cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Rater and Ratee Age on Two Performance Judgments.

The influences of rater age and rater age on performance evaluations of 513 exempt managers from a large manufacturing organization were examined. Two general performance criteria and six specific performance criteria were used. Results showed small but significant age influences on two of the specific performance measures, Self-Development and Interpersonal Skills. Older workers received lower ratings than younger workers on both of these dimensions. In addition, younger raters gave significantly higher ratings than older raters on Interpersonal Skills. Small but significant age interactions were found in both Interpersonal Skills ratings and Self-Development ratings. The findings were replicated in a second sample (N=178). The influence of age on performance ratings is consistent with previous research and is compared. The extent of the influence is smaller in the present study than in previous research.
Complexity of system configuration management

System administration has often been considered to be a "practice" with no theoretical underpinnings. In this thesis, we begin to define a theory of system administration, based upon two activities of system administrators: configuration management and dependency analysis. We formalize and explore the complexity of these activities, and demonstrate that they are intractable in the general case. We define the concepts of system behavior, kinds of configuration operations, a model of configuration management, a model of reproducibility, and proofs that several parts of the process are NP-complete or NP-hard. We also explore how system administrators keep these tasks tractable in practice. This is a first step toward a theory of system administration and a common language for discussing the theoretical underpinnings of the practice.
Metacat: a schema-independent XML database system

The ecological sciences represent a challenging community from the perspective of scientific data management. Ecological data are collected by investigators who are spread out over a large geographic area and who use a wide variety of research protocols and data-handling techniques. The resulting heterogeneous data are stored in autonomous database systems that are dispersed throughout the ecological community. The Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity is seeking to address these issues through the use of structured metadata encoded in the Extensible Markup Language (XML). The main goal of this project has been to design and implement a schema-independent data storage system for XML which is called Metacat. Metacat uses a hybrid XML storage approach using a commercial relational DBMS back-end while still allowing any arbitrary XML document to be stored. This paper describes the Metacat XML data storage system and its relevance to scientific data management in the ecological sciences.
Oxygen toxicity in the premature baboon with hyaline membrane disease.

Immaturity, pulmonary barotrauma, and oxygen toxicity have been implicated in the pathogenesis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Although the physiologic and biochemical consequences of oxygen toxicity have been described in newborn and adult animals, there have been no controlled observations in prematures. We compared the physiologic and morphologic effects of prolonged hyperoxia with those of clinically appropriate oxygen in premature baboons with hyaline membrane disease (HMD) supported with conventional positive pressure ventilation and continuous distending airway pressure (PPV/PEEP). Twenty-one premature baboons were delivered at 140 days gestation, intubated and resuscitated, and supported with PPV/PEEP and standard NICU techniques for 11 days. The FIO2, PaO2, PaCO2, pHa, ventilator and airway pressures, and blood pressure were intermittently measured and recorded. The physiologic observations could be divided into 3 distinct phases. During Phase 1 (0 to 42 h) there were no significant intergro...
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More

The article reviews the book “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More,” by Chris Anderson
GENDER AND INTERNET USAGE

ABSTRACT This chapter examines the nature and sources of gender disparity in the adoption and usage of information and communications technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet. Various levels of gender disparity exist in the adoption of the Internet. Moreover, the disparity varies widely across the globe. These gender disparities are functions of factors such as male-female cultural differences; differences in specialization, preferences for jobs, and education; complex interactions among the features of the Internet and gender; and external variables such as sociocultural and economic factors. If appropriate policy measures are taken in the public sector and the corporate world, then some of the sources of gender disparity in Internet adoption and usage can be overcome and the gender related digital divide could be bridged. INTRODUCTION Modern information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet arguably have the potential to offer greater benefits to women than men (Carter and Grieco 2000; UNCTAD 2002). For instance, new ICT applications such as changing a health service appointment electronically can “return” the time lost by single mothers under conventional arrangements that require travel to a clinic for such tasks (Carter and Grieco 1998). In reality, however, a significant gender bias toward men exists in the adoption of modern ICTs, including the Internet. For instance, the user survey conducted by Graphic, Visualization, & Usability Center (GVU) in 1998 found that 66.4% of the Internet users in the world were men and 33.6 % were women (GVU Center 1998). In 2000, the bias still persisted in most parts of the world, with the exception of USA and Canada. Understanding of the Internet’s evolution over time and space, therefore, is incomplete unless we understand the role and influence of gender in the processes of Internet adoption and usage. Most available statistics on Internet usage tend to utilize gender interchangeably with sex even though sex is a biological characteristic while gender is “social constructed roles ascribed to males and females. These roles, which are learned, change over time and vary widely within and
Application of Adjoint Solutions to the Receptivity Problem in Compressible Mixing Layers

