cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extrasensory perception or probability.

Extrasensory perception (ESP), which means outside the senses, can be divided into "telepathy," the apprehension by one mind of what is going on in another, and "clairvoyance," the apprehension by one mind of an object. The purpose of the experiment was to find out if ESP, that is clairvoyance or the ability to guess better than probability, exists. In order to eliminate telepathy, E did not know the arrangement of the cards. Experiments to test Ss' ability to guess cards with ESP results have been done by Rhine ( 1934), Rhine and Pratt ( 1957 ) , Soal ( 1940) and ochers. It is my belief, that most of these experiments were not rigidly controlled so that muscle reading and/or the giving of unconscious clues were not eliminated. These Es believe that ESP exists in the general population. Furthermore, Dr. Rhine and research done, mainly, at Duke Universicy seems to indicate that females show more ESP than male Ss. The last hypothesis is also studied in this experiment. The experiment was conducted in a small room in which there was one table and two chairs. The atmosphere was informal and friendly. E and S sat at the table, facing each other, separated by the cable and a wooden barrier in the center of the table, 12 in. high and as wide as the table. The purpose of the barrier was to prevent S from seeing what was going on at E's side. One deck of cards was used which was similar to the one named after Dr. Rhine. The deck contained 25 cards, five cards of a kind. One of the following symbols appeared on each card: Square, Triangle, Waves, Scar, or Circle. Two separate forms were used, one for marking down S's guesses and the other one for the actual data which E found to be true. The 106 college students (57 males and 49 females) ranged in age from 18 to 28 yr. Before each S was tested he was given a rypewritcen page which explained the experiment. This page was randomly selected from five and on each of these forms the pictures of the to-be-guessed cards were shown in a random order. The page informed S chat the experiment was being performed to study his guessing ability, that the deck had 25 cards and what these cards were. He was informed that the deck of cards was lying next to E but would not be touched by him during the experiment, and he, S, was to guess one card after the other from top to bottom until he had made 25 guesses. During the whole experiment S and E sat facing each other across the
SPICE BSIM3 Model Parameter Extraction and Optimisation: Practical Considerations:

This tutorial paper discusses the SPICE BSIM3v3.1 model parameter extraction and optimisation strategies that show consistency and very good accuracy in circuit simulation, less than 10% error, for practical IC design application in deep submicron processes. This paper describes an approach to BSIM3v3.1 model parameter extraction that mitigates or eliminates many of the unstable circuit behaviours observed during SPICE simulations with BSIM3v3. We present here a strategy applicable to 0.18 micron CMOS technology, in which the accuracy of the final extracted model parameters is evaluated by comparing simulations of inverter gain and a 31-stage ring oscillator with measured data.
Abstract 887: Long-term prognostic role of functional limitations among women with breast cancer

Background: Functional limitations have been associated with poor survival among women with breast cancer within the first year of diagnosis. The long-term prognostic role of these difficulties in the completion of tasks of everyday life remains unknown. Methods: We studied a cohort of 2270 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997 and 2000, who provided information on functional limitations of body functions involving endurance, strength, muscular range of motion and small muscle dexterity at enrollment. The median follow up was 8.7 years (range 0-10 years). We investigated the association of functional limitations with survival from all causes, breast cancer and competing (non-breast cancer) causes in delayed entry Cox regression models. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Proportionately more patients with limitations were older, less educated and obese (p Note: This abstract was not presented at the AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010 because the presenter was unable to attend. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 887.
Improved electromagnetic induction processing with novel adaptive matched filter and matched subspace detection

This work introduces two advances in wide-band electromagnetic induction (EMI) processing: a novel adaptive matched filter (AMF) and matched subspace detection methods. Both advances make use of recent work with a subspace SVD approach to separating the signal, soil, and noise subspaces of the frequency measurements The proposed AMF provides a direct approach to removing the EMI self-response while improving the signal to noise ratio of the data. Unlike previous EMI adaptive downtrack filters, this new filter will not erroneously optimize the EMI soil response instead of the EMI target response because these two responses are projected into separate frequency subspaces. The EMI detection methods in this work elaborate on how the signal and noise subspaces in the frequency measurements are ideal for creating the matched subspace detection (MSD) and constant false alarm rate matched subspace detection (CFAR) metrics developed by Scharf The CFAR detection metric has been shown to be the uniformly most powerful invariant detector.
Changes of Expressions of Cytokines and Effect of Fructose 1,6-Diphosphate on Cytokines during Perioperation of Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Infants with Congenital Heart Disease

