cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Active Damping Wheel-Torque Control System to Reduce Driveline Oscillations in a Power-Split Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Power-split hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) provide a great opportunity to improve fuel economy and emissions. This power-split hybrid system has inherent low damping in driveline since it uses planetary gear sets to directly connect the engine, the generator, and the motor to the driveline for improved vehicle efficiency, thus lacking a clutch or a torque converter that provides the conventional vehicles with driveline damping. When they are subjected to acceleration or disturbances, the low damping in the driveline may cause torsional vibrations. Since the power-split control system is closed loop in nature, these torsional vibrations can result in sustained driveline oscillations. These oscillations can be very objectionable to the driver as they affect the vehicle's drivability. In this paper, we present the design of an active damping wheel-torque control system to suppress such oscillations to improve the drivability of a power-split HEV. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported use of an active damping wheel-torque control system to suppress the driveline oscillations in a power-split HEV. Simulations in a power-split HEV environment and experimental tests in the field using a Ford Escape Hybrid demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system in suppressing the oscillations. The driveline disturbances are suppressed to below the perceptible level of wheel torque (<100 Nmiddotm). Additional simulations are performed to validate the system to other key factors that can affect its performance. Even with increased motor/generator disturbances by a factor of 2 and change in driveline stiffness of plusmn50%, the proposed control system can still effectively suppress driveline oscillations and thereby improve drivability.
Proactive product quality control: An integrated product and process control approach to MIMO systems

Real-time control of product performance parameters is a key for proactive quality control (QC), as it can prevent the occurrence of potential quality problems in the earliest stage of manufacturing. It is recognized that dynamic product QC must be coordinated with the control of the process through which the product is manufactured. The integrated product and process control (IPPC) design methodology introduced recently is a proven approach to the simultaneous control of both the product quality and the process performance. In this paper, a general IPPC design methodology for multi-input–multi-output (MIMO) systems is introduced. A case study on polymeric coating curing shows that the resulting control system is capable of effectively tracking the set-points of both the product and the process, and demonstrating a satisfactory performance in rejecting disturbances, thereby ensuring achievement of desirable product quality and process performance.
Performance evaluation of multiple access techniques in land mobile satellite networks

The performances of four different multiple-access techniques for land-mobile satellite networks are compared. These multiple-access techniques are: slotted ALOHA, slow frequency-hopping and two reservation schemes. A hybrid automatic-repeat-request (ARQ) scheme based on Reed-Solomon codes is used to combat the error bursts resulting from multipath fading and shadowing. The advantages of using symbol interleaving and erasure decoding are demonstrated. The effect of such parameters as the rate of the forward error correction code, the guard time, and the error rate on the acknowledgment channel is evaluated. >
Natural selection and glucocorticoid physiology

Glucocorticoid hormones are considered potent modulators of trade-offs between reproduction and survival. As such, selection should affect glucocorticoid physiology, although relatively little is known about how selection may act on glucocorticoid profiles. In general, the evolution of physiology is less studied and less well understood than morphological or life history traits. Here, we used a long-term data set from a population of mountain white-crowned sparrows to estimate natural selection on glucocorticoid profiles. Our study suggests that survival selection favours higher hormone concentrations for multiple components of glucocorticoid physiology (both baseline and stress-induced glucocorticoid levels). Fecundity selection varies depending on the component of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal physiology; greater reproductive output was associated with higher baseline glucocorticoid levels, but lower stress-induced glucocorticoid levels. Additionally, the selection gradient was greater for glucocorticoids than for a morphological trait (wing length). These results support the hypothesis that stress-induced glucocorticoids increase survival over reproduction within a wild population (the CORT-trade-off hypothesis). Taken together, these results add to our knowledge of how selection operates on physiological traits and also provide an evolutionary and ecological perspective on several key open issues in the field of glucocorticoid physiology.
Correlation Analyses Reveal a Substantial Influence of Allelic Gaps on the Investigation of Genetic Diversity of Modern Human Populations with Microsatellites

High intra-population genetic diversity and multiple measures of genetic variability at STR loci are useful in inferring past evolutionary history. However, STRs, categorized by their repeat motif size, differ in a number of aspects, requiring separate analyses. We analyzed 783 STRs in 36 worldwide populations to examine marker suitability as well as correlations between various measurements, to evaluate the extent of genomic diversity present in modern human populations. The loci were grouped by type and analyzed separately for each population group. Genetic variation defined by gene diversity and allele size variance, shows different trends of variation across four types of STRs. Additionally, there is little variation of genetic diversity, but there is decreased allelic size variance with increasing repeat motifs. A poor correlation between genetic diversity and allelic size variance across loci in all groups for Di-STRs is probably caused by the presence of allelic size gaps. In contrast, allelic size variance, genetic diversity, and number of alleles are strongly correlated with both tri- and tetra-STRs. The positive correlation of allelic size variance and presence of gaps within the range of allelic sizes in Di-STRs alone explains these observations. An unexpected high imbalance index (beta) at Di-STRs due to high allelic size variance also supports this assertion.
An Individualized Problem-Solving Approach for Teaching Choral Phrase Shaping An Experimental Study

