cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Softer than soft computing

In hard computing for engineering applications, we use explicit models derived from physical principle, and implement them on a computer as purely syntactic Turing-equivalent structures. When such a direct attack is not feasible, we resort to soft computing, using the techniques arising from artificial intelligence to ferret out the secrets of a process based on implicit models derived from observed data. Again, we implement them on a computer as purely syntactic Turing-equivalent structures. As the interest of the engineers moves toward problems in biomedical engineering and human-machine interaction, it is apparent that there are problems intractable even by the methods of soft computing. Processes of life and mind include internal semantics including inherent semantic ambiguity that are indispensable to their operation, but these semantics are totally missed by the purely syntactical strategies of both hard and soft computing. For engineers to make responsible decisions about systems that involve naturally occurring processes of life and mind, a new modeling strategy is required. It needs semantics models that can account for internal ambiguity and has so high a degree of flexibility that we may think of it as softer that "soft computing".
A Fuzzy Biomechanical Model with H2 Control System for Sit-to-Stand Movement

Biomechanical movements have been subject of interest for several centuries to different researchers for various aspects. Physiologically human biomechanical sit to stand movement can be defined in different phases and regions. A four link biomechanical model of human stable movement is used to develop the local linear models for each phase from sitting on chair to an upright standing position. These local models are then integrated into a fuzzy model with Gaussian membership function. The knee flexion angle during sit to stand movement provides the criterion for determining the weights of fuzzy membership functions. H 2 dynamic optimal controller is designed for each local linear model and integrated with the fuzzy model. The joint's torque or inputs are computed by using linear fuzzy model based H2 controller for linear and nonlinear biomechanical models. A reference trajectory is introduced to track the knee flexion angle error for smooth and physiological relevant sit to stand transfer. Simulation results of angular profiles and kinematics variables demonstrate the applicability of the fuzzy modeling with H2 full order and reduced order controller for the biomechanical sit to stand movement
Immunocytochemical localization of two myosins within the same muscle cells in caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract Nematodes synthesize two major classes of myosin heavy chains. These heavy chains associate to form only homodimeric myosin molecules, and these myosin homodimers are anti-genically different from one another (Schachat, Garcea and Epstein, 1978). The two myosins may be designated unc -54 myosin, since this species is altered in mutants of the unc -54 locus, and non- unc -54 myosin, since this class is not affected in unc -54 mutants. We present here experiments in which specific anti-myosin IgG and anti- unc -54 myosin IgG are used to locate the two myosins within the same body-wall muscle cells of Caenorhabditis elegans. These results are necessary for further evaluation of the possible functions of the two myosin homodimers in the thick filaments of these muscles. Myosin can be localized to all body-wall and pharyngeal muscle cells using anti-myosin antibody. In longitudinal sections of body-wall muscle, the staining with anti-myosin coincides with the birefringence of A bands that contain thick filaments. Anti- unc -54 myosin stains all body-wall A bands uniformly but does not react with the pharynx. This result demonstrates that unc -54 is located exclusively in body-wall muscle cells of the wild-type strain N2. Non- unc -54 myosin is localized with anti-myosin in all body-wall muscle cells of the unc -54 null mutant E190, as expected; however, unc -54 myosin could not be detected by anti- unc -54 myosin antibody in this mutant. Since we can localize unc -54 myosin and non- unc -54 myosin in all body-wall muscle cells of wild-type and E190, respectively, we conclude that the two myosins must be present in the same muscle cells. In addition, since unc -54 myosin is located in all body-wall A bands, at least some sarcomeres must contain both myosins. This conclusion is consistent with the observations of Garcea, Schachat and Epstein (1978) that wild-type and E190 synthesize similar amounts of non- unc -54 myosin. Within the limits of resolution of our methods, unc -54 myosin is distributed throughout body-wall A bands. We conclude, therefore, that the majority of thick filaments within these A bands must contain unc -54 myosin along their entire length. Possible roles for unc -54 and non- unc -54 myosins in the assembly and organization of thick filaments are discussed.
Improving Image Decomposition Method of the 3-MRC Coding of Scanned Compound Document Images

This paper discusses image decomposition problem of the 3-layer MRC model based coding of scanned (noisy) document images. A widely-used approach for document decomposition is to divide the document image into blocks and split the pixel histogram of each block into two halves by minimizing the sum of variance of its pixels with the mean of the halves. We propose to split a block by minimizing the variance of one half with its minimum pixel and the variance of the other half with its maximum pixel. Our goal is to increase the gap between the two halves by avoiding splitting of any cluster of pixels into both halves. It should help reduce complexity of the generated mask. Moreover, we do not decompose a block if it has no edge points, again to reduce the mask complexity. We also implement a noise reduction heuristic in the mask layer to correct placement of transition pixels. We provide simple analysis and evaluate block energy in terms of the DCT coefficients of the resulting FG/BG layer blocks. Experimental results show that code size of the mask layer of our test images, obtained using proposed processing is reduced to nearly half of the mask obtained by a straight-forward 3-MRC implementation.
Agarose and methylcellulose hydrogel blends for nerve regeneration applications.

