cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Expressions for the mean transfer delay of generalized M-stage hybrid ARQ protocols

In this paper, we develop expressions for the transfer delay of an M-stage hybrid automatic repeat-request (HARQ) protocol. These generally applicable expressions make no assumptions about the quality of the feedback channel and explicitly account for both feedback errors and their associated delays. Both infinitely repeating and terminated HARQ protocols are considered. Through a series of examples, we demonstrate that these expressions admit earlier results as special cases or applications, while providing additional insight on the contributions of various error and delay terms.
Increased Adenosine Monophosphate–Activated Protein Kinase Activity in Rat Hearts With Pressure-Overload Hypertrophy

Background Recent reports suggest that activation of adenosine monophosphate (AMP)–activated protein kinase (AMPK), in response to acute changes in cellular energy status in cardiac and skeletal muscles, results in altered substrate utilization. We hypothesized that chronic alterations in myocardial energetics in hypertrophied hearts (left ventricular hypertrophy, LVH) will lead to elevated AMPK activity, which in turn regulates substrate utilization. Methods and Results Using 31P NMR spectroscopy and biochemical assays, we found that in LVH hearts, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration decreased by 10%, phosphocreatine concentration decreased by 30%, and total creatine concentration was unchanged. Thus, the ratio of phosphocreatine/creatine decreased to one third of controls, and the ratio of AMP/ATP increased to 5 times above controls. These changes were associated with increased α1 and α2 AMPK activity (3.5- and 4.8-fold above controls, respectively). The increase in AMPK α1 activity was accompani...
Bullying: What Speech-Language Pathologists Should Know

Purpose The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to the broad issues surrounding the problem of school bullying in childhood and adolescence. Specifically, t...
Strictly positive-definite spike train kernels for point-process divergences

Exploratory tools that are sensitive to arbitrary statistical variations in spike train observations open up the possibility of novel neuroscientific discoveries. Developing such tools, however, is difficult due to the lack of Euclidean structure of the spike train space, and an experimenter usually prefers simpler tools that capture only limited statistical features of the spike train, such as mean spike count or mean firing rate. We explore strictly positive-definite kernels on the space of spike trains to offer both a structural representation of this space and a platform for developing statistical measures that explore features beyond count or rate. We apply these kernels to construct measures of divergence between two point processes and use them for hypothesis testing, that is, to observe if two sets of spike trains originate from the same underlying probability law. Although there exist positive-definite spike train kernels in the literature, we establish that these kernels are not strictly definite and thus do not induce measures of divergence. We discuss the properties of both of these existing nonstrict kernels and the novel strict kernels in terms of their computational complexity, choice of free parameters, and performance on both synthetic and real data through kernel principal component analysis and hypothesis testing.
Tools for preference reasoning

The problem of computing similar and dissimilar solutions to a given one has received much attention in constraint satisfaction and answer set programming (ASP). In many practical applications involving product configuration or planning, it is often the case that there are many valid solutions. To help the user see a small but representative sample, one needs algorithms that compute sets of dissimilar solutions. Once the user "zooms" in on one or two that she likes the most, it still makes sense to present several alternatives that are similar to the selected ones so that the user can find one that truly corresponds to her needs.
Expression of estrus before fixed-time AI affects conception rates and factors that impact expression of estrus and the repeatability of expression of estrus in sequential breeding seasons.

Expression of estrus after PG and before fixed-time AI has been reported to change the uterine environment, increase accessory sperm numbers, fertilization rates, and overall embryo survival. Thus, expression of estrus can strongly impact overall pregnancy success. Because of variation in percentage of beef females detected in estrus and number of animals per study, it can be difficult to detect a significant effect of estrus on pregnancy success. Thus, a meta-analysis was conducted using data from 10,116 beef females in 22 studies that utilized variations of the 5 most common fixed-time AI protocols (CO-Synch, 7-day CO-Synch+CIDR, 5-day CIDR, PG 6-day CIDR, and the 14-day CIDR protocols) to examine the effect of detection in standing estrus on subsequent fixed-time AI pregnancy success. A random-effects model was used to combine the studies/herds. The overall model indicated a positive effect of estrus on conception rates with cows detected in estrus before fixed-time AI having a 27% greater (P 4 (≥70±4%). Initiation of estrous cycles before the breeding season also influenced estrous expression (P=0.03), with anestrous cows having greater expression of estrus compared with estrus-cycling cows (78±5% vs. 70±5%, respectively). In conclusion, among all currently recommended fixed-time AI protocols, cows detected in estrus before fixed-time AI had improved conception rates, with BCS and estrus-cycling status having the greatest influence on expression of estrus.
Community Dependence: How Some Religions Grow Without Diluting Strict Doctrine

