cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Public Responses to Hypothetical Crimes: Effect of Offender and Victim Status and Seriousness of the Offense on Punitive Reactions

Adult reactions to 27 hypothetical criminal offenses are explored to assess how offenders' and victims' occupational status and the seriousness of the acts affect conceptions of "fair punishment." The findings suggest that information about the status of criminal offenders is not used in making judgments about punishment. Rather, punitive reactions seem to be based principally on the seriousness of the act. Further, an investigation of interaction showed that the kind of act was an important factor, even beyond the degree of harm produced. Further inquiries should investigate the effects of victim responsibility and offender intentionality on the public's reaction to criminal offenses. Different reactions to persons of various social positions has been a traditional sociological concern. Among such inquiries, one type has investigated the linkage between social status and punitive reactions to rule violations. Many studies have investigated the relationship between variation in the dispositions of law enforcement agencies and variation in the social or racial status of offenders. In summarizing this research Chambliss (1969:86)
FREEDOM TO CHOOSE AND DEMOCRACY: THE EMPIRICAL QUESTION

Intuitively it would seem that choice is important for democracy. Yet the empirical question, whether people actually do value facing distinct platforms when they vote, remains open. In this paper I seek to remedy that situation by systematically addressing the question using cross-national survey data. Specifically, I investigate whether satisfaction with democracy depends on the number and/or the substance of the choices that are available to people when they vote. The analysis offers strong support for the idea that what matters most to voters is the substance of electoral choices. Although the number of choices also matters, the significance of this factor is conditional on being able to vote for a party that represents one's views, or on voting for the winner.
Spectral linewidth narrowing and tunable two-color laser operation of two diode laser arrays.

We propose and implement a common external cavity to narrow spectral linewidth of two broad-area laser diode arrays (LDAs) and align their center wavelengths. The locked center wavelength of two LDAs can be tuned in the range of ∼10 nm by tuning the tilted angle of the diffraction grating. The output beams of two LDAs are spatially overlapped through the polarization beam splitter of the common external cavity, and the total output power equals the power of two LDAs. The center wavelength of each LDA can be independently tuned by shifting the corresponding fast-axis collimation lens. As a result, the high-power two-color LDA operation is demonstrated with the tunable wavelength difference of up to 2 nm (∼1 THz).
Effectiveness of a focused educational intervention on resident evaluations from faculty a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To improve the quality and specificity of written evaluations by faculty attendings of internal medicine residents during inpatient rotations.
Some aspects of measurement error in a censored regression model

Abstract When a linear model with a censored dependent variable is written as a regression model, the model is nonlinear in the explanatory variables. This means that when the explanatory variables are measured with error, estimation by instrumental variables will not lead to consistent estimates of the parameters. My approach to the problem involves assuming that the variables measured with error can be represented by a reduced form equation and estimating the parameters of the censored regression model by the least absolute deviations estimator. This estimator is based on the median of the distribution of the dependent variable rather than the mean, and the median is not affected by censoring in the lower tail. Hence the estimator is consistent under general conditions. I also consider the problem of testing for the presence of measurement error.
Elastic-Plastic Analysis of a Spherical Shell Loaded Radially Through a Flexible Cylindrical Nozzle

This study investigates the elastic-plastic behavior of a shallow spherical shell loaded radially through a flexible cylindrical nozzle. Both the sphere and the cylinder can yield and exhibit plastic deformation. The Tresca yield condition is employed to derive elastic-plastic moment-curvature relationship in a simple form which is implemented in an efficient solution scheme. Three geometric parameters represent the relative dimensions of the structure. Numerical results are obtained for a range of values of these parameters. Various situations involving the failure of the sphere and/or the cylinder are studied. The ultimate or failure loads of the structure are plotted as functions of the geometric parameters.
Perinephric abscess masquerading as renal tumor in an adolescent.

Abstract A perinephric abscess in an adolescent, initially mistaken for a renal tumor, was managed conservatively with antibiotic therapy alone. Computed tomography revealed that resolution was complete, eliminating the need for surgical drainage. The case suggests the wisdom of altering traditional diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to lesions in the perinephric, area.
A Great Mentor and Role Model

As a graduate student I was given the scary freedom to choose and execute my own PhD research project. Given few restrictions on the research area, I spent much of 1990 reading papers on a wide range of areas to find a research topic. I first became aware of Gabor Temes during this process. His name came up again and again on papers I read on what to me seemed like very different subjects. It quickly became clear that his name on a paper ensures that the paper is of high quality and presents exceptionally creative ideas. I decided then that I wanted my future papers to be like Gabor?s papers in these respects. I also became fascinated with Gabor?s work on delta-sigma data converters, and chose this area for my PhD research.
Optimization of a lithographic and ion beam etching process for nanostructuring magnetoresistive thin film stacks

