cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
New Insights into “The Riddle of the Mast Cells”: Microenvironmental Regulation of Mast Cell Development and Phenotypic Heterogeneity

At no time in recent memory has it been so difficult to offer succint generalizations about the biology of the mast cell, or its role in health and disease. This situation is something of a paradox, since there have been significant recent advances in experimental approaches for analyzing mast cell development, biochemistry and function, and the application of these methods has already generated much important new data. However, some of these findings have required that certain widely held beliefs about the mast cell be reevaluated. Indeed, in virtually every facet of the cell’s natural history, from its differentiation and maturation to its biochemistry and function, recent work has revealed considerably more complexity than had previously been suspected to exist. To those involved in mast cell research, this exciting progress has raised hopes that “the riddle of the mast cells” (223), i.e., their specific roles in health and disease, might soon be solved. But to those whose acquaintance with the mast cell is more casual, the rapidly accumulating mass of new information may have caused no small amount of confusion.
Intradevice Leak on Late Follow-Up after Watchman Implantation.

Currently the Watchman device (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) is approved for use in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at increased risk for stroke on the basis of CHADS2 or CHA2DS2-VASc score, suitable for warfarin, and in whom there is justification to use the device as an alternative to warfarin when weighing the safety and effectiveness of the two treatments.1 Although small peridevice leaks are commonly noted, intradevice leaks are rare and were not reported in the initial trials.2, 3, 4
Are all physical therapists qualified to provide sideline coverage of athletic events

The new graduate, or the licensed physical therapist with general orthopedic experience, is not qualified to provide sideline coverage at athletic events. Additional or advanced training in emergency care is essential to provide aid in acute situations. Completion of the First Responder certification prepares an individual to react appropriately to any emergency on the sidelines, in the clinic, or in the community. The highest qualification that a physical therapist can attain to ensure adequate preparation for the practice of Sports Physical therapy is the ABPTS Sports Certified Specialist (SCS) designation. This professional designation indicates that this individual is highly qualified to care for athletes at any level, from on the sidelines, through rehabilitation and return to play, regardless of the injury, age of the athlete, or skill level.
Electron Holography at Low Energy

Shadow images, magnified by projection from a small electron source, were amongst the first images to be obtained by electron microscopes.24 In the same year (1939) pointprojection shadow images of carbon grids were also reported at a few hundred volts using a field-emission electron tip.320 The authors comment on the absence of aberrations in their lensless system, the removal of which has proved a major obstacle for conventional electron holography at higher voltages. Fig. 14.1 (a) shows the optical arrangement for point-projection microscopy (PPM). A tungsten field emitter S is placed at a distance z1 (a few hundred nanometers) from a thin sample T. and an image recorded on a channel plate D about z2 = 10 cm away. The magnification is approximately M = z2/z2 ≈ 106 and the resolution in the image is about equal to the source size. Fig. 14.1(b) emphasises that the resulting image is equivalent to a TEM image with defocus z1 (under certain conditions). The conducting sample, grounded, acts as the anode. Since field emitters of atomic dimensions can be obtained,107 atomic resolution should be possible. However, at the very low voltages (about 100 V) needed to sustain field emission with z1 = 100 nm, electron penetration in carbon is only about 0.8 nm, and most samples are completely opaque. Then the main features seen in the images are Fresnel fringes around edges, and occasionally interference fringes between waves passing through different pinholes. This arrangement constitutes exactly Gabor’s original proposal for electron holography, and also corresponds to the in-line STEM Fresnel holography case described in Chapter 2, Section 3 (with sub-nanometer aberration coefficients appropriate to the PPM virtual field-emission source). For STEM, the probe-forming lens shown in Fig. 2.6(a) is used. A low voltage PPM instrument was built at NIST in 1968302 and several more have been built more recently23,108,318,418 using STM-based construction methods.
Endocrine Pituitary Cell Cultures: Cellular Morphology, Protein Secretion, and Susceptibility to Weak Bases and Ionophores

Animal cells are of significant use in bioprocessing technology, tissue engineering, and gene therapy applications. In bioprocess technology, cells cultured in bioreactors produce specific recombinant or, occasionally, endogenous proteins. Compared to bacteria and yeast, animal cells have the disadvantages of slow growth to relatively low densities, and of complex and expensive culture media requirements. On the other hand, they offer the distinct advantage of possessing the enzymatic machinery necessary for performing post-translational modifications on recombinant proteins. Such modifications are essential for biological activity of a protein product and may not be feasible in yeast or, even more so, in bacteria. Animal cells are thus indispensable for production of pharmaceuticals such as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), factor VIII, or other complex proteins.
The Collaboration Riskscape: Fragmentation, Problem Types and Preference Divergence in Urban Sustainability

