cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thinking race through corporeal feminist theory: divisions and intimacies at the Minneapolis Farmers' Market

Race is, in part, made and remade through the practices of growing, selling, purchasing and eating food. Consequently, some food practices are also ‘racial practices’. Drawing on a study in progress of the Minneapolis Farmers' Market, the paper covers two sub-themes of embodiment: racial division and intimacy. The corporeal feminist theory of Elizabeth Grosz offers the view that the body has explanatory power. This framework enables a discussion of the materiality of race rather than its representation or performance. Race emerges through the movement, clustering and encounter of phenotypically differentiated bodies. Through small segregations in which bodies move toward some vegetables and not others and through attractions that propel bodies to touch bitter melon and talk with growers, bodies shape the Market's meaning. This reflection on tendencies connecting phenotype, space and leaves is meant as a step toward a politics of bodily practice.
The Regional Impact of Lamb Imports on Equilibrium Returns to Domestic Producers, 1967

There is little agreement on producer costs and consumer benefits resulting from meat imports. This paper utilizes a spatial equilibrium model to analyze the regional impact of three levels of lamb imports on United States lamb producers and consumers. Results demonstrate regional as well as quarterly variation. Most of the variation is explained by quarterly marketing patterns, shifts in demand, changes in optimum distribution patterns, changes in levels of imports and ports of entry, and restricted ports of entry for imports.
Reactions of Cyclic Aliphatic and Aromatic Amines on Ge(100)-2×1 and Si(100)-2×1

We have examined the reaction of the Ge(100)-2×1 surface with five-membered cyclic amines including pyrrolidine, 3-pyrroline, pyrrole, and their N-methyl-capped analogues. The reactions of pyrrolidine, N-methylpyrrolidine, pyrrole, and N-methylpyrrole were also probed on the Si(100)-2×1 surface for comparison. Multiple internal reflection (MIR) infrared spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory (DFT) cluster calculations were used to study the reactions. We find that for the aliphatic amines, dative bonding of the N lone pair to the electrophilic down atom of the surface dimer competes with N−H dissociation and [2 + 2] cycloaddition to form stable surface adducts at room temperature and is the major surface reaction observed on the Ge(100) surface. At higher coverages, some evidence for N−H dissociation is seen on the Ge(100) surface. For pyrrole and N-methylpyrrole, the aromatic system of π electrons is seen to have profound effects on their reactivity with the Si(100) and Ge(100) surfac...
Adaptation of murine inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD3) cell cultures to hypertonicity.

Recently, we have adapted IMCD3 cell cultures to survive under increasing hypertonic conditions (i.e., 600 and 900 mOsmol/kg H(2)O). In adapted cells, ATPase activity is increased by one order of magnitude, while the expression of the alpha and beta subunit is increased by a factor of 4 to 5 over controls (300 mOsmol/kg H(2)O). Corresponding increases in mRNAs were also detected. The gamma subunit has been described as being uniquely expressed in some areas of the kidney, but never in cell cultures (even those derived from kidney tissues). However, the gamma subunit was detected at the protein and mRNA levels in the adapted IMCD3 cells. In contrast to the alpha and beta subunits, the levels of gamma protein and mRNA expression continue to increase as a function of the media ion concentration. We have also demonstrated that signaling pathways that upregulate the alpha, beta, and gamma subunits are very different. Increasing concentrations of the PI3 kinase inhibitor, LY294002, resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in the expression of the gamma subunit, with total abolition at 10 micro M. However, LY294002 had no significant effect on the expression of the alpha subunit. Inhibition of the JNK2 (but not of the JNK1) pathways by dominant negative transfections abolished the upregulation of the gamma, but not the a subunit. Failure to upregulate the expression of the gamma subunit was associated with a marked decrease in cell viability upon stress.
Supplier choice criteria and the security aware food purchasing manager

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in preferred supplier choice criteria between food purchasing agents who focus on supplier security and those that do not. Specifically, this research determines the relationship between purchasing agents’ supplier security preferences and their preferences for product quality, delivery reliability, price, and supplier location. The influence of international sourcing on demand for increased supplier security is also explored. Design/methodology/approach – Choice-based conjoint analysis with hierarchical Bayes (HB) estimation and t-tests are used to assess and compare the utility food purchasing managers derive from different supplier attributes. Findings – Purchasing managers that place a higher priority on security when choosing suppliers were willing to pay suppliers a higher price and receive lower levels of delivery reliability in return for higher security but placed less emphasis on suppliers’ product quality. Firms that source inter...
Effect of bending on Jc-ϵ characteristic of silver-sheathed oxide superconducting tape with sausaging

