cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Large graph processing in the cloud

As the study of graphs, such as web and social graphs, becomes increasingly popular, the requirements of efficiency and programming flexibility of large graph processing tasks challenge existing tools. We propose to demonstrate Surfer, a large graph processing engine designed to execute in the cloud. Surfer provides two basic primitives for programmers - MapReduce and propagation. MapReduce, originally developed by Google, processes different key-value pairs in parallel, and propagation is an iterative computational pattern that transfers information along the edges from a vertex to its neighbors in the graph. These two primitives are complementary in graph processing. MapReduce is suitable for processing flat data structures, such as vertex-oriented tasks, and propagation is optimized for edge-oriented tasks on partitioned graphs. To further improve the programmability of large graph processing, Surfer consists of a small set of high level building blocks that use these two primitives. Developers may also construct custom building blocks. Surfer further provides a GUI (Graphical User Interface) using which developers can visually create large graph processing tasks. Surfer transforms a task into an execution plan composed of MapReduce and propagation operations. It then automatically applies various optimizations to improve the efficiency of distributed execution. Surfer also provides a visualization tool to monitor the detailed execution dynamics of the execution plan to show the interesting tradeoffs between MapReduce and propagation. We demonstrate our system in two ways: first, we demo the ease-of-programming features of the system; second, we show the efficiency of the system with a series of applications on a social network. We find that Surfer is simple to use and is highly efficient for large graph-based tasks.
Baclofen effects on alcohol seeking, self-administration and extinction of seeking responses in a within-session design in baboons

Baclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist, is currently under investigation as a potential treatment to prevent relapse to drinking in alcohol dependent persons. In the current study, two groups of baboons were trained under a chained schedule of reinforcement (CSR), with 3 linked components, which were each correlated with different response requirements and cues. Fulfilling the requirement in the 2nd link initiated the 3rd link where either alcohol (n=4) or a preferred non-alcoholic beverage (Tang, n=5) was available for self-administration; failure to complete the response requirement in Link 2 ended the session (no access to alcohol or Tang). Seeking responses in Link 2 were used as indices of the motivational processes thought to be involved in relapse. The effects of baclofen (0.1 – 2.4 mg/kg) were examined under conditions with alcohol or Tang access and under extinction. Under the CSR baclofen (1.8 and 2.4 mg/kg) significantly decreased (p<0.05) alcohol self-administration responses and total g/kg alcohol intake. In contrast, only the highest dose of baclofen (2.4 mg/kg) reduced Tang self-administration and consumption. Under within-session extinction conditions, baclofen (1.8 and 2.4 mg/kg) facilitated extinction of responding for both alcohol and Tang, particularly during the first 10 min of extinction. Baclofen may be effective in reducing craving and alcohol drinking, although the facilitation of extinction and suppression of both alcohol and Tang self-administration by baclofen suggests these effects may be related to a more general suppression of consummatory and conditioned behaviors.
Nested erasure codes to achieve the singleton bounds

This paper presents innovative ideas to construct maximum distance separable (MDS) codes, optimal error correction codes that achieve the singleton bounds. The proposed codes are based on a circularly symmetric construction applied to a novel class of nested graphs, referred to as complete-graph-of-rings (CGR). We demonstrate the general idea of transforming graphs to array codes, provide the sufficient conditions for achieving MDS, and present the specific algorithms to construct CGR graphs and MDS-CGR codes. The new codes require minimal encoding and decoding complexity that is theoretically possible, and are particularly useful for disk array applications.
A multicomputer polygon rendering algorithm for interactive applications

This paper presents a new multicomputer polygon rendering algorithm that is specialized for interactive applications. The algorithm differs from previous algorithms in two ways. First, it load balances the rasterization once per frame, instead of as the frame progresses, using the previous frame's distribution of polygons on the screen as input to the load-balancing algorithm. Second, it uses a new message sending scheme that reduces the number of messages required. These characteristics mean that the algorithm only requires global synchronization between frames, which allows for higher frame rates. The algorithm was selected using a simulator which confirmed that using the previous frame's polygon distribution on the screen is nearly as good as using the current frame's distribution. The algorithm is implemented on Caltech's Intel Touchstone Delta, a 512 processor multicomputer system, and preliminary performance figures are given. The highest performance achieved to date is 930,000 triangles per second using 256 processors and a 806,640 triangle data set.
Impact of Climate Change on North Cascade Alpine Glaciers, and Alpine Runoff

