cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Uncopyrightability of Edicts of Government

This amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court appeal of Georgia, et al., v. Public.Resource.Org., explores the interplay of copyright law and the edicts of government doctrine. The “edicts of government” doctrine was first validated by the U.S. Supreme Court in a series of nineteenth century cases. Wheaton v. Peters, 33 U.S. (8 Pet.) 591 (1834); Banks v. Manchester, 128 U.S. 244 (1888); Callaghan v. Meyers, 128 U.S. 617 (1888). While the doctrine has never been directly recognized in the express wording of the copyright statute, it is nevertheless firmly rooted in foundational copyright principles that are themselves reflected in the text of the statute. Three foundational copyright principles buttress the doctrine. First, copyrightable authorship does not extend to official announcements of law, the hallmark of edicts of government. Authorship as requires personalization, an attribute that is antithetical to official pronouncements of law, which are generated in an impersonal and ex officio manner. Second, all edicts of government, as legal texts, are methods of operation, rendering them uncopyrightable. Third, authentic statements of law entail the merger of idea and expression insofar as the expression underlying edicts of government are capable of being expressed in only a limited number of ways in order to preserve its authenticity. Consequently, the Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A.) is not copyrightable. Petitioners concede that the statutory content of the O.C.G.A. is uncopyrightable. The annotations incorporated into the O.C.G.A. by the state legislature bear the imprimatur of the state and are therefore produced under the ostensible authority of the state, which renders them an edict of government. Contrary to Petitioners’ argument, an edict does not need to have the force of law to qualify as an uncopyrightable edict of government. The Supreme Court’s precedents contradict this position. Instead, faithful reading of these precedents suggest that something becomes an uncopyrightable edict of government when it is produced under the ostensible authority of the state and thus receives a presumptively official status, owing to its endorsement by the state. The process by which the annotations contained in the O.C.G.A. are adopted and merged with the statutory content therein constitutes the exercise of such ostensible authority, rendering the O.C.G.A. an uncopyrightable edict of government.
How to Cultivate a Culture of Belonging in Academic Medicine

This chapter focuses on the role that a psychological sense of belonging, or the lack thereof, plays in academic medicine and how mentors and educators can foster a greater sense of belonging for trainees. By examining the conceptual and empirical basis for this concept, the authors make the case for the importance of belonging as a protective factor for mental health and well-being and a marker of positive academic and professional outcomes. In reflecting on the history of inequality and bias experienced by women and people of color in academic medicine, and drawing on peer-reviewed publications in social psychology and educational policy realms, the authors offer a series of practical interventions and suggestions for cultivating a greater culture of belonging within academic medicine.
Peptoid NPhe4 in AGRP-Based c[Pro1-Arg2-Phe3-Phe4-Xxx5-Ala6-Phe7-DPro8] Scaffolds Maintain Mouse MC4R Antagonist Potency

The melanocortin receptors are involved in numerous physiological functions and are regulated by agonists derived from the proopiomelanocortin gene transcript and two endogenous antagonists, agouti and agouti-related protein (AGRP). The key binding and functional determinant of AGRP, an MC3R and MC4R antagonist, is an Arg-Phe-Phe tripeptide sequence located on an exposed hexapeptide (Arg-Phe-Phe-Asn-Ala-Phe) loop. It has previously been observed that cyclizing this sequence through a DPro-Pro motif (c[Pro1-Arg2-Phe3-Phe4-Asn5-Ala6-Phe7-DPro8]) resulted in a macrocyclic scaffold with MC4R antagonist activity, with increased MC4R potency when a diaminopropionic acid (Dap) residue is substituted at position 5. In this report, a series of 11 single-peptoid substitutions were performed in the AGRP-derived macrocycles. While most peptoid substitutions decreased MC4R antagonist potency, it was observed that NPhe4 (compounds 4 and 11) or NDab5 (diaminobutyric acid, compound 7) maintained MC4R antagonist potency. The NPhe4 substitutions also resulted in MC5R antagonist and inverse agonist activity equipotent to the parent scaffolds. These data may be used in the design of future MC4R and MC5R antagonist leads and probes that possess increased metabolic stability due to the presence of peptoid residues.
Diffusion tensor imaging and diffusion tensor tractography in brainstem tumors with the medial lemnnicus invaded

Objective To explore the change of medial lemniscus of brainstem tumors and its surrounding tumors with 3.0 T MR for the use of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor tractography (DTT)technology.Methods 25 cases brainstem tumors and its surrounding tumors were analyzed.There are 14 males and 11 females,and the age ranged from 4 to 59 years with the mean age of 23.7 years,as well as 25 cases normal controls match with gender and age.All patients and normal controls were performed DTI scan.Results DTI and DTT technology can be used to evaluation of corticospinal tract and medial lemnicus.The DTI and DTT technology can two-and three-dimensionally shows the spatial relation of tumors and fiber tracts.Conclusions The DTI and DTT technology can shows the relationship of tumors and fiber tracts.It is very important to protect these fiber tracts in the perioperative,as well as monitoring prognosis. Key words: Magnetic resonance imaging; Diffusion tensor imaging; Diffusion tensor tractography; Brainstem ; Medial lemniscus
Generating and Sharing IoT-Centric Cyber Threat Intelligence