The receptivity of compressible mixing layer instability waves to external forcing is investigated using an adjoint approach. The solution to the adjoint of the linearized Navier-Stokes equations gives the receptivity to forcing by small amplitude mass, momentum, and heat sources. Adjoint solutions are obtained numerically for a supersonic mixing layer, and their utility for receptivity prediction is demonstrated by comparing the predictions to numerical solutions of the regular forced equations. The adjoint solutions are then examined in detail, revealing o weld regions of relatively high receptivity, along with receptivity nodes which correspond to destructive interference of excited instability waves. The adjoint solutions are then extended to the far eld using a Kirchho surface, which gives receptivity to distant acoustic sources. The receptivity to such sources is more sensitive to angular position of the source at lower frequencies, while dependence on angle is quite weak near the neutral stability frequency.
Portable checkpointing for heterogeneous architectures

Current approaches for checkpointing assume system homogeneity, where checkpointing and recovery are both performed on the same processor architecture and operating system configuration. Sometimes it is desirable or necessary to recover a failed computation on a different processor architecture. For such situations checkpointing and recovery must be portable. In this paper, we argue that source-to-source compilation is an appropriate concept for this purpose. We describe the compilation techniques that we developed for the design of the c2ftc prototype. The c2fte compiler enables machine-independent checkpoints by automatic generation of checkpointing and recovery code. Sequential C programs are compiled into fault tolerant C programs, whose checkpoints can be migrated across heterogeneous networks, and restarted on binary incompatible architectures. Experimental results on several systems provide evidence that the performance penalty of portable checkpointing is negligible for realistic checkpointing frequencies.
Does bariatric surgery affect urinary incontinence

Objective To determine International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision, (ICD-9) coding patterns as a proxy for incidence and prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) in a population of patients before and after a bariatric surgical procedure for the treatment of obesity. Methods We evaluated claims from a national private insurer over a 5-year period (2002-2006) to identify female patients who underwent bariatric surgery and had 3 years of follow-up claims data. The cohort of patients who underwent bariatric surgery (treatment) was matched to a cohort of obese female patients who did not undergo bariatric surgery (control), who were followed from the start of their enrollment. UI was identified by ICD-9 coding. Results After bariatric surgery, 62.4% of patients (83/133) diagnosed with UI before their surgery no longer had a coding diagnosis of UI. In contrast, only 42.1% (56/133) of those in the nonbariatric surgery cohort lost their coding diagnosis of UI ( P = .0009). Of those that did not have pre-existing UI, 6.2% (235/3765) of the bariatric surgery cohort gained a new coding diagnosis of UI vs 7.1% (269/3765) of the control group ( P = .1169). Our final model suggested that age >45 years ( P P P Conclusion Patients who undergo bariatric surgery are more likely to lose a previous diagnosis of UI than are obese patients not treated with bariatric surgery. This supports the fact that bariatric surgery may have other indirect benefits to the obese population.
Downlink DS CDMA performance over a mobile satellite channel

Code division multiple access (CDMA) has been proposed for personal communications networks for both terrestrial and satellite links. We analyze the performance of the downlink (i.e., the base-to-mobile link) of a low earth orbiting (LEO) mobile satellite channel. An important characteristic of this fading channel is that the desired signal and the multiple access interference from all spot beams of the corresponding satellite fade simultaneously. In this respect, the satellite downlink is also different from its terrestrial counterpart. A two-state fading channel model is considered. In the nonshadowed state, the signal envelope is characterized by Rician statistics and in the shadowed state by the Rayleigh statistics. We analyze the probability of error performance when coherent detection, diversity, spectrum sharing by two service providers, and forward error correction are employed.
SOI Field-Effect Diode DRAM Cell: Design and Operation

A dynamic RAM cell based on the field-effect diode (FED) is presented, and its operation is described and explained with the help of numerical device simulations. This new cell resembles the thin capacitively coupled thyristor (TCCT) cell in concept and operation, however it has important advantages. These advantages derive from the fact that the thyristor-like mode of operation of the FED is gate induced, whereas the TCCT is an actual, built-in thyristor. High read 0/1 current margin, fast write/read time, good retention, and densely packed cells are obtained.
Repair of DNA Adducts Produced by Alkylation

Auerbach and Robson’s discovery (1942) that mustard gas is mutagenic was released after the close of the second World War (Auerbach and Robson, 1946, 1947) and quickly led to the finding that many simple alkylating agents are mutagenic. Some of these compounds were found to be useful in cancer chemotherapy because of their cytotoxic effect but, at the same time, were carcinogenic themselves, the ratio of therapeutic to carcinogenic activity varying mysteriously from compound to compound (see Whitelock, 1958). It was natural that the reactivity of these alkylating agents with cellular constituents should be investigated. The reactivity with protein was especially studied during the 1950’s because of the general biochemical importance of this class of compound. However, the gradual acceptance of the view that the genetic material is only DNA focused attention on alkylation of this substance. The reaction of alkylating agents with nucleic acid, particularly with DNA has therefore been extensively studied during the 1960’s and 1970’s for the theoretical reason that mutation must involve a change in DNA structure, rather than because of any direct demonstration that alkylation of DNA is uniquely important. Demonstration of the metabolic activation of hydrocarbon and other carcinogens to form electrophilic reagents with the reactivity characteristic of alkylating agents (Cramer et al., 1960; Miller et al., 1960) intensified the search for DNA adducts since this discovery made it likely that the initial reaction leading to carcinogenesis must be the formation of a covalently bound adduct, presumably to DNA.
Native Conformation and Canonical Disulfide Bond Formation Are Interlinked Properties of HIV-1 Env Glycoproteins.