Analysis of key components of the alpine North Cascade hydrologic system indicate significant changes in glacier mass balance, terminus behavior, alpine snowpack, and alpine streamflow from 1950 to 2005. North Cascade glacier retreat is rapid and ubiquitous. All 47 monitored glaciers are currently undergoing a significant retreat and four of them have disappeared. Annual mass balance measured on ten glaciers, averaging 30–50 m in thickness, yields a mean cumulative annual balance for the 1984–2006 period of −12.4 m water equivalent (m we), a net loss of 14 m in glacier thickness and 20–40% loss of their total volume in two decades. The data indicate broad regional continuity in North Cascades glacial response to climate. The substantial negative annual balances have accompanied significant thinning in the accumulation zone of 75% of North Cascade glaciers monitored. This is indicative of glacier disequilibrium; a glacier in disequilibrium will not survive the current warmer climate trend. Alpine snowpack ...
Advanced Postprocessing of Cardiac CTA

Commercially available workstations have software packages to provide volumetric analysis for cardiac CTA. In children, it is best to obtain the data prospectively to reduce radiation exposure. The rapid heart rate of infants results in data and phases of a larger portion of the cardiac cycle than in adults with the same amount of padding. End-systolic and end-diastolic volumes are obtained easily for both right and left ventricles. The typical part of the phase to obtain the end-diastolic data is at 85–90 % of the cardiac cycle. The typical part of the phase to obtain the end-systolic data is at 45–55 % of the cardiac cycle. Once volumes have been determined for end systole and end diastole, the ejection fraction and stroke volume can be calculated and provided as part of the report. It is helpful to divide the end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes by body surface area to provide indexed volumes. Indexed volumes are obtained by dividing the gross end-diastolic and end-systolic volume of the right and left ventricles by the body surface area (Figs. 3.1, 3.2 and Table 3.1).
Fast Congestion Aware Routing for Pin Assignment

Macroblock (aka partition) pin assignment and routing are important tasks in typical top-down hierarchical physical design. Routers use pin locations as connection points to route the design with a goal of minimizing congestion. However, determining suitable pin locations it self depends on availability of congestion free routing topology as a seed input. This results in a catch-22 situation. In this paper, we present an approach, during prototyping phase, to generate fast-and- dirty congestion free routing topology, in top channels. This is real chip routing topology, in the sense that, the routing topology of every net adheres to physical hierarchy, as would happen during hierarchical implementation. This is passed as seed to pin assignment engine, which thus, results in congestion-free pin locations. The novelty of this approach lies in efficient detection of those inter-partition nets whose routing topology have little or no bearing to top channel congestion. These nets are then either not routed or routed in a fast hierarchy unaware manner. We will show that this routing topology is good enough (less than 10% error margin) to establish suitable cross points at partition boundaries, while the speed up achieved is around 6X compared to routing all nets in hierarchy aware manner. Experimental results demonstrate its efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, it can also be effectively used as seed input for decisions like channel sizing between partitions, and budgeting timing constraints to partitions.
Visual-based navigation of an autonomous tugboat

This paper presents the work of a team of undergraduate and graduate students at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) who compete in the annual Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) competition held by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The theoretical concept of the vehicle, the design modification and fabrication process, and the results of both preliminary testing and the final competition are presented. The initial configuration of a stereoscopic vision system and navigation algorithm is explored through testing in a controlled environment. With this approach, the vehicle is shown to be capable of navigating precisely through various courses of colored buoys; approximately 25% of the attempts results in successful navigation of all buoy pairs while 75% of the attempts result in successful navigation of half the buoy pairs or more.
Online compression of ASCII files

The paper discusses a technique for on-line compression of ASCII files. There is a need for fast compression technique that can also produce no overhead data, and with a set amount of memory. Current text compression methods are possibly far superior with some of the characteristics, but none meet all of these needs. The proposed compression scheme uses multiple static dictionaries and a pre-generated variable length code. The method compresses text files of various sizes to approximately 60 percent of their original size.
Communicating Space Weather to the Public

During the 95th American Meteorological Society (AMS) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, the Space Weather Conference convened a special session on improving communication related to space weather events and impacts. Space weather sounds frightening to the public; thus, it can be a communication challenge for space weather enthusiasts and professionals in the field [e.g., Vanlommel et al., 2014]. Casual use of words such as “coronal mass ejections-CMEs” and “geomagnetic storms” could unnecessarily alarm the public.
The alignment of objects with smooth surfaces: error analysis of the curvature method

The recognition of objects with smooth bounding surfaces from their contour images is addressed. In particular, the curvature method is applied to ellipsoidal objects and the error for different rotations of the objects is computed analytically. It is seen that the error depends on the exact shape of the ellipsoid (namely, the relative lengths of its axes), and it increases as the ellipsoid becomes elongated in the Z-direction. It is shown that the errors are usually small, and that, in general, a small number of models is required to predict the appearance of an ellipsoid from all possible views. >
Effect of standing orders on paramedic scene time for trauma patients.