Why do some religions expand without diluting their doctrine? While most explanations of religious growth have focused on market competition, conversion and pronatalist theology, these factors are neither necessary nor sufficient for religious expansion. Instead, religions with both pronatalist norms and strong community support for large families experience the highest birth rates and "expansion from within." Since the community support for large families increases exit costs for adherents, strict doctrine continues to be upheld, despite considerable expansion.
Production of the taste/odor-causing compound, trans -2, cis -6-nonadienal, within the Synurophyceae

Although several species of the Synurophyceae have been associated with taste and odor problems in potable water supplies, electron microscopic-based field studies linked problematic blooms only toSynura petersenii Korshikov. Eventually, the organic compoundtrans-2,cis-6-nonadienal was implicated to cause the associated ‘cucumberlike’ odors. The objective of this study was to survey unialgal cultures of various Synurophycean species for the occurrence oftrans-2,cis-6-nonadienal. The compound was detected throughout a 24-day growth assay with aS. petersenii isolate, but was not detected in an identical assay withSynura sphagnicola (Korshikov) Korshikov. In separate 24-day cultures,trans-2,cis-6-nonadienal was detected in two isolates from theS. petersenii species complex, but was not detected in isolates of twoMallomonas or fourSynura taxa not from theS. petersenii complex. These results support the hypothesis that production oftrans-2,cis-6-nonadienal is unique to taxa within theS. petersenii complex. When contrast-enhancing optics and specific specimen preparation techniques are employed, light microscopy can be used to distinguish taxa in theS. petersenii complex from all other Synurophycean taxa. These methods are suggested as an efficient way to monitortrans-2,cis-6-nonadienal-producing taxa in potable water supplies.
SELECTION OF LONGITUDINAL DESIRED DYNAMICS FOR DYNAMIC INVERSION CONTROLLED RE-ENTRY VEHICLES

Dynamic Inversion is a design technique used to synthesize flight controllers whereby the set of existing dynamics are cancelled out and replaced by a designer selected set of desired dynamics. The output of such an inner loop controller is the control input required to achieve the desired response. The desired dynamics essentially form a loop-shaping compensator that affects the closed-loop response of the entire system. This paper attempts to quantify the particular form of desired dynamics which produce the best closed-loop performance and robustness in a Dynamic Inversion flight controller. Four candidate forms of desired dynamics which invert the short period dynamics are evaluated. These four include a proportional, proportional integral, flying qualities, and a ride qualities form of desired dynamics. Longitudinal controllers are synthesized for the prototype X-38 Crew Return Vehicle using a linear model at a selected point in the flight envelope. Pole placement is used to synthesize a robust outer loop around the dynamic inversion inner loop in order to provide closed-loop stability. The resulting closedloop performance is evaluated in the time domain, and in terms of frequency dependent singular values, quadratic cost and a passenger ride comfort index. Of the desired dynamics presented here, results indicate that the ride quality compensation dynamics provide the best overall system performance in terms of both time domain and frequency domain responses.
High Affinity Dopamine D3 Receptor (D3R)-Selective Antagonists Attenuate Heroin Self-Administration in Wild-Type but not D3R Knockout Mice

The dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) is a promising target for the development of pharmacotherapeutics to treat substance use disorders. Several D3R-selective antagonists are effective in animal models of drug abuse, especially in models of relapse. Nevertheless, poor bioavailability, metabolic instability, and/or predicted toxicity have impeded success in translating these drug candidates to clinical use. Herein, we report a series of D3R-selective 4-phenylpiperazines with improved metabolic stability. A subset of these compounds was evaluated for D3R functional efficacy and off-target binding at selected 5-HT receptor subtypes, where significant overlap in SAR with D3R has been observed. Several high affinity D3R antagonists, including compounds 16 (Ki = 0.12 nM) and 32 (Ki = 0.35 nM), showed improved metabolic stability compared to the parent compound, PG648 (6). Notably, 16 and the classic D3R antagonist SB277011A (2) were effective in reducing self-administration of heroin in wild-type but not D3R knockout...
Do students in pediatric dentistry programs complete the course of training

Reviews by the ADA's Council on Dental Education have provided annual reports on many of the changes in enrollment and withdrawal from American dental schools, but little or no attention has been directed to withdrawal rates from postdoctoral education programs. We just do not know very much about the reasons why these advanced dental education students do not complete their courses of study.
Neuropsychiatric sequelae of ischaemic cerebrovascular disease: clinical and neuroanatomic correlates and implications for the concept of dementia.

