cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors Affecting Christian Parents’ School Choice Decision Processes: A Grounded Theory Study

ABSTRACTThis study identifies factors affecting the decision processes for school choice by Christian parents. Grounded theory design incorporated interview transcripts, field notes, and a reflective journal to analyze themes. Comparative analysis, including open, axial, and selective coding, was used to reduce the coded statements to five code families:(a) decision-making process, (b) influence on or by the child, (c) parents, (d) academics/extracurricular activities, and (e) religion. A core category of decision-making process was determined to be the theory of satisficing. Satisficing is characterized by the search for a school by parents only to the point where minimum objectives are met.
The Trouble With Tebowing

Sociologists Grace Yukich, Kimberly Stokes, and Daniela Bellows explore cultural norms around religious displays in sports, and in public life more generally, by examining media coverage of controv...
Complement protein C1q bound to apoptotic cells suppresses human macrophage and dendritic cell-mediated Th17 and Th1 T cell subset proliferation

A complete genetic deficiency of the complement protein C1q results in SLE with nearly 100% penetrance in humans, but the molecular mechanisms responsible for this association have not yet been fully determined. C1q opsonizes ACs for enhanced ingestion by phagocytes, such as Mϕ and iDCs, avoiding the extracellular release of inflammatory DAMPs upon loss of the membrane integrity of the dying cell. We previously showed that human monocyte-derived Mϕ and DCs ingesting autologous, C1q-bound LALs (C1q-polarized Mϕ and C1q-polarized DCs), enhance the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, and reduce proinflammatory cytokines relative to Mϕ or DC ingesting LAL alone. Here, we show that C1q-polarized Mϕ have elevated PD-L1 and PD-L2 and suppressed surface CD40, and C1q-polarized DCs have higher surface PD-L2 and less CD86 relative to Mϕ or DC ingesting LAL alone, respectively. In an MLR, C1q-polarized Mϕ reduced allogeneic and autologous Th17 and Th1 subset proliferation and demonstrated a trend toward increased Treg proliferation relative to Mϕ ingesting LAL alone. Moreover, relative to DC ingesting AC in the absence of C1q, C1q-polarized DCs decreased autologous Th17 and Th1 proliferation. These data demonstrate that a functional consequence of C1q-polarized Mϕ and DC is the regulation of Teff activation, thereby "sculpting" the adaptive immune system to avoid autoimmunity, while clearing dying cells. It is noteworthy that these studies identify novel target pathways for therapeutic intervention in SLE and other autoimmune diseases.
The Research on Dynamometer Resistance Setting and Coast Down

Starting with the Dynamometer's structure and principal,we discusses the vehicle's resistance when it is driven on the road,and also discusses how to calculate the total resistance and Dynamometer resistance when the car is driven on the dynamometer.
Adaptive polarization image fusion based on regional energy dynamic weighted average

According to the principle of polarization imaging and the relation between Stokes parameters and the degree of linear polarization, there are much redundant and complementary information in polarized images. Since man-made objects and natural objects can be easily distinguished in images of degree of linear polarization and images of Stokes parameters contain rich detailed information of the scene, the clutters in the images can be removed efficiently while the detailed information can be maintained by combining these images. An algorithm of adaptive polarization image fusion based on regional energy dynamic weighted average is proposed in this paper to combine these images. Through an experiment and simulations, most clutters are removed by this algorithm. The fusion method is used for different light conditions in simulation, and the influence of lighting conditions on the fusion results is analyzed.
Inverse Kinetic Isotope Effect in the Reaction of Atomic Chlorine with C2H4 and C2D4

The kinetics of the reaction of chlorine atoms with C2H4 and C2D4 have been studied near the low-pressure limit at 1 Torr total pressure and room temperature using two independent techniques. A fast flow discharge system (FFDS) was used to follow the decay of Cl in the presence of a great excess of either C2H4 or C2D4 in He as the carrier gas. Atomic chlorine was generated from the rapid reaction F + HCl → Cl + HF and detected using resonance fluorescence at 135 nm. In relative rate (RR) studies, Cl2 was photolyzed to generate chlorine atoms in a mixture of the two organics in N2 or He as the bath gas, and the loss of C2H4 or C2D4 relative to CH4 was followed using GC-FID. The rate constant for the Cl + C2H4 reaction determined using the FFDS was (3.3 ± 0.6) × 10-13 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 and for the Cl + C2D4 reaction was (10.0 ± 1.9) × 10-13 cm3 molecule-1 s-1, a factor of 3.0 ± 0.8 times larger than that for the C2H4 reaction (all errors are ±2σ). The Cl + C2H4 rate constant determined using the RR method ...
Decoupling structural and environmental determinants of sap velocity: Part II. Observational application