Study objective: To determine if a protocol change that allowed paramedics to perform certain procedures before base station contact (standing orders) would decrease scene time in trauma patients. Design: Retrospective review of case series. Setting: A single-tiered, all advanced life support emergency medical services system. Intervention: Implementation with standing orders for invasive procedures. Type of participants: All physiologically unstable trauma patients transported to a Level I trauma center by ambulance. Measurements and main results: One hundred ninety-seven patients met the inclusion criteria — 87 before and 110 after the initiation of standing orders. Mean scene times for the control group (15.3 ± 8.4 minutes) and for the standing orders group (15.1 ± 7.6 minutes) were similar ( P = .18). The power of the study to detect a two-minute difference in scene time was .92. Scene time was not influenced by mechanism of injury, and the number of procedures performed on patients was similar between the two groups. Conclusion: Standing orders did not decrease scene time in physiologically unstable trauma patients. Further study is necessary to delineate the factors that actually contribute to on-scene time and the factors that are important in determining whether standing orders or on-line medical contact should be used.
Letter-By-Letter Reading: Natural Recovery and Response to Treatment

The present investigation provides a longitudinal study of an individual (RB) with acquired alexia following left posterior cerebral artery stroke. At initial testing, RB exhibited acquired alexia characterized by letter-by-letter (LBL) reading, mild anomic aphasia, and acquired agraphia. Repeated measures of reading accuracy and rate were collected for single words and text over the course of one year, along with probes of naming and spelling abilities. Improvements associated with natural recovery (i.e., without treatment) were documented up to the fourth month post onset, when text reading appeared to be relatively stable. Multiple oral reading (MOR) treatment was initiated at 22 weeks post-stroke, and additional improvements in reading rate and accuracy for text were documented that were greater than those expected on the basis of spontaneous recovery alone. Over the course of one year, reading reaction times for single words improved, and the word-length effect that is the hallmark of LBL reading diminished. RB's response to treatment supports the therapeutic value of MOR treatment to in LBL readers. His residual impairment of reading and spelling one-year post stroke raised the question as to whether further progress was impeded by degraded orthographic knowledge.
Thalidomide Dosing in Patients with Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the literature regarding the dosing of thalidomide in multiple myeloma.DATA SOURCES:A MEDLINE search (1990–February 2003) using the search terms thalidomide and multiple myeloma was performed to identify clinical trials and abstracts. Identified literature was then cross-referenced for further pertinent data.DATA SYNTHESIS:Patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma have few therapeutic options. Thalidomide is a promising agent, although many dose-related issues are still in question. Starting doses studied ranged from 50 to 200 mg/d, usually given at bedtime. Gradual dose escalation up to 800 mg/d has been studied, with some evidence of improved outcome with doses of 400–600 mg/d, while thalidomide appears to be best tolerated at doses ≤400 mg/d.CONCLUSIONS:A reasonable approach for use of thalidomide in multiple myeloma is to initiate therapy at 50–100 mg nightly and escalate every 2 weeks in 50-to 100-mg increments as tolerated. Efforts should be made to titrate the dose...
Polycomb- and REST-associated histone deacetylases are independent pathways toward a mature neuronal phenotype.

The bivalent hypothesis posits that genes encoding developmental regulators required for early lineage decisions are poised in stem/progenitor cells by the balance between a repressor histone modification (H3K27me3), mediated by the Polycomb Repressor Complex 2 (PRC2), and an activator modification (H3K4me3). In this study, we test whether this mechanism applies equally to genes that are not required until terminal differentiation. We focus on the RE1 Silencing Transcription Factor (REST) because it is expressed highly in stem cells and is an established global repressor of terminal neuronal genes. Elucidation of the REST complex, and comparison of chromatin marks and gene expression levels in control and REST-deficient stem cells, shows that REST target genes are poised by a mechanism independent of Polycomb, even at promoters which bear the H3K27me3 mark. Specifically, genes under REST control are actively repressed in stem cells by a balance of the H3K4me3 mark and a repressor complex that relies on histone deacetylase activity. Thus, chromatin distinctions between pro-neural and terminal neuronal genes are established at the embryonic stem cell stage by two parallel, but distinct, repressor pathways. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04235.001
The case for structured random codes: Beyond linear models

Recent work has shown that for some multi-user networks, carefully controlling the algebraic structure of the coding scheme may be just as useful as selecting the correct input distribution. In particular, for linear channel models, including finite field and Gaussian networks, linearly structured codes have been successfully used to prove new capacity results. In this note, we show that the benefits of structured random codes is not limited to linear channel models and networks. We show that for general discrete memoryless networks, there are benefits to allowing intermediate nodes to decode only a function of their inputs. These benefits are illustrated through the aid of an example based on the binary multiplying channel.
Preliminary Findings of Similarities and Differences in the Signed and Spoken Language of Children with Autism