Abstract Sausaging in the core of silver-sheathed powder-in-tube generated superconducting tapes restricts current flow and lowers the effective critical current density J c . Although generally detrimental, such sausaging may indeed (a) enhance the J c tolerance to bending strain e relative to the zero-strain J c ; and (b) be partially responsible for the irreversibility limit observed in the J c - ϵ dependence. Using a simple model, the effects of sausaging on the J c - ϵ characteristic are qualitatively investigated.
Photodissociation spectroscopy and dynamics of Si 4

Abstract The photodissociation of Si4 has been investigated using fast beam photofragment translational spectroscopy. The photofragment yield (PFY) spectrum shows features between 21 370 and 22 220 cm−1 corresponding to the 1 B 1 u ← X 1 A g transition that are attributed to multi-photon dissociation. Single-photon dissociation was examined at higher excitation energies ranging from 5.17 to 6.42 eV. The dominant product channel was found to be Si3+Si. Experimental photofragment translational energy distributions were modeled by phase space theory (PST), indicating statistical photodissociation with no exit barrier along the dissociation coordinate. PST modeling yields a dissociation energy of 4.60±0.15 eV and ΔH f,0 0 ( Si 4 )=6.75±0.24 eV .
Adolescent varicocele-is the 20/38 harbinger a durable predictor of testicular asymmetry?

Purpose: Part of the management of adolescent varicocele is trying to prognosticate who with testicular asymmetry will have catch-up growth with observation and who will have persistent asymmetry. We previously reported that catch-up growth is rare when peak retrograde flow greater than 38 cm per second is associated with 20% or greater asymmetry (ie the 20/38 harbinger). We sought to determine if this 20/38 cutoff held true with a larger series, and what peak retrograde flow value should be used when 15% instead of 20% asymmetry is chosen as the cutoff.Materials and Methods: We analyzed patients from our large varicocele registry who had undergone at least 2 duplex Doppler ultrasounds and had been observed for at least 10 months in the interim. Outcomes were determined regarding those who met the 20/38 cutoff and what peak retrograde flow value could be used to recommend surgery when 15% to 19.9% asymmetry was included in the cutoff value.Results: Of 355 adolescent boys with left varicocele 44 (mean age ...
Ultrasonic demonstration of inferior vena caval involvement with right adrenal gland masses

Ultrasonographic findings in 13 right adrenal gland neoplasms were reviewed. Primary malignancy was the etiology in four patients and metastatic malignancy in nine. Anterior displacement and/or indentation of the posterior aspect of the inferior vena cava was present in nine patients. This sign, although nonspecific, is helpful in the localization and diagnosis of right adrenal lesions.
Language identification using Fuzzy-SVM technique

Language Identification is an important issue in today's multilingual world. In this paper we have analyzed Fuzzy-SVM technique for identification of romanized plaintexts of five Indian regional languages namely Hindi, Bangla, Manipuri, Urdu and Kashmiri. Distinguishing features/characteristics have been extracted from romanized plaintexts of each of these five languages and represented suitably through Fuzzy Sets on a normalized scale. These normalized feature vectors are given as input to the Support Vector Machine (SVM) based classifier. For constructing the hyperplane in a higher dimension space Guassian Radial Basis Kernal function has been used. The proposed Pattern Recognition (PR) system is independent of the dictionaries of these languages and can even identify plaintext with unknown word boundaries. This PR system (Language Identifier) can be used for automatic segregation of plain texts of these languages while analyzing intercepted, multiplexed and interleaved Speech/Data/Fax communication. The proposed method significantly improves the classification accuracy compared to the other methods even for smaller text length messages.
Precision replication of hierarchical biological structures by metal oxides using a sonochemical method.

A novel method for duplicating the hierarchical structures of biological substances at nanometer resolution in manganese oxides has been developed. This innovation uses natural biomorphic specimens, such as butterfly wing, cotton, and wood as templates. The biotemplates were first treated with either HCl/NaOH or HCl/H2O2/NaOH and then mixed with an aqueous solution of KMnO4. The treated biological materials were then ultrasonically irradiated, and finally, the biological templates were removed by calcination in air at temperatures between 500 and 800 °C. The structures of the resulting manganese oxides were characterized by a combination of XRD, FE-SEM, TEM and EDS. It was found that the fine hierarchical structures of the biological templates down to the nanometer scale were faithfully duplicated, and the duplication was positive. A mechanism for the positive replication is proposed and discussed in terms of the effects of the sonochemical reaction as well as the surface modification prior to the sonoche...
Aspirin—a national survey II: Determination of salicylic acid in bulk aspirin and aspirin formulations by high‐pressure liquid chromatography using a fluorescence detector