AbstractNeuropsychiatric disturbances along the continuum of cognitive disturbances in ischaemic cerebrovascular disease are reviewed and their neuroanatomic correspondences are explored. Depression, apathy; disinhibition, and delusions are common in ischaemic cerebrovascular disease. Delirium, hallucinations, confabulations, akinesia, pathological affect, anxiety, and catastrophic reaction are less common, while manic syndromes appear rarely. Many of these neuropsychiatrie syndromes remain poorly delineated. The presence of neuropsychiatric disturbance may not be correlated with the degree of cognitive disturbance. The implications of this finding for the concept of dementia are explored. The authors conclude that neuropsychiatric disturbances should be considered essential features of dementia. [Neurol Res 1994; 16: 241-250]
Effects of chelation of calcium on the gastric mucosal barrier.

The role of calcium in maintaining the integrity of the gastric mucosal barrier was studied in rabbits in vivo. Under local anesthesia the entire stomach was isolated as a pouch. Solutions to which polyethylene glycol was added as a volume marker were introduced and recovered for ion flux determinations. Ion fluxes were studied in 11 groups of 5 rabbits each by instilling 50 ml of an acid or neutral solution before (period 1) and after (period 2) a test interval during which one of the following solutions was introduced: ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA), NaCl; EDTA followed by CaCl2; EDTA followed by MgCl2; EDTA followed by NaCl for varying durations; MgCl2 or CaCl2 alone. Results indicate (1) EDTA increased the net fluxes of Na+, Cl−, and H+ along their concentration gradients; (2) EDTA did not alter H+ secretion; (3) EDTA had no effect on the influx of K+ and protein; (4) the EDTA effect was reversed rapidly by CaCl2 but not by MgCl2; (5) the EDTA effect reversed spontaneously over 1 to 2 hr; (6) EDTA caused no significant histological changes. It was concluded that removal of calcium from undisclosed sites in or on the gastric mucosa increased the permeability of the mucosa to monovalent electrolytes, including H+. The site of the permeability change was probably extracellular.
Surgical management of the patient with papillary cancer.

Papillary cancer of the thyroid is an indolent tumor. Its incidence, prevalence, and management are discussed in detail. The surgical treatment is controversial. The arguments made by the proponents of lobectomy and by those in favor of total thyroidectomy are presented as are the authors' recommendations for surgical strategy in confirmed papillary cancer.
The Two Logics of Perverse Fiscal Federalism in the Developing World

Federalism can be a conflict-prevention mechanism, but some political scientists and economists have also endorsed certain features of the system as being likely to establish proper market incentives for economic growth. Most developing countries have ignored economists' recommendations for proper design of federal and decentralized institutions, particularly with respect to hardening of the budget constraint and the enforcement of an open, common market. The first logic of perverse fiscal federalism is secession deterrence: for many governments, preventing ethnic conflict seems to require fiscally deleterious institutions. In ethnoregionally diverse federations such as India, South Africa, and Indonesia, the common market is often not enforced, and tax decentralization falls far short of the recommendations of orthodox economists and international lending institutions. The second logic of perverse fiscal federalism is found in developing federations without ethnonational minorities: in many of these states, personalist electoral institutions preserve excessive expenditure decentralization with a soft budget constraint. Examples in this category have included Brazil and Argentina. While ethnic diversity has helped to preserve or to create relatively robust forms of fiscal federalism in Western democracies such as Switzerland, Canada, and Spain, it has had the contrary effect in developing countries. The political logics of federalism in the developing world will likely continue to stymie efforts to reform federal institutions along orthodox lines.
National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods "Principles of Risk Assessment for Illnesses Caused by Foodborne Biological Agents" †‡.

The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods has been developing a concise document that provides key definitions and principles related to the application of quantitative risk assessment techniques to illnesses caused by foodborne biological agents. Key components of the document are outlined, and its status is reported.
Die historische Perspektive

Die Romantik als Kultur und Literatur erneuernde Bewegung, als Krisis des Bewustseins hat ihr Vorspiel und ihr Nachspiel. Bis in die Mitte des 18. Jh.s reichen die ersten Anzeichen fur einen Geschmackswandel, fur einen Umbruch der poetischen Theorie und der Formen zuruck. Auf das dominierende Ereignis des Zeitalters, die Franzos. Revolution bezogen, konnte man mit van Tieghem sagen: »le coeur reclame d’abord la liberte dans une societe dont on n’envisage pas la transformation, avant que l’esprit politique la demande a son tour aux Etats generaux de 89« (»Le Romantisme francais«, S. 9). Die ›Vorromantiker‹ Europas antizipieren also die Franzos. Revolution, wahrend die Romantiker auf ihr Scheitern — und damit auch das der aufklarerischen Prinzipien — reagieren. — Es ist klar, das es sich bei der Vorromantik nicht um einen Periodenbegriff im ublichen Sinne handelt, was van Tieghem nahelegen konnte (»le type d’une periode de transition«, S. 14), sondern nur um einen Hilfsbegriff der Forschung, der dazu dient, die auf die Romantik hindeutenden Stromungen, die Vorformen romantischen Lebensgefuhls und Kunstlertums in der Aufklarung zu vereinigen. Die sog. ›Vorromantik‹ existiert demnach, den Zeitgenossen unbewust, als zerstreute antirationale Tendenz innerhalb des klassizistischen Zeitalters.
Middle School Students and Graduate Students as Web Information Seekers