Abstract In this work we present experimental evidence in support of a new approach for investigating the dependence of sap velocity on atmospheric water demand and soil moisture supply. In this method, sap velocity is defined as the product of two components: the first describes the ‘shape’ of the radial profile of sap velocity, which is consistent through time and is likely linked to the species-specific anatomical and structural properties of the conducting xylem; the second, which we define as stem conductance, captures the time-dependent component of sap velocity that is mostly governed by shifts in atmospheric water demand and individual tree water supply. The heat pulse technique was used to estimate radial profiles of sap velocity and transpiration from a sample of 16 mature sugar maples (Acer saccharum) located along a topographic transect in a mixed deciduous forest. Our results demonstrate that: (1) stem conductance is strongly correlated with bulk air conditions (with confidence intervals for all the sampled trees greater than 99% and average R2 of 0.43, 0.57, 0.54 for vapor pressure deficit (VPD), PPFD and net radiation, respectively) and atmospheric water demand (average R2 equal to 0.73) on an hourly basis and that it is independent of tree size; (2) sensitivity of stem conductance to atmospheric water demand in sugar maples is also correlated to variation in local soil water availability (P-value = 0.014, R2 = 0.43) which arises due to a mild topographic gradient (i.e. 20 m of relative relief along 140 m) and relatively shallow soil. Although the sampled trees were subjected to a wide range of atmospheric water demands and soil moistures, the response to changes in environmental conditions is entirely explainable by dynamics of stem conductance rather than the relative fraction of sap flow along the radial profile, as some of the previous studies reported. Overall, our results confirm our theoretical approach and the possibility of partitioning sap velocity variability between either xylem properties or changes in environmental conditions.
Faster Malicious 2-Party Secure Computation with Online/Offline Dual Execution

We describe a highly optimized protocol for generalpurpose secure two-party computation (2PC) in the presence of malicious adversaries. Our starting point is a protocol of Kolesnikov et al. (TCC 2015). We adapt that protocol to the online/offline setting, where two parties repeatedly evaluate the same function (on possibly different inputs each time) and perform as much of the computation as possible in an offline preprocessing phase before their inputs are known. Along the way we develop several significant simplifications and optimizations to the protocol. We have implemented a prototype of our protocol and report on its performance. When two parties on Amazon servers in the same region use our implementation to securely evaluate the AES circuit 1024 times, the amortized cost per evaluation is 5.1ms offline + 1.3ms online. The total offline+online cost of our protocol is in fact less than the online cost of any reported protocol with malicious security. For comparison, our protocol’s closest competitor (Lindell & Riva, CCS 2015) uses 74ms offline + 7ms online in an identical setup. Our protocol can be further tuned to trade performance for leakage. As an example, the performance in the above scenario improves to 2.4ms offline + 1.0ms online if we allow an adversary to learn a single bit about the honest party’s input with probability 2−20 (but not violate any other security property, e.g. correctness).
Improving Scholarship through Library Professionalism: an Inevitable Role of Librarianship in the World of Academia

Quoting Wilensky (1964, as cited by Freeman, 1997), dispute against the nature of any profession is universal across institutions, countries and time. Professions are progressive, static or backward on the line of the continuum of professionalization. In similar vein, librarians need to question themselves whether they are passionately committed to their profession. How far the librarians are scholars or proving to be intellectuals? Are librarians lifelong learners themselves and educating others to be lifelong learners?
Validation of XMALab software for marker-based XROMM.

Marker-based XROMM requires software tools for: (1) correcting fluoroscope distortion; (2) calibrating X-ray cameras; (3) tracking radio-opaque markers; and (4) calculating rigid body motion. In this paper we describe and validate XMALab, a new open-source software package for marker-based XROMM (C++ source and compiled versions on Bitbucket). Most marker-based XROMM studies to date have used XrayProject in MATLAB. XrayProject can produce results with excellent accuracy and precision, but it is somewhat cumbersome to use and requires a MATLAB license. We have designed XMALab to accelerate the XROMM process and to make it more accessible to new users. Features include the four XROMM steps (listed above) in one cohesive user interface, real-time plot windows for detecting errors, and integration with an online data management system, XMAPortal. Accuracy and precision of XMALab when tracking markers in a machined object are ±0.010 and ±0.043 mm, respectively. Mean precision for nine users tracking markers in a tutorial dataset of minipig feeding was ±0.062 mm in XMALab and ±0.14 mm in XrayProject. Reproducibility of 3D point locations across nine users was 10-fold greater in XMALab than in XrayProject, and six degree-of-freedom bone motions calculated with a joint coordinate system were 3- to 6-fold more reproducible in XMALab. XMALab is also suitable for tracking white or black markers in standard light videos with optional checkerboard calibration. We expect XMALab to increase both the quality and quantity of animal motion data available for comparative biomechanics research.
Equivalence Based Instruction by Group Based Clicker Training and Sorting Tests

