cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What Israeli policy can teach us about elective sex selection

PIGD for gender selection for non medical reasons has been a subject of ethical, legal, and moral debate in many Western countries. This article discusses the background of elective sex selection, and highlights the impact of new technological developments on this dynamic discussion. The article published by Pessach et al., in this Journal, is an excellent study of Israeli health policy on non medically indicated preimplantation genetic screening for sex selection. In Israel, elective sex selection is prohibited, but exceptions can be made by application, for family balancing, and emotional and religious reasons. This review of a health policy over seven years is concordant with evolving views in many Western countries. The classic medical model for allowing sex selection for serious medical disorders may be too restrictive. There are different reasons that may be assessed in light of ethical criteria including a wider delineation of medical reasons, which may include emotional and psychological well being of the family, indirect medical reasons, as well as risk reduction for the following generations. The Israeli model may be a useful approach with wide application to reproductive health policies in many countries.
The delayed and noisy nervous system: implications for neural control

Recent advances in the study of delay differential equations draw attention to the potential benefits of the interplay between random perturbations ('noise') and delay in neural control. The phenomena include transient stabilizations of unstable steady states by noise, control of fast movements using time-delayed feedback and the occurrence of long-lived delay-induced transients. In particular, this research suggests that the interplay between noise and delay necessitates the use of intermittent, discontinuous control strategies in which corrective movements are made only when controlled variables cross certain thresholds. A potential benefit of such strategies is that they may be optimal for minimizing energy expenditures associated with control. In this paper, the concepts are made accessible by introducing them through simple illustrative examples that can be readily reproduced using software packages, such as XPPAUT.
Multiple criticality and staged ignition of methane in the counterflow

The counterflow ignition of methane was investigated, with particular interest in the role of radical versus thermal runaway. Simulation with different kinetic mechanisms showed that the ignition response is qualitatively sensitive to the kinetic mechanism adopted, either exhibiting or not exhibiting two ignition turning points in the S-curve response. For the former situation, ignition could take place in a staged manner with either increasing temperature or decreasing strain rate of the counterflow, characterized by the first ignition event being radical induced with negligible thermal effect and the second ignition event requiring thermal feedback. Sensitivity analysis and a recently developed chemical explosive mode analysis were performed to identify the dominant reactions in the radical runaway stage, revealing the importance of branching pathways involving the HO2 radical. Counterflow experiments were also conducted, yielding useful information on the ignition response. The study identifies items of further research to sharpen the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the methane oxidation mechanism. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 41: 764–776, 2009
Probing and fault injection of protocol implementations

Ensuring that a distributed system with strict dependability constraints meets its prescribed specification is a growing challenge that confronts software developers and system engineers. This paper presents a technique for probing and fault injection of fault-tolerant distributed protocols. The proposed technique, called script-driven probing and fault injection, can be used for studying the behavior of distributed systems and for detecting design and implementation errors of fault-tolerant protocols. The focus of this work is on fault injection techniques that can be used to demonstrate three aspects of a target protocol: i) detection of design or implementation errors, ii) identification of violations of protocol specifications, and iii) insight into design decisions made by the implementers. The emphasis of our approach is on experimental techniques intended to identify specific "problems" in a protocol or its implementation rather than the evaluation of system dependability through statistical metrics such as fault coverage. To demonstrate the capabilities of this technique, the paper describes a probing and fault injection tool, called the PFI tool (Probe/Fault Injection Tool), and a summary of several extensive experiments that studied the behavior of two protocols: the transmission control protocol (TCP) and a group membership protocol (GMP).
Extracellular cAMP-adenosine pathways in the mouse kidney

The renal extracellular 2',3'-cAMP-adenosine and 3',5'-cAMP-adenosine pathways (extracellular cAMPs→AMPs→adenosine) may contribute to renal adenosine production. Because mouse kidneys provide opportunities to investigate renal adenosine production in genetically modified kidneys, it is important to determine whether mouse kidneys express these cAMP-adenosine pathways. We administered (renal artery) 2',3'-cAMP and 3',5'-cAMP to isolated, perfused mouse kidneys and measured renal venous secretion rates of 2',3'-cAMP, 3',5'-cAMP, 2'-AMP, 3'-AMP, 5'-AMP, adenosine, and inosine. Arterial infusions of 2',3'-cAMP increased (P < 0.0001) the mean venous secretion of 2'-AMP (390-fold), 3'-AMP (497-fold), adenosine (18-fold), and inosine (adenosine metabolite; 7-fold), but they did not alter 5'-AMP secretion. Infusions of 3',5'-cAMP did not affect venous secretion of 2'-AMP or 3'-AMP, but they increased (P < 0.0001) secretion of 5'-AMP (5-fold), adenosine (17-fold), and inosine (6-fold). Energy depletion (metabolic inhibitors) increased the secretion of 2',3'-cAMP (8-fold, P = 0.0081), 2'-AMP (4-fold, P = 0.0028), 3'-AMP (4-fold, P = 0.0270), 5'-AMP (3-fold, P = 0.0662), adenosine (2-fold, P = 0.0317), and inosine (7-fold, P = 0.0071), but it did not increase 3',5'-cAMP secretion. The 2',3'-cAMP-adenosine pathway was quantitatively similar in CD73 -/- vs. +/+ kidneys. However, 3',5'-cAMP induced a 6.7-fold greater increase in 5'-AMP, an attenuated increase (61% reduction) in inosine and a similar increase in adenosine in CD73 -/- vs. CD73 +/+ kidneys. In mouse kidneys, 1) 2',3'-cAMP and 3',5'-cAMP are metabolized to their corresponding AMPs, which are subsequently metabolized to adenosine; 2) energy depletion activates the 2',3'-cAMP-adenosine, but not the 3',5'-cAMP-adenosine, pathway; and 3) although CD73 is involved in the 3',5'-AMP-adenosine pathway, alternative pathways of 5'-AMP metabolism and reduced metabolism of adenosine to inosine compensate for life-long deficiency of CD73.
Power absorption corresponding to ion losses in parallel-plate RF discharges

