cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
“Flirting with Boundaries”: A Professor's Narrative Tale Contemplating Research of the Wild Side

This narrative explores some of the boundaries that ethnographers may encounter as they contemplate the viability of studying their own behavior in risque social settings. The author examines his personal journal entries written about his participation in the downtown college party scene—the wild side—in Athens, Georgia, for ways that his professional identity, race, gender, age, sexuality, and marital status place him in a precarious professional position. His statuses negate the viability of formally studying college students' social behavior because his own behavior as a participant-observer would flirt with, rub against, or cross social, administrative, or legal boundaries. The author concludes that ethnographers' narratives expose human vulnerabilities, but it is these vulnerabilities that give the narratives their richness for explaining the workings of broader society.
Scotus on the existence of a first efficient cause

L'A. examine l'argument de l'existence d'une cause efficiente premiere et offre une lecture et une critique des deux derniers chapitres de Tractatus De Primo Principio de John Duns Scot, dans lesquels il voit un ingenieux melange des elements figurant dans les versions classiques des arguments ontologiques et cosmologiques.
Endogenously released dopamine inhibits the binding of dopaminergic PET and SPECT ligands in superfused rat striatal slices

Pharmacologically induced changes in synaptic levels of dopamine (DA) have been found, in some studies, to affect the in vivo binding of dopaminergic radioligands. In the present study we used a superfused brain slice preparation to examine the effect of synaptically released dopamine on the binding of some commonly used PET and SPECT radioligands under more controlled conditions than those present in vivo. The release of DA was evoked by electrical stimulation of striatal slices and the sensitivity of binding of the D1 receptor ligand, [3H]SCH 23390, the D2 receptor ligands [3H]raclopride and [123I]epidepride, and the DA uptake transporter ligands, [3H]WIN 35,428 and [123I]RTI-55, to the frequency of stimulation examined. Most affected by stimulation was the specific binding of [3H]SCH 23390, which was fully inhibited at 2.5 Hz. This was followed by [3H]raclopride and [123I]epidepride, respectively, the binding of the latter showing only a 50% reduction at the highest frequency of 10 Hz. [3H]WIN 35,428 and [123I]RTI-55 binding was unaffected by stimulation. The effects of stimulation on [3H]raclopride binding were prevented by reserpine pretreatment of the rat, when combined with inclusion of the dopamine synthesis inhibitor, alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine, in the superfusate medium. We conclude that, in brain slices, the binding of D1 and D2 receptor ligands but not that of DA uptake transporter ligands is readily inhibited by DA released into the synaptic cleft. Brain slices may prove to be a useful model system for the investigation of factors affecting competition between radioligand binding and endogenous neurotransmitters.
A reliability generalization study of coefficient alpha for the life orientation test

Dispositional optimism is a widely studied construct in social science and medicine associated with a variety of important psychological and physiological outcomes. Our purpose in this study was to examine coefficient alpha for a popular optimism measure: The Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier & Carver, 1985). We utilized a meta-analytic procedure known as reliability generalization to provide an aggregate estimate of coefficient alpha across empirical studies that have employed the scale over time and across populations. Furthermore, we identified sample and demographic characteristics associated with variance in coefficient alpha. We discuss conditions associated with variability in coefficient alpha and provide suggestions for continued research for the LOT.
Walking through Doorways Causes Forgetting: Further Explorations:

Previous research using virtual environments has revealed a location-updating effect in which there is a decline in memory when people move from one location to another. Here we assess whether this effect reflects the influence of the experienced context, in terms of the degree of immersion of a person in an environment, as suggested by some work in spatial cognition, or by a shift in context. In Experiment 1, the degree of immersion was reduced by using smaller displays. In comparison, in Experiment 2 an actual, rather than a virtual, environment was used, to maximize immersion. Location-updating effects were observed under both of these conditions. In Experiment 3, the original encoding context was reinstated by having a person return to the original room in which objects were first encoded. However, inconsistent with an encoding specificity account, memory did not improve by reinstating this context. Finally, we did a further analysis of the results of this and previous experiments to assess the differential influence of foregrounding and retrieval interference. Overall, these data are interpreted in terms of the event horizon model of event cognition and memory.
An Application of the Quantum Model to Improve Sexual Intimacy for a Sexagenarian Couple with Erectile Dysfunction

A clinical case study of a couple in their sixties that presents with sexual avoidance related to erectile dysfunction. The author applies the Quantum Model to assist the couple in reestablishing sexual intimacy.
The relationship of oral hygiene to embrasure and pontic design—A preliminary study

