cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Germplasm Potential for Continuing Improvement of Fiber Quality in Upland Cotton: Combining Ability for Lint Yield and Fiber Quality

Exotic germplasm, that is, germplasm without commercial applicability, can broaden the genetic base in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). The objectives of this study were to determine combining ability and identify parents from exotic germplasm for breeding. Twelve regionally adapted exotic germplasm lines were crossed with one cultivar and three elite germplasm lines in a North Carolina Design II scheme. The 48 F 2 hybrids were evaluated at two locations with 4 and 3 replicates each in 2008 and 2009, respec- tively. General combining ability (GCA) effects were signifi cant (p ≤ 0.001) for lint yield and all fi ber properties. General combining ability effects were more important than specifi c combining ability (SCA) effects for most traits. Signifi cant (p ≤ 0.05) favorable GCA effects were detected in all exotic germplasm parents for different fi ber prop- erties. Positive GCA effects for lint yield and favor- able GCA effects for at least one fi ber property were detected in some exotic parents: SP156 and SP224 for lint yield and strength; SP192, SP205, and JC65 for lint yield, micronaire, and elonga- tion; and SP192 and SP224 for lint yield and short fi ber content and fi neness, respectively. Signifi - cant high parent heterosis (HPH) for lint yield was detected in F 2 hybrids of FM832 × SP205 (14%) and MD15 × SP205 (26%). These results provide evidence for the potential of these germplasm lines in breeding for continuing improvement of lint yield and fi ber quality. USDA-ARS, Crop Genetics Research Unit, Delta Research Center, Stoneville, MS 38776. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specifi c information and does not imply recommendation by the USDA. Received 14 July 2010. *Corresponding author (linghe.zeng@ars.usda.gov).
SU-GG-T-552: Commissioning an Anthropomorphic Spine and Lung Phantom for Remote Quality Assurance of Spinal Radiosurgery

Purpose: The RPC has developed a new phantom to ensure comparable and consistent radiation administration in spinal radiosurgery clinical trials. This study assesses the phantom's dosimetric utility. Methods: The ‘spine phantom’ is a water filled thorax with pertinent anatomy encountered in spinal radiosurgery:tumor, vertebral column, spinal canal, esophagus, heart, and lungs. The dose to the tumor volume is measured with axial and sagittal planes of radiochromic film and thermoluminescent dosimeters(TLD). The relative dose distribution is measured with the radiochromic film, and is calibrated to the absolute dose measured by the TLD. The dosimetric utility was assessed by administering a series of irradiations to the phantom. Three irradiations were administered: a four angle box plan, a seven angle conformal plan, and a nine angle IMRS plan. In each plan, at least 95% of the defined tumor volume received 8 Gy. The first two unmodulated plans were not clinically applicable; rather, they were used for dosimetric verification without intensity modulation. The third plan was tuned to the clinical specifications for organ tolerances delineated by the RTOG protocol 0631. The planned and administered doses were then registered via pinpricks, and compared using point dose measurements, dose profiles, isodose distributions, and gamma analyses. Results: The minimum number of pixels passing the gamma analyses was set at 95% at 5% dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement, based on previous experience at the RPC. Each irradiation showed acceptable conformity in the qualitative assessments and exceeded the 95% passing rate at the 5% / 3mm criteria. Conclusions:Treatment planning and measurement in the new spinal phantom demonstrated acceptable conformality at the 5% / 3mm criteria, and the spine phantom should be a useful tool for the remote assessment of other institution's treatment planning and dose delivery regimen.
Large groups in treatment and training settings

A review of published work over the past decade and a half supports the effectiveness of the large group in clinical settings. Greater sophistication among practitioners has led to combining administrative, psychotherapeutic, and sociotherapeutic large groups and to the use of effective treatment teams and clearly defined contracts in inpatient hospital work. Some research findings suggest that large treatment groups are as effective as small therapy groups with some patient populations. There appears to be a movement toward convergence in the techniques employed by individual, small group, and large group therapists in practice, while not in theory. This positive trend in the mental health field may lead to more flexible practitioners.
Glacier changes in the Tien Shan as determined from topographic and remotely sensed data

