cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A note on Efremenko's Locally Decodable Codes.

There have been three beautiful recent results on constructing short locally decodable codes or LDCs [Yek07, Rag07, Efr09], culminating in the construction of LDCs of sub-exponential length. The initial breakthrough was due to Yekhanin who constructed 3-query LDCs of sub-exponential length, assuming the existence of infinitely many Mersenne primes [Yek07]. Raghavendra presented a clean formulation of Yekhanin’s codes in terms of group homomorphisms [Rag07]. Building on these works, Efremenko recently gave an elegant construction of 3-query LDCs which achieve subexponential length unconditionally [Efr09]. In this note, we observe that Efremenko’s construction can be viewed in the framework of ReedMuller codes: the code consists of a linear subspace of polynomials in Fq[X1, . . . , Xn], evaluated at all points in (Fq). We stress that this is not a new construction, but just a different view of [Efr09]. In this view, the decoding algorithm is similar to traditional local decoders for Reed-Muller codes, where the decoder essentially shoots a line in a random direction and decodes along it (see for instance [STV01]). The difference is that the monomials which are used are not of low-degree, they are chosen according to a suitable set-system. Further, the lines for decoding are multiplicative, a notion we will define shortly. A crucial ingredient in these LDCs is a large matching set of vectors over Zm. Such vectors can be obtained from the set-systems with restricted intersections modulo composites constructed by Grolmusz [Gro00]. His construction uses the low-degree representations of the OR function modulo composites [BBR94]. We present a construction of matching vectors directly from OR polynomials due to Sudan [Sud09], which is very simple and achieves nearly the same parameters.
Dihydrofolate Reductase Gene Amplification, Altered Dihydrofolate Reductase, and Methotrexate Resistance in Cultured 3T6 Cells Associated with Unstable Amplification of an Altered Dihydrofolate Reductase Gene

Resistance of human neoplasms to various cancer chemotherapeutic agents has been a frustrating problem. Extensive studies in many laboratories have investigated the development of resistance to the 4-amino analog of folate, methotrexate (MTX) and have defined three general mechanisms for such resistance, including reduction in MTX transport,1 alteration in affinity of MTX for the target enzyme of MTX inhibition, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR)2–5 and increased levels of DHFR. 7–13 Our laboratory has shown that the elevated DHFR enzyme levels in various MTX-resistant cell lines result from a corresponding increase in the number of DHFR genes, i.e., gene amplification6,14 irrespective of whether the karyotype is grossly aneuploid or is relatively stable, and irrespective of whether the MTX-resistance is phenotypically stable or unstable.
Residential and Commercial Sectors

Energy use in the residential and commercial sectors primarily results from activities that take place in homes and other buildings. Although the two sectors consist of different classes of buildings having different types of equipment, they are both affected by the same general kinds of mitigation options. A similar analytical approach may be used for both sectors, but its application must take into consideration the different features and dynamics of each sector.
Agricultural productivity and the sectoral reallocation of labor in rural India

Abstract How do shocks to agricultural productivity affect the allocation of labor across sectors of the economy? To answer this, I use data from rural India to show that exogenous increases in agricultural productivity — caused by abnormally high levels of precipitation — lead to an increase in the labor share of the non-agricultural sector. I further show that the non-tradable sector expands significantly when agricultural output increases. This evidence is consistent with increasing agricultural output causing increased demand for local non-tradables, which in turn increases the non-agricultural labor share.
Using the extended self-regulatory model to characterise diabetes medication adherence: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives To cluster the adherence behaviours of patients with type 2 diabetes based on their beliefs in medicines and illness perceptions and examine the psychosocial, clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of patient clusters. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting A face-to-face survey was administered to patients at two family medicine clinics in the Midwest, USA. Participants One hundred and seventy-four ≥20-year-old, English-speaking adult patients with type 2 diabetes who were prescribed at least one oral diabetes medicine daily were recruited using convenience sampling. Primary and secondary outcome measures Beliefs in medicines and illness perceptions were assessed using the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, respectively. Self-reported medication adherence was assessed using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Psychosocial correlates of adherence, health literacy and self-efficacy were measured using the Newest Vital Sign and the Self-efficacy for Appropriate Medication Use, respectively. Two-step cluster analysis was used to classify patients. Results Participants’ mean age was 58.74 (SD=12.84). The majority were women (57.5%). Four clusters were formed (non-adherent clusters: ambivalent and sceptical; adherent clusters: indifferent and accepting). The ambivalent cluster (n=30, 17.2%) included low-adherent patients with high necessity beliefs, high concern beliefs and high illness perceptions. The sceptical cluster (n=53, 30.5%) included low adherent patients with low necessity beliefs but high concern beliefs and high illness perceptions. Both the accepting (n=40, 23.0%) and indifferent (n=51, 29.3%) clusters were composed of patients with high adherence. Significant differences between the ambivalent, sceptical, accepting and indifferent adherent clusters were based on self-efficacy, illness perception domains (treatment control and coherence) and haemoglobin A1c (p Conclusions Patients with diabetes in specific non-adherent and adherent clusters still have distinct beliefs as well as psychosocial characteristics that may help providers target tailored medication adherence interventions.
Mapping Histological Slice Sequences to the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas Without 3D Reconstruction.