Local governmental efforts to achieve greater sustainability have come to play a prominent role within urbanized regions. Despite the prominence of collaboration and collective action in the inter-governmental literature, we know little about how the collaborative mechanisms used to address them are influenced by the configurations of horizontal, general-purpose governments and vertical, single-purpose governments. We combine national- and metropolitan-level analyses through a mixed-methods design to fill this lacuna. The first component examines how fragmentation influences choices of mechanisms for interlocal collaboration utilizing surveys of U.S. cities. The second component examines collaboration barriers between localities in a single metropolitan area through qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with twenty city managers in the Chicago metropolitan region, one of the most fragmented in the United States. These analyses offer evidence to support the conclusion that more fragmented regions may be better suited to overcome coordination risks and find more avenues for collaborative activities. However, preference heterogeneity within fragmented environments increases the risk of defection and thus offsets some advantages of polycentricity.
Investigation of a serpentine micro-pin fin heat and mass exchanger for absorption systems

Abstract An investigation of a heat and mass exchanger with micro-pin fins in serpentine passages for vapor absorption systems is presented. A serpentine micro-pin fin absorber sheet with a pin fin diameter of 350 µm and height of 406 µm is used. Visualization of the two-phase mixture flowing through the micro-feature component, and an investigation of the heat and mass transfer mechanisms over a range of temperatures, pressures, concentrations and flow rates are conducted. A model for the absorption of ammonia into a dilute ammonia-water solution in the geometry is developed based on insights from flow visualization results, and validated by comparing its predictions with heat transfer measurements. A computational fluid dynamics study of flow through the serpentine micro-pin fin passages is also used for additional insights. Liquid-phase mass transfer resistance is found to be the bottleneck to improved rates of vapor absorption in these absorbers.
Expandable high-capacity wavelength division multiplex-over-optical code division multiple access millimeter wave radio-over-fiber system

The design and performance evaluation of a W-band wavelength division multiplexed-over-optical code division multiple access radio-over-fiber system are presented. The system’s performance introduces expansion in the number of channels and bit rate per channel for millimeter wave signals by optically encoding signals in a multiwavelength transmission system. The performance of the system is verified based on software simulation of three channels that carry six users’ encoded data. The achieved results are measured in bit-error-rate and eye-diagram figures. The obtained results are analyzed for each wavelength channels and each code families used. Bit error rates of 10 − 2 to 10 − 6 are obtained for channels operating at 10 Gb / s.
Nowhere to Go: Caught Between Nature and Culture in Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales

In his 1891 essay The Soul of Man Under Socialism, Oscar Wilde wrote: “Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval. When man is happy, he is in harmony with himself and his environment.” If pleasure is “nature’s test,” then both human and animal/natural figures in Wilde’s fairy tales routinely fail that test. Wilde’s three tales consistently explore alienation and destruction, subverting the genre not only in offering troubling endings that either restore vicious social orders or solidify the separation between nature and culture, but also in presenting worlds in which characters find only suffering, despair, and death. Environments neither make comfortable nor reward the characters that capture the reader’s sympathies. Place, in the forms of both nature and built environments, becomes key to destroying Wilde’s protagonists. In addition to all three tales acting as a critique of the uselessness of trying to do and be good, we see each generous person reduced to despair and broken hearts. Both the impossibility of connecting with the people or societies around them, and nature’s inability or unwillingness to offer aid, create the nightmarish destruction Wilde’s protagonists suffer. Unlike Romantic nature that could offer solace, redemption, or revelation, nature rejects Wilde’s characters. Culture, in the forms of beauty, wealth, and social class, also works against them. His characters inhabit a disturbing liminal space that acts like a weird limbo, from which it is impossible to act to change their situations, rather than as a refuge.
Lifetime Risk of Lower-Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease Defined by Ankle-Brachial Index in the United States.

Background There are no available lifetime risk estimates of lower-extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). Methods and Results Using data from 6 US community-based cohorts and the vital statistics, we estimated the prevalence and incidence of PAD, defined as an ankle-brachial index < 0.90, at each year of age from birth to 80 years for white, black, and Hispanic men and women. Then, we used Markov Monte Carlo simulations in a simulated cohort of 100 000 individuals to estimate lifetime risk of PAD. On the basis of odds ratios of PAD for traditional atherosclerotic risk factors (eg, diabetes mellitus and smoking), we developed a calculator providing residual lifetime risk of PAD. In an 80-year horizon, lifetime risks of PAD were 30.0% in black men and 27.6% in black women, but ≈19% in white men and women and ≈22% in Hispanic men and women. From another perspective, 9% of blacks were estimated to develop PAD by 60 years of age, while the same proportion was seen at ≈70 years for whites and Hispanics. The residual lifetime risk within the same race/ethnicity varied by 3.5- to 5-fold according to risk factors (eg, residual lifetime risk in 45-year-old black men was 19.9% when current smoking, diabetes mellitus, and history of cardiovascular disease were absent versus 70.4% when all were present). Conclusions In the United States, ≈30% of blacks are estimated to develop PAD during their lifetime, whereas the corresponding estimate is ≈20% for whites and Hispanics. The residual lifetime risk within the same race/ethnicity substantially varies according to traditional risk factors.
Abstract LB-B02: Orthogonal pathogen challenges in tumor burdened mice reveal systemic impairment of de novo immune responses

