cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Are Small Businesses Falling through the GAAP

Professional accountants have long recognized the need for a change in the reporting requirements for small businesses because standard setting agencies focus on large firms and promulgate GAAPs which ignore special problems of small firms. We propose a procedure which may correct the problem in the United States and which could provide a model for use in other countries .
Objects of Rotation

This chapter describes the intent and goals for the Objects of Rotation project which brings together the contradictory qualities of perceived digital control with those of a process that has traditionally been dependent on human touch, sensitivity, and innate responsiveness to material production and craft. The project pursues an opportunistic approach to design research by exploring the potential of ceramics as a malleable material and by integrating ceramic traditions and tools with automated strategies and robotic technology.
Herbivore-Algae Predator–Prey Dynamics

A predator (herbivore) preys upon another species (algae). Can we express the dynamics of such an interaction? Can we find the period of the cycle of interaction? Upon what does this period most sensitively depend? This model has many analogies: the fox and hare, the lynx and rabbit, and even Garret Hardin’s classical Tragedy of the Commons. Are there others? Many models develop through analogous models. The keys to successful modeling are to recognize the analogy and to know when in the modeling process to abandon it.
Sinking Funds for Facility Replacements

Water and wastewater authorities, particularly those operated as municipal utilities, have traditionally undercharged consumers for the services they purchase. Symptomatic of these financial policies is the fact that many municipal utilities in the United States have not been able to accumulate adequate reserves that can be used to replace aging equipment. The result has been a widespread deterioration of plant and equipment, which has reached crisis proportions in some of our older cities.
Terrorism and Signalling: Public Goods Provision and Asymmetric Information

This paper investigates the question of why governments use a counter-terrorism policy that causes mobilization when that government could have instead used a mediated counter-strike that would have created less mobilization. The answer to this puzzle appears to lie in the asymmetric information over terrorist type and the incentives for both types of terrorists to keep this hidden. No informative equilibria exist in this situation (including partial pooling equilibria). The existence of private information forces the counter-strike policy to be suboptimal for the government.
Nuclear Data Matters - The obvious case of a bad mixing ratio for 58 Co

We present results of modeled cross sections for neutron- and proton-induced reactions leading to the final product nucleus 58Co. In each case the gamma-cascade branching ratios given in the ENSDF database circa 2014 predict modeled nuclear cross sections leading to the ground and first excited metastable state that are incompatible with measured cross sections found in the NNDC experimental cross section database EXFOR. We show that exploring the uncertainty in the mixing ratio used to calculate the gamma-cascade branching ratios for the 53.15 keV 2nd excited state leads to changes in the predicted partial cross sections by amounts that give good agreement with measured data.
Metatranscriptomic evidence of pervasive and diverse chemolithoautotrophy relevant to C, S, N and Fe cycling in a shallow alluvial aquifer

Groundwater ecosystems are conventionally thought to be fueled by surface-derived allochthonous organic matter and dominated by heterotrophic microbes living under often-oligotrophic conditions. However, in a 2-month study of nitrate amendment to a perennially suboxic aquifer in Rifle (CO), strain-resolved metatranscriptomic analysis revealed pervasive and diverse chemolithoautotrophic bacterial activity relevant to C, S, N and Fe cycling. Before nitrate injection, anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria accounted for 16% of overall microbial community gene expression, whereas during the nitrate injection, two other groups of chemolithoautotrophic bacteria collectively accounted for 80% of the metatranscriptome: (1) members of the Fe(II)-oxidizing Gallionellaceae family and (2) strains of the S-oxidizing species, Sulfurimonas denitrificans. Notably, the proportion of the metatranscriptome accounted for by these three groups was considerably greater than the proportion of the metagenome coverage that they represented. Transcriptional analysis revealed some unexpected metabolic couplings, in particular, putative nitrate-dependent Fe(II) and S oxidation among nominally microaerophilic Gallionellaceae strains, including expression of periplasmic (NapAB) and membrane-bound (NarGHI) nitrate reductases. The three most active groups of chemolithoautotrophic bacteria in this study had overlapping metabolisms that allowed them to occupy different yet related metabolic niches throughout the study. Overall, these results highlight the important role that chemolithoautotrophy can have in aquifer biogeochemical cycling, a finding that has broad implications for understanding terrestrial carbon cycling and is supported by recent studies of geochemically diverse aquifers.
Do the human ventricles eject simultaneously

SummaryOn the basis of simultaneously recorded right ventricular pressures, carotid surface pulses and ballistocardio-graphic recoils, evidence is presented that ejection from the right and left ventricles may not start simultaneously in the human. The I-wave of the ballistocardiographic record seemingly datc^ to the right heart ejection, and is not initiated by left ventricle ejection which must have started earlier.Since this paper was submitted, an abstract appeared in the Federation Proceedings9 stating that, in the human, a time discrepancy between the start of ejection from the 2 ventricles exists in almost all cases. The measurements were taken from electrokymograph recordings. In this series, either ventricle might precede, whereas in our series, the left ventricle usually precedes the right. The time discrepancies are somewhat larger in our series. Whether these differences are attributable to the small number of cases reported here remains to be determined.
EFFECT OF FIELD-AGED RESIDUES OF SPINOSAD, CHLORPYRIFOS AND METHYL PARATHION ON NEONATE LEAFROLLER LARVAE, 1997

