cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Hilbert transform pitfalls and solutions for ultrasonic NDE applications

Hilbert transform (HT) is a classical tool used to obtain complex analytical signal representation, which is useful for instantaneous frequency and envelop estimation of bandpass signals. However, noise has a significant adverse impact on the performance of HT. Furthermore, the narrowband signal condition in Bedrosian identity makes it problematic to analyze ultrasonic scattering signal using HT. In this investigation, two key issues related to Hilbert transform are addressed for enhanced instantaneous frequency (IF) estimation. First, in order to minimize the effect of the noise, ultrasonic signals are decomposed to multiple narrowbands and instantaneous frequencies within these bands are estimated. Second, a weighted estimated of IF based on envelop estimate of each narrowband is introduced. These methods are applied to various experimental ultrasonic data sets and utilized to examine microstructure scattering, effects of attenuation in large grained materials, and flaw detection in presence of high scattering noise. Simulation studies and experimental results support accuracy of the IF estimation. Enhanced IF estimation techniques provide tractable frequency estimation and makes it possible to quantify spectral shifts due to attenuation, scattering and dispersion effects.
ABSENCE OF CAP MEMBRANES AS A CHARACTERISTIC OF PIT PLUGS OF SOME RED ALGAL ORDERS1

The current general model of the organization of a fully developed rhodophycean pit plug includes a cap membrane associated with each end of the plug. Continuity of the plasmalemma and cap membrane results in the plug core being extracellular. However, routine ultrastructural methods have not convincingly demonstrated cap membranes in the Bangiales or the Corallinales. In this study, a variety of fixation regimes that enhance membrane contrast were used in an attempt to detect cap membranes in representatives of these two orders. Although cap membranes were readily and clearly demonstrable by these methods in a representative of an order previously known to have cap membranes, they could not be detected in members of the Bangiales or Corallinales. Should the absence of cap membranes prove to be an invariant feature of these two orders, presence or absence of cap membranes will constitute a new character for phylogenetic analysis. It is proposed that the ancestral character state of red algal pit plugs was a homogeneous plug without caps and without cap membranes.
Economic Voting and the Welfare State: A Cross-National Analysis

We examine the question of economic voting in the major industrial democracies. Using pooled time series data for 17 nations from 1960 to 1987, we argue that the magnitude and nature of the relationship between economic conditions and the vote depends upon the level of welfare state development. We find that (a) in countries with low to moderate levels of welfare spending, the economy has a more dramatic effect on the vote when things are good than when things are bad, and (b) the economy plays less of a role in states with high levels of spending, regardless of the direction of economic change. The implications for voting behavior, democratic accountability, and welfare policy are discussed.
Odorant receptors of a primitive hymenopteran pest, the wheat stem sawfly

The wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus, is an herbivorous hymenopteran that feeds exclusively on members of the Graminae family. Synanthropically, it has become one of the most important insect pests of wheat grown in the northern Great Plains region of the USA and Canada. Insecticides are generally ineffective because of the wheat stem sawfly's extended adult flight period and its inaccessible larval stage, during which it feeds within the wheat stems, making it virtually intractable to most pest management strategies. While research towards integrated pest management strategies based on insect olfaction has proved promising, nothing is known about the molecular basis of olfaction in this important pest species. In this study we identified 28 unique odorant receptor (Or) transcripts from an antennal transcriptome. A phylogenetic analysis with the predicted Ors from the honey bee and jewel wasp genomes revealed at least four clades conserved amongst all three Hymenoptera species. Antennal expression levels were analysed using quantitative real-time PCR, and one male-biased and five female-biased Ors were identified. This study provides the basis for future functional analyses to identify behaviourally active odours that can be used to help develop olfactory-mediated pest management tools.
Cluster Communication Synchronization in Delay-Sensitive Wireless Sensor Networks

Clustering has been widely used in wireless sensor networks to increase scalability, improve energy efficiency and provide QoS guarantees. In such networks, frequent interactions between the intra-cluster communication and the inter-cluster communication are inevitable, which may severely downgrade the communication efficiency and hence the network performance if not handled properly. This is especially problematic in delaysensitive data gathering applications. Thus, proper synchronization among these two types of communications is required. In this paper, we propose two approaches to schedule the communications in clustered wireless sensor networks aiming at delay-sensitive applications. In the first approach, an efficient cycle-based synchronous scheduling is proposed to achieve low average packet delay and high throughput by optimizing the cycle length and transmission order. In the second approach, a novel clustering structure is introduced to eliminate the necessity of communication synchronization so that packets are transmitted with no synchronization delay, yielding very low end-to-end packet delay. Our extensive experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of both approaches. The distinct behavior of two scheduling approaches enables them to support a wide range of data gathering applications with different performance requirements in clustered wireless sensor networks.
OBSERVATIONS ON RESISTANCE TO THE FLOW OF BLOOD TO AND FROM THE LUNGS.

