cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Change in the Selective Translocation of the Kinesin-1 Motor Domain Marks the Initial Specification of the Axon

We used the accumulation of constitutively active kinesin motor domains as a measure of where kinesins translocate in developing neurons. Throughout development, truncated Kinesin-3 accumulates at the tips of all neurites. In contrast, Kinesin-1 selectively accumulates in only a subset of neurites. Before neurons become polarized, truncated Kinesin-1 accumulates transiently in a single neurite. Coincident with axon specification, truncated Kinesin-1 accumulates only in the emerging axon and no longer appears in any other neurite. The translocation of Kinesin-1 along a biochemically distinct track leading to the nascent axon could ensure the selective delivery of Kinesin-1 cargoes to the axon and hence contribute to its molecular specification. Imaging YFP-tagged truncated Kinesin-1 provides the most precise definition to date of when neuronal polarity first emerges and allows visualization of the molecular differentiation of the axon in real time.
Synthesis of 2-p-aminobenzyl-3-methyl- and 2-p-aminobenzyl-3-benzyl derivatives of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acids (DTPA): carbon backbone modified bifunctional chelating agents.

Abstract A convenient preparation of new bifunctional chelating agents (1a) and (1b) were achieved based on a practical synthesis of 2-p-nitrobenzyl-3-methyl (9a) and 2-p-nitrobenzyl-3-benzyl (9b) diethylenetriamines starting from optically pure p-nitro-L-phenylalanine and triflates of 2-hydroxy carboxylic acid ethyl esters. These backbone substituted chelating agents could provide the stable complexation with radiometals.
Arterial and Venous Progenitors of the Major Axial Vessels Originate at Distinct Locations

Currently, it remains controversial how vascular endothelial progenitor cells (angioblasts) establish their arterial or venous fates. We show using zebrafish that the arterial progenitors of the major axial vessels originate earlier and closer to the midline than the venous progenitors. Both medial and lateral progenitor populations migrate to distinct arterial and venous positions and not into a common precursor vessel as previously suggested. Overexpression of VEGF or Hedgehog (Hh) homologs results in the partially randomized distribution of arterial and venous progenitors within the axial vessels. We further demonstrate that the function of the Etv2 transcription factor is required at earlier stages for arterial development than for venous. Our results argue that the medial angioblasts undergo arterial differentiation because they receive higher concentration of Vegf and Hh morphogens than the lateral angioblasts. We propose a revised model of arterial-venous differentiation that explains how angioblasts choose between an arterial and venous fate.
Measurement practices: methods for developing content-valid student examinations

Measurement experts generally agree that a systematic approach to test construction will probably result in an instrument with sound psychometric properties. One fundamental method is called the blueprint approach to test construction. A test blueprint is a tool used in the process for generating content-valid exams by linking the subject matter delivered during instruction and the items appearing on the test. Unfortunately, this procedure as well as other educational measurement practices is often overlooked A survey of curriculum administrators at 144 United States and international medical schools was conducted to assess the importance and prevalence of test blueprinting in their school. Although most found test blueprinting to be very important, few require the practice. The purpose of this paper is to review the fundamental principals associated with achieving a high level of content validity when developing tests for students. The short-term efforts necessary to develop and integrate measurement theory into practice will lead to long-term gains for students, faculty and academic institutions.
Optimized filter design for irregular acquired data stack in persistent scatterers synthetic aperture radar interferometry

After more than a decade of continuous improvements, Persistent SAR Interferometry (PSI) has become an accepted tool for long-term monitoring of geophysical phenomena such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and city deformation. To extract surface deformation from PSI observations, different phase component are separated based on their physical or stochastic properties. Atmospheric signals, one of the main error contributions, are usually mitigated using a low-pass filter in time. This approach provides unsatisfactory results if the temporal sampling of the surface deformation signal is close to Nyquist, and if there are sampling gaps in the time series. Hence, in many cases, a more sophisticated way to mitigate atmospheric signals is required. This paper proposes an adaptive filter design that is utilizing knowledge of the stochastic properties of the atmosphere at SAR acquisition times. The concept of the filter is presented and its performance is tested on simulated signals. In these studies, the adaptive filter design performed favorably and we are expecting this approach to be of major benefit for PSI processing. In current work, the performance of the adaptive filter is tested on real data. For this study, the pre-known statistics of atmospheric delay is provided by Numerical Weather Forecast Models.
PROSPER: a language for specification by prototyping

