cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Resilience of Japanese Automobile Investment in Thailand during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis

The Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the accompanying rise in unemployment (from 1.5 % in 1997 to 4 % in 1998) caused serious social problems in Thailand. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and UN organisations as well as bilateral aid donors committed a great amount of loans, grants, and technical assistance to combat the country’s social disasters. With continuing unemployment problems (despite the private domestic sector showing signs of revitalisation in 1999), much foreign aid continued to be used to assist Thai government countermeasures. Japan’s ‘Miyazawa plan’ was a representative case. International aid agencies also called for the development of social safety nets such as unemployment insurance schemes. The creation of an effective public social safety net was specifically recommended.
Respiratory alkalosis may impair the production of vitamin D and lead to significant morbidity, including the fibromyalgia syndrome

Hyperventilation caused by physical and/or psychological stress may lead to significant respiratory alkalosis and an elevated systemic pH. The alkalotic pH may in turn suppress the normal renal release of phosphate into the urine, thereby interrupting the endogenous production of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol). This could cause a shortfall in its normal production, leading to a variety of adverse consequences. It might partially explain the pathogenesis of acute mountain sickness, a treatable disease characterized by severe hyperventilation secondary to the hypoxia of high altitude exposure. Milder degrees of hyperventilation due to different forms of stress may produce other conditions which share characteristics with acute mountain sickness. One of these may be the fibromyalgia syndrome, a chronic painful disorder for which no satisfactory treatment exists. Should fibromyalgia and acute mountain sickness have a common etiology, may they also share a common form of treatment? Evidence is presented to support this hypothesis.
Using Indirect Routing to Recover from Network Traffic Scheduling Estimation Error

Increasingly, proposals for new datacenter networking fabrics employ some form of traffic scheduling---often to avoid congestion, mitigate queuing delays, or avoid timeouts. Fundamentally, practical implementations require estimating upcoming traffic demand. Unfortunately, as our results show, it is difficult to accurately predict demand in typical datacenter applications more than a few milliseconds ahead of time. We explore the impact of errors in demand estimation on traffic scheduling in circuit-switched networks. We show that even relatively small estimation errors such as shifting the arrival time of at most 30% of traffic by a few milliseconds can lead to suboptimal schedules that dramatically reduce network efficiency. Existing systems cope by provisioning extra capacity---either on each circuit, or through the addition of a separate packet-switched fabric. We show through simulation that indirect traffic routing is a powerful technique for recovering from the inefficiencies of suboptimal scheduling under common datacenter workloads, performing as well as networks with 16% extra circuit bandwidth or a packet switch with 6% of the circuit bandwidth.
An Analysis of Experimental Components in a Placebo Effect

The study, directed toward clarification and quantification of a placebo effect, assessed the effects of 3 independent variables on the dependent variable of reaction time (RT) in a test-retest situation. The independent variables were: a lactose capsule (placebo), suggestion that the capsule would speed-up RTs, and statements that RTs were faster (reinforcement). Analysis of covariance revealed significant group differences, compared to untreated controls, in RT reduction. The placebo effect manifested entailed (in order of contribution to RT reduction): (a) reinforcement (slight influence), (b) suggestion (major influence), and (c) an interaction effect (large influence).
PRIMERO PUBLICAR, DESPUÉS ESCRIBIR O DEL GIRO HACIA EL PROCEDIMIENTO EN TRES EJEMPLOS DE LA LITERATURA LATINOAMERICANA CONTEMPORÁNEA

Este articulo estudia tres ejemplos relevantes de una tendencia de la literatura contemporanea que llamo “el giro hacia el procedimiento”. Esta nocion se refiere a una manifestacion en el arte de las ultimas cuatro decadas segun la cual los artistas exhiben el proceso de creacion artistica como un producto en si mismo, al tiempo que se involucran en el diseno de practicas alternativas que cuestionan los limites en las campos y las disciplinas del arte. A traves del analisis de un corpus de textos y performances de Cesar Aira, Mario Bellatin y Artuto Carrera este articulo explora el giro hacia el procedimiento como una poetica de la literatura como proyecto, donde el libro aparece como una manifestacion inconclusa de una ocurrencia mas amplia.
Reduction of species coexistence through mixing in a spatial competition model

Many ecological systems exhibit self-organized spatial patterns due to local interactions. Such patterns can promote species diversity and therefore serve as an important mechanism for biodiversity maintenance. Previous work has shown that when species interactions occurred at local spatial scales, species diversity was greatest when robust mosaic spatial patterns formed. Also, intransitive interactions led to the emergence of spiral patterns, frequently resulting in multispecies coexistence. In some instances, intransitive interactions reduced species diversity as the consequence of competitive hierarchies. Here, we extend and broaden this line of investigation and examine the role of global competition along a continuum ranging from spatial mosaics to spiral patterns. While previous models have predicted that species diversity is reduced when interactions occur over larger spatial scales, our model considers the effects of various levels of mixing on species diversity, in the context of various network structures as measured by the covariance of row and column sums of the competition matrix. First, we compare local competition (unmixed system) versus global competition (mixed systems) and show that greater species diversity is maintained under a positive covariance. Second, we show that under various levels of mixing, species diversity declines more rapidly under a negative covariance. Lastly, we demonstrate that time to extinction in our model occurs much more rapidly under a negative covariance.
Special session: Leading and administering transformative change in education beyond disciplinary boundaries