This experiment tested a treatment designed to improve choral students' expressiveness regarding keyword emphasis and phrase shaping. The treatment was founded upon the constructivist belief that students actively construct conceptual knowledge through problem solving. Participants were 46 university students randomly selected from a nonauditioned choir. A time-series design and backward-elimination ANOVA was used to produce and analyze the data. A treatment effect was found for both keyword emphasis and phrase shaping. Implications suggest that choral educators may increase students' ability and propensity to independently interpret music in terms of keyword emphasis and phrase shaping by providing problem-solving opportunities to students.
Timing recovery in free space direct detection optical communication systems with PPM signaling

A practical timing recovery subsystem for a direct detection optical communication system that uses Q=4 pulse position modulation (PPM) signaling at 25 Mb/s is described. The system consists of an AlGaAs laser diode transmitter and an avalanche photodiode (APD) photodetector. The PPM slot clock is recovered with a transition detector followed by a phase lock loop (PLL). The PPM word clock is recovered by tracking pairs of back-to-back PPM pulses in the received random PPM data sequences with another PLL. The system is capable of acquiring and maintaining slot and word synchronization at greater than 20 average detected photons per information bit (40 photons/PPM pulse). >
High-Throughput Cooperative Communications with Complex Field Network Coding

Relay-based cooperative communications can achieve spatial diversity gains, enhance coverage and potentially increase capacity. If considered for large networks, traditional relaying schemes suffer from spectral inefficiency that can be improved through network coding at a physical layer. These considerations motivate the complex field network coding (CFNC) scheme proposed in this paper. As opposed to network coding over Galois field, where wireless links cannot improve throughput limitations as the number of sources increases, CFNC achieves throughput as high as 1/2 symbol per source per time slot. With improved throughput, CFNC-based relaying achieves full diversity gain regardless of the channel signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and the underlying constellation, and is general enough to incorporate transmissions from sources to a common destination as well as information exchange among the sources at the same time.
Shp-2 tyrosine phosphatase functions as a negative regulator of the interferon-stimulated Jak/STAT pathway.

Shp-2 is an SH2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase. Although the mechanism remains to be defined, substantial experimental data suggest that Shp-2 is primarily a positive regulator in cell growth and development. We present evidence here that Shp-2, while acting to promote mitogenic signals, also functions as a negative effector in interferon (IFN)-induced growth-inhibitory and apoptotic pathways. Treatment of mouse fibroblast cells lacking a functional Shp-2 with IFN-alpha or IFN-gamma resulted in an augmented suppression of cell viability compared to that of wild-type cells. To dissect the molecular mechanism, we examined IFN-induced activation of signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) by electrophoretic mobility shift assay, using a specific DNA probe (hSIE). The amounts of STAT proteins bound to hSIE upon IFN-alpha or IFN-gamma stimulation were significantly increased in Shp-2(-/-) cells. Consistently, tyrosine phosphorylation levels of Stat1 upon IFN-gamma treatment and, to a lesser extent, upon IFN-alpha stimulation were markedly elevated in mutant cells. Furthermore, IFN-gamma induced a higher level of caspase 1 expression in Shp-2(-/-) cells than in wild-type cells. Reintroduction of wild-type Shp-2 protein reversed the hypersensitivity of Shp-2(-/-) fibroblasts to the cytotoxic effect of IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma. Excessive activation of STATs by IFNs was also diminished in mutant cells in which Shp-2 had been reintroduced. Together, these results establish that Shp-2 functions as a negative regulator of the Jak/STAT pathway. We propose that Shp-2 acts to promote cell growth and survival through two mechanisms, i.e., the stimulation of growth factor-initiated mitogenic pathways and the suppression of cytotoxic effect elicited by cytokines, such as IFNs.
Cellular Glutathione Peroxidase Is the Mediator of Body Selenium To Protect against Paraquat Lethality in Transgenic Mice