A quantitative high-pressure liquid chromatographic method, using a reversed-phase column coupled to a fluorescence detector, was developed to determine salicylic acid in bulk aspirin and plain and buffered aspirin tablets. The aspirin was dissolved, filtered, and injected into the chromatograph; the fluorescence of the salicylic acid was measured at ∼425 nm. Excipients and impurities did not interfere, and recoveries of 100% were obtained. The method was used to analyze 84 aspirin samples.
Clinicopathologic study of ocular trauma in eyes with intraocular lenses

Data on 41 cases (37 intraocular lenses and four globes) of intraocular lenses explanted or expulsed after ocular trauma were retrieved from over 5,000 intraocular lenses and 1,200 globes. The age of the male and female donors varied significantly (male, 64.4 +/- 13.1 years; female, 75.5 +/- 12.6 years; P = .0334). Twenty-two were posterior chamber, 11 were anterior chamber, and eight were iris-fixated lenses. The mean implant durations were 0.66 +/- 0.9 years for posterior chamber intraocular lenses, 4.0 +/- 3.4 years for anterior chamber lenses, and 9.0 +/- 4.9 years for iris-fixated lenses. Accidental falling was the most common trauma in 14 of 21 cases (67%). In the posterior chamber intraocular lens group, trauma was more severe and resulted in rupture of the globe in 19 of 22 cases (86%) and expulsion of the intraocular lens in 15 of 22 cases (68%). Rupture usually occurred at the surgical wound, even when the trauma happened five years postoperatively. In contrast, most of the eyes with anterior chamber intraocular lenses and iris-fixated intraocular lenses did not rupture, but a minor trauma often resulted in intraocular lens dislocation and secondary complications that necessitated intraocular lens explantation. The pathologic findings were nonspecific (proteinaceous deposits, blood and pigment adherent to the intraocular lens). Severity of trauma and pathologic findings were not correlated. Posterior chamber intraocular lenses are more resistant to minor ocular trauma compared to anterior chamber and iris-fixated intraocular lenses.
Divine Unity and the Divided Self: Gregory of Nyssa's Trinitarian Theology in its Psychological Context

In the last hundred years Gregory of Nyssa’s Trinitarian theology has received a substantial amount of attention. Unfortunately, it has been appropriated because of its perceived psychological content—so much so that Gregory’s Trinitarian theology becomes re–stated as the Trinity as “personal relationship” or as “locating consciousness(es) in the Trinity.” To be sure, a knowledge of Gregory’s psychology reveals its role in his Trinitarian theology; however, it also makes clear that personal relationship or consciousness are not important, substantial psychological concepts in the way that they are often taken to be by contemporary interpreters. Rather, Gregory’s psychology takes its fundamental shape from a concern for the integrity of the will in its action.
Serine/Threonine Phosphatase Stp1 Mediates Post-transcriptional Regulation of Hemolysin, Autolysis, and Virulence of Group B Streptococcus

Elucidating how serine/threonine phosphatases regulate kinase function and bacterial virulence is critical for our ability to combat these infections. Group B streptococci (GBS) are β-hemolytic Gram-positive bacteria that cause invasive infections in humans. To adapt to environmental changes, GBS encodes signaling mechanisms comprising two component systems and eukaryotic-like enzymes. We have previously described the importance of the serine/threonine kinase Stk1 to GBS pathogenesis. However, how the presence or absence of the cognate serine/threonine phosphatase Stp1 affects Stk1 function and GBS virulence is not known. Here, we show that GBS deficient only in Stp1 expression are markedly reduced for their ability to cause systemic infections, exhibit decreased β-hemolysin/cytolysin activity, and show increased sensitivity to autolysis. Although transcription of genes important for β-hemolysin/cytolysin expression and export is similar to the wild type (WT), 294 genes (excluding stp1) showed altered expression in the stp1 mutant and included autolysin genes. Furthermore, phosphopeptide enrichment analysis identified that 35 serine/threonine phosphopeptides, corresponding to 27 proteins, were unique to the stp1 mutant. This included phosphorylation of ATP synthase, DNA and RNA helicases, and proteins important for cell division and protein synthesis. Collectively, our results indicate that Stp1 is important for appropriate regulation of Stk1 function, hemolysin activity, autolysis, and GBS virulence.
An Evaluation of Philosophical Agent Architectures for Mission Robustness

This paper reports on initial investigations of an agent architecture that embodies philosophical and social layers. A key feature of the architecture is that agent behavior is constrained by sets of agent societal laws similar to Asimov’s laws of robotics. In accordance with embedded philosophical principles, agents use decision theory in their negotiations to evaluate the expected utility of proposed actions and use of resources. This enables more robust decision-making and task execution. To evaluate the robustness, our investigations have included the effect of misinformation among cooperative agents in worth-oriented domains, and active countermeasures for dealing with the misinformation. We demonstrate that propagating misinformation is against the principles of ethical agents. Moreover, such agents are obligated to report on misbehavior, which minimizes its effects and furthers the progress of the agents and their society towards their goals. We also show how dedicating some agents to specialized tasks can improve the performance of a society.
Cardio-oncology: it takes two to translate.