EFFECT OF FIELD-AGED RESIDUES OF SPINOSAD, CHLORPYRIFOS AND METHYL PARATHION ON NEONATE LEAFROLLER LARVAE, 1997: Using a leaf-disk bioassay, spinosad (Success 2F), chlorpyrifos Lorsban 50WP and encapsulated methyl parathion (Penncap-M 2F) were evaluated for residual effects on OBLR neonate larvae and Cf adults. The test was conducted in an apple orchard at the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, block 1. The trees were 30-yr-old Rome on seedling roots. Treatments were applied on 27 Jun with a Rears Pak-Blast PTO air-blast sprayer as a concentrate (4X) spray of 100 gpa. Each treatment was replicated three times with one tree per replicate. Water sensitive paper was placed in the tree canopies of the water-only treatments at the time of spray application. One 2-inch piece of water sensitive paper was stapled to a leaf at two locations on a tree [low interior (approximately 6 feet high) and high interior (approximately 12 feet)], and on the top and bottom surfaces of a leaf. Untreated water paper and water-dipped paper were used as checks. The percentage of water sensitive paper that was covered in water drops, as well as the intensity of color change, was calculated by analysis performed on a Power Macintosh 8500/180 computer using the public domain NIH Image program (developed at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and available on the Internet at http://rsb.info.nih.gov/nih-image/). Untreated water paper and water-dipped paper were used as checks for analysis. Residual effects of the treatments were tested using a leaf-disk bioassay. Ten leaves were collected from the tree canopy of each replicate at locations corresponding to the placement of the water sensitive paper at 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 DAT. Two punches (2.3 cm diam) were taken from each leaf. Four punches were placed in a petri dish 50 x 9 mm) into which were introduced five 1to 2-d-old OBLR larvae. Five petri dishes were prepared for each tree at each canopy location (75 larvae/treatment location) and kept at 75°F 16:8 L:D photoperiod. Petri dishes were examined after 7 d and larval mortality was recorded. For tests with Cf ten leaves were collected from the "low interior" location of each treatment at 1, 7, 14 and 21 DAT. Two leaf punches from each treatment replicate were placed in a petri dish as above. Honey-water and a small cube of artificial pinto bean diet used to rear leafrollers were added to the petri dishes. Five 2-5 d old Cf females were placed in each of 10 petri dishes for each of the chemicals (50 Cf/treatment) and kept at 75°F under 16:8 L:D photoperiod. Surviving parasites were counted at 48 h after treatment.
Optimization of operation parameters in waterflooding system based on improved genetic algorithm

An optimization model of operation parameters is established, in which the least power consumption is taken as objective function, the restrictions to the displacement, pressure are taken as constraint conditions. Through the outer penalty function method, the problem is transformed to nonrestraint optimization problem. Aiming at the limitation of genetic algorithm, float coding is adopted, the fitness function is adjusted, the cross and mutation method are improved, the optimized reserved strategy is used, and simulated annealing algorithm is combined with, then the improved genetic algorithm is formed. It can improve the speed of convergence and avoid premature convergence. Results show that the algorithm is efficient and practical.
The international role of a U.S. medical school in developing health services.

This paper discusses the educational approach taken by the Department of Community Medicine of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in providing technical assistance in foreign countries. Using a specific project in the Dominican Republic as an example, the paper describes the role and different functions assumed by the department in planning and developing a health care system in the eastern region of that country.
Passion and Preferences: Prospects for a Gold Bolt

Politics between the gold and silver factions resembled negotiations between two armies at war, conducted at arm's length and with only so much trust as might be engendered by the harm they could inflict on one another. Because they were the smaller of those armies, the gold men were going to lose that struggle. And that fact brought with it the very real threat of civil war within their own ranks. That threat was a major reason why the internal politics of the gold wing at the convention was almost entirely independent of the decisions and strategies pursued by the dominant silver wing. The basic problem facing the gold men emerged from the contradiction between the need for unity at the convention and the reality that, once the convention ended, their personal interests were going to produce different responses to the triumph of the silver faction. The challenge facing the gold generals was to preserve discipline in the face of a much larger enemy until the all but inevitable point was reached when all their soldiers would rout. When this situation of “every man for himself” emerged, each gold man would have to make one of four choices: (1) swallow his medicine and endorse the silver platform and candidate; (2) do nothing, endorsing no platform or candidate in the presidential race; (3) back an independent platform with a gold Democrat as the candidate; or (4) endorse William McKinley and the Republican platform.
Native language background and academic achievement: Is socioemotional well-being a mediator?

