cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An ADMM algorithm for optimal sensor and actuator selection

We consider the problem of the optimal selection of a subset of available sensors or actuators in large-scale dynamical systems. By replacing a combinatorial penalty on the number of sensors or actuators with a convex sparsity-promoting term, we cast this problem as a semidefinite program. The solution of the resulting convex optimization problem is used to select sensors (actuators) in order to gracefully degrade performance relative to the optimal Kalman filter (Linear Quadratic Regulator) that uses all available sensing (actuating) capabilities. We employ the alternating direction method of multipliers to develop a customized algorithm that is well-suited for large-scale problems. Our algorithm scales better than standard SDP solvers with respect to both the state dimension and the number of available sensors or actuators.
The drought risk atlas: Enhancing decision support for drought risk management in the United States

Summary Decision makers have continuously asked for better tools and resources to help them assess their risks related to climate variability and extremes. Drought is one of the risks they face, and the need for better drought risk tools and resources has also been expressed. With drought continuing to be one of the most problematic and costly natural disasters within the United States, and building on the work of the original National Drought Atlas (NDA) (1996), an updated and expanded Drought Risk Atlas (DRA) decision support tool for the United States was developed and is housed at the National Drought Mitigation Center. The DRA (1) provides weekly calculations of multiple indices/indicators, with more than a billion records made freely available, including the SPI, SPEI, PDSI, scPDSI, Deciles and U.S. Drought Monitor; (2) houses more than 3000 stations with data through 2012, nearly tripling the station count of the original NDA; (3) utilizes a much longer period of record, nearly double that of the NDA in most cases; (4) when fully completed, will house a cache of more than 500,000 gridded drought index maps; (5) will allow us to analyze and assess trends and various characteristics of drought, including frequency, intensity, duration and magnitude; (6) will become a resource for the National Weather Service (NWS) personnel around the country by transferring the application into the field through integration within the NWS’s newly developed Local Climate Analysis Tool (LCAT); and (7) work directly with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) program office to include the information contained in the DRA into NIDIS’s regional drought early warning system pilot basins and the U.S. Drought Portal for broad dissemination to the user community and general public.
Specialization and differences in setting preferences among wildlife viewers

Abstract We asked nonresident visitors to Montana about their preferences for wildlife‐viewing settings. Subjects were classified into three groups based on a measure of wildlife‐viewing specialization. Specialists have greater interest in “lower profile”; wildlife species than do Novices. Seeing upland game birds, birds of prey, and songbirds was desired by many more people in all three segments than were successful at observing these wildlife. Specialist viewers were more likely to hike self‐guided viewing trails and read signs along trails than Novices. Novices were more interested in facility developments at wildlife‐viewing sites than were Specialists, but Specialists showed strong support for trails and interpretive efforts. There was widespread agreement among the groups on the most useful types of information. Our results support the idea that recreation specialization is a useful tool for segmenting recreationists. By recognizing segments and understanding their preferences, managers can produce ...
Direct monitoring of absorption in solution by cavity ring-down spectroscopy.

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy is applied to the liquid phase by placing the target solution directly into the optical cavity. We demonstrate that solutions in the cavity can be stirred and more importantly monitored in a flow. We report a minimum detectable absorption of 10-6 cm-1 for a range of organic solvents. This detection limit corresponds to picomolar concentrations for strong absorbers.
MRPB: Memory request prioritization for massively parallel processors

Massively parallel, throughput-oriented systems such as graphics processing units (GPUs) offer high performance for a broad range of programs. They are, however, complex to program, especially because of their intricate memory hierarchies with multiple address spaces. In response, modern GPUs have widely adopted caches, hoping to providing smoother reductions in memory access traffic and latency. Unfortunately, GPU caches often have mixed or unpredictable performance impact due to cache contention that results from the high thread counts in GPUs. We propose the memory request prioritization buffer (MRPB) to ease GPU programming and improve GPU performance. This hardware structure improves caching efficiency of massively parallel workloads by applying two prioritization methods—request reordering and cache bypassing—to memory requests before they access a cache. MRPB then releases requests into the cache in a more cache-friendly order. The result is drastically reduced cache contention and improved use of the limited per-thread cache capacity. For a simulated 16KB L1 cache, MRPB improves the average performance of the entire PolyBench and Rodinia suites by 2.65× and 1.27× respectively, outperforming a state-of-the-art GPU cache management technique.
Low Energy Electron-Molecule Scattering Experiments and the Theory of Rotational Excitation

Experimental techniques for differential, total and momentum transfer electron-molecule scattering cross sections at low electron energies, discussing rotational excitation
I'm Jimmy Reed/The Essential Boss Man: The Very Best of the Vee-Jay Years, 1953–1966

Jimmy Reed, 2011, 2 CDs, Charly #630 Jimmy Reed, 2004, 3 CDs, Charly #728 During the rock era's initial decade (1954–1963), only a few black artists were able to translate their R&B chart vocal suc...
Significance of ovarian metastasis in therapeutic oophorectomy for advanced breast cancer.

