cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detection and Localisation of Sialic Acid in Gardnerella vaginalis, Mobiluncus spp., and Other Vaginal Microorganisms

Sialic acid, n-acetylneuraminic acid, is found in the cell wall of all serotypes of group B Streptococcus and Escherichia coli serotypes K1 and K3. It has been most strongly associated with those strains which cause neonatal meningitis. The purpose of this study is to report the presence of sialic acid in some genital tract bacteria. Bacteria were grown to log phase. Mild-acid hydrolysis of whole organisms released a compound which reacted positively in the periodatethiobarbituric acid (PTA) assay, a colorimetric assay detecting n-acetylneuraminic acid. Surface localisation of sialic acid was supported by the observation of bacterial agglutination with an affinity-purified lectin ( Limulus polyphemus agglutinin) which binds sialic acid residues. Four vaginal isolates of Mobiluncus curtisii and three vaginal isolates of Mobiluncus mulieris strains tested contained a level of sialic acid equivalent to that of the group B Streptococcus control by PTA assay. Four Gardnerella vaginalis strains (three vaginal and two placental isolates) were positive for sialic acid by PTA assay. Nine clinical vaginal isolates of Peptostreptococcus : P. anaerobius (2), P. asaccharolyticus (3), P. magnus (2) and P. tetradius (2) were negative for sialic acid. Two clinical vaginal isolates of Enterococcus faecalis and four diphtheroid isolates were also negative. Eleven clinical vaginal isolates of viridans streptococci including S. intermedius (5) , S. constellatus (4), and S. acidominimus (2) were negative for sialic acid. One of three clinical vaginal isolates of S. acidominimus , one of four clinical vaginal isolates of coagulase negative staphylococci and two of seven clinical vaginal isolates of lactobacilli tested positive for low levels of sialic acid. All strains in which sialic acid was detected by PTA assay showed surface localisation by lectin agglutination. The presence of sialic acid on the surface of Gardnerella and Mobiluncus , two organisms associated with bacterial vaginosis, may be associated with their capacity to colonise or infect the genital tract. Keywords: Sialic acid; Mobiluncus spp.; Gardnerella vaginalis ; vaginal bacteria.
Calculation of parameters of a honeycomb polymeric pipeline supported by a periodic system of elastic ribs

We propose a technique for investigating pipelines with honeycomb (hollow) walls. On the basis of the classical equations of the theory of cylindrical shells, averaged components of the vector of displacements are determined. The solution of these equations is written in the form of Fourier double trigonometric series.
How Judicial Qualication Ratings Matter (and Why They Maybe Shouldn't)

This paper uses two new datasets to investigate the reliance by political actors on the external vetting of judicial candidates, in particular vetting conducted by the nation’s largest legal organization, the American Bar Association (ABA). First, I demonstrate that poorly rated lower-court nominees are signicantly more likely to have their nominations fail before the Senate. However, I also show that minority and female nominees are more likely than whites and males to receive these lower ratings, even after controlling for education, experience, and partisanship via matching. Furthermore, by presenting results showing that ABA ratings are unrelated to judges’ ultimate reversal rates, I show that these scores are a poor predictor of how nominees perform once conrmed. The ndings in this paper complicate the ABA’s inuential role in judicial nominations, both in terms of its utility in predicting judicial \performance" and also in terms of possible implicit biases against minority candidates, and suggest that political actors rely on these ratings perhaps for reasons unrelated to the courts.
Numerical prediction of enhanced heat flux due to shock‐on‐shock interaction in hypersonic nonequilibrium flow

This paper describes the numerical solutions of type‐IV shock‐on‐shock interactions in hypersonic thermochemical nonequilibrium air flows around blunt bodies. The Navier‐Stokes equation solver for a chemically reacting and vibrationally relaxing gas mixture was applied to the present problem, where the concepts of the Advection Upstream Splitting Method (AUSM) and the Lower‐Upper Symmetric Gauss‐Seidel (LU‐SGS) method were basically employed along with the two‐temperature thermochemical model of Park. The aerodynamic heating with or without the shock‐on‐shock interaction to a sphere and circular cylinders are simulated for a hypersonic nonequilibrium flow. The numerical results show that typical type‐IV shock‐on‐shock interaction pattern with a supersonic jet structure is also formed in a high‐enthalpy thermochemical nonequilibrium flow, and that the contribution of convective heat flux in the translational/rotational mode to the total heat flux is dominant. Furthermore, the inherent unsteadiness of nonequilibrium type‐IV shock‐on‐shock interaction flowfield is discussed briefly.
Rule-based classification of high-resolution imagery over urban areas in New York City

