cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ECS4Alabama: A State-Wide Effort to Provide Access to Authentic Computer Science Education in Predominantly Rural and High Minority Schools

This poster provides a description of an NSF-sponsored project entitled "ECS4Alabama" that addresses one of the nation's areas of highest priority in K-12 education: To offer all children opportunities for preparation in authentic Computer Science, with a specific focus on students from rural high-minority schools. ECS4Alabama addresses this need locally in Alabama by preparing teachers to offer a stand-alone, College preparatory Computer Science course - Exploring Computer Science (ECS) - in the participating high schools. Over the last two years, 52 in-service teachers have received training on ECS who in turn are teaching the course to nearly 1,500 students. Approximately 80% of the enrollment is minority and 48% of the students are young women. In many communities, ECS4Alabama is bringing access to challenging Computer Science curricula in school districts that often lack preparatory experiences that are typically only available to students in more affluent districts. Teachers Leaders are emerging and are spearheading Professional Development Communities to assist their peers with ECS implementation. In addition to sharing ECS4Alabama's implementation successes and challenges, the poster will also describe the project's rigorous evaluative and Social Science research components. Initial findings reveal that ECS professional development opportunities enhance teachers' self-efficacy and confidence in teaching CS through a problem-based, engaging curriculum that teachers view as relatable and relevant to students' daily lives. Students report that teachers make great efforts to facilitate their involvement in cognitively demanding work to solve real problems, encourage autonomy and stimulate student interest in CS.
Update on MR imaging of the pulmonary vasculature

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an increasingly important role in the non-invasive evaluation of the pulmonary vasculature. MR angiographic (MRA) techniques provide morphological information, while MR perfusion techniques provide functional information of the pulmonary vasculature. Contrast-enhanced MRA can be performed at high spatial resolution using 3D T1-weighted spoiled gradient echo sequence or at high temporal resolution using time-resolved techniques. Non-contrast MRA can be performed using 3D steady state free precession, double inversion fast spin echo, time of flight or phase contrast sequences. MR perfusion can be done using dynamic contrast-enhanced technique or using non-contrast techniques such as arterial spin labelling and time-resolved imaging of lungs during free breathing with Fourier decomposition analysis. MRI is used in the evaluation of acute and chronic pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension and other vascular abnormalities, congenital anomalies and neoplasms. In this article, we review the different MR techniques used in the evaluation of pulmonary vasculature and its clinical applications.
Evolution of thermo-mechanical properties in the process of alumina manufacturing using laser stereolithography technique

Abstract This paper focuses on the evolution of the elastic and thermal properties of alumina during the different manufacturing steps of laser stereolithography technique (SLA). We propose a predictive model that accounts for variation of the microstructure during the manufacturing process and validate the results with the ones obtained from experimental measurements. Quantitative characterization of the microstructure has been performed using micrographs obtained from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The results from microstructural characterization are used in Maxwell homogenization method to calculate overall elastic properties and thermal conductivity. The modeling results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements for Young modulus at different stages of manufacturing, while thermal conductivity was accurately predicted for sintered specimens only. For specimens at green stage (as-printed), the disagreement is noticeable and effect of thermal conductivity of the polymer filling has to be taken into the account.
Towards an Economics of Natural Equals: A Documentary History of the Early Virginia School

The Virginia School's economics of natural equals makes consent critical for policy. Democracy is understood as government by discussion, not majority rule. The claim of efficiency unsupported by consent, as common in orthodox economics, appeals to social hierarchy. Politics becomes an act of exchange among equals where the economist is only entitled to offer advice to citizens, not to dictators. The foundation of natural equality and consent explains the common themes of James Buchanan and John Rawls as well as Ronald Coase and the Fabian socialists. What orthodox economics treats as efficient racial discrimination violates the fair chance entitlement to which people consent in a market economy. The importance of replication stressed by Gordon Tullock, developing themes from Karl Popper, is another expression of natural equality since the foresight of replication induces care into research. The publication of previously unpublished correspondence and documentation allows the reader to judge recent controversy.
Culinary Cultural Conservation and Cultural Keystone Food Groups: Concepts in Ethnobotany

