cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gender Attitudes in Early Childhood: Behavioral Consequences and Cognitive Antecedents.

This study examined factors that predicted children's gender intergroup attitudes at age 5 and the implications of these attitudes for intergroup behavior. Ethnically diverse children from low-income backgrounds (N = 246; Mexican-, Chinese-, Dominican-, and African American) were assessed at ages 4 and 5. On average, children reported positive same-gender and negative other-gender attitudes. Positive same-gender attitudes were associated with knowledge of gender stereotypes. In contrast, positive other-gender attitudes were associated with flexibility in gender cognitions (stereotype flexibility, gender consistency). Other-gender attitudes predicted gender-biased behavior. These patterns were observed in all ethnic groups. These findings suggest that early learning about gender categories shape young children's gender attitudes and that these gender attitudes already have consequences for children's intergroup behavior at age 5.
Measuring housing affordability in São Paulo metropolitan region: Incorporating location

Abstract This paper develops a novel measure of affordability for the Sao Paulo metropolitan region that combines housing costs and transportation costs, including opportunity cost associated with commuting time. The results for the 2007–2013 period indicate that the number of households spending > 30% of their income on housing or 45% or more on housing and transportation costs combined has been increasing rapidly. This measure of affordability that includes transportation costs provides a broader measure of housing needs to guide housing policy in addressing housing conditions that have negative effects on individual and social welfare.
Nonpharmacologic and Nontraditional Treatments for Status Epilepticus

If first- and second-line antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) fail to control status epilepticus (SE), it is termed refractory status epilepticus (RSE), and the likelihood of additional interventions stopping seizures diminishes dramatically. Both morbidity and mortality increase with longer duration of status epilepticus. One retrospective study of 47 RSE patients reported 23 % mortality and only 31 % returning to baseline [1, 2]. When RSE persists despite aggressive intervention with an anesthetic agent for 24 h or more, it is termed super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE), and mortality rates are reported to be 30–50 % [1]. No prospective, double-blinded studies exist to direct management of RSE or SRSE. Nonpharmacologic and nontraditional treatments for status epilepticus are typically reserved for these types of cases, perhaps following several days of failed attempts at controlling seizures using a combination of antiepileptic drugs and general anesthetics. These treatment options can include hypothermia, neurostimulation, ketogenic dietary treatment, immunomodulation, and resective surgery (also see Chap. 32 on investigational treatments of RSE).
Reliability of Heterochromatic Flicker Photometry in Measuring Macular Pigment Optical Density among Preadolescent Children

Macular pigment optical density (MPOD)—assessed using customized heterochromatic flicker photometry (cHFP)—is related to better cognition and brain lutein among adults. However, the reliability of MPOD assessed by cHFP has not been investigated in children. We assessed inter-session reliability of MPOD using modified cHFP. 7-10-year-olds (n = 66) underwent cHFP over 2 visits using 11 examiners. Reliability was also assessed in a subsample (n = 46) with only 2 examiners. Among all participants, there was no significant difference between the two sessions (p = 0.59—session 1: 0.61 ± 0.28; session 2: 0.62 ± 0.27). There was no significant difference in the MPOD of boys vs. girls (p = 0.56). There was a significant correlation between sessions (Y = 0.52x + 0.31; R 2 = 0.29, p ≤ 0.005), with a reliability of 0.70 (Cronbach's α). Among the subsample with 2 examiners, there was a significant correlation between sessions (Y = 0.54x + 0.31; R 2 = 0.32, p < 0.005), with a reliability of 0.72 (Cronbach's α). In conclusion, there is moderate reliability for modified cHFP to measure MPOD in preadolescents. These findings provide support for future studies aiming to conduct noninvasive assessments of retinal
Women in the draft resistance movement

Why has the position of the sexes become an issue in some social movements and not in others? Under what conditions has feminism emerged out of movements devoted to other causes? Starting with these general questions, this case study, based on participant observation, explores the factors which led women in the draft resistance movement in Boston in the late 1960s to turn toward, and help found, a Women's Liberation group. The strategies and tactics of the Resistance (more explicitly than other New Left movements) differentiated male from female participants. The segregation and subordination of women within the Resistance drew them into awareness of themselves as a distinct group; the Resistance ideology, which had strong egalitarian themes, contradicted their subordination and could be extended to define sexual inequality as a political issue. Contact with outside feminists helped precipitate the shift from draft resistance to Women's Liberation.
Technology Maintenance: A New Frame for Studying Poverty and Marginalization