Abstract The PROSPER functional specification language supports a “specification by prototyping” paradigm and relies on a unique and powerful type specification facility. Executable polymorphic specifications can be built from a small set of primitives. Types and functions are treated as values and can be the arguments and results of functions. Flexible parameterized type expressions are used to specify polymorphic functions and abstract data types. Abstract model specifications can be defined so that the invariants of a data structure can be part of the type, and only objects that meet the invariant are correctly typed.
Stereotyping effects on consumers' evaluation of advertising: Impact of racial differences between actors and viewers

The present experimental study compared the efficacy of two social/psychological theories of stereotyping for explaining the impact of race on consumers' evaluations of advertising. One theory, in-group bias theory, posits that in-group members on the basis of race will evaluate other in-group members more favorably than out-group members. A second theory, polarized appraisal theory, predicts that out-group members will be evaluated more extremely (positively or negatively) than in-group members. A major finding of the present study is that in-group bias theory explains the effect of race in consumers' evaluation of advertising more accurately than does polarized appraisal theory.
Frailty models of manufacturing effects.

The median service lifetime of respirator safety devices produced by different manufacturers is determined using frailty models to account for unobserved differences in manufacturing processes and raw materials. The gamma and positive stable frailty distributions are used to obtain survival distribution estimates when the baseline hazard is assumed to be Weibull. Frailty distributions are compared using laboratory test data of the failure times for 104 respirator cartridges produced by 10 different manufacturers tested with three different challenge agents. Likelihood ratio tests indicate that both frailty models provide a significant improvement over a Weibull model assuming independence. Results are compared to fixed effects approaches for analysis of this data.
Piggy Banks: Financial Intermediaries as a Commitment to Save

Savers with uncertain life spans cannot stick to long-term investment plans when they invest directly in liquid assets. Before horizons are known, all savers will plan to roll over their short-term assets if returns turn out high. Ex post, the short-term investors will consume their liquid assets rather than reinvest them. Delegating investment decisions to an intermediary reduces the commitment problem, and leads to more efficient portfolios. The higher return to savings should also increase savings rates.
Ethane exhalation as an index of in vivo lipid peroxidation: Concentrating ethane from a breath collection chamber

Abstract A simple method is described for concentrating ethane from large volumes of air; the sensitivity limits for detecting exhaled ethane are increased by 100-fold or more. The method is intended for monitoring low-level ethane exhalation resulting from peroxidative damage to tissue lipids in vivo . Various adsorbents for concentrating ethane and ethylene were tested; in addition, the permeability characteristics of various types of tubing were studied in order to construct a suitable, inexpensive breath collection chamber for laboratory animals. Recommended adsorbents are activated charcoal and molecular sleve; activated alumina is a poor adsorbent. Polyvinyl and Teflon tubing are impermeable, whereas latex and silicone tubing are permeable to ethane. When ethane and ethylene are injected intraperitoneally into mice, the exhalation of these volatile hydrocarbons is readily monitored in the breath collection chamber. Whereas ethylene and the C 3 –C 5 alkanes probably are metabolized by mice, ethane apparently is not; however, a portion of the ethane appears to be trapped by absorption within body tissues.
Iris Nevus Growth into Melanoma: Analysis of 1611 Consecutive Eyes: The ABCDEF Guide

Purpose To determine clinical features predictive of growth of iris nevus into melanoma. Design Retrospective, comparative case series. Participants A total of 1611 consecutive patients referred to an ocular oncology center with iris nevus. Intervention Observation and photographic documentation. Main Outcome Measures Growth into melanoma. Results The mean age at referral for iris nevus was 51 years (median, 54; range, Conclusions In an analysis of 1611 cases of iris nevus referred for evaluation at an ocular oncology center, growth into melanoma occurred in 8% by 15 years. Risk factors for growth, identified by ABCDEF included Age young, Blood (hyphema), Clock hour inferior, Diffuse configuration, Ectropion uveae, and Feathery tumor margin. Financial Disclosure(s) The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
A procedure for the assay of norepinephrine in adipose tissue.

Abstract A sensitive method for the determination of norepinephrine in adipose tissue is described. With this method norepinephrine has been shown to be a normal constituent of adipose tissue. Epinephrine and dopamine (which can interfere with the fluorometric assay of NE) are not present in detectable amounts in the adipose tissue.
Development and Field Evaluation of Multiple Virus-Resistant Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria)

Abstract In an effort to develop bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) as a widely adapted rootstock for watermelon grafting, we sought to identify lines with broad resistance to several cucurbit viruses that are economically important in the United States. Preliminary analysis under greenhouse conditions indicated that the currently available commercial watermelon rootstocks were either highly susceptible or somewhat tolerant to one or more viruses. However, in greenhouse screening, several breeding lines of bottle gourd displayed broad-spectrum resistance to four viruses tested, including Zucchini yellow mosaic virus, Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV), Papaya ringspot virus watermelon strain (PRSV-W), and Squash vein yellowing virus. Resistance to PRSV-W and WMV was confirmed through field trials in two consecutive years at two different locations in South Carolina. Two breeding lines (USVL#1-8 and USVL#5-5) with broad-spectrum virus resistance could be useful materials for watermelon rootstock development.
Dynamic modeling of a basilisk lizard inspired quadruped robot running on water

