cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Public Attitudes Towards Peace: The Greek-Cypriot Position

In 1974, Turkey divided Cyprus by military force into the north and south, giving the Turkish Cypriots full control of the north. Since then, the United Nations (UN) has attempted to resolve the Cyprus problem, but diplomatic efforts have always fallen short. In 2004, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed a plan that would reunify Cyprus. In a public referendum that followed, about two-thirds of Turkish Cypriots voted for the plan; however, three-quarters of Greek Cypriots rejected the plan. To help illuminate Greek-Cypriot public opinion, a telephone survey is conducted with 150 randomly selected Greek-Cypriot citizens (with a response rate of 87%). Results demonstrate that about four-fifths of respondents do not mistrust Turkish Cypriots and believe they can peacefully coexist with them. Still, 43% of respondents report that Greek Cypriots as a group are not very well prepared to reunify with Turkish Cypriots. Perception of ethnocentrism for both sides is found to be at comparable, mediocre levels. N...
Semaphorin7A promotes tumor growth and exerts a pro-angiogenic effect in macrophages of mammary tumor-bearing mice

Semaphorins, a large family of molecules involved in the axonal guidance and development of the nervous system, have been recently shown to have both angiogenic and anti-angiogenic properties. Specifically, semaphorin 7A (SEMA7A) has been reported to have a chemotactic activity in neurogenesis, and to be an immune modulator via it binding to α1β1integrins. Additionally, SEMA7A has been shown to promote chemotaxis of monocytes, inducing them to produce proinflammatory mediators. In this study we explored the role of SEMA7A in the tumoral context. We show that SEMA7A is highly expressed by DA-3 murine mammary tumor cells in comparison to normal mammary cells (EpH4), and that peritoneal macrophages from mammary tumor-bearing mice also express SEMA7A at higher levels compared to peritoneal macrophages derived from normal control mice. We also show that murine macrophages treated with recombinant murine SEMA7A significantly increased their expression of proangiogenic molecules, such as CXCL2/MIP-2. Gene silencing of SEMA7A in peritoneal elicited macrophages from DA-3 tumor-bearing mice resulted in decreased CXCL2 expression. Mice implanted with SEMA7A silenced tumor cells showed decreased angiogenesis in the tumors compared to the wild type tumors. Furthermore, peritoneal elicited macrophages from mice bearing SEMA7A-silenced tumors produce significantly (p< 0.01) lower levels of angiogenic proteins, such as MIP-2, CXCL1 and MMP-9, compared to macrophages from control DA-3 mammary tumors. We postulate that SEMA7A derived from mammary carcinomas may serve as a monocyte chemoattractant and skew monocytes into a pro-tumorigenic phenotype. A putative relationship between tumor-derived SEMA7A and monocytes could prove valuable in establishing new research avenues towards unraveling important tumor-host immune interactions in breast cancer patients.
Synthesis and physical characterization of the self-complementary, alternating pyrimidine/purine hexanucleotide d[CGTACG]

The hexanucleotide d(CGTACG) has been synthesized by a phosphotriester method in which, for the first time, an O-6 protected deoxyguanosine derivative has been used to avoid side reactions of the guanine residues. Conformational analysis by circular dichroism shows that d(CGTACG) maintains a B form under conditions (5 M NaCl) where the all C/G hexanucleotide d(CG)3 adopts a Z form, even though d(CGTACG) is a fully alternating pyrimidine/purine molecular. The delta H for the helix-to-coil transition has been measured.
Design, Fabrication And Expected Performance Of The HEAO-B X-Ray Telescope

The X-ray telescope of the second High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO-B) is described. The design consists of four concentric paraboloid/hyperboloid pairs. Focal length is 3.44 meters, paraboloid diameters vary from 580-336 mm, grazing angles vary from 70 to 40 arcmin for paraxial rays, segment lengths are 511 mm. The reflecting surfaces are nickel-coated fused quartz and the resolution is limited by assembly errors (for small field angles) and design aberrations (for large field angles). The local slope, roundness, and surface roughness are identified as the primary optical tolerances connected with the individual elements.
A Grand Bargain for Education Reform: New Rewards and Supports for New Accountability edited by T. Hershberg and C. Robertson-Kraft

Questions of how to attract, reward, and retain high quality teachers have become central to education reform conversations. We have long known, and research certainly confirms, that good teaching ...
Synthesis of the carbocyclic core of zoanthenol: implementation of an unusual acid-catalyzed cyclization.

