cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Membrane photobiophysics and photochemistry

Abstract Life, as we know it, depends on solar energy, in particular in the visible range of the solar spectrum. However, visible light alone is useless to the living organism unless a means is available for its capture, transformation, and utilization. Nature, through its long evolution, has perfected a process known as photosynthesis by which visible light is transduced into electrical/ chemical energy. However, the heart of Nature's energy transducer is the thylakoid membrane whose molecular organization was not known until early in the 1960s. Then it was established that the bilayer lipid membrane was central to the design of the thylakoid membrane. To explain the light-driven reactions from water oxidation to carbon dioxide reduction, the so-called Z-scheme was proposed. Concurrent with the establishment of Mitchell's Chemiosmotic Hypothesis for electron transfer and phosphorylation, the experimental bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) system was developed in 1960. But what are the fundamental biophysical mechanisms involved in the phototransduction via pigmented bilayer lipid membrane-based transducers? One of the main purposes of this review is to consider these questions. A second main purpose is to introduce to the reader the experimental aspects of lipid bilayers in the investigation of photoactive biomembranes. The areas covered in this review include a brief summary of the laws of photochemistry relevant to membrane photobiophysics and photobiology. The current exploitation of the BLM system in relation to the thylakoid membrane and to the visual receptor membrane will be considered in turn. The purple membrane of H. Halobium is then discussed. Consideration will also be given to dye-sensitized BLMs, semiconducting BLMs, and BLMs formed from liquid crystals. A common characteristic in the topics covered in this review is the desire to stimulate further studies in the use of the BLM system, not only for the fundamental understanding of biomembranes, but also towards practical applications. Thus, the insight gained from pigmented BLM studies has now been applied to artificial photosynthesis for solar energy conversion.
Ammonia laser optically pumped with an HF laser

Abstract Laser emission in the wavelength region 14–18 μm has been observed in optically-pumped 15 NH 3 using the P 2 6 line of a pulsed HF laser. Pressure and temperature dependence, as well as various optical configurations for the cell, were investigated. Each of the stronger laser lines was observed to have a pressure-dependent structure and several of the lines are apparently related through a cascade mechanism.
Precipitation phenomena of heavy metal soaps in aqueous solutions. II. Thallium(I) oleate

Abstract Aqueous dispersions of thallium(I) oleate soaps were prepared by direct mixing of thallium(I) nitrate solutions with solutions of potassium oleate. It was found that above a certain excess concentration of soap, the turbidity decreased sharply, indicating stable dispersions of small particles. This transition between low and high turbidities in excess soap defined the boundary between stable and unstable soap suspensions and was labeled the critical transition concentration (ctc). At much larger excess of oleate ions, thallium(I) oleate formed soluble complexes. The ionic strength was found to have a pronounced influence on the boundary between the regions of soluble and insoluble soaps.
Effect of tunnel position and graft size in single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: an evaluation of time-zero knee stability.

Purpose To determine whether (1) increased graft size with anatomic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) would confer proportionally increased time-zero biomechanical stability and (2) larger grafts would compensate for the inferior time-zero biomechanical kinematics of nonanatomic, single-bundle ACLR. Methods Ten cadaveric knees were allocated for single-bundle ACLR in an anatomic, center-center or nonanatomic, posterolateral-to-anteromedial footprint position with hamstring autograft. Medial arthrotomy defined the native anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tibial and femoral footprints. ACLR was performed with a 6-mm semitendinosus graft in 6-mm tunnels and repeated with a 9-mm semitendinosus and gracilis graft in 9-mm tunnels for each knee. Lachman and instrumented pivot-shift examinations assessed knee stability in the ACL-intact, ACL-deficient, and ACLR conditions. Medial and lateral meniscectomies after ACL transection created reproducible pivot shifts. Significance was defined as P Results ACLR in the center-center or posterolateral-to-anteromedial position significantly reduced anterior tibial translation compared with the ACL- and meniscus-deficient conditions ( P P = .41 to .74). A center-center ACLR controlled tibial translation significantly better than a nonanatomic graft position regardless of graft size ( P P Conclusions This study showed that increasing graft size did not improve the time-zero biomechanical stability of the knee after ACLR. Increased graft size did not compensate for the biomechanical instability documented with the nonanatomic tunnel position. Restoration of native footprint anatomy in ACLR is of paramount importance regardless of graft size and source. Clinical Relevance A larger graft size does not ameliorate the inferior time-zero biomechanics associated with nonanatomic tunnel preparation during single-bundle ACLR.
On C1+α regularity of solutions of Isaacs parabolic equations with VMO coefficients