Harnessing immune defense mechanisms has revolutionized cancer therapy. However, the limited efficacy of these approaches across patients and cancer types reflects our incomplete understanding of the factors governing immune responses in cancer. Here, we use orthogonal viral and bacterial challenges in mice with preexisting malignancy to assess functionality of the immune system in cancer. The tumor burdened immune system mounted dampened peripheral T cell responses characterized by reduced proliferation and effector differentiation. Disruptions in T cell activity in vivo were not cell intrinsic but rather due to reduced responses in antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Promoting APC activation was sufficient to restore T cell responses to orthogonal infection. These results demonstrate that tumor development dynamically reshapes the function of the immune macroenvironment, arguing for a deeper understanding of the tumor-experienced systemic context for rational immunotherapeutic design. Citation Format: Kamir Hiam, Breanna Allen, Matthew Spitzer. Orthogonal pathogen challenges in tumor burdened mice reveal systemic impairment of de novo immune responses [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2019 Oct 26-30; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2019;18(12 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-B02. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-19-LB-B02
Pretreatments for the continuous production of pyrolytic sugar from lignocellulosic biomass

Abstract Fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass yields little sugar or anhydrosugars compared to pyrolysis of pure polysaccharides because naturally abundant alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEM) in biomass catalyze the fragmentation of pyranose and furanose rings. Sugar yields can be increased dramatically by pretreating the biomass with sulfuric acid prior to pyrolysis, which passivates the catalytic activity of the metals by converting them into thermally stable salts. However, depolymerization of lignin in biomass also depends on the catalytic activity of AAEM. Thus, passivating AAEM has the unintended consequence of slowing the rate of depolymerization and volatilization of lignin, resulting in a transient melt phase that agglomerates and can foul pyrolysis reactors. To overcome this problem, various non-alkali metal sulfates were tested as replacements for sulfuric acid. Iron in the form of ferrous sulfate proved the most effective in depolymerizing lignin without fragmenting pyranose rings. Conventional nitrogen-blown pyrolysis of ferrous sulfate pretreated corn stover achieved WHSV of 4 h−1 compared to only 0.6 h−1 for acid pretreated corn stover. Autothermal (air-blown) pyrolysis of ferrous sulfate pretreated corn stover showed even more dramatic improvement, increasing WHSV from 1 h−1 to 10 h−1 compared to acid pretreated corn stover under autothermal operation. Fermentable sugar yields from the pyrolysis of corn stover increased from 0.9 wt% to 11.8 wt% on a biomass basis, a 13-fold increase as a result of the ferrous sulfate pretreatment. These advantages combine to increase volumetric sugar productivity from 62 g L−1 h−1 for conventional pyrolysis of untreated corn stover to 2041 g L−1 h−1 for autothermal pyrolysis of ferrous sulfate treated corn stover.
A National Survey of Veterans Treatment Court Actors

Several controversies surround Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs), such as excluding veterans who commit violent offenses and requiring a direct relationship between a veteran’s charges and mental he...
Legal Systems and Needs: Considerations for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence

Individuals who have experienced sexual and gender-based violence may be victims of crimes under various state and federal laws, including assault, sexual abuse, rape, battery, human trafficking, and many others. Survivors of sexual trauma often have complicated, drawn-out, and harmful interactions with legal systems that are ultimately destabilizing. For medical practitioners working with survivors, it is important to understand the various legal needs that a survivor might have. While medical providers may not be directly involved with these legal processes, they can mitigate the impact that survivors’ legal disempowerment has on their physical and emotional health and safety. Furthermore, providers can collaborate with legal professionals to bridge the gaps between the medical and legal systems and allow survivors to better access existing resources. This chapter describes what legal needs a survivor might have, what resources are available to meet survivors’ needs, and what promising interdisciplinary practices may help medical providers to reduce the harm of legal system involvement.
Probabilistic modeling of disrupted infrastructures due to fallen trees subjected to extreme winds in urban community