The patterning of multilayer thin-film stacks to create spin valves, with dimensions ∼100 nm, for magnetic-random-access memories presents novel fabrication challenges since the materials commonly used (e.g., Co, Cu, and Ni) do not form volatile compounds, and hence cannot be reactive-ion etched. The consequent necessity of using ion-beam etching (“ion milling”) demands a solution to the twin problems of faceting and redepostion of sputtered material. In addition, antireflection layers are not used during lithography because of the necessity of avoiding high-temperature curing, which would harm the spin valve characteristics. By using a thin SiOx phase-shifting layer under the resist, we obtained adequate resist profiles; and by using a 15-nm-thick W hard mask, no measurable redeposition was observed after ion milling of cobalt. Improved etch selectivity of W relative to Co is achieved by using neon as the ion-milling gas rather than argon. A simple model for the enhanced ion-milling selectivity is presented.
SECISearch3 and Seblastian: new tools for prediction of SECIS elements and selenoproteins

Selenoproteins are proteins containing an uncommon amino acid selenocysteine (Sec). Sec is inserted by a specific translational machinery that recognizes a stem-loop structure, the SECIS element, at the 3' UTR of selenoprotein genes and recodes a UGA codon within the coding sequence. As UGA is normally a translational stop signal, selenoproteins are generally misannotated and designated tools have to be developed for this class of proteins. Here, we present two new computational methods for selenoprotein identification and analysis, which we provide publicly through the web servers at http://gladyshevlab.org/SelenoproteinPredictionServer or http://seblastian.crg.es. SECISearch3 replaces its predecessor SECISearch as a tool for prediction of eukaryotic SECIS elements. Seblastian is a new method for selenoprotein gene detection that uses SECISearch3 and then predicts selenoprotein sequences encoded upstream of SECIS elements. Seblastian is able to both identify known selenoproteins and predict new selenoproteins. By applying these tools to diverse eukaryotic genomes, we provide a ranked list of newly predicted selenoproteins together with their annotated cysteine-containing homologues. An analysis of a representative candidate belonging to the AhpC family shows how the use of Sec in this protein evolved in bacterial and eukaryotic lineages.
Improving Accessibility to Lung Transplantation for Children Through Air Transport

Abstract Introduction There are a limited number of pediatric lung transplant programs in the United States; therefore, geographical barriers limit critically ill children who may be good candidates for lung transplantation. Materials and Methods With advancements in technology, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is becoming an option to bridge children requiring advanced life support to lung transplantation and offers the opportunity to transport critically ill children to pediatric lung transplant centers. Results Air transport services with rotor-wing and fixed-wing aircraft were successfully developed and quickly became as a vital component of our pediatric lung transplant program offering ECMO for both transport and as a bridge to lung transplantation to children throughout the United States. Conclusion Air transport services can be an important component of pediatric lung transplant programs to offer this advanced treatment to children.
Presentation of the 2013 Paleontological Society Medal to Estella B. Leopold

Prestigious awards and recognition seem to follow Estella B. Leopold where ever she goes. She is a Fellow, Geological Society of America; Fellow, American Association for Advancement of Science and has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1974 (I too received recognition that year, in the form of a high school diploma). In 2010 Professor Leopold received the International Cosmos Prize; if you are not familiar with that prize, you may be familiar with some of the other recipients—David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, E. O. Wilson, Peter Raven. Last week she received the highest award of the American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists in San Francisco. At this point, I'm afraid Estella may feel that she's being stalked by paleontological groupees. Nevertheless, it gives me great pleasure to recognize Estella again, and reflect on her important contributions to our field. Estella is active as Professor Emerita of Botany, Forest Resources, and Quaternary Research at the University of Washington and has been teaching and conducting research in paleopalynology for more than 60 years. She pioneered in the use of fossil pollen and spores to document how ecosystems have responded to environmental changes and land-use activities. She completed her undergraduate work at University of Wisconsin, received a M.S. degree from Berkeley (1950), followed by Ph.D. from Yale in 1955. No stranger to Denver, Estella served as Research Botanist at the Paleontology and Stratigraphy Branch, U.S. Geological Survey from 1955 to 1976. She is known for her innovation in bringing stratigraphic palynology to the Rocky Mountain region during her work at the USGS. In 1976 she moved to Seattle where she served as Director of the Quaternary Research Center and as Professor of Botany and Forest Resources at University of Washington. Estella was always keen to link scientific research to …
P1-S2.75 Are sex/drug risk behaviours in sending countries predictive of sex/drug risk behaviours in receiving countries? The case of Latino migrant men in New Orleans