Objective To investigate the changes of cytokines during perioperation of cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB) in infants with congenital heart disease(CHD) and effect of fructose 1,6-diphosphate(FDP)on the cytokines expression.Methods Sixty-three infants with CHD who were hospitalized in Heart Center of Children′s Hospital of Jiangxi Province were selected and they were randomly divided into treatment group(n=30) and control group(n=33),FDP(200 mg·kg-1)was added into the prime fluid before CPB in treatment group but FDP was not added in control group.Blood samples were drawn at 3 time points: before CPB,3 h after CPB and 48 h after CPB.The concentration of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6)and IL-8 in plasma were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results The concentration of TNF-α,IL-6 and IL-8 between the 2 groups showed no significant difference before CPB and 48 h after CPB(Pa0.05),but they had significant differences between both groups at 3 h after CPB(Pa0.05).At 3 h after CPB and 48 h after CPB,the concertration of TNF-α,IL-6 and IL-8 in both groups were higher than those before CPB.Conclusions The concentration of cytokines are significantly elevated after CPB which is the important factor resulting in systemic inflammatory response.FDP can reduce the concentration of TNF-α,IL-6 and IL-8 in plasma after CPB.FDP may alleviate the systemic inflammatory at after CPB and 48 h after CPB.
Impact of Estradiol and Progesterone on Growth of Endometrial Cancer Cell Line in Vitro

Objective To investigate the impact of estradiol and progesterone on proliferation and apoptosis of endometrial cancer cell line in vitro.Methods Endometrial cancer cells were cultured in vitro.The treated groups consisted of estradiol group,progesterone group and estradiol plus progesterone group.Cell cycle,apoptotic percentage were detected by flow cytometry.The proliferational of endometrial cancer cells was determined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazoliurm(MTT)method.Results FCM showed that estradiol increased the proportion of S phase,reduced the apoptotic rate.And the proportion of G0/G1 phase and the apoptotic rate were increased significantly in progesterone groups(single or combined),the proportion of S phase was reduced.MTT showed that with the increasing of the concentration of estradiol,they stimulated the growth of endometrial cancer cells significantly,and the progesterone group inhibited the growth of endometrial cancer cells significantly.Conclusion Eestradiol could enhanced the proliferation and inhibit its apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells.Progesterone could inhibit the proliferation of endometrial cancer cells and induce apoptosis.Enough progesterone can resist the role of proliferation enhancement by estradiol.
Mechanisms of electrolyte transport across the endometrium. I. Regulation by PGF2 alpha and cAMP.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the transport mechanisms in endometrial epithelial cells that are responsible for regulation of Na and K concentrations in uterine luminal fluid. Porci...
Defect energetics of concentrated solid-solution alloys from ab initio calculations: Ni0.5Co0.5, Ni0.5Fe0.5, Ni0.8Fe0.2 and Ni0.8Cr0.2

It has been shown that concentrated solid solution alloys possess unusual electronic, magnetic, transport, mechanical and radiation-resistant properties that are directly related to underlying chemical complexity. Because every atom experiences a different local atomic environment, the formation and migration energies of vacancies and interstitials in these alloys exhibit a distribution, rather than a single value as in a pure metal or dilute alloy. Using ab initio calculations based on density functional theory and special quasirandom structures, we have characterized the distribution of defect formation energy and migration barrier in four Ni-based solid-solution alloys: Ni0.5Co0.5, Ni0.5Fe0.5, Ni0.8Fe0.2, and Ni0.8Cr0.2. As defect formation energies in finite-size models depend sensitively on the elemental chemical potential, we have developed a computationally efficient method for determining it which takes into account the global composition and the local short-range order. In addition we have compared the results of our ab initio calculations to those obtained from available embedded atom method (EAM) potentials. Our results indicate that the defect formation and migration energies are closely related to the specific atoms in the structure, which further determines the elemental diffusion properties. Different EAM potentials yield different features of defect energetics in concentrated alloys, pointing to the need for additional potential development efforts in order to allow spatial and temporal scale-up of defect and simulations, beyond those accessible to ab initio methods.
Application of structure–behavior–function (SBF) theory to construction education

AbstractTo support students developing a better understanding of the complexity of construction processes, the authors proposed an experimental learning environment called Case-based Active Knowledge Environment (CAKE) and tested it against a conventional learning environment. CAKE was developed based on the structure–behavior–function (SBF) theory. Two separate experiments were conducted to test the use of CAKE. The results show that when information contained in both learning environments is similar, CAKE does not demonstrate a clear advantage over the conventional learning environment, when students are describing or predicting the case in terms of using more structure, behavior or function concepts. However, students using CAKE perform better in using concepts correctly to describe the case. This result may correlate with the selection, design and analysis of the case study, particularly the differentiation between salient and non-salient concepts. Measures to be taken in the future to enhance the res...
Robotic cell work-flow management through an IEC 61499-ROS architecture

