cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Broadly Tuned Response Properties of Diverse Inhibitory Neuron Subtypes in Mouse Visual Cortex

Different subtypes of GABAergic neurons in sensory cortex exhibit diverse morphology, histochemical markers, and patterns of connectivity. These subtypes likely play distinct roles in cortical function, but their in vivo response properties remain unclear. We used in vivo calcium imaging, combined with immunohistochemical and genetic labels, to record visual responses in excitatory neurons and up to three distinct subtypes of GABAergic neurons (immunoreactive for parvalbumin, somatostatin, or vasoactive intestinal peptide) in layer 2/3 of mouse visual cortex. Excitatory neurons had sharp response selectivity for stimulus orientation and spatial frequency, while all GABAergic subtypes had broader selectivity. Further, bias in the responses of GABAergic neurons toward particular orientations or spatial frequencies tended to reflect net biases of the surrounding neurons. These results suggest that the sensory responses of layer 2/3 GABAergic neurons reflect the pooled activity of the surrounding population--a principle that may generalize across species and sensory modalities.
Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer Accompanied by Phase Change in Porous Insulation

Analyse de l'accumulation et de la migration de l'humidite dans une isolation thermique poreuse. Formulation rigoureuse du processus de transfert de chaleur et de masse. Resolution des equations en utilisant un schema numerique diphasique permettant de determiner les regimes de condensation et les facteurs influant sur le champ de temperatures
Novel Baculovirus Expression Vectors That Provide Sialylation of Recombinant Glycoproteins in Lepidopteran Insect Cells

This report describes novel baculovirus vectors designed to express mammalian beta1,4-galactosyltransferase and alpha2,6-sialyltransferase genes at early times after infection. Sf9 cells infected with these viral vectors, unlike cells infected with a wild-type baculovirus, produced a sialylated viral glycoprotein during the late phase of infection. Thus, the two mammalian glycosyltransferases encoded by these viral vectors are necessary and sufficient for sialylation of a foreign glycoprotein in insect cells under the conditions used in this study. While some of the new baculovirus vectors described in this study produced less, one produced wild-type levels of infectious budded virus progeny.
Can devices facilitate a hypnotic induction

Abstract Historically, many devices were believed to have the ability to facilitate a hypnotic induction, but in time such devices proved to have no inherent facilitating properties other than a general placebo effect. To test the efficacy of a device called a “plasma ball” that may facilitate an induction by combining two sensory modalities simultaneously (visual and auditory), 42 college students who scored 6 and below on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS: A) and completed a scale rating the realness of items, were selected for a second session. Participants were matched on hypnotizability scores and randomly assigned to experimental or standard eye fixation induction control condition. Although hypnotizability scores and realness ratings increased significantly from the initial session, use of the device did not produce higher hypnotizability scores or realness ratings in the experimental compared with the control condition. Results indicate that there is still no eviden...
A NUCLEAR MEMBRANE CHANGE AFTER PARTIAL HEPATECTOMY.

Partial hepatectomy (67 per cent extirpation) of the rat leads to a change in the membrane of liver nuclei (purified with citric acid) detectable as an increase in electrophoretic mobility. No change is detectable 2 hours after the operation, but between 2 and 6 hours about a 1.4-fold increase in mobility occurs after which the mobility becomes constant at the elevated level. Removal of only 10 per cent of the liver causes no detectable change in 6 hours. Bilateral adrenalectomy immediately before partial hepatectomy does not affect the development of the nuclear change. Actinomycin D and p-fluorophenylalanine, but not noradrenalin, ionizing radiation, or EDTA, suppress the increase in electrophoretic mobility. The level of actinomycin D required to block the nuclear membrane change is 6 times greater than that necessary to prevent the rate increase in hepatic RNA metabolism that follows removal of part of the liver. This discrepancy and the difference in the response to noradrenalin indicate that, at least initially, the nuclear membrane change and the change in the rate of RNA synthesis are independent processes. The inability of EDTA to block the nuclear membrane change shows that the Zn++ requirement for DNA replication is not related to the events that lead to the alteration in the electrokinetic properties of liver nuclei.
New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America

Although many Americans consider the establishment of the colonies as the birth of this country, in fact early America existed long before the arrival of the Europeans. From coast to coast, Native Americans had created enduring cultures, and the subsequent European invasion remade much of the land and society. In New Worlds for All, Colin G. Calloway explores the unique and vibrant new cultures that Indians and Europeans forged together in early America. The journey toward this hybrid society kept Europeans' and Indians' lives tightly entwined: living, working, worshiping, traveling, and trading together-as well as fearing, avoiding, despising, and killing one another. In some areas, settlers lived in Indian towns, eating Indian food. In the Mohawk Valley of New York, Europeans tattooed their faces; Indians drank tea. A unique American identity emerged. The second edition of New Worlds for All incorporates fifteen years of additional scholarship on Indian-European relations, such as the role of gender, Indian slavery, relationships with African Americans, and new understandings of frontier society.
What Does Physical Rotation Reveal About Mental Rotation