Abstract This research presents a precise evaluation of the Tien Shan glacier's recession based on data of geodetic surveys 1861–1869, aerial photographs from 1943, 1963, 1977, 1981, 1:25,000 scale topographic maps, SRTM, and ASTER data from 2000/2003 for the Akshiirak glacierized massif in the central Tien Shan with 178 glaciers covering 317.6 km2, and for the Ala Archa glacier basin in the northern Tien Shan with 48 glaciers covering 36.31 km2. The Tien Shan glaciers retreated as much as 3 km from the 1860s to 2003. From 1943 to 1977, Akshiirak and Ala Archa shrunk 4.2% and 5.1% respectively, and from 1977 to 2003 the area shrunk 8.6% and 10.6%, respectively. The volume of the Akshiirak glaciers was reduced by 3.566 km3 from 1943 to 1977 and 6.147 km3 from 1977 to 2000. The total reduction of the Tien Shan glacier is 14.2% during the last 60 yr. The northern and central Tien Shan have not experienced a significant increase of precipitation during the last 100 yr, but they have experienced an increase in summer air temperatures, especially observable since the 1970s, which caused an acceleration of the Tien Shan glaciers recession.
Productivity responses to altered rainfall patterns in a C4-dominated grassland

Rainfall variability is a key driver of ecosystem structure and function in grasslands worldwide. Changes in rainfall patterns predicted by global climate models for the central United States are expected to cause lower and increasingly variable soil water availability, which may impact net primary production and plant species composition in native Great Plains grasslands. We experimentally altered the timing and quantity of growing season rainfall inputs by lengthening inter-rainfall dry intervals by 50%, reducing rainfall quantities by 30%, or both, compared to the ambient rainfall regime in a native tallgrass prairie ecosystem in northeastern Kansas. Over three growing seasons, increased rainfall variability caused by altered rainfall timing with no change in total rainfall quantity led to lower and more variable soil water content (0–30 cm depth), a ~10% reduction in aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), increased root to shoot ratios, and greater canopy photon flux density at 30 cm above the soil surface. Lower total ANPP primarily resulted from reduced growth, biomass and flowering of subdominant warm-season C4 grasses while productivity of the dominant C4 grass Andropogon gerardii was relatively unresponsive. In general, vegetation responses to increased soil water content variability were at least equal to those caused by imposing a 30% reduction in rainfall quantity without altering the timing of rainfall inputs. Reduced ANPP most likely resulted from direct effects of soil moisture deficits on root activity, plant water status, and photosynthesis. Altered rainfall regimes are likely to be an important element of climate change scenarios in this grassland, and the nature of interactions with other climate change elements remains a significant challenge for predicting ecosystem responses to climate change.
The prevalence and clinical course of patients with 'incidental' acoustic neuromas.

Conclusions. This study suggests that among patients diagnosed with ‘incidental’ acoustic neuromas (ANs), a substantial portion are discovered incidentally. Small and medium-sized ANs that are found incidentally may have a more benign nature, and may be less likely to require interventions. Objective. To estimate the prevalence of ANs, and to compare the prognosis and progression of the disease between those diagnosed incidentally verse symptomatically with an AN. Patients and methods. This was a retrospective evidence-based case series of patients with AN treated at a tertiary medical center between November 1999 and January 2005. An MRI with gadolinium was performed on all patients to establish the diagnosis of AN. A medical chart review of these patients was searched for sex distribution, age, presenting symptoms, hearing loss, speech discrimination scores, tumor characteristics by imaging, intervention performed, and time between diagnosis and intervention. The studied population was divided into thos...
A Typology of Authority in Complex Organizations

Typologies of complex organizations have frequently been based on characteristics of their authority structures. By expanding the sociological concepts of functional specificity and functional differences a typology based on definitions of four types of organizational authority is developed. Some suggestions concerning conditions under which one or another type seems likely to occur are discussed. A great deal of both theoretical and empirical work in the field of complex organizations has addressed itself to the problem of classifying and analyzing types of organizational authority. As is true of so much work in the field, most of these efforts grow out of Max Weber's seminal ideas on the subject1 and particularly the principle that characteristics of organizational authority be taken as central in understanding other organizational properties. For, in writing that "the category of bureaucracy is one applying only to the exercise of control by means of a particular kind of administrative staff,"2 Weber 1 Hans Gerth and C. W. Mills, Fromt Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1958), pp. 196-244; and Max Weber, The Theory of Social and Economoiic Organization, trans. Talcott Parsons and A. M. Henderson (New York: Oxford University Press, 1947), pp. 324-341. 2 Weber, op. cit., p. 335. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.15 on Wed, 13 Jul 2016 05:45:05 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms A TYPOLOGY OF AUTHORITY 485 meant to subsume as functionally related aspects all the well-known bureaucratic propertiescontinuity of activity, abstract and therefore impersonal rules, spheres of competence defined in terms of the division of labor, hierarchies of office, separation of work place and residence, absence of (primarily status) rights to offices, and extensive record keeping (files)under "rational legal authority," of which "bureaucratic" authority is one subtype.3 Weber's most general term for such organizations was "herrschaftsverband," which has been translated as "imperatively coordinated group,"4 or "imperatively coordinated association."5 The fruitfulness of a typology of organizations6 based on the nature of authority wielded within them has not escaped later students. Most of the attempts to classify or distinguish between types of complex organizations have followed this lead.7 And yet, aside from a few variations on Weber's original typology, and despite much excellent empirical work, a fruitful generalized scheme still seems to be lacking. The enormous range of phenomena typically subsumed under "bureaucracy" is symptomatic
Design of a trigger and data acquisition system for a detector at PEP-II

