cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Making Whole: The Ethics of Correction

This qualitative analysis investigates the ethics of correction across media platforms. Using rhetorical and philosophical methods, I identify key components of corrections, associating them with accountability and other ethical precepts. Explications of three case studies follow—60 Minutes Wednesday: The Bush Memos, Intel: The Infamous Chip Flaw, and Google in China: “Do No Evil”—supporting conclusions about the consequences of accountability (or lack thereof).
A transaction execution engine architecture for multiplayer online games

In the pursuit of massively multiplayer online games, efficient engines capable of processing sophisticated game scenarios are necessary to support large scale virtual worlds. By applying microprocessor microarchitectural design techniques to game server software design, functional parallelism inherent in complex game transactions can be exploited, augmenting server performance.In a given gaming scenario, complex game transactions can be modeled as data flow graphs. An individual graph represents the collective atomic operations of a particular transaction. Analysis of data flow graphs provides a mechanism that identifies opportunities for parallelism by exposing data dependencies.This poster presents an engine architecture that supports spatial and temporal parallel execution of complex game transactions expressed as data flow graphs. The engine takes advantage of data flow enhancement techniques such as dynamic out-of-order execution to achieve a high level of performance.
Some characteristics of selective attention in visual perception determined by vocal reaction time

Previous research had found that the accuracy with which an S could report an indicated letter or target in a briefly exposed multiletter display decreased as the number of irrelevant letters increased, and accuracy increased if the position of the target letter was indicated 150 msec before the display was presented. Iii the present experiment, these variables were reinvestigated using vocal reaction time as the dependent variable. An interpretation of the accuracy measures in terms of differential processing times was supported. The results of the two experiments were discussed in terms of a model of attentional selectivity.
RNA Polymerase II Holoenzyme Contains SWI/SNF Regulators Involved in Chromatin Remodeling

The RNA polymerase II holoenzyme contains RNA polymerase II, a subset of general transcription factors and SRB regulatory proteins. We report here that SWI and SNF gene products, previously identified as global gene regulators whose functions include remodeling chromatin, are also integral components of the yeast RNA polymerase II holoenzyme. The SWI/SNF proteins are components of the SRB complex, also known as the mediator, which is tightly associated with the RNA polymerase II C-terminal repeat domain. The SWI/SNF components provide the holoenzyme with the capacity to disrupt nucleosomal DNA and thus facilitate stable binding of various components of the transcription initiation complex at promoters.
Estrogen receptor β is the predominant isoform expressed in the brain of adult and fetal sheep

Abstract Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the expression of estrogen receptors α and β in the cerebral cortex of the adult and fetal sheep. Study Design: A reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction–based approach was used to examine the expression of ovine estrogen receptor α and estrogen receptor β in the cerebral cortex of 4 adult and 2 fetal sheep. Results: Estrogen receptor β was expressed in the 4 adult and 2 fetal brain samples. Estrogen receptor α expression was seen in only 1 adult brain and 1 fetal brain. Conclusion: Estrogen receptor β is the predominant isoform expressed in the cerebral cortex of both adult and fetal sheep. These data may have implications for the many important actions of estrogen in the adult and developing ovine brain. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001;184:1077-9.)
Mice defective in p53 nuclear localization signal 1 exhibit exencephaly

p53 is a major suppressor of human malignancy. The protein levels and activity are tightly regulated in cells. Early experiments identified nuclear localization signal 1 (NLS1) as a regulator of p53 localization. We have generated mice bearing a mutation in p53 ( NLS1 ), designated p53 ( NLS1 ). Our experiments confirm a role for NLS1 in regulating p53 function. Murine embryonic fibroblasts generated from homozygous p53 ( NLS1 ) animals are partially defective in cell cycle arrest and do not respond to inhibitory signals from oncogenic Ras. In addition, p53-dependent apoptosis is abrogated in thymocytes. Contrary to predicted results, fibroblasts from homozygous p53 ( NLS1 ) animals have a greater rate of proliferation than p53-null cells. In addition, p53 ( NLS1 ) cells are more resistant to UV-induced death. Surprisingly, the homozygous p53 ( NLS1 ) animals exhibit embryonic and peri-natal lethality, with a significant portion of the animals developing exencephaly. Thus, p53 ( NLS1/NLS1 ) embryos exhibit a reduced viability relative to p53-null mice. These studies indicate that the NLS1 is a major regulator of p53 activity in vivo.
ITK implementation of deformable registration methods for time-varying (4D) imaging data