ABSTRACTThis study examined the extent to which socioemotional well-being mediated the relationship between language status and achievement, while exploring variability in this relationship based on informant (student versus teacher reports of socioemotional problems) and native language background (Spanish-speaking English language learners [ELLs] versus ELLs from Asian-language backgrounds). Participants included 9,046 fifth-grade students from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort of 1998. Results from structural equation modeling showed that Spanish-speaking ELLs reported more social-emotional problems as compared to English-monolingual (EM) and Asian-language ELL classmates in third grade, which partially explained their lower achievement levels in fifth grade. The model accounted for approximately 34% of the variance in students’ academic achievement in fifth grade (R2 = .343, p < .001). When comparing ELL and EM students, results differed when using teachers’ versus students’ r...
Modeling subtilin production in Bacillus subtilis using stochastic hybrid systems

The genetic network regulating the biosynthesis of subtilin in Bacillus subtilis is modeled as a stochastic hybrid system. The continuous state of the hybrid system is the concentrations of subtilin and various regulating proteins, whose productions are controlled by switches in the genetic network that are in turn modeled as Markov chains. Some preliminary results are given by both analysis and simulations.
Diseño del lenguaje

Es dificil considerar sin importantes reservas una peticion de predicciones para el actual siglo iniciado. El historial de las predicciones sobre los asuntos humanos no ha sido alentador, ni siquiera a corto plazo, o en lo que se refiere a las ciencias. Con la excepcion de unas pocas areas, nuestra comprension es superficial, y algunos factores cruciales (como la voluntad humana) estan fuera de nuestro alcance. Quiza la prediccion mas plausible sea que cualquier pronostico sobre cuestiones importantes probablemente errara, y si acierta, sera por casualidad
The NRF2 transcriptional target, OSGIN1, contributes to monomethyl fumarate-mediated cytoprotection in human astrocytes

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is indicated for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis and may exert therapeutic effects via activation of the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) pathway. Following oral DMF administration, central nervous system (CNS) tissue is predominantly exposed to monomethyl fumarate (MMF), the bioactive metabolite of DMF, which can stabilize NRF2 and induce antioxidant gene expression; however, the detailed NRF2-dependent mechanisms modulated by MMF that lead to cytoprotection are unknown. Our data identify a mechanism for MMF-mediated cytoprotection in human astrocytes that functions in an OSGIN1-dependent manner, specifically via upregulation of the OSGIN1-61 kDa isoform. NRF2-dependent OSGIN1 expression induced P53 nuclear translocation following MMF administration, leading to cell-cycle inhibition and cell protection against oxidative challenge. This study provides mechanistic insight into MMF-mediated cytoprotection via NRF2, OSGIN1, and P53 in human CNS-derived cells and contributes to our understanding of how DMF may act clinically to ameliorate pathological processes in neurodegenerative disease.
Implicit dynamic three-dimensional finite element analysis of an inelastic biphasic mixture at finite strain: Part 1: Application to a simple geomaterial

Abstract Based on the mixture theory formulation for a fluid-saturated, inelastic, pressure-sensitive porous solid subjected to dynamic large strain deformation, a 3D finite element implementation with implicit time integration is presented. A recently published 2D implementation [Li et al. 2004, CMAME, v193, p3837–70] is extended to 3D, porosity-dependent permeability, and pressure-sensitive inelastic solid skeleton response at finite strain. The Clausius-Duhem inequality provides the form of the constitutive equations for the solid and fluid phases, as well as the dissipation function. A non-associative Drucker-Prager cap-plasticity model at finite strain is formulated based on a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient, and numerically integrated semi-implicitly in the intermediate configuration to avoid questions of incremental objectivity. The elastic implementation is verified with available 1D analytical and 2D benchmark problems. New numerical solutions for 3D large strain dynamic behavior of saturated inelastic porous media are presented. The computational efficiency of the implemented formulation in achieving quadratic convergence is illustrated.
Mechanisms and Robotics at the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences - The Waldron Years 1986-2012

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ mechanisms and robotics community has sponsored the dissemination of research results through the Design Engineering Technical Conferences for the 67-year history of the Design Engineering Division. Kenneth J. Waldron has been a tremendous contributor and leader in this field for over forty years. This paper presents a brief synopsis of the history of the mechanisms and robotics portion of this conference in honor of Prof. Waldron’s 70th birthday.
The Long Seventh Century: Continuity and Discontinuity in an Age of Transition. Edited by Alessandro Gnasso, Emanuele E. Intagliata, Thomas J. MacMaster, and Bethan N. Morris. (New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2014. Pp. vii, 315. $72.95.)