In a classic psychological science experiment, Shepard and Metzler (1971) discovered that the time participants took to judge whether two rotated abstract block figures were identical increased monotonically with the figures’ relative angular disparity. They posited that participants rotate mental images to achieve a match and that mental rotation recruits motor processes. This interpretation has become central in the literature, but until now, surprisingly few researchers have compared mental and physical rotation. We had participants rotate virtual Shepard and Metzler figures mentally and physically; response time, accuracy, and real-time rotation data were collected. Results suggest that mental and physical rotation processes overlap and also reveal novel conclusions about physical rotation that have implications for mental rotation. Notably, participants did not rotate figures to achieve a match, but rather until they reached an off-axis canonical difference, and rotational strategies markedly differe...
Stochastic gradient-based time-cost tradeoffs in PERT networks using simulation

Infinitesimal perturbation analysis and score function gradient estimators are developed for PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) networks and analyzed for potential use for prescriptive project management. In particular, a stochastic version of the familiar deterministic “project crashing” problem is considered. A heuristic using the gradient estimators is developed and shown to give close to locally optimal performance relatively quickly. An attempt is made to characterize the amount of variability in networks that would warrant the use of this heuristic by comparing its performance experimentally to that of the standard linear programming approach using only the task means (ignoring variability).
Induction of the Pho Regulon Suppresses the Growth Defect of an Escherichia coli sgrS Mutant, Connecting Phosphate Metabolism to the Glucose-Phosphate Stress Response

ABSTRACT Some bacteria experience stress when glucose-6-phosphate or analogues like α-methyl glucoside-6-phosphate (αMG6P) accumulate in the cell. In Escherichia coli, the small SgrS RNA is vital to recovery from glucose-phosphate stress; the growth of sgrS mutants is strongly inhibited by αMG. SgrS helps to restore growth in part through inhibiting translation of the ptsG mRNA, which encodes the major glucose transporter EIICBGlc. While the regulatory mechanism of SgrS has been characterized, little is known about how glucose-phosphate stress connects to other aspects of cell physiology. In the present study, we discovered that mutation of pitA, which encodes the low-affinity transporter of inorganic phosphate, partially suppresses the αMG growth defect of an sgrS mutant. Induction of the stress response was also reduced in the sgrS pitA mutant compared to its sgrS parent. Microarray analysis suggested that expression of phosphate (Pho) regulon genes is increased in the sgrS pitA mutant compared to the sgrS parent. Consistent with this, we found increased PhoA (alkaline phosphatase) activity in the sgrS pitA mutant compared to the sgrS strain. Further, direct induction of the Pho regulon (in a pitA+ background) also resulted in partial suppression of the sgrS growth defect. The suppression was reversed when Pho induction was prevented by mutation of phoB, which encodes the Pho transcriptional activator. Deletion of individual Pho structural genes in suppressed strains did not identify a single gene responsible for suppression. Altogether, this work describes one of the first studies of glucose-phosphate stress physiology and suggests a novel connection of carbon and phosphate metabolism.
Environmental Decline and the Rise of Religion

. Historically, crises have spawned deliberate, widespread efforts to change a culture's worldviews. Anthropologists have characterized such efforts as “revitalization movements” and speculated that many of the world's religions, including Christianity, arose through revitalization. Some responses to the planet's environmental crisis share the characteristics of both a revitalization movement and an incipient religion. They call for a science-based cosmology and an encompassing reverence for nature, and thus differ from responses to environmental decline offered by traditional religions. As environmental problems deepen, historical precedent suggests that religious shifts in affected cultures may follow.
Improvement in modern meter-testing technique

THROUGH more than a score of years a variety of devices has been developed to simplify the procedure and to reduce the hazard of personal errors in the technique of watt-hour meter testing. Of these devices the stroboscope and the photoelectric timer have already become generally accepted tools of the meter-testing art. Indeed, meter-testing problems differ somewhat in the field, in the laboratory, and in the factory, and consequently, no single device nor combination of devices can be considered ideally applicable to all three forms of testing. However, in each case much is to be gained through the use in some form of the many schemes1,2 which have recently been developed. Such schemes apply equally to single-phase and polyphase meter testing, though in this discussion we shall be concerned only with the single-phase watt-hour meter and the testing problems peculiar to the factory. Briefly these problems are: 1. Removal of the hazard of personal error in testing. 2. Maintenance of closer control of quality. 3. Elimination of errors in portable standards through handling. 4. Reduction of skill required in testing. 5. Shortening of testing time. 6. Reduction of handling of meters. 7. Elimination of storage space for meters awaiting test. 8. Maintenance of a uniform flow of the product from assembly through to packing.
Gastritis of the postoperative stomach: enterogastrone therapy.