A simple model of a symmetric parallel-plate RF discharge is studied to illustrate how such discharges may absorb power from an RF power supply in order to sustain DC power losses corresponding to the steady acceleration of ions through the sheaths. The motions of the sheath boundaries over one period are derived assuming that the current density varies sinusoidally. One finds that the sheath thickness increases discontinuously at one sheath whenever the plasma contacts the opposing electrode. This implies that the external power supply delivers an electron pulse from the electrode at higher potential to the electrode at lower potential, so that some power is being absorbed in a pulsed fashion. The power absorbed by the discharge is also calculated for the portions of the RF cycle where the current varies sinusoidally. It is found that power is supplied by the discharge in this phase of the RF cycle, with the energy coming from the deflating sheaths. It is further shown that the sum of the pulsed power absorption and smooth power generation, averaged over one RF period, is equal to the DC ion power losses arising from ions falling through the time-averaged sheath potentials. >
Secondary Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality: Instrumentation and Differences Between Advanced/Honors and Nonhonors Classes.

he persistent push for statewide and national educa-tional standards is accompanied by a steadily incre a s i n gemphasis on improving test scores. This intense focusoften ove r s h a d ows the original missions of education (e.g.,d e veloping student potential as lifelong learners and pro d u c-t i ve members of a diverse society). Although student beliefsa re associated with achievement and may be useful outcomesof schooling in their own right, they tend to be peripheral ina perva s i ve climate of accountability and standard i zed test-ing. As a result, some believe that quality education has suf-f e red (e.g., Ei s n e r, 2001; Popham, 2001). Popham suggestedregularly measuring educationally signiﬁcant student affect tohelp teachers make instructional decisions, as well as to helpjudge the effectiveness of curriculum and instru c t i o n .Ac c o rd i n g l y, psychometrically sound affective instru m e n t sa re needed.This study builds on previous work in which an instru-ment, My Class Activities, was developed to assess 3rd -t h rough 8th-grade students’ perceptions of their class activi-ties (Gentry & Gable, 2001). It also expands a pilot study thatdeveloped the basis for a new instrument (Gentry & Springer,2002). Although student perceptions about school have beentied to school success and achievement, measurement of theirperceptions has been infrequent, due partly to the lack of suit-able instrumentation (Gable & Wo l f, 1993; Haladyna T consequently, the need for such instrumentation is clear.SPOCQ may be used in the school-improvement process toassess current perceptions, evaluate classroom quality, set goalsand measure pro g ress, and conduct educational re s e a rc h .Fu rt h e r, in schools that have honors or advanced classes, stu-dent perceptions of these classes and comparisons of their per-ceptions with those of general education students can prov i d einsight concerning whether, and how, honors/advanced classesdiffer from general classes.
When is air medical service faster than ground transportation