UNLABELLED We investigated whether there is any association between a native-like conformation and the presence of only the canonical (i.e., native) disulfide bonds in the gp120 subunits of a soluble recombinant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope (Env) glycoprotein. We used a mass spectrometry (MS)-based method to map the disulfide bonds present in nonnative uncleaved gp140 proteins and native-like SOSIP.664 trimers based on the BG505 env gene. Our results show that uncleaved gp140 proteins were not homogeneous, in that substantial subpopulations (20 to 80%) contained aberrant disulfide bonds. In contrast, the gp120 subunits of the native-like SOSIP.664 trimer almost exclusively retained the canonical disulfide bond pattern. We also observed that the purification method could influence the proportion of an Env protein population that contained aberrant disulfide bonds. We infer that gp140 proteins may always contain a variable but substantial proportion of aberrant disulfide bonds but that the impact of this problem can be minimized via design and/or purification strategies that yield native-like trimers. The same factors may also be relevant to the production and purification of monomeric gp120 proteins that are free of aberrant disulfide bonds. IMPORTANCE It is widely thought that a successful HIV-1 vaccine will include a recombinant form of the Env protein, a trimer located on the virion surface. To increase yield and simplify purification, Env proteins are often made in truncated, soluble forms. A consequence, however, can be the loss of the native conformation concomitant with the virion-associated trimer. Moreover, some soluble recombinant Env proteins contain aberrant disulfide bonds that are not expected to be present in the native trimer. To assess whether these observations are linked, to determine the extent of disulfide bond scrambling, and to understand why scrambling occurs, we determined the disulfide bond profiles of two soluble Env proteins with different designs that are being assessed as vaccine candidates. We found that uncleaved gp140 forms heterogeneous mixtures in which aberrant disulfide bonds abound. In contrast, BG505 SOSIP.664 trimers are more homogeneous, native-like entities that contain predominantly the native disulfide bond profile.
The effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy for youth anxiety on sleep problems.

Abstract The present study examined (a) whether sleep related problems (SRPs) improved following cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth with anxiety disorders, (b) whether variables that may link anxiety and SRPs (e.g., pre-sleep arousal, family accommodation, sleep hygiene) changed during treatment, and (c) whether such changes predicted SRPs at posttreatment. Youth were diagnosed with anxiety at pretreatment and received weekly CBT that targeted their principal anxiety diagnosis at one of two specialty clinics (N = 69 completers, Mage = 10.86). Results indicated that parent-reported SRPs improved from pre- to post-treatment and that treatment responders with regard to anxiety yielded greater SRP improvements than nonresponders. Parent report of bedtime resistance and sleep anxiety showed significant improvements. Youth reported lower rates of SRPs compared to their parents and did not demonstrate pre- to post-treatment changes in SRPs. Pre-sleep arousal and family accommodation decreased over treatment but did not predict lower SRPs at posttreatment. Higher accommodation was correlated with greater SRPs. Sleep hygiene evidenced no change and did not mediate links between accommodation and posttreatment SRPs.
The Development and Validation of the Assessment of Scientific Argumentation in the Classroom (ASAC) Observation Protocol: A Tool for Evaluating How Students Participate in Scientific Argumentation

This chapter describes the development and initial validation of a new instrument that researchers can use to assess how students participate in scientific argumentation. This instrument, which is called the Assessment of Scientific Argumentation in the Classroom (ASAC) Observation Protocol, includes 19 items that target the conceptual or cognitive, epistemological, and social aspects of scientific argumentation. The chapter includes an overview of the methodological and theoretical frameworks that were employed to develop and validate the instrument, the steps used in the development and validation process, and the final version of the instrument. Our findings indicate the ASAC is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the quality or nature of the scientific argumentation that takes place between students within a classroom setting. This instrument will therefore enable researchers or teachers to examine how students learn to participate in scientific argumentation over time, to document learning gains in response to an intervention, or to compare strategies for promoting or supporting engagement in scientific argumentation in a more emergent or in situ context.
A two-channel bacteria-based biosensor for water quality monitoring