Background Migration and mobility have been associated with higher drug and sex risk behaviour. Whether this increased risk is a result of the characteristics of mobile persons or environmental influences in a receiving community has not been well elucidated. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if risk behaviour was a continuation of sending country practices or if it was adopted in the new receiving environment (ie, New Orleans). Methods A cohort of Latino migrant men (n=93) were interviewed at baseline, 3 and 6-month visits and asked about past month behaviour. At a subsequent visit, they were also asked about behaviours in their sending country. All interviews were conducted in Spanish by trained staff. Four behaviours were examined: patronage of a female sex worker (FSW), sex with a man (MSM), binge drinking, and crack cocaine use. Cross-tabulations and McNemar tests were performed. Results At baseline, the men were mostly Honduran (71.0%), migrated directly to New Orleans from their country of origin (62.0%), were single (50.5%) with a median age of 28 (range 18−50) and a median of 6 years of schooling. The percentage of men reporting patronage of FSW, MSM and crack cocaine use was significantly higher in New Orleans than in the sending country, and high proportion of those reporting the behaviours in New Orleans, did not practice these behaviours in the sending country. When comparing sending country to New Orleans behaviour in order to examine discrepancies for behaviours, all but binge drinking were significantly different (p 85% of the discrepancy see Abstract P1-S2.75 Table 1. Conclusion Rates of these four risky behaviours were high and, with the exception of binge drinking, were largely behaviours adopted in the USA Newly arrived migrant men are a group at high risk for sex and drug related STI/HIV. Interventions to prevent transmission in this vulnerable, difficult-to-access and highly mobile population are greatly needed.
Design and Assembly of an Antenna Demonstration System [Education Column]

This paper describes the design, assembly, and operation of a self-contained wireless demonstration system that required only dc power supplies. The system demonstrated polarization effects, radiation patterns, gain, directivity, and signal interference from environmental barriers for dipole, corner reflector (simulated antenna array), Quagi, and embedded patch antennas. The system included an RF oscillator, high-frequency amplifiers, RF bandpass filters, a signal-strength indicator, and multiple adjustable antenna-mounting platforms.
Absence of classical lumps in constrained systems

We prove the absence of classical lumps for a large class of constrained systems. In particular we prove that there is no classical lump in the 0(N) non linear σ-model in 2 dimensional space time.
Amputation of a suppressor determinant on lysozyme reveals underlying T-cell reactivity to other determinants

THE response to several thymus-dependent antigens is influenced by immune response (Ir) genes, usually those of the major histocompatibility complex. However, the relevant gene products and their cellular sites of action have not been fully characterised. It is evident that in certain cases, the Ir genes can function to select those determinants which will be presented to activate T cells. This control operates, at least in part, at the level of macrophage–T-cell interactions. We have previously proposed1 that the failure of a T-cell response in H–2b mice following immunisation with chicken lysozyme (HEL) could be due to preferential stimulation of suppressor T cells. A suppressor mechanism which nullifies the activity of lysozyme-specific T-helper cells has been reported from our laboratory2. Comparison of the amino acid sequence of various closely related lysozymes reveals that molecules which have tyrosine at position 3 are immunogenic in H–2b mice whereas lysozymes with phenylalanine at position 3 are non-immunogenic in such strains3. We have considered the possibility that the latter lysozymes possess a determinant that preferentially stimulates suppressor cells in H–2b mice, whereas the former lack this ‘suppressor determinant’. Other studies4–6, including those by Schwartz et al.7 and Turkin and E.E.S.8, support a phenomenon of generalised suppression caused by restricted determinants. Here, we demonstrate that a strain which is unresponsive to HEL and whose T-cell proliferative activity is absent following immunisation with the entire molecule, possesses the potential to generate a vigorous T-cell response directed against a large fragment of the antigen. Suppressor cells directed against a restricted determinant on the molecule obscure this competence to respond to the majority of the molecule.
A methodology for detailed performance modeling of reduction computations on SMP machines

In this paper, we revisit the problem of performance prediction on SMP machines, motivated by the need for selecting parallelization strategy for random write reductions. Such reductions frequently arise in data mining algorithms. In our previous work, we have developed a number of techniques for parallelizing this class of reductions. Our previous work has shown that each of the three techniques, full replication, optimized full locking, and cache-sensitive, can outperform others depending upon problem, dataset, and machine parameters. Therefore, an important question is, ''Can we predict the performance of these techniques for a given problem, dataset, and machine?''. This paper addresses this question by developing an analytical performance model that captures a two-level cache, coherence cache misses, TLB misses, locking overheads, and contention for memory. Analytical model is combined with results from micro-benchmarking to predict performance on real machines. We have validated our model on two different SMP machines. Our results show that our model effectively captures the impact of memory hierarchy (two-level cache and TLB) as well as the factors that limit parallelism (contention for locks, memory contention, and coherence cache misses). The difference between predicted and measured performance is within 20% in almost all cases. Moreover, the model is quite accurate in predicting the relative performance of the three parallelization techniques.
Review of alkali metal and refractory alloy compatibility for Rankine cycle applications