Trauma sustained to the central nervous system is a debilitating problem for thousands of people worldwide. Neuronal regeneration within the central nervous system is hindered by several factors, making a multi-faceted approach necessary. Two factors contributing to injury are the irregular geometry of injured sites and the absence of tissue to hold potential nerve guides and drug therapies. Biocompatible hydrogels, injectable at room temperature, that rapidly solidify at physiological temperatures (37 ◦ C) are beneficial materials that could hold nerve guidance channels in place and be loaded with therapeutic agents to aid wound healing. Our studies have shown that thermoreversible methylcellulose can be combined with agarose to create hydrogel blends that accommodate these properties. Three separate novel hydrogel blends were created by mixing methylcellulose with one of the three different agaroses. Gelation time tests show that the blends solidify at a faster rate than base methylcellulose at 37 ◦ C. Rheological data showed that the elastic modulus of the hydrogel blends rapidly increases at 37 ◦ C. Culturing experiments reveal that the morphology of dissociated dorsal root ganglion neurons was not altered when the hydrogels were placed onto the cells. The different blends were further assessed using dissolution tests, pore size evaluations using scanning electron microscopy and measuring the force required for injection. This research demonstrates that blends of agarose and methylcellulose solidify much more quickly than plain methylcellulose, while solidifying at physiological temperatures where agarose cannot. These hydrogel blends, which solidify at physiological temperatures naturally, do not require ultraviolet light or synthetic chemical cross linkers to facilitate solidification. Thus, these hydrogel blends have potential use in delivering therapeutics and holding scaffolding in place within the nervous system.
Quality of Research and Level of Evidence in Foot and Ankle Publications

Background: The quality of research and evidence to support medical treatments is under scrutiny from the medical profession and the public. This study examined the current quality of research and ...
Popliteal entrapment as a result of neurovascular compression by the soleus and plantaris muscles

Intermittent claudication may occur in well-conditioned athletes because of an unusual form of popliteal artery entrapment that results from overtraining. These patients complain of calf muscle cramping, rapid limb fatigue, and occasional paresthesias on the plantar surface of the foot when running on inclines or when repetitive jumping is performed. Results of plethysmographic screening tests for popliteal entrapment are positive in these patients. Magnetic resonance angiography and intravenous digital subtraction angiography studies, however, do not demonstrate findings typical of anatomic popliteal entrapment. No evidence exists of aberrant positioning of the popliteal artery in foot neutral positioning, but with forced plantar flexion, the neurovascular bundle is deviated and compressed laterally. Surgical exploration of the popliteal fossa demonstrates no obvious musculotendinous abnormality. Symptoms of claudication and arterial compression are relieved by surgical release of the soleus muscle from its tibial attachments, resection of its fascial band, and resection of the plantaris muscle.
Sympathetic Response to Insulin Is Mediated by Melanocortin 3/4 Receptors in the Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus

Hyperinsulinemia increases sympathetic nerve activity and contributes to cardiovascular dysfunction in obesity and diabetes. Neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) regulate sympathetic nerve activity through mono- and poly-synaptic connections to preganglionic neurons in the spinal cord. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether PVN neurons mediate the sympathetic response to insulin. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps were performed in α-chloralose-anesthetized, male Sprague-Dawley rats (280–420 g) by an infusion of insulin (3.75 mU/kg per min) and 50% dextrose (0.75–2.0 mL/h) for 120 minutes. At 90 minutes, insulin significantly increased lumbar sympathetic nerve activity without any change in renal sympathetic nerve activity, heart rate, or blood glucose levels. Inhibition of the PVN with bilateral injection of the GABA A receptor agonist muscimol completely reversed the sympathoexcitatory response. However, direct injection of insulin into the PVN did not alter lumbar sympathetic nerve activity, and thereby suggests that insulin activates neurons upstream of the PVN. Interestingly, the sympathetic response to insulin was eliminated by PVN injection of the melanocortin 3/4 receptor antagonist SHU9119, but was unaffected by the angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist losartan. A final set of experiments suggests activation of PVN neurons during hyperinsulinemia increases glutamatergic drive to the rostral ventrolateral medulla. Collectively, these findings indicate that insulin activates a melanocortin-dependent pathway to the PVN that increases glutamatergic drive to the rostral ventrolateral medulla and alters cardiovascular function.
Smart Textiles: A Platform for Sensing and Personalized Mobile Information-processing

