cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Positive perturbations of unbounded operators

This work studies the spectral properties of certain unbounded selfadjoint operators by considering positive perturbations of such operators and the unitary equivalence of the perturbed and unperturbed transformations. Conditions are obtained on the unitary operators implementing this equivalence which guarantee that the selfadjoint operators have an absolutely continuous part.
Coyote ugly: the deadweight cost of rent seeking for immigration policy

Many studies use a Harberger triangle method to estimate the immigration surplus to the native born population and conclude that the benefit of immigration is very small in proportion to the size of the US economy and thus the United States does not to stand to lose much if immigration is further restricted. This calculation neglects the rent seeking costs that the US economy bears when immigration policy is politically determined. This study estimates the rent seeking losses that the US economy could suffer if immigration policy were reformed to further close the borders.
The archaeological identification of an ancient Peruvian pilgrimage center

Abstract Nasca society of the south coast of Peru has been interpreted as a small militaristic empire led from an urban capital called Cahuachi. Recent investigations, however, yielded no data in support of that reconstruction. Rather, excavations at Cahuachi revealed the site to be an empty ceremonial center with little evidence of a dense, permanent, domestic occupation. Yet, in the construction fills of the site's many mounds, there is a quantity of refuse, including the remains of ritual paraphernalia and quotidian artifacts. The lack of permanent domestic settlement, but evidence of intensive site use, is explained by postulating episodic pilgrimage activities. This model is supported by comparison of Cahuachi's spatial patterns and material remains to those found at other Central Andean pilgrimage centers, ancient and modern.
High spatial frequency structured light imaging negates absorption effects in fluorescence imaging

Fluorescence guided surgery is hampered by absorption and scatter, which confound interpretation of fluorescence. High-frequency fluorescence structured light imaging enables real-time model-independent absorption and scatter correction.
A review of the empirical status of tranditional modes of interpersonal helping: Implications for social work practice

The empirical status of traditional modes of interpersonal helping are reviewed in terms of client deterioration, spontaneous remission, and immediate and long-term effects. Necessary therapeutic conditions for client change, such as genuineness, nonpossessive warmth, and accurate empathic understanding, are discussed. Variables contributing to the ineffectiveness of traditional modes of interpersonal helping are elaborated in terms of the following: the medical model of mental disease, behavior as symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, labeling and stigmatization, the training of clinical social workers, conflict models of human behavior, academic achievement and fieldwork practice, criteria for the selection of theories of human behavior and induced change, and the relationship between academic performance and effectiveness in the field of clinical practice. The rationale is presented for a new type of social worker, the behavioral social worker, whose profile is reviewed in terms of knowledge base, behavioral skills, and value base.
New perspectives on the impulsive roughness-perturbation of a turbulent boundary layer

The zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layer over a flat plate was perturbed by a short strip of two-dimensional roughness elements, and the downstream response of the flow field was interrogated by hot-wire anemometry and particle image velocimetry. Two internal layers, marking the two transitions between rough and smooth boundary conditions, are shown to represent the edges of a ‘stress bore’ in the flow field. New scalings, based on the mean velocity gradient and the third moment of the streamwise fluctuating velocity component, are used to identify this ‘stress bore’ as the region of influence of the roughness impulse. Spectral composite maps reveal the redistribution of spectral energy by the impulsive perturbation – in particular, the region of the near-wall peak was reached by use of a single hot wire in order to identify the significant changes to the near-wall cycle. In addition, analysis of the distribution of vortex cores shows a distinct structural change in the flow associated with the perturbation. A short spatially impulsive patch of roughness is shown to provide a vehicle for modifying a large portion of the downstream flow field in a controlled and persistent way.
Applications of Doppler echocardiography in cardiac pacing.

The purpose of this article is to review the use of Doppler echocardiography for assessing responses during cardiac pacing. Doppler techniques allow the physician to select the optimal mode pacemaker and pacemaker settings with regard to heart rate and atrioventricular delay, at rest and during exercise. Doppler parameters can be used to predict the relative hemodynamic advantage of dual chamber or rate adaptive pacing over fixed rate pacing. This valuable noninvasive modality may enhance the benefit of pacemaker therapy. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 8, January 1991)
Using sector financial statements and ARMS data to prepare statements of owner equity and cash flows for the agricultural sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the feasibility of preparing a statement of owner equity (SOE) and statement of cash flows (SOCF) for the agricultural sector. Also, the use of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) to collect data needed to supplement the US farm sector accounts to prepare a sector SOE and SOCF is discussed.Design/methodology/approach – An SOE and SOCF for an individual producer was used to provide an example format for preparing an SOE and SOCF for the agricultural sector and to identify the data needed from the ARMS survey to supplement farm sector accounts.Findings – The format and data needed to prepare a sector SOE and SOCF were identified and the feasibility of the collection of that data using current ERS/USDA survey collection methods would provide the data needed to prepare the statements. However, the use of two independent data collection authorities to collect the data would result in an agricultural sector SOE and SOCF that would not reconcile.Or...
Surface Features of Bacillus polymyxa Spores as Revealed by Scanning Electron Microscopy

