cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Role of Assumptions in Implementing Management Practices Across Cultural Boundaries

This article presents a model of the relationships between cultural assumptions and the selection, implementation, and outcome of management practices. Cultural assumptions are used to analyze three cases of planned intervention in which imitated management practices, intended to create change, were implemented across cultural settings. Data from the cases indicate how culture affected both the process and product of the management practices. When cultural differences existed and the practice was not adapted, change outcomes differed from what had been intended. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
A Bayesian Approach to Forecasting the Effects of Atypical Situations

A model is offered for conditioning a forecast during periods when a time series exhibits atypical behavior. The model is based on a Bayesian approach, requiring the assessment of a probability distribution to the proportionate change believed to result from the impending atypical situation.
Early ganglion cell differentiation in the mouse retina: An electron microscopic analysis utilizing serial sections☆

Abstract The retina of a mouse embryo on day 13 of gestation, the first day when ganglion cells with axons are detectable, has been studied both qualitatively and quantitatively by reconstructing a large number of cells (more than 100) from an electron microscopic serial section series. Direct evidence has been obtained for migration of prophase nuclei of ventricular cells to the ventricle within an intact process which spans the thickness of the retinal wall. At metaphase most of the vitreal process appears to be pinched off, and the cell completely rounds up. After cytokinesis, cells take one two courses: (1) regrowth of their vitreal process to the vitreal surface while keeping their ventricular process attached at the ventricular surface by a junctional complex; these cells will undergo another round of DNA synthesis and division; (2) regrowth of their vitreal process only so far as the marginal layer with detachment of their ventricular process from the junctional complex and beginning migration of their centrioles and cilium away from the ventricle. These changes represent the earliest detectable quantitative or qualitative changes undergone by cells that will subsequently differentiate into ganglion cells. The sequence of events for the formation of unipolar ganglion cells from these early bipolar cells involves transformation of the simple vitreal process ending in the marginal layer into an axonal growth cone insinuating itself between the tangential axons of the marginal layer and growing toward the optic stalk; at the same time the Golgi complex and centrioles migrate to the perikaryon, and the ventricular process completely withdraws. Usually, but not always, both daughter cells of a mitotic division appear to have the same fate, either both remain ventricular cells or both become ganglion cells. This result is used to construct a simple hypothesis explaining some of the apparently contradictory results of neuronal development, both in the retina and in the rest of the central nervous system.
Chemical thermodynamic representation of

Abstract The entire 〈UO 2 ± x 〉 ★★ data base for the dependence of the nonstoichiometry, x , on temperature and chemical potential of oxygen (oxygen potential) was retrieved from the literature and represented. This data base was interpreted by least-squares analysis using equations derived from the classical thermodynamic theory for the solid solution of a solute in a solvent. For hyperstoichiometric oxide at oxygen potentials more positive than −266700 + 16.5T J/mol , the data were best represented by a [UO 2 ]-[U 3 O 7 ] solution. For O/U ratios above 2 and oxygen potentials below this boundary, a [UO 2 ]-[U 2 O 4.5 ] solution represented the data. The 〈UO 2−x 〉 data were represented by a [UO 2 ]-[U 1 3 ] solution. The resulting equations represent the experimental ln(P ★ O 2 )−ln(x) behavior and can be used in thermodynamic calculations to predict phase boundary compositions consistent with the literature. Collectively, the present analysis permits, for the first time, a mathematical representation of the behavior of the total data base.
Between Native American and Continental Philosophy: A comparative approach to narrative and the emergence of responsible selves

This essay explores some of the affinities between current theories of North American Indigenous trickster narratives and continental philosophy where they are both concerned with the question of responsibility in subject formations. Taking up the work of Judith Butler, Franz Kafka and Gerald Vizenor, the author works to show how both continental and Indigenous intellectual traditions work against any assumed stability for the ‘I’ in the narration of the self, yet toward responsible relationality. Such affinities, however, emerge from differing socio‐cultural and linguistic horizons that are not reducible one to the other. This is particularly so with regard to the natural world and the ways in which Indigenous narratives are developed to foster responsible subjects to a larger biotic environment. Through discussion of such affinities and differences, the author seeks to broaden and multiculturalize contemporary debates in philosophy.
An Analysis of Tornado Days in Missouri for the Period 1950-2002