Textiles are pervasive and span the continuum of life from infants to senior citizens. The invention of the jacquard weaving machine led to the concept of a stored «program’ and ‘mechanized’ binary information-processing. This development served as the inspiration for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine – the precursor to the modern-day computer, which has since spawned the explosive growth of information-processing witnessed in recent years. In this paper, we explore the potential synergy between textiles and computing and identify the need to bring about a seamless integration between the two domains to facilitate sensing and personalized mobile information-processing. We discuss the design and development of the Wearable Motherboard or Smart Shirt and follow with an overview of the major applications of the Smart Shirt technology. Finally, we present the challenges and opportunities for research in this emerging field that have the potential to transform and revitalize the mature held of textiles signi...
Role of mitogen-activated protein kinases in the differential regulation of interleukin-2 by cannabinol

Cannabinoids can paradoxically regulate interleukin-2 (IL-2) expression either positively or negatively. This study investigated the mechanism responsible for cannabinol-mediated IL-2 modulation. In primary murine splenocytes and EL4.IL-2 T cells, the contrasting effects of cannabinol on IL-2 secretion depended on the magnitude but not the mode of T-cell activation. Suboptimal activation of T cells in the presence of cannabinol produced an enhancement of IL-2 secretion, which was paralleled by an increase in nuclear phospho-extracellular-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2. In contrast, T cells activated with stimuli that were optimized to induce maximal IL-2 secretion elicited a marked suppression in the production of this cytokine when cultured in the presence of cannabinol. Moreover, cannabinol-mediated enhancement of IL-2 secretion by splenocytes was attenuated to various degrees by staurosporine, Ro-31-8220, and KN93. These results suggest that the enhancement of IL-2 secretion by cannabinol is associated with an increase in ERK mitogen-activated protein kinase, which is protein kinase C and calmodulin-kinase dependent.
Immigration, Spatial Mismatch and Entrepreneurship in Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities

Did immigrants contribute to revitalization in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community (EZ/EC) programs? These programs combined strategic planning grants for capacity building and economic opportunity with tax incentives for businesses who do work in high-poverty census tracts. Theories of immigrant entrepreneurship would argue that immigrants start businesses when they are excluded from formal labor markets or because they have a concentration of coethnic resources as potential customers, investors and employees. This study estimates changes in immigrant population, the spatial mismatch index (aka jobs housing balance), and entrepreneurship. The population of immigrants increased in designated EZ/ECs from 1990 to 2000. Furthermore, for every one percent change in the percentage foreign born, there was a 20% increase in the rate of immigrant entrepreneurs as a proportion of the labor force, holding other variables constant. However, the rate of native-born entrepreneurs in EZ/ECs also increased at about the same rate, suggesting that nativity, in and of itself, did not influence returns to entrepreneurship. In regards to the impact of the EZ/EC on the jobs housing balance for immigrants, there was a 6 to 15% improvement for immigrants, holding other variables constant. Taking population and job trends together suggests that the EZ/EC program improved the job housing balance through entrepreneurship. Future urban policy needs to acknowledge the role of immigration in local economies through culturally competent workforce development, language training, and mentoring new entrepreneurs.
Tregs control B-cell life and death

Comment on Zhao et al, page [3925][1] In this issue, Zhao and colleagues describe the surprising finding that CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) abrogate B-cell proliferation by direct induction of B-cell death through granzyme- and perforin-dependent pathways. Regulatory T cells have received
Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor receptor mutations in severe congenital neutropenia transforming to acute myelogenous leukemia confer resistance to apoptosis and enhance cell survival.

Patients with severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) are at increased risk for the development of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). In the subset of patients with SCN that progresses to AML, acquired mutations in the receptor for granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) have been detected that result in the expression of truncated forms of the G-CSF receptor (G-CSFR) protein. G-CSFR truncation mutants from these patients trans-duce hyperproliferative growth responses. In this paper, we show that the most frequently isolated mutant G-CSFR form from patients with SCN/AML (▵716) confers resistance to apoptosis and prolongs cell survival through a mechanism involving Akt, a downstream target of PI3-kinase. G-CSF stimulation of cells expressing the G-CSFR truncation mutant induces sustained activation of Akt and prolonged phosphorylation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bad, resulting in enhanced cell survival. Extension of cell survival allowing for sufficient time for the acquisition of additional oncogenic events may represent an important mechanism by which G-CSFR mutations contribute to leukemogenesis. These data provide further insight into the pathophysiologic contribution of G-CSFR mutations to AML.
The Use of Mobile Apps to Enhance Student Learning in Introduction to Psychology.