Dynamic or 4D images (in which a section of the body is repeatedly imaged in order to capture physiological motion) are becoming increasingly important in medicine. These images are especially critical to the field of image-guided therapy, because they enable treatment planning that reflects the realistic motion of the therapy target. Although it is possible to acquire static images and deform them based on generalized assumptions of normal motion, such an approach does not account for variability in the individual patient. To enable the most effective treatments, it is necessary to be able to image each patient and characterize their unique respiratory motion, but software specifically designed around the needs of 4D imaging is not widely available. We have constructed an open source application that allows a user to manipulate and analyze 4D image data. This interface can load DICOM images into memory, reorder/rebin them if necessary, and then apply deformable registration methods to derive the respiratory motion. The interface allows output and display of the deformation field, display of images with the deformation field as an overlay, and tables and graphs of motion versus time. The registration is based on the open source Insight Toolkit (ITK) and the interface is constructed using the open source GUI tool FLTK, which will make it easy to distribute and extend this software in the future.
Thomae Formula for General Cyclic Covers of {{\mathbb {CP}}^1}

Let X be a general cyclic cover of \({\mathbb{CP}^{1}}\) ramified at m points, λ1... λm. we define a class of non-positive divisors on X of degree g −1 supported in the pre images of the branch points on X, such that the Riemann theta function does not vanish on their image in J(X). We generalize the results of Bershadsky and Radul (Commun Math Phys 116:689–700, 1988), Nakayashiki (Publ Res Inst Math Sci 33(6):987–1015, 1997) and Enolskii and Grava (Lett Math Phys 76(2–3):187–214, 2006) and prove that up to a certain determinant of the non-standard periods of X, the value of the Riemann theta function at these divisors raised to a high enough power is a polynomial in the branch point of the curve X. Our approach is based on a refinement of Accola’s results for 3 cyclic sheeted cover (Accola, in Trans Am Math Soc 283:423–449, 1984) and a generalization of Nakayashiki’s approach explained in Nakayashiki (Publ Res Inst Math Sci 33(6):987–1015, 1997) for general cyclic covers.
Improving software quality estimation by combining feature selection strategies with sampled ensemble learning

The efficiency (prediction accuracy) of a classification model is affected by the quality of training data. High dimensionality and class imbalance are two main problems that may cause low quality of training datasets, making data preprocessing a very important step for a classification problem. Feature (software metric) selection and data sampling are frequently used to overcome these problems. Feature selection (FS) is a process of selecting the most important attributes from the original dataset. Data sampling copes with class imbalance by adding/removing instances to/from training datasets. Another interesting method, called boosting (building multiple models, with each model tuned to work better on instances misclassifled by previous models), is found also effective for addressing the class imbalance problem. In this study, we investigate two types of FS approaches: individual FS and repetitive sampled FS. Following feature selection, models are built either using a plain learner or using a boosting algorithm, where random undersampling integrates with the AdaBoost algorithm. We focus on studying the impact of two FS methods (individual FS vs. repetitive sampled FS) and two model-building processes (boosting vs. plain learner) on software quality prediction. Six feature ranking techniques are examined in the experiment. The results demonstrate that the repetitive sampled FS generally has better performance than the individual FS technique when a plain learner is used for the subsequent learning process, and that boosting is more effective in improving classification performance than not using boosting.
Methods of individual identification for captive colonial waterbirds: lessons from the field

The identification of individuals is essential for scientific captive management of colonial birds as well as for field studies. The authors review the methods and techniques available for marking aquatic birds permanently or temporarily and consider the suitability of the systems for captive populations.
A new technique for studying the stylet tracks of homopteran insects in hand-sectioned plant tissue using light or epifluorescence microscopy.

Homopteran insects, such as aphids, psyllids and scales, inject a proteinaceous salivary sheath into their host plant tissue during feeding. This sheath, also referred to as a stylet track, remains in the tissue after the stylets are withdrawn, and is useful for studying plant resistance to insects and plant virus transmission. We describe a new method for studying stylet tracks. Hand microtome sectioned plant material was fixed and cleared in ethanol. The stylet tracks were stained with acid fuchsin and counterstained with aniline blue or fast green. The acid fuchsin stained stylet tracks were pink to red under light microscopy, and orange under TRITC epifluorescence. Stylet tracks in unstained sections autofluoresced under DAPI epifluorescence. This new technique is significantly faster and less complex than previous techniques, and permitted visualization of stylet tracks with light or epifluorescence microscopy within 1 hr of collecting fresh plant material. The technique was also applicable to a broa...
All-Digital Correlation For Missile Guidance

A study has been conducted to show the feasibility of implementing an all-digital correlator for missile terminal area guidance. The central thrust of this effort was to establish the hardware requirements for realizing multiple area cross-correlations in real-time using modern digital signal processing techniques. The ultimate objective of the study is the improvement in terminal accuracy of long-range Army missiles through digital area correlation guidance. The approach taken in this study was to determine a computationally efficient algorithm, verify its theoretical performance relative to the conventional multiply and sum correlation procedure, and to estimate the hardware resources necessary to compute the recommended algorithm in real-time. The algorithm recommended for implementation is the high speed digital correlation algorithm which uses the fast Fourier transform (FFT) to minimize the total number of arithmetic computations. The computational equivalence of the high speed correlation algorithm to the conventional multiply and sum approach was demonstrated by example using a digital computer program and simulated two-dimensional test data. A specific all-digital correlator hardware design has been postulated and documented at the block diagram level. This design was used to estimate the number of integrated circuits, as well as the power and space requirements, of an all-digital area correlator.© (1977) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Resistant starch: its chemical form in foodstuffs and effect on digestibility in vitro.

