cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Quality-of-service provisioning via stochastic path selection under Weibullian link delays

We study the problem of finding the most likely path satisfying a requested additive Quality-of-Service (QoS) value, such as delay. The link metrics are defined as random variables following Weibull probability distributions as empirically reported in [13] and analytically derived in [12]. The problem of finding the most likely path is NP-Hard [24]. Our approach involves reducing the complicated probability convolutions necessary to calculate the most probable path that satisfies a requested delay value. With the reduction of the objective function, an extended Bellman-Ford algorithm is devised to solve the problem. The resulting approach have the same complexity as the standard Bellman-Ford algorithm. Our reduced objective function only needs the location parameter of the Weibull distributions, hence avoiding the complexity of inferring the shape and scale parameters. We evaluate the performance of our approach by simulations and conclude with possible extensions of our work.
Multiple Innate Signaling Pathways Cooperate with CD40 to Induce potent, CD70-dependent Cellular Immunity

We have previously shown that Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists cooperate with CD40 to generate CD8 T cell responses exponentially larger than the responses generated with traditional vaccine formulations. We have also shown that combined TLR agonist/anti-CD40 immunization uniquely induces the upregulation of CD70 on antigen bearing dendritic cells (DCs). In contrast, immunization with either a TLR agonist or a CD40 stimulus alone does not significantly increase CD70 expression on DCs. Furthermore, the CD8+ T cell response generated by combined TLR agonist/anti-CD40 immunization is dependent on the expression of CD70 by DCs, as CD70 blockade following immunization dramatically decreases the CD8 T cell response. Here we show that other innate pathways, independent of the TLRs, can also cooperate with CD40 to induce potent, CD70 dependent, CD8 T cell responses. These innate stimuli include Type I IFN (IFN) and αgalactosylceramide (αGalCer) or αC-GalCer, glycolipids that are presented by a nonclassical class I MHC molecule, CD1d, and are able to activate NKT cells. Furthermore, this combined IFN/antiCD40 immunization generates protective memory against bacterial challenge with Listeria monocytogenes. Together these data indicate the importance of assessing CD70 expression on DCs as a marker for the capacity of a given vaccine formulation to potently activate cellular immunity. Our data indicate that optimal induction of CD70 expression requires a coordinated stimulation of both innate (TLR, IFN, αGalCer) and adaptive (CD40) signaling pathways.
Results of a phase 1, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of bone marrow mononuclear stem cell administration in patients following ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Background Initial clinical trials from Europe have demonstrated that the administration of bone marrow–derived mononuclear cells (BMCs) may improve left ventricular (LV) function in patients following ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, results from trials performed in the United States have not yet been presented. Methods We developed a phase 1, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial to investigate the effects of BMC administration in patients following STEMI on recovery of LV function using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI). Forty patients with moderate to large anterior STEMIs were randomized to 100 million intracoronary BMCs versus placebo 3 to 10 days following successful primary angioplasty and stenting (percutaneous coronary intervention) of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Results Administration of BMC was safely performed in a high-risk cohort with minimal major adverse clinical event rates, and all patients remain alive to date. Left ventricular ejection fraction increased from 49.0% ± 9.5% at baseline to 55.2% ± 9.8% at 6 months by cMRI in the BMC group ( P P 2 in the BMC group at 6 months but increased significantly in the placebo group (17 mL/m 2 , P Conclusions This phase 1 study from the United States confirms the ongoing safety profile of BMC administration in patients following STEMI. The improvement in LV ejection fraction at 6 months by cMRI in the cell therapy group was not different than the placebo group. However, BMC administration had a favorable effect on LV remodeling at 6 months.
Changes of the Q-vector of the spin density wave in chromium

Abstract Changes of the Q-vector with temperature and pressure occur in the electron-hole k -state pairing model even when no changes occur in the Fermi surface nesting vectors. These changes agree with experimental results which have previously been regarded as contradictory to the electron-hole pairing model.
Conservation of the Ethanol-Induced Locomotor Stimulant Response among Arthropods

Ethanol-induced locomotor stimulation has been variously described as reflective of the disinhibitory, euphoric, or reinforcing effects of ethanol and is commonly used as an index of acute ethanol sensitivity in rodents. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster also shows a locomotor stimulant response to ethanol that is believed to occur via conserved, ethanol-sensitive neurobiological mechanisms, but it is currently unknown whether this response is conserved among arthropod species or is idiosyncratic to D. melanogaster. The current experiments surveyed locomotor responses to ethanol in a phylogenetically diverse panel of insects and other arthropod species. A clear ethanol-induced locomotor stimulant response was seen in 9 of 13 Drosophilidae species tested, in 8 of 10 other species of insects, and in an arachnid (wolf spider) and a myriapod (millipede) species. Given the diverse phylogenies of the species that showed the response, these experiments support the hypothesis that locomotor stimulation is a conserved behavioral response to ethanol among arthropod species. Further comparative studies are needed to determine whether the specific neurobiological mechanisms known to underlie the stimulant response in D. melanogaster are conserved among arthropod and vertebrate species.
Correlation of the infrared stretching frequencies of ketones, olefins and oximes