A smokin' hot cyclization! When the racemic cyclization precursor is heated in neat trifluoroacetic acid, an unusual Friedel–Crafts-type cyclization forms the carbocyclic core of the marine alkaloid zoanthenol containing two all-carbon-substituted quaternary centers. Catalytic asymmetric alkylation allows entry into an enantioselective route.
Constructing a Virtual World as a Research Tool: Lessons Learned from the First Iteration in the Development of Greenland

This paper draws from insights gained while constructing a virtual world named Greenland at Indiana University. The first section, examines the theoretical evidence supporting the use of virtual worlds as experimental research tools. The second, addresses a few of the practical concerns a researcher will encounter when attempting to construct a virtual world. And the final section, presents a hypothetical design for a virtual world, which could be used to gather empirical evidence regarding the management of a common-pool resource.
Some British Lower Devonian spore assemblages and their stratigraphic significance

Abstract A general description is given of the important morphological features of some Lower Devonian spore assemblages from the British Isles. These include spores from the lowermost Downtonian (basal Gedinnian) of the Welsh Borderland, which is among the oldest strata containing undoubted vascular plants, and assemblages from the Dittonian and Breconian of England and Scotland. All these assemblages are described and compared in general terms since, at the present stage of Devonian spore taxonomy, it is felt that such gross comparisons are more meaningful than comparing species lists. A tentative sequence of spore assemblages is drawn up and features such as size variation, the distribution of the genus Emphanisporites and zonate-pseudosaccate forms are discussed. Comparison with other areas is made and from this and from comparisons with other British Lower Devonian deposits, it is suggested that the Basement Group in Scotland is probably Lower Devonian in age. The possibility of facies control on the composition of spore assemblages is emphasized.
Propagation of spatially periodic wavefields

The relationship between the lateral and axial periodicities of a propagating, partially coherent wavefield is discussed from two different points of view. First it is shown that the lateral periodicity of the cross-spectral density is the cause of its axial periodicity. The coherent and incoherent limits correspond to the Talbot and Lau effects, respectively. It is then shown that the axial periodicity of fields with restricted spatial spectra also give rise to their lateral periodicity; this is illustrated by some experiments.
Efficient Generation of Energy and Performance Pareto Front for FPGA Designs (Abstract Only)

Analysis of trade-offs between energy efficiency and latency is essential to generate designs complying with a given set of constraints. Improvements in FPGA technologies offer a myriad choices for power and performance optimizations. Various algorithm intrinsic parameters also affect these objectives. The design space is compounded by the available choices. This requires efficient techniques to quickly explore the design space. Current techniques perform Gate/RTL level or functional level power modeling which are slow and hence not scalable. In this work we perform efficient design space exploration using a high level performance model. We develop a semi-automatic design framework to generate energy efficiency and latency trade-offs. The framework develops a performance model given a high level specification of a design with minimal user assistance. It then explores the entire design space to generate the dominating designs with respect to energy efficiency and latency metrics. We illustrate the framework using convolutional neural network which gained significance due to its application in deep learning. We simulate a few designs from the dominating set and show that the performance estimation for the dominating designs are close to the simulated results. We also show that our framework explores 6000 design points per minute on a commodity platform such as Dell workstation as opposed to state-of-the-art techniques which explore at 50 to 60 design points per minute.
Exploring the adoption of alternative energy technologies: a literature review

This paper attempts to grasp the direction in current and previous published articles in alternative energy adoption literature with a concentration on methods, perspectives, approaches and technologies that have been subject to research. Findings imply that alternative energy technology adoption literature has diversified into various research perspectives which are named in our study as: drivers and barriers to alternative energy technology deployment, technology and cost assessment, assessment of factors affecting adoption decisions, forecasting adoption trends, modelling and policy making. With respect to each research perspective existence of diverse research approaches, aiming to address various adoption issues that can be grouped under economical, technical, environmental, social and political aspects, has also been observed. Relationships between different research perspectives and approaches have been defined to clearly draw research trends in the alternative technology adoption literature. Further research opportunities as well as improvement suggestions on the existing line of research have been proposed.
Prediction of Continental-Scale Evapotranspiration by Combining MODIS and AmeriFlux Data Through Support Vector Machine

Application of remote sensing data to extrapolate evapotranspiration (ET) measured at eddy covariance flux towers is a potentially powerful method to estimate continental-scale ET. In support of this concept, we used meteorological and flux data from the AmeriFlux network and an inductive machine learning technique called support vector machine (SVM) to develop a predictive ET model. The model was then applied to the conterminous U.S. In this process, we first trained the SVM to predict 2000-2002 ET measurements from 25 AmeriFlux sites using three remotely sensed variables [land surface temperature, enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and land cover] and one ground-measured variable (surface shortwave radiation). Second, we evaluated the model performance by predicting ET for 19 flux sites in 2003. In this independent evaluation, the SVM predicted ET with a root-mean-square error (rmse) of 0.62 mm/day (approximately 23% of the mean observed values) and an R2 of 0.75. The rmse from SVM was significantly smaller than that from neural network and multiple-regression approaches in a cross-validation experiment. Among the explanatory variables, EVI was the most important factor. Indeed, removing this variable induced an rmse increase from 0.54 to 0.77 mm/day. Third, with forcings from remote sensing data alone, we used the SVM model to predict the spatial and temporal distributions of ET for the conterminous U.S. for 2004. The SVM model captured the spatial and temporal variations of ET at a continental scale
The GNUMAP algorithm