We prove that boundary value problems for fully nonlinear second-order parabolic equations admit Lp-viscosity solutions, which are in C1+α for an \({\alpha \in (0, 1)}\). The equations have a special structure that the “main” part containing only second-order derivatives is given by a positive homogeneous function of second-order derivatives and as a function of independent variables it is measurable in the time variable and, so to speak, VMO in spatial variables.
Real-time interactive MRI-guided cardiac surgery: Aortic valve replacement using a direct apical approach

Minimally invasive cardiac surgery requires arresting and emptying of the heart, which compromises visualization of the surgical field. In this feasibility study a novel surgical procedure is demonstrated in which real-time MRI is used to guide the placement of a prosthetic aortic valve in the beating heart via direct apical access in eight porcine hearts. A clinical stentless bioprosthetic valve affixed to a platinum stent was compressed onto a balloon-tipped catheter. This was fed through a 15-18-mm delivery port inserted into the left ventricular (LV) apex via a minimally invasive subxyphoid incision. Using interactive real-time MRI, the surgeon implanted the prosthetic valve in the correct location at the aortic annulus within 90 s. In four of the animals immediately after implantation, ventricular function, blood flow through the valve, and myocardial perfusion were evaluated with MRI. MRI-guided beating-heart surgery may provide patients with a less morbid and more durable solution to structural heart disease.
A Spectral-Tchebychev Solution for Three-Dimensional Vibrations of Parallelepipeds Under Mixed Boundary Conditions

Vibration behavior of structures with parallelepiped shape—including beams, plates, and solids—are critical for a broad range of practical applications. In this paper we describe a new approach, referred to here as the three-dimensional spectral-Tchebychev (3D-ST) technique, for solution of three-dimensional vibrations of parallelepipeds with different boundary conditions. An integral form of the boundary-value problem is derived using the extended Hamilton’s principle. The unknown displacements are then expressed using a triple expansion of scaled Tchebychev polynomials, and analytical integration and differentiation operators are replaced by matrix operators. The boundary conditions are incorporated into the solution through basis recombination, allowing the use of the same set of Tchebychev functions as the basis functions for problems with different boundary conditions. As a result, the discretized equations of motion are obtained in terms of mass and stiffness matrices. To analyze the numerical convergence and precision of the 3D-ST solution, a number of case studies on beams, plates, and solids with different boundary conditions have been conducted. Overall, the calculated natural frequencies were shown to converge exponentially with the number of polynomials used in the Tchebychev expansion. Furthermore, the natural frequencies and mode shapes were in excellent agreement with those from a finite-element solution. It is concluded that the 3D-ST technique can be used for accurate and numerically efficient solution of three-dimensional parallelepiped vibrations under mixed boundary conditions.
The New Urban Latinos: Central Americans in a Mexican Immigrant Environment

Central American immigrants have recently entered the United States in large numbers. They could become integrated in the social structure like European immigrants have, be confined in a low-wage and -status sector like Mexican immigrants have, or create an ethnic enclave like Cuban immigrants have. The structural conditions that shape the social and economic future of Central American immigrants are examined by comparing them with Mexican immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a group, Central Americans are at high risk for joining persons of Mexican heritage at the bottom of America's socioeconomic system.
Best-first heuristic search for multi-core machines

To harness modern multi-core processors, it is imperative to develop parallel versions of fundamental algorithms. In this paper, we present a general approach to best-first heuristic search in a shared-memory setting. Each thread attempts to expand the most promising open nodes. By using abstraction to partition the state space, we detect duplicate states without requiring frequent locking. We allow speculative expansions when necessary to keep threads busy. We identify and fix potential livelock conditions in our approach, verifying its correctness using temporal logic. In an empirical comparison on STRIPS planning, grid pathfinding, and sliding tile puzzle problems using an 8-core machine, we show that A* implemented in our framework yields faster search than improved versions of previous parallel search proposals. Our approach extends easily to other best-first searches, such as Anytime weighted A*.
Isolation of 25(27)-dehydrolanost-8-enol from Cereus giganteus and its biosynthetic implications

Abstract From the 4,4-dimethylsterol TLC fraction of the Saquaro cactus pollen cycloartenol, 24-methylenecycloartanol and 25(27)-dehydrolanost-8-enol (a new ste
Modified soul: A culturally sensitive process model for helping African‐Americans achieve dietary guidelines for cancer prevention