Equivalence classes were formed of the names (A), time periods (B), and characteristics (C) of three stages of prenatal development of the students in a classroom. The baseline relations for these classes (AB and CB) were established on a group basis by the students in a classroom through the use of “feedback-enhanced clicker-training”. Thereafter, class formation was tracked on an individual basis with a very quickly administered sorting test. Classes emerged immediately for 84 % of 32 students in a single 75-minute class session. Thus, many students showed the immediate formation of equivalence classes when training was done on a group basis with a feedback-enhanced form of clicker training, and a sorting test was used to track class formation. We also considered some likely mechanisms that could account for learning the baseline relations by individual participants during clicker training. Finally, we considered the feasibility of using a clickers and sorting protocol to implement equivalence-based instruction.
Adaptive optics - optical coherence tomography for in vivo retinal imaging : effects of spectral bandwidth on image quality

Adaptive Optics - Optical Coherence Tomography (AO-OCT) has demonstrated a promising improvement in lateral resolution for retinal imaging compared to standard OCT. Recent developments in Fourier-domain OCT technology allow AO-OCT instruments to acquire three-dimensional (3D) retinal structures with high speed and high "volumetric" resolution (in all three dimensions). One of the most important factors (besides acquisition speed) that will determine the true potential of this technique is its ability to achieve diffraction-limited lateral resolution (~3 μm) while operating in the ultrahigh axial resolution range (~3 μm) offered by OCT. Theoretical studies have shown that the eye's chromatic aberrations may drastically reduce volumetric resolution. This is a critical finding because for "standard" stand alone ultrahigh OCT, increasing the spectral bandwidth of the light source improves axial resolution without compromising lateral resolution. To study the effects of spectral bandwidth on AO-OCT systems for retinal imaging two different light sources offering 6 and 3 μm axial resolution were tested. This comparison was based on both AO correcting system performance as well as the quality of corresponding OCT images.
The role of delight in driving repurchase intentions

A channel differentiator for brick-and-mortar retail stores is the availability of salespeople to assist customers directly in their purchase decision. This research considers two aspects of customer interactions with retail salespeople that lead to perceptions of extraordinary service and enhance repurchase intentions: customer comfort and salesperson expertise. Retail customers desire value-added informational assistance from the salesperson to minimize ambiguity associated with the product and to reduce the risk associated with a purchase decision. A retail salesperson needs to make customers feel comfortable so that the customer will share specific needs during the interaction, and the salesperson can recommend appropriate products and services. Our findings reveal that while both customer comfort and salesperson expertise positively influence satisfaction with the salesperson and customer delight, only customer delight leads to repurchase intentions. While satisfaction is a commonly asserted goal for...
Approaches for Reduction of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella on Hide of Cattle

Isolates of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) were first recognized as human pathogens in 1982 when E. coli O157:H7 was identified as the source of two outbreaks of hemorrhagic colitis. Since then other outbreaks of STEC, such as O26, O45, O103, O104, O111, O121, and O145, also have been associated with cases of hemorrhagic colitis [1,7]. However, serotype O157:H7 still is the predominant cause of STEC-associated diseases in the United States and many other countries [2,8].
Multimodal Neural Interfaces for Augmenting Human Cognition

Within the next decade multimodal neural interfaces (MNI’s) could begin to transform society by expanding human cognitive abilities. Embodiments of such interfaces will include a combination of biometric and environmental sensors working in cooperation with noninvasive brain stimulation or neuromodulation devices to optimize human cognitive processes. These MNI’s may, for example, monitor psychophysiological arousal using pupillometry and responsively stimulate noradrenergic activity in a manner to enhance sustained attention or vigilance. Other near-term applications may include MNI’s that are designed to enable an individual to maintain a particular state of calm or flow state during stressful tasks by using algorithms to generate auricular vagal nerve stimulation waveforms based on real-time heart rate variability and electroencephalography data. Numerous other possibilities remain. The present paper provides a brief overview of several different types of biometric sensors and the neurophysiological systems they can monitor. This information is provided in context of their present limitations, as well as how neurophysiological sensors may be used in combination with noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) methods to augment human cognition and performance. Overall the paper attempts to provide a balanced and realistic examination of the issues remaining to be solved or addressed in order to reliably enhance human cognition. Efforts that combine high quality sensors for monitoring neurophysiological signatures of attention and psychophysiological markers of arousal with scientifically-grounded neurostimulation approaches in an integrated MNI solution will be necessary to achieve reliable and reproducible cognitive augmentation facilitated by future MNI’s.
STUDIES ON CILIA: III. Further Studies on the Cilium Tip and a "Sliding Filament" Model of Ciliary Motility

