cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The importance of investing in your relationship: Emotional capital and responses to partner transgressions:

Throughout their relationship, couples experience a myriad of small positive moments together, such as sharing leisure activities or laughing with one another. Although these moments may seem trivi...
Patient-Generated Health Data in Surgical Site Infection: Changing Clinical Workflow and Care Delivery.

Background: The patient's history of present illness provides an important part of the data with which clinicians diagnose and treat. Once surgical patients are discharged, the ability to incorporate direct observation requires coordinating patient and provider for a clinical visit. Mobile technologies offer the ability to gather and organize the patient's history, supplement that history with photographs and other clinical observations, and convey those data accurately and rapidly to the entire clinical team. Methods: We review our experience with patient-generated health data in surgical site infection, draw parallels with similar work in other domains, and identify principles we have found useful. Results: Health information system implementations require substantial changes in provider workflow. Shared expectations between the patient and the surgical team, an incremental approach to change in clinical processes, and an emphasis on clinical utility all support successful implementation. Conclusions: The data collection and rapid information exchange afforded by monitoring post-operative, post-discharge patients using mobile technologies can support the expectations of both patients and providers and may provide a novel data source for public health surveillance of surgical site infection. Both uses of these data require careful attention to introducing changes in clinical workflow.
Reduced Intensity (RI) Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation (HCT) Improves Outcomes for Older (≥ 60 Yrs) Patients (Pts) with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

Abstract The current paradigm of cytarabine-based induction chemotherapy followed by repetitive cycles of similar consolidation has yielded 2-year disease-free survival (DFS) of no more than 20% in older pts (≥60 yrs) who achieve remission. Induction failure (IF) is also high in this population (20–35%), depending on cytogenetic risk. Regimen-related toxicities have been a barrier to allogeneic HCT in older pts. RI conditioning provides a means to harness graft vs. leukemia in this group. Between 2/2000 and 3/1/2007, 46 pts ≥ 60 yrs (median 63 yr, range 60–71) received RI HCT from either related (26) or unrelated (20) HLA matched donors. In 23 pts, RI HCT was used as consolidation of remission (CR1 [19 pts] + CR2 [4 pts]) while 23 had active disease, including 10 IF. Karyotype was favorable in 9%, intermediate in 48% and poor in 41%. The median % marrow blasts for non-remission pts was 31% (6–80%) and peripheral blood blast was 5% (0–78%). The majority (41 pts) received fludarabine (FLU)/melphalan (MEL) for conditioning. Four pts received FLU with either 200G total body irradiation (TBI) (3 pts) or busulfan (1 pt) and one received TBI alone. Graft vs. host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis was based on either cyclosporine/mycophenolate mofetil alone or with methotrexate (MTX) (20/10) or tacrolimus/sirolimus +/− MTX (2/14 pts). The graft source was peripheral blood in 43 pts and marrow in 3 pts. Engraftment occurred at a median of 15 days (0–27 days) in 98% of recipients; graft failure occurred in one sibling HCT. Donor engraftment based on DNA analysis ranged from 30–100% at 4–6 wks post-HCT (median 100%) in the 33 analyzed pts. Mortality at day 100 was 10.8%. Acute GVHD (Grade 2–4) occurred in 61% of recipients and chronic GVHD has occurred in 23/33 evaluable pts. With a median follow-up of 24.5 months (m) for surviving pts (4–83 m), 25/46 (64.5%) pts are alive. For remission pts, the 2 yr DFS is 65% (CI 51–76%). For pts who received RI HCT as “salvage”, 34% are DF at 2 yrs. (CI 27–41%). Relapse rates were 11% for remission pts and 60% for non-remission pts. Deaths post HCT were attributed to relapse in 12 pts and treatment related mortality due to GVHD (6 pts) or infection (3 pts). Conclusion: DFS can be improved for older patients with the use of RI HCT as remission consolidation. RIC also provides a meaningful salvage option for pts with IF or early relapse. Evaluation of donor options including both siblings and unrelated donors should be considered during induction for patients with good performance status.
Importance Sampling Using Multilabel Radial Basis Classification for Composite Power System Reliability Evaluation