This study investigated the information-seeking behavior of middle school students and graduate students in using the Yahooligans! Web search engine/directory to find the correct answer to a fact-finding search task. It analyzed and compared the overall patterns of both student groups' Web traversal behaviors, including searching moves, browsing moves, backtracking moves, looping moves, target location and deviation moves, and the...
A new distributed algorithm for environmental monitoring by wireless sensor networks with limited communication

In this paper, we propose a new distributed sensor fusion algorithm for environmental monitoring by wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The considered WSNs are assumed to have limited communication capabilities. For each sensor node, a set of local estimation algorithms are maintained as its fused model for environmental variable to be sensed. The proposed algorithm relies on local information exchange among neighboring sensor nodes and estimation for a key left eigenvector of the communication matrix. The algorithm convergence can be ensured under the assumption that the communication topology among sensors is directed and strongly connected. A simulation example is provided to illustrate the proposed distributed algorithm.
Coulomb interaction driven instabilities of sliding Luttinger liquids

We study systems made of periodic arrays of one-dimensional quantum wires coupled by Coulomb interaction. Using bosonization an interacting metallic fixed point is obtained, which is shown to be a higher-dimensional analog of the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid, or a sliding Luttinger liquid. This non-Fermi liquid metallic state, however, is unstable in the presence of weak interwire backscatterings, which favor charge density wave states and suppress pairing. Depending on the effective strength of the Coulomb repulsion and the size of interwire spacing, various charge density wave states are stabilized, including Wigner crystal states. Our method allows for the determination of the specific ordering patterns and corresponding energy and temperature scales.
Fast computation of the electrolyte-concentration transfer function of a lithium-ion cell model

Abstract One approach to creating physics-based reduced-order models (ROMs) of battery-cell dynamics requires first generating linearized Laplace-domain transfer functions of all cell internal electrochemical variables of interest. Then, the resulting infinite-dimensional transfer functions can be reduced by various means in order to find an approximate low-dimensional model. These methods include Pade approximation or the Discrete-Time Realization algorithm. In a previous article, Lee and colleagues developed a transfer function of the electrolyte concentration for a porous-electrode pseudo-two-dimensional lithium-ion cell model. Their approach used separation of variables and Sturm–Liouville theory to compute an infinite-series solution to the transfer function, which they then truncated to a finite number of terms for reasons of practicality. Here, we instead use a variation-of-parameters approach to arrive at a different representation of the identical solution that does not require a series expansion. The primary benefits of the new approach are speed of computation of the transfer function and the removal of the requirement to approximate the transfer function by truncating the number of terms evaluated. Results show that the speedup of the new method can be more than 3800.
Educate. Empower. Revolt: Framing citizen journalism as a creator of social movements

This analysis examines how citizen journalism in two very resource-poor areas in India is mobilizing communities and sparking movements demanding change. The Video Volunteers and CGNET Swara are two citizen journalism organizations that work in Central India, in areas whose human and development indexes are among the lowest in the country. Citizen journalism has been studied both as a consequence and as an instigator of social revolution. The Arab Spring movement and the case of Mohamed Bouazizi in the 2010 Tunisian uprisings are prominent recent examples. But citizen journalism in these and similar cases usually focus on the framing of martyr narratives where individuals and their protests or reactions against human rights atrocities make them “a symbol of the struggle for justice, dignity and freedom.” Through a content analysis of 400 news stories posted in the year 2015–2016 and qualitative interviews with 30 participants and a focus group of 15 participants, this study analyses how the Video Voluntee...
Commentary on Marmodoro

This paper comments on Anna Marmodoro’s “Stoic Blends.” That essay argues that the “Eleatic Principle” is central to Stoic conceptions of what is. It also investigates a key difference between Stoic and Aristotelian conceptions of the roles of form and matter in constituting what is: the Stoics’ insistence that form and matter are bodies, and their concomitant assertion that more than one independent body can occupy the exact same place. The present comment explores the relationships between the “Eleatic Principle,” the arguments of the historical Eleatics, and Aristotle’s hylomorphism.
Zero voltage switching assistance design for DC-DC series resonant converter with constant input current for wide load range