Tree failures due to strong winds in urban areas cause extensive direct and indirect economic and environmental loss, including disrupting adjacent infrastructures, such as buildings, underground pipelines, roads and overhead powerlines. To effectively improve the resilience of a community subjected to extreme wind events through prevention, response and recovery, it becomes critical to rationally assess the risks of wind-induced tree failures and the disruptions to different types of infrastructures due to fallen trees. An integrated probabilistic methodology to model the performance of disrupted infrastructures is developed for fallen urban trees subjected to extreme winds in a typical community. Firstly, the finite element modeling of the trees subjected to wind loads is conducted and based on which the windthrow fragility curves of several typical urban tree species are developed. Secondly, a probabilistic framework is developed based on the fragility results to characterize the disrupted scenarios and further predict the disruption probability of some critical infrastructures due to fallen trees. The matrix-based system reliability (MSR) method is introduced to assess the transportation network performance. The proposed framework and MSR method are demonstrated in detail on studying the overhead powerline and transportation network of a small urban community in the city of Fort Collins, Colorado. In the demonstrative example, the probabilities of powerline disruption, road closure, and origin–destination disconnection and travel time reliability under different wind conditions are predicted. Finally, mitigation efforts such as crown thinning of trees are discussed to reduce possible risks of disrupting the infrastructures.
Computing fundamental domains for the Bruhat–Tits tree for , -adic automorphic forms, and the canonical embedding of Shimura curves

We describe algorithms that allow the computation of fundamental domains in the Bruhat–Tits tree for the action of discrete groups arising from quaternion algebras. These algorithms are used to compute spaces of rigid modular forms of arbitrary even weight, and we explain how to evaluate such forms to high precision using overconvergent methods. Finally, these algorithms are applied to the calculation of conjectural equations for the canonical embedding of p-adically uniformizable rational Shimura curves. We conclude with an example in the case of a genus 4 Shimura curve.
Planar Laser Activated Neuronal Scanning (PLANS) System for in vivo Flow Cytometry

We present a light-sheet flow cytometer for screening of C. elegans. A machine learning approach is utilized to enable real-time analysis of protein aggregation models.
Quilts: Unfolding personal and public histories in South Africa and the United States

Quilts and related textiles are a particularly capacious textile medium through which the intersection of materiality and narratives can be explored. There are thousands of extant historical examples to be found in public and private collections, and the “quilt world” of the early twenty-first century is robust and enormous. There are literally millions of individuals around the globe who are involved in some aspect of quilt production, preservation, and study. This article provides a brief overview of quiltmaking and quilt studies in the United States and in South Africa. It draws upon samples of work from both countries to illustrate how, through their needles and their stories, quilt artists provide unique windows into personal and public histories.
Establishing consensus criteria for determining heritage tree status

Heritage trees are identified and valued based on important historical, cultural and physical criteria that these specimens possess. This research attempts to support heritage tree programmes by id...
Diagnostic yield, accuracy, and complication rate of CT-guided biopsy for spinal lesions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background CT-guided biopsy is a commonly used diagnostic procedure for spinal lesions. This meta-analysis aims to investigate its diagnostic performance and complications, as well as factors influencing outcomes. Methods A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify studies reporting outcomes of CT-guided biopsies for spinal lesions. Diagnostic yield (ie, the rate of procedures resulting in a specific pathological diagnosis) and diagnostic accuracy (ie, the rate of procedures resulting in the correct diagnosis) were the primary outcomes of interest. Complications following biopsy procedures were also included. Results Thirty-nine studies with 3917 patients undergoing 4181 procedures were included. Diagnostic yield per procedure was 91% (95% CI 88% to 94%) among 3598 procedures. The most common reason for non-diagnostic biopsies was inadequacy of sample. No difference in diagnostic yield between different locations and between lytic, sclerotic, and mixed lesions was found. Diagnostic yield did not differ between procedures using ≤13G and ≥14G needles. Diagnostic accuracy per procedure was 86% (95% CI 82% to 89%) among 3054 procedures. Diagnostic accuracy among 2426 procedures that yielded a diagnosis was 94% (95% CI 92% to 96%). Complication rate was 1% (95% CI 0.4% to 1.9%) among 3357 procedures. Transient pain and minor hematoma were the most common complications encountered. Conclusion In our meta-analysis of 39 studies reporting diagnostic performance and complications of CT-guided biopsy, we found a diagnostic yield of 91% and diagnostic accuracy of 86% with a complication rate of 1%. Diagnostic yield did not differ between different locations, between lytic, sclerotic and mixed lesions, and between wide- and thin-bore needles.
Editorial Comment: Offering Immediate Screening Mammography Interpretation May Be an Effective way to Reduce the Racial and Ethnic Disparity Gap in the Time to Diagnostic Follow-up.