Nowadays industrial production is undergoing a continuous increase in flexibility requirements and production facilities have to cope with products diversities, high levels of uncertainties and frequent changes in production cycles. Robotic cells are an interesting solution for achieving the high level of flexibility essential for small batch production and customization, but they have to deal with an additional increase in complexity due to human interaction.
Energizing sound: Earth sound, earth signal: energies and earth magnitude in the arts, by Douglas Kahn

Earth Sound, Earth Signal (ESES) is a phenomenal book. This is meant in two ways. First, it reorients sound studies by attending to phenomena that have been marginalized within the discussion – the...
Targeting Introduced Species to Improve Plant Community Composition on USFWS-Managed Prairie Remnants

ABSTRACT: The quality of plant community composition on US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) lands in North Dakota and South Dakota has declined over the past several decades—the abundance of native species has decreased while the abundance of introduced species has rapidly increased. Extensive efforts have been made to improve plant community composition on USFWS prairies; however, there was not a unified approach to this end in North Dakota and South Dakota until the advent of the Native Prairie Adaptive Management (NPAM) program. The NPAM program provides decision support for the selection of management actions to improve plant community composition of tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies in the Northern Great Plains. We evaluated plant community composition on USFWS native tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie remnants enrolled in the NPAM program in North Dakota and South Dakota to examine effects of management on plant community composition. Our analysis suggests that incorporating certain management acti...
Biological Rhythms: From Gene Expression to Behavior

Abstract Circadian rhythms regulate the function of living systems at virtually every level of organization. In the last decade, our understanding of the cellular and molecular processes involved in the generation and regulation of circadian rhythms has advanced considerably. New model systems for studying circadian oscillators have been developed, a potential regulatory role for cellular immediate-early genes in circadian behavior has been discovered, and critical periods of macromolecular synthesis for progression of the circadian clock through its cycle have been defined. These findings are of particular interest because independent approaches suggest that an important role for macromolecular synthesis exists at all levels of the circadian system.
The Global Dimensions of Ore Extensions and Weyl Algebras

This chapter discusses the global dimensions of ore extensions and Weyl algebras. If R is a ring and D is a derivation of R , and if S = R[t, D] is the ore extension of R with respect to D , that is, S is additively the group of polynomials in an indeterminate t with multiplication subject to tr = rt + D(r) for all r in R , then an extension of D to a derivation of S by setting D(t) = 0 for all elements s of S leads to the result ts = st + D(s). If R is a commutative noetherian ring, and if M → 0 is a left A 1 R -module that is finitely generated as a left R -module, then M is an abelian torsion group.
Open Access and the Economics of Scholarshipin Rhetoric and Composition Studies

Rhetoric and composition, as an academic discipline, argues for a strong link between scholarship and practice. However, restrictive publisher agreements, limited distribution channels, and percept...
Analysis of Golfer Motivations and Constraints by Experience Use History

With an increasing competition for attracting golfers to individual sites, it is becoming more important for managers to identify the variables which attract and retain their golfing clientele. The...
Revealing the Implicit

In 1781, George Washington wrote that “the arts and sciences [are] essential to the prosperity of the state and to the ornament and happiness of human life” (Independent Commission, 1990, p.7). In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson asserted that the arts were “part of the pursuit of American greatness” (Independent Commission, 1990, p. 9). Both comments illustrate how national political leaders have voiced an implicit belief that the arts have an impact on the society and people of the nation. Indeed, we could assert that both the concept and the logic of concern for societal impact are fundamental precepts of public policy. From the perspective of public officials and policy analysts, attention to the public interest(s) served and to the public benefits derived from publicly supported or authorized activities is natural.
Some mechanisms governing the induction, maintenance, and synchrony of maternal behavior in the laboratory rat;.

As long ago as 1925, Stone advanced the hypothesis that the endocrine changes accompanying the termination of pregnancy underlie the onset of maternal behavior in the rat. In a sense, this is an obvious assumption because such maternal activities as nursing, nest building, and retrieving are initiated in close temporal association with the birth process. However, more than 40 years elapsed before Stone’s hypothesis was actually demonstrated and before some of the endocrine agents responsible for the induction of maternal behavior were finally identified. Specifically, these agents include progesterone, estrogen, and prolactin.
Dark photon dark matter produced by axion oscillations

Despite growing interest and extensive effort to search for ultralight dark matter in the form of a hypothetical dark photon, how it fits into a consistent cosmology is unclear. Several dark photon dark matter production mechanisms proposed previously are known to have limitations, at least in certain mass regimes of experimental interest. In this paper, we explore a novel mechanism, where a coherently oscillating axionlike field can efficiently transfer its energy density to a dark photon field via a tachyonic instability. The residual axion relic is subsequently depleted via couplings to the visible sector, leaving only the dark photon as dark matter. We ensure that the cosmologies of both the axion and dark photon are consistent with existing constraints. We find that the mechanism works for a broad range of dark photon masses, including those of interest for ongoing experiments and proposed detection techniques.
Patterns of sustained e-cigarette use in a sample of young adults.

