cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with positive relationships between stepfathers and adolescent stepchildren.

Abstract This study employs nationally representative data on adolescents and their stepfathers ( n = 2085) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine factors associated with positive stepfather–stepchild relationships in married stepfamilies. Results reveal substantial variability in the perceived quality of adolescents’ relationships with stepfathers. Structural equation models using Wave I data reveal that close relationships with mothers and close ties between mothers and stepfathers are positively related to the perceived quality of adolescents’ relationships with stepfathers. Longitudinal models using Waves I and II do not yield definitive results but suggest that the direction of influence runs in both directions, with the mother–child relationship and the stepfather–stepchild relationship mutually reinforcing one another. We identify a number of other factors that are associated with positive stepfather–stepchild ties, as well as a few factors that may be less consequential than previously thought. Most of the correlates of positive stepfather–stepchild relationships are similar for boys and girls; for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics; and for stepfamilies of various durations.
Intensity of Heart Sounds in the Evaluation of Patients following Myocardial Infarction

The amplitude and intensity of heart sounds were measured at the chest wall in 25 patients with acute myocardial infarction in order to determine what meaningful clinical information can be derived from observing the intensity of the heart sounds. During the early period after infarction, the first heart sound (S 1 ), the aortic component of the second heart sound (A 2 ), and the pulmonary component of the second heart sound (P 2 ) each were lower (P 2 increased in 19 of 25 patients. Among the 19 patients who showed an increase in A 2 , the PEP/LVET decreased (improved) (P 2 , as shown by recently described mechanisms of production of the second heart sound, is due to a reduction of left ventricular isovolumic relaxation. Similarly, the reduced P 2 implies that right ventricular isovolumic relaxation also was affected by the infarction. Variations of S 1 seem to relate to variations of the left ventricular contractile state. The results of this study indicate that the intensity of heart sounds at the chest wall in patients with normal valves and normal transmission of sound is measurably diminished in patients following myocardial infarction. Noticeable ausculatory variations of the intensity of heart sounds can serve as a meaningful guide to the evaluation of ventricular performance at the bedside.
Decay and interference theories of short-term forgetting

Decay und interference theories of short-term forgetting were evaluated. Length of recall interval and amount of retroactive interference were systematically varied. In order to eliminate rehearsal, incidental recall was measured. Forgetting was not affected by varying length of recall interval, but it increased as amount of interference was increased. Results are interpreted as support for an interference theory of short-term forgetting.
Incorporation of host nuclear materials into transplanted tumour cells in surgical wounds.

AREAS of acute inflammation contain extracellular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) derived principally from dead leucocytes1–3. It has been suggested that components of this DNA may be re-utilized by proliferating cells; but direct evidence for this concept has not been reported3,4.
Teaching Key Competencies in Liberal Arts Education

The study of the liberal arts provides an exemplary arena for students to become active learners. The complexity of modern society requires a broader understanding of societal problems rather than a specialized one. Real problems are multifaceted and demand multifaceted solutions. Engaging students in the study of the liberal arts can provide a basis for lifelong learning and civic involvement.
TOWARD AN INSTITUTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE ON REGIONAL SCIENCE: AN APPROACH VIA THE REGIONALIZATION QUESTION

Thougk neither of us is especially well-versed in contemporary continental philosophy, we have each recently been attracted by the essays of Leszek Kolakowski. One in particular strikes us as an interesting way to motivate the present argument: "Esau, or the Relation of Philosophy to Trade" [28]. The essay begins by recounting the infamous birthright/pottage exchange between Esau (an epistemological realist) and Jacob (a kind of combined idealist/pragmatist). Kolakowski [ p. 24 ] proposes four morals to the legend that we feel are worth repeating :
Multiple aperture exit plate for field-widening a Fabry-Perot interferometer.

Replacement of the central exit aperture of a conventional Fabry-Perot (F.P.) photoelectric interferometer with a multiple annulus exit plate provides a substantial gain in luminosity while maintaining resolving power in the study of extended sources of radiation. The design, fabrication, assembly, and testing of multiple aperture exit plates (MAEPs) which pass 6 interference orders via a central aperture and five concentric annular openings are described. The measured luminosity gains and inferred aperture finesses of MAEPs used with 150- and 100-mm aperture F.P.s are quite close to the design values of 6 and 14.5, respectively.
Low Molecular Weight Branched-Chain and n-Chain Fatty Acids in Caprine and Bovine Colostrum

