cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunization with the Yersiniabactin Receptor, FyuA, Protects against Pyelonephritis in a Murine Model of Urinary Tract Infection

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are common and represent a substantial economic and public health burden. Roughly 80% of these infections are caused by a heterogeneous group of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) strains. Antibiotics are standard therapy for UTI, but a rise in antibiotic resistance has complicated treatment, making the development of a UTI vaccine more urgent. Iron receptors are a promising new class of vaccine targets for UTI, as UPEC require iron to colonize the iron-limited host urinary tract and genes encoding iron acquisition systems are highly expressed during infection. Previously, three of six UPEC siderophore and heme receptors were identified as vaccine candidates by intranasal immunization in a murine model of ascending UTI. To complete the assessment of iron receptors as vaccine candidates, an additional six UPEC iron receptors were evaluated. Of the six vaccine candidates tested in this study (FyuA, FitA, IroN, the gene product of the CFT073 locus c0294, and two truncated derivatives of ChuA), only FyuA provided significant protection (P = 0.0018) against UPEC colonization. Intranasal immunization induced a robust and long-lived humoral immune response. In addition, the levels of FyuA-specific serum IgG correlated with bacterial loads in the kidneys [Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ρ(14) = −0.72, P = 0.0018], providing a surrogate of protection. FyuA is the fourth UPEC iron receptor to be identified from our screens, in addition to IutA, Hma, and IreA, which were previously demonstrated to elicit protection against UPEC challenge. Together, these iron receptor antigens will facilitate the development of a broadly protective, multivalent UTI vaccine to effectively target diverse strains of UPEC.
Cerebrovascular ultrastructure and permeability after carotid artery constriction in experimental hypertension

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of carotid artery constriction on cerebrovascular ultrastructure and permeability in severe two-kidney Goldblatt hypertension in the rat, a renin-angiotensin dependent state. The right common carotid artery of male Holtzman rats was constricted with a silver wire clip having an i.d. of 0.27 mm. Forty-eight hours later the left renal artery of these animals was similarly constricted. Severely hypertensive animals (b.p. > 200 mmHg) and controls were injected with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and sacrificed 5–20 min later. Parietal cortex supplied by unconstricted and constricted carotid arteries was then processed for light and electron microscopy and cytochemistry. The cerebral cortical arterial vessels from the contralateral hemisphere of the hypertensive animals are tortuous and exhibit segmental constrictions. Ultrastructural examination reveals arterial hyalinosis and intramural and perivascular fibrin deposition. HRP penetrates interendothelial arterial junctions and is found within the subendothelial space, around medial smooth muscle cells and between swollen cell processes of the neuropile. The penetrating arterial vessels of the ipsilateral hemisphere also exhibit increased permeability to HRP but there are no morphologic alterations in the arterial vasculature or adjacent neuropile. Since carotid artery constriction effectively excludes elevated arterial pressure (intracarotid pressure ≤ 145 mmHg) as the cause of the abnormal cerebrovascular permeability, it is suggested that the increased permeability in this system is due to angiotensin-mediated contraction of cerebral arterial endothelium.
Evaluating the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act: Learning from Experience?

The future of health planning and regulation is tied to past performance in both a political and intellectual sense. Evidence of success or failure to accomplish program goals will structure partisan debate about the future of PL 93-641; and the experience of the past seven years will provide policy analysts with the raw material from which to build more effective technologies of planning and regulation. This paper discusses a number of analytic factors which jeopardize the integrity of both impact assessment and knowledge development. These include the nature of the program's goals, the difficulties of generating reliable forecasts as to what would have occurred in the program's absence, the likelihood of unintended consequences, and the seeming inevitability of having to work with elaborate multivariate models which contain numerous interaction terms. We argue that without careful analysis and cautious interpretation, grand experiments such as PL 93-641 are likely to yield little useful evidence to guide policy adaptation.
An investigation of the moral reasoning of managers

Factors which could be expected to influence the moral reasoning of managers at work were exam ined. Two hundred forty-three managers from four manufacturing firms participated in this study. Factors examined were the perceived ethical climate of the organization, as measured by the Ethical Climate Questionnaire; and the extent an individual focuses on the situation in deciding how to behave, as measured by the Self-Monitoring Scale. Moral reasoning, as the dependent variable, was measured using the Defining Issues Test. Results show that contrary to expectations, neither perceived ethical climate nor self-monitoring are related to managers' moral reasoning. Several interesting descriptive find ings were obtained, including the finding that age was negatively related to moral reasoning. Implica tions for further research are discussed.
Breaking the Pumping Speed Barrier in Mass Spectrometry: Discontinuous Atmospheric Pressure Interface