The surface features of Bacillus polymyxa spores were compared by use of thin sections, carbon replicas, and the scanning electron microscope. Some features of the characteristic ridges, previously reported in ultrathin sections and carbon replicas of spores of this species, were more clearly revealed with the scanning electron microscope. A three-dimensional image is provided because of the greater depth of focus possible with this instrument. End-on views of B. polymyxa spores readily illustrate the polygonal porelike structure present.
An indirect current sensing technique for IDDQ and IDDT tests

An indirect current sensing technique for IDDQ and IDDT tests is proposed in this paper. This is accomplished by utilizing the pervasive on-chip voltage regulators and thus have little or no impact on CUT's design and its performance. We demonstrate that the proposed technique can be applied to both IDDQ and IDDT tests. Experiments were successfully conducted in SPICE simulations assuming the TSMC 0.18μm CMOS technology.
IMRT optimization based on the generalized equivalent uniform dose (EUD)

Equivalent Uniform Dose (EUD) for tumors is defined as the biologically equivalent dose which, if given uniformly, leads to the same cell kill in the tumor volume as the actual non-uniform dose distribution. Recently it has been generalized to include normal tissue as well. Typically EUD Is between the minimum and mean dose for critical structures and it is between the mean and maximum dose for tumors. EUD can be a useful endpoint in evaluating treatment plans with non-uniform dose distributions for 3D conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT) and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT). In this study we investigate the feasibility of using the generalized EUD in the objective functions for IMRT optimization. The authors applied the EUD based optimization to a group of head and neck cancer patients and compared plans with those generated with dose-volume based criteria. They found that the EUD based optimization improves the sparing of critical structures while maintaining the same or better target coverage. Since EUD for tumors is not sensitive to the "hot spot", the target dose distributions are more inhomogeneous. While this may be considered beneficial for some sites, it is not generally acceptable. To circumvent this, the authors treated the target as a type of normal structure with constraints on the maximum dose. This lead to a much-improved target dose homogeneity with minimal effect on normal structures. The authors' preliminary investigations indicate that EUD based optimization can be a viable alternative to the currently widely used dose- and dose-volume based optimizations.
2007 TechEd Annual Conference: Conference Report

Purpose – To report on the 2007 Annual TechEd Conference held in Ontario, California.Design Methodology/approach – The annual conference aims to provide attendees with continuing product demonstrations, vendor presentations, invited papers and social events that will help promote new methods of instruction at all levels, but especially in higher education. Exhibits from vendors include technology, course management systems, information materials and services.Findings – Instructional technology is driving changes in high school, community college and undergraduate education, especially as distance education becomes a bigger component in all methods of traditional academic as well as new launches in higher education, continuing education and lifelong learning.Practical implications – Many case studies and presentations were made demonstrating the implementation of technology and different applications in a range of educational environments. Library implementation is not always the focus but topics about tea...
CORT: classification or regression trees

We challenge three of the underlying principles of CART, a well know approach to the construction of classification and regression trees (CART). Our primary concern is with the penalization strategy employed to prune back an initial, overgrown tree. We reason, based on both intuitive and theoretical arguments, that the pruning rule for classification should be different from that used for regression (unlike CART). We also argue that growing a tree-structured partition that is specifically fitted to the data is unnecessary. Instead, our approach to tree modeling begins with a nonadapted (fixed) dyadic tree structure and partition, much like that underlying multiscale wavelet analysis. We show that dyadic trees provide sufficient flexibility, are easy to construct, and produce near-optimal results when properly pruned. Finally, we advocate the use of a negative log-likelihood measure of empirical risk. This is a more appropriate empirical risk for non-Gaussian regression problems, in contrast to the sum-of-squared errors criterion used in CART regression.
Linking movement behavior and fine-scale genetic structure to model landscape connectivity for bobcats (Lynx rufus)