M ost clinicians agree that embrasures and pontics should be designed so as to create conditions most favorable to the gingival and alveolar mucosa.l-” Because of the complications involved in establishing controls, researchers have not been able to express the desired shape of an embrasure in quantitative terms. Although there have been some attempts to correlate pontic design with the condition of the underlying mucosa,“-7 further study of the influence of dental plaque in these areas was indicated. A clinical evaluation program was conducted to determine whether there were dimensions of embrasures and pontic designs which were more favorable than others to the health of the gingiva and the underlying mucosa (Fig. 1) . One hundred embrasures and 42 pontics were studied in six patients over a three-year period. The embrasures were formed by restorations either between natural teeth, natural teeth and pontics, or between pontics. A separate study of plaque retention in relation to these dimensions and designs was made in one patient over a twelve-week period.
KMA Remarketing Corporation

KMA Remarketing Corporation (KMA) was founded by Dana Smith and Bill Boyle in 1993 in Du Bois, Pennsylvania. The company is primarily engaged in the purchase, resale, service, appraisal and liquidation of pre-owned medical, dental, ophthalmic and emergency medical equipment. The cornerstones of KMA business values are integrity, diligence, cost containment and quality products. Mr. Smith is the President and CEO of the company, and Mr. Boyle is the Vice President and the CFO of the company. They both have a background in emergency medical services. They realised that there is great demand for affordable and quality medical products. They also knew that there is a tremendous amount of used equipment available in the USA and Canada. They set up their business to acquire equipment, recondition and market it. The company also offers medical equipment appraisal and liquidation services.
Evaluating quality of life in dermatomyositis

Quality of life (QoL) is significantly affected in patients with dermatomyositis (DM), with physical and emotional symptoms having a negative impact on a patient’s QoL. Several skin disease-specific and global medical measurement tools are available, but few studies have assessed QoL in DM patients. In this article, we review skin disease-specific tools and instruments used in QoL assessments in cutaneous diseases and DM patients, in addition to reviewing two global QoL assessment tools that are frequently used in skin disease patients. A search of the literature yielded two studies that measured QoL in DM. One studied the effect of cutaneous symptoms on QoL in DM, and the second studied the impact of both systemic and cutaneous symptoms on QoL in DM. We searched Medline for studies related to QoL in all disease subsets of DM from the period of 1990 to 2010. In addition, reference lists of articles and conference proceedings from international dermatology and rheumatology meetings were reviewed. The tools...
INTERPRETATION OF ELECTRIC FIELD GRADIENTS AT DEUTERIUM AS MEASURED BY SOLID-STATE NMR SPECTROSCOPY

Abstract A simple interpretative scheme is presented to describe the deuterium quadrupole coupling constant and asymmetry parameter in a wide variety of chemical environments.
Software development, nomenclature schemes, and mapping strategies for an international pediatric cardiac surgery database system.

The field of congenital heart surgery has the opportunity to create the first comprehensive international database for a medical subspecialty. An understanding of the demographics of congenital heart disease and the rapid growth of computer technology leads to the realization that creating a comprehensive international database for pediatric cardiac surgery represents an important and achievable goal. The evolution of computer-based data analysis creates an opportunity to develop software to manage an international congenital heart surgery database and eventually become an electronic medical record. The same database data set for congenital heart surgery is now being used in Europe and North America. Additional work is under way to involve Africa, Asia, Australia, and South America. The almost simultaneous publication of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery/Society of Thoracic Surgeons coding system and the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology coding system resulted in the potential for multiple coding. Representatives of the Association for European Paediatric Cardiology, Society of Thoracic Surgeons, European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery, and European Congenital Heart Surgeons Foundation agree that these hierarchical systems are complementary and not competitive. An international committee will map the two systems. The ideal coding system will permit a diagnosis or procedure to be coded only one time with mapping allowing this code to be used for patient care, billing, practice management, teaching, research, and reporting to governmental agencies. The benefits of international data gathering and sharing are global, with the long-term goal of the continued upgrade in the quality of congenital heart surgery worldwide. Copyright © 2002 by W.B. Saunders Company
Photochemical surface mapping of C14S-Sml1p for constrained computational modeling of protein structure

Photochemically generated hydroxyl radicals were used to map solvent-exposed regions in the C14S mutant of the protein Sml1p, a regulator of the ribonuclease reductase enzyme Rnr1p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By using high-performance mass spectrometry to characterize the oxidized peptides created by the hydroxyl radical reactions, amino acid solvent-accessibility data for native and denatured C14S Sml1p that revealed a solvent-excluding tertiary structure in the native state were obtained. The data on solvent accessibilities of various amino acids within the protein were then utilized to evaluate the de novo computational models generated by the HMMSTR/Rosetta server. The top five models initially generated by the server all disagreed with both published nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data and the solvent-accessibility data obtained in this study. A structural model adjusted to fit the previously reported NMR data satisfied most of the solvent-accessibility constraints. Through minor adjustment of the rotamers of two amino acid side chains for this latter structure, a model that not only provided a lower energy conformation but also completely satisfied previously reported data from NMR and tryptophan fluorescence measurements, in addition to the solvent-accessibility data presented here, was generated.
Modeling blast wave propagation using artificial neural network methods

