.
Dissolution kinetics of quartz in sodium chloride solutions: Analysis of existing data and a rate model for 25°C

Abstract A surface reaction model for the kinetics of quartz dissolution is derived from an analysis of low-temperature dissolution rate data published by seven experimenters. The model correlates seventynine quartz dissolution rate measurements with calculated surface species distributions to predict reaction kinetics. Using the triple layer electrostatic surface model, we compute the distributions of predominant acid-base surface species for the solution composition associated with each reported rate measurement. Reactivities of the modeled species are then obtained by fitting the calculated site distributions and the experimental rate data to a simple rate equation. This results in an expression valid for 25°C, pH 2–13 and 0-0.5 molal sodium chloride given by rate = 10 −13.0 (θ SiOH ∗ + 10 −10.8 (θ SiOsum ) 1 + 10 −9.2 (θ SiOsum ) 2 , where rate has units of mol m−2s−1,θ4;SiOH is the fraction of SiOH surface complexes and ∗ indicates that the reaction order dependence on this species is ill-determined. The θSiOsum term gives the sum of SiO-Na+ and SiO− fractions. This correlation removes much of the apparent scatter that is observed between experimenters and demonstrates that most measurements follow a consistent trend when a sodium complex, SiO-Na+, is included in the model. The model predicts that reaction rates are increased by a factor of 12 at pH 8 with the addition of 0.2 molal sodium to the reacting solutions. While this approach is an indirect measure of the reactivity of bonds at mineral surfaces, when compared to previous models, it offers a better understanding of rate-controlling processes because it specifically includes the calculated distributions of surface reactants. This analysis, in conjunction with evidence from the literature for cation-specific influences on silicon dioxide reactivity, supports a dissolution model incorporating cation interactions.
Endoscopic findings and clinical outcomes in ventricular assist device recipients with gastrointestinal bleeding.

Background Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is an important clinical problem in recipients of ventricular assist devices (VAD), although data pertaining to the endoscopic evaluation and management of this complication are limited in the medical literature.
Localization of anti-punishment actions of norepinephrine and atropine in amygdala and entopeduncular nucleus of rats.

Summary By use of a cannula of variable depth, 49 bilateral sites in and around the amydala of rats were treated with direct application of l - and dl -norepinephrine hydrochloride (NE). Thirty-two of these sites also were treated with direct application of atropine methyl nitrate (AMN). The anti-punishment action of l -NE was localized to the dorsal portion of the corticomedial division of the amygdala. The anti-punishment action of AMN was localized to the entopeduncular nucleus in the internal capsule. The origin of l -NE in the amygdala may be an ascending noradrenergic component of the medial forebrain bundle. This component appears to inhibit punishment, a necessary prerequisite for the reinforcement of operant behavior by reward. The origin of the cholinergic synaptic terminals in the entopeduncular nucleus may be an ascending cholinergic component of the ventral tegmental pathway. This component appears to be part of a cholinergic system that mediates the suppressant effects of punishment on operant behavior.
Angiotensin receptor agonistic autoantibodies induce pre-eclampsia in pregnant mice

Pre-eclampsia affects approximately 5% of pregnancies and remains a leading cause of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in the United States and the world. The clinical hallmarks of this maternal disorder include hypertension, proteinuria, endothelial dysfunction and placental defects. Advanced-stage clinical symptoms include cerebral hemorrhage, renal failure and the HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets) syndrome. An effective treatment of pre-eclampsia is unavailable owing to the poor understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease. Numerous recent studies have shown that women with pre-eclampsia possess autoantibodies, termed AT(1)-AAs, that bind and activate the angiotensin II receptor type 1a (AT(1) receptor). We show here that key features of pre-eclampsia, including hypertension, proteinuria, glomerular endotheliosis (a classical renal lesion of pre-eclampsia), placental abnormalities and small fetus size appeared in pregnant mice after injection with either total IgG or affinity-purified AT(1)-AAs from women with pre-eclampsia. These features were prevented by co-injection with losartan, an AT(1) receptor antagonist, or by an antibody neutralizing seven-amino-acid epitope peptide. Thus, our studies indicate that pre-eclampsia may be a pregnancy-induced autoimmune disease in which key features of the disease result from autoantibody-induced angiotensin receptor activation. This hypothesis has obvious implications regarding pre-eclampsia screening, diagnosis and therapy.
Severe liver disease in early childhood due to fibrinogen storage and de novo gamma375Arg-->Trp gene mutation