Spatial heterogeneity can constrain the movement of individuals and consequently genes across a landscape, influencing demographic and genetic processes. In this study, we linked information on landscape composition, movement behavior, and genetic differentiation to gain a mechanistic understanding of how spatial heterogeneity may influence movement and gene flow of bobcats in the agricultural landscape of Iowa (USA). We analyzed movement paths of 23 animals to parameterize landscape resistance surfaces, applied least cost path analysis to generate measures of effective geographic distance between DNA collection locations of 625 bobcats, and tested the correlation between genetic distance and the different models of geographic distance. We found that bobcats showed a strong preference for forest over any other habitat type, and that incorporating information on habitat composition both along the path and in the surrounding landscape provided the best model of movement. Measures of effective geographic distance were significantly correlated with genetic distance, but not once the effects of Euclidean distance were accounted for. Thus, despite the impact of habitat composition on movement behavior, we did not detect a signature of a landscape effect in genetic structure. Our results are consistent with the issue of limiting factors: the high uniformity of forest fragmentation across southern Iowa, the primary study area, results in a landscape resistance pattern virtually indistinguishable from the isolation-by-distance pattern. The northern portion of the state, however, is predicted to pose a high level of resistance to bobcat movement, which may impede the regional genetic connectivity of populations across the Midwest.
Role of the vitamin D-endocrine system in the pathophysiology of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Impaired calcium absorption and impaired adaptation to a low calcium diet are common features of aging in women and these processes are even more severely impaired in patients with osteoporotic fractures. The calcium absorption defects are associated with several abnormalities of the vitamin D-endocrine system including secondary hyperparathyroidism, intestinal resistance to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) action, decreased 1,25(OH)2D production due to impaired 25(OH)D 1α-hydroxylase activity, and, in some elderly persons, nutritional deficiency of vitamin D. However, in postmenopausal women, most of these abnormalities are normalized by administration of physiologic replacement dosages of estrogen and, thus, appear to be secondary consequences of estrogen deficiency. Nonetheless, a minority of them, especially nutritional vitamin D deficiency and impaired 25(OH)D 1α-hydroxylase activity late in life, appear to be primary and are independent of estrogen deficiency. J. Cell. Biochem. 88: 209–215, 2003. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Effect of initial preform porosity on solid-state foaming of titanium

Titanium foams were produced by the expansion of pressurized argon pores trapped within a preform during a previous powder-consolidation step. Compared with creep expansion at 903 °C, superplastic expansion (induced by a 830-980 °C cycling around the allotropic temperature of titanium) increases foaming rate and final porosity. The pore size and fraction in the preforms were varied by using a range of initial titanium powder sizes and argon pressures. As initial preform porosity increases from 0.06 to 2.7%, foaming rate increases in the early stages of creep and superplastic foaming. However, at a later stage, foaming ceases prematurely for preforms with high initial porosity, as pores connect to the surface, allowing the escape of the pressurized argon. Preforms with 0.40% initial porosity result in foams with an optimal combination of high foaming rate, high final porosity (up to 47%), tailorable open or closed porosity, and Young’s modulus as low as 23 GPa.
SIRT1 is a direct coactivator of thyroid hormone receptor β1 with gene-specific actions.

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) NAD+-dependent deacetylase regulates energy metabolism by modulating expression of genes involved in gluconeogenesis and other liver fasting responses. While many effects of SIRT1 on gene expression are mediated by deacetylation and activation of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor coactivator α (PGC-1α), SIRT1 also binds directly to DNA bound transcription factors, including nuclear receptors (NRs), to modulate their activity. Since thyroid hormone receptor β1 (TRβ1) regulates several SIRT1 target genes in liver and interacts with PGC-1α, we hypothesized that SIRT1 may influence TRβ1. Here, we confirm that SIRT1 cooperates with PGC-1α to enhance response to triiodothyronine, T3. We also find, however, that SIRT1 stimulates TRβ1 activity in a manner that is independent of PGC-1α but requires SIRT1 deacetylase activity. SIRT1 interacts with TRβ1 in vitro, promotes TRβ1 deacetylation in the presence of T3 and enhances ubiquitin-dependent TRβ1 turnover; a common response of NRs to activating ligands. More surprisingly, SIRT1 knockdown only strongly inhibits T3 response of a subset of TRβ1 target genes, including glucose 6 phosphatase (G-6-Pc), and this is associated with blockade of TRβ1 binding to the G-6-Pc promoter. Drugs that target the SIRT1 pathway, resveratrol and nicotinamide, modulate T3 response at dual TRβ1/SIRT1 target genes. We propose that SIRT1 is a gene-specific TRβ1 co-regulator and TRβ1/SIRT1 interactions could play important roles in regulation of liver metabolic response. Our results open possibilities for modulation of subsets of TR target genes with drugs that influence the SIRT1 pathway.
Circuit Approaches to Nonlinear-ISI Mitigation in Noise-Shaped Bandpass D/A Conversion

This paper focuses on the analysis of nonlinear inter-symbol interference (ISI) in RF bandpass delta-sigma power digital-to-analog converters (DACs). Digital RF transmitters based on direct delta-sigma modulation have been proposed for efficient linear multi-functional radios. We show that a realistic one-bit DAC limits the linearity of such a transmitter. The linearity is discussed in terms of ISI, for both single-ended and differential DAC circuits. Theoretical and experimental comparisons are given with a three-tone delta-sigma test signal at a 1.5 GHz clock frequency with 60 MHz possible signal bandwidth centered at 375 MHz. The signal-to-noise-and-distortion (SINAD) is shown to be improved for the differential case. It is also shown that circuit design and bias voltages have a dramatic effect on signal linearity.
Teachers' Response to Standards-Based Reform: Probing Reform Assumptions in Washington State