Resource additions to electric power grids are planned in advance to maintain reliability of electric power supply. This is achieved by performing reliability studies for calculating reliability indices at the planning stage to ensure that the required levels of reliability will be met. This article proposes a new state classification approach to calculate power system reliability indices using a combination of multilabel radial basis function (MLRBF) networks and importance sampling (IS) within the framework of Monte Carlo simulation process. Multilabel classification algorithms are different from single-label approaches, in which each instance can be assigned to multiple classes. This characteristic gives MLRBF the capability to classify composite power system states (success or failure), at the bus as well as system level. Bus level indices provide useful reliability information for locational reliability, which allows more rational and equitable distribution of resources. MLRBF classification does not require optimal power flow (OPF) analysis; however, OPF is required for the training and cross-entropy optimization phases. This article shows that the scope and computational efficiency to evaluate reliability indices can be significantly increased if the proposed MLRBF classifier is used together with well-known variance reduction technique of IS. As the classifier is trained to recognize the reliability status of a system state, it can also be used in operational planning when a number of scenarios need to be evaluated in a short time for their ability to satisfy load. The proposed method is illustrated using the IEEE reliability test system for different load levels. The outcomes of case studies show that MLRBF algorithm together with IS provides excellent classification accuracy in reliability evaluation while substantially reducing computation time and enhancing the scope of evaluation.
Symmetric Groups and G -Sets

The definition of group arose from fundamental properties of the symmetric group Sn. But there is another important feature of Sn: its elements arc functions acting on some underlying set, and this aspect is not explicit in our presentation so far. The notion of G-set is the appropriate abstraction of this idea.
Can Competition Improve the Information Quality of Credit Ratings

This paper examines how the quality of ratings issued by incumbent issuer-paid rating agencies responds to the entry of Egan-Jones Rating Company (EJR), an investor-paid rating agency. By comparing S&P’s rating quality before and after EJR initiates coverage of each firm, we find a significant improvement in the quality of S&P’s ratings following EJR’s rating initiation. S&P’s rating levels are shifted downward, ratings are more responsive to market-based risk measures, and S&P’s rating changes are associated with stronger market reactions. These effects are more pronounced when firms are unconditionally more opaque, and hence the incremental value of EJR’s ratings is especially high. Interestingly, the adjustment in S&P’s rating quality occurs only when EJR’s ratings are initially (and subsequently) lower than S&P’s, but not when they are higher. This asymmetric finding suggests that S&P does not adjust its rating quality by simply mimicking the information released by EJR, but rather it strategically responds to EJR’s new ratings based on the “downward pressure” they have imposed. The findings in the paper are contrary to the existing evidence that documents a deterioration in the incumbents’ rating quality following the entry of a third issuer-paid rating agency. They suggest that competition raised by an investor-paid agency may improve quality provision in the rating industry.
Perspectives on healthcare providers’ role in health promotion among cancer survivors.

e24037Background: To further integrate health promotion into cancer survivorship care, we explored multilevel perspectives on potential roles healthcare providers could have in promoting uptake of ...
Refractive Index of Cadmium Sulfide Films Determined from Transmittance Measurements

In the present work the refractive indices of thermally evaporated films of cadmium sulfide (CdS) on fused silica substrates were obtained from measurement of transmittance (T, alone) at normal incidence. Earlier, the same were determined by using measurements of reflectance (R) and transmittance (T) again at normal incidence. On comparison of the two results, we noted that the present results are in fact more, closer than those obtained earlier to the corresponding values reported for the bulk cadmium sulfide.
Coupling solidification kinetics with phase-behavior computations in hydrodynamic simulations of high-pressure, dynamic-compression processes

In this study, we report a numerical scheme to integrate models for the kinetics of solidification processes together with phase-behavior computations in the context of continuum-scale hydrodynamic simulations. The objective of the phase-behavior computations is to determine the pressure and temperature, given the following three sets of inputs: (1) an appropriate equation of state to describe our system, (2) the phase fraction(s) produced by the kinetic models, (3) and the volume and internal energy obtained by solving the conservation equations that govern the hydrodynamic behavior. The kinetics are assumed to be governed by the Kolmogorov–Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation, and the nucleation and growth rates that enter into that equation are functions of the pressure and temperature produced by the phase-behavior computations. Our formulation allows for the fluid and solid phases to be at different temperatures (thermal nonequilibrium) and pressures (arising from surface-tension-induced Laplace contributions). The formulation is presented in a fairly general setting that is independent of any particular material, although we demonstrate it in some examples related to high-energy-density science applications where materials are rapidly compressed to pressures exceeding several gigapascals in less than a microsecond. We conclude with a critical evaluation of our approach and provide suggestions for future work to improve the predictive capabilities and generality of the models.
Clinical Outcomes, Survivorship, and Return to Sport After Arthroscopic Capsular Repair With Suture Anchors for Adolescent Multidirectional Shoulder Instability: Results at 6-Year Follow-up:

Background:Multidirectional shoulder instability (MDI) refractory to rehabilitation can be treated with arthroscopic capsulolabral reconstruction with suture anchors. To the best of our knowledge, ...
Planar defect-driven electrocatalysis of CO2-to-C2H4 conversion