We created a dual-channel bacteria-based biosensor for sensitive and reliable monitoring of toxic substances in water. We utilized microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology as a biosensor for the detection of water toxicity. A broad range of toxic components can inhibit bacterial metabolic activity, generating a distinct change in the current output of the MFC-based biosensor. The biosensor consisted of two 90μL single-chambered MFCs (detection and reference) with air-cathodes, which significantly simplifies the device configuration. The reference channel sensor was to calibrate the system for environmental changes (e.g., temperature, pressure, viscosity, pH, and non-specific binding) that influence the bacterial metabolisms, thus improving the accuracy of the measurement. In addition, the small-scale MFC biosensor produced favorable conditions for high sensitivity by reducing the internal resistance and increasing mass transfer in the micro-sized chamber.
Optimal blade pitch control with realistic preview wind measurements

In above-rated wind speeds, the goal of a wind turbine blade pitch controller is to regulate rotor speed while minimizing structural loads and pitch actuation. This controller is typically feedback-only, relying on a generator speed measurement, and sometimes strain gauges and accelerometers. A preview measurement of the incoming wind speed (from a turbinemounted lidar, for example) allows the addition of feedforward control, which enables improved performance compared to feedback-only control. The performance improvement depends both on the amount of preview time available in the wind speed measurement, and the coherence between the wind measurement and the wind that is actually experienced by the turbine. We show how to design a collective-pitch optimal controller that takes both of these factors into account. Simulation results show significant improvement compared to baseline controllers, and are well correlated with linear-model-based results. Linearmodel-based results show the benefit of preview measurements for various preview times and measurement coherences. Copyright c © 0000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hepatic Lipogenesis: Nutritional Control and Pathophysiological Relevance

Hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) is important in generating various fatty acids to meet the needs of cellular functions such as cell membrane structural composition and molecular signaling. Like many cellular processes, hepatic DNL is tightly regulated by different dietary nutrient composition and hormonal fluctuation. For example, dietary glucose and fructose could act as a substrate for DNL; insulin together with the stimulation of glucose could induce signaling to enhance hepatic DNL, while glucagon has an inhibitory effect on hepatic DNL. However, the dysregulation of hepatic DNL could lead to metabolic disorders such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and cardiovascular disease (CVD). In this article, nutrient composition and hormonal regulation of hepatic DNL, as well as the implication of hepatic DNL in contributing to metabolic diseases will be discussed in detail.
Immature Stages of Leptopilina boulardi (Hymenoptera: Eucoilidae), a Protelean Parasite of Drosophila spp. (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Leptopilina boulardi (Barbotin et al.), a larval parasitoid of Drosophila spp., possesses a stalked egg, eucoiliform first- and second-stage larvae, and hymenopteriform third-, fourth-, and fifth-stage larvae, followed by a pupal and pharate adult stage. Host age at oviposition significantly affects parasitoid development, whereas host development is in turn affected by the presence of the parasitoid larva and host age when parasitized. The fact that, regardless of sex, adults from hosts parasitized within a 2-h period emerge over 5 days suggests that a density-independent component influences development time.
A Call to Arms: The Great Technology

(1933). A Call to Arms: The Great Technology. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 4, No. 8, pp. 453-453.
Sprays and dips of Shell Compound 4072 to control Boophilus ticks and larvae of the screw-worm on cattle.

At Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, cattle naturally infested with the southern cattle tick, Boophilus microplus (Canestrini), were wounded and infested with larvae of the screw-worm, Cochliomyia hominivorax (Coquerel), for 4 days, and then sprayed with 0.05-0.25% Shell Compound 4072 (2-chloro-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl) vinyl diethyl phosphate) or 0.25% coumaphos. Shell Compound 4072 at 0.2n and 0.25% killed screw-worm larvae of all ages; at 0.10 and 0.15% killed all 1-and 2-day-old larvae; and at 0.05% killed all 1-day-old larvae. Coumaphos killed all land 2-day-old larvae. Nymphal ticks removed from cattle at 1 day post treatment molted, but engorged and partially engorged females did not produce viable eggs. Cattle artificially infested with the southern cattle tick; the cattle tick, Loopholes annulatus (Say), and 1- and 2- day-old screw-worm larvae were used in 3 tests at Neva Laredo, Tamaulipas, to evaluate the effectiveness of 0.05-0.13% Shell Compound 4072 as dips and sprays. Concentrations of 0.1% or greater killed all screw-worm larvae; 0.05-0.08% killed all 1-day-old larvae but not all 2-day-old larvae. Effectiveness against Boophilus ticks was determined by (1) mortality of adults and molting of nymphs removed from cattle at 1, 2, and 7 days post treatment and (2) weight and hatch of eggs from females collected from stalls containing the cattle. All concentrations were highly effective against adult ticks. Some nymphs collected from cattle 1 and 2 days after treatment molted to adults, but none collected at 1 week molted. A few females collected from stalls 1-4 days after treatment laid eggs, and some eggs hatched. Generally, there appeared to be little difference in effectiveness of sprays or dips, or of these different concentrations of Shell Compound 4072, in control of both B. microplus and B. annulatus .
A new approach to constructing efficient stiffly accurate EPIRK methods