The paper reports on work concerned with the development of artificial neural network approaches to modeling the propagation of bomb blast waves in a built-up environment. A review of current methods of modeling blast wave propagation identifies a need for a modeling system that is both fast and versatile in its scope of application. This is followed by a description of a preliminary study that used artificial neural networks to estimate peak pressures on buildings protected by simple blast barriers, using data generated from, first, an existing empirical model and, second, miniature bomb-barrier-building experiments. The first of these studies demonstrates the viability of the approach in terms of producing accurate results very rapidly. However, the study using data from live miniature bomb-barrier-building experiments was inconclusive due to a poor distribution of the sample data. The paper then describes on-going research refining this artificial neural network approach to allow the modeling of the time-wise progress of the blast wave over the surfaces of critical structures, facilitating a three-dimensional visualization of the problem. Finally, the paper outlines a proposed novel method of modeling blast wave propagation that uses a coarse-grain simulation approach combined with artificial neural networks, which has the goal of extending modeling to complicated geometries while maintaining rapid processing.
Identification and characterization of a Dictyostelium discoideum ribosomal protein gene

We have identified a developmentally repressed large-subunit ribosomal protein gene of Dictyostelium discoideum based on sequence similarity to other ribosomal proteins. Protein rpl7 is homologous to large subunit ribosomal proteins from the rat and possibly to Mycoplasma capricolum and Escherichia coli, but is not similar to three sequenced ribosomal proteins in Dictyostelium. The rpl7 gene is present at one copy per genome, as are six other cloned Dictyostelium ribosomal proteins. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms exist for ribosomal protein genes rpl7, rp1024, and rp110 in strain HU182; most Dictyostelium ribosomal protein genes examined are linked no closer than 30-100 kb to each other in the genome. Dictyostelium ribosomal proteins are known to be developmentally regulated, and levels of rpl7 transcript gradually decrease during the 24-hour development cycle. This drop correlates with that of rp1024, indicating these and other ribosomal protein genes may be coordinately regulated. To determine the cellular location of the protein, we raised antibodies to an rpl7-derived branched synthetic peptide. These antibodies cross-reacted with one protein of the expected size in a ribosomal protein fraction of Dictyostelium, indicating that the product of gene rpl7 is localized in the ribosome.
Carl Jung and Maximus the confessor on psychic development: the dynamics between the ‘psychological’ and the ‘spiritual’

Like all good books with a specific focus, Carl Jung and Maximus the Confessor on Psychic Development is more important to scholarship than its specific title suggests. This book does so much more ...
Overdrive pacing for atrial flutter

To determine the incidence and predictors of conversion to normal sinus rhythm, a total of 124 procedures using a standard pacing protocol were performed in 101 consecutive inpatients referred for pace termination of atrial flutter. Normal sinus rhythm was achieved in 75 pace termination procedures (60%), including 10 in which atrial fibrillation occurred initially and later converted spontaneously. Sustained atrial fibrillation was provoked in 39 procedures, and atrial flutter persisted in 10. Clinical and laboratory parameters, including use of antiarrhythmic drugs, were not helpful in predicting the outcome of pacing. Of 17 patients undergoing repeat pacing for recurrent flutter, concordant results were obtained in only 4. It is concluded that: (1) overdrive pacing is only a moderately effective means of restoring sinus rhythm in patients with atrial flutter, although some change in rhythm occurs in the vast majority; (2) pacing-induced atrial fibrillation may be unstable and spontaneously converts to sinus rhythm in > 20% of cases; (3) there are no clinically useful predictors of success; (4) antiarrhythmic drugs do not facilitate pacing-induced conversion to sinus rhythm; and (5) failure to convert to sinus rhythm with 1 episode of flutter does not preclude success on subsequent occasions.
Granulated activated carbon modified with hydrophobic silica aerogel-potential composite materials for the removal of uranium from aqueous solutions.

Aqueous solutions of 100 parts per billion (ppb) uranium at pH 7 were treated with granulated activated carbon (GAC) that had been modified with various formulations of hydrophobic aerogels. The composite materials were found to be superior in removing uranium from a stock solution compared to GAC alone evaluated by a modified ASTM D 3860-98 method for batch testing. The testing results were evaluated using a Freundlich adsorption model. The best performing material has parameters of n = 2.87 and Kf = 1169 compared to n = 1.00, and Kf = 20 for GAC alone. The composite materials were formed by mixing (CH3O)4Si with the hydrophobic sol−gel precursor, (CH3O)3SiCH2CH2CF3 and with specified modifiers, such as H3PO4, Ca(NO3)2, and (C2H5O)3SiCH2CH2P(O)(OC2H5)2, gelation catalysts, and GAC in a supercritical reactor system. After gelation, supercritical extraction, and sieving, the composites were tested. Characterization by FTIR and 31P NMR indicate the formation of phosphate in the case of the H3PO4 and Ca(NO3)...
ASSESSMENT OF VALVULAR REGURGITATION WITH DOPPLER ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY

