cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The spectral sensitivity of crayfish and lobster vision.

(1) The spectral sensitivity function for the compound eye of the crayfish has been determined by recording the retinal action potentials elicited by monochromatic stimuli. Its peak lies at approximately 570 mµ. (2) Similar measurements made on lobster eyes yield functions with maxima in the region of 520 to 525 mµ, which agree well with the absorption spectrum of lobster rhodopsin if minor allowances are made for distortion by known screening pigments. (3) The crayfish sensitivity function, since it is unaffected by selective monochromatic light adaptation, must be determined by a single photosensitive pigment. The absorption maximum of this pigment may be inferred with reasonable accuracy from the sensitivity data. (4) The visual pigment of the crayfish thus has its maximum absorption displaced by 50 to 60 mµ towards the red end of the spectrum from that of the lobster and other marine crustacea. This shift parallels that found in both rod and cone pigments between fresh water and marine vertebrates. In the crayfish, however, an altered protein is responsible for the shift and not a new carotenoid chromophore as in the vertebrates. (5) The existence of this situation in a new group of animals (with photoreceptors which have been evolved independently from those of vertebrates) strengthens the view that there may be strong selection for long wavelength visual sensitivity in fresh water.
Evaluation of temporal and spatial characteristics of 2D HYPR processing using simulations.

Highly constrained back-projection (HYPR) is a data acquisition and reconstruction method that provides very rapid frame update rates and very high spatial resolution for a time series of images while maintaining a good signal-to-noise ratio and high image quality. In this study we used simulations to evaluate the temporal and spatial characteristics of images produced using the HYPR algorithm. The simulations demonstrate that spatial accuracy is well maintained in the images and the temporal changes in signal intensity are represented with high fidelity. The waveforms representing signal intensity as a function of time obtained from regions-of-interest placed in simulated objects track the true curves very well, with variations from the truth occurring only when objects with very different temporal behavior are very close to each other. However, even when objects with different temporal characteristics are touching, their influences on each other are small. Magn Reson Med 59:1090–1098, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Identifying performance bottlenecks in CDNs through TCP-level monitoring

Content distribution networks (CDNs) need to make decisions, such as server selection and routing, to improve performance for their clients. The performance may be limited by various factors such as packet loss in the network, a small receive buffer at the client, or constrained server CPU and disk resources. Conventional measurement techniques are not effective for distinguishing these performance problems: application-layer logs are too coarse-grained, while network-level traces are too expensive to collect all the time. We argue that passively monitoring the transport-level statistics in the server's network stack is a better approach.This paper presents a tool for monitoring and analyzing TCP statistics, and an analysis of a CoralCDN node in PlanetLab for six weeks. Our analysis shows that more than 10% of connections are server-limited at least 40% of the time, and many connections are limited by the congestion window despite no packet loss. Still, we see that clients in 377 Autonomous Systems (ASes) experience persistent packet loss. By separating network congestion from other performance problems, our analysis provides a much more accurate view of the performance of the network paths than what is possible with server logs alone.
IL-2 Complex Treatment Can Protect Naive Mice from Bacterial and Viral Infection

IL-2 complexes have substantial effects on the cellular immune system, and this approach is being explored for therapeutic application in infection and cancer. However, the impact of such treatments on subsequent encounter with pathogens has not been investigated. In this study, we report that naive mice treated with a short course of IL-2 complexes show enhanced protection from newly encountered bacterial and viral infections. IL-2 complex treatment expands both the NK and CD8 memory cell pool, including a recently described population of preexisting memory-phenotype T cells responsive to previously unencountered foreign Ags. Surprisingly, prolonged IL-2 complex treatment decreased CD8 T cell function and protective immunity. These data reveal the impact of cytokine complex treatment on the primary response to infection.
Aberrant cytoplasmic sequestration of eNOS in endothelial cells after monocrotaline, hypoxia, and senescence: live-cell caveolar and cytoplasmic NO imaging.

We previously reported the disruption of caveolae/rafts, dysfunction of Golgi tethers, N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor-attachment protein (SNAP) receptor proteins (SNAREs), and SNAPs, and inhibit...
Curriculum Perceptions: a multivariate analysis

Abstract The curriculum decision‐making perceptions of a pilot sample of 75 American kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers doing graduate work in education were surveyed with a 42 item questionnaire. The first four questions established the demographics of the respondents and the next three items indicated that Americans feel more constrained in making curriculum decisions than their British counterparts. The cross‐cultural comparisons are based on the findings of Doherty & Travers (1984). The final 35 items, adapted from the instrument developed by Doherty & Travers, were subject to a factor analysis. Five interpretable factors were extracted. The factors were labelled (1) External Monitory, (2) External Professional, (3) Internal Professional, (4) Facilitative‐Constraining, and (5) Internal Professional Peers. These factors represented 32 items with three items unassignable to any factors. Interitem reliability of the factors was judged good. Though the British study also extracted five factors (f...
Capital-Budgeting Systems and Capabilities Investments in U.S. Companies after the Second World War