This paper proposes a 3-D dynamic simulation of a previously developed basilisk lizard inspired quadruped robot, which is capable of locomotion on the surface of water. Using this 3-D simulation along with several 1-D and 2-D models, stability in terms of robot elevation from the water surface and robot rolling are examined. Analysis of the lifting force shows the robot is capable of running on water using viscous drag forces. Using this analysis, a criterion for convergence to a steady state distance from the water is presented. It is determined that 7-12 Hz is an appropriate running frequency range for the robot to lift its weight. Compliant footpads are found to be beneficial in reducing the force associated with pulling out of the water. Further, from the roll motion analysis, previous designs result in instability along the roll axis. By comparing leg running frequency to the bodypsilas roll frequency, the minimum required roll moment of inertia for stable roll motion can be determined.
Glacial deposits on the rim of a Hesperian‐Amazonian outflow channel source trough: Mangala Valles, Mars

[1] Mangala Valles, located in tropical regions of Mars, is interpreted to have formed by dike-induced cracking of the cryosphere to produce a linear graben and catastrophic release of groundwater sequestered under hydrostatic pressure. Outpouring of water and downcutting led to erosion and widening of the graben to produce a trough. Patterns of ridges and lobes along the outer rims of the trough are interpreted to have formed primarily by local accumulations of snow and ice on the graben rim (derived from exposed ponded groundwater in the graben), and glacial-like outward flow of ice lobes resulting in development of moraines and tills along the north and south rims of the trough. These observations and interpretations support the concept that the climate of Mars was a hyper-arid cold polar-like desert similar to today in the Late Hesperian-Early Amazonian period.
Effect of cholera toxin on rat liver lysosome acidification.

We have shown that cholera toxin and cAMP greatly increase both acidification rates of liver endosomes and the liver and endosome content of fluid-phase endocytosis probes. In this study lysosomes were purified from control and cholera toxin-treated livers that were pulsed with fluorescein conjugated dextran and chased overnight. Cholera toxin-treated livers weighed less, contained less protein and exhibited higher contents of lysosomal marker enzymes, consistent with the catabolic effects of this agent. By contrast to its effects on endosomes, cholera toxin had no consistent or significant effect on lysosome acidification rates, steady-state internal pH or potassium content, proton leak rates or fluorescein-dextran content. We conclude that cholera toxin and cAMP predominantly alter earlier steps of endocytosis but may also increase transfer of probes from lysosomes to bile.
A Practical Algorithm to Remove Cosmic Spikes in Raman Imaging Data for Pharmaceutical Applications

Raman dispersive microscopic imaging techniques are finding ever-increasing applications in pharmaceutical research for their ability to provide spatial and spectral information about the sample. Spectral data acquired from dispersive Raman instruments utilizing charge-coupled device detectors are characterized by occasional high intensity spikes arising from cosmic ray events. These random cosmic spikes are superimposed on chemically meaningful spectra. Due to their high intensity and potential influence on variance structures, it is often crucial to filter cosmic spikes from data prior to the use of multivariate algorithms to extract chemical information from the image cube. Some extremely challenging cosmic spikes are found to seriously interfere with multivariate data analysis for our application, e.g., spikes with bandwidth greater than the bandwidth from species of interest, spikes in neighboring image pixels occurring at the same spectral channels, spikes right on top of the band of interest, etc. A practical algorithm is proposed for semiautomated cosmic spike removal. The algorithm is computationally efficient, conceptually simple, and easy to implement. It is an alternative to methods using repetitive measurements by taking advantage of the spatial characteristic of imaging techniques and existing knowledge from the formulation. The algorithm has been shown to generate recovered spectra with negligible spectral distortion. The utility of the algorithm will be illustrated by the analysis of Raman images of pharmaceutical samples.
Computational methods to study radiation effects in oxide materials