Abstract The chemical forms and resistance to hydrolysis in vitro of raw and gelatinised starch from peas, maize, wheat and potatoes were measured. Raw granular starch proved very resistant to amylolysis. Only wheat starch was fully degraded after 24 hours' incubation with amylase (20 units/mg polysaccharide) at 37°C. In contrast, hydrolysis of freshly gelatinised starches was essentially complete within 1 h. To investigate the onset of resistance to hydrolysis after gelation, dispersions of amylose and amylopectin were stored at 20°C prior to amylolysis. Retrogradation of amylose was rapid, and the resulting material was highly resistant to amylolysis. In contrast, amylopectin underwent retrogradation more slowly and was almost completely degraded by amylase after incubation for 24 h. The onset of resistance to starch-hydrolysis in an amylose-rich food (cooked peas) was confirmed using a simulated digestion technique.
Cell-cycle arrest in TrkA-expressing NIH3T3 cells involves nitric oxide synthase

We have examined nerve growth factor (NGF)-triggered signaling in two NIH3T3 cell lines exogenously expressing the NGF receptor, TrkA. TRK1 cells cease to proliferate and extend long processes in response to NGF, while E25 cells continue to proliferate in the presence of NGF. These two cell lines express similar levels of TrkA and respond to NGF with rapid elevation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity. MAPK activation is slightly more sustained for E25 cells than for TRK1 cells, although sustained activation of MAPK has been suggested to cause cell-cycle arrest. As judged by NADPH-diaphorase staining, nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity is increased in TRK1 cells upon exposure to NGF. In contrast, diaphorase staining in E25 cells is unaffected by NGF treatment. Immunocytochemistry shows that levels of the brain NOS (bNOS) isoform are increased in TRK1, but not E25, cells exposed to NGF. Furthermore, Western blots show that NGF elevated cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p21WAF1, in TRK1 cells only. NGF-induced p21WAF1 expression, cell-cycle arrest and process extension are abolished by N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a competitive inhibitor of NOS. The inactive enantiomer, D-NAME, did not inhibit these responses. Furthermore, even though E25 cells do not respond to NGF or nitric oxide donors, they do undergo a morphological change in response to NGF plus a nitric oxide donor. Therefore, NOS and p21WAF1 are induced only in the TrkA-expressing NIH3T3 cell line that undergoes cell-cycle arrest and morphological changes in response to NGF. These results demonstrate that sustained activation of MAPK is not the sole determining factor for NGF-induced cell-cycle arrest and implicate NO in the cascade of events leading to NGF-induced morphological changes and cell-cycle arrest. J. Cell. Biochem. 81:193–204, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The alchemy of jargon: Etymologies of urologic neologisms. Number 5: Oncology and its vocabulary

BACKGROUND As the scientific community is increasingly severed from the study of linguistics, the underlying significance of their common technical words is becoming blurred. This article will focus on the genesis of terminology in the field of Oncology. METHODS These notes will give a detailed background of the history of technical terms, including how they came into being, whence they were derived, and how they impacted the scientific community through the ages. RESULTS In this installment, following terms are analyzed: Oncology, Cancer, Carcinoma, Metastasis, Neoplasm, Malignant, and Benign. CONCLUSIONS This analysis of the history and significance of scientific terms common to the urological community works towards a fortification of their power by offering a reminder of their origins. Prostate 69: 1369–1371, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Prevalence of cocaine use in ED patients with severe hypertension.

Study objective: We prospectively evaluated the prevalence of cocaine use in emergency department patients with elevated diastolic blood pressure greater than 120 mm Hg. Design: Urine was collected on adult patients with diastolic blood pressure greater than 120 mm Hg. The Institutional Review Board granted a waiver of informed consent based on complete deidentification of the data to prevent selection bias. Spontaneously voided urine specimens were analyzed for the presence of the benzoylecgonine. Results: Of 107 eligible patients with a diastolic blood pressure equal to or greater than 120 mm Hg, 99 were tested. Of the 99, 13 (13%) tested positive, and of which, 6 (46%) presented with a request for medication refill. Five patients (39%) had cardiovascular and/or pulmonary complaints. Conclusion: Emergency department patients with hypertension who have recently used cocaine may be difficult to differentiate from those who have not. Consideration should be given to the potential for cocaine use when making treatment decisions in patients with hypertension.
Preparation of Poly(ε-caprolactone)/Clay Nanocomposites by Microwave-Assisted In Situ Ring-Opening Polymerization