The authors of this article argue that companies' high cost of capital or short investment horizons do not explain the decline in global competitiveness of many U.S. industries in the 1970s and 1980s. Instead, they find the source of malaise in the capital-budgeting and financial-planning systems that arose after the Second World War. Although they allowed managers in large companies to evaluate some aspects of their business efficiently and comprehensively, these systems also obscured the value of investment in organizational capabilities, because such investments were hard to quantify—indeed, even to describe—within the financial models in widespread use. As a result, companies often invested vigorously—but in the wrong things. The authors define a set of desirable capabilities and, using case studies, describe both the problems of the recent past and the requirements for successful investment in the future.
Reproductive Function during Fasting in Men

To investigate reproductive function during fasting, six men 20-74% over ideal body weight completed an 18-day study consisting of a 3-day control period, a 10-day total fast, and a 5-day refeeding period. All men lost at least 4.1% of total weight and demonstrated ketonemia and ketonuria. The FSH response to LRH (0.2 microgram/min for 4 h) stimulation was significantly lower (P less than 0.05) during fasting and remained so during refeeding. Serum FSH concentrations were significantly lower (P less than 0.05) during the fast in five of six patients compared to those during the control period, whereas serum LH concentrations were unchanged. The effects of fasting on endogenous LH and FSH pulsations were studied by obtaining serum at 20-min intervals for 6 h on days 2, 11, and 16. Neither the amplitude nor the frequency of LH and FSH pulsations changed significantly during fasting or refeeding. Serum testosterone concentrations were significantly lower (P less than 0.025) by fasting day 9 compared to control values. The 24-h urinary excretion of both LH and FSH increased significantly (P less than 0.05) by fasting day 6 and reached a maximum by fasting day 8. Urinary LH excretion did not return to normal after 3 days of refeeding, whereas urinary FSH excretion returned to baseline by the first day of refeeding. We conclude that during short term fasting in obese men: 1) serum FSH concentrations decrease, 2) the pituitary responsiveness of FSH and LRH is blunted, 3) serum testosterone decreases, and 4) the urinary excretion of both LH and FSH increase.
β-Carotene Is Converted Primarily to Retinoids in Rats In Vivo

beta-Carotene might be converted oxidatively to vitamin A- active products in animals by the following three possible routes: 1) central cleavage, 2) sequential excentric cleavage or 3) random cleavage. Central cleavage is strongly favored by stoichiometric studies with tissue homogenates in vitro. To examine the relative importance of these pathways in rats in vivo, an oral dose (5.6 micromol) of all-trans beta-carotene in oil was given to vitamin A-deficient (-A) and to vitamin A-sufficient (+A) adult female Sprague-Dawley rats. Serum and several tissues were analyzed before and 3 h after dosing. The primary products of beta-carotene found in the intestine, serum and liver were retinol, retinyl esters and retinoic acid. Two minor oxidation products of beta-carotene, namely, 5,6-epoxy-beta-carotene and a partially characterized hydroxy-beta-carotene, were present in the stomach and its contents as well as in intestinal preparations. In the intestine, including its contents, of -A rats, very minor amounts of 5,6-epoxyretinyl palmitate and of beta-apocarotenals (8', 10', 12', 14') were identified. The total amount of the beta-apocarotenoids, however, was <5% of the retinoids formed in the intestine from beta-carotene during the same period. Another beta-carotene derivative, with a spectrum similar to that of semi-beta-carotenone, citranaxanthin and beta-apo-6'-carotenal, was also found in the intestinal extract of a -A rat. beta-Apocarotenals, beta-apocarotenols, beta-apocarotenyl esters and beta-apocarotenoic acids were not detected in tissues of +A rats nor in other tissues of -A rats. These findings agree with the view that central cleavage is by far the major pathway for the formation of vitamin A from beta-carotene in healthy rats in vivo.
Creation of data resources and design of an evaluation test bed for Devanagari script recognition

The Indian subcontinent has a large number of languages, dialects, and scripts with the Devanagari script being the primary and most widely used of all the scripts. To date, much of the Devanagari optical character recognition (OCR) research has been restricted to a handful of groups. So, techniques have not yet been widely disseminated or evaluated independently and automated evaluation tools are currently not available for lack of a standard representation of ground-truth and result data. A key reason for the absence of sustained research efforts in off-line Devanagari OCR appears to be the paucity of data resources. Ground truthed data for words and characters, on-line dictionaries, corpora of text documents and reliable, standardized statistical analyses and evaluation tools are currently lacking. So, the creation of such data resources will undoubtedly provide a much needed fillip to researchers working on Devanagari OCR. This paper describes a National Science Foundation sponsored project under the International Digital Libraries program to create data resources that will facilitate development of Devanagari OCR technology and provide a standardized test bed and evaluation tools for Devanagari script recognition.
Carotenoid-Related Alteration of Cell Membrane Fluidity Impacts Staphylococcus aureus Susceptibility to Host Defense Peptides