This paper describes the integration of results from different feature extraction algorithms using spectral and spatial attributes to detect specific urban features. Methodology includes segmentation of IKONOS data, computing attributes for creating image objects and classifying the objects with fuzzy logic and rule-based algorithms. Previous research reported low class accuracies for two specific classes – dark and grey roofs. A modified per-field approach was employed to extract urban features. New rule-sets were used on image objects having similar or near-similar spectral and spatial characteristics. Different algorithms using spectral and spatial attributes were developed to extract specific urban features from a time-series of Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) (4 m × 4 m) IKONOS data. The modified approach resulted in a remarkable improvement in the accuracy of classes that registered low spectral seperability and therefore low accuracy. The spectral and spatial based classification model may be useful i...
Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Representing Three-Dimensional Objects on Computer Displays

Due to the increased use of 3D modeling software in the design and manufacture of products, careful evaluation needs to be made as to how the 3D model is represented on the computer display. The experiment's hypothesis is that both rate in which projections of a rotating object are presented and whether the object is rendered as a line drawing or shaded will effect the mental representation of the object. The experiment factorially crossed three levels of projection presentation rate with two levels of rendering (line drawing vs. shaded). All levels of both independent variables were between subjects. The subjects' score on a mental rotations test score was used as a covariant. The subjects each viewed 40 displays representing different rotating objects and identified the objects through a forced choice pair selection. RT and error rate were measured for each selection trial. Data on a total of 72 subjects was analyzed using the ANOVA procedure. The results of the experiment showed a significant main effect of the rate of presentation variable on RT. The results also showed a significant main effect of the rendering variable on error rate. No interaction was found between the two independent variables. The results indicate varying presentation rate can be an effective tool in allowing faster interpretations of an object. It is also recommended that the display technique be carefully matched to the complexity of the object being displayed and the capabilities of the computer being used to display it.
Open Heavy Flavor Production in Heavy Ion Collisions

The interaction of heavy partons, charm and beauty, with the matter created in heavy ion collisions has been of great interest in recent years. Heavy partons were predicted to interact less strongly with the matter than light partons. In apparent contrast to these predictions, unexpectedly strong suppression of non-photonic electrons from heavy flavor decays has been seen. However, significant experimental uncertainties remain, both in the measurements themselves and in the separation of the contribution from charm and beauty, which have complicated the interpretation of these results. The current experimental situation is critically reviewed and prospects for making these measurements more easily interpretable discussed.
Hard Times on 125th Street: Harlem's Poor Confront Welfare Reform

Drawing on fieldwork in Harlem at the onset of welfare reform, I argue in this article for both a social structural and a cultural approach to the study of poor families facing the consequences of this historic policy change. Ethnographic understanding of household organization, kinship networks, reciprocal dependencies, intergenerational relations, migration, and gender must be brought to bear if we are to chart the responses of the poor to welfare reform. Meaning and perceived intentions must be central if we are to grasp how the targets of policy change understand the new economic and bureaucratic circumstances of their lives. These themes are illustrated by drawing on accounts of several households in Harlem—African American and Latino—in order to explore how both structural and cultural forces may shape responses to welfare reform, [welfare reform, poverty, household organization, working poor]
The historical and extant flora of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Abstract Stalter, R. (Department of Biological Sciences, St. John's University, Jamaica, NY 11439) and E. E. Lamont (Honorary Research Associate, Institute of Systematic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458). The historical and extant flora of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 133: 362–374. 2006.—Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, was surveyed for vascular plants in August 2002. The island's past and present flora comprises 61 families, 156 genera, and 224 species, of which 145 species (65%) are native and 79 species (35%) are non-native. The most species-rich families are Poaceae, Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Polygonaceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Rosaceae. The largest genera are Juncus and Carex. Floristic studies of five earlier investigators are presented and discussed, including Macoun, conducted in 1899; Gussow, in 1911; St. John, in 1913; Erskine, in 1952; and Catling et al., in 1981. During the past 100 years, the island's flora has remained relatively stable; the num...
The Physicochemical Properties of the Cytoplasmic Androgen Receptor in the Kidneys of Normal, Carrier Female (tfm/+) and Androgen-Insensitive (tfm/y) Mice