In this work, we briefly review recent theoretical studies of irradiation effects in oxide materials. Research based on classical mechanics and electronic structure methods to study ballistic and electronic excitation processes, respectively, in oxide materials is presented. Oxide materials have both ionic and covalent bonding interactions that make them more complex than metals and semiconductors. Hence, the modern strategy is to use electronic structure methods to help parameterize classical potential models, thus reducing the ambiguity of the potential model. Oxide materials can also support long-lived electronic excitations either as self-trapped holes and excitons or as in the formation of higher energy states, such as in a color center. We have learned that the electronic structure, in particular the low-lying conduction band states of insulators, is strongly coupled to the ionic forces, and so the excited state manifold must be mapped. In carrying out these tasks, many pitfalls are found, some discoveries are made, and many digressions are required to understand how molecular dynamics simulations can eventually couple the ballistic and electronic excitations that occur in irradiation processes in oxide materials.
Linking Work Design to Mass Customization: A Sociotechnical Systems Perspective*

Mass customization has gained increasing importance in recent years due to its ability to provide customized products efficiently and effectively, and manufacturing companies are continuously searching for ways to develop their mass-customization ability. Despite extensive literature focusing on mass customization, few studies have systematically examined the impact of work-design practices on a company's mass-customization ability. Using the Sociotechnical Systems theory as a foundation, we link work-design practices with mass-customization ability, specifically identifying ten work-design practices and examining their impact on mass-customization ability using survey data and empirical research methods. The results support our hypothesized links and suggest that work-design practices that manage both the technical and the social dimensions for achieving organization success have significant impact on a company's ability to achieve mass customization.
DNR-Based Curricula: The Case of Complex Numbers

DNR is a research-based framework which seeks to understand fundamental problems of mathematics learning and teaching. This paper discusses DNR with a particular reference to a curricular unit on complex numbers. Originally designed for college-bound high school students, the unit is structured to progress along a path that roughly parallels the development of complex numbers in the history of mathematics. We have tested the unit in three teaching experiments with inservice and prospective secondary mathematics teachers. The results from these experiments demonstrate the ways of thinking aorded and targeted by the unit. The correspondence between these ways of thinking and the Standards Practices outlined by the Common Core State Standards are also discussed. This paper discusses a curricular unit on complex numbers 1 and its theoretical foundation. Originally designed for college-bound high school students, 2 the unit was implemented in three teaching experiments with inservice and prospective secondary mathematics teachers. Selected learning outcomes from these experiments are also discussed in the paper, primarily for two purposes: (a) to demonstrate the emergence of ways of thinking aorded by the unit and (b) to illustrate the pedagogical approach to its implementation.
Very high pulse-energy accelerators

The design and performance of the Hermes III are presented and the application of this technology to the light ion beam inertial confinement fusion program is discussed. Hermes III represents a new approach to efficiently generating higher voltages. It is designed to drive a 22-MV, 730-kA, 40-ns electron beam diode and combines conventional, modular pulsed power technology with linear induction acceleration concepts. High-power induction accelerator cavities are combined with voltage addition along a MITL (magnetically insulated transmission line) to generate the desired output. This design differs from a conventional linac in that the voltages are added by the MITL flow rather than by a drifting beam that gains kinetic energy at each stage. The design is a major extrapolation of previous state-of-the-art technology represented by the injector module of the Advanced Test Accelerator and has proven to be efficient and reliable. A key issue for ion beam applications relates to the efficiency of coupling power from the high-voltage MITL to an extraction ion diode. A conceptual design of a light ion beam driver for the LMF (Lase Microfusion Facility) has been developed. >
Projection learning for self-organizing neural networks

A new learning scheme, called projection learning (PL), for self-organizing neural networks is presented. By iteratively subtracting out the projection of the "twinning" neuron onto the null space of the input vector, the neuron is made more similar to the input. By subtracting the projection onto the null space as opposed to making the weight vector directly aligned to the input, we attempt to reduce the bias of the weight vectors. This reduced bias will improve the generalizing abilities of the network. Such a feature is important in problems where the in-class variance is very high, such as, traffic sign recognition problems. Comparisons of PL with standard Kohonen learning indicate that projection learning is faster. Projection learning is implemented on a new self-organizing neural network model called the reconfigurable neural network (RNN). The RNN is designed to incorporate new patterns online without retraining the network. The RNN is used to recognize traffic signs for a mobile robot navigation system.
Learning capability assessment and feature space optimization for higher-order neural networks

A technique for evaluating the learning capability and optimizing the feature space of a class of higher-order neural networks is presented. It is shown that supervised learning can be posed as an optimization problem in which inequality constraints are used to code the information contained in the training patterns and to specify the degree of accuracy expected from the neural network. The approach establishes: (a) whether the structure of the network can effectively learn the training patterns and, if it can, a connectivity which corresponds to satisfactorily learning; (b) those features which can be suppressed from the definition of the feature space without deteriorating performance; and (c) if the structure is not appropriate for learning the training patterns, the minimum set of patterns which cannot be learned. The technique is tested with two examples and results are discussed. >
Overview: an integrated framework for performance engineering and resource-aware compilation