Abstract Introduction E-cigarette use and devices are rapidly changing, yet there is not much scientific evidence examining these changes over time. The purpose of this study is to describe patterns of e-cigarette use in a sample of sustained (i.e., reporting past 30-day e-cigarette use at every wave) e-cigarette users over a two-year period. Methods Data are drawn from five waves of the Project M-PACT cohort. Analyses are limited to those reporting past 30-day e-cigarette use at each wave (n = 75). Mixed effects regressions were conducted for the following dependent variables: device type, number of days used, combustible tobacco product use, and symptoms of nicotine dependence. Each model used survey wave as the time variable, and controlled for sociodemographic variables. Results Among sustained users, the majority reported using a rechargeable device. The average number of days used was about 2 for disposable devices and 14 for rechargeable devices (p Conclusion This is one of the first studies to look at changes in e-cigarette use, including symptoms of dependence and number of days used over a two-year period. This brief report extends the current literature by examining more than the prevalence and frequency of e-cigarette use.
Fifteen-Year Results of Total Hip Arthroplasty With Cobalt-Chromium Femoral Heads on Highly Cross-Linked Polyethylene in Patients 50 Years and Less

Abstract Background Highly cross-linked polyethylene (HXLPE) is the most commonly used bearing surface in total hip arthroplasty (THA) because of its superior wear properties, but long-term results in young patients are limited. Mid-term survivorship has been promising; however, polyethylene wear rates and need for revision surgeries remain a concern in this population. The purpose of our study is to investigate polyethylene wear rates, implant survivorship, wear-related revisions, and patient-reported outcomes in a young patient cohort at 15-year follow-up. Methods We performed a retrospective study of a prospective longitudinal cohort of 82 consecutive patients (89 hips) who underwent primary THA with an HXLPE acetabular liner and a cobalt-chromium femoral head. The mean age at the time of surgery for the cohort was 38.8 years (range 12-50). All patients received HXLPE liners with a cementless acetabular component coupled with a cobalt-chrome femoral head through a posterior approach with a cementless femoral component. All components were from a single manufacturer. We recorded University of California, Los Angeles Activity, and modified Harris Hip Scores. Wear calculations were made using the Martell Hip Analysis Suite (Version 8.0.4.3). Results At average 15 years (range 13.1-18.5), there was a revision-free survivorship of 97.8% in our HXLPE group with no wear-related revisions. We observed a linear wear rate of 0.0185 mm/y (standard deviation 0.05) after accounting for a 1-year bedding-in period. The volumetric wear rate was found to be 12.80 mm3/y (standard deviation 22.69). These numbers are registered as clinically undetectable and are comparable to steady state wear rates in the same cohort of patients at earlier time points. We found no radiographic changes concerning osteolysis. We observed excellent patient-reported outcomes at this time point with improvements in modified Harris Hip Scores (35.3 [22.5], P Conclusion At 15-year follow-up, we demonstrated that HXLPE bearings in this young cohort had excellent wear properties, maintained superior clinical improvements, and underwent no wear-related revision operations. The HXLPE and cobalt-chrome bearing couple continues to be extremely effective 15 years after primary THA in patients less than 50 years. Level of Evidence IV.
CSHCN with hearing difficulties: Disparities in access and quality of care.

Abstract Background Hearing difficulties (HD) affect a sizable minority of children in the United States and can have a significant impact on child development. Children with HD may face barriers around language development, communication abilities, learning, and social interactions, which in turn can affect multiple aspects of their lives. Objective/Hypothesis Little is known about the extent to which children with HD have access to a system of care and we hypothesize that this population may experience significant unmet needs. Methods In this cross-sectional study, using bivariate and multivariable regression models, we analyzed data from the 2009/2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN). Selected survey items were used to assess health and healthcare characteristics of CSHCN with some level of HD (n = 2,315) compared to those without HD (n = 37,851). The study sample included 40,242 CSHCN aged 0–17 years, whose caregivers responded to the survey. Results Approximately 694,000 CSHCN in the U.S. were reported to have any level of HD, representing 6.3% of the CSHCN population. Compared to CSHCN without HD, those with HD were less likely to have access to a medical home, community services, or have adequate health insurance. Conclusions Significant deficits in medical home access, adequate insurance, and accessibility of community-based services are evident for CSHCN with HD. Families having knowledge of how and when to access community services and partner with providers in their child's health care is important for the overall health and wellbeing of this subpopulation of CSHCN.
Managing Portfolios of Products

Most businesses offer more than one product or service. The offering of multi-product portfolios creates unique issues for the analysis of the financial performance of marketing because there may be positive or negative synergies across products. As a result marketing activities and expenditures for one product may influence outcomes for other products. This chapter explores the issues associated with evaluating marketing performance in a multi-product context.
Monophosphoryl lipid A induces protection against LPS in medullary thick ascending limb through induction of Tollip and negative regulation of IRAK-1

LPS inhibits HCO3− absorption in the medullary thick ascending limb (MTAL) through a Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK...
Vascular endothelium as a regulator of granulopoiesis: production of colony-stimulating activity by cultured human endothelial cells.

