cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effective online unsupervised adaptation of Gaussian mixture models and its application to speech classification

Online unsupervised adaptation of statistical classifiers is attractive for many speech processing applications. In this work, we describe an online unsupervised adaptation method for a four-way speech classifier which is based on modelling the universal background model (UBM)-GMM and using confidence scoring in deriving classification results. The aim of the proposed method is to automatically adapt the classifier to mismatched conditions caused by acoustically adverse backgrounds and speaker variability. Extensive analysis of the experimental learning curves shows that the new online unsupervised adaptation algorithm achieves practical convergence. When compared to batch mode adaptation the proposed technique deals effectively with data sparsity and it has significantly lower computational requirements at the expense of a slight sacrifice in classification performance. The proposed algorithm can be readily extended to other mixture families and different expectation-maximization (EM) alternatives for improved performance.
Cultural History and Material Culture: Everyday Life, Landscapes, Museums

This colllection of essays, winner of the Elsie Clews Parsons Prize as the best folklore book of 1990, should be of interest to anyone with an interest in how the humble devices and relics of everyday American life influenced, and continue to influence, American cultural history. The essays are divided into three sections - "everyday life", "public landscape" and "museums as artifacts" - and range across such diverse subjects as the birth of mail-order merchandising, the Victorian cult of childhood, the influence of the New England presence on the American Midwest and the 19th-century chautauqua phenomenon.
Long-term effects of 4-chloroamphetamine on brain 5-hydroxyindole metabolism in rats.

Abstract Four weeks after a single intraperitoneal injection of 4-chloroamphetamine hydrochloride (0·1 mmol/kg) into rats, brain serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels were still depressed to approximately half the control values, though tryptophan levels in brain were normal. Serotonin turnover in brain was likewise depressed to about half of the control rate as measured by (a) the rate of serotonin accumulation after monoamine oxidase inhibition and (b) the rate of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid accumulation after probenecid administration to block its efflux. Despite this decreased turnover rate, the capacity of the brain to synthesize 5-hydroxyindoles, as indicated by the increases in serotonin and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid after the injection of various doses of l -tryptophan, was not altered.
Pet Ownership and the Reliability of the Companion Animal Bonding Scale Among Participants of the Multicenter Aids Cohort Study

ABSTRACTA psychometric evaluation of the Companion Animal Bonding Scale (CABS) was conducted among participants of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). In 1991, MACS participants in Baltimore, Chicago, and Los Angeles were asked to complete a questionnaire about pets, which included the CABS for their favorite pet. Follow-up questionnaires were administered to Los Angeles participants in 1992 and 1993. Internal consistency and intraobserver reliability of the CABS were determined by measuring the Cronbach alpha and test-retest-retest correlation coefficient, respectively. Forty-eight percent of respondents (907/1,872) at the three sites owned pets, of whom 896 (99%) completed a CABS. The Cronbach alpha for the CABS was .79. Among Los Angeles participants, the test-retest-retest correlation coefficient for the 228 pet owners who completed the CABS for the same pet in each of the three years was .81, and was highest among the 98 dog owners (.86) and the 92 cat owners (.86). The Companion Animal Bonding...
Nonlinear optical behavior of ocular tissue during laser irradiation.

A pump (cw Ho–YAG laser) and probe (He–Ne laser) system was used to study the dynamics of the optical behavior of ocular tissue during laser heating. The nonlinear optical behavior of porcine corneal and vitreous-humor tissue was characterized in vitro by means of measurements of the radial profile of a He–Ne laser beam transmitted through the tissue. Temperature gradients in the tissue created by the absorption of pump radiation caused the probe beam to diverge. For constant laser power, the rate of divergence was made dependent on the spot size of the pump beam. The profile of the transmitted probe beam returned to its original magnitude and shape after the tissue was permitted to cool. This reversible change in optical behavior was attributed to the formation of a negative lens owing to thermally induced local gradients in the refractive index of the tissue.
Classical Foundationalism and Speckled Hens

Classical foundationalists assert that some foundationally justified beliefs about our experience support all of our empirically justified beliefs about the external world. They also adopt the internalist thesis that foundational justification supervenes solely on mental states and dispositions. External factors, such as the reliability of a belief forming process, play no role in foundational justification.1 Classical foundationalists must answer three questions successfully to develop their view:
Schema Theory and ESL Reading Pedagogy.

