cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Telephone-Delivered Mindfulness Training for People Living with HIV: A Qualitative 360° Inquiry.

For people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), life stress often undermines quality of life and interferes with medical care. Mindfulness training (MT) may help PLWHA to manage stress. Because standard MT protocols can be burdensome, we explored telephone delivery as a potentially more feasible approach. We used an innovative 360° qualitative inquiry to seek input regarding telephone-delivery of MT for PLWHA in advance of a planned intervention trial. We also sought input on a time- and attention-matched control. Twenty five HIV patients, providers and advocates, were recruited to five focus groups. Participants understood the construct of mindfulness and recognized its potential benefits for stress management and improving medication adherence. Patients preferred the term “mindfulness” to meditation. Telephone-delivery appealed to all patients but several challenges were raised. Topics for the control intervention included nutrition, sleep, and aging. The 360° approach allowed three groups (patients, providers, advocates) to influence intervention development.
A Future for Growth

Macroeconomics has been constrained by assumptions that the economy tends toward full employment, and longterm growth depends on exogenous factors, productivity, and labor force growth. This discou...
Surface Morphology and Corrosion Behavior of Hydroxyapatite-Coated Co-Cr Implant: Effect of Sintering Conditions

The surface morphology and corrosion behavior of a hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) implant after sintering posttreatment using different times and temperatures were investigated. The substrates were electrophoretically coated with calcium phosphate in solution of Ca(NO3)·4H2O and NH4H2PO4. Sintering at four different conditions was then performed on the as-deposited samples. Scanning electron microscopy, contact angle measurement, and potentiodynamic polarization studies were employed to investigate the surface morphology, porosity, wettability, and corrosion behavior of the coated samples. The results revealed that the HA-coated substrate sintered at temperature of 600°C for 20 min showed fairly uniform microstructure with the highest density and corrosion resistance compared with the other conditions. Moreover, the highest wettability was exhibited by the HA surface sintered at temperature of 500°C for 60 min.
Majorana Doublets, Flat Bands, and Dirac Nodes in s-Wave Superfluids.

Topological superfluids protected by mirror and time-reversal symmetries are exotic states of matter possessing Majorana Kramers pairs (MKPs), yet their realizations have long been hindered by the requirement of unconventional pairing. We propose to realize such a topological superfluid by utilizing $s$-wave pairing and emergent mirror and time-reversal symmetries in two coupled 1D ultracold atomic Fermi gases with spin-orbit coupling. By stacking such systems into 2D, we discover topological and Dirac-nodal superfluids hosting distinct MKP flat bands. We show that the emergent symmetries make the MKPs and their flat bands stable against pairing fluctuations that otherwise annihilate Majorana pairs. Exploiting new experimental developments, our scheme provides a unique platform for exploring MKPs and their applications in quantum computation.
Wide-Area Damping Control using Reduced Copy under Intermittent Observation: A Novel Performance Measure

Insight into the application of observer-driven reduced copy (ORC) to deal with data packet dropout during wide-area oscillation damping control through wind farms (WFs) is developed. The ORC technique tries to emulate the behavior of the power system by using the information of the nominal dynamics under intermittent observation. This brief presents a direct performance measure for ORC. To that end, a standard lemma relating the bound on the norm of the integral over the product of two functions is presented, which is proven using Holder’s inequality. Based on the lemma, an expression is derived for the bound on the norm within an inter-sample interval for difference between the power system states in presence of data dropout and that under ideal communication. Such a bound, when evaluated in a relative sense, would be useful for system operators to perform online contingency screening and ranking from damping performance standpoint without running prohibitively expensive time-domain simulations. In addition, such a bound is also derived for the conventional feedback control (CFC). The data dropout is modeled using the Gilbert-Elliott model. The analytical results are validated using time-domain simulation of a 16-machine, 5-area New England-New York system with two doubly fed induction generator-based WFs.
Skeptical theism and the challenge of atheism

Skeptical theists hold that we should be skeptical about our ability to know the reasons that God would have for permitting evil, at least in particular cases. They argue for their view by setting aside actions that are wrong in themselves and focusing their attention on actions that are purportedly right or wrong simply in terms of their consequences. However, I argue in this paper that once skeptical theists are led to take into account actions that are wrong in themselves, as they must, they cannot escape the conclusion that there is a logical contradiction between the existence of an all-good, all-powerful God and what would have to be God’s permission of the significant and horrendous evil consequences of immoral actions found in our world.
Induction of Follicular Cysts in Rat Ovaries by Prolonged Administration of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin

Polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) appears to arise from an inappropriate peripubertal response within the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. For review see Yen (1980), Coney (1984) and Futterweit (1984). The association of elevated serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH), androgens and estrogens with this syndrome has led to the hypothesis that overstimulation of the ovary by LH leads to the development of ovarian follicular cysts. Pharmacologic amounts of androgens and estrogens appear capable of inducing the formation of ovarian cysts. However, such quantities of these steroids also disrupt hypothalamic-pituitary interactions (Barraclough, 1966; Shulster et al., 1984) and, therefore, the potential for these steroids to affect the development of cysts by inducing inappropriate secretion of gonadotropins cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, until now, the time- and dose-related effects of prolonged, chronic exposure to LH-like activity on ovarian follicular cyst formation had not been determined. This work was undertaken to determine: 1) if chronic administration of LH-like activity is capable of inducing the formation of cystic follicles in intact animals; and 2) if such treatment is effective in inducing cystic follicles in ovaries at different stages of development/differentiation.
Attacking obesity: lessons from smoking.