1. Embolism of pulmonary arterioles and capillaries produced by the intravenous injection of starch grains results in a dilatation of the pulmonary artery and the right chambers of the heart. This has been demonstrated both by x-ray studies and direct inspection. 2. The dilatation of the pulmonary artery and heart occurs synchronously with the acceleration of respirations. 3. Dilatation of these structures produced by other means, such as obstruction to the flow of blood to and from the lungs, by gradually clamping either the pulmonary artery (cat and dog) or pulmonary veins (cat) does not, however, give rise to rapid and shallow breathing. 4. The effect of these maneuvers on respiration does not become apparent until respirations suddenly cease. 5. Neither does sudden restriction of the pulmonary vascular bed by clamping the left branch of the pulmonary artery give rise to rapid and shallow breathing, though this procedure may cause an increase in CO2 tension and in hydrogen ion concentration of the blood. 6. Since rapid and shallow breathing is not the result of (1) anoxemia, (2) increased pCO2 and hydrogen ion concentration of the serum, (3) restriction of pulmonary vascular bed by nearly half, (4) increase in resistance to the flow of blood to and from the lungs) (5) the presence of starch grains in the lungs acting as a local irritant, it must be the result of the secondary pathological changes which occur in the pulmonary parenchyma following embolism. 7. The nature of these changes, congestion and edema, has been discussed elsewhere. Whether they operate directly on nerve endings or through their influence on lung volume and tissue elasticity is not certain. 8. Various important clinical analogies have been emphasized.
Relative Sensitivity of New England American Shad to Fishing, Discard Mortality, and Dam Passage Failure or Mortality

Abstract American shad Alosa sapidissima in Atlantic coastal rivers of the New England states are affected by anthropogenic sources of mortality, such as discards of immature fish (bycatch) in various fisheries, directed fishing on prespawning adults, and the passage failure or mortality of mature fish at migratory barriers. We evaluated the relative importance of these factors, independently and in combination, by modeling the predicted lifetime spawning stock biomass of an age-1 female recruit (SSBR) with an assumed constant rate of natural mortality. Discard losses had the greatest impact on the SSBR, followed by directed fishing and upstream passage mortality, upstream passage failure (the fish survived but did not pass the barrier or spawn), and downstream losses of postspawning adults. Fishery managers strive to keep mortality rates below those that reduce SSBR to less than 30% of that of a stock with no anthropogenic mortality. In our modeling, SSBR dropped below that benchmark when bycatch rates e...
Estimating evolutionary rate of local protein binding surfaces: a Bayesian Monte Carlo approach

To infer protein function by matching local surface patterns, an effective scoring matrix for evaluating surface similarity is critical. In this study, we develop an evolution model of binding surfaces using a continuous time Markov process. We develop a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method to estimate the substitution rates of amino acid residues with specialized move sets. We then develop scoring matrices of residue similarity specific to a functional site and show how they can be used to identify similar binding surfaces, and how such information can be used for predicting biological roles of proteins. Our method is especially effective in extracting evolutionary information from the phylogeny of sequences homologous to a protein structure, all of which may be of unknown functions
Calcium binding by particle-free supernatants of homogenates of skeletal muscle.

A high molecular weight fraction of a soluble Marsh muscle-relaxing preparation has been shown to contain a calcium-complexing substance. By examining the nature of the competition between this fraction and chelex-100 for calcium at various total calcium concentrations it has been possible to calculate the concentration and calcium stability constant of this calcium-complexing substance. Taking into account dilutions which occur during the preparation of fractions containing this substance its concentration may be estimated at about 2·10-4 in muscle and its calcium stability constant was found to be about 1.5·105 M-1. Preliminary evidence suggests that the calcium-binding substance is a protein.
Conformational diseases: Looking into the eyes

Conformational diseases, a general term comprising more than 40 disorders are caused by the accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins. Improper protein folding (misfolding) as well as accrual of unfolded proteins can lead to the formation of disordered (amorphous) or ordered (amyloid fibril) aggregates. The gradual accumulation of protein aggregates and the acceleration of their formation by stress explain the characteristic late or episodic onset of the diseases. The best studied in this group are neurodegenerative diseases and amyloidosis accompanied by the deposition of a specific aggregation-prone proteins or protein fragments and formation of insoluble fibrils. Amyloidogenic protein accumulation often occurs in the brain tissues, e.g. in Alzheimer's disease with the deposition of amyloid-beta and Tau, in scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy with the accumulation of prion protein, in Parkinson's disease with the deposition of alpha-synuclein. Other examples of amyloid proteins are transthyretin, immunoglobulin light chain, gelsolin, etc. In addition to the brain, the accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins leading to pathology takes place in a wide variety of organs and tissues, including different parts of the eye. The best studied ocular conformational diseases are cataract in the lens and retinitis pigmentosa in the retina, but accumulation of misfolded proteins also occurs in other parts of the eye causing various disorders. Furthermore, ocular manifestation of systemic amyloidosis often causes the deposition of amyloidogenic proteins in different ocular tissues. Here we present the data regarding naturally unfolded and misfolded proteins in eye tissues, their structure-function relationships, and molecular mechanisms underlying their involvement in diseases. We also summarize the etiology of ocular conformational diseases and discuss approaches to their treatment.
Echo: a practical approach to formal verification