Colostrum from French-Alpine and Anglo-Nubian goats and Holstein cows was collected and analyzed for both total and FFA of 12 and fewer carbon atoms. Short-chain VFA were separated from long-chain fatty acids using simultaneous distillation extraction. The n-butyl esters of fatty acids were quantified by gas chromatography, and their identity was confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The concentration of decanoic acid was 33 and 83% less in Holstein colostrum than in colostrum from Alpine and Nubian goats, respectively. Colostrum from Nubian goats had twice as much decanoic acid as colostrum from Alpine goats. The FFA in colostrum that differed between species but not between goat breeds were octanoic and decanoic acids. These respective fatty acids were approximately two and three times greater in colostrum from goats than in colostrum from Holsteins. The quantity of decanoic acid was different between goat breeds and between animal species. The ratio of total fatty acid concentration to free-state concentration for hexanoic acid appeared to be useful for differentiating between Nubian and Alpine goat colostrum as well as between Nubian and Holstein colostrums.
Bone Mineral Density in Patients With Stroke: Relationship With Motor Impairment and Functional Mobility

AbstractPurpose: Patients with stroke have a 2- to 4-fold increased risk of hip fracture compared to the general population, because of decreased bone mineral density (BMD) on the paretic side and the high incidence of accidental falls. However, the relationship between BMD and stroke-related motor impairment and functional mobility is not known. The purpose of this study was to investigate these relationships. Method: A convenience sample of 87 patients with stroke was recruited from an outpatient rehabilitation clinic. Demographics and clinical history were collected, and patients answered questionnaires regarding functional status. Motor impairment was assessed using motor items of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and BMD was measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: Mean BMD measured at the total hip was lower on the paretic side relative to the contralateral side (0.883 ± 0.148 g/cm2 vs 0.923 ± 0.136 g/cm2; P < .001). Compared to patients without limitations in ...
Occulter design for THEIA

An occulter is an instrument designed to suppress starlight by diffraction from its edges; most are designed to be circular, with a set of identical "petals" running around the outside. Proposed space-based occulters are lightweight, deployed screens tens of meters in diameter with challenging accuracy requirements. In this paper we describe the design of an occulter for the THEIA mission concept. THEIA consists of a 4-meter telescope diffraction limited to 300 nm, and a 40-meter external occulter to provide high-contrast imaging. Operating from 250 to 1000 nm, it will provide a rich family of science projects, including exoplanet characterization, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and very wide-field imaging. Originally conceived of as a hybrid system employing both an occulter and internal coronagraph, THEIA now uses a single occulter to achieve all of the starlight suppression but at two different distances from the telescope in order to minimize size and distance. We describe the basic design principles of the THEIA occulter, its final configuration, performance, and sensitivity.
Learning from Failures Present and Past

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is not the first failed attempt to amend the U.S. Constitution to make the political power of women more equal to that of men. Nor was the first failure connected with the so-called Women's Suffrage Amendment which was ratified in 1920. Rather, it occurred 50 years and four successful amendments earlier. Despite the determined efforts of a small group of women, the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed the right of all male citizens to vote regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude" but left out women altogether.
Mind, Matter, and Pauli

Wolfgang Pauli was called by Einstein his “spiritual heir”, and his unrelenting demand for precision and clarity earned him the title of “the conscience of physics”. A godson of the great philosopher of science Ernst Mach, he was philosophically astute and, with Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, a principal architect of the orthodox Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory. This approach to the theory allowed physicists to avoid assigning paradoxical properties to nature. It did so by adopting a philosophically radical stance: regard atomic theory not as a description of atomic processes themselves, but rather as a description of connections between human observations. This renunciation of the traditional scientific ideal of erecting a coherent idea of physical reality was the chief objection against the Copenhagen view raised by Einstein. Though Einstein admitted that it was still unexplained why science had succeeded even as far as it had in creating a mathematical understanding of nature, he held that we must nonetheless persist in the endeavor: otherwise even the possible would not be achieved.
Effect of light flashes on saccadic oculomotor control

The ability to make quick and accurate saccadic eye movements for exploring the existing environment requires multiple regions of the brain working with the saccadic oculomotor control system. The goal of this experiment was to study how light stimuli affect this system. This was tested by presenting intermittent light flashes in three subjects as they visually attempted to locate a target. The subject was presented with a target at 15 degrees to the right accompanied by a photic stimulus at midline, 15 degrees to the left, or 15 degrees to the right. For comparison, a control comprised of a target 15 degrees to the right with no photic stimulation was also presented. Data were collected using the Skalar infrared limbic tracking system and a custom LabVIEW program. Dynamics were quantified using a latency analysis program written In MatLAB. Results show that the latency to saccade to the desired target Increased when light flashes occurred in various positions, compared to targeting without photic stimulation. These Increases In latency suggest that light has an effect on the saccadic oculomotor system, affecting physiological performance.
Guest Editorial for the Special Issue on Synthesis and Optimization Techniques in Electromagnetics and Antenna System Design

The 32 papers in this special section focus on synthesis and optimization techniques in electromagnetics and antenna system design. The papers are briefly summarized here.
Community genetics in the Northwestern Atlantic intertidal