This is a retrospective and all-inclusive study of ovarian histology of 74 patients who had therapeutic oophorectomy for advanced breast cancer at the Ellis Fischel State Cancer Hospital (1940-1967). Results of the pathologic findings were itemized, coded, and correlated with all the clinical characteristics recorded. Our results showed that patients who had ovarian metastasis had higher rates of objective response than those who did not (36% vs. 11%, p = 0.02). In addition, patients with ovarian metastasis had a longer disease-free interval and better survival after their initial mastectomy operations. However, our series is too small to show statistical significance. The coexistence of corpus luteum improved the response rates. In fact, a larger proportion of ovaries with corpus luteum contained metastasis (37% vs. 20%). Survival of patients whose ovaries had corpus luteum was much better at the fourth and fifth years after mastectomy (p = 0.03).
Physiologic properties of steroid hormone-binding proteins in avian blood

The physiologic properties of steroid hormone-binding proteins have been partially characterized in plasmas of 23 avian species (8 orders and 12 families). A specific sex hormone-binding protein (SBP) with high affinity and low capacity, as found in amphibians and some reptiles and mammals, could not be identified in any of the avian species investigated. In addition SBP appeared to be totally absent in the blood of posthatching and juvenile stages of two species, and in the embryonic blood of three species. For birds it is concluded that sex steroid hormones circulate bound to plasma albumins with low affinity (Kd = 10(-5) mol/liter) and very high capacity. There are two protein-binding systems for corticosterone in the blood of all species investigated, including samples collected from embryos. One is saturable and specific with low capacity (10(-8) -10(-9) mol/liter) and high affinity (Kd = 10(-7) -10(-9) mol/liter), whereas the other is a nonspecific component with very high capacity and low affinity (Kd = 10(-5) mol/liter). Specificity studies show that the high-affinity binding system for corticosterone also binds progesterone with virtually identical affinity, whereas testosterone and estradiol are bound with lower affinity. These data suggest that the high-affinity binding protein in avian blood has physiologic properties similar to mammalian corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBP).
Genetic influences on saccharin preference of mice.

Preference for a 0.1% solution of sodium saccharin was assessed in a two-bottle, saccharin versus water, preference test. Animals were adult mice from four inbred strains (BAlb/cJ; C57BL/6J; Is/Bi; 101BAg/Rl), both reciprocal F1 crosses of BAlb with C57, and a hetergeneous generation formed by crossing F1 with wild trapped mice. Individuals from the 101 strain demonstrated no preference for saccharin or water while the other inbred strains preferred saccharin. No sex or maternal effect was detected. Heritability (h2) and coefficient of genetic determination (CGD) was estimated by alternative methods. The CGD was between 0.81 and 0.94 ± 0.024; h2 = 0.55 to 0.68. This high degree of genetic involvement suggests that genotype is a major determinant of individual differences in saccharin preference.
Starch esters as biodegradable plastics : effects of ester group chain length and degree of substitution on anaerobic biodegradation

A novel series of starch esters was prepared, which varied both in degree of substitution (DS) and in ester group chain length (C-2 to C-6). Proton nuclear magnetic resonance-based characterization of esterified starch polymers was determined to be superior to standard saponification digestion (SD) analysis. The effects of starch modification on the anaerobic biodegradation potential for the polymer were assessed using the biochemical methane potential (BMP) protocol. Results indicate that increasing the starch ester group chain length necessitates lower levels of substitution to achieve substantial biologic degradation of the polymer.
In situ atomic force microscopy investigation of the [100] face of KH2PO4 in the presence of Fe(III), Al(III), and Cr(III).

Here we report the effects of dissolved metal complexes of Fe(III), Al(III), and Cr(III) on the step velocities of the {100} face of KH2PO4 (KDP) as observed with atomic force microscopy. The depen...
White paper: Grid code and nuclear safety

The impact of grid code requirements to the design of nuclear power plants with the focus on the nuclear island and the design of the safety systems is described. Grid reliability, voltage and frequency variations are the main aspects to be considered. Nuclear power plants depend heavily on the grid availability and its quality of voltage and frequency. Changes in grid behavior as a consequence of e.g. deregulation of the market, introduction of renewable power production with high variation in production (like wind and solar) and higher utilization of the grid could have an impact on the nuclear safety, especially if older plants (some are in operation for more than 40 years) have not been designed for these conditions.
Set differential systems and vector Lyapunov functions

We prove a comparison result in terms of vector Lyapunov-like functions relative to a set differential system. Using this, we provide sufficient conditions in terms of vector Lyapunov-like functions for the stability properties of the trivial solutions of set differential systems.
Restrictive Relativization in Gullah