The physicochemical properties of the androgen-receptor complex in mouse kidney were determined. The sedimentation coefficient, 7.9S and Stokes radius of 82A, are compatible with an asymmetric protein [frictional ratio f/fo 1.98; axial ratio, assuming a prolate ellipsoid, 20] having a molecular weight of 270,000 daltons. The kidney receptor is a relatively acidic protein of esoelectric point (pI) 4.8 and readily precipitable with protamine sulfate or ammonium sulfate. Studies with protein-specific reagents suggest that both cysteine and tryptophan residues may be necessary for maintaining the functional configuration associated with androgen binding. The kidney receptor can promote the association of testosterone with purified DNA. These properties of the androgen receptor in mouse kidney are remarkably similar to those of male accessory sexual tissue. The receptor detected in carrier female mice (tfm/+ heterozygous for the gene for testicular feminization (tfm), has the same physical properties as that of normal mice. However, due to a decrease in receptor concentration, binding activity is only 69% that of normal. In cytosol from androgen-insensitive mice (tfm/+), a specific androgen receptor cannot be demonstrated by 5 different techniques.
Some Interesting and Unusual Lenses

Most lens designers nowadays spend a great deal of their lives working with standard types of lens such as the double Gauss (which, of course, was not invented by Gauss) and the Cooke Triplet (which was not designed by Cooke). So I thought it might be of interest on this occasion if I were to consider some of the more unusual types of lens which are often extremely interesting from an optical standpoint.
Integrated command, control and communication for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

The paper presents a novel integration of underwater communication, localization, command and control for the purpose of point-to-point movement of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). An acoustic communication network is used to command the AUV to a desired point within the coordinate frame of the network which provides two-dimensional localization. This information is fused with path planning and control algorithms. A PID controller is developed, tested, and tuned, allowing the AUV to maintain a desired heading to accurately maneuver to the destination point. A robust multi-process software architecture is developed to eliminate single-point failures during mission critical routines. The integrated algorithms and hardware developed are experimentally tested and validated in a swimming pool.
Numerical study of interaction of two-dimensional parallel jets

Effect of various parameters on the characteristics of two dimensional turbulent plane parallel jets were numerically studied. Flow geometry under consideration is a two parallel plane jets of 4mm width each. Effects of nozzle spacing (D/a) and nozzle exit velocity (U) on both merging and combined points are investigated using an existing CFD code “FLUENT”. Six different values of D/a are used ranging between 8 to18. Also, nine different jet velocities have been examined corresponding to Reynolds number of 8,000 to 36,000. The results provide acceptable agreement in comparison with the experimental results. It is noted that the ratio D/a linearly affect the location of the merging and the combined points, while velocity plays no role in their location. Introduction The turbulent mixing of jet flows is one of the important problems of turbulent shear flow. An understanding of the flow characteristics of twodimensional turbulent plane-parallel jets is important for utilization of bounded jet flows which appear in combustion furnaces, boilers, fuel injection systems, and reattachment-type fluidic elements. The essential feature of this flow is the entrainment of the surrounding fluid by the turbulent jet which creates a subatmospheric pressure region between the jets near the nozzles. The jets attract each other and their trajectories deviate from straight lines because of mutual entrainment of the surrounding fluid. Plane jets issuing from large aspect-ratio slot nozzles will entrain each other , tending to merge into a single jet at some downstream station. The mechanism is ’ Eminent Professor/Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Associate Fellow AIAA. 2 Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Technology Dept., Member ASME, AIAA 3 Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Student Member AIAA. Copyright
Structure of the Brain and Medulla Terminalis of the Spiny Lobster Panulirus Argus and the Crayfish Procambarus Clarkii, With an Emphasis on Olfactory Centers

ABSTRACT We present a comparative morphological study of the brain and medulla terminalis (fourth eyestalk ganglion) of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus and the crayfish Procambarus clarkii as a basis for investigations of the functional organization of their olfactory systems. Both the brain and medulla terminalis of P. argus display folding with respect to those of P. clarkii, which alters the relative locations of analogous soma clusters, tracts, bundles, and neuropiles. The major olfactory neuropiles of the central nervous system are the olfactory lobes and the accessory lobes in the brain, and the hemiellipsoid bodies and regions IV of the glomeruli centrales in the medullae terminales. All of these paired regions of neuropile have a glomerular organization. The glomeruli of the olfactory lobe are radially arranged, and each glomerulus is divided into distinguishable regions. The glomeruli of the accessory lobe are smaller and more numerous than those of the olfactory lobe, are spherically shaped, and are organized into three groups within each accessory lobe (this tripartite arrangement is much more obvious in P. argus than in P. clarkii). The medulla terminalis contains 13 distinct neuropile regions, including the hemiellipsoid body and region IV of the glomeruli centrales, both of which are interconnected with the olfactory lobes and accessory lobes via the olfactory-globular tract and contain numerous microglomeruli.
Elemental Concentrations in Triticale Straw, a Potential Bioenergy Feedstock

Triticale (×Triticosecale Wittmack) is a small cereal grain crop produced for livestock feed and forage on more than three million hectares (ha) worldwide including 344 000 ha in the U.S.A. After t...
Evaluation on the Expenditure Efficiency of Secondary Vocational Education Based on DEA Model

