cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Loop state-preparation-and-measurement tomography of a two-qubit system

We experimentally demonstrate that loop state-preparation-and-measurement (SPAM) tomography is capable of detecting correlated errors in a two-qubit system. We prepare photon pairs in a state that approximates a Werner state, which may or may not be entangled. By performing measurements with multiple different detector settings, we are able to detect correlated errors between two single-qubit measurements performed in different locations. No assumptions are made concerning either the state preparations or the measurements, other than that the dimensions of the states and the positive-operator-valued measures describing the detectors are known. The only other needed information is experimentally measured expectation values, which are analyzed for self-consistency. This demonstrates that loop SPAM tomography is a useful technique for detecting errors that would degrade the performance of multiple-qubit quantum information processors.
Reconstruction of Head Injury Cases Arising from Falls Using the UCD Brain Trauma Model

While Road Traffic Accidents continue to be the largest contributor to head injury, falls are usually second in prevalence. This paper looks at numerical modelling techniques, namely multibody body dynamics and finite element methods, in order to reconstruct two real-life accident cases arising from falls. Various modelling strategies are explored, and the results are compared with existing published brain injury tolerance levels.
Detection of a New Effect as a Result of Polymer Behavior in Alkaline Media

An unexpected Residual Oil Saturation (ROS) ring was observed after the application of the Polymer Augmented Alkaline Flooding (PAAF) process in linear and radial Berea sandstone cores. No information about the previous observations of this effect has been found in the literature. Such an effect was not observed in cores flooded with either alkaline solution or polymer solution alone. Thus, the formation of the ROS ring was attributed to the interaction between the alkaline/polymer blend solution and chasing fresh polymer solution at their transitional interface.
Data Structures and Algorithms: An Object-Oriented Approach Using Ada 95

This textbook provides an in depth course on data structures in the context of object oriented development. Its main themes are abstraction, implementation, encapsulation, and measurement: that is, that the software process begins with abstraction of data types, which then lead to alternate representations and encapsulation, and finally to resource measurement. A clear object oriented approach, making use of Booch components, will provide readers with a useful library of data structure components and experience in software reuse. Students using this book are expected to have a reasonable understanding of the basic logical structures such as stacks and queues. Throughout, Ada 95 is used and the author takes full advantage of Ada's encapsulation features and the ability to present specifications without implementational details. Ada code is supported by two suites available over the World Wide Web.
Development Status of a 3-D Electron Fluid Model for Hall Thruster Plume Simulations

A 3-D electron fluid model has been developed as a steping stone to fully describe the electron current flow across magnetic fields inside a vacuum chamber and to provide electron flux to solar arrays for spacecraft surface charging model. A detailed description of the numerical treatment of the electric potential solver, including finite-volume formulation, implementation, and the treatment of boundary conditions, are presented in this paper. Verification tests of the model are presented.
Practice patterns of VTE chemoprophylaxis after discharge following hepatic and pancreatic resections for cancer: A survey of hepatopancreatobiliary surgeons

Patients with hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) malignancies undergoing resection are prone to venous thromboembolism (VTE), and current guidelines recommend up to 28 days of chemoprophylaxis after major surgery. We sought to determine the practice patterns among HPB surgeons for use of chemoprophylaxis after discharge. A survey on VTE chemoprophylaxis after oncologic HPB operations was distributed to attending surgeons at the 18 HPB fellowship training programs in the United States and Canada. Of the HPB surgeons surveyed, 44 (44%) responded. VTE prophylaxis is used by 93% of respondants in the inpatient postoperative setting. Chemoprophylaxis after discharge for pancreaticoduodenenctomy and distal pancreatectomy is utilized by 45% and 39% of respondants, respectively. Of those who prescribe chemoprophylaxis after discharge, 79% and 88% prescribe it for the recommended 28 days after pancreaticoduodenectomy and distal pancreatectomy, respectively. Chemoprophylaxis after discharge for major and minor hepatectomy is utilized by 39% and 26% of respondents, respectively. Of those who prescribe chemoprophylaxis after discharge, 67% and 55% provide it for the recommended 28 days after major and minor hepatectomy, respectively. Despite documented prolonged postoperative thrombogenic risk, the use of chemoprophylaxis following discharge after pancreatic and liver resections for cancer was moderate among surveyed HPB surgeons.
Usefulness of Predischarge Cardiac Testing in Low Risk Women and Men for Safe, Rapid Discharge from a Chest Pain Unit.