Histological brain slices are widely used in neuroscience to study the anatomical organization of neural circuits. Systematic and accurate comparisons of anatomical data from multiple brains, especially from different studies, can benefit tremendously from registering histological slices onto a common reference atlas. Most existing methods rely on an initial reconstruction of the volume before registering it to a reference atlas. Because these slices are prone to distortions during the sectioning process and often sectioned with non-standard angles, reconstruction is challenging and often inaccurate. Here we describe a framework that maps each slice to its corresponding plane in the Allen Mouse Brain Atlas (2015) to build a plane-wise mapping and then perform 2D nonrigid registration to build a pixel-wise mapping. We use the L2 norm of the histogram of oriented gradients of two patches as the similarity metric for both steps, and a Markov random field formulation that incorporates tissue coherency to compute the nonrigid registration. To fix significantly distorted regions that are misshaped or much smaller than the control grids, we train a context-aggregation network to segment and warp them to their corresponding regions with thin plate spline. We have shown that our method generates results comparable to an expert neuroscientist and is significantly better than reconstruction-first approaches. \textcolor{red}{Code and sample dataset are available at \url{sites.google.com/view/brain-mapping}.}
Large-scale incident-induced congestion: en-route diversions of commercial and non-commercial traffic under connected and automated vehicles

When large-scale incidents occur on freeways, en-route traffic diversion is one effective strategy to reduce the impact of incident-induced congestion. In corridors with substantial commercial traffic, e.g., trucks, route diversion is complicated compared with non-commercial vehicular traffic, due to tough vehicle maneuvers along alternate routes, and higher safety risk. To address the issue of commercial vehicle diversions to alternate routes in response to large-scale incidents, this paper establishes a microscopic simulation methodology to analyze the impacts of various technologies on en-route diversion under large-scale traffic incidents in real-life corridors for single-unit and multi-unit trucks and passenger vehicles. Results show, in addition to incident duration and lane blockage, important factors as CAV, incident information availability, number of intersections, AADT, impact en-route truck diversions and hence the resulting delays. In future traffic operations practice, customizing incident information to truck and passenger vehicles separately is recommended.
Longitudinal Metabolite Changes after Traumatic Brain Injury: A Prospective Pediatric Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging Study

The aims of this study were to evaluate longitudinal metabolite changes in traumatic brain injury (TBI) subjects and determine whether early magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) changes in discrete brain regions predict 1-year neuropsychological outcomes. Three-dimensional (3D) proton MRSI was performed in pediatric subjects with complicated mild (cMild), moderate, and severe injury, acutely (6-17 days) and 1-year post-injury along with neurological and cognitive testing. Longitudinal analysis found that in the cMild/Moderate group, all MRSI ratios from 12 regions returned to control levels at 1 year. In the severe group, only cortical gray matter regions fully recovered to control levels whereas N-acetylaspartate (NAA) ratios from the hemispheric white matter and subcortical regions remained statistically different from controls. A factor analysis reduced the data to two loading factors that significantly differentiated between TBI groups; one included acute regional NAA variables and another consisted of clinically observed variables (e.g., days in coma). Using scores calculated from the two loading factors in a logistic regression model, we found that the percent accuracy for classification of TBI groups was greatest for the dichotomized attention measure (93%), followed by Full Scale Intelligence Quotient at 91%, and the combined memory Z-score measure (90%). Using the acute basal ganglia NAA/creatine (Cr) ratio alone achieved a higher percent accuracy of 94.7% for the attention measure whereas the acute thalamic NAA/Cr ratio alone achieved a higher percent accuracy of 91.9% for the memory measure. These results support the conclusions that reduced NAA is an early indicator of tissue injury and that measurements from subcortical brain regions are more predictive of long-term cognitive outcome.
Design Analysis and Testing for Mixed-Mode and Mode II Interlaminar Fracture of Composites

This paper presents the design analysis and results of an experimental program that was conducted to evaluate mixed-mode and Mode II interlaminar fracture behavior of a resin matrix composite material system. A double cracked-lap-shear specimen was designed utilizing a simple, new analysis method. The specimen was made of AS4/3502 graphite/epoxy material with a [′45, 0, 90] 6 s quasi-isotropic balanced symmetric layup. The lap interface studied was at ′45° orientations to the loading direction. A fundamental feature of the designed specimen is its ability to be tested under net tensile and compressive loadings. The specimen exhibits mixed-mode or Mode II behavior depending on the loading direction. This paper summarizes the tension testing only. The crack growth during testing was monitored by observing the isochromatic fringes in photoelastic coatings mounted on the two lap surfaces. Preliminary results indicate that the fracture behavior follows a resistance curve. In order to assess the double cracked-lap-shear specimen data and test, a comparison was made with results obtained with single cracked-lap-shear specimens. Less scatter in the data from the double cracked-lap-shear specimens was found.
Superficial Surgical Infections in Operative Abdominal Trauma Patients: A Trauma Quality Improvement Database Analysis.

