cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Side-by-Side Comparison of Human Perception and Performance using Augmented, Hybrid, and Virtual Reality.

Alternative reality (XR) technologies, including physical, augmented, hybrid, and virtual reality, offer ways for engineered spaces to be evaluated. Traditionally, practitioners (such as those designing spacecraft habitats) have relied on physical mockups to perform such design evaluations, but digital XR technologies present several streamlining advantages over their physical counterparts. These digital environments vary in their level of virtuality, and consequently have different effects on human perception and performance, with respect to a completely physical mockup environment. To date, very little has been done to characterize and quantify such differences in human perception and performance across XR environments of equal fidelity for the same end application. Here, we show that perception and performance in the virtual reality environment most closely mirror those in the physical reality environment, as measured through volumetric assessment and functional task experiments. These experiments required subjects to judge the dimensions of 3D objects and perform operational tasks presented via checklists. Our results highlight the potential for virtual reality systems to accelerate the iterative design of engineered spaces relative to the use of physical mockups, while preserving the human perception and performance characteristics of a completely physical environment. These findings also elucidate specific advantages and disadvantages to specific digital XR technologies with respect to one another and the physical reality baseline. Practitioners may inform their selection of an XR modality for their specific end application based on this comparative analysis, as it contextualizes the niche for each technology in the realm of iterative design for engineered spaces.
Grid-based Vlasov simulation of collisionless plasma expansion

Grid-based Vlasov simulations are carried out to re-evaluate the one-dimensional collisionless plasma expansion into vacuum. The grid-based method eliminates the inherent statistical noise in particle-based methods and allows us to extend the solution beyond the self-similar expansion region and resolve small electron timescale wave perturbations. It is shown that the expansion generates both an ion-acoustic rarefaction wave mode and an electron Langmuir wave mode that propagate into the unperturbed plasma upstream. The assumption used in the classical expansion solution that the electrons are an isothermal fluid is accurate within a quasi-neutral, self-similar expansion region but fails in both the upstream and downstream of that region due to electron timescale perturbations.
Deposition of Yttrium-90 microspheres (Y-90) in the gastroduodenum (GD) is associated with early stasis/reflux and likely caused by reflux to the gastroduodenal artery (GDA)

1162 Objectives Ulceration in GD after Y-90 therapy is caused by direct deposition of Y-90 in the mucosa. We studied the incidence of abnormal Y-90 deposition on post-infusion imaging and correlated it with parameters of infusion and clinical follow-up(FU) of 2 years. Methods A total of 153 Y-90 treatments were reviewed. Y-90 spheres were infused in the hepatic artery (Table), with intermittent infusion of contrast and arteriography. Post-infusion planar and SPECT/CT imaging of the abdomen were obtained using Y-90 bremsstrahlung. Results Early stasis or reflux during infusion, leading to partial delivery of intended Y-90 dose, was identified in 16 cases. The median of the percent delivered dose was 63% (range 27%-86%). Of these 16 cases, abnormal Y-90 activity in GD was identified in 6 cases(38%) with a median percent delivered dose of 59% (50-67%). These cases were treated prophylactically with proton inhibitor. 2 of the 6 cases showed marked Y-90 activity in GD and developed ulcers (1 also had pancreatitis) in FU, with confirmation of sphere deposition by pathology; the other 4 cases showed minimal to mild activity in GD and did not develop symptoms in FU. Other 137 cases received the full intended dose without encountering stasis/reflux. None of these 137 cases showed abnormal Y-90 activity, but 3 patients developed ulcers in FU. There was a significant difference in the frequency of cases showing abnormal Y-90 deposition between the groups with or without early stasis by χ2 test (p Conclusions Early stasis/reflux was identified as a major contributor to Y-90 deposition in the GD, likely due to reflux to the GDA
Characterization of kappa opioid receptor mediated, dynorphin-stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding in mouse striatum for the evaluation of selective KOR ligands in an endogenous setting.

Differential modulation of kappa opioid receptor (KOR) signaling has been a proposed strategy for developing therapies for drug addiction and depression by either activating or blocking this receptor. Hence, there have been significant efforts to generate ligands with diverse pharmacological properties including partial agonists, antagonists, allosteric modulators as well as ligands that selectively activate some pathways while not engaging others (biased agonists). It is becoming increasingly evident that G protein coupled receptor signaling events are context dependent and that what may occur in cell based assays may not be fully indicative of signaling events that occur in the naturally occurring environment. As new ligands are developed, it is important to assess their signaling capacity in relevant endogenous systems in comparison to the performance of endogenous agonists. Since KOR is considered the cognate receptor for dynorphin peptides we have evaluated the selectivity profiles of dynorphin peptides in wild-type (WT), KOR knockout (KOR-KO), and mu opioid receptor knockout (MOR-KO) mice using [35S]GTPγS binding assay in striatal membrane preparations. We find that while the small molecule KOR agonist U69,593, is very selective for KOR, dynorphin peptides promiscuously stimulate G protein signaling in striatum. Furthermore, our studies demonstrate that norBNI and 5′GNTI are highly nonselective antagonists as they maintain full potency and efficacy against dynorphin signaling in the absence of KOR. Characterization of a new KOR antagonist, which may be more selective than NorBNI and 5′GNTI, is presented using this approach.
Fuzzy aggregation networks of hybrid neurons with generalized Yager operators