Predischarge cardiac testing (PDT) in low-risk patients evaluated for acute coronary syndrome in a chest pain unit (CPU) remains a challenge. It is unclear whether PDT varies by gender. We analyzed consecutive low-risk women and men evaluated in our CPU over a 2-year period and compared the utilization of PDT (exercise treadmill test, myocardial stress perfusion scintigraphy, exercise stress echocardiography, invasive coronary angiography, or no test), and incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 30 days and 6 months. The study group comprised 619 patients (54% women). A large proportion of both genders did not undergo PDT, although this finding was more frequent in women (50% women vs 40% men, p = 0.01). At 30 days, there were no MACE in either gender. After 6 months of follow-up, MACE remained very low in both women and men (2 [1%] vs 2 [1%]), and in patients who did and did not receive PDT (2 [1%] vs 2 [1%]). Mean length of stay in the CPU was 5.4 hours in patients without PDT and 9.8 hours in those with PDT (p
ON MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE MATHEMATICALLY TALENTED: A CALL TO ACTION

WHAT is being done in schools today to meet the needs of mathematically talented students? At present there seems to be a highly disproportionate emphasis on (and dis proportionate funding for) the needs of slow learners and special programs for them. Theoretically, teachers at all levels take the responsibility to maximize the growth of every student in both cognitive and affective domains. Hence, all students must be allowed full opportunity to be educated to the limits of their ability. The gifted student has not been given this op portunity, one that must be given to all able student^ regardless of their future pursuit of mathematics. As a leading professional organization, the National Council of Teachers of Math ematics has the potential to influence signif icantly school district, state, and federal programs. As professional educators com mitted to improving the educational op portunities of each student, NCTM mem bers have the responsibility to assume leadership in bringing about needed changes. By addressing the unmet needs of mathematically talented students, NCTM would confront an issue of great impor tance and could make a significant contri bution to education. The task of identifying developing mathematical talent is as complex as it is urgent. This article examines various facets of the problem that must be addressed in accepting the challenge of providing ade quate opportunities for the gifted.
Increasing abdominal wall thickness predicts complications in abdominally based breast reconstruction: A review of 106 consecutive patients.

Summary Background Body mass index (BMI) has long been the proxy for patient selection in obese patients presenting for abdominally based breast reconstruction. BMI, however, fails to accurately reflect the distribution of abdominal adipose tissue. This study aims to quantify the effect of abdominal wall thickness on the incidence of post-operative complications and contrast abdominal wall thickness and BMI as predictors of post-operative morbidity. Methods We performed a retrospective review of 106 consecutive patients who underwent abdominally based breast reconstruction. Abdominal wall thickness was quantified using preoperative CT angiograms. Primary outcomes included delayed wound healing (abdomen and/or breast), flap fat necrosis, return to OR in 30 days, infection, and flap loss. Results Patients experiencing delayed abdominal wound healing (n=38), delayed breast wound healing (n=27), and flap fat necrosis (n=24) had significantly thicker abdominal wall measurements (p Conclusions Our data indicate that as abdominal wall thickness increases, so does the risk of postoperative morbidity. Abdominal wall thickness outperformed BMI as a predictor of postoperative morbidity in several areas. This suggests that objective data obtained from preoperative CT scans may allow more accurate, individualized perioperative risk assessment.
Enhanced production of sucrose in the fast-growing cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973.

Cyanobacteria are attractive microbial hosts for production of chemicals using light and CO2. However, their low productivity of chemicals is a major challenge for commercial applications. This is mostly due to their relatively slow growth rate and carbon partitioning toward biomass rather than products. Many cyanobacterial strains synthesize sucrose as an osmoprotectant to cope with salt stress environments. In this study, we harnessed the photosynthetic machinery of the fast-growing cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973 to produce sucrose under salt stress conditions and investigated if the high efficiency of photosynthesis can enhance the productivity of sucrose. By expressing the sucrose transporter CscB, Synechococcus 2973 produced 8 g L−1 of sucrose with a highest productivity of 1.9 g L−1 day−1 under salt stress conditions. The salt stress activated the sucrose biosynthetic pathway mostly via upregulating the sps gene, which encodes the rate-limiting sucrose-phosphate synthase enzyme. To alleviate the demand on high concentrations of salt for sucrose production, we further overexpressed the sucrose synthesis genes in Synechococcus 2973. The engineered strain produced sucrose with a productivity of 1.1 g L−1 day−1 without the need of salt induction. The engineered Synechococcus 2973 in this study demonstrated the highest productivity of sucrose in cyanobacteria.
A single meal has the potential to alter brain oxylipin content

Our objective was to determine whether consumption of a single meal has the potential to alter brain oxylipin content. We examined the cerebrum of mice fed a single high-fat/high-sucrose Western meal or a low-fat/low-sucrose control meal, as well as fasted mice. We found no changes in fatty acid composition of cerebrum across the groups. The cerebral oxylipin profile of mice fed a Western meal is distinct from the profile of mice fed a low-fat/low-sucrose meal. Cerebral gene expression of cyclooxygenase 1, cyclooxygenase 2, and epoxide hydrolase 1 were elevated in Western meal-fed mice compared to low-fat/low-sucrose meal-fed mice. Mice that consumed either meal had lower gene expression of cytochrome P450, family 2, subfamily j, polypeptide 12 than fasted mice. Our data in this hypothesis-generating study indicates that the composition of a single meal has the potential to alter brain oxylipins and the gene expression of the enzymes responsible for their production.
Prediction of performance by non-cognitive traits