Because teachers’ efforts are central to the success of standards-based reform, it behooves the policy community to look carefully at the beliefs about instruction that are rooted in this reform theory. Building on teacher-centric research on standards-based reform and ideas about teaching practice from research on multicultural education, this paper focuses on the assumptions embedded in Washington state’s approach. Survey data from a representative sample of teachers suggest that the state’s program of high student learning standards, aligned assessments and an accountability system has shaped teachers’ instructional
Using a distance metric on genetic programs to understand genetic operators

I describe a distance metric called "edit" distance which quantifies the syntactic difference between two genetic programs. In the context of one specific problem, the 6 bit multiplexor, I use the metric to analyze the amount of new material introduced by different crossover operators, the difference among the best individuals of a population and the difference among the best individuals and the rest of the population. The relationships between these data and run performance are imprecise but they are sufficiently interesting to encourage further investigation into the use of edit distance.
Development of the adjoint of GEOS-Chem

We present the adjoint of the global chemical transport model GEOS-Chem, focusing on the chemical and thermodynamic relationships between sulfate – ammonium – nitrate aerosols and their gas-phase precursors. The adjoint model is constructed from a combination of manually and automatically derived discrete adjoint algorithms and numerical solutions to continuous adjoint equations. Explicit inclusion of the processes that govern secondary formation of inorganic aerosol is shown to afford efficient calculation of model sensitivities such as the dependence of sulfate and nitrate aerosol concentrations on emissions of SOx, NOx, and NH3. The adjoint model is extensively validated by comparing adjoint to finite difference sensitivities, which are shown to agree within acceptable tolerances; most sets of comparisons have a nearly 1:1 correlation and R2>0.9. We explore the robustness of these results, noting how insufficient observations or nonlinearities in the advection routine can degrade the adjoint model performance. The potential for inverse modeling using the adjoint of GEOS-Chem is assessed in a data assimilation framework through a series of tests using simulated observations, demonstrating the feasibility of exploiting gas- and aerosol-phase measurements for optimizing emission inventories of aerosol precursors.
Stably Expressed APOBEC3F Has Negligible Antiviral Activity

APOBEC3F (A3F) is a member of the family of cytidine deaminases that is often coexpressed with APOBEC3G (A3G) in cells susceptible to HIV infection. A3F has been shown to have strong antiviral activity in transient-expression studies, and together with A3G, it is considered the most potent cytidine deaminase targeting HIV. Previous analyses suggested that the antiviral properties of A3F can be dissociated from its catalytic deaminase activity. We were able to confirm the deaminase-independent antiviral activity of exogenously expressed A3F; however, we also noted that exogenous expression was associated with very high A3F mRNA and protein levels. In analogy to our previous study of A3G, we produced stable HeLa cell lines constitutively expressing wild-type or deaminase-defective A3F at levels that were more in line with the levels of endogenous A3F in H9 cells. A3F expressed in stable HeLa cells was packaged into Vif-deficient viral particles with an efficiency similar to that of A3G and was properly targeted to the viral nucleoprotein complex. Surprisingly, however, neither wild-type nor deaminase-defective A3F inhibited HIV-1 infectivity. These results imply that the antiviral activity of endogenous A3F is negligible compared to that of A3G.
A Reservation and Equipment Management System for Secure Hands-on Remote Labs for Information Technology Students

Distance education programs in Information Technology (IT) suffer from several unique challenges. First, technology equipment like computers, routers, switches, and Information Security hardware is expensive and could easily consume a large portion of a department's annual budget. Second, suitable access to the equipment by students is often limited to normal faculty workdays, excluding evenings and weekends. Finally, adapting labs for delivery through any means other than the traditional classroom environment is extremely difficult in terms of resources, development time, and commitment from faculty and administrators. In this paper, the authors present an in-house solution that was developed to allow students to reserve computers, routers, and switches via the Internet; conduct their hands-on exercises at their convenience, save/restore their configurations and exercises, and automatically restore the equipment to neutral state for the next user
A recursive weighted minimum norm algorithm: Analysis and applications

Reliable estimation of a highly localized signal from insufficient data is a difficult problem common to many fields. The authors present an iterative weighted norm minimization method that utilizes a posteriori constraints for the estimation of such signals. Analysis is performed to determine the convergence properties and characterize the solutions of the algorithm. The advantages and applications of the approach and the new algorithm are demonstrated using electromagnetic imaging and direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation problems. >
Theoretical and numerical aspects of an SVD-based method for band-limiting finite-extent sequences