The performance of mass spectrometers with limited pumping capacity is shown to be improved through use of a discontinuous atmospheric pressure interface (DAPI). A proof-of-concept DAPI interface was designed and characterized using a miniature rectilinear ion trap mass spectrometer. The interface consists of a simple capillary directly connecting the atmospheric pressure ion source to the vacuum mass analyzer region; it has no ion optical elements and no differential pumping stages. Gases carrying ionized analytes were pulsed into the mass analyzer for short periods at high flow rates rather than being continuously introduced at lower flow rates; this procedure maximized ion transfer. The use of DAPI provides a simple solution to the problem of coupling an atmospheric pressure ionization source to a miniature instrument with limited pumping capacity. Data were recorded using various atmospheric pressure ionization sources, including electrospray ionization (ESI), nano-ESI, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) sources. The interface was opened briefly for ion introduction during each scan. With the use of the 18 W pumping system of the Mini 10, limits of detection in the low part-per-billion levels were achieved and unit resolution mass spectra were recorded.
Generic truth and mixed conjunctions : some alternatives

Christine Tappolet [9] posed a problem for alethic pluralism: either deny the truth of conjunctions whose conjuncts are from distinct domains of inquiry, or posit a generic global truth property thus making other truth properties redundant. Douglas Edwards [2] has attempted to solve the problem by avoiding the horns of Tappolet’s dilemma. After first noting an unappreciated consequence of Edwards’ view regarding a proliferation of truth properties, I show that Edwards’ proposal fails to avoid Tappolet’s original dilemma. His response is not successful as it lets in a generic truth property through the ‘back door’. I conclude by briefly offering a new solution to the problem, and an alternative diagnosis of Tappolet’s dilemma.
Partial ovary development is widespread in honey bees and comparable to other eusocial bees and wasps.

Honey bee workers have few opportunities for direct reproduction because their ovary development is chemically suppressed by queens and worker-laid eggs are destroyed by workers. While workers with fully developed ovaries are rare in honey bee colonies, we show that partial ovary development is common. Across nine studies, an average of 6% to 43% of workers had partially developed ovaries in queenright colonies with naturally mated queens. This shift by workers toward potential future reproduction is linked to lower productivity, which suggests that even small investments in reproductive physiology by selfish workers reduce cooperation below a theoretical maximum. Furthermore, comparisons across 26 species of bees and wasps revealed that the level of partial ovary development in honey bees is similar to that of other eusocial Hymenoptera where there is reproductive conflict among colony members. Natural variation in the extent of partial ovary development in honey bee colonies calls for an exploration of ...
Towards Autonomous Inspection of Space Systems Using Mobile Robotic Sensor Platforms

The space transportation systems required to support NASA's Exploration Initiative will demand a high degree of reliability to ensure mission success. This reliability can be realized through autonomous fault/damage detection and repair capabilities. It is crucial that such capabilities are incorporated into these systems since it will be impractical to rely upon Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), visual inspection or tele-operation due to the costly, labor-intensive and time-consuming nature of these methods. One approach to achieving this capability is through the use of an autonomous inspection system comprised of miniature mobile sensor platforms that will cooperatively perform high confidence inspection of space vehicles and habitats. This paper will discuss the efforts to develop a small scale demonstration test-bed to investigate the feasibility of using autonomous mobile sensor platforms to perform inspection operations. Progress will be discussed in technology areas including: the hardware implementation and demonstration of robotic sensor platforms, the implementation of a hardware test-bed facility, and the investigation of collaborative control algorithms.
The in vitro synthesis of final maturational steroids by ovaries of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens)

The steroidogenic profile produced by ovaries of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) was examined using radioactive incorporation incubations. The radioactive metabolites produced were identified and were tested for their ability to induce germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) in oocytes in in vitro bioassays. Brook trout ovarian tissue converted [14C]progesterone to five metabolites that were effective in inducing GVBD in the bioassays: 5 beta-pregnanedione, 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, deoxycorticosterone, and two more polar metabolites that were not identified. One of these two metabolites comigrated with 11-deoxycortisol and 17 alpha-hydroxy,20 beta-dihydroprogesterone (17 alpha, 20 beta prog) in thin layer chromatography. Androstenedione, testosterone, and estradiol-17 beta were also identified as metabolites of progesterone. Brook trout ovarian tissue did not extensively metabolize [14C]pregnenolone. Dehydroepiandrosterone and 17 alpha-hydroxypregnenolone were tentatively identified as metabolites of pregnenolone. Yellow perch ovarian tissue converted [14C]progesterone or [14C]pregnenolone to six metabolites that were effective in inducing GVBD in the bioassays: 5 alpha-pregnanedione, 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, 20 alpha-dihydroprogesterone, 17 alpha-hydroxy, 20 alpha-dihydroprogesterone (tentatively identified), and two other unidentified metabolites. One of these two metabolites comigrated with 11-deoxycortisol and 17 alpha, 20 beta prog in thin layer chromatography. The only metabolite that induced ovulation of yellow perch oocytes in vitro was the metabolite comigrating with 11-deoxycortisol and 17 alpha, 20 beta prog. Androstenedione and testosterone were also identified as metabolites produced by yellow perch ovarian tissue. The results show that the ovaries of both species produce steroids that are active in the induction of oocyte final maturation.
Detailed balance factors for freely rotating linear molecules