Carotenoid pigments of Staphylococcus aureus provide integrity to its cell membrane (CM) and limit oxidative host defense mechanisms. However, the role of carotenoids in staphylococcal resistance to nonoxidative host defenses has not been characterized. The current study examined the relationship among CM carotenoid content, membrane order, and in vitro susceptibility to daptomycin or to prototypic neutrophil-derived, platelet-derived, or bacterium-derived cationic antimicrobial peptides (human neutrophil defensin-1 [hNP-1], platelet microbicidal proteins [PMPs], or polymyxin B, respectively). A previously characterized methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) isogenic clinical strain set was used, including a parental isolate with an intact carotenoid biosynthetic operon (crtOPQMN) containing the crtM gene encoding early steps in staphyloxanthin biosynthesis, a crtM deletion mutant, and a crtMN multicopy plasmid-complemented variant. Compared to the parental and crtM knockout strains, the crtMN-complemented strain exhibited (i) increased carotenoid production, (ii) increased CM rigidity (P < 0.001), and (iii) uniformly reduced susceptibility to killing by the above-mentioned range of cationic peptides (statistically significant for hNP-1 [20 μg/ml]; P = 0.0037). There were no significant differences in phospholipid composition and asymmetry, fatty acid profiles, surface charge, or cell wall thickness among the strain set. Collectively, these data support the concept that carotenoid biosynthesis can contribute to the ability of S. aureus to subvert nonoxidative host defenses mediated by cationic peptides, potentially by increasing target membrane rigidity.
College and Notions of “Asian American”: Second-Generation Chinese and Korean Americans Negotiate Race and Identity

(1999). College and Notions of “Asian American”: Second-Generation Chinese and Korean Americans Negotiate Race and Identity. Amerasia Journal: Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 29-52.
Waiting for a Second Cargo Shipment: Public Education as Great Equalizer

Many liberals believe that improving public schools will help eradicate poverty, racism, and other systemic social ills. I show here that it is very unlikely to do so, using an article and book by a prominent liberal economist as my foil.
Gold Standard in Anticoagulation Assessment of Left Ventricular Assist Device Patients?: How About Bronze

Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) have become a standard therapeutic option in the management of eligible patients with advanced forms of heart failure. Although survival after LVAD implant has improved dramatically in the past decade, the cumulative incidence of LVAD-
Subjectivity and Self-Reflexivity in the Study of Women's Diaries as Autobiography

(1990). Subjectivity and Self-Reflexivity in the Study of Women's Diaries as Autobiography. a/b: Auto/Biography Studies: Vol. 5, Constructing the Subject in Nineteenth-Century Autobiography, pp. 114-123.
Co-liquefaction of swine manure with waste vegetable oil for enhanced bio-oil production

ABSTRACTWaste vegetable oil was co-liquefied with swine manure to determine the bio-oil potential in this study. The result shows that co-liquefaction of waste vegetable oil with swine manure can improve the bio-oil production and decarboxylation of waste vegetable oil. The weight ratio of swine manure to waste vegetable oil exerted a great effect on both the yield and quality of the bio-oil. The optimum weight ratio of swine manure to waste cooking oil was 1:3, where a maximum oil yield of 80% was obtained with higher calorific value up to 38 MJ/kg.
The collection and storage of viable human fetal hematopoietic tissue for intravenous use.

Livers and spleens from human fetuses in the 12 to 20 weeks' gestation period were preserved in a sterile condition in glycerol and serum at -70 deg C for periods of several weeks. Studies of DNA synthesis rates with C/sup 14/- formate, and radioautographs after incubation with tritiated thymidine. revealed that hematopoietic elements concentrated in these tissues at this stage of gestation maintained their viability during these periods of storage. Intravenous infusion of cellular suspensions prepared from stored frozen tissue, or from fresh tissue in this same age group, produced no observed untoward clinical event in the three patients studied. Some of the arguments favoring the use of fetal hematopoietic tissue, in contrast to adult marrow, in the attempt to restore marrow function after radiation injury are briefly reviewed. (auth)
On the Development of Oxygen Scavenger Additives for Future Jet Fuels