The principal corrosion mechanisms in refractory metal-alkali systems are dissolution, mass transfer, and impurity reactions. In general, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, and tungsten have low solubilities in the alkali metals, even to very high temperatures, and static corrosion studies have verified that the systems are basically compatible. Loop studies with niobium and tantalum based alloys have not indicated any serious problems due to temperature gradient mass transfer. Above 1000 K, dissimilar metal mass transfer was noted between the refractory metals and iron or nickel based alloys. The most serious corrosion problems encountered are related to impurity reactions associated with oxygen.
Eosinophilic esophagitis: the newest esophageal inflammatory disease

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic esophageal inflammatory disease of undetermined pathophysiology that results in dense mucosal eosinophilia and esophageal dysfunction. In childhood, vague symptoms associated with GERD and feeding difficulties are the first manifestations of EoE. Adults typically present with dysphagia and food impaction. No pathognomonic features have been identified for EoE and, therefore, its diagnosis must be made on both clinical and histological grounds. Effective treatments rely on steroids and dietary exclusions.
Percutaneous Coronary Interventions in ST-Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction Shifting Paradigms and Future Perspectives

Acute ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and disability worldwide. For the past years, the management of patients with STEMI has considerably evolved in terms of reperfusion strategies, adjunctive antithrombotic therapy, technical approaches, and development of coordination systems of care. This effort has not only led to a marked reduction in clinical event rates, but also resulted in continuous paradigm shift on our approach to treating these patients. The rapidity with which new information from pivotal trials and registries becomes available makes it a challenge for clinical guidelines to stay current because these documents inevitably lag behind the most recent reported findings in the field. This also presents a challenge for physicians because it is not always clear on how such emerging evidence should be embraced in clinical practice without endorsement from our professional societies. In this Editorial viewpoint, we put into perspective some of the recent pivotal data that have emerged and influences our clinical practice in the percutaneous management of patients with STEMI.1–3 In particular, areas that have evolved in percutaneous management of patients with STEMI include appropriate device use, revascularization strategies in the catheterization laboratory, and setting up optimal benchmarks and systems of care. In the device arena, current guidelines give a class IIa (level of evidence B) recommendation to the use of manual aspiration thrombectomy in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).4,5 This recommendation has been primarily derived from the findings of the Thrombus Aspiration during Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Acute Myocardial Infarction Study (TAPAS) trial, showing that in patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI (n=1071), manual aspiration was not only associated with better reperfusion, but also improved long-term outcomes, including mortality.6 This has fueled …
A molecular phylogeny of Costaceae (Zingiberales).

The phylogenetic relationships of Costaceae, a tropical monocotyledonous family sister to the gingers (Zingiberaceae), were investigated with a combination of two chloroplast loci (the trnL-F locus, including the trnL intron, the 3*trnL exon, and the trnL-F intergenic spacer, and the trnK locus, including the trnK intron and the matK coding region) and one nuclear locus (ITS1‐5.8s‐ITS2). The resulting parsimony analysis of selected taxa that demonstrate the range of floral morphological variation in the family shows that the Caldavena-type floral morphology is ancestral to the group and that both Tapeinochilos species and a Monocostus 1 Dimerocostus clade represent recent divergences. The genus Costus is broadly paraphyletic but Costus subgenus Eucostus K. Schum. represents a large monophyletic radiation that is poorly resolved. Within this clade, secondary analyses suggest that pollination syndrome, traditionally used for taxonomic and classification purposes within the genus Costus, is a relatively plastic trait of limited phylogenetic utility. This represents the first detailed investigation into intrageneric and interspecific evolutionary relationships within the family Costaceae and presents some novel evolutionary trends with respect to floral morphology and biogeography. © 2001 Elsevier Science
Existence of a critical carbon number in the aging of a wax‐oil gel

A fundamental study was carried out to understand the aging (or hardening) of the wax-oil gels formed in the subsea pipelines during the flow of crude oil from offshore wells to shore. The aging process is a counterdiffusion phenomenon where there exists a critical carbon number (CCN), and wax molecules with carbon numbers greater than the CCN diffuse into the gel matrices and vice versa. Using a careful analysis of carbon number distributions of gel deposits, collected from a cold finger after various deposition time intervals, the CCN for the wax-oil system was obtained. A mathematical model, based on a modified version of UNIQUAC model, was developed to predict the CCN for wax-oil systems. The size of the interaction units for n-alkanes in the solid-phase UNIQUAC model was found to be a strong function of the mean carbon number in the solid phase.
Hospitality Products and the Consumer Price–Perceived Quality Heuristic: An Empirical Perspective