We propose Culinary Cultural Conservation (CCC) and Cultural Keystone Food Groups (CKFG) as ethnobotanical concepts. Our two-decade study of fresh food markets showed impressive crop-consistency across space (Puerto Rico to Connecticut, Vietnam to Australia and to the USA) and time (1993–2015). Notably, fresh, mostly tropical and imported, starchy crops (‘viandas’) are preferentially selected by the migrant Puerto Rican community in Connecticut, despite higher costs. We term this phenomenon Culinary Cultural Conservation (CCC), and argue that it may apply more generally across immigrant/migrant cultural groups and also extend to dry commodities (like rice). We suggest the dietary focus on viandas among fresh crops in immigrant/migrant Puerto Rican communities might represent a “keystone” analogous to keystone species in ecology, and the Cultural Keystone Species in ethnoecology. The new concept applies to a group of foods, and we therefore propose the term Cultural Keystone Food Group. We suggest that identification of CKFGs allows ethnobotanical comparisons of fresh commodity choices among cultures to be made efficiently and facilitates rapid assessments and analysis of ethnonutritional preferences and dietary conservation.
An additive manufacturing design approach to achieving high strength and ductility in traditionally brittle alloys via laser powder bed fusion

Abstract Additive Manufacturing (AM) presents unprecedented opportunities to enable design freedom in parts that are unachievable via conventional manufacturing. However, AM-processed components generally lack the necessary performance metrics for widespread commercial adoption. We present a novel AM processing and design approach using removable heat sink artifacts to tailor the mechanical properties of traditionally low strength and low ductility alloys. The design approach is demonstrated with the Fe-50 at.% Co alloy, as a model material of interest for electromagnetic applications. AM-processed components exhibited unprecedented performance, with a 300 % increase in strength and an order-of-magnitude improvement in ductility relative to conventional wrought material. These results are discussed in the context of product performance, production yield, and manufacturing implications toward enabling the design and processing of high-performance, next-generation components, and alloys.
5 – Muscle Tone

Muscle tone is arguably one of the most commonly used and least commonly defined notions in studies of movement, posture, and movement disorders. While most researchers imply under this expression something like “state of relaxed muscle under the spontaneous excitation by the central nervous system,” methods of assessment of muscle tone commonly used in clinical practice are likely to reflect a host of factors including properties of peripheral tissues that do not receive neural excitation. The lack of a clear and unambiguous definition for muscle tone has resulted in much misunderstanding in the literature and the emergence of various devices that claim to measure muscle tone objectively. Most commonly, these devices measure resistance of tissues to deformation applied to the surface of a body part; so, they measure apparent stiffness (see Chapter 2) of all the tissues, which is defined by numerous factors related and unrelated to the neural control of muscle state.
Comprehensive Mining and Characterization of CRISPR-Cas Systems in Bifidobacterium

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas (CRISPR-associated cas) systems constitute the adaptive immune system in prokaryotes, which provides resistance against bacteriophages and invasive genetic elements. The landscape of applications in bacteria and eukaryotes relies on a few Cas effector proteins that have been characterized in detail. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on naturally occurring CRISPR-Cas systems in beneficial bacteria, such as human gut commensal Bifidobacterium species. In this study, we mined 954 publicly available Bifidobacterium genomes and identified CRIPSR-Cas systems in 57% of these strains. A total of five CRISPR-Cas subtypes were identified as follows: Type I-E, I-C, I-G, II-A, and II-C. Among the subtypes, Type I-C was the most abundant (23%). We further characterized the CRISPR RNA (crRNA), tracrRNA, and PAM sequences to provide a molecular basis for the development of new genome editing tools for a variety of applications. Moreover, we investigated the evolutionary history of certain Bifidobacterium strains through visualization of acquired spacer sequences and demonstrated how these hypervariable CRISPR regions can be used as genotyping markers. This extensive characterization will enable the repurposing of endogenous CRISPR-Cas systems in Bifidobacteria for genome engineering, transcriptional regulation, genotyping, and screening of rare variants.
Electron-induced bond breaking at low energies in HCOOH and glycine: The role of very short-lived σ ∗ anion states

Cross sections for dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to formic acid and glycine are calculated by the resonant $R$-matrix theory. A model with one effective reaction coordinate close to the O-H stretch motion is employed. The choice of the anion $R$-matrix pole and the surface amplitude as functions of the reaction coordinate for formic acid are based on scattering phase-shift calculations using the finite element discrete model. For glycine the input parameters are adjusted to reproduce experimental data. The results show that the mechanism of DEA in these molecules is similar to that for the hydrogen halides and involves electron capture into a ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}(\text{OH})$ orbital so that no ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}/{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{\ast}}$ coupling is required. Nonlocal effects play an important role for both molecules. In particular, pronounced steps and cusps are seen at the vibrational excitation thresholds. A sharp threshold peak in glycine is interpreted as a vibrational Feshbach resonance.
Robustness in Neural Circuits

Complex systems are found everywhere – from scheduling to traffic, food to climate, economics to ecology, the brain, and the universe. Complex systems typically have many elements, many modes of interconnectedness of those elements, and often exhibit sensitivity to initial conditions. Complex systems by their nature are generally unpredictable and can be highly unstable.
Swiping Right: Using Tinder as a Way to Explore Identity Performances.