This paper offers a new theoretical frame for those interested in poverty and design. As digital access rates peak, technology maintenance argues that the digital divide will increasingly manifest in the (in)ability to stay connected. As a novel and conservative test, open-ended data from a 748-person university student survey of technology maintenance were analyzed. Use and ownership were ubiquitous, but students demonstrated variability in coping with the inevitable; disconnection was more burdensome for low-resourced students. Findings extend technology maintenance and are leveraged as a starting point for three calls for action in HCI: 1) the CHI community should research the burdens of poverty in poor and wealthy contexts; 2) new HCI projects should accommodate inconsistent access; and, 3) new design choices should minimize disruption and optimize stability. This requires action at the individual and organizational level as designers create products that consider marginalization but also use expertise to influence policy.
Assessment of Nutrition Knowledge of Parents of Elementary School-aged Children to Enhance Obesity Knowledge and Prevention

Dietary intake has been linked to numerous diseases and comorbid conditions. Assessing nutritional knowledge is important to determine educational focus areas so that interventions and the need for additional research can be determined. The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the nutritional knowledge of parents of elementary-aged school children by using the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ). A descriptive design using a purposive sample of elementary-aged children's parents at an elementary school in Southeastern Louisiana was used for this study. The questionnaire was sent home with each student at the school (N = 574). Parents were instructed that participation was voluntary and that they should return the questionnaire, in the envelope provided, whether they chose to complete it or not. Only fully completed surveys were used for data analysis. A total of 146 questionnaires were returned with 36 being discarded due to incompletion. 110 completed questionnaires were used for this analysis, yielding a 19% return rate. The average age range of participants was from 25-34 (50.9%; n=56), with the majority being female (90.9%; n=100), married (70.0%; n=77), employed full time (50.9%; n=56) with a high school education (41.8%; n=46). No strong correlation existed between variables. However, some mild correlations were present (See Table 4). Overall, a knowledge deficit was present in parental nutrition knowledge. As the epidemic of childhood obesity continues to rise, something must be done to combat the problem. Using future research in the area of parental knowledge of nutrition, interventions can be tailored directly to parents.
Microcredit Lending to Female Entrepreneurs: A Middle East Case Study

There are more than 4 billion people in the world living off of less than 1500USD per year. These are the people worldwide without access to commercial banks and credit unions. These are the people that microcredit lending institutions are here to help. This paper focuses on the advantages to allocating the microcredit loans to female entrepreneurs. Highlighting women’s empowerment through microcredit lending, and using the Middle East as a case study, this paper uses studies from throughout the region that show that microcredit loans are improving communication, access to information regarding rights, and improved household welfare. Through access to credit and literacy, women throughout the region are generating income, which in turn is a key bargaining chip for familiar and societal participation.
Art and Immortality in the Ancient Near East

Discussions of apocalyptic thought and its sources in the ancient Near East, particularly Mesopotamia, have a long scholarly history, with a renewed interest and focus in the recent decades. Outside Assyriological scholarship as well, studies of the apocalyptic give significant credit to the ancient Near East, especially Babylonia and Iran, as potential sources for the manifestations of this phenomenon in the Hellenistic period. The emphasis on kingship and empire in apocalyptic modes of thinking warrants special attention paid to the regal art of ancient Mesopotamia and adjacent areas in its potential to express the relevant notions. In this book, Mehmet-Ali Atac demonstrates the importance of visual evidence as a source for apocalyptic thought. Focusing on the so-called investiture painting from Mari, he relates it to parallel evidence from the visual traditions of the Assyrian Empire, ancient Egypt, and Hittite Anatolia.
Response Errors in Surveys of Defensive Gun Use: A National Internet Survey Experiment:

A national Internet survey of a probability sample of 5,550 U.S. adults was used to study possible sources of error in surveys of defensive gun use (DGU). Respondents (Rs) were randomly exposed to ...
On the growth of meromorphic functions on rays

In this paper I investigate the behaviour of $$L = \lim \,\mathop {\inf }\limits_{r \to \infty } |\log |f(re^{i\delta } )| + \log |f(re^{ - i\delta } )||/N(r)$$ (1) where f is a meromorphic function of non-integral order λ, $$N(r) = N(r,f) + N(r,1/f)$$ and $$0 \leqq \delta < \pi .$$
Biologic therapy in Crohn's disease: review of the evidence.

Abstract It is expected that within a few months, there will be commercially available in the United States a total of 3 biologic agents with inhibition of tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) as the primary mechanism of action: infliximab, adalimumab, and certolizumab pegol. The primary efficacy data for each of these agents are reviewed. All 3 agents appear to be efficacious for both induction and maintenance of remission in Crohn's disease. There are no trials comparing these agents, but one can infer from available data that they have broadly similar efficacy. Adverse events associated with anti-TNF-a therapy, including infection, infusion reactions, autoimmunity, risk of malignancy, and neurologic events, are reviewed.
An Introduction to the Mathematical Modeling in the Study of Cancer Systems Biology