Colony-stimulating activity is a regulatory factor(s) that promotes differentiation of hemopoietic stem cells to mature granulocytes and macrophages; in man it has been found that blood monocytes, lymphocytes, and tissue macrophages produce it. In an effort to identify other potenitally physiologic tissue sources of colony- stimulating activity, we have studied the capacity of primary cultures of human vascular endothelial cells to produce colony-stimulating activity. Medium conditioned by incubation with endothelial cultures contained activity that promoted granulocyte-macrophage colony formation of nonadherent human and murine marrow cells. Exposure of endothelial cultures to 0.1–5.0 microgram/ml S. typhosa endotoxin for 6- 72 hr enhanced colony-stimulating activity production. Similarly, incubation of endothelial cells with lysates of human blood granulocytes, or cocultivation with intact granulocytes, resulted in increased colony-stimulating activity levels. In 7–14 day cultures, freshly isolated endothelial cells, incorporated into agar underlayers, consistently stimulated more colony formation by nonadherent human marrow cells than comparable numbers of blood monocytes. These data indicate that: (1) cultured human endothelial cells are a potent source of colony-stimulating activity; (2) they respond to endotoxin and granulocytes and their contents by producing increased amounts of CSA; and (3) they produce morea colony-stimulating activity, than human blood monocytes under standardized conditions in vitro. These observations suggest that the vascular endothelium may play a role in the physiologic regulation of granulopoiesis.
RAPID-MOLT: A Meso-scale, Open-source, Low-cost Testbed for Robot Assisted Precision Irrigation and Delivery

To study the automation of plant-level precision irrigation, specifically learning-based irrigation controllers, we present a modular, open-source testbed that enables real-time, fine-grained data collection and irrigation actuation. RAPID-MOLT costs USD $600 and has floor space of 0.37m2. The functionality of the platform is evaluated by measuring the correlation between plant growth (Leaf Area Index) and water stress (Crop Water Stress Index) with irrigation volume. In line with biological studies, the observed plant growth is positively correlated with irrigation volume while water stress is negatively correlated. Construction directions, experimental data, CAD models, and related software are available at github.com/BerkeleyAutomation/RAPID-MOLT.
A Method for Disentangling Multiple Treatments from a Regression Discontinuity Design

In many settings, a policy discontinuity comprises several treatments that cannot be separately identified using a standard regression discontinuity design. I propose a method for identifying disti...
Race and the making of American political science

Jessica Blatt’s Race and the Making of American Political Science is a welcome and important addition to the history of the social sciences and American political thought. With few exceptions, poli...
Predicting Disease Severity and Outcome in COVID-19 Patients: A Review of Multiple Biomarkers.

Context.— An abundance of clinical reports focused on specific laboratory parameters have been reported on coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), but a systematic analysis synthesizing these findings has not been performed. Objective.— To review and summarize the current available literature on the predictive role of various biomarkers in COVID-19 patients. Data sources.— A literature search was performed using databases including PubMed, medRxiv, and bioRxiv. A total of 72 papers were reviewed, including 54 peer-reviewed papers and 18 non-peer-reviewed preprints. Conclusions.— Although the markers are considered nonspecific, acute-phase reactants, including C-reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, serum amyloid A (SAA), and procalcitonin, were reported as sensitive markers of acute COVID-19 disease. Significantly elevated white blood cell count; marked lymphopenia; decreased CD3, CD4, or CD8 T-lymphocyte counts; high neutrophil count; thrombocytopenia; and markedly elevated inflammatory biomarkers were associated with severe disease and the risk of developing sepsis with rapid progression. Trends observed by serial laboratory measurements during hospitalization, including progressive decrease of lymphocyte count, thrombocytopenia, elevated CRP, procalcitonin, increased liver enzymes, decreased renal function, and coagulation derangements, were more common in critically ill patient groups and associated with a high incidence of clinical complications. Elevated interleukin 6 level and markedly increased SAA were most often reported in severely and critically ill patients. Indicators of systemic inflammation, such as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, systemic immune-inflammation index, or COVID-19 Severity Score, may be used to predict disease severity, outcome, and mortality. Interpretation of the data reported in the studies reviewed here is limited because of the study design (mostly retrospective), limited sample size, and a lack of defined clinical criteria.
Maximum observable blueshift from circular equatorial Kerr orbiters