Abstract Background Surgical site infections (SSIs) have a substantial impact on economic and health indices for patients and health-care institutions. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for superficial SSIs (sSSIs) in operative abdominal trauma patients using a national cohort. Methods A retrospective analysis of adult trauma patients treated within the Trauma Quality Improvement Database who underwent an exploratory laparotomy from 2010 to 2015 was performed. Risk factors for infection were evaluated using χ2, Wilcoxon rank-sum, and multivariate logistic regression. Results In total, 41,034 patients underwent an exploratory laparotomy for trauma. There were 18,538 (45.6%) penetrating injuries. Additionally, 10,938 (26.7%) patients suffered a hollow viscus injury with one (8484; 20.7%), two (2188; 5.3%), or three or more (266; 0.7%) hollow viscus organs injured, respectively. The sSSI rate was 4.3%. On multivariate analysis, colonic injuries conferred the greatest single organ independent risk for sSSIs (odds ratio [OR] 2.88 [2.41-3.44]), followed by duodenal injuries (OR 1.99 [1.24-3.17]), small bowel injuries (OR 1.54 [1.28-1.84]), gastric injuries (OR 1.41 [1.06-1.89]), body mass index >30 (1.32 [1.14-1.54]), severe Injury Severity Score (16-25) (OR 1.43 [1.19-1.74]), profound Injury Severity Score (>25) (OR 1.76 [1.44-2.15]), and increasing number of hollow viscus injuries with one (OR 2.75 [2.33-3.26]), two (OR 3.82 [2.98-4.89]), or three (OR 6.85 [4.20-11.17]) organs injured, respectively. Conclusions The incidence of sSSI in operative abdominal trauma patients increases with increased body mass index, increased age, location of injury, blood transfusion need, and increasing number hollow viscus injuries. Consideration should be given to avoiding primary skin closure in patients with these risk factors as a way to mitigate SSIs in this patient population.
Contextual Factors Associated With County-Level Suicide Rates in the United States, 1999 to 2016

Importance Understanding geographic and community-level factors associated with suicide can inform targeted suicide prevention efforts. Objectives To estimate suicide rates and trajectories, assess associated county-level contextual factors, and explore variation across the rural-urban continuum. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study included all individuals aged 25 to 64 years who died by suicide from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2016, in the United States. Spatial analysis was used to map excess risk of suicide, and longitudinal random-effects models using negative binomial regression tested associations of contextual variables with suicide rates as well as interactions among county-level contextual variables. Data analyses were conducted between January 2019 and July 2019. Exposure County of residence. Main Outcomes and Measures Three-year county suicide rates during an 18-year period stratified by rural-urban location. Results Between 1999 and 2016, 453 577 individuals aged 25 to 64 years died by suicide in the United States. Decedents were primarily male (349 082 [77.0%]) with 101 312 (22.3%) aged 25 to 34 years, 120 157 (26.5%) aged 35 to 44 years, 136 377 (30.1%) aged 45 to 54 years, and 95 771 (21.1%) aged 55 to 64 years. Suicide rates were higher and increased more rapidly in rural than in large metropolitan counties. The highest deprivation quartile was associated with higher suicide rates compared with the lowest deprivation quartile, especially in rural areas, although this association declined during the period studied (rural, 1999-2001: incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.438; 95% CI, 1.319-1.568;P Conclusions and Relevance This study found that suicide rates have increased across the nation and most rapidly in rural counties, which may be more sensitive to the impact of social deprivation than more metropolitan counties. Improving social connectedness, civic opportunities, and health insurance coverage as well as limiting access to lethal means have the potential to reduce suicide rates across the rural-urban continuum.
Expanded carrier screening in reproductive medicine

Abstract Expanded carrier screening (ECS) is a new option for patients or couples seeking information about the risk of transmission of genetic diseases. As opposed to traditional, ethnicity-based screening, all individuals have the same set of genes analyzed, regardless of ethnic background. The number of genes on ECS panels is much larger than what has been made available for ethnicity-based panels. Such an increase in gene number also increases the complexity of pretest and posttest counseling. Several professional organizations have stated criteria for disease inclusion and exclusion, although there is little universal agreement about specific disorders. Specific aspects of counseling about ECS warrant in-depth comprehension of genetic screening principles. Clinicians should be prepared to offer ECS to patients who request it and understand the implications of positive and negative results.
A Decade of Irrigation Water use trends in Southwestern USA: The Role of Irrigation Technology, Best Management Practices, and Outreach Education Programs