The purpose of this study was to mathematically define a distance or travel-time interval in which air medical evacuation would benefit the patient more than ground transport. The authors derived mathematical formulas from known variables (ground travel, extrication and rendezvous times) and fixed averages (onscene time, lift-off time, and speeds) and used those formulas to test actual flights for appropriateness. The formulas were: where Y=ground travel time; R=rendezvous time; Z=extrication time; D=distance to scene (km); and X=air travel time. The formulas provide a guide to prospectively determine the legitimacy of air medical transport. They can also be used retrospectively as a guide for quality assurance purposes. During this study of 123 consecutive scene flights, helicopter benefitted all the entrapped patients but only one-third of non-entrapped patients. Of 44 flights from areas with known ground times, helicopter transport benefitted 14 of 16 entrapped, five of 16 non-entrapped, but only three of 17 rendezvous.
Dissecting the signaling and mechanical functions of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a severe disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Dystrophin is required for assembly of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex and provides a mechanically strong link between the cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix. Several proteins in the complex also participate in signaling cascades, but the relationship between these signaling and mechanical functions in the development of muscular dystrophy is unclear. To explore the mechanisms of myofiber necrosis in dystrophin-deficient muscle, we tested the hypothesis that restoration of this complex without a link to the cytoskeleton ameliorates dystrophic pathology. Transgenic mice were generated that express Dp116, a non-muscle isoform of dystrophin that assembles the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex, in muscles of dystrophin-deficient mdx(4cv) mice. However, the phenotype of these mice was more severe than in controls. Displacement of utrophin by Dp116 correlated with the severity of dystrophy in different muscle groups. Comparison with other transgenic lines demonstrated that parts of the dystrophin central rod domain were required to localize neuronal nitric oxide synthase to the sarcolemma, but this was not correlated with presence or extent of dystrophy. Our results suggest that mechanical destabilization, rather than signaling dysfunction, is the primary cause of myofiber necrosis in dystrophin-deficient muscle.
Nephroblastoma in a Bovine Fetus

Absfracf. The right kidney of a bovine fetus aborted at approximately 6 months gestation was 15 x 19 x 10 cm, weighed 1.47 kg, and was not lobulated. The cut surface was pale pink and spongy. A diagnosis of nephroblastoma was made on the basis of epitheliallined tubular structures and cysts in a connective tissue stroma. There are few reports of congenital tumors of cattle. MISDORP [4] recently reviewed the literature on congenital tumors and tumor-like conditions (e.g. leukosis) of animal fetuses and newborn animals (under 10 days old) and stated that congenital nephroblastoma had not been reported before that time (1965). Two cases in bovine fetuses are reported in the publication. In each case the fetus was estimated to be in the sixth month of gestation. In one fetus a multiple, extrarenal tumor was found; the other had a single tumor originating in a kidney. These two cases in cattle and one in a 7-month-old human fetus [3] were the only cases of congenital nephroblastoma reported in the literature. Nephroblastomas are also called embryonal nephromas and adenosarcomas because of their morphological variations. The term ‘Wilm’s tumor’ is often applied in human pathology. They are thought to arise from the metanephros or its primordium [6,8]. Nephroblastomas may contain a great variety of tissue types, including generalized spindle cell, sarcomatous, adenomatous, and carcinomatous elements as well as smooth muscle, fat, cartilage, bone, and striated muscle. Nephroblastomas are sometimes considered to be organoid teratomas [S]. Epithelial elements predominate in these tumors in swine, whereas connective tissue is the major element of the bovine tumors
Cavitary endoscopy in trauma: 2001.

Laparoscopy and thoracoscopy have been used in the evaluation of injured patients for over 30 years. Despite this long history, indications for use of these techniques remains controversial. The widespread availability of videoscopic equipment which followed the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy increased interest and utilization of minimally invasive techniques in evaluation of trauma patients. Laparoscopy has been most beneficial in the evaluation of hemodynamically stable victims of stabbings and gunshots. This technique has primarily been used to detect peritoneal penetration in tangential wounds of the abdominal wall and for evaluation of the diaphragm in patients with thoracoabdominal wounds. Laparoscopic evaluation in blunt trauma patients is of unproven utility, but has been used in the assessment of patients with documented solid organ injury and in the evaluation of patients with suspected hollow viscus injury. Small subsets of patients are candidates for therapeutic laparoscopic interventions, i.e., suture repair of diaphragmatic lacerations. Thoracoscopy or videoassisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is useful for evaluation of the diaphragm, early evacuation of clotted hemothorax, and assessment of ongoing bleeding.
Stem Cell Research

An Analogical Argument for Stem Cell Research Richard Werner Marginal Cases and the Moral Status of Embryos Michael J. Almeida Fixations on the Moral Status of the Embryo Michael C. Brannigan Nazi Experiments and Stem Cell Research Dennis R. Cooley Recent Ethical Controversies About Stem Cell Research James J. McCartney Complicity in Embryonic and Fetal Stem Cell Research and Applications: Exploring and Extending Catholic Responses Jan C. Heller Women, Commodification, and Embryonic Stem Cell Research Susan Dodds Index
Absence of Increase in Left Ventricular Mass in Dogs with Bilateral Renovascular Hypertension