Abstract The CN IR stretching frequencies of select cyclic and bicyclic oximes have been determined in dilute CCl 4 solution. The corresponding frequency shifts with varying ring strain for structurally related ketones, olefins, and oximes are compared. The relationships can be described by straight lines. The magnitude of the frequency shift parallels the electronegativity difference, and has been related to computed changes in the overlap integrals. Equations relating the oxime frequencies and the olefin frequencies to the CCC angle are given.
Measurement of optical trapping forces by use of the two-photon-excited fluorescence of microspheres

A novel technique for the calibration of laser trapping systems that utilizes two-photon-excited fluorescence of commercial dye-stained microspheres has been demonstrated. The trapping forces as well as the trapping efficiency have been measured for various liquid environments and trapping depths. The trapping efficiency in water was found to decrease with an increase of trapping depths because of the enlargement of the trapping beam waist caused by aberrations of the optical system.
Virgin islands bathymetric survey

Abstract A bathymetric survey in the vicinity of the Virgin Islands showed that Anegada and Jungfern Passages, which connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Caribbean Sea between the Virgin Islands Platform and St. Croix Island, are the deepes charted passages between the two seas. The 1,072-fathom sill depth of Jungfern Passage is the limiting factor in the exchange of deep water between the Atlantic Ocean and the Carribean Sea. Furthermore, it was found that the Virgin Islands Basin, which lies between Anegada and Jungfern Passages, has a flat floor 2,400 fathoms deep. It is bounded on the north and south by sea scarps having apparent slopes of 9 to 43 degrees. The eastern end of the basin is divided into two arms which embrace a 420-fathom sea knoll. Both these arms terminate at sills which separate them from Anegada Passage and St. Croix Basin. The western end of the basin is connected with a smaller basin, 2,200 fathoms deep, which is bordered by Jungfern Passage on the south and by Grappler Bank on the west.
Normalization of the Drell-Yan cross-section in QCD

Abstract We analyze the Drell-Yan cross section in perturbative QCD, resummed to include large corrections associated with threshold behavior in the partonic hard scattering. Resummed threshold corrections are known to exponentiate in the space of moments. Here, we derive an explicit expression for the hard scattering function directly in momentum space, as it appears in the factorized form of the cross section. We show that leading logarithms exponentiate, while non-leading contributions appear as calculable multiplicative corrections. We also discuss the range of validity of perturbation theory in the calculation of the hard scattering corrections. We conclude that our new resummed formula in momentum space organizes all large and order unity threshold corrections in the entire region where perturbation theory gives the dominant contribution. To evaluate the resummed form at this level of accuracy as an asymptotic series, it is only necessary to use existing one- and two-loop calculations.
Demand propagation in the extended enterprise: a comparative analysis of product and process design policies

In this paper, we investigate product and process design policies in the extended enterprise by studying the dynamics of supply-chain demand propagation. In particular, we focus on an integrated decision environment where data from multiple enterprises in the supply chain are used to coordinate production and material scheduling decisions in an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) system. In an earlier paper (Wu and Meixell 2005), we explored coordinated production planning in an extended enterprise and its impact on demand propagation using an analytical model that incorporated basic lot-sizing logic under fairly general settings. Here, we expand on these earlier findings using a designed experiment and simulation, and investigate design policies that drive supply-chain performance. Our primary objective is to compare the impact of four design policies—component standardization, design capacity, setup investment, and demand management—on demand propagation across multiple tiers in an integrated supply ...
A systems approach to assessing new petrochemical technology

Abstract Using a systems model of the petrochemical industry. it is shown that new petrochemical processes are more likely candidates for success if their introduction would result in better resource use by the industry as a whole. This principle is then used to estimate the relative probability of success for four recently developed processes. Such studies may be useful in modeling the long-range development of the industry and may assist the industry in setting long-range research and development goals.
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: controversies in treatment.

