cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TERMS OF TRADE EFFECTS: THEORY AND MEASUREMENT

Foreign trade enables a nation to consume a different mix of goods and services than it produces, so to measure real gross domestic income (GDI) for an open economy, we must deflate by an index of the prices of the things that this income is used to buy, not the price index for GDP. The differences between these two indexes come from the export and import components of GDP, and are measured by the trading gains index. Fisher indexes are a natural way to estimate the conceptual economic indexes of trading gains and real GDI because they are averages of the theoretical upper and lower bounds of the economic indexes. They can be decomposed in a way that permits analyses of the factors driving changes in trading gains, such as changes in the terms of trade and in the relative price of tradables, or changes in the prices of particular commodities. Applying these methods to the United States, we find that trading gains have a median absolute effect on U.S. real GDI of 0.2 percentage points in annual data. The petroleum price shocks that occurred in late 1973 and in 1980 subtracted more than a full percentage point from the annual growth of real GDI, and in the first half of 2008 price increases in petroleum and other imported commodities subtracted 2 percentage points from the annual rate of growth of real GDI, making it negative despite the steady growth of real GDP. On the other hand, with petroleum prices excluded, U.S. terms of trade begin to improve steadily starting in 1995 and the relative price of tradables falls. These effects increase the growth rate of U.S. real GDI by 0.15 percent per year on average.
Cellular mimics engineered from diblock copolymers

Cell-size vesicles were made from amphiphilic diblock copolymers and characterized by micromanipulation. The average molecular weight of the base, synthetic polymer studied, polyethyleneoxide-polyethylethylene (EO/sub 40/-EE/sub 37/), is several-fold greater than that of usual phospholipids of biomembranes. Both the membrane bending and area expansion moduli of electroformed polymersomes (polymer-based liposomes) fell within the range of lipid membrane measurements, but the giant polymersome's membrane proved to be almost an order of magnitude tougher, sustaining far greater areal strain before rupture. The polymersome membrane was also at least tenfold less permeable to water than common phospholipid bilayers. A rich range of vesicle shapes, as well as encapsulation of oxygen-binding proteins, and capabilities to mix the polymer with other amphiphiles and crosslink it, all suggest a new class of functional, biomimetic capsules based on block copolymer chemistry.
Mating behavior of Japanese quail

Abstract A series of experiments was conducted to establish criteria for characterizing the mating behavior of Japanese quail. A reliable criterion for males consisted of observing the cumulative number of completed matings occurring during eight 8-minute test periods. Males were tested singly in flocks of 3 to 6 females. Using this procedure, the mating activity of 2 groups of males was measured at various intervals from 49 days to approximately one year of age. Mating activity was at its maximum between 70 and 210 days of age, after which it began to decline. This age pattern is consistent with that for general fertility of Japanese quail.
Location, location, location: contextualizing organizational research*

Our goals in writing this editorial are to encourage more contextualization in organizational research and to signal that the Journal of Organizational Behavior gives a sympathetic reception to submissions incorporating context into their research methods and reporting.
Rule refinement by domain experts in complex knowledge bases

We research how subject matter experts can develop knowledge-based systems that incorporate their expertise. Our approach is to develop a learning and problem solving agent, called Disciple, that an expert can teach by explaining it how to solve specific problems, and by critiquing its attempts to solve new problems (Tecuci 1998). The knowledge base of the agent is structured into an object ontology that contains a hierarchical description of the objects and features from an application domain, and a set of task reduction rules expressed with these objects. The Disciple approach has already been applied to develop knowledge-based agents for complex military tasks such as course of action critiquing and center of gravity analysis (Tecuci et al. 2002). In this paper we present a new integrated approach to support a domain expert in refining the rules from an agent’s large knowledge base.
The Effect of Gender and Perpetrator–Victim Role on Mental Health Outcomes and Risk Behaviors Associated With Intimate Partner Violence:

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern. Previous studies have consistently shown that IPV is tied by to a variety of detrimental consequences for affected individuals, including negative mental health outcomes. However, the differential impact of gender and perpetrator–victim role (i.e., whether an individual is the perpetrator or victim of violence or both) remains largely understudied in the academic literature. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to describe a variety of mental health outcomes and risk behaviors among men and women experiencing no violence, perpetration-only, victimization-only, and bidirectional violence. Data from Waves 3 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 7,187) were used. Participants provided information on their perpetrator–victim role and on a variety of factors related to mental health (depression, suicidality, alcohol use, illegal drug use, and relationship satisfaction). For all outcomes, prevalence and severity...
Patrimonial‐Feudal Dichotomy and Political Structure in Pre‐Revolutionary Russia: One Aspect of the Dialogue Between the Ghost of Marx and Weber*

(1971). Patrimonial-Feudal Dichotomy and Political Structure in Pre-Revolutionary Russia: One Aspect of the Dialogue Between the Ghost of Marx and Weber. The Sociological Quarterly: Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 500-524.
Compression therapy for chronic venous insufficiency