This is a valuable, but somewhat heterogeneous, collection of thirteen learned and specialized, yet thought‐provoking, essays on different and wide‐ranging aspects of seventh‐century history. Conti...
Naturalizing Borderlands in Time and Space: Imperial Frontiers and Historical Indigeneities in the America

NATURALIZANDO FRONTEIRAS NO TEMPO E NO ESPACO: FRONTEIRAS IMPERIAIS E INDIANIDADES HISTORICAS NA AMERICAS Resumo: o artigo integra os conceitos de areas de fronteiras ecologicas e culturais com os de fronteiras imperiais, bem como a criacao e a emergencia de identidades etnicas por meio de processos historicos de colonialismo e resiliencia. As ideias apresentadas aqui fluem das experiencias da autora em suas investigacoes nos ambientes aridos do noroeste do Mexico e nas terras baixas subtropicais do Oriente da Bolivia, completadas por um resumo da literatura historica e antropologica do Norte e Sul da America. Palavras-chave: Fronteiras. Inidanidade. Ambiente. Paisagens produzidas por humanos. Abstract: this article brings together the concepts of ecological and cultural borderlands with imperial frontiers and the emergence of ethnic identities through historical processes of colonialism and resilience. The discussion flows from the author’s own research experiences in the arid lands of northwestern Mexico and the subtropical lowlands of eastern Bolivia and a review of the literature for both North and South America. Keywords: Borderlands. Indigeneity. Environment. Humanly crafted landscapes.
Undergraduate Prescription Stimulant Misuse: The Impact of Academic Strain.

ABSTRACTBackground: This study investigated the misuse of prescription stimulants among undergraduates for academic purposes. This research is important as existing literature has indicated that th...
Magnetic properties of hybrid V2O3/Ni composites

The magnetic properties of bulk hybrid V2O3/Ni composites were studied as a function of composition and synthesis conditions. We find a sharp increase in the coercivity and a sharp decrease of the magnetization as the temperature of the bulk materials passes through the V2O3 structural phase transition. The magnitude of the effect of the V2O3 phase transformation on the magnetic properties of the Ni is strongly dependent on sintering temperature. The V2O3 crystallite size is also dependent on the sintering conditions. Stress on the Ni particles due to the V2O3 structural transformation produces an inverse magnetostrictive effect which is responsible for the changes in the magnetic properties.
Basic Characteristics of Metamorphic Reactions

The mineral changes in metamorphism are chemical reactions from the viewpoint of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics and crystal chemistry are important for a better understanding of such reactions. There is an extensive literature in this field. The present book, however, is not intended to cover them in any way, but is directed toward the mineralogic, petrographic and tectonic aspects of metamorphism. However some elementary knowledge of the thermodynamic characteristics of metamorphic reactions is needed even for understanding mineralogic and petrographic problems. In view of this need, some of the basic characteristics are summarized in a simple way in this chapter, largely as a preliminary to the discussion of progressive metamorphism to be treated in the next chapter. In this respect, this chapter is essentially a part of the introduction of this book. Readers particularly interested in the thermodynamic problems in metamorphism are referred to other books and papers (e.g. Kern and Weisbrod, 1967; Thompson, 1955; Fyfe, Turner and Verhoogen, 1958; Korzhinskii, 1959).
Dual Prosthetic Implantation After Radical Cystoprostatectomy and Neobladder: Outcomes of the Inflatable Penile Prosthesis and Artificial Urinary Sphincter in Bladder Cancer Survivors.

Abstract Objectives To determine the impact of radical cystectomy and orthotopic neobladder (NB) diversion on device-related outcomes in patients who undergo subsequent placement of both, an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) and 3-piece inflatable penile prosthesis. Materials and Methods Using an institutional prosthetic database, we identified 39 patients who underwent radical cystectomy and NB and subsequent implantation of both prosthetic devices from 2003 to 2017. Patient demographics, perioperative data, and postoperative outcomes including prosthetic infection, mechanical failure, revision surgery, and functional outcomes were examined and compared to an appropriate matched group of patients (n = 48, non-neobladder group). Results No intraoperative complications were observed. After median follow-up of 94 months (12-177 months), 1 patient developed an infection of their penile prosthesis and 4 patients developed an erosion of their AUS. In each case, the infection did not involve the other device. Two patients required revision surgery of their penile prosthesis due to mechanical failure (reservoir leak, n = 1; cylinder aneurysm, n = 1). Twenty-one patients underwent elective revision surgery to improve continence (cuff downsizing, n = 18; pressure-regulating balloon exchange, n = 3). There were 6 cases of AUS mechanical failure. No reservoir-related complications such as herniation or erosion were observed. Compared to the control group of non-neobladder patients, there were no significant differences in prosthetic infection, mechanical failure, and revision surgery. Conclusion The AUS and 3-piece inflatable penile prosthesis can coexist safely in patients with NB without an increased risk of device-related complications.
Electron emission produced by strong field laser radiation