It is argued in this paper that there are three kinds of relative clause (RC) strategies in Gullah: the deletion, WH-pronoun, and resumptive pronoun (RP) strategies. The deletion strategy applies to RC's beginning with a null (0) COMP or a purposive fuh, the WH strategy applies to O-COMP RC's, and the RP strategy applies to any of the above kinds. The latter actually complements the former two in allowing relativization where a gap is not permitted, viz., from the genitive function to the bottom of the Keenan-Comrie NP Accessibility Hierarchy (NPAH). However, it is sometimes attested where a gap is permitted. The deletion and WH strategies are akin in allowing a gap under the same NPAH-based constraints, which is the opposite of the application of the RP strategy. But it is argued that Gullah's WHrel is only COMP-like but not a COMP itself. In a different vein, the question of the origin of these RC strategies is also addressed in this paper. The evidence points to the predominant role of English superstrate influence and to the restriction of possible, corroborative, African substrate influence only to the COMP-like interpretation of WHrel.
An application of heuristic search techniques to the problem of flight path generation in a military hostile environment

This paper is a study of the effectiveness of heuristic search algorithms in generating flight paths. Due to the need to generate and revise paths dynamically we are interested in execution speed as well as solution quality (conflict cost plus path length). Extensive tests with three search algorithms were made using a simple threat model. Using straight-forward heuristics, we found that two of the algorithms perform well then their weights are appropriately adjusted. One is A* and the other is a bidirectional search. Our results indicate that heuristic search is effective in flight path generation and provide details about algorithms which were successful.
Influenza: Prospects for Control

Influenza is a disease of antiquity that annually imposes a major burden of morbidity and mortality. The available inactivated vaccine is effective for preventing influenza and the serious disease and death that can accompany it. However, annual recommendations for vaccination among persons at risk have never been adequately implemented. This remains the most pressing current need for control of influenza. Amantadine, rimantadine, and the newly available drugs zanamivir and oseltamivir are effective for influenza prevention and treatment (the former two for influenza A only). The availability of four antiviral agents that effectively prevent and treat influenza provides the physician with considerable flexibility for their use in influenza control. Optimal application of the currently available vaccine and antiviral agents should substantially reduce the impact of influenza. Other methods for influenza treatment and control are under development, and a live attenuated vaccine with substantial potential for control is nearing approval. However, better inactivated vaccines, better rapid diagnostic tests, and an increased understanding of options for use of antiviral agents are still needed. When all of these things are available and optimally applied, effective control of influenza should result. The prospect is compelling. Full participation by the practicing physician will be necessary to achieve this goal.
Coupled Liquid and Vapor Flow in Miniature Passages With Micro Grooves

Friction factor coefficients for liquid flow in a rectangular micro-groove coupled with the vapor flow in a vapor channel of a miniature two-phase device were calculated using finite element analysis. The results show that the effect of the vapor-liquid frictional interaction on the liquid flow decreases with curvature of the liquid-vapor interface. Shear stresses at the liquid-vapor interface are significantly nonuniform, decreasing towards the center of the liquid-vapor meniscus.
Scribbling Away the Ghosts: A Bakhtinian Interpretation of Preschool Writers and the Disruption of Developmental Discourses

Using Mikhail Bakhtin's conceptions of dialogue, monologue, and chronotope, the authors ask readers to consider how different values and actions ultimately create the teaching and learning spaces in which children are recognized as literate. Using qualitative data that focus on the relational writing practices of two preschoolers, this ethnographic work explores how authoritative monologues of development and risk commonly structure our thinking about and interaction with young writers. The article offers an alternative interpretation of children as writers engaged within a relational and dialogic writing space, wherein dominant developmental beliefs are rejected and relationships between children and teachers are reinterpreted. The authors argue for the creation of dialogic classroom spaces that afford children opportunities for multiple possible futures as whole persons. Introduction: using Bakhtinian theories This article explores present tensions in early childhood classrooms, as children's own writing spaces and developmental discourses collide. Utilizing a Bakhtinian lens, two authors work together in this article to conceptualize an analysis of children's action, potential teacher response(s) and how current ideologies structure much of what we do with children in classrooms. We argue that a particular kind of authentic agency on the part of the child or student must be recognized within everyday interactions in classrooms. Without recognizing children's power in constructing their own identities, we are often inadvertently succumbing to the authority of mainstream discourses of development that construct partial, restricted, and potentially harmful images of children. This article draws on a larger piece of ethnographic inquiry that the first author, Casey, conducted to investigate the sociocultural purposes for children's writing interactions in one Reggio-inspired mixed-age preschool classroom (i.e. children aged three to five) in the Midwestern United States. In this article, we focus on the writing of two particular children, Walter and Dominique (names are pseudonyms). The authors toggle between the terms 'we' and 'I' in the narrative. 'We/our' refers to the co-authorship of the article and the articulation of jointly theorized ideas. 'I/my' refers to Casey's relational and primary stance in gathering observations and having a participant role in Walter and Dominique's classroom. Although our theoretical orientation and the classroom data mutually animate each other, we begin with an explication of our theoretical perspective, which is supported by the work of M.M. Bakhtin. Bakhtin argued that individual consciousness, thought, and language are arrived at dialogically, or animated by the many social voices of particular historical moments. Monologues comprise powerful voices that work to deny the existence of these multiple meanings. He also used the term 'chronotope' to denote the time-space(s) that serve particular sociopolitical purposes that
Chronological Changes in Sex Steroid, Gonadotropin and Prolactin Secretion in Aging Female Rats Displaying Different Reproductive States