Echocardiography is currently the first investigation offered to patients with valvular heart disease and, in some cases, the only test needed for their management. It provides information on the presence and severity of the lesions and on the ventricular response to the resulting overload. Accordingly, it is not surprising that several echocardiographic parameters allow proper timing of valvular surgery and successfully predict symptoms and ventricular function postoperatively. Furthermore, patients still benefit after surgery from echocardiographic studies that assess the ventricular size and function, the success of the repair procedures, and prosthetic valve function. This article uses an integrative approach of two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography to describe the semiquantitative and quantitative methods used to assess the severity of regurgitant lesions.
How to Scuttle a Scholarly Communication Initiative

Since Clifford Lynch’s infamous call to arms (2003), academic libraries have been wasting their time trying to change the scholarly communication system on the feeblest of rationalizations. Proper librarians know that the current system is obviously the most sustainable, since it’s lasted this long and provided so much benefit to libraries (Rogers, 2012a) and profit to organizations as diverse as Elsevier, Nature Publishing Group, and the American Chemical Society, as well as their CEOs (Berrett, 2012). Moreover, faculty have proclaimed loudly and clearly that they believe libraries’ central role is to be the campus’s collective knowledge wallet (Schonfeld & Housewright, 2010; Lucky, 2012), so who are librarians to argue?
Blood Pressure and Emotional Responses to Stress: Perspectives on Cardiovascular Reactivity

It has long been thought that increases in blood pressure in response to stress are associated with emotional responses to stress. The health implications of such an association are clear; excessive emotional reactivity leads to excessive cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), which is associated with cardiovascular disease. However, the data do not support a strong association between CVR and emotional responses to acute stress. This lack of support has lead to research that interprets CVR to stress in at least three different ways: (1) as a potential contributor to disease development, (2) as an index of active coping, or (3) as a multidimensional construct that is affected by cognitive appraisals of a situation. In this article, we review these separate perspectives on CVR and suggest that a multidimensional perspective of CVR and emotional responding to stress may help integrate the CVR – health, effort, and appraisal points of view.
Commentary: Will academia embrace comparative effectiveness research?

In recent medical history, a number of therapies that were widely adopted based on observational data or pathophysiological constructs turned out to be useless or even harmful when tested in randomized comparative effectiveness trials. These therapies not only harmed patients but also did a disservice to the practical education of medical students, residents, and fellows. These trainees effectively learned that it is acceptable to implement practices even in the absence of high-quality evidence, and so they may not have learned how to analyze the quality of evidence. In this issue of Academic Medicine, seven groups address critical aspects of the intersection between comparative effectiveness research (CER) and academic medicine. Their topics include the need at academic health centers for cultural shifts, for addressing conflicts of interest, for exploiting academic talent and electronic information resources, for interacting well with policy makers, for incorporating economic evaluations, for incorporating tests of educational methods, for developing multidisciplinary models, and for integrating CER into “predictive health.” This commentary argues that academia must embrace CER by insisting on the highest levels of evidence, by viewing all clinical interactions as opportunities for scientific advancement, by setting an example for policy makers and colleagues working in nonacademic settings, and by engaging all physicians in the clinical research enterprise.
The Impact of Information on Students' Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Coyotes

Providing information to the public about a species can impact the public's attitudes toward that species. Overall, providing information in any of four categories of information about coyotes positively influenced attitudes toward coyotes using six attitudinal measurements (p < .01). Behavior statements most positively influenced attitudes, followed by images of coyotes, statements about humans and coyotes, and statements about coyote ecology. How well specific pieces of information were received is also discussed.
A 10-b, 75-MHz two-stage pipelined bipolar A/D converter

A 4-b flash first quantizer is cascaded with an efficient 7-b second quantizer to attain 10-b resolution after error correction. As the second quantizer itself embodies analog subranging through folding and interpolation, its complexity is comparable with that of the first quantizer. An input track and hold preceding the first quantizer acquires dynamic signals with low distortion, and a second track and hold delays the analog residue signal to pipeline the operation of the two quantizers. This collection of components, accompanied by all necessary digital circuits for encoding and error correction is fabricated on an all-NPN 4-GHz f/sub T/ bipolar IC measuring 4*4 mm, which dissipates 800 mW from +or-5-V supplies. At a 75-MEPi conversion rate, the untrimmed ADC exhibits 59 db S/(N+D) with a 6-MHz full-scale input, which diminishes by only 3 dB when the input frequency rises to 50 MHz. >
Age-related ventricular–vascular coupling during acute inflammation in humans: Effect of physical activity

BackgroundAging is commonly accompanied by increased arterial and ventricular stiffness (determined by arterial elastance (Ea) and ventricular elastance (Elv)), augmented ventricular–vascular coupl...
A video support model for liberal arts colleges