We report hypofibrinogenemia and massive hepatic storage of fibrinogen in a child with cryptogenic chronic liver disease. Fibrinogen gene analysis revealed a de novo Aguadilla (c.1201C>T; p.Arg375Trp) mutation. This mutation should be considered in childhood hypofibrinogenemia associated with chronic liver disease.
In-Situ X-ray Deformation Study of Fluorinated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube and Fluorinated Ethylene−Propylene Nanocomposite Fibers

A fluorinated multiwalled carbon nanotube (FMWNT) was prepared by reaction of 3-perfluorooctylpropylamine with carboxylic acid groups on the oxidized carbon nanotube surface. The modification was confirmed by TGA, TEM, and solubility tests in a perfluorodecalin solvent. Nanocomposite fibers based on FMWNT and a fluoro-ethylene−propylene (FEP) copolymer were fabricated by melt blending and melt spinning. SEM examination indicated that the dispersion of FMWNT in FEP was significantly better than that of the as-received multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) in FEP. Both yield strength and modulus of the melt-spun FMWNT/FEP nanocomposite fiber increased with increasing FMWNT content, but the elongation-to-break ratio decreased. In-situ small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) techniques were used to follow the structural changes during tensile deformation of melt-spun fibers. In pure FEP fibers, perpendicularly arranged lamellar stacks (with respect to the fiber axis) became ti...
Generalized muscle changes during EMG relaxation training.

Tension levels from muscles in the forehead (frontalis) and back of the neck (semispinalis capitis) were simultaneously recorded during short term relaxation training with EMG feedback to assess the efficacy of this technique for producing generalized deep muscle relaxation. The degree of association between the activity of the two muscles was measured both with cross-correlation coefficients and a linear regression technique. The two muscles showed a tendency to covary which did not change during training and was unrelated to which muscle was the source of feedback. These results provide evidence for a moderate degree of association between these muscle groups during relaxation training and suggest that EMG feedback may be more useful in producing general relaxation than was previously thought.
Inotropic effects of l-α-acethylmethadol (LAAM)☆

Inotropic effects of l-α-acetylmethadol, l-α-acetylnormethadol and l-α-acetyldinormethadol were studied uilizing isolated left atria of guinea pigs. All three agents produced a biphasic response. Lower concentrations produced a slight, but significant increase in contractile force (p < 0.05) and higher concentrations decreased contractile force (p < 0.05). Significant drug interactions also were observed. The parent compound, l-α-acetylmethadol, decreased the maximum positive inotropic response obtained with ouabain as well as that obtained with norepinephrine.
Comparative morphology of caecilian sperm (Amphibia: Gymnophiona).

The morphology of mature sperm from the testes of 22 genera and 29 species representing all five families of caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) was examined at the light microscope level in order to: (1) determine the effectiveness of silver-staining techniques on long-preserved, rare material, (2) assess the comparative morphology of sperm quantitatively, (3) compare patterns of caecilian sperm morphology with that of other amphibians, and (4) determine if sperm morphology presents any characters useful for systematic analysis. Although patterns of sperm morphology are quite consistent intragenerically and intrafamilially, there are inconsistencies as well. Two major types of sperm occur among caecilians: those with very long heads and pointed acrosomes, and those with shorter, wider heads and blunt acrosomes. Several taxa have sperm with undulating membranes on the flagella, but limitations of the technique likely prevented full determination of tail morphology among all taxa. Cluster analysis is more appropriate for these data than is phylogenetic analysis. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Automated real-time behavioral and physiological data acquisition and display integrated with stimulus presentation for FMRI.