Longitudinal studies were performed in a colony of aging female rats,from 4-33 months of age,to determine the chronologicalchange inreproductive patterns and the changes in sex steroid, prolactin and gonadotropin secretionassociatedwith different reproductive states. The present study demonstrates that the incidence (65%) of irregular estrous cycles in aging rats increased abruptly from 10-12 months of age. Subsequently, female rats became chronically anovulatory with persistentvaginalcornificationsand theirovariescontained developed follicles but no corpora lutea. The highest incidence (65%) of constant estrous (CE) rats occurred at the age of about 19 months. During the anovulatory state, CE rats displayed low to medium levels of serum estradiol, estrone, testosterone and androstenedione, low levels of progesterone and minimal levels of 20nhydroxyprogesterone. Preovulatory increasesin gonadotropin and prolactin release,similar to those seen in young cycling ratson proestrus,were not observed in CE rats.Whereas serum basal LH levels remained unaltered, morning FSH levelswere increased in CE rats.The lattermay account for the persistent follicular development in aging rats during chronic anovulatory state. Serum basal prolactin levels were normal in CE rats during the early phase (11-16 months of age) of the anovulatory state, but were subsequently increased 3 to 4-fold beyond 24 months of age. Moreover, ovariectomy at a young age prevented the increased pituitary prolactin release in old female rats. These results suggest that continuous exposure to medium levels of estrogens, particularly in the presence of sustained low progesterone secretion, may alter pituitary secretion of prolactin in aging rats. With further advance of age and following many months of anovulatory function, aging female rats exhibited ovulatory activity at irregular intervals. After each ovulation, formed corpora lutea were maintained for a prolonged period, presumably due in part to the existing high prolactin levels in the circulation of older female rats. These corpora lutea in old “pseudopregnant (PSP)” rats were functional as indicated by active secretion of progestins, with 20a-hydroxyprogesterone levels greater than those of progesterone in the circulation. These results indicate that the ovaries of aging rats retain their functional capacity to develop follicles and corpora lutea and to secrete steroid hormones. Although the cause(s) responsible for cessation of normal ovulatory cycles in aging female rats is unknown, the present study demonstrates that the chronic anovulatory state in aging female rats is characterized by significantly reduced ovarian secretion and the lack of cyclic increases in pituitary gonadotropin and prolactmn release. The causal relationships between the decreased ovarian steroid production and the absence of preovulatory surges of gonadotropin release in aging CE rats remain to be determined.
A Graduate Education Framework for Tropical Conservation and Development

Conventional graduate training related to tropical conservation and development has typically separated the two fields, with students focusing on either conservation from the perspective of the biophysical sciences or development as an extension of the social sciences. On entering the workforce, however, graduates find they are required to work beyond disciplinary boundaries to address the complex interconnectivity be- tween biological conservation and human well-being. We devised a framework for graduate education that broadens students' skill sets to learn outside their immediate disciplines and think in terms of linked socioe- cological systems, work in teams, communicate in nonacademic formats, and reflect critically on their own perspectives and actions. The University of Florida's Tropical Conservation and Development program has adopted a learning and action platform that blends theory, skills, and praxis to create an intellectual, social, and professionally safe space where students, faculty, and other participants can creatively address the complex challenges of tropical conservation and development. This platform operates within a nondegree-granting pro- gram and includes core courses that are taught by a team of biophysical and social scientists. It incorporates a range of alternative learning spaces such as student-led workshops, retreats, visiting professionals, practitioner experiences, and a weekly student-led seminar that collectively encourage students and faculty to enhance their skills and systematically and thoroughly reflect on program activities. Challenges to the described approach include increased service demands on faculty, a redefinition of research excellence to include effective and equitable collaboration with host-country partners, and the trade-offs and uncertainties inherent in more col- laborative, interdisciplinary research. Despite these challenges, growing interdisciplinary programs, coupled with adaptive educational approaches that emphasize learning and action networks of students, faculty, and field partners, provide the best hope for responding to the emerging challenges of tropical conservation and development.
Nominal price stickiness as a rational expectations equilibrium

Abstract The equilibrium approach to price stickiness explains the apparent inflexibility of money prices as one possible equilibrium in a model that contains multiple equilibria. This paper points out that the equilibrium approach is robust to the assumption that agents may write contracts that are contingent upon the realization of the money supply.
Contribution of posterior corneal astigmatism to total corneal astigmatism.