The antioxidative role of Se-dependent cellular glutathione peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.9, GPX1) in vivo has not been established. Our objective was to determine the effects of GPX1 knockout or overexpression on the susceptibility of mice to paraquat toxicity and the contributions of GPX1, compared with other selenoproteins and vitamin E, to body defenses against such acute oxidative stress. Four experiments were conducted using 111 GPX1 knockout or overexpressing mice and the respective controls. Mice were fed diets supplemented with Se (as sodium selenite) at 0-0.4 mg/kg and/or all-rac-alpha-tocopheryl acetate at 0-75 mg/kg before intraperitoneal injections of 12.5, 50 or 125 mg paraquat/kg body weight. All mice that received 50 or 125 mg paraquat/kg died spontaneously, and the survival time of mice was (independent of dietary levels of Se per se or alpha-tocopheryl acetate) solely a function of tissue GPX1 activity (P < 0.001). Severe acute pulmonary interstitial necrosis was found only in the GPX1 overexpressing mice and the controls that had extended survival time. Thiobarbituric acid reacting substances in postmortem liver inversely correlated with the tissue GPX1 activity and dietary levels of Se and/or alpha-tocopheryl acetate. In contrast, all mice that received 12.5 mg paraquat/kg survived and were killed 2 wk after the injection for tissue collection. Compared with the saline injection, this low dose of paraquat resulted in greater (P < 0.001) liver and lung F2-isoprostanes in both the GPX1 knockout mice and the controls. However, there was no difference in plasma alanine transaminase (EC 2.6.1.2) activity or overt injuries in liver, lung and kidney in either group. Our data indicate that GPX1 is the major, if not the only, metabolic form of body Se that protects mice against the lethal oxidative stress caused by high levels of paraquat; it seems less important, however, in protecting mice against the moderate oxidative stress by the low level of paraquat.
A meta-analysis of occupational trichloroethylene exposure and multiple myeloma or leukaemia.

Background Trichloroethylene (TCE) has been widely used as an industrial solvent and degreasing agent. Aims We conducted a meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies of occupational TCE exposure and multiple myeloma (MM) or leukaemia. Methods We identified a total of eight cohort or case-control studies that enumerated a TCE-exposed study population and presented relative risk (RR) estimates for MM (n = 7) and/or leukaemia (n = 7). The individual studies included aerospace or aircraft workers (n = 3 studies), workers from a transformer manufacturing plant (n = 1 study) and workers from numerous occupations who, based on biomonitoring or extensive industrial hygiene exposure measurements, were likely exposed to TCE (n = 4). We used random effects models to calculate summary relative risk estimates (SRRE). In addition, we examined heterogeneity across studies and the relative influence of each individual study on the overall meta-analysis. Results No association was observed for MM (SRRE = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.80-1.38; P value for heterogeneity = 0.94) or leukaemia (SRRE = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.93-1.32; P value for heterogeneity = 0.50), based on TCE-exposed subgroup meta-analyses. Study-specific RR estimates for MM ranged between 0.57 and 1.62. RRs for leukaemia ranged between 1.05 and 1.15 in five studies, while one study reported a 2-fold increased RR and another study reported an inverse association of 0.60. All confidence intervals (CIs) for study-specific estimates included 1.0. Conclusions The results of this meta-analysis do not support an etiologic association between occupational TCE exposure and risk of MM or leukaemia.
Unit commitment using the ant colony search algorithm

The paper presents an ant colony search algorithm (ACSA)-based approach to solve the unit commitment (UC) problem. This ACSA algorithm is a relatively new meta-heuristic for solving hard combinatorial optimization problems. It is a population-based approach that uses exploitation of positive feedback, distributed computation as well as a constructive greedy heuristic. Positive feedback is for fast discovery of good solutions, distributed computation avoids early convergence, and the greedy heuristic helps find adequate solutions in the early stages of the search process. The ACSA was inspired from natural behavior of the ant colonies on how they find the food source and bring them back to their nest by building the unique trail formation. The UC problem solved using the proposed approach is subject to real power balance, real power operating limits of generating units, spinning reserve, start up cost, and minimum up and down time constraints. The proposed approach determines the search space of multi-stage scheduling followed by considering the unit transition related constraints during the process of state transition. The paper describes the proposed approach and presents test results on a 10-unit test system that demonstrates its effectiveness in solving the UC problem.
The Evolution of Social Ties Online: A Longitudinal Study in a Massively Multiplayer Online Game

How do social ties in online worlds evolve over time? This research examined the dynamic processes of relationship formation, maintenance, and demise in a massively multiplayer online game. Drawing from evolutionary and ecological theories of social networks, this study focuses on the impact of three sets of evolutionary factors in the context of social relationships in the online game EverQuest II (EQII): the aging and maturation processes, social architecture of the game, and homophily and proximity. A longitudinal analysis of tie persistence and decay demonstrated the transient nature of social relationships in EQII, but ties became considerably more durable over time. Also, character level similarity, shared guild membership, and geographic proximity were powerful mechanisms in preserving social relationships.
Modeling and interpreting the seismic-reflection expression of sandstone in an ancient mass-transport deposit dominated deep-water slope environment