This paper proposes a design of a trigger and data acquisition system for a detector at the PEP-II B Factory. The system is asynchronous, data-driven, and scalable. Design goals include orthogonal tracking and calorimetric triggers, minimal dead time, graceful degradation, high efficiency, and useful performance in the face of backgrounds so high as to overwhelm reconstruction. Also described are instrumentation of the Drift Chamber, based on 8-bit FADCs, and of the Calorimeter, based on a new custom integrated circuit, the Charge Amplifier with Range Encoding (CARE), and 10-bit ADCs. This design employs commercial embedded CPUs in VME and VXI crates. >
Production impulse testing of distribution transformers

Impulse testing, when used as a quality control tool in the manufacturing of distribution transformers, functions as an invisible inspector and acts as a final check on manufacturing operations. It also minimizes the number of transformer failures upon initial connection to the power circuits.
TPO: tapping into the HOX clock

The 39 members of the HOX homeobox gene family are organized in 4 paralogous clusters of 8 to 11 genes. HOX genes encode DNA-binding proteins that are deployed in overlapping domains along various body axes during embryonic development. This sequential activation of HOX genes in time and space, the
Trolling for the ideal model host: zebrafish take the bait

As little as 10 years ago, murine models of infectious disease were the host of choice for analyzing interactions between the pathogen and host during infection. However, not all pathogens can infect mice, nor do they always replicate the clinical syndromes observed in human infections. Furthermore, in the current economic environment, using mammalian models for large-scale screens may be less economically feasible. The emergence of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) as an infectious disease host model, as well as a model for vertebrate immune system development, has provided new information and insights into pathogenesis that, in many instances, would not have been possible using a murine model host. In this article we highlight some of the key findings and the latest techniques along with the many advantages of using the zebrafish host model to gain new insights into pathogenic mechanisms in a live vertebrate host.
On the bit extraction problem

Consider a coloring of the n-dimensional Boolean cube with c=2/sup s/ colors in such a way that every k-dimensional subcube is equicolored, i.e. each color occurs the same number of times. The author shows that for such a coloring one necessarily has (k-1)/n>or= theta /sub c/=(c/2-1)/(c-1). This resolves the 'bit extraction' or 't-resilient functions' problem (also a special case of the privacy amplification problem) in many cases, such as c-1/n, proving that XOR type colorings are optimal, and always resolves this question to within c/4 in determining the optimal value of k (for any fixed n and c). He also studies the problem of finding almost equicolored colorings when (k-1)/n >
Pairwise Statistical Significance of Local Sequence Alignment Using Substitution Matrices with Sequence-Pair-Specific Distance

Pairwise sequence alignment forms the basis of numerous other applications in bioinformatics. The quality of an alignment is gauged by statistical significance rather than by alignment score alone. Therefore, accurate estimation of statistical significance of a pairwise alignment is an important problem in sequence comparison. Recently, it was shown that pairwise statistical significance does better in practice than database statistical significance, and also provides quicker individual pairwise estimates of statistical significance without having to perform time-consuming database search. Under an evolutionary model, a substitution matrix can be derived using a rate matrix and a fixed distance. Although the commonly used substitution matrices like BLOSUM62, etc. were not originally derived from a rate matrix under an evolutionary model, the corresponding rate matrices can be back calculated. Many researchers have derived different rate matrices using different methods and data. In this paper, we show that pairwise statistical significance using rate matrices with sequence-pair-specific distance performs significantly better compared to using a fixed distance. Pairwise statistical significance using sequence-pair-specific distanced substitution matrices also outperforms database statistical significance reported by BLAST.
A Review of Das Architekturmodell: Werkzeug, Fetische, Kleine Utopie / The Architectural Model: Tool, Fetish, Small Utopia

In the summer of 2012 the German Architecture Museum (DAM) in Frankfurt was filled from top to bottom with models. Three hundred of them, give or take a few, clamored for visitors’ attention, asking them to shift their thinking about architecture from buildings to the artifacts of the design process. The models came from museums near – one-third were from the German Architecture Museum’s own collection – and far, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York; they came from private collections and architect’s offices in Germany and abroad. Models of Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building, Louis Kahn’s Meeting House at the Salk Institute, OMA’s design for the Parc de la Villette, Mendelsohn’s Einstein Tower, and O.M. Ungers’s building for the German Architecture Museum itself were interspersed among less familiar examples. These included Sergius Ruegenberg’s series of collaged models of houses, Gottfried Bohm’s plasticine models, Wolfgang Doring’s Space-Music Theater, Walter Jonas’s Intrapolis, and Conrad Roland’s elegant model of a Spiral Skyscraper from the 1960s, which welcomed visitors to the exhibition after having spent twenty-four years in a storage facility.
Collaboration with an autonomous humanoid robot: a little gesture goes a long way