Purpose To determine the contribution of posterior corneal astigmatism to total corneal astigmatism and the error in estimating total corneal astigmatism from anterior corneal measurements only using a dual-Scheimpflug analyzer. Setting Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Design Case series. Methods Total corneal astigmatism was calculated using ray tracing, corneal astigmatism from simulated keratometry, anterior corneal astigmatism, and posterior corneal astigmatism, and the changes with age were analyzed. Vector analysis was used to assess the error produced by estimating total corneal astigmatism from anterior corneal measurements only. Results The study analyzed 715 corneas of 435 consecutive patients. The mean magnitude of posterior corneal astigmatism was −0.30 diopter (D). The steep corneal meridian was aligned vertically (60 to 120 degrees) in 51.9% of eyes for the anterior surface and in 86.6% for the posterior surface. With increasing age, the steep anterior corneal meridian tended to change from vertical to horizontal, while the steep posterior corneal meridian did not change. The magnitudes of anterior and posterior corneal astigmatism were correlated when the steeper anterior meridian was aligned vertically but not when it was aligned horizontally. Anterior corneal measurements underestimated total corneal astigmatism by 0.22 @ 180 and exceeded 0.50 D in 5% of eyes. Conclusions Ignoring posterior corneal astigmatism may yield incorrect estimation of total corneal astigmatism. Selecting toric intraocular lenses based on anterior corneal measurements could lead to overcorrection in eyes that have with-the-rule astigmatism and undercorrection in eyes that have against-the-rule astigmatism. Financial Disclosure The authors received research support from Ziemer Group. In addition, Dr. Koch has a financial interest with Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Abbott Medical Optics, Inc., Calhoun Vision, Inc., NuLens, and Optimedica Corp.
An Examination of the Characteristics of College Endowment Funds

College and university endowments have grown rapidly during the past 20 years. Today these funds total more than $267 billion and are a significant funding source for many universities. However, little is known regarding the characteristics, policies and procedures of these funds, thus prompting the current investigation. To facilitate this effort, 200 college endowment funds were surveyed regarding their investment and portfolio practices. Usable responses were received from 112 respondents. Survey data were obtained on seventeen portfolio components relating to equity, fixed-income and cash equivalents. Respondents answered a series of questions regarding the equity portfolio characteristics of their portfolios such as the manager9s investment style, the market indices used for investment evaluation purposes, etc. They also answered a parallel series of questions dealing with the fixed-income portion of the portfolio such as the types of securities permitted in the portfolio, the return objectives, etc. Finally, respondents answered a series of questions regarding cash equivalent investments such as the purpose for maintaining a portion of the portfolio with these investments, what types of securities are included, etc. The study9s results reveal that in general college endowment funds have investment policy statements that are properly focused and thus facilitate quality management of the various investment portfolio components However, there are two surprising results. First, while the vast majority of respondents (93 percent) specify return objectives in their investment policy statement, 39 percent do not have specified risk objectives with respect to their equity portfolios. Thus, while there is a focus on return, there is not a corresponding confirmation of the importance of the risk component. Second, while 75% of respondents specify a minimum requirement of investment grade (BBB or above) for purchasing fixed-income securities in the investment policy statement, 75% do not have a provision that deals with the issue of handling (hold/sell) fixed-income securities when the credit rating falls below the minimum investment criteria. Both of these results indicate that investment committee members and managers should re-examine the investment policy statement as it relates to these two items.
Quantifying Structural Change in U.S. Agriculture: The Case of Research and Productivity

Previous work on structural change in agriculture has failed to distinguish long-run trends from structural breaks leading to new trends. We measure structural changes as statistically significant breaks in either stochastic or deterministic time trends, and apply these measures to agricultural productivity and research. Productivity has a break in 1925 accompanying agriculture’s early experience with the Great Depression. Research trends shifted in 1930 as the Depression and new technology began to strongly influence efficient farm size and capitalization. After modeling lags between research and productivity impacts in a vector autoregression (VAR), we compare our results to earlier work by developing a procedure to estimate the rate of return to research from the impulse response function of the VAR.
Heritable effects of paternal irradiation in mice on signaling protein kinase activities in F3 offspring