Functional MRI (fMRI) is based on correlating blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal fluctuations in the brain with other temporal variables. Although the most common reference variable is the timing of a behavioral task performed during the scan, many other behavioral and physiological temporal variables can also influence fMRI signals. Variations in cardiac and respiratory functions in particular are known to contribute significant BOLD signal fluctuations. Variables such as skin conduction, eye movements, and other measures that may be relevant to task performance can also be correlated with BOLD signals and can therefore be used in image analysis to differentiate multiple components in complex brain activity signals. Combining real-time recording and data management of multiple behavioral and physiological signals in a way that can be routinely used with any task stimulus paradigm is a nontrivial software design problem. Here we discuss software methods that allow users complete control of paradigm-specific audio-visual or other task stimuli combined with automated simultaneous recording of multi-channel behavioral and physiological response variables, all synchronized with sub-millisecond temporal accuracy. We also discuss the implementation and importance of real-time display feedback to ensure data quality of all recorded variables. Finally, we discuss standards and formats for storage of temporal covariate data and its integration into fMRI image analysis. These neuroinformatics methods have been adopted for behavioral task control at all sites in the FBIRN multicenter fMRI study.
Inorganic geochemistry of the type Caradoc series (Sandbian to middle Katian, Upper Ordovician), Onny valley, Shropshire, UK

The geochemistry and petrology of the type section of the Caradoc Series in the Onny valley indicate that it was deposited on a marginal basin continental shelf similar to the western side of the present Sea of Japan. The lower beds form a transgressive–regressive sequence in which the rocks become less mature upwards. All the coarser sediments above the basal quartzites and conglomerates are greywackes in which the apparent muddy and ferrous matrix is due to the breakdown of unstable minerals and particles. Higher values of Na2O and Na/K ratios are found in the coarser shallow-water sandstones of the Horderley Sandstone Formation and decrease markedly in the succeeding beds, accompanied by an increase in K2O. Higher values of carbonate-corrected (and hence related) other major and minor elements like SiO2, CaO, P2O5, MnO and most trace elements correlate with the transgressive systems and maximum flooding surfaces of the three sequences recognized where they are related to condensation at those horizons. Chemical Indices of Alteration (CIA) suggest that the Horderley Sandstone Formation underwent greater predepositional physical weathering than lower and higher beds, which is compatible with the petrography, and were deposited during a cool phase within overall warm Sandbian–Katian times. Trace element ratios suggest an oxic to suboxic depositional environment.
Decoupled Farm Payments and Expectations for Base Updating

The degree to which U.S. farm programs are decoupled from production has been a central issue in recent trade disputes. Several authors have suggested producer expectations for base acreage and yield updating in future farm bills create an incentive to alter planting and input decisions. This article reports analysis of the subjective expectations of producers for base updating and an analysis of the effect these expectations have on producer willingness to accept a buyout of the right to update. On average, producers think the chances of updating in the next farm bill are about 40%, but less than 17% indicate adjusting acreage or yields in anticipation of updating.
Burning and grazing management in a California Grassland: Effect on bunchgrass seed viability

Prescribed fire is an important management tool for reducing the dominance of non-native species in annual grasslands; both annual and perennial native species show strong vegetative responses in the subsequent growing season. However, although the post-fire contribution of native species to the seed bank is assumed to be larger than in pretreatment years, the effects on seed quality, particularly viability and longevity, are not well understood. In this study, I germinated Nassella pulchra (purple needlegrass) seed that had been stored for 10 years after collection from target plants receiving treatment combinations of summer burning and grazing by sheep. Seeds from burned plants were larger and had higher germinability than seed from unburned plants. Seeds from plants that were both burned and grazed had the highest germination. The strong relationship between long-term viability and seed size suggests greater maternal provisioning and increased seed quality subsequent to burning and grazing. I conclude that managing for seed quality may be a useful approach for conservation of native species in California's critically endangered grassland habitats.
The female-male disparity in obesity prevalence among black American young adults: contributions of sociodemographic characteristics of the childhood family