Design of next-generation computing and communication systems will be application-driven, and requires fundamental advances in 1) performance engineering frameworks, methods, and tools, and 2) adaptive compilation and runtime support techniques. Our work is taking a systematic and synergetic approach to developing both of these capabilities, and is demonstrating their use via application to several important distributed applications. In conducting the work, we are making fundamental advances in techniques for system and model composition, multi-level/formalism modeling and performance evaluation, adaptive compilation, and dynamic runtime support.
Kinetic Analysis of Isobutane/Butene Alkylation over Ultrastable H−Y Zeolite

The alkylation of isobutane withtrans-2-butene over ultrastable Y-type zeolites has been studied. It is well-known that this reaction is accompanied by a rapid deactivation of the catalyst. The objective of our study is to elucidate the route to catalyst deactivation so that the means of mitigating this problem can be identified. Using the initial reaction rate data, evidence has been found for a Bronsted acid mechanism. Under liquid-phase conditions, the reaction has been found to be severely diffusion limited. Using a kinetic model that accounts for the effect of diffusion, it was found that alkylation over this catalyst suffers from slow hydride transfer relative to olefin addition. This gives rise to a rapid formation of C12 + carbocations. The formation of these cations has been tied to catalyst deactivation, using a mathematical model for the reaction. On the basis of the insight gained from the experiments and modeling work, optimal reactor and catalyst design issues are examined. It is inferred from the reaction mechanism and confirmed experimentally that alkylation under pulsed flow conditions yields higher trimethylpentane/dimethylhexane ratios and slower rates of deactivation. It is suggested that the cause of the slow rate of hydride transfer is steric hindrance. Strategies for relieving this steric hindrance are proposed.
Financial market reactions to the overthrow and annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom: evidence from London, Honolulu and New York

This paper investigates how financial market participants reacted to the US annexation of Hawaii in 1898 as well as prior events like the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893 and US tariff moves affecting Hawaii's sugar industry. The empirical work covers the trading of the Kingdom of Hawaii's major 1886 loan in both London and Honolulu as well as sugar company stock price reactions to annexation. The economic implications of US tariff policy moves, and the unfettered US market access promised by annexation, may well explain the continued uptrend in debt prices after the overthrow.
Recent progress in road and lane detection: a survey

The problem of road or lane perception is a crucial enabler for advanced driver assistance systems. As such, it has been an active field of research for the past two decades with considerable progress made in the past few years. The problem was confronted under various scenarios, with different task definitions, leading to usage of diverse sensing modalities and approaches. In this paper we survey the approaches and the algorithmic techniques devised for the various modalities over the last 5 years. We present a generic break down of the problem into its functional building blocks and elaborate the wide range of proposed methods within this scheme. For each functional block, we describe the possible implementations suggested and analyze their underlying assumptions. While impressive advancements were demonstrated at limited scenarios, inspection into the needs of next generation systems reveals significant gaps. We identify these gaps and suggest research directions that may bridge them.
Detection and Localization in Sensor Networks Using Distributed FDR

Wireless sensor networks (SNET) have gained substantial interest for detection and localization of objects, however network energy constraints make it difficult to implement optimal solutions in distributed settings. For object localization with known power, maximum likelihood estimation is the optimal solution, however in many applications it involves performing optimization over a non-convex function, which can be hard to solve even in centralized schemes. Furthermore, the computational complexity of finding this solution is prohibitively large to be implemented in distributed SNETs under energy constraints. In this work we consider the problem of distributed detection and localization of an object that emits a signal with unknown power. Considering the energy constraints of SNETs, we propose a novel technique that makes use of the false discovery rate (FDR) procedure and a belief propagation (BP) like algorithm for detection and localization problems. Inclusion of FDR to the detection process limits the communications necessary to detect the presence of the object as well as the energy consumption to locate it, prolonging the network lifetime. The simulation studies show that this approach is very well suited for detection and localization problems where the signal power of the object decays rapidly with distance.
Analysis of resistive wall mode LQG control in NSTX with mode rotation

Stabilization of the Resistive Wall Mode (RWM) in the NSTX tokamak is important to achieve high-beta plasmas. This paper numerically investigates state-space control algorithms for improved performance of RWM control using the existing six external control coils with off-midplane poloidal magnetic field sensors in NSTX. Experimentally β N = 5.6 was achieved with the present proportional gain controller. The proposed LQG controller is capable of reaching β N = 6.7 for slowly rotating plasma modes and the ideal wall limit N = 7:06 for plasma modes with higher natural rotation speed.
The Long-Term Dynamics of Partisanship and Issue Orientations