Compression therapy provides a means to treat venous stasis, venous hypertension, and venous edema. Different methods of compression therapy have been described periodically over the last 2,000 years. In addition to static compression, specialized compression pumps have been developed and a technique of massage called manual lymphatic drainage has emerged to treat primary and secondary lymphedema. Objectives of compression therapy are to reduce the swollen limb to minimum size, maintain that size, and allow the patient to participate in the care of his limb whenever possible. Reduction therapy is achieved by limb elevation, compression pumps as necessary, and compression wraps. Maintenance therapy largely consists of compression wraps or compression stockings. Nonelastic devices have found a place in treating severe lymphedema but it should be emphasized that periodic follow-up must be done during maintenance therapy so that adjunctive maintenance measures can be added as needed.
The Structure and Evolution of a Continental Winter Cyclone. Part II: Frontal Forcing of an Extreme Snow Event

Abstract The production of a narrow, heavy, occasionally convective snowband that fell within a modest surface cyclone on 19 January 1995 is examined using gridded model output from a successful numerical simulation performed using the University of Wisconsin–Nonhydrostatic Modeling System. It is found that the snowband was produced by a thermally direct vertical circulation forced by significant lower-tropospheric warm frontogenesis in the presence of across-front effective static stability differences as measured in terms of the equivalent potential vorticity (PVe). The sometimes convective nature of the snowband resulted from the development of freely convective motions forced by frontal lifting of the environmental stratification. Model trajectories demonstrate that a stream of warm, moist air ascended through the trowal portion of the warm-occluded structure that developed during the cyclone life cycle. The lifting of air in the trowal was, in this case, forced by lower-tropospheric frontogenesis occ...
Role of Adult Stem Cells in Craniofacial Growth and Repair

Adult stem cells play a role in remodeling and regeneration of tissues and organs throughout the life of an organism. Data from adult stem cell studies suggested these cells produce a limited subset of mature cell types; in other words, the cells have limited potency. However, recent findings suggest that these adult stem cells may be capable of giving rise to multiple cell types produced from different germ layers. Adult stem cells have been identified in the craniofacial complex including stem cells from craniofacial bone, dental pulp, periodontal ligament, and developing tooth bud. Utilization of adult stem cells has shown these cells to express markers consistent with differentiated tissues and cell types present within the oral cavity. Currently, studies are using adult stem cells to fabricate new tissues for replacement and regeneration of lost tissues caused by trauma or disease. Additional focus is currently on the mechanism by which these stem cells produce differentiated cells expressing protein markers and having function similar to tissues in which the stem cells were placed. This review discusses discoveries delineating stem cell potency, the critical roles of adult stem cells in the postnatal growth/development as well as remodeling, and recent studies utilizing adult stem cells to repair and/or regenerate craniofacial bone, teeth, periodontium, and temporomandibular joint in clinical protocols.
Extracting Enterprise Vocabularies Using Linked Open Data

A common vocabulary is vital to smooth business operation, yet codifying and maintaining an enterprise vocabulary is an arduous, manual task. We describe a process to automatically extract a domain specific vocabulary (terms and types) from unstructured data in the enterprise guided by term definitions in Linked Open Data (LOD). We validate our techniques by applying them to the IT (Information Technology) domain, taking 58 Gartner analyst reports and using two specific LOD sources --- DBpedia and Freebase. We show initial findings that address the generalizability of these techniques for vocabulary extraction in new domains, such as the energy industry.
trans-Palmitoleic acid, other dairy fat biomarkers, and incident diabetes: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)

Background: Dairy consumption is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, but constituents responsible for this relation are not established. Emerging evidence suggests that trans-palmitoleate (trans 16:1n–7), a fatty acid in dairy and also partially hydrogenated oils, may be associated with a more favorable metabolic profile and less incident diabetes. Objective: We investigated the association of trans-palmitoleate with metabolic risk and incident diabetes in a multiethnic US cohort. Design: Phospholipid fatty acids and metabolic risk factors were measured in 2000–2002 among 2617 adults in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a cohort of white, black, Hispanic, and Chinese Americans. In 2281 participants free of baseline diabetes, we also prospectively assessed the risk of new-onset diabetes (205 cases) from baseline to 2005–2007. Results: trans-Palmitoleate concentrations correlated positively with self-reported consumption of whole-fat dairy, butter, margarine, and baked desserts and with other circulating biomarkers of both dairy fat and partially hydrogenated oil consumption, which suggested mixed dietary sources. After multivariable adjustment, trans-palmitoleate concentrations were associated with higher LDL cholesterol (quintile 5 compared with quintile 1: +6.4%; P-trend = 0.005), lower triglycerides (−19.1%; P-trend < 0.001), lower fasting insulin (−9.1%; P-trend = 0.002), and lower systolic blood pressure (−2.4 mm Hg; P-trend = 0.01). In prospective analyses, trans-palmitoleate was independently associated with lower incident diabetes (P-trend = 0.02), including a 48% lower risk in quintile 5 compared with quintile 1 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.32, 0.85). All findings were similar between men and women and between different race-ethnic subgroups. Conclusions: Circulating trans-palmitoleate is associated with higher LDL cholesterol but also with lower triglycerides, fasting insulin, blood pressure, and incident diabetes in a multiethnic US cohort. Our findings support the need for further experimental and dietary intervention studies that target circulating trans-palmitoleate. The MESA trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT00005487","term_id":"NCT00005487"}}NCT00005487.
Impedance analysis of the PEP-II vacuum chamber