“Modified Soul” was tested over a 12‐month period with a focus group of 10 African‐American women, recruited through a social services organization serving an urban public housing project. Methods included focus group interviews (n = 4), observations and chemical analysis of traditional (n = 10) and modified soul food cooking practices (n = 10), and sensory evaluation discussions (n = 10). Four quarterly community center taste‐test events were successfully planned and executed by the focus group. Over half of 21 dishes reduced in fat content by the focus group received taste‐test ratings of “very good” from participants (n = 500). Based on AOAC (1984) methods, mean fat contents (grams per 100 g portions) of modified vegetables (n = 4) and meats (n = 7) were reduced by 68% (from 7.7 ± 4.7 to 2.5 ± 1.6) and 49% (from 15.0 + 4.4 to 7.7 ± 4.4), respectively (p < 0.001). Modified Soul has potential for empowering low‐income African‐Americans to reduce diet‐related cancer risk in their communities.
Identifying overrepresented concepts in gene lists from literature: a statistical approach based on Poisson mixture model

Background Large-scale genomic studies often identify large gene lists, for example, the genes sharing the same expression patterns. The interpretation of these gene lists is generally achieved by extracting concepts overrepresented in the gene lists. This analysis often depends on manual annotation of genes based on controlled vocabularies, in particular, Gene Ontology (GO). However, the annotation of genes is a labor-intensive process; and the vocabularies are generally incomplete, leaving some important biological domains inadequately covered.
Job scheduling on a hypercube

The problem of scheduling n independent jobs on an m-dimensional hypercube system to minimize the finish time is discussed. After some preliminary definitions are given, it is shown that a simple nonpreemptive algorithm, called largest dimension first, can have an asymptotic optimal performance and an absolute bound no worse than 2-1/2/sup m/. An absolute lower bound for the schedules generated by any algorithm using decreasing dimension lists is proved. A preemptive scheduling algorithm is also given. >
Identifying Localization in Peer Reviews of Argument Diagrams

Peer-review systems such as SWoRD lack intelligence for detecting and responding to problems with students’ reviewing performance. While prior work has demonstrated the feasibility of automatically identifying desirable feedback features in free-text reviews of student papers, similar methods have not yet been developed for feedback regarding argument diagrams. One desirable feedback feature is problem localization, which has been shown to positively correlate with feedback implementation in both student papers and argument diagrams. In this paper we demonstrate that features previously developed for identifying localization in paper reviews do not work well when applied to peer reviews of argument diagrams. We develop a novel algorithm tailored for reviews of argument diagrams, and demonstrate significant performance improvements in identifying problem localization in an experimental evaluation.
Design of robotic manipulators for optimal dynamic performance

Design methods of robotic manipulators to select the link lengths and actuator sizes for minimum-time motions along specified paths are presented. An exact method is based on a parameter optimization, using the motion time along the path as the cost function. This method serves as a benchmark for a more efficient approximation which selects system parameters so as to maximize acceleration along the path. Examples of the design of a two-link manipulator are presented, demonstrating close correlation between the exact and the approximate methods. >
Some Empirical Evidence for Annotation Noise in a Benchmarked Dataset

A number of recent articles in computational linguistics venues called for a closer examination of the type of noise present in annotated datasets used for benchmarking (Reidsma and Carletta, 2008; Beigman Klebanov and Beigman, 2009). In particular, Beigman Klebanov and Beigman articulated a type of noise they call annotation noise and showed that in worst case such noise can severely degrade the generalization ability of a linear classifier (Beigman and Beigman Klebanov, 2009). In this paper, we provide quantitative empirical evidence for the existence of this type of noise in a recently benchmarked dataset. The proposed methodology can be used to zero in on unreliable instances, facilitating generation of cleaner gold standards for benchmarking.
Stem Cell Contribution to Ovarian Development, Function, and Disease

By virtue of the fact that oocytes not only serve to produce embryos after fertilization but also can effectively reprogram adult somatic cell nuclei to a pluripotent state, much of the interest in the role of stem cells in ovarian biology has been focused on the germline. However, very recent studies have revealed that somatic stem cells may also be of considerable relevance to the study of normal ovarian function. Furthermore, stem cell dysfunction may underlie or contribute to disease states such as ovarian cancer and polycystic ovary syndrome. Our objective is to explore these concepts in greater detail, with the hope of stimulating further research efforts into understanding what role stem cells may play in the physiology and pathology of the mammalian female gonads.
Trichotillomania and personality traits from the five-factor model

Objective: To examine whether personality traits have predictive validity for trichotillomania (TTM) diagnosis, pulling severity and control, and hair pulling style. Methods: In study 1, logistic regression was used with TTM cases (n=54) and controls (n=25) to determine if NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) personality domains predicted TTM case vs. control classification. In study 2, hierarchical multiple regression was used with TTM cases (n=164) to determine whether NEO-FFI personality domains predicted hair pulling severity and control as well as focused and automatic pulling styles. Results: TTM case vs. control status was predicted by NEO-FFI neuroticism. Every 1-point increase in neuroticism scores resulted in a 10% greater chance of TTM diagnosis. Higher neuroticism, higher openness, and lower agreeableness were associated with greater pulling severity. Higher neuroticism was also associated with less control over hair pulling. Higher neuroticism and lower openness were associated with greater focused pulling. None of the personality domains predicted automatic hair pulling. Conclusions: Personality traits, especially neuroticism, can predict TTM diagnosis, hair pulling severity and control, and the focused style of pulling. None of the personality traits predicted automatic pulling. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine whether personality variables predispose to TTM onset, impact disorder course, and/or result from hair pulling behavior.
Relationship Between Current Substance Use and Unhealthy Weight Loss Practices Among Adolescents