We evaluated F 3 mouse offspring from paternal F 0 attenuated 137 Cs γ-irradiation (1.0 Gy) for heritable effects on gene products that can modulate cell proliferation rate and that may be markers for genomic instability. The F 3 generation was selected for evaluation as a stringent test for heritability of effects from paternal F 0 germline irradiation. Male CD1 mice were bred 6 weeks after irradiation so that the fertilizing sperm were type B spermatogonia at the time of irradiation. The resulting F 1 males were bred to CD1 females to produce F 2 four-cell embryos. The F 2 embryos with a radiation history were paired with 'control' CD1 four-cell embryos that were heterozygous for the neo transgene. These F 2 XY-XY chimeras, consisting of cells derived from both an embryo with a paternal F 0 radiation history and a control embryo, were transferred to foster mothers, raised to adulthood and bred to produce F 3 offspring. F 3 offspring were evaluated for hepatic activities of receptor tyrosine kinase, protein kinase C and MAP kinase and for protein levels of nuclear p53 and p21 waf1 . All three protein kinase activities were altered and nuclear levels of p53 and p21 waf1 protein were higher in the group of offspring that included F 3 offspring with a paternal F 0 radiation history than in littermates in the neo-positive control group. To our knowledge, this is the first observation in the descendants of paternal germline irradiation of effects on signal protein kinase activities and downstream nuclear target proteins that can influence cell proliferation rates.
How do the structure and the parameters of Gaussian tree models affect structure learning

The problem of learning tree-structured Gaussian graphical models from i.i.d. samples is considered. The influence of the tree structure and the parameters of the Gaussian distribution on the learning rate as the number of samples increases is discussed. Specifically, the error exponent corresponding to the event that the estimated tree structure differs from the actual unknown tree structure of the distribution is analyzed. Finding the error exponent reduces to a least-squares problem in the very noisy learning regime. In this regime, it is shown that universally, the extremal tree structures which maximize and minimize the error exponent are the star and the Markov chain for any fixed set of correlation coefficients on the edges of the tree. In other words, the star and the chain graphs represent the hardest and the easiest structures to learn in the class of tree-structured Gaussian graphical models. This result can also be intuitively explained by correlation decay: pairs of nodes which are far apart, in terms of graph distance, are unlikely to be mistaken as edges by the maximum-likelihood estimator in the asymptotic regime.
North Korea and Support to Terrorism: An Evolving History

The DPRK's (Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North Korea) support for terrorism began as an ideologically-based policy financed by the Soviet Union that eventually led to a policy designed to put money into the coffers of the elite in Pyongyang—in short, a "proliferation for hire" policy. This article articulates a brief history of the North Korean regime, the rise to power of Kim Il-sung and his son, Kim Jong-il, and North Korea's persistent support to terrorist groups around the globe. This article is available in Journal of Strategic Security: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol3/iss2/5 45 North Korea and Support to Terrorism: An Evolving History By Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr.1
Successful Treatment of Acquired Tourettism and Major Depression

The authors report a successfully treated case of an 81-year-old man with acquired Tourettism and secondary depression. Organic causes of acquired Tourettism are reviewed and treatment strategies are discussed. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 1988;1:169-170)
The proinflammatory cytokine network: interactions in the CNS and blood of rhesus monkeys

Proinflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1 and -6 and tumor necrosis factor-α] function within a complex network, stimulating the release of one another, as well as other cytokine agonists and antagonists. These interactions have not been as widely studied in vivo. Therefore, the following studies measured cytokines in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from juvenile rhesus monkeys after intravenous administration of cytokines. IL-1α and IL-1β were equally effective in elevating blood levels of IL-6. In contrast, IL-1β was the only cytokine that significantly elevated IL-6 levels in the CSF. Interestingly, both IL-1 and IL-6 increased levels of IL-1 receptor antagonist in the blood and comparably stimulated the release of cortisol. A second study confirmed that the IL-1-induced IL-6 in CSF was brain derived and not a result of diffusion from blood. This research extends studies of the cytokine cascade to the central nervous system (CNS), highlighting the brain response to peripheral activation.
Effect of landscape factors on fish distribution in arctic Alaskan lakes

Summary 1. The distribution of species is affected by many factors operating at a variety of temporal and spatial scales in a heterogeneous landscape. In lakes, fish communities are dynamic, influenced by landscape-level factors that control colonisation and extinction. 2. We used classification and regression tree (CART) analyses to quantify the importance of landscape-level factors in determining the distribution of fish species in 168 arctic Alaskan lakes. Factors including lake size, depth, outflow gradient, distance to other lakes, lake order, altitude, river drainage and age of glacial surface were analysed. These factors could affect either access of fish to a lake (colonisation variables), or their survival in a lake that already had been colonised (extinction variables). 3. The presence of a species was predicted accurately in 78.4% ± 10.5% (mean ± SD) of cases, and absence in 75.0% ± 6.1% of cases. The relative importance of extinction versus colonisation variables varied with species. Extinction variables were most important for lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus), a mixture of extinction and colonisation variables was important for arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), and colonisation variables were most important for arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) and round whitefish (Prosopium cylindraceum). 4. Ecological differences among species account for much of the difference in relative importance of colonisation versus extinction variables. In addition, stream piracy events have occurred over geologic time scales, which have resulted in lakes that are currently inaccessible but support relict fish populations. 5. Climate warming, currently occurring in the arctic, is likely to alter further the stream network, which could have dramatic effects on fish distributions by affecting access to isolated lakes or isolating lakes that are currently accessible.
Improved performance in ZnO/CdS/CuGaSe2 thin-film solar cells