Courses: Interpersonal Communication, Gender and Communication, Communication and Technology. Objective: This activity utilizes a modern dating application to bring lessons of identity construction...
Coded Computing: Mitigating Fundamental Bottlenecks in Large-scale Distributed Computing and Machine Learning

Recent years have witnessed a rapid growth of large-scale machine learning and big data analytics, facilitating the developments of data intensive applications like voice/image recognition, real-time mapping services, autonomous driving, social networks, and augmented/virtual reality. These applications are supported by cloud infrastructures composed of large datacenters. The large scale distributed machine learning/data analytics systems provide the necessary processing power to handle these applications, but suffer three major performance bottlenecks; namely, communication, straggler and security. In this ground-breaking monograph, the authors introduce the novel concept of Coded Computing. Coded Computing exploits coding theory to optimally inject and leverage data/task redundancy in distributed computing systems, creating coding opportunities to overcome the bottlenecks. After introducing the reader to the core of the problem, the authors describe in detail each of the bottlenecks that can be overcome using Coded Computing. The monograph provides an accessible introduction into how this new technique can be used in developing large-scale computing systems.
Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, a Rare Presentation in Lupus Nephritis.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare immune disorder that is life threatening if not promptly diagnosed and treated. Its identification, however, remains a diagnostic challenge for clinicians, given the large overlap in presenting symptoms with other conditions, including autoimmune disease and infection. Further adding to the complexity is that HLH encompasses 2 separate forms of disease (Figure1): primary or familial HLH (FHL), and secondary HLH (sHLH), which is often referred to as macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) when associated with rheumatological disease and which can occur in response to robust immunological activation. Open in a separate window Figure 1 Overview of the terminology of hemophagocytic syndromes.
Introduction to Incomplete Information

In this chapter, we introduce games with incomplete information. The chapter first gives an overview of Bayesian games and then presents signaling games as an example of two-stage games of incomplete information. Signaling games will be used in several chapters within the book (Chaps. 4, 6- 8).
Adapting the Comprehensive Unit Safety Program (CUSP) implementation strategy to increase delivery of evidence-based cardiovascular risk factor care in community mental health organizations: protocol for a pilot study.

People with serious mental illnesses (SMI) such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder experience excess mortality driven in large part by high rates of poorly controlled and under-treated cardiovascular risk factors. In the USA, integrated “behavioral health home” models in which specialty mental health organizations coordinate and manage physical health care for people with SMI are designed to improve guideline-concordant cardiovascular care for this group. Such models have been shown to improve cardiovascular care for clients with SMI in randomized clinical trials, but real-world implementation has fallen short. Key implementation barriers include lack of alignment of specialty mental health program culture and physical health care coordination and management for clients with SMI and lack of structured protocols for conducting effective physical health care coordination and management in the specialty mental health program context. This protocol describes a pilot study of an implementation intervention designed to overcome these barriers. This pilot study uses a single-group, pre/post-study design to examine the effects of an adapted Comprehensive Unit Safety Program (CUSP) implementation strategy designed to support behavioral health home programs in conducting effective cardiovascular care coordination and management for clients with SMI. The CUSP strategy, which was originally designed to improve inpatient safety, includes provider training, expert facilitation, and implementation of a five-step quality improvement process. We will examine the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the implementation strategy and how this strategy influences mental health organization culture; specialty mental health providers’ self-efficacy to conduct evidence-based cardiovascular care coordination and management; and receipt of guideline-concordant care for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus among people with SMI. While we apply CUSP to the implementation of evidence-based hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes care, this implementation strategy could be used in the future to support the delivery of other types of evidence-based care, such as smoking cessation treatment, in behavioral health home programs. CUSP is designed to be fully integrated into organizations, sustained indefinitely, and used to continually improve evidence-based practice delivery. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04696653 . Registered on January 6, 2021
On maps preserving products equal to a diagonalizable matrix

Let D1 and D2 be fixed diagonalizable matrices of Mn(C), the algebra of n × n matrices over the complex numbers, such that D1 and D2 have the same eigenvalues, counting multiplicities. In this pape...
Rethinking the Supreme Court's Interstate Waters Jurisprudence