The first two even spectral moments for rotational infrared and Raman spectra bands are evaluated exactly for freely rotating linear molecules. Deviations of the second moment from its classical limiting value are evaluated numerically and compared with three approximate expressions for the quantum correction (detailed balance factor) to the classical result.
Damping of Torsional Oscillations in Power Systems with Series-Compensated Lines

The phenomena of subsynchronous resonance (SSR) in power systems with series-compensated transmission lines have been the subject of many studies in the recent literature. A companion paper has dealt with the characterization of the various SSR phenomena, their zones of influence, and their dependence on the system parameters. This paper deals with the damping of torsional oscillations through the use of stabilizing signals introduced at the input of the excitation system. The scheme is applied to the IEEE bench mark model for computer simulation, proposed by the IEEE Task Force on Subsynchronous Resonance.
Temperature dependence of steady-state Bragg diffraction in a Ce:Fe:LiNbO 3 photorefractive crystal

Steady-state Bragg diffraction (nondegenerate four-wave mixing) in a Ce:Fe:LiNbO 3 photorefractive crystal as a function of the crystal temperature is described. We have shown that an efficient steady-state frequency-varied conjugate wave (FVCW) can be generated at an elevated crystal temperature of about 120°C, at which a tenfold increase in the steady-state FVCW intensity is observed compared with that at room temperature (20°C). We have found that the temperature dependency is primarily due to the reduction of light-induced scattering by thermally activated ions that neutralize the noise grating in the crystal. We have also observed that, at higher temperatures, steady-state phase-conjugate waves at both pump wavelengths can be obtained.
The Two Schools of American Political Development

Political scientists working in the area of American political development (APD) focus on America's political history with the goal of explaining why the nation's often peculiar collection of institutions and policies grew the way they did. Two primary approaches or schools of inquiry shape much APD scholarship, though a great deal of very fine work falls outside of them: historical institutionalists study actors pursuing interests through a political arena bounded by institutions; and ideational scholars, in contrast, seek to understand how norms, narratives, and outlooks influence the framing of debates and their outcomes. Although there are exceptions, especially at the margins, each school is marked by a general outlook. Previous discussions of the two schools have focused on the place of culture and ideas in relation to institutions. I argue here that the two schools split along more fundamental lines, and suggest that the crucial distinction between them centers on the nature of causation and on an ...
Krasnosel'skii numbers for bounded finitely starlike sets inR d

For eachk andd, 1≤k≤d, definef(d, d)=d+1 andf(d, k)=2d if 1≤k≤d−1. The following results are established:
The isotopic composition of authigenic chromium in anoxic marine sediments: A case study from the Cariaco Basin

Chromium (Cr) isotopes are an emerging proxy for tracking redox processes at the Earth's surface. However, there has been limited exploration of the Cr isotope record of modern and recent marine sediments. The basic inorganic chemistry of Cr suggests that anoxic marine basins should factor prominently in the global Cr cycle and that sediments deposited within anoxic basins may offer a valuable Cr isotope archive throughout Earth's history. Here, we present δ^(53)Cr data from sediments of the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela—a ‘type’ environment for large, perennially anoxic basins with a relatively strong hydrological connection to the global oceans. We document a marked positive shift in bulk δ^(53)Cr values following the termination of the Last Glacial Maximum, followed by relative stasis. Based on a suite of independent redox proxies, this transition marks a switch from oxic to persistently anoxic and sulfidic (euxinic) depositional conditions within the basin. We find good agreement between two independent approaches toward estimating the δ^(53)Cr composition of authigenic Cr in euxinic Cariaco Basin sediments and that these estimates are very similar to the δ^(53)Cr composition of modern open Atlantic Ocean seawater. These data, together with considerations of reaction kinetics and mass balance within the Cariaco Basin, are consistent with the hypothesis that anoxic marine settings can serve as a chemical archive of first-order trends in seawater δ^(53)Cr composition. Additionally, the Cariaco Basin data suggest that there has been secular stability in the average δ^(53)Cr value of Atlantic seawater over the last ∼15 kyr.
Estimation and Tests for Departures from Rao‐Structured Covariance Matrices

For linear models, a measure of departure of a variance-covariance matrix from Rao-structure (Rao, 1967) is proposed. Relevant estimation and testing problems are discussed. Illustrative examples are also presented.
Region-specific mechanisms for testosterone-induced Fos in hamster brain