The need for the development of jet fuels that are oxidatively and thermally stable to 480°C (900°F) has been previously detailed (Edwards and Liberio, 1996). Such a fuel is commonly referred to as JP-900. It is our belief that a new class of additives can be developed which, when added to JP-8, will provide both the oxidative and thermal stability requirements of JP-900.Our most recent data is presented which explores the potential of 1,2,5-trimethylpyrrole (TMP) as a potential oxygen scavenger.© 1999 ASME
Hydrodistention of the bladder for the treatment of bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC)

Aims The purpose of this study is to determine whether a transvaginal trigonal block immediately preceding cystoscopy with hydrodistention yields an additional therapeutic benefit compared to cystoscopy with hydrodistention alone for the treatment of bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis (BPS/IC). Methods A retrospective chart review was performed at a single-center. Performance of a trigonal block prior to hydrodistention was at the discretion of the surgeon. A trigonal block consists of injecting 0.25% bupivacaine with 1.0% Xylocaine into the anterior vagina under the trigone under cystoscopic guidance. Procedures between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2013 were included. The primary outcome compared change in pain score from the baseline to 1-month post-operative. Results One hundred and eighty-three patients underwent hydrodistention of the bladder. Seventy-seven were excluded and of the 106 patients remaining, 48 received a trigonal block and 58 did not. Both groups had a significant improvement in pain scores (P 5 min based on surgeon preference. There was no difference in change in pain score from baseline between both groups (−3.0 vs. −2.2; P = 0.061). Conclusions Hydrodistention of the bladder decreased pain postoperatively regardless of trigonal block or time of distention. A randomized-controlled trial is necessary to determine the benefits of duration of hydrodistention or performance of a block. Neurourol. Urodynam. 36:784–786, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
USING RESPONDING FACTORS TO EVALUATE COMPREHENSIVELY WATER FLOODING EFFECT

When an adjustment plan has been put into production, there are many production indexes that can be used to evaluate the improved waterflooding effectiveness in different aspects, which may give various results. In order to evaluate the waterflooding effectiveness of different development plans in all development stages, a new "responding factor method" has been put forward on the basis of fussy mathematical theory. The real application of "responding factors" to field examples indicated that it can be used to evaluate adjustment plan in different production stages. Since the "responding factors" method is simple, applicable and reliable, it can be extensively used to evaluate development effectiveness in practice.
A Bimodal Cognitive Architecture: Explorations in Architectural Explanation of Spatial Reasoning.

Research in Psychology often involves the building of computational models to test out various theories. The usual approach is to build models using the most convenient tool available. Newell has instead proposed building models within the framework of general-purpose cognitive architectures. One advantage of this approach is that in some cases it is possible to provide more perspicuous explanations of experimental results in different but related tasks, as emerging from an underlying architecture. In this paper, we propose the use of a bimodal cognitive architecture called biSoar in modeling phenomena in spatial representation and reasoning. We show biSoar can provide an architectural explanation for the phenomena of simplification that arises in experiments associated with spatial recall. We build a biSoar model for one such spatial recall task – wayfinding, and discuss the role of the architecture in the emergence of simplification.
Migration and Ethnicity in Middle-Range Societies: A View from the Southwest

In this brief volume Tammy Stone provides further discussion of one of the classic cases of migration in Southwestern archaeology, the “Kayenta enclave” at Point of Pines, and encourages scholars t...
Citizens as Artifacts

A citizen is an artifact, a creature of a government, and no rights or any other legal or moral implications follow from the concept of a citizen itself. Only after the concept becomes a conception, after being given content through a government’s law-making powers, do any implications flow from it. So no natural rights are attached to being a citizen.
Sampling, taxonomic description, and our evolving knowledge of morphological diversity

Morphological analysis of four higher taxa of fossil marine invertebrates shows that, over the history of paleontology, there is no general tendency for morphologically extreme or modal species and genera to be described preferentially early or late. Reconstructing the expected evolutionary sequences of morphological disparity that would have been estimated at various times during the past century and a half reveals features that are sensitive to sampling (for example, peak trilobite disparity in the Ordovician, peak of post-Paleozoic crinoid disparity in the Triassic, and peak blastoid disparity in the Permian), as well as more robust features (for example, increase in trilobite disparity from the Cambrian to the Ordovician, continued increase in trilobite disparity despite a drop in taxonomic diversity after the Early Ordovician, decrease in blastoid disparity from the Devonian to the Carboniferous, and increase in crinoid disparity from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous followed by decline during the Cretaceous). Although we still have much to learn about the evolution of form, in many respects our view of the history of biological diversity is mature.
“An Actress in a Play”: Service as Sacred Performance in Denise Chávez’s Face of an Angel