Supporting video in the liberal arts college context is a broad topic including training and instruction, production, event support, simulcasting, film festivals, college courses on video, media lab support, internships for students, software and hardware access, and loaner pools of equipment. Williams College has been working to develop a support model to handle the wide ranging video support needs of the college. The evolving model makes use of existing course support programs, a well defined training path for student employees, and project based initiatives. Developing our understanding of video production, support and training, has increased our capacity at Williams College to support video based scholarship on campus.
A deseeded Avena test method for small amounts of auxin and auxin precursors

In 1927 Went isolated the growth promoting hormone, auxin, from the tip of the Arena coleoptile, and worked out the now well known Arena test method for its quantitative determination. By the use of this method the chemistry and many phases of the physiological action of auxin have been studied. In physiological work, however, the amounts of hormone involved are frequently so small that quantitative or even qualitative work has often been very difficult or impossible. In this article is presented a supplementary procedure with deseeded Arena seedlings whereby smaller concentrations of the hormone not detectable by the standard method can be quantitatively determined. By the use of this method it has also been possible to demonstrate directly the existence of substances capable of being converted into auxin by the plant. Some data relative to the presence of a precursor of auxin in Arena and synthetic precursors of hereto-auxin are included.
Control strategy for cascade multilevel inverter based STATCOM with optimal combination modulation

Static synchronous compensation (STATCOM) is a flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) device connected in shunt to the network for generating or absorbing reactive power. The STATCOM is used to regulate voltage, control power factor and stabilize power flow. The transformerless STATCOM is attractive due to low cost and power losses. Cascaded multilevel inverters are viable topologies for the transformerless STATCOM since each power semiconductor device only sustains low voltage. To meet IEEE 519 standard and keep low switching frequency, an optimal combination modulation strategy is used, which leads to some challenges in designing the controller, such as extra switching and the balancing of individual dc capacitor voltages. In this paper, the design of the controller is specified. Simulation results and experimental results are shown to verify the performance of the proposed control strategy.
Modelling process mean and variation with MLP neural networks

Abstract Most industrial processes are intrinsically noisy and non-deterministic. To date, most multilayer perceptron (MLP)-based process models were established for process mean only. This paper proposes an approach to modelling the mean and variation of a non-deterministic process simultaneously using a MLP network. The input neurons consist of process variables and one additional neuron for the Zα value. The corresponding output responses are calculated based on y 1 = y i ±t k−1 , α sp/√k. The process variance sp2 is determined by pooling the individual sample variances for k experimental conditions. Each sample variance is calculated from the replicated data. The effects of a number of hidden neurons and learning algorithms are studied. Two learning algorithms are applied. They are the back-propagation with momentum (BPM) and Fletcher-Reeves (FR) algorithms. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is tested with a fictitious process and an actual manufacturing process. The test results are provided and discussed.
Fitness Landscapes - 20 Years Later

I never told Stu Kauffman this, but, when I set out to climb fitness peaks with him 20 years ago as his post-doc, I was a bit suspicious that we were over-simplifying things - at least as far as biological evolution was concerned. Biological evolution, after all, is a dynamical process, and there are many aspects of the dynamics that are not obvious from knowledge of the landscape alone. While my subsequent career has been in quantitative finance, I kept thinking about these caveats, even as I was working with those infamous sub-prime mortgage backed securities, the ones that caused the financial crisis.
LDL particle size distribution. Results from the Framingham Offspring Study.

Using 2-16% gradient gel electrophoresis, we examined low density lipoprotein (LDL) particle size in relation to plasma lipoproteins in 1,168 women and 1,172 men from the Framingham Offspring Study. In addition, we studied the effect of dietary intake on LDL size in a subset of the population. Seven LDL size peaks were identified, with the largest, LDL 1, being found in the density range 1.019-1.033 g/ml; LDL 2 and LDL 3 in d = 1.033-1.038 g/ml; LDL 4 and LDL5 in d = 1.038-1.050 g/ml; and the smallest, LDL 6 and 7, in d = 1.050-1.063 g/ml. Seventy-seven percent of the population had one major and at least one minor LDL peak. Secondary LDL peaks accounted for 23% of the total LDL relative area, based on laser scanning densitometry. LDL size distribution was skewed toward larger LDL particles in women (prevalence of LDL 1, 30% and of LDL 2, 31%), whereas men exhibited a more symmetric distribution (prevalence of LDL 3, 42%). The prevalence of small ( 1.038 g/ml) LDL particles 4-7 was 33% in men, 5% in premenopausal women, and 14% in postmenopausal women. In agreement with previous reports, small, dense LDL particles were significantly (p or = 160 mg/dl) had 1) a higher prevalence of LDL 3 and 4 (women only) and a lower prevalence of LDL 1 and 2 (women only) and 2) 11% higher LDL cholesterol to apo B ratios, even when matched for LDL particle size. Furthermore, low saturated fat and cholesterol intakes were significantly associated (p < 0.01) with smaller LDL particles. Therefore, the identification of small, dense LDL particles per se may not be a good indicator of coronary artery disease risk in population studies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Obesity and Mortality