The current study examined the impact of mobile applications or apps on student learning in an introduction to psychology course. Students were assigned to complete a learner-centered worksheet activity on the brain and central nervous system using either an interactive 3-D Brain app or their online course textbook. We measured student learning based on the change in performance from pretest to posttest separately on labeling and multiple-choice items and then from a composite (labeling + multiple choice) score. There was a significant increase in performance from pretest to posttest for the app group on all measures, however, there was only a significant increase in the labeling measure for the text group. The app group answered more items correctly than the text group on the multiple choice and composite measures, but there was no difference in the labeling measure. Also, there was no difference in self-reported ratings of enjoyableness between the app and the text conditions on the worksheet activity. ...
A Sequential Approach for Gas Turbine Power Plant Preventive Maintenance Scheduling

Traditionally the gas turbine power plant preventive maintenances are scheduled with constant maintenance intervals based on recommendations from the equipment suppliers. The preventive maintenances are based on fleet wide experiences, and they are scheduled in a one-size-fit-all fashion. However, in reality, the operating conditions for each gas turbine may vary from site to site, and from unit to unit. Furthermore, the gas turbine is a repairable deteriorating system, and preventive maintenance usually restores only part of its performance. This suggests the gas turbines need more frequent inspection and maintenance as it ages. A unit specific sequential preventive maintenance approach is therefore needed for gas turbine power plants preventive maintenance scheduling. Traditionally the optimization criteria for preventive maintenance scheduling is usually cost based. In the deregulated electric power market, a profit based optimization approach is expected to be more effective than the cost based approach. In such an approach, power plant performance, reliability, and the market dynamics are considered in a joint fashion. In this paper, a novel idea that economics drive maintenance expense and frequency to more frequent repairs and greater expense as the equipment and components age is introduced, and a profit based unit specific sequential preventive maintenance scheduling methodology is developed. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach, this methodology is implemented using a base load combined cycle power plant with single gas turbine unit.© 2005 ASME
Prospects for More Efficient, Smaller High Power Lasers

High power lasers suffer from being large and inefficient. This paper will review the present status of electric laser technology and their prospects for lower SWaP and for being scaled to 100 kW cw.
Tides and Rainfall Affect Water Table Depth of Coastal Wetland

Water table depth(WTD)of coastal wetland is affected by tides,rainfall,topography and other environmental factors,and therefore its dynamic is complex and its measurement is difficult.We introduced a method provided by U.S.Army Corps of Engineers to accurately measure WTD in Dongtan wetland of Chongming Island,and then the obtained data and other environmental observations and corresponding forecast tidal data were analyzed via cross wavelet transform and classification and regression tree method.We found that:1)there were cyclic variations in the correlations between WTD and forecast tidal elevation in 12-hour and 24-hour period.The changing of correlations was caused by shifting of WTD between three daily patterns,bimodal-cure,increasing and decline;2)These patterns were regulated by tide,rainfall and the diel mean WTD.If tidal range was less than 3.185 mand meanwhile rainfall was less than 1.2mm,WTD would decrease with time.On the same tidal range but rainfall was higher than 1.2mm,WTD tended to rise with time.When the tidal range was larger than 3.185m and the diel mean WTD was higher than-0.017m,the daily pattern of WTD was a bimodal curve.If the diel mean WTD was less than-0.017 m,surface water brought by tides recharged the groundwater which would induced increase in WTD.
Diffuse pollution: lessons from soil conservation policies

Diffuse pollution of water from various land uses requires a control approach different from the uniform regulations that were successful for point sources. Local solutions, designed by local watershed councils, are preferred over national directives. Soil erosion control policy, based on voluntary measures coordinated by local conservation districts, provides a guide for improvement of water quality in watersheds. Local planning and action are supplemented by government provision of free technical advice, economic incentives and public education programs. There are no national standards, because land use decisions are a guarded prerogative of individual landowners. Among the lessons that can be transferred to diffuse pollution control are the practicality of the voluntary approach, the need for continuing financial incentives, local solutions to local problems, the wide range of effectiveness of local groups, the uncertainty whether the most critical problems are resolved and the need for education to foster a normative attitude of what we ought to do for watershed health.
Intraventricular Hemorrhage and Brain Injury in the Premature Infant: Neuropathology and Pathogenesis

Intraventricular hemorrhage of the premature infant originates in the subependymal germinal matrix. Important neuropathological complications of the hemorrhage are post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus and periventricular hemorrhagic infarction. The latter infarction and the ischemic lesion, periventricular leukomalacia, are the most important forms of brain injury in the premature infant. Pathogenesis of intraventricular hemorrhage relates to intravascular, vascular, and extravascular factors.
Seeing the Earth in the Cloud: Processing one petabyte of satellite imagery in one day