Tornado analysis using a "tornado-day" approach was made for the State of Missouri, and its climatic divisions, for the period 1950-2002. Although tornado days have not increased in Missouri, the NW Prairie climatic division recorded a statistically significant decline in tornado days during that time period. Seasonal patterns in tornado days were examined for each of the 115 counties in Missouri using cluster analysis. It revealed that the duration of the "tornado season" varies somewhat across Missouri, several southern counties being affected by a bimodal seasonal pattern in tornado days. The interannual tornado-day time series was examined for Missouri, spectral density estimates showing periodicities of 2.1, 2.8, 8.5, 11.6, and 12.8 yrs. Cross-amplitude analysis revealed that these tornado-day periodicities appear to be connected to fluctuations affecting the Pacific-North American patterns (PNA)—(8.5 yrs.), and quasi periodicities associated with the Southern Oscillation and the El Nino 3.4 indexes ...
Nosema cuneatum sp. n. (Microsporida: Nosematidae) in grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Abstract Nosema cuneatum , sp. n., isolated from the grasshopper Melanoplus confusus , is characterized in fresh preparations by oval to cuneate spores averaging 4.8 μ long by 3.4 μ wide and by infections in the pericardium, fat body, gonads, tracheal matrix, midgut epithelium, Malpighian tubules, and neural tissues. Uninucleate, binucleate, and quadrinucleate schizonts, binucleate and dividing sporonts, and binucleate sporoblasts also were observed and described. Studies of infectivity showed that N. cuneatum caused disease symptoms within 10 days after per os inoculation and increased mortality within 18 days postinoculation: spores were prominent at 8–9 days postinoculation. N. cuneatum was transmitted experimentally to grasshoppers of the following species: Melanoplus sanguinipes, M. bivittatus, M. femurrubrum, M. differentialis, M. infantilis , and Schistocerca americana .
Novel strategies for opposing murine microglial activation.

Abstract Pathologic microglial activation is believed to contribute to progressive neuronal damage in neurodegenerative diseases by the release of potentially neurotoxic agents, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Using cultured N9 microglial cells, we have examined the regulation of TNF-α following endotoxic insult with lipopolysacharide (LPS), focusing on the role of the pro-inflammatory phospholipase A 2 /mitogen activated protein kinase/arachidonic acid/cyclo-oxygenase-2 cascade and the nitric oxide/cGMP pathway. Data show that various inhibitors of the PLA 2 cascade markedly inhibit LPS-induced TNF-α release, supporting a key role of this pathway in the regulation of microglial activation. We also investigated the putative effects of cGMP-elevating agents on blocking microglial activation induced by LPS. Data show that each member of this class of cGMP-elevating compounds that we employed opposed microglial TNF-α release, suggesting that strengthening intracellular cGMP signaling mitigates against microglial activation. Taken together, our results suggest novel strategies for reducing microglial activation.
The role of the posterior hypothalamic area in the pathogenesis of hypertension in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

To examine the hypothesis that abnormalities of noradrenergic innervation of hypothalamic pressor areas influence the pathogenesis of hypertension in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), the norepinephrine content of individual hypothalamic and brainstem nuclei was determined in SHR and control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats at 5, 7, and 11 weeks of age. At 5 and 7 weeks of age, the norepinephrine content of the posterior hypothalamic area (PHA) of SHR was significantly greater than that of WKY controls. These changes occurred at a time when blood pressure was not significantly different between the two groups. The increase in the norepinephrine content of the PHA was accompanied by increases in the norepinephrine content of the A1 region and locus coeruleus in 5-week SHR. In seven week old animals, studies of norepinephrine turnover using alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine revealed no differences between SHR and WKY in turnover in the PHA. The increase in norepinephrine content of the PHA in the absence of changes in turnover is interpreted to indicate increased noradrenergic input to the PHA of SHR and supports the hypothesis that noradrenergic pathways to the PHA are important in the development of hypertension in this model.
Kinetic evidence for a conformational transition in rhodopsin.

AFTER light absorption, rhodopsin decays through a series of spontaneous reactions1,10, the kinetics of which have been the object of considerable study. In a variety of conditions the decay kinetics of bathorhodopsin (prelumirhodopsin), lumirhodopsin, and metarhodopsin I (meta I) have been found to be non-first order, but are consistent with a set of parallel, independent first-order reactions2–10. These kinetics have been assumed to result from the existence of multiple forms of each of these intermediates, and it has been proposed that rhodopsin itself exists in different forms or different environments in some conditions7. The kinetics of meta I→ meta II in both dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide- and digitonin-solubilised phospholipid-free rhodopsin are also consistent with two forms of meta I which decay independently (J. G. S. and E. O. Plante, unpublished). We show here that the effect of temperature changes on these kinetics is consistent with the hypothesis that rhodopsin exists in two forms in equilibrium resulting from the accessibility of two stable conformational states separated by a small difference in free energy.
Central neuronal mechanisms of intestinal electrical stimulation: Effects on duodenum distention-responsive (DD-R) neurons in the VMH of rats