To automate the collection and analysis of relevant data to infer unsolicited IoT devices and their hosting environments, in near real-time, the automated platform is developed. In this chapter, the core functions, their implementation design, and performance are discussed and evaluated.
Efficacy Of Kriging Interpolation In Ultrasound Imaging; Subsample Displacement Estimation

Ultrasound images have an inherently low lateral resolution due to the size of transducers that are used in standard clinical scanners. This makes for low resolution images, as well as imprecise lateral displacement estimation. In speckle tracking, the well known discipline of estimating displacement by tracking pixel movement, lateral interpolation is often used to get subsample accurate displacement estimation. Standard methods for interpolation are known as inverse distance weighting methods, of which the well known cubic interpolation method is a part. Kriging interpolation, however, is a stochastic approach that uses statistical data to calculate interpolated data points as opposed to the purely mathematical methods of more traditional interpolators. This analysis tests the efficacy of one variety of Kriging interpolation, called Simple Kriging, on ultrasound data. Simple Kriging is tested on its accuracy to interpolate a sparse ultrasound image frame, as well as its usefulness in interpolating the correlation map to estimate subsample displacement. The applied bias of the estimation using Simple Kriging is also tested by interpolating the autocorrelation map where displacement is zero. Simple Kriging is an alternative interpolation scheme that could be used with image data and its accuracy is comparable to the accuracy of using the cubic interpolation.
Quality assessment for systematic reviews and meta-analyses of cohort studies.

Background and Aims There is a growing need for valid, efficient, and easy scoring scales to rate the quality of cohort studies. We aimed to develop and validate a quality assessment score to be used for cohort studies. Methods We followed a rigorous process to establish content, face, and construct validity. Most questions were scored at 0 or 1. Inter-rater reliability and test–retest reliability were assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient (rs) and Cohen's κ statistic. Internal consistency was measured using the Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (KR20). Results The final tool consists of 9 questions with a maximum score of 10. The inter-rater reliability was high with the Spearman correlation coefficient (rs = .66). Agreement for inclusion was 90%. Test–retest reliability was high. For rater 1, rs = .91, κ = .38 for scores, and κ = 1 for inclusion. For rater 2, r = .94, 80% agreement for scores, and 100% agreement for inclusion. Internal consistency was reasonable based on 2 studies: KR20 = .21 and KR20 = .65. The novel scale rated highest in efficiency, understandably, ease of use, and ease of interpretation when compared with 3 other scales. Conclusions This novel scale has favorable performance characteristics, is efficient to conduct, and is easy to interpret and will be very helpful for physicians and researchers conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Clinical Pharmacists: An Invaluable Part of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Frontline Response

Although coronavirus disease 2019 was first identified in December 2019, it rapidly spread and became a global pandemic. The number of patients infected with the novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) rose rapidly in New York State, placing great stress on healthcare systems. The traditional roles and practices of healthcare providers were dramatically redefined to meet the demand to care for the large number of ill patients. While literature reports on the experiences of many frontline staff, there is a scarcity of reports on the role of clinical pharmacists during this crisis. We report the role of critical care clinical pharmacists at a large academic medical center in New York City during this pandemic. Effective crisis management required clinical pharmacists to employ a wide array of skills and knowledge. Areas included clinical expertise, education, data analysis, health informatics infrastructure, and inventory management in times of surging medication use and manufacturer shortages. Clinical pharmacists fulfilled an essential service during the coronavirus pandemic by working to ensure the best possible outcomes for the patients they served on the frontline.
Population coding in the cerebellum: A machine learning perspective

The cere resembles a feedforward, three-layer network of neurons in which the "hidden layer" consists of Purkinje cells (P-cells) and the output layer consists of deep cerebellar nucleus (DCN) neurons. In this analogy, the output of each DCN neuron is a prediction that is compared with the actual observation, resulting in an error signal that originates in the inferior olive. Efficient learning requires that the error signal reach the DCN neurons, as well as the P-cells that project onto them. However, this basic rule of learning is violated in the cerebellum: the olivary projections to the DCN are weak, particularly in adulthood. Instead, an extraordinarily strong signal is sent from the olive to the P-cells, producing complex spikes. Curiously, P-cells are grouped into small populations that converge onto single DCN neurons. Why are the P-cells organized in this way, and what is the membership criterion of each population? Here, I apply elementary mathematics from machine learning and consider the fact that P-cells that form a population exhibit a special property: they can synchronize their complex spikes, which in turn suppress activity of DCN neuron they project to. Thus complex spikes cannot only act as a teaching signal for a P-cell, but through complex spike synchrony, a P-cell population may act as a surrogate teacher for the DCN neuron that produced the erroneous output. It appears that grouping of P-cells into small populations that share a preference for error satisfies a critical requirement of efficient learning: providing error information to the output layer neuron (DCN) that was responsible for the error, as well as the hidden layer neurons (P-cells) that contributed to it. This population coding may account for several remarkable features of behavior during learning, including multiple timescales, protection from erasure, and spontaneous recovery of memory.
Identifying Factors to Improve Safety Seat Use in Children