This Editorial Comment discusses the following AJR article: Disparities in Same-Day Diagnostic Imaging in Breast Cancer Screening: Impact of an Immediate-Read Screening Mammography Program Implemen...
Advancing the Care of Transgender Patients

Providing quality health care and ensuring the safety of transgender persons is a complex challenge for US jails and prisons. Transgender persons are more likely to experience sexual victimization during incarceration and thus warrant unique protections. Caring for transgender patients in the correctional setting is complicated by a rapidly evolving community standard of care and the prevalence of serious health conditions such as psychological distress, substance use disorders, and sexually transmitted infections. Meeting these challenges requires a multi-tiered approach. Jails and prisons must adopt sound public policies that provide safe and gender-affirming environments for incarcerated and detained transgender persons. Correctional health care for transgender patients must be evidence-based, patient-centered, and gender-affirming, while being cognizant of the developing legal landscape. Reentry efforts must address both the unique needs of transgender persons returning to the community and related public health concerns. These collective efforts should be a priority for US jails and prisons if we are to effectively address the health care needs and safety concerns faced daily by transgender persons behind bars.
Towards a hierarchical taxonomy of autonomous agents

Autonomous agents have become an influential and powerful paradigm in a great variety of disciplines, from sociology and economics to distributed artificial intelligence and software engineering to philosophy. Given that the paradigm has been around for awhile, one would expect a broadly agreed-upon, solid understanding of what autonomous agents are and what they are not. This, however, is not the case. We therefore join the ongoing debate on what are the appropriate notions of autonomous agency. We approach agents and agent ontology from a cybernetics and general systems perspective, in contrast to the much more common in the agent literature sociology, anthropology and/or cognitive psychology based approaches. We attempt to identify the most fundamental attributes of autonomous agents, and propose a tentative hierarchy of autonomous agents based on those attributes.
Production of human leukocyte migration inhibitory factor (LIF) by lymphocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin. I. Effect of various metabolic inhibitors.

Abstract The release of leukocyte migration inhibitory factor (LIF) by human lymphocytes stimulated by pulse exposure to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was investigated. The activation by PHA occurred very rapidly, since measurable amounts of LIF was produced by cells exposed to PHA for only 15 min at 37°C, and maximum stimulation was reached after 1 hr. Once initiated, release of LIF continued without further stimulation for up to 44 hr. The elaboration of LIF required active lymphocyte metabolism, since low temperature and inhibitors of transcription (1 μg/ml actinomycin D) and translation (5 μg/ml puromycin and 1 μg/ml cycloheximide) prevented the release of LIF. Inhibitors of microfilament function (5 μg/ml cytochalasin B), oxidative phosphorylation (10 −2 M sodium azide), and glycolysis (10 −2 M 2-deoxyglucose) also prevented LIF production, whereas inhibitors of DNA synthesis (25 μg/ml mitomycin C) and microtubule function (3 × 10 −5 M colchicine) were ineffective. The period in which the lymphocyte response was sensitive to cytochalasin B was very limited and centered around the initial stage of activation by PHA.
Molecular biology of varicella zoster virus.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on varicella zoster virus (VZV), a member of the subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae. The virus causes varicella, or chickenpox, and, on reactivation from a latent state, zoster, or shingles. The construction of restriction endonuclease maps for VZV DNA has been useful for the elucidation of the genome structure, for molecular epidemiological studies, and for providing the foundation for the understanding of the molecular biology of VZV through the cloning and sequencing of the entire VZV genome. Studies aimed at characterizing VZV-encoded proteins began shortly after VZV was determined to be morphologically similar to HSV. The study of VZV biology and molecular biology still lags well behind that of other members of the herpesvirus family. A major advance has been in the publishing of the complete DNA sequence for both VZV and HSV. This should allow us to better understand the expression of individual VZV genes and to place them in the context of viral replication.
A redefinition of quantum-mechanical exchange and Coulomb integrals by a reinterpretation of atomic and molecular orbitals as Taylor expansions of a potential and a similar treatment of the electromagnetic field.

In previous papers a deterministic account of the dynamics underlying i) the Schrodinger equation, ii) the commutation relations of quantum theory and Planck's constant and iii) theS-matrix and the Klauder phenomenon, was presented. In the present paper, that topological analysis is extended to a deterministic interpretation of atomic orbitals, valence bonds, molecular orbitals and the electromagnetic field. It is demonstrated that atomic orbitals may be considered ask-jets, or the polynomial consisting of all terms of order less than or equal tok in the Taylor expansion of a potential function. The electromagnetic field is described in terms of a mapping of two sets of four Clebsch potentials defined on a four-dimensional Riemannian space-time manifold, onto a three-dimensional Euclidean space (Rund). The Clebsch potentials are related to the four parameters used in the quantum-mechanical orbital description.
Don't Cut the Pi Yet!