Summary 1.The fundamental gastroscopic appearance of 29 cases of gastritis of the postoperative stomach is described. From these findings it appears that the distressing symptoms following operation upon the stomach are due to the gastritis. 2.Five cases of gastritis of the postoperative stomach treated with enterogastrone are presented. 3.From the evidence provided by the few cases presented, it is felt that enterogastrone may be of value in the treatment of gastritis of the postoperaative stomach. 4.All the cases showed marked initial improvement in the appearance of the gastric mucosa after enterogastrone therapy was started, and the improvement continued for several months.
Comparison of myointimal hyperplasia in laser-assisted and suture anastomosed arteries. A preliminary report.

Abstract Use of the milliwatt CO 2 laser to perform microvascular anastomoses is associated with characteristic histologic changes, including intimal hyperplasia and medial necrosis. The extent of myointimal proliferation after both suture and laser-assisted vascular anastomosis was assessed in the rat femoral artery model. At 2 weeks the average intimal height of the laser-anastomosed vessels was 11.7 ± 2.2 μm (mean ± standard error of the mean) vs. 21.3 ± 3.2 μm for sutured arteries (p
Identification of toxicologically predictive gene sets using cDNA microarrays

We have developed an approach to classify toxicants based upon their influence on profiles of mRNA transcripts. Changes in liver gene expression were examined after exposure of mice to 24 model treatments that fall into five well-studied toxicological categories: peroxisome proliferators, aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists, noncoplanar polychlorinated biphenyls, inflammatory agents, and hypoxia-inducing agents. Analysis of 1200 transcripts using both a correlation-based approach and a probabilistic approach resulted in a classification accuracy of between 50 and 70%. However, with the use of a forward parameter selection scheme, a diagnostic set of 12 transcripts was identified that provided an estimated 100% predictive accuracy based on leave-one-out cross-validation. Expansion of this approach to additional chemicals of regulatory concern could serve as an important screening step in a new era of toxicological testing.
Creating GUIs for Web services

Next-generation Web browsers Will have form navigation, variable-size lists, and dynamic enumeration built in to increase user friendliness.
Magnetic plasma feedback stabilization design

Engineering issues relevant to the design of magnetic based systems for plasma feedback stabilization of internal tearing modes and resistive wall modes are discussed herein. Proposed design optimization methods are delineated, and are then illustrated in practice by applying them to the example design of a hypothetical experimental plasma feedback stabilization demonstration facility. In addition to the physical dynamics of the plasma itself and of the eddy current behavior of metallic structures close to the plasma, the plasma feedback system includes magnetic field sensors distributed spatially near the plasma, digital signal processing electronics to implement an optimal state-estimating "observer" and an optimal controller, and also electromagnets and their associated power circuitry. The magnetic field sensors must be sufficiently numerous and spatially well distributed so that each unstable plasma eigenmode can be resolved without spatial aliasing. Digital signal processing algorithms must be sufficiently fast to continually estimate the amplitude, phase, and rotation rate of each unstable eigenmode based on the magnetic field sensors' signal histories. They must be sufficiently sophisticated to discriminate between field amplitude components produced directly by the plasma perturbations and the components produced in response to optimal controller commands, and they should be sufficiently robust for a range of plasma parameters. The electromagnets must be located close enough to the plasma to drive a controlled opposing field with the proper resolution of helical shapes, and their power circuitry must be capable of producing the commanded amplitude, phase, and rotation rates for the driven field.
μ-Opioid Receptor Mediates Chronic Restraint Stress-Induced Lymphocyte Apoptosis

Psychological stress is associated with immunosuppression in both humans and animals. Although it was well established that psychological stressors stimulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in the release of various hormones and neurotransmitters, the mechanisms underlying these phenomena are poorly understood. In this study, μ-opioid receptor knockout (MORKO) mice were used to investigate whether the μ-opioid receptor mediates the immunosuppression induced by restraint stress. Our results showed that wild-type (WT) mice subjected to chronic 12-h daily restraint stress for 2 days exhibited a significant decrease in splenocyte number with a substantial increase in apoptosis and CD95 (Fas/APO-1) expression of splenocytes. The effects are essentially abolished in MORKO mice. Furthermore, inhibition of splenic lymphocyte proliferation, IL-2, and IFN-γ production induced by restraint stress in WT mice was also significantly abolished in MORKO mice. Interestingly, both stressed WT and MORKO mice showed a significant elevation in plasma corticosterone and pituitary proopiomelanocortin mRNA expression, although the increase was significantly lower in MORKO mice. Adrenalectomy did not reverse restraint stress-induced immunosuppression in WT mice. These data clearly established that the μ-opioid receptor is involved in restraint stress-induced immune alterations via a mechanism of apoptotic cell death, and that the effect is not mediated exclusively through the glucocorticoid pathway.
PUREX Organic Waste Solidification