Abstract Irrigation water is crucial for farm operations in the world, with irrigated lands contributing about 40% to food and fiber production. In semi-arid regions such as the Southwestern United States, the demand for irrigation water has increased due to population growth, rising temperatures, and severe drought events in the region. Irrigation plays a vital role in the economies of southwestern states and requires comparative studies to understand the current situation and to propose possible improvement strategies. This study investigated the trend of irrigated cropland, the quantity of irrigation water use, irrigation technology, scheduling decisions, and irrigation outreach using data from 2007 and 2017 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) census. Harvested cropland in the region remained the same with minimal increase in total irrigated land (1%) and the quantity of irrigated water used (2%). However, gravity irrigation methods reduced significantly by 12%, with a 71% increase in the use of drip irrigation systems. The increase in the adoption of soil moisture sensors (55%), plant sensors (107%), government schedules (29%), and supplier’s schedules (50%) for irrigation scheduling decisions, did not translate to a reduction in irrigation water use at the regional level. However, at the state level within the same period, Arizona recorded an increase in irrigated cropland by 10% and harvested cropland by 9%, with a reduction in the quantity of irrigation water used (-5%). The gains in Arizona could be associated with the combined effects of improved irrigation technologies and the use of best management decisions, which could serve as a model for prudent water use in the southwest. There is a need to increase the effort in science-based education and extension programming on integrated approaches that emphasize both irrigation technology and the best management practices, which include seed selection for drought-tolerant crops.
Interview with physicist Christopher Fuchs

QBism is an interpretation of quantum mechanics, proposed by certain physicists that interprets quantum probabilities as subjective Bayesian probabilities, whence its name. By attempting to avoid experientially unfulfilled speculations about what exists prior to measurement, QBism seems to make a close encounter with the phenomenological method. What follows is an interview with QBism’s founder and principal champion, the physicist Christopher Fuchs.
uSMET: a lightweight transport robot

Modern robotic technologies enable the development of semiautonomous ground robots capable of supporting military field operations. Particular attention has been devoted to the robotic mule concept, which aids soldiers in transporting loads over rugged terrain. While existing mule concepts are promising, current configurations are rated for payloads exceeding 1000 lbs., placing them in the size and weight class of small cars and ATVs. These large robots are conspicuous by nature and may not successfully carry out infantry resupply missions in an active combat zone. Conversations with active soldiers, veterans, and military engineers have spotlighted a need for a compact, lightweight, and low-cost robotic mule. This platform would ensure reliable last-mile delivery of critical supplies to predetermined rally points. We present a design for such a compact robotic mule, the μSMET. The proposed design envisions a versatile platform, integrated with the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET), which will ferry supplies to soldiers in combat, evacuate the wounded, and help transport loads on a forced march. The μSMET can adjust its geometry to suit specific payloads and adapt to the terrain, is light enough to be carried by a soldier and sturdy enough to evacuate a soldier, and has adequate off-road mobility to follow an infantry unit. The μSMET’s variable geometry enhances mobility over challenging terrain: its rear wheel assembly can expand to increase its stability or contract to reduce its profile. This publication will describe the design and construction of a prototype μSMET.
Multi-Relational Data Characterization by Tensors: Perturbation Analysis

Data perturbation is deemed a common problem in data processing. It is often inevitable to avoid noisy or misleading data which may arise from real-world collection or model imprecision. Besides, when data privacy is concerned, data perturbation is used as a prevalent data-protection approach, which alters individual data in a way such that the summary statistics still remain more or less the same. Since many data-mining problems can be formulated as tensor equations for characterizing multi-relational data, the main focus of this work is to perform a new perturbation analysis of tensor equations. From our recent study on tensor inversion, we propose a new mathematical framework to invert an arbitrary tensor but the existing iterative algorithms cannot always do so. In this work, we will establish the theoretical tensor-perturbation analysis to quantify the crucial query performance in terms of normalized error-norm with respect to perturbation degree and condition number. The condition number can be taken as a new measure to determine how the solution of a tensor equation varies as the entries are perturbed. Information-retrieval experiments for conducting the perturbation analysis of the solutions to tensor equations over both artificial and real data are undertaken and studied finally.
Designing a provenance-based climate data analysis application

Climate scientists have made substantial progress in understanding Earth's climate system, particularly at global and continental scales. Climate research is now focused on understanding climate changes over wider ranges of time and space scales. These efforts are generating ultra-scale data sets at very high spatial resolution. An insightful analysis in climate science depends on using software tools to discover, access, manipulate, and visualize the data sets of interest. These data exploration tasks can be complex and time-consuming, and they frequently involve many resources from both the modeling and observational climate communities. Because of the complexity of the explorations, provenance is critical, allowing scientists to ensure reproducibility, revisit existing computational pipelines, and more easily share analyses and results. In addition, as the results of this work can impact policy, having provenance available is important for decision-making. In this paper we describe, UV-CDAT, a workflow-based, provenance-enabled system that integrates climate data analysis libraries and visualization tools in an end-to-end application, making it easier for scientists to integrate and use a wide array of tools.
Their Share: Diversity and Disparity in IP Traffic