We report on an experiment in which a human collaborates with a small, autonomous, humanoid robotic toy. The experiment demonstrates that the robot's use of two simple gestures, namely orienting its head toward the addressee when it speaks and raising its arm in the direction of objects it refers to, significantly improve the human's perception of the robot's interaction skills and quality as a collaborator.
FFT Convergence Criterion For Unsteady CFD Codes

Determining when a numerical simulation is fully converged is important i n getting accurate and reliable results. In unsteady problems, especially those involving periodic flows, it is not easy to judge convergence based on the existing convergence criteria. In this study, a convergence criterion based on an analysis of the frequency content of several flow variables using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is suggested. This FFT convergence criterion has an advantage in that it is based on evaluation of the physical flow variables. Two conditions are set to judge convergence using the FFT convergence criterion. The first condition deals with the errors associated with the selection of the number of samples while the other deals with the physical frequencies and their amplitudes. The FFT convergence criterion is tested and ap plied to two different unsteady flow problems, which have been solved numerically using two different flow solver codes. The results show that the alternative convergence criterion can be applied successfully and easily to judge the convergence of unstead y numerical simulations. Nomenclature
Young adults' drug use: a 17-year longitudinal inquiry of antecedents

This longitudinal study examined the interrelation of personality and peer factors on young adults' drug use and also the influence of the interaction of personality and peer factors on drug use. The sample of 756 males and females were interviewed four times between the M ages of 6 and 22. Personality attributes in childhood were related to peer factors in early adolescence which, in turn, were related to personality traits in later adolescence. These traits were linked with selection of peers and, ultimately, drug use in young adulthood. Additionally, the adolescent and young adult domains had direct effects on young adults' drug use. Significant interactions indicated that a few protective childhood personality traits buffer the risk of deviant peers in adolescence on young adults' drug use. More earlier protective characteristics from one domain enhanced the effect of later protective traits from the other domain.
Mechanical surface waves accompany action potential propagation

Many diverse studies have shown that a mechanical displacement of the axonal membrane accompanies the electrical pulse defining the action potential (AP). We present a model for these mechanical displacements as arising from the driving of surface wave modes in which potential energy is stored in elastic properties of the neuronal membrane and cytoskeleton while kinetic energy is carried by the axoplasmic fluid. In our model, these surface waves are driven by the travelling wave of electrical depolarization characterizing the AP, altering compressive electrostatic forces across the membrane. This driving leads to co-propagating mechanical displacements, which we term Action Waves (AWs). Our model allows us to estimate the shape of the AW that accompanies any travelling wave of voltage, making predictions that are in agreement with results from several experimental systems. Our model can serve as a framework for understanding the physical origins and possible functional roles of these AWs. Action potentials in neurons are accompanied by a mechanical displacement of the axonal membrane. Here, the authors present a model to describe these as surface waves which are driven by changes in charge separation, and compare their model to published experimental results from squid giant axons and garfish olfactory nerve bundles.
Harmonic operation of STW filters

The physical mechanism causing the propagation loss of surface transverse wave (STW) devices during harmonic operation is modeled and analyzed. It is found that as the mode frequency is pushed beyond the fundamental, the dominant Bloch component of the STW solution passes through the higher spatial harmonics. In these frequency regions, the lower harmonic components which contribute (perhaps weakly) to the total solution can be untrapped bulk modes which radiate energy away from the surface component into the substrate. As the periodic surface perturbation is increased by increasing the thickness of the trapping metal grating, the coupling to these nondominant radiating components is enhanced, leading to greater propagation loss. The physical reason why these nondominant lower spatial harmonics are untrapped while the dominant mode is trapped is also explained by the model. Experimental results supporting the space harmonic model are presented. They demonstrate that third-harmonic transmission is an extremely critical function of metal thickness, and that high coupling and high acoustic transmission cannot be achieved at the same time at harmonic frequencies. >
Current concepts and systematic review of vascularized composite allotransplantation of the abdominal wall.