For more than a century the Supreme Court has heard a steady stream of original jurisdiction controversies “between two or more States” over interstate waters. It has for even longer heard and decided similar cases involving non-state parties from its appellate dockets. Until now, no synthesis has combined these traditions to describe and explain states’ legal interests in interstate waters as an amalgam of federal common law, Article III’s judicial federalism, and the separation of powers. This article disentangles legacy opinions, orders, and jurisdictional traditions, revealing the bundle of interests that all courts are obliged to protect. It finally offers a choice of law rubric built from key principles animating the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction holdings, the major trends from its non-original dockets, and from what the Court has said about (federal) judge-made law more generally.
Republished: Vertebral–venous fistula: an unusual cause for ocular symptoms mimicking a carotid cavernous fistula

Vertebral–venous fistulas (VVF), or vertebral–vertebral arteriovenous fistulas, are an uncommon clinical entity. Typically, they present as a result of a direct vascular connection between an extracranial branch of the vertebral artery or its radicular components and the epidural venous plexus. These may manifest with signs and symptoms referable to cervical myelopathy secondary to compression or steal phenomenon. To our knowledge, this is the first case to identify a patient who presented with classic ocular symptoms attributable to a carotid cavernous fistula but secondary to a VVF. We present its treatment and clinical outcome. In addition, we present a brief literature review surrounding this uncommon disease.
Photon generation in ultraviolet integrated photonic circuits

Quantum information processing relies on the fundamental property of quantum interference, where the quality of the interference directly correlates to the indistinguishability of the interacting particles. The creation of these indistinguishable particles, photons in this case, has conventionally been accomplished with nonlinear crystals and optical filters to remove spectral distinguishability, albeit sacrificing the number of photons. This research describes the use of an integrated aluminum nitride microring resonator circuit to selectively generate photon pairs at the narrow cavity transmissions, thereby producing spectrally indistinguishable photons in the ultraviolet regime to interact with trapped ion quantum memories. The spectral characteristics of these photons must be carefully controlled for two reasons: (i) interference quality depends on the spectral indistinguishability, and (ii) the wavelength must be strictly controlled to interact with atomic transitions. The specific ion of interest for these trapped ion quantum memories is Ytterbium which has a transition at 369.5 nm with 12.5 GHz offset levels. Ytterbium ions serve as very long lived and stable quantum memories with storage times on the order of 10’s of minutes, compared with photonic quantum memories which are limited to 10-6 to 10-3 seconds. The combination of the long-lived atomic memory, integrated photonic circuitry, and the photonic quantum bits are necessary to produce the first quantum information processors. In this seminar, I will present results on ultraviolet wavelength operation, dispersion analysis, propagation loss in aluminum nitride waveguides, and the path forward to towards multiwavelength integration.
Daniel Kim's Dilemma (A)

Daniel Kim was considering "blowing the whistle" on his friend, the CEO of a fast-growing startup where Kim had spent most of his professional career. When Kim joined the company, called Cardio-Metric, in 2002, it consisted of seven young engineers (including its two 25-year-old founders) working from a one-bedroom Minneapolis apartment. By 2008, when the venture capital-backed company recorded $110 million in revenues, Kim had become close friends with the founders, who served as CEO and chairman. Cardio-Metric's success, however, concealed troubling internal developments. Since 2002, the CEO's management style had progressed from unconventional, to questionable, to egregious. Kim, Cardio-Metric's on-and-off CFO, had repeatedly confronted the CEO over his behavior - including charging large purchases with no clear business purpose to Cardio-Metric and presenting unrealistic financial projections to investors - but the CEO dismissed Kim's concerns and ordered him not to share them with others at the company. By April 2009, Kim believed the problem had grown out of control, and he was considering disclosing the CEO's actions to the board of directors and a team of external auditors. There was much at stake. Kim's disclosure would undoubtedly ruin his friendship with the CEO, endanger Kim's own role at the company, and even jeopardize the future of Cardio-Metric itself.
Further results on approximation of the optimal threshold values for manufacturing systems

The main goal in this work is to develop numerical algorithms for approximating the optimal threshold values of manufacturing systems. The key idea is to construct gradient estimates of the objective function with respect to the threshold values, and to use stochastic recursive algorithms for locating the optimal value. Motivated by designing more feasible methods of solutions, for systems described by differential equations with long run average cost functions, the authors previously developed stochastic optimization algorithms. The main idea is that instead of finding the optimal control of the systems, the authors turn the problem into an optimization problem by focusing their attention to the threshold control type of policies. The underlying problem is then converted to an optimization problem, namely, finding the optimal threshold values. In this paper, after briefly discussing the convergence of the algorithm, the authors concentrate on the rate of convergence issues. >
Basal cell adenomas of the minor salivary glands: A clinicopathologic study of seventeen new cases and a review of the literature