For the first time since the Civil War, American life expectancy is projected to decrease, owing to the diseases associated with obesity such as diabetes, ultimately causing cardiovascular death. In the past 30 years, the prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults has doubled, as has the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Enough data. The Surgeon General should attack obesity the same way as smoking in 1964, with: 1) Advisory Council creation of public statements; 2) warning labels and menu information in all restaurants; 3) legislation for tax incentives for industry to promote worksite health; and 4) consideration of taxation of fatty food; the cigarette tax is now 42%. It is abundantly clear that in short order, obesity will kill more people than smoking. The time has come for the country to get serious about obesity and take lessons from our nation’s campaign to reduce smoking. As patient advocates, scientists, and medical professionals, cardiologists should appropriately take the lead.
Lay Perceptions of Medicine: A South Indian Case Study

In most developing countries, multiple therapy systems, a variety of types of medicine, and a diversity of health behavior patterns coexist despite the efforts of governing bodies and the vested interests of dominant therapy systems to regulate the health behavior of populations. Numerous social scientists have studied the status and relative popularity of coexisting therapy systems. Typically such studies have focused on one of four themes. The first theme contrasts the demonstration effect and “curative” efficacy of biomedicine on disease with the meaning centered “healing” efficacy of traditional medicine on folk illnesses having broad cultural significance. While descriptions of traditional medical systems place emphasis on meaning, caveats are made about the curative qualities of some medicinal plants. Similarly, the placebo response and the performance efficacy of impressive biomedical techniques are noted. A second type of study shifts attention toward enabling factors influencing health care seeking such as the geographic, economic and social accessibility of various types of practitioners. The third type of study considers interactional and psychosocial factors influencing medical system popularity. Attention is drawn to the influence of opinion leaders, the social status of medical systems and the process of identification.
Toward Automatic Detection of Radiation-Induced Cerebral Microbleeds Using a 3D Deep Residual Network.

Cerebral microbleeds, which are small focal hemorrhages in the brain that are prevalent in many diseases, are gaining increasing attention due to their potential as surrogate markers of disease burden, clinical outcomes, and delayed effects of therapy. Manual detection is laborious and automatic detection and labeling of these lesions is challenging using traditional algorithms. Inspired by recent successes of deep convolutional neural networks in computer vision, we developed a 3D deep residual network that can distinguish true microbleeds from false positive mimics of a previously developed technique based on traditional algorithms. A dataset of 73 patients with radiation-induced cerebral microbleeds scanned at 7 T with susceptibility-weighted imaging was used to train and evaluate our model. With the resulting network, we maintained 95% of the true microbleeds in 12 test patients and the average number of false positives was reduced by 89%, achieving a detection precision of 71.9%, higher than existing published methods. The likelihood score predicted by the network was also evaluated by comparing to a neuroradiologist’s rating, and good correlation was observed.
Quantifying protein dynamics and stability in a living organism.

As an integral part of modern cell biology, fluorescence microscopy enables quantification of the stability and dynamics of fluorescence-labeled biomolecules inside cultured cells. However, obtaining time-resolved data from individual cells within a live vertebrate organism remains challenging. Here we demonstrate a customized pipeline that integrates meganuclease-mediated mosaic transformation with fluorescence-detected temperature-jump microscopy to probe dynamics and stability of endogenously expressed proteins in different tissues of living multicellular organisms. Studying protein kinetics and stability in living organisms is challenging and most studies are performed in cell culture. Here the authors combine meganuclease-mediated transformation and fluorescence-detected temperature-jump microscopy to quantify protein stability in different tissues of living zebrafish.
Thomas Aquinas on the Passions: Hope and despair

Aquinas begins the consideration of the irascible passions by treating hope and despair in a single Question. Aquinas is not treating the theological virtue of hope, or the sin of despair, but the passions that take the same names (§9.1). The causes of hope are multiple. Attending to concrete experience, as he does throughout the Treatise, Aquinas identifies both experience and inexperience as causes of hope, along with alcoholic intoxication (§9.2). Since hope's object is the possible but difficult future good, a person can never be certain that she will attain what she hopes for. This fact, however, has no tendency for Aquinas to undermine the important distinction between “false hope” and hope that is rational (§9.3). Aquinas concludes Question 40 by treating the effects of hope, identifying “love” as the principal interior effect and “activity” (operatio) as the principal exterior effect (§9.4). Though hope and despair, considered as passions, are distinct from the corresponding virtue and sin, the two are related, since the virtues are habits that perfect the powers of the soul, including the powers whose acts are the passions (§9.5). HOPE AND DESPAIR AS PASSIONS Aquinas devotes only one Question to the passion of hope. Strictly speaking, he does not give hope a full Question. The topic of Question 40 is not spes , but spes et desperatio . Why the lack of detailed treatment? Three possibilities suggest themselves. First, the treatments of love and desire already contain much of what can be said about the common object of hope.
Does eutrophication affect the ability of biofilms to stabilize muddy sediments