The authors present an SVD-based method for band-limiting over-sampled discrete-time finite-extent sequences. For this purpose, they show that finite-extent band limitation is best defined in terms of the discrete prolate spheroidal sequences rather than complex exponentials. Their method has maximum energy concentration as defined in the paper, its dimension agrees asymptotically with Slepian's (1978) dimension result, and the method specializes correctly to the discrete-time Fourier transform as the sample size tends to infinity. They propose an efficient computational method, based on the Lanczos algorithm, for computing only the necessary singular vectors. The SVD is signal-independent, only needs to be done once and can be precomputed. The SVD-based band limitation itself is not necessarily much slower than the fast Fourier transform for sample sizes on the order of 4096. >
Assessment of Solution Uncertainties in Single-Column Modeling Frameworks

Single-column models (SCMs) have been extensively promoted in recent years as an effective means to develop and test physical parameterizations targeted for more complex three-dimensional climate models. Although there are some clear advantages associated with single-column modeling, there are also some significant disadvantages, including the absence of large-scale feedbacks. Basic limitations of an SCM framework can make it difficult to interpret solutions, and at times contribute to rather striking failures to identify even first-order sensitivities as they would be observed in a global climate simulation. This manuscript will focus on one of the basic experimental approaches currently exploited by the single-column modeling community, with an emphasis on establishing the inherent uncertainties in the numerical solutions. The analysis will employ the standard physics package from the NCAR CCM3 and will illustrate the nature of solution uncertainties that arise from nonlinearities in parameterized physics. The results of this study suggest the need to make use of an ensemble methodology when conducting single-column modeling investigations.
Virtual Testbed for Assessing Probe Vehicle Data in IntelliDrive Systems

This paper presents an effort to develop a virtual testbed for assessing probe vehicle data generation by IntelliDrive vehicles within a microscopic traffic-simulation environment. Simulation capabilities are implemented through the development of a portable plug-in module using the application programming interface of the Paramics microscopic traffic simulation. This module simulates the generation of snapshots by individual vehicles, the uploading of these snapshots to roadside units, and some probe vehicle data postprocessing. While some temporary simplifying assumptions are made, the simulation generally follows operational concepts described in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J2735 Surface Vehicle Standard. Application of the model is demonstrated by simulating IntelliDrive probe data collection over the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)'s Michigan Proof-of-Concept testbed. Simulation results show the sensitivity of probe data collection to communication range, market penetration, number of active roadside communication units (RSEs), interval between snapshots, and snapshot buffer size. Impacts on link travel time estimates are also presented. These results clearly demonstrate the utility of the simulator in conducting evaluations and sensitivity analyses for scenarios that would be difficult to execute in existing testbeds.
A comparison of internal timings on Bare Machine and OS-based email servers

Bare Machine (bare) email servers, which run on an ordinary PC without any commercial operating system, kernel, or other centralized support, have been shown to outperform conventional email servers that require an operating system (OS). The absence of an OS allows implementation of an email server that is lean and efficient, and able to reduce the usual communication overhead by intertwining the server application with the necessary network protocols. We identify critical points with respect to performance on a bare email server, and compare the associated internal timings with those for Java-based email servers with equivalent functionality running on Linux and Windows respectively. The results provide insight into email server operation at a protocol level, and explain the performance gains due to intertwining in the bare email server implementation. It is seen that bare email servers perform better than the OS-based servers at both the application level and the protocol level. Internal timings associated with critical server operations provide a useful means for comparing bare machine servers and their OS-based counterparts.
Lu Xun’s Ah Quism: a study of its intrinsic nature and transcultural value

Although Lu Xun’s literary achievements are many-sided, his greatest achievement is perhaps the creation of The True Story of Ah Q and the cultural concept Ah Quism. Since the publication of the fictional work, however, Ah Quism has remained a topic of controversy. This article attempts to explore what may have caused the widely different opinions, what significance the concept may have beyond the immediate context of Chinese society, and whether it has transcultural values over time. By re-examining Ah Q and Ah Quism from an interdisciplinary and transcultural perspective, this article argues that Ah Q is not merely a typical character under typical circumstances, but an artistic representation of an existential problem. In the final analysis, Ah Quism is a private religion, or an individual’s source of solace, capable of providing emotional consolation to and restoring mental equilibrium for anyone in distress and disappointment, irrespective of age, gender, race, nationality, and social status. This is where Lu Xun’s novella transcends the immediate context of Chinese culture and the local achievement of Chinese literature. The transcultural significance of Ah Quism endows Lu Xun’s novella with a lasting literary value in Chinese and world literature and guarantees its enduring appeal to readers of different times and traditions.
Misconceptions About Statistics and Statistical Evidence