Objectives To determine the relationship between current substance use and unhealthy weight loss practices (UWLP) among 12-to-18 year olds. Methods Participants were 12-to-18 year olds who completed the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Florida (N = 5620). Current alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use was self-reported based on last 30-day use. UWLP was defined based on self-report of at least one of three methods to lose weight in last 30-days: (1) ≥24 h of fasting, (2) diet pill use, and (3) laxative use/purging. The reference group included those with no reported UWLP. Logistic regression models adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, academic performance, age-sex-specific body mass index percentiles, and perceived weight status were fitted to assess relationships between UWLP and current substance use. Results About 15 and 41 % of adolescents reported ≥1 UWLP and use of ≥1 substance in the last 30-days, respectively. Over half (60.1 %) of adolescents who reported substance use engaged in UWLP (p < 0.0001). The prevalence of current alcohol use (50.6 %) was the highest among those who reported UWLP, followed by marijuana (31.9 %), tobacco (19.7 %), and cocaine (10.5 %) use. Adolescents who reported current tobacco [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.7, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 2.1–3.6], alcohol (AOR 2.2, 95 % CI 1.9–2.6), or marijuana (AOR 2.1, 95 % CI 1.7–2.5) use had significantly higher odds of UWLP compared to their non-user counterparts. Conclusions This cross-sectional study shows that substance use and UWLP behaviors are likely to co-exist in adolescents. Further studies are necessary to determine the temporal relationship between substance use and UWLP. It is recommended that intervention programs for youth consider targeting these multiple health risk behaviors.
Is reading “banned” books associated with behavior problems in young readers? The influence of controversial young adult books on the psychological well-being of adolescents.

Many books targeted toward young readers are “banned” or challenged in school and public libraries because of “edgy” violent, sexual, or occult content. Little is known about the possible relationship between such books and negative outcomes in children. Exposure to banned books and outcomes related to civic behaviors, internalizing and externalizing mental health problems, school grade point average (GPA), and violent and nonviolent crime were assessed in a sample of 282 adolescents and preadolescents aged 12–18. Control variables included child age and gender, parent and peer influences, neurotic and antisocial personality traits, and general reading for pleasure and required reading for school. Results indicated that relationships between banned books and negative outcomes were complex. Banned books were associated with increased civic behaviors concurrently. Banned books did not predict GPA, or commission of violent or nonviolent crimes. However, banned books were associated with increased internalizing and externalizing mental health symptoms. This relationship was driven by a small number of individuals, and was not linear in nature. Further, this relationship was true for girls, but much weaker in boys. GPA was predicted by increased reading for pleasure, but not required school reading. In regards to social outcomes, reading of banned books is associated with both increased civic behavior and little risk of antisocial behavior. A relationship does exist between banned book reading and mental health symptoms in a small subsample of readers although whether that relationship is causal or cathartic requires further research.
Engaging Latinos in Access to Counseling and Education: An Applied Research Project to Understand Quality of Life among Latino Immigrants in Saint Louis, MO

This article reports results from an applied research project between Catholic Charities Community Services Southside Center (CCCSSC) and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology (DSA) at Saint...
Studies of the reaction of 2-formylpyridine thiosemicarbazone and its iron and copper complexes with biological systems.

The interactions of 2-formylpyridine thiosemicarbazone with various biochemical systems have been studied to understand the potential behavior of this antitumor agent in vivo. This ligand removes iron from ferritin to form the iron(III) complex. The complex is rapidly reduced by hemoglobin and is only slowly reoxidized by oxygen in aqueous solution or plasma. Both the iron(III) and iron(II) chelates are stable in plasma. These results suggest that the iron(II) complex exists in vivo. However, the thermodynamic stability of the copper complex is also consistent with its formation in biological systems. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra show that in plasma two adduct species of the copper complex form. One of these may involve histidine. Reaction of the ligand or its iron, copper, or zinc complex with the assay mixture used for ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase produces in each case the iron(II) complex of the ligand. These results are used to interpret a number of observations on the physiological effects of α-N-formyl heterocyclic thiosemicarbazones as well as some features of the inhibition of ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase by these compounds.
Reverse Non-Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Demonstrate That Surface Passivation Controls Thermal Transport at Semiconductor-Solvent Interfaces