Background Frequently occurring in cancer are the aberrant alterations of regulatory onco-metabolites, various oncogenes/epigenetic stochasticity, and suppressor genes, as well as the deficient mismatch repair mechanism, chronic inflammation, or those deviations belonging to the other cancer characteristics. How these aberrations that evolve overtime determine the global phenotype of malignant tumors remains to be completely understood. Dynamic analysis may have potential to reveal the mechanism of carcinogenesis and can offer new therapeutic intervention. Aims We introduce simplified mathematical tools to model serial quantitative data of cancer biomarkers. We also highlight an introductory overview of mathematical tools and models as they apply from the viewpoint of known cancer features. Methods Mathematical modeling of potentially actionable genomic products and how they proceed overtime during tumorigenesis are explored. This report is intended to be instinctive without being overly technical. Results To date, many mathematical models of the common features of cancer have been developed. However, the dynamic of integrated heterogeneous processes and their cross talks related to carcinogenesis remains to be resolved. Conclusions In cancer research, outlining mathematical modeling of experimentally obtained data snapshots of molecular species may provide insights into a better understanding of the multiple biochemical circuits. Recent discoveries have provided support for the existence of complex cancer progression in dynamics that span from a simple 1-dimensional deterministic system to a stochastic (ie, probabilistic) or to an oscillatory and multistable networks. Further research in mathematical modeling of cancer progression, based on the evolving molecular kinetics (time series), could inform a specific and a predictive behavior about the global systems biology of vulnerable tumor cells in their earlier stages of oncogenesis. On this footing, new preventive measures and anticancer therapy could then be constructed.
Prejudice, Moral Progress, and Being 'On the Right Side of History': Reflections on Loving v. Virginia at Fifty

What does it mean to be on the “right” or “wrong” side of history? When Virginia’s Attorney General explained his decision not to defend Virginia’s “Defense of Marriage Law” prohibiting same-sex marriage, he asserted that it was time for Virginia to be on the “right” rather than the “wrong” side of history and the law. He criticized his predecessors, who defended the discriminatory laws at issue in Brown v. Board of Education, Loving v. Virginia, and United States v. Virginia. Loving played a crucial role in the majority opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, even as the dissenters disputed its relevance; it continues to feature in post-Obergefell controversies over religious liberty and LGBT rights. Looking back at the record in Loving, this article argues that Loving illustrates a theme of generational moral progress in constitutional interpretation: laws once justified by appeals to nature, history, tradition, divine law, and the well-being of children and society are repudiated as rooted in prejudice. Virginia sought to distance its antimiscegenation law from prejudice and white supremacy by appealing to social science that identified problems posed by “intermarriage” -- particularly for children -- and rejected the idea that intermarriage was a path toward progress and freedom from prejudice. Countering with narratives of constitutional moral progress, the Lovings and their amici argued that Virginia’s law was an odious relic of slavery and a present-day reflection of racial prejudice, unsupported by modern science. The article concludes with a look at Obergefell, and the competing arguments southern states made about Loving and the lessons of history.
Ultrasound guided L5-S1 placement of labor epidural does not improve dermatomal block in parturients.

Abstract Background Based on their experience or training, anesthesiologists typically use the iliac crest as a landmark to choose the L3-4 or L2-3 interspace for labor epidural catheter placement. There is no evidence-based recommendation to guide the exact placement. We hypothesized that lower placement of the catheter would lead to a higher incidence of S2 dermatomal block and improved analgesia in late labor and at delivery. Methods One-hundred parturients requesting epidural analgesia were randomly assigned to receive ultrasound-guided L5–S1 epidural catheter placement (experimental group) or non-ultrasound-guided higher lumbar interspace placement (control group). The primary outcome was the incidence of S2 block 30 minutes after administering 10 mL 0.125% bupivacaine. Secondary outcomes were average pain throughout labor and maximum pain during labor or during delivery. Results Forty-nine subjects were enrolled in control group and 47 in the experimental group. The primary endpoint did not significantly differ between groups (control group 81% vs experimental group 91%, P=0.24). The secondary endpoints were not significantly different: pain relief after 30 minutes (mean pain score 1.4 in the control group vs 1.9 in the experimental group, P=0.2) and pain at delivery (mean score 4 in the control group vs 3.9 in the experimental group, P=0.6). Conclusion Placement of an epidural catheter at the L5–S1 interspace using ultrasound did not improve sacral sensory block coverage when compared with an epidural catheter placed at a higher lumbar interspace, without using ultrasound guidance.
Self-Determination: Motivational Profiles of Bachelor’s Degree Seeking Students at an Online, For-Profit University