PCL/clay nanocomposites were prepared by microwave-assisted in situ ROP of e-caprolactone in the presence of either unmodified clay (Cloisite® Na + ) or clay modified by quaternary ammonium cations containing hydroxyl groups (Cloisite 30B). This PCL showed significantly improved monomer conversion and molecular weight compared with that produced by conventional heating. An intercalated structure was observed for the PCL/Cloisite Na + nanocomposites, while a predominantly exfoliated structure was observed for the PCL/Cloisite 30B nanocomposites. Microwave irradiation proved to be an effective and efficient method for the preparation of PCL/clay nanocomposites.
The association of patient trust and self-care among patients with diabetes mellitus

Diabetes requires significant alterations to lifestyle and completion of self management tasks to obtain good control of disease. The objective of this study was to determine if patient trust is associated with reduced difficulty and hassles in altering lifestyle and completing self care tasks. A cross-sectional telephone survey and medical record review was performed to measure patient trust and difficulty in completing diabetes tasks among 320 medically underserved patients attending diabetes programs in rural North Carolina, USA. Diabetes tasks were measured three ways: perceived hassles of diabetic care activities, difficulty in completing diabetes-related care activities, and a global assessment of overall ability to complete diabetes care activities. The association of patient trust with self-management was examined after controlling for patient demographics, physical functioning, mental health and co-morbidities. Level of patient trust was high (median 22, possible max 25). Higher trust levels were associated with lower levels of hassles (p = 0.006) and lower difficulty in completing care activities (p = 0.001). Patients with higher trust had better global assessments of overall ability to complete diabetes care activities (p < 0.0001). Higher patient trust in physicians is associated with reduced difficulty in completing disease specific tasks by patients. Further studies are needed to determine the causal relationship of this association, the effect of trust on other outcomes, and the potential modifiability of trust
Capsular protection against virulent coliphage infection.

The ecological significance of bacterial capsules when virulent bacteriophages are present was explored by exposing continuous cultures of Escherichia coli ATCC 11303, in various stages of capsulation and clumping, to a virulent coliphage, T2. Only partial protection was provided by capsulation, but this could be a factor affecting survival in complex mixed cultures.
Why Teachers Adopt a Controlling Motivating Style Toward Students and How They Can Become More Autonomy Supportive

A recurring paradox in the contemporary K-12 classroom is that, although students educationally and developmentally benefit when teachers support their autonomy, teachers are often controlling during instruction. To understand and remedy this paradox, the article pursues three goals. First, the article characterizes the controlling style by defining it, articulating the conditions under which it is most likely to occur, linking it to poor student outcomes, explaining why it undermines these outcomes, identifying its manifest instructional behaviors, and differentiating it from an autonomy-supportive style. Second, the article identifies seven reasons to explain why the controlling style is so prevalent. These reasons show how pressures on teachers from above, from below, and from within can create classroom conditions that make the controlling style both understandable and commonplace. Third, the article offers a remedy to the paradox by articulating how teachers can become more autonomy supportive. Three...
A New Species of Pleurotus with a Coremioid Imperfect Stage

A new species of Pleurotus with abundant pileocystidia and a black-headed asexual, coremioid stage is described from North America. The sporophores are infrequently found in nature but the unusual ...
First fringe measurements with a phase-tracking stellar interferometer.

A prototype two-telescope stellar interferometer with a 1.5-m base line has been used to track the white-light fringes, 0.4–0.9 μm, from Polaris. Continuous fringe phase and amplitude measurements were made with ∼220-photon/4-msec integration time and 1.27-cm2 collecting area under 2-arc sec seeing conditions. The same control algorithm should be able to track fringes from an 8.7-mg star using the light from two 13-cm (5-in.) telescopes and a 10-msec integration time under 1-arc sec seeing conditions. When tracking, the servo maintained equal path lengths to 0.1-μm rms in the two arms of the interferometer, thus cancelling the path-length variations caused by earth rotation and atmospheric turbulence. In the future, two-color phase measurements will make optical aperture synthesis and optical very long-base-line astrometry possible.
Magnetization reversal of a pair of interacting linear dipole distributions

Two identical linear dipole distributions are assumed to be localized onto two parallel straight lines; the dipole moment per unit length is assumed to be constant along each line ; the common easy anisotropy axis is normal to these straight lines and lies in their common plane. The coercive field of the pair is identical with the coercive field of one dipole line, and the reversal mode is fanning. If the pair is initially parallel and a magnetic field opposite to its direction is applied to only one dipole, the effective coercivity which results is larger and increases for decreasing distance between the linear dipoles. The reversal mode is fanning; nevertheless the final configuration can be antiparallel, i.e., with reversal of only the dipole subjected to the field. This configuration remains stable after removal of the field if and only if the dipoles are far enough apart the minimum distance can be related to the transition length in digital recording.
Determining shape and reflectance of Lambertian, specular, and hybrid surfaces using extended sources

