cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design of experiments-based stability and control derivative modelling

AbstractThis article investigates modelling aircraft non-dimensional aerodynamic-propulsive coefficients by using a design of experiment technique based on a linear parameter variation model. A case study is conducted to estimate the stability and control derivatives from aircraft response behaviour in longitudinal motion. For demonstrating technique feasibility, a non-linear simulator for the F-16 was used to assess the proposed approach. A set of doublet elevator and throttle inputs is initially executed at different locations over the operational flight envelope. Then, the aircraft response is used in identifying the derivative variations with velocity, altitude, aircraft mass, and centre of gravity position. A sequential experiment using a factorial design and augmented face central axial points was employed to model the variation. The validity of the proposed method was evaluated by comparing the estimated and actual variation of the derivatives. The proposed approach is generally applicable for wind...
Why the white bear is still there: electrophysiological evidence for ironic semantic activation during thought suppression

Much research has focused on the paradoxical effects of thought suppression, leading to the viewpoint that increases in unwanted thoughts are due to an ironic monitoring process that increases the activation of the very thoughts one is trying to rid from consciousness. However, it remains unclear from behavioral findings whether suppressed thoughts become more accessible during the act of suppression. In the current study, event-related potentials were recorded while participants suppressed or expressed thoughts of a focus word during a simple lexical decision task. Modulations in the N400 component reported here demonstrate the paradoxical effects occurring at the semantic level during suppression, as well as some evidence for the rebound effect after suppression periods. Interestingly, semantic activation was greater for focus words during suppression than expression, despite differences in the N1 window suggesting that expression elicited greater perceptual processing than suppression. Results provide electrophysiological evidence for the Ironic Process model and support recent claims of asymmetric network activation during thought suppression.
EFFECTS OF CONFLICTING ANALYSES ON MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING: A LABORATORY EXPERIMENT

Researchers in a variety of disciplines have recommended the use of multiple conflicting data analyses to improve managerial decision making through the challenging of assumptions. This study deals with the effects of single data analyses and conflicting analyses on managers' solutions to a case analysis task. Results showed that managers who received conflicting analyses produced solutions with higher expected profits than those who received single analyses. Implications for the use of analytic decision aids are noted.
THINGS FALL APART: J. G. A. POCOCK, HANNAH ARENDT, AND THE POLITICS OF TIME

This article reconstructs J. G. A. Pocock's debt to Hannah Arendt's political philosophy in The Machiavellian Moment and argues that her presentation of classical politics in The Human Condition and her account of the secular nature of American foundation in On Revolution were important sources for Pocock's analysis of American liberal insecurity. However, a contextualization of The Machiavellian Moment within Pocock's immediate intellectual and professional milieu indicates that he placed himself in critical relation to Arendt's civic republican theory and located her philosophy of history in the same spectrum as the American political tradition he sought to historicize. While they did share a similar perspective on the ethical and political value of locating oneself within a long historical duree, their different conceptions of the problem of continuity for secular political structures provides a crucial context for their disparate responses to the discourse of political crisis in the United States in the late 1960s and the 1970s.
Designing survivable power systems

Survivability, or the ability to provide power to consumers/loads in spite of multiple simultaneous faults caused by natural or hostile disruptions, is a desirable feature of any power system. Topology (or design) is a key factor determining survivability of the power system. In our study, we develop mathematical and numerical tools to analyze the topological survivability of utility power systems. A new web topology of enhanced survivability is suggested.
Cultural Diplomacy, Language Planning, and the Case of the University of Nairobi Confucius Institute

As China’s economic and political presence in Africa increases, so does the need for its government to maintain a favorable image with African publics. Borrowing theories of soft power diplomacy and language planning, this paper analyzes, from the perspectives of African and Chinese policymakers, the impact of the Confucius Institutes on higher education in Africa and its intersections with language planning and cultural diplomacy. An empirical case study at the University of Nairobi Confucius Institute shows that policymakers and administrators anticipate that a competent group of Kenyans with Mandarin language skills will be able to engage with Chinese people and Chinese-owned companies on the ground in Kenya. However, Chinese diplomats are more concerned with China’s image and achieving its political and economic interests in Kenya than with effective cultural exchange and language instruction.
Two Unique Human Decidual Macrophage Populations