For hospitality products such as restaurants and hotels, can the price–quality heuristic be effective? Three propositions which show how the consumer uses the price–perceived quality in the hospitality industry are developed. Factors influencing these propositions are the ratings, the brand name, and word-of-mouth. The propositions are empirically validated and the findings will point to several ways that hospitality managers and owners can realign programs and reallocate resources to raise profitability levels and reduce costs. Primary among them are the development and articulation of whether to upgrade to meet the rating criteria, whether to invest in the brand name or to address public perception through viral marketing.
Iterative joint source-channel decoding of speech spectrum parameters over an additive white Gaussian noise channel

In this paper, we show how the Gaussian mixture modeling framework used to develop efficient source encoding schemes can be further exploited to model source statistics during channel decoding in an iterative framework to develop an effective joint source-channel decoding scheme. The joint probability density function (PDF) of successive source frames is modeled as a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). Based on previous work, the marginal source statistics provided by the GMM is used at the encoder to design a low-complexity memoryless source encoding scheme. The source encoding scheme has the specific advantage of providing good estimates to the probability of occurrence of a given source code-point based on the GMM. The proposed iterative decoding procedure works with any channel code whose decoder can implement the soft-output Viterbi algorithm that uses a priori information (APRI-SOVA) or the BCJR algorithm to provide extrinsic information on each source encoded bit. The source decoder uses the GMM model and the channel decoder output to provide a priori information back to the channel decoder. Decoding is done in an iterative manner by trading extrinsic information between the source and channel decoders. Experimental results showing improved decoding performance are provided in the application of speech spectrum parameter compression and communication.
Influence of divalent cations on regulation of cyclic GMP and cyclic AMP levels in brain tissue.

—Depolarizing concentrations of K+ elevate levels of both adenosine 3′,5′monophosphate (cyclic AMP) and guanosine 3′,5′monophosphate (cyclic GMP) in incubated slices of mouse cerebellum. Calcium is an essential requirement for the K+ -induced accumulation of cyclic GMP. Barium and Sr2+, but not Mn2+ or Co2+, can substitute for Ca2+ in this process. Relatively high concentrations of Mg2+ inhibit the effect of Ca2+ on K+-induced accumulation of cyclic GMP. In contrast, depolarizing concentrations of K+ are capable of elevating cyclic AMP levels in brain slices suspended in media containing Mg2+ and no other divalent cations. High concentrations of Ca2+ (1 mm or greater) augment this Mg2+ -dependent, K+-induced accumulation of cyclic AMP, however. Strontium and Mn2+, but not Ba2+ or Co2+, can substitute for Ca2+ in this process, and high concentrations of Mg2+ are not inhibitory. The divalent cation ionophore, A-23187 (10 μm), in the presence of extracellular Ca2+ elevates the level of cyclic GMP, but not cyclic AMP, in incubated mouse cerebellum slices. The results of this study indicate that intracellular Ca2+ concentration is a major factor regulating cyclic GMP levels in brain. In addition the present results suggest that, in brain tissue, depolarization-induced accumulation of cyclic GMP, but not cyclic AMP, is closely linked to some Ca2+-dependent mechanism(s) mediating release of intracellular substances.
Hybrid Deformable Models for Medical Segmentation and Registration

Deformable models have had great successes over the past 20 years in medical applications. We have recently developed new classes of deformable models which we term hybrid deformable models to automate the model initialization process and make improvements in segmentation and registration. In this paper we present several hybrid deformable methods we have been developing for segmentation and registration. These methods include Metamorphs, a novel shape and texture integration deformable model framework and the integration of deformable models with graphical models and learning methods. We first present a framework for the robust segmentation and tracking of the heart from tagged MRI images and second applications involving brain tumor segmentation as well as brain and cardiac shape registration.
Breast cancer susceptibility testing: past, present and future

Breast cancer is a genetic disease. The cancer phenotype is defined by a complex interplay between oncogenes, tumor-suppressor genes and epigenetic factors. Only 5-10% of all breast cancers can be attributed to one of several breast cancer familial syndromes, the most common of which is the hereditary breast and ovarian syndrome caused by deleterious mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 tumor-suppressor genes. The functions of the BRCA proteins are not fully understood, although it is clear that they play a role in the control of transcription, regulation of the cell cycle and management of DNA damage. The inheritance of a deleterious BRCA mutation is accompanied by a 50-80% risk of developing breast cancer, 60% risk of developing a contralateral breast cancer and 15-25% risk of developing ovarian cancer. The clinical management of BRCA heterozygotes involves several strategies of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. These include risk-reducing surgery, chemoprevention, lifestyle changes and increased surveillance. As we move beyond the 10-year anniversary of the discovery of the BRCA genes, we are inevitably led to thoughtful reflection on the impact of these genes in regards to the greater problem of sporadic breast cancer.
Factors and predictors of cognitive impairment in the elderly: A synopsis and comment on "Systematic Review: Factors associated with risk for and possible prevention of cognitive decline in later life".