Introduction Abdominal wall vascularized composite allotransplantation (AW-VCA) is a rarely utilized technique for large composite abdominal wall defects. The goal of this article is to systematically review the literature and current concepts of AW-VCA, outline the challenges ahead, and provide an outlook for the future. Methods Systematic review of the literature was performed using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PubMed to identify relevant articles discussing results of AW-VCA. Cadaver and animal studies were excluded from the systematic review, but selectively included in the discussion. Results The resultant five papers report their results on AW-VCA(Transplantation, 85, 2008, 1607; Am J Transplant, 7, 2007, 1304; Transplant Proc, 41, 2009, 521; Transplant Proc, 36, 2004, 1561; Lancet, 361, 2003, 2173). These papers represent the result of two study groups in which a total of 18 AW-VCA were performed in 17 patients. Two different operative approaches were used. Overall flap/graft survival was 88%. No mortality related to the transplant was reported. One cadaver study and two animal models were identified and separately presented (Transplant Proc, 43, 2011, 1701; Transplantation, 90, 2010, 1590; Journal of Surgical Research, 162, 2010, 314). Conclusion Literature review reports AW-VCA is technically feasible with low morbidity and mortality. Functional outcomes are not reported and minimally considered. With advancements in vascularized composite allotransplantation research and decreasing toxicity of immunosuppression therapies and immunomodulatory regimens, AW-VCA can be applied in circumstances beyond conjunction with visceral transplantation.
Neutrophil products that inhibit cell proliferation: relation to granulocytic "chalone".

Various investigators have proposed the existence of a “chalone” or product of mature granulocytes which inhibits the replication of granulocytic progenitors in a tissue-specific, species-nonspecific regulatory system. We tested this system utilizing purified populations of human leukocytes and a variety of proliferating target cell populations. Granulocyte-conditioned medium potently inhibited 3Hthymidine incorporation in normal mouse bone marrow, in mouse erythroid precursors from spleens of phenylhydrazinetreated animals, and in human leukemic myeloblasts. This effect occurred without demonstrable cytotoxicity. Human marrow was only slightly inhibited and mitogen-stimulated proliferating lymphocytes were unaffected. Granulocyte-conditioned medium was also inhibitory in colony-forming assays for erythroid precursors but not for granulocyte precursors. It also reduced the mitotic index of proliferating erythroid progenitors in mouse spleen. Inhibitory activity was separable into at least two components on the basis of stability during heating and ultrafiltration, and in susceptibility to digestion by proteolytic enzymes. On the basis of these observations, we concluded that human granulocytes contain potent inhibitors of growth and 3H-thymidine uptake of some proliferating hematopoietic cells, but these are not true granulocyte “chalones.” I N 1960, Bullough and Lawrence provided experimental evidence for the control of epidermal cell mitosis by products of mature cells in culture in vitro.’ They evolved the concept of a tissue-specific product of differentiated cells that served as a mitotic inhibitor of early cells of the same line. They termed the inhibitor a “chalone” (from the Greek, “to loosen” or “make slack”). Since then, a number of experimenters have suggested the existence of chalones specific for various tissues.2 More recently, various investigators have emphasized theoretical reasons why granulopoiesis should be under negative feedback control and have adduced evidence for the existence of granulocyte chalones.38 However, the diversity of model systems, methodologic limitations, and frequently inadequate experimental design have made interpretations difficult. RytOmaa and Kiviniemi,7’8 Paukovitz,5’6 and Bateman3 have presented evidence suggesting that rat and calf serum solutions “conditioned” by granulocyte-rich cell suspensions and spleen homogenates inhibit DNA synthesis in developing myeloid precursors in short-term cultures of rat bone marrow cells. This “chalone” material has been partially purified by gel filtration, ultrafiltration, and electrophoresis.57 It is reported to be a polypeptide of a molecular weight of approximately 4000-5000 daltons, which is unstable at 4#{176}C,8 with
An Improved Adaptive Data Reduction Protocol for In-Vehicle Networks

The demand for drive-by-wire, pre-crash warning and many other new features will require high bandwidth from the future in-vehicle networks. One way to satisfy the high bandwidth requirement of future vehicles is to use a higher bandwidth bus or multiple busses. However, the use of a higher bandwidth bus will increase the cost of the network. Similarly, the use of multiple buses will increase cost as well as the complexity of wiring. Thus, neither option is a viable solution. Another option could be the development of a higher layer protocol to reduce the amount of data to be transferred. The higher layer protocol could be acceptable provided it does not increase the message latencies. The cost of implementing the protocol will be marginal because it can be done by making changes in software. Various data reduction protocols are available in the literature. We have made changes in the existing data reduction protocols to improve the performance of the protocol. Our paper will explain the improved protocol in detail and compare its performance with that of other protocols. The performance of our protocol will be shown in terms of message latency, message throughput and bus utilization.
The Search Continues for the Ideal Method to Localize Nonpalpable Breast Lesions