The basal cell adenoma (BCA) is a benign monomorphic salivary gland tumor. Those of minor gland origin tend to occur within or adjacent to the upper lip (80 percent). The BCA is an encapsulated, slow-growing lesion which most commonly affects older persons. Several different histologic patterns can be noted, and often a combination of these variations is present within the same tumor. Simple surgical excision appears to be adequate treatment.
Energy Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and the Grid: NREL Capabilities Help to Develop and Test Energy-Storage Technologies

Continued growth of renewable power generation could lead to a sustainable energy future with lower greenhouse gas emissions. A recent trend highlighting this growth is the installation of solar and wind power generation exceeding that of new conventional power generation from coal and nuclear power plants. Furthermore, the cost of electricity generation by solar and wind is rapidly approaching grid parity in many regions of the world.
The Rise and Fall of Quasars

It is a great honor for me to speak to you tonight on the subject of quasars. In the past twenty-five years, an enormous amount has been learned about these objects and the field has become very technical. I recognize that there are many people in the audience who are not professional astronomers and I hope not to disappoint them. At the same time my colleagues may recognize a few things that I touch upon. They will also hopefully forgive me for leaving out many attributions: many hundreds of astronomers have contributed to the field.
Biosynthesis of Lipids by Kinetoplastid Flagellates

Abstract Crithidia fasciculata, Crithidia oncopelti, Crithidia luciliae, Crithidia sp. from Arilus cristatus, Crithidia acanthocephali, Blastocrithidia culicis, Leishmania tarentolae, and Leptomonas leptoglossi were grown under axenic conditions in chemically defined media, and their fatty acids were determined. Palmitic, stearic, and a C19 cyclopropane acid were the major saturated fatty acids. Oleic, linoleic, and γ-linolenic were the major unsaturated fatty acids. α-Linolenic acid could not be detected in any of these organisms. Monounsaturated fatty acids were synthesized by direct oxidative desaturation of the corresponding saturated acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids were synthesized by progressive desaturation and chain elongation of the monoenoic acids. The major lipids of C. fasciculata and C. oncopelti— triglycerides, sterol esters, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylethanolamine—were identical. Phosphatidylethanolamine contained the bulk of the cyclopropane acid found in C. fasciculata. Ergosterol was the major sterol of Crithidia, Blastocrithidia, and Leishmania species. Methionine served as a source of methyl groups for the biosynthesis of both ergosterol and the cyclopropane acid.
Compression of Bayer color filter array data

Consumer digital color cameras use a single sensor with a color filter array to capture images. The captured data is first interpolated into a full color image, which is then compressed in many applications. The color interpolation process before compression introduces redundancy in the data. This paper outlines transformation methods before compression that remove this redundancy. The transformations described, maintain the same data size as the sensor data. The transformed data is compressed by JPEG to ensure retention of system simplicity by using standard technology and algorithms. Experiments demonstrate that substantial improvement in image quality is achievable using the proposed methods.
A Fatal Case of Deep-Seated Epidermoid Carcinoma of the Breast with Widespread Metastasis

Epidermoid carcinoma originating well beneath the surface, unconnected with the skin and involving the larger mammary ducts, has been rarely reported. Such text-books as Ewing's Neoplastic Diseases , Borst's Die Lehre von den Geschwulsten , Ribbert's Geschwulstlehre , and the monograph on Diseases of the Breast by Cheatle and Cutler make but passing mention of this condition, or ignore it entirely. Aschoff (1) on the other hand, writing of breast tumors, says: “There are also transitions to squamous-cell carcinoma, which are in no way remarkable, as the glandular epithelium is descended from squamous epithelium and cancerous glandular epithelium is particularly prone to differentiate in the most varied directions.” In Delafield and Prudden's Text Book of Pathology (2) mention is made of such tumors, with references to articles by Lubarsch (3) and Herxheimer (4). These, however, though they discuss epidermoid metaplasia at length, citing instances in tumors of the gallbladder, urinary bladder, stomach, and other viscera, make no mention of the breast. Stout (5) in his book on Human Cancer says that he has seen 4 cases of true squamous-cell epithelioma of the breast. Deaver and McFarland (6) also saw 4 cases, 0.7 per cent of their breast carcinomas. Delbet and Mendaro (7) have excellent sketches of the condition. Pasternack and Wirth (8) recently reported a case of “adeno-acanthoma sarcomatodes,” with a review of the literature on squamous epithelium in intramammary tumors. Their tumor was primarily an epidermoid carcinoma, with extensive keratinization and sarcomatous changes in the stroma; it tallies fairly closely with our specimen in its essentials, without being similar in development. These authors cite ten or more cases, some of which were carefully studied, while others were only “casually mentioned.” In their excellent list of 50 references on all angles of the subject, they go back to the middle of the nineteenth century. Apparently the subject was of greater interest to the earlier pathologists and has lain more or less dormant in recent years.
Effect of ritodrine on human uterine motility and cardiovascular responses in term labor and the early postpartum state.