The need to service populations of high diversity in the face of high disparity affects all aspects of network operation: planning, routing, engineering, security, and accounting. We analyze diversity/disparity from the perspective of selecting a boundary between mice and elephants in IP traffic aggregated by route, e.g., destination AS. Our goal is to find a concise quantifier of size disparity for IP addresses, prefixes, policy atoms and ASes, similar to the oft-quoted 80/20 split (e.g., 80% of volume in 20% of sources). We define crossover as the fraction c of total volume contributed by a complementary fraction 1-c of large objects. Studying sources and sinks at two Tier 1 backbones and one university, we find that splits of 90/10 and 95/5 are common for IP traffic. We compare the crossover diversity to common analytic models for size distributions such as Pareto/Zipf. We find that AS traffic volumes (by byte) are top-heavy and can only be approximated by Pareto with α=0.5, and that empirical distributions are often close to Weibull with shape parameter 0.2–0.3. We also find that less than 20 ASes send or receive 50% of all traffic in both backbones’ samples, a disparity that can simplify traffic engineering. Our results are useful for developers of traffic models, generators and simulators, for router testers and operators of high-speed networks.
Delaying the Buck: Timing, Uncertainty, and Appropriations Outcomes

How do the dynamics of executive-legislative bargaining affect policy outcomes? This project examines the relationship between the duration of the appropriations process and budgetary outcomes in order to assess the relative importance of congressional actors and the sources of tension between them. We analyze whether longer delays at various stages of the process result in greater concessions to the president or to greater volatility in outcomes. We find that delay is associated with greater concessions to the president, but not with volatility, suggesting that the uncertainty in bargaining is uncertainty regarding the president’s position. We also find that the House concedes more to presidents who prefer less spending and that the Senate is more responsive to presidential needs during presidential election years.
Mutations in the amino‐terminal domain of λ‐integrase have differential effects on integrative and excisive recombination

Lambda integrase (Int) forms higher-order protein-DNA complexes necessary for site-specific recombination. The carboxy-terminal domain of Int (75-356) is responsible for catalysis at specific core-type binding sites whereas the amino-terminal domain (1-70) is responsible for cooperative arm-type DNA binding. Alanine scanning mutagenesis of residues 64-70, within full-length integrase, has revealed differential effects on cooperative arm binding interactions that are required for integrative and excisive recombination. Interestingly, while these residues are required for cooperative arm-type binding on both P'1,2 and P'2,3 substrates, cooperative binding at the arm-type sites P'2,3 was more severely compromised than binding at arm-type sites P'1,2 for L64A. Concomitantly, L64A had a much stronger effect on integrative than on excisive recombination. The arm-binding properties of Int appear to be intrinsic to the amino-terminal domain because the phenotype of L64A was the same in an amino-terminal fragment (Int 1-75) as it was in the full-length protein.
Equilibration timescale of atmospheric secondary organic aerosol partitioning

[1] Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed from partitioning of oxidation products of anthropogenic and biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) accounts for a substantial portion of atmospheric particulate matter. In describing SOA formation, it is generally assumed that VOC oxidation products rapidly adopt gas-aerosol equilibrium. Here we estimate the equilibration timescale, τ_(eq), of SOA gas-particle partitioning using a state-of-the-art kinetic flux model. Τ_(eq) is found to be of order seconds to minutes for partitioning of relatively high volatility organic compounds into liquid particles, thereby adhering to equilibrium gas-particle partitioning. However, τ_(eq) increases to hours or days for organic aerosol associated with semi-solid particles, low volatility, large particle size, and low mass loadings. Instantaneous equilibrium partitioning may lead to substantial overestimation of particle mass concentration and underestimation of gas-phase concentration.
Thunks: a way of compiling procedure statements with some comments on procedure declarations

Abstract : This paper presents a technique for the implementation of procedure statements of ALGOL 60 with some comments on the implementation of procedure declarations. It was felt that a solution which had both elegance and mechanizability was more desirable than a brute-force solution. It is to be explicitly understood that this solution is one acceptable solution to a problem soluble in many ways. (Author)
A Non-negative Matrix Factorization approach to state estimation in stochastic systems

In this paper a novel Non-negativeMatrix Factorization (NMF) based state estimation approach is applied to a stochastic system. Recognizing that uniqueness of solutions is a challenge in NMF in general, we analyze in the paper under what conditions NMF has a unique solution in the stochastic system state estimation context. Moreover, we explore the system attributes corresponding to those conditions. Examples are presented to illustrate the analysis and to manifest the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Using ecological theory to plan restorations of the endangered Beach jacquemontia (Convolvulaceae) in fragmented habitats