Background: In the United States, black women are at much greater risk of obesity than are black men. Little is known about the factors underlying this disparity. Objective: We explored whether childhood sociodemographic factors (parental education, single-mother household, number of siblings, number of minors in household, birth order, and female caregiver's age) were associated with the gender disparity in obesity prevalence in young black adults in the United States. Design: An analytic data set (n = 7747) was constructed from the nationally representative National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Childhood sociodemographic factors were assessed in 1994–1995 in nonimmigrant black and white youths aged 11–19 y. Obesity was assessed in 2001–2002. For each childhood sociodemographic factor, we evaluated whether the prevalence difference (female obesity minus male obesity) was modified by the factor. We described the contribution of each variable category to the overall prevalence difference. Results: In unadjusted and multivariable-adjusted models, parental education consistently modified gender disparity in blacks (P = 0.01). The gender gap was largest with low parental education (16.7% of men compared with 45.4% of women were obese) and smallest with high parental education (28.5% of men compared with 31.4% of women were obese). In whites, there was little overall gender difference in obesity prevalence. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this was the first study to document that the gender disparity in obesity prevalence in young black adults is concentrated in families with low parental education. In these low-socioeconomic-status families, obesity development is either under the control of distinct mechanisms in each gender, or men and women from these households adopt different obesity-related behaviors.
The Mars/Earth dichotomy in Mg/Si and Al/Si ratios: Is it real?

The apparent dichotomy of Mg/Si and Al/Si ratios between terrestrial rocks and Martian meteorites has been interpreted as indicative of major differences between the terrestrial and Martian magma source regions. We suggest that this apparent dichotomy is not robust when compared with partly cumulate and non-cumulate terrestrial igneous material. Terrestrial cumulate intra-plate nodules with similar mineralogy to the SNC meteorites plot in the SNC field in this compositional space and far removed from the “terrestrial geochemical fractionation” line (Earth’s crust line) of Jagoutz et al. (1979). As is the case for terrestrial partly cumulate igneous rocks, the bulk compositions of cumulate SNC meteorites such Chassigny and Nakhla are dominated by the chemical characteristics of the accumulated minerals, minerals compositionally similar to those found in terrestrial intra-plate magmas. Therefore, the minor amounts of liquid involved play an insignificant role in the Mg/Si and Al/Si signature and no special Martian chemical characteristics can be identified. SNC meteorites considered as possibly representative of liquid compositions are similar in composition and Mg/Si and Al/Si to terrestrial ferropicrites, suggesting that even “liquid” compositions within the SNC space are not uniquely Martian. Therefore, the Mg/Si and Al/Si ratios cannot clearly distinguish Martian from terrestrial rocks.
Methods to extract more light from minute scintillation crystals used in an ultra-high resolution positron emission tomography detector

Recently, there has been great interest in developing finely pixellated position-sensitive scintillation detectors for ultra-high-resolution Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems designed for breast cancer detection,diagnosis, and staging and for imaging small laboratory animals. We are developing a different high-resolution PET detector design that promotes nearly complete scintillation light collection in ≤ 1 mm wide, > 10 mm thick lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) crystals. The design requires the use of semiconductor photodetector arrays in novel configurations that significantly improve the light collection aspect ratio for minute crystals. To reduce design complexity and dead area we are investigating the use of 1 mm thick sheets of LSO in addition to discrete crystal rods, and the use of position-sensitive avalanche photodiodes (PSAPDs) which require only four readout channels per device, in addition to pixellated APD arrays. Using a I mm thick scintillation crystal sheet coupled to a finely pixellated APD array results in a pseudo-discrete response to flood irradiation: due to a very narrow light spread function in the thin sheet we observe sharp (< 1 mm wide) peaks in sensitivity centered at the APD pixel locations in a very linear fashion all the way out to the crystal edge. We measured an energy resolution of 13.7% FWHM at 511 keV for a 1 mm LSO crystal coupled to two APD pixels. Using a 1 mm thick crystal sheet coupled to a PSAPD the response to flood and edge-on irradiation with a 2 2 Na point source shows a compressed dynamic range compared to that observed with discrete crystals or direct X-ray irradiation. With a discrete LSO crystal array the flood response is peaked at the crystal location where light is focused onto one spot on the PSAPD. We observed strong pin-cushioning effects in all PSAPD measurements. All LSO-PSAPD configurations studied had high aspect ratio for light collection and achieved energy resolutions ≤ 12% FWHM at 511 keV.
Parent Engagement and School Readiness: Effects of the Getting Ready Intervention on Preschool Children’s Social–Emotional Competencies