ABSTRACTProject A clearly demonstrated that performance is multidimensional and that some aspects are better predicted by noncognitive measures. Substantial research and development in the ensuing ...
Do major host shifts spark diversification in butterflies

The Escape and Radiate Hypothesis posits that herbivorous insects and their host plants diversify through antagonistic coevolutionary adaptive radiation. For more than 50 years, it has inspired predictions about herbivorous insect macro-evolution, but only recently have the resources begun to fall into place for rigorous testing of those predictions. Here, with comparative phylogenetic analyses of nymphalid butterflies, we test two of these predictions: that major host switches tend to increase species diversification and that such increases will be proportional to the scope of ecological opportunity afforded by a particular novel host association. We find that by and large the effect of major host-use changes on butterfly diversity is the opposite of what was predicted; although it appears that the evolution of a few novel host associations can cause short-term bursts of speciation, in general, major changes in host use tend to be linked to significant long-term decreases in butterfly species richness.
Topological turbulence in the membrane of a living cell

Topological defects determine the structure and function of physical and biological matter over a wide range of scales, from the turbulent vortices in planetary atmospheres, oceans or quantum fluids to bioelectrical signalling in the heart1–3 and brain4, and cell death5. Many advances have been made in understanding and controlling the defect dynamics in active6–9 and passive9,10 non-equilibrium fluids. Yet, it remains unknown whether the statistical laws that govern the dynamics of defects in classical11 or quantum fluids12–14 extend to the active matter7,15,16 and information flows17,18 in living systems. Here, we show that a defect-mediated turbulence underlies the complex wave propagation patterns of Rho-GTP signalling protein on the membrane of starfish egg cells, a process relevant to cytoskeletal remodelling and cell proliferation19,20. Our experiments reveal that the phase velocity field extracted from Rho-GTP concentration waves exhibits vortical defect motions and annihilation dynamics reminiscent of those seen in quantum systems12,13, bacterial turbulence15 and active nematics7. Several key statistics and scaling laws of the defect dynamics can be captured by a minimal Helmholtz–Onsager point vortex model21 as well as a generic complex Ginzburg–Landau22 continuum theory, suggesting a close correspondence between the biochemical signal propagation on the surface of a living cell and a widely studied class of two-dimensional turbulence23 and wave22 phenomena. Activity in certain living systems can lead to swirling flows akin to turbulence. Here, the authors connect the dynamics of topological defects in starfish oocyte membranes to vortex dynamics in 2D Bose–Einstein condensates.
Spike-frequency dependent inhibition and potentiation of neural activity by ultrasound

Ultrasound can modulate action potential firing in vivo and in vitro, but the mechanistic basis of this phenomenon is not well understood. To address this problem, we used patch-clamp recording to quantify the effects of focused, high-frequency (43 MHz) ultrasound on evoked action potential firing in CA1 pyramidal neurons in acute rodent hippocampal brain slices. We find that ultrasound can either inhibit or potentiate firing in a spike-frequency-dependent manner: at low (near-threshold) input currents and low firing frequencies, ultrasound inhibits firing, while at higher input currents and higher firing frequencies, ultrasound potentiates firing. The net result of these two competing effects is that ultrasound increases the threshold current for action potential firing, the slope of frequency-input curves, and the maximum firing frequency. In addition, ultrasound slightly hyperpolarizes the resting membrane potential, decreases action potential width, and increases the depth of the afterhyperpolarization. All of these results can be explained by the hypothesis that ultrasound activates a sustained potassium conductance. According to this hypothesis, increased outward potassium currents hyperpolarize the resting membrane potential and inhibit firing at near-threshold input currents, but potentiate firing in response to higher input currents by limiting inactivation of voltage-dependent sodium channels during the action potential. This latter effect is a consequence of faster action-potential repolarization, which limits inactivation of voltage-dependent sodium channels, and deeper (more negative) afterhyperpolarization, which increases the rate of recovery from inactivation. Based on these results we propose that ultrasound activates thermosensitive and mechanosensitive, voltage-insensitive two-pore-domain potassium (K2P) channels, through heating or mechanical effects of acoustic radiation force. Finite-element modelling of the effects of ultrasound on brain tissue suggests that the effects of ultrasound on firing frequency are caused by a small (less than 2°C) increase in temperature, with possible additional contributions from mechanical effects.
Stabilization of a Nanoporous NiCu Dilute Alloy Catalyst for Non-oxidative Ethanol Dehydrogenation