There have been several models of neural network structures which incorporate fuzzy set theoretic connectives in the activation functions of the nodes. Fuzzy aggregation networks (FANs) are a flexible and trainable class of such networks. To date, FANs have used exponentially weighted inputs in the operators. In this paper, we introduce a linearly weighted version of the FAN which shows the same excellent decision-making potential as the more complex exponentially weighted predecessors.
Wavelength conversion and light amplification in silicon waveguides

This study demonstrates wavelength conversion and intrinsic Raman amplification. This work shows that phase matching is required to achieve high conversion efficiencies. In addition, reduction of waveguide cross section, while maintaining low propagation loss, is highly desirable for both wavelength conversion and optical amplification. The resulting increase in light intensity enhances the Raman interaction and the reduction in free carrier lifetime diminishes the two-photon absorption-induced free carrier losses.
On two Concepts of Stability for Vector Bundles and Sheaves

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on two concepts of stability for vector bundles and sheaves. By replacing ℋ with a Kahler form Φ , the concept of ℋ-stability to that of Φ -stability for vector bundles over compact Kahler manifolds that may or may not be algebraic. The chapter proves the theorem above under this general setting using a simple vanishing theorem. There is another notion of stability due to Gieseker. His ℋ-stability can be extended to Φ -stability in the Kahler case. It is related to Takemoto's Φ -stability. The chapter explains the relationship of the stability concepts with other related notions. The chapter claims that there is a Hermitian structure such that Σ R j j is a constant function. Such Hermitian structure by multiplying the given h with a suitable positive function a is obtained.
Evaluating the security threat of firewall data corruption caused by instruction transient errors

This paper experimentally evaluates and models the error-caused security vulnerabilities and the resulting security violations of two Linux kernel firewalls: IPChains and Netfilter. There are two major aspects to this work: to conduct extensive error injection experiments on the Linux kernel and to quantify the possibility of error-caused security violations using a SAN (Stochastic Activity Network) model. The error injection experiments show that about 2% of errors injected into the firewall code segment cause security vulnerabilities. Two types of error-caused security vulnerabilities are distinguished: temporary, which disappear when the error disappears, and permanent, which persist even after the error is removed, as long as the system is not rebooted. Results from simulating the SAN model indicate that under an error rate of 0.1 error/day during a 1-year period in a networked system protected by 20 firewalls, 2 machines (on the average) will experience security violations. This indicates that error-caused security vulnerabilities can be a non-negligible source of a security threats to a highly secure system.
Book Review: The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight

This is a revision of a Book Review of EE to increase the readability of its original work. To cite this article, please cite: Chen, L.F., 2012, Book Review: The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, Thom Hartmann, Three Rivers Press, New York, USA, ISBN 1-4000-5157-6, Ecological Economics (DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.06.005).
Has Adolescent Childbearing Been Eclipsed by Nonmarital Childbearing

Adolescent childbearing has received decreasing attention from academics and policymakers in recent years, which may in part reflect the decline in its incidence. Another reason may be its uncoupling from nonmarital childbearing. Adolescent childbearing became problematized only when it began occurring predominantly outside marriage. In recent decades, there have been historic rises in the rate of nonmarital childbearing, and importantly, the rise has been steeper among older mothers than among adolescent mothers. Today, two out of five births are to unmarried women, and the majority of these are to adults, not adolescents. Nonmarital childbearing is in and of itself associated with lower income and poorer maternal and child outcomes. However, unmarried adolescent mothers might face more difficulties than unmarried adult mothers due to their developmental status, education, living arrangements, and long-term prospects for work. If this is true, then the focus on adolescent mothers ought to continue. We suggest several facets of adolescent motherhood deserving of further study, and recommend that future research use unmarried mothers in their early 20s as a realistic comparison group.
MMIC consumer application and production

Hand-held radios and wireless telecommunication systems will represent in the near future a high volume market. How GaAs can become a key technology for this application and how to leverage the expertise that can be obtained from silicon processing are discussed. The enabling factors of these emerging applications are cost, size, weight, features, and high operating frequency. GaAs and silicon process technologies are compared. The transfer of silicon process and manufacturing technology to GaAs is considered. GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits are discussed. >
Helping Consumers Use Nutrition Information: Effects of Format and Presentation

Recent policy efforts aimed at curbing obesity rates in the United States have focused primarily on mandated posting of calorie information. However, the research to date suggests that such interve...
Situativity and Symbols: Response to Vera and Simon

Vera and Simon (1993) have provided a helpful and welcome challenge in their articulate questioning of the point of view that emphasizes the situated character of action, including cognition and learning. A full discussion of their arguments and examples requires more space than we are allotted for this response, and we are preparing a longer article that will consider the issues they raised in more detail. We also welcome this opportunity to comment briefly on their provocative arguments.
Serial changes in CO 2 storage in tissues.