Research Findings: Parental engagement with children has been linked to a number of adaptive characteristics in preschool children, and relationships between families and professionals are an important contributor to school readiness. Furthermore, social-emotional competence is a key component of young children’s school readiness. This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention (Getting Ready) designed to facilitate school readiness among disadvantaged preschool children, with a particular focus on social-emotional outcomes. Two hundred and twenty children were involved over the 4-year study period. Statistically significant differences were observed between treatment and control participants in the rate of change over a 2-year period on teacher reports for certain interpersonal competencies (i.e., attachment, initiative, and anxiety/withdrawal). In contrast, no statistically significant differences between groups over a 2-year period were noted for behavioral concerns (anger/aggression, self-control, or behavioral problems) as a function of the Getting Ready intervention. Practice or Policy: The intervention appears to be particularly effective at building social-emotional competencies beyond the effects experienced as a function of participation in Head Start programming alone. Limitations and implications for future research are reviewed.
Analysis of ring resonator-based traveling-wave modulators

We analyze ring resonator-based traveling-wave modulators that show high modulation efficiency at frequencies around multiples of the free spectral range. The modulators have better tolerance for the optical/microwave velocity mismatch and the loss of the microwave transmission line than traveling-wave Mach-Zehnder modulators.
Leading Change in an Organization

Change leadership is a core function of your leadership role. Learning to do it better will help you in many of the other tasks you face in your position. Change and adapting to it are not optional; change is simply a fact in the environment. Ignoring it in your job is no less critical than trying to ignore an oncoming truck in the wrong lane. Change leadership will be easier for you and your organization if it is embedded in policies and smart practices rather than done in an ad hoc fashion.
Regulation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Degradation by Heterotrimeric Gαs Protein

Heterotrimeric G proteins have been implicated in the regulation of membrane trafficking, but the mechanisms involved are not well understood. Here, we report that overexpression of the stimulatory G protein subunit (Gαs) promotes ligand-dependent degradation of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptors and Texas Red EGF, and knock-down of Gαs expression by RNA interference (RNAi) delays receptor degradation. We also show that Gαs and its GTPase activating protein (GAP), RGS-PX1, interact with hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate (Hrs), a critical component of the endosomal sorting machinery. Gαs coimmunoprecipitates with Hrs and binds Hrs in pull-down assays. By immunofluorescence, exogenously expressed Gαs colocalizes with myc-Hrs and GFP-RGS-PX1 on early endosomes, and expression of either Hrs or RGS-PX1 increases the localization of Gαs on endosomes. Furthermore, knock-down of both Hrs and Gαs by double RNAi causes greater inhibition of EGF receptor degradation than knock-down of either protein alone, suggesting that Gαs and Hrs have cooperative effects on regulating EGF receptor degradation. These observations define a novel regulatory role for Gαs in EGF receptor degradation and provide mechanistic insights into the function of Gαs in endocytic sorting.
Regional Patterning in Illness Theories: Analyses With Different Types of Optimal Scaling

Optimal scaling techniques provide holocultural researchers with interesting ways to explore relationships in multivariate data. Carmella Moore's analysis of regional patterning in Murdock's theories of illness data was one of the first uses of these techniques with cross-cultural data. This article shows the flexibility of optimal scaling approaches to holocultural data. It also illustrates how different ways of conceptualizing and transforming data may affect the conclusions drawn from these techniques. The author uses dual scaling techniques to produce two alternatives to Moore's analysis. The first treats Murdock's codes as successive categories data and uses a clustering technique to search for regional groupings. The second identifies regional patterning with forced classification. Both techniques identify the Circum-Mediterranean region as possessing a unique configuration of illness theories and highlight a distinction between theories of witchcraft and sorcery.
Effect of surface stoichiometry and interfacial interactions on ultrafast carrier dynamics of crystalline CdTe (Presentation Recording)