Producing acetaldehyde, an important industrial chemical, by direct catalytic non-oxidative dehydrogenation of ethanol presents many advantages over current production methods, including generating hydrogen. However, a stable, active, and selective catalyst is currently unavailable. This work demonstrates that the high activity and selectivity of nanoporous (np) NiCu for this reaction can be stabilized by keeping the catalyst in a metastable (“kinetically trapped”) state. Using a combination of in situ ambient-pressure and ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, environmental transmission electron microscopy, and density functional theory calculations enabled correlating changes in surface composition with the changes in activity and stability upon treatment of np NiCu with H2 and O2. Reduction of Ni-doped nanoporous Cu by H2 exposure enhanced the initial activity but led to complete catalyst deactivation within ∼40 hours. In contrast, O2 pretreatment of the same catalyst increased both activity and long-term stability, with only 15% activity loss over 40 hours. The stability of np NiCu as a catalyst inversely correlates with the amount of metallic Ni at the surface, which is enriched by the H2 pretreatment, while the O2 pretreatment leads to a kinetically trapped Ni2+ subsurface state. This work emphasizes that detailed understanding of pretreatment-induced nanoscale structural and compositional changes is necessary to optimize catalyst performance.
An obstacle disturbance selection framework: emergent robot steady states under repeated collisions:

Natural environments are often filled with obstacles and disturbances. Traditional navigation and planning approaches normally depend on finding a traversable “free space” for robots to avoid unexp...
Life in hot acid: a genome-based reassessment of the archaeal order Sulfolobales

The order Sulfolobales was one of the first named Archaeal lineages, with globally distributed members from terrestrial thermal acid springs (pH 65°C). The Sulfolobales represent broad metabolic capabilities, ranging from lithotrophy, based on inorganic iron and sulfur biotransformations, to autotrophy, to chemoheterotrophy in less acidophilic species. Components of the 3-hydroxypropionate/4-hydroxybutyrate carbon fixation cycle, as well as sulfur oxidation, are nearly universally conserved, although dissimilatory sulfur reduction and disproportionation (Acidianus, Stygiolobus and Sulfurisphaera) and iron oxidation (Acidianus, Metallosphaera, Sulfurisphaera, Sulfuracidifex and Sulfodiicoccus) are limited to fewer lineages. Lithotrophic marker genes appear more often in highly acidophilic lineages. Despite the presence of facultative anaerobes and one confirmed obligate anaerobe, oxidase complexes (fox, sox, dox and a new putative cytochrome bd) are prevalent in many species (even facultative/obligate anaerobes), suggesting a key role for oxygen among the Sulfolobales. The presence of fox genes tracks with a putative antioxidant OsmC family peroxiredoxin, an indicator of oxidative stress derived from mixing reactive metals and oxygen. Extreme acidophily appears to track inversely with heterotrophy but directly with lithotrophy. Recent phylogenetic re-organization efforts are supported by the comparative genomics here, although several changes are proposed, including the expansion of the genus Saccharolobus.
Comparing intervention strategies for reducing Clostridioides difficile transmission in acute healthcare settings: an agent-based modeling study

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is one of the most common healthcare infections. Common strategies aiming at controlling CDI include antibiotic stewardship, environmental decontamination, and improved hand hygiene and contact precautions. Mathematical models provide a framework to evaluate control strategies. Our objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of control strategies in decreasing C. difficile colonization and infection using an agent-based model in an acute healthcare setting. We developed an agent-based model that simulates the transmission of C. difficile in medical wards. This model explicitly incorporates healthcare workers (HCWs) as vectors of transmission, tracks individual patient antibiotic histories, incorporates varying risk levels of antibiotics with respect to CDI susceptibility, and tracks contamination levels of ward rooms by C. difficile. Interventions include two forms of antimicrobial stewardship, increased environmental decontamination through room cleaning, improved HCW compliance, and a preliminary assessment of vaccination. Increased HCW compliance with CDI patients was ranked as the most effective intervention in decreasing colonizations, with reductions up to 56%. Antibiotic stewardship practices were highly ranked after contact precaution compliance. Vaccination and reduction of high-risk antibiotics were the most effective intervention in decreasing CDI. Vaccination reduced CDI cases to up to 90%, and the reduction of high-risk antibiotics decreased CDI cases up to 23%. Overall, interventions that decrease patient susceptibility to colonization by C. difficile, such as antibiotic stewardship, were the most effective interventions in reducing both colonizations and CDI cases.
Can Modifications Make Electric Pressure Cookers ‘Minigrid Friendly?’