We examine the role played by surface structure and passivation in thermal transport at semiconductor/organic interfaces. Such interfaces dominate thermal transport in semiconductor nanomaterials owing to material dimensions much smaller than the bulk phonon mean free path. Utilizing reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we calculate the interfacial thermal conductance (G) between a hexane solvent and chemically passivated wurtzite CdSe surfaces. In particular, we examine the dependence of G on the CdSe slab thickness, the particular exposed crystal facet, and the extent of surface passivation. Our results indicate a nonmonotonic dependence of G on ligand-grafting density, with interfaces generally exhibiting higher thermal conductance for increasing surface coverage up to ∼0.08 ligands/A2 (75–100% of a monolayer, depending on the particular exposed facet) and decreasing for still higher coverages. By analyzing orientational ordering and solvent penetration into the ligand layer, we show ...
Acetylcholine Receptors: Approaches to the Mechanism of Permeability Control

Acetylcholine receptors transduce the binding of acetylcholine into a change in the ionic permeability of cell membranes. There are several types differentiated according to their specificities for activators (agonists) and inhibitors (antagonists) and for permeating ions (Grundfest, 1974; Rang, 1974). Distinct types of acetylcholine receptors can coexist in a cell membrane (Kehoe, 1972) or may predominate at different stages of cellular differentiation (Patrick et al., 1972). The molecular bases for the phenomenological differences are as yet unknown.
Major blunt head injury

Every scene, independent of the potential for head injury should begin with the establishment of an airway, ensuring breathing and circulation. The deleterious influence of hypotension (<90 mmHg systolic blood pressure) and hypoxemia (<90% arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation) on the outcome of patients with severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) was analyzed prospectively on data collected by the Traumatic Coma Data Bank and were among the most profound predictors of outcome.(1)In accordance with ATLS guidelines, securing of the airway is the initial objective. The TBI patient is unique in that necessity for intubation is not dependent solely upon pulmonary function, but rather the inability to protect the airway secondary to a depressed level of consciousness. Endotracheal intubation is the route of choice as NT intubation may result in further neurological injury in the face of unknown basilar skull fractures. It is also important to note that the nasal-pharyngeal approach should be reserved until after radiographic evaluation for basilar skull fractures. In the setting of the combative patient, intubation is frequently early before further deterioration, as airway protection, oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange is of the utmost importance in the management of the TBI patient. The GCS should be measured after airway, breathing, and circulation are assessed, and after necessary ventilatory or circulatory resuscitation has been performed preferably prior to administering sedative or paralytic drugs.
Keyless asynchronous covert communication

We consider a scenario in which Alice asynchronously communicates with Bob over a Discrete Memoryless Channel (DMC) while escaping detection from an adversary who observes their communication through another DMC. Specifically, Alice transmits codewords of length n and chooses the transmission epoch T uniformly at random among N available time epochs, where N ≫ n. This deliberate symbol level-asynchronism forces the adversary to monitor a window of size N′ much larger than the codeword length n, and results in an increased covert throughput compared to the scenario without asynchronism. Our result generalizes a previous work in which asynchronism was introduced at the codeword level, i.e., having Alice choose a transmission window among non-overlapping windows of length n.
Significance of power flow angle interference due to finite sample dimension in reflection measurements

Acoustic wave reflection techniques are widely used in extracting the acoustic constants and temperature coefficients of anisotropic crystals. To obtain these constants with the desired precision, care should be taken in the sample preparation, including flatness, parallelism, and surface finishing or polishing. Not so obvious is that along some orientations required for the extraction of elastic constants in anisotropic materials, non-zero bulk acoustic wave (BAW) power flow angles (PFA) occur. Depending on the sample dimensions, spurious reflections due to the PFA can interfere with the desired signal. In this paper we report on the different positions of a transducer/buffer rod excitation unit with respect to a 25 mm Y cut quartz cube and show the influence of the PFA using pulse echo techniques. In this orientation, selected as an example, a longitudinal wave travels with a velocity of 5996.0 m/s. Signals reflected from the back wall of the sample are expected after about 8.32 mus and 16.7 mus. However, additional clear spurious signals occur around 11.6 mus and 19.9 mus. This is a direct consequence of the position of the transducer/buffer rod unit and thus the PFA. The time response and the correlation between the spurious pulses and the PFA in the referred orientation are detailed in the paper. The results obtained indicate that attention should be given to PFA in determining the test sample dimensions when employing pulse reflection techniques for the extraction of elastic constants in anisotropic crystals
Prescription Drug Utilization and Reimbursement Increased Following State Medicaid Expansion in 2014.