Several important events occur at the maternal-fetal interface, including generation of maternal-fetal tolerance, remodeling of the uterine smooth muscle and its spiral arteries and glands, and placental construction. Fetal-derived extravillous trophoblasts come in direct contact with maternal decidual leukocytes. Macrophages represent ∼20% of the leukocytes at this interface. In this study, two distinct subsets of CD14(+) decidual macrophages (dMs) are found to be present in first-trimester decidual tissue, CD11c(HI) and CD11c(LO). Gene expression analysis by RNA microarray revealed that 379 probes were differentially expressed between these two populations. Analysis of the two subsets revealed several clusters of coregulated genes that suggest distinct functions for these subsets in tissue remodeling, growth, and development. CD11c(HI) dMs express genes associated with lipid metabolism and inflammation, whereas CD11c(LO) dMs express genes associated with extracellular matrix formation, muscle regulation, and tissue growth. The CD11c(HI) dMs also differ from CD11c(LO) dMs in their ability to process protein Ag and are likely to be the major APCs in the decidua. Moreover, these populations each secrete both proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines that may contribute to the balance that establishes fetal-maternal tolerance. Thus, they do not fit the conventional M1/M2 categorization.
Neuropathology of Chronic Wasting Disease of Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni)

The pathology of the central nervous system of nine mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and six elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with chronic wasting disease, a spongiform encephalopathy of mule deer and elk, was studied by light microscopy. Lesions were similar in both species and were characterized by spongiform transformation of gray matter, intracytoplasmic vacuolation of neurons, neuronal degeneration and loss, astrocytic hypertrophy and hyperplasia, occurrence of amyloid plaques, and absence of significant inflammatory response. Distribution and severity of lesions were evaluated at 57 locations; there were only minor differences between deer and elk. Consistent, severe lesions occurred in olfactory tubercle and cortex, hypothalamus, and the parasympathetic vagal nucleus of deer, and sections examined from these regions would be sufficient to establish a diagnosis of chronic wasting disease. Lesions were milder in these locations in elk but were sufficiently apparent to be of diagnostic value. Other differences included increased severity of lesions in some thalamic nuclei in elk in contrast to deer, the occurrence of amyloid plaques demonstrable by hematoxylin and eosin and histochemical stains in deer in contrast to elk, and the presence of mild white matter lesions in elk but not in deer. Lesions of chronic wasting disease were qualitatively comparable to those of scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, transmissible mink encephalopathy, and the human spongiform encephalopathies. Topographic distribution and lesion severity of chronic wasting disease were most similar to those of scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Duration of clinical disease did not significantly influence lesion distribution or severity in either species.
The Transcription Factors SCIP and Krox-20 Mark Distinct Stages and Cell Fates in Schwann Cell Differentiation

We have studied the transcription factors SCIP and Krox-20 in differentiating Schwann cells—during normal development, in experimentally induced degenerating and regenerating peripheral nerves, and in cell culture—and have compared the expression of these regulators to a battery of genes that mark distinct stages in Schwann cell differentiation. In the myelinating Schwann cell lineage, we find that SCIP is initially induced by contact with axons and first appears near the last round of cell division in immature cells. This expression is transient—it is maximal in “promyelinating” cells and is then extinguished as Schwann cells overtly differentiate and myelinate axons. In contrast, Krox-20 appears in cells 24–36 h after they become SCIP+and continues to be expressed in mature myelinating cells. These differences in regulation are seen in normal development, in regenerating nerves following nerve crush, and in cultured Schwann cells stimulated to adopt a myelination phenotype by elevation of intracellular cyclic AMP. Importantly, transient SCIP expression is also observed in the nonmyelinating Schwann cell lineage, but Krox-20 expression is not. Together with the myelination phenotypes exhibited by SCIP and Krox-20 mutant mice, these results suggest that SCIP preferentially acts during the predifferentiated phases of Schwann cell development, while in contrast, Krox-20 is associated with the later commitment to myelination and may therefore function as a direct transactivator of myelination genes.
Learning Might Not Equal Liking: Research Methods Course Changes Knowledge But Not Attitudes.

Students completed surveys at the beginning and end of a sophomore-level course on research and statistics. We hypothesized that the course would produce advances in knowledge of research and statistics and that those changes would be accompanied by more favorable attitudes toward the subject matter. Results showed that knowledge did increase significantly, but 4 of 6 attitude measures showed no change. Two attitude measures (perceived utility of research and statistics) showed significant declines. These results demonstrate the independence of knowledge and attitudes and show that attitudinal change is not monolithic. We argue that students' misconceptions about research might underlie the declines in perceived utility of research and statistics.
Identification and Impact of Egg Predators of Cyclocephala lurida and Popillia japonica (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in Turfgrass

Field experiments were conducted to identify predators of southern masked chafer, Cyclocephala lurida Bland, and Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, eggs in turfgrass soil and to measure the predation that occurs. Identification of egg predators was determined by direct observation through buried Plexiglas plates of artificially placed eggs. Predation rates of Japanese beetle eggs was further measured using buried bait stations filled with eggs. Up to 73% of eggs in the soil were taken within a 72-h period. Ants were found to be the predominant predator accounting for up to 83% of the eggs taken. One species of ant, Solenopsis molesta (Say), proved to be the primary ant predator of eggs in turfgrass.
Adjusted functional boxplots for spatio-temporal data visualization and outlier detection †