Fashionable Nonsense: Science. Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont. New York: Picador USA, 1998.317 pp.
Irregular Identification, Support Conditions, and Inverse Weight Estimation

In weighted moment condition models, we show a subtle link between identification and estimability that limits the practical usefulness of estimators based on these models. In particular, if it is necessary for (point) identification that the weights take arbitrarily large values, then the parameter of interest, though point identified, cannot be estimated at the regular (parametric) rate and is said to be irregularly identified. This rate depends on relative tail conditions and can be as slow in some examples as n−1/4. This nonstandard rate of convergence can lead to numerical instability and/or large standard errors. We examine two weighted model examples: (i) the binary response model under mean restriction introduced by Lewbel (1997) and further generalized to cover endogeneity and selection, where the estimator in this class of models is weighted by the density of a special regressor, and (ii) the treatment effect model under exogenous selection (Rosenbaum and Rubin (1983)), where the resulting estimator of the average treatment effect is one that is weighted by a variant of the propensity score. Without strong relative support conditions, these models, similar to well known “identified at infinity” models, lead to estimators that converge at slower than parametric rate, since essentially, to ensure point identification, one requires some variables to take values on sets with arbitrarily small probabilities, or thin sets. For the two models above, we derive some rates of convergence and propose that one conducts inference using rate adaptive procedures that are analogous to Andrews and Schafgans (1998) for the sample selection model.
The ministry of silly walks’ report: representational momentum sensitive to awkwardness following action, not single posture

ABSTRACTCompleting a representational momentum (RM) task, participants viewed animations of a human cartoon or a robot figure with three levels of awkwardness in the walk and indicated if the final posture was identical to the final frame of the animation. Animations were shown forward and backward, and the level of awkwardness influenced the extent of RM (Experiment 1: N = 30). Positive distortions decreased with increased awkwardness for forward actions. Negative distortions for the backward animations meant either participants were falling behind the depicted action, or that continuing familiar actions forward is a stronger bias than continuing presented (backward) actions. Following a single posture (Experiment 2: N = 19), positive distortions were observed, but no pattern regarding awkwardness. A single posture is sufficient to elicit forward distortions, but the awkwardness effect requires viewing the action.
Traveling in the three-dimensional city: applications in route planning, accessibility assessment, location analysis and beyond

Indoor environments are increasingly important spaces in contemporary three-dimensional cities. Handling these micro-scale spaces within the broader context of outdoor - urban environments is a significant challenge in transportation analysis and geographic information science. This complexity stems from the greater computational requirements, the specificity of indoor network data structures, as well as the inherent perceptual intricacies of three-dimensional (3D) visualization. As built environments grow in size and in complexity, two-dimensional urban geography research reveals its limits. This paper advocates for 3D network-based urban research and showcases the feasibility of this approach for three specific types of urban analytical functionalities, namely route planning, spatial accessibility assessment, and facility location planning. The latter modeling functionality can be viewed as foundational elements for comprehensive network-based three-dimensional analytics of urban environments. The effectiveness of the data modeling scheme and of the integrated software application 3DCityNet is discussed through the three coupled geospatial modeling functionalities.
Structural Responses of Transit Buses: Impact of Seat-Belt Loads

The objectives of this engineering investigation were to determine the structural responses of typical transit buses under various combinations of seat-belt use and seat type, as well as the changes in these responses from one bus design to the next. To this end, finite-element computer models were developed for two 7.6-m transit buses designed in 1989 and 1992. These models were each analyzed under bus deceleration with full and partial seat-belt use, with seats attached to the bus floor only, and with seats attached to the bus sidewall and floor. The study concluded the following with respect to the structural responses of these typical transit buses to bus deceleration: (1) Maximum member stresses should be lower with full versus partial seat-belt use; (2) maximum member stresses should be higher with wall-mounted versus floor-mounted seats; and (3) small to moderate changes in the number, size, and location of structural members from one bus design to the next can have a substantial impact on the maximum member stresses.
Use of Portable Seismic Property Analyzer to Assess Colorado's Hanging Lake Tunnel Liner

A survey of the condition of the tunnel liner in Hanging Lake Tunnel, near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, was performed with a handheld device, the portable seismic property analyzer (PSPA), within the framework of SHRP 2 Project R06G. The PSPA simultaneously applies two stress wave-based nondestructive testing (NDT) methods: the ultrasonic surface wave (USW) and the impact-echo (IE). The USW method can provide the average modulus as an indication of the quality of the concrete. The IE method can provide the thickness of the concrete liner or the depth of any reflector within the liner. The objective of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the PSPA to tunnel work and the performance of the IE and USW methods in estimating the thickness and evaluating the quality of the tunnel liner. For this purpose, several sections of the plenum of Hanging Lake Tunnel were tested. The selection of the testing areas was based on a visual inspection, infrared thermography, and the surface dielectric constant measu...
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CONCENTRATION OF NONPROTEIN-BOUND PLASMA CORTISOL IN NORMAL SUBJECTS, CUSHING'S SYNDROME, PREGNANCY, AND DURING ESTROGEN THERAPY