Safe operation is crucial to safety-critical systems, and formal verification of implementations is a desirable means to increase confidence in safety. Traditional formal verification approaches follow the Floyd-Hoare style, setting up a direct compliance argument between an abstract formal specification and a concrete implementation. Such approaches require proofs of large numbers of verification conditions. Creation of both the conditions and their proofs can be difficult and time-consuming.In this paper, we introduce a general formal verification approach that closely models the Floyd-Hoare pattern, yet avoids the tedious direct compliance proof between the formal specification and the implementation. The approach moves the major proof step to a point between two abstract specifications.Our preliminary approach verifies SPARK Ada implementations against PVS specifications. We first use a human-guided refinement to manually generate Ada code along with appropriate SPARK annotations from a PVS specification. We then verify the annotations' compliance with the specification by (1) mechanically extracting a PVS specification from them, and (2) proving that properties of the generated specification imply all of the properties of the original. We rely on the existing SPARK toolset to verify the Ada code against the SPARK annotations. The process is largely automatic or computer-aided. We present an example of the approach using a hypothetical avionics system.
E3 2001: the birth of ubiquitous gaming?

Synergistic developments across the video game industry pave the way for gaming anytime, anywhere.
Are all airways equal

BRONCHOCONSTRICTION IS A CARDINAL feature of asthma. It involves airway narrowing, increase in airway resistance, impairment of breathing, and can in very severe cases even lead to death. The severe narrowing of the airway lumen during bronchoconstriction is caused by a shortening of the airway smooth muscle in response to agonists or vagal stimulation. However, does a simple stimulus-response relationship, easily observed in isolated airways or tissue strips, apply in vivo equally to all airways? More than two decades ago, investigators using the multiple inert gas elimination technique (MIGET) showed that bronchoconstriction in asthma resulted in inhomogeneous ventilation-perfusion distributions (2). That suggested that airway lumen narrowing throughout the bronchial tree must have been highly heterogeneous to cause the heterogeneity in ventilation consistent with the measured ventilation-perfusion distributions in asthma. However, it was unclear if such heterogeneity in bronchoconstriction was caused by a random variability in the response of airways and, thus, randomly distributed within the lungs, or if it was predominantly located in contiguous regions of the lungs. During the last decade, pulmonary imaging studies using PET, MRI, and synchrotron CT, found that bronchoconstriction leads to substantial patchy patterns char
Intrametropolitan Spatial Diversification

Executive Summary. This study investigates the possibility of intrametropolitan geographic diversification. Four metropolitan areas, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Dallas were selected for investigation. The vacancy rates of both office and industrial space in all submarkets of the four metropolitan areas are used as a proxy for asset performance. An ANOVA technique is employed to test the homogeneity of asset performance and identify the homogeneous groups of submarkets within each metropolitan area. The correlation coefficients of these homogeneous groups are then calculated to see whether low or negative correlations of asset performance exist among these groups. The results indicate that the asset performances within metropolitan areas are highly heterogeneous, and low or negative correlations exist among most submarkets or groups of submarkets. The findings imply that (1) portfolio risk can be reduced by diversification across submarkets within metropolitan areas, and (2) viewing metropolitan areas as...
Left anterior descending coronary artery revascularization patient-tailored therapy?

Coronary revascularization continues to be a useful therapeutic tool in the management of selected patients with symptoms or significant myocardium at ischemic jeopardy. The Remote Medical versus the 10-year CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery) trials emphasized the greater survival benefit in
A System for Extracting Sentiment from Large-Scale Arabic Social Data

Social media data in Arabic language is becoming more and more abundant. It is a consensus that valuable information lies in social media data. Mining this data and making the process easier are gaining momentum in the industries. This paper describes an enterprise system we developed for extracting sentiment from large volumes of social data in Arabic dialects. First, we give an overview of the Big Data system for information extraction from multilingual social data from a variety of sources. Then, we focus on the Arabic sentiment analysis capability that was built on top of the system including normalizing written Arabic dialects, building sentiment lexicons, sentiment classification, and performance evaluation. Lastly, we demonstrate the value of enriching sentiment results with user profiles in understanding sentiments of a specific user group.
Comparison of eosinophil and circulating 17-hydroxycorticosteroid responses to epinephrine and ACTH