This article proposes a simulation-based method to adjust functional boxplots for correlations when visualizing functional and spatio-temporal data, as well as detecting outliers. We start by investigating the relationship between the spatiotemporal dependence and the 1.5 times the 50% central region empirical outlier detection rule. Then, we propose to simulate observations without outliers on the basis of a robust estimator of the covariance function of the data. We select the constant factor in the functional boxplot to control the probability of correctly detecting no outliers. Finally, we apply the selected factor to the functional boxplot of the original data. As applications, the factor selection procedure and the adjusted functional boxplots are demonstrated on sea surface temperatures, spatio-temporal precipitation and general circulation model (GCM) data. The outlier detection performance is also compared before and after the factor adjustment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Two GDP-mannose transporters contribute to hyphal form and cell wall integrity in Aspergillus nidulans.

In order to identify novel genes affecting cell wall integrity, we have generated mutant strains of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans that show hypersensitivity to the chitin-binding agent Calcofluor White (CFW). Affected loci are designated cal loci. The phenotype of one of these alleles, calI11, also includes shortened hyphal compartments and increased density of branching in the absence of CFW, as well as reduced staining of cell walls by the lectin FITC–Concanavalin A (ConA), which has strong binding affinity for mannosyl residues. We have identified two A. nidulans genes (AN8848.3 and AN9298.3, designated gmtA and gmtB, respectively) that complement all aspects of the phenotype. Both genes show strong sequence similarity to GDP-mannose transporters (GMTs) of Saccharomyces and other yeasts. Sequencing of gmtA from the calI11 mutant strain reveals a G to C mutation at position 943, resulting in a predicted alanine to proline substitution at amino acid position 315 within a region that is highly conserved among other fungi. No mutations were observed in the mutant strain's allele of gmtB. Meiotic mapping demonstrated a recombination frequency of under 1 % between the calI locus and the phenA locus (located ∼9.5 kb from AN8848.3), confirming that gmtA and calI are identical. A GmtA–GFP chimera exhibits a punctate distribution pattern, consistent with that shown by putative Golgi markers in A. nidulans. However, this distribution did not overlap with that of the putative Golgi equivalent marker CopA–monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP), which may indicate that the physically separated Golgi-equivalent organelles of A. nidulans represent physiologically distinct counterparts of the stacked cisternae of plants and animals. These findings demonstrate that gmtA and gmtB play roles in cell wall metabolism in A. nidulans similar to those previously reported for GMTs in yeasts.
Mapping snow depth from manned aircraft on landscape scales at centimeter resolution using structure-from-motion photogrammetry

Abstract. Airborne photogrammetry is undergoing a renaissance: lower-cost equipment, more powerful software, and simplified methods have significantly lowered the barriers to entry and now allow repeat mapping of cryospheric dynamics at spatial resolutions and temporal frequencies that were previously too expensive to consider. Here we apply these advancements to the measurement of snow depth from manned aircraft. Our main airborne hardware consists of a consumer-grade digital camera directly coupled to a dual-frequency GPS; no inertial motion unit (IMU) or on-board computer is required, such that system hardware and software costs less than USD 30 000, exclusive of aircraft. The photogrammetric processing is done using a commercially available implementation of the structure from motion (SfM) algorithm. The system is simple enough that it can be operated by the pilot without additional assistance and the technique creates directly georeferenced maps without ground control, further reducing overall costs. To map snow depth, we made digital elevation models (DEMs) during snow-free and snow-covered conditions, then subtracted these to create difference DEMs (dDEMs). We assessed the accuracy (real-world geolocation) and precision (repeatability) of our DEMs through comparisons to ground control points and to time series of our own DEMs. We validated these assessments through comparisons to DEMs made by airborne lidar and by a similar photogrammetric system. We empirically determined that our DEMs have a geolocation accuracy of ±30 cm and a repeatability of ±8 cm (both 95 % confidence). We then validated our dDEMs against more than 6000 hand-probed snow depth measurements at 3 separate test areas in Alaska covering a wide-variety of terrain and snow types. These areas ranged from 5 to 40 km2 and had ground sample distances of 6 to 20 cm. We found that depths produced from the dDEMs matched probe depths with a 10 cm standard deviation, and were statistically identical at 95 % confidence. Due to the precision of this technique, other real changes on the ground such as frost heave, vegetative compaction by snow, and even footprints become sources of error in the measurement of thin snow packs (
Silicon carbide (SiC) membrane nanomechanical resonators with multiple vibrational modes

We report on experimental demonstration of a new type of nanomechanical resonators based on very thin silicon carbide (SiC) square membranes. An optical interferometry with a radio-frequency two-port measurement scheme enables sensitive and efficient detection of many vibrational modes of the membranes. Membranes with sizes up to 1mm × 1mm and thicknesses down to t ≤ 500nm, offer very high aspect ratios and compelling resonance spectra of multiple-mode operations from kHz range to the HF (3–30MHz) band. Typical resonances have Q's ∼ 800–30000 at room temperature and in vacuum of ∼20mTorr. Some high-Q modes exhibit fairly strong nonlinear effects.
Using Team-Based Learning to Teach Social Work Research, Human Behavior, and Policy