BACKGROUND: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded health care and medication insurance coverage through Medicaid expansion in select states. Expansion has the potential to increase the availability of health services to patients, including prescription medications. However, limited studies have examined how expansion affected prescription drug utilization and reimbursement. OBJECTIVE: To compare prescription drug utilization (number of prescriptions filled) and reimbursement trends between states that did and did not expand Medicaid coverage in 2014, while accounting for known effects of expansion on Medicaid enrollment. METHODS: We conducted a comparative interrupted time series using retrospective Medicaid state drug utilization data from 2011 to 2014. After inclusion/exclusion criteria, 8 states that expanded Medicaid in 2014 and 10 states that did not expand Medicaid were studied. Primary outcomes were changes in quarterly prescription drug utilization and quarterly total prescription drug reimbursem...
Coupling Timing of Interventions With Dose to Optimize Plasticity and Participation in Pediatric Neurologic Populations.

Purpose:The purpose of this article is to propose that coupling of timing of interventions with dosing of interventions optimizes plasticity and participation in pediatric neurologic conditions, specifically cerebral palsy. Dosing includes frequency, intensity, time per session, and type of interven
Exploiting Augmented Reality in Lean Manufacturing: Opportunities and Challenges

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Augmented Reality applied into a real industrial context (Industrial AR) from a new perspective: AR is not anymore seen as a standalone technology for assisting specific manufacturing tasks, but rather as a totally integrated framework within future factory workplaces. In the last 15 years, both academic and industrial research communities have seen the huge potentiality of AR in improving industrial performances in several scenarios, but it is undeniable that no killer-apps or de-facto standard as well as scalable solutions have been developed yet. The paper addresses the issue from a new and different point of view showing how AR can potentially be exploited in order to boost lean-based manufacturing and management processes, thus guaranteeing more efficient production and higher competitiveness. The paper is organized with the aim to underline the new and feasible opportunities offered by the proposed approach, as well as the main technological and conceptual challenges connected to it. Finally, a potential framework capable of enabling AR features for visual management in real factories is proposed.
Intercomparison of Approaches to the Empirical Line Method for Vicarious Hyperspectral Reflectance Calibration

Analysis of visible remote sensing data research requires removing atmospheric effects by conversion from radiance to at-surface reflectance. This conversion can be achieved through theoretical radiative transfer models, which yield good results when well constrained by field observations, although these measurements are often lacking. Additionally, radiative transfer models often perform poorly in marine or lacustrine settings or when complex air masses with variable aerosols are present. The empirical line method (ELM) measures reference targets of known reflectance in the scene. ELM methods require minimal environmental observations and are conceptually simple. However, calibration coefficients are unique to the image containing the reflectance reference. Here we compare the conversion of hyperspectral radiance observations obtained with the NASA Glenn Research Center Hyperspectral Imager to at-surface reflectance factor using two reflectance reference targets. The first target employs spherical convex mirrors, deployed on the water surface to reflect ambient direct solar and hemispherical sky irradiance to the sensor. We calculate the mirror gain using near concurrent at-sensor reflectance, integrated mirror radiance, and in situ water reflectance. The second target is the Lambertian-like blacktop surface at Maumee Bay State Park, Oregon, OH, where reflectance was measured concurrently by a downward looking, spectroradiometer on the ground, the aerial hyperspectral imager and an upward looking spectroradiometer on the aircraft. These methods allows us to produce an independently calibrated at-surface water reflectance spectrum, when atmospheric conditions are consistent. We compare the mirror and blacktop-corrected spectra to the in situ water reflectance, and find good agreement between methods. The blacktop method can be applied to all scenes, while the mirror calibration method, based on direct observation of the light illuminating the scene validates the results. The two methods are complementary and a powerful evaluation of the quality of atmospheric correction over extended areas. We decompose the resulting spectra using varimax-rotated, principal component analysis, yielding information about the underlying color producing agents that contribute to the observed reflectance factor scene, identifying several spectrally and spatially distinct mixtures of algae, cyanobacteria, illite, haematite and goethite. These results have implications for future hyperspectral remote sensing missions, such as PACE, HyspIRI, and GeoCAPE.
The History of the Donne and Contemporary Poetry Project

The Donne and Contemporary Poetry Project, originating at Fordham University, involved readings of poems in dialogue with Donne at Barnard College, the New York Public Library, and Fordham. In addition, the 2015 annual meeting of the John Donne Society included papers and a poetry reading. These events aimed not only to celebrate the writings of Donne and his contemporary heirs and assigns, but also to address some tensions in the profession today, such as divides between poets and literary critics, and the neglect of earlier literature in many literature and MFA programs.
Effective-Medium Approximations

In this chapter we will show that single-inclusion solutions obtained in Chapter 17 can also be utilized to derive popular effective-medium approximations, which investigators have employed to estimate effective properties for a wide range of volume fractions, as well as phase properties (when appropriate). However, these approximations necessarily can account only for simple microstructural information, such as volume fraction and inclusion shape. Thus, although effective-medium approximations can provide qualitative trends on the behavior of the effective properties of dispersions, they cannot be quantitatively predictive for general situations. In applying the variety of different effective-medium approximations that have been proposed, it is important to understand the class of microstructures and conditions under which they are valid. Moreover, any reasonable approximation should satisfy existing property bounds.
Mining structures from massive text data: will it help software engineering?