Subsurface mass-transport deposits (MTDs) commonly have a chaotic seismic-reflection response. Synthetic seismic-reflection profiles, created from a precise lithological model, are used to interpret reflection character and depositional geometries at multiple frequencies. The lithological model was created from an outcrop of deep-water lithofacies where sandstone deposition was influenced by mass-transport deposit topography. The influence of MTD topography on sandstone distribution should be considered in reservoir characterization and modeling when MTDs underlie the reservoir, especially if the reservoir is thin relative to the scale of the topography. MTD topography up to several tens of meters in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions (relative to local elevation) compartmentalizes significant quantities of sandstone and is not resolved at lower seismic-reflection frequencies. The resolvability of thick (up to 70 m) sandstone packages is hindered when they are encased in MTDs of at least equivalent thickness. Lateral and vertical changes in seismic-reflection character (e.g., amplitude, polarity, geometry) of sandstone packages in the synthetic profiles are due to lithology changes, tuning effects, resolution limits, and depositional geometries, which are corroborated by the lithological model. Similar reflection-character changes are observed in an actual seismic-reflection profile, of comparable scale to the synthetic profiles, from the Gulf of Mexico, which demonstrates similar lithofacies distributions. Synthetic profiles, when constrained by a precise lithological model, are particularly useful analogues for interpretation of lithofacies relationships, and depositional geometries, in complicated depositional environments, such as deep-water slope deposits.
A 250-year annual precipitation reconstruction and drought assessment for Cyprus from Pinus brutia Ten. tree-rings

Precipitation around Cyprus, a relatively small island, is generally consistent in year-to-year variation in all dimensions except amplitude, with the higher elevations in the west generally receiving more precipitation. An annual record of precipitation was found in tree-rings of the predominant pine species, Pinus brutia Ten., which grows from the lower foothills up to 1400 m in altitude across the island. Tree-ring chronologies from four sites in west-central Cyprus are used here to reconstruct the annual September to August precipitation and a drought record for AD 1830-2006, with the drought reconstruction extending back to 1756. A minimum of 40% of the variance in annual precipitation and drought occurrence is explained by the variance in the tree-ring widths in all cases. Our drought assessment indicates that, on average, annual droughts occur once every 5 years and sustained droughts, 2-6 years in length, have occurred in small clusters of time, from 1806-1824, 1915-1934 and 1986-2000, when the winter North Atlantic Oscillation was in a predominantly positive phase. These results suggest that a sustained drought period has a mean return time probability of one in 70-100 years. This study provides the first long-term annual precipitation reconstruction and drought assessment at low to mid-elevations for Cyprus and will aid in future plans for drought mitigation.
Approximations for the renewal function

This paper describes an accurate, computable approximation for evaluating the renewal function (RF). The method uses Pade approximants to compute the RF near the origin and switches to the asymptotic values farther from the origin. There is a polynomial switch-over function in terms of the coefficient of variation of the distribution, enabling one to determine a priori if the asymptotic value can be used instead of computing the Pade approximant. The results are tested with the truncated Gaussian distribution. The method yields a set of approximants to the RF that are re-usable, and can be used to compute the derivative and the integral of the RF. Results for the RF are within 1% of the optimal solution for most coefficients of variation.
Mapping Diseased Oak Trees Using ADAR Imagery

We investigated the ability of high spatial-resolution 4-band imagery (Airborne Digital Acquisition and Registration - ADAR) to discern moisture stress in trees affected by Sudden Oak Death (SOD). We wanted to test if the imagery could be used to distinguish between green oak trees with advanced SOD trunk symptoms, and green oaks with no SOD trunk symptoms. ADAR imagery of China Camp State Park in Marin County, California was flown in spring 2000 and 2001. Training samples from the field consisting of the locations green healthy oaks and green symptomatic oaks were used to derive spectral signatures for the two classes. Both hierarchical unsupervised classification (HUC) and maximum likelihood classification (MLC) were used to classify the imagery. Accuracy assessment and other spectral measurements were performed to analyze the separability of the two signatures. Poor overall accuracy 55.17% was obtained by the HUC method. A better overall accuracy 74.19% was obtained by MLC method, but the low transformed divergence (1448) indicated poor separability of the training samples. The poor accuracy results can be explained by the fact that ADAR image has relatively broad spectral bands that combine narrow moisture- stress-sensitive regions with broader stress-insensitive regions; such combination could decrease the capability of ADAR to detect moisture stress. In addition, healthy oaks in the area display a marked variability in canopy condition, making it difficult to separate healthy trees from those experiencing some stress. In conclusion, this research indicated the inability to automate mapping of moisture stress in oaks using ADAR imagery, and limited success in using methods that require extensive field data.
Agouti-related peptide plays a critical role in leptin's effects on female puberty and reproduction

Deficient leptin signaling causes infertility via reduced activity of GnRH neurons, causing a hypogonadal state in both rodents and humans. Because GnRH neurons do not express leptin receptors, lep...
The l-4946 leukemia in the cf1 mouse.