In under-sea dc power distribution systems, constant current feed is preferred over constant voltage feed for robustness against long distance cable impedance. The input voltage of each power converter module in a series connected dc power distribution system varies over a wide range as a function of the load power. This behavior brings unique challenges to maintaining zero voltage switching (ZVS) for series resonant converters (SRCs), making simple passive techniques impractical for applications with a wide load range. Hence, active ZVS assisting circuits are preferred to achieve ZVS over the resulting wide input voltage range. In this paper, design guidelines are provided for active ZVS assisting circuits in such systems. Limitation of active ZVS circuits and methods to overcome them are also presented. The analysis is verified by hardware testing of an SRC operating at 250 kHz from a constant input source of 1 A with regulated output current of 0.33 A, and a power level of 1 kW.
Using a nonlinear mechanical control coupling metric for biped robot control and design

This paper uses results from geometric mechanics and control to determine the degree of coupling between actuated and unactuated degrees of freedom in a two-link biped robot. By comparing the degree of coupling when ankle actuation is used and when hip actuation is used, it is clear that ankle actuation affords stronger dynamic coupling and hence, may provide a superior means for control design for robust gait and posture control. This is true both in the case where the robot is configured as a bipedal walker and the case where it is configured to model posture control. In the case of posture control, these results are consistent with some literature on the means by which humans maintain posture.
Salvaging the dehisced glans penis.

Summary Objective The glans penis may show a deep groove (surgically favorable), or may appear flat with an absent sulcus (unfavorable). Glans dehiscence following hypospadias repair, especially after multiple surgeries, frequently results in a scarred, obliterated, or absent urethral plate. The glans penis appears to be flat and grooveless. This study reported on the outcome of a two-stage salvage repair for glans dehiscence in 49 consecutive patients. Materials and methods Retrospective chart review was performed for all patients who underwent repair for glans dehiscence following hypospadias repair. Results Between January 2009 and April 2015, 49 children aged 16 months to 18 years presented with glans dehiscence following hypospadias repair. The prior number of operations ranged from one to six. Eleven children had urethral fistulas, and seven had chordee. In the first stage, the flat glans was incised deeply to visualize, but spare, the corpora. Thereafter, a free graft of oral mucosa harvested either from the lower lip or cheek, or the residual preputial skin, was sutured to the glans cleft. The grafts were fenestrated, quilted in the midline, and a tie-over dressing was applied. Any fistula or chordee was repaired during the first stage. The neo-plate was tubularized 6–12 months later, and urine drainage with a catheter was maintained for 10–14 days. In 11 patients, skin flaps appeared dusky, and nitroglycerine ointment 2% was applied for 24 h to enhance the blood supply of the tissues. Subsequently, six of these children received nine or ten 90-min hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions. Following the first stage, two patients developed hypertrophy of the mucosal grafts, and one skin graft contracted. These three patients underwent revision using a second buccal mucosal graft harvested from the cheek. One recurrent fistula was closed during the second stage. Following the second stage two patients developed a urethral fistula, and the distal sutures broke down in one patient, resulting in an over-sized meatus. None developed meatal stenosis or glans dehiscence. Conclusion Graft initial take and subsequent behavior were unpredictable, but the two stage approach optimized the process of take and healing. Glans dehiscence was repaired safely and successfully by developing a deep groove, with creation of a new urethral plate followed by tubularization in two stages.
Roads and the diffusion of insurgent violence: The logistics of conflict in Russia's North Caucasus

How does insurgency spread? Existing research on the diffusion of violence at the local level of civil war tends to under-specify the theoretical mechanisms by which conflict can be expanded, relocated or sustained, and overlooks the real-world logistical constraints that combatants face on a daily basis. This paper attempts to address both problems by taking a closer look at the role of road networks in the diffusion of insurgent activity. By explicating the logic of diffusion in a simple epidemic model and exploiting new disaggregated data on violence and road networks in the North Caucasus, this analysis challenges the conventional view that insurgent logistics are either self-sufficient or highly flexible. Roads shape the costs of sustaining and expanding operations, which facilitates the transmission of violence to new locations, but can also intensify competition for limited military resources between nearby battlefronts. At the local level, this dynamic makes the relocation of insurgent activity more likely than its expansion. Methodologically, this paper demonstrates that a failure to account for logistical constraints in the empirical study of civil war can underestimate costs of diffusion and overpredict the transmissibility of violence between neighboring locations. The use of road network distances can yield more conservative inferences and more accurate predictions of how violence spreads.
Erythropoietin receptor characteristics on primary human erythroid cells