The objectives of this study were to evaluate solidification/stabilization as an alternative treatment technology for the organic phase of the SRS spent PUREX waste using simulated waste, and to evaluate waste forms prepared with actual spent organic PUREX waste for regulatory classification.
Developing and Utilizing Efficient Ties in Entrepreneurial Networks in Africa

How do an entrepreneur's capabilities affect social network development? What characteristics of the African context make network dynamics different than in more Westernized and developed markets? A theoretical model that links social effectiveness to effective relationship building and network development leading to greater levels of social capital is presented in an effort to address these and related questions. Social effectiveness provides a competitive advantage in social network development in three primary ways. First, socially effective entrepreneurs are able to identify potential contacts that will fulfill needs in their current social network. Second, they are able to develop effective relationships with a greater range of potential contacts, and third they are able to develop effective relationships with less effort. We describe effective relationships developed through limited social interaction as efficient ties. More importantly, we highlight how the development of efficient ties is differen...
Oral Nicotine Alters Uterine Histo-Morphology but Does Not Disrupt the Estrous Cycle in Female Rats

INTRODUCTION The primary goal of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is to reduce smoking related harms by introducing low nicotine products. In spite of being a potential mode of NRT, there is lack of information on the risks and safety of long term oral nicotine usage on the female reproductive system. METHODS We evaluated the effects of 30 µg/mL oral nicotine consumption on the estrous cycle, circulating estradiol levels, and uterine and ovarian morphology after 2 or 7 weeks of intake by female Sprague-Dawley rats. RESULTS Estrous phase frequencies were similar between nicotine treated and control groups throughout the study, no changes were detected in nicotine-treated animals before and during the nicotine exposure period, and circulating estradiol levels were comparable between animals in both groups after 2 weeks of nicotine consumption. Histological examination of uteri from the nicotine group revealed a significant decrease in the height of uterine surface epithelium and an increase in the height of glandular epithelium compared to control animals; yet, the ovaries did not show attrition or changes in follicular appearance due to nicotine. CONCLUSIONS These preclinical studies suggest that nicotine intake results in structural changes in uterine tissues without disrupting estrous cyclicity or estradiol hormone levels. Though oral nicotine may not be totally risk-free, continuing research on this mode of nicotine administration is worthwhile to determine optimal dosing and duration of consumption for its potential use as an NRT.
Evolution of shell morphology and suture complexity in Paleozoic prolecanitids, the rootstock of Mesozoic ammonoids

The ammonoid order Prolecanitida constitutes a relatively small (43 genera, approximately 250 species) but long-ranging lineage (Lower Carboniferous-Triassic, approximately 108 m.y.), which narrowly survived the P/Tr extinctions and provided the stock from which were derived all later Mesozoic ammonoids. Prolecanitids were a minority among Late Paleozoic ammonoids, which were dominated by the Goniatitida, and showed many features that set them far apart from their contemporaries, including (1) long-term, gradual changes in shell geometry (W-D-S); (2) the most strongly constrained morphospace of any Paleozoic ammonoids examined to date; (3) an eight-fold increase in mean suture complexity (three times that of Pennsylvanian goniatitids); (4) high correlations between shell geometry, shell and septal thickness, and suture complexity; (5) short body chambers and, as a consequence, high aperture orientations; (6) indications that cameral liquid may have been used for buoyancy control; and (7) a genus longevity that averaged 14.7 m.y. compared with 5.7 m.y. in Upper Carboniferous goniatitids, and that appears to have been unrelated to suture complexity. Prolecanitids showed a pervasive tendency to increase suture complexity (in the clade as a whole as well as within subclades and in more than 90 percent of ancestor-descendant genera), thus arguing a case for a driven complexity trend. The uniqueness of the prolecanitids calls into question whether they and their Mesozoic descendants, ceratites and ammonites, were strictly analogous to Paleozoic goniatites.
The Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (the DLOQ): A Nontechnical Manual

The ProblemNo readily accessible source of information is available to answer questions posed by those who seek to use the DLOQ about its construction, utility, and reliability.The SolutionThis art...
CP-Stethoscope: Phantom model experiments

A phantom cross section of a human thorax was developed to evaluate the sensitivity of the Cardiopulmonary Stethoscope (CP-Stethoscope) system to detect changes in lung water content. Phantom heart and muscle tissues were also developed with dielectric properties similar to human tissue and sponges were used to model lung tissues. A structure was also built to evenly distribute water over the sponges. A 2port to 8port RF switch was developed to switch the sensors between transmitter and receiver configurations and examine sensitivity of measurement to sensors locations. Changes in the phase of the transmitted signal were correlated to the variation in the amount of the water inserted into the sponges. This experiment was used to examine the sensitivity of the CP-Stethoscope system and ability to detect water gradient in the lung. Results show that significant changes in the phase of the transmission coefficient are detectable as water migrates from the top surface to the bottom of the phantom model.
Immunization status,epidemiological and clinical characteristics of measles in hospitalized children in 2009—2013