The proliferation of transistors has increased the performance of computing systems by over a factor of a million in the past 30 years, and is also dramatically increasing the amount of data in existence, driving improvements in sensor, communication and storage technology. Multi-decadal Earth and planetary remote sensing global datasets at the petabyte (8×1015 bits) scale are now available in commercial clouds (e.g., Google Earth Engine and Amazon NASA NEX), and new commercial satellite constellations are planning to generate petabytes of images per year, providing daily global coverage at a few meters per pixel. Cloud storage with adjacent high-bandwidth compute, combined with recent advances in machine learning for computer vision, is enabling understanding of the world at a scale and at a level of granularity never before feasible. We report here on a computation processing over a petabyte of compressed raw data from 2.8 quadrillion pixels (2.8 petapixels) acquired by the US Landsat and MODIS programs over the past 40 years. Using commodity cloud computing resources, we convert the imagery to a calibrated, georeferenced, multiresolution tiled format suited for machine-learning analysis. We believe ours is the first application to process, in less than a day, on generally available resources, over a petabyte of scientific image data. We report on work using this reprocessed dataset for experiments demonstrating country-scale food production monitoring, an indicator for famine early warning. We apply remote sensing science and machine learning algorithms to detect and classify agricultural crops and then estimate crop yields.
The Effect of Sale Methods on the Interest Rate of Municipal Bonds: A Heterogeneous Endogenous Treatment Estimation

Conventional wisdom argues that competitive bidding, compared to negotiated sale, can reduce the interest cost of municipal bonds in the primary market. Studies correcting for self-selection bias have mixed findings. However, these studies are subject to some potential methodological issues. This study circumvents these pit-falls and provides an estimate of the heterogeneous average treatment effect (ATE). After correcting for the endogeneity bias of sale method and its interaction effect, on average competitive sale still significantly lowers the interest rate, but the interest cost advantage decreases as issuer experience increases.
Formation of Polymeric Nanocubes by Self-Assembly and Crystallization of Dithiolane-Containing Triblock Copolymers.

Template-free fabrication of non-spherical polymeric nanoparticles is desirable for various applications, but has had limited success owing to thermodynamic favorability of sphere formation. Herein we present a simple way to prepare cubic nanoparticles of block copolymers by self-assembly from aqueous solutions at room temperature. Nanocubes with edges of 40 - 200 nm are formed spontaneously on different surfaces upon water evaporation from micellar solutions of triblock copolymers containing a central poly (ethylene oxide) block and terminal trimethylene carbonate/ dithiolane blocks. These polymers self-assemble into 28±5 nm micelles in water. Upon drying, micelle aggregation and a kinetically controlled crystallization of central blocks evidently induce solid cubic particle formation. An approach for preserving the structures of these cubes in water by thiol- or photo-induced crosslinking was developed. The ability to solubilize a model hydrophobic drug, curcumin, was also explored.
The Journey of African Philosophy

As an academic discipline, African philosophy has had to overcome obstacles that were not of its own making. Indigenous African cultures had been said to provide insignificant evidence of abstract thought arising from systematic critical thinking. Generations of African philosophers were therefore compelled to challenge this generalization as racially biased and empirically false. The Ghanaian philosopher, Kwasi Wiredu, was in the forefront of this movement. He has since produced a body of work that demonstrates that the analytic approach to philosophy is perfectly compatible with African cultural and linguistic content. Within academic philosophy as an international enterprise there are still issues to be resolved between Western and non-Western traditions of thought.
Jaundice in an Older Child

Jaundice is an important sign of acute and chronic liver diseases in older children and adolescents. The differential diagnosis is extensive and differs from neonatal liver disease. Jaundice may be a late feature in chronic liver disease while acute onset jaundice may be a sign of severe liver disease or acute liver failure. Prompt diagnosis and evaluation of liver synthetic function is essential in making the diagnosis (Box 6.1).
Transmit/receive beamforming design for joint radar and communication systems

In this paper, we consider the problem of transmit/receive beamforming design for full-duplex communication in joint MIMO radar and communication systems. Downlink communication is achieved via embedding communication symbols into the emission of the MIMO radar system. We assume that the time reference of the MIMO radar platform is synchronized to that of the communication users. At the receiver, the uplink communication signal is mixed with the target return, clutter reflections, as well as additive noise. A new communication receive beamformer is developed which enables separating the uplink communication signal form the radar received signal even if the target and clutter returns share the same spatial angle as that of the communication user. MIMO radar employs transmit beamforming to mitigate the effect of signal-dependent clutter. Simulations results are used to shows the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Heat capacity of untwinned YBa2Cu3O7- delta crystals along the Hc2 line.