Abstract Benthic biofilms, matrixes of microbial cells and their secretions, have been shown to stabilize sediment in coastal environments. While there have been numerous studies on the effects of nutrients on the ability of vascular plants to stabilize sediment, few studies have investigated how nutrients affect biofilm growth and their ability to stabilize sediment. In these experiments, diatom-dominated biofilms were experimentally grown on a settled bed of bentonite clay under a saline water column. Biofilms developed with a 12-h light-dark cycle and given either no, low, or high nutrient treatments. Erodibility at different stages of biofilm growth was measured using a Gust Erosion Microcosm System (UGEMS), which applied shear stresses from 0.05 to 0.6 Pa. Incipient biofilms (1–2 weeks of growth) consistently decreased the erodibility of muddy sediments for low to moderate stresses (0.05–0.3 Pa), while mature biofilms (3–5 weeks of growth) stabilized sediments for moderate to high stresses (0.45 Pa or higher). Nutrients affected the texture of the biofilm and sediment surface but did not change the ability of mature biofilms to stabilize muddy sediments. Increases in critical shear stress and decreases in mass eroded occurred faster in the high nutrient treatment compared to the low and no added nutrient treatments. As such, high nutrient concentrations allow biofilms to sustain high shear stresses during their incipient stage, during which they are more susceptible to erosion. Under most naturally occurring flow conditions, incipient biofilms, such as those found on mudflats and drowned marshes, can reduce sediment erosion regardless of nutrient concentrations.
Task Sharing Chronic Disease Self-Management Training With Lay Health Coaches to Reduce Health Disparities.

Chronic disease self-management training improves health outcomes and reduces cost.[1][1] However, one size does not fit all in self-management training interventions. Several factors, such as distance to self-management training program locations, educational level, and inequitable access to health
Toward Assessing and Recommending Combinations of Behaviors for Improving Health and Well-Being

Multiple behaviors typically work together to influence health, making it hard to understand how one behavior might compensate for another. Rich multi-modal datasets from mobile sensors and advances in machine learning are today enabling new kinds of associations to be made between combinations of behaviors objectively assessed from daily life and self-reported levels of stress, mood, and health. In this article, we present a framework to (1) map multi-modal messy data collected in the “wild” to meaningful feature representations of health-related behaviors, (2) uncover latent patterns comprising combinations of behaviors that best predict health and well-being, and (3) use these learned patterns to make evidence-based recommendations that may improve health and well-being. We show how to use supervised latent Dirichlet allocation to model the observed behaviors, and we apply variational inference to uncover the latent patterns. Implementing and evaluating the model on 5,397 days of data from a group of 244 college students, we find that these latent patterns are indeed predictive of daily self-reported levels of stressed-calm, sad-happy, and sick-healthy states. We investigate the patterns of modifiable behaviors present on different days and uncover several ways in which they relate to stress, mood, and health. This work contributes a new method using objective data analysis to help advance understanding of how combinations of modifiable human behaviors may promote human health and well-being.
Simple Proofs of Lower Bounds for Polynomial Evaluation

The idea of establishing lower bounds on the number of arithmetic operations required to evaluate polynomials is due originally to Ostrowski (1954A). He showed that at least n multiplications and n additions/subtractions are required to evaluate nth degree polynomials for n ≦ 4. Since then, this result has been proved true for all nonnegative values of n [Belaga (1961A), Pan (1966A)]. Motzkin (1955A) introduced the idea of preconditioning; if the same polynomial is to be evaluated at many points, it may be reasonable to allow some free preprocessing of the coefficients. It has been shown [Motzkin (1955A), Belaga (1961A)] that even if this preconditioning is not counted then at least [n/2] multiplications/divisions and n additions/ subtractions are necessary to evaluate nth degree polynomials. Eve (1964A) and others have shown that this lower bound is almost achievable: an nth degree polynomial can be evaluated in [n/2] + 2 multiplications and n additions/subtractions, provided some irrational preconditioning is allowed without cost.
Resilient youth with neurofibromatosis: Less perceived stress and greater life satisfaction after an 8-week virtual mind-body intervention.

The neurofibromatoses (NF) are rare, incurable genetic disorders. Adolescents with NF report greater stress and lower life satisfaction compared to same-age peers. We report on changes in life sati...
Trauma surgeon as thoracic surgeon.