This article discusses the important role of background knowledge in a psycholinguistic model of EFL/ESL reading and demonstrates the relevance of schema-theoretic views of reading to the teaching of reading to EFL/ESL students. According to schema theory, reading comprehension is an interactive process between the text and the reader's prior background knowledge (Adams and Collins 1979, Rumelhart 1980). Reading comprehension involves one's knowledge of the world, which may be culturally based and culturally biased. Classroom implications of the schema-theoretic view of reading for EFL/ESL reading pedagogy are discussed, with techniques suggested for bringing about reader-centered EFL/ESL reading.
Temperature Distribution in a Realistic Human Head During Selective and Whole Body Cooling and During Circulatory Arrest

Using a realistic adult head and neck geometry and a thermal model, the transient temperature distribution is calculated during different cooling strategies and variations in cerebral blood flow. Given the importance of brain temperature in clinical therapy, temperature calculations using thermal models are necessary to optimize hypothermic therapies commonly employed for brain protection during surgery or in the treatment of brain injury. The calculations presented here show the effect of selective and whole body cooling strategies on the temperature gradients in the head; the time required to reach a stationary temperature distribution for the different cooling strategies; the importance of thermal stabilization when using deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, and the effect of selective head cooling in periods of lack of blood flow to control temperature gradients in the brain tissue produced by residual metabolic activity.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF THE ONE-CHILD POLICY ON GENDER EQUALITY IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Notwithstanding the obvious advantages of controlling population growth and the probable problems with old-age security and female infanticide, the one-child program in China could have latent ramifications. It could drastically reduce the size and significance of the patrilineal lineage, promote the popularity of uxorilocal marriage, and encourage women to make nontraditional career choices. The sum of these effects could finally allow China to make major advances in achieving its unrealized goal of eliminating gender-based inequality.
Are the Obese at Greater Risk for Depression

Two waves of data from a community-based study (Alameda County Study, 1994-1995) were used to investigate the association between obesity and depression. Depression was measured with 12 items covering Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for major depressive episode. Following US Public Health Service criteria, obese subjects were defined as those with body mass index scores at the 85th percentile or higher. Covariates were age, sex, education, marital status, social isolation and social support, chronic medical conditions, functional impairment, life events, and financial strain. Results were mixed. In cross-sectional analyses, greater odds for depression in 1994 were observed for the obese, with and without adjustment for covariates. When obesity and depression were examined prospectively, controlling for other variables, obesity in 1994 predicted depression in 1995 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 2.87). When the data were analyzed with obesity defined as a body mass index of > or = 30, cross-sectional results were the same. However, the prospective multivariate analyses were not significant (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 0.85, 2.43). Although these data do not resolve the role of obesity as a risk factor for depression, overall the results suggest an association between obesity and depression. The authors found no support for the "jolly fat" hypothesis (obesity reduces risk of depression). However, there has been sufficient disparity of results thus far to justify continued research.
A DNase I hypersensitive site flanks an origin of DNA replication and amplification in Sciara.

In chromosomes of metazoa, the assembly of the genome into chromatin makes an important but poorly understood contribution to determining where DNA replication will initiate. We addressed this issue by studying the developmental progression of the location of the DNA replication origin (ORI) and alterations in chromatin structure in one of the best-mapped ORIs in metazoa, that found in DNA puff II/9A of the fly Sciara coprophila. We found that DNA synthesis for both normal chromosomal endoduplication and DNA amplification initiates within the same 5.5 kb EcoRI fragment. We showed that irrespective of the mode of ORI function – replication or amplification – chromatin over the 1 kb major ORI is never remodeled into a conventional DNase I hypersensitive site (DH site). Instead, we found that the major site of alterations to chromatin structure at this locus is a large (~400 bp) DH site located 600 bp away from the major ORI, at a position where the frequency of replication initiation events falls dramatically. We describe a tight positive correlation between ORI activity, strength of this DH site, and the intranuclear titer of protein factor(s) that bind the DH site in a sequence-specific manner. We propose that the Sciara replicator in locus II/9A is composed of sequences that reside within the ORI per se as well as sequences encompassed by the DH site.
Effects of beta-alanine supplementation on performance and body composition in collegiate wrestlers and football players

Background Supplementation with β-alanine has been associated with improved strength, anaerobic endurance, body composition and performance on tests of anaerobic power output following varying training protocols, including high intensity interval training (HIIT) and heavy resistance training. Early season training for collegiate wrestling includes repeated bouts of high intensity exercise with intermittent rest periods; this type of training parallels HIIT from a metabolic standpoint. Collegiate wrestlers also use moderate to high intensity resistance training with high work to rest ratios. In-season football training includes repeated bouts of short sprints and Olympic/ power lifting with low work to rest ratios.
Technical communication, copyright, and the shrinking public domain