Approximately 30% of hearing children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not acquire expressive language, and those who do often show impairments related to their social deficits, using language instrumentally rather than socially, with a poor understanding of pragmatics and a tendency toward repetitive content. Linguistic abnormalities can be clinically useful as diagnostic markers of ASD and as targets for intervention. Studies have begun to document how ASD manifests in children who are deaf for whom signed languages are the primary means of communication. Though the underlying disorder is presumed to be the same in children who are deaf and children who hear, the structures of signed and spoken languages differ in key ways. This article describes similarities and differences between the signed and spoken language acquisition of children on the spectrum. Similarities include echolalia, pronoun avoidance, neologisms, and the existence of minimally verbal children. Possible areas of divergence include pronoun reversal, palm reversal, and facial grammar.
Adaptive inventory control of superheater systems

The adaptive controller is applied in a framework of passivity based inventory control. A feedback-feedforward control structure is induced by the inventory control theory. The adaptive feedforward controller is added to the feedback component such as PI controller and certain model parameters are estimated online to compensate the unmeasured disturbances. This control strategy is used on the challenging superheater control problem and demonstrated to have much better performance than current PI control.
Development of an Instrument for a Visual Analysis of Dress from Pictorial Evidence

We describe the development of an instrument for visually analyzing women’s daytime clothing styles as depicted in two women’s fashion magazines, The Delineator and Harper’s Bazar, from 1873 throug...
Responses of the ear to low frequency sounds, infrasound and wind turbines

Infrasonic sounds are generated internally in the body (by respiration, heartbeat, coughing, etc) and by external sources, such as air conditioning systems, inside vehicles, some industrial processes and, now becoming increasingly prevalent, wind turbines. It is widely assumed that infrasound presented at an amplitude below what is audible has no influence on the ear. In this review, we consider possible ways that low frequency sounds, at levels that may or may not be heard, could influence the function of the ear. The inner ear has elaborate mechanisms to attenuate low frequency sound components before they are transmitted to the brain. The auditory portion of the ear, the cochlea, has two types of sensory cells, inner hair cells (IHC) and outer hair cells (OHC), of which the IHC are coupled to the afferent fibers that transmit "hearing" to the brain. The sensory stereocilia ("hairs") on the IHC are "fluid coupled" to mechanical stimuli, so their responses depend on stimulus velocity and their sensitivity decreases as sound frequency is lowered. In contrast, the OHC are directly coupled to mechanical stimuli, so their input remains greater than for IHC at low frequencies. At very low frequencies the OHC are stimulated by sounds at levels below those that are heard. Although the hair cells in other sensory structures such as the saccule may be tuned to infrasonic frequencies, auditory stimulus coupling to these structures is inefficient so that they are unlikely to be influenced by airborne infrasound. Structures that are involved in endolymph volume regulation are also known to be influenced by infrasound, but their sensitivity is also thought to be low. There are, however, abnormal states in which the ear becomes hypersensitive to infrasound. In most cases, the inner ear's responses to infrasound can be considered normal, but they could be associated with unfamiliar sensations or subtle changes in physiology. This raises the possibility that exposure to the infrasound component of wind turbine noise could influence the physiology of the ear.
All-pole model parameter estimation for voiced speech

To overcome the limitations of linear prediction based all-pole models of voiced speech, we present some new methods for obtaining the parameters of all-pole filters. In particular, we present a technique based on the minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) spectrum estimation method. With a sufficient filter order, MVDR filters model voiced speech formants exactly. Utilizing a property of MVDR all-pole filters, we present a technique for obtaining low order perceptually weighted all-pole filters. These new all-pole models provide superior modeling of medium pitch and high pitch voiced speech.
Occupational Feminization and Pay: Assessing Causal Dynamics Using 1950-2000 U.S. Census Data

Occupations with a greater share of females pay less than those with a lower share, controlling for education and skill. This association is explained by two dominant views: devaluation and queuing. The former views the pay offered in an occupation to affect its female proportion, due to employers’ preference for men– a gendered labor queue. The latter argues that the proportion of females in an occupation affects pay, owing to devaluation of work done by women. Only a few past studies used longitudinal data, which is needed to test the theories. We use fixed-effects models, thus controlling for stable characteristics of occupations, and U.S. Census data from 1950 through 2000. We find substantial evidence for the devaluation view, but only scant evidence for the
The Role of the Introductory Sociology Course on Students' Perceptions of Achievement of General Education Goals:

As higher education accreditation agencies emphasize achievement of general education learning goals for undergraduate students, departments are increasingly required to identify and assess the contributions of their disciplines to achievement of these goals. This exploratory study conducted at a large urban university and its satellite campus seeks to identify students' perceptions of the contributions of the Introduction to Sociology course to the general education goals specified by a single university. This study also seeks to identify the most frequently used pedagogies used by introductory sociology instructors. Results indicate students perceive that Introduction to Sociology facilitates achievement of critical thinking skills, integration and application of knowledge, and understanding of society and culture. Results also indicate that lecture is a nearly ubiquitous teaching strategy. Students report instructors utilize in-class discussion frequently. Small group activities, writing assignments, videos, and online discussion were less frequently utilized.
Urinary Interleukin-18 is an Acute Kidney Injury Biomarker in Critically Ill Children