Abstract Hamsters self-administer androgens. Previously, we determined that testosterone (T) activates select steroid- and opiate-sensitive brain regions. Is T-stimulated neuronal activation androgenic? Thirty-five castrated males with physiologic T replacement ( n = 7/group) were pre-treated with the androgen antagonist flutamide (15 mg/kg sc) or ethanol (0.25 ml) and infused into the lateral ventricle (ICV) for 4 h with 40 μg T (TF and TE, respectively) or 40 μl vehicle (VF and VE). To determine if androgens and opiates activate overlapping brain areas, 7 additional males received 20 μg morphine sulfate ICV following ethanol injection (ME). Immediately after ICV infusion, animals were perfused. Sixty-micrometer coronal brain slices were stained for Fos. Fos-positive neurons were counted in a 0.3-mm 2 area from 5 regions previously shown to express T-induced Fos: the posteromedial bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTPM), posteromedial amygdala (MeP), lateral habenula (LHb), ventral tegmental area, and lateral pontine nucleus. T induced Fos in all areas reported previously (TE vs. VE, p p > 0.05). Morphine induced Fos in all 5 brain regions (ME vs. VE, p p > 0.05). Moreover, flutamide treatment blocked T-induced Fos expression only in the steroid-sensitive BSTPM, suggesting that androgens mediate neuronal activation in this area (mean ± SEM: TF: 68.4 ± 13.2 vs. TE: 137.9 ± 17.6, p p > 0.05) suggests that distinct mechanisms activate Fos in individual androgen-responsive nuclei.
Quantitative Morphological Proxies for Fossoriality in Small Mammals

Burrowing behavior is widespread among mammals and has generated a diverse array of adaptive responses to the physical demands of this lifestyle. While extensive research has been devoted to the morphological, ecological, and evolutionary implications of burrowing, it remains difficult to compare burrowing adaptations between mammals of widely divergent ancestry. A reliable quantitative proxy for fossoriality (burrowing) is necessary for such comparisons as well as for detailed descriptions of ecology from specimens of rare, extinct, and fossil mammals. This study presents several quantitative indices of the morphology of burrowing mammals based on 20 measurements of skull and skeletal morphology taken from 123 different mammalian species, both burrowing and nonburrowing. Discriminant analyses revealed that these quantitative characters successfully distinguish nonburrowing taxa from those that are adapted to a burrowing lifestyle. Additionally, more subtle distinctions between subterranean taxa (which rarely emerge above ground) and other burrowers as well as between mammals using different methods of burrow excavation were identified from these characters. A test of these indices using 6 extinct species yielded results consistent with more-detailed descriptions of the functional morphology of these taxa, indicating that our quantitative proxies provide an important basis for comparisons of fossorial adaptations across divergent mammalian clades.
Integration of dynamic vehicle routing and microscopic traffic simulation

Dynamic vehicle routing (DVR) systems are the key component of ATIS. DVR systems are designed to provide route recommendations based on actual or predicted traffic conditions. DVR is concerned with design of the best vehicle routes on which the drivers are serviced during their allowable or requested time of periods. DVR is highly sensitive to the time at which the trip starts at certain time and en-route time encounters different delay since travel time varies considerably with the departing time. Travel times are also very important for routing decision since they impact the decision of whether a driver could be assigned to a specific route. Microscopic traffic simulation is frequently used to study the effect of various factors on traffic parameters such as link travel times. The author proposed a new approach, which integrates and incorporate the traffic simulation modeling and dynamic routing capabilities into a dynamic vehicle routing system. This approach uses simulation models to mimic actual traffic conditions as functions of times along the potential routes to provide optimal routes.
Monoclonal antibody-based methods for quantitation of hemoglobins: application to evaluating patients with sickle cell anemia treated with hydroxyurea.

: High-titer monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were raised against chromatographically purified human hemoglobin (Hb) species. These mAb were specific for either Hb A, Hb F, Hb S or Hb C. Based on these antibodies, which were directly conjugated with either fluorochromes or an enzyme (horseradish peroxidase), we developed immunoassays for determining the Hb profile in the peripheral blood; an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determining the absolute and relative quantities of various Hb species and one-step immunolabeling for fluorescence microscopic and flow cytometric analyses of the distribution of RBC with respect to their Hb types. We utilized these methods for monitoring the Hb F level and the percentage of Hb F-containing cells in patients with sickle cell anemia undergoing treatment with hydroxyurea.
Biobehavioral Rehabilitation for Older Adults With Essential Tremor

Essential tremor (ET), the most prevalent movement disorder, has a peak prevalence in the sixth decade of life. ET primarily affects the hands and head. Persons with ET are often significantly disabled in communication, work, leisure, domestic activities, and psychosocial adjustment. Medical intervention for ET is often limited in effectiveness. A biobehavioral rehabilitation model for older adults with ET is described.
Petrography and K-Ar Ages of Dredged Volcanic Rocks from the Western Hawaiian Ridge and the Southern Emperor Seamount Chain