Objective To realize the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of measles,and explore effective measures to control measles epidemic.Methods Clinical data of 554 hospitalized measles children between January 2009 and December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively.Results All children had fever,cough,and skin rash,507(91.52%)had typical clinical manifestations of measles,47(8.48%)had mild manifestations;the major population were children aged≤6 months(n=176,31.77%)and 7-8 months(n=346,62.45%);132(23.83%)children had contact history of confirmed measles,19(3.43%)measles children's mothers also developed measles(all were cases of 2013),227(40.97%)children had history of repeated infusion or hospitalization in large medical institutes during the measles incubation period(all were cases of 2013,there were measles children who had infusion or hospitalization in the same hospital during the same period).The peak incidence of measles usually occurs in January-May.Conclusion Intensive immunization of measles for young women of reproductive age and vaccination with"pre-measles vaccine"for early infancy,and strengthening the medical management of fever outpatients are important measures to prevent measles epidemic.
A Research on the Practical Teaching and the Training of Applied Talents

With the rapid development of economy,more applied talents in line with the actual demand of society are needed.Radio and TV University should take this responsibility to train applied talents in adult colleges.It not only helps to the construction of social economy but also helps to establish the status of Radio and Television University in the field of adult education.The traditional teaching model is not suitable for contemporary training of applied talents and practical teaching is quite an ideal model now.This research would analyze factors hindering the development of practical teaching in Radio and TV University from the aspects of students,teachers,schools and society and find out corresponding solutions and countermeasures item by item.
The Web-Based Assessment of Suicidal and Suicide-Related Symptoms: Factors Associated With Disclosing Identifying Information to Receive Study Compensation.

ABSTRACTWith the increasing utilization of Web-based surveys for suicide and suicide-related research, it is critical to understand factors that affect participants' decision to request study compensation (and thus potentially reveal their identity) or remain anonymous. This study evaluated differences in demographics, suicidal symptoms, and suicide-related constructs between participants electing and declining to provide identifying information to receive study compensation. A sample of 931 firefighters (91.5% male) participated in a Web-based mental health survey; on survey completion, individuals had the option to provide contact information to receive a $10 gift card. Logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate differences between those who did and did not provide this information. Overall, 82.8% provided identifying information, with younger individuals significantly more likely to do so. Participants reporting more severe suicidal symptoms and greater levels of suicide-related construc...
Myocardial stunning: association with altered gene expression

Regional and global myocardial ischemia and reperfusion have been demonstrated to induce expression of the stress response protein heat shock 70 (HSP70) and of immediate early genes, c-jun, c-fos, and c-myc. Because of the models that have been utilized, it has not been possible to discriminate whether this response is the consequence of ischemia, reperfusion, or abnormal hemodynamic stress superimposed on stunned myocardium. In a nonworking isolated and blood-perfused rat heart model, we evaluated the mRNAs for c-fos, c-myc, and hsp70. The heart was subjected to varying periods of ischemia and reperfusion. Significant increases in hsp70 and c-fos were observed, which increased with longer periods of ischemia. No significant increase in c-myc was measured. In addition, mRNA encoding the Ca2+/glucose responsive stress protein GRP78 was evaluated. No increase in this early response gene was noted despite the use of a model associated with cellular calcium loading. Based on these observations, we suggest that the induction of hsp70 and c-fos is the consequence of ischemia and reperfusion and not dependent upon an early hypertrophy response such as would be observed in afterload mismatching or on calcium loading. Further investigations are necessary to isolate the effects of ischemia from those of reperfusion.
An Introductory Examination of Worldviews and Why They Matter for Environmental and Sustainability Studies

A worldview is a complex cognitive and affective lens through which a person sees and interprets the world, including human-environment relationships. Examining worldviews is relevant to environmental and sustainability studies, in part, because they influence a person’s environmentally related decisions and divergent worldviews create conflict about environmental problems and solutions. Using physical glasses that make an abstract concept more concrete, the activity described in this chapter introduces students to worldviews and their links to environmental and sustainability issues through informal, open-ended, exploratory dialogue, catalyzed by the examination of four individuals’ hypothetical worldviews as playful case studies. The activity’s goal is to help students realize that everyone has a unique worldview that emerges from personal experiences, such that we should resist temptations to make assumptions about them or judge them too quickly. After completing this activity, students should be able to (1) describe what a worldview is and its many dimensions, (2) ask questions that help reveal dimensions of a person’s worldview, (3) discuss how worldviews influence people’s environmental and sustainability perspectives, (4) explain why examining worldviews is a valuable part of environmental and sustainability studies, and (5) reflect on one’s own worldview and the factors that have shaped it.
The Contribution of French Jurists to the Humanism of the Renaissance