Background. Urinary interleukin-18 (uIL-18) is an earlier acute kidney injury (AKI) biomarker than serum creatinine (SCr) in specific populations. In the present study, the relationship between uIL-18 and AKI was determined in a heterogeneous group of critically ill children. Methods. We studied critically ill children to determine whether uIL-18 was an early predictor of AKI. SCr was determined daily for up to 14 days from mechanical ventilation initiation and up to four serial urine specimens were collected for the uIL-18 measurement. AKI was graded by paediatric modified risk, injury, failure, loss, end-stage kidneydisease(pRIFLE)criteria.Day0wasdefinedastheday of attaining pRIFLE AKI. Results. One hundred thirty-seven children aged 6.5 ± 6.4 years (53% male) were studied. The peak levels of IL-18 correlated with the severity of AKI by pRIFLE classification (P < 0.05). In non-septic AKI patients, uIL-18 rose to a level higher than control levels 2 days prior to a significant rise in SCr. Urinary IL-18 concentration from the first urine specimen was associated with AKI development within 48 h (odds ratio = 3.5, P < 0.05) independent of the paediatric risk of mortality (PRISM II) score. Urinary IL18concentration ≥100pg/mlhadaspecificityandnegative predictive value of 81 and 83% to predict AKI development within 24 h. Urinary IL-18 ≥200 pg/ml collected within 24 h of Day 0 had a specificity and positive predictive value of 93 and 88% respectively to predict the AKI duration ≥48 h. Urinary IL-18 was associated with mortality (odds ratio =1.29,P <0.05), independent of the PRISM IIscore. Conclusions.Urinary IL-18 risesprior to SCr innon-septic critically ill children, predicts severity of AKI and is an independent predictor of mortality.
Improving Image Search with PHETCH

Keyword-based image search engines are hindered by the lack of proper labeling for images in their indices. In many cases the labels do not agree with the contents of the image itself, since images are generally indexed by their filename and the surrounding text in the Web page. Another popular approach to image search, content based image retrieval, suffers from a gap between the available low level data and the semantic needs of user searches. To overcome these problems we suggest human annotation of images with natural language descriptions. To this end we present Phetch, an engaging multiplayer game that allows people to attach accurate explanatory text captions to arbitrary images on the Web. People play the game because it is fun, and as a side effect we collect valuable information that can be applied towards improving image retrieval. Furthermore, the game can also be used for other novel applications.
Theories and Models of Arterial Circulation

The simplicity of the windkessel model in interpreting pressure and flow behavior of the arterial tree has extended its use to much of last century. Modern development of theories in analyzing blood pressure and flow waveforms, and in explaining pulse transmission characteristics, have centered on the improvement of the original windkessel model. One of the shortcomings of the windkessel model is its lack of finite velocity of propagation. Finite pulse wave velocity (PVW) is discussed in the next subheading. We first look at the impact that the windkessel model has had on overall understanding of arterial circulation.
The Story of a Movement

In this essay, I briefly summarize the work of Karen Vaughn in her book, Austrian Economics in America, and describe its importance towards the broader resurgence of Austrian economics.
Constructs of the Mind in Mental Health and Psychotherapy

Some years ago, when I was thinking about cognitive appraisal as the central process in emotion, I realized that the cognitive revolution in psychology did not create new constructs with which to understand the human mind but only changed the definition and arrangement of old constructs. The basic theoretical constructs have always consisted of motivation, emotion, and cognition. In an interesting discussion of the origins of faculty psychology, Hilgard (1980) questions whether this “trilogy of mind” describes fundamental faculties or is merely a convenient classification of mental activities. To the trilogy we must add two other fundamental concepts, namely actions and the environmental stimulus array, making a total of five concepts to juggle in our theories.
Quantifying Mental Health Signals in Twitter

The ubiquity of social media provides a rich opportunity to enhance the data available to mental health clinicians and researchers, enabling a better-informed and better-equipped mental health field. We present analysis of mental health phenomena in publicly available Twitter data, demonstrating how rigorous application of simple natural language processing methods can yield insight into specific disorders as well as mental health writ large, along with evidence that as-of-yet undiscovered linguistic signals relevant to mental health exist in social media. We present a novel method for gathering data for a range of mental illnesses quickly and cheaply, then focus on analysis of four in particular: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). We intend for these proof-of-concept results to inform the necessary ethical discussion regarding the balance between the utility of such data and the privacy of mental health related information.
FDA and the Regulation of Genetic Tests

The Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetic Testing recently recommended that FDA be involved in the regulation of all new genetic tests. This culminates a long effort to end a double standard under which the FDA regulates genetic tests marketed as "kits" but not those marketed as clinical laboratory services. For kits, FDA requires data on the accuracy of predictions or diagnoses of disease. Yet, for tests marketed as services, the FDA applies no such requirement. Using existing policies for classifying medical devices, FDA could readily implement the committee's recommendation, assuring that data on clinical validity are available to assist decision making.
An autophagy-independent function for Beclin 1 in cancer