This chapter examines the definitions and gendered mechanisms of service in Denise Chavez’s novel. The chapter shows how service is elevated as the primary sacred principle with which to contend and through which other issues are considered. The chapter goes on to discuss the rite of passage resolving how service will be defined for Soveida Dosamantes and how that ritualization involves a complex negotiation through the stories of the women in her family. Through her rite we find that the Book of Service is more than a manual for waitressing.
AdaptIVe: Automated Driving Applications and Technologies for Intelligent Vehicles

The European research project AdaptIVe aims to achieve major breakthroughs leading to more efficient and safer automated driving. The project develops and tests automated driving functions for cars and trucks. The new technologies will be demonstrated in seven passenger cars and one truck being built-up by the project. The research covers several scenarios, including motorways, urban environment, and close-distance manoeuvres. In parallel, the project defines specific evaluation methodologies and addresses legal aspects.
Towards a large-area plasmonic polarization detector

We demonstrate an approach that can characterize the polarization of incident light using a plasmonic crystal realized via bottom up fabrication technique. The concept of spin-orbit interaction is invoked to explain the observed effects.
Coping with nephron loss: transport at a price.

the adaptive response to unilateral nephrectomy is hypertrophy and enhanced function within the remaining kidney. This basic observation has been known for more than a century and has attracted investigative tools of every era to delineate the specific changes in mass and function, and to try to
Teaching Tips: Digital Teaching from Office of Digital Learning

The Office of Digital Learning (ODL) has created a series of handouts, "Digital Teaching Tips" to share best practices and strategies for effective online teaching. These handouts provide concise information with tips, guidance to Mason resources, and sharing of best practices by experienced Mason Online Faculty. Topics for Tip Sheets include: Starting a New Semester; The Online Student Experience; Instructor Presence; Time Management; Active Learning with Technology; Accessibility; Social Media; ePortfolios; Online Classroom Management, and much more! If you are looking for some quick tips and direction to additional resources, check out the ODL Teaching Tip Sheets.
Infusing Culturally Responsive Science Curriculum into Early Childhood Teacher Preparation

Previous research studies in early childhood teacher education have indicated that teacher candidates are not adequately prepared to demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed to teach science to all children including culturally and linguistically diverse students. To address this issue, the researchers provided 31 early childhood teacher candidates with instructions through a culturally responsive science education curriculum that integrates American and Korean science curriculum corresponding to the American and Korean standards for teacher education. The results showed a statistically significant increase in their Personal Science Teaching Efficacy (PSTE). In addition, the teacher candidates were able to create a multicultural/diverse lesson in the developing and proficiency levels based on Ambrosio’s lesson matrix. This study provides teacher candidates’ knowledge as well as an additional resource for developing their self-efficacy and understanding the role of multicultural/diverse lesson planning for science instruction. Also, teacher candidates could be better prepared by understanding how other countries approach science education and integrating this knowledge to enrich their own science instruction.
Investigating the scale of prehistoric social networks using culture, language, and point types in western North America

We examine the spatial scale of prehistoric social networks represented by point types documented in western North America through comparison with ethnohistorically documented Native American interactive networks at different levels of inclusion. The ethnohistorical data come from Joseph Jorgensen’s (1980) Western Indians, which maps tribal boundaries at European contact and the associated language lineage for each tribe. We assume that frequency of interaction follows language relationships. Proximity aside, people will share ideas more often if they possess a language, or part of a language, in common. We use tribal regions and different levels of language affiliation (families, large language groupings, and phyla) that represent increasingly broad spatial scales of social interaction. We compare these measures with the areas calculated for point types in the same general region to determine which level of social interaction recorded ethnohistorically best fits with the point type data. Our analyses show that point type areas most closely resemble the spatial extents of large language groupings and language phyla. The areas of point types are greater than individual tribal regions recorded in western North America at the time of European contact and language families. Based on these results, we suggest that the conflation of point types with prehistoric cultures commonly implied in archeology is not justified. Building on the fundamental ideas of the culture historians, we suggest that point type distributions are a consequence of extensive social interaction networks where combinations of functional and neutral point traits are shared and inherited over a large area.
Adaptive Monitoring of Bioreactor Contamination

An adaptive state estimator is presented for contaminant detection during batch or fed-batch fermentations. It consists of a Linear Kalman Filter, whose parameters are identified by a Recursive Prediction Algorithm. On-line measurements of total biomass and its production rate are used. The algorithm is conservative, robust and it also provides a convergent estimate of a pure culture’s specific growth rate. These properties are confirmed by simulations and on-line experimental results, obtained with a Yeast culture, both pure and contaminated by a Bacteria.
The Role of CAE-CDE in Cybersecurity Education for Workforce Development