The real-world big data are largely unstructured, interconnected text data. One of the grand challenges is to turn such massive unstructured text data into structured, actionable knowledge. We propose a text mining approach that requires only distant or minimal supervision but relies on massive text data. We show quality phrases can be mined from such massive text data, types can be extracted from massive text data with distant supervision, and entities/attributes/values can be discovered by meta-path directed pattern discovery. We show text-rich and structure-rich networks can be constructed from massive unstructured data. Finally, we speculate whether such a paradigm could be useful for turning massive software repositories into multi-dimensional structures to help searching and mining software repositories.
Effect of divalent ions and a polyphosphate on composition, structure, and stiffness of simulated drinking water biofilms

The biofilm chemical and physical properties in engineered systems play an important role in governing pathogen transmission, fouling facilities, and corroding metal surfaces. Here, we investigated how simulated drinking water biofilm chemical composition, structure, and stiffness responded to the common scale control practice of adjusting divalent ions and adding polyphosphate. Magnetomotive optical coherence elastography (MM-OCE), a tool developed for diagnosing diseased tissues, was used to determine biofilm stiffness in this study. MM-OCE, together with atomic force microscopy (AFM), revealed that the biofilms developed from a drinking water source with high divalent ions were stiffer compared to biofilms developed either from the drinking water source with low divalent ions or the water containing a scale inhibitor (a polyphosphate). The higher stiffness of biofilms developed from the water containing high divalent ions was attributed to the high content of calcium carbonate, suggested by biofilm composition examination. In addition, by examining the biofilm structure using optical coherence tomography (OCT), the highest biofilm thickness was found for biofilms developed from the water containing the polyphosphate. Compared to the stiff biofilms developed from the water containing high divalent ions, the soft and thick biofilms developed from the water containing polyphosphate will be expected to have higher detachment under drinking water flow. This study suggested that water chemistry could be used to predict the biofilm properties and subsequently design the microbial safety control strategies.
Formulating Research Projects Involving Human Remains

Bioarchaeology projects need to consider a full range of issues involved in carrying out a project. The legal aspects need to be attended to prior to designing the research to see if there are any caveats or conditions under which some research might be deemed unacceptable (such as destructive analytical techniques). Tribal authorities should be consulted and invited to participate in the project in situations where collaboration is desired. In conducting research, bioarchaeologists generally start with an interest that they have in answering a question or explaining an aspect of human behavior. Following a research strategy that includes (1) a thorough literature search, (2) framing a question that can be answered with the data, and (3) infusing the research project with a theoretical perspective can produce studies that are both integrated and engaged with important issues. In this way, bioarchaeological research will be of interest to a broad audience.
A Complete Regulatory Loop between the Immune and Neuroendocrine Systems Operates Through Common Signal Molecules (Hormones) and Receptors

A link between an individual’s psyche and ability to resist disease has been noted for a number of years but was largely based on anecdotal and phenomenological reports. While many mechanisms are possible, a large body of evidence has recently accumulated suggesting a circuit between the nervous, endocrine and immune systems, that operates in both directions. Both structural and functional evidence supports this relationship. Structural studies have shown the thymus, spleen, bone marrow, and possibly other lymphoid organs are innervated with both afferent and efferent nerve fibers (for review see reference 1). Specific perturbations of the central nervous system (CNS) such as brain lesioning (2) or sympathectomy (3) will enhance or suppress immune responses. Also, alterations in noradrenaline turnover and neuron firing rates have been observed in the hypothalamus at the height of an immune response (4,5). In addition to these “hard wired” connections, modulation of immune responses may occur indirectly through neuroendocrine hormones and neurotransmitters such as corticotropin (ACTH), endorphins (END), enkephalins (ENK), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), as well as others (6–9; for review see 10). These hormones and neurotransmitters have been shown to modulate antibody production (7,11), T lymphocyte rosetting (6,12), natural killer (NK) cell activity (13–15), response to mitogens (16), and other examples reviewed in reference 10.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HEURISTIC SEARCH IN APPLIED STATISTICS