Neuroleptic agents were first introduced in 1954. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS), an idiosyncratic reaction to these agents. was described in 1968 by Delay and Deniker.’ Although rarely diagnosed. it may occur in 0.5% to 1% of patients treated with neuroleptics.’ NMS is characterized by fever, extrapyramidal dysfunction (muscle contraction), altered mental status, and autonomic abnormalities. Included in the autonomic abnormalities are hypertension, hypotension, vasoconstriction, tachycardia, and diaphoresis. This syndrome may occur in any patient taking any of the neuroleptics, including piperazine, piperidine, thioxanthene, butyrophenone, and thioridazine, regardless of duration of use. The potential for each of these drugs to cause NMS parallels their antidopaminergic potency.3 NMS may also occur in patients not taking neuroleptics. In one review of 53 cases, two cases were due to withdrawal of dopaminergic agonists and one case was due to amphetamines. NMS may occur at any time during the course of treatment including years after initiation of the drug. In some patients (slightly over 50%) the neuroleptic agent may even be reinstituted without recurrence of the syndrome.” The patient with NMS presents with fever (often greater than 106”). variable amounts of muscle rigidity, and often hypertension. The fever is caused primarily by increased heat production (from the muscle contraction) and decreased heat transfer (vasoconstriction). Temperature elevation may also be due to a central effect mediated by dopamine depletion. Patients frequently have an altered mental status secondary to the high fever. Levinson4 suggested diagnostic criteria involving major and minor manifestations. Major criteria include fever, rigidity, and elevated creatinine phosphokinase. Minor criteria include tachycardia, abnormal blood pressure, tachypnea, altered mental status, diaphoresis, and leukocytosis. To establish the diagnosis, Levinson suggests 3 major or 2 major plus 4 minor manifestations must be present as well as a suggestive clinical history.4 Keck proposed a similar diagnostic criteria that requires the presence of fever greater than 38.O”C. extrapyramidal effects, and autonomic dysfunction (with two or more manifestations including hypertension, tachycardia, tachypnea, diaphoresis, and incontinence).”
Strong x-ray emission from high-temperature plasmas produced by intense irradiation of clusters.

The interaction of an intense laser pulse with large ({similar_to}100 A) clusters present in pulsed gas jets is shown to produce novel plasmas with electron temperatures far in excess of that predicted by above-threshold ionization theory. The enhanced absorption of the laser light by the dense clusters results in the production of high ion charge states via collisional ionization resulting in strong x-ray emission from the hot plasma. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital The} {ital American} {ital Physical} {ital Society}.
Downregulation of H19 improves the differentiation potential of mouse parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells

Parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (P-ESCs) offer an alternative source of pluripotent cells, which hold great promise for autologous transplantation and regenerative medicine. P-ESCs have been successfully derived from blastocysts of several mammalian species. However, compared with biparental embryonic stem cells (B-ESCs), P-ESCs are limited in their ability to fully differentiate into all 3 germ layers. For example, it has been observed that there is a differentiation bias toward ectoderm derivatives at the expense of endoderm and mesoderm derivatives—muscle in particular—in chimeric embryos, teratomas, and embryoid bodies. In the present study we found that H19 expression was highly upregulated in P-ESCs with more than 6-fold overexpression compared with B-ESCs. Thus, we hypothesized that manipulation of the H19 gene in P-ESCs would alleviate their limitations and allow them to function like B-ESCs. To test this hypothesis we employed a small hairpin RNA approach to reduce the amount of H19 transcripts in mouse P-ESCs. We found that downregulation of H19 led to an increase of mesoderm-derived muscle and endoderm in P-ESCs teratomas similar to that observed in B-ESCs teratomas. This phenomenon coincided with upregulation of mesoderm-specific genes such as Myf5, Myf6, and MyoD. Moreover, H19 downregulated P-ESCs differentiated into a higher percentage of beating cardiomyocytes compared with control P-ESCs. Collectively, these results suggest that P-ESCs are amenable to molecular modifications that bring them functionally closer to true ESCs.
Failure of urethane anesthetic to block induction of pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in the rat.

Abstract SHIVERS, B. D. Failure of urethane anesthetic to block induction of pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase activity in the rat . BRAIN RES. BULL. 3 (6) 579–581, 1978.—Ability of urethane anesthetic to block induction of pineal serotonin N-acetyltransferase (SNAT; E.C.2.3.1.5) activity was measured in individual rat pineal glands in animals receiving urethane (25% w/v, IP, 1.2 g/kg) or saline, 6 hr prior to sacrifice. Using a radioenzymatic assay, SNAT determinations were made twice daily (at 1200 or 2400 hr) immediately after the sacrifice of each animal. The results show that urethane had no effect on the induction of SNAT activity: (1) implying that the neural activity of those structures involved in induction of SNAT activity (e.g., suprachiasmatic nucleus) is not substantially altered by this anesthetic and (2) suggesting that the central blockade of ovulation by urethane does not include alterations in suprachiasmatic nucleus activity.
Hyaluronic acid inhibits fetal platelet function: Implications in scarless healing