Summary1. A comparison of the responses of eosinophils and of circulating 17-hydroxycorticosteroid plasma concentrations; is presented. 2. In general, responses of eosinophils and 17-hydroxycorticosteroids to the injection of ACTH are adequate, with a reduction of the former and an elevation of the latter. 3. Certain exceptions to this generalization are noted. On the basis of these exceptions the question is raised whether the eosinopenic response to ACTH need be mediated by the mechanism previously accepted. 4. There is a strong suggestion that the eosinopenia in response to epinephrine is not mediated by an increased circulating concentration of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids secreted by the adrenal cortex.
A New Generation Heavy Duty Gas Turbine for Pipeline Applications

This paper describes a new generation of heavy duty gas turbines manufactured by the General Electric Company. The new unit, known as Model Series 5000 two shaft, has recently been introduced for pipeline service. A detailed description of the design features of the gas turbine is given along with some general comments concerning a typical pipeline installation.Copyright © 1972 by ASME
Hormonal control of the synthesis and distribution of ascorbic acid in cockerels. (Gallus domesticus).

SummaryTestosterone propionate treatment of intact 10-day-old cockerels significantly depressed renal gulonate NADP oxidoreductase activity; after a delay there was a significant decrease in kidney and liver vitamin C concentrations. Administration of corticosterone did not affect the renal biosynthesis of ascorbic acid, but did result in significant decreases in kidney and liver vitamin C concentrations. The decline in tissue vitamin C concentration 4 days after cessation of androgen treatment may have been caused by the previous depression of renal enzyme activity, but the decrease in tissue vitamin C after corticoid treatment showed no such correlation and was interpreted as a nonenzymatic hormonal effect on vitamin C utilization or transport by the tissues/Androgen treatment of 10-week-old capons also resulted in a significant reduction of renal gulonate NADP oxidoreductase activity. However renal and hepatic vitamin C concentrations were significantly elevated in this instance, possibly because insuf...
On the Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Hydrophobic Interactions at Interfaces

We have studied how primitive hydrophobic interactions between two or more small nonpolar solutes are affected by the presence of surfaces. We show that the desolvation barriers present in the potential of mean force between the solutes in bulk water are significantly reduced near an extended hydrophobic surface. Correspondingly, the kinetics of hydrophobic contact formation and breakage are faster near a hydrophobic surface than near a hydrophilic surface or in the bulk. We propose that the reduction in the desolvation barrier is a consequence of the fact that water near extended hydrophobic surfaces is akin to that at a liquid–vapor interface and is easily displaced. We support this proposal with three independent observations. First, when small hydrophobic solutes are brought near a hydrophobic surface, they induce local dewetting, thereby facilitating the reduction of desolvation barriers. Second, our results and those of Patel et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2011, 108, 17678−17683) show that, w...
Understanding Educational Policy Formation: The Case of School Violence Policies in Israel.

This study explores mechanisms underlying processes of educational policy formation. Previous studies have given much attention to processes of diffusion when accounting for educational policy formation. Less account has been given to the day-to-day institutional dynamics through which educational policies develop and change. Building on extensive governmental archival data, complemented with interviews and media analysis, I study the development and transformation of school violence policies in Israel. I argue that diffusion of global policy ideas and practices provides the menu of possible policies, while within-country struggles over legitimacy in the policy domain serve as a mechanism shaping which items on the menu becomes actual policy. Specifically, in the Israeli case, the interest in and action toward school violence were influenced by a global trend, but the actions of Psychological-Counseling Services (PCS) who struggled to assert their legitimacy as the authority on school violence in the Israeli Ministry of Education (MOE) shaped the adoption, rejection, and institutionalization of the specific school violence policy ideas and practices. Language: en
Encircling endocardial ventriculotomy for refractory ischemic ventricular tachycardia. III. Effects on regional left ventricular function.

In order to assess the effects of the encircling endocardial ventriculotomy (EEV) on regional left ventricular function, we cannulated seven adult mongrel dogs for cardiopulmonary bypass. Two pairs of miniature pulse-transit transducers were placed in the mid-myocardium of the left ventricle, one pair in a region that would later be encompassed by an EEV and the other pair in a region of remote normal myocardium. Pressure-dimension data were analyzed during vena caval occlusions (after volume loading) both on and off cardiopulmonary bypass and both before and after performance of an EEV. The EEV results in a significant decrease in diastolic compliance of the encompassed myocardium. No significant compliance changes occurred in the control regions of the same hearts. This change in regional diastolic compliance is partially responsible for a loss of systolic excursion within the EEV-encompassed region and may help to explain the severe left ventricular dysfunction that has been observed in some patients following an EEV.
A community medical service using two-way radio. Making a little doctor go a long way.