The selectivity towards a specific C2+ product, such as ethylene (C2H4), is sensitive to the surface structure of copper (Cu) catalysts in carbon dioxide (CO2) electro-reduction. The fundamental understanding of such sensitivity can guide the development of advanced electrocatalysts, although it remains challenging at the atomic level. Here we demonstrated that planar defects, such as stacking faults, could drive the electrocatalysis of CO2-to-C2H4 conversion with higher selectivity and productivity than Cu(100) facets in the intermediate potential region (−0.50 ∼ −0.65 V vs. RHE). The unique right bipyramidal Cu nanocrystals containing a combination of (100) facets and a set of parallel planar defects delivered 67% faradaic efficiency (FE) for C2H4 and a partial current density of 217 mA cm−2 at −0.63 V vs. RHE. In contrast, Cu nanocubes with exclusive (100) facets exhibited only 46% FE for C2H4 and a partial current density of 87 mA cm−2 at an identical potential. Both ex situ CO temperature-programmed desorption and in situ Raman spectroscopy analysis implied that the stronger *CO adsorption on planar defect sites facilitates CO generation kinetics, which contributes to a higher surface coverage of *CO and in turn an enhanced reaction rate of C–C coupling towards C2+ products, especially C2H4.
Education without evidence: Gaps in data availability for refugee, asylee, and humanitarian migrant students in US schools:

The collection and use of empirical data for educational decision-making in the United States is required by the Every School Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Results Driven Accountability mandate, but ...
Use of the Surfacer® Inside-Out® Access Catheter System to Place Permanent Dialysis Access via Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Graft

Abstract Introduction Central venous occlusion (CVO) poses a great challenge to maintain dialysis access for end-stage renal disease patients. In patients with exhausted peripheral vascular access from central venous occlusion, currently available solutions such as central venous catheters, angioplasty, and lower extremity access provide limited benefits. Methods We describe the use of the Surfacer® Inside-Out® Access Catheter System from right femoral vein to cross a central venous occlusion (CVO) that had failed crossing from the internal jugular vein. The needlewire of the Surfacer system was retrieved extravascularly at the base of the neck. Instead of a central venous catheter, a Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Graft was placed in the right atrium and joined with right brachial artery at the same setting. Results We describe a technique for placing upper extremity Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) grafts in patients with severe superior vena cava occlusion via Surfacer® Inside-Out® Access Catheter System. The procedure was technically successful, and on postoperative day 1, the patient had flow volumes greater than 1000 cc/min in the HeRO graft. Conclusions Using the Surfacer® Inside-Out® Access Catheter System to cross central venous occlusion to place Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) grafts rather than tunneled dialysis catheters is safe and technically feasible.
Best subset feature selection for massive mixed-type problems

We address the problem of identifying a non-redundant subset of important variables. All modern feature selection approaches including filters, wrappers, and embedded methods experience problems in very general settings with massive mixed-type data, and with complex relationships between the inputs and the target. We propose an efficient ensemble-based approach measuring statistical independence between a target and a potentially very large number of inputs including any meaningful order of interactions between them, removing redundancies from the relevant ones, and finally ranking variables in the identified minimum feature set. Experiments with synthetic data illustrate the sensitivity and the selectivity of the method, whereas the scalability of the method is demonstrated with a real car sensor data base.
The optimum target value for single filling operations with quality sampling plans

We address the problem of choosing the most cost efficient set point for an automatic filling operation on a production line. Several researchers have examined this problem for the case where the filling operation is followed by 100% inspection. However..
Visualizing large relational datasets by combining grand tour with footprint splatting of high dimensional data cubes

Large relational datasets have always been a challenge for information visualization due to their high dimensionalities and their large sizes. One approach to this challenge is to combine grand tour and volume rendering with the support of data aggregation from databases to deal with both high dimensionality of data and large number of relational records. This paper focuses on how to efficiently produce explanatory images that give comprehensive insights into the global data distribution features, such as data clusters and holes, in large relation datasets. Multidimensional footprint splatting is implemented to directly render relational data. Footprint splatting is implemented by using texture mapping accelerated by graphics hardware. Experiments have shown the usefulness of the approach to display data clusters and to identify interesting patterns in high dimensional relational datasets.
Getting to the year 3000: can global bioethics overcome evolution's fatal flaw?