With a fast-growing demand for properly trained cybersecurity professionals to defend our cyber space and information systems, effective cybersecurity education programs and courses with consistent and reliable quality control and evaluation are necessary to prepare qualified workforce for the cybersecurity industry. The national Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) designation program jointly sponsored by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a rigorous certification and national standard for maintaining quality of cybersecurity education. This paper explains the CAE-CDE program criteria and requirements and discusses the important role of the designation in cybersecurity education and workforce development. This paper illustrates the educational value and impact of the CAE-CDE program with case studies of three different institutions: (1) University of Missouri—St. Louis, which has obtained the CAE-CDE and Security Policy Development and Compliance Focus Area designations; (2) American Public University System, which has just completed the application for CAE-CDE; and (3) Robert Morris University, which is in the process of applying for the CAE-CDE designation.
Delaware Lecture (1967)

The invitation to participate in the Delaware Seminar provided an opportunity to put on record quite a collection of thoughts that had accumulated in my notes for several Colloquium talks given at various Universities since the Brandeis lectures. So they were assembled into one manuscript for the following lecture delivered at the University of Delaware on March 9,1965.
Listen to My Story: A Comparison of the Narrative to the Factual Format of Information Presentation in Advertisements

Print advertisements frequently describe product features and benefits a consumer can experience when using the promoted product. There are numerous possibilities to present these pieces of information in a text. Often, a bullet-point-type presentation is used. Alternatively, they are embedded in a continuous text consisting of complete sentences that are connected together (continuous-factual format).
Reducing the Cost of the Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithm with Image Local Response in Electronic Imaging

The paper focuses on the efficiency of the hybrid evolutionary algorithm (HEA) for solving the global optimization problem arising in electronic imaging. The particular version of the algorithm utilizes image local response (ILR), in order to reduce the computational cost. ILR is defined as the variation of fitness function due to a small variation of the parameters, and is computed over a small area. ILR is utilized at different stages of the algorithm. At the preprocessing stage, it reduces the area of the image participating in fitness evaluation. The correlation in the response space identifies the set of subregions that can contain the correct match between the images. Response values are used to adaptively control local search with the Downhill simplex method by applying a contraction transformation to the vector of the standard simplex coefficients. The computational experiments with 2D-grayscale images provide the experimental support of the ILR model.
Commodity futures with thinly traded cash markets: The case of live cattle

Abstract Negotiated cash markets have thinned in many commodities over time as alternative marketing agreements have become increasingly prominent. Thinning cash markets challenge information which facilitates price discovery for both cash and futures markets. The US live cattle cash market has experienced a substantial structural shift toward non-cash market trade in recent years leading to sporadic trade across market regions that appear at times to be segmented markets. At the same time, the cattle market has realized immense price volatility making judicious price risk management by producers essential. However, hedging risk has also increased. This article illustrates the nature of changes affecting hedging effectiveness in light of thinning cash markets in fed cattle and discusses a variety of actions that have been considered to try to mitigate concerns.
App-Based Insulin Calculators: Current and Future State

To perform a comprehensive literature review and critical assessment of peer-reviewed manuscripts addressing the efficacy, safety, or usability of insulin calculator apps. Managing diabetes with insulin can be complex, and literacy and numeracy skills pose barriers to manual insulin dose calculations. App-based insulin calculators are promising tools to help people with diabetes administer insulin safely and have potential to improve glycemic control. While a large number of apps which assist with insulin dosing are available, there is limited data evaluating their efficacy, safety, and usability. Recently, a need for regulatory oversight has been recognized, but few apps meet federal standards. Thus, choosing an appropriate app is challenging for both patients and providers. An electronic literature review was performed to identify insulin calculator apps with either evidence for efficacy, safety or usability published in peer-reviewed literature or with FDA/CE approval. Twenty apps were identified intended for use by patients with diabetes on insulin. Of these, nine included insulin calculators. Summaries of each app, including pros and cons, are provided. Insulin-calculator apps have the potential to improve self-management of diabetes. While current literature demonstrates improvements in quality of life and glycemic control after use of these programs, larger trials are needed to collect outcome and safety data. Also, further human factor analysis is needed to assure these apps will be adopted appropriately by people with diabetes. App features including efficacy and safety data need to be easily available for consumer review and decision making. Higher standards need to be set for app developers to ensure safety and efficacy.
State Leadership in US Climate Change and Energy Policy: The California Experience

It is a long-held belief among scholars and practitioners that the State of California is a notable subnational leader in environmental and climate change policy. This article focuses primarily on ...
Detecting Prefrailty: Comparing Subjective Frailty Assessment and the Paulson-Lichtenberg Frailty Index.