Experience over a period of 3.5 years shows that two-way radio, and good co-operation with nursing staff, can alleviate a shortage of doctors and make a basic community medical service possible in an outlying area.
Scleral buckling with chandelier illumination

Scleral buckling is a highly successful technique for the repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment that requires intra-operative examination of the retina and treatment of retinal breaks via indirect ophthalmoscopy. Data suggest that scleral buckling likely results in improved outcomes for many patients but is declining in popularity, perhaps because of significant advances in vitrectomy instrumentation and visualization systems. Emerging data suggest that chandelier-assisted scleral buckling is safe and has many potential advantages over traditional buckling techniques. By combining traditional scleral buckling with contemporary vitreoretinal visualization techniques, chandelier-assistance may increase the popularity of scleral buckling to treat primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment for surgeons of the next generation, maintaining buckling as an option for appropriate patients in the future.
Nitroaromatic detection and infrared communication from wild-type plants using plant nanobionics

Plants can be engineered to serve as self-powered pre-concentrators and autosamplers of analytes in ambient groundwater and as infrared communication platforms that can send information to a smartphone.
A method for non-invasive deep brain stimulation as treatment for PTSD

N 1 in 15 people in the US will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime. Approximately 40% of patients fail to respond to pharmacotherapy and 30% receiving therapy continue to suffer a decade after the trauma. Targets of PTSD neurocircuitry, such as the amygdala, are directly accessible through invasive and relatively high-risk deep brain stimulation (DBS). DBS of the amygdala (BLn) produced symptomatic improvement in a rat model of PTSD, suggesting the utility of this target in humans. A proof-of-concept clinical trial of DBS of the amygdala (BLn) in humans is currently underway.
Findings and foundings: Du Bois’s discipline

Readers of Du Bois’s Dusk of Dawn ([1940] 2014) will no doubt recall the jarring moment of anagnorisis which occurs in the text’s fourth chapter, “Science and Empire”, when the rising Atlanta Unive...
SUMO in Drosophila Development

The ubiquitin-like protein SUMO is conjugated covalently to hundreds of target proteins in organisms throughout the eukaryotic domain. Genetic and biochemical studies using the model organism Drosophila melanogaster are beginning to reveal many essential functions for SUMO in cell biology and development. For example, SUMO regulates multiple signaling pathways such as the Ras/MAPK, Dpp, and JNK pathways. In addition, SUMO regulates transcription through conjugation to many transcriptional regulatory proteins, including Bicoid, Spalt, Scm, and Groucho. In some cases, conjugation of SUMO to a target protein inhibits its normal activity, while in other cases SUMO conjugation stimulates target protein activity. SUMO often modulates a biological process by altering the subcellular localization of a target protein. The ability of SUMO and other ubiquitin-like proteins to diversify protein function may be critical to the evolution of developmental complexity.
Vocal Loading and Environmental Humidity Effects in Older Adults

Objective The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of a vocal loading challenge that combined prolonged speaking, in child-directed voice within a noisy environment, in older adults. An additional goal was to determine whether increased environmental humidity would attenuate the negative effects of this vocal loading challenge. Method Thirteen healthy subjects (five males and eight females; >65 years) completed a vocal loading challenge. The challenge involved 45 minutes of child-directed speech in the presence of 65 dB multitalker babble background noise. Subjects completed this challenge in both low humidity and moderate humidity in counterbalanced order. Vocal function was assessed before and after the challenge using phonation threshold pressure (PTP), cepstral peak prominence (CPP), low/high spectral ratio (LHR), perceived phonatory effort (PPE), and perceived vocal tiredness. Results Negative changes were observed in the aging larynx following the 45-minute vocal loading challenge. Measures of PTP, PPE, and perceived vocal tiredness demonstrated statistically significant loading effects. Increased ambient humidity significantly alleviated the negative changes observed in PPE and perceived vocal tiredness. Increased humidity significantly improved CPP measures both before and after the vocal loading challenge. Conclusions This study furthers our understanding of how older adults respond to a vocal loading challenge of prolonged nonhabitual speech in a noisy environment. Our data suggest that the aging voice is negatively affected by prolonged loud speaking and that humidification may be beneficial in reducing some of these negative effects.
High Speed High Dynamic Range Video

High-speed digital video is a common measurement tool used in the analysis of explosive or similarly energetic events. The dynamic range of a digital camera is limited to bit depth of the analog to digital converter and deep well capacity of the sensor. The dynamic range of an explosive event can exceed the camera’s dynamic range by many orders of magnitude, often in excess of 120 dB causing loss of data from sensor saturation. A method has been developed to utilize current off the shelf synchronized high-speed cameras to film events consisting of extremely high dynamic range events. This paper will describe the process for the design and implementation of an optimized system composed of any number of cameras, and demonstrates the capabilities of a constructed system to capture a video spanning 169 dB range (28 stops) at 79,000 pps using three and four high speed cameras.
A STRUCTURAL MODEL FOR HIERARCHICALLY DESCRIBING HUMAN-COMPUTER DIALOGUE