Team-based learning (TBL) is an innovative and highly structured pedagogy with promise for millennial students in social work programs. Through a reliance on team exercises and active learning, TBL encourages critical thinking, leadership skills, and coordinated learning activities. Incorporation of TBL can also directly relate social work courses to the appropriate Council on Social Work Education core competencies. TBL is presented as an effective method for educating millennial students who are accustomed to high stimulation and creativity in the classroom. This article provides an overview of TBL and examples of TBL assignments for social work courses, including research, human behavior in the social environment, and social welfare policy.
Social Media: Changing Advertising Education

Creating an academic assignment that closely parallels an advertising agency‟s real world business experience is a challenge, but social media has destroyed many of the barriers that historically limited media options and completion of advertising plans. Because digital media is cost effective and easily used, commercials, videos, podcasts, and multimedia messaging can be filmed, edited, and broadcast, within the time frame of an advertising course This article presents an applied advertising project that incorporates YouTube, Flicker, MySpace, Face book, Twitter, Linkedin, Ning, Tagged, Google +, and other online social networking sites as the foundation for an integrated marketing communication strategy. Infusing social media into communication preferences expands the options students have at their disposal to visually display their ingenuity. Engaging students through media they identify with and comprehend augments learning while their familiarity and expertise with social media increases the likelihood of producing a germane product. This project is an experiential learning process where the real world business client benefits from the creative deliverables produced by motivated, technology savvy undergraduates.
Compact Reactor Power Systems

The SNAP zirconium hydride reactor developed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission for space applications can also be used for the generation of power in marine applications. This reactor can be cou...
Writing for Your Client

Practical advice for writing letters with legal content to clients who aren't lawyers: avoid legalisms, limit formal citations, use a colloquial tone.
Recapitulation and Modulation of the Cellular Architecture of a User-Chosen Cell of Interest Using Cell-Derived, Biomimetic Patterning.

Heterogeneity of cell populations can confound population-averaged measurements and obscure important findings or foster inaccurate conclusions. The ability to generate a homogeneous cell population, at least with respect to a chosen trait, could significantly aid basic biological research and development of high-throughput assays. Accordingly, we developed a high-resolution, image-based patterning strategy to produce arrays of single-cell patterns derived from the morphology or adhesion site arrangement of user-chosen cells of interest (COIs). Cells cultured on both cell-derived patterns displayed a cellular architecture defined by their morphology, adhesive state, cytoskeletal organization, and nuclear properties that quantitatively recapitulated the COIs that defined the patterns. Furthermore, slight modifications to pattern design allowed for suppression of specific actin stress fibers and direct modulation of adhesion site dynamics. This approach to patterning provides a strategy to produce a more ho...
Hypersensitive Cholinergic Functioning in Primary Affective Illness

Primary affective illness is characterized by two distinct mood states, depression and mania. While depressed, patients typically show changes in mood (sadness, crying, feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness), physical activity (anergy, fatigue, psychomotor retardation),and sleep changes (short fragmented sleep, with decreased latency to the onset of the first REM period (8,18). While manic, patients are euphoric, hyperactive and hyposomniac.
Do patient-centered medical homes enhance patients' medication adherence? Findings on the next frontier in quality improvement

Lauffenburger and colleagues report an assessment of adherence in PCMHs compared with a national sample of commercially insured adults initiating therapy with diabetes, blood pressure, or cholester...
Primary care quality and breast cancer care engagement during treatment: Results from the iCanCare Study.

e20637 Background: Collaborative care between cancer specialists and primary care providers ensures high quality cancer care from treatment into survivorship. Yet, little is known about patient’s perspectives about the level of PCP engagement in breast cancer (BC) care during treatment. Methods: A weighted random sample of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in the Georgia and Los Angeles SEER registries were surveyed approximately 6 months after diagnosis (expected final N=2700, 68% current response rate). A primary care provider (PCP) quality scale was created by averaging patient responses (5 categories, never to always) to 5 questions: ease of access to PCP (3 questions) and PCP’s awareness of patient values (2 questions) and then categorized (avg. score 4 or more (high), vs. 3 (moderate), vs. <3 (low)). PCP BC engagement was defined by asking women how informed their PCP was about their ongoing cancer care. Patient factors associated with perceived PCP quality and BC engagement and the association...
Detection of early tumor response to abraxane using H-scan imaging: Preliminary results in a small animal model of breast cancer