The sixth column on Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine is focused on Plassman et al.’s (Ann Internal Med 153:182–193, 2010) systematic review on factors associated with risk for and prevention of cognitive decline among the elderly. A total of 250 studies were included in the final analyses. Cognitive training was most consistently and negatively associated with cognitive decline. Evidence was largely consistent across observational and randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies. Other factors, such as physical activity, some healthy nutritional patterns, and not smoking might also be protective against cognitive decline, but the available evidence is not adequate to draw conclusions about the strength of these relationships. Future research addressing these limitations should include well-designed RCTs that attempt to replicate the finding that cognitive training is protective, and well as high-quality observational and interventional studies that examine the impact of health behaviors on cognitive decline.
Chordin Is Required for the Spemann Organizer Transplantation Phenomenon in Xenopus Embryos

We analyzed the Chordin requirement in Xenopus development. Targeting of both chordin Xenopus laevis pseudoalleles with morpholino antisense oligomers (Chd-MO) markedly decreased Chordin production. Embryos developed with moderately reduced dorsoanterior structures and expanded ventroposterior tissues, phenocopying the zebrafish chordino mutant. A strong requirement for Chordin in dorsal development was revealed by experimental manipulations. First, dorsalization by lithium chloride treatment was completely blocked by Chd-MO. Second, Chd-MO inhibited elongation and muscle differentiation in Activin-treated animal caps. Third, Chd-MO completely blocked the induction of the central nervous system (CNS), somites, and notochord by organizer tissue transplanted to the ventral side of host embryos. Unexpectedly, transplantations into the dorsal side revealed a cell-autonomous requirement of Chordin for neural plate differentiation.
Social Rights Constitutionalism: Negotiating the Tension Between the Universal and the Particular

The increasing importance of social rights language in constitutional texts and in the politics of social provision and human security has triggered a voluminous academic literature. Despite its global origins, we argue, social rights language goes through a process of vernacularization, through which it transforms and is transformed by local politics. The process begins when particular rights are included in constitutional texts and continues when local groups take hold of that language to express their particular aspirations. The struggle to realize social rights is a political one, grounded in and pursued through local structures of demand. In the course of that struggle, rights acquire local particularities. At the same time, the global origins and universal language of rights can open possibilities for subordinate groups to challenge the status quo. Whether or not social rights constitutionalism in the end improves the situation for these groups or simply reinforces the status quo depends on the outc...
Temporal and geographic patterns of hypoglycemia among hospitalized patients with diabetes mellitus.

Background: Hypoglycemia is often cited as a barrier to achieving inpatient glycemic targets. We sought to characterize hypoglycemic events in our institution by work-shift cycle and by specific treatment area. Methods: Capillary (bedside) and blood (laboratory) glucose values of 5 days. The prevalence of hypoglycemia varied across patient care areas within the hospital, with most (28%) detected in one area of the hospital.
NANO AND MICRO-STRUCTURES OF ELASTIN-LIKE POLYPEPTIDE-BASED MATERIALS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) containing materials have spurred significant research interest for biomedical applications exploiting their biocompatible, biodegradable and nonimmunogenic nature while maintaining precise control over their chemical structure and functionality through genetic engineering. Physical, mechanical and biological properties of ELPs could be further manipulated using genetic engineering or through conjugation with a variety of chemical moieties. These chemical and physical modifications also achieve interesting micro- and nanostructured ELP-based materials. Here, we review the recent developments during the past decade in the methods to engineer elastin-like materials, available genetic and chemical modification methods and applications of ELP micro and nanostructures in tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Frequency hop multiple access codes based upon the theory of cubic congruences

The need for families of frequency-hop codes which have mutually small auto-ambiguity and cross-ambiguity functions is discussed. Current coding methods are reviewed. A new family of frequency-hop codes based upon the number-theoretic concept of cubic congruences is introduced. It is shown that for about 50% of the prime numbers, families of full codes exist which have at most two coincidences for any time-frequency shift in their auto-ambiguity functions and at most three coincidences in the set of mutual cross-ambiguity functions. >
On the optimal stopping problem for one-dimensional diffusions

Abstract A new characterization of excessive functions for arbitrary one-dimensional regular diffusion processes is provided, using the notion of concavity. It is shown that excessivity is equivalent to concavity in some suitable generalized sense. This permits a characterization of the value function of the optimal stopping problem as “the smallest nonnegative concave majorant of the reward function” and allows us to generalize results of Dynkin and Yushkevich for standard Brownian motion. Moreover, we show how to reduce the discounted optimal stopping problems for an arbitrary diffusion process to an undiscounted optimal stopping problem for standard Brownian motion. The concavity of the value functions also leads to conclusions about their smoothness, thanks to the properties of concave functions. One is thus led to a new perspective and new facts about the principle of smooth-fit in the context of optimal stopping. The results are illustrated in detail on a number of non-trivial, concrete optimal stopping problems, both old and new.
Multi-layer Model Collaboration for Bioimage Temporal Stage Classification