Mittels Ultrazentrifugation von infektioser Ascitesflussigkeit bei 125.000×g und einem gereinigten zellfreien Extrakt konnte ein RNS-Virus als infektioses Agens und Ursache der Leukamie und eines Lymphosarkoms nachgewiesen werden. Einzelne Mausestamme erwiesen sich als resistent.
Psychological flexibility and self-concealment as predictors of disordered eating symptoms

The present cross-sectional study investigated whether self-concealment and psychological flexibility were uniquely associated with different facets of disordered eating (DE; i.e., dieting, bulimia/food preoccupation, and oral control) and whether these associations varied across gender. Participants included 621 female and 212 male college students, ages 18–24 years old. After controlling for age, ethnicity, and BMI, both self-concealment and psychological flexibility were uniquely related to dieting. Controlling for these demographic variables, psychological flexibility, but not self-concealment, was uniquely associated with bulimia/food preoccupation. Neither self-concealment nor psychological flexibility was uniquely associated with oral control. Finally, gender moderated the association between self-concealment and dieting, suggesting that self-concealment was relevant to dieting in the female group, but not in the male group. Limitations of the study and future directions are discussed.
Galaxy Manifolds and Galaxy Formation

We are witnessing the emergence of a physical classification of galaxies. New methods of inquiry, including multivariate statistical analysis of galaxy manifolds, scaling laws and correlations provide important clues towards understanding the formative mechanisms and evolutionary histories of galaxies. Galaxies of different families form two-dimensional sequences in the parameter spaces of their many (but not all) global observable properties; this relative simplicity probably reflects the regularities and feedbacks in the processes of galaxy formation. A minimal three-dimensional parameter space, whose axes include measures of galaxy size, density, and kinetic temperature promises to become the equivalent of an H-R diagram for galaxies.
Distributed Object Tracking Using a Cluster-Based Kalman Filter in Wireless Camera Networks

Local data aggregation is an effective means to save sensor node energy and prolong the lifespan of wireless sensor networks. However, when a sensor network is used to track moving objects, the task of local data aggregation in the network presents a new set of challenges, such as the necessity to estimate, usually in real time, the constantly changing state of the target based on information acquired by the nodes at different time instants. To address these issues, we propose a distributed object tracking system which employs a cluster-based Kalman filter in a network of wireless cameras. When a target is detected, cameras that can observe the same target interact with one another to form a cluster and elect a cluster head. Local measurements of the target acquired by members of the cluster are sent to the cluster head, which then estimates the target position via Kalman filtering and periodically transmits this information to a base station. The underlying clustering protocol allows the current state and uncertainty of the target position to be easily handed off among clusters as the object is being tracked. This allows Kalman filter-based object tracking to be carried out in a distributed manner. An extended Kalman filter is necessary since measurements acquired by the cameras are related to the actual position of the target by nonlinear transformations. In addition, in order to take into consideration the time uncertainty in the measurements acquired by the different cameras, it is necessary to introduce nonlinearity in the system dynamics. Our object tracking protocol requires the transmission of significantly fewer messages than a centralized tracker that naively transmits all of the local measurements to the base station. It is also more accurate than a decentralized tracker that employs linear interpolation for local data aggregation. Besides, the protocol is able to perform real-time estimation because our implementation takes into consideration the sparsity of the matrices involved in the problem. The experimental results show that our distributed object tracking protocol is able to achieve tracking accuracy comparable to the centralized tracking method, while requiring a significantly smaller number of message transmissions in the network.
Virtual password using random linear functions for on-line services, ATM machines, and pervasive computing

People enjoy the convenience of on-line services, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), and pervasive computing, but online environments, ATMs, and pervasive computing may bring many risks. In this paper, we discuss how to prevent users' passwords from being stolen by adversaries. We propose a virtual password concept involving a small amount of human computing to secure users' passwords in on-line environments, ATMs, and pervasive computing. We adopt user-determined randomized linear generation functions to secure users' passwords based on the fact that a server has more information than any adversary does. We analyze how the proposed schemes defend against phishing, key logger, and shoulder-surfing attacks. To the best of our knowledge, our virtual password mechanism is the first one which is able to defend against all three attacks together.
Trichinella spiralis-Infected Muscle Cells: Abundant RNA Polymerase II in Nuclear Speckle Domains Colocalizes with Nuclear Antigens

Infection of mammalian skeletal muscle cells by Trichinella spiralis causes host nuclei to become polyploid (ca. 4N) and abnormally enlarged. It has been postulated that this enlargement reflects an infection-induced elevation of host transcription. Anthelmintic treatment of T. spiralis-infected rodents with mebendazole (MBZ) causes a reduction in the size of infected cell nuclei and a significant reduction in the total RNA content of individual infected muscle cells. A monoclonal antibody to the large subunit of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) was used here to assess the effects of infection on Pol II levels in isolated infected cell nuclei. Pol II was localized to speckle domains in isolated infected cell nuclei. Similar domains have been previously localized to sites of RNA synthesis or processing. When compared to the levels in nuclei from other, uninfected host cells, speckle-localized Pol II (SL-Pol II) levels were significantly elevated in infected cell nuclei by a mean of 3.9- to 6.8-fold. Nuclear antigens (NA) recognized by antibodies against T. spiralis localized to infected cell nuclei. By use of confocal microscopy, a subpopulation of NA was found colocalized with most speckle domains defined by Pol II. MBZ treatment of chronically infected mice, which depletes NA from infected cell nuclei, caused a significant depletion of SL-Pol II from infected cell nuclei. Control nuclei had a mean of 70% more SL-Pol II than MBZ-treated nuclei. The mean residual level of Pol II in these polyploid nuclei remained elevated by 120% over the level in 2N control nuclei. These observations may indicate two distinct effects of infection on Pol II levels in host cells.
Uncapping Ticket Markets