H-scan is a new ultrasound (US) technique that images the relative size of acoustic scatterers. This modality relies on matching a model of pulse-echo formation to the mathematics of a class of Gaussian-weighted Hermite polynomials (GH). Parallel convolution filters using the second (GH 2 ) and eighth (GH 8 ) components are applied to the radio frequency (RF) US data to capture the low and high frequency signal components, respectively. The relative strength from each convolution is color-coded and imaged. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of H-scan imaging for characterizing tumor tissue and any early response to systemic anticancer treatment. Preliminary in vivo H-scan imaging studies were performed using an animal model of breast cancer. B-scan and H-scan imaging was performed before and after injection of an anticancer drug (albumin-bound paclitaxel) to assess any early tumor response and cellular disruption. Imaging was repeated along the same tumor cross-section every 30 min for at least 2 h. The results show that there was a significant overall change in the mean H-scan image intensity (compared to baseline measurements) at 120 min (29.2 ± 0.8%, p = 0.001). At this same time point, there was also a decrease in the B-scan image intensity (18.4 ± 3.0%, p = 0.03). Preliminary examples presented suggest that H-scan imaging is a promising tissue characterization modality. Further, H-scan may provide prognostic value during monitoring of the early tumor response (or lack thereof) to anticancer treatment.
Madrid: a culinary history

The history of Madrid and its love affair with food is traced in Maria Paz Moreno’s delicious cultural history of one of the underrated food capitals of Europe. Telling the story of both Madrid and...
Rheology: Relations Between Forces and a Material’s Response

Familiar ideas are that some materials behave elastically, like rubber, and some behave viscously, like honey and engine oil. In some materials, both kinds of behavior are important simultaneously, and having elastic properties certainly does not prevent a material from having viscous properties as well. To get started on the topics of this chapter, viscous behavior in rocks will be emphasized; the groundwork thus established will be helpful in later discussion of more complicated behaviors.
Acinetobacter baumannii Resistance Trends in Children in the United States, 1999-2012.

BACKGROUND Acinetobacter baumannii is a common cause of healthcare-associated infections. Carbapenem-resistant (CR) A baumannii is a significant threat globally. We used a large reference laboratory database to study the epidemiology of A baumannii in children in the United States. METHODS Antimicrobial susceptibility data from The Surveillance Network were used to phenotypically identify antibiotic resistance in A baumannii isolates in children 1-17 years of age between January 1999 and July 2012. Logistic regression analysis was used to calculate trends in the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in A baumannii. Isolates from infants (<1 year old) were excluded. RESULTS The crude proportion of cephalosporin-resistant (CephR) A baumannii increased from 13.2% in 1999 to 23.4% in 2012 with a peak of 32.5% in 2008, and the proportion of CR A baumannii increased from 0.6% in 1999 to 6.1% in 2012 with a peak of 12.7% in 2008. From 1999 to 2012, the proportion of CephR and CR A baumannii increased each year by 3% and 8%, respectively (CephR odds ratio [OR] = 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.04; CR OR = 1.08, 95% CI, 1.05-1.12); however, after 2008, a significant decrease in trend was observed (CephR OR = 0.78, 95% CI, 0.71-0.87; CR OR = 0.73, 95% CI, 0.62-0.86), but resistance remained higher than baseline (1999). CONCLUSIONS Overall, between 1999 and 2012, CephR and CR A baumannii isolates increased in children; however, a decreasing trend was observed after 2008.There is a need for ongoing surveillance of A baumannii infections and continued assessment of effective prevention strategies in vulnerable populations.
From Debugging-Information Based Binary-Level Type Inference to CFG Generation

Binary-level Control-Flow Graph (CFG) construction is essential for applications such as control-flow integrity. There are two main approaches: the binary-analysis approach and the compiler-modification approach. The binary-analysis approach does not require source code, but it constructs low-precision CFGs. The compiler-modification approach requires source code and modifies compilers for CFG generation. We describe the design and implementation of an alternative system for high-precision CFG construction, which still assumes source code but does not modify compilers. Our approach makes use of standard compiler-generated meta-information, including symbol tables, relocation information, and debugging information. A key component in the system is a type-inference engine that infers types of low-level storage locations such as registers from types in debugging information. Inferred types enable a type-signature matching method for high-precision CFG construction.
Bill Clinton's Parting Pardon Party

This Article will appear in revised form as part of a book tentatively titled The Decline and Fall of the Pardon Power: A History. A brief description of the larger project may be helpful. The first part of the larger study will examine the near disappearance of executive clemency and how it happened. Between 1860 and 1900, Presidents granted 49% of the applications for clemency they received,1 and as recently as 1961 to 1980, they granted 28%.2 In the last complete presidential administration, however, George W. Bush granted only 1.7% of the applications he received.3 Barack Obama, who is now in the nineteenth month of his presidency, has yet to approve a clemency grant. More than 4,500 petitions await action in the White House or the Department of Justice.4
More on Lebesgue Integral and Measure

Our objective in this chapter is to add a few more topics to Lebesgue’s theory of measure and integration introduced in Chap. 10. We begin by revisiting the connection to Riemann’s theory and give a short discussion of improper Riemann integrals. Next, we look at integrals depending on a parameter and give sufficient conditions under which the order of limits and integrals may be interchanged as well as conditions that guarantee the possibility of differentiating under the integral sign.
cGMP induces degradation of NKCC2 in the thick ascending limb via the ubiquitin-proteasomal system.