By constructing the binary relative effective model,the paper evaluated the performance of local secondary vocational education expenditure,and the results showed that the performance of China' s secondary vocational education expenditure should be improved,the comprehensive efficiency of is different among provinces.So we should increase investment in secondary vocational education,improve the internal management organization and strengthen the internal control to improve the efficiency of local secondary vocational education funds.
A Control Strategy of Static Frequency Converter Start-up for Pumped-storage Power Plants Without Position Sensors

A static frequency converter start-up control strategy for pumped-storage power unit is presented.Rotor position detection without position sensor is realized through voltage and magnetism equations of mathematical model of an ideal synchronous motor.The mechanism and implementation method of initial rotor position determination and rotor position estimation under low frequency without position sensor are expounded and validated by simulations.Based on the proposed control strategy,a static frequency converter start-up device for large-scale pumped-storage unit is developed,and applied to start-up control test in the 90 MW generator/motor of Panjiakou pumped-storage power plant.Test results show that rotor position detection,pulse commutation,natural commutation,and unit synchronous procedure control of static start-up have all been achieved.The outcomes have been applied to running of field equipment,which proves the feasibility of mentioned method.
Leukapheresis in Man. III. Hematologic Observations in Patients with Leukemia and Myeloid Metaplasia

Eleven patients with leukemia and one patient with myeloid metaplasia underwent leukapheresis on 18 occasions for 94 to 275 minutes during which 93 to 1668 x 10 9 leukocytes were removed. All patients exhibited a significant and continued decline of peripheral leukocyte concentration during or after the procedure. In 12 of the 18 instances, the leukocyte concentration returned slowly to the initial leukocyte level within 1 hour to 22 days. The number of leukocytes withdrawn represented 16 to 247 per cent of the initial circulating volume removed at a rate of 0.13 to 1.14 leukocyte blood volumes per hour. The RAR was 1:1 to 12:1 to the circulating leukocyte number. Rate of replenishment of the circulating immature leukocyte numbers were 4.0 x 10 7 to 52.2 x 10 9 /Kg./day. The PMN’s were replaced at rates of 10 x 10 6 to 7.05 x 10 9 /Kg./day which were equal to or slower than in normal subjects. Changes in number occurred in the dominant leukemic cell types without significant shifts in the differential counts. No changes in marrow population other than a slight decrease in cellularity were observed. The data indicate that in the leukemic patient the peripheral leukocyte concentration was not maintained or replenished promptly following the withdrawal of sizeable quantities of leukocytes, demonstrating a block in transfer of leukocytes from the tissues to the blood. This is in marked contrast to the leukocytosis and marrow stimulation observed in hematopoietically normal subjects following leukaphereses. The platelet counts fell promptly during leukapheresis, returning toward control levels in eight studies within 7 hours following the procedure. In four studies the platelet counts returned to control levels in 3 to 9 days. The changes in platelet concentrations were similar to those observed with hematologically normal subjects. The size of the platelet reservoir in these leukemic patients is about twice that of the circulating blood.
Meta City: Origins and Implications

The Dutch group MVRDV first used the term “Metacity” in 2000 to describe a city that was formed from information, meta meaning about or above in Greek, as in metadata or metaphor (Shane 2011, Shane and McGrath 2012). The city thus became a statistical entity formed of masses of data, describing relationships amongst its populations, its environments, and its various systems of flows and stasis. MVRDV’s Metacity was a data cube containing information about all the inhabitants on earth, a cube based on the demolished Kowloon Walled City: a three-dimensional slum, The City of Darkness (MVRDV 1998). This heterotopic and chaotic, hyper-dense urban village, used in some action movies before demolition, was a messy and informal, a maze of corridors, stairs, wires and rooms, far from the clean, transparent cube of data envisioned by the Dutch architectural group.
Alternative Methods to Make Efficient Use of Two Decks of Cards in Randomized Response Sampling

In this article, alternative randomized response models are proposed, which make use of sum of quantitative scores generated from two decks of cards being used in a survey. The proposed methods are...
neoantigenR: An annotation based pipeline for tumor neoantigen identification from sequencing data