It is my thesis here that in pursuing perfect adaptation the evolutionary process has built into each member of the human species an instinct for short-term gains so strong that no prescient individual, committee, religion, or private organization has so far been able tro conceive or effect a cultural milieu that could adequately balance the short-term instincts of human individuals with the long-range needs of the species. The goal of global bioethics is to recruit “true believers” who can see the need for future as well as currently oriented cultural change, and who can influence governments, locally and globally, to achieve adequate voluntary control of human fertility, the protection of oher forms of human dignity, and the preservation and restoration of the natural environment.
A holistic advantage in face drawing: higher accuracy when drawing upright faces

This study looks into the conception that drawing or copying a face that is vertically inverted will improve the accuracy of the drawing by preventing holistic interference. We had participants draw parameterized face profiles (both upright and inverted) that were sampled from face space (see Davidenko, 2007). In each trial, participants were shown a face on the left side of the screen and asked to copy it on the right side. We then recorded the location of 66 landmark points on each face drawing, allowing us to compute a distance metric between each drawing and its corresponding original face. This distance metric served as a measure of accuracy, with higher distances corresponding to greater errors. Contrary to common belief, people’s drawings were significantly more accurate for upright versus inverted faces (t(15) = 4.9; p=0.0002). Our results suggest that holistic processing improves, rather than impairs, the accuracy of face drawing.
Efficient Image Computation in Infinite State Model Checking

In this paper we present algorithms for efficient image computation for systems represented as arithmetic constraints. We use automata as a symbolic representation for such systems. We show that, for a common class of systems, given a set of states and a transition, the time required for image computation is bounded by the product of the sizes of the automata encoding the input set and the transition. We also show that the size of the result has the same bound. We obtain these results using a linear time projection operation for automata encoding linear arithmetic constraints. We also experimentally show the benefits of using these algorithms by comparing our implementation with LASH and BRAIN.
Conceptual Integration of Multiple Partial Geometric Models

Many scientific databases need to manage complex 3D geometric data such as models of the cerebral cortex. Often the complexity of the data forces users to construct muliple, simpler representations, which cover the real, complete model only partially and approximately. In order to recover the original information one needs to integrate these partial and incomplete models. In this paper, we first develop a conceptual model for objects and relationships in 3D geometric data, as well as their partial and approximate representations. We then establish mapping relationships between different approximations of the same data. Finally, we present a geometric information integration technique that will perform the integration where possible, and determine, for some cases, when the integration cannot be performed.
Designing SANs to Support Low-Fanout Multicasts

System area networks (SANs) need to support low-fanout multicasts efficiently in addition to broadcasts and unicasts. A critical component in SANs is the switch, which is commonly designed around crossbars. We present new switch designs using a combination of low-cost multistage switching fabrics and input and output buffering with hardware based packet scheduling mechanism. Using detailed simulations, we show that the proposed designs can scale to 512-ports and outperform crossbar based designs in a 4-switch SAN.
Solving POMDPs by searching in policy space

Most algorithms for solving POMDPs iteratively improve a value function that implicitly represents a policy and are said to search in value function space. This paper presents an approach to solving POMDPs that represents a policy explicitly as a finite-state controller and iteratively improves the controller by search in policy space. Two related algorithms illustrate this approach. The first is a policy iteration algorithm that can outperform value iteration in solving infinitehorizon POMDPs. It provides the foundation for a new heuristic search algorithm that promises further speedup by focusing computational effort on regions of the problem space that are reachable, or likely to be reached, from a start state.
Parallel Journeys: Adam Smith and Milton Friedman on the regulation of banking

Adam Smith and Milton Friedman are famous for championing laissez-faire, yet both supported government regulation of the banking system. In both cases their deviation from free market orthodoxy was based on a careful reading of financial history: especially Smith's reading of the Crisis of 1772 and Friedman's reading of the Crisis of 1929–1933. In both cases they based their reading on a complex and nuanced account of human nature. This paper describes their parallel journeys to the conclusion that banking requires government regulation.
The Kruskal Count

The Kruskal Count is a card trick invented by Martin D. Kruskal (who is well known for his work on solitons) which is described in Fulves and Gardner (1975) and Gardner (1978, 1988). In this card trick a magician “guesses” one card in a deck of cards which is determined by a subject using a special counting procedure that we call Kruskal's counting procedure. The magician has a strategy which with high probability will identify the correct card, explained below. Kruskal's counting procedure goes as follows. The subject shuffles a deck of cards as many times as he likes. He mentally chooses a (secret) number between one and ten. The subject turns the cards of the deck face up one at a time, slowly, and places them in a pile. As he turns up each card he decreases his secret number by one and he continues to count this way till he reaches zero. The card just turned up at the point when the count reaches zero is called the first key card and its value is called the first key number. Here the value of an Ace is one, face cards are assigned the value five, and all other cards take their numerical value. The subject now starts the count over, using the first key number to determine where to stop the count at the second key card. He continues in this fashion, obtaining successive key cards until the deck is exhausted. The last key card encountered, which we call the tapped card, is the card to be “guessed” by the magician.
Worst-case performance analysis of optimal batch control trajectories