The popularity of StubHub, an event ticket secondary market, has led several state legislatures to repeal price ceilings on the resale of event tickets. Some have criticized this repeal, arguing that prices on the secondary market will rise dramatically as a result, to the detriment of consumers. This article empirically examines that concern, using StubHub data on resale prices of National Hockey League tickets before and after repeal. This article finds repeal had no persistent effect on the resale price of lower bowl seats to NHL games and no more than a small effect on the resale price of upper bowl seats. Just as important, the supply of tickets on the StubHub secondary market increased significantly after repeal, to the benefit of consumers.
Effects of cytochalasins on Neurospora crassa

Growth of various strains ofNeurospora crassa in the continued presence of cytochalasins A and B results in the following pattern. At low concentration the drugs cause an increase in branching which, depending on the strain, may also reveal an increase in dry weight. Increasing the concentration results in abnormal hyphae (swollen, irregular) and eventually in inhibition of growth. Most strains are inhibited at 10–20 Μg/ml cytochalasin A. Ultrastructure of hyphae grown in the presence of cytochalasin A reveals the presence of abnormal wall deposits. These deposits are not observed in cultures grown with cytochalasin B which generally causes a lower growth response also.
Unraveling bleeding problems in midlife women.

Menopause often is accompanied by abnormal uterine bleeding—mostly due to anovulation and correctable with hormone therapy. However, all patients should be fully evaluated for gynecologic and nongynecologic causes of bleeding.
Hereditary Predisposition to Sensitization in Guinea Pigs.

SummarySensitization to allyl isothiocyanate was accomplished in a small percentage of unselected guinea pigs. By selective breeding a strain was obtained practically all the members of which could be readily and strongly sensitized with this substance. A strain resistant to sensitization is being further bred out.
Kinetic selection vs. free energy of DNA base pairing in control of polymerase fidelity

What is the free energy source enabling high-fidelity DNA polymerases (pols) to favor incorporation of correct over incorrect base pairs by 10(3)- to 10(4)-fold, corresponding to free energy differences of ΔΔGinc∼ 5.5-7 kcal/mol? Standard ΔΔG° values (∼0.3 kcal/mol) calculated from melting temperature measurements comparing matched vs. mismatched base pairs at duplex DNA termini are far too low to explain pol accuracy. Earlier analyses suggested that pol active-site steric constraints can amplify DNA free energy differences at the transition state (kinetic selection). A recent paper [Olson et al. (2013)J Am Chem Soc135:1205-1208] used Vent pol to catalyze incorporations in the presence of inorganic pyrophosphate intended to equilibrate forward (polymerization) and backward (pyrophosphorolysis) reactions. A steady-state leveling off of incorporation profiles at long reaction times was interpreted as reaching equilibrium between polymerization and pyrophosphorolysis, yielding apparent ΔG° = -RTlnKeq, indicating ΔΔG° of 3.5-7 kcal/mol, sufficient to account for pol accuracy without need of kinetic selection. Here we perform experiments to measure and account for pyrophosphorolysis explicitly. We show that forward and reverse reactions attain steady states far from equilibrium for wrong incorporations such as G opposite T. Therefore,[Formula: see text]values obtained from such steady-state evaluations ofKeqare not dependent on DNA properties alone, but depend largely on constraints imposed on right and wrong substrates in the polymerase active site.
Micromechanisms of Capacity Fade in Silicon Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Large volume change and associated stress generation is known to cause failure of the silicon thin film anode used for Lithium-ion batteries after a few cycles. Experimental observations suggest that plastic deformation of the underlying Cu substrate and degradation of the active/inactive interface are the primary reasons responsible for the capacity fade. The goal of the present study is to examine the interplay between these mechanisms using a computational mechanics approach. In the present study, a novel multi-physics finite element framework has been developed to simulate the lithiation and de-lithiation induced failure of amorphous Si (a-Si) thin film on Cu foil. The numerical framework is based on the finite deformation of the active silicon wherein diffusion of lithium occurs, plastic deformation of the Cu foil, and debonding of the active/inactive interface. The effect of substrate property, interfacial energy and kinetics of interface degradation has been examined.
Adhesive Energy of Zinc Oxide and Graphite, Molecular Dynamics and Atomic Force Microscopy Study

Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to calculate the interfacial energy between zinc oxide (ZnO) and graphitic carbon for the study of solid-solid adhesion. The MD model consists of a ZnO slab and a single layer of graphitic carbon. The calculation was validated experimentally by atomic force microscopy (AFM) liftoff. A polishing process was applied to create a tip with a flat surface that was subsequently coated with a ZnO film allowing force displacement measurement on Highly Oriented Pyrolitic Graphite to validate the simulations. The MD simulation and AFM lift-off show good agreement with adhesive energies of 0.303 J/m2 and 0.261 ± 0.054 J/m2, respectively.
Assessing severity, immediacy, and ideal setting in ED patients: a pilot study on interrater reliability.