Intestinal electrical stimulation (IES) has been shown to produce inhibitory effects on gastric contractions, gastric emptying, food intake and body weight in rats and dogs, suggesting a therapeutic potential for obesity. The aims of this study were (1) to test the hypothesis that the neurons in the VMH are involved in the central mechanisms of IES treatment for obesity; (2) to compare the effects of IES at the duodenum and IES at the ileum on neuronal activities of the VMH; (3) to better understand if the neuronal activity modulated by IES was mediated via the vagal pathway. Extracellular potentials of neurons in the VMH were recorded in 18 anesthetized rats. IES at the duodenum or ileum was performed in duodenal-distention responsive (DD-R) neurons with 3 sets of parameters (IES-1 with trains of short-pulses: 4mA, 2s-on, 3s-off, 2ms, 20Hz; IES-2 with long-pulses: 6mA, 20cpm, 100ms; IES-3, same as IES-1 but 40Hz). IES-1 at the duodenum and the ileum activated 70.6% and 73.3% of the DD-R neurons, respectively. Similar percentages of the neurons were activated with IES-3 at the duodenum and the ileum (70.6% vs. 66.7%, P=0.91), respectively. IES-2 at these locations activated only 25% and 46.2% of the DD-R neurons, respectively (P>0.05). IES at the duodenum with parameter set, IES-1 or IES-3 was significantly more potent than the parameter set, IES-2 (neuronal activation: 70.6% vs. 25%, P<0.05). Bilateral vagotomy only partially blocked the effects of IES on the neuronal activity in the VMH, indicating that extra-vagal pathways can mediate these effects. IES with different parameters activates 25-70.6% of the VMH neurons responsive to DD, and IES with trains of short-pulses seems more effective than IES with long-pulses. The vagal pathway and extra-vagal pathways are involved in the modulatory effects of IES on the central neurons in the satiety center.
Productivity and Eminence in Music Research

This study examined the three primary journals for research in music education and therapy: The Journal of Research in Music Education (JRME), the Council for Research in Music Education Bulletin (CRME), and the Journal of Music Therapy (JMT). The purpose of the investigation was to identify the most prolific scholars in music research as determined by number of articles published; to identify the most productive institutions of this type of music research as determined by author affiliations; and to identify music scholars of research eminence as determined by citation rates in these three journals. All data were quantified twice by two independent researchers for purposes of reliability. Tabulations resulted in rank ordering of individuals and author affiliations as in categories above.
Characterization of Immune Suppression by a Synthetic HIV gp41 Peptide

HIV infection is associated with immunosuppression leading to susceptibility to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV proteins can be immunosuppressive with substantial activity residing within the gp41 portion of HIV envelope glycoprotein gp160. In this report, immunosuppressive properties of a synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acid sequence 584-609 of HIV-1 transmembrane protein gp41 were investigated. The peptide was found to inhibit proliferative responses of normal human lymphocytes to mitogens and recall antigen. Stimulations by IL-2 and by anti-CD3 were also inhibited, indicating that the effect occurred in a pathway of response shared by CD3 and by IL-2 receptor recognition systems. Both CD4 and CD8 T cells were suppressed, indicating that the suppression did not require interactions with CD4 molecules. Consistently, the peptide was suppressive in the presence of HIV-infected patients' sera containing specific antibodies to the peptide, suggesting that the active portion was probably not an immunogenic configuration. These in vitro results emphasize the likelihood that HIV gp41 contributes to the in vivo immunosuppression and immune dysfunction of HIV-infected persons.
Creating a Bigger Bath Using the Deferred Tax Valuation Allowance

: The provisions of SFAS No. 109 allow US companies to make an earnings big bath even bigger through the establishment of a deferred tax valuation allowance. At the time a firm recognizes a non-cash charge, it also recognizes a deferred tax asset to represent the future tax benefits of the charge. Recognition of the deferred tax asset partially mitigates the negative earnings impact of the special charge. However, if the firm does not expect to have sufficient future taxable income to utilize the future tax benefits of the charge, SFAS No. 109 requires the firm to establish a deferred tax valuation allowance, effectively eliminating the recognized deferred tax asset. Thus, the establishment of the valuation allowance amplifies the negative earnings impact of the non-cash charge. We use a valuation allowance prediction model to identify firms that create a larger-than-expected valuation allowance; these firms may be creating a large valuation allowance as a reserve to be used to manage earnings in a subsequent period. We find that the vast majority of these larger-than-expected valuation allowances apparently reflect informed management pessimism about the future in that these firms actually do have poorer operating performance in subsequent periods. We do not find any evidence that subsequent reversals of valuation allowances are used to turn a loss into a profit. However, we do find a very small number of firms that appear to have used a valuation allowance reversal to meet or beat the mean analyst forecast.
Local and global chemotopic organization: general features of the glomerular representations of aliphatic odorants differing in carbon number.