A method is presented for determining the shape of surfaces whose reflectance properties can vary from Lambertian to specular, without prior knowledge of the relative strengths of the Lambertian and specular components of reflection. The object surface is illuminated using extended light sources and is viewed from a single direction. Surface illumination using extended sources makes it possible to ensure the detection of both Lambertian and specular reflections. Multiple source directions are used to obtain an image sequence of the object. An extraction algorithm uses the set of image intensity values measured at each surface point to compute orientation as well as relative strengths of the Lambertian and specular reflection components. The method, photometric sampling, uses samples of a photometric function that relates image intensity to surface orientation, reflectance, and light source characteristics. Experiments conducted on Lambertian surfaces, specular surfaces, and hybrid surfaces show high accuracy in measured orientations and estimated reflectance parameters. >
The interconnect bottleneck in multi-GHz processors; new opportunities for hybrid electrical/optical solutions

The semiconductor industry appears to be confident that, even without any major breakthroughs in photolithography, it will be able to achieve device feature sizes in the order of 100 nm by the year 2006. This reduction in feature size implies significantly higher device switching speeds and faster circuits. More specifically, microprocessors with 3 GHz on-chip clock frequency are within reach by the year 2006. The only obstacle to such an impressive level of performance, both across the chip and beyond the chip at the system level, is the availability of an interconnection network of unprecedented complexity and capable of supporting multi-GHz-bandwidth, distortion- and interference-free propagation both on-chip and off-chip. This interconnect bottleneck to multi-GHz processor realization is examined in this paper The emphasis is on the evaluation of the most promising and cost-effective electrical ways of overcoming this bottleneck. It is argued that some of these potential solutions involve technologies that are compatible with on-going developments in optical interconnects. Thus, an opportunity is identified for bringing together electrical and optical interconnect technologies at a level in the integration hierarchy where traditionally optics is considered to be at a disadvantage, namely, at the chip and chip-to-package interconnect level.
If We Build it, They Will Come: Creating an Emotionally Safe Physical Education Environment

(1996). If We Build it, They Will Come: Creating an Emotionally Safe Physical Education Environment. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance: Vol. 67, No. 6, pp. 40-44.
Geodesy solves 900,000 equations simultaneously

By combining 19th-century ideas with 20th-century computing power, geodesists with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geodetic Survey have succeeded in solving 1.8 million equations (observations) with 900,000 unknowns. This is one of the largest (if not the largest) systems of equations that have been solved simultaneously. This feat results in a geodetic network for North America that is one of the best of its kind in the world. The mammoth project took about 350 staff years of effort over a period of 12 years.
Immunity of broadcast stations from liability for defamatory statements by candidates for public office

The year 1959 brought about two major changes in the legal responsibilities of broadcasting stations with respect to political broadcasts. The action of Congress in changing Section 315 of the Communications Act to exempt news broadcasts from the “equal‐time”; provision received the most attention. Also of importance, particularly to the local broadcaster, was the Supreme Court decision in the case of Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union v. WDAY, Inc.
Diffuse optics determination of hemoglobin derivatives in red blood cells and liposome encapsulated hemoglobin

High resolution optical absorption spectra of hemoglobin derivatives in red blood cells and phosphatidylcholine liposomes were calculated from diffuse reflection and transmission spectra by means of the one-dimensional diffusion approximation. The numerical technique of singular value decomposition was used to calculate the composition of red cell and liposome mixtures.
The Roles of the Horizontal Component of the Earth's Angular Velocity in Nonhydrostatic Linear Models

Abstract Roles of the horizontal component of the earth's rotation, which is neglected traditionally in atmospheric and oceanographic models, are studied through the normal mode analysis of a compressible and stratified model on a tangent plane in the domain that is periodic in the zonal and meridional directions but bounded at the top and bottom. As expected, there exist two distinct kinds of acoustic and buoyancy oscillations that are modified by the earth's rotation. When the cos(latitude) Coriolis terms are included, there exists another kind of wave oscillation whose frequencies are very close to the inertial frequency, 2Ω sin(latitude), where Ω is the earth's angular velocity. The objective of this article is to clarify the circumstance in which a distinct kind of wave oscillation emerges whose frequencies are very close to the inertial frequency. Because this particular kind of normal mode appears only due to the presence of boundary conditions in the vertical, it may be appropriate to call these w...
Factors Affecting the Palatability and Shelf Life of Precooked, Microwave‐Reheated Beef Roasts

Beef infraspinatus roasts were used to determine the effects of phosphate injection and acetic acid treatment on precooked microwave-reheated beef roasts. Treatments consisted of roasts pumped 10% of their weight with water, water containing 4.75% tripolyphosphate, water containing 4.75% tripolyphosphate and 10% NaCl, and roasts with no added water. After cooking, roasts were halved, and one half of each roast was dipped in 3% acetic acid before vacuum-packaged, refrigerated storage. Results showed roasts that contained both salt and phosphate had the lowest cooking losses, TBA numbers, Warner-Bratzler Shear values, and were rated by sensory panelists as the most palatable. Treatment with acetic acid significantly (P<0.05) lowered bacterial counts without adversely affecting sensory qualities of the precooked microwave-reheated beef roasts.
Approximate stochastic dynamic programming for opportunistic fair scheduling in wireless networks