Using sonomicrometric and indwelling pressure transducers, 16 healthy, normotensive dogs were prepared for semicontinuous monitoring of left ventricular (LV) mass, volumes, pressures, flows and wall tension (W Ten), aortic pressure (AP), total peripheral resistance (TPR), and indices of myocardial contractility. After a period of control measurements, bilateral renal artery constriction (2K-2C) was produced in 5 dogs and monitoring continued for 3 weeks or more. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and LV end-systolic pressure (LVESP) was significantly higher (P less than 0.01) in the 2K-2C dogs compared to controls. There was no significant difference in LV mass, W Ten, or dP/dt, although TPR was 65% higher in the 2K-2C dogs. Comparable data from five dogs with single kidney hypertension (1K-1C), after 3 weeks, showed an elevated MAP and LVESP similar to the 2K-2C dogs. This group also showed a significant increase in LV mass and dP/dt (P less than 0.01), while the TPR was significantly decreased. The data suggest that the mechanism of hypertension development in the 2K-2C dog is different from that of the 1K-1C dog, and that there is evidence of increase in neuroadrenergic activity (viz, myocardial contractility) associated with the development of LV hypertrophy. The role of W Ten in the hypertrophic process was less clear from these data. Further study of these models may provide insight into the relative roles of the neuroadrenergic and volume-vasoconstriction components in the pathogenesis of hypertension and changes in LV mass.
Effect of PCB ingestion on sleeping times, organ weights, food consumption, serum corticosterone and survival of albino mice.

The physiological effects of feeding Aroclor 1254 to mature male white mice at dietary levels of 62.5, 250, and 1000 ppm for 2 weeks are reported. Pentobarbital-induced sleeping time and food consumption were reduced and liver weight was increased in the 250 ppm and 1000 ppm groups. Serum corticosterone was elevated at all levels of PCB treatment; whereas, only exposure to 1000 ppm resulted in heavier adrenal glands. Weights of the testes, preputials and vesicular glands were not significantly affected by PCB ingestion.
Supersonic flight test results of a performance seeking control algorithm on a NASA-15 spacecraft

A model-based, adaptive control algorithm called Performance Seeking Control (PSC) has been flight tested on an F-15 aircraft. The algorithm attempts to optimize performance of the integrated propulsion system during steady-state engine operation. The final phase of a 3-year PSC flight test program is described in this paper. Previous studies of use of PSC on the F-15 airplane show improvement in propulsion system performance. Because these studies were conducted using one of two F-15 engines, the full effect on aircraft performance was not measured. During the most recent studies, both engines were optimized to demonstrate the full effect of PSC propulsion system optimization on aircraft performance. Results were gathered over the 1-g supersonic envelope demonstrating benefits of the integrated control approach. Quantitative flight results illustrating the PSC method for deriving benefits from the F-15 integrated propulsion system for Mach numbers up to 2 are also presented.
Backwards induction and a formula of Ramanujan

SummaryProof by induction is a very versatile technique. A short proof of an elegant formula of Ramanujan involving continued roots provides an opportunity to look at two examples in which induction appears to work backwards.
A Humble Opinion on Deviation of China's Stock Market

After over ten years of development,China's stock market has made great achievements in market size and raising money.But there have been various deviations in the course of development,for instance,weakness of market deviated from a continuing better future of macro-economy,a steadily going down of average stock price deviated from increasing of whole performance of listed companies,good news from policy-decision aspect deviated from the tendency of market,revenue of investors deviated from other income of governments,money of stock market deviated from money supply and urban and rural residents' savings balance,etc.All the problems resulted from the development of China's stock market and should be solved in it.
Farmer perceptions of climate change: Associations with observed temperature and precipitation trends, irrigation, and climate beliefs

Abstract How individuals perceive climate change is linked to whether individuals support climate policies and whether they alter their own climate-related behaviors, yet climate perceptions may be influenced by many factors beyond local shifts in weather. Infrastructure designed to control or regulate natural resources may serve as an important lens through which people experience climate, and thus may influence perceptions. Likewise, perceptions may be influenced by personal beliefs about climate change and whether it is human-induced. Here we examine farmer perceptions of historical climate change, how perceptions are related to observed trends in regional climate, how perceptions are related to the presence of irrigation infrastructure, and how perceptions are related to beliefs and concerns about climate change. We focus on the regions of Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand, where irrigation is utilized on the majority of cropland. Data are obtained through analysis of historical climate records from local weather stations, interviews (n = 20), and a farmer survey (n = 490). Across both regions, no significant historical trends in annual precipitation and summer temperatures since 1980 are observed, but winter warming trends are significant at around 0.2–0.3 °C per decade. A large fraction of farmers perceived increases in annual rainfall despite instrumental records indicating no significant trends, a finding that may be related to greater perceived water availability associated with irrigation growth. A greater fraction of farmers perceived rainfall increases in Marlborough, where irrigation growth has been most substantial. We find those classes of farmers more likely to have irrigation were also significantly more likely to perceive an increase in annual rainfall. Furthermore, we demonstrate that perceptions of changing climate – regardless of their accuracy – are correlated with increased belief in climate change and an increased concern for future climate impacts. Those farmers that believe climate change is occurring and is human induced are more likely to perceive temperature increases than farmers who believe climate change is not occurring and is not human induced. These results suggest that perceptions are influenced by a variety of personal and environmental factors, including infrastructure, which may in turn alter decisions about climate adaptation.
Behavioral Genetic Analyses of Aggression