The well-established Fowler-Nordheim-Schottky field emission theory is modified for strong electric fields E produced by pulsed laser radiation. The derivation of the electron tunneling probability through the triangular potential barrier is re-examined and simplified for an effective solution. This probability is studied only for strong fields, when the wavelength of the electrons is much larger than the barrier width. It is calculated for ten channels of electron emission; the emission decreases very sharply for channels with high numbers.The well-established Fowler-Nordheim-Schottky field emission theory is modified for strong electric fields E produced by pulsed laser radiation. The derivation of the electron tunneling probability through the triangular potential barrier is re-examined and simplified for an effective solution. This probability is studied only for strong fields, when the wavelength of the electrons is much larger than the barrier width. It is calculated for ten channels of electron emission; the emission decreases very sharply for channels with high numbers.
Growth and Decay of Error in a Numerical Cloud Model Due to Small Initial Perturbations and Parameter Changes

Abstract The behavior of a numerical cloud model is investigated in terms of its sensitivity to perturbations with two kinds of lateral boundary conditions: 1) with cyclic lateral boundary conditions, the model is sensitive to many aspects of its structure, including a very small potential temperature perturbation at only one grid point, changes in time step, and small changes in parameters such as the autoconversion rate from cloud water to rainwater and the latent heat of vaporization; 2) with prescribed lateral boundary conditions, growth and decay of perturbations are highly dependent on the flow conditions inside the domain. It is shown that under relatively uniform (unidirectional) advection across the domain, the perturbations will decay. On the other hand, convergence, divergence, or, in general, flow patterns with changing directions support error growth. This study shows that it is the flow structure inside the model domain that is important in determining whether the prescribed lateral boundary...
Boolean Kalman filter and smoother under model uncertainty

Abstract Partially-observed Boolean dynamical systems (POBDS) are a general class of nonlinear state-space models that provide a rich framework for modeling many complex dynamical systems. The model consists of a hidden Boolean state process, observed through an arbitrary noisy mapping to a measurement space. The optimal minimum mean-square error (MMSE) POBDS state estimators are the Boolean Kalman Filter and Smoother. However, in many practical problems, the system parameters are not fully known and must be estimated. In this paper, for POBDS under model uncertainty, we derive an optimal Bayesian estimator for state and parameter estimation. The exact algorithms are derived for the case of discrete and finite parameter space, and for general parameter spaces, an approximate Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) implementation is introduced. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed methodology by means of numerical experiments with POBDS models of gene regulatory networks observed through noisy measurements.
Antioxidant Defense to Hemolysis Is Organ-Specific and Reflects a Heterogeneity in Vascular Permeability in Sickle Cell Disease.

Abstract 1537 Poster Board I-560 Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by intravascular hemolysis generating cell-free hemoglobin at concentrations that exceed the scavenging capabilities of heme-binding plasma proteins. Heme is a major source of oxidative stress, which is widely known to increase vascular permeability and cause tissue edema. Barrier disruptive effects of oxidative stress can however be counterbalanced by adaptive antioxidant defenses. Hitherto, the identity of specific antioxidant enzymes and cognate mechanisms protecting individual organs from oxidative stress in SCD remains poorly defined. In this study, microarray analysis was performed using non-toxic concentrations of hemin to analyze mechanisms of antioxidant defense by the endothelium. Multiple candidate antioxidant enzymes were identified each differentially elevated in several major organs in anemic SCD mice compared to non-anemic heterozygote and hemizygote littermates. Remarkably, none of the antioxidants was elevated in the brain of sickle mice. Moreover, the antioxidant phenotype in the kidney, spleen and liver of sickle mice were predominantly acute while the sickle lung was characterized by a predominantly chronic antioxidant phenotype. This latter finding was confirmed in SCD patients with chronic lung disease. Antioxidant enzyme activity was significantly higher in the lungs of adult sickle mice aged 3-6 months than in younger mice aged 4-6 weeks (p=0.004). However, this enhanced antioxidant activity declined significantly in middle-age mice 11-13 months old (p=0.005). Vascular permeability assessed by extravsasation of Evans blue dye was normal in the brain of sickle mice of all ages in agreement with our data indicating absence of oxidative stress in this organ. On the contrary, vascular permeability in the lung, kidney and heart of adult sickle mice was abnormally high. This abnormality deteriorated significantly exclusively in the lung (p= 0.04) but not in the heart or kidney in middle-age mice. Increased lung permeability in middle-age sickle mice was confirmed by overt tissue edema determined by lung wet/dry weight ratios. Our study has shown for the first time that the antioxidant response to the systemic chronic hemolysis of SCD is organ-specific. Furthermore, we have identified decline of antioxidant reserve concomitant with tissue edema as potential age-dependant risk factors for fatal lung complications in SCD. Finally, our data provide a framework to develop targeted antioxidant therapies to preserve organ function in SCD. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Do competitors respond to capacity changes? Evidence from U.S. manufacturers