The PEP-II high energy ring (HER) vacuum chamber consists of a copper tube with periodically spaced pumping slots. The impedance of the vacuum chamber due to the slots is analyzed. Both narrow-band and broad-band impedances are considered as well as longitudinal and transverse components thereof. It is found that although the broad-band impedance is tolerable, the narrow-band impedance may exceed the instability limit given by the natural damping with no feedback system on. Traveling wave modes in the chamber are the major source of this high value narrow-band impedance. We also study the dependences of the impedance on the slot length and the geometrical cross section.
Muscle Cramping During a 161-km Ultramarathon: Comparison of Characteristics of Those With and Without Cramping

This work sought to identify characteristics differing between those with and without muscle cramping during a 161-km ultramarathon. In this observational study, race participants underwent body weight measurements before, during, and after the race; completed a post-race questionnaire about muscle cramping and “near” cramping (controllable, not reaching full-blown cramping), drinking strategies, and use of sodium supplementation during four race segments; and underwent a post-race blood draw for determination of serum sodium and blood creatine kinase (CK) concentrations. The post-race questionnaire was completed by 280 (74.5 %) of the 376 starters. A post-race blood sample was provided by 181 (61.1 %) of the 296 finishers, and 157 (53.0 %) of finishers completed the post-race survey and also provided a post-race blood sample. Among those who completed the survey, the prevalence of cramping and near cramping was 14.3 and 26.8 %, respectively, with greatest involvement being in the calf (54 %), quadriceps (44 %), and hamstring (33 %) muscles. Those with cramping or near cramping were more likely to have a prior history of muscle cramping during an ultramarathon (p < 0.0001) and had higher blood CK concentrations (p = 0.001) than those without cramping. Weight change during the race, use of sodium supplements, intake rate of sodium in supplements, and post-race serum sodium concentration did not differ between those with and without cramping. Muscle cramping is most common in those with a prior history of cramping and greater muscle damage during an ultramarathon, suggesting an association with relative muscular demand. Impaired fluid and sodium balance did not appear to be an etiology of muscle cramping during an ultramarathon.
Limited government: An incoherent concept

Advocates of limited government argue that the role of government should be limited to preventing the use of coercion in exchanges and stopping people from harming others. They believe that government should not seek to change the distribution of wealth from that arising through voluntary exchange nor to influence the preferences people hold. But this view proves to be self-contradictory or incoherent. In order to define coercion and permissible harm, governments must make enormous numbers of determinations about how people are entitled to behave. These determinations, in addition to demanding extensive government activity, will also have important effects on the distribution of wealth and the preferences people hold.
Some reaction variables in the aqueous solution synthesis of titanium polythioethers

Titanium polythioethers of the form below were prepared from Cp2TiCl2 and dithiols by the solution method. The following reaction variables were studied and reported on: molar ratios of the base, Cp2TiCl2 and dithiols and concentration of the reactants, stirring time and volume of the aqueous phases. Polymer yield seeks a maximum around a molar ratio of Cp2TiCl2:dithiol:base of 1:1:2. Titanhaltige Polythioather der folgenden Struktur wurden aus Cp2TiCl2 und Dithiolen durch Kondensation in Losung hergestellt. Dabei wurde der Einflus der folgenden Reaktionsvariablen untersucht: des Molverhaltnisses der Reaktanten, ihrer Konzentration, der Ruhrzeit, des Volumens der Losung. Das Maximum der Ausbeute wird bei einem Molverhaltnis Cp2TiCl2:Dithiol:Base von 1:1:2 beobachtet.
DEMIDS: a misuse detection system for database systems