Attempts to use the steady state CO2 storage capacity of tissues to predict the rate of blood PCO2 rise during acute exposure to CO2 have been unsuccessful. This discrepancy might be explained by the failure of some or all of the body tissues to exert their full capacity to store CO2 during brief exposures to hypercapnia. This hypothesis was tested in 29 dogs and 10 goats by determining the in vivo CO2 dissociation slope (Δtissue CO2 concentratipn/Δvenous PCO2) in three different tissues, brain, spleen and muscle, during transient states of CO2 retention produced by apneic oxygenation or ventilation with 3% CO2. By six minutes of apneic oxygenation, the CO2 dissociation slope of the brain was 3.8 ml/kg/mm PvCO2; and that of the spleen, 4.2; while this value for muscle was much less, only 1.0 and was unchanged by alteration in the total level of muscle perfusion. Studies with 3% CO2 indicated that the CO2 dissociation of brain and spleen was nearly constant from 5 to 20 min of CO2 exposure but that of muscle gradually increased. These results indicate that factors other than perfusion limit CO2 storage in muscle, and this reduced ability of muscle to store CO2 largely accounts for the low storage capacity of the body during brief periods of exposure to CO2.
Growth of the Early Bovine Fetus

Summary Testing for bovine hereditary syndactyly used artificial insemination, superovulation, and embryo transfer. Thirty-two suspect bulls and 9 suspect cows were mated with 10 syndactyly cows and two syndactylous bulls, respectively. 209 embryos were recovered and one, two, or three embryos was/were transfered into each recipient cow and 56 to 77 days after transfer, 174 fetuses were recovered. There was a significant relationship between amniotic fluid weights from the left uterine horn, fetal weights from right and left uterine horns, and fetal sex, side of corpus luteum, and number of embryo implants. Fetal membrane weights, amniotic fluid weights, fetal weights, and crown-rump lengths increased significantly with fetal age, but recipient cow weight had no significant effect. Survival data from single, double, and triple embryo implants indicated that it was most profitable under these test conditions to implant two embryos per recipient cow, one in each uterine horn.
Isotherms for the He-Ar system at -130, -115, and -90°C up to 700 atm

Abstract A Burnett apparatus was used to obtain compressibility factors and virial coefficients for helium, argon, and four mixtures at -90, -115, and -130°C. The pressures for the first two isotherms ranged from 2 to 700 atmospheres for both pure components and all mixtures. For the -130°C isotherm the pressures for the pure argon and mixtures ranged from 2 atmospheres to slightly below saturation pressure.
Hormonal response of intact rodent uterus in organ culture.

Abstract Organ culture of hamster uterus was undertaken to test uterine tissue response to hormonal stimulus. Graded doses of progesterone and estradiol supplements to standard liquid medium permitted choice of optimal hormonal conditions for maintaining the endometrium. The selection of the most ideally supplemented medium was based on measurements of endometrial cell heights and histological appearance of the tissue sections; this medium, containing 4.0 μg/ml each of progesterone and estradiol, permitted maintenance of 8.0 mm lengths of hamster uterine tube (longitudinally opened) for seven days without necrosis.
Soluble epoxide hydrolase gene deletion improves blood flow and reduces infarct size after cerebral ischemia in reproductively senescent female mice

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), a key enzyme in the metabolism of vasodilatory epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), is sexually dimorphic, suppressed by estrogen, and contributes to underlying sex differences in cerebral blood flow and injury after cerebral ischemia. We tested the hypothesis that sEH inhibition or gene deletion in reproductively senescent (RS) female mice would increase cerebral perfusion and decrease infarct size following stroke. RS (15-18 month old) and young (3-4 month old) female sEH knockout (sEHKO) mice and wild type (WT) mice were subjected to 45 min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with laser Doppler perfusion monitoring. WT mice were treated with vehicle or a sEH inhibitor t-AUCB at the time of reperfusion and every 24hrs thereafter for 3 days. Differences in regional cerebral blood flow were measured in vivo using optical microangiography. Infarct size was measured 3 days after reperfusion. Infarct size and cerebral perfusion 24h after MCAO were not altered by age. Both sEH gene deletion and sEH inhibition increased cortical perfusion 24h after MCAO. Neither sEH gene deletion nor sEH inhibition reduced infarct size in young mice. However, sEH gene deletion, but not sEH inhibition of the hydrolase domain of the enzyme, decreased infarct size in RS mice. Results of these studies show that sEH gene deletion and sEH inhibition enhance cortical perfusion following MCAO and sEH gene deletion reduces damage after ischemia in RS female mice; however this neuroprotection in absent is young mice.
The paradox of reactive oxygen species: injury, signaling, or both?