A novel approach is proposed that quantifies the impact of parameter and control implementation inaccuracies on the performance of open loop control policies. Such information can be used to decide whether more laboratory experiments are needed to produce parameter estimates of higher accuracy, or to define performance objectives for lower level control loops which implement the optimal control trajectory. The novel features of the approach include: (1) computational efficiency, (2) the parametric uncertainty description is that produced by most process identification algorithms, and (3) control implementation inaccuracies are addressed. The merits of the approach are illustrated on a batch crystallization process.
Some Characteristics of Bypass Transition in a Heated Boundary Layer

Experimental measurements of both mean and conditionally sampled characteristics of laminar, transitional and low Reynolds number turbulent boundary layers on a heated flat plate are presented. Measurements were obtained in air over a range of freestream turbulence intensities from 0.3 percent to 6 percent with a freestream velocity of 30.5 m/s and zero pressure gradient. Conditional sampling performed in the transitional boundary layers indicate the existence of a near-wall drop in intermittency, especially pronounced at low intermittencies. Nonturbulent intervals were observed to possess large levels of low-frequency unsteadiness, and turbulent intervals had peak intensities as much as 50 percent higher than were measured at fully turbulent stations. Heat transfer results were consistent with results of previous researchers and Reynolds analogy factors were found to be well predicted by laminar and turbulent correlations which accounted for unheated starting length. A small dependence of the turbulent Reynolds analogy factors on freestream turbulence level was observed. Laminar boundary layer spectra indicated selective amplification of unstable frequencies. These instabilities appear to play a dominant role in the transition process only for the lowest freestream turbulence level studied, however.
Debtholders' Option to Walk Out of a Bankruptcy Process, Degree of Diversification and Multi-Tier Capital Structure

This paper presents a novel idea that debtholders of a firm have a put option to walk out (DOW) of a bankruptcy process, when the transaction cost needed to recover the value from assets is greater than the value of recovery. Two important theories emerge from the idea of DOW. First, we show that the DOW entails a novel cost of diversification and this results in less than fully diversified firms, as in the real world. Second, we develop a theory of choice of organizations defined by the number of tiers in the capital structure, as opposed to the efficiency of management and operation.
Prices vs. Quantities

The setting for the problem under consideration is a large economic organization or system which in some cases is best thought of as the entire economy. Within this large economic organization resources are allocated by some combination of commands and prices (the exact mixture is inessential) or even by some other unspecified mechanism. The following question arises. For one particular isolated economic variable that needs to be regulated,3 what is the best way to implement control for the benefit of the organization as a whole? Is it better to directly administer the activity under scrutiny or to fix transfer prices and rely on self-interested profit or utility maximization to achieve the same ends in decentralized fashion? This issue is taken as the prototype problem of central control which is studied in the present paper. There are a great many specific examples which fit nicely into such a framework. One of current interest is the question of whether it would be better to control certain forms of pollution by setting emission standards or by charging the appropriate pollution taxes. When quantities are employed as planning instruments, the basic operating rules from the centre take the form of quotas, targets, or commands to produce a certain level of output. With prices as instruments, the rules specify either explicitly or implicitly that profits are to be maximized at the given parametric prices. Now a basic theme of resource allocation theory emphasizes the close connection between these two modes of control. No matter how one type of planning instrument is fixed, there is always a corresponding way to set the other which achieves the same result when implemented.4 From a strictly theoretical point of view there is really nothing to recommend one mode of control over the other. This notwithstanding, I think it is a fair generalization to say that the average economist in the Western marginalist tradition has at least a vague preference toward indirect control by prices, just as the typical non-economist leans toward the direct regulation of quantities. That a person not versed in economics should think primarily in terms of direct controls is probably due to the fact that he does not comprehend the full subtlety and strength of the invisible hand argument. The economist's attitude is somewhat more puzzling. Understanding that prices can be used as a powerful and flexible instrument for rationally allocating resources and that in fact a market economy automatically regulates itself in this manner is very different from being under the impression that such indirect controls are generally preferable for the kind of problem considered in this paper. Certainly a careful reading of economic theory yields little to support such a universal proposition.
Reaching poor areas in a federal system