We consider the problem of temporal fair scheduling of queued data transmission in wireless networks. Taking fairness constraints and the memory property of channels into consideration, we formulate the transmission scheduling problem as a discounted reward Markov decision process (MDP) with temporal fairness constraints. We derive and prove an explicit dynamic programming equation for the above constrained MDP, and give an optimal scheduling policy based on that equation. Furthermore, we develop an efficient approximation method-temporal fair rollout-to reduce the computational cost. The simulation results show that the scheme achieves significant performance improvement for both throughput maximization and delay minimization problems compared with other existing schemes.
The effect of siloxane spin-on-glass and reaction bonded silicon oxycarbide coatings with a self-propagating interfacial reaction treatment (ASPIRE) in the synthesis of carbon/graphite fiber-reinforced aluminum metal matrix composites

Carbon fibers were treated with siloxane spin-on-glass and reaction bonded silicon oxycarbide coatings. The spin-on-glass (SOG) coatings were prepared by pyrolyzing solutions of polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSO), polydimethoxysilane (PDSO), and poly(ethoxysilane)ethyltitanate copolymer (ESET). Since the flexibility of the coatings was found to be dependent on the concentration of the siloxane solution, only those of PMSO and PDSO below 1.25% were determined to be suitable for fiber coatings, and an alternative approach to the formation of a pliable silicon-based ceramic coating on the fibers was developed. Carbon fiber tows were impregnated by ethanolic solutions of organosilicon chlorides and fired at temperatures up to 900 °C to form a flexible reaction bonded silicon oxycarbide (RB–SiOC) coatings. Uncoated, SOG coated, and RB–SiOC coated carbon fibers were embedded in aluminum metal at 1000 °C. While both silica-based coatings protected the carbon surface, no wetting was observed, leading to fiber pull-out. When the coated fibers were treated with a mixture of Ti and B prior to immersion into the molten aluminum, complete wetting of the fibers occurred. In the presence of molten aluminum, the Ti/B coating enabled the exothermic formation of TiB2 and titanium aluminides, which facilitate wetting. This reaction is termed ASPIRE (Aluminum Self-Propagating Interfacial Reaction) and in combination with silicon-based ceramic coatings provides a scientific approach to the formation of stable carbon fiber/aluminum metal-matrix composites. The coated fibers and composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
Evaluation of the Use of Quality Attribute Scenarios in a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Controls System - Industrial Case Study

This paper presents a study in using quality attribute scenarios to evaluate and improve the software architecture of a control system that plans and affects energy use on a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The study confirmed for us the value of the quality attribute workshop approach in an industrial, automotive controls setting. This experience has helped us to understand how we might improve the effectiveness of this type of architectural design method within our company's technology development environment.
2 Recent Developments in the Theory of Incomplete Markets

and non-constructive. A serious research effort on computational issues is much needed. Determinateness of Equilibria I t is well known from the work of Debreu and
The Case for Spam-Aware High Performance Mail Server Architecture

The email volume per mailbox has largely remained low and unchanged in the past several decades, and hence mail server performance has largely remained a secondary issue. The steep rise in the amount of unsolicited emails, i.e. spam, in the past decade, however, has permanently disrupted this tranquility of largely steady email volume and turned mail server performance into an increasingly important issue. In this paper, we point out that modern mail servers were not originally designed with email spam in mind, and as such, as the "common case'' workload for mail servers has shifted from legitimate emails to spam emails, we argue it is time to revisit mail server architecture design in following the system design principle of optimizing the common case. In particular, we show how to optimize the performance of three major components of modern mail servers, the concurrency architecture, the disk I/O, and DNSBL lookups, by exploiting the new "common case" workload. An evaluation of our prototype implementation of the enhanced postfix architecture shows that the optimizations significantly reduce the CPU, disk, and network resource consumptions, and improves the throughput of the mail server by 18\% under a university departmental mail server workload and by 40\% under a spam sinkhole workload.
Dosage and effectiveness of intrapleural doxycycline for pediatric postcardiotomy pleural effusions.