Abstract The uterine and cardiovascular responses to ritodrine hydrochloride were studied in 16 patients immediately post partum and in 17 patients during term labor. Data of electronic monitoring of maternal and fetal responses to ritodrine, in contrast to those of the control series of patients, were subjected to statistical analysis. Ritodrine is an effective uterine inhibitor with minimal cardiovascular activity, except for maternal tachycardia, and is a promising compound for treatment of unwanted uterine activity.
Alcohol, traffic, and chemical testing in the United States: a resume and some remaining problems

We give a resume of "chemical testing" for alcohol in the United States in connection with traffic-law enforcement. Recent procedural and instrumental developments are briefly reviewed. Various factors involved in discrepancies between the results of analyses of near-simultaneous venous blood and breath specimens from the same subject are examined. Because the causes of these discrepancies cannot adequately be controlled in law-enforcement practice, we suggest that calculation of a blood-alcohol concentration based on the result of a breath analysis be abandoned. We recommend that when breath analysis is performed for law-enforcement purposes, the interpretation of the result should be statutorily based on the amount of alcohol found per unit volume of alveolar ("deep-lung") air. Serum or plasma of capillary blood is recommended as the sample when blood is to be analyzed.
Efficient Reduction Techniques for Systems with Many Components

We present an improved approach to verifying systems involving many copies of a few kinds of components. Replication of this type occurs frequently in practice and is regarded a major source of state explosion during temporal logic model checking. Our solution makes use of symmetry reduction through counter abstraction. The efficiency of this approach directly depends on the size of the components' local state space, which is exponential in the number of local variables. We show how program analysis can significantly reduce the local state space and can help towards a succinct BDD representation of the system. Our reduction techniques synergistically combine into efficient symbolic verification, as documented by promising experimental results.
Dismantling the master's house: Cancer activists, discourses of prevention, and environmental justice

Cancer activists have increasingly turned to environmental factors in explanation of breast cancer “hot spots,” or places with precipitously high rates of incidence, and equally to explain what they have termed “an epidemic of breast cancer.” Prominent in the discursive strategies of cancer activists has been discussion of the failure of traditional “risk factors” for breast cancer to explain the recent increase in breast cancer incidence or their own diagnoses. Rather than locate the causes of breast cancer within the lifestyles and reproductive strategies of women living in industrial societies, as biomedical theories have for the most part argued, cancer activists have begun to look at the disruptions caused by industrial development, in particular, to the creation and unsafe containment of toxic substances. This essay examines the incipient collaboration between cancer activists and representatives of the environmental justice movement as one of the strategies used to challenge official discourse on t...
JaldiMAC: taking the distance further

WiFi has been promoted as an affordable technology that can provide broadband Internet connectivity to poor and sparsely populated regions. A growing number of deployments, some of substantial scale, are making use of WiFi to extend connectivity into rural areas. However, the vast majority of the 3.5 billion people living in rural villages [1] are still unserved.To reach these people, new technology must be developed to make small rural wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) profitable. We have identified radio towers as the largest expense for WISPs; to reduce or eliminate this barrier to entry, we propose a novel point-to-multipoint deployment topology that takes advantage of "natural towers" such as hills and mountains to provide connectivity even over great distances. We make this design practical with a new TDMA MAC protocol called JaldiMAC that (i) enables and is optimized for point-to-multipoint deployments, (ii) adapts to the asymmetry of Internet traffic, and (iii) provides loose quality of service guarantees for latency sensitive traffic without compromising fairness. To our knowledge, JaldiMAC is the first integrated solution that combines all of these elements.Our evaluation of JaldiMAC suggests that it fulfills its design goals. Our scheduler is able to provide a 71% decrease in jitter and superior latency characteristics in exchange for a 5% increase in average RX/TX switches, as compared to a stride scheduler. Overall, we find that JaldiMAC performs surprisingly well at this early stage.
Leading multiple teams: average and relative external leadership influences on team empowerment and effectiveness.