Heart-related toxicities from targeted cancer therapies shed light on the biology of cardiovascular disease in humans (Chintalgattu et al., this issue).
Homeostasis, Inflammation, and Disease Susceptibility

While modernization has dramatically increased lifespan, it has also witnessed the increasing prevalence of diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. Such chronic, acquired diseases result when normal physiologic control goes awry and may thus be viewed as failures of homeostasis. However, while nearly every process in human physiology relies on homeostatic mechanisms for stability, only some have demonstrated vulnerability to dysregulation. Additionally, chronic inflammation is a common accomplice of the diseases of homeostasis, yet the basis for this connection is not fully understood. Here we review the design of homeostatic systems and discuss universal features of control circuits that operate at the cellular, tissue, and organismal levels. We suggest a framework for classification of homeostatic signals that is based on different classes of homeostatic variables they report on. Finally, we discuss how adaptability of homeostatic systems with adjustable set points creates vulnerability to dysregulation and disease. This framework highlights the fundamental parallels between homeostatic and inflammatory control mechanisms and provides a new perspective on the physiological origin of inflammation.
The effect of role-taking ability on caregiver-resident mealtime interaction

In this qualitative study of mealtime in a nursing home, data were collected on the verbal and nonverbal interaction between certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and completely eating-dependent residents. Although some caregivers were seen to give care in a creative, empathetic manner, others were task-driven and mechanistic. The difference in caregiving was, in part, accounted for by the degree to which individual caregivers were able to engage in role taking, that is, the ability to see the world from the resident's perspective. Recommendations for enhancing role-taking ability include (a) asking caregivers to reflect on their own mealtime experiences, (b) encouraging staff to eat with residents, (c) having staff practice feeding one another, and (d) providing role modeling and supervision by professional nursing staff at mealtime.
Dosimetric effects of manual cone-beam CT (CBCT) matching for spinal radiosurgery: Our experience

Radiosurgical treatment of cranial or extracranial targets demands accurate positioning of the isocenter at the beam and table isocenter, and immobilization of the target during treatment. For spinal radiosurgery, the standard approach involves matching of cone-beam CT (CBCT) in-room images with the planning CT (pCT) to determine translation and yaw corrections. The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of these techniques compared to advanced automatching using mutual information metrics, with consideration given to volume of interest (VOI) and optimizing translations and rotations in all axes. The dosimetric consequences of our current standard matching techniques were also evaluated. Ten consecutive spinal radiosurgery patients treated in the last year were subjected to analysis. For purposes of this analysis, the automatch using mutual information and a VOI was considered to create "the true isocenter" for positioning the patients. Review of the imaging from this automatch confirmed perfect superimposition of the two datasets within the VOI. Matching the CBCT to the pCT using the automatch allowed assessment of the rotations which had been previously ignored. Recalculation of the dose volume histogram was undertaken for each patient, assuming displacement of the true isocenter to the treated isocenter. Comparisons between the delivered doses and the intended doses were made. The mean absolute lateral/vertical/longitudinal translations and vector displacement between the manual CBCT-pCT matching isocenter and the true isocenter were 0.13, -0.05, and -0.39mm, with a minimum and maximum individual pixel vector shift of 3.2 and 8.94 mm. The mean pitch, yaw, and roll correction for automatch was -0.30°, 0.25°, and 0.97° with a maximum of 1.65°, 2.92°, and 1.43°. Four of ten patients had a significant change in the coverage of the tumor due to lack of correction of translational and rotational errors. The largest errors were observed in patients with small and irregular target volumes. Our initial results show that precise positioning for spinal radiosurgery cannot be accomplished with manual pCT-CBCT matching without a clinical strategy to compensate for rotations. In the absence of this, significant underdosing of the tumor may occur.
Non‐standard methods in the privatization strategies of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland followed different strategies in the use of nonstandard methods of privatization. In regard to resrirurion, the Czech Republic carried out physical return of property, Hungary weakly implemented financial compensation and Poland has not yet approved a programme. Management and employee buyouts were eschewed in the Czech Republic, took the form of employee stock ownership plans in Hungary and were accomplished chiefly by lease-purchase in Poland. The Czech mss privatization programme distributed a considerable amount of joint-stock company shares free through voucher auctions in which citizens participated directly or through financial intermediaries. In contrast, the Polish programme provided citizens free shares in investment trusts that exercise corporate governance over operating companies and restructure them for divestiture. Hungary's programme, which offered people only interest-free loans to buy some shares in initial public offerings, was abandoned soon after its start.
Tribological behavior and nature of tribofilms generated from fluorinated ZDDP in comparison to ZDDP under extreme pressure conditions—Part 1: Structure and chemistry of tribofilms