Motivation: The advent of next-generation sequencing technologies has increased the accuracy and quantity of sequence data, opening the door to greater opportunities in genomic research. Results: In this article, we present GNUMAP (Genomic Next-generation Universal MAPper), a program capable of overcoming two major obstacles in the mapping of reads from next-generation sequencing runs. First, we have created an algorithm that probabilistically maps reads to repeat regions in the genome on a quantitative basis. Second, we have developed a probabilistic Needleman–Wunsch algorithm which utilizes _prb.txt and _int.txt files produced in the Solexa/Illumina pipeline to improve the mapping accuracy for lower quality reads and increase the amount of usable data produced in a given experiment. Availability: The source code for the software can be downloaded from http://dna.cs.byu.edu/gnumap. Contact: nathanlclement@gmail.com Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Operations Strategy: A Broader View Of Threading The Vision To The Customer

In todays turbulent business environment, providing services, products, and solutions that meet customer needs and demands is a major challenge for all businesses. To be more competitive, companies are placing greater emphasis on lowering costs, improving quality, and reducing product cycle-time. Many different approaches, frameworks, and models are being used to guide businesses in their endeavors to move to the next level of productivity and excellence. This paper proposes an integrated framework that can assist business executives in evaluating and integrating their organizations in order to improve their operational profile.
Co-construction of fractions schemes and units coordinating structures

Abstract A growing body of research implicates students’ ability to coordinate multiple levels of numerical units as an important aspect of their mathematical development. In this paper, we consider relationships between the ways students coordinate units with whole numbers (their multiplicative concepts) and the ways students coordinate units with fractions (their fractions schemes). Interviews with 50 sixth-grade students suggest commonality in the number of levels of units-within-units structures that students construct for the two contexts, consistent with Steffe's (2001. The Journal, of Mathematical Behavior, 20(3), 267) reorganization hypothesis. The results suggest that fractions may be a fertile domain for elementary and middle grades students to continue to develop whole number understandings.
The Trouble with Pegged Exchange Rates

Exchange controls are not the answer to capital flight and financial meltdown. In fact they threaten monetary nationalism and a return to chaos. The only long-term solution, is guaranteed convertibility.
The Growth and Importance of Outsourced E-Discovery: Implications for Big Law and Legal Education

The legal market is rife with inefficiencies at all levels of practice. Perhaps the most fundamental problems in the marketplace for legal services are informational asymmetries. Information important for lawsuits may not be available for analysis, sometimes by design of the parties involved, and that creates friction in the market. Clients demand greater efficiencies at lower costs, as legal services have become a commodity managers must buy. The creation of E-Discovery was itself an effort to further the efficient operation of the legal services market but that efficiency came at increased cost due to the dramatic increase in documents for review. Efforts to tackle the problem of cost have pushed the providers of E-Discovery to seek out objective metrics to measure value-added to gain advantage over rival firms. This paper first examines changes in the macroeconomic conditions of the legal services market that predated and helped foster the E-Discovery boom. This paper will examine the concurrent changes to the traditional Big Law firm that created the market for E-Discovery. Next this paper will explore the history and growth of the E-Discovery market. Further, this paper will argue the record of growth along many variables of business success indicates the appetite of the market and the likely continued importance of E-Discovery and other non-traditional avenues of employment within the legal field. This paper will examine the infancy and growth of one firm in this market space: NEXTRA. We will examine this growth through the lens of so-called Moneyball principles advocated by NEXTRA CEO, Bob Rowe. In Moneyball author Michael Lewis explores how Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics’ General Manager, used inefficiencies in the marketplace for baseball players to his advantage. The lessons Beane borrowed from other industries to gain advantage over opposing general managers in baseball can also be implemented in legal education and legal practice. Finally, this paper will suggest legal education refocus some of the 3L curriculum on entrepreneurial opportunities within the law. Evidence suggests traditional legal employment will not support the number of law school graduates currently entering the market. Meanwhile fiscal pressures mount on law schools due to declining overall enrollment. These twin pressures should lead law schools to change focus from “getting a job” to “making a job”.
Markets as Processes of Moral Discovery

The Genesis and Ethos of the Market makes the assertion that virtue is not inconsistent with economic liberty. This raises the question about the relationship between virtue and economic liberty addressed in the "Civil Economy" tradition of the Neapolitan Enlightenment. We explore this question by analyzing the parallel emphases of two related schools of thought. One examines the role of practical reason in the Aristotelian ethical tradition. The other examines the role of entrepreneurship in the Austrian school of economics. Both provide insights into the institutional conditions in which practical reason and entrepreneurship are linked and flourish as discovery processes.
Locked in Place: Young People's Immobilities and the Slovenian Erasure

The case of Slovenia's erased minority populations (Izbrisani) is cited as one of the worst human rights abuses in contemporary Europe. While engaging debates on the nation-state and neoliberalism,...
A modular strategy for fully conjugated donor-acceptor block copolymers.