External leaders continue to be an important source of influence even when teams are empowered, but it is not always clear how they do so. Extending research on structurally empowered teams, we recognize that teams� external leaders are often responsible for multiple teams. We adopt a multilevel approach to model external leader influences at both the team level and the external leader level of analysis. In doing so, we distinguish the influence of general external leader behaviors (i.e., average external leadership) from those that are directed differently toward the teams that they lead (i.e., relative external leadership). Analysis of data collected from 451 individuals, in 101 teams, reporting to 25 external leaders, revealed that both relative and average external leadership related positively to team empowerment. In turn, team empowerment related positively to team performance and member job satisfaction. However, while the indirect effects were all positive, we found that relative external leadership was not directly related to team performance, and average external leadership evidenced a significant negative direct influence. Additionally, relative external leadership exhibited a significant direct positive influence on member job satisfaction as anticipated, whereas average external leadership did not. These findings attest to the value in distinguishing external leaders� behaviors that are exhibited consistently versus differentially across empowered teams. Implications and future directions for the study and management of external leaders overseeing multiple teams are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
Fragment Bb: evidence for activation of the alternative pathway of the complement system in pregnant women with acute pyelonephritis

Objective. Pyelonephritis during pregnancy is associated with a more severe course than in the non-pregnant state. This has been attributed to an increased susceptibility of pregnant women to microbial products. The complement system is part of innate immunity and its alternative pathway is activated mainly by microorganisms. The purpose of this study was to determine if activation of the alternative pathway of the complement system (determined by maternal fragment Bb concentrations) occurs in pregnant women with acute pyelonephritis.Methods. This cross-sectional study included the following groups: (1) normal pregnant women (n = 62) and (2) pregnant women with pyelonephritis (n = 38). Maternal plasma fragment Bb concentrations were determined by ELISA. Non-parametric statistics were used for analyses.Results. (1) Pregnant women with pyelonephritis had a higher median plasma concentration of fragment Bb than those with a normal pregnancy (1.3 μg/ml, IQR: 1.1–1.9 vs. 0.8 μg/ml, IQR: 0.7–0.9; p < 0.001); (2...
New algorithm for multispectral calibration in remotely sensed color photography

Few studies have reported on multi-spectral color calibration using statistical information from low altitude images as the reference for colors in remote sensing image processing. For multi-spectral color calibration, a new statistical adjustment technique was applied based on the fact that low altitude images can offer relatively more accurate colors than high altitude images, and the information from the two comparable images has similar characteristics in a statistical sense. Therefore, by decomposing colors from both lower and higher altitude image data, and matching histograms for each corresponding color component, the colors of higher altitude images can be calibrated. With a heuristic measurement method, the resultant images had more than 80% similarity to the reference image, whereas, with the relative difference method, the resultant images were more than 90% closer to the reference image.
An ancient divergence among the bacteria

The 16S ribosomal RNAs from two species of methanogenic bacteria, the mesophileMethanobacterium ruminantium and the thermophileMethanobacterium thermoautotropbicum, have been characterized in terms of the oligonucleotides produced by digestion withT1 ribonuclease. These two organisms are found to be sufficiently related that they can be considered members of the same genus or family. However, they bear only slight resemblance to “typical” Procaryotic genera; such asEschericbia, Bacillus andAnacystis. The divergence of the methanogeinc bacteria from other bacteria may be the most ancient phylogenetic event yet detected — antedating considerably the divergence of the blue green algal line for example, from the main bacterial line.
Gadolinium oxide high-k gate dielectrics prepared by anodic oxidation

Abstract The growth and properties of gadolinium oxide (Gd 2 O 3 ) films prepared by anodic oxidation were investigated. Uniform Gd 2 O 3 thin film with good oxide quality was obtained. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the Gd 2 O 3 films showed that they had a poly-crystalline structure. The dielectric constants of Gd 2 O 3 films oxidized at 30 and 60 V are 9.4 and 12.2, respectively. The equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of the Gd 2 O 3 stacked oxide is in the range of 5.8–9.4 nm. The MOS capacitor with Gd 2 O 3 exhibits interesting electrical properties. Longer oxidation time reduced the leakage current density for 30 V anodic oxidation but increased the leakage current density for 60 V anodic oxidation. This work reveals that Gd 2 O 3 could also be an alternative dielectric for Si substrate and therefore, might pave the way to fabricate CMOS devices in the future.
Size-tunable synthesis of metallic nanoparticles in a continuous and steady-flow reactor

The TEM image of silver nanoparticles is synthesized by the continuous and steady-flow process.
Effect of classifiers in consensus feature ranking for biomedical datasets

Many informative aspects of medical datasets may be extracted from comparative study of features discriminative power. Recently, consensus feature rankings have been proposed to achieve robust, unbiased and reliable rankings of attributes. We have studied the effect of classifier inclusion in a consensus feature ranking method for a medical dataset with missing values and class imbalanced data. Ability of consensus feature rankings to demonstrate superior performance with unseen classifiers is also studied in this paper.
Simplified Hypophysectomy Technique for Young Birds