Background: Restraining a child in an appropriate safety seat can greatly reduce the mortality rate of children resulting from motor vehicle collisions, a leading cause of death in children in the US. Purpose: To identify modifiable factors associated with having a child in an inappropriate safety seat and to evaluate safety seat knowledge among parents/guardians. Methods: Parents/guardians whose child was managed in the emergency department (ED) completed a …
Post-transplant hepatic fibrosis in pediatric liver-small bowel transplant recipients: A single-center, retrospective, observational study.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the prevalence of hepatic graft fibrosis in combined LSBT children. We aimed to determine the prevalence of and identify potential predictors for hepatic graft fibrosis in LSBT children and to compare them with those in LT children. METHODS We retrospectively included children younger than 19 years who had received a primary LT/LSBT between 2000 and 2018 and had a liver biopsy performed at least 6 months post-transplant. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to determine predictors associated with significant hepatic graft fibrosis (≥F2) in LSBT vs LT children. RESULTS Ninety-six children (47 LSBT, 54 females) were included. The median post-transplant follow-up (years) was 12.8 in LT vs 10.5 in LSBT patients (P = .06). Hepatic graft fibrosis was found in 81.6% of LT vs 70.2% of LSBT children (P = .19), after a median time of 2.5 years and 2.6 years, respectively. On multivariate analyses, having post-transplant biliary complications was found to be associated with significant graft fibrosis in LT children, whereas AST/ALT ratio was found to predict significant hepatic graft fibrosis in LSBT children. The use of parenteral nutrition after transplant was not associated with significant hepatic graft fibrosis. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of hepatic graft fibrosis in LSBT children did not significantly differ from that in LT children, but the predictors may differ. Future studies should investigate the role of post-transplant autoimmune antibodies and donor-specific antibodies in the development and progression of hepatic graft fibrosis in LSBT children.
Does Virtual Field Experience Deliver? An Examination into Virtual Field Experience during the Pandemic and Its -Implications for Teacher Education Programs

This study attempted to examine whether academic performance of pre-service teachers (PST) in virtual field experiences was the same as that of their peers in the previous semester who had regular face-to-face field experiences. Data for this study included PST’ scores in three course sections in the Spring 2020 semester at a mid-size public university located in the Midwest of the United States where all of their field experiences were conducted virtually and compared with that of their peers in the Fall 2019 semester when all of their field experiences were conducted face-to-face. Our findings indicated that PST’s academic performance in the virtual field experiences was the same as that of their peers in the previous semester who had regular face-toface field experiences.
Microstructure and properties of NbVZr refractory complex concentrated alloys

Abstract The microstructure and mechanical properties of the equiatomic NbVZr alloy are reported. The laser-processed and as-cast samples both exhibit a dendritic BCC solid solution with hexagonal C14 and cubic C15 Laves phases in the interdendritic regions. The stability of the Laves phases is discussed based on first-principles total energy calculations. Nb is found to increase the stability of C14 and C15 phases. The Laves phases strengthen the material by acting as obstacles to dislocation motion, as evidenced by nanoindentation and TEM observations of deformed samples. A high concentration of stacking faults was observed in the Laves region, which confirms the low stacking fault energy predicted by first-principles calculations, and are expected to result in additional plasticity. This work serves as an example of a systematic study of the stability of intermetallic phases in refractory complex concentrated alloys using a high-throughput synthesis technique. Such phases play an important role in the overall mechanical properties of the alloy.
Robust DOA and Subspace Estimation for Hybrid Channel Sensing

This paper studies the problem of channel subspace estimation for a hybrid millimeter wave communication system, where the observed signal is a low-dimensional projection of the signal received at the antenna array. Due to the Toeplitz structure of the channel covariance matrix, the channel subspace can be estimated either by estimating the entries of the Toeplitz matrix or by an Angle of Arrival estimation approach. Our goal is to compare the performance of two different subspace estimation techniques. We derive the Cramer Rao Bounds for estimating the Toeplitz covariance matrix and Angle of Arrivals considering two different antenna selection schemes, namely uniform subsampling and nested subsampling. Our analysis reveals that nested array based compression can perform robust subspace estimation due to its superior estimation of angles despite exhibiting higher error in covariance estimation. 1
Administrative Absurdity: Why the Judiciary Should Uphold EPA's Use of the Administrative Necessity and Absurd Results Doctrines Within the Tailoring Rule

In Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court’s decision prompted the Environmental Protection Agency ('EPA' or 'Agency') to determine whether greenhouse gases ('GHG') endanger human health and welfare, and consequently whether the Clean Air Act ('CAA' or 'Act') should have the power to regulate GHG. Since that time, and in the absence of substantive climate legislation from the legislative branch, EPA issued a series of regulations culminating in the creation of a 'tailoring rule.' This rule outlines EPA’s authority to regulate only the largest GHG sources and exempt sources that emit less than the tailored applicability criteria. To achieve this goal, EPA relied on the administrative law principles of Chevron deference, 'absurd results,' and 'administrative necessity.' Since its issuance, a number of sources have challenged the validity of EPA’s actions.This Comment examines the efforts to curtail EPA’s regulation of GHG under the CAA and highlights some of the weaknesses in the approach currently taken by its challengers, notably a group of states and industry. This Comment begins by introducing the tailoring rule then proceeds by providing background on the legal doctrines that EPA has employed to justify the tailoring rule, specifically the doctrines of Chevron deference, 'absurd results,' and 'administrative necessity.' The Comment continues by addressing some of the legal challenges of the tailoring rule, with a focus on the arguments advanced by the state of Texas, and the strength and weaknesses of these challenges. This Comment concludes by arguing that under a permissibly broad reading of the Act, the Act permits EPA to modify the applicability criteria that determine which stationary sources and modification projects are subject to permitting requirements for GHG emissions under the CAA.
Books, Basketball, and Order of the Fish: Youth Culture in Midwest Small-Town High Schools, 1900–1930

This chapter examines the lived experience of early twentieth century small-town student life through the students’ perspective of extracurricular and student-led informal activites. The chapter focuses on the Midwest, using student memoirs, oral histories, yearbooks, and town papers to demonstrate the range of activities in which students engaged. By the 1920s, youth culture had caught the nation’s attention, and elicited both concern and debate. In the Midwest, small towns and their high schools were the site where many teens first experienced youth culture, through competing literary societies, sports teams, and student-created informal organizations as well. This chapter provides a first-hand perspective on students’ forays into youth culture to better understand its place in early twentieth-century American high schools.
Study protocol for a school-based single group pragmatic trial to promote resilience in youth: Building Resilience for Healthy Kids.

Abstract Background There is a growing prevalence of mental health disorders among youth. Helping youth develop skills that promote and support mental well-being is an important strategy for addressing this public health concern. Building Resilience for Healthy Kids (Healthy Kids) is a school-based program designed to improve resiliency in youth aged 9–13 years old using an innovative health coaching framework. Methods Healthy Kids is a multi-phased intervention that aims to improve youth resilience using a 6-week, 1:1 health coaching program. The program develops youth resilience and was derived from models for developing youth resilience: Positive Relationships, Coping, Skill Development, Healthy Lifestyle, Sense of Culture, and Connectedness. Effectiveness of the intervention will be evaluated using a single-group, pragmatic trial design with pretest-posttest and follow-up assessments up to 12 months. Process measures will evaluate youth's acceptance and satisfaction of the program and attendance rates. Effectiveness will be evaluated by examining changes in resilience and mental health indicators from pre-to-post program and tracking sustainment of changes in mental health indicators over time. Discussion Given the pragmatic nature of the study design to work with generally healthy populations of students, we expect small, but sustainable, improvements in youth resilience to be achieved through the intervention. Further, this study will provide insight into the potential effectiveness of using health coaching as a strategy to support and promote youth mental well-being in school settings. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04202913. Registered December 18, 2019.
Solid Convection in the Terrestrial Planets; Workshop, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., December 12, 13, 1977, Review Papers and Contributions

Review papers and specific contributions on the subject of convection in the solid interiors of the terrestrial planets and planetary evolution are presented. Geophysical observations of solid-state convection in the terrestrial planets are reviewed, along with the theory of convection in a layer with a high Prandtl number and numerical approaches to the calculation of convection in planetary interiors. Other papers treat the formation, history and energetics of terrestrial planet cores, the effects of convection on lunar thermal history and the relation between the height of mountains on Venus and the creep properties of Venusian rocks.
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor: cloning, expression and transcriptional regulation

In summary, isolation of GnRH receptor cDNA, its gene, and identification of regulatory elements in the flanking region of the gene have added to our knowledge regarding the tissue-specific expression of the GnRH receptor gene, and the mechanisms that mediate and influence its transcriptional regulation. However, the interactions of the different regulatory factors (nuclear factors) and the effects of these interactions on the regulation of the GnRH receptor gene remain unclear. Due to existence of multiple promoters and transcriptional start sites in human GnRH receptor gene and the lack of a human gonadotrope cell line, the precise promoter and transcriptional start sites in human pituitary, extra-pituitary tissues and tumors have not yet been identified.
The Impact of Vectorization on Erasure Code Computing in Cloud Storages - A Performance and Power Consumption Study