Nowadays, bioimages such as microscopic images and in situ hybridization images increase exponentially. The rapid growth of such images calls for efficient and effective methods for mining significant patterns in them. As a biological process usually consists of several temporal stages, one important task in bioimage analysis is to classify images into different stages. In this paper, a multi-layer model collaboration approach is proposed to capitalize the class correlations in order to enhance the multi-class classification accuracy. First, several middle-level classes, which are relatively easy to annotate are created. A set of subspace-based classifiers are trained. Next, the classification scores output from these models are integrated with the target class classification scores. The score integration problem was formulated as a convex optimization problem, which is solved by the gradient descent approach. Experiments on four biological image data sets demonstrate that the proposed framework outperforms other current state-of-the-art algorithms, which indicates the proposed framework is promising.
A Freshman's Perspective

As an eighteen year old freshman attending Duke University I have quickly become immersed in some compelling ethical dilemmas. At the start of the spring semester, in early January, I enrolled in a first year philosophy seminar course in an attempt to fulfill the University’s graduation requirements. Little did I know what an intellectual journey I was beginning. The course has dealt with a number of philosophies in an attempt to introduce students to the historical context and significance of the big ideas that have shaped our current knowledge and understanding.
Integrated Knowledge-Based Geographic Information System for Determining Optimal Location of Park-and-Ride Facilities

Park-and-ride facilities are a valuable transportation systems management technique to combat congestion problems in and around city centers. It is therefore important for engineers and planners to determine their optimal location. Past research has identified many criteria that are relevant to optimal park-and-ride locations. But, although one criterion may carry more or less significance than another, they have always been considered on an equal scale. Furthermore, there is currently no system to use the existing knowledge and experience to aid planners in deciding the optimum location of a park-and-ride facility. In this project, a hybrid knowledge-based expert system/geographic information system tool was developed to help determine the optimal location for park-and-ride facilities. The tool was tested twice—on a set of hypothetical roadways and on another set of actual locatins throughout the state of Delaware. In both cases, the program was successfully able to identify the same location that the selected expert engineers/planners chose as the optimal location for a park-and-ride facility given a set of potential sites.
Reactions in Continuous Mixtures

A continuous mixture is one which is so complex that it is no longer worthwhile to distinguish individual chemical species; instead, an index, such as the simulated boiling point, is chosen and v i , the concentration of the species A i , is replaced by c(x)dx ,the concentration of material with index in the interval (x, x + dx). It has been long known that the total concentration of a suitably distributed mixture, each of whose components disappears by a first-order reaction with constant k(x), will appear to disappear according to a higher order of reaction. The generalization of this to a mixture that requires two indices for its description is worth considering for three reasons: First, there may well be materials that are so complex as to require this. Second, the second index may be considered to distribute reaction time. Third, this approach seems to answer the mathematical question of how to generalize from the continuum of first-order reactions to one of parallel N th-order reactions .
Impacts of Shortwave Penetration Depth on Large-Scale Ocean Circulation and Heat Transport

The impact of changes in shortwave radiation penetration depth on the global ocean circulation and heat transport is studied using the GFDL Modular Ocean Model (MOM4) with two independent parameterizations that use ocean color to estimate the penetration depth of shortwave radiation. Ten to eighteen percent increases in the depth of 1% downwelling surface irradiance levels results in an increase in mixed layer depths of 3–20 m in the subtropical and tropical regions with no change at higher latitudes. While 1D models have predicted that sea surface temperatures at the equator would decrease with deeper penetration of solar irradiance, this study shows a warming, resulting in a 10% decrease in the required restoring heat flux needed to maintain climatological sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The decrease in the restoring heat flux is attributed to a slowdown in heat transport (5%) from the Tropics and an increase in the temperature of submixed layer waters being transported into the equatorial regions. Calculations were made using a simple relationship between mixed layer depth and meridional mass transport. When compared with model diagnostics, these calculations suggest that the slowdown in heat transport is primarily due to off-equatorial increases in mixed layer depths. At higher latitudes (5°–40°), higher restoring heat fluxes are needed to maintain sea surface temperatures because of deeper mixed layers and an increase in storage of heat below the mixed layer. This study offers a way to evaluate the changes in irradiance penetration depths in coupled ocean–atmosphere GCMs and the potential effect that large-scale changes in chlorophyll a concentrations will have on ocean circulation.
Techniques for time-domain analysis of L.S.I. circuits