We report the growth and characterization of improved efficiency wide-bandgap ZnO/CdS/CuGaSe2 thin-film solar cells. The CuGaSe2 absorber thickness was intentionally decreased to better match depletion widths indicated by drive-level capacitance profiling data. A total-area efficiency of 9·5% was achieved with a fill factor of 70·8% and a Voc of 910 mV. Published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Mechanisms For Information Processing By NMDA Receptors: Insights From Single-channels

NMDA receptors are glutamate-activated ion channels with key roles in synaptic transmission and information processing in the brain. Their calcium permeability and voltage-dependent magnesium block have been long identified as critical to these roles. In addition, NMDA receptors have exceptionally slow kinetics and are sensitive to a broad array of neuromodulators. We hypothesized that these two latter features allow NMDA receptors to recognize and integrate a variety of extracellular signals.After rapidly binding glutamate and glycine, NMDA receptors activate slowly by navigating a complex gating pathway marked by peaks and valleys in the energy landscape of their activation reaction. At equilibrium, fully liganded receptors distribute among multiple pre-open, open and desensitized states which can be resolved in single-channel records and characterized kinetically with statistical analyses. With this approach, we measured changes in the gating energy landscape induced by individual allosteric modulators to learn how NMDA receptors process and integrate chemical information presented in their extracellular environment,We characterized the effects of protons, zinc, partial agonists, and the neurosteroids pregnanolone sulfate and pregnenolone sulfate on the gating reaction of NR1-1a/NR2A receptors. We found that each of these modulators exert specific, signature effects on the gating reaction. These changes can be expressed as unique sets of gating rate constants. The resulting quantitative kinetic models represent valuable tools for further structure-function investigations, as well as for determining how neuromodulators affect the NMDA receptor response to a variety of physiologic and pathologic stimulation patterns.
Rapport as mutual respect

Rapport in testing and counseling contexts is usually described by a listing of conditions said to produce optimal performance through eliciting or inhibiting certain behaviors and traits. In this article, the traditional conditions are criticized as grounded in a combination of inadequate faculty-trait and behavioristic theories. “Mutual respect” is proposed as a more accurate and practical alternative, one that is explicitly grounded in a conception of the person as always involved with his total situation and acting in accordance with his experience of it. Rapport, then, exists when each person recognizes and respects the reality of the other's experience.
Explosives detection in a lasing plasmon nanocavity

Perhaps the most successful application of plasmonics to date has been in sensing, where the interaction of a nanoscale localized field with analytes leads to high-sensitivity detection in real time and in a label-free fashion. However, all previous designs have been based on passively excited surface plasmons, in which sensitivity is intrinsically limited by the low quality factors induced by metal losses. It has recently been proposed theoretically that surface plasmon sensors with active excitation (gain-enhanced) can achieve much higher sensitivities due to the amplification of the surface plasmons. Here, we experimentally demonstrate an active plasmon sensor that is free of metal losses and operating deep below the diffraction limit for visible light. Loss compensation leads to an intense and sharp lasing emission that is ultrasensitive to adsorbed molecules. We validated the efficacy of our sensor to detect explosives in air under normal conditions and have achieved a sub-part-per-billion detection limit, the lowest reported to date for plasmonic sensors with 2,4-dinitrotoluene and ammonium nitrate. The selectivity between 2,4-dinitrotoluene, ammonium nitrate and nitrobenzene is on a par with other state-of-the-art explosives detectors. Our results show that monitoring the change of the lasing intensity is a superior method than monitoring the wavelength shift, as is widely used in passive surface plasmon sensors. We therefore envisage that nanoscopic sensors that make use of plasmonic lasing could become an important tool in security screening and biomolecular diagnostics.
Implicit measures in social cognition. research: their meaning and use.