Partisanship and issue orientations are among the foundational concepts for behavioral researchers. We seek to understand their causal relationship. One view suggests that party identification, as a central and long-standing affective orientation, influences citizens’ issue positions. Another view claims that issue orientations influence party identification. We take both theories into account in this article and argue that the direction of causality may depend upon the political context. Using the Political Socialization Panel Study, we analyze the long-term dynamic relationship between partisanship and issue orientations. The results from our cross-lagged structural equation models are inconsistent with a single, time-invariant, unidirectional causal story. The causal relationship between partisanship and issue orientations appears to depend upon the larger political context. In the early period from 1973 to 1982, partisanship causes issue orientations. In the later period, from 1982 to 1997, the causal...
The Delphi Method: An Approach for Facilitating Evidence Based Practice in Athletic Training.

Objective: The g rowing i mportance of evidence based practice i n at hletic t raining i s nec essitating a cademics and clinicians to be able to make judgments about the quality or lack of the b ody of r esearch ev idence and peer-reviewed standards pe rtaining t o cl inical questions. To assist in t he judgment process, consensus methods, namely brainstorming, nominal group technique and the Del phi method can be used. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature related to the Delphi Method and its potential implications for evidence-based practice and peer-reviewed standards in athletic training. Data Sources: We searched PubMed and MEDLINE (19782007), CINAHL (1993-2006), Dissertation Abstracts ( 19792006) and G oogle S cholar (19 83-2007) us ing the terms “Delphi method,” “modified Del phi technique,” “consensus methods,” “Delphi technique,” and combined search terms of “Delphi method AND allied health, AND m edicine AND dentistry, AND nursing. Data Sy nthesis: Textual support for the u se of the Del phi Method in athletic training and a brief review of the literature pertaining to the: objectives; advantages; limitations commonly associated with the use of the Delphi Method; and research protocol. Conclusions/Recommendations: The Delphi M ethod in athletic t raining h as be en used to f ulfill two obj ectives; the need for evidence based practice and the need to establish policies and procedures when none are in existence or it is difficult for one individual to make a decision. The Delphi Method and other consensus development methods should not be viewed as a sci entific m ethod for creating new knowledge, but rather as processes for making the best use of available information, be that scientific data or the collective wisdom of participants.
Westward Propagating Cloud Patterns in the Tropical Pacific as seen from Time-Composite Satellite Photographs.

Abstract A new method of using satellite photographs in the study of large-scale cloud motions in the tropics is presented. Cloud clusters are seen to be propagating westward with a phase speed ∼9 m sec−1 in the summer of 1967, and can sometimes be followed all the way across the Pacific. It is suggested that this method can be used in the study of tropical wave disturbances.
Repair-Based Therapies After Stroke

Stroke is a leading cause of human disability. Most patients show some degree of spontaneous recovery, but this is generally incomplete. Studies on the neurobiology of this recovery are leading to therapeutic interventions that aim to improve patient outcomes. A number of classes of such restorative therapies exist and are reviewed below. Most have a time window measured in days or weeks and so have the potential to help a large fraction of patients. These therapies are best given with certain principles of brain repair in mind. Implications for clinical trial design are also considered. Restorative therapies have the potential to substantially improve outcomes in a large fraction of patients with stroke.
Assessing Vascular Health After Kawasaki Disease: A Cautionary Tale

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a self-limited, systemic vasculitis of children with the most profound effect on the coronary arterial bed [(1)][1]. Without timely diagnosis and treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, coronary artery aneurysms will develop in 1 in 4 children with the attendant risks of
Testing Alternative Regression Frameworks for Predictive Modeling of Health Care Costs

Predictive models of health care costs have become mainstream in much health care actuarial work. The Affordable Care Act requires the use of predictive modeling-based risk-adjuster models to transfer revenue between different health exchange participants. Although the predictive accuracy of these models has been investigated in a number of studies, the accuracy and use of models for applications other than risk adjustment have not been the subject of much investigation. We investigate predictive modeling of future health care costs using several statistical techniques. Our analysis was performed based on a dataset of 30,000 insureds containing claims information from two contiguous years. The dataset contains more than 100 covariates for each insured, including detailed breakdown of past costs and causes encoded via coexisting condition flags. We discuss statistical models for the relationship between next-year costs and medical and cost information to predict the mean and quantiles of future cost, ranki...
Orientational Ordering of Rigid Rod Polymers in Shear Flow