The dynamics of strategic response among competing firms have been widely studied in strategic management literature—but this topic remains largely unaddressed in operations management. We develop and empirically test a competitive tactical response (CTR) framework for understanding action and reaction cycles. We use archival financial statement data on U.S. manufacturing companies from the COMPUSTAT data base for the years from 1987 to 2015 to investigate competitive responses to capacity decisions between market-leading firms and their principal competitors. We perform regression analysis on forty industries in which a market share leader and a principal challenger could be identified. This yielded 5355 observations lagged by one year from each focal firm’s capacity action to the competitor’s response. We find support for the hypothesis that the rival firm’s capacity actions influence the competitor’s capacity decisions. We did not find support for the hypotheses that the rival firm’s capacity response is moderated by industry growth, leader-challenger market share gap, or industry concentration. This research extends the study of dynamic competitive response to tactical operational decisions, and informs management practice by providing insight into the potential reaction of competitors to a focal firm’s capacity decisions.
Developing and Assessing an Educational Game for Teaching Access Control

The protection of sensitive information in computer systems and networks from malicious manipulation is critical. As a key component in cybersecurity, access control is used to mitigate malicious access to sensitive information. To help students master the access control concepts, we developed a 2D educational game titled "Temple of Treasures" that aims to teach Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Access Control List (ACL) and Mandatory Access Control (MAC) in Unix/Linux Systems via a fun and interactive environment. The Unity3D game engine is used for game development and the game can be deployed to multiple platforms such as Windows, macOS, and web. Player information and in-game assessment data are saved on the cloud through GameSparks for analysis. The game story is centered around a group of adventurers in search of gold. The player is stuck in a temple and has to explore the temple for escape routes. The game has three levels, where level one focuses on DAC, level two focuses on ACL and the last level is for MAC. The player has to explore the temple and gain knowledge on targeted concepts to unlock the gate to the next level. Three in-game assessments have been implemented to provide immediate feedback for students. The UI Accessibility Plugin (UAP) is used to make the game accessible to visually impaired players. To scientifically measure the effectiveness of the game, we developed pre-test, post-test, survey, and focus group protocols. The game has been used in the Operating Systems class as a homework assignment at North Carolina A&T State University in spring 2020. This poster will present the game design and development process, the detailed evaluation plan, and our initial classroom experience. This portable and self-contained game will make it easy to share with other faculty engaged in cyber security teaching and research.
Developing meaningful and practical global experiences through student-faculty-community partnerships

The student co-teacher and co-mentor model introduced in this article seeks to promote learning, reflection, and critical thinking and to nurture students’ intellectual curiosity through high academic standards and experiential learning, including community engagement and study abroad. Similarly, scholarship of teaching and learning research on pedagogical partnerships demonstrates improved learning, self-awareness, and engagement with the educational material as a result of students’ partnership and collaboration with faculty and staff. Limited existing research combines the student-faculty partnership model with the development of students’ intercultural competencies in experiential learning contexts, such as practicums, internships, and study abroad. This article focuses on approaches to engaging Elon University students as partners in a practicum course in Guatemala. The study provides evidence of the model fitness as well as the potential for replication of higher education approaches, such as the emerging global learning model for practicum instruction.
Mediating memories: Murat’s A memória que me contam (2012) as a cinematic critique of Brazilian memory regimes

This paper begins to confront the existing gap in scholarship that tends to disregard the multiple ways in which cultural products are inherently entangled with transitional justice and its defense...
Sphenotemporal and Fronto-Orbital Dysmorphology in Unilateral Coronal Synostosis Using Geometric Morphometric Curve-Based Analysis.

Background Geometric morphometric analysis with Procrustes superimposition is a commonly used method to characterize and study complex dysmorphology. The present study employs an advanced Procrustes-based approach to studying craniofacial dysmorphology in unilateral coronal synostosis and quantitatively describe bony patterns in this disorder, in order to better understand the associated fronto-orbital and sphenotemporal deformities. Methods Forty-one unilateral coronal synostosis (UCS) patients and 41 age- and sex-matched controls underwent high-resolution computed tomography imaging. Thirty-one anatomical landmarks were labeled on each imaging set. Landmarks were used to calculate angle, lengths, and define fronto-orbital and sphenotemporal anatomical curves. A validated geometric morphometric workflow was used to perform a Procrustes superimposition to register landmarks into a common space and perform a principal components analysis. Results Supraorbital bar curvature was significantly increased ipsilateral to the fused suture and decreased contralateral, P 0.05). Conclusions Geometric morphometric analysis revealed significant dysmorphology between UCS patients and controls. These results suggest bilateral changes in fronto-orbital curvature and ipsilateral changes in sagittal sphenotemporal curvature, which may be useful in further characterizing the dynamic craniofacial changes in UCS.
International Equity Markets