Tribofilms generated under boundary conditions at extreme pressure using lubricants containing fluorinated zinc dialkyl dithiophosphate (F-ZDDP) and zinc dialkyl dithiophosphates (ZDDP) were examined. F-ZDDP demonstrated superior wear performance compared to ZDDP even at lower phosphorus levels. The tribofilms generated by ZDDP and fluorinated ZDDP were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy and XPS. Transmission electron microscopy was conducted on wear debris. XANES spectroscopy was used to study the chemical and bonding environment of sulfur and phosphorus in these tribofilms. A phenomenological model of the tribofilms generated by ZDDP and fluorinated ZDDP was developed based on the experimental results.
Compositions and Thermodynamics of Metamorphic Solutions

The composition of the supercritical fluid phase which is in equilibrium with metamorphic or igneous mineral assemblages can be assessed either through fluid inclusion studies (Touret, 1971; Roedder, 1972; Poty et al 1974), or by considering the nature and composition of the minerals themselves. In this review we restrict ourselves to the latter approach. It is based on a combination of buffer and exchange reactions and fugacity indicators in conjunction with laboratory calibrations. A simple buffer reaction is a reaction between a group of solids and a single gas species. When all participants in the reaction are present, the chemical potential of the gas species remains constant at a given P and T, regardless of any changes in bulk composition, provided the compositions of the solids remain constant. Hematite + magnetite, quartz + calcite + wollastonite, gypsum + anhydrite, pyrite + pyrrhotite, are commonly occurring buffers for oxygen, CO2, H2O and S2 respectively.
Computer coregistration of positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance images in head and neck cancer

Abstract Purpose : Early experience has shown that positron-emission tomography (PET) is a useful technique for the detection of occult squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Although highly sensitive, PET lacks definition of anatomic detail and therefore does not localize pathology precisely. To circumvent this limitation, a computerized coregistration technique has been developed at the University of California-Los Angeles to correlate PET and magnetic resonance images (MRI). This method allows accurate, precise anatomic localization of areas of heightened glucose metabolism, including subclinical tumors. Materials and Methods : The technique uses a coregistration computer program that precisely superimposes the PET scan with the corresponding MRI image. Results : Two cases are presented in which PET-MR coregistration was used to anatomically define the areas of heightened glucose metabolism. Large tumors were selected because the precision of the method can be verified. Conclusion : The coregistration technique is a valuable addition to PET imaging, particularly in its ability to anatomically localize PET findings. The most important application of this technique is to facilitate the biopsy of subclinical lesions identified on PET.
Resistance to Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) When Mite-Resistant Queen Honey Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Were Free-Mated with Unselected Drones

This study demonstrated (1) that honey bees, Apis mellifera L, can express a high level of resistance to Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman when bees were selected for only one resistant trait (suppression of mite reproduction); and (2) that a significant level of mite-resistance was retained when these queens were free-mated with unselected drones. The test compared the growth of mite populations in colonies of bees that each received one of the following queens: (1) resistant--queens selected for suppression of mite reproduction and artificially inseminated in Baton Rouge with drones from similarly selected stocks; (2) resistant x control--resistant queens, as above, produced and free-mated to unselected drones by one of four commercial queen producers; and (3) control--commercial queens chosen by the same four queen producers and free-mated as above. All colonies started the test with approximately 0.9 kg of bees that were naturally infested with approximately 650 mites. Colonies with resistant x control queens ended the 115-d test period with significantly fewer mites than did colonies with control queens. This suggests that beekeepers can derive immediate benefit from mite-resistant queens that have been free-mated to unselected drones. Moreover, the production and distribution of these free-mated queens from many commercial sources may be an effective way to insert beneficial genes into our commercial population of honey bees without losing the genetic diversity and the useful beekeeping characteristics of this population.
Benefits of Campus Transit Pass: Study of Students' Willingness to Pay for Proposed Mandatory Transit Pass Program

The problem of estimating the expected net benefits of an unlimited-access campus transit pass, which would also fund an increase in critically needed services, is an example of the problem of estimating the value of a public good. Students at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, used a referendum-format contingent valuation survey to measure students' willingness to pay (WTP) for a mandatory transit pass. Responses by 935 students (a 44.7% response rate) were analyzed with censored logistic regression and revealed a mean WTP of $32.08 per academic quarter (corrected for estimated self-selection bias) for the proposed program. The program could actually be provided by contract with the local transit agency for $20.00 per student per quarter. Thus the estimated net benefit per student per quarter is $12.59, or $428, 624 across the campus population. On-campus residents and those who commute via bus or bicycle showed higher WTP. WTP was substantially lower for those who live more than 10...
Comparison between Observed and Model-Simulated Atmospheric Circulation Patterns Associated with Extreme Temperature Days over North America Using CMIP5 Historical Simulations