Studies indicate that more than 90% of human genes are alternatively spliced, suggesting the complexity of the transcriptome assembly and analysis. The splicing process is often disrupted, resulting in both functional and non-functional end-products (Sveen et al. 2016) in many cancers. Harnessing the immune system to fight against malignant cancers carrying aberrantly mutated or spliced products is becoming a promising approach to cancer therapy. Advances in immune checkpoint blockade have elicited adaptive immune responses with promising clinical responses to treatments against human malignancies (Tumor Neoantigens in Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy 2017). Emerging data suggest that recognition of patient-specific mutation-associated cancer antigens (i.e. from alternative splicing isoforms) may allow scientists to dissect the immune response in the activity of clinical immunotherapies (Schumacher and Schreiber 2015). The advent of high-throughput sequencing technology has provided a comprehensive view of both splicing aberrations and somatic mutations across a range of human malignancies, allowing for a deeper understanding of the interplay of various disease mechanisms. Meanwhile, studies show that the number of transcript isoforms reported to date may be limited by the short-read sequencing due to the inherit limitation of transcriptome reconstruction algorithms, whereas long-read sequencing is able to significantly improve the detection of alternative splicing variants since there is no need to assemble full-length transcripts from short reads. The analysis of these high-throughput long-read sequencing data may permit a systematic view of tumor specific peptide epitopes (also known as neoantigens) that could serve as targets for immunotherapy (Tumor Neoantigens in Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy 2017). Currently, there is no software pipeline available that can efficiently produce mutation-associated cancer antigens from raw high-throughput sequencing data on patient tumor DNA (The Problem with Neoantigen Prediction 2017). In addressing this issue, we introduce a R package that allows the discoveries of peptide epitope candidates, which are the tumor-specific peptide fragments containing potential functional neoantigens. These peptide epitopes consist of structure variants including insertion, deletions, alternative sequences, and peptides from nonsynonymous mutations. Analysis of these precursor candidates with widely used tools such as netMHC allows for the accurate in-silico prediction of neoantigens. The pipeline named neoantigeR is currently hosted in https://github.com/ICBI/neoantigeR.
Description-Experience Gap: The Role of Feedback and Description in Human Trust in Automation:

Human trust in automation is widely studied because the level of trust influences the effectiveness of the system (Muir, 1994). It is vital to examine the role that the people play and how they interact with the system (Hoff & Bashir, 2015). In the decision-making literature, an interesting phenomenon is the description-experience gap, with a typical finding that experience-based choices underweight small probabilities, whereas description-based choices overweight small probabilities (Hertwig, Barron, Weber, & Erev, 2004; Hertwig & Erev, 2009; Jessup, Bishara, & Busemeyer, 2008). We applied this description-experience gap concept to the study of human-automation interaction and had Amazon Mechanical Turk workers evaluate emails as legitimate or phishing. An anti-phishing warning system provided recommendations to the user with a reliability level of 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90%. Additionally, the way in which reliability information was conveyed was manipulated with two factors: (1) whether the reliability level...
Angler travel distances: Implications for spatial approaches to marine recreational fisheries governance

Abstract Increasingly recreational fisheries are being managed as socioecological systems using spatially explicit and participatory place based approaches. Such approaches require considering the spatial dynamics of a resource (fish) as well as its users (anglers). While the former is comparatively well studied, very little empirical information exists regarding the spatial ranges of angler travel to fishing locations. To address this and ultimately inform spatial and place based management approaches, the statistical properties of angler travel were assessed in six popular marine recreational fisheries in Florida, USA. Expected angler travel distances differed among species, regions, and years, with most trips in certain fisheries (e.g., common snook) made by anglers residing in close proximity to the fishing site (
Analysis and Interpretation of Sedentary Behaviour Data

Never before, perhaps due to widely available wearable devices and the ubiquity of mobile phones, has it been so easy and convenient to collect physical activity and sedentary behaviour data. Yet, the available big and rich data sets do not guarantee that the correct information will be generated from them. For example, many inappropriate, p-value based conclusions were made based on the available mass data. To address these problems and challenges, this chapter is to help readers understand key characteristics of sedentary behaviour data, become aware of common problems and challenges in analysing sedentary behaviour data, become familiar with methods that could address these problems and challenges, appropriately interpret statistical findings, and understand the principles to establish causality in sedentary behaviour research.
Factors associated with mental health services referrals for children investigated by child welfare.

Abstract Although child welfare caseworkers are responsible for facilitating mental health services access for maltreated children, little is known about caseworkers’ decisions to refer children to services. We aimed to identify factors associated with caseworker referral of children to mental health services after a maltreatment investigation. We analyzed data from 1956 children 2–17 years old from the Second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being. We examined associations of children’s predisposing, enabling, and need-related factors and caseworkers’ work environment characteristics with referral to mental health services. Caseworkers referred 21.0% of children to mental health services. In multivariable analyses controlling for potential covariates, factors associated with increased odds of caseworker referral included: older child age; child sexual abuse (versus neglect); child out-of-home placement; caregiver mental health problems; prior maltreatment reports; clinically significant child behavioral problems; and child welfare agency collaborative ties with mental health providers (all p
Detection and Identification of Buried Explosive Hazards Using High Frequency EMI Sensing