Study Objective. To determine the effectiveness of intrapleural doxycycline for the treatment of postcardiotomy pleural effusions in pediatric patients. Design. Retrospective case series. Setting. Intensive care unit in a pediatric tertiary care center. Patients. Sequential sample of 12 pediatric patients who underwent cardiotomy for congenital heart disease and received doxycycline pleurodesis for persistent pleural effusion that lasted more than 7 days between December 21, 2001, and May 23, 2005. Measurements and Main Results. Mean age of the patients was 1 year (range 2 wks—2.5 yrs). Eighteen courses of doxycycline were administered among the 12 patients. An average dose of 19.1 mg/kg/dose of parenteral doxycycline was diluted in normal saline to a final syringe concentration of 2–8 mg/ml and injected through a chest tube. The patient was rotated according to a protocol. The doxycycline dose remained in the pleural space for approximately 6 hours before being drained under suction. Treatment success was defined as achievement of 0-ml/hour chest tube output after a doxycycline dose. The overall treatment success rate was 94% (17 of 18 courses). The mean times from dosing to treatment success and chest tube removal were 76 hours (range <1 to 140 hrs) and 130 hours (range 8–453 hrs), respectively. Seventy-two percent of the courses (13 of 18) achieved treatment success within 96 hours and chest tube removal within 168 hours after dosing. Doxycycline concentration did not appear to be related to treatment success. Chest pain was the most common adverse effect. Conclusion. Intrapleural doxycycline infusion is effective for postcardiotomy pleural effusion in pediatric patients with persistent chest tube drainage lasting more than 7 days.
On The Need For A New Economic Nomenclature

Fully 14 years after it came to power, many observers are unsure about the exact nature of the ideological bases for the economic policies pursued by the government of Ethiopia. It calls its political ideology revolutionary democracy and pronounces its economic policies as market based. Given the tight control it exercises over much of the economy and given the absence of private ownership of land in particular, many observers are quick to point that those self ascribed labels do not accurately characterize the economic policy environment of present day Ethiopia. Some would suggest that the Ethiopian economy is in actuality a centrally directed economy with aspirations of liberalization at some future date. This essay explores how the economic policy environment in Ethiopia compares against the traditional standards of a market system. It reports on the current policy framework and how that framework impacts on the efficiency of the operation of markets in such important regards as attracting adequate quantities of private investment from domestic and foreign sources and efficiently allocating the country’s labor and other critical resources. The essay also explores the extent to which the policy environment protects private property rights and promotes risk taking. The study concludes that the policy framework falls far short of what is normally expected in a free market economy.
The Kirtland's Warbler: The Story of a Bird's Fight Against Extinction and the People who Saved it

The population recovery of Kirtland's Warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii) is one of the most fascinating success stories of an endangered species in the past 60 years. As the author states, the story transcends the bird and its environment. By including the human dimension of recovery efforts, this book keeps the reader involved throughout what ends up being a catalogue of management and research accomplishments. Of particular interest are the personal descriptions of many key individuals that bring the story to life.
Is managerial rent extraction associated with tax aggressiveness? Evidence from informed insider trading

Despite the agency perspective of corporate tax avoidance, there is little empirical evidence that managers do extract rents derived from aggressive tax practices. This study investigates the association between tax aggressiveness and managerial rent extraction by focusing on informed insider trading, a self-serving action with an unambiguous impact on insiders’ personal wealth and representing the most direct channel through which managers expropriate outside shareholders. We find that insiders at firms more aggressive in tax avoidance gain significantly higher returns from insider purchases than insiders in less aggressive firms and this outperformance results from trading on future earnings news. We also find that insiders under the cover of aggressive tax practices more likely trade on bad news through insider sales and gain more from these trades. The overall evidence is consistent with aggressive tax planning serving managerial interests through gainfully exploiting private information and extracting rents from uninformed shareholders.
Fluid Resistance to Cylinders in Accelerated Motion

Cylinders of various length-diameter ratios were accelerated vertically with constant drive forces; correlation between coefficient of resistance and acceleration modulus using Reynolds number and length-diameter ratio as parameters was found to exist; experimental arrangement resembled Attwood's machine; lateral displacement of cylinder was restrained during acceleration.
Living with the Brokpa: Economic, Political and Social Change in Bhutan

I first visited Bhutan in the fall of 2011 to study the modernization the country was going through as a result of recent political changes. The king had stepped down as the political leader and a ...
Effect of hormones on composition of chicken meat.

Fattening of chickens with hormones or hormone-like substances brings the question of the effects on food composition into focus. In this study, diethylstilbestrol implantation significantly increased the fat content of the chicken meat. Lesser effects were found on the protein and moisture content.
Cell Phone Usage Expectations, Closeness, and Relationship Satisfaction Between Parents and Their Emerging Adults in College:

Frequent cell phone contact between emerging adults in college and parents raises the question of how they manage access and maintain control over cell phone use and how it affects their relationsh...
Structural features facilitating tumor cell targeting and internalization by bleomycin and its disaccharide

We have shown previously that the bleomycin (BLM) carbohydrate moiety can recapitulate the tumor cell targeting effects of the entire BLM molecule, that BLM itself is modular in nature consisting of a DNA-cleaving aglycone which is delivered selectively to the interior of tumor cells by its carbohydrate moiety, and that there are disaccharides structurally related to the BLM disaccharide which are more efficient than the natural disaccharide at tumor cell targeting/uptake. Because BLM sugars can deliver molecular cargoes selectively to tumor cells, and thus potentially form the basis for a novel antitumor strategy, it seemed important to consider additional structural features capable of affecting the efficiency of tumor cell recognition and delivery. These included the effects of sugar polyvalency and net charge (at physiological pH) on tumor cell recognition, internalization, and trafficking. Since these parameters have been shown to affect cell surface recognition, internalization, and distribution in ...
Cadmium and zinc additions to wisconsin soils by commercial fertilizers and wastewater sludge application