The thick ascending limb of Henle’s loop (TAL) reabsorbs NaCl via the apical Na+-K+-2Cl− cotransporter (NKCC2). NKCC2 activity is regulated by surface NKCC2 levels. The second messenger cGMP decrea...
Transformation of Instructional Practice through Aesthetic Experiences

This longitudinal ethnographic study involved a professional development project, Project Partnerships Achieve Literacy (Project PAL) in South Africa, with eight rural foundation phase teachers who taught Reception (kindergarten) through grade three (R-3). This Project was designed to support teachers in an under-resourced school as they learned strategic approaches to literacy teaching and learning with the aim to improve the reading achievement of their children. Located in aesthetics theory, researchers engaged teachers in aesthetic experiences, or experiences that were infused with the arts (art, drama, video, music, reader’s theater), children’s literature, and technology. Research questions were as follows: What can be learned from an aesthetic approach to professional development? What does engagement look like in aesthetic experiences in professional development? Do aesthetic experiences resonate with teachers and inform their instruction? Three findings emerged from an constant comparative analysis of classroom observations, interviews, teacher artifacts, researcher debriefs, video and audio recordings: 1) Feelings and the arts were significant in what and how teachers learned in professional development workshops; 2) Aesthetic experiences led to critical and democratic talk around professional development and issues of social importance; and 3) Aesthetic experiences informed teachers’ in and out of classroom practice. Findings from this study suggest that professional development holds significant promise when it is sustained, imaginative, and relatable, and positions teachers to think differently about themselves as learners and teachers through aesthetic experiences. We suggest that drawing only from cognitive approaches and one-shot single-session professional development does not deeply address the qualities, feelings, emotions, and embodied responses that comprise the aesthetic experience in professional development, and argue for a deeper understanding of professional development, one in which aesthetic learning and experiences are central to teacher learning.
Susceptibility to Spear-Phishing Emails: Effects of Internet User Demographics and Email Content

Phishing is fundamental to cyber attacks. This research determined the effect of Internet user age and email content such as weapons of influence (persuasive techniques that attackers can use to lure individuals to fall for an attack) and life domains (a specific topic or aspect of an individual's life that attackers can focus an email on) on spear-phishing (targeted phishing) susceptibility. In total, 100 young and 58 older users received, without their knowledge, daily simulated phishing emails over 21 days. A browser plugin recorded their clicking on links in the emails as an indicator of their susceptibility. Forty-three percent of users fell for the simulated phishing emails, with older women showing the highest susceptibility. While susceptibility in young users declined across the study, susceptibility in older users remained stable. The relative effectiveness of the attacks differed by weapons of influence and life domains with age-group variability. In addition, older compared to young users reported lower susceptibility awareness. These findings support effects of Internet user demographics and email content on susceptibility to phishing and emphasize the need for personalization of the next generation of security solutions.
Response to conspecific alarm cues by larval and juvenile spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum)

For many species, the highest predation rates are on the earliest life stages, favoring the early development of predator detection mechanisms. Aquatic larvae of Spotted salamanders, Ambystoma macu...
Experimental Validation of Calorimetric Electron Capture Spectral Theory with $${}^{193}$$ 193 Pt

Using microcalorimeters, a high statistics, high-resolution calorimetric spectrum of electron capture in $${}^{163}$$ Ho can be used to determine the neutrino mass. The spectral shape can be calculated from first principles with various assumptions and approximations. To determine the validity of these choices, the theoretical calculations must be compared to data from multiple isotopes. New calorimetric data for a $${}^{193}$$ Pt-in-Pt absorber measured with a transition edge sensor are presented and compared to theoretical calculations and values from the literature.
High-dimensional spatial simulation ensemble analysis

Advancements in computational power enable scientists to study complex spatial systems using varying models or initial conditions in what is known as spatial ensemble. Analyzing all facets of such high dimensional spatial ensembles poses challenges for its representation and visualization. This requires the design of interactive analysis tool(s) that supports visualization, analysis, and exploration of spatial ensembles in multiple ways and at multiple levels of abstraction. The difficulty in such representation is the need to consider both data dimensionality and spatiality simultaneously. Much research has been done for visually analyzing spatial ensembles; however, the majority of these visualizations capture differences in the spatial ensemble through descriptive statistics, neglecting spatial data characteristics, which severely limits the exploration process. In this paper, we propose a visual analysis approach that employs statistical and visual analytics methodologies for a more effective understanding and exploration of spatial ensembles without the need for in-depth knowledge of the underlying computational models and ensemble features and association.
Airflow and thermal comfort evaluation of a room with different outlet opening sizes and elevations ventilated by a two-sided wind catcher