Abstract Platelets are important for the initiation of inflammation in adults, but the role of fetal platelets in fetal wound healing is unclear because fetal dermal wounds heal with a minimal inflammatory response and lack of excessive scarring. Because fetal tissue is abundant in glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), predominantly hyaluronic acid (HA), this study was designed to test the hypothesis that HA inhibits the reactivity of platelets and thus contributes to the minimal scarring characteristic of fetal tissue repair. Platelets were isolated from 10 fetal pigs at day 80 of gestation (term, 115 days) and exposed to 0.5 mg/mL of arachidonic acid, an agent shown in prior studies to evoke maximal aggregation and degranulation of fetal platelets. The ability of HA at 0.1 and 0.5 mg/mL to inhibit this response was determind. The presence of HA resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in platelet aggregation at 180 seconds (control, 99.7 ± 0.3%; HA [0.1 mg/mL] 91.7 ± 3.8%; and HA [0.5 mg/mL] 48.5 ± 9.0%; P v control). The onset of aggregation was also significantly delayed by 0.5 mg/mL of HA (13.5 ± 2.5 seconds) compared to control (2.9 ± 0.7 seconds), P
RanBP2 associates with Ubc9p and a modified form of RanGAP1

Ran is a small GTPase required for nuclear transport in eukaryotic cells [Gorlich, D. & Mattaj, I. W. (1996) Science 271, 1513–1518]. Mutants in Ran also show defects in mRNA processing, cell cycle regulation, and other aspects of nuclear function [Rush, M. G., Drivas, G. & D’Eustachio, P. (1996) BioEssays 18, 103–112; Sazer, S. (1996) Trends Cell Biol. 6, 81–85]. In an effort to understand the role of Ran in these diverse processes, we previously characterized 10 Ran interacting proteins (Rips) from Xenopus egg extracts. In this report, we present further characterization of a complex containing three of these Rips: p340RanBP2, p88, and p18. We have cloned the Xenopus homologue of RanGAP1, and we show here that p88 is a modified form of this protein. In RanGAP assays, the p340RanBP2–p88–p18 complex contains GTPase-activating protein activity, indicating that RanGAP1 is not inactivated by modification. Rather, modification of RanGAP1 appears to be linked to its association with p340RanBP2 because we did not observe unmodified RanGAP1 in p340RanBP2 immunoprecipitates. We have also characterized p18, and we found that it is the Xenopus homologue of Ubc9p, an E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that is required for cell cycle regulation [Seufert, W., Futcher, B. & Jentsch, S. (1995) Nature (London) 373, 78–81]. Using antibodies directed against Xenopus Ubc9p, we have confirmed that Ubc9p associates with p340RanBP2 in Xenopus extracts. These results suggest Ubc9p’s role in cell cycle regulation may involve either modification of nuclear transport substrates or the nuclear transport machinery.
Infrared and Raman Studies of Long-Wavelength Optical Phonons in Hexagonal Mo S 2

Infrared and Raman measurements of lattice vibrations in hexagonal Mo${\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ have been made over the combined range 20-4000 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. Two infrared-active modes at 384 and 470 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ and three Raman-active modes at 287, 383, and 409 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ have been observed. Classical dielectric oscillators are fitted to the reflectivity data, which are also analyzed by means of the Kramers-Kronig relations. The degeneracy of the ${E}_{1u}$ and ${E}_{2g}^{1}$ modes is interpreted as indicating that the layer-layer interaction is weak. All 15 optical modes are assigned to irreducible representations and their frequencies tabulated or predicted.
Calculus of variations derivation of the minimax linear-quadratic (H-infinity) controller

The linear-quadratic best controller for the worst bounded disturbances (LQW controller), or so-called Hoo controller, is derived as a differential game between the controller and disturber using the calculus of variations. This derivation explicitly shows that for the full-order LQW controller the worst measurement disturbance is zero (!) and the controller initial conditions must be set equal to the plant initial conditions for a well-posed differential game. As in previous derivations, the worst process disturbance is shown to be a feedback on the plant states. The derivation yields necessary conditions for reduced-order and higher order LQW controllers, useful in multiple-plan t optimization for robustness. A helicopter near hover is used to illustrate differences between LQW and linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) control. This comparison suggests the relative merits of LQG and LQW control design and shows that a special case of LQW control called infinite-disturbance LQW ("optimal" H«>} control is not practical.
Mesenchymal-epithelial interactions in sex differentiation.

Development of male and female accessory sexual glands is described in terms of the respective roles of epithelium and mesenchyme. During embryonic and neonatal periods mesenchyme alone exhibits androgen receptor activity (nuclear androgen binding sites) and is the actual target and mediator of the morphogenetic effects of androgens upon the epithelium. Mesenchyme induces specific patterns of epithelial morphogenesis, cytodifferentiation, and probably also specifies the functional (biochemical) activities of the epithelium. Mesenchymal influence upon expression of epithelial characteristics occurs in the perinatal period during morphogenesis, but also plays an important role in adulthood by maintaining favorable conditions for maintenance of epithelial morphology and function. Morphogenetic processes in adult hormone-dependent organs are thought to be mediated by stromal cells.
Fostering Students' Epistemologies of Models via Authentic Model-Based Tasks.