One of the first artifacts produced by a massive multi-year education transformation effort has been the launching of a one-of-a-kind program focused on transdisciplinary studies that goes well beyond conventional notions of disciplines. One of the main thrusts of the transformation was to intentionally and repeatedly integrate STEM and Humanities learning and outcome assessment of skills and abilities needed for the 21st century. The challenges of creating and sustaining systemic shifts in culture and operational systems at a large campus have been many, and sometimes controversial. This special session will provide attendees with information and active engagement in a dialog about the motivations, design, and implementation of significant systemic change. Attendees will take away insights not only from what is presented, but also active engagement in transdisciplinary conversations. This session aligns with FIE's focus on innovations in program design and classroom techniques.
Excellence in Pedagogy: Some Obstacles to Integration for the Christian Psychology Professor:

Since its inception over 115 years ago the field of psychology has been enthusiastically embraced by Americans, and today its popularity appears unabated in both religious and non-religious circles...
Improving Particle Filter Performance by Smoothing Observations

AbstractThis article shows that increasing the observation variance at small scales can reduce the ensemble size required to avoid collapse in particle filtering of spatially extended dynamics and ...
Machine learning based dynamic cause maps for condition monitoring and life estimation

Estimating failure modes and life of electronic component in field environment is challenging because of dynamics in mission profile, component interactions, and errors and variability in field data. This paper presents a methodology to address these challenges by developing a dynamic cause map using statistical models, field data and machine learning algorithms. The cause map estimates probability of failure due to a failure mode at a given time. The Bayesian technique is used to update the cause map algorithmically based on changing usage profile and operating environment.
Hierarchical Caching for Statistical QoS Guaranteed Multimedia Transmissions over 5G Edge Computing Mobile Wireless Networks

The 5G mobile wireless networks are expected to provision distinct delay-bounded QoS guarantees for a wide range of multimedia services, applications, and users with extremely diverse requirements. On the other hand, how to efficiently support multimedia services over 5G wireless networks has imposed many new challenging issues not encountered before in 4G wireless networks. Bringing data contents closer to mobile users, the caching-based content- centric edge computing network is a promising candidate network architecture and technique to efficiently guarantee QoS for time-sensitive multimedia transmissions over 5G mobile wireless networks. However, how to collaboratively integrate in-network caching and edge computing for multimedia transmissions over 5G wireless networks has been neither well understood nor thoroughly studied. To remedy these difficulties, in this article we propose hierarchical-caching-based content-centric network architectures and their three different implementation/ control mechanisms over 5G edge computing mobile multimedia wireless networks, where popular multimedia data contents can be cached at different network tiers (e.g., routers, base stations, and mobile devices) to guarantee the statistical delay-bounded QoS for multimedia transmissions while minimizing redundant transmissions. We propose three hierarchical edge caching mechanisms: random hierarchical caching, which maximizes the average effective capacity based on the users' request frequency (i.e., data popularity); proactive hierarchical caching, which maximizes the cache hitting rate by predicting the popularity of data contents and caching the data contents with high popularity nearby mobile users; and game-theory-based hierarchical caching, where three network caching tiers are formulated as three game players in a cooperative game to maximize their aggregate effective capacity under the constraints of caching expenses at each tier. We develop three concrete algorithms to implement and control the three hierarchical caching mechanisms, respectively, for statistical delay-bounded QoS guaranteed multimedia transmissions. Using simulations and numerical analyses, we show that our proposed three hierarchical caching mechanisms significantly outperform other existing schemes in supporting the statistical delay-bounded QoS provisioning over 5G edge computing mobile wireless networks.
Cognition, Reasoning, and Choosing

The topic of information processing is immense. It is often construed to include perception, learning, and memory. A distinction has been drawn between information processing (which is assumed to be cognition) and an affective choice mode (Mittal, 1988). We can see this in advertising where two appeals based either on cognition or on affect have developed. The predominately affective approach is called “value-expressive” after Katz (1960) and involves image more than function. It taps into psychological needs that people have, particularly self-image that we explore in chapter 10. The more cognitive approach is usually termed “utilitarian,” again after Katz, and involves the presentation of information about product benefits and attributes. Which approach is the more effective depends on a number of factors we shall consider, but primarily on the type of product and the attention or involvement of the audience (Johar and Sirgy, 1991).
Chromosomes and Cancer: Activation of Oncogenes