The involvement of Beclin 1 in cancer has been attributed primarily to its role in autophagy initiation. Our recent findings identify a novel alternative mechanism by which Beclin 1 can affect tumor progression through the regulation of growth factor receptor signaling.
Erōs and the eye in the Love-Letters of Philostratus

The close association in the literature of antiquity of seeing with sexual desire inspired the tragic poet Agathon to pun on the similarity between the Greek verb ‘to see’ (ὁρᾶν) and the verb ‘to desire’ (ἐρᾶν), as suggested by a fragment preserved by Zenobius: ἐκ τοῦ γὰρ ἐσορᾶν ἐγένeτ' ἀνθρώποις ἐρᾶν. As is the case with many fragments, it is difficult to identify the degree of irony (or seriousness) with which Agathon intended this isolated line, but the passage is repeated (without attribution) in a number of other ancient sources, and it perhaps lays some claim to a measure of ‘folk wisdom’: for human beings the source of erotic desire lies in an act of seeing. In his brief and pithy love-letter ‘To Nicetes’ (Epistle 52), which Nauck observes may well draw on the pun of Agathon, the third-century sophist Philostratus would similarly appeal to the association of ὀρᾶν with ἐρᾶν to refute, in an ironic way, two time-honoured maxims about erōs: that love is a ‘disease’; and that lovers are ‘blind’: οὐ τὀ ἐρᾶν νόσος ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ ἐρᾶν· eἰ γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁρᾶν τὸ ἐρᾶν, τυφλοὶ οἱ μὴ ἐρῶντeς.
Pre-evaluation of Occupational Hazards in a Construction Project of Expansion of Outputs in A Chemical Enterprise

[Objective] To predict the type and extent of the possible occupational diseases in the Construction project of chemical enterprise,and demonstrate the feasibility of the protective measures.[Methods] The similar projects were selected to conduct Analog investigation and were evaluated by combined methods of check list,analog and experience.[Results] General layout,production process layout,workshop building design,anti-noise measures,assistant hygienic rooms and the management of occupational hazards of the construction Consisted with the standards,regulatory requirements.The technological measures for preventing poison should be more enhanced.The process,which have the possible occupational hazard factors such as acrylamide,dust and noise belongs to the general Occupational hazards construction project.[Conclusion] The possible occupational hazards in process can be prevented,and the construction is feasible in occupational sanitation.
CAF: Core to Core Communication Acceleration Framework

As the number of cores in a multicore system increases, core-to-core (C2C) communication is increasingly limiting the performance scaling of workloads that share data frequently. The traditional way cores communicate is by using shared memory space between them. However, shared memory communication fundamentally involves coherence invalidations and cache misses, which cause large performance overheads and incur a high amount of network traffic. Many important workloads incur significant C2C communication and are affected significantly by the costs, including pipelined packet processing which is widely used in software-based networking solutions. In these workloads, threads run on different cores and pass packets from one core to another for different stages of processing using software queues. In this paper, we analyze the behavior and overheads of software queue management. Based on this analysis, we propose a novel C2C Communication Acceleration Framework (CAF) to optimize C2C communication. CAF offloads substantial communication burdens from cores and memory to a designated, efficient hardware device we refer to as Queue Management Device (QMD) attached to the Network on Chip. CAF combines hardware and software optimizations to effectively reduce the queue-induced communication overheads and improve the overall system performance by up to 2–12× over traditional software queue implementations.
Categories in Motion: Emerging Perspectives in the Archaeology of Postcolumbian Indigenous Communities

This essay provides a personal and somewhat polemical assessment of recent developments in the historical archaeology of sites occupied by indigenous groups, and very tentatively predicts future trends. Three conceptual areas—holism, vantage point, and the social practice of archaeology—are identified as zones for future improvement. In terms of holism, greater empirical and analytical attention needs be paid to the full range of interacting parties, including both settler and indigenous interlocutors, in order to better understand processes of mutual influence. Vantage-point analysis can be used to better capture the details of historical settings through attempts to understand the spatial dimensions of power relations and, also, to further the deployment of local indigenous concepts in scholarship. In terms of the social practice of archaeology, trends in authorship and the lack of integration of “dirt” archaeology and decolonizing methods in archaeological writing remain problematic.
Long-term stoichiometry and fates highlight animal egestion as nutrient repackaging, not recycling, in aquatic ecosystems