Abstract This article offers information on copyright in relation to technical communication practice, research, and pedagogy and discusses copyright in relation to several issues: electronic communication technologies, the expansion of copyright, the corporate paradigm. The first of these items is immediately important as technical communication and composition continue to rely on and to integrate computer technologies into classrooms. The last two items ask the reader to assume an activist stance. The point of this article is to illustrate the need for more attention on the part of communication teachers and researchers in regard to copyright and fair use, especially in light of the growing trend toward privatized information. This trend is especially true in regard to communication technologies for the next century.
Infection control: the case for horizontal rather than vertical interventional programs

The authors define two types of infection control interventions: horizontal, in which all infections at any site are reduced; and vertical, in which only specific organisms are targeted. We suggest that horizontal programs should form the platform of all infection control programs and the key question should be, what is the incremental value of a new vertical program?
Density of Deep Bandgap States in Amorphous Silicon From the Temperature Dependence of Thin Film Transistor Current

We have measured the current-voltage characteristics of amorphous silicon thin film transistors (a-Si TFTs) over a wide range of temperatures (20 to 160°C) and determined the activation energy of the channel current as a function of gate bias with emphasis on the leakage current and subthreshold regimes. We propose a new method for estimating the density of localized states (DOS) from the dependence of the derivative of activation energy with respect to gate bias. This differential technique does not require knowledge of the flat-band voltage (V FB) and does not incorporate integration over gate bias. Using this Method, we have characterized the density of localized states with energies in the range 0.15–1.2 eV from the bottom of the conduction band and have found a wide peak in the DOS in the range of 0.8–0.95 eV below the conduction band. We have also observed that the DOS peak in the lower half of the bandgap increases in magnitude and shifts towards the conduction band as a result of thermal and bias stress. We also measured an overall increase in the DOS in the upper half of the energy gap and an additional peak, centered at 0.2 eV below the conduction band, which appear due to the applied stress. These results are in qualitative agreement with the defect pool Model [1,2].
Competitive generative models with structure learning for NLP classification tasks

In this paper we show that generative models are competitive with and sometimes superior to discriminative models, when both kinds of models are allowed to learn structures that are optimal for discrimination. In particular, we compare Bayesian Networks and Conditional loglinear models on two NLP tasks. We observe that when the structure of the generative model encodes very strong independence assumptions (a la Naive Bayes), a discriminative model is superior, but when the generative model is allowed to weaken these independence assumptions via learning a more complex structure, it can achieve very similar or better performance than a corresponding discriminative model. In addition, as structure learning for generative models is far more efficient, they may be preferable for some tasks.
Associations between yearling body measurements and career racing performance in Thoroughbred racehorses

Yearling morphometric measurements and variables related to career racing performance were collected on 260 Thoroughbreds to determine correlations between and among these traits. Morphometric measurements were adjusted to 365 days based on interpolation from adjacent age points and included wither and hip height, body length, distal limb length, cannon circumference, heartgirth circumference, and chest width. Measures of career racing ability included total earnings, win percentage, and Standard Starts Index (SSI). Wither height and hip height were favorably correlated with lifetime earnings, SSI, and win percentage. Body length and heartgirth were positively correlated with SSI and win percentage. Leg traits were not correlated with any performance parameters. Horses that had placed in or won a stakes race tended to be taller at the wither and hip as yearlings. Horses categorized as preferring turf tended to be taller at the wither and hip at 365 days than those that preferred to run on dirt. No significant difference in yearling morphometric measurements between sprinters and routers was detected. In addition to phenotype and pedigree information, morphometric measurements taken in the yearling year may allow for more accurate estimation of future performance in the Thoroughbred racehorse.
Relative influence of deterministic processes on structuring marsh plant communities varies across an abiotic gradient

Understanding the processes determining community structure is one of the major goals of ecological research. Both deterministic and stochastic processes may shape community structure. The challenge is to understand the relative influence of each type of process across different environmental conditions. We investigated the influence of deterministic and stochastic processes on plant community assembly in tidal marshes across a strong abiotic (salinity) gradient in three estuaries in Georgia, USA using probabilistic Raup–Crick community dissimilarity. Our results indicated that deterministic processes had an increasingly important influence on structuring plant communities in salt and brackish marshes, probably due to high heterogeneity of microhabitats produced by the interplay between abiotic stress and biotic interactions. In contrast, the influence of deterministic processes on plant community assembly decreased in tidal freshwater marshes, suggesting an increasingly important role of stochastic processes in plant community assembly in tidal freshwater marshes, probably due to the higher species richness, higher recruitment from seed, and lower levels of abiotic stress in these habitats. At the estuarine scale (across tidal freshwater, brackish and salt marshes in each estuary), our results suggested that deterministic processes also had a relatively important influence on shaping plant community structure. Our results illustrated that plant community structure in tidal marshes is influenced by both deterministic and stochastic processes, but that the relative influence of these two types of processes varies across estuarine landscapes.
Concurrent stone stabilization improves ultrasonic and pneumatic efficacy during cystolithopaxy: an in vitro analysis.