The structural flexibility of the exponential propagation iterative methods of Runge-Kutta type (EPIRK) enables construction of particularly efficient exponential time integrators. While the EPIRK methods have been shown to perform well on stiff problems, all of the schemes proposed up to now have been derived using classical order conditions. In this paper we extend the stiff order conditions and the convergence theory developed for the exponential Rosenbrock methods to the EPIRK integrators. We derive stiff order conditions for the EPIRK methods and develop algorithms to solve them to obtain specific schemes. Moreover, we propose a new approach to constructing particularly efficient EPIRK integrators that are optimized to work with an adaptive Krylov algorithm. We use a set of numerical examples to illustrate the computational advantages that the newly constructed EPIRK methods offer compared to previously proposed exponential integrators.
Application of pulse-field gel electrophoresis analysis (PFGE) in the source-tracking of food-borne disease caused by Proteus mirabilis

Objective:To apply pulse-field gel electrophoresis analysis(PFGE) in the analysis of a case of food-borne disease caused by Proteus mirabilis.Methods: PFGE using restriction enzyme Sfi I was employed in the molecular subtyping of Tweenty-two strains of P.mirabilis isolated in a case of food poisoning in Guangzhou city and PFGE patterns were analyzed by BioNumerics Version 4.0 software to perform cluster analysis.Pattern profiles were compared by utilizing the Dice coefficient and UPGMA(unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages).Results: Seven different PFGE patterns were observed in the 22 P.mirabilis strains,with similarity 80% as criteria,strains with same food-borne disease showed a high pulsotype similarity,strains from different food-borne disease produced cross-pulsotype but significant difference.Conclusion: It is evident that PFGE subtyping,coupled with epidemiological data,which can enhance source-tracking of and warning against food-borne disease caused by P.mirabilis.
Intracellular mechanisms of pulmonary vasomotor dysfunction in acute lung injury caused by mesenteric ischemia-reperfusion.

Background. A major hemodynamic feature of adult respiratory distress syndrome is pulmonary hypertension secondary to avid pulmonary vascular smooth muscle constriction. This study was undertaken to study the hypothesis that this pulmonary vasoconstriction may derive from pulmonary vasomotor dysfunction. Methods. A rat model of acute lung injury was studied after 2 hours of superior mesenteric arterial occlusion followed by 4 hours reperfusion. Lung neutrophil accumulation was assessed by myeloperoxidase assay, and lung leak was assessed by iodine 125-labeled albumin lung (blood ratio
Diagnosing Finance's Failures: From Economic Idealism to Legal Realism

This book review critically examines a recent work by Robert Shiller, one of the world's leading economists. Shiller’s Finance and the Good Society reflects on contemporary financial institutions and offers principles for incrementally improving them. It fails to recognize the possibility that finance needs more than cosmetic reform. The field of law and economics often brings the insights of behavioral economists like Shiller to current regulatory debates. This review takes the reverse approach, offering a lawyer’s perspective on Shiller’s theories. We can only hope to reform the finance sector by addressing power dynamics among boards, CEOs, traders, and investors. To the extent it fails to address how law contributes to these power dynamics, Shiller’s work slips into an unconvincing idealism.
Correlation of the stoichiometries of poly(ε-caprolactone) and α-cyclodextrin pseudorotaxanes with their solution rheology and the molecular orientation, crystallite size, and thermomechanical properties of their nanofibers

Pseudorotaxane nanofibers based on biomedical polymers, such as poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), and α-cyclodextrins (α-CD) open new horizons for a variety of biomedical applications. From our recent report on pseudorotaxane suspensions and nanofibers, we inferred several unique characteristics, such as improvements in mechanical properties and a several-fold increase in viscosity values at low concentrations. In this report, through in-depth characterization employing techniques, such as rheological measurements, we investigate the reasons behind the unusual viscosity values observed in their suspensions. Additionally, combining rheology and TEM, we examine the phenomena responsible for the fiber diameter variation within a single nanofiber. Although, both 2D-wide angle X-ray diffraction patterns and selected area electron microscopy showed poor molecular orientation of the polymer chains along the fiber axis in the pseudorotaxanes, we attribute the observed higher modulus values to the denser nature and crystal packing of the PCL chains emanating from the surfaces of the columnar host α-CD crystals in the pseudorotaxanes, which was evidenced by crystallite size analyses. Finally, dynamic mechanical analyses illustrated that the interlacing of polymer chains protruding from the columnar α-CD cavities have a profound impact on the mechanical properties of these composites.
RefineNet: Iterative refinement for accurate object localization

We investigate a new strategy for improving localization accuracy of detected vehicles using a deep convolutional neural network. Specifically, we implement an iterative bounding box refinement on top of a state-of-the-art object detector. The bounding box refinement is achieved by iteratively pooling features from previous object location predictions. On KITTI vehicle detection benchmark, we achieve up to 6% improvement in average precision over the baseline results. Furthermore, the proposed refinement framework is computationally light, allowing for object detection at high run-time speeds. Our method runs at ∼0.22 seconds per image on images of size 1242 × 375, making it one of the fastest detectors reported on the KITTI object detection benchmark.
Convex Shape Preservation of Cubic $$L^1$$ L 1 Spline Fits