A curriculum unit for middle school Earth Science called “What's on Your Plate?” was designed. The unit was implemented in several middle and high school classrooms in California and Massachusetts. In the first implementation, the total number of students who participated was 1100. The unit was designed with two main pedagogical principles: make thinking visible, and help students learn from one another; both were derived from an inquiry-based framework. With these two main pedagogical principles as a larger guiding framework, we designed the curriculum to provide students with rich, iterative model-based activities for students to both learn with and provide criteria for them to critique their peers' work from the opposite coast. The goal here was to influence students' understanding of the domain as well as their understanding of the nature of models in science by engaging them in an authentic context in which they constructed and reasoned with models, as well as critiqued the models of their peers. Data from 15 classrooms is described both in terms of the gains students made of their understanding of the nature of models as measured by pencil and paper survey administered both before and after the unit. In addition, a small subset of students' data is shown to illustrate advances in students' understanding of models. Lastly, we show how students with more sophisticated epistemologies of models are better able to further their content understanding as compared to students with less sophisticated epistemologies of models.
A Psychometric Study of a Criterion-Referenced Assessment Instrument Designed For Infants and Young Children

The Evaluation and Programming System: For Infants and Young Children. Assessment Level I: Developmentally 1 Month to 3 Years (EPS-I) is an experimental assessment Instrument designed for children functioning developmentally between birth and three years of age. This instrument was designed to provide Information that can be used to develop educational programs and as a tool to assess program effectiveness. Although perhaps a viable option for professional working with young handicapped children, the ESP-I lacked technical information reflecting the extent to which it is a reliable and valid Instrument.The purpose of this study was to investigate selected psychometric properties of the ESP-I. Interobserver agreement and temporal stability were examined as a measure of test reliability. Comparisons between ESP-I scores and standardized test scores and parent ratings of childrens' skills and abilities were examined as a measure of test validity. In addition, this study examined the instrument's usefulness f...
Position and Movement Detection of Wireless Sensor Network Devices Relative to a Landmark Graph

We present a novel probabilistic framework for reliable indoor positioning of mobile sensor network devices. Compared to existing approaches, ours adopts complex computations in exchange for high localization accuracy while needing low hardware investment and moderate set-up cost. To that end, we use full distributional information on signal measurements at a set of discrete locations, termed landmarks. Positioning of a mobile device is done relative to the resulting landmark graph and the device can be found near a landmark or in the area between two landmarks. Key elements of our approach include profiling the signal measurement distributions over the coverage area using a special interpolation technique; a two-tier statistical positioning scheme that improves efficiency by adding movement detection; and joint clusterhead placement optimization for both localization and movement detection. The proposed system is practical and has been implemented using standard wireless sensor network hardware. Experimentally, our system achieved an accuracy equivalent to less than 5 meters with 95 percent success probability and less than 3 meters with an 87 percent success probability. This performance is superior to well-known contemporary systems that use similar low-cost hardware.
Restoration of adrenal function after bilateral adrenal damage due to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT): a case report

Patients with bilateral adrenal damage due to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia usually need lifelong steroid substitution. So far, no data exists about the natural evolution of such a condition, especially about adrenal function recovery and the real need for lifelong steroids.
Tax and Non-Tax Incentives and Investments: Evidence and Policy Implications

This paper analyzes the role of Tax Incentives in promoting investment, their effectiveness and their revenue and other costs and political economy. The paper consolidates econometric work on the topic done by the authors covering the Caribbean, Francophone Africa and India; surveys of Investors in Jordan, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Serbia; and literature review. Building on existing literature on the subject and country experience with Incentives, the paper then examines the role of Investment Climate on the effectiveness of Incentives. Using cross-country data the paper finds that fiscal Incentives are particularly ineffective in attracting Investment in countries with poor Investment Climate. This is striking because it broadly supports country experience with incentives having been used successfully to encourage investment in some countries while failing in others. Very recent evidence suggests that governance has a similar effect with low tax rates being more effective in attracting foreign investments in better governed countries. Both these point to the importance a strong Investment Climate as well as strong institutions as a pre-requisite for the effectiveness of any investment promotion scheme using Incentives. The policy implications for a sound Incentive policy as well as the management and administration of Incentives are discussed.
Multi-objective control synthesis with mixed frequency small gain specifications: Youla parameterization approach