Objective To identify whether stabilization of larger bladder stones would improve the efficacy of combination (ultrasonic/pneumatic) lithotripsy in a phantom bladder stone model for percutaneous cystolithopaxy. Materials and Methods Using 1cm phantom Bego stones, a spherical model bladder was used to simulate percutaneous bladder access. A UroNet (US Endoscopy, USA) was placed alongside a Swiss Lithoclast probe through the working channel of a Storz 26Fr rigid nephroscope. Using a 30Fr working sheath, the stone was captured, and fragmented for 60seconds. Resulting fragments and irrigation were filtered through a 1mm strainer, and recorded. Five trials were performed with and without the UN. Durability was then assessed by measuring net defects, and residual grasp strength of each instrument. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviations) were used to summarize the data, and Student’s t-tests (alpha<0.05) were used to compare trials. Results The mean time to stone capture was 12s (8-45s). After fragmentation with UN stabilization, there were significant improvements in the amount of residual stone (22% dry weight reduction vs 8.1% without UN, p<0.001), number of fragments (17.5 vs 5.0 frag/stone, p=0.0029), and fragment size (3.6mm vs. 7.05 mm, p=0.035). Mesh defects were noted in all nets, ranging from 2-14 mm, though all but one net retained their original grip strength (36.8N). Conclusions Bladder stone stabilization improved fragmentation when used in conjunction with ultrasonic/pneumatic lithotripsy. However, due to limitations in maneuverability and durability of the UN, other tools need to identified for this indication.
Automatic spoken affect classification and analysis

This paper reports results from preliminary experiments on automatic classification of spoken affect valence. The task was to classify short spoken sentences into one of two classes: approving or disapproving. Using an optimal combination of six acoustic measurements our classifier achieved an accuracy of 65% to 88% for speaker dependent, text-independent classification. The results suggest that pitch and energy measurements may be used to automatically classify spoken affect valence but more research will be necessary to understand individual variations and how to broaden the range of affect classes which can be recognized. In a second experiment we compared human performance in classifying the same speech samples. We found similarities between human and automatic classification results.
THE LOW TEMPERATURE HEXAGONAL TO ORTHORHOMBIC TRANSFORMATION IN SI3N4 REINFORCED BAS MATRIX COMPOSITES

The amount of Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} in a Si{sub 3}N{sub 4}-BaO{center_dot}Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}{center_dot}2SiO{sub 2} (BAS) composite and the time of sintering was examined in the context of the low temperature hexagonal to orthorhombic transformation in BAS. It was found that with increasing amounts of Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} in the composite, the temperature of the hexagonal to orthorhombic transformation was decreased. As the sintering time was increased for a given composite composition, a drop in the temperature of the hexagonal to orthorhombic transformation was observed, which was linked to an increase in the {beta}-Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} content in the composite. In addition, as the Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} content in the composite was increased, a resultant drop in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the composite occurred. The extent of the linear dimensional change of the composite during the BAS hexagonal to orthorhombic transformation is reported.
Jamming detection and SNR/SNJR estimation

For proper communication system design and operation, system engineers want to make sure that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-noise-plus-jamming ratio (SNJR) are within sufficient design link margin. However, an over design to make the link margin too high is costly and is not desirable for operation. In order to choose a proper link margin, a proper estimate of SNJR becomes critical. In case the communication channel has dynamic situation that causes the SNJR to vary relatively quickly, a means to estimate the SNJR as a function of time becomes essential so that the system can adjust the SNJR accordingly through link budget adjustment. In this paper algorithms for jamming detection and SNJR estimation are described and their performances are given by simulation. Performances of jamming detection and SNJR estimation are obtained for the scenario of MPSK signal in the presence of Gaussian noise and partial-time Gaussian jammer. Multiple jammers are randomly distributed within the observation time. Simulation shows that the algorithms work very well and the standard deviation of SNJR estimation error is about 4%.1 2
Inflammatory responses to three modes of intense exercise in Standardbred mares – a pilot study

The objective of this study was to compare exercise-induced inflammatory responses in horses undergoing three different treadmill exercise tests. Mares completed a graded exercise test (GXT), an interval exercise test (IET) and a repeated sprint exercise test (RSET). Blood and synovial fluid samples were taken 24 h before (PRE) exercise, 20–30 min, 2 and 24 h following exercise (REC). Blood was analysed for total protein, haematocrit and total nitrite concentration. Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine transcripts were measured in whole blood using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Synovial fluid was analysed for total nitrite. Mares spent more time at greater than 90% of their maximum heart rate during the RSET than they did for either the GXT or IET. There was an effect of exercise test (P < 0.0001) and exercise test by sample interaction (P = 0.010) for plasma total nitrite. Pro-inflammatory cytokine transcripts and plasma total protein were elevated (P < 0.05) after exercise and there was a higher (P < 0.0001) nitrite concentration in tibiotarsal joints compared with radiocarpal joints. As hypothesised, the higher-intensity exercise test (RSET) resulted in greater nitric oxide responses as well as markers of exercise intensity compared with less intense exercise tests (IET, GXT).
Babylonian method of computing the square root: Justifications based on fuzzy techniques and on computational complexity