Thanks in large part to advances in computing and information technology, statistics are everywhere. Whether the information concerns business, health, politics, sports, or nearly anything else, it is likely to appear in statistical form. The front page of the country’s highest circulation daily newspaper (USA Today) is littered with descriptive statistics and graphical depictions of those statistics. The star of a popular prime-time television show called Numbers solves fictional legal cases each week through the innovative use of statistics and statistical reasoning. And so, it is no surprise that statistics and statistical arguments find their way into the American courtroom at an unprecedented rate. Fienberg (1989 reported “dramatic growth” in the use of statistical evidence from the 1960s through the 1980s. He noted that the terms “statistic” or “statistical” appeared in thousands of reported district court opinions (p. 7). I performed a Westlaw search on these terms and found a 56% increase in the use of these terms in the Federal Cases database from 1990 to 2004. I also found that the phrase “statistical analysis” appeared 94% more often in 2004 than in 1990; “regression analysis” appeared 95% more often.
Abstract 9448: The Association Between Adiponectin and Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension in African American Men and Women: The Jackson Heart Study

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of adiponectin and its interaction with socioeconomic status (SES) on likelihood of type 2 diabetes and hypertension in 3,663 African American men and women in the Jackson Heart Study. Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that, after adjusting for confounders, men and women with lower levels of adiponectin would have significantly higher risk of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Methods: Separate logistic regression models for type 2 diabetes and hypertension were stratified by sex. Models were analyzed with adiponectin as the primary predictor divided into 4 quartiles with quartile 4 as the highest level and the reference. Sequential multivariate models included age, biological indices (low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, homoeostasis model assessment [[Unable to Display Character: –]] insulin resistance, C-reactive protein), behavioral indices (body mass index, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption status), a fully adjusted model including SES based on annual household income collapsed into 3 categories p Results: There was no association between adiponectin and type 2 diabetes and hypertension among men. There was an interaction among men who had the lowest level of adiponectin and SES and the likelihood of type 2 diabetes (odds ratio [OR], 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.77, [0.79, 6.68], p = .02). Adiponectin level was inversely associated with type 2 diabetes among women (OR, 95% CI = 1.47, [1.02, 2.11], p = .04). Women with the lowest level of adiponectin were less likely to be hypertensive (OR, 95% CI = 0.66 [0.46, 0.95], p = .02). There was an interaction among women with the lowest levels of adiponectin and SES being less likely to be hypertensive (OR, 95% = 0.43, [0.25, 0.76], 0.48, [0.36, 0.93], p = .03 and .03, respectively). Conclusion: Findings reveal significant differential associations between adiponectin and type 2 diabetes and hypertension, including an interaction with SES among AA men and women.
The effect of slow zones on ridership: An analysis of the Chicago Transit Authority “El” Blue Line

Transit agencies frequently upgrade rail tracks to bring the system to a state of good repair (SGR) and to improve the speed and reliability of urban rail transit service. For safety during construction, agencies establish slow zones in which trains must reduce speed. Slow zones create delays and schedule disruptions that result in customer dissatisfaction and discontinued use of transit, either temporarily or permanently. While transit agencies are understandably concerned about the possible negative effects of slow zones, empirical research has not specifically examined the relationship between slow zones and ridership. This paper partially fills that gap. Using data collected from the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Customer Experience Survey, CTA Slow Zone Maps, and, the Automatic Fare Collection System (AFC), it examines whether recurring service delays due to slow zones affect transit rider behavior and if the transit loyalty programs, such as smart card systems, increase or decrease rider defections. Findings suggest that slow zones increase headway deviation which reduces ridership. Smart card customers are more sensitive to slow zones as they are more likely to stop using transit as a result of delay. The findings of this paper have two major policy implications for transit agencies: (1) loyalty card users, often the most reliable source of revenue, are most at risk for defection during construction and (2) it is critical to minimize construction disruptions and delays in the long run by maintaining state of good repair. The results of this paper can likely be used as the basis for supporting immediate funding requests to bring the system to an acceptable state of good repair as well as stimulating ideas about funding reform for transit.
High Performance Cognitive Skill Acquisition: Perceptual/Rule Learning

Two experiments examined the effects of inter-component consistency on skill acquisition in a class of cognitive demanding tasks requiring rapid integration of information as well as rapid application of rules. The role of consistency of external stimulus-to-rule linkage in facilitating the learning and performing of a rule-based classification task was examined. The present data have implications for the understanding and training of skilled problem solving tasks. When training allows the development of automatization of subcomponents of the problem solving activity, the chance of memory overload is reduced. The present data point to one such trainable subcomponent clearly present in most real-world problem solving situations - the perceptual and rule-based components.
The Limits of Determinacy in Attitude Measurement

PREDICTABILITY of the phenomena it studies is a necessary postulate of any science, for unless predictability is assumed scientific research is futile. Predictability is also partly a testable hypothesis, of course, and the findings of many studies are now available which clearly attest to the predictability of human interaction. Sociology, then, clearly has a subject matter which is amenable to scientific study. Have we reached a point in the development of sociology, however, where we may have to take account of limits on the predictability of our subject-matter? Does the fact that human beings are imperfect discriminal mechanisms impose an insurmountable limitation on measurement in the social sciences? It is the purpose of this paper to analyze a subtle but fundamental noninstrument source of indeterminacy in attitude measurement and to consider some of its implications.
Modeling and Analysis for Cross-Organizational Workflow:An Overview