The author studies how well a federal antipoverty program reaches poor areas, taking the reactions of lower levels of government into account. He studies performance in reaching poor areas before and after World Bank-sponsored reforms in Argentina's anitpoverty program. Program resources were substantially reallocated across provinces when Argentina's Trabajar 1 program was replaced by Trabajar 2, with increased spending and greater targeting to poor areas. Overall, performance in reaching poor areas (regardless of province) improved nationally. About a third of the gain in the program's ability to reach poor areas was attributed to the program's greater ability to reach poor provinces. The rest was attributed to better targeting of poor areas within provinces. The provinces differed greatly in ability to reach poor areas. History mattered. Differences in performance after reform partly reflected differences under the old program. Controlling for those factors, however, poorer provinces were less successful in targeting their poor areas. A higher provincial poverty rate attracted more central spending, which tended to result in more pro-poor spending within provinces. But even with greater central spending on poor provinces, poorer provinces were less successful at discriminating in favor of their poor areas. Decentralization generated substantial horizontal inequality in public spending on poor areas. The center clearly needs to give provincial governments stronger incentives to target the poor. Allocations to a province should depend not only on how poor the province is but on how successfully it discriminates in favor of poor areas. The results of this study suggest that stronger incentives are needed.
Variational thermodynamics of viscous compressible heat-conducting fluids

A new variational principle of virtual dissipation generalizing d'Alembert's principle to nonlinear irreversible thermodynamics is applied to compressible heat- conducting fluids with Newtonian and non-Newtonian viscosity. The principle is applied in the context of Eulerian formalism where the flow is described with reference to a fixed coordinate system. New concepts of entropy displacement and mass displacement are used as well as a new definition of the chemical potential which avoids the usual ambi- guities of the classical thermodynamic approach. The variational principle is used to derive a novel, form of field differential equations for the coupled fluid dynamics and convective heat transfer.
Rural Roads and Poor Area Development in Vietnam

The authors assess impacts of rural road rehabilitation on market development at the commune level in rural Vietnam and examine the variance of those impacts and the geographic, community, and household factors that explains it. Double difference and matching methods are used to address sources of selection bias in identifying impacts. The results point to significant average impacts on the development of local markets. They also uncover evidence of considerable impact heterogeneity, with a tendency for poorer communes to have higher impacts due to lower levels of initial market development. Yet, poor areas are also saddled with other attributes that reduce those impacts.
Light–evoked current responses in rod bipolar cells, cone depolarizing bipolar cells and AII amacrine cells in dark–adapted mouse retina

Light-evoked excitatory cation current (ΔIC) and inhibitory chloride current (ΔICl) of rod and cone depolarizing bipolar cells (DBCRs and DBCCs) and AII amacrine cells (AIIACs) in dark-adapted mouse retinal slices were studied by whole-cell voltage-clamp recording techniques, and the cell morphology was revealed by Lucifer yellow fluorescence with a confocal microscope. ΔIC of all DBCRs exhibited similar high sensitivity to 500 nm light, but two patterns of ΔICl were observed in DBCRs with slightly different axon morphology. At least two types of DBCCs were identified: one with axon terminals ramified in 70–85% of the depth of the inner plexiform layer (IPL) and DBCR-like ΔIC sensitivity, whereas the other with axon terminals ramified in 55–75% of IPL depth and much lower ΔIC sensitivity. The relative rod/cone inputs to DBCs and AIIACs were analysed by comparing the ΔIC and ΔICl thresholds and dynamic ranges with the corresponding values of rods and cones. On average, the sensitivity of a DBCR to the 500 nm light is about 20 times higher than that of a rod. The sensitivity of an AIIAC is more than 1000 times higher than that of a rod, suggesting that AIIAC responses are pooled through a coupled network of about 40 AIIACs. Interactions of rod and cone signals in dark-adapted mouse retina appear asymmetrical: rod signals spread into the cone system more efficiently than cone signals into the rod system. The mouse synaptic circuitry allows small rod signals to be highly amplified, and effectively transmitted to the cone system via rod–cone and AIIAC–DBCC coupling.
A general geometric construction for affine surface area

Let K be a convex body in R and B be the Euclidean unit ball in R. We show that limt→0 |K| − |Kt| |B| − |Bt| = as(K) as(B) , where as(K) respectively as(B) is the affine surface area of K respectively B and {Kt}t≥0, {Bt}t≥0 are general families of convex bodies constructed from K, B satifying certain conditions. As a corollary we get results obtained in [M-W], [Schm],[S-W] and[W]. The affine surface area as(K) was introduced by Blaschke [B] for convex bodies in R with sufficiently smooth boundary and by Leichtweiss [L1] for convex bodies in R with sufficiently smooth boundary as follows
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Tutorial Dialogue System for Self-Explanation