Summary Population viability and metapopulation theory and models are heuristic tools that can be used to plan restorations and assess their success. Using examples from South Florida, USA, we review background information and ongoing reintroduction experiments with the federally endangered coastal perennial vine, beach jacquemontia, Jacquemontia reclinata (Convolvulaceae). All known wild populations are declining in isolated habitat fragments varying in size, occupied area, and degree of isolation. Eleven reintroduction sites ranging in size from 422 to 4800 m2 within the extant species’ range have been identified that have characteristics suitable for J. reclinata introductions and have land managers amenable to restoration efforts. Previous RAPD analysis indicated that genetic diversity of natural populations was positively correlated with population size; the two largest populations had the highest genetic diversity and the smallest populations had relatively low genetic diversity. Despite habitat fragmentation and large distances between some populations, migration rates were very high among populations ( m = 4.05 ). Experimental crosses indicated the species has a mixed mating system. From 2001 to 2005, we have introduced 935 J. reclinata in seven experiments in five locations using plants propagated ex situ at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Reintroductions have dramatically increased the number of plants in the wild by 72%. Survival from the time of transplant to 2005 ranged from 2% to 97%, was not significantly correlated with metapopulation parameters, such as, founding population size, patch size, or connectivity to extant populations. Reintroduced plants are contributing seed and pollen to the wild populations, but no recruited seedlings have yet been observed. Although it may take decades before we can consider the reintroduced populations to be self-sustainable, we argue that planning restorations for rare species based on predictions from ecological theory is advisable to allow a higher probability of success.
Influence of Substrate Strength on Wetting Behavior

We examine the evolution of prewetting phase behavior with substrate strength for a model Lennard-Jones system, which consists of monatomic particles interacting with a single structureless surface. Grand canonical transition matrix Monte Carlo simulation is used to characterize surface phase behavior for several wall strengths. Our results indicate that both wetting and prewetting critical temperatures increase with decreasing wall strength, with the former increasing at a faster rate than the latter. The two curves appear to meet at the critical temperature of the bulk fluid at nonzero substrate strength. Overall, prewetting transitions are found within a triangular-shaped region within the temperature−wall strength plane, bound by wetting and prewetting critical lines and a series of layering/crystallization transitions at low temperature. The interfacial tension is calculated along each saturation line, from which we deduce the latent heat of the prewetting transition. Several corresponding states ide...
Relationship between the regional abundance of forest and the composition of forest bird communities

Abstract We surveyed bird populations in 46 forest tracts in Connecticut, USA, to determined how the distribution of birds is related to forest area, isolation from other forest, and vegetation structure. Both the density and species richness of forest-interior birds tend to be lower in smaller forests. Some species show a significant tendency to be absent from small forests, while others are present in small forests but have higher densities in large forests This pattern is apparently not related to vegetation structure. Sites that are more isolated from other forests also tend to have fewer forest-interior birds. Forest area is the best predictor of the density and species richness of forest-interior birds for small forests, while isolation is the best predictor for large forests. Our results indicate that maintenance of a diversity of forest-interior birds will require preservation of large areas of forest.
A novel approach for evaluation of prostate deformation and associated dosimetric implications in IGRT of the prostate

Purpose: Prostate deformation is assumed to be a secondary correction and is typically ignored in the planning target volume (PTV) margin calculations. This assumption needs to be tested, especially when planning margins are reduced with daily image-guidance. In this study, deformation characteristics of the prostate and seminal vesicles were determined, and the dosimetric impact on treatment plans with different PTV margins was investigated. Methods: Ten prostate cancer patients were retrospectively selected for the study, each with three fiducial markers implanted in the prostate. Two hundred CBCT images were registered to respective planning CT images using a B-spline-based deformable image registration (DIR) software. A manual bony anatomy-based match was first applied based on the alignment of the pelvic bones and fiducial landmarks. DIR was then performed. For each registration, deformation vector fields (DVFs) of the prostate and seminal vesicles (SVs) were quantified using deformation-volume histograms. In addition, prostate rotation was evaluated and compared with prostate deformation. For a patient demonstrating small and large prostate deformations, target coverage degradation was analyzed in each of three treatment plans with PTV margins of 10 mm (6 mm at the prostate/rectum interface), as well as 5, and 3 mm uniformly. Results: Deformation of the prostate was most significant in the anterior direction. Maximum prostate deformation of greater than 10, 5, and 3 mm occurred in 1%, 17%, and 76% of the cases, respectively. Based on DVF-histograms, DVF magnitudes greater than 5 and 3 mm occurred in 2% and 27% of the cases, respectively. Deformation of the SVs was most significant in the posterior direction, and it was greater than 5 and 3 mm in 7.5% and 44.9% of the cases, respectively. Prostate deformation was found to be poorly correlated with rotation. Fifty percent of the cases showed rotation with negligible deformation and 7% of the cases showed significant deformation with minimal rotation (<3°). Average differences in the D95 dose to the prostate + SVs between the planning CT and CBCT images was 0.4% ± 0.5%, 3.0% ± 2.8%, and 6.6% ± 6.1%, respectively, for the plans with 10/6, 5, and 3 mm margins. For the case with both a large degree of prostate deformation (≈10% of the prostate volume) and rotation (≈8°), D95 was reduced by 0.5% ± 0.1%, 6.8% ± 0.6%, and 20.9% ± 1.6% for 10/6, 5, and 3 mm margin plans, respectively. For the case with large prostate deformation but negligible rotation (<1°), D95 was reduced by 0.4 ± 0.3, 3.9 ± 1.0, and 11.5 ± 2.5 for 10/6, 5, and 3 mm margin plans, respectively. Conclusions: Prostate deformation over a course of fractionated prostate radiotherapy may not be insignificant and may need to be accounted for in the planning margin design. A consequence of these results is that use of highly reduced planning margins must be viewed with caution.
Three‐dimensional reconstruction of the nose epidermal cells in the microbial feeding nematode, Acrobeles complexus (Nematoda: Rhabditida)