A large fraction of the developing world utilizes biomass fuels for cooking. Air pollution from these stoves represents a significant health hazard. Electric cooking has been identified as a potential method to deliver clean, cost-effective, cooking in the developing world, with particular emphasis on electric pressure cookers (EPCs) that are more energy-efficient than cooking in unpressurized vessels. Most EPCs in use today are designed for fast, on-grid, cooking using large heating elements, and it is unclear how these large, cyclic, power loads would impact minigrids. This study uses an electro-thermal model to investigate how a range of EPC power ratings would impact their use in minigrids. Results indicate that the lower efficiency of lower-power units increases minigrid energy requirements in a non-trivial way relative to higher-power units. Finally, this study also indicates that periods of higher power consumption for higher-power units occurs infrequently, and thus minigrids may be capable of handling EPCs for cooking staples such as rice and beans.
Serological effect of two concurrent IBRV, BVDV, BRSV, PI3V, and Mannheimia haemolytica vaccination protocols and time interval between the first and second dose on the subsequent serological response to the BRSV and M. haemolytica fractions in suckling beef calves

This study was conducted to compare the serologic response of suckling beef calves to the bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and Mannheimia haemolytica fractions of 2 bovine respiratory disease (BRD) vaccination protocols when the second dose was given 153 days after the first dose. Calves in 1 group were vaccinated with intranasal (IN) modified-live virus (MLV) 3-way BRD vaccine plus separate subcutaneous (SC) injections of MLV bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) type 1 and 2 vaccine and M. haemolytica bacterin-leukotoxoid. Calves in the other group were vaccinated with SC MLV 5-way BRD vaccine combined with M. haemolytica leukotoxoid. On day 153, all calves were revaccinated with SC MLV 5-way vaccine combined with M. haemolytica leukotoxoid. Both calf vaccination protocols stimulated a humoral immune response to the BRSV and M. haemolytica vaccine fractions. Vaccination with IN MLV 3-way BRD vaccine resulted in a significantly (P=0.003) higher initial antibody response to BRSV and a significantly (P=0.006) higher anamnestic response. No differences were seen between groups in initial M. haemolytica leukotoxoid antibody levels. Vaccination with SC MLV 5-way BRD vaccine combined with M. haemolytica leukotoxoid resulted in a significantly (P=0.02) higher anamnestic response to M. haemolytica leukotoxoid.
Overnight Returns as a Market Timing Strategy

Risk-adjusted overnight returns greatly exceed risk-adjusted daytime returns. Researchers use Jensen's alpha or the Fama-French three factor model for risk adjustment and use Fama-MacBeth regressions to test the estimated betas' predictivity. However, owning stocks only during the day or night is a market timing strategy. Using the non-linear factors proposed by Merton (1981) and Goetzmann et al. (2000), we show that the close-to-open strategy has negative market timing ability (measured by a non-linear regressor) with a positive selectivity alpha (measured by alpha), while the open-to-close strategy has the opposite. We also find that alpha is significant in down market periods.
Clinical Nurse Leader Integration Into Practice: Developing Theory To Guide Best Practice

Numerous policy bodies have identified the clinical nurse leader (CNL) as an innovative new role for meeting higher health care quality standards. Although there is growing evidence of improved care environment and patient safety and quality outcomes after redesigning care delivery microsystems to integrate CNL practice, significant variation in CNL implementation has been noted across reports, making it difficult to causally link CNL practice to reported outcomes. This variability reflects the overall absence in the literature of a well-defined CNL theoretical framework to help guide standardized application in practice. To address this knowledge gap, an interpretive synthesis with a grounded theory analysis of CNL narratives was conducted to develop a theoretical model for CNL practice. The model clarifies CNL practice domains and proposes mechanisms by which CNL-integrated care delivery microsystems improve health care quality. The model highlights the need for a systematic approach to CNL implementation including a well-thought out strategy for care delivery redesign; a consistent, competency-based CNL workflow; and sustained macro-to-micro system leadership support. CNL practice can be considered an effective approach to organizing nursing care that maximizes the scope of nursing to influence the ways care is delivered by all professions within a clinical microsystem.
MOOCs and Technology to Advance Learning and Learning Research Opening Statement: MOOCs and technology to advance learning and learning research (Ubiquity symposium)

MOOCs have fueled both hope and anxiety about the future of higher education. Our objective in this symposium is to surface and explore some of the open questions which have arisen in the MOOC debates. In this symposium, ten authors examine different aspects of MOOCs and technology to advance learning and learning research.
A Semantic Approach to Cloud Security and Compliance

Cloud services are becoming an essential part of many organizations. Cloud providers have to adhere to security and privacy policies to ensure their users' data remains confidential and secure. Though there are some ongoing efforts on developing cloud security standards, most cloud providers are implementing a mish-mash of security and privacy controls. This has led to confusion among cloud consumers as to what security measures they should expect from the cloud services, and whether these measures would comply with their security and compliance requirements. We have conducted a comprehensive study to review the potential threats faced by cloud consumers and have determined the compliance models and security controls that should be in place to manage the risk. Based on this study, we have developed an ontology describing the cloud security controls, threats and compliances. We have also developed an application that classifies the security threats faced by cloud users and automatically determines the high level security and compliance policy controls that have to be activated for each threat. The application also displays existing cloud providers that support these security policies. Cloud consumers can use our system to formulate their security policies and find compliant providers even if they are not familiar with the underlying technology.
Roche Holding AG: Funding the Genentech Acquisition