To determine whether there is a general strategy used by the olfactory system to represent odorants differing in carbon chain length, rats were exposed to homologous series of straight-chained, saturated aliphatic aldehydes, ethyl esters, acetates, ketones, primary alcohols, and secondary alcohols (32 odorants total). Neural activity across the entire glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb was mapped quantitatively by measuring uptake of [14C]2-deoxyglucose evoked by each odorant. Uptake was observed both in dorsal glomerular modules previously associated with the particular odorant functional groups and in more ventral and posterior modules. Aldehyde-evoked activity patterns were dominated by ventral modules that included the area receiving projections from octanal-responsive sensory neurons expressing the I7 odorant receptor. The dorsal area that has been the focus of optical imaging studies of aldehyde responses contained only minor activity. For all functional groups except for ketones, uptake within functional group-sensitive modules displayed local chemotopy, with longer odorants stimulating more ventral and rostral glomeruli. In more posterior regions, chemotopy was observed for all functional groups, again with uptake shifting ventrally and rostrally with increasing chain length. In addition to these local shifts in activity, correlations analysis of entire activity patterns revealed a global chemotopic organization for all odorant series, with each odorant evoking a pattern most similar to odorants possessing the same functional group but differing by only one carbon in length. Thus, global chemotopy and local modular chemotopy appear to be fundamental principles underlying the representation of odorants differing in carbon chain length. J. Comp. Neurol. 480:234–249, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Kerr Voltage Sensor

The electrooptic Kerr effect is the interaction of an applied electric field with a birefringent fluid medium resulting in a change in the refractive index of the fluid. It has found a variety of applications in the measurement of the applied voltage and electric field by analyzing the polarization rotation of light shined through the fluid. Potentials of kilovolts to megavolts, and risetimes as fast as nanoseconds have been measured.© (1986) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Studies on anaerobic bacteria

A new chromogenic anaerobe, Clostridium roseum nov. spec., has been found. It is characterized by: red-orange pigment, turning purplish on oxidation; gelatin liquefaction and other evidence of proteolysis; nitrate reduction; fermentation of various carbohydrates including pectin; close resemblance to Cl. acetobutylicum in corn mash fermentation, with the same neutral products, acetone, ethyl alcohol and butyl alcohol, in nearly the same ratios; agglutinative specificity and separation from Cl. acetobutylicum and Cl. felsineum, as well as several less nearly physiologically related butyric anaerobes.
Endovascular treatment of a grade IV transverse sinus dural arteriovenous fistula by sinus recanalization, angioplasty, and stent placement: technical case report.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: The frequent association of dural arteriovenous fistulae (DAVFs) and dural sinus thrombosis may render the treatment of these complex lesions difficult. We report a case of DAVF eradicated by recanalization of the chronically thrombosed transverse sinus (TS) and sigmoid sinus followed by balloon angioplasty and stent deployment at the site of the fistula. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 52-year-old man presented with a Type IV DAVF of the left TS with widespread white matter changes secondary to venous hypertension. Arterial feeders arose from the left internal carotid, external carotid, and vertebral arteries. The distal segment of the left TS, the left sigmoid sinus, and the proximal segment of the right TS were occluded. Reverse flow was observed in the deep venous system and in the superior sagittal sinus. INTERVENTION: Endovascular access was gained through the left internal jugular vein. Mechanical recanalization of the thrombosed left TS and sigmoid sinus was followed by balloon angioplasty and placement of six overlapping stents extending from the TS to the proximal internal jugular vein. Angiograms performed after surgery showed resaturation of antegrade venous drainage as well as complete eradication of the fistulous connections. The patient was discharged with an improving clinical status. CONCLUSION: Recanalization of a chronically occluded dural venous sinus through a jugular approach is feasible. In addition to eradicating cerebral venous hypertension by reestablishing antegrade venous drainage, balloon angioplasty and stent deployment at the DAVF site produced complete closure of the fistula. This may prove to be a new therapeutic strategy for management of DAVF.
Design and Implementation of Coordinated Control Strategy for Biped Robot with Heterogeneous Legs

To meet the complicated control requirement of biped robot with heterogeneous legs (BRHL), the master-slave dual-leg coordinated control strategy was adopted to simplify its planning scheme, of which the key of coordination is gait tracking control. Bionic knee joint enables the robot to walk more like human, but its modeling is complex and the control of bionic leg to track artificial leg is difficult. The P-type open/closed-loop iterative learning control (ILC) is therefore put forward to combine together the merits of open-loop and closed-loop ILC without a model to rely on so as to fit the control of gait tracking for complicated biped robot system. Experimental results demonstrate the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed coordinated control scheme.
Increasing failure and response rate in complex decision making

Abstract The effect of increasing failure on response rate and its components in complex decision making was investigated. Data were collected in a simulated decision-making environment permitting integrated, retaliatory, and general unintegrated decision making by dyads. It was found that (1) integrated decision making first increases and then decreases as the failure levels of information which groups experience are increased; (2) general unintegrated decision making increases when failure reaches moderate levels; and (3) retaliatory decision making is not affected by failure induction. The total decision-making response rate generally follows the characteristics of the curve for the integrated decision-making component, although it is, of course, somewhat higher.
Cost of sequential connection for points in space

A bound is given for the cost of the spanning tree produced by the sequential minimal insertion procedure as applied to n points in the unit d-cube. The technique developed is reasonably general and can be applied to several other problems of computational geometry, including the nearest neighbour heuristic for the traveling salesman problem. Attention is also given to bounding the sum of the powers of the edge lengths of sequentially constructed trees and paths. Examples illustrate that the bounds obtained are of best possible order as a function of the number of points.
Deletion of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid Type 1 Receptors Exaggerates Renal Damage in Deoxycorticosterone Acetate-Salt Hypertension