implantable device placed through a needle via ultrasound or stereotactic guidance, similar to current radiologic localization techniques. Once implanted, the device is activated by infrared light from the handpiece, and an electromagnetic wave is reflected back to the console. Similar to radioactive seed-localized (RSL) breast surgery, a handpiece and console are utilized with continuous audible feedback. In this feasibility study, the authors retrieved the seed and the targeted lesion in 100 % of cases and thought that this was subjectively easier than a wire localized approach. This was a single-arm pilot study with specific inclusion/ exclusion criteria, performed by two highly experienced breast surgical teams, and some issues were identified during the pilot that led to refinements in the delivery system. Although all targeted lesions were recovered, in six cases (12 %), the reflector placed in the breast for localization was not able to be identified by the surgeon in the operating room before incision. In five cases it was detected after skin incision. In one case the reflector malfunctioned and could not be localized, and in another case the reflector was deactivated by contact with electrocautery. No other localization devices were used in any cases. The ability to remove the lesion in all cases, despite the technology’s shortcomings and failure, speaks to the surgeon’s skill and experience, as 2-view postlocalization mammograms and preoperative ultrasounds were adequate for incision planning in their hands. On the basis of these and other issues uncovered during the pilot study, a number of technologic modifications were made to the system, including addressing a reflector malfunction that prevented detection, incorporating an additional component into the reflector to minimize the likelihood of cautery deactivation, incorporating a display screen on the console, and designing shorter, more lightweight localization needles for ease of radiologic placement.
Introduction to the Internet and World Wide Web.

A family plans a ski vacation in Utah, and their 10-year-old daughter browses the World Wide Web (WWW or Web) to find an inexpensive package tour. A college student plugs into the Internet jack in his residence hall room to communicate daily with friends and family via electronic mail (email). A health professions student subscribes to an electronic mail list and gains instant access to a lively dialog among her future colleagues on hot topics in their field. A man, worried about a tick bite a friend got on a Sunday hike, connects to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta to read the latest information about Lyme disease and to download color images of its characteristic skin rash. These are just a few examples that I know of the amazing ways the Internet and the WWW have changed our way of life. The Internet originated in December 1969 as a primitive link-up of 4 computers located at the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara campuses of the University of California, the Stanford Research Institute, and the University of Utah. It is doubtful that anyone then could have imagined just how fast their tiny computer network would grow. At the time of this writing, approximately 1/4 million registered local computer networks comprise more than 15 million host computers that serve more than 50 million users worldwide. These local networks are in turn joined into a single, vast, unified network, spanning more than 170 countries and linking computers of all different sizes, types, and operating systems with people who speak many different languages. One commonality among all these computers is their use of the same procedures for transmitting and receiving information over the net. These standards are embodied in the Internet Protocol (IP), which determines the conventions for addressing and routing information, and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which governs how electronic messages are broken up into uniform-sized "packets" of data for transmission across the network and subsequent reassem-
Performance of a catalytic partial oxidation reformer for forward operating bases

Abstract A forward operating base tends to have limited access to a power grid in addition to unique operating constraints. In order to meet its power requirements, a system that is compact and easy to operate is desirable. A catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) reformer coupled with a generator offers compactness and ease of operation along with fuel flexibility. A 1 kW CPOX system was tested as part of a microgrid based on the Missouri University of Science and Technology microgrid. The system was made to follow a number of input current waveforms to simulate real-world loads using a programmable DC load. The system was demonstrated good load-following capabilities with the maximum average deviation for any given test not exceeding 30.1 W. This deviation increased as the power demand increased. The performance of the generator was found to be independent of the sulfur content of the fuel. The overall efficiency of the system was found to be 5–10%. Deposition of coke and unsteadiness in the generator were found to be issues. Solutions were proposed.
Graphene nanoribbon/V2O5 cathodes in lithium-ion batteries.

Nanocrystalline V2O5 particles were successfully entrapped by graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) derived from unzipped carbon nanotubes. The electrical conductivity of V2O5 nanoparticles was enhanced after introducing the GNRs. The 3-dimensional conductive framework in the composites plays a significant role in improving the rate performance and cyclability of the material when used as a cathode in lithium-ion batteries. By tailoring the mass ratio between the GNRs and the V2O5 nanoparticles, the fabricated composites can deliver a high capacity of 278 mAh g–1 at 0.1 C, which is close to its theoretical value, whereas a capacity of 165 mAh g–1 can be maintained at 2 C. The delivered capacity at 0.1 C can maintain 78% of its initial capacity after 100 cycles.
On Finding the Best Base Point for the Development of Free-Form Surface

Based on the analysis of development methods to free-form surface,the error evaluating method of development graph is put forward.It is proved that the base development point has more affection to approximate development result and has its objectivity.Furthermore the visualization of the best development base point position is realized by using the equivalence error curved line and the relationship between the best development base point and geometry attribution of curved surface is obtained by experiment.Finally the correctness of conclusion is verified by approximately developing curved surfaces,meanwhile the searching method of the best development base point is given.
Emerging immunotherapies for glioblastoma