Abstract Wind catchers as passive cooling systems contribute to the enhancement of air quality, thermal comfort, and reduction of energy consumption in the residential sector. In this paper, the indoor flow structure, crossflow ventilation characteristics, and thermal comfort of a room integrated with a two-sided wind catcher is numerically investigated. A mixed-climate condition and experimentally validated room dimensions are utilized to define the physics of the problem. 3D steady-state RANS CFD simulations , with different turbulence models for a reference case are simulated, and their performance is compared with the published literature. The following analyses are conducted based on a validated SST k-ω model and a fixed reference case dimensions with (1) five different room outlet elevations (top, reference case, middle, front of room inlet opening, and floor) and (2) four different outlet areas to the wall ratio (10%–40%). The results show that the room outlet mass flow rate increases up to 26% by decreasing the room outlet elevation from the top to the floor; the front and floor outlet elevations obtained the optimum thermal comfort metrics. At a specific room outlet opening elevation, increasing the room outlet area to wall ratio increases the mass flow rate; the 30% aspect ratio obtained the desired temperature stratification and velocity field . These results can be combined with architectural metrics towards improving user comfort in the buildings.
Board Declassification and Bargaining Power

We examine the relations between recent board declassifications, takeover activity and takeover gains over the period 2003-2011. We report that firms that declassified their boards in the previous five years are more likely to be the target of a takeover than other firms. We also report that these firms receive lower takeover offers and realize lower abnormal returns around the announcement of the transaction. Additionally, the takeover bids received by these firms are more likely to result in a successful takeover. These results are consistent with the interpretation that firms that declassified their boards have lost some bargaining power.
Effects of paternal and maternal undernutrition on growth of offspring in rats

In adult males, undernutrition is associated with altered spermatogenesis. The present study was performed to evaluate the possible role of paternal undernutrition on growth and development of rat offspring and to compare those effects with undernutrition in pregnant animals. Male rats were fed 100%, 80% or 60% of their ad lib food intake for eight weeks and were then bred to untreated females. Pregnant rats were mated with untreated males and received their food allotments throughout pregnancy. Although male body weights and rate of successful matings were decreased by paternal undernutrition, offspring litter size, birth weights, and weights at 21 days were not significantly altered. By contrast, maternal undernutrition was associated with decreased maternal weight gain, lower offspring birth weights and body weights at weaning.
Painting textures with a haptic interface

We present a method for painting texture maps directly onto trimmed NURBS models using a haptic interface. The haptic interface enables an artist to use a natural painting style while creating a texture. It avoids the traditional difficulty of mapping between the 2D texture space and the 3D model space by using parametric information available from our haptic tracing algorithm. The system maps user movement in 3D to movement in the 2D texture space and adaptively resizes the paintbrush in texture space to create a uniform stroke on the model.
A large-scale SPC implementation using the IBM multimedia SPC program

The implementation of statistical process control (SPC) in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process area of a semiconductor wafer fabricator is described. Advanced self-study interactive video/computer training and a series of cross-functional meetings were used for problem solving. The training that production employees received enabled them to enhance their basic statistical knowledge and skills, while cross-functional group meetings served as the vehicle for bringing that knowledge and experience together in the manufacturing environment to establish SPC online controls. >
The genetics of speciation: genes of small effect underlie sexual isolation in the Hawaiian cricket Laupala.

Sexual behaviours often evolve rapidly and are critical for sexual isolation. We suggest that coordinated sexual signals and preferences generate stabilizing selection, favouring the accumulation of many small-effect mutations in sexual communication traits. Rapid radiation of a sexual behaviour used in signalling, song pulse rate, has been observed in the Hawaiian cricket genus Laupala. Using marker-assisted introgression, we isolated five known quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing species-level differences in pulse rate from one species, L. paranigra, into a closely related species, L. kohalensis. All five QTL were found to have a significant effect on song and appear to be largely additive in backcross introgression lines. Furthermore, all effect sizes were small in magnitude. Our data provide support for the hypothesis that stabilizing selection on sexual signals in Laupala creates genetic conditions favourable to incremental divergence during speciation, through the evolution of alleles of minor rather than major phenotypic effects.
Gene network: model, dynamics and simulation