How to define humanism as a description of the intellectual activities of the Renaissance is a much vexed question. Whereas Italian humanism was dominated by the professional rhetoricians who imitated classical models and founded classical philology, French humanism, stimulated by the discovery of Greek learning, preoccupied by moral problems, attempted to achieve a fusion of Christian and classical erudition. The interests of the humanists, which included Greek fathers of the church and Byzantine authors as well as the traditional classic writers, were encyclopedic, as in Bude and Jacques Peletier, and philosophic, as in Montaigne and Charron. Although humanists were to be found in all classes of society, from nobles, ecclesiastics, courtiers, professors, and doctors to printers and merchants, the legal profession appears to have had among its members more distinguished humanists than are to be found in any other one group.
Martyrdom in Islam: past and present

The Christians and the Muslims who have divided the world between them fight each other, but every one of them purifies his intent to God – is ascetic, fasts, prays and goes out determined to kill the other, believing that killing is the greatest good and sacrifice to God. So they kill each other, and each one of them believes that he is going to the Garden and Paradise. Judah ha-Levi (d. twelfth century) Martyrdom in Islam is a major theme, although one cannot say that it is a dominant one. In the end, several issues have most probably contributed to the comparatively recessive nature of the theme. One of those issues would have to be that Muhammad, the apostle and founder of the faith, was not personally a martyr. Although as a result of the absolute nature of the message of Islam vis-a-vis Arabian paganism that Muhammad preached he suffered in various ways, this suffering does not stand out within the context of his society nor in comparison to the martyrs of other faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, etc.) or even in comparison to later Muslim martyrs. Muhammad's experience is a normative one for all Muslims – both Sunni and Shiʿite – and therefore perhaps his example is also a normative one with regard to martyrdom. None of the other major prophets or messengers of Islam, with the exception of John the Baptist, is said to have been martyred, and there are virtually no martyrdom narratives in the Qurʾan (other than the problematic one of the Ashab al-ukhdud , the Companions of the Pit, in sura 85:1–8 discussed in Chapter 2).
A brief overview of machine learning with Python: tutorial presentation

The goal of Machine Learning (ML) is to develop algorithms that are capable of learning from data or direct experience. The field has seen a resurgence over the last few year in large part due to three factors:
CAR T-Cell Therapy: Progress and Prospects.

Lentivirus-mediated transduction of autologous T cells with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to confer a desired epitope specificity as a targeted immunotherapy for cancer has been among the first human gene therapy techniques to demonstrate widespread therapeutic efficacy. Other approaches to using gene therapy to enhance antitumor immunity have been less specific and less effective. These have included amplification, marking, and cytokine transduction of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, recombinant virus–based expression of tumor antigens as a tumor vaccine, and transduction of antigen-presenting cells with tumor antigens. Unlike any of those methods, the engineering of CAR T cells combine specific monoclonal antibody gene sequences to confer epitope specificity and other T-cell receptor and activation domains to create a self-contained single vector approach to produce a very specific antitumor response, as is seen with CD19-directed CAR T cells used to treat CD19-expressing B-cell malignancies. Recent...
Online Appendix to Crowdsourcing New Product Ideas Under Consumer Learning

This document contains supporting materials for the following article: Huang, Yan and Singh, Param Vir and Srinivasan, Kannan, Crowdsourcing New Product Ideas Under Consumer Learning (May, 2014). The paper to which these Appendices apply is available at the following URL: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1974211
Environmental toxicology of hydrogen sulfide.

The passenger-carrying paddle steamer Princess Alice was sunk in a collision on the River Thames in 1878 with the loss of over 640 lives and, curiously, may represent one of the largest mass poisoning episodes in history [1, 2]. Raw discharge from the London sewers had been released into the Thames (standard practice at the time) and some survivors reported the unusually foul nature of the water. The extraordinarily high death toll of the Princess Alice accident (> 80%) is in stark contrast to the similarly violent sinking of the pleasure craft Marchioness on the Thames a century later in 1989, where only 51 of 130 people on board were lost (< 40% fatalities) [3, 4]. The Board of Trade inquiry and the Coroner’s inquest at the time of the Princess Alice disaster were primarily concerned with establishing blame for the collision and determining if there were any criminal charges to be filed. That there may have been significant deaths caused by hydrogen sulfide (H2S) inhalation, possibly accelerated by the victims thrashing at the surface, was not given much serious consideration [1, 2]. Nevertheless, it was only nine years after the Princess Alice disaster occurred that the necessary investment was made to treat and separate the sewage before releasing it into the Thames [5]. It has since become entrenched in sanitary engineering lore that many of the Princess Alice deaths were due to poisoning, probably by H2S [6]. While it is now widely accepted that H2S acts as a signaling molecule and exhibits some potentially beneficial therapeutic effects [7–15] at elevated levels H2S is highly toxic. Gaseous H2S continues to be one of the most common hazardous substances attributed to acute poisoning deaths in occupational settings [16]. However, there are still facets of H2S toxicity that remain elusive – including, but not necessarily limited to, a comprehensive estimate of the prevalence of this poisonous gas emitted into the environment and any effects associated with such exposures, the mechanism(s) of its cellular toxicity, and lack of effective antidotes. Herein, we consider some of the knowledge gaps associated with H2S in the environment and its toxic effects on the human body when inhaled.
Is Victorian Poetry Modern