The emphasis should be on the plural in the title, because there are as many different behavioral genetic approaches to aggression as there are different fields of genetics. One investigator might, for example, be interested in simply establishing the fact of a genetic contribution to variability in some aggressive behavior; others may be interested in testing the possibility that a single locus is involved; others may be exploring a quantitative genetic model; others may be approaching the problem from a developmental perspective, examining evidence that genes influence the manifestation of the trait as the organism changes in age; still others may be investigating mechanisms, exploring the endocrine, neurological, physiological, biochemical or pharmacological events through which the genes manifest their influence; and still others may be looking at the issue of aggression through the perspective of a population geneticist or an evolutionary geneticist.
Review: The Manmade Environment: Nya Nordiska Landskap (New Nordic Landscapes)

The Manmade Environment: Nya Nordiska Landskap (New Nordic Landscapes). DogA (Norwegian Centre for Art and Design), Oslo, 23 September–21 November 2010. Gammal Dock, Copenhagen, 11 February–22 May 2011. Arkitekturmuseet, Stockholm, 16 June–18 September 2011. Museum of Finnish Architecture, Helsinki, 7 October–4 December 2011. Architectural exhibitions are rare enough in this world given the paucity of informed staff to conceive and produce them and venues for their display. Landscape architecture exhibitions are rarer still; in the last decade only four stand out in terms of ambition, content, and presentation: Groundswell: Constructing the Contemporary Landscape , at the Museum of Modern Art (2005); Alexandre Chemetoff: Situations construites, at the Arc en Reve Centre d'Architecture in Bordeaux (2009); Stadtgrun: Urban Green: European Landscape Design for the 21st Century , at the Deutsches Architetkturmuseum in Frankfurt (2010), and Roberto Burle Marx: La Permanence de l'instable , originating at the Paco Imperial in Rio de Janeiro and recently shown at the Cite de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris (2011). A substantial publication accompanied each of these exhibitions. Significant efforts also lie behind The Manmade Environment: New Nordic Scopes , a collaboration of the Danish Architecture Centre and Norsk Form (Oslo), with the Arkitekturmuseet (Swedish Museum of Architecture), the Suomen Rakennustaiteen Museo (Museum of Finnish Architecture), and the Norraena husið (Nordic House) in Reykjavik, and the first attempt at a comprehensive look at landscape design in all five countries (Figures 1, 2). While the exhibition purports to present outstanding recent works of Nordic landscape architecture, that premise is open to question, as discussed below. This review comments on the presentation of the exhibition at the Swedish Museum of Architecture in Stockholm, where the revised subtitle was New Nordic Landscapes . Figure 1 The Manmade Environment: Nya Nordiska Landskap (Photo: Matti Ostling, Arkitekturmuseet) Figure 2 Detail of Figure 1 Historically, considerable disparity in what constitutes landscape architecture—or designed landscapes, if you will—has qualified work in the Nordic countries. Icelandic, Finnish, and Norwegian landscapes, with rare exceptions and until relatively recently, have tended to promote the look of the primeval landscape. The rare …
Abstract 1838: Differential CXCL13 and CXCR5 expression mediated by down-regulation of select miRNAs in prostate cancer

Chemokines and their receptors are involved in the inflammatory response by attracting immune cells to sites of infection and wound healing. Chemokines have also been implicated in the progression of prostate cancer (PCa). We have previously shown a positive correlation between the expression of CXCL13 and CXCR5 proteins with PCa progression; in particular, the CXCR5 protein is expressed to a greater extent by prostate tumors isolated from African Americans than compared to those from European Americans. In the present study, we sought: (i) to determine whether CXCL13 and CXCR5 mRNA expression patterns correlated with overall and/or disease-free survival in PCa cases and (ii) to identify the possible molecular mechanisms that govern this association. CXCL13 and CXCR5 mRNA levels and PCa survival rates were evaluated using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) data sets and the CbioPortal, respectively. CXCR5 and CXCL13 mRNA expression did not correlate with prostate tumor stage or grade and was not associated with overall PCa survival. However, CXCR5 mRNA expression was significantly associated with poor disease-free survival. Gene map analysis using the UCSC Genome Browser revealed consensus sequence binding sites for four miRNA9s (miR-192/215, miR-486, and miR-494) that could bind the 3’ UTR of the cxcr5 transcript. Our results showed that miR-494 was frequently deleted or down-regulated, confirming other reports that miR-494 is down-regulated in high-grade PCa cases. Of note, miR-494 also targets cxcr4 mRNA and suppresses migration of PCa cells. Others have shown that miR-486 is associated with p53 and PI3K-Akt pathways and miR-186 has a putative binding site in the 3’ UTR region of the cxcl13 transcript. This miRNA was down-regulated in PCa patients with initial metastasis. These results confirm our previous studies demonstrating a correlation between tumor expression and PCa progression and reveal new mechanisms of post-translational regulation of this chemokine receptor. Citation Format: Denise E. Hinton, James Lillard. Differential CXCL13 and CXCR5 expression mediated by down-regulation of select miRNAs in prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1838.
Design of Playful Authoring Tools for Social and Behavioral Science