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Immunotherapy for brain cancer has evolved dramatically over the past decade, owed in part to our improved understanding of how the immune system interacts with tumors residing within the central nervous system (CNS). Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults, carries a poor prognosis (<15 months) and only few advances have been made since the FDA’s approval of temozolomide (TMZ) in 2005. Importantly, several immunotherapies have now entered patient trials based on promising preclinical data, and recent studies have shed light on how GBM employs a slew of immunosuppressive mechanisms that may be targeted for therapeutic gain. Altogether, accumulating evidence suggests immunotherapy may soon earn its keep as a mainstay of clinical management for GBM.Areas covered: Here, we review cancer vaccines, checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive T-cell immunotherapy, and oncolytic virotherapy.Expert opinion: Checkpoint blockade induces antitumor activity by preventing ...
Flow and Gas Transport

Weibel’s symmetrical bifurcation model of the bronchial tree provides the basis for analyzing respiratory flows. Flow is turbulent in the central airways and laminar in the peripheral airways, and for quiet breathing, most of the pressure drop occurs in the central airways. For higher frequency forced oscillatory flow, lung impedance is frequency-dependent if lung elastance or resistance is non-uniform. For higher frequencies, resonances occur. Expiratory flow is limited by the wave-speed condition at higher lung volumes and by viscous flow limitation at lower lung volumes. Maximum expiratory flow is a strong function of lung volume, and the maximum expiratory flow-volume curve changes with disease. During inspiration, inspired gas is carried to the periphery by convection in the larger airways and diffusion in the periphery, and a stationary front with a large gradient in oxygen concentration is established at the boundary between the two regions. Regional ventilation of the parenchyma is markedly non-uniform.
The affective domain: behaviors important in entry-level practice.

Affective behaviors, those associated with attitudes, beliefs, and values, were identified by a Delphi panel of dietetic experts. Statements converged through four rounds into a set of behaviors categorized into five components: human, technical, conceptual, personal, and professional. One group of registered dietitians rated each of these statements from most to least important within each component. Another group rated each statement using the scale 1 = absolutely essential to 4 = not of concern. Mean rankings within each of the five components tended to have a small range. Mean ratings of the statements indicated respondents considered all of the behaviors to be essential or at least important. For an additional analysis, ratings of statements were subjected to principal components analysis. Inspection of the vari max-rotated factor matrix revealed that all but 1 of the 41 behavior statements could be grouped in an additional way to yield six internally consistent scales: initiative/ flexibility, professional commitment, interpersonal, personal responsibility, leadership, and personal commitment. Additional research should be done to determine the practicality of utilizing these behavior statements to evaluate the performance of dietitians both at the entry level and at more advanced levels.
A feminist posthumanist political ecology of education for theorizing human-animal relations/relationships

This paper contributes to a nascent conversation in environmental education (EE) research by using ethnographic data and extant theory to develop a feminist posthumanist political ecology of education for theorizing human–animal relations/relationships. Specifically, I (1) engage feminist methodologies and theories; (2) give epistemological and theoretical attention to nonhuman animals; and (3) address the field of EE’s minimal engagement with the interdisciplinary research agenda of political ecology. The paper begins with a literature review examining how feminist and/or posthumanist scholars have theorized human–animal (or human–nature) relations/relationships. Next, I outline the conceptual frameworks guiding the analyses of ethnographic data I collected at Long Beach, California’s Aquarium of the Pacific and follow with a brief overview of the study. I conclude by outlining the major tenets of this article’s conceptual framework, which contributes to a growing conversation in EE regarding human–anima...
A Polylogarithmic Gossip Algorithm for Plurality Consensus

Consider n anonymous nodes each initially supporting an opinion in {1, 2, …, k} and suppose that they should all learn the opinion with the largest support. Per round, each node contacts a random other node and exchanges B bits with it, where typically B is at most O(log n).This basic distributed computing problem is called the plurality consensus problem (in the gossip model) and it has received extensive attention. An efficient plurality protocol is one that converges to the plurality consensus as fast as possible, and the standard assumption is that each node has memory at most polylogarithmic in n. The best known time bound is due to Becchetti et al. [SODA'15], reaching plurality consensus in O(k log n) rounds using log(k+1) bits of local memory, under some mild assumptions. As stated by Becchetti et al., achieving a poly-logarithmic time complexity remained an open question.Resolving this question, we present an algorithm that with high probability reaches plurality consensus in O(log k log n) rounds, while having message and memory size of log k + O (1) bits. This even holds under considerably more relaxed assumptions regarding the initial bias (towards plurality) compared to those of prior work. The algorithm is based on a very simple and arguably natural mechanism.
The Learning of Political Attitudes