We present the results of experimental and theoretical study of the orientational ordering of rigid rod like polymers in the presence of shear flow. Shear induced birefringence was measured to determine the dependence of orientational order parameter S= 2 θ−l>/2 on the shear rate at different values of the volume fraction. Experimental results are discussed in terms of an approximate solution of the rotational diffusion equation in the presence of shear flow based on the construction of the effective interaction energy.
Integrated HVAC management and optimal scheduling of smart appliances for community peak load reduction

Abstract Of the total electricity-generating capacity in the United States, 20% is dedicated to meet peak loads. Strategies to mitigate volatility in energy consumption have the potential to reduce the need for this surplus capacity. Here we investigate the potential for residential consumers to lower community-level peak demand through home energy management systems. We focus on the combination of air-conditioning use with the operation of time-shiftable appliances in the southern U.S. A centralized model predictive control (MPC) scheme minimizes peak air-conditioning (A/C) energy use by altering the thermostat set-points in individual homes. We simultaneously schedule the operation of time-shiftable appliances to further reduce the community peak load. The scheduling problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program (MILP) aimed at minimizing peak load under constraints that reflect the start times and allowed delays of individual appliances (e.g. dishwashers, washing machines, dryers) in each house. Using sample data collected from residential homes and consumer survey data located in Austin, TX, USA we show that the proposed integrated control and scheduling approach can minimize the peak load for the neighborhood by leveraging the physical differences and individual preferences between houses. On average, our framework is able to reduce the daily peak load for the group of houses by 25.5% (18.2 kW) when compared with the load for individually controlled thermostat settings and appliance start times.
Meteors, Mischief, and War

(1960). Meteors, Mischief, and War. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Vol. 16, No. 7, pp. 292-300.
Skill and Persistence in Mutual Fund Returns: Evidence from a Six-Factor Model

The addition of the Fama and French (2015) profitability (RMW) and investment (CMA) factors to the standard four-factor model reveals persistent positive alpha after fees for mutual funds. Over the period 2000-2014, about 65 percent of fund managers have at least some skill, and about 15 percent have skill in excess of fees. The best performing funds have significant negative exposures to both factors, while the worst performing funds have significant positive exposures. Because of that pattern, failure to account for these factors masks a difference in alpha between the best and worst performers of almost 7 percent per year.
The SmOKE Music Representation, Description Language, and Interchange Format

The Smallmusic Object Kernel (SmOKe) is an object-oriented representation, description language and interchange format for musical parameters, events, and structures. The author believes this representation, and its proposed linear ASCII description, to be well-suited as a basis for: (1) concrete description interfaces in other languages, (2) specially-designed binary storage and interchange formats, and (3) use within and between interactive multimedia, hypermedia applications in several application domains. The textual versions of SmOKe share the terseness of note-list-oriented music input languages, the flexibility and extensibility of “real” music programming languages, and the non-sequential description and annotation features of hypermedia description formats. This description defines SmOKe’s basic concepts and constructs, and presents examples of the music magnitudes and event structures. The intended audience for this discussion is programmers and musicians working with digitaltechnology-based multimedia tools who are interested in the design issues related to music representations, and are familiar with the basic concepts of software engineering. Two other documents ([Smallmusic 1992] and [Pope 1992]), describe the SmOKe language, and the MODE environment within which it has been implemented, in more detail.
Responses of soybean genotypes to pathogen infection after the application of elicitors

Abstract Soybean diseases and pests can affect soybean production. One emerging pest management method is to treat plants with chemical elicitors at nontoxic levels to induce host resistance. The objective of this research was to determine if elicitors, benzothiadiazole (BTH), chitosan (CHT), phenylalanine (PHE), and salicylic acid (SA), applied to soybean foliage could alter the response of soybean genotypes to soybean pathogens. Two of the soybean genotypes had been previously shown to produce high or low amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to elicitation. In the greenhouse, soybean genotypes were challenged with three pathogens 48 h after elicitation. Plants of the cultivar Pharaoh (susceptible control) treated with SA, and then inoculated with Macrophomina phaseolina had a shorter (α = 0.05) stem lesion length (34 mm) than the water control (55 mm). Plants of soybean genotype LD00-2817p (high capacity to produce ROS) and the cultivar Sloan treated with BTH, PHE, or SA, and then inoculated with Phytophthora sojae had greater (α = 0.05) survival rates than plants treated with the water control. The four elicitors and a water control were evaluated on LD00-2817p and LDX01-1-65 in the field for two consecutive years. Foliar disease incidence and severity were low for both years, although there were some differences in stem disease ratings. For example, charcoal rot stem severity rating was reduced (α = 0.05) from 2.0 in the water control to 1.1 with a PHE treatment for LD00-2817p and was reduced (α = 0.05) from 3.8 in the water control to 2.6 with SA for LDX01-1-65 in 2013. Both greenhouse controlled experiments and field experiments showed that genotype-specific elicitation reduced disease severity in some cases, but the differences were greater under controlled-inoculated conditions.
Spatial feature evaluation for aerial scene analysis