Summary Animal defecation, or egestion, is a pronounced transformation of organic matter in many ecosystems. However, because egesta have been presumed recalcitrant and low nutrient, their significance and variability as an animal nutrient flux in aquatic settings – especially relative to mineralization via excretion – are poorly known. We compared carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dynamics over short- to long-term (up to 107 days) microbial decomposition of egesta from the aquatic shredders Allocapnia spp., Lirceus spp. and Tipula spp. fed low- or high-P content Platanus occidentalis litter to investigate roles of egesta in aquatic nutrient dynamics. Tipula produced N and P deplete egesta of higher N : P compared to Lirceus and Allocapnia, and high-P diets increased egesta P content compared to low-P diets. Despite measurable C losses to decomposition, these differences in nutrient content persisted through decomposition, showing diet and species control both immediate and long-term properties of egested particles. Egesta switched between uptake and release of dissolved phosphorus and ammonium during decomposition, and exhibited consistent net N uptake as nitrate–nitrite. Across species and diets, lower N : P egesta tended to exhibit greater uptake of dissolved inorganic N, suggesting P enrichment of egesta drove stronger dissolved N demand by decomposer microbes. Shredder egesta exhibit stable nutrient contents long term and, counter to assumptions that they are negligible or minor net sources, can be strong, extended sinks of dissolved inorganic nutrients. Future studies should consider contrasts between animal nutrient fluxes as excretion, which facilitates nutrient recycling via mineralization, vs. egestion, which slows nutrient recycling via organic nutrient repackaging and can create sinks of dissolved nutrients. A lay summary is available for this article.
Mechanosynthesis of Magnesium and Calcium Salt–Urea Ionic Cocrystal Fertilizer Materials for Improved Nitrogen Management

Only 47% of the total fertilizer nitrogen applied to the environment is taken up by the plants whereas approximately 40% of the total fertilizer nitrogen lost to the environment reverts back into unreactive atmospheric dinitrogen that greatly affects the global nitrogen cycle including increased energy consumption for NH3 synthesis, as well as accumulation of nitrates in drinking water. In this letter, we provide a mechanochemical method of inorganic magnesium and calcium salt–urea ionic cocrystal synthesis to obtain enhanced stability nitrogen fertilizers. The solvent-free mechanochemical synthesis presented can result in a greater manufacturing process sustainability by reducing or eliminating the need for solution handling and evaporation. NH3 emission testing suggests that urea ionic cocrystals are capable of decreasing NH3 emissions to the environment when compared to pure urea, thus providing implications for a sustainable global solution to the management of the nitrogen cycle.
Case 47: Postoperative Vocal Cord Paralysis

You are scheduled to anesthetize a 65-year-old woman (ASA 2) for a left carotid endarterectomy (CEA). She has hypertension, which is well controlled medically. Her past surgical history is significant for a thyroidectomy 17 years previously. Otherwise she is well, with no known allergies. Her physical exam is normal and she has no stridor or hoarseness. She prefers to be awake for the surgery, and you do a deep and superficial cervical plexus block with 1.5% lidocaine with 1:200,000 epinephrine. Six ml is injected at C3, C4, and C5, while 14 ml is injected into the superficial plexus. The surgery starts with the patient awake, as she has only received midazolam 2 mg and 50 ug of fentanyl for the block. After a Pilling retractor is inserted, pushing the internal jugular vein and sternocleidomastoid laterally and thyroid and trachea medially, the patient coughs repeatedly. The surgeon injects 6 ml of plain lidocaine 1% around the common carotid artery, but this does not help as the patient now develops stridor and becomes agitated. The retractor is removed and within a few minutes she feels much better. The surgeon inserts the retractor again, but once again the patient develops severe coughing and stridor. The patient is told that a general anesthesia is needed and she reluctantly agrees. She is anesthetized without any problems with fentanyl 200 ug, etomidate 18 mg, and vecuronium 7 mg. She is easy to mask ventilate. You have a grade 1 view of interest is the fact that your resident notes that the right vocal cord seems to less away from the midline than the left. You have a look and agree with his assessment. An endotracheal tube (ETT) is placed uneventfully. The anesthetic is maintained with oxygen-nitrous-isoflurane. The surgery is completed uneventfully and a special note is made by the surgeon that the vagus nerve is intact. Both a nonrecurrent laryngeal nerve and a recurrent laryngeal nerve are not seen.
Appraisal and Evaluation

Although Raymond Lafage lived a short and obscure life, largely unnoticed by the artistic world of his day, such neglect was not the case after his death. Then his reputation soared, and his drawings were to be found in the most eminent collections of the eighteenth century. As a chapter in the history of taste Lafage is most worthy of study, especially since the violent fluctuation of his reputation was not merely the result of superficial popular fashin. The fact that his work was praised and bought by the keenest men of taste in one of the most tasteful of all centuries makes one think that the reasons for his popularity must be closely related to the general social history of the period.
The Bohr Atom

Somebody once said about the Greek language that Greek flies in the writings of Homer. The quantum idea started flying with the work of Danish physicist Niels Bohr published in the year 1913.
Refinement of the coomassie blue method of protein quantitation. A simple and linear spectrophotometric assay for less than or equal to 0.5 to 50 microgram of protein.