A gene network is modeled as a dynamical random graph whose vertices and edges represent genes and gene-gene interactions, respectively. The network grows through three biological mechanisms: (1) gene duplication and loss; (2) gene-gene interaction adding and removing; and (3) genome duplication. The evolutionary dynamics of gene networks is discussed. It is shown that: (1) the vertex degree distribution (i.e., the distribution of the number of the gene-gene interactions per gene) always follows power laws and the power law exponents may be changed by genome duplications; and (2) the network degree distribution (i.e., the distribution of the total number of the gene-gene interactions in the network) has a complex behavior: If no genome duplication occurs, it follows a power law. If a genome duplication occurs, it may be away from the power law state. However, after a sufficient long evolutionary time, it approaches to a power law tail. The dynamics is confirmed by computer simulations. By allowing genome duplications, our model and dynamics (describing the dynamic behavior of gene networks) are more realistic than other previous ones (containing only static behavior).
Phosphorylation of the Human Cytomegalovirus 86-Kilodalton Immediate-Early Protein IE2

We have investigated the phosphorylation state of the human cytomegalovirus 86-kDa immediate-early (IE) protein IEP86 from transfected and infected cells. We show that multiple domains of IEP86 are phosphorylated by cellular kinases, both in vitro and in vivo. Our data suggest that serum-inducible kinases play a significant role in cell-mediated IE protein phosphorylation and that a member of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (MAPK) family, extracellular regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), phosphorylates several domains of IEP86 in vitro. Alanine substitution mutagenesis was performed on specific serines or threonines (T 27 , S 144 , T 233 /S 234 , and T 555 ) found in consensus MAP kinase motifs. Analysis of these mutations showed that T 27 and T 233 /S 234 are the major sites for serum-inducible kinases and are the major ERK2 sites in vitro. S 144 appeared to be phosphorylated in a serum-independent manner in vitro. All of the mutations except T 555 eliminated specific phosphorylation in vivo. In transient transfection analyses, IEP86 isoforms containing mutations in S 144 and, especially, T 233 /S 234 displayed increased transcriptional activation relative to the wild type, suggesting that phosphorylation at these sites in wild-type IEP86 may result in reduction of its transcriptional activation ability.
WHAT IS IMMANENT IN JUDAISM? Transcending A Secular Age

This essay takes on the implicit claim in Taylor's A Secular Age, forecast in some of his earlier writings, that the desire for a meaningful life can never be satisfied in this life. As a result, A Secular Age is suffused with a tragic view of existence; its love of narratives of religious longing makes no sense otherwise. Yet there are other models of religion that lend meaning to existence, and in the majority of this essay, I take up one model that Taylor ignores in A Secular Age, namely that of a God who is immanent in social life throughout religious law. Turning to Maimonides's account of divine law in the Guide of the Perplexed, I argue that a vision of the divine law that is divine because of its effects in society, namely the promotion of human welfare, can mend the relations between varying kinds of believers and unbelievers in a way that Taylor thinks is impossible. A God who commands laws is a God who inaugurates an “anthropocentric shift” long before current understandings of secularization see it beginning.
A 13C(α,n)16O calibration source for KamLAND

Abstract We report on the construction and performance of a calibration source for KamLAND using the reaction C 13 ( α , n ) O 16 with 210Po as the alpha progenitor. The source provides a direct measurement of this background reaction in our detector, high energy calibration points for the detector energy scale, and data on quenching of the neutron visible energy in KamLAND scintillator. We also discuss the possibility of using the C 13 ( α , n ) O 16 reaction as a source of tagged slow neutrons.
Repeated Root Cyclic and Negacyclic Codes over Galois Rings

In this notice we describe the ideal structure of all cases of cyclic and negacyclic codes of length p s over a Galois ring alphabet that have not yet been discussed in the literature. Unlike in the cases reported earlier in the literature by various authors, the ambient spaces here are never chain rings. These ambient rings do nonetheless share the properties of being local and having a simple socle.
The effect of low b‐values on the intravoxel incoherent motion derived pseudodiffusion parameter in liver

Purpose To examine the effect of low b-values (0 < b < 50 s/mm2) on the calculation of the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) derived pseudodiffusion parameter in the normal liver. Methods Simulations were performed to examine the effects of adding low b-values on the pseudodiffusion parameter. Low b-values were cumulatively added to the distribution and the IVIM signal was generated with varying pseudodiffusion values. The signal was fit with the IVIM model after the addition of Gaussian noise, and the simulated values were compared with the true values. In addition, the livers of eight control subjects were imaged using respiratory-triggered DWI. Pseudodiffusion was calculated with and without low b-values and compared. Results Pseudodiffusion tended to be underestimated when low b-values were not included in the b-value distribution as predicted by simulations and confirmed with in vivo imaging. The number of outlier values was also reduced as more low b-values were added. Conclusion In conclusion, this study showed pseudodiffusion in the liver tended to be underestimated when too few low b-values (0 < b < 50 s/mm2) were included in the distribution. Therefore, it is recommended to include at least two low b-values when performing liver IVIM studies. Magn Reson Med 73:306–311, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.