Cubic $$L^1$$ spline fits have been developed for geometric data approximation and shown excellent performances in shape preservation. To quantify the convex-shape-preserving capability of spline fits, we consider a basic shape of convex corner with two line segments in a given window. Given the horizontal length difference and slope change of convex corner, we conduct an analytical approach and a numerical procedure to calculate the second-derivative-based spline fit in 3-node and 5-node windows, respectively. Results in both cases show that the convex shape can be well preserved when the horizontal length difference is within the middle third of window’s length. In addition, numerical results in the 5-node window indicate that the second-derivative based and first-derivative based spline fits outperform function-value based spline fits for preserving this convex shape. Our study extends current quantitative research on shape preservation of cubic $$L^1$$ spline fits and provides more insights on improving advance spline node positions for shape preserving purpose.
Arquitectura de la Política Educativa Chilena (1990-2014): el currículum, lugar de la metáfora

RESUMEN Se analiza la arquitectura de la Politica Educativa Chilena (1990-2014), en su Marco Curricular Nacional y sus Bases Curriculares Nacionales, considerando la capacidad epistemologica de sus metaforas, que son utilizadas como dispositivos de investigacion. Se postula que el ensamblaje de subsidiariedad, subsidio a la demanda y curriculum tecnico, induce la vigencia de la racionalidad tecnica. La investigacion documental unida a una tecnica hermeneutica, pone en evidencia la persistencia de la racionalidad tecnica, inaugurada en la reforma de 1965, profundizada en la dictadura, y perfeccionada en los gobiernos de la Concertacion, provocando un efecto de ajuste del orden escolar al orden neoliberal. La magnitud de la desigualdad educativa exige que la politica educativa garantice el derecho a la educacion.
“‘Indian’ doesn’t exclude me”: An interview with Eunice de Souza

AbstractAs poet, anthologist, journalist and teacher, Eunice de Souza has imprinted the Bombay reader’s consciousness over several decades with her concise and strong creative expression. In this interview undertaken at her residence in Santa Cruz in 2011 and 2015, the poet talks about her early years in Pune and Bombay, her dark childhood after the early loss of her father, and the impact it had on her work. Eunice de Souza also discusses the role of small presses in creating a space for writers, and her own point of view as a woman as well as a poet in English – and the way these are connected, in turn, to questions of national identity.
Applying holonic manufacturing for effective Six Sigma projects

Nearly all industries struggle with problems such as overstock of inventory, defects in production, excessive costs, long lead times, and customer dissatisfaction. These issues have been addressed by many business techniques. The purpose of this paper is to combine Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing with holonic organisations, a novel industrialised model that augurs a change in global operations management. In addition, this study aims to scrutinise and to analyse the characteristics of these practices. This work consists of an exploratory investigation that describes and appraises modern procedures utilised in operations and quality management. The optimal use of the various kinds of holons is closely examined for excellence in production and services.
An upstream sequence modulates phenazine production at the level of transcription and translation in the biological control strain Pseudomonas chlororaphis 30-84

Phenazines are bacterial secondary metabolites and play important roles in the antagonistic activity of the biological control strain P. chlororaphis 30-84 against take-all disease of wheat. The expression of the P. chlororaphis 30-84 phenazine biosynthetic operon (phzXYFABCD) is dependent on the PhzR/PhzI quorum sensing system located immediately upstream of the biosynthetic operon as well as other regulatory systems including Gac/Rsm. Bioinformatic analysis of the sequence between the divergently oriented phzR and phzX promoters identified features within the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of phzX that are conserved only among 2OHPCA producing Pseudomonas. The conserved sequence features are potentially capable of producing secondary structures that negatively modulate one or both promoters. Transcriptional and translational fusion assays revealed that deletion of 90-bp of sequence at the 5'-UTR of phzX led to up to 4-fold greater expression of the reporters with the deletion compared to the controls, which indicated this sequence negatively modulates phenazine gene expression both transcriptionally and translationally. This 90-bp sequence was deleted from the P. chlororaphis 30-84 chromosome, resulting in 30-84Enh, which produces significantly more phenazine than the wild-type while retaining quorum sensing control. The transcriptional expression of phzR/phzI and amount of AHL signal produced by 30-84Enh also were significantly greater than for the wild-type, suggesting this 90-bp sequence also negatively affects expression of the quorum sensing genes. In addition, deletion of the 90-bp partially relieved RsmE-mediated translational repression, indicating a role for Gac/RsmE interaction. Compared to the wild-type, enhanced phenazine production by 30-84Enh resulted in improvement in fungal inhibition, biofilm formation, extracellular DNA release and suppression of take-all disease of wheat in soil without negative consequences on growth or rhizosphere persistence. This work provides greater insight into the regulation of phenazine biosynthesis with potential applications for improved biological control.
A current structural perspective on PXR and CAR in drug metabolism