A variety of “dialogue models” has sprung into existence over the last decade in response to the need for organizing the process of human-computer dialogue development. Structural models describe the generic process of human-computer interaction, and can be used to guide a dialogue developer in constructing the dialogue. The dialogue transaction model presented in this paper is such a structural, descriptive model. It identifies linguistic objects in the behavioral domain, and defines linguistic processing of those objects in the constructional domain of the dialogue. This paper presents the model, how it was derived, and how it is used to describe human-computer dialogues.
Using the Relaxation Test to Study Variation in the Time-Dependent Property of Rock and the Consequent Effect on Time-Dependent Roof Failure

Field observations have demonstrated that roof failure occurs spatially in a mine from the time of excavation. It is suspected that time-dependent deformation propagates failure in the rock mass. In this paper, the relaxation test is used to study variation in the time-dependent property of rock and the consequent effect on time-dependent roof failure. This investigation uses a numerical simulation in 3DEC. The relaxation equation is developed from Burgers model. Variations in the time-dependent property in the post-failure region show negligible variation and, therefore, are averaged to represent the time-dependent property of the failed rock. Finally, these parameters are used in the numerical simulation of underground excavations. Two groups of parameters are used to represent the time-dependent property for pre- and post-failure conditions. FISH functions within 3DEC are used to monitor the state of each zone. Once failure is detected, the parameters are changed to the values corresponding to failed rock. The results show that the new relaxation model accurately predicts the time-dependent propagation of the failure zone. The variation of the time-dependent parameters significantly affects the rock mass behavior and roof convergence.
Farmers’ Adoption Path of Precision Agriculture Technology

Precision agriculture technologies have been adopted individually and in bundles. A sample of 348 Kansas Farm Management Association farm-level observations provides insight into technology adoption patterns of precision agriculture technologies. Estimated transition probabilities shed light on how adoption paths lead to bundling of technologies. Three information intensive technologies were assigned to one of eight possible bundles, and the sequence of adoption was examined using Markov transition processes. The probability that farms remain with the same bundle or transition to a different bundle by the next time period are reported. Farms with the complete bundle of all three technologies were likely to persist with their current technology.
Fully distributed nonlinear state estimation using sensor networks

This paper studies the problem of fully distributed state estimation using networked local sensors. Specifically, our previously proposed algorithm, namely, the Distributed Hybrid Information Fusion algorithm is extended to the scenario with nonlinearities involved in both the process model and the local sensing models. The unscented transformation approach is adopted for such an extension so that no computation of Jacobian matrix is needed. Moreover, the extended algorithm requires only one communication iteration between every two consecutive time instants. It is also analytically shown that for the case with linear sensing models, the local estimate errors are bounded in the mean square sense. A simulation example is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the extended algorithm.
“Dual Containment” Policy in the Persian Gulf: The USA, Iran, and Iraq, 1991–2000

The 2014 book by Alex Edwards, “Dual Containment” Policy in the Persian Gulf, is an in-depth case study that reveals much about U.S. policy in the Middle East specifically, and about the complicate...
On the bootstrap and monotone likelihood in the cox proportional hazards regression model

Recent literature has provided encouragement for using the bootstrap for inference on regression parameters in the Cox proportional hazards (PH) model. However, generating and performing the necessary partial likelihood computations on multitudinous bootstrap samples greatly increases the chances of incurring problems with monotone likelihood at some point in the analysis. The only symptom of monotone likelihood may be a failure to converge in the numerical maximization procedure, and so the problem might naively be dismissed by deleting the offending data set and replacing it with a new one. This strategy is shown to lead to potentially high selection biases in the subsequent summary statistics. This note discusses the importance of keeping track of these monotone likelihood cases and provides recommendations for their use in interpreting bootstrap findings, and for avoiding unwanted biases that may result from high rates of occurrence. In many cases, high monotone likelihood rates indicate that a more highly-specified model may be preferred. Special consideration is given to the problem of high monotone likelihood incidence in Monte Carlo studies of the bootstrap.
Administrative Challenges in the Finnish Alcohol and Drug Treatment System

This article examines the National Plan for Mental Health and Substance Use Work (the MIELI plan), published in Finland in 2009. We place the plan into a wider context of changes in Finnish social ...
Agency in Athens: The Greek Colonels’ Strategy Toward the US

All too often, perceptions of US foreign policy—particularly with respect to Greece—frame the relationship between the United States and other countries as largely a one-way street—with US power and influence dynamically acting on other countries that are implicitly portrayed as static, powerless, and passive. In contrast, this chapter seeks to place the active, strategic agency of the – regime at the heart of our analysis. What we argue is that, far from being passive “objects” of US influence and policy, the colonels’ regime was in fact extremely active in strategically shaping and manipulating its relationship with the United States. In a complex mix that involved appeals to historic ties of friendship, inducements of even closer security cooperation, complaints about unfair and un-collegial US treatment, and barely veiled threats to “look elsewhere” for support, the regime’s leaders were active, strategic agents in shaping their relationship with the United States. As this chapter will show, in the end, their efforts met with remarkable success, as US policy makers came to display a keen sensitivity to Greek sensibilities, wishing to avoid any open rupture with the regime, particularly in the face of US strategic and military interests.
Transport issues and bioremediation modeling for the in situ aerobic co-metabolism of chlorinated solvents.