Circulation patterns associated with extreme temperature days over North America, as simulated by a suite of climate models, are compared with those obtained from observations. The authors analyze 17 coupled atmosphere‐ocean general circulation models contributing to the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Circulation patterns are defined as composites of anomalies in sea level pressure and 500-hPa geopotential height concurrent with days in the tails of temperature distribution. Several metrics used to systematically describe circulation patterns associated with extreme temperature days are applied to both the observed and model-simulated data. Additionally, self-organizing maps are employed as a means of comparing observed and model-simulated circulation patterns across the North American domain. In general, the multimodel ensemble resembles the observed patterns well, especially in areas removed from complex geographic features (e.g., mountains and coastlines). Individual model results vary; however, the majority of models capture the major features observed. The multimodel ensemble captures several key features, including regional variations in the strength and orientation of atmospheric circulation patterns associated with extreme temperatures, both near the surface and aloft, as well as variations with latitude and season. The results from this work suggest that these models can be used to comprehensively examine the role that changes in atmospheric circulation will play in projected changes in temperature extremes because of future anthropogenic climate warming.
The Impact of Splitting Granularity on Multi-agent Diffusion Computing

Diffusion geometry offers a fresh perspective on multi-scale information analysis. However, there is still a lack of work on distributed approach to diffusion computing. In this paper, we propose a multi-agent diffusion approach where a massive data set is split into several subsets and each diffusion agent only needs to work with one subset in diffusion computation. We apply it to a large set of human decision-making experiences. The result indicates that the multi-agent diffusion approach is beneficial, and the system performance could be affected significantly by the splitting granularity (size of each splitting unit). This study encourages further theoretical investigations on the potential impacts of splitting granularity on the recoverability of the global diffusion map.
Estimating the spatial extent of attractors of iterated function systems

Abstract From any given Iterated Function System, a small set of balls that cover the fractal attractor can be simply determined. This gives a priori bounds on the region of space in which the attractor may be constructed.
Are Specific Language Impairment and Dyslexia Distinct Disorders

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether specific language impairment (SLI) and dyslexia are distinct developmental disorders. Method: Study 1 investigated the overlap between SL...
Increased oxidation of a chemical carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene, by colon tissue biopsy specimens from patients with ulcerative colitis.

Abstract Colonic biopsy specimens from patients with ulcerative colitis and normal subjects were studied for the ability to metabolize an environmental carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene. Approximately 73% of 30 colonic biopsy specimens from 7 ulcerative colitis patients could metabolize benzo(a)pyrene to oxidized products, with an average production of 11.6 nmol/mg biopsy protein. In contrast, 39% of 23 biopsy specimens from 5 normal persons showed metabolic activity, with an average of 2.79 nmol benzo(a)pyrene metabolites/mg biopsy protein. Thus, benzo(a)pyrene oxidation activity in colonic tissue from colitis patients was, on the average, fourfold greater than that in normal subjects. This elevated metabolic activity appeared to be unrelated to the state of inflammation in the biopsy section. There was a tendency toward increased metabolic activity in the distal colon. Although there is no evidence that benzo(a) pyrene itself is "the colon carcinogen," this chemical belongs to a broad class of environmental carcinogens, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Our findings suggest that the colonic mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis has a greater ability than that of normal subjects to oxidize such chemicals possibly to electrophiles with higher mutagenic potential.
Comparison of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycles for Oxy-Combustion

Advanced oxy-combustion coupled with supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles offers a path to achieve efficient power generation with integrated carbon capture for base load power generation. One commonality among high efficiency sCO2 cycles is the extensive use of recuperation within the cycle. This high degree of recuperation results in high temperatures at the thermal input device and a smaller temperature rise to the turbine inlet. When combined with typical high side pressures ranging from 150 to 300 bar, these conditions pose a non-trivial challenge for fossil fired sCO2 cycles with respect to cycle layout and thermal integration. A narrow thermal input window can be tolerated for indirect cycles such as those used for nuclear power generation and concentrating solar power plants, however, it is at odds with traditional coal or natural gas fired Rankine cycles where the working fluid has been condensed and cooled to near ambient temperatures.Coal fired sCO2 cycles using oxy-combustion have been examined by Southwest Research Institute and Thar Energy L.L.C. under DOE award DE-FE0009593. Under this project, an indirect supercritical oxy-combustion cycle was developed that provides 99% carbon capture with a 37.9% HHV plant efficiency. This cycle achieves a predicted COE of $121/MWe with no credits taken for the additional 9% of carbon capture, and represents a 21% reduction in cost as compared to supercritical steam with 90% carbon capture ($137/MWe).Direct fired sCO2 cycles for natural gas or syngas are currently being evaluated by Southwest Research Institute and Thar Energy L.L.C. under DOE award DE-FE0024041. Initial evaluations of direct fired supercritical oxy-combustion cycles indicate that plant efficiencies on the order of 51% to 54% can be achieved with direct fired natural gas oxy-combustion when paired with the recompression cycle with 1,200 °C firing temperatures at 200 bar.Direct fired natural gas or syngas sCO2 cycles still face significant technology development needs, with the pressurized oxy-combustor a significant component with a low Technology Readiness Level, (TRL) as defined by the DOE. In addition to the combustion system, significant work will be required to prepare the sCO2 turbomachinery for the turbine inlet temperatures required to achieve plant efficiencies greater than 50%.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Hemodynamic response pattern predicts susceptibility to stress-induced elevation in arterial pressure in the rat.