The concept of nested macromodels is introduced to take advantage of the structural properties of large-scale integrated circuits. A multilevel algorithm for the analysis of circuits contanining nested macro-models is presented and its implementation is discussed.
Comparison of Localized Injections of Spinosad and Selected Insecticides for the Control of Cryptotermes brevis (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in Naturally Infested Structural Mesocosms

We investigated the efficacy of various chemical injections against Cryptotermes brevis (Walker) (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae) in hardwood shipping pallets. We had three principle interests: efficacy in whole structures, relative efficacy of the active ingredients, and whether acoustic evidence augmented treatment site selection. Infested pallets were delineated into boards with four monitoring sites each. Six chemical treatments were compared: chlorpyrifos aerosol, aqueous disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT), resmethrin aerosol, distilled water (control), and two treatments of spinosad SC (one treatment applied based upon visual and the other treatment upon acoustic [AE] evidence). Individual boards were split apart; efficacy was determined by percentage mortality and pre- and posttreatment AE counts. Injections were constrained to a single point per board with the greatest level of termite activity. In whole pallets, mean percentage mortality ranged from 53.3 to 58.7% for the visual and AE spinosad treatments, respectively, whereas water averaged 6.8%. Remaining treatment mortalities were 33.2, 30.4, and 18.1% for chlorpyrifos, DOT, and resmethrin, respectively. Analysis of whole-pallet data indicated that none of the insecticides produced commercially acceptable mortality; localized injections of insecticides were not comparable with whole-structure treatments. We delineated independent groups of board sections (sectional aggregates; SA) that were connected by galleries. When treated SA were analyzed, spinosad and DOT treatments were significantly different from controls, whereas remaining treatments were not different from controls or spinosad and DOT. AE readings and visual termite evidence were compared with presence or absence of termites in SA, and it was determined that both AE and visual evidence were effective predictors of termite presence.
Effects of Communicating Emotions on Consumer Perceptions of Fairness

One way consumers deal with their perceptions of having been unfairly treated by a company is to express how they feel about it. Does this help or hurt the company? How about the perceptions of those who hear or read those emotional expressions? We address these questions to show that expressing emotions alleviates perceived unfairness but observing the emotional expressions ofothers exacerbates it. Expressing emotions induces expressers to become aware of their emotionsto make appropriate adjustments to the initial anchor of unfairness, whereas observing deprivesobservers of such opportunity but provides more evidence to strengthen the initial unfairness.The effect of emotion-focused expression is moderated by the perceived responsibility of theexpression receiver and the effect of observation is moderated by the observer's perceivedsimilarity to the source. Due to differences in how expression and observation operate, we findan interesting asymmetry. While expressing emotions and facts operate in the same direction on fairness perceptions, observing the expression of emotions works in a direction opposite toobserving the expression of facts.
Towards an Application-Aware Resource Scheduling With Carrier Aggregation in Cellular Systems

In this letter, we introduce an application-aware approach for resource block scheduling with carrier aggregation in long-term-evolution advanced (LTE-advanced) cellular networks. In our approach, users are partitioned in different groups based on the carriers coverage area. In each group of users, users equipments (UE)s are assigned resource blocks (RB)s from all in band carriers. We use a utility proportional fairness (PF) approach in the utility percentage of the application running on the UE. Each user is guaranteed a minimum quality of service (QoS) with a priority criterion that is based on the type of application running on the UE. We prove that our scheduling policy exists, and therefore, the optimal solution is tractable. Simulation results are provided to compare the performance of the proposed RB scheduling approach with other scheduling policies.
Prominence in Relative Clause Attachment: Evidence from Prosodic Priming

This chapter presents two experiments utilizing prosodic adaptations of the structural priming paradigm. In each experiment, the goal was to explore the relation between the location of a prosodic boundary and the preferred parsing of a relative clause (RC) with ambiguous attachment to a preceding head noun. In Experiment 1, using read materials, ambiguous target sentences were preceded by prime sentences with RCs of different length: long, medium, and short. RC length was hypothesized to influence the location of an implicit prosodic boundary in the primes. However, no effect for this RC-length manipulation was found. In Experiment 2, the location of a boundary was manipulated in overt (spoken) prime sentences. For these auditorily-presented primes, the location of a prosodic boundary was found to influence attachment preference for targets. Interestingly, the effect was in the opposite direction as predicted: In the configuration NP1 NP2 RC, a boundary after NP2 resulted in more NP2 attachments. We propose that in the experimental materials, which contained equivalent accents on the two noun phrases (NPs), the boundary after NP2 leads to the accent on NP2 being interpreted as the nuclear pitch accent. Consequently, that accent was perceived as being more prominent than the accent on NP1, thus attracting RC attachment. The results suggest a close relationship between prosodic phrasing and prosodic prominence in English, and demonstrate a role for both in sentence processing.