Previous research has shown that self-explanation can be supported effectively in an intelligent tutoring system by simple means such as menus. We now focus on the hypothesis that natural language dialogue is an even more effective way to support self-explanation. We have developed the Geometry Explanation Tutor, which helps students to state explanations of their problem-solving steps in their own words. In a classroom study involving 71 advanced students, we found that students who explained problem-solving steps in a dialogue with the tutor did not learn better overall than students who explained by means of a menu, but did learn better to state explanations. Second, examining a subset of 700 student explanations, students who received higher-quality feedback from the system made greater progress in their dialogues and learned more, providing some measure of confidence that progress is a useful intermediate variable to guide further system development. Finally, students who tended to reference specific problem elements in their explanations, rather than state a general problem-solving principle, had lower learning gains than other students. Such explanations may be indicative of an earlier developmental level.
Scaling up Aid or Scaling down : The Global Economic Crisis and Rwanda’s MDGs

Rwanda is not on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals at a time when hopes for scaled-up aid are mixed with concerns that, in the context of the global economic crisis, aid instead will be scaled down. This paper analyzes the effects of alternative scenarios for grant aid, government spending allocations (between infrastructure, agriculture, and human development), and government efficiency. The authors use an economy-wide model for development strategy analysis, Maquette for Millennium Development Goal Simulations. Under a plausible scenario for increased aid, annual growth in gross domestic product increases by as much as 0.6 percentage points relative to a baseline with a growth rate of 6 percent; by 2020, the headcount poverty rate declines to 32 percent, 3 percentage points lower than for the baseline. A plausible scenario for reduced aid leads to a symmetric growth reduction but a more pronounced increase in poverty, at 40 percent in 2020. When aid increases, the most positive growth and poverty reduction impacts occur if spending increases are allocated to infrastructure and agriculture; progress in human health and education is significant but weaker than if additional spending is focused on these areas. Given synergies and diminishing marginal returns from expansion in a limited area, the scenarios that may appear most attractive and politically feasible have a broad and balanced expansion across government functions, promoting both growth and human development.
Traceable signature: better efficiency and beyond

In recent years one of the most active research areas in applied cryptography is the study of techniques for creating a group signature, a cryptographic primitive that can be used to implement anonymous authentication. Some variants of group signature, such as traceable signature, and authentication with variable anonymity in a trusted computing platform, have also been proposed. In this paper we propose a traceable signature scheme with variable anonymity. Our scheme supports two important properties for a practical anonymous authentication system, i.e., corrupted group member detection and fair tracing, which have unfortunately been neglected in most group signature schemes in the literature. We prove the new scheme is secure in the random oracle model, under the strong RSA assumption and the decisional Diffie-Hellman assumption.
Social psychology and virtue ethics

Several philosophers have recently claimed to have discovered a new and rather significant problem with virtue ethics. According to them, virtue ethics generates certain expectations about the behavior of human beings which are subject to empirical testing. But when the relevant experimental work is done in social psychology, the results fall remarkably short of meeting those expectations. So, these philosophers think, despite its recent success, virtue ethics has far less to offer to contemporary ethical theory than might have been initially thought. I argue that there are plausible ways in which virtue ethicists can resist arguments based on empirical work in social psychology. In the first three sections of the paper, I reconstruct the line of reasoning being used against virtue ethics by looking at the recent work of Gilbert Harman and John Doris. The remainder of the paper is then devoted both to responding to their challenge as well as to briefly sketching a positive account of character trait possession.
Body-Biased Complementary Logic Implemented Using AlN Piezoelectric MEMS Switches

This paper reports on the implementation of low-voltage complementary mechanical logic achieved by using body-biased aluminum nitride (AlN) piezoelectric microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) switches. By biasing the equivalent body of a four terminal mechanical switch with a fixed voltage, the threshold voltage of the mechanical transistor has been precisely tuned and the voltage swing used for implementing digital functionalities reduced to very low values (≤ ±2 V). Thanks to the use of a mechanical switching mechanism, the AlN MEMS switches have exhibited an extremely low subthreshold slope (0.065 mV/dec), which sets the promise for even further reduction of the voltage swing to less than 100 mV. By using opposite body biases, the same mechanical switch has been made to operate as an equivalent n-like or p-like (complementary) device. Two basic AlN mechanical switch elements have then been used to form a body-biased inverter operating at 100 Hz with a ±1.5-V voltage swing. Furthermore, low voltage and functionally complete logic elements (NAND and NOR) implemented by using body-biased complementary and thin-film (250 nm thick) AlN-based piezoelectric mechanical switches have been synthesized. Finally, scaling rules for these devices are derived, and the key challenges that will need to be addressed to achieve further miniaturization are presented.
Test Bias Detection