A large number of hematological (blood cell) and solid tumors of various types show consistent chromosome abnormalities, and there is overwhelming evidence that the chromosome changes are essential for the malignant phenotype. Almost every chromosome band is involved, indicating the large number of genes that can play a role in oncogenesis (Mitelman et al., 1997). Many of these rearrangements lead to cancer by activating a cellular oncogene (protooncogene). Protooncogenes are normal genes present in all metazoan cells. Genes homologous to protooncogenes are found in the retroviruses known to cause cancer in various animal species. They transform cells, either by being inserted into the host genome or by being present in multiple copies in the host cell (Bishop, 1983). The retroviruses originally acquired these oncogenes from the metazoan cells they infected. The oncogene of the Rous sarcoma virus is called v-src, and its homologue in the normal human genome is c-SRC, or SRC. More than 80 human protooncogenes have been localized to a specific chromosome or chromosome band. A normal cell can be transformed by activating one or more oncogenes in it. This most often occurs through chromosomal mechanisms such as translocation or amplification. In leukemias and lymphomas, these are mostly balanced reciprocal translocations; in solid tumors, deletions and trisomies are also common (Cobaleda et al., 1998; Helm and Mitelman, 1995).
French and Creole on St. Barth and St. Thomas

In the northeast sector of the Caribbean lies a very small island where the French traditions of its earliest settlers are alive and evident to even the most casual observer (Figure 1). Despite the influence of the surrounding English islands, St. Barthelemy, or St. Barth, has maintained its French character and, to some extent, the rural Old World atmosphere of a mountainous region dotted with small villages. While the advent of tourism has begun to change its quiet nature, evidence of the old crafts and customs is still apparent. As in Louisiana, however, this image of a simple traditional society masks a far more complex reality.
Microsurgery Training Resource Variation among US Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Programs.

Background Given emerging focus on competency-based surgical training and work-hour limitations, surgical skills laboratories play an increasingly important role in resident education. This study was designed to investigate educational opportunities in microsurgery across integrated residency programs. Methods Senior residents (PGY 4–6) at integrated plastic surgery programs were surveyed during the 2016 to 2017 academic year to determine each program's access to: training microscopes and anastomosis models, video-based skills assessment, pre-requisite skills exams, flap courses, or a formal microsurgical training curriculum. Programs were stratified based on large size (>18 residents) and presence of microsurgery fellows. Chi-squared analysis was performed with p Results Survey responses were collected from 32 of 60 eligible programs (53% response rate). Sixty-nine percent provide access to one to two training microscopes, 25% provide three or more, and 6% provide none. Sixty-nine percent of programs train anastomosis with nonliving prosthetics, 66% with living biologics, and 50% with nonliving biologics. Large program size or having microsurgical fellows was not associated with increased access to training microscopes or specific anastomosis models. Programs without microsurgery fellows reported more often that a formal microsurgery curriculum would be helpful (90 vs. 58% of programs with fellows, p = 0.0003). Respondents who indicated that creating a formal curriculum would not be helpful elaborated that their program already has a formal curriculum or a high volume of microsurgery cases. Conclusion This study demonstrates the current variation in microsurgery training at integrated plastic surgery residency programs. A formal microsurgical training curriculum is commonly viewed as being helpful, particularly at programs without microsurgery fellows.
The eccentric adjacency index of unicyclic graphs and trees

Let G be a simple connected graph with vertex set VG and edge set EG. The eccentricity ecG(x) of a vertex x in G is the largest distance between x and any other vertex of G. The eccentric adjacency...
Antioxidant-stabilized highly crosslinked polyethylene in total knee arthroplasty: a retrieval analysis.

Aims The aim of this study was to evaluate the surface damage, the density of crosslinking, and oxidation in retrieved antioxidant-stabilized highly crosslinked polyethylene (A-XLPE) tibial inserts...
Radiosurgery for Psychiatric Disorders

Behavioral surgery , previously know as Psychosurgery initiated with lesions disconnecting pathways in the brain. The infamous Frontal Lobotomy proposed by Moniz, designed to interrupt the pathways of the frontal lobes evolved to more elegant disconnections with the use of the stereotactic technique by Spiegel and Wicys interrupting the thalamo-connections to the frontal lobe through lesions the anterior thalamus. Indeed, the collaboration of the Austrian Neurologist Spiegel with the Neurosurgeon Wicys in Philadelphia led to the first stereotactic surgery in humans. It was an anterior thalamotomy to modify behavior. The progressive refinement of the understanding of the frontal lobe, know them to control behavior, called for precise lesions in strategic areas, instead of the massive initial lesions in the frontal lobe. Dr. Leksell from Karolinska University in Stockholm, living that era envisioned the necessity of a non invasive way to treat functional diseases of the brain, i.e. realizing precise lesions in specific brain pathways without opening the skull to avoid the unacceptable complications, as psychiatric patients were then being brutally violated by the trans orbital frontal lobectomy. The ideas of radiosurgery matured during the 1950s and 1960s to culminate with the development of the Gamma Knife which was suitable and promptly applied to treat psychiatric diseases, the one chosen then was obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
How does Government Support Affect Primary Employment by Entrepreneurs in US States