since gerschman and colleagues ([4][1]) first proposed in 1954 that hyperoxic injury could be attributed to the formation of oxygen free radicals, our understanding of the physiology of oxygen and its reduced metabolites, commonly referred to as reactive oxygen species (ROS), has evolved to
Efficient water use in California: Conjunctive management of ground and surface reservoirs

Abstract In 1976, the California State Assembly, through the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife, and the Rockefeller Foundation, funded a two-year Rand Corp. study of California's water-use efficiency. This study has produced a wide variety of policy recommendations designed to improve the efficiency of water use in the State. This report documents one of the areas of the research, groundwater conjunctive management.
Threshold Detection in Non-Gaussian Interference Environments: Exposition and Interpretation of New Results for EMC Applications

The critical problem of developing optimum weak-signal detection algorithms for general classes of man-made and natural interference is concisely examined. This paper includes a summary of new results for both canonical and specific types of desired signals and electromagnetic interference (EMI) environments. A suitable bias term, missing in most earlier analyses, is essential to preserve the asymptotically optimum (AO) character of these algorithms, as sample size (or observation period ~n) necessarily becomes large, to enable the detection of weak signals with acceptably small probabilities of error. Canonical optimum threshold algorithms are obtained for three principal modes of detection: 1) coherent, 2) incoherent, and 3) composite. The latter 3) is AO, when it consists of the sum of (optimum) algorithms for 1) and 2); it can give noticeable improvement over either 1) or 2) alone. Various (usually) suboptimum algorithms, e.g., simple correlators and clipper correlators, are also considered. Performance measures (n > > 1), e.g., error probabilities, etc., and asymptotic relative efficiencies (ARE's), are noted, along with the useful concepts of processing gain and minimum detectable signal. Interpretations of the algorithmic structure and the implications of these results, generally, for EMC, are concisely discussed.
Translating culture, transcending difference? Cosmopolitan consciousness and Sufi sensibilities in New York City after 2001 1

This article focuses on Muslims for whom tasawwuf (Sufism) was the most authentic practice of Islam, the key to authentic Americanness after 2001, and necessary for creating harmonious communities worldwide. Like many other Muslims, the New York Sufis discussed here saw distinguishing between religious universals (“authentic Islam”) and particular ethnic and national traditions (“culture”) as part of multicultural and cosmopolitan practice. Like other religious Americans, most practitioners did not see how economic disparity was central to, but rarely addressed in, debates about culture. Emphasizing individual striving (jihad) and/as responsibility to others (adab), Sufi practitioners attended to some disparities within the diaspora and enacted appropriate Muslim Americanness in diverse ways. Practitioners from different socio‐economic locations and histories of marginalization made similar distinctions between culture and Islam, and similarly juxtaposed responsible individualism to problematic “cultures....
Determination of phenol concentrations by an electrochemical system with immobilized tyrosinase

An electrochemical system has been devised to measure phenol concentrations in aqueous solutions. The unit employs the immobilized enzyme, tyrosinase, to oxidize phenol in the presence of saturating levels of oxygen. The oxidation product, ortho-benzoquinone, is then chemically reduced in the presence of an excess of ferrocyanide ions. The coupled oxidation of ferrocyanide ions to ferricyanide ions results in a measurable potential difference in the electrochemical system. The resulting zero current potentials in these steady-state potentiometric measurements are shown to be directly proportional to the logarithm of phenol concentration over the range of 3.8 × 10−7 to 1 × 10−4m. The results of studies carried out with alternate substrates for the enzyme and interfering compounds are also presented.
Health Outcomes by Closeness of Sexual Abuse Perpetrator: A Test of Betrayal Trauma Theory

Betrayal trauma theory (Freyd, 1996) postulates childhood abuse perpetrated by a caregiver or someone close to the victim results in worse mental health than abuse perpetrated by a noncaregiver. Using the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) data, we tested whether adults with high betrayal (HB) abuse would report poorer functional and mental health than low betrayal (LB) abuse victims. Among those participants reporting childhood sexual abuse, 32% experienced HB abuse. HB victims had a higher average ACE score than LB victims (2.72 vs. 1.87, p < .001), had significantly lower functional health scores on 4 of the 7 SF–36 Health Survey scales (all p < .04), and reported higher depression, anxiety, suicidality, panic, and anger (all p < .05).
Signaling-mediated Functional Activation of Inducible Nitric-oxide Synthase and Its Role in Stimulating Platelet Activation