Grounded in the self-determination theory, this exploratory quantitative study investigated motivational profiles of bachelor’s degree seeking students at an online, for-profit university. Cluster analysis revealed two distinct motivational profiles (internally and externally regulated) of 158 students enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program. The significant differences between the two profiles offers support for the multidimensional nature of motivation as argued by self-determination theory. A chi-square test of independence revealed a significant association between motivational profile membership and gender. No associations were found between motivational profile membership and age. The results offer insights into the motivations of bachelor’s degree seeking students attending an online, for-profit university. Over two-thirds of the students in this study exhibited high external forms of motivation. It is recommended practitioners employ methods to increase autonomous forms of motivation in the online, for-profit educational setting. Understanding student motivations to graduate may help administrators, curriculum designers, and instructors develop focused interventions and best practices that could be used to increase graduation rates.
The promise and perils of 'Big Data': focus on spondyloarthritis.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review will describe the available large-scale data sources to study spondyloarthritis (SpA), enumerate approaches to identify SpA and its disease-related manifestations and outcomes, and will outline existing and future methods to collect novel data types [e.g. patient-reported outcomes (PRO), passive data from wearables and biosensors]. RECENT FINDINGS In addition to traditional clinic visit-based SpA registries, newer data sources, such as health plan claims data, single and multispecialty electronic health record (EHR) based registries, patient registries and linkages between data sources, have catalyzed the breadth and depth of SpA research. Health activity tracker devices and PRO collected via PROMIS instruments have been shown to have good validity when assessed in SpA patients as compared to legacy disease-specific instruments. In certain cases, machine learning outperforms traditional methods to identify SpA and its associated manifestations in EHR and claims data, and may predict disease flare. SUMMARY Although caution remains in the application of newer data sources and methods including the important need for replication, the availability of new data sources, health tracker devices and analytic methods holds great promise to catalyze SpA research.
Watching Plasmonic Crystals Move to the Acoustic Beat

Femtosecond photoexcitation produces coherent, picosecond structural oscillations in plasmonic nanocrystals. Because the motions are tiny and fleeting, elucidating the influence of non-uniform interactions is challenging. Now, researchers have directly imaged such angstrom-scale single-particle dynamics using a highly sensitive ultrafast electron microscope.
Practically Efficient Scheduler for Minimizing Average Flow Time of Parallel Jobs

Many algorithms have been proposed to efficiently schedule parallel jobs on a multicore and/or multiprocessor machine to minimize average flow time, and the complexity of the problem is well understood. In practice, the problem is far from being understood. A reason for the gap between theory and practice is that all theoretical algorithms have prohibitive overheads in actual implementation including using many preemptions. One of the flagship successes of scheduling theory is the work-stealing scheduler. Work-stealing is used for optimizing the flow time of a single parallel job executing on a single machine with multiple cores and has a strong performance in theory and in practice. Consequently, it is implemented in almost all parallel runtime systems. This paper seeks to bridge theory and practice for scheduling parallel jobs that arrive online, by introducing an adaptation of the work-stealing scheduler for average flow time. The new algorithm Distributed Random Equi-Partition (DREP) has strong practical and theoretical performance. Practically, the algorithm has the following advantages: (1) it is non-clairvoyant; (2) all processors make scheduling decisions in a decentralized manner requiring minimal synchronization and communications; and (3) it requires a small and bounded number of preemptions. Theoretically, we prove that DREP is (4+e)-speed O(1/e^3)-competitive for average flow time. We have empirically evaluated DREP using both simulations and actual implementation by modifying the Cilk Plus work-stealing runtime system. The evaluation results show that DREP performs well compared to other scheduling strategies, including those that are theoretically good but cannot be faithfully implemented in practice.
Individual Patterns of Abnormality in Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reveal Two Data-Driven PTSD Subgroups.

Objective:A major challenge in understanding and treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is its clinical heterogeneity, which is likely determined by various neurobiological perturbations. Th...
mSWI/SNF promotes distal repression by titrating polycomb dosage

The mammalian SWI/SNF, or BAF complex, has a conserved and direct role in antagonizing polycomb-mediated repression. Yet, BAF appears to also promote repression by polycomb in stem cells and cancer. How BAF both antagonizes and promotes polycomb-mediated repression remains unknown. Here, we utilize targeted protein degradation to dissect the BAF-polycomb axis in embryonic stem cells on the timescale of hours. We report that rapid BAF depletion leads to quick redistribution of both PRC1 and PRC2 complexes from highly occupied domains, like Hox clusters, to weakly occupied sites genome-wide. This results in transcriptional derepression, chromatin decompaction, and opposite epigenomic changes to repressed domains. Surprisingly, we find that limiting polycomb dosage underlies these effects, such that BAF driven polycomb antagonism titrates the dosage required for repression, reconciling the opposing roles. These findings provide an explanation for the frequent mutation of BAF subunits in neurodevelopmental disorders and certain cancers.
Modular high temperature gas reactor core modeling with RELAP5-3D/PHISICS – Optimization schemes for load following