Playful environments are increasingly being used for conducting research. This makes a game platform for authoring research studies and teaching about how to conduct research a necessary progression. In this paper, we discuss Mad Science, a playful platform that is being created to allow users to create behavioral experiments. We discuss iterations of the authoring tools, including lessons learned, and the need for AI assistance to guide and teach users.
Use of tigecycline in pediatric clinical practice.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Tigecycline, a derivative of minocycline, is an extended-spectrum antimicrobial agent. It has a restricted approval field in children and the experience of its adoption in clinical practice is reserved for cases of challenging infections.The aim of this review was to summarize evidence regarding the use of tigecycline in infants and children, focusing on the drug’s clinical efficacy data and tolerability profile.Areas covered: We have conducted a literature search of the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases, from their inception through 5 January 2017, using the following terms: tigecycline, newborn, infant, child, pediatrics, adolescent, human, clinical trial, and case report. Articles were excluded if they were redundant or not pertinent. Bibliographies of all relevant articles were also evaluated. Seventeen publications were included: 1 pharmacokinetic study, 16 case reports. In the selected publications, the patients’ mean age was 4.45 years, 38.7% of children was <3 y...
46th Terzaghi Lecture: Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil: From the Experimental to the Familiar

AbstractThe paper begins with a historical review of reinforced soil technology, beginning with nature and the ancients, the development of Terre Armee or Reinforced Earth by Vidal and Lee, and end...
Identification of larvae of three arctic species of Limanda (Family Pleuronectidae)

Identification of fish larvae in Arctic marine waters is problematic as descriptions of early-life-history stages exist for few species. Our goal in this study is to provide descriptions that enable researchers to distinguish larvae of righteye flounders (family Pleuronectidae) of the genus Limanda that are among the most abundant fishes and frequently collected pleuronectid larvae in the northern Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas. Three species of Limanda are represented: L. aspera (yellowfin sole), L. proboscidea (longhead dab), and L. sakhalinensis (Sakhalin sole). Partial descriptions of L. aspera and L. proboscidea larvae have been previously published, but content and illustrations are inadequate for making positive identifications; therefore, each species is redescribed here with updated illustrations. Larvae of L. sakhalinensis are described for the first time. Descriptions of meristic, morphometric, and pigment characteristics with species comparisons of larvae are presented. Primary characters that distinguish the three species are pigmentation, body depth, and length of larvae and early juveniles at developmental stage landmarks. Pigment characters during the early and late larval stages of L. proboscidea and its large size at transformation are different compared to L. aspera and L. sakhalinensis. These disparate larval characters described for L. proboscidea in comparison to the other two species provide additional evidence suggesting the genus Limanda may be paraphyletic, as has been proposed in other studies. Results presented here have potential utility in future Arctic fisheries oceanography research.
The Effect of Dogs on Human Sleep in the Home Sleep Environment

Abstract Objective To objectively assess whether a dog in the bedroom or bed disturbs sleep. Participants and Methods From August 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015, we evaluated the sleep of humans and dogs occupying the same bedroom to determine whether this arrangement was conducive to sleep. The study included 40 healthy adults without sleep disorders and their dogs (no dogs Results The mean ± SD age of the participants (88% women) was 44±14 years and body mass index was 25±6. The mean ± SD age of the dogs was 5±3 years and weight was 15±13 kg. Mean ± SD actigraphy data showed 475±101 minutes in bed, 404±99 minutes total sleep time, 81%±7% sleep efficiency, and 71±35 minutes wake time after sleep onset. The dogs' accelerometer activity during the corresponding human sleep period was characterized as mean ± SD minutes at rest, active, and at play of 413±102, 62±43, and 2±4. The dogs had mean ± SD 85%±15% sleep efficiency. Human sleep efficiency was lower if the dog was on the bed as opposed to simply in the room ( P =.003). Conclusion Humans with a single dog in their bedroom maintained good sleep efficiency; however, the dog's position on/off the bed made a difference. A dog's presence in the bedroom may not be disruptive to human sleep, as was previously suspected.
Deformation response of cube-on-cube and non-coherent twin interfaces in AgCu eutectic under dynamic plastic compression