This paper considers the multi-objective synthesis problem for linear discrete-time systems with mixed frequency small gain specifications. As a starting point, the closed-loop systems are affinely parameterized with the Youla parameterization and the search of the Youla parameter is confined to finite-dimensional subspaces. Instead of starting with all arbitrary stabilizing controllers, the so-called mixed controller is used to define the Youla parameterization in order to reduce the order of the Youla parameter and achieve an acceptable closed-loop performance. Subsequently, mixed frequency small gain specifications are formulated in terms of the solvability of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the design procedure and the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparison with the existing one.
Information-Integration Category Learning in Patients With Striatal Dysfunction

Information-integration category learning was examined in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and in healthy control participants in 2 different conditions. In the linear condition, optimal categorization required a nonverbalizable linear integration of information from the 2 stimulus dimensions, whereas in the nonlinear condition, a nonlinear integration of information was required. Each participant completed 600 trials in each condition and was given corrective feedback following each trial. Results indicated that PD patients were not impaired in the linear condition across all trials, whereas the same patients were impaired in the nonlinear condition, but only later in training. The authors conducted model-based analyses to identify participants who used an information-integration approach, and a comparison of the accuracy rates of those individuals further revealed a specific deficit in information-integration category learning in patients with PD. These findings suggest that the striatum may be particularly involved in information-integration category learning when the rule is highly complex.
Fair Highway Networks A New Approach to Eliminate Congestion on Metropolitan Freeways

This article presents an innovative road pricing strategy, known as FAIR (fast and intertwined regular) highway networks, that could make great strides in achieving national, state and local transportation goals. The FAIR strategy converts the existing metropolitan freeway network into a premium-service, free-flowing freeway network during peak periods that provides new fast, frequent and inexpensive bus service, free premium service for carpools, and premium service for single occupant vehicles paying a variable toll. An intertwined network of improved free arterial routes would be featured. Credits or refunds of peak charges for low-income commuters would be offered to address equity impacts and to reduce the incentive for them to divert to an alternative free route. A FAIR highway network would be self-financing and net significant social benefits. Surpluses may also be available to address new transportation capacity needs in growing areas. Although public acceptance would be a major challenge, the FAIR highway network concept could gain support from transportation stakeholders if its benefits are carefully explained. A pilot project could also be implemented to demonstrate the concept's effectiveness and feasibility.
A compact abstraction of manufacturing nodes in a supply network

This paper presents the abstraction process to support a modular approach for simulating semiconductor supply networks by modelling each node in the network as a 'Functional Block'. In particular, a functional block to represent wafer fabrication facilities is developed, which strikes a suitable balance between a high level abstraction and modelling the detailed complexities of a manufacturing facility. We demonstrate that the model is able to produce performance estimates (average Cycle Time (CT) and Throughput (TH)) that resemble the behaviour of real-life systems and are accurate with respect to comparisons with a detailed Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model.
Energy efficient node engagement strategies for achieving data fidelity in wireless sensor networks

Sensor networks have gained importance in tracking of vital information. The accuracy of the sensor readings plays a major role in crucial applications like military and defense operations, and environment monitoring where the error margin has to be extremely small. In addition, sensor nodes are typically constrained in their computation, communication, and energy capacities and there is usually a need for managing sensor activities to utilize these limited resources in a judicious manner. Therefore, a participation criterion for the sensor nodes to balance fidelity of the collected data and conservation of nodes resources is important. This paper presents a novel node engagement strategy. The idea is to convoy a subset of the collected data reports while ensuring consensus of the nodes. Basically, nodes rotate transmission duties among neighbors. The data sent to the base-station will be based on the readings of the designated sensor. The neighboring nodes will act as passive listeners and stay quiet if the data does not deviate significantly from their measurements, which implies their endorsement of the accuracy of what the base-station will get. Otherwise, a subset of these nodes comes forward and transmits their readings so that the base-station can aggregate and accurately estimate the true value. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of energy conservation and responsiveness to drops in data fidelity.
A High Throughput Microfluidic Bioparticle Sensor

A micromachined resistive pulse sensor with multiple sensing microchannels was fabricated and tested. The device has multiple sensing channels operating in parallel, but integrated with just one sample reservoir and one power source. The throughput is improved significantly in comparison to a single channel device. The results with this four-channel device show that this device is capable of differentiating and counting micro polymethacrylate particles and Juniper pollens rapidly. A unique design, placing measurement microelectrodes in the center of the microchannels to circumvent the crosstalk caused by automatic electrical connection among microchannels is demonstrated.
GPR56 Inhibits Melanoma Growth by Internalizing and Degrading Its Ligand TG2

Excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) is a hallmark of tumor microenvironment and plays active roles during tumor progression. How this process is regulated and whether it is reversible for cancer treatment are outstanding questions. The adhesion G protein-coupled receptor GPR56 inhibits melanoma growth and binds to tissue transglutaminase (TG2), a major crosslinking enzyme in ECM. To understand the function of TG2 in GPR56-mediated melanoma inhibition, we performed xenograft studies in immunodeficient Tg2(-/-) mice. Our results revealed an antagonistic relationship between GPR56 and TG2 in melanoma, although TG2 and its crosslinking activity promote melanoma growth, GPR56 antagonizes this effect by internalizing and degrading it. The negative regulation of TG2 by GPR56 associates with the decreased deposition of a major ECM protein, fibronectin, and impaired accumulation of focal adhesion kinase, indicating that the GPR56-TG2 interaction regulates ECM deposition and cell-ECM adhesion. Taken together, our findings establish the roles of TG2 in GPR56-mediated melanoma inhibition. The uncovered antagonistic relationship between GPR56 and TG2 proposes a mechanism by which ECM accumulation/crosslinking in tumors may be reversed, and thus could have therapeutic potential for cancer control and treatment.
Neuroligin-1 knockdown reduces survival of adult-generated newborn hippocampal neurons

Survival of adult-born hippocampal granule cells is modulated by neural activity, and thought to be enhanced by excitatory synaptic signaling. Here, we report that a reduction in the synaptogenic protein neuroligin-1 in adult-born neurons in vivo decreased their survival, but surprisingly, this effect was independent of changes in excitatory synaptic function. Instead, the decreased survival was associated with unexpected changes in dendrite and spine morphology during granule cell maturation, suggesting a link between cell growth and survival.
Financial Model to Assess Value Capture Potential of a Roadway Project

Value capture refers to the process by which all or a portion of increments in land value attributed to community efforts rather than to landowner actions are recovered by the public sector. As such, it is a form of a public–private partnership. It is widely used across the country and around the world for transit applications; however, its applications to roadways have only recently emerged into discussions of roadway finance, out of motivation stemming from the transportation funding crisis. Two states have legislative provisions for enabling value capture for financing transportation. In Texas, this takes the form of a transportation reinvestment zone (TRZ). This paper presents specifications for a TRZ based on a case study approach and then applies a financial evaluation model based on those specifications to a case study corridor in El Paso, Texas, to assess preliminary revenue sources and cash flows that can be accrued for value capture bonding capacity.
Factors Influencing the Intention to Quit Drinking Alcohol Among African American/Black Pregnant Women

Factors influencing the intention to quit drinking alcohol among pregnant African American/Black women in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, California were investigated using the theory of planned behavior. Qualitative data were collected via focus groups from 22 pregnant women to ascertain behavioral outcomes, normative, and control beliefs associated with drinking during pregnancy. These data were used to develop a quantitative questionnaire. One hundred forty eight questionnaires were analyzed. Most of the women (86%) reported current alcohol use and 14% were former users. When adjusted for attenuation the correlation of intention with perceived control was .89, attitude .80, and subjective norm .77 all of which were statistically significant. The prediction of these three from their underlying beliefs provides insight into factors which may need to be changed to reduce alcohol use by pregnant African American/ Black women.
Crystal Field Effects and the Co-Operative State. I. A Primitive Theory

A primitive theory is developed for treating magnetic substances where exchange interaction is comparable with crystal field effects. The properties primarily considered are the Curie temperature and the saturation magnetization at 0$^\circ$K; the possibility of anisotropic exchange effects is considered briefly. Approximate formulae are found for the case where matrix elements of the exchange interaction between two low-lying states only are important. A fuller analysis is given for the special case of two singlet states, and the conditions for a co-operative state are compared with those for an unsplit doublet.
Ventricular arrhythmias originating from a papillary muscle in patients without prior infarction: a comparison with fascicular arrhythmias.

Background The papillary muscles (PAP) have been implicated in arrhythmogenesis, largely based on theoretical considerations and experimental studies. Few clinical studies have described papillary muscle arrhythmias. Objective This study sought to describe ventricular arrhythmias arising from the left ventricular PAPs in a consecutive series of patients without prior myocardial infarction and to compare these arrhythmias with fascicular arrhythmias. Methods Nine of 122 consecutive patients (7%) presenting with symptomatic premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) were found to have a site of origin in the anterolateral or posteromedial left ventricular PAP. Their mean age was 57 ± 9 years, and the mean ejection fraction was 0.49 ± 13. Four of 9 patients had idiopathic cardiomyopathy. The PAP involvement was established by intracardiac echocardiography. Eight of the 122 patients (6.5%) had idiopathic VT originating in the left anterior or posterior fascicle, and these patients served as a control group. Results Compared with patients with fascicular arrhythmias, the QRS width was significantly greater in patients with PAP arrhythmias (150 ± 15 ms vs. 127 ± 11 ms; P = .001). Presystolic Purkinje potentials were identified at all effective ablation sites for fascicular arrhythmias, but in arrhythmias originating from PAPs, more distal Purkinje potentials often were recorded from the Purkinje–myocardial interface located at the PAP. All arrhythmias originating from the PAPs and the fascicles were effectively ablated. Echocardiography before and after radiofrequency ablation did not show new or worsened mitral insufficiency. Conclusion The PAPs can give rise to ventricular arrhythmias in normal and structurally abnormal hearts without prior infarcts. Intracardiac echocardiography seems helpful in recognizing and guiding radiofrequency ablation of PAP arrhythmias.
Gamma irradiation of adult horn flies