The epidermis of the anterior end (nose) plays an important role in the evolution, development, and functional feeding morphology in nematodes, but information on this complex organ system is limited. Here, we produce a 3D model of 13 of the cells making up this organ system reconstructed from serial transmission electron micrographs of the microbial feeding nematode, Acrobeles complexus. Nose epidermal cells were found to be broadly similar to those of the distantly related model organism Caenorhabditis elegans in the number and arrangement of nuclei in these largely syncytial cells; this similarity demonstrates striking evolutionary conservation that allows for robust statements of homology between the taxa. Examining details of cell shape, however, revealed surprisingly complex subcellular specialization, which differed markedly from C. elegans in the number and arrangement of cell processes. Anterior toroid processes of the anterior arcade, posterior arcade, and HypB syncytia form a nested complex at the base of the labial probolae. Anterior toroid processes of HypC and the inner labial socket cells are associated with the base of the cephalic probolae and radial ridge processes. Extracellular filaments (tendon organs) and radiating cytoskeletal filaments of the posterior arcade syncytium form a connection between the body wall muscle cells and the pharynx. An epidermal cell with no known homolog in other nematodes is identified. Findings provide a basis to propose hypotheses related to the development and evolutionary origin of specialized feeding appendages (probolae) in the Cephalobinae (including Acrobeles), and hypotheses of homology are revised for epidermal cells in the nose of the closely related and primarily plant parasitic group, Tylenchida. J. Morphol. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Relation of physical education to self-concept

This study investigated the relation of an elementary school program in physical education to the self-concepts of children in Grades 1 to 4. Two parochial schools were selected, one with a physical education program (n = 126 children) and one without such a program (n = 86 children). The Martinek-Zaichkowsky Self-concept Scale was administered during the first two weeks of September and again during the last two weeks of April. A 2 (pre-posttest) x 2 (group) x 4 (grade) analysis of variance with repeated measures on the first factor was used to analyze each measure, with post hoc tests to follow up. The self-concept results indicated that physical education did not enhance the self-concepts of children, except for those children in the second grade.
Effects of dorsolateral frontal cortex lesions and discrimination-alternation training on regional acetylcholinesterase activity in monkey

Summary Twenty adult female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were divided into 4 treatment groups of 5 subjects each; nonlesioned-nontrained (NLNT), nonlesioned-trained (NLT), lesioned-nontrained (LNT), and lesioned-trained (LT). All lesions were bilateral ablations of dorsolateral frontal cortex. The training consisted of color discrimination and delayed alternation. AChE activity was determined for 19 brain regions in each subject. Significant changes in AChE activity due to the lesion were found in orbital cortex, caudate nucleus and pons while training procedures produced significant changes only in the orbital cortex. The 3 brain areas in which significant AChE changes were found bear a close anatomical and functional relationship to the lesioned prefrontal cortex.
Contribution of trees to soil carbon sequestration under agroforestry systems in the West African Sahel

Consequent to recent recognition of agricultural soils as carbon (C) sinks, agroforestry practices in the West African Sahel (WAS) region have received attention for their C sequestration potential. This study was undertaken in the Segou region of Mali that represents the WAS, to examine the extent of C sequestration, especially in soils, in agroforestry systems. Five land-use systems were selected in farmers’ fields [two traditional parkland systems, two improved agroforestry systems (live fence and fodder bank), and a so-called abandoned land]. Soil samples taken from three depths (0–10 cm, 10–40 cm, and 40–100 cm) were fractionated into three size classes (2,000–250 μm, 250–53 μm, and <53 μm) and their C contents determined. Whole-soil C contents, g kg−1 soil, across three depths ranged from 1.33–4.69 in the parklands, 1.11–4.42 in live fence, 1.87–2.30 in fodder bank, and 3.69–5.30 in abandoned land; and they correlated positively with silt + clay content. Using the 13C isotopic ratio as an indicator of relative contribution of trees (C3 plants) and crops (C4 plants) to soil C, more tree-origin C was found in larger particle size and surface soil and indicated that long-term tree presence promoted storage of protected C in deeper soil. Existing long-standing agroforestry practices of the region such as the parklands seemed to have little advantage for sequestering additional C, whereas improved agroforestry practices such as live fence and fodder bank introduced in treeless croplands seemed to be advantageous.
The North American Menopause Society 1998 menopause survey: Part II. Counseling about hormone replacement therapy: association with socioeconomic status and access to medical care.