Abstract The objective of this study is to develop a 3D neutron kinetic (NK) and thermal hydraulic (TH) coupled model using the INL developed code RELAP5-3D©/PHISICS to study the load following operation of a Modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (MHTGR). The selected design is the 350 MW prismatic, graphite moderated, helium cooled thermal reactor based on the MHTGR-350 transient benchmark led by the High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) Methods Core Simulation Group at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the framework of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA). This kind of reactor usually reacts very slowly to the perturbation of the core parameters due to the large amount of graphite in the core. This kind of behavior promotes the reactor stability but on the other hand limits the reactor load-following operability. Recently advances in gas reactor designs have made load-following a feasible and achievable goal. Modern nuclear reactors (such as the MHTGR-350) are designed to withstand the structural stresses associated with load-following. Operating the reactor in load-following mode will inevitably reduce the load factor. Although a higher load factor means more revenue and the best usage of the fuel, following the variable energy demand will increase the maximum achievable fraction of generated nuclear power, being no more limited to the base load power generation. In general, if low impact on material aging and the safe operability are demonstrated, the plant economics will be minimally affected. In order to ensure that the system can be safely operated in a load-following mode, an extensively study has been carried out. Some tests with linear change in coolant mass flow rate demonstrated that the reactor behavior is suitable for operation in load following mode. This assumption has been confirmed by a 4 days load following transient test in which the reactor supplied the requested power with a negligible error.
Environmental communication pedagogy and practice

This chapter explores ways in which participants engaging in a critical pedagogy praxis in Nepal generated subjective learning themes related to their environment and society. Generative critical education stands in contrast to top-down methods of formal teaching and learning. To begin the discussion, let us consider two of the functions of environmental communication: to be pragmatic and to be constitutive (Cox 2013, 19). As human society deepens its understanding of the implications of life in the Anthropocene, the current geological age in which humans are the dominant influence on the environment, the need for strategic pragmatic environmental communication has become increasingly evident. Whether in the form of public awareness campaigns, direct action and protest, or consumer education, many diverse institutions are arising to answer the call. Among these is the university, charged with developing the future stewards of our planet. Ironically, the pragmatic nature of environmental communication messages has also made them vulnerable to cooption and dilution in the form of greenwashing, manufactured uncertainty, and a deceptive corporate environmental and social responsibility agenda. It is out of the matrix of higher education and into a world of competing ecological problem/solution narratives that today’s graduates emerge. Will the environmental crisis we are facing be solved by market-based mechanisms, technological innovation, or blunt regulations? Unfortunately, this question is indicative of an understanding of ecological justice that does not interrogate the system as a whole.
MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION FROM EXTERNAL COMPRESSION OF THE OSTIAL LEFT MAIN CORONARY ARTERY IN A PATIENT WITH MOYAMOYA DISEASE

Extracranial vascular disease in patients with Moyamoya disease is increasingly recognized, with a wide spectrum of observed coronary artery pathology. A 54-year-old female with a history of bilateral internal carotid artery occlusion and ischemic strokes due to Moyamoya disease, left external
Gender and Age Influences on Interpretation of Emoji Functions

An online survey, the Understanding Emoji Survey, was conducted to assess how English-speaking social media users interpret the pragmatic functions of emoji in examples adapted from public Facebook comments, based on a modified version of [15]’s taxonomy of functions. Of the responses received (N = 519; 351 females, 120 males, 48 “other”; 354 under 30, 165 over 30, age range 18--70+), tone modification was the preferred interpretation overall, followed by virtual action, although interpretations varied significantly by emoji type. Female and male interpretations were generally similar, while “other” gender respondents differed significantly in dispreferring tone and preferring multiple functions. Respondents over 30 often did not understand the functions or interpreted the emoji literally, while younger users interpreted them in more conventionalized ways. Older males were most likely, and younger females were least likely, to not understand emoji functions and to find emoji confusing or annoying, consistent with previously reported gender and age differences in attitudes toward, and frequency of, emoji use.
Germs, genomes, and global history in the time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic presents opportunities and challenges for historians working on the global history of health and disease. This article argues that the history of disease will benefit from interdisciplinary work that brings together historians, microbiologists, and archaeologists. Genomes are historical archives, in two complementary ways. Palaeogenomics provide direct access to genomes of the past, while phylogenetics furnish historical insight from evolutionary relationships. Both palaeogenomics and phylogenetics have already contributed enormously to the history of disease, helping us understand how human ecological transformation drives the evolution of our microparasites.
The Rise and Fall of Worldwide Income Inequality, 1820-2035