Despite the necessity of protecting information stored in database systems (DBS), existing security models are insufficient to prevent misuse, especially insider abuse by legitimate users. Further, concepts for misuse detection in DBS have not been adequately addressed by existing research in misuse detection. Even though there are available means to guard the information stored in a database system against misuse, they are seldom used by security officers because security policies of the organization are either imprecise or not known at all.
In vitro and in vivo radiation resistance associated with CD3 surface antigen expression in T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The radiobiologic features of primary clonogenic blasts (referred to also as T-lineage leukemic progenitor cells) from newly diagnosed and relapsed T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients were analyzed. Intrinsic radiation sensitivity differed substantially among primary clonogenic blasts from 34 newly diagnosed patients. The mean D0 (37% dose slope), SF2 (surviving fraction at 200 cGy), and alpha values (initial slope of the survival curve) were 141 +/- 15 cGy, 0.31 +/- 0.04, and 0.630 +/- 0.093 Gy-1, respectively. Among newly diagnosed cases, nine had SF2 values of greater than or equal to 0.50 and alpha values of less than or equal to 0.2 Gy-1, consistent with a marked intrinsic radiation resistance at the level of clonogenic blasts using the multitarget and linear quadratic models of cell survival. Of these nine radiation resistant cases, seven were CD3+. Furthermore, the mean D0 (162 +/- 20.8 cGy) and SF2 (0.377 +/- 0.057) values for the 20 CD3+ cases were significantly higher than the D0 (108.6 +/- 18.2 cGy) and SF2 (0.204 +/- 0.051) values for the 14 CD3- cases (P less than or equal to .05). Thus, clonogenic blasts from CD3+ newly diagnosed T-lineage ALL patients were more resistant to radiation than clonogenic blasts from CD3- newly diagnosed T-lineage ALL patients. Nineteen T-lineage ALL patients received autologous bone marrow transplants during complete remission. Pretransplant conditioning consisted of total body irradiation (TBI) combined with high-dose chemotherapy. Primary clonogenic blasts from patients who relapsed after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) displayed a particularly high degree of intrinsic radiation resistance with a mean D0 value of 333 cGy and an alpha value of 0.112 Gy-1. The expression of CD3 antigen appeared to predict the outcome of relapsed T-lineage ALL patients undergoing autologous BMT after TBI plus high-dose chemotherapy. The Kaplan-Meier estimates and standard errors of the probability of remaining in remission after BMT were 60% +/- 22% (mean relapse - free interval = 1.6 +/- 0.7 years) for CD3- patients and 0% +/- 0% (mean relapse - free interval = 0.2 +/- 0.0 years) for CD3+ patients (P = .002). Furthermore, the mean percentage of CD3-positive leukemic marrow blasts at presentation or relapse before BMT was significantly lower than the mean percentage of CD3-positive leukemic marrow blasts at relapse after BMT. Notably, in cultured leukemic bone marrow specimens from newly diagnosed as well as relapsed patients, colony blasts surviving in vitro radiation expressed CD3 more vividly than did colony blasts in unirradiated cultures.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
APPLICATION OF A SIMPLE, PRACTICAL METHOD FOR COMPUTING INTERACTION TO ARRAYS FOUND EXPERIMENTALLY TO BE CRITICAL

Calculations of the critical sizes of cubic arrays of interacting fissionable units are compared with critical experiments. The units are of two types: vessels containing 5 liters of an aqueous sol...
A new name for the western spruce budworm (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)?

There currently is considerable confusion regarding the correct application of the name Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). This name has historically been applied to the western spruce budworm, a serious forest pest in western North America. However, in 2008 Razowski transferred the African species Archips occidentalis (Walsingham) to Choristoneura Lederer and proposed C. freemani Razowski as a replacement name for the western spruce budworm. The validity of these nomenclatural changes and alternative solutions to resolve the confusion they have caused are discussed. Illustrations of wing patterns and genitalia for the two species are provided.
Modular DC–DC Converters on Graphs: Cooperative Control

Modular dc-dc converters are popular in dc-power systems due to their advantageous characteristics such as fault tolerance, ease of thermal management, reducing voltage/current stress of the components, and modularity. In this paper, the concept of cooperative control in multiagent systems is introduced for modular dc-dc converters. Each constituent converter is represented by a node in a directed communication graph that models the information flow among converters. The proposed cooperative control scheme enjoys structural modularity, plug-and-play capability, fault tolerance against random failures in the converters and/or communication links, and satisfactory dynamic performance. This paper provides a general analytical framework to study modular dc-dc converters with an arbitrary communication graph. Hence, the designer has the freedom to choose among the various types of graphs based on the available communication resources and the desired level of reliability and fault tolerance. The dynamic model of the cooperative multiconverter system is developed and analyzed. Hardware measurements are presented to verify the plug-and-play capability, fault tolerance in both cyber and physical domains, and dynamic performance of the proposed cooperative control scheme.
Reduced-species mechanisms for the combustion of cyclohexane using the Local Self Similarity Tabulation method

We utilize the Local Self Similarity Tabulation (LS2T) method to drastically downsize the number of species involved in a detailed kinetics mechanism of cyclohexane. Reduced-species mechanisms of 20 and 15 species are constructed out of the 1081 species involved in the detailed kinetics one. Their performance is compared to that of the detailed kinetics one for a lean ( = 05), stoichiometric ( = 10), and rich ( = 20) cyclohexane/air fresh mixture at an initial temperature of 900 K and initial pressures of 20 and 40 bar.
Characteristics of Typical Pollutants in Wastewater from Different Industrial Sectors in the Northeast Provinces of China