Our ability to make inferences about the processes acting upon a biological system can be dramatically improved through integration of information from other fields. In particular, this is true of the field of phylogeography, a discipline that attempts to describe geographical variation in species using neutral genetic diversity as a correlate of time. Through comparisons of information from multiple species, as well as background information about the abiotic environment and how it has changed over time, we should be able to reassemble many of the forces that were important in assembling the communities and community interactions found in a given region. Here I review the information available for coastal species in the northwestern Atlantic, and argue that an integration of ecological, genetic, geological and oceanographic information can illustrate emergent patterns of community genetics.
Nuclear Actions in Innate Immune Signaling

Innate immunity in plants and animals is mediated through pattern recognition receptors, which were thought to initiate signaling in the cytoplasm to activate defense pathways. Shen et al. (2006) and Burch-Smith et al. (2007) now provide compelling evidence that certain plant disease resistance proteins, which detect specific pathogenic effectors, act in the nucleus to trigger downstream signaling and defense pathways.
Surface diffusion in an adsorbed system with competing order parameters

Abstract A spin-1 lattice gas model with stochastic dynamics is developed and applied to the surface diffusion in an adsorbed system possessing an internal degree of freedom. Both the chemical diffusion coefficient ( D ) and the relaxation rate ( T ) associated with the internal degree of freedom are examined. The coverage dependence of these quantities is studied within the conventional approximation, with the various static averages estimated by a Monte Carlo method. A mean field theory treatment is also given. Particular emphasis is given to the effects that the various phase transitions of the system have upon the behavior of D and T . The ordering of the internal degree of freedom is found to have an important influence on diffusion, leading to a highly reduced diffusion coefficient in the ordered regions. The connection to surface diffusion in adsorbed systems with solid orderings is pointed out. The importance of thermodynamic properties in determining the behavior of the diffusion coefficient in such systems is indicated.
Phosphorylation of cardiac native tropomyosin and troponin: inhibitory effect of actomyosin and possible presence of endogenous myofibrillar-located cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase.

Abstract Canine cardiac native tropomyosin which inhibits Mg2+-ATPase and superprecipitation of desensitized actomyosin in the presence of EGTA contains closely associated protein kinase, as manifested by phosphorylation and stimulation by cyclic-AMP. Native tropomyosin functions as a substrate for the endogenous protein kinase. Native actomyosin and desensitized actomyosin showed no significant cyclic-AMP-dependent or independent phosphorylation either in the presence or absence of added protein kinase. Native tropomyosin was fractionated into components by using hydroxylapatite column chromatography. Of the three components, Peak II (troponin) bound Ca2+; sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) gel electrophoresis revealed four subunits; and Peak III (tropomyosin) was a homogeneous protein and did not bind Ca2+. Troponin (Peak II) added to tropomyosin (Peak III) in appropriate concentrations inhibited superprecipitation of desensitized actomyosin in the absence of Ca2+. Peak II (troponin) phosphorylation was catalyzed by bovine cardiac protein kinase. The phosphorylation was markedly stimulated by cyclic-AMP. Peak III (tropomyosin) was not phosphorylated by protein kinase in the presence or absence of cyclic-AMP. The addition of desensitized actomyosin completely inhibited the phosphorylation of native tropomyosin. The data suggest the possible involvement of cyclic-AMP and protein kinase in modulating cardiac contraction and relaxation through and action on troponin.
WADEIn II: a case for adaptive explanatory visualization

Adaptive explanatory visualization is an attempt to integrate two promising approaches to program visualization: adaptive visualization and explanatory visualization. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the ideas of adaptive explanatory visualization using a practical example. The paper introduces the WADEIn II system for the visualization of expression evaluation in the C programming language, shows how expression evaluation visualizations can be made adaptive, and explains our approach to the adaptive generation of explanations.
Preprocessing Steps for Agilent MicroRNA Arrays: Does the Order Matter?

Motivation/background: Previous publications on microarray preprocessing mostly focused on method development or comparison for an individual preprocessing step. Very few, if any, focused on recommending an effective ordering of the preprocessing steps, in particular, normalization in relationship to log transformation and probe set summarization. In this study, we aim to study how the relative ordering of the preprocessing steps influences differential expression analysis for Agilent microRNA array data. Methods: A set of 192 untreated primary gynecologic tumor samples (96 endometrial tumors and 96 ovarian tumors) were collected at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center during the period of 2000–2012. From this same sample set, two datasets were generated: one dataset had no confounding array effects by experimental design and served as the benchmark, and another dataset exhibited array effects and served as the test data. We preprocessed our test dataset using different orderings between the following three steps: quantile normalization, log transformation, and median summarization. Differential expression analysis was performed on each preprocessed test dataset, and the results were compared against the results from the benchmark dataset. True positive rate, false positive rate, and false discovery rate were used to assess the effectiveness of the orderings. Results: The ordering of log transformation, quantile normalization (on probe-level data), and median summarization slightly outperforms the other orderings. Conclusion: Our results ease the anxiety over the uncertain effect that the orderings could have on the analysis of Agilent microRNA array data.
Exploring the Mathematical Knowledge Needed for Teaching Teachers