To improve the efficiency of optoelectronic devices, it is critical to understand the carrier dynamics of photoactive materials and the mechanisms involved, including those effects caused by different surface stoichiometry and/or interfacial interactions. A good example is CdTe, which exhibits cost-effective high performance in thin-film photovoltaic cells; it is also known to show surface oxidation, which may affect device efficiency and hence limit the production methods used. In this contribution, we present ultrafast carrier dynamics of crystalline CdTe specimens with different surface conditions using transient reflectivity measurements, following a femtosecond above-gap excitation. The distinct differences observed in the dynamics and the time constants for oxidized and stoichiometrically restored specimens indicate the major role of surface tellurium oxide on the relaxation of photoinduced carriers. The much slower recovery observed on oxidized surfaces is attributed to a transfer (and trapping) of electrons to the tellurium atoms with a high oxidation state, which signifies a charge separation near the surface. To distinguish the effect caused by oxygen adsorption, we also examined the carrier dynamics of CdTe surfaces covered by a thin layer of water molecules for comparison. These results, which show clear interfacial effects, may have broader implications for the understanding of carrier dynamics in nanostructured and polycrystalline specimens under different chemical environments, as such materials exhibit a high surface-to-volume ratio.
Re-imagining the National Past: Negotiating the Roles of Science, Religion, and History in Contemporary British Ghost Tourism

Ghosts are a part of contemporary Great Britain’s popular culture, cultural heritage, and tourism industry. While ghosts do not figure in official tourism literature of Britain, ghosts are prominent in the tourist sectors of cities such as York and Edinburgh. Haunted ghost walks, a form of tourism in which tourists purchase guided walking tours of a city that recount the nation’s and city’s past through its ghosts, may seem like a benign and even frivolous mode of tourism. However, this form of tourism reveals a significant contestation of British cultural heritage in terms of attitudes toward science and religion, complicated by the tumultuous times or events that produce these ghosts constituting a feature of British cultural heritage. By examining past religious conflicts as well as by examining the significance and power of (ghost hunting) science, these tours challenge dominant representations of British cultural heritage by highlighting the explicitly grotesque, brutal, and disruptive.
Drilling-in and Chewing-out of Hosts by the Parasitoid Wasp Spalangia endius (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) When Parasitizing Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae)

Many organisms are protected from natural enemies by a tough exterior. Such protection is particularly important for immobile stages, such as pupae. The pupa of some insects is protected by a puparium, which is a shell formed from the exoskeleton of the last larval instar. However, the puparium of certain fly species is drilled through by adult females of the wasp Spalangia endius Walker. The female wasp then deposits an egg on the fly pupa within the puparium. After the wasp offspring finishes feeding on the fly pupa, it chews through the puparium to complete emergence. Despite the apparent toughness of the puparium, there was no detectable wear on the ovipositor of S. endius females even when females had been encountering fly pupae (Musca domestica L.) for weeks, and regardless of whether the pupae were large or old or both. Energy dispersive spectroscopy did not reveal any metal ions in the ovipositor's cuticle to account for this resistance against wear. Offspring of S. endius that chewed their way out of pupae also showed no detectable wear on their mandibles. Tests with a penetrometer showed that the force required to penetrate the center of a puparium was greater for larger and for older pupae; and an index of overall thickness was greater for large old pupae than for small old pupae. The lack of an effect of pupal size or age on wear may result from wasps choosing locations on the puparium that are easier to get through.
Learning to Re-rank for Interactive Problem Resolution and Query Refinement

We study the design of an information retrieval (IR) system that assists customer service agents while they interact with end-users. The type of IR needed is difficult because of the large lexical gap between problems as described by customers, and solutions. We describe an approach that bridges this lexical gap by learning semantic relatedness using tensor representations. Queries that are short and vague, which are common in practice, result in a large number of documents being retrieved, and a high cognitive load for customer service agents. We show how to reduce this burden by providing suggestions that are selected based on the learned measures of semantic relatedness. Experiments show that the approach offers substantial benefit compared to the use of standard lexical similarity.
Taking Conscience Seriously