To determine whether the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) channel provides protection against hypertension-induced renal damage, hypertension was induced by uninephrectomy and by giving deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt in wild-type (WT) and TRPV1-null mutant (TRPV1 −/− ) mice. Mean arterial pressure, as determined by radiotelemetry, increased significantly and reached the peak 7 days after DOCA-salt treatment in both WT and TRPV1 −/− mice. There was no difference in mean arterial pressure between the 2 strains at the baseline or at the peak that lasted for 4 treatment weeks. DOCA-salt treatment in both WT and TRPV1 −/− mice led to increased urinary excretion of albumin and 8-isoprostane, glomerulosclerosis, renal cortical tubulointerstitial injury, tubulointerstitial fibrosis, increased number of tubular proliferating cell nuclear antigen–positive cells, and renal monocyte/macrophage infiltration, all of which were much more severe in DOCA-salt–treated TRPV1 −/− compared with DOCA-salt-treated WT mice. Renal TRPV1 protein expression, but not the renal anandamide content, was elevated in DOCA-salt–treated WT compared with vehicle-treated WT mice. Renal anandamide levels were markedly elevated in DOCA-salt–treated TRPV1 −/− but not in vehicle-treated TRPV1 −/− mice. Thus, our data show that ablation of the TRPV1 gene exacerbates renal damage induced by DOCA-salt hypertension, indicating that TRPV1 may constitute a protective mechanism against end-organ damage induced by hypertension.
Myocyte Adaptation to Chronic Hypoxia and Development of Tolerance to Subsequent Acute Severe Hypoxia

Studies in animal models and humans suggest that myocardium may adapt to chronic or intermittent prolonged episodes of reduced coronary perfusion. Stable maintenance of partial flow reduction is difficult to achieve in experimental models; thus, in vitro cellular models may be useful for establishing the mechanisms of adaptation. Since moderate hypoxia is likely to be an important component of the low-flow state, isolated adult rat cardiac myocytes were exposed to 1% O2 for 48 hours to study chronic hypoxic adaptation. Hypoxic culture did not reduce cell viability relative to normoxic controls but did enhance glucose utilization and lactate production, which is consistent with an anaerobic pattern of metabolism. Lactate production remained transiently increased after restoration of normal O2 tension. Myocyte contractility was reduced (video-edge analysis), as was the amplitude of the intracellular Ca2+ transient (indo 1 fluorescence) in hypoxic cells. Relaxation was slowed and was accompanied by a slowed decay of the Ca2+ transient. These changes were not due to alterations in the action potential. Tolerance to subsequent acute severe hypoxia occurred in cells cultured in 1% O2 and was manifested as a delay in the time to full ATP-depletion rigor contracture during severe hypoxia and enhanced morphological recovery of myocytes at reoxygenation. The latter was still seen after normalization of the data for the prolonged time to rigor, suggesting a multifactorial basis for tolerance. An intervening period of normoxic exposure before subsequent acute severe hypoxia did not result in loss of tolerance but rather increased the delay to subsequent ATP depletion rigor. Cellular glycogen was preserved during chronic hypoxic exposure and increased after the restoration of normal O2 tension. As mitochondrial cytochromes should be fully oxygenated at levels well below 1% O2, hypoxic adaptation may be mediated by a low-affinity O2-sensing process. Thus, adaptations that occur during prolonged periods of moderate hypoxia are proposed to poise the myocyte in a better position to tolerate impending episodes of severe O2 deprivation.
Episodic detection of human papillomavirus within a longitudinal cohort of young women.

Redetection of a type-specific human papillomavirus (HPV) infection may represent reinfection. However, a growing body of literature suggests that reactivation of HPV is common and that episodic detection of a HPV infection may represent reactivation of a persistent virus. A cohort of prospectively followed adolescent women (N = 150), ages 14–17, was observed on average 6.4 years. The authors describe the redetection of 37 HPV types and associated factors of redetection of high-risk (HR) and low-risk (LR) types using Cox proportional hazard models. Of 1,248 HPV type-specific infections, 286 (22.9%) were associated with redetection after apparent clearance. Chlamydia infections (HR = 1.99 [95%CI, 1.15–3.49]) and non-condom use (HR = 1.1 [95%CI, 1.04–1.99]) were associated with increased redetection of HR-HPV infections. Oral contraceptive pills (HR = 2.73 [95%CI, 1.52–4.90]) and number of sexual partners (HR = 1.44 [95%CI, 1.04–1.99]) were associated with increased redetection of LR-HPV infections. Episodic detection of HPV is common for HR- and LR-HPV types. This finding and identified factors or redetection have clinical implications and enhances the understanding of HPV natural history. J. Med. Virol. 87:2122–2129, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation using electrically small resonant dipole antennas