The purpose of this study is to explore the knowledge demands of teacher educators as they teach disciplinary content to preservice elementary teachers, specifically in mathematics, and to understa...
Failure recovery for structured p2p networks: protocol design and performance under churn

Measurement studies indicate a high rate of node dynamics in p2p systems. In this paper, we address the question of how high a rate of node dynamics can be supported by structured p2p networks. We confine our study to the hypercube routing scheme used by several structured p2p systems. To improve system robustness and facilitate failure recovery, we introduce the property of K-consistency, K ≥ 1, which generalizes consistency defined previously. (Consistency guarantees connectivity from any node to any other node.) We design and evaluate a failure recovery protocol based upon local information for K-consistent networks. The failure recovery protocol is then integrated with a join protocol that has been proved to construct K-consistent neighbor tables for concurrent joins. The integrated protocols were evaluated by a set of simulation experiments in which nodes joined a 2000-node network and nodes (both old and new) were randomly selected to fail concurrently over 10,000 s of simulated time. In each such "churn" experiment, we took a "snapshot" of neighbor tables in the network once every 50 s and evaluated connectivity and consistency measures over time as a function of the churn rate, timeout value in failure recovery, and K. We found our protocols to be effective, efficient, and stable for an average node lifetime as low as 8.3 min. Experiment results also show that the average routing delay of our protocols increases only slightly even when the churn rate is greatly increased.
High concentrations of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate may promote actin filament growth by three potential mechanisms: Inhibiting capping by neutrophil lysates, severing actin filaments and removing capping protein-β2 from barbed ends1This work was supported by Cooper Faculty Grant SPF 2821-94.1

Abstract Cell locomotion requires rapid growth of cortical actin filaments whose barbed ends are capped in the resting cell. Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP 2 ) may play a critical role as an intracellular messenger in cytoskeletal rearrangement after stimulation. We have examined the effects of PIP 2 micelles on the Ca 2+ -independent actin filament capping activity in high speed supernatants of neutrophil lysates which we had previously demonstrated to be almost entirely due to capping protein- β 2 , a homologue of cap Z. High concentrations of PIP 2 totally prevented the capping of exogenous spectrin-F-actin seeds by dilute supernatants of neutrophil extracts. Capping could also be inhibited, albeit less effectively, by PIP and PI, but not by other phospholipids. When incubated with filaments in the absence of supernatant, PIP 2 increased the number of growing ends. PIP 2 also uncapped previously capped actin filaments, as demonstrated by incubating supernatant-capped and uncapped seeds with and without PIP 2 and then comparing the initial elongation rates after addition of pyrenyl-G-actin. Incubation of capped seeds with high concentrations of PIP 2 increased the number of free barbed ends to a level comparable to that of the uncapped seeds exposed to PIP 2 . PIP 2 caused uncapping to occur too quickly to be explained simply by the off-rate of capping protein- β 2 , implying that PIP 2 interacted directly with capping protein on the filament ends. In fact, PIP 2 transiently uncapped capped seeds in the presence of excess free capping protein. From our data, we estimate that millimolar concentrations of PIP 2 (almost 100-fold higher than the amount predicted from the effective concentration in purified systems) would be required to inhibit all the capping protein- β 2 in the cytosol. This discrepancy probably results, in large part, from sequestration of PIP 2 by other PIP 2 -binding proteins in the cytoplasm. If PIP 2 mediates differential cytoskeletal growth after chemoattractant stimulation in vivo, very high concentrations may be required subjacent to the plasma membrane for regional severing and uncapping of actin filaments to occur quickly near the perturbed membrane.
Simulations of the winter stratopause and summer mesopause at varying spatial resolutions

The high-altitude analysis from the Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System-Advanced Level Physics High Altitude (NOGAPS-ALPHA) forecast/assimilation system is used to initialize a series of 10 day forecasts at different spatial resolutions without any assumed gravity wave drag parameterization. As the spatial resolution is increased from 2.25° (spectral truncation at 79 total wave numbers, T79) to 0.75° (T239) and finally, to 0.375°(T479), the model simulation progressively improves compared with the analysis. The model vertical momentum fluxes are significantly greater at T479 relative to T239, consistent with resolving a greater fraction of the gravity wave spectrum. However, even at 0.375° resolution, a residual cold bias at the winter stratopause and warm bias at the summer mesopause remain, suggesting a continuing need for parameterized gravity wave drag. In addition, the zonal mean temperature solution is sensitive to the assumed value of spectral hyperdiffusion, thus highlighting an additional parameter that must be properly tuned in high-resolution middle atmosphere models.
Kinetics of the Reaction of Atomic Hydrogen with Cyanoacetylene from T = 200 to 298 K