Erasure code storage systems are becoming popular choices for cloud storage systems due to cost-effective storage space saving schemes and higher fault-resilience capabilities. Both erasure code encoding and decoding procedures are involving heavy array, matrix, and table-lookup compute intensive operations. Multi-core, many-core, and streaming SIMD extension are implemented in modern CPU designs. In this paper, we study the power consumption and energy efficiency of erasure code computing using traditional Intel x86 platform and Intel Streaming SIMD extension platform. We use a breakdown power consumption analysis approach and conduct power studies of erasure code encoding process on various storage devices. We present the impact of various storage devices on erasure code based storage systems in terms of processing time, power utilization, and energy cost. Finally we conclude our studies and demonstrate the Intel x86's Streaming SIMD extensions computing is a cost-effective and favorable choice for future power efficient HPC cloud storage systems.
Tracking the evolution of Web traffic: 1995-2003

Understanding the nature and structure of Web traffic is essential for valid simulations of networking technologies that affect the end-to-end performance of HTTP connections. We provide data suitable for the construction of synthetic Web traffic generators and in doing so retrospectively examine the evolution of Web traffic. We use a simple and efficient analysis methodology based on the examination of only the TCP/IP headers of one-half (server-to-client) of the HTTP connection. We show the impact of HTTP protocol improvements such as persistent connections as well as modern content structure that reflect the influences of "banner ads," server load balancing, and content distribution networks. Lastly, we comment on methodological issues related to the acquisition of HTTP data suitable for performing these analyses, including the effects of trace duration and trace boundaries.
Search of optimal solutions in multi-level neural networks

The output of a multi-level neuron produces a multibit representation. The total network size with multilevel neurons can therefore be significantly reduced from a conventional network with two-level neurons. The reduction in network size benefits VLSI implementation. Due to the nonlinearity associated with a neuron transfer function, multiple local minima exist in the energy function of a multi-level analog-to-digital decision network. The procedure for applying hardware annealing by continuously changing the neuron gain from a low value to a certain high value, to reach the globally optimal solution is described. Several simulation results are also presented. The parallel hardware annealing method is much faster than the simulated annealing method on digital computers. >
Giving and Receiving Help: Interpersonal Transactions in Mutual‐Help Meetings and Psychosocial Adjustment of Members

The helping transactions that occur in group meetings have been theorized to be important therapeutic mechanisms within mutual-help (or self-help) groups. Hypothesized links between giving and receiving help and psychosocial adjustment were examined in a mutual-help group for individuals with serious mental illness (GROW). Participants' adjustment was assessed at two time points and helping behaviors were measured with observational coding of weekly group interactions during the period between assessments. Frequencies of helping behaviors were used to predict Time 2 adjustment after controlling for initial adjustment. Consistent with the helper therapy principle, giving help to others predicted improvements in psychosocial adjustment; giving advice was a unique predictor. Total amount of help received was not associated with adjustment, but receiving help that provided cognitive reframing was associated with better social adjustment. A predicted interaction suggested that receiving help was related to better functioning when members experienced high levels of group integration.
Sex differences in human jealousy: A coordinated study of forced-choice, continuous rating-scale, and physiological responses on the same subjects

Abstract Previous investigators have confirmed the evolutionary hypothesis that the sexes differ in their responses to sexual vs. emotional infidelity and have taken their results as suggesting the existence of a mechanism that regulates the perceptions of threat, the emotional responses, and the physiological reactions that constitute jealousy. This notion implies that these three categories of response should occur systematically in the same group of subjects. However, no study has been done to confirm this implication. This study is the first to demonstrate the traditional findings concerning these three categories of response on the same group of subjects. Overall, the results of this investigation are consistent with the core evolutionary hypothesis of sex differences in human jealousy.
Structural Characterization and Luminescence of Porous Single Crystalline ZnO Nanodisks with Sponge-like Morphology

We report the synthesis of porous single crystalline ZnO nanodisks with sponge-like morphology through a wet chemical approach. To our best knowledge, this is the first report about highly porous single crystalline nanodisks of ZnO with an average diameter of ∼100 nm. The ZnO nanodisks exhibit strong visible (blue-green) light emission on UV excitation. Scanning Transmission Electron Microcopy (STEM), High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), and Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) were performed to confirm that the nanodisks are single crystalline and porous in nature. The porosity of the nanodisks gives them the sponge-like appearance. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) and Electron Energy Loss Spectrometry (EELS) analysis of the nanodisks together with high-resolution electron microscopy and photoluminescence measurements were used to determine the cause of the visible emission and its relation to the sponge-like morphology and growth mechanism. The larger surface area to ...
Nuclear one-body proximity friction