Alkalic basalt dredged from Yuryaku Seamount in the southernmost Emperor Seamount chain and from the western Hawaiian Ridge at Pearl and Hermes Reef and at two unnamed seamounts 160 and 380 km west of Midway is similar to the alkalic basalt that caps the volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands. Conventional and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar K-Ar analyses give best weighted mean ages of 42.3 ± 1.6 m.y. for Yuryaku Seamount, 27.3 ± 0.4 m.y. and 26.7 ± 0.5 m.y. for the two unnamed seamounts, and 20.1 ± 0.5 m.y. for the volcano that forms Pearl and Hermes Reef. The data show that the age of the Hawaiian-Emperor bend is about 41 to 43 m.y. Although the volcanoes in the Hawaiian-Emperor chain generally increase in age to the north and west of the island of Hawaii, the measured age-distance relations along the chain are not linear in detail. A phonolite, possibly a differentiated member of a posterosional nephelinic suite and the first found on the Hawaiian Ridge, was recovered from Pearl and Hermes Reef. Samples of analcime tephrite recovered from the unnamed seamount 380 km west of Midway may also be derived from a posterosional nephelinic suite.
Rapid feature space MLLR speaker adaptation with bilinear models

In this paper, we propose a novel method for rapid feature space Maximum Likelihood Linear Regression (FMLLR) speaker adaptation based on bilinear models. When the amount of adaptation data is limited, the conventional FMLLR transforms can be easily over-trained and can even degrade the performance. In such cases, usually by introducing structural constraints on the FMLLR transformation, the original FMLLR adaptation method can be modified for rapid adaptation. The objective of our bilinear model is to introduce a prior knowledge analysis on the training speakers based on Singular Vector Decomposition (SVD), and to incorporate it in the decoding process. This can effectively reduce the number of free parameters of FMLLR transformation and achieve performance improvements even with limited adaptation data. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated with experiments on the Mandarin digital dataset and the Mandarin voice search dataset respectively.
Highly producible monolithic Q-band MESFET VCO

The authors describe a highly integrated fully monolithic Q-band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) that was built on a uniformly doped epitaxially grown substrate using 0.35- mu m gates. This FET-based oscillator delivered greater than 90 mW of output power at a frequency of 40 GHz with 2.8 GHz of tuning bandwidth. Tuning was achieved via an integrated varactor. A four-stage buffer amplifier and all bias networks have been included on chip to minimize performance variation due to assembly tolerances and load variations. >
Preliminary Investigation of Orange Micaceous Earthenware from the Early Colonial Period Charles Towne Colony, Cape Fear River, North Carolina: Implications for Local Manufacture

Archaeological investigation of early Colonial Period orange micaceous earthenware from eastern North American sites is complicated by the presence of a variety of material that may have either local, European or Barbadian ancestry. The ephemeral Charles Towne colony (1664-1667) on the Cape Fear River in southeastern North Carolina is currently under historical and archaeological investigation by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. At this site approximately 20 to 25% of the recovered sherds are of an orange micaceous composition. The provenance of these sherds is being investigated by a combination of petrographic techniques and clay and detrital mineral studies. We use this approach to evaluate whether these sherds represent evidence of local manufacture. To this end we have studied the local clay deposits as possible source areas and acquired samples of both sherd and clay material from Barbados for comparison. Results from this study have implications for early Colonial local earthenware manufacture and points to the influence of Barbados in the colonization of eastern North America.
On "A Simple Protocol Whose Proof Isn&#769;t": The State Machine Approach

We discuss how to model a synchronous protocol (due to Aho, Ullman, and Yannakakis) using communicating finite state machines, and present a proof for its safety and liveness properties. Our proof is based on constructing a labeled finite reachability graph for the protocol. This reachability graph can be viewed as a sequential program whose safety and liveness properties can be stated and verified in a straightforward fashion.
Mechanical properties and gene expression of chondrocytes on micropatterned substrates following dedifferentiation in monolayer

Chondrocytes in articular cartilage normally exhibit high expression of collagen II and aggrecan but rapidly dedifferentiate to a fibroblastic phenotype if passaged in culture. Previous studies have suggested that the loss of chondrocyte phenotype is associated with changes in the structure of the F-actin cytoskeleton, which also controls cell mechanical properties. In this study, we examined how dedifferentiation in monolayer influences the mechanical properties of chondrocytes isolated from different zones of articular cartilage. Atomic force microscopy was used to measure the mechanical properties of superficial and middle/deep zone chondrocytes as they underwent serial passaging and subsequent growth on fibronectin-coated, micropatterned self-assembled monolayers that restored a rounded cell shape in 2D culture. Chondrocytes exhibited significant increases in elastic and viscoelastic moduli with dedifferentiation in culture. These changes were only partially ameliorated by the restoration of a rounded shape on micropatterned surfaces. Furthermore, intrinsic zonal differences in cell mechanical properties were rapidly lost with passage. These findings indicate that cell mechanical properties may provide additional measures of phenotypic expression of chondrocytes as they undergo dedifferentiation and possibly redifferentiation in culture.
Flux penetration in slab-shaped type-I superconductors