Introduction: Pregnane X receptor (PXR) and the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) are two members of the nuclear receptor superfamily that play major roles in the expression of various drug me...
A Priori Geometry Predictions

Early quantum mechanical computations on the electronic structure of molecules were generally concerned with the determination of a wave function for a single assumed nuclear geometry (usually an experimentally determined equilibrium structure). As techniques have improved, however, it has increasingly become possible to make explorations of potential surfaces (total energies for heavy nuclei in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation) and hence to use theory directly to locate the minima in such surfaces and the corresponding equilibrium structural parameters. Such explorations can either be carried out partially, that is assuming some parameters and varying others (as in the study of “rigid” internal rotation with fixed bond lengths and angles) or, more desirably, by complete minimization of the energy with respect to all variables. Given the quantum mechanical procedure, the latter leads to a priori predictions of structure making no appeal to experimental data other than using the values of fundamental constants. Theoretical structures of this sort have been used for two main purposes. The first is to assess how well experimentally known structures are reproduced at a given level of theory and hence evaluate the limitations of the theory in a systematic manner. Second, the theory has been increasingly used to investigate structures of molecules for which experimental data are insufficient. Many such predictions have been made and there is an increasing number of examples of subsequent experimental verification.
Queers Anonymous: Lesbians, Gay Men, Free Speech, and Cyber Space

In the past several years, the development and expansion of the Internet and other forms of cyberspace have created new forms of communication around which new communities have developed. Not coincidentally, a disproportionate number of lesbians and gay men and other sexual minorities have taken advantage of these opportunities, and, for many such people, the structure of their communities has changed dramatically as a result. The focus of this paper is on the attempts by the state to regulate cyberspace and how such attempts will impact the speech and communities of gay men, lesbians and others sexual minorities. The central claim is that the speech of sexual minorities in cyberspace deserves special respect and attention; when the state attempts to regulate speech in cyberspace, it needs to take care not to trench on the speech and associational rights of lesbians, gay men, and other sexual minorities.
Insulin regulation of the activity and phosphorylation of branched-chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase in adipose tissue

The activity of the intramitochondrial branched-chain 2-oxo acid dehydrogenase (BCDH), like that of pyruvate dehydrogenase, is regulated, at least in part, by interconversion between the active dephosphorylated enzyme and its inactive phosphorylated form. The stimulatory effect of insulin on BCDH activity was compared with its effect on phosphorylation of the enzyme. Intact tissues were incubated in the presence or the absence of insulin, and then mitochondria were isolated and disrupted before assaying for enzyme activity or estimating the extent of enzyme phosphorylation. Tissues were incubated in either the presence or the absence of leucine, which also stimulated BCDH activity up to 10-fold. Insulin (1 munit/ml) doubled the activity of BCDH in the absence and in the presence of leucine. Together, 1 mM-leucine and insulin appeared to stimulate BCDH activity fully. Phosphorylation of BCDH was estimated indirectly by measuring the incorporation of 32P into phosphorylation sites that remained unesterified after preparing mitochondrial extracts under conditions that preserved the effect of insulin on BCDH activity. Increased incorporation of 32P in these experiments implies decreased phosphorylation in situ when tissues were incubated with insulin and leucine. In the absence of leucine, little incorporation of 32P into BCDH was detected. In the presence of leucine, however, incorporation of 32P into BCDH was markedly increased, and insulin increased 32P incorporation still further. The results support the hypothesis that leucine and insulin both stimulate the activity of BCDH by promoting its dephosphorylation.
Construct of Expertise Within the Context of HRD: Integrative Literature Review:

Human resource development (HRD) academics and practitioners often speak of developing expertise in individuals and unleashing expertise in organizations. For individuals, expertise has professiona...
Delayed resolution of retinopathy of prematurity.

Purpose To compare the characteristics of infants whose retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) resolves in 50 weeks' postmenstrual age (PMA) in order to identify which infants are at risk for delayed resolution and to evaluate whether severe ROP developed after 50 weeks' PMA. Methods The medical records of infants screened for ROP from January 2008 to December 2016 at a tertiary care facility were reviewed retrospectively. Infants without follow-up prior to ROP resolution or complete retinal vascularization and those with retinal detachment were excluded. Delayed resolution of ROP was defined as presence of immature retinal vasculature at ≥50 weeks' PMA. The birth characteristics, neonatal complications, and ROP characteristics of infants with and without delayed resolution were compared. Results A total of 996 infants were included, of whom 136 (13.6%) showed delayed resolution. Increasing severity of ROP (higher stage, lower zone, plus/pre-plus disease) and type 2 ROP was associated with delayed resolution (P Conclusions In our cohort, delayed resolution of ROP was more likely in infants with more severe ROP or a complex neonatal course. No patient with delayed resolution developed type 1 ROP after 50 weeks’ PMA, supporting AAP guidelines.
The Future is Now: Gene Expression Dynamics at Single Cell Resolution