Erythropoietin (EP) exerts its effects on erythropoiesis by binding to a cell surface receptor. We examined EP receptor expression during normal human erythroid differentiation and maturation from the burst- forming unit-erythroid (BFU-E) to the reticulocyte level. In contrast to previous studies, we assessed EP receptor number and affinity in erythroid precursors immunologically purified from fresh bone marrow aspirates or fetal liver samples and in reticulocytes purified from peripheral blood. EP receptors were quantitated by equilibrium binding experiments with 125I EP. We found that purified primary erythroblasts from both adult and fetal sources exhibited a single high-affinity (kd 100 pmol/L) binding site for EP under our experimental conditions, and 135 or 250 receptors per cell, respectively. Reticulocytes were devoid of EP receptors. We compared these data to in vitro-derived BFU-E progeny at both early and late stages of maturation. Cultured BFU-E progeny also displayed a single class of receptors of slightly lower affinity (210 to 220 pmol/L). Preparations enriched in colony-forming units-erythroid (CFU-E) and proerythroblasts (day 9 BFU-E progeny) displayed approximately 1,100 receptors per cell, whereas populations containing mature erythroblasts (day 14 BFU-E progeny) exhibited approximately 300 receptors per cell. Furthermore, information from binding experiments was complemented by autoradiography in both enriched BFU-E preparations, cultured BFU-E progeny (days 9 and 14), and marrow mononuclear cells. These studies are consistent with a peak in EP receptor expression at the CFU-E/proerythroblast stage and a decrease with further maturation to undetectable levels at the reticulocyte stage. These data examining EP receptor characteristics on freshly isolated erythroid precursor cells complement previous data on EP receptor biology using culture-derived erythroblasts.
Alveolar type II cell abnormalities and peroxide formation in lungs of rats given IL-1 intratracheally.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by increased lung levels of proinflammatory cytokines, inflammation, oxidative stress, edema, and impaired gas exchange. Notably, ALI patients also exhibit pulmonary surfactant abnormalities, including increased levels of phospholipids in their lung lavages. In the present study, to assess early alterations of the lung surfactant system in ALI, we induced inflammation and acute lung injury in rats by administering interleukin-1α (IL-1) intratracheally. Five h after IL-1 instillation, we examined lung tissue ultrastructure by electron microscopy using both routine staining methods and cerium chloride staining to localize hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) histologically. We also measured lung lavage phospholipid levels, lung tissue γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) activities (a marker of oxidative stress), and arterial blood oxygen tensions. We observed that lungs of rats given IL-1 intratracheally had increased neutrophil accumulation, increased H2O2 production, and increased alveolar type II (ATII) pneumocyte ultrastructural abnormalities compared to rats given saline intratracheally. Intratracheal instillation of IL-1 also increased phospholipid levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL), possibly as a consequence of the abnormal discharge of lamellar bodies into the alveolar lumen. In addition, IL-1-insufflated rats had increased lung GGT levels and impaired blood oxygenation compared to saline-insufflated rats. Treatment with mepacrine decreased lung neutrophil accumulation, ultrastructural lung abnormalities, lung lavage phospholipid levels, lung tissue GGT levels, and blood oxygenation impairment in rats given IL-1 intratracheally, suggesting a possible relationship between these events. Our results indicate that IL-1-induced acute lung injury in rats is marked by neutrophil-dependent oxidative stress, ATII cell defects, abnormal discharge of lamellar body phospholipids, and impaired blood oxygenation.
Social Structure and Individual Ontogenies: Problems of Description, Mechanism, and Evolution

An old problem in the study of societies is the relationship between social structure and the development of individuals. Societies generally have a more or less stable distribution of individuals among social positions in spite of the passage of successive generations of individuals. For biologists, the problem of the relationships between individual and society has three aspects: the quantitative description of individuals’ movements through successive social positions; the mechanisms that regulate this movement; and the evolution of these regulatory mechanisms.
Automatic Welding: Infrared Sensors for Process Control

A feasibility study was performed to determine if infrared thermography could be used to detect perturbations in the arc welding process which result in defects. Data were gathered using an infrared camera with a resolution of.2C which was trained on the molten metal pool during welding. Several defects were then intentionally induced and the resulting thermal images were preserved on film. These images revealed that different types of weld defects induce different characteristic changes in the thermal image by detectably altering the temperature field around the weld. These perturbations in the temperature field can be used to identify and locate defects such as arc misalignment, plate gap, puddle impurities etc. Macrostructural examinations permitted investigations into the relationships between weld puddle penetration depth and the temperature field. Using computer aided processing of these thermal images, it is expected that the welding process can be controlled to a higher degree than is presently possible.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A and keratitis in mice.