We study the friction between two juxtaposed leptodermous systems in relative motion, arising from the exchange of particles between them. For gently curved geometries a proximity treatment is valid and leads to a factorization into a simple geometrical factor and a universal key function related to the flux between two parallel surfaces as a function of their separation. On the basis of the nuclear Thomas-Fermi approximation, this key function is calculated and tabulated; a simple analytical approximation is also given.
Can Intensive exercise harm the heart? the benefits of competitive endurance training for cardiovascular structure and function

Elite athletes are paragons of physical fitness in our society, and an entire sports-industrial complex has developed from playing/watching/marketing sports.1 Although the idiosyncratic example of Pheidippides has been used by some to highlight the dangers of extreme endurance efforts,2 much more ubiquitous is the Greek model of the athlete as physical perfection, allowing vigor through to great age.3 Response by La Gerche and Heidbuchel p 991 The term “athlete’s heart” was originally coined to reflect its similarities to patients with enlarged hearts from disease,4 though it is now recognized to reflect the unique physiological adaptation of the endurance athlete5,6: a heart that is big,7 muscular,8,9 compliant,10 and can pump a lot of blood very fast, to support high rates of aerobic metabolism.11 It is quite clear that prolonged, high-intensity sports training required to compete at an Olympic level is sustainable without adverse effects in young individuals, and does not lead to impairment in cardiovascular structure or function.12,13 It is also clear that there is no epidemiological signal that high-level athletics leads to premature death; indeed quite the opposite. For example, when >15 000 Olympic medalists from 9 different country groups were examined over decades after their first medal, there was a progressive increase in conditional survival (compared with age- and sex-matched controls from the general population in those countries; Figure 1) for the Olympic medalists which was greatest in the participants in endurance sports.14 Although there are many possible explanations for such a finding (such as socioeconomic status, or healthier lifestyles), the concept of increased rather than decreased survival in elite endurance athletes has been demonstrated repeatedly,15–17 and was most recently buttressed by a study of nearly 800 French Tour …
A dynamic voltage scaling algorithm for energy reduction in hard real-time systems

As the quantity and functional complexity of battery powered portable devices continues to rise, energy efficient design of such devices has become increasingly important. Many real-time scheduling algorithms have been developed recently to reduce energy consumption in hard real-time embedded systems that use dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) capable processors. This paper explores an algorithm that seeks to reduce energy consumption by considering tasks in tandem, with the intuition that what may be a good frequency for one task, may be much worse for another. In particular, our algorithm considers pairs of tasks, and optimizes them simultaneously so that their total energy consumption is minimized while all deadlines are met. Experimental results demonstrate that our method is able to effectively improve on the results of look-ahead EDF, one of the best energy-aware schedulers, especially for task sets with moderate utilization, and "harmonious" task periodicity.
An investigation of the reaction 12C(p, 6Li)7Be at 36 to 57 MeV

Abstract Differential cross sections for the reaction 12 C(p, 6 Li) 7 Be (g.s. + 0.431 MeV) have been measured at incident proton energies of 36.0, 40.7, 45.0, 50.0 and 56.8 MeV. Angular distributions are presented for the c.m. angles generally between 20° and 160°. At the lowest energy differential cross sections are as large as 200 μb/sr. Excitation functions have been taken at energies from 36 to 43 MeV at the c.m. angles 37°, 67° and 90°. The data have been analyzed using zero-range and finite-range DWBA theories assuming the pick-up of 5 He and 6 Li clusters as the dominant reaction mechanisms.
What Things Still Don’t Do

This paper praises and criticizes Peter-Paul Verbeek’s What Things Do (2006). The four things that Verbeek does well are: (1) remind us of the importance of technological things; (2) bring Karl Jaspers into the conversation on technology; (3) explain how technology “co-shapes” experience by reading Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory in light of Don Ihde’s post-phenomenology; (4) develop a material aesthetics of design. The three things that Verbeek does not do well are: (1) analyze the material conditions in which things are produced; (2) criticize the social-political design and use context of things; and (3) appreciate how liberal moral-political theory contributes to our evaluation of technology.
Rank-based tests for interactions in a two-way design

Among the nonparametric approaches to defining and testing the hypothesis of no interactions in a two-way design, the method by Patel and Hoel is appealing because it is a function of the ranks and therefore invariant under monotonic increasing transformations of the data, and it does not require the assumption of no main effects for the approach to be valid. Marden and Muyot corrected and extended the approach by Patel and Hoel, but published papers strongly suggest that their approach will provide poor probability coverage and poor control over the probability of a type I error when sample sizes are small. This note confirms this and considers two other methods for obtaining more satisfactory results, one of which is relatively effective.
Potentiation of 1,1-dichloroethylene hepatotoxicity: comparative effects of hyperthyroidism and fasting.