For the past 10 years, a popular method to study global gene expression changes has been RNA sequencing of bulk tissues. However, an inherent limitation of this approach is the confounding of multiple cell types or multiple developmental stages. By contrast, new technologies enable transcriptional
Developing dynamic intersections between collection development and information literacy instruction

Traditionally in libraries, separate departments manage information literacy instruction and collection development responsibilities; additionally, the librarians who work in these areas have diffe...
Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound During Percutaneous Hepatosplenic Biopsy and Liver Ablation: Practical Applications, Pharmaceutical Principles, Administration Technique, and Complications

Abstract Ultrasound guidance during percutaneous biopsy or thermal ablation of hepatosplenic tumors provides distinct benefits over computed tomography guidance; however, not all lesions are well demarcated by ultrasound. Lesions that are isoechoic to the surrounding normal parenchyma can be occult and procedural outcome by ultrasound guidance may be compromised. Ultrasound contrast administration has been advanced as a method to improve lesion delineation in these cases. In addition, ultrasound contrast can be used to evaluate therapeutic effect after thermal ablation. This manuscript reviews the pharmaceutical principles, technical considerations, and potential complications of ultrasound contrast agents to ensure safe and effective administration during percutaneous hepatosplenic biopsy and liver ablation.
Guillain-Barré syndrome and antecedent cytomegalovirus infection, USA 2009-2015.

To describe incidence and clinical characteristics of cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) in the USA during 2009–2015, and characteristics of GBS cases with antecedent cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection among persons with employer-sponsored insurance. We analyzed medical claims from IBM Watson MarketScan® databases. GBS patients were defined as enrollees with an inpatient claim with GBS as the principal diagnosis code, based on ICD-9 or ICD-10, and ≥ 1 claim for lumbar puncture or EMG/nerve conduction study. We assessed intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization, intubation, dysautonomia, and death. We also assessed selected infectious illness within 60 days prior to the first GBS-coded inpatient claim. We identified 3486 GBS patients; annual incidence was 1.0–1.2/100,000 persons during 2009–2015. GBS incidence was higher in males (1.2/100,000) than in females (0.9/100,000) (p = 0.006) and increased with age, from 0.4/100,000 in persons 0–17 years old to 2.1/100,000 in persons ≥ 65 years old (p < 0.001). Half of GBS patients were hospitalized in the ICU, 8% were intubated, 2% developed dysautonomia, and 1% died. Half had a claim for antecedent illness, but only 125 (3.5%) had a claim for specific infectious pathogens. The mean age among 18 GBS patients with antecedent CMV infection was 39 years versus 47 years among those without antecedent CMV infection (p = 0.038). Incidence of GBS using a large national claims database was comparable to that reported in the literature, but cases appeared to be less severe. Half of GBS patients reported prior infectious illness, but only a minority had a specific pathogen identified.
Notes on Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire is one of the ten most important figures in twentieth-century American music. As a singer, he introduced more songs that became standards than any other singer, and as an actor and a dancer, he starred in a series of landmark stage and film musicals. With all of these achievements, why did a seemingly unpromising pairing with Ginger Rogers not only bring out the best in Astaire but also ultimately define him? This is the single most important question we can ask about Fred Astaire, the one whose answer provides the best insight into his abiding appeal.
Challenges on CO2 capture, utilization, and conversion

Abstract With an increasing policy impetus toward green technologies, the importance of mitigating anthropogenic carbon emission cannot be overstressed via the development and scaling of carbon capture, storage, and utilization technologies. The processes involve a series of steps, each with unique challenges of materials and process costs. In addition, each process must look at its footprint on the energy utilization, industrial feasibility, safety, environment, and global warming. This chapter gives a brief overview of the challenges in carbon dioxide capture and utilization processes by reviewing traditional and novel methods and recognizes the importance of the thermodynamic and process feasibility trade-off. It must be recognized that technologies need to overcome the impediment of cost-effective industrial retrofitting. The future potential thus lies in the hands of optimized hybrid processes.
Observations of Professor Michael A. Newton on the Merits of the Legal Questions Presented by the Appeals Chamber in the Case of the Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda

Amicus brief submitted by Professor Newton to the ICC Appeals Chamber in the Ntaganda Case at the request of the Bench. The Chamber heard oral arguments in the Prosecution Appeal on this issue from October 12-14, 2020. The core issue revolves around the meaning of the concept of attacks directed against cultural or other protected property, in contrast to the Rome Statute articulation of the war crimes against such property first articulated in the 1899 Hague Regulations. The formulation of the 1899 and 1907 treaties is reflected verbatim in the specific provisions applicable in this litigation.
Replicating autobiographical memory research using social media: a case study.

The durability of memories for personally experienced events and the effectiveness of naturalistically generated cues of those events were investigated via a case study using Timehop to re-present ...