The region of spacetime near the event horizon of a black hole can be viewed as a deep potential well at large gravitational redshift relative to distant observers. However, matter orbiting in this region travels at relativistic speeds and can impart a significant Doppler shift to its electromagnetic emission, sometimes resulting in a net observed blueshift at infinity. Thus, a black hole broadens the line emission from monochromatic sources in its vicinity into a smoothly decaying ``red wing''---whose flux vanishes at large redshift---together with a ``blue blade'' that retains finite flux up to a sharp edge corresponding to the maximum observable blueshift. In this paper, we study the blue blade produced by isotropic monochromatic emitters on circular equatorial orbits around a Kerr black hole, and we obtain simple relations describing how the maximum blueshift encodes black hole spin and inclination. We find that small values of the maximum blueshift yield an excellent probe of inclination, while larger values provide strong constraints on spin or inclination in terms of the other. These results bear direct relevance to ongoing and future observations aiming to infer the angular momenta of supermassive black holes from the broadening of their surrounding line emission.
Border Ethics: Translation and Planetarity in Spivak

This article revisits two influential essays by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, “The Politics of Translation” (1992) and “Imperatives to Re-Imagine the Planet” (1999), and aims to connect and foreground their shared preoccupation with the ethical as “experience of the impossible.” I argue that, crucially for our contemporary moment, these two essays also think borders—linguistic, disciplinary, political, geographic—but eschew the familiar “bordered/borderless binary”; instead, Spivak seeks to displace the border question altogether onto the scale of planetarity, beyond categories of local/global or national/international where the planet is understood to be in a “species of alterity,” an otherness that is not and cannot be derived from us, “the globe.”
Abstract 12538: Effect of High Intensity Interval Training on High-sensitivity C-reactive Protein in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Anthracycline-based Chemotherapy

Introduction: Anthracycline-based chemotherapies are widely used chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of breast cancers, but these agents increase inflammation in the cardiovascular system. Circul...
Global Diversification and Downside Risk Control Through Stock, Bond, and CDS Indices

This paper analyzes the performance of index-based portfolios across developed, emerging, and frontier markets. Besides considering stocks and bonds for portfolio construction, we investigate how investment opportunity sets are enlarged when credit default swaps (CDSs) are added into portfolios as an asset class. This is different from using CDS as a hedging instrument for transferring credit risk between two parties of debt instruments. In addition, the paper investigates how to effectively manage downside risk using conditional value-at-risk (CVaR) when the aforementioned three asset classes are considered. We find that index-based portfolios of stocks, bonds, and CDSs across markets can significantly enlarge investors’ investment opportunity sets and reduce the downside risk of diversified portfolios.
Rethinking Book-Tax Disparities and Partnership Distributions

This article examines the “tax-follows-book” principle through the lens of partnership distributions of property with reverse section 704(c) items and details ways the law could ensure that post-distribution allocations of tax items follow pre-distribution allocations of book items.
Dissemination of applied research to the field: attitudes and practices of faculty authors in social work

In applied research disciplines like social work, there is a clear disconnect between the production and dissemination of research and the access and use of research in practice. This research/practice divide is particularly problematic for practitioners required to work within evidence-based or research-informed frameworks. To explore this issue, we conducted a nationwide survey and qualitative interviews with social work faculty regarding their research dissemination attitudes and practices, especially to non-academic audiences. The survey and interviews provide data on faculty dissemination methods, attitudes toward gold and green open access and promotion and tenure considerations. Results demonstrate that faculty are primarily engaged with traditional publishing models and much less engaged with dissemination to non-academic audiences. Faculty are skeptical of open access journals, avoid article processing charges and are only minimally engaged with institutional repositories. Faculty are conflicted regarding the dissemination of their research, especially in the context of promotion and tenure. Shifting dissemination outside of non-academic audiences would require increased confidence in open access, support for the creation of practitioner-focused materials and prioritizing the impact of research on practice.
The “problem” of the urban refugee: the African refugee regime and the Joint Refugee Services of Kenya, 1967–1982

This article examines a short era in which the category of the African “urban refugee” garnered special attention from governments and non-governmental organizations. In the late 1960s, those deali...
X-Rings: A Hand-mounted 360° Shape Display for Grasping in Virtual Reality

X-Rings is a novel hand-mounted 360° shape display for Virtual Reality that renders objects in 3D and responds to user-applied touch and grasping force. Designed as a modular stack of motor-driven expandable rings (5.7-7.7 cm diameter), X-Rings renders radially-symmetric surfaces graspable by the user’s whole hand. The device is strapped to the palm, allowing the fingers to freely make and break contact with the device. Capacitance sensors and motor current sensing provide estimates of finger touch states and gripping force. We present the results of a user study evaluating participants’ ability to associate device-rendered shapes with visually-rendered objects as well as a demo application that allows users to freely interact with a variety of objects in a virtual environment.
The Social Demography of China’s Minority Nationalities