The responses of fed, fasted, and hyperthyroid (T 4 ) Sprague-Dawley male rats to 50 mg 1,1-dichloroethylene (1,1-DCE)/kg were compared. Hyperthyroid rats received three sc injections of thyroxine (100 μ g/100 g) at 48-hr intervals; all other rats were sham-injected. 1,1-DCE was given po in mineral oil 24 hr after the last T 4 dose; controls received only mineral oil. Animals were killed at 2, 4, and 8 hr. Liver GSH contents were lowered about 55% by both fasting and T 4 while GSH transferase activities were lowered about 20% by fasting and 35% by T 4 . Only T 4 pretreatment lowered alcohol dehydrogenase activities. Liver injury (i.e., serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, histology) after 1,1-DCE was minimal in fed rats, moderate in fasted rats, and intermediate in T 4 rats. Fasted rats showed a more pronounced depletion of liver GSH after 1,1-DCE than T 4 rats and only in fasted rats did the toxicant decrease activities of the detoxification enzymes. Hypoglycemia after 1,1-DCE occurred in fed rats, but more rapidly in T 4 rats. In contrast, fasted rats unexpectedly became hyperglycemic after the toxicant. Patterns of body temperature change after the toxicant, which might be due to its metabolites, were dissimilar. Hypothermia was not observed in fed rats, was only transiently evident in T 4 rats, but occurred rapidly within 1 hr in fasted rats and steadily became more severe. The dissimilar patterns of liver enzyme and body temperature and serum glucose change after the toxicant in the three groups are indicative of different pathways of injury potentiation by fasting and hyperthyroidism.
Adsorption of metal ions by pecan shell-based granular activated carbons

Abstract The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the adsorption effectiveness of pecan shell-based granular activated carbons (GACs) in removing metal ions (Cu 2+ , Pb 2+ , Zn 2+ ) commonly found in municipal and industrial wastewater. Pecan shells were activated by phosphoric acid, steam or carbon dioxide activation methods. Metal ion adsorption of shell-based GACs was compared to the metal ion adsorption of a commercial carbon, namely, Calgon’s Filtrasorb 200. Adsorption experiments were conducted using solutions containing all three metal ions in order to investigate the competitive effects of the metal ions as would occur in contaminated wastewater. The results obtained from this study showed that acid-activated pecan shell carbon adsorbed more lead ion and zinc ion than any of the other carbons, especially at carbon doses of 0.2–1.0%. However, steam-activated pecan shell carbon adsorbed more copper ion than the other carbons, particularly using carbon doses above 0.2%. In general, Filtrasorb 200 and carbon dioxide-activated pecan shell carbons were poor metal ion adsorbents. The results indicate that acid- and steam-activated pecan shell-based GACs are effective metal ion adsorbents and can potentially replace typical coal-based GACs in treatment of metal contaminated wastewater.
Soil penetrometer resistance and bulk density relationships after long-term no tillage

Abstract Soil penetrometer resistance (SPR) and bulk density (p) measurements can be used for assessing soil strength or density. Results from this research add to the understanding of residual soil compaction of sandy soils by answering three questions: What are the long term effects of no‐tillage on SPR and p in a double‐cropping rotation? Where in the soil profile are maximum SPR and p values found? How much of the variations in SPR are accounted for by the regression of p? Compaction was evaluated at the end of an 8‐yr oat (Avena sativa L.)/Bragg soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] double‐cropping tillage experiment. The soil was Arredondo fine sand (Grossarenic Paleudults). The four treatments (replicated four times) included no‐tillage (NT), conventional tillage (CT), no‐tillage plus in‐row subsoiling (NTPS), and conventional tillage plus in‐row subsoiling (CTPS). Forty days after planting soybeans the soil was irrigated to field capacity. Readings were taken to a depth of 60 cm at five positions in th...
Predictors of on-line services and e-participation: A cross-national comparison

Abstract Effective e-government creates an environment for citizens to have greater access to their government and, in theory, makes citizen-to-government contact more inclusive. Our research examines two distinct but related measures of e-government effectiveness, namely the online service index and the e-participation index, both reported in the 2010 e-government survey conducted by the United Nations. We analyze the impact of political structure, public sector performance and policy initiatives on both indices in more than 150 countries. Our multiple regression analysis shows that there is greater e-government capability in countries that have more effective public sector governance and administration, and policies that advance the development and diffusion of information and communication technologies. More democratic institutions and processes, however, appear to have a negative impact on e-government. In addition, countries that practice effective governance and promote competition in the telecommunications sector demonstrate more extensive provision of e-participation. These results suggest that the path to e-government leverages different strategies depending on a nation's political structure, and that authoritarian countries may be utilizing e-government to maintain the status quo.
Group takeover by a natal male howling monkey (Alouatta palliata) and associated disappearance and injuries of immatures