This study confirms and extends previous work on the lateral cilia of the fresh-water mussel, Elliptio complanatus, in support of a "sliding filament" mechanism of ciliary motility wherein peripheral filaments (microtubules) do not change length during beat (see Satir, 1967). Short sequences of serial sections of tips are examined in control (nonbeating) and activated (metachronal wave) preparations. Several different tip types, functional rather than morphogenetic variants, are demonstrated, but similarly bent cilia have similar tips. The peripheral filaments are composed of two subfibers: a and b. The bent regions of cilia are in the form of circular arcs, and apparent differences in subfiber-b length at the tip are those predicted solely by geometry of the stroke without the necessity of assuming filament contraction. Various subfibers b apparently move with respect to one another during beat, since small systematic variations in relative position can be detected from cilium to cilium. While subfiber-b lengths are uniform throughout, subfiber-a lengths are morphologically different for each filament: 8 and 3 are about 0.8 µ longer than 1, 4 and 5, but each unique length is independent of stroke position or tip type. Subfiber-a does not contract, nor does it move, e.g. slide, with respect to subfiber-b of the same doublet. The central pair of filaments extends to the tip of the cilium where its members fuse. Subunit assembly in ciliary microtubules is evidently precise. This may be of importance in establishing the relationships needed for mechanochemical interactions that produce sliding and beat.
Descartes and the primacy of practice: The role of the passions in the search for truth

This paper argues that Descartes conceives of theoretical reason in terms derived from practical reason, particularly in the role he gives to the passions. That the passions serve — under “normal” circumstances — to preserve the union of mind and body is a well-known feature of Descartes's defense of our native make-up. But they are equally important in our more purely theoretical endeavors. Some passions, most notably “wonder,” provide a crucial source of motivation in the search after truth, and also serve to reinforce memory. Our cognitive successes and failure scan also be tracked by passions and trains of passions.
Rationale and guidelines for parenteral and enteral transition feeding of the 3- to 30-kg child.

Abstract To provide optimal nutrition support for the pediatric patient in transition from parenteral to enteral support, the clinician must select an appropriate formula, design a feeding regimen, and taper the parenteral support accordingly. Formula selection is based on the child's age, any overriding disease entity, and the caloric density, osmolarity, carbohydrate and fat source, protein content, and nutrient complexity of the formula. The feeding regimen is designed to allow for adaptive increases in digestive enzymes and digestive surface area within the gut. Small advances in volume are made first; increases in concentration of the formula follow. A systematic, six-step method for the progression of enteric support and the tapering of parenteral support provides the clinician with guidelines for managing this interval. J Am Diet Assoc 88:479, 1988.
Microstructure-Mechanical Property Relationships in 94% Alumina Ceramics

Alumina ceramics are experiencing an increased application over conventionally used glasses in the manufacture of high voltage electrical components due to their higher strength, fracture toughness, resistance to dielectric breakdown, and lower gas permeability. Fabrication of most electrical components requires sealing the ceramic to metallic portions of the assembly. In general, the seals must be strong and hermetic to permit proper operation of the component. The most common ceramic-to-metal seal processes involve “metallizing” the ceramic surface at elevated temperature (nominally 1500°C, wet hydrogen atmosphere, for 45 minutes) using a paint comprised of refractory metal particles, then “brazing” the metallized ceramic to the metal component at a lower temperature (typically 800–1000°C).
Sowing confusion in the field: the interchangeable use of biosimilar terminology.

The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCI Act) created an abbreviated licensure pathway in the United States that allows for the development and approval of biologic products...
Glass intraocular foreign body removal with a nitinol stone basket

Abstract Purpose Glass intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) complicate up to 14% of all IOFB cases and require specialized instruments for removal. We present a case of ocular trauma with two large glass IOFBs removed using a nitinol stone basket (NSB) designed for kidney stone extraction in the ureter and calyces. Observations An adult male suffered a restrained motor vehicle accident. Radiographic computed tomography identified a 9-mm polygonal IOFB within the posterior segment of the right eye. A staged procedure was performed with repair of the ruptured globe followed by 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy, pars plana lensectomy, and removal of the IOFBs using a NSB. Conclusion At post-operative month one, visual acuity was correctable to 20/60. The retina remained attached and the patient was recovering without complication. Importance Large glass IOFBs are poorly gripped by standard ophthalmic forceps due to their smooth surface, large size, and irregular shape. The NSB is an effective instrument for controlled removal of glass IOFBs. Further customized design may adapt this device for additional intraocular procedures.
Dual-Wavelength Laser Brain Surgery Guided by Optical Coherence Tomography

An optical coherence tomography image-guided laser surgical system is presented for brain surgery. Surgical lasers tuned for high-precision cutting and vascular specific coagulation are utilized for effective tissue resection.
Transitioning CMS to Rucio Data Managment

Following a thorough review in 2018, the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC decided to adopt Rucio as its new data management system. Rucio is emerging as a community software project and will replace an aging CMSonly system before the start-up of LHC Run 3 in 2021. Rucio was chosen after an evaluation determined that Rucio could meet the technical and scale needs of CMS. The data management system for CMS needs to manage the current data sample of approximately 200 PB of data with 1 PB of transfers per day. The data management system must also have a development path suitable for LHC Run 4 (2026) data rates, which are expected to be 50 times larger.This contribution details the ongoing CMS adoption process as we replace our legacy system with Rucio, focusing on the challenges of integrating Rucio into an established set of experimental tools and procedures. This will include the migration of metadata, the construction of interfaces to the rest of the CMS computing tools, scale tests, operations, monitoring, and the plan to gradually turn over primary responsibility for the management of data to Rucio. A description of CMS user data management with Rucio will also be provided.
Identifying quantitative trait loci for steviol glycoside production in Stevia rebaudiana using transcriptome-derived SSRs