Until recently, the Victorian era has been understood as largely anti-modern. Much Victorian poetry was simply ignored by critics, who often saw it as regressive. The poets from the period who did garner attention often did so because they seemed to be “ahead of their time.” Starting in the 1990s and continuing into the present, literary critics have begun to revisit the question of Victorian poets' relationship to modernity. This scholarship, which often focuses on how poetry from the period was shaped by industrialization and technological innovation, contends that the work of many Victorian poets can be understood as fundamentally modern. This article briefly reviews older scholarship on Victorian poetry's relationship to modernity, surveys more recent critical interventions, and suggests the development of a critical approach to the poetry of the period that would neither collapse the terms “Victorian” and “modern” nor simply set them at odds with one another.
Correlates of Suicidal Ideation During Pregnancy and Postpartum Among Women Living with HIV in Rural South Africa

In developing countries, up to 20% of maternal deaths during pregnancy are due to suicide, and being HIV-infected confers additional risk. This manuscript sought to identify perinatal correlates of suicidal ideation among women living with HIV (WLHIV) in rural South Africa. Pregnant WLHIV (N = 681) were recruited and re-assessed at 12-months postpartum. Mean age was 28.3 (SD = 5.7) years and 68% were below the poverty line. Prenatal suicidal ideation was 39%; suicidal ideation continued for 7% at 12 months, 13% experienced incident suicidal ideation, and for 19% suicidal ideation had stopped postnatally. Intimate partner violence (AOR = 1.17) and depression (AOR = 1.14) predicted sustained suicidal ideation. Increased income (AOR = 2.25) and greater stigma (AOR = 1.33) predicted incident suicidal ideation. Younger age (AOR = 0.94), disclosure of HIV status to partner (AOR = 0.60), and greater stigma (AOR = 1.24) predicted postnatal cessation of suicidal ideation. Perinatal care may provide windows of opportunity for identification and treatment of suicidal ideation.
Hamiltonian Mechanics with Geometric Calculus

Hamiltonian mechanics is given an invariant formulation in terms of Geometric Calculus, a general differential and integral calculus with the structure of Clifford algebra. Advantages over formulations in terms of differential forms are explained.
Serving Culturally Diverse Children with Serious Emotional Disturbance and Their Families

Over the coming decades, we can expect that cultural diversity will abound within the U.S. population and the imagery of an American melting pot will long be discarded. One significance of this trend will be the imperative to account for cultural diversity in assessing the needs of children with serious emotional disturbance (SED), to ensure that assessments, diagnoses, and treatments are accurate, fair, and meaningful. To achieve that end, however, will first require that all persons in the fields of education, mental health, social services, and juvenile justice become fully prepared to support children with SED and their families, prepared to bring to the process a sophisticated understanding of the interplay between culture and social behaviors. Nothing less than that level of preparedness will enable practitioners to develop unbiased interventions that competently and sensitively weigh cultural influences and target the needs of diverse students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. In this paper, we present the need for culturally competent practitioners in the area of SED, ways in which service providers can increase their cultural knowledge, and strategies for more effective service with this population.
Control of linear instabilities by dynamically consistent order reduction on optimally time-dependent modes

Identification and control of transient instabilities in high-dimensional dynamical systems remain a challenge because transient (non-normal) growth cannot be accurately captured by reduced-order modal analysis. Eigenvalue-based methods classify systems as stable or unstable on the sole basis of the asymptotic behavior of perturbations and therefore fail to predict any short-term characteristics of disturbances, including transient growth. In this paper, we leverage the power of the optimally time-dependent (OTD) modes, a set of time-evolving, orthonormal modes that capture directions in phase space associated with transient and persistent instabilities, to formulate a control law capable of suppressing transient and asymptotic growth around any fixed point of the governing equations. The control law is derived from a reduced-order system resulting from projecting the evolving linearized dynamics onto the OTD modes and enforces that the instantaneous growth of perturbations in the OTD-reduced tangent space be nil. We apply the proposed reduced-order control algorithm to several infinite-dimensional systems, including fluid flows dominated by normal and non-normal instabilities, and demonstrate unequivocal superiority of OTD control over classical modal control.
Employment Dynamics in Local Labor Markets: Evidence from U.S. Post Cold War Base Closures

Local labor market adjustment to exogenous demand changes is studied in the context of the closure of U.S. military bases between 1991 and 1999. This post Cold War episode provides for a natural ex...
Unexpected link between mitochondrial DNA and T cell help in systemic lupus erythematosus