This paper demonstrates applicability of the HFEMI for detection and classification of subsurface explosive hazards. There are three categories of explosive hazards: metallic, intermediate electrically conducting (IEC), and nonconducting targets. Metallic target detection and classification by electromagnetic induction sensing has been the subject of research for many years. Key to the success of this research is modern multi-static Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) sensors, which are able to measure the wideband EMI response from metallic buried targets. However, until now no hardware solutions existed for reliably detecting and characterizing IEC, low metal content and non-conducting targets. While high-conducting metallic targets exhibit a relaxation peak for frequencies in the traditional EMI regime (less than 100 kHz), the response of IEC and low metal-content objects manifests itself at higher frequencies, in the high-frequency EMI (HFEMI) band between 100 kHz and 15 MHz, which spans the transition between the induction and radar bands.
Influences of Manufacturing Tolerance on Performance of Axial Flux-Switching Permanent Magnet Machine

This paper investigates the influence of manufacturing tolerance on the performance of low-pole axial flux-switching permanent magnet (AxFSPM) machine. Eight important parameters are selected to calculate the effect of manufacturing tolerance using finite element analysis (FEA). The FEA investigation reveals that the tolerance of the stator tooth width and permanent magnet (PM) width affect the fundamental back-electromotive force (back-EMF). The offset angle is critical to increase the second harmonic of the back-EMF in the low-pole AxFSPM machine. The FEA results also compared with experimental results which confirmed the effect of manufacturing tolerance.
Model for ratchet growth in PBX 9502

Abstract Polycrystalline solids composed of crystals with anisotropic thermal expansion coefficients exhibit ratchet growth (RG), a phenomenon characterized by a cumulative and irreversible volume expansion that develops upon exposing the material to cyclic excursions in temperature. We developed a statistical model for RG. The model attributes RG to the formation of intergranular cracks caused by tessellated internal stresses that develop during the thermal excursions. It is postulated that different sets of internal cracks form upon heating and cooling the polycrystalline solid. The model reproduces RG measurements in pressed TATB and PBX 9502 energetic materials and suggests an explanation for why the amplitude of RG generated by a heating excursion is larger than that generated by a subsequent cooling excursion of the same amplitude.
Reading Malachi's Rebukes and Promise in Historical and Corporate Context

Malachi’s prophetic voice continues to speak today through its interpreters. This article considers two of Malachi’s oracles, namely the pronouncement against divorce (Mal 2:10-17) and a call to faithful temple tithing (Mal.3:8-12) citing some of their contemporary and popular interpretations. It notes major themes that run through the book, highlighting key cultural and historical realities of Malachi’s day and its context of corporate unity. It demonstrates how differently Malachi can be understood by ignoring or utilizing the interpretive framework of historical, cultural and religious backgrounds.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound Measurement of Diaphragm Thickening Fraction as a Predictor of Successful Extubation in Critically Ill Children

Ventilation-induced diaphragm dysfunction can delay weaning from mechanical ventilation. Identifying the optimal time for extubation has always been a challenge for intensivists. Diaphragm ultrasound is gaining immense popularity as a surrogate to measure diaphragm function. We attempted to assess the utility of diaphragm function in predicting extubation success using point-of-care ultrasound examination. We conducted a prospective observational study in a single-center tertiary care pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). All children aged between 1 month and 16 years admitted to the PICU and who underwent invasive mechanical ventilation for more than 24 hours were included in the study. Children who died during mechanical ventilation and those with conditions affecting diaphragm function like neuromuscular disorders, pneumothorax, chronic respiratory diseases, and intraabdominal hypertension were excluded from the study. Diaphragm thickening fraction (DTf) was measured during spontaneous breathing trial and correlated to predict extubation success. We found that DTf is an independent predictor of extubation success. DTf more than or equal to 20% was associated with extubation success with a positive predictive value of 85%. The area under the curve for DTf showed good accuracy.
Space-split algorithm for sensitivity analysis of discrete chaotic systems with unstable manifolds of arbitrary dimension

Accurate approximations of the change of system's output and its statistics with respect to the input are highly desired in computational dynamics. Ruelle's linear response theory provides breakthrough mathematical machinery for computing the sensitivity of chaotic dynamical systems, which enables a better understanding of chaotic phenomena. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for sensitivity analysis of discrete chaos with an arbitrary number of positive Lyapunov exponents. We combine the concept of perturbation space-splitting regularizing Ruelle's original expression together with measure-based parameterization of the expanding subspace. We use these tools to rigorously derive trajectory-following recursive relations that exponentially converge, and construct a memory-efficient Monte Carlo scheme for derivatives of the output statistics. Thanks to the regularization and lack of simplifying assumptions on the behavior of the system, our method is immune to the common problems of other popular systems such as the exploding tangent solutions and unphysicality of shadowing directions. We provide a ready-to-use algorithm, analyze its complexity, and demonstrate several numerical examples of sensitivity computation of physically-inspired low-dimensional systems.
Whither Model Organism Research