Abstract Stevia (Stevia rebuadiana Bertoni) is a perennial shrub grown for the extraction of sweet tasting, nonnutritive compounds called steviol glycosides (SGs) from the leaves, which are up to 300 times sweeter than sugar. The most abundant SGs, stevioside and rebaudioside (Reb) A, have undesirable taste characteristics that have limited their acceptance as a sugar substitute. The SGs Reb D and Reb M offer a similar sweetening intensity to Reb A, but with a superior taste profile. However, these compounds are produced in much lower concentrations than Reb A. The genetic control of SG biosynthesis is only partially understood, hampering efforts to develop new varieties producing high concentrations of desired SGs. Here we report development of a reference transcriptome from a diverse set of stevia tissues. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were mined from the transcriptome, and a genetic linkage map for a pseudo test-cross F1 stevia population was generated with 97 SSRs. This population exhibited transgressive segregation and high broad-sense heritability estimates for many leaf biomass yield and SG content-related traits across two field locations. Two quantitative trait loci (QTL), each explaining 14.0–16.6 % of the observed variation, were identified for Reb D concentration. Additional QTL were identified for Reb A concentration, vigor, and plant height. This study represents the first report of QTL in stevia and will aid future efforts for molecular marker development and gene discovery for economically important traits in stevia.
Performance Characterization of .NET Benchmarks

Managed language frameworks are pervasive today, especially in modern datacenters. .NET is one such framework that is used widely in Microsoft Azure but has not been well-studied. Applications built on these frameworks have different characteristics compared to traditional SPEC-like programs due to the presence of a managed runtime. This affects the tradeoffs associated with designing hardware for such applications. Our goal is to study hardware performance bottlenecks in .NET applications. To find suitable benchmarks, we use Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to find redundancies in a set of open-source .NET and ASP.NET benchmarks and use hierarchical clustering to create representative subsets. We perform microarchitecture and application-level characterization of these subsets and show that they are significantly different from SPEC CPU17 benchmarks in branch and memory behavior, and hence merit consideration in architecture research. In-depth analysis using the Top-Down methodology reveals that .NET benchmarks are significantly more frontend bound. We also analyze the effect of managed runtime events such as JIT (Just-in-Time) compilation and GC (Garbage Collection). Among other findings, GC improves cache performance significantly and JITing could benefit from aggressive prefetching and transformation of hardware microarchitectural state to prevent frequent cold starts. As computing increasingly moves to the cloud and managed languages grow even more in popularity, it is important to consider .NET-like benchmarks in architecture studies.
DNA Polymerase ζ Drives RNA-DNA Recombination

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are dangerous lesions threatening genomic stability. Fidelity of DSB repair is best achieved by recombination with a homologous template sequence. In yeast, transcript RNA was shown to template DSB repair of chromosomal DNA. However, molecular pathways of RNA-driven repair processes remain obscure. Utilizing assays of RNA-DNA recombination with and without an induced DSB in yeast DNA, we reveal a major role of translesion DNA polymerase ζ in DSB repair by RNA. Moreover, Pol ζ catalytic subunit Rev3 with Rev1 and Rad5 are essential for RNA-templated DNA modification with no DSB. Contrary to RNA-templated DNA repair and modification, DSB repair templated by RNA copied into DNA (cDNA) is dependent on the reverse transcriptase activity of the yeast retrotransposon, and clippases Rad1-10/Msh2-3. This study characterizes mechanisms of RNA-DNA recombination, uncovering a new role of Pol ζ in transferring genetic information from RNA to DNA.
ASAP: Anti-Spoofing Aphorism Using Path-analysis

The immense vulnerabilities within network protocols have led to prevalent spoofing attacks. Security measures such as cryptographic authentication, router level filtering, and other anti-spoofing methods are promising yet inadequate. In fact, research shows almost 50% of existing autonomous systems can be "hijacked" and used as spurious network nodes. Spoofing is falsified node identification of a trusted node and subsequent delivery of imposter data packets. Correctly identifying a packets’ travel path has been widely used to ascertain node positions and flag unexpected locations as spoofing agents. Challenges and inadequacies arise in analyzing the copious dynamic possible packet paths. We propose a practical anti-spoofing technique when routing is asymmetric or multi-path that contrast network connections from trusted nodes after considering all possible routing alternatives, compared to a network path under scrutiny. We subtly perform obscured intrusion detection through hopcounts clustering via IP header’s time-to-live field and special representative nearest captain nodes that differentiate features of valid paths. While many proposed anti-spoofing solutions only analyze static traffic to give ≈ 90% efficacy, we consider all alternatives that deviate from accurate features to achieve improved efficacy of 94.2%.
The Salience of Gender, Race, and Ethnicity for High-skilled Indian Immigrant Women in the Workplace