A 24-year-old man presented to the trauma center with obvious distress and a gunshot wound above the left nipple. The patient was speaking but was confused and diaphoretic with a systolic blood pressure of 80 mm Hg, heart rate of 110 beats per minute and a respiratory rate of 20 breaths per minute. He had a single gunshot wound 5 cm superior to the left nipple and decreased breath sounds over the left hemithorax. After blood was drawn for type and cross-match, two #14 gauge intravenous catheters were inserted into the antecubital veins and lactated Ringer’s infusions were started. A surgeon-performed extended ultrasound focused assessment for the sonographic evaluation of the trauma patient (FAST) examination documented the absence of pleural sliding and of a comet tail artifact in the left hemithorax. Also, there was no pericardial fluid noted. A 36-Fr thoracostomy tube was inserted through the left fifth intercostal space, and a rush of air from the left hemithorax was noted. A stat chest X-ray was performed (figure 1). Figure 1 Gunshot wound to superior mediastinum injured posterior left common carotid artery at its origin on the transverse arch, left innominate vein and distal innominate artery. Patient had a contained hematoma and was transported to the operating room. From Feliciano.14 The patient’s systolic blood pressure remained at 80 mm Hg. In addition to intubation and transfusion of blood, your choice for the next step in management would be: 1. emergent left anterolateral thoracotomy. 2. contact the endovascular specialist. 3. CT aortogram with contrast. 4. median sternotomy in the operating room. The surgical team felt that the contained hematoma in the superior mediastinum reflected an injury to a great vessel. A median sternotomy was performed, and three separate vascular injuries were noted as follows:
Changes of Hormone Sensitive Lipase, Adipose Tissue Triglyceride Lipase, and Free Fatty Acids in Subcutaneous Adipose Tissues throughout the Ripening Process of Dry-curedHam

Changes in adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) and hormone sensitive lipases (HSL) in subcutaneous adipose tissue of Xuanwei ham at different ripening stages were studied. Green hams were salted for 40 d and then ripened in a ventilated chamber for 15 months. Adipose triglyceride lipase and HSL could be detected during the whole ripening period of Xuanwei ham, but their protein levels decreased as the ripening time increased. The decrease of lipase proteins could be attributed to the decrease in protein synthesis as ripening time progressed. The level of free fatty acids (FFAs) increased at the first stage but HSL protein remained constant indicating that HSL was more important than ATGL for adipose tissues lipolysis. The main FFAs produced during the ripening period of Xuanwei ham were oleic acid, linoleic acid and palmitic acid, suggesting that the triacylglycerols containing these three FFAs were preferential substrates for ATGL and HSL
Design and thermomechanical analysis of a cell-integrated, tapered channel heat sink concept for prismatic battery cells

Abstract Temporal and spatial temperature variations can negatively affect the performance, lifetime, and safety of Lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Air-cooled thermal management systems offer advantages in durability and simplicity. Here, we demonstrate a novel air-cooled system in which cooling features are integrated directly into the prismatic battery cells. When cells are stacked in a battery module, the topographic features integrated into the battery case contact each other and provide mechanical resistance against deformation due to internal battery pressure as well as form a plurality of cooling channels. A series of finite element analyses and conjugate heat transfer analyses are performed to identify the optimal geometric parameters for the design concept under consideration of both battery cell internal pressure and thermal loading. For a wide spacing between fins, the cooling efficiency is high when battery internal pressure is absent but low in the presence of cell deformation due to battery internal pressure. As the number of additional fins is increased, the effect of deformation on cooling performance decreases. Consequently, there exists an optimal number of cooling fins. The utilization of tapered channels and the addition of secondary fins provides additional and significant improvements in temperature uniformity, however at cost of increased pressure drop and maximum temperature compared with the design of parallel channels. This study seeks to make two contributions. One contribution is a fundamental one in heat transfer. It addresses the performance of heat sinks under consideration of mechanical deformation of the heat sink. The other contribution is related to battery thermal management. It describes a novel approach to establish an effective cooling system for battery cells in battery packs with forced air cooling.
Whispers of the Soul; Autohistoria-Teoría as Decolonial Knowledge Production:

The imperative for decolonial research methodology has been long discoursed in academia. However, there remains a rift between dominant colonial research practices in the academy and the needs of r...
Introduction to this special section: Rock physics

Abstract In simple terms, rock physics provides the much-needed link between measurable elastic properties of rocks and their intrinsic properties. This enables us to connect seismic data, well log...
“Do not kill them, lest my people forget”: Changes in Attitudes Towards Jews in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century England

This essay supports Paul Hyams’ thesis that while attitudes toward Jews over the twelfth and thirteenth centuries certainly cooled, they did so less dramatically or inevitably than the 1290 expulsion might suggest if imagined as a culmination of policy. Chronicled hostility, alongside which the Jewish ‘blood libel’ myth developed as justification, appears to have increased with perceived Jewish economic status. Their status after their impoverishment decreased as royal policy perpetuated longstanding social divisions that largely originated from neither religious nor economic cleavages, only cultural ones. The treatment of the Jews in the period may simultaneously be understood as one of English identity consolidation in the post-Conquest period, as Jews first coexisted with Anglo-Saxons after the Norman invasion. Since economic reasoning alone does not explain the treatment of the Jews in the latter half of the thirteenth century, this essay also examines instances of anti-Jewish violence and successive Plantagenet king’s policies targeting the Jews and understands them as indicators or constructions of religious and national alterity.
On the Importance of Firth Bias Reduction in Few-Shot Classification.