Abstract Objectives We conducted a pilot study to test the interrater reliability of emergency department (ED) physician assessments of 3 ED visit attributes—severity, immediacy, and ideal setting, with the long-term goal of developing a novel ED categorization system. Methods Using 2010 National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey data, we randomly selected 300 ED patient records for review by 6 emergency medicine physicians. Each record was assessed by 2 physicians for severity and immediacy using a 7-point scale; "ideal" setting was chosen among 6 possible settings. κ —Weighted and unweighted—and interclass correlation coefficients were used to test interrater agreement. Results For severity, immediacy, and ideal setting, there was "fair" agreement in assessments with a weighted κ of 0.33 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.27-0.40), 0.30 (95% CI, 0.23-0.36), and nonweighted κ of 0.28 (95% CI, 0.21-0.34), respectively. When both raters were "very certain" about their assessments, weighted κ increased to 0.42 (95% CI, 0.34-0.51) for severity and 0.35 (95% CI, 0.27-0.44) for immediacy. Interclass correlation coefficients showed similar results. There was agreement on ideal setting for 162 (54%) of 300 scenarios. Scenarios with poor agreement on ideal setting in general involved care for nonspecific symptoms rather than specific diagnoses. Conclusions Rater agreement among ED physicians when assessing clinical data on specific ED visits was fair for severity and immediacy ratings. Raters agreed on ideal treatment settings half the time. In general, there was greater agreement when a specific diagnosis was found rather than negative workups for symptoms. This demonstrates a validity issue when it comes to developing and using categorization systems for ED visits and assessing setting appropriateness.
Self-similar solutions to Lin-Reissner-Tsien equation

The Lin-Reissner-Tsien equation describes unsteady transonic flows under the transonic approximation. In the present paper, the equation is reduced to an ordinary differential equation via a similarity transformation. The resulting equation is then solved analytically and even exactly in some cases. Numerical simulations are provided for the cases in which there is no exact solution. Travelling wave solutions are also obtained.
Organization of the immune system

Abstract The human immune system has sites of production, i.e., bone marrow and the thymus; and sites of differentiation and proliferation, i.e., lymph nodes and the spleen. Immune organization also occurs in the lung, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and adipose tissue. Cells can be tissue bound or move to sites during infection via blood or lymphatics. Pluripotent stem cells in bone marrow give rise to progenitors, which differentiate into lymphoid and myeloid cells as well as red blood cells and platelets. Myeloid cells include neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils with functions in innate immune responses, as well as monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells, which are phagocytic and act as an interface with cells of the acquired immune system. Lymphocytes include antigen-specific cells with DNA-rearranged receptors, T cells and B cells, as well as cells termed innate lymphoid cells, which can be cytotoxic (natural killer cells) or noncytotoxic, with functions that mirror classic T-cell functions.
Beyond Hope and Fear:Behavioral Portfolio Theory

This book and its companion volume, Postmodern Portfolio Theory,1 have devoted most of their attention to two models of finance. Each of these two models is sensitive to human behavior. Postmodern Portfolio Theory treated mathematical finance as a “pattern of timeless moments,” a deeply quantitative puzzle whose answer lies in statistical distributions and their properties. The presentation of a higher-moment CAPM in Chap. 3 of this book enables the overtly behavioral interpretation of moment-based theories of finance, which associate different statistical moments (mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis) with different emotions.2 Other chapters in this book, so far, have presented financial models whose primary or even exclusive purpose is to describe economic behavior as undertaken by actual humans, as opposed to hypothetical economic reason dictated by quantitative logic. Prospect theory, in particular, reflects the “psychophysics of chances.”3
Financial Hardship from Purchasing Medications for Senior Citizens Before and After the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Findings from 1998, 2001, and 2015

BACKGROUND: The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (Medicare Part D) added prescription drug coverage for senior citizens aged 65 years and older and applied managed care approaches to contain costs. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) had the goals of expanding health care insurance coverage and slowing growth in health care expenditures. OBJECTIVES: To (a) describe the proportion of senior citizens who had prescription drug insurance coverage and the proportion who experienced financial hardship from purchasing medications in 2015, and (b) compare the findings with those collected in 1998 and 2001. METHODS: Data were obtained in 1998 and 2001 via surveys mailed to national random samples of seniors. Of 2,434 deliverable surveys, 946 (39%) were returned, and 700 (29%) provided usable data. Data were collected in 2015 via an online survey sent to a national sample of adults. Of 26,173 usable responses, 3,933 were aged 65 years or older. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressi...
Surviving Information Leakage Hardware Trojan Attacks Using Hardware Isolation