In this study, we examine if government support to entrepreneurs in US states affects the ‘type of entrepreneurship’ in these states. We differentiate between ‘full-time entrepreneurs’ who has their business as their primary employment and ‘part-time entrepreneurs’ who has their business as their secondary job or hobby. Our hypothesis is that more government support would help entrepreneurs so that they would not need to direct all of their time, energy, and focus on their small business. Our results show that, although there are more ‘part-time entrepreneurs’ in the states with relatively more government support for entrepreneurs, the results are statistically insignificant. Therefore, we can conclude that government support in a state generally does not alter the ‘type of entrepreneurship’ in that state.
Stepwise Development of Committed Progenitors in the Bone Marrow That Generate Functional T Cells in the Absence of the Thymus.

We identified committed T cell progenitors (CTPs) in the mouse bone marrow that have not rearranged the TCR β gene, express a variety of genes associated with commitment to the T cell lineage including GATA-3 and TCF-1, C β and Id2, and show a surface marker pattern (CD44+CD25-CD24+CD5-) that is similar to the earliest T cell progenitors in the thymus. More mature committed intermediate progenitors (CIPs) in the marrow have rearranged the TCR gene loci, express V α and V β genes as well as CD3 e , but do not express surface TCR or CD3 receptors. CTPs, but not progenitors from the thymus, reconstituted the αβ T cells in the lymphoid tissues of athymic nu/nu mice. These reconstituted T cells vigorously secreted IFN- γ after stimulation in vitro, and protected the mice against lethal infection with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV). Also CTPs from the parent strain can reconstitute an F1 MHC haplotype mismatched host. In conclusion, CTPs in wild-type bone marrow can generate functional T cells via an extrathymic pathway.
The contribution of proteasome subunits to Myeloma cell viability and proteasome inhibitor sensitivity

Background Bortezomib (BTZ) is highly effective in the treatment of multiple myeloma; however, emergent drug resistance is common. The underlying mechanisms of such proteasome inhibitor resistance are still incompletely understood. Methods To further understand its resistant mechanism, we generated eight multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines resistant to bortezomib (BTZ) by exposure to increasing drug concentration: five of them acquired novel PSMB5 mutations. Given the rarity of similar mutations in over 1,500 analyzed MM patients, we explored in depth the role of the proteasome on MM cell viability and BTZ sensitivity by systematically deleting the major proteasome targets of BTZ by CRISPR. Results We demonstrated that MM cell lines without PSMB5 were surprisingly viable (mutation corresponding yeast gene pre2 is lethal). PSMB5 mutated, BTZ resistant, MM cell lines were re-sensitized to BTZ when PSMB5 was experimentally deleted, implying that this mutation is activating in its drug resistance function. In contrast PSMB6 knockout was lethal to MM cell lines, which were efficiently rescued by re-introduction of wild type PSMB6. Interestingly, reduction in PSMB6 levels also prevented the splicing of the major catalytic subunits PSMB5, PSMB7, PSMB8 and PSMB10. PSMB6 engineered with no splicing function or catalytic activity, also restored viability, inferring that the contribution of PSMB6 to proteasome structure is more important than functional activity. Supporting this observation, BTZ sensitivity was restored in resistant MM cells line by introducing low level expression of mutated PSMB6 lacking splicing function. As with PSMB6, PSMB7 knockout was lethal to MM cell lines. In contrast, loss of immunoproteasome subunits PSMB8 and PSMB9 was neither lethal nor restored sensitivity to BTZ. Our results demonstrate that expression of the three constitutive proteasome subunits PSMB5, PSMB6 and PSMB7 is highly co-dependent. This dependence is relying on the structure, but not the function, of PSMB5 and PSMB6. Conclusions In summary, PSMB5 and PSMB6, but not PSMB8 and PSMB9, are highly relevant for BTZ sensitivity in MM. Absence of PSMB6 or PSMB7, but not PSMB5, was lethal in MM cell lines. Expression of PSMB5, PSMB6 and PSMB7 was highly co-dependent. Together these findings suggest that the modulation of expression rather than function of PSMB5, PSMB6 or PSMB7 may be a new therapeutic strategy. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Creating a Culture of Voting in Direct and Generalist Practice: Training Field Instructors