Learning accurate classifiers for novel categories from very few examples, known as few-shot image classification, is a challenging task in statistical machine learning and computer vision. The performance in few-shot classification suffers from the bias in the estimation of classifier parameters; however, an effective underlying bias reduction technique that could alleviate this issue in training few-shot classifiers has been overlooked. In this work, we demonstrate the effectiveness of Firth bias reduction in few-shot classification. Theoretically, Firth bias reduction removes the first order term $O(N^{-1})$ from the small-sample bias of the Maximum Likelihood Estimator. Here we show that the general Firth bias reduction technique simplifies to encouraging uniform class assignment probabilities for multinomial logistic classification, and almost has the same effect in cosine classifiers. We derive the optimization objective for Firth penalized multinomial logistic and cosine classifiers, and empirically evaluate that it is consistently effective across the board for few-shot image classification, regardless of (1) the feature representations from different backbones, (2) the number of samples per class, and (3) the number of classes. Finally, we show the robustness of Firth bias reduction, in the case of imbalanced data distribution. Our implementation is available at this https URL
Clinically Significant CUX1 Mutations Are Frequently Subclonal and Common in Myeloid Disorders With a High Number of Co-mutated Genes and Dysplastic Features

Objectives CUX1 mutations have been reported in myeloid neoplasms. We aimed to characterize the mutational landscape, clonal architecture, and clinical characteristics of myeloid disorders with CUX1 variants. Methods We reviewed data from a targeted 62-gene panel with CUX1 variants. Variants were classified as of strong or potential clinical significance (tier I/tier II) or of unknown significance (VUS). Results CUX1 variants were identified in 169 cases. The 49 tier I/tier II variants were found in older patients (mean age, 71 vs 60 years old) and predominantly inactivating alterations, while the 120 VUS cases were missense mutations. Monosomy 7/deletion 7q was more common in tier I/tier II cases. Co-mutations were detected in 96% of tier I/tier II cases (average, 3.7/case) but in only 61% of VUS cases (average, 1.5/case). Tier I/tier II CUX1 variants tend to be subclonal to co-mutations (ASXL1, SF3B1, SRSF2, TET2). Among myeloid disorders, tier I/tier II cases were more frequently diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes and had a higher number of bone marrow dysplastic lineages. Conclusions CUX1 mutations are seen with adverse prognostic features and could be a late clonal evolutional event of myeloid disorders. The differences between CUX1 tier I/tier II and VUS underscore the importance of accurate variant classification in reporting of multigene panels.
Mechanism of the control of (Na+ + K+)-ATPase by long-chain acyl coenzyme A.

Abstract Long-chain fatty acid esters of CoA activate (Na+ + K+)-ATPase (the sodium pump) when ATP is suboptimal. To explore the nature of the interactions of these CoA derivatives with the pump, reversible effects of palmitoyl-CoA on the purified membrane-bound kidney enzyme were studied under conditions where interference from the irreversible membrane-damaging effect of the compound was ruled out. With 50 microM ATP, while saturating palmitoyl-CoA increased (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity, it caused partial inhibition of Na+-ATPase activity without affecting the steady-state level of the phosphoenzyme. Palmitoyl-CoA did not change the K0.5 of ATP for Na+-ATPase, but it altered the complex Na+ activation curve to suggest the antagonism of the low-affinity, but not the high-affinity, Na+ sites. At a low ATP concentration (0.5 microM), K+ inhibited Na+-ATPase as expected. In the presence of palmitoyl-CoA and 0.5 microM ATP, however, K+ became an activator, as it is at high ATP concentrations. The activating effect of palmitoyl-CoA on (Na+ + K+)-ATPase activity was reduced with increasing pH (6.5-8.5), but its inhibitory effect on Na+-ATPase was not altered in this pH range. The data show two distinct actions of palmitoyl-CoA: 1) blockade of the extracellular "allosteric" Na+ sites whose exact role in the control of the pump is yet to be determined, and 2) activation of the pump through increased rate of K+ deocclusion. Since in their latter action the fatty acid esters of CoA are far more effective than ATP at a low-affinity regulatory site, we suggest that these CoA derivatives may be the physiological ligands of this regulatory site of the pump.
A knowledge-based framework for belief change part I: foundations

We propose a general framework in which to study belief change. We begin by defining belief in terms of knowledge and plausibility: an agent believes φ if he knows that φ is true in all the worlds he considers most plausible. We then consider some properties defining the interaction between knowledge and plausibility, and show how these properties affect the properties of belief. In particular, we show that by assuming two of the most natural properties, belief becomes a KD45 operator. Finally, we add time to the picture. This gives us a framework in which we can talk about knowledge, plausibility (and hence belief), and time, which extends the framework of Halpern and Fagin [HF89] for modeling knowledge in multi-agent systems. We show that our framework is quite expressive and lets us model in a natural way a number of different scenarios for belief change. For example, we show how we can capture an analogue to prior probabilities, which can be updated by "conditioning". In a related paper, we show how the two best studied scenarios, belief revision and belief update, fit into the framework.
PCR amplification of species-specific DNA sequences can distinguish among Phytophthora species.