This case examines the decision by the Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG (Roche) to offer a record $42 billion bond in February 2009. In light of a pending acquisition of U.S. biotechnology leader, Genentech, Roche management planned to sell $32 billion in bonds at various maturities from 1 year to 30 years and in three different currencies (U.S. dollar, euro, and British pound). In a context of substantial uncertainty in both world financial markets and the value of the Genentech deal, students are introduced to the pricing of corporate bonds by being invited to price Roche’s bold global offering.The case is designed to introduce the concept of a risk premium and to accomplish the following potential additional teaching objectives: 1. Motivate the concept of a risk premium and the notion of a cost of debt by exposing students to estimating default risk, credit ratings, and credit spreads. 2. Review yield curve principles and mechanics. 3. Practice bond math and credit market terminology. 4. Establish institutional detail for the public security offering process. 5. Introduce the risk-return paradigm in finance.This case, as well as supplementary instructor materials, is available through Darden Business Publishing and Harvard Business Publishing.
Generation of Performance Models

A hybrid method for performance modeling of parallel programs is presented, where the runtime of large sequential segments is estimated statically and the parallel program structure is evaluated by simulation. AUGUR (automatic model generation with user response) is a tool that assists the user during performance model generation starting from the source of a parallel Fortran program. The resulting model can be simulated by MODARCH.
Abstract P348: A Novel Antioxidant Score Independently Predicts CVD Mortality Better than Any Single Antioxidant: Longitudinal Data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-94)

Despite the implication of oxidative stress in CVD development, neither blood levels of nor supplementation with any one individual antioxidant is consistently related to CVD incidence and death. Thus, the relationship between diet-derived antioxidants and CVD remains unclear. However, many analyses consider the predictive value of only a few antioxidant markers in isolation, which may not reflect overall antioxidant status. We developed an antioxidant score and tested the hypothesis that it would be a more robust predictor of CVD death than concentrations of single antioxidants in aging adults. Quintiles of 10 serum antioxidant concentrations (α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene, vitamins A, C, E, retinyl esters and selenium), collected at baseline from 7094 (weighted N = 58,875,272) adults aged 50+ years enrolled in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) were used as predictors in a time-to-death analysis using Cox regression modeling. Forty-two percent (N=3695, weighted to 26189208) of the sample was deceased at 12-18 year follow-up, with 1362 deceased due to CVD. In models adjusted for known demographic, behavioral and biological risk factors, concentration quintiles of the individual antioxidants α-carotene, lycopene, selenium and retinyl ester were significantly associated with CVD death (ps for trend ranged from 0.015 to 0.042, HRs of quintile 1 vs 5 ranged from 1.34 to 1.52). A stepwise regression method was used to identify the best combination of candidate markers, and an antioxidant score was computed using only those 6 markers (vitamins C and E, lycopene, selenium, α and β-carotene). Quintiles of the antioxidant score were also significantly associated with risk of death (p for trend = 0.004, HR for Q1 vs. Q5 = 1.88) and in a more predictive manner than a score using all 10 antioxidants (p for trend = 0.016, HR for Q1 vs. Q5 = 1.69). After controlling for traditional risk factors, an antioxidant score including vitamins C and E, lycopene, selenium, α and β-carotene was more strongly associated with rates of CVD death than individual antioxidants in a large nationally representative sample of aging adults. An antioxidant score may more closely reflect oxidative status than measures of single dietary antioxidants, and therefore be more useful when assessing risk of CVD death.
Impact of Fear Appeal in Advertisement on Consumer Buying Decision

Fear appeals are commonly used in many types of marketing communications, e.g., the marketing of products, services, social causes, and ideas. Also, they are frequently used to get people to help themselves, and generally are effective in increasing ad interest, involvement, recall, and persuasiveness. The literature conventionally agrees that more effective fear appeals result from a higher fear arousal followed by consequences and recommendations to reduce the negativity. However, fear appeals have impact on purchasing decision of customer. The purpose of this research paper is to answer the following questions:-a) Impact of fear appeal in advertisement on consumer buying decision.b) Impact of demographic factors i.e. gender, age, marital status and education on fear appeal effectiveness.To develop the conclusions descriptive research design is used. Primary data is collected with the help of questionnaire and data is analyzed with the help of various statistical techniques.Conclusions of the paper help in identifying the impact of fear appeal used in advertisement on purchasing behavior of the customer.
“Going Hand-in-Hand”: Connections Between Women's Prostitution and Substance Use

Little is known about the impact of prostitution involvement on women's substance use and recovery. Interpretive phenomenological data analysis was used to analyze transcribed, in-depth interviews conducted with 14 women recruited from a Midwestern program providing prostitution-specific services. Interviews focused on what it means to be a woman who has engaged in prostitution. Participants described patterns of using substances and exchanging sex as “going hand-in-hand,” highlighting unique ways women understand the relationships between these phenomena and how they construct meaning. What emerges is a deeper understanding of the complexity and impact of these relationships, an issue not adequately addressed in existing literature.
PepsiCo, Performance with Purpose, Achieving the Right Global Balance