Rational choice analysis generally assumes that most people are both rational and selfish. Although self-interest is sometimes defined in a broad and tautological fashion to include a taste for altruism or ethics, most rational choice analyses implicitly equate self-interest with maximizing personal payoffs. This homo economicus approach is widely employed in part because it is so tractable: selfish behavior is easy to predict and model mathematically. There is a second important reason, however, why the homo economicus account is so widely accepted. In brief, people tend not to notice unselfish behavior. As a result they mistakenly view the homo economicus account as a good description of how most people behave most of the time. The tendency to overlook unselfish behavior can be illustrated using a simple example. Imagine that you see a dozen pedestrians walk by a sleeping homeless man who is lying next to a sign that reads, "Please Help" and a cup that contains a few dollar bills. Many people might conclude they are observing selfish behavior when no one puts any money in the cup. Few would recognize that they are witnessing multiple acts of unselfishness as person after person walks by without stealing from the helpless homeless man. This essay, prepared as a chapter for a book on free enterprise and values, argues that we should take conscience far more seriously. It explores how numerous influences work together to blind us to unselfish, conscience-driven behavior, even though it occurs repeatedly under our noses every day. These influences include certain ambiguities in the English language; cognitive biases that cause us to fixate our attention on selfish behavior while overlooking unselfishness; the common correlation between external legal, market and reputation sanctions and the internal sanctions of conscience; the belief that altruism cannot survive Darwinian pressures; and the possibility that studying certain fields, including law, economics, and business, can distort perceptions of the incidence of selfishness. Taken together, these factors conspire to make the homo economicus account appear more accurate and reliable than it actually is. They also blind us to the power and pervasiveness of conscience.
Dismembered porphyry systems near Wickenburg, Arizona: District-scale reconstruction with an arc-scale context

This study combines results from reconnaissance-scale mapping of hydrothermal alteration, rock types, and structures to provide a district-scale cross section and associated palinspastic reconstruction of an area with two previously undescribed Laramide (~70 Ma) porphyry systems at Sheep Mountain and Copper Basin (Crown King). Extension at the district scale is placed in an arc-scale context using an original compilation of strike and dip measurements on Tertiary rocks to reconstruct the Laramide porphyry belt prior to extension. The study area contains five sequential, partially superimposed sets of normal faults that are nearly planar where exposed. Dips of all normal faults initiated at 60° to 70° and rotated during slip to angles as gentle as 20°. A palinspastic reconstruction reveals that two, spatially distinct hydrothermal systems overlie different cupolas of a Late Cretaceous pluton. Hydrothermal alteration is zoned from greisen to potassic to transitional greisen-potassic assemblages from deep to shallow structural levels. The reconstruction is used to identify two covered exploration targets. The prospects may be porphyry molybdenum systems of the quartz monzonitic-granitic porphyry Mo-Cu subclass, joining others in an arc that is best known for porphyry copper deposits. The Laramide porphyry belt prior to extension displays a variably well-defined axis, ~100 km wide, with gaps and clusters of deposits along its 700-km strike length. The majority of deposits lie along the axis, but others lie in fore- or rear-arc positions. The interpreted preextensional geometry of the Laramide porphyry belt resembles other porphyry belts and the distribution of active volcanoes at convergent margins.
Frass of Some Wood-Boring Insects in Living Oak (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae; Lepidoptera: Cossidae and Aegeriidae)

Hand-lens descriptions of extruded dry frass are given for 5 wood-boring insects that attack living black, scarlet, and red oaks, namely, the red oak borer, Enaphalodes rufulus (Haldeman) and the living-beech borer, Goes pulverulentus (Haldeman) [Coleoptera: Cerambycidae]; a clear-winged moth, Paranthrene palmii (Hy. Edwards) [Lepidoptera: Aegeriidae]; and the carpenterworm, Prionoxystus robiniae (Peck), and the little carpenterworm, P. macmurtrei (Guerin-Meneville) [Lepidoptera: Cossidae]. The 2 constituents of frass—excrement pellets and wood pieces—are described according to their shape, length, color, and solidity. Knowledge of the frass characteristics of these insects helps in identifying the boring species and in revealing the stage of larval development, molting periods, and mortality. Further, knowledge of the length of wood slivers and/or pellets of excrement generally produced by the insect permits prediction of adult emergence.