Obesity is now considered to be a major contributor to premature mortality globally. Despite great interest in this topic, there remains much uncertainty over the most appropriate methods that should be applied to obtain accurate estimates of the obesity–mortality association. This article reviews the current evidence on the obesity–mortality association. I discuss pertinent methodological issues and recent advances in our understanding of this association. I then discuss the obesity–mortality association in an international context and potential secular changes in this association.
DAF-16/FOXO regulates transcription of cki-1/Cip/Kip and repression of lin-4 during C. elegans L1 arrest

Development is typically studied as a continuous process under laboratory conditions, but wild animals often develop in variable and stressful environments. C. elegans larvae hatch in a developmentally arrested state (L1 arrest) and initiate post-embryonic development only in the presence of food (E. coli in lab). In contrast to the well-studied dauer arrest, L1 arrest occurs without morphological modification, although larvae in L1 arrest are more resistant to environmental stress than developing larvae . Consistent with its role in dauer formation and aging, we show that insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling regulates L1 arrest. daf-2 insulin/IGF receptor mutants have a constitutive-L1-arrest phenotype when fed and extended survival of L1 arrest when starved. Conversely, daf-16/FOXO mutants have a defective-arrest phenotype, failing to arrest development and dying rapidly when starved. We show that DAF-16 is required for transcription of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor cki-1 in stem cells in response to starvation, accounting for the failure of daf-16/FOXO mutants to arrest cell division during L1 arrest. Other developmental events such as cell migration, cell fusion, and expression of the microRNA lin-4, a temporal regulator of post-embryonic development, are also observed in starved daf-16/FOXO mutants. These results suggest that DAF-16/FOXO promotes developmental arrest via transcriptional regulation of numerous target genes that control various aspects of development.
To Quantize or Not to Quantize: Fact and Folklore in Quantum Gravity

Does the need to find a quantum theory of gravity imply that the gravitational field must be quantized? Physicists working in quantum gravity routinely assume an affirmative answer, often without being aware of the metaphysical commitments that tend to underlie this assumption. The ambition of this article is to probe these commitments and to analyze some recently adduced arguments pertinent to the issue of quantization. While there exist good reasons to quantize gravity, as this analysis will show, alternative approaches to gravity challenge the received wisdom. These renegade approaches do not regard gravity as a fundamental force, but rather as effective, i.e. as merely supervening on fundamental physics. I will urge that these alternative accounts at least prove the tenability of an opposition to quantization.
X-Ray Pulsar-Based Relative Navigation using Epoch Folding

How the relative position between two spacecraft can be estimated utilizing signals emitted from X-ray pulsars is explained. The mathematical models of X-ray pulsar signals are developed, and the pulse delay estimation problem is formulated. The Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for any unbiased estimator of the pulse delay is presented. To retrieve the pulsar photon intensity function, the epoch folding procedure is characterized. Based on epoch folding, two different pulse delay estimators are introduced, and their performance against the CRLB is studied. One is obtained by solving a least squares problem, and the other uses the cross correlation function between the empirical rate function and the true one. The effect of absolute velocity errors on position estimation is also studied. Numerical simulations are performed to verify the theoretical results.
Vector Competence of North American Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) for West Nile Virus

We evaluated the potential for several North American mosquito species to transmit the newly introduced West Nile (WN) virus. Mosquitoes collected in the New York City metropolitan area during the recent WN virus outbreak, at the Assateague Island Wildlife Refuge, VA, or from established colonies were allowed to feed on chickens infected with WN virus isolated from a crow that died during the 1999 outbreak. These mosquitoes were tested ≈2 wk later to determine infection, dissemination, and transmission rates. Aedes albopictus (Skuse), Aedes atropalpus (Coquillett), and Aedes japonicus (Theobald) were highly susceptible to infection, and nearly all individuals with a disseminated infection transmitted virus by bite. Culex pipiens L. and Aedes sollicitans (Walker) were moderately susceptible. In contrast, Aedes vexans (Meigen), Aedes aegypti (L.), and Aedes taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann) were relatively refractory to infection, but individual mosquitoes inoculated with WN virus did transmit virus by bite. Infected female Cx. pipiens transmitted WN virus to one of 1,618 F1 progeny, indicating the potential for vertical transmission of this virus. In addition to laboratory vector competence, host-feeding preferences, relative abundance, and season of activity also determine the role that these species could play in transmitting WN virus.
Geodesics and Distance