Nitric oxide (NO) is a short lived secondary messenger, synthesized by nitric-oxide synthases (NOS). It is believed that the activity of inducible NOS (iNOS) is regulated primarily at the transcription level by inducing expression of iNOS mRNA and protein, which then continuously produces NO, until its degradation. Platelets do not have the nuclear transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of the iNOS gene and are believed to generate NO in response to agonist stimulation via endothelial NOS (eNOS). However, here we show that agonist-induced NO production is only partially eNOS-dependent and is also mediated by iNOS. Platelet agonist-induced NO production is significantly reduced in iNOS-knockout platelets. Platelet NO production occurs within seconds after agonist addition and is not accompanied by changes in iNOS protein levels, indicating a signaling-mediated functional activation mechanism of iNOS. Importantly, iNOS knock-out and iNOS inhibitors reduce agonist-induced platelet secretion and aggregation and cGMP levels, indicating that iNOS activation is important in stimulating platelets via the newly identified NO-cGMP-dependent platelet secretion pathway. Furthermore, iNOS knock-out mice have prolonged bleeding time, suggesting that this novel mode of regulation of iNOS activity plays a physiologically relevant role in hemostasis.
The chemistry of the carbon-transition metal double and triple bond : Annual survey covering the year 2006

Abstract This is a review of papers published in the year 2006 that focus on the synthesis, reactivity, or properties of compounds containing a carbon–transition metal double or triple bond.
Motivational Interviewing in the Health Care Setting

Alcohol use disorders are related to many negative health, emotional, societal, and economic consequences. These disorders are often difficult to treat because individuals suffering from them tend to be ambivalent about and resistant to change. Motivational interviewing provides health care providers with the appropriate tools to treat individuals who are resistant to change and can help with long-term lifestyle and behavioral changes. Motivational interviewing has also been shown to be helpful when a lifestyle approach to treatment is used.
Directed test generation for hybrid systems

Validation of hybrid systems is complex due to interactions of both continuous and discrete dynamics. Simulation is the most widely used form of system validation using a combination of random and constrained-random tests. Directed tests are promising since orders-of-magnitude less number of directed tests can achieve the same coverage goal compared to random tests. While directed test generation is well studied for digital designs, it is still in its infancy for hybrid systems. In this paper, we propose a method for automatically generating directed tests for hybrid systems. The test generation scheme is based on the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm. In contrast to existing methods of using RRT for validation that tries to reach targets (functional scenarios) from the initial state, we propose to employ reverse RRT that starts from a target and tries to reach the initial state. This enables us to generate an accurate testcase for both functional scenarios and interesting corner cases. Our test generation algorithm is upto 33 times faster (average 10 times) compared to state-of-the-art forward RRT techniques.
Bounded Toeplitz products on the weighted Bergman spaces of the unit ball

Abstract Let p > 1 and let q denote the number such that ( 1 / p ) + ( 1 / q ) = 1 . We give a necessary condition for the product of Toeplitz operators T f T g ¯ to be bounded on the weighted Bergman space of the unit ball A α p ( α > − 1 ), where f ∈ A α p and g ∈ A α q , as well as a sufficient condition for T f T g ¯ to be bounded on A α p . We use techniques different from those in [K. Stroethoff, D. Zheng, Bounded Toeplitz products on Bergman spaces of the unit ball, J. Math. Anal. Appl. 325 (2007) 114–129], in which the case p = 2 was proved.
Inciting Sociological Thought by Studying the Deadhead Community: Engaging Publics in Dialogue

We need to pay more attention to the process of being sociologists and less attention to rates of productivity. To support this statement, I present a case study of the processes in which I have been involved while studying Deadheads, fans of the former rock band, the Grateful Dead. To avoid negative sanctioning, I proceeded slowly with this research and therefore had time to engage students, the media, and Deadheads in sociological dialogue. As a result, my teaching, ability to communicate sociological ideas, opportunities to incite sociological thought, and data were enhanced. To fulfill the promise of sociology "to revolutionize how people think" (Johnson 1997), we need to engage publics in dialogue and to establish routine rewards for doing so.
THE PREPARATION OF RELATIVELY PURE BACTERIOPHAGE

The method described above, based on the electrophoretic migration of bacteriophage particles into an agar gel and their subsequent re-suspension in a suitable medium, has the following advantages: It is simple and can be readily carried out on a comparatively large scale by merely inserting additional units between the same electrode cups. It requires but one extraction and the resulting phage suspension is strongly lytic, an average sample being capable of completely lysing susceptible bacteria at a dilution of 10(-16). The suspension contains no proteins demonstrable by the biuret, alcohol, xanthoproteic, Millon or Hopkins-Cole reactions and yields but 0.044 mg. N/cc. directly attributable to the phage. Each corpuscle contains no more nitrogen than a single molecule of protein. In addition the method is applicable to determinations of the electric charge carried by biologically active substances of small dimensions, e.g., phage, toxins, and perhaps some viruses. It offers as well a possible means of purification of these substances. The purified bacteriophage obtained by such a procedure or similar ones is relatively unstable. Work now in progress indicates that it does not possess nearly the resistance to chemical agents, drying, etc., that non-purified phage displays. It is suggested that experiments designed to test the therapeutic value of bacteriophage be conducted, when possible, with purified suspensions thereby avoiding any possibility of obscure non-specific reactions due to other constituents of the lysates.
Sarcopenia and piscines: the case for indeterminate-growing fish as unique genetic model organisms in aging and longevity research