A novel strategy for the synthesis of fully conjugated donor–acceptor block copolymers, in a single reaction step employing Stille coupling polymerization of end-functional polythiophene and AA + BB monomers, is presented. The unique donor–acceptor structure of these block copolymers provides a rich self-assembly behavior, with the first example of a fully conjugated donor–acceptor block copolymer having two separate crystalline domains being obtained.
Plant → animal → book: Magnifying a microhistory of media circuits

In his Anatomy of Plants (1682), Royal Society Fellow Nehemiah Grew writes: ‘So that a Plant is, as it were, an Animal in Quires; as an Animal is a Plant, or rather several Plants bound up into one Volume.’ Zooming in on the circuit of metaphors packed into this sentence, this essay explores: (a) how medieval zoophytes – marvels like the vegetable lamb and the barnacle goose tree – spurred early modern experiments in comparative anatomy (‘a Plant is, as it were, an Animal … as an Animal is a Plant’), and (b) how bibliographic tropes came to mediate these plant–animal comparisons (‘an Animal in Quires … or rather several Plants bound up into one Volume’). As I argue, not only the affordances of print culture but the book as a material object gave structure to the study of life in the seventeenth century, transforming the medieval ‘book of nature’ device into an actual printed book.‘Plant → animal → book’ has an accompanying ‘digital essay’ ( www.palgrave-journals.com/pmed/journal/v3/n1/plantanimalbook/ ). The noun ‘essay’ derives from the French verb essayer, meaning to try, to attempt and to experiment. First used in English by Francis Bacon – and fittingly so, given the subject of this project – early modern ‘essays’ tested the limits of genre by gathering aphorisms culled from commonplace books into thematically cohesive writing. By adventuring into the digital realm, ‘Plant → animal → book’ moves to reclaim this earlier, more experimental sense of the essay's potential as a form. It is primarily a work of history (histories, more likely), and as such attempts to excavate concepts – such as ‘plant,’ ‘animal’ and ‘book’ – which have fossilized with the passing of time. Yet it also essays an awareness of its own mediation, inviting readers to share in the exegetical fever of archival discovery that inspired it.
Foreign Language Teaching Reform and the Implementation

Teaching foreign language is time consuming and inefficient in universities in China,which is brought about by several factors.This essay analyzes the cause of the low quality in foreign language education from the point of view of the teaching methods adopted by the teachers and suggestions on reforms and its implementation.
105 ALTERATIONS IN REGIONAL WALL STRAIN, ENOS AND MICROTUBULIN CONCENTRATIONS SIGNALING LEFT VENTRICULAR REMODELING OCCUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Background Left ventricular (LV) remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) leads to heart failure (HF). While alterations in LV wall strain are seen in the infarcted regions (IR), it is unclear if this also affects the non-infarcted regions (NIR) of the LV. Additionally, while LV tissue eNOS and constituitive microtubulin (CM) are altered in chronic HF, it is unknown what happens to these biomarkers acutely. We evaluated changes in LV wall strain; myocardial eNOS and CM acutely post MI. Methods LV wall motion of Sprague Dawley rats (N = 10) was analyzed by echocardiography at several time points after MI. Hemodynamic measurements were obtained via a Millar catheter. Alterations in myocardial contraction (δ strain) are measured via M-mode echocardiography. CM and eNOS were determined via immunoblot techniques. Results Systolic blood pressure decreased (P ≤ 0.05) acutely post MI (127.1 ± 6.1 vs 101.7± 10.1 mmHg). LV end diastolic pressure increased (P≤0.05) acutely after MI (5.8 ± 0.5 vs. 19.9 ± 2.0 mmHg). These changes were accompanied by a decrease (P≤ 0.05) in LV dP/dt after MI (7106 ± 520 vs. 4671± 350, mmHg/sec). δ strain was decreased in the anterior IR immediately (0.15 ± 0.04 vs 0.1 ± 0.02 mm, P ≤ 0.01); similarly δ strain was also decreased in the posterior NIR starting at 1 minute (0.17 ± 0.02 vs 0.1 ± 0.02 mm, P ≤ 0.01). A decrease in eNOS was seen with both the IR and NIR of the LV (20.8± 3.8 intensity unit (IU)/50 μg of tissue vs 11.1 ± 3.3 IU/50 μg, P = 0.04) and (26.7 ± 4.8 vs 8.14 ± 1.6 IU/50 μg, P = 0.002), respectively after MI. Conversely, CM was increased in both IR and NIR of the LV (10.3 ± 2.4 IU/25 μg vs 26.2 ± 4.6 IU/25 μg, P = 0.0005) and (9.3 ± 1.8 vs 18.5 ± 3.7 IU/25 μg, P = 0.003), respectively. Conclusion Decreases in δ strain occurred in both IR and NIR of the LV acutely after MI. This is accompanied by alterations in eNOS and CM levels throughout the LV immediately after MI. Our data demonstrate that physical and biomarkers signaling LV remodeling occur immediately after MI, rather than over time.
Gazed and Confused: Understanding and Designing Shared Gaze for Remote Collaboration