This chapter presents a brief history of heuristic search in applied statistics. Analogous arguments apply for any larger number of measured variables. If there are n measured variables, then the number of possible tetrad equations among these variables is three times the number of ways of choosing four from n. If the correlations are because of the action of one common cause, then all of the tetrad equations must hold regardless of the values of the linear coefficients; conversely, if all of the tetrad equations hold, then the correlations can be generated by a one-factor model with appropriate values of the linear coefficients. Spearman, Kelley, Holzinger, and others had good ideas about scientific explanation and about the way to search for good explanations of nonexperimental data. The idea was not entirely lost and persists here and there in recent work in statistical modeling. It never came to fruition was because of computational problems, not to statistical difficulties. There was lacking of a general algorithm that would permit the rapid calculation of the tetrad equations or other constraints robustly implied by any linear causal model and would compare those constraints with the constraints approximately satisfied by the sample covariance matrix.
Differential diagnosis between depression and dementia.

The proportion of U.S. citizens > 65 years of age is growing steadily. This aging of the population is expected to bring an increase in the incidence of depression and dementia, two clinical entities common in elderly populations. Although depression and dementia have many similarities, they also have important clinical distinctions. It is important for primary-care physicians to understand these distinctions, since only approximately 20% of patients with depressive symptoms are treated by mental health practitioners.
Generalization of content and emotional prosody across speakers varying in gender in youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract Aims We employed a discrimination-choice procedure, embedded in a custom-made videogame, to evaluate whether youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including nonverbal individuals, distinguish sentences on the basis of emotional tone-of-voice and generalize linguistic information across speaker gender. Methods and procedures Thirteen youth with ASD (7–21 years) and 13 age-matched typical controls heard pairs of pre-recorded sentences varying in lexical content and prosody (e.g., enthusiastic “Dave rode a bike’’ vs. grouchy “Mark held a key’’). After training to select a target sentence, participants heard test probes comprising re-combinations of the content and prosodic features of the sentences. Interspersed generalization trials used a voice opposite in gender to the voice used in training. Outcomes and results Youth with ASD were less accurate than controls in discriminating sentences based on emotional tone-of-voice. Nonverbal and verbal youth did not differ in this regard. The ASD group showed only slight decrements in generalizing to the opposite-gender voice. Conclusions and implications The finding of intact generalization of linguistic information across male/female speakers contrasts with the widely held view that autism is characterized by deficits in generalization. This suggests the need to test generalization under varying task demands to identify limits on performance.
How gay men’s wives in China practice co-cultural communication: Culture, identity, and sensemaking

ABSTRACTAround 13.6 million heterosexual women in China are married to gay or bisexual men, and they call themselves tongqi. Tongqi belong to both co-cultural groups (as women and wives) and a domi...
PET Image Deblurring and Super-Resolution With an MR-Based Joint Entropy Prior

The intrinsically limited spatial resolution of positron emission tomography (PET) confounds image quantitation. This paper presents an image deblurring and super-resolution framework for PET using anatomical guidance provided by high-resolution magnetic resonance (MR) images. The framework relies on image-domain postprocessing of already-reconstructed PET images by means of spatially variant deconvolution stabilized by an MR-based joint entropy penalty function. The method is validated through simulation studies based on the BrainWeb digital phantom, experimental studies based on the Hoffman phantom, and clinical neuroimaging studies pertaining to aging and Alzheimer's disease. The developed technique was compared with direct deconvolution and deconvolution stabilized by a quadratic difference penalty, a total variation penalty, and a Bowsher penalty. The BrainWeb simulation study showed improved image quality and quantitative accuracy measured by contrast-to-noise ratio, structural similarity index, root-mean-square error, and peak signal-to-noise ratio generated by this technique. The Hoffman phantom study indicated noticeable improvement in the structural similarity index (relative to the MR image) and gray-to-white contrast-to-noise ratio. Finally, clinical amyloid and tau imaging studies for Alzheimer's disease showed lowering of the coefficient of variation in several key brain regions associated with two target pathologies.
Urban water supply: modeling watersheds and treatment facilities

Abstract: Urban populations are growing in arid regions where precipitation is very low, which severely constrains water supply, as well as temperate parts of the USA, where early populations began without those same constraints but who faced other challenges pertaining to wastewater treatment. This chapter discusses some of the major challenges facing sustainable water supply and distribution within water infrastructure systems resulting from increased population demand, aging infrastructure, diminishing pristine resources, and pollution and other environmental risks. The chapter identifies a set of technologies projected to be used to decentralize water treatment and supply through a variety of means, including agricultural best management practices, source reuse, desalination and green infrastructure. This chapter discusses the importance and use of systems analysis methods to guide an improved understanding and design of water resources in urban environments and future water management research directions that aim to combine energy recovery from the movement or treatment of water.