In this paper we present a methodology for the direction of arrival (DOA) estimation using the induced voltages that are measured at the feed points of electrically small resonant dipole antenna arrays illuminated by the signal of interest. The matrix pencil method is applied directly to the induced voltages to estimate the DOA of the various signals. Using electrically small resonant antennas can be advantageous if they are spaced half a wavelength apart as it will significantly reduce the mutual coupling between the various antenna elements. However, the electrically small antennas can also be placed in close proximity of each other saving the real estate and thus making it possible to deploy phased arrays on small footprints. For the latter case it may be necessary to use the transformation matrix to compensate for the strong mutual coupling that may exist between the antenna elements. The transformation matrix converts the voltages that are induced at the loads corresponding to the feed point of the array operating in the presence of mutual coupling and other near field scatterers to an equivalent set (ULVA) consisting of omni-directional isotropic point radiators equally spaced and operating in free space. Three different scenarios are presented to illustrate the methodology. First we consider resonant dipole elements spaced half wavelength apart, electrically small resonant antenna elements spaced half wavelength apart and electrically small resonant antenna elements placed in close proximity of each other to reduce the footprint without affecting the performance of the phase array. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the principle of this methodology.
Disruptive behavior and actigraphic measures in home-dwelling patients with Alzheimer's disease: preliminary report.

The purpose of this preliminary report was to explore overall level and diurnal patterning of caregiver reports of abnormal behavior and to explore relationships with actigraphic measures of sleep/wake activity in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Our primary behavioral measure was the Time-based Behavioral Disturbance Questionnaire (TBDQ). The overall score on this measure was shown to have adequate test-retest reliability and convergent validity with another behavioral measure. Significant correlations were obtained between the TBDQ overall score and actigraphically scored sleep efficiency (r = -.35, P < .05) and wake after sleep onset (r = .43, P < .01) in 41 subjects. The data suggest a moderate relationship between actigraphic measures of sleep/wake and disturbed behavior in home-dwelling AD patients.
Tinnitus following treatment for sporadic Acoustic neuroma

Objectives/Hypothesis To evaluate the impact of treatment modality, tumor size, time from therapy, and demographic features on tinnitus distress, as measured by the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI) in patients treated for sporadic acoustic neuroma. Study Design Cross-sectional observation study. Methods A Web-based 44-question online survey was made available on the Acoustic Neuroma Association Web site for 3 months. Of 154 unique surveys that were completed in entirety, further screening netted 143 study participants. Questions included the TFI, treatment modality, tumor size, time from therapy, demographic features, and hearing status of both ears. Results Tinnitus distress following treatment for acoustic neuroma is independent of treatment type, tumor size, tumor laterality, time after treatment, age, and gender. Tinnitus Functional Index scores closely mirror severity profile of the study population as reported in the pivotal TFI instrument validation study by Meikle et al.17 Tinnitus is “not a problem” in 20% of respondents, a “small problem” in 20%, a “moderate problem” in 11%, a “big problem” in 22%, and a “very big problem” in 27%. Subscale analysis suggests that acoustic tumor patients struggle most with tinnitus intrusiveness and loss of control. Conclusions Whereas tinnitus is a common symptom in acoustic neuroma patients in both the pre- and posttreatment settings, clinicians can provide counsel that choice of treatment modality, tumor size, age, and gender have little to no bearing on severity of posttreatment tinnitus distress. Tinnitus severity does not differ among the treatment choices of open microsurgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, external beam radiation, and observation. Level of Evidence NA Laryngoscope, 2015
Traffic Grooming in Statistically Shared Optical Networks

We investigate the characteristics and performance of architectures that allow statistical sharing of wavelengths in the optical layer. The bandwidth of a light-wave circuit can be shared in the optical layer by multiple nodes that are along a linear path in a network through the inclusion of simple but flexible hardware overlaid with control software. We consider three types of architectures - lightpath (LP), light-trail (LT) and source based light-trail (SLT) networks. The three differ in their level of optical sharing, in their hardware and software requirements and in their performance. We study the interplay between statistical sharing at the optical layer and circuit switched sharing at the electronic layer. We develop a generic auxiliary graph model for traffic grooming in heterogeneous WDM mesh networks that can accommodate constraints related to transceivers, wavelengths, and groomers for architectures with different levels of statistical sharing and for both static and dynamic scenarios. We conclude based on our simulation results that sharing wavelength in the optical domain is beneficial and can lead to reduced blocking.
Effects of deletions in the N-terminal basic arm of brome mosaic virus coat protein on RNA packaging and systemic infection.