The international equity market is one of the most important sources for the company to raise the money. This allows businesses to become publicly traded and raise additional financial resources for expansion of their operations by selling shares of ownership of the company in a public market, across the globe. The New York Security Exchange (NYSE) is the world’s most trusted equities exchange, with a market model designed to deliver optimal market quality to large corporates and investors.
Efficient, event-driven feature extraction and unsupervised object tracking for embedded applications

Neuromorphic vision sensors offer a low-power, bandwidth efficient way to extract salient visual information from the scene and are a candidate for energy-efficient embedded systems. An algorithm for embedded, event-driven feature extraction and object tracking to leverage such sensors is outlined and demonstrated. Near sensor data sparsification and information extraction is conducted in three distinct steps: memory efficient noise filtering, fast scalable identification of keypoints, and subsequent clustering to identify objects in the scene. The processing flow has demonstrated rates of near 100 fold data reduction, 5 fold improvement of feature extraction throughput, and sustenance of an event processing rate of 212kAEps.
Bayesian approaches to benefit-risk assessment for diagnostic tests

Benefit-risk assessment plays an important role in the evaluation of medical devices. Unlike the therapeutic devices, the diagnostic tests usually affect patient life indirectly since subsequent therapeutic treatment interventions (such as proper treatment in time, further examination or test, no action, etc.) will depend on correct diagnosis and monitoring of the disease status. A benefit-risk score using statistical models by integrating the information from benefit (true positive and true negative) and risk (false positive and false negative) for diagnostic tests with binary outcomes (i.e., positive and negative) will help evaluation of the utility and the uncertainty of a particular diagnostic device. In this paper, we develop two types of Bayesian models with conjugate priors for constructing the benefit-risk (BR) measures with corresponding credible intervals, one based on a Multinomial model with Dirichlet prior, and the other based on independent Binomial models with independent Beta priors. We then propose a Bayesian power prior model to incorporate the historical data or the real-world data (RWD). Both the fixed and random power prior parameters are considered for Bayesian borrowing. We evaluate the performance of the methods by simulations and illustrate their implementation using a real example.
Recent advances in light metals and manufacturing for automotive applications

Advanced light metals, including aluminum, magnesium, and titanium alloys, are increasingly being used in the automotive industry for weight reduction and structural efficiency. This paper provides...
Technology in the Household: Individual-Level Explanations

It was a rainy afternoon as Virginia listened to the radio and attempted to read the Sunday paper at the same time. The TV was also playing, showing a golf game in some sunny part of the country. As she browsed the paper, an article attracted her attention: “Hello, Oven? It’s Phone. Now Let’s Get Cooking!” (Dwyer, New York Times, Sunday August 23, 2009, p. 26). While it was amusing to read that the apartment dwellers never cooked and instead stored their kitchenware in the oven, it was alarming to learn that the ringing of the cell phone could turn the oven on. In a demonstration of its power, the apartment dweller remarked “It goes right to the high setting on the broiler, it prefers high”. Thank goodness the damage was minimal!
Receiver operating characteristic surfaces in the presence of verification bias

on initial test measurements and induces verification bias in the assessment. We propose a non parametric likelihood-based approach to construct the empirical ROC surface in the presence of differential verification, and to estimate the volume under the ROC surface. Estimators of the standard deviation are derived by both the Fisher information and the jackknife method, and their relative accuracy is evaluated in an extensive simulation study. The methodology is further extended to incorporate discrete baseline covariates in the selection process, and to compare the accuracy of a pair of diagnostic tests. We apply the proposed method to compare the diag nostic accuracy between mini-mental state examination and clinical evaluation of dementia, in discriminating between three disease states of Alzheimer's disease.
Party Organizations' Electioneering Arms Race

Party organizations are the electioneering arms of political parties. In the United States, the Democratic and Republican organizations are constantly changing as they try to one-up each other in a political arms race set against an ever-evolving institutional and technological context. In this essay, we discuss the history of political parties over the past century to illustrate how changes to party organizations set the groundwork for new, cutting-edge contributions to political science with an eye toward teaching young researchers where we think the next big thing might come from. We go on to discuss more recent changes to the environment in which today's party organizations operate and speculate about the kinds of questions that young researchers may want to consider asking. Keywords: political parties; party organizations; campaigns; elections; political institutions
A New Automatic Dispatching System for Electric Power Systems [includes discussion]

A control system for the complete automatic dispatching of generating units in an electric power system has been developed, which combines the functions of load-frequency control and economic loading of generating units on an incremental cost basis. This new automatic dispatching system performs routine and repetitive functions that eliminate the need for detailed loading schedules and requires a minimum of attention from dispatchers and station operators. In addition, numerous protective features have been included to trip the equipment off control and permit manual control in emergencies. The system has been designed for minimum communication expense. Equipment additions may be made as the system grows with little or no modification to equipment already installed. Transmission-loss penalty factors may be considered manually or automatically in this system.
Membrane filter-fluorescent-antibody method for detection and enumeration of bacteria in water.