Development is a process and there are at least four phases of the process: (1) pre-development, (2) initial growth, (3) improved productivity, and (4) receding growth. Other things constant, the growth of per capita GDP will be higher in phases 2 and 3 than phases 1 and 4. The development process and accompanying demographic changes explain both the nearly two centuries of increasing income inequality prior to 2000 and the reversal of this trend that followed. During 1820-1950, the growth of per capita income was slow and most of the world was in phase 1 of development. However, about 20 countries mostly in Western Europe, North America, and Oceania, moved out of phase 1 and grew more rapidly than the rest of the world, widening income inequality. Between 1960 and 2000, an increasing share of developing countries moved into phase 2 and achieved growth rates similar to the high-income countries, slowing the rise in inequality. By 2000-2015, most of the developing countries had moved into phases 2 and 3, where growth rates are higher, and the high-income countries were sliding into phase 4, where growth is slower. This combination resulted in a sharp reduction in worldwide income inequality. The Gini coefficients for both cross-country and worldwide income inequality confirm these trends. Moreover, the continuation of favorable demographics, lower cost of transportation and communications, improvements in institutions, increases in human capital, and progress against malaria are accelerating growth in developing countries. These forces virtually assure that the recent reductions in worldwide income inequality will continue in the near term.
Toward a Liquid Biopsy: Greedy Approximation Algorithmsfor Active Sequential Hypothesis Testing

In the problem of active sequential hypotheses testing (ASHT), a learner seeks to identify the true hypothesis from among a known set of hypotheses. The learner is given a set of actions and knows the random distribution of the outcome of any action under any true hypothesis. Given a target error $\delta>0$, the goal is to sequentially select the fewest number of actions so as to identify the true hypothesis with probability at least $1 - \delta$. Motivated by applications in which the number of hypotheses or actions is massive (e.g. genomics-based cancer detection), we propose efficient (greedy, in fact) algorithms and provide the first approximation guarantees for ASHT, under two types of adaptivity. Both of our guarantees are independent of the number of actions and logarithmic in the number of hypotheses. We numerically evaluate the performance of our algorithms using both synthetic and real DNA mutation data, demonstrating that our algorithms outperform previous heuristic policies by large margins.
Exchange Rate Forecasting: Results from a Threshold Autoregressive Model

Structural models of exchange rate determination rarely forecast the exchange rate more accurately than a naive random walk model. Recent innovations in exchange rate modeling indicate that changes in the exchange rate may follow a self-exciting threshold autoregressive model (SETAR). We estimate a SETAR model for various monthly US dollar exchange rates and generate forecasts for the estimated models. We find: (1) nonlinearities in the data not uncovered by the standard nonlinearity tests and (2) that the SETAR model produces better forecasts than the naive random walk model.
Optimization in the context of active control of sound

A problem of eliminating the unwanted time-harmonic noise on a predetermined region of interest is solved by active means, i.e., by introducing the additional sources of sound, called controls, that generate the appropriate annihilating signal (anti-sound). The general solution for controls has been obtained previously for both the continuous and discrete formulation of the problem. Next, the control sources are optimized using different criteria. Minimization of the overall absolute acoustic source strength is equivalent to minimization of multivariable complex functions in the sense of L1 with conical constraints. The global L1 optimum appears to be a special layer of monopoles on the perimeter of the protected region. The use of quadratic cost functions, e.g., the L2 norm of the controls, leads to a versatile numerical procedure. It allows one to analyze sophisticated geometries in the case of a constrained minimization. Finally, minimization of power consumed by an active control system always involves interaction between the sources of sound and the surrounding acoustic field, which was not the case for either L1 or L2. One can, in fact, build a control system that would require no power input for operation and may even produce a net power gain while providing the exact noise cancellation. This, of course, comes at the expense of having the original sources of noise produce even more energy.
A fundamental paradigm for coral reef carbonate sediment dissolution

The long-term success of coral reefs depends on a positive balance of calcium carbonate production exceeding dissolution, erosion, and material export. As a result of ocean acidification, coral reefs could transition from net accretion to net erosion owing to decreasing rates of calcification and increasing rates of chemical dissolution and bioerosion. Here, I present a fundamental paradigm that aims to explain the main driver of carbonate sediment dissolution on coral reefs based on theory and a new empirical dataset of pore water carbonate chemistry from the Bermuda coral reef platform. The paradigm shows that carbonate sediment dissolution is most strongly controlled by the extent of organic matter decomposition in the sediments, but that the magnitude of dissolution is influenced by how much decomposition is required to reach pore water undersaturation with respect to the most soluble bulk carbonate mineral phase present in the sediments, a condition defined as the Carbonate Critical Threshold (CCT). Decomposition of organic matter beyond the CCT under aerobic conditions results in stoichiometric proportional dissolution of carbonate sediments. As ocean acidification proceeds over the next several decades, the extent of organic matter decomposition required to reach the CCT will decrease, carbonate dissolution will increase, and subsequently the accumulation of carbonate sediments will decrease. Since drastic reductions in anthropogenic CO2 emission are unlikely in the foreseeable future, the paradigm shows that active controls and reduction of organic matter input to coral reefs at the local scale might be an effective mitigation strategy to prevent or delay coral reefs transitioning to a state of net dissolution.
The worldwide gene pool of Gossypium barbadense L. and its improvement.