Social workers have an ethical responsibility to be engaged in policy change, regardless of their practice area or specialization. Voter engagement and the importance of political power through voting is often overlooked in the literature as a valid and important component of social work practice. Creating a culture of nonpartisan voter engagement in practice settings can help empower individuals who have been historically and intentionally disenfranchised from our electoral system. Training for field instructors, faculty, and field staff is a key aspect of voter engagement in social work education. Unfortunately, social work education is unlikely to include substantive content on voter engagement or its connection to social work practice and impact. This article presents one component of a model for integrating voter engagement into social work education: the provision of training for field instructors on nonpartisan voter engagement at two universities over two years. Evaluation findings suggest that pre-existing levels of political efficacy affect the reaction of field instructors to nonpartisan voter engagement training. Furthermore, findings indicate that field instructors who receive voter engagement training are more likely to serve as resources for their students and to consider voter engagement as part of their own practice. We offer evidence on the important role field educators can play in the success of the larger national effort to integrate voter engagement in social work education. Increasing awareness of what social workers, nonprofit, and public agencies are allowed--or even required--to do is a critical first step.
Localized relativistic two-component methods for ground and excited state calculations

Abstract Scientists are extending the computational application of relativistic methods to ever-increasing sizes of molecular systems. To this end, reduction of the computational cost of relativistic methods through modest approximations is a welcome effort. In this work, we review several localized two-component approximations and introduce a maximally localized variant. We also extend the focus of local relativistic approximations from the ground state to excited states. Benchmark calculations on both valence and core electron absorption spectra are carried out to analyze the error incurred by using the relativistic local approximations for excited state computations.
GASP: Graph-based Approximate Sequential Pattern Mining for Electronic Health Records.

Sequential pattern mining can be used to extract meaningful sequences from electronic health records. However, conventional sequential pattern mining algorithms that discover all frequent sequential patterns can incur a high computational and be susceptible to noise in the observations . Approximate sequential pattern mining techniques have been introduced to address these shortcomings yet, existing approximate methods fail to reflect the true frequent sequential patterns or only target single-item event sequences. Multi-item event sequences are prominent in healthcare as a patient can have multiple interventions for a single visit. To alleviate these issues, we propose GASP, a graph-based approximate sequential pattern mining, that discovers frequent patterns for multi-item event sequences. Our approach compresses the sequential information into a concise graph structure which has computational benefits. The empirical results on two healthcare datasets suggest that GASP outperforms existing approximate models by improving recoverability and extracts better predictive patterns.
Multi-Omics Study of Keystone Species in a Cystic Fibrosis Microbiome

Ecological networking and in vitro studies predict that anaerobic, mucus-degrading bacteria are keystone species in cystic fibrosis (CF) microbiomes. The metabolic byproducts from these bacteria facilitate the colonization and growth of CF pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here, a multi-omics study informed the control of putative anaerobic keystone species during a transition in antibiotic therapy of a CF patient. A quantitative metagenomics approach combining sequence data with epifluorescence microscopy showed that during periods of rapid lung function loss, the patient’s lung microbiome was dominated by the anaerobic, mucus-degrading bacteria belonging to Streptococcus, Veillonella, and Prevotella genera. Untargeted metabolomics and community cultures identified high rates of fermentation in these sputa, with the accumulation of lactic acid, citric acid, and acetic acid. P. aeruginosa utilized these fermentation products for growth, as indicated by quantitative transcriptomics data. Transcription levels of P. aeruginosa genes for the utilization of fermentation products were proportional to the abundance of anaerobic bacteria. Clindamycin therapy targeting Gram-positive anaerobes rapidly suppressed anaerobic bacteria and the accumulation of fermentation products. Clindamycin also lowered the abundance and transcription of P. aeruginosa, even though this patient’s strain was resistant to this antibiotic. The treatment stabilized the patient’s lung function and improved respiratory health for two months, lengthening by a factor of four the between-hospitalization time for this patient. Killing anaerobes indirectly limited the growth of P. aeruginosa by disrupting the cross-feeding of fermentation products. This case study supports the hypothesis that facultative anaerobes operated as keystone species in this CF microbiome. Personalized multi-omics may become a viable approach for routine clinical diagnostics in the future, providing critical information to inform treatment decisions.
Regulation through Revelation: The Origin, Politics, and Impacts of the Toxics Release Inventory Program

1. Legislating an incomplete contract 2. Defining terms: rulemaking and the initial TRI data release 3. Spreading the word in the public and private sectors 4. Politics of expansion and contraction 5. Lifecycles in the regulatory environment 6. The impact(s) of the TRI 7. Lessons from and for regulatory implementation.
Earthquake near Whittier, California, January 29, 1941

Although it alarmed many persons in Pasadena, Whittier, and other neighboring towns, the shock at 5:34 P.M., P.S.T., on January 29, 1941, was only a minor seismic event. Amplitudes recorded on the seismograms give a magnitude of 4.0 on the scale in use at Pasadena. The intensity sporadically reached VI on the Modified Mercalli Scale of 1931, as indicated by scattered instances of displaced furniture, broken dishes, etc. The reports indicate irregular and spotty distribution of intensity, probably associated with unusually short duration of shaking.
An Overview of Reactive Oxygen Species