When computing a square root, computers still, in effect, use an iterative algorithm developed by the Babylonians millennia ago. This is a very unusual phenomenon, because for most other computations, better algorithms have been invented - even division is performed, in the computer, by an algorithm which is much more efficient that division methods that we have all learned in school. What is the explanation for the success of the Babylonians' method? One explanation is that this is, in effect, Newton's method, based on the beast ideas from calculus. This explanations works well from the mathematical viewpoint - it explains why this method is so efficient, but since the Babylonians were very far from calculus, it does not explain why this method was invented in the first place. In this paper, we provide two possible explanations for this method's origin. We show that this method naturally emerges from fuzzy techniques, and we also show that it can be explained as (in some reasonable sense) the computationally simplest techniques.
Antimicrobial Resistance and Susceptibility Testing of Anaerobic Bacteria

Infections due to anaerobic bacteria can be severe and life-threatening. Susceptibility testing of anaerobes is not frequently performed in laboratories, but such testing is important to direct appropriate therapy. Anaerobic resistance is increasing globally, and resistance trends vary by geographic region. An overview of a variety of susceptibility testing methods for anaerobes is provided, and the advantages and disadvantages of each method are reviewed. Specific clinical situations warranting anaerobic susceptibility testing are discussed.
Morphology of a delta prograding by bulk sediment transport

A theoretical geomorphic model is developed for the progradation of a river delta in which the patterns of deposition and movement of sediment on the delta front slope are dominated by bulk-transport processes, such as creep and landsliding. The model predicts an exponential delta front profile, in which the maximum slope is controlled by the sediment supply to the delta, the rate of sediment transport on the delta front slope, and the depth of the receiving basin. Applications of the model to the Fraser and Mississippi River Deltas and to the Rhine River Delta in Lake Constance give good agreement with the progradation and morphology of these deltas. A difference in transport coefficient between the Mississippi River and the other deltas is attributed to differences in sediment composition and/or rate of sediment supply between this and the other deltas. The derived sediment-transport coefficients are found to be much higher than those for subaerial hillslopes. Our results suggest that deltas prograding by the processes considered in this paper will adjust quickly to changes in sediment supply.
Simulation of the Transient Behavior of Gels Based on an Analogy Between Diffusion and Heat Transfer

The transient behaviors of the swelling and deswelling of gels involve concurrent mechanical deformation and solvent diffusion and exhibit a fascinating phenomenon. In this paper, a simple numerical tool is developed by using an analogy between diffusion and heat transfer when large deformation presents for gels. Using this analogy, a finite element method is developed in the framework of a commercial finite element package ABAQUS via two material-specific user subroutines to describe the mechanical and mass diffusion behaviors of gels. The present method is not limited to any specific materials; therefore, this method can be extended to other materials that featured with coupled deformation and diffusion. This method is expected to be able to serve as a useful numerical tool to study related materials and problems due to its simplicity. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4007789]
92% pump depletion in a CW one-pump fiber OPA

Summary form only given. Devices based on the nonlinear optical susceptibilities /spl chi//sup (2)/ or /spl chi//sup (3)/ can be used for performing important functions such as amplification or wavelength conversion. Typically one uses a strong pump, and injects a weaker signal into the device, thereby generating at the output an amplified signal, and a strong idler. In a well-designed device, most of the pump energy can be transferred to the signal and idler. Hence a measure of the efficiency of such a device is obtained by the amount of pump depletion obtained. /spl chi//sup (2)/-based devices have been under development for many years, and pump depletion in excess of 90% is routinely obtained with either pulsed or CW devices. /spl chi//sup (3)/-based devices are not as advanced, and to our knowledge large pump depletion has not been reported for /spl chi//sup (3)/ OPAs. Here we report 92% pump depletion, with a 200 mW CW pump at 1560 nm in an 11 km-long dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF).
Nonlinear analysis of microwave superconductor devices using full-wave electromagnetic model