We report heat-capacity measurements on untwinned ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ single crystals in magnetic fields H\ensuremath{\le}7 T, for both H?c and H\ensuremath{\perp}c. Adding Gaussian fluctuations to a BCS-like step, we obtain a fit for H=0, T\ensuremath{\approxeq}${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{c}}$ that is consistent with a 3D, two-component order parameter in the strong-coupling limit. However, the H\ensuremath{\ne}0 data are inconsistent with this approach. A finite-size-scaling analysis, assuming critical behavior and an H-dependent length, satisfactorily describes the data.
Freeing the World from the Free Market Economy: A Reexamination of Nation-State Based Capitalism

The economy is discussed as a unified whole, but the machine that is the economy is nothing more than the sum of its parts and like any machine sometimes the parts fail and need to be replaced. In examining the role of currency and trade in perpetuating economic crisis we find that four main concerns arise: 1. Currency valuation leads to speculation and market volatility. 2. Ideologies of free trade and trade liberalization are routinely flaunted by developed nations through the use of subsidization and bilateral trade agreements. 3. Economic competition is depleted through the loss of creative destruction and by export-oriented nations using developed nations as consumers of last resort. 4. The current problems create deflation tendencies in the market, which are lasting given the previous aspects. Thus, this paper identifies the need to address four main points in fixing the economic system: 1. How to retain the ability for capital to be mobile and abundant, in order to continue the process of subsidization within and between nations, but avoid the volatility of a flexible exchange rate system. 2. How to incorporate practices of subsidization and bilateral trade into a new economic system which retains the advantages of traditional trade, but also addresses and corrects the trade imbalances which characterize the current system. 3. How to stimulate real market growth, namely through a process of creating sustainable consumer markets within developing nations and thus ending the ‘consumer of last resort’ dependence. 4. How to replace the idea of creative destruction with a system that replaces accumulation in developed nations and austerity in developing countries with market opportunities that stimulate innovation and market growth in a sustainable manner. By addressing these concerns, raised from an examination of the nation-state upheld system of flexible exchange rates, we truly see a possibility for the realization of economic change that will promote real, sustainable, and beneficial growth.
Targeting Therapies for the p53 Protein in Cancer Treatments

Half of all human cancers contain TP53 mutations, and in many other cancers, the function of the p53 protein is compromised. The diversity of these mutations and phenotypes presents a challenge to ...
The gut–kidney–heart axis in chronic kidney disease

The recent explosion of scientific interest in the gut microbiota has dramatically advanced our understanding of the complex pathophysiological interactions between the gut and multiple organs in h...
Technology Tools: Increasing Our Reach in National Surveillance of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Abstract Challenges in collecting comprehensive health surveillance data on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are numerous. A number of important issues and strategies a...
Time Temperature Superposition Shift Factors for Fabric Composites

Physical aging of polymers is a thermodynamic phenomenon that occurs in the glassy regime. Upon cooling, the thermal contraction is restricted by a lack of adequate free volume within the polymer structure. This leaves the polymer in a state of thermodynamic non-equilibrium which relieves itself over long timescales. Time temperature superposition is typically used to accelerate this aging process to achieve validation of properties over the service life of the material. The shift factors determine the degree to which the material time is accelerated in an isothermal environment at elevated temperature. This is typically achieved with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). This method works well for neat polymers but fiber reinforced polymer composites (FRPC) have significantly higher stiffnesses and typical DMTA testing is limited to under 20 N of force. Due to the large unit cell for a fabric composite and geometrical limitations in the thickness of a ply, a higher force method would be more useful. In this study, an electrodynamic test frame was used to determine the shift factors for a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite which has a thermoset matrix. The goal is to determine whether the shift factors differ for different orientations of the composite. For an orthotropic material, directional dependent shift factors would increase material model complexity significantly.
Auto-Grading OCT Images Diagnostic Tool for Retinal Diseases

Retinal eye disease is the most common reason for visual deterioration. Long-term management and follow-up are critical to detect the changes in symptoms. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive diagnostic tool for diagnosing and managing various retinal eye diseases. With the increasing desire for OCT image, the clinicians are suffering from the burden of time on the diagnostic and the treatment. In this study, an auto-grading diagnostic tool is proposed to divide the OCT image for the retinal disease classification. In this tool, the classification model implements convolutional neural networks (CNNs), and the model training is based on denoised OCT images. The tool can detect the uploaded OCT image and automatically generate a result of classification in the categories of Choroidal neovascularization (CNV), Diabetic macular edema (DME), multiple drusen, and Normal. The system will definitely improve the performance of retinal eye disease diagnosis and alleviate the burden on the medical system.
Furtive Encryption: Power, Trusts, and the Constitutional Cost of Collective Surveillance