What are the everyday experiences of highly skilled, Indian immigrant women in predominantly white- and male-dominated workplaces? This article uses an intersectional framework to answer this quest...
M2 beam quality factor from the Delano y-ybar diagram

New graphical methods using the Delano y-ybar diagram are shown to yield simple alternative derivations of the M2 beam quality factor for Gaussian-like laser beams. Using M2 as a scaler for the Lagrange optical invariant, powerful methods of interpreting and calculating the beam factor become apparent. Elegant methods of determining M2 using strategic beam sample locations are also developed, taking advantage of the property that a freely propagating beam trace in the Gaussian beam y-ybar plane is a straight line. Application to non-Gaussian beams is explored.
The System Forsterite-Diopside-Akermanite-Leucite and its Significance in the Origin of Potassium-Rich Mafic and Ultramafic Volcanic Rocks

The phase relations of forsterite (Fo), diopside (Di), akermanite (Ak), and leucite (Lc), important end members of naturally-occurring potassium-rich mafic and ultramafic volcanic rockg were determined experimentally at atmospheric pressure. The following three joins were determined in the study: (l) diopside-akermanite- leucite, (2) forsterite--diopside-leucite, and (B) forsterite-akermaniteleucite. The phase assemblages, compositions, and temperatures of the piercing points in these joins are summarized below: Join (1) Di ss + Ak ss + Lc ss + L Di 39 Ak 29 Lc 32 1281° ± 3°C (2) Fo ss + Di ss + Lc ss + L Fo 3 Di 60 Lc 27 1296° ± 3°C (3) Fo ss + Mo ss + Ak ss + L Fo 17 Ak 78 Lc 5 l428° ± 3°C (3) Fo ss + Ak ss + Lc ss + L Fo 9 Ak 43.5 Lc 47.5 1286° ± 3°C. The join diopside-akermanite-leucite with 3 percent forsterite wa,s also investigated to determine the temperature of the 5-phase assemblagq forsterite forsterite ss diopside ss + akermanite ss + leucite ss + liquid. The fifth phase (forsterite ss ) in this assemblage eppears at 1274° ± 4°C and the solidus temperature occurs at 1255°C. Study of the system suggests that an olivine-melilite leucitite magma ean be generated from the following magma tyqes: katungite, melilite leucitite, olivine melilitite, or olivine leucitite. A katungite magma of composition lying within the tetrahedron forsterite-diopside-akermanite-leucite can be derived from a monticellite alnoite magma because of a reaction relationship of monticellite with liquid.
Linkage of new formalism for cosmological “constant” with the physics of wormholes

Wormhole physics as embodied by a modified Wheeler De Witt equation as given by Crowell inter connects with how to write a quintessence version of the ‘cosmological constant’. The resulting value for the ‘cosmological constant’ is for wormholes for reasons stated in this document, using a modified form of the Weiner – Nordstrom metric, with no charge Q.
Biblical Claims About Solomon’s Kingdom in Light of Egyptian “Three-Zone” Ideology of Territory

Biblical rhetoric about Solomon’s empire shares some significant features with Egyptian royal ideology of territory. Both the Egyptians and the Israelites seem to have thought of their national boundaries in three zones: a well-defended “internal zone” of primary settlements, an “outer zone” of economic interests; and finally an “ideological zone” that was generally not controlled militarily, but rather an idealized expression (indeed an exaggeration) of royal power.
Cell Lineages in Caenorhabditis elegans Development

Publisher Summary Cell lineages in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos and larvae are generally determined by direct observation of living specimens, using Nomarski optics to note the position of each nucleus and watch the cell divide, and then recording the positions of the daughter nuclei. For later embryos, in particular, this method of analysis becomes extremely difficult as the number of cells increases, and only the remarkable invariance of the process allows one to reconstruct the entire embryonic lineage from observations of hundreds of wild-type embryos over the course of several years. Because the ancestry of every cell from zygote to adult is known in both sexes, C. elegans provides an excellent experimental organism with which to study the genetic control of cell lineage as well as the significance of cell lineage patterns in cell fate determination, differentiation, and morphogenesis.
Mexico's balance of payments 1970–1983: Contributions of international tourism and border transactions

Abstract The Mexican government instigated a series of programmes to redress its rapidly deteriorating balance of payments in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Devaluations of the peso were aimed at improving foreign exchange earnings from international tourism and border transactions, particularly with the USA. Although the net foreign exchange earned by these two sectors increased in 1982 and 1983, neither sector improved its net balance of real income and expenditure between 1975 and 1982. The impact of the devaluations, combined with depressed economic conditions in North America and Western Europe, affected both the inflow and outflow of international travellers and their level of expenditure, and limited real contribution to Mexico's balance of payments problems.
Designing and implementing active learning in the computer science curriculum: an interactive tutorial