Cocaine or air jet stress evokes pressor responses due to either a large increase in systemic vascular resistance (vascular responders) or small increases in both cardiac output and vascular resist...
Applying the WHO conceptual framework for the International Classification for Patient Safety to a surgical population

Objective Efforts to improve patient safety are challenged by the lack of universally agreed upon terms. The International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS) was developed by the World Health Organization for this purpose. This study aimed to test the applicability of the ICPS to a surgical population. Design A web-based safety debriefing was sent to clinicians involved in surgical care of abdominal organ transplant patients. A multidisciplinary team of patient safety experts, surgeons and researchers used the data to develop a system of classification based on the ICPS. Disagreements were reconciled via consensus, and a codebook was developed for future use by researchers. Results A total of 320 debriefing responses were used for the initial review and codebook development. In total, the 320 debriefing responses contained 227 patient safety incidents (range: 0–7 per debriefing) and 156 contributing factors/hazards (0–5 per response). The most common severity classification was ‘reportable circumstance,’ followed by ‘near miss.’ The most common incident types were ‘resources/organizational management,’ followed by ‘medical device/equipment.’ Several aspects of surgical care were encompassed by more than one classification, including operating room scheduling, delays in care, trainee-related incidents, interruptions and handoffs. Conclusions This study demonstrates that a framework for patient safety can be applied to facilitate the organization and analysis of surgical safety data. Several unique aspects of surgical care require consideration, and by using a standardized framework for describing concepts, research findings can be compared and disseminated across surgical specialties. The codebook is intended for use as a framework for other specialties and institutions.
A model-based approach to multi-objective optimization

We develop a model-based algorithm for the optimization of multiple objective functions that can only be assessed through black-box evaluation. The algorithm iteratively generates candidate solutions from a mixture distribution over the solution space and updates the mixture distribution based on the sampled solutions' domination count such that the future search is biased towards the set of Pareto optimal solutions. The proposed algorithm seeks to find a mixture distribution on the solution space so that 1) each component of the mixture distribution is a degenerate distribution centered at a Pareto optimal solution and 2) each estimated Pareto optimal solution is uniformly spread across the Pareto optimal set by a threshold distance. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm on several benchmark problems.
Critical success factors for electronic manufacturing services

Ongoing developments in the electronics industry continue to be driven by alternative or disruptive technologies that are discovered in pursuit of satisfying or exceeding Moore's Law. These trends are necessary to support the increased demand for ubiquitous computing, where data becomes the true commodity for business. Unfortunately, this ubiquity becomes difficult to control, and the "Internet of Things" creates several unwelcome challenges. One example includes the contradiction or conflict between consumer level products where volume drives factories and time-to-market dominates the design cycle. Representing the other end of the spectrum are technologies that are needed to support the enterprise server. This conflict can easily manifest itself in packaging reliability shortcomings and will be a source of concern for future devices and subsystems. In parallel with this phenomenon we are seeing the increased need by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to depend heavily on suppliers for outsourced technologies. Of particular interest and in practice for many years now is the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) industry. If we assume a perspective that is enterprise oriented, EMS suppliers are being faced with a delicate balance between high volume, cost competitive manufacturing and higher turn-key services where a joint development or deeper collaboration model with the client emerges. Additionally, the migration of software defined redundancy in servers is putting less dependence on traditional high reliability designs and manufacturing disciplines that have in the past guaranteed a quality product. With so much at stake, the traditional customer-supplier relationship must be elevated and a full understanding of supplier capability achieved. This leads to the need for a comprehensive best practices evaluation and comparison among leaders in the industry. Given the complexity of these new relationships, including the division of ownership across integrated product development models in use today, the EMS role will extend beyond traditional boundaries, and the selection of that supplier will become increasingly critical to the quality and success of any product. This paper will identify those best practices and design and process factors essential to the success of a modern EMS partner.
The Relationship between Financial Strain, Perceived Stress, Psychological Symptoms, and Academic and Social Integration in Undergraduate Students.