People utilize eye gaze as an important cue for monitoring attention and coordinating awareness. This study investigates how remote pairs make use of a graphical representation of their partner's eye-gaze during a tightly-coupled collaborative task. Our results suggest that reproducing shared gaze in a remote collaboration setting makes pairs more accurate when referring to linguistically complex objects by facilitating the production of efficient forms of deictic references. We discuss how the availability of gaze influences coordination strategies and implications for the design of shared gaze in remote collaboration systems.
The Influence of Retrograde Contrast Medium on Urinary Cytodiagnosis: A Preliminary Report

AbstractIt has been recommended that before retrograde brushing of upper urinary tract lesions to diagnose malignancy the contrast medium should be washed away with saline because of possible cellular distortion. There were 21 paired specimens from 19 patients submitted for urinary cytodiagnosis. One specimen was a contrast medium wash, similar in pH and osmolality to urine, and the other a saline wash. Cellular detail was adequate for cytodiagnosis in 20 of the 21 contrast medium specimens. Of 7 specimens from patients with malignancy 3 were diagnosed correctly as malignant, 1 was classified as suspicious and 3 were falsely negative in the contrast wash group. Of the 3 falsely negative diagnoses 2 were changed to malignant when the paired saline wash specimens were examined.Urologists should not discard the contrast medium specimen prior to retrograde brushing but should send it along with a saline wash specimen for cytodiagnosis because the discarded contrast material and irrigant may have diagnostic cells.
The Sea Is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs. By Joshua L. Reid

The Sea Is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs . Henry Roe Cloud Series on American Indians and Modernity. By Joshua L. Reid. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015. xvi + 400 pp. Illustrations, maps, chart, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $40.00.) The Makah Indian Reservation covers less than forty-seven square miles of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Nestled on Cape Flattery, the westernmost tip of the continental United States, this remote strip of coast consists mostly of rocky headlands, dense rainforests, and storm-tossed beaches with limited economic potential. It is, in sum, just the sort of place one would expect the federal government to put an Indian reservation. To focus on such features, however, misses the central fact of Makah identity and the point of Joshua L. Reid’s fascinating book. Tacking away from the land that so dominates our understanding of Native American history, The Sea … Ahffiis2{at}wm.edu
Materials for photoelectrochemical devices

Publisher Summary There are mainly two photoelectrochemical devices for the generation of energy using sunlight for which searches for new materials are in progress. One of the most important energy-producing devices involves the photoelectrochemical splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen where the former is an abundant, renewable source of clean energy. This is because combustion of hydrogen in air regenerates water. This device uses at least one of the electrodes as a light-absorbing semiconductor material that can absorb most of the photons in the solar spectrum. Another device is the photoelectrochemical solar cell in which redox reactions are carried out under illumination of sunlight to generate energy in the form of electricity. This device also uses at least one of the electrodes as a light-absorbing semiconductor material. After the discovery, numerous studies were carried out for the generation of hydrogen by photoelectrochemical splitting of water using various semiconductor materials and their combinations. After the discovery of the photoelectric effect, many studies were devoted to the development of both efficient solid-state solar cells and more recently the photoelectrochemical wet solar cells. This chapter focuses on both the Hydrogen-Producing Photoelectrochemical Cell (HPPEC) and the Electricity-Producing Photoelectrochemical Cells (EPPEC).
Bifurcated Dipeptide Schiff Bases as Ligands for Enantioselective Catalysis: Micro-Metalloenzymes

Enantioselective catalysis mediated by transition metals complexed to enantio-merically pure ligands has become an important feature in organic synthesis. While numerous ligands have been designed for this purpose, and many have used amino acids as a source of chirality, only a very few (c.f. Belokon [1]) have used amino acids or peptides directly for this purpose. We have discovered that the use of highly hindered benzophenone imines as N-terminal capping groups imparts a chiral “twist” to the resulting transition metal complexes [2], and that this feature can be exploited to produce enantioselective catalysts. Use of Merrifield- or Wang-type resins and solid-phase peptide synthesis allows for the facile construction of ligand arrays, which facilitates “catalyst discovery” via parallel or combinatorial approaches.
Bariatric manipulation of gastric arteries: A systematic review on the potential concept for treatment of obesity

Abstract Background Gastric artery embolization (GAE) has recently received attention as a minimally invasive intervention in bariatric setting. Aims The current systematic review aimed to gather and categorizes the existing data in the literature regarding bariatric gastric artery manipulation. This will highlight the importance of this potential concept as a therapeutic modality. Methods A PubMed/Medline search was conducted to identify animal and human studies investigating the effect of gastric artery manipulation on weight, ghrelin, obesity, and tissue adiposity. Results A total of 9 studies including 6 animal experiments with 71 subjects and 3 human studies with a total of 25 patients were retrieved. Animal subjects underwent chemical embolization while particle embolization was only used in human subjects. Five animal studies and 1 human study reported decreased ghrelin concentration. Three animal experiments and 2 human studies showed a significant weight change following GAE. There was no report regarding a serious adverse event requiring surgical or interventional management. Conclusion Currently, data regarding the potential role of gastric artery manipulation in decreasing the ghrelin and potential weight loss is scarce.
The Redesign of Developmental Education in Virginia