The biosphere is in a constant battle. Every organism is struggling against a variety of stresses, whether from other organisms or from the natural environment. Humans have adjusted to a larger range of environmental variables than other organisms and can be found in temperatures ranging from −60 to 55°C, from 0 to 160 torr (0.02 MPa) oxygen pressure, from 0 to 100% humidity, from 0 to 110 MPa, and in absolute darkness to bright light. The oldest human on record was a woman who was born on February 21, 1875, and died on August 4, 1997 (Young, 1998), a life span of 122 years and164 days. Cutler (1982) presumed that the maximum life span potential (MLP) of a human was approximately 110 years; Spirduso (1995) gave the MLP of a human as 115 years, but pointed out that females live longer than males, and for a female, the MLP is 120 years. Cutler (1978) speculated that the MLP can increase to200 years. Other species survive in extreme environments, but no other species can survive in such a range of environments.
Types of Models

A model is an abstraction of some system such as a man-made system or a natural system. The various uses of models are presented. The four basic types of models are discussed: iconic, graphical, analog, and mathematical. The different kinds of each of the basic types of models are described and where the different kinds are further divided into fundamental types they are presented. For example, the three different kinds of mathematical models, empirical, optimization, and structural, are described and the two different types of structural models, analytical and discrete-event simulation are presented. Lastly a discussion is given on model selection.
The Language Learning Situation of Asian Immigrant Students in the U.S.: A Socio- and Psycholinguistic Perspective

Abstract This essay delineates the nature of the language learning situation of Asian immigrant students in the United States, drawing on insights from existing socio- and psycho-linguistic literature. Using Schumann’s acculturation model of second language acquisition, the author argues that: (1) the experience of immigration has a profound effect on the social and psychological distance felt by Asian immigrant students for native English speakers in their efforts to learn English; (2) their Asian ethnicity, given the current interethnic relations in the country, further increases this distance; (3) the above mentioned factors are more significant than the students’ linguistic and cultural “baggage” in accounting for their difficulties with the English language; (4) an ambivalence-ridden “no-win” situation is created when Asian immigrant students attempt to make English their own, causing them to adopt a range of responses unproductive for language learning; (5) consequently, the language needs of Asian ...
Death, and the Elemental Passion of the Soul: An Ancient Philosophical Thesis, with Poetic Counterpoint

In his famous “Letter”, Epicurus writes to his young friend Menoeceus that “Death is nothing” — either to fear or to hope for.1 This counsel further suggests that death is not something one can claim as his/her own, and that even its contemplation brings “a craving for immortality”, and so, loosens the fragile hold we have on the life of the soul.
Control of Angiogenesis by Heparin and Other Sulfated Polysaccharides

Angiogenesis, the growth of new capillary blood vessels, plays an important role in normal development and in physiologic functions such as occur in the female reproductive system (Koos and LeMaire, 1983). Angiogenesis is also essential to the repair of wounds, peptic ulcers and myocardial infarctions (Hunt et. al, 1984). In these physiologic and repair conditions, angiogenesis is regulated and switched on and off at predictable times. In a variety of disease processes however, angiogenesis is unabated and unregulated. Tumor growth and metastasis are angiogenesis-dependent (Folkman, 1990; Folkman 1991). Continuous induction of neovascularization is necessary for progressive tumor growth and increasing neovascularization of certain tumors correlates with increasing metastatic potential (Weidner et. al, 1991). Many non-neoplastic diseases are also dominated by unregulated angiogenesis, for example, diabetic retinopathy and hemangioma (Folkman, 1987).
Passive and Active Control of a Complex Flexible Structure Using Reaction Mass Actuators

Passive and active control have been performed on a flexible structure possessing complex modal behavior. Specifically, the structure has closely spaced modes which created a “beat phenomena” in the structure’s vibrations. Reaction mass actuators (RMAs) were used to suppress the structural vibrations with both passive and active control schemes. The results of using both types of control systems were compared both analytically and experimentally. It was determined that, although passive tuning of the RMAs did suppress the structure’s vibrations, additionally applying active control to the optimally tuned RMAs did not significantly increase the system’s vibration suppression performance. However, by choosing the actuator’s characteristics from active control considerations, an active strategy utilizing a local velocity feedback controller suppressed structural vibrations and reduced the active system’s settling time to 20 percent of the settling time with passive damping. Both the passive and the active control were found to be a significant improvement over the structure’s open-loop response.
Sovremennye problemy insulinoterapii