We study the problem of flux penetration into type-I superconductors with a high demagnetization factor (slab geometry). We analyze the process by which flux invades the sample as the applied field is increased slowly from zero, concentrating on the role of demagnetization. We find that flux does not penetrate gradually. Rather there is an instability in the process and the flux penetrates from the boundary in a series of bursts, accompanied by the formation of isolated droplets of the normal phase, leading to a multiply connected flux-domain structure similar to what is seen in experiments. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
Aerodynamic Characterization of a Wing Membrane with Variable Compliance

Membrane wings with variable compliance have a great potential to improve the maneuverability and performance of micro air vehicles. Moreover, changes in membrane wing compliance might be used by flying animals, such as bats, to control aerodynamic performance. In this work, the mechanical properties and aerodynamic performance of a low-aspect-ratio membrane wing with variable compliance was characterized. The membrane was made of dielectric material coated with compliant electrodes and supported by a rigid frame. The compliance of the wing was controlled by applying a voltage across a membrane. The wing model was tested in a wind tunnel. It was found that, when a fixed voltage is applied across the wing membrane, the camber increases, accompanied by a small increase in lift. However, lift is significantly increased when the wing is forced with an oscillating field at specific frequencies. In addition, stall is delayed, and for a range of angle of attacks, there is an increase in lift-to-drag ratio. Fluid...
Motion Capture and Contemporary Optimization Algorithms for Robust and Stable Motions on Simulated Biped Robots

Biped soccer robots have shown drastic improvements in motion skills over the past few years. Still, a lot of work needs to be done with the RoboCup Federation’s vision of 2050 in mind. One goal is creating a workflow for quickly generating reliable motions, preferably with inexpensive and accessible hardware. Our hypothesis is that using Microsoft’s Kinect sensor in combination with a modern optimization algorithm can achieve this objective. We produced four complex and inherently unstable motions and then applied three contemporary optimization algorithms (CMA-ES, xNES, PSO) to make the motions robust; we performed 900 experiments with these motions on a 3D simulated Nao robot with full physics. In this paper we describe the motion mapping technique, compare the optimization algorithms, and discuss various basis functions and their impact on the learning performance. Our conclusion is that there is a straightforward process to achieve complex and stable motions in a short period of time.
Survey of Experiential Entrepreneurship Education Offerings among Top Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze experiential entrepreneurship education offerings – programs and courses – among the “Top 25” undergraduate schools of entrepreneurship in the USA. The motivation is to understand the array and vitality of experiential initiatives across the country. A related aim is to unearth obstacles to offering experiential entrepreneurship and identify affordable, viable options. Surveying undergraduate program deans, chairs and administrators, the authors inventory and analyze experiences offered in top entrepreneurship programs. The target audience for the research is entrepreneurship education researchers and business program leaders. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is a survey approach. A survey was sent to the entrepreneurship program leaders of the “Top 25” business schools according to recently published rankings. In total, 57 percent of the target population responded to the survey. Findings – The authors find that credit-yielding experiential e...
Mosquito in the Bag

A 50-year-old man with sickle cell disease and chronic kidney failure was admitted to hospital with subfebrile pyrexia and tachycardia. On admission, hemoglobin was 6.1 g/dl, but fell to 2.7 g/dl after 2 days. Blood film examination revealed Plasmodium falciparum trophozoites; parasitemia was quantified at 5.2%. He received Quinine for 1 week followed by a single dose of Pyrimethamine/Sulphadoxine. Although the treatment eradicated the parasites, his condition gradually worsened and he died of multiorgan failure 2 months later.
Great Moments in Financial Economics: III. Short-Sales and Stock Prices

This is the third in a series of articles on Great Moments in Financial Economics to appear in the Journal. For each, the purpose is to trace, as well as the author can, the history of the development of an important idea. In this case, the idea, usually associated with the work of Edward Miller, is that in the real-world of investors with (1) heterogeneous beliefs and of markets with (2) significant barriers to short-sales, stocks for which these barriers are binding will have prices at least temporarily too high relative to an alternative economy in which these two features are not both simultaneously present. In the early 21st century, this idea has experienced a sort of renaissance of research which has been used to explain a large number of phenomena which can otherwise appear anomalous, from the momentum factor in stock returns, to market crashes, to the recent Internet-based stock market "bubble", and to the growing popularity of certain hedge fund strategies.
Autonomous hierarchical POMDP planning from low-level sensors

There are currently no strong methods for planning in a stochastic domain, with low-level sensors that are limited and possibly inaccurate. Existing architectures have flaws that make their use in a real-world environment impractical. We propose an architecture that utilizes POMDPs to create a hierarchical planning system. This system is capable of developing macro-actions that can expedite planning on a large scale, and can learn new plans quickly and efficiently, without deliberate design by the programmer.
Simulation of Combustion Driven Micro-Engine