Sarcopenia and dynapenia pose significant problems for the aged, especially as life expectancy rises in developed countries. Current therapies are marginally efficacious at best, and barriers to breakthroughs in treatment may result from currently employed model organisms. Here, we argue that the use of indeterminate-growing teleost fish in skeletal muscle aging research may lead to therapeutic advancements not possible with current mammalian models. Evidence from a comparative approach utilizing the subfamily Danioninae suggests that the indeterminate growth paradigm of many teleosts arises from adult muscle stem cells with greater proliferative capacity, even in spite of smaller progenitor populations. We hypothesize that paired-box transcription factors, Pax3/7, are involved with this enhanced self-renewal and that prolonged expression of these factors may allow some fish species to escape, or at least forestall, sarcopenia/dynapenia. Future research efforts should focus on the experimental validation of these genes as key factors in indeterminate growth, both in the context of muscle stem cell proliferation and in prevention of skeletal muscle senescence.
Unilateral blindness after ipsilateral prophylactic transcranial optic canal decompression for fibrous dysplasia

Abstract PURPOSE: To report a case of unilateral blindness after ipsilateral prophylactic transcranial optic canal decompression for fibrous dysplasia. METHODS: Case report. A 37-year-old woman with fibrous dysplasia underwent a prophylactic left optic canal decompression. Preoperatively, the left eye had a visual acuity of 20/20. RESULTS: Four days after apparently uncomplicated left optic canal decompression, the left eye lost all light perception. Blindness in the left eye persisted despite surgical exploration and transcranial optic nerve sheath fenestration. CONCLUSION: Although prophylactic optic canal decompression warrants consideration in selected patients with fibrous dysplasia, notable risks are associated with this surgery.
Impact of male age on the outcome of assisted reproductive technology cycles using donor oocytes

Abstract This study assessed the influence of the age of the male partner on the outcome of oocyte donation cycles. A total of 408 couples participating in 519 consecutive anonymous oocyte donation cycles were examined. Main outcome measures were fertilization rate, embryo quality, clinical pregnancy, implantation, miscarriage and live birth rates, as well as the total reproductive potential, which estimates the outcome from fresh and cryopreserved–thawed embryo transfers. A total of 241 cycles resulted in clinical pregnancy (48.5% of transfers). The mean embryo score for transferred embryos (ESTE) was higher in cycles resulting in pregnancy ( P =0.003). Semen volume ( P P P =0.04) decreased significantly with advanced male age, which did not correlate with mean ESTE or implantation rate. Fertilization rate was the only predictor of ESTE ( B =16.066, P =0.012), whereas inseminated/retrieved egg ratio was the only predictor of implantation rate ( B =0.555, P =0.039). Pregnancy was only predicted by ESTE (Exp( B )=1.023, P B )=1.017, P =0.009). There was no predictor of miscarriage (47 cycles, 9.1%) identified. Although semen volume, sperm motility and fertilization rate decreased with advanced male age, embryo quality, clinical pregnancy, implantation, miscarriage and live birth rates were not affected.
Race Effects on the Employee Assessing Political Leadership: A Review of Christie and Geis' (1970) Mach IV Measure of Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism has commonly been defined as the need to develop and defend one's power and success (Machiavelli, 1513/1902). Scholars have adopted the perspective of Machiavelli to examine politi...
Microsurgical clipping of true posterior communicating artery aneurysms

“True” posterior communicating artery (PCOM) aneurysms are rare variants in which the aneurysm arises solely from the PCOM rather than the junction of the internal carotid artery and the PCOM. It is critical to note that for true PCOM aneurysms, the neck arises distal to the origin of the PCOM and therefore lies in what is traditionally an intra-operative blind spot. The PCOM must be followed posteriorly to visualise the aneurysm neck for microsurgical clipping. A thorough pre-operative understanding of this unique anatomy is essential in minimising morbidity associated with microsurgical clipping of this aneurysm configuration.
Decision Making as It Affects Long-Range Planning

An analysis is made, by means of a flow diagram, of the various steps in the evolution of a military contract with a private firm. A second flow diagram traces the decisions involved in the utilization of the scientific and engineering staff in a military electronics company. Several important decision areas in the firm are highlighted and related to long-range planning.
Experimental investigation of the swirling flow and the helical vortices induced by a twisted tape inside a circular pipe