Современные препараты инсулина разделяют на группы в зависимости от происхождения (животные и человеческие) и длительности действия. Инсулины от животных - свиные, говяжьи и смешанные (свиной+говяжий). На протяжении 60 лет для лечения СД применяли говяжий и свиной инсулины, которые по составу отличаются от человеческого (на 3 и 1 аминокислоту соответственно). В настоящее время основной проблемой производства инсулинов является абсолютное очищение препарата от малейших примесей; контроль качества наиболее важен при биосинтетическом производстве. Для введения инсулина созданы современные шприц-ручки, гарантирующие точность дозы и безопасность проведения инъекций, удобны в применении, позволяют больному быстро сделать инъекцию в любых условиях и одновременно являются надежным футляром для хранения инсулинового картриджа. Большинство препаратов инсулина в России, странах СНГ и некоторых других странах до сих пор имеет концентрацию 40 МЕ/мл. Международная федерация диабета рекомендовала переход на единую стандартную концентрацию 100 МЕ/мл для всех выпускаемых инсулинов к 2000 г. Главной задачей инсулинотерапии является максимальная имитация секреции инсулина здорового человека. В настоящее время в понятие ?интенсифицированная инсулинотерапия? вкладывается не только особый режим введения инсулина, но и комплекс обучения больных (самоконтроль заболевания, диета, физические упражнения), а также программа профилактики осложнений.
Mechanisms for Recurrent Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction After Septal Myectomy for Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

Background Left ventricular septal myectomy provides excellent outcomes for symptomatic patients with severe obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. However, in a few patients, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction may recur and require repeat myectomy. We reviewed this subset of patients to assess the mechanisms of recurrence. Methods From 1975 to July 2003, 610 septal myectomies were performed; 13 of these were repeat myectomies after classic myectomies performed at our institution (n = 6) or elsewhere (n = 7). Ages ranged from 4 to 70 years (mean, 32 ± 22). The interval between initial myectomy and repeat myectomy ranged from 13 months to 11 years (mean, 5.0 ± 3.7 years). Results Mechanisms for obstruction included limited myectomy at the initial myectomy (n = 11), septal hypertrophy at the midventricular level (n = 8), and anomalous papillary muscles (n = 3). Mean intraoperative pressure gradients decreased from 82 ± 24 to 6.2 ± 4.4 mm Hg. No mitral valve replacement was performed, and there were no early deaths. Mean follow-up was 5.8 ± 5.8 years. There was one late death. All surviving patients were free from recurrence of outflow tract obstruction and were in the New York Heart Association functional class I or II. Conclusions Mechanisms for recurrent obstruction included limited myectomy at the initial operation, midventricular obstruction, anomalies of papillary muscles, and ventricular remodeling, especially in pediatric patients. Repeat myectomy can be performed with excellent outcomes. Need for reoperation may be reduced with current surgical approaches that include a more extended resection of the midventricular septum, relief of papillary muscle anomalies, and routine use of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography.
Concentration independence of photon echo lifetimes in Pr 3+ :LaF 3

Photon echo studies of the concentration dependence of the homogeneous lifetime, T2′, of the 3H4 → 3P0 transition of Pr3+ in LaF3 indicate no dependence over the range 0.01 to 1.0 at. %. This shows that multipolar, exchange, and spin-flip effects on T2′ are much smaller than the measured value, T2′ = 515 ± 11 nsec. Also, additional experimental confirmation of earlier theories of echo energy dependence on optical thickness is obtained.
Organizational flux and its destabilizing influence on employee identity

Looks at adult identity development issues that arise during periods of organizational flux. Begins with theoretical perspectives on adult identity development as a continuous life‐long process. Continues with a discussion on the compatibility of individuals and their jobs and the issues of accommodation that arise between the two; introducing studies on the relationships among employees, managers and employers. Aims to explore the need to increase management sensitivity to experiences of employees during the change process, and to consider possibilities for future exploration in the areas of significance. Concludes that leadership and members should both pay attention to the problems that arise for employees to benefit.
A multiple regression model for the measurement of the public policy impact on big city crime

By utilizing the multiple regression technique, this paper examines whether various measures of public policies have significant effect in reducing serious crimes and in suppressing the upward trends of crime rates in the 50 largest U.S. cities in recent years. The public policies examined are two conceptually distinct types—control and service policies. The control policies refer to those policies directly concerned with law enforcement and administration of justice, while the service policies are those policies which are designed to promote the general well-being and amenities in the community. The crime indicators used are the so-called “index crime” as reported by the FBI.
Attenuation of Matrix Effects in Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry with a Supplemental Electron Source inside the Skimmer

Electrons are added from a heated filament at the base of the skimmer to reduce the space charge repulsion in the ion beam. This technique improves the analyte sensitivity moderately and also minim...
Animal model of depression: Effects of electroconvulsive shock therapy

Abstract We have previously identified a potentially accurate and specific behavioral and neuroendocrine model of depression in the rat. The most effective somatic treatment for severe depressions is electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT). ECT was investigated in the preclinical model using a factorial design, and was found to be a specific and effective treatment both behaviorally and endocrinologically. These results suggest the model may successfully reflect the efficacy not only of pharmacological but additionally of other types of somatic treatments.
Diagnostic evaluation of the juvenile offender: toward the clarification of often overlooked psychopathology.