A numerical study of a combustion driven micro-engine is presented in this paper. There are some unique issues in the design of this engine due to the dimensions of the combustor and since Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems(MEMS) fabrication technology has to be used in its manufacture. Phenomena such as ignition, flame propagation, heat losses and quenching may occur differently due to the small size of the device, especially the high aspect ratio of the combustor. Since these effects control the performance of the engine, an in-depth parametric evaluation is necessary to develop an optimal successful design. However, due to the MEMS fabrication limitations, parametric experimental studies is not only difficult but also very expensive. To complement an on-going experimental effort and to reduce the design cycle costs, a large-eddy simulation (LES) methodology has been developed to carry out the aforementioned parametric studies in a more cost-effective manner and to provide guidelines for the construction of the microengine. The simulations results are compared with available experimental data and results show reasonable agreement. The relevance and importance of various parameters of the micro-engine is then discussed and implications for design are highlighted.
Poultry Growers' Control Strategies and their Evolution

This paper presents a model for understanding the evolution of worker strategies in rural northern Mozambique, an industrially developing agricultural region. We reviewed administrative data on grower productivity from an integrated poultry operation, visited three grower chicken houses, and followed-up with informal discussions with the integrator, examining tasks and strategies related to productivity. Defining strategy as a mode of behavior that demands a resource profile and generates a performance profile that depends on the environment, we discuss examples of strategies and their adaptation over three time horizons. These time horizons are exemplified in the poultry growing domain as the critical brooding period following birth, the weekly routine within a growing cycle, and the span of months comprised of several growing cycles. Responding to observed flock characteristics, growers used behavioral indicators of health to adjust temperature; used heuristics to adjust feed based on measured weight; a...
A Damage Integral Based Analysis and Simulation of the Thermal Fatigue of Diebonds

Microelectronic packages undergo substantial thermal excursions during processing and often in service. Differences in the thermal expansion of the various components may therefore lead to fatigue of the interconnects. A computer simulation has been developed which is based on a damage integral approach for the modeling of damage and failure in the various bonding layers found throughout such a package. This code should apply equally well to solder die bonds and polymeric or epoxy adhesive layers, assuming that the corresponding crack growth parameters and constitutive relations are known. Using literature values for these properties, predictions have been compared to experimental thermal cycling data for solder die bonds. Consequences for the extrapolation of accelerated test results to service conditions are discussed.
Tri-Phasic Size- and Janus Balance-Tunable Colloidal Nanoparticles (JNPs)

These studies show synthesis of triphasic size- and Janus balance (JB)-tunable nanoparticles (JNPs) utilizing a two-step emulsion polymerization of pentafluorostyrene (PFS) and 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and n-butyl acrylate (nBA) in the presence of poly(methyl methacrylate (MMA)/nBA) nanoparticle seeds. Each JNP consists of three phase-separated copolymers: p(MMA/nBA) core, temperature, and pH-responsive (p(DMAEMA/nBA)) phase capable of reversible size and shape changes, and shape-adoptable (p(PFS/nBA)) phase. Due to built-in second-order lower critical solution temperature (II-LCST) transition of p(DMAEMA/nBA) copolymer, macromolecular segments collapse when temperature increases from 30 to 45 °C, resulting in size and shape changes. The p(DMAEMA/nBA) and p(MMA/nBA) phases within each JNP assume concave, flat, or convex shapes, forcing p(PFS/nBA) phase to adopt convex, planar, or concave interfacial curvatures, respectively. As a result, the JB can be tuned from 3.78 to 0.72. The prese...
Assessment of long-term outcomes of rheumatoid arthritis. How choices of measures and study designs may lead to apparently different conclusions

In this article, previous review articles concerning long-term outcomes of rheumatoid arthritis are extended. A summary is provided of evidence that impressions concerning the long-term natural history and results of therapy in rheumatoid arthritis are strongly influenced by the types of measures and study designs used to assess patient status and outcomes.
Investigation of Submodels in Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of a Large-Scale Pulverized-Coal-Fired Furnace: Significant Role of H2

Certain simplified submodels of coal combustion, whose precision can be inadequate for certain situations, are widely used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a pulverized-coal-fired furnace. A large-scale furnace was simulated to explore the effects of certain advanced submodels. Comparing the simulation results in four cases to different submodels shows that the ignitability of burners is closely linked to the amount of H2 generated. In the baseline case, which disregards H2, we obtained very poor ignitability for all burners. Using a four-step mechanism instead of a two-step mechanism for volatile combustion and considering the char gasification (C–H2O) and detailed composition of volatiles are all clearly likely to improve ignitability. Meanwhile, superior ignitability also increases the heat absorbed by walls, reduces gas temperatures at the furnace exit, and reduces CO in the furnace. CO can also be increased by accounting for char gasification (C–CO2) and the detailed composition o...
In vitro rearing of Edovum puttleri, an egg parasitoid of the Colorado potato beetle – development from egg through the pupal stage