The present paper describes the experimental investigation of the turbulent swirling flow induced by a twisted tape (or fin) into a 1 in. diameter pipe. The investigation shows the existence of two corotating helical vortices superimposed over the main swirling flow. The close proximity of the two corotating vortices creates a local reversing flow at the pipe centerline. The flow is investigated using LDV measurements and high speed camera visualization with fine air bubble seeding. Three swirlers with 45, 60, and 90 mm pitch are investigated. Through a reconstruction technique, the tangential flow field induced by a twisted tape swirler with 60 mm pitch at Re=7.7×104 is described by superposition of 385 measurements. Images and movies recorded with regular and high speed cameras clearly show that the helical vortices are very stable and that they rotate around their own axis, confirming the measurements. After extracting the characteristic tangential velocity profiles of the main vortex and of the two se...
Experimental characterization of variable output refractive beamshapers using freeform elements

We present experimental results from variable output refractive beam shapers based on freeform optical surfaces. Two freeform elements in close proximity comprise a beam shaper that maps a circular Gaussian input to a circular ‘flat-top’ output. Different lateral relative shifts between the elements result in a varying output diameter while maintaining the uniform irradiance distribution. We fabricated the beam shaping elements in PMMA using multi-axis milling on a Moore Nanotech 350FG diamond machining center and tested with a 632.8 nm Gaussian input. Initial optical testing confirmed both the predicted beam shaping and variable functionality, but with poor output uniformity. The effects of surface finish on optical performance were investigated using LightTrans VirtualLab TM to perform physical optics simulations of the milled freeform surfaces. These simulations provided an optimization path for determining machining parameters to improve the output uniformity of the beam shaping elements. A second variable beam shaper based on a super-Gaussian output was designed and fabricated using the newly determined machining parameters. Experimental test results from the second beam shaper showed outputs with significantly higher quality, but also suggest additional areas of study for further improvements in uniformity.
Terrorism and the uses of terror

“Terrorism”' is sometimes defined as a “form ofcoercion.” But there are important differences between ordinary coercion and terrorist intimidation. This paper explores some of those differences, particularly the relation between coercion, on the one hand, and terror and terrorization, on the other hand. The paper argues that while terrorism is not necessarily associated with terror in the literal sense, it does often seek to instill a mental state like terror in the populations that it targets. However, the point of instilling this mental state is not necessarily coercive or intimidatory: one can try to instill terror as an act of punishment, or as an expressive or therapeutic act, or because one values the political consequences that might follow, or because one thinks terror is preferable, from an ethical point of view, to the inauthentic complacency that characterizes the targeted population at present. Though this paper asks questions about the definition of “terrorism,” these questions are not asked for their own sake. The quest for a canonical definition of “terrorism” is probably a waste of time. But asking questions which sound like questions of definition is sometimes a fruitful way of focusing our reflections on terrorism and organizing our response.
Why future supercomputing requires optics

Could optical technology offer a solution to the heat generation and bandwidth limitations that the computing industry is starting to face? The benefits of energy-efficient passive components, low crosstalk and parallel processing suggest that the answer may be yes.
Flow past two-dimensional ribbon parachute models

Aerodynamic characteristics of two-dimensional, slotted bluff bodies are experimentally investigated. The models consist of a series of thin flat plates arranged to form flat and curved geometries. Flow visualizations, base pressure measurements, mean velocity vector measurements, arid drag force measurements are conducted to analyze the effects of spacing ratio (i.e., porosity), curvature, and a center opening (i.e., vent). Low-porosity model configurations produced stable near-wake patterns with enhanced vortex sheddings downstream. Model curvature reduced drag forces and weakened the vortex sheddings. Stabilizing effect of curvature on the nearwake patterns was also found. A vent combined with large model curvature was found to reduce drag force significantly as well as suppress the vortex sheddings among models with equivalent porosity.
Hemodynamic monitoring to guide treatment of acute heart failure.

Large registries demonstrate that growing numbers ofmen and women with heart failure are admitted to the hospital with acute decompensation that requires intravenous diuretic and/or vasoactive therapy. Although use of evidence-based therapies and adherence to performance measures have improved outcomes for some, the majority remain at high risk for readmission and even death over the next 6 to 12 months. In a recent study, 42% of patients died, were rehospitalized or had an emergency room visit within 60 days. At the time of admission, several routine clinical and laboratory parameters can be used to risk stratify patients, with systolic blood pressure and measures of renal function having the strongest prognostic significance. Congestion determined clinically or by direct hemodynamic measurement also influences outcomes in acute heart failure, and is the main reason for admission inmost patients. Amajor problem in patient management, however, is lack of tools to assess volume overload with accuracy, resulting in unrecognized congestion before, during, and after admission. Recent studies using implantable hemodynamic monitors demonstrate that cardiac filling pressures gradually rise over the days to weeks preceding a heart failure admission, with signs and symptoms lagging behind or not appreciated at all. Furthermore, after an admission with acute heart failure, patients may be discharged without achieving decongestion. The inability to achieve freedom from congestion at the time of discharge predicts increased morbidity and mortality. Although scoring systems have been proposed to assess
People in motion: Spatio-temporal analytics on Call Detail Records