AbstractObjective:The purpose of this study was to examine two predictors of women's obtaining hormone replacement therapy (HRT) counseling: socioeconomic status and access to health care.Design:During May-July 1998, by means of random-digit telephone dialing, 749 postmenopausal women who were livin
Conversion-electron and photon spectra of Gd147 and Gd149

Abstract A new gadolinium isotope decaying by electron capture with a 29-hour half-life was found. Its mass number was determined to be 147 by examination of its excitation function for production by alpha particle bombardment of Sm 2 147 O 3 . The electron-capture isotope Gd 149 was also studied, and its half-life was redetermined to be 9.3 ± 0.3 days. The conversion-electron and photon spectra of Gd 147 and Gd 149 were studied. Relative photon and electron intensities were determined for some of the transitions, and some coincidence measurements were made. From the data a few multipolarities are assigned and partial decay schemes are suggested.
Mariners 6 and 7: Radio Occultation Measurements of the Atmosphere of Mars

Mars atmosphere refractivity, carbon dioxide condensation, temperature and surface pressure from Mariners 6 and 7 radio occultation measurements
Design Methodology for Voltage-Overscaled Ultra-Low-Power Systems

This paper proposes a design methodology for voltage overscaling (VOS) of ultra-low-power systems. This paper first proposes a probabilistic model of the timing error rate for basic arithmetic units and validates it using both simulations and silicon measurements of multipliers in 65-nm CMOS. The model is then applied to a modified K-best decoder that employs error tolerance to reveal the potential of the framework. With simple modifications and timing error detection-only circuitry, the conventional K-best decoder improves its error tolerance in child node expansion modules by up to 30% with less than 0.4-dB SNR degradation. With this error tolerance, the supply voltage can be overscaled by 12.1%, leading to 22.5% energy savings.
Alkali combined extrusion pretreatment of corn stover to enhance enzyme saccharification

Abstract Because of good adaptability, high throughput and continuous feature, twin-screw extrusion has been shown to be a promising pretreatment method for biomass to open the cell wall at the microscopic scale. This greatly increases the specific surface area for enzyme adsorption regardless of crystallinity. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of alkali-assisted extrusion for improving corn stover digestability. The glucose and xylose sugar yields for combined process were 86.8% and 50.5%, respectively, at an alkali loading of 0.04 g/g dry biomass, a screw speed of 80 rpm, temperature of 140 °C and washed with water. The average residence time for extrusion is 27 min for 100 g corn stover. These yields were 3.9 and 13.3 times higher than their untreated counterparters. The crystallinity index was not related with hydrolysis yields. Congo red dye adsorption indicated that alkali-assisted extrusion produced significantly more pores at the meso and large scales compared to untreated material, which significantly improved the sugar yields.
In-plane anisotropy of electrical resistivity in strain-detwinned SrFe 2 As 2

Intrinsic, in-plane anisotropy of electrical resistivity was studied on mechanically detwinned single crystals of SrFe${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$ above and below the temperature of the coupled structural/magnetic transition, ${T}_{\mathrm{TO}}$. Resistivity is smaller for electrical current flow along the orthorhombic ${a}_{o}$ direction (direction of antiferromagnetically alternating magnetic moments) and is larger for transport along the ${b}_{o}$ direction (direction of ferromagnetic chains), which is similar to CaFe${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$ and BaFe${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$ compounds. A strongly first-order structural transition in SrFe${}_{2}$As${}_{2}$ was confirmed by high-energy x-ray measurements, with the transition temperature and character unaffected by moderate strain. For small strain levels, which are just sufficient to detwin the sample, we find a negligible effect on the resistivity above ${T}_{\mathrm{TO}}$. With the increase of strain, the resistivity anisotropy starts to develop above ${T}_{\mathrm{TO}}$, clearly showing the relation of anisotropy to an anomalously strong response to strain. Our study suggests that electronic nematicity cannot be observed in the FeAs-based compounds in which the structural transition is strongly first order.
Market structure and the search for exhaustible resources

Abstract A dynamic programming model of mineral exploration and extraction is developed in order to examine the effects of market structure on exhaustible-resource industries. It is found that firms with market power rationally spend less on mineral exploration than would otherwise identical competitive firms, since the discovery of additional reserves has a detrimental effect on future prices which will be ignored by competitive firms.