Characteristics of Cr(Ⅵ) and COD from different industrial sectors in the Northeast provinces of China in 1999 and 2005 were studied.Cr(Ⅵ) and COD were compared among different years,different sectors and also different areas,respectively.The results showed that the discharge of Cr(Ⅵ) and COD was obviously lower in 1999 than that in 2005.As for Cr(Ⅵ),in 1999,the main discharge area was Liaoning province,the main sectors were smelting and pressing of ferrous metals and leather,furs,down and related products,while,in 2005,which were in Jilin province and at raw chemical materials and chemical products,respectively.As for COD,both in 1999 and 2005,it was also high in Liaoning province,mainly from papermaking and paper products.The abovementioned analysis will provide reference for environmental management of industrial wastewater discharges and wastewater irrigation in the Northeast provinces of China.
Safety and Efficacy of Pediatric Ureteroscopy for Management of Calculous Disease

Ureteral calculi, although relatively uncommon in children in the United States, have traditionally been managed with open surgical removal. Innovations in managing ureteral stones in the adult population have not readily been used to manage such problems in children due to unknown effects on the ureterovesical junction and to the unavailability of smaller caliber ureteroscopes. We report on the technique and long-term (average 26 months, range 3 to 56) safety following 18 successful ureteroscopic procedures for stone removal in 16 patients 16 months to 15 years old. All children were rendered stone-free. Followup quantitative renal scans and excretory urography showed adequate renal growth. No incidence of vesicoureteral reflux occurred in 9 of the 14 patients (64%) available for followup who underwent postoperative cystograms. These results suggest that judicious use of smaller caliber instruments, improved ancillary equipment and experience in such procedures make ureteroscopy a safe procedure for management of ureteral calculi in children.
Desulfurization of Coal by Thiobacillus Ferrooxidans

Literature on the possibility of desulfurizing coal by microbiological leaching is limited. The earliest report was that of Zarubina et al. (1959) who indicated that 23 to 27% of sulfur was removed from their coal samples in 30 days. Other investigators (Silverman et al. 1961, 1963; Lorenz and Tarpley 1963; Clark 1966) commented on the beneficial effect of decreasing the particle size of coal samples and of adding small amounts of ferric sulfate to the leach solution. Recently, Dugan and Apel (1978) achieved an almost complete removal of pyrite from coal by using a mixed culture of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans. Capes et al . (1973) reported that the surface properties of pyrite and coal were changed during the microbiological leaching to such an extent that the separation of pyrite from coal by the conventional flotation technique was considerably increased.
Solid State Chemical Sensors in Thick Film Technique

Chemical sensors with solid ion-conductors have been prepared by thick film screen printing method. Solid ion conductors Nasicon (Na1+xZr2SixP3−xO12) and YSZ (yttria stabilized zirconia) have been deposited onto α-alumina substrate. An all-thick film hydrogen sensor based on Nasicon electrolyte with sodium tungsten bronze (NaxWO3) reference electrode and porous platinum working electrode and an oxygen sensor based on zirconia electrolyte with Pd/PdO-reference electrode have been developed. Development of carbon dioxide sensor based on Nasicon or β-alumina with sodium carbonate working electrode will be the objective of the current research work.
An Empirical Investigation of the Impact of Information Technology Integration in Healthcare Integrated Delivery Systems

Healthcare alliance networks, also known as integrated delivery systems (IDSs), have developed rapidly in the US. Yet, research has not kept pace. This study examines two interrelated needs of healthcare alliance network research—the value of information technology (IT) integration for the IDS and the value of IT integration for the participating hospitals. Hypotheses are developed that relate IT integration to quality and performance outcomes at both the IDS level and at the hospital level. In addition, a taxonomy of hospitals is developed based on size; and the value of IDS IT integration is examined for each hospital quartile. The results of the study suggest that IT integration does indeed have a significant impact on performance in the healthcare industry. In addition, the results suggest that the performance improvements realized at the IDS level of analysis do not extend equally to all hospitals in the IDS.
Na+/K+ Pump

Red cells, especially human red cells, have played a central role in the identification and characterization of the Na+/K+ pump. The red cell has been especially useful in defining the cation transport characteristics of the pump. Red cell membranes have played a lesser part in characterizing the (Na+ + K+)-dependent ATPase, the enzymatic manifestation of the pump. In recent years the availability of partially purified enzyme preparations and enzyme reconstituted into liposomes, and the use of cells in which membrane potentials can be precisely measured, have diminished the importance of the red cell as an experimental model, but there remain questions which might best be answered with its help. The findings obtained using red cells have been confirmed in studies using other experimental models, and, in fact, a finding in another preparation that differs from information obtained with red cells is often treated with suspicion.
Deep Secularism, Faith, and Spirit