This paper presents a full electromagnetic wave analysis for modeling the nonlinearity in high temperature superconductor (HTS) microwave and millimeter-wave devices. The HTS nonlinear model is based on the Ginzburg-Landau theory. The electromagnetic fields associated with the currents on the superconducting structure are obtained using a three-dimensional full wave solution of Maxwell's equations. A three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain algorithm simultaneously solves the resulting equations. The entire solution is performed in time domain, which is a must for this type of nonlinearity analysis. The macroscopic parameters of the HTS, the super fluid penetration depth and the normal fluid conductivity, are calculated as functions of the applied magnetic field. The nonlinear propagation characteristics for HTS transmission line, including the effective dielectric constant and the attenuation constant, are calculated, As the power on the transmission line increases, the phase velocity decreases and the line losses increase. The nonlinearity effects on the current distributions inside the HTS, the electromagnetic field distributions, and the frequency spectrum are also analyzed. >
Comparing a Bioenergetics Model with Feeding Rates of Caged European Starlings

We tested a bioenergetics model integrated within a mortality model that estimates numbers of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) poisoned with the avicide, Compound DRC-1339 Concentrate. The bioenergetics model predicted daily metabolic rate. Accuracy and reliability of this variable is critical because other algorithms (e.g., toxicity regressions, feeding behavior) in the mortality model depend on metabolic rate to calculate the amount of DRC-1339 ingested per bird. We tested the bioenergetics model by comparing its estimates of metabolic rate with those generated from measuring feeding rates of caged starlings during a feeding trial conducted outdoors during January 2008. Over the 12-day feeding trial, daily feeding rates of caged starlings indicated that metabolic rates ranged from 157 kJ/bird per day to 305 kJ/bird per day. The bioenergetics model predicted metabolic rates ranging from 208 kJ/bird per day to 274 kJ/bird per day. There was no difference between these 2 independently derived estimates of daily metabolic rate (paired t-test: t(11) ¼ 1.4, P ¼ 0.18). Using 95% confidence intervals calculated from variation of feeding rates among cages (n ¼ 4, 6 birds/cage), the bioenergetics model's estimates were within 95% confidence intervals on 9 of 12 days and greater than the upper 95% confidence interval on 3 days. Daily estimates of metabolic rate were directly correlated between the bioenergetics model and the feeding-rate model (r12 ¼ 0.57, P ¼ 0.05). A broad range of temperatures (� 178 Ct o 148C), wind speeds (0-40 km/ hr), and percent cloud cover (0-100%) were encountered during the feeding trial. The bioenergetics model's predictions appeared robust to varying meteorological conditions typical of winters in middle latitudes of the interior United States. Compound DRC-1339 Concentrate is used by USDA Wildlife Services to manage chronic infestations of starlings at livestock facilities, which occur mainly during fall and winter. Compared to other methods used for estimating DRC-1339 mortality (e.g., counting birds pre- and posttreatment), bioenergetics modeling should improve the mortality model's overall accuracy and precision. 2011 The Wildlife Society. y
Frequency of Precipitation across the Northern U.S. Corn Belt

Knowledge of the frequency of precipitation events can aid in managing water resources, but little is known concerning the regional variability in the frequency of daily precipitation events in the northern U.S. Corn Belt. The frequency distribution of daily precipitation events, varying from 0.25 to 102 mm, was examined at 15 climate stations in Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Data were available from 1898 to 1997. Annual precipitation and frequency of precipitation events increased from the NW to the SE across the northern Corn Belt. The frequency of daily precipitation events (of at least 0.25 mm) at all stations remained fairly persistent (at about 20%) during winter then increased during spring before attaining a maximum near 35% in late May or June. The frequency of events then declined to about 25% by late August before approaching a secondary maximum of about 30% in September. The frequency distribution of daily precipitation events was skewed, with more frequent events occurring earlier in the year at all but the two most eastern stations. The transition from winter to spring precipitation patterns was delayed about 15 days at western as compared with eastern stations. Precipitation events were twice as frequent in the spring than in the autumn at western stations and 30% more frequent in spring than in autumn at eastern stations. This study suggests that daily precipitation events in the northern Corn Belt occur with greater frequency in the SE than in the NW and in the spring than in the autumn. This regional and seasonal variability in precipitation must be considered when designing hydrologic systems and managing agricultural and natural resources.
Brucella abortus Rough Mutants Induce Macrophage Oncosis That Requires Bacterial Protein Synthesis and Direct Interaction with the Macrophage