Since the discovery of anti-DNA antibodies, DNA has been the subject of fascination as a target of autoimmunity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).1 As the material of heredity, DNA is usually hidden from the immune system in the safe confines of the cell nucleus. How then can DNA become an autoantigen? The answer lies in DNA’s capacity for geographic translocation. Like many molecules, DNA can move around the cell and even escape outside, especially during cell death.2 Depending on the mechanism, cell death can induce inflammation, providing adjuvant activity to induce anti-DNA production. Another mechanism for antibody induction is cross-reactivity with another foreign or even self-antigen during infection, a setting for intense immune activation. The genetic background of the individual may influence these responses.3 Once outside the cell, DNA can display immunological properties by forming immune complexes with anti-DNA antibodies. These complexes have two key roles in disease: deposition in the kidney to incite nephritis and stimulation of cytokine production via interaction with both Toll-like receptor (TLR) and non-TLR internal nucleic acid sensors that operate in various subcellular compartments.4 The location of these sensors contrasts with that of TLR receptors such as TLR4, which are found on the cell membrane. While the response to infection is usually conceptualised as beginning in the extracellular space in the blood or tissue, the intracellular space is also an important site of host defence, with internal nucleic acid sensors key to activation of innate immunity During infection, these internal sensors can bind DNA (as well as RNA) from intracellular bacterial or viral infection and trigger the same systems as those activated by extracellular pathogen associated molecular patterns.5–7 Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can also trigger these sensors during cell stress since mitochondria can leak or release their DNA.8 9 Genetically …
Brain size expansion in primates and humans is explained by a selective modular expansion of the cortico-cerebellar system.

Abstract Comparative variation in brain size is arguably one of the most dominant features of primate evolution. Enduring questions in this context comprise whether evolutionary changes in certain brain regions outpace changes in other regions, and to what extent such regional variation between species explains comparative variation in overall brain size. To answer this question, we investigate the tempo and mode of evolution of brain organization using the largest combination of brain regions and species analyzed to date (36 brain regions, together representing over 90% of overall brain size, across 17 anthropoid primates, including humans). Following studies suggesting that the expansion of the major constituent regions of the cortico-cerebellar system (CCS) predominantly explain human brain size expansion, we test whether the link between variation in the CCS and brain size is consistent across primates. Results indicate that the constituent brain regions of the CCS show the highest rates of evolution, demonstrate a significant modular pattern of evolution, and closely align with changes in overall brain size. This phenotypic structure is consistent across different taxonomic scales, suggesting that the evolution of anthropoid brain organization is underpinned by a stable genetic structure and is characterized by a conserved evolutionary trajectory towards the CCS. Results hereby suggest that the expansion of the CCS is the primary driver of brain expansion in anthropoid primates. These findings have fundamental implications for our understanding of the nature of primate and human cognition, and the genetic and developmental structure that underpins brain evolution.
Properties that Sell at or above Listing Price: Strategic Pricing, Better Broker or Just Dumb Luck?

A surprisingly large number of houses sell above listing prices in a wide range of markets and in all market conditions. The question is: why do some houses sell above listing price while neighboring similar houses do not? Is it that sellers misprice the property at the outset, work with real estate brokers who are particularly skilled at bringing in high value buyers, or are simply lucky to have high value buyers show up during the marketing period? This paper makes two contributions. It offers an empirical framework to isolate seller and agent influences on the likelihood of selling above listing price. It also offers empirical evidence about the seller, agent and market determinants of sales above list across all market phases. Sellers who do not follow their agent’s guidance and under-price their property increase the likelihood of selling above list. Agent experience also increases the likelihood. We also identify specific marketing strategies and agent incentives that do and do not appear influence the likelihood of selling above listing price once the other seller behavior, agent characteristics, and market conditions are taken into account.
"Out of Egypt Have I Called My Son: " A Bibliographic Essay on Egyptian Christianity from its Origins to the Arab Conquest

The earliest chronological report linking Jesus to Egypt is the infancy narrative in the Gospel of Matthew (2: 13–18). The author writes that Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt in order to save Jesus fr...
Deadbeat Input Reconstruction and State Estimation for Discrete-Time Linear Time-Varying Systems

The objective of input reconstruction is to use knowledge of the output of a system to estimate the input. An estimate of the input can be used in an observer to provide more accurate state estimates. This paper presents a technique for combined state and input estimation for discrete-time, linear time-varying systems. The algorithm is based on the analysis of the rank of the time-dependent matrix that relates vectors of states and input values to a vector of outputs. The key contribution is a characterization of the time-varying delay under which the state and input can be estimated. The input and state estimate are given in terms of the generalized inverse of a partitioned matrix. The approach is demonstrated on discrete-time examples with linear periodically time-varying dynamics.