AbstractBoth the sociological as well as biblical-theological concepts of secularism may make use of the phenomenological discussions of implicit horizonal knowledge as informing explicit forms of knowing. If secularism may mean the erosion of faith by way of appropriation of fundamental beliefs about oneself or the world, the deep secularism may mean an appropriation of beliefs which make faith itself appear reprehensible. But perhaps the deepest form of secularism is the existence of scientific, reductionist naturalism; this may take the forms eliminativism or of identity theory (of mind and body, consciousness and neurophysiological descriptions). This ‘secularism’ is such that it makes knowing itself impossible. Its basic move is to reduce the transcendental conditions of the manifestation, description, or display of the world to physical causes. Its most startling thesis is that first-person experience itself is an illusion and this illusion is the source of the major lies and beliefs that are most h...
Future of electromagnetics for millimeter-wave circuit design

As the requirement for microwave engineering has been quickly changing, the research community must also change. Rather than observing the entire microwave research, this paper picks up a subjective view in the form of challenge to the electromagnetics for new requirement for microwaves. This challenge comes from quickly changing environment prompted by a renewed interest in "radio" engineering combined with defense cut. The classical electromagnetic theory must change to be able to provide constructive roles toward the modem radio engineering. Some of the features needed toward this goal is to capture interdisciplinary areas from the electromagnetics point of view. They include close couple to microelectronics, visualization, and system applications. Several subjective views and examples will be presented.
Designing Illuminant Spectral Power Distributions for Surface Classification

There are many scientific, medical and industrial imaging applications where users have full control of the scene illumination and color reproduction is not the primary objective For example, it is possible to co-design sensors and spectral illumination in order to classify and detect changes in biological tissues, organic and inorganic materials, and object surface properties. In this paper, we propose two different approaches to illuminant spectrum selection for surface classification. In the supervised framework we formulate a biconvex optimization problem where we alternate between optimizing support vector classifier weights and optimal illuminants. We also describe a sparse Principal Component Analysis (PCA) dimensionality reduction approach that can be used with unlabeled data. We efficiently solve the non-convex PCA problem using a convex relaxation and Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM). We compare the classification accuracy of a monochrome imaging sensor with optimized illuminants to the classification accuracy of conventional RGB cameras with natural broadband illumination.
ADP-based adaptive optimal tracking of strict-feedback nonlinear systems

This paper proposes a novel data-driven control approach to address the problem of adaptive optimal tracking for a class of nonlinear systems taking the strict-feedback form. Adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) and nonlinear output regulation theories are employed to compute an adaptive near-optimal tracker without a priori knowledge of the system dynamics. Fundamentally different from adaptive optimal stabilization problems, the solution to a Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation, not necessarily a positive definite function, cannot be approximated through the existing iterative methods. This paper proposes a novel policy iteration technique for solving positive semidefinite HJB equations with rigorous convergence analysis. A two-phase data-driven learning method is developed and implemented online by ADP.
Identifying the precursor of natural IgM-producing plasma cells (LYM2P.736)

Natural antibody is constitutively present in the serum, and plays an important role in the clearance of cellular debris, the early control of viral and bacterial expansions, and the initiation of T-dependent humoral responses. However, despite widespread recognition of the critical role of natural IgM in the prevention of both infectious and autoimmune diseases, the source of natural antibody long remained obscure. We have found that most serum IgM in resting mice is produced by a discrete population of IgM plasma cells in the bone marrow, a substantial fraction of which are long-lived cells that occupy a survival niche distinct from that required by IgG plasma cells. Natural IgM plasma cells originate from precursors in the peritoneal cavity, as transfer of unfractionated peritoneal washout cells completely restores serum IgM and the specific compartment of bone marrow plasma cells in Rag1-deficient mice. Surprisingly, however, transfer of purified peritoneal B1a, B1b, or B2 cells did not efficiently reconstitute serum IgM, while a distinct peritoneal B-cell population reconstituted both natural IgM and peritoneal B1a cells in Rag1-deficient mice. We propose that natural IgM plasma cells represent an “innate B-cell” population descended from yolk sac progenitors, and that natural IgM plasma cells are not the progeny of B1a cells per se but instead share an earlier common ancestor also present in the peritoneal cavity.
Architectural Research in an Age of Open Systems

“The obligations and opportunities of architecture in this century demand an agenda for research that is more enmeshed with the inextricable ecological, political, and social factors that presuppose architecture. This agenda warrants fresh epistemological and methodological accounts of research as a form of practice.”
Adenocarcinoma Ex-Goblet Cell: a Retrospective Experience.