Previous studies suggest that smooth Brucella organisms inhibit macrophage apoptosis. In contrast, necrotic cell death of macrophages infected with rough Brucella organisms in vitro has been reported, which may in part explain the failure of some rough organisms to thrive. To characterize these potential macrophage killing mechanisms, J774.A1 murine macrophages were infected with Brucella abortus S2308-derived rough mutant CA180. Electron microscopic analysis and polyethylene glycol protection assays revealed that the cells were killed as a result of necrosis and oncosis. This killing was shown to be unaffected by treatment with carbenicillin, an inhibitor of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis and, indirectly, replication. In contrast, chloramphenicol treatment of macrophages infected at multiplicities of infection exceeding 10,000 prevented cell death, despite internalization of large numbers of bacteria. Similarly, heat-killed and gentamicin-killed CA180 did not induce cytopathic effects in the macrophage. These results suggested that killing of infected host cells requires active bacterial protein synthesis. Cytochalasin D treatment revealed that internalization of the bacteria was necessary to initiate killing. Transwell experiments demonstrated that cell death is not mediated by a diffusible product, including tumor necrosis factor alpha and nitric oxide, but does require direct contact between host and pathogen. Furthermore, macrophages preinfected with B. abortus S2308 or pretreated with B. abortus O polysaccharide did not prevent rough CA180-induced cell death. In conclusion, Brucella rough mutant infection induces necrotic and oncotic macrophage cell death that requires bacterial protein synthesis and direct interaction of bacteria with the target cells.
Premature vascular damage in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a disease associated with a striking increase in the risk of premature cardiovascular (CV) complications due to accelerated atherosclerosis. Traditional CV risk factors seem to be less important predictors of CV events than the presence of active SLE. Immune dysregulation characteristic of lupus appears to play the dominant role in atherogenesis. While both SLE-specific and non-specific mechanisms have been proposed to play a prominent role in the induction of premature vascular damage in this disease, the exact etiology remains unclear. We have proposed that an imbalance between vascular damage and repair likely induced by Interferon-α could play a prominent role in the induction of accelerated atherosclerosis in SLE. This review summarizes some of the proposed mechanisms that may promote accelerated vascular damage in lupus and explores potential targets for CV risk prevention in this patient population.
THE FOREST FOR THE TREES: SOCIETY AND THE HOUSEHOLD IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE

Gender relations in German history: power, agency, and experience from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Edited by Lynn Abrams and Elizabeth Harvey. London: UCL, 1996. Pp. x+262. ISBN 1-85728-485-2. £12.95.Adultery and divorce in Calvin's Geneva. By Robert M. Kingdon. Cambridge, Mass., and London: Harvard UP, 1995. Pp. ix+214. ISBN 0-674-00520-1 (hb). £18.50.Housecraft and statecraft: domestic service in Renaissance Venice, 1400–1600. By Dennis Romano. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Pp. xxvi+333. ISBN 0-8018-5288-9. £37.00.The European nobility, 1400–1800. By Jonathan Dewald. New approaches to European history, ix. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp. xvii+209. ISBN 0-521-42528-x (pb). £12.95.Garden and grove: the Italian Renaissance garden in the English imagination, 1600–1750. By John Dixon Hunt. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1996. Pp. xix+268. ISBN 0-8122-1604-0 (pb). £23.50.Like an ancient woodsman or a guide through the Amazonian jungle, the ideal historian possesses at least two kinds of expertise: enough familiarity with the general terrain to plan successful expeditions and enough experience in the field to make inevitable adjustments to ‘the big picture’ when underway. Of course in the real world (of both geography and history) the tasks of exploration and cartography are often bifurcated, without necessarily disastrous results. The historian who is equally skilled at both close-up description and large-scale theorizing is consequently celebrated as a rare and valued anomaly. Meanwhile, for most of us stumbling scouts, the world beyond our familiar trails remains largely one of learned lore, with connections to our own limited forays often vague at best. Unless, of course, we are fortunate enough to come across something which provides an almost magical link between the narrow and the wide, the micro and the macro.
Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Life Expectancy After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Background —Prior studies have been unable to disentangle the negative associations of black race and low socioeconomic status (SES) with long-term outcomes of patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Such information could assist in efforts to address both racial and socioeconomic disparities. Methods and Results —We used data from the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project, a prospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with AMI with 17-years of follow-up, to evaluate the relationship between race, area-level SES (measured by ZIP code level median household income), and life expectancy after AMI. Life expectancy was estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression with extrapolation using exponential models. Of the 141,095 patients with AMI, 6.3% were black and 6.8% resided in low SES areas; 26% of black patients lived in low SES areas compared with 5.7% of white patients. Post-myocardial infarction life expectancy estimates were shorter for black than white patients across all socioeconomic levels in patients ≤75 years of age. After adjustment for patient and treatment characteristics, the association between race and life expectancy persisted but was attenuated. Younger black patients (<68 years) had shorter life expectancies than white patients whereas older black patients had longer life expectancies. The largest white-black gap in life expectancy occurred in patients residing in high and medium SES areas (p=0.02 interaction). Conclusions —Black and white patients residing in low SES areas have similar life expectancies after AMI, which are lower than those living in higher SES areas. Racial disparities were most prominent among patients living in high SES areas.
Why Religious Freedom Does Not Warrant Protection by a Special Right