The first 25 amino acids of brome mosaic virus (BMV) coat protein include 8 basic and no acidic residues and are implicated in binding the encapsidated RNA. Using infectious transcripts from BMV RNA3 cDNA clones, we modified this region of the coat gene. A coat protein mutant with the first 25 amino acids deleted failed to direct either packaging of viral RNA in protoplasts or systemic infection of whole barley plants. Neither symptoms, virions, nor viral RNA was detectable in plants inoculated with this mutant or a mutant with a frameshift mutation in the coat gene. Mutants with the normal start codon changed to AAG or with the first eight codons deleted allowed translation to start at a downstream AUG, resulting in a deletion of the first 7 amino acids of the mature wild-type coat protein. These mutants not only packaged viral RNA in protoplasts but directed symptomatic, systemic infections that developed with normal speed and degree of spread within the host. The AUG-to-AAG point substitution did not revert to the wild type after long-term culture in planta. Wild-type BMV virions were also found to contain small amounts of a protein that coelectrophoresed with the truncated coat protein produced by the viable AAG and eight-codon-deletion mutants. This minor coat protein species presumably arose by infrequent translation initiation at the second AUG in the wild-type coat protein gene. Absence of encapsidation-competent coat protein appeared to stimulate production of nonstructural proteins in protoplast infections. Images
The burden associated with neuropathic pain in Western Europe

AbstractBackground:The purpose of this study is to assess the burden of neuropathic pain (NeP) on health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL), health status, employment status, absenteeism and presenteeism, and direct medical costs in Western Europe.Methods:Data are from the 2010 National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) for five countries in western Europe: the UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. Among subjects who reported experiencing pain in the past month, those who attributed their pain to NeP were compared with those who attributed their pain to another chronic pain condition other than NeP (the latter was the reference group). These two groups were compared on demographic and both pain and non-pain related comorbidities. Generalized linear models were used to estimate the independent contribution of the presence of NeP on: (a) HRQoL (using the SF-12v2); (b) self-reported health status (the first item of the SF-12v2); (c) employment status; (d) absenteeism and presenteeism (using the WPAI questionna...
Molecular investigation and diagnosis of three genetic diseases in Arabian horses from Middle East and North American populations

Maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) status has been shown to influence cognitive development in infants and children. Improvements in learning ability might enhance trainability of horses, which could lead to better athletic performance and decreased behavioral problems. To assess the cognitive benefits of early exposure to DHA, offspring of mares fed a fat supplement containing an algae source of DHA (n¼10) or a placebo fat supplement (CON, n¼10) from d 250 of gestation through 74 d of lactation were evaluated. Using operant conditioning, foals had been taught to touch a target object with their nose upon verbal command at 2 mo of age. This study evaluated memory recall of previous training, as well as performance on new, more complex tasks using the same target training technique in weaned foals (meanSEM, 185 � 2 d of age). We hypothesized that weanlings exposed to DHA would have better memory recall and progress further and with greater ease through a series of new tasks than weanlings exposed to CON. With researchers blinded to treatment, weanling response times, performance scores, and the number of cues needed to successfully complete each behavior were recorded during 11 training sessions conducted over 6 d. Data were analyzed using a two-tail t-test or zero inflated Poisson model. Memory recall of previous training was evaluated during the first 2 sessions by repeating the original targeting behaviors. Based on performance scores, all foals demonstrated recall of previous training (P< 0.0001). Mean response time during session 1 was slower (P ¼ 0.031) than session 2, indicating optimal recall may not be achieved when first re-exposed. Memory recall was not affected by DHA exposure or sex of the foal. New behavior training (sessions 3-11) was comprised of tar- geting tasks that progressed in difficulty, including walking from point A to B, performing target behaviors in an open environment, walking over novel objects (black stall mat and wooden platform), and loading into a live- stock-hauling trailer. Overall, weanlings exposed to DHA were more likely to score lower (P ¼ 0.016) than CON weanlings on new training tasks. DHA weanlings scored lower (P ¼ 0.013) and required more cues (P ¼ 0.037) to successfully complete the platform task compared to CON weanlings, whereas performance on all other individual tasks was unaffected by maternal diet. When performance on the platform was excluded from analysis, DHA wean-
The Return to Simpler Strategies in Job Analysis: The Case of Municipal Clerks*

The management revolution in the private sector in the 1980s and in the public sector in the 1990s has systematically overturned long-time assumptions that had become tantamount to laws Human resou...
Detailed heterogeneous chemistry in an urban plume box model: reversible co-adsorption of O 3 , NO 2 , and H 2 O on soot coated with benzo(a)pyrene