Rate coefficients have been measured for the H + HC3N (cyanoacetylene) reaction at T ) 200, 250, and 298 K and at P ) 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Torr He using a discharge-flow mass spectrometry apparatus. The reaction was monitored under pseudo-first-order conditions with the H atom concentration in large excess over the HC3N concentration ([H]/[HC3N] ) 100-665). H atoms were generated by the fast reaction F + H2 f H + HF or by microwave discharge in H2. Fluorine atoms were produced by microwave discharge in an approximately 5% mixture of F2 in He. Low-energy (24 eV) electron-impact mass spectrometry was used to monitor the HC3N decay kinetics to obtain the bimolecular rate coefficients. At T ) 298 K the rate coefficients were found to be pressure independent over the range of pressures studied with an average value k ) (2.1 ( 0.3) 10 -13 cm 3 molecule -1 s -1 . This implies that the high-pressure limit is reached in these experiments not only at T ) 298 K but also at the two lower temperatures. The temperature dependence of the measured high-pressure limiting rate coefficients is given by the following Arrhenius expression: k ) (1.1 ( 0.1) 10 -12 exp[-(500 ( 14)K/T ]c m 3 molecule -1 s -1 . A transition state theory model using G2M or CCSD(T) energies and Eckart tunneling corrections has been employed to calculate high-pressure limiting rate coefficients for this reaction. The reaction’s mechanism and implications to the atmospheric chemistry of Titan are discussed.
Protein structure prediction by applying an evolutionary algorithm

Interest in protein structure prediction is widespread, and has been previously addressed using evolutionary algorithms, such as the simple genetic algorithm (GA), messy GA (mga), fast messy GA (fmGA), and linkage learning GA (LLGA). However, past research used off the shelf software such as GENOCOP, GENESIS, and mGA. In this study we report results of a modified fmGA, which is found to be "good" at finding semi-optimal solutions in a reasonable time. Our study focuses on tuning this fmGA in an attempt to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the algorithm in solving a protein structure and in finding better ways to identify secondary structures. Problem definition, protein model representation, mapping to algorithm domain, tool selection modifications and conducted experiments are discussed.
Arsenic species in weathering mine tailings and biogenic solids at the Lava Cap Mine Superfund Site, Nevada City, CA

A realistic estimation of the health risk of human exposure to solid-phase arsenic (As) derived from historic mining operations is a major challenge to redevelopment of California's famed "Mother Lode" region. Arsenic, a known carcinogen, occurs in multiple solid forms that vary in bioaccessibility. X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy (XAFS) was used to identify and quantify the forms of As in mine wastes and biogenic solids at the Lava Cap Mine Superfund (LCMS) site, a historic "Mother Lode" gold mine. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to assess variance within water chemistry, solids chemistry, and XAFS spectral datasets. Linear combination, least-squares fits constrained in part by PCA results were then used to quantify arsenic speciation in XAFS spectra of tailings and biogenic solids. The highest dissolved arsenic concentrations were found in Lost Lake porewater and in a groundwater-fed pond in the tailings deposition area. Iron, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, specific conductivity, and As were the major variables in the water chemistry PCA. Arsenic was, on average, 14 times more concentrated in biologically-produced iron (hydr)oxide than in mine tailings. Phosphorous, manganese, calcium, aluminum, and As were the major variables in the solids chemistry PCA. Linear combination fits to XAFS spectra indicate that arsenopyrite (FeAsS), the dominant form of As in ore material, remains abundant (average: 65%) in minimally-weathered ore samples and water-saturated tailings at the bottom of Lost Lake. However, tailings that underwent drying and wetting cycles contain an average of only 30% arsenopyrite. The predominant products of arsenopyrite weathering were identified by XAFS to be As-bearing Fe (hydr)oxide and arseniosiderite (Ca2Fe(AsO4)3O3•3H2O). Existence of the former species is not in question, but the presence of the latter species was not confirmed by additional measurements, so its identification is less certain. The linear combination, least-squares fits totals of several samples deviate by more than ± 20% from 100%, suggesting that additional phases may be present that were not identified or evaluated in this study. Sub- to anoxic conditions minimize dissolution of arsenopyrite at the LCMS site, but may accelerate the dissolution of As-bearing secondary iron phases such as Fe3+-oxyhydroxides and arseniosiderite, if sufficient organic matter is present to spur anaerobic microbial activity. Oxidizing, dry conditions favor the stabilization of secondary phases, while promoting oxidative breakdown of the primary sulfides. The stability of both primary and secondary As phases is likely to be at a minimum under cyclic wet-dry conditions. Biogenic iron (hydr)oxide flocs can sequester significant amounts of arsenic; this property may be useful for treatment of perpetual sources of As such as mine adit water, but the fate of As associated with natural accumulations of floc material needs to be assessed.
Expansion segmentation for visual collision detection and estimation