Recent revelations of heretofore secret U.S. government surveillance programs have sparked national conversations about their constitutionality and the delicate balance between security and civil liberties in a constitutional democracy. Among the revealed policies asserted by the National Security Agency (NSA) is a provision found in the “minimization procedures” required under section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. This provision allows the NSA to collect and keep indefinitely any encrypted information collected from domestic communications—including the communications of U.S. citizens. That is, according to the U.S. government, the mere fact that a U.S. citizen has encrypted her electronic communications is enough to give the NSA the right to store that data until it is able to decrypt or decode it. Through this provision, the NSA is automatically treating all electronic communications from U.S. citizens that are hidden or obscured through encryption—for whatever reason—as suspicious, a direct descendant of the “nothing-to-hide” family of privacy minimization arguments. The ubiquity of electronic communication in the United States and elsewhere has led to the widespread use of encryption, the vast majority of it for innocuous purposes. This Article argues that the mere encryption by individuals of their electronic communications is not alone a basis for individualized suspicion. Moreover, this Article asserts that the NSA’s policy amounts to a suspicionless search and seizure. This program is therefore in direct conflict with the fundamental principles underlying the Fourth Amendment, specifically the protection of individuals from unwarranted government power and the establishment of the reciprocal trust between citizen and government that is necessary for a healthy democracy.
Impact of a Dividend Initiation Wave on Shareholders’ Wealth

This paper examines the short- and long-run impact of a dividend initiation (DI) wave period on shareholders’ wealth. I test two hypotheses. First, a firm initiating a dividend during the DI wave period is likely to experience lower announcement returns than does a firm initiating a dividend outside a DI wave period. Second, a firm initiating a dividend payment inside a DI wave period under-perform in the long-run than does a firm initiating a dividend payment outside a DI wave period. Using a sample of 688 DI announcements, I find evidence supporting both hypotheses. Since a firm’s decision to initiate a dividend during the DI wave period can have implications on its shareholders’ wealth in both short- and long-run, the results of this study can help design investment strategies.
Gender effects in laboratory public goods contribution: Do individuals put their money where their mouth is?

Abstract Recent work by Carol Gilligan posits that females are more cooperative and community minded than males. We use a series of laboratory experiments to test for gender effects in individual contribution rates to a public good. Each member of a same sex group of four was given the opportunity to contribute his/her endowment to a group fund for a series of six rounds. We test for gender effects in contribution rates with a high and low group fund multiplier and with and without preplay interaction. We found significant gender, group fund multiplier and period effects and interaction between the preplay communication and the multiplier. Counter to Gilligan's hypothesis, males contributed at higher rates than females.
What Kind of Drug Education Do We Need—And for Whom?

Congratulations on publishing the "Outcomes of Drug Education" by Drs. Tennant, Weaver and Lewis. It may be of interest to report other case studies to further question the "efficacy" of so-called drug education even at elementary level. In one study elementary children9s attitudes as measured by a semantic differential were uniformly negative toward drugs and were not affected by a drug education course which consisted mostly of descriptions of the various drugs, their dangers and the legal implications.
Organizing Tennis Practice for Success

SO often in tennis, as in all athletics, a coach does not plan out his practices well in advance. A great number of coaches simply take out a sheet of paper and diagram practices an hour or so before they occur. This helps to a certain extent, but an athlete's progress can be much improved if practices are well planned. Through long range planning, the coach can see how close his team has come to his planned expectations. If the team is below his expectations, the coach can re-evaluate to better achieve effectiveness. If the team is achieving the coach's expectations, his practices are effective.
Software Education should go from Synthesis to Analysis by a Measurenment Enviroment

ABSTRACT This paper describes the current state of software education in academic and industrial fields where programmers are novices and software development is not software “engineering.” It argues that analysis is an important activity in such educational fields and that measurement is a key component in improving programmers' (or students') abilities. In this context, this paper proposes a measurement tool for use in software education.
Preliminary Observations Pertaining to Polyadenylation of Rhinovirus RNA

Human rhinovirus type 14 contained polyadenylated RNA. Virus growth in HeLa cells was inhibited by cordycepin or polyuridilic acid and stimulated by polyadenylic acid. Polyadenylic acid also reversed cordycepin inhibition of virus-induced cytopathology of infected HeLa cells.
History Guided Low-Cost Change Detection in Streams