This paper/tutorial is designed to introduce participants to a variety of activity-based, cooperative techniques [1], [2], [8], [9] for enhancing learning and promoting assessment in the computer science curriculum. Six different active learning structures for achieving increased student involvement and professor assessment of outcomes [1] will be explained and demonstrated with audience participation. The advantages, disadvantages, flexibility, timing,@labor costs@, and sequencing of these techniques will be highlighted. Examples of using each of the six methods will be taken from actual classroom materials/practices used by the author in an Oracle based senior database class, a programming language course, a junior software engineering class, and an introductory structured programming class for non-majors.
Fine-structure intervals in the 33P and n3D states of 4He

The 33P1-33P2 interval in 4He is measured by the step-wise excitation level-crossing technique at 658.76+or-0.13 MHz, in fair agreement with the previous measurement by Wieder and Lamb (1957). The n3D fine-structure intervals are calculated by extending the theory of Van den Eynde et al. (1971), and fairly good overall agreement is obtained with recent experimental intervals, notably those of Astner et al. (1976). The singlet-triplet mixing coefficients of Van den Eynde et al. are recalculated using experimental singlet-triplet splittings, giving results in excellent agreement with the experimental values of Derouard et al. (1976).
Diversity as Commons

Educational diversity arose as a shared valuable resource benefitting both universities and students in two landmark affirmative action cases — Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and Grutter v. Bollinger. This Article argues that diversity empirically resembles a commons (i.e., a shared resource). Extending this analysis exposes plaintiffs who file anti-affirmative action lawsuits — individuals like Abigail Fisher in Fisher v. University of Texas — as agents of enclosure who are trying to enclose the educational diversity commons, destroy its management structure, and privatize it for their own benefit (i.e. to gain admission into elite universities). Examining diversity and affirmative action through a common property lens reveals that the defense of race-conscious admissions policies faces a collective action problem. The interests of universities and their minority students largely overlap in their desire to protect diversity. They diverge, however, when universities refuse to employ additional equality rationales that could strengthen the defense of diversity and race-conscious admissions. This refusal facilitates anti-affirmative action efforts.
Teacher Use Of Interactive Read Alouds Using Nonfiction In Early Childhood Classrooms

Children enter kindergarten in the United States with large differences in their background knowledge, vocabulary, and early literacy experiences. There is a strong relationship between language development during the early years and reading ability in the primary grade and teachers must understand the importance of developing vocabulary and its relationship to literacy. It is essential that teachers provide time and effort to quality language experiences. One researched based strategy to accomplish this is the use of interactive read-alouds. Teachers have traditionally used fictional literature in the classroom, but there is growing research that nonfiction or informational literature are also needed to provide children with quality vocabulary building experiences in the early school years. This research study examined the results of a survey that was given to childcare providers and preschool through 2 nd grade teachers about the amount of time they read aloud to children and the amount of time they spend reading fiction compared to nonfiction text. Results showed that teachers in classrooms (pre- through 2 nd grade) reported reading to children almost every day, though the time devoted to this activity was a small percentage of the total time spent in class. Also, nonfiction literature was a small percentage of the literature that was being read to children. The findings in this paper have implications for practice in the field. Because vocabulary development is a key ingredient in the learning-to-read process and is a predictor of success in future reading skills, teachers in the early grades should be aware of the benefits of using interactive read alouds and the genre of nonfiction literature in vocabulary development.
Intracranial electrographic analysis of preictal spiking and ictal onset in uni- and bitemporal epilepsy

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) is a surgically amenable condition (Spencer, 2002), but presurgical non-invasive diagnostic evaluation may be insufficient to lateralize the condition and necessitate extraoperative electrocorticography (eECoG). This may, in turn, confirm bitemporal epileptogenicity in some cases(So et al., 1989a) despite a rather variable range of EEG features (Wasade et al., 2013). Preictal spiking (figure 1) identified by eECoG is specific to mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) [...]
Possible relationship between chromosome alterations and in vitro cellular radiosensitivity of human malignant melanoma

In the present study, in vitro radiation survival analysis was performed on 8 human malignant melanoma cell lines with defined karyotypes. Exponentially growing cells were irradiated to doses of 0 to 8 Gy and examined for soft agar clonogenicity. Two groups emerged from this analysis: 4 cell lines with a small shoulder (extrapolation number, n 2). Of possible significance, 44 cell lines with extrapolation numbers > 2 demonstrated clonal structural abnormalities of chromosome 7. In contrast, 34 cell lines with extrapolation numbers < 2 had no structural abnormalities of chromosome 7. These very preliminary results suggest that structural alterations of chromosome 7 may be associated with melanoma tumors with high extrapolation numbers.
Role of Krüppel-Like Transcription Factors in Endothelial Biology

Kruppel-like factors are members of the zinc finger family of transcription factors that have been implicated as playing key roles in regulating cellular differentiation and tissue development. Studies over the past several years support an important role for this family of factors in vascular biology. This review summarizes the role of Kruppel-like factors in endothelial cell biology.
Why parents cross for children's health care: Transnational cultural capital in the United States–Mexico border region