Abstract. This study assesses in detail the effects of heterogeneous chemistry on the particle surface and gas-phase composition by modeling the reversible co-adsorption of O3, NO2, and H2O on soot coated with benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) for an urban plume scenario over a period of five days. By coupling the Poschl-Rudich-Ammann (PRA) kinetic framework for aerosols (Poschl et al., 2007) to a box model version of the gas phase mechanism RADM2, we are able to track individual concentrations of gas-phase and surface species over the course of several days. The flux-based PRA formulation takes into account changes in the uptake kinetics due to changes in the chemical gas-phase and particle surface compositions. This dynamic uptake coefficient approach is employed for the first time in a broader atmospheric context of an urban plume scenario. Our model scenarios include one to three adsorbents and three to five coupled surface reactions. The results show a variation of the O3 and NO2 uptake coefficients of more than five orders of magnitude over the course of the simulation time and a decrease in the uptake coefficients in the various scenarios by more than three orders of magnitude within the first six hours. Thereafter, periodic peaks of the uptake coefficients follow the diurnal cycle of gas-phase O3-NOx reactions. Physisorption of water vapor reduces the half-life of the coating substance BaP by up to a factor of seven by permanently occupying ~75% of the soot surface. Soot emissions modeled by replenishing reactive surface sites lead to maximum gas-phase O3 depletions of 41 ppbv and 7.8 ppbv for an hourly and six-hourly replenishment cycle, respectively. This conceptual study highlights the interdependence of co-adsorbing species and their non-linear gas-phase feedback. It yields further insight into the atmospheric importance of the chemical oxidation of particles and emphasizes the necessity to implement detailed heterogeneous kinetics in future modeling studies.
Starting from Scratch in Semantic Role Labeling

A fundamental step in sentence comprehension involves assigning semantic roles to sentence constituents. To accomplish this, the listener must parse the sentence, find constituents that are candidate arguments, and assign semantic roles to those constituents. Each step depends on prior lexical and syntactic knowledge. Where do children learning their first languages begin in solving this problem? In this paper we focus on the parsing and argument-identification steps that precede Semantic Role Labeling (SRL) training. We combine a simplified SRL with an un-supervised HMM part of speech tagger, and experiment with psycholinguistically-motivated ways to label clusters resulting from the HMM so that they can be used to parse input for the SRL system. The results show that proposed shallow representations of sentence structure are robust to reductions in parsing accuracy, and that the contribution of alternative representations of sentence structure to successful semantic role labeling varies with the integrity of the parsing and argument-identification stages.
The effectiveness of classroom capture technology

The use of classroom capture systems (systems that capture audio and video footage of a lecture and attempt to replicate a classroom experience) is becoming increasingly popular at the university l...
Orienting Head Movements Resulting from Electrical Microstimulation of the Brainstem Tegmentum in the Barn Owl

The size and direction of orienting movements are represented systematically as a motor map in the optic tectum of the barn owl (du Lac and Knudsen, 1990). The optic tectum projects to several distinct regions in the medial brainstem tegmentum, which in turn project to the spinal cord (Masino and Knudsen, 1992). This study explores the hypothesis that a fundamental transformation in the neural representation of orienting movements takes place in the brainstem tegmentum. Head movements evoked by electrical microstimulation in the brainstem tegmentum of the alert barn owl were cataloged and the sites of stimulation were reconstructed histologically. Movements elicited from the brainstem tegmentum were categorized into one of six different classes: saccadic head rotations, head translations, facial movements, vocalizations, limb movements, and twitches. Saccadic head rotations could be further subdivided into two general categories: fixed-direction saccades and goal-directed saccades. Fixed-direction saccades, those whose direction was independent of initial head position, were elicited from the midbrain tegmentum. Goal-directed saccades, those whose direction changed with initial head position, were elicited from the central rhombencephalic reticular formation and from the efferent pathway of the cerebellum. Particular attention was paid to sites from which fixed-direction saccadic movements were elicited, as these movements appeared to represent components of orienting movements. Microstimulation in the medial midbrain tegmentum elicited fixed-direction saccades in one of six directions: rightward, leftward, upward, downward, clockwise roll, and counterclockwise roll. Stimulation in and around the interstitial nucleus of Cajal (InC; a complete list of anatomical abbreviations is given in the Appendix) produced ipsiversive horizontal saccades. Stimulation in the ventral InC and near the dorsal and medial edges of the red nucleus produced upward saccades. Stimulation in the reticular formation near the lateral edge of the red nucleus produced downward saccades. Stimulation in the ventromedial central gray produced ipsiversive roll saccades. The metrics and kinetics of fixed-direction saccades, but not their directions, could be influenced by stimulation parameters. As such, direction was an invariant property of the circuits being activated, whereas movement latency, duration, velocity, and size each demonstrated dependencies on stimulus amplitude, frequency, and duration. The data demonstrate directly that at the level of the midbrain tegmentum there exists a three-dimensional Cartesian representation of head-orienting movements such that horizontal, vertical, and roll components of movement are encoded by anatomically distinct neural circuits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Effect of Sound on Heat Transfer from a Horizontal Circular Cylinder at Large Wavelengths

The practical relevance of investigations of the effect of oscillations on convective heat transfer is discussed. Some experiments on overall heat transfer from a horizontal heated circular cylinder in a transverse, horizontal standing sound field are reported. Observations of local effects of sound on boundary layer thickness and heat transfer are described, and a correlation of heat transfer spanning all sound intensities is suggested in the light of these observations. The correlation is fitted well by the data, and thus provides adducive evidence for the explanation of the phenomena observed.