We examined the level of agreement between subjective frailty assessments (SFA) and frailty classifications derived from the validated Paulson–Lichtenberg Frailty Index (PLFI). Clinic patients (n =...
On the Phase Margin of Networked Dynamical Systems and Fabricated Attacks of an Intruder

This paper provides a framework to characterize the phase margin of linear time-invariant networked dynamical system where the interaction topology is described by a directed graph. The stability analysis based on the generalized Nyquist theorem is converted to a constrained minimization problem with the help of mapping between two unitary vectors on complex parameter space which is solved to calculate the phase margin of the networked dynamical systems. The resulting phase margin gives sufficient conditions for the closed-loop stability of the networked dynamical system in the presence of complex frequency-dependent perturbations. Further, the impact of malicious agent in the network topology which acts as disturbance generator on the overall network of dynamical systems is analyzed.
Latent class trajectories: U.S. adolescents' nicotine use and its association with nicotine dependence.

Introduction Twenty-seven percent of adolescents used a nicotine/tobacco product in 2018. Our study analyzed three waves from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study and examined adolescent nicotine/tobacco use trajectories over time to determine which latent classes were associated with symptoms of nicotine dependence. Methods The PATH Study used a four-stage, stratified area probability sample and annual household interviews with adolescents (12-17 years). Adolescents who indicated past 30-day nicotine/tobacco use at least once were included (n = 1101). We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify nicotine/tobacco trajectories across three waves of PATH data and their association with six symptoms consistent with nicotine dependence from the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (WISDM-68). Results All types of past 30-day nicotine/tobacco use increased across the three waves. An LCA model fit was assessed using both the CIV and entropy measures in conjunction with the Vuong-Lo-Mendell-Rubin LRT. A five latent class solution had the lowest BIC value (BIC = 9784.272), and resulted in: (1) "Stable/consistent multiproduct use trajectory", (2) "Increasing cigarette use trajectory", (3) "Increasing e-cigarette use trajectory", (4) "Experimental (poly-nicotine/tobacco) use trajectory", and (5) "Increasing other nicotine/tobacco use trajectory". The most prevalent was the "Experimental (poly-nicotine/tobacco) use trajectory" (33.8%) although sex, race, and social class were associated with different trajectories. Those represented by the "Increasing cigarette use trajectory" (19.4%) reported significantly more past-year nicotine dependence symptoms (b = 1.73, p < 0.001) compared to the "Increasing e-cigarette use trajectory". Findings varied by sex and race. Conclusions Results indicate that the relationship between e-cigarette use and other forms of nicotine/tobacco and substance use is complex and that adolescent nicotine/tobacco users are a heterogenous group with different risks for nicotine dependence. Findings can inform tailored prevention education and messaging for different groups of youth.
Evaluating the impact of Road Rangers in preventing secondary crashes.

Abstract Many transportation agencies utilize freeway service patrols (FSPs) to quickly identify and respond to incidents. The objectives of FSP are to minimize the incident duration and increase safety at the incident scene. The current research explored the safety benefits of Florida’s FSP program known as Road Rangers – harnessed from lowering the likelihood of secondary crashes (SCs) – compared to other responding agencies. The analysis was done on 6088 incidents that occurred on freeways in Jacksonville, Florida, from 2015 through 2017. Since SCs were not explicitly identified in the SunGuide® incident database, the study adopted a data-driven technique that used BlueToad® speed data to identify them. Once SCs were identified, a model was developed to identify factors influencing their occurrence. Factors such as an increase in equivalent hourly traffic volume, incident impact duration, and the percent of lanes closed significantly increased the likelihood of a SC. Besides, moderate/severe incidents, crash events, weekdays, peak hours, shoulder blockage, and incidents involving towing showed a high likelihood of resulting in a SC. Of practical importance, the model results revealed that a minute increase in incident impact duration increased the SC probability by 1.2 percent, with other factors held constant. Based on a 16-minutes decrease in incident impact duration, the Road Rangers program could lessen the probability of SCs by 21 percent, compared to other agencies. These findings could be beneficial to incident managers, responders, and researchers in evaluating the program’s performance.
An Anomalous Cause of Deep Venous Thrombosis: A Case Report