ABSTRACT The concentrations of total 17-hydroxycorticosteroid (17-OH-CS) and protein- bound 17-OHCS were determined in plasma from various normal and abnormal subjects. The concentration of nonprotein-bound 17-OH-CS was then calculated by subtraction of the protein-bound value from the total 17-OH-CS value. Elevated plasma total 17-OH-CS concentration in Cushing's syndrome was shown to be due entirely to an increase in the nonprotein-bound 17-OH-CS fraction. Conversely, the elevated plasma total 17-OH-CS concentration in estrogen-treated males without signs of Cushing's syndrome was shown to be due entirely to an increase in the protein-bound 17-OH-CS. In women in the third trimester of pregnancy (with signs of mild adrenocortical hyperfunction) the levels of both protein-bound and nonprotein-bound plasma 17-OH-CS were increased. It is suggested that the nonprotein-bound plasma 17-OH-CS fraction is the immediately active form of cortisol. It probably has high activity because it is able to diffuse readily...
The joint evolution of seed dormancy and flowering time in annual plants living in variable environments

Abstract In annual plants, both seed germination (as opposed to dormancy) and delayed flowering are assumed to confer both greater and more variable reproduction. With this assumption, a simple model of these two characters, together with a reparameterization of survival and reproductive rates and a general approximation, leads to several predictions based on maximizing geometric growth rates. Each character optimum is a ratio of mean to variance of future reproduction, and the two optimums are interdependent, with compensation by one favored if the other changes. Optimal character variances, possible with prediction of future reproduction, are roughly squared correlations of characters with future reproduction, divided by variances of future reproduction. The optimal mean of each character is more sensitive to the other character's variance than to its own variance, and the optimal variance of each character is more sensitive to the other character's mean than to its own mean. Optimal germination is increased with better correlation between flowering time and future reproduction. A diffusion approximation for the single locus, single character genetic analog of the phenotypic model showed fluctuating natural selection to favor, in expectation and under suitable conditions, the allele frequency maximizing the geometric population growth rate. Conditions for a protected polymorphism at a second locus, controlling the other character, show genetic variation at the first locus favors alleles at the second locus adapted to greater environmental variability. Computer simulations check some results, and the general predictions should be relevant for studies of correlated life history characters.
A Robust Iterative Algorithm for Parameter Estimation of the Generalized Gamma Distribution

This paper introduces a robust iterative algorithm to estimate the parameters of the generalized gamma (GG) distribution. The proposed algorithm loops on an interval Ip of the shape parameter p such that the log-likelihood function are simplified as a univariate objective function for each p a#x2208; Ip, which can be evaluated efficiently. An iterative procedure is then designed to maximize the objective function, which keeps squeezing the interval of search using translated asymptotes and interpolation. The results of maximization form a set of local maxima. Therefore, the estimates derived from the maximum of these local maxima. Comprehensive validation of the algorithm is performed as well, showing the robustness as well as efficiency as we expected. Due to the employment of the specific interpolation, the algorithm determines the roots with precision level of 10-10 within four iterations, which is a rather well-pleasing performance. We also claim that the flexibility of the algorithm allows us to transplant the algorithm to a distributed platform for very large scale data processing. Further optimization is still open to be discussed.
The ethics of insurance professionals: Comparison of personal versus professional ethics

This paper considers the level of ethics for insurance professionals for professional situations (measured with three insurance scenarios) compared to personal (consumer) situations (measured by Muncy and Vitell's 1992 Consumer Ethics Scale). The results of the study illustrate that there are significant differences in the ethical behavior of insurance professionals in professional versus personal situations. The authors found that insurance professionals are more likely to actively engage in unethical behavior in order to benefit professionally than in a personal setting. In general, however, the average respondent was “unlikely” or “extremely unlikely” to engage in unethical conduct. The managerial implications and need for future research in this area are discussed.
First-time camper fear index.

Abstract The ability of first-time campers to be socialized into the camping experience has not been documented in the literature. A first-time camper fear questionnaire was administered to 113 first-time campers. The questionnaire addressed 12 varied issues that related to camp life. The one significant finding ( p = 0.0059) was that children who had a night-light in use at home were more afraid at camp. The results of this study can be used by pediatric nurse practitioners in preparing children and parents for summer camp.
Active-matrix technology for high-efficiency OLED displays

Organic light-emitting device (OLED) technology has recently been shown to demonstrate excellent performance and cost characteristics for use in numerous flat-panel-display (FPD) applications. Universal Display Corp. (UDC), together with its academic partners at Princeton University and the University of Southern California, are developing high-efficiency electrophosphorescent OLEDs, based on triplet emission. These material systems show good lifetimes, and are well suited for the commercialization of low-power-consumption full-color active-matrix OLED displays. Their very high conversion efficiencies may even allow them to be driven by amorphous-silicon backplanes, and in this paper we consider design guidelines for an amorphous-silicon pixel to minimize display non-uniformities due to threshold voltage variations.
Reversible Thermal Denaturation of a 60-kDa Genetically Engineered β-Sheet Polypeptide