I argue that religious worship does not necessarily warrant legal protection in the form of a special constitutional right. To justify protecting an interest with a special right to X, three conditions must be satisfied: (1) the relevant interest must arise from features distinctive to X; (2) the relevant interest must be sufficiently strong to warrant a special right to X; and (3) we must have some plausible reason to believe that the relevant interest can actually be threatened. I argue condition (3) fails with respect to justifying a special right to religious worship. Accordingly, religious freedom warrants constitutional protections that are derived from the rights to conscience, belief, association, speech, and autonomy. As such, different interests from those traditionally associated with the interest in religious freedom must be considered when deciding, e.g., whether the law should allow a pharmacist, on the strength of her religious views, to refuse to fill a prescription for birth-control pills.
Ischemia-reperfusion increases gastric motility and endothelin-1-induced vasoconstriction

The purpose of our study was to 1) examine the effect of ischemia-reperfusion on gastric vascular resistance and motility, 2) determine whether endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced vasoconstriction is enhanced after ischemia-reperfusion, and 3) assess the effect of superoxide dismutase (SOD) on these ischemia-reperfusion-induced alterations. These experiments used a mechanically perfused ex vivo gastric segment of chloralose-anesthetized dogs. We first evaluated the effect of varying the duration of total ischemia on reperfusion-induced changes in gastric vascular resistance and motility. In other experiments, responses to ET-1 (10(-10) M) were compared before and after 30-min ischemia and 30-min reperfusion, with saline or SOD (10 U/ml) infused intra-arterially to the stomach during reperfusion. Our results show that 1) after ischemia, vasodilation is seen initially on reperfusion followed by a slowly developing, progressive increase in vascular resistance, 2) the force of gastric contractions was reduced during ischemia but elevated immediately on reperfusion, 3) vasoconstrictor responses to ET-1 are enhanced after ischemia-reperfusion, and 4) SOD reduced the enhanced response to ET-1 and force of contractions. Our findings support the hypothesis that reactive oxygen metabolites contribute to augmented vascular reactivity and hypercontractility after ischemia-reperfusion.
Clinical vignettes and global health considerations of infertility care in under-resourced patients.

The ability to receive standard of care for a diagnosis of infertility is a factor of one’s financial state and educational level, which are often correlated. Providing infertility care in an under-resourced tertiary care environment provides challenges but also opportunities for unique successes in creating a family. Among the under-represented populations are recent immigrants and refugees. Challenges arise when the infertility treatment is futile or when the standard of care is inaccessible due to cost and scheduling. Unique accomplishments are noted when families are built and hope is restored for couples fleeing from genocide and war-inflicted countries. This article will highlight two clinical vignettes from the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility clinic at Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center. Thereafter, the article will summarize the barriers to care in the United States among those with low socioeconomic status, with non-dominant racial status (non-Caucasian), and with refugee status. All identifiers have been removed and names altered in the patient vignettes.
Adaptive spatial resampling as a Markov chain Monte Carlo method for stochastic seismic reservoir characterization

Summary Seismic reservoir characterization aims to transform obtained seismic signatures into reservoir properties such as lithofacies and pore fluids. We propose a Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) workflow consistent with geology, well-logs, seismic data and rock-physics information. The workflow uses a multiple-point geostatistical method for generating realizations from the prior distribution and Adaptive Spatial Resampling (ASR) for sampling from the posterior distribution conditioned to seismic data. Sampling is a general approach for assessing important uncertainties. However, rejection sampling requires a large number of evaluations of forward model, and is not efficient for reservoir modeling. Metropolis sampling is able to perform a reasonably equivalent sampling by forming a Markov chain. The ASR algorithm perturbs realizations of a spatially dependent variable while preserving its spatial structure. The method is used as a transition kernel to produce a Markov chain of geostatistical realizations. These realizations are converted to predicted seismic data by forward modeling, to compute the likelihood. Depending on the acceptation/rejection criterion in the Markov process, it is possible to obtain a chain of realizations aimed either at characterizing the posterior distribution with Metropolis sampling or at calibrating a single realization until an optimum is reached. Thus the algorithm can be tuned to work either as an optimizer or as a sampler. The validity and applicability of the proposed method and sensitivity of different parameters is explored using synthetic seismic data.
Genetics of Three Stigmas in Rice Line A20

The three stigmas in rice line A20 were discovered in 1990. The percentage of the three stig- mas of A20 was 12.8%±10.4% and affected by environmental factors. The three stigmas were heritable and controlled by major recessive genes. They also could be transfered to other rice materials by hybridization.