Abstract Split-Hopkinson pressure bar dynamic compression experiments were conducted to determine the defect/interface interaction dependence on interface type, bilayer thickness and interface orientation with respect to the loading direction in the Ag-Cu eutectic system. Specifically, the deformation microstructure in alloys with either a cube-on-cube orientation relationship with { 111 } Ag || { 111 } Cu interface habit planes or a twin orientation relationship with { 3 13 } Ag || { 1 12 } Cu interface habit planes and with bilayer thicknesses of 500 nm, 1.1 µm and 2.2 µm were probed using TEM. The deformation was carried by dislocation slip and in certain conditions, deformation twinning. The twinning response was dependent on loading orientation with respect to the interface plane, bilayer thickness, and interface type. Twinning was only observed when loading at orientations away from the growth direction and decreased in prevalence with decreasing bilayer thickness. Twinning in Cu was dependent on twinning partial dislocations being transmitted from Ag, which only occurred for cube-on-cube interfaces. Dislocation slip and deformation twin transfer across the interfaces is discussed in terms of the slip transfer conditions developed for grain boundaries in FCC alloys.
Evidence for a scalar κ(900) resonance in π K scattering

Motivated by the ${1/N}_{c}$ expansion, we study a simple model in which the $\ensuremath{\pi}K$ scattering amplitude is the sum of a current-algebra contact term and resonance pole exchanges. This phenomenological model is crossing symmetric and, when a putative light strange scalar meson \ensuremath{\kappa} is included, satisfies the unitarity bounds to well above 1 GeV. The model also features chiral dynamics, vector meson dominance and appropriate interference between the established ${K}_{0}^{*}(1430)$ resonance and its predicted background. We briefly discuss the physical significance of the results and directions for further work.
Spectral risk measures: the risk quadrangle and optimal approximation

We develop a general risk quadrangle that gives rise to a large class of spectral risk measures. The statistic of this new risk quadrangle is the average value-at-risk at a specific confidence level. As such, this risk quadrangle generates a continuum of error measures that can be used for superquantile regression. For risk-averse optimization, we introduce an optimal approximation of spectral risk measures using quadrature. We prove the consistency of this approximation and demonstrate our results through numerical examples.
The Caroline Affair in the Evolving International Law of Self-Defense

The "Caroline" incident—an 1837 raid by British Canadian militia across the Niagara River border to sink an American steamboat being used by Canadian insurgents—is well-known to many international lawyers. United States Secretary of State Daniel Webster’s resulting correspondence with British representative Lord Ashburton is often cited today as a key authority on customary international self-defense standards. University of Ottawa professor Craig Forcese has produced a valuable new history and analysis of that event, its legal context, and its continuing influence: "Destroying the Caroline: The Frontier Raid that Reshaped the Right to War." As explained in this review, the book corrects some misunderstandings about the incident and shows its continuing relevance to contemporary international legal debates about military force. It also helps in understanding this period of U.S. foreign relations law, especially with regard to powers of war and peace.
EnergyQARE: QoS-Aware Data Center Participation in Smart Grid Regulation Service Reserve Provision

Power market operators have recently introduced smart grid demand response (DR), in which electricity consumers regulate their power usage following market requirements. DR helps stabilize the grid and enables integrating a larger amount of intermittent renewable power generation. Data centers provide unique opportunities for DR participation due to their flexibility in both workload servicing and power consumption. While prior studies have focused on data center participation in legacy DR programs such as dynamic energy pricing and peak shaving, this article studies data centers in emerging DR programs, i.e., demand side capacity reserves. Among different types of capacity reserves, regulation service reserves (RSRs) are especially attractive due to their relatively higher value. This article proposes EnergyQARE, the Energy and Quality-of-Service (QoS) Aware RSR Enabler, an approach that enables data center RSR provision in real-life scenarios. EnergyQARE not only provides a bidding strategy in RSR provision, but also contains a runtime policy that adaptively modulates data center power through server power management and server provisioning based on workload QoS feedback. To reflect real-life scenarios, this runtime policy handles a heterogeneous set of jobs and considers transition time delay of servers. Simulated numerical results demonstrate that in a general data center scenario, EnergyQARE provides close to 50% of data center average power consumption as reserves to the market and saves up to 44% in data center electricity cost, while still meeting workload QoS constraints. Case studies in this article show that the percentages of savings are not sensitive to a specific type of non-interactive workload, or the size of the data center, although they depend strongly on data center utilization and parameters of server power states.
Proceedings of the Second Workshop on the LLVM Compiler Infrastructure in HPC

LLVM, winner of the 2012 ACM Software System Award, has become an integral part of the software-development ecosystem for optimizing compilers, dynamic-language execution engines, source-code analysis and transformation tools, debuggers and linkers, and a whole host of programming-language and toolchain-related components. Now heavily used in both academia and industry, where it allows for rapid development of production-quality tools, LLVM is increasingly used in work targeted at high-performance computing. Research in, and implementation of, programming-language analysis, compilation, execution, and profiling has clearly benefited from the availability of a high-quality, freely-available infrastructure on which to build. LLVM-HPC2 is the second workshop specifically focusing on research making use of the LLVM compiler infrastructure in High-Performance Computing (HPC). The call for papers attracted twelve submissions, twice as many as the inaugural workshop, and after peer review by the program committee, seven of these were accepted. The accepted papers cover a wide variety of topics: optimization and validation of communications and resiliency, bringing OpenMP to LLVM, optimization and analysis of numeric kernels, and attaining high performance through just-in-time (JIT) compilation. We expect that all of these topics will be of considerable interest to the wider HPC community.
Review on conducting polymer/nanodiamond nanocomposites: Essences and functional performance:

Conducting polymer technology doped with nanodiamond particles enhances processability, tractability, electrical, mechanical, electrochemical, optical, thermal, and other essential physical propert...
“Search This Ulcer Soundly”: Sex as Contagion in The Changeling and Othello

Weissbourd offers a reading of the relationship between representation of female sexuality as polluting and anxieties about miscegenation in Shakespeare’s Othello and Middleton and Rowley’s The Changeling. Drawing on Judith Butler’s analysis of the relationships among kinship theory, the traffic in women, and fantasies of homogenous national identity, Weissbourd ultimately argues that both Othello and The Changeling do not only represent class- and race-transgressive alliances as poisonous or infectious. Rather, by staging the female body as a site of contagion, both plays expose a deep-seated anxiety that all heterosexual relations pose the threat of contaminating mixture.
A wet packed-bed scrubber for removing tar from biomass producer gas

Abstract In this work, we report the performance of a lab scale wet packed-bed scrubber using woodchips as a packing material. Wood chips were wetted by waste cooking oil which acted as a scrubber medium. Residence time of 8.5 s was comparable to the packed-bed filter used in a pilot scale gasifier. We studied the effects of oil/gas ratio (4.7 and 7 m3/s/m3/s × 103), oil temperature (ambient, ~23 °C and 50 °C) and woodchips size (coarse = ~0.02–0.045 m, 0.003–0.03 m and 0.002–0.007 m and fine = (0.015–0.04 m) × (0.002–0.005 m) × (0.001–0.003 m)) to remove tar model compounds from producer gas. The results demonstrate liquid to gas ratio has significant effect (p-value = 0.002) on removing toluene as tar model compound; next important parameter is bed configuration (p-value = 0.014), impacting toluene removal efficiency. For naphthalene, oil flow rate (p-value = 0.022) and bed configuration (p-value = 0.024) have almost similar effects. Oil temperature has relatively lower impact on removing tar.
Detecting Attacks Against Safety-Critical ADAS Based on In-Vehicle Network Message Patterns

Vehicles on the road today are Internet-enabled devices, providing navigation, safety, and entertainment to passengers. It is possible for an attacker to compromise these devices to gain remote access to the in-vehicle network, allowing control of the vehicle. To detect the presence of masqueraded messages, we propose a Message Time-series Intrusion Detection System (MTS IDS), which is based on the principle that ADAS messages exhibit regular (benign) patterns.We demonstrate the feasibility of detecting masquerade injection attacks that attempt to negatively influence Advanced Driver-assistance Systems such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Centering Systems (LCS). Our results show a MTS IDS detects masquerade messages against ACC and LCS ADAS systems with F1-scores of 0.9889 and 0.98705, respectively. While no computing system can be completely secure, these results can help increase resilience of ADAS and autonomous vehicles against masquerading attacks, and therefore improve road and passenger safety.
Emotionally Focused Therapy: A Culturally Sensitive Approach for African American Heterosexual Couples

This article discusses unique considerations for a culturally sensitive emotionally focused therapy (EFT) for African American couples. EFT is an empirically supported treatment that significantly ...
Aquarium systems for the maintenance of ctenophores and jellyfish and for the hatching and harvesting of brine shrimp (Artemia salina) larvae

Ctenophores and jellyfish are most difficult marine invertebrates to maintain in artificial aquaria. They require circulating water to distribute a constant supply of live food and to disperse mucus and slime which these animals produce in abundance. They are easily trapped in filter intakes and overflow tubes, and they can be damaged or destroyed in the turbulence produced by air stones. Two practical and inexpensive aquarium systems designed specifically to overcome these problems are described—one for the hatching and semi-automatic harvesting of large quantities of brine shrimp larvae, and a second for the long term maintenance of ctenophores and jellyfish.
Endocrine side effects of checkpoint inhibitors

Checkpoint inhibition has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for several types of cancer. Immune-related adverse effects (irAEs) commonly involve the endocrine system. Distinguishing endocrine side effect-related symptoms from disease progression or treatment-related toxicity can be challenging. If not recognized in time, endocrine irAEs may be life-threatening. As the use of checkpoint inhibitors is expected to increase, there is a need for more awareness of endocrine irAEs amongst health care professionals. We describe three cases that illustrate the importance of timely recognition, patient education and the management of endocrinopathies. Two patients who were treated with the checkpoint inhibitor ipilimumab developed hypophysitis and subsequent episodes of hypocortisolism. These cases underline both the frequency of diagnostic delay and the importance of patient education with regard to glucocorticoid stress dosage. The third patient presented with diabetes mellitus after administration of nivolumab. A multidisciplinary approach is warranted to ensure optimal care for patients with endocrine irAEs.