According to data from the 2010 Census of the People’s Republic of China, China’s 55 minority nationalities numbered over 111 million people, comprising almost 8.4 % of China’s total population. By comparison, in 2010 the minority populations of the United States comprised 36.3 % of the country’s population, numbering just under 112 million people. Thus there are about as many minorities in China as there are in the United States, even though China’s percentage share is one-fifth that of the United States. If the minorities of China were a single country, it would be the 12th most populous in the world, outnumbered only by India, the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia, Japan, Mexico, and the Han population of China. Much of the research on Chinese minority populations conducted by Chinese and non-Chinese scholars pertains to specific minority groups and often tends to be more ethnodemographic than quantitative. These studies provide us with detailed social histories of specific minority groups and classifications according to their predominant forms of sustenance organization, marriage norms and patterns, religious and cultural orientations, and linguistic practices. This chapter examines the demographic and socioeconomic composition of China’s 55 minority populations. Using data from China’s 2010 census, we have developed characteristics variables for each of these groups dealing with age, dependency, fertility, education and literacy, occupation, residential segregation, and geographic differentiation. After a brief review of the history of Han-minority relations, we discuss and describe the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the minorities. Also, since around one-fifth of China’s minorities are Muslim, we present at the end of our chapter a brief discussion of the Muslims of China.
Chapter 21 Metaheuristics

Abstract Metaheuristics have been established as one of the most practical approaches to simulation optimization. However, these methods are generally designed for combinatorial optimization, and their implementations do not always adequately account for the presence of simulation noise. Research in simulation optimization, on the other hand, has focused on convergent algorithms, giving rise to the impression of a gap between research and practice. This chapter surveys the use of metaheuristics for simulation optimization, focusing on work bridging the current gap between the practical use of such methods and research, and points out some promising directions for research in this area. The main emphasis is on two issues: accounting for simulation noise in the implementation of metaheuristics, and convergence analysis of metaheuristics that is both rigorous and of practical value. To illustrate the key points, three metaheuristics are discussed in some detail and used for examples throughout, namely genetic algorithms, tabu search, and the nested partitions method.
Altered Anxiety-Related Responses in Mutant Mice Lacking the β4 Subunit of the Nicotinic Receptor

Nicotine, acting at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), is the primary addictive component of tobacco. Smokers often report an anxiolytic effect of cigarettes. This relief of anxiety, attributed to nicotine, is an important contributor to relapse when smokers try to quit. Hence, the study of the anxiolytic effects of nicotine is important for understanding the mechanisms underlying nicotine addiction. Mammalian nAChRs are pentameric ion channels usually composed ofα andβ subunits. Taking advantage ofβ4-homozygous-null mice (β4-/-), we examined the role of the nAChR β4 subunit in anxiety-related behaviors. The β4-/- mice behaved as though they were less anxious than wild-type littermates on the elevated-plus and staircase mazes, tests that measure anxiety-related behaviors. To obtain an independent, physiological indication of the stress produced by several tests, we measured changes in heart rate using telemetry. Consistently with the behavioral phenotype, β4-/- mice had a smaller heart rate increase in the elevated-plus maze than did wild-type littermates. In contrast, during social isolation, a separate test for anxiety,β4-/- mice exhibited a greater increase in heart rate than did wild-type littermates. Finally, β4-/- mice were indistinguishable from their wild-type littermates in the open field, the light/dark box, and the mirrored chamber. The overall results demonstrate that β4-containing (β4*) nAChRs influence behavioral responses during anxiety-related tests, and that this effect depends on the type of anxiety-provoking experience. Through their influence on anxiety-related behavior, β4* nAChRs might influence both tobacco consumption and smoking relapse.
Interaction of Nucleoside Analogues with the Sodium–Nucleoside Transport System in Brush Border Membrane Vesicles from Human Kidney