We used PCR to differentiate species in the genus Phytophthora, which contains a group of devastating plant pathogenic fungi. We focused on Phytophthora parasitica, a species that can infect solanaceous plants such as tomato, and on Phytophthora citrophthora, which is primarily a citrus pathogen. Oligonucleotide primers were derived from sequences of a 1,300-bp P. parasitica-specific DNA segment and of an 800-bp P. citrophthora-specific segment. Under optimal conditions, the primers developed for P. parasitica specifically amplified a 1,000-bp sequence of DNA from isolates of P. parasitica. Primers for P. citrophthora similarly and specifically amplified a 650-bp sequence of DNA from isolates of P. citrophthora. Detectable amplification of these specific DNA sequences required picogram quantities of chromosomal DNA. Neither pair of primers amplified these sequences with DNAs from other species of Phytophthora or from the related genus Pythium. DNAs from P. parasitica and P. citrophthora growing in infected tomato stem tissue were amplified as distinctly as DNAs from axenic cultures of each fungal species. This is the first report on PCR-driven amplification with Phytophthora species-specific primers. Images
Stabilization of the Korteweg-de Vries Equation on a Periodic Domain

We study solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equations $$ {u_t} + u{u_x} + {u_{xxx}} = f $$ and $$ {u_t} + u{u_x} + {u_{xxx}} = 0 $$ for t ≥ 0 and 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 where the subscripts denote partial derivatives. hi the first case, periodic boundary conditions are imposed at 0 and 1, and the distributed control f is assumed to be generated by a linear feedback control law conserving the “volume” or “mass” ∫ 0 1 u(x, t)dx which monotonically reduces the “energy” ∫ 0 1 u(x, t)2 dx. For the second equation a feedback boundary control is applied having the same properties. In both cases we obtain uniform exponential decay of the solutions to a constant state.
Theory of nuclear spin-spin coupling in YBa2Cu3O7- delta.

The indirect nuclear spin-spin coupling between Cu nuclei in the ${\mathrm{CuO}}_{2}$ planes of ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$, deduced from $^{63}\mathrm{Cu}$ transverse relaxation, is shown to yield information about the wave-vector dependence of the real part of the planar Cu static electron-spin susceptibility. The coupling is evaluated with no adjustable parameters using the antiferromagnetic Fermi-liquid theory of Millis, Monien, and Pines, providing a new test of that model. At 100 K, the theoretical relaxation time is 190\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}75 \ensuremath{\mu}sec versus the experimental 130\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10 \ensuremath{\mu}sec.
Advising Satisfaction: Implications for First-Year Students' Sense of Belonging and Retention

Presented at the First Year Experience annual conference, San Antonio, TX, February 21, 2012.
A field study of partially distributed group support

Reports on a field study of several partially distributed groups working in an insurance company. Data were collected via interviews, a questionnaire and meeting observation. The data support parts of several theories, including media richness and social information processing, and also reveal other constructs which are not found in current theories. Two of these are convenience and social support. The subjects in this study expressed perceptions that the two constructs were important, lacking or both.
Membrane fusion. Bridging the gap by AAA ATPases.

Some of the proteins that are involved in membrane fusion also belong to the so-called AAA-type family of ATPases. Many of these ATPases have accessory molecules, which may act as ‘adaptors’ to mediate the binding of the ATPase to a membrane-bound receptor. Now, rat p97 — an AAA-type ATPase — has been found to have an accessory factor called p47. Moreover, it is the p97/p47 complex, rather than p97 alone, that is required for membrane assembly.
Governance through the market and the state : postgraduate education in Argentina

INTRODUCCION. La mayoria de los sistemas de educacion superior en los paises desarrollados y en desarrollo han experimentado cambios en su estructura de gobernanza. En la educacion de posgrado en Argentina esos cambios marcaron un movimiento hacia un papel creciente del Estado como un agente directivo y del mercado para fortalecer la competencia, ambos a costa del poder academico tradicional. METODO. Analisis del enfoque del espacio regulador basado en investigacion de archivo del marco regulador de la educacion de posgrado aunado a informacion sobre los programas. RESULTADOS. Se observan diferencias tajantes entre la realidad pre y posregulatoria de Argentina. La regulacion mediante la acreditacion es concebida para abordar la asimetria en la informacion e informar a los estudiantes a los que se considera como “clientes” individuales. Esto se cumple por medio de la clasificacion jerarquica intencional y oficial de los programas de posgrado. El Estado juega un papel creciente como regulador para la competencia que modifica los modelos existentes de gobernanza en el sistema de educacion superior, principalmente en el nivel de posgrado. DISCUSION. En un contexto de cambios crecientes en la gobernanza de la educacion superior existe una evidencia cada vez mayor de que, a pesar de las variaciones nacionales, los sistemas estan apuntando hacia una mayor dependencia de las estrategias favorables al mercado. Aun asi, poco se sabe acerca de la manera en que las instituciones del subnivel de posgrado estan respondiendo a los nuevos desafios que plantean las estructuras emergentes de gobernanza.
The Formation of Islam: Approaches and problems