This chapter describes the structure and implementation of a redesign of developmental education in the Virginia Community College System, discusses preliminary descriptive findings from an evaluation of the redesign, and shares lessons for the field.
An evaluation of part-day telecommute impacts on work trip departure times

Abstract The primary objective of this research is to investigate the impacts of part-day telecommute arrangements on commute departure time. Part-day telecommuting occurs when the worker telecommutes while also travels to the workplace. In this case, telecommuting does not replace commute, but the workers may alter their commute departure times in order to avoid peak hour congestions. This paper intends to add empirical evidence on whether and to what extent telecommuting may lead to the temporal displacement of commute, and the actual outcomes on the network. With an interest on the departure time for commute trips, three different hazard models are developed, respectively for full-day commuters (no telecommuting episode), regular telecommuters (who telecommute on a regular basis), and non-regular telecommuters (who telecommute occasionally). Different socio-economic, demographic, and job-related attributes are used as independent variables in the model. Data were obtained from the 2010–2011 Regional Household travel Survey (RHTS) conducted in the New York Metropolitan region. This study adds to the literature by shedding light on the impacts of telecommuting on peak hour congestion relief and the underlying factors.
Varieties of mystical experience in William James and other moderns

In 1902, William James gave his Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, entitled The Varieties of Religious Experience, in which he claimed that such experience was a part of human nature, and was necessari...
Default Patterning Produces Pan-cortical Glutamatergic and CGE/LGE-like GABAergic Neurons from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Summary Default differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells has been promoted as a model of cortical development. In this study, a developmental transcriptome analysis of default-differentiated hPSNs revealed a gene expression program resembling in vivo CGE/LGE subpallial domains and GABAergic signaling. A combination of bioinformatic, functional, and immunocytochemical analysis further revealed that hPSNs consist of both cortical glutamatergic and CGE-like GABAergic neurons. This study provides a comprehensive characterization of the heterogeneous group of neurons produced by default differentiation and insight into future directed differentiation strategies.
Antihydrogen Beam Formation by Transporting an Antiproton Beam Through an Electron-Positron Plasma That Produces Magnetobound Positronium

Abstract The formation of an antihydrogen beam by transporting an antiproton beam through an electron-positron plasma that produces magnetobound positronium is studied using a classical trajectory simulation. Through simulation, it is found that antihydrogen can be synthesized via three body recombination involving magnetobound positronium. It has previously been reported that giant cross-magnetic-field particle drifts can occur as a result of binary collisions between charged matter particles and their antimatter counterparts. An electron-positron pair collision can result in a correlated drift of the two particles, perpendicular to a magnetic field. While the two particles remain in their correlated drift, they are referred to as magnetobound positronium. This study was conducted to determine what would happen if a magnetobound positronium system encountered an antiproton. The simulation shows that a positron can be captured into a bound state with an antiproton. This study also considers the effect that the electron-positron collision pitch angle has on antihydrogen production via magnetobound positronium.
Interfacial Chemistry in Solid-State Batteries: Formation of Interphase and Its Consequences

Benefiting from extremely high shear modulus and high ionic transference number, solid electrolytes are promising candidates to address both the dendrite-growth and electrolyte-consumption problems inherent to the widely adopted liquid-phase electrolyte batteries. However, solid electrolyte/electrode interfaces present high resistance and complicated morphology, hampering the development of solid-state battery systems, while requiring advanced analysis for rational improvement. Here, we employ an ultrasensitive three-dimensional (3D) chemical analysis to uncover the dynamic formation of interphases at the solid electrolyte/electrode interface. While the formation of interphases widens the electrochemical window, their electronic and ionic conductivities determine the electrochemical performance and have a large influence on dendrite growth. Our results suggest that, contrary to the general understanding, highly stable solid electrolytes with metal anodes in fact promote fast dendritic formation, as a resu...
WHAT MOTIVATES CONSUMERS TO PARTAKE IN CYBER SHILLING

The prevalence of online reviews has grown in recent years as more customer-firm interactions occur on the internet. Included in this progression is cyber shilling (users writing false reviews, eit...
Evaluation of Adjuvants that Enhance the Effectiveness of Antisense Oligodeoxynucleotides

Purpose. A factor limiting the effectiveness of antisense (AS) deoxyoligonucleotides (ODNs) is inefficient transport to their sites of action in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus. The extent of ODN transfer from endosomes to cytosol seems to be an important determinant of ODN effects. Consequently, the development of compounds (adjuvants) that enhance endosome to cytosol transfer may be vital in AS ODN therapeutics.
Commandeering and Constitutional Change