A variety of semi-defined artificial diets were developed and tested for their ability to support the in vitro development of Edovum puttleri. In the most effective diet, 2.6% of E. puttleri pupated. This diet contained high levels of hen egg yolk combined with Manduca sexta larval hemolymph, or with a mixture of M. sexta egg homogenate and larval hemolymph. Egg homogenate alone (without the addition of hemolymph) was not capable of supporting the parasitoid's development. Thus, hemolymph appears to contain unidentified factor(s) important for inducing pupation of the wasp. Addition of M. sexta pupal fat body tissue extract (in place of hemolymph) also promoted pupation of E. puttleri. Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) larval hemolymph could not replace M. sexta larval hemolymph. Fractionation irreversibly reduced the growth-promoting effects of M. sexta larval hemolymph. However, the most effective fraction contained components whose molecular weights were ≥1000 kd. In diets that were devoid of insect materials, the best results were achieved when hen egg yolk, FreAmine, yeast extract, lactalbumin, trehalose, fetal bovine serum and bovine milk were included. This is the first report of an artificial diet for in vitro rearing an eulophid parasitoid from the egg through the pupal stage.
Strategic orientation and new product development performance: The role of networking capability and networking ability

Abstract While strategic orientation can represent an important antecedent to new product development (NPD) performance, research suggests that adopting a strategic orientation alone is not sufficient and a better understanding of contingencies is necessary. Based on the dynamic capability view of the firm, this study examines the effect of a firm's ability to connect with external network partners (networking capability) and the ability of NPD project managers to network with stakeholders within the firm (networking ability). The empirical results indicate that market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation are positively associated with NPD performance when a firm has sufficient networking capability to manage network dynamics and when the managers of NPD projects possess networking ability to successfully mobilize the support and advocacy of stakeholders within the firm. The results also show that NPD performance is highest when market (entrepreneurial) orientation, networking capability, and networking ability are all high, thus supporting the proposed three-way interaction.
Filled oxygen-deficient strontium barium niobates

Filled strontium barium niobate (SBN, SrxBa6−xNb10O30−δ) compositions from the barium end-member to a Sr:Ba ratio of 80:20 were fabricated using conventional sintering under oxygen-deficient conditions. Single-phase specimens were obtained when sintered at 1350°C under a reducing condition of about 1.0×10−16 atm pO2. X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to confirm the phase-purity. Lattice parameters derived from Rietveld refinements were used to trace Vegard's Law over the solid solution. It was found that Vegard's Law is followed over two ranges, which is believed to be due to preferential site occupancy of the A sites as the Sr content changes. The successful fabrication of filled SBN bronzes provides an avenue for correlating trends in electrical characteristics of the SBN solid solution.
Personalized Group Recommender Systems for Location- and Event-Based Social Networks

Location-Based Social Networks (LBSNs) such as Foursquare, Google+ Local, and so on, and Event-Based Social Networks (EBSNs) such as Meetup, Plancast, and so on, have become popular platforms for users to plan, organize, and attend social events with friends and acquaintances. These LBSNs and EBSNs provide rich content such as online and offline user interactions, location/event descriptions that can be leveraged for personalized group recommendations. In this article, we propose novel Collaborative Filtering-based Bayesian models to capture the location or event semantics and group dynamics such as user interactions, user group membership, user influence, and the like for personalized group recommendations. Empirical experiments on two large real-world datasets (Gowalla LBSN dataset and Meetup EBSN dataset) show that our models outperform the state-of-the-art group recommender systems. We discuss the group characteristics of our datasets and show that modeling of group dynamics learns better group preferences than aggregating individual user preferences. Moreover, our model provides human interpretable results that can be used to understand group participation behavior and location/event popularity.
Metamaterials: Prime time

In the past decade, artificial materials with unusual wave interactions have significantly evolved and matured. In honour of the tenth anniversary of the premiere metamaterials conference, we look at the directions in which this field is evolving, and its impact on technology.
Superintelligence and Natural Resources: Morality and Technology in a Brave New World

A growing majority of artificial intelligence (AI) scientists and engineers believe human-level intelligence will be attained before the dawn of the 22nd century, while a large number believe this will happen much sooner. At this point, the elevation to “superintelligence,” or systems that have superhuman levels of general intelligence, would likely proceed very rapidly. With this in mind, this commentary has three goals: (1) to provide an overview of how a leading scholar, Nick Bostrom, conceives of superintelligence, with its potential and risks, (2) to bring attention to a burgeoning form of common pool resource extraction, space mining, that may benefit from superintelligence management, and (3) to suggest that environmental social scientists should play a key role in programming seed AI, infusing it not only with our existing collective knowledge, but also with just values.