The term “Islam,” like any other historical abstraction of comparable scope, indicates a phenomenon of great complexity and constantly evolving dimensions. This should go without saying; unfortunately, given how easily and naturally we fall back on the simple term to describe the complex organism, it bears repeating. Islam was not fully formed at the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, nor a few years later when it burst out of its Arabian homeland, nor even many decades later when it was clear that the rule of those who called themselves “Muslims” was permanent. The story of the emergence during the seventh and eighth centuries of particularly Islamic identities and patterns of religious authority can be read as a continuation of that of the focusing of religious identities which characterized the late antique Near East. The questions posed by the unexpected appearance on the scene of enthusiastic monotheists from the Arabian desert forced adherents of the older faiths to articulate more precisely those contours which defined them against their rivals. But it is also true that Islam itself only took shape through a process of dialogue with the other faith traditions. Indeed, it is misleading to speak of the “appearance” or “rise” of Islam, if those words convey a sense of unproblematic apparition as sudden as that of the Arab warriors before the bewildered Byzantine or Sasanian armies.
Linear autonomous equations

In this chapter, we consider a special but important class of linear equations; namely, linear autonomous equations. A linear autonomous RFDE has the form $$ \dot x(t) = L({x_t}) $$ (1) where L is a continuous linear function mapping C into ℝ n . This hypothesis implies there exists an n × n matrix η(θ) -r ≤ θ ≤ 0, whose elements are of bounded variation such that $$ \matrix{ {L(\phi ) = \int_{ - r}^0 {[d\eta (\theta )]\phi (\theta )} ,\,} & {\phi {\rm{in}}C.} \cr } $$ (2)
Cystic Fibrosis: The Mechanisms of Pathogenesis of an Inherited Lung Disorder

Cystic fibrosis patients exhibit lung disease consistent with a failure of innate airway defense mechanisms. The link between abnormal ion transport and disease initiation and progression is not fully understood, but airway mucus dehydration seems paramount in the initiation of CF lung disease. New therapies are currently in development that target the ion transport defects in CF with the intention of rehydrating airway surfaces.
Deep drill hole for the New Madrid Seismic Zone

A 5- to 6-kilometer-deep scientific drill hole is the ultimate goal of Fault Observatory for the Central U.S. (FOCUS), a new multidisciplinary, multi-institutional working group that formed at a workshop held at the University of Memphis, in Tennessee. Beneficial shortand intermediate-term science goals are also part of establishing this borehole geo-observatory in the most prominent, widely known intraplate earthquake zone in the world. The midcontinent has a long, complex history of tectonism. Precambrian basement rocks record intense tectonic deformations that preceded the accumulation of thick sedimentary sequences of sediments that constitute the present-day Mississippi Embayment. Despite its location far from the active North American plate margins, the New Madrid seismic zone of the central United States exhibits a persistent pattern of seismicity. What causes this intraplate seismicity? How does the intraplate lithosphere support the forces that maintain earthquake productivity in this supposedly stable tectonic setting? Is there evidence for spatial or temporal migration of seismicity in the continental interior?
USE OF A PORTABLE SUCKOMETER TO INVESTIGATE NUTRITIVE SUCKING PATTERNS IN INFANTS

An easy method for assessing nutritive sucking behavior during infancy would provide early identification of children at risk for feeding problems. We developed a portable suckometer to measure sucking amplitude across time and burst/interval patterns, and studied 54 normal infants (41 term, GA 38-42 wks., at 3.7 days ± 1.6 SD and 13 preterm, GA 34.5 wks. ± 1.8 SD at 41.5 wks. ± 1.6 SD post conception) in a newborn nursery for a midmorning feed. Measurements were taken for the first 60 cc consumed or 20 minute feeding time calculated from the first (S), mid (M) and last two minutes (E) of the feed. Breast-fed infants were given D5W; bottle-fed infants received their usual formula (e.g. Isomil). Nutrient flow was determined by the infant's suck. Standard cross-cut nipples with a second precut hole (Ross Twiston Nipple Unit) were attached to disposable graduated feeding tubes interfacing with an Ailtech miniature pressure transducer via Intramedic polyethylene tubing (PE-160). Results include: a) no significant differences on suck measurements for breast vs. bottle-fed, D5W vs. formula, male vs. female, preterm vs. term; b) a decrease across time (S→E) for number of sucks (p<.001), and number and length of bursts (p<.001). This normative information obtained from the portable suckometer provides a baseline for comparison with infants with feeding difficulty, and documents the ease of obtaining nutritive sucking measurements in a normal newborn nursery.
Insertion of DNA activates the cryptic bgl operon in E. coli K12