Behavioral scientists have long sought measures of important psychological constructs that avoid response biases and other problems associated with direct reports. Recently, a large number of such indirect, or “implicit,” measures have emerged. We review research that has utilized these measures across several domains, including attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes, and discuss their predictive validity, their interrelations, and the mechanisms presumably underlying their operation. Special attention is devoted to various priming measures and the Implicit Association Test, largely due to their prevalence in the literature. We also attempt to clarify several unresolved theoretical and empirical issues concerning implicit measures, including the nature of the underlying constructs they purport to measure, the conditions under which they are most likely to relate to explicit measures, the kinds of behavior each measure is likely to predict, their sensitivity to context, and the construct's potential for c...
Abortion: A Technique for Working through Grief

(1982). Abortion: A Technique for Working through Grief. Journal of American College Health Association: Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 181-182.
The AU-Rich RNA Recombination Hot Spot Sequence of Brome Mosaic Virus Is Functional in Tombusviruses: Implications for the Mechanism of RNA Recombination

RNA recombination can be facilitated by recombination signals present in viral RNAs. Among such signals are short sequences with high AU contents that constitute recombination hot spots in Brome mosaic virus (BMV) and retroviruses. In this paper, we demonstrate that a defective interfering (DI) RNA, a model template associated with Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV), a tombusvirus, undergoes frequent recombination in plants and protoplast cells when it carries the AU-rich hot spot sequence from BMV. Similar to the situation with BMV, most of the recombination junction sites in the DI RNA recombinants were found within the AU-rich region. However, unlike BMV or retroviruses, where recombination usually occurred with precision between duplicated AU-rich sequences, the majority of TBSV DI RNA recombinants were imprecise. In addition, only one copy of the AU-rich sequence was essential to promote recombination in the DI RNA. The selection of junction sites was also influenced by a putative cis-acting element present in the DI RNA. We found that this RNA sequence bound to the TBSV replicase proteins more efficiently than did control nonviral sequences, suggesting that it might be involved in replicase “landing” during the template switching events. In summary, evidence is presented that a tombusvirus can use the recombination signal of BMV. This supports the idea that common AU-rich recombination signals might promote interviral recombination between unrelated viruses.
HYDROGEN EFFECTS ON THE FRACTURE TOUGHNESS PROPERTIES OF FORGED STAINLESS STEELS

The effect of hydrogen on the fracture toughness properties of Types 304L, 316L and 21-6-9 forged stainless steels was investigated. Fracture toughness samples were fabricated from forward-extruded forgings. Samples were uniformly saturated with hydrogen after exposure to hydrogen gas at 34 MPa or 69 and 623 K prior to testing. The fracture toughness properties were characterized by measuring the J-R behavior at ambient temperature in air. The results show that the hydrogen-charged steels have fracture toughness values that were about 50-60% of the values measured for the unexposed steels. The reduction in fracture toughness was accompanied by a change in fracture appearance. Both uncharged and hydrogen-charged samples failed by microvoid nucleation and coalescence, but the fracture surfaces of the hydrogen-charged steels had smaller microvoids. Type 316L stainless steel had the highest fracture toughness properties and the greatest resistance to hydrogen degradation.
Is there loss of a protective muscarinic receptor mechanism in asthma

We Investigated the hypothesis that prior airway muscarinic receptor stimulation (with aerosolized methacholine) would modify the bronchoconstrictor response to histamine, which is, in part, vagally mediated. On four different experiment days, the following combinations of methacholine and histamine inhalation challenges were performed in 15 subjects (nine normal and six asthmatic) in a random fashion: methacholine-histamine, histamine-methacholine; methacholine-methacholine and histamine-histamine. Cumulative provocative dose of each agonist which caused a 50 percent decrease in SGaw was estimated (PD 50 ). The second challenge was performed approximately 1 hour after the first challenge, when SGaw had returned to baseline. In normal subjects, prior muscarinic stimulation with methacholine suppressed the subsequent bronchoconstrictor response to histamine (mean±SE PD 50 histamine increased from 13.7±3.1 to 28.4±7.2 breath units), without modifying the bronchoconstrictor response to methacholine. In asthmatic subjects, prior methacholine exposure failed to modify the bronchoconstrictor responses to histamine and methacholine. In contrast, prior challenge with histamine did not modify the subsequent bronchoconstrictor responses to histamine and methacholine in both normal and asthmatic subjects. Pretreatment with ipratropium bromide attenuated the histamine-induced bronchoconstriction, suggesting that airway effects of histamine, in part, are vagally mediated. These data suggest that prior muscarinic stimulation has a protective effect on histamine-induced bronchoconstriction in normal subjects and the absence of this inhibitory effect in asthmatic patients may represent loss of a protective muscarinic receptor mechanism.
Upgrade of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter for the High luminosity LHC

The Tile Calorimeter is undergoing preparations for the high luminosity program of the LHC beginning in 2026, requiring a major replacement of onand off-detector electronics. All digitized signals will be transferred directly to the off-detector electronics, where the signals are reconstructed, stored, and sent to the first level of trigger at a rate of 40 MHz. The planned upgrade will also contribute to the reliability and redundancy of the system. A hybrid demonstrator module has been developed using the new electronics while conserving compatibility with the current system. The Demonstrator is undergoing extensive testing and validation is planned through a testbeam study in October 2015 and insertion in ATLAS during Phase I.