This chapter describes the improved and unimproved gene pools of Gossypium barbadense. Section one discusses the taxonomic and geographic structure of species diversity. Section two describes the origin and development of modern improved germplasm pools, beginning with Sea Island cottons developed in the Caribbean and the coastal Southeast of the United States in the late 18th century. The origins and development of the Egyptian and Amercian Pima germplasm pools are sketched. Finally, smaller but significant gene pools created in Peru, Israel, and Australia are discussed. The role of interspecific introgression with G. hirsutum in broadening the improved germplasm pool is noted. In section three unimproved genetic resources in situ and in germplasm collections are examined.
High CTLA-4 Expression on Th17 Cells Results in Increased Sensitivity to CTLA-4 Coinhibition and Resistance to Belatacept

The CD28/cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4)blocker belatacept selectively inhibits alloreactive T cell responses but is associated with a high incidence of acute rejection following renal transplantation,which led us to investigate the etiology of belatacept–resistant graft rejection. T cells can differentiate into functionally distinct subsets of memory T cellsthat collectively enable protection against diverse classes of pathogens and can cross-react with allogeneicantigen and mediate graft rejection. T helper 17(Th17) cells are a pro-inflammatory CD4+ lineage that provides immunity to pathogens and are pathogenic in autoimmune disease. We found that T helper 1 (Th1)and Th17 memory compartments contained a similar frequency of divided cells following allogeneic stimulation.Compared to Th1 cells, Th17 memory cells expressed significantly higher levels of the coinhibitory molecule CTLA-4. Stimulation in the presence of belatacept inhibited Th1 responses but augmented Th17 cells due to greater sensitivity to coinhibition by CTLA-4. Th17 cells from renal transplant recipients were resistant to ex vivo CD28/CTLA-4 blockade with belatacept, and an elevated frequency of Th17 memory cells was associated with acute rejection during belatacept therapy. These data highlight important differences in costimulatory and coinhibitory requirements of CD4+ memory subsets, and demonstrate that the heterogeneity of pathogen-derived memory has implications for immunomodulation strategies.
Role of Sialic Acid in Potassium Transport of L1210 Leukaemia Cells

THE cell membranes of various tumour strains possess large quantities of sialic acid and a strong, negative surface charge1–5. This charge, which is partly due to the ionized carboxyl group of sialic acid2,4,5, may be important in influencing physiological properties such as transport of ions6. Since tumour cells seem to concentrate K+ ions better than normal cells7–9, we have begun to investigate the regulation of K+ fluxes by sialic acid.
Fault diagnosis using dynamic trend analysis: A review and recent developments

Dynamic trend analysis is an important technique for fault detection and diagnosis. Trend analysis involves hierarchical representation of signal trends, extraction of the trends, and their comparison (estimation of similarity) to infer the state of the process. In this paper, an overview of some of the existing methods for trend extraction and similarity estimation is presented. A novel interval-halving method for trend extraction and a fuzzy-matching-based method for similarity estimation and inferencing are also presented. The effectiveness of the interval halving and trend matching is shown through simulation studies on the fault diagnosis of the Tennessee Eastman process. Industrial experiences on the application of trend analysis technique for fault detection and diagnosis is also presented followed by a discussion on outstanding issues and solution approaches.
Topographic localization of brain activation in diffuse optical imaging using spherical wavelets

Diffuse optical imaging is a non-invasive technique that uses near-infrared light to measure changes in brain activity through an array of sensors placed on the surface of the head. Compared to functional MRI, optical imaging has the advantage of being portable while offering the ability to record functional changes in both oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin within the brain at a high temporal resolution. However, the reconstruction of accurate spatial images of brain activity from optical measurements represents an ill-posed and underdetermined problem that requires regularization. These reconstructions benefit from incorporating prior information about the underlying spatial structure and function of the brain. In this work, we describe a novel image reconstruction approach which uses surface-based wavelets derived from structural MRI to incorporate high-resolution anatomical and structural prior information about the brain. This surface-based approach is used to approximate brain activation patterns through the reconstruction and presentation of topographical (two-dimensional) maps of brain activation directly onto the folded surface of the cortex. The set of wavelet coefficients is directly estimated by a truncated singular-value decomposition based pseudo-inversion of the wavelet projection of the optical forward model. We use a reconstruction metric based on Shannon entropy which quantifies the sparse loading of the wavelet coefficients and is used to determine the optimal truncation and regularization of this inverse model. In this work, examples of the performance of this model are illustrated for several cases of numerical simulation and experimental data with comparison to functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Evading the CKM hierarchy: Intrinsic charm in B decays