Coming in the midst of the Rehnquist Court’s federalism revolution, Printz v. United States held that federal commandeering of state executive officers is “fundamentally incompatible with our constitutional system of dual sovereignty.” The Printz majority’s discussion of historical evidence, however, inverted Founding-era perspectives. When Federalists such as Alexander Hamilton endorsed commandeering during the ratification debates, they were not seeking to expand federal power. Quite the opposite. The Federalists capitulated to states’ rights advocates who had recently rejected a continental impost tax because Hamilton, among others, insisted on hiring federal collectors rather than commandeering state collectors. The commandeering power, it turns out, was an integral aspect of the Anti-Federalist agenda because it facilitated federal use of state and local officers, thus ensuring greater local control over federal law enforcement and averting the need for a bloated federal bureaucracy. These priorities carried over into the First Congress, where Anti-Federalists were among the most vehement defenders of the federal power to commandeer state executive and judicial officers. Ironically, though understandably when viewed in context, it was Federalists who first planted the seeds of the anticommandeering doctrine. Incorporating recently uncovered sources and new interpretations, this Article aims to significantly revise our understanding of Founding-era attitudes towards federal commandeering of state officers. Moreover, the Article explains why early Congresses generally shunned the use of state officers and how this custom combined with shifting political priorities to quickly erode what once had been a strong consensus favoring commandeering’s constitutionality.
The Importance of State Regulation to the Promulgation of the Athletic Training Profession.

States regulate professions to protect the public from harm by unqualified practitioners. Without regulation of athletic trainers (ATs), there is no legal way to assure quality health care to athletes because there is no legal definition as to what an AT can and cannot do. Problems exist, however; 1) ATs nationwide may not be adequately familiar with state regulations; 2) without regulation, legal support is given to high schools to use less qualified persons to care for student-athletes; 3) more education is needed to familiarize the public and the health care industry with the functions and qualifications of a certified AT; and 4) without uniformity of regulation, athletes may continue to suffer as untrained and/or unqualified persons continue to be perceived as members of the profession and as certified and noncertified ATs continue to practice without legal sanction, perhaps beyond their area of expertise. This article encompasses both a literature review and an opinion survey (of ATs) with regard to state regulation of the athletic training profession. The intent of this article is to help ATs understand the implications of state regulation on our profession. A survey was mailed to 500 ATs across the country soliciting opinions on state regulation and its implication of the profession of athletic training. The intent of the survey results are not to verify the literature review nor to infer information regarding other ATs, but merely to be a gathering tool to solicit information from fellow ATs.
Enteric Coccidial Infections: Isospora, Sarcocystis, Cryptosporidium, Besnoitia, and Hammondia

The authors consider coccidial infections of the genera Isospora, Sarcocystis, Cryptosporidium, Besnoitia, and Hammondia.
How plastic is migratory behavior? Quantifying elevational movement in a partially migratory alpine ungulate, the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae)

Migratory species face well-documented global declines, but the causes of these declines remain unclear. One obstacle to better understanding these declines is uncertainty surrounding how migratory...
Statistical Models to Assess Leg Muscle Mass in Ambulatory Children With Spastic Cerebral Palsy Using Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a movement disorder associated with small and weak muscles. Methods that accurately assess muscle mass in children with CP are scarce. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) accurately estimates midleg muscle mass in ambulatory children with spastic CP. Ambulatory children with spastic CP and typically developing children 5-11 y were studied (n = 15/group). Fat-free soft tissue mass (FFST) and fat mass at the middle third of the tibia (i.e., midleg) were estimated using DXA. Muscle mass (muscleMRI) and muscle mass corrected for intramuscular fat (muscleMRIfc) in the midleg were estimated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Statistical models were created to predict muscleMRI and muscleMRIfc using DXA. Children with CP compared to typically developing children had lower FFST (38%), muscleMRI (40%) and muscleMRIfc (47%) (all p 0.99). We conclude that DXA-based statistical models accurately estimate midleg muscle mass in children with CP when the models are composed using data from children with CP rather than typically developing children.
International Graduate Students: Agency, Intentionality, and Socialization Reciprocity

Using grounded theory methodology, this study explored the development and implementation of Cultures and Languages across the Curriculum initiative in a residential college at Michigan State University. With a focus on international graduate students, our investigation led us to knowledge building communities and to patterns of behavior that we have conceptualized as socialization reciprocity. We note two key characteristics of the knowledge-building communities created within the Cultures and Languages across the Curriculum program are agency and intentionality, and these can only be realized by starting from the premise that the contributions of all participants are essential to the community. We argue this is in contrast to the not uncommon assumption that the cultural, linguistic, and pedagogical knowledge of international graduate students is somehow deficient.
Market Microstructure in the Age of Machine Learning

In this presentation, we analyze the explanatory (in-sample) and predictive (out-of-sample) importance of some of the best known market microstructural features. Our conclusions are drawn over the entire universe of the 87 most liquid futures worldwide, covering all asset classes, going back through 10 years of tick-data history.
A note on the limits of stability for the restricted problem of three bodies as applied to the Sun-Earth-Moon system