Model organisms such as the yeast, worm, and fruit fly have been stalwart allies of biologists for decades. But now that we know so much about the cell and molecular mechanisms of these organisms, is it time to retire them to the lab9s dusty top shelf? Not likely, say Fields and Johnston in their Perspective. The authors argue that model organisms will remain in the research spotlight for many years to com
Doxorubicin inhibits lymphatic function in vitro and in vivo (655.1)

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an independent risk factor for lymphedema in breast cancer patients after surgery and/or radiation therapy. The mechanisms by which DOX contributes to lymphedema are unclear. W...
An axiomatization of arrays for kleene algebra with tests

The formal analysis of programs with arrays is a notoriously difficult problem due largely to aliasing considerations. In this paper we augment the rules of Kleene algebra with tests (KAT) with rules for the equational manipulation of arrays in the style of schematic KAT. These rules capture and make explicit the essence of subscript aliasing, where two array accesses can be to the same element. We prove the soundness of our rules, as well as illustrate their usefulness with several examples, including a complete proof of the correctness of heapsort.
Electronic attack against boost-phase ICBM defense system

In this paper, the different electronic attack (EA) techniques that can be deployed to reduce the effectiveness of boost-phase target sensing, tracking, and intercepting are examined. The purpose is to investigate the effects of the EA on the performance of the radio frequency (RF) sensors used within a boost-phase ballistic missile defense sensor system. The EA types investigated include barrage noise, chaff tactics, and the use of expendable decoys. The reduction of the radar cross-section is also addressed and predicted using a physical optics approach. The desired effect of the EA against the RF sensors is degradation of the target track quality, thereby forcing the sensors to use other methods to estimate the target position (e.g., triangulation). An inadequately designed sensor fusion scheme can lead to loss of target track, which is undesirable in a boost-phase ballistic missile intercept system.
Rhythm Classes and Speech Perception

This study indirectly tests whether American, Greek and Korean listeners can classify low-pass filtered utterances of English, German, Greek, Italian, Korean and Spanish into rhythm classes, by examining how they rate each utterance’s rhythm in comparison to a series of non-speech trochees. Such classification was difficult for all groups of listeners and did not support the rhythmic classification of the languages of the stimuli, casting doubt on the impressionistic basis of the rhythm class hypothesis.
Knowledge-based software development: issues and strategies

Summary form only given. The author examines the problems of traditional software development paradigms, identifying areas that can be helped by knowledge-based techniques. He discusses fundamental software issues that relate to knowledge-based approaches to software development. Based on these discussions, a framework for knowledge-based software development paradigms and tools is provided. >
Do we need to redefine a cancer metastasis and staging definitions

Metastasis is the most lethal attribute of cancer cells and clinical decisions regarding treatment are based largely upon the likelihood of developing metastases. However, improvements in detection as well as recent experimental data have raised questions about the most appropriate definition of a metastasis, especially whether the mere presence of cells at secondary sites constitute a metastatic lesion. After reviewing the experimental basis of metastasis, a definition of metastasis is proffered along with a proposal to consider regarding modification of staging parameters.
Postponing the California Recall to Protect Voting Rights

by Henry E. Brady, University of California, Berkeley Political scientists usually study elections. I tried to postpone one. Here's my story with some social science lessons. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals postponed the California Gubernatorial Recall Election on September 15, 2003. The threejudge panel leaned upon the 2000 Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore to justify postponing the October 7th election until better voting systems could be installed in six California counties. The panel's reasoning echoes the 2000 Florida election controversy:
Generalized multiple description coding through unequal loss protection

We present an approach to the generalized multiple description problem (V.K. Goyal et al., 1998) that is fundamentally different from previously published algorithms. Our approach uses explicit channel coding in the form of unequal loss protection to obtain a solution that incorporates many important properties: it can be used with any progressive source coder; it generates a balanced encoding with information equally dispersed among the descriptions; it adds a quantifiable amount of redundancy; it adapts that amount of redundancy to expected channel conditions; and it can optimize for different distortion measures. These properties allow the system to gradually improve image quality as the number of received descriptions increases. We compare our system to previously published results and show that forward error correction in multiple description coding can surpass them by a significant margin.
Erosion Resistance Index (ERI) to Assess Surface Stability in Desert Environments