Spontaneous mutations which activate the cryptic bgl operon of Escherichia coli K12 are caused by insertion of DNA at a site, bglR, within the operon. Two insertion elements, IS1 and IS5, have been observed to effect this activation. Once the activating insertion has occurred the operon is inducible by βglucosides in a cyclic AMP-dependent manner.
Developing a library toolbar

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to review the toolbar creation service, Conduit™ and provide instruction for configuring the toolbar search box.Design/methodology/approach – This article is based on the experience of the Dulaney‐Browne Library while developing a library toolbar using Conduit™.Findings – Conduit™ is a free service for creating toolbars to use with Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. Conduit™ is user‐friendly and initiative. However, there is a compatibility issue with the internet explore version and the Ebrary Reader ActiveX Control.Originality/value – This paper offers helpful tips on developing a library toolbar.
Comparative coagulation abnormality patterns in moderately and severely burned patients

Abstract Coagulation abnormalities are known to increase morbidity and mortality in severely burned patients. Coagulation abnormalities in moderately burned patients were compared for similar effects. Prothrombin and partial thromboplastin in both moderately and severely burned patients showed no important abnormalities. However, an abnormally increased platelet count during the third week post burn in moderately burned patients did not occur in the severely burned, who maintained low normal levels. The moderately burned had a mortality rate of 5–8 per cent compared to 42 per cent in the severely burned group.
Moduli determination of continuous fiber ceramic composites (CFCCs)

Abstract NicalonTM/silicon carbide composites were fabricated by the Forced Chemical Vapor Infiltration (FCVI) method. Both through-thickness and in-plane (fiber fabric plane) moduli were determined using ultrasonic techniques. The through-thickness elastic constants (moduli) were found to be much less than the in-plane moduli. Increased porosity significantly decreased both in-plane and through-thickness moduli. A periodic model using a homogenization method was formulated to predict the effect of porosity on the moduli of woven fabric composites. The predicted moduli were found to be in reasonably good agreement with the experimental results.
A hybrid transport-diffusion Monte Carlo method for frequency-dependent radiative-transfer simulations

Discrete Diffusion Monte Carlo (DDMC) is a technique for increasing the efficiency of Implicit Monte Carlo radiative-transfer simulations in optically thick media. In DDMC, particles take discrete steps between spatial cells according to a discretized diffusion equation. Each discrete step replaces many smaller Monte Carlo steps, thus improving the efficiency of the simulation. In this paper, we present an extension of DDMC for frequency-dependent radiative transfer. We base our new DDMC method on a frequency-integrated diffusion equation for frequencies below a specified threshold, as optical thickness is typically a decreasing function of frequency. Above this threshold we employ standard Monte Carlo, which results in a hybrid transport-diffusion scheme. With a set of frequency-dependent test problems, we confirm the accuracy and increased efficiency of our new DDMC method.
Exit conditions for secondary ion emission induced by keV cluster bombardment

Abstract The emission of secondary ions from CsI and phenylalanine surfaces via keV atomic and cluster projectile impacts was studied with coincidence counting time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The results show that not all desorption events from a given projectile are equivalent. The degree of secondary ion correlation was observed to be an inverse function of the kinetic energy and complexity, or efficiency, of the primary ion. For the cases studied, changes in secondary ion correlation are attributed to a change in the ion formation pathway as well as the surface volume excited by a primary projectile.
Phase separation and dynamic patterning in Cu 1 − x Co x films under ion irradiation

Phase separation behavior in thin ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Co}}_{x}$ films under irradiation ($1.8\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$ ${\mathrm{Kr}}^{+}$ ions) at different temperatures has been systematically studied for $0.10\ensuremath{\leqslant}x\ensuremath{\leqslant}0.20$. The development of phase separation in irradiated films (estimates of the average size of Co precipitates and concentration of Co in solution) was monitored using magnetic measurements. Analysis of magnetization data in the framework of superparamagnetic theory has shown that at irradiation temperatures $T\ensuremath{\leqslant}330\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{C}$, phase separation in $\mathrm{Cu}--\mathrm{Co}$ films of all compositions stabilizes at high doses $(\ensuremath{\approx}1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{16}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}2})$, indicating the existence of temperature-dependent dynamic steady states. At temperatures higher than $\ensuremath{\approx}350\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}\mathrm{C}$, indications of thermodynamic-like coarsening are observed. Below $\ensuremath{\approx}300\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ FC/ZFC (field-cooled/zero-field cooled) measurements clearly show the randomizing effect of irradiation. The observed phase separation behavior of $\mathrm{Cu}--\mathrm{Co}$ system under irradiation agrees qualitatively well with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations performed in this work and with theoretical predictions of phase evolution in irradiated immiscible alloys.