ABSTRACTObjective: Financial strain may directly or indirectly (i.e., through perceived stress) impact students’ psychological symptoms and academic and social integration, yet few studies have tested these relationships. The authors explored the mediating effect of perceived stress on the relationship between financial strain and 2 important outcomes: psychological symptomology and academic and social integration. Participants: Participants were 157 undergraduate students. Data were collected from December 2013 to March 2014. Methods: Cross-sectional data collection conducted using online survey software. Results: It was found that perceived stress mediated the relationship between financial strain and (a) psychological symptomology and (b) academic and social integration. Both models included first-generation status as a covariate. Conclusions: Results suggest that perceived stress is an important intervention target for reducing psychological symptoms and improving academic and social integration for u...
Negro and White Automobile-Buying Behavior: New Evidence:

Both parametric and nonparametric tests show that Negroes do, in fact, tend to buy more expensive and larger automobiles than comparable income whites. This tendency, however, does not appear to be explained by the upward mobility hypothesis.
Linear Discriminant Analysis Achieves High Classification Accuracy for the BOLD fMRI Response to Naturalistic Movie Stimuli

Naturalistic stimuli like movies evoke complex perceptual processes, which are of great interest in the study of human cognition by functional MRI (fMRI). However, conventional fMRI analysis based on statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and the general linear model (GLM) is hampered by a lack of accurate parametric models of the BOLD response to complex stimuli. In this situation, statistical machine-learning methods, a.k.a. multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), have received growing attention for their ability to generate stimulus response models in a data-driven fashion. However, machine-learning methods typically require large amounts of training data as well as computational resources. In the past, this has largely limited their application to fMRI experiments involving small sets of stimulus categories and small regions of interest in the brain. By contrast, the present study compares several classification algorithms known as Nearest Neighbor (NN), Gaussian Naive Bayes (GNB), and (regularized) Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) in terms of their classification accuracy in discriminating the global fMRI response patterns evoked by a large number of naturalistic visual stimuli presented as a movie. Results show that LDA regularized by principal component analysis (PCA) achieved high classification accuracies, above 90% on average for single fMRI volumes acquired 2 s apart during a 300 s movie (chance level 0.7% = 2 s/300 s). The largest source of classification errors were autocorrelations in the BOLD signal compounded by the similarity of consecutive stimuli. All classifiers performed best when given input features from a large region of interest comprising around 25% of the voxels that responded significantly to the visual stimulus. Consistent with this, the most informative principal components represented widespread distributions of co-activated brain regions that were similar between subjects and may represent functional networks. In light of these results, the combination of naturalistic movie stimuli and classification analysis in fMRI experiments may prove to be a sensitive tool for the assessment of changes in natural cognitive processes under experimental manipulation.
Influence of Sequence and Covalent Modifications on Yeast tRNA Dynamics.

Modified nucleotides are prevalent in tRNA. Experimental studies reveal that these covalent modifications play an important role in tuning tRNA function. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to investigate how modifications alter tRNA dynamics. The X-ray crystal structures of tRNA(Asp), tRNA(Phe), and tRNA(iMet), both with and without modifications, were used as initial structures for 333 ns explicit solvent MD simulations with AMBER. For each tRNA molecule, three independent trajectory calculations were performed, giving an aggregate of 6 μs of total MD across six molecules. The global root-mean-square deviations (RMSD) of atomic positions show that modifications only introduce significant rigidity to the global structure of tRNA(Phe). Interestingly, RMSDs of the anticodon stem-loop (ASL) suggest that modified tRNA has a more rigid structure compared to the unmodified tRNA in this domain. The anticodon RMSDs of the modified tRNAs, however, are higher than those of corresponding un...
GLOBAL MONOPOLES AND THE BONDI-FORWARD MECHANISM

Based on work by Bondi, Forward considered the possibility of using putative negative masses for a propel- lantless propulsion mechanism. Recent advances in the study of black holes in the presence of fields may provide an explicit mechanism to mimick the effects of negative mass without the need to invoke exotic quantum effects, or to postulate the existence of matter with negative mass in the classical do- main. We evaluate the feasibility of using such objects in a Bondi-Forward type propulsion mechanism.
Atresia of the proximal left coronary artery associated with supravalvular aortic stenosis. Surgical treatment.

The case of a 9-year-old boy with symptomatic myocardial ischemia due to atresia of the left coronary ostium is discussed. A saphenous vein bypass graft was placed from the ascending aorta to the left anterior descending coronary artery. Symptoms have abated, the patient has normal exercise tolerance, and hemodynamic parameters have improved.