We show that the presence of intrinsic charm in the hadrons' light-cone wave functions, even at a few percent level, provides new, competitive decay mechanisms for B decays which are nominally CKM suppressed. For example, the weak decays of the B-meson to two-body exclusive states consisting of strange plus light hadrons, such as $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{B}\ensuremath{\pi}K,$ are expected to be dominated by penguin contributions since the tree-level $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{b}\mathrm{su}\ifmmode \bar{u}\else \={u}\fi{}$ decay is CKM suppressed. However, higher Fock states in the B wave function containing charm quark pairs can mediate the decay via a CKM-favored $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{b}\mathrm{sc}\overline{c}$ tree-level transition. Such intrinsic charm contributions can be phenomenologically significant. Since they mimic the amplitude structure of ``charming'' penguin contributions, the latter need not be penguin contributions at all.
Electrophysiological Measures of Auditory Processing in Odontocetes

The cetaceans, most notably the small odontocetes, possess extraordinary auditory faculties, remarkable in both their frequency as well as temporal capabilities. As has been abundantly documented in this volume and elsewhere, cetaceans make extensive use of sound in echolocation as well as communication behaviors. The cetaceans exhibit extremely broadband frequency sensitivity with hearing extending from below 100Hz (possibly less than 10Hz in the great whales) to greater than 150 kHz. Moreover, the smaller toothed whales in particular appear to combine high temporal resolution with very sharp frequency tuning.
Evaluation of uncertainties for parameters in binding studies: The sum-of-squares profile and Monte Carlo estimation

Methods for characterization and evaluation of uncertainties in the parameter values for binding experiments are presented. A sum-of-squares profile is defined and illustrated. Sum-of-squares profiles give a qualitative description of both the uncertainties and correlation of parameters. The Monte Carlo method is developed as an accurate means of evaluating uncertainties in parameter values for nonlinear models. Examples are given for both actual and synthetic data.
Enhanced field emission stability and density produced by conical bundles of catalyst-free carbon nanotubes

Self-assembled bundling and catalyst removal can enhance the field emission stability and density of vertically-aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes (VA-MWCNTs). These catalyst-free, opened tip, VA-MWCNTs offered better emission stability than the as grown samples. Both the emission stability and density were further enhanced as the opened-tip MWCNTs self-assembled into arrays of conical bundles. Theoretical simulation suggests that higher emission density was due to the reduced screening effects. The simulated local fields at the tips of the bundles suggest for a two-order of magnitude lower electric field loading on MWCNTs and contribute to prolong emission stability needed for practical applications.
Characterization of a thyristor controlled reactor

Abstract This paper characterizes the operation of a thyristor controlled reactor (TCR) which consists of an inductance and a bi-directional thyristor switch connected in parallel. Firing angle control of the thyristor switches regulates the time for which the inductance is included in the circuit. This controls the average value of the inductance. The continuously regulated inductance can be used for line flow regulation and short circuit current reduction. It can also be used for series compensation when the TCR is connected in series with a fixed capacitor and when the combination is inserted in series with transmission lines. This paper analysis the operation of the TCR using equations and EMTP simulations. The analysis shows that a series compensator using TCR regulates the level of compensation from inductive to capacitive and the system response is faster than the recently commercialized ‘Advanced Series Compensation’ (ASC) scheme. Also, the problems of resonance and harmonic instability associated with the ASC are eliminated. The TCR can control short circuit current within half cycle.
A mathematical treatment of nonequilibrium chromatography

Abstract A nonequilibrium chromatographic process has been analyzed mathematically using Mellin transforms. The peak characteristics, i.e. retention time, peak width, peak asymmetry and deviation from the Gaussian distribution are expressed in terms of the mean, variance, skewness and excess of the distribution function. The rates of the desorption and adsorption processes can be evaluated from the statistical quantities. The theory has also been applied to the adsorption on multiple sites.
Parallel concatenated convolutional coding for a local multipoint distribution service system

In this paper, the performance of a LMDS (local multipoint distribution service) system with parallel concatenated convolutional coding (PCCC) is analyzed and simulated. The channel of a LMDS system is modeled as a Rician fading channel with strong Rician factor because it is generally accepted that there always exists a line-of-sight (LOS) path between the base station and subscriber units. The performance is evaluated in terms of codeword error probability. From the simulation results, it is confirmed that the performance is significantly improved by employing PCCC. The results in the paper can be applied to the radio modem design of a LMDS system.
Jupiter's red spot in 1968 - 1969

Abstract Photographic observations of Jupiter's Red Spot between 14 October 1968 and 24 August 1969 are reported. The Red Spot regained all of the darkness and area that it had exhibited from 1961 to early 1966. A 3-month oscillation in longitude was observed for the sixth consecutive apparition. A series of dark streaks apparently were emitted from the preceding tip of the Red Spot, and advanced from that feature at the rate of 17 m/sec. Two dark spots on the north edge of the South Temperature Belt encountered the Red Spot and underwent accelerations which were an order of magnitude greater than the greatest acceleration previously observed in the atmosphere of Jupiter.