This case explores a shift in strategic direction at PepsiCo, the second-largest food and beverage company in the world. It concentrates on the formation of a new group, the Global Nutrition Group, whose purpose was to bring focus to the company's efforts to significantly expand its offerings in nutritious food and beverages. The case explores the background to that decision and the complexities the company faced in altering its product portfolio over the long run (which also included efforts to make its core snack and soft drink products healthier), while at the same time maintaining short-term profitability. The evolution of the product portfolio was part of a larger effort to implement a new strategic vision, encapsulated in the phrase, "Performance with Purpose." The phrase, in brief, expressed a commitment to deliver financial results in a way that was good for the world as well as good for the company.
Optimal Lending Contract with Uncertainty Shocks

I develop a dynamic agency model of financial contracting, where borrowing constraints appear as part of the optimal contract. The novelty of the paper relative to previous work is that volatility is stochastic and exogenous to the agent behavior. A line of credit appears in the optimal long term contract similar to (DeMarzo and Fishman, 2007). The novelty of the contract is that the credit limit varies over time, as a function of the state of volatility. Credit limit does not vary monotonically over firms. When uncertainty increases, credit limits are reduced for highly constraint firms, because the frictions become harder and the firms lose profitability. Instead, it is optimal to increase the credit limits for less indebted firms, they are still profitable and they need more flexibility to respond to the bigger shocks.
Zinc sequestration: arming phagocyte defense against fungal attack.

The innate immune system employs various defense mechanisms to combat invading microbes. From a pathogen perspective, access to adequate nutrition is one of the fundamental requirements for survival within the host. The ability to counter microbial survival by restricting basic elements of growth, extending from amino acids to sugars and metals, is referred to as nutritional immunity [1]. The mechanisms of Zn acquisition, transport, and storage have been investigated in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. In this review, the total amount of zinc regardless of its chemical form will be referred to as Zn, and the labile fraction as Zn2+. From an immunological perspective, the primary focus has been on the impact of Zn regulation on the numbers and function of lymphocytes and phagocytes and their correlation with susceptibility to infections, but a dissection of the molecular details in these processes has been lacking. More recently, understanding the Zn modulatory mechanisms and how they drive host-pathogen interactions at the molecular level has been a subject of intense scrutiny. This review will accentuate existing and novel insights into the roles of Zn in nutritional immunity and in phagocyte defenses against fungi.
Exploiting the medium: Anna Cora Mowatt's creation of self through performance

Anna Cora Mowatt Ritchie, a well‐known and respected mid‐nineteenth‐century American author, public reader, and actress, was one of the first American women to achieve popular success as a playwright. Theatre historians mark Fashion, her best remembered play, as one of the first successful efforts to create a distinctly American comedy of manners. Although Mowatt was famous for her public performances, this article focuses on her involvement in mesmerism. Mesmerism was a stage on which upper‐class Victorians could ignore temporarily the strict rules of their social strata. Working with her mesmerizers, Mowatt created an alternate persona that called herself “the Gypsy.” This character voiced Mowatt's private dissatisfactions and was apart of Mowatt's negotiations with repressive notions of correct behavior for upper‐class American women of the early nineteenth century.
Line strengths, line widths, and dipole moment function for HCl

Abstract Previous expressions for the dipole moment matrix elements of the vibration-rotation bands of diatomic molecules, based on a quintic anharmonic oscillator potential, a cubic dipole moment function, and third order perturbation theory, are extended for the 1-0 and 2-0 bands to include second-order contributions. Line intensities in the 1-0 band of HCl are measured with 0.02 cm−1 resolution and analyzed to obtain a band intensity S 0 1 of 135 cm−2 atm−1 at 300°K and the following Herman-Wallis factor: F 0 1 (m) = 1 − 0.0260 m + 4.5 × 10 −4 m 2 . Similar measurements are made in the 2-0 band of HCl with 0.04 cm−1 resolution and yield S 0 2 = 3.73 cm −2 atm −1 and F 0 2 (m) = 1 − 0.0086 m + 4.1 × 10 −4 m 2 . These results and the previous 3-0 band intensity data are incorporated with the dipole moment matrix elements above to obtain the following dipole moment function for HCl: M(r) = 1.095 + 0.905(r - re) − 0.066(r - re)2 − 0.73(r - re)3, where r - re is in angstroms and M(r) is in Debyes. The half-widths of self-broadened lines of HCl in the 2-0 band are measured directly. The results are somewhat lower than previous measurements for |m|
Inheritance of Low-Phytate Phosphorus in Soybean