Cadmium and Zn concentrations were determined on 21 commercial fertilizer samples by atomic absorption. The Cd concentration ranged from 1.5 to 9.7 mg kg−1, the median being 4.3 mg kg−1. Zinc showed a much wider range. The Cd added to soil by commercial fertilizers may be as much as 2150 kg annually in Wisconsin, compared to a potential of 1700 kg if wastewater sludges from all municipal sewage treatment plants in the state were disposed of on land. However, because of the higher application rates, sludge Cd on a soil concentration basis is a much more concentrated source of Cd than that from phosphate fertilizers.
Modulating Retro-Reflectors Links In High Turbulence: Challenges And Solutions

Modulating retro-reflectors allow free space optical communication without the need of a laser and tracking on one end of the link. However, they can have high scintillation and low optical return power. A variety of optical and error correcting techniques can overcome these challenges.
Sir Thomas More's Connection with the Roper Family

William Roper, son-in-law of Sir Thomas More, is one of those people who seem overshadowed by associates. He is usually mentioned as the son-in-law of the Lord Chancellor, or as the husband of More's brilliant daughter, Margaret. The origin of his connection with the More family is dismissed in the DNB by the statement: “His legal duties apparently brought him to the notice of Sir Thomas More, and about 1525 he married More's accomplished daughter, Margaret.” But in fact the Ropers were people of some financial and professional importance in their own right; and according to documents of the period, the Ropers and the Mores had legal and other business relations for many years before the intermarriage between the two families.
Cell volume regulation in human neutrophils: 2-(aminomethyl)phenols as Cl- channel inhibitors

When subjected to hypotonic stress, human peripheral neutrophils initially swell due to rapid water entry and thereafter recover toward the normal cell size (approximately 330 microns 3). Neutrophils do not behave as perfect osmometers: when resuspended in half-isotonic medium (150 mosM), they swell by only approximately 40% rather than doubling in size as predicted for ideal behavior. As with lymphocytes, restoration to the normal cell size involves the net loss of K+ and Cl- from the cytosol through independent conductance pathways. Volume regulation is sensitive to 0.4-1 mM of quinine, UK-5099, 3,5-diiodosalicylate (DISA), MK-473 (an indanyloxyacetate derivative), and to MK-447 [a 2-(aminomethyl)phenol]. From correlation of drug effects on the time course of cell volume recovery and the associated volume-activated 86Rb+ and 36Cl- fluxes, it was evident that quinine blocked only K+ channels, whereas MK-447 acted as a selective inhibitor of Cl- channels. In contrast, UK-5099, DISA, and MK-473 were nonspecific in that the compounds displayed comparable suppressive effects on all three parameters. Structure-activity relationships in the MK-447 series revealed the critical elements of the molecule responsible for drug potency. In particular, the importance of the neighboring ionizable 1-hydroxyl and 2-aminomethyl groups and the formation of secondary ring structures for biological activity is emphasized. The most potent derivative thus far identified, termed analogue A [inhibitor constant (Ki) approximately 16 microM], had a potency approximately sixfold greater than that of the parent compound (Ki approximately 90 microM). These findings define the mechanism of action of a relatively new class of agents that behave as inhibitors of swelling-activated Cl- channels in these cells.
Charcot and les névroses traumatiques: Historical and scientific reflections

Between 1878 and 1893, Jean-Martin Charcot published over twenty detailed case histories dealing with what he termed "traumatic hysteria" and what today would be labelled the psychoneurology of trauma. Charcot's cases record a highly diverse clinique tableau of symptoms. Etiologically, Charcot posited a dual model of a hereditary diathese, or constitutional predilection to nervous degeneration, and an environment agent provocateur. Increasingly during the 1880s, he emphasized the role of "psychical shock". These writings of Charcot also exhibit many of the same, superb clinical qualities that distinguish his work on other medical topics. Charcot isolated several hystero-traumatic formations and provided outstanding clinical depictions of subgenres of the disorder, most notably brachial monoplegias. His clinical demonstrations of the differential diagnosis of organic and functional post-traumatic pathologies represent Charcot the virtuoso neurologist at his finest. Taken together, these writings offer a penetrating exploration of the complex and elaborate functional sequelae of minor bodily injury and the phenomenon of traumatic psychogenic somatic symptom-formation. The revival today of medical interest in psycho-traumatic pathology, particularly in the traumatic origins of dissociative states and post-traumatic stress disorders, provide an important context for the renewed appreciation of Charcot's work in this area.