To investigate how cultural capital functions in transnational health fields, the experiences of 13 low-income parents of Mexican-decent living in El Paso, Texas and 11 low-income Mexican parents living in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico are considered as they negotiate the US-Mexican border for health care for their children with asthma. Parents on both sides crossed to receive affordable care, ‘better’ services, and/or the ‘correct’ diagnosis. When parents did not cross, it was because of a lack of documentation, incomplete knowledge and other constraints. To understand these crossing behaviors, the concept of transnational cultural capital, that is the transnational power to achieve desired ends in a health-care field that spans borders, is introduced, building off Pierre Bourdieu. Transnational cultural capital is relevant in other transnational settings, such as large urban areas whereby immigrants, have the option to access treatments from their home country, the United States, and other naturopathic remedies.
Renal expression of SIBLING proteins and their partner matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)

Renal expression of SIBLING proteins and their partner matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). Background Three members of the small integrin-binding ligand N-linked glycoprotein (SIBLING) family of proteins have recently been shown to bind and activate specific promatrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and to overcome the inhibition of tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs). Although usually associated with mineralized tissues, we have shown that the SIBLINGs and their MMP partners, when known, are coexpressed in salivary gland ductal cells. The present study examined the expression patterns of both the SIBLINGs and their MMP partners in adult kidney. Methods The expression patterns of all five SIBLINGs known to date, and their MMP partners were determined in monkey kidney using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization techniques. Results Bone sialoprotein (BSP) and its partner, MMP-2, were coexpressed in both the proximal and distal tubules. Osteopontin, as previously shown, was expressed in the distal tubules while its partner MMP-3 was expressed in both the proximal tubule and distal tubles. Dentin matrix protein-1 (DMP1) and MMP-9 were coexpressed throughout the nephron, including both parietal cells of Bowman's capsule and the thin limb of the loop of Henle. Dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) and matrix extracellular phosphoglycoprotein (MEPE) were expressed in the proximal tubule and distal tubule, and proximal tubule, respectively. Conclusion In contrast to salivary gland in which all SIBLINGs and their MMP partners were coexpressed throughout the length of the ducts, these proteins were differentially expressed within the normal adult nephron. We hypothesize that the cells use the SIBLING/MMP pairs in the normal turnover of cell surface proteins and/or pericellular matrix proteins such as those in basement membranes.
Validation of a simplified point frame method to detect change in tundra vegetation

The point frame method is ideal for vegetation monitoring because exact locations may be precisely resampled over time. Many researchers, including those associated with the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX), have used a modified point frame method to document vegetation change in response to climate change and experimental warming. To save, time only the uppermost and lowermost encounter (TB method) of a plant below each grid point is recorded as opposed to all contacts (AC method). Here, we investigate the ability of this shortcut to accurately assess the community change and estimate the aboveground plant biomass at four long-term sites in northern Alaska. We found that the TB method underrepresented the species cover (by omitting intermediate contacts) between 35 and 50 % of the taxa at a site; however, the magnitude was less than 2 % cover for all but 17 of the 109 taxa and site combinations, and despite the smaller number of contacts in the TB method, it was nearly equal in its ability to detect a change in cover in response to warming as the AC method (only 1 of the 109 cases showed differences in the significance of the response). Linear regressions showed the accuracy of the TB, and AC methods were also similar in estimating aboveground plant biomass (same cases were significant, and all but 2 were within r 2 of 0.1). Thus, we conclude that TB method outlined in the ITEX manual is an efficient and accurate way of assessing vegetation changes in tundra plant communities.
Effect of acute uremia on triglyceride kinetics in the rat

Abstract Plasma triglyceride (TG) levels were elevated 24 hr after the production of acute uremia in rats. The effect of acute uremia on TG production rate was estimated by determining the rate of TG accumulation following Triton WR 1339 inhibition of lipoprotein removal, by measuring hepatic TG secretion rate during in situ liver perfusion, and by quantifying hepatocyte very low density lipoprotein content with the electron microscope. The results of all three of these approaches indicated that TG synthesis and secretion were decreased in acute uremia, suggesting that the associated increase in plasma TG levels had to result from a removal defect. This hypothesis was tested directly by injecting prelabeled very low density lipoprotein TG into acutely uremic and control rats, and measuring its rate of disappearance from plasma. The t 1 2 of removal in acutely uremic rats was found to be approximately twice that of control, confirming the hypothesis that the rise in plasma TG levels in acute uremia is due to a defect in removal of TG from plasma.
Conformally invariant differential equations and projective geometry

Abstract We combine harmonic analysis on certain pseudo-Riemannian symmetric spaces with results on conformally invariant linear and non-linear differential equations. This gives in many cases part of the decomposition of certain representations of the conformal group of a manifold when restricted to the isometry group.