Change detection in continuous data streams is very useful in today's computing environment. However, high computation overhead prevents many data mining algorithms from being used for online monitoring. We propose a history-guided low-cost change detection method based on the "s-monitor" approach. The "s-monitor" approach monitors the stream with simple models ("s-monitors") which can reflect changes of complicated models. By interleaving frequent s-monitor checks and infrequent complicated model checks, we can keep a close eye on the stream without heavy computation overhead. The selection of s-monitors is critical for successful change detection. History can often provide insights to select appropriate s-monitors and monitor the streams. We demonstrate this method using subspace cluster monitoring for log data and frequent item set monitoring for retail data. Our experiments show that this approach can catch more changes in a more timely manner with lower cost than traditional approaches. The same approach can be applied to different models in various applications, such as monitoring live weather data, stock market fluctuations and network traffic streams.
A transgenic mouse model reveals fast nicotinic transmission in hippocampal pyramidal neurons

The relative contribution to brain cholinergic signaling by synaptic- and diffusion-based mechanisms remains to be elucidated. In this study, we examined the prevalence of fast nicotinic signaling in the hippocampus. We describe a mouse model where cholinergic axons are labeled with the tauGFP fusion protein driven by the choline acetyltransferase promoter. The model provides for the visualization of individual cholinergic axons at greater resolution than other available models and techniques, even in thick, live, slices. Combining calcium imaging and electrophysiology, we demonstrate that local stimulation of visualized cholinergic fibers results in rapid excitatory postsynaptic currents mediated by the activation of α7-subunit-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7-nAChRs) on CA3 pyramidal neurons. These responses were blocked by the α7-nAChR antagonist methyllycaconitine and potentiated by the receptor-specific allosteric modulator 1-(5-chloro-2,4-dimethoxy-phenyl)-3-(5-methyl-isoxanol-3-yl)-urea (PNU-120596). Our results suggest, for the first time, that synaptic nAChRs can modulate pyramidal cell plasticity and development. Fast nicotinic transmission might play a greater role in cholinergic signaling than previously assumed. We provide a model for the examination of synaptic properties of basal forebrain cholinergic innervation in the brain.
Exile and the Female Imagination; The Nigerian Civil War, Western Ideology (Feminism), and the Poetry of Catherine Acholonu

The author analyses two volumes of verse of Catherine Acholonu, a contemporary Nigerian poet: Nigeria in the Year 1999 and The Spring's Last Drop from two aspects. The first main aspect of the poems she examines is the feeling of exile, being outcast from the homeland. "The texts diagnose some of Nigeria's current socioeconomic and political problems which can apply to the experience of other Africans as well." The second part of her analysis highlights violences suffered by women in the war and in the social life. The author discusses the situation of being a woman under double oppression. The conclusion is: "Acholonu clarifies the nature of the disharmony hurting contemporary society."
Teaching TJ: Therapeutic Jurisprudence for Law Students

Why shouldn’t law school introduce its students to modern, cutting edge theories, concepts, and practical skills? Teaching therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ) to law students accomplishes this goal by exposing students to innovative perspectives that demand rigorous application of one’s knowledge and values in a creative problem-solving approach. TJ does not promote the practice of psychotherapy by untrained or unqualified personnel; rather it seeks to educate lawyers, judges, legal personnel, and law students to use the law in a manner helpful to individuals and society as a whole.
Predicting the behavior of microfluidic circuits made from discrete elements

Microfluidic devices can be used to execute a variety of continuous flow analytical and synthetic chemistry protocols with a great degree of precision. The growing availability of additive manufacturing has enabled the design of microfluidic devices with new functionality and complexity. However, these devices are prone to larger manufacturing variation than is typical of those made with micromachining or soft lithography. In this report, we demonstrate a design-for-manufacturing workflow that addresses performance variation at the microfluidic element and circuit level, in context of mass-manufacturing and additive manufacturing. Our approach relies on discrete microfluidic elements that are characterized by their terminal hydraulic resistance and associated tolerance. Network analysis is employed to construct simple analytical design rules for model microfluidic circuits. Monte Carlo analysis is employed at both the individual element and circuit level to establish expected performance metrics for several specific circuit configurations. A protocol based on osmometry is used to experimentally probe mixing behavior in circuits in order to validate these approaches. The overall workflow is applied to two application circuits with immediate use at on the bench-top: series and parallel mixing circuits that are modularly programmable, virtually predictable, highly precise, and operable by hand.
Fatigue Resistance of a Uniaxial S-Glass/Epoxy Composite at Room and Liquid Helium Temperatures:

Tension-tension axial fatigue tests of a uniavial glass filament-reinforced epoxy were conducted at 295 K and 4 K. The fatigue life was found to be an order of magnitude greater at 4 K than at 295 K. These results are believed to be the first 4 K fatigue data reported for a composite material. Key words: Cryogenics; fatigue, fiber composites: liquid helium; low tem perature tests; mechanical properties.