A reduction in the phytic add (phytate) content of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seed would improve the bioavailability of P in rations of nonruminant animals containing soybean meal. A soybean mutant with low phytate and increased inorganic P was developed by the USDA-ARS and Purdue University. The objective of this study was to determine the inheritance of low phytate in a line derived from the mutant. The low-phytate line was crossed reciprocally to a line with normal phytate. The F 1 seeds from the reciprocal crosses had normal phytate, indicating complete dominance for the wild-type alleles and no maternal effects. The segregation of 210 F 2 seeds satisfactorily fit a phenotypic ratio of 15:1 normal to low phytate. The F 2 -derived lines satisfactorily fit a ratio of 7:8:1 homogeneous normal phytate to segregating to homogeneous low phytate. The segregation ratios indicated that low phytate was controlled by recessive alleles designated phal and pha2 at two independent loci that exhibited duplicate dominant epistasis. Both of the alleles must be homozygous to obtain low-phytate seed.
Thin films of semiconductors and dielectrics produced by laser evaporation

Thin films of several III–V and II–VI compounds as well as of some dielectrics have been vacuum-deposited using a focused beam of a CO2 or ruby laser to evaporate these materials. The crystallinity, morphology and the chemical composition of the produced thin films have been examined by various analytical methods. Films produced by the ruby laser were in most cases polycrystalline and stoichiometric, while films produced by the CO2 laser were amorphous and non-stoichiometric. Different mechanisms of evaporation leading to the observed differences in characteristics of thin films are discussed.
A developmental study of substance-P, somatostatin, enkephalin, and serotonin immunoreactive elements in the spinal cord of the North American opossum.

Substance-P (SP), somatostatin (SOM), enkephalin (ENK), and serotonin (5-HT) immunoreactive elements were studied in the spinal cord of the opossum at each 10-mm snout-rump (S-R) length interval between 18 (newborn) and 127 mm (75 days after birth). The opossum is born 12 days after conception and undergoes a protracted postnatal development in an external pouch which makes it a good model for such a study. SP-like immunoreactivity was detected in the newborn opossum; it was found within fibers located mainly in the dorsolateral marginal zone. SP-like immunoreactive fibers soon become fairly abundant within presumptive laminae I, II, and X and were scattered within other areas of the spinal gray matter including the intermediolateral cell column. By 30 days after birth (57 mm S-R length), the adult distribution was established. SOM-like immunoreactivity was not detected within the spinal cord at birth. However, by postnatal day 5 (24 mm S-R length) it was present in fibers which were numerous within the marginal zone and present within presumptive laminae I–III as well as in more ventral areas of the gray matter. By approximately postnatal day 30, evidence for SOM immunoreactivity was found within all areas of the spinal gray matter expected from studies of the adult opossum. ENK-like immunoreactivity was present at birth within fibers of the dorsolateral marginal zone. By postnatal day 30 ENK immunoreactive fibers were found within most of the areas containing them in the adult animal, except for laminae I and II. ENK-like immunoreactivity was not observed in laminae I and II until approximately postnatal day 50 (84 mm S-R length). Fibers showing 5-HT-like immunoreactivity were remarkably abundant within the cervical marginal zone at birth but sparse at lumbosacral levels. They were found within laminae IV–Xby postnatal day 15 (35 mm S-R length) and within the intermediolateral cell column by at least day 30. The adult distribution was not present until approximately 50 days after birth when 5-HT-like immunoreactivity was found within fibers of laminae I and II. Demonstration of SOM-, ENK-, and 5-HT-like immunoreactivities in neuronal somata of the spinal cord was age dependent. Our results suggest that axons containing SP, SOM, ENK, and 5-HT are present within the opossum's spinal cord very early in development and that they grow into specific spinal targets in an orderly sequence.
A SEQUENTIAL IMPORTANCE SAMPLING ALGORITHM FOR GENERATING RANDOM GRAPHS WITH PRESCRIBED DEGREES

Random graphs with given degrees are a natural next step in complexity beyond the Erdős–Renyi model, yet the degree constraint greatly complicates simulation and estimation. We use an extension of a combinatorial characterization due to Erdős and Gallai to develop a sequential algorithm for generating a random labeled graph with a given degree sequence. The algorithm is easy to implement and allows for surprisingly efficient sequential importance sampling. The resulting probabilities are easily computed on the fly, allowing the user to reweight estimators appropriately, in contrast to some ad hoc approaches that generate graphs with the desired degrees but with completely unknown probabilities. Applications are given, including simulating an ecological network and estimating the number of graphs with a given degree sequence.
A note on the temperature dependence of the normal stress moduli

Abstract In this analysis we establish necessary and sufficient conditions which the normal stress modulus α 1 (θ) and its derivative dα 1 (θ)/dθ ought to satisfy if a homogeneous incompressible second grade fluid is to meet the requirement that the specific internal energy of the fluid be a minimum when the fluid is locally at rest. We also require that all arbitrary motions of the fluid meet the Clausius-Duhem inequality. It is found that requiring that the specific internal energy of the fluid be a minimum when the fluid is locally at rest is not equivalent to a similar requirement on the specific Helmholtz free energy.