Collision detection and estimation from a monocular visual sensor is an important enabling technology for safe navigation of small or micro air vehicles in near earth flight. In this paper, we introduce a new approach called expansion segmentation, which simultaneously detects “collision danger regions” of significant positive divergence in inertial aided video, and estimates maximum likelihood time to collision (TTC) in a correspondenceless framework within the danger regions. This approach was motivated from a literature review which showed that existing approaches make strong assumptions about scene structure or camera motion, or pose collision detection without determining obstacle boundaries, both of which limit the operational envelope of a deployable system. Expansion segmentation is based on a new formulation of 6-DOF inertial aided TTC estimation, and a new derivation of a first order TTC uncertainty model due to subpixel quantization error and epipolar geometry uncertainty. Proof of concept results are shown in a custom designed urban flight simulator and on operational flight data from a small air vehicle.
Brain mediators of the effects of noxious heat on pain

Recent human neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural correlates of either noxious stimulus intensity or reported pain. Although useful, analyzing brain relationships with stimulus intensity and behavior separately does not address how sensation and pain are linked in the central nervous system. In this study, we used multi-level mediation analysis to identify brain mediators of pain—regions in which trial-by-trial responses to heat explained variability in the relationship between noxious stimulus intensity (across 4 levels) and pain. This approach has the potential to identify multiple circuits with complementary roles in pain genesis. Brain mediators of noxious heat effects on pain included targets of ascending nociceptive pathways (anterior cingulate, insula, SII, and medial thalamus) and also prefrontal and subcortical regions not associated with nociceptive pathways per se. Cluster analysis revealed that mediators were grouped into several distinct functional networks, including the following: somatosensory, paralimbic, and striatal-cerebellar networks that increased with stimulus intensity; and 2 networks co-localized with ‘‘default mode’’ regions in which stimulus intensity-related decreases mediated increased pain. We also identified ‘‘thermosensory’’ regions that responded to increasing noxious heat but did not predict pain reports. Finally, several regions did not respond to noxious input, but their activity predicted pain; these included ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, cerebellar regions, and supplementary motor cortices. These regions likely underlie both nociceptive and non-nociceptive processes that contribute to pain, such as attention and decision-making processes. Overall, these results elucidate how multiple distinct brain systems jointly contribute to the central generation of pain.
Corporate strategy and inadequate governance : the pitfalls of CSR

The trend to corporate social responsibility (CSR) reflects globalization as well as the retreat of the state. As growing number of firms source and produce globally, many of their stakeholders have insisted that global firms be held accountable for conduct that could undermine economic, social or environmental progress. Moreover, in recent years, the traditional dividing lines between business and government have become fluid. Industrialized and developing countries alike have deregulated or privatized traditional public functions such as the provision of water, education, and postal services. But in many developing countries, governments are unable or unwilling to ensure that all of their citizens have access to such services. Government officials may lack the funds or the 'know how' to provide these services in an effective and equitable manner. And citizens often lack the education or ability to influence government and obtain consistent and affordable access to the resources they need to thrive. In such countries, governance is inadequate. Firms often respond to conditions of inadequate governance with CSR strategies. But there are several reasons why these initiatives may not be sustainable. First, CSR strategies are expensive. Firms may abandon their voluntary initiatives when times are tough or when competitors do not have similar strategies in place. Secondly, firms that provide quasi public goods through philanthropy or partnerships with non-government organizations or foundations may lack the expertise or consistent interest in providing these services. Firms may be distracted from their core mission. Third, corporations can be easily manipulated by activist stakeholder groups that may or may not represent the public. And finally, because CSR strategies are voluntary and relatively new, we know very little about which approaches are most effective in particular circumstances.
Assessing the assessment of five fruitful scientific faux pas

The author of Brilliant Blunders, Mario Livio, is a man of many parts. He is an astrophysicist at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which, among other things, operates the science program for the Hubble Space Telescope. Livio is also author of an award-winning 2002 book, The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World’s Most Astonishing Number. In addition to his research on supernova explosions, dark energy, black holes, and the formation of planetary systems around young stars, he clearly feels called both to explain to a general audience how science actually progresses and to do painstaking archival research himself to get to the bottom of certain questions in the history of science. Brilliant Blunders presents him with the opportunity to strut his stuff in both of these endeavors. As Livio explains in his first chapter, ‘‘Mistakes and Blunders,’’ his focus in the book is on ‘‘particularly serious conceptual errors that could potentially jeopardize entire theories ... or could, in principle at least, hold back the progress of science.’’ He calls these major errors ‘‘blunders,’’ a choice of words he will explore more closely in an interesting excursus toward the end of the book. His goal is to demonstrate that the course of true science rarely if ever did run smooth; it is instead strewn with some ‘‘surprising blunders’’ perpetrated by even the most ‘‘genuinely towering scientists,’’ and that, surprisingly, reactions to those blunders can result in fruitful outcomes. After some deliberation, he selected five scientists whose blunders all involve some aspect of evolution—biological, planetary, or cosmological. He makes clear that while the blunder committed by each man (and all five scientists he selects are male, a point to which I will return later) differed in nature from those of the others, ‘‘all, in one way or another, acted as catalysts for impressive breakthroughs,’’ justifying linking them with the adjective ‘‘beautiful.’’ Livio begins with Darwin (1809–1882), whose name is the first one called to mind by the noun ‘‘evolution.’’ Darwin accepted without challenge the theory of
Is habitat management an effective tool for wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population reinforcement