Author(s): Florian, Jana; Duong, Huy A.; Roh, Jennifer S. | Abstract: Introduction: Lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a common diagnosis in the emergency department (ED). Deep venous thromboses can be the result of anatomical variation in the vasculature that predisposes the patient to thrombosis. May-Thurner syndrome (MTS) is one such anatomic variant defined by extrinsic compression of the left common iliac vein between the right common iliac artery and lumbar vertebrae.Case Report: We report such a case of a 39-year-old woman with no risk factors for thromboembolic disease who presented to the ED with extensive unilateral leg swelling and was ultimately diagnosed with MTS.Conclusion: This diagnosis is an important consideration particularly in patients who are young, female, have scoliosis or spinal abnormalities, or are at low risk for DVT yet who present with extensive lower extremity swelling and are found to have proximal thrombus burden. Often further imaging, anticoagulation, angioplasty, or thrombectomy are indicated to prevent morbidity and post-thrombotic syndrome in these patients.
Does alar ligament injury predict conservative treatment failure of atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation in adults: Case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION The alar ligament is an important structure in restraining the rotational movement at the atlantoaxial joint. While bony fractures generally heal, rupture of ligaments may heal poorly in adults and often requires surgical stabilization. Atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation (AARS) is a rare injury in adults, and the prognostic importance of the presence of alar ligament injury with regard to the success of nonoperative management is unknown. CASE PRESENTATION A 28-year-old woman presented after a traumatic Type I AARS without evidence of osseous injury, but MRI demonstrated evidence of unilateral alar ligament disruption. Initial conservative management with closed reduction and maintenance in a rigid cervical collar proved unsuccessful, with worsening pain and failure to maintain reduction. She subsequently underwent open reduction and surgical fixation of C1-C2, resulting in resolution of her pain and maintenance of alignment. DISCUSSION Alar ligament rupture may be a negative prognostic indicator in the success of nonoperative management of type I atlantoaxial rotatory subluxation. Additional study is warranted to better assess whether the status of the alar ligament should be considered an important factor in the management algorithm of type I AARS.
Fracture Process Zone Models for Concrete and Ceramics

Aggregate crack-bridging in concrete and particulate crack-bridging in ceramics are modelled by modified Barenblatt-Dugdale cohesive zones. These fracture process zones are incorporated into dynamic and static finite element models of an unnotched impact loaded, concrete beam and an unnotched monotonic and cyclic loaded, ceramic-matrix/ceramic-fiber beam, respectively. Maximum stress and crack tip opening displacement criteria are used as fracture and stable crack growth criteria, respectively. Crack initiation and crack propagation histories in the two specimens are computed and the results are compared with limited but available experimental results.
Visual Terrorism Propaganda and Effects on Community: The Effects of the Murals on Public in Northern Ireland

The study of sources of visual terrorism propaganda the ability to explain between the fields of criminology, politics, history, international relations, psychology, sociology and theology and some other disciplines. Subjective point view of the researcher indicates that political, psychological, sociological approach to the visual terrorist propaganda tool and shape or occur the people`s behavior within the society. The Belfast Murals are an expression of both political importance and a sort of power. It is because the Catholic minority is powerless within the formal political system in Northern Ireland that they have had to develop informal means of mobilizing power, like painting political murals. Arising from powerlessness, the murals represent a form of informal political power belong to their own right. In this study, it is demonstrated an example of visual terrorism propaganda materials from the Belfast Murals whether effective or not over the public opinion. At the end of the study we will have the idea about how to terrorist generate their ideology. It is analyzed that how do the IRA gain public support. Also whether they can utilize visual terrorism propaganda materials efficiently.
Language and runtime support for event programming in a distributed system

A joint project is described for the design and implementation of both Tahiti, a distributed language for event programming based on Galton's logic of occurrence, and Symphora, a run-time kernel providing system services demanded by support for truly event-driven programs. The presentation is divided between a description of the Tahiti language and its supporting run-time kernel Symphora. The focus is on the run-time implications of these language constructs and especially the ability of Tahiti programs to branch on both past and future events, as well as on current (Boolean) states. The operating system support required for realization of the language constructs is considered. >
Solution to the general mixed H 2 /H ∞ control problem - necessary conditions for optimality

A synthesis method is developed to design an output feedback controller to minimize the two-norm of one transfer function while ensuring the infinity-norm of another is held below a chosen level. This is known as the general mixed H2/H∞ optimization problem. The solution minimizes the actual two-norm, rather than an upper bound to it, and therefore is not conservative. Seven coupled nonlinear matrix equations are derived which represent the necessary conditions such a solution must satisfy. By analyzing the case where the desired controller has the same order as the plant, it is found that the solution lies on the boundary of the infinity-norm constraint whenever the two objectives are competing. In this case, the mixed controller requires the neutrally stabilizing solution to a Riccati equation and solution of a Lyapunov equation which has no unique solution.
CAUSES OF DISSOCIATION BETWEEN SUBJECTIVE WORKLOAD MEASURES AND PERFORMANCE: CAVEATS FOR THE USE OF SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENTS

Dissociations between subjective workload assessments and performance were investigated. The difficulty of a Sternberg memory search task was manipulated by varying stimulus presentation rate, stimulus discernibility, value of good performance, and automaticity of performance. All Sternberg task conditions were performed both alone and concurrently with a tracking task. Bipolar subjective workload assessments were collected. Dissociations between workload and performance were found related to automaticity, presentation rate and motivation. The results were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that the specific cognitive processes responsible for subjective assessments can differ from those responsible for performance. The potential contamination these dissociations could inflict on operational assessments was discussed.