A spectral index, i.e., the erosion resistance index (ERI), was developed to assess erosion risks in desert landscapes. The index was developed by applying trigonometry to the combination of the green–red band ratio and the green–near-infrared band ratio from very high spatial resolution multispectral imagery. The resultant ERI maps showed spatially cohesive distributions of high and low index values across the study areas. High index values were observed over areas that were resistant to erosion (such as desert pavement and dense vegetation), whereas low index values overlapped with areas that were likely dominated by loose sandy soils, such as stream beds and access roads. Although further investigation is warranted, this spectral index, i.e., the ERI, shows promise for the assessment of erosion risks in desert regions.
Intuition: Inferential Heuristic or Epistemic Mode?

This study attempts to evaluate psychological concepts of intuition. Of the many definitions of intuition, two extremes emerge. One holds intuition to be an inferential heuristic, and the other defines it as a cognitive mode capable of immediate, non-inferential, holistic processing. Three inventories were administered that purport to measure intuition. The Intuitive Problem Solving Scale corresponds to the definition of intuition as inferential heuristic. The Psycho-Epistemological Profile and the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator define intuition as a non-inferential epistemic mode. Scores on these scales are correlated with scores on various inferential tasks, as well as with scores on measures of three traits usually associated with intuition (originality, private self-awareness, and creativity). Results indicate that intuition is not completely reducible to inference.
Poor mental health, depression, and associations with alcohol consumption, harm, and abuse in a national sample of young adults in college

The purpose of this article was to describe patterns of poor mental health/depression (PMHD) in a national sample of college students and the relationships among PMHD, alcohol consumption, harm, and abuse. Responses to mailed questionnaires completed by a random sample of 27,409 students at 119 colleges were analyzed using logistic regression. Nationally, 4.8% of students reported PMHD. The average college prevalence was 5.01% (range, 0.68% to 13.23%). Students with PMHD were more likely than their peers to be female, nonwhite, and from low socioeconomic status families; less likely to report never drinking; as likely to report frequent, heavy, and heavy episodic drinking; and more likely to report drinking to get drunk. Students with PMHD-especially females-were more likely to report drinking-related harms and alcohol abuse. College is a critical context for studying youth mental health. The interrelationship of mental health problems and their clustering by group and college are important considerations for prevention and treatment.
Mojo Hand, a TALEN design tool for genome editing applications

Background: Recent studies of transcription activator-like (TAL) effector domains fused to nucleases (TALENs) demonstrate enormous potential for genome editing. Effective design of TALENs requires a combination of selecting appropriate genetic features, finding pairs of binding sites based on a consensus sequence, and, in some cases, identifying endogenous restriction sites for downstream molecular genetic applications. Results: We present the web-based program Mojo Hand for designing TAL and TALEN constructs for genome editing applications (www.talendesign.org). We describe the algorithm and its implementation. The features of Mojo Hand include (1) automatic download of genomic data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, (2) analysis of any DNA sequence to reveal pairs of binding sites based on a user-defined template, (3) selection of restriction-enzyme recognition sites in the spacer between the TAL monomer binding sites including options for the selection of restriction enzyme suppliers, and (4) output files designed for subsequent TALEN construction using the Golden Gate assembly method. Conclusions: Mojo Hand enables the rapid identification of TAL binding sites for use in TALEN design. The assembly of TALEN constructs, is also simplified by using the TAL-site prediction program in conjunction with a spreadsheet management aid of reagent concentrations and TALEN formulation. Mojo Hand enables scientists to more rapidly deploy TALENs for genome editing applications.
Single-molecule FRET studies of important intermediates in the nucleocapsid-protein-chaperoned minus-strand transfer step in HIV-1 reverse transcription.

The minus-strand transfer step of HIV-1 reverse transcription is chaperoned by the nucleocapsid protein (NC), which has been shown to facilitate the annealing between the transactivation response element (TAR) RNA and complementary TAR DNA stem-loop structures. In this work, potential intermediates in the mechanism of NC-chaperoned TAR DNA/TAR RNA annealing have been examined using single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The interaction between TAR DNA and various DNA oligonucleotides designed to mimic the initial annealing step was monitored to capture potential intermediates along the reaction pathway. Two possible mechanisms of annealing were examined, namely nucleation through the 3′/5′ termini, termed the “zipper” complex, or nucleation through the hairpin loops in a “kissing” complex. Intermediates associated with both mechanisms were observed in the presence of NC, and the kinetics of formation of these intermediates were also measured. Thus, the single-molecule experiments support the notion that NC-assisted annealing of TAR DNA:TAR RNA may occur through multiple pathways.