A de novo 687-amino-acid residue polypeptide with a regular 32-amino-acid repeat sequence, (GA)3GY(GA)3GE(GA)3GH(GA)3GK, forms large β-sheet assemblages that exhibit remarkable folding properties and, as well, form fibrillar structures. This construct is an excellent tool to explore the details of β-sheet formation yielding intimate folding information that is otherwise difficult to obtain and may inform folding studies of naturally occurring materials. The polypeptide assumes a fully folded antiparallel β-sheet/turn structure at room temperature, and yet is completely and reversibly denatured at 125°C, adopting a predominant polyproline II conformation. Deep ultraviolet Raman spectroscopy indicated that melting/refolding occurred without any spectroscopically distinct intermediates, yet the relaxation kinetics depend on the initial polypeptide state, as would be indicative of a non-two-state process. Thermal denaturation and refolding on cooling appeared to be monoexponential with characteristic times of ∼1 and ∼60 min, respectively, indicating no detectable formation of hairpin-type nuclei in the millisecond timescale that could be attributed to nonlocal “nonnative” interactions. The polypeptide folding dynamics agree with a general property of β-sheet proteins, i.e., initial collapse precedes secondary structure formation. The observed folding is much faster than expected for a protein of this size and could be attributed to a less frustrated free-energy landscape funnel for folding. The polypeptide sequence suggests an important balance between the absence of strong nonnative contacts (salt bridges or hydrophobic collapse) and limited repulsion of charged side chains.
Microcellular and nanocellular solid-state polyetherimide (PEI) foams using sub-critical carbon dioxide I. Processing and structure

Abstract In this study we investigate the solid-state batch foaming of polyetherimide (PEI) using sub-critical CO 2 as a blowing agent. We report on the gas diffusion for various saturation pressures in this system. Foaming process characterization is reported detailing conditions used to create microcellular and nanocellular PEI foams of 40% and higher relative density. Gas sorption, foaming, and resultant morphologies are analyzed and compared to previously reported results on PEI thin films. It was found that equilibrium gas concentrations for PEI sheet begin to significantly exceed that of films for CO 2 pressures above 3 MPa. A large solid-state foaming process window has been identified that allows for the creation of either microcellular or nanocellular structures at comparable density reductions. A transition from micro-scale cells to nano-scale cells was observed at gas concentrations in the range of 94–110 mg CO 2 /g PEI. Additionally, a hierarchical structure was observed which consisted of nanocellular structures internal to microcells. The PEI–CO 2 system offers the unique opportunity to compare and contrast the bulk properties of nanofoams and microfoams.
Perpetuation of gender inequality: A content analysis of comic strips

One vehicle for the perpetuation of gender inequality is mass media. The form of mass media addressed in this article is comic strips. The underlying ideology is that gender inequality is detrimental. The article examines findings from two studies: an “over-all” comic-strip page study and an indepth study of three comic strips. Results from both analyses reveal that comic strips do perpetuate gender inequality. Findings show that men are represented far out of proportion to their true ratio in the population while women are represented far under their true proportion. It is shown that comic strips are reflective of American society in some ways but also give a distortion of reality — one detrimental to men and women. Guidelines are suggested for the correction of this situation.
Generational Differences in Cohabitation and Marriage in the US

We use data from pooled 2000 to 2004 current population surveys (CPSs) to examine generational differences in cohabitation and marriage among men and women ages 20–34 in the US. Consistent with our expectation and in line with assimilation theory, levels of cohabitation rise across succeeding generations. In contrast, generational differences in marriage follow a curvilinear pattern such that those in the second generation are least likely to be married, which supports some contemporary extensions of assimilation theory. These patterns persist across education groups, and tend to hold across racial and ethnic groups, too, although among women, the predicted percentages cohabiting across generations vary widely by race-ethnicity.
DETECTION OF BRISTLES IN SCENEDESMUS SPECIES1

SUMMARY Numerous long and delicate appendages, called bristles, have been detected on several species and strains of Scenedesmus. There are frequently over 100 such processes per coenobium. They are more commonly observed on the spine-bearing species and are found on coenobia resembling S. quadricauda both in nature and in culture. Only a few S. obliquus cultures have shown these processes. Because they are much more delicate than spines, and because they are removed when coenobia are brought through an alcohol series, the bristles have been observed rarely in the past. A procedure for the detection of the appendages is presented.
Prospects and requirements for measurements of extragalactic γ-ray lines

A brief summary is presented of requirements for the measurements of extragalactic γ-ray lines. The electron-positron annihilation line at 511 keV represents the best prospect, and although this line is greatly broadened in active galactic nuclei, a narrow line should be present in clusters of galaxies and radio lobes as a result of prior AGN activity. The strongest fluxes should be of the order of 10−4 photons cm−2 s−1 from the closest extended sources.
Total synthesis of potential anti-tumor agent, (-)-dictyostatin

The potential antitumor agent (−)-dictyostatin has been synthesized utilizing Brown crotylboration to achieve eight of the eleven chiral centers. The yield for the 26-step longest sequence is ∼4%. The C9−C10 coupling is achieved via a stereoselective vinylzincate addition.