Wild rabbit scarcity in Spain is a serious problem due to its economic and ecological value; thus, management techniques to reinforce their populations are being implemented. Translocations are traditionally applied but high short-term mortality by predation makes them unsuccessful and increases their biological cost. An alternative to translocation would be to strengthen local reduced populations through habitat management (building artificial warrens and increasing food availability). Here, we test this method to determine its efficiency as an exportable protocol to recover wild rabbit populations. We compare two areas with and without artificial warrens and increased food availability and assess relative rabbit abundance by means of pellet counts. Results show that, during the 2 years following habitat management, rabbit numbers increased in the experimental plot in contrast to the not managed one, suggesting its effectiveness to reinforce low-density rabbit populations.
Streptanthus tortuosus Subsp. Truei (Brassicaceae), a New Taxon from Nevada County, California

Abstract Streptanthus tortuosus subsp. truei is described, and its distinguishing characters from subsp. tortuoSUS and other infraspecific taxa synonymized are discussed. The novelty is easily distinguished from other plants of the species by having caudate-acuminate (vs. obtuse to subacute) sepals distinctly longer (vs. shorter) than the petals and acuminate (vs. acute to obtuse or rounded) cauline leaves. Limits of the genus Streptanthus and S. tortuosus are discussed.
Cytochrome P-450 ω-hydroxylase: a potential O2 sensor in rat arterioles and skeletal muscle cells

The purposes of this study were to 1) further evaluate the possible role that vasoconstrictor metabolites of cytochrome P-450 (CYP) ω-hydroxylase plays in O2-induced constriction of arterioles in t...
Heterogeneous strain evolution in representative polycrystalline MAX phases

Abstract MAX phases are a class of ternary compounds, known to exhibit combined properties of both ceramics and metals. This class of materials has a low symmetry crystal structure (hexagonal close packed), which facilitates limited slip, thereby causing deformation to proceed via unconventional ductile modes, such as kink band formations at the nano-scale. In this paper, a detailed analysis of the strain evolution in two MAX phases (Ti2AlC and Ti3SiC2) is presented using the full-field, non-contact technique of Digital Image Correlation (DIC). Strain measurements are performed using 2D DIC to capture localized features of deformation and a validation of the method is also provided using a 3D DIC technique. The results show that beyond a certain stress level, heterogeneous strain fields are present, the underlying origins of which can be related to lower length scales. The analysis presented here reveals a meso-structure comprising of hard and soft grain clusters, which contribute towards heterogeneous strain fields at the macro-scale.
Behavioral Intervention with Child Abuse and Neglect

The range of factors identified as related to child maltreatment has expanded over the years. The literature clearly calls for an ecological approach in which individual, family, community, and societal factors are considered. The behavioral literature to date reflects an unevenness in terms of acceptance of such an approach. Studies are also uneven concerning the faithfulness with which hallmarks of a behavioral approach have been applied. These include individually tailored assessment and intervention based on empirical data and planning for generalization and maintenance. Most intervention programs do attend to positive as well as negative parent behaviors. Little attention is devoted to environmental characteristics, such as poverty level incomes and impoverished social support systems that may contribute to maltreatment. Lack of comprehensive assessment and intervention programs is no doubt responsible for the modest changes described in many reports. Behavioral studies suffer from uncritical acceptance of the term "abuse" or "at risk" in a number of ways, one of which is a failure to clearly describe the nature of the alleged maltreatment and the immediate situational context. Another is in the assumption that one particular factor is responsible for the maltreatment, such as ineffective parenting skills. Too often a label identifies only one characteristic of a person, ignoring other attributes and related factors. Like all deviant labels, the poor and minority groups are more likely to receive negative labels (Newberger et al., 1976). Investigaters have not taken advantage of relevant literature in the area of child welfare. Familiarity with this material would be helpful in avoiding myths in the field to which many have fallen prey, such as the myth of classlessness of child maltreatment. Acceptance of this myth interferes with the development of programs that deal with difficult environmental problems. Reports suggest that a behavioral approach is promising. Attention to enhancement of child management skills is supported by research that shows that most abuse occurs as an extension of parental discipline attempts. A focus on describing the relationships between behaviors of concern and what happens before and afterward has yielded valuable information concerning interaction patterns in abusive, neglectful, and normal families. Advantages of viewing child abuse in the general context of family interaction are illustrated by the work of Patterson and his colleagues and by Gelles.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) Language: en
c-Ha-rasEJ transfection in vascular smooth muscle cells circumvents PKC requirement during mitogenic signaling