Adenocarcinoma ex-goblet cell carcinoids (AGCCs) are rare appendiceal tumors with mixed neuroendocrine and glandular features. They tend to behave more aggressively than typical carcinoid tumors, affect younger patients, and have a greater predilection for spreading to the peritoneum. Outcomes of AGCC patients treated with chemotherapy, extrapolated from colon cancer regimens, in the adjuvant or metastatic setting have not been explicitly reported. We sought to explore outcomes of AGCC patients with either local disease treated with adjuvant FOLFOX or metastatic disease treated with FOLFOX/FOLFIRI post-cytoreductive debulking (or CRS plus HIPEC in the peritoneal-limited setting). We performed a single-institution retrospective analysis of 23 pathologically identified AGCC patients from Vanderbilt University Medical Center treated with chemotherapy in either the adjuvant or metastatic settings. Each patient’s tumor was categorized as group B or group C based on the criteria from Tang et al. Median progression-free survival (PFS) or disease-free survival (DFS) (in the curative setting) and overall survival (OS) were determined for each patient and specified patient subgroup. AGCC patients who were treated with FOLFOX chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting or FOLFOX/FOLFIRI in the metastatic setting experienced prolonged PFS, DFS, and OS. Five patients with peritoneal-limited disease treated with CRS plus HIPEC have not yet reached median PFS or OS. While small sample size, patient selection, and retrospective nature limit the generalizability of findings from our analysis, the efficacy signals we observed suggest prospective evaluation with chemotherapy and CRS plus HIPEC is warranted in AGCC patients.
Optical Parametric Amplification for High Peak and Average Power

Optical parametric amplification is an established broadband amplification technology based on a second-order nonlinear process of difference-frequency generation (DFG). When used in chirped pulse amplification (CPA), the technology has been termed optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA). OPCPA holds a potential for producing unprecedented levels of peak and average power in optical pulses through its scalable ultrashort pulse amplification capability and the absence of quantum defect, respectively. The theory of three-wave parametric interactions is presented, followed by a description of the numerical model developed for nanosecond pulses. Spectral, temperature and angular characteristics of OPCPA are calculated, with an estimate of pulse contrast. An OPCPA system centered at 1054 nm, based on a commercial tabletop Q-switched pump laser, was developed as the front end for a large Nd-glass petawatt-class short-pulse laser. The system does not utilize electro-optic modulators or multi-pass amplification. The obtained overall 6% efficiency is the highest to date in OPCPA that uses a tabletop commercial pump laser. The first compression of pulses amplified in highly nondegenerate OPCPA is reported, with the obtained pulse width of 60 fs. This represents the shortest pulse to date produced in OPCPA. Optical parametric amplification in {beta}-barium borate was combined with laser amplificationmore » in Ti:sapphire to produce the first hybrid CPA system, with an overall conversion efficiency of 15%. Hybrid CPA combines the benefits of high gain in OPCPA with high conversion efficiency in Ti:sapphire to allow significant simplification of future tabletop multi-terawatt sources. Preliminary modeling of average power limits in OPCPA and pump laser design are presented, and an approach based on cascaded DFG is proposed to increase the average power beyond the single-crystal limit. Angular and beam quality effects in optical parametric amplification are modeled using plane-wave decomposition. Finally, some possible future applications are outlined. It is expected that OPCPA will be an important technology for future high power short-pulse lasers and will allow novel applications in high-field science. Its scalability beyond 10 petawatts using the existing diffractive grating compression technology, and the possibility of producing average powers beyond 1 kW in ultrashort pulses provide motivation for future work.« less
An Introductory Framework: Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is a land of diversity and a realm of contrasts. It is one of the six realms of the Asian continent, the others being South Asia, the Middle-East (Southwest Asia), Siberia (a part of the former U.S.S.R.), Central Asia and the Far East. Southeast Asia is separated from the Australian continent by the Timor and Arafura seas. Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean lie to the west. The Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean are situated toward the west and southwest.
Spatial Competition in the U.S. Hospital Industry and the Economic Effects of Specialty Hospital Entry

Hospital specialization has become a controversial topic in recent years, culminating in a moratorium issued in 2003 by U.S. Congress directing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to cease payments to new physician-owned specialty hospitals for those Medicare and Medicaid patients referred by physicians with a financial interest in the facility. The moratorium was in part a response to concern among incumbent general hospitals that specialized facilities harm the community by undermining the ability of general hospitals to internally cross-subsidize unprofitable services. This paper focuses on whether the presence of specialty hospitals in a market affects general hospitals' financial performance. We adopt a spatial competition model that takes into account service-line competition and distance between providers. We estimate longitudinal fixed effects models for a national panel of short-term acute care hospitals for the nine-year time period 1997 to 2005. Models are estimated for general hospital patient-care revenue, costs and operating margins. For the 2003-2005 time interval we estimate separate models of the effects of specialty hospital entry on charity care provided.
Micromolecular Evolution—The Origin of the Genetic Code