High-resolution aerial images are becoming more readily available, which drives the demand for robust, intelligent and efficient systems to process increasingly large amounts of image data. However, automated image interpretation still remains a challenging problem. Robust techniques to extract and represent features to uniquely characterize various aerial scene categories is key for automated image analysis. In this paper we examined the role of spatial features to uniquely characterize various aerial scene categories. We studied low-level features such as colors, edge orientations, and textures, and examined their local spatial arrangements. We computed correlograms representing the spatial correlation of features at various distances, then measured the distance between correlograms to identify similar scenes. We evaluated the proposed technique on several aerial image databases containing challenging aerial scene categories. We report detailed evaluation of various low-level features by quantitatively measuring accuracy and parameter sensitivity. To demonstrate the feature performance, we present a simple query-based aerial scene retrieval system.
Geometry of the Grassmannian, Flag and their Schubert Varieties via Standard Monomial Theory

In this chapter, we first introduce the Grassmannian variety and its Schubert varieties. We then present the details on the standard monomial theory (cf. Hodge [23, 24]); we also present a proof of “vanishing theorems.” We then sketch the details of standard monomial theory for the flag variety and its Schubert varieties. For further details, refer to [31].
ACM Turing 50th celebration conference in China

This year ACM is celebrating 50 years of the A. M. Turing Award, an award given for major contributions of lasting importance to computing. As part of those celebrations, a conference was held May 12-14, 2017 in Shanghai, China. The ACM Turing 50th Celebration Conference in China brought together three recipients of the Turing award---Vinton Cerf, John Hopcroft, and Andrew Yao---well as numerous other distinguished guests to talk about old and new developments in computer science. One of my favorite presenters was Kai-Fu Lee, currently at Sinovation Ventures, who spoke about quantum computing and artificial intelligence. Nine ACM Special Interest Groups held symposia at the conference, including SIGCSE.
Scenario-based and scenario-neutral assessment of climate change impacts on operational performance of a multipurpose reservoir

Scenario-based and scenario-neutral impacts assessment approaches provide complementary information about how climate change-driven effects on streamflow may change the operational performance of multipurpose dams. Examining a case study of Cougar Dam in Oregon, United States, we simulated current reservoir operations under scenarios of plausible future hydrology. Streamflow projections from the CGCM3.1 general circulation model for the A1B emission scenario were used to generate stochastic reservoir inflows that were then further perturbed to simulate a potentially drier future. These were then used to drive a simple reservoir model. In the scenario-based analysis, we found reservoir operations are vulnerable to climate change. Increases in fall and winter inflow could lead to more frequent flood storage, reducing flexibility to store incoming flood flows. Uncertainty in spring inflow volume complicates projection of future filling performance. The reservoir may fill more or less often, depending on whether springs are wetter or drier. In the summer, drawdown may occur earlier to meet conservation objectives. From the scenario-neutral analysis, we identified thresholds of streamflow magnitude that can predict climate change impacts for a wide range of scenarios. Our results highlight projected operational challenges for Cougar Dam and provide an example of how scenario-based and scenario-neutral approaches may be applied concurrently to assess climate change impacts.
Experimental Design: Design Strategies and Controls

For our purposes, the unit of scientific experimentation is the published article, which, more often than not, comprises a series of experiments that together make a coherent story. Proper choices of experimental design can ensure that your experiments are sensitive enough to detect outcomes that are truly there and are properly controlled so that one can be confident that the outcomes are related to the variable of interest, rather than reflecting other unmeasured factors (confounds).
NF-switch: VNFs-enabled SDN switches for high performance service function chaining

Current Software-Defined Networking (SDN) switch examines many packet headers to support the flow-based packet forwarding. To support the application-based forwarding for a service function chaining (SFC), SDN switch requires packet header modifications to identify the processing status and multiple packet matchings to steer the network traffics to different VMs in a specific order. Both challenges require significant computation resources in a system and result in severe system performance degradation. To improve the system performance and keep the flexibility, this paper proposes NF-Switch to eliminate the requirement of packet modifications and to reduce the number of matchings for the application-based forwarding. Compared to the native implementation, our experimental results show that NF-Switch reduces the system processing latency to one quarter and increases the system throughput about 3 times for a SFC with 10 network functions (NFs). Moreover, the proposed solution maintains the content switching time to update the implemented SFC for a better system scalability regarding to the number of NFs in a SFC.