Abstract A technique which employs nonfluorescing membrane filters and specific fluoresceinisothiocynate—labeled antiserum has been successfully used in the identification and enumeration of known species of Escherichia coli which have been added to natural populations of bacteria found in water. The quantitative results compared favorably with those of standard tests. The use of a dissecting microscope with an external lighting arrangement provided a simple requirement for equipment. This method may be useful in monitoring specific bacterial types from waters which were being monitored for specific pollution.
Phosphonic acids—IX : Steroidal 21a-phosphonate esters

Abstract Dialkyl esters of steroidal 21a-phosphonic acids, which may be regarded as phosphonate analogs of 21-phosphate esters with the oxygen link replaced by a methylene group, were synthesized by the reaction of a trialkyl phosphite with a quarternary salt of a Mannich base derivative of a 20-keto steroid. In this way, the 21-dialkoxyphosphinylmethyl group, (RO) 2 P(O)CH 2 —, was introduced into pregnenolone, 17α-hydroxypregnenolone and 17α-acetoxypregnenolene, and the products converted by oxidation to the corresponding progesterone derivatives. The same steroid phosphonates also were obtained by the reaction of alcoholic trialkyl phosphite with the 20-keto-Δ 21(21a) -steroid formed by thermal decomposition of the Mannich base salt. Monodealkylation of the 21a-dialkyl phosphonate esters to furnish the corresponding monobasic acids was effected smoothly by warming with alcoholic sodium propylmercaptide, except in the case of 17α-acetoxy-20-ketosteroids where this reagent caused a condensation between the acetoxy group and the side chain accompanied by d -homoannulation. Although the reaction of 21-iodoprogesterone with triethyl phosphite or sodium diethylphosphonate gave only progesterone, 21-tosyloxyprogesterone reacted with triethyl phosphite to yield 21-diethoxyphosphinylprogesterone.
Sequential cavity method for computing limits of the log-partition function for lattice models

One of the key computational problems in combinatorics/statistical physics is the problem of computing limits of the log-partition functions for various statistical mechanics models on lattices. In combinatorics this limit corresponds to the exponent of various arrangements on lattices, for example the exponents of the number of independent sets, proper colorings or matchings on a lattice. In statistical physics this limit is called free energy.We propose a new method, sequential cavity, which beats the best known existing methods, such as transfer matrix method, in obtaining sharper bounds on the limits of the log-partition function for two models: independent sets (hard-core) and matchings (monomer-dimer). Our method is based on a surprisingly simple representation of the log-partition function limit in terms of a certain marginal probability of a suitably modified lattice, and using recent deterministic approximation counting algorithms for these two models. Our method also has a provably better theoretical performance compared with the transfer matrix method.
Modeling spontaneous speech events during recognition.

In spontaneous speech, speakers segment their speech into intonational phrases, and make repairs to what they are saying. However, techniques for understanding spontaneous speech tend to treat these events as noise, in the same manner as they handle out-of-grammar constructions and misrecognitions. In our approach, we advocate that these events should be explicitly modeled. We modify the speech recognition process so that it not only models determines the words that the user is saying, but also models intonational phrasing and speech repairs. This not only improves speech recognition performance but also results in a much richer output from the recognizer, with speech repairs resolved and intonational phrase boundaries identified.
The Case for ‘Story-driven’ Biology Education

Can learning molecular biology and genetics be enjoyable? Of course it can. Biologists know their field is exciting and fascinating and that learning how cells and molecules shape the living world ...
Hepatic Infarction in Ulcerative Colitis During Pregnancy

Abstract Acute hepatic failure developed at the time of parturition in a 27-yr-old woman. Liver biopsy demonstrated disseminated hepatic infarctions which were confined to the distal segments of the hepatic microcirculatory units. This episode of hepatic infarction was followed by persistent fever and cutaneous vasculitis, which resolved on prednisone therapy. The diagnosis of ulcerative colitis was made 5 mo after recovery from severe hepatic failure.
Branch‐and‐Bound Algorithms

“Branch-and-bound” is the most common approach to solving integer programming and many combinatorial optimization problems. This article provides an overview of the main concepts in branch-and-bound and explains how it works. It also discusses the major design questions that arise in implementing branch-and-bound, and briefly reviews the most common answers to these questions by referring to the recent literature providing the reader with ample opportunity for further reading. Keywords: branch-and-bound; linear programming; integer programming; bounding; branching; node selection; variable selection
Performance analysis of distributed commit protocols

An analytic model is presented for the performance of a commit protocol which considers both the communication and local processing. It is shown that the local queuing delays are significant when the number of atomic actions is sufficiently large. The single most important parameter in determining the effect of commit protocols on the system performance is believed to be the heavy dependence on logging and hence the high performance penalities exacted by I/O operations. >