Purpose To determine the importance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (ETA) as a virulence factor in corneal disease. Methods Isogenic mutants deficient in ETA were constructed in P. aeruginosa strains PAO1 and ATCC 19660 by allelic exchange and then evaluated for virulence in a mouse model of bacterial keratitis. The effect of ETA on adherence to scarified corneal epithelium was assessed in an in vitro organ culture model. Results Mutants of either P. aeruginosa PAO1 or 19660, deficient in ETA, adhered to wounded corneal tissue and initiated ocular disease similar to that in wild-type strains. However, in contrast to wild-type strains, ETA mutants were quickly cleared from the eye, inflammation diminished, and the cornea healed. Conclusions Although ETA has no effect on the ability of P. aeruginosa to adhere to corneal wounds or to initiate Pseudomonas keratitis, it is crucial for the organism to persist in the eye and ultimately cause disease.
Discovery of Small Molecule Ligands for MALAT1 by Tuning an RNA‑Binding Scaffold

Structural studies of the 3'-end of the oncogenic long non-coding RNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) confirmed a unique triple-helix structure. This structure enables accumulation of the transcript, and high levels of MALAT1 are found in several cancers. Here, we synthesize a small molecule library based on an RNA-binding scaffold, diphenylfuran (DPF), screen it against a variety of nucleic acid constructs, and demonstrate for the first time that the MALAT1 triple helix can be selectively targeted with small molecules. Computational analysis revealed a trend between subunit positioning and composition on DPF shape and intramolecular interactions, which in turn generally correlated with selectivity and binding strengths. This work thus provides design strategies toward chemical probe development for the MALAT1 triple helix and suggests that comprehensive analyses of RNA-focused libraries can generate insights into selective RNA recognition.
Multiple siderophores: bug or feature?

It is common for bacteria to produce chemically diverse sets of small Fe-binding molecules called siderophores. Studies of siderophore bioinorganic chemistry have firmly established the role of these molecules in Fe uptake and provided great insight into Fe complexation. However, we still do not fully understand why microbes make so many siderophores. In many cases, the release of small structural variants or siderophore fragments has been ignored, or considered as an inefficiency of siderophore biosynthesis. Yet, in natural settings, microbes live in complex consortia and it has become increasingly clear that the secondary metabolite repertoires of microbes reflect this dynamic environment. Multiple siderophore production may, therefore, provide a window into microbial life in the wild. This minireview focuses on three biochemical routes by which multiple siderophores can be released by the same organism—multiple biosynthetic gene clusters, fragment release, and precursor-directed biosynthesis—and highlights emergent themes related to each. We also emphasize the plurality of reasons for multiple siderophore production, which include enhanced iron uptake via synergistic siderophore use, microbial warfare and cooperation, and non-classical functions such as the use of siderophores to take up metals other than Fe.
Designing States, Actions, and Rewards for Using POMDP in Session Search

Session search is an information retrieval task that involves a sequence of queries for a complex information need. It is characterized by rich user-system interactions and temporal dependency between queries and between consecutive user behaviors. Recent efforts have been made in modeling session search using the Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). To best utilize the POMDP model, it is crucial to find suitable definitions for its fundamental elements – States, Actions and Rewards. This paper investigates the best ways to design the states, actions, and rewards within a POMDP framework. We lay out available design options of these major components based on a variety of related work and experiment on combinations of these options over the TREC 2012 & 2013 Session datasets. We report our findings based on two evaluation aspects, retrieval accuracy and efficiency, and recommend practical design choices for using POMDP in session search.
Anatomy, Head and Neck, Eye

Vision is perhaps the most useful of the senses for humans. More than 50% of the sensory receptors in the human body are located in the eyes, and a significant portion of the cerebral cortex is devoted to interpreting visual information. The eyes are responsible for detecting visible light, which ranges from 400 to 700 nanometers in wavelength. Objects can absorb and reflect different wavelengths of light. An object appears white if it reflects all wavelengths of light, and it appears black if it absorbs all wavelengths of light.
Agent-Based Modeling: Value Added to Social Work Research:

Social workers have taken large strides in adopting rigorous research methods, yet there have been computational advances that could enhance the social work knowledge base. This article introduces ...
Capacity Results for Classes of Partially Ordered $K$ -User Broadcast Channels With Two Nested Multicast Messages

The $K$ -user discrete memoryless (DM) broadcast channel (BC) with two nested multicast messages is studied in which one common message is to be multicast to all receivers and the second private message to a subset of receivers. The receivers that must decode both messages are referred to as private receivers and the others that must decode only the common message as common receivers. For two nested multicast messages, we establish the capacity region for several classes of partially ordered DM BCs characterized by the respective associated sets of pair-wise relationships between and among the common and private receivers, each described by the well-known pair-wise more capable or less noisy condition. For three classes of partially ordered DM BCs, the capacity region is shown to be simply achieved by two-level superposition coding and the proofs of the converses rely on a recently found information inequality. The rate region achievable by two-level superposition coding is then enhanced through a multi-level superposition coding scheme after splitting the private message into as many parts as there are common receivers and indirect decoding. A closed-form two-dimensional polyhedral (polygonal) description is obtained for it for a given coding distribution in spite of the indeterminate number of split rates via a structured form of Fourier-Motzkin elimination. Through a converse result that relies on the Csiszar sum lemma and that information inequality, a specialization of this region that corresponds to splitting the private message into just two sub-messages is proved to be the capacity region for several classes of partially ordered DM BCs beyond those for which two-level superposition coding is capacity optimal, thereby underscoring the benefit of rate-splitting. All previously known capacity results for partially ordered DM BCs with two nested multicast messages for the two and three-receiver DM BCs as well as DM BCs with one private or one common receiver are subsumed in the general results obtained in this work.
In vitro trackable assembly of RNA-specific nucleocapsids of the respiratory syncytial virus