The therapeutic efficacy of nucleosides and nucleoside analogues as antitumor, antiviral, antiparasitic, and antiarrhythmic agents has been well documented. Pharmacokinetic studies suggest that many of these compounds are actively transported in the kidney. The goal of this study was to determine if therapeutically relevant nucleosides or analogues interact with the recently characterized Na+-driven nucleoside transport system of the brush border membrane of the human kidney. Brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) were prepared from human kidney by divalent cation precipitation and differential centrifugation. The initial Na+-driven 3H-uridine uptake into vesicles was determined by rapid filtration. The effect of several naturally occurring nucleosides (cytidine, thymidine, adenosine), a pyrimidine base (uracil), a nucleotide (UMP), and several synthetic nucleoside analogues [zidovudine (AZT), cytarabine (Ara-C), and dideoxycytidine (ddC)] on Na+–uridine transport was determined. At a concentration of 100 µM the naturally occurring nucleosides, uracil, and UMP significantly inhibited Na+-uridine transport, whereas the three synthetic nucleoside analogues did not. Adenosine competitively inhibited Na+-uridine uptake with a Ki of 26.4 µM (determined by constructing a Dixon plot). These data suggest that naturally occurring nucleosides are substrates of the Na+–nucleoside transport system in the renal brush border membrane, whereas synthetic nucleoside analogues with modifications on the ribose ring are not. The Ki of adenosine is higher than clinically observed concentrations and suggests that the system may play a physiologic role in the disposition of this nucleoside.
Fuzzy diffusion for distributed sensor networks

Distributed sensor networks (DSNs) are an emerging technology, recently finding extensive application in scientific and military surveillance. DSNs operate under severe energy constraints and are largely characterized by short-range multi-hop radio communications, which drives the need for energy-efficient routing schemes in such networks. Directed diffusion, a data-centric routing approach for application-aware DSNs has been shown to outperform traditional wireless routing schemes and achieves reasonable energy conservation through data-aggregation. However, directed diffusion ignores the energy level of sensor nodes, and we believe that incorporating the knowledge of relative energy reserves into the routing algorithm will improve energy efficiency and significantly prolong network lifetime. In this paper, we introduce fuzzy diffusion, an energy optimization on the directed diffusion scheme, and quantify its energy performance using ns-2 simulations.
First International Workshop on Cross Enterprise Collaboration, People, and Work (CEC-PAW): Current State of Affairs and Future Research Directions

On September 13th, 2010, the 1st International Workshop on Cross Enterprise Collaboration, People and Work (SG-PAW) was held as part of the 8th International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM 10) in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. The workshop focused on the problem of enabling an enterprise to leverage internal and external global services and combine them in new ways that optimize its end-to-end operations. The goal was to combine academics and practitioners to identify together core issues, research challenges, learn from successful attempts or approaches, and propose new formalisms, models, architectures, frameworks, methodologies, or approaches.
Ear manipulations reveal a critical period for survival and dendritic development at the single-cell level in Mauthner neurons.

Second-order sensory neurons are dependent on afferents from the sense organs during a critical period in development for their survival and differentiation. Past research has mostly focused on whole populations of neurons, hampering progress in understanding the mechanisms underlying these critical phases. To move toward a better understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of afferent-dependent neuronal development, we developed a new model to study the effects of ear removal on a single identifiable cell in the hindbrain of a frog, the Mauthner cell. Ear extirpation at various stages of Xenopus laevis development defines a critical period of progressively-reduced dependency of Mauthner cell survival/differentiation on the ear afferents. Furthermore, ear removal results in a progressively decreased reduction in the number of dendritic branches. Conversely, addition of an ear results in an increase in the number of dendritic branches. These results suggest that the duration of innervation and the number of inner ear afferents play a quantitative role in Mauthner cell survival/differentiation, including dendritic development. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 75: 1339–1351, 2015
To overcome the challenges thrown by globalisation by benchmarking with a special reference to banking sector - a case study

The quality tools and practices are important considerations for the development of any industry. The growing need of competitiveness vis-a-vis global standards has forced the banking sector to undergo rapid technological and structural changes. The banking sector reforms have provided the necessary platform for restructuring the banks to enhance productivity and profitability. The private participation, prospect and referral management, to understand client profile, continuous portfolio review, adoption of better technology, restructuring of stressed assets, diversification and launch of new products are few banking practices adopted by many international banks. This article identifies various measures to bridge the gap between current performance levels and the potential of banking sector in developing countries like India. The impact on financial institutions, liquidity, exports and financial markets has been the focal point in this study. The solution to overcome this impact through certain benchmark practices adopted by global banks has been analysed.
Adoption of Biotechnology‐Enhanced Crops by Developing Countries

Global population reached 6 billion on 12 October 1999, and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, when approximately. 90% of the world's population will live, or survive, in the three continents of the South: Asia, Africa and Latin America, where today malnutrition results in 24,000 deaths per day. Thus, in the next 50 years, population will increase by 50 %, or 3 billion, and food production will need to be doubled on the same area of arable land (1.5 billion hectares) by 2050. The magnitude of the challenge of feeding tomorrow's world is difficult to conceive. Crops are the major source of food globally. There is a widely held view in the international scientific and development community that conventional crop improvement alone will not allow us to meet the global food demands of 2050. What is being advocated is a global strategy that integrates both conventional crop improvement and biotechnology, including transgenic crops, which are often referred to as genetically modified (GM) crops. Keywords: global; food; feed; fibre; GM crops