Nearly thirty years before the outbreak of the French Revolution, Jean Jacques Rousseau in the Social Contract (1762) observed a major paradox of modern society: ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains… What man loses by the social contract is his natural liberty and an unlimited right to anything which tempts him and which he is able to attain; what he gains is civil liberty and the ownership of all that he possesses.’1 Yet Rousseau saw few governments of his time guaranteeing civil liberty. Instead, the rich minority exploited the poor minority. Despots persecuted intellectuals. Just after the publication of the Social Contract, the French government in Paris banned its circulation and ordered Rousseau’s arrest. Public officials in Geneva, Switzerland also burned the essay, fearing that its stress on liberty would provoke a revolution. If individuals were ever to realize their natural potential for liberty, Rousseau assumed that society should ensure certain structural and behavioral conditions. General laws must specify the rights and duties of citizens and policymakers, as well as procedures for regulating conflicts.
Knowledge Development and Implementation in Sport Psychology: A Review of The Sport Psychologist, 1987–1992

The editorial mission of The Sport Psychologist (TSP) emphasizes the development and implementation of knowledge to enhance the practice of sport psychology. A comprehensive review of all articles published in TSP from 1987 to 1992 was conducted to identify significant trends in knowledge development and implementation since the journal was established. One hundred seventy-six articles were examined and classified based on design, method, objective (scientific or professional), subject characteristics, author characteristics, and content area. Trends that were identified from the review include an emphasis on correlational designs, an increase in intervention studies and the use of case designs, and homogeneity of subjects and authors. Three future directions for advances in applied sport psychology are advocated to increase social relevance, enhance creativity, and reconceptualize the traditional paradigm of knowledge development.
A New Live Trap for the Acoustically Orienting Parasitoid Fly Emblemasoma erro (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)

Parasitoids that locate their hosts by eavesdropping on the acoustic signals of other insects can be collected in traps baited with audio signals that mimic the sounds of the parasitoid's hosts. I describe a new acoustic trap designed to capture Emblemasoma erro Aldrich (Diptera: Sarcophagidae), an eavesdropping parasitoid of cicadas whose phonotactic behavior differs from that of the acoustic parasitoids targeted by previous trap designs. Specifically, unlike some other acoustic parasitoids, E. erro often remains at an artificial sound source only a few seconds, so the new trap features multiple, oblique side entrance funnels with large outer apertures that allow E. erro to rapidly access the trap's interior. The trap also has a modular design that allows the broadcast loudspeaker to be used independently of the trapping apparatus, and the trap is lightweight and easily transported in the field.
Integrated management of large rivers and their basins

It has become standard practice to refer to any management of rivers and their basins as “integrated”. The development and use of the concept reflects a growing appreciation of the complexity of river basins as hydrological, ecological, economic, political and social systems. However, the term “integrated management” is used vaguely, and, although the need for a management approach which considers more than a narrow focus on hydrology or economics is widely recognized, there has been concern that the term is often used as camouflage in an attempt of gaining acceptance or funding for a narrowly based project. There has also been discussion about the applicability of river basins as planning units, given that large basins rarely coincide with political units, and the role of, and need for, river basin management organizations. It is clear that the management of water resources and environmental resources generally requires consideration of a broad and increasing range of factors and input from a much wider range of stakeholders than was generally recognized in the past, and a lack of shared objectives as well as both technical and governance challenges inhibit integrated management in many basins. Progress towards integrated management is patchy and it will not be achieved in a single step. Where programs are integrated in name only, that is evidence of incremental progress and even small steps bring benefits.
Precise Timing as a System

The existence of precise timing as a system is a little recognized but important factor in the new military systems. The new modes of intra-system, inter-system and inter-platform operation require not only a common reference but also survivable means of acquiring and maintaining precise time. Accuracy and survivability of timing is a unique issue involving the common reference, the dissemination systems, and on-board timekeeping. Recent progress, some discussion of the issues, and potential solutions are given.
"It must be great being a female pedophile!": The nature of public perceptions about female teacher sex offenders

Although female sex offenders have received increased scholarly attention in recent years, and have also gained widespread media attention, minimal research has focused specifically on public perce...
Discovery of Ibomycin, a Potent Antifungal Weapon.

In this issue of Cell Chemical Biology, Robbins et al. (2016) identify ibomycin, a unique compound with antifungal activity. Microbial physiological and genetic studies suggest that endocytic trafficking might be the site of action for this lead antifungal compound.
Abstract P080: Associations of Bowel Movement Frequency with Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality Among Us Women

Background: Bowel movement frequency has been related to a variety of cardiovascular risk factors such as inflammation and metabolism of gut microbiota. However, few studies have examined the relat...