The paper firstly classifies and summarizes the previous research in cross-organizational workflow modeling,includes both the perspective of the intra-organizational and inter-organizational workflow.Then it overviews the workflow research from qualitatively and quantitatively.Finally,it concludes the managerial significance of the research in this area and explores the future research directions according to the deficiency of the available research.
The Consideration of Law Network Information Resources

This text describes the concepts and types of the online law information, introduces the distribution and retrieval methodolog, analyes some questions in searching the online law information,and brings up some suggestions.
Abstract 3751: Apoptosis inducer gene delivery by polylysine-calcium complexes attenuates mouse lung carcinoma allograft growth after intravenous injection or intratracheal spray

Transfection efficiency and toxicity concerns remain a challenge for gene therapy. Nanoparticle-based gene delivery technique potentially overcomes these concerns and may be applicable to cancer gene therapy. Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have been broadly investigated to improve the transfection of genetic material (e.g., pDNA and siRNA). Our previous study demonstrated that an apoptosis inducer, angiotensin II type 2 receptor plasmid DNA (pAT2R) encapsulated in a modified HIV-1 TAT peptide (dTAT-pAT2R), significantly attenuated the growth of Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) allograft in mouse lungs (Kawabata et al., Cancer Res, 2012). Here, we report a newly synthesized polylysine CPP (K9 peptide)-based gene therapy for lung cancer treatment. The pAT2R and K9 peptide (K9-pAT2R) complexes were condensed using calcium chloride (K9-pAT2R-Ca2+). The resulting complexes were small (∼150 nm) and showed high levels of gene expression in vitro. This simple non-viral formulation approach showed negligible cytotoxicity in several different human and mouse cell lines (human cervix, breast, kidney, and human and mouse lung cell lines). Additionally, this K9-pDNA-Ca2+ complex demonstrated cancer targeted gene delivery when administered via intravenous (IV) injection or intratracheal (IT) spray into LLC orthotopic allograft-bearing mice. Average lung weights (mg) of the K9-pAT2R-Ca2+ IT (190.6±48.3) and the K9-pAT2R-Ca2+ IV (201.6±67.0) treated groups were significantly smaller than that of the control PBS group (325.7±69.4, P
Associations between Family Adversity and Brain Volume in Adolescence: Manual vs. Automated Brain Segmentation Yields Different Results.

Associations between brain structure and early adversity have been inconsistent in the literature. These inconsistencies may be partially due to methodological differences. Different methods of brain segmentation may produce different results, obscuring the relationship between early adversity and brain volume. Moreover, adolescence is a time of significant brain growth and certain brain areas have distinct rates of development, which may compromise the accuracy of automated segmentation approaches. In the current study, 23 adolescents participated in two waves of a longitudinal study. Family aggression was measured when the youths were 12 years old, and structural scans were acquired an average of 4 years later. Bilateral amygdalae and hippocampi were segmented using three different methods (manual tracing, FSL, and NeuroQuant). The segmentation estimates were compared, and linear regressions were run to assess the relationship between early family aggression exposure and all three volume segmentation estimates. Manual tracing results showed a positive relationship between family aggression and right amygdala volume, whereas FSL segmentation showed negative relationships between family aggression and both the left and right hippocampi. However, results indicate poor overlap between methods, and different associations between early family aggression exposure and brain volume depending on the segmentation method used.
The intersections of Colonial policy and Colonial practice: Creolization on the eighteenth-century Louisiana/Texas frontier

By the mid-18th century, the population that lived on the Louisiana/Texas frontier was comprised of French, Spanish, Native American, African, and creoles (or mixed-bloods). French and Spanish colonial policies dictated the kinds of social and economic relations that were to exist between people of different racial and ethnic groups on the frontier. Colonial practices often ran counter to official policies, however, as individuals crossed social and racial borders created by the Crown to construct not only multiethnic communities but also multiethnic households. This process of creolization resulted in the negotiation of new colonial identities for those that did not fit into neat colonial categories. Using ethnohistoric and archaeological data, the process of creolization that occurred within multiethnic communities and households along the colonial Louisiana/Texas border is considered.
A mermithid nematode, Cretacimermis aphidophilus sp. n. (Nematoda: Mermithidae), parasitising an aphid (Hemiptera: Burmitaphididae) in Myanmar amber: a 100 million year association