The most practical method of sterilizing Haematobia irritans (L.) was to irradiate adults within 0 to 18 h after emergence. A dose of 2.5 krad from /sup 137/Cs resulted in more than 99 percent sterility of males and 100 percent infecundity of females. Competitiveness decreased slightly in laboratory tests when the dose was increased from 2.0 to 2.5 krad. This slight decrease was acceptable for large-scale use of the sterile males. Large (outdoor)-cage tests gave similar results.
Understanding Climate Change as an Existential Threat: Confronting Climate Denial as a Challenge to Climate Ethics

Climate change cannot be managed by experts and politicians alone. Consequently, climate ethics must take up the challenge of inviting public responsibility on this issue. New sociological research on climate denial by Kari Norgaard, however, suggests that most citizens of industrialized countries are ill-prepared to cope with the ethical significance of climate change. I draw upon Martin Heidegger to offer a new reading of climate denial that suggests viable responses to this problem. I argue that the implications of climate change are largely received as an ‘existential threat’ to the extent that they endanger the integrity of everyday existence. In other words, the implications of climate change for everyday life unsettle what phenomenologists call the ‘lifeworld’. Should basic lifeworld assumptions, which cultures rely on to makes sense of the world and their purposes in it, come under serious question, anxieties surface that most people are profoundly motivated to avoid. Hence, the ethical obligations entailed by climate change are ‘denied’ in the form of protecting lifeworld integrity for the sake of containing anxieties that would otherwise overwhelm people. Finally, I submit that existential approaches to climate denial can empower a confrontation with ‘climate anxiety’ in ways that open up ethical reflection.
c4-Heptenal: An Influential Volatile Compound in Boiled Potato Flavor

Analysis of headspace volatile concentrates from freshly boiled Russet Burbank potatoes revealed a variety of lipid oxidation products including t2,c6-nonadienal which is further degraded to c4-heptenal through a water-mediated retro-aldol condensation reaction. Dilute aqueous solutions of c4-heptenal exhibited boiled potato-like aromas, and at relatively high concentrations (greater than 0.7 ppb) added c4-heptenal contributed distinct staling-type flavor defects to both fresh, mashed potatoes and reconstituted dehydrated potatoes. When added at levels between 0.1–0.4 ppb, c4-heptenal enhanced overall earthy, potato-like flavors in freshly boiled mashed potatoes, but these levels caused stale flavors in reconstituted dehydrated potatoes.
Stochastic voting algorithms for Web services group testing

This paper proposes a stochastic voting for testing a large number of Web services (WS) under group testing. In the future, a large number of WS would be available and they need to be tested and evaluated in real time. While numerous test input generation techniques are available to generate test inputs, the oracle or the expected output of these test input is often difficult to obtain. One way to obtain the oracle in this case is to give the same input to multiple WS and to establish the oracle by a majority voting. This is based on the assumption that faulty WS often would not produce consistent results, and thus if a majority can be reached, the oracle can be established statistically. However, even correct WS may still produce slightly different outputs, and thus the majority-voting scheme must be carefully designed to distinguish correct but slightly variant output from truly incorrect output. This paper proposes a hierarchical classification based on simulated annealing and multi-dimensional Chi-square statistical techniques to analyze data to see if a majority can be reached. The algorithm is evaluated by a comprehensive simulated data as well as actual data. The data show that the proposed algorithm is effective even in a difficult situation where clusters of WS produce clusters of output.
Developing a Dynamics and Vibrations Course for Civil Engineering Students Based on Fundamental-Principles

This paper describes the creation and evolution of an undergraduate dynamics and vibrations course for civil engineering students. Incorporating vibrations into the course allows students to see and study real civil engineering applications of the course content. This connection of academic principles to real life situations is in itself a critical learning stage for the students, and addressing the creation of these connections led to the incorporation of active demonstrations into the course. The course also focuses on developing skills through various active learning strategies that can be transferred to other non-structural engineering courses, such as problem solving and critical thinking, as well as ABET skills such as teamwork and the utilization of computer tools. This paper presents how designing a course structure and implementation with the explicit consideration of developing these critical skills aids students in mastering both course content and in enhancing their educational development. Results of increased student performance due to the synthesis of strategies incorporated into the course are presented, including performance in a later course as well as in the dynamics portion of the Fundamentals of Engineering exam.