The Sun-Earth-Moon system is modeled by the restricted problem of three bodies, and the curves of zero velocity are used to define the limits of stability of the Moon's orbit about the Earth. By holding the relative distances fixed, and maintaining the circular velocities of the Earth and Moon while their masses are varied by a common factor (λ=m′E/mE=m′M/mM), it is found that the possibility of the Moon leaving Earth orbit and orbiting the Sun exists for the range of values 0.005<λ<0.4.
2160 Effects of Visual Fidelity for Design of a Virtual Reality Based Pain Management System

Study Objective To compare low vs high fidelity Virtual Reality (VR) for pain distraction in gynecology. Design Experimental; qualitative interview Setting Two OBGYN experienced the Low-and High-Fidelity VR developed by the UNLV engineering team. An informal interview was performed after experiencing the two apps. Patients or Participants Two OB GYN physicians Interventions The two apps were setup in the DEX Lab at UNLV. The participants experienced both the low and high fidelity apps using a standard VR headset. Measurements and Main Results Participants mentioned greater immersion in the High-Fidelity prototype. The greater variety in the background alone contributed significantly to the level of distraction compared to only timed or task-based interactions. An interesting find was the effect range of motion required for certain tasks. Limiting the range of motion of the tasks to comply with the procedures and limiting the user's physical contribution during to a minimum and based on the user's mobility. Conclusion The research conducted as part of a pilot study explored how different levels of visual stimuli in VR would potentially affect patients on their level of pain. Two VR apps, one with high fidelity images and the other with low fidelity images were developed and tested by two OGGYN doctors resulting in higher fidelity VR would engage a patient more in browsing the VR stimuli in the process. This study was done in order to identify variables of interest for fixing the design parameters for development of the pain management system.
Current Concepts on Mechanisms of Force Generation in Airways Smooth Muscle

At the biochemical level, agonist-induced force generation of airways and other smooth muscles can be divided into two components: a rapid increase in force which occurs seconds after the addition of a spasmogen followed by, or maybe partly coincident with, a slower, tonic, well maintained contracture. This chapter reviews how airways smooth muscle (ASM) generates force, the contractile proteins involved and their regulation by second and third messenger molecules. Current hypotheses regarding the biochemical basis of force maintenance in ASM is the subject of chapter 6 of this volume.
The contribution of neurocognitive functions to academic and psychological outcomes in pediatric cancer: A latent profile analysis.

This study aimed to identify the impact of neurocognitive functioning on academic and psychological domains using a novel person-centered latent profile analysis approach. We further examined the c...
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Is Associated with α Dysrhythmia across the Visual Cortex and the Default Mode Network.

Anomalies in default mode network (DMN) activity and alpha (8-12 Hz) oscillations have been independently observed in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent spatiotemporal analyses suggest that alpha oscillations support DMN functioning via inter-regional synchronization and sensory cortical inhibition. Therefore, we examined a unifying pathology of alpha deficits in the visual-cortex-DMN system in PTSD. Human patients with PTSD (N = 25) and two control groups—patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD; N = 24) and healthy controls (HC; N = 20)—underwent a standard eyes-open resting state (S-RS) and a modified resting state (M-RS) of passively viewing salient images (known to deactivate the DMN). High-density electroencephalogram (hdEEG) were recorded, from which intracortical alpha activity (power and connectivity/Granger causality) was extracted using the exact low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (eLORETA). Patients with PTSD (vs. GAD/HC) demonstrated attenuated alpha power in the visual cortex and key hubs of the DMN (posterior cingulate cortex/PCC and medial prefrontal cortex/mPFC) at both states, the severity of which further correlated with hypervigilance symptoms. With increased visual input (at M-RS vs. S-RS), patients with PTSD further demonstrated reduced alpha-frequency directed connectivity within the DMN (PCC→mPFC) and, importantly, from the visual cortex (VC) to both DMN hubs (VC→PCC and VC→mPFC), linking alpha deficits in the two systems. These interrelated alpha deficits align with DMN hypoactivity/hypoconnectivity, sensory disinhibition, and hypervigilance in PTSD, representing a unifying neural underpinning of these anomalies. The identification of visual-cortex-DMN alpha dysrhythmia in PTSD further presents a novel therapeutic target, promoting network-based intervention of neural oscillations. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Alpha (8-12 Hz) oscillations and the default mode network (DMN) both dominate the resting-state brain activity and are found to be closely related. In addition, aberrant alpha and DMN activities are both implicated in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Linking alpha and DMN aberrations in PTSD, our high-density EEG source analysis reveals that PTSD is associated with alpha power deficits across the DMN and visual cortex (VC) and deficient alpha-frequency connectivity from the VC to the DMN. That this visual-cortex-DMN alpha dysrhythmia further underpins hypervigilance symptoms in PTSD highlights a temporal-spatial network pathology, promoting network-based neural oscillatory interventions.