On the basis of previously reported findings that a high percentage of court-referred children suffered from serious psychopathology other than sociopathy, attention is called to some essential, though often overlooked, elements of the diagnostic evaluation of delinquents. Emphasis is on a meticulous history, including careful attention to the significances of family histories of serious psychiatric and/or neurological disorders. The importance of a detailed perinatal and medical history, with emphasis on determining a possible history of significant insult to the central nervous system, is stressed. A systematic mental status evaluation is strongly recommended. Techniques for assessing the existence of significant hallucinatory and delusional experiences in children are suggested. The uses of psychological and neurological evaluations to augment the psychiatric are discussed. The poor social situation from which many delinquents come as well as the obvious intrafamilial psychodynamic factors influencing delinquent behavior are recognized as frequent impediments to the search for less obvious psychotic and/or organic vulnerabilities in the juvenile offender. Case histories of several children who had previously been dismissed as merely sociopathic, illustrate the thesis of the paper.
Permutation tests for the independence of a scalar and a unit vector

The problem of testing the independence of a scalar and a unit vector is re-examined in the context of a specific scientific problem which is described in Section 1. Several alternatives to the Jupp-Mardia (1980) statistic are suggested. The null distributions of all the statistics are discussed under permutations.
Uncertainty Reduction of Damage Growth Properties Using Structural Health Monitoring

Structural health monitoring provides sensor data that can monitor fatigue-induced damage in service. This information may in turn be used to improve the characterization of material properties that govern damage growth for the structure beingmonitored. These properties are oftenwidely distributed amongnominally identicalmaterials because of differences in manufacturing processes and due to aging effects. Improved accuracy in damage growth characteristics would allowmore accurate prediction of the remaining useful life of the structural component. In this paper, a probabilistic approach using Bayesian inference is employed to progressively reduce the uncertainty in structure-specific damage growth parameters in spite of noise and bias in sensor measurements. Starting from an initial wide distribution of damage growth parameters that are obtained from coupon tests, the distribution is progressively narrowed using damage growth data between consecutivemeasurements. Detailed discussions on how to construct the likelihood function under the given noise of sensor data and how to update the distribution are presented. The approach is applied to simulated damage growth in fuselage panels due to cycles of pressurization. It is shown that the proposed method rapidly converges to the accurate damage growth parameters when the initial damage size is relatively large: e.g., 20 mm. Fairly accurate damage growth parameters are obtained even with measurement errors of 5mm. Using the identified damage growth parameters, it is shown that the 95% conservative remaining useful life converges to the true remaining useful life from the conservative side. The proposed approach may have the potential of turning aircraft into flying fatigue laboratories.
Oxygen dissociation curve of echidna blood

Abstract 1. 1. Echidna blood at 31°C and pH 7·40 is half saturated with oxygen at a PO2 of 19·5 mm Hg. 2. 2. The Bohr effect on echidna blood (Δ log p50/ΔpH) is −0·544. 3. 3. After correcting for temperature effects, the oxygen dissociation curve of the echidna is more like those of other mammals than like those of reptiles.
Massive Hyperplastic Thymus in a 22-Month-Old Infant

Huge mediastinal masses in infants are often difficult to diagnose, and thymic enlargement must be considered in each instance, especially when the mass is located anteriorly. In the patient reported on here, the mass occupied approximately 60% of the chest cavity, and surgical intervention was required to establish the precise histological diagnosis. This proved to be massive hyperplastic thymus.
A Comparative Study of Methods of Equating TOEFL Test Scores.

Six methods of equating TOEFL test scores for samples consisting of the usual groups of examinees tested at each TOEFL administration, and groups of examinees controlled for native language representation were evaluated in terms of scale stability. The equating methods included three IRT variants (fixed b's scaling, a one-parameter model in which a- and c-parameters were fixed at constant values, and a model in which all three parameters were re-estimated), and three conventional equating methods (Tucker, Levine and equipercentile). The equating methods were applied to Section II, Structure and Written Expression, and Section III, Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary. For the regular group of examinees, fixed b's IRT equating exhibited the greatest scale stability for both sections with the one-parameter IRT model and Tucker linear equating following in that order. For most equating methods, controlling for native language resulted in increased scale stability relative to the regular group for Section II, but produced more error in Section III. This interaction between Section III and the controlled group may be related to the differential performance observed among language groups on Section III in previous studies. The results of this study supported continued use of fixed b's scaling for TOEFL data using a random sample of examinees from the total testing group.