The data about how people move in a city can be potentially used by various enterprises and government organizations to strategically optimize their operations and maximize their revenue. However, fine-grained and real-time data is currently unavailable to the enterprises. We believe that Cellular Network operators can deliver such data and insights to enterprises. Call records collected in the networks embed a wealth of information about where, when and how a large fraction of the city moves. However, this information is untapped; a majority of the cellular operators are not deriving spatio-temporal insights or monetizing the data that is already available. In this paper, we demonstrate “People in Motion”: an end-to-end Hadoop-based system with a library of spatio-temporal algorithms that operates on the call record data to derive business insights. We identify the hangouts and trajectories of users with different interests. Finally, we demonstrate a visual analytics tool that facilitates business users to compute, compare and contrast the importance of spatial regions at different times for different categories of users.
Asymmetric synthesis of trisubstituted pyrrolidines via boronic esters

Abstract Attempts to synthesize kainic acid and analogous kainoids via asymmetric boronic ester chemistry are described. Problems involving functional group and steric interactions have been encountered, and most have been solved. The way to completion now appears clear.
THE BOUNDARY NODE METHOD FOR POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

The Element-Free Galerkin (EFG) method allows one to use a nodal data structure (usually with an underlying cell structure) within the domain of a body of arbitrary shape. The usual EFG combines Moving Least-Squares (MLS) interpolants with a variational principle (weak form) and has been used to solve two-dimensional (2-D) boundary value problems in mechanics such as in potential theory, elasticity and fracture. This paper proposes a combination of MLS interpolants with Boundary Integral Equations (BIE) in order to retain both the meshless attribute of the former and the dimensionality advantage of the latter! This new method, called the Boundary Node Method (BNM), only requires a nodal data structure on the bounding surface of a body whose dimension is one less than that of the domain itself. An underlying cell structure is again used for numerical integration. In principle, the BNM, for 3-D problems, should be extremely powerful since one would only need to put nodes (points) on the surface of a solid model for an object. Numerical results are presented in this paper for the solution of Laplace's equation in 2-D. Dirichlet, Neumann and mixed problems have been solved, some on bodies with piecewise straight and others with curved boundaries. Results from these numerical examples are extremely encouraging. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The most ethnically diverse urban places in the United States.

Using 1980 U.S. census data, we ranked all urban places over 10,000 in population according to the relative ethnic diversity of their populations, as measured by the entropy index. This statistic reflects the relative heterogeneity of the population in the areal unit, the highest values occurring when all groups are present in equal proportions. The ethnic populations were identified in terms of two different sets or groupings. The first set contains five categories: white, black, Hispanic, American Indian, and Asian and Pacific Island people. The second set has 13 categories and includes specific Hispanic and Asian ethnic groups as well as two categories of whites based on region of ancestral origin in Europe. The results show that larger cities are usually highly diverse, but the most diverse urban places are found throughout the full range of population sues. The places that ranked highest in ethnic diversity are usually part of a metropolitan area, most commonly in the Los Angeles and the San Francisc...
Vaccination and Challenge of Mice with Viruses of the Rabies Serogroup

Tests to determine the antigenic relationship between three viruses of the rabies serogroup, rabies virus, Lagos bat virus, and IbAn 27377 virus, were conducted in mice. Mice vaccinated intracerebrally or intraperitoneally with either of two strains of rabies virus resisted challenge with Lagos bat virus. Similarly vaccinated mice resisted challenge with IbAn 27377 virus to only a slight degree. Mice vaccinated intraperitoneally with Lagos bat or IbAn 27377 virus resisted homologous but not heterologous viral challenge.
Luminescence of Cr3+ in kyanite

Abstract In this paper we report the luminescence studies of octahedrally coordinated Cr 3+ ions in a natural sample of kyanite (Al 2 O 3 :SiO 2 ). The chromium ion can substitute for any one of the four nearly octahedral Al sites with the average metal-ligand distance of about 1.91 A. Using absorption, excitation and emission spectra (steady state and time resolved) as well as decay measurements in the temperature range of 26 to 600 K we were able to clearly identify three different emissions, originating in three different sites. Using spectroscopic data and a one-configurational coordinate model we were able to calculate 10 Dq for each of the active sites. it appears that the range of 10 Dq spanned by the sites is much larger than expected on the basis of the average bond lengths and the electrostatic theory of 10 Dq . The fourth non-emitting site parameters were deduced and the likely reasons for the lack of luminescence from it are discussed. The strongly changing doublet-quartet coupling in different sites of kyanite manifests itself in doublet radiative lifetimes spanning the range of 100–3000 μs.