In this chapter, we study in detail the relationships among geodesies, lengths, and distances on a Riemannian manifold. A primary goal is to show that all length-minimizing curves are geodesies, and that all geodesies are length minimizing, at least locally. A key ingredient in the proofs is the symmetry of the Riemannian connection. Later in the chapter, we study the property of geodesic completeness, which means that all maximal geodesies are defined for all time, and prove the Hopf-Rinow theorem, which states that a Riemannian manifold is geodesically complete if and only if it is complete as a metric space.
Trait Socio-Cognitive Mindfulness is Related to Affective and Cognitive Empathy

Research regarding the relationship between empathy and mindfulness is sparse. Within the social scientific literature, there are two major branches of mindfulness research: meditative mindfulness (Kabat-Zinn in Gen Hosp Psychiatry 4(1):33–47, 1982) and non-meditative, socio-cognitive mindfulness (Langer and Moldoveanu in J Soc Issues 56(1):1–9, 2000). Meditative mindfulness is the awareness that arises through paying attention non-judgmentally to the present moment whereas socio-cognitive mindfulness is the process of drawing novel distinctions leading to greater attention to the present moment and sensitivity to context. We hypothesized that the two types of mindfulness would correlate with each other and with empathy broadly defined but that there would be divergence in these relationships given their conceptual distinctions. Four hundred and eighty-four participants from Mechanical Turk completed tasks of socio-cognitive mindfulness, meditative mindfulness, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and social desirability. Socio-cognitive mindfulness correlated with both affective and cognitive empathy as well as with meditative mindfulness. Meditative mindfulness correlated with only affective empathy but not with cognitive empathy. These findings suggested that, in contrast to meditative mindfulness, socio-cognitive mindfulness involves cognitive processes (e.g., perspective-taking, flexibility) potentially amenable to experimental manipulation aimed at increasing empathy more generally.
Geometry of respiratory phase switching

A second-order ordinary differential equation is outlined for the temporal dynamics of the respiratory central pattern generator (RCPG). Recurrent interactions between central excitation and inhibition confine the breathing cycle to the interior of a heteroclinic orbit between switching points (saddle equilibria) located at end expiration (E-I) and end inspiration (I-E). Dynamics depend on four eigenvalues that control inspiratory drive (lambda), excitability of inspiratory off switch (omega 1; stage 1 expiration), rate of central excitation disinhibition (omega 2; stage 2 expiration), and damping of the oscillator (epsilon). Ratios omega 2/lambda and omega 1/lambda determine local E-I and I-E phase switching, whereas inspiratory-to-expiratory balance varies as omega 2/(lambda omega 1). Stable apnea is seen when (lambda omega 2)/epsilon is near zero; inspiratory apneusis is seen when (lambda omega 1)/epsilon is low. The equations provide formalisms for discussing phase switching, apneas, apneuses, phase resetting and singularities, rapid shallow breathing, postinhibitory rebound excitation, redundancy, gating within the RCPG, and behavioral control of breathing. The model is offered as an explicit alternative to the harmonic oscillator models that have been used in the past to describe RCPG function.
Electron microscopy of purified Lansing virus.

ConclusionsThe results mentioned in the preceding paper as well as those given here lead to the conclusion that the Lansing virus, unlike Theiler's virus and probably the SK mouse virus, is a relatively spherical or slightly asymmetrical particle of about 25 mμ average particle diameter. It may be recalled that a somewhat similar conclusion was reported for the MV virus.5 It appears to the present authors that such values for the size of these strains of poliomyelitis virus of human origin are also more in accord with the filtration end-point data and the conditions that have been found necessary for sedimentation in the ultracentrifuge.Presented at, the Symposium of the Division of Biologieal Chemistry of the American Chemical Society on Biochemical and Biophysical Studies on Viruses at Atlantie City on April 12, 1946.
Presence of progesterone in extracts of ovaries of laying hens.

SummaryProgesterone has been detected on chromatograms of extracts of ovaries of laying hens and identification has been confirmed by radioautographic fingerprinting.
Nanoscale Sensors for Health Monitoring in Prolonged Space Missions.

We present a nanoscale biomolecule sensor for use in immune system monitoring in astronauts on long space flights in conditions of microgravity. Silicon nanowire based sensors were fabricated in single crystal Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) wafers and have a footprint of approximately 1 μm. The versatile sensing transduction mechanism, through functionalization of the nanowire surface, allows for sensor adaptation to many relevant biomolecular targets. The ability to directly read out sensor data electronically eliminates the need for large optical analysis equipment necessary in traditional biomolecule sensing devices. Despite the fact that the sensors were found to have excellent transistor characteristics and promising results have been previously reported, much work remains in making the sensors behave in a more reliable and reproducible fashion necessary for critical tasks such as health monitoring.
Efficacy of VIP as Treatment for Bacteria-Induced Keratitis Against Multiple Pseudomonas aeruginosa Strains

Purpose Previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) treatment in regulating inflammation following bacterial keratitis induced by the P. aeruginosa strain 19660. However, in the current study we assessed whether disease outcome is specific to 19660 or if VIP treatment is effective against multiple P. aeruginosa strains.
Cultural implications of business strategy-making