For aerobic co-metabolism of chlorinated solvents to occur, it isnecessary that oxygen, a primary substrate, and the chlorinated compound all be available to an appropriate microorganism – that is, a microorganism capable of producing the nonspecific enzyme that will promote degradation of the ontaminant while the primary substrate is aerobically metabolized. Thus, the transport processes that serve to mix the reactants are crucial in determining the rate and extent of biodegradation, particularly when considering in situ biodegradation. These transport processes intersect, at a range of scales, with the biochemical reactions. This paper reviews how the important processes contributing to aerobic co-metabolism of chlorinated solvents at different scales can be integrated into mathematical models. The application of these models to field-scale bioremediation is critically examined. It is demonstrated that modeling can be a useful tool in gaining insight into the physical, chemical, and biological processes relevant to aerobic co-metabolism, designing aerobic co-metabolic bioremediation systems, and predicting system performance. Research needs are identified that primarily relate to gaps in our current knowledge of inter-scale interactions.
Message from the Panel Chairs

The following topics are dealt with: mobile computing; mobile radio; Internet of Things; protocols; wireless LAN; optimisation; wireless sensor networks; telecommunication traffic; telecommunication network routing.
Molecular handoffs in nitrergic neurotransmission.

PSD proteins in excitatory synapses are relatively immobile components, while there is a structured organization of mobile scaffolding proteins lying beneath the PSDs. For example, shank proteins are located further away from the membrane in the cytosolic faces of the PSDs, facing the actin cytoskeleton. The rationale of this organization may be related to important roles of these proteins as “exchange hubs” for the signaling proteins for their migration from the subcortical cytosol to the membrane. Notably, PSD95 have also been demonstrated in prejunctional nerve terminals of nitrergic neuronal varicosities traversing the gastrointestinal smooth muscles. It has been recently reported that motor proteins like myosin Va play important role in transcytosis of nNOS. In this review, the hypothesis is forwarded that nNOS delivered to subcortical cytoskeleton requires interactions with scaffolding proteins prior to docking at the membrane. This may involve suggest significant role of “shank”, named for SRC homology (SH3) and multiple ankyrin repeat domains, in nitric oxide synthesis. Dynein light chain LC8-nNOS from acto-myosin Va is possibly exchanged with shank, which thereafter facilitates transposition of nNOS for binding with palmitoyl-PSD95 at the nerve terminal membrane. Shank knockout mice, which present with features of autism spectrum disorders, may help delineate the role of shank in enteric nitrergic neuromuscular transmission. Deletion of shank3 in humans is a monogenic cause of autism called Phelan-McDermid syndrome. One fourth of these patients present with cyclical vomiting, which may be explained by junctionopathy resulting from shank deficit in enteric nitrergic nerve terminals.
Learning Coordinated Vehicle Maneuver Motion Primitives from Human Demonstration

High-fidelity computational human models provide a safe and cost-efficient method for studying driver experience in vehicle maneuvers and for validation of vehicle design. Compared to passive human models, active human models capable of reproducing the decision-making, as well as vehicle maneuver motion planning and control, will be able to support realistic simulation of human-vehicle interaction. In this paper, we propose an integrated human-vehicle interaction simulation framework which learns vehicle maneuver motion primitives from human drivers, and uses them to compose natural and contextual driving motions. Specifically, we recruited six experienced drivers and recorded their vehicle maneuver motions on a fixed-base driving simulation testbed. We further segmented and classified the collected data based on their similarity in joint coordination. Using a combination of imitation learning methods, we extracted the regularity and variability of vehicle maneuver motions across subjects, and learned the dynamic motion primitives to be used for motion reproduction in simulation. We present an implementation of the framework on lower-extremity joint coordination in pedal activation for longitudinal vehicle control. Our research efforts lead to a motion primitive library which enables planning natural driver motions, and will be integrated with the driving decision-making, motion control, and vehicle dynamics in the proposed framework for simulating human-vehicle interaction.
Home and away and home again: discovery of a native reproductive strategy of the globally invading sea anemone Diadumene lineata (Verrill, 1869) in a satellite population