Much of the criticism of psychological tests is derived from the observation that certain groups differ extensively in test performance. However, much of the polemic concerning the issues of test bias rests on two main areas of confusion: (a) differences in test performance among groups are often regarded, in and of themselves, as an indication of test bias, ignoring performance on the external criterion that the test is designed to predict. Often, groups that perform poorly on tests also tend to perform poorly on measures of the criterion. Furthermore, analysis of the relationship between tests and criteria often reveals similar regression lines for the various groups; and (b) the issue of test bias is often confused with the possibility of bias in the content of some individual items included in a test. Group differences in test performance are attributed to the content of specific items, and rather than eliminating problematic items in a systematic way (i.e., checking all items for differential performance), this confusion has, in some cases, led to suggestions of a wholesale rejection of reliable and valid test batteries. Keywords: Differential Item Functioning (DIF); fairness; predictive bias; test bias
The economic determinants of ethnic assimilation

A human capital model is developed that distinguishes between ethnic-specific skills (applicable only to a specific indigenous or immigrant group) and shared or general skills. An important determinant of assimilation is the extent to which these two forms of human capital are complements, thus promoting both assimilation and ethnic persistence, or anti-complements, promoting either assimilation or ethnic retention but not both. Implications of the model are developed for various applications including intermarriage, the effects of group size, language and religion as a basis for ethnic mergers, and the transfer society as a potential barrier to assimilation.
Duality and local group cohomology

Recently, Meierfrankenfeld has published three theorems on the cohomology of a finitary module. They cover the local determination of complete reducibility; the local splitting of group extensions; and the representation of locally split extensions in the double dual. In this note we derive all three by combining a certain duality between homology and cohomology with the continuity of homology.
Lower bound for envy-free and truthful makespan approximation on related machines

We study problems of scheduling jobs on related machines so as to minimize the makespan in the setting where machines are strategic agents. In this problem, each job j has a length lj and each machine i has a private speed ti. The running time of job j on machine i is tilj. We seek a mechanism that obtains speed bids of machines and then assign jobs and payments to machines so that the machines have incentive to report true speeds and the allocation and payments are also envy-free. We show that 1. A deterministic envy-free, truthful, individually rational, and anonymous mechanism cannot approximate the makespan strictly better than 2 - 1/m, where m is the number of machines. This result contrasts with prior work giving a deterministic PTAS for envy-free anonymous assignment and a distinct deterministic PTAS for truthful anonymous mechanism. 2. For two machines of different speeds, the unique deterministic scalable allocation of any envy-free, truthful, individually rational, and anonymous mechanism is to allocate all jobs to the quickest machine. This allocation is the same as that of the VCG mechanism, yielding a 2-approximation to the minimum makespan. 3. No payments can make any of the prior published monotone and locally efficient allocations that yield better than an m-approximation. for Q||Cmax [1,3,5,9,13] a truthful, envy-free, individually rational, and anonymous mechanism.
Thrombopoietin the primary regulator of platelet production.

Abstract Although the term thrombopoietin was first used nearly 40 years ago to describe the humoral regulator of platelet production, doubts surrounding its existence remained until the molecule was cloned 3 years ago. Using the recombinant protein, several investigators have shown that thrombopoietin influences all aspects of megakaryocyte development, from the hematopoietic stem cell to the mature platelet. The present review focuses on the discovery and characterization of this hormone, the initial stages of its clinical development, and some important yet unanswered questions of its molecular and cellular physiology . (Trends Endocrinol Metab 1997;8:45–50). © 1997, Elsevier Science Inc.
Two-phase critical flow in slits

The results of an experimental and theoretical investigation of the critical flashing flow of initially subcooled water through rectangular slits are described. The study of such flows is relevant ...
Empowering Women Through Education: Evidence from Sierra Leone

We use data from Sierra Leone where a substantial education program provided increased access to education for primary-school age children but did not benefit children who were older. We exploit the variation in access to the program generated by date of birth and the variation in resources between various districts of the country. We find that the program has increased educational attainment and that an increase in education has changed women's preferences. An increase in schooling, triggered by the program, had an impact on women's attitudes towards matters that impact women's health and on attitudes regarding violence against women. An increase in education has also reduced the number of desired children by women and increased their propensity to use modern contraception and to be tested for AIDS. While education makes women more intolerant of practices that conflict with their well-being, increased education has no impact on men's attitudes towards women's well-being.
Intra-firm Real Estate Brokerage Compensation Choices and Agent Performance

This paper seeks to empirically determine whether more skilled and productive real estate salespeople, identified as full-payout or 100% commission agents, have a discernable, systematic effect on ...