In view of the prominent role of protein kinase C (PKC) in the regulation of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth and differentiation, the present studies were conducted to assess the impact of c-Ha-rasEJ transfection on PKC-dependent growth programming. PKC activity was elevated in the cytosolic and particulate compartments of c-Ha-rasEJ VSMC, relative to naive or pSV2neo vector controls. Constitutive and 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-inducible binding to a TPA-responsive element (TRE) was also enhanced in c-Ha-rasEJ VSMC. Fetal bovine serum (FBS) did not increase TRE-binding activity in serum-starved c-Ha-rasEJ VSMC but increased TRE-binding activity in pSV2neo VSMC. FBS-mediated TRE-binding activity was dramatically decreased in serum-starved pSV2neo VSMC pretreated with 100 ng/ml TPA for 24 h to downregulate PKC activity. c-Ha-rasEJ VSMC exhibited a marked proliferative advantage over controls under both restrictive and growth-permissive serum conditions. PKC downregulation did not influence the mitogenic response to serum in c-Ha-rasEJ VSMC but ablated [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA in naive or pSV2neo vector counterparts. Western blot analysis demonstrated increased expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), but not ERK1, in c-Ha-rasEJ VSMC, relative to pSV2neo control. Immunoblots of serum-starved and PKC-depleted c-Ha-rasEJ VSMC demonstrated a dramatic increase in the phosphorylated form of ERK2, relative to pSV2neo controls. These data suggest that oncogenic c-Ha-rasEJ circumvents a requirement for a TPA-responsive PKC isoform(s) during mitogenic stimulation of VSMC.
The Dynamics of Attitude Change: Contextual and Individual-Level Influences on Opposition to Immigration

This paper assesses the sources of changing attitudes toward immigration in the 1990s, analyzing the impact of political and economic predispositions, and the content of news media messages. Attitudes about immigration changed sharply between 1992 and 1994 in favor of restricting legal immigration to the U.S., in spite of increasingly optimistic national economic evaluations. This period also saw substantial change and wide variation in the geographical concentration of immigration, in political leaders' responses to immigration, and in the volume and content of news media coverage of immigration. This paper leverages these changes by merging individual-level attitudinal and media exposure data with contextual information on the content and volume of local and national news media coverage. The paper separately assesses the effects of these factors as well as the interactions of contextual and individual-level variables, to develop a comprehensive and dynamic model of the conditions under which attitude change is most likely to occur and why. This paper contributes to the literature on attitude change by assessing the effects of both individual attributes and political context, including the information context of news media, and by evaluating the differences between cross-sectional attitudinal correlates and the sources of over-time change in attitudes, on a highly salient issues during a period of broad change in political party power and mass opinion.
Particle adhesion and removal in model systems—VIII: Deposition of rod-like β-FeOOH particles on steel

Abstract The adhesion of uniform rod-like β-FeOOH particles onto stainless steel was studied as a function of dispersion pH, ionic strength, and flow rate using the packed bed technique. The results showed the process to be essentially controlled by convective diffusion in the presence and in the absence of interaction forces. The behavior of particles of different shapes and sizes was compared and discussed.
Combining studies for a stronger conclusion

Forty-eight subjects read passages describing emotional facial expressions and then attempted to choose photographs from a standard set that matched each description in pleasantness. The range of pleasantness values was manipulated; one-third of the subjects matched neutral descriptions, one-third matched extreme descriptions, and one-third matched the full range of descriptions. The classic contrast effect that usually emerges from this sort of manipulation has been understood in terms of perceptual processes and/or response bias processes. This study employed two response languages, only one of which was subject to response bias. The results of an analysis combining this study with a previous one using similar methods showed that the obtained contrast effect could be interpreted in terms of a response bias.
Solution of NAT Traversal in SIP Integrated UDP Hole Punching and Http Proxy

Soft switch is the core technology of next generation network. SIP protocol as one of the most important protocols in the next generation network,has been widely used in VoIP systems. SIP protocol can't support SIP signaling and media stream through NAT,which limits its application and development in the WAN. Although there are many NAT traversal solutions,every solution has limitations. In this paper,explain the impact of NAT on the SIP communication in detail,introduce the basic principle of UDP hole punching technology,the process of using UDP hole punching through the cone NAT and using the Http proxy gateway through various NAT.Compared the advantages and disadvantages of various NAT traversal solutions,present a NAT traversal solution which integrates UDP hole punching and Http proxy gateway technology. After the argument and experiment,it proves the scheme is feasibile.