Abstract The present work introduces a modified oral approach to the pituitary gland of the immature bird with improved localization and visualization of the organ in situ. The hypophysectomy procedure is based on simplified instrumentation readily available or constructed with materials present in most, if not all, laboratories. The technique has the added advantage of minimal exsanguination, virtually no operative trauma, and allows for a rapid post operative animal recovery.
Family Experiences of Young Adult Sex Offender Registration

Since 1994, policies have been instituted throughout the United States that require sex offenders to register their personal information with law enforcement officials (Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Program, 1994). With the passage of additional laws, this information is now available to the public via the Internet or a request to a police department. These laws have brought about consequences for both the registrants and for members of their families. A focus group was held with four mothers who have sons listed on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry. Psychological and social consequences of registration were found and policy implications are discussed.
Accelerometer-Measured versus Self-Reported Physical Activity in College Students: Implications for Research and Practice.

Abstract Objective: To determine the level of moderate–vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) assessed via self-report and accelerometer in the college population, and to examine intrapersonal and contextual variables associated with physical activity (PA). Participants: Participants were 77 college students at a university in the northwest sampled between January 2011 and December 2011. Methods: Participants completed a validated self-report measure of PA and measures of athletic identity and benefits and barriers to exercise. Participants’ PA levels were assessed for 2 weeks via accelerometry. Results: Participants’ estimations of their time spent engaged in MVPA were significantly higher when measured via self-report versus accelerometry. Stronger athletic identity, perceived social benefits and barriers, and time-effort barriers were related to PA levels. Conclusions: Estimation of college students’ level of PA may require interpretation of data from different measurement methods, as self-report ...
Adding Criteria-Based Tests to Test Driven Development

Test driven development (TDD) is the practice of writing unit tests before writing the source. TDD practitioners typically start with example-based unit tests to verify an understanding of the software's intended functionality and to drive software design decisions. Hence, the typical role of test cases in TDD leans more towards specifying and documenting expected behavior, and less towards detecting faults. Conversely, traditional criteria-based test coverage ignores functionality in favor of tests that thoroughly exercise the software. This paper examines whether it is possible to combine both approaches. Specifically, can additional criteria based tests improve the quality of TDD test suites without disrupting the TDD development process? This paper presents the results of an observational study that generated additional criteria-based tests as part of a TDD exercise. The criterion was mutation analysis and the additional tests were designed to kill mutants not killed by the TDD tests. The additional unit tests found several software faults and other deficiencies in the software. Subsequent interviews with the programmers indicated that they welcomed the additional tests, and that the additional tests did not inhibit their productivity.
Perceptions of Body Image by Persons With Prader-Willi Syndrome and Their Parents

Prader-Willi syndrome is a genetic disorder characterized by obesity. The Figure Rating Scale (Stunkard, Sorensen, & Schulsinger, 1983) was completed by 43 individuals with this syndrome to determine their level of dissatisfaction with their body. Their parents also completed this scale regarding their child to determine whether they were dissatisfied with their child’s body status. Results showed that individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome were dissatisfied with their body. Parents also were dissatisfied with their child’s body. Results of this study demonstrate that the responses of persons with Prader-Willi syndrome on the Figure Rating Scale show significant discrepancies between how they think they look and how they wished they looked.
Integration of Google Maps/Earth with microscale meteorology models and data visualization

The Google Maps/Earth GIS has been integrated with a microscale meteorological model to improve the system's functionality and ease of use. Almost all the components of the model system, including the terrain data processing, morphological data generation, meteorological data gathering and initialization, and displaying/visualizing the model results, have been improved by using this approach. Different from the traditional stand-along model system, this novel system takes advantages of enormous resources in map and image data retrieving/handling, four-dimensional (space and time) data visualization, overlaying, and many other advanced GIS features that the Google Maps/Earth platform has to offer. We have developed modular components for all of the model system controls and data processing programs which are glued together with the JavaScript language and KML/XML data. We have also developed small modular software using the Google application program interface to convert the model results and intermediate data for visualizations and animations. Capabilities such as high-resolution image, street view, and 3D buildings in the Google Earth/Map are also used to quickly generate small-scale vegetation and building morphology data that are required for the microscale meteorological models. This system has also been applied to visualize the data from other instruments such as Doppler wind lidars. Because of the tight integration of the internet based GIS and a microscale meteorology model, the model system is more versatile, intuitive, and user-friendly than a stand-along system we had developed before. This kind of system will enhance the user experience and also help researchers to explore new phenomena in fine-scale meteorology. Meteorological model and Google GIS integration.Meteorological model data preprocessing.Meteorological model results and lidar data visualization.Microscale Meteorological model input data generation and gathering.Novel graphical user interface using GIS via internet.