The central issue in strategy formulation and implementation process, or strategy-making, is the identification of environmental forces and the preparation of a plan of action to deal with them. This necessitates scanning the environment for gathering information. Environmental scanning should enable the firm to identify these forces. Doing this not only calls for information gathering, but also for deciding what to look for, where to look, and what to select from the very large amount of information available. These steps are based on culturally programmed perception processes. Also, strategy-making requires assessing internal capabilities of the firm. Both, internal and external steps in the strategy-making process involve perception and thinking, both of which are influenced by culture. Therefore, country differences can be expected in each step. In this regard, the process of strategy-making varies among managers of different cultures. This paper addresses these issues and discusses implications of cultural differences on the strategy-making process.
Segmental conditional random fields with deep neural networks as acoustic models for first-pass word recognition.

Discriminative segmental models, such as segmental conditional random fields (SCRFs), have been successfully applied to speech recognition recently in lattice rescoring to integrate detectors across different levels of units, such as phones and words. However, the lattice generation has been constrained by a baseline decoder, typically a frame-based hybrid HMMDNN system, which still suffers from the well-known frame independent assumption. In this paper, we propose to use SCRFs with DNNs directly as the acoustic model, a one-pass unified framework that can utilize local phone classifiers, phone transitions and long-span features, in direct word decoding to model phones or sub-phonetic segments with variable length. We describe a WFST-based approach to utilize the proposed acoustic model efficiently with the language model in first-pass word recognition. Our evaluation on the WSJ corpus shows our SCRF-DNN system outperforms a hybrid HMM-DNN system and a frame-level CRF-DNN system using the same label space.
Postoperative monitoring of cerebral blood flow in patients harboring intracranial aneurysms.

Fifteen patients harbouring intracranial aneurysms were monitored postoperatively. A thermal diffusion flow probe was placed on the cortex, in an area of interest, and continuous recording of cerebral blood flow (CBF) was carried out for 1-4 days. Vasospasm can also be detected by clinical deterioration, increased velocity by transcranial Doppler, and by angiographical evidence of decrease in vessel calibre. A comparison was made between these methods of determining vasospasm and changes in CBF. Three patients had unruptured aneurysms and no evidence of vasospasm. These patients had a range of CBF from 44 to 100 cc 100 g–1 min –1 with a daily mean of 78 cc 100 g–1 min –1 One patient was operated on, in a delayed fashion, after a period of vasospasm on post-subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) Day 18 and was found to have a CBF of 40 cc 100 g–1 min–1 when the pCO2 was 21 Torr and the mean blood pressure (BP) was 99 Torr. The development of vasospasm was correlated with a CBF of less than 40 cc 100 g–1 min–1. Som...
Successful Surgical Treatment of a Patient with a Solitary Asymptomatic Cardiac Metastasis from Breast Cancer, Identified by Elevated Tumor Markers and Circulating Tumor Cells

Indroduction : Cardiac metastases are a not infrequent autopsy finding in patients dying of metastatic cancer, but are less commonly diagnosed during life (1). Although the autopsy incidence of cardiac metastases ranges may be as high as 25%, solitary cardiac metastases in the absence of metastatic involvement of other organs are rare (2). Case Presentation : We report here the case of a 66-year old woman with a history of bilateral breast cancer, where a solitary metastasis in the right atrium was successfully resected. Conclusion : In the absence of any symptoms or clinical findings on physical examination, the presence of metastatic disease was first suggested by the detection of elevated tumor markers and circulating tumor cells during routine follow up after treatment for early stage breast cancer.
A Comparative Study of Si/Ge and GaSb/InAs Tunnel FET-Based Cellular Neural Network

This work presents a comparative analysis of Si/Ge and GaSb/InAs heterojunction Tunnel FET (TFET)-based cellular neural networks (CNNs). TFET-based CNNs are also compared against an equivalent FinFET-based CNN. A simulation methodology is shown to project realistic estimation of TFET-CNN performance based on the measured IDS-VGS characteristics of TFETs. III-V-TFET (i.e., GaSb/InAs TFET) shows a higher performance in CNN than Si/Ge-TFET due to a higher ON-current and much steeper switching slope (SS) in III-V-TFET. Meanwhile, Si/Ge-TFET shows a much lower OFF-current than III-V-TFET, and it is more suitable for ultralow power CNN applications. Cohesive simulation methodology discussed in the work also identifies that suppression of trap-assisted-tunneling (TAT)-induced leakage is critical to enable energy efficient TFET-based CNN. While a higher gate-to-drain capacitance (CGD, Miller capacitance) becomes a challenge in TFET-based digital designs, suitable design techniques are described to suppress its implications in throughput efficiency of TFET-CNN. Application of TFET-CNN is considered for image processing. Power-performance characteristics of CNN designs based on both the TFETs are compared.