Aside from the conclusions just reached, the foregoing review of the genetic mechanism makes it evident that the system is totally dependent on a coding device, a code built on triplets of nucleotides. Thus an understanding of the origins of the entire apparatus appears to be contingent on a knowledge of the beginnings of the code catalog itself. Because of the importance of the problem, numerous attempts at solving it have been made along a diversity of avenues, which fall into four major categories: conceptual, mathematical, biochemical, and biological. Since assumptions made by studies in the first three of these groupings are often in conflict with the findings just summarized, the present status of the problem as outlined below may be viewed more objectively if those conclusions are held in abeyance momentarily.
Interactive graphics, graphical user interfaces and software interfaces for the analysis of biological experimental data and networks

Biologists need to analyze and comprehend increasingly large and more complex multivariate experimental data. Biological experiments often produce multiple data sets, each describing one aspect of the system, such as the transcriptome recorded by a microarray or metabolome recorded using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A biochemical network model provides a conceptual system-level framework for integrating data from different sources. Effective use of graphics enhances the comprehension of data, and interactive graphics permit the analyst to actively explore data, check its integrity, satiate curiosities and reveal the unexpected. Interactive graphics have not been widely applied as a means for understanding data from biological experiments. This thesis addresses these needs by providing new methods and software that apply interactive graphics in coordination with numerical methods to the analysis of biological data, in a manner that is accessible to biologists.
The state of teledensity diffusion in least developed countries: a review of the literature

This chapter reviews research from academic and major international organizational literature to examine and synthesize the current understanding of teledensity development in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The obstacles to the growth of teledensity are discussed, and the importance and opportunities for growth of teledensity to solve priority problems and to realize sustainable development in LDCs are examined. The literature findings suggest that various policy, economical, financial managerial, organizational technological political, and geographical factors are important determinants for growth of teledensity in LDCs. A variety of strategies to advance teledensity in LDCs are suggested.
A Novel Approach for Increasing Taxonomic Resolution in Protein-Based Alignments

Most of today's genome sequencing technology requires that genomes be sequenced in fragments. Typically, these fragments are then aligned using a variety of different alignment programs. All alignment tools query against a reference database to determine the most accurate reassembly of the original DNA strand's nucleotide sequence. Although these programs can align in both nucleotide and protein space, each method comes with its own disadvantages. Protein aligners such as PALADIN consistently align a greater percent of reads faster and provide greater insight into the functional capabilities of the aligned sequence. On the other hand, this method reduces the sensitivity of taxonomic classification due to the degeneracy of the genetic codes. Our program, Renuc, is a PALADIN plugin that addresses this issue by taking protein alignment results using the UniProt database and identifying the most likely taxonomic origin for each nucleotide sequence associated with each detected protein. We have validated our approach and its implementation in Renuc by successfully retrieving the nucleotide sequence and corresponding taxonomic IDs for all of the aligned proteins in our test dataset consisting of a whole Escherichia coli genome. Our program aligns over 99 percent of the nucleotide reads with 97 percent of them remaining in the same protein cluster as the original protein alignment. However, this dataset is incredibly well studied and documented in UniProt. Future work should be considered with a dataset containing less annotations in the database. Renuc quickly identifies and visualizes the alignment's taxonomic data in a user friendly way. The integration of SQLite into the program significantly reduces the time required to retrieve information from the UniProt database. Currently, we seek to improve the retrieval of nucleotide sequences by creating a local cache of the NCBI RefSeq database, and visualizing taxonomy with greater resolution using RaxML.
Parallel transcriptomic changes in the origins of divergent monogamous vertebrates

Comparing the neural transcriptomes of 5 phylogenetically independent pairs of monogamous and nonmonogamous vertebrates, Young et al. (1) claim to have found evidence for “a universal transcriptomic mechanism underlying the evolution of monogamy in vertebrates.” They state that “while evolutionary divergence time between species or clades did not explain gene expression similarity, characteristics of the mating system correlated with neural gene expression patterns.” Given the deep divergences among these clades, parallel evolution at the transcriptomic scale is highly unlikely, prompting us to reexamine their results. We followed a previous study (2) to compute the distance between each pair of transcriptomes on the basis of expression-level differences of orthologous genes and build a neighboring-joining tree of the 10 transcriptomes. Young et al.’s (1) conclusion means that the transcriptomes from the 5 monogamous species should be clustered in the tree, in exclusion of those from the nonmonogamous … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: jianzhi{at}umich.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Abstract 239: Selective Right-sided Electrical Remodeling In A Pure Model Of Pulmonary Hypertension Promotes Micro-reentrant Arrhythmias

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by elevated mean PA pressures that increase right ventricular (RV) afterload, leading to RV failure. Whereas structural and mechan...
Impact of psychiatric advance directive facilitation on mental health consumers: empowerment, treatment attitudes and the role of peer support specialists

Background: A psychiatric advance directive (PAD) is designed to prevent involuntary mental health interventions by enabling people with serious mental illnesses to plan ahead for their own treatme...