This paper presents a hardware isolation mechanism to protect secret information in third party IP cores subject to hardware Trojan attacks. We first implement the hardware Trojan threat model in commonly used third party IP cores, such as multiplier and RSA, which leak confidential information from the hardware under rarely triggered conditions. Then, we develop a hardware isolation-based security mechanism to trap the leaked data in the isolated secure environment, which prevents the attacker from unauthorized access to the data in the normal operation mode. We implement both the threat model and defense approach on an Xilinx Zynq SoC equipped with ARM processor. Based on the real hardware prototype, we conduct security and performance evaluations and prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Paul Halmos’s Expository Writing

Paul Halmos is a redoubtable expositor. This essay presents mini-reviews of some of his works. It is a natural sequel to my article in Selecta—Expository writing, Springer, 1983.
Mechanisms of cell competition emerging from Drosophila studies

Cell competition was described in Drosophila as the loss from mosaic tissues of otherwise viable cells heterozygous for Ribosomal protein mutations (‘Minutes’). Cell competition has now been described to occur between multiple other genotypes, such as cells differing in myc expression levels, or mutated for neoplastic tumor suppressors. Recent studies implicate innate immunity components, and possibly mechanical stress, compression and cell intercalation as a consequence of differential growth rates in competitive cell death. Competition to eliminate pre-neoplastic tumors makes use of signals and receptors also used in patterning the nervous system including Slit/Robo2 and Sas/PTP10D to recognize and extrude clones of mutant cells, at least where local epithelial cyto-architecture is favorable. Cell competition facilitates expansion of Drosophila tumors through host tissue, and in normal development may promote developmental robustness and longevity by selecting for optimal progenitor cells.
Abstract 13808: Role of Cardiac Specific Follistatin-Like 1 in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction

Background: Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), commonly known as “diastolic HF”, accounts for ∼50% of all HF presentations. Hypertension is a major cause of HFpEF. Similarly, aldosterone (ALDO) plays a pivotal role in HFpEF. Follistatin-like 1 (Fstl1), an extracellular glycoprotein, is expressed in the normal heart and is elevated in acute coronary syndrome and HF. Fstl1 also exerts anti-hypertrophic and anti-inflammatory effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of Fstl1 in ALDO-induced HFpEF. Methods: Uninephrectomized, cardiomyocyte-specific Fstl1 knock-out (Fstl1cKO) mice and wild-type (WT) mice received a continuous infusion of either d-ALDO or saline and were maintained on 1% NaCl for 4 weeks. Thereafter, blood pressure (BP) measurement, echocardiography and qRT-PCR were performed. Isolated adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVM) were treated with recombinant Fstl1 (rFstl1) and then stimulated with ALDO. pERK and MMP were determined by immunoblotting. Results: BP was increased in both WT-ALDO and Fstl1cKO-ALDO (146±6 and 143±5mmHg; p Conclusions: Cardiac specific Fstl1 deficiency exacerbated the progression of ALDO-induced HFpEF. MMPs and their inhibitors are regulators of the extracellular matrix and are important in the development of HFpEF. Fstl1 may modulate the progression of HFpEF possibly via a mechanism involving ERK and the MMP axis.
“Tilted Scales:” The Impact of the U.S. Supreme Court on American Income Inequality

AbstractThe slow but steady growth in income disparity has been subject to studies by economists and sociologists since the 1970s. Only recently have political scientists taken up the puzzle. Studies of the impact of presidential and congressional politics on income inequality have shown that politics matter; yet scholars have been silent on the judiciary. If policies matter and courts make policy, their influence on inequality deserves attention. Our article theorizes about two causal mechanisms via which patterns of court-related behavior may affect the distribution of income in the United States. Using a time series analysis on the U.S. Supreme Court over the last fifty years, we show that patterns of court outcomes can affect income distribution.
Soil response to skidder trafficking and slash application

ABSTRACTGround-based timber harvesting systems are common in the United States. Harvesting machinery can negatively influence soils by increasing erosion and decreasing site productivity. Skid trails can become compacted and erosive. Slash applications to skid trails are effective for erosion control, yet few investigations have examined effects of slash on soil physical properties influenced by compaction. This research project has two objectives: (1) to compare and contrast the impacts of traffic resulting from a rubber-tired grapple skidder and a dozer using a variety of soil compaction indices, and (2) to compare effects of slash versus bare soil on skid trails trafficked by a rubber-tired grapple skidder and a dozer. The project was conducted within an upland hardwood/pine stand in the Ridge and Valley region. Skidder traffic changed both visual appearance and soil physical properties. The heavier skidder resulted in deeper visible ruts, greater increases in bulk density, and greater decreases in mac...