A new species of fossil mermithid, Cretacimermis aphidophilus sp. n. (Nematoda: Mermithidae), is described from the primitive extinct aphid, Caulinus burmitis (Hemiptera: Burmitaphididae), in mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber. Aphid parasitism by mermithid nematodes is rare today with only two known cases involving root-feeding aphids. Based on the habits of the parasitised extant aphid hosts, it is likely that the fossil aphid was also a root parasite and encountered the infective stage mermithid in the soil. Such fossils provide rare glimpses of nematode-host associations from the distant past and provide minimum dates for the appearance of specific mermithid clades.
‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ Encodes a Functional Salicylic Acid (SA) Hydroxylase That Degrades SA to Suppress Plant Defenses

Pathogens from the fastidious, phloem-restricted ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ species cause the devastating Huanglongbing (HLB) disease in citrus worldwide and cause diseases on many solanaceous crops and plants in the Apiaceae family. However, little is known about the pathogenic mechanisms due to the difficulty in culturing the corresponding ‘Ca. Liberibacter’ species. Here, we report that the citrus HLB pathogen ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ uses an active salicylate hydroxylase SahA to degrade salicylic acid (SA) and suppress plant defenses. Purified SahA protein displays strong enzymatic activity to degrade SA and its derivatives. Overexpression of SahA in transgenic tobacco plants abolishes SA accumulation and hypersensitive response (HR) induced by nonhost pathogen infection. By degrading SA, ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ not only enhances the susceptibility of citrus plants to both nonpathogenic and pathogenic Xanthomonas citri but also attenuates the responses of citrus plants to exogenous SA. In addition, foliar sprayin...
Pseudonymity, Gnosis, and the Self in Gnostic Literature

Why did Sethian gnostic authors write pseudonymously? In addition to making a claim to authority, gnostic pseudepigraphy, exemplified by The Three Tablets of Seth, was multiple and performative, implying that the self is multiple—a manifestation of selfhood at different levels of a single reality—and that performing one’s self as multiple provides a path to higher knowledge of one’s self and thus of God. That is, gnostic pseudonymity stems from a distinctive understanding of the self and functions as a mystical practice that performs that understanding. The eschewal of pseudonymity in Valentinian literature reflects different conceptions of the self and of the path to gnosis.
Air-Sea Exchange of Mercury

Investigations of Hg in the near surface marine atmosphere in rainwater and in seawater have been conducted in open ocean regions of the tropical Pacific and the northwest Atlantic Oceans. Extensive studies of Hg in the atmosphere at the Sea-Air Exchange Program (SEAREX) tower facility at the Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands, were completed during 1979 while the southern hemisphere counterpart will be conducted at American Samoa in 1981. During 1979–1980 complementary work was conducted in the coastal marine environment of Long Island Sound. The distribution and chemical composition of atmospheric Hg have been examined using both Au and Ag amalgamation as selective trapping agents. Mercury analyses were conducted by a two-stage Au amalgamation flameless atomic absorption technique (4% precision @ 0.5 ng). Mercury determinations in seawater and in rainwater were made by the Au amalgamation procedure after reduction and aeration.
Green Care as Psychosocial Intervention for Depressive Symptoms: What Might Be the Key Ingredients?

BACKGROUND: Green care is an umbrella term for psychosocial interventions that integrate biotic and abiotic elements of nature to promote an individual’s health and well-being. Green care decreases...
Region segmentation using LiDAR and camera

Inspired by the ideas behind superpixels, which segment an image into homogenous regions to accelerate subsequent processing steps (e.g. tracking), we present a sensor-fusion-based segmentation approach that generates dense depth regions referred to as supersurfaces. This method aggregates both a point cloud from a LiDAR and an image from a camera to provide an over-segmentation of the three-dimensional scene into piece-wise planar surfaces by utilizing a multi-label Markov Random Field (MRF). A comparison between this method that generates supersurfaces, image-based superpixels, and RGBD-based segments using a subset of KITTI dataset is provided in the experimental results. We observed that supersurfaces are less redundant and more accurate in terms of average boundary recall for a fixed number of segments.
Time-stable overset grid method for hyperbolic problems using summation-by-parts operators

Abstract A provably time-stable method for solving hyperbolic partial differential equations arising in fluid dynamics on overset grids is presented in this paper. The method uses interface treatments based on the simultaneous approximation term (SAT) penalty method and derivative approximations that satisfy the summation-by-parts (SBP) property. Time-stability is proven using energy arguments in a norm that naturally relaxes to the standard diagonal norm when the overlap reduces to a traditional multiblock arrangement. The proposed overset interface closures are time-stable for arbitrary overlap arrangements. The information between grids is transferred using Lagrangian interpolation applied to the incoming characteristics, although other interpolation schemes could also be used. The conservation properties of the method are analyzed. Several one-, two-, and three-dimensional, linear and non-linear numerical examples are presented to confirm the stability and accuracy of the method. A performance comparison between the proposed SAT-based interface treatment and the commonly-used approach of injecting the interpolated data onto each grid is performed to highlight the efficacy of the SAT method.