As part of a long-term study on howling monkey behavior and social dynamics, a known natal male was observed taking over his group from his putative sire. Due to the accidental death of one of the adult males, this natal male had matured in a one-male group and had never observed juvenile male emigration nor adult male immigration and associated behaviors. Nevertheless, the behaviors associated with the takeover were indistinguishable from those of an immigrant male, including disappearance of immatures, one of whom was found with extensive injuries. While it cannot be said that the natal male inherited these behaviors from his presumed father, it can be said that he exhibited species-typical behaviors associated with male takeover in the absence of observational learning.
Theory of nuclear half-life determination by statistical sampling

A remarkable method for measuring half-lives of radioactive nuclei was proposed several years ago that entailed statistical sampling of the source activity. A histogram of half-life estimates, calculated from pairs of activity measurements separated in time, took the unexpected form of a nearly perfect Cauchy distribution, the midpoint of which corresponded very closely to the true value of the half-life. No theoretical justification of the method was given. In this article I derive the exact probability density function (pdf) of the two-point half-life estimates, show how (and under what conditions) a Cauchy distribution emerges from the exact pdf ?which, mathematically, shows no resemblance to a Cauchy function? and discuss the utility of the statistical sampling method. The analysis shows that the exact pdf, under the conditions leading to an empirical Cauchy lineshape, is an unbiased estimator of the true half-life.
Hydrogen sulfide and L-cysteine increase phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3) and glucose utilization by inhibiting phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) protein and activating phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/serine/threonine protein kinase (AKT)/protein kinase Cζ/λ (PKCζ/λ) in 3T3l1 adipocytes.

This work examined the novel hypothesis that reduced levels of H2S or l-cysteine (LC) play a role in the impaired glucose metabolism seen in diabetes. 3T3L1 adipocytes were treated with high glucose (HG, 25 mm) in the presence or absence of LC or H2S. Both LC and H2S treatments caused an increase in phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5 trisphosphate (PIP3), AKT phosphorylation, and glucose utilization in HG-treated cells. The effect of LC on PIP3 and glucose utilization was prevented by propargylglycine, an inhibitor of cystathionine γ-lyase that catalyzes H2S formation from LC. This demonstrates that H2S mediates the effect of LC on increased PIP3 and glucose utilization. H2S and LC caused phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activation and PTEN inhibition. Treatment with LC, H2S, or PIP3 increased the phosphorylation of IRS1, AKT, and PKCζ/λ as well as GLUT4 activation and glucose utilization in HG-treated cells. This provides evidence that PIP3 is involved in the increased glucose utilization observed in cells supplemented with LC or H2S. Comparative signal silencing studies with siAKT2 or siPKCζ revealed that PKCζ phosphorylation is more effective for the GLUT4 activation and glucose utilization in LC-, H2S-, or PIP3-treated cells exposed to HG. This is the first report to demonstrate that H2S or LC can increase cellular levels of PIP3, a positive regulator of glucose metabolism. The PIP3 increase is mediated by PI3K activation and inhibition of PTEN but not of SHIP2. This study provides evidence for a molecular mechanism by which H2S or LC can up-regulate the insulin-signaling pathways essential for maintenance of glucose metabolism.
Photodissociation of Cyclobutyl Bromide at 234 nm Studied Using Velocity Map Imaging

This study investigates the 234 nm photodissociation dynamics of cyclobutyl bromide using a two-dimensional photofragment velocity imaging technique. The spin−orbit ground- and excited-state Br(2P) atoms are state-selectively detected via [2+1] resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI), whereas the cyclobutyl radicals are ionized using 157 nm laser light. The Br(2P3/2) and the Br(2P1/2) atoms and their c-C4H7 radical cofragments evidence a single-peaked, Gaussian-shaped translational energy distribution ranging from ∼14 to ∼39 kcal/mol and angular distributions with significant parallel character. The Br(2P1/2)/ Br(2P3/2) spin−orbit branching ratio is determined to be 0.11 ± 0.07 by momentum match between the Br(2P) photofragments and the recoiling c-C4H7 fragments, assuming a uniform photoionization probability of the c-C4H7 radicals with an internal energy range of 10−35 kcal/mol. The REMPI line strength ratio for the detection of Br(2P3/2) and Br(2P1/2) atoms at 233.681 and 234.021 nm, respecti...
Off-campus user behavior: Are they finding electronic journals on their own or still ordering through document delivery?

Abstract This study investigates how off-campus students at Central Michigan University interact with electronic journals in an environment where a full-service document delivery option is available to them. Wiley InterScience and Project MUSE online access statistics are compared with document delivery requests for articles available in these online packages. The study found that increasingly students are accessing the material themselves through the online packages and document delivery requests are decreasing. doi:10.1300/ J383v04n01_08
Human C-reactive protein accentuates macrophage activity in biobreeding diabetic rats

Objective Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is a pro-inflammatory state characterized by high C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. However, there is a paucity of data examining the role of CRP in promoting the pro-inflammatory state of diabetes. Thus, we examined the pro-inflammatory effects of human CRP using spontaneously diabetic bio-breeding (BB) rats.