The templates for transcription and replication by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) polymerase are helical nucleocapsids (NCs), formed by viral RNAs that are encapsidated by the nucleoprotein (N). Proper NC assembly is vital for RSV polymerase to engage the RNA template for RNA synthesis. Previous studies of NCs or nucleocapsid-like particles (NCLPs) from RSV and other nonsegmented negative-sense RNA viruses have provided insights into the overall NC architecture. However, in these studies, the RNAs were either random cellular RNAs or average viral genomic RNAs. An in-depth mechanistic understanding of NCs has been hampered by lack of an in vitro assay that can track NC or NCLP assembly. Here we established a protocol to obtain RNA-free N protein (N0) and successfully demonstrated the utility of a new assay for tracking assembly of N with RNA oligonucleotides into NCLPs. We discovered that the efficiency of the NCLP (N–RNA) assembly depends on the length and sequence of the RNA incorporated into NCLPs. This work provides a framework to generate purified N0 and incorporate it with RNA into NCLPs in a controllable manner. We anticipate that our assay for in vitro trackable assembly of RSV-specific nucleocapsids may enable in-depth mechanistic analyses of this process.
Overview of head and neck cancer management

Abstract Head and neck cancers are a rich subject area for research—from basic science to clinical research. Recent clinical trials have focused on the role of viruses in cancer etiology and prognostication, individualizing treatment using de-intensification or intensification strategies based on tumor biology and patient risk factors, biomarker-driven treatment selection, targeted therapy with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-directed agents, and immune-modulating agents. The following chapter provides an overview of the management of head and neck cancer, focusing on tumors of the oropharynx, nasopharynx, oral cavity, hypopharynx and larynx, salivary glands, and the challenge of managing recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer. In each section, major clinical trials that inform current management are discussed. Additionally, ongoing and future clinical trials are discussed in each section to emphasize current efforts to treat head and neck cancers while minimizing the acute and late effects of treatment.
Phase-to-phase Long Wave-front Impulse Voltage Discharge Characteristics and Insulation Configuration of 750kV Four-circuit Lines on the Same Tower

Aiming at the erection structure of 750kV four-circuit transmission lines on the same tower and the overvoltage characteristics of the system, the long wave-front discharge characteristics of phase-to-phase air-gaps are studied, and the discharge characteristics curves under different gap distances are obtained. Based on the overvoltage characteristics of 750kV power transmission system, the phase-to-phase insulation configuration of 750 kV four-circuit transmission lines is proposed. The results show that the distance between two phase conductors is longer than that of conventional double-circuit 750kV transmission line.
Slippery scales: Cost prompts, but not benefit prompts, modulate sentencing recommendations in laypeople

Do people punish more than they would if the decision costs were more transparent? In two Internet-based vignette experiments, we tested whether juvenile sentencing recommendations among U.S. adults are responsive to variation in the salience of the taxpayer costs and public safety benefits of incarceration. Using a 2 Cost (present vs. absent) x 2 Benefit (present vs. absent) factorial design, Experiment 1 (N = 234) found that exposure to information about the direct costs of incarcerating the juvenile offender reduced sentencing recommendations by about 28%, but exposure to the public safety benefits had no effect on sentences. Experiment 2 (N = 301) manipulated cost-benefit salience by asking participants to generate their own list of costs of incarceration, benefits of incarceration, or an affectively neutral, unrelated word list. Results revealed a similar selective effect whereby sentencing recommendations were reduced in the cost condition relative to the benefits and control conditions, but sentences in the benefit condition did not differ from the control. This combined pattern suggests that laypeople selectively neglect to factor cost considerations into these judgments, thereby inflating their support for punishment, unless those costs are made salient. These findings contribute to the debate on transparency in sentencing.
Introduction: What Do Statistics Do?

This chapter introduces the themes of numbers and society and their mutual constitution; issues of quantification, commensuration, and translation; the imbrication of the political and the technical, or technopolitics; reform in Turkey and the importance of the EU integration process, regardless of its eventual outcome; and the rapid and profound transformation (often called neoliberal) that agriculture and rural livelihoods have been undergoing in the country since the 1990s. It also discusses the genesis of the project, conditions of the fieldwork with farmers, technicians, ministry personnel and agricultural extension officers, and the ways in which this is both a relatively traditional but also somewhat unconventional anthropological project.