The Coomassie brilliant blue G assay for proteins described by Bradford (1976) (Anal. Biochem.72, 248) was reexamined. It was found that the extinction coefficient of the dye-protein complex solution remained constant over the protein concentration range of 0.8 to 10 μg/ml of solution. This unchanging extinction coefficient, A595 = 0.60 ± 0.0110 μg of protein/ml of solution, enhances both the sensitivity and versatility of the assay. Selection of a volume of dye-reagent (0.5 to 5.0 ml) which dilutes the protein sample to a final concentration of 0.8 to 10 μg/ml permits the application of Beer's Law for accurate determinations of ≤0.5 to 50 μg of protein. A combination of Bradford's study and the present one indicates that most common laboratory reagents and chemicals exert little or no influence on the A595 of the dye-reagent.
Role of Reactive Oxygen Species in Chronic Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension and Vascular Remodeling

Pulmonary hypertension is a life-threatening disease process that affects adults and children. Pediatric patients with lung diseases that can be complicated by alveolar hypoxia, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), are at risk for developing pulmonary hypertension, which leads to right heart failure and greatly increases morbidity and mortality. We review the evidence that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated by pulmonary vascular wall cells in response to a hypoxic exposure, and that this response contributes to chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. We summarize the accumulating data implicating NADPH oxidase as a major source of O2 - responsible for vascular remodeling and hypertension. We also consider the effects of chronic hypoxia on the clearance of O2 - by superoxide dismutases, specifically extracellular superoxide dismutase, which is highly expressed in the pulmonary artery. We review the role of the activated vascular adventitial fibroblast in the generation of ROS and in the pathogenesis of vascular remodeling, and provide a rationale to consider the role of the activated fibroblast and ROS in hypoxic pulmonary hypertension using a clinically relevant bovine model of neonatal chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.
Philosophy of religion and the big questions

Whether philosophy of religion can have a robust future depends on whether it can develop forms that address the Big Questions of religion. I define religion heuristically, for the purposes of philosophy of religion, as the engagement of ultimate realities, and ultimate dimensions of experience, in cognitive, existential, and practical ways. This requires setting philosophy of religion within a larger scale of philosophy that can deal with ultimates, how they are known, and how such philosophy can defend itself against attacks against the possibility of philosophies of ultimate reality. Philosophy of religion is interesting only if it can say, with good arguments, whether we get ultimate realities right when engaging them. The threats to the future of philosophy of religion come from those forms of the discipline that talk only about how to talk about religion or that only describe religious experience without giving a critical normative account of what is experienced as ultimate. The key to advocating philosophy of religion that addresses the Big Questions is showing that it is plausible and possible to have a philosophy of ultimates. The bulk of this article proposes such a philosophy as a plausible hypothesis. Even if this hypothesis about ultimates is rejected in the long run, that will only be by the presentation of a better hypothesis about ultimates. The paideia for philosophy of religion dealing with the Big Questions is discussed, as is the development of an interested audience for such philosophy of religion.
Development of Acceptable Work Limits for Cognitive Tasks

Abstract Recent shifts in the nature of industrial work force and increased level of automation have led to abundance of jobs for which there are no established work limits or task loading limits. While work performance standards exist for physical tasks, limits on acceptable levels of work are yet to be developed for cognitive tasks. This paper describes an approach to quantify qualitative human responses and describes a procedure to integrate them with other quantitative responses resulting from physical, cognitive, behavioral, or psycho-social factors. The theory of fuzzy sets is utilized in developing the modeling concept which can be used in developing work-performance standards or optimizing overall man-equipment system effectiveness.
An Item Response Model for True-False Exams Based on Signal Detection Theory.

A true–false exam can be viewed as being a signal detection task—the task is to detect whether or not an item is true (signal) or false (noise). In terms of signal detection theory (SDT), examinees...
Multi-domain Conversation Quality Evaluation via User Satisfaction Estimation

An automated metric to evaluate dialogue quality is vital for optimizing data driven dialogue management. The common approach of relying on explicit user feedback during a conversation is intrusive and sparse. Current models to estimate user satisfaction use limited feature sets and employ annotation schemes with limited generalizability to conversations spanning multiple domains. To address these gaps, we created a new Response Quality annotation scheme, introduced five new domain-independent feature sets and experimented with six machine learning models to estimate User Satisfaction at both turn and dialogue level. Response Quality ratings achieved significantly high correlation (0.76) with explicit turn-level user ratings. Using the new feature sets we introduced, Gradient Boosting Regression model achieved best (rating [1-5]) prediction performance on 26 seen (linear correlation ~0.79) and one new multi-turn domain (linear correlation 0.67). We observed a 16% relative improvement (68% -> 79%) in binary ("satisfactory/dissatisfactory") class prediction accuracy of a domain-independent dialogue-level satisfaction estimation model after including predicted turn-level satisfaction ratings as features.