Reproductive strategies, whether sexual or asexual, are critical aspects of introduction success and spread for non-indigenous species. The Western Pacific Diadumene lineata (Verrill, 1869), the world’s most widely distributed sea anemone due to numerous introductions, is believed to reproduce only by asexual means outside of its home range. Over the past 100 years, no populations with both males and females have been reported to co-occur outside of its native Japan. We report the first discovery of sympatric reproductive male (sperm-bearing) and female (egg-bearing) D. lineata in Coos Bay, Oregon, USA, confirmed by histological analysis. Given that only single gender introduced populations have been reported elsewhere, the presence of both genders in this US Pacific Northwest bay may be linked to high and continuous propagule pressure resulting from a history of intensive lumber and timber shipping directly between Japan and Coos Bay. Novel modern-day introductions of this species, in which reproductive traits previously only associated with native populations are manifested, could influence the future invasion success and spread of this species.
A General Case for Functional Pluralism

Using examples from functional morphology and evolution, Amundson and Lauder (Biol Philos 9: 443–469, 1994) argued for functional pluralism in biology. More specifically, they argued that both causal role (CR) analyses of function and selected effects (SE) analyses played necessary parts in evolutionary biology, broadly construed, and that neither sort of analysis was reducible to the other. Rather than thinking of these two accounts of function as rivals, they argued that they were instead complimentary. Frederic Bouchard (Chap. 5, this volume) attempts to make that case stronger using an interesting example—the evolution of ecosystems. This case is interesting in that it involves the sudden appearance of things with functions, which also evolve, but which do not, at least initially, have a selected effect etiology. I am in complete agreement with the above-mentioned positions. Here, I take a different tack in arguing for functional pluralism. I abstract away not only from the details of biological practice but even from the details of the CR and SE accounts to argue for a more general pluralism of historical and ahistorical concepts.
Collision-Induced Unfolding Is Sensitive to the Polarity of Proteins and Protein Complexes

Collision-induced unfolding (CIU) uses ion mobility to probe the structures of ions of proteins and noncovalent complexes as a function of the extent of gas-phase activation prior to analysis. CIU can be sensitive to domain structures, isoform identities, and binding partners, which makes it appealing for many applications. Almost all previous applications of CIU have probed cations. Here, we evaluate the application of CIU to anions and compare the results for anions with those for cations. Towards that end, we developed a “similarity score” that we used to quantify the differences between the results of different CIU experiments and evaluate the significance of those differences relative to the variance of the underlying measurements. Many of the differences between anions and cations that were identified can be attributed to the lower absolute charge states of anions. For example, the extents of the increase in collision cross section over the full range of energies depended strongly on absolute charge state. However, over intermediate energies, there are significant difference between anions and cations with the same absolute charge state. Therefore, CIU is sensitive to the polarity of protein ions. Based on these results, we propose that the utility of CIU to differentiate similar proteins or noncovalent complexes may also depend on polarity. More generally, these results indicate that the relationship between the structures and dynamics of native-like cations and anions deserve further attention and that future studies may benefit from integrating results from ions of both polarities.
A review of Philodendron subg. Philodendron (Araceae) from South America with the descriptions of 22 new species

A history of the species described in Philodendron subg. Philodendron is presented and 22 species of Philodendron subg. Philodendron are published as new from South America: P. bucayense Croat, P. ...
Initial Modified Pulmonary Index Score Predicts Hospital Length of Stay for Asthma Subjects Admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

BACKGROUND: Scoring systems are frequently used to assess the severity of pediatric asthma exacerbations. The modified pulmonary index score (MPIS) has been found to be highly correlated with length of stay (LOS) in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). We sought to evaluate the use of the MPIS to predict hospital LOS for patients admitted to our PICU. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of pediatric asthma subjects aged 2–17 y admitted to our PICU between June 2014 and November 2017. We divided subjects a priori into 3 groups (low: MPIS 0–5; medium: MPIS 6–9; high: MPIS ≥ 10) based upon each subject9s first MPIS documented in the PICU. Hospital LOS, PICU LOS, time on continuous albuterol, and increased respiratory support were compared between groups. RESULTS: 143 subjects were included. There were no differences for demographics, medical history, cause of exacerbations, or mean heart rate between groups. There were significant differences between groups for mean breathing frequency (P S pO 2 (P = .01), and F IO 2 (P CONCLUSIONS: The MPIS thresholds used in our pathway appropriately predicted LOS in our cohort of subjects with asthma admitted to the PICU. Higher MPIS was associated with increased hospital LOS, PICU LOS, and time on continuous albuterol.
Is Respiratory Epithelial Adenomatoid Hamartoma Related to Central Compartment Atopic Disease

BackgroundRespiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma (REAH) is a benign lesion of the sinonasal tract that may mimic more concerning pathology. Clinical factors associated with REAH have not been...
Instructor led training and Certification - ITIL V4 Foundation

ITIL 4 Foundation enables candidates to look at